Chapter Three: Interrogations and Ju Ju Beans
Summary: Oz and Buffy interrogate the vamps separately. But things don't go as they planned…
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon…blah blah…not mine…*mumbles*
Oz circled the bed to which Willow was shackled to. She was spread eagle on the stripped mattress and the White Hat almost objected to having her treated like an animal.
*But she is an animal,* he kept telling himself. *It doesn't matter that she has such sad eyes, or that she can feel pain and cries…* Oz mentally cursed himself.
"Are you going to talk to yourself all day or are you going to beat me into telling you where Big Daddy is hiding?" Willow said patronizingly.
"Don't tempt me," Oz warned. Willow arched her back, milky white cleavage heaving.
"You're right, tempting is *my* job." she smirked wickedly, and Oz felt his knees buckle.
*I can't possibly like her! She's like, all evil and argh and such. Just do what you have to do Oz.*
The White Hat turned away, going to the night stand where upon the beaker of acid sat. He took a seat and dragged it beside the bed.
"You're a vampire, you can't die from a little bit of acid. But I can guarantee that it'll be worst than a suntan." he smiled mirthlessly. "Or you can just tell me what I want to know."
Willow rested her head on her shoulder, green blue eyes looking straight into Oz's brown ones.
"You have no upper lip, did you know that?" the vampire pointed out. Surprised *and self conscious*, Oz touched a finger to his lips, then his hand slapped down on the counter as he realized he was off task. "But you have nice hair." she said, her full lips half parted. Oz suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss a vampire. Would it be cold, hot? Would she bite him? *HULLO! Wake up Oz-Man! She's doing the whole look-into-my-eyes bit! You're smarter than this.*
The White Hat splashed the acid on her face and stormed out of the room, the shrieks of purest pain and agony escaping the melting lips of the vampress he was falling in love with.
***
"Ya know, I used to be into that whole vampire scene," Buffy was telling Xander in the basement. She sauntered over to the window. She leaned against the leather tarp and looked at the male vampire. His aurum eyes never left her face. "What stopped you?" he asked disinterestedly.
"I like the sun." she replied simply, pulling on the leather blanket. Sunlight flooded the room and Xander howled in horror and anguish. At the same time, Willow above was screaming at a frightened pitch. Buffy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, basking in the radiance of the sun. She placed the tarp back upon the windowsill and waved her hand, trying to disperse the smell of burning flesh. "You guys are just candidates for skin cancer aren't ya?" the Slayer walked over to the cowering vampire, huddling in the corner and managing to avoid the full exposure of the lethal light. Feeling Buffy near, he squirmed and clawed at his chains frantically. "This is fun," Buffy said, her voice light and even chipper. "I haven't even begun to torment you."
"Get away from me," he hissed.
"Gladly. I'm not partial to Ode Du Vampire." she scrunched up her little nose. "So won't you help me out and spill on your boss' whereabouts?"
"Go to hell," Xander faced her, his demonic face browned with the brief kiss of the sun.
"You first Fang Boy." she patted him on the head and walked back to the window. She pulled the tarp down and smiled as Xander broke into more frantic yelling. Fire began to catch on his hair and clothes. She placed the tarp on its place and mustered a sweet voice, "Now?"
No answer.
Buffy shrugged. She was about to pull down the tarp again when the male vampire cried out.
"No! No! I'll tell you! Just…don't make with the 'let there be light' anymore ok?"
The Slayer held up her hand.
"Scout's Honor." she smirked.
After Xander had told her what she wanted to know, Buffy went upstairs and ran into Oz. He looked at her silently. Then,
"Ju Ju Bean?" he offered her an open box. Buffy shook her head in the negative.
"I got him to talk. Grab some weapons and let's do it to it."
"Buffy wait," Oz stopped her. The Slayer turned on her heel, a questioning look on her small face. "I uh…can we not kill the one upstairs?"
Buffy regarded him with amazement. Then suspicion.
