Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Tarzana – Los Angeles – July 2003
Buffy started backing off fast, with Illyria out of the way there was only one target worthy of Amalfi's attention and she was it. For all of her bluster Illyria really was just about the toughest being that the slayer had ever encountered and if this beast could kill her then a mere slayer, even one carrying the scythe, was way out of her league.
Connor sprinted over to Illyria's body keeping a wide berth from Amalfi he dropped down next to her and picked up one of her hands, it was cool to the touch but that was normal for her anyway, her usual body temperature was lower than a human's though warmer than a vampire. She didn't have a pulse either 'Does Illyria usually have a pulse?' he called out realising he didn't actually know one way or the other.
'I'm not sure' Buffy called back, her attention firmly set on Amalfi who was slowly moving towards her, savouring the occasion no doubt.
'Well does she blink?' Connor asked instead, 'because she's not blinking either.'
Buffy was pretty sure that Illyria blinked normally, that was something she would have noticed if she didn't. 'Yes she blinks.'
Connor let the hand go and it fell limply to the ground, her head was twisted at a strange angle. Her crystalline blue eyes stared blankly into space unmoving. 'She's gone' he called out. 'He fucking killed her' he yelled out with rising anger, he hadn't even thought he liked or cared about her that much but Connor felt the rage building.
'Keep your cool Connor' Buffy warned, if the boy lost his head now he might literally lose it soon afterwards. If Amalfi could break Illyria's neck he'd have no trouble ripping Connors head clean off.
'She's dead' Connor yelled back at the slayer.
'And I don't want to be too so we're going to play this smart, have you got your cellphone?' Buffy asked continuing to move slowly away, ready to bolt if Amalfi started to run at her.
Connor patted the pockets of his jacket and found it zipped inside. 'Got it' he answered.
'Tell them where we are, get everyone here' Buffy ordered. 'We'll have to use weight of numbers' she told him.
Connor started dialling but he was interrupted by a screaming siren as another patrol car followed by a boxy dark blue van with flashing lights on top sped around the corner and immediately slammed on the brakes when the drivers saw what was in front of them.
'Thank Christ' one of the cops said, 'it's SWAT.'
Buffy resisted the urge to point out that swatted was exactly what was going to happen to several of them if they got involved but she was grateful for the distraction as black clad police officers bailed out of the van carrying assault weapons only to stop dead in their tracks and gawk. Connor was ignoring their arrival and calling for some proper backup. Screw "Special Weapons And Tactics" they needed Slayers, Witches and ideally a Tactical Nuke.
Why couldn't it be Tokyo PD? Buffy thought, at least they'd be used to this shit. 'In case you need the hint' she called out, 'that's the bad guy' she told them pointing with the scythe.
'Kill it, for God's sake kill it' one of the original cops who were already on site told the new arrivals.
Amalfi turned and roared at the SWAT team who started to spread out aiming their weapons at the monster. Most of them were carrying what looked to Buffy like a cut down version of Xanders M16, these being M4 Carbines the same weapon being used by many of the troops in Iraq. Buffy hoped they had plenty of ammunition because they really needed Elephant Guns instead, or maybe a Tank.
'What the fuck is it?' the SWAT Team commander called back to the cop who had repeated his frenzied request, almost pleading with them.
'It's a Demon' Connor interrupted. 'What the fuck does it look like?' he asked sarcastically putting his cell-phone away after completing his call and getting up to stand over Illyria's broken body.
'It killed my partner' one of the cops called out, 'squashed him like a fucking bug' he said pointing to the remains of the unfortunate Policeman. 'Shoot it, shoot it now before it kills us all!'
The SWAT Team Commander looked at the pulped remains of the man, mixed with his uniform then blinked. 'Open Fire' he ordered and his team started blazing away.
A storm of fire hit Amalfi like it was being attacked by a swarm of biting insects, the bullets imbedded themselves in his thick hide, some glancing off but there were so many it couldn't merely shrug off the attack and Amalfi charged at the tiny humans who were trying to injure it and they scattered in all directions but continued to engage, this wasn't anything they'd done before but they'd all seen plenty of monster movies, they were trained to be calm under pressure and they had plenty of guts. They were professionals and they did their duty, in the films that was enough, in real life good guys may wear black but they get killed in the line and the bad guys often really win.
'Eyes' Buffy yelled over the firing. 'Shoot out the eyes.'
A couple of the SWAT Team took Buffy's advise and raised their aims, firing at Amalfi's head. There were certainly plenty of eyes up there to shoot at anyhow, a target rich environment as they say. A burst of fire went right on the mark and punctured one of its eyes
Amalfi's reaction was immediate and savage, it moved faster than something that size should be able to move and leaping forward it got near enough to the men firing at it to smash two aside with a sweep of its left arm. They went flying away, their bodies already shattered by the force of the impact well before they landed dozens of yards away down the street. Amalfi round on the next group who fled in several directions figuring it couldn't chase all of them and of course it couldn't. Instead it chose one and ran him down, stomping him flat underfoot.
