Disclaimer: I own the name of the Coven, but I own none of its members, its villains, or their allies
Feedback: Very much on the 'must-have' list
Samyo: Glad to here you liked it; it's the first one I've ever written myself, so I'm glad it's going down well.
WhiteWolf 3: Here it is; hope it doesn't disappoint
Aaron: Sorry, I think you misunderstood; Angel hasn't met Blade, Hellboy, or the Batman-lookalike before. But yeah, the enemy has captured the Charmed Ones. Anyway, wait until you see the last member of the Coven…
Isiwaru: Thanks; I tried my best
Alex: Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?
AN: For Blade, this is set in between 'Blade II' and 'Blade: Trinity'. For Leo, this is set in between 'Sense and Sense Ability' and 'Oh My Goddess', so he's still just a Whitelighter, Wyatt's been born, Cole's been vanquished, and there's no sign of Chris
The Coven of Reformed Supernaturals
"Hold on a bloody moment," Spike said, causing Leo and Angel to break the handshake and look over curiously at the blond vampire. "I'm not going anywhere until you answer a few questions."
"Ask away," Leo smiled, turning to face Spike.
"In order; what the bloody hell happened to the demon army, why the bloody hell did you guys help us, and, more specifically, who the bloody hell is the Batman lookalike!" Spike yelled, pointing at the aforementioned Dark Knight at the last statement.
Leo sighed. "I'd like to explain that, Spike, but right now we need to get out of here," he said. "You know evil better then most of us; it can't always be guaranteed that they'll keep their word. If you don't come with us now, there's no guarantee the army won't be back."
Spike looked over at Angel curiously. "Was he always like this?" he asked his grandsire, indicating Leo.
Angel shrugged. "He always got to the point when treating injured men, I know that," he said, before turning back to Leo. "Sorry about Spike; he's still fairly new to the 'champion' business. We're in, I'm sure." He looked over at Illyria and held out one hand. "Are you coming?"
Illyria looked at the hand for a few seconds, and then took it.
She looked at Angel.
"If there will be demons at the end of this journey, I am with you," she said. "Pain must be caused for the deaths of Wesley and Charles."
Angel smiled briefly at her, and then turned to look over at Spike.
"You coming?" he asked his childe.
Spike looked at the hand Illyria had offered to him, sighed, and took it.
He looked over at Leo.
"I'll want answers," he said simply.
Leo nodded briefly at Spike, and then looked back at Blade, Hellboy, and 'Batman'. They seemed to understand what he meant, and Blade and 'Batman' placed their hands on Leo's shoulders, while Hellboy placed his hands on their shoulders. As soon as it was done, Leo closed his eyes and briefly concentrated…
And suddenly, the small group found themselves in a massive, bright white room, that vaguely reminded Angel of the room in Wolfram & Hart where he met with the Conduit, facing a tall man with a moustache and a small goatee, dressed in a black, Victorian-style business suit.
"Ah, Leo," he said, smiling at the former medic, before looking over at Angel, Spike and Illyria. "I assume these are the other three members of our Coven?"
"Yes, they are; Angel and Spike, the vampires with souls, and Illyria, the former demon king," Leo said, indicating the three of them as he spoke, before turning his attention back to the Victorian-clad man. "Is Wyatt safe?"
"Oh, he's fine," the man smiled. "As you suggested, we left him with Ava and set up various protective wards; only Elders or Whitelighters can get in there now."
Leo sighed. "That's something…" he said, apparently not addressing that comment to anyone in particular.
"Excuse me… 'Coven'?" Angel said, looking curiously at the man as he broke contact with Leo and Illyria, trying to focus on the first part of the conversation he hadn't understood. "What do you mean, 'Coven'? Who are you?"
"Oh, forgive me," the man said, smiling at Angel. "My name is Gideon, and I am the Elder responsible for the creation of your little group, which I call 'the Coven of Reformed Supernaturals'."
"The Coven of what?" Illyria asked, looking at Gideon curiously.
"Reformed Supernaturals," Gideon smiled. "I thought it suited your gathering; after all, it is the reason why you were all selected for this team. You are all reformed supernatural beings that were practically created for evil, but have become good due to various outside circumstances."
Then he looked over at 'Batman' and Illyria, and shrugged. "Of course, a couple of you are a bit less 'reformed' then we'd like, but we trust your fighting instincts at any rate; you won't turn on us, and that's all that matters."
Sighing, he looked over at Leo. "I'll go and tell our various gatherings to start on the spell for the last member; in the meantime, you can explain the crisis to the others."
The he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the rest of the Coven looking curiously at Leo.
Eventually, the dark-skinned Blade broke the silence. "Well, guess we'd better get started," he said bluntly, looking around at the others. "I'll begin; my name's Blade, and I'm…" he briefly stopped and hesitated, as though reluctant to finish his sentence, before he finally continued. "I'm a half-vampire."
Angel blinked in surprise. "You're what!" he said, looking sharply over in Blade's direction. "How's that possible?"
