Faith the Vampire Slayer:

The Master

11. The Switch

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Faith, Willow, and Xander sat on the bleachers waiting for the cheerleading tryouts to start. The girls were spread out, doing stretches and various warm-ups. "People scoff at things like school spirit," Xander commented as he watched Amber Grove doing the splits between two chairs, "but look at these girls giving their all like this!"

"Oooh, stretchy!" Faith pointed to Amber.

Xander nodded his agreement. "Bet you could do that."

"No way," Faith shook her head. "I'd tear my quads. My muscles are denser than normal, so I weigh slightly more. I could do the splits on the floor, though."

"I don't see why you don't try out," Willow said.

"I'm not a vapid airhead," Faith offered.

Xander shook his head. "Where was I?"

"You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience," Willow arched her eyebrows at him.

"Who said I was pretending?" Xander smirked. "Not that I'd trade my Slayer for all the cheerleaders in the world."

"Yeah, you better not," Faith nudged him with her shoulder.

Willow sighed at their antics.

Cordelia, wearing a black, star-spangled sports bra and matching shorts, approached their section of bleacher and stood in front of them.

Faith gave the cheerleader an appraising look. "Does Donna Troy know you stole her gym clothes?"

Xander gave a soft whimper and glance back and forth between the pair.

"Wonder Girl wishes she looked this good," the cheerleader snarked. Her eyes widened at the realization that she had revealed some inner geek. Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the group, "Wonder Woman is a feminist icon. I know about her, Donna Troy and the blonde one, um, Cassie Sandsmark. That's it. Got it?" The trio nodded. Shaking her head she changed the subject. "Just look at that Amber. Who does she think she is, a Lakers Girl?"

"I heard she turned them down," Willow answered.

"You'll do fine, C," Faith reassured the vice-captain.

"I'm not worried about making the squad," Cordelia snapped.

"But you are worried about not being picked to replace Joy as captain next year," Faith suggested.

"I'll only be a Junior, Amber will be a Senior," she admitted.

"Amber is hot, flexible, and talented," Xander said. Willow and Cordelia glared at him, he hurriedly added, "But she has no leadership skills, and no experience organizing the team. You spent all year as vice-captain, Joy knows you know the job. She'd be stupid to give it to anyone else."

"Thanks," the cheerleader smiled at them. She strutted back over to Joy as the captain made her way to the middle of the gym. "Okay, listen up!"

"If you're not auditioning, move off the floor!" Joy called. "Amber Grove, you're up first!"

Amy moved over to the group. "Hey!"

"You nervous?" Willow asked.

"Not really," Amy shrugged. "My mom's pretty happy with the weight I've lost training with you guys. She'd be disappointed if I don't make the squad, but I'm only trying out for her. Kind of a bummer for me either way."

Amber began her floor routine. She shifted her weight to her right leg and swept her left behind her, then clasped her hands gently around her knee. Her legs were perfectly straight and her arms bent at a right angle. She dropped her leg as the music kicked on.

To the beat of her fast-paced electronic dance song, Amber stepped forward, thrusting her chest out repeatedly while pumping her arms. On the next beat, she sided-stepped with her right leg and held her right arm out at the same angle, her left hand behind her head. Shaking her hips side to side, Amber brought her arms down across her body one at a time. She clapped her hands and moved them over her cocked hip.

"She trained with Benson. He's one of the best coaches money can buy," Amy told Faith.

"They have cheerleading coaches?" Faith asked unbelieving.

"Oh, yeah!" the witch nodded. "Cheerleading is serious business. Before you came along, my mom coached me. Three hours in the morning, three at night."

"I'm shocked that much quality time didn't lead to some quality matricide," the Slayer quipped.

"Oh, I know it's hokey," Amy replied, "but she's really great."

Amber shifted so her weight was on her right leg while her left and arms formed a diagonal line. Squatting, she brought both hands down onto her left knee with her elbows out wide as she continued to undulate her hips salaciously.

