Title: Underworld Slayer Part 7 - The Competition
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com
Spoilers: Anything goes
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the positive reviews. I thrive on them. I loves them. I need them, the Preciouses. I luuuvs my Precious, yes I do. ahem. On with the show.
PS: There really is a big Buddhist temple in Los Angeles.
"Hi! Are you Mikey?" the little boy asked.
Michael regarded the dark-haired kid who had just boldly walked up to him and asked for his name. The boy couldn't possibly be older than nine or ten. He was also a lycan. For some reason, Michael had never imagined that a lycan could be so young.
"Michael," he corrected. "My name is Michael."
"Right, Mikey," the boy said, beaming up at him. "I'm Jordy. My Uncle Oz sent me to get you."
"Um, okay," Michael replied. "Lead the way." Jordy grabbed Michael's hand and began half leading, half dragging the man across the temple grounds.
When Holden had arranged a meeting with Oz for Michael, Oz had sent a message to Scooby Central for Michael to meet him at an address. For some reason, Oz had neglected to mention that the address he had sent was for LA's premier Buddhist temple. When Michael arrived, he had no idea where to find LA's top lycan in the wide sprawling complex.
"So, Jordy, how long have you been a lycan?" Michael asked as Jordy led him between buildings.
"A what?" Jordy threw a confused look at Michael.
"A werewolf," Michael supplied.
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Jordy asked, annoyed.
"I did," Michael protested.
"Did not!"
"Did too."
"Did not!"
"Did too." Privately, Michael wondered how he had gotten into this argument.
As they continued to trade nots and toos, Jordy led him around to the temple's back parking lot. A zebra striped van was parked there. Oz was standing by it talking to one of the temple's Buddhist monks.
As Jordy and Michael approached, Oz and the monk bowed respectively to each other. "Thank you again for your help," the monk said as he left. Oz turned to the new arrivals.
"Uncle Oz, I found Mikey!" Jordy announced.
"Good for you," Oz replied, smiling and ruffling Jordy's hair. He looked up at the hybrid. "Michael."
"Hi, Oz," Michael greeted in return. He nodded at the departed monk. "What was that about? Did you save them from some kind of demon attack?"
"Nah, bake sale," Oz said, shaking his head. He opened the passenger door of the van and Jordy scrambled inside. Following Oz's vague hand wave, Michael got in the front passenger seat.
"So where are we going?" Michael asked as Oz climbed into the driver's seat.
"The Factory," Oz replied simply.
"You don't say much, do you?" Michael ventured.
Oz just shrugged. The silence was a bit awkward for Michael as they pulled out into traffic.
"So, why didn't you come get me at Scooby Central?" Michael asked carefully. "The people I talked to said that you never go there even though you're one of the top people in the Slayer's regime."
"She'd be there," Oz told him sadly.
"She? She who?"
"You have a girlfriend, right?" Oz asked. At Michael's nod, he continued. "And you love her with all your heart and soul?"
"I'd like to think so."
"Never let her go, man," Oz told him. "Girl like that only ever comes once in forever."
***
"Mr. Giles?"
"Ah, Selene," the middle aged man greeted in reply. "How are you feeling? Are you recuperating well?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Selene told him. With Michael gone to meet head of the local lycans, Selene had decided to visit Scooby Central. Staying home alone with nothing to do did not appeal to her. And having an invisible companion made her uncomfortable. "Although the invisible housekeeper takes some getting used to."
"Yes, I'm given to understand friendly ghosts are rather rare," Giles said. "So what can I help you with?"
"Since I'm supposed to be resting and all," Selene began, "I thought I'd do some research."
"On what exactly?"
"On any recurring enemies I may have to deal with," Selene told him. "I want to know my. our enemies when I see them."
"Of course, of course." Pulling books off the surrounding shelves, Giles assembled a thick stack of books in front of the vampire. Some of the books looked almost new, others were practically ancient. "Here you go."
Selene eyed the stack dubiously. "I don't suppose you have a short summary I could look at first?" she asked.
