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Chapter 25- War Zone
"Now I'm wondering what is it about this one that will make us think", Willow said.
"Only one way to find out", Buffy said as she started the recording.
A dark-skinned girl was walking down an alley in a bad part of town, looking scared while looking over her shoulder from time to time as she sped up. 3 Vampires were after her. She came to a dead end and turned to face the 3. Then there were steps and sound of a car behind the Vampires and one of them turned. "You." A pair of black shoes, black pants, sword, long black coat was seen on a dark-skinned boy wearing a black bandana. Gunn! "You expecting somebody else?" A pick-up truck with more armed youngsters pulled up behind him and another teenager with a loaded crossbow stepped up beside him.
"Gunn!" Willow recognized him.
"That's Charles Gunn?" Buffy asked and Willow nodded.
"The muscle of Angel Investigations, right?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, it's him", Willow said.
"But considering Angel is a strong Vampire, wouldn't he already be the muscle?" Dawn half-asked, half-said.
"Good point", Tara agreed.
"Second muscle", Willow shrugged.
"So these children consider themselves Vampire Hunters", Giles noted.
"If you actually saw Gunn, you'd realize they are Vampire Hunters", Willow told him.
Angel, Cordelia and Wesley walked into a Hollywood party at someone's house, Cordelia saying she liked the smell of money and Angel said she could find it if hidden in the office, as if it was an uncanny ability. Cordelia noted their client and they walked to meet him. His name was David Nabbit, and all of them introduced themselves.
"She likes money that much? Anya did too", Xander said.
"Maybe you have a type", Tara told him.
"My type is usually Demon", Xander joked as they all laughed.
Cordelia then noticed Welling Harding in the party but David had no idea as he didn't know most of the people, and offered them all some appetizers. After some talk, Angel inquired about the case and David said it was about blackmail before mentioning 'Dungeons and Dragons', and Angel thought he meant actual dungeons and Dragons, but Wesley corrected that David meant the RPG.
"Wesley knows what Dungeons and Dragons is. Guess he finally started going out", Xander noted.
"Yeah, looks like it", Dawn agreed with a nod.
"Even I know what that is", Giles said.
"You started going out too?" Buffy asked as he just chuckled in amusement like the rest.
David said he used to play a lot in high school as you got to be someone else in a fantasy world for a while and did a lot of things including romancing exotic demon princesses, and then he said he'd gotten serious about the demon romance part, so they went to a place. Wesley knew it was Madame Dorion's, a Demon brothel, where David had gone 12 times, and the guy with the pictures was Lenny Edwards, who he couldn't find. David handed Angel a picture of a smoking bald guy in a jacket and he put it in his jacket, agreeing to find the guy as they decided to mingle and David greeted a girl who was greeting him without knowing who she was, and said LA had a whole new world no one saw, Angel agreeing.
"So he took the Demon romancing seriously", Tara said before turning to Xander. "You sure you aren't related to him?"
"I don't go to Demon brothels!" Xander sputtered as all laughed at him.
"We do know one person who did though", Willow said.
"Yeah, and he was an idiot", Buffy said.
"But you and Riley are kind of friends still, right?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah we are, but he was still an idiot there", Buffy told her.
"Can't disagree", Dawn said with a nod.
The youngsters were battling the Vamps, though they were being overpowered but their cooperation and numbers helped them keep standing. One Vamp flipped a boy down and was about to stab him with his stake when he was nailed by a stake from the stake gun mounted on the pick-up truck, getting dusted. Another was fighting against five of them simultaneously before Gunn blocked his strike, sliced him and then beheaded him. A Vamp lunged at the guy with the stake gun but he fired a stake and it dusted him in mid-air.
"Okay, that looked cool", Dawn said.
"I know right? These kids do know what they're doing", Xander nodded.
"But they are putting themselves in danger", Buffy noted.
"Isn't that what we do every day?" Willow asked.
"Not like this", Buffy said. "I mean, I'm a Slayer, they are just kids way over their heads."
