Chapter Seven
'Endgame Pt.1: 2 Minutes to Midnight'
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AN: Part 5 of the ongoing SG-1 mini arc. This was what supposed to be the ending of my SG-1 mini arc. I thought one more chapter to wrap it up. Of course my new Goa'uld muse disagreed and I kinda took on way too many story lines to wrap up in a single chapter. So yes, sigh, yet another split. The title comes a classic Iron Maiden track. The repertoire of which is constantly on my winamp playlist as I write these very words.
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"I don't believe it," O'Neill said agitated as he hung up on the phone, "we go all the way to Twilight Zone, California, suck up to the truly strange and truly funkyfull, and just as we are about to meet the coalition of the willing, its sorry guys, game over, back to base, our boy managed to escape."
"How dare he do what we do all the time," Daniel said grinning, earning him a not so very amused Jack O'Neill deathglare .
"So we go back to base," Samantha Carter asked disappointed, "I was kinda hoping we get to meet these people."
O'Neill nodded that they were indeed not going to meet the deadly Saiyan duo and the Jolly Green giant.
"The general has conferred with this Belmovekk character and in their combined wisdom they deem it prudent that we, and I quote, haul ass back to base. We are to let our librarian know that the crisis is over and then it's back on the plane."
"Thank God," Major Davis said as he got up from the sofa in the base commander's office, "the sooner I leave this place, the better. If I never have to see these people again, so much the better."
"She's just a girl, Paul," O'Neill teased after the major, "we can't have the mighty major Paul Davis run afraid of a little cute blond teenager."
Davis shot O'Neill an angry glance.
"Fine, you go and talk to them," he replied, "as far as this Air Force major is concerned, Buffy Summers is the spawn of the devil and if I never have to see her sour angry face again I'll die a happy man."
"I will go," Teal'c volunteered, causing O'Neill to frown.
"Teal'c. What a surprise, buddy," he said sarcastically, "I'm starting to think we are no longer your bestest friends."
Teal'c raised an eyebrow, then he smiled and put on his woolly hat.
"I will see you at the airport, O'Neill," the Jaffa said. Jack just waved him off dismissively.
"I will join you, Teal'c," Daniel said as he got up and fetched his coat. Teal'c nodded and held open the door.
"Try not to drool all over his books again, Daniel," O'Neill yelled after the duo.
"I still can't believe it is finished," Sam said after the two had gone, "we came all this way and now we leave just when we're about to achieve our goal?"
Major Samantha Carter of the US Air Force looked so dejected she reminded O'Neill of a sad puppy.
"Hey, don't look at me," O'Neill replied, "the general's orders, remember?"
"It's hard to believe that that Saiyan has so much influence," Sam muttered, "he goes missing, we go halfway across the country to meet a former mass murderer. He returns and it's back to base, business as usual? And what do we get for our trouble?"
O'Neill stopped what he was doing and started grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh, I never said we didn't get anything for our troubles," he grinned.
x
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The whine of ring transporters sounded and as the rings dropped down, General Hammond together with the armed figures of SG-3 stepped off the platform. The only other person present in the room was the Saiyan Belmovekk.
"Welcome to the Pride of Amūn, Warleader Hammond," Belmovekk said as he extended his arms in a welcoming gesture, again dressed in his SG-13 BDU, "if I had, as you say it, the keys, I would give them to you."
The SG-3 members, their weapons still at the ready, moved to the controls of the ring transporter and activated them to bring up more personnel.
"Have you any idea how much trouble you've cost us?" Hammond said accusingly.
"Me?" Belmovekk said as he put his hand on his heart, playing innocence personified, "this whole idea was yours to begin with. I was perfectly content with staying where I was."
Hammond had to bit down his lip. Cause at least that part was true.
"You're giving me more ulcers then O'Neill" he muttered.
"O'Who?" Belmovekk asked smirking.
"You'll hear all about him once you get home," Hammond said, "So what happened?".
"Let me give you the guided tour first," the Saiyan said and gestured Hammond to follow him, "do not mind the occasional damage, Warleader Hammond, as one of your sayings go, she has not been driven by an old lady on Sundays."
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"He's clear of the symbiont," Dr. Frasier said. They were back in the SGC infirmary, Belmovekk sat smiling on one of the beds, legs folded underneath him, as Dr. Frasier and Hammond stood next to a light box as they studied the Saiyan's X-rays.
"Just like with Major Carter there are leftover traces of naquadah in his system," Frasier continued, "but the physical remains of the symbiont have been absorbed into his body."
"I see," Hammond said, getting the gist of what she said, but couldn't recognize anything on the X-rays even if his life depended on it, "did you find anything else?"
Janet Frasier looked at the smiling Saiyan, his tail curled up around him, then back at General Hammond. This was the first time they ever got a Saiyan for medical examination and the general was clearly interested in learning what made them tick.
"Aside from his tail and the black irises he looks completely human, sir," she said to Hammond, "in fact if he didn't have a tail and black eyes I would never think he was an alien. He's 99.99% human, down to the DNA. The bones are a bit heavier, more dense, as if adapted for a higher gravity environment..."
"Ten G's," Belmovekk interrupted casually.
"As I thought," Frasier continued while shooting a venomous glance at Belmovekk, "there are a few differences. Some minor DNA that is different. But he could intermingle with any human on Earth if he wanted to. The tail has me puzzled though. It really is alien, like it was tacked on. And it contains some unique glands that puzzle me. That aside, if I had to venture I'd say that they are an evolutionary off shoot of humanity, like the Jaffa."
"Interesting," Hammond said as he looked at Belmovekk, "care to shed any light on it?"
"And spoil all your fun?" the Saiyan snorted, "what's wrong with a little mystery, Warleader Hammond? Must everything be explained away and rationalized? Cherish your illusions, Warleader Hammond, for they keep you warm and cozy in the coldest of nights."
Hammond looked at Dr. Frasier. He almost looked ten years older to Janet.
"I wish I could strangle him, doc," he sighed, "he gives me more ulcers then the good colonel. How do you explain his powers? The energy he can manipulate?"
"I'm not sure," she said and picked up a simple light bulb. She walked over to Belmovekk and held it against his skin. Within seconds it starts to glow.
"As you can see, there is great power in him," she said as the light bulb's light grows to such intensity that it suddenly shattered, "he sends every measuring device off the scale. He could probably power a small town in his current state. But as to how he actually does it, I still don't know."
Hammond looked at the shattered remains of the light bulb and then Belmovekk's smirking face.
"I exercise a lot and eat regularly, good doctor," the Saiyan said flippant.
"Besides his annoying bedside manner I can't find any special organs that could explain what he can do," Frasier continued, earning a medal in Hammond's eyes for putting up with the Saiyan's flippant behavior, "if he does it, he must do so at a cellular level. There are some very strange readings on that level that might explain it, but I as of yet have no workable theory as to how. It would indicate an incredible control down to the cellular level."
"I see," Hammond said and looked at Belmovekk, "any chance that if I were to ask you, I don't get the whole 'why spoil a perfect mystery' speech again?"
"Nope," the Saiyan said, shaking his head smirking.
"Well, I guess that concludes our physical exam," Hammond said, "now that that is behind us, can you please tell us what happened?"
" Why not show you," Belmovekk said and raised up his right hand.
x
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(Fast reverse backwards several days)
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As his Jaffa shouted his name in honor of his victory Amūn-Ra strode the corridors of the Pride of Amūn. What should have been his hour of triumph was soured by the sudden revelation of the vision from Anubis. Previously, having learned of Anubis' return had consumed him enough to risk it all in his mad gambit. But compared to what drove him now, it was a mere impulse.
Followed by his trusty First Prime, Amūn-Ra entered the bridge of the Pride of Amūn. The captain got out of the command chair to make room for his God. As rose the rest of the command crew.
"Congratulations on your great victory, my Lord," the captain said formally.
Amūn-Ra waved away the congratulations and went to the navigation console.
"Plot a course to the home world of the Tau'ri" he said to the navigational officer.
"My lord?" the navigational officer said, not believing what he heard.
"Do it," Amūn-Ra said gruffly. The navigational officer nodded and started to crunch the required numbers. Amūn-Ra turned around and looked at this bridge crew.
"Ready those ships of the fleet that can move out," Amūn-Ra said, "we are leaving."
"And what of our other ships?" the captain asked concerned.
"They will have to fend for themselves and return to our base," Amūn-Ra said as he seated himself in the command chair, "the First Prime has informed me that four ships are still combat ready?"
"Uh, yes," the captain responded as he looked at the First Prime for a clue.
"Captain, you have your orders," Amūn-Ra said and gave a dismissive gesture.
"My Lord," the First Prime asked as he stepped up, "at least give us time to ship more medical supplies and sarcophagi to the damaged ships."
"No," Amūn-Ra said and brought up the new navigational data on his personal holo-display. The First Prime and the captain looked at each other.
"But there are many casualties, my Lord," the First Prime said, "many could die."
"They will have died in the service of their God," Amūn-Ra replied, without even giving the First Prime a look.
"My Lord, I must protest," the First Prime said, "your loyal Jaffa have died by the thousands today. They deserve better. Captain Nak'taar and his crew gave up their lives so they could ram the mothership and give you your victory. Does their sacrifice mean nothing?"
Amūn-Ra looked up, his eyes flashing golden as they stared at the First Prime angrily..
"I told you already. The world of the Tau'ri holds a great danger to us all. There is no time to waste!"
Everybody on the bridge held their breath. Never before had the First Prime dared to question an order of Amūn. But then again, never had Amūn ever been so unreasonable as he was now.
"With all due respect, my Lord," the First Prime said unshaken, "Anubis knew the same things. He knew the Asgard can't help the Tau'ri. Yet he did not move against them."
"Anubis was Shol'va," Amūn-Ra said out loud, a feint glow starting to surround him, "he had no honor. He was weak."
The First Prime could hardly believe his ears.
"He had a mothership, he was stronger then us," the First Prime responded calmly, "he nearly crushed us. We must rebuild our forces first."
"He was Shol'va," Amūn-Ra said as he slammed his fist on the edge of his command chair, causing a massive dent, "he was more concerned with his own petty revenge against us. I will destroy the world of the Tau'ri. Once the others see that I can do so without the Asgard retaliating they will come to see my greatness. Then there will be plenty of time to rebuild afterwards."
Amūn-Ra rose from his command chair and walked over to the First Prime.
"Never question my orders again in front of the men," he hissed softly, "Old Friend!"
Then Amūn-Ra turned around and made for his personal quarters.
"Do as I say," he said and left through the bridge doors.
The command crew was stunned by the spectacle and looked at the First Prime who was ash stricken and unable to speak.
"Is he mad?" the captain asked the First Prime.
The First Prime looked up and anger shot from his eyes as he lashed out and struck the captain to the ground.
He is your God!" he yelled, "Do as he said!"
Then he tried to sit in the command chair, and noticed the damage.
