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Inside the Trailer Of The Freightliner FL86 Cab Over Semi-Truck
One Hour Later
Joyce Summers' POV
"Something tells me Janus is a big fan of 80's TV." She commented idly from her place in the driver's seat of a 1983 GMC Vandura van.
It was painted primarily black but it had a red stripe on either side and a rooftop spoiler pretty much solidified its identity as the van used in the TV show entitled 'The A-Team'. It was in good condition and some of vehicle had been upgraded with the latest advancements in automobile design but not enough to ruin the comparison with the TV show van or tip off their pursuers.
"Yeah. Xander looked a little disappointed when we told him what was in the trailer." Dawn said looking a little disappointed about something herself.
"He was probably hoping that there was a customized 1982 Pontiac Firebird sports model parked back here." She said knowing all too well what show the car was prominently featured in.
"Why?" Dawn asked her puzzlement temporarily causing her previous disappointment to diminish somewhat.
"A customized Firebird was the car used in the TV series Knight Rider. I guess Xander must've seen a few seasons." She replied thankful that the seats were reasonably comfortable.
"He's such a geek isn't he?" Dawn asked with a smile that indicated that she didn't mind.
Why would her youngest when it was clear to anyone who knew her daughter that she liked the classics more than the new shows that were popping up on TV lately. She wasn't entirely against the new shows but she did have to admit that not all of them were winners and more than a few were clearly targeting a demographic other than the one she belonged to. Much like it'd been when she was young and her parents sat down with her to watch some TV she didn't understand shows aimed at teenagers anymore than her mother and father had understood the shows she'd watched.
Classics however had the reputation they did because they stood the test of time and were easily recognized by others if not by their theme music than by certain unique qualities no other show had.
With all the talk about family though she was reminded of her duties as a mother and the dramatic upheaval to not only her life as well as those of her daughters. She was not ashamed to admit that she was still more than a little stressed out by everything that'd happened so far but she knew she had to keep it together for her children. Where before she would've been able to split parenting duties with Hank but ever since the divorce when he went off with his secretary Tonya.
The SLUT!
As a woman she'd been able to tell after a few meetings with the woman that she didn't really care about Hank but rather what her ex-husband could do for her both in terms of money as well as career advancement. She'd tried to tell him that soon after she'd discovered his affair but he'd rejected her claim falling completely for his secretary's claims of love, lust and devotion. In the end she'd decided to sever ties with the man and only reluctantly agreed to visitation rights since both of her daughters still loved their father.
Mostly.
The money and gifts might have something to do with it.
Children and teenagers were easy to bribe after all.
~Something tells me that he's going to have a lot of trouble visiting this year.~ She thought keeping her bitterness internal, ~Assuming he even cares.~
"So what're we going to do once we get to L.A?" Dawn asked looking towards the future.
"Honestly I'm not sure." She replied figuring that sugarcoating things would do more harm than good in the end, "I've never been on the run from a platoon of assassins before. I guess the first thing we'll need to do is find a place to hide in the city and then figure out what our next move should be."
"Kinda hard to do when you don't know where these alien hunters are or are going to be." Dawn said sound less than impressed with that lack of information, "It's not like they're going to suddenly decide to come to Los Angeles for a vacation."
"Probably not but maybe we can use the time to get a better idea of what each of us can do." She proposed glancing at the book she'd been given by Janus, "If we're really supposed to fight these hunters then it's not going to be as amateurs. Not if we want to win."
Not if we want to survive.
If there was one thing she was certain of it was that you don't send warriors to solve a problem if you thought it was possible to talk things out. Janus had said as much but at present she didn't feel all that confident that they'd be able to do much against one of these Yautja. If it came down to a straight up fight they could probably kill it via superior numbers but they'd be injured and some of them might even die. However the feeling she got from Janus was that these hunters valued stealth, stalking their prey and only appearing before their prey to deliver the final blow. Such a hunter would test them, evaluate them and when it determined which among them would make the best trophy it'd pick off the others one at a time.
They needed to be at their best and that meant training.
"How're we supposed to train without winding up on the evening news?" Dawn asked pointing out that some of them didn't have powers that were subtle.
Case in point: she had a flaming skull and swung a big flaming chain around.
Kind of hard for people NOT to stop and stare at that never mind make calls to both the police as well as the TV news stations.
"Well…maybe…maybe we clear out a big enough vampire lair and use that." She said trying to take what she'd learned so far to come up with answers for her youngest daughter, "They'd pick someplace without windows right? Away from traffic? It'd be perfect."
"Definitely and with what we've got going for us they won't even be a challenge." Dawn said nodding in agreement with a grin, "You could probably clear the room all by yourself Mom!"
True.
Vampires being VERY flammable made her their worst enemy but getting careless would wind up burning down the very place they wanted to use for their training. It'd kind of defeat the purpose of taking the place if they wound up burning it to the ground.
"I wonder what it's like now. L.A. I mean after we've been gone so long." Dawn asked sounding wistful about the possibilities.
"We haven't even been gone two years Dawn." She pointed out with a chuckle, "I doubt it's changed THAT much."
"It's long enough for a couple of new stores to open. Maybe a new restaurant." Dawn pointed out reminding how quickly L.A could grow month to month.
"Maybe." She conceded though internally she was concerned about something else that for the last year and a half she'd been able to forget about.
The drug war that'd been sparked a few weeks before they'd all moved.
Crime had always been in the background of Los Angeles but for the most part if you steered clear of the more dangerous neighborhoods and paid attention to your surroundings you managed.
For the most part that is.
Random chance you never saw coming and never had the time to prepare for.
However when a street fight between the Columbian drug gang calling themselves the Scorpions and the Jamaican Voodoo Posse tore up two square blocks of Los Angeles she could tell things had changed. She had been grateful when she'd found a solid deal for their house and the art gallery since it'd meant they could move out of Los Angeles sooner rather than later. When she'd read a copy of the newspaper two months later she'd been unable to keep from shuddering and had immediately put the newspaper in the trash.
A fight between the Scorpions and the Jamaicans had demolished a city bus killing everyone inside.
Men.
Women.
Children.
No one had survived the firepower the gangs had brought to bear on one another.
Since then she'd been glad that neither of her two daughters had any interest in the news and that her work at the gallery had kept her too busy to watch it on TV. That meant that there was no chance of them hearing about the horrible things that were going on back in Los Angeles either on purpose or by accident. Now though they were headed back there and she honestly didn't know how bad it'd gotten since they'd left. Had the police managed to push the gangs back or had the drug peddlers only gotten bolder and more violent?
She didn't know.
However one thing she did know was that there was fire growing within her the closer they got to Los Angeles.
