Chapter 8: Avengers vs. Vampires

*******Where We Left Off*******

Buffy grimaced as she saw the vampires moving in. She knew they had to be kept away from the Hulk or Banner would never be able to gain control. She glanced over at Clint and Natasha, who seemed to be faring well against a duo of demons they were battling. It was obvious they were used to fighting together. Clint was amazingly fast with his bow. Buffy found herself almost mesmerized by his hypnotic movements. Then a voice called out, "Buffy!"

Robin was calling her name. She turned and saw him pointing. The human soldiers Fury had brought were dropping like flies. As Buffy expected, they were ill prepared to deal with the supernatural. She knew the vampires would be unable to resist them. She turned to Fury, who was several yards back. "Get your soldiers out of here!" she yelled. Before she could see if he was going to obey, the sky got darker. She knew there was no way to keep the vampires from coming out now.

Tony stood slightly in front of the Hulk and watched in dismay as dozens of more vampires joined the party. It was his first time to see one, and they were much uglier than all those Dracula movies made them out to be. There presence served to enrage his friend, who instinctively moved to protect Tony. He pushed Tony behind him. Tony didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed. He decided it was a good thing that the Hulk knew who his friends were. It made dealing with him easier.

The Hulk looked down at the creatures he'd been battling for the past few days in anger. They never seemed to stop. He hit the ground hard to demonstrate his rage and roared at them. The vampires had learned to avoid him. Instead, they targeted the humans. He watched the blonde who had approached him with Tony as she killed one after another. She turned back to back with the other who'd been a nuisance to him the past few days. However, they fought together, so he didn't interfere. He picked up a vampire in one hand and ripped off its head with the other.

Tony coughed as vampire dust covered him. He looked up at his friend. "Watch it, Big Guy! That's really gross!" he called out. He wondered if the light from his hand would be bright enough to kill a vampire. He experimented, burning a vampire. It didn't kill it, but it hurt the creature. He picked another target and kept doing what he could to stop their advance. He made a mental note to begin working more with ultra violet rays.

Buffy and Faith fought the vampires that kept coming. "Why is there so many?" Buffy asked.

Faith tossed her the scythe. "I have no idea. Things have been so quiet lately that I sent many of the regulars here on some R & R. The rest I sent to Giles, who sent them other places," she said. She staked a vampire as Buffy used the scythe to slice the head off of another.

A demon that hadn't been killed yet attacked Buffy. It was twice the size of her. When she swung her scythe at it, his armored arm came up to knock her weapon away. She almost lost her grip on the scythe but managed to recover. She kicked it and pain shot up her leg. The thing seemed to be made of solid stone. "This guy is a brute!" The demon managed to get a hit in, stunning her a minute. Before she could recover, it knocked her to the ground. Faith reached down to help her. Buffy handed off her scythe and turned to pummel the demon with her fists.

Tony decided to lend Buffy a hand and fired his hand laser at the demon's back. It bellowed in rage and turned to Tony. Before it could get to him, the Hulk used his fist like a hammer and beat the demon over and over. Then he kicked its dead carcass, knocking down slayers and vampires alike with its flying corpse.

"I think it's dead, but thanks for the assist!" Buffy said dryly, smiling up at the giant green Hulk. "He's kind of cute, don't you think, Faith?"

"You really do like darkness in your guys!" Faith exclaimed with a chuckle.

The Hulk decided that he didn't like the irritating biters attacking his new blonde friend and reached down and picked her up from their midst.

"Woe! What are you doing?" Buffy asked on a gasp. It became apparent when the Hulk cradled her protectively in the curve of one of his arms and used his other to smash down the vampires fighting Faith.

"I think you have a new hero, B," Faith said, snickering. Then her attention was turned as Meredith got boxed in by a trio of vamps. She ran toward her.

"Okay, Big Guy, put Buffy down!" Tony shouted up at him.

The Hulk shook his head and turned his back on Tony. He ran off from the fighting with Buffy in his arms.

For the first time in her life, Buffy was truly at a loss. This was not something she expected to happen. It was obvious the Hulk thought he was protecting her. He was determined to take her away from the action. "How do I get myself into these situations?" Buffy asked.

The Hulk gave her a Hulk like smile as he sat her down on the ground. There was no vampires nearby. Buffy could barely see her friends off in the distance. "Listen, I'm a vampire slayer. I fight vampires. It's my job to fight. We have to go back!" she told him. She turned to walk back to the fighting. Hulk roared at her and picked her back up. He gave her a disapproving frown.

