Chapter 19
"There's more than one?" Gunn asked.
"At least two, but we should probably assume there are more." Buffy said.
"Ah, do we have to?" Lorne asked.
"But at least we have one advantage."
"What? They glow in the dark? How is that gonna help unless we shut off all the lights in the. holy crap you're not serious."
Angel inspected the flashlight he'd pulled out of one of the cabinets in his office.
"Those things are hard enough to kill as it is. Buffy speared one and it was strong enough to attack us and escape." Angel handed out flashlights. "This makes them easier to find, I'd say we take the chance."
"All the lights?" Fred asked.
Angel held out a gas lantern to Fred. "Here, take this. Lock yourself in the office. We still need answers, Fred."
"Great."
"Boy, this just keeps getting funner and funner." Gunn said.
"I'm glad to see that you're enjoying yourself," Angel held out a flashlight to Gunn, "because somebody's got to go down in the basement and shut off the power."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." Buffy said. "Angel and I will go with you."
"We will?" Angel asked.
"Yup."
Buffy and Angel followed Gunn down into the basement, while Cordy, Gru, and Lorne remained on the steps.
There was a little squeaking noise and Gunn spun around as Angel stabbed his sword into the junk littering the floor.
"Rat." Buffy said.
"Oh. Rat." Gunn said.
Gunn continued on.
"Everything okay down there?" Cordy called.
Gunn opened the cabinet holding the main disconnect. "Oh, yeah. It's a party. Here is the icing on the cake." He pulled down the lever and all the lights around the Hyperion went out.
Fred looked up from the book she is working on and pulled the lit lantern a little closer to her. She slowly pulled off her glasses as a small wet, squishy sound warns her that she wasn't alone. She turned slowly in her chair and let out a scream as one of the creatures jumped onto her face, forcing its way into her mouth and slithering down her throat.
The others walked down a deserted hallway.
"Uh, where are we?" Lorne asked.
"South wing. We haven't found a use for it yet, so we just keep it closed up." Angel replied.
"Did you hear something?" Buffy asked.
"Sorry, Blondie, all I'm picking up is the loud, erratic thumping of the heart in my mouth." Lorne said.
"No, it sounds like... It almost sounds like..."
"Birds." Angel filled in.
They came up to a set of double doors chained shut and padlocked.
"Do you even have a key for this?" Cordy asked.
Buffy and Angel looked at each other then turning to the doors, kicked them off their hinges.
Fred was sitting hunched up in her chair behind the desk. There is a knock on the door.
"Fred, it's me. Open up." Gunn called.
Fred got up and let him in, then went back to sit in her chair, without looking at Gunn.
"Sorry it took me so long to get back. I took a quick look around to make sure no slimies were lurking. We're good." He noticed Fred hunched up on the desk. "How're you holding up? You're okay?"
"Scared. Very scared."
"I know. It's gonna be okay." He stroked her hair. "We just have to keep it together. Watch each other's backs." Gunn sat down across from her. "You know, when this is over, I think you and me should go away some place, like Cordy and Gru got to do. Maybe Baja. Little sun, sand, I think we deserve it."
"You have to get out of here."
"That's what I'm saying. And we will."
Fred stared at the snow globe in her hand.
"Soon as we kill these creatures, I'll talk to Angel. Maybe he'll..." Gunn trailed off as Fred broke the glass globe and started to gulp down the water inside it. "Fred? Oh, no."
"We're thirsty."
The others made their way across the dark ballroom, overturning tables as they went.
"Ugh! Where is that sound coming from?" Cordy asked.
"Somewhere in this room definitely." Angel said.
"Oh, man! This space is one part 'hum' and two parts 'dinger!' Ever think of turning it into a nightclub?" Angel turned to look at Lorne. "Eh, I'm missing the life. Sue me." Lorne said.
A door opened and Gunn hurried in with Fred, who was gulping down water from a bottle.
"Gunn!" Buffy said.
"We have a serious problem." Gunn said, ushering Fred to the group.
"Oh, no! Fred!"
"We got to get her help and we got to get it fast."
"Fred, can you hear me?" Angel asked.
"It's no good. That thing is jamming her brain. I can't reach her." Gunn informed.
Fred gasped, "Angel?"
"Fred." Angel answered.
"I feel it. It needs... It's thirst..." She picked up the water bottle. "Oh, god, I'm so thirsty."
