The Elder Slayers chapter 4
An: I am taking this episode to do two things: one is that I am going to show Buffy and Tara's changes in this chapter, and next I am going to replace Spike and Drusilla.
They aren't going to die, but they both are so perfect for different Daedric Princes that I could not keep them as villains.
Sunnydale High, lounge
Buffy sat in the comfy chair staring at the paper in her hands. It was a sheet of random questions that was meant to tell her what her future was meant to be. Stupid sheet didn't have an option for going after Vampires. That would have made the stupid test so much better.
She was popped from her melancholy when Alexander asked, "Do I like shrubs? I personally prefer Shrubberies, ones with little flowers on them."
Looking over to her friend she groaned at the terrible reference. She liked Monty Python too, but of all of the jokes that Alexander could have made he had chosen the most obvious. Her eyes drifted over her large friend, once more taking in all the changes that had happened to him.
He was so much bigger than he had been, so much more confident, so much more powerful. He was simply more than he had been, but he was also so different. Buffy missed Xander so much at times, he was almost a completely different person than the man he was now. He had been funny and cute with so much mischievous banter in him, now he was clever and strong and he had more power in him than she probably ever would.
Buffy couldn't help but wonder why it was than nobody noticed his grand changes; like the ears, hair, and skin. He was a white hair, pointy eared, blue skinned Adonis and everybody treated him the same. She guessed it was that thing Xander called Sunnydale syndrome.
Buffy had noticed that she was thinking of her male friend as two separate people several weeks ago. There were too many fundamental differences between the boy that Xander had been and the Man that Alexander was. She couldn't even think of him as anything but Alexander, there was respect and power in his name that reflected him so well now that nobody could stoop to calling him Xander anymore.
She guessed it was a lot like her transformation. Before Halloween she had been scared of herself, there was no way to put it besides that. She was terrified of the slayer in her and had feared the darkness of it taking over. With the changes from Halloween she felt like a new woman. She was taller, for one.
On a more serious note, she realized soon after Halloween how much the night had changed her. While before, the drive to hunt the various demons of Sunnydale was a constant buzz, like an annoying fly that just wouldn't go away but could be ignored; the drive was now a desire and the buzz a need. She wanted to hunt more than she wanted new shoes, and that was saying something.
Then there had been the incident with Ford.
When her former friend had approached her and flat out told her that he was going to sell her for getting vamped she had snapped. Satisfying Hircine, as Alexander had called it, was one of the most terrible things she had ever done. She had hunted Ford, given him time to run and then transformed for the first time since Halloween, and for the first time of her own volition. She had hunted him, smelt out his sickness, followed it to the Sunset Club, and tore his arms off.
She had stopped there, but she didn't stop Alexander's new children when they decided to feast on the blood of their former leader. She had watched with satisfaction in her heart as they drained him. Now she was scared, for her soul, for her identity, for all that she was.
And she still had no idea if she liked shrubs!
Warehouse 1408
Spike was worried. His number of minions had been halved recently and he couldn't find a single reason why. There were no demons he had a problem with in this town and the only enemy that he had was the Slayer, and she was usually pretty consistent when going on her patrols.
So the loss of so many decent peons meant that there was either a new player in town or the Slayer had developed a better set of killer instincts, both of which would be very bad for him and his girl.
Thinking of Drusilla, she had been surprisingly lucid as of late. She had wandered out a few days after Halloween and returned unharmed, but she had a message for him. Keep the body count low, not down completely. That was a strange request, and if it was from the 'kitten' as Dru had taken to calling the Slayers inept friend, then he wasn't worried.
What worried him was the look that Dru gave him after he laughed; she was serious. She was mad as a hatter, but she knew a threat when she received one. So the body count had dropped and it seemed that the minions had as well.
Spike looked to Dalton, one of his more developed minions, one he had called over from the other side of the pond, and asked, "You know any good bars in this town? I don' fell like Willie's tonight."
Dalton looked at his sire and closed the book he had been reading. He thought quickly of the many ways in which he could get rid of the annoying Master Vampire, and then it hit him. Smiling slightly he said, "Well there is the Sunset Club, its new but I hear the owner caters to all types. And they actually serve dinner to."
Spike smiled and thought it would be nice to go out and have something of a meal with his girl. Calling out in thanks to his minion he went to go find Dru and take her on a date.
