Reviews
JimTheMan
When I have the time I will go check it out.
JoeTheLawyer
The tricky part will be finding someone who can train a Slayer. Who is fast and strong enough to not only keep up with Buffy and Damien, but also experienced enough to teach them new tricks?
Buffy was just using her limited knowledge of Star Trek in order to get her point across.
Hopefully I will get to my Star Trek story at some point. I just have to finish at least one of my other stories first.
Williams1996
Here are two more chapter for you.
Davycrockett100
Thank you.
Slayer Gothic - Pylea
Paramount Studios. LA.
"So why here of all places ?" Buffy asked me as we all sat in my brand new Jeep Wrangler "Why a TV studio?".
We were finally ready to go to Pylea, and to save Fred Burkle. We had a suitable off road transport, a load of weapons, supplies and a few portable stereos with plenty of music to annoy the locals with. Most importantly the book required to open the portal was sitting in Amy's lap. We'd lose it once we went through, but my Witch girlfriend had already copied the important passages so this wasn't a concern.
"Because there's a psychic hotspot just in front of the studio gates" I explained "and the hotspot can power a portal".
It had something to do with the theory that creative people didn't just make stuff up, really they were 'seeing' into other realities, on a psychic level, however they weren't aware of this ability. Being near a hotspot helped greatly with this, hence the studio.
"Aren't we worried about witnesses?" Marice asked from the back seat "I mean I know they can't see me, but what about you guys?".
This wasn't a big of concern as it might seem.
"One of the books I got from the magic store showed me how to use magical symbols to help hide" I told the invisible girl "That's why I painted the jeep with that UV paint".
The symbols couldn't be seen by the human eye, but they still worked. Because of them it was impossible to see the jeep with anything electronic. I couldn't even take a photo of the car.
"I think the LAPD will ignore any reports of a car driving into a big swirly thing that appears outside a TV studio" I said to the unseen teen "They will just think someone saw some sort of special effect".
That or they'd blame it on aliens.
"Do you really think we'll need all that stuff in the trunk?" was Amy's question "This isn't a camping trip, and you have guns!".
My reply was simple, and it wasn't the first I'd gone over this.
"Same principle as a condom" I told her "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it".
I had visited a camping and sporting goods store earlier just in case our visit to Pylea ended up being longer than expected. That was why I had packed so much in the way of supplies and equipment as well as an assortment of weapons. Some of which required bullets.
"Do have condoms?" asked Marcie "I bet you do".
I had to resist the urge to grin like a fool.
"Yep" I told her "I even packed some flavoured ones".
Although I didn't know why as I wasn't having sex with anyone.
"TMI" Buffy said from the back of the jeep "I so don't need need to hear about that kind of thing".
At times like this I was so very glad she wasn't my girlfriend.
"I pity any man you end up with" I said to Buffy "The poor, poor sod".
Her response to this was kick the back of my seat.
"Hey!" I called back "I just got this car!".
Amy and Marcie found this all very funny for some reason.
"Let's do something wholesome" my fellow Slayer then insisted "Like killing demons and looting treasure".
She was a very strange girl.
"Okay girls buckle up" I instructed "Because when we 88 miles per hour we are gonna see some weird shit".
Amy began to chat as I drove us forwards, and seconds later a big swirly thing opened and swallowed us.
(Line Break)
Forest. Pylea
If it wasn't for the two suns overhead I might have assumed the portal had merely transported us somewhere else on Earth. Of course I knew better even before I saw the sky because the Jeep had pinned a very alien looking creature to a tree.
This greatly upset the girls, and I wasn't happy about it either, as I'd just gotten the car, but we all calmed down and got out of the Jeep once I had put the transport in reverse for a few seconds so that there was some distance between us and the hopefully dead demonic thing.
"So are we near the castle?" Buffy asked me once we were all out of the car "We better be my shoes weren't made for hiking".
Really I had no idea whether or not we were anywhere near the castle the was the base of the Covenant of Trombli, or Fred's cave. Heck I didn't even know if Miss Burkle was still a slave or not. So our first priority was for Amy to cast a locator spell using a personal item of Fred's, a scarf she had left at the library. I'd taken it out of lost property, and I knew it belonged to Fred because her name was on the label.
"So, we just follow the ball of light where ever it goes?' Buffy queried once the spell was done "Its going to be hard to see".
The spell was similar to one that Willow would use to find Tara, or possibly vice versa, or maybe not at all, during the early part of season 6. Amy's light wasn't that bright, as she was only a beginner witch, but it would be enough.
"Yeah and we can use it to get back to this spot" Amy explained "Which we might need to if can't open a portal while at the castle".
