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The Streets of Sunnydale

Michael Corvin's POV

"So what's the story with Sparky back there?" he asked glancing at the robot cowboy following them as best it could despite its obvious 'injuries'.

"Came with some Billy Idol wannabe and his crew who're lookin' to add two more notches to his kill count." Hellboy said continuing to move in the direction his glowing rock had pointed, "Funny thing is it didn't get in on the action. Probably couldn't make up its mind with its busted motherboard so aside from me and Morrigan it turned out to be the last one standing. After that it decided following us was a good idea."

Well that least that was something.

If it was really in such bad shape it'd be bad luck rather than deliberate choice that'd lead to one of them getting shot by the robot. Also given how slow it was moving one of them would have to be pretty distracted not to notice its approach much less any attempt to do them harm. At best perhaps it could be useful as a decoy if they came under attack again and buy them a minute or two but he didn't think he could hope for much better than that.

It was when he saw some fragments of metal slip out of the robot's pocket to the ground and while he didn't know what they were the machine immediately came to a halt. Turning back out of curiosity he watched as the dropped items completely commanded the artificial being's attention when he got close enough he found them to be five pieces of what used to be a whole. It wasn't an object like anything he knew but if he had to guess it might've come together around a central sphere with various metal plates that could be considered petals. Colored red and green he wondered if it was some sort of keepsake from someone the machine knew or perhaps an important piece of equipment.

"Dammit! Not again!" Hellboy exclaimed with exasperation after turning to see what'd slowed things down.

"He's dropped it before?" Willow asked sounding curious.

That was something he'd seen before during med-school in some of his classmates where they were so curious about medicine that they were all over the place in terms of what they wanted to learn. Usually a person either already had an area of medicine they wanted to get into right from the beginning or quickly chose one after the first couple of months of classes. However some were such sponges for knowledge that they grabbed whatever book came within range of their arms and devoured it.

Willow was definitely one of those people.

"Yeah. Tried to carry it for the robo-desperado but he started sparking even more than usual so I just stuffed it into a pocket." Hellboy replied with some annoyance, "Guess all the holes he's got in him also messed up his pants."

Seeing the robot try to bend over to pick up the metal plates only to jerk back as the action sparked some sort of system damage flare up. Whatever damage had been done to its mind seemed to be making it impossible for the robot to realize that picking up its possession was impossible mechanically speaking. Finally taking pity on it he reached down picking up each fragment until he had them all before stuffing them into a pouch that looked to be in better condition than any visible pants pocket. So long as nothing jostled the pouch or knocked it open the fragments should stay where they were allowing them to proceed to the source of their current dilemma. Looking up into the robot's optics he could swear he could see…gratitude...but it didn't last before they resumed the sporadic flickering they'd been doing for the last hour.

Walking along he took a few minutes to look about because while they hadn't run into any more trouble since the last group had attacked them his sense of hearing told him that that could change very easily. Every other minute he could hear and sometimes even see something that indicated that fighting was going on elsewhere in the sleepy town he was now in. Nothing sounded like it was closer than two hundred yards but if anyone else was changed like Willow insisted they might possess sharp senses like him and if they proved hostile they might decide to come take a look see.

Given the sheer variety of powers and abilities the members of their group possessed things could get VERY bad very quickly for them especially if the unknowns proved to be more powerful.

As if bidden by his thoughts his sense of hearing and sense of smell told him that two life forms were approaching and neither of them matched what his mind told him was human.

"Stop following me!" an irate woman yelled seconds before a floating female form came into view.

"Not a chance! I saw what you did to those mini-demons." A man's voice said with irritated resolve revealing himself to be a man in his mid-twenties dressed in black, "Until we figure out what the hell's going on and put a stop to it I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

"Angel!" Willow exclaimed before running over to the man, "Am I glad to see you!"

"Willow?! What the hell is going on?!" Angel asked only temporarily showing shock at the redhead's new outfit before recovering.

"I don't know but I'm betting some kind of magic." She replied sounding like she had too little info to come up with anything better, "One second we're taking the kids trick or treating and the next I've got a living symbiote instead of my costume and everyone else thinks they're someone else."

"Yeah. Kinda got that from Darth Vader and Obi-wan Kenobi fighting it out a dozen or so blocks that way." Angel said looking like he knew how surreal that sounded, "Whoever or whatever's responsible for this has got to have some real power. It'd be one thing if all the spell did was put new personalities in control but to change your bodies and give you fictional powers…that's major league magic."

"No shit Sherlock!" Hellboy snapped not liking the implications of what Angel was talking about, "Transformation of any bio-mass not made for stuff like that along with personality implantation takes some serious juice especially to do it all in no time at all. Tell us something we don't know!"

"We need to find Giles." Angel said moving things away from the fact that he didn't have any more info to share, "I might know a little about magic but he's the best expert we've got in Sunnydale."

"Um…well…I'm not one hundred percent sure about this but…I think…" Willow said sounding like she thought that what she was about to say would open a metaphorical can of worms, "…I think Hellboy is Giles. Maybe."

Stunned Angel just looked at Hellboy like he couldn't believe what he'd been told but on closer inspection seemed to spot some small bits that made it potentially possible.

"Giles? Sounds like one of those tea drinking tweed wearing Brits Father always had come visit him whenever he needed some help translating a scroll or tablet." Hellboy said sounding like he didn't particularly care for his father's 'guests', "Not like it makes much difference if Red's telling the truth or not. I want to get back home and you two want your friends back in control of their bodies. Only way that's gonna happen is if we find the focal point of the spell and shut it down. Now let's get moving!"

The man had a point.

Still if Hellboy really was this Giles person then he couldn't help but feel a bit of amusement at the insult he'd just given himself.

With their group increased by two more he felt better about their odds of getting to wherever they were going than before but it was still iffy whether or not they'd be able to handle whoever was behind the magical mess they were in. Like any American he'd seen more than his fair share of sci-fi and fantasy movies so he knew that villains capable of this level of change were often dangerously skilled. Sure some of them were arrogant assholes that had some rare doohickey that anyone could use if they knew the magic words but more often then not they had some serious chops. If they could somehow get and keep the element of surprise it'd go a long way to helping them get a handle on things.

Hell!

