"Wes."
"Gunn."
The two men stared at one another for the longest time. Were they friends anymore? Were they enemies? To put them into either category was probably incorrect. They were just associates and tended to avoid one another's company unless they absolutely had to be brought together. Unfortunately, this seemed to be one of those times.
There was a time when they had been friends. Wesley would explain to Gunn the forms of supernatural phenomena they would face. Gunn would explain why the Lakers hadn't been the same since Magic Johnson left. They would joke with one another and fight side by side. If Wesley weren't a white British man or Gunn wasn't black and born and raised in L.A., you'd think them brothers. So what exactly destroyed this friendship?
"I thought Fred said she was coming down here." Gunn asked.
It's always a girl.
"She ran into some trouble in the lab and can't leave. So she called me." Wesley replied.
"How thoughtful. I guess you'll want to see the scene then." Gunn said with hostility, towering over Wesley.
"It would definitely justify my being here." Wesley replied, adding a touch more testosterone to the conversation.
"Yeah. Whatever. Come on." Gunn said turning and walking towards the warehouse.
"So tell me what we're dealing with here." Wesley said, briefly glancing at the moon. It had a halo around it. Mystic sign of bad luck.
"Didn't get filled in huh? Well let me bring you up to speed. We got ourselves a murder. Five of them in fact. Cordy had a vision a few hours ago. We died in it." Gunn explained.
"Well that's rather disheartening."
"Well, she only thought it was us at first. Her vision was pretty jumbled together. After it stopped she put the pieces together. She saw five humans getting killed by something in a fight. She couldn't make out what they were fighting though." Gunn explained.
"I have my suspicions." Wesley said looking at the warehouse they were approaching, "This is where Angelus destroyed the Beast."
"Yeah. Almost forgot you were there when it happened."
"I didn't actually see it. I was outside fending off a pair of vampires. Faith and Angelus did all the hard work."
"Gee, imagine that. At first we didn't know where to look to try and stop this. L.A.'s pretty big after all. We knew they were in a warehouse so that narrowed it down a little. We were still busting our chops trying to pin point exactly where." Gunn continued.
"Why wasn't I called sooner? I could have helped." Wesley asked.
"Well sorry buddy, but you were busy taking on a nest of Glurgs in Beverly Hills, remember?" Gunn replied, "Besides, your fuck buddy talked us into using some of the telepaths at Wolfram and Hart to track down any mental signals in warehouses that would match what we were looking for. We found this one in no time at all, but while we were jawing about what to do five of the signals inside went out. Bam, bam, bam, like that."
"Lilah and I are not "fuck buddies" anymore for starts. Secondly, you said five signals went out. How many sentient beings were in this warehouse to begun with?" Wesley asked.
"Now that's the fun part. We got two or three more signals."
"Two or three more? You're not sure?" Wesley asked.
"One was a demon. We know that much. The other ones were weird. It was like two signals overlapping." Gunn replied.
"Kind of scary huh?"
Gunn and Wesley both jumped, never quite used to that.
"Damn it Angel! Why you always gotta be sneaking up on us?" Gunn asked.
"For the look on your faces. It's priceless." Angel smirked before looking to Wesley, "I thought Fred was coming?"
"She was busy. You've seen the crime scene?" Wesley asked.
"Just walked out of there. The place reeks of death. I'm pretty sure it's him. All the evidence is adding up. Though I'd like a second opinion." Angel said.
"Show me the scene?" Wesley asked.
"Alright. Right this way." Angel said, leading Wesley and Gunn inside the warehouse. Before they entered they knew it was a real mess. Cast iron doors were broken in, well more out like something had been thrown through. A chalk outline was on the ground outside them. Inside, crates were smashed open everywhere. Some Wolfram and Hart agents were inside, tracing more lines of chalk where the bodies were found. Wesley looked around.
"This is the usual amount of damage caused by the Beast." Wesley mused.
"I could have told you that." Gunn said under his breath.
"The victims?" Wesley asked.