It was a fire that belonged to the Rider within her.
She remembered the words she'd felt compelled to speak after she'd been transformed and so it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. Somehow the Rider could sense the number of people in Los Angeles that had the blood of innocents on their hands and the closer she got the more it'd want to act on this knowledge. It would insist that she hunt down every last one of them and avenge those that had died as a result of the guilty person's action or inaction. Hopefully, like the others with their urges, she would be able to suppress it by applying enough willpower.
From the feel of it she very much doubted that people could miss the sheer number of people she'd wind up punishing.
~From the manager of an art gallery and a mother of two girls to a fire powered punisher of the guilty.~ She thought still feeling disbelief when those words went through her head, ~All I wanted was someplace safe to raise my daughters and make a living doing something I loved. Guess this isn't the sort of world that lets that happen~
A world where some…being…god…chose teenage girls to fight monsters.
A world where a group existed that was supposed to be teaching them and helping them that consider the girls to be expendable weapons or tools to advance their own agendas.
A world where aliens were real, hunted men for sport and intended to make the world habitable for them and them alone.
Definitely not the world she'd thought she was living in a week ago.
The 1983 Vandura
Streets of Los Angeles
An Hour and Half later
Willow's POV
"Looks less like a 'city of angels' and more like the wild west." She thought looking out the passenger side window.
"No kidding. I mean I've never been to L.A before but I know this isn't the way it's supposed to be." Xander said from behind the steering wheel, "People look…scared."
"All the more reason why it was a good thing we left Giles, Miss Calendar and Cayde back with the truck." Missus Summers said from one of the right side rear seats, "They'd attract enough attention just looking like they do. With people on edge like this there's no telling how they'd react."
"What do you think's happened?" Buffy asked from a seat on the left side of the van.
"I dunno but it might have something to do with the police check point up ahead." Xander replied causing her to look at the street ahead of them.
Just like he said the police had set up an informal check point at the next intersection comprised of concrete obstructions, two squad cars parked off to the side ready to pursue and four officers speaking with every driver before the vehicle was allowed to pass through. From what she could tell it didn't take very long, probably just enough to look for probable cause along with vehicle registration inspection, but it still might cause them problems. After all they hadn't bought this van, the license plates weren't official and she was pretty sure that if she looked in the glove compartment the vehicle registration papers wouldn't be there either.
Basically it'd scream that they'd stolen the van.
Not the sort of message you want to send the police.
"Can we get off this street?" Dawn asked from her seat, "Turn off and avoid them?"
"Oh yeah! Lets do the MOST suspicious thing we can and give them a reason to look at us CLOSER than they normally would!" Cordelia snarked from her seat with mock enthusiasm.
She didn't need to even look to know that Dawn was probably glaring at the former head of the cheerleader squad.
"She's got a point." She said trying to keep an argument from breaking out, "They've probably been told to be on the look out for cars trying to avoid the checkpoints. We try to turn away when we're this close they're going to remember us."
"Exactly. So let's play it cool and not cause problems where there aren't any." Xander said advancing the van towards the checkpoint.
While she did agree that risking the checkpoint was the safer option it didn't mean that they wouldn't have to try to break through the checkpoint THEN evade police support. None of them had any experience at doing either illegal thing so the odds of them succeeding…well…like Han Solo she really didn't want to know the odds and she doubted that the others did either.
Vehicle by vehicle the line up leading towards the checkpoint shrunk and her anxiety grew as she wondered just how they were going to get past the police. Still if anyone could bullshit his way past the police it was Xander since she'd witnessed many a time when her best friend and crush had been forced to do some fast talking to keep people from suspecting what his home life was like. Only she knew how bad Tony and Jessica Harris really were and she understood why Xander went so far to keep the truth locked down. Since Snyder had been made principal though her friend had been forced to raise his game in order to pacify the troll enough not to inquire further about anything they wanted to keep secret.
Now was the time to see if it'd be good enough to fool the police.
"License and registration please." The officer said after they'd pulled up to the checkpoint.
"Sure thing officer." Xander said taking his wallet, the one thing that hadn't been lost Halloween night, out before going for his license, "Mind getting the registration from the glove compartment sis?"
"Sure." She replied feeling a little sting at the title 'sis' even as she reached for the glove compartment handle.
Pulling the handle the compartment opened up but where she'd expected it to be empty she found actual paperwork plus the usual odds and ends you'd expect to find inside. Remembering the time she'd gone through the compartment in her parents' car it didn't take long for her to find the registration and hand it over to Xander. From there it went to the hands of police officer for inspection and oddly enough it looked like the cop was really giving it a look. Not an 'I am suspicious' look but depending on how long the checkpoint had been up you'd expect a certain level of boredom or complacency.
"Everything looks in order." The officer said before leaning a bit to take a look in the back, "What's with the get ups?"
"Cosplay convention. Lost mine to the dog but figured I'd at least drive them up to the front door." Xander replied without any pause and with complete 'honesty' that she couldn't see a crack in.
"Huh. Could always get an army green baseball cap and an old flight jacket at a surplus store." The officer said handing back the registration papers, "You look like you could pull off a good 'Howling Mad Murdock'."
"Heheheheh. I'll think about it officer." Xander said with his usual grin, "Have a good day."
"Same to you." The officer said before stepping back and motioning for them to move on.
With a slow bit of acceleration they passed through the checkpoint bringing it up to normal city cruising speed within a couple of seconds. However it wasn't until she was sure that they were a ways along that she turned to Xander to ask the most obvious question.
"How did our registration pass? How was it even in the glove compartment to begin with?" she asked unable to fathom how it could've happened.
Unless…
"Janus. Based on all the talking he did he's got quite a bit riding on our success so it doesn't make sense that he'd miss something simple like this." Xander replied as he continued to navigate the streets, "Don't think he'll be making a habit of little saves like this so don't count on it happening again."
"Right." She said already making a list of the small things they'd need to keep from raising flags with anyone.
Depending on how far the Council was willing to go to track them down they would likely not be able to take money out of their savings accounts without indicating where they were. That meant finding a way to sell some non-essentials for cash or following Xander's past suggestion of rolling vamps for funds. It'd been too dangerous before Halloween but with the changes they'd undergone it should be child's play. She doubted that they'd be rolling in cash but it would likely be enough to handle the necessities.
Or at least she hoped it would be since the others hadn't told her what they'd read about themselves in their books.
If it turned out that some of them had expensive needs they might need to think even further outside of the box and perhaps consider options not entirely legal. If things got really dire financially speaking they might have to consider attacking cash stockpiles belonging to local criminal gangs or organized crime groups. As long as their target didn't have access to hardware too powerful their current abilities should allow them to make quick work of any opposition before making off with the cash. If they made sure to attack in their less human forms all the locals would have to tell others would be monster stories that only those in the know would take seriously. The cops, the buddies of those they'd attacked, would write off the stories as lies, insanity or a sign intoxication of some kind.
