Writer's notes: This story is my (ok very) belated  birthday gift to Luba. It continues to chart the crazy misadventures of Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde -- also known as Shadowcat -- and Catherine 'Bad Kitty' Bell. As always with my stories of these two, it should be considered over the top and all in fun.

Thoughts, comments and flames are always welcomed and appreciated.
 

Catherine Bell spared a glance to marvel at her partner and best (human) friend as she danced a dance few ever saw -- and even fewer lived to remember. Katherine Pryde spun and wirled with a dancer's grace (no big surprise, thought Catherine, Kitty had studied to be a dancer before her life took a completely different turn), and the two swords she wielded spun their own dance... a dance of death.

But the targets of that dance were already dead -- or undead, as it went.  For the mutant heroine known as Shadowcat was in combat with vampires.

A lot of them. A whole, whole lot of them.

And a great deal of them were charging Catherine as well.

Catherine, whom the tabloids had labeled 'Bad Kitty', didn't use swords (despite Kitty's attempts to teach her); she preferred the old fashioned method of good old high tech firearms.  The two mini Uzis she held in her hand spat out exploding bullets -- expensive, but perfect for blowing apart the undead vampires past the point where their mystical regeneration could work.  Still, even with all her firepower, she'd have been overrun; the Uzis didn't have the ammo to blow away this many vampires -- not, at least, in the clips they held.

But that was where Kitty came in; she held the line while Catherine reloaded, and then she pushed back that line and gave Kitty a chance to catch her breath.  The two worked together like a well-oiled machine -- as if they'd been doing all their life, she thought.

Despite the odds, the vampires were quickly whittled down to the few who'd hung back from the carnage... and who then turned and ran.

But Catherine was having none of that; the last two fights they'd let a few run, and they always came back with friends -- lots of nasty friends.  It took the last of her Uzi ammo, but at least those vamps wouldn't be showing up at the next fight.

And there would be a next fight.

"Any idea on what's going on, Kat?"

Kitty gave her a look she knew well; it was the 'why do you always ask me' look.

Normally Kitty did have the answers; she'd been places and knew people Catherine never wanted to go to or know, but this time she was as much in the dark as Catherine was.

And it was very dark indeed.

That was the problem -- it should have been early morning here in Los Angeles, but it was as black as midnight. She could see the barely visible outline of the sun in the sky, covered as if by an eclipse.

But no eclipse ever lasted this long.

"I haven't a clue," stated Kitty, as she surveyed the area. "But you always seem to get us into these kinds of situations, Cat."

"Me?! I don't recall it being my idea to come to LA! I'm pretty sure this is *your* fault."

"*My* fault? You were driving, remember?"

"Yeah, but you were reading the map, remember?"

"Whatever... By the way, where did our personal pests go?"

Catherine handed her Uzis to Kitty as she looked about for Lockheed and Lucky. Kitty phased the two guns together, reducing them to a single hunk of useless metal, and dumped it into a trash can. Without ammo the guns were dead weight, and neither of them wanted to leave them behind for someone to pick up and use, most likely in a crime.

"There they are."

The two came into sight and quickly leaped into their respective persons' arms. Lucky the cat looked liked he'd been in one heck of fight, and even Lockheed the dragon was looking a bit pale.

Both had clearly been doing their share in this fight.

Shifting Lucky to one arm, Catherine did a quick check of her remaining equipment, now reduced to pistols and a short barrelled shotgun slung over her back. Kitty's two swords had already disappeared to wherever she put them.  Catherine looked over at Kitty, who was scratching the top of Lockheed's head. She had long since learned that, when Kitty did that, it meant she was thinking and thinking hard.

"Coming up with a plan?"

"More of an idea."

"Well, don't keep it to yourself -- share."

"We hook up with Angel and his group. LA is their territory, they might know what's going on."

"Angel?"

"A friend of Buffy's. I met him back in Sunnydale at the same time I met her. He left sometime later and set up shop here doing what she was doing back there, hunting demons and saving lives."

"And you know where this paragon of goodness lives."

"Yep. Buffy mentioned where he laired, its not that far off."

"Speaking of Buffy," replied Catherine, "Maybe we should give her a ring -- given that she's a vampire slayer, and this being a city overrun with vampires."

Kitty paused for a moment, then shook her head.

