Buffy lay on her bed, staring off into space as she let her body settle in from hunting. Even with vampires coming back, it was a slow night. She'd spent most of it tracking the new slayer. Kendra was just what she'd thought upon meeting her; by the book, no wasted movement, just quick clean kills. It might work for now, but if she didn't find some passion soon…
"Worried about your newest sister?" Buffy didn't have to look; the voice was coming from her mirror.
"Yes," Buffy turned to face her goddess, "She's a good council slayer, but that won't cut it on the Hellmouth."
"So show her the way to be more than that." Artemis said.
"I want to, but I'm not sure how. On top of that, she won't be going to school with us, so that makes it harder." Buffy sighed, "She didn't even realize I tracked her most of the night."
"Few can sense when they are tracked by a true huntress, Buffy. That is what you are now. You know you'll have to truly fight her at some point." Artemis stepped from the mirror, and into the room.
"Yes, my Lady, and I do not look forward too it." Buffy moved from the bed to her knee, and then stood as Artemis moved around her room.
"Nor should you; it is The Powers, and Watchers who will make you face her. I do not wish it any more than you do, but they all see the threat that you truly are. You are the first step in a plan that the old gods have been working on for millennia. We seek the return of our rule, and to end the reign of the Powers." Artemis moved to Buffy, cupping the girl's cheek in her hand, "You, are the hope of the gods, Buffy."
"How did the Powers takeover?" Buffy asked, looking into the silver eyes of her goddess.
"With trickery." Artemis said, "But you're not ready for that story yet. Tell me, how goes the search for my Hinds?"
"Slowly," Buffy said, "I am a master hunter now, but without something to track?"
"I know," Artemis smiled at her, "But you will succeed, I have every faith in my champion."
"Thank you my Lady." Buffy said, "Will you explain to me why you can't merely tell me of my powers? Or why you can not give me more information for my missions?"
"Unfortunately, while they still rule, I am still bound by the laws of the powers. As my champion, I can appear to you whenever I wish, but I can only speak to your friends through you. Because they know that we seek to regain our rule, they have laws in place to make it more difficult for us. However, they are bound by the same laws. It's why slayer dreams were so cryptic. I already know how you can find my hinds, but I can't tell you. At least I can be less cryptic than them and tell you what I want without you having to interpret it."
"I do enjoy that." Buffy smiled.
"I thought you might. Now, we've one last thing to discuss. Something I know that has been troubling you." Artemis smiled at her.
"The vow of chastity that binds all your followers." Buffy said, looking away.
"Buffy, the word does not mean the same now, as it meant then." Artemis smiled, "While I do hold all my servants, and even my champion, to the vow, I hold them to the original vow. Not the connotations that the powers have fostered to limit my followers."
"I don't understand, my Lady." Buffy said, looking at the goddess.
"Buffy, have you ever wondered why all of my followers were women?" Artemis laughed as she faded from sight; first into silver sparkles, then gone completely.
"Oh…" Buffy said, her mind wrapping around that tidbit.
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Sunnydale High School, next day
"A lot of educators tell students, 'Think of your principal as your pal'." Snyder said, glaring at the two students before him, taking in their reactions, "I say, think of me as your judge, jury, and executioner."
Buffy sat calmly, taking in the man's words, but her mind was still on her latest visit from Artemis; the other merely looked blasé. Neither was very worried about the man before them. For Sheila, she just didn't care. Buffy, she knew that the man in front of her was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
"Tell me, who do you think is the most troublesome student at this school?" Snider waited a beat, "Well it's a tough choice between the two of you.
"On the one hand, Buffy hasn't stabbed a horticulture teacher with a trowel."
"Hey, I didn't stab anyone with a trowel. They were pruning shears." Sheila said, looking offended.
"On the other hand, Sheila hasn't burned down any school buildings." Snyder finished.
"That was never proven," Buffy said simply.
"You both seem to be tied in the class cutting, and fight starting events. You really are neck and neck here. It's quite exciting." Snyder looked gleeful.
"What does the winner get?" Sheila asked, not really concerned.
"Expelled." Snyder gleefully exclaimed.
Buffy looked at the man in total shock, and then shook her head.