"Hang on, baby. We're gonna get you to a hospital." Gunn said.
"No, Charles! We... No. It, it wants that. To, to escape, spread. You, you can't let it. Don't let us, it! It will kill." Fred looked at Buffy and Angel. "Oh, it really doesn't like you guys."
"The feeling's mutual." Buffy and Angel said together.
"That's it. Come on." Gunn said as he helped Fred to her feet.
"What are you doing?" Angel asked.
"Getting her out of here."
"After what she said?" Buffy asked.
"I don't give a damn what she said. For all I know it's that thing inside her calling the shots."
"Hey! You can't do this." Angel said, stepping in front of Gunn.
"Get out of my way, Angel."
"Think about this. How is she gonna feel if taking her out of here causes more people to die?"
"She? Or you?"
"Me?"
"All this is happening because of you, what you and Buffy did. This is your fault. Messing with scary-ass mojo no sane people should be messing with."
"We did what we had to do." Buffy said coming up next to Angel.
"You did what you wanted to get what you wanted. The hell with the consequences."
"Our son..."
"Is dead! Fred is not!"
"Hey, hey, hey. We have to stick together." Cordy said.
"Yeah? Where does it say that?" Gunn asked.
"Here! The sounds, they come from under." Gru said, trying to break the tension a little.
Gru started to hack at the floor as the others congregated around him and the hole he was creating. Angel started to help him widen the hole using his sword.
They all leaned over the hole and saw a hundred of those slug-like things swimming in the water below the floor.
"Oh my god. We have a pool?" Cordy asked.
Some of the things jumped up out of the hole onto the floor and everyone backed away from it.
"Run! Move!" Angel and Buffy yelled.
They hurried down a short hall and through another set of doors into the hotel kitchen. Buffy and Angel slammed the doors shut just as some of the creatures launched themselves at the glass windows in the doors.
The others opened another set off doors only to find the floor outside littered with more of the creatures.
"They're all over." Cordy called.
More of the things splatted themselves against the windows in those doors as Lorne locked them shut in their faces.
"No more running! Too hot. Too hot." Fred said.
"Turn on the ovens!" Angel called.
"What, we're gonna cook them?" Buffy asked.
"Cook the air, dry it out. Make it so uncomfortable for them, they won't want in."
Fred screamed as gas flames leaped up from all of the burners.
"Now that's what I call uncomfortable." Lorne said.
"Charles! Where is Charles!" Fred cried.
"What?" Buffy and Angel asked, looking around.
"He's gone!"
Fred sat in the kitchen between Lorne and Cordy, guzzling water.
"Angel, there are too many to fight our way out." Buffy said, holding tightly to Angel's hand.
"I know." Angel said as they walked over to Fred. Angel looked at Fred then took the water bottle away from her.
"No! Need water!" Fred yelled.
"Angel!" Cordy said.
"Go easy!" Lorne interjected
Angel pushed Fred up against a pillar, and held the water out of her reach. "I want to talk to that thing inside of you now. I wanna know what you are."
"We're thirsty." Fred slash slug thing said.
"Work with me, Fred. Make it answer me. What do you want here?"
"To live. To live. To drink," She let out a gasping laugh, "and be merry. It hurts us. We have to get out."
The pipes overhead started to rattle.
"It sounds more like they want in." Buffy said.
"We have to flee. It brings pain. Such pain." Fred said.
"It? What happened to we? What's with the pronoun switcheroo?" Lorne asked.
"What are you fleeing from?" Buffy asked calmly.
"The bringer of torment, agony, death. The destroyer."
"Oh. That is just not the name you wanna hear." Cordy said.
"Why is this destroyer after you?" Buffy ignored Cordy.
"It's not. It's coming after you and Angel." Fred said.
Angel held the water further away.
"No. I need more."
"I need more. Tell me where you come from." Angel said as he started to pour the water on the floor and Fred started to screech and claw at him.
"Fred!"
"You're gonna die so horribly." Fred gasped as cracks appeared on her face. "Oh, god. Help me!"
"Lorne, take her. Gru, shut off the ovens, Cordy, the stoves."
"Angel, why?!" Cordy asked.
"Hurry! You and the others get Fred to the hospital."
They shut off the stoves while Angel opened the tap of every faucet in the place, letting water pour out.
"I thought we talked about that. Infecting the world and all?" Cordy asked.
"We don't have a choice. They can keep her hydrated there. Hopefully long enough to come up with a cure."
