The Night-Hawk - Series 1: 102: Luthor – Act 4
by Timan
Brett woke up sharply when he felt himself being thrust into a seat. Anxiously he looked around. He was in a semi destroyed building with a line of computer servers lining the back wall. In front of him sat a terminal blinking a password request.
“You will use this machine to free the others” Thi’Ni demanded
Brett craned his head to look up at the towering demon standing behind him.
“I-I don’t know how I did it the first time.” Brett replied nervously
Thi’Ni slammed one of his large hands down on Brett shoulder. The pain rushed through the hacker’s body like lightning.
“You Will use this machine to free the others or you will be decimated.”
Brett scouted the room behind him. Directly next to him was the eight foot Thi’Ni and behind him standing in a semicircle were the other ten demons that were waiting for action. With no other choice he turned back to the computer and began to type. He wasn’t sure what his next move was but he knew he had to think of something quick.
Nighthawk paced backwards and forwards in the mansion. Near by sat The Wanderer and Megan.
“There’s gotta be a way of stalling them,” Nighthawk said, “At least until we can get Brett away from the systems.”
“We could try the witches again.” The Wanderer suggested
“It an option but I don’t think we can get to the coven and to Techno-Pagans house in time.”
Megan thought about this. She rummaged around in her backpack. Megan pulled out the hexagonal device they use for demon trapping.
“I might have an idea,” Megan said, “But we’re not going to have much time when we get there.”
Thi’Ni paced impatiently behind the hacker. He snarled as Brett typed in command after command.
“What is the delay? Why can you not release the others from these machines?” he growled
“It’s not like picking a lock,” Brett explained trying to hide his panic, “there’s too many thing that could go if I go quickly.”
Thi’Ni glared at the small man. With a growl he yanked Brett out of his chair.
“You are trying to stall for time,” he boomed, “If you do this again I will shred you into thousands of pieces.”
Brett gave up on hiding his fear and sat back down. He was about start typing when an arrow sailed over his shoulder and hit the screen. The hacker dropped to the floor as sparks fly out. Thi’Ni screamed in frustration as he turned to see Nighthawk slowly lowering her bow. Pushing some of the demons aside he stalked up to the small red head.
“I told you this is not your issue Slayer!” he growled
Nighthawk shrugged.
“I never was good at staying out of other demons business.” Nighthawk replied
Thi’Ni smiled and folded his immense arms.
“The numbers are against you,” he explained smugly, “there is no way to gain victory through battling us.”
Nighthawk walked straight up.
“Never go on what you see.” She replied
Moving quickly she rolled through his legs and got back onto her feet. She drew her sword and readied herself for the fight. As the demons surrounded her Hope flew in and landed on one of the roof railings. Noticing this Nighthawk closed her eyes and concentrated. When Penny first linked with the Night-Hawk she gained a few extra abilities. Aside from the extra jump height and the teleporting she also gained the ability to see from the bird’s perspective. This is handy especially when you’re surrounded and someone’s trying to make a move on you from behind.
And this is exactly what happened. One of the demons standing directly behind Nighthawk charged. Seeing this through hopes eyes Nighthawk dropped down on one knee and held the sword over her head. Not having much time to react the demon was skewered straight through the heart. She pulled out the sword and decapitated a second demon who tried to charge. While this was happening Megan slipped around the side and made her way to Brett who was hiding on the floor. She tapped him on the shoulder getting his attention.
“Come on.” She said quietly
The Techno-Pagan leads the hacker out the side where The Wanderer was waiting. Brett breathed a sigh of relief
“Thank god,” he exclaimed, “I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out.”
Megan wasn’t listening. She rummaged around in his back pack and handed him a crystal and a piece of paper with Sumerian phrases written phonetically.
“What the hell is this?” he asked
“You’re gonna help us stop these demons.” She said seriously
“No I’m not I’m gonna get the hell out of here.” Brett replied
Brett tried to leave but The Wanderer stopped him.
“You’re not going anywhere son,” He replied, “The nice lady in the building, you know the one who’s risking her neck to save yours, is going to need help. And you’re going to give it clear?”
