"If it isn't the great producer!" Buffy sat herself down next to a thoroughly stressed Giles. Xander and Willow sat together just behind the pair.
"Had to see this to believe it." Xander added leaning forward into the conversation.
"Oh. You three." Replied very non-plussed. He should have expected this.
"The school talent show. How ever did you finagle such a primo assignment?" Buffy asked curiously, knowing well Giles dislike of all students other than those of present company.
"Our new Führer, Mr. Snyder." Stated an annoyed Giles.
"I think they call 'em 'principals' now." Willow quipped.
"Mm. He thought it would behoove me to have more contact with the students. I did try to explain that my vocational choice of librarian was a deliberate attempt to minimize said contact, but, uh, he would have none of it."
"Giles, unto every generation is born one who must run the annual talentless show. You cannot escape your destiny." Buffy needled.
"If you had any shred of decency, you would have participated, or at least, um, helped."
"Nah! I think I'll take on your traditional role... and watch!" The irony was not lost on Buffy
"And mock!" joined in Xander, enjoying the hazing they were giving Giles.
"And laugh!" Willows final shot got them all chuckling.
"O-kay..." Buffy started, sobering up "...I think maybe we better leave our Mr. Giles to this business he calls a show." The three of them got up and started back up the aisle. Principal Snyder is waiting there for them.
"Principal Snyder!" Buffy exclaimed in unwelcome surprise.
" So. We think school events are stupid, and we think authority figures are to be made fun of." stated Snyder very matter-of-factly.
"No! No, we don't. W-unless you do." Stated buffy, panicked at being caught out.
"And we think our afternoon classes are optional. All thr.....You left campus yesterday" Snyder looked kinda dazed for a minute before refocusing right on Buffy. Literally ignoring Xander and Willow.
"Yeah but we were fighting..." Buffy stopped herself.
"Fighting?" Snyder question, he could taste the blood in the water.
"Not fighting" Buffy back pedaled somemore.
"Real anti-social type aren't you. You need to integrate into this school, Ms. Summers..." stated Snyder with a smug show of superiority. ".... I think I just found a new eager new participants for the talent show."
"What?!" Buffy exclaimed, horrified. In the back ground, Xander was motioning Willow to stay quiet while quietly moving them away.
"I've been watching you. Always getting into one scrap or another."
"Well, we're really, really sorry, but about the talent show, pleeease, you can't make us..." Buffy starts.
" My predecessor, Mr. Flutie, may have gone in for all that touchy-feely relating nonsense, but he was eaten..." interrupted Snyder "You're in *my* world now. And Sunnydale high has touched and felt for the last time."
Xander had to clamp a hand over his and Willows mouths to stop from laughing out loud at that last comment. Buffy just looked horrified as Snyder left her in his destructive wake. She barely acknowledges Xander and Willows wave as they left the hall.
She collapsed into her original seat next to Giles and looks at him for sympathy, of which she received nothing but a smirk. She gave an angry pout.
"Can you believe him! Now I've got to come up with something for the talent show... And he didn't even get Willow and Xander to do it with me, he barely even noticed them. I tell ya, he's singling me out" she complained.
"Ofcourse he's not, it's just your own fault for getting caught" Said Giles frowning. She was right, he hadn't noticed Xander and Willow. Which he really should have. They were standing right next to her.
He cast a worried after them.
*******
Out in the hall.
Xander and Willow burst through the hall doors, laughter already bubbling out of them.
"'Sunnydale high has touched and felt for the last time'? Where was I when it was touching and feeling, cause I missed out big time!" Xander exclaimed as they headed for the student lounge. Giggling all the way.
"Whats better though is Buffys in the talent show now! We have to go" Willow said mischievously.
"Ofcourse we're going. Can you scope your dads' video camera? This has to be a moment for the ages." Xander told her.
"No problem. I'm just glad we dont have to get up there... By the way how did you do that?"
"The whole forgetting we were there thing? Well..." He gave her a smug grin.
~ I've been practicing ~ he spoke into her mind.
"Cool" she said simply, as they entered the lounge, heading straight for the vending machines.
"It's still pretty hard to do though. Takes a lot of concentration." He told her while getting a candy bar.
Willow thumped the side of her drink machine in a practiced motion Xander had showed her. She'd only just become strong enough for it to work though, but she was thoroughly pleased with the results as the coke popped out the bottom.
"So what are you doing this avo? You sticking around to help Giles with the study?" Willow asked as they collapsed onto the well used chairs of the student lounge, chewing and sipping respectively.
"Nah, I'm going over Andrews. Got himself a car the other week and me and Steve-o are going to go tinker with it"
Willow just rolled her eye's.
