Legend Killer 9

Many, many thanks to kiss316 for asking questions, pointing out flaws, and in general being awesome.

Warnings: Swearing and violence, implied sexual violence

For the first time since he entered the human world, Husky Harris felt nervous. He had heard from the other Nexus members about what happened at the jail yesterday afternoon. As a result he could not stop looking over his shoulder as he hurried through the streets, even though he wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for. He had no idea what Randy Orton physically looked like and given the guy's well-earned reputation of striking from out of nowhere, Harris wasn't even sure he would see it coming. On top of that, the news of another one of the Saint of Killers' guys (they really needed to come up with a better name for them, he would be sure to ask for suggestions at the next regular Nexus meeting) had been captured, but somehow managed to escape and kill the three newest Nexus members made Husky very nervous. And he didn't like that. Too many times the Saint's men were there, killing off his brothers, stymieing the Nexus's plans. That needed to end, pronto.

Of course Wade had been furious to learn about Tarver, Young and Sheffield. It had taken only a matter of seconds for their number to be reduced by a third. It was Garnet mining town starting all over again. The only saving grace this time was Nexus wasn't hiding in the soft bodies of woman and children. That had been a costly mistake as Randy Orton apparently had no issues with killing either, as it turned out. Barrett vowed he would gut Orton and choke him with his own intestines when they finally captured the man and Harris sincerely wished him luck.

The urge to take out his fear and frustration on passers-by was nearly overwhelming but Wade had strictly forbidden both himself and Michael McGillicutty from drawing attention to themselves. The other members could kill for pleasure if they used caution as they had 'authority', but not a banker and a mayor's aide. They just needed to control themselves for a little while longer, then Wade promised they could go wild. It had been too long since Husky had feasted on the flesh of an innocent.

Harris knew he was late to his duty as the mayor's aide as he entered the brand new courthouse. The human obsession with time always irritated him. The brick building was nearly completed, only some last finishing touches were required. Like doorknobs. And glass for the windows. Those items needed to be shipped in from out east. The anticipation of Helena becoming the next capital had sparked a fervor of building in the young city. There was talk of plans for a permanent capital building being drafted for the inevitable statehood. The territorial government and all its members would be coming. That meant lots of important humans would be visiting.

And the Nexus would be waiting.

Husky smiled at the thought of the mayor becoming a member of Nexus. It was the only thing preventing him from flaying the man alive. He hated playing subservient to humans, especially that one. There was something not quite right about him, even for a human. In fact if Harris didn't know better he would swear the mayor was some sort of demon but that was impossible. He had no idea what the mayor was and that scared Harris all the more. With Orton and his buddy in the area, he knew the Nexus had to be very cautious. In the meantime he was to keep an eye on the mayor and anyone else who was considered important enough to warrant the Nexus' attention.

As he entered the mayor's office, the man was already there frowning with impatience. "Is something the matter, Harris?" Mayor Shawn Michaels asked, looking up at Husky from his desk with the sparkling blue green eyes and golden hair. He was wearing his usual light jacket. His strange smile always hovering on the edge of his lips made it seem like he was constantly mocking the person he was speaking to. "You seem to be running a bit late." He returned to making notes on some papers on his desk while he waited for Harris' answer.

No shit, you pompous jackass. "Sorry sir. I was just getting information from Michael McGillicutty about the fire at the bank yesterday," Husky replied, trying to not glare at the human and rip its head from its body. His closed his fists behind his back. But Harris would be the first to admit the human was very intelligent and had an almost preternatural charisma. Hence, being the mayor of the next capital of the Montana territory.

"And just what did Mr. McGillicutty have to say?" the mayor asked, not looking up from whatever document he was reading. He didn't see the brief look of fear in his aide's expression when Mayor Michaels asked the question.

He couldn't tell Michaels the truth. "A lantern," Harris replied a bit too forcefully. That made Michaels glance up and Harris calmed himself, and then went on. "The fire was started by a lantern tipping over."

"Hmm" the mayor said. "Seems rather strange he would have a lit lantern in the bank, being that it was broad daylight and all," he observed. Harris sweated a bit more. But Michaels shrugged. "Oh well. What's done is done. That will be all, Mr. Harris." He waited until Harris had turned around and started walking toward the door when he said, "Oh, one last thing Mr. Harris. I heard something about an incident at the jail yesterday. Three people were murdered and a prisoner escaped. Do you happen to know anything about that?"

