The Paragon Of Animals Parts 25 - 27
Wesley hated watching them go,but Bob had already signed him up to 'lying' duty,whether he liked it or not,and no wanted to stay with him when there was a slaughter going on.
Wesley desperately wished he went with them.
But,while he was waiting for Alia,the spellcaster from Laguna Beach,to show up,he decided to put in a little last minute research,see if he could think up a better spell.Mental disruption was iffy at best.
He had been perusing an older book of spells for perhaps five minutes,sitting at the front desk with a theoretically comforting cup of tea that was really doing nothing but turning ice cold,and giving the air around him a far more pleasant scent than Bob's Frenik blood stained shirt in the wastebasket.
He got the sudden,unsettling sense he was not alone,and looked up to see he was right-there was a green skinned,green haired woman standing in the lobby,clad in a form fitting sleeveless red sweater and snug blue jeans.He was both startled and attracted...and seized with a sudden sense of deja vu."Are you Alia?"He asked,closing the book.
"I'm whatever you want me to be,"she answered coyly,approaching the desk,her high heeled boots clicking on the floor.
Something about this was very wrong.Wesley started casually sidling over towards the weapons cabinet,keeping his hands in his pants pocket,being subtle so as not to alert her to his suspicions."Didn't I see you in Caritas?"
"Probably.I saw you.One of Shaft's guys,right?"
Saying that was enough to do it.He lunged for the weapons cabinet,but she suddenly wrapped what felt like a garotte around his neck,and slammed him back first against the edge of the desk,making him see white motes explode before his eyes as pain shuddered down his spine,electrical and raw.He reached up to try and pry the rubbery rope from his neck,but it seemed to cinch tighter as she leaned in beside him."Now,come on,Wesley-I don't want to hurt you,"she said,almost cheerfully,and Wesley suddenly realized she couldn't be the one attempting to strangle him,as she was at the wrong angle,and her hands,which he could see,were free.
Then the rope moved,slithering around his throat like a snake,and he realized it was her tail-she was a Stansin demon,after all. "I do,"another female voice interjected,somewhat familiar.The woman-was this the 'Helga' Angel had mentioned?-allowed him to turn his head enough to see it was Lia...holding a machete."I hate poncy British gits."
"Not now-we're not supposed to hurt him,remember?"A young man said,appearing from the corridor.He looked very similar to Bob,only with slightly lighter colored hair,and maybe ten (visible) years younger.And then another young man appeared,this one with visibly Asian features,but a passing resemblance to Bob-and bright cobalt Belial eyes.
Of the now half dozen people who now filled the lobby,all-save for Helga-had bright Belial eyes.The last to appear was Luke,carrying a rucksack that rattled when she put it down on the couch.
"What is the meaning of this?"Wesley croaked,grabbing part of Helga's tail around his throat.But he couldn't pry it off:her tail was far too strong.
"Shite,"Luke exclaimed,rolling her eyes,and throwing out her hands in exasperation."Nobody told him.Fuckin' idjits..."
"We just got here,"the Asian Belial explained.
"You're gonna help us,Wesley,"Helga said sweetly,loosening her tail a bit.
"Like hell I am,"he gasped,taking a needed deep breath,and wondering if there was any way he could escape. He had no idea what was going on here,but he had figured out one thing.
Bob had screwed them all.
It was decided they could take the car,because the streets had fallen eeriely silent.
There were still sirens in the distance,like screams from another life,but the people seemed to be either sitting stock still or milling about randomly,like autistics caught in some endless loop of personal,compulsive ritual.They gazed out at nothing with empty eyes,standing around burning cars,buildings,and people as if waiting for someone to yell 'action',but Angel knew what it meant was Bellara's attention was focused elsewhere,and these people were very close to burning out for good.Occasionally he had to drive around one sitting or standing in the middle of the road,and they never moved;they didn't even blink.
Angel had seen a lot of horrific things in his life-too much (many he was responsible for)-but something about this silent tableau of mindless people standing in a ruined city,flames and columns of black smoke blotting out the dim light of the quarter moon,made his sluggish veins as cold as ice.Watching them kill each other or themselves was somehow less horrible than this,and he wasn't completely sure why.
