Part V
"So be it. . .the Test begins. . now."
As Masters spoke, Walters moved forward and quickly performed an overhand thrust with his staff, trying to strike Xander in the collarbone. Xander stumbled back and deflected the thrust with a clumsy looking sweep of his own staff: he staggered for a moment, then regained his footing while the annoyed Walters recovered his own bearings and began to circle his opponent. Xander held his staff at the ready, but made no move to attack. After a few seconds, Walters became impatient and began a series of probing attacks, gradually increasing in force. Xander gave ground and deflected all of the attacks with what appeared to be unsophisticated defensive moves. All watching could see the frustration on Walters' face as he continued the attack; suddenly, he aggressively moved in with a series of sweeping attacks. Xander sidestepped the flurry and exploited an opening to swat Walters on the rump with his staff, causing the larger man to stagger into a wall and allowing Xander to get around him, giving him new room to retreat. He smirked and commented, "So this is the great Watcher's training I've heard so much about. . .doesn't seem too different from what you could pick up watching 'American Gladiators.'"
The crowd murmured at Xander's bravado, and Walters flushed angrily. He moved in on Xander again, and began a furious sequence of swings and thrusts. Xander was unable to completely block all of them, but the hits that occurred were glancing blows. . .they would bruise, but do no other lasting damage, and he was able to keep his footing. As time went on, Xander's moves appeared to become more sophisticated: the more knowledgeable members of the audience recognized several classic defensive sequences that were beyond even what standard Watchers' training with the quarterstaff would allow. Faith, Buffy, and Giles realized this at about the same time and turned to where Willow was watching the action with an expectant smile on her face. She looked up to see three annoyed people glaring at her, and Buffy spoke for all of them when she demanded, "All right, Willow. You've been holding out on us. . .spill."
Willow looked over at Buffy, her expression innocent: "What? I'm just watching the fight like the rest of you. . .what makes you think I know anything?"
"Because you've been too damned calm about this whole thing. . .and none of us have seen Xander even pick up a quarterstaff." Giles' tone was even, but the undertone of irritation was evident. He met Willow's eyes with determination and pressed, "I must concur with Buffy, Willow. . .spill."
Willow smiled ruefully, then replied, "Oh. . .did I forget to tell you? Xander's Uncle Rory used to take us to the Renaissance Faire every year. . .since we were nine. It was a big event for us. . .and Xander was always caught up in watching the mock duels that would be fought to entertain the visitors. He wanted to take part, but the only weapon that they would let a youngster train with even under carefully controlled circumstances was the quarterstaff. Xander practiced at home regularly. . .Jesse and I used to tease him about it: we called him Xander of Sherwood Forest. . . but he didn't care. He wanted to be really good at it, and by the time he was thirteen, he was beating the adult fighters in the matches at the Faire." She paused, smiling at the memories, before continuing, "He still practices for a couple of hours a week. . .I remember Cordelia complaining about coming into his room unexpectedly one day and nearly getting her head taken off. . .Xander had to cough up some serious bouquets to make up for that one."
"Excuse me, Willow, that's all well and good, but how come we didn't know this?" Faith's tone was as irritated as the others, and exacerbated by the thought that Xander had been holding out on her.
Willow shrugged, and replied, "It was something he was proud of, but he knew that it was nothing compared to what you two or even Giles could do with weapons, so he didn't see any point in bringing it up. Besides, a quarterstaff isn't exactly an ideal weapon for dealing with vampires and other demons."
Buffy frowned as she realized Willow had a point. A Slayer could use a quarterstaff effectively to stun a vampire or most demons, but normal human strength was inadequate for overcoming vampiric resistance to blunt trauma. . .although it had possibilities when cooperating with other fighters. She sighed and commented, "We need to talk with him about that. . .it might be useful when we go out together on patrol. . ." She looked back at the action, and noted that Xander was still operating in a completely defensive posture. Buffy shook her head in annoyance and commented, "O.K., Xander obviously knows one end of a quarterstaff from the other, but he can't win unless he attacks eventually. . .what in the hell is he planning to do?"
"Rope-a-dope."
The comment came from Faith, and Buffy, Willow, and Oz blinked in bewilderment as they tried to figure out what she was talking about. To their further surprise, Giles chuckled and commented, "Of course. . .brilliant."
