Weatherly Park.

Last time Buffy had been here, it was to hunt a vampire with a fork for a hand. Back then, the Park had been crawling with homeless, those who, for lack of luck, effort, or ability, had been denied the American Dream, one of the more disappointingly normal things in an otherwise abnormal town. However, thanks to the fact that reducing unemployment had been part of the late Mayor Wilkins' re-election platform, the homeless had since almost all vanished. There had been one or two questions about where they'd all gone, but for the most part the town's population was satisfied by another Wilkins Solution- especially the man-eating citizens.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Buffy looked over her shoulder at Riley and his squad. She smiled. "Nothing. It's just this place has serious deja vu for me. I'll tell you about it sometime."

Riley had certainly gotten them backup, she thought. Graham, Forrest, and Mason had all come along, packing flak vests, taser blasters, batons, and stun and nerve gas grenades. Professor Walsh's instructions had been clear: take the creature alive if at all possible. They were relying mostly on the nerve gas, since in general Mac-Daddy sized aliens don't care much about small-arms fire. But it was unknown how the thing's body would handle the gas; for all they knew, it could be the atmosphere of Hostile 100's home planet. That's why the group was just the recon force; if contact was made, a swarm of Humvees were standing by to descend on the park, loaded with troops and heavy weaponry.

For her part, Buffy had opted for a machete, stake, and a couple of throwing axes. The machete was proven against exoskeletons, having made short work of Ms. French. The throwing axes were more flexible in close quarters than a crossbow, but were still sharp enough to put some chinks in alien armor. At the insistence of Riley, she'd also brought one of the rubber gas masks the commandoes had, even though the L.A. part of her considered the ugly thing further evidence that the military of today was woefully underfunded in the fashion department. And she just felt better with a stake in her pocket.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. The night air was cool and still, and not a sound could be heard in the park. It could have made a very pleasant date if not for the otherwordly menace bit, and Forrest quietly grumbling to the other soldiers about how he wanted 'to do some alien-hunting, not chaperone the lovebirds on a moonlight stroll, I joined this outfit to take names, not…".

Riley spoke up again. "Good or bad?"

"Hm?"

"Your deja vu."

"Oh, so-so. Vampire hunt that turned into something weirder. Oh-", she pointed at the opening in the bushes where, four years ago, the claw-vamp had leapt at her. The bushes had grown slightly, but other than that she might as well be sixteen again. "That's where-"

"Sh!" Forrest suddenly held up his fist, and all chatter and movement ceased. The commando stalked forward and shined his light on what he'd seen.

"Blood. And tracks. They both look fresh," he said, indicating the red droplets that had caught his eye in the moonlight, with large clawed footprints beside them, leading both towards and away from the opening. "Can't tell-"

Suddenly and silently, a shape leapt out of the shadows within the tunnel and bore Forrest to the ground. Buffy sprang forward without thinking, swinging the machete. The blade struck hard into the creature's side with an impact that sent shivers up Buffy's arms. Squealing, the creature leapt off of Forrest and was bathed in light as the Initiative soldiers trained their weapons on it.

It was an adult alien, and it looked nasty. It was a good foot taller than the one Buffy had fought in her kitchen, and much bulkier and more heavily muscled. The claws were longer, and the mouth was much bigger, made for crushing bone and tearing meat, with jaw muscles bulging out of its neck. It was also a dark green, and on its skull-dome were ridges reminiscent of scales. It had no spikes on its back, unlike the alien from the house. Green blood oozed from a crack in its side, courtesy of Buffy's machete.

There was a moment's pause as the humans took in this new creature and what its presence meant- and then Riley acted. "Buffy, down!" He yelled. As she jumped out of the way, she could see Mason helping Forrest up, and hear Graham calling on his radio for the Humvees to enter the park. Mostly, however, she saw and heard Riley's blaster as he opened fire, zapping the creature squarely on the head. Forgetting all about Buffy, it instead turned and charged headlong at Riley, shrugging off further bolts from the other soldiers like electric gnats.

Buffy ran at the alien and threw herself at it, trying to tackle it before it could shred her boyfriend. She grabbed its leg and threw her weight against the knee, trying to force it back on itself and break it. The alien bone, muscle, and shell yielded only a few inches, but that was enough to send the alien crashing to the ground, only a few feet from Riley, who took advantage of the save to pull his squad out of harm's way and formulate a plan.

Growling like a rabid dog, the alien flailed at Buffy with its tail, trying to stick her with the poison tip. She dodged, then saw Riley waving at her to get away as he drew a grenade from his belt. Without hesitating, she hurled herself away. The creature was turning to follow her when the stun grenade went off.

Buffy landed hard in the grass as there was a titanic flash from behind her, and a noise like the beginning of Judgement Day. All sound suddenly left her world, and as she turned around, she was glad that she hadn't been facing the flash. Even though it had no visible eyes or ears, the alien was staggering drunkenly, shaking its head in an effort to get rid of the effects of the flash-bang. In this state, it was easy for Graham to nail it with the gas grenade.

As Buffy and the soldiers hastily pulled on their masks, the silvery sphere hit the ground, bounced once, and rolled to a stop at the alien's feet. Green gas spewed from it, forming billowing clouds, hiding the alien from sight. Buffy also noticed the grenade hissing; her hearing was returning.

The gas began to dissipate, its particles sinking to the ground as the cloud fell apart, and the humans saw the alien. It was barely standing on all fours, legs quivering with the effort. Its body was twitching uncontrollably. Drool dripped from its mouth. But it still wasn't down. Its head swiveled left, then right, as it tried to compose itself. Riley nodded at his squad, and they moved in, meaning to finish the job with taser fire. Suddenly, the alien growled quietly, its throat partially paralyzed by the gas, and charged clumsily at its tormentors on all fours, swaying as it tried to keep its balance.

Caught off guard by this attack from an enemy they'd thought beaten, the commandoes scattered before the alien could tear into them. But Mason was a little slow. As he rolled out of the way, the alien swerved towards him and pounced, pinning him down and doing its half-paralyzed best to rip him to shreds.

As Buffy drew the throwing axe from her coat pocket, she wondered what the hell was keeping the Humvees. Then Mason screamed, and she let her instincts take over. It was a good throw, considering she wasn't used to fighting with a gas mask on, nailing the creature in the middle of the back. The blade bit deeply into the shell, and acid blood began to flow and drip to the ground. As it burned steaming pits in the dirt, the alien stopped cutting up Mason long enough to snarl at her, giving Riley an opportunity to make his move.

"Grilled cheese, execute!" He yelled, and then Riley tackled the alien from behind, holding the deadly tail between his legs. At the same time Graham and Forrest somersaulted into position on either side of the alien, jammed their taser blasters against each side of its head, and fired at point-blank range into the creature's skull. A moment before they fired, Riley rolled of the creature so as to avoid being fried by his own men. The alien wasn't so lucky; blue waves of electricity cascaded through its body, making it shake and jerk uncontrollably before it finally collapsed on the ground.

There was a pause during which no one moved, or took their eyes of the (hopefully) unconscious alien. Then, there was a growing roar of engines in the distance, then feet running, voices shouting. Buffy sighed. The cavalry had arrived just in time for the clean-up.