Chapter 2: One of Us

Buffy automatically stepped into a fighting stance, her mind quickly estimating how many of these demons she could take on at once. There must have been at least twenty of them, she calculated.

The creature who had grabbed her arm with such strength stepped forward, a smirk on his green lizard-like face. He gestured for the others to drop their weapons, then turned to Buffy. "At ease, soldier," he told her. "We're Manticore too. What series are you? X5? X7?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" demanded Xander. Buffy was confused too.

"Look, Reptile Boy," she said, "I don't think you understand. I'm the Slayer, and you're about to be slayed."

"Reptile Boy" chuckled, although Buffy got the feeling he certainly didn't appreciate the nickname. "Yeah, whatever, soldier. But we're on the same side, and you're one of us, so get used to it."

"One of-- Soyou don't want to hurt us?" Buffy asked.

"Or eat us?" Anya piped up.

he creatures snickered among themselves. One of the mutants said, "Yeah, right," as though they thought she was joking. Buffy realised that she could use this weird situation to her advantage. "Hey, since we're buddies and all, could you guys give us some directions? We're a little lost."

"I knew it!" exclaimed Anya triumphantly. "I knew you had no idea where you were going!"

"Sure," said the lizard-man. "We're near the entrance to Terminal City. You should come with us. It isn't safe for guys like us to be around here right now. We'll fill you in on the way."

Dawn coughed. "Don't they realise their hometown's name is a little off-putting? Terminal?" she whispered.

"Errcould you guys give us a minute?" Buffy asked the lizard-man. "Just toconsider our options."

"Sure. Don't be too long though. Like I said, it's not safe." The group of demons moved politely out of the way.

Buffy turned to Xander, puzzled. He shrugged, then leaned in towards her. "Do they think we're demons too? Have I grown horns lately and you just forgot to tell me? And what the hell is with that lizard guy?"

"Anya?" Buffy asked.

"I can recognise most demons, but I've never seen anything like thesethings," she whispered. She pointed discreetly at the demon leader. "He looks like his mother had sex with an iguana."

"At least it wasn't with a praying mantis," Dawn piped up not-so-innocently. Xander cringed. "Dawn! How did--"

"I know a lot more than you give me credit for, you know," she told him. "So, Buffy, are we going to this demon lair or not? Maybe that's where Spike is hiding out."

"Good idea," Buffy answered. "I think we're pretty safe, as long as we keep them thinking that we're demons too. Although you would think they'd be able to sense that we're humans."

"Well, some of us actually are demons. And proud of it," said Anya.

"And I didn't exist until last year," added Dawn. "And Buffy's meant to be dead. We'll fit right in."

They all found themselves looking at Xander. "What, now I'm the outcast just 'cause there's nothing wrong with me?" he asked.

"You know, you could lose a little weight," said Anya. "You're looking a bit chubby."

Sensing that Xander was too indignant for words, Buffy quickly made a decision. "All right. Let's follow them. Find out how many there are of them, and how powerful. They might not be evil. We could use a few allies in the demon world right now."

She approached the lizard-man. "Hi. I'm Buffy, and we'd be glad to follow you tothat city you mentioned."

He shook her hand, and Buffy tried not to cringe at the touch of his scaly hand.

"I'm Mole. Follow us, but keep your voices down and don't fall behind."

They set off. The Scoobies were in the middle of the group, with demons in front and at the back, so they didn't talk as they followed Mole through the sewers. After a few minutes, they reached a metal ladder. They climbed up through a manhole at the top, and stepped out into the dark street.

Buffy's first thought when she stood up and looked around was that she definitely wasn't in Sunnydale anymore. For one thing, it had been late morning when they had gone into the sewers, and here it was night. The place looked like an old power plant, but it obviously hadn't been used for years. There was only one power plant in Sunnydale, and this definitely wasn't it.

"I'venever been to this part of Sunnydale before," Dawn said with a quaver in her voice.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," replied Buffy quietly.

"Come on. Hurry up," Mole beckoned with his rifle. "And move quietly. We don't want to be caught off guard."

Buffy looked over at Xander, Dawn and Anya. They all looked pretty confused. She shrugged, and kept walking.

They reached a barbed wire fence. Mole opened a gate and Buffy and the Scoobies followed him inside.

"Who's there?" came a harsh whisper from above. Dawn jumped nervously.

"It's Mole," he replied. "I've brought some more soldiers from the sewers."

There was a pause, then the voice came again: "Go ahead."

They entered a large warehouse building. The sight that met the Scoobies' eyes was truly mind-blowing.

Everywhere were demons. There must have been hundreds. The place was packed. But these were not the kind of demons they were used to seeing. There were no strange languages, no chantings or mystical vibes whatsoever. In spite of their unnatural features, there was nothing base or primal about them at all. There was something purely human about these creatures.

A man with eight eyes was playing cards with a pregnant albino woman with strangely feline facial features. A child with no pupils, just completely white eyes was curled up asleep next to a woman with webbed feet and hands. It made Buffy think of a refugee camp, where people (or demons) who were all different were brought together because they were all escaping persecution. And sitting at a computer screen was a huge, dog-like man (or man-like dog) and a dark haired woman.

"Make yourselves at home," Mole told them. "There are blankets in that corner but I'm afraid we're a bit short on the rations side right now."

"OOk," Buffy stammered.

"At home?" Anya asked disbelievingly. "Is he asking us to move in?"

Mole didn't hear them.

"Max," he called.

"Yeah?" the dark haired woman replied without turning around from the computer screen.

"I found some more soldiers wandering in from the sewers. You'd better settle them in."

With a brief nod to Buffy, he slung his rifle over his shoulder and disappeared amongst the crowds.

The woman at the computer stood up and turned around to face them.

"I'm Max," she introduced herself. "We're all Manticore here."

She offered a hand to Buffy, who was standing closest to her, and their eyes met.

Suddenly everything around them seemed to go quiet. Max and Buffy stood frozen for a second. Neither of them could explain it or even articulate it, but they felt like they'd been fighting side by side for years.

Xander looked from her long legs to her taut stomach to her firm breasts to her beautiful, beautiful face and simply couldn't help gawking. This woman was by far the most attractive he had ever seen. Without taking his eyes off her, he got a bit of his sleeve and wiped some drool from the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, boy," he muttered to himself. "This is going to be one hell of a ride."