"Alright", Pat muttered half an hour later, standing in front of Willy's with Willow by her side, having one last smoke before they'd enter, "things will probably get ugly in there, neither one of us has many fans in the supernatural population. You got the Staff ready?"
"Yes", Willow confirmed, already having unwrapped enough of the leather to make gripping said Staff possible within the blink of an eye, "let's hope it will work again in case they attack us. Shouldn't we wait for Buffy? She said she'd be here as fast as possible."
"Not enough time, if that guy is waiting for the burglar he sent", Pat pointed out, "and about the Staff, if not, you can blast them all away with your magic, just make sure you don't hit me."
"I'll give my best", Willow reassured her, having to admit that she was right about waiting for Buffy, "and you, in case you have to flame up or demon out, try not to set the whole place on fire."
"I can't guarantee that", the taller woman smirked, then all humour vanished from her face as she put on what Willow secretly referred to as her "assassin face"; she took another look at her partner, who just nodded at the unasked question, and then strode forward, pushing the door open with enough force to make it hit the wall and to make everyone notice them, her heavy boots thumping on the wooden floor as she approached the bar, with the witch right behind her, the redhead giving her best to look just as fierce and menacing as her partner.
"Oh no", Willy groaned as he immediately recognized both of them, even though it had been quite some time since they had been in his bar; and all around, they could feel the other patrons, an assorted mix of demons and vampires, tense up as they figured out who those two were, as well.
"What do you want here?!" Willy cried out as they reached the bar, pointedly ignoring the other guests, "every time you come here, I get beaten up and my place gets thrashed! Get out!"
"Shut up", Pat coldly gave back, and there was enough menace in her voice to make him do just that, even prompting him to move back as far as he could, his back bumping against the shelf behind him after just two steps.
"We're not interested in you, or your place", the demon went on, finally acknowledging the rest of the patrons as she turned to look at them, her gaze moving over them, clearly unfazed by the hostility she could see in their eyes.
"What we are interested in", she continued after a well calculated, short pause, "is the guy who hired a random burglar to break into our home. Any volunteers?"
"You have a lot of guts, coming here", a random vampire snarled in response, glaring at the couple as if he wanted to jump them and drain them dry, "after all you did to the likes of us."
"I don't recall asking you for your opinion", Pat snarled in response, giving him a glare which far outmatched his own, "but if you're eager on having your ass kicked, be my guest."
It didn't surprise her that he remained where he was, only shifting on his chair slightly and looking at the others in the bar; when no one made a move to attack them though, he just growled under his breath, then focused on his drink again, pretending not to see the smirk on the black haired woman's face.
"I think you are looking for me", a voice from the far back of the bar broke the silence which briefly had formed, prompting both Willow and Pat to look at the owner of said voice; the moment he felt their gazes on him, he rose from his seat with a dramatic flourish, causing his black robe to billow around him, the bright red of his eyes being the only thing visible of his face as he focused on them.
"It is a pity that the man I hired couldn't fulfil his mission", he went on, making the demon snort, "did you kill him?"
"No", Willow was the one to answer this time, giving her best to ignore the tension she could feel building up in the air around them, knowing that the tiniest spark might turn the patrons into a raging mob out for their blood, "but we made sure he knows nothing of this any longer."
"Of course", the man gave back, a hint of mocking in his voice, "I forgot, you're the good guys. You don't kill any innocents. And you have no idea about the power of the artefact you're holding in your hands, witch."
"No matter how powerful it is", Willow gave back bravely, holding his glowing gaze, "we won't let it fall into your hands. I've seen what it can do."
"You've seen a tiny sliver of the Staff's strength", the man admonished, the arrogance in his voice clearly annoying Pat, "it is more powerful than you ever could imagine. And now we'll take it back."
And the second he had said the last word, Willy vanished behind the bar, getting himself out of the immediate danger zone while each and every other patron in the bar got up from their seat, with startling simultaneously; snarling, Pat brought up her fists at the sight, flames immediately bursting from her skin while Willow let the leather fall away and her fingers closed around the Staff, familiar strength surging through her as it lengthened in reaction to her touch.
"Bring it on", the taller woman still had time to snarl, and then the demons and vampires were surging forward and she moved to meet them, her fist catching the first vampire to reach her at the jaw and sending him back, stumbling against another one; they went down in a tumble of arms and legs and fists, growls and snarls coming from them as they tried to untangle themselves from each other.
