Hell on Earth: Signum - Series 1: 106: The Signum Key Pt 2 – Act 4
by Timan
. . . “You know They’re going to find me.” Alex snapped at the crimson demon
“Of course I do that’s why I instructed Benny to tell your slayer sister where we are.”
Alex looked at him confused.
“Why would you do that?”
“Now, now Mr. Whitfield that would be telling,” Rorgia replied as he walked up to Alex and leaned over her, “sufficed to say both you and her will not survive the night unless your sister as the common curtsey to return what she stole from me.”
“What are you planning on doing to us?”
Rorgia smiled at him.
“Unpleasant things, Alex, Unpleasant Things.”
Rorgia stood up and gave Alex a smug look. suddenly the mood was broken by the sound of sarcastic clapping. Rorgia turned to see Darrel leaning in the doorway.
“Wow that was good,” Darrel said, “had the scary parts in the right places and everything.”
“Who the hell are you?” Rorgia demanded
Darrel walked in and handed Rorgia a card.
“Darrel Gibson, Alore and Struts, you know the guys who actually paid for the disk your looking for.”
“Oh I see,” Rorgia replied, “so your planning on taking it back.”
Darrel smiled at him brightly.
“No.” he replied
Rorgia looked at him curiously.
“No?”
“I won’t need to.”
“How is that?”
Darrel gestured to Alex.
“Well, you know who this is don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Rorgia replied, “and when Nighthawk arrives with the disk she shall . . .”
“Nighthawk?” Darrel said with surprise, “Oh my friend you have been poorly informed. ”
“And I suppose you know who he is.”
“I would want to if I kidnapped the husband of the Trinity Killer.”
Rorgia looked at Alex curiously. Slowly Rorgia looked back at Darrel.
“So why are you warning me?”
“Because,” Darrel replied confidently, “I think we can strike a deal.”
~ Raleighfield High School, Raleighfield California ~
Sarah move slowly down the hallways. She noticed Nighthawk the first time she arrived but wanted to make sure it was her. She hid when she heard the sound of the exit door closing. Sarah hid in the doorway of the locker room and watched as Nighthawk moved swiftly down the hallway.
This was all that Sarah needed to know. Sarah moved into the locker room and pulled out her cell and speed dialed the number.
“Rodger Stone.” Rodger said at the other end of the line.
“This is Neighborhood Watch,” Sarah said, “I know . . .”
Suddenly the phone was snatched out of her hand. She turned around to see Brett holding her phone smugly
“Hi there,” He said, “You’ve been a naughty girl.”
Sarah turned to run but the exit was blocked by Megan and The Wanderer. In the library Nigel sat painfully as Rebecca, Belle, Nolan, Angel and Willow stood around him.
“He just entered at took the key,” Nigel explained, “I have no idea how that was possible. Only certain people know about the storage sanctum.”
Rebecca dropped her head.
“So Alore and Struts have another piece of the Signum.” Rebecca said dejectedly
“There’s got to be a chance of getting it back.” Angel commented
“You don’t understand Angel,” Nigel replied, “The storage sanctum was the most secure location the council posses. It’s based in an artificially created pocket universe. If that has been compromised . . .”
“Want to make it two problems?” Brett said as they dragged Sarah into the library and threw her into the center of the room.
Rebecca looked up at Brett in shock.
“What do you think your doing? She’s a student.”
“Oh she’s been busier then that,” Brett replied, “meet Neighborhood Watch.”
Everybody looked confused except Nigel. He looked at Brett seriously.
“Are you suggesting she is one of Rogers spies?” he asked
“Check the last number dialed,” The Wanderer said as he tossed the phone over to Nigel.
Nigel check the phone. Frowning he showed the phone to Rebecca.
“That’s Roger’s Number at the council building.”
Rebecca walked over to Sarah and leaned over her menacingly.
“Why Sarah?” Rebecca asked
“Slayers have a job to do don’t they?” Sarah replied
“Do you even know what a slayer does?”
“Don’t care,” Sarah replied, “All I know is this guy showed one day offered me a butt load of money to look out for girls calling themselves slayers.”
Rebecca became even more angry.
“You know what I think you should do right now Sarah? I think you should head home and relocate as fast a possible . . .”
Rebecca formed an energy ball in her hand and held it in front of Sarah’s face.
“. . . before I get really mad.”