"We're surrounded! How are we to get past?" Gru asked.
"We'll keep them occupied. Slow 'em down." Angel said looking to Buffy.
"How do you expect to do that?" Cordy asked.
"By giving them what they want." The sinks started to overflow. "Gru, damsel in distress. You know what to do."
"Angel!"
"Save Fred. Please!"
Gru picked Fred up and Cordy lighted the way for him and Lorne towards the doors.
"Now!" Angel cried. Buffy and Angel kicked the door to the ballroom open and the creatures skittered in.
Lorne opened the doors at the opposite end of the kitchen and walked out as more creatures skittered past his feet to reach the water in the kitchen. Gru makes to follow, but then saw Cordy turning back. He hesitated for a moment.
"Cordy, I told you to get out of here!" Angel said.
Gru watched Cordy join Buffy and Angel in slashing at the creatures around them. He looked down at Fred, then turned and headed out after Lorne.
Gru carried Fred into the lobby with Lorne lighting his way just as Gunn walked in.
"Put my girl down." Gunn said.
"Gunn! Where..." Lorne started.
"News updates later. Just lay her down."
Gru put her down on the stairs. "She requires a healer."
"No, she requires this." Gunn pulled out a bottle of booze. "Hold her down. Do it!" Then to Fred, "Come here, baby. Come here. Come here. Drink. Drink, drink. Drink." Gunn held the bottle to her lips and Fred started to gulp it down, only to push it away, gasping for breath. Buffy, Cordy, and Angel were slashing at the glowworms on the kitchen floor around them.
"Angel! Incoming. Four o'clock." Buffy called.
Angel slashed at the creature. Another one flew through the air, landing on Buffy's up stretched hand.
"Angel."
Gunn was forcing Fred to drink more booze while Gru and Lorne held her.
"Come on, baby, drink." Gunn said.
Fred pulled back and started to choke and cough, finally spitting out the slug. Gru stabbed it before it could skitter more than a few feet. Gunn sat down beside Fred.
Cordy was holding onto a slug, keeping it as far away from her as she could as it flailed at her arm. A bright white light started to illuminate her from the inside.
"Angel..." Cordy started.
Buffy and Angel slowly took a step back away from her, staring.
"What's happening to me?" Cordy cried.
Cordy slowly lowered the bug in her hand, staring at Buffy and Angel as the glow emanating from her became brighter and brighter. A wind started to howl and the light shot out from Cordy, obliterating everything with its brightness.
Lorne, Fred, Gunn, and Gru flinched as a pulse of white light washed over them, then the whole place went dark again.
Lorne stood in the lobby. He switched out his flashlight as the lights came back on. "Okay, unless anyone else has something to say, can I be the first to say: what the hell was that?" Buffy, Angel, and Cordy came out the basement door behind him.
"Cordelia. That was Cordelia." Buffy said.
"You are truly a goddess." Gru said.
Cordy hugged him. "Well, demoness anyway. Beats horns and a tail."
"Hey! I'm standing right here!" Lorne said.
Angel saw Gunn helping Fred to lie down on the couch. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah. I, ah, got this idea. Alcohol dehydrates the body, gets the slug out." Gunn said.
Angel just stood there and looked at Gunn, crossing his arms.
"Okay. So I took off when those things started coming out of the floor. It's not like I was running out on you. I was..." Angel glanced down at Fred. "Look, someone I care about was dying. I couldn't just sit around and debate strategy. I saw an opportunity to, to get some kind of help." Angel just looked at him. "Look, I did what I had to do, and if you don't get that..." Gunn saw Buffy walking up the stairs to get something at the top. "Yeah, I guess you do."
"So, are we good?" Angel asked.
Gunn gave them a slight nod.
"Good? We're not good! Is everyone forgetting we got a little unexpected company on the way? It goes by the initials 'the destroyer?'" Lorne said. Fred sat up. "The destroyer. I remember the destroyer's coming."
"Yeah, we got that. Any idea when?" Cordy said.
"Um, I think now."
Everyone turned as there were some static discharges in the air above the pentagram and an ugly demon beast dropped out of the air. It roared at Angel, but before it could do more, a teenager, dressed in some funky looking leather clothing dropped from the air beside it and beheaded it in the same motion.
Angel stared in shock as the teen raised his right hand and aimed what looked like a spring-loaded stake launcher at him.
"Hi, dad." The teenager said.