"She likely knows what's going on and is heading this away; if she isn't, then she's dealing with something else in Sunnydale. Either way, we can't wait -- the longer this goes on, the more people die. I'd rather take a shot at stopping this now."

"Sounds like a plan to me," replied Catherine as she cocked the pistol in her hand. "Let's head out."

The two began to make their way down the nearly deserted streets with Lockheed and Lucky keeping to the sides, hidden in the shadows and ready to lend a hand.  As they continued along, there was a sudden crash in the darkened alleyway, and a barely visible figure began to scramble up the side of the alley wall inhumanly fast.

"Not again!" bemoaned Catherine as she sighted down the barrel of her pistol.

"Save your ammo," Kitty said, as she used a combination of her phasing/air-walking and extreme agility to race after the fleeing vampire. "I'll get him."

"I hope so," murmered Catherine. They really, really didn't need another fight with a crowd of vampires.  At least, not until she'd a chance to rearm herself with a lot more ammo.

The seconds seemed like hours as she waited for Kitty to return. She wasn't worried that much, Kitty was more than capable of defending herself.  It was being left out of the fight that bothered her.  'That's it girl,' she thought to herself. 'Keep telling yourself that's all it is.'

She firmly sat on the impulse to fidget.

"Well, hello there," said a strong, slightly amused male voice behind her.

'Bad Kitty's' pistols were drawn and cocked before she'd turned half way around.

Standing over ten feet away, hands held out in a nonthreating way, was one of the best looking men Catherine Bell had ever seen. He was dark haired, well muscled underneath his dark clothing and black long jacket.  Obviously, his taste in fashion was a lot like her own.

Not that any of that was going to keep her from blowing him away if he grew fangs.

"Whoa there, lady," he began, his voice just as handsome as the rest of him. "Remember, guns don't kill, the people holding them do."

"And this person," she replied, "is very willing and able to do that killing if you turn out to be trouble."

His smile widened and he took a step forward.

Catherine took one back. She hated giving ground, but this guy was an unknown and he didn't seem all that worried about her guns.  That being said, she was more than willing to look a little weak to give herself a bit more room to work with.

His smile widened even more.  'That's it,' she thought. 'Shoot first, apologize to his next of kin later.'

But before she could tighten down on the triggers another voice spoke, one she knew well.  "Hiya, Angel!" said Kitty's all too cheerful voice. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Kitty!?" replied Angel, his voice slightly tinted with surprise. "Kitty Pryde... Or should I have said Shadowcat?"

"Kitty's fine -- Catherine here knows all about me."

"A bit too much for my own peace of mind."

"Ah? I see, I think."

"Clean thoughts, buster."

"Sorry," he said with a winning smile, "But why is it, Kitty, that every time you show up the lights go out?"

"Hey!"

"You noticed that too?" added Catherine.

"HEY! This isn't my fault -- and neither was that whole mess in Sunnydale."

"Of course. I ..uh ..don't suppose you remembered to bring the X-Men with you this time."

"Nope. As with the last time, I didn't know it was an end of the world situation. But I did bring along Catherine Bell, who as you can see is very much into guns."

"Ha!" interrupted Catherine. "So you admit it's *your* fault we're here!"

"SIGH. And she's also into assigning blame as well."

"So I see. But, at the moment, any help would be greatly appreciated."

"It's bad, isn't it?"

"Like you said," replied Angel, "An end of the world situation."

"Then let's end the clever banter and get down to it."

"Quick synopsis, then," began Angel. "There's this creature called the Beast -- a super strong, rock skinned horned devil type who has to date unleashed a rain of fire on the city, blacked out the sun, beaten me and my friends up one side of the city and back, and basically managed to head us off every time we thought we'd found a way to stop him."

"It's bad."

"Very. The rest of my group is back at the hotel recovering from our last encounter with the Beast. I was out trying to do what I can to keep down the casualties and find a way to stop the demon. But, as I'm sure you've noticed, the odds stink."

"A lot," the girls agreed.

"But now.... with you two here..." began Angel, rubbing his chin. "I don't suppose you still have that magic soul sword, Kitty?"

"Oh yes," replied Kitty, cracking her knuckles. "And another mystic sword. Both are murder on demons."

"I've got guns," added Catherine.

"Excellent." Angel clapped his hands together with a smile, then his face darkened.

"The problem now, ladies, is how to find him. He moves around a lot and, given the number of hostile and hungry vampires running loose in the city, going from house to house looking is an altogether bad idea. But still ......."