"Ah, summary?"
***
"Here we are," Oz announced as they exited his van. "Welcome to the Factory, aka the Wolf Den."
The dilapidated looking building that they had arrived at looked like it had been a factory once. It had seen better days until the former owners had moved their operations elsewhere, probably in search of cheaper labor. Michael could hear voices coming from inside.
"So why didn't you just tell me to come here?" Michael asked.
"It's a secret," Jordy said sagely.
"Yeah, the werewolves who organized the local wolf pack were refugees of the vampire/wolf feud," Oz told him. "They don't want non-wolves to know where they're based." He shrugged. "I go along with it, but I'm pretty sure Buffy and the Scoobs know where this place is now."
"So how'd you get to be the top lycan." Jordy threw a glare at Michael. "Er, I mean top werewolf in LA?"
"Uncle Oz beat them all!" Jordy exclaimed enthusiastically. Michael's eyes went up in surprise. In his limited experience, Oz was a bit on the puny side for a lycan. Michael had trouble imagining how Oz could take the typical Lycan in a one on one fight.
Oz shrugged. "It was the only way to get them to stop munching on the local human population," he said, "Otherwise Buffy would've had to slaughter them all."
Entering the Factory, Michael was immediately hit by the uneasiness in the building's atmosphere. There was a small crowd of lycans listening to someone giving a speech. The mood of individual lycans ranged from excitement to fear. One of the lycans noticed their arrival and moved to intercept them.
"Oz," the lycan greeted. He looked like a street kid. "Thank God, you're here."
"Jamal," Oz said. "What's going on?"
"Wolf from the Outside, Oz," Jamal answered. "He's recruiting."
"Another one?" Oz asked.
"Yeah, but this one's different," Jamal said. "He's like really old. I'm talking centuries here. I didn't even know werewolves lived that long."
"Okay, I'll handle it," Oz said. He turned to Michael and his nephew. "Michael, Jordy, stay here. I'll be right back."
As Oz moved into the crowd, Jamal looked at Michael oddly.
"So," Jamal began slowly. "What are you?"
"I'm a hybrid of vampire and ly.., werewolf," Michael replied.
"For real?" Jamal asked. Michael nodded. "Huh, and here I thought you were just a story." He frowned. "Hey, weren't you at the clinic when we brought Selene in?"
"Yeah, I work there now," Michael told him. "For a while there, I was afraid I was going to lose her."
Jamal was looking at him funny again. "Hey, you and Selene are an item?"
"Yes, why?" Michael eyed the werewolf suspiciously.
"No reason," Jamal said, holding in a laugh. "But I'm gonna enjoy the look on the Pansy's face when I tell him that Selene's taken."
***
"Hi, Selene, whatcha doing?"
"Oh, hello, Dawn," Selene replied, looking up from a particularly dusty tome. "I'm just reading up on." Selene paused. "Dawn, what are you wearing?"
"What this?" Dawn ran her hands down on the skintight black body suit she was wearing. Although a few details were off, it was a credible imitation of Selene's own outfit. "Black and skintight has like become the 'in' look for all the female Scoobies. You're very popular at the moment, y'know."
As if to prove Dawn's point, a couple of girls that Selene recognized as Slayers strolled by. They were also wearing form-fitting black. One was showing an excessive amount of cleavage.
"That is just so. bizarre," Selene muttered.
"Hey, this is Los Angeles," Dawn said. "On the Bizarrometer, this ain't nothing."
"Right," Selene said, shaking her head. "Dawn, maybe you could help me out here."
"Sure, what's up?" Dawn asked.
"I'm trying to read up on the Scourge," Selene told the girl, "but this information seems a bit. outdated. I was wondering if you could tell me about their more recent operations and behavior."
"Um, okay, but I'm no expert," Dawn said. She closed her eyes to think. "Okay, the Scourge are the Nazis of demon kind. They're dedicated to the eradication of all the 'inferior' demons - meaning anyone who isn't them - and the enslavement of humanity. We've had a few run ins with them before."
