Mariano Investigations 1: In Omnia Ferme Paratus

Dave Rygalski sighed as he walked through the office door of Mariano Investigations. "Okay," he said, upon seeing Jess and Louise sitting on the small couch, looking pale and somber. "Who died?"

"Rory, tomorrow… big, orange demon," Louise replied in a small voice.

Dave blinked in surprise. "…Oh…"

Jess sighed heavily and got to his feet. "We should get researching on this."

"Aspirin first," Louise demanded.

Jess nodded. "Fine." He looked around anxiously. "Where in hell is Madeline? I called her hours ago!"

"You called her five minutes ago, boss," Louise pointed out, getting up slowly.

Dave sighed and helped Louise. "Maybe you should sit this one out, Jess."

He turned quickly. "What?"

"You've got too much emotional baggage in this one… maybe you should just let us-"

"No."

"Jess…" Louise said, before taking the Aspirin and washing it down with some coffee. "Maybe Dave is right."

"No," Jess snapped. "I'm the… warrior or whatever, and I've gotta help." He shook his head. "I'll meet you guys in my office to get started." With that, he stormed off, shutting the door behind him.

Dave shook his head. "Great…"

oooooooo

Madeline Lynn walked through the office door and found no one in the front. "Hello?" she called.

"In the back!" Jess called.

She walked back with a giant smile on her face. "Hi! I stopped off to get doughnuts and Coff…ee… why does everyone look so depressed…? Other than the fact that Bush got reelected…"

"Vision," Louise replied, picking up another book. "Rory's gonna get sacrificed."

"Oh," Madeline commented, taking a bite out of her doughnut. "That sucks."

"What was the club called again, Louise?" Dave asked, flipping through two books at once.

"The Life or Death Brigade," she replied, grabbing a couple of coffees from Madeline's Starbucks carrier, and handing one to Jess.

"Thanks," he muttered. His eyes never left his book as he took it and swigged some.

"He's really taking this to heart, huh?" Madeline asked.

Louise nodded. "He still loves Rory."

"I can hear you," Jess told them, still not looking up.

"Don't care," the girls replied in unison.

Dave sighed. "Keep looking, please…"

Madeline grabbed a book. "What are we looking for?"

"Big, slimy orange demon," Louise muttered. "Red teeth, orange eyes, and a history of human sacrifice."

"Sounds fun," Madeline muttered, cracking the book open.

ooooooo

Logan Huntzburger glanced into the tent and made sure Rory Gilmore was fast asleep before turning to his companions.

He grinned. "Everything is going according to plan."

Two of the other members of the Life or Death Brigade walked over and helped him into a long, brown robe. He joined everyone in a large circle, set around a pentagram, and began to chant.

ooooooooo

"Found something!"

Jess got to his feet and leaned over Dave. "What?"

"Periculu demon," Dave told him, pointing to the drawing in the book. "Comes from the Latin, Periculum… means danger."

"I know Latin," Jess replied. "What does it do?"

"Gives these kids everlasting courage… it's why they can do all the crazy stuff they do," Dave explained. "But they need a sacrifice every term to keep it up."

"Why Rory?" Madeline asked.

"Easy target," Louise interjected.

Madeline and the toy boys stared at her.

"What! You know it's true…"

"Where do they meet?" Jess asked, turning back to Dave.

"Wooded areas," Dave replied. "But that could be anywhere."

"Oh!" Madeline cried. "Locator spell!" She hopped up. "I'll go get my supplies."

"What do we do once we find them?" Louise asked.

"Get Rory the hell out of there, and kill that demon."

Louise smiled. "That's so cute."

He glared.

"You think you can just waltz into an ivy league secret society that's actually a cover-up for demon worship," Louise snickered. "You're adorable."

"In Louise-eese, that translates to: I have an idea!" Dave commented. "What is it?"

She grinned and leaned forward. "We find out where it's at, and go undercover… take them by surprise."

Jess stared. "I'm listening."

"I used to date a guy in the Life or Death Brigade back in senior year of high school," Louise told them. "I've been to one of their non-sacrificing meetings… they get pretty fancy… tuxes and ball gowns…"

"I'm not fighting in a tux," Jess told her.

Louise smiled sweetly. "Okay, Jess."

"Found her!" Madeline cried from the front office.

"Hey, Madeline!" Louise called. "Do you still have a taste for frivolous witchcraft?"

Jess glared.