"And get somebody up here to fix this," he said as he started to stare blankly ahead.
x
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In his office Giles was literally pulling an all nighter. With stacks of empty coffee cups around him, Godless computer printouts and a recent stack of fax papers, Giles had been whittling the night away. He was so emerged in his research that he didn't even notice it when somebody entered his office and suddenly hung over his shoulder.
"Computer printouts?" the sound of Buffy's voice said, "I never thought I'd live to see the day when Giles joins the twentieth century and actually touches something that came from a computer. Even though it's only paper."
Giles nearly jumped from his chair. Clutching his chest he swiveled his chair around and saw a smiling Buffy.
"Buffy, dear God, you scared me," he said shaken.
"You should see your face," she grinned and hopped on his desk, "whatcha doing?"
"A little research," Giles said as he started stacking his papers before she can grab them. All except one which she managed to pick up before he can reach it.
"A little research," she snorted, "I haven't seen you pull an all nighter such as this since, well, since a long time. Usually followed shortly by an apocalypse."
Giles fumbled with his glasses.
"Well, we do seem to live in interesting times again," Giles said.
"I guess," Buffy said as she examined the fax printout, "I don't understand how you can read these things. It's all Greek to me."
"That's because it is Greek," Giles said as he took away the fax printout from Buffy, "is there anything in particular you wanted to speak to me about?"
Buffy bit her lip and looked a bit hesitantly. So he decided to try and put her at ease.
"Want some coffee?" Giles asked as he looked around for a clean cup, but can't seem to find any, "unfortunately I can't offer you clean cup right now. I would have to get one from the teacher's lounge."
Buffy shook her head to signal she didn't want any, so Giles reached for a used cup for himself and then for the pot of coffee besides him.
"Do you know anybody can just walk in here?" Buffy said, her head nodding to the library entrance, "you have no doors locked, and vamps don't need an invitation."
"They wouldn't dare," Giles said and then points to a fire alarm button next to his desk, "besides, we did a little modification to the sprinkler system. When I press that button, or any such button in the library, out comes holy water."
"Ouch," Buffy said appreciatively, "guaranteed to ruin any vamp's day. Smart thinking. How..."
"Oz came up with the idea," Giles said as he sipped his coffee, "he figured that since Belmovekk was technically a holy man, he might as well bless the sprinkler system and the tank on top of the roof. Dear God! This coffee has gone stale."
"Belmo a holy man?" Buffy snorted in disgust, "When did that happen? I missed the memo? I thought you needed a catholic priest for that?"
"Belmovekk is a disciple to a living God, Buffy," Giles said as he put down his coffee, "they don't come any holier then that. And no, you don't need a catholic priest. Vampires have been around for longer then Christianity. Any faith will do. It's the act of faith that scares them, not any particular religion."
"Another little detail he forgot to tell," she said bitter as she looks away.
Giles walks up to his sink and threw away his coffee.
"In all fairness, it never occurred to any of us either." Giles said, "I'm making a new pot of coffee, sure you don't want some?"
"Positively," she said then looked him in the eyes, "is there any news?"
"No," Giles said flatly.
"Nothing from Captain Obnoxious and his army buddies?"
"They gave me their phone number and returned to the army base outside of town," Giles said as he poured water in the coffee machine, "they would stay there until we learned more from Belmovekk's friends."
"I'd like to help," Buffy suddenly said, causing Giles to become speechless.
"Uh..., I..., um...,I must confess, Buffy, I'm rather surprised by this sudden turn of events. I thought you made it clear you didn't want to help."
"I did," she replied as she averted her eyes again, "but I've been thinking and talked it over with a good friend. It was pointed out to me that whatever he may have done, nobody deserves to have some alien crawl down their throat and be taken over."
"They enter through the neck," Giles said and gestured to the precise spot on his own neck..
"Whatever," Buffy shrugged, "the how's not important. There is fray adjacent and I'd be a poor Slayer if I didn't step in and do what I could."
A smile broke through on Giles' face.
"I must say Buffy, you keep on surprising me."
"I have my moments," Buffy smiled weakly, "is Xander still here?"
Giles looked to the south.
"He left for Baja soon after you 'stormed out'."
"I'll leave for Capsule Corp. as soon as it gets light," Buffy said, "see if I can get Vegeta on board."
Giles turned around and looks at her.
"You think that's wise?" he asked, "He probably doesn't even care. Let alone listen to one of us. Maybe Piccolo or Goku..."
"Vegeta and I recently connected," Buffy smiled confidently, "I think I may be able to pester him into helping. He may be able to beat everybody to a bloody pulp but he seems to be just as vulnerable to a damsel in distress."
As if to illustrate her point she wipes away an imaginary tear and started fluttering her eye lashes.
"I see," Giles said as he barely suppressed a smile at the idea of Vegeta being pouted into helping them. Of course Buffy made it worse by continuing her pouting damsel in distress act.
"Anything we can do to help?" he said as he finally managed to suppress the urge to laugh.
"I'll probably do this faster on my own," she said, "Air Buffy, remember?"
x
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It had surprised Colonel O'Neill greatly to learn that an insignificant town of Sunnydale's size had an army base when he had first arrived here. But for some strange reason it had. It turned out from Davis' notes that the army established a fort at the place as soon as California joined the Union. And before that, so did the Mexican army and the Spanish before them. And O'Neill wouldn't be surprised if before that the local Indians had kept watch. This town just felt weird, even if he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that made it so but it did.
Besides having access to extensive training grounds, most towns and cities that got army/Air Force/navy/USMC bases often did so as a boon to provide employment. Senators and congressmen would pull in strings and old favors to secure that any new base would go their districts. Or that old ones would remain come the next round of budget cuts. Not Sunnydale however. Nobody seemed to care, local authorities most of all. It was considered to be an ass end of the world assignment. Which was a bit of an exaggeration, since O'Neill had been to many ass end of the world places in his career. And as ass end of the world assignments go, this wasn't so bad.
Still, nobody liked being assigned here. Every officer always tried pulling whatever strings they had to avoid being posting here. Hell, even the privates hated being here. O'Neill once read that a place called Fort Robert Johnson, which as it turned out was the name of the Sunnydale base, had the highest desertion rate in the armed services. Even the French Foreign Legion, infamous for its desertion rates in basic training, or the new Russian army, had lower desertion rates.
Being housed in the base guest quarters O'Neill found it hard to fathom why. Maybe it was the throwing up on arrival thing. It was nice and quiet though, the food was good and the bunks comfortable. Five years at the SGC had given him all the excitement he could crave for. After that, nice and quiet had its own appeal.
It was while he was laying on his bunk, enjoying not having to get up early like the rest of the base's army pukes, that major Samantha Carter decided to throw a monkey wrench into the program.
"Are you awake, colonel?" she asked as she stuck her head through the door of the room he shared with Teal'c and Daniel. Who had both gone strangely absent, citing they wished to see some local sites.
As if!
"I am now, Carter," O'Neill replied, looking at her with one eye open.
"Colonel," Sam said, "I was doing some inventory, and I noticed some discrepancies."
"Inventory?" O'Neill said as he opened his other eye and looked at his second in command, "Carter, you really need a hobby."
"We can't all be born to sit beside a pond and wait for the fish to bite, sir," she replied, still looking through the door opening, "I was looking through the base infirmary and noticed they were a bit short on medical supplies."
"What on Earth were you doing in the infirmary," O'Neill asked, only then to get it, "oh, never mind, it's that time of the month again, right?"
The look on her face was priceless. She never enjoyed talking about those things, as they tended to make her feel not one of the guys.
"Well..., I..., um..., sir, to make a long story short, I was hoping to get some, 'supplies', when I couldn't find anything. I checked the base logs and there should be plenty of medical supplies. But there's just nothing there, sir."
"People do get injured, Carter, they're bound to use stuff," Jack replied uninterested, "besides, this is an army base. They would probably lose their own shoe laces if they weren't tied. They only have bigger idiots in the Marine Corps."
Jack closed his eyes again with a satisfying smile. Carter however did not look convinced by Jack's arguments.
"Sir, according to the base logs, this base uses more supplies then a whole combat brigade in a war zone."
O'Neill opened one eye again.
"There's only about a battalion of troops here at best, Carter."
"My point exactly, colonel," Sam said eager.
Jack not only opened his other eye, he actually tilted his head somewhat towards her.
"You think something fishy is going on, Carter?"
"Could be, sir," she said, all but screaming for O'Neill to get off his ass and join the investigation. Or at least give her the go ahead.
O'Neill shrugged and closed his eyes again. To use his favorite pastime, he's not biting.
"Let JAG handle it," he said, "not our concern. Just tell them when we get back."
The disappointment was almost palpable in Sam's voice.
"But sir...," she said but O 'Neill silences her by raising a finger.
"I'm trying to get my beauty sleep here, Carter."
Sam let's out a big sigh.
"Aren't you the least bit curious, sir?" she asked.
"Nope," O'Neill replied with a big smile on his face, "what's a little corruption when we have Saiyans at large, crazed Goa'uld out there and the most bizarre townfolk since Twin Peaks out here. I half expect an FBI agent to come in here and say what a damn good cup of coffee."
"Also I've never been on a base where somebody wasn't running a little sideshow to earn themselves a little buck. And guess what, Carter, they always get caught since they are greedy. And greed makes you stupid, Carter. Here endeth the lesson."
"But sir..."
"Ah, not a word, Carter," he said and opened an eye again and looked at her. She's clearly bored out of her skull here. Well, what to expect from the woman who's idea of a few days off relaxation consists of running experiments and tests on alien artifacts back at the base. So he smiled and closed his eye again.
"If you want to play detective, then do so without bothering me, Carter"
Hearing that she just got O'Neill's implicit permission, she nodded excited.
"Sorry to have bothered you, colonel," she said and turned around
"Oh, and Carter," O'Neill's said after her.
She turned around and looked through the door again.
"Yes, sir?"
"Have fun!"
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"Is this the place?" Daniel asked as he halted the car in one of the lesser neighborhood of this town.
"Yes it is, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied as he unfastened his seatbelt and put away the piece of paper containing the address he had been given.
"It seems like such a rundown area," the archaeologist said as he examined the front entrance, with its Mu Tai martial arts sign, "I have to say, this place seems strangely familiar somehow."
"It is, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said as he pointed to a spot beside the front entrance, "that is the exact spot where Belmovekk, Goku and Vegeta stood on the images General Hammond showed us.
"I'll be...," Daniel muttered as he finally saw it, "you sure it's OK to be here, Teal'c?"
"I will be perfectly fine, Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa said confidently as he got out of the car, "you go and have fun with Rupert Giles."
"You have probably no idea how very wrong that sounds," Daniel snorted as he shook his head, "you make it sound like...the man is one of the world's most renowned experts in ancient languages. That's like meeting a man of Bra'tac stature for the first time."
