I'm still posting for QSK…
Pol
Still not my characters. Thank you, those who invented them.
This one's for fun. Updates will occur when I can write them. Feedback helps me write.
Rating: PG to start. Hard R later.
Pairings: I'm still not going to make it easy for you.
This is written with no 'pre-readers' and little to no proofreading. What you see is what you get.
QSK
Ronin's Luck (re-write)
Chapter One
Previously on Buffy:
Mr. Trick is killed while trying to get away from Buffy shortly after she kills the Demon Lurconis with a make shift flame-thrower. Mayor Wilkins has brought in some new full time help: A young Japanese man and a young Japanese woman (who now looks just like a Slayer named Faith.) Giles and Joyce are trying to cope with the fact they became... intimate. On a Police car. Twice.
Somewhere in Nevada.
The desert air was cold. Most people don't think of a desert as being cold, but it sure feels that way. When the temperature hits 115 degrees during the day and then drops to about 60 at night... well, that's a huge difference no matter how you look at it. Not that the young woman noticed the temperature a whole lot other than the way it affected the performance of his motorcycle. The Coca-Cola red and black Ninja cut through the knife air like a fat lady through the candy aisle at the nearest grocery store. The ZX-7R's engine was close to being redlined as it sped down the highway.
"Where the hell are you going?" The voice on the phone was female and pissed.
"I'm on my way to California. I got a lead on them."
"Where?"
"Someplace called Sunnydale." The sounds of someone typing wafted through the connection. "I picked up word of them from a group of Gargoyles in Utah. Seems they broke into some vaults there looking for a box for someone."
"They broke into the Mormon's Vaults? Wait a minute... they're working for someone?"
"Seems that way."
"Damn... Did you get the name of their employer?"
"Nope."
Sigh "Damn."
"Yep. Got any news for me?"
The pause was too long. She just knew that she didn't want to hear whatever her friend on the other end of the phone had to say.
Sigh "You want the bad news or the worse news first?"
"Shit". She turned the bike off and set it on its kickstand. She knew she'd better sit down from the sound of her voice. "Hit me."
"Xian finally died."
She grunted as if belly-punched. She had known she wasn't going to make it, considering her injuries, but her actual death still came as a blow. "Kohl- Lon?"
"She's gone all quiet and Yoda-ey."
"You know Xian was the last of her line, right? All of her family is gone now."
"Yea, I know." The reply came in a very quiet voice. "Mu-Tse is still in a coma. They can't have a trial until he comes out of it."
"You know he didn't kill her. He didn't even have the heart to actually fight her for real much less kill her."
"You know that and I know that... Kohl-Lon isn't sure. Suppressed rage and all that. Add in that it was one of his swords..."
"Bullshit." She was shaking now and had to sit down.
"Look, there's nothing anyone is going to be able to do until he comes out of his coma. Then we'll handle it as best we can." Her friend's voice was just as harsh as hers was, she realized. This was hitting her hard also.
"What else?" she asked after a slight pause.
"Tachi is back in the hospital. He tried again."
"How this time?" She asked resignedly.
"His pain meds. 'Dachi doesn't know how he got the bottle open considering his hands" (the words 'or lack there-of' went unspoken but recognized) "but he did. Took the whole damn thing. They managed to stomach pump him in time."
She didn't reply, as she knew none was expected. She just sat there and thought about it all. Letting the remorse fill her and settle. This wasn't the time to stand and rant and rave against it all. This was the time to accept it for now and deal with it later. If there had been anyone around they would have noticed a slight green haze that seemed to flow around her body. Finally she muttered a simple "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." At her bark of laughter, her friend got mad again. "Damn it! I mean it. No-one could have known, okay?"
"Okay, okay." She shook his head, trying vainly to clear it. "Anything else?"
"No. Not really. Dachi wanted to know if you needed more money or another bike yet." The last part of that sentence was spoken with not a little sarcasm.
