Author Note
I should be working on Augment Gothic, but I've been depressed recently and writing this story is just way more fun for me.
Slayer Gothic 3
Part 14
Graveyard. Sunnydale.
Buffy hadn't had a patrol this peaceful since... well never. There was not a single vampire or demon to be found. She was just thinking about heading home for the late night snack her mother would have prepared for when the patrol ended, when something made her Slaydar shift to Red Alert.
"Slayer!" something called out into quiet night.
Buffy rolled her eyes. This was just typical, right when she'd thought that she could go home early from her job a load of new work had been dumped on her desk.
There were eight of them coming from all around so as to box her in, two on each side, surrounding her, and they all all armed with what seemed to be non-lethal weaponry, and they were all wearing what looked like military uniforms. The style was somewhat familiar.
Buffy blinked in disbelief. Were these Nazis demons?
Soon a demon stepped forward past his armed comrades, he had an aura of command about him. He stopped several feet from Buffy and stood so ramrod straight as to be stiff as a board. He placed his hands behind his back and regarded her for a moment with clinical interest.
"You are the Slayer, Buffy Summers; Guardian of the human cattle and vanquisher of the impure vermin that tarnishes the name of demon" he said.
Buffy's eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure if she was being insulted or not.
"And?" she asked.
The demon turned away with an air of casual dismissal that nearly made Buffy bristle with indignation, it was as if the demon didn't view her as a threat or even someone worthy of his time. He would have to be the first to die.
"We have faced your kind before" the leader stated "Slayers are no match for those of pure demon blood. The same cannot be said for the tainted half-breeds that prowl these streets. But as much as I desire to cleanse this town of the mongrel filth, sadly we are not here for them".
She was even more confused now. What did these Nazis demons want?
"However you may still prove useful" then leader then said.
Buffy smiled, it was not a nice smile.
"I somehow doubt it" the Slayer told them.
The demon leader raised a single eyebrow on its face but otherwise showed no emotion. Buffy didn't sense any of the prefight jitters and eagerness most demons relished before they came to blows. These demons more self restraint that most of their kind.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Buffy demanded to know.
There was the faintest flicker of a smile before it vanished from the demons face
"We are the Scourge" he answered "And we are here for The Hunter".
She assumed by that he meant Damien. The Slayer had been a young woman for centuries, maybe even thousands of years, no one knew for sure. So it wasn't odd that demons saw him as a hunter rather than as a Vampires Slayer. Hunters were normal humans, for the most part, but Buffy knew that when the monsters used the words 'The Hunter' rather than 'a hunter' they were talking about her boyfriend.
"And what makes you think I would know anything about him?" Buffy asked, as much to stall for time as to fish for information.
The demon leader again almost smile.
"Our intelligence network is quite extensive Ms Summers" the demon leader replied "We know the Slayer and the Hunter are mates, well he has a few as I am aware, if needs be we'll take them all".
Buffy's anger grew upon hearing those words. These demons were targeting her friends. She didn't care for the reasons why they were doing it, only that they were. She would not allow them to be harmed!
She moved before she had even made the conscious decision to act. A right hook connected with demon leader's face just as his eyes widened in surprise. Buffy quickly followed that up with a left hook. Then she kicked his legs out from under him knocking him on his back. She drew her stake in one swift, intending to plant it in his heart, assuming such a foul creature had one. However the demon leader's hand grabbed her wrist preventing the action, just in time as well, the tip of the stake mere millimetres away from impaling his heart.
"Impressive" the leader commented "but not that impressive."
Stars suddenly exploded into Buffy's vision as she reeled back a step from the blow she hadn't even seen coming. She needed a second to clear her vision and was dismayed to see the demon back on its feet in the same pose as before.
"As I have said once before, we have faced your kind in the past" the leader reminded "We know all the strengths and weaknesses of a Slayer. And while your victories over the tainted mongrels such as the Master mark you as a Slayer worthy of note, I assure you that you have never faced the likes of us!"
Buffy's next words were not so elegant as the demon's.
"So far colour me unimpressed" she said "I've never even heard of you guys, you must be really small time".