As the bleached vamp left the room, Dalton turned to his minion and ordered, "Call the order of Taraka; put out a hit on Spike, Drusilla, and the Slayer."
The minion nodded and left in a hurry, and Dalton smiled at the thought of what he would do to his new town.
The Sunset Club, After Dark
Spike knocked on door to the subterranean club and waited for a response. When the door opened he was surprised to see an older looking gentleman smiling at them. And by the sound of a heartbeat in his chest and the breath from his face, Spike knew he was human.
The man smiled at the pair of vampires and asked, "Dancing or eating?"
Spike thought of killing the man for a second, but that was simply his vampire side revealing itself. He smiled back at the man and said, "I think we'll be eatin' thank ya. My lady here can't dance to well in crowds."
"Understandable sir, if you would follow me."
Spike followed the man and led Drusilla as they walked along the catwalk towards an upper balcony. Looking down at the dance floor, Spike saw many things he did not expect. He saw humans dancing with demons, vampires feeding on humans without killing them, and most importantly he saw the Slayer's friends. The red headed bird was dancing sensuously with a very pretty blonde lass, which was accentuated on occasion with a kiss. The bloke was the more surprising one though; he sat on a raised platform in a throne with three scantily clad women lying around him.
Spike had to stare at this, the boy he had thought of as weak, was casually sitting like a warlord of old. As that thought crossed his mind their eyes met, and Spike gulped. Then the boy smiled, and pressure that had grown in Spike's chest diminished. Turning back to the server, he followed once more.
They were led to a nice table and the server left. A pretty blonde in a dress shirt and pants walked up to them and said, "Hi there, my name is Lily and I'll be your server for today. Now for specials we have an imported dish from Pandora that I can't pronounce but it is really good. And I have to ask, are you William and… Drusilla?"
Spike's eyebrow raised a notch at the use of his real name and simply nodded. The waitress smiled brightly at that and told them she would be right back. Spike looked across the table at his love and smiled when she beamed at him. He would have asked her if she liked the club but the waitress returned with a bottle in hand.
Spike took the offered bottle and read the label, "Blood of the Sire? What is it?"
The waitress smiled dreamily and said, "I'm not too sure of the making of it, but Master has an enchanted fountain that bleeds this blood that tastes exactly like the blood you get if you drink from your master. It is so delicious and he only gives it to the worthy or the rich. It's usually close to a hundred thousand dollars a bottle."
Spike stared at the girl; he finally noticed that she lacked heartbeat or breath. Handing the bottle back to his fellow vampire he asked, "Why do not you pour us some love?"
The waitress smiled and poured two glasses. She set them down in front of the pair and asked, "Now that you have your beverages, would you like to order some food?"
Spike looked at his love and shrugged before asking for whatever she thought was good. Lily smiled and left them to their blood. Spike took his glass delicately and sniffed it.
It certainly had the scent of his lovely Drusilla in it. He watched as his lover did the same and he smiled at the look of pure delight on her face. They tinkled their glasses together and drank deeply. Spike was as close to extacy as he had been in the seventies, the taste of his Dru flowing down his throat, simply delicious.
Drusilla had a different reaction to the blood. It did not look like she was in pain, but she looked like she was uncomfortable. Her sire's blood coursed through her veins and repaired the damage that had been done to her in Prague. It healed her sick body and reinforced her mad mind until she was as she should have been.
The pair was so enraptured that they never noticed Alexander approach them. He waited with an amused smile on his face as he watched the blood do its work. He loved the taste and whenever he drank it, it was as though he were drinking from Molag Bal himself.
When they finally came down from the high he saw a glint in the eyes of the seer that had not been there before, as well as the unmistakable signs of lust. Smiling he told her, "Bedrooms are through that hall. But I wish to speak with you before you leave."
The mad seer nodded before grabbing a still slightly dazed Spike and hauling him down the hall towards the bedrooms. Alexander chuckled and signaled for lily to clean the table.
Warehouse 1408
Dalton grinned, enjoying the thrill of being in charge for a change. When he had been alive he had been a librarian, looking at books and reading fantasy and hoping that he would have the chance to do, as he wanted like the villains in the stories. He was especially fond of the Emperor from the Star Wars films; the thought of waiting as long as it took to take control was something he could do.