Teal'c just raised an eyebrow in response.
"You want me to pick you up later, Teal'c?" Daniel sighed.
"I'll be fine, Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa answered.
"Sure," Daniel smiled, "cause it's a long way back to the base."
"The Xandman giveth, the Xandman taketh," Teal'c shrugged indifferent. As far as he was concerned, he ran greater distances before breakfast at the SGC every day.
Daniel gave a very disapproving look at Teal'c in response.
"You know, that jokes ceased being funny last night," Daniel said, shaking his head disapproving as he reached over to close the door and then drove on.
While Daniel turned a corner and disappeared Teal'c turned around and looked at the building. Being an avid fan of many Tau'ri sci-fi series he smiled at the audacity of calling the place Mu Tai martial arts and pressed the doorbell. Then he took off his wooly hat.
It took a little while before it is answered but finally the door swung open and the woman he knew as Faith opened the door. Teal'c may be unfamiliar with many Earth customs but he was anything but a simpleton and he knew that in this culture people are only considered to have reached adult age at a certain age, which Faith clearly wasn't. But Teal'c's culture judges on different criteria and on Chu'lak nobody would ever mistake Faith for a girl.
"Hey, Tall, Dark and Handsome," Faith smiled as she recognized Teal'c, "come inside."
"Thank you, Faith," Teal'c nodded and entered as she closed the front door behind them, "I meant to ask you, do you have a last name?"
"I had, now I don't," Faith replied, just a hint of pain and sadness in her voice. Teal'c nodded again. On Chu'lak children are to be cherished and no parent would ever dream of hurting their child. And while most of the Tau'ri valued their children just as much, he was saddened to learn that there were some who abused them.
"Just Faith then," Teal'c smiled and it put her at ease.
"Just the way I like it, Murray," she said.
"Please, call me Teal'c," the Jaffa said, "no need to call me by my false name."
"Yeah, I know," Faith smiled, "but I kinda liked Murray. It sounds so wrong and out of character for you that becomes perfect again. Am I making sense?"
"You may call me Murray if you wish, Faith," Teal'c said as he made a slight bow, even though he had no clue as to what she just talked about. But in his dealings with the Tau'ri he had become used to that.
Faith leaned over, grinning conspiratorially.
"Good, cause the alternative is that I'll call you T. all the time," she said.
"Then it is most fortuitous that you call me Murray then," Teal'c said relieved as Faith led him into the gravity gym. To the untrained eye the gym didn't look that out of the order. The inside control panel could be hidden by folding it into its wall slot. So besides the black training dummy it looked like a normal, be it somewhat sterile looking dojo with rubber tiling.
To Teal'c's trained eye however this did not look like a normal house of training. As somebody who had trained on Chu'lak and on advanced Goa'uld ships for most of his life he could recognize a high tech training environment when he saw one. There was an almost inaudible hum of machinery hidden somewhere. And little to nothing of the familiar martial arts paraphernalia he had grown accustomed to from the various Tau'ri houses of training he has visited.
The only other person in the room besides Teal'c and Faith was the guitar player, Daniel Osborne, dressed in a white training gi, as was Faith, who had insisted he be called Oz. It should have been confusing that almost none of these youngsters insisted they be called by their real names. But Teal'c came from a warrior culture and there one could change one's name into one more suitable upon passing the rites of passages. So it seemed natural to Teal'c. Besides, many in the Tau'ri military preferred to be called by what they called their nickname.
"Greetings Oz Osbourne," Teal'c said looking around, "will Xander Harris be joining us?"
"He couldn't make it," Oz said apologetic, "he had an elsewhere to be."
"Most unfortunate," Teal'c remarked somewhat saddened, he had looked forward to seeing Xander in action, "and Buffy Summers?"
Oz shook his head.
"She won't be joining us either."
"Thank God," Faith muttered almost inaudibly. She thought nobody had heard her but Teal'c raised an eyebrow and one of Oz's ears moved slightly.
"So you wished to see our training?" Oz asked, gesturing to the surrounding gym.
"Indeed," Teal'c said as he stood to attention, arms folded behind him, "I am most curious to its nature. I am well versed in all forms of Jaffa combat and studied many forms of combat among the Tau'ri. I am curious to study the ways of combat from the Saiyans."
Oz looked at the alien. If it was just up to him he would have never allowed this Teal'c into their midst. But Xander had taken one look at the guy and judged him to be OK. And while Xander was often the fool, the school goofball, clown extraordinaire, had a runaway mouth that got him into big trouble more often then not, he was however in Oz's opinion a very good judge of character. Like he could see right through things. He just had the trouble that his goofballing often made others ignore what he had to say. So if Xander thought this Teal'c could be trusted, that was good enough for Oz.
"Alright," Oz said.
"So, sensei," what are you going to teach today?" Faith grinned.
"Same thing we did last time and the time before that," Oz said stoically, "until you get it right."
This was clearly not to Faith's liking.
"Ah," she whined, "can't we do something else? I'm bored senseless with that kata. I wanna get to the good stuff! Especially with Murray watching. Can't we just at least spar instead?"
"Gotta learn how to run first, Faith," Oz said shaking his head, then he looked at Teal'c, "but just to make it a little interesting, why not have Teal'c here show us how much he learned from just watching you yesterday?"
Teal'c raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"But he didn't do anything," Faith protested.
"He was watching your every move," Oz shrugged indifferent to her protestations.
"Oh, did he?" Faith said, giving Teal'c a large smile, "you are a naughty boy aren't you, Murray?"
The look of confusion on Teal'c's face was priceless, but Oz decided not to embarrass their newest buddy. Too much.
"Just tell her to get some extra batteries," he said to Teal'c, but Teal'c gave him just another confused look.
"For my vibrator," Faith tried to explain, adding even further to the Jaffa's confusion.
Alien indeed, Oz thought.
"Never mind," he said, "but first, let me get the show on the road."
Oz assumed a straight position towards a spot of light on one of the walls, then he crossed his arms in front of him with clenched fists. He dropped onto one knee, touching the ground with both fists and said something in a strange language.
"Why are you doing that, Oz Osbourne?" Teal'c asked curious.
"Saiyans believe their chi fu came from their Gods," Oz said as he came up, "a training ground must always be sanctified before training. To not do so would mean inviting bad mojo."
"I see," Teal'c said. His first inclination was to say there were no Gods, only false ones. But then he remembered that Saiyans never worshiped the Goa'uld. Which made it more of a cultural thing. And he could respect that. Besides, some Tau'ri martial arts did similar things.
"You'd think doing it once would suffice," Faith said disapproving, "but no, they keep on doing it."
"When you live in a place like this, you learn to respect bad mojo, Faith," Oz shrugged and turned towards Teal'c, "now, show me the form that Faith did yesterday."
Faith was surprised how well Teal'c managed to do the first half of the kata. He only had seen her doing it a few times, yet he executed the form with seemingly more grace and precision then she ever did. Of course, like her yesterday, Teal'c did it in a slow Tai Chi like speed. Oz seemed less impressed as he started correcting Teal'c's mistakes.
"Not bad," he said, "but you got your foot wrong here, it must go there, and the position of the hands goes up for the left and a little more down for the right. Try again"
Teal'c did again, this time to Oz's satisfaction.
"That's amazing, Murray," Faith said impressed, "how can you do that?"
"I am trained in many ways of combat, Faith," Teal'c said as he performed the form again, this time earning further approving nods from Oz, "I was so by my father, and my master in training, Bra'tac. I am curious though, Oz Osbourne, what is the purpose of this form?"
"It teaches you the basic Saiyan fighting techniques and prepares you for later forms," Oz said and performed a few of the movements as they would appear as actual combat movements`
"When can I do those?" Faith asked again hopeful.
"When you can do it like this," Oz said and performed the same kata, only this time fully and at a seemingly lighting fast speed. His speed was such that Teal'c found it almost impossible to follow the young man. But from what he could follow Oz performed the moves in perfect form. Oz finished the form in no time and when he did Teal'c nodded in respect.
"If I may ask, Oz Osbourne," he said, "at what stage are you?"
"There are three basic forms," Oz said and performed the other two. Each he did progressively slower, making even a mistake or two in the final one.
"Once you master them all, you are ready for the next stage," Oz said panting slightly.
"Which is?"
"They know six styles of combat," Oz said and did a few movements of each, "each has its own forms and techniques. Although you are required to learn them all, generally you pick one or two styles and make them your own. You are free to mix and choose what you like as you see fit though. I know Buffy seems to favor Radi'itsu, which roughly translates as the way of the snake hunter. Xander on the other hand favors Mal'ki'itsu, the way of the Saiyan mountain tiger. Personally I'm thinking of combining Ozar'itsu and Aisni'itsu, the way of the Saiyan ape and the way of the soul."
"Fascinating," Teal'c said gripped. Of course, what Oz didn't tell was that Ozar'itsu, the way the Saiyan ape, was all about learning to control that Saiyan transformation called ozaru, his best hope of ever keeping his inner werewolf in check.
"And which way does Belmovekk follow?" Teal'c asked.
"He said he used to be into Cumbri'itsu, the way of the Saiyan scorpion," Oz replied after some thinking, "but he once also said he had lived for so long he was beyond the six styles. I think he's his own style now."
Teal'c nodded impressed. And in a moment of perfect clarity Faith saw that if she didn't intervene now, the two men would talk shop all afternoon.
"Enough!" she yelled, "If I wanted a lecture I wouldn't have dropped out of school! Less talk, more fighting!"
Oz and Teal'c looked at each other
"Mal'ki'itsu in waiting," Oz smiled at Teal'c, "alright, Faith, since you're so full of energy, lets do some warming up. Let's see how far you can keep up, Teal'c."
x
x
As Daniel entered Sunnydale High he soon met with a very short and sour looking individual in the hallway.
"And who might you and what are you doing here?" the man asked suspiciously and as sour as he looked.
"My name is Daniel Jackson and I'm looking for a Mr. Rupert Giles," Daniel replied, taken slightly aback by the man's behavior. The man seemed oddly familiar. Like he reminded him of a certain somebody.
"Hmpf," the man said still sour, "he's in the library. Like always. He thinks it is his but it's actually mine. And one day he'll find that out the hard way. You know where it is?"
"Uh, I think so," Daniel replied. He had been here the night before.
"Good. And if you didn't then it shouldn't be hard to find," the man said as he looked up, as if to take in the school's surroundings, "there are maps of the school and directions everywhere to be found. Nice and orderly, the way it should be. Do you have any kids, Mr. Jackson?"
"Uh, no," Daniel said, somewhat surprised by the question.
"You're lucky," the man said, suddenly looking as if the two if them shared a common bond, "they can't be trusted, you know. Always skulking and sneaking about. Like they own this place. Thinking of sex all the time. They lack discipline, you know. That's where I come in. Without discipline this school would be in utter chaos."
"Well, um, I'm sure you do," Daniel said, not certain what to make of this strange little, yet oddly familiar man.
