(Aug 25 section starts)

This is a rewrite from scratch.  It now takes place after Buffy season 6.

                               The Yohko Factor
                                by Ken Arromdee

    It was a bright and sunny day in Sunnydale, the kind of day which gave the
place its name.  Whoever had named the city had decided to stress its positive
elements with that name.  Like Greenland.

    The best known feature of Sunnydale was also its best kept secret.
Sunnydale was a town located on the Hellmouth, which attracted demons,
mystics, the occasional goddess or mad scientist, and a whole lot of vampires.
The regular denizens of the city had only a slight idea of the truth, a feeling
in the back of their heads that something was wrong, that it really might not
be normal for the high school newspaper to have a weekly obituary column.
Those who figured it out before falling prey to the supernatural usually moved
out.

    It was very seldom that someone moved in.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    The *other* 108th Devil Hunter, Ayako Mano, jiggled the key in the door of
her new apartment and walked in for the first time, accompanied by her
assistant Azusa.  She looked around in satisfaction at the size of the room;
by Japanese standards, it was huge.  "So what do you think?" she asked Azusa.

    "It looks great!" replied the teen.  "And I can't believe it's six hundred
dollars for two bedrooms.  Even for America that's too low."

    "It's the housing market", explained Ayako, unlocking a suitcase and
transferring its contents to the closet.  "Apartments go vacant all the
time.  All too often a place to live ends up being a place to die instead,
because of the Hellmouth."

    "It's a great bargain if you fight demons, though", said Azusa.  "We're
certainly going to get a lot of training here."

    "Yup, just like Grandma said...  oh, and I hope all the paperwork for
school went through all right.  School starts in August or September in
America...  you're 16, so you're in 11th grade."

    Azusa nodded.  "I wonder if I'm going to be in the same class as the
Slayer."

    "Don't worry, we'll find out.  Remember what Grandma said."

    "Yeah, but...  a demon summoning spell?  Aren't we supposed to be fighting
demons?"

    "It's fine!" explained Ayako.  "We're only summoning a demon to get some
information about the Slayer and the Hellmouth.  It's not like we want to
kill someone."

    "I don't know about that."

    "Look, it was Grandma's idea.  When was she ever wrong?"  Ayako thought
that over a moment.  "When was she ever really badly wrong?"

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Ayako stared at the setting sun.  "Just a few more minutes" she said.
"You've got the circle drawn, right?"

    "Sure, the circle's fine", said Azusa.  "No demon will be able to escape
it.  Not even on the Hellmouth.  Do you think I have enough wards?"  She had
about ten in her hand.

    "Too many" said Ayako.  "Ten isn't going to do any better than one."

    "But they make me feel safer...."

    "What's safer", said Ayako, "is a whip and a spear that can kill demons
dead.  Why don't we transform now?"

    "Okay!" exclaimed Azusa.  Ayako nodded back to her, stood up, and held out
her hand, which bore a magical ring passed down from her ancestors.  Azusa
raised her similarly adorned hand.  Not announcing their transformation in the
absence of an audience, they stood there, silhouetted in the sun, as the
clothes disintegrated off their newly naked bodies and black shapes snaked
around them to merge into a Chinese dress for each of them, open at the legs
and bearing a yin-yang symbol on the front.  Their rings grew into weapons,
which they proudly wielded.

    Then they sat down again.  It wasn't time yet.

    When the top tip of the sun sank below the horizon, the two stood up,
Azusa first.  Ayako opened a magical tome and began to recite.  "I, the 108th
Devil Hunter, command."

    Azusa continued.  "And I, the assistant of...  Wait a minute, suppose the
demon we get happens to like Yohko better?  The spell isn't going to go bad
because you should have said 108 and a half, is it?"

    "It won't, Azusa.  And if it does, we've handled demons a lot bigger and
badder than any information demon."

    "Okay.  And I, the assistant of the 108th Devil Hunter, command."

    "In the name of the powers that be, in the name of the one who has slain
G'Naath, in the name of Thoth, messenger of the gods, in the name of all
forces, good or bad, that draw their power from the Hellmouth, I command to
send us a messenger.  I do not request.  Grant what I am asking for!"

    Azusa repeated the same words, in Latin.  They sounded much better.

    Nothing happened, at first.  But soon, a mist began to form.  Soon it
began to coalesce into a form, one fairly human-appearing.

