Chapter IV

Don Bennidetto was angry. Murderously angry, so angry he thought he could feel his blood pressure increasing against the inside of his skull. He was attempting to be outwardly calm but his subordinates were cat-footing around him. He looked like he might explode any moment now. And if that happened, underlings would start to die.

Andrew Bennidetto was not actually a Don. That was a conceit that he had awarded himself. He was really a kind of captain, if organized crime used military ranks. He was newly moved to Sunnydale and if, after a few years, he successfully took over the streams of criminal revenue and redirected them into the Mafia's coffers, then maybe others would bestow the title of Mafia Don on him. But he had no problem jumping the gun and thinking of himself as the great and powerful Don Bennidetto, master of all crime in Sunnydale and the surrounding towns and countryside.

Andy Bennidetto was pacing rapidly back and forth and ranting, "How could this happen? How could three shop girls destroy one of my cars with two of my soldiers inside it? No one can even tell me if this was an accident or on purpose! Do any of you useless pieces of shit have anything constructive to tell me?"

"Um, sir, as far as we can tell, it might have been just one. That Summers bitch, the one that apparently threatened Jules and Tony the first time and got them arrested. At least, she was there the second time," said a worried lieutenant.

The Don retorted, "And what the hell is this 'threatened' bullshit? How could a mere girl, hell, she's not even Sicilian, threaten two of my men? It's impossible – there must be someone tougher around that we don't know about. But we'll find out, oh yes we will find out. Go get that girl, we'll get the information we need from her – after a bloody and fun little session in the basement – and that will also give us leverage over whoever is behind this. No wait, I'll go too, I don't want anymore fuckups."

-- --

Buffy was happily walking down the sidewalk in downtown Sunnydale, just a few blocks from the Magic Box. She was taking in the sunshine, and the beautiful blue sky with just a few decorative clouds floating about and thinking how nice it was to be alive and just being out on such a day. She was in such a good mood she nearly skipped a few steps. A large black limousine pulled up to the curb in front of her. She didn't pay it any mind. As she stepped abreast of the car, the rear door swung open and two large men got out and tried to grab her. Each of the Mafiosi weighed more than twice as much as Buffy, each were armed, each spent a lot of time working out, and each had much experience in strong-arming weaker people. Thus they were both too surprised to be shocked when they found themselves flying though the air. They both landed unconscious on the sidewalk. Buffy vaulted over the car and landed beside the rear window.

The Don was sitting in the car working with his laptop computer. He was checking his business interests and not paying much attention. He was just starting to think that this was taking a bit longer than it should when a fist crashed though window beside him and grabbed onto the collar of his Italian suit. He found himself being unceremoniously hauled out though the broken window of his own car and tossed into the street like a sack of garbage. The chauffeur opened his door and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun from under the dash. Just as he swung it around towards Buffy, she grabbed the barrel and yanked, being careful to keep it pointed in a safe direction. The gun went off, blasting a big hole in the car door. The chauffeur found himself lying next to his boss. Buffy looked around. There were people in sight but none very near. Still, she decided it would be too risky to pick up and carry the boss dude anywhere so she pulled him back into the car. After patting him down and taking his wallet she got into the front and drove off.

The Don was coming to. He played dead a little longer and took in his surroundings. Apparently he was in the back of his own car – but it was being driven in an odd and jerky fashion. Could the car be damaged? Besides the broken window of course. He slotted his eyes open a little until he could see that the driver of his car was a small blond. She turned around and glanced at him for a second then looked forward again, just in time to swerve violently around a slower car.

Buffy drove the limo wildly and erratically into the warren of alleys and industrial streets that she knew like the back of her hand, but she was having a bit of trouble with the car, since it was the biggest thing she'd ever driven. She stopped the car at the mouth of a dark alley, after bouncing the rear quarter off a lamppost, and turned to look into the back seat. Don Bennidetto was sure he would have bruises from getting tossed around in the back.

"Well mister big shot criminal guy, you've attacked me and my friends once too often. I want you to stop. I've faced and defeated creatures that would make you look like a little puppy, you're nothing to me. But that doesn't mean that I won't take action against you if you don't change your course. This is your third and last warning."

Bennidetto interjected, "Third warning! What were the others you little bitch?"

Buffy frowned and said, "Do you really feel safe in insulting me like that?" She paused a moment and continued when she received no response other than an angry glare, "The first time when I had your men arrested. The second time when I used their own bomb to blow up your car, with your men in them. Now, well you know what happened just now. This time I left your guys alive, but unconscious and lying in the street. You would be dead yourself, if I was the kind of man you are. So just go away, I don't wish to be bothered with you anymore. If you don't, my actions will astound you!"

She found a button that closed the interior window between front and back seats and pressed the accelerator to the floor. She knew exactly where to take this monster car and was gratified to find that organized crime didn't stint when it came to horsepower. The behemoth automobile tore down the narrow alley towards a pair of dumpsters – Buffy edged the car towards the right side of the alley, which was a concrete masonry wall, until the car was scraping hard against the wall, sending a shower of sparks into the air. She let off the gas just as the left front of the car hit the dumpsters. There was a satisfying crash and sudden deceleration as the limo became wedged between the dumpsters and the wall. The car shuddered to a halt as the airbags deployed. Buffy punched the airbag down and tried the doors and found them satisfactorily jammed.

She kicked out the windshield and crawled onto the hood, and noted that the car was now buckled so tightly that even the sunroof wouldn't work. Her prisoner would have to wait for professional help from the authorities for release, unless he could kick out the back window – but that was armored glass and Buffy didn't think he could do it.

-- --

Buffy bounced into the Magic Box. "Hey guys," she chirruped brightly, "I've administered the warning as per our plan. I hope it works."

Willow said, "But Buffy, you're ahead of schedule. How did you do it?"

"Actually, they attacked me. And this big-cheese looking guy seemed to be in charge, so I gave him the warning. We'll see how it well it works, and I guess we'd better put the backup plan into action."

Anya looked up sourly, "You know he's going to ignore the warning and just get even madder, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right, but the madder they are, the more unplanned the attack, and the easier it will be to bring them down. Oh, here's his wallet, let's see who this numb-nuts is," said Buffy.

-- --

To be continued.