Ignoring them from the second on they had gone down, Pat was already focusing on the next opponent, blocking his punch by catching his fist and then jerking him closer and headbutting him, sending him to the ground; and next to her, Willow was making good use of the Staff, by now well aware of how it helped her fight, just letting it take over and fight the way it wanted to, the hardened wood dealing out punishment left and right, whenever a demon or vampire was making the mistake of getting too close.
"The Staff!" the robed man roared, raising his voice over the din of the fight, "take the Staff!"
"Yes", Willow agreed amiably as one of the demons tried to do just that, only to end up receiving a series of hard hits to various parts of his anatomy and went down, "come and get some."
"Enjoying yourself?" Pat asked, amused, while she easily dodged another hit and retaliated with a low sweeping kick, sending the assailant to the ground; smirking at her, Willow nodded, then focused on their attackers again as one of them let out a tremendous roar while he heaved up a table and threw it at them – and the Staff shot up and somehow, despite lacking an edge sharp enough, sliced the table in two, the pieces falling to the ground left and right of the witch, not even getting close to touching her or her partner.
"That's new", the black haired woman commented, almost casually kicking the nearest bar stool and sending it sliding across the floor until it collided with the legs of yet another demon and made him fall, "didn't know it also works as a sword."
"Apparently it only does so when necessary", Willow gave back, as the Staff was taking down yet another vampire, the blows not leaving the cuts a blade would have left though, "interesting."
"You fools!" the robed man interrupted before the taller woman could reply to that, "there are so many of you and just two of them! Finish them!"
"How about you try to help?" one of the vampires protested, wiping blood from his mouth and grimacing in pain, "have you seen them fight?! They're impossible to take down!"
As if to confirm his words, Pat chose that moment to grab two advancing demons and smash their heads together, making them both fall down, dazed; she smirked at the robed man, and that was when the click came from behind her and cold steel touched her ear, Willy's voice surprisingly firm when he spoke up.
"Drop the Staff, witch", he ordered, his gaze flickering back and forth between the black haired woman he now held at gunpoint and said witch, "or I'll blow her head off. I don't think she'll heal that."
"Finally someone in here who's sensible", the robed man stated, the demons and vampires stepping back as he approached the couple, the taller woman standing stiff as the gun was still pressed against her head; next to her, Willow glared at Willy, but didn't dare to move, not wanting to imagine what would happen if he'd pull the trigger of the shotgun he was aiming at her partner.
"Give me the Staff", the robed man ordered, reaching out; and that was when, with a tremendous loud bang, the Staff shot a brightly glowing ball of energy at him, hitting him right in the chest and sending him back with a startled, pained cry, blue sparks running up and down his robe and causing his body to convulse as he hit the ground.
Behind her, Willow heard Willy gasp, but before he could do more than that, the Staff was already moving again, swinging sideways and upwards – and slicing through the barrel of his gun, the steel clattering to the ground harmlessly while Pat was already dropping down to the ground, just in case he'd pull the trigger and the weapon might still work anyway.
"My gun!" Willy cried out, of all things, "you ruined my gun!"
Not even dignifying that with an answer, the redhead whacked him hard on the head with the Staff, and he went down without another word; and that was when the door opened and Buffy entered, stopping dead in her tracks as she saw the carnage which had been inflicted on the bar and its patrons, shaking her head after just staring in silence for a few moments.
"Aw", she then let out, moving over to where Willow was still standing and Pat was coming to her feet again, the demons and vampires making sure to stay out of her way as they eyed her warily, "I missed all the fun, didn't I?"
"I suppose to", Pat nodded, finding her cigarettes and lighting one of them up, "unless you guys aren't done yet?"
She smiled cheerfully at the still standing vampires and demons, and their response was immediate – they all turned and rushed for the door, nearly falling over each other in their despair to get out and away from the three of them.
"You did miss all the fun", Pat confirmed at the sight, prompting Buffy to sigh dramatically – before she gestured at the knocked out robed man and smirked again, asking the couple if this was who she thought it was.
"Let's tie him up", she suggested, a bit too enthusiastic and thus making the couple look at her oddly, "so we can question him when he wakes up."
"I'll find some rope", the demon offered in reply, then wandered off to do just that; and while she looked for something suitable to tie the man up, Willow ran her finger over the Staff, remembering how easily it had cut through the table and the gun barrel, like a warm knife going through butter, asking herself what exactly the gang had gotten their hands on and how powerful this artefact really was.