And here's my Buffy-Merlin fusion: Arty is the Slayer; the other 3 make up the Scoobies. Title: Not Again
There is one chosen every generation . . . blah, blah, blah. He'd heard it before, back in L.A. And look how that had ended up. Now Arthur was stuck in this new town and at a new school. There was little hope he'd make friends here until he saw some football-player types picking on another boy at the drinking fountain. He used his innate sense of logic to get the jocks to leave and introduced himself to the other boy.
"You're new here," he stated obviously. "Sorry, I'm not used to actually talking to people. I'm Merlin." The boy had dark, unruly hair, really blue eyes and pale skin. But he was about the same height as Arthur, which seemed odd for someone so shy.
Maybe it won't be so bad here, he thought as the boy led him outside to eat lunch. For someone "not used to talking to people," Merlin sure talked a lot. Once they sat on a bench out in the sun, Arthur decided to ask about normal high school stuff. "So what's there to do around here?"
"Oh, there's the Bronze, a club built in an old warehouse. I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you're used to, but it's all right." Merlin looked around as if checking for listeners, then leaned close and said, "And then there's the strange deaths and disappearances. Does this sound familiar to you, Slayer?"
"How did you—no, you know what?" Arthur stood. "I came here for a fresh start. I've done my part to rid the world of vampires. I'm retired."
Merlin stood too. "You can't retire. There will always be a need for the Slayer, as these deaths prove. Let me just—"
Right then a pair of girls walked up to them. "Hey Merlin," said one, who looked like she could be his sister. "Is this the new guy?" She and her friend eyed him up, then she stuck out her hand. "I'm Morgana and this is Gwen. Welcome to Sunnydale."
He shook Morgana's hand and looked at Gwen. She just blushed and looked down at her shoes. Merlin spoke up again. "So Arthur, about that—"
Morgana interrupted him, luckily. "Hey, did you hear about the dead guy they found in the girls' locker room? Totally freaky. But at least they cancelled gym for the rest of the day, woo hoo!"
Arthur stared. "A dead guy? Did he have any marks on him?" He exchanged glances with Merlin.
"I don't know. But I've got to go. Computer programming next! Yeah!" She yanked on Gwen's arm and they were gone.
"Is she always like that?"
"Morgana? Yeah. But this dead guy, do you think it was a vampire?"
"That's what I'm going to find out."
It turned out that the dead guy had been sucked dry, which was bad news for everyone. Before school ended, Merlin had invited him to come out to the Bronze. Arthur agreed, because if there was vampire action in town, the best place for them to pick up dinner was at a crowded club.
That ended up being the worst night out Arthur had had in a long time. There were vampires present and they kidnapped Gwen and a couple others. That's how he discovered the plan to make some vampire master rise so he could open up a portal to hell, which was evidently right under the high school. To make things worse, Morgana had been in the library when he was discussing all this with Merlin and she now knew his secret. Even worse, she wanted to help. But at least the beautiful Gwen was talking to him now. Saving someone's life apparently had benefits.
Arthur managed to get Morgana and Gwen to stay with Merlin while he went to rescue the others who'd been club-napped. It turned out that Morgana wasn't Merlin's sister and he had a crush on her. And her computer skills were very helpful in determining the vampires' location.
He got down into the city's sewer only to discover the other victims waiting, but they had been turned and used to bait him. That was nearly the end of him, but luckily he found an unexpected exit that led into daylight. But not before the vamps had "monologued" the master plan—to harvest humans that night so the "Master" would have the power to open the hellmouth and thus end the world.
This time Arthur didn't object when Merlin, Morgana and Gwen wanted to help. He went home for his weapons and together they sneaked to the Bronze, where they found the Master's lackeys. The chief one had the power to suck the blood and life energy out of humans and funnel it to the Master. He'd already begun his snacking by the time Arthur busted in through the roof. He took on the chief while his friends- because that's what they'd become -broke in the back and started rescuing the potential victims.
Arthur was able to keep the chief unaware of his friends and beat him up in the process. He'd nearly got in a bite, but Arthur was able to trick him with the threat of sunlight and stake him. And maybe he was imagining it, but he thought he heard a furious yell from somewhere below him.
A minute later, Merlin, Morgana and Gwen rushed into the room and threw their arms around him, saying things like, "You did it! You rock! The slayer wins! Yeah!" It made him feel really good that he'd not only found friends, but they knew his secret and had proved supportive and helpful. If he was stuck doing this slayer gig, he'd at least have loyal friends to make it bearable.
Thanks for reading! There'll be at least 1 more Buffy fusion, but that's for later. Next: a modern take on 1.1.
