Disclaimers
All characters appearing in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are copyright Joss Whedon. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are not authorized by the copyright holder.
All characters appearing in Marvel Comics are copyright Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Company. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are not authorized by the copyright holders.
All original characters are the property of Celgress.
Buffy and the Lethal Protector – Episode One: First Patrol and Meeting the Gang
By
Celgress
Sunnydale High School late September 1997
Eddie Brock had been working as the new journalism instructor at Sunnydale High for a little over a week. Overall he enjoyed his new job and surroundings. His only major complaints were the general apathy expressed by the student body seemingly towards anything & everything outside of outlandishly unbelievable gossip (such as a giant praying mantis having ate an instructor's head last year and a killer scarecrow brought to life each Halloween by rainfall, really) and Principle Snyder's tyrannical attitude towards everyone, including teachers. Eddie soon learned Snyder truly was a petty, tin pot dictator. How Eddie's other longed to strangle Snyder. Eddie however restrained it's violent impulses killing the principle his first week simply wouldn't do, no matter how much Snyder might deserve such a fate. While most of his students were far from attentive there were several notable exceptions; a naturally inquisitive yet at times painfully shy red haired girl named Willow Rosenberg, her easy going jokester friend Alexander "Xander" Harris and the obsessive school newspaper assistant editor Frederick "Freddie" Iverson. Willow and Freddie even went so far as to pepper Eddie with questions about his time spent working at the Daily Globe, then one of two primary newspapers in NYC. Inevitably however their question had led Xander to jokingly ask Eddie if he knew any of the Avengers or other famous Manhattan superheroes including Spider-Man. Eddie had snapped at the startled teen telling Xander it was none of his business who Eddie did or didn't know back in New York. Later Eddie cursed himself up and down he'd nearly lost control of himself, and worse yet his other, after a simple question from an innocent teenager. Eddie searched for Xander so he could apologize that day at lunch and during his free periods without success. A few days later Eddie learned Xander along with his small, tightly knit group of friends spent all their free time in the school library. How odd, dismissing the thought Eddie squared his shoulders and made a beeline for the library after finishing the prepared lunch he'd brought from home the following day.
"Body parts creepy eh Giles?" Buffy said.
"Indeed," Giles said scanning the pages of an ancient, crumbling book.
"Zombies I knew it somebody is raising an army of zombies to eat our brains." Xander said fearfully.
"Possibly," Jenny Calendar said.
"Don't encourage him Jenny." Giles said sighing. "While often meat eaters zombies do not exclusively eat brains nor do they always target humans."
"Um is this a bed time?" Eddie said standing in the doorway stunned by the conversation he'd overheard.
"Ah Mr. Brock," Calendar said remembering Eddie from the school assembly where he'd been introduced by Snyder last week. "We were discussing a, movie yes a movie series."
"Q-Quite Right," Giles said shutting the tome he'd been reviewing with an audible snap and a tiny puff of dust.
"What are your thoughts on Night of the Living Dead Mr. Brock?" Xander said playing along with Jenny's cover story.
"I prefer Day of the Dead actually." Eddie said fully entering the library and approaching the group.
"Really, if I remember correctly it is the bleakest movie of the series." Jenny said.
"I like Dawn of the Dead best, can't beat zombies taking over a shopping mall." Xander said.
"Which is why Day is my favorite Ms. Calendar," Eddie said ignoring Xander's comment. "I prefer a sense of stark realism to sugar-coated fantasy."
"Please call me Jenny." Jenny said gesturing to her companions. "This is Rupert, Buffy and Xander."
Eddie nodded and then smiled politely as each person was introduced. "Xander and I have already met. Actually Xander is why I'm here, and you can all call me Eddie or Edward." Eddie said.
"Me," Xander said pointing at himself unsure of what to expect from his burly, obviously short tempered teacher.
"I want to apologize for snapping at you in class a couple days ago. My reaction was uncalled for it was a legitimate question you asked. I was having a bad day, no hard feelings?" Eddie asked extending his buffy right hand in an act of reconciliation.
"No hard feelings, Eddie." Xander said after a moment of hesitation. He wasn't use to be treated with any degree of respect by his teachers, outside of Jenny and Giles of course.
"See you all around." Eddie said after his handshake with Xander.
