Chapter 8

The mystics were sitting around trying to figure out how to get out of town before their numbers dwindled any farther. Four of their original number were dust. Two were now sporting fangs. A number of extremely unwholesome types with fangs and bad attitudes had joined the mystics at the command of their possessed leader. Of the original twelve, only six were left and they were feeling that their days were numbered, no matter what happened.

George Giancomo Felton had been babbling off and on about some sort of contest. The prize, as they were beginning to understand, was pretty intense. To lose would also be intense. He kept muttering something about the mines of OutWorld. He looked up as one of his new recruits walked in.

Even among the vampires, Reno was impressive. He was tall, well muscled and good looking, in an aggressively unshaven manner. He looked around the room as though he owned it. He nodded to Felton and walked across the room to him.

"You wanted to see me?"

Felton smiled and placed a hand on Reno's shoulder. Without seeming to exert any force at all, he took the man to his knees before him. "Yes. I wanted to see you."

There was no fear in Reno's eyes as he looked up at the demon. Curiosity, yes. Fear, no. Death had ceased to hold any fear for him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Win."

Reno smiled. It was not a nice smile, although it didn't seem to have nearly as many teeth as Felton's did. He nodded. "Win," he repeated.

Felton released him. He stood up and looked around at the mystics. Felton shook his head. These were the strongest of the group. For now, he needed their powers. "Your opponents are coming. Fight them well. The entire world is ours for the taking."

Reno smiled more broadly. As far as he could tell, the world was already his for the taking, but it couldn't hurt to hedge his bets. He went outside to wait.

Rayden also felt drawn. He took the lead over the two slayers as they moved toward the area where Felton wanted the showdown to happen. Rayden could feel the build up of energy he had felt before. Momentous things were in the wind. Then he realized that this was the arena for conquest. The EarthRealm was in jeopardy. He stopped so suddenly at this realization that Buffy and Faith both ran into him.

"Lights - signals - something," Buffy chided. "Hello? Any one home?"

The look was one which had thrown fear into any number of people through Rayden's life. Lightning played in his eyes. Storm clouds began gathering overhead. Siro looked around for cover.

"This is no laughing matter." Rayden's voice seemed to have deepened and developed one of those ominous echo effects.

Buffy took a deep breath and released it. "No. It's not. But neither is my every day life. I laugh, or I cry, or I don't get my job done. I am *not* good at this lock-it-up thing. OK? Besides. From the back, I couldn't tell. Now. Where do we go? Who do I slay?"

"*We* slay," Faith chimed in.

Rayden looked from the girls to Siro and back. These were children. He needed trained fighters. He needed Kung Lao. But Kung Lao was somewhere, somewhen else. He inventoried his people. Siro, hot headed, impetuous, but well honed in the arts. Buffy, young, untried (in his eyes), survivor, slayer. Faith, hot headed - well, a female version of Siro with less training. Of the others, Cheri and Tanya - immortals, but fighters? Giles, Willow, Cordelia - non combatants. Xander? Oz? He knew nothing of them. They were in trouble.

When were they not in trouble, as the Slayer had pointed out. He nodded and continued on. Buffy and Faith exchanged "what the?" looks. Siro stopped holding up a building by leaning on it and followed Rayden. A fight. This he understood.

Giles tried to send the slayerettes home. Cordelia thought this a good idea. Xander, Oz and Willow looked mulish. The slayer might need them. To do what, they had no idea, but if they could slay (in a pinch), then they could at least lend their support to the Slayer in this endeavor - whatever it was. Somehow, none of them really believed that the fate of the world was going to rest on some silly fight being won or lost. It just didn't make sense considering how complex the previous world threats had been.

Cheri and Tanya could have enlightened the slayerette crew, but they weren't there. They were arguing about whether Angel could fly or not.

"Ladies." They both looked at him. "I can't fly."

"Why not?" Cheri demanded. "I mean, what's the point if you don't get some good out of it?"

"I don't think *good* was what the demon had in mind."

"Oh. Right. Demon. I keep forgetting about that. I mean, it is so *weird*."

"Weird? Why?"

"Huh? Well - Look, once upon a time I ran into a number of vamps who - well, they were a little more traditionally vampy - " She realized she had lost the poor man. "Ok. They could fly. They don't get the yucky forehead malformation." Angel shifted into vampire. "Yeah. That." He shifted back. "And they can fly - or levitate rapidly - or something. Anyway, it acts like flying."

"They're not demons?" Angel said wonderingly.