"You betcha," the little troll like man said, "you seem like a good man and I've kept you busy long enough. I have rosters to settle so I won't be keeping you any longer. And if you see that Giles tell him I'm waiting for his latest book acquisition report."
Without saying goodbye the little man walked down the hallway to what appeared to be the principal's office.
"Jack is right," Daniel muttered while shaking his head, "this place does look more like Twin Peaks by the minute."
Knowing exactly where to find the library Daniel crossed the now mostly empty school campus. It seemed like a nice place to send your kids to school, but having just met the principal, and some of the students last night, this place was probably the epitome of weird in Weirdville USA.
He reached the library and knocked on the door before entering. Inside was Rupert Giles with one of the students, The Rosenberg girl if he remembered Paul Davis' dossier correctly.
"Can I help you?" Giles asked, "If its about the people you wanted, I, uh, haven't heard anything yet."
"No it's not that," Daniel said, "look, I'm sorry to intrude but I'm not here for that. Or anything else official. Its just that... I just rarely get to meet somebody who is as passionate about ancient languages as I am. Or old books."
"I see," Giles said as he visibly relaxed. As did the girl for that matter.
"You know, I just passed the weirdest individual in the hallway," Daniel said, pointing behind him.
"Let me guess," Giles said and held up his hand to his shoulders," Short, bald and like draining all the life out an area around him?"
"That's they guy," Daniel nodded.
"You just met our principal, principal Snyder," the girl said as she imitated his sour look.
Giles looked at the girl and then at Daniel.
"You know, normally I would love to discuss ancient languages and Egyptology," Giles said, hand on his chin, "it used to be a hobby of mine. But unfortunately..."
"Now is not the right time," Daniel finished the sentence somewhat disappointed, "it's OK, I understand."
"I'm truly sorry," Giles said apologetic, "but we have things to do and..."
Then he looked at the girl again. She gave him a startled look, as if she understood he had a sudden plan.
"Maybe I do have some time," Giles said to Daniel, then looked at the girl again, "I think our plan might just work, Willow.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" the Rosenberg girl said, looking somewhat worried.
"I can handle things from here," Giles said reassuringly, "you should be able to handle this part on your own, Willow. This will be good for your education. You know which places to go and what to get?"
"You just gave me the list, Giles," she replied, I can do this, "I'll need some money though."
"Of course," Giles said and to Daniel's surprise handed her his wallet.
"And bring back receipts," he said as the girl passed Daniel by and waved goodbye to him. Then Giles turned towards Daniel.
"Would you like some tea?" he smiled.
"Not again," Amūn-Ra muttered as he, once again, found himself standing on that large desolate plateau of the Azarg-Marg, on planet Vegeta. This time however the place was deserted and Amūn-Ra found himself alone.
"Alright," he said as he faced the lone temple, "let's get this show on the road."
Walking towards the temple he was determined this time to put a stop to this annoying delusion.
"You can come out now," Amūn-Ra yelled, "no need to put on a show."
Nothing happened.
"Come on, this is getting old," the Goa'uld said as he walked around the structure. Even though it wasn't large it was built of massive stone blocks. The only decoration was at the front, six large heavily weathered statues, acting as a colonnade in front of the porch entrance. Having circled the structure and found nothing Amūn-Ra entered the porch and stood before its only entrance. The massive door had no handles, nothing to open it with from the outside. Whoever had build it, they had build it well and to stand the test of time. Amūn-Ra tried opening it, but he couldn't get any grip and in this dreamscape his Saiyan strength was nowhere near it was in real life. After minutes of fruitless clawing and kicking Amūn-Ra gave up.
"Fine," he yelled angry, "stay inside for all I care. Just make sure you stay in there!"
Having vented his anger Amūn-Ra felt decidedly better. Spitting against the temple door for good measure he walked away.
"I'm done here," Amūn-Ra yelled as he looked towards the heavens, "I am leaving!"
But no matter how much he willed it, he stayed right where he was.
"This is no longer amusing," Amūn-Ra said as he kicked against a stone and sat down on the ground. He picked up some small pebbles and started throwing them across the plateau.
Then the clang of a shifting doorbolt came and the sound of a door that hadn't been opened in ages opening.
"About damn time," Amūn said and got up to face the temple, "you sure took your sweet ti..."
This time he didn't face the procession of old men in white.
In the entrance of the temple stood a being.
A strange hybrid between an insect and a man, in motley black and green. His conical head had a white face and it grinned like pure evil.
"No," Amūn-Ra muttered.
"My Lord?"
Suddenly Amūn-Ra was back in his personal sanctum, surrounded by the lights of countless candles and the worried face of his First Prime in front of him.
"My Lord," the First Prime asked worried, "are you alright?"
"I am not sure, Old Friend," Amūn-Ra said uncertain, "how did I appear?"
"Like you were in a trance, my Lord," the First Prime said worried, "what is happening?"
"I do not know," Amūn-Ra said, "I thought it might have been the host resisting, but now I think the vision of Anubis is interfering. Will you hand me my medicine?"
The First Prime reached for the drug packet on a small table and handed it to Amūn-Ra who took another dose eagerly. After that he relaxed
"What did you see," the First Prime asked as Amūn-Ra gave the packet back.
"The face of our doom," Amūn-Ra said haggardly and closed his eyes as he felt the drug taking effect and massaged his temples, "how long until we reach the Tau'ri home world?"
"At our current rate, three days, my Lord," the First Prime replied, "we had to slow down. One of our remaining Ha'tak cruisers appears to have sustained more damage then we thought. It cannot keep up with the fleet otherwise."
"It will have to limp home to base," Amūn-Ra said unconcerned, "three Ha'taks will be sufficient to hit the Tau'ri homeworld."
"My Lord," the First Prime objected, "we are in hostile territory, "without the strength in numbers the Warrior's Honor would be a sitting duck to the forces of Baal."
Amūn-Ra, who had been sitting crouched on the ground, slammed the deck with his fist, causing the room to tremor.
"Why do you insist on opposing me at every turn?" he yelled, "You have your orders! Carry them out! Or I will find another First Prime who will."
Signaling his dismissal, the First Prime nodded and turned around to leave Amūn-Ra to his thoughts. As he left Amūn-Ra's quarters he was met by several of the ship's officers and Amūn-Ra's command staff.
"And?" the captain of the Pride of Amūn asked anxious.
"We are to detach ourselves from the Warrior's Honor and make for the Tau'ri homeworld at full speed," the First Prime said sullen.
"He can't be serious," one of the officers said, "that would leave the Warrior's Honor vulnerable to attack by Baal! One of his Alkesh is already following us."
"Did you tell him that?" another officer asked, "it would be tantamount to condemning the men on board the Warrior's Honor."
"We have our orders," the First Prime said without emotion.
"But those orders are insane," the first officer said.
"He is your God!" the First Prime said angry, "Our lives belong to him. Or have you all forgotten that!"
The officers said nothing and avoided the First Prime's angry gaze.
"Fine," he said, "go carry them out. Tell the captain of the Warrior's Honor that if he strikes out towards the territory of Yu he might stand a chance of evading the forces of Baal."
It was but the flimsiest of hopes and they all knew it.
"Go," the First Prime shouted and dismissed the officers. He then turned and was about to make for his own quarters when he felt a hand on his shoulders. It was the captain of the Pride of Amūn.
"This all started with that damned host," the captain said, "and you know it. Amūn never spoke down to you or abandoned any of us to die in pursuit of some crazy scheme."
"He is your God, captain," the First Prime said softly.
"Amūn was my God," the captain said after he looked around to see if they were alone, "and I would have followed him into Hell itself. Amūn-Ra however, he will be the death of us all."
"It's the vision of Anubis," the First Prime replied, "he's fighting for the salvation of us all. He sees things..."
"The vision of a demon is still the vision of a demon," the captain said in that certain way only Jaffa's could, "we fought to destroy a demon. How can its vision now be trusted?"
"Careful," the First Prime hissed, "you are talking heresy here."
"If Gods can die, then why can't they go insane," the captain said undeterred, "we should have assaulted Anubis the old fashioned way."
Deep down the First Prime was starting to believe this as well. But it still felt wrong to speak out against his God, whom he had given his word to serve.
"We couldn't and you know it," he said, "Anubis had changed. He could not be killed otherwise. He did not even need a host."
"Perhaps," the captain said in response, "we may never know. At least if we kept kicking him down, Anubis would be unable to build up a power base and become a lasting threat."
The First Prime didn't respond. Again he felt that maybe the captain was right. And in a way he would have liked that kind of fight. Meanwhile the captain turned around.
"Excuse me," he said, "I have to return to the bridge and tell a friend we will be abandoning him.
x
x
It had taken Xander longer then he thought to reach the deserts that sprawled the west coast of the Baja California peninsular. When Goku had mortally wounded Piccolo the Demon king, in his last moments the monster had transferred all his hatred towards Goku and his memories into an egg and sent it to land in this desolate place. Here was where the egg had hatched and where Piccolo was reborn. Ready to bide his time, exact his revenge on Goku and take over the world. Some parts of that plan at least had worked.
The new Piccolo was a physical clone of the original with all his memories. Nameks could reproduce that way. The plan had failed in the sense that the new Piccolo lacked the demonic essence of the original. The original Piccolo had been born when Kami had shed off the evil half of his personality. That had led to the unnatural creation of the demon Piccolo in a Namekian body. The body could reproduce, but by only being able to transfer his memories, the demonic side however could not. On a subconscious level vampires understood this. That is why their demon side suppressed their bodies natural ability to produce offspring. It would be pointless, they would only be human.
In the seclusion of the Baja California deserts, Piccolo Mk. 2 had grown up hating Goku. That hatred had diminished when in the run up to Vegeta's invasion he had to take care off and trained Goku's son Gohan. It had died when the Saiyan Nappa had killed him. It had been purged from his soul when he and Goku had fought Freeza together on Namek. But the love of solitude and the desert had remained. He had visited many deserts on this planet and even though Baja's was only a narrow strip, an insignificant spec compared to the vastness of the Sahara, or the Australian Outback, this was still the one he preferred the most.
To Xander, Californian urbanite extraordinaire, it was still way too big as he flew in the hot sun trying to find the large Namek.
"I'll be just a bit down south he said," Xander muttered as he flew, "he'll probably call going to China a small hop."
At least Piccolo wasn't suppressing his strength. His huge chi guiding Xander in through halfway down the peninsula, getting stronger as he got closer. Until finally he saw a spec in the distance, hanging in the air. The huge Namek seemed to be waiting, arms folded across his chest, a sly smile on his face. Xander came to a halt, panting heavily in mid air, a few meters from Piccolo.
"What took you so long?" Piccolo asked self-satisfied.
Xander hung in the air, his hands resting on his knees.
"How long..., (pant) have you..., (pant) been waiting..., (pant)?"
