Spanderverse: Confusion of Three
Ch. 14 – Giles' Place and Explanations
Giles had just poured himself a nice cup of tea and was adding a thin lemon slice to the brew when his front door burst open. As Giles walked out of the kitchen with a tray laden with mugs and a coffee pot, he greeted with a smile Buffy and Riley. As he espied Spike saunter in behind him, he scowled briefly before turning his attention back to his Slayer.
"Giles, did Tara tell you we were all headed over here?" Buffy asked. And then before Giles had a chance to answer added, "Ooh, coffee!"
"Here you are Riley," Giles said amiably as he set the tray on a table and handed a mug to the ex-commando. Giles pointedly did not offer a mug to Spike, and barely acknowledged his presence with a short, "Spike."
"Rupert." Returned Spike before grabbing a coffee mug anyway. Though he wasn't much of a drinker of the junk, Giles had tried to snub him and that called for drastic action. Spike took two small swallows of the bitter drink, before setting the cup down. He figured he'd made the point.
"How much did Tara say on the phone?" Buffy wanted to know.
"Uh, duplicate Xander; probably Toth in disguise…"
"Okay, I have the real Xander at his and Anya's new apartment. Oh, yeah! Xander has a new apartment…I can't wait to see it. I bet it's really nice, he was so excited, and he said that Anya would just love it so it must be really roomy!" Buffy took a breath to swallow some of her own coffee, her cup having far too much sugar for Giles' liking.
"So," Riley interjected, "we're basically thinking that we can look for any Xanders running around Sunnydale and that should be Toth."
"Now, all we need is a way to defeat him. Do you think I can just beat him to death?"
"Well," Giles said, settling himself on a chair and grabbing a book. "I've been doing some research. I knew I had more detailed information here on the, uh, Tothric Clan. Anyway, now that we've got his staff away from him, he should be relatively easy to, uh, to defeat. Although, I'm starting to wonder about this alleged staff…it certainly looks like a plain old branch."
"That's what I said," Buffy added.
"But Xander did say that he took it off of Toth," Riley added.
"Well, according to my research, this particular demon clan specializes in powering up cedar staves. It's possible that this was an enchanted staff. Once Xander removed it from Toth's possession, it may have, uh, reverted. Turned itself back into the regular tree branch it started as."
"Doesn't that mean that Toth could have another powered-up branch, then?" Buffy wanted to know.
"Well, according to this grimoire, it is a rather involved process. Toth would have to be over a large vessel, or, uh, cauldron filled with herbs over a fire. It would require him to enter deep meditation for hours."
"Well," Spike interjected, "he's had all day for his meditating ass to come up with another magical stick, now hasn't he?"
Buffy turned to him, irritated. "Why exactly are you here, again?"
"Told you, pet. Where ever there's a Scoob in trouble, that's where I'll be to save the day. Especially, if it's Xander. He's nearly the only one of you lot that's worth the saving."
"Whatever, just stay out of my way. So, Giles…any way to make his magic blaster less blastery?"
Willow and Tara came rushing into the apartment before Giles could answer. Their arms were loaded with candles and bottles. As they struggled to find a place to dump their supplies, Willow was breathlessly describing Toth's weird behavior.
Tara added, "He seemed to be interested in mating with Willow."
"You too, huh" Spike said to Willow, though no one seemed to notice he was even there.
"I'm glad you two are safe," Buffy said, organizing her thoughts. "Okay, Giles, I need a way to defeat Toth fast, especially if he's managed to come up with another staff. Riley, help the girls get set up with their spell stuff, please. Willow and Tara, I need you to perform a search spell for Xander. We know the real deal is at the new apartment having his romantic dinner with Anya."
For some reason that Spike didn't understand, the thought of Xander going over so much trouble for that bint irritated him. He buried the sharp remark on his tongue, however, in the hope that they could move things along to the hitting part.
"So, whichever one is wandering around Sunnydale is the one we hit," Riley said.
"We're on it," Willow told the room, grabbing Tara's hand.
As Willow and Tara began concentrating, Riley spread out a map of Sunnydale. Anointing candles and lighting them, he glanced nervously at the girls. His province was military hardware; the magic stuff was just weird and it made him uncomfortable.
As Riley began to dust the city map with handfuls of reddish sand, Willow and Tara began to chant in what sounded like Latin. As Riley watched, the sand began to move of its own accord, drawing together into clumps. These clumps then began slowly moving over the map, glowing with a soft white light.
Buffy was waiting a little impatiently for some answers. She hated this part where all of her Slayer powers were basically useless. Unless the others could point her in the right direction, there wasn't anything for her to hit. She glanced over at the platinum blond. Except for Spike, that is. Maybe if the witches' come up a bust, I'll beat on him. Especially, if he doesn't stop looking at me like that. What the hell is his problem?