Brett saw something in the old mans eyes that sent a shiver up his spine.
“Clear.” Brett replied cautiously
Back inside Nighthawk was doing her best to buy the rest of the group some time. Thi’Ni had had enough of this slayers antics and barged into the centre of the circle. He grabbed her by the throat and thrusted her into the air. Nighthawk struggled against the strength of the giant demon but it was no good.
“I grow weary of your constant interferences Slayer,” he boomed as he slowly squeezed the life out of her, “I think it’s time you joined your kin in the next life.”
Nighthawk found it harder and harder to breath. She summoned up enough strength to reach behind her jacket and drop the Techno-Pagan device onto the floor. Just as she felt her wind pipe close completely she heard the sounds of three people talking in unison. Thi’Ni flinched and began to stagger slightly. His grip loosened enough for Nighthawk to break free and leap out of his range. The giant demon swived around wildly to see Megan, The Wanderer and Brett in a semi circle around them holding out crystals and chanting in Sumerian. He growled wildly as Nighthawk too up her position in the circle.
As she joined in a beam of energy connected each crystal forming an energy ring that trapped the nine demons inside. The demons tried to break free but the magic was too strong for them. The device, which Nighthawk dropped onto the floor, began to glow. The symbols grew brighter and brighter until a brilliant beam of light filled the entire ring. There was a loud explosion and all were thrown back. Once again Megan sat up and straightened her glasses. The demon hoard was gone and the device lay smouldering in the centre of the ring.
Brett looked around confused.
“Where did they all go?” he asked
“In here,” Megan explained as she checked the device
Brett collected himself of the floor and walked over.
“No way.” He exclaimed, “How the hell can that thing do that?”
“It’s a converter,” Megan replied
“Save the explanations for later.” Nighthawk replied as she and The Wanderer joined the both of them, “We got to work out where to put them.”
Megan finished checking the device and frowned
“Actually we got a bigger problem then that,” she replied
“What?”
“I think we overloaded the converter,” Megan explained, “It was designed to hold only one demon at a time for a maximum of an hour and a half.”
Nighthawk looked at the smouldering converter.
“How long do we have now?” she asked
“I’d say about five minutes before the demons break out.”
“What are we going to do?” Brett asked
Not wasting a moment Megan pulled out her laptop and her cell. She quickly connected the converter and began to work.
“We have to move them digitally,” she replied typing furiously, “I hope that the other covens systems are online.”
After a long period of typing she swore to herself.
“Damn it! They’ve closed off their connections!” Megan yelled shooting an angry look over to Brett, “Probably to stop their systems getting infected.”
“We don’t have any choice,” Nighthawk replied, “Find anything you can use as a weapon. We’re gonna have to fight them head on once they get free.”
The Wanderer and Megan scrambled around the room to see what they could use to fight. Brett stared at the laptop screen felling completely responsible. Then something occurred to him.
“Hey how are the demons sent?” he asked
“What?” Megan replied
“Is it a complete file or is it in packets?”
“In packets why?”
Hearing that Brett quickly jumped onto the laptop and began to work. Megan stormed over furious.
“What the hell do you think your doing?” she yelled
“Saving our asses if people would stop talking!” he replied
After writing the final code he hit enter. A progress meter appeared on the screen and the bright glowing light emanating from the converter slowly began to dim. After a moment the light went out and the screen flashed ‘upload complete’. Brett stood up smugly and gassed over to a completely confused.
“What just happened?” she asked
“Simple,” Brett replied, “I modified your demon transfer system to include the Luthor delivery program. I had to shut down my virus to do it but it was worth it.”
“For those of us who spend time outside what does that mean?” The Wanderer asked
“It means that every computer hooked up to the internet has a small piece of the demons.”
“But isn’t there a chance they can still get out?” Nighthawk asked
“Millions of pieces on millions of computers I severely doubt it,” Brett replied, “You can conceder them beaten.”
The group stood around quietly. Brett frowned and folded his arms.
“Don’t all thank me at once.” He said annoyed
“Wasn’t planning on thanking you at all since it was your fault!” Megan snapped back
The two of them began to argue. The Wanderer walked up next to Nighthawk.
