Authors Note: I'm sorry, but I had to redo this chapter. The first version had format problems, and I'm ashamed to admit it, but On watching J&JB Strike Back, I realized I'd forgotten about Suzanne. I know, I know, I'm foolish. But this version should be okay. Enjoy
See Prologue For Disclaimer.
Authors Note: I'm sorry, but I had to redo this chapter. The first version had format problems, and I'm ashamed to admit it, but On watching J&JB Strike Back, I realized I'd forgotten about Suzanne. I know, I know, I'm foolish. But this version should be okay. Enjoy
See Prologue For Disclaimer.
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Chapter Four
Strange Saviors
Buffy, Willow and Tara walked home in a pleased, nearly dazed state. Judging from the way that Willow kept whispering things in Tara's ears, and the way Tara kept suppressing her own various gasps and giggles, those tow had just begun to enjoy the evening. Buffy walked along, pleased at the enjoyable conclusion to the day, while trying not to visualize the likely conclusion of her Friends evening. Not that she was strictly against that sort of thing, she just didn't think it would be appropriate to think about those things in their presence.
They walked along, enjoying the slight cool breeze as it rustled the leaves and branches of the many trees around them. It seemed a wonderful night to Buffy, The kind that so rarely occurred in this town. The only thing that could make this any better, Buffy thought forlornly, Is if I weren't the one with no shoulder to lean my head on. The way these two carry on is enough to get anyone in the mood. Her thoughts flickered momentarily to Spike, but then she decided not to get into the many bucket loads of conflicting emotion that came along with those thoughts. Instead she merely closed her eyes, listened to the rustling branches of the trees, and felt the wind blowing over her face.
Which might be why she never saw the punch coming.
She definitely felt it though. And she felt flying back. And imagine that, she even felt hitting the ground.
She always was the perceptive one.
She opened her eyes, and sat up rather slowly. She stood to find herself facing once, twice, three times a Vampire. She cursed herself for letting down her guard like that. One of them threw a punch, which she sloppily ducked under. This of course left her open to the knee to the ribs. She backed up with the impact, barely registered Willow and Tara shouting as they were approached by one of the creatures, and then stood straight. She saw one of the beasts take a run at her and she introduced his face to her foot. Hard. As she regained her footing she took a look at the three beasts. The vaguely thought to herself that, had she not had a drink or three at the Bronze, she probably would have made short work of them.
The other five, however, might have posed a problem at her peak. She didn't like the little feeling that she got in her stomach as she saw two or three of the creatures herd Tara and Willow away from her. She didn't like the prickling hairs on the back of her neck as the rest of them started to form a loose circle around here. She really didn't like the feeling as the roof of her mouth went dry, The way it always did when she was very outnumbered. She slid the spike out from her jacket, and it didn't bring the usual comfort that it always brought. She was sobering up really quick, and the cognitive abilities improving didn't make her feel any better: They only confirmed that she wasn't going to win this.
A vampire with an absolutely flaming outfit, reminiscent of a spin-off title-character, charged her, his arms spread. This came as a disadvantage for him, as having your arms out wide makes it difficult to block a kick to the chest. The impact of the kick threw him a foot or two up in the air, without knocking him far back. This allowed Buffy to move in quickly and spike his exposed back without much hassle. One down, she thought, too many to go.
"Hold." A chillingly calm and cool voice said, as deep as it was harmonious, as dark as it was compelling. Simultaneously, the entirety of the Vampire group froze. Not stopped, not backed off, Froze. They stood perfectly still. If not for her keen eyesight, Buffy might have thought the whole group had disappeared in shadow.
"This is foolish, Slayer. We don't have to do this. Just give us the Talisman, and no one need die tonight." A single man was moving now, speaking this dark and mysterious voice. "Not even your pretty little friends."
She felt a little confused now. "What talisman?" She asked, stalling for time. She hoped that Willow and Tara were doing something, a spell preferably. Anything to get them an edge. Her eyes darted over there, but it was clear from the look of them that Willow was still too out of it.