"It's weird,isn't it?"Bob said,quietly.This scene seemed to require silence,even from the gregarious Bob,sitting to his right in the front passenger seat.Cordy and Gunn sat in the back seat,with a huge pile of weapons between them,although Angel didn't know if any of them would be any good at all.
"What is?"Cordy replied.Angel was definitely picking up a vibe between these two,and he didn't like it one bit.Bob was a user-it was in his nature.
"We're going to be saving people-Humans-but it's Humans doing all this.Not the controlling,but it's Humans behind this-Nathan Reed,Wolfram and Hart.The paragon of animals,huh?"
"What?"Cordy asked him,and Angel could see her frowning in the rearview mirror.
"Shakespeare referrence,"Angel told her.
"I know that,"she replied crossly."I'm not an idiot.I just wondered where you were going with the comment,Bob."
"Going?Oh,nowhere-I was just thinking aloud about the general irony."
"But the thing that's coming out of the Hellmouth is gonna kill your kind as easily as ours,"Gunn said.He was guessing,but it was probably a damn good guess.
"I know,"Bob said,sighing."I just hope this works."
"What works?"Gunn shot back."Do we have a plan?If we do,why wasn't I informed?"
"Well...is hope a plan?"Bob wondered,looking out at the desolate streets beyond them.Angel thought he saw,out of the corner of his eye,a genuinely concerned look on Bob's face as he turned away.In itself,that was almost troublesome:Bob's carefully crafted persona was that of an Australian roustabout,a good old boy.When the mask slipped,there had to be trouble.
"How will we know when Wesley and what's her name-the spellcaster-have done their thing?"Cordy asked.It was a good question.
"I'll sense the disruption in Bellara's power,"Bob said,although he was still looking out at the street.He sounded far away,distant.
Cordelia heard it too.She sat forward,and rested a hand on Bob's shoulder."What is it?What's wrong?I mean,beyond everything."
He reached up and put his hand over hers,in a gesture far too affectionate for people who barely knew each other."If anything happens to me,Cordy,let my kids know I loved 'em,okay?"
She squeezed his shoulder in reassurance,and told him,in a soft,comforting voice,"Nothing's going to happen to you,Bob.You're stronger than all of us!We'll probably die long before you do."
"Oh,thanks,"Gunn interjected sarcastically.
"Not if I can help it,"Bob replied,and glanced over his shoulder to give her a brave-albeit weak-smile as Angel pulled the GTX into an alley beside a Mexican restaurant,less than half a block from the vacant lot in question.
"So,who wants what?"Gunn asked,sorting through the weapon pile as Angel parked the car."I'm taking an axe and a crossbow."
"And?"Angel wondered.
"Well,a couple of knives,a stake in case we run into a vamp...I think I forgot the holy water..."
"I should have brought my flame thrower,"Bob remarked,although
Angel thought he heard a tinge of sarcasm in that.He climbed out
of the car,and gave Cordy his hand,to help her out of the
car.She smiled and accepted his hand graciouly.
As he got out of the convertible,he saw Bob had helped Cordy
out,and pulled her immediately into a passionate kiss.Rather
than slug him,which Angel had hoped she would do,she wrapped her
arms tightly around him,and seemed to respond in kind.
He and Gunn shared an uncomfortable,mutually pissed look.Gunn
cleared his throat loudly,but they ignored him.Angel frowned
sourly as he pulled another axe from the pile,and slung a
crossbow on a strap around his shoulder.They'd have to stop
soon,if only to breathe.
Finally,they parted,and Cordelia looked up at him with
wide,astounded eyes."Wow-what was that for?"
"It was the only thing in life I hadn't done that I wanted to
do,"Bob told her,smoothing her bangs back from her
forehead."Sorry if I was presumptuous."
"Finally you're sorry about it,"Angel exclaimed,completely
exasperated.
They both continued to ignore him."Presumpt away,"Cordelia told
him,smiling slyly.
Bob smiled back,and Angel feared he was going to kiss her
again,but this time it was just an affectionate peck on the
forehead."If only there was time
Bob shrugged as he looked at them,turning away from Cordelia
reluctantly."Well,yes,I hope so.Come on,before we miss the fun."
"Don't you want any weapons?"Gunn gestured to the pile still on
the back seat,staring at him like he was stupid,crazy,or a
combination of both.