"The four we found that were mostly whole are being carted away as we speak. I already had a look. I know a lot about the human anatomy, so I can pretty much figure what killed them. Blunt force trauma to the head and chest, covered in contusions, few shattered ribs." Angel began speaking.
"Shattered?" Wesley asked.
"Not broken. Shattered as in multiple pieces." Angel replied.
"Sounds like the Beast alright." Gunn said.
"Also we found some charred bones in a corner. Looks like one of them was barbequed." Angel said.
"Damn. Still not used to hearing that." Gunn said
"Well, our corpses didn't go without a fight but they went." Angel explained.
"They managed to fight back? Mutants?" Wesley asked.
"Nope." Angel said producing a card from nowhere and handing it to Wesley, "Our competition."
The card read "Monster Fighters INC.: We Kick Paranormal Butt."
Monster Fighters INC. entered the warehouse and immediately saw why they had been summoned here. There was a huge red demon, seemingly carved from volcanic rock standing in the middle of the warehouse. It was gigantic. Almost eight feet tall if you didn't count the horns; well over ten if you did. It looked about, as if it seemed somewhat confused to its surroundings.
Past the creature was a woman tied up and sobbing, with her mouth taped shut. She was pretty with dark brown, almost black hair. Her eyes begged the Fighters to help her.
"A C note says that that's the babe who called us." Adam Bomb said. He was of course decked out in the loudest colors he could find.
"Anybody know what kind of demon that thing is?" Porte, the raven haired teleporter of the group asked.
"Rap, anything like it in your dimension?" the team leader, Amanda Firestarter asked.
"I've never seen anything like it." The extra dimensional Rapunzel replied.
"It's mine." Kid Gloves said as he dashed off towards the creature.
"Kay wait! Son of a….every damned time!" Firestarter groaned.
"Hey maybe we'll get lucky. Kay's like a male Slayer." Porte said hopefully.
Kid Gloves leapt at the creature with a powerful jump kick. The creature made no effort to move. Kid Gloves hit his target. He also hit the ground a few seconds later because despite his powerful kick, the creature didn't budge. It did smile just a bit before picking him up and throwing him violently into a wall.
"Or maybe this will play out like it always does." Porte sighed.
"Alright, following me so far?" Angel asked.
"For the most part. What happened after he hit the wall?" Wesley asked.
"That's a little hazy, but when I first walked in here my demon picked up something. It sensed something magickal had happened here recently. I'm not sure exactly, but I feel it whenever I'm near a portal opening. It's kind of like the feeling you get when you think about riding a roller coaster. That's how I am when I'm near a portal thanks to my trip to Hell." Angel replied.
"You sayin' they tried teleporting him to another dimension?" Gunn asked.
"Something along those lines." Angel replied.
"Okay Porte, nail it." Firestarter ordered.
"I'm on it." Porte replied. Purplish black energy gathered at her finger tips as the creature approached. A portal formed in front of her and she directed it at the creature.
The creature didn't seem to struggle but instead walked right into the portal. Porte quickly closed the portal when she could no longer see the creature. She smiled and looked at Firestarter.
"Problem solved. And we didn't even have to get our hands that dirty." Porte smiled.
"Still Kay took a beating." Firestarter said, looking at the slightly shaky Kid Gloves rising across the warehouse.
"Eh, maybe if he weren't so hot headed." Adam Bomb smirked, "He should be a cucumber like me."
"Cucumber?" Rapunzel asked.
Porte rolled her eyes, "As in cool as a, Rap. I swear Adam, you're way to full of—"
Seconds later, the creature they were facing just faded back in front of them and its huge fist struck Porte right in the face. The girl flew back through the metal doors of the warehouse and crashed to the pavement outside.
"Porte!" Adam said running out after her. Rapunzel turned to go as well and in that instant was grabbed by her inhumanly long hair and swung about, skidding across the warehouse.
Firestarter managed to duck a fist and roll to the side and backed away, summoning her flame to strike the creature. The creature seemed unaffected and merely walked into the flame after her. Firestarter gritted her teeth and made the flames hotter.
