It looks like this Halloween Sunnydale is putting together a compilation of Dresden's Biggest Hits™. And by "Biggest Hits," I mean the biggest monsters to have hit him.
Training Daze, A Crossover Fanfic of the Dresden Files
- Thread starter Ellf
- Start date
GiovanniBlasini
Transhumanist Nutcase from Niops IX
- Location
- San Diego, CA, USA, Sol III
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Maybe Xander couldn't find a toy gun to go with his fatigues, and ended up with a medic's arm and instead. You know, a white band with a red cross?
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Princess Luna or GTHO.
Snippet 10: Bear-y Nice To Eat You
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Shorter update today, probably two more scenes left in Sunnydale. Three at most. That might just be one snippet, might be two.
In life there are a few immutable things that you just shouldn't do. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. A not too distant third is "Never let the enemy decide where you will be fighting." Ursiel had appeared out of nowhere, as most monsters are wont to do, and I knew what the Fallen had in him. If it weren't for the fact that I had a civilian with me, I might have tried to take him on right then and there. I needed a better venue to face the bear at. Stars and Stones, I hoped it was alone.
Ursiel, the bear-shaped monster, was a Fallen Angel, one of thirty trapped within a piece of Roman silver. A denarius. Yes, those pieces of silver. Yes, those Fallen. When someone, a mortal, picks up one of these coins, they allow the Fallen within to gain influence over them. Eventually, they become like what I saw within Ursiel in a soulgaze, trapped under the thumb of the angel, or they become like the leader of the group of coin bearers, the Order of the Blackened Denarius, Nicodemus Archleone. I'd picked up one of those coins; it was why I had the shade of Lasciel in my head, tempting me. I wouldn't give in to that.
As I ran down the streets of Sunnydale, I mostly followed the lead of Cordelia. Being unaffected by the spell, she at least seemed to have some idea where she was headed. Ursiel was not far behind us, gaining ground on the pair of us.
"Wizard… I can smell you." Ursiel's voice, contrary to the snarling roar it could let out was smooth, melodious and significantly unsettling. Its words crawled out of the bear's maw, gliding out over its teeth. "You may change your form, but we have unfinished business, you and I."
I urged Cordelia on faster, and we made it across an intersection in the street, child-sized monsters keeping distance from the big dangerous thing. They knew when the bigger predator was out and about. It wouldn't' be much further before I could give a good honest shot at taking down the Denarian. Doing nothing about its presence wasn't really an option, and while I didn't have a fancy sword of the Cross with me, I had something almost as good.
I looked around for things I could use. Above ground powerlines hung overhead, stringing between poles. Sure, they connected to the stoplights at the intersection, but that could be useful. Admittedly, electrical magic was never really my forte, but I had the beginnings of a wonderful plan starting to set in mind. If I used wind to sever the cables, I could wrap the charged ones around Ursiel, and then I could fry him with my most powerful fire spell. Wile E. Coyote. Super genius. I wouldn't use Hellfire when casting though, not against a Denarian. Hellfire made spells significantly more powerful, granting the power boost when I needed it a few times in my past, but it seemed to me that using a Fallen provided ability against a Fallen would be a bad idea.
Of course, I never got the chance to implement my plan as a black Chevrolet Impala slammed into Ursiel at a significant speed, knocking the Denarian onto its side. Orange and green eyes glowing brighter, Ursiel gave a heady glare at the Impala before turning its attention back to Cordelia and myself. I had stopped running because I had intended on enacting my plan. I had no idea why Cordelia had stopped running.
Ursiel let out a laugh. "So the vermin come out to play this eve, Wizard. We shall finish our business later."
I had already gathered my power, so when the Denarian turned to leave, I released it. "Ventas! Ventas fulminos!"
Incorporating electricity into my wind spell was not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it helped that I had a perfect source right above the head of my target. Drawing wind down through the power cable, I severed it, creating a nice spark of electrical charge that traveled down my charged wind toward Ursiel. It should not have been possible if not for magic for a creature that size to move that fast. The Fallen had managed to dodge the attack as it bounded off onto another nearby building from the street.
"I will find you again, Wizard… and we shall finish our business then." Ursiel's melodic voice sent a creeping chill down my spine. It wasn't afraid as it left, but it only left on a whim. With Cordelia nearby, I couldn't afford to take any chances with it. Once it was gone, I turned toward the Impala. Even before striking Ursiel, the car couldn't have been in good shape. The windows were painted black and the windshield was heavily tinted a similar color. Now, with a bear-shaped dent crushing the car half-up the engine block, there was no way that car was likely to drive again without some serious TLC.
