Dark Angel Storyline:
Mid Second-season, somewhere around "Love in Vein" - Max burnt down Manticore and freed all the transgenics, including the extremely-hot-yet- playfully-annoying Alec (*sigh*). The virus is in effect, but it's not really relevant to this storyline.
Buffy Storyline: Around mid sixth season. I am kind of new to the buffy scene (Thank you reruns on FX!) so I am not sure I have all my stuff right! ( I love the show though!!!! Anyway, Buffys mom is dead, and Dawn is around..Spike is on Buffys side, Giles is still here, and he and Anya do the magic shop thing. Willow is still just quitting her Wicca obsession.
Also, a lot of people have asked me what the 'pairings' are for this fanfic. Right now it's not really anything, maybe later though :-) I doubt there will be any max/alec, just because I think they make better friends than anything else.
Please read and review! If you wanna contact me, my e-mail is alias_angel_girl@yahoo.com
Next Chapter.will be up sometime this week. I have finals this week, so it might take me a little longer.
Also, several people have asked me about this-If you want me to e-mail you as soon as I post a new chapter, then either put your e-mail address in the Reviews, or e-mail it to me. I will send out an e-mail to everyone right after I put up a new chapter.
Don't forget to Review! It's what keeps me going!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
"Sunnydale? What kind of town name is that?" Alec asked as the two of them stood up. "I've never heard of it."
Max shrugged. "Maybe Logan was right, maybe that was some sort of time- machine deallio," Max stated.
Alec shook his head in disbelief. "Please tell me you don't actually believe in that junk," he said. "It's totally not real."
"Look, we're talking about Manticore here. In case you haven't noticed, they're famous for some pretty whack stuff," Max shot back.
"If you're talking about your dog-boy pal-" Alec started.
"His name's Joshua!" Max corrected with a glare. "Don't call him that."
Alec tried unsuccessfully to suppress his grin. "Okay, okay; have it your way, Maxie."
Max rolled her eyes. "All I am saying is that it really wouldn't surprise me if Manticore tried something as weird and out-there as time-travel."
Alec smirked at her comment. "Whatever. now, the question is, what are we going to do about this? Even if you ARE right; we're still in some cemetery, at night, in the middle of nowhere." He tilted his head. "Any suggestions?"
"I say we get the hell on outta this place," Max said. By this time the sun had completely set and it was dark out.
"What, .afraid of the dark, Max?" Alec teased her with a grin.
"Shut up," she replied in an annoyed tone. "We can't just stay here forever. Let's just get out of here for now, until we can figure something out."
"All right, not like I got anything better to do," Alec agreed carelessly as the two set off. Because they had no idea of where they were, they just sparatically picked a direction to walk in.
"Ya know what? This is really boring," Alec said after a few minutes of seeing nothing but more and more tombstones.
"Ya know what? You're really annoying," Max responded, "I'm sure we'll find a road or something soon. We can't be too far from-" she cut herself off as a group of six or so guys appeared from behind a cluster of trees and began approaching Max and Alec.
Alec shot Max a puzzled look. "Who in their right mind is crazy enough to be walking in a cemetery this late at night?....besides us, I mean." he questioned.
"There's one way to find out" Max said softly before turning to the boys and calling out "Who are you?"
There was no answer from the group as they drew even nearer to the two x- 5's. Soon they were standing just a few feet away from them.
"What are you doing?" Max shot out another question.
"Oh, nothing," one of them, who appeared to be the 'leader,' said. "Just looking for some supper." As soon as he said this, all six of their faces immediately distorted hideously, and grew what looked like two fangs in their mouths.
"What in the.." Alec said, surprised as Max just stood there with a shocked look on her face.
Because of her astonished state, one of the creatures managed to grab Max by the neck. She finally snapped out of it and realized what was going on as it tried to bite her neck. Max elbowed him in the stomach, then sent a fist flying at his face.
"Don't tell me." she said as the thing unconsciously hit the ground, "Vampires?"