"Don't play the fool, Slayer. You can't act that well." The voice came closer to her, the Face was now barely visible. It was a man, of slightly higher that average height. dark hair, just long enough to be tied off in the back, leaving a few stragglers to curl over the sides from the top. His cheeks and nose were not pronounced, but noble all the same. His chin was strong and made his face somewhat triangular. He'd not shown his true face, which was strange for any vampire in a battle. That alone was enough to make Buffy think twice: The fact that he was in charge here showed that he was experienced, feared, and aware of his own capabilities. That combined with the fact that he'd not gone to full strength in the presence of the slayer showed that he was confident of his abilities even against her, and that he wasn't a fool to think so.
"We want the Talisman." He continued. "We will get it, but if you give it to us, you can go."
"Well, that's a tempting offer an' all," she answered, "But what would that do to my reputation? Besides, I really don't know which talisman you're talking about. I see a lot after all."
He gave her a frankly disturbing smile, one that she almost, for a split second, thought might actually be one of sincere goodwill. "We want the talisman of Frellen. You killed a vampire at the train station who had it, and though we aren't too sad about his demise, we'd like the talisman he was going to give us."
She was down right baffled now, and she decided that there was no way she could kill more than two of them before they counterattacked. Not enough. "Well, I'd love to help ya, But I'm afraid that I really don't know what you're talking about. Haven't been by the train station lately, and I certainly haven't dusted anyone there."
He seemed to consider her for a moment, almost seeming to wonder if she was telling the truth. Then he seemed to come to the realization that it really didn't matter. "Well, you had your chance Slayer. We couldn't take it from your charity, we'll take it from your corpse."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Fuck, Silent Bob, this's been one heel of a night." Jay said after taking a long drag off of the blunt he and Bob were working on. They'd been sitting here in this park, a fair distance from the train station, closer to what looked like housing. The sat on a fallen tree, topping off the night with a post-slaughter drink and blunt. They'd gone and bought a six-pack from a convenience store. Jay was quite upset that there was no Quick-Stop, and later thought to himself that he must remember to tell the Quick-Stop guys about this. Suzanne was working out the tension of having ridden in the storage compartment with the other animals. She was climbing up on Bob's back, and he was reminded of the look that he'd gotten from the clerk when Jay told her he needed a seat for his monkey. It isn't often, after all, when a Man with an orangutan buys a ticket on a train. Bob grabbed her arms and legs and swung her like a rocker. She made a pleased little screech in response.
"I mean, first we kick some ass, get some dinner, kick some more ass, meet a nice broad or two, get a look or two from a fine lookin bitch named Buffy," He elbowed his friend at that last part, at which Bob shook his head and blushed profusely, "And we aint even unpacked yet." He handed his friend the blunt, stood, put the remainder of the Beers in the duffle bag, And they got ready to go get a room.
They walked along quietly (well, quietly for Jay, anyway) and heard a shout not too far off. They looked in the direction, then at each other, and turned in that direction. They didn't walk perceptively faster, they weren't all that interested, but they did have inquisitive faces .
They were rather surprised when they heard more shouting. They were fairly surprised to hear punches impacting. They were very surprised when a person was thrown through the shrubbery in front of them to land sprawled at their feet. They were downright shocked to find that that person was Buffy.
"One hell of a night..." Jay muttered to himself, while Bob looked down, his eyes wide. His left eye narrowed, his right still bulging, and his face raised up to the bushes. Jay got the hint that Bob was about to beat the crap out of whoever had done this to Buffy, and decided to whip out his weapons (by which I mean his golf club and his metal bat) from his duffle bag.
He held the bat out in front of Bob, who took Suzanne from off his back. Bob took the bat, and they both looked at the vampire who was stepping through the bushes after Buffy. Needless to say, he was very surprised by the two gentlemen glaring at him.