"Not at all, with your vampires," Blade explained. "However, I'm not your kind of vampire; I'm from another reality."
"You mean… like an alternate universe?" Angel asked, looking at Blade curiously.
"Exactly," Blade said, nodding briefly in Angel's direction before continuing. "Basically, my mother was bitten by a vampire while she was in the ninth month of her pregnancy. She was turned straight away, but somehow, in my case, the vampire DNA bonded cleanly with my human cells rather then just replacing them. As a result, I've got all the strengths of a vampire from my world, but none of the weakness; I can walk in the daylight, sunlight doesn't affect me, and garlic's just a bad smell to me. I've spent my life hunting vampires, with the aid of Whistler, a technological expert who's fought vampires ever since vampires murdered his family."
"I see…" Angel said, nodding at Blade curiously. "So, what are you doing here?"
Blade sighed. "The Elders promised to help me out with a little problem of mine," he said. "Something from the vampire part of me."
"Ah," Angel said, nodding in understanding. "The thirst?"
Blade just nodded.
"Um, excuse me," Spike said, raising one inquiring hand. "Not meaning to break up this bonding moment, but you still haven't answered my earlier goddamn questions!"
Leo smiled sheepishly as he looked over at the bleach-haired vampire. "Sorry about that, Spike," he said. "To answer them in order, the first one's the easiest; the Elders needed your assistance, so they managed to persuade the Senior Partners to recall the demon army if you helped us with this crisis." Noting Spike's incredulous reaction, he just shrugged. "Believe me, it's a serious problem we've got at the moment. As to the question of why we helped you… well, Gideon already partly covered that one, and I'll explain the rest a bit later. And as for your third…" He looked over at the lookalike. "Bruce, do you want me to tell him?"
'Batman' shook his head. "No, Leo…" he replied, hoarsely, as though the mere thought of what he was to say caused him pain. "I shall tell him myself."
He looked over at Spike. "If you really wish to know the truth about me, 'Spike', it's simple," he began to explain."I am not a 'lookalike' of Batman, but an alternate version of the Batman you know of. I understand he is still human?" he added, looking over at Angel.
Angel nodded, still looking a bit confused. "Um… are you saying that all the DC comics stories actually exist, or have I lost track somewhere along the line?" he said, looking between 'Batman' and Leo for confirmation.
Leo nodded. "Pretty much exactly what he meant, Angel," Leo said, smiling at his old friend. "It's the same all over; most realities are just created by a writer creating a little 'pocket universe' for their own stories. Marvel comics, the James Bond movies… all those characters actually exist, somewhere out there in the vastness of the multiverse." Then he jerked a thumb over at 'Batman'. "He just came from a 'sub-reality' linked up to the main DC universe, if you will."
"Ah," Angel said, looking back at 'Batman'. "So, what happened to you?"
"Dracula," Batman said simply.
"WHAT!" Spike and Angel yelled simultaneously, followed closely by Blade and Hellboy; Leo already knew Batman's story, and Illyria didn't know who Dracula was.
"Yes, I know," Batman said, sighing slightly. "I still don't quite believe it myself…" He shook his head and continued.
(AN: The following information is taken from the 'Vampire Batman' Elseworld trilogy, which covers 'Batman versus Dracula: Red Rain', 'Batman: Bloodstorm', and 'Batman: Crimson Mist'- except for the bit with the Elders, naturally.)
"Anyway, I first encountered Dracula when I was investigating a series of murders where the victim's throat was slashed after death; I believed it to be a mere serial killer, but it was actually Dracula and his horde, tearing the victim's throats to hide the bite marks and attract less attention.
"With the aid of Tanya, a former member of Dracula's cult who had regained her humanity, I was gifted with all the strengths of a vampire, using them to confront Dracula in a mid-air battle after Tanya and her fellows had given their lives to stop Dracula's followers, and staked Dracula on a broken tree…"
He sighed, and reached up to his neck, a thoughtful expression on his face. "But the price was high…"
"Dracula finished your transformation, huh?" Hellboy asked, looking at the vampire with a sympathetic expression. "Sorry to hear that."
"Thank you," Batman said, looking over at Hellboy. "However, at first it was not that much of a problem; a serum Tanya had developed helped me keep my bloodlust under control, and I used my vampire powers to hunt down the last survivors of Dracula's horde, now led by my old foe, the Joker."
"The Joker?" Angel said, looking at Batman in surprise. "He was a vampire in your world?"
"No; just human," Batman explained. "They needed a leader now that Dracula was dead, and he was the only one mad enough to take the job. I destroyed his forces, but then, in a fit of rage…"
He sighed deeply, his expression now a curious mix of self-longing and pleasure. "I fed on him."
None of the other members of the Coven could speak; everyone there knew of Batman's high regard for life in the comics, and knew that they couldn't say anything to the former Dark Knight Detective that wouldn't make him feel worse.
