See first chapter for disclaimers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Storyseeker for beta-reading this. As usual, if you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

PREVIOUSLY: Worm

Kung-Zoo Fighting

Faith looked up at the buildings around them. "Big city. But which one?"

"Hard to say. Might not even be one we've heard of, since we've been to a fair share of alien planets." They walked the streets for a while, looking at signs and noting that they were mostly in English with a smattering of other languages thrown in. All of them were familiar as were the businesses themselves. There were grocery stores, electronic stores, clothing boutiques, and eateries ranging from British style pubs to Korean barbecue places. Xander's stomach growled and he remembered that it had been a couple of worlds since they had last eaten.

Before he could suggest finding a place for breakfast, which by the look of the sky and a clock in a store window, was still a couple of hours away, they turned in to a new broader street and found themselves at the top of a hill. Both stopped in their tracks.

"Okay. Now this I recognize."

Faith nodded. "We're in New York. I'd know that skyline anywhere." Then she frowned. "Question is; what are we doing here?"

"Trouble always finds us," he pointed out. "Let's just play tourist till something happens. I say we start with breakfast."

"Sounds good to me." She looked around and spotted a neon sign down the road. "That looks promising." She pointed to a small diner that was open for business. It was deserted except for a sleepy looking man behind the counter. They took a seat at the counter and looked at the menus the man handed them.

"Um…" Xander glanced at Faith. "Do we have any local currency?" She shrugged and the two started going through their pockets. They found several varieties of coins. Some of them got curious and even incredulous looks from the cook. Finally, Xander found one that was made out of gold. The man shrugged and took it, telling them that, at the going rate for gold, that coin could pay for two of everything on the menu. They placed their order and he pocketed the coin and set about preparing them a feast.

They had nearly eaten their fill when a group of Asian thugs, all wearing outfits that featured a lot of purple, entered. They were all dressed alike, and several carried visible weapons. They quickly took in the room, noting that Xander and Faith were the only customers. That didn't seem to worry them.

"We're here to collect your insurance premium." The apparent spokesman for the group approached the counter. Faith and Xander glanced at each other and nodded. Together they rose and walked toward the door.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" A gang member armed with a chain got in their way. The two continued walking, seeming to ignore him until he got into easy range. "I asked you a question," the thug said, getting in Faith's face.

Suddenly, he doubled over with a pained grunt, dropping his chain. Xander caught it and used it to disarm another gang member carrying a length of pipe. He followed it up with a right cross and a kick to the side of the knee before moving on.

Faith had dropped the first man with a blow to the head and had already incapacitated two more. As they were only human, she had held back, but that didn't mean she was gentle with them. When they got over their surprise at someone actually attacking them, those that remained conscious proved to have some fighting skills. Not enough, though. The two seasoned demon hunters finished with the last in just under three minutes.

The cook stared at them. "That was impressive," he allowed, "but it'll just make them madder when they come back."

"Let the police handle them." Faith shrugged.

"You think this is the whole gang?" The man snorted. "Last month, a pawn shop owner got three others arrested. Two days later, his shop was torched." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I appreciate what you did, really enjoyed it actually, but the Purple Dragons will come after you for that." He grimaced. "And me."

"I don't see what else we could have done." Xander shrugged.

"Better call the police, I guess." The man reached for a phone behind the counter. "Are you two sure you want to be here when they arrive? For all I know, they," he nodded to the gang members, "might press charges."

"Seriously?" Faith asked.

"We've both seen stranger things," Xander reminded her.

"True enough." She grimaced; remembering the massacre initiated by the police on one of the worlds they'd visited. "Guess we'd better go." The two turned and left, moving away from the small diner at a brisk but unhurried pace. Nothing drew attention like running away from the scene of a crime.

They were still more concerned with what was behind them than what was in front of them when they rounded another corner in a series of random turns. Abruptly, they stopped, seeing a red headed girl running toward them, down the alley they had just entered. Hot on her heels were two of the strangest looking things the two hunters had ever seen.

The bigger one looked like a humanoid rhino. The skin was grey and looked leathery. The muzzle, ears, and even the horn all matched the pictures they had seen, but it was wearing clothes and running on two legs. The other looked like…. Xander wasn't sure what. Some kind of boar? That one was also bipedal and wearing clothes.