The demons collectively responded with some deep and guttural sounds that Buffy guessed was their native language before fanning out to completely surround in a rough circle. The Slayer went for her sword, which was tucked away inside her coat.
A demon in front of her came at her with an overhand chop of his club while the demon to the rear attempted to grab her from behind while her attention was elsewhere.
Rather than do what they'd been expecting, instead Buffy sidestepped to the right. She grabbed the extended pike of a demon coming from the side with her left hand and wrenched it upward to block the demon who'd been able to hit her over the head. This led to the demon who had been behind grabbing only thin air, while also getting a sword to the gut.
Next Buffy kicked the demon who was still holding the pike, which gave her control of the weapon. Which she drove into a demon who'd charged her from the right. After that she used her blade to kill the demon who was holding the club. All of that happened so quickly that only another Slayer could have kept track of what had just taken place.
Two more demons sprang at her instantly from both sides, and Buffy rolled forward before quickly getting to her feet so that she could beheaded another member of the Scourge in one swift motion.
Alas there were more demons, and two of them attempted to throw a net of all things over her. The Slayer's enchanted blade cut threw the net before it could trap her.
Buffy barely had time to register this odd attack before they were on her again and with greater intensity, and she was still outnumbered.
She brought her sword down in one fluid stroke removing the left arm of a demon cleanly. The demon fell to the ground in a howl of pain that momentarily distracted its companions.
Allowing her Slayerness, as if that was a word, to guide her, Buffy somersaulted up and over one of the distracted demons and removed its head from its body. She tried to follow up immediately with another kill but the remaining demons quickly moved out of reach, leaving their wounded screaming companion behind.
Buffy casual twirled her sword before she slammed the blade down through the throat of the wounded demon, ending its life.
The remaining demons hesitated and held back clearly not having anticipated the thought of actually failing to bring down the Slayer. Buffy didn't even give them another second to recover their wits. She pounced on them in a flash; her sword cutting through the air.
It was over in a matter of seconds as the demons were cut down in short order leaving Buffy alone with the leader of the group who still stood in his ramrod straight poise, not having moved an inch since he'd gotten back up to his feet.
"Guess it's just you and me, now. Got any last words?" Buffy asked.
The demon chuckled.
"Yes, three actually" he said "Initiate phase two."
That was when several small objects struck the ground around her, Buffy thought she was going to get blown up, only rather than explode a sudden wave of dizziness and fatigue almost overwhelmed her and she stumbled.
The world began to slow around her as her vision grew blurry. The sword in her hand grew heavier and heavier and yet Buffy kept standing, due to nothing but sheer will.
"Really Slayer, did you really think that was our entire team? " the leader asked in a mocking tone "We are an army".
Buffy looked around to note over twenty demons, all armed, emerging from the shadows. Behind her on the brick wall more than twenty feet up were two more demons, both with tranquiliser guns. If they'd fired her kinetic barrier must have taken care of the threat. Alas it didn't help her fend off colourless, odourless glass.
It took Buffy a moment longer than usual to realise just how screwed she was. Her thoughts were sluggish and slow and despite her efforts it was getting harder to fight the effects of whatever poison that was flowing through her blood. But even if she had not been poisoned, twenty against one were not odds she would ever think of entertaining.
Seeing that there would be no escape Buffy realised that this was it. They were going to take it all away, these demons. They were going to kill her and then they were going to go after her friends. That was her last thought for some time to come.
"Take her back to the ship so I can begin the interrogation" the leader ordered once the Slayer had finally fallen to the ground "Gather the dead and their weapons, we will leave no clues behind".
(Line Break)
Graveyard. Sunnydale.
Sometime later a figure cautiously approached the graveyard with sword in hand and held ready. He surveyed his surroundings intently; probing every shadow, and potential hiding place with intense scrutiny.
Damien then sighed in frustration. He had been too late. He had known Buffy was in danger, the scanners had reported the movements of many demons who had this very night entered the town, but even with the warning he'd been unable to stop them.
