Buffy Summers had spent most of her life as a brat. Self-centered, self-absorbed and vain; it was only when she had moved to Sunnydale, the only town in the States where you could be sure that something *interesting* was going to happen, that she began to grow up. Taking upon the mantle of Slayer that destiny had thrust upon her, Buffy had matured from a spoilt little girl into a confident, independent woman. (OOC: This follows a bit of the movie timeline.) She had faced down demons, vampires, assorted "Monster-of-the-Week" cannon-fodder and even managed to defeat the Master albeit with some help (okay a lot of help).

So when the guy in white robes asked her to dust this vampire it was just another job right? Buffy had thought that she could just pound a stake through his heart and she would be home in time for dinner. Maybe her first clue should have been the good Archbishop Lazarus insisting that they leave behind contact information for their next of kin. Perhaps the trunk full of fire-arms that the Vatican had provided them should have rang some warning bells. And just possibly the fact that Giles had fainted dead away when she told him she was going off to kill this "Demitri Maximoff" ought to have clued her in. "Ah well," Buffy Summers reflected. "Hindsight always was 20-20," as she ran for her life.

In a frenzy, she and Willow hopped into the car that the nice Priests had rented from them and zoomed away from Demitri's castle as if all the hordes of hell were after them. In retrospect that was a tad too adept a metaphor for Buffy's taste. After a mad drive to shake off any pursuit, Buffy stopped the car and just sat there gasping in sweet breaths of air. Next to her, Willow was as stiff as a board and unnaturally pale.

"Buffy, we have to go back."

"Willow, you're got to be kidding me."

"But Buffy, Xander's still somewhere in the castle."

Tears of frustration trickled down Buffy's face as the words she spoke stuck in her throat. "Willow, Xander shot Demitri in the face with a *rocket launcher* AND HE DIDN"T EVEN BLINK!"

"But Buffy, we don't know if this Demitri's even evil. I mean besides this eternal night stuff, he wasn't even doing anything mean when we met him. He was just sitting on his throne. Maybe he's just misunderstood, you know? Maybe he's like Angel, a nice vampire. We shot him first but maybe if we went up to him and tell him we're really, really sorry, he'll let Xander go and we can all go hoooooooooooome!"

Willow shrieked as one of Demitri's gargoyle servitors sank its talons into her shoulders and bore her aloft with the strength of its granite wings. With her hands outstretched to her friend, the last thing the stunned Slayer saw of Willow was her plaintive cry for help.

Grimly, Buffy returned to their contact from the Vatica and requisitioned some serious firepower. It was amazing just how quickly a religious organization could get its hands on military grade weaponry. Rather disturbing really.

Demitri strode imperiously through his castle. Soon, he would need to consolidate his power among the other lords of Makai. As for now, he was still weak after his long slumber but every moment spent under the moon's caress, Demitri could feel his strength returning to him. He would need to seek out powerful fighters to consume so that he could steal a measure of their power from their blood. An odd clanking sound interrupted his reverie, spoiling the solemn majesty of his castle. If he did not know better, Demtiri could have sworn that the sound was just behind him. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and the Lord of Vampires turned around to vent his wrath on those who would intrude on his solitude...............and found himself staring down the barrel of a howitzer.

Buffy held the howitzer in her hands by sheer dint of the strength granted to her as the Slayer. "Hey Mr Smiley, say cheese," she smirked as she pulled the trigger. The rapport of the artillery piece was deafening in the quiet Latverian night and as the smoke cleared, a soot covered Demitri brushed away some of the carbon from his face. "You're really beginning to annoy me, girl," he snarled as he prepared a Chaos Flare.

Buffy 'eeped', brained him with the howitzer and ran.

After rounding up Xander (he was in the vampiresses' room trying to avoid some really nasty hickeys) and Willow (in a dark, dank cell) the three escaped from Demitri's castle was all due haste. In the relative safety of Rome, Buffy told the Pope to take out the really big guns. This Demitri guy was serious trouble. She did not care if some of the weaponry was labeled "break glass in case of doomsday", this guy was worth it.