"I don't know about you, but this really livens up my night," Alec joked as he prepared for a fight.
The words had barely left his mouth when the rest of the vampires attempted to attack Max and Alec.
"Didn't you see what happened to your friend?" Max asked while she shot her foot out, kicking one of them in the chest and sending him flying into a tree.
Meanwhile, Alec round-house kicked a vamp in the face, immediately knocking him out.
A vampire came running towards Max, growing angrier with each step. Max swept her leg out, hitting the vampire in the legs and knocking him off of his feet. When he was on the ground, Max gave him a sharp kick to the stomach and another to the head.
One of them managed to grab him from behind, but he quickly flipped him over his head and to the ground.
"This is just too easy," Max said as she looked at the last vampire standing. Before he could try anything, Max punched him hard, right in the face.
"Well, that was fun," Alec commented lightly as Max brushed her hair out of her face. The two surveyed the group of unconscious creatures.
"Bravo," a voice said sarcastically from behind them. Max and Alec whipped around to see a blonde man with spiked hair standing next to them. "Best show I've seen in a long time."
"Who are you?" Max interrogated, ready to fight him if needed.
"You were right though, those guys were vampires," the strange man avoided the question. "Meaning they're not dead. To kill a vamp, you have to stake them through the heart. Kind of old-fashioned, but it gets the job done."
"Not dead?..." Alec looked over his shoulder to see all the men he and max had previously beaten up, gone. "Great, they must have split," he muttered. When Alec turned around, he was unaware that he had exposed his barcode.
Spike noticed the strange marking on the back of Alec's neck, and took note of it. He was about to question it, but Max cut in.
Max shrugged off the missing vampires. "Who are you?" she repeated, her voice growing angry.
"Friends call me Spike," he said after a slight pause, his voice dripping with a British accent.
"Well I'm gonna call you a dead man unless you tell me whether you are one of these vampire dudes or not," Alec threatened.
Spike shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."
"Yeah, see.that answer just doesn't work for me," Alec said, losing his patience. There was obvious tension between him and Spike.
"Look, just tell us where we can find some sort of civilization around here," Max stepped in.
Spike was about to make another sarcastic, but instead turned his full attention on Max. He flashed her a smile. "Oh, I'll show you where you can find some civilization," he said, looking her up and down.
Max rolled her eyes. Before Spike could react, Max grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against a nearby, six-foot tombstone. She put her arm at his neck to hold him there as she yelled at him.
"Look, SPIKE" Max spat out, emphasizing his name, "I don't know who you are, WHAT you are, or what the hell you are doing here. But I am not in the mood to be checked out and hit on by some freak in a graveyard, aiight? I've had a long day- you try delivering packages by bicycle at Jam Pony for eight hours a day and see how much tolerance you have. THEN I'm supposed to investigate the Manticore site, the place I hate more than anything else in the world. To top it all off, I end up here: battling so- called 'vampires' in a place I have never heard, maybe not even in the right YEAR. So, sorry to break it to you, but I don't think you and I are going to be going on a date anytime soon." Max gave him one last glare before letting him go.
Alec tried to hide his amused grin while Spike stood their stunned and speechless. Max's strength had completely surprised Spike, and he was at a loss or words.
"Okay," Spike managed to say, "Playing hard to get, huh?"
Max sent Spike an evil glare and took a step toward him, ready to do to him what she had done to the other vampires earlier. Alec quickly jumped in front of Max.
"Maxie, let me handle this," Alec ordered. He turned around to face Spike without waiting for a reply.
"Okay Spike, I'm sure whatever reason you are here, frolicking among tombstones and dead people, is a good reason and all, but why don't you just make things easier on all of us and beat it?" he suggested sarcastically. "Cuz if that doesn't sound like a good idea, then I'd be happy to kick your ass right here and now."
Spike wiped the grin off his face. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, then I'm leaving" he consented. "But it's a bad move on your part, because I know the only person in this town who would really be able to help you." With that he turned and left, disappearing in the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you ready yet, Dawn?" Buffy called to her younger sister, growing impatient and checking her watch.