"A thought?" asked Kitty.

"A little one," he answered. "More of a bad thought. Bad for me, that is, because it involves me putting my head into a very nasty bear trap... but, assuming I don't get it chopped off, I should be able to find out where the Beast is. At least at the moment."

"No need to go it alone, Angel, that's what we're here for."

"Yeah, putting our heads into bear traps is our stock in trade."

"Sorry, ladies, but where I'm going you can't follow."

"The boys' lavatory?"

"Ha! I like this one, Kitty, she's got a real sense of humor."

"She does?"

"Hey!"

"You two are quite a pair," stated Angel, as he shook his head. "But I'm going to head into that bear trap now before the Beast gets wind of your presense and take sprecautions to keep you from ramming that sword into him. Meet me at the corner of 5th and Broadway in about an hour. It shouldn't take me more than that to get the info and get there....  Mobs of vampires not withstanding, that is."

"Okay, Angel," began Kitty, "We'll go along with that -- but if you don't show, we're coming after you, boys' lavatory or not."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," replied Angel, with a huge smile.

A few minutes later Angelus stopped after a breakneck run over a five block line of roof tops. He looked back along his path and saw no sign he was being followed either by Pryde, her dragon or her well proportioned friend.

Nor a scent, either.

It looked like they'd bought his story, hook, line and fang.

So what to do?

He'd just been planning a bit of fun and a quick meal when he'd spotted that now-named Catherine Bell. Women dressed like her were just too hard to pass up, and the
guns were an added bit of spice...  But then again, if she hung around with Pryde, those guns might have been overly spicy.

The so-called 'Shadowcat's' arrival had been one hell of a shock; he'd seen -- or, more precisely, *Angel* had seen -- her soul sword in action, and he had no intention of being anywhere near the receiving end of that thing.

And if she had a second one, that just made a bad situation worse.

It just wasn't any fun if the odds were that much against him.

Still, he couldn't have the two of them running around -- Pryde might be an air-head (like Buffy), but she was a smart air-head with connections and, once she joined up with the rest of Angel's crew, she'd see how really bad things were and call in the big guns.  The X-Men would be bad enough, but if she got someone like Doctor Strange out here, well ..... .

So what to do?

He could get together a mob of vampires and demons but Pryde's mutant power made her damned hard to pin down and, if he didn't get her on the first try, she would definitely call in help.  What he needed was some way to negate her phasing power, like a spell or mystic object or....!

Angleus smiled an evil smile; he knew just what to do, who to call in. Now all he had to do was find them, then link back up with the bimbos.

Oh, this was going to be some great fun!

Catherine Bell watched her friend out of the corner of her eye. The two were perched atop one of the smaller buildings at the corner of 5th and Broadway in a fairly shadowed area; neither wanted to get into a pointless fight at the moment now that they were getting ready to stop the villian who'd created this mess.

But still...

Kitty had been half distracted the whole way here, as if she'd been more busy in her head than in the real world. And, given that Kitty could multi-task with the best of them, whatever was concerning her must be one hell of a problem.

Catherine checked the street, looked at her watch, then back at the street. Then at her watch again.

All in five seconds.

"Ok, I give!" she said to Kitty. "What's the matter?"

"Pardon?"

"You. You've been elsewhere the whole time we were heading here. Heck, you weren't even playing any attention and .... aww, no, don't tell me!"

"What?"

"You've gone and fallen for that Angel fellow!"

"Huh!?"

"And him being Buffy's ex and all!"

"Hey!"

"For shame, Pryde!"

"!"

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Har de har, 'Cat'. Now, really, what's wrong? You only play with my mind when something's worrying you."

"Pretty much what I said at the beginning -- you've been distracted, and in a place like this that could be bad."

"Sorry about that," replied Kitty sheepishly. "It's just that something is distracting me, but I just don't know what it is. Kinda of a mental itch."

"They've medicines for that, you know," quipped in a voice from behind them.

Both spun as Angel leaped over to join them.

"Pardon?"

"Medicines," he replied, straight faced. "For the itching. I'm sure you've heard of them."

"?"

"Kat?"

"Yes, Cat?"

"Can I shoot him now or should I wait 'til later?"

"Wait 'til later. Then you can work out how to make it hurt more."

"You know, Kitty," began Angel, "You were a lot more forgiving when you were younger."