"From how they're taking them on, I think we can safely say they have a lot of experience", Tara told Buffy. "Just because they are not us or Team Angel doesn't mean they're doing wrong by fighting Demons, as long as it's only the bad ones they target."
Buffy considered herself the law when it came to the supernatural, so seeing a team that wasn't the Scooby Gang or Team Angel fighting Demons was, well, new to her. And she had no idea what she felt about it.
The gun then got jammed as another Vamp broke a boy's neck and ran while another was staked behind him. That Vamp jumped on the truck and kicked the gunner called Bobby back as the girl, Alonna, yelled a warning. The Vamp and Bobby fought as Bobby was beaten down and the Vamp was about to kill him when Alonna attacked him with a pike and Gunn arrived as the Vamp took off with a few others. A boy aimed a crossbow at them but Gunn lowered his hand, telling him to dog the Vamp instead. The boy did as told while Gunn and Alonna got Bobby to the truck's bed and the driver drove off on Gunn's command. They eventually stopped at a deserted building where Bobby was helped inside and the others covered the truck with tarp before following.
"They seem to have a full setup there", Giles noted. "They have been doing this for a long time."
"And they're prepared too, if reckless", Tara added.
Gunn and Alonna led Bobby inside and gently lowered him to the ground as he said the Vamp had picked him like a baby even though he wasn't one. Alonna said he needed a doctor but then Bobby stopped moving as Gunn said not anymore.
Everyone seemed a little saddened, since this was just more unnecessary loss of life.
Gunn got up, asking James about the plans for the night as he put his sword away, where several other swords were hung, and guns were kept too. James told him all the plans, including not taking squatters as Gunn said all had to eat.
"All right, I admit, they do take this seriously, but is this really necessary?" Buffy asked. "All of this?"
"Maybe that's all they ever had to their lives", Tara told Buffy.
Angel walked to Madame Dorion's, seeing various kinds of Demon girls sitting with customers as Dorion told Angel they didn't do Vampires but he said he came to talk, asking about Lenny Edwards, but she didn't want to talk, so Angel told her one of her clients had been secretly photographed and blackmailed here and it'd be bad for business if that got out, so he was trying to stop it. Now Dorion agreed, asking about the girl, but Angel didn't know so he told David's name, and then Lina was called. She had quills for hair, and ran her hand over Angel's chest, calling him pretty but Dorion said he was a Vamp, and Lina said she could make an exception as long as Angel didn't Vamp out.
"What is it about him?" Xander asked.
"The broodiness attracts you know?" Willow told him with a chuckle.
Lina turned to look at Dorion as Angel caught her tail in one hand and Dorion told Lina that Angel had different reasons for being here. Angel then held out Lenny's picture and Lina groaned about Vampires.
"They have their own brothels, guess it's bad for your business", Xander said.
"Probably is, since Vampires look human, and humans consider human looking people prettier, so they'd usually go there than at a Demon brothel", Buffy agreed.
"All this talk is messing up my mind", Dawn said.
"Then shut your eyes and cover your ears", Buffy said as Dawn pouted.
Alonna later found Gunn and went to talk to him about Bobby, but he said that was done. Alonna told him they were dying as Gunn said all died and he was making sure they didn't come back from it, but Alonna told him he was getting reckless, calling him out on it. Gunn asked if she thought he liked it, and she said he loved it as he wanted to get close to death. Gunn said she was wrong and Alonna hoped so since she didn't want to lose him. Gunn took her hand and kissed her, assuring her it wouldn't happen.
"She's not wrong about him", Tara said. "He does seem to like this too much for his own good."
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around them actually doing all this", Buffy said.
"Come on, Buff, we all know that Slayers or Vampires with souls can't be everywhere at once, and Watchers can't either, so it's not unreasonable to think that normal people would take up the fight somewhere", Xander pointed out to her.
"Yeah, but I guess I never gave much thought to it", Buffy said.
Two guys came around as Gunn talked to them and they informed him they'd found a Vamp nest, and Gunn decided it was time to do damage. A guy hurried downstairs with a crossbow and said one was incoming this way from rooftop to rooftop, and they decided to check it out.
