Fic: Ultimate Slayer - Issue 4
Author: mkcrl120
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system. The Ultimate idea comes from Marvel's use of revamping (pardon the pun) some of it's older titles.
Summary: Fresh universe… it all starts here folks
Rating: 15 by English standards (mainly for language)
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Ultimate Slayer #4 - Chosen part three
Los Angeles
The next day
Buffy turned over. She'd been rudely awakened by her alarm. "Not the alarm." she grumbled into her pillow. The alarm meant it was Monday, and Monday meant it was school.
The strange dreams she'd been having during the night had eventually stopped. "Not quite nightmares, but hardly fun times."
Getting up she recalled the dream she'd been having about Luke Perry in a fair. 'It was so sweet, how he rescued me.' she thought to herself.
Getting up she opened her wardrobe and began to rummage through it. Picking out various items of clothing, "Monday... won't see Jeffrey til lunch so..."
=====
Elsewhere in Los Angeles
Pike awoke to his sound of his brother's voice. "Oi."
"Hunh?" He managed to get out.
His brother opened the door and strolled in, throwing the covers off. "I said, it's time for school. That is, if you're bothering going?"
Pike was still dressed in the jeans he was wearing the night before. He removed his other clothes though, and was wearing a muscle t-shirt that had gravy stains on it. "Wha..?"
Grabbing each of Pike's leg with his hands, his brother carried him by the ankles until Pike's legs were past the edge of the bed. Then he dropped him.
Pike was still face down in his pillow, trying to re-wrap himself up in the quilt. When his legs began their descent, initially Pike ignored it. When they'd passed below the point level with the bed and the realisation that his knees still hadn't connected with anything, that was the point where Pike tightened his grip in order to protect himself. Unfortunately, the only thing in his grasp was his pillow.
Pike's knees and toes hit the ground hard. Due to the height of the bed at this point, his waist had already been dragged off the edge. The rest of his body, and pillow, flowed off the bed due to momentum. "Arrrghhhh, Dan, you complete fuc..." Pike shouted, holding his left foot.
"If you're not going to school, you could make yourself useful and take a look at my baby." Dan continued, ignoring Pike's painful protests.
Pike was sitting on his pillow on the floor now, holding his foot in both hands. "You could have broken my foot, you asshole."
"Soo.... which is it? School or..."
"School..." Pike responded.
Dan stood over him menacingly. "You better get ready then... say don't you have P.E. today?"
"Bastard." Pike muttered under his breath.
"You and your junkie mates steal my beer and you call me a bastard?"
Pike refused to answer, getting to his feet he sat back on the bed and pulled his boots on. Wincing as he put the left one on.
"You better fix my car... you said you would and it's about time you started pulling your weight around here."
Pike mumbled his agreement as he pulled on an old lumberjack shirt and headed into the kitchen to make some breakfast.
=====
Outside of Rome
Same time
Marie watched as her husband and Merrick dug deeper.
The police had returned their daughter's body earlier that day. Merrick had somehow got hold of a cheap coffin, they'd taken her away in that, stating they were having her funeral back in England. Merrick had also arranged a fake transportation order, so that they were able to take the body that day.
They'd also managed to hire out a spot in a campsite. As it was out of season the campsite owner had offered them a place near all the facilities, they'd refused requesting somewhere further from civilisation. The owner had been confused but went along with it. It'd turned out to be a useful request, as the campsite wasn't as empty as they'd have liked. Not many other people by comparison to the summer months, but enough to notice that they weren't the family unit they'd pretended to be.
Buying one of those family sized tents had enabled them to work undercover. The coffin was in the van. They were going to wait for it to go dark before attempting to move the coffin into the hole, just because no one was camped near them, didn't mean that people wouldn't be around.
Marie remembered how she'd cried when she purchased the largest tent she could. That'd been her only job. Merrick was arranging the coffin and the false documents. Doug had rented the van and found a suitable place to bury... her. She sniffled some tears. The shop assistant must have thought she was insane, when she'd broken down after buying the Super Family of Five.
She didn't care. All she wanted was to confirm her daughter was at rest. Then they would take her back to England and arrange a proper funeral. One with a proper coffin, and people who loved her surrounding her.
Ignoring her thoughts, she closed the tent door and went back outside to make sure no-one made a surprise visit. That was her job after all.
=====
Los Angeles
Pike had arrived at Benny's and was waiting for him to get up. He'd honked the horn twice so far, but recieved no reaction from the house.
He couldn't go in the actual house of course, Benny's parents hated him. Saying that though, they didn't like Benny all that much. Seems Benny's free ride ends the second he graduates.
Deciding he couldn't wait he left his van. Sneaking round the back of this house, he got to Benny's window. Knocking on the glass, he kept quietly calling, "Benny. Benny. Dude get up. Know you don't wanna, but it's school today man..."