Buffy wasn't here, but he could sense her which told him that she was alive, and also the scanners had told him how the demons had entered town, and what they were using as a base. He knew where Buffy Summers and the demons that held her captive would be, and he was already heading that way.
(Line Break)
Docks. Sunnydale.
"Sir, the Slayer is secured in your private room" a lower ranking member of the Scourge reported to the leader "We used the special restraints as you ordered. Also the guard team watching her reports she is already beginning to awaken, sir"
The senior demon's lips twitched ever so slightly, but he wasn't too concerned soon they would be out on the ocean. The ship, his ship, was not a fast vessel, but unless the Slayer's friends had one of those flying machines the humans seemed to build a lot of there was no way they'd be able to save her.
"Remarkable. She should not have been awake for many hours yet" he said "She is clearly stronger than any Slayer we have faced to date. But it makes no difference. She is merely bait".
The leader then spent a moment thinking. The exchange wouldn't taken place until he was ready, and at that point he would bring his ship back to this harbour, but not before.
"As planned we will send a message to The Hunter" the officer was now saying "Humans are foolish creatures, he will agree to exchange himself for the girl".
They would have tried to take The Hunter from his home, but for some reason no demon to get close to the place.
"Go and find a human willing to deliver our message" the leader ordered.
The lower ranking demon saluted.
"At once sir!"
The commander of this battalion of the Scourge, then spent some time gazing out into the pitch black waters of the ocean and as he did he smiled in self-satisfaction. Soon an even bigger smile came to his grotesque face as he thought about how capturing the Hunter would secure his rise to further power and glory. Why, this might be enough to earn him his own legion.
(Line Break)
Docks. Sunnydale.
It was a cargo vessel, large and grimy with holds beneath the deck. I could feel the engines thrumming as the big boat got ready to move. This was bad as I really didn't want to be stuck out to sea with a bunch of demons.
Knowing I needed to stop this ship from leaving port I made my way quickly and quietly into what passed for a bridge. I could sense several beings within, none of them human, they had both my Slayer sense and my markings tingling.
When I peered inside I noted they were indeed demons, but they were odd. They wore uniforms and seemed comfortable with technology, this was not normal for demonic beings, not unless they had assimilated themselves into human culture, and those breeds that did tended to be peace.
The level of organisation was also somewhat unusual, they acted like a military. To be precise they mimicked the Nazis, from the uniforms, to even a few guns, one of them was even carrying a Maschinengewehr 42. The MG 42 was a purpose machine gun designed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II.
Thankfully my new state of the art kinetic barrier could handle something like that as long as I didn't stand still and let them shoot at me. Actually I might be able to use the gun to my advantage.
"Good evening," I said as I strode right onto the bridge "Earlier tonight you kidnapped a friend of mine, she's female, blond, makes very little sense when she talks".
These Nazis demons were The Scourge an army of so called pure-breed demons bent on the extermination of every non-pure demon race on earth, and they were no friends to humanity either.
They had the nasty habit of decorating their faces and heads with patches of dry skin held in place by facial piercings. Now I was all for taking trophies from a good kill, but this was just yucky.
"I've come to collect her" I went on to say "so if you wouldn't mind handing her over and then surrendering your weapons we can all get out of this in one piece"
The demons simply looked at each other and that at me in utter silence. Then one of them aimed a Luger pistol at me. Two of his compatriots pulled out machine guns while a third pulled out what was clearly a shotgun, but I didn't know the make. I didn't have time to think about it as I'd not realised they had this much firepower. I' never seen demons act like this before.
nnn- 'bthnk uaad
As I casted the spell I was subjected to a hellish fusillade of fire that by all rights should have turned me into bloody chunks. I wasn't hurt at all, which was something the demons would be able to claim for very long.
(Line Break)
Docks. Sunnydale.
Buffy slowly awoke to find herself face to face with a rather smug looking demon dressed in a uniform that looked like it came out of a WWII reenactment. Slowly she shook the cobwebs out of her head and examined her wrists. She was wearing a suspiciously light weight pair of manacles.
Slowly she looked up to the demon officer.
