Chapter 2: Season One Part 2

By claudius

I don't own the copyright to Buffy or Fullmetal Alchemist. For this chapter, Roy will oversee the remainder of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season One, written by Dana Reston ("Witch"), David Greenwalt ("Teacher's Pet", "Angel"), Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer ("The Pack"), Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden ("I Robot…You, Jane", "Out of Sight, Out of Mind") and Joss Whedon ("Prophecy Girl"). To be noted is that every indented and (mostly) non-italicized piece of dialogue is the work of the aforementioned writers. I take no credit for any of them. Not every episode will be covered, and not everything will be covered from the episodes.

Over these weeks of dreams, I begin to learn more of these doppelgangers and their world.

From what I've learned, the country itself is not a militaristic society. It seems to be under a democratic government with a President. It is based heavily on technology. Besides computers and visual broadcasting machines, man has also created flying machines. There has to be a negative side to these innovations.

There is no Alchemy. I see a lot of alchemaic phenomenon, but it seems any acknowledgment is on some primitive attitude. They call it magic. Oh brother! 'Magic' is the word of the superstitious before they understand it. Then it either becomes science or Alchemy. However, no machines or transmutation circles are used to create this phenomenon. The State Alchemists would laugh.

It probably has something to do with the location. Sunnydale is a crazy place full of everything that goes bump in the night, mostly vampires. The Hellmouth has something to do with it. Of a more conventional craziness is the school system, where students are organized of different groups: the popular and the losers. Been there.

And let's not forget the characters of this play:

Cordelia Chase. She can be described in two words: vicious bitch. Self-absorbed, seeing herself as the main priority, she is the popular student with her own following. This gives her the pride to turn on anyone unpopular. She chooses a lot of nasty words for Xander and Willow, most popularly, 'losers.' The only similarity Cordelia shares with Gracia Hughes is strength. One difference is that this duplicate is hot, something that Mrs. Maes Hughes rarely displays, despite her late husband's label of 'a love goddess.'

Rupert Giles. He is a learned scholar. As a watcher, he sees Buffy as his responsibility. He seems a stranger to these times, probably lesser than me. This causes him some frustration.

Willow Rosenberg. Underneath that shy, meek attitude is a very courageous person (or is it because Xander acts meeker?). She has a thirst of knowledge, even though it might lead to trouble. She would make a great Alchemist; an Alchemist who talks adorably. I know of double entendre, but she has this way of speaking serious with cute words. I also get the feeling that Willow is really attracted to Xander. I can tell her disappointment whenever Xander has eyes on someone else, like...

Buffy Summers. Brave, strong, but otherwise acts like an ordinary person. She doesn't like schoolwork. She wants to have a social life of dating boys and parties. It appears she was formerly like Cordelia, until burning down her last school saw to her expelling and drop from popularity. For these reasons, she doesn't really like her responsibility as a Slayer. But she does it nevertheless.

And finally, the role this dream has given me: Xander Harris. A virgin, he lets his balls do a lot of the acting. Case in point: becoming prey to the hot substitute teacher who turns out to be a giant mantis (Havoc, this is your role!). I guess he has good traits. He's loyal to his friends. He is witty. He's nice. Then again, he's weak in battle (Sgt. Feury could kick his ass!), isn't very smart, and then there is the aforementioned balls instinct problem. He makes himself the laughingstock, but I suppose that's a defense. Better to be laughed at for your own actions than being laughed at for no reason. Perhaps I'm being too negative here. I've done things a lot worse than this young man, and perhaps a lot of his life parallels my boarding school life. Except that I was not picked on. Instead I was the pick-on-er.

One day, Buffy is trying out as a cheerleader. A cheerleader is a girl who dances and cheers for the football team. They dress in mini-skirts. Mini-skirts…"Where was I?"

"You were pretending that seeing scantily-clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience."

"What do you mean, pretending?"

And here comes Buffy. Her attire makes me wish Riza dressed like that more often.

"Oh hey. Here's a little good luck thing for the tryouts."

A bracelet with "Yours always…"

"That was on there when I got it. Really. They all said that."

Good one, Xander.

Something is happening to the cheerleaders. One burns into flames. Another, Cordelia, goes blind. Giles says a witch is responsible. Okay… Once again we do research. One is a book on pagan rituals, checked by Alexander…

"All right, all right. It's not what you think."

