SIX SHARP CLAWS AND A MISTER POINTY

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Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to their respective copyright owners and are being used without their permission. I am not in any way affiliated with any of the groups or organizations that hold rights over the characters that appear in this particular story and neither have I been authorized to write the following story. This is a non-profit fan based effort and no copyright infringement is intended. So, umm… please don't sue. The plot and particular storyline however belong to me. And so does the original characters unless otherwise specified. Any and all feedback will be much appreciated. Redistribution of this tale for profit is strictly prohibited. Please obtain my permission before archiving this story anywhere else on the net. Thank you very much. Happy Reading!

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Timeline:

BTVS: Season 4… after Episode 65 "Something Blue". Spoilers from Season 4.

Marvel/DC: An alternate world based on both the universes coexisting together from the beginning.

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Warning: This particular chapter includes spoilers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's season four episode of Hush.

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CHAPTER 10: SNIKT!!

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At an initial glance, most people - who did not know her that well, were likely to dismiss her as simply: another typical student attending UC Sunnydale.

At nineteen, average height and stature, Tara Maclay - some would say went out of her way on a daily basis, to make certain that she appeared as indistinguishable as possible from the thousands of students who attended UC Sunnydale.

For the most part, she succeeded in doing so.

And as she hurried back to her dorm room at nearly 2 AM in the morning, she mused that not having many friends… any friends for that matter helped her somewhat in that regard.

And why exactly did she go so much out of her way to be this unnoticeable?

It was because - she may appear to be just another student attending UC Sunnydale... on the surface that is - but, she was in an individual who has led a far more remarkable life than anyone would ever suspect.

Born as the daughter of a very powerful Wicca, Tara had spent the first few years of her life learning about spells, incantations, mystic symbols… monsters, people and places under the ever watchful and caring gaze of her mother. By the time she was an average eight years old; she had learned, done and seen things most people will never believe existed outside of fairytales and Sci-Fi Channel.

However, it was this same nurture that was at that particular moment making the young woman want to be anywhere (hopefully her dorm room) but out here in the open.

Veteran practitioners of certain types of arts and crafts - whether it is business, politics, stock trading, martial arts, racing, car-jacking - they will all state that: when one has spent a considerable amount of time perfecting a certain type of work, hobby, etcetera... they will state that over time, they develop a certain type of instinct - an almost precognitive sensation that sometimes - just sometimes allows a person to know that something was up, something was different, something had changed - and that the person needed to act almost immediately.

How to act? Well, that would depend on the type of feeling - type of vibes the person was feeling from all around him.

A wealthy and influential businessman could have spent months trying to work out the details of what he considers would be a profitable venture for him or the firm he represents. He spends hours upon hours looking at the project from each and every possible angle - making sure that he had missed nothing. And then, the day finally arrives when all he had to do was arrive at a meeting, sign some papers, and thus - have his dream realised.

At the final meeting however, as he had been about to sign the papers that would finalise everything he had worked towards… he suddenly stops, and takes a pause. As though sensing something that was - off, somehow. He asks for a few more days to consider the contract. The people representing the company he was dealing with finds it odd, protests, but finally accepts his request. After doing some research, the businessman finds out that the company he had been about to conduct business with had had a history of not keeping their end of the bargain and actually getting away with it.

A veteran stock trader looking at a list of new stocks that have been released onto the stock market all of a sudden finds his attention drawn to one particular stockholding. Although he had yet to conduct any form of extensive research on the public company, he just had this… gut feeling that he must try and acquire as many of the stocks of that particular corporation as he possibly could.

Not even two years down the line - as the majority shareholder of that particular venture, the fruits of listening to his gut feeling pay off as he finds himself living the life only the country's social elite could afford.

If one was to search around, he, or she was sure to find many others - all veterans in their field, who would regale them a story of the one time they trusted wholeheartedly in their gut instincts… and how that one time it paid off for them.

Tara, as powerful as she was, did not consider herself a veteran in any field. Not even Wicca. She was still learning… still perfecting her art.

But, she had learned enough to know that when her senses attuned to the supernatural told her that she better get the hell home and get home fast, she responded to it in the only way she knew possible.

By picking up her pace and walking back to her dorm room at a rate only a hair's breadth short of jogging.