While he was hoping for that he might as well predict that the asshole responsible didn't have a clue about who he'd brought over the dimensional gap and would be completely unprepared for them when they got where the spell had been cast.

Too bad he knew that real life didn't work like that.

BRRRP! BRRRP!

"Argh!" he exclaimed in pain as his right side flared with pain.

Case in point.

Even as his accelerated healing kicked in and began to push the bullets out of his body he turned towards the probable point of origin to find a good reason to believe that Lady Luck didn't want to make their night TOO easy. Approaching from a side street was a group of monsters twice the size of the one that'd attacked them prior to Hellboy and Morrigan showing up to lend their support. Then to make things suck even more half of them had guns in their hands that looked like they'd been taken from a military munitions convoy. Now if they were amateurs in the usage of the weapons then there was a chance they could still win provided that none of them made themselves sitting ducks for concentrated fire.

However if they were professionals they'd be finding out the hard way just how durable the members of their group really were as well as how advanced their healing powers really were.

"Ivan trusts he has made his point." The leader of the group said addressing the entire group, "Ivan only want to kill Buffy Summers. You not defy this and you live. You get in Ivan's way and die too. Choose now."

Following where Ivan's eyes had been looking when he'd said 'Buffy Summers' he found out that the man had been looking at Sara. Now he'd thought that in the face of such stiff odds and firepower the inhuman blonde would show some measure of fear or concern but there was nothing. Was the young woman that confident that she'd survive or did she simply not comprehend the threat of the hostile group standing a short distance away? While her regenerative ability was impressive but he doubted that it'd be wise to see if it was possible to come back from being blown to literal bits.

"Sorry but that's not going to happen." Angel said taking a protective position in front of Sara before his face shifted to something matching the wannabe vampires.

"Darn right it won't!" Willow declared before the black tar-like substance covering her body flowed upwards to cover the entirety of her head developing messy white eyes and a toothy mouth with a long prehensile tongue lashing about, "You don't know who you're messing with! We'll be glad to educate you!"

Seeing Sara begin to shift from her human form to her inhuman one it soon became clear that she intended to fight and Morrigan looked positively thrilled at the violence to come. Looking to Hellboy he could see the red skinned demon weighing the odds and sneakily testing the weight of his pockets to see if there was enough for another battle. It was only when the custom made hand cannon was removed from its holster that he knew which way the man with the stone right hand was leaning towards.

~Guess there's no other choice.~ He thought seeing that most of the group was in favor of fighting back.

Looking down at his shirt he could see that whatever kind of bullets had been fired at him they'd pretty much made mulch out of the item of clothing. While one side was intact it was covered in blood while the other side wasn't even fit for being used as improvised bandages so with a tearing yank he got rid of it before triggering the change in his body. Bones, muscles and organs shifted as the unique combination of Lycan and vampire genetics asserted itself transforming its home from human to something decidedly not. As the last of the momentary disorientation and pain left him he thought on how best to fight the foes before him.

Despite the many benefits of his status as a hybrid of Lycan and Vampire both those he had fought before as well as Selene had educated him competently in his shortcomings. He wasn't a fighter, wasn't a warrior, and had never been in a real fight before in his life. Oh he knew now to throw a punch and could manage a kick well enough but he'd never been officially instructed in any known style of fighting. After seeing how Selene fought he knew what a real fighter looked like when they got down to business so he wasn't going to be insulted if someone called him a rank amateur.

As such it was probably best to keep any plans simple as well as to the point.

Bereft of a weapon he'd need to close the distance between them and him quickly eliminate their ability to competently fire their guns. Most were rifles and as such required two hands in order to stand a good chance of actually hitting anything or anyone. A few had blades or handguns were in the hands of the others with only two big looking monsters looking like they planned on letting their fists do the hurting. The quickest and most likely to succeed option was to break one of their arms or if it was more expedient simply rip the arm bloodily off.

As a side benefit not only would they be unable to reload their weapons very easily but unless they could heal as fast as him they could very well bleed out in less than a minute.

"Very well. Ivan not care either way." Ivan said bringing his rifle to proper ready position, "As long as Buffy Summers die it all good. Kill'em all."

BOOM!

"You first." Hellboy said after aiming and firing his hand cannon in less than two seconds putting a tennis ball sized hole in Ivan's head.

THAT proved to be the cue for all chaos to be let loose.

Sprinting for the nearest rifle wielding foe he didn't make it easy or the monster choosing a random but still advancing route and as soon as he was sure he was close enough he pounced. Clamping down on the demon's right arm with his own he yanked with all due speed and strength ripping the limb messily off of the torso. In agony the monster roared before trying to bring its rifle to bear on him but by then he was already on the move to his next target. He tried a few times to pretend to go after one target only to change targets at the last second but apparently his ability to deceive wasn't much better than his ability to fight.

Taking a blast from a shotgun right in the chest knocking him on his ass and temporarily blotting out his mind with pain.

For a moment he feared that the shotgun wielder would take advantage of his temporary incoherence to fire again but that possibility was nicely taken out of the equation.

How?

From one of the most unlikely sources imaginable.

For reasons that he didn't really care about the robot cowboy had decided to act firing a shot from its hand cannon that bit into the shotgun wielder's left shoulder. While he would've preferred a headshot or something serious enough to induce a retreat he didn't let his disappointment keep him from acting. Ignoring the pain that had only half receded he got back to his feet and rushed the shotgun wielder grabbing hold of the firearm with both hands before executing a passable thrust kick to the demon's stomach. He both felt as well as heard the bones of the demon break from his attack weakening it and without hesitation he capitalized on it using the shotgun in his hands to fire a shot right into the monster's head.

~I REALLY hope he's not the kind of monster that can come back from a headshot.~ He thought before turning towards the robot cowboy to deliver a nod of gratitude for the earlier save.

He wasn't sure if what he got back was a return nod or just another malfunction but he didn't dwell on it long since there were still enemies looking to kill him.

~At least now I have more options.~ He thought as he worked the pump action on the shotgun.

Sara's POV

This was wrong.

A simple statement but it was the most efficient statement of what she was feeling even as she killed the beings after her life.