Amber sprang up, her hands at her sides and her legs forming a sharp V. She followed a textbook cartwheel with a hands-free front flip, then slid into the splits and grabbed her pom-poms. She put her hands on the floor in front of her and pushed herself up with her legs still outstretched and held the position for a moment before lowering her legs beneath her. Amber raised herself up by shifting her feet in time to the music.

Her hands were at her sides again and her legs formed a sharp V. Her pom-pom routine started with a Shakira style hip shake. As Amber swiveled her hips sideways and slid her pom-poms seductively down her body, they began to smoke. There were about fifteen seconds of gyrating and exaggerated arm movements before the crowd started murmuring. Amber herself didn't seem to notice until she dropped her pom-poms and her hands burst into flames.

Faith stood and yanked down a heavy wool banner. She sprinted over to Amber. The girl was flailing her arms about. The Slayer knocked the cheerleader to the floor and smothered the flames with the banner. "Somebody call an ambulance," the Slayer shouted still holding the girl down.

"I'm on it," Cordelia called back.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Faith paced the length of the library. Her friends were grouped around the table. "Anyone ever see a case of spontaneous human combustion before?" the Slayer asked.

Giles came out of the book cage with a tome in his hands. "It is, is rare, and scientifically unexplained, but there have been cases for hundreds of years. Usually, all that's left is a pile of ashes," he explained.

"That's all that would have been left if it hadn't been for Faith," Willow said. She still seemed shaken.

"So, we have no idea what caused this. That's a comfort," Xander voiced the trios fear.

"But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth!" Giles smiled. He was genuinely excited. The Watcher sat on the edge of the table as he continued, "There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage." At everyone's slightly worried stares he grumbled, "Pardon me for finding the glass half full."

"Any common causes, so we can start narrowing the field?" Faith brought the conversation back on task.

"Uh, rage. In most cases the person who combusted was, was terribly angry or, or upset," Giles slid his book onto the shelf.

"So maybe Amber's got this power to make herself be on fire. It's like the Human Torch, only it hurts," Xander theorized.

"More like the human scorch," Faith chuckled.

Xander snickered as well but Giles frowned disapprovingly. "Do any of you actually listen to the things coming out of your mouths?"

The three teens seated at the table shot him varying levels of hurt looks. Faith just shrugged and said, "Eh, I fade in and out." The Slayer turned serious again. "We need to find out if Amber's had any colorful episodes before. Willow, check her school records?" The red head nodded. "Amy, help Giles. Xander, you and me will go ask around."

"Cordelia will know who her friends are," Xander pointed out.

"All right, let's get rocking," the Slayer nodded to him.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

"Any word on Amber?" Giles asked as the other three teens trotted into the library next day.

"Nothing thrilling," Willow shrugged. She offered everyone a few of the raw almonds she was snacking on. "Average student. Got detention once for smoking, a, a cigarette, not, like, being smoky. All totally normal."

"No joy on the known associates front, either," Faith added. "Mostly she hangs with other cheerleaders. They're all on good terms. There is some jealousy, Amber's got the moves of a stripper. But nothing to go on unless someone hates cheerleaders. It's about all she does."

"Giles and I haven't really found anything useful. We'll do more research after school," Amy sighed. "I'm looking forward to reading about immolation more than tryouts."

"Speaking of," Xander dumped his small handful of almonds into his mouth and gestured to the door with both thumbs.

"Ugh," Amy said, but headed to the gym all the same.

The foursome arrived just as a pacing Joy began addressing the gathered students. "Despite the terrible thing that happened yesterday, we still have to pick new cheerleaders. If you make the team, you'll find your names posted in the quad after lunch." She paused briefly, considering her options. "Let's begin with the group performance."

Her friends wished her luck as Amy moved to her spot on the floor. Joy started them off with a count and they chanted, "Sunnydale! Sunnydale! We never fail! We never fail! Jump and Shoot! Swish and score! The other team is such a bore! Yeah!" They ended the quick dance routine with a cartwheel. Amy didn't get her legs up and toppled over. Cordelia yelped as the other girl collided with her.

