"Reptile Boy"
Based on the Episode Written by David Greenwalt
The following story is copyright © 2021 by Mark Moore.
At the Summers house, at night, Buffy and Tara were hanging out in Buffy's room. They were naked and having a sixty-nine on Buffy's bed. Buffy was on top. Tara had a firm grip on Buffy's ass and was eagerly eating her pussy. Buffy was eating Tara's pussy with equal fervor. On Buffy's computer, "Prologue" by Loreena McKennitt played.
"I'm gonna cum, sweetie!" Tara got out between licks.
"Me, too!" Buffy replied.
Soon, both girls orgasmed and cummed into each other's mouth. They drank deeply of each other.
Tara grinned. "You taste so good, sweetie."
Buffy grinned. "So do you. Do you wanna forty-six now?"
"Forty-six?" Tara asked in confusion.
"Well, this is a sixty-nine, right?" Buffy asked her.
"Yeah."
Buffy lifted herself up a little and crawled back a bit, so her face was over Tara's breasts. She lowered herself onto Tara, took Tara's left nipple between her lips, and started sucking on it. Tara took Buffy's left nipple between her lips and started sucking on it. After a few minutes, Buffy switched to Tara's right nipple, and then Tara switched to Buffy's right nipple. They sucked for a few more minutes. The song had long since ended, but neither of them wanted to get up to put on another one.
Buffy released Tara's nipple. "That was forty-six."
Tara released Buffy's nipple.
Buffy lifted herself up a little. "Scoot down."
Tara scooted down, so her legs hung over the foot of the bed.
Buffy crawled back a bit. "And this...is twenty-three." She kissed Tara on the lips.
Tara parted her lips. Buffy slipped her tongue into Tara's mouth. The two of them french-kissed for a while. Buffy pulled back a bit. Tara stuck her tongue out of her mouth, and Buffy licked it.
Finally, Buffy turned around, lay next to Tara, and hugged her with her right arm. She kissed Tara on the lips and smiled. "Happy Birthday, sweetie."
Tara smiled. "Thanks. And thanks again for the CD."
"You like it?" Buffy asked her.
"Well, I've heard only the first track so far, but yeah."
"I'm glad."
Tara snuggled against Buffy. "This is the best birthday ever. I'm so giddy."
Buffy grinned. "Me, too. I am giddy and up. There's a kinda hush all over Sunnydale. No demons or vampires to slay, I'm here with my love..."
The two girls soon drifted off into a peaceful slumber, perfectly content.
The next day, at Sunnydale High School, Cordelia, Tara, and Buffy walked down the stairs and headed down the hall.
"You dreamed about Angel again?" Tara asked Cordelia.
Cordelia nodded. "Third night in a row."
"What did he do in the dream?" Tara asked her.
"Stuff."
Tara stared at Cordelia, confused. Cordelia smiled wide.
Buffy looked at Tara. "They totally fucked."
Tara got it. "Oh! Stuff! Was it one of those vivid dreams where you could feel his lips and smell his hair?"
Cordelia nodded. "It had surround sound. I'm just thinking about him so much lately."
Tara smiled at Cordelia. "You two are so right for each other. Except for the, uh..." She hesitated.
Buffy looked at Cordelia. "Vampire thing."
Tara looked at Buffy. "That doesn't make him a bad person. Necessarily."
Buffy had her doubts. "Remember when he nearly fed on my mom?"
"But he didn't."
Buffy frowned. "Because I showed up and kicked his undead ass."
Cordelia sighed. "I'm brainsick. I can't have a relationship with him."
Tara looked at Cordelia. "Not during the day, but you could ask him for coffee some night."
They stopped walking. Tara and Buffy got a drink at the fountain. The bell rang.
Buffy suddenly remembered. "Oh! I told Giles I'd meet him in the library ten minutes ago! Aw, he won't be upset. There hasn't been much paranormal activity lately." She headed for the library.
Soon, Buffy found herself sitting at the table and being lectured to by Giles as he paced in front of her. She watched him with bored disinterest.
"Just because the paranormal is more normal and less...para of late is no excuse for tardiness or letting your guard down."