Upon waking up the previous day, she had instantly sensed that something had been… off with her. The realisation that she had been divorced from her voice that came to her upon stepping out of her room and seeing everyone trying to talk and fail, had actually been slightly more terrifying for her than it had been for most of the other denizens of her dorm room.

Being all too aware of Sunnydale's reputation for… attracting supernatural entities of all kinds, Tara, upon arrival had placed some especially potent wards on the room she had been assigned. Wards that were specially designed and positioned to keep out the majority of the supernatural entities that made Sunnydale their stalking ground.

The fact that someone or something had actually been able to simply saunter past her defences and kidnapped her voice from her…

Powerful she may have been but - she had never once pretended to be brave.

Considering all the reading she had done over the years on supernatural entities, she had some inkling as to what, or, who could have caused this particular phenomenon in Sunnydale.

Problem was… she didn't know whom she could go to with her suspicions.

She had heard that the legendary Slayer of demons resided in Sunnydale. Therefore, her first choice had been to go to her of course.

Problem?

She had absolutely no idea as to who the slayer was and… at that particular moment; she had the feeling that if she did not get back to her dorm room soon enough… she would never get to find out either.

Thinking she heard the tiniest of rattles from somewhere behind her, she whipped her head around to take a quick look over her shoulders.

Nothing.

She frowned at herself. Damn nerves - making her all jumpy.

But then again, she couldn't really be blamed for being this worried. She was after all walking around in the open, literally exposed, and at a particular time when most demonic entities came out of their hiding places to go on the prowl for food. And more times than not, their main source of nourishment ended up being human beings.

Stumbling over some shrubbery she hadn't noticed earlier, she just about caught herself from falling over. The same however could not be said for the books she had been carrying as in trying to right herself, she lost her grip on them and they tumbled onto the grassed lawn in front of her.

Shaking her head at her clumsiness, she bent down to pick them up - only to hear the same rattling sound from somewhere behind her once again.

Ignoring it, she gathered up all her books into her arms, stood up, and was about to resume her walk back to her dormitory when… what sounded like scuffling from somewhere behind her, accompanied by that same rattling noise from before caught her ears. Making her halt in mid-stride and turn around (somewhat hesitantly) to see what the source of the noises had been.

And as she turned, for a moment, just for a moment - time stood still for her in the figurative sense of the word, and she took in what was heading towards her.

Two demonic entities (with the pinkish bandages covering their heads, straightjackets, and overall demonic characteristics, it didn't really take her that long to arrive to that particular conclusion) hobbling towards her followed in the background by two more entities (also demonic) floating about a feet off the ground while still moving in her direction, sporting grey white skin, bald heads, blank pupil less eyes, identical maniacal grins plastered across both their faces and dressed in gentlemanlike attire…

And then, that time-standing-still moment?

It ended.

And as the next moment came about, Tara Maclay, being the sensible person that she was, took in a deep breath, turned, and bolted in the opposite direction.

Not before dropping the books in the exact spot she had a moment ago retrieved them from however.

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As the two Gentlemen watched Tara dash away from them with two of their underlings giving pursuit, one of them turned to the other and seemed to let out a silent sigh. Stating without uttering a single phrase, 'why do they always run?'

His companion merely shrugged grandiosely in response. He simply didn't understand either. It was not like they have ever been anything but gentlemanly towards anybody.

They had barely glided a few feet in the direction where Tara had disappeared to when unexpectedly one of them stopped, making his partner take a pause in mid-drift.

Sensing something coming up behind them - fast, they both turned, only to catch sight of a blur heading in their immediate direction. A black blur that… suspiciously looked familiar to the human they had encountered back in the woods.

Both the gentlemen had felt that the individual they had encountered in the woods had had an amazingly powerful heart. So much so that the pace of the person's heartbeat had nearly inundated their senses - to a point that they could think of nothing else but to snatch the person's heart from her.

However, they had also had the mind to remember that the very last human being they had encountered with that strong a heart - who had also been a female - much like the one running towards them now - had caused them a lot of irritation (being poked with sharp implements counted as 'quite irritating' in their books) before eventually handing her heart over to them.