"Not that long," the Namek replied casually, "there was plenty of time to wake up, train, refresh myself and train some more. I sensed you coming as soon as you crossed the border though."
"And you..., (pant) couldn't..., (pant) have met..., (pant) me halfway..., (pant)?" Xander complained panting.
"You needed the exercise," Piccolo shrugged, "Belmovekk is way too lax with you guys. At your level you should be able to cross the distance in half the time."
"We can't all be the Big Green Bad," Xander said, "and there is a small kink in your plan, your Greenness."
"Which is," Piccolo grinned.
"The B-man has been captured."
That wiped Piccolo's smirk of his face. Xander proceeded to tell Piccolo how the US Air Force had come for and lost Belmovekk on a deep space rescue mission. And who was holding him.
"What about those Goa'ulds," Piccolo asked, "what can you tell me about those?"
"From what Giles told me they like to crawl in your body and nestle around your brain," Xander said using accompanying gestures, "like those Ceti Alpha 6 bugs from the Wrath of Khan."
Piccolo's eyes went vacant at the Star Trek quote. Tough crowd, Xander thought.
"Look, Giles told me that thousands of years ago these things came to Earth. They took humans as hosts and pretended to be Gods. They were driven off planet in a giant uprising led by the then Slayer and the Watchers. Only they are still out there, up in the final frontier. Who do you think some of Freeza's customers have been?"
"I've wondered about that myself," Piccolo nodded in agreement. Xander continued.
"It turns out the US government unearthed this big ancient artifact in Egypt several years ago and have been using it to play 'beam me up, Scotty' to the stars. And they've literally stirred up the Goa'uld hornets nest."
"But how did your government find out Belmovekk?" Piccolo asked, "They never came for any of us before."
Xander snorted his head in disgust, the B-man's stupidity in contacting the government was at least one thing he agreed on with Buffy.
"According to Giles the B-man has been using the government to help him find your good ol' buddy Gero," he said. Upon which Piccolo shook his head disapproving
"How on Earth could he have done such a thing?"
He couldn't agree more with Piccolo but stuck with what Giles had told him.
"Giles claims Kami recommended them to him."
The mentioning of Kami was like the waving of a red flag before Piccolo.
"Let's go" he said, anger in his voice.
"Where?" Xander asked, "I just got here."
"Kami's," Piccolo said.
"I'm tired," Xander objected, "I flew all night, I can't keep up with you."
"Then hang on to me," Piccolo said.
"Can't you at least let me finish my last twinkie fi...," Xander tried to say before strong arms grabbed him.
A now half opened Twinkie falling from a now empty sky was Piccolo's reply.
x
x
Around the same time as Xander had to say goodbye to his final Twinkie Buffy touched down outside the domes of the Capsule Corp. HQ. In the garden a blond woman was watering the plants and looked totally unphased by flying people landing from the skies.
"Hiya sweetie," she said, "aren't you one of Belmovekk's kids?"
Buffy didn't feel like one of Belmovekk's kids at the moment, but she was in no mood to argue that with what she knew was the wife of the owner of Capsule Corp.
"I am, Mrs. Briefs," she said with her best smile, "Buffy Summers. I was here last year, when we visited, remember?"
"Oh, you're Belmovekk's girl," Mrs. Briefs said, her voice purring up an octave and causing Buffy to almost wince, "he always talks so highly of you. And your mother. How is she doing?"
"Fine, more then fine actually, absolutely spiffy," Buffy babbled. Did she just say spiffy?
"I'm so glad to hear that, dear," Mrs. Briefs smiled, holding her hand on her chest, "my husband and I are rooting for her."
Mrs. Briefs leaned over conspiratorially.
"My husband and I have already bought two whole sets of baby clothes, a pair of cradles and a year's worth supply of diapers. Just let us know when your mother is due and they'll arrive the next day."
Buffy was utterly speechless by the offer. The Briefs family was one of the kindest and most generous she knew.
"Uh, why, um, thank you for the offer," she said touched.
"Just remember, hush is the world," Mrs. Briefs said, making a zip movement across her mouth, "it's supposed to be a surprise."
"Oh, "don't worry," Buffy said, holding up her hands, "I'm very good at keeping surprises. Yes sir, I'm the very epitome of keeping things secret. Secret identity girl Buffy reporting for duty!"
"Fine dear," Mrs. Briefs smiled, "would you like some tea and a slice of cake? I'm afraid Vegeta ate most of it but there is still a slice or two left. And my other cakes are still in the oven."
Having just flown the long distance Buffy could use some food, but she rather talk to Vegeta first. Or Bulma.
"Thanks, maybe later," she said, "are Bulma and Vegeta here? I need to speak to either of them."
"I'm afraid my daughter isn't here," Mrs. Briefs said apologetic, "She and my husband had to go to Washington. Apparently the government is offering them some contract for something new. It has gotten them all excited. Something regarding refrigerators or something. I don't know, I hardly understand what they're saying when they go all technical."
"That is to bad," Buffy said, "although it's good for you guys, right? Another fat contract to bring in the bacon?"
"I guess," Mrs. Briefs shrugged indifferent, then she smiled, "but Vegeta's here."
"He's in his gym?" Buffy asked and pointed in the general direction.
"No dear," she said, "he's meditating."
"Meditating?" Buffy exclaimed, of all the things she never expected the Big Bad Saiyan prince to meditate.
Mrs. Briefs leaned over conspiratorially again.
"He's been hitting a snag in his training," she said softly, "he claims it's going nowhere. And he and Bulma are getting into more and more fights as well. But after each one they go off and disappear together. I think they are sleeping together."
Buffy was speechless. Willow had thought it would happen at some point but thinking it will happen was not the same as hearing about it.
"They think I don't know," Mrs. Briefs continued, "but I know. A mother always knows these things. The way they look at each other. Or fight. Or stains in the bedsheets."
As if to illustrate her point she pointed towards the laundry drying in the wind.
"Of course, you didn't hear it from me, dear," she smiled conspiratorially.
"Oh, of course," Buffy said and gave a small salute, "like I said, secret identity girl Buffy reporting for duty."
"You're so sweet, dear," Mrs. Briefs smiled warmly, "sure you don't want any tea?"
"Maybe later, where can I find Vegeta?"
Mrs. Briefs pointed upwards.
"Why there, dear."
Using her Slayer enhanced vision she could see a tiny dot hanging in the air. Waving goodbye to Mrs. Briefs she lifted off into the air and flew up to the Saiyan prince. Vegeta hung up there, eyes closed, legs folded under him as if he was sitting crouched, and hands in his lap.
"I see you've finally learned how to fly, Summers," he said without opening an eye.
"Nice room you got here, TAFKAP," she said as she looked around, they were practically hanging in the clouds, "the airco is good, bit chilly though."
"Say what you have to say, Summers," Vegeta said coldly, "and then leave. I have no time to babysit you again. Nor the stomach for it."
"We need your help, Vegeta," Buffy said.
"Speaking in the royal plural now, Summers?" Vegeta smirked his insanely infuriating smirk, "or do you really mean the rest of your motley crew as well?"
"Look, TAFKAP," she said, getting annoyed with the Saiyan prince already, "something has happened and we need your help."
"Figure it out yourself," Vegeta said gruffly, "I'm busy."
"You're hanging three thousand feet in the air doing nothing," Buffy said and gestured around her, "why you're not yet swallowed up by a Jumbo jet is a mystery to me."
"If you are referring to your primitive flying machines, they take a more easterly approach and come in higher," Vegeta said as he finally opened his eyes, "and for your information, aerial meditation is a time honored tradition in both Lokta'itsu and Aisni'itsu."
"Yeah, your much beloved Saiyan martial arts thingies," Buffy waved unimpressed, "been there, done that, still waiting for the T-shirt."
"You have an awful big mouth for somebody who owns her life thanks to what Movekk has taught you," Vegeta said annoyed.
"Well, he's the problem," she said.
"Oh, by the Seven Hells," Vegeta sighed deeply, "here she goes again."
"No not like that," Buffy said, "well, we're still working on that. He's disappeared."
Buffy then proceeded to tell Vegeta what had happened.
"Interesting," Vegeta said genuinely interested, "I never thought it was possible for a Goa'uld to possess a Saiyan."
"Well, apparently this guy did," Buffy said.
"Was it Baal," Vegeta asked.
"Ball? No, some guy named Amen or something."
"Amūn?" Vegeta sniggered loudly, "but he's a joke. Nobody takes him serious."
The Saiyan prince started to laugh.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Of all the snakes it's Amūn who snags up the mighty Belmovekk."
"So, are you going to help?" Buffy asked.
"Who, me?" Vegeta snorted and shook his head, "No way in hell."
Buffy couldn't believe what she just heard.
"What the hell is wrong with you," she exploded, "aren't you supposed to help your fellow Saiyans?"
"Don't care," Vegeta said as he closed his eyes again. So he didn't see Buffy's exasperated look.
"You're the prince of all Saiyans," she yelled, "aren't you supposed to help your subjects?"
"As Movekk has pointed out to me, that title means little without an actual kingdom to back it up," Vegeta replied casually.
"The US government came to us, TAFKAP," Buffy yelled, "if they could find us, they can find you. They have your photo!"
"They are welcome to try, Summers," Vegeta said, still unimpressed. Since that wasn't going to work Buffy tried a different approach.
"I'll ask Bulma to turn off your gravity gym again!"
"I am at a standstill in my training at the moment," Vegeta replied still indifferent, "until I find out why, it would hardly matter much."
Desperately Buffy leaned forward and whispered into his ear.
"She would stop having sex with you."
Vegeta opened his eyes and looked angry at a now smiling Buffy.
"You fight low, Summers," he hissed.
"I learned from the best," she smiled, "we need your help. Xander has gone south to get Piccolo as well. We need the big guns."
"The Namek?" Vegeta snorted dismissively, "He'll go running, screaming and crying to Kakarot. Why do you need me for. Movekk is a Super Saiyan. Kakarot is one too. I'm not. Why do you need me for?"
"Because you know these things and they don't," Buffy said, gesturing big, "this could be your big chance to boss them around."
"Hmm, tempting," Vegeta said as he thought it over, "but bossing Kakarot around is like boxing air. There is nothing in his skull. So I think I still decline. Just tell the Namek to point Kakarot in the right direction and you'll do fine."
"Aaaaahhhh!" Buffy yelled in frustration, "You Saiyans drive me nuts. One impregnates my mother and tries to run my life! The other refuses to do anything! And the last one is dumb as a brick!"
Vegeta looked at her and started to grin.
"Tell you what, Summers," he said, "fight with me. If you manage to beat me, or still stand upright after, let's say twenty minutes, I will help you."
x
x
Piccolo traveled the distance to Kami in less then an hour, with Xander hanging on for dear life. As the Namek touched down on the Tenka bowl, Xander let go and, like he was the pope, fell to the ground and started to kiss the floor tiles.