Bob looked at him curiously,raising an eyebrow,not quite smiling
but clearly amused."I have all the weapons I need."
Even though Angel knew what he meant,he still couldn't shake the
feeling there was something big Bob wasn't telling them.
He decided to trail behind,if only to keep an eye on their
Belial 'friend'.
They heard it-and smelled it-before they ever saw it.
Despite the sounds,thuds of skin on skin,wet hacking noises like
knives or axes chopping through fresh carcasses,there were no
screams,so shouts,just an occasional grunt of pain.They were so
far gone,even their own brutal deaths were hardly noticible to
them.
Then the wind shifted as they skulked around the long way,though
back alleys and parking lots,and the scent of blood was so
cloying and heavy in the air Angel felt mildly sickened even as
a cramp of deep hunger hit him again.Maybe they were too late
after all,in spite of the head's up from the Powers That Be.
A chain link fence at the end of a neighboring parking lot had
been cut by vandals,so they were able to sneak through it,and
behind the only cover the vacant lot offered-the fallen and
charred remains of the concrete foundation of the building that
used to be here:ironically,a church sponsored homeless
shelter,burned down last month under suspicious circumstances.
They hunkered down,hiding behind the charred support beams as
best they could,and looked on as about a dozen people,eyes as
empty as the sockets of a skull,slaughtered each other with
metal pipes and axes,their blows as regimented and coreographed
as a movie action scene.
They were too late to stop it-the fatal blows were delivered as
they watched,heads and limbs flying as blood fountained from
arterial wounds and bodies fell,the ground black and muddy from
previously spilt blood as demon minions of Wolfram and Hart came
onto the mock battlefield and dragged the fallen bodies away.
Watching from the sidelines,forming a small ring,were the main
players in this nightmare:Reed,several suited people who looked
like lawyers (although Angel did not personally recognize any of
them),Caliban and his demon familiar,Drusilla (!),and Bellara in
Marla's form-in fact,she was still wearing the same leather
skirt and pink halter top she had been wearing when Angel threw
her into the dumpster.You'd think Bellara would have bothered to
change clothes at some point.
Caliban said something-they were far enough away that the words
weren't clear,but he was pretty sure they were Aramaic-and
gestured to the sky as the ground started rumbling;mild at
first,it slowly built in intensity."Hell of a time for an
earthquake,"Gunn whispered.
"It's not an earthquake,"Angel whispered back."It's
starting.They're opening the Hellmouth."
"I guess we're too late all the way around,"Bob said,and that's
when Angel felt they were not alone.He looked back,and saw they
were surrounded by a combination of Wolfram and Hart security
and vampires,some armed with long stakes and tasers,others with
guns,and all the vampires were in game face,snarling hungrily at
Cordy and Gunn.
The others looked back,and saw they were surrounded."Shit,"Gunn
groaned.Which pretty much captured the general sentiment.
"Bob,do your stuff,"Cordy said.
But Bob stood up-the guards and vampires let him-and joined
their line,grimacing slightly at her."I'm sorry,darlin'-the need
to survive is paramount in all species."
Angel hinestly wished he was surprised.But even as it felt like
the bottom had fallen out of his stomach,he said grimly,"You
sold us out."
Bob shrugged a single shoulder."Not much choice,mate.But there
was no way in hell we could win,and I think you know that."
"You son of a bitch,"Cordy growled,and then she lunged to her
feet,screaming in rage,her face flushing with it."You son of a
bitch!"
A guard made to shock her with the taser,but Bob elbowed him
aside and grabbed Cordelia's arms firmly,trying to keep her from
hitting him."Honey,I'm sorry!I'll try and make it quick for
you,okay?"
"I trusted you,"she spat in his face,shedding angry
tears.Suddenly a confused look crossed her face,and Angel
realized he had 'sent' her something-what?
"Come on,love,get back down,"Bob said gently,as if she was
belligerent child,and Cordy kneed him in the groin.
He let her go as he stumbled back and doubled over,grabbing his
crotch in agony as a security guard shoved her violently to the
ground,and they all heard a click of cocking guns as one of the
guards ordered,"On your faces,hands behind your backs now.Or
we'll start taking you apart a limb at a time."
"You'd better do it to,Angel,"one of the vampires growled."Or
your girlfriend will pay for it a drop at a time."