IF NEED BE I CAN MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE ANYONE YOU WISH SO LONG AS THEY ARE OF SIMILAR SIZE AND BUILD. IT MIGHT PROVE USEFUL TO SET ONE TARGET AGAINST THE OTHER.
~No. We're not starting a gang war just to make our lives easier.~ She thought completely rejecting the proposed tactic, ~Those things have a habit of getting innocent people killed both intentionally and accidentally.~
No matter what they'd become or what their new purpose was the one line they'd never let themselves cross was endangering innocent lives or being responsible for their loss.
An Abandoned Factory Building
Three Hours Later
Miss Calendar's POV
"So we're slumming in an abandoned bicycle factory?" Cordelia asked sounding unimpressed and simmering anger.
"The windows are caked with dust, grime and crap so no one's seeing inside without some industrial strength cleaner as well as a couple hours of hard labor." Xander replied continuing his survey of the place, "The amount of dust on everything tells me no one's been here in months. We were able to pick the locks on every door rather than break them so no one casually passing by should get curious enough to get a closer look."
"Give me fifteen minutes and we'll have decent 'notice me not' wards on every side of the building." She said knowing for a fact that they had the ingredients for it, "Anyone not in the know should pass right on by without a second thought."
"And the ones that are in the know?" Willow asked ever one to explore all the possibilities.
"They don't know we're in town and the wards won't be strong enough to make them think that the one who set'em up are worth investigating" she replied casually checking out the neglected machines for usable parts, "Basically the wards would be driver's license competent but not good enough for NASCAR racing. So long as we don't do anything too flashy we should have the privacy we need to get a handle on what each of us can do."
Something that was at the very top of her to do list since she had enough junk memory in her head to know the name and kind of demon she now was down to her bones.
Morrigan Aensland.
Succubus.
She knew that there was more but until she got a chance to dig into her book and find out more all she had to work with was what she knew about the local demons by that name. Succubi were basically sex vampires that used their powers to seduce their victims into a vulnerable state before draining them of their life essence. Sometimes it was spiritually, sometimes through their blood and sometimes both. In any case while she didn't feel hungry at the moment she knew it wasn't going to last. Sooner or later she'd burn through whatever energy was powering her now and need to feed. Would her list of potential victims be limited to just Giles and Xander? Or would females be on the menu as well?
"Okay so we'll be getting dirty and tired in private." Cordelia said in perfect deadpan, "Great."
She grinned as she imagined how that statement could be interpreted if you weren't afraid of peeking into the gutter.
As she continued her survey of the area she could see several things that they could use to test their respective abilities with a bit of modification. There should be enough variations of metal present in each piece of machinery that they'd be able to find out what they could damage and what was strong enough to take some punishment. Once they had a good enough grip on how to turn their respective powers on and off they could move on to control exercises. She'd already seen plenty of evidence that many of them were much stronger than your average human and if they wanted to blend in then they needed to keep from breaking things accidentally.
People tended to remember things like seemingly ordinary men and women performing feats of superhuman strength.
Witnesses like that could lead the Council's platoon right to them along with any other 'interested parties' looking for people with 'unique abilities'.
She knew like she suspected Rupert knew that Los Angeles was home to a branch of the infamous law firm Wolfram & Hart. To the uninformed they were a prestigious law firm known for winning many difficult cases and having quite a few wealthy clients signed on with them. However to those who knew about the supernatural they were something quite different. Take every joke you ever heard about lawyers of all kinds and then plunge it into the depths of your most terrifying nightmare and you might come close to the truth about Wolfram & Hart. It was the very definition of an evil law firm that prosecuted or defended the scum of the city whether they were human or demon and it didn't matter if their client was guilty or not. To the firm all that mattered was that they got what they wanted out of the deal and that their client continued to owe them for their elite services.
She was certain that if the firm knew about the nine of them and what they could do plans would be drawn up to either eliminate them, capture them for study or sign them on as new clients.
Maybe all three in reverse order.
Wolfram & Hart were notorious for hiding clauses and legal lingo in their contracts that made any deal decidedly favour them above their client. Naturally these secret lines of legalese were only ever activated when the timing was just right for them to be used but it made it clear that trusting the firm to shoot straight with you was ridiculous.
"Yeah I think this place'll do." Xander said finishing his appraisal of the building's interior, "It's no Ritz Hotel but it's as good a hiding place as any."
"So how long exactly are we supposed to hide from the Council anyway?" Cordelia asked not sounding happy but not motivated enough to bitch too loudly either, "I get that we're all freaks now but life on the run doesn't sound very healthy either."
"For any of us that don't look a thing like they used to probably only a couple of months." Willow replied offhand looking a little uneasy, "The rest of us will probably be hunted until they figure whatever secrets we know have already been spilled or they just stop considering us threats to them and the world."
"In other words never." Cordelia griped lashing out with a punch that caved in a piece of machinery.
Not the best conclusion but there was some truth to the socialite's words.
Given the likelihood that those who'd been changed the most on the outside no longer registered on any locator spell as their old selves disappearing could simply mean moving to the east coast. For the others who wore the same faces as before the only option for settling down that she could see would be to relocate to a town whose connections to the outside world were few. Even if the Council was reluctant to try new things they had agreements with every major government in the world as well as a few businesses. It wouldn't be hard for them to request an APB be put out on them and then wait for their allies to use their technological methods to find Buffy and Rupert.
~Then again maybe they'll want to keep things low key.~ She thought as she considered the ramifications the Council now faced, ~After all if word got around that a Slayer and her Watcher had successfully been 'turned' and now worked for the enemy it'd be a blow to their reputation.~
If the Council decided to handle everything in house with little if any outside resources being tapped then keeping one step ahead of pursuit might be easier than they'd originally thought.
However to get rid of pursuit entirely they'd need to make an alliance with someone that not even the Council would risk provoking and was respected enough by other light aligned organizations to rob Travers of the possibility of an alliance. Off the top of her head the only two options she could think of would either be the Vatican in Rome or the American government's Demon Research Initiative. Both were powerful and had allies across the globe but the question was what would be asked for in return for protection from the Council.
As much as it would be nice no group once they got powerful enough did something simply because it was the right thing to do or because someone needed help.
It was give and take every step of the way.
And the honour of their ally would depend on the ratio of cost to benefits with it vanishing if the former exceeded the latter too much.
~It's a sad thing when the people charged with fighting for what's right think nothing of using the same tactics as the enemy.~ She thought having heard of many groups forsaking honour for victory.