Buffy glared in annoyance at Giles and Faith, then whispered, "Do you want to provide closed-captions for the fighting lingo impaired?"
Giles and Faith looked at each other, then Giles turned back to Buffy and replied, "Do you know about the career of Muhammad Ali, Buffy?"
Buffy blinked, then remembered watching the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta on TV, and the shaking hand of the once-great athlete who lit the huge torch looming over the main stadium. Her father had been there with her, and he had spoken at length about the accomplishments of the man of the hour. She frowned, then replied, "Oh yeah. . .I remember now. Ali fought George Foreman in the mid-seventies, when he was past his prime. Foreman was considered unbeatable. . .this was a few thousand cheeseburgers ago, of course. . .and Ali had to figure out how to beat him. He just covered up for the first six rounds. . .let Foreman tire himself out beating on his arms. . .then when Foreman was dead tired, he moved in for the kill. . .nasty." She smiled and commented, "Not bad. . .so he's just going to wait for him to get tired, huh?"
Giles nodded, pleased that Buffy had processed the situation. "The approach has the advantage of protecting Xander from a physically stronger opponent until the moment that he can attack with minimal risk of being hit by a devastating counter-attack. The drawback of classically based training is that it is not geared towards processing new innovations. . .after Xander prevails, I will have to have a talk with the training Watchers about incorporating counter-measures to the tactics that Xander is employing." Buffy, Faith, Oz, and Willow noted that Giles said "after" instead of "if", and all of them took great comfort in it as they watched the fight continue.
Walters was visibly slowing down. A boxing match incorporates minute long rests after every three minutes of fighting: there was no such relief here, and the sweat poured freely down Walters' forehead as he desperately tried to find an opening in Xander's defenses that would allow him to finish the younger man off. No such opening was forthcoming, and Walters could see the cool confidence in the eyes of his opponent as he continued to try to breach his defenses. Xander was visibly bruised in several places, but his movements remained as fluid as ever, and he occasionally laughed out loud as the fight continued, causing Walters to flush angrily and redouble his efforts to penetrate Xander's defenses. Xander took a few more glancing blows in these barrages, but nothing disabling, and he continued his careful defensive efforts, noting that Walters was slowing more and more by the minute. He continued to watch, then, abruptly, Walters left a huge opening in his defenses as he prepared to deliver a crushing attack.
Xander suddenly changed his tactics, lunging forward with a thrust to Walters' jaw that sent him staggering back fifteen feet. Walters realized that he was in trouble and changed to a defensive stance, but his fatigue betrayed him, and Xander easily penetrated his defense with his probing thrusts, bruising Walters on the body and arms and disrupting his planned attack. Walters desperately tried to block the incoming barrage, but he was nearly exhausted, and his opponent seemed possessed by some terrifying martial demon as he delivered a blow to the chest, another to the jaw, and a sweep that knocked him into a supine position, from which he stared up at the sight of Alexander Harris holding his weapon in position to deliver a knockout blow.
Xander paused for a long moment, then asked quietly, "Do you yield, sir?"
Walters stared up at his opponent, disbelieving. After a few moments, Xander shrugged and drew his staff back, only to be startled into pausing by the voice that unexpectedly came from behind him:
"Well, isn't this interesting."
Everyone in the room turned to where Mr. Trick had walked into the library, followed by what appeared to be about fifteen vampires. Trick grinned and looked around the library, taking in the large audience as he commented, "We just came here to deal with a couple of spying Slayers. . .who would have thought that we would run into such a fine collection of stuck-up Brits from the Council of Watchers. . .some days it just pays to get out of bed. " He gestured to the vampires waiting behind him, and at once a frenzied battle broke out.
Buffy tossed Faith a stake, knowing that the Council had disarmed her in preparation for the trial, and the two Slayers moved into the crowd of vampires, fighting with grim determination. The Watchers reached into their coats, pulling out stakes and holy water as they faced the rushing mass of undead.
Walters had recovered somewhat, and he moved over to the table where the weapons were resting and picked up one of the broadswords, which he quickly brought to bear on the vampire who was pursuing him. With a vicious swipe, Walters decapitated his hapless foe, reducing him to dust.