"Nope. Demonic, some of them. But not actually possessed. It's kinda like - "

"Boring." Tanya stopped the car. "Quit discussing foolish distinctions and tell me which way to the problem. I want to kill something. Now." There was a dangerous edge to her voice, a dangerous gleam in her eyes and neither of the others felt like disputing with her.

Angel closed his eyes and tried to find Buffy. There. He pointed. The car took off again.

It was Willow, ably navigating for Oz, who spotted the motorcycle. The distinctive flame motif on the gas tank was what caught her eye.

"Oh! Look! It's the Harley."

Oz eyed her narrowly. Was it just the Harley, or was the rider attractive to his red haired witchy girl? After all, there had been the unrevealed Xander attraction, which seemed to have died out completely after one illicit kiss. Come to think of it, Oz wasn't certain he felt the kiss was all that illicit, these days. On the other hand, Cordelia was sitting in the back of the van ignoring Xander and Giles while still complaining about coming along at all. Oz was beginning to think the complaints were a smoke screen for a somewhat lonely, if fashion conscious, existence. Hadn't the SAT scores proved Cordelia was far more than the vapid face she turned toward the outside world? Deep thinking Oz was tempted to contemplate the possibilities - but not right now.

Something hit the top of the van hard. Oz hit the brakes. Whatever it was slid across the roof to end up hanging upside down over the windshield. Hair. Glowing eyes. Fangs. Vampire! Cordelia shrieked. Willow pulled back. Reno's eyes found hers and he smiled. Well, well, well. The little Harley lover. Couldn't he just make love to her. Yeah. He just might not break her neck. The guy at the wheel, on the other hand.

Oz shifted into reverse and did a quick serpentine maneuver back the way he had come. Reno fell off the van. Oz shifted back into first gear and headed for the fallen vampire. Not quite fast enough. Oh, well. They were - going to run into that little red sports car! Willow shrieked. Xander yelled. Giles looked like he could use some peace and quiet just before he hit the floor. Cordelia looked exasperated and long suffering. Oz hit the brakes and prayed.

Tanya hit the brakes, and, with far less tonnage to stop, refrained from parking her car under or into the van. No one had reminded her of the hazards of driving in a town with vampires with the top down on her car.

Reno appeared by driver's door, reached in and pulled Tanya out of the car. He wasn't quite prepared for the fight she put up once she was out of the vehicle. He dropped her, reeling from the flurry of punches she was raining on him. He shook his head and waded in again.

Angel launched at the other vampire from the back seat while Cheri decided she might want to make certain the slayerettes and Watcher were all right. Angel had time and experience on his side. Unfortunately, Reno had training in both the modern military and police on his side. Angel went down, unconscious. Tanya, not as fascinated by this entire fight-the-vamps thing as her companions, slipped into the shadows and bided her time.

When the fight erupted, the slayerettes, contrary to logic and Cordelia's arguments, piled out of the van and into the street. It isn't often a 250 year oldish vampire and a brand new vampire tangle. (As Reno hadn't been a vampire that afternoon, the math was simple) They were inclined to pile right back in as Reno downed Angel and headed for them.

He blew past Cheri and grabbed Willow over the objections of her companions. He caught her eyes and held her gaze. Like a rabbit caught in headlights, the doe eyed girl froze. Her heart was pounding like a triphammer. Her brain was trying vainly to think of something to say, other than "put me down" which didn't look to be too effective just at the moment. She chided herself mentally for getting out of the van without a stake. Not that the stake would have done much good with her arms pinned to her sides the way they were. She saw his smile. His eyes flickered from the warm hazely blue to glowing. His fangs distended. That was *not* a nice smile.

Lightning slammed into the wall next to them. Reno turned his head just far enough to look at Rayden from the corner of his eye. He laughed. "Looks like the fight's about to start," he commented. "Drinks first."

Blood. He could smell blood. The deep rich scent overpowered the smell of the girl, her fear, her innocence. Siro, Buffy and Giles were all staring at Cheri dumbfounded. She had found a jagged piece of metal and slashed her arm open. Blood flowed copiously from the self inflicted wound. What the hell was she doing?

"Reno!" Her voice was a whip crack in the sudden silence.

His head snapped around. He loosed his grip on the girl, dropping her to the ground and went for Cheri. Faith, ever ready, tried to catch him as he moved across the open area. He back handed her, almost carelessly, away. He grabbed the open wound and buried his face against Cheri's arm. Faith had recovered and Buffy joined her in heading, stake in hand, for Reno's defenseless back. Cheri moved between them. Her eyes dared them to try to move or go through her, a challenge Faith might have accepted had Buffy not laid a hand on her arm. Buffy was remembering what Cheri's blood had done for Siro. But Siro hadn't been a vampire.