Ever since she had first found herself in this town her senses had picked up on an atmosphere of…death and…entropy saturating everything. Her instincts told her that this place would be dangerous to her imperative to find a suitable mate in order to propagate her species as her body demanded. It had been her inclination to leave the town and travel to a more suitable environment to find what she needed but…but she couldn't take that first step. Something inside of her…something that was her and yet wasn't…insisted that she remain and follow Michael and Willow wherever they went. Concerned and curious she'd gone along with the mysterious will inside of her learning with each battle that the objective was to keep the male and female safe.

Given that there seemed to be no too few threats in the town it was reasonable to be concerned for the duo.

However even as she'd followed them she had tried to understand both the unappetizing feeling of the town as well as the mysterious will inside of her that was strong enough to prevent her from leaving. From what her senses told her the entropy in the town was subtle and hid beneath the surface making all seem normal to those with dulled senses. However to one such as her the taint was all too apparent and stronger still was it in some of the creatures that sought to harm her. It disgusted her and in some cases angered her causing her to convey these emotions violently since she could not think of a reason not to.

That is until Willow and Michael insisted that she only render their foes unconscious rather than do the more efficient route of killing them.

She found this unwise but the same mysterious will that forced her to follow the duo also agreed with the position of using non-lethal force.

Thankfully both in the last battle as well as this one she witnessed Willow as well as Michael break their own rule so she took this to mean that she could fight however she wished.

Thus far this was proving to be a sound move for unlike the hostile beings she'd fought before this group possessed superior weaponry and skill. While the opening strikes that she and her allies launched were successful in killing their targets the enemy group was proving to be quick to adapt and improve. They had learned not to attempt to fight one on one but rather to fight in groups no fewer than three and to seize every opportunity that presented itself. Even if one of their number was on the verge of being killed or at least defeated no attempt was made to prevent either but rather the enemies waited until a target was committed to the final blow to strike one of their own. Thus far she had only received grazing blows from their weapons her awareness allowing her to perceive the threat far enough in advance to prevent a more damaging blow from landing. It would be a slow and methodical battle but with what she knew of her allies she was confident that they would emerge victorious in the end with few if any casualties.

Then they would proceed to the source of what had brought them here to this world so she could return to her mate.

With a quick extension of her fingers she sought to skewer her current prey but with speed she had not been expecting the male caught them in his hands firmly. She naturally tried to retract them out of his grasp but he proved himself strong enough that her fingers were likely to be ripped off instead so she stopped. This however was not a concern of hers since she already had a strategy in mind that would turn this development to her advantage. Less than two seconds after she failed to extricate the fingers of her right hand she lashed out with the ones of her left hand. When they too were caught she wasn't overly concerned since it fell in line with her plan and if the blow had successfully landed her foe would've been killed. Now though both hands of her prey were occupied and she could see no additional appendages capable of grabbing anything so all was ready for her to end his life.

So why was he smiling at her?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP!ZZZZZZZZZZAP!ZZZZZZZZZZ!

Her world filled with pain and only using the single-minded stubbornness of her kind was she able to perceive anything else other than the pain. Her prey was channeling a massive amount of electricity through her fingers into her body and given that he had not displayed it up until now allowed it to catch her completely by surprise. With her mind clouded by pain she was not certain that she could command her hair tendrils to do anything but flutter spasmatically about but unless she wanted to die she had to try. For all the hardiness and accelerated healing her body possessed being cooked alive by electricity was not something she was likely to be able to survive.

Thus with growling grunt of exertion she willed her hair tendrils to strike at the one hurting her but her aim was off causing them to strike only air. In response to her attempt at a counterattack the male increased the amount of electrical energy he was channeling into her cutting her sense of awareness in half.

"Good try bug girl but you gonna fry!" the male declared with sadistic glee, "Maybe I find out how you taste well done? Hahahahahaha!"

"BUFFY!" a male exclaimed though in her present state of agony she could not put a name to it.

She…she saw a dark form attack her prey from the side and it proved to be an assault serious enough that her finger tendrils were released freeing her from her pain. She dropped to her hands and knees with the damage proving severe since even with her ability to rapidly heal the pain was just as slow to leave her as her strength was to return. Yet she still had strength enough to raise her gaze to see who had rescued her and found herself…gratified to discover that it was Angel though she was puzzled about WHY she felt so. She watched as he stayed in close to her prey using impressive hand-to-hand skills to keep the male electricity user from counterattacking.

Sadly this proved to be insufficient in the end for with an unexpected drop to one knee her prey got under Angel's guard and unleashed a blast of electricity to the corpse's torso. To most life forms such an attack would produce severe burns or even succeed in piercing completely through but Angel's case was different. The electricity cascaded across his body, eating at it, and like gasoline soaked rag he was set ablaze but only briefly before he was turned into smoking ashes to be carried off by the wind.

"Just like every other hero: all hype and dies like the rest." Her prey said with smugness basking in the feel of his victory.

She only half heard him though because within her feelings she had never experienced to such a degree began to bubble up. Loss, grief and sadness came first washing over her like waves that threatened to submerge her one after another with increasing levels of success. She did not like these emotions, did not like them AT ALL, because they made her feel weak and vulnerable. Though she could not recall ever feeling either during the course of her brief life she instinctively knew that both feelings were a threat to her survival.

THIS could not be permitted!

She would burn these detestable emotions away with the flames of her ever growing FURY!

"RRRAAAAAAHHH!" she screeched letting all know of the furious storm that had been created.

With the fire fueling her body she charged her prey but instead of obscurity her fury brought clarity of focus and it was using this that she evaded his blasts of electricity. At first she could tell that he was not concerned but the closer she got despite his efforts the more that changed. By the time she got to within leaping distance of him she could see the first signs of fear on his face and THAT was when she truck. The moment she was out of his direct line of sight she lashed out with all her tendrils both fingers AND hair directing them to critical parts of the body where they'd do the most harm. One after another they pierced their prey and once all were secure she drew them in so she could look the one who had infuriated her in the eyes before he died.

Looking into his crimson orbs she could see pain, she could see fear but beneath that she saw intent but it would avail him not.

With all the strength at her disposal she tore his body apart until it was spread from one side of the street to the other.

In a manner most ominous she turned to seek out new prey for the flames of her rage were not yet spent and when her eyes fell upon them one at a time they took a step back. The seed of fear had been planted in their hearts and all it would take was a little nudge to send them scurrying into the darkness.