Sarah got to her feet and back away from Rebecca. She backed up a couple of steps and smiled at her.
“What if I tell the principal about what you guys are doing in here?” She threatened, “That’s gonna make this little club of yours hard to run.”
“you’re not going to do that.”
“No? who’s gonna stop me? You guys?”
Sarah turned and started to walk away. She stopped inches away from the tip of Nighthawk’s blade.
“How about me?” Nighthawk replied, “These guys are known around this school but I’m not and you’ll never seen me coming.”
Sarah looked at the masked woman terrified Nighthawk grabs her by the collar.
“Do what the divine one says or you’ll see me again.”
Sarah looked back to Rebecca who had her arms folded while she was staring at her. Not wasting anymore time Sarah bolted out of the room.
“I never liked her.” Belle commented
“We’ll deal with Rodger later. Right now we need to deal with Darrel.” Rebecca replied
“No we got something else first,” Nighthawk replied anxiously “The chamber’s in town. They followed us from Phoenix.”
“What do they want?” Rebecca asked
“The Signum key. They gave me until midnight to hand it over or . . .”
Nighthawk hesitated for a moment. Rebecca looked at her seriously.
“Or what?”
“Or they’re gonna hurt Alex.”
Rebecca unfolded her arms. Her serious expression shifting to shocked. The Wanderer look at Nighthawk
“You sure?” he asked
“Got it straight from Benny.”
“And you trust him?” Rebecca asked
“I trust him enough to know he’s not lying to me,” Nighthawk replied, “I gonna need the key for a while. I’ll make sure it doesn’t stay in Rorgia’s hands for long.”
“We don’t have it.” Nigel replied
“What?”
“That’s what we were talking about before you came in Nighthawk. the key was stolen from us by Alore and Struts.”
“So we’re keyless as well,” Brett replied, “Great.”
Nighthawk thought about this.
“Then we’re gonna have to be creative,” she replied, “Guys, huddle.”
Nighthawk team moved around her. Hope flew down and landed on her shoulder as she looked at each of them with purpose.
“Alright what we need is options.”
“How about panicking,” Brett commented, “always worked for me.”
Nighthawk gave him a look
“I mean real options Brett. Wanderer what did your search of the town turn up?”
The wanderer thought about this for a second.
“Well, there was a couple of people I bumped that might come in handy.”
“Good, go talk to them, see if they can help us.”
“Novel idea Nighthawk but what are we going to do about the key?” Megan asked, “or the lack of.”
“Good point,” Nighthawk replied, “work with Willow see if you guys can come up with something like a fake one.”
Megan looked at Nighthawk anxiously.
“Okay, not exactly a witch,” Megan replied pointing to her cast, “In case you forgot.”
Nighthawk smiled at her.
“Just do your best okay. Besides I think working with a goddess should balance out the difference.”
Megan nodded and walked away from them. Nighthawk turned to Brett.
“I guess this is the part where you tell me to be friends with Google.” Brett smirked
“Anything you can find on this law firm to give us an edge.”
“You got it honey.”
Nighthawk gave him a surprised look. Brett just shrugged.
“I caved.”
Smirking Nighthawk leaned in and kissed him lightly. As he left to perform his task Nighthawk noticed out of the corner of her eye that she noticed Rebecca watching her. She turned and looked at her curiously.
“What is it?” she asked
Slowly a smirk crossed Rebecca’s face
“Wow,” Rebecca said playfully, “look at you miss team leader.”
Nighthawk found herself blushing.
“I’m just doing what I think needs to be done.”
Rebecca placed her hand on Nighthawk’s shoulder.
“And that’s what makes a good leader.”
Nighthawk smiled at The Divine One. Before the Battle of Trinity she always tried to follow Rebecca’s example and couldn’t help but think that it had finally sunk in.
“So what’s the plan?” Rebecca asked
“go to the warehouse and get my brother back.” Nighthawk replied seriously
“Not a solid plan Nighthawk,” Rebecca replied, “shouldn’t go in blind.”
“We’re not,” Nighthawk replied as she shifted her attention to hope, “Hope, find out what you can about what we’re gonna be facing.”
The small bird chirped in agreement. She took flight and exited out a window. Nighthawk drew her sword.
“Everybody gear up,” she ordered, “When everything’s ready we head out.”
