Chapter 6
"I really should be doubting all of this," Harmony said.
"But?" Buffy asked.
"But it makes a lot of sense," she admitted. "Now when can I get a twin?"
"Xander had some freaky powers during Halloween that let him duplicate people," Cordelia explained. "We plan on tracking him down and seeing if he has any gas left in the tank to duplicate Amy or Susan, so we'll have three Builders."
"Builders?" Harmony asked curiously.
"Your turn Willow," Buffy said, waving for the redhead to explain.
"During Halloween everyone turned into their costume," Will said, setting down the slice of pizza she'd been eating. "I was dressed as a character idea I came up with. See, in all the stories, no matter if they are fantasy or science fiction, there are hidden dungeons and secret lairs, grand palaces, and stately manors, but the local population doesn't have the knowledge or workforce needed to build them."
"And usually in the middle of nowhere," Harmony said. "You'd think someone would notice beautiful abandoned castle with silverware and chandeliers completely untouched."
"Exactly! Well, my idea was that we have a race of mythical builders who created all those places. I dressed as one and Xander accidentally copied me while I was one and then he copied her mid orgy..." Will angrily grabbed her pizza and started eating.
"She's jealous she didn't get to join in," Jane said.
"Being demoted to apprentice probably didn't help matters either," Susan agreed.
"Apprentice?" Cordelia asked suddenly.
"Once a Builder, always a Builder," Amy and Susan chorused.
"What?" Willow asked, as everyone stared at her.
"You're a Builder," Cordelia told Willow bluntly.
"The spell wore off," Willow reminded her.
"Being a Builder is a permanent thing," Amy told her. "You have dropped down to a no experience apprentice Builder, but you're still a Builder."
"Why do you think you've been eating so much?" Susan asked.
"I thought I was just upset I didn't get to have Xander, while you guys not only got him but are having his children," Willow admitted.
"Nope, you are filling your reserves," Amy told her cheerfully. "From the looks of things, I'd guess you'd need another ten pounds of food to reach even minimal reserves that would allow you to materialize your tools and start breaking down blocks of material to start making real progress on it."
"So I'm not eating like this because I'm upset?" Willow asked.
"Like we've ever sublimated emotions into food," Susan snorted. "No, we build, or read, or solve problems."
"I'm a Builder," Willow said in wonder as she thought about what that actually meant.
"And once we get our home base built, we'll make sure your reserves are topped off and get you started on gaining some experience," Susan promised.
Amy nodded. "For our first project I was thinking corrupted Disneyland set up. The rides are challenges to obtain the keys needed to get into the castle in the center."
"And inside the castle a powerful magic sword," Susan said with a grin. "Something that will attract monsters and heroes to quest for."
"But what if a villain gets it?" Buffy demanded.
"Villains usually come with their own evil weapons of power," Susan waved it off. "Besides I was thinking sword in stone deal so they have to be worthy to draw it out."
"Got a spare?" Buffy asked hopefully.
The pair laughed.
Amy shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. We can make mundane items easily and even some simpler magical ones, however major quest items are created by the quest itself."
"It's part ambient magic, part sacrifice," Susan added.
"I can run through the quest when it's complete, right?" Buffy asked hopefully.
"Sure," the two Builders chorused.
"It'll be dangerous and filled with demons, but we're building it with champions in mind," Amy said.
"Plus you can fill out the evaluation sheet when you finish," Susan said, eyes lighting up. "You have no idea how hard it is to get people to fill those out!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Julie leapt forward, a diving roll keeping her out of the line of fire as she lashed out with her whip yanking the feet out from under the man with the ventriloquist dummy, just as several tear gas pellets hit the ground around him, making him cough and wheeze.
"We need an ambulance!" Batgirl yelled to Robin, while she searched Xander for a pulse, knowing it was probably fruitless as one bullet had definitely hit his heart.
"On it," Robin replied, quickly speaking to someone on his com unit.
"Boss?" Pat begged, as she stared into Xander's blank eyes and still body.
"Fuck!" Jo cursed as she saw Xander.
Xander's back suddenly bowed and he took a deep breath of air before coughing up a wad of phlegm and blood. Batgirl helped him roll over so he could get rid of all the crap that was in his lungs.
"Boss, you regenerate?!" Pat demanded. "Does everyone regenerate but me?!" She pulled some bandages out of her purse and bandaged her shoulder.
"I don't," Julie painted out.