It took another hour for them to finish surveying the building then another half hour for Rupert to drive the truck to the front gates to be let in. Once they were inside she did as she'd proposed and used a network of focal points to erect a single large 'notice me not' spell that covered the entire property. It wasn't particularly powerful since doing so would attract the curious who were in the know but it would ensure that the ignorant civilians would stay away.
Time to take what they were now and truly master it.
The Law Offices of Wolfram & Hart
Meeting Room for Special Projects
Holland Manner's POV
"Excellent job on the Shepard case Lilah." He said closing the folder on the case, "The prosecutor had him dead to rights in the beginning but you managed to make sure he came out smelling like roses."
"Not a hard thing to do. Roche was a family man." Lilah said downplaying the difficulty of the case, "It was easy to convince him to change his story. Without him the prosecutor had no case."
True.
It was one of the classic weaknesses the 'good guys' always had was loved ones that they'd do anything to protect even if it meant betraying others or handing them victory. Oh there was the odd martyr from time to time, heroes 'brave' enough to sacrifice everything to defeat them, but that just made them more predictable. In the entire history of the firm only a handful of Champions had managed anything resembling a victory against them but truthfully it was only a setback. One of the key skills the firm possessed was long term planning with the details sometimes being planned centuries in advance.
Something 'the Light' never quite seemed to get the knack of despite the firm providing them with numerous examples.
"Now I believe you had something you wished to put on the table Lindsey." He said before genially gesturing for promising young lawyer to proceed.
"Yes sir. As you know Halloween night turned out to be somewhat more eventful on the Sunndyale Hellmouth than usual. I got the full report from the firm's sleeper agent this morning and it's made for some interesting reading." Lindsey said sliding a folder over to him, "For one thing Richard Wilkins is dead and with him everything he was using to keep the town under his control. The magic will fall apart without him to maintain it and most of his important pawns died with him due to the blood contracts they signed."
"Surprising. I met the man when I was younger when the time came to assess his contract with us." He said remembering his afternoon of golf with the warlock, "A very shrewd planner and knew all the angles. No matter what I tried to give the firm a better deal he always found me out before I could seal the deal. How did it happen?"
"According to the agent he was killed by the most unlikeliest of people. Buffy Summers' mother." Lindsey replied clearly enjoying the drawn out unveiling.
"Joyce Summers? Please! She's the definition of harmless." Lilah scoffed clearly unwilling to believe that a single mother running an art gallery could kill a century old warlock.
"Perhaps she was but that was before a certain someone came to Sunnydale with the intent of stirring things up. A Chaos Mage named Ethan Rayne came to Sunnydale and employed an old ritual tied to the Roman god Janus whereby those who wore enchanted costumes were transformed." Lindsey replied before gesturing to open the folder, "Missus Summers' transformation proved to be quite powerful."
Humoring the young man he opened the folder and looked at the topmost picture having clearly been placed there for MacDonald's benefit. It showed a flaming skeleton dressed in studded biker leathers entering Sunnydale Town Hall and if it indeed was Missus Summers it was quite the thorough transformation. That it was powerful enough to allow someone who previously was about harmful as a warm breeze to take down Wilkins was impressive. It implied that either superior power or skill had been bestowed upon the woman by Janus and that made him interested in researching the specifics of the spell.
If its effects could be made permanent they could very well reclaim some deceased assets and that would help the firm's agenda quite nicely.
"With Wilkins dead ownership of the Sunnydale Hellmouth is open to whoever has the power to take it. I'll be sure to pass this news on to acquisitions." He said pleased that Lindsey had had his ear to the ground on this one.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg sir." Lindsey said with a smile that told the whole story, "The agent is still gathering details but it's looking like for at least some of those affected by Janus' spell they didn't change back when it was terminated. Whether this was due to the nature of their new forms or something they had beforehand the agent didn't know. However we have strong reasons to believe that Slayer Summers, her family and her Watcher were among those who remained altered."
"And these strong reasons were what precisely?" he asked even as his mind began to work on how this could best be used to benefit the firm primarily and himself as a side benefit.
"Just before sunrise today the men in the next four photographs were sighted investigating both the Summers home as well as Watcher Giles' apartment with men numbering platoon strength supporting them." Lindsey replied with mild concern, "One's been identified as being on one of the Watcher Council's wet works teams so it stands to reason that the other three are the same. I can only think of one reason the Council would send such a force to Sunnydale. They want someone dead and they think they need a platoon to do it."
"And they'd hardly need so many men if it was just four people they needed dead." He said seeing where his protégé was going.
"Exactly. The last report from the sleeper agent stated that the Council forces were leaving Sunnydale but that the direction was all wrong for returning to their points of origin like you'd expect after accomplishing their mission." Lindsey said even as he sifted through the remaining folder contents, "Direction suggests they might be coming to Los Angeles."
"Makes sense. If Miss Summers and Mister Giles know that they're being targeted for termination then the smartest move they can make is to lose themselves in a crowd." Lilah said determined to not be left out of the discussion, "I can touch base with the local information brokers and firm assets to get them looking for Summers and Giles. What do you want done once we find them?"
A show of respect for his seniority but he wanted to test the waters with those lawyers under him.
"What do you two think should be done?" he asked looking at each in turn with a neutral expression on his face.
"We don't need the hassle of a Council wet works platoon turning L.A upside down." Lilah said sounding completely no nonsense, "I say we track down Summers and Giles, feed their location to the wet works team and then when they're all together eliminate them all. Send the Council a message about operating in Wolfram & Hart territory without the firm's permission."
As he'd come to expect from Lilah she went straight for the jugular. A show of strength and a hardline message not to challenge the firm by entering into its territory uninvited was just her style.
"And you Lindsey?" he asked interested in hearing a second opinion.
"Lilah's solution is too wasteful and ignores the opportunity that's landed in our laps." MacDonald replied with a grin that indicated he had a plan in mind.
"What sort of opportunity?" he asked even though he had a good idea already.
"Summers and her Watcher have been operating in Sunnydale for over a year and the Council's never tried to take them out. Whatever changes they've undergone must've made them something other than human in mind, body or both. The Council's policy regarding non-human species and hybrids is well known." Lindsey replied laying out his line of thought, "The smart move would be to find them then put them under subtle surveillance. We learn as much as we can about what they've become and what their current state of mind is. If it turns out that they're 'receptive' to an offer from us we make it and include protection from the Council. If not then we can go with Lilah's option since they'll be more valuable dead than alive."
Go for the one time victory or try to stretch it out for years.
A tough call but he knew that the Senior Partners wouldn't appreciate missing an opportunity to deal a serious blow to the Watchers Council.