"I know what you are now. We have a dossier on you after your rampage back in the spring. You're the Beast!" Firestarter yelled, "But you're supposed to be dead."
The Beast smiled and continued walking after her.
"Doesn't matter though." Firestarter said, turning up the heat again, "Because in a minute you're going to be ash!"
Firestarter sent even more flame at her foe. He kept walking towards here even when the flames grew white hot. Firestarter pushed harder, her flames and the exertion making her sweat horribly. The Beast merely watched her and smirked.
"Your power is so small. You're like a river trying to battle an ocean. All you do is feed me." The Beast smiled.
"W-What?" Firestarter asked, still pouring it on.
"Let me show you." The Beast said crouching and slamming its fist into the ground. Seconds later, flames shot out and surrounded Firestarter, taking the shape of the Eye of Fire. The ancient alchemical symbol for fire and destruction shot a huge geyser of flame upwards surrounding Firestarter. She screamed in agony as he flesh was burned from her body. The geyser of flame burst through the roof of the warehouse before dying down retreating back to the ground, leaving Amanda Firestarter, nothing but ash and a few charred bones. And the Beast smiled.
"AMANDA!" Kid Gloves screamed in anguish.
"Well that would explain THAT hole in the ceiling." Gunn said looking at the perfectly burned hole.
Wesley was kneeling beside the spot where Firestarter's bones had been found. He saw the charred Eye of Fire symbol on the ground.
"This is most definitely the work of the Beast. He did the same thing atop the Sky Temple after he threw you off the top of it." Wesley said to Angel.
Angel nodded, remembering the encounter and how they had all almost died.
"At least there was no rain of fire this time." Angel mused, "After that, I'm thinking that that guy, Kid Gloves, attacked. He had some burns on his body."
Kid Gloves roared in rage and slammed his fist into the Beast's face. Even through the gloves he wore, he could feel the heat and probably had a bad burn. His hands would be covered in blisters by morning. He didn't care though. He just saw his friend get killed by this thing. Running on pure rage, he hammered the Beast time and time again in the face. He actually made the thing back up with the flurry of punches and kicks that he threw.
He ducked a swing from the Beast and repeatedly punched its sides. The Beast growled and elbowed him in the side of the head. The Beast was still hot from the fire, so in addition to a powerful blow to the head, Kind Gloves also had a nasty burn. He fell to the ground and the Beast raised one of its huge hooves and was about to bring it down across Kid Gloves' chest.
The first stomp connected with a sickening cracking sound. Kay could barely breathe and the Beast was raising its hoof again. This shot would surely kill him. However, he was lucky to have a friend like Rapunzel. Her hair shot around the demon and entangled him, wrapping and binding. With the Beast's leg in the air it was child's play to pull him off his vertical base. The Beast crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
"Kay! Get clear!" Rapunzel yelled, struggling to keep the Beast from standing.
Kid Gloves began to crawl away slowly, just as he heard Rap scream. Then he heard the other sound. Her hair was being ripped and torn away. He immediately tried to stand. He would not let anymore friends die tonight.
"That explains why the place smells of burning hair." Wesley said, looking at several super long locks of hair on the floor in the center of the room.
"You'll be amazed at the next thing I tell you." Angel added.
"Porte! Come on Porte! Don't die on me!" Adam yelled as he shook Porte. Her pretty face was barely recognizable now. That thing had hit her hard, and she showed it. Her nose was broken, her jaw probably too. Her face had swelled and was bleeding heavily.
But the worst thing was the way she looked at Adam. Her eyes were glazed over, but it was clear she was scared. She was very, very afraid. She tried to talk, but only a sickening sound came out, like someone trying to speak while choking. She grabbed Adam's hand and he could only imagine she was trying to say his name. She tried to sit up and fell back down miserably. She coughed and hacked and sputtered a few more times before she just stopped.