Xander had quickly dashed over to the table and grabbed a stake, discarding his quarterstaff in the process. The fatigue from his fight with Walters seemed to vanish, and he threw himself totally into the fight, quickly dusting one vamp and taking some nasty punches from another before dusting that one as well. He noted with pleasure that Faith and Buffy were both rapidly wearing down Trick's attack force, and he scanned the room, only to note with concern that Trick was moving in on Walters. Walters brought his sword to bear, only to have Trick move in with the speed of a striking snake and knock the weapon loose, sending it clanging to the floor. The vampire chuckled and commented, "You've got some spunk. . .maybe I should do some recruiting here." He moved in and seized the young Watcher, and Xander was enraged. . .sure, this guy was doing the bidding of that scumbag Travers, but he didn't deserve to be turned into a vampire! He moved quietly up behind Trick as the vampire prepared to bite Walters, only to have Trick whirl around and grab his arm. The vampire made a quick motion, and Xander felt his shoulder dislocate with a loud pop, sending the stake dropping from his nerveless fingers. Through the haze of pain, Xander saw Trick drop his limp arm and reach up to grab him by the throat. Unable to do more than blink, he waited to see what would happen.
Trick chuckled and commented, "Well well well. . .Xander Harris. The Mayor tells me that you've been involved in all kinds of annoying situations here. . .helping Angel save the Slayer and preventing the Master from emerging. . .killing vampires while the Slayer was out of town dealing with her issues. . .saving the world by keeping those idiot zombies from blowing up Sunnydale High. . .not a bad resume. . .makes me almost feel that I should start some kind of damned recruitment speech. . .but I can't think of one, and taking you out of the Slayers' 'plus' column will be good enough for me."
Trick began to lean in to bite deeply into Xander's neck, ignoring his feeble struggles, only to pause at the meaty sound of a stake biting through fabric and undead flesh. Xander saw the vampire look up, roll his eyes, and comment, "Oh, shit," before bursting into dust. Xander staggered for a moment, then looked up and saw Faith's concerned face looking at him. He smiled faintly and ordered half-heartedly, "Faith. . .I'm OK. . .get the rest of the vamps."
Faith grinned and replied, "Not a problem. . .they bugged out when I took out the clotheshorse who was about to make you a midnight snack." She quietly moved up behind Xander, then abruptly seized his dangling arm and slipped his shoulder back into place without warning.
Xander uttered a strangled scream, then turned and glared at Faith before grumbling, "Jeez, Faith, you could warn a guy before you do something like that." Some color returned to his features, but he was still very pale, and he did not argue when Faith led him to a nearby chair as the rest of his friends clustered around him. He smiled at the attention, but had a hard time making out some of the specifics as he hazed in and out of full awareness.
Masters walked over to the group, and they allowed him to make his way to Xander. Xander forced himself to concentrate as he looked up at the Watcher, who began, "Mr. Harris, you have proven yourself a worthy champion for Rupert, and a valiant fighter for the cause. By the power vested in me as head of the Judicial Branch, I hereby-"
"Aren't you forgetting something, Daniel?" The voice of Quentin Travers echoed through the room, causing all to turn his way as he smugly continued, "The Test of Honor doesn't end until one champion yields. . .or one opponent is rendered unable to continue."
Masters blinked, but said nothing, though his eyes flashed anger at Travers' heartlessness. Surprisingly, it was Wesley who stormed over to Travers and exclaimed, "That is absolutely outrageous, Quentin! Mr. Harris had clearly beaten Walters, and would have finished him off if the vampires hadn't shown up. . .not to mention that Walters would have died if Mr. Harris hadn't stepped in."
Travers looked at the younger Watcher who had the temerity to question him, and was visibly unmoved as he replied, "All true, Wesley. . .but none of that is covered by the rules. This Test is not over unless one champion yields. . .or is unable to continue." He looked pointedly at the pale, swaying figure of Xander, then over at Walters, who was standing alone and staring at the scene.
"All right, I've had it with you!" Faith began storming forward with the apparent attempt of ripping Travers' head off and using it for a football, and none present seemed inclined to stop her. . .until a hand feebly reached out to grab her arm and a shaking voice called out, "Faith, no."
Faith whirled and saw Xander giving her a stare with intensity worthy of a Slayer. The message in his eyes was clear: * If you do this, all of this will be for nothing. * Faith looked at him for a long moment, then withdrew with a snarl as Xander stood up and glared contemptuously at Travers, then slowly staggered over to where his quarterstaff lay on the ground and painfully picked it up. Buffy began to protest, but a look from Xander silenced her, and he turned to where Walters was looking at him with a blank expression.