"Why not the extermination of humanity as well?" Selene asked.
"Well, humans are like wet cement," Dawn said. "Regular humans can be turned into other things, like vampires or werewolves. But once we get changed, we can't be turned back or turned into something else. Your boyfriend's kinda different that way."
"You know about Michael?" Selene asked, surprised. "I thought it wasn't common knowledge."
"It's not," Dawn said defensively. "At least not yet, anyway. I just, um, accidentally listen in on what people tell my sister."
Selene shook her head in bemusement. "Back to the Scourge," she announced. "I guess I've seen an example of their enslavement program. Can you give me an example of their extermination program?"
"Uh, the Scourge tried to literally nuke Los Angeles once," Dawn said.
"WHAT?"
"They had this stolen Russian bomb they tried to smuggle into the city," Dawn elaborated. "A friend of Angel's died of radiation poisoning after disarming it."
"I'm sorry," Selene said sympathetically.
"It's alright," Dawn said. "I never knew him. And we got a real strong policy against racism out of it."
***
"What is wrong with you people?" the lycan shouted at the crowd in the factory. He was big even in human form, possibly the biggest lycan in the factory. Looking at him, Michael was sure he had seen him somewhere before. "You're lycans! Our ancient oppressors are out there hunting us down, and here you're all being friendly with them!"
"Actually, we've heard that the war's over," Oz said, separating out from the crowd.
"And who are you, whelp?" the big lycan sneered.
"Oz. You?"
"You? You're Oz?" the stranger said in disbelief. He turned to the crowd. "This is your leader, your Alpha? This. this puppy?" The crowd stirred, a combination of indignation and fear running through the assembled lycans.
"I like to think of myself as more of a spiritual guide," Oz said, completely unruffled by the older lycan's insult. "So do you have a name?"
"Yes, I have a name, puppy," the lycan sneered back. "I am Antonius. I was with the Great Lucian when he began the rebellion against our vampire overlords. I have fought by Lucian's side. I have killed a great many vampires, our most hated enemy."
Michael suddenly knew where he recognized Antonius from. Lucian had passed on a few fragments of memory to Michael when he had first bitten him. They had mostly been about Lucian and his vampire love Sonja, but there was a jumble of other things as well.
"What have YOU ever done to merit any respect?" Antonius continued.
"Nothing much," Oz said, shrugging, "just helped save the world from being overrun by the forces of Hell a few times."
"What, do you expect anyone to believe that?" Antonius scoffed. The crowd stirred some more. "What? You believe him?"
"This is LA, Antonius," Oz said. His calm never wavered. "The apocalypse is a semi-annual event here."
"Oh, I can see you people need help," Antonius said angrily. "I think I'll do you all a favor and take charge. From now on, there'll be no more fraternizing with the enemy. In fact, we'll start by eliminating the vampire filth from this city. Somebody go fetch a few humans. I want a snack while I plan our assault."
"No."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Antonius roared at Oz.
"I said 'no'," Oz told him.
"Are you challenging me, boy?" Antonius growled. Oz remained completely unintimidated, unlike virtually every other lycan in the Factory. He just stared back impassively and shrugged.
"Feuding with vampires and eating humans aren't allowed in Los Angeles," Oz said reasonably.
"Not allowed?" Antonius repeated. "I ask again, puppy, are you challenging me?"
"If I have to," Oz said.
"So be it!" With that, Antonius threw off his coat and morphed into a hulking humanoid wolf form. Without waiting for Oz to change, Antonius raised a powerful paw over Oz, bringing it down with enough force to take off the younger Lycan's head.
***
"So what happened to the nuclear weapon?" Selene asked.
"Oh, we used it on the First Evil's army last year," Dawn told her. "It's a good thing they were in their own little pocket dimension and not a real cave under the city. Can you imagine the damage if we really had to set that thing off under Sunnydale High?"
Selene had no idea what to say to that.