"You saw that right?" the cheerleader directed her question to Joy as she stood.

"My bad!" Amy agreed once she too was back on her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Cordelia nodded.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

"That's my mom," Amy pointed to the trophy case as they passed it on their way to the quad. "Her nickname was 'Catherine the Great'. She was squad leader her senior year. They made tri-county champions. Y'know, no one's ever done that before, or since."

"Really?" Faith quirked an eyebrow at that.

"We lose a lot of people to 'unexplained' deaths," the witch shrugged. "She and my dad were Homecoming King and Queen. They got married right after graduation."

"That sounds romantic as hell, but I sense a wistful 'but' in that sentence," the Slayer put her hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Well, he was a big loser. Never made any money. Ran off with Miss Trailer Trash when I was twelve," she frowned.

"Mine's in jail. Since I was little. Don't really remember him," Faith confided.

"Drag, huh?"

Faith nodded.

"Wanna change the subject?"

Faith nodded, emphatically.

"Let's see if I made the cut, then," Amy trotted ahead of Faith out into the afternoon sunshine. A crowd had already formed waiting for Joy to post the list. "I can't take this. I'm in for a one-way ticket to Suckville either way, but the waiting is…"

"A hell all its own?" Xander asked as he and Willow joined them. "I'm goin' in."

Before he got two steps Cordelia emerged from the crowd. "You're lucky!" she said to Amy.

"I made it?"

"I made captain!" the cheerleader clarified.

"We knew that," Faith scoffed.

"She's third alternate," Cordelia shrugged. "Better luck next year."

"Thanks," Amy mumbled.

"Didn't think you'd be disappointed," Faith put an arm around her shoulder.

"It's just how many more hours a day can I practice? Y'know, how much more can I do? This would never happen to my mother. Never," Amy tried to push away.

"Know what? We should do a total brownie pig-out," Willow said stepping into her path. "And, and."

"A cheesy movie fest," Xander added.

"We do deserve a little bit of a break," Faith smiled. "What'd' ya' say? I'll let Giles know and we can take over the living room."

"Yeah, okay," Amy agreed. She smiled, "At least the worst is over now."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Amy had gone home after school to give her mother the bad news, then she'd called off the brownie/movie fest. It was a school night after all. She also hadn't joined them for their morning run. Faith frowned as she, Willow and Xander waited by Amy's locker. "It's not like her to be late," the Slayer muttered.

"Not making the team must have hit her harder than she let on," Willow frowned. Down the hall, Cordelia was fumbling with a locker. "Is that even Cordelia's locker?"

"I don't know," Xander answered. "We should reschedule for Friday."

"Yeah, let's," Faith agreed. "Queen C is acting weird. I'm gonna check it out, you two wait here." The pair nodded as the Slayer trotted after the cheerleader.

Cordelia walked out to the parking lot. The normally coordinated girl stumbled over the curb. When the bell rang for the start of class, the stern driver's ed. instructor snapped at the cheerleader as Cordelia fumbled with the driver's side door.

Faith bit her lip as the clearly distraught teen tried to buckle her seatbelt. "She should not be behind the wheel right now," she observed quietly.

The dated Pontiac lurched backward, knocking over a pair of mock traffic signs. "Jesus," Faith said, somewhat startled by the display. The car then shot forward, full throttle, the six-cylinder engine growling loudly as it careened through the cones, sending them flying in all directions. It was readily apparent that the car was out of control. Faith broke into a run, doing her best to keep up with the vehicle as it weaved this way and that. It smacked into yet more cones, sideswiped a newer Dodge sedan and burst through a hedge, taking down a piece of the chain link fence as it did so.

She was nearing the car when it began shuddering violently. She could tell Mr. Pole had his foot planted firmly on the passenger side brake. The car jerked as the brakes fought with the accelerator. She heard the loud grinding sound as he engaged the emergency brake. Finally, the sound of the motor eased as Cordelia's foot left the accelerator.