That would be the practical course of action.

She didn't much care for it

She desired something BLOODIER!

Roman Mount Olympus

Janus' POV

"Well…SHIT." He said watching as the vampire with a soul known as Angel turned to dust.

He'd been excited when Ethan Rayne's spell had begun because it promised much change, much chaos, leading to him eating well tonight. However he'd done what he could to make sure that any changes that remained past the night would not make waves big enough to gain the ire of those more powerful than him. Attributes were altered or removed entirely and the level of power they possessed reduced so as to limit their ability to affect the world around them. Doing this stood the best chance of letting his changes remain and not bringing down the wrath of powerful beings on his head. Fortunately for him his influence over time and space had allowed him to be careful, precise and thorough with those humans he felt could give him the most bang for his divine buck.

Everything should've gone smoothly for the rest of the night.

Too bad he underestimated the lengths Richard Wilkins would go to eliminate the new elements and just how much Angel was willing to risk to protect his Slayer lover.

For many decades the supernatural and demonic community pretty much took the night off on Halloween for reasons both practical and superstitious. It was because of this that he'd expected his little bit of fun to go unnoticed until it was almost done and with the rising of the sun the spell would end leaving behind the seeds of his future meals. Now though he needed to act quickly to undo the damage he'd done or at least minimize it so that Angel's bosses would take the 'wait and see' approach before deciding whether or not to smite his ass.

He couldn't just rewind time and pull everything back together to restore Angel, he didn't have the power for both that and Rayne's spell, so he'd have to think outside the box.

Angel or rather Liam as was his proper name was the Champion the Powers wanted on their side of the chessboard. He didn't necessarily need to be a vampire. It was likely that such a body was simply convenient and strong enough to perform the missions the Powers needed accomplished. How could he keep the soul in the land of the living yet at the same time put it in a position where it could and would fight for the light? As seconds were stretched into hours he considered the possibilities but it wasn't until his gaze fell upon one damaged robot with a hooded cape that an idea occurred to him.

It'd been difficult finding the right match to the wearer of the costume seeing as how it was a cobbled together mish mash of parts from other costumes. Pieces from a terminator costume, a Robocop costume and even pieces modified to mimic two robot duplicates from a certain 'Bogus Journey' were combined in a way that was odd yet still looked rather striking. Eventually though he happened upon a world where time had passed much quicker than in this one and in it was an amusing adventurer wounded and staring death in the face. The resemblance was close enough to the costume to work and he couldn't very well let someone with such an excellent sense of humor perish in such a manner. So with a powerful exertion of his power he'd done what he did best but was somewhat disappointed with the results.

Apparently even though he'd acted as swiftly as he could he'd barely been able to pull the adventurer across the dimensional gap before the bullet meant to claim his life actually accomplished its purpose. As a result while the robot hadn't been dead and likely wouldn't die anytime soon its mind was barely in a state fit to make its body move never mind put on any sort of show. The mindscape was showing signs of recovery when the remains of its partner had slipped out of one of its pockets and when it'd lent aid to Xander Harris but a full recovery was still far from a sure thing.

However…if the 'partner' could be resurrected then perhaps with a little backing it could return the adventurer to pristine condition making the night MUCH more amusing.

Perhaps the soul of Liam could take the place of the mind that'd been destroyed by a shot from the darkness? If he became the new partner of the adventurer he could still contribute to the good fight albeit in a more supportive role than frontline hero work. It wouldn't be what the Powers would prefer but it might be enough to make them lenient with any punishment they might send his way. They might even reward him if they thought the adventurer would prove more useful than a souled vampire.

It wouldn't be hard to make sure that both mind and body stayed as they were for the robot.

After all the mind of the human that'd worn the costume had been shattered by the arrival of the adventurer, the robotic mind containing centuries of memories, leaving ample room for the mechanical man's mind. All that would be required was to bond the mind, soul and power of the one that amused him to its new body and provide a partner to repair the damage that'd been done.

Well THAT and come up with a substitute for the power source since even if he gave it his all he wouldn't be able to create a dimensional bridge for that entity's power to cross over. Not one that'd last forever at any rate or even for as long as he imagined the adventurer would live before dying permanently a second time.

~Fortunately for me I have some…'clutter' left over from my family that should do the job nicely.~ He thought looking back at the empty cityscape that'd once been home to those precious to him, ~I think I can MacGuyver my way out of this.~

Tricky yet feasible.

Morrigan's POV

"Oh what a WONDERFUL night!" she exclaimed as she lashed out with her razor sharp talons to draw a gout of blood from her prey.

When she'd initially heard of how Hellboy wanted to return home rather than soak in the new experiences of the world they'd found themselves in she'd been disappointed. However it soon became apparent that whatever sort of place this Sunnydale was safe was not one of the words that could ever be applied to it. So far they'd been attacked three times without ever having come in sight of the cause of their unexpected arrival in this world and would probably be attacked twice more before all was said and done. While she couldn't say that those that they'd fought thus far were anything special they did present sufficient challenge to keep her entertained. This group especially looked to have passable skill when it came to strategy and tactics so while their ability to kill wasn't anything but primitive they did make the most of what they had.

Looking about she could see that almost half of the original enemy force had been slain with the remainder showing no sign of preparing to retreat.

That made them either very brave or very foolish.

Or perhaps there was something or someone they feared more than death that kept them there.

Interesting.

It clearly wasn't the one who'd idiotically identified himself as Ivan for while the man showed that he possessed some strength in the area of command his warriors did not run off once he'd been slain. Would it be interesting to find out what the source of the great fear was? Perhaps. She might even be able to convince the others that it would be wise to find out who was sending the groups after them since it would provide them with a means of putting a stop to them altogether.

The fact that finding the one giving the orders might provide her with a finale of a fight to end her stay in this world was something she'd keep to herself.

~First I must get their undivided attention.~ She thought as she considered the methods at her disposal.

One in particular had the most potential and so she decided to act upon it taking to the air before swooping towards the largest group of enemies. It didn't take them long to spot her and predictably they raised their guns and in some cases their fists in opposition to her. She knew the precise moment the ones with firearms were about to fire but then she did something to throw them off balance causing them to hesitate.