Preying on the doubts of the minions was fun, killing the ones actually sired by Spike was even more so. He had bided his time and now he was in charge of the vampires of Sunnydale. Ruling was fun.
Rifling through the various notes he had taken during the ramblings of the mad bitch he saw that there was a significant structure to a few of the droning. Over the course of the years she had been rambling on and off about a Judge to come and cleanse the world of the innocent. And if there was anything to her statements he wanted that Judge.
A quick call to one of his minions confirmed that the contract had been made and a hit put out. Now it was time to wait for the assassins to act.
The Sunset Club
Buffy was always nervous when she entered the club. It was filled to the brim with demons that she had promised Alexander she wouldn't slay. She knew that the same was expected of them, but she was never sure that demons would keep their word.
Wading through the crowd she saw Willow and Tara sitting in a booth chatting with a smaller guy. Deciding that she would rather be with her friends alone more than anything else, she made her way over to them.
Willow saw her first and smiled at the approaching Slayer. Turning to the young man with them she said, "Oz, this is our friend Buffy."
"Hey," The young man, now identified as Oz, said laconically.
Buffy offered him a smile and turned to her friends to ask them about their day. They had talked for several minutes about nothing and everything when Buffy took a deep whiff of the air. A scent caught her nose, and it smelled nice. Inhaling deeply she turned her head until she was facing Oz.
The young man's only response to the strange action was a raised eyebrow.
Buffy flushed and asked to be excused. Walking through the crowd on the dance floor was difficult but not impossible, as every partier wanted to dance with the Slayer. She managed to sway her way through the dancers, to reach the throne. Alexander looked down at the befuddled Slayer and asked, "Would you like to grab some food?"
Buffy shook her head and said, "No, I'm actually going on a date with Angel in a few. Just wanted to know if you could cover for me?"
Alexander nodded in understanding and signaled two of his minions. The peons approached their master and bowed before him. He ordered them, "Patrol the town for the remainder of the evening, hunt for demonic vampires stalking prey. If there is not a single casualty tonight you will be rewarded. Go."
The vampires nodded and stood; giving one more waist bow to the Slayer they left the club. Buffy smiled and thanked Alexander. She was worried about him and the people he had turned, but so long as they had souls they were out of her jurisdiction as Giles had pointed out soon after Halloween.
Bus Station
A one eyed man in a leather jacket gets off of the Bus from nowhere, checks the note he had been given and smiles before walking away.
House across from Buffy's
A middle-aged woman lets a pleasant looking man with a suitcase full of free items into her house, several minutes later there is a scream.
The Outskirts of town
A humanoid creature walks out of the desert, it had spine on the top of its head and orange skin. It sniffs the air and smiled before heading towards the nearest demon bar.
The Docks
A small skiff docks and off hops a demon in a brown robe with skin like rocks. It walks into the town before it.
The Station
A woman checks her PDA and grins when she sees her target.
Cemetery
A little boy and little girl walk hand in hand singing softly about the evil of brunette women.
Ted's House
The android known as Ted goes offline and secondary programming activates. Its eyes light up red and its HUD identifies its target.
The woods Due East
The hunter looks at the hawk, then back at the package at his feet. Picking it up he finds wooden bullets and a picture; he smiles.
Sunnydale Airport
The flying corpse of some kind of monster knocks down a worker, he looks up to see a young woman exiting the cargo hold and running off. Confused he decides to ignore the corpse and the fleeing woman.
Sunnydale Ice Rink
Buffy glided over the ice with practiced ease and smiled serenely as she flew from one end of the rink to the other. With a leap and twirl she lands in front of her smiling boyfriend, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
The vampire's smile grows twice as large, and asks, "I take it you like the date?"
"I love it! I haven't skied in ages. Its just what I needed to clear my head."
"What's wrong?" Angel had known Buffy to be many things, overly worried was not amongst them.
Buffy sat on the bench next to her paramour and said, "Its all the things that have happened since Halloween. Me, Willow, Xander…. We're different people now! I still don't understand why it happened and I know I should be worried, but I'm not and I can't be."
Looking up at Angel, she saw he was confused and she explained, "I'm a werewolf now! I want to hunt and kill now! Before the slayer was a buzz that I could ignore, now it's a roar that I don't want to ignore! I'm afraid I'm losing what made me human… but I know I'm not going to die any time soon because of the change. I feel, detached I guess."