The driver's side door opened. Whoever had driven the car was likely to be injured from how they'd struck the Denarian, and if they were mortal, there was no way they were going to be climbing out of that car on their own, even if they'd worn their safety belt. Of course, that meant whatever was on its way out of the car wasn't mortal.
A black boot stepped down, followed by another, black men's pants, probably a shirt of some sort, and a dark leather trenchcoat. The man who wore it was decently tall, maybe just over six feet, but to me he looked giant, a stark reminder that I was not in my own body. The man's skin was pale, as if he'd not seen much sun lately, and he looked to be just barely younger than I was normally. Given that he'd survived that crash with nary a scratch, either he was extremely lucky, or he wasn't human.
He actually smiled upon seeing Cordelia and I. "Cordelia, Willow, I'm glad the two of you are okay. Things are a bit crazy out here… Did I just hit a bear?"
I couldn't tell his game, but he obviously knew the two of us. Cordelia seemed to brighten up in his presence almost immediately. "Oh, Angel… you saved us!"
Cordelia was swooning over this guy. She swooned over this pasty-skinned, gelled hair, nonhuman guy who only hit the Denarian with his car. I could have done that. I saved us, had the perfect plan that was ruined by this guy's…
"Willow are you all right?" The man… Angel asked me, looking into my eyes with concern. Normally I would look away when confronted with someone else's eyes in this manner, but I was reasonably convinced that this Angel guy wasn't human. Normally with nonhumans, they lack the soul necessary for a soulgaze to commence. So I held the man's gaze, sure it would do nothing. Imagine my surprise.
In life there are a few immutable things that you just shouldn't do. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. A not too distant third is "Never let the enemy decide where you will be fighting." Ursiel had appeared out of nowhere, as most monsters are wont to do, and I knew what the Fallen had in him. If it weren't for the fact that I had a civilian with me, I might have tried to take him on right then and there. I needed a better venue to face the bear at. Stars and Stones, I hoped it was alone.
Ursiel, the bear-shaped monster, was a Fallen Angel, one of thirty trapped within a piece of Roman silver. A denarius. Yes, those pieces of silver. Yes, those Fallen. When someone, a mortal, picks up one of these coins, they allow the Fallen within to gain influence over them. Eventually, they become like what I saw within Ursiel in a soulgaze, trapped under the thumb of the angel, or they become like the leader of the group of coin bearers, the Order of the Blackened Denarius, Nicodemus Archleone. I'd picked up one of those coins; it was why I had the shade of Lasciel in my head, tempting me. I wouldn't give in to that.
As I ran down the streets of Sunnydale, I mostly followed the lead of Cordelia. Being unaffected by the spell, she at least seemed to have some idea where she was headed. Ursiel was not far behind us, gaining ground on the pair of us.
"Wizard… I can smell you." Ursiel's voice, contrary to the snarling roar it could let out was smooth, melodious and significantly unsettling. Its words crawled out of the bear's maw, gliding out over its teeth. "You may change your form, but we have unfinished business, you and I."
I urged Cordelia on faster, and we made it across an intersection in the street, child-sized monsters keeping distance from the big dangerous thing. They knew when the bigger predator was out and about. It wouldn't' be much further before I could give a good honest shot at taking down the Denarian. Doing nothing about its presence wasn't really an option, and while I didn't have a fancy sword of the Cross with me, I had something almost as good.
I looked around for things I could use. Above ground powerlines hung overhead, stringing between poles. Sure, they connected to the stoplights at the intersection, but that could be useful. Admittedly, electrical magic was never really my forte, but I had the beginnings of a wonderful plan starting to set in mind. If I used wind to sever the cables, I could wrap the charged ones around Ursiel, and then I could fry him with my most powerful fire spell. Wile E. Coyote. Super genius. I wouldn't use Hellfire when casting though, not against a Denarian. Hellfire made spells significantly more powerful, granting the power boost when I needed it a few times in my past, but it seemed to me that using a Fallen provided ability against a Fallen would be a bad idea.
Of course, I never got the chance to implement my plan as a black Chevrolet Impala slammed into Ursiel at a significant speed, knocking the Denarian onto its side. Orange and green eyes glowing brighter, Ursiel gave a heady glare at the Impala before turning its attention back to Cordelia and myself. I had stopped running because I had intended on enacting my plan. I had no idea why Cordelia had stopped running.
Ursiel let out a laugh. "So the vermin come out to play this eve, Wizard. We shall finish our business later."
I had already gathered my power, so when the Denarian turned to leave, I released it. "Ventas! Ventas fulminos!"