That was the plan, and I could only that if we couldn't portal out of the castle then the Hotspot here was still warm enough, otherwise we were stuck here. At least for a while.
"Why not find the castle first and then this Fred?" Marcie wanted to know
We'd gone over this a few times now, but I was working with teenage girls not experienced soldiers, they needed me to remind that I had a good plan and that things were going well.
"Fred has already been living in this world for a nearly a year" I reminded the unseen teen "She knows her away around, and that means she can show us how to get to the castle".
I had more to say.
"The books we need to get back to our world are in the castle" I then added "So once we have them and the loot we will all leave together".
I'd made the plan as simple as possible so that less could go wrong.
"Makes sense" Buffy commented "You're the man with the plan. Which is why you're in charge".
I then heard a giggle from behind me.
"And it means we can all blame him if something goes wrong" Marcie said "Which it will sooner or later".
Amy finally got the magic done right
"I need to practice that spell" the witch said as she launched the blue sphere of energy into the sky high above the treetops "And we need to spend more time studying, and less time making out".
As expected the blue light flew a couple of lazy loops around us before veering off in another direction and hurtling away out of sight, or at least it seemed to, but as it turned out the light was waiting for us to catch up. I could faintly see it.
"Okay back in the Jeep" I ordered.
We needed to hurry as the spell would not last forever.
"Shotgun!" Amy called before anyone else could claim the front seat.
The other two girls moaned.
"Its my boyfriend's car that means I get the front seat" the witch said.
That made perfect sense to me.
"And I get to pick the music" Amy then said to the other girls before turning to me "Were you really being serious about music being our secret weapon?".
Indeed I had been.
"According to my research the locals will hate your taste in music even more than I do" I replied "It should at least disable them".
I had warned the girls that might not work on all the demons, but it should disable most of them, and as for the rest, that was what the guns were for. However I couldn't think on it that much as I had to focus on my driving. There was no traffic out here, but there was no road either.
"So when we find the loot I want to carry the jewels" Amy was now saying "Buffy can carry the gold, it's heavy and she's a lot stronger than me, or Marcie".
That was true.
"Or both of you put together" Buffy said with a smirk.
Hearing that made me smile.
"Are you volunteering to carry the bulk of the loot?" I asked the Slayer.
In the rear view mirror Buffy's smile turned into a frown.
"And what will you be carrying?" she wanted to know "I mean your even stronger than I am, even if you are a little slow".
She was right about that, Miss Summers had a speed advantage over me, but I was stronger.
"I'll be carrying all the big, heavy books" I told her "We don't want anyone coming after us so we have take any books they can use to make a portal to our world".
The last thing our world needed was more demons running lose on Earth, but I didn't worry about that for too long as I noticed that Amy looked a little down in the dumps.
"You okay sweetie?" I asked.
While her eyes were focused on the ball of light we were following, I didn't need to look into them to tell she was upset.
"I miss my Dad" she told me "I know what we're doing is important, but I worry about him".
Had I not been driving I would have tried to comfort her.
"You can call him when we get back" I told her.
That didn't make her feel better.
"He'll just beg to come home" she said.
I did need a witch, but if she wanted to go back I wouldn't stop her. However this wasn't something we could discuss now as the blue light was looping around some trees.
"We're here" my witch girlfriend said
As soon as we stopped we got out of the jeep, and not long after a demonic creature attacked us. Buffy shot it with a crossbow before I even got one of my guns out of the boot.
"What have you cows done to my dog?" a human shaped demon yelled.
I was too busy loading the shotgun to reply
"Did he just call us cows?" said a shocked Amy.
Buffy was also upset.
"Are you calling us fat?" she asked.
I'd never fired a shotgun before so I didn't simply open fire. I needed a clear line of fire in order to avoid hurting anyone on my team.
"Damn uppity cows" the demon muttered.
The girls of the group looked ready to murder someone.
"Did you steal that crossbow from your betters?' the monster asked "When I tell the Constable about three escaped slaves running around out here armed he will...".
The creature wasn't dangerous but I couldn't allow anyone to tell the leaders of this dimension about us. The Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart couldn't see us because we all had wards painted onto our clothes, however they had underlings who could report to them.
'BLAM'
I dispassionately watched the demon collapse into a heap and listened to it gurgling on its own blood. I did not that firearms were effective against this kind of demon. Still I stabbed him in the gut with my sword just in case the shotgun wound wasn't lethal.
"Why did you do that?" Buffy asked me as he walked over to the dying demon "He wasn't dangerous".
Before I could even attempt to answer someone else spoke.
"It was just a demon" Amy said "Why does it matter?".