"She was younger?" added Catherine. "Given the stories she's told me -- and  the ones about her I've been told -- I sometimes find it hard to believe she has ever had the time to be young."

"It was a short childhood," replied Kitty, "Now then, Angel -- since you're here, one assumes you survived your little trip to the boys' room. So, was it worth it?"

"Oh yes," he answered with a wide smile. "Very much so. Not only do I know where he is right now, but it's fairly close by. It won't take us long to get there."

"And then the fun begins," stated Catherine.

"Then the fun begins."

A very short time later, they stood in an alleyway looking over at a large warehouse building.

"The mystic scuttlebutt," began Angel, "says the Beast will be lairing in there for at least the next couple of hours. Given what I had to go through to get that scuttlebutt, I'd say it's correct."

"I assume you have a plan?"

"More or less."

"I'm hoping more rather than less."

"Add my vote for the more," added Catherine.

"My thoughts were to keep it as simple as possible. Myself and Ms. Bell head in the front door, find the Beast, and attack him head on."

"That's the plan?"

"Just half of it." Angel continued, "While we're keeping him busy -- and, unless Ms. Bell is packing nukes, that's about all we two can hope for -- Kitty, having used her power to air-walk to the roof, will come down and behind him and ......."

"And?"

"And then we find out if either of her magic swords are up to the job of taking him out. I'm putting all my hopes that they are because I'm out of ideas."

"Don't worry, Angel -- if they don't, we'll just think of something else."

"We always do."

"Then, if Ms. Bell will join me..." began Angel. "But... uhm... you might want to leave your cat behind -- things are going to get rough in there."

"Would that I had that much influence over the little guy."

"Lockheed," started Kitty, "Why don't you and Lucky watch the back door, so to speak."

As the two nodded, Catherine noted Angel give a sigh of relief.  "Didn't want them in the battle zone?" she asked.

"Nope. Now then, let's begin."

Catherine followed Angel across the street as Kitty ran upward at an angle toward the roof.

Once inside the building they began to 'leapfrog' each other, trading the lead point while moving from shadow to shadow. Half the lights within were out, making that an easy job.

Catherine rushed past Angel, both pistols drawn, and scanned the area before her.  There was a lot of silence in this place -- and even more dust.  Given the description of the Beast, if he was here, there shouldn't be either.  "Are you sure your info is on the mark, Angel?" she asked in a whisper, without looking back.  There was no response.  "Angel?"

"Angel isn't here right now." The voice was Angel's, but something in it turned her spine to ice.

She spun with all her speed, already pulling the triggers, but a rock-hard hand smashed them from her just as she finished her turn.

Angel stood before her, wearing a huge grin -- and a face that wasn't human.

"Damn." she muttered, flexing her fingers. Her last weapon -- other than the knives she had hidden -- was the shotgun on her back, and she'd never be able to draw it in time with him this close. She had to stall. "I guess you got jumped on the way here by some vamps. Buffy is going to be rather upset."

That seemed to startle him for a moment, then his grin widened even more.  "I guess Pryde didn't tell you all that much about me, did she?"

"Not really," replied Catherine, a little puzzled by his response, but already beginning to move.

Angelus saw it coming -- the oh so predictable female attack, the knee in the groin. He shifted his position slightly, looking forward to turning her attack back on her.  So he never saw the knuckleduster-enhanced fist hit him square between the eyes...  much less the next six followup hits.

Angelus roared in frusration (and pain) and charged forward, trusting his undead strength to overwhelm his target...

*That* was when Catherine Bell's knee found his groin.

His eyes crossed and with a wimper he pitched forward... where his chin met with Catherine's other knee.

He ended up halfway across the room, his vision clearing just in time to see Catherine pick up her pistols.  "You're tougher than you look," he commented, as he levered himself off the floor.

"I'm not just another pretty face." she replied, pointing her guns at him. "Now you just stand there like a nice little dead person, and don't move."

Unfortunately, Angelus caught the slight movement in her eyes as they looked over his shoulder, and threw himself sideways...

Just as Kitty's Soul Sword cut through the air where he'd been a moment before.

Kitty hit the ground rolling, coming up next to Catherine who said, "You missed. And that's something I don't see every day."

"Well excuse me!" she retorted, "It takes a hell of a lot of concentration to limit the effects of the soul sword so it only de-souls a vampire and not reduce him to flaming dust."

