FIC: Hellmouth Heroes (38/?)
The city hall office was only illuminated by the desk light, the three of them sat around it. "I think," the mayor reached into his desk and pulled out a champagne bottle, "we deserve a celebration."
"Why?" she queried.
The mayor smiled. "I think that's for Stein to tell." The mayor looked at the third of their group. "Detective?"
"According to figures just in at the station, street robbery and store-hold-ups are both down by over ten percent since we started patrolling, with auto theft and drug dealing down by about five percent," Stein replied.
"That is great news," Anne enthused. She paused and looked around her companions, an idea that had been nagging at her for weeks doing so again. "Look, if we're having success against criminals maybe we should try and help out against demons?"
"No," the mayor's face went from elated to horrified in an instant. "We're alright doing what we do!"
"There's demons out there, hurting people," she doggedly pointed out.
"And they have people, experts, to deal with them, we should stick to what we have an expert in," the Mayor commented. "There's plenty of them, just three of us. We could run into something we've never heard of, never seen, and not have a clue how to deal with it. We don't have magic, books, training, anything."
After a second Anne nodded reluctantly. "Okay."
Aurelius looked around the darkened town, nose sniffing its Hellmouthy scent. "Ummmm, delicious." Aurelius glanced at his companions. "Patience tonight, I want to watch this Slayer at work, then we'll decide how to go."
Faith strode at the front of their group, flanked by Wes and Xan, Red, Oz, and Jenny trailing behind. Faith was dressed in a pair of denims tucked into her cowboy boots, and a denim shirt under a very cool alligator-skin waist coat. In short, she looked the fucking bomb.
Faith's eyes narrowed as she saw a trio of vampires grouped around a grave, probably waiting for a childe to rise. Waving the others back, she winked at Xander's scowl. It was good havin' buds who cared but sometimes it was even better havin' just a good ol' rumble.
Not that three or even four run of the mill vampires were much of a challenge to her these days, she mused as she crept up behind the oblivious demons. "Hmmm."
The moment she cleared her throat, the three vampires started to turn to face her. The nearest caught a foot to the gut, folding him up and making him easy prey to a stake to the back as Faith swayed away from a right cross thrown by another of the demons before snatching hold of her attacker's wrist and pulling him into a kick to the face.
Crimson flew from the demon's face as he flopped onto his back. "Bitch!"
"Yeah," Faith nimbly sidestepped the third's charge, allowing him to run onto a clothesline to the chest that floored him, "'cause I ain't never been called that before." Faith dropped to one knee, staked the vampire, and fluidly rose in time to block the remaining demon's kick on her arm, the blow barely noticeable as she stepped into the demon and simultaneously kneed it in the crotch and hooked a left into its jaw. The poor bastard didn't know wether to fall over or double up, instead it contented itself with swaying slightly before she rammed a stake in its chest.
Jesus, she'd not even gotten a sweat up.
Faith spun towards the grave as the fourth demon began climbing out of it. She'd barely taken a step towards it when an arrow thudded into its back turning it to dust. Faith scowled at her boy-friend who grinned boyishly back at her. "We couldn't let you have all the fun, could we?"
Faith smirked and shook her head. "Asshole." She turned towards Wesley, fluttered her eyelashes and pouted. "Mr. Watcher sir, I killed four vampires -."
"Three," Xander corrected.
"And I've been a good Slayer," she tittered girlishly. "Can I go and have some fun sir?"
Wesley shook his head and sighed. "That is the least convincing innocent impression I've ever seen." Wesley raised his hand. "And goodness gracious don't try it again, I don't think my stomach could handle it. However the Hellmouth has been quiet tonight so," Wesley looked at his watch. "It's just past nine. I assume you'll be going around to Xander's?" Faith looked at her boy-friend who grinned and nodded. "Very well. It's college tomorrow, so be in by twelve."
Faith pouted. "But-."
Wesley fixed her with a steely glare. "Shall we make it eleven?"