"Thursday, is parent teacher night. Your parents, assuming you have any, will meet your teachers, assuming you have any left. I've decided to put you two in charge of this event. You have three days to prepare banners, arrange refreshments, and make the school lounge habitable for adults. This will incur my good will, and may effect what I tell your parents when I meet them. Are we clear?"
"Clear." Buffy said, again shaking her head as she stood, "Is that all, Principal Snyder?"
"Just remember, mess up this time, and your parents will be coming to clean out your lockers." Snyder said, dismissing them.
As they walked out Buffy turned to Sheila, "Are you going to help with this at all?"
"Whatever," Sheila turned, "Hey! Meatpie!" She walked off as Xander and Willow showed up.
"Snyder's got you guys making party favors, huh?" Xander looked toward Sheila.
"His two worst students. That's what my mom sees when she looks at me. A Sheila."
"She is rather intense." Xander tilts his head, watching as Sheila pins a guy to a locker, blatantly making out with him, "That guy she's with, that's the one she CAN bring home to mother."
"She started smoking in fifth grade; I was lookout for her once." Willow said.
"You're bad to the bone." Xander teased.
"Yep, I'm a rebel." Willow smiled.
"It's just, I was the slayer, and now, I'm so much more than that. My calling requires a certain amount of fighting and cutting. It's actually better now that I'm Artemis' Champion, but, I still can't tell mom." Buffy slammed her fist into the wall, wincing as the stone cracked. "Forgot my strength for a second."
"It'll be fine. You'll have a nice soiree. The parents will love it. As long as nothing really bad happens between now and then, everything'll be alright." Xander said.
"Why did you just do that to me?" Buffy asked.
"I can't believe you, what were you thinking?" Willow stared at him in shock, "Were you thinking?"
"What? Nothing is gonna happen." Xander defended.
"Until someone says, as long as nothing happens. It's the ultimate jinx! And on the Hellmouth?" Buffy stared at the boy in complete disgust.
"What can possibly happen?" Xander asked, still trying to defend himself.
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Collin's Warehouse:
"The Master is dead." One vampire spoke from the crowd gathered around the Anointed One, "We need one to take his place."
"As long as that slayer is around, whoever takes his place will share his grave." One vampire spoke from the group.
"Then let the one who kills her wear his mantle." The first vampire spoke again.
"Can you do it?" The Anointed One said.
"Yes. This weekend, the night of Saint Vigeous, our power shall be at its peak. And when I kill her, it shall be the greatest event since the crucifixion. And I should know, I was there." The vampire bragged.
A bleach blonde vampire in a black trench coat steps from the shadows, chuckling, and in full game face, "YOU were THERE," He breaks out into full blown laughter, "Come on, if every vampire who claimed to be at the crucifixion actually was there, it'd have been like Woodstock."
"I oughta rip your throat out," The vampire growls.
"I actually was at Woodstock," Spike turned his back on the others, contemplating something, "Fed on a flower child, spent the next six hours watching my hand move."
The vampire rushed him and Spike brought his fist up, slamming it into the vampire's face, sending him to the floor.
"So, who do you kill for fun around here?" Spike asked.
"Who are you?" Colin asked.
"Spike, you're that Anointed guy, right?" Spike looked at him, and then growled at the other vampire, "Anyway, I've read about you. You got slayer problems? Bad piece of luck that, know what I've found is good for slayers? Killing them."
"Can you?" Colin asked suspiciously.
"A lot faster than Nancy boy there. Yea, I did a couple slayers in my time… Don't like to brag…" Spike bursts into laughter, "Aw who am I kidding, I love to brag. There was this one slayer, during the Boxer Rebellion, and…" He turns, morphing into his human face as a woman with long dark hair, wearing a Victorian dress emerges from the shadows.
"Drusilla, you shouldn't be here love, you're weak." He goes to her, putting his arms around her.
"So many people, are these nice people Spikey?" Drusilla asks dreamily.
"We're getting along." Spike smiles at her.
"This one," She points to Collin, "He has power, such power, I could feel it outside."
"Yea, he's the big noise around these parts. Anointed and all that." Spike says.
"Do you like daisies? I like daisies." She says to Collin, "I plant them, but they always die. Everything I put in the ground withers and dies…" She turns, staring off into space, "Spike, I'm cold."
He carefully puts his jacket around, "I've got you."
"I'm a princess." Drusilla giggles.