"I fled back to my house, and had my friends, Commisioner Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth, stake me in order to insure I could threaten no innocents," Batman continued, after a moment's pause. "However, when Gotham was in the grip of a massive crime wave, Alfred removed the stake- which hadn't killed me, as I must have my head removed as well to truly die-, unleashing me on the criminals of Gotham. Half-mad after my time frozen between life and death, and plagued now by the thirst, I drained and decapitated all of Gotham's criminals, until only Two-Face, Killer Croc, and their small gang were left, forging an alliance with Gordon and Alfred to kill me for good.
"In the resulting battle, in the ruins of what was once my cave, Alfred gave his life to give me the strength to stop Killer Croc and Two-Face, leaving only Gordon to stop me. Triggering bombs planted in the cave roof, he let in the sunlight- the only thing that could definitely kill me-, but was crushed by the falling rubble as I prepared to walk into the day. Then…"
He sighed. "Then the Elders dragged me here. They told me that they could help me move on to the peace I 'deserved' if I helped them deal with this current crisis that has brought us all together." He shrugged. "And that is my history. I doubt I can truly achieve redemption for my crimes, but I am prepared to try, at the very least. If I must die, let me die doing what I dedicated my life to doing; helping others."
Angel simply nodded. "Commendable," he said simply. Then he looked around. "My turn?" he asked the others, ignoring Spike and Illyria for obvious reasons. Blade, Hellboy, and Batman nodded. "OK. Long story short, I was originally a normal vampire, but killed the favoured daughter of a clan of gypsies, so they made me suffer by cursing me with my soul. As a result, I was forced to live with the guilt of everything my vampire self had done, and spent a few decades trying to deal with the grief before I finally began to use my vampire abilities to fight the good fight."
Angel looked over at Spike, and raised a quizzical eyebrow. Spike understood and stood up.
"Me, I'm a bit more basic," he said, looking around at the others. "Like Peaches over there, I was a pretty dangerous vampire in my heyday, but then I got a chip stuck in my head that stopped me hurting humans. Since I could still hurt demons, I started fighting them to have something to hit." He shrugged. "Got landed with a soul a while back, and I've been fighting with Angel's team ever since."
He jerked a thumb back at Illyria. "Blue here, she's a bit more interesting; former demon king who got stuck in our friend's body while trying to make a comeback. She found that her army had been destroyed, decided to stick around, and basically just fights with us for something to do."
Illyria growled. "Do not presume to speak for me, half-breed," she said simply.
Spike looked back at her and shrugged. "Well, no offence Blue, but if you told the story we'd probably be here for ages just waiting for you to stop ranting about your former greatness," he said casually. "Figured it'd be best to just get it over and down with."
Illyria looked like she about to say something, but Hellboy raised one stone finger in an interjecting gesture, drawing attention over to him.
"Well," Hellboy said, after making sure he had everybody's attention, "now that everyone else is done, I'll just give my story; summoned by the Nazis in 1944 as a baby, rescued by an American platoon, joined a special bureau set up to fight demons, and I've been tackling them ever since." He shrugged. "Sometimes, all you need is the right upbringing."
Illyria looked at him curiously. "So that is why you do not wish your name to be spoken?" she asked him. "You have spent so much time among this species that you wish to forget your past?"
"Forget?" Hellboy said, chuckling slightly. "Lady, I never even knew my past; I was practically just born when I was summoned!" He smiled slightly, as though at some partly fond memory. "I just prefer to not think of what I might have been, and focus on what I actually am."
Blade nodded thoughtfully. "Good philosophy," he said, looking over at Hellboy. "I've tried to do that sometimes myself."
"'Tried'?" Angel asked, looking over at Blade curiously.
Blade looked up at him, as though surprised that the other vampire had to ask. "I find it hard to forget my vampire nature when I still have the Thirst to deal with."
Angel blinked and briefly appeared to be mentally scolding himself for forgetting that, but then just turned around to look back at Leo. "So, what's the situation we're dealing with here?" he asked his old friend, trying to sound as though the idea of seeing Leo alive after all this time wasn't more then slightly disturbing to him. After all, he'd seen Leo die…
Leo smiled slightly and glanced down at his watch before looking back at Angel. "I'll tell you in a moment," he said to his friend. "We've just got to wait a moment or two for the last member of our Coven to get here."
"What?" Spike said, looking over at Leo in surprise. "Another one? We've already got three vampires, a vampire/human hybrid, two demons, and a… whatever the hell you are!" he said, waving a hand around the room at the others. "What else do we need!"
A bolt of lighting struck the middle of the room, between where Hellboy and Spike were standing, accompanied by a blinding flash of white light. When the light had cleared, a tall figure, clad in a simple black outfit, was standing there. He had red hands, black marks on a similarly red face, and his head was totally hairless.
Dazed, he looked around at his new surroundings.
"Where the hell am…" he began, before his eyes fell on Leo.
His jaw dropped. "Leo!"
Leo smiled slightly. "Hello, Cole," he said casually.
Then he raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You know, I never asked; do you prefer Belthazor when you're like this?"