"We do that a lot," Dawn continued. At Selene's questioning look, she added, "We come up with really innovative solutions that no one's ever tried before. We've gotten really good at it."
***
Antonius missed. With apparent ease, Oz dodged the blow and replied with just a poke in Antonius' back. The big lycan staggered as if he had just been shot and morphed back to human form.
"You don't have to do this," Oz told the other lycan.
Growling in fury, Antonius leapt at Oz, hands outstretched to tear Oz limb from limb. Again, Oz dodged and made it look absurdly easy. He reached out and gripped Antonius wrist in passing. With a twist, Antonius was flipped on his back. Oz backed off.
"I can't change," Antonius said slowly as he got up. "How did you do that?"
"Pressure points," Oz replied. "I disrupted the flows of your body's energy. If you know how, you can. URK!"
"No more tricks, puppy," Antonius growled, his hand maintaining a chokehold on the younger lycan. His question had distracted Oz long enough for him to get a grip and bring his greater strength to bear. "Now, it's time to put an end to this farce."
"Okay," Oz choked in agreement. Reaching up, Oz squeezed a couple of spots on Antonius' elbow. Antonius' arm spasmed, releasing Oz from his death grip. Dodging another attempt to grab him, Oz stepped behind Antonius and poked the back of his neck.
The results were dramatic. Antonius collapsed to the ground, twitching. His eyes rolled around to glare furiously at Oz. From the way his body didn't move, it was pretty obvious that he was paralyzed from the neck down.
"As I was saying," Oz continued as if he hadn't just been in a life or death fight. "If you know how, you can disable a person without hurting them. It could be just a limb or the whole body. You can heal, hurt," he looked down at Antonius, "or kill."
"You think you've beaten me?" Antonius gasped. Speaking was difficult for him. "I am but one of many. Lucian may be gone, but his heir walks the Earth. Lucian's heir is a hybrid of both vampire and lycan and stronger than both. He will lead us in our crusade to eradicate the vampire filth from this world. Pray you never meet him, puppy."
"Huh, I think it's a little late for that," Oz replied. He looked up at the crowd, "Michael? Could you come here please? I think the nice fanatic would like to hear what you have to say."
Antonius' eyes widened as the crowd parted and ushered Michael forward.
"Um, hi," Michael said uncertainly. He turned to Oz. "What do you want me to say?"
"Just tell him what you told me on the ride here," Oz suggested.
"Uh, well, you know that Lucian was the one who made the lycan half of me, right?" Michael asked Antonius.
"Yes," Antonius replied. "You are Lucian's heir, destined to lead us against the vampires just as he had intended."
"Um, no, that's not what he intended," Michael denied. "See, Lucian wanted to bring an end to the feud between vampires and lycans. He saw that the only way to do that was to bring us together, not endlessly tearing each other apart. He wanted an end to the fighting. He wanted peace."
"There will be no peace until every vampire is exterminated," Antonius replied, his voice no longer belligerent. In fact, he sounded like he was pleading. "You must know this. How can you not know this? You killed the Elder Viktor, the worst of the lot."
"Actually, my girlfriend killed Viktor," Michael corrected. "She's a vampire."
"No."
"Yes," Michael said, more firmly now. "Lucian wanted peace between vampires and lycans. Here, in this city, I've seen not just peace, but outright friendship between the two. I like to think that it's the future model for the rest of our kind."
"The vampire covens are hunting you even now," Antonius said. "They will never stop. We gather our strength while they're distracted."
"Then they hunt me," Michael said heavily. "If that's what it takes to stop the feud."
Antonius stared, true respect and not just blind zealotry now showing in his eyes. A murmur from the crowd indicated their own respect for the hybrid.
"I think it's safe to let him up now," Michael told Oz.
With a touch, Antonius could move again.
"You're welcome to stay," Oz told Antonius as he and Michael helped him up. "But as I said, no feuding with vampires or hunting humans here. You're allowed to recruit for your cause," Oz glanced at the crowd, "but I don't think you'll find many volunteers."