And even that had only happened after they had taught the young woman's mother a lesson by taking her heart out for not taking the time to teach her daughter how to conduct herself in a ladylike manner in front of company.

All mothers, in their opinion should be held responsible for not teaching their daughters how to conduct themselves in front of company.

Going around stabbing decent gentlemen like themselves, who had only just arrived into town with pointed objects had definitely been the most unladylike behaviour they had ever witnessed from any young woman in any of the towns they had ever been to.

And as the human garbed from head to toe in midnight black rushed towards them, the two Gentlemen could only spare each other a glance and shake their heads in silence.

Another young woman in need of lessons in mannerism. Oh well, at least this one didn't have any sharp -

Their train of thought was cut short - even as one of the gentlemen floated forward to intercept the young woman - as the young woman launched herself through the air towards them, fists first, and both the gentlemen heard a most unique sound. Twice.

SNIKT!

The gentleman, who had just floated a few feet forward, stared with pupil-less eyes as the moonlight (whatever there was of it) gleamed off four razor-sharp adamantium claws. Two of which were jutting out from between the knuckles of the young woman's clenched fists.

And as the young woman finally rammed into the gentleman claws first, the force of the impact pushing the stunned gentleman back by more than a few yards while still enabling him to remain afloat somehow, in a silent, ancient and dead demonic lingo, a single phrase went through his psyche.

If it had been possible to translate the phrase into English, it would have probably sounded something along the lines of: "Ugh, God damn it!"

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Laura exploded out of the woods and into the UC Sunnydale campus grounds, cursing the 'Joker Demons' all the while for taking this fight (which she swore would be their last) into populated areas.

She would have liked to have dealt with them in the woods. Away from eyes that might perhaps see her in action. Not that anyone would recognise her (much like the rest of Xavier's X-Men, she rarely allowed herself to be seen in public), but nevertheless, the very last thing she wanted was to run into one of Walsh's 'soldier boys' and in turn give Walsh the heads-up that a mask was running around Sunnydale.

Unfortunately for her, it was at that very moment that she caught sight of what was going on in the distant.

Two creatures she had never once seen in her life wearing straightjackets as well as pinkish bandages over their heads, hobbling after a young blonde student with the two 'Joker demons' she had encountered in the woods following leisurely behind.

Staring at the chosen attire of the two new demons, she couldn't help but wonder if this grouping called themselves the 'Arkham Gang'. For a particular reason, she felt the name would suit them perfectly.

Not wasting anymore time, and realising that she had no choice but to confront them on the very grounds she had been trying to avoid, she rushed in their immediate direction to prevent them from harming any more innocent people. More so at that very moment, the blonde they seemed to be interested in.

Although her feet barely made any sound as she ran towards her targets, she watched as the two 'Joker demons' one by one, turned to regard her, leaving the other two demons to follow the other girl.

Chalking it up to the two having some kind of weird 'demonic sense' that had alerted them of her presence, as one of them started to float a few feet in her direction - apparently wishing to confront her, or, to stop her from going after the two chasing the blonde girl, she launched herself fist first at this demonic version of the Joker.

Less than a moment before colliding with the creature, knowing very well that if she did not make quick work of these two, then catch up with the other two who were chasing the young girl - there was a very good chance of her ending up with another dead student, she finally decided to make use of her 'hidden artilleries'.

Just before colliding with the creature, four razor-sharp adamantium claws - two in each case, exploded out from between the knuckles of her clenched fists from their housings within her forearms with a rather audible SNIKT.

With that, X-23 rammed into the demon, burying all four claws deep into its chest and with enough force to drive the 'Joker demon' back so much so that she almost made the creature collide with its partner - who barely floated out of the way.

Amazingly enough, even with all four of her claws buried deep within its chest, X-23 noticed that the demon had not only managed to stay upright, but it had somehow also been able to remain afloat.

Swinging her legs forward, and releasing the two claws in her feet, she stabbed the 'Joker demon' in the gut - getting a foothold in the process. This done, she yanked out the claws of her right hand and made a backhanded swipe, slashing nearly all the way through the demons throat - spraying to her disgust - green ooze in every direction.

What made this even more unnerving was the fact that even though the creature was about to meet its end (with her claws slicing through more than half its neck and its head almost ready to fall off - she didn't have any reason to think otherwise), that sickening grin that had been plastered across its face from the very beginning did not as much falter.

