Chapter Text
Rumi’s song coasted over the stage in a golden wave. Tammy spun and dodged as the two other Hunters rushed forward. She was faster. It didn’t matter. Their swords grew and grew, growing with every new soul from the audience (of course it was fine when she did it) until eventually she couldn’t dodge. For the 37 th time, Tammy died screaming.
She woke in the pit. Voices chattered indistinctly in a dozen languages, some cursing Huntrix, some cursing Gwi-Ma, most just wondering if anyone had managed to snag the good snacks before they got shoved back down to hell. Chances like this didn’t come every weekend. She shoved her way through to the edge where a crowd of Elders sat. Demons that had been here so long they’d all but forgotten life above. They fought without thinking, barely animal instinct, and were always the first to get sent back. She told herself she didn’t care. They made good canon fodder.
Gwi-Ma was always distracted during an attack but now that they had lost it had nowhere to turn but inwards. Its voice rippled through her so foolish, Tammy. So weak. Aren’t you ashamed? Knowing how close you were to having everything? She snarled and clawed at the Saja-Boys shirt that still clung to her. Of course she was. Rumi had done it. There was one person worthy of redemption, of forgiveness, of sunlight on their wounds, and it wasn’t Tammy. Save your words old man. I know.
Do you? You know, your father didn’t join the attack. Maybe you should speak to him?
She shook her head and barged through the Elders, out into the endless purple desert of the demon world. Later. Gwi-Ma’s anger flared and she braced herself, but just like that he was gone. Some other insignificant peon needing judgement, no doubt. He’d be back but for now she had a few precious moments to stew.
She wasn’t surprised Hwang had missed the attack. He always was a coward. How she could come from such pathetic ancestry and not run screaming at the first sign of danger, she’d never know. Then again, Rumi was pretty brave wasn’t she? Tammy snorted. Yeah, we all know where that came from. She’d never met Rumi’s mother, but Hwang never shut up about her. The perfect golden mother for the perfect golden child. There was no comparison to Tammy’s mother, Rin, who had been too stupid to realise she was fucking a demon, let alone to notice her child making deals with them. No, any skills Tammy had were all her own.
Granted, said skills mostly comprised of snagging her favourite chip brand in the precious minutes she got topside and daydreaming about driving Rumi’s nice sword through her thick skull. A girl’s gotta have hobbies. Failure, for example. Talking a big talk and then running, too weak to do anything without a demon's help, being just as pathetic as the rest of your family tree. She snarled again and lashed out with her claws. Some Elder demon cried out. Shut up.
Tammy finally reached the edge of the pit and vaulted out. Even with the influx of the dead slowing, it was way too crowded down there. The further she got from the centre the more room there was to stew, and Tammy needed all the room she could get. This couldn’t be it. She was sure the Honmoon hadn’t turned golden. That meant she could get back, and this time it was personal. How dare Rumi act so much better when she was just another demon. It was time to bring her back to earth.
She’d need help. One demon couldn’t take down the Hunters, no matter how righteous. Gwi-ma couldn’t hear of this, at least at first. He’d be busy licking his wounds. It was technically possible to keep secrets – she was fairly certain he couldn’t read thoughts that weren’t directed at him – but it’d be hard. And she hadn’t even considered-
Lost in her head, Tammy walked face first into a wall of muscle. “Gah! Watch yourself.” The demon slowly raised his gaze to hers. It took a second to recognise him without the costume but- “Wait weren’t you in the boy band?”
He nodded, also slowly. He had that classic look of someone recently fallen, still adjusting to the... everything down here. He clearly wasn’t thinking as well as he once had (not that he’d been thinking that well in the first place if he’d sold his soul for something as pathetic as fame, but still).
Oh, this was too perfect. A group of demons with no leader and nothing more to lose, fresh off the pain of failure. She gave a sharp smile. “What’s your name, big boy?”
“Abby.”
“Hmm. Nah, that’s too close to my name. You can be Buffy.”
Buffy blinked. “Okay.”
“Hey your friend Jinu left you guys right? Started helping the Hunters?”
“Yes.” His unfairly perfect abs rolled as he spoke. He’d kept his half-human form, so even with the demonic markings covering his face he looked almost normal. Someone she might have had posters of someday.
“Are you mad about that?”
“Yes.”
God this was like herding cats. “Do you wanna help me stop them?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Gather your stuff and come with me. This is going to take a lot of planning. We’ll need help.”
“Find help.”
Ah well, at least he was fun to look at. She’d never say no to eye candy. Hopefully the other members of the band weren’t quite as brainless.