"In spite of his rough around the edges appearance he seems to be a nice guy." Jenny said once Eddie had departed.
"True," Giles said again picking up his reference book.
"Yeah which sure is a welcomed changed around here." Buffy said then noting the disapproving expressions on Giles' and Jenny's faces quickly added. "Present company accepted."
"I'm curious Xander what did you ask Mr. Brock that set him off? He seems so mild mannered." Jenny said.
"Nothing really, I asked if he knew any superheroes from his time working at the Daily Globe in New York. I figured he must have come in contact with a few while covering news there." Xander said with a shrug.
"Odd that would set him off." Jenny said.
"Tell me about it." Xander half laughed. "I mean it was a totally innocent question."
"Maybe Mr. Brock I mean Eddie doesn't like discussing his past. It could hold painful memories for him. I can understand that." Buffy said her face growing sad with memories of her own checkered past.
"Excellent point Buffy," Giles said nose once more buried in his book. "Can we please return to the matter at hand? Lunch break won't last all day and we still have a rather sinister supernatural mystery on our hands."
Eddie Brock's Apartment, evening
That night Eddie decided it was high time he unleashed his inner beast and took it for a stroll around town. Although Eddie desired a quieter life then they'd lived back east the drive to protect their new home remained strong. They couldn't allow innocents' suffering even if there was far less of it here than there had been in a cesspool of iniquity like NYC. Feeling the soothing, silky embrace of his other fully engulfing him Eddie gave in letting it exercise more control over their shared being than he had dared in well over a month. Eagerly the obsidian ooze his clothing had transformed into covered him forming the classic blueish-black with interlocking stylized white spider symbols on front & back, along with matching white ovals on the backs of his hands and elongated white crescent shaped eyes appearance of the feared lethal protector Venom. The material covering Eddie's mouth split open showing a mouth full of green slime dripping fangs and a long, pink prehensile tongue likewise coated in slime. His black finger tips sharped into claws. Opening his window Venom crouched briefly on the sill before firing off a line of thick grey-white webbing from the back of his left hand and swinging away.
Unlike his old haunts Venom soon discovered Sunydale played host to a rather unusual variety of nightlife. It was when Venom broke up what at first appeared to be an attempted sexual assault, in a tightly confined alleyway not far from a local dive nightclub frequented by the town's young people called the Bronze, but turned out to be something far worse that he learned how strange his protectorate truly was. Landing behind the assailant Venom easily tossed him away from the terrified young woman who ran off without uttering a thank you. Venom assuming that was the end of it turned around luckily his warning sense informed him something was wrong a spilt second before he heard deep, animalistic growling. Whirling around Venom was confronted by the man he'd previously trounced sporting a deformed face including a pronounced brow, sharp incisors and fluorescent yellow eyes.
"Die interfering freak!" The vampire screeched lashing out at Venom with his long nails which tore several small chunks out of the symbiote which it near instantaneously regenerated.
"What are you?" Venom asked having only encountered one other being that closely approximated his opponent's current appearance. The living Vampire Michael Morbius.
"I am one of the brethren of Aurelius. We are the elite amongst vampires." The vampire zealot hissed.
"Vampires, great vampires are parasites who prey upon the most vulnerable in society. We detest vampires." Venom hissed back.
"Die abomination…" The vampire zealot said however before he could launch another attack he exploded into a cloud of dust.
A handsome, brown haired man in a trench coat stepped out of the shadows behind where the vampire zealot had stood a moment ago. "Thought you can use some help, my name is Angel." Angel said offering his hand which Venom refused.
"We are Venom." Venom said eyeing Angel warily. "We sense similar things in you as the one who attacked us. You are a vampire, correct?" Venom snarled advancing on Angel.
"Yes but I'm a good vampire." Angel said putting his hands up and taking a step back. "I slayed the bad vampire remember?"
"Experience has taught us there are no truly good vampires." Venom said continuing his slow but steady advance.
"Trust me I'm a unique case. A hundred years ago gypsies cursed me with a soul, ever since I've been trying to atone for my sins." Angel said continuing to backpedal away from Venom.
"Back away talk, dark and gruesome." Buffy said emerging from the darkness off to Angel's right primed crossbow in hand. "Angel is telling the truth."
