Reviews

DanielAlvarado

Thank you.

shugokage

Thanks

lilnudger82

Amber Benson is super cool.

Joe Lawyer

Yeah I'm really making these guys work for portals, but once they have them figured out the portals will be a great weapon. Slayer Gothic will be able to banish people to horrible hells via a text message or email, and there will be magical worlds to explore.

Well he's a not a professional assassin and Slayers are forbidden from killing humans so its not like anyone would have taught to double tap.

But even if the science guy came back its not such a big deal. All his work on portals was taken, and he has no idea who his attackers. He couldn't go to the police either because what was taken were things he doesn't want anyone else to know about.

The charity angle is based upon on a old thing called tithing. In some traditions people such as knights and mercs would donate one tenth of their income to the Church, or to the poor. They got most of their money from looting dead enemies, so it works for Slayers too.

Slayer Gothic - Mount Shasta 2

Tunnel System. Mount Shasta

I knelt and took careful aim, and I moved as silently as I could because the one thing that I'd learned about these creatures was that their hearing was phenomenal. Thankfully for me the thing I was about to kill was currently gnawing on something that looked like a person's leg, and generating a lot of sound while doing so I didn't think it had a clue that I was right behind it.

Gently my finger pressed the trigger and the deadly weapon fired with barely a noise thanks to the silencer. The creature dropped without a sound, just after the bullet had entered its skull. To be sure it was dead I then shot it again, which made quite a mess.

"What is it?" Buffy asked me once we were sure there were no more of the creatures around "Its not like anything I've seen before".

I didn't know for sure, but I could guess.

"Could be a ghoul" I told her "They are monsters from Arabian mythology that consume human flesh".

Buffy did not verbally express her disgust, but her face told me exactly how she felt about the creatures.

"From what I know from the books, Ghouls are scavenger creatures that live in graveyards" I then said "traditionally they feed on the flesh and blood of the dead".

Given that these ghouls had grabbed some campers who had been very much alive that statement seemed be false.

"No one knows why exactly, but ghouls will sometimes go after living people" was what I said next "My thinking is that they might just be low on food".

Buffy made another yuck face.

"The only thing that can kill a Ghoul is decapitation or destruction of the brain" I informed my fellow Slayer "They are like fast moving zombies".

Also according to the lore all ghouls had been human once, and they rarely attacked living things. While dead humans provided most of their meals they were also known for consuming the corpses of demons. Recalling that fact made me wonder if there was a large group of them living somewhere in Sunnydale as it would explain where the bodies of dead monsters went to.

"Let's go kill them" Buffy whispered "then I want to shower for the next week. I must stink".

I didn't make a comment on what I was smelling, because I really didn't want to think about it. Instead I focused on finding more monsters.

"What a surprise, more tunnels" my fellow Slayer soon remarked "Its like a maze down here, we're the rats only there's no cheese".

Actually it was an intersection of four tunnels, and this made things more complicated. But I didn't despair as I had enhanced senses, and while it was too dark to see much of anything down here, even with our torches, I had ears.

Soon I detected a background murmur of voices, bodies moving and other things being done. These noises became clearer once I chose a tunnel and I figured that were rapidly approaching the main gathering area for these creatures. If there were any campers still alive, then most likely they were with the main body of ghouls.

Once we exited the tunnel I'd picked we found a large cavern that could easily contain hundreds of ghouls, but as of yet we couldn't see any. While trying to remain in the shadows as much as possible, we both eased forward so that we could get a better look.

Now I could see that the chamber was even bigger than I had first thought, and the far side was lit by a glow that was coming from a structure built into one side of the cavern. To me it looked like a temple, it was just too elaborate and ornate to be anything more mundane.

The light cast showed us Slayers that there were about fifty creatures on the floor of the cavern in front of the temple. The only good news was that the creatures were so focused on the temple that they hadn't noticed us.

"We can still leave if you want to" I whispered to Buffy.

Fifty to two were bad odds, and the ghouls, if that's what they were could only be killed by head shots or by removing the head from the body. Us humas on the other hand could be killed in many different ways.

"No" Buffy said firmly "these things need killing".

Thankfully I had ways of making the odds more fair, but since my fellow Slayer didn't have a weapon capable of decapitation she wasn't going to be that effective.

"You don't have to shoot if you don't want to" I assured her "Maybe we can get them to chase us through the tunnels so that they can't overwhelm us with sheer numbers".

She gave me a look of gratitude, and then her face hardened.

"I'm a Slayer too" she said "This is what I'm supposed to do, so if you're pulling a trigger then so am I".

It would better to take them out while they were grouped up, because in the tunnels they might find ways to come up behind us, or they might just scatter and then more people would die.

"Here, take a few party favours" I said while handed her a couple of grenades "Just pull the pin and throw at the centre of the group".

You could buy anything in LA, even explosives, even machine guns. I had a Heckler & Koch MP5 it was only a 9mm submachine gun, but it was easy to carry and to hide. Besides I figured that even if these monsters didn't die from being shot anywhere other than he head, they would at least be stunned, and then I could finish them off.

I released the safety, checked the clip and then set the gun for three round bursts. Buffy only had a pistol, but it was better than nothing, and what really mattered were the explosives.

After exchanging a look we both pulled the pins from grenades, threw them, and that started a small war.