"That's what you are." Spike agrees.
Drusilla brushes a hand over Spike's cheek, and then flicks her nail against it, cutting him. She leans up, licking away the blood, then the two draw near to each other as if to kiss. They stop short, turning to Collin.
"Me and Dru, we're moving in." the two lovers step apart, "Now, any of you wanna test who's got the biggest wrinklies around here, step on up." He turns to Collin, "I'll do your slayer for you, but you keep your boys from trying anything behind my back."
Dru falls to her knees, clutching her head, "Silver light, shining, huntress moon… She's not the slayer Spikey…"
"What's that Dru?" Spike looks at her, "What do you see?"
"A silver arrow, golden deer, lots of mean doggies…"
"Your seer is right. The one who killed The Master, she is not a slayer. She was chosen by Artemis as champion. No vampire alone may face her. I can give you the means to do so…" A dark robed man walked from the shadows, his entire body covered.
"Oh, and who are you?" Spike asked.
"No one of consequence. I just know what The Powers have planned. They don't wish the champion to exist. I wish to test the champion's power… The Powers, they plan to unleash a pack of Cerberi. I can give you the means to control these hounds. Use them to attack The Champion, and if you succeed, you become the strongest vampire on the Hellmouth."
"And why do you want to help me?" Spike asked.
"I don't. I want to test the champion. If she survives… you'll not see me again." The man tosses bracer to Spike, "That, is a leash of Cerberus, forged by Hephestus. Wear it, and the Cerberi will obey your commands."
"Oh goody…" Spike eyed the bracer, it is engraved with a three headed dog, and ebony black, "And what do you gain with this?"
"I don't expect you to succeed, but, I must be sure." The man said, before he vanished in a burst of black flames.
"Who was that masked man?" Spike joked as he placed the cuff on his wrist.
Dru just giggled.
"So, this bird, she tough?" Spike asked.
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Buffy's Room
"Buffy." Joyce Summers comes in to find Buffy brushing her hair, "How are you?"
"Not bad," Buffy said, catching her mother's eyes in the mirror.
"Got a letter in the mail today, a reminder about Parent Teacher day at the school." Joyce said.
"Oh." Buffy looked sheepish.
"And you were meaning to tell me about this when?" Joyce smiled at her daughter.
"The past couple weeks." Buffy winced a bit.
"So, what do you think your teachers are going to tell me about?" Joyce asked.
"Depends on who you ask" Buffy said, "Mr. Giles, the librarian, will have only good words to say. The Principal, Mr. Snyder, is a rodent who thinks that children at large and teenagers especially, are a disease and has chosen me as one of his two examples for that 'fact', because of Hemery."
Joyce blinked, staring at her daughter in shock, "Buffy, you shouldn't…"
"Disrespect authority, and I don't, which is why I'm working hard on the Parent Teacher night, making banners, preparing refreshments, even though I shouldn't be judged at this school for things in my past. I'm trying hard mom, but I have a lot of pressure on me, too." Buffy said, "I don't want to disappoint you again."
Joyce sighed and hugged her daughter, "It's alright dear, I'm sorry I'm so hard, but… after Hemery, we had to move, I had to start a new career, not to mention start a new life in a whole new town…"
"And you don't want to do that again, or to be disappointed in me again, I understand mom. Life is just hard right now."
Joyce smiles at her as she leaves "Wait till you get a job."
Buffy sighs and looks into the mirror, the face of her goddess appearing, "I have a job." She smiles, as that thought doesn't bring her the depression she thought it might. "One I'm actually starting to love."
"Time to hunt, my champion." Artemis smiled at her.
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Restfield Cemetery
Buffy watched from a mausoleum as Kendra stalked through the cemetery. The Slayer was quiet as a jungle cat, and moved like a predator. Still, she was only so lucky. Buffy sighed as she noticed a pack of vampires stalking toward Kendra from downwind. They would have her surrounded soon. Buffy took to her knee, calling on Artemis's bow.
She watched as the vampires struck, noticing that Kendra was not wearing the Gauntlets of Hercules. Stupid Watcher. The first few moments of the battle went well, Kendra being the slayer surprised them and she managed to dust four of the twelve. That still left eight, however, and Kendra without a stake, or a sword.