"Twelve it is, sir!" Faith mock-saluted.
Wesley sighed and shook his head. "Just go." Wesley looked at the others. "Might as well go home, and thank you for your help."
Aurelius smiled as he watched the Slayer walk away, arm and arm with her companion, muttering contentedly to one another. It would be such a rush to end that happiness.
However, the question of how to end it was a difficult one, the Slayer was a formidable one, with unequalled fire, strength, and ability. He'd killed several Slayers, but never one to match this girl.
Yes, this one was special, and deserved a special solution. His smile widened as a plan formed. He looked towards the Master. "I have jobs for you all, but most importantly, I want everyone in town frightened, told not to cause any trouble for the next two nights-."
"Ye wanna lure them into a false sense of security."
Aurelius nodded at Angelus' comment, pleased at his guess. He was the brains of his line. "Yes, and I want a base, somewhere in town, not traditional vampire fare, somewhere it would be difficult for our enemies to find."
"What's the plan, granpa?" tittered Drusilla.
Aurelius glanced at the insane vampiress. Many would dismiss her as a simple mad-woman, but he saw more in her, there was an unpredictability there that made her dangerous and a sadism that made a grand-sire proud. "The plan is to strike at our enemy when isolated, take out its strong points, and turn its strongest assets."
"Turn a Slayer, 'tain't possible," commented Spike.
"There is a way," he smugly replied. "A way known only to the old vampires, a way not tried in over a millennia. But it will work. And then we'll wipe out these Paladins and take our rightful place as the rulers of the supernatural world."
And the Slayer would be his grateful queen.
Faith yawned and stretched as she and Xander started their walk back to his place. Tonight was a Friday, so she could stay over which was cool, but damn the town had been dead this week.
"Sorry I bore you."
Faith smirked at Xan's playfully injured tone and elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut it you," she warned as she winked up at her boy-friend. "Got any plans for tonight?"
"Ach wee lassie, don't be worrying about him," an accented voice floated out of the darkness, "we got grand plans for ye."
"Who the hell are -." Faith's voice trailed off as strappingly handsome man stepped out of the darkness, black duster flapping about his ankles, followed by a blonde she didn't recognise, a sandy-haired man she didn't know, and two vamps she definitely did. "You're dead!" she accused. "I saw you die!"
Spike smirked at her. "Dead ain't what it used to be."
"Nailing yourself a Slayer, whelp," the tall stranger looked towards Xander. "Not the one you wanted, but nice curves, bet she steers well."
"Angel," Xander said, his face stone.
"Angelus now," the vampire corrected. "Under new or should I say old management. Rondell, Justine, you're on the boy. Penn, Darla, Dru, Spike, let's play, remember we want her alive, but the boy can die."
"You really should forgive her-."
"Why?" Gunn's temper snapped as he spun away from his hectoring girl-friend and stood face to face with her. "She was supposed to be Alonna's best friend and she cheated on her!"
"Because," Cordelia shook her head, his girl-friend's eyes flashing, "life's too short to hold a grudge, to break up our group over. And that's what's going to happen, and I'm not going to lose the best set of friends I've ever had over this!"
"Life is too short to lose friends over. Especially your life."
"No," Gunn glanced from the bat-faced monster to his suddenly ashen girl-friend, "you're dead, we killed you."
The monster's face rearranged itself in a horrible caricature of a smile. "For us, death is but a temporary status. For you, it'll be different, I promise you. Luke, Absalom, Connall, and Groo, our ruler wants them dead."
Faith gasped as the five vampires encircled her, her instincts telling her these weren't your run-of-the-mill bloodsuckers, these were badassess. Behind her, she could hear the sound of Xander fighting for his life, but forced her concern away. If she got distracted against these bastards, that'd be it, and then who'd help Xan?