"Contact our information gatherers and let them know to start looking for Slayer Summers and her Watcher. Hell! Let King Willie know that if he can find them, quietly, then the munitions he wants are his."
"I'm not sure Willie knows the meaning of the word 'subtle'." Lilah said with light sarcasm in her voice.
Point.
The drug war between the Columbians and the Jamaicans had never been intended as something subtle and covert. It'd been intended as a way to form close connections with both cartels by lending a 'helping hand' from time to time through intermediaries. When it became clear who the better bet was they'd arrange a formal meeting to officially form an alliance with the cartel offering their unique services in exchange for a portion of their profits as well as manpower should it they need it. Expendable muscle was always useful especially when they couldn't be traced back to the firm regardless of how their job turned out.
"Then include Ramon Vega's crew instead." He said not really caring which drug cartel boss helped them, "The point is to get eyes and ears on the street looking for the Slayer and her Watcher that can't be connected to us. If the Council's soldiers find them first we'll have lost our opportunity. That will not look good on anyone's record."
Both Lilah and Lindsey nodded in understanding before he brought the meeting to a close.
Being a high ranking member Special Projects kept him pretty busy and the Senior Partners did NOT abide slackers.
The Abandoned Factory
A Little After Sunset
Buffy's POV
"O-kay…that's freaky and that's coming from me." She said looking at the alternate form of Xander.
As soon as everyone was in the building, the notice me not wards were up and the sun had gone down Giles had told them that they should begin working on mastering their new bodies. Big surprise no one was quick to volunteer and when her ex-Watcher looked to her to be the leader that everyone followed she'd taken a step back before she even realized it.
Then, like he usually did, Xander volunteered willing to push aside his fears and concerns in order to make things easier for the rest of them.
She'd been a bit puzzled and perhaps amused when Xander took his shirt off but it was Giles who'd asked why he was doing it. According to her first guy friend in Sunnydale his subconscious was telling him that it was necessary compelling him to do it whenever his thoughts were directed at transforming. No one really put up a fuss about it though she could tell Dawn was drinking in the sight and it was almost enough to make her insister her little sister find someplace else to be.
No one was more surprised than her when her sister pointed her automatic crossbow at her chest.
Her mother naturally objected but Dawn was quick to point out that she'd been impaled and didn't even have a scar to brag about much less a permanent injury. As such even if Dawn emptied the entire container of crossbow bolts into her it might hurt but it wouldn't leave any lasting damage.
Basically it'd be the equivalent of a nasty rug burn.
After that she'd decided that as much as she might object to her younger sister ogling Xander it wasn't worth getting shot full of holes for.
Once ready Xander closed her eyes, no doubt seeking some sort of internal trigger, and she could tell the precise moment when the transformation began. His eyes snapped open and she watched as ink spread inwards from the corner of his eyes until only blackness remained. From there they all watched the fingers on his hands elongate a bit while also developing sharp looking claws even as his skin began to turn black as tar. It didn't look like it was an entirely painless process because it caused him to open his mouth in a gasp inadvertently showing sharp teeth that'd be more at home in the jaws of an animal. However it was when she saw bones and muscles in his chest reconfigure before her very eyes that she realized why Xander had removed the shirt. If the garment had been baggier it might not have been a problem but an ordinary T-shirt or something clingy it would've been stretched past the breaking point by the transformation.
All in all the transformation took less than seven seconds to complete but she knew from previous experience that seven seconds in a fight for your life could cost you everything. Once Xander was sure he had it all down she'd suggest seeing if it could be done quicker, less than three seconds for preference, since it'd make her less fearful for his well being. She'd bet good money after all that whatever other powers her friend possessed they'd be at their most potent when he was in his transformed state. The faster Xander could shift into it upon perceiving a threat the less likely he'd be seriously wounded or die.
"Can you understand us Xander? Can you speak?" Giles asked completely in Watcher mode even though he definitely didn't look the part at the moment.
"Yes…to both." Xander replied though it sounded like the talking part wasn't as easily done as it was in his human form.
"Hmmm…well this at least proves that there has been no appreciable decrease in intelligence." Giles said showing some approval, "Though it would appear that the reconfiguration of bone and muscle makes talking somewhat difficult. Whether this is a physical difficulty or a mental one is debatable."
"What do you mean?" she asked not quite getting what Giles was saying.
"It might be the case that his muscles and bones are in such a configuration that speaking is physically difficult due to their limit range of movement. However if it is simply a case of Xander being unfamiliar with how to properly utilize his mouth in its new configuration then he should get better with practice." Giles explained sounding all logical.
"So basically nothing'll change." Cordelia said with her usual venomous tone, "Caveman before, caveman now."
"GRRRRR!" Xander growled clearly angered by the comment.
Before her friend would've simply glared at the cheerleader or fired back one of his better zinger comebacks. Now though with part werewolf in him it was looking like his responses were going to get more primal in nature. She'd have to be ready to stop him if it looked like he might hurt someone when his instincts were in control rather than his intelligence.
"Great! They were bad enough when they were human now it's cat versus dog making it worse." Dawn griped not sounding thrilled at Cordy and Xander taking their sniping game to the next level.
Though the cat versus dog crack was right on the money especially with the furry tail Cordy had acquired though it seemed to disappear from time to time for reasons unknown.
"Now I believe we should establish an upper limit for your physical abilities starting small and increasing the weight incrementally. Fortunately this factory provides us with quite a bit of objects to use as improvised weights." Giles said keeping things on track, "Start with that one there and let us know precisely when you've reached your limit."
Xander nodded before going over to the object indicated, got a good grip on it and then proceeded to lift it off of the ground without any sign of difficulty or effort. This was only proven more when her friend decided to try and hold up the object with one hand but it didn't last since the metal had been weakened from prolonged disuse. Fortunately the second the metal started to bend a little too quickly Xander immediately put the other hand back into place before easing the object down. A smart move since if he hadn't he would've gotten brained by a hunk of metal and she wasn't sure if he'd be injured or not.
From there the weight lifting gradually increased until finally he picked up a piece of machinery and his muscles almost shook with the strain of his effort.
"Impressive. It is difficult to say for certain but I believe you are currently lifting around two thousand pounds give or take a couple hundred." Giles said sounding suitably impressed by what Xander could do, "I can think of no demons of comparable build or size that can do the same. It is rumoured that centuries ago there were terrible beasts summoned that could perform similar feats of strength but nothing similar has been seen in more modern times."
"Then if the ratio of limb strength for what Xander is matches what's normal for a human then his legs are capable of three times as much strength." Willow said her academic mind already crunching the numbers, "That means if he went all out he could probably lift…"
Willow never finished her sentence but the look on her face pretty much said it all.