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com
Spoilers: Anything goes
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the positive reviews. I thrive on them. I loves them. I need them, the Preciouses. I luuuvs my Precious, yes I do. ahem. On with the show.
PS: There really is a big Buddhist temple in Los Angeles.
"Hi! Are you Mikey?" the little boy asked.
Michael regarded the dark-haired kid who had just boldly walked up to him and asked for his name. The boy couldn't possibly be older than nine or ten. He was also a lycan. For some reason, Michael had never imagined that a lycan could be so young.
"Michael," he corrected. "My name is Michael."
"Right, Mikey," the boy said, beaming up at him. "I'm Jordy. My Uncle Oz sent me to get you."
"Um, okay," Michael replied. "Lead the way." Jordy grabbed Michael's hand and began half leading, half dragging the man across the temple grounds.
When Holden had arranged a meeting with Oz for Michael, Oz had sent a message to Scooby Central for Michael to meet him at an address. For some reason, Oz had neglected to mention that the address he had sent was for LA's premier Buddhist temple. When Michael arrived, he had no idea where to find LA's top lycan in the wide sprawling complex.
"So, Jordy, how long have you been a lycan?" Michael asked as Jordy led him between buildings.
"A what?" Jordy threw a confused look at Michael.
"A werewolf," Michael supplied.
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Jordy asked, annoyed.
"I did," Michael protested.
"Did not!"
"Did too."
"Did not!"
"Did too." Privately, Michael wondered how he had gotten into this argument.
As they continued to trade nots and toos, Jordy led him around to the temple's back parking lot. A zebra striped van was parked there. Oz was standing by it talking to one of the temple's Buddhist monks.
As Jordy and Michael approached, Oz and the monk bowed respectively to each other. "Thank you again for your help," the monk said as he left. Oz turned to the new arrivals.
"Uncle Oz, I found Mikey!" Jordy announced.
"Good for you," Oz replied, smiling and ruffling Jordy's hair. He looked up at the hybrid. "Michael."
"Hi, Oz," Michael greeted in return. He nodded at the departed monk. "What was that about? Did you save them from some kind of demon attack?"
"Nah, bake sale," Oz said, shaking his head. He opened the passenger door of the van and Jordy scrambled inside. Following Oz's vague hand wave, Michael got in the front passenger seat.
"So where are we going?" Michael asked as Oz climbed into the driver's seat.
"The Factory," Oz replied simply.
"You don't say much, do you?" Michael ventured.
Oz just shrugged. The silence was a bit awkward for Michael as they pulled out into traffic.
"So, why didn't you come get me at Scooby Central?" Michael asked carefully. "The people I talked to said that you never go there even though you're one of the top people in the Slayer's regime."
"She'd be there," Oz told him sadly.
"She? She who?"
"You have a girlfriend, right?" Oz asked. At Michael's nod, he continued. "And you love her with all your heart and soul?"
"I'd like to think so."
"Never let her go, man," Oz told him. "Girl like that only ever comes once in forever."
***
"Mr. Giles?"
"Ah, Selene," the middle aged man greeted in reply. "How are you feeling? Are you recuperating well?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Selene told him. With Michael gone to meet head of the local lycans, Selene had decided to visit Scooby Central. Staying home alone with nothing to do did not appeal to her. And having an invisible companion made her uncomfortable. "Although the invisible housekeeper takes some getting used to."
"Yes, I'm given to understand friendly ghosts are rather rare," Giles said. "So what can I help you with?"
"Since I'm supposed to be resting and all," Selene began, "I thought I'd do some research."
"On what exactly?"
"On any recurring enemies I may have to deal with," Selene told him. "I want to know my. our enemies when I see them."
"Of course, of course." Pulling books off the surrounding shelves, Giles assembled a thick stack of books in front of the vampire. Some of the books looked almost new, others were practically ancient. "Here you go."
Selene eyed the stack dubiously. "I don't suppose you have a short summary I could look at first?" she asked.