She tapped into her powers as an Aensland succubi and brought into being her magical doppelganger before executing an aerial maneuver that would make identifying the original…difficult. By the time they had worked up the will to fire their weapons it was already too late because by that point both she and her twin were close enough to strike. With a burst of speed beyond what any mortal could perceive with their eyes alone both she as well as her doppelganger struck disappearing one moment only to reappear behind the group. She allowed her doppelganger to fade out of existence and when the last mote of light vanished vicious wounds exploded into existence with each one being unquestionably lethal. Turning her gaze towards Ivan's possible second in command she could see the fear in his eyes, the look of someone completely out of his depth, and so she chose to approach him at a rate meant to cause his terror to increase with every step she took. If any of his comrades moved to intercept her she killed them with her speed being matched only by the efficiency of the method she employed.

All to make lieutenant believe that there was nothing he could do to stop her from getting to him.

By the time she stood in front of him he would gladly tell her whatever she wanted to know and only once there was nothing more to be said would she end his life.

It was when she was ten feet away though that she saw his fear turn to desperation as he reached into his coat pocket for something. A grenade perhaps? Maybe he thought that explosives would succeed where mere gunfire did not. This proved not to be the case because when his hand came out of the pocket it held some sort of crystal lit from within by a flame that could ALMOST be mistaken for ordinary fire.

Almost.

Concerned that the flame might possess properties that could prove painful to her she paused in her approach until she could discern more.

This proved to be a mistake since in one swift movement the lieutenant put the crystal between his teeth before biting down with everything he had. One might doubt that such a thing could be done but such people would be made into believers as visible cracks formed in the crystal from top to bottom. Then, like water through cracks in a concrete dam, the flames within spilled out a full ten feet making her instinctively fly backwards out of self-preservation. However the unnatural flames didn't stretch out to take her into its grasp but rather turned back the way it'd come to strike its liberator in the chest. Seeing smoke and flames come pouring out of the second in command even as he screamed in complete agony she thought perhaps the crystal had been some sort of mystical suicide method.

That changed however when the man's body began to distort and increase in size one random body part at a time. Normal clothes were burnt away, flesh turned black before taking on a sheen similar to volcanic glass and internals were replaced by the unnatural flame in their entirety giving birth to a decidedly more intimidating form. As what used to be a normal demon turned its gaze in her direction she could tell that while it did retain some level of awareness, of sentience, its will was dominated by a single all consuming purpose.

A purpose that was all too obvious to discern via its hostile body language.

Deciding not to let it make the first move she propelled herself forward opening with a strike from her soul fist before following it up with a slash of her wings sharpened to a razor's edge temporarily by her magic. The former succeeded in causing it to take a step backwards but her wing only caused sparks to fly without leaving a light scratch on Ivan's shiny black skin. Without the pain caused by laceration her foe recovered swiftly opening its mouth before emitting a stream of flame that only instinct allowed her to partially evade even as her right wing was given a light toasting. She hissed in pain even as she set down on the ground unwilling to risk worsening the damage to her wing through continued flight.

~Definitely not natural flame.~ She thought looking at her wing, ~Normal flame would not impede my naturally superior healing ability.~

As a member of the prestigious Aensland family, a noble family of Makai, her body possessed a strength and resiliency that far surpassed those life forms native to the mortal realm. Makai was fiercer and far more deadly than any human environment with the weak being quickly weeded out amongst the various species leaving only those strong enough to survive. For the transformed demon's flames to harm her they would have to be equal to if not superior to the fire that could be found in Makai.

Impressive and it added an element of danger that the battle had been lacking up until now making her 'meal' all the more delicious.

Opting to use her legs rather than risk further damage to her wings she darted towards the transformed lieutenant but when he began to prepare an attack for her she threw him a curveball.

She teleported.

In the blink of an eye she vanished from his sight only to appear behind him and before enough time could pass for him to perceive where she was she threw her strongest punch right to where the spine would be on a human. Satisfyingly she saw demon fly through the air half a dozen feet before landing on the ground to skid a few more feet forward. However judging by the pain in her fist the black skin was decidedly durable even for one of her strength. If she hit the same spot often enough and reinforced her fist with her magic she might be able to break through but it'd take time.

Time and repetition neither of which she found very stimulating as far as activities went.

It was as the lieutenant began to methodically get back to his feet though that chance decided to save her from the boredom if just hitting the same place repeatedly for a while.

A pure white light lit up the night and when she looked to where it was coming from she saw something unique and that was saying something considering how long she'd been alive. Hovering in mid-air before the malfunctioning robot that'd taken to following her and Hellboy was a sphere of light orbited by what she recognized as the metal fragments that were precious to the machine. Instead of looking like so much scrap metal though the pieces look like they were put of a perfectly functioning machine. It was when the white light shot out from the orb at the center striking the robot and saturating it with its power causing what was once broken to be whole again. Before the eyes of every being present the pieces of damage that'd once covered the robot began to heal as though time was rewinding just for it. Metal fused together, fabric wove back together and pieces once many became whole once more.

When all was said and done the robot was whole once more looking more alive as well as aware then it ever had before. When the metal fragments came back together to form a metal star around the central sphere she knew the restoration was complete. Without realizing it all that much she waited silently to see what'd happen next, to see what the robot would do, her eyes locked in place.

"Eyes up Cayde." The floating star said as it looked about its plates moving as it did so, "Looks like it's gonna be one of THOSE days."

"Don't worry!" Cayde declared with confidence, "I got this!"

Well he's certainly not lacking in confidence. She thought as she watched him expertly bring his hand cannon up to fire, I wonder if he can back it up.

Time to find out.

Cayde-6's POV

BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!

"Anyone want to tell me what's going on? Anyone?" he asked ducking behind a perfect condition late twentieth century automobile, "Not that I'm not having a blast or anything but making coversation's getting a little awkward."

"Short version? We want to go home and they want us dead." A big red skinned guy with impeccable taste in weapons replied before firing two rounds at 'the enemy', "Seeing as how going home alive is better than going home in a body bag big surprise the shooting started."

"Any idea on WHY they want us dead?" he asked not unfamiliar with undefined murderous intent but kinda wanting some details.

