Interlude: The Whirlwind

Spike had been pretty bloody pleased with himself for a while. He'd managed to get Dru back to her old self and had only gotten a broken leg as a tradeoff. The Jamaican Bint had fucked off back to Jamaica shortly afterward and Spike had decided that he and Dru would lay low for a tick until his leg healed up. It'd taken a few weeks for that to happen, though. Apparently, there'd been more damage to the tendons than he'd thought. Still, by Christmas, he was raring to have another go at the Slayer and her mates. There'd been just one problem, lack of funds. Mind you, that'd been fairly easy to fix, but it'd meant leaving the Hellmouth for a trip out to Metro City on the East Coast.

See, between the Mad Gear Gang going belly up and the chaos of the underworld power vacuum that'd ensued, there was plenty of free loot to be had for an enterprising pair of Vampires like he and Dru. All they had to do was make the trip to take it. So that's what they spent the Christmas Holidays doing. They must've knocked over a dozen gang hideouts and raked in a few million in unmarked, non-sequential bills. Between the cash and all the random Gang Members, Metro City had kept him and Dru well-funded and well-fed for weeks. By the time they'd left, they had ten million dollars stuffed a couple duffel bags, and a third duffel bag full of gold.

There'd only been one thing for them to do after that, take a trip south of the border for a little holiday of their own. Just so long as they managed to steer clear of those local blokes who ran that Strip Club and Biker Bar trap, Mexico was always a fun time. If they were forced to interact with the locals, though, there was no telling what might happen. Dru and their leader got on like oil and water, and honestly, Spike couldn't even blame her. The Mexican Bint went around calling herself Santánico Pandemonium, but everyone knew her real name was Esmeralda. Talk about putting on heirs. That was a pretty nobbish title for a Bird who ran a glorified strip club.

Fortunately, they managed to avoid that particular pitfall, and they'd had a pretty good time down in Mexico. Mind you, they'd left in a hurry after the town they were staying in suddenly got a whole lot of attention from the Local Cartel. Apparently, the Cartel was chasing some Mariachi with a suitcase full of guns across half of Northern Mexico. Spike knew a brewing disaster when he saw one, though, and he and Drew had made their way back North ahead of the hailstorm of bullets that was definitely about to ensue. Not that bullets would've done much to either of them, least not without specialized ammo, but that sort of thing does tend to put a damper on your holiday. By the time they returned to the Hellmouth, it was already almost February.

'Course, they couldn't have just gotten right back into the swing of things. Unlife was never that simple for Spike. No, not two days after they'd gotten back to the old Bric and Broc Factory and gotten settled in, who would come traipsing in but the Great Poof himself? Spike'd said something incredibly witty, not to toot his own horn, but he'd been backhanded through a wall for his troubles. Angel never would've done that, which meant that the bloody Gypsy curse'd been lifted and Angelus was back. Way to steal a bloke's thunder, but then, Angelus always was good at doing that. Spike'd gotten the story straight from the Man himself. Apparently, the Slayer and Angel had gotten to a bit of slap and tickle, and the happiness that Angel had felt about the whole deal had broken the curse.

Now, Angelus was back and he was putting the band back together, so to speak. Course, without Darla, they were short one member. Spike'd suggested getting Vlad to show up, at least then he could shake the bastard down for the eleven quid he owed him. That'd turned out to be a bust, though. Apparently, the Fake Count was too busy getting his arse handed to him in Madrid by some Fernandez Witch who'd taken offense at him claiming to be Dracula, not that there was any shortage of people claiming to be the Count.

As far as Spike knew, the actual Count had been slain in eighteen-ninety-two or thereabouts, and half the shite that got attributed to him was actually done by a Doppelganger Demon who'd taken his place for two-hundred-some-odd years while the Count traveled the world building up his fortune and getting things ready for his return. At any rate, Vlad's pretensions to the title getting him into trouble meant that he wasn't gonna be available to join up with them as their fourth. It also meant Spike wasn't gonna be paid back that eleven quid any time soon. Who knows, maybe the Fernandez Bint would actually manage to ash Vlad and totally end any hope of Spike being paid back? It was something to think about, at least.