The Next Morning…

Jess grumbled as he attached his broadsword sheath to his tuxedo pants. "You owe me, Louise."

The blond grinned as she did up her hair, careful not to mess up her pale pink gown. "Who gets your visions?"

Jess gave her a blank stare. "Let's just get this over with."

"Wait!" Madeline cried, rushing into the room. She was wearing a sparkly, bright orange dress. "I have to fancy up the car!"

"The car is fine," Jess snapped.

"The car is crap," Louise interjected. "Madeline, make-over, please?"

Madeline grinned and rushed out the door of the office to the parking garage.

Jess growled and followed, with Louise and Dave close behind.

"He really hates this, doesn't he?" Dave asked.

Louise grinned. "Our Jess pretty much hates everything."

"Good point," he replied. "So… this demon is pretty big."

"You're telling me," Louise muttered as they made their way to the car.

"What the hell, Madeline!" Jess cried, looking over his brand new, top of the line SUV.

"It's classy!"

"It's a piece of junk!" Jess argued.

Dave groaned, and shoved Jess over to the driver's side. "Get in. We have to go."

ooooooo

"What do you see?"

"A lot of people in fluffy dresses and tuxes," Dave replied, looking through his binoculars… and a giant… structure… red, gold and white… Wow… I feel like Harry Potter…"

"Something useful, please?" Louise chastised.

Dave looked around, and spotted a guy who looked almost like a guard admitting people past him. He squinted at them, and saw one of the girls say something. "In… In something."

"What?" Madeline asked, confused.

"Sssh," Dave snapped. "In… In Omnia… Paratis."

"Ready for anything," Jess translated. "What's the significance?"

"Probably a password of some type," Louise replied. "We say it, we get in."

Jess nodded and Madeline dusted off his tux, and straightened him out. "God, you're messy."

"Wait till we start fighting," Jess muttered.

Louise sighed and looked over her three companions. Dave and Jess looked slightly frumpy in their tuxedos, while Madeline was biting her nails. "This is going to be a disaster."

ooooooo

"Come on!" Logan yelled as he ran to the meeting point. "We'll be late!"

"For what?" Rory asked, chasing after him. "The ritual sacrifice?"

Logan grinned when they joined the half-circled group, and shoved Rory forward. "Exactly."

"Hey!" she cried, stumbling to the front.

Collin and Finn grabbed her by the arms.

"Let go!" Rory struggled. "Logan! What-" Her eyes widened when a giant demon stalked up. "Oh… Oh, no…"

Logan grinned. "Welcome to the Life or Death Brigade, Ace. Time to die."

ooooooo

Jess looked down on them from the structure. It had been a fairly easy climb. He watched the demon advance and jumped.

ooooooo

Dave looked up from his spot in the crowd of people. "NOW!"

Louise and Madeline rushed out from the crowd and began fighting Collin and Finn.

"Never underestimate the power of a stiletto heel!" Louise cried, digging her shoe into Collin's foot.

He howled in pain and let go of Rory, who kneed Finn, and rushed off.

She looked up, and saw someone falling from the structure high above. He landed right on the demon, and began fighting it.

She had no idea what was going on.

ooooooo

"COME ON!" Jess yelled, plunging his sword into the Periculu demon's back. "DIE ALREADY!"

"CUT OUT THE TONGUE!" Dave yelled, shoving a guy off of him.

"THE TONGUE!"

"THE TONGUE!" Dave yelled again.

"Jeez," Jess muttered. "I need a new day job." He swung around the demon's neck, and swiped the sword toward the mouth but missed. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THE TONGUE!"

Logan, from the crowd, growled, and ran toward Jess and the demon, but the Periculu smacked the blond out of the way.

Jess growled, and swiped up with the sword again, this time cutting right through the massive demon's tongue. It howled in pain, and burst into flames.

"Oh shit," Jess muttered. He let go, falling to the ground, and ran. "DAVE!"

Dave turned from the guy he'd been fighting for the past few minutes. "HOLD ON! I ALMOST GOT THIS GUY!"

Madeline looked up at the flaming demon. "Uhmm… What happens when you cut its tongue out!"

"It lights on fire and then…" Dave looked up. "Explodes. CRAP!"

"RUN!" Louise yelled.

Jess sprinted over, and grabbed Rory's hand on the way, running faster.

"Jess!" she cried out, confused and scared.

"Stay close!" Jess cried.