She threw punches and kicks, trying to hold them off, but the numbers game was too great. They had her bound, and the fear in her eyes was obvious from Buffy's vantage point. Sighing, Buffy loosed the first arrow. It pierced the hearts of two vampires before landing in the shoulder of one of the two holding Kendra.
"What!" The leader shouted as two of his vampires dusted and the girl broke loose.
"What?" Kendra stared at the silver arrow piercing the vampires shoulder as she broke free of the remaining demon's grip.
That's when a second arrow shot past her head, and stuck a vampire trying to attack her from behind to a tree. Kendra followed the arrow's path to find Buffy in a kneeling position on a tomb, drawing back another arrow.
Without thinking she pulled the arrow from the vampires shoulder, and used it to pierce his heart, spinning she did the same to the other that had held her. She turned back to see two other vampires turn to dust, leaving only the leader and her.
"Who's helping you?" The vampire snarled, "Your watcher? Damnit, the slayer is supposed to be some blonde bimbo!" The vampire raged as he shot toward Kendra.
Kendra didn't react with fear this time, just certainty as she avoided his strikes, then slipped behind him, jabbing the arrow into his back and through his heart, turning both to dust. She turned back as Buffy walked up to her.
"Tank you, I would have…" Kendra sighed.
"Why aren't you wearing the Gauntlets of Hercules? Or carrying your sword?" Buffy asked.
"My Watcher, he tink I was beginnin to rely on'dem too much. De power dey gave." Kendra said.
"He was probably right, which is why you should train without them, not slay without them. If you'd had either one, this would have been an easy battle. Both, you'd have finished them in seconds. But twelve on one, even a slayer, is too risky. If I hadn't been here, there'd have been another girl called tonight." Buffy said, "Kendra, I know you were raised by the council, but slaying isn't all you are. Yes, you are the slayer, but if that's all you are, all you're meant to do is the dying." Buffy said her silver eyes boring into the girl.
"I tink I understand." Kendra said.
"Right, so, coming to the bronze with me?" Buffy turned, walking towards the club.
"What?" Kendra asked.
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The Bronze:
Buffy sat at a table, working on her banners as she and Willow spoke in French. Xander just stared at the two, and then turned to look at Kendra.
"Can you understand them?" He asked.
Kendra just blushed and turned her head from the boy.
"Right then." Xander sighed.
"Sorry Xand," Buffy said, "But the French test is coming up, while I may not have to study anymore, Willow still wanted the practice. On the upside, my new status has really bulked my grades up."
"Yea, well, I feel like dancing." Xander said.
"Hmm, good idea." Buffy grinned, "You take Willow, and I'll dance with our Slayer here."
"What?" Kendra said, "But… I do not know how ta dance…" Kendra protested as Buffy dragged her up.
Xander blinked, then grabbed a protesting Willow, "Is it just me, or is the Buffster acting a little… different." Xander said as he watched the two heroes, one slowly teaching the other to dance.
"She hasn't mentioned Angel at all since she became Artemis' champion, and I know they've gone hunting together. And I think he helped her with those guys making Franken-Barbie. But she doesn't seem interested in him anymore." Willow looked confused.
A few feet away, Buffy shook her head as she listened to the two while still working on Kendra. "Come on, dancing is easy. Just follow me." Buffy goaded as she slid her hands over Kendra's sides, guiding her movements as easily as she lead a target with her bow.
"My Watcher," Kendra started.
"Is a hide bound Arse, who hasn't even taught you to talk to boys. I'd not try for Xander though; Willow has her cap set for him." Buffy said.
"No… I mean… " Kendra tried again.
"I know, Watcher raised, never had a chance to have fun. So glad I wasn't. Oh, by the way. You're dancing." Buffy smiled.
Kendra took a moment to notice, seeing that she was indeed moving in perfect time to the rhythm of the music, her body mirroring the Champion's as she swayed and flowed around her; seeming to be in just the right place to give the greatest effect. It was startling but then she relaxed and started to smile.
"Dis is fun." Kendra started to get a little more comfortable with the movements, matching Buffy's sensuous moves now.
"Glad you like it." Buffy grinned as she noticed everyone starting to create a circle around them.
"HEY! Anyone have a phone? I just saw some huge guy outside trying to bite this girl!" A voice yelled from the crowd
"Damn!" Buffy said as she and Kendra broke apart and headed out the back
Buffy burst out of the door just ahead of Kendra. Their arrival startling the vampire that was attempting to feed on the girl.