"You like to look at the semi-nude engravings?"

"Oh, well, then it is what you think."

Suspicion falls on a girl named Amy, who wants to lead the group. And then Buffy acts weird. She shows off her super strength. This gets her into trouble.

"I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?"

"I don't think it's your fault."

"I know you don't. That's cause you're my friend. You're my Xander-shaped friend…do you have any idea why I love you so, Xander?"

Here it comes…

"I'll tell you. You're not like other guys at all…"

"Well…"

"You are completely and totally one of the girls. I'm that comfy with you."

Ouch. Then again, we could blame it on whatever spell she's under. Spell? Did I just say that? Am I starting to believe this fantasy? Well, the fantasy seems to be harming Buffy.

We learn that Amy is the culprit witch. Actually, it's her domineering mother who is a witch that has switched bodies with her daughter. Izumi Curtis told me something similar of this situation. Giles tries to reverse the spells. Amy, or Amy's mother, charges to stop him. I/Xander try to stop her. Suddenly, my breathing stops, causing me to choke. Amy is causing it! Willow is no help either.

Then the suffocation ends. I/Xander grabs an axe and charges after Amy. This is fortunately averted by Buffy, saying everything is reversed. But where is Amy's mother? She had accidentally teleported herself somewhere.

So far, Buffy doesn't seem to go beyond friendship with Xander. She has been seeing someone, an informer named Angel. And I see this Angel...

For a moment, I thought I saw Hughes. No glasses, no beard, no bang curl, though the hair is still groomed. He also doesn't smile, although I think frowns were a truer form of the friend I know.

Xander is equally unsettled, but in a different way.

"Well, he's buff. She never said anything about him being buff."

Do my eyes deceive me, or does this man have eyes for Buffy? He gives her his coat. And Buffy is reciprocating. They aren't Maes and Riza. I see Angel and Buffy. Okay, it's not working.

It could be his demeanor, but this Angel is hiding something. Buffy is looking for some heartbreak.

I'm different. I think it started when I went to that Hyena cage at the Zoo. Don't know how I can explain it. I feel better. Everyone looks small to me. I can do whatever I want. Enough self-pity, I should have taken over Amestris by force from the beginning! Bradley had the right ideas about whittling out the weak.

"I think…I think it's because my feelings…for you…have been changing…We've been friends for such a long time…and…well…I feel like I need to tell you something…I've decided to drop geometry…so…I won't need your math help anymore…which means…I won't have to look at your pasty face again."

Willow is hurt. Good. Xander's too good for her. She reminds me of that weakling Schieszka. Now Buffy, that's someone I want. Forget Riza.

I get my chance.

"I've been waiting for you to jump my bones…"
"Get off me!"

"Is that what you really want? We both know what you really want…You like your men dangerous—

"You're in trouble- infected with some Hyena thing, like a demonic possession…"

"Dangerous and mean, right? Like Angel, your mystery guy. Well, guess who just got mean?"

Unfortunately, I'm knocked out. I awaken in a cage. Mousy bitch! Let me out! Kill…kill…

Freedom! Hunt. Food. Small food. Eat. Buffy. After her. Food! Kill! Kill!…

My head…feels like it's been through…Willow is in danger! Xander saves her. Yes, Xander saves her. I remember things in a different light. The feeling to condemn is sealed. Add one more scar to this Alchemist.

Buffy and Willow explain this influence was some sort of magical hyena possession, causing Xander…and me to act like that. He…I tried to rape...kill Buffy and Willow. That child… And the other kids who were possessed…they killed Principal Flutie...and ate him. A lot of students are going to be scarred for life. Xander, however, pretends amnesia. Only Giles knows the truth.

"Your secret dies with me."

Nice way to avoid responsibility Xander. For me there's nothing.

Xander's jealous about Buffy's association with Angel. Then she lets Angel sleep over in her bedroom. Me, the idea of Riza sleeping in the same room with Hughes, who had this major romantic streak for the woman he loves, which in this world is Riza…okay, it bothers me.

And then my suspicions are proven correct. Angel is not human. He's a vampire. I can wonder how Buffy is coping with this truth. Xander reasons to her.

"Let's just take a breath and look at this calmly and objectively. Angel's a vampire, you're a Slayer…it's obvious what you have to do."

I bow to your innovative logic, Xander.

"It's not like you're in love with him."

Riza…?

"You're in love with a vampire?