I carefully wiped my sword clean on the demon's clothing before returning it to its sheath. This was important as the blood of such creatures wasn't like the life fluids of a humans, it could be acidic or even be radioactive for all I knew.
"Not all demon's are bad" I reminded the girls "Lorne is nicer than a lot of human beings, and this guy was just a hunter. The only reason I killed him was because we can't risk anyone finding out there were here".
In retrospect it would have been wiser to use a crossbow, as they made far less noise than guns. I would have to remember that next time, but still I was glad I had the extra fire power.
"Come on" I then urged the females of the group "Let's find Fred she has to be close by".
If she'd heard the gun shot then she would be hiding somewhere. I would have done the same in her place. On the other hand she could be watching us right now and I'd never know, as she was small and sneaky.
"There is nothing wrong with my ass" Amy said loudly enough to bring me out of my thoughts "Tell em, Damien, I'm not fat!".
This was something I'd have to handle carefully.
"Your butt is great, sweetie" I told her.
That seemed like a safe enough reply to me.
"I told you he checks out your asses when he thinks we aren't looking" Marcie said "He's so a butt guy!".
The problem with having an invisible girl around was that you never knew who she was keeping a close eye on.
"Men look at butts and boobs" I said "Its perfectly natural".
I had no reason to feel defensive about it.
"That's not actually a denial" Amy pointed out "Are you checking out other girls?".
Again I carefully considered what to say next.
"Oh look a cave" I said.
Thankfully I'd spotted it just in time, and when everyone else looked we all saw the woman we were looking for.
"Excuse me, are you Winifred Burkle?' I asked the girl in sackcloth and rags "My name is Damien. We are here to bring you home".
My hope was that she was somewhat sane given that she hadn't been here for years.
"Okay, looks like the skinny chick isn't crazy" remarked Amy "She's just super scared".
Which was hardly a shock given that she was an escaped slave hiding out from demons who wanted to chop of her head off and eat her.
"Wait here I'm going to go get her" I told the girls.
When I got inside I saw that the walls weren't covered in bits of maths, and she did look more afraid then anything else.
"Are you Fred?" I asked patiently "I saw a photograph of you on a missing poster at the university, and I found the book you read".
So far she hadn't tried to attack me or otherwise act crazy. This was good.
"I'm here to bring you back home to Earth" I informed the skinny woman "I know a way, but we need your help".
Fred laughed, a shrill hysterical laugh. She wasn't insane I figured, but she was getting there by the sounds of things.
"There's no way back" she said.
I knew otherwise.
"Actually there is" I explained "There are books at the castle that will open a portal back home, and I need your help".
That was when I played my trump card. I took a foil cover piece of food out from inside my jacket and then I tossed it at her.
"I asked about you at the library" I told the science loving woman "They told me you like Mexican food. Sorry its cold".
She didn't care she devoured the yummy treat in short order.
"Do you have more?" she asked.
Thankfully I did.
"Yep" I told her "I packed some other stuff you might like. You can have it when we're on the way to the castle".
Fred shook her head and backed away from me again.
"Oh no you don't want to go there" she advised "Bad things happen to people there".
I wasn't worried.
"They've got dungeons" she said
Most castles did.
"And they torture people there" she then added.
That was what dungeons were for.
"We're going to steal the crown jewels and some books" I explained "And I'm going to destroy the machine that controls all the collars".
"You are?" Fred asked "Why?".
Her questions seemed reasonable, so I gave her an answer.
"Mostly for the money" I explained "Fighting monsters doesn't pay that well, and if you agree to come work for me then you can have some of the money. Oh and you can stay with us. I'm buying an RV and planning to travel the states. It will be fun".
Fred considered my offer.
"Can I use my share to buy clothes" she asked.
She could.
"I brought some stuff for you to wear" I told the young woman as I took a clean outfit out of bag "I hope it fits".
As it appeared a year in a demon dimension had robbed Winifred of her desire for privacy as she started to strip right in front of me. Since I was somewhat of a gentlemen I turned around
"Damien, are you going to be long in there?" Amy yelled into the cave "Are you behaving yourself?".
Sometimes I couldn't tell if Amy was my girlfriend or my mother.
"Come on Miss Burkle" I said to the now dressed woman "We should get moving. We have a busy day ahead of us".
Hopefully it wouldn't be too busy.
"Everyone calls me Fred" she told me "You can call me Fred too".
By the sounds of it we were off to a good start.
"Okay Fred" I said "Would you lack another wrap?".
Spicy chicken wraps seemed to be a way to Winifred's heart.
"If you are a hallucination then you're a very nice one" Fred commented.
She was sweet. She might be bit crazy, but she was a sweetie.