"Angel", Willow said in realization.
"Which means this won't end well", Dawn sighed.
Lenny was about to get into his car when Angel came up behind him as Lenny asked what he wanted and he said he wanted love, family and a place on the planet he could call his own, but he wouldn't have those, and if Lenny didn't tell him what he wanted to hear, he wouldn't have those either.
"Hell of a way to answer that question", Xander said.
Angel asked about David's pictures as Lenny tried to play dumb, but Angel told him he'd only get one lie. Lenny patted Angel's shoulder, telling him he wouldn't want to see his bad side as Gunn and his gang came to watch from behind some bars. Angel said. "You show me yours", he Vamped out. "I'll show you mine." He grabbed Lenny and pushed him against the car, telling him now he was taking over and would dog him till he gave him what he wanted, so Lenny nodded and Angel gave him a shove as he turned to unlock his car and when he turned around, Angel was gone. He got into his car and drove off while Gunn told Chain the Vampire won't stay long if he moved in.
"They took his words out of context, didn't they?" Buffy asked.
"I doubt they even understood the context", Giles told her.
"Which means a mess is about to be made", Dawn said to them all.
David wrote a check to Cordelia and Wesley, thanking them for being at the party as he had paid them for it but they'd actually hung with him and it was special. Cordelia took the check and was speechless at the amount, and David said their hard work was being rewarded, though Wesley said they hadn't finished the job yet, but David wasn't concerned and said they could call him David, and Cordelia agreeing, saying it was a strong masculine name that felt good in the mouth. Wesley assured David he wouldn't be disappointed by their services, and the two walked off as Wesley inquired about the mouth comment and Cordelia said she was flustered.
"Well, she and Anya are more alike than I thought". Xander said. "Both love money."
"And they seem to have gotten quite the amount this time", Giles noted.
"Which means their financial problems are gonna either reduce or be over", Dawn said with a smile.
"Looks like it. Must be good to have a genuine wealthy benefactor", Willow said.
"Yes, must be", Tara agreed.
"Why don't you charge, Buffy?" Dawn asked her.
"Never thought about it", Buffy told her. Though maybe she should have, she thought now, since always playing the moral high ground clearly didn't work. And she had almost destroyed herself in her sixth year due to her financial problems.
Lenny was in his car, looking at an envelope when Angel appeared, making Lenny call him sneaky as Angel asked about the photographs, and he held up the envelope while saying he had something extra. A gray skinned Demon then jumped next to Angel and hit him hard enough for him to fly few feet backwards through the air.
"You shouldn't have done that", Buffy said to Lenny.
"Yeah, just giving the photos would have been a smart move, you're trying to be oversmart", Willow said.
Angel tried to fight as the Demon slammed him onto Lenny's car but Angel freed himself and they fought more, Angel tripping the Demon before being kicked into Lenny, who ended up dropping the envelope. Angel took it and put it in his coat before running to a lamp post and swinging around it to kick the Demon. He then ducked and deflected some blows before being punched back and was lifted up, but he grabbed the Demon's face and it dropped him as Angel broke its neck while Lenny ran off.
"And it's done", Dawn said.
"But Gunn would still be around", Tara pointed out as they tensed.
Angel caught himself on the ground, trying to recover from the fight when a stake impaled his left shoulder, poking out the front. Angel grabbed it and turned to see Gunn and his gang with the truck and getting up, pulled the stake out before running as the gang chased him with the truck.
"Interesting first meeting", Buffy muttered, not sure what else to say.
"Now they're targeting one who's not bad", Xander said. "Not that they have any way of knowing but still."
Angel zig-zagged and tossed around trashcans to slow down the truck and then rolled underneath a partially open warehouse door, leaning against it and panting when a wooden ram mounted on the truck burst through the door, barely missing him.
All cringed at how close it was.