At the Warehouse Darrel studied Alex closely. He leaned against one of the support beams as he looked at the scientist.
“What are you staring at?” Alex snapped
“You,” Darrel replied, “you’re a smart guy Alex yet you keep falling for these traps.”
“Maybe I’m just lucky.”
“Maybe or maybe your just the weakest link in the chain.”
Alex smiled at Darrel.
“I am so gonna enjoy my wife kicking your ass.”
“Oh yeah, very manly.”
Rorgia approached.
“I hate to interrupt your date Darrel but a couple of my scouts have just reported that Nighthawk and The Divine One have left the school and are heading in this direction.”
Darrel smiled at the demon.
“Ah Rebecca,” he replied, “Miss punctuality.”
Rorgia was less then impressed with the joke. He folded his arms and glared at the lawyer.
“This arrangement better hold Darrel or else your law firm is going to have to advertise for your replacement.”
“See, that’s your problem Rorgia, you stress too much.”
Later that evening the combined forces arrived at the warehouse.
“This is the place,” Nighthawk said, “According to Hope Alex is somewhere in the center. Wanderer, are the guys you organized in place.”
“They’re ready. Just waiting for your word.” The Wanderer replied
“Will, Megan, how did the fake key go?”
Willow and Megan carried in a stone disk. it looked exactly like the Signum Key and gave off a similar energy.
“I think we got it to work,” Megan replied, “hopefully it’ll fool Rorgia long enough to get Alex out.”
“Let’s hope.”
Nighthawk began to walk forward but Rebecca stopped her.
“Are you sure about this Nighthawk?” she asked
Nighthawk looked over and smiled at Rebecca.
“You know me,” Nighthawk replied, “not really sure about anything.”
The door to the warehouse slammed open. Rorgia leaned calmly as the group entered.
“Nighthawk,” He said coolly, “glad to see we both use the same travel agent.”
“Alex, where is he?” Nighthawk asked
“Come now Nighthawk I though you knew the rules of negotiating.”
Suddenly an energy ball narrowly missed Rorgia’s head and exploded loudly against the back wall.
“I’m sorry I don’t have the same type of patients my sister has,” Rebecca snapped, “Where is my husband.”
A twisted smile crossed the crimson demons face.
“As I live and breath. The mighty Divine One. I have to say you are a lot more beautiful in person then what the rumors say.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s not telling me where Alex is.”
“And so observant to,” Rorgia replied as he slowly walked up to them, “I’ll make this very simple. Give me the disk and I’ll return your precious Alex to you.”
Nighthawk nodded and Willow and Megan approached him with the replica disk. Rorgia took it and examined it closely. The demon shot a look over his shoulder. Suddenly a wave of energy rushed up the walls of the building. It traveled along the roof until it pooled in the center. Nighthawk shot an angry look at him.”
“What’s the hell is going on?” she demanded, “What is that?”
“That would be the dargon field that is currently surrounding this building.” Darrel said as he stepped out of the shadows, “I’m sure the goddess can explain what that is.”
“A dargon field is a wall of energy that is stronger then titanium. Even I can’t break through it.” Willow replied
“Very fun to use especially if you want to trap people in a large place like this . . .”
Darrel walked over and examined the Signum Key.
“ . . . So this is the Key huh? Funny I stole something that looked exactly like this a few hours ago.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah,” Darrel replied sarcastically, “Hold on. If I have the real one then that would make this one a fake.”
Willow and Megan gave each other an anxious sideways glance but neither Rebecca or Nighthawk lost their poker face. Rorgia snapped his fingers. Two demons walked into view dragging Alex, bound and gagged, between them.
“I am very disappointed in you Nighthawk,” Rorgia said viciously, “I charged you with a simple task but instead you decided to attempt to deceive me. For that Alex has to die.”
A look of panic crossed Alex’s face. Rorgia nodded to the two large demons. The demons drag Alex against the nearest pole and the one standing to the left drew his sword. Suddenly he was struck in the chest with a series of arrows. As he fell the other turned to investigate and met the same fate. Surprised Rorgia looked over to the source of the attack and saw Nighthawk up in the rafters firing off volley after volley.
Confused he turned back to the one standing next to The Divine One. That Nighthawk smiled as she began to glow. Her form shifted until she reverted back to the demon he was. Rorgia growled as Nighthawk jumped down onto the floor.