Incorporating electricity into my wind spell was not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it helped that I had a perfect source right above the head of my target. Drawing wind down through the power cable, I severed it, creating a nice spark of electrical charge that traveled down my charged wind toward Ursiel. It should not have been possible if not for magic for a creature that size to move that fast. The Fallen had managed to dodge the attack as it bounded off onto another nearby building from the street.
"I will find you again, Wizard… and we shall finish our business then." Ursiel's melodic voice sent a creeping chill down my spine. It wasn't afraid as it left, but it only left on a whim. With Cordelia nearby, I couldn't afford to take any chances with it. Once it was gone, I turned toward the Impala. Even before striking Ursiel, the car couldn't have been in good shape. The windows were painted black and the windshield was heavily tinted a similar color. Now, with a bear-shaped dent crushing the car half-up the engine block, there was no way that car was likely to drive again without some serious TLC.
The driver's side door opened. Whoever had driven the car was likely to be injured from how they'd struck the Denarian, and if they were mortal, there was no way they were going to be climbing out of that car on their own, even if they'd worn their safety belt. Of course, that meant whatever was on its way out of the car wasn't mortal.
A black boot stepped down, followed by another, black men's pants, probably a shirt of some sort, and a dark leather trenchcoat. The man who wore it was decently tall, maybe just over six feet, but to me he looked giant, a stark reminder that I was not in my own body. The man's skin was pale, as if he'd not seen much sun lately, and he looked to be just barely younger than I was normally. Given that he'd survived that crash with nary a scratch, either he was extremely lucky, or he wasn't human.
He actually smiled upon seeing Cordelia and I. "Cordelia, Willow, I'm glad the two of you are okay. Things are a bit crazy out here… Did I just hit a bear?"
I couldn't tell his game, but he obviously knew the two of us. Cordelia seemed to brighten up in his presence almost immediately. "Oh, Angel… you saved us!"
Cordelia was swooning over this guy. She swooned over this pasty-skinned, gelled hair, nonhuman guy who only hit the Denarian with his car. I could have done that. I saved us, had the perfect plan that was ruined by this guy's…
"Willow are you all right?" The man… Angel asked me, looking into my eyes with concern. Normally I would look away when confronted with someone else's eyes in this manner, but I was reasonably convinced that this Angel guy wasn't human. Normally with nonhumans, they lack the soul necessary for a soulgaze to commence. So I held the man's gaze, sure it would do nothing. Imagine my surprise.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Oh fuck, he's in Buffyverse. What are the odds the First Evil manages to trick Harry!Willow into looking at It with the Sight?
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Oh you have no idea.
It was this or another gaze, and I felt Angel deserved it more.
Mmmm-hmm... Ignore the jotting sounds.
Snippet 11: Windows to the Soul
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Two updates in two nights? This is madness.
So, what happens when a wizard looks into a person's eyes is that he, or she, at the moment, sees far more than just what color they happen to be. They say that eyes are windows to the soul. To a wizard, that happens to be quite a bit more literal. When I make eye contact with someone for too long, or even too intently, I get to peek in through those windows. Everything is laid bare before a wizard during a soulgaze. Nothing is hidden, on either side. You both see each other for what you are inside with such clarity that it etches itself into your head, unable to be forgotten.
No matter how badly you might wish to.
I felt a pulling, whirling sensation and fell upward into Angel's eyes, the dark brown consuming my sight for only a second. Before me was a stone wall that extended upward to a stone ceiling and to either side as far as I could see. Located on the wall was a single steel door with a window frame within it, in front of which was Angel. The man was trussed up, arms spread to either side of the door and chained into place, his chains driven into the wall. Unlike the confident man that stood outside, this Angel dressed in a tattered shirt and pants and was barefoot. His hair was unkempt and though he stood, it seemed more due to the chains holding him up than any actual effort exerted on his part. Tears streamed down his face, and he honestly just looked tired. He looked up to me as I approached.
"No, stay back!" At his outcry of that, something slammed against the door, hard. I looked through the door, and behind it stood Angel, only dressed in fancier clothing… and with a deformed face. The way the face scrunched up reminded me of a more human version of the bat-like true forms of Red Court vampires. Bony ridges protruded around its golden eyes, and it had a fanged grin as it slammed the door.
"Let me out! I'll rip out her throat and drain her dry!" Oh don't tell me that even in here I was Willow. Was there no justice? It didn't matter, so I stepped back, and I noticed them. They stood in a neat line to either side of the chained man, people of every age. Each person was pale white, and their clothing was stained with blood, especially around the neck area. There were a few others that I could see with worse injuries, but that didn't stop them from approaching Angel.