Needless to say, the other vampires were equally surprised to see him flying back towards them. They were almost as shocked when two young men came out with their weapons raised. Willow and Tara, who the Vampires had done nothing more than smack once or twice in the hopes that they could be used to bargain with the Slayer, Looked up from the ground in downright awe. As they entirety of the assembled beings in that park focused their full attention on the two of them, Jay and Silent Bob looked upon the vampires. They raised their weapons, held with both hands, above their heads in bong-saber stances, and Jay cried out "Onward, Hemp-Knight!"
They rushed the crowd of vampires, who were frankly too shocked to move for a moment, and When they reached their first targets, they swung their weapons in wide arcs, hitting torsos. Both of their respective targets cried out in pain, which brought the others back to reality. The remaining vampires backed off, and grouped around their master as the Barbiturate-powered Jedi took their second and third swings at their victims.
Jay's opponent had crumpled to the ground, screaming in agony, already smoking. Bob's had been able to crawl back to the group. The regrouped troop then rushed towards the pair. Jay and Bob each stood facing the vampires sideways, and had their backs to each other. They held their weapons in identical stances, and whenever a punch or kick was thrown at either of them, it was intercepted and cracked by steel.
The satisfying crunch of bone, and the occasional whimper of pain, filled the air. It wasn't long before not a one of the remaining minions was not pausing to cradle a pained fist, while the flabbergasted master merely looked on in amazement. As did Willow an Tara.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Buffy was not entirely sure she could get up. she winced in pain as she raised her face up from the dirt. She was quite sure that the pain in both her sides were cracked ribs. She'd taken many blows to the ribs, and she really needed to get up. She hadn't seen Jay or Bob, as she was face down, and she was extremely confused when she brought her head up and looked into the Eyes of a monkey. She paused for a moment before continuing. She managed to get leverage enough to raise herself by clinging to a tree. She leveled herself and tried to climb back through the shrubbery, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stand much longer.
She hadn't expected the first thing she saw to be one vampire squirming on the ground, screaming, and then bursting into a cloud of dust.
She most certainly didn't expect the second thing to be two men, Jay And Silent Bob no less, attacking the six vampires she'd just been beaten by. And apparently, they were winning. She saw the swings of the bat and heard the cracking of bones. She saw the cruel upswing of the golf club connect with chest and heard a strange liquid sound; the sound of a splattering blood right before it burst into dust. She saw the vampires falling to the ground, she saw the bat and club rising and falling, She saw more puffs of Dust.
She heard Jay shout in glee, and he turned to Bob. "Fuck, Lunchbox! It's like I'm Luke Skywalker, These are our lightsabers, you're Ben Kanobi, and We kick'n their fuckin Storm trooper asses Force-style and shit!"
They hit their fists together in a friendly manor, and Bob shook his head. He smiled chuckling, and spoke for the first time since she'd met him. "Adventure, Excitement... a Jedi craves not these things."
Strangely enough, only one coherent thought could form in her head and be vocalized besides "The Hell?' She thought and muttered, "I've either had too much, or not enough, to drink tonight."
She barely registered their master coming to his senses as the last of his minions puffed, and ran away. She barely noticed that Willow and Tara had stood up. She barely noticed that Jay was cursing with the ferocity of ten construction workers. All she could notice was the amazing intensity on Bobs face. The fire, the anger, the emotion. All for her. That's kinda sweet, she thought, before passing out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Normally Willow would cry out 'Buffy!' when that happened, but she happened to be too busy gawking at Jay and Silent Bob at the moment. She was simply amazed, again. This time even more so, thanks to the alcohol in her system. Twice that night these two had saved her life in ana amazing display. It was Bob who first noticed Buffy, and he tossed the bat to Jay as he moved to Buffy unconscious form, And scooped her up in his arms.
Willow spoke first (Besides Jay, that is, as he was already in a rant about 'Dumb motha Fucka's fuckin with his crew.') "We should get her home. Come on, this way!" While she walked as fast as Bob could keep up with while carrying Buffy. Jay noticed that they were leaving, and remembered to go and grab his duffle bag this time before following.
"Damn, Lunchbox. You always get us into this shit!" He muttered, as he stuffed the Clubs into the Bag, Picked up Suzanne, and followed.
