The Downside of Elemental Dieseling
By Nickeltaffy
Chapter 13
The air was filled with the thundering sound of gigantic wings as the shadows of the creatures created a myriad of patterns over the street below. The terrifying creatures swooping down amongst the buildings sent downtown into chaos. For once Spike was feeling his size as he huddled in the small space under the police car's dash. His arms shook slightly with nervousness as they awkwardly held up the jacket to hide him from discovery. The urn was sitting in between his legs as they curved around it. His arms trembled as the arched over the top of the bulbous jar holding the jacket as he attempted to conceal himself from these creatures. A little part of his male ego demanded that he go out and show these creatures that he was about to be intimidated by their sheer size or menacing appearance. However, a much larger sense of self-preservation overruled that puffed up male impulse and he stayed in the car. Hell, he wasn't coward, but he wasn't stupid either. At his present state, he doubted it would be much of a battle before he became the equivalent of an after dinner mint. His best bet was to utilize his small size and hope he could avoid detection.
He waited anxiously to see if his attempt to hide was successful. He was never very good at being patient and this whole tactic of hiding was not natural for him. The sound of the flapping wings mixed with the sounds of the resulting turmoil in the streets still hung heavy in the air when all at once, the car jounced on its shock absorbers. A huge weight had landed on top of the car. Pressing his lips together to squelch any sound, Spike retreated even further under the dash by pressing his back hard against the stiff carpeted flooring. The car bounced again as the sound of ripping metal just over him cut through the interior of the police car. The car rocked recklessly as the jacket in front of him fell from one of his hands as he tried to steady himself. He saw a large oversized rawboned claw wrapped around a bunched corner of the car's roof. It was pulling the roof off the car to get to him! He was trapped. He looked desperately at the door but he knew that he would not be able to evade the creature, even if he somehow miraculously managed to open the door and escape the vehicle. He could see the street line beaming down bright artificial light into the car as the opening in the roof was slowly getting larger. It would be just a moment before the creature would be able to peer in and pull him out of there like a pimento from an olive.
…
Gunn's car sped down the street as the winged creatures attacked it. Gunn spun the wheel as he sped around each scaled monstrosity that would land a few feet in front of the car on the street. The car leaned violently as the tires pulled the vehicle in a serpentine pattern down the street. Suddenly, a creature landed on the hood of the car. Wes leaned out of a back driver's side window and shot at the creature that screamed as the gunshot pierced its shoulder and leapt off the car. In the meantime, Angel was leaning out of the window on the passenger side as he tried to pull another creature from the roof of the car. Fred was huddled toward the center of the front seat away from the windows where the men were battling the creatures. All at once, another monster landed on the car's hood and thrust its fist into the windshield, showering Fred with bits of broken glass. Gunn pulled the car up short so it spun into a stop and stomped on the brakes. As the car spun, it flung both of the two creatures off into the street.
"Is everyone alright?" Angel asked as he pulled his upper body inside the car.
Wes nodded in the affirmative as he checked the bullets in his gun. Gunn let out a deep breath as he looked back at Angel.
"Whew! And I thought tonight was going to be boring." He smiled back at his boss. He turned back to the wheel, looking over at Fred.
In the meantime, Fred had pulled the scarf from around her neck and was busily wrapping it around her bloodied hand.
"Fred?" Angel leaned over to check on the pretty scientist since he had not heard anything from her.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just a small cut." Fred stated as she made light of the injury as the blood had already made a small inch size stain on the silk. With a determined air, she commanded as she pointed down the street, "We gotta get to Spike before these monsters do. Come on, let's get going!"
…
Horrified, Spike stared up at the roof, waiting for the creature to reach in and put an end to this situation. He clutched the massive vessel with his small arms and legs as he waited for the inevitable outcome to occur. The sound of upholstery fabric ripping, bolts being forcefully popped from their home and the shriek of the metal screeched as it bunched was unnerving as the hole became larger. In the next instant, he could see the top of the winged creature's head through the hole. It moved slightly to peer inside and Spike could feel the two large golden eyes fix on him. The monster did not move, but simply seemed to study him from its place on the car's roof. Spike imagined that he would soon be whipped him out of the car to be eaten in one large gulp or have his brains bashed out against a nearby building for being an inadequate mouthful. Despite his inner bravado, Spike allowed a small sound of terror issue from his lips as the creature stared at him.
