I added more to this part, and if folks react favorably, I'm ready to try adding a part a week to this series. And to those who have waited so long, thanks.
Sunnydale High School Library, 4PM, November 2nd, 1997
The word had finally come through to those that had continued on relief efforts that day: everything in the Santa Barbara-Sunnydale-Oxnard arc were fully restored as far as major utilities, distribution access and such were concerned, and the military let the word out that curfews would end at 6:30 AM the next day, and hopefully work crews could take care of individual home and business issues within the next several days.
Los Angeles, because of an aftermath of earthquakes and riots, was declared to remain under martial law from 9 PM to 6 AM for four more days, and a determination would then be made. The news reported that as all fighting had ended the day before, a restoration of peace might be in the offing.
Strange rumors coming out of the City of Angels were ascribed to gas leaks and the release of nuisance chemicals in the air by rioters. As the mayor commented on KTLA, "Come on, it was Halloween, what would you expect someone to hallucinate?"
Most of the damage as surveyed in Sunnydale turned out to be suffered by the chain establishments, probably because they tended to be open after dark with only a few employees. Some of the business district was singed, and a chunk of the docks and warehouses, but luckily they'd been mostly in the words of the Mayor's Office, 'underused at the moment.' The City officials had moved swiftly during daylight hours, and had already turned over preliminary estimates of the monies need to establish new port, business and infrastructure capacities.
Businesspeople had been asked to honestly assess their losses on the basis of replacement cost rather than value so that the monies would go further, and the more entrepreneurial elements asked what it would take to expand their businesses to accommodate a possible three-year increase of thirty percent while things were redeveloped in time for the hundredth anniversary of the city founding, with any secondary and tertiary projects to complete the following calendar year. The Mayor's speech asserted that "in honor of the hundredth anniversary and reconstruction, and to honor the Class of 1999 that has done such a bang up job of helping us through the last few days, I'd like to see at least a couple thousand folks turn out that day for a celebration to end all celebrations."
The Anglo-Americans at the Chase Estate continued to recover from the shocks of the past few days; the policemen in the group remained assigned to the High School relief efforts. And the citizens of Sunnydale were hired at minimum wage for general cleanup detail. Several hundreds turned out, many of them middle and high school students looking to make a few bucks and because it looked like 'everyone else' was doing it. Within a week the Sunnydale area, with only a core of City and Armory staff, handled the major clearance as the young people were directed in 'beautification' tasks.
November 8th, 1997
A series of earthquakes and aftershocks struck throughout Southern and Central California, the damaged structures of a week ago in most cases giving way at last to natural forces.
The smoldering ruin of the W&H building had had a far greater impact than just the loss of a major part of the skyline, it had resulted in emergency units being pulled to the downtown area instead of the demon and/or really poor areas. Only now were the large fires and breaks in infrastructure in those areas being brought under control. The Quake of '97 would have been dismissed as bad instrumentation if not for the general release along the fault lines because of Chaos magic, the release of evil Power from the law firm, and the fact that the addition of Sahjhan's time manipulations touched off the real things. Direct damage from Mexico north pass the Bay Area had occurred to the confusion of geologists.
Los Angeles had seen an outflow of three or four hundred thousand people from the conflicted and afired areas of the city. Demons ran loose, but enough gas interruptions were also reported as to dismiss such clear lunacies, but the impact proved a strain as the refugees were usually given a full tank of gas by police, crammed into their cars to capacity and sent on their way as not to be further dealt with. Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the Valley Cities were very unhappy, though the Feds were coughing up bucks to fill the lowest-cost motels and residential units.
And in Sunnydale, deep in the ground, the labyrinth of caverns and tunnels began to collapse, slowly but inexorably as the Mayor gave a speech thanking most of the emergency workers and Halloween escorts, as well as the military personnel from the armory for their absolutely critical help the week before.
Adam, Duncan and Amanda stood a little apart from the crowd, yet again pondering their possible futures in this world as they noticed something wrong with Alexander. The young man seemed to look around as did many dogs people brought with them; the ground shook time and again for five minutes, then fell silent.
Things weren't exactly looking up for the town or its immediate area. And it wasn't just natural adjustments to unnatural movements in the Earth. Several figures who remembered the power of the Dark Side of the Force gathered to set aside their differences at least until their common foes were bloody smears. The young men that even now had managed to remain on the far side of the university, away from the still-powerful though Hellmouth-shrouding Light Siders, new that with Harris' superior numbers and flexibility in talents, they would need to work together and strike in a coordinated fashion against him before his minions and allies could respond. And so a few things were decided, and planning begun…
The Goa'uld seethed at being trapped in a less-than-perfect host, and had lost its Jaffa and Cylons. By the next morning, it while still in control of the pathetic waste, now had plans. And as it was one of the few of its kind that understood the workings of a sarcophagus, and learning that cloning capability on this world was within a decade of reality, he would bide his time, studying this world, and moving up its scientific chain of achievement and preparing itself for developing the tools with which to establish its indisputable godhood to these mere mammals and the Universe!
"This isn't good news you're giving me," the Mayor admonished his new deputy, the old one no longer among the living, "But better sooner than later. How much of the area seems to be subsiding?"
"About twenty percent so far, Mr. Mayor, but we're trying to determine how much and where…but, um, no one is willing to venture underground and risk their lives now that there's 'gang fighting' down there."
"Hmm, any chance of hiring that annoying William the Bloody to return and clearing out the sewer situation for us? Perhaps we could locate his lost paramour for him if he proves successful."
"He seems to be trying to takeover much of the underground crime scene in Los Angeles, sir, but we could make the offer…in case things don't work out for him."
The Mayor sighed, "Do it, and see if any of the Organizations back east have any vampire mercenaries to hire out; I've boosted law enforcement and security in the budgets for the next three years, so we can afford it."
"Yes sir, at once."
'A nice young man, too bad he's so efficient I can't trust him. It's so hard to hire anyone around the holidays…'
The Mayor's reports were incomplete, but as he seemed the only remaining Power in California not in combat with multiple others, he was able to contact sources and pin down a greater picture.
Glorificus had taken up residence in Santa Barbara for the time being—apparently the Key had been reported somewhere in this region; best start looking into pre-Halloween disturbances to see if it were easily retrievable…it just wouldn't do to have it cause troubles before his Ascension.
The Rome, London, New York and Hong Kong W&H assets had been viciously and effectively destroyed by Sebassis' allies and those sensing an opportunity to pre-empt and exempt the Senior Partners from this dimension. Once it became known that the Archduke had perished, much of ti had degenerated into nighttime street fight for succession, but in those cities and others, the demon population in only a week had been reduced to a third of previous levels—not including those who fled. The Triads, Tongs, and associated assassination waves continued for nearly a week, some even striking Tarakan targets, until between bloodshed and the police/military reaction, things suddenly quieted.
The Vatican had recalled its assets and taken advantage of W&H Rome's weakened but still insulting position to attack hard; the Italian government's re-awareness of the situation, meant that Italy and its priests with intel provided by Vatican forensicists digging through W&H rubble, were really go after the demonic criminal and predatory element. Word was let out to the human criminal element in confessionals and in some cases direct phone contacts, to let them know that they better help out or be excommunicated and declared anathema. Then simply gunned down by the authorities.
Wilkins smiled at this, as it had meant with very circumspect leaks, that the W&H 'refugees' could run to Sunnydale as he was the only remaining 'associate member' of the Black Thorn.