Harris was now sweating in earnest, despite the cool morning air. "No, Mr. Mayor," he said. The last thing he needed was for Michaels to get involved with anything having to do with Orton and the Nexus.

No longer smiling Michaels stared at him long enough to make Harris squirm. "When you find out something, be sure to let me know immediately. A rumor about torture and executions involving our law enforcement could cause people to not trust the authority and we can't have that, especially with the territorial government on its way. Am I being clear Mr. Harris?" Shawn asked, deadly serious.

"Yes, sir," Husky answered, his teeth clenched tight. He changed the subject. "Do we have a date yet?" He knew Michaels and Judge Hunter were long-time friends and corresponded frequently. Harris suspected it was Michaels who had pulled some strings in getting the government to consider Helena as the next seat of power.

"Not yet. The governor is in Washington DC, but I expect the Judge and his staff will be arriving any day now. You are dismissed Mr. Harris. I will let you know when I require your assistance."

Harris didn't quite run from the mayor's office. Once out of sight, he couldn't hold back the sneer of hatred. He needed to kill something desperately to calm his nerves and he cursed Wade for the hundredth time that morning. There was always the threat of marshals investigating, but Barrett seemed to be more concerned about a detective agency out east called the Pinkertons. Harris was so caught up in his thoughts about the mayor he didn't see the man standing in the lobby at first. He nearly skidded to halt when he saw it was the deputy marshal who had accompanied John Cena, and disappeared with him from the jail.

This was one of the humans Nexus was desperately searching for. Not only had they lost three of their members, two of the Saint's men and Cena had gotten away. Wade just knew Cena's deputy was involved somehow, and berated Otunga and Slater for ignoring the man, never minding that Barrett himself had done the same. If Wade ever got his hands on that kid…well Deputy Rollins' outlook on life would be very different.

And now here he was, in the flesh and within Husky Harris' reach.

"Can I help you?" he asked, trying to project an air of friendliness, but seeing the look of disgust on the deputy's face he knew he wasn't quite succeeding. He just couldn't seem to get the hang of acting like a human.

Deputy Rollins looked around as if to make sure they were alone. He then beckoned Harris over and said in a low voice. "I need to talk to the mayor. It's important."

"The mayor is busy and asked not to be disturbed," Harris replied smoothly. "What is this about?"

The deputy abruptly leaned back and got a funny look on his face, like he smelled something rotten. But he replied to Harris anyway. "It's about the sheriff."

Now it was Harris' turn to look around the room to make sure it was empty. "What about him?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Sheriff Barrett is dirty," Rollins said bluntly. "I caught him and his deputies torturing a prisoner yesterday and then three civilians were killed in the jail. I need to tell the mayor and inform my superiors."

This could get bad. The mayor wasn't under Nexus control, despite Harris' best efforts. And if word of this got out right before the territorial government came into town, the shit would really hit the fan. He could see the governor calling for a full investigation on Barrett and the Nexus deputies. Harris put on an adequately concerned (he hoped) face, his thoughts racing. "The mayor knows about it already but he just told me that he doesn't want anyone, especially the governor to find out. I think he's working with the sheriff." Harris looked around. "Where is Marshal Cena? Why isn't he here?" he asked, stalling.

"He's still investigating a lead about the outlaw Randy Orton. But something's wrong with him too. He's acting strange," Rollins admitted. "Is there a doctor in town?"

"Yes, I'll show you where his office is," Harris offered. The deputy smiled. Perfect. Now all he needed to do was get rid of Rollins and grab Cena. He knew Wade was looking for Cena somewhere up in the mountains, which was odd if Cena was still here in town, but Harris wasn't going to question his luck.

He followed the deputy out the door. When he got the deputy alone, the kid would have a sudden and fatal case of having his face shoved through a brick wall. Nearly salivating at the thought of being able to finally kill something, Harris followed Rollins around to the side of the courthouse towards the back, cutting through the narrow alley in the direction of boarding house. As soon as they were out of sight of the general public, Husky grabbed the deputy by the back of his neck and lifted him up easily. The deputy struggled to get free of his grip, but a mere human could never match a demon's strength. Harris was just starting to leverage himself to slam the kid face first into the side of the brick building when something hit him on the back of his shoulders with the force of a freight train. Harris dropped the deputy who immediately scrambled of the way, looking up at something over Husky's shoulder like he was expecting it.