Whatever they were, they were chasing a teenage girl. The girl herself, to their surprise, was moving very well. Despite running hard, she didn't seem out of breath, and she dodged easily when the boar-thing fired some kind of energy weapon at her. The tessen, though, surprised everyone.

When she caught sight of Xander and Faith standing in her path, she abruptly changed course and ran a few steps up a wall before pushing off and leaping high enough to catch the fire escape on the opposite building with one hand. The other lashed out with a tessen she'd pulled from somewhere. It must have had a very sharp edge, as it easily cut through the heavily laden clothesline some enterprising soul had attached there. The two animal things suddenly found themselves tangled in sheets, towels, and various undergarments.

The redhead dropped from the fire escape to a dumpster, then to the ground. "Come on!" She ran by them, and the hunters followed. "That won't hold them long."

Suspecting that this was the situation that had drawn them to this dimension, they followed her. She led the way down the road to another alley and into a storm drain access door used by workers for maintenance. Neither asked how she had a key. After a short tour through a series of tunnels that she seemed to know very well, they were back on the street. There, they resumed a normal pace and blended in with early morning foot traffic.

"So, what were those things and why were they chasing you?" Xander asked.

"Long story. Let's just say their boss has a mad on for my…family." The hesitation caught Xander's attention, but he didn't pry. Who was he to question anyone's definition of family?

"Bad guy I take it?" Faith asked.

"Very." The girl nodded.

"Nice moves by the way. Ninjutsu?"

She nodded. "I've picked up a few things from my brothers." Looking about to get her bearings, she headed toward an apartment building. "I should get home. It was nice meeting you two. Try to stay away from mutant-animal-things. Not all of them are as friendly as those two."

"Noted," Xander nodded. They said goodbye to their new friend and she headed inside. Faith frowned as soon as she was out of range. "You're thinking we should stick around?"

"Yeah. Gotta be something more going on." So, they waited, watching the building from cover. It wasn't a long wait. A group of stealthily moving figures emerged from the back of the building just moments after the redhead had entered. They watched in surprise as the group hustled along the redheaded girl and a balding man with hair nearly the same shade as hers. Xander guessed it was her father.

"Ninjas?" Xander stared. "Cool."

"Doubt they think so," Faith commented, nodding at the prisoners. "Come on. Time to play hero."

The building had several exits, one of which led almost directly to a series of back alleys just wide enough for garbage trucks, and rarely saw any other kind of traffic. They got as close as they could without being noticed.

"Where are the Purple Dragons?" They heard one ask quietly. "They were supposed to be here with the truck."

"That's what we get for relying on those scum." Another answered. "This is why we always have a backup plan."

Faith interrupted the conversation between the two ninja who were supposed to be watching the groups' backs by banging their heads together and throwing them bodily at the one that had taken to carrying the redheaded girl after her third escape attempt. Red was surprised but quick to take advantage. Despite being bound, she managed to trip one of the ninjas that turned back to face them, and Xander's snap kick met the man's descending head with a gratifying noise. With three out of the fight almost before the ninja knew they were under attack, the odds looked much better.

Faith went straight for the one guarding Red's father as Xander helped himself to a weapon and protected Red herself until she had worked her way loose. She wasn't as talented as Faith in a fight, but she had a few tricks, and the odds turned in their favor when she got her tessen back.

Soon, it was down to just two, and they leaped back out of range and dropped a pair of smoke bombs, vanishing completely under the cover. Faith scowled. "I thought they only did that in cartoons and bad movies."

Red snickered. "Sadly, no." She scanned the most likely hiding places; wanting to be sure they were gone. "Although that bunch has probably watched too many crappy Asian imports."

"What's next?" Xander asked. "I doubt they'll give up."

"I've got to get dad somewhere safe." She took another careful look around before turning to face them again. "Thank you. So much. I don't think we could have gotten out of that mess without your help."

"No problem." Faith assured her. "Do you have a place in mind?"

Red considered. "Yes, but its best that we go there alone. We've involved you in our problems too much as it is. Can you walk with us to the storm drain a couple blocks over? We'll be fine from there."

Xander nodded, and the four of them moved at a fast walk, carefully watching their surroundings, to another maintenance entrance. Red opened the door and led her father inside, pausing only to thank them once more before vanishing into the underground.