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Reviews Appreciated, Even flames.... (I'm So lonely.;) )
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See Prologue For Disclaimer.
Authors Note: I'm sorry, but I had to redo this chapter. The first version had format problems, and I'm ashamed to admit it, but On watching J&JB Strike Back, I realized I'd forgotten about Suzanne. I know, I know, I'm foolish. But this version should be okay. Enjoy
See Prologue For Disclaimer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Four
Strange Saviors
Buffy, Willow and Tara walked home in a pleased, nearly dazed state. Judging from the way that Willow kept whispering things in Tara's ears, and the way Tara kept suppressing her own various gasps and giggles, those tow had just begun to enjoy the evening. Buffy walked along, pleased at the enjoyable conclusion to the day, while trying not to visualize the likely conclusion of her Friends evening. Not that she was strictly against that sort of thing, she just didn't think it would be appropriate to think about those things in their presence.
They walked along, enjoying the slight cool breeze as it rustled the leaves and branches of the many trees around them. It seemed a wonderful night to Buffy, The kind that so rarely occurred in this town. The only thing that could make this any better, Buffy thought forlornly, Is if I weren't the one with no shoulder to lean my head on. The way these two carry on is enough to get anyone in the mood. Her thoughts flickered momentarily to Spike, but then she decided not to get into the many bucket loads of conflicting emotion that came along with those thoughts. Instead she merely closed her eyes, listened to the rustling branches of the trees, and felt the wind blowing over her face.
Which might be why she never saw the punch coming.
She definitely felt it though. And she felt flying back. And imagine that, she even felt hitting the ground.
She always was the perceptive one.
She opened her eyes, and sat up rather slowly. She stood to find herself facing once, twice, three times a Vampire. She cursed herself for letting down her guard like that. One of them threw a punch, which she sloppily ducked under. This of course left her open to the knee to the ribs. She backed up with the impact, barely registered Willow and Tara shouting as they were approached by one of the creatures, and then stood straight. She saw one of the beasts take a run at her and she introduced his face to her foot. Hard. As she regained her footing she took a look at the three beasts. The vaguely thought to herself that, had she not had a drink or three at the Bronze, she probably would have made short work of them.
The other five, however, might have posed a problem at her peak. She didn't like the little feeling that she got in her stomach as she saw two or three of the creatures herd Tara and Willow away from her. She didn't like the prickling hairs on the back of her neck as the rest of them started to form a loose circle around here. She really didn't like the feeling as the roof of her mouth went dry, The way it always did when she was very outnumbered. She slid the spike out from her jacket, and it didn't bring the usual comfort that it always brought. She was sobering up really quick, and the cognitive abilities improving didn't make her feel any better: They only confirmed that she wasn't going to win this.
A vampire with an absolutely flaming outfit, reminiscent of a spin-off title-character, charged her, his arms spread. This came as a disadvantage for him, as having your arms out wide makes it difficult to block a kick to the chest. The impact of the kick threw him a foot or two up in the air, without knocking him far back. This allowed Buffy to move in quickly and spike his exposed back without much hassle. One down, she thought, too many to go.
"Hold." A chillingly calm and cool voice said, as deep as it was harmonious, as dark as it was compelling. Simultaneously, the entirety of the Vampire group froze. Not stopped, not backed off, Froze. They stood perfectly still. If not for her keen eyesight, Buffy might have thought the whole group had disappeared in shadow.
"This is foolish, Slayer. We don't have to do this. Just give us the Talisman, and no one need die tonight." A single man was moving now, speaking this dark and mysterious voice. "Not even your pretty little friends."
She felt a little confused now. "What talisman?" She asked, stalling for time. She hoped that Willow and Tara were doing something, a spell preferably. Anything to get them an edge. Her eyes darted over there, but it was clear from the look of them that Willow was still too out of it.