"Technically they only wanted bug girl over there killed." A young woman with long light blue hair growled even as she fired a barrage of amber energy marbles at an enemy that proved adept at evasion, "Some of us didn't like that and the rest of us got made targets just because we were here. Dammit! Stay still asshole!"

That cleared things up a little bit.

"Think they'll let me go if I tell'em we're not together?" he asked before firing two more shots that successfully brought down the number of enemies to ten.

"Not likely. Back when you looked like scrap you took a pot shot at one of'em." Big Red replied flinching away from a near miss that struck the tree he was hiding behind, "Someone takes a shot at you letting it slide's not an easy thing to do."

True.

Whenever Fallen or Hive shot at him he always felt he was perfectly within his rights to shoot back and almost never felt like letting them run away if he could help it. Plus with things being the way they were in the solar system after the Collapse the more of them you killed the less there were to attack the last of humanity. Sure most times he was only thinking about making sure they couldn't come back to shoot him in the ass later but it's all good in the end.

Sure there were some people who thought that an effort should be made in the area of diplomacy but after the sixth or seventh messenger gets shot dead you kinda stop trying.

"Well if talking's out of the question let's see if shooting improves things." He said holstering Ace before using his connection to materialize something a little LOUDER.

Just because he didn't usually use anything other than Ace to get things done that didn't mean that there wasn't anything extra waiting in the inventory. With the transmutation of glimmer one of the best Fusion Rifles he had ever had the pleasure of using to make things dead: the Shock and Awe. Best of all he didn't have to worry about breaking her in like some of the newer stuff Banshee liked to trick newbie Guardians into beta testing for him. This baby was fully customized, locked and LOADED!

Stepping out from behind his cover he lined up the closest target before charging up the first shot and watching it fly.

In a burst of three shots he struck two of enemy forces disintegrating them almost entirely leaving only a few scattered as well as smoking limbs behind. This startled them but he wasn't done just yet. Twice more he charged up the Shock and Awe fusion rifle with only luck saving one of his targets from a smoke filled end. THIS caused the thing that looked like shiny short sibling of an Ogre to come at him directly but this was what he'd bet on. Dismissing his fusion rifle he decided that the time had come for the big finale!

As he'd done countless times before he reached within himself for the power granted to him by The Traveller.

The power of the Golden Gun.

Out of nowhere golden energy came into being before taking on the shape of a hand cannon and upon completion a pulse of energy was released letting him know it was ready for use.

Firing from the hip he watched as the first shot forced the mini-ogre to stop its advance, the second managed to make a hole in its chest armor and the third shot cooked it from the inside out. However then something happened that he hadn't been expecting: without his say so the Golden Gun fell to pieces before its energy vanished entirely.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed as he tried to will it back into existence only to get nothing.

"Don't look at me!" Sundance snapped back sounding as wierded out as he did, "Everything was going fine then 'poof' you ran out of solar power!"

"That's crazy! It's like saying Zavala's run out of inspiring speeches or Ikora can't calculate pie to the fiftieth integer!" he snapped back before realizing that hashing it out now probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, "IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Yeah, well, until we've got something better to work with it's all I've got." Sundance said calming down a bit before looking around.

Shaking his head at the absurdity of the situation he was in he did what most people did and tried to figure out how the hell he'd gotten here. He remembered going to the Prison of Elders with his newest Hunter to help P.V deal with a prison riot that'd gotten to be a bit more than the Awoken could handle. No big surprise there considering how many ships and people they lost attacking Oryx's fleet and the main command ship. So with bravery and selflessness he hadn't hesitated to grab some backup before leaving Earth before Zavala or Ikora could stop him. Honestly he didn't know why they were so dead set on keeping him in the Tower. SURE he was a member of the Vanguard, elite Guardians that called the shots for The Last City, and SURE some of his plans didn't always work out the way the planned them but before all that he was a Hunter. A Hunter belonged in the field, fighting the forces of darkness, not stuck in the Tower filling out forms and reading reports!

In any case things had gone great from the moment they'd entered the Prison and he'd had the time of his life bringing the hurt to the escaped prisoners. With his favorite Hunter, the killer of Crota and his daddy Oryx, by his side things had gone swimmingly until Petra told him that they weren't dealing with a prison riot but rather a prison BREAK. Prison riots were scary sure what with the random destruction and killing going on but most times the prisoners were more concerned with getting payback then getting their freedom back. A prison BREAK on the other hand was something completely devoted to one or more prisoners getting out of their cells and then the prison itself. The fact that Petra had gone to make sure some of the higher value prisoners were still popsicles only to scream 'PRISON BREAK' at him was NOT good.

Higher value targets usually meant dangerous in the sort of way that'd lead to a body count in the triple digits sooner or later.

So when she'd told him about the closest way out of the Prison of Elders he'd decided to take the express elevator down. Not his brightest move but Sundance had done her job getting him all shiny and functional again. It'd been at that point though that he found out that while he might've gotten to the bottom level first the escapees hadn't been as far behind as he'd have liked. There'd been a lot of them and even if he'd been confident that he'd be able to take'em all down it'd hurt, A LOT, and pain really wasn't his thing so he'd given them two chances to get back in their freezers.

Big surprise: they didn't take either chance.

So he'd been forced to do what he did best and do it in spectacular fashion. He made a sort of game of it to see how many ugly Fallen he could take down in one move and up until he'd gotten half his face shot off he'd been doing pretty good with the Ace of Spades.

But he'd gotten cocky.

Complacent.

And according to his memories it'd gotten Sundance killed.

Which was strange because he was looking right at her and she looked as good as ever so either someone messed with his memories, that was all sorts of creepy, or his ghost somehow resurrected herself. As creepy as it was he was more inclined to go with the first possibility because he'd lived long enough to know that Ghosts couldn't resurrect themselves. Every Guardian knew that if something happened to your Ghost then the next time you died would be your last no if, ands or buts. Even if you did somehow survive the mess that'd gotten your Ghost killed it was standard procedure to remove that person from field duty. The Traveller only created a finite number of Ghosts when it went silent and they could only do what they did with their intended Guardian.

~Still I'm not complaining.~ He thought as he looked at the things looking to put him back in the scrap heap, ~Not being dead's definitely a plus.~

From the looks of things those that were still breathing were looking at him like he'd done the impossible with at least half of them only waiting for their minds to focus enough to actually run for it. All that was needed was one final push to send what was left of their courage over the side of the cliff in their minds.

