Slayer Gothic – Oxnard 2

Hotel. Oxnard

After dropping off Tara at the little apartment she was renting my girls and I had come back to the hotel room so that we could do some more work. Planning trips to other dimensions was a not a simple thing, there were many factors that we needed to consider.

"Okay so given the way these portals work we can be certain that they only take us to worlds that are somewhat similar to this one" I summarised from before "We know this because the portals require the same level of gravity you find here on Earth".

Fred had given a proper scientific explanation as to why this was, but she was the only one who understood it.

"There'll might be a small difference" said the tiny woman from Texas "the gravity might be just a little stronger or weaker, but I don't even think we'd notice any difference".

That wasn't the only thing we had to be concerned about. Things like temperature and breathable air, also the friendliness the locals was just some of the things we needed to think about.

"We know that the psychic energy needed to open these kinds of portals can only be created by creatures with the ability to think" I then reminded everyone "So we know that we will always end up somewhere were there are people, but since beings other than humans can be psychic we can't be sure that the portals will send us to a place were humans can survive".

It had been different when we'd visited the dimension that Lorne was from because I'd known all about that reality. I'd known lots about the locals, their society, their technology, even their environment, but if we started opening portals to worlds I knew nothing about then I wouldn't be prepared for what we found there.

"From what I remember from the Watcher Diaries. There's even a dimension full of big spider demons out there" I told my girls "And not only is their air toxic to us, they would see us as food".

That highlighted the dangers rather well.

"So we need some way of finding out if a world is safe to visit before we go there" said Fred "Like a scout".

We all spent a few moments thinking.

"Maybe some kind of robot" Marcie suggested.

I figured that her idea could work.

"How would it get back?" asked Amy "It wouldn't be able to open a portals, and even if we wait for the hotspot to recharge the robot might not be able to come back if its damaged. We'd need a robot that hide from danger and make sure things are safe".

Fred nodded her agreement.

"There are robots that can analyse atmospheres, measure radiation and so on but they are always controlled remotely by people" she said "As soon as the portal closed we'd lose contact with the probe and I don't think we'd able to recover it safely".

My brilliant mind had already come with a solution.

"If I recall correctly there is already a robot in Sunnydale that could do everything we need it to" I informed everyone "The thing can even pass for human, its called Ted".

I went on explain as best I could while still pretending that this was something I'd read about many years ago. Buffy understandably got upset when she realised that her mother might be in danger. I was only able to stop her from shouting at me by reminding her that I simply couldn't remember everything I'd read about years ago and I assured that had I ever met Ted that I would have realised what he was. Then I would have dealt with him before anyone could get hurt.

"We have to go back now and stop this Ted" she insisted "Even if he hasn't met my Mom yet he might hurt someone else".

I was loathe to do that as it would mean leaving Tara behind. She certainly wouldn't join my harem if I suddenly left town.

"Just call her" suggested Amy "She'll want you to come home sure, but you can find out if she's seeing anyone".

That was not something I would support, but if Buffy wanted to leave I would not try to stop her.

"I'm not ready to go back" my fellow Slayer then said as she headed for the door "But I'll call her, and if she is in trouble I'll have to go".

We couldn't go back just yet as there was that whole Master issue, as of yet we had no way of dealing with the powerful vampire. I had some ideas, but nothing that didn't involve a Slayer going near him and that could led to him escaping, and even to him opening the Hellmouth.

Also there was a prophecy involved, and they always complicated things. A Slayer was suppose to die at the hands of the Master, but there was more than one Slayer and the prophecy didn't say which of us it was who suppose to die. It didn't say exactly when either, and in the Wishverse the Master also killed Buffy, but in the future so it might still happen in this world one day.

Another concern was that I could be the one to die at the hands of the Master, and my death wouldn't activate another Slayer so there'd be no need to worry about a Dark Slayer, not that I'd need to worry about anything as I'd be dead. Which would suck.

The real problem was that this prophecy was in the Pergamum Codex, and everything foretold in that book that could have happened by now had come to pass. However anyone who had read Macbeth knew that there were always loopholes when it came to prophecies.

I was just about to start writing down some ideas when I the sound of motorcycles filled my ear and Buffy came charging back into the room.

"There's a bunch of demons on motorbikes heading this way" she warned us "and I don't think they're here for the reasonably priced rooms".

Even as I grabbed my coat and some weapons I quickly went over what I knew about demon biker gangs. To my knowledge that they preyed upon small defenceless towns and were even known for attacking vehicles they found alone on quieter stretches of road, but Oxard was a city so them attacking here didn't make sense. But we were on the edge of the city limits so perhaps we were exposed enough.

By now the bikes were in the parking lot, and they were making a lot of noise. So much that I barely heard a human being scream, however I did hear it and I intended to do something about it because if nothing else it would be hard to get a goodnight's sleep with all that noise.

"Buffy grab some weapons we're going out there" I said "Everyone else stay here and arm yourselves, if anyone tries to get in then shoot them. Don't open the door for anyone else. I'll knock on the door three times and then three more times if its me".

My harem did as they were instructed and a moment later Buffy and I were out the door. Our timing was good because just as we got outside we saw that a demon all in leather was just about to start breaking into our hotel room. He paid for that with his life when my deadly sword slashed him open.