Angel took her head in his hand and turned her to look at him. Giving her a quick kiss on the lips he said, "That you're worried means you're still human. Halloween just gave you a little extra."
Buffy smiled and snuggled deeper into his arms. Glad to be with somebody who could appreciate her. She would have drifted off to sleep if it were not for a noise behind her. The unmistakable sound of a snarl, and it was getting closer.
With a swift flick, she sent Angel tumbling from the bench in the opposite direction from her. She herself slid a few feet away and out of the path of a descending claw.
Looking at the source of the claw she had to crane her neck up to see the malicious glint in the single eye. It was a Cyclops, a big one. The monster roared down at her and stepped on the ice. Its immense claws stabilized the beast and kept it flat on its feet.
It looked between Buffy and Angel for a second before pulling out a photograph, which had the image of Buffy on it. Nodding to itself the beast roared at the girl and charged. Thinking quickly, Buffy leaped to her feet and began to skate to the other end of the rink.
She reached the end and spun around to the still charging monster. It was only a third of the way to her, giving her time to prepare. As it approached, she leapt up and caught the top to the safety glass. Using the glass as a spring she bounced herself off it and launched at the advancing creature with her skates pointed towards it.
Her ice skates cleanly slit the throat of the Cyclops, which gurgled in agony as the blood drained from its body. Buffy landed lightly behind the beast and turned to watch it fall to its knees, trying to hold its throat closed. She watched as it died, only approaching as it went still.
Looking at the corpse she began to rummage through its belongings and as soon as he could stably walk across the ice, Angel joined her. He was looking through the pockets on the leather jacket when he found the ring.
His eyes widened and he looked to his girlfriend, "We need to get to Giles, right now."
Seeing the look in his eyes she nodded.
Sunnydale High, the next day
"So you and Angel were attacked by a Cyclops, you managed to kill it and Angel found this ring on the corpse?" Giles asked his charge.
Buffy nodded and asked, "So what's with the ring?"
Giles held up the ring and showed her the passage he had been reading from. It was a depiction of the etching on the ring with a demonic figure prominently displayed next to it. Giles took a breath and said, "The ring is a symbol of the Order of Taraka; an ancient circle of assassins that was formed in the days of King Solomon. They have no moral compass, no sense of right or wrong, their only goal is the acquisition of wealth and the termination of their target. It is said that they work in three man cells in the apprehension of their target as that is all that is needed."
Buffy took the ring and held it up and looked to her friends who were sitting around the table. They all held apprehensive looks, clearly not glad to be the target of assassins. Looking back at her Watcher and asked what she should do.
Giles took off his glasses and began to polish them. Clearing his throat he said, "I suggest you go through the remainder of your day as normal as you can and once you are done, go to a secure location while we try to find out who called in the hit on you."
"You mean hide?"
"Yes, we do not present you as a target for them and they will have a more difficult time in finding you. When we find something we will strike, but until then I rather you be as safe as possible," Giles explained to the Slayer.
Buffy nodded and the kids went about their day.
Sunnydale High, Later
Buffy was jittery. Learning that assassins were after you was not good for the nerves. Taking a breath she tried to calm herself, she could take the heat. This was no different from all the other times somebody wanted her dead.
She took a deep calming breath, making to step forward. Before she could register the sound of a locker slamming behind her she had already turned and grabbed a student by the throat and held him off the floor. Startled she looked into the eyes of Oz, who raised an eyebrow at the Slayer and her immense strength.
Buffy's eyes widened at her own reaction before letting the young man go, "Sorry Oz, I'm a little jumpy."
"A little?" The diminutive teen asked.
"Uh…" Buffy couldn't think of an adequate response and chose instead to flee.
The Sunset Club, after School
Alexander sat in his throne, looking about himself with feigned disinterest. He was looking for any sign of the assassins after his friend. Buffy was a girl who he had idolized when he had been simply Xander, and now he was a woman he respected now that he was more. That an enemy would stoop so low as to hire an assassin to kill her was an insult to her, and to him.
Watching the club, he noted a human he had never seen before. He was gruff and he was big; stronger than an average human by the look, and made by the glint in his eye. Alexander looked over at Tara, who nodded before making her way over to the man.