"There's more than one?" Gunn asked.
"At least two, but we should probably assume there are more." Buffy said.
"Ah, do we have to?" Lorne asked.
"But at least we have one advantage."
"What? They glow in the dark? How is that gonna help unless we shut off all the lights in the. holy crap you're not serious."
Angel inspected the flashlight he'd pulled out of one of the cabinets in his office.
"Those things are hard enough to kill as it is. Buffy speared one and it was strong enough to attack us and escape." Angel handed out flashlights. "This makes them easier to find, I'd say we take the chance."
"All the lights?" Fred asked.
Angel held out a gas lantern to Fred. "Here, take this. Lock yourself in the office. We still need answers, Fred."
"Great."
"Boy, this just keeps getting funner and funner." Gunn said.
"I'm glad to see that you're enjoying yourself," Angel held out a flashlight to Gunn, "because somebody's got to go down in the basement and shut off the power."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." Buffy said. "Angel and I will go with you."
"We will?" Angel asked.
"Yup."
Buffy and Angel followed Gunn down into the basement, while Cordy, Gru, and Lorne remained on the steps.
There was a little squeaking noise and Gunn spun around as Angel stabbed his sword into the junk littering the floor.
"Rat." Buffy said.
"Oh. Rat." Gunn said.
Gunn continued on.
"Everything okay down there?" Cordy called.
Gunn opened the cabinet holding the main disconnect. "Oh, yeah. It's a party. Here is the icing on the cake." He pulled down the lever and all the lights around the Hyperion went out.
Fred looked up from the book she is working on and pulled the lit lantern a little closer to her. She slowly pulled off her glasses as a small wet, squishy sound warns her that she wasn't alone. She turned slowly in her chair and let out a scream as one of the creatures jumped onto her face, forcing its way into her mouth and slithering down her throat.
The others walked down a deserted hallway.
"Uh, where are we?" Lorne asked.
"South wing. We haven't found a use for it yet, so we just keep it closed up." Angel replied.
"Did you hear something?" Buffy asked.
"Sorry, Blondie, all I'm picking up is the loud, erratic thumping of the heart in my mouth." Lorne said.
"No, it sounds like... It almost sounds like..."
"Birds." Angel filled in.
They came up to a set of double doors chained shut and padlocked.
"Do you even have a key for this?" Cordy asked.
Buffy and Angel looked at each other then turning to the doors, kicked them off their hinges.
Fred was sitting hunched up in her chair behind the desk. There is a knock on the door.
"Fred, it's me. Open up." Gunn called.
Fred got up and let him in, then went back to sit in her chair, without looking at Gunn.
"Sorry it took me so long to get back. I took a quick look around to make sure no slimies were lurking. We're good." He noticed Fred hunched up on the desk. "How're you holding up? You're okay?"
"Scared. Very scared."
"I know. It's gonna be okay." He stroked her hair. "We just have to keep it together. Watch each other's backs." Gunn sat down across from her. "You know, when this is over, I think you and me should go away some place, like Cordy and Gru got to do. Maybe Baja. Little sun, sand, I think we deserve it."
"You have to get out of here."
"That's what I'm saying. And we will."
Fred stared at the snow globe in her hand.
"Soon as we kill these creatures, I'll talk to Angel. Maybe he'll..." Gunn trailed off as Fred broke the glass globe and started to gulp down the water inside it. "Fred? Oh, no."
"We're thirsty."
The others made their way across the dark ballroom, overturning tables as they went.
"Ugh! Where is that sound coming from?" Cordy asked.
"Somewhere in this room definitely." Angel said.
"Oh, man! This space is one part 'hum' and two parts 'dinger!' Ever think of turning it into a nightclub?" Angel turned to look at Lorne. "Eh, I'm missing the life. Sue me." Lorne said.
A door opened and Gunn hurried in with Fred, who was gulping down water from a bottle.
"Gunn!" Buffy said.
"We have a serious problem." Gunn said, ushering Fred to the group.
"Oh, no! Fred!"
"We got to get her help and we got to get it fast."
"Fred, can you hear me?" Angel asked.
"It's no good. That thing is jamming her brain. I can't reach her." Gunn informed.
Fred gasped, "Angel?"
"Fred." Angel answered.
"I feel it. It needs... It's thirst..." She picked up the water bottle. "Oh, god, I'm so thirsty."
"Hang on, baby. We're gonna get you to a hospital." Gunn said.