"Why not? We don't need her anymore. We got what we needed." she crossed her arms, her nose twitching agitatedly. The little ring jangled.
"I know, but I would like to…" he searched for a good lie. "Ya know, teach her a lesson. Make her regret dealing with the Oz-Man." Buffy rolled her eyes.
"I'm not your boss. Do whatever you want with her and the one downstairs. I'm going to go and shower. You mind?" the Slayer didn't give the White Hat anytime to respond as she bounded up the stairs.
"Go right ahead," he said to himself.
***
"Oh this is not good at all. It cannot be right." Giles said, bending over a book and squinting.
"What's the deal Boss Man?" Oz asked. The rebellion met in the library, but even with all their members present, they could not fill the room. Larry, the gay football player was present, sharpening stakes and paying scant attention. Porter, one of the new recruits, was standing near Oz, acting strangely as he always did when the brown haired boy entered the room. Erika and Craig stood together, arms intertwined and faces masks of terror at the rebel leader's words. Buffy sat idly looking at the rows upon rows of books. Mostly every book she saw however, were either on combat or demonology.
"Good family reading," she muttered to herself.
"Well, if the information Buffy received is valid, then the home of the Master is the somewhere between the Bronze and the high school."
"So what makes that a jagged little pill to swallow?" Buffy asked.
"It's a broad range I'm afraid," Giles said impatiently.
"Maybe this Master guy likes his leg room." the Slayer shrugged.
"What if he's underground, and that strip are like sewers or something?" Porter suggested nervously.
"Nice thinking Port-o." Oz commended. Porter flushed deep crimson in embarrassment.
"Well, yes, that is a possibility, but it goes against logic." the librarian countered.
"Tell us all about it Spock," Oz said.
"Who?"
"Nothin' Boss Man. Go on."
"Quite. Yes, eh, the Master has been cramped up in the subterranean prison for centuries. Since the Harvest he has been loud, flashy, and does little to hide himself from public scrutiny."
"Doesn't mean he's dumb though." Larry said.
"Yeah, he could just be using the underground as a daytime hide out or something." Erika agreed.
"Great, so we go in, open the windows, and the Master is Colonel Sanders-ified." the Slayer made for the door.
"Sounds good on paper, but doubtless he will have sentinels." Giles interjected.
"Then we'll kill them too." Buffy said, not bothering to turn back. The swinging doors closed and Giles sighed.
"That girl is more trouble than she's worth." Larry said. "And besides, doesn't she know that army fatigues went out of style *months* ago?" the football player shook his head sadly. Cocking an eyebrow, Oz said,
"Moving right along. Giles, does this sound doable?"
Giles closed the book.
"According to this, the sewers are littered with monsters that contain toxins in their touch and are vicious. If the Master has these creatures, these M'hak doing his bidding, then we will have much more difficulty. Our numbers are not yet strong enough to pull off this assault."
"The Master's weakened, and we have a Vampire Slayer on our side now. I'd say the favors are seriously on our side." Craig said. "But then again I failed the probability portion of math class so what do I know?"
"All right, we shall have one final confrontation with the Master. This girl, Buffy, is our only hope. That and our determination to take back Sunnydale, to take back our lives. If you are not ready for this, if not all of you are willing to put your hearts and souls into this battle, then all is lost."
The collection of hardened teenaged rebels were solemn, looking at one another. It was possibly the last time they would see one another. Their hearts were leaden in their chests but at the same time they burned in anticipation. They could take back Sunnydale now, and they would not have to fight anymore. They could lay down their stakes and continue life as they should have before the Harvest. *But can we go back to that?* a nagging thought tugged at Oz's brain. *All I've known for these past two years are death and violence, killing or being killed.*
"Oz? You ok man?" Porter asked, placing a hand on his slim shoulder. The brown haired boy looked up, startled out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, good and golden. I'm gonna head out guys." he waved at his companions as he left.