"Slayer, and… who are you?" He looked at the black girl.
"I'm de Slayer." Kendra said, taking a fighting stance.
"Kendra, you handle the vamp, I'll help the victim." Buffy said as she called on her swords and passed one to Kendra before moving past the vampire and freeing the girl. She quickly tore a strip of clothe from the girls blouse and started to bandage the wound as Kendra attacked the vamp.
Buffy noticed when the blonde vampire emerged from the club, eyeing him carefully as he watched Kendra fight.
"SPIKE! Help me!" The first vampire called to the blonde one, just as Kendra beheaded him.
"Huh, thought she was the slayer." Spike says, pointing at Buffy.
"Nope, got offered a better job." Buffy says, standing up.
"Huh, oh well." Spike shrugs, turning to walk away.
"Who are you?" Buffy asks the unconcerned vampire.
"You'll find out Saturday." Spike calls back.
"What happens Saturday?" Buffy asks.
"I kill you both." Spike waved and vanished into the shadows.
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Sunnydale High School Library, next day:
"The vampire he was with called him Spike." Buffy said, sitting at a table seemingly unconcerned.
"Spike, are you sure?" Sam Zabuto asked, as he flipped through a few texts.
"Yes Sir," Kendra said.
"That's rather unorthodox, isn't it?" Giles said, "Perhaps he went by some other name in times past."
Buffy shrugged, "No clue."
"Well, whoever he is, we'll need all the help we can get come Saturday." Jenny said, picking up the book she'd found on Saint Vigeous.
"So this night of Saint Vigeous," Xander said, "If they're planning to attack in force, aren't we thinking, vacation?"
"We can't run, that would be wrong. How about we hide? Can we hide?" Willow asked, "I mean, if that Spike guy is leading the attack…" Willow shuddered.
"Still, he can't be any worse than what you faced as the slayer Buffy, and now." Giles said.
"He's worse." Angel's voice came from the shadows, "Once he starts something, he doesn't stop until there's nothing left." Xander stepped into view.
"So he's thorough, goal oriented." Xander quipped.
"Good to know. We won't be as caught off guard now." Buffy looked at Angel, "Thanks. Kendra, I've told you, no slaying Angel, he's a good guy."
"Vampire." Kendra said.
"With a soul." Buffy stressed, "He gets us information we can't because we have pulses."
"I don't like working with him." Sam Zabuto pointed out.
"Tough, you work with me; you work with Angel, and my friends. Just the way it goes." Buffy said.
"Did he go by any other name in the past?" Giles turns to ask Angel, just as the library door closes.
"Gonna get a bell for that boy." Xander says.
"Right, now, we've important things to figure out," Giles sighed.
"Yea, like how to keep Snyder away from my mother tomorrow." Buffy sighed.
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Realm of The Powers:
"The time has come, set loose the cerberi." The leader of The Powers spoke.
"Upon the School?" A female power spoke, looking at her counterpart.
"Saint Vigeous is in two nights. If we fail, then we may weaken her before the attack that the vampires will have planned then." The male spoke, "At the very least, the Hellmouth's proximity may strengthen them, and give them an edge against her."
"Very well." The female opened the box, pulling the cerberi from its depths.
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Collin's warehouse, Spike's Room.
Spike stared at his wrist as he felt the cuff flow with power, smirking, "They've set loose the hounds…" Spike laughed as he walked out of the warehouse, grabbing a sword from the wall as he did, "Time to play."
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Sunnydale High School: Parent Teacher Night
"Well," Joyce says, as she comes up to Buffy at the end of the night, "I've seen every classroom in the school, and every time I enter, it's to find that your teacher has just left."
Buffy looks over her mom's shoulder to see Willow looking victorious.
"Well, that's just unheard of." Buffy said, "I'm actually doing well in French, and my English is much better than last year."
"That's good to hear, though I wish I could have heard it from your teachers." Joyce smiled.
"Sorry mom. Oh, this is Cordelia." She gestures to the brunette beside her, "She's been helping me get things on track here."
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Summers." Cordelia smiled at her.
"Always nice to meet one of Buffy's friends." Joyce said.
"Thank you ma'am." Cordelia grins again.