"You're not serious, right?" she said as she lifted her wrists, "I mean really? Is this really the best you've got?".
The demon simply sat back in his chair, which may as well have been a throne, and chuckled.
"Go ahead Slayer, test your bonds. I insist" invited the demon.
Buffy pulled her wrists apart, intending the snap the metal cable holding them. Only they simply wouldn't break.
"Those manacles are heavily enchanted so that they can contain even the strongest and most vicious half breeds. Creatures far stronger than the likes of you, Slayer" the Nazis explained.
Buffy glowered at him.
"Oh great, and here comes the evil villain plot" she complained "I swear, every time, what's next? You'll slowly lower me into a vat of acid, or a tank of sharks, sharks with fricking lasers beams".
The demon leader chuckled.
"If you die another Slayer is called" he then said "So keeping you contained is wiser, at least until we trade you for your lover, and then we'll take both of you".
Buffy had to laugh.
"You don't watch TV do you?" she then asked.
The demon leader was offended.
"No. I have no desire to indulge in the childish distractions of an inferior race" he stated.
Buffy knew this to be true.
"If you had you'd know that plans like that never work" the Slayer said "It will look as if it is going to plan, but then at the last second...".
She wasn't allowed to finish as the sound of gunfire reached her eardrums.
"Huh, guess Damien decided to skip that part" Buffy mused.
(Line Break)
Docks. Sunnydale.
To the demons I must only be seen as a flutter of black clothing, and the only sound they must have heard were clank of my metal tipped boots. This had to be the case because I was going at full speed, and they never seemed to know exactly where I was. Which happened to be right behind five of them.
"Hello" I greeted.
Everyone stood utterly still for a long moment, until I lashed out with Cutter, my magical weapon, and ended the lives of five demons who'd foolish been standing too close together. Clearly they'd been new recruits, and poorly trained, at least when compared to other members of the Scourge I'd slain this evening.
One they were dead I reminded myself that I still needed to disable this vessel, even with the bridge crew wiped out the vessel was still able to sail and the bridge could be retaken. This was why I'd come down here to engine room.
The engine was a simple affair, the kind of simple but reasonably reliable internal combustion engine. It looked robust, hard to break, easy to repair, but like everything they had it could be destroyed. That was what grenades were for.
Soon the propeller stopped moving as the engine shook before it gave up. Sadly I'd done a bit too much damage. Several minutes from now this ship would be underwater which didn't leave me much time.
(Line Break)
Docks. Sunnydale.
My Slayer senses told me that Buffy was somewhere forward, it was hard to narrow down her location due the interference given off by the demons. They were scared, and angry.
I moved swiftly through the narrow confines of the ship, and I did so quickly as I knew that my enemies knew I was here, they expected trouble, but right now they had no real idea exactly how much trouble I was bringing with me. Perhaps it would have been wiser to use stealth in order to thin out their numbers, but with Buffy at their mercy, taking my time was not a reasonable option.
A door opened ahead of me, and using my super strength I rammed my shoulder into it, slamming the steel door into the demon behind it, hard enough to break bones.
I opened the door, and stepped over the monster who was crippled but alive for the moment, to find two more surprised demons in my way. They snarled and rushed forward, unarmed. Two seconds later their bodies joined their broken comrade on the ground. The injured demon managed to rise to feet before I stabbed him.
Alarms began to sound as the Scourge realised this was a full on attack. Feet stamped down the corridor ahead of me, I could also hear harsh voices barking orders and threats, the click of weapons being prepared.
Real battle was about to start, in a few moments I would be in the thick of the action once again, and I knew I could beat them, but I didn't charge into the fight as I wished to, as that path was what led to so many Slayer dying young. Instead I advanced in a steady walk, not a run, not a sprint.
A team of 5 demons were now trying to bar my way at T section. The first two demons charging forward with melee weapons poised to strike while the three remaining demons held back at the T section. I saw that they had ranged weapons.