"Give me a few more minutes!" Dawn's voice called from the back of the store.
Buffy sighed and plopped back down in her chair. "So have you guys figured out plans for tonight?" she asked Xander and Willow.
"Well since you ABANDONED us." Buffy and Willow both rolled their eyes as he said this, "I thought maybe Will and I would just grab a pizza or something."
"Wow you guys really live life on the edge! Pizza? How daring," Dawn teased playfully as she finally appeared back in the store. "Okay Buffy, let's go."
"All right, I'm coming," Buffy said as she stood up. "Have fun with your pizza guys. Giles, have fun with your book."
"Right, right," Giles muttered, not looking up from his book. "Enjoy the movie."
Buffy held back a laugh as she and Dawn headed to the door. Buffy had her hand on the door handle, and was about to open it when all of a sudden Spike burst in.
"Spike!" Buffy hissed at him, "What are you doing here?"
"We've got a slight situation, thought you might want to know about it," he explained, his tone serious.
Buffy was reluctant to believe him. "Exactly what kind of situation? If this is about some mess you've gotten yourself into, don't expect me to-"
"Not it's not like that at all," he cut in. "I had a run-in with a couple of teenagers a minute ago. Let's just say they're not exactly human."
Willow elbowed Xander in the stomach. "See! This is all your fault," she whispered.
"I told you, I didn't MEAN to jinx anyone!" Xander defended himself.
"What did they look like? Where did you meet them?" Buffy began shooting out questions.
"They looked pretty normal; the one girl was really hot. I mean REALLY hot, she had this really gorgeous dark hair, and she-" Spike started.
"Okay, I get it: you think she's pretty. Now answer my questions," she snapped, trying to stay focused on the subject.
"All right, all right! Anyway, there was a really hot girl, and this other guy. They were about 19 or so, not too much older,"
"So basically, you met girl and a guy.how is that a 'situation' ?" Buffy said, beginning to think that Spike was paranoid for no reason.
Dawn sighed and put her hands on her hips. "THIS is what I'm missing the movie for?! Spike has a crush on some girl?"
Spike sighed. "Let me finish, would you? I saw them in the graveyard. They were attacked by vampires, six of them I think. Thirty seconds later all the vamps were on the ground, unconscious, and neither of them had broken a sweat."
Buffy stood there with a slightly puzzled look on her face. "Did they stake them, or just knock them out?"
"That's just it.they had no idea they were fighting vampires. The girl was all surprised when she saw them turn from normal into demons. They both just knocked all the vampires unconscious and left them there."
"Giles are you hearing all this?" Buffy called over as Spike explained.
"Way ahead of you, Buffy" he answered. "I'll look this all up. Was there anything else? Anything noticeable about either of them?"
Spike thought for a minute before remembering the back of Alec's neck. "I went over to talk to them, thinking they might be vampires themselves, and I saw that the guy had some sort of marking on the back of his neck. It looked like a barcode."
"A barcode? Like a grocery-store-price type of barcode?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, exactly," Spike answered. "The girl mentioned that she worked at 'Jam Pony,' whatever that is, and how she had to go to some place called "Manticore." She kept saying how she hated that place more than anything else in the world." As Spike said this, he remembered the very tone of voice Max had when she threw him against the tombstone.
Buffy waved a hand in front of Spikes face. "Snap out of it," she commanded. "We need more information."
Spike shook his head. "Right, right. Um..the thing that weirdest I guess was that she mentioned she wasn't sure if they were in the right year or not. It was really obvious that neither of them had a clue where Sunnydale is."
Buffy ran a hand through her hair. "None of this makes sense, a barcode on the neck? Manticore?"
Giles shrugged agreeably. "It doesn't add up at all."
"Maybe it's some kind of new demon," Xander piped up, "Or new to the Hellmouth at least." He got more excited as he continued. "Maybe the barcode is like a gang sign!"