    "That doesn't look like a demon", said Azusa.  In the center of the circle
was what seemed to be a woman in her early twenties.  Her hair looked a little
odd, but Azusa soon realized it was from a failed attempt at bleaching rather
than any inherent demonic quality.  "No horns and tail, or anything like
that..."

    "That's what I told the powers that be!" said the figure in the circle.
"If I needed horns and a tail, fine, but they're not all that attractive unless
your boyfriend has certain specialized interests."

    "You *are* a demon?" wondered Ayako.

    "Yeah, I'm a demon.  Wasn't my idea."

    "So who are you, anyway?" asked Azusa.

    "I'm Cordelia Chase, and you're not."


(September 22 section starts)

                                   Chapter 1

    "I'm Ayako Mano", said the Devil Hunter.  "The 108th Devil Hunter... and
this is Azusa".  She gestured to the teen accompanying her.  "You do know why
we summoned you, don't you?"

    "Well, I can guess", replied Cordelia.  "You want me to help you hunt
devils?"

    "Close", said Ayako.  "We need some information about the Hellmouth.  How
to contact the Slayer if we need to...  where the demon hangouts are...  things
like that."

    "Well, you've summoned the right entity.  I used to hang out with the
Slayer back in high school.  It was kind of sad... either I could be popular
or I could hang out with the little people and slightly increase everyone's
chances of staying alive.  Now, would you mind letting me out of this magic
circle?"

    "We'll get to that", said Ayako.  "Tell me, who's the Slayer?"

    "Like I told you, she's a girl I used to know back in high school.  I know
I'm repeating myself, but about this magic circle?"  Cordelia finished talking
and waited for Ayako's response.

    The Devil Hunter remained silent, waiting.  She and Cordelia faced each
other, looking into each other's eyes and waiting for the other to give in.
"Tell me..." said Ayako.  "Tell me."  It was more than just a standoff; there
was power in Ayako's eyes.

    "She's a blonde named Buffy Summers.  Hey, wait, why did I say that?"

    "Go on..."

    "Oh, I get it", said Cordelia.  She closed her eyes tightly.  "Remind me
not to look you in the face again.  I bet you think that power really is *so*
important.  You kill demons with it all the time, I bet.  Or do you just take
that whip and force them to do your bidding?  Well, I don't go for that stuff."
She made a disgusted face and backed away the couple of feet between herself
and the far arc of the circle.

    "I'm the 108th Devil Hunter", said Ayako.  "I don't fool around with
demons.  I protect the human race from them."

    "In a sleazy costume like that?" replied Cordelia, still staying as far
away from Ayako as she could, which really wasn't that far.

    "I didn't say you could leave", said Ayako.  "Now come over here and tell
me everything else I need to know."

    Azusa, hearing this, quickly covered Ayako's mouth with her hands.  Of
course, it was too late.  Cordelia walked out of the circle, pulled up a chair
(which Ayako had been sitting in before the ritual), and sat down.  "That was
faster than I expected", said Cordelia.  "It was getting cramped in there."

    Ayako reached for her whip.

    "Wait!" exclaimed Cordelia.  "I mean, if you were in there, wouldn't you
try something to get out?  I'll give you the information you want, the Powers
that Be wouldn't have made me come here if you didn't really need it."

    "You..." growled Ayako, while Azusa tugged at her dress, trying to stop
her.

    "No, I mean it.  I'm not your enemy.  Look, that isn't even a sleazy
dress.  I think the guys'll go crazy over it."

    Ayako blinked, twice.  Demons weren't supposed to talk like that.

    "She is supposed to help us", said Azusa.  "Ayako-sama, there's no reason
to fight now."

    Ayako stopped, suspicion still on her face, but realizing that Cordelia
really hadn't done anything more hostile than make a few rude remarks.  "All
right.  So about that Slayer...."

    "I told you, her name's Buffy.  She's a blonde, or at least she was the
last time I saw her.  She's my age, Slayers are supposed to die young, but
she managed to survive.  I have to admit she did get that part right.  I'm
not exactly sure where they hang out any more.  As for other demons...  well,
the most common demons you see here are vampires.  If you want to find them,
go to the graveyard.  I bet you'll even run into Buffy on patrol.  And if you
need to find one to fight, I get these premonitions.  It's a long story, but
basically it's why I became a demon in the first place.  There you go.  Now,
I know you summoned me and I didn't summon you, but would you mind explaining
exactly who you are and what a Devil Hunter is aside from someone who hunts
Devils?"