Title: The Scooby Gang 4/5
Disclaimer: If you recognize the name, it belongs to Joss
Whedon, his allies, Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, or
Hanna-Barbera...
Spoiler: None
The next morning, around the breakfast table, Buffy
explained to the famous Mystery, Inc that she had called
Giles the previous evening before going to sleep. When
she was done talking, she had to explain just who Giles
was. While the real Scooby Gang knew Buffy slayed, they
weren't aware of how exactly slaying was done or how a
slayer lived.
"So, he should be calling sometime today to let me
know if he was able to track down this Mister Rendrop or
the Ancient Master Journals."
Willow swallowed her bite of cold cereal and spoke
up. "Buffy, I think I'll call him instead of waiting for
him to call us. I need to ask him a question about the
Pr'toniua Q'lan."
Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.
"Um, it's a book. I need to ask him about a book."
Buffy smiled at her friend. "Sure, go ahead."
As Willow picked up the phone, Buffy stopped her.
"You have to call his cell phone. He's not home. He's
out running around the world on errands for the Council."
While Willow dialed, Buffy did more explaining,
telling her cousin and friends about the Council.
Willow hung up the phone a few seconds later.
"That's odd. The message said the number was
unreachable."
Buffy shrugged it off. "Oh well, we'll just wait."
"Raiting frine ry re."
Shaggy talked around a mouthful of food. "Waiting's
fine by me, too, Scoob. Like, I can wait all day."
Velma put her plate in the sink and started washing
the dishes that were sitting in it. "We don't have to
wait. We can follow up the few leads we have instead of
sitting around all day."
Everyone finished their breakfast. Once everybody
was showered and dressed, they all climbed into the
Mystery Machine, the Slayer close behind. She turned to
Willow and Dawn. "You guys have Fred's cell number,
right? Call as soon as you hear from Giles."
Just then, Xander and Roxy walked up. For those of
you who don't remember, Roxy is Xander's new great dane.
He spent a lot of money on her and Anya was none too
pleased. Scooby, however, was quite taken with the
canine. After a bit of discussion, the young Harris and
his faithful friend - Roxy, not Anya - climbed into the
van with the others.
Roughly twenty minutes later, the vehicle stopped in
front of an old warehouse.
"Wouldn't you know it," Shaggy commented as they
opened the side door to get out, "we always end up in some
sort of warehouse."
"Ror shrip."
Shaggy reached down and scratched Scooby behind the
ears. "Yeah, old buddy. Good thing for us, there's no
ships around here."
They all entered the building. After working their
way around a few crates, they heard the warehouse door
slam shut.
In seconds, they were surrounded by vampires. Buffy
pushed everyone but Xander behind some crates. In no time
at all, she and her faithful friend - Xander, not Roxy -
had dusted all the undead. The others climbed out from
behind the crate in time to notice a shadowy figure
running from the corner.
Buffy sprang into action, grabbing the figure and
knocking it to the ground. Everyone gasped as they saw
just who it was that the Slayer had just captured.
"Daphne!"
"What?" the redhead asked from behind them.
"Not you! Daphne one! What are you doing here?
What is this all about?"
Buffy let the fallen girl up. Both dusted themselves
off. The original Daphne started talking.
"I didn't have anything to do with...with...
vampires?" She started to swoon. Fred stepped close and
held her up.
"Where have you been," asked Velma.
"I don't know. I remember running after you guys,
turning a corner, running into something, and waking up
somewhere else. I don't know where I was. All this time,
I've been living in some building. I don't know who had
me. They made sure I was fed, clothed, taken care of, but
I never saw them. There were other girls there, but they
came and went. I was the only one that stayed
permanently."
"You don't remember anything about them?"
"No. I think I was in England or someplace. The
girls talked with that accent they have. Occasionally, I
would hear men talking, but never saw them. They had that
accent, too. And everyone was always talking about
training or fighting. They talked about vampires, but I
thought it was a joke...until I saw what I just saw."
"How did you get here?"
"I don't know. I went to bed one night. I woke up
in one of these boxes," she said, pointing to the crates.
"There was a hammer in the box with me. I just got out a
few minutes ago, when I heard you guys come in. I hid
because I didn't know who you were at first." When she
finished speaking, she threw herself into Fred's arms. "I
missed you guys so much!"
Buffy tapped Daphne One on the shoulder. The girl
turned and saw Buffy and Daphne Two for the first time up
close.
"You replaced me?"
"Well, how would it look? The famous Mystery Inc
loses a member to a ghost? We couldn't have that,"
offered Fred.
Daphne One pulled away from him. She turned and
walked away from the group.
"Daphne?"
"What," came from the girl next to Buffy.
"Not you, the other Daphne. Where are you going?"
"Away from here. Apparently I wasn't that important
to you. I always thought you would come looking for me.
But no, you just replaced me!"
"Are you going to let her go?" Xander stepped in
front of Fred as he spoke. "She's been gone for how long?
You have to make her know she is important to you guys."
"Actually," interrupted Velma, "she wasn't so
important. She was always getting captured. That's why
we finally just replaced her. She was always a bit vain.
The new Daphne is just better."
Original Daphne proved the point by turning back to
the group and calling out to them. "Does anyone have a
mirror? My hair, not to mention my clothes, must be a
mess!"
Buffy sighed. "We need to find out what's going on.
Where she was, how she ended up back here,in Sunnydale of
all places, now, when you guys were here."
Velma reached down and started scratching Roxy
behind the ears. "I can answer that." Everyone gasped as
she grabbed Roxy's neck and started pulling the skin over
the dog's ears. The gasps from two of the group
intensified when the mask was pulled away to show who was
in the dog costume.
Someone sputtered. "That's...that's..."