These demons were playing smart, they were hoping to keep my focus on the immediate threat while the three took their time to perfectly aimed shots. These demons operated as a team, there was a sense of coordination in their tactics and movements like on the bridge, and unlike the last lot I'd met.
throd uaaad
I didn't normally use so much magic, I wasn't a proper witch and I didn't totally trust the mystic arts, but right now I needed the power. The spell made the slowly sinking ship shake hard enough that everyone other than myself, I'd been prepared, was knocked off their feet.
However this was nothing more than a distraction and it would take only a few moments for the demons with rifles to regain their footing and their aim. But a few moments was all I needed, for in that time I went from facing a coordinated team of 5 demons working in concert to dealing with them piecemeal where they couldn't unite their efforts and combine their strengths.
The first demon fell dead before he even realised what was going on, and before he could fully stand up, the second one managing a brief gargled shout as my blade went into his body.
Cries of rage and indignation filled the air as turned to the three Scourge members remaining got ready to kill. They had regained their footing and raised what I guessed to be StG 44s.
Thankfully my barriers dealt with the shots, and they didn't get a chance to fire a second time, as at this point I was too close to them. I stabbed one in the gut and withdrew my blade at once. Next I spun toward the second demon, which was still a threat, and with a swing I removed its head from its body.
It was remaining demon's credit that it reacted quickly enough to block my strike with its weapon. Fruitless though, as Cutter was able to cut through wood and steel with only a little more difficulty than flesh and bone.
Beyond these now dead demons a corridor opened up into the main cargo hold, a large area piled high with boxes, crates and barrels containing whatever materials the Scourge required.
If I was right moving through here was the quickest path to Buffy so I did not hesitate, walking confidently into the bay, boots clanging on metal to announce my presence.
The Scourge threw themselves into battle, some armed with spiked clubs, knives and swords, others with handguns and rifles. It was all for nought.
I cut through them all like they were wheat before the scythe. Cutter expressed its joy without words as I cut down demons. I kept moving weaving in and out of position, keeping mobile, slicing with the speed and precision only an experienced warrior could called upon.
The demons didn't know how to stop me. No doubt their capture of a Slayer had made them overconfident, arrogant, and that emotion was now beaten from them and poured out on the deck along with their so called pure demonic blood.
(Line Break)
Docks. Sunnydale.
"Shut up girl!" the demon leader roared as he backhanded Buffy across the face for what just been a very witty remark.
Suddenly the entire ship was plunged into darkness, the sounds of machinery and activity dying away leaving only empty silence in its wake.
"Fine, you don't want to hear my selection of well-crafted puns that's your loss" said Buffy "Anyway, looks like you're going to be busy so I'll just let myself out".
The demon leader was too focused on the door leading to the fighting outside to realise what the Slayer was doing.
When he did turn around he found himself standing before him, an entirely unrestrained Buffy Summers.
"Uh oh" the Scourge officer muttered.
The Slayer was not well pleased.
"Judging from the outfit you're obviously a Nazi" Buffy was now saying "And you're a demon. Which makes you a Demon Nazi, and that's like evil times evil with a remainder of just plain wrong. I mean they don't even have a word for that kind of evil. So, even without the 'whole kidnapping innocent and beautiful maidens and taking them to your rusty old boat thing' well your future isn't looking that rosy right now".
The Scourge commander tried to pull his gun, but fast as he might have been he wasn't as fast as a clearly pissed off Slayer who was itching for some payback. She covered the ground between them in less a blink of the eye and simply slapped the pistol out of his hand so hard it all but shattered on impact with the wall.
"Now I'm not what you would call a sadist" Buffy said cheerfully "But I'm so going to enjoy beating you death".
(Line Break)
Docks. Sunnydale.
I moved just in time to let the hail of bullets hit the deck rather me, and while I had barriers I didn't trust them too much after being shot with tranquiliser dart, so I was now using some crates for cover.
The Scourge had rallied and were mounting a better defence, they had blocked my path with demons who had automatic weapons. This was not ideal, because it was only a matter of time before one of them broke out the RGps, assuming they had any.
I didn't wait to find out. I had my own explosives. A grenade, which I threw with all my might. This killed the demons with automatic weapons, and scared the shit out of the rest of them.