Xander was well within superhero level strength and that meant getting kicked or punched by him was probably going to be instant body cast to normal humans and a REALLY bad day for most demons.
"Indeed. Well…let's move onto speed shall we?" Giles asked rhetorically before pointing at the far side of the building, "Run to the far wall as fast as you can and then come back. Please do exercise some caution though since your control is likely spotty at the moment."
A nod from Xander showed that he understood and with only a few moments of preparation he sprung forward on his feet and in the blink of an eye he was on the other side of the building. It looked like he'd overdone it and had slammed on the brakes to make sure he didn't wind up slamming into the wall. Seeing him turn around she had a bad feeling about what'd happen next so quickly yet casually she stepped away from where her friend would be trying to return to. One blink later and three people were on the ground groaning a little but not as much as she had expected from such a high speed collision but however that might have to do with their newfound durability.
"Well…ungh…I think we can safely say that your level of speed is considerable." Giles said pushing Xander off of himself before getting back to his feet, "If I recall correctly an object needs to be moving at roughly eighteen thousand meters per second in order to be invisible to the human eye. Given that some of us have decidedly more acute eyesight than your average human and yet could not see your traverse the distance you are indeed quite swift."
"Guess you had to be swift somewhere to make up for being so slow in the head." Cordy said showing far less grace in getting back to her feet.
A snort of dismissal was all that Xander gave that little comment.
From there came a dozen or so other tests that focused on determining agility, endurance and a few other things. It quickly became clear that in his hybrid form Xander was on a level where he could throw down with just about any demon she'd ever faced without too much trouble. But that was just in terms of his strength, speed and agility level when compared to the demons' physical prowess. As she'd proven countless times since becoming the Slayer a demon could be a complete powerhouse but if it was dumb as a box of rocks taking it down was easy as long as she had the right weapon.
It was going to take practice and probably a bit of sparring before she'd feel safe asking Xander to take something on.
~Good thing Giles looks tough enough to take a few good hits now.~ She thought with a small grin, ~I was always afraid I'd break him if I trained too hard. Good to know that won't be a problem now.~
The Trailer of the Truck
Later That Evening
Cordelia's POV
"Well it's official: my life has hit an all time low." She grumbled as she tried to get comfortable in the economy class sleeping bag Rosenberg and Harris had brought back a few hours ago.
She was used to having the best that money could buy or at least having better stuff than any of the other girls at school could afford. It was the norm for her, the way the world was supposed to be, with anything else being restricted to what she'd seen on TV or heard about while at school. Every day when she'd performed her duties as queen of Sunnydale High School she'd been making broad strokes plans for her future. Her end goal of course was to be an Academy Award winning actress with a rich husband and a house big enough that she could sleep in a different room every day and still have some left over by the end of the year. It was an ambitious plan but as far as she was concerned she had the beauty and the brains to make it happen.
Or at least she did until Sunnydale freakiness chose to outdo itself on Halloween.
Now she was some kind of alien pirate girl drafted by a literal two faced bastard to fight some alien head hunters and cut off from her savings account because of a wet works squad hunting her down. Worst of all it wasn't even her the wet works squad was after! It was Buffy and Giles they wanted dead! She'd thought about just ditching the whole lot of them and trying to reclaim her life even if it meant selling out Summers' location to the people looking to kill her. Too bad her common sense told her that even if she did sell out Summers and her band of freaks she'd still probably wind up strapped to a dissection table drugged to the gills.
She was a freak now herself, a freak with power, and that'd get her labeled as either a lab rat or something to shoot full of holes just because she wasn't human anymore.
Sure she'd been experimenting with her newfound freakiness and could do a few things fairly reliably but that SO wasn't enough to make her think she could protect herself. For one thing she'd need to get the whole teleporting and phasing stuff down pat before going on the run solo would ever be a good idea. For now though she'd RELUCTANTLY decided to stick with the freak brigade if for no other reason than because most of them looked freakier than her meaning they'd draw more fire.
And if they wound up dying and dropping the targeting crosshairs in her lap she'd run like hell and hope that her unwanted freakiness would be enough to keep her alive.
Seeing the lights flicker she grimaced as she took it as another sign that Rosenberg was still working hard and probably having a blast. Thanks to all the genius know how the suit was feeding the redhead the brainy girl was working on solving the issue of ammunition for Giles and Cayde's guns. There was a lot of geek talk but the basics of it all was that the former librarian had used up most of his special ammo Halloween night and while Mister Roboto boasted that he had bullets to burn no one was buying it. That two faced bastard had been fueling the weapons while the spell was active but now that it was over with it was inevitable that the machine's penis compensator would run dry sooner or later. She hadn't bothered to listen to the details but she figured Willow was probably cobbling together some sort of bullet making machine using the spare parts lying around the factory.
However that didn't explain the sporadic light show that was annoying her at the moment.
~To hell with it!~ She thought getting out of the sleeping bag.
She was never going to get any sleep as long as the light show kept waking her up.
Walking deeper into the trailer she soon arrived at the work table that'd been built into the metal box but what she saw ON the table was not some device being slapped together.
For one thing it had WAY too many weird symbols carved into it that would be unnecessary for a purely mechanical device. The source of the light became evident a short while later when Rosenberg placed three items in the center of the array of symbols only for a golden arc of energy to appear out of nowhere. It bathed the items in its power and then before her eyes they began to change shape but right as they began to take on another form they popped like balloons pricked with a pin.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked trying to figure out the cause of this new approach.
"Trying to come up with an efficient way to solve our ammo problem." Willow replied leaning back in her chair, "Just making a normal bullet maker isn't enough. Cops probably keep track of things like that and we'll probably be going through a lot of them."
"So magic is your work around?" she asked curious in spite of herself.
"Yes. I'm trying to figure out a way so all we need to do is put the raw materials inside the field of symbols and they'll be reconfigured into what we need." Willow replied before working on the placement of the symbols, "It's transmutation but getting it to work right's hard."
"Transmutation? You mean like turning lead into gold?" she asked momentarily imagining what it'd be like to be surrounded by gold.
"Pretty much. I thought it'd be easier since I wouldn't be drastically changing one thing to another but even with all the help I'm getting it looks like I'm missing something." She replied still working on her bullet generator.
"Even with all the egghead info your goop friend is feeding you?" she asked wondering how good the info was if it couldn't solve a problem like this.
Didn't big name magic people and scientists solve problems like time travel or beat demon lords every other Wednesday?
"It's not like Angitia is giving me everything like it was me who did it all." Willow said seriously trying to convey the truth, "It's more like what it'd be like if her past hosts had cameras for eyes and microphones for ears. I can watch, I can try to learn but until I actually try to put it into practice I don't actually know if I've got it right."