"Anyone else?" Big Red asked casually looking at each of the monster things as he loaded fresh rounds into his hand cannon, "Anyone else feel like pushing their luck?"

With the clicking sound of the hand cannon snapping back together the monsters scrambled to get back to their feet and once done ran off into the night as swiftly as they could. For a moment he considered taking out his Ace of Spades hand cannon to finish them all off because if he had the measure of things right the monsters were professionals. Beings well trained and hired by others to kill designated targets like the bounties Guardians sometimes took on from time to time. The big difference being the bounties Guardians went after were clear and present threats to both humanity as a whole and the Last City in particular.

These 'pros' he felt would only fight and kill if the price was right.

"We'd better get moving." The walking tar doll said with a distorted female voice, "Some of us are hurt and running low on ammo. We can't get into another fight like that."

"This way then." Big Red said before breaking into a light run, "The source of whatever brought us here isn't too far away."

Joining with the rest of the group as they followed Big Red he had to wonder if going home would really be a good thing. Here he was alive but he had a feeling that if whatever brought him here got thrown in reverse he'd be…dead.

Like PERMANENTLY dead.

It was one thing when you didn't have any choice in the matter or were giving up your life for the right reasons but…to throw it away so that others could get back home…he didn't know. The part of him that was a Guardian told him that if him dying again was the only way the rest of them got to go home to their loved ones then it'd be worth it. However the rest of him didn't want to lose this second chance at life especially since he was on a world that made walls with weapon emplacements necessary.

~Guess I better do some thinking with however much time I got until we get wherever it is we're going.~ He thought even as Sundance merged with him disappearing from sight.

He hoped that he'd make the right call.

Sunnydale Town Hall

Mayor's Office

Gabrielle Van Helsing's POV

"Well I must say that you've put up a better fight than I'd thought you would." The warlock said looking down on her from her position on the floor, "But the outcome was never really in doubt. This is where I'm at my strongest! How else do you explain being able to hold off our fiery friend and you at the same time?"

Good.

The idiot didn't suspect a thing.

She just needed a few more minutes.

~Here's hoping he's one of those that likes the sound of their own voice.~ She thought before saying, "Luck? Chance?"

"I'll admit that there's more to either of those things than most people are willing to admit but it's superior planning that has delivered victory me." The warlock said sounding like he really did believe in chance and luck, "From the day I founded Sunnydale and pooled all my resources into achieving a singular objective I've been taking precautions to stop those who'd want to stop me. Allies I can control, magic powerful enough to make even a three century old mage second guess opposing me and of course a smokescreen thick enough to make it impossible to see what goes on here."

"A good plan is nice but life isn't predictable." She said being careful not to look in the wrong direction, "History is filled with unexpected things happening that make a plan pointless. Don't think for one second that your plans are invulnerable."

"Oh I know they're not. Have you any idea how many times I've had to modify my plan over the years due to all the setbacks and interference?" the warlock asked rhetorically with his polite smile, "Twelve and yet I'm almost at the metaphorical finish line. I think my planning skills are quite up to the task of dealing with you and my other uninvited guest."

Mentally, as her internal countdown reached zero, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that her foe liked the sound of his own voice enough to buy her all the time she needed.

"Something amuses you?" the warlock asked with whimsical curiosity.

"Yeah. The habit you warlocks have to talk when you should just kill your foes and be done with it." She replied before looking in the direction of her little surprise.

From the very beginning when she'd looked through the window to see what was going on in the top floor room to the moment she entered the building she'd known that a conventional fight would be pointless. Just as the warlock said the lair of such practitioners were often where they were strongest either by being littered with traps or because the location could amplify their power significantly. However her years of experience fighting such people did provide her with a plan to turn things to her advantage especially if the leather clad flaming skull allied with her.

With that in mind she'd tossed two of Karl's inventions into the room and after they successfully exploded used her crossbow to fire a line that'd allow her entry into the room. From there she'd played out her role of 'hero' using the tools she would need for her plan to work but taking care not to let her true intent be noticed. It'd taken awhile for her to get everything in place then wait for it to take full effect but now that time has come.

Looking at the runes, sigils and symbols arrayed throughout the room she saw that very specific ones were no longer glowing or had been covered up entirely. The warlock only had time enough to look surprised before energy began to spark and crackle between the those symbols still lit up causing them to become dimmer or dangerously bright before physically being destroyed.

"Your attacks…the ones that missed…you weren't aiming at me were you?" the warlock asked recovering from his surprise.

"No I wasn't." she replied as she got to her feet, "You said it yourself: a warlock is at his most powerful in his lair. I knew I couldn't win a straight up fight so I didn't bother. Instead I made you think that was what I was aiming for when I was really aiming at specific runes and symbols in the room. Each of them has multiple meanings and depending on the combinations can mean completely different things. I just made changes to get the meanings that'd do the most good."

"You may have reduced the effectiveness of my wards but you're still no match for me." The warlock said with a look in his eyes implying irritation.

"Me? No. I know that." She said not worried in the least, "I'm not the one you need to worry about though."

As if waiting for the proper moment a mass flew past the two of them to impact the wall and when it could be seen it was revealed to be the beast the warlock had sent at the flaming skeleton. It was wrapped in a thick chain clearly imbued with some sort of magical fire and quite up to the task of restraining the beast.

Too bad restraint wasn't the goal for the chain's owner because a second later the fire within the chain flared before it was yanked back so hard it tore through the beast like it was made of paper. Following the chain it wasn't long before landed in the gloved hand of what she suspected was either a demon or someone bonded to a fire elemental. With casual movements it then whipped the chain around its torso before securing it in place and directing its potent crimson gaze at the warlock. Even though it didn't have any of the usual features used by humans to convey emotions she could tell that it was angry.

"Your preparations have failed you sorcerer." The skeleton said with a scratchy-distorted voice, "My strength returns. Now you will burn for all the innocent lives you have ended."

"So it would seem." The warlock said losing some of his polite and likeable demeanor, "However I have devoted too much, sacrificed too much, to surrender now."