Adam's jaw dropped. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. They were Monster Fighters INC. They were THE GOOD GUYS for God's sake! The good guys didn't die! Small tears ran down Adam's cheek as he bowed his head. His head then turned and looked back into the warehouse where the Beast tearing out strands of Rap's hair as it stood. Adam's eyes narrowed in absolute rage.
He had always been the happy go lucky guy on the team. He was the street smart one, the flirtatious one, the cool one. He was never the angry one. Not until tonight. Standing, he pumped his legs furiously as he ran back into the warehouse as fast as he could. He leapt on the back of the Beast and roared in rage.
"Kay! Get Rap, Amanda and that other chick clear!" Adam yelled as he tightened his grip around the oblivious Beast, his arms scalding.
Kid Gloves moved as quickly as he could considering his injuries and grabbed Rap as she uncoiled her tendrils of hair. The hair then shot out and gripped the young woman who was tied up and pulled her along with them.
Adam was confused as to why they didn't have Amanda with them. Then it hit him, she was dead too. Adam screamed in rage as the Beast managed to pull him off of his back and slam him down hard into the concrete. The Beast looked down at him with a smirk. Adam just looked up furiously.
"Hey asshole, I'm going to show you why they call me Adam Bomb." Adam said right before his entire body exploded sending the Beast flying up into the air and then crashing back down to the concrete, cracking it.
Kid Gloves, Rapunzel, and the girl they were saving were thrown by the shockwave of the blast. Kay was pretty sure he took the brunt of the explosion for the two girls, even if it hurt him more. Crates in all directions were broken and shattered. Another hole was blown in the roof by the force of the blast. Kay looked back after he was certain the explosion was over. Sure enough, there was Adam standing there fully regenerated.
"Suck on that asshole." Adam said as he looked to the body of the Beast.
"Adam?" Rapunzel called.
"Yeah?" Adam said turning.
"ADAM!" Rap screamed.
It was too late though. The Beast's fist came down on top of Adam's head. His neck moved in a way that it was not supposed to. It had been snapped in two. Adam stood a second longer, his head hanging at a bizarre angle before he fell over.
The Beast's face was a reserved mask of stone. Kay and Rap were horrified as the girl who was tied and gagged merely cried louder. Rapunzel stood.
"Kay, get the girl out of here." Rapunzel said standing, "I'm not coming back from this."
"Certainly fits what I know of Bomb's powers. I met he and the others last summer at a convention in Dallas. He was bit loud but he was a good man. They were all good people." Wesley sighed.
"Man, this is worse that I thought." Gunn said, putting a hand to his forehead.
"It gets worse. You don't have to hear anymore if you don't want to. It's a sure bet that this is the Beast." Angel said.
"No. Go on." Wesley replied.
"Are you sure that you want me to?" Angel asked.
"Go on." Wesley said again.
"Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! I'm sorry!" the young woman said as Kay removed the gag she had on.
"It's alright miss. You're going to be fine. I'm getting you out of here." Kay replied, "I'm going to untie you so you can walk."
"It's all my fault. Oh God! I don't want to be bad anymore! Oh God! Willow was right! Please you have to believe me! I don't want this anymore!" the woman said in horror.
Kay shook her a bit, trying to snap her out of her hysteria.
"Look, I need you to stand. We need to get out of here. Okay? OKAY!" Kid Gloves asked.
The girl looked at him, "Y-You're right. I'm sorry. I…OH MY GOD!"
Kay turned to see Rapunzel being cracked against the floor by the Beast. It was like someone slamming a full bag into the ground over and over. He was sickened as he heard Rap scream for him to help. Then her pleas went silent. And she was dropped by the wayside. The Beast looked at Kay.
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to run as fast as you can." Kid Gloves said to the girl.
"I…I…I…"
"Run. Don't look back. Not for a second." Kid Gloves said as he stood.
He summoned every ounce of strength he had left in his body and looked at the Beast. It was just standing there. It had taken them out like they were rookies. But they were among the best in the business. He knew that he may die here tonight. But that didn't matter. He was a Monster Fighter; he was a hero, a warrior. And he was going to show this thing why he was potentially the greatest Monster Fighter in this generation. Greater than a vampire, greater than a Slayer, greater than any demon you would throw at him. He might die in the process, but this thing sure as hell wouldn't forget him. He grasped the top of the white wifebeater he wore and ripped it right down the middle and tossed down the remains. He then put his hand up and beckoned the Beast to come for him.