Faith snaked out a left thrust kick, catching Penn in the chest as he charged in. Faith stepped towards the demon, meaning to follow up her advantage as he stumbled back but was forced to change to a leaping front kick at Spike, the bleached-blond vampire leaping out of range with a mocking cackle.
She'd only just landed when Dru charged in, claws flashing, Faith leaned back and away from the attack, reaching out to grab the nutty demon by the wrist, snapping her arm up and flinging the demon over her head and into Penn as he charged back in, her right foot simultaneously snapping out in a back heel kick to Darla's face, the demon falling back with a strangled gasp.
Faith's head snapped to the side when Angelus caught her with a left hook, teeth rattling with the blow's impact, she spun to face the smirking demon while catching a charging Spike with an elbow to the jaw. Angelus leaned away from a left hook, but was helpless to avoid a leg sweep that sent him crashing down.
Faith leapt forward, hand streaking to her stake inside her jacket. " DADDY!" a screaming, wailing Drusilla flew at her.
"Shit!" Faith cursed as the vamp's claws sliced her left cheek open, pain flaring in her face as she back-handed the crazy bitch away from her while simultaneously side-kicking a charging Penn into a wall. A back-fist knocked Darla back but pain exploded in the back of her head, knocking stumbling forward and into an uppercut to the jaw from an already up Angelus.
Faith went with the pain, allowing the blow's impact to twist her into a leaping roundhouse fist and kick combination, her foot first crashing into Spike's face and follow-up fist bouncing off Angelus' forehead. The two vampires stumbled backwards as she landed and dropped into a crouch, hands shooting out to grab the blouses of Darla and Dru as they charged in from opposite directions, flinging her arms overhead and together, the two demons flying into the air to crash into one another.
"Ugh!" Faith grunted as someone, she guessed Penn, kicked her in the back of her legs, knocking her to her knees. She managed to block a right to the face from Angelus, but a knee cracked into the back of her head with concussion-inducing intensity.
Faith fell forward and into an attempted roll. "Oww," she grunted and flopped on her side when someone kicked her in the ribs, she rolled onto her side, away from Dru's cackling stomp to the face, but right into a kick to the back. The wind whooshed out of her battered body as feet began crashing into her from every direction. She raised her head in a valiant attempt to see some way out of the battering, only to get a foot to the jaw for her trouble, her head fell limply, bouncing off the concrete.
Cordelia joined Gunn in standing back to back as the quintet advanced. Cordy blocked a right from the Master on her left forearm as she slapped away a kick to the side from Absalom. The manic preacher charged in, fangs bared, but Cordy put him on his behind with a well-aimed elbow to the jaw.
Her momentary joy was squashed by the Master's shot to her torso. Cordy fought back pain to leap forward and ram a knee into the Master's gut. The Master stumbled back and caught a left hook to his jaw that snapped his head to the side. A fierce grin on her face, Cordy drew her stake as she side-kicked Absalom in the stomach, doubling the nutty priest up.
Her stake flashed down, but the Master grabbed her wrist and twisted it back a second before she hit the target. "Owwwwww!" Cordelia screamed as her wrist snapped, but ignored the pain to hook her left fist into the demon's gut. The black grabbed her around the neck, Cordy moaning piteously as his fangs sunk into her creamy-white flesh.
Cordy grunted as she reached behind herself to grab the vampire by its hair, and bent forward at the waist, flinging the black demon into his sire. Cordy lunged forward, staking Absalom as he rose, but was too late to prevent the Master punching her full in the face.
Crimson filled Cordy's blurring vision as she stumbled back. The Master leapt at her, his fangs bared, only to fall back when Gunn rammed a fist in his face.
The Master smiled at them as he retreated. "Come, Luke. If our friends have been successful, these two will soon be irrelevant."
"Not to mention dead," the definitely Cro-Mag vampire rumbled before following his sire into the shadows.
"Friends?" Gunn growled. "There's more of them?"
"Doesn't sound good does it," Cordy winced as pain shot through her arm. "We need to find the others."