"Report back after school for weapons training!" Giles called. Oz shouted back an OK and continued onto the lunch court.
***
"They shall pay for what they've done to me," the Master of Vampires was saying. His face was still bleeding freshly, something that struck the Master as odd. The wounds kept flowing freely, but only the cuts given by the steel crucifix. His clawed fingers gingerly touched the tender cuts. He'd been ravenously hungry since the battle and called for another human. It would be his third in this hour alone, and it was only lunch time. He closed his aged eyes, not wishing to see the ugly gloom of the underground lair. He had done little to make the living space more comfortable, so it was only bare rock and metal from the pipelines. The smell was rancid but it didn't matter when one no longer had to breathe.
One of his men brought the king a struggling boy of about fifteen. He had dark hair and dark eyes, so much like Xander's. He truly missed Xander, his favorite alongside the wicked Willow. Those were the two children he was proud of most. And those despicable humans have them captured. The Master lashed out and took the boy by the hair. He pulled him close and ripped his throat out, feasting on the stringy veins, the thick meats of his neck and shoulders. He drank thirstily of the heated blood and nearly swooned. He discarded the boy on the floor, a gaping red and black wound on what was left of his neck. His head lolled to the side, held to the rest of his body by a thin strip of flesh.
"Take the scraps to the dogs," he ordered. The follower took the corpse and tossed it into the steel cage wherein the fledglings were kept. These were his special pets, victims he sired for the sole purpose of spite. Many, if not indeed all, were members of the White Hats or rebelled in some fashion. There was Ms. Calendar, a woman who covered as a teacher to get to Angel and use him to defeat the Master. She was currently fighting Cordelia Chase, a bothersome little twit, for the veins in the dead boy's wrist.
"Send messengers and recruit the generals of my army." the Master commanded of his followers. "Yes, to defeat this Slayer I would need Spike, Drusilla, and Darla. Ah how nice it would be to have them with me again." he clapped his hands in delight and smiled, then winced as he inadvertently split a cut further. "Yes, they shall pay…"
Summary: Oz and Buffy interrogate the vamps separately. But things don't go as they planned…
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon…blah blah…not mine…*mumbles*
Oz circled the bed to which Willow was shackled to. She was spread eagle on the stripped mattress and the White Hat almost objected to having her treated like an animal.
*But she is an animal,* he kept telling himself. *It doesn't matter that she has such sad eyes, or that she can feel pain and cries…* Oz mentally cursed himself.
"Are you going to talk to yourself all day or are you going to beat me into telling you where Big Daddy is hiding?" Willow said patronizingly.
"Don't tempt me," Oz warned. Willow arched her back, milky white cleavage heaving.
"You're right, tempting is *my* job." she smirked wickedly, and Oz felt his knees buckle.
*I can't possibly like her! She's like, all evil and argh and such. Just do what you have to do Oz.*
The White Hat turned away, going to the night stand where upon the beaker of acid sat. He took a seat and dragged it beside the bed.
"You're a vampire, you can't die from a little bit of acid. But I can guarantee that it'll be worst than a suntan." he smiled mirthlessly. "Or you can just tell me what I want to know."
Willow rested her head on her shoulder, green blue eyes looking straight into Oz's brown ones.
"You have no upper lip, did you know that?" the vampire pointed out. Surprised *and self conscious*, Oz touched a finger to his lips, then his hand slapped down on the counter as he realized he was off task. "But you have nice hair." she said, her full lips half parted. Oz suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss a vampire. Would it be cold, hot? Would she bite him? *HULLO! Wake up Oz-Man! She's doing the whole look-into-my-eyes bit! You're smarter than this.*
The White Hat splashed the acid on her face and stormed out of the room, the shrieks of purest pain and agony escaping the melting lips of the vampress he was falling in love with.
***
"Ya know, I used to be into that whole vampire scene," Buffy was telling Xander in the basement. She sauntered over to the window. She leaned against the leather tarp and looked at the male vampire. His aurum eyes never left her face. "What stopped you?" he asked disinterestedly.