Knowing that grin or no grin - she was done with this one, she pulled the claws of her feet back into their housings while withdrawing the claws of her left hand that had still been buried within the demon's chest. Using the demon as a launching pad, she kicked off from the demon and launched herself towards its companion.

She dropped down in front of the second demon and looked up in time to see the demon shoot something resembling close to a glower her way. She couldn't for once really tell. It wasn't everyday she went up against someone… something that could both scowl and grin at the same time.

The demon reached within its coat with one hand for something (as Laura tensed in response) and pulled out…

… A scalpel.

Laura stared at the tiny blade, cocked her head, looked back up at the demon and raised her own already extended claws for comparison.

The demon's pupil-less eyes for a second or two shifted from staring at the tiny knife it was holding in one hand to the four ten-inch blades that were jutting out from between the knuckles of X-23's fists.

Anyone smarter, upon making the comparison would have turned tail and fled.

The demon facing X-23: floated forward and stabbed (some would call it 'poked') at her with the scalpel. X-23 didn't even bother getting out of the way. A swipe of her claws and the demon looked down in time to see pieces of the scalpel he had been holding fall noiselessly on to the grassy lawn - along with nearly half the digits of its right hand.

X-23 was just about ready to finish the demon off when something stopped her, made her take a step back, tilt her head to one side and witness a most peculiar thing.

The fingers she had just sliced off… they were growing back.

Something sharp poking into her back at that very moment, made her stumble forward and let out a silent grunt.

Turning swiftly, she slashed out with the claws of her left hand - not only to catch nothing but air but to also find the first 'Joker demon' she had faced - the one she had thought she had taken down - with no sign whatsoever of the injuries that had been inflicted on it holding on to a scalpel of its own floating backwards and out of the range of her claws.

Upon giving the demon closer scrutiny, she noticed to her disbelief that even its clothing looked as though it had stitched itself back together.

A… healing factor. The demons, they had a healing factor… or something that very closely resembled a healing factor.

This was not good - she reasoned. Not good at all.

The last two times she had fought… really fought someone with a healing factor, things hadn't exactly gone in her favour.

In fact, the very last time, if it hadn't been for her father coming to her rescue (as usual), the murdering psychopath known as Victor Creed probably would have mauled her alive.

Sensing the second demon coming up behind her and trying to make a grab at her, she dived sideways, rolling once and coming up in a crouch making sure both the demons were in her line of sight.

These demons, they didn't exactly look like the mauling types. They didn't even look like the fighting type. Not that it changed the fact that dealing with them just became a hell lot harder.

She looked on as the two demons shared a glance with one another, as if communicating in some unspoken tongue, turn to her and advance towards her.

She backed away - not knowing what they had planned.

Suddenly, both the demons started floating away from each other while still advancing on her. She looked on as they took positions on either side of her. Making it difficult for her to keep her eyes on both of them at any given time.

Then they started floating about around her in a circle. Making sure they were at opposite sides of her.

The demons circled her a few more times, as she tried her best to keep an eye on the both of them.

Then just as suddenly and without warning, the first of the demons she had faced, charged at her with his scalpel drawn.

Reacting to this, X-23 lashed out with a swipe of her claws as the demon came within reach. The demon for its part merely floated out of the way - only for the second demon to come and try and make a grab at her from behind. Turning and lashing out with her claws once again, she was barely able to keep the demon from successfully grabbing at her - only to feel something sharp poking into her back. Fortunately, her armour kept the damage from being minimal to none.

They were double teaming her - she realised as she rolled out of the way and came up in time for the second demon to try and make a grab at her again. While one distracted her, the other would attack. Not the greatest of combat strategies she'd be the first to admit but effective in this particular case. Especially with both demons being able to simply glide out of the way of her attacks.

The fact that they were still circling her didn't make it easier either. Considering she had to keep turning around herself while shifting her gaze from one to the other in order to make sure she wasn't caught unawares.

And yet again they came at her from opposite ends. Coming in for a strike and then quickly moving out of the way. Although they were not successful in landing more than the occasional strikes on her, X-23 was at the same time unable to land any significant strikes of her own.