"Ah, summary?"
***
"Here we are," Oz announced as they exited his van. "Welcome to the Factory, aka the Wolf Den."
The dilapidated looking building that they had arrived at looked like it had been a factory once. It had seen better days until the former owners had moved their operations elsewhere, probably in search of cheaper labor. Michael could hear voices coming from inside.
"So why didn't you just tell me to come here?" Michael asked.
"It's a secret," Jordy said sagely.
"Yeah, the werewolves who organized the local wolf pack were refugees of the vampire/wolf feud," Oz told him. "They don't want non-wolves to know where they're based." He shrugged. "I go along with it, but I'm pretty sure Buffy and the Scoobs know where this place is now."
"So how'd you get to be the top lycan." Jordy threw a glare at Michael. "Er, I mean top werewolf in LA?"
"Uncle Oz beat them all!" Jordy exclaimed enthusiastically. Michael's eyes went up in surprise. In his limited experience, Oz was a bit on the puny side for a lycan. Michael had trouble imagining how Oz could take the typical Lycan in a one on one fight.
Oz shrugged. "It was the only way to get them to stop munching on the local human population," he said, "Otherwise Buffy would've had to slaughter them all."
Entering the Factory, Michael was immediately hit by the uneasiness in the building's atmosphere. There was a small crowd of lycans listening to someone giving a speech. The mood of individual lycans ranged from excitement to fear. One of the lycans noticed their arrival and moved to intercept them.
"Oz," the lycan greeted. He looked like a street kid. "Thank God, you're here."
"Jamal," Oz said. "What's going on?"
"Wolf from the Outside, Oz," Jamal answered. "He's recruiting."
"Another one?" Oz asked.
"Yeah, but this one's different," Jamal said. "He's like really old. I'm talking centuries here. I didn't even know werewolves lived that long."
"Okay, I'll handle it," Oz said. He turned to Michael and his nephew. "Michael, Jordy, stay here. I'll be right back."
As Oz moved into the crowd, Jamal looked at Michael oddly.
"So," Jamal began slowly. "What are you?"
"I'm a hybrid of vampire and ly.., werewolf," Michael replied.
"For real?" Jamal asked. Michael nodded. "Huh, and here I thought you were just a story." He frowned. "Hey, weren't you at the clinic when we brought Selene in?"
"Yeah, I work there now," Michael told him. "For a while there, I was afraid I was going to lose her."
Jamal was looking at him funny again. "Hey, you and Selene are an item?"
"Yes, why?" Michael eyed the werewolf suspiciously.
"No reason," Jamal said, holding in a laugh. "But I'm gonna enjoy the look on the Pansy's face when I tell him that Selene's taken."
***
"Hi, Selene, whatcha doing?"
"Oh, hello, Dawn," Selene replied, looking up from a particularly dusty tome. "I'm just reading up on." Selene paused. "Dawn, what are you wearing?"
"What this?" Dawn ran her hands down on the skintight black body suit she was wearing. Although a few details were off, it was a credible imitation of Selene's own outfit. "Black and skintight has like become the 'in' look for all the female Scoobies. You're very popular at the moment, y'know."
As if to prove Dawn's point, a couple of girls that Selene recognized as Slayers strolled by. They were also wearing form-fitting black. One was showing an excessive amount of cleavage.
"That is just so. bizarre," Selene muttered.
"Hey, this is Los Angeles," Dawn said. "On the Bizarrometer, this ain't nothing."
"Right," Selene said, shaking her head. "Dawn, maybe you could help me out here."
"Sure, what's up?" Dawn asked.
"I'm trying to read up on the Scourge," Selene told the girl, "but this information seems a bit. outdated. I was wondering if you could tell me about their more recent operations and behavior."
"Um, okay, but I'm no expert," Dawn said. She closed her eyes to think. "Okay, the Scourge are the Nazis of demon kind. They're dedicated to the eradication of all the 'inferior' demons - meaning anyone who isn't them - and the enslavement of humanity. We've had a few run ins with them before."