"Don't play the fool, Slayer. You can't act that well." The voice came closer to her, the Face was now barely visible. It was a man, of slightly higher that average height. dark hair, just long enough to be tied off in the back, leaving a few stragglers to curl over the sides from the top. His cheeks and nose were not pronounced, but noble all the same. His chin was strong and made his face somewhat triangular. He'd not shown his true face, which was strange for any vampire in a battle. That alone was enough to make Buffy think twice: The fact that he was in charge here showed that he was experienced, feared, and aware of his own capabilities. That combined with the fact that he'd not gone to full strength in the presence of the slayer showed that he was confident of his abilities even against her, and that he wasn't a fool to think so.
"We want the Talisman." He continued. "We will get it, but if you give it to us, you can go."
"Well, that's a tempting offer an' all," she answered, "But what would that do to my reputation? Besides, I really don't know which talisman you're talking about. I see a lot after all."
He gave her a frankly disturbing smile, one that she almost, for a split second, thought might actually be one of sincere goodwill. "We want the talisman of Frellen. You killed a vampire at the train station who had it, and though we aren't too sad about his demise, we'd like the talisman he was going to give us."
She was down right baffled now, and she decided that there was no way she could kill more than two of them before they counterattacked. Not enough. "Well, I'd love to help ya, But I'm afraid that I really don't know what you're talking about. Haven't been by the train station lately, and I certainly haven't dusted anyone there."
He seemed to consider her for a moment, almost seeming to wonder if she was telling the truth. Then he seemed to come to the realization that it really didn't matter. "Well, you had your chance Slayer. We couldn't take it from your charity, we'll take it from your corpse."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Fuck, Silent Bob, this's been one heel of a night." Jay said after taking a long drag off of the blunt he and Bob were working on. They'd been sitting here in this park, a fair distance from the train station, closer to what looked like housing. The sat on a fallen tree, topping off the night with a post-slaughter drink and blunt. They'd gone and bought a six-pack from a convenience store. Jay was quite upset that there was no Quick-Stop, and later thought to himself that he must remember to tell the Quick-Stop guys about this. Suzanne was working out the tension of having ridden in the storage compartment with the other animals. She was climbing up on Bob's back, and he was reminded of the look that he'd gotten from the clerk when Jay told her he needed a seat for his monkey. It isn't often, after all, when a Man with an orangutan buys a ticket on a train. Bob grabbed her arms and legs and swung her like a rocker. She made a pleased little screech in response.
"I mean, first we kick some ass, get some dinner, kick some more ass, meet a nice broad or two, get a look or two from a fine lookin bitch named Buffy," He elbowed his friend at that last part, at which Bob shook his head and blushed profusely, "And we aint even unpacked yet." He handed his friend the blunt, stood, put the remainder of the Beers in the duffle bag, And they got ready to go get a room.
They walked along quietly (well, quietly for Jay, anyway) and heard a shout not too far off. They looked in the direction, then at each other, and turned in that direction. They didn't walk perceptively faster, they weren't all that interested, but they did have inquisitive faces .
They were rather surprised when they heard more shouting. They were fairly surprised to hear punches impacting. They were very surprised when a person was thrown through the shrubbery in front of them to land sprawled at their feet. They were downright shocked to find that that person was Buffy.
"One hell of a night..." Jay muttered to himself, while Bob looked down, his eyes wide. His left eye narrowed, his right still bulging, and his face raised up to the bushes. Jay got the hint that Bob was about to beat the crap out of whoever had done this to Buffy, and decided to whip out his weapons (by which I mean his golf club and his metal bat) from his duffle bag.
He held the bat out in front of Bob, who took Suzanne from off his back. Bob took the bat, and they both looked at the vampire who was stepping through the bushes after Buffy. Needless to say, he was very surprised by the two gentlemen glaring at him.
Needless to say, the other vampires were equally surprised to see him flying back towards them. They were almost as shocked when two young men came out with their weapons raised. Willow and Tara, who the Vampires had done nothing more than smack once or twice in the hopes that they could be used to bargain with the Slayer, Looked up from the ground in downright awe. As they entirety of the assembled beings in that park focused their full attention on the two of them, Jay and Silent Bob looked upon the vampires. They raised their weapons, held with both hands, above their heads in bong-saber stances, and Jay cried out "Onward, Hemp-Knight!"