(Line Break)

Cabin. Outside Oxnard

I'd not had time to think until now as once we'd gotten into the parking lot Buffy and I had gone into Slayer mode. The two of us had kicked major butt we'd even driven the demon bikers away from the hotel. Which should have been the end of it.

Unfortunately the monsters had grabbed a couple of people on their way out, and because Buffy liked saving lives we'd gone after them. As it turned I could drive a motorbike, although I couldn't remember ever learning how to, and we'd taken one of the demon's rides.

By keeping the headlight off and stopping the bike when the demons stopped their hogs they'd not seen us coming after them, or if they had they mistaken us for members of their gang. Either way it didn't matter as they'd done nothing to try to stop following them.

Now we sneaking around some old cabin and while we heard a woman screaming we didn't rush in. Buffy was tense she wanted to attack right niw, but she was willing to wait for my order.

I'd wanted to check the area outside the cabin in case the demons had posted guards, however they hadn't. Which was sloppy of them yet I didn't think it was strange because they were a biker gang not soilders.

"There's a front door and a back door" I whispered to my fellow Slayer "I'll go in through the front and get their attention, while you attack them from behind".

While Buffy sprinted for the back door I walked up and knocked the front door off its hinges while raising my pistol.

"Okay guys we can do this the easy way or the hard way" I told the monsters "I don't much care which".

The leader of the biker gang, who was the largest and meanest looking of them all spoke to me.

"What the difference?" he asked.

I spent a second wondering if these were the same demon bikers who attacked Sunnydale at the start of season six, but I didn't dwell on that for long as I needed to pay attention to the present.

They were five demons in the cabin, perhaps more in the back, all were well over six feet tall and they looked rather relaxed considering the fact that I had a gun.

The inside of the cabin was a little cramped. There was a bar on one side, with a TV on one end and a door that probably lead to their kitchen on the other. Over the bar, right in the middle was a large deer head with an impressive set of antlers. Also were three tables, each were circular about four feet in diameter with a numbers chairs around each of them.

I couldn't see the humans so I knew that had to be in the kitchen, and I really didn't want to think about what might be happening to them.

"The easy way is that you hand over the people you snagged, the three of us leave and you go back to doing whatever you were doing" I explained "The hard way is that kill you and your buddies, and then I take the nice people with me when I leave".

The leader of the pack looked amused.

"Who the hell do you think you are, kid?".

I knew then that it would be the hard way, and as the demons spread out they just confirmed it, two held baseball bats that had added spikes, another had a chain which it started to twirl it over his head. The leader didn't make a move and neither did the demon behind the bar, so I figured they didn't think I was going to be a problem.

The demon with the chain came in first. As he swung the weapon I caught it with free hand and gave it a good tug, which pulled the demon towards me. Before he could let go of the weapon I had him over a table, then one of booted feet went up and came down on his head.

Now the two demons with baseball bats were coming in from opposite sides of the nearest table, so I decided to shoot them. One took a bullet in the head, the other in the chest. Both went down with a finality that said they weren't getting up again. Whatever breeds they were didn't seem to have the immunity to firearms that some species did.

The monster behind the bar reached for a rifle, but he fumbled with it as few demons had the hands for using guns, and he never got the chance to fire as I shot first. I destroyed the rifle, and then I had to empty the clip before that creature finally went down.

That was when I saw a demon, who must have been in the kitchen come stumbling into this room, and before the thing hit the ground I could see Buffy's handiwork in the form a butcher's knife sticking out of its chest.

When I turned to the leader I saw that he was just staring at the carnage, but he snapped out it quickly and reached into his pocket so that he could withdrew a cruel looking knife that had dried blood on it.

The demon boss ran right at me, so I picked up a chair and threw it at him. That only slowed the bad guy down, but it was enough for me to draw my sword, and that much better range that the knife. The charging demon impaled himself on the blade, and then died.

"That was easy" Buffy commented.

I knew why.

"Demons don't expect humans to fight them" I said "they're the predators so when we stop acting like scared sheep it throws them off their game".

I then changed the subject.

"Did you find the two people they grabbed?" I inquired.

Buffy nodded.

"Yeah they took off as soon as I untied them" she told me "Without so much as a thank you. Some people can be so rude".

I put it down to fear rather than a lack of manners.

"We should burn this place down, and then back to the hotel" I then said "The others will be worried".

Buffy didn't question why I wanted to start a fire, and we got around to it in short order, then we headed back to the hotel. I wondered if the police would be there by now and if so what sort of 'rational explanation' they'd have for tonight's chaos. I figured a human biker gang would be blamed, and I also reasoned that it would be a good idea to stash my sword somewhere if the cops were about.

"What will you do with the bike?" my fellow Slayer asked of me before offering a suggestion "Oh you can strap it to the back of RV. It would be so cool to drive it, and its fast you might to go somewhere fast".

While I got the impression that she wanted me to take the bike at least partly so that we ride around on it together, her point about maybe needing some speed in the future was a valid one.

"Okay but we'll have to hide the bike near the hotel and pick it up later" I said to Buffy "The last thing we want to do is drive it if the police are looking for crooks on bikes".

Which meant we'd be going back on foot, but thankfully Slayers could run fast and see well in the dark.