"Why not the extermination of humanity as well?" Selene asked.
"Well, humans are like wet cement," Dawn said. "Regular humans can be turned into other things, like vampires or werewolves. But once we get changed, we can't be turned back or turned into something else. Your boyfriend's kinda different that way."
"You know about Michael?" Selene asked, surprised. "I thought it wasn't common knowledge."
"It's not," Dawn said defensively. "At least not yet, anyway. I just, um, accidentally listen in on what people tell my sister."
Selene shook her head in bemusement. "Back to the Scourge," she announced. "I guess I've seen an example of their enslavement program. Can you give me an example of their extermination program?"
"Uh, the Scourge tried to literally nuke Los Angeles once," Dawn said.
"WHAT?"
"They had this stolen Russian bomb they tried to smuggle into the city," Dawn elaborated. "A friend of Angel's died of radiation poisoning after disarming it."
"I'm sorry," Selene said sympathetically.
"It's alright," Dawn said. "I never knew him. And we got a real strong policy against racism out of it."
***
"What is wrong with you people?" the lycan shouted at the crowd in the factory. He was big even in human form, possibly the biggest lycan in the factory. Looking at him, Michael was sure he had seen him somewhere before. "You're lycans! Our ancient oppressors are out there hunting us down, and here you're all being friendly with them!"
"Actually, we've heard that the war's over," Oz said, separating out from the crowd.
"And who are you, whelp?" the big lycan sneered.
"Oz. You?"
"You? You're Oz?" the stranger said in disbelief. He turned to the crowd. "This is your leader, your Alpha? This. this puppy?" The crowd stirred, a combination of indignation and fear running through the assembled lycans.
"I like to think of myself as more of a spiritual guide," Oz said, completely unruffled by the older lycan's insult. "So do you have a name?"
"Yes, I have a name, puppy," the lycan sneered back. "I am Antonius. I was with the Great Lucian when he began the rebellion against our vampire overlords. I have fought by Lucian's side. I have killed a great many vampires, our most hated enemy."
Michael suddenly knew where he recognized Antonius from. Lucian had passed on a few fragments of memory to Michael when he had first bitten him. They had mostly been about Lucian and his vampire love Sonja, but there was a jumble of other things as well.
"What have YOU ever done to merit any respect?" Antonius continued.
"Nothing much," Oz said, shrugging, "just helped save the world from being overrun by the forces of Hell a few times."
"What, do you expect anyone to believe that?" Antonius scoffed. The crowd stirred some more. "What? You believe him?"
"This is LA, Antonius," Oz said. His calm never wavered. "The apocalypse is a semi-annual event here."
"Oh, I can see you people need help," Antonius said angrily. "I think I'll do you all a favor and take charge. From now on, there'll be no more fraternizing with the enemy. In fact, we'll start by eliminating the vampire filth from this city. Somebody go fetch a few humans. I want a snack while I plan our assault."
"No."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Antonius roared at Oz.
"I said 'no'," Oz told him.
"Are you challenging me, boy?" Antonius growled. Oz remained completely unintimidated, unlike virtually every other lycan in the Factory. He just stared back impassively and shrugged.
"Feuding with vampires and eating humans aren't allowed in Los Angeles," Oz said reasonably.
"Not allowed?" Antonius repeated. "I ask again, puppy, are you challenging me?"
"If I have to," Oz said.
"So be it!" With that, Antonius threw off his coat and morphed into a hulking humanoid wolf form. Without waiting for Oz to change, Antonius raised a powerful paw over Oz, bringing it down with enough force to take off the younger Lycan's head.
***
"So what happened to the nuclear weapon?" Selene asked.
"Oh, we used it on the First Evil's army last year," Dawn told her. "It's a good thing they were in their own little pocket dimension and not a real cave under the city. Can you imagine the damage if we really had to set that thing off under Sunnydale High?"
Selene had no idea what to say to that.