Tara approached the man cautiously, doing her level best to not arouse suspicion. He looked trained so she simply walked up to the bar and sat a seat away from him. Like one would whenever a person sits at a bar, the other patrons look to see who it was before returning to their own business. The man's eyes strayed over her form in search of something other than a show; he was looking for weapons. Finding none he kept an eye on her until she stuttered out a request for a soda.
The man turned his attention from the girl and back to the balcony. The contractor had told him that the hit had gone to get dinner at the club. The diner was on the upper level, so his eyes were glued to the balcony. Gib Cain watched the balcony like a hawk, idly playing with his necklace of werewolf teeth.
Tara looked from his eyes to the balcony and smiled at his focus. Easy marks were always the most focused. With the skill of a nightingale she swiped the contents of his pockets, ignoring the high-caliber pistol for the moment. There was a picture, wallet, and keys.
The picture was of Drusilla. Tara knew that the Drusilla of this reality wasn't the same as the one in the other reality. Shaking her head, Tara tried to once more differentiate the lives she had lived. It was almost impossible for her to push the other Tara into the back of her mind, mostly because they had been the exact same person while growing up. Other Tara had been a stuttering wreck just like she was and she had fixed herself up while working for the thieves guild.
So she was both of her and she always found at the end of these existential debates that she was happy with this. She was happily married to the love of her life, her mother had no problems with it, and she had sex daily. Life was good.
Tara noted the man tense and thought for a second that she had been caught. A quick glance over at him showed that it was not her that had him enraptured; it was his mark. The mad seer and her lover were walking giddily along the balcony. They had made it half way across by the time the man acted; he grabbed the gun from his coat and began to pull it out.
A knife slid into his back.
Gib Cain jerked to a stop and almost cried out in agony. The knife twisted in his back and he coughed in pain. Turning his head he saw the girl who had sat a few seats from him. She smiled serenely and pushed a photograph at him; a quick look confirmed that it was the one he had been given.
Tara smiled sweetly while inside she cried, "Who hired you?"
"Why would I tell you," Cain groaned out, "You're just gonna kill me."
"Yes but the speed at which we end your life depends on how you answer the question."
"I'll die before I talk!"
Tara sighed and informed him, "My girlfriend can bring you back from the dead."
"Fuc-arg!" Cain almost cursed but the knife dug in deeper, "alright! All right! It was a vamp named Dalton… I don't know why or care!"
Tara smiled at him and thanked him before stabbing the knife further in and puncturing his heart. Cain died in agony.
Tara dispelled the knife and felt the blood diamond in her pocket fill with part of the dead man's soul. Tara put her head down on the table as the minions disposed of the body. She began to weep at what she had done and simply couldn't stop. She had killed a man; she had stuck her knife into his back and ended his life. It had never been something she did so casually in the other reality and it weighed heavily on her heart.
She kept crying as she felt the arms of her love wrapping around her and heard her soft cooing. Taking a breath she managed to stabilize herself. She quickly pecked Willow on the lips and smiled reassuringly at her.
Willow smiled and looked like she would have said something if it were not for the sudden disturbance at the door. Looking to the commotion the pair saw Spike struggling against a strange creature with rock like skin while Drusilla was shrieking and cowering at the sight of a middle-aged man slowly approaching her.
They stared for a moment, and in that moment the rock demon launched some sort of blast at Spike that struck him in the chest. The blast was absorbed into the vampire and he was launched back and off the balcony. On the way down he split into two separate Spikes.
With a gesture, Willow stopped the descent of the pair of unconscious duplicates. She was already contemplating ways to reverse the transformation when he landed gently on the ground.
While her girlfriend saved the bleached vampire, Tara flipped onto the counter and summoned her bow. The bound weapon was notched and ready to fire, so with little preamble she let fly. The arrow struck true and went through the back of the middle-aged man's head.
She did not expect for the man to straiten up and turn around to look at her. She really didn't expect his hand to turn into a weapon and begin firing at her. Reacting fast she flipped to the left and let loose two more arrows, and a third on landing. The first two arrows penetrated the eyes of the robotic man, and the third was a heart shot.