"The others, but what about your arm?"
Cordy winced as she looked down at her purpling, swelling wrist, the swelling already spreading to her hand. "My wrist's broken, but worse could be happening to the others."
"Okay," Gunn nodded reluctantly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. "Xander's place is nearest, we'll head there while I send an SOS."
Angelus stared approvingly at the Slayer's limp body, then lifted it up, and flung it over his shoulder. She was a feisty one, but five to one, you didn't take on the Scourge of Europe, and his childe, Penn, and win at those odds. Angelus glanced at Penn, yeah he'd make a nice addition, hopefully the new big man would let them run wild, build up a new reputation.
Where there was carnage and savagery to be had, he'd be there.
He looked towards Rondell and Justine, and grinned as he watched the two beat on Harris. He bet the whelp was regretting his lack of respect in the past. "When you've finished here, meet us back at the base," he shouted before looking towards his companions. "Come on."
Xander spat the blood out of his mouth as Angelus and his companions melted into the darkness with Faith. It felt like his left shoulder was sprained or dislocated, his ribs cracked, and his left eye was closing, but those injuries were insignificant next to the bitterness he felt knowing that things had to go down this way if he had to have any chance to aid Faith. If he'd just beaten these two newbies, Angelus and the others would have just killed him. Castle was good, but he'd need help or equipment, or both, to deal with these monsters.
Xander slumped into a completely unfeigned exhausted crouch. He hid a wince as he glanced from Justine to Rondell and back again. "So where's this base?" he ignored the pain in his face to ask. "Some down in the ground hole?"
"Hardly," Rondell sneered as he strode around him, "our leader scored us a sweet crib, the Crawford mansion."
"Thanks." Xander forced the fatigue and pain away as he lunged towards Justine. The red-haired vampire brought her hands down to parry a blow to the chest, so she was totally unprepared when Xander crashed his stake into her left eye.
"Aaaaaah!" the vampire let out a pained shriek as she fell away, wood jutting out of her face.
Xander turned to face Rondell only to gasp when the vampire slammed into him, his knee driving the air from Xander's already tortured body. "Ugggh!" he wriggled away from the demon's follow-up attack, before grabbing the vampire by the arm and shoulder, and twisting at the waist into a judo throw that sent Rondell crashing into Justine. The two vampires hit the ground in a cursing heap.
Xander gritted his teeth as he limped towards them, pain exploding in his left knee as Rondell kicked him in it before leaping up. "Oh you gonna pay asshole!"
Xander dropped into a crouch. Justine was still screaming about her eye, rolling around, and clawing at her face, so she was out. All he had to deal with was Rondell and working on the premise an angry adversary was the sort that made mistakes, he forced a smile. "The invoice's way too big for a bitch like you to deliver."
Rondell's eyes flashed golden as he leapt at Xander. Xander threw himself backwards yelling in feigned terror as the vampire dropped onto him, and onto his drawn stake. "Ugggh," Xander grunted, head snapping to the right when the demon caught him with a left to the jaw before exploding into dust.
Xander shook his head clear as he struggled to his feet, head still ringing. He winced as he watched Justine reach her feet and rip the stake from her eye. "You know there's something missing from you, but I can't quite put my finger on it." Xander paused. "But then neither can you."
"My eye!" The monster shrieked as she leapt at him, claws slashing the air above him as he crouched under the near-relentless assault.
"Oh yeah," Xander punched an uppercut into the creature's jaw, "that'd be it." He attempted to stake it, only to wince when the vampire grabbed his wrist and twisted. His knee shot up at the monster's crotch only for the demon to slap away his attack. However the monster failed to parry his butt to the face, letting out a pained moan as she stumbled back, grip on his wrist loosening enough for him to pull free, and attempt to complete the staking.
"Aaaaah!" The demon let out a wail as his stake slammed into her shoulder rather than her chest, her retaliatory backhand rattling his teeth. Blood filled his mouth as he sidestepped the demon's follow-up right cross, grabbed the monster's hair, and pulled her onto his stake.