You're in love with Hughes, Riza?

"Are you crazy?"

A lot of research about Angel is made. He is the demon with an angel's face. He went through a murderous rampage for more than a hundred years. However, by the turn of the century, he became distant from his kind. Did he become conscientious?

Willow and me/Xander visit Buffy's house to find her mother bitten and unconscious. Fortunately she survives. Buffy says she saw Angel holding her mother. Xander is quick to accuse Angel. And yet, why didn't Angel attack when he slept over? Fortunately, I'm not overwhelmed with hormones like Xander. I want to believe the best in people (or anyone who resembles Maes Hughes). Buffy has to do her job.

And then Giles informs us that the vampire Darla (the blonde one) did the deed.

We reach the Bronze where Buffy has found out the truth. Darla tries to shoot Buffy, but Angel stakes her into dust.

Buffy explains some things about Angel. Two hundred years ago, Darla turned him into a vampire. By the uncomfortable expression on Buffy, it appears Angel and Darla once had this thing. Buffy then says Angel is different from other vampires: a hundred years ago he was cursed with a soul. This gives him a conscience that makes him regret his past crimes against humanity, enough not to commit any more. I hear Xander's jealousy scoffing at such an idea. But I understand it. I understand.

At any rate, Buffy says it's over between her and Angel. I don't believe it. A Slayer and a vampire: a pair of star-crossed lovers. Just why do these two have to look like Riza and Maes?

More craziness ensues. A living puppet. A talent show where Buffy, Willow, and Xander recite some play about a man bedding his mom. Nightmares become real. Fortunately for me, it's Xander's nightmares, like being naked at a classroom or fear of clowns (lucky him). Buffy becomes a vampire. It's temporary though.

Willow becomes acquainted with someone through the computer. Not surprisingly, it turns out to be a demon. Its power appears to be very formidable. What Buffy and Giles say about the potential this technology can do frightens me. This demon takes on solid metal form, resembling a darker version of Alphonse Elric (during the Armor Years). Once again Buffy wins the day. Willow is very distressed about the type of men she attracts.

"What does that say about me?"

"Hey did you forget? The one boy I've had the hots for here turned out to be a vampire."

Yes, Buffy. Remind me of that.

"It's life on the Hellmouth."

"Let's face it. None of us is ever going to have a normal, happy relationship."

"We're doomed!"

…

A girl so neglected and ignored that with the added use of some…'mystical' power she disappears from everyone's sight. Now invisible, she targets Cordelia as the blame.

"Somebody's after me! Someone just tried to kill Ms. Miller! She was helping me with homework! And Mitch and Harmony! This is all about me! Me! Me! Me!"

We decide to help her.

"Stop the coronation tonight, maybe. Keep the guys out of the Bronze."

Nice idea.

"Nothing is keeping me from the Bronze tonight…If I'm crowned tonight, then…then Marcie's won! And that's bad! She's evil, okay? Way eviler than me."

Sorta makes sense. We decide to make Cordelia bait. It turns out the girl has a heart…some of one. She knows her popularity is shallow, but considers it a better alternative than loneliness (and I suppose following the majority is a better alternative than being the minority?). Nevertheless, despite Buffy's protection the girl gets kidnapped. Buffy fights the invisible assassin. The rest of us are led into a gas-filled room and trapped there. Courtesy of Invisible Marcie.

"The isolation, the exile she's endured…she has gone mad."

Great. Even if I were really here, my flame alchemy would be more a danger than asset. I hope I wake up from this dream.

Angel has rescued us from the gas. Seems vampires don't breathe. He informs us not to tell Buffy. Easy for Xander.

Buffy defeats the invisible assassin. Some government agents take her away for some possibly dark reason (blame it on experience). And Cordelia goes back to humiliating us losers. Some people never change.

Tomorrow is a school dance. Xander is summoning the nerve to ask Buffy out. Why do I get the feeling thing are going to blow up?

"I don't want to spoil it either. But that's not the point, is it? You either feel a thing or you don't."

"I don't. I'm sorry. I just don't think of you that way."

"Well, try. I'll wait."

Bingo! Humor makes good coping mechanism.

"I'm sorry. I don't handle rejection well. Funny, considering how much practice I've had."

"I never meant to—"

"You know what? Let's just not."

Xander asks Willow out. It proves just as unsuccessful.

