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The man staggered into the restaurant, stopping before the counter

"Water. Give us water," he demanded

"Uh, yeah, sure," the clerk said hesitantly

The man headed to the fridge and started chugging the water bottles

"Hey, you gotta pay for those," the clerk cried

The man grabbed him and tossed him aside with ease. People started screaming and running, as the man drank all the water bottles, before attacking the juice bottles next, his veins standing out thickly against his pale grey skin as he continued to drink

††††††††††

Angel and Gunn returned back to the hotel, having taken care of a vampire nest downtown. However, when they arrived back, they found a man in the office, drinking from the water cooler

"Can we help you?" Gunn asked, trying to hide his axe

The man stopped drinking and faced the men, causing them to jump in surprise at his appearance. Then, a look of anger overcame the man when he saw Angel

"You! This is all your fault!"

"Okay, first off, who are you and what did I do to you?" Angel asked

"You and your spell!"

Suddenly, the man toppled over, collapsing into shattered clay upon hitting the ground, leaving his clothes intact, just as Cordelia and Fred arrived, having gone out for a bit of shopping, Ashleigh supported in Cordelia's arms

"What's going on here?" the seer asked

"Fred, can you take an analysis of this guy, please?" Angel asked

"Sure thing, Angel"

Fred grabbed a few things from the office and took a sample of the clay, as Gunn rifled through the clothes, grabbing a wallet, as something moved inside the clothes. Gunn jumped back in shock when something scuttled out from the clothes

"What the hell is that?" Cordelia cried, keeping her distance

Gunn tried to stomp on the creature, but it was too fast for him, running up the wall. However, Angel removed a dagger from the weapons cabinet and hurled it through the air, pinning the demon to the wall. It struggled weakly, then fell still. Angel removed the dagger, the demon still pinned to the blade

"What is that thing?" Gunn asked, "It was like a rat"

"Fred, I'm gonna need you to check this thing out," Angel said

He handed the dagger to Fred, before heading into his office and grabbing one of the demonology books, seating himself at the desk and starting to read

"So, what's the new word on the street?" Lorne asked, arriving at the hotel

"Research on some new demon," Cordelia replied, bobbing Ashleigh on her knee, "It was inside a guy and turned him into clay"

"Via dehydration," Fred said, "The slugs suck all the moisture out of the humans"

"Well, isn't that a pleasant thing?" Lorne asked

Suddenly, a dagger flew through the air, stabbing into another slug demon. Cordelia screamed in shock, as Angel removed the dagger, watching as the slug died

"Okay, they're coming from somewhere"

"I'll get onto it," Fred said

She started going through the demonology books, as Angel and Gunn went through their weapons, cleaning and preparing them. Gunn grabbed a crossbow and loaded it, before shooting a slug crawling up the wall behind Cordelia

"Oh crap, we're under attack by slugs," she cried, "Couldn't it have been anything worse than slugs?"

"Wherever they're coming from, it's inside the hotel," Angel said, "Quick, lock all the doors and windows. We can't let any of them escape"

"You're gonna trap us in here with them?" Lorne asked, "Did I tell you that I just don't look good with clay skin?"

Angel ignored him as he and Gunn closed and locked all the doors, then started handing out weapons, taking a broadsword for himself and giving a smaller one to Cordelia so she could wield it with Ashleigh on her other arm

"Fred, you're gonna stay in here and research these things," Angel said, giving her a small axe, "Find out how we can get rid of them"

"So what will the rest of us Magnificent Four will do?" Lorne asked

"Find where the rest of these things are coming from," Angel replied

Fred remained locked in the office, the axe by her side as she poured through the demonology books, trying to find the slugs, while the rest of the group were moving throughout the hotel, trying to find where the slugs were coming from

"God, I've never realized just how big this place was," Cordelia said, "Look at all these rooms we've never known about"

"Well, we had our rooms and so forth and I just never really bothered looking around," Angel said, "Everything was where I needed it really"

"Maybe we should open it up as a proper hotel?"

"Sounds like an idea. Maybe when the whole Shanshu thing is done"

Meanwhile, Fred was so busy researching that she didn't notice the slug crawling up the wall behind her. She felt something was wrong and turned around, just as the slug lunged at her. She opened her mouth to scream, which was a bad idea. She didn't get the scream out in time, as the slug buried inside; slipping down her throat and taking hold her body. So when the gang came back downstairs to check up on her, they found her at the water cooler, thirstily drinking the water

"Oh no, Fred, not you too," Gunn bemoaned

"Thirsty…so thirsty," Fred groaned, cracks starting to appear

"Okay, we gotta figure a way to get that thing out of her," Angel said

Fred grabbed a bottle of water, but Angel snatched it from her, holding it away as he pinned her to the wall with his other hand

"What are you doing here?"

"We came here to escape our realm," Fred replied, "We're so terribly thirsty. It's all because of you. You're the reason we're here"

"Where are you from and what are you fleeing?" Cordelia asked

"Our realm doesn't have a name. And we're fleeing a creature of great power, full of rage, hatred and destruction"

"Does this thing have a name and will it be coming to our world?" Angel asked

"It will come here and destroy your world, then it'll move onto the next world"

"The name?"

"The Destroyer"

"Well, that sounds cheery," Gunn muttered

Just then, the lights went out. Angel grabbed a few flashlights and handed them out, before heading back upstairs, followed by the others. Lorne had one arm around Fred's shoulders, as she continued drinking the water, while Gunn hung back, before slipping out the hotel and heading off into the night. The group were on the fourth floor, when Angel stopped by a room, listening intently. He opened the door, entering what appeared to be a large dining room or sometimes ballroom

"Hey, I can put Caritas here," Lorne grinned, looking around, then stopped short at the looks Angel and Cordelia were giving him, "Or not"

"Wait a minute, where's Gunn?" Cordelia asked

"We've got other problems," Angel said

He smashed his sword into the floorboards and kept breaking them apart

"Holy crap," Cordelia said, "I had no idea we had a pool"

"Not much for swimming in right now," Lorne noted

The pool was full of the slugs, all of them glowing luminously

"Well, aren't they pretty little things?" Cordelia said

"Why are they twitching like that?" Lorne asked

"I don't think they like to be disturbed," Angel replied, raising his sword

††††††††††

Wesley opened the front door, surprised to see Gunn before him

"I need your help"

Wesley scoffed at him and went to close the door, but Gunn stopped him

"Listen, Wesley, I need help. Fred's in danger"

"You know, when I laid there, my throat cut open and dying, all I could think about was my friends," Wesley said rasply, "And how I wanted to see them again, so I could explain why I did what I did"

"Fred's in danger. She's gonna die. It's these slug things. They get inside you and suck all your moisture out and you keep drinking until you die"

Wesley paused for a moment, then tossed Gunn a bottle of alcohol

"I'm doing this for Fred only. Don't come back here again"

And with that, he closed the door upon Gunn

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