"I hate to say it," Spike commented, "But you're boy over there might be right. I didn't see a barcode on the back of the girls neck, but it could have been hidden by her hair."
"There still isn't enough information here for me," Giles said. "Buffy, why don't you go down to the cemetery and see if you can find these demons or whatever they happen to be."
"Demons? Is that what you think they are?" Buffy asked.
"Right now it's the only answer that makes a remote bit of sense," he explained.
"Okay, I'll get my stuff," Buffy said walking over to her bag on the table. She checked to make sure it was filled with stakes, crosses, Holy Water, and everything else she needed. She picked up her crossbow and slung the bag over her shoulder.
"I am so coming," Xander said as he grabbed his jacket.
"If you're going, then there's no way I am staying behind," Willow joined in.
Buffy sighed. "You guys, it might be easier if I just went alone. We don't know how dangerous these two are."
Xander and Willow sent Buffy a pleading look. "C'mon," Xander said, "We haven't even ordered our pizza yet!"
Buffy bit her lip reluctantly. "Well.all right but promise me that if things get dangerous you'll come back here."
Xander and Willow both nodded. "It's a deal," Willow agreed as Buffy handed them each a stake and cross.
"Now that everyone's happy, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Spike said impatiently.
"What makes you think you're going?" Xander asked him.
"Because I am the only one who knows where to find them at, genius," Spike explained sarcastically.
"Hate to say it, but he's right," Buffy said as the group headed for the door.
Dawn, who had been standing quietly the entire time, finally spoke up. "Can I come?" she asked hopefully.
Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow, and Spike turned to look at her. "No," they all said in unison.
Dawn sighed and walked over to sit near Giles. "It was worth a shot."
"You stay here and help Giles," Buffy ordered, "And I promise we'll see a movie tomorrow."
Dawn just shrugged and picked up a book on demons to help Giles with his research.
Xander, Willow, and Spike followed Buffy out of the magic store. They headed down the street in the direction of the graveyard.
As they drew dearer to the cemetery, Buffy said in a determined voice, "Sunnydale graveyard, here we come."
Mid Second-season, somewhere around "Love in Vein" - Max burnt down Manticore and freed all the transgenics, including the extremely-hot-yet- playfully-annoying Alec (*sigh*). The virus is in effect, but it's not really relevant to this storyline.
Buffy Storyline: Around mid sixth season. I am kind of new to the buffy scene (Thank you reruns on FX!) so I am not sure I have all my stuff right! ( I love the show though!!!! Anyway, Buffys mom is dead, and Dawn is around..Spike is on Buffys side, Giles is still here, and he and Anya do the magic shop thing. Willow is still just quitting her Wicca obsession.
Also, a lot of people have asked me what the 'pairings' are for this fanfic. Right now it's not really anything, maybe later though :-) I doubt there will be any max/alec, just because I think they make better friends than anything else.
Please read and review! If you wanna contact me, my e-mail is alias_angel_girl@yahoo.com
Next Chapter.will be up sometime this week. I have finals this week, so it might take me a little longer.
Also, several people have asked me about this-If you want me to e-mail you as soon as I post a new chapter, then either put your e-mail address in the Reviews, or e-mail it to me. I will send out an e-mail to everyone right after I put up a new chapter.
Don't forget to Review! It's what keeps me going!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
"Sunnydale? What kind of town name is that?" Alec asked as the two of them stood up. "I've never heard of it."
Max shrugged. "Maybe Logan was right, maybe that was some sort of time- machine deallio," Max stated.
Alec shook his head in disbelief. "Please tell me you don't actually believe in that junk," he said. "It's totally not real."
"Look, we're talking about Manticore here. In case you haven't noticed, they're famous for some pretty whack stuff," Max shot back.
"If you're talking about your dog-boy pal-" Alec started.
"His name's Joshua!" Max corrected with a glare. "Don't call him that."
Alec tried unsuccessfully to suppress his grin. "Okay, okay; have it your way, Maxie."
Max rolled her eyes. "All I am saying is that it really wouldn't surprise me if Manticore tried something as weird and out-there as time-travel."