Buffy decided she should try to call Dr. Banner for assistance. "Dr. Banner, are you in there?" she asked, looking into the Hulk's eyes. She reached up and grabbed a hold of the Hulk's finger, hoping to sooth him with a touch. He sat her back down on the ground. She kept a hold of his finger. "It's okay, Banner. You can come out now. There's no danger," she coaxed.

Hulk stilled, his anger leaving him at her touch. Buffy's eyes widened as she saw his face flicker and began to change. A bare chested guy around Tony's age was there for a moment. He looked bemused; then he was attacked from behind by a vampire. With a mighty roar, the Hulk was back. Buffy sighed and used the opportunity to run back to the fighting. She knew that her new giant, green friend could easily handle the lone vampire.

Tony had made his way to Fury and Xander. Both men were fighting off vampires. He helped by burning their backsides with his laser.

"You need a stake!" Xander called out as he staked the vampire he was fighting. Then he tossed his stake to Fury, who instinctively caught it. He jabbed the vampire in the chest. When it didn't turn to dust, he frowned in confusion. "The heart! You gotta get the heart!" Xander informed him. Nick pulled out the stake and tried again. This time the vampire turned to dust. He shook his head. He didn't think he'd ever get used to this. However, it probably did make clean up much easier.

"Nick, your guys are getting slaughtered," Tony said. They were a few yards away from the main fighting. "You should take them out of here and let the slayers handle this." He watched the girls as they fought and staked vampires with a practiced ease.

Captain America kept using his shield to behead them, having found that most effective in killing the creatures. Clint's bow was holding strong against them. However, Natasha was finding her knives and guns didn't help defeat the new enemy. Tony knew his friends could adapt, though, to this newest challenge and wasn't too concerned about them.

"Why didn't you arm your people with wooden stakes?" Xander asked with a disapproving frown. "Buffy told you that was her main weapon of choice."

Nick shook his head. "That seemed so preposterous," he admitted. Agent Hill was battling next to a slayer. He watched as the slayer threw his agent a wooden stake. He felt pride as she effortlessly caught and staked the vampire. "But I guess we're going to have to work on a new type of training."

"No, you don't. This isn't your world," Xander said with a frown. "Buffy and Faith will never allow you to interfere here. The last time the military got involved in a hellmouth it was disastrous. A lot of human lives were lost. We have more than enough slayers to handle anything that happens here."

"Well, where are they?" Tony wondered.

"Things have been quiet here lately, so Faith has probably sent them other places," Xander said. "We have a thousand trained slayers that we can call on. Believe me, your agents are not needed here."

Nick's eye reflected his surprise at Xander's reveal. "A thousand? You have a thousand women that can do this?" he asked indicating the fighting field.

"Well, there's more than that out there, but Willow's only managed to track down that many. She quit looking. When we decided to settle down in New York, she put up a covert website that will attract any slayers seeking help or answers. She decided to let them come to her," Xander said. "She changed things so now all potential slayers are activated when they reach fifteen or sixteen."

"My God!" Nick replied, his mind filled with the endless possibilities. His bosses hadn't been very enthusiastic about his Avenger initiative. Tony was too unpredictable. Thor was an alien and his allegiance suspect, especially considering Loki was his brother. The Hulk was uncontrollable. However, when Loki brought in aliens bent on destroying, no one could deny how effective the Avengers were. His Avengers initiative had grudgingly been accepted because the results were undeniable. Now, however, he saw more options. These women were untapped potential that could be used to protect earth from the next alien invasion. He had to find a way to convince these women to become a part of SHIELD.

"How can I convince them to work for me?" he asked Xander.

"They have a calling to fight vampires, not be used as soldiers to fight American wars," Xander said.

"What if they weren't used that way?" Nick suggested.

"Talk to Giles. If you can convince him, he'll do the work for you," Xander said.

"Who is Giles?" Nick asked.

"He used to be their librarian," Tony said with a grin. "Officially, he is Buffy's Watcher."

"A Watcher?" Nick asked.

"A guy that's an expert in all things demony that trains slayers. When the First Evil blew up the Watcher's Council, we lost most of them. Giles is back in England with Andrew training new Watcher recruits," Xander explained. "He is who Buffy and Faith trust the most. Talk to him. That's your best bet."