"What about on Friday? You free that night? Cass is throwing a party, open house, it'll be cool" Xander asked Willow.
"I dont know Xan? You know I'm not one parties."
"Ohh come on. I promise if you dont like it we'll go and patrol or something. It'll give you a chance to show off all those new clothes you bought the other" He pleaded with her.
"Ohhh Ok, but if it's bad, we go ok?"
"No prob"
They sat in a comfortable silence before looking at each other and swapping snacks.
"Wanna come up to the house on Saturday...."
******
Wednesday night. Talent show night. The Hall.
"Oh ahh Mr Giles. I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"Yes, ahh um Mark. What is it?" Giles struggled to remember the students name. More worried about the performances tonight.
"I was wondering, could you calculate the speed that my guillotine would be traveling when it struck it's 'victim'" Mark made little hand comma's when he referred to victim, smirking slightly.
Giles looked at the boy, wondering why an obviously eager student was stuck in the talent show.
"Ohh um, yes, if you calibrated the units of weight correctly, it would be possible to calculate the ah, velocity at the point of impact."
"Hey, your pretty smart Mr. Giles. Um, can I just ask one more favor?"
"Ahh, yes go ahead."
"I need you to be in my performance tonight" stated Mark kind of sheepishly.
"What?!" Giles manners slipped slightly.
"Please? There's no one else. You dont have to say anything, I do all the talking. Come on, please, I wont be able to do the performance otherwise."
Giles stared at the boy, toying with the notion of just flat refusing him. Mark must have read his face wrong, because he gave him a hopeful smile.
"Ohhh all right" Snyder would be on his back if he did let the student fend for himself. That and he had very little to do for the rest of the night. Being in this performance had to be better than watching the others for the sixth time.
"Thanks Sir... Well, we better set up than." He handed Giles an armful of weights and led him over to the guillotine.
"What will be my part in the performance?" Asked Giles curiously.
"Ahh your my victim for the night" Said Mark while carefully setting up the weights. He started pulling the very sharp looking blade up on the rope.
"Could you set up that melon, I want to test her out" Giles complied placing the melon in place and watching in fascination as it was very swiftly sliced in two
"Oh My."
"Cool huh" Giles looked at the young man curiously. This generation had a very weird definition of what was cool.
"Yes...ahh very cool" Applause could be heard from the stage.
"Better set you up, we're only a couple of performances away" Mark pointed out, lifting up the blade again and tying it off.
"Just make sure that blade is secure" Giles nervousness as he laid upon the table brought a grin to Marks face.
"Dont worry..." he said double checking the knot." ...It's very secure." He gave a carefree chuckle, rubbing his arms.
"Are you sure there's no one else to do it?" Giles asked nervously. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. It didn't really seem so good with the blade hanging over him like it was.
"My assistant called in sick. More likely chickened out. Dont worry though, I do all the talking" he clamped down the guillotine guard over Giles forehead before locking it with a small padlock.
"Shouldn't that be around my neck?"
"No this way it slices of your scalp and your brains just come ... pouring out" Mark started tying straps over Giles chest. Giles grunts as Mark pulls the final strap extra tight.
"Ahh, What exactly is the trick?" Giles suddenly cant remember Marks audition.
"Trick?" asks Mark evilly as he disappears from Giles' line of sight.
"Mark?" Giles is worried now. A sudden thunk and Giles realizes what is happening. He lets out a soft whimper as he see's the blade quiver above him. Giles tries to convey some meaning for authority when he asks for mark again but his voice wobbles. Just like that blade right above him is right now.
*Thunk*
The blade shines under the stages hard white lights. White like Giles eye's.
*Thunk*
The blade slips a couple of inches and Giles flinches. He can imagine Mark rising the hatchet for the final stroke. The time in-between seeming impossibly long.
Sudden quick footsteps can suddenly heard, followed equally by several thumps and groans, at which Giles flinches every time.
"Ewww" That had to be Buffy. Relief floods Giles like a burst damn. He was saved, his slayer would save him.
He heard the rope snap and saw the blade descend with an earry slowness and his terror returned a thousand fold.
His life flashed before his eye's.
*******
Xander pounded into back stage as fast as he could behind Buffy. He knew Willow was a couple seconds behind them. He's be with her without his collar, and even still Buffy got there seconds before him.
He arrived to find her battling with Mark. Or more like the demon that he had know as mark for the last couple of years. In the background he recognized Giles strapped to a Guillotine. He saw the Rope holding the blade of the guillotine.
He saw the rope snap.