Angel ran deeper, stumbling against some boxes and stepped on a plate as a pallet with stakes mounted fell down but he rolled to avoid getting impaled. A guy with a stake jumped him from behind as Angel grabbed his hand, trying to stop him from staking him and eventually tossed him down, taking his stake, but didn't stab him and dropping the stake, ran off as the guy stared in surprise. Angel ran through a tripwire and triggered some crossbows, dodging the bolts when a guy with a bat attacked but was tossed away and so was another. He kicked back 2 more gang members and as Alonna attacked, took her hostage.
"Oof!" Buffy said. "This is getting worse."
"The kids are attacking, he is defending himself", Tara said. "Not a choice really."
Gunn stopped the others from shooting as Angel asked what they were playing at, and Gunn said they weren't, to which Angel said they would get themselves killed. Gunn said they'd kill him first as Chain decided to dust him. Angel tossed Alonna aside as she fell on a trip cord, triggering a crossbow but Angel intercepted the projectile with his hand before it could hit Alonna. He told the other guys he was getting the impression they didn't like him much as he pulled it out of his hand, while saying he was overreacting. Gunn asked if he was gonna pretend he was different from the rest, and Angel said he was, saying he was impressed by their work and would give some suggestions but Gunn wasn't interested. Angel said they were on the same side but Gunn told him never to come back, and the gang left as Angel sank down from the pain.
"They aren't going to listen to reason, the war mentality has gotten to their heads", Giles said.
"Just like a Slayer", Buffy realized. "Most Slayers ended up alone usually, and had war mentalities. These people are similar to a Slayer in that sense."
Next day, Wesley took the pictures from Angel as Cordelia bandaged his side, and Wesley said this was good work and looked at a picture in shock but Angel said it was upside down and he sighed in relief.
Everyone chuckled.
Cordelia asked how Angel felt and he said better, asking him to rest as Angel said he needed to find the kids as they probably didn't have homes and were living somewhere together, and could be many. Some were probably about 16, and Cordelia was shocked that 20 minutes from a billionaire, they had kids going to war.
"Small world, Cordy", Xander said.
Angel said the kids had been pushed to this and Wesley said he could understand their mindset, and Cordelia agreed, saying to them a good Vampire would sound stupid but Angel said they would get themselves killed and asked Wesley to find out where they lived, to which he agreed as Angel decided to find the nest and went to the elevator, still hurting, and asked to see the check again.
"So the check relieves pain, got it", Dawn said and they chuckled again.
At the Vampire next, their leader Knox said they'd let this happen to themselves, so now they had to make it right, and staked the Vamp that had run from Gunn's gang, announcing they would go for the group's heart now.
"Now they're coming for them too, it's going to be an all-out war", Buffy said. "That's the kind of thing we're supposed to usually avoid."
"Sometimes it can't be helped", Xander said.
"This one is avoidable though, but because of both the groups' actions, it's gonna happen", Buffy pointed out.
At Gunn's hideout, Alonna said Angel was different and knew stuff the others didn't. Gunn said the guy bugged him but Alonna said everyone did, making Gunn say she bugged him the most. Alonna said she was trying to keep him alive and asked to trust him, but Gunn wasn't sure what Angel's play was.
"He is here to keep you safe", Tara said.
"But due to his mentality, he can't think of it that way", Willow pointed out.
Angel walked to the deserted Vamp nest with a stake, and a Vampire hiding on the pipes ran across the ceiling, dropping down but Angel just casually stepped to a side and pulled the Vamp up off the floor, slamming him to the wall as he asked where the other Vamps were.
"They're already over at Gunn's, aren't they?" Xander asked and Buffy nodded. "Thought so."
All tensed now.
Alonna had some food for Gunn, who was working on some machinery but he wasn't hungry, and told him two of his men Poe and Jason had gone to the market, then offered him food again, and said they might get a home cooked meal, but noticed his attention was off her, and then he told her to get everybody out as Alonna told all to run while Gunn picked his sword as a smoke grenade flew in, and Gunn yelled to get out into the daylight. One said they had to be invited.
"If they don't stay here too long, then it's not theirs", Giles said. "But I don't think anyone is coming in."
"Invitation rules are weird", Xander said.