Like he knew what was happening….

Oh shit.

Husky threw his weight backwards, trying to unbalance to man who had hit him so hard, then spun around, swinging his arm like a sledge hammer. The dark-haired man ducked and took a half a step back, winding up with an uppercut of his own, catching Harris under the jaw. Harris slammed against the brick wall of the courthouse, brand new bricks crumbling around him from the force. He shook his head and stood up, breathing hard. He glared at the human who matched his demon strength. "Orton, I presume?" he growled, eyes turning black. The demon had started overshadowing the human disguise.

"No," the man said and head-butted Harris, his long black hair flying. Harris saw stars and shook his head, fury and fear in his eyes. He kicked the man in the stomach, doubling him over briefly. Harris moved in to take advantage of his opponent's vulnerability but in his haste he had forgotten about the deputy. He remember quickly enough when a large rock slammed into his head, drawing his attention long enough for the long-haired man to recover and drive a heavy boot into Harris' knee. There was a loud snap and an unbalanced Harris was down on the ground. He was on his hands and knee, snarling up at the long-haired man when the man kicked him in the head, once, twice and a third time, breaking his neck. Harris went down, but he wasn't dead. A heavy weight pressed down on his back, holding him still.

"Get the handcuffs on this fucker," he heard the deep voice say. He could feel his arms being forced behind his back and fastened together with steel. He growled and tugged at them. The cuffs bent under the strain but they held. "We damage the body anymore, the demon will break free."

"I don't remember you being so strong," Seth said, breathing hard and rubbing his neck. He figured there would be bruising on it later.

Roman shrugged. "The Saint gives us his strength when he recruits us," he said. "It helps even out the odds when we have to go toe-to-toe with these sons of bitches." Seth remembered how easily Randy had picked up Dean while he had struggled with Roman. Roman glanced over at Seth. "You okay?" he asked.

Seth nodded, but he was sweating a bit. That had been too close. He mentally revised his knowledge of demons from 'very fast' and 'very strong' to 'very, very fast' and 'very, very strong'. "Thanks to you. Let's get out of here before someone sees us," he said and Roman picked up Harris. The demon was stunned but it would recover soon. They needed to get out of sight so they could dispose of it without witnesses.

Neither of them noticed the mayor silently watching everything from an open window above them.

"Think Orton will have any problems?" Roman asked as they left the alley. His horse was tethered nearby and it gave them a sour look as Roman and Seth slung the body of Husky Harris over its back.

"Not unless he deviates from the plan," Seth said. He pulled out a cloth and stuffed it into Harris' mouth. There were people walking by, but when they saw Seth's badge they just assumed Harris had been resisting an officer of the law, just like Seth knew they would. Roman took the reins and led the horse and their prisoner away from the courthouse, with Seth walking beside him. "I can't believe the Saint is going to cut him off."

"I can," Roman said. Seeing Seth look at him, Roman shrugged. "I think the Saint genuinely cares about us even if he's got his own priorities. Of course Orton doesn't see it that way. He doesn't give a shit about anything except for revenge. I don't know the history between those two, but they're both stubborn to the point of being dangerous."

"Not like you and Dean, who are always so reasonable to deal with," Seth said with a touch of sarcasm. "Stubborn seems to be a common denominator with you guys."

Roman snorted but he couldn't disagree. "Let's just get this guy out of here before the rest of Nexus finds us," he said.

Down near the gulch, Michael McGillicutty was still ascertaining the damage to the bank. The bank was closed for time being because the brick building's dry wood furniture and floor had caught fire quickly, causing substantial damage to the interior. Luckily they were able to fill buckets easily from the torrential rain and with the help of Barrett, the deputies and other volunteers they had put out the fire before the bank had sustained too much structural damage. But there was still a large, badly burned area in the middle of the lobby and Barrett had told him that it probably had been Orton who had started it. McGillicutty had to admit that the thought of Orton being so close had him nervous. Barrett had assured him that Otunga would be nearby if he needed help in dealing with Randy Orton when the man showed up again. However Otunga had gone out to check on Harris, leaving McGillicutty alone in the bank. He locked the doors just to be safe.