They were all going to get themselves killed Buffy realised. 'Tell Dawn I love her' she yelled to Connor. 'Look after her for me okay?'
Connor looked at the Slayer, she was going to do something really stupid he could tell. 'Wait for backup' he called back, funny really, only minutes before she'd been trying to get him to think straight now she was clearly the insane one.
'No time, I've got to slow it down' Buffy yelled back and started sprinting towards Amalfi. If she timed this right and was lucky she might hit hard enough with enough momentum from her run to get the scythe in nice and deep.
Buffy accelerated up to her top speed and braced for the impact, it was going to feel like she was running head first into a Giant Redwood tree. Kamikaze Lumberjack to the rescue, she thought getting ready to swing the scythe.
A flash of light thirty yards away caught her eye and Buffy veered off course, trust the Cavalry to arrive just in the nick of time she thought and yelled to the newcomer. 'Willow, hit that thing with everything you've got' she bellowed at the Witch who was just standing there stunned by the sight before her.
Willow shook off her amazement at the size of the thing and started summoning power, lots of it, everything she could muster.
One of the SWAT Team had seen her arrive in a flash of light, this was turning out to be a really fucked-up day he thought especially when the young red-haired chick suddenly rose a good two feet off the ground with lightning crackling around her and her eyes changing to pure black. He turned and raised his weapon at her but before he could fire the skinny kid tore over and tackled him to the ground. 'She's on our side you asshole' Connor told him and forcibly turned made him watch as Willow held out her hands in front of her palms facing each other and started to generate a ball of flaming energy between them.
Amalfi spun on its heels, it had felt the magic user arrive by teleport and now felt power being gathered and directed, lots of power, this was an extremely strong mage, easily a match for the strongest of demons it had ever faced.
Willow launched the fireball and it hurtled towards the great demon. Amalfi tried to dodge but it was guided on its path and Willow redirected its flight en-route so it would still strike its target.
The Fireball struck Amalfi in the chest and rocked it back slightly but did little else, its chest was blackened and singed but this wasn't like trying to beat up on a Mage, like her fight with Cyrus Vail had been, the damn demon was just built so heavy it didn't do much more than piss it off some more.
Willow started to generate another fireball as fast as she could. 'Buffy where's Illyria' she asked telepathically. 'I got a message she was out of action and you needed me from Connor, all the Skilosh are dead. Is she hurt? I think we need her for this, I can't put much more power into an attack than I just did, even if I go completely off the deep end into black and veiny country. That thing is huge. '
'Illyria's dead' Buffy thought back, running to Willow's side keeping out of the line of fire of both the Witch and the SWAT guys who had clearly decided that the weird red haired chick throwing ball of fire was a problem for later and they were still shooting at Amalfi.'
'I am not dead' a familiar voice interjected loudly and with more than a little touch of annoyance.
'Illyria!' Buffy thought turning towards the God-Kings body still lying there. 'You look pretty damn dead to me.'
'I can't move' Illyria stated. 'The wretched shell is paralysed. Amalfi broke its spine. I cannot even speak, I have been lying here waiting for the witch to arrive so I could communicate with her telepathically, and through her with you. '
'How the hell are you not dead?' Connor asked. 'I heard your neck snap' he continued half in wonderment and relief that she was still alive and half in confusion.
'The shell is a vertebrate I was not. As I told the Half Breed Angel I predate the evolution of such life' she replied'In simple terms I am not… wired… like you are, but unfortunately the shell still is to some extent. Amalfi is far younger than I and would not know this.'
Buffy felt herself smiling 'It's great to hear you Blue, we thought you were gone for good' she thought. 'I guess they don't spawn them like they used to.'
'We'll take care of you, try and see if we can fix it later' Willow thoughtas she fired another ball of flame that crashed into the Demon and charred a two yard wide patch of its abdomen. 'I might be able to find a healing spell…'
'I do not need your assistance witch' Illyria replied sharply, 'I need the slayers, and likely the boys too.'
'We'll carry you away later, we won't leave you there honest' Buffy responded.
Illyria growled in their minds. 'I only need you to twist my head back into place, once it is roughly aligned I can regain control of the shell.'
'You're kidding?' Connor asked.
'My nervous system is more decentralised than yours, as long as the spine is roughly in line it will transmit nerve impulses, now just do what I'm telling you' Illyria replied angrily. 'And hurry up, the witch will not be able to continue to generate and project such power indefinitely.'
'She's right' Willow told them firing yet again. 'This is draining, I'm going to have to let go soon in order to keep up the fight and that would be bad.'