The robot began to malfunction; flailing wildly in all directions. Its movements were so erratic that when the rock like demon tried to get out of its way, it found itself in the robots grip. The robot began to strangle the rock demon, killing it in a matter of second before finally shutting down.
Alexander stood from his throne then, having been content to allow his friends a chance to shine. His voice boomed in the club, filled with power, "The club is closed for the evening. Leave."
The Sunset Club, after it is clear of Patrons
Tara sat across from Spike, waiting for the newly recombined vampire to awaken. She looked at the English vamp with some interest, trying to find similarities between him and her old friend. In the other reality, William the Bloody had been the champion of Boethia at one point, and he was the lover of the Mad God's seer.
She assumed that he had a similar personality to the other William; from the stories the others told he was a very dominant man. Letting out a breath, she looked to her lover; who was happily conversing with Drusilla. They had not been close in the old reality and in this one it would be no different.
Hearing a groan she turned to look at the awakening Spike. The bleached vampire looked about himself with some trepidation; the last thing he remembered was being hit with that energy blast. Looking to his left he saw Dru talking with one of the Slayer's friends, and they were gossiping about random things he had never heard of.
While hearing his Dru talk about non-existent things was no surprise, it was surprising to see the redhead talking like they were real. There was a throat clearing in front of him; and turning his head, he saw the Whelp and the blond lass he had seen dancing with Red.
Now he was really confused.
The Whelp smirked at his bewildered look and said, "Evening William. I would say that it is good to see you again, but we have never been formally introduced in this reality. I am Alexander of the Isle Harris. To my side is Tara Rosenberg, and speaking to your love is her wife Willow Rosenberg."
Spike looked to each and then back at the bloke, Alexander as he called himself, "This Reality?"
"Ah yes! You are unaware of the events that transpired several weeks ago," Alexander nodded. He stood and strode over to his throne and picked up a scroll. Holding it up he said, "On Halloween night, a chaos mage cast a spell on Sunnydale, turning the people who wore costumes from his shop into their various characters. It is my belief that several extra-dimensional beings known as Daedric Princes used the opportunity to exert their control on this reality.
"What I hold in my hand is something called an Elder Scroll, a somewhat common item in another reality. But here this is the only one in existence. This scroll came into existence on that night when I returned myself to my natural form. But that is neither here nor there.
"What is important are the consequences of the night. Myself and most of my friends were exposed to the spell and changed into what we were in an alternate reality. More importantly we remember out other lives, and you are a good friend to us in that other reality."
"What?" was the most eloquent response that Spike could think of, he looked at Dru to see if she had anything to say and all he got was an exited nod. Looking back at Alexander he groaned and said, "Only on the bloody hellmouth does this happen."
Alexander nodded his head, "Now what do you know about a man named Dalton?"
"Dalton? He's one of mine… why?"
"He set up a hit on you, Dru, and Buffy," Alexander told him bluntly.
"Hell, well that explains what happened to all my lot," Spike sighed and asked, "Parlay?"
"Parlay," Tara said and cut Spike loose of his bonds.
Sunnydale Library
"Ripper, I still do not understand why I have to stay in this bloody town!"
Giles sighed, took his glasses from his face and began to rub them. Ethan had complained on and off over the past weeks about how Willow had basically shackled him to the town. She had done some complex spells that made his head turn, fixing Ethan in such a way that he was physically unable to leave the borders of Sunnydale. Looking to his old and former friend he said, "It's the price you pay for attracting the attention of a higher demon."
Ethan snorted and said, "Then shouldn't I be getting as far from the Hellmouth as possible?"
Jenny looked up from her computer and told him, "Yes, but Willow said that the last lime a disciple of Mehrunes Dagon was free, he almost sent his world into hell. Or Oblivion, or whatever it was."
Looking to her lover she said, "I miss when she was just crazy good at computers."
Giles nodded and would have agreed if the doors to the library were not flung open at that instant. The three adults looked towards them to see Buffy enter the Library with a young black girl in tow. Sighing, Giles asked, "Buffy, exactly who is this?"
"I am Kendra, de Vampire Slayer!"
AN: yup, stopping here for now, wanna get this out to my fans and shit.
The next episode is gonna be dealing with the fallout of these events and dealing with the assassins: there are still four out there.
Dalton is gonna be the bad guy for a bit.
If anybody has any suggestions, let me know