"I'm not his girlfriend,asshole,"Cordelia snapped.But,at Angel's
look,they reluctantly obeyed,and they all laid on their stomachs
as the group of enforcers handcuffed their hands behind their
backs,probably more roughly and tightly than necessary.
"You're former L.A.P.D.,aren't you?"Gunn cracked,as a vampire
expertly cuffed him.
As Angel felt the cold steel snap around his wrists,he realized
they had probably left Wes at the hotel to die alone.
If they lived through this,he'd make Bob pay for this,a pound of
flesh at a time.And he'd be damned-well,again-if he ever trusted
a Belial for the rest of his existence.
Which looked like,in his estimation,five minutes and counting.
Handcuffed and helpless,they were taken down to the the
semi-circle of people awaiting the Hellmouth opening while the
ground continued to tremble like a beaten animal.
Angel found himself shoved into the custody of a Frenik demon
armed with a crossbow,who also had an oddly shaped burn mark on
his left cheek:it was almost shaped like a knife blade.The
Frenik kicked his legs out from under him,so he landed hard on
his knees on the miry ground,the scent of blood almost
overwhelming up close.He could feel the blood,still
tepid,soaking into his pantlegs.
He noticed Dru looking at him out of the corner of his
eye."Angel beast has come in time for the party,"she said,with a
small,tittering laugh.He didn't know why she was here,but he was
far from surprised:Dru and apocalypse went together like
chocolate and peanut butter.
He looked away,not wanting to see the gloating in her shining
blue eyes,and saw Cordy and Gunn were briefly uncuffed-guns
pressed to their temples the whole time-only to be handcuffed
around a charred metal pole that rose out of one corner of he
cement foundation.It could have been a former streetlight or
even basketball hoop post-he hd no idea,but it looked secure.But
that didn't prevent Gunn,as soon as the guards had moved
away,from trying to pull it over with nothing but his chained
wrists.
Angel felt something like a tremendous magnetic pull,and his
head
turned seemingly of its own volition,completely against his
will,until he was looking at Marla.No,Bellara in Marla's body.
"Angel,"she snarled,clearly having access to Marla's memories.He
felt pinned like a butterfly to a board:her power was
overwhelming,inescapable.Bob was so subtle you couldn't even
feel your world shift and slip away;but she was like a
bulldozer,tearing up and tearing down everything in its
path,overwhelming and drowning you in the sheer magnitude of her
power.He felt his own brain twist-honestly move-like a fish on
land,flopping desperately for water as it suffocated in air.
He grimaced in a pain so strange and disturbing it was almost
beyond pain,and he heard Dru laugh as the world threatened to
fall away around him,sounds as hollow and distant as if from
down a long metal tunnel,the view narrowing to a pinpoint.
After a moment of pressure-when it felt like his brain was being
squashed by a two ton weight-it eased up,and the world swam back
into focus,although he still felt as if he had been run over,and
was now looking out at the world-for some reason-through the
bottom of a glass.He was surprised to find he was still on his
knees:he would have sworn he was on the ground,as flat as a
pancake.
"I'm going to have so much fun with you,"Bellara growled,much to
Dru's delight.
Angel now realized death at the hands of whatever came out of
the mouth of the portal would be preferrable than that.Being one
of those empty,hollow eyed people-what had Bob called
them...meat puppets?-was a fate worse than death.
The air in the center of the bloody vacant lot seemed to shimmer
like heat waves in the desert as the ground started to fissure
with hair thin cracks,the mud slowly burbling into the gaps as
the portal grew,warping the view of everything behind and beyond
it,as if through a funhouse mirror.
Angel lost all track of Bob,until he appeared beside Caliban and
his Sri-thal familiar."Howdy mates,"he said jovially."So,what's
comin' up?"
Caliban cast a disdainful look at Bob,then ignored him,staring
at the burgeoning Hellmouth instead,hands tucked inside the
sleeves of his long black cerimonial robe.
But the Sri-thal answered him in its own language,which sounded
like a series of deep,long burps issued from its diaphragm.Bob
nodded as if he understood,and then answered in a similar
manner,making his voice as deep as humanly (Belial-y?) as
possible.He had no idea he spoke Sri-thal.