'Connor quickly' Buffy called out loud and ran for Illyria's prone body Connor doing likewise letting the cop he'd tackled get back on his feet.
Buffy put down the scythe and turned Illyria over gently, her body flopped like a rag doll. The Slayer took her head in a vice like grip.
'Anticlockwise' Illyria's thoughts told her.
'Isn't this going to hurt?' Buffy asked out loud.
'You should not wrench your muscles too badly doing this if Connor aids you' Illyria replied.
'I meant you' Buffy responded. 'Connor we're twisting her head anticlockwise' she told him as he dropped to his knees next to them.
'My pain will be transitory, my wrath will be of a far longer duration' Illyria responded. 'Turn until you hear a crack'
'This is so gross' Buffy said with distaste. 'On three… one, two three, twist.'
Connor and Buffy applied force, and nothing happened, they kept building up the pressure. 'Son-of-a-bitch she's got strong neck muscles' Connor swore then gritted his teeth to put more effort into it.
Buffy grimaced putting everything into the move, then with an unbecoming grunt of effort from the slayer Illyria's head finally turned slightly then with a nauseating sound, half crack half crunch it snapped back into a more normal position.
With a scream of pain and anger the God-King sat bolt upright, pivoting at the waist sending Buffy and Connor flying as she did. Rolling to a halt hitting the ground Buffy watched Illyria take hold of her own head and with another cracking sound align it again. Her neck muscles must be holding it in place, her spine couldn't have been repaired. Illyria turned left and right then finally cocked her head to the side in her classic habitual manner, all three movements causing a series of clicks but the neck worked.
Illyria got up off the ground slowly rather than her usual flip to her feet, and muttering extremely dark thoughts that Willow couldn't translate, she turned her back on Amalfi and started walking away.
'Where are you going?' Buffy called after her getting up herself.
Ignoring the slayer Illyria kept going and raised a hand opening the swirling black vortex of a portal and stepped through the portal closing behind her.
'Okay that was unexpected, think she's gone for help, portal a few of the girls back?' Connor asked.
'Maybe' Buffy replied. 'I doubt she's running away anyhow, not her style she'd rather get beaten to death. I wish she could get used to telling people what she's doing though.'
'Can I get some help here' Willow asked telepathically.
Buffy turned to the witch who had given up on full power shots and was now launching rapid salvos of smaller fireballs at Amalfi trying to keep it busy, they weren't much more than a nuisance but they gave enough distraction for the SWAT guys to keep pouring in the fire without getting squished for their trouble, the demon having to shield its eyes with its hands to protect itself.
'Aim high!' Buffy yelled and got the scythe ready again, not quite the suicide mission of before but you couldn't say it was a safe course of action.
Buffy started running, the scythe ready for some good old fashioned slayer hack and slash action. Once again she was forced to veer off half way this time stopped not by a flash of light but by a portal opening up just in front of her that she had to dive away to avoid.
Illyria stepped back into the arena and bellowed something incomprehensible to Amalfi who turned to face her instantly, it was certain it had killed the Old One earlier but the ancient demon was clearly far more resilient than Amalfi had believed. More to the point what was it carrying?
'That is enough Willow this creature is mine' Illyria stated coldly raising both of her hands.
'Oh shit, everyone get out of the way' Connor yelled out diving for cover, the shrapnel from those things could go thirty yards.
The Fireballs stopped hitting Amalfi and it roared just before Illyria pulled the triggers on the two grenade launchers she was carrying, one in each hand holding them like pistols. The two grenades hurtled off and struck it simultaneously, the blast knocking it back and throwing small pieces of shrapnel in all directions along with blackened skin.
Her face twisted into a mask of vengeance Illyria walked towards Amalfi firing the twin six-shot launchers alternately. The sound was deafening, both of the 40mm grenades being launched and the even louder explosions on impact that rattled the windows of every home in the street. The God-King fired round after round over and over again until all twelve grenades had been fired.
Amalfi somehow still stood, its chest a smoking ruin, blood and demon flesh littering the asphalt. Illyria looked up at it and sneered throwing the launchers aside and striding over to her sword abandoned earlier dropping to one knee and picking it up with one hand holding the girder sized weapon aloft.
Buffy looked up from where she had sheltered behind a patrol car. 'I guess nobody kills Blue and gets away with it' she said to herself straightening up as the God-King howled a battle cry and ran straight at the dazed beast aiming her sword at its belly like a lance. 'Suppose I'd better help' she added and went charging after the extremely angry Old One.
Already unsteady on its feet the impact of Illyria and her half ton of sharpened I-Beam going full tilt sent Amalfi half falling backwards but it still remained upright. The sword did not penetrate and both it and Illyria more or less bounced off on collision, the God King landing and turning as she did swinging around taking the hilt of her sword in both hands and slamming it hard around the back of the huge demons right knee buckling it ever so slightly with the impact.