Alec smirked at her comment. "Whatever. now, the question is, what are we going to do about this? Even if you ARE right; we're still in some cemetery, at night, in the middle of nowhere." He tilted his head. "Any suggestions?"
"I say we get the hell on outta this place," Max said. By this time the sun had completely set and it was dark out.
"What, .afraid of the dark, Max?" Alec teased her with a grin.
"Shut up," she replied in an annoyed tone. "We can't just stay here forever. Let's just get out of here for now, until we can figure something out."
"All right, not like I got anything better to do," Alec agreed carelessly as the two set off. Because they had no idea of where they were, they just sparatically picked a direction to walk in.
"Ya know what? This is really boring," Alec said after a few minutes of seeing nothing but more and more tombstones.
"Ya know what? You're really annoying," Max responded, "I'm sure we'll find a road or something soon. We can't be too far from-" she cut herself off as a group of six or so guys appeared from behind a cluster of trees and began approaching Max and Alec.
Alec shot Max a puzzled look. "Who in their right mind is crazy enough to be walking in a cemetery this late at night?....besides us, I mean." he questioned.
"There's one way to find out" Max said softly before turning to the boys and calling out "Who are you?"
There was no answer from the group as they drew even nearer to the two x- 5's. Soon they were standing just a few feet away from them.
"What are you doing?" Max shot out another question.
"Oh, nothing," one of them, who appeared to be the 'leader,' said. "Just looking for some supper." As soon as he said this, all six of their faces immediately distorted hideously, and grew what looked like two fangs in their mouths.
"What in the.." Alec said, surprised as Max just stood there with a shocked look on her face.
Because of her astonished state, one of the creatures managed to grab Max by the neck. She finally snapped out of it and realized what was going on as it tried to bite her neck. Max elbowed him in the stomach, then sent a fist flying at his face.
"Don't tell me." she said as the thing unconsciously hit the ground, "Vampires?"
"I don't know about you, but this really livens up my night," Alec joked as he prepared for a fight.
The words had barely left his mouth when the rest of the vampires attempted to attack Max and Alec.
"Didn't you see what happened to your friend?" Max asked while she shot her foot out, kicking one of them in the chest and sending him flying into a tree.
Meanwhile, Alec round-house kicked a vamp in the face, immediately knocking him out.
A vampire came running towards Max, growing angrier with each step. Max swept her leg out, hitting the vampire in the legs and knocking him off of his feet. When he was on the ground, Max gave him a sharp kick to the stomach and another to the head.
One of them managed to grab him from behind, but he quickly flipped him over his head and to the ground.
"This is just too easy," Max said as she looked at the last vampire standing. Before he could try anything, Max punched him hard, right in the face.
"Well, that was fun," Alec commented lightly as Max brushed her hair out of her face. The two surveyed the group of unconscious creatures.
"Bravo," a voice said sarcastically from behind them. Max and Alec whipped around to see a blonde man with spiked hair standing next to them. "Best show I've seen in a long time."
"Who are you?" Max interrogated, ready to fight him if needed.
"You were right though, those guys were vampires," the strange man avoided the question. "Meaning they're not dead. To kill a vamp, you have to stake them through the heart. Kind of old-fashioned, but it gets the job done."
"Not dead?..." Alec looked over his shoulder to see all the men he and max had previously beaten up, gone. "Great, they must have split," he muttered. When Alec turned around, he was unaware that he had exposed his barcode.
Spike noticed the strange marking on the back of Alec's neck, and took note of it. He was about to question it, but Max cut in.
Max shrugged off the missing vampires. "Who are you?" she repeated, her voice growing angry.
"Friends call me Spike," he said after a slight pause, his voice dripping with a British accent.
"Well I'm gonna call you a dead man unless you tell me whether you are one of these vampire dudes or not," Alec threatened.
Spike shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."
"Yeah, see.that answer just doesn't work for me," Alec said, losing his patience. There was obvious tension between him and Spike.