"I like the sun." she replied simply, pulling on the leather blanket. Sunlight flooded the room and Xander howled in horror and anguish. At the same time, Willow above was screaming at a frightened pitch. Buffy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, basking in the radiance of the sun. She placed the tarp back upon the windowsill and waved her hand, trying to disperse the smell of burning flesh. "You guys are just candidates for skin cancer aren't ya?" the Slayer walked over to the cowering vampire, huddling in the corner and managing to avoid the full exposure of the lethal light. Feeling Buffy near, he squirmed and clawed at his chains frantically. "This is fun," Buffy said, her voice light and even chipper. "I haven't even begun to torment you."
"Get away from me," he hissed.
"Gladly. I'm not partial to Ode Du Vampire." she scrunched up her little nose. "So won't you help me out and spill on your boss' whereabouts?"
"Go to hell," Xander faced her, his demonic face browned with the brief kiss of the sun.
"You first Fang Boy." she patted him on the head and walked back to the window. She pulled the tarp down and smiled as Xander broke into more frantic yelling. Fire began to catch on his hair and clothes. She placed the tarp on its place and mustered a sweet voice, "Now?"
No answer.
Buffy shrugged. She was about to pull down the tarp again when the male vampire cried out.
"No! No! I'll tell you! Just…don't make with the 'let there be light' anymore ok?"
The Slayer held up her hand.
"Scout's Honor." she smirked.
After Xander had told her what she wanted to know, Buffy went upstairs and ran into Oz. He looked at her silently. Then,
"Ju Ju Bean?" he offered her an open box. Buffy shook her head in the negative.
"I got him to talk. Grab some weapons and let's do it to it."
"Buffy wait," Oz stopped her. The Slayer turned on her heel, a questioning look on her small face. "I uh…can we not kill the one upstairs?"
Buffy regarded him with amazement. Then suspicion.
"Why not? We don't need her anymore. We got what we needed." she crossed her arms, her nose twitching agitatedly. The little ring jangled.
"I know, but I would like to…" he searched for a good lie. "Ya know, teach her a lesson. Make her regret dealing with the Oz-Man." Buffy rolled her eyes.
"I'm not your boss. Do whatever you want with her and the one downstairs. I'm going to go and shower. You mind?" the Slayer didn't give the White Hat anytime to respond as she bounded up the stairs.
"Go right ahead," he said to himself.
***
"Oh this is not good at all. It cannot be right." Giles said, bending over a book and squinting.
"What's the deal Boss Man?" Oz asked. The rebellion met in the library, but even with all their members present, they could not fill the room. Larry, the gay football player was present, sharpening stakes and paying scant attention. Porter, one of the new recruits, was standing near Oz, acting strangely as he always did when the brown haired boy entered the room. Erika and Craig stood together, arms intertwined and faces masks of terror at the rebel leader's words. Buffy sat idly looking at the rows upon rows of books. Mostly every book she saw however, were either on combat or demonology.
"Good family reading," she muttered to herself.
"Well, if the information Buffy received is valid, then the home of the Master is the somewhere between the Bronze and the high school."
"So what makes that a jagged little pill to swallow?" Buffy asked.
"It's a broad range I'm afraid," Giles said impatiently.
"Maybe this Master guy likes his leg room." the Slayer shrugged.
"What if he's underground, and that strip are like sewers or something?" Porter suggested nervously.
"Nice thinking Port-o." Oz commended. Porter flushed deep crimson in embarrassment.
"Well, yes, that is a possibility, but it goes against logic." the librarian countered.
"Tell us all about it Spock," Oz said.
"Who?"
"Nothin' Boss Man. Go on."
"Quite. Yes, eh, the Master has been cramped up in the subterranean prison for centuries. Since the Harvest he has been loud, flashy, and does little to hide himself from public scrutiny."
"Doesn't mean he's dumb though." Larry said.