After a moment, the young Watcher picked up his own quarterstaff, and walked up to Xander and looked into his eyes. The bravado in the dark eyes was the same as before, but the younger man's deathly pale skin and his limp right arm that was barely managing to keep hold of the staff made it clear that it was just bravado. Walters' face went grim, and he raised his own quarterstaff as several in the crowd gasped. . .
. . .as he brought the quarterstaff down onto his raised knee, snapping the hardened wood with a sound that caused most of the crowd to wince. Holding the shorn halves in his hands, he met Xander's eyes again and intoned, "I yield to you sir, as a man beaten honorably by a better man."
Xander blinked at this, but could not manage a reply as Walters walked over to Travers, who was glaring at his champion with helpless rage. The younger man stopped in front of Travers, dropped the halves of the staff with a contemptuous gesture, then turned his back on him as he walked to an unoccupied corner of the library.
Faith, Buffy, Willow, and Oz rushed over to Xander, leading him back to his seat as Masters turned to Giles and commented, "Well, Rupert. . .you have prevailed. You are hereby reinstated as Field Watcher, and we will recall Wesley immediately. You have quite a team working for you . . .is there anything else we can do to help?"
Giles pondered the question for a moment, then noted that Wesley was quietly slinking away. He called out, "Wesley, wait a moment, won't you?" He turned back to Masters and replied, "I'd like to keep Wesley on as my assistant. He never should have been made the Field Watcher. . .he needs a lot of work yet. But his research skills are impeccable, and somehow in the last few minutes he's become more tolerable to me. . .I think he has potential."
Wesley blinked and looked grateful, and Masters nodded and replied, "I think that that can be arranged, Rupert. . .anything else?"
Giles nodded and replied, "Yes. . .I'd like the Judicial Branch to formally investigate the events of Buffy's Cruciamentum, under the parameters we discussed earlier."
Masters frowned, then asked, "To what end, Rupert? You have your position back. . .you can put that unpleasant matter behind you."
Giles frowned and replied, "The propriety and competence of other. . .persons are at issue." He pointedly looked over at Travers, who was standing nearby, ostracized by his peers and hearing the entire conversation.
Masters nodded, his eyes turning cold as he looked at Travers. He turned back to Giles and commented, "Point well taken, Rupert. . .shall we say three days from now, here?"
Travers' face fell: in the space of a few minutes, all had been lost. With a snarl, he turned and stormed out of the library. Xander blinked and turned to Giles, who had moved over to him with Masters at his side. He managed a faint smile and whispered, "So that's it. . .everything is taken care of?"
Giles turned to Masters, who hastened to reply, "Yes. . .Xander. . .it's all over. I declare you the victor in the Test of Honor. . .congratulations."
Xander smiled a little more broadly, then replied, "Good. . .I hate to miss important stu-" His voice trailed off, and his eyes rolled up as he slumped, unconscious. Buffy leaned forward and kept him from falling out of his seat, brushing a wayward lock of hair from his eyes and reaching down to check his pulse. She smiled and commented, "I think he'll be O.K. . . but we should get him to a hospital." She nodded to Faith, and with infinite care they carried him out of the library, with Oz following to provide transportation. Willow followed after giving Giles a congratulatory smile, though her face fell as she turned away as the immediacy of the crisis faded and her concern for Xander became the primary focus of her attention.
Masters came up behind Giles and put his hand on the younger Watcher's shoulder, commenting, "Well, Rupert. . .we will be going back to our lodgings to rest and prepare for the hearing in three days; also, we will have to track down Quentin. . .can't have him missing the party being held in his honor." With a chuckle, he nodded to the other Watchers, and they departed, except for Wesley and Walters. After a moment, Giles looked up and asked, "I'm sorry, gentlemen. . .is there something I can help you with?"
Wesley started to speak, then went silent. It was Walters who replied gently, "Mr. Giles, we would like to accompany you to the hospital, if that's all right."
Giles blinked and looked at the concerned faces of the other men for a long moment before replying, "Of course, gentlemen. . .my apologies for overlooking the obvious." He smiled gently and led the men out, leaving the library-as often was the case-a shambles.
