See first chapter for disclaimers.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Storyseeker for beta-reading this. As usual, if you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.
PREVIOUSLY: Magi-Nation
It's Elementary
"We gotta catch that thing," Xander panted, trying to keep up with Faith who was straining to keep up with the vampire that had managed to hitch a ride from their last stop. "It doesn't belong here!"
Their last stop had been a close parallel to their own reality, but as they discovered to their disappointment, they'd had counterparts there. After much initial confusion, they had added their experience and a little extra muscle to the locals' efforts to solve the current crisis. Then, the dimension hopping hunters had moved on. Unfortunately, one of the demon sorcerer's minions, the one vampire they'd missed, had taken the opportunity to make a dash for it, straight through the portal.
Sadly, it had not been a bright sunny day on the other side, and the vampire had vanished down a darkened street of what appeared to be a Japanese city. Neither of the hunters knew which one, and at the moment, it didn't seem important. What was important was not losing sight of the vampire who seemed to have been an Olympic sprinter when alive. Neither wanted to be stuck following a trail of bodies; so, they pushed themselves harder. Barely a minute later, though, they rounded a corner onto a crowded street and lost track of him.
"Damn," Faith snapped, scanning the crowd. They hadn't gotten a very good look at him. All they knew was that he was a white male wearing a dark jacket. They found the jacket a moment later, in a trashcan, and since it was fairly warm, the lack of a jacket was no help in spotting the vamp.
"How do we find it now?" Xander asked, looking around for anyone who was hurrying or trying to hide. Unfortunately, the vampire had managed to blend in with the crowd. No one was running. No one was trying to quietly skulk away, sneaking glances over their shoulder at the two demon hunters. No one was acting strangely at all. He glanced at Faith. "Can you sense it? Giles was always telling Buffy she should be able to sense them."
"My Watcher told me the same," Faith nodded. "But I was never any good at it."
"Now might be a good time to practice," Xander pointed out. "This guy's gonna leave a messy trail." Faith grimaced, but nodded. She stopped on a relatively clear street corner and closed her eyes, concentrating on her underused Slayer' senses. For a full minute she didn't move or speak. Then she frowned slightly.
"This way…maybe?"
"I'll take a maybe," Xander said, following her down the street and into a series of narrow alleys. There wasn't much light, as most of the businesses that had back doors opening into those alleys had already closed for the night. The occasional pool of light created by a security lamp was all that kept the area from being pitch black. It was when they neared the outlet to a busier street that they found what they had been dreading they would.
"Damn," Faith muttered as she knelt to examine the body of the middle-aged man next to the trash bin. He'd likely been taking out the garbage from one of the nearby shops when he'd been attacked. The throat had been all but torn out in the vampire's haste to feed. She checked the victim's mouth, as her watcher had taught her and fortunately, found nothing. He hadn't been turned. "Good thing the creep was in a hurry. Turning someone takes more time."
"Come on," Xander urged. "We've got to go before someone…sees…..us. Oh, great." Faith looked up to see a small boy standing in the mouth of the alley, watching them. Xander rose slowly and spread his hands. "Don't worry, kid. We didn't do this. You didn't happen to see an American man run out of this alley, did you?"
"No," the boy said calmly, "and I know you didn't kill him. Wounds like that bleed a lot, and there's no blood on either of you." He glanced about the alley as he walked forward. "Or anywhere else, save a bit on his clothes. It looks like he was killed elsewhere and dumped here. It seems likely the killer changed the victim's clothes as well, maybe to get rid of evidence."
The two demon hunters glanced at each other, caught by surprise by the boy's assessment. "Somebody's been watching too many murder mysteries." Xander turned back to the kid. "That seems likely," he allowed. "How do you know we weren't the ones dumping the body, though?"
Faith looked at him as if questioning his sanity.
"My friend Genta found the body a couple of minutes ago, and ran to get me, but he didn't mention seeing you two or anyone else nearby. I'd guess you just arrived and know something about the killer."
"A couple minutes ago?!" Faith snapped. "Crap, we're farther behind him that I thought!" She stood up and took Xander by the arm, pulling him along. "We gotta get after him. Nice meetin' ya, Sherlock."
They dashed by the boy and onto the street, where Faith picked what she hoped was the right direction and took off. Neither noticed the boy looking after them with a thoughtful expression.
They found another victim about two miles away. This time, they were lucky. The vampire, apparently believing it had lost them, was trying to change this one. Faith separated the two with a kick as the vamp raised its bleeding wrist to the woman's mouth. The demon staggered, but didn't go down. Flush with freshly stolen blood, it was ready for a fight. There was an exchange of blows too fast for most to follow, as Xander snagged the falling woman and pulled her out of harm's way. Pressing a handkerchief to her bleeding neck, he pulled out a cellphone he'd acquired along the way, hoping it would work in that world and that 911 would get them an ambulance. Unfortunately, it didn't. Not knowing what number to dial, he concentrated on staunching the flow, realizing that he wouldn't know where to tell them to send an ambulance anyway.
Faith's latest opponent was proving surprisingly skilled, matching her blow for blow. The Slayer still had the edge, though, and gradually pushed the demon back. More of her blows got through as she determined his style and his limits. He had the edge in speed, but Faith was stronger and knew tricks the demon didn't. Getting the upper hand, she knocked him back against the wall of the alley in which they'd found him with his intended victim.
Deciding he'd had enough, the vampire made a run for it. He ran by Xander, who was too busy with the woman to do anything. Looking to the street, the demon saw four kids standing in the mouth of the alley, blocking his way. The vampire showed his true face, hoping to scare them out of the way, as the Slayer was already hot on his heels. Three of the kids quailed at the sight and backed away, but Xander noted the kid they'd met earlier didn't seem phased. He set down a brick he was carrying, did something to his shoe, and kicked it. To everyone's surprise, the brick sped toward the vampire as if fired from a cannon. It struck the bloodsucker in the chest, sending him reeling back, directly onto Faith's stake. Its eyes widened in surprise just before it fell to dust.
"Thanks, kid," Faith grinned. "Nice kick."
"What happened to that man?" the boy demanded as his friends gaped.
"He went poof," she shrugged. "Vampires tend to do that when they're staked."
"Vampire?" the boy scoffed.
"You're clever," Xander smirked. "You'll figure it out. In the meantime, our ride is here." He pointed toward the portal that had opened silently further back in the alley. "I tried calling an ambulance," he told the kids, "but I couldn't get through. Would you…?" One of the boys nodded and fished a cellphone out of his pocket. Xander gestured at the girl in the group. "Can you keep pressure on the wound till help gets here?" She nodded and took over. "Great. Thanks for the help, kids." He and Faith walked through the portal.
OOOOOOOOOO
"What's bugging the brat?" Kogoro asked his daughter, as he propped his feet up on his desk and opened another beer.
"Not sure, dad," she admitted. "I guess that body he found must've really unsettled him. He just paces in his room, muttering to himself about special effects and hallucinogenic gas." She shrugged. "Must've been a weird case."