"Yeah, he could just be using the underground as a daytime hide out or something." Erika agreed.
"Great, so we go in, open the windows, and the Master is Colonel Sanders-ified." the Slayer made for the door.
"Sounds good on paper, but doubtless he will have sentinels." Giles interjected.
"Then we'll kill them too." Buffy said, not bothering to turn back. The swinging doors closed and Giles sighed.
"That girl is more trouble than she's worth." Larry said. "And besides, doesn't she know that army fatigues went out of style *months* ago?" the football player shook his head sadly. Cocking an eyebrow, Oz said,
"Moving right along. Giles, does this sound doable?"
Giles closed the book.
"According to this, the sewers are littered with monsters that contain toxins in their touch and are vicious. If the Master has these creatures, these M'hak doing his bidding, then we will have much more difficulty. Our numbers are not yet strong enough to pull off this assault."
"The Master's weakened, and we have a Vampire Slayer on our side now. I'd say the favors are seriously on our side." Craig said. "But then again I failed the probability portion of math class so what do I know?"
"All right, we shall have one final confrontation with the Master. This girl, Buffy, is our only hope. That and our determination to take back Sunnydale, to take back our lives. If you are not ready for this, if not all of you are willing to put your hearts and souls into this battle, then all is lost."
The collection of hardened teenaged rebels were solemn, looking at one another. It was possibly the last time they would see one another. Their hearts were leaden in their chests but at the same time they burned in anticipation. They could take back Sunnydale now, and they would not have to fight anymore. They could lay down their stakes and continue life as they should have before the Harvest. *But can we go back to that?* a nagging thought tugged at Oz's brain. *All I've known for these past two years are death and violence, killing or being killed.*
"Oz? You ok man?" Porter asked, placing a hand on his slim shoulder. The brown haired boy looked up, startled out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, good and golden. I'm gonna head out guys." he waved at his companions as he left.
"Report back after school for weapons training!" Giles called. Oz shouted back an OK and continued onto the lunch court.
***
"They shall pay for what they've done to me," the Master of Vampires was saying. His face was still bleeding freshly, something that struck the Master as odd. The wounds kept flowing freely, but only the cuts given by the steel crucifix. His clawed fingers gingerly touched the tender cuts. He'd been ravenously hungry since the battle and called for another human. It would be his third in this hour alone, and it was only lunch time. He closed his aged eyes, not wishing to see the ugly gloom of the underground lair. He had done little to make the living space more comfortable, so it was only bare rock and metal from the pipelines. The smell was rancid but it didn't matter when one no longer had to breathe.
One of his men brought the king a struggling boy of about fifteen. He had dark hair and dark eyes, so much like Xander's. He truly missed Xander, his favorite alongside the wicked Willow. Those were the two children he was proud of most. And those despicable humans have them captured. The Master lashed out and took the boy by the hair. He pulled him close and ripped his throat out, feasting on the stringy veins, the thick meats of his neck and shoulders. He drank thirstily of the heated blood and nearly swooned. He discarded the boy on the floor, a gaping red and black wound on what was left of his neck. His head lolled to the side, held to the rest of his body by a thin strip of flesh.
"Take the scraps to the dogs," he ordered. The follower took the corpse and tossed it into the steel cage wherein the fledglings were kept. These were his special pets, victims he sired for the sole purpose of spite. Many, if not indeed all, were members of the White Hats or rebelled in some fashion. There was Ms. Calendar, a woman who covered as a teacher to get to Angel and use him to defeat the Master. She was currently fighting Cordelia Chase, a bothersome little twit, for the veins in the dead boy's wrist.
"Send messengers and recruit the generals of my army." the Master commanded of his followers. "Yes, to defeat this Slayer I would need Spike, Drusilla, and Darla. Ah how nice it would be to have them with me again." he clapped his hands in delight and smiled, then winced as he inadvertently split a cut further. "Yes, they shall pay…"