The Beast complied and walked forwards. Kay smiled evilly and shot forwards, poetry in motion. The Beast swung at him, but Kay grabbed the wrist, which had cooled considerably and swung up behind the creature. His legs wrapped around the Beast's arm on the opposite side as his own arms locked around the arm he had grabbed by the wrist. Using all of the force he could muster, he pulled backwards. His stratagem, the Crucifix, had worked and pulled the creature down off balance. As it rolled backwards, Kay released his hold.
The Beast rose to one knee and was met by a flying kick from Kay, this time aimed at the head and not the chest. The Beast sprawled backwards flat on the concrete. Kay kept moving and leapt up bringing both feet down heel first across the Beast's eyes before flipping forward and landing on his feet. The Beast sat up and tried to get up again. Kay ran forward again and put all of his weight on the tip of the Beast's horns performing a face buster on the concrete that cracked it. Kay then used all of his strength to push down even harder, grinding the Beast's face into the concrete. His only chance was to keep the Beast from getting up. Still he had no real way of keeping it down.
His eyes scanned around the room and he saw a chain hanging from the ceiling. It was on a pulley and it was nearby. He sprang up and ran to it. The Beast rose up behind him.
"Come on!" Kay roared.
The Beast chuckled and ran forward, hooves breaking concrete as it picked up speed. Kay smirked as it followed him. He intentionally let it get close and gripped the chain in front of him and swung around on it like Tarzan, wrapping it around the neck of the Beast. He used the hook at the end and secured it around the Beast's neck.
He grabbed the chain opposite of the Beast and strained. He was slowly lifting the Beast off of the ground, effectively hanging it. Roaring in rage over the loss of his friends he pulled further. The Beast went four feet into the air. Kay cried in strain and in sadness because he's never hear one of Adam's jokes again. He'd never laugh at Rap's inability to understand this dimension. He'd never hear Porte talk about her comics. He'd never get to hold Amanda again. He'd never get any of that, so he cried and pulled harder. The Beast was suspended seven feet in the air, hanging by the neck.
It looked down at Kay scowling and shot a hoof out cracking him in the face. Kay released the chain and fell back as the Beast dropped to the ground, making two holes in the concrete with its hooves. It broke the chain at its neck with ease and walked over towards Kay. Kay sprang up and jabbed it in the face turning its head. The Beast backhanded him, sending him crashing into a crate. Kay barely moved in time as another crate smashed into the one he occupied. The Beast watched and threw another heavy crate at him. Again it missed as Kay ducked and rolled. He came right back for the Beast and threw a right cross that would have actually knocked the Beast flat on his ass if it had connected with his face.
Instead, the Beast caught the fist and began crushing it. Kid Gloves refused to give the monster any satisfaction and held his pain in, more tears running down his cheek. He merely bellowed and threw a left kick at the Beast. It was likewise caught. His ankle was likewise crushed. Then Kay felt himself rising into the air, being held aloft the Beast. Kay did scream in the next instant. The Beast's horns gored him horribly as blood began to pour from the wounds. Kay lost his scream as he was pulled further down the horns, completely impaled atop them.
And then suddenly he was no longer on the horns. In fact, he was rising into the air. The pain was fading. It was all going away. He was being carried to Heaven on the wings of angels. He knew that was it. He died laughing as he hit the roof of the warehouse and fell back down to the concrete below.
And the Beast smiled.
"God in Heaven." Wesley said.
"That's…that's…I don't know how to feel about that." Gunn replied.
"Feel grateful that there were people out there that were willing to risk their lives like that. On any other day that could have been us." Angel explained.
"Weren't there supposed to be other people in here?" Wesley asked.