“I think we better leave them. This looks like it’s going to take a while.”
Back at the abandoned mansion Penny finished talking on her cell.
“Looks like I’m going back to work tomorrow,” she said, “The virus shut it’s self down and they managed to get all the missing stuff back.”
“So you didn’t get in trouble leaving half way through the day?” The Wanderer asked
“Actually I don’t think they noticed I was gone.”
“And that’s bad?”
“Well no, I guess, it’s just kinda depressing.”
“Then I guess you’re just going to have to settle on the satisfaction of fighting evil.”
“I suppose.”
The both of them sat quietly for a moment. Suddenly the door to the room they work on opened and Brett and Megan walked in. Penny and The Wanderer looked at each other confused. Brett placed the computer he was carrying on the floor.
“See I told you this place was a bitch to get to by car.” He said
“We’ll if you looked at the map like I told you we would have been here sooner,” mean replied placing her bags on the ground then smiling at The Wanderer and Penny, “hey guys.”
“Hi . . . What are you doing here?” Penny asked
“Came to help.” Brett replied, “You know fight the good fight or whatever.”
“Weren’t you guys fighting when we left?”
“Yeah but we talked it over and figured that you two are going to need all the help you can get.” Megan replied
“We’ve been doing fine so far.” The Wanderer commented
“And what if another computer problem comes up huh?” Brett replied sarcastically, “I don’t see Bird Girl and Waylon Jennings going to the rescue.”
The Wanderer frowned. He hated it when people called him that. Penny smirked at his reaction.
“He does have a point,” Penny replied, “Plus having a Techno-Pagan with demon knowledge would make our job easier.”
“Alright,” The Wanderer replied sighing, “five has always been better then three anyway.”
“Great where can I set up?” Brett asked
“Set up what?”
Brett shot him a look.
“You don’t expect me to do my computers stuff on paper do you?”
Penny laughed. With a bigger team she was positive that they can do much more good.
~ The coven of the Goddess Willow, Central Europe – 1 day ago ~
Willow stood in the main chamber of the coven main building. She brushed her white hair away from her face as she consulted some of the reports of slayer activity that was occurring around the world. Willow doubled her efforts because she was still seething from the council’s recent attempt to use her to re-recruit the Divine One by feeding her a fake story about a virus that Wolfram and Hart implanted in her. A moment later there was a bright flash of light and high priestess Cassandra stood a few meters away from willow.
This was nothing out of the ordinary for this coven so willow wasn’t startled when it happened she simply put down the reports and gazed casually over to Cassandra.
“Goddess,” Cassandra said with urgency, “I have something of immense importance to report.”
“What is it?” Willow asked
“We have located a Slayer.”
This got Willows attention. She moved away from the table and stood across from the high priestess.
“Are you sure?” she asked
“Absolutely positive.”
“Where did you find her?”
“Actually she came to us,” Cassandra replied, “She was dealing with a demon issue and required our assistance.”
From her pocket Cassandra handed Willow some images captured from the security cameras placed in the main chamber. Willow took them and studied them closely. Seeing the image of the red head nearly made her fall over in shock.
“She was going my the name . . .”
“ . . . Nighthawk.” Willow interrupted
“Yes,” Cassandra replied, “How did you know?”
“I know this slayer very well. Her real name is Penny Whitfield.”
Just then another witch burst into the room. She rushed up to Willow in a panic.
“Goddess,” she said out of breath, “We just sensed a team leaving the Council of Watchers. We think it’s a retrieval team.”
Willow looked from the exhausted witch to the photos she held in her hand.
“Oh god!” she exclaimed, “I don’t think we’re the only one’s who know she’s alive.”
“Shall I get some of the girls?” the witch asked
“No,” Willow replied, “I’m gonna handle this personally. Do we know where Angel is?”
“Last time he checked in with us he said that he was on his way to Raleighfield.”
“I’ll meet him there then,” Willow replied urgently, “Keep me up to date. You know how important it is we get to Penny before they do. God knows what Rodger has in mind if he gets his hands on her.”
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