"Ms. Summers, Buffy," Venom said without thinking. He recognized the petite young blonde haired female from the library.
"Excuse me, do I know you?" Buffy asked never taking her eyes or crossbow off Venom.
Making a decision they hoped not to regret the symbiote's living mask retracted from Eddie's head revealing his human self underneath. "After a fashion, I'm Eddie Brock the man behind Venom. I believe we've met." Astonished Buffy's arms went slack involuntarily dropping her crossbow.
Sunnydale High School the next day, early evening
"Interesting," Eddie said trying to absorb everything he'd been told by the small group of dedicated demon hunting students, two teachers and a souled vampire about the true nature of Sunnydale. They likewise were having a hard time digesting everything they had learned about him, his alien costume and super beings in general. "Let me get this straight Sunnydale in general and the school in particular sits on some sort of interdimensional nexus that continually attracts demons of various stripes who want to permanently pop it open there by ending the world as we know it?"
"In a nutshell," Xander said. "So you really have all Spider-Man's powers huh?"
"And more," Eddie said proudly. "Plus my other protects me from most physical harm better than body armor."
"Fascinating," Giles said straightening his glasses. "Could I possibly examine a piece of your other? Perhaps send it away to the Watchers Council for detail analysis and study if my own efforts and equipment prove inadequate."
"Maybe some other time, once I know you better. My other isn't comfortable giving away samples of itself to those we don't know that well. Several years ago an unscrupulous organization run by paramilitary fanatics called the Life Foundation captured us and used samples taken from my other to create five new suits. Bonding these seeds to their most devoted soldiers they planned on taking over San Diego and then the world until my other and I stopped them, with a little help from an acquaintance of sorts."
"My word," Giles said.
"What happened to these five new aliens?" Jenny asked.
"They along with their hosts were destroyed in the battle between us." Eddie replied. "Although my other regretted terminating what were in essence it's own offspring in the hands of such evildoers they were far toon dangerous to be left alive. We cannot permit innocents to be endangered even by our own kind. Protecting innocents from harm is our sworn duty. These vampires they can be killed by decapitation?" Eddie asked changing the subject.
While years may have passed Eddie's other still found the memory of killing it's corrupt offspring distressing. One day, likely sooner rather than later, Eddie and his other knew they'd face a similar choice involving the other's only surviving child Carnage. It was a moment they secretly dreaded.
"That or a wooden stake through the heart usually does the trick." Buffy said.
"Oh holy water also hurts them along with crucifixes. You might want to start carrying one or the other around, like I do." Willow offered helpfully.
"Which reminds me," Angel said. "Word circulating in the demonic underground says there is a new player in town a powerful former disciple of the Master a sorcerer vampire name of Lucien. Apparently he recently deposed and assassinated the Anointed One. Seems the Anointed One lost favor with the surviving Order members after his and Absalom's botched attempted resurrection of the Master became a fiasco. More bad news Lucien has started reorganizing the Order by having a members' drive and issued a bounty on all those involved in the Master's fall, with the biggest rewards posted placed on me and Buffy. "
"Wonderful," Buffy huffed crossing her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes towards heaven in dramatic fashion. "First some sicko could be crafting zombie cheerleaders and now this!"
"So Giles what do your books tell us about good 'ol Lucy?" Xander said.
"A great deal I'm afraid." Giles said getting up from his seat and cleaning his glasses vigorously.
"I take it the name rings a bell?" Buffy said chewing on her lower lip nerviously.
"It does," Giles said setting his glasses upon his nose and opening one of his thicker books stacked on his main desk read aloud. "Lucien originally named Lucian of Samosata was a Greek philosopher of Syrian origin who was sired by an unknown vampire around 180 C.E. Lucien who changed his name to the more fashionable at the time French spelling in 1400 C.E. went on to be counted amongst the greatest of vampire mystics and wizards. He became so skilled in his arts he could even craft his own original spells with ease. In 1940 he made a pilgrimage here to the Hell Mouth where he met the then imprisoned Master. Lucien was sufficiently impressed by the elder vampire that he subsequently joined the Order of Aurelius henceforth becoming one of the Master's most ardent followers."
Everyone fell silent at Giles' grim words. As Eddie and his other had learned from their new friends one thing was certain around these parts. Life was seldom dull in Sunnydale.
To Be Continue