"Why would you want to 'de-soul' him? Even if you drive the demonic entity out, that isn't going to restore Angel to life."

"Oh, Angel is already a vampire -- been one for some 200 or so years. But some gypsies cast a spell that restored his human soul to his body. Somehow it's been reversed and the demon Angelus is back."

"At your sevice, ladies," mocked Angelus.

"So Angel is a vampire."

"Yep. But with his human soul."

"Angel is a vampire, and you never thought to mention this earlier?"

"Why?"

"SIGH!"

"EXCUSE ME, LADIES!" exclaimed Angelus. "But I think you're forgetting something..."

"What?" they asked in tamdem.

"Me!" he replied in frusrated exasperation.

"We'll get to you in a minute," answered Kitty nonchalantly.

"Yeah," quipped Catherine, making little shooing motions at him. "After all, you're just one little vampire. Everyone knows vampires are only dangerous in groups. Large groups.  Now hush, we're having a discussion."

"Of all the...!!!" cursed Angelus. "Don't you know who I am?! I'm Angelus the destroyer! I've caused more death and devastation over the centuries than any of those so-called 'super villians' could ever hope to match.  I'm the most dangerous thing either of you will ever see!"

Both turned toward him, eyebrows raised.

Angelus took an involuntary step backward; he didn't like the look in their eyes. Not a bit.

"I guess we should deal with him now."

"Yeah, we'll never have a chance to talk with him interrupting us all the time."

Both drew their weapons and began to advance toward him.

"Hey, hey, girls," said Angelus. "How about a little fair play here? Don't you think two against one is a little unfair?"

"I thought you were so dangerous, buddy."

"Shoot him in the legs, Cat -- that should keep him stationary enough for me to use the soul sword on him."

"Whoa there..." replied Angelus, backing up. "I don't think Angel will appreicate you shooting up his body."

"He'll get over it."

"Let's talk about this, ladies, and--" Angelus suddenly stopped, and smiled hugely. "Maybe you're right, it is time to finish this."

Both heroines spun as two large forms rushed out of the shadows behind them, Kitty slashing out with her swords as Catherine fired both of her pistols. But Kitty's swords rebounded as if they were wooden blades striking stone ,and Catherine's rounds were just as ineffective.

So surprised were both of them that their reactions were delayed and they were both grappled by their four-armed attackers.

"They're called Ru-ru demons," mocked Angelus. "Or, as I like to call them, Whoo-whoo demons.  As I'm sure you've already noticed, they're invulerable, phasing proof, rather strong, and ..well, they also have a fondness for the 'weaker sex'.  They also have all those physical incompatibility problems most demons have with humans, but I'm sure you two can put up with such small inconveniences."  Both demons had one pair of their arms gripping their victims' wrists leaving them unable to fend off the demon's other arms -- which were quite busy.  "See, girls, they like you."

"When I kill this thing, I'm gonna .." snarled Catherine Bell.

"I'm afraid that not going to happen," taunted Angelus. "You see, these demons are invulerable -- invulerable to harm from females."

"What!"

"Yep. A long , long while ago a bunch of dark mages, trying to rid the world of the vampire slayers, created a rift to the Ru-ru demons' dimension. And, for a while, all
was right in the world -- that is, until the Watcher's council sent out their male agents and started killing those oh-so-perfect slayer slayers.  Now any time there's even a hint of Ru-ru demons, those damned Watchers send out a horde of well armed male hunters to make sure they don't get near their precious slayers.  But luckily," continued Angelus with a laugh, "these two have been hiding out here in L.A. and I'd seen them earlier and just knew they'd come in handy."

He rubbed his hands together with glee. "So, gentlemen, I suggest we start with a little ...ach!!"

Angelus suddenly seized up, grabbing his head as his eyes crossed.

He stood back up straight with a snarl.  "Thats it!" he cursed. "Can't a guy have a little fun any more? I'm done putting up with this, it's time to deal with that loudmouth voice once and for all."

As he began to turn and walk away, he stopped and turned back to the girls.  "Sorry I have to miss the honeymoon," he said with a smile. "But at least I helped introduce you all. Enjoy yourselves, guys -- and take lots of pictures."  With that Angelus left laughing while the demons snickered.

"How is it we always seem to end up in situation like this?" asked Catherine as she continued to struggle against her attacker.

"We don't 'always' end in situations like this," answered Kitty, as she did the same. "Besides, this is all your fault!"