"Um…isn't that dangerous?" she asked wondering if she should be worried about spontaneous 'ka-booms'.
"Not really." Willow replied dismissing the concern out of hand, "Even with the energy to mass ratio the worst that could happen is a small smoke bomb explosion and me having to wipe the soot off my face."
She'd like to believe Willow, she really would, but the memories she'd gotten from Ryoko had shown her how big a boom cocky genius' could produce when they didn't take things more seriously. She had no desire to be at ground zero of a new lake created because the redhead seriously underestimated how much of a boom her work would create if she screwed up.
"Maybe it'd be a good idea to wait until Giles and Calendar wake up." She suggested knowing she'd feel a lot more at ease if grown ups were supervising the somewhat brilliant student, "They might have a few ideas that'd help."
She knew enough about Rosenberg to not slight the girl's intelligence directly or indirectly since it'd only lead to the redhead trying to prove her wrong out of stubbornness.
"Maybe. Let me give it a few more tries and then I'll turn in for the night." Willow said a little reluctantly before focusing back on her work, "Angitia might take care of a lot of things but sleep's still a necessity."
"So you're still human. Good!" she said glad that Rosenberg hadn't been made so freakish that she no longer needed sleep.
That would be all kinds of weird.
"More human than you." Willow said with a bit of snark, "I'm technically just providing an apartment for Angitia. I'm still biologically human. You on the other hand are part demigoddess with powers running off of bargain basement batteries and probably have even less tact now than you did before Halloween."
"How do you know all that?" she asked both curious and insulted at the same time.
"I…might've taken a look through your book." Willow replied before instantly going defensive, "It's not like you were doing anything with it! Besides I figured that if we're going to be fighting together we're going to need to know what everyone can do especially the fine details."
"And you couldn't find the time to ask WHY?" she asked conceding the redhead's point but refusing to let the girl slide completely.
"Well…we're not exactly friends and you've been blaming everyone you can for what's happened since we left Sunnydale." Willow replied being a little more assertive and less timid, "I figured if I asked permission you'd say no just to spread the misery around."
"I've just lost my family, my home AND everything I owed!" she said as loudly as she could without waking anyone else up, "I can't even use my credit cards so EXCUSE ME if I feel the need to bitch about it a bit! And as far as being friends no we aren't but we're all in this mess together and I know you'd have an easier time making sense of my book than I would. As long as you don't blab anything personal in our little group therapy moments you can read all you like."
It was the honest truth.
Ask her about fashion, how to be stylish and how to navigate the tides of society and she could give a seminar on each subject.
This stuff though? Being some kind of wild haired, cat tailed, elf eared demigoddess wannabe? She didn't know nearly enough to be comfortable with the whole mess and her book just left her with more questions than answers. If Willow could as a geek to normal person translator and fill her in on stuff she needed to know then she was okay with there being two people who knew her secrets instead of just one.
"No problem." Willow said with a look on her face that made her believable.
With that settled she walked away, picked up her sleeping back and exited the back of the trailer. From there it took a bit more effort and focus that she'd have liked but eventually she made it to what was left of what had probably once been an upper floor before neglect had taken out most of the wood floor. She managed to find a patch of stable wood planks that could support her weight easily enough and after she landed on it she used the belt part of her outfit to tie herself to the nearby support beam.
She might not feel safe inside the trailer with Rosenberg experimenting but that didn't mean she was stupid. There was every possibility that she might try to roll over in her sleep and that'd lead to a messy as well as potentially fatal landing considering where she was. So she figured that tying herself to something would keep that from happening or at least give her enough warning to wake up more before hitting the floor.
~Here's hoping the next place we hide in has some actual beds!~ She thought trying to get comfortable.
The Streets of Los Angeles
The Next Day
Joyce Summers' POV
~Los Angeles has definitely changed.~ She thought as she followed a route in her mind that'd take her to a store she knew of.
She had just enough money gathered together from the group to get them the basic necessities plus food that could be stretched out a bit if portioned correctly. Cut off as they were from their savings accounts they only had whatever they'd had in their wallets and purses plus what possessions they were willing to pawn off for funds. That wasn't a lot and it definitely wouldn't be enough for them to get a place capable of housing nine people without being REALLY crowded. Xander had already submitted the idea of mugging vampires and demons but Giles had advised against that for various reasons. At the top was the fact that the Council's extermination platoon might catch wind of people with odd powers dusting vampires and killing demons. Each of them had a unique look as well as unique abilities meaning all it'd take would be one little comment that could be connected only to them to give away their location.
Until they'd all become competent enough in their respective abilities, until they'd learned to use those abilities together through teamwork, an early battle would not end well for them.
Looking down the street she instantly spotted the store that was their destination and was pleased to see that it was still open as well as doing well financially. Was Mister Mason still running it or had he handed it down to his son like he'd mentioned it once? The man had been getting up there in age and as such it made sense that he might want to retire after passing down the family business to someone he could trust.
"Is this the place where you got those weird deserts when I was younger?" Dawn asked as they paused at a crosswalk waiting for the signal to change.
"Yep! They tasted good and best of all Mister Mason's wife made them herself." She replied remembering those days, "Most of the time they were not more than twelve hours old so they were pretty fresh. Besides I seem to recall you eating quite a few without complaint."
"I didn't say that they were bad just that they were weird." Dawn said as the light changed allowing them to proceed, "Donuts and muffins they were not."
"Maybe not but sometimes it's good to try something new." She said as she recalled their current predicament, "I'll admit that our current circumstances are a bit newer than I'd like but it could've been worse."
"Yeah? How?" Dawn asked looking like for all the pluses they'd gained there were still a few minuses.
"Well we could've been turned into monsters or villains for one thing. Janus said that he'd done all this to fight against the Yautja but there was no rule that said he had to make us into heroes or even anti-heroes." She replied having considered the topic after they'd left Sunnydale, "All he needed was to give us powers or skills that'd put us on even ground with them. Morality, memories and our free will could just be ignored if the probabilities said we'd beat them. Can you imagine one of us becoming Darth Vader or some other villain? Maybe turn us into some sort of animalistic killing machine they'd keep in a cage until the Yautja showed up? I'd say we got off easy with the people we got paired with."
Most of them did anyway.
She knew that Buffy wasn't thrilled with all the baggage that Sara had left her.
Xander wasn't doing much better but all she usually had to do was remind the young man of the fact that Angel was stuck as a floating tree ornament to get him to smile.