Alonna led everyone out when Chain noted no one was coming, and Gunn realized their play. Alonna dropped over the railing to the floor of the alley as a van pulled up and a heavily swaddled guy in a gas mask grabbed her, dragging her to the back and the doors slammed shut as Gunn arrived and ran after the van, jumping to the back bumper. He saw two Vamps snacking on his screaming sister, and one looked up, putting his fist through the window as Gunn was thrown off.
"Oh God!" Buffy said, holding Dawn tighter and closer, imagining if she was in Alonna's place. Dawn knew why Buffy was holding her and grasped her tighter too to assure her she was there.
"His sister….." Xander trailed off, feeling angry at the Vamps and sad for Gunn.
"Poor guy, she was probably all that meant to him", Tara said sadly.
"And now he has lost her", Willow muttered.
"A man with nothing to lose, is the second most dangerous kind of man", Giles said, feeling sympathy for Gunn himself.
"Who's the most dangerous kind?" Xander asked out of curiosity.
"One who has everything to lose", Giles told him.
Cordelia and Wesley were cruising the neighborhood in Angel's convertible, and then Wesley stopped, scanning with binoculars, and noticed a man exiting an alley with a shopping cart, and then realized the kids got power into their place by tapping power lines illegally, so he asked Cordelia to ask the man about the kids while he'd check for taps on the power line. Cordelia asked why it couldn't be the opposite and Wesley said she could imagine the guy as a buff, young stud while he was stuck with the naked truth, then walked out.
Wesley's joke brought some levity into the room.
"I am sure that would work on her", Xander said.
Angel grabbed a kid on guard called James and asked him to invite him. As the gang geared up, Angel walked in, pushing James in front as he told them they'd get people killed, but Gunn told Angel not to be around. Angel said they expected him to go after them but Gunn countered he didn't need advice from a middle-class white dude who was dead, telling him he had no idea of this kind of life, but Angel said all of them would die.
"Listen to reason, Gunn", Willow said.
"Right now, he seems like he doesn't want to", Dawn told her.
Angel said he could help unless they were after death, then they were on their own. Gunn said he was always on his own but Angel said they could do it together, only for Gunn to pull a rope attached to a tarp covering the window, and Angel shied away from direct sunlight when Gunn pushed him into an old meat locker, telling him to figure it out as he slammed it shut. Angel banged on the door as Gunn and the rest left.
"Locking up the guy trying to help you, good going", Xander said.
"He's too unreasonable and emotional right now, his sister just died", Buffy pointed out. "So he's not in the mood for talking."
It was dark as the truck pulled by the Vampire nest, and Gunn told them to wait for 10 minutes while he checked out, and kill anything if he wasn't back in 10. He walked into the lair, holding a stake in his right hand when he heard Alonna humming, and she arrived, asking him what had taken him so long. Gunn's relief was short-lived as he realized she was turned, and started breaking down as Alonna tried to calm him, saying she didn't look dead due to being stronger, faster and better.
"At the cost of your soul", Xander said, everyone feeling even worse for Gunn. His sister being turned was the one thing that was even worse than her just dying. Xander remembered feeling the same way about Jesse.
"Those evil bastards", Dawn snarled about the Vampires.
Alonna pushed against Gunn's chest, sending him flying through the air while Angel banged on the meat locker before switching to the wall beside the door and managed to punch a hole into it. Alonna told Gunn now all they had to do on this side was have fun and kill but Gunn said he couldn't do this. Alonna said he was made for this and wouldn't be miserable anymore, but Gunn said he was supposed to protect her as she was his sister. Alonna said she still was but Gunn shook his head, and she spread her arms, asking him to kill her while saying he couldn't due to his guilt, but she had the biggest guilt cure too.
"It's not a cure", Tara said sadly.
Angel stuck his hand through the hole but couldn't reach the handle when Cordelia arrived and opened it for him, and Wesley was with her too. Wesley said he could have called on his cell phone but Angel said they didn't work and breaking through was easier and he was the boss before leaving as Cordelia said he was welcome.