The first pair approached Angel and stood before him, a man and a young girl. When they did so, the door rattled again, and tears began anew on Angel's face.
"Why did you do it, Liam?" The man started. "How could you do it? How could you?"
"I'm sorry…" Angel mouthed, and in response, the demon laughed, describing an atrocity. The demon had drained the man and girl, Angel's own father and sister, and it got worse. Every person that approached accused Angel, and the demon behind reminded him of what had happened. Each and every time, and each time, Angel apologized.
It reminded me a bit of Thomas as Angel took responsibility for the actions his demon committed. Angel was not the demon, nor was my brother his Hunger, but neither could help what they were.
Then she came. Light shone down upon a blonde young woman, perhaps about Murphy's height, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, as she pushed through the petitioners. Each one she stepped through turned to smoke upon contact. She approached Angel with a smile. She placed a hand upon the man's face, and the chains extended somewhat so he could touch her. A genuine smile touched his lips, and the pair kissed.
While this kiss didn't exactly top Westley and Buttercup's, I'd give it an eight out of ten from a voyeuristic standpoint. The two obviously cared for one another.
Which is why it was surprising when Buffy Summers pulled out a wooden stake and drove it into Angel's chest. She barely looked like Sarah Michelle Gellar at all.
I came out of the soulgaze with a start and stumbled. Angel made motion to catch me, but I blew it off by stopping myself.
"So." I started.
"You aren't Willow." Angel bluntly stated.
"What was your first clue?" I asked. "Actually, please don't answer that." I really preferred not to know what people saw in my soul. I might not have been able to hide it from them, but I'd very much rather hide it from myself.
"What was that?" Angel asked.
"Soulgaze. Basically you saw my soul, and I saw yours." I answered, and looked around. Cordelia looked a bit annoyed.
"Could we please get going now?" Cordelia asked. "We should find Summers and have her end this."
"If Buffy got her costume where Willow got hers, she might be just as affected as I am. Willow is. Whatever." I said, trying to bring this episode to mind.
"There's somewhere we can go to find out more about it." Angel said. I couldn't believe that I was trusting a vampire, but given the contents of his soul… I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. He may not have been a good man, but he wanted to be.
"Where?" I asked.
"Sunnydale High Library." Angel answered. "We should go to see Giles."
Well, a library would probably have books on rituals and maybe there might have been something in those books that would help to end this, but Ursiel was still out there. The Denarian was from my world, not this one, and I felt responsible for it.
"You two go." I said, calmly checking each of my implements as I looked around. There seemed to be less of the small monsters around, but I couldn't tell why.
"What about you?" Angel asked. "You might not be Willow, but that is her body."
"Don't worry about me, Angel. I've got some business I need to attend to." Hmm. Odd. I seemed to be missing a familiar lump from my jacket pocket. Did I not have my gun?
"Dresden, what are you planning on doing?" Angel asked, a bit more forceful.
Stars and stones, my gun was missing. Well, at least I had my magical implements.
Grinning at Angel, I said, "I'm going to be vewy vewy quiet. I'm hunting bears."
So, what happens when a wizard looks into a person's eyes is that he, or she, at the moment, sees far more than just what color they happen to be. They say that eyes are windows to the soul. To a wizard, that happens to be quite a bit more literal. When I make eye contact with someone for too long, or even too intently, I get to peek in through those windows. Everything is laid bare before a wizard during a soulgaze. Nothing is hidden, on either side. You both see each other for what you are inside with such clarity that it etches itself into your head, unable to be forgotten.
No matter how badly you might wish to.
I felt a pulling, whirling sensation and fell upward into Angel's eyes, the dark brown consuming my sight for only a second. Before me was a stone wall that extended upward to a stone ceiling and to either side as far as I could see. Located on the wall was a single steel door with a window frame within it, in front of which was Angel. The man was trussed up, arms spread to either side of the door and chained into place, his chains driven into the wall. Unlike the confident man that stood outside, this Angel dressed in a tattered shirt and pants and was barefoot. His hair was unkempt and though he stood, it seemed more due to the chains holding him up than any actual effort exerted on his part. Tears streamed down his face, and he honestly just looked tired. He looked up to me as I approached.
"No, stay back!" At his outcry of that, something slammed against the door, hard. I looked through the door, and behind it stood Angel, only dressed in fancier clothing… and with a deformed face. The way the face scrunched up reminded me of a more human version of the bat-like true forms of Red Court vampires. Bony ridges protruded around its golden eyes, and it had a fanged grin as it slammed the door.