He leapt for the rope, and tried to catch it in mid air as everything seemed to slow down.
He missed
*******
"Had to see this to believe it." Xander added leaning forward into the conversation.
"Oh. You three." Replied very non-plussed. He should have expected this.
"The school talent show. How ever did you finagle such a primo assignment?" Buffy asked curiously, knowing well Giles dislike of all students other than those of present company.
"Our new Führer, Mr. Snyder." Stated an annoyed Giles.
"I think they call 'em 'principals' now." Willow quipped.
"Mm. He thought it would behoove me to have more contact with the students. I did try to explain that my vocational choice of librarian was a deliberate attempt to minimize said contact, but, uh, he would have none of it."
"Giles, unto every generation is born one who must run the annual talentless show. You cannot escape your destiny." Buffy needled.
"If you had any shred of decency, you would have participated, or at least, um, helped."
"Nah! I think I'll take on your traditional role... and watch!" The irony was not lost on Buffy
"And mock!" joined in Xander, enjoying the hazing they were giving Giles.
"And laugh!" Willows final shot got them all chuckling.
"O-kay..." Buffy started, sobering up "...I think maybe we better leave our Mr. Giles to this business he calls a show." The three of them got up and started back up the aisle. Principal Snyder is waiting there for them.
"Principal Snyder!" Buffy exclaimed in unwelcome surprise.
" So. We think school events are stupid, and we think authority figures are to be made fun of." stated Snyder very matter-of-factly.
"No! No, we don't. W-unless you do." Stated buffy, panicked at being caught out.
"And we think our afternoon classes are optional. All thr.....You left campus yesterday" Snyder looked kinda dazed for a minute before refocusing right on Buffy. Literally ignoring Xander and Willow.
"Yeah but we were fighting..." Buffy stopped herself.
"Fighting?" Snyder question, he could taste the blood in the water.
"Not fighting" Buffy back pedaled somemore.
"Real anti-social type aren't you. You need to integrate into this school, Ms. Summers..." stated Snyder with a smug show of superiority. ".... I think I just found a new eager new participants for the talent show."
"What?!" Buffy exclaimed, horrified. In the back ground, Xander was motioning Willow to stay quiet while quietly moving them away.
"I've been watching you. Always getting into one scrap or another."
"Well, we're really, really sorry, but about the talent show, pleeease, you can't make us..." Buffy starts.
" My predecessor, Mr. Flutie, may have gone in for all that touchy-feely relating nonsense, but he was eaten..." interrupted Snyder "You're in *my* world now. And Sunnydale high has touched and felt for the last time."
Xander had to clamp a hand over his and Willows mouths to stop from laughing out loud at that last comment. Buffy just looked horrified as Snyder left her in his destructive wake. She barely acknowledges Xander and Willows wave as they left the hall.
She collapsed into her original seat next to Giles and looks at him for sympathy, of which she received nothing but a smirk. She gave an angry pout.
"Can you believe him! Now I've got to come up with something for the talent show... And he didn't even get Willow and Xander to do it with me, he barely even noticed them. I tell ya, he's singling me out" she complained.
"Ofcourse he's not, it's just your own fault for getting caught" Said Giles frowning. She was right, he hadn't noticed Xander and Willow. Which he really should have. They were standing right next to her.
He cast a worried after them.
*******
Out in the hall.
Xander and Willow burst through the hall doors, laughter already bubbling out of them.
"'Sunnydale high has touched and felt for the last time'? Where was I when it was touching and feeling, cause I missed out big time!" Xander exclaimed as they headed for the student lounge. Giggling all the way.
"Whats better though is Buffys in the talent show now! We have to go" Willow said mischievously.
"Ofcourse we're going. Can you scope your dads' video camera? This has to be a moment for the ages." Xander told her.
"No problem. I'm just glad we dont have to get up there... By the way how did you do that?"
"The whole forgetting we were there thing? Well..." He gave her a smug grin.
~ I've been practicing ~ he spoke into her mind.
"Cool" she said simply, as they entered the lounge, heading straight for the vending machines.
"It's still pretty hard to do though. Takes a lot of concentration." He told her while getting a candy bar.
Willow thumped the side of her drink machine in a practiced motion Xander had showed her. She'd only just become strong enough for it to work though, but she was thoroughly pleased with the results as the coke popped out the bottom.
"So what are you doing this avo? You sticking around to help Giles with the study?" Willow asked as they collapsed onto the well used chairs of the student lounge, chewing and sipping respectively.
"Nah, I'm going over Andrews. Got himself a car the other week and me and Steve-o are going to go tinker with it"
Willow just rolled her eye's.