"Oh, have you seen…" Buffy cut off as Snyder came up.
"Oh, hello, I'm Joyce Summers. Buffy's mother." Joyce held her hand out to the man.
"I'm Principal Snyder. I'm afraid we need to talk. My office is this way." Snyder said, completely ignoring the polite gesture, he turned away as Joyce followed.
"Crap." Buffy said.
"Sorry." Willow winced.
"Didn't see him." Cordelia looked honestly sorry.
"Not your fault Cordy. You've been a big help since the Master." Buffy said.
Back in the Library, the others are pouring over the research, as Giles holds up a book.
"Oh, there you are." Giles says.
"Who?" Jenny and Sam Zabuto both ask.
"Our new friend Spike. He's known as William the Bloody. Earned the name Spike for torturing people with railway Spikes. He's not even two hundred years old, not even as old as Angel." Giles reads on, "Oh."
"Oh? That's bad right?" Xander looks up at him.
"He's faced two slayers in the past century. Killed them both." Giles said.
"That's bad."
Back at the banquet, Joyce comes out of Snyder's office and heads strait for Buffy, "In the car. Now."
"Yes, mom." Buffy sighs as she follows her mother down the hall, as they leave they hear a loud crash from behind them.
Spike stands in the dim light, a bracer on his arm glowing as he stands before the broken window. Around him seven two headed dogs stand, their black fur melding with the shadows, and eyes blazing red.
"What can I say," He grinned, "The big boys let the dogs out early, and I just couldn't wait."
"Damn!" Buffy cursed, looking at her mom's shocked face, "Mom! Get to the Library; tell the people there that Spike has attacked. And mom, for what it's worth, I'm sorry I lied to you." Buffy's eyes flashed silver a moment as accessed the powers her goddess granted her, her bracers and choker becoming visible as two swords sprang into existence in her hands.
"Buffy, what…" Joyce stammered.
"Mom, just go. I'll be fine." Buffy rushed towards the vampire and his pack of dogs as Joyce ran to do what she said.
Spike laughed as Buffy rushed toward the hounds and drew his own blade, "Normally, I prefer my bare hands, but in this case…" His blade met Buffy's has he morphed into game face. "We'll just have to make an exception. Attack!"
Buffy cursed to herself as she avoided a swipe from one of the dog's claws, and then had to back peddle to avoid the pounce of another. She lashed her blade out to leave a gash in the hound's exposed flank before leaping up and over it to aim another blow at Spike's head. The vampire dodged out of the way as another dog snapped at the airborne champion with one of its heads only to find a sword blade between its jaws.
Buffy twisted the blade as she landed, ripping it out of the hound's right head as she kicked the left sending the creature backwards. She brought her other sword up quickly blocking Spike's blade. Her foot came up again to send another cerberi backwards.
"Where'd you get the dogs Spike?" Buffy asked as she brought her sword around to slice at an attacking hound while her other blade engaged the vampire.
"That's the thing. The Powers sent them; somebody else gave me a way to control them, though." Spike laughed as he attacked again and again, the snapping hounds kept the champion distracted enough that she couldn't do any more than defend.
"The Powers sent cerberi to kill me." Buffy spat; her blades blocking another strike from Spike's sword as her foot snapped out to knock a cerberi's head back. "Glad you got control of them, without a master, all cerberi know how to do is ravage the country side till momma comes to get them." Buffy leapt away from the fray, her swords vanishing as she called on her bow.
"Get back here and fight!" Spike yelled as Buffy loosed an arrow, piercing one of the cerberi through an eye, the second arrow killing its other head.
"Gladly, now that the odds are better." Buffy said, looking toward the doorway where the Watchers, the Scoobies, and Kendra stood. She smiled as she saw Kendra wearing both her Gauntlets, and wielding the Achilles' blade. The rest held Crossbows. "Aim for the eyes of the Cerberi, or Spike, whichever." Buffy called as she rushed forward, blades back in hand.
"Damnit!" Spike cursed as he dodged crossbow bolts, "Attack the Watchers!"
Buffy smirked as she saw a cuff on his left wrist glow bright red a moment as he ordered them. She rushed forward, grabbing his arm as she slammed the hilt of her sword into his face. Her knee came up slamming into his solar plexus as she ripped the cuff off his wrist, placing it on hers as she kicked him away.