"Let me out! I'll rip out her throat and drain her dry!" Oh don't tell me that even in here I was Willow. Was there no justice? It didn't matter, so I stepped back, and I noticed them. They stood in a neat line to either side of the chained man, people of every age. Each person was pale white, and their clothing was stained with blood, especially around the neck area. There were a few others that I could see with worse injuries, but that didn't stop them from approaching Angel.
The first pair approached Angel and stood before him, a man and a young girl. When they did so, the door rattled again, and tears began anew on Angel's face.
"Why did you do it, Liam?" The man started. "How could you do it? How could you?"
"I'm sorry…" Angel mouthed, and in response, the demon laughed, describing an atrocity. The demon had drained the man and girl, Angel's own father and sister, and it got worse. Every person that approached accused Angel, and the demon behind reminded him of what had happened. Each and every time, and each time, Angel apologized.
It reminded me a bit of Thomas as Angel took responsibility for the actions his demon committed. Angel was not the demon, nor was my brother his Hunger, but neither could help what they were.
Then she came. Light shone down upon a blonde young woman, perhaps about Murphy's height, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, as she pushed through the petitioners. Each one she stepped through turned to smoke upon contact. She approached Angel with a smile. She placed a hand upon the man's face, and the chains extended somewhat so he could touch her. A genuine smile touched his lips, and the pair kissed.
While this kiss didn't exactly top Westley and Buttercup's, I'd give it an eight out of ten from a voyeuristic standpoint. The two obviously cared for one another.
Which is why it was surprising when Buffy Summers pulled out a wooden stake and drove it into Angel's chest. She barely looked like Sarah Michelle Gellar at all.
I came out of the soulgaze with a start and stumbled. Angel made motion to catch me, but I blew it off by stopping myself.
"So." I started.
"You aren't Willow." Angel bluntly stated.
"What was your first clue?" I asked. "Actually, please don't answer that." I really preferred not to know what people saw in my soul. I might not have been able to hide it from them, but I'd very much rather hide it from myself.
"What was that?" Angel asked.
"Soulgaze. Basically you saw my soul, and I saw yours." I answered, and looked around. Cordelia looked a bit annoyed.
"Could we please get going now?" Cordelia asked. "We should find Summers and have her end this."
"If Buffy got her costume where Willow got hers, she might be just as affected as I am. Willow is. Whatever." I said, trying to bring this episode to mind.
"There's somewhere we can go to find out more about it." Angel said. I couldn't believe that I was trusting a vampire, but given the contents of his soul… I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. He may not have been a good man, but he wanted to be.
"Where?" I asked.
"Sunnydale High Library." Angel answered. "We should go to see Giles."
Well, a library would probably have books on rituals and maybe there might have been something in those books that would help to end this, but Ursiel was still out there. The Denarian was from my world, not this one, and I felt responsible for it.
"You two go." I said, calmly checking each of my implements as I looked around. There seemed to be less of the small monsters around, but I couldn't tell why.
"What about you?" Angel asked. "You might not be Willow, but that is her body."
"Don't worry about me, Angel. I've got some business I need to attend to." Hmm. Odd. I seemed to be missing a familiar lump from my jacket pocket. Did I not have my gun?
"Dresden, what are you planning on doing?" Angel asked, a bit more forceful.
Stars and stones, my gun was missing. Well, at least I had my magical implements.
Grinning at Angel, I said, "I'm going to be vewy vewy quiet. I'm hunting bears."
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Dresden, Willow's teenage FEMALE hormones must be affecting your mind. You can't take on a Fallen, even one like Ursiel, without at least one Knight as backup!
Arafell
Verified Cephalon
- Location
- Oregon
As long as he's got time to prepare, I'd give him even odds.
Maybe even a 100% chance of victory if he had a decommissioned Russian satellite handy.
Beyogi
and a fairy
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Did I miss something?
You're not talking about Lash, are you?
There is a Fallen running amuck, using the enchanted clothing to control the body of an innocent. It doesn't matter how unimaginably unlikely it is for a one of the Knights to have followed Dresden, one of them will be there. Even if that means Sanya takes a wrong turn in albuquerque which for some explicable reason leads him to Sunnydale.
Although I suppose it is more likely that someone dressed up as a paladin for halloween.
It's certainly more Buffy-fitting to dress as a holy knight than a princess... Though Xander is prone to be the subject of Halloween-fics. (Wait, non-combatant characters who turn out to be total badasses in the right circumstances? Butters, is that you?)
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Let's hope so...
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Mmm.. Sadly, no Xander as Butters. Having Butters Sunnydale-side screws with some things Chicago-side.
I wish the space bar worked consistently on this laptop... I have foreshadowed things a little. If you pay attention, some things might have stuck out.