Now I could almost feel their mounting dread as they began to realise just how over matched they were, yet they still came at me. Was it some sense of nobility that drove them? Discipline? Some sense of twisted demonic honour?
Not that it mattered I slew whoever or whatever got in my way, and I enjoyed it, so did my sword. Once I was done I used something Jojo the Mouse Morph had taught me in order to quickly reign in the part of me that wanted more bloodshed.
After that I reached out to locate my fellow Slayer, who my surprise joined me in the cargo hold.
"Oh, Buffy, hello" I said "I'm here to rescue you"
By the looks of things she'd been in the process of saving herself
"Uh... Well... um... Hi?" Buffy replied.
For some reason this was awkward, might have something to do with all the bodies and blood. Thankfully this came to an end when the ship lurched.
"Damien what did you do?" Buffy wished to know.
I soon told her, despite not wanting to.
"Well I sank the ship" I admitted "Actually it would be better to say I am sinking the ship".
The ship was still docked, so it wouldn't go down deep, but it was still filling with water.
"We need to leave" I said.
"Uh huh. Very much. Like nowish" Buffy agreed.
(Line Break)
Home. Sunnydale.
"So what did they want for?" Tara asked as she brought a cup of warm milk into my study "The demons I mean".
Buffy had, in one of moments of cleverness, snagged a file from the desk of the Scourge's leader. Which told me a few things.
"Basically they wanted a blood hound" I told her "The Bloodhound is a large dog, bred for hunting deer, wild boar, and for tracking people.. They had plans to control me so they could use me to track half-breeds".
Which was something I could do.
"That's horrible" Tara said.
And stupid. I wasn't trainable, it would be like trying to hunt with a pissed off bear rather than a tamed dog.
"Also I found that this group of the Scourge, the demons who kidnapped Buffy, was only one group" I went on to tell Tara "A big one, but the commander of the demons mentioned his desire to command a legion, which means there are thousands more of them out there. They may attack".
The witch was undesirably concerned.
"But they can't come to this house" she needlessly reminded "We're protected from demons by the tree".
By that she meant the baby nature god growing in the back yard, which was the offspring of Mareth's Earth goddess.
"No, but have some weapons from World War Two, and even some grasp of tactics" I informed Tara "I won't be surprised if they drove a tank up the road".
There wasn't much I could do about that, aside from having the VI at CRD keep an eye on demon movements and alert me if any of the tainted creatures got close to the house.
"But I wouldn't worry" I assured Tara "I sank their ship so the rest of the Scourge won't know what happened. And if needs be we can go on the offencive against them".
This would have to wait until after Xmas. Hopefully the demon Nazis weren't active when Santa was about.
"My real concern is that both Buffy and I have been taken" I said, more to myself than to the other person in the room "And both times by groups using unexpected methods".
In truth the Scourge didn't worry me to much, they were focused on the half-breeds, and were more likely to return to hunting their favourite prey rather than try to tackle Buffy and I, if only so they could back to feeling superior.
What really bothered me was that smarter foes were staring to appear. Mostly in the past the big bads I'd faced were direct, oh some like the Master had grand plans, but still they tended to throw minions at their problems with no concern for losses. They believed themselves unstoppable as such lacked proper defences.
The Scourge had been different. True they'd not been prepared for me, or even for Buffy, but they'd been less foolish than past foes. Had their ship left the harbour sooner I'd have had a much tougher time getting to my fellow Slayer. Worse they'd used somewhat modern weapons, and they'd had some grasp of small unit tactics.
Perhaps this had something to do with the balance the Powers loved so much. As my group grew stronger, wiser and better equipped, the balance would send more dangerous threats my way. Or maybe we were simply drawing the attention of more powerful groups due to how success we'd been.
Either way my course of action was clear. I was going to have to up my game as it were. Recruit more allies, improve my defences, and my group organise better. But that could wait until tomorrow. For now I wanted to take Tara to bed, and since she hanging my study not saying anything it was clear that she wanted some attention.
"Come on let's go to bed" I told the witch.
Hearing that made her smile.