. . .to be continued
As always, comments are welcomed and desired
"So be it. . .the Test begins. . now."
As Masters spoke, Walters moved forward and quickly performed an overhand thrust with his staff, trying to strike Xander in the collarbone. Xander stumbled back and deflected the thrust with a clumsy looking sweep of his own staff: he staggered for a moment, then regained his footing while the annoyed Walters recovered his own bearings and began to circle his opponent. Xander held his staff at the ready, but made no move to attack. After a few seconds, Walters became impatient and began a series of probing attacks, gradually increasing in force. Xander gave ground and deflected all of the attacks with what appeared to be unsophisticated defensive moves. All watching could see the frustration on Walters' face as he continued the attack; suddenly, he aggressively moved in with a series of sweeping attacks. Xander sidestepped the flurry and exploited an opening to swat Walters on the rump with his staff, causing the larger man to stagger into a wall and allowing Xander to get around him, giving him new room to retreat. He smirked and commented, "So this is the great Watcher's training I've heard so much about. . .doesn't seem too different from what you could pick up watching 'American Gladiators.'"
The crowd murmured at Xander's bravado, and Walters flushed angrily. He moved in on Xander again, and began a furious sequence of swings and thrusts. Xander was unable to completely block all of them, but the hits that occurred were glancing blows. . .they would bruise, but do no other lasting damage, and he was able to keep his footing. As time went on, Xander's moves appeared to become more sophisticated: the more knowledgeable members of the audience recognized several classic defensive sequences that were beyond even what standard Watchers' training with the quarterstaff would allow. Faith, Buffy, and Giles realized this at about the same time and turned to where Willow was watching the action with an expectant smile on her face. She looked up to see three annoyed people glaring at her, and Buffy spoke for all of them when she demanded, "All right, Willow. You've been holding out on us. . .spill."
Willow looked over at Buffy, her expression innocent: "What? I'm just watching the fight like the rest of you. . .what makes you think I know anything?"
"Because you've been too damned calm about this whole thing. . .and none of us have seen Xander even pick up a quarterstaff." Giles' tone was even, but the undertone of irritation was evident. He met Willow's eyes with determination and pressed, "I must concur with Buffy, Willow. . .spill."
Willow smiled ruefully, then replied, "Oh. . .did I forget to tell you? Xander's Uncle Rory used to take us to the Renaissance Faire every year. . .since we were nine. It was a big event for us. . .and Xander was always caught up in watching the mock duels that would be fought to entertain the visitors. He wanted to take part, but the only weapon that they would let a youngster train with even under carefully controlled circumstances was the quarterstaff. Xander practiced at home regularly. . .Jesse and I used to tease him about it: we called him Xander of Sherwood Forest. . . but he didn't care. He wanted to be really good at it, and by the time he was thirteen, he was beating the adult fighters in the matches at the Faire." She paused, smiling at the memories, before continuing, "He still practices for a couple of hours a week. . .I remember Cordelia complaining about coming into his room unexpectedly one day and nearly getting her head taken off. . .Xander had to cough up some serious bouquets to make up for that one."
"Excuse me, Willow, that's all well and good, but how come we didn't know this?" Faith's tone was as irritated as the others, and exacerbated by the thought that Xander had been holding out on her.
Willow shrugged, and replied, "It was something he was proud of, but he knew that it was nothing compared to what you two or even Giles could do with weapons, so he didn't see any point in bringing it up. Besides, a quarterstaff isn't exactly an ideal weapon for dealing with vampires and other demons."
Buffy frowned as she realized Willow had a point. A Slayer could use a quarterstaff effectively to stun a vampire or most demons, but normal human strength was inadequate for overcoming vampiric resistance to blunt trauma. . .although it had possibilities when cooperating with other fighters. She sighed and commented, "We need to talk with him about that. . .it might be useful when we go out together on patrol. . ." She looked back at the action, and noted that Xander was still operating in a completely defensive posture. Buffy shook her head in annoyance and commented, "O.K., Xander obviously knows one end of a quarterstaff from the other, but he can't win unless he attacks eventually. . .what in the hell is he planning to do?"
"Rope-a-dope."
The comment came from Faith, and Buffy, Willow, and Oz blinked in bewilderment as they tried to figure out what she was talking about. To their further surprise, Giles chuckled and commented, "Of course. . .brilliant."