"My fault!"

"Yes, your fault."

"Would you mind explaining how 'this' is all my fault?" replied Catherine, who'd managed to free her hands, but now had all four of its hands gripping the rest of her.

"That would take a bit of time, and I'm a little busy at the moment, Cat."

"I'd say I'm not going anywhere right now, but ..." With that ,Catherine reached behind her, spun her short barreled shotgun so that it faced up, and shoved it under the demon's chin, who was too distacted to notice.  Then she pulled the trigger.

With its sling twisted and barrel blocked by the demon's face, the recoil literally ripped her out of the demon's grip.  "YOW!!" exclaimed Catherine, as she rolled away from the surprised demon and hugged her chest. "That hurt."

"That's 'cause you carry to much baggage up front," quiped Kitty, as she suddenly twisted and slipped out of her demon's hands. "Don't you just love those ninja tricks?"

"I guess there is an advantage to being flat chested after all," replied Catherine.

"HEY! Just what do you mean by that!" asked Kitty as she leaped over toward her friend. "I am not flat chested!"

"Did I say you were flat chested?" answered Catherine as she tossed aside her ruined shotgun and drew a knife. "I was just making a random comment."

"Sure you were."

"I'm hurt by your lack of belief in me."

"Sure you are," replied Kitty as she picked up her black sword.

"I don't suspose you have an idea for getting out of this, Kat?"

The demons had begun to advance toward them and both women began to back up.

"Gimme a minute, Cat."

"Minute's up, idea now."

Kitty looked down the length of her sword at the rushing demons.

"Cat, get back!" yelled Kitty as she spun the sword before her and then, to Catherine's complete surprise, Kitty reached up and grabbed the edged blade with her bare hand.  Blood dripped down her arm and the blade.

"Kitty, what ...!?!"

Shadowcat suddenly released the blade and moved into a combat stance, one Catherine had never seen her use before. The demons jumped at her and Kitty spun the sword before her.  It sliced through the demons like a knife through warm butter. They fell to the ground as their innards did the same.

"Way to go, Kat!" exclaimed Catherine as she stepped forward. "But how did you...!!!"  Catherine Bell came to a dead stop as Kitty turned toward her. Her eyes were all white and there was a hideously mad smile on her face. She began to stalk toward her, bloodly sword pointed at her with a look of insanity upon her.  "Uhmm, Kat?"  Kitty pulled back the sword in the beginning of a attack swing when suddenly she froze.  "Kat?"

Shuddering violently Kitty threw away the sword, collapsed and began to throw up. A lot.

Catherine rushed to her side and once Kitty's convulsions, had subsided she asked, "What just happened? Oh, and don't spare the details."

"Chaf! I'm afraid you'll have to settle for the abridged version," answered Kitty weakly.

"You're always so lazy."

"Well, you remember what I told you about the black blade, how it houses part of the soul of the madman who created it?"

"Yep. And ... ah, no, you didn't!"

"Yeah. I handed over the steering wheel to his essence. I figured, what with him being male and all, that that would overcome the demons' 'female' invulerablity."

"I'd have to say that it did the trick. Still I'd have to also say that it was a bit too drastic and ...!!!"

"What!?!"

Kitty weakly twisted her head to see what Catherine was looking at. The two demons were getting up. Even as she watched, the 'fatal' wounds she'd inflicted were sealing themselves up.

"I take back what I said," quiped Catherine. "It didn't do the trick."

"Fine then," replied Kitty as she struggled -- and failed -- to stand up. "You take a whack at it."

"Sorry, but I don't have any multiple personalities to throw at 'em."

"Funny."

The two demons were now completely intact -- and angry, very angry. They began to approach the two women with ill intent.

"This don't look good."

"It's about to get worse," bemoaned Kitty.

"How? Ah, no, anything but that!"

'That' became obvious as Lucky the cat leaped down upon one of the demons' head. Screeching, he then jumped over to the other. As the two demons turned to attack their 'attacker' they slammed into one another.

Which made them a nice single stationary target for Lockheed the dragon.

One blast of dragon flame later, and all that was left of the demons was a pile of ashes.

"This is getting monotonous," stated Catherine with a trace of humor in her voice. "But I guess it's better than the alternative, I think. When's the dance going to begin?"

"I don't think they're up to it right now." said Kitty.

