Ashes to Ashes
First in a series
Chapter One: Hellmouth Homecoming
By Shelley L. Inks
She was bored. And Disgusted on top of that. The dark-haired woman slouched in a shadowed booth in a Middle of Nowhere Southern Californian bar. Calling this place a dive would have elevated it five notches, she mused. The table was rusted metal with edges sharp enough to theaten tetanus and the bar-keeps's idea of a deep clean seemed to be hosing whatever was spilled or tracked in into the sunken drain in the middle of the room. Not only that but it was frigging HOT! No doubt the cup of whatever vile brew passed that passed for coffee in this joint was losing more liquid to evaporation that to her drinking it.
A half-broken fan overhead provided little relief as it turned in lazy circles with a low whomp-whomp sound. When she downright thought about it the only pleasant feature of this hole was that the dim light sheilded her eyes from having to take in the other patrons, a particularly scummy mix of low-level demons and Humans. Loud rock music tormented her extremely sensitive ears as she eyed the dozen dust-covered motorcycles parked out front. Their owners, a crew of leather jacketed and multi-pierced demons, lounged around the bar drinking and bullying the help. Several bore the word "Hellion" on the back of their attire.
She tilted her head curiously and turned to watch two ruffians in conversation as their words reached and intrigued her.
The first speaker, a newly risen Vampire with perhaps all of a year of death under his belt at most and a very whiney voice, was saying,"So I got her cornered in this alley, see..."
His audience, one of the higher ranking muscular biker demons entitled Mag, eyed him skeptically in the ease-dropping woman's shared disbelief. He seemed like he was listening more out of being unable to rid himself of the Vampire than from true interest. "You get the Slayer cornered."
"Yeah," The vamp insisted, self-importantly drawing himself up to his fully unimpressive height,"I figured it's my duty. She's a menace to our society. So we fight, and I'm like, pow pow pow." He made a few clumsy punching gestures by way of demostration and the woman rolled her eyes with a quiet snort. "And I got her on the ropes."
Apparently Mag was annoyed by this unbelievable tale as he turned and seized the Vampire by the throat, growling,"You're lying to me..."
The blood-sucker's yellow eyes widened and his voice shot up to a new level of irritating as he choked out meekly,"I swear on all that's unholy! You haven't even heard the best part. I cut her, right? And she's... I don't know, some kind of machine. She's not Human!"
Mag scrutinized his gaze for a moment for any sign of dishonesty, then dropped him dismissively,"You're high." She was inclined to agree, even if she wasn't sure exactly what illegal narcotics actually effected Vampires.
"I'm tellin' you, it wasn't even the Slayer, man. It was like a trick. A robot."
Startled, she whirled to face them but luckily neither noticed. As the Vampire started to guzzle his beer Mag grabbed him and hustled him through the crowd to a spot even closer to her. Razor, the biker' gang's leader, by far the largest and most gruesome of of the bar's occupants, sat in a booth two down from her, surrounded by his cronies. He eyed the Vampire disdainfully then turned his attention to Mag,"What's with the blood rat?"
"Talk," Mag snarled at the unfortunate leech, giving him a good shove to loosen his tongue.
No longer quite so cocky, the nervous bloodsucker stammered,"Okay, uh, so, I was over in Sunnydale, minding my own beeswax, when I see the Slayer..."
Mag shook him hard enough to rattle his fangs,"The part about the robot."
Once more trying to inflate his ego, the Vampire puffed out his chest,"We fought, right? And I was like all over her.." Again with the pathetic punching gestures before Mag cut him off.
"He says the Slayer's been replaced by some kind of machine."
Now Razor looked interest.
"A robot, yeah! And I kicked her synthetic ass. You shoulda seen the sparks..."
Razor stood up abruptly, towering over the foolish Vampire who no longer seemed so keen on being the center of attention as he wilted under the demon's gaze. By now most every unnatural being in the bar was watching intently. "You tellin' me there's no Slayer in Sunnydale?"
In her inconspicuous booth the female leaned forward, craning to catch every word.
"That's what I'm saying, they got some kind of decoy standing in for her." The Vamp, sensing all eyes were on him, filled his voice with false bravado,"Town is wide open."
"No where like the Hellmouth for a party. There's all kinds of bad in that place," Mag spoke up. Razor nodded thoughtfully as the gang broke into malicious laughter. Thinking he was accepted into the group for the time being the Vampire laughed too and patted Razor on the chest. Bad move.
"I guess with your muscle, uh, you could own it in no time." The whiney bloodsucker made a nervous chuckle and air quoted his rattling,"Hey look, I know you guys don't usually let Vampires join the gang, and I got the whole sunlight issue. But I was thinking, you know, as thanks for the 4-1-1, you could let me go..."
He never got to finish. The vamp's headless body hit the floor with a thud and exploded into dust. Razor brushed the ashy remains of his head from his hands,"I'll think it over."
He rotated to take in his cohorts all watching him eagerly and gave the words they sought."Let's ride!"
A rancorous cheer went up and moments later they sped off on their bikes in a cloud of churned up dirt.
She waited five minutes before getting up. One of her well-scuffed army style boots gave the dusted Vampire a disdainful kick, unsettling his remains, before she ventured out the door. The Slayer was gone? She'd heard word of this Slayer, the same who had bested Angelus and the Master Vampire. If the Hellmouth was truely unprotected many innocent people were about to be hurt. She couldn't allow that. Besides, she'd been traveling in that direction anyway.