"HEEL!" She yelled at the cerberi, watching as the all stopped mid motion, "Well," She turned to find Spike gone. "Why do all the bad guys have to leave just when the good quips are coming?"
"BUFFY!" Joyce yelled.
"Right…" Buffy turned to look at her mother, "Mom, we have a lot to talk about."
"What is going on here? What are those… things?" Joyce said, indicating the cerberi.
"This," A voice said, as he walked from the shadows, his black robe concealing his body, "Was all at once, an attempt by the Powers That Be, to kill your daughter, and regain control of the Threads of Fate. An attack by the vampire William the Bloody to usurp control of the Hellmouth. And a test, by myself, to see if your daughter is worthy of the gift, her goddess has asked I bestow upon her."
"And you are?" Buffy asked.
"I," the man removed his hood revealing pale skin and slicked back black hair, "am Hades, God of The Dead. If you'll return my leash to me, I'll take the Cerberi back to their mother, and leave your gift for you."
"What gift?" Buffy looked at the man as she handed him the leash.
"Artemis seemed to believe, that you could use… a good hunting dog." Hades laughed as he burst into flames, vanishing.
When their vision cleared, Buffy stared at a huge, white furred dog with three head. Each set of blue eyes bored into her as she studied the hound. It looked like a wolf, but was three times as large, and each head was sleek with pointed ears. She smiled at him as one of the head leaned forward to lick her face.
"Friendly, but you're a bit conspicuous…" Buffy said, and then blinked as he seemed to shrink before her eyes into a one headed white wolf, "Better."
"Buffy," Xander said, gaining her attention, "Your mom fainted."
"Crap."
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Buffy's Home, an hour later:
"Ungh," Joyce winced as she sat up on the couch, "Buffy?"
"Hi mom." Buffy said, looking at her from the chair next to her.
"I just had the strangest dream…" Joyce said, before her eyes settled on the dog next to her daughter.
"Wasn't a dream mom." Buffy said, smiling, "This is Lobo; Giles helped me name him while we brought you home. Yes, everything you saw was real. Yes, I have been fighting vampires since Hemery. My first watcher died, and the fire… vampires. I had to burn the gym down to kill them because there were so many."
Joyce stared at her daughter, "That's…"
"Just the tip of the iceberg." Buffy said, "At that point, I was a slayer. Someone, The Powers That Be, chose me to fight vampires, demons, and everything else that goes bump in the night. Right before summer, it was prophesied, that I would die fighting an ancient vampire named 'The Master.'"
"Prophesied?" Joyce asked.
"Yep, in a book that was never wrong. And it wasn't. I died mom, fighting The Master. The only reason I'm still here, is that someone gave me a choice. I could continue to live, keep fighting, but not as a slayer. I'm a champion of an old god, and yes, mom, the old gods exist. Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Shinto, all of them. The Powers usurped their rule, and took over, but they want their power back. Artemis chose me to fight for her. But she gave me a choice mom. I could have said no. I picked this battle mom. And I plan to win it.
"That's why I skipped classes, or got into fights. It's why I came home with blood in my clothes, or snuck out. It's the cause of all the problems we've had because I couldn't tell you. Mom, I don't want to disappoint you again, so that means I have to be honest with you. I can't stop fighting mom, and I don't want to. I'm doing the right thing, but most people can't ever know it."
"Oh baby." Joyce wrapped her arms around her daughter in tears.
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Collin's warehouse:
"You failed! And you wasted an attempt to kill her!" Colin raged at the blonde vampire before him.
"That's it!" Spike said as he grabbed a stake, plunging it into the child's heart. He turned to the room as the boy dusted, "I'm the boss now!" Spike said
"Eww… Spikey… Such things I see…" Dru staggered in, laughing, "Her blood is so strong… her silver blood… full of moonlight… oh… we can't beat her Spikey, not like this… but I know how we can…" Dru giggled.
"Oh, Dru, do tell." Spike smiled as he took the vampire in his arms.
Ending Notes: Expect further chapters to be... episodic, from now on, like this one. Changed, because of her new status, but the story won't spin too far away from canon, until the threads become completely frayed from the tapestry of fate... *grins* I may be mad, but there is method, in the madness. That said, read, review, and enjoy.