As the warlock spoke she could see an unholy light manifesting in the man's eyes and the warlock's skin began to take on a decidedly unhealthy pallor. She could tell instantly that he was bringing forth whatever strong unholy forces he'd sold his soul to acquire and it made her wonder if the warlock had only been playing with her up until then. Probably. Now that he no longer had the unfair advantage over the flaming skeleton the man probably realized he needed to get serious.

"Not interested in surrender." The flaming skeleton growled out as its fire flickered with greater potency and power, "Only…your death."

Then with little if any warning the skull leaned forward, opening its mouth as it did so, before discharging a stream of fire of deep orange at the warlock. Just as she'd seen before through the window the man unleashed a stream of dark magic of his own resulting in a collision that sent out a shockwave that sent her into the wall hard enough to daze her for a few seconds. When she recovered one of the first things she noticed was the heat the two attacks were putting out with the now shattered windows doing little to reduce it. It wasn't so hot that just being this close would burn her skin but she'd almost certainly pass out if stayed in this room for too long.

"You won't…win!" the warlock barked out as he tried to overpower the flaming skeleton, "Your power…is just an imitation. A TRICK…provided by Janus! It CAN'T be stronger than MY MAGIC!"

Janus? The Roman god?

As one who fought monsters and wielders of dark magic she'd done her studying like any other member of the Order in order to be properly prepared for whatever she might face. Officially the Church considered the old gods to be nothing more than false deities to be rejected but unofficially they recognized that these beings had power that could not be denied. In any situation that implied a possible confrontation with one of them she was appropriately equipped by Karl and given the knowledge she needed to succeed.

Assuming that the warlock was not just throwing out statements to confuse them then at last she had her answer concerning how she came to be here.

She'd turned away from Karl and Velkan to face Dracula while they sought out the supposed cure for her 'condition' that Igor claimed existed. From a logical point of view there was very good reason to believe that such a cure existed but she didn't hold out much hope that it'd be administered in time. She could feel the curse growing stronger within her and only if she gave it free reign would she be able to permanently kill Dracula. She'd intended to do this in the full knowledge that once done she would become more a bloodthirsty beast than a man unable to distinguish friend from foe. If the cure could be administered while she still possessed a measure of control then she would welcome it but she'd told Velkan that if he heard a howl to run away as fast as he could.

One member of his family had already paid the price for standing up to Dracula.

She did not need to be responsible for the death of the other one.

Then, just as she'd been about to enter the room the vampire was in, she'd suddenly found herself in some small town and the werewolf curse was only half as strong as it'd been before. She'd been both happy about this and confused so she'd kept her wits about her while she looked for more clues.

Now she had a very big one leaving her to deduce what needed to be done next.

If the Roman god was responsible for bringing her here then she needed to locate a ritual location or temple since this was not something that could've been accomplished through simple prayer. The amount of power alone would need to be channeled through something other than the human form as well as something to tell the energy what to do. Depending on what this world was like in terms of the normal and abnormal there was also a high probability that Janus' worshipper would choose a place secluded. Fortunately though even with steps to keep things quiet she had ways of tracking such places down.

When she noticed a decided increase in temperature she returned her attention to the clash between the Warlock and the flaming skeleton in time to see the latter's flames change from orange to bright white. Less than three seconds after this change in color the battle that up until then had been a stalemate was now leaning more and more in favor of the skeleton. Out of sheer desperation she could see the warlock attempting to draw even more dark power from whatever source he had ties to however this only worsened the negative effects on the man's flesh. Like many forms of unholy power it held a stronger affinity with death and destruction than life so when intermingled with something alive it destroyed it. With such escalation it was anyone's guess what'd happen first: the successful defeat of the skeleton or the warlock destroying himself in a vain attempt to save himself.

In the end though the flaming skeleton chose to push itself to its limits with its flames becoming so white and so bright that she had to look away. It didn't last long, only a few seconds, but when the light vanished and she looked back the warlock was gone with everything directly behind as well as to the sides burned to black ash with the remaining flames spreading to consume more. While it might be possible that the warlock teleported away at the last second she didn't think so. A sizeable amount of dark energy had been channeled through the man just to hold the flaming skeleton's power back it was highly unlikely that anything could've been spared for teleportation. It was far more likely that the warlock had simply been overcome by the power of the blinding white hot flames and was reduced to ash in no time at all.

Turning back to the killer of the warlock she watched as it closed its mouth and its flames began to calm down pulsing as though in time to unseen breaths until it was a mere echo of its former fury.

"Vengeance is served." The flaming skeleton declared before turning its gaze to her.

"Hopefully now all of his victims can rest in peace." She said crossing herself before sending a silent prayer to God.

With a nod of agreement the skeleton turned towards the office door and began to walk away but something inside of her told her not to let the being out of her sight. If it, like her, had somehow been brought here by Janus then it didn't belong in this unknown world and depending on its motivations could do a lot of damage.

"This world is strange to you isn't it?" she asked stopping the skeleton in its tracks, "It's nothing like what you're familiar with. I think I know of a way we can go home if you'll come with me."

For a moment it seemed to consider her words, debate them within her mind, but in the end nodded in agreement. This brought her some relief since it meant she wouldn't have to resort to more aggressive measures to get it to stay with her. While she still had a few of Karl's inventions on her and a few artifacts of the Order she doubted that she would do any better than the warlock had at forcing it to do something it didn't want to do. Taking the lead they left she navigated the building as best she could given the differences it had with the places he'd been in his long life. Once they were outside there she saw what looked to be something similar to a bicycle she'd seen in France during his hunt for Doctor Jekyll but with some decided differences.

The first was the presence of some sort of mechanism that reminded him of Karl's sporadic efforts at harnessing steam power but decidedly smaller. The second was the fact that the aesthetic design was moderately hellish with skeletal decorations and a coating of fire on both wheels. Altogether it didn't leave much room for doubt when it came to who owned it and this was only confirmed when the skeleton walked right over to it before mounting it. When it looked over at her before looking at the space on the seat behind her she saw it as the invitation it was and walked over before getting on the advanced bicycle.

"Hold on." The flaming skeleton said reaching forward to grasp both handlebars.

Deciding not to question the being she wrapped her arms around its waist before establishing a solid grip on the leather jacket.

When the mechanism rumbled to life and then they shot forward she decided that holding onto something was a VERY good piece of advice.