Hyperion Hotel - 2:00 AM
"Well now that's interesting." The handsome warlock said to himself in a voice that was very much unlike the french accent that his bodies original inhabitant spoke.
He stared now into a long mirror, admiring his own shirtless form. He'd shaved his white hair, leaving only a bald scalp. And several protective tatoo's covered his chest.
"I suppose it'll do. For now. But but how on earth am I to carry on without a name." He said to no one in particular.
"No... 'me' just won't do. I need something appropriate. Something that's says... I'm a go getter whose going places." He said lifting his chin up, and letting his shoulders drop.
"Once I have a name I can figure out why I'm here. Something is out there... I can feel it... her. Yes, definitely a her. Powerful, strong. She seeks something, or someone.
Red... red and bloody. Oh... my she is a mess." He pronounced to no one boldly.
Surely not... little old me? He thought to himself.
"I mean, am I an angel sent from another realm to safeguard the innocent? Or a demon from the bowels of some terrific hell to scourge and maim?" He paused.... palming a small knife in a protective pose, then in a threatening one....
"Or maybe I'm supposed to bake the perfect pie?" He laughed at himself, and fell into a nearby chair. Looking in vain for the remote he raised his hand.
"aktyvinti..." He commanded simply, and the television in the corner turned on. The news broadcast blared out a repeated report from the 11 o'clock news hour.
City Hall still refuses act in coordination with national objectives outlined by...
"City hall? Governance, control... interesting." He said curiously, and listened intently.
Suddenly the essence of a memory surfaced... a faded fragment... like a folded dream inside a mental blur.
"Cordelia!... Where are you, I think I've remembered something!" The young warlock yelled out, and needing to announce it to someone who might understand.
---
Streets of L.A. 2:30 AM
She was gone... Cho Ahn was just too fast. It was like trying to keep up with a ghost, just when Gunn thought she was there, she vanished.
"Gettin' slow in your old age Chuck", He said to himself spitefully. Giving up he headed back. The streets now were abandoned except for the homeless and the ill-fated, and folks just now leaving the clubs. Angel had called it his primetime, and Gunn had learned that if someone needed help from the forces of evil, it was never before 1 am.
Blocks away from the new office, Gunn got an odd feeling. Suddenly the sound of a struggle permeated the night air.
"No don't! Help!" The scream was muffled as it escaped. Someone was in dire need of help, and Gunn didn't waste a moment.
The back alley led to an abandoned warehouse, the front doors of which were splayed open. Blood stained the ground in front, several drips of which soaked into asphalt pavement and glistened as Gunn approached. In the corner two figures were revealed as he entered. The first crouched over the second. He recognized the behavior... feeding.
"Man... you are legit." Came a dark voice from the direction of the figures. The feeder stood, his mouth covered in blood.
"Oh look, it's a vampire." Gunn said incredulously. "I guess I should be scared."
"But you're not. You either really dumb or really brave." Said a second voice. This one was female. The second figure, the one Gunn thought to be the victim stood up slowly, her slender frame draped with a simple blood red dress, and combat boots. Her face was covered in blood, oddly it dripped from her face but disappeared soon after it the hit the ground.
Gunn pulled the short sword from it's hidden spot under his coat. Suddenly the door slammed shut behind him. Two more vampires emerged from the shadows.
"Both apparently." Gunn responded, realizing he'd been setup. He cursed himself, he'd just talked about sticking with a team to Cho Ahn, and here he was all by his lonesome. It would have been funny, but Gunn wasn't in the mood to laugh.
"The mighty Charles Gunn. Likes to play at being a big bad vampire slayer." said the tallish male vampire, who wiped the blood from his jowel's.
"Nah, no Slayer, he don't got no powers." the woman said in a sickly sinister and southern accent. Her skin was pale and hear and there was a scar. Here eyes were dark chasm's surrounded by pale white, her face though streaming with blood, was beautiful and haunting. She was tall, almost as tall as him, but her frame didn't seem quite right.
"That's right, nothin' but me and my itty bitty blade here, I'm helples... why don't you come over here and find out." Gunn said bristling at the approach of more of the creatures minions.
"Ya' used to work with Angelus I hear, one of his lackeys. They want you dead, and dey pay well."
"His name is Angel, and I ain't nobodies lackey. Now you got a name southern belle?"
"I'm called Mary by you folks...Bloody Mary." She announced plainly, then tilted her head to side. She was like something out of a nightmare, a ghastly sight, one that made Gunn's blood run cold. Vampires' he was used to... demon's too... but this was altogether something else.