"No, Charles! We... No. It, it wants that. To, to escape, spread. You, you can't let it. Don't let us, it! It will kill." Fred looked at Buffy and Angel. "Oh, it really doesn't like you guys."
"The feeling's mutual." Buffy and Angel said together.
"That's it. Come on." Gunn said as he helped Fred to her feet.
"What are you doing?" Angel asked.
"Getting her out of here."
"After what she said?" Buffy asked.
"I don't give a damn what she said. For all I know it's that thing inside her calling the shots."
"Hey! You can't do this." Angel said, stepping in front of Gunn.
"Get out of my way, Angel."
"Think about this. How is she gonna feel if taking her out of here causes more people to die?"
"She? Or you?"
"Me?"
"All this is happening because of you, what you and Buffy did. This is your fault. Messing with scary-ass mojo no sane people should be messing with."
"We did what we had to do." Buffy said coming up next to Angel.
"You did what you wanted to get what you wanted. The hell with the consequences."
"Our son..."
"Is dead! Fred is not!"
"Hey, hey, hey. We have to stick together." Cordy said.
"Yeah? Where does it say that?" Gunn asked.
"Here! The sounds, they come from under." Gru said, trying to break the tension a little.
Gru started to hack at the floor as the others congregated around him and the hole he was creating. Angel started to help him widen the hole using his sword.
They all leaned over the hole and saw a hundred of those slug-like things swimming in the water below the floor.
"Oh my god. We have a pool?" Cordy asked.
Some of the things jumped up out of the hole onto the floor and everyone backed away from it.
"Run! Move!" Angel and Buffy yelled.
They hurried down a short hall and through another set of doors into the hotel kitchen. Buffy and Angel slammed the doors shut just as some of the creatures launched themselves at the glass windows in the doors.
The others opened another set off doors only to find the floor outside littered with more of the creatures.
"They're all over." Cordy called.
More of the things splatted themselves against the windows in those doors as Lorne locked them shut in their faces.
"No more running! Too hot. Too hot." Fred said.
"Turn on the ovens!" Angel called.
"What, we're gonna cook them?" Buffy asked.
"Cook the air, dry it out. Make it so uncomfortable for them, they won't want in."
Fred screamed as gas flames leaped up from all of the burners.
"Now that's what I call uncomfortable." Lorne said.
"Charles! Where is Charles!" Fred cried.
"What?" Buffy and Angel asked, looking around.
"He's gone!"
Fred sat in the kitchen between Lorne and Cordy, guzzling water.
"Angel, there are too many to fight our way out." Buffy said, holding tightly to Angel's hand.
"I know." Angel said as they walked over to Fred. Angel looked at Fred then took the water bottle away from her.
"No! Need water!" Fred yelled.
"Angel!" Cordy said.
"Go easy!" Lorne interjected
Angel pushed Fred up against a pillar, and held the water out of her reach. "I want to talk to that thing inside of you now. I wanna know what you are."
"We're thirsty." Fred slash slug thing said.
"Work with me, Fred. Make it answer me. What do you want here?"
"To live. To live. To drink," She let out a gasping laugh, "and be merry. It hurts us. We have to get out."
The pipes overhead started to rattle.
"It sounds more like they want in." Buffy said.
"We have to flee. It brings pain. Such pain." Fred said.
"It? What happened to we? What's with the pronoun switcheroo?" Lorne asked.
"What are you fleeing from?" Buffy asked calmly.
"The bringer of torment, agony, death. The destroyer."
"Oh. That is just not the name you wanna hear." Cordy said.
"Why is this destroyer after you?" Buffy ignored Cordy.
"It's not. It's coming after you and Angel." Fred said.
Angel held the water further away.
"No. I need more."
"I need more. Tell me where you come from." Angel said as he started to pour the water on the floor and Fred started to screech and claw at him.
"Fred!"
"You're gonna die so horribly." Fred gasped as cracks appeared on her face. "Oh, god. Help me!"
"Lorne, take her. Gru, shut off the ovens, Cordy, the stoves."
"Angel, why?!" Cordy asked.
"Hurry! You and the others get Fred to the hospital."
They shut off the stoves while Angel opened the tap of every faucet in the place, letting water pour out.
"I thought we talked about that. Infecting the world and all?" Cordy asked.
"We don't have a choice. They can keep her hydrated there. Hopefully long enough to come up with a cure."