"Oh sweet surface, how I've missed your sweet embrace," Xander said as he lovingly kissed the floortiles.
"You're still 14 kilometers up in the sky," Piccolo said disapprovingly, "you're hardly on terra firma."
"It's firm enough for this boy," Xander replied as he got up on his feet, "God! That was fast."
"Speaking of him," Piccolo said as he saw Kami approach from afar.
"He looks like an older version of you," Xander said, this being the first time he saw the God of the Earth in the (green) flesh.
"If anything Piccolo is a younger version of me," Kami said as he came closer and pointed to his ears, "I may be old but these still work. Hello Piccolo."
Piccolo grunted something non-committal, folded his arms across his chest and turned his back to the deity. If he hadn't gotten it by now it was clear to Xander that he didn't like Kami.
"Hello Alexander Harris," Kami said to Xander, "who likes to be called Xander. Although I don't quite understand why. It is a befitting name for what you have chosen to become."
"It kinda loses it's appeal once your drunk father beats you through hell and back while shouting that name," Xander replied. Kami seemed taken aback at that statement, Piccolo looked at Xander and smiled.
"Want me to off the bastard for you?" he asked dead serious.
"Piccolo," Kami gasped aghast, "how could you!"
"Thanks, but no thanks, " Xander said grinning, "once I graduate I'll beat him up myself and show him how large my bank account has become. Then I'll shout 'who's the loser now, bitch!'."
"I like your style, kid," Piccolo said proudly. Kami just shook his head dejected.
Piccolo looked over his shoulder at Kami.
"Now that we've gotten the introductions behind us, please tell us how you've managed to get us involved in this latest mess," Piccolo said accusingly, "and don't you dare feign ignorance, you old goat! You see everything from up here, remember!"
Xander was taken aback by Piccolo's harsh tone, but if the Earth God was insulted the only thing that showed it was a big sigh as he walked towards the edge of the Tenka bowl.
"When Belmovekk first arrived on this planet he came by and visited me," Kami said, back still turned to Piccolo and Xander, "he told me of his mission and we talked. He convinced me of his sincerity and asked if I knew some reliable people in the government."
"Why on Earth would he do that for?" Piccolo asked, "Governments are nothing but trouble. Always up to no good shady deals and tricks. I should know, my sire did plenty of dealings with the worst of them."
"That is why I sent him to these people," Kami continued, "in his world Belmovekk is used to working with the authorities. And he used to be into intelligence gathering, he would start seeking out contacts eventually. I'd rather have he didn't came into contact with the wrong people. There are some really unsavory ones out there.'
"You got that right," Piccolo muttered disapprovingly.
"So what makes these people more trustworthy then your ordinary run of the mill cigarette smoking men?" Xander asked curious.
"I see many things from up here," Kami said after a pause, "many terrible things, many good things also. I've seen the callous chess game the Watchers play with their Slayers' lives. I've seen the Rwanda genocide take place, the Yugoslavian civil war start and finish. I see the Congo up on flames. I also saw a young man risk his life to help a girl out of love. Or the dedicated people of the SGC lay their lives on the line to save this world. Neither you, Xander, or they, have any power beyond the greatness of your heart. These people couldn't fool me if they tried."
"Then why didn't you get of your celestial ass and do something to help them? Now they know about us," Piccolo snorted in disgust.
"I think I did do something to help them," Kami said as he turned around and faced Piccolo, "I led them to you guys."
Xander started to laugh out loud as Piccolo's face turned even deeper green and looked like it was about to explode.
"Dude, you've been played," Xander laughed as he rolled on the floor. If looks could kill Kami would be a very dead God right now. But then Piccolo took hold of himself and looked at Xander.
"Then at least I'm not the only one," he said and pointed at Kami, "or did you think it was entirely coincidental that Belmovekk happened to end up in Sunnydale, right at the same time as the object of your affection just happened to take a nightly stroll?"
Xander's rolling on the floor laughing his ass off came to a sudden hard stop and the only sound was Kami slapping his forehead in dejection at Piccolo's sudden revelation.
"Who's laughing now, bitch," Piccolo grinned at Xander.
Xander looked at Piccolo and then Kami.
"Is that true?" Xander asked the Earth God.
"Yes," Kami replied guilty.
"Goddamn son of a...," Xander yelled angry. If there was one thing he hated, it was being at the mercy of external powers playing the Simms with his life.
"No need to shout," Piccolo smirked casually as he buffed his nails on his shirt, "he's standing right over here."
As Xander cursed some more Piccolo turned to Kami.
"What I don't understand is how you kept this all secret from me," Piccolo said, "ever since we died and came back, you know what I know and I know what you know."
"I'm the Earth God," Kami smiled slyly, "I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Figures," Piccolo muttered in disgust, "alright, Old Coot, put those tricks to work and give me an indication what to do? How do we rescue Belmovekk?"
"I don't know," Kami said hesitantly, "my powers are limited to Earth. As far as I know, none of these creatures has ever managed to take over a Saiyan. So there may be time to rescue him. Speed is of the essence I'd say."
"And if we're not on time?" Xander asked.
"Then it might be prudent to bring at least Goku along," Kami said hesitantly.
"To kill him you mean?" Xander said appalled.
"As long as you bring back a body he can be revived using the Dragonballs," Kami said, " oh, and it might be wise to bring Vegeta along as well."
"The Vegetable?" Piccolo groaned, "It's difficult enough already to babysit Goku, let alone Vegeta as well."
"He knows these Goa'uld," Kami said, "through Freeza he has worked for them in the past."
"Figures", Piccolo said derisively, "I don't think he will come, though."
"Oh you'd be surprised," Kami smiled, "even as I speak Buffy Summers is fighting him. If she manages to hold out for a few more minutes he has promised her to help."
"The Vegetable?" Piccolo exclaimed, "Well I'll be damned!"
"Buffy?" Xander exclaimed, "Well I'll be damned!"
x
x
Halfway across the American continent major Samantha Carter, US Air Force was also having a well I'll be damned moment. Hers was just a little bit less profound.
Having been given the go ahead by Colonel O'Neill to continue her investigation she had gone immediately to the administrative office and waded through stacks of dossiers and computer files. The duty sergeant tried to stop her, citing this was an Army base, not an Air Force facility. But Carter had just waved her get free out of jail all access pass in front of him. That shut him up just as much as it had Colonel Baker, CO of this base, when they first showed up and demanded a place to bunk up.
Of course, O'Neill had been right that any corruption she might uncover was essentially a waste of her time. That in the grander scheme of things it meant nothing. But major Samantha Carter was a scientist at heart. She believed in science like others believed in the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Birth or that Muhammad had been the final prophet of Allah. This whole shtick of competing destinies, Gods, cosmic accidents, time travelers from the future bringing news of impending doom, it just never had gone down well with her.
She could barely accept the notion of Saiyans and their ways of fighting. But for that at least she had some evidence. Images, movies, credible testimony of trusted eye witnesses. There might be alternative explanations for their abilities, hidden technology, anti-gravity belts. They were within the realm of scientific reasoning. But it still left her with a very unscientific aftertaste.
Which is why she was relishing this little diversion. It may be irrelevant but at least it was tangible. And besides, it just didn't sat well with Sam to leave such blatant corruption unchecked. To bad though that none of the others were helping her. O'Neill had for some reason decided to go on a lazy binge and to enjoy doing nothing. Major Davis had gone to Vandenberg to confer with the local brass and smoothen some ruffled feathers. And Daniel and Teal'c had more or less gone AWOL and disappeared into town doing God knows what.
And it really was a shame. Because in her entire service career she had never encountered such blatant and poorly disguised corruption. Whoever was behind it, and she was starting to think it must be pretty high in the base chain of command, clearly thought poorly of the chances of being caught. Massive amounts of nearly everything in the US Army's inventory had been shifted. With massive emphasis on medical supplies, drugs and blood supplies. Strangely enough the only thing that didn't seem to be traded were the most obvious ones, weapons and munitions. Those the base maintained perfect records of. Nor were any of them missing beyond the normal amount.
After a long afternoon of researching the base records she called it quits and went back to Colonel O'Neill. She finds the colonel where she left him, in his room enjoying a steak and watching a Simpsons episode.
"Had a fun day, Carter?" he smiled before taking another bite, "you should try this. I don't know who does their cooking but they do a mighty good steak. The way our cafeteria butchers everything I may even consider a transfer.""
"I'm not surprised, sir," she said, "this base officially consumes more food then is needed to feed two battalions. Especially beef."
"Can't argue with the end result," O'Neill smiled before taking another bite, "so I guess you've had a fun and action packed afternoon?"
"I have, sir," Carter replied and dumped her stack of notes on the table, before O'Neill's plate. Then she spoke.
"According to the base logs this place is missing enough drugs and medical supplies to sustain a combat brigade for 4 months in the field, enough food to feed two battalions in the field for even longer and enough kit and equipment to outfit those two battalions. Key items missing being expensive state of the art communications equipment and night vision gear."
That shut up even colonel Jack O'Neill.
"What?" he eventually exclaimed.
"I thought so to, sir," Carter replied and handed him the list
"It looks like somebody is building himself a small army," Jack said as he read what was missing.
"I thought so too, sir," Sam nodded in agreement.
"I don't understand," Jack said as he read on, "I thought California was all about being green and healthy. The missing medical supplies I can understand. Plastic surgery is practically a religion here. I never figured them for militia types though."
"I don't think they are militia, sir," Sam said, "because, as you may have noticed, there doesn't seem to be any guns and ammo missing."
"Well, it is California," Jack shrugged, "I wouldn't put it past them to have a gun controlling militia."
Sam gave him that disappointed look that made him feel like a small child.
"Didn't think so too," he said and laid the list on top of her stack of evidence.
"Maybe it is time we have a little chat with Colonel Baker," Sam suggested, "Have Daniel and Teal'c returned?"
O'Neill shook his head.
"Daniel called in an hour ago to say he and our newest librarian buddy are having a collective bookgasm. I guess we'll need a tank to yank him out of that library. And Teal'c hasn't called in at all. Although I strongly suspect he's hanging out with those kids again. So I guess the Xandman knoweth!"
"That joke got really old yesterday, sir," Sam sighed bored.
"Yeah, I know.," Jack said as he started to look around the room, "we'll swing by the base MP's to get some back up and then visit the good colonel. No way he can lose that much stuff and not know about it. How come nobody noticed? Surely somebody at 6th Army HQ should have noticed that this base consumes so many supplies?"
"It's like there exists no oversight of this base, sir," Sam responded and showed some more notes, "it's like Washington and 6th Army don't care about this base and yet somebody automatically rubberstamps every request from it."
"According to Paul this place is one of the oldest still functioning army posts in the country," Jack said as he got up and went to his suitcase retrieving his gun, "as soon as Mexico signed the peace treaty that made it ours they build this place. And before that the Mexicans and the Spanish maintained outposts here."