As he waited for Otunga, McGillicutty was seriously giving thought to pulling in a random passerby for a bit of torture and murder, just to keep himself distracted. The bank's walls were nice and thick, and hid screams of terror and agony nicely. He looked up at the sound of knocking at the door, seeing a silhouette of a person through the barred window. He went over to the thick oak door and saw the sun glinting off a round badge with a star in the center. It was the US Marshal.

He took out his keys and unlocked the heavy locks on the door. Wade had determined Cena would be the key to Nexus' spreading world-wide, but he had disappeared with the Saint's men while Barrett and the others were helping him try to put out the fire and save the bank. McGillicutty smiled as he opened the door and motioned for the Marshal to come on it.

"Marshal," he greeted the man who walked in. The man's sharp blue eyes swept the lobby of the bank, noting the scorched area and black ash. McGillicutty closed the door again, locking it up.

"I take it you work here," the marshal stated, looking at McGillicutty like he was something that needed to be scraped from the bottom of his boots.

Irritated, McGillicutty nodded. "I run the bank. Michael McGillicutty at your service," he said not bothering to disguise his scorn. Stupidly, some humans always thought they were better than others, not realizing they were all on the lower end of the food chain.

The marshal didn't seem to care. "Did you see what happened?" he asked, still looking around.

"No," McGillicutty answered. "All I know was that a fire started in the lobby while I was…elsewhere." Of course he had been at the jail, while Barrett and the others were torturing the Saint's man. He hadn't actually witnessed the interrogation itself or seen Cena, who had been out of sight at the back of the room. McGillicutty had been assigned the lobby to ensuring no one accidentally wandered in. But then that annoying deputy marshal had barged right by with the news that the bank was in fire.

The marshal stalked slowly through the lobby, not turning his back to McGillicutty. "McGillicutty," he said, crouching down to look at the burned area closer. "Are there any other McGillicuttys in the area?" he asked.

"No," McGillicutty said, now getting seriously irritated with the man and his questions. "What is this about?"

"So it was you who was at the jail yesterday when the sheriff was torturing that prisoner? He shouted your name."

Surprised, McGillicutty paused. Barrett had bellowed his name along with Slater and Otunga when he was ordering them to get to the bank. And Cena had heard that. Putting two and two together, McGillicutty dropped the pretense of being human. "Do you have any idea of what you are dealing with, human?" he asked, a sick smile spread across his 'face'.

The marshal stood, up cool as a cucumber with his hand on his gun. "You tell me, McGillicutty. It looks to me like you are working with a dirty sheriff. I'm going to have to bring you in."

McGillicutty pretended to be scared for a second, but he couldn't hold the pretext for very long. He laughed. "Oh marshal, you are a fucking stupid fool to come here, you know that right?" Eyes narrowed in anger, the marshal started to draw his gun, but McGillicutty barked out, "Don't move!"

The marshal froze; hand on the butt of his gun, his eyes wide.

McGillicutty smiled a predator's smile. "Yes, I'm one of them too," he purred, noting the marshal's furious blue eyes were blazing. "Barrett's out looking for you," he said, stepping nearer to the marshal. He could see the man trembling slightly, hating his proximity and helplessness, fighting the influence of the Nexus. "And soon you will be one of us. But first, we'll have some fun." He backhanded the marshal across the face, hard enough to whip his head to the side. His cheek was white for an instant before turning an angry red under his tanned skin. The man took a shaky breath, but couldn't fight what the Nexus had done to him.

"Don't look so mad," McGillicutty chided. "You will eventually be one of us, or at least your body will. But before that, we will do so many things to you." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "We can make you do anything and you will be helpless to stop us."

The marshal looked at him in hatred so intense that McGillicutty felt a small stab of fear. But he shook it off. The marshal was only a human and no threat to him. Just to prove it to himself, he curled his hand into a fist and drove it deep into the marshal's stomach. The man's jaws clenched as he curled forward, arms folding over his abdomen. But the hatred in his pale blue eyes never wavered.

Determined to replace that look with fear, McGillicutty continued. "You're tough, I'll give you that. But you see marshal, you can't defend yourself from us. We will beat you bloody and there is nothing you can do about it. We will sacrifice children in front of you, and they will cry and beg you for help but you won't be able to anything except stand there and watch! And, this is my favorite part, you will service the entire Nexus," he paused, letting the implications sink in. Seeing the man's horror, he laughed. "Oh yes, before you become one of us, you will be with all of us. I imagine some of them would want a go at you at least a couple of times. I know I will." McGillicutty grinned at the marshal's trembling with rage. He was getting through.