They continued burp talking away happily,and Bob's guards
started backing up,both bored and trying to avoid the spittle,as
Caliban began intoning another spell,to hasten the birthing of
the Hellmouth.
The Frenik planted a hard boot in between his shoulder
blades,sending him face down into the mud,ass in the air because
he was still on his knees.Before he could straighten up into a
more dignified position,the Frenik pressed the arrow tip of the
crossbow to his skull,and said,"Move and I nail you to the
spot,dickhead."
Angel could feel the warm blood beneath his left cheek,imbuing
the dirt,making it mud,and the smell brought out his vampire
side unbidden (or maybe it was the proximity of the new
Hellmouth-he really didn't know).He was running out of time to
do anything,if there was anything to do.
He really didn't care-if he was going to die,he was going to die
fighting.Now he just had to figure out how to do that.
Gunn continued trying to yank the pole out of the
ground,until the metal cuffs cut so deeply into his wrists he
could feel blood making the cuffs slick and slippery.But in a
way,that was good-maybe he could slip out of them.
Of course,he had no idea what he'd do after that,the bastards
took all his weapons,but killing Bob sounded like a real capital
idea.
Then,as the ground continued quaking like Jello,Cordy moved
around until she came shoulder to shoulder with him,and
whispered,"Did you hear that?"
He listened,and not only did he hear it,he felt it;a small
crack,almost directly beneath their feet,that seemed to cut a
jagged path across the cement foundation that held the pole in
place.It was loose;not wildly so-it was still embedded in a big
hunk of concrete-but maybe,working together,they could knock it
over and free themselves.
He didn't even need to tell her.He simply looked into her wide
hazel eyes,still red rimmed from angry tears,and gave her a
single nod.She returned it,her expression strangely calm
considering all the hell going on around them.
And together,they started to slowly but surely topple the pole.
A vortex of wind kicked up,screaming like a banshee but
enclosed with the semi-circle,the newly emerging Hellmouth both
its source and its calm center,as the fissures in the bloody mud
united to make a deep crack in the middle of the lot,the air
above it no longer simply undulating and twisting,but no
beginning to take on a strange glow,a dark but hellish light:old
blood through a neon filter.
And Angel didn't realize anything was wrong until he noticed
Drusilla had dropped her doll.
It wasn't Miss Edith-she had been lost long ago.But it was a
porcelain headed doll much like her,which made a small plop as
it hit the mud.In the cacophony and chaos of the ritual,no
one-even Bellara,standing closest to her-noticed.But Angel knew
Dru,and he knew her moods:she never dropped her 'children'
unless something dire was occurring.
He saw the nearly ecstatic expression on her pale face had
turned to one of slow blooming but certain horror,her azure eyes
darkening and possessing none of the mirth they had before.Dru
slowly turned her head,and looked towards Bob.Moving his eyes
alone,so did Angel.
Bob was still standing next to the towering,reptilian Sri-thal,a
menacing presence of grey scales and golden eyes as big as his
fist,wrapped in a hooded robe of crimson,but the Sri-thal looked
like it was swaying ever so slightly on its large,three toed
feet.
Swaying in the same exact rhythm as the vampire guards behind
Bob,and Bob himself.Bob was saying something...no,singing
something,under his breath;inaudible to all,torn away by the
hellish wind,but Angel was just able to pick it up,gifted with
sharp vampire hearing."...twisting hollow hell,the truth can't
hear me,"Bob whispered.It could have been a spell,a song,or
something in between-he wasn't really sure."Cursed by my own
mind,your heart can't hear me..."
Angel almost laughed,but restrained the urge.Had Bob pulled the
rare and tricky triple cross?
No one noticed.Not Nathan Reed,standing in the direct midpoint
of the semi-circle holding-of all things-a briefcase,like he was
on his way to a meeting;Caliban,still spellcasting,shouting to
be heard over the growing tempest,unaware the mind of his
sponsor demon may have just been ripped out from under him;not
the Frenik demon,who was still determined to have him face down
in the mud;or even Bellara,whose lambent electric blue eyes were
directed at the growing distortion of the Hellmouth,but still
seemed distracted,her mind partially back with her 'meat
puppets',the ones she left standing in the street.