(Line Break)

Cavern. Mount Shasta

It hadn't really been war I'd call it a slaughter. For all their agility and speed, the creatures just weren't able to avoid or shrug off gunfire the way some demons and vampires could. The grenades had taken a fearful toll, and what was left after that my MP-5 had finished up. It had helped that the creatures only seemed able to attack, the notion of running just hadn't seemed to be wired into them. Five minutes after the first grenades had been thrown, Buffy and I were down on the floor of the chamber.

While my fellow Slayer went to look inside the temple for any stragglers, or better yet living humans, I was finishing off the wounded. Doing so made me feel a little ill, but I was able to get on with the task. As horrible as killing wounded beings was I found myself glad that it repulsed me a little as it meant I hadn't become a heartless killer.

Some part of my mind that was being all logical noted that while these ghouls, had not all been killed by the grenades and bullets, none of them had been able to quickly recover. They were undead humans, much like vampires, but they were much weaker in some ways.

"There's no one here" Buffy soon reported "and we can't check out all these tunnels. We should go".

It could weeks to explore all the caves here, perhaps even longer, and it would be dangerous to even try so I agreed with what my fellow Slayer had just said.

As we turned to leave I figured that if there were any of the monsters left that they wouldn't be bothering the local humans because now there was plenty to eat down here.

(Line Break)

RV. Camping Site.

At least getting out of mountain had been easy enough. I was no witch, but I could cast a locator spell that created a small light. Mine would have been useless in the day time however underground it had been easy to follow, and once we'd gotten out of the cave finding our way back to the camp site had been no trouble.

Since the shower in the RV could barely contain one person I had decided to let Buffy get clean first. Thankfully I wasn't that messy, so I didn't mind waiting.

"You killed how many monsters?" Amy inquired of me once I had finished telling the rest of the group what had happened "What did you use, a bomb?".

That would have likely caused the cavern to collapse so it was a good thing that I hadn't used such a weapon.

"About fifty I think" I told the girls "and we just used a few grenades and a couple of guns. They were all bunched together so it was like shooting fish in a barrel".

Really it hadn't been that easy, the ghouls, if that was what they had been and I was sure of it now, had been grouped up together and caught off guard. Had they known Buffy and I had been there before we'd been ready to attack it would have been us Slayers who got slaughtered.

"Still its a lot" remarked Winifred Burkle "But with the right tools any enemy can be defeated, we just have to outsmart the bad guys".

Using the older methods would have gotten Buffy and I killed, however technology had come a long way in just the last century. Sure guns weren't that useful against vampires and some kinds of demons, but I had a magic sword that was, so it was as Fred had just said: with the right tools any enemy can be defeated. The modern Slayer shouldn't be afraid to use grenades, guns or even bombs in order to get the job done.

"Hold on when did Buffy learn to use a gun?" Marcie asked.

I had answer for this.

"Part of the Slayer package is that we had a kind of instinctive knowledge of how to fight and use weapons" I explained "In one of the books I read a Watcher theorised that the demon spirit that gives a Slayer her power moves from host to host taking with it knowledge. That's why Buffy and I can just pick up a weapon and use it without training. I guess that other Slayers have used guns. I know Buffy doesn't like them, but she seems to be willing to use them if she really needs to".

That was my influence I assumed.

"My Mom told me about Slayers" Tara then said "But she didn't know much about them".

I took that as a request to know more.

"Well from what I've found out in ancient Africa, a group of tribal elders known as the Shadow Men used some powerful magic to infuse a person with the heart of a pure demon" I informed the witch "This process granted the First Slayer super strength, speed, agility, endurance, a predator instinct, as well as a superior healing factor".

That much I knew from watching season seven of BTVS.

"In your universe they must have done it to a guy" Amy said "and in this world it was done to a girl".

Since that wasn't the total truth I didn't comment on what she had just said.

"Unfortunately, being fully infused with the essence of a powerful demon resulted in The First Slayer becoming little more than an animal" I went on to say "But despite that the First Slayer was a formidable force of good who hunted and killed many monsters that preyed on the innocent, and it was said that the First Slayer also slayed the very last Old One that walked the Earth. Which if true is incredible because the Old Ones were nothing less than gods".

The scythe, a mystical weapon created for the Slayer by a group of women known as the guardians, was what had made the feat possible, but even the most powerful weapon was useless if it couldn't be wielded.

"Wait, so both you and Buffy have a demon inside you?" Tara asked in alarm.

It wasn't that simple.

"I think its just the essence of a demon not the whole thing" I told her "We're not possessed we just have some power inside us that was taken from a demon".

That was when I decided to change the subject because thinking about having a part of a demon in me freaked me out. I might not be a Slayer in the same way Buffy was, but we had the same powers so they likely came from them same source.

"We need to keep moving" I then reminded everyone "My thinking is that we should just keep heading east and avoid any big cities".

Buffy had by now gotten out of the shower.

"Fine with me" she said "Just no more underground places please. We need to go somewhere fun somewhere without smelly monsters".

That might not be possible the demons seemed to be everywhere.

"What about Mexico" suggested Fred "I mean we all have passports and good fake ID. We can get past the border, and if these bounty hunters are after us then leaving the country even for a few days would throw them off. The only problem will be hiding all the weapons".

I heard Marcie make a comment about Fred just wanting to go for the food, but we all ignored her words.

"There's a glamour spell I can use to hide the weapons" Amy said "and I do want to see more of the world".

I didn't think it was such a bad idea.

"Okay Mexico it is" I said as I headed for the shower "Fred you can drive for a bit".

She started the RV right away, so I could tell that she was eager to be off.