"Hey! I haven't needed a new bike now in almost a month."
"I know... You're overdue." Came the dry comment in return.
"Whatever." She stood and stretched, her body making the occasional popping noise. "Look, I got miles to go before I get there..."
Yea. I know. By the way, take the next right turn you come to. It'll cut 50 km off your distance and the police don't watch that area too closely."
"You're hacked in again aren't you?"
"What did you expect me to do? Go dancing?" She winced at the comment, thinking back to the active girl she'd known. The one who was now in a wheelchair.
"I'll get him. I promise. He's a walking dead man. He just doesn't know it yet. And I'll get her back to you if I can."
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Buffy sighed yet again in exasperation.
Giles was being even more the research fanatic. Willow was trying to be all group-therapy-ish. Xander had gone all Inquisitioney and really wanted to go after Angel. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why Xander had always had it in for him. Oh, yea she knew why he hated Angelus, but Angel wasn't like that now. He had his soul back. It wasn't him that did what he did, when he did it. She frowned in thought for a moment, replaying that last bit. Yep, that works.
Then again Xander had more than just Angel on his hands right now, as he and Cordelia had gotten into some huge fight over something or another and had broken up. For a moment she considered all of Xander's previous 'girlfriends'. Cordy sure fit right in with that group.
Add in the new super-anal Watcher, Gwendolyn Post that had shown up for Faith, and things were officially strained. It didn't help that Faith had been acting weird lately also. Well, weirder than she normally was. She'd been quieter and colder. True, she didn't know Faith very well, never had now that she thought about it, but something wasn't right. It felt 'off' whenever she was around her.
Things were falling apart and she didn't have a clue on how to fix them. Okay, so she hadn't told them that Angel was back. She hadn't lied about it; she just hadn't... volunteered the information. Hey, he had found the the glove thingee hadn't he? He was helping. Killing this demon Lagos would at least bring a nice warm fuzzy feeling anyways.
"Okay, so we're all cool on this right? Willy says that he overheard some fledglings mention this Lagos guy and the warehouse district. We go in and scout it out, if we get a chance to nail him, we take it."
Xander was muttering to himself how he should have gone ahead and gone on to The Bronze. It wasn't like she needed him with Deadboy around again.
Willow looked over at Buffy a little apprehensively, the crossbow in her hands shook slightly as she loaded it. "And we all know that Willy is good for the info thing, right?" She looked around "Right?"
"Oh yea, completely trustworthy." Snorted Xander hefting his axe as they started down the alleyway "Almost as much as a Vampire."
"Damnit, Xander, we so do not have time for this." Buffy whirled and faced him. "Look, I'm sorry. I made a mistake okay? I should have told you all, but he's better now."
"Better for how long, Buffy? I mean, did you even think about that?"
As they grew closer and closer together during the argument Oz leaned towards Willow and whispered: "When do think she's gonna get it?"
"How's never?"
"How'd they make it through the last two years?"
"No clue."
Suddenly Buffy and Xander stopped arguing. It was quiet, too quiet.
"Oh shit." Said Xander. "We're screwed."
There was at least 25 Vampires spread out in a loose line some 30 feet in front of the foursome.
"Uhmm... Buffy…" Oz said quietly. "I hate to tell you..."
"Let me guess. More behind us?"
"Yep." Came Oz's usual massive-type reply.
"Are they as badly dressed as the losers in front of us?" Buffy asked in her usual sardonic way. "Where are the forces of evil getting their lackeys these days? I mean... total geek fest."
Xander stared across at the vamps in front of him. "Hey!" he suddenly exclaimed, turning his head to give a mock glare at Buffy. "I own a shirt just like that one." He said pointing towards one wearing a lurid blue and orange Hawaiian shirt.
"..."
Even some of the vampires looked at Xander like he was a total doofus.
"What?! It's a cool shirt. I wear it when I go down to the bowling alley for no-tap night."