Only Dru seemed to notice,and Bob noticed her.He smiled at her,a
seductive smile that was honestly cold at its core,and he said
something to her that Angel couldn't catch this time,but he was
pretty sure he read his lips.Bob said to Drusilla:"A battle of
wits with an unarmed opponent is so dull,isn't it,love?"
God-Bob had to have a set of big brass cajones.And a major
league death wish.No wonder he'd kept talking about death back
at the car.
Dru started backing away,making a sort of troubled keening
noise,but it was mostly lost in the howling winds.Dru must have
been cognizant of that,as she was backing straight towards
Bellara.
Bob made his move then.He gestured back towards his vampire
guards-what he said to them Angel couldn't catch-but suddenly
they all exploded into dust,their screams lost in the
maelstrom,their remains instantly lost in the grit circling the
edge of the vortex like a star's event horizon.
Dru had just bumped into Bellara's shoulder as Bob stabbed the
Sri-thal between the shoulder blades with his ornate,Gods
blessed dagger.
And that's when hell really broke loose.
For a moment,it was like time had stopped around the vortex of
the forming Hellmouth,but inside it was
distorted,overlapping,chasing its own tail like a dog,making
curious circles.
The instant the blade punctured the Sri-thal,the tornado of
warped,blood hued light in the center of the lot spasmed as if
physically hit,and Caliban,startled,turned towards his
familiar,anger naked on his face.But the moment he turned,he
found himself staring straight into Bob's electric,consumptive
eyes.
Angel did not hear what Bob said,but again read his lips.He
spoke only two words to the warlock:"Massive coronary."
Caliban fell to his knees,possibly trying to cast a spell that
would send Bob to some dark pit somewhere,but all he could do
was make a sort of choking noise as he gasped for breath that
was not entering his lungs,grabbing his chest with his one good
arm,as his left arm hung loosely,functionless,at his side.
Angel felt the tip of the arrow disappear from the back of the
skull,and twisted his head painfully to see the Frenik was
alarmed and distracted by what was going on.Angel lashed out a
single foot in a donkey kick that hit the Frenik's knee straight
on,snapping it with a crack as loud as a rifle shot.
The Frenik screamed and fell onto his one good knee as he raised
his crossbow,but as Angel rolled over onto his back he knocked
it aside with his legs before slamming both feet hard into the
Frenik's face.The Frenik was down in the mud,allowing Angel to
jump up to his feet before the armed guards rushed in.
At the same time,Bob's head snapped back violently,as if he'd
just taken a hard upper cut,and he stumbled back on rubbery legs
before collapsing to the mud on all fours.It was easy to see
why:Bellara was glaring at him,focusing her rage on him.She was
shouting,so he could easily hear her-her voice half Marla's,half
something else."Traitorous bloodchild!Do you think you can get
the better of me,you weak,pathetic suckling?!Blood does not
attack blood!"
A guard armed with a taser charged Angel,but he spun into a high
kick and caught him flush in the jaw,knocking him aside and out
as he struggled to regain his balance.Having his hands cuffed
behind his back was throwing off his center of gravity,and the
quivering,muddy ground was no help either,but he managed not to
fall over as a guard with a stake came at him,and in spit of the
guard's attempt at evasion,Angel caught him with a snap kick in
the throat that sent him reeling away,gagging for breath.
The handcuffs must have been heavy duty and reinforced;Angel
couldn't break them,no matter how hard he tried.He had to give
them credit-Wolfram and Hart had thought of
everything.Well,almost everything.
Angel decided to go for Nathan Reed when suddenly he could no
longer feel his body.Save for his brain,which felt like it was
being crushed in a giant's fist.
He didn't know if he was standing or had fallen;he would have
screamed,except he was no longer in control of his vocal cords.
His vision narrowed and started moving away from him,noises
narrowing to a sort of a murmur heard through a drainpipe,but he
heard Bellara,loud and clear in his mind:"You're
mine,Angel.Where do you think you're going?"
He could not even muster a coherent thought as a response-the
pain was too great,and he felt lost in darkness,swamped,black
waves like water crashing over his head,filling him,swallowing
him whole.
But then suddenly he heard another voice in his
head;strong,clear,and cold as liquid nitrogen:"Deal with me
first,bitch."
Bob.