The ones that probably had it the hardest though were the ones that couldn't mingle with the locals without drawing all kinds of attention. Giles, Cayde and Miss Calendar were simply too inhuman in appearance to pass for ordinary humans. She had doubts that even trying to use the whole 'comic book convention' excuse would fly because most of the costumes worn there weren't nearly as detailed or realistic looking. As a result those three were stuck at the abandoned factory focusing on their training while the rest of them could pretty much go where they wanted so long as they didn't do anything to stand out.
Compulsions and urges were one thing but being forced to live apart from the world they'd grown up in was a hardship all its own.
Pushing the store door open she looked to see that place was pretty much as she remembered it being save with some unfamiliar products and security cameras that hadn't been there before. Another thing that worried her about what might've happened with the criminal element to cause Mister Mason or his son to install them. She'd never witnessed any encounters herself but she'd heard stories of the few times some crook had tried to rob the place in the past. In those instances Mister Mason had been content with a loaded shotgun he kept beneath the counter and there weren't too many people willing to stare down such a weapon.
Especially if the rumour about Mason blowing some punk's arm off one time with a single shot was true though it could've been a story to scare off the timid crooks.
"Here's your list." She said handing Dawn a piece of paper, "Get these things and ONLY these things. We're on a tight budget."
"Got it." Dawn said snatching up the piece of paper before running off.
~And she wonders why people think it's too early for her to try anything with Xander.~ She thought smirking at how her youngest certainly behaved like it despite her magically older body.
Taking her own list she began to walk about the store looking for the things that'd been requested as well as a few things that were common sense for people who'd be roughing it for a while. As she went she let her mind wander back to happier days when everything was at its most perfect before Hank had been exposed a cheating asshole and before Buffy had been selected by Fate to hunt demons. It was only when she heard the bell above the entrance jingle that she was brought out of her thoughts and mild curiosity caused her to look to see who the new shopper was but she quickly came to wish that she hadn't.
Three men.
All of who had some sort of Scorpion themed bling on them and all of them were moving with a set plan that much was clear. However their movements were not like hers and Dawn's movements that were aimed at finding food or other groceries but something more sinister feeling.
A pulse echoed throughout her body and it was strong enough to stagger her to the point where she needed to reach out to one of the shelves to balance herself. She knew the nature of the pulse, had felt it simmering in the back of her mind since they entered the city, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what the trigger was. Looking back at the three men that'd entered the store and who were still moving about the place according to some sort of plan she wasn't as surprised as she'd thought she'd be at what she saw.
Rolling over the bodies of each of the three men like a sea of goo was an aura that reminded her of semi-transparent blood letting her see the men themselves without difficulty. However when she focused on the auras details began to flash in her mind that both sickened her to the point of nausea and caused anger to fill her up like water going into a cup. An image of a woman being raped, man pleading for his life with an already bloody face and a house burning down with screams of pain coming from within. Those were just a few of the things she could now perceive of the three men and she knew that it was just the tip of the iceberg with them.
THEIR SOULS ARE STAINED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT.
Yes. They were.
THE SOULS OF THEIR VICTIMS DEMAND VENGEANCE!
Vengeance!
"Mom? What's wrong?" Dawn asked sounding worried and alerting her to the fact that her youngest was less than two steps away from her.
This did not dim the fury threatening to overflow her body but it did increase her mind's ability to think rationally.
"Those men…those MEN…they have innocent blood on their hands. So much innocent blood." She replied her anger giving strength to her body and steadiness to her movements, "They must be punished!"
"I get that but not by us." Dawn said showing comprehension and conveying persuasiveness, "You know we can't draw attention. With all the cameras in here there's no way our faces won't wind up in some kind of police report. We'll slip out, find a payphone and call in an anonymous tip to 9-1-1. C'mon!"
She did know, she did and out of a desire not to put those she cared about in danger she forced down her vengeful desires before walking with her daughter towards the door. It was hard, splitting her focus between an internal struggle and making her body move, but step by step she made progress until finally she reached out to grasp the door handle…
…only for a fourth man to appear to block her way.
With a dirty smile the man pulled back one side of his leather vest to reveal a gun tucked into his pants. The threat was clear: she wasn't going anywhere and if she made herself a problem he had a magazine full of problem solvers to send her way.
BUDDA! BUDDA!
"NOBODY MOVE! This is a robbery Cerdos!" the long haired man with a golden scorpion necklace yelled holding up two nickel plated Uzi's freshly fired, "What's yours is ours now!"
Not wasting any time with the collecting the other two men in the building began to go from civilian to civilian intimidating them into handing over their money. Sometimes the thugs got extra greedy and tore any valuables like jewelry or watches off of their victims without any care about hurting them. The sight of this made the anger within her fight to resume its ascension but she refused to let it knowing that it'd only spark a gunfight that'd get everyone else in the store killed.
Including potentially Dawn.
"Hand over the ring vieja!" the thug with the thin mustache and curly black hair yelled while trying to pull a ring off of an old woman's finger.
"NO! It's all I have left of Marty!" the old woman yelled back fighting with what strength she had for something that was clearly precious to her.
"Fine! Have it your way perra!" the thug said bringing up his gun with an extended magazine his intent blatantly obvious.
BLAM!
She hadn't been able to take more than a step before the horrible sight of a round going into the head of the old lady causing blood to spray forth even as the senior citizen fell to the floor. Screams and yells of shock filled the air as the threat of being killed became much more real. With no respect for the dead the murderer knelt down before roughly pulling the ring off the corpse's finger before shoving it into his pocket.
This couldn't be allowed to continue!
"Dawn…" she said in a tone that she hoped would convey what was about to happen.
"I know. Don't worry about me." Dawn said with a strength that should've taken ten more years to grow inside of her youngest.
Setting the things she'd picked up from her list down on the slushie machine grill before turning towards the one who'd made benching herself an impossibility. Curling her fingers into fists she began to walk towards the killer letting the fury within her fuel her every step and it was at the halfway point that the murderer took notice of her. It didn't matter. She watched his lips moved no doubt to say something disrespectful but she could not hear the words over the crackling of the fire rising within her. Even when he took aim at her with his weapon she did not pay it any mind feeling a burning sensation manifest beneath her skin only to be ignored as inconsequential.
When the killer opened fire and the bullets impacted on her body, disrupting her stride, the murderer did the one thing he shouldn't have.
He popped the balloon.
Put a hole in the dam.
Sent an incendiary round into a stack of propane tanks.
With his sinful act the fires of vengeance were unleashed and the change swept over her like water from a burst dam. Like dry leaves her flesh was burned away with her biker clothes proving to be immune until she could tell from the terrified look of incomprehension on the murderer's face that she no longer wore a human face.
Instead she wore the face of a demon straight from the pits of hell and she planned on sending this asshole's soul down to suffer with the others.