With a quick glance to make sure her pressence had gone undetected she closed her eyes in concentration. Black fur swept over her skin as her legs shrunk and tucked under her body. Her nose stretched to become a muzzle and her hindquarters sprouted a bushy tail. In the place the mysterious young woman had stood now was a magnificent ebony colored wolf. She could move far faster this way.
Her four legs tore off, carrying her at blinding speed. She would arrive in Sunnydale shortly before them.
"Does everybody have their candles?" Willow asked nervously. She, Tara, Xander, and Anya stood in a semicircle in the dark cemetery beside Buffy's grave.
"I'm trying, my lighter won't stay lit," Anya complained, continuously flicking the lighter in frustration.
"Well, hurry, it has to..."
"What time is it?" Tara glanced around.
Xander checked his watch uneasily,"A minute 'till midnight."
"C'mon, Anya, do you have it?"
"I got it, I got it. I got it!" Anya exclaimed excitedly as she managed to light her candle.
"Okay,start the circle. Now." Willow instructed. The four friends knelt, holding their candles, all but Willow who was acting as the High Priestess in this forbidden ceremony, who held an ancient Urn of Osiris. The Egyptian God of Death. She produced a small jar of fawn's blood killed earlier that morning and poured the crimson fluid into the urn."Osiris, Keeper of the Gate, Master of All Fate, hear us." Finishing this opening summons she dipped her finger in the blood and drew a thick line across her forehead and both cheeks in it, then poured the remaing contents of the urn out to soak into the ground."Before time, and after. Before knowing and nothing. Accept our offering. Know our prayer." Suddenly she jerked backward, panting. An invisible force pinned her amrs to her sides and scored deep gashes along them like a horrifying redition of Nightmare on Elm Street.
"Willow!" Xander yelped, reaching for her but Tara stopped him.
"No! She t - she told me ... she'd be tested. This is supposed to happen."
"Osiris! Here lies the warrior of the people. Let her cross over." Willow's voice was now determined, more challenging. She winced in pain as small mouse-like lumps moved under her skin up her arms. The Wiccan gave a low moan as her eyes rolled back.
"She needs help!"
"Xander, she's strong! She said not to stop, no matter what. If we break the cycle now, it's over." Tara bit her lip as they watched anxiously. the only sound was Willow's heavy breathing until a loud rumbling filled the air.
"Oh God, what is that noise?" Anya whispered.
Onyx's calculations had been off she found as she surveyed the damage. Citizens of Sunnydale screamed and tried to run as the demon gang roared down Main Street, smashing windows, breaking in car wind sheilds, and looting stores. What a mess. The stench of smoke curled in her nostrils, making her wrinkle her muzzle enough to bare a wicked set of long ivory incisors. She padded over the rubbish of broken beer bottles, careful not tostep on the shattered glass. Taking a quick inventory of their arsenal, she noted it seemed to consist of mostly nail-studded baseball bats and the occasional Molotov cocktail . That was good. No silver. Many buildings were ablaze which was not so good but she'd have to attempt to tend to that later.
Her form shifted again, back to Human stance, as she boldly stepped over broken glass to approach Mag who was plundering a store window's display. A sweet feminine voice made them both stop short."That doesn't belong to you." A lovely blond girl close to Onyx's own age stood in the center of the choas, her hands on her hips,"Put it back."
Mag opened his fang ringed maw and let loose a high-pitched rallying cry. The other demons closed in on the vastly outnumbered Buffy-bot. Spike's former sex-toy glanced around nervously as the gang converged on her in a tight circle. She wasn't programmed to fight groups this large. Panic surged though her,overwhelming her circuits. Her central computer rapidly skimmed through various battle strategies that might work in the current situation.
"Slayer," Razor growled, stalking up to the robot,"I've been hearing interesting things about you..."
"Yes. I am interesting," she replied pertly with an odd innocence, taking in the demons with a glance,"These your friends?"
"They're my boys, yeah."
"Good." The Slayer smiled politely with astonishing patience,"Now tell them to get back on their loud bicycles and go back wherever they came from."
Razor sneered,"Or what? You'll electrocute us?" He delivered a solid punch to her face, making her stagger back into a couple of his cronies who were waiting and caught her by her arms."Hold her," Razor rumbled as the bot struggled and he stepped forward, lifting his hand, revealing a set of ugly claws. Then an even uglier set of serrated metal claws popped out at the ends of his fingers.
The blow never fell. Just as he made ready to strike her a huge black hand-like paw caught his hand and jerked him around. Towering over the demon was a massive Werewolf, her mouthful of fangs curved fangs bared as saliva dripped from her snarling jaws. Standing fully erect on crooked legs, the creature was a mass of pure muscle and fury, an odd half-way point between wolf and Human.
"What the Hell..."
With an Earth-shattering roar the Werewolf backhanded him across the street into a dented car, making the alarms wail. The seven foot tall beast settled her smoldering golden gaze on the two bikers who still held the Buffybot hostage. When she spoke her words were a guttral, nearly unintelligable snarl,"Let her go."
Confused and bewildered they obeyed and stumbled back. Razor lurched to his feet and pointed at the two females, spittle flying in rage,"GET THEM!"
Onyx glanced around quickly and determined the two of them could not kill all these demons alone. That left only one option. Looking sharply at the Buffy-bot she grunted one word: "Run."
The bot did a backflip and kicked one demon in the face then delivered a whirling spin-kick to three demons before punching a last one out of her way and sprinting down the street. Shifting to her fully wolf form as she ran not a yard behind, Onyx charged and bull-rushed two bikers, going right over them. Her claws shredded their leather jackets and flesh, leaving them shrieking. The rest of the demons hurried to their motorcycles and sped off after the fleeing pair.