Xander fell through the demon's exploding ashes and to his knees. "Jeez," he groaned as blood bubbled up into his lips and spat on the floor before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. "Shit," he stared with disgust at the shattered phone before flinging it into the bushes, crawling over to a lamppost and pulling himself to his feet.
Every muscle aching and his vision in his left eye almost completely gone, he began stumbling in the direction of Wes' house, swaying like a drunkard repeating the same slurred mantra over and over. "One foot in front of the other, one foot-."
"Yes, of course Kate, I'd love to-." Wesley's eyes widened at a crashing at the front door. "Oh I'm sorry dear," his eyes widened as the door splintered open and a bloodied Xander collasped onto the hallway floor, "have to go." He hung up and rushed over, pulling the barely conscious boy up. "Good lord Xander, what happened?" His heart skipped a beat as he registered Faith's absence. "Xander! Where's Faith?"
Aurelius beamed as Angelus walked in, the Slayer lying limply over his shoulder. "Excellent!" he boomed. "Put her down here." He impatiently tapped the table.
"Sure," the Irish vampire flopped the Slayer down.
"Excellent," he repeated before tearing the Slayer's shirt off and starting to strap her down.
"Bloody hell," commented Spike, "I haven't seen a pair like them since last time I was in Bristol."
"Oh Grand-Daddy ain't planning on any fun, 'least not now!"
"Correct," Aurelius nodded towards Drusilla while simultaneously jabbing a needle into the unconscious beauty's chest and doing the same with another needle in her arm. "The procedure to take a Slayer and turn them into a vampire is a complex one. First one must use a drug that the Council uses to rob rebellious Slayers of their power," he pointed at the iv bag heading into the Slayer's chest, "while at the same time also taking all their blood," he glanced at the needle draining the Slayer.
"Why can't you just feed on them?" Spike asked.
"Because then some of their own blood would be in that they take from you nullifying the drugs?" Darla guessed.
"Precisely," Aurelius smiled at the blonde's astuteness. Clearly while Angelus was the group's apparent leader, the blonde was the power behind the throne. "Then, as the last of the blood leaves the Slayer, I drip my own blood into her mouth. And then when she awakens, all that she is is ours. She will still be the Slayer, but unlike turned Slayers before her, the vampire will be in control and not the Slayer."
Spike leered at the unconscious beauty. "Can't wait for that."
Aurelius shot the bleached blond a hard look. If the vampire thought he could get away with such disrespect to his mate, there would be a lesson coming his way. "Clear this room, I wish to be alone."
Giles gasped as Xander finished an incoherent ramble about the return from the death of the Scourge members. Added to what a horror-stricken Cordelia had reported and they were in a lot of trouble. "It would appear," an ashen-faced Wesley broke in, "we now know just what massacred the Wolfram & Hart office."
"Yes," Giles nodded dazedly. A resurrection of this magnitude would take one of the major players, someone with vast resources and knowledge. Obviously whatever Wolfram & Hart's plan had been, it had gone gorily awry.
"Why do you think they took Faith?"
Giles shuddered at Freddy's question. All sorts of answers came to mind, none of them particularly comforting. "Why they took Faith is unimportant," Wesley fiercely interrupted, "getting her back is."
"Quite," Giles nodded. "At least we know where they are."
"Let's get going then," a battered-looking Xander tried to rise, only to be firmly but gently pushed down by Wood.
"I hardly think either you or Cordelia will be of much assistance," Wesley commented.
"My wrist will be mended in a couple of hours!" protested Cordelia.
"And we can't afford to wait," Giles said. "We'll leave you and Xander in the armoury and take you both to the hospital when we know everything's safe. Now here's the plan."
Alonna swallowed nervously as she made her way up the path, Kennedy by her side. The house was guarded by a trio of apparently armoured vampires. The three demons rose from their lounging at their approach, grins appearing on their faces.