"Really? That's inspired. Let me guess... someone said your name into a mirror to many times?" Gunn palmed his phone in his pocket and
dialed the office phone, hoping that someone might answer and hear what was happening.
"I'm smart enough not to be afraid of a few thugs and lady who likes to play creepy cosplay
inside a warehouse on 109th past a burnt out gas station." Gunn said giving his position as best he could.
"I'm much more then apparition. I got power you ain't dreamed off, strength immortal itself. I'm a survivor Charlie..." She said as her eyes did something odd, and Gunn couldn't help but feel a wave of fear and regret wash over him. He ignored it, stubbornly.
"World's on edge Gunn, powers are shifting, yer' small but you gotta a role to play... If I wanted to kill ya' you'd be dead. What I want is you...to work...for me." she said almost seductively.
"I'm sorry... what? You are aware that I kill things like you?" Gunn responded, shocked that she would even propose something so ludicrous.
"There are
no things like me." Mary said, hinting at something Gunn was beginning to suspect. This wasn't some vampire... this was something more.
"Whole city feelin' it, L.A. is gonna be da' place where the big ol' battle goes down... you and yer' people are gonna be in it. You gonna need power...and I have more then your little ol' brain can imagine. We join together, we can make this world just how we want it when the time comes."
"You're insane. My momma always taught me to avoid alliances with crazy bleeding vampire in burnt out warehouses on 109th street.... well maybe not that last bit. Still..."
"Now is that anyway to treat a new friend. Maybe ya' need some persuadin'?" She nodded.
Suddenly too large vamps' came at Gunn at full speed. Gunn side stepped the one, but the other connected to his jaw with a powerful punch. Getting up, Gunn tangled with the second vampire, using a judo technique to flip the half demon, and then bury a stake in his chest.
The second vampire wasn't as eager and backed off as Gunn got to his feet, he didn't a get a chance to retreat, as Gunn send a throwing knife soaked in holy water into neck. The half demon clutched at his throat screaming in pain, and in moment he burst into flames, as the holy water reached the hear.
"Come on then, whose next?" Gunn said readying himself for what thought would be another tussle.
The other vampires backed off... and Mary stepped forward.
"Someone needs to teach you manners..." She said as she stepped towards Gunn, who was now cornered against a large concrete column.
Gunn swung the blade as hard as he could, putting everything he had behind a decapitating blow. The metal of the sword stopped just inside Mary's neck, with a dull thud. The sharp blade, though it opened a wound, seemed not to truly phase her. Gunn didn't get a second swing. Grabbing the sword with one hand Mary pulled it from his hands and flung him into a stack of old wooden boxes.
"Watch the doors... I don't want any interruptions to our...private time." Mary said to the remaining to vampires, and turned back to the manner at hand.
Gunn struggled to stand, but within a moment, Mary was on top of him, pummeling him with a quick series of rabbit punches, each striking his stomach and ribs in rapid succession. Trying to block one of the punches, Gunn succeeded only in nearly breaking his arm. Gunn spun back, retrieved a wooden splinter from one of the broken boxes, and tried slamming it home in Mary's torso. Mary swatted him away, pulled the splinter free and stared gleefully at his futility. Throwing it aside she landed several powerful strikes to Gunn, finally she nailed him a perfectly timed combat boot to his mid section, sending him through a drywall separator and into an old break room.
"If it makes you feel any better, you fight well. Most normal men lose their minds the moment I enter a room, course that could be because of my ravishing good looks." She said tossing her her soaked bloody hair aside and came closer to Gunn's injured form.
"Now...I won't kill you... but I have a way with mortals, and you, big strong man that you are... are very much a mortal." She said reaching down to pull Gunn upwards.
Gunn dazed and semi conscious, was pulled to his feet, as Bloody Mary grabbed him by his shirt collar... bringing him close, she gave him a long lingering kiss, the blood from her open wounds soaking into his face.
"Now, let's talk about whose side you're on...", she said with a disgusting smile drenched in blood.
Gunn, found one last ounce of strength, and pulled a small knife like object from his sleeve, and shoved it into Mary's eye. The woman shuddered and screeched a moment dropping Gunn and scratching at her face to remove it.
"Bone shard from an Agalia Demon Beast... hurts like hell doesn't it." he retorted, as he felt oddly warm and fuzzy, and could no longer stand. He could feel himself losing strength, as if his soul was being overcome by a force that was just beyond his ability to resist... he needed the Calvary...and soon.