A knocking on the door distracted McGillicutty from his tormenting. He sensed a familiar presence outside and smiled at the marshal. "It looks like one of my brothers is joining us. Get ready to, how do the humans say it? 'be ridden hard and put away wet'."

McGillicutty turned to go open the door just as a hand seized his collar from behind and threw him bodily across the room. Stunned, McGillicutty saw the marshal glaring down at him. He was confused at first, then he realized. "You're not Cena," he gasped in terror.

"No shit," the man wearing the marshal's badge growled right before he pulled out the biggest revolver McGillicutty had ever seen and pulled the trigger.

"What the fuck was that?" Seth demanded when Randy let them in. "You were supposed to wait for us so Roman could kill them both at the same time. God dammit!" Seth was furious that Randy had deviated from the plan. With Randy's limited ability to kill demons, Seth had determined that Roman would do the bulk of the killing, leaving Randy to be available if the shit hit the fan.

Randy just glared at Seth, who huffed in aggravation. "Listen, from now on you need to follow the plan, because if you don't, Roman could get hurt and I won't allow that to happen, you hear me?" Behind him, Roman snorted but kept his mouth shut.

"Let's get this over with," Randy snarled, still shaking with rage.

Reigns nodded and pulled out a Colt Walker. Taking a second to aim at the terrified Harris, Reigns pulled the trigger and the Nexus' number was down by two. Randy caught Reigns as he slumped to the ground and carried him over to the other side of the lobby, away from the demons' corpses.

As they waited for Roman to recover, Seth watched Randy pace in agitation around the room. "What happened?" he asked, his earlier anger at Randy faded as he looked closer at Orton.

Randy just shook his head. "Fucker talked too much," he replied.

Seth didn't ask any more about it but he could see the red mark clearly on Randy's cheek. The smell of smoke hung in the air as Randy continued to pace. He kicked McGillicutty's corpse as he walked by. Not satisfied, he kicked it again. And again. He kept kicking it until Seth shouted at him. "Snap out of it, Orton! What the hell is going with you?" He stopped and glared at Seth, breathing hard.

"Feel better?" Seth asked, sarcastically. Randy was starting to concern him with his erratic behavior. "Are you going spare on me Orton? Because if so, I need to know, now," he said, looking out the window. No one even glanced at the closed bank as the townsfolk walked by outside. The attorney-at-law across the street was arriving at his small office. His name was Paul Heyman, according to the sign on his door.

"No," Randy said through gritted teeth, unable to calm down. He could feel himself still shaking. Nearby, the Saint watched, his face impassive. Randy hated him more than ever in that moment. The memories McGillicutty had resurrected had pushed themselves to the front of his mind and he was having a hard time pushing them back. He stopped kicking the corpse, but he still paced in agitation.

Worried, Seth shook his head. "Look, you know we needed a way to get to McGillicutty. Cena was the only human he would let near him. I'm sorry that it sucked, but whatever he said to you, it's just words. You can't let it get to you."

Randy had understood Seth's plan and had agreed to play the part. But he hadn't realized being so near the demon and having to stand still and listen to that crap from McGillicutty would take more self-control than anything he had to deal with.

"Can you tell if there are there any other Nexus in the area?" Seth asked abruptly, trying to get Randy's attention on something else. Whatever had gone on between Orton and McGillicutty was over and he needed Randy to focus. Drawing a deep breath, Randy walked to the window and scanned the area.

"There might be one," he said, frowning. He could feel…something. It didn't feel exactly like the Nexus, but something was definitely out there. "Think you can you lure it in here?"

Seth looked over at Roman who hadn't stirred yet. "Are you able to kill it?" he countered. If the Saint followed through with his threat to cut Randy off now, he didn't want to be trapped in the bank with a demon. Randy could still fight but his ability to kill was now in question.

Randy looked over at the Saint. "Well old man?" The Saint had been with him the entire time, watching silently as Randy stood in front of the demon and played helpless. His presence was the only reason Randy hadn't snapped earlier than he did. "What do you say?"

The Saint of Killers was frowning at Randy and with a shake of his head said, 'Sorry son, but the answer is no. You're cut off.'

TBC