Nick nodded, filing away the information. He winced as one of his men got bit by a vampire before a slayer staked it in the back. "Agent Hill!" he called out, getting her attention. "Bring our people back! Retreat!"

She nodded and began moving those fighting near her back.

"Captain, bring your men back!" he called out to Steve. Steve nodded and barked out orders to the men he had around him.

Nick realized that Buffy had been right. They weren't prepared. Fighting the demons had been more like fighting the alien's in New York City, but vampires were different. The fact that they wanted to drain his men of blood made their threat even creepier. "Where is the Hulk?" he asked Tony.

"He ran off with Buffy away from the fighting," Tony announced with a grin.

Both men looked at him in surprise. "Come again?" Nick asked.

"The Hulk carried her off in his arms like she was a baby and ran that way," Tony said, pointing. They looked and saw Buffy running away from the Hulk, back toward the action. "Looks like she escaped or managed to convince him to let her go."

"Why did he do that?" Nick asked in confusion.

Tony shrugged. "Beats me. I think he thought he was protecting her. He beat the demon who attacked her to a pulp, kicked its dead carcass, and then snatched her up," Tony said, chuckling.

"I'm going to text Willow. She should come. She can help," Xander said, pulling out his phone.

"We've got to find away to calm down the Hulk, so we can get Banner back," Nick said. "These vampires enrage him." They watched as the Hulk jumped into the middle of the fighting and began picking up vampires. He would shake them, roar angrily at them, then pop off their heads.

Xander grinned. "Man, I wish I could do that! His technique is quite effective," Xander said.

"Yes, but he keeps kicking the slayers back, too. The collateral damage with him is always tremendous," Nick said.

Down on the field, Buffy looked up at the Hulk with a frown. "Quit kicking my girls!" she yelled up at him. He gave her a curious glance. She pointed to the women around her. "These are mine. Mine! Don't kick them!"

"I don't think the dumb beast speaks English," Faith said with a snicker.

When the Hulk bent down and got in Faith's face and roared angrily at her, it became clear he understood her insult and didn't like it. "Woe! I'm sorry! No offense meant!" Faith quickly said, holding up her hands in surrender.

The sky got darker. The rain kept coming down. "This rain sucks!" Buffy complained as she wipe her face on her wet shirt. It was pointless.

"Well, at least there's enough grass here to keep the field mostly free of mud," Faith said. She drop kicked a vampire. The Hulk caught the vamp before it fell to the ground and ripped off its head. "Hey, that was my kill!" she yelled at him.

Steve appeared next to the two slayers. He looked up at the Hulk. "Hulk, guard the perimeter over there!" he ordered, pointing at the main entrance where the vampires where coming through.

The Hulk roared an acknowledgment and ran to follow the Captain's orders.

"Neat party trick. What else do you do?" Buffy asked him with a grin.

"Dr. Banner's in there somewhere. I've found that if I keep the orders simple and they allow the Hulk to do violence, he'll obey," Steve replied.

"I don't get why the vamps are out in such force. This isn't an apocalypse," Buffy said with a frown as more vampires appeared to replace the ones recently killed. She could tell the girls were getting tired. "How long have you been fighting?" she asked Faith.

"We've been fighting continuously since the Hulk appeared. This morning the demons showed up," Faith explained. "The Hulk's presence is doing something freaky to the hellmouth. If we can get him to leave, things will probably go back down to a manageable level."

"The girls are getting tired," Buffy observed. She staked a vampire then turned and stake the one Steve was fighting.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said bowing his head slightly in acknowledgment. These women were extraordinary. He watched as Faith and Buffy fought back to back. It was almost like they were one person sharing space. They continuously traded off that magnificent weapon with the blood red blade.

All of a sudden the lightening grew brighter and the thunder roared. The noise was so deafening for a minute that all the fighting ceased. The ground shook as something landed hard. It seemed to have come out of the lightening.

Steve grinned as he realized who had joined them. "Thor!" he called out.

Thor smiled and waved at his friend. "Looks like you guys are having fun without me!" he exclaimed. A vampire pounced on him, and he used his hammer to knock it back.

Nick and Tony walked closer to the Asgardian. Tony grinned. "You're just in time!" he told Thor.

Now the fun would really start.

*******To Be Continued********

My favorite Avenger has arrived! Hope you're enjoying the battle still. One more battle chapter coming up next! Thanks for reading and reviewing!