"What about on Friday? You free that night? Cass is throwing a party, open house, it'll be cool" Xander asked Willow.
"I dont know Xan? You know I'm not one parties."
"Ohh come on. I promise if you dont like it we'll go and patrol or something. It'll give you a chance to show off all those new clothes you bought the other" He pleaded with her.
"Ohhh Ok, but if it's bad, we go ok?"
"No prob"
They sat in a comfortable silence before looking at each other and swapping snacks.
"Wanna come up to the house on Saturday...."
******
Wednesday night. Talent show night. The Hall.
"Oh ahh Mr Giles. I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"Yes, ahh um Mark. What is it?" Giles struggled to remember the students name. More worried about the performances tonight.
"I was wondering, could you calculate the speed that my guillotine would be traveling when it struck it's 'victim'" Mark made little hand comma's when he referred to victim, smirking slightly.
Giles looked at the boy, wondering why an obviously eager student was stuck in the talent show.
"Ohh um, yes, if you calibrated the units of weight correctly, it would be possible to calculate the ah, velocity at the point of impact."
"Hey, your pretty smart Mr. Giles. Um, can I just ask one more favor?"
"Ahh, yes go ahead."
"I need you to be in my performance tonight" stated Mark kind of sheepishly.
"What?!" Giles manners slipped slightly.
"Please? There's no one else. You dont have to say anything, I do all the talking. Come on, please, I wont be able to do the performance otherwise."
Giles stared at the boy, toying with the notion of just flat refusing him. Mark must have read his face wrong, because he gave him a hopeful smile.
"Ohhh all right" Snyder would be on his back if he did let the student fend for himself. That and he had very little to do for the rest of the night. Being in this performance had to be better than watching the others for the sixth time.
"Thanks Sir... Well, we better set up than." He handed Giles an armful of weights and led him over to the guillotine.
"What will be my part in the performance?" Asked Giles curiously.
"Ahh your my victim for the night" Said Mark while carefully setting up the weights. He started pulling the very sharp looking blade up on the rope.
"Could you set up that melon, I want to test her out" Giles complied placing the melon in place and watching in fascination as it was very swiftly sliced in two
"Oh My."
"Cool huh" Giles looked at the young man curiously. This generation had a very weird definition of what was cool.
"Yes...ahh very cool" Applause could be heard from the stage.
"Better set you up, we're only a couple of performances away" Mark pointed out, lifting up the blade again and tying it off.
"Just make sure that blade is secure" Giles nervousness as he laid upon the table brought a grin to Marks face.
"Dont worry..." he said double checking the knot." ...It's very secure." He gave a carefree chuckle, rubbing his arms.
"Are you sure there's no one else to do it?" Giles asked nervously. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. It didn't really seem so good with the blade hanging over him like it was.
"My assistant called in sick. More likely chickened out. Dont worry though, I do all the talking" he clamped down the guillotine guard over Giles forehead before locking it with a small padlock.
"Shouldn't that be around my neck?"
"No this way it slices of your scalp and your brains just come ... pouring out" Mark started tying straps over Giles chest. Giles grunts as Mark pulls the final strap extra tight.
"Ahh, What exactly is the trick?" Giles suddenly cant remember Marks audition.
"Trick?" asks Mark evilly as he disappears from Giles' line of sight.
"Mark?" Giles is worried now. A sudden thunk and Giles realizes what is happening. He lets out a soft whimper as he see's the blade quiver above him. Giles tries to convey some meaning for authority when he asks for mark again but his voice wobbles. Just like that blade right above him is right now.
*Thunk*
The blade shines under the stages hard white lights. White like Giles eye's.
*Thunk*
The blade slips a couple of inches and Giles flinches. He can imagine Mark rising the hatchet for the final stroke. The time in-between seeming impossibly long.
Sudden quick footsteps can suddenly heard, followed equally by several thumps and groans, at which Giles flinches every time.
"Ewww" That had to be Buffy. Relief floods Giles like a burst damn. He was saved, his slayer would save him.
He heard the rope snap and saw the blade descend with an earry slowness and his terror returned a thousand fold.
His life flashed before his eye's.
*******
Xander pounded into back stage as fast as he could behind Buffy. He knew Willow was a couple seconds behind them. He's be with her without his collar, and even still Buffy got there seconds before him.
He arrived to find her battling with Mark. Or more like the demon that he had know as mark for the last couple of years. In the background he recognized Giles strapped to a Guillotine. He saw the Rope holding the blade of the guillotine.
He saw the rope snap.
He leapt for the rope, and tried to catch it in mid air as everything seemed to slow down.
He missed
*******