"Can we please go over this one more time?" Andrew pleaded from his place
near the edge of the table. He looked worried but mostly confused.
Warren sighed and turned to give him a condescending glance. "Hold on one more second you idiot, Jonathan's almost done." The two looked to the short figure of Jonathan, who was bent over a poster board holding what looked to be a glowing tree branch. He was muttering under his breath. A few seconds later he the branch stopped glowing and he stood straight, looking to his companions.
"Done," he stated cheerfully.
"Now can you go over the plan again?" Andrew asked.
Warren sighed and sat down in a swivel chair. "Fine, fine, what do you need cleared up?"
Andrew and Jonathan exchanged glances. "The whole thing?" They both said at the same time.
Warren looked offended. "I've spent two months perfecting this plan and you both have no clue what's going on?!" The two young men weakly shook their heads. Warren grumbled a few things but resolved himself to the fact he was working with people slower than himself, and they couldn't be blamed for their lack of superior intellect.
"Remember when I said Buffy was practically invisible?" Nods. "Well, it got me thinking, no one is really invisible, and that somewhere out there, someone had to have seen Buffy and her pet Spike." Jonathan and Andrew smiled, they understood that.
"So, I started contemplating how we could harness that information. The witches have veiled their minds as well as the minds of everyone else close to them very thoroughly. So using the information they have is impossible. But, strong as Willow and her girlfriend are---" He had to stop and throw a contemptuous look at Jonathan and Andrew, who were holding back giggles at the mention of the lesbians.
"AS STRONG AS THEY ARE," he continued loudly, "they can't block the whole world's minds from us." Jonathan and Andrew nodded slowly, starting to pick up what their "leader" was saying.
"Anyway, so I thought to myself, how can I use this? And it came to me. A word alert charm just might do it."
"Word alert?" Andrew echoed.
"Yes, meaning, if someone out there says specific words together, we get an alert. The question was, what words should we use?" He smiled with satisfaction at his brilliance. "It needed to be specific. And then I thought, it doesn't have to be one word, it can be a few. So that's how I came up with 'Buffy' and 'vampire'. Now don't get me wrong, I could have used more words, but the more words you choose, the more specific it gets, and the less chance of someone saying the words together."
"Why couldn't you use Slayer and Spike?" Jonathan interrupted.
Warren looked at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Spike can be anything, a dog, a railroad spike, spike the punch, whatever, and Slayer, well, isn't that a band? Plus there's tons of Watchers out there with Slayers in Waiting or whatever the hell you call them."
"Oh okay I get it," Jonathan said.
"Good, now you see, if someone out there says Buffy and vampire in the same sentence that map there," he gestured to the poster board Jonathan had been standing over, "will light up in the place where the words were said."
"What if her friends say the words?" Andrew asked.
"Well the light will show in Sunnydale and we'll know it's not what we're looking for. It's all about narrowing our choices down. Same if those imbeciles in Los Angeles say it."
Andrew and Jonathan nodded enthusiastically, finally getting the whole plan. "It's about time too," Andrew said, "Gugsrak is getting restless." The Trio looked to the other side of the room, where Gugsrak was tearing up the couch.
"Yep, he's bound to us until his attention wears thin, then he goes. Until then, he's stuck with us waiting for us to tell him what to do," Warren said.
"When do you think he's going to get bored?" Jonathan questioned fearfully.
"Who knows? Hopefully that map gets to lighting so we can send him off to do his duty," Warren replied.
"Hey this kind of reminds me of Lord of the Rings, you know, how Sauron is constantly looking for The Ring, and he sends out his Wraiths to do his bidding. We're like Sauron, and Buffy is The Ring, and Gugsrak is like a Wraith," Andrew said gleefully.
"Yeah!" Jonathan exclaimed. "And you know how The Ring is really strong? And Buffy is like the Slayer!"
"Plus The Ring makes you invisible and Buffy is like invisible!" Andrew added.
"If anything you'd be a hobbit Jonathan, look how short you are," Warren said with a wicked gleam in his eye.
"Well, hobbits happen to be the bravest of all Middle Earth so that leaves you in the dust!" Jonathan shot back.
"Don't you go spouting off again, I don't care what you say, hobbits are by no means the bravest creatures in Middle Earth. That's just some stupid lie, everyone knows Gollum was," Warren argued back.
"Hey guys," Andrew said. He was ignored.
"Yeah and what was Gollum but a distant ancestor of the hobbits!" Jonathan shot back.
"Guys!"
"Oh that doesn't count because he was strong after he was no longer hobbit- like, he became a species unto himself!" Warren yelled back.
"GUYS! THE MAP!" Andrew shouted and both opponents turned to stare at him. He pointed to the poster board, where a bright blue light was shining on it. The other two ran over to it.
"What does it say?" Jonathan asked as Warren bent over to read the name of the city.