"We do that a lot," Dawn continued. At Selene's questioning look, she added, "We come up with really innovative solutions that no one's ever tried before. We've gotten really good at it."
***
Antonius missed. With apparent ease, Oz dodged the blow and replied with just a poke in Antonius' back. The big lycan staggered as if he had just been shot and morphed back to human form.
"You don't have to do this," Oz told the other lycan.
Growling in fury, Antonius leapt at Oz, hands outstretched to tear Oz limb from limb. Again, Oz dodged and made it look absurdly easy. He reached out and gripped Antonius wrist in passing. With a twist, Antonius was flipped on his back. Oz backed off.
"I can't change," Antonius said slowly as he got up. "How did you do that?"
"Pressure points," Oz replied. "I disrupted the flows of your body's energy. If you know how, you can. URK!"
"No more tricks, puppy," Antonius growled, his hand maintaining a chokehold on the younger lycan. His question had distracted Oz long enough for him to get a grip and bring his greater strength to bear. "Now, it's time to put an end to this farce."
"Okay," Oz choked in agreement. Reaching up, Oz squeezed a couple of spots on Antonius' elbow. Antonius' arm spasmed, releasing Oz from his death grip. Dodging another attempt to grab him, Oz stepped behind Antonius and poked the back of his neck.
The results were dramatic. Antonius collapsed to the ground, twitching. His eyes rolled around to glare furiously at Oz. From the way his body didn't move, it was pretty obvious that he was paralyzed from the neck down.
"As I was saying," Oz continued as if he hadn't just been in a life or death fight. "If you know how, you can disable a person without hurting them. It could be just a limb or the whole body. You can heal, hurt," he looked down at Antonius, "or kill."
"You think you've beaten me?" Antonius gasped. Speaking was difficult for him. "I am but one of many. Lucian may be gone, but his heir walks the Earth. Lucian's heir is a hybrid of both vampire and lycan and stronger than both. He will lead us in our crusade to eradicate the vampire filth from this world. Pray you never meet him, puppy."
"Huh, I think it's a little late for that," Oz replied. He looked up at the crowd, "Michael? Could you come here please? I think the nice fanatic would like to hear what you have to say."
Antonius' eyes widened as the crowd parted and ushered Michael forward.
"Um, hi," Michael said uncertainly. He turned to Oz. "What do you want me to say?"
"Just tell him what you told me on the ride here," Oz suggested.
"Uh, well, you know that Lucian was the one who made the lycan half of me, right?" Michael asked Antonius.
"Yes," Antonius replied. "You are Lucian's heir, destined to lead us against the vampires just as he had intended."
"Um, no, that's not what he intended," Michael denied. "See, Lucian wanted to bring an end to the feud between vampires and lycans. He saw that the only way to do that was to bring us together, not endlessly tearing each other apart. He wanted an end to the fighting. He wanted peace."
"There will be no peace until every vampire is exterminated," Antonius replied, his voice no longer belligerent. In fact, he sounded like he was pleading. "You must know this. How can you not know this? You killed the Elder Viktor, the worst of the lot."
"Actually, my girlfriend killed Viktor," Michael corrected. "She's a vampire."
"No."
"Yes," Michael said, more firmly now. "Lucian wanted peace between vampires and lycans. Here, in this city, I've seen not just peace, but outright friendship between the two. I like to think that it's the future model for the rest of our kind."
"The vampire covens are hunting you even now," Antonius said. "They will never stop. We gather our strength while they're distracted."
"Then they hunt me," Michael said heavily. "If that's what it takes to stop the feud."
Antonius stared, true respect and not just blind zealotry now showing in his eyes. A murmur from the crowd indicated their own respect for the hybrid.
"I think it's safe to let him up now," Michael told Oz.
With a touch, Antonius could move again.
"You're welcome to stay," Oz told Antonius as he and Michael helped him up. "But as I said, no feuding with vampires or hunting humans here. You're allowed to recruit for your cause," Oz glanced at the crowd, "but I don't think you'll find many volunteers."