Sam thought about that as O'Neill clipped a mag in his gun.
"You'd almost think this place is meant to guard something," she finally said.
"Exactly," O'Neill said as he switched the safety on and tugged the gun into the back of his pants, "and another fun fact Paul managed to unearth, this place used to be known as Boca del Inferno on some old Spanish map."
"Mouth of Hell, you don't think..."
"It would explain a lot of strange behavior," Jack said as he reached for his cell phone next, "but that kind of shit only flies in Stephen King movies. Still, something is not right here. I'm going to call Daniel and Teal'c again."
He speed dialed Teal'c first and only got his voice mail.
"What good is him having a cell phone if he doesn't switch it on," Jack complained and left a message. Then he speed dialed Daniel. To his surprise now he also got the voice mail.
"Daniel has gone AWOL on us as well," Jack said and put away his cell phone," I guess we'll have to make due without him. But first..."
Jack returned to the table and quickly wolfed down the remainder of his steak.
"Waste not, want not," he said afterwards with a full mouth.
Together they left the building they were housed in and made for the MP building. Despite the high desertion record at Fort Robert Johnson it's MP's presence was negligible. As it turned out just a sergeant and three subordinates. O'Neill waved his get free out of jail all access pass and ordered the sergeant to suit up and accompany him to the colonel. Then they went on their way.
x
x
In the Sunnydale library Daniel had enjoyed a very entertaining afternoon with librarian Rupert Giles. Who turned out to be quite knowledgeable on ancient Egypt and the ancient Egyptian language, including both Demotic and Hieratic. Giles even produced a copy of the book that had landed him into trouble with established Egyptology, the one where he posed that the Gizeh pyramids might be older then was assumed.
"In a way it was understandable that it ruffled their feathers," Giles said, the two of them sitting by the library table with a stack of old books between them, "the great pyramid attracts more nutcases with writing ambitions then any other object, save maybe the UFO movement. So it was only natural for them to draw their wagons into a circle and ward off anything that might undermine established Egyptology."
"That's what I had to tell myself at night for many years," Daniel said, still somewhat bitter at the memory, as he looked through his old book, "it still didn't hurt any less when former colleagues and friends stopped speaking to me."
"I know the feeling," Giles said sympathetically, "sort off. When I was in university I more or less went through a rebellious phase. I even joined a punk rock band."
"No way!" Daniel exclaimed. He had a hard time imagining the stiff librarian as anything but a librarian.
"I was the bass player and backing vocalist of The Filthy Pigs," Giles said smiling as he reminisced, "of course my family hated it. I was supposed to follow in my father's footsteps, and his father's father and his father's father's father. I think the old man came this close to disowning me and cutting me from his will.
Giles held up two fingers real close to each other.
"So you didn't follow in your father's footsteps then," Daniel asked.
"On the contrary," Giles said, "I fell flat on my face, the band fell apart and I crawled back in shame. I had to vow not to rock the boat again. And now I'm here."
"So you are here by design then?" Daniel asked, looking around the library, "I thought you were fired or something. You used to work at the British Museum."
"My work at the British Museum, while highly enjoyable, was only a preparation for where I am now," Giles said and looked into his tea cup. It had been empty for some time, as was Daniel's.
"Goodness," Giles said as he walked towards his office, "where are my manners? I'll get us some more tea."
"It's OK," Daniel said but Giles had already fetched the tea pot, "I guess I'll have some more then."
Giles poured them each a cup and put the pot on the table.
"It's fortunate that it's still warm," Giles said as he inhaled its aroma, "nothing beats a good cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, Dr. Jackson, coffee is great in the morning, or late at night, but tea stirs something British in my soul."
"Which is kinda odd, considering it's not being grown there," Daniel replied.
"It was when we still ruled a quarter of the world," Giles smiled after taking a sip.
Daniel put his cup down and looked at Giles.
"What did you mean when you said your work at the British Museum was a preparation for your work here? You were a curator of one of the finest museums in the world there. You're just a librarian here, in a high school library, run by a principal who hates kids."
"Come now," Giles said as he took another sip, "you and your military friends come barging into town looking for our aid. Surely you must know why I'm here and what we do here."
Giles really looked like he believed Daniel knew the full how and why if his work here. Which was kinda ironic since Daniel really didn't have a clue.
"If we do, then nobody told me," Daniel finally said, "all I know was that this Belmovekk guy lived here, was friends with you guys and that you knew the other Saiyans. In fact, he threatened both General Hammond and Major Davis if they were ever to come after you guys."
"Did he?" Giles frowned, then he chuckled inwardly, "how…., typical of him."
"So, why are you here?" Daniel asked.
Before Giles could answer the doors to the library swung open and Willow walked in carrying several shopping bags.
"So where do you want it, Giles?" she asked.
"Just put it there on the counter," Giles said and walked over to Willow, "let's see, did you get everything?"
"Yes" Willow said, as she stopped unpacking for a moment to think if she might have missed something, "I think so yes. You would not believe the prices they charge at the Magic Box these days. The cost of sage alone has doubled. New owner by the way."
"Already?" Giles said surprised, "I thought it was under new management four months ago."
"Well, you know the longevity of anyone who owns the Magic Box, Giles." Willow shrugged.
"Was it...," Giles put two fingers in front of his teeth to simulate vampire's teeth.
"No," Willow said, shaking her head, "car accident. Forgot to look left. Did I get everything, Giles?"
"I think you got it all, Willow," Giles said as he did a final check of the items Willow has bought, "well done."
Which caused Willow to beam with pride,
"Excuse me," Daniel said as he came by close and examined the various items, herbs, potions, candles and artifacts strewn across the counter, "is this what I think it is?"
Willow and Giles turned around and looked at Daniel.
"That depends," Giles answered weary, "what do you think?"
"If I didn't know any better I'd say these are all items to be used in witchcraft," Daniel said as he examined a gnarly crooked twig covered in leaves, "but that can't be. Magic doesn't exist."
"Well , you are both right and wrong," Giles said as he took away the twig, "these items are indeed essential to the performing of magic. And magic does exists."
"You're joking, right?" Daniel said shocked.
"Oh, Giles doesn't do jokes," Willow said, then looked at Giles, "at least not funny ones."
"Well thanks a lot," Giles exclaimed indignant.
"It's the truth," Willow said apologetic.
"Excuse me," Daniel interjected, "you're going to do actual magic?"
"Yes," Giles said, "and unfortunately I need your help in this."
"What..." Daniel said but was cut shirt when Giles put his hand on his neck and he felt a massive jolt through his body. He collapsed to the ground, with Giles using his other hand to prevent his head from hitting the ground.
"Giles," Willow said shocked, "what..., how...why...?"
"I only stunned him," Giles said as he dragged Daniel's body to a large chair. Once in place he held up his left hand which had a large ring.
"After Angelus tortured me brutally I vowed to never be taken again like that," he said and pointed to the ring, "I can't hope to fight anybody stronger then me but I can surprise them. I've been doing some of Belmovekk's exercises, to increase my chi. Not much, just a little. Using my knowledge of magic I forged this ring. It acts both as a conductor and a magnifier. If I touch somebody with this ring at the right spot I can jolt him with ten times my chi."
"Well, that explains the how," Willow said, "but how about the what and the why?"
"We need him for the ritual," Giles said, as he proceeded to tie Daniel to the chair, "the ritual needs a conduit, which you will be, and a grounder, remember?. He will do. In fact, come to think of it, he's the only one who will do. There, pretty as a picture. And now the piece the resistance."
Giles took an amulet from his pocket and placed it around Daniel's neck.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Giles said as he checked his watch, "there isn't much time left."
x
x
Traveling with Air Piccolo had its disadvantages. It was bumpy, the man was no great conversationalist, knew no pop culture references whatsoever and the onboard food was lousy. He was however insanely fast. And those absurdly large shoulderpads provided excellent grip.
The man also knew how to milk every bit of speed from his chi using the least amount of it. He was insanely efficient. Probably only the three Saiyans could go faster because they had more chi to spare. If this was over Xander hoped to get some pointers from him.
It was over the San Joaquin Valley that Piccolo reduced speed and aimed for Silicone Valley. Breaking through the cloud cover he descended until Xander could see the domed buildings that were Capsule Corp. Xander detached from Piccolo and flew the final part on his own power until both of them landed in the garden.
In the garden they found Vegeta, Buffy and Mrs. Briefs sitting beside the garden table with a bevy of foods laid out on it. Buffy was spouting a large blue eye, evidence of a nosebleed and when she turned her head to look at Piccolo and Xander descending it was evident that she suffered from several muscle aches. She was however sporting a big triumphant smile, while Vegeta hardly gave them any attention at all and with a very sour look sipped a drink.
"Oh sweet heavenly sugary goodness," Xander groaned at the sight of all the food, not having had a decent meal since yesterday evening.
"Would you like something, young man?" Mrs. Briefs asked. The woman must have an innate need to feed people. And Xander loved her all the more for it. Especially now.
"Don't mind if I do," Xander said and grabbed a large cream filled cake. He put it into his mouth in one bite and started chewing. As the creamy insides hit his tongue Xander started to smile intently. To hell with the fact that four people were staring at him with open mouths.
"Mmmm, sugarfix," Xander said with a full mouth. Buffy tried to say something but Xander signaled her to shut up.
"Can't speak, must increase sugar intake first," he said with a full mouth.
It took another four of the delicious cream filled cakes before Xander could rejoin the land of the conversationalists.
"Sorry about that," Xander said as he wiped the cream of his mouth, "I haven't eaten anything since this morning."
"Well I for one am glad you enjoyed it, young man," Mrs. Briefs said, "ice tea?"
"Yes please, Ma'am," Xander said, smiling from ear to cream stained ear.
"Are you sure there is no Saiyan ancestry in you somewhere?" Piccolo asked curious as Mrs. Briefs went inside, "because only those three Saiyan clowns eat with more reckless abandon."
Vegeta gave a modest snort to remind Piccolo he was still present.
"Oh, I forgot," Piccolo grinned, giving Vegeta his first look of the day, "one of those clowns is present."
"One of those clowns will surely rip off a certain Namek's head if he doesn't keep his big mouth shut," Vegeta growled
"Pff, I'd like to see you try it, Vegeta," Piccolo snorted as he folded his arms in front of his chest.
"I'm game when you are," Vegeta said and stood up.
"OK," Buffy said and got up as well and tried to separate the two rivals, "I think we can all smell the testosterone here. How about a little less dickwaving and a little more constructive 'lets get back to our current problem'?"
"He doesn't have a dick anyway," Vegeta huffed as he sat down again.
"Want me to rip off yours?" Piccolo asked gruffly.
"Easy big guy," Xander said putting his hand on Piccolo's shoulder pad, "we came here for a reason, remember? And it doesn't involve a sex change operation to anyone. Problem, at hand, remember?"