The Demon stumbled, then with surprising slowness it fell backwards landing on its back, ten tons of bone and muscle crashing to the ground with a heavy thump that shook the ground itself. Illyria half grinned, half snarled and walked around the demon until she was stood next to its head bringing her sword up over her head.
Illyria bought her sword down hard onto Amalfi's head, it made a loud thumping noise and she felt the blow vibrate back down her arms jarring her neck but she raised it again and repeated the action just as Buffy arrived.
Several blows later Illyria got into a rhythm, interspersing blows with what sounded like Amalfi's own speech. To everyone watching, and everyone was watching it was a continual series of almighty thumps as steel thudded into oversized skull. It wasn't exactly a refined way to kill someone but clubbing them to death with an iron bar had proven popular over the years, the only difference here was scale, and the fact that Amalfi's skull was apparently very thick.
'Umm Blue, are you planning to do that all day?' Buffy asked.
'I will continue doing this until the beast is dead or I have bent this weapon over its head' Illyria replied curtly and hit Amalfi again with a satifying "clang" as its flesh had split and was now showing bare bone.
'You know we've got an audience right?' Buffy asked sweeping her hand around.
Illyria looked around and narrowed her eyes at the scattered policemen. She sighed in annoyance, 'Open up its throat with the scythe' she said. 'You may need to use a sawing action' she advised bringing the sword down hard one more time to keep Amalfi stunned and subdued.
Buffy jumped up high onto the demons chest avoiding the worst of the damage caused by the multiple grenade hits. Amalfi was already bleeding heavily, gallons of thick, strangely coloured blood running down the street into the drains. It's chest rose and fell as it struggled to breathe, ribs showed through where the flesh had been blown clear. It was slippery underfoot as Buffy moved into position bringing the scythe upwards spreading her feet well apart for stability as she bought it down hard slashing open the demons throat.
It wasn't so much sawing as chopping, guess I really do get to play lumberjack, Buffy thought as she hacked into the demons neck. 'I'm a slayerchick and that's okay, I slay all night and I sleep all day' she sang as she swung the scythe.
Buffy hit the main artery with the third stroke and jumped clear as a geyser of blood spurted out and began raining down. 'Slayer Duty my ass, this is no way to make a living' she declared loudly running clear of the spray.
Illyria remained standing next to Amalfi as its blood gushed up and fell around her. She angled her face upwards to feel it wash over her for a few moments then turning bought the sword down hard one more time into Amalfi's jaw knocking several of its teeth loose. She reached in and wrenched one clear as a trophy. Frankly its spine would have been more appropriate given that it had broken hers but there was just nowhere to put it she decided sadly.
As the gusher of blood began to fade, the rising and falling on the great demons chest started to diminish as it finally succumbed to death.
'Umm guys this situation is kinda high-profile' Willow noted telepathically. 'We're talking hundreds, if not thousands of eye witnesses, a really big demon corpse and I think that helicopter up there is filming us.'
Illyria looked around. Several of the SWAT team members were nervously fingering their weapons though none had the courage to speak and they were just looking on like they were trying to decide if this was actually happening or not.
'Do not concern yourselves' Illyria replied in thought looking around. 'I have a plan to deal with such an eventuality.'
'What the hell kind of plan gets us out of this?' Buffy asked reasonably looking around.
Cyrus Vail's Mansion – Los Angeles – July 2003
Willow squatted down to look Vail right in the face, even inverted it was pretty plain to see that he was utterly petrified. Of course if you were being held hanging upside down by one ankle by a psychotic God-King with a known predilection for extreme violence while a witch, who had previously kicked your ass, questioned you, you likely would be a bit disconcerted too. Vail had hoped that by keeping a low profile and staying out of Wolfram and Hart business for a while he could avoid meeting the red haired uber-witch again but instead she had come calling on him. At least she was after information rather than his internal organs on a platter, that was a definite plus.
'While we are here Connor might as well deal with Sahjhan, it will save another visit in the future' Illyria stated. 'I remember the Resikhian Urn was in the next room' she added. 'It will be good for Connor to get to kill something.'
Willow frowned, she had absolutely no idea what Illyria was talking about yet again, but ignoring that for now they had a more pressing mission. 'Okay Vail you overrated hack, so how do you go about with a selective mass memory wipe and where's this "Orlon Window" thing in case we need it later?' she asked Vail tapping him on the forehead with one of her knuckles. 'Don't make me get violent here' she added menacingly.
Buffy looked on, her arms crossed in front of her. Stood next to her was Connor who was looking around the room with mild curiosity. 'Hey I just thought' Connor said to the Slayer. 'You know when you made that joke about us defending the Earth from the Scum of the Multiverse and I said it was a pity we didn't have our Neuralisers? Boy was I wrong there' he said.
'I'm still not wearing one of those black suits' Buffy replied.