TO BE CONTINUED
Disclaimer: If you recognize the name, it belongs to Joss
Whedon, his allies, Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, or
Hanna-Barbera...
Spoiler: None
The next morning, around the breakfast table, Buffy
explained to the famous Mystery, Inc that she had called
Giles the previous evening before going to sleep. When
she was done talking, she had to explain just who Giles
was. While the real Scooby Gang knew Buffy slayed, they
weren't aware of how exactly slaying was done or how a
slayer lived.
"So, he should be calling sometime today to let me
know if he was able to track down this Mister Rendrop or
the Ancient Master Journals."
Willow swallowed her bite of cold cereal and spoke
up. "Buffy, I think I'll call him instead of waiting for
him to call us. I need to ask him a question about the
Pr'toniua Q'lan."
Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.
"Um, it's a book. I need to ask him about a book."
Buffy smiled at her friend. "Sure, go ahead."
As Willow picked up the phone, Buffy stopped her.
"You have to call his cell phone. He's not home. He's
out running around the world on errands for the Council."
While Willow dialed, Buffy did more explaining,
telling her cousin and friends about the Council.
Willow hung up the phone a few seconds later.
"That's odd. The message said the number was
unreachable."
Buffy shrugged it off. "Oh well, we'll just wait."
"Raiting frine ry re."
Shaggy talked around a mouthful of food. "Waiting's
fine by me, too, Scoob. Like, I can wait all day."
Velma put her plate in the sink and started washing
the dishes that were sitting in it. "We don't have to
wait. We can follow up the few leads we have instead of
sitting around all day."
Everyone finished their breakfast. Once everybody
was showered and dressed, they all climbed into the
Mystery Machine, the Slayer close behind. She turned to
Willow and Dawn. "You guys have Fred's cell number,
right? Call as soon as you hear from Giles."
Just then, Xander and Roxy walked up. For those of
you who don't remember, Roxy is Xander's new great dane.
He spent a lot of money on her and Anya was none too
pleased. Scooby, however, was quite taken with the
canine. After a bit of discussion, the young Harris and
his faithful friend - Roxy, not Anya - climbed into the
van with the others.
Roughly twenty minutes later, the vehicle stopped in
front of an old warehouse.
"Wouldn't you know it," Shaggy commented as they
opened the side door to get out, "we always end up in some
sort of warehouse."
"Ror shrip."
Shaggy reached down and scratched Scooby behind the
ears. "Yeah, old buddy. Good thing for us, there's no
ships around here."
They all entered the building. After working their
way around a few crates, they heard the warehouse door
slam shut.
In seconds, they were surrounded by vampires. Buffy
pushed everyone but Xander behind some crates. In no time
at all, she and her faithful friend - Xander, not Roxy -
had dusted all the undead. The others climbed out from
behind the crate in time to notice a shadowy figure
running from the corner.
Buffy sprang into action, grabbing the figure and
knocking it to the ground. Everyone gasped as they saw
just who it was that the Slayer had just captured.
"Daphne!"
"What?" the redhead asked from behind them.
"Not you! Daphne one! What are you doing here?
What is this all about?"
Buffy let the fallen girl up. Both dusted themselves
off. The original Daphne started talking.
"I didn't have anything to do with...with...
vampires?" She started to swoon. Fred stepped close and
held her up.
"Where have you been," asked Velma.
"I don't know. I remember running after you guys,
turning a corner, running into something, and waking up
somewhere else. I don't know where I was. All this time,
I've been living in some building. I don't know who had
me. They made sure I was fed, clothed, taken care of, but
I never saw them. There were other girls there, but they
came and went. I was the only one that stayed
permanently."
"You don't remember anything about them?"
"No. I think I was in England or someplace. The
girls talked with that accent they have. Occasionally, I
would hear men talking, but never saw them. They had that
accent, too. And everyone was always talking about
training or fighting. They talked about vampires, but I
thought it was a joke...until I saw what I just saw."
"How did you get here?"
"I don't know. I went to bed one night. I woke up
in one of these boxes," she said, pointing to the crates.
"There was a hammer in the box with me. I just got out a
few minutes ago, when I heard you guys come in. I hid
because I didn't know who you were at first." When she
finished speaking, she threw herself into Fred's arms. "I
missed you guys so much!"
Buffy tapped Daphne One on the shoulder. The girl
turned and saw Buffy and Daphne Two for the first time up
close.
"You replaced me?"
"Well, how would it look? The famous Mystery Inc
loses a member to a ghost? We couldn't have that,"
offered Fred.
Daphne One pulled away from him. She turned and
walked away from the group.
"Daphne?"
"What," came from the girl next to Buffy.
"Not you, the other Daphne. Where are you going?"
"Away from here. Apparently I wasn't that important
to you. I always thought you would come looking for me.
But no, you just replaced me!"
"Are you going to let her go?" Xander stepped in
front of Fred as he spoke. "She's been gone for how long?
You have to make her know she is important to you guys."
"Actually," interrupted Velma, "she wasn't so
important. She was always getting captured. That's why
we finally just replaced her. She was always a bit vain.
The new Daphne is just better."
Original Daphne proved the point by turning back to
the group and calling out to them. "Does anyone have a
mirror? My hair, not to mention my clothes, must be a
mess!"
Buffy sighed. "We need to find out what's going on.
Where she was, how she ended up back here,in Sunnydale of
all places, now, when you guys were here."
Velma reached down and started scratching Roxy
behind the ears. "I can answer that." Everyone gasped as
she grabbed Roxy's neck and started pulling the skin over
the dog's ears. The gasps from two of the group
intensified when the mask was pulled away to show who was
in the dog costume.
Someone sputtered. "That's...that's..."
TO BE CONTINUED