"Everybody out!" the instructor yelled. The three students in the car all staggered out, Cordelia into the street. A delivery van was barreling up the road. The driver was searching the center console. Faith ran and tackled the girl out of the way.

"Oh, my God, I, I can't see anything!" she groped for Faith's arm.

The Slayer took her hand and helped her to sit up, "It's okay. I got you." She looked into Cordelia's eyes. They were completely white. "We'll fix this."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

"Witchcraft," Giles confirmed. "Blinding your enemy to disorient and disable them is, it's classic! But why should someone want to harm Cordelia?"

"Maybe because they met her?" Willow put her hand over her mouth. "Did I say that out loud?"

"And setting Amber ablaze?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, those two don't really hang out together," Xander shrugged.

"They're both cheerleaders," Faith pointed out. "And on top of the cheerleading pyramid, metaphorically."

"Literally in Cordy's case," Xander added.

"So someone doesn't like cheerleading," the Watcher brought them back on topic.

"Or likes it too much," Willow muttered. She looked up at Faith with worried eyes. "Amy?"

"Maybe," Faith said reluctantly. "She knows the witch-fu. But this doesn't feel like her."

"People do strange things for the approval of a parent," Giles told them. "Let's at least rule her out, shall we?" He paged through a leather bound book, "There should be something in here. Ah, yes, this should do. We'll need some of her hair, a little quicksilver and some aqua fortis."

"Well, that's just mercury and nitric acid. I can get that from the science lab," Willow informed them. "I have Chemistry next period."

"'Heat ingredients and apply to the witch,'" Giles read out the instructions, "'and if a spell has been cast in the previous 48 hours, the witch's skin turns blue.' Hmm." He shut the book, "Oh, and you'll need some Eye of Newt."

"Why is magic so icky?" Xander asked.

Giles gave him a dry look, "It's a folk name for a type of Mustard Seed, Brassica nigra." He stepped into his office and began rummaging in the desk drawers.

"Why don't they just say that then?"

"Part of it is code to keep recipes in a family or, or hide them from the authorities, but usually it is merely what the original author knew the ingredient as," the librarian lectured. He handed Willow a small resealable bag filled with small round seeds. "Now, the three of you had best get to class."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Mr. Verona stood at the front of the class instructing them on dissecting a frog. Willow passed Faith an open cola can. The Slayer set it on the edge of her lab table. As Amy watched the teacher closely Faith bumped the table, causing the can to spill on the witch. The liquid turned blue on contact with Amy's skin. "I thought you weren't doing magic," Faith whispered as Mr. Verona continued giving instructions.

"I…" Amy started to retort but was interrupted by a gasp from Mr. Verona.

"Lishanne, are you... Oh, my God!" He dropped his scalpel and dashed to the phone. Lishanne, violently shaking her head, no longer had a mouth. Much of the class gasped in horror as Mr. Verona called 911.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

"Amy went home after the trauma that was third period," Faith explained to Giles. "But the test was positive."

"If she wasn't doing it she'd tell us what she was doing, right?" Xander asked.

"Maybe Lishanne's disfigurement really did freak her out?" Willow offered.

"Yeah, maybe," Faith muttered.

"We should go check on her either way," Giles stood abruptly folding his newspaper. "You two should get to class."

"It's lunch," Xander pointed out.

"Yes, well, go get lunch then," the librarian corrected.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Amy heard the front door open and panicked. She sprinted to the kitchen and began throwing things in a large mixing bowl.

"Where are you?" was shouted from the entry way.

Amy did a poor job trying to hide the mixing bowl and grabbed a bag of baby carrots from the fridge. "The kitchen!" She shouted back. Amy walked into the living room stuffing a carrot into her mouth. "It's only lunch, did something happen?"

"You do magic!" her mother screamed at her. "You friends know about it!"

"I, I… it was just a spell to help Willow get a boyfriend," Amy said petulantly.

"What were you doing in the kitchen?" her mother glared at her.

Amy raised the bag of baby carrots.

"Right," her mother sneered. "Get started on this history report. It's due tomorrow." She stalked into the kitchen.

