CHAPTER THIRTY: MELISH
Wednesday: 8:30pm
2nd September 1998
California: Los Angeles
The demon Melish paced nervously behind the red line. He only had about six fights to go, and he knew that sooner or later he was going to have to go up against either the Vampire or the Slayer. He didn't want to kill either one of them, but he knew that when it came down to it, he would do it to keep himself alive.
The Slayer was on her fifteenth kill with only six more to go. The Vampire had another eleven kills.
Melish looked up as he heard the announcement for the evenings fights.
"Melish, you're up against Lasavik."
He breathed a sigh of relief. He'd seen Lasavik fight. There was a good chance that he would walk out of the arena in tact.
Six other fights were announced. The final fight of the evening was put off until last. Melish waited and heard the fight being announced.
"Slayer, you're up against Angel."
Melish turned in surprise and saw the twin looks of shock and outrage that lit both Vampire and Slayer. He walked towards them, sympathy on his face.
"That's a bit harsh," he commented quietly.
He was surprised to see tears in the young Slayers eyes. Buffy could only look towards Angel, fear and concern written across her face.
"Now what?" she asked quietly.
"We're not gonna fight Buffy," Angel assured her. "We're getting out of this place."
"That's optimistic," Melish said. "And completely unrealistic. You guys both know that the only way out is after twenty-one kills."
Angel shook his head.
"I got friends coming for me," he explained.
Buffy bit her lip nervously.
"And if they don't come? I can't kill you Angel. I won't," she said.
"They'll come," he assured her. He pressed her closer to his side, turning his head to place a gentle kiss in her hair. She sighed and snuggled against him. She really hated that place.
------------------------
Wednesday: 9pm
2nd September 1998
California: Los Angeles
Doyle and Gunn entered the club, making their way through the crowds towards the main fighting arena. Gunn poked Doyle's side and pointed to the massive sign with the evenings roster of fights drawn up.
Doyle grimaced when he saw the last fight for the evening. "The Slayer vs Angel."
"We've gotta get him outta there before they're forced to fight," Doyle said. "That boy's not gonna be able to kill her, but I dunno if I can say the same thing about her. If she really wants to live, our boss is gonna be dust in about an hour."
The announcer stepped into the ring and Gunn and Doyle watched on in sick fascination as he announced the evenings line-up of fights. A bell sounded and two demons entered the arena.
"Melish vs Lasavik."
Gunn watched as the two demons fought for what seemed like hours. Seven and a half minutes later, Melish stood above the broken body of Lasavik, barely able to stand.
They watched six other fights, Doyle and Gunn waiting nervously for the final contestants. A hush came over the crowd as the announcer went to make the final fight call.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you're about to see two skilled warriors go head to head in a battle that can only end with one of them standing. The Slayer vs the Vampire, two of your current favourites. The Slayer is on her fifteenth kill, whilst Angel is only on his eleventh. Will the Vampire be able to withstand the strength and skill handed down by the Powers that Be to one young woman in her prime. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the final battle of the evening."
Gunn and Doyle watched nervously as Buffy and Angel stepped into the arena. There were conflicting shouts of 'Slayer' and 'Vampire' going through the crowd.
Angel looked up into the audience, pleased to see Gunn and Doyle at the front. Doyle just gave him a wink and held up the small silver key. Angel surreptitiously pointed upwards, Buffy following his gaze.
"Remind me not to doubt your friends again," Buffy said with a small smile.
"Gladly," he said.
The bell sounded and the two of them began circling each other. When Angel was facing Doyle and Gunn, Doyle dropped the silver key into the arena, no one else in the crowd noticing, or if they did, just thinking that someone had dropped a pen.
Angel nodded at Buffy who lunged towards him, Angel ducking into a roll towards where the key had landed. He picked it up in his hand and got to his feet. He switched the key to his left hand, hiding it in his palm. He grabbed Buffy by her right wrist, Buffy gasping in shock as the cuff came off in Angel's hand. He held onto her wrist so that the cuff didn't fall to the ground and alert anyone that they were free.
With some tricky hand manoeuvring, Buffy managed to get the key off Angel and unlocked his cuff, holding onto it in the same manner as Angel. In a silent agreement, they jumped back from each other, cuffs in their hands. Buffy, still having the key and being closest to the door to where the other demons were watching, threw the silver key to where it could be easily reached through the bars.
Melish was the only one to notice it. He reached through and picked it up, wondering what it was. He studied it for a moment and then looked to the fight suddenly realising something. The Slayer and the Vampire had lost their cuffs.
He quickly touched the key to his cuff and watched in amazement as it fell to the ground. He looked towards the other demons.
"Uh…guys?"
----------------------
Wednesday: 10pm
2nd September 1998
California: Los Angeles
Their captors weren't expecting the demons to try and break free. They definitely weren't expecting for the demons to have been freed from their cuffs. And they most certainly were not expecting a riot to break out between demons and spectators.
Most of the crowd left in a hurry, wanting to be nowhere near the demons who had started rebelling. Mr McNamarra, owner of the demon fight club had been pulled into the pit and was being attacked from three sides.
Melish attacked from the front, Baker from the right and Angel from the left. Angel was too busy taking out his anger on his captor to notice that another fight had broken out on the other wide of the pit. Four demons versus the Slayer.
Buffy fought hard against the four demons, determined to get out of the pit alive. She hadn't just found her family to be killed off like this. She had been attacked all of a sudden, something she hadn't been expecting. Obviously, she hadn't been wrong about not wanting to sleep without Angel guarding over her. These demons wanted her dead.
She took another blow to the head, trying not to let it stun her. She kicked one of the demons, only to be severely backhanded by another. She fell against the wall of the pit, gasping for breath. She regrouped and punched blindly, clipping one of the demons enough to make him stumble.
The other three demons grinned at each other and advanced towards the weakening Slayer.
Spirit of Christmas and all that. Thought I'd give you two updates…and leave you with a cliffhanger. Dunno when I'll get around to updating next…family coming for the hols and stuff…hopefully it should be soon. If not…my apologies!
In response to some questions:
Will this be B/A? This version WILL NOT be B/A. There will be alternate chapters beginning in chap 32.
Continuity stuff: I'm really tempted to write Angel's back story, but I dunno if you'd be interested…anyone reckon I should? I've got most of it kinda figured out in my head, but I dunno if I wanna write it.
Toodles.
K.