Note: And now to introduce the first major enforcer
Rupert Giles grabbed Buffy and Willow as the deafening roar of the trucks horn tore through the abandoned parking lot.
The semi in question passed within a foot of them as it continued to accelerate on a beeline for the entrance before the three were bowled over by the bound form of the stolen vehicles former driver.
"My god," the Englishman managed to let out before the vehicle plowed into the entrance with a scream of rending metal and shattering glass before the trailer seemed to roll forward behind the cab, smashing the end of it into the wall above the ruined entryway.
It was a wall of wreckage that blocked their egress to the interior, and the fall of their plans.
But, perhaps, another's plans had just begun as the ruined trucks remains shielded them from the explosion within.
Angelus slowly crawled back to his feet, looking at the mayhem between himself and what used to be the malls entrance.
He'd picked this section because of the theater, and it had only been the concessions stand in the middle of the area that had kept his force alive, but the humans were screaming. If it had been his idea, it would have had him smiling.
Dru's face seemed almost paler than usual in the flickering of spreading flames that were swiftly joined by the downpour from the sprinklers that were still intact.
A flash of motion caught his eye.
Had something survived that, the concept seemed insane, but more motion.
A cloaked figure, was moving through the flames as the lights finally died, and then it looked up at him, the only light in the room came from those glowing, crimson eyes.
As the Judge froze, the figure seemed to vanish with a roar that at least matched the explosions volume, and the demon could only stare as Angelus also disappeared only for both figures to reappear.
The vampire was driven into the wall, shattering the plaster and sending shards outwards before his eyes could see what had attacked for but a moment, and even then only noticing the metallic sheen as the red, emergency lighting came on in response to the havoc of their foes initial attack.
Then the machine pivoted, still grasping the entity that was once angel, then shifting into a throw to toss aside the stunned blood sucker with almost contemptuous ease as the Judge took a shocked step away.
It was only the sound of shattering glass from the flying body smashing through a storefront that broke the shock in the Judge, allowing him to act and attempt to fight back.
While the attack seemed to be a stream of lightning, it had little to do with electricity, and even then it did nothing to slow down his foe beyond prompt it to discard the now flaming cloak and reveal the form that had been concealed.
One might say it was short for a killing machine, at least if you took a human perspective of eye level. Spines draped backwards as if it were some industrial interpretation of a mohawk merged with a buzzsaw. Armor plating with the joints fused, or perhaps the entire armor had been cast and forged in a single piece.
An arm raised, metallic spikes that flexed as fingers folded into a fist pointed at the ancient monster while the gauntlet shifted and revealed something that might have been akin to a gun fired a pulse of energy through the shadows.
The Judge went airborne, clearing the railing, but the attack didn't end there as the machine moved again, closing in the blink of an eye to smash into its foe in midair, acting as the hammer to the Judge being a nail.
A demons roar was cut off, shifting to an almost pitiful mewling as the audible sound of bones snapping ripped from the monster, and the machine stepped back.
Gasping for breath and attempting to find the ability within its smashed body to speak, the Judge knelt there above the spiderweb fractures in the marble flooring while the metal warrior that had attacked positioned itself behind, the second arm revealing another weapon and both taking position.
The dual flashes of both weapons firing ended the Judge, body falling to the floor, smoldering from energy weapons fire.
Drusilla, the sole witness to the entirety of the fight, just stared as the machine walked away.
Xander sat there upon the metallic throne, watching the screen displaying the files from his servants memory banks.
His seat was meant for someone many times larger than him, but then again, it was possible that he'd fill it out just as Julius had.
While many held the misconception that the good doctor was overweight, the truth was that Robotnik was anything but. Roboticization was not just a tool for creating minions, but something the mad genius had used to improve his own body beyond what any human could relying on the abilities provided by nature.
While not the same form of the process as what gave him such interesting minions, it did have the same basis and the plans had been used to entice the King into funding the research in the first place.
Of course, the military aspects were far simpler to develop without such trivial details as free will in his subjects.
For a moment he'd pondered the image many would have had of his abode.
Flickering lights and many other trappings of a mad scientist were absent.
Not because of the atmosphere, his inherited fashion sense covered that in styles that still creeped out some portion of his brain.
But the one thing that the mechanical mastermind had always used to his advantage was efficiency, a flickering bulb was one that should be replaced, damage should be repaired, and, well, hedgehogs should be annihilated (though he'd yet to actually come face to face with the last part of that in his personal experience).
He was pondering methods to amplify the power of Metal Sonic's cannons after their showings against the Judge, as well as a new coating material that wouldn't be as susceptible to the carbon scoring that could effect his weapons performance in the future, not to mention something difficult to scrub clean in the joints of the machine.
All in all, his pets outing had been a successful field test for its combat capabilities.
Baring no illusions that Angelus' existence had been ended, he considered options for dealing with the being that had irked him before his apotheosis as one hand stroked clucks cold, steel plating.
His free hand caressed one of the facets of the glowing gem waiting for him to find a use for it.