Logan, Collin, Finn, and a few other remaining members of the Brigade ran as well.

They were almost out of harm's way when the Periculu exploded, knocking them all to the ground.

When the smoke cleared, the assembled group was covered in a sticky orange substance.

"Ugh," Madeline complained. "This will never come out of my hair."

"At least you're alive to bitch about it," Jess remarked, sitting up. He sighed as he watched Rory sit up as well. "You okay?"

"Depends on your definition of 'okay,'" she replied. She stared at him and then looked around at Dave, Madeline and Louise. "What… what are all of you doing here…? And… and what was that?"

"Oh!" Dave cried, getting to his feet. "Look at the time! We gotta go do that thing."

Louise slowly got to her feet, helping Madeline with her. "What about our fee?"

"It's on the house," Jess muttered, getting up.

Rory reached up and grabbed his hand. "Wait."

He looked down at her and squeezed her hand gently before letting go of it and walking after his group. He hopped into the driver's seat, started up the SUV, and sped off.

Rory got up and watched them go.

ooooooo

Logan glared as he watched the SUV speed away. "Finn!"

"What?" Finn whined, getting to his feet.

"I want you to find out about those guys. Pronto."

Finn sighed. "It doesn't matter. They basically did our job for us."

"They made a mess!"

"At least no one was killed," Finn muttered.

"Just get me the info!" Logan cried.

Finn sighed. "Fine."

The Next Morning…

Rory sighed as she sat at the counter at Luke's. "Hey."

Luke gave her a grin. "Hey. Home for the weekend?"

"Just today," she replied. "Can…Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

She sighed again and leaned forward. "Where is Jess these days?"

Luke looked a little surprised by the question. "Why?"

"Just curious," she shrugged.

"He's in New York, doing messenger work," Luke told her.

"Have you heard from him?"

"Not recently," Luke replied slowly. "What's this about?"

Rory shook her head. "Nothing… nothing, I'm just… wondering, is all."

Luke nodded.

"Can I get an address?"

From the corner of the diner, Dean Forester watched with wary eyes.

ooooooo

Louise sighed. "I still don't see why we didn't charge her," she muttered as she typed away on the computer at her desk.

"She didn't know she was being saved," Jess muttered as he cleaned off his sword with a rag.

"Most of our clients don't," Madeline pointed out. "That's why we're around, remember?"

"Cut the guy some slack," Dave told the girls as he flipped through a large volume. "It was Rory, remember?"

Louise sighed heavily. "Fine…"

At that moment, the door to the office swung open.

Jess looked up and raised his sword. "What the-"

"Relax," Logan snapped. "I'm not here to cause trouble."

Dave raised his book in defense. "Prove it."

"I'm a demon hunter, too!" Logan cried, putting his hands up.

"You sure as hell weren't acting like it yesterday," Louise snapped, pulling a wooden stake out of her desk.

"I was undercover," Logan explained. "Thank you, by the way, for ruining my entire plan."

"Which included sacrificing an innocent girl," Jess snapped. "My job was to save her."

"Oh, a hero," Logan smiled. "How quaint."

"Get out," Madeline told him.

"You're on my turf," Logan told them. "These are my hunting grounds, not yours. I'm the demon hunter, here."

"Your mother never taught you to share, did she?" Dave commented.

"Stay off my turf," Logan ordered.

"I don't go in for the whole West Side Story bit," Jess retorted. "Get out of my office."

Logan turned to leave. "Watch your back, Mariano."

"You first," Madeline growled, snagging the stake from Louise and throwing it at Logan's back.

He slid out of the way, and it hit the wall. He smirked, and left.

"Nice aim," Jess commended.

"What do we do about him?" Dave asked, still staring at the door.

"Wait till he actually starts looking like a threat," Jess replied.

"Uhm… Boss?" Madeline asked.

Jess turned to her.

She pointed to the small orb of energy that was slowly getting bigger in the corner of the room. "I think he's starting to look like a threat."

Jess let out a string of curses, before grabbing a bucket from the corner of the room, and putting it over the growing orb. "What the hell is this thing!" he growled.

Dave hurried flipped through a book. "Gimme a minute."

The orb began to grow too big for the bucket. "We don't have a minute!"

"Well, what are you-"

The three of them watched as Jess took a running start and crashed through the closed window of the office.

"Well, then," Dave commented.

When they heard a small explosion and a crash, they rushed to the broken window to see Jess lying on the pavement.

"OW!" he cried.