"We're surrounded! How are we to get past?" Gru asked.
"We'll keep them occupied. Slow 'em down." Angel said looking to Buffy.
"How do you expect to do that?" Cordy asked.
"By giving them what they want." The sinks started to overflow. "Gru, damsel in distress. You know what to do."
"Angel!"
"Save Fred. Please!"
Gru picked Fred up and Cordy lighted the way for him and Lorne towards the doors.
"Now!" Angel cried. Buffy and Angel kicked the door to the ballroom open and the creatures skittered in.
Lorne opened the doors at the opposite end of the kitchen and walked out as more creatures skittered past his feet to reach the water in the kitchen. Gru makes to follow, but then saw Cordy turning back. He hesitated for a moment.
"Cordy, I told you to get out of here!" Angel said.
Gru watched Cordy join Buffy and Angel in slashing at the creatures around them. He looked down at Fred, then turned and headed out after Lorne.
Gru carried Fred into the lobby with Lorne lighting his way just as Gunn walked in.
"Put my girl down." Gunn said.
"Gunn! Where..." Lorne started.
"News updates later. Just lay her down."
Gru put her down on the stairs. "She requires a healer."
"No, she requires this." Gunn pulled out a bottle of booze. "Hold her down. Do it!" Then to Fred, "Come here, baby. Come here. Come here. Drink. Drink, drink. Drink." Gunn held the bottle to her lips and Fred started to gulp it down, only to push it away, gasping for breath. Buffy, Cordy, and Angel were slashing at the glowworms on the kitchen floor around them.
"Angel! Incoming. Four o'clock." Buffy called.
Angel slashed at the creature. Another one flew through the air, landing on Buffy's up stretched hand.
"Angel."
Gunn was forcing Fred to drink more booze while Gru and Lorne held her.
"Come on, baby, drink." Gunn said.
Fred pulled back and started to choke and cough, finally spitting out the slug. Gru stabbed it before it could skitter more than a few feet. Gunn sat down beside Fred.
Cordy was holding onto a slug, keeping it as far away from her as she could as it flailed at her arm. A bright white light started to illuminate her from the inside.
"Angel..." Cordy started.
Buffy and Angel slowly took a step back away from her, staring.
"What's happening to me?" Cordy cried.
Cordy slowly lowered the bug in her hand, staring at Buffy and Angel as the glow emanating from her became brighter and brighter. A wind started to howl and the light shot out from Cordy, obliterating everything with its brightness.
Lorne, Fred, Gunn, and Gru flinched as a pulse of white light washed over them, then the whole place went dark again.
Lorne stood in the lobby. He switched out his flashlight as the lights came back on. "Okay, unless anyone else has something to say, can I be the first to say: what the hell was that?" Buffy, Angel, and Cordy came out the basement door behind him.
"Cordelia. That was Cordelia." Buffy said.
"You are truly a goddess." Gru said.
Cordy hugged him. "Well, demoness anyway. Beats horns and a tail."
"Hey! I'm standing right here!" Lorne said.
Angel saw Gunn helping Fred to lie down on the couch. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah. I, ah, got this idea. Alcohol dehydrates the body, gets the slug out." Gunn said.
Angel just stood there and looked at Gunn, crossing his arms.
"Okay. So I took off when those things started coming out of the floor. It's not like I was running out on you. I was..." Angel glanced down at Fred. "Look, someone I care about was dying. I couldn't just sit around and debate strategy. I saw an opportunity to, to get some kind of help." Angel just looked at him. "Look, I did what I had to do, and if you don't get that..." Gunn saw Buffy walking up the stairs to get something at the top. "Yeah, I guess you do."
"So, are we good?" Angel asked.
Gunn gave them a slight nod.
"Good? We're not good! Is everyone forgetting we got a little unexpected company on the way? It goes by the initials 'the destroyer?'" Lorne said. Fred sat up. "The destroyer. I remember the destroyer's coming."
"Yeah, we got that. Any idea when?" Cordy said.
"Um, I think now."
Everyone turned as there were some static discharges in the air above the pentagram and an ugly demon beast dropped out of the air. It roared at Angel, but before it could do more, a teenager, dressed in some funky looking leather clothing dropped from the air beside it and beheaded it in the same motion.
Angel stared in shock as the teen raised his right hand and aimed what looked like a spring-loaded stake launcher at him.
"Hi, dad." The teenager said.