Catherine took a good look at the two, who now looked nearly as exhausted as Kitty did.  "Looks like you two have been busy out there. Saving other maidens in distress?"

Both snickered and made their way over to their respective persons.

"You're probably right, Cat, given conditions in L.A. right now. Everyone out there needs saving right now, but ...."

"But?"

"But we're out of it," finished Kitty. "I'm completely wiped out, so are Lockheed and Lucky, and you're down to a pistol and your last clip of ammo. That makes for bad odds when versus a city overrun by vampires."

"I'd like to disagree with you -- we have, after all, been in worse situations -- but you're right, the odds stink. So what were you thinking?"

"First we need to get out of here. Whenever Angelus finishes whatever it was that pulled him away, he'll be back and -- as much as I'd like to hand out a little payback -- I'm just not up to it at the moment."

"Ditto, with the payback being at the top." Catherine reached down and helped pull Kitty up to her feet. With her leaning against her and their 'pets' mounted on their shoulders the two made their way to the exit.

Kitty scooped up a broken piece of wood as they reached the door.  "Just in case."

"Good idea, but I'd rather avoid trouble -- at least until we get back to the car and I can rearm myself."

"That's the plan. Once we're out of here, we'll take the sewer route."

"Lovely."

"It will be that -- but, with eternal night out there, it isn't likely there will be any vampires down there."

"Makes sense."

"And then we'll--!!!!"

They'd reached the door and swung it open.

To find the street beyond swarming with vampires.

"Uh oh!"

"Not good. So very not good."

"See!" yelled one of the vampires. "I told you I heard right! There is a Slayer and her Watcher in the city. And here they are!"  A growl rose from the throats of the gathered undead.

"I told you it was a bad idea to pick up that wood."

"Pardon?"

"Now what's the plan?"

"Oh, that's easy. You take the twenty on the left, I'll take the twenty on the right, and Lockheed and Lucky can have the twenty in the middle."

"I think there's a flaw in your plan somewhere, but I can't think of what it is right now."

"Got a better one?"

"Can you phase us into the sewers?"

"I doubt I could phase myself right now, but you've still got two good legs, you could ..."

"No way, Kat. And besides, I think your first plan will work," added Catherine with a smile.

"We're about to find out."

With a roar the assembled vampires rushed forward...

Just as a beam of energy blasted skyward in the distance. Blasted skyward, and struck the darkness covering the sun.  As all those gathered watched in surprise, the mystical eclipse suddenly came to a very sudden end.  The vampires had a brief moment to realize that before they began to burst into flames.  A very few hardy ones nearly made it to cover before they fell to dust.

"What just happened?" asked Catherine Bell after a moment of stunned silience.

"I can guess," answered Kitty Pryde as they continued on their way.

"Well?"

"That vamp said a Slayer and Watcher was here. I'm betting Buffy finally showed up and she brought along Willow. Buffy likely took out the Beast and Willow took care of the spell blocking out the sun."

"And Angelus?"

"Buffy will move heaven and hell to get him and Willow can restore Angel's soul. She's done it before."

"Should we look them up?"

"No. I'm tapped out, and there are some outstanding warrants on you. With the sun back the police will be back out in force, and this would be a bad time for one of them to recognize you."

"Aren't you a wanted woman too?"

"Only in the far east," quipped Kitty.

"I guess you're right. I just hate not being sure."

"Me too -- but, as I've learned, you can't be everywhere and you'll never know everything."

"An't that the sad truth. That, and this has to be one of the most humiliating encounters you've ever dragged me into."

"That I've dragged *you* into?" replied Kitty indignantly, but then she grinned as Catherine helped her into the car.

"Worse than that octopus?"

"Hey! I thought we both swore never to mention that ever...."

"Mention what?" interrupted Kitty innocently.

"...along with that whole thing with the penguin," finished Catherine, grinning herself now.

"Hey!"

Lockheed and Lucky both snickered.

"Hey what?" answered Catherine innocently as she seated herself in the driver's seat. "You know, it's kind of a nice change for me to be the one to come out of one of these 'encounters' in the best shape and on top."

"I always knew you were one of those types of women."

HEY!!"
 

Many thanks to Luba for all the beta reading , advice, archiving and anything else I've forgotten. ;-)

On the legal side Shadowcat belongs to Marvel and Bad Kitty to Chaos comics. I'd guess Angel belongs to the WB or something. <g>