"Yes, mien Führer," Amy picked up her backpack and rifled through it for her history text.

After a loud crash, her mother came storming out of the kitchen. She slapped Amy across the face. "No junk food! God damn it! Why won't you learn! This is why you didn't make the team!"

Amy didn't say anything. She watched her mother stomp upstairs to the attic. Amy turned the volume up on the TV and snuck back into her room.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Faith was sitting in the passenger seat of Giles' Citron DS fiddling with the radio. Apparently finding the station she was looking for she began singing along with the current song, "Hey Mickey! Now when you take me by the hooves everyone's gonna know. Every time you move I let a little more show. There's somethin' we can use, so don't say no, Mickey!"

"No," Giles switched the radio off. "For the love of all that is holy, Faith, just no."

"What? Why not? That song is fun!" she protested. "Oh Mickey, you're so fine. You're so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey. Hey Mickey!"

Giles grumbled under his breath. Luckily for him, it wasn't much further to Amy's house. "Here we are," he said getting out.

"You know, it really does look witchy!" Faith proclaimed. She jogged ahead to examine the grotesque face on the wroughtiron gate. "Creepy, huh? Does this not give you the total wiggins?"

"Um, no? Not even in the top hundred actually." Giles took a good look at his Slayer. She bounced as they stood in front of the gate. He asked her, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Peachy keen, nectarine!" was her reply.

Giles frowned. He pushed open the gate and lead Faith to the door. She leaned on the doorbell until Amy's mother Catherine answered.

"Catherine the Great!" Faith bounced up and down. "Gimme an A, Gimme an M, Gimme a Y. Gimme an Amy!"

"Is your daughter home?" Giles asked.

Catherine pulled them both inside, "Thank god you're here. She completely flipped her lid." She led the pair to Amy's bedroom. "I don't know the counter to the bloodstone vengeance spell, but it does put us on a serious time crunch."

Giles looked over the array of candles and herbs before responding, "You're Amy."

"How'd you guess?"

"The bad witch-fu is not Amy's style!" Faith piped up. She hugged Amy-in-Catherine's-body. "Be Amy shaped!"

"Kind of working on it," the witch replied. "That selfish, controlling bitch wants to relive her glory days. Said I was wasting my youth. So she took it," Amy growled as she handed Giles an incantation and a length of rope. "Like she's any better than dad; they both peaked in high school."

"Aww," Faith hugged her again. "I love you, Amy. Even if you aren't Amy shaped. You're you on the inside, and that's what counts."

"Thanks, Faith," Amy smiled. "You know what to do, Giles?" The Watcher nodded. "All right. Faith, I want you to knock me out."

"What? Noo, I can't hurt you. You're my friend. My normally Amy shaped friend. My Amy on the inside friend."

"Faith," Amy grabbed her shoulders. "I need you to do this so I can be Amy on the outside, too. Okay?"

Faith nodded vigorously, "So you'll be Amy shaped!"

"Yes," Amy agreed. "Then Giles will tie my mom up and we can undo all the bad witch-fu."

"Okay, Amy. This will make an ouch!" Faith clocked the teen in the head. Amy crumpled to the floor.

Giles made Faith lie on the bed before securing Amy/Catherine. He lit the candles and started dropping dried herbs into the small cauldron. "The center is dark. Centrum est obscurus. The darkness breathes. Tenebrae respiratis. The listener hears. Hear me! Unlock the gate. Let the darkness shine. Cover us with holy fear. Corsheth and Gilail! The gate is closed! Receive the dark! Release the unworthy! Take of mine energy and be sated!" As he finished he plunged his hands into the mixture he's concocted. "Be sated! Release the unworthy!" He pulled his hands out. Amy, or rather Amy's body, jerked the door open. She held an athame in her hand. "Release! Release! RELEEEEASE!" Giles entreated. The girl lunged forward, blade leading. A bright black light flashed from the cauldron.

Amy's body fell to the ground, the knife clattering down at Giles' feet. He breathed a sigh of relief as the girl lifted herself to her elbows and said, "That sucked."