Of course, what that really meant was that they were holding tryouts for folks who wanted to join the Whirlwind. Angelus had, predictably, gotten bored after a couple hours of sifting through blokes who didn't have the talent and gone off to kill someone. That was how Spike found himself looking out over the remaining potential recruits, supervising. Bloody bollocks is what that was, making him do all the dirty work while Angelus got to have a grand old time out terrorizing the local humans. Sodding typical. It was a wonder Spike'd even followed him as long as he had the first go around. Well, things were gonna change this time. As soon as Angelus got back, Spike'd give the bloody Ponce a piece of his mind.

Right now, though, he had to oversee the remaining recruits. He was down to three potentials, but they only had room for one. The first was a huge, dark-skinned, Makai Demon going by Makintaro. Makintaro was freakishly strong, and pretty tough to boot. He could morph his hands into axe blades and could regenerate faster than a Vampire could by using some sort of Makai technique. Problem was, the Bloke was a bit of a hothead with the kind of short fuse that'd need to be watched in case it caused trouble. He also wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, though it seemed like he knew that and was all too willing to follow a bloke who could make the plans.

The second was an Indian Vampire named Jyoti Singh. Spike'd met her once before a year or so after being chased out of Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion. He'd been forced to head west overland after Dru had managed to finagle her way onto a ship just in time for him to be chased away from the dock by one of those Shaolin Order of Light Blokes. He'd found himself in Karachi and had hooked up with Jyoti to help get him passage on a ship back to Blighty in the port there. She'd helped him bypass some bloody Indian Holy Man who'd been in town. The Holy Man could stretch his arms out and breathe fire and had beaten Spike half to death before Jyoti'd helped him out. Apparently, that Holy Man's grandson had taken up the old Man's calling and had chased Jyoti out of India.

The Third Candidate wasn't a Vampire or Demon, but a bloke named Dave Gustafson. Dave had been Rack's apprentice for the last three years before the Warlock had thrown him out on his ear. Apparently, Rack had up and decided he wasn't gonna share his mystical knowledge anymore and that he no longer needed an apprentice. Dave wasn't as powerful as the Terakan Bloke Spike'd hired recently, but he made up for it in cunning. Besides, with the Slayer having magical backup, there's no bloody reason not for the Whirlwind not to have their own.

These three had beaten out a litany of other Vampires, Demons, and one Psychic who'd thought just being able to move things with his mind made him special. The miserable Git never even saw Jyoti's scimitar coming. He'd been too busy sniping at Dave. It was just a shame they could only take one candidate, 'cause having fought the Slayer and her new and improved group, they'd need all three to really raise some Hell. Angelus had been pretty insistent, though, and the last time he'd scrapped with him, Spike hadn't come off the winner. In a way, he almost preferred Angel to Angelus. The Poof was a lot easier to deal with when he wasn't ruthless, after all.

"Spike, have ye finished with the tryouts yet?" Came the accented voice of Angelus. Spike hadn't missed the Irish brogue either.

"These three are the best of the lot. Are you sure we can only take one? There's more than just the Slayer to deal with now, you know." Tried Spike.

"I know. I just watched Xander bloody Harris clean out a nest o' vampires all by his lonesome. The situation's changed, to be sure." Scowled Angelus.

"It's the Man of Light, Daddy. The Nasty God-Man is spreading his light to others." Offered Dru from nearby.

"Sounds like we could use all the help we can get." Pointed out Spike.

"Right. So plans've changed." Nodded Angelus before turning to the three recruits and saying, "Congratulations! Ye've all just made the cut! Welcome to the Whirlwind, one o' the most feared groups o' demons in all o' history!"