X-23 couldn't stop herself from becoming somewhat frustrated by this. She didn't really know why they had chosen this line of attack as half a minute more went by and both sides neither lost nor gained an upper hand in the conflict.

And then out of the blue, realisation dawned on her.

They had been stalling her all this time.

She couldn't truly harm them in any way, and even if they were able to land more than a few hits on her (which she was not about to allow), her mutant healing factor coupled with the protection her uniform offered would keep any harm she received to a minimum.

Knowing what she had to do, the next time they floated in for a strike - X-23 dodged it by rolling out of the way and then making a mad dash towards the woods.

Banking on the assumption that the 'Joker demons' would pursue her - which they did, she skidded to a stop after she had gone only a few yards, made a complete u-turn and darted through between the two floating demons and towards the direction in which the other two demons following the young student had disappeared to.

And she was already sprinting at a speed just short of blurring, gaining much distance between herself and the 'Joker demons' before they had a chance to stop in midair and change directions themselves in order to pursue her.

X-23 didn't even bother looking over her shoulder to see if she was being trailed. Even if they had given her chase, she had seen enough of them - especially in the way they move to know that they were not nearly fast enough to catch up with her.

Picking up the scent trail that had been left by the other two demons (demons she had decided to call the 'Arkham Gang') and that of a terrified young woman in their wake, she followed the trail to the very last place she had neither expected nor wanted the young woman to lead them to.

The dormitory where she had taken up residence herself.

Stevenson Hall.

Standing there, at the threshold of the entrance to the dorm, she hesitated. But only for a second. A second in which she was assaulted with images of a dead student who had once been living down the hall and around the corner from her in this same dorm.

His eyes, while remaining lifeless - somehow still managing to glower at her accusingly for not being there to save him.

Taking a deep breath, she rushed inside to prevent the eyes of any more dead students from haunting her.

The scent trail led her up the stairs and to the second floor -

Where upon entering the hallway, the very first thing she caught was the scent of blood.

Human blood.

The second thing she caught was the sight of a 'Joker demon' gliding towards her. Her mind unconsciously acknowledged this 'Joker demon' as not one of the demons she had faced just a few minutes prior to arriving at the dorm. Making a part of her raise the question as to how many of these 'Joker demons' were out there - gliding about in Sunnydale.

The bulk of her attention however was fixated at what the 'Joker demon' was holding in one of its hands.

A human heart.

Shock first turned to disgust and disgust soon turned into rage.

It was a good thing - she would later come to concur - that she was literally incapable of uttering one single word or phrase at that very moment. Because the shriek of primal fury that escaped X-23's lips as she launched herself at the floating demon… that scream would have been more than enough to arouse half the sleeping students and employees who resided on the UC Sunnydale campus.

This particular Gentlemen, or 'Joker Demon' (as X-23 knew it) for his part made one feeble attempt at defending itself. Because this one feeble attempt… it was all that the demon was allowed.

The 'feeble attempt' in this case included the demon merely raising its arms to fend off the oncoming attack. An effort for which it lost both those arms to claws that could cut through titanium.

X-23 did not even give the floating demon a chance to inspect its severed hands as her claws went through the face of the demon… slicing all the way through it like a sizzling hot knife would pass through butter.

Of course, she didn't stop there. Within the course of the next few seconds, X-23 delivered a barrage of attacks that had the walls of the narrow corridor where the fight was taking place painted with the demon's blood.

The fight finally ended with the demon being at the receiving end of a quick but devastating back kick that sent the demon flying down the corridor, slamming against the wall at the end, cracking some of the plaster in the process and falling face down onto the floor.

X-23 watched as the demon lay there… not moving.

But this only lasted a few seconds.

The living weapon watched - not so much in shock, but rather in dismay as the demon rose… or rather, floated up from the ground into a standing position… the wounds X-23 had inflicted upon its body healing themselves up as this happened.

X-23 let out a silent growl. She crouched, ready to have another go at the demon… when something down the next corridor caught her attention.

She turned her head to see one of the doors to a room open. Then her eyes widened as she realised whose room the door led to.

Buffy's and Willow's.

Without wasting another second on the demon, she raced to the opening, dreading the worst.

At the threshold of the room, she stopped and peered inside. There was no one there.