Buffy glared in annoyance at Giles and Faith, then whispered, "Do you want to provide closed-captions for the fighting lingo impaired?"
Giles and Faith looked at each other, then Giles turned back to Buffy and replied, "Do you know about the career of Muhammad Ali, Buffy?"
Buffy blinked, then remembered watching the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta on TV, and the shaking hand of the once-great athlete who lit the huge torch looming over the main stadium. Her father had been there with her, and he had spoken at length about the accomplishments of the man of the hour. She frowned, then replied, "Oh yeah. . .I remember now. Ali fought George Foreman in the mid-seventies, when he was past his prime. Foreman was considered unbeatable. . .this was a few thousand cheeseburgers ago, of course. . .and Ali had to figure out how to beat him. He just covered up for the first six rounds. . .let Foreman tire himself out beating on his arms. . .then when Foreman was dead tired, he moved in for the kill. . .nasty." She smiled and commented, "Not bad. . .so he's just going to wait for him to get tired, huh?"
Giles nodded, pleased that Buffy had processed the situation. "The approach has the advantage of protecting Xander from a physically stronger opponent until the moment that he can attack with minimal risk of being hit by a devastating counter-attack. The drawback of classically based training is that it is not geared towards processing new innovations. . .after Xander prevails, I will have to have a talk with the training Watchers about incorporating counter-measures to the tactics that Xander is employing." Buffy, Faith, Oz, and Willow noted that Giles said "after" instead of "if", and all of them took great comfort in it as they watched the fight continue.
Walters was visibly slowing down. A boxing match incorporates minute long rests after every three minutes of fighting: there was no such relief here, and the sweat poured freely down Walters' forehead as he desperately tried to find an opening in Xander's defenses that would allow him to finish the younger man off. No such opening was forthcoming, and Walters could see the cool confidence in the eyes of his opponent as he continued to try to breach his defenses. Xander was visibly bruised in several places, but his movements remained as fluid as ever, and he occasionally laughed out loud as the fight continued, causing Walters to flush angrily and redouble his efforts to penetrate Xander's defenses. Xander took a few more glancing blows in these barrages, but nothing disabling, and he continued his careful defensive efforts, noting that Walters was slowing more and more by the minute. He continued to watch, then, abruptly, Walters left a huge opening in his defenses as he prepared to deliver a crushing attack.
Xander suddenly changed his tactics, lunging forward with a thrust to Walters' jaw that sent him staggering back fifteen feet. Walters realized that he was in trouble and changed to a defensive stance, but his fatigue betrayed him, and Xander easily penetrated his defense with his probing thrusts, bruising Walters on the body and arms and disrupting his planned attack. Walters desperately tried to block the incoming barrage, but he was nearly exhausted, and his opponent seemed possessed by some terrifying martial demon as he delivered a blow to the chest, another to the jaw, and a sweep that knocked him into a supine position, from which he stared up at the sight of Alexander Harris holding his weapon in position to deliver a knockout blow.
Xander paused for a long moment, then asked quietly, "Do you yield, sir?"
Walters stared up at his opponent, disbelieving. After a few moments, Xander shrugged and drew his staff back, only to be startled into pausing by the voice that unexpectedly came from behind him:
"Well, isn't this interesting."
Everyone in the room turned to where Mr. Trick had walked into the library, followed by what appeared to be about fifteen vampires. Trick grinned and looked around the library, taking in the large audience as he commented, "We just came here to deal with a couple of spying Slayers. . .who would have thought that we would run into such a fine collection of stuck-up Brits from the Council of Watchers. . .some days it just pays to get out of bed. " He gestured to the vampires waiting behind him, and at once a frenzied battle broke out.
Buffy tossed Faith a stake, knowing that the Council had disarmed her in preparation for the trial, and the two Slayers moved into the crowd of vampires, fighting with grim determination. The Watchers reached into their coats, pulling out stakes and holy water as they faced the rushing mass of undead.
Walters had recovered somewhat, and he moved over to the table where the weapons were resting and picked up one of the broadswords, which he quickly brought to bear on the vampire who was pursuing him. With a vicious swipe, Walters decapitated his hapless foe, reducing him to dust.
