Fic: Shanshu 43 - Fight. Fight. Fight.

[dragonyphoenix]

Title: Fight, Fight, Fight
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 473 - Feculent
Rating: PG
Summary: Another chapter for Shanshu
Word Count: 1118

If there was anything Willow hated, it was being frozen in place as the big scary came at her with a weapon, and, okay, the woman, Ash, wasn't all that scary and she certainly wasn't very big, but she did have a sharp-looking dagger aimed straight at Willow's chest. “Have you really thought this whole stabbing idea through, because as a lifestyle choice, major carnage isn't as satisfying as you might think.”

Ash stopped and winked at her which, okay, she would be sort of attractive if she wasn't holding that dagger but did she really think this was a good time to flirt? And then Ash turned the dagger on herself and stabbed into her own stomach doing one of those circular hara-kiri deals. The first thing to hit Willow was a whiff of a feculent stench and why did the body do that? You think, you know, dignity in death or something would keep the bowels shut tight. The second thing to hit Willow was that Ash's magic was all that had been holding them frozen. She tested it, checking for freedom of movement by wiggling her fingers. “Spike, we can move. Come on.”

At least they still had the spears they'd been fighting with when they'd been frozen. Before the demon bug guards could figure out what was up, Willow had the car door open and was dragging Spike through. Good, there was a car between them and the demons at least, although that wasn't going to do much good given how many demons there were.

“Willow, you've got to kill me.”

“What? No, we've been over this. No dying on my watch, and besides I can get us out of here.”

“Yeah, and they'll just keep coming, won't they? Only thing to stop this is my death.”

“No,” Willow said. “We can find a way, we always find a way, and anyway, Buffy's here. That's as good as the cavalry, Mister, and don't you forget it.”

Spike looked over and stared at Buffy. Well, that was good, right? He'd had those big feelings for her and, okay, Buffy was with Angel now and, uh, where was the good in this?

“So it's hundreds of demons against you, me, Buffy, three Slayers, and, hey, is that Webb?”

“Web? Like a spider?”

“No, Webb as in the bastard who talked blood at me every time he saw me. Bugger, he knew I'd been a vamp. We are so going to talk when this is all over.”

Oh, and good. At least Spike was past the whole you need to kill me thing, okay and just in time because that hiding on the other side of the car idea? Not so clever that the demons couldn't figure it out. Willow swung her spear around, not really hitting any of the demons but making them jump back, but then one of them sort of flipped his spear and hers was knocked to the ground. Great, just what she needed: death by praying mantis.

Hey, wait a minute. Praying mantis? “Spike, I've got an idea. Keep them off of me a minute.” Okay, she didn't have a recording of bat sonar but she was a big deal in the Wicca department. She could do this.

*scrreeeeeeeeeee* Hey, it worked, at least on the closest demons. Oh, but it looked like Buffy could use some help. Time to pump up the volume: *scrreeeeeeeeeee*

“Could you not do that?” Spike shouted.

“Sort of have to keep it up,” Willow shouted back. “At least until the bugs are dead.”

“Right then. For sanity and silence, let's get this done.” Spike and the four Slayers were tearing through the bug demons at a good pace but those weren't the only demons. There weren't many of the white mask, tree-bark wearing demons but they had magic. Willow just hoped she could hold them off long enough for the Slayers to work their way through the rest of the guards. Okay, and maybe she'd just jinxed herself because those three sister demons turned on her and, damn but they were powerful.

“Buffy, those three, if they get through my shields I won't be able to keep the bat sonar spell going.”

“And that's a problem?” Spike shouted as Buffy threw herself at the demons. And then she went flying back a good hundred feet. Oh, right, powerful magics. At least Buffy got to her feet again. And, okay, shields starting to be a problem, but then the three other Slayers leaped at the three demons and the demon magic didn't seem to work on them – and what was up with that? – and apparently the three sister demons didn't have much in the way of fighting skills because the Slayers made mincemeat out of them. The rest of the white mask demons vanished, leaving only the demon bug guards, still disabled by Willow's spell, behind.

Oh, and hey, a couple of vans full of Slayers. They didn't seem to like the bat sonar anymore than Spike did but they sure did make short work out of the remaining demons. Wesley and Andrew made their way out of the van more slowly. Willow could see Angel, hiding from the sun in the back of the van, protected by the necrotizing glass. Why'd he even come, anyway, if he couldn't help?

Andrew seemed to be acting as some sort of cheerleader for the Slayers as Wesley ignored them completely. “Do you know where the artifacts are?”

“Uh, artifacts?” Hey, she'd been in a demon dungeon for weeks, well weeks on her end and only days here but still, how was she supposed to know anything about artifacts? “The demons in charge were over there.”

She raced over after Wesley. He picked up two things, which Willow guessed were the artifacts. One seemed to be made of iron and looked like an eye, a pupil quartered by two lines and zigzags in the white part sort of making it a really red eye. The other was a shallow platter, silver, with a wave-like pattern on the outer surface.

A tap on the shoulder about sent Willow careening into the air. “Spike!”

“Sorry, Red. It's just, demons are dead. Can turn off the racket now.”

“Oh, okay.” Ah, silence. That did sound better.

Wesley glanced around as if only noticing the bat sonar by its absence. “We need to destroy these artifacts. Living flame should do it, but I don't have the supplies with me. According to Andrew there's a magical supply shop about a dozen blocks that way.”

“Right,” Spike said. “Let's get this done before something else comes along and tries to use me to end the world.”