By this time even the vampire who was wearing the aforementioned shirt looked embarrassed.
"Look, we can discuss your fashion sense later okay? Right now we have some vampire butt to stomp into dust bunnies."
"At least they don't have some big demon guy helping them."
Of course, at that moment a large, roughly eight foot tall demon stepped up towards the middle of the vampires facing them.
"Xander. Shut up!" Was heard to come from the mouths of both Buffy and Willow.
"I want the Glove of Myhnegon. Now!"
"Hmmm, I guess that you would be Lagos huh?"
"Give me the Glove. Now!"
"Hmmm... Not big on the witty repartee are you?" As the demon stepped forward she got her first real good view (and smell) of him. "Woof." She said as she shook her head slightly. "Not to big on the deodorant either huh?"
The Demon was at least 8 foot tall. Cloven hoofs for feet holding up a massive frame. His face looked to be made up of equal portions of human and boar with stringy black hair obscuring his eyes somewhat. "Get them. Find the Glove."
That was all it took for the vampires to start closing in. Obviously they were more afraid of the demon than they were of the Slayer. As usual, this was fatal for quite a few of them.
Things were going fairly well for about the first five minutes.
Willows crossbow was only fired once, and when she had problems reloading it she fell back to her holy water-water balloons.
Oz was surprisingly holding his own with a pair of short swords.
Xander, after losing his grip on his axe was busy beating up a vampire's fist with his face until he finally staked it. The other Scoobies were to busy to notice that Xander's eyes glowed with a slight yellowish tinge for a couple of seconds, and as he started towards the next vampire his bruises had already faded a bit. He was also starting to move a little quicker than normal as the pain registered on his system. He moved in on his next opponent in a sliding step that looked deceptively slow, but was in fact exceedingly quick.
Buffy... was Buffy. The Slayer. Quips fell from her lips almost as fast as the punches and kicks she threw. She was everywhere and fighting almost everything. The odds were stacked against them and she was in her element, but she new it couldn't last. The demon had yet to enter the fight and it was only a matter of time until...
Willow screamed as the vamp that had snuck up on her, back-handed her to the ground. Buffy whirled around but she already knew there was no way she could make it there in time. Xander was off to one side fighting two vamps and Oz... was nowhere to be seen.
With a snarl the vampire lifted Willow up by the throat, and Buffy felt her eyes widen as she could only stand there and watch.
The motorcycle seemed to come out of nowhere. One moment nothing. The next moment there it was, coming through two rapidly expanding dust clouds, the rider's hands held out to the sides holding stakes, and then just as suddenly gripping the handle bars and kicking the vampire that held Willow in the chest. The blow was so sudden and savage that the vampire literally flew through air and disintegrated when he hit the brick wall some twenty feet away. Willow fell to the ground winded and bruised but otherwise relatively unhurt.
As the motorcycle continued down the alleyway the demon suddenly stepped forward and swung a club of some sorts at the front of the rapidly approaching bike. The front forks snapped at the contact and the front end of the bike immediately dropped, catapulting the rider down the alley.
More than amazingly, the rider came up from his impromptu flight rolling down the street and then rising up to her feet in one smooth motion, absently killing two vampires who stood within arms reach of her as she rose. The other combatants ground to a halt as they watched the newcomer reach up and remove her full-face helmet. Hefting it for a moment, the rider then calmly tossed it up in the air and kicked it into the face of a vampire standing beside Buffy, some twenty feet away, instantly dusting the creature.
Xander looked over at the dust pile and then at the rider. "Okay. When exactly did we enter a John Wu film'?"
Buffy could only gape as she watched the red-haired woman wearing black leathers walking towards her, her blue/gray eyes flashing in the glow from the streetlights. "Who are you?"
"Ranko Saotome. Devil Hunter. Who the hell are you?"
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Okay… Hands up who saw that one coming.
end of Chapter II
QSK