"Yeah, but you got that ass," Pat said. "I mean, look at it."
"She has a point," Robin agreed, making Batgirl groan.
"Why didn't you tell me you regenerate?!" Pat demanded.
"It's never come up," Xander said. "I mean, I'm a lover not a fighter, this is the first time I've been shot!"
"Huh, that makes a lot of sense," Pat admitted while Batgirl examined her shoulder.
"Missed the bone completely, a couple of stitches and a week or two of bed-rest and you'll be fine," Batgirl told her.
"I'll kill the guy who shot you and you'll feel much better," Xander promised her.
"You can't kill him, I already have him in custody," Nightwing said, tightening the cuffs on the Ventriloquist.
"Not him," Xander said, "Him!" He pointed at the dummy.
"It's a dummy," Robin said.
"It's a dummy made with swamp wood from guess where," Xander replied.
"Where? And why would that even matter?" Julie asked.
"Slaughter swamp," Xander said. "And seriously the wimpy guy gets the same dummy over and over despite everything that happens and you've never noticed the pattern before?"
"Seriously?" Robin asked.
"Ever seen a horror movie where you have to cringe at something stupid, like a bunch of teens deliberately defiling a serial killers grave or a couple that finds their dog drained of blood and thinks it's just a bat infestation?" Xander asked. "Do you really want to be the white couple who simply repaints the living room when the walls start bleeding?"
"I've got thermite," Batgirl offered, after everyone exchanged glances.
"Let's make sure he's not filled with explosives first," Nightwing said, carefully removing the Tommy Gun and spare ammo drum from the dummy.
Julie drug over a 50 gallon drum and broke up a crate to use as kindling. Robin used some wire to restrain the doll's limbs, despite the strange looks he got, before putting it in the barrel and coating it in accelerant.
"I can't believe we're doing this," Nightwing said.
"Look at it as destroying a specially made weapon," Xander suggested. "He can't go on another crime spree without it."
"Yeah," Nightwing agreed straightening up. "Put like that it makes perfect sense."
"Would you like to do the honors?" Robin offered Pat a small thermite grenade.
"I'll pull the pin," she agreed, pulling it so Robin could drop it in the barrel, causing flames to shoot a half dozen feet in the air.
They watched the fire cautiously, but nothing happened and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, just before the barrel rocked and something inside it screamed.
All three of the Bat clan tossed in additional chemicals until the barrel itself was melting and the noise died down.
"That didn't happen," Nightwing declared.
"I'm going to need therapy," Robin said.
Pat pulled Robin to her and buried his face in her chest. "There, there," she said, rubbing his back with her good arm.
"If the wimp takes up woodworking in prison, which he probably will, make sure he gets normal wood and not something from a cursed forest or a swamp that creates a zombie that can kick Superman's ass," Xander suggested.
"I'll make sure of it," Nightwing agreed.
"Can we have him back?" Batgirl asked Pat, as Robin seemed content to stay where he was.
Pat gently pulled Robin away from her chest. "How do you feel?"
"Surprisingly good," Robin said cheerfully.
"Beats Prozac," Xander said. "Now, who is up for ice cream?"
"Me, me!" Robin exclaimed.
"We have to finish up here," Nightwing told him.
"Plus I'm pretty sure he means it in a sexual manner," Julie told him.
"I didn't, but I do now," Xander said. "OK, let's get Pat looked at and then we'll have ice cream."
"And then an orgy?" Pat asked hopefully.
"If you're good," Xander agreed.
"You're all crazy," Batgirl said. "Fun, but crazy."
The three superheroes touched their right ear and stood up straighter.
"On it," Nightwing said into his com, before they all ascended to the rooftops on grappling hooks and vanished.
"We have an appointment with a zoo before any orgies," Julie said.
"Not a problem," Xander said, "They'll probably want to hold Pat overnight anyway."
"I ain't exactly in the system," Pat pointed out, reminding him she was a clone.
"Give me a couple of grand and I'll take care of that," Jo promised. "A little bit of cash usually solves most problems and Gotham hospitals are underfunded."
"Wish I regenerated like you guys do," Pat groaned. "Or that I was bulletproof."
"I actually have some thoughts on that, but that's later after we've branched out from Gotham," Xander said, his recent brush with death reminding him that Gotham was known as one of the most dangerous cities in DC for a reason and wondering what he could do to change that.
Typing by: Abyssal Angel