"Come on Will," Alonna muttered, waiting for the witch's diversion.
"YOU DARE TO FLEE MY HELL!"
"Wow," Kennedy muttered as Willow's magically-amplified and distorted voice boomed out, the ground underfoot shaking and the house's windows exploding inwards in multiple glassy showers. "The witch has serious juice."
"Yeah," Alonna muttered as the trio of vampires looked towards the house, "let's get them. I'll take the middle one."
"Right!" Heat burst out of the Potential's hands, consuming the flanking bloodsuckers and turning them to ash. At the same time Alonna summonsed down lighting, the bolt striking the central demon, turning him to ash.
"Excellent girls." Alonna beamed at Giles' cultured tones inside her head. "Now if you'll retreat, we'll deal with the rest."
The Master hurried through the house. They were obviously under attack, but who would dare?
Suddenly the brick wall to his left imploded in, the black youth from before charging through to grab him around the waist and crashing him into the far wall. His elbow swung back at his rival, cannoning off his forehead.
The vampire hunter loosened his grip and stumbled back, ducking under The Master's retaliatory haymaker before leaping in with a left to his torso. The Master groaned as impossible pain tore through him. His fangs bared, he leapt towards his rival, only to stumble sideways when he caught a backhander to the jaw.
The African-American smirked at him before feinting with a kick that the Master ignored before leaping into the attack with a knee into the gut that the boy slapped away before crashing a butt into his face. The Master grunted as he felt something break in his face. He reached up to grab at the hands suddenly on either side of his head, then screamed as his head tore clean off his shoulders.
Angelus grinned as he turned a corner and came face to face with a hands in pockets intensely staring Giles. "Ah, Rupes, 'tis a pleasure to be seein' ye!" he crowed. He might not get the Slayer, but he could kill the Watcher.
Giles smiled darkly. "I hardly think you'll be saying that in a moment."
"Oh aye?" Angelus' grin widened as he strutted towards the unflinching Englishman. "And how do you figure to do that when your powers don't work on us demons?"
Giles matched his smirk with one of his own. "By distracting you."
"What-." Angleus gasped as he felt something entering his back, he twisted his head to look over his shoulder in time to see a materialising Jenny jamming a stake into his chest.
Faith's eyes fluttered open as noise thundered in, a moan escaping her as her limbs contracted powerfully, the straps restraining her snapping. Aurelius spun around as she leapt to her feet and dropped into a boxer's stance "The Cruicatmen drugs should have depowered you! How?"
Faith smirked at the master vampire's amazement. "My guess is you're not exactly a comics booker reader, but Spider-Woman's immune to poison," she hid a grimace as she tore the IVs out of her chest. Trouble was, she wasn't immune to blood loss, and she had to have lost a couple of pints. She blinked as her vision momentarily blurred, then forced a smile. This was gonna have to be quick. Faith smirked at the demon, Aurelius was six foot with wide shoulders, thick chest, and powerful arms. The skin on his face was stretched, giving his ape-like skull a skeletal look. "So you gonna do what vamps do when they see me, and run or have your balls actually dropped?"
A growl rumbled out of the mountainous vampire's chest, his eyes flashing golden. "I was going to make you my queen, you little whore. But now I'm going to make a torturous example of the futility of Slayers."
"Money talks," Faith cocked her head to one side. Fuck she felt woozy. "Bullshit walks."
The demon growled before charging her, leading with a right cross that Faith pulled her head out of the way of, only to be left open to a left hook to her body, just above her hips and under her guard's elbows. Faith wheezed as the air gusted out of her, twisting away from the blow's impact and into a slap to the face.
Faith staggered back, head ringing. The gigantic vampire laughed before jumping at her. Faith leapt backwards, back-flipping over the gurney. Faith grunted as she hit the floor on her ass, feet slamming out to hit the gurney, and knock it into the demon's path. "Grrr!" Aurelius backhanded the table into the wall. "And how do you," Faith gasped as the demon grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground, "intend to slay me without even a weapon, little girl?"