"Look, just tell us where we can find some sort of civilization around here," Max stepped in.
Spike was about to make another sarcastic, but instead turned his full attention on Max. He flashed her a smile. "Oh, I'll show you where you can find some civilization," he said, looking her up and down.
Max rolled her eyes. Before Spike could react, Max grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against a nearby, six-foot tombstone. She put her arm at his neck to hold him there as she yelled at him.
"Look, SPIKE" Max spat out, emphasizing his name, "I don't know who you are, WHAT you are, or what the hell you are doing here. But I am not in the mood to be checked out and hit on by some freak in a graveyard, aiight? I've had a long day- you try delivering packages by bicycle at Jam Pony for eight hours a day and see how much tolerance you have. THEN I'm supposed to investigate the Manticore site, the place I hate more than anything else in the world. To top it all off, I end up here: battling so- called 'vampires' in a place I have never heard, maybe not even in the right YEAR. So, sorry to break it to you, but I don't think you and I are going to be going on a date anytime soon." Max gave him one last glare before letting him go.
Alec tried to hide his amused grin while Spike stood their stunned and speechless. Max's strength had completely surprised Spike, and he was at a loss or words.
"Okay," Spike managed to say, "Playing hard to get, huh?"
Max sent Spike an evil glare and took a step toward him, ready to do to him what she had done to the other vampires earlier. Alec quickly jumped in front of Max.
"Maxie, let me handle this," Alec ordered. He turned around to face Spike without waiting for a reply.
"Okay Spike, I'm sure whatever reason you are here, frolicking among tombstones and dead people, is a good reason and all, but why don't you just make things easier on all of us and beat it?" he suggested sarcastically. "Cuz if that doesn't sound like a good idea, then I'd be happy to kick your ass right here and now."
Spike wiped the grin off his face. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, then I'm leaving" he consented. "But it's a bad move on your part, because I know the only person in this town who would really be able to help you." With that he turned and left, disappearing in the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you ready yet, Dawn?" Buffy called to her younger sister, growing impatient and checking her watch.
"Give me a few more minutes!" Dawn's voice called from the back of the store.
Buffy sighed and plopped back down in her chair. "So have you guys figured out plans for tonight?" she asked Xander and Willow.
"Well since you ABANDONED us." Buffy and Willow both rolled their eyes as he said this, "I thought maybe Will and I would just grab a pizza or something."
"Wow you guys really live life on the edge! Pizza? How daring," Dawn teased playfully as she finally appeared back in the store. "Okay Buffy, let's go."
"All right, I'm coming," Buffy said as she stood up. "Have fun with your pizza guys. Giles, have fun with your book."
"Right, right," Giles muttered, not looking up from his book. "Enjoy the movie."
Buffy held back a laugh as she and Dawn headed to the door. Buffy had her hand on the door handle, and was about to open it when all of a sudden Spike burst in.
"Spike!" Buffy hissed at him, "What are you doing here?"
"We've got a slight situation, thought you might want to know about it," he explained, his tone serious.
Buffy was reluctant to believe him. "Exactly what kind of situation? If this is about some mess you've gotten yourself into, don't expect me to-"
"Not it's not like that at all," he cut in. "I had a run-in with a couple of teenagers a minute ago. Let's just say they're not exactly human."
Willow elbowed Xander in the stomach. "See! This is all your fault," she whispered.
"I told you, I didn't MEAN to jinx anyone!" Xander defended himself.
"What did they look like? Where did you meet them?" Buffy began shooting out questions.
"They looked pretty normal; the one girl was really hot. I mean REALLY hot, she had this really gorgeous dark hair, and she-" Spike started.
"Okay, I get it: you think she's pretty. Now answer my questions," she snapped, trying to stay focused on the subject.
"All right, all right! Anyway, there was a really hot girl, and this other guy. They were about 19 or so, not too much older,"
"So basically, you met girl and a guy.how is that a 'situation' ?" Buffy said, beginning to think that Spike was paranoid for no reason.