"It says..." There was a suspenseful pause. "Roseland."
Warren sighed and turned to give him a condescending glance. "Hold on one more second you idiot, Jonathan's almost done." The two looked to the short figure of Jonathan, who was bent over a poster board holding what looked to be a glowing tree branch. He was muttering under his breath. A few seconds later he the branch stopped glowing and he stood straight, looking to his companions.
"Done," he stated cheerfully.
"Now can you go over the plan again?" Andrew asked.
Warren sighed and sat down in a swivel chair. "Fine, fine, what do you need cleared up?"
Andrew and Jonathan exchanged glances. "The whole thing?" They both said at the same time.
Warren looked offended. "I've spent two months perfecting this plan and you both have no clue what's going on?!" The two young men weakly shook their heads. Warren grumbled a few things but resolved himself to the fact he was working with people slower than himself, and they couldn't be blamed for their lack of superior intellect.
"Remember when I said Buffy was practically invisible?" Nods. "Well, it got me thinking, no one is really invisible, and that somewhere out there, someone had to have seen Buffy and her pet Spike." Jonathan and Andrew smiled, they understood that.
"So, I started contemplating how we could harness that information. The witches have veiled their minds as well as the minds of everyone else close to them very thoroughly. So using the information they have is impossible. But, strong as Willow and her girlfriend are---" He had to stop and throw a contemptuous look at Jonathan and Andrew, who were holding back giggles at the mention of the lesbians.
"AS STRONG AS THEY ARE," he continued loudly, "they can't block the whole world's minds from us." Jonathan and Andrew nodded slowly, starting to pick up what their "leader" was saying.
"Anyway, so I thought to myself, how can I use this? And it came to me. A word alert charm just might do it."
"Word alert?" Andrew echoed.
"Yes, meaning, if someone out there says specific words together, we get an alert. The question was, what words should we use?" He smiled with satisfaction at his brilliance. "It needed to be specific. And then I thought, it doesn't have to be one word, it can be a few. So that's how I came up with 'Buffy' and 'vampire'. Now don't get me wrong, I could have used more words, but the more words you choose, the more specific it gets, and the less chance of someone saying the words together."
"Why couldn't you use Slayer and Spike?" Jonathan interrupted.
Warren looked at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Spike can be anything, a dog, a railroad spike, spike the punch, whatever, and Slayer, well, isn't that a band? Plus there's tons of Watchers out there with Slayers in Waiting or whatever the hell you call them."
"Oh okay I get it," Jonathan said.
"Good, now you see, if someone out there says Buffy and vampire in the same sentence that map there," he gestured to the poster board Jonathan had been standing over, "will light up in the place where the words were said."
"What if her friends say the words?" Andrew asked.
"Well the light will show in Sunnydale and we'll know it's not what we're looking for. It's all about narrowing our choices down. Same if those imbeciles in Los Angeles say it."
Andrew and Jonathan nodded enthusiastically, finally getting the whole plan. "It's about time too," Andrew said, "Gugsrak is getting restless." The Trio looked to the other side of the room, where Gugsrak was tearing up the couch.
"Yep, he's bound to us until his attention wears thin, then he goes. Until then, he's stuck with us waiting for us to tell him what to do," Warren said.
"When do you think he's going to get bored?" Jonathan questioned fearfully.
"Who knows? Hopefully that map gets to lighting so we can send him off to do his duty," Warren replied.
"Hey this kind of reminds me of Lord of the Rings, you know, how Sauron is constantly looking for The Ring, and he sends out his Wraiths to do his bidding. We're like Sauron, and Buffy is The Ring, and Gugsrak is like a Wraith," Andrew said gleefully.
"Yeah!" Jonathan exclaimed. "And you know how The Ring is really strong? And Buffy is like the Slayer!"
"Plus The Ring makes you invisible and Buffy is like invisible!" Andrew added.
"If anything you'd be a hobbit Jonathan, look how short you are," Warren said with a wicked gleam in his eye.
"Well, hobbits happen to be the bravest of all Middle Earth so that leaves you in the dust!" Jonathan shot back.
"Don't you go spouting off again, I don't care what you say, hobbits are by no means the bravest creatures in Middle Earth. That's just some stupid lie, everyone knows Gollum was," Warren argued back.
"Hey guys," Andrew said. He was ignored.
"Yeah and what was Gollum but a distant ancestor of the hobbits!" Jonathan shot back.
"Guys!"
"Oh that doesn't count because he was strong after he was no longer hobbit- like, he became a species unto himself!" Warren yelled back.
"GUYS! THE MAP!" Andrew shouted and both opponents turned to stare at him. He pointed to the poster board, where a bright blue light was shining on it. The other two ran over to it.
"What does it say?" Jonathan asked as Warren bent over to read the name of the city.
"It says..." There was a suspenseful pause. "Roseland."