Still no reaction.
Knocking louder now. He was relieved when the curtains finally opened. "Dude, if you got wasted after you walked home and didn't share I'm gonn..." He looked up into the eyes of Benny's mother.
"Shit." Pike leapt back from the window, did a quick double take, and then ran round the side of the house back to the safety of his van.
Climbing in the van, just as Benny's mother opened the front door. "You... you hooligan. Where's my son? He wasn't here when I checked his room this morning."
Pike was shocked. 'He didn't go home? I only left him with two blocks to go... where could he have... No... no no... not Lisa... please tell me he didn't call on that slut... he'll get back together and she'll completely fuck him around for three weeks before dropping him again.'
Benny's mother was still shouting from the doorway. "Leading my son astray. Making him stay out til all hours of the morning. You're a bad influence. I'll get the cops on you if he's not back tonight."
Pike started the engine and drove off without saying a word to her. Stopping at the lights, he muttered to himself. "Led him astray? He's older than me you dumb bitch. Bet she doesn't even know my name... call the cops my ass."
The lights changed and Pike headed onwards towards the school. Glancing at the clock in the van, "Shit. Late again... that's another detention. Dammit Benny!"
=====
Outside of RomeA few hours later.
"It's dark." Marie mentioned, mainly to avoid the silence rather than to actually inform them of anything.
Doug nodded and held his wife's hand.
"Best we do it now." Merrick moved towards the van. Opening the doors, he climbed in and pushed the coffin so that one end overhung the lip of the van.
Doug moved to pick up that end. Pulling the coffin out, he continued to walk towards the tent. He paused, as the other end of the coffin reached the end of the van floor.
Merrick got out. Grabbing the coffin at one side at the end in the van, Merrick managed to lift it enough so that they could move a few feet away from the van. They paused while Merrick re-adjusted his grip. Confident they now had solid grasps of the coffin they walked towards the tent.
Marie held the flap open for them. They hadn't put the bottom sheet down and managed to put the coffin in the ground. Climbing out of the space they'd left at each end, the two men joined Marie on the ground above it.
"We'll get a better coffin, once we're back home?" Marie asked.
"Of course we will." Doug replied, putting his arm around her shoulders.
Merrick picked up the spade and was about to put the first load of soil over the coffin.
"Stop." Marie ordered. Both Merrick and Doug looked at her questioningly.
She grabbed a handful of the soil and held it over the coffin. "Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust."
Merrick nodded, while Doug looked at her questioningly.
"In case this turns out to be the funeral."
Doug pulled her closer and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Just in case."
"Just in case."
Merrick placed the rest of the spade-ful onto the top of the coffin. Doug released his wife and helped Merrick continue to fill it in.
=====
Manhattan"So where does she live?" The tall bum was sitting on an upside down bin, inside a disused building.
"We're not going yet. No one's told her what she is yet." The shorter guy replied.
"She's a target and she doesn't know it."
"She isn't a target yet." The shorter guy continued to eat a hotdog.
The bum got angry, standing up and kicking the metal bin across the room.
The shorter guy looked pleased, "Now that's the actions of someone who might prove useful... instead of chasing rats aroun..."
"Where is she?" The tall guy strode over and got in the shorter guy's face. "Tell me."
"Kid, you're threatening the wrong guy. You'll see her soon enough. Now drink up, you need to build up your strength."
"She could... I told you I don't feel thirsty."
"I offered you some food when I went out."
"I didn't know that's what you meant, when you said you were going to get a few dogs."
"Firstly, eugh... and secondly, you are so out of touch it's scary."
=====
Los Angeles
Final Period, History.
Buffy was bored, Mr Howard was still rattling on at the front of the class. "Doesn't he know no-one cares?" she whispered to Jennifer.
"I don't think it matters. The guy, like, lived through the civil war. He's not teaching you history, he's telling you what he was up to when he was a child."
Buffy smiled but didn't laugh. "I don't know why we're taught history. I mean, it's so yesteryear. It'd be like wearing neon socks or jackets with shoulder pads."
"Man, they were bad."
"I know!"
"My mother tried to buy me some of those socks once. She was two years late, as usual."
"Only two years, that's good for her." Buffy giggled at some of Jennifer's mothers attempts to shop with her daughter.
A noise from behind them, distracted them. "Pssst..."
Jennifer quickly caught Buffy before she turned. "Don't look... if you look then he's got you trapped."
"Oh God... I didn't recognise the... how did he get on the back row?"
"He arrives early, same as usual. Course once the teacher arrives you can't change seats."
"Buffy." The voice from behind them repeated itself. "Buffy."
"Soo..." Buffy continued, hoping that he'd stop.
The voice was persistent, "Is it true that you are Tyler are no longer an item?"