"Yeah, but we never found any bodies. Whatever happened after the Beast killed Monster Fighters INC. is anyone's guess." Angel sighed.
The Beast walked to the girl who was on the floor in a fetal position. She was spouting nonsense as he approached.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't want this. This is too much. He's too much for me. I can't handle this." She cried as she lay there. She looked up to the Beast when he approached, "Kill me. Please kill me. I don't want this anymore. He made me call them. He made me put you back together and fix you. He made me tie myself up and wait for them. He made me wake you up when they came in here. I'm so sorry. I just want out. I'd cut my wrists but he stops me from doing it. Kill me please. Kill me before he comes back."
The Beast merely regarded her with no expression as he raised his hoof. He sent it down at her, ready to crush her skull like a melon. But his foot stopped. The Beast staggered back and in the girl's place was now a man with red skin and wild eyes. Also his hair was green.
"Well, well, well. Now isn't this interesting. You really are everything you're billed to be aren't you?" Mephisto said standing up, dusting himself off.
The Beast showed no expression and merely swung, only to have his own hand grabbed. He could push it no further. He strained as did the creature in front of him, but he was not able to push any further.
"Going to hit me before you hear my offer?" Mephisto smirked, straining slightly.
"You have nothing I want. I serve only my master." The Beast replied.
"Well, that's touching. Loyal to the very last. Let me tell you something now, your master's plans have been thwarted. She was cast out of this world by the Sorcerer Supreme. And you were shattered by a dagger made of your own body. Not a very pleasant way to go I imagine." Mephisto said smugly before letting go of the Beast's fist. Both creatures lost their balance temporarily.
"You lie." The Beast growled.
"I've been known to, yes. But I'm telling you the truth right now. Also I put you back together and had my better half do the proper incantations at the place of your death to bring you back. Your master didn't bother to though. All that magickal power and she didn't even bother fixing you." Mephisto said, circling the Beast.
"She was my master. I failed in my mission." The Beast growled.
"I must say, that loyalty truly is inspiring. A bit idiotic, but inspiring." Mephisto smirked, hopping up on the remnants of a crate, "Let me tell you something right now, so listen up. You're a thug. A goon. A henchman. One hell of a henchman but nothing more. And now your master isn't in contact with you, and without her orders you have no purpose. She's probably participating in the war down below as we speak and was content to let you spend eternity as a few pieces of rock."
"She was my master, it was her prerogative to do so." The Beast replied.
"True, but that fact means she's also abandoned you. I had you fixed and you walk again. Alone. No purpose. You're like a boat with no oars. Lost. You're like a bull that loves to fight, but has no cause to fight for. That really makes you kind of pathetic." Mephisto smirked.
"Hold your tongue or I'll—"
"Hit me? See, there it is. No reason to fight but for the sake of fighting. And if you want to fight, I'll give you one. As you can tell, we're about the same in strength. That and I'm A LOT faster than you. We can fight all night if you want. Of course, sooner or later Wolfram and Hart and that do-gooder vampire Angel are going to show up here and I know for a fact that they are just dying to get their hands on us. My better half and I escaped from them and you…well, you killed them once. Their agents probably couldn't take us down as we are now, but I'm sure they have plenty of little toys that they're just dying to try out. So we either fight or we deal." Mephisto said, his silver tongue doing a number on the Beast.
"What do you want?" the Beast asked.
"Well, that's simple now isn't it? I want your services. I'd get the perfect enforcer and you'd get a purpose in life again. Really a match made in Heaven, well more or less." Mephisto smiled, "Clock's a tickin'. So what do you say?"
The Beast looked at Mephisto for a long time and weighed all the options. He looked down at the ground and then looked Mephisto in the eye.
"I will serve you. For now." The Beast replied.
"Not interested then." Mephisto said standing up, "With me you're in it for the long haul. It's either all the way, or you're on your own without anyone to guide you. Good luck finding some other demon lord who won't enlist you in the Blood War and get you shattered again."
The Beast pondered it again and slowly went to one knee.
"I will serve you indefinitely…..master." the Beast said.
"Better."