Everyone chuckled as Willow said. "Just admit you don't know how to use it."
Alonna reminded Gunn of when they were kids in the shelter and he could cross the rotted second floor, and she wanted to be as good as him so she tried but fell and he caught her. He'd always looked out for her, now she'd do the same for him and catch him when he fell, saying he'd want to stop falling now and she'd fix it. She morphed into Vamp face. "Say goodbye to everything you ever knew." She wrapped an arm around his neck and stretched up to bite him. "Goodbye", Gunn said and staked her chest, making her stare at him as she dusted to reveal Angel standing behind her.
Everyone sighed sadly, once more saddened that this had to happen to Gunn and Alonna.
"He's strong", Xander said, and he wasn't talking about physical strength. Xander never had the strength to do this to Jesse, he was just pushed into the stake.
"He lost his family", Willow muttered.
Angel told Gunn they should get out as the rest of the gang arrived while Gunn dropped his stake. Gunn wanted to leave when Vamps arrived, Knox saying Alonna was sweet and now they were getting a war, but Angel told him to go, saying if they did, they'd live. Knox chuckled, calling Angel high as he said LA was his territory and it and the kids were off-limits. "Who the hell are you? You know who you're talking to, you fool?" Knox asked. Angel announced. "The name's Angelus." He staked Knox. "And I wasn't actually talking to you." He looked at the other vamps. "So - do we have a truce? Or do you wanna die?" The Vamps shifted uncomfortably as Chain asked Gunn if he wouldn't kill any Vamps, but he said he had as he walked off, and one by one the gang and the Vamps followed his example.
"No more war zone now", Giles said. "LA is safe from this war."
"Angel saved his city smartly", Buffy said. "And made a new ally in the process too."
"Knox thought he was a big deal when he was talking to the most infamous Vampire ever", Dawn pointed out.
"Life, or unlife in this case, is full of irony", Tara told her.
Wesley later stared at whipped cream on top of a cup he got from a street vendor, saying he'd asked for coffee before he walked to Cordelia, who was thinking of the kids, saying their lives and place were awful and made her first apartment look good. They sat down on a park bench as Wesley said now they had a sense of perspective, and Cordelia said she wanted to prostitute herself to David, making Wesley choke on his coffee as she said he wanted companionship and she could use security, and probably learn to love him, but then finally decided this was fine.
"Even if you want a rich guy, I think you should pick a certain kind", Xander commented.
"Yeah, Nabbit is kind of weird, if good", Willow agreed.
Gunn looked out at LA in the night as Angel arrived, and Gunn asked why he was here to which he said he was skulking professionally. Gunn said he was glad for Angel's help but didn't need any Guardian Angel or talking to, and the fight would go on. Angel said he knew, surprising Gunn who thought he'd go daddy-figure, but Angel said Gunn already knew everything. "I killed her", Gunn said. "You didn't", Angel assured. "Near enough. She was the reason man. How come you do it? How come you're out here?" Gunn asked. "What else are we gonna do? I'll be around", Angel said. "I don't need no help", Gunn told him. "I might", Angel told him. After a moment Gunn looked over but Angel was gone. The screen went black.
"Well, at least they're on good terms now", Tara said. "Rough start aside."
"Worst day for him, he lost his sister and had to stake her", Xander said sadly, seeing how strong Gunn really was, and not a bigot in spite of losing someone close to him to Vampires. "And he's still going strong."
"Some people are like that", Willow told him.
"Well, now I get why this was hard to see too", Buffy said.
"Wanna eat?" Dawn asked.
"I do", Giles said.
"Well then, let's go", Buffy said with a sigh, feeling weary as she shut the TV off and they walked away.
Well, from what I hear people are divided on Gunn. I personally like him a lot but I do think he could have gotten better character arcs later, so he was kind of wasted till Season 5. His role just wasn't defined properly up until Season 5 where they finally gave him an interesting arc.
Still, love the dude, and he's badass. He's not a Slayer or Watcher and has no formal training but he can still throw down with Vampires and other Demons.
Hope everyone enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!