The darkness instantly receded,like a river suddenly and
completely diverted elsewhere,and Angel stumbled as Bellara
released him,reality crashing back down around him like it had
just fallen to earth.
Dru,who had retreated behind Bellara,was staring at Bob
still,face as pale as the hidden moon,but now her eyes had
narrowed to her angry slits as she glared at him."He's not
alone,"she hissed,continuing to retreat."He's brought crashers
to the party."Dru wheeled away and ran off into the dark as
Bellara stared at Bob-still on all fours on the muddy ground-in
utter bewilderment.He didn't need to be a telepath to know she
was thinking that Bob could not possibly be fighting back,not in
a successful manner.
But Bob got back up to his feet,momentarily unsteady but quickly
recovering,and when he looked at Bellara,they all got a bit of a
shock:Bob's eyes were orbs of pure,glowing neon blue.There were
no longer any whites or pupils-just pure,radiant blue energy.And
when he spoke,there were maybe a half dozen voices of various
genders layered beneath his,echoing like a small crowd
attempting to speak in unison without a script."Your time has
passed,Bellara.You don't belong here anymore."
The eye of the Hellmouth hurricane continued to grow-the spell
was too far gone,even though Caliban was face down on the
ground,not moving and possibly not even breathing anymore-and
the ground seemed to jerk as the chasm in the ground gaped
wider,and Angel stumbled in an attempt to keep his footing as
two guards charged him in unison.Nathan Reed was shouting
orders,but Angel couldn't hear them.
Angel spun into another high kick,taking down one guard,then
charged the other,hitting him squarely in the midsection with
his shoulder;the guard's breath left him in a solid 'oof' before
momentum carried him straight over Angel's back and face first
onto the ground.
Angel noticed,out of the corner of his eye,the pole holding Gunn
and Cordy had toppled over,and they were busily trying to free
themselves from it.In all the chaos,the guards had yet to notice
them.
He looked back towards Bob and Bellara,and saw they were both
standing ramrod straight,attempting to stare each other
down,muscles and veins in both their arms standing out like
cords and cables,as if psychically fighting on a mental
landscape;what he dismissed initially as mud on Bob's face
turned out to be blood.Bob was bleeding from his strange and
angry eyes,rivulets of cerulean dribbling down his cheeks like
tears,but he did not back down;he did not flinch or look
away.And Bellara had gone from startled and pissed to confused
and scared.
Angel was so fascinated by the quiet,life or death psychic
battle going on between them (Dru had said he was not alone-was
he 'channeling' something?Had he invoked his own possession in
hopes that what took him would be strong enough to take on
Bellara?) that he was blindsided;the remains of a charred wooden
support beam slammed hard into the side of his head,hard enough
to send him crashing down to one knee,stars exploding briefly
before his eyes before his vision solidified.
It was Drusilla,wielding a piece of building wreckage.
"Angel beast,you always ruin my fun,"she said poutily,swinging
the post again.
He intended to block the blow with his arm,but he belatedly
realized his hands were still cuffed behind him before the post
smashed into his head again,and he fell over on his
side,consciousness reeling as he felt his own cold blood
starting to trickle down a new gash on the side of his scalp.
Dru raised the post,either to hit him again or shove it through
his heart,but Angel used a sweep kick to take her legs out from
under her,and she let out a yelp of surprise as she fell on her
ass and he rolled up to his feet."Haven't you learned
yet,Dru?"He asked,kicking her in the face and sending her
falling onto her back."You and Hellmouths just don't mix."
Dru rolled aside,out of his immediate range,and grabbed the
beam,swinging it like a baseball bat as she rose to her
feet,snarling angrily."You're going to burn;you'll burn for an
eternity."She snapped,as Angel kicked out and broke the support
beam in half,the near part flying away before it could hit him.
But rather than solve the problem,the beam had gone from a foot
and a half long blunt ended lance to a nine inch,jagged ended
post.
Okay,maybe he shouldn't have done that.
But Dru seemed to look past his shoulder and smile at something
behind him."Mmmm,he's so evil,"she said happily,a small smile
gracing her face."He will have meat cakes for tea."Angel could
see the reddish brown light reflected in her eyes,and he
knew,with a lurch in his stomach,that the Hellmouth had opened
enough to allow something to come through to this dimension.
They were too late.