The girl in front turned around. "Is it true what Bessel said? You aren't seeing Tyler any more?"
Jennifer sighed, turning to Buffy for permission, she waited until she'd recieved Buffy's nod. "Yes Cassandra... Buffy and Tyler are officially over. If you wanna stake your claim feel free."
"So who's she after now? Is it that Ford guy again?"
"Ford..!" Buffy spat out, too loudly for her liking, and the teachers, who gave her a glare.
"Cass, Ford is so last year." Jennifer explained.
"Buffy," came Bessel's voice again. "If no-one has asked you yet, could I be the first to ask you t..."
"No." Came Buffy's reply. Again it attracted Mr Howard's attention. Putting her head on the desk she couldn't believe it.
"Whatever happened to Ford anyway?" Jennifer mused.
"I heard he joined the army, and is spending his time getting shipped around Europe." Cassandra whispered back.
"I heard he was in prison for steroid abuse." Bessel offered from behind.
"Could you imagine being forced to go to Italy to look at the fashions." Cassandra said, as she and Jennifer sighed at the thought of it.
"He just disappeared." Buffy said. "I used to know his family. The whole lot of them moved away mysteriously. Just packed up and went one weekend."
"Shame... from the fact that their son was in prison." Came Bessel's reply.
"Wasn't he like off for two weeks prior to that though?" Jennifer thought she'd remembered.
"He enlisted, he had two weeks to pack his bags and prepare to go. I'm telling you." Cassandra had turned around again.
"He was really quiet before that though. Dropped out of the football team." Buffy muttered to herself.
"I tell you, he killed someone by selling dodgy drugs." Bessel whispered into the back of Buffy's hair.
Buffy turned around to shout at Bessel, "First it was steroid abuse, now it's murder?"
"Cough, Cough, Ahem... Miss Summers... it seems you're at the centre of this little conversation."
"Not really..." Buffy muttered weakly.
"So I take it as you're all talking, that you know all of this..? So Miss Summers, care to explain to the class one of the possible reasons for the start of the American civil war."
Buffy looked lost, neither Jennifer or Cassandra were offering any assistance.
Seeing what she could remember of wars, she offered the first thing that came into her head. "They dropped a bomb on us."
Mr Howard looked lost. "Who did?"
"The Nazi's..?" Buffy tried offering him a smile.
Some students near the front burst out laughing at her answer.
Unsure whether that was a 'good' laugh or a 'bad' laugh, Buffy chose not to elaborate further.
Mr Howard sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm surrounded by the Bill and Ted generation, I really am."
"Excellent!!!" Bessel offered from behind.
The glare from Mr Howard soon shut him up though.
"Now if all the commotion has ended, we'll continue with the lecture."
Once class had been resumed, Buffy turned to Jennifer "Such a loser."
"Which one?"
"Both of them." She clenched her fist and her pencil broke in her hand.
=====
Later that evening
Los Angeles
Pike pulled his van into the garage. Parking it carefully next to his brother's Vette. Walking past the remains of a motorcycle, he went into the house where Dan was sitting watching the television, beer in hand.
"You're home early?" Dan asked. "You better not be here to steal any more of my beer. You want me to get you some, you pay for it, or better yet get some fake ids like I had to at your age."
"Can't afford a fake id."
"Can't afford one... shit, you got some lame friends." Dan said, taking pity on him. "Take one outta the fridge."
"Cheers bro." Pike said, heading towards the kitchen.
"Fetch me one while you're at it too."
Pike returned with two beers, handing one to Dan he sat down to watch the game. "Who's playing at this time?"
"It's yesterdays game. Taped it as knew wouldn't get chance to watch it."
"Oh right, yeah they..."
Dan throw a cushion into Pike's face, "You tell me the result and you're a dead man."
Pike sipped his beer and remained silent.
"So where's your fag friend then."
"Benny isn't queer."
"Whatever... how come you're not out with him, is all I'm saying?"
"Wasn't home... didn't go to school either." Thinking about it, he added. "He call here?"
Turning all his attention to the guy making a run, "Not since I been back."
"Probably got hijacked by Lisa."
"That the one that looks like a man?"
"For the millionth time, Benny isn't gay."
"Got my doubts... got my doubts about you too pretty boy."
Pike gave up, "So what's for tea then?"
"Was gonna go down the grill house once I've watched this."
"Right..."
"You coming?"
"May as well."
"Some of my friends'll be there."
"So... they always are. What's the point?"
"Just a general warning; ya know, in case some of them hit on ya."
Pike gave him the finger and went to his room. "Just so you know." He held the door slightly open for the last comment. "Bobcats don't win this one either."
Dan threw his half full beer can at Pike's door. "You little shit!"
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End Issue 4 - Chosen part three.
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