“I remember a lesson my old team leader taught me,” Nighthawk said as she walked up to Rorgia, “when dealing with demons always expect a double-cross.”
Nighthawk looked over to Rebecca who smiled back at her.
“Well played but you still lacking one element. I’m holding your . . .” Rorgia replied
Rorgia looked over to see Alex morph in a similar manner to the fake Nighthawk. he broke free from his ropes and proceeded to incapacitate the nearby guards. Rorgia looked over to where Darrel was standing, for help, but the lawyer had disappeared during the commotion. He growled in frustration just before he felt the blade of Nighthawk’s sword at his throat. Rorgia glared at her.
“See you back in Phoenix.” Rorgia replied before he vanished.
~ The library, Raleighfield High School, Raleighfield California – 1 hour later ~
“Thanks for the assist Vengrox” The Wanderer said as he shook
“Hey, I still owed you from Rome.” Vengrox replied, “man if you hadn’t pulled my butt out of that squabble I wouldn’t be standing here.”
Nighthawk looked at this scene satisfied. Angel walked over and stood next to her curiously.
“So when exactly did the switch happen?” he asked her
“Before we left,” Nighthawk replied, “The Wanderer told me about this Draxel demon he bumped into who was willing to help. And since hope told me about the evil lawyers involvement I felt it was the best move. Lucky his friend was able to switch with Axel and get him out before the action started.”
Nighthawk looked over to her brother who was being checked over by Rebecca. She walked over and gave her brother a big hug.
“You okay?” she asked
“Everything’s where it should be.” Alex replied
“Great,” Nighthawk replied in relief, “if I lost you again I don’t know what I would do.”
Rebecca noticed the look in Nighthawk’s eyes that matched the look she gave when Rebecca questioned her about what happened the previous month. Just then Brett walked into the room he had a superior smug look on his face.
“So? How did everybody do?” he asked
“Without a hitch.” Nighthawk replied
Brett smirked.
“As if it wouldn’t,” He replied, “oh, hey, while I have you Raleighfield people here I was wondering if you had any use for these?”
Brett walked over to a nearby table. He pulled off a sheet to reveal not only the Signum Key but the Wolf Seal as well. Rebecca looked at him in shock.
“How the hell did you get them?” she asked
Brett shrugged.
“The Police.” He replied
Nighthawk looked at Brett curiously.
“What exactly did you find out about Alore and Struts?” she asked
Brett’s superior smile return.
“Absolutely nothing. The firm is squeaky clean.”
“Then how did you get the Signum pieces?”
“I followed the first rule of the internet,” Brett explained, “if you can’t find anything solid make it up. I hacked into the local police database and added a report about a theft from the university. Lucky for us the lawyers don’t own them so when Darrel got back to his office he found it swarming with cops.”
“Not bad,” Rebecca commented, “Still doesn’t explain how the pieces ended up here.”
“That’s where The Wanderer’s other friend comes in. he was the beat cop who was in charge of taking the pieces back to the station but the truck had a little accident and by accident I mean he accidentally delivered it here instead.”
The group looked at him stunned. Brett just soaked it up.
“Go on say it.” Brett continued
Nighthawk walked up and wrapped her arms around him.
“You are so getting lucky tonight.” She replied
Brett grinned at her like a schoolboy.
“Not exactly what I was after but that will do.”
~ The office of Alore and Struts, Raleighfield California – 1 hour later ~
The lawyers sat around the conference table as they argued amongst themselves. At the end of the table Darrel sat calmly and watched them all. For some mysterious reason he had a smile on his face.
“So we’re now back to square one.” One of the lawyers snapped, “We have none of the pieces and The Divine One has all of them.”
“We need to track down who tipped off the police!” another retorted
“We’re not going to need to do that.” Darrel replied smiling
“This is serious Darrel,” a third lawyer replied, “Mr. White is expecting results and we have none.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“Because these are the situations I find very stimulating . . .”
From his briefcase he pulled out two manila folders. He tossed them and they slid across the polished wood table.
“. . . I looked through the remaining Wolfram and Hart archive Mr. White sent over and found out a couple of interesting pieces of information. I have the distinct feeling that the ones close to The Divine One are going to become very strained.”
The lawyer picked up the folders and looked at them. On each there was only one word. A name . . .
The first one was labeled ‘Nigel’ . . .
The second was labeled ‘Margret’.
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