Xander had quickly dashed over to the table and grabbed a stake, discarding his quarterstaff in the process. The fatigue from his fight with Walters seemed to vanish, and he threw himself totally into the fight, quickly dusting one vamp and taking some nasty punches from another before dusting that one as well. He noted with pleasure that Faith and Buffy were both rapidly wearing down Trick's attack force, and he scanned the room, only to note with concern that Trick was moving in on Walters. Walters brought his sword to bear, only to have Trick move in with the speed of a striking snake and knock the weapon loose, sending it clanging to the floor. The vampire chuckled and commented, "You've got some spunk. . .maybe I should do some recruiting here." He moved in and seized the young Watcher, and Xander was enraged. . .sure, this guy was doing the bidding of that scumbag Travers, but he didn't deserve to be turned into a vampire! He moved quietly up behind Trick as the vampire prepared to bite Walters, only to have Trick whirl around and grab his arm. The vampire made a quick motion, and Xander felt his shoulder dislocate with a loud pop, sending the stake dropping from his nerveless fingers. Through the haze of pain, Xander saw Trick drop his limp arm and reach up to grab him by the throat. Unable to do more than blink, he waited to see what would happen.
Trick chuckled and commented, "Well well well. . .Xander Harris. The Mayor tells me that you've been involved in all kinds of annoying situations here. . .helping Angel save the Slayer and preventing the Master from emerging. . .killing vampires while the Slayer was out of town dealing with her issues. . .saving the world by keeping those idiot zombies from blowing up Sunnydale High. . .not a bad resume. . .makes me almost feel that I should start some kind of damned recruitment speech. . .but I can't think of one, and taking you out of the Slayers' 'plus' column will be good enough for me."
Trick began to lean in to bite deeply into Xander's neck, ignoring his feeble struggles, only to pause at the meaty sound of a stake biting through fabric and undead flesh. Xander saw the vampire look up, roll his eyes, and comment, "Oh, shit," before bursting into dust. Xander staggered for a moment, then looked up and saw Faith's concerned face looking at him. He smiled faintly and ordered half-heartedly, "Faith. . .I'm OK. . .get the rest of the vamps."
Faith grinned and replied, "Not a problem. . .they bugged out when I took out the clotheshorse who was about to make you a midnight snack." She quietly moved up behind Xander, then abruptly seized his dangling arm and slipped his shoulder back into place without warning.
Xander uttered a strangled scream, then turned and glared at Faith before grumbling, "Jeez, Faith, you could warn a guy before you do something like that." Some color returned to his features, but he was still very pale, and he did not argue when Faith led him to a nearby chair as the rest of his friends clustered around him. He smiled at the attention, but had a hard time making out some of the specifics as he hazed in and out of full awareness.
Masters walked over to the group, and they allowed him to make his way to Xander. Xander forced himself to concentrate as he looked up at the Watcher, who began, "Mr. Harris, you have proven yourself a worthy champion for Rupert, and a valiant fighter for the cause. By the power vested in me as head of the Judicial Branch, I hereby-"
"Aren't you forgetting something, Daniel?" The voice of Quentin Travers echoed through the room, causing all to turn his way as he smugly continued, "The Test of Honor doesn't end until one champion yields. . .or one opponent is rendered unable to continue."
Masters blinked, but said nothing, though his eyes flashed anger at Travers' heartlessness. Surprisingly, it was Wesley who stormed over to Travers and exclaimed, "That is absolutely outrageous, Quentin! Mr. Harris had clearly beaten Walters, and would have finished him off if the vampires hadn't shown up. . .not to mention that Walters would have died if Mr. Harris hadn't stepped in."
Travers looked at the younger Watcher who had the temerity to question him, and was visibly unmoved as he replied, "All true, Wesley. . .but none of that is covered by the rules. This Test is not over unless one champion yields. . .or is unable to continue." He looked pointedly at the pale, swaying figure of Xander, then over at Walters, who was standing alone and staring at the scene.
"All right, I've had it with you!" Faith began storming forward with the apparent attempt of ripping Travers' head off and using it for a football, and none present seemed inclined to stop her. . .until a hand feebly reached out to grab her arm and a shaking voice called out, "Faith, no."
Faith whirled and saw Xander giving her a stare with intensity worthy of a Slayer. The message in his eyes was clear: * If you do this, all of this will be for nothing. * Faith looked at him for a long moment, then withdrew with a snarl as Xander stood up and glared contemptuously at Travers, then slowly staggered over to where his quarterstaff lay on the ground and painfully picked it up. Buffy began to protest, but a look from Xander silenced her, and he turned to where Walters was looking at him with a blank expression.