Dawn sighed and put her hands on her hips. "THIS is what I'm missing the movie for?! Spike has a crush on some girl?"
Spike sighed. "Let me finish, would you? I saw them in the graveyard. They were attacked by vampires, six of them I think. Thirty seconds later all the vamps were on the ground, unconscious, and neither of them had broken a sweat."
Buffy stood there with a slightly puzzled look on her face. "Did they stake them, or just knock them out?"
"That's just it.they had no idea they were fighting vampires. The girl was all surprised when she saw them turn from normal into demons. They both just knocked all the vampires unconscious and left them there."
"Giles are you hearing all this?" Buffy called over as Spike explained.
"Way ahead of you, Buffy" he answered. "I'll look this all up. Was there anything else? Anything noticeable about either of them?"
Spike thought for a minute before remembering the back of Alec's neck. "I went over to talk to them, thinking they might be vampires themselves, and I saw that the guy had some sort of marking on the back of his neck. It looked like a barcode."
"A barcode? Like a grocery-store-price type of barcode?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, exactly," Spike answered. "The girl mentioned that she worked at 'Jam Pony,' whatever that is, and how she had to go to some place called "Manticore." She kept saying how she hated that place more than anything else in the world." As Spike said this, he remembered the very tone of voice Max had when she threw him against the tombstone.
Buffy waved a hand in front of Spikes face. "Snap out of it," she commanded. "We need more information."
Spike shook his head. "Right, right. Um..the thing that weirdest I guess was that she mentioned she wasn't sure if they were in the right year or not. It was really obvious that neither of them had a clue where Sunnydale is."
Buffy ran a hand through her hair. "None of this makes sense, a barcode on the neck? Manticore?"
Giles shrugged agreeably. "It doesn't add up at all."
"Maybe it's some kind of new demon," Xander piped up, "Or new to the Hellmouth at least." He got more excited as he continued. "Maybe the barcode is like a gang sign!"
"I hate to say it," Spike commented, "But you're boy over there might be right. I didn't see a barcode on the back of the girls neck, but it could have been hidden by her hair."
"There still isn't enough information here for me," Giles said. "Buffy, why don't you go down to the cemetery and see if you can find these demons or whatever they happen to be."
"Demons? Is that what you think they are?" Buffy asked.
"Right now it's the only answer that makes a remote bit of sense," he explained.
"Okay, I'll get my stuff," Buffy said walking over to her bag on the table. She checked to make sure it was filled with stakes, crosses, Holy Water, and everything else she needed. She picked up her crossbow and slung the bag over her shoulder.
"I am so coming," Xander said as he grabbed his jacket.
"If you're going, then there's no way I am staying behind," Willow joined in.
Buffy sighed. "You guys, it might be easier if I just went alone. We don't know how dangerous these two are."
Xander and Willow sent Buffy a pleading look. "C'mon," Xander said, "We haven't even ordered our pizza yet!"
Buffy bit her lip reluctantly. "Well.all right but promise me that if things get dangerous you'll come back here."
Xander and Willow both nodded. "It's a deal," Willow agreed as Buffy handed them each a stake and cross.
"Now that everyone's happy, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Spike said impatiently.
"What makes you think you're going?" Xander asked him.
"Because I am the only one who knows where to find them at, genius," Spike explained sarcastically.
"Hate to say it, but he's right," Buffy said as the group headed for the door.
Dawn, who had been standing quietly the entire time, finally spoke up. "Can I come?" she asked hopefully.
Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow, and Spike turned to look at her. "No," they all said in unison.
Dawn sighed and walked over to sit near Giles. "It was worth a shot."
"You stay here and help Giles," Buffy ordered, "And I promise we'll see a movie tomorrow."
Dawn just shrugged and picked up a book on demons to help Giles with his research.
Xander, Willow, and Spike followed Buffy out of the magic store. They headed down the street in the direction of the graveyard.
As they drew dearer to the cemetery, Buffy said in a determined voice, "Sunnydale graveyard, here we come."