"We need to break the curse on Faith and the others now," Giles helped her to stand.

"I feel all woozy," Faith mumbled.

"You just rest here," Giles patted her knee. "We'll take care of the spell work, all right?"

"All right. Right as rain," she murmured.
Giles and Amy headed up the stairs.
Catherine moaned from her place on the floor. "Lousy, ungrateful brat," the witch muttered.

Faith looked over the edge of the bed. "Amy's not ungrateful! She appreciated the time you both put in. You're just self-centered and obsessed." Faith stuck her tongue out. She rolled back onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Faith could hear Catherine struggling against the ropes. "I'm starting to feel better. So you should stop that."

"What are you going to do if I don't, kill me?" she sneered.

"That is one way to undo all your spells if I'm not mistaken," the Slayer mused. "I'm not like other girls, Mrs. Madison. You don't want to piss me off."

"Oooh, I wouldn't like you when you're angry?" the woman taunted.

"Yeah, pretty much. You could say I become a whole other person," Faith chuckled.

"Good," Catherine was suddenly standing over her with the athame in her hand. "Corsheth, look upon my enemy! Look upon her and let the dark place have her soul!" As she raised the blade, Faith raised her arms to block. "Let me have her form!" Catherine sliced her own palm. Blood dripped down the blade onto Faith. "Let me possess her!" She brought the bloody knife down toward Faith.

The Slayer sighed in boredom as she easily caught the woman's wrist. "Yeah, um. No," she said, giving the limb a violent squeeze. The bones in Catherine's wrist creaked, then snapped harshly. The woman let out a pain filled scream. The knife tumbled from her fist. Faith snatched it from the air and quickly slammed it down through the back of the aged witch's hand and into the nightstand beside Amy's bed. "Stay!" Catherine was beside herself with pain. Faith grinned and patted her cheek. "Good doggie."

Meanwhile, the collected energy Catherine had summoned for her spell swirled and flashed about the room. With nowhere to go and no focus, it began collapsing in on itself. Faith was forced to close her eyes at the brightness of it. She threw herself to the side of the bed away from the woman and her insidious magic, thumping to the floor hard. "Ow," she said, reaching behind her to the carpet. "Rollerblades," she said, tossing the piece of sports equipment aside. She sat up and watched as the power Catherine had called upon rushed in on the woman, seemingly tearing her apart. "Ouch," the Slayer offered as she watched her friend's mother finally disappear in a flash of blackened light. She let out a breath and fell back to the floor. "Note to self, never do…whatever that crap was."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

"My dad is so impossible!" Amy told them as she stuffed her bag into her locker. "He doesn't ever want me going anywhere! He wants to spend total quality time together. And I'm, like, 'Dad, I can go out, it's perfectly safe!' But he's got all this guilt about leaving me with my mom. And he's being a total pain."

"You're loving it," Willow grinned at her.

"Every single minute," the witch confirmed. "This Saturday night he wants to stay in and make brownies. Well, the brownies were my idea." Amy turned around. She spotted Cordelia, "Hey, Queen C, Got a sec?"

"Don't call me that," the cheerleader snapped.

"Sorry," Amy apologized. "Anyway, I want you to take my name off the alternates list. I'm just not that committed to cheerleading without my mom breathing down my neck. It wouldn't be fair to the team for me to take up a spot. Besides, you know how clumsy I am. This is me bowing out, ha, gracefully."

"Well, good for you," Cordelia nodded. "Now quit nerding up the place. I'm sure there's an else you could be."

"Yes your majesty," Amy gave a mock bow and returned to her friends. "And with that nasty business all taken care of, I am free of cheer."

"Aww," Faith hugged her. "Is our Amy shaped friend unhappy?"

"I know what will fix that," Willow grinned. "My dad wants to invite everyone and their parental guardians over for lasagna."

Amy and Faith both made squeeing noises. Xander said, "Ooh, that man is devious. Offering up irresistible Italian goodness, but requiring an awkward social gathering."

"It's worth it," Amy grinned.