In the next instance, a fierce growl cut through the air followed quickly by a whooshing sound. A blur appeared across the top of the car and Spike saw that the creature had disappeared from the roof. The bricks of the building beyond the car seemed to shatter as dust and debris flew back showering the side of the police car. Spike climbed up on the seat and clambered over to the window to what had happened. There was Angel in full game face as he struggled with the large winged creature. The two supernatural beings were battling each other as ferocious growls and screams filled the air around them. They each tore at their opponent with a savagery that was shocking. Although, the creature was well over seven feet tall and towered over the vampire, Angel's skill in fighting seemed an even match.
…
"Gunn! Stop the car!" Angel commanded as his eyes locked on a particular police car that had one of those winged monsters pulling back the roof.
Before the car had even stopped sliding from Gunn's hard application of the brakes, Angel had thrown open the door of the car and flown at the creature in full game face. He tackled the creature so hard that the two of them crashed into the brick building beyond the car. The two beings were casting huge blows between each other.
Wes and Gunn grabbed their weapons and exited the car to back up Angel. Fred sat in the car, looking out as the men began to battle other creatures that began to appear in the area.
Slamming the monster against the wall of the building once more, Angel called out over his shoulder to his team. "Spike's in the car. Get him out of there. Quick!"
Hearing those words and seeing the other members of the team involved with their own battles, Fred hurriedly opened her own car door and ran to the police car.
…
Spike knew he could not wait for the outcome of this fight. He had to get that damnable vessel socked away where it could do no harm to anyone. He knew that there were plenty more of those winged monsters overhead and he would be easy pickings if he left the car. He sat down on his bottom on the seat and looked up at the hole in the roof. It was a matter of time before another creature was going to open this car like a tin of sardines. He had to get out of there and fast. In the next moment, his eyes just happened to land on the keys that were still in the ignition on the steering column. He flung his body recklessly over to the steering wheel. He grasped it between his two hands and realized that his legs were about two feet too short to reach the pedals. How would he be able to drive the car, if he couldn't press on the gas, he pondered. To his alarm, he heard the shrieks of more creatures coming closer from overhead. Quickly in a move borne of desperation, he lay down on the seat and wrestled the large urn over the radio and computer console. He placed it on the floor underneath the steering column and rolled it with his feet toward the accelerator. Keeping it in place with his feet, he turned the key in the ignition and the car's engine leapt to life with the surge of gas being injected into it.
Balancing on the edge of the seat, and putting the car into drive was a little daunting, but biting his lip as he concentrated on pulling the lever until the indicator landed on 'D'. Spike felt the car surge forward as soon as the car went into gear.
…
Fred hurriedly navigated through the debris and fighting to make it over to the police car, just as the engine had started up. She grabbed the handle of the car's door and pulled. She could see the blond head of the child sitting behind the steering wheel.
She cried out "Spike! Spike! It's us!"
She had just managed to open the door a few inches and reach toward her friend when the car suddenly lurched forward, causing the door to slam shut. Fred was able to luckily pull her hand back before it closed on it. However, the scarf that she had wound around the cut on her hand was caught in the police car's door as it careened wildly down the street.
…..
From his new height, Spike could not see that well from his position behind the wheel. In fact, he could only see the tops of the cars a few feet of ahead of the police car. The police car lurched forward and soon scraped the side of a parked car a hundred feet ahead. Spike turned the wheel to veer away, but soon felt the car impact another car on the opposite side of the street. Hearing the scrape of metal against metal, Spike wrinkled his face and once again spun the wheel in the opposite direction.
"Oh well, they can take it up with the city." Spike muttered as the large steering wheel seemed more like a ship's wheel spinning in his hands.
Somehow, with the drive by touch method, Spike began to drive crazily down the street away from the creatures, Mamushka, Shirley, and Angel and his team. He was determined to take care of this silly supernatural ashtray once and for all and he knew just where he had to go.