They rushed the crowd of vampires, who were frankly too shocked to move for a moment, and When they reached their first targets, they swung their weapons in wide arcs, hitting torsos. Both of their respective targets cried out in pain, which brought the others back to reality. The remaining vampires backed off, and grouped around their master as the Barbiturate-powered Jedi took their second and third swings at their victims.
Jay's opponent had crumpled to the ground, screaming in agony, already smoking. Bob's had been able to crawl back to the group. The regrouped troop then rushed towards the pair. Jay and Bob each stood facing the vampires sideways, and had their backs to each other. They held their weapons in identical stances, and whenever a punch or kick was thrown at either of them, it was intercepted and cracked by steel.
The satisfying crunch of bone, and the occasional whimper of pain, filled the air. It wasn't long before not a one of the remaining minions was not pausing to cradle a pained fist, while the flabbergasted master merely looked on in amazement. As did Willow an Tara.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Buffy was not entirely sure she could get up. she winced in pain as she raised her face up from the dirt. She was quite sure that the pain in both her sides were cracked ribs. She'd taken many blows to the ribs, and she really needed to get up. She hadn't seen Jay or Bob, as she was face down, and she was extremely confused when she brought her head up and looked into the Eyes of a monkey. She paused for a moment before continuing. She managed to get leverage enough to raise herself by clinging to a tree. She leveled herself and tried to climb back through the shrubbery, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stand much longer.
She hadn't expected the first thing she saw to be one vampire squirming on the ground, screaming, and then bursting into a cloud of dust.
She most certainly didn't expect the second thing to be two men, Jay And Silent Bob no less, attacking the six vampires she'd just been beaten by. And apparently, they were winning. She saw the swings of the bat and heard the cracking of bones. She saw the cruel upswing of the golf club connect with chest and heard a strange liquid sound; the sound of a splattering blood right before it burst into dust. She saw the vampires falling to the ground, she saw the bat and club rising and falling, She saw more puffs of Dust.
She heard Jay shout in glee, and he turned to Bob. "Fuck, Lunchbox! It's like I'm Luke Skywalker, These are our lightsabers, you're Ben Kanobi, and We kick'n their fuckin Storm trooper asses Force-style and shit!"
They hit their fists together in a friendly manor, and Bob shook his head. He smiled chuckling, and spoke for the first time since she'd met him. "Adventure, Excitement... a Jedi craves not these things."
Strangely enough, only one coherent thought could form in her head and be vocalized besides "The Hell?' She thought and muttered, "I've either had too much, or not enough, to drink tonight."
She barely registered their master coming to his senses as the last of his minions puffed, and ran away. She barely noticed that Willow and Tara had stood up. She barely noticed that Jay was cursing with the ferocity of ten construction workers. All she could notice was the amazing intensity on Bobs face. The fire, the anger, the emotion. All for her. That's kinda sweet, she thought, before passing out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Normally Willow would cry out 'Buffy!' when that happened, but she happened to be too busy gawking at Jay and Silent Bob at the moment. She was simply amazed, again. This time even more so, thanks to the alcohol in her system. Twice that night these two had saved her life in ana amazing display. It was Bob who first noticed Buffy, and he tossed the bat to Jay as he moved to Buffy unconscious form, And scooped her up in his arms.
Willow spoke first (Besides Jay, that is, as he was already in a rant about 'Dumb motha Fucka's fuckin with his crew.') "We should get her home. Come on, this way!" While she walked as fast as Bob could keep up with while carrying Buffy. Jay noticed that they were leaving, and remembered to go and grab his duffle bag this time before following.
"Damn, Lunchbox. You always get us into this shit!" He muttered, as he stuffed the Clubs into the Bag, Picked up Suzanne, and followed.
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Reviews Appreciated, Even flames.... (I'm So lonely.;) )
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