Spike tried to appear nonchalant as he waited for the whiz kids to tell them where Toth was wandering. He tried to feign disinterest in everyone around him, but Buffy was wearing some sort of body spray that smelled faintly of vanilla. His eyes kept being drawn to her of their own accord and he kept catching himself staring at her. I really need to talk to her. I can't keep going on pretending I don't want her, despite the fact that she's still hanging around with Captain Plank-o-Wood.
As he caught Buffy looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face, he tried to play it cool. Nodding at her and giving her a small smile, he was rewarded with her eyes rolling and her sucking her teeth in irritation. She turned away from him quite deliberately and wandered over to see if the witches were making progress. Spike was left standing near the front door still, feeling left out. The sooner we can save Xander, the better, he thought. He'll be grateful for my help even if Ms. Full-of-Herself isn't.
Giles sat up suddenly, looking around the room with urgency. "Oh, dear!" he exclaimed, receiving nothing back except a raised eyebrow from Spike.
Willow and Tara had opened their eyes and were looking at the results of their spell. "What is this," Willow said, mystified.
"What?" Buffy enquired, "Why are there three little Tinkerbells on the map?"
"Well, uh," Tara said, looking at Buffy's confused expression that she was sure matched her own, "according to this there are actually three Xanders running around town."
Willow added her own confusion, "Yeah. It looks like we have two Xanders at the corner of Medley and Wilkins Road. That's a residential neighborhood, it must be Xander's apartment building."
"Look at this Willow," Tara said before once again addressing Buffy. "It looks like the Xander we met is on the far side of the memorial park and headed in the direction of the other two."
Giles cleared his throat loudly, wishing to attract Buffy's attention. "Oh, dear?" he repeated.
"Oh, man! That's gotta mean that Toth and Xander are in the same building right now," Riley deduced. "And whoever Mystery Xander Number 3 is will soon be joining the party."
"Crap!" Buffy exclaimed, "We gotta call Xander. I mean our Xander and warn him to barricade the door till we get there. Who's got a cell with some minutes left?"
"I got it," Riley volunteered, already pulling out his phone and dialing.
"I said," Giles virtually yelled, "oh, dear over here!"
"Yes, but you always say that," Buffy responded.
"Well, it's always important. I think I've found what Toth has been trying to do."
"Well, don't keep us in suspense, Rupes," Spike said, trying to feel part of the gang.
"Toth's staff or more to the point, that blast that hit Xander? It was designed to split someone into their components, uh, psychically I mean. Separating different aspects into different physical bodies."
Buffy looked completely lost. "I don't get it. What was the point of that?"
"Well, think about it. If you had been hit with the ray instead of Xander, you'd have been split the way he apparently has been. All of your Slayer abilities in one Buffy, while the regular attributes went into another, more average Buffy."
"Wait," Riley said, "wouldn't that have just made another Super-Buffy? It seems like a sure way to end up dead for him."
"Think, muscle-boy," Spike said. "If one's Supergirl, the other is just plain human. Kill one and I bet the other one takes a dirt nap too. Am I right, Rupert?" Spike looked to Buffy, trying to gauge if he impressed her over Riley with this bit of deduction.
"Err, w-well, y-yes. That's exactly what I was, uh, going to say," Giles' responded. "We have to keep all three of these Xander's from killing each other. None of them are Toth. He must still be around somewhere looking for another chance to shoot the Slayer with another mystic bolt."
Spike rolled his eyes. Despite the fact he'd been ahead of everyone else in the room, Buffy apparently remained unimpressed. She didn't even bother looking over at him, let alone giving him some tiny crumb of acknowledgement.
"But why three?" Willow wanted to know.
"W-well, uh," Giles removed his glasses, slipping one arm into his mouth. After a brief second, his eyes lit up in comprehension. "Xander has been possessed twice, remember? Once during Ethan's pranks he was a soldier of some sort, I believe."
"Right!" Willow took over, "And then there was his hyena possession. That must have been the Xander that's looking for a mate! He's looking to create a stronger pack!"
"Then the Xander who met you in my room; that must have been our regular Xander. That's why he was still wearing those clothes he had on at the dump," Tara said, remembering Willow's description of him as they traveled toward Giles' place.
"That leaves the Xander with Anya as the soldier," Riley said.
"So how do we help him Giles," Buffy asked.
"We have to put them back together," Giles said, "mystically. It should be simple for Willow and Tara. Toth's magic is what is keeping them separated. Once it isn't a factor anymore, they should simply re-merge into one gestalt being. Uh, be the same Xander we're used to."
"No answer from Xander's cell though," Riley said, closing his phone hard in frustration, "he must either have it off, or…"
"Or it's too late and the Xander's are already trying to kill each other thinking their fighting Toth!" Buffy ran for the door, "Come on! We've gotta get over there before one of them does something that none of them can live with!"
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End Ch 14