After a moment, the young Watcher picked up his own quarterstaff, and walked up to Xander and looked into his eyes. The bravado in the dark eyes was the same as before, but the younger man's deathly pale skin and his limp right arm that was barely managing to keep hold of the staff made it clear that it was just bravado. Walters' face went grim, and he raised his own quarterstaff as several in the crowd gasped. . .
. . .as he brought the quarterstaff down onto his raised knee, snapping the hardened wood with a sound that caused most of the crowd to wince. Holding the shorn halves in his hands, he met Xander's eyes again and intoned, "I yield to you sir, as a man beaten honorably by a better man."
Xander blinked at this, but could not manage a reply as Walters walked over to Travers, who was glaring at his champion with helpless rage. The younger man stopped in front of Travers, dropped the halves of the staff with a contemptuous gesture, then turned his back on him as he walked to an unoccupied corner of the library.
Faith, Buffy, Willow, and Oz rushed over to Xander, leading him back to his seat as Masters turned to Giles and commented, "Well, Rupert. . .you have prevailed. You are hereby reinstated as Field Watcher, and we will recall Wesley immediately. You have quite a team working for you . . .is there anything else we can do to help?"
Giles pondered the question for a moment, then noted that Wesley was quietly slinking away. He called out, "Wesley, wait a moment, won't you?" He turned back to Masters and replied, "I'd like to keep Wesley on as my assistant. He never should have been made the Field Watcher. . .he needs a lot of work yet. But his research skills are impeccable, and somehow in the last few minutes he's become more tolerable to me. . .I think he has potential."
Wesley blinked and looked grateful, and Masters nodded and replied, "I think that that can be arranged, Rupert. . .anything else?"
Giles nodded and replied, "Yes. . .I'd like the Judicial Branch to formally investigate the events of Buffy's Cruciamentum, under the parameters we discussed earlier."
Masters frowned, then asked, "To what end, Rupert? You have your position back. . .you can put that unpleasant matter behind you."
Giles frowned and replied, "The propriety and competence of other. . .persons are at issue." He pointedly looked over at Travers, who was standing nearby, ostracized by his peers and hearing the entire conversation.
Masters nodded, his eyes turning cold as he looked at Travers. He turned back to Giles and commented, "Point well taken, Rupert. . .shall we say three days from now, here?"
Travers' face fell: in the space of a few minutes, all had been lost. With a snarl, he turned and stormed out of the library. Xander blinked and turned to Giles, who had moved over to him with Masters at his side. He managed a faint smile and whispered, "So that's it. . .everything is taken care of?"
Giles turned to Masters, who hastened to reply, "Yes. . .Xander. . .it's all over. I declare you the victor in the Test of Honor. . .congratulations."
Xander smiled a little more broadly, then replied, "Good. . .I hate to miss important stu-" His voice trailed off, and his eyes rolled up as he slumped, unconscious. Buffy leaned forward and kept him from falling out of his seat, brushing a wayward lock of hair from his eyes and reaching down to check his pulse. She smiled and commented, "I think he'll be O.K. . . but we should get him to a hospital." She nodded to Faith, and with infinite care they carried him out of the library, with Oz following to provide transportation. Willow followed after giving Giles a congratulatory smile, though her face fell as she turned away as the immediacy of the crisis faded and her concern for Xander became the primary focus of her attention.
Masters came up behind Giles and put his hand on the younger Watcher's shoulder, commenting, "Well, Rupert. . .we will be going back to our lodgings to rest and prepare for the hearing in three days; also, we will have to track down Quentin. . .can't have him missing the party being held in his honor." With a chuckle, he nodded to the other Watchers, and they departed, except for Wesley and Walters. After a moment, Giles looked up and asked, "I'm sorry, gentlemen. . .is there something I can help you with?"
Wesley started to speak, then went silent. It was Walters who replied gently, "Mr. Giles, we would like to accompany you to the hospital, if that's all right."
Giles blinked and looked at the concerned faces of the other men for a long moment before replying, "Of course, gentlemen. . .my apologies for overlooking the obvious." He smiled gently and led the men out, leaving the library-as often was the case-a shambles.
. . .to be continued
As always, comments are welcomed and desired