At that moment Mrs. Briefs re-emerged from her kitchen.
"If you don't mind I brought an extra glass for you Piccolo," she said, "I just can't have you not have anything."
Piccolo looked from Vegeta's smirking face to Xander and Buffy's pleading eyes and sighed. The kids were right. Applying major body modification to the Vegetable could always wait until after the current crisis.
"Alright, I'll have a glass," he said and sat down as well, barely able to fit into one of Mrs. Briefs' garden chairs.
"Isn't this nice?" Mrs. Briefs smiled as she starts pouring ice tea.
"You're God's gift to the hungry and peace loving combined, Ma'am," Xander smiled at her and grabbed another piece of pastry.
"You're such a nice boy," she smiled. I'll leave you guys to it. You probably have a lot to talk about. Just yell if you want more."
"She's such a nice woman," Xander smiled as she goes back inside.
"Lets not beat about the bush," Piccolo said and looked at Vegeta, "you've heard of our current crisis?"
"I have," Vegeta said offhand.
"And you're coming?" Piccolo asked.
"Can't see what good I can do," Vegeta said and reached for a cake, "Movekk is a Super Saiyan. So is that clown Kakarot. I'm still not. They have you for brainpower, might as well stay here.""
With a big smile Vegeta stuffed the cream field cake in his mouth and swallowed it whole
"You can't be serious!" Piccolo exclaimed loudly.
Vegeta burped in response.
"Aaaahhh!" Piccolo yelled and kicked his chair back in order to walk away.
"You're having way too much fun at my expense, you old Coot," he yelled at the skies in despair as he walked into the garden to get away from Vegeta's smug mug.
"Vegeta," Buffy yelled and kicked him under the table, "you promised!"
"Damn you, Summers," Vegeta groaned as he rubbed his sore leg, "I was just riling the Namek up."
"Go unrile him then," she said and pointed towards Piccolo.
"Women," Vegeta muttered and quickly grabbed another cake before going over to Piccolo.
Which gave Xander the opportunity to lean over to Buffy.
"So Buff, off all the people I thought I would meet today, I never thought I would find you here. What changed your mind?"
"I've had a talk with somebody," she said, "and I was told in no uncertain terms that this time we're not going to leave anybody around."
"I can totally dig that mission statement," Xander nodded in agreement and reached for his ice tea, "sounds like that person was a very wise person."
"You have no idea," she said with a sly smile that looked way too sly for Xander's taste. Then he sighed.
"Look, Buff, I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have ragged you over Angel back at the library. It was uncalled for. Regardless of what I think of him, he means a lot to you and I should have known better."
Buffy gave him a surprised look.
"I don't know what to say," she finally said.
"You said all that needs to be saying," Xander said, "this time and not ever again we're not going to leave anybody behind. You have no idea how much it means to me to find you here. I for one am glad you came."
Xander smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
"Ah," she winced, "Xander, please, I hurt all over!"
"Must be that fight with Vegeta I heard off," Xander said, "does it hurt as much as it looks?"
"Worse," she grimaced, "he roughed me up real good."
"But you still won, right," Xander asked hopeful.
"Oh no," she said still wincing, "you can't beat the prince of Dorkness, Not unless your name is Belmo or Forest Gump. But I borrowed a page from your book. He said, beat me, or last for 20 minutes. He never expected me to go for the 20 minutes instead."
"You pulled a Data on him!" Xander started laughing.
"It must be a racial failing of them," Buffy grinned as well, "they just can't imagine anybody not trying to win."
"Score one for the Buffster," Xander said and held out a hand for a high five.
"I think I'll pass," she replied, then she realized something, "who told you I was fighting Vegeta?"
Xander leaned over to her.
"Remember that old Coot Piccolo was cursing," he said conspiratorially.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Remember that green God with his lookout in the skies the B-man told us about?"
"Yeah," she again replied.
"Well, what do you think a lookout is for in the first place?"
"Oh," Buffy said as the quarter finally fell.
"He literally sees everything up there," Xander said and pointed upwards, "and sometimes he does more then just play peeping tom."
Xander then proceeded to tell Buffy what he had learned at Kami's lookout.
Piccolo and Vegeta had just worked out a plan of attack when they heard the high pitched squeal of Buffy.
"HE DID WHAT!"
x
x
"Oh my head," Daniel moaned as he came around. His head hurt, like he had Dave Lombardo doing a drum solo inside his head. As he came around he noticed he couldn't move. He opened his eyes and found he was tied to a chair. Then he remembered where he was.
"What the...?" he said. Then Rupert Giles stepped in front of him.
"You're awake," he said, then took off his glasses and used his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, "I am profoundly sorry for what happened. Or for what is going to happen."
"You did this," Daniel said angry, "untie me right now!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Giles said, putting his glasses back on, "you see, I need you."
"For what?" Daniel said surprised.
Giles looked away.
"Remember our Saiyan problem? The Goa'uld who wants to become king? Well, he has already succeeded. And he's on his way here to destroy this planet."
That shut up Daniel.
"Why...how...?"
"The other Saiyans might not be able to stop him," Giles continued as he grabbed a chair and sat on it reversed, arms resting on the back of the chair, "or maybe they will. Who knows? All I know is that I have the means to do something and I am not going to refrain from doing so. Multiple angles of attack."
"I don't understand," Daniel said.
"I came upon a prophecy," Giles said, nodding towards his books, "you asked me what I do here, Dr. Jackson. Well, it is my job to fight evil. Supernatural evil. For this world is older then we know it, Dr. Jackson. Demons walked upon this Earth. Terrible demons. Their descendants still walk this Earth. Especially in a place like this. For it is built right on top of a gateway to Hell."
"To fight that evil you have to use a girl. One girl alone in the world, gifted with supernatural strength to fight evil. A chosen one, born into each generation, going back countless generations. And it is my job to identify that evil and sent her out to fight it alone. Most likely she will not survive beyond a year, two at the most. That was why I ran away, you see. I couldn't bare to face that kind of responsibility. Yet here I am. There was no escaping my fate."
Suddenly it clicked inside Daniel's head.
"Buffy," he said, "she's that girl, right?"
"She is," Giles said sadly as he took off his glasses again to pinch the bridge of his nose, "she was already the Slayer for a year when I got her under my care. She died within a year after that, fighting a master vampire of great power who tried to open the Hellmouth. A piece of my soul died that night. Luckily a good friend of her performed CPR on her and saved her life. But she had already lived for two years. To be frank, even after she was saved I didn't have much hope for her to cheat death for much longer. In the end it's all a numbers game, Dr. Jackson. She has to win every time. Evil only has to win once."
"Then something happened, Dr. Jackson. A gift from heaven you could say. From above at least."
"Belmovekk," Daniel said, "the Saiyan, he came."
"Indeed he did," Giles continued nodding, "he came by and took pity on her fate. He offered to train her, make her stronger, so she could fight evil and hope to survive for a very long time to come. How could I refuse? He offered to take away that which I dreaded most. I owe a debt of gratitude to that man I could never repay. And that is where you come in, Dr. Jackson."
"Belmovekk has already been taken over by the Goa'uld Amūn. But he's still fighting. He's Saiyan, they only know one way of going down and it isn't peaceful. The ritual I am about to perform will allow me to help him. I live and breath prophecies, Daniel. It's how I identify which evil my girl has to fight. Well, guess what, I came upon one that told me this was the way I could make a difference."
Daniel tried twisting his bonds in vain. Then he looked Giles right in the eye.
"Then why didn't you ask, Rupert? I could have helped you freely."
The librarian sighed and looked away for a moment.
"The ritual has an undesired side effect," he finally said, "you see, Dr. Jackson, the person that acts as a grounder, to keep my spirit from losing contact to this world, it will cost him his life."
At first Daniel looked at him like he didn't understand. Then his eyes grew big as saucers.
"You have no right," Daniel said and began to struggle against his bonds, "there must be another way, maybe Sam... Get me the hell out of here!"
Daniel struggled so violently that his chair started to move.
"Of course I don't have the right to do this," Giles replied sadly at the sight of Daniel trying to break free from his bonds, "but you see, you are the perfect grounder."
That stopped Daniel struggling for a moment.
"Why is that?" he asked curious.
Giles took his glasses off again.
"Because you are going to die anyway," he said.
He couldn't have dropped a greater bombshell on Daniel. Who looked absolutely godsmacked.
"Yes, Daniel Jackson, within a year's time you will die," Giles continued as he put his glasses back on, "it is your fate. The life force I'm about to drain, you will never get to miss it anyway."
"I don't believe this!" Daniel said as he resumed his struggle against his bonds, "You can't do this! Once this is over, you will..."
Giles reached out and touched a small gold amulet now hanging around Daniel's neck.
"Once this is over I will remove the amulet from your neck and crush it," Giles said and let go, "once that happens you won't remember a thing of what happened here. You will go on and meet your fate. Again, I apologize, Dr. Jackson, you deserve better, but it is your fate to die. How, I do not know, but die you will. At least this way I can use your fate to help the man I owe a life debt to."
"How can you be so damn certain?" Daniel said struggling again so violently the chair started shaking, "It's just a damn prophecy!"
"My good man," Giles replied calmly as he unfolded a piece of paper, "how else am I supposed to interpret this?"
"And the day shall come, when they shall come forth to the mouth of hell
Soldier, seekster of lore, scholar doomed, serpent guard, all's not well
Doomed is he, scholar doomed, to die in a year, not any more
Use him well, ground the earth, to unbolt the door."
"That can mean anything," Daniel said outraged, "it's pure gibberish!"
"On the contrary, Dr. Jackson, it doesn't come any clearer then that," Giles said as he put away the piece of paper and produced a piece a cloth, "again, my most sincere apologies."
Giles then proceeded to stuff the piece of cloth into Daniel's mouth and used another one to tie the gag into place. Naturally Daniel struggled violently against this but his bonds were to strong. Once he was finished Giles seated himself again with his back towards Daniel and buried his head in his hands in shame for what he had just done, and for what he was about to do.
After a few minutes the doors to the library opened and Willow entered. She had put on a ceremonial robe and painted various symbols on her hands and face. As she saw Daniel struggling in his chair, eyes pleading at her, she felt ill. Giles had told her they needed Dr. Jackson for the ritual and that this was the only way. It didn't mean she liked it.
"Giles," she said feeling very uncertain of herself, "are you sure this is the right way to do this?"
"Yes I am, Willow," Giles replied, hiding his own despair at what he's about to do, "we can't run the risk of the Air Force learning of Buffy and Faith being the Slayer."
Willow looked sadly at the struggling Daniel
"But maybe if we explained things to him, then..."
"Dear child," Giles smiled, deeply moved and embraced Willow tightly, "don't ever change, Whenever we have to do such things, be there for us to remind us why we do it."
"Uh, Giles," Willow said, "not getting much breath here."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Giles said and let go, wiping a way a tear, "lets get started shall we?"