"4, 3, 2, 1," Cheri counted down quietly. "Let go. That's enough." She got a good grip on Reno's hair and yanked his head back. Instinctively, he opened his mouth, releasing her arm. She let go and stepped back from him, her gaze fixed on him. Buffy could feel the tension in her even at a distance.

Reno growled and started for her. Then his face changed. He looked puzzled. He frowned. A flash of pain crossed his face. "What have you done to me?" he demanded in a snarl. He dropped to the pavement, curling in on himself in pain. Agony shot through his body, starting in his chest and radiating out through every vein and artery. He screamed and writhed, trying to curl into the tiniest ball he could before he finally gave up and passed out.

Faith stepped forward to give the coup de grace only to be stopped by Cheri. A single shake of her head. Faith frowned.

"What is with you people. He's a vampire. Dust him."

"He's not exactly the same vamp he was five minutes ago. And I'll take care of him."

"Right. And lover boy's waking up. What a great slayage evening."

Which was when Fenton and the rest of the vampires erupted.

"Oh, look. Trouble. Never a dull moment," Buffy quipped and quickly took a defensive stance. There had to be a couple of dozen vampires crawling out of the woodwork. How were she and Faith going to kill vamps and protect slayerettes with this many of them?

"Got a spare stake?" a faintly Russian lilted voice inquired. Tanya tossed the cigarette she was idly smoking onto the concrete and crushed it out. Buffy tossed her a stake. She might have been a vamp once herself, but Buffy had a liking for the tawny haired woman.

Cordelia, realizing that a real fight was eminent, started passing slayer equipment to the slayerettes outside the van. Siro and Rayden fell into fighting stance and proceeded to give the vampires attacking them all the trouble they could handle.

Buffy and Faith soon found that Tanya was extremely adept at killing, even if it was with an unfamiliar tool.

Between the two of them bouncing and flipping and staking, Tanya's competent if quieter style of killing and the distractions to the vampire's provided by two major martial artists of the old school and the slayerettes and Giles, there were soon only two vampires and Fenton left facing the Slayers and their companions. Fenton growled at the two girls and fled the body he had borrowed just as Faith and Tanya caught it in a double stake vise. Dust. The other two decided discretion was the better part of valor and ran.

Buffy, somewhat winded by all this exercise, leaned on Oz's van and gave the age old statement: "We won," she panted. "I think."

Angel groaned and sat up. Cheri, now that the fight was over, slid down the wall to sit beside the completely limp Reno Raines. Giles walked over and squatted down next to her, his eyes catching hers.

He reached for the arm she was cradling. She'd spent the fight holding the wound closed as best she could. It wasn't bleeding as profusely as it had at first, but she was still steadily losing blood. He pulled out his handkerchief, folded it precisely and began to wrap it around her arm. He got a warm smile for his efforts and a slight shake of the head. He frowned.

"You're dying."

"Yeah. It happens."

"I thought -"

"I am. It's - awkward," she said softly. She sounded tired. Her eyes went to Reno and back up to Giles. "Duct tape his wrists and ankles. Wrap him in a blanket and stick him someplace dark. It's gonna be a while before he's up and about again, and it's gonna take some care to get him through the next set of adjustments."

"Soul?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Never having had one, I dunno. But I can guarantee he'll handle it much better once he gets used to it."

"And if he doesn't."

"He'll have used up - all - his - chances -" Her voice got lower and slower until she leaned into Giles with a sigh and went limp.

He checked her pulse. None. Heartbeat. None. Respiration. Nothing. He felt an incredible surge of anger. A shadow fell across the two of them. He looked up into Tanya's face, his own very grim. She grimaced and shrugged her shoulders.

"Load her in the back seat." She looked at Reno. "Load them both in the back seat. I will take care of it."

"You wanted her dead," he started.

She was down beside him, her face within centimeters of his own. Her eyes sparkled with anger. "Yes," she spat. "I want to *kill* her. I want her dead. But it is not going to happen. This -" She lifted Cheri's head with one hand and let it drop again. "This is temporary. This is *nothing*. This is a nap after play time. Two, three hours. It will be as though nothing has happened. No scar, nothing. Me, I know. Put her in the car."

She stood up as abruptly as she had faced him. "You." she called Angel's attention away from Buffy. "You put him in the car. You have a place that can accommodate us?"

Angel hesitated, looking at Giles who ignored him. He nodded. "It's not -"

"It will be better than his full living room. Come on."

If Buffy was disappointed at Tanya's commandeering of Angel, she didn't show it. She was too busy making certain her friends were all right, including Cordelia who was annoyed because she put a pull in her jeans.