And then she caught them.

Scents. Four of them.

Willow's, the blond student she had been trying to save followed by the two 'Arkham demons' that had given the young student chase.

Her eyes followed the trail of scents to the other end of the corridor (away from the 'Joker demon') and to a door that led to the stairs. The next instant found her racing through that door and pausing in the stairway to see which direction (up or down) her quarries had gone.

They had gone down.

She raced after them, going down one flight of stairs at a time. She reached the ground floor a second later.

She entered the door that led to the corridors on that floor, and immediately heard the sounds of someone… or something slamming against… something repeatedly.

Rushing to the end of that corridor, she turned the corner to find the two 'Arkham demons' that had been chasing the young student slamming their bodies against a door at the very end repeatedly. Just beyond it laid the exit door.

Had Willow and the young girl barricaded themselves behind that door? The question flashed through her mind. She decided she would look for the answer to that question after she had dealt with these two miscreants.

She rushed at them. And before they had a chance to register her presence, she rammed into one of the demons shoulder first. Catching it in midair as it launched itself towards the door once again.

She had initially wanted to ram the demon and slam it against the door at the end of the corridor… but she misjudged her momentum 'slightly' and found both herself and the demon literally tearing through the door and into the night air outside with a thunderous crash.

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The heads of both Willow's and Tara's snapped in the direction of the door where a large vending machine blocked entry into their little sanctuary.

They both turned to one another a second later. Their hands still intertwined, they both wondered one thing.

What had made that crashing sound?

More importantly… they wondered: why the demons had stopped trying to get inside.

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X-23 shook her head as she picked herself up from on top of the 'Arkham demon' she had landed on.

Standing over the demon, she looked down at its crumpled form.

She poked it once with her leg. It didn't make any movement.

Dead? She wondered. It couldn't have been that easy… could it?

She poked it again… nothing.

Remembering there was another one, she turned around to face it. And nothing greeted her once again.

She looked around and finally spotted it scurrying off in the distance.

As much as she wanted to go after it, she firstly wanted to check up on Willow and the girl. See if whatever they had barricaded their door with will hold or not.

Plus, now that she had this particular demon's scent catalogued… there was literally no place in Sunnydale the demon could run to that she wouldn't be able to follow.

Walking back inside the building once, she went straight for the door behind which Willow and the young student had taken refuge. She turned the doorknob and tried to push the door open.

It didn't budge.

She nudged the door once again - this time with a little more effort. The door still didn't budge.

She had no idea what the two had barricaded the door with but whatever it was… she decided that it will hold.

She raced out of the building and after the second 'Arkham demon'. It was while she was doing this that a thought occurred to her.

How in the world did Willow and the student manage to barricade the door with something which probably would have taken even her some effort?

Chalking it up to adrenaline pumped by fear, she focused her mind of finding the second demon.

It was after a few minutes that she finally caught up with the demon. She watched as it scurried off in the direction of an old and seemingly abandoned clockhouse. Looking up at the second story, her eyes widened as it registered the silhouettes of several 'Joker demons' floating around inside.

Jackpot… she thought with a smirk. Time to end this whole mess.

She raced after the demon she had been chasing. It had just smashed through one of the boarded up windows to get inside. She launched herself through the same opening, her claws sliding out from between her knuckles as she did so.

The first thing she found as she went through the same opening was the demon she had been chasing with its back to her. She simply extended her claws forward and rammed into the demon's back… burying them all the way to her fist. As the demon went down face first, she retracted her claws, used the demon to push herself into a handstand and launch herself off it and into the middle of the dimly lit room.

Landing on her feet, she came up into a fighting stance, ready for anything… and came face to face with someone short, blonde, and who just happened to be pointing a medieval crossbow at her face.

Laura's jaw dropped open.

"Buffy?" She whispered - not that anyone could have heard her as the equally confused blonde stared back at her, her crossbow still pointed at the living weapon's face.

Feeling another familiar presence to the side, she turned her head to find Agent Riley Finn of The Demon Research Initiative standing there with just as confused a face as Buffy's.

Only difference?

He was pointing a blaster gun at her.

More precisely, he was pointing the blaster gun right at her face.

And he seemed as though he was ready to fire.

To Be Continued...

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