"You think I'm gonna spend an evening with you watching you wish you were spending an evening with her? You think that's my idea of hijinks? You should know better."

We spend the rest of the day lying on a bed listening to sad songs. Oh, those wonderful days of juvenile self-pity. When the sole reason for wallowing in despair was a rejection. Still, pain is no fun. It's like Riza rejecting me. For Hughes.

Willow makes a visit. She is traumatized. Some students were murdered at the AV room at the school. Doesn't take much to know who the culprits are. I know her expressions. I saw it on the face of every Ishbalan who didn't die:

"We knew those guys. We go to that room everyday. When I walked in there, it wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs. And they had fun."

Enough self-pity. We all head to the library. A bruised Giles gives us an added dose of horrible news. Buffy has entered the underground lairs to face the Master. And according to some prophecy, she is destined to die in that battle.

"As the soon-to-be-purple area on my jaw will indicate, I did not let her go. Buffy does as she will."

A teacher named Jenny Calendar has joined the club, claiming that our priority should be handling an upcoming apocalypse. The Master is coming out of his prison, meaning the Hellmouth will open. Xander decides that Buffy is his main priority. I can't disagree.

"I don't care. I'm sorry, I don't. I gotta help Buffy."

"But we don't know where she's gone."

"No. But I can find out."

Sure enough, Xander and I simultaneously realize that Angel might know where she went. At the moment, Angel seems very reluctant about helping. Xander persuades him with a cross.

"I don't like you. At the end of the day I pretty much think you're a vampire. But Buffy, man, she's got a big ol' yen for you. I don't get it. She thinks you're a real person. Right now I need you to prove her right."

"You're in love with her."

"Aren't you?"

Angel takes us through the tunnels. Xander is antsy about it, accusing Angel of looking at his neck. I can't help feeling comfortable. I guess I'm not entirely convinced it's not Hughes with me.

There is a great light coming from the tunnel. With Angel's 'Too late,' I can realize what this means. I run straight for the cave. The Master isn't around, but...

I freeze. I see Ri…Riza lying face down in a pool of water. I stay standing as Angel charges and pulls out her lifeless body. There's a bloody tear on her neck.

"She's dead."

Because of me? Is this the meaning of my dreams? That I can't save anyone? Hughes, Selim, probably Edward…now Riza. I do nothing. Xander thinks otherwise.

"She's not dead."

"She's not breathing…"

"If she drowned there's a shot. CPR."

Whatever CPR is, Xander, use it!

He grabs her. I feel her body. He places his palms to her chest. He breathes into her mouth. Seconds stretch into hours in my perspective. Don't die, Riza! Not you too!

And then Riza's eyes pop open, followed by a gasp and a cough.

"Buffy?"

"Xander?"

I saved her. No. Xander saved her life. Roy Mustang doesn't do things like that.

We sit Buffy up. Angel tells her that the Master has gone up to the surface. Buffy stands up by herself, with a strange determined look. I am disturbed, and not just by the fact that she is wearing a dress. Don't do what I think you're going to do.

"You're weak."
"No I'm not. I feel strong…different. Let's go."

Again my expectations are wronged. Buffy marches out of the tunnel and to the school. That is where the Master is, or so she believes. Xander and Angel just follow her stride.

"Oh look. A bad guy."

Buffy takes down a vampire without breaking her stride. We reach the school. At the door leading to the roof, she orders us to make a defense as she faces the Master. Angel shows me his vampire face. Glad that he is not Hughes.

Buffy takes the stairs to for her final battle. I don't want her to go alone. But the attacking vampires delay the rescue plan. Angel makes short work of these creatures. I could've done that. Xander, on the other hand, manages to smack only one.

Suddenly comes a loud shriek. The vampires disperse. Buffy comes back down. Her face is cold, neither happy nor sad. The job's done. That's it?

We follow Buffy and Angel to the library. There's a car in the hallway. The door has been barricaded. Willow, Giles, Ms. Calendar, and Cordelia (Cordelia?) are there. The room is a wreck, a sign of a battle. In the middle is a ghoulish skeleton impaled by wood. That is what's left of the Master. What now?

"We saved the world. I say we party. I mean, I got all pretty."

Buffy is hiding some major trauma. But she keeps her cool. It'll break soon.

"Loser."

We all leave the Library for the Prom party. Again, the end of the world has been stopped by a small civilian group of kids, with some adults, and a vampire added.

To be continued