Spike would never let the Poof know it, but a twinge of relief shot through him at Angelus' pronouncement. They'd need the extra members to fully take on Ulysses' Group as well as the Slayer's Lot. The situation was a lot like how it'd been in Budapest just before they'd split up after Angelus had been cursed. Back then, the Bloody Countess had decided she was going to cultivate groups of Mortal Hunters to send at anyone who could threaten her position in the City. They'd barely gotten out of the City with their unlives, dodging spells and magic crossbow bolts the whole way out of the City. When a group was that entrenched, you needed more than four people to deal with them.

"All right, so now that yer in the Whirlwind, the first order o' business is collecting a few parcels." Intoned Angelus, bringing Spike out of his musing.

"Parcels? What are we, errand boys now?" Demanded Makintaro.

"Patience. There is obviously more to this than just collecting packages, yes?" Counseled Jyoti.

"Point to the Lady. Tell me, what do ye know about a Demon known as the Judge?" Queried Angelus.

"A lower, high-level Demon. He was supposed to be an Army Killer that took an entire Roman Legion to subdue the first time. I heard he's able to burn humans with a touch and that no weapon forged of man can kill him." Informed Dave.

"Right on the money. The Romans had to use a sword made by their Gods to deal with him. Even then, he killed a whole bloody Legion of them before they managed to chop him up into pieces." Grinned Spike.

"We bring the presents together and a big surprise pops out!" Sing-songed Dru from nearby.

"Exactly. We know where most o' the pieces o' the Judge are, but we didn't have the manpower to grab them. Not till now." Nodded Angelus.

"Which is where we come in, I assume." Asked Jyoti.

"Bang on." Confirmed Spike.

"Fine, we'll get this Judge guy here. The more the merrier! He'd better be grateful, though." Remarked Makintaro.

"By the rating you all use in Makai, he'd be a high-tier C-class, bordering on low-tier B-class. How do you plan to control him?" Questioned Dave.

"We don't need to control him, just point him at the humans and let him go." Answered Angelus.

"The Man of Light will challenge the Judge while we have all the fun." Smiled Dru.

"Right you lot, gather round. Let's go over the locations of each of the remaining pieces. I already did a bit of work ahead of time and nicked the Torso from a ship in Sunnydale Harbor, but here's where the rest are." Began Spike, pulling a bunch of papers and a marked map out of his duster.

A plan was taking shape, and when the dust settled, it was the Whirlwind who'd come out on top, just like always. And if not, Spike wasn't averse to just upping stakes and heading back south of the border with Dru. They could wait out the fallout together while Angelus deals with the consequences. It would serve the Poof right for that high and mighty attitude he keeps putting on. So long as he had Dru with him, the rest of the Whirlwind could go rot for all Spike cared. He never was that averse to cutting his losses when a massive bloody clusterfuck happened, after all.

It was just good sense. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we get a bit of insight into what's going on with the Whirlwind. They're recruiting and planning to sic the Judge on Ulysses while the rest of them deal with Buffy, Xander, Amy, and Sheila. It's not a bad plan, all things considered. The Judge is a match for Ulysses in a fight, after all. Whether it works out for them or not has yet to be seen. If it doesn't, though, Spike is planning to take Dru and head for Mexico.

Other nineties stuff this chapter includes mentions of the Shaolin Order of Light from Mortal Kombat, Metro City and the Mad Gear Gang from Final Fight, Santánico Pandemonium and the Mexican Vampires from From Dusk Till Dawn, the Cartel chasing a Mariachi with a suitcase full of guns is a reference to the plots of El Mariachi and Desperado, Makai Demons and Makintaro are from Yu Yu Hakusho, and the stretchy-armed, fire breathing, Holy Man who drove Jyoti out of India is a reference to Dhalsim from Street Fighter.

Next up we'll have an interlude with what the Trio are doing in the background of all this.

Stay tuned. . .