"I got my ideas." Faith grinned defiantly even as she gurgled for air, black dots swirling before her eyes. Her feet came up and crashed in the vampire's thick chest.
Aurelius let out a surprised grunt as he stumbled backwards, Faith backwards somersaulting into a crouch. The demon charged back at her, a snarl parting his lips. Faith ducked under her adversary's haymaker and grabbed the demon around the waist. Her legs shook beneath her as she lifted him off the floor, her condition not helped by a teeth-rattling elbow to the back of her head, but then she dumped him head-first on the ground and leapt for the IV stand.
Her hands were barely closing around it when Aurelius leapt to his feet and charged her. "Slut!" The heavy-set demon crashed into her, knocked her from her feet.
Faith grunted as her face slammed into the wall, blood filling her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Aurelius charging in and shot out a back-heel kick that caught the demon on his thigh, knocking his right to the back of her head off-target and into the wall above her head. Faith spun around, her elbow shooting up and into Aurelius' jaw, the vampire stumbling backwards. Faith scooped up the IV stand and swung it up, into, and through the vampire's neck, ripping the blunt implement through the demon's throat.
"Not so fuckin' tough now!" Faith exulted as the vampire burst into ash. She blinked as her vision blurred, sweat exploded on her suddenly body, and she began swaying drunkenly from side to side. "Shit," she slurred. "I don't feel so-."
Then anything went black, her legs turning to rubber under her.
Warren stopped, eyes widening as he stared at the man sat behind the walnut-brown desk. "I…I thought you were dead."
"Oh, I'm far too valuable of an asset to be allowed to simply die." Manners smiled. "An executive contract with W&H does not terminate with something as every day as death. You said you had an offer to make, according to Reception and Security you were quite insistent in fact."
"Yeah," Warren licked his lips, his plan all of a sudden seeming shaky now he was about to put it in action. "I'm from Sunnydale, I'm like that bitch Lehane."
Manners chuckled. "Somehow I doubt that."
"You and your company, you know about Hero City and how it changed everyone don't you?" Warren continued at Manners' nod. "Well me and my associates all went to Hero City for our costumes too, but we're smarter than Lehane and her gang. We realise that our talents could make us very rich, so that's what we wanna do, become rich."
Manners stared across his desk at him for a second before speaking. "You've got my interest, I'm listening."
Warren licked his lips again. "We'll wipe out Lehane and her gang for you, no charge." After all, putting a bullet through that uppity bitch's head would be a pleasure. "That'll sort of prove just how good we are. Then you'll give me one point two million every year for five years and all my people nine hundred gs every year for five years, as well as your legal protection. In exchange for that, we'll work as your dirty tricks squad, intimidating or killing anyone who gets in your way, stealing evidence, that sorta thing."
"Long-term thinking, I like that," Manners pursed his lips together. "It's a very tempting offer. Very tempting and a little revolutionary." The lawyer paused again. "How many people are in your team?"
"Ten including myself," Warren replied.
"Um, that comes to nine million, three hundred thousand dollars a year," Manners leaned back in his seat. "A princely sum."
"It's chicken-feed to a firm your size," Warren commented.
"Young man," the lawyer chuckled. "That sum of money isn't chicken-feed to anyone. I could however be persuaded to pay if you tell me just who possessed each of you and the sort of abilities you were left with." The man's pen scratched against paper as Warren talked. Once Warrant had finished the lawyer looked up, a genial smile that didn't reach up into his eyes creasing his lined face. "Yes, your offer is very interesting indeed. I'll speak to the senior partners, if I get their approval and I think I will, I'll speak to Accounts and Contracts." The man's fingers drummed out a thoughtful cadence on the desk before him. "Come back at eight tonight, and we'll talk."