"I haven't let my guard down."
"Oh, really? You yawned your way through weapons training last week, you - you - you - you skipped hand-to-hand entirely..." Giles paused. "Are you gonna be prepared, if a demon springs up behind you and does this?"
He swung his arm over her shoulder from behind, but she grabbed it and pulled it behind his back, forcing him to bend over and wince in pain. She had a bored look on her face.
Giles was in pain. "Yeah, well, I'm - I'm not a demon. Which is why you should let go now."
She let him go.
"Thank you." Giles straightened up and rubbed his wrist. "When you live on top of a...a mystical convergence, it's only a matter of time before a fresh hell breaks loose. Now is the time that you should train more strictly, you should hunt and patrol more keenly, you should hone your skills day and night."
"And the little slice of life that still belongs to me from, I don't know, seven to seven-oh-five in the morning, can I do what I want then?" Buffy asked him, angry.
"Buffy, you think I don't know what it's like to be sixteen?"
"No. I think you don't know what it's like to be sixteen. And a girl. And the Slayer."
"Fair enough, no, no, I-I don't."
"Being the Chosen One doesn't exactly do wonders for your social life."
"That's exactly where - where being...different, uh, comes in handy."
"Right! Who needs a social life when you've got your very own Hellmouth?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"Yes! Y-You - You - You have a duty, a-a-a purpose; y-y-you have a commitment in life. Now, how many people your age can say that?" Giles asked her.
"We talkin' foreign or domestic? How 'bout none?"
Giles had had enough. "Well, here's a hard fact of life: we all have to do things we don't like! And you have hand-to-hand this afternoon and patrol tonight. So I-I suggest you come straight here at the end of - of period six, a-and you get your homework done. And don't dawdle with your friends."
Buffy pouted.
"And - And don't think sitting there pouting is gonna get to me, because it won't."
Buffy gave him her best pouty look.
Giles looked away. "It's not getting to me."
"Get off my ass, Giles!" Buffy exclaimed in frustration.
Giles looked at her in shock. "I beg your pardon."
"I train enough with Tara and the other girls."
"Which I haven't supervised. You haven't allowed me in this...'Slayer School'."
"Because you don't meet the qualifications." Buffy looked down at his pants.
Giles sighed. "Well, how do I know you're learning the proper techniques?"
"I just showed you. Do you want some more proof?" Buffy asked him.
Giles held up his hands defensively. "No. No, that's quite all right."
Buffy stood up and headed for the doors. "You're just going to have to trust me, if you're capable of doing that."
In front of the building, after school, Buffy was sitting on the railing of the stairs to the street.
Tara walked over to her. "What a long day. Aren't you supposed to be doing your homework in the library?"
Buffy took Tara's arm. "Nah. I got out of training. I'll do my homework at...home. I'm hanging with my girlfriend."
Cordelia walked by and bumped into Tara. She continued down the stairs without so much as an acknowledgment. A black BMW pulled up to the curb. The windows were all darkly tinted.
Buffy looked at Tara in concern. "You okay?"
"Yeah."
They both watched Cordelia, who pushed her sunglasses on top of her head as the driver's window lowered.
"Cordelia."
"Hi, Richard. Nice car."
Tom Warner, in the passenger's seat, noticed Buffy sitting on the railing and pointed her out to Richard.
Richard smiled at Cordelia. "So, uh, we're having a little get-together tomorrow night at the house, and it's gonna be a really special evening."
"Oh! I would - I would love - love to go!" Cordelia replied, excited.
"So...who's your friend?" Richard indicated Buffy.
Cordelia looked. "Her? Oh, she's not my friend."
"She's amazing!" Tom exclaimed.
"She's more like a sister, really!" Cordelia immediately clarified. "We're that close."
"Well, why don't you introduce us?" Richard suggested.
Cordelia realized she'd trapped herself. "Okay." She went to get Buffy.
Buffy looked at Tara. "So...you wanna fuck again tonight?"
Cordelia reached for Buffy's hand. "Come on. Richard and his fraternity brother wanna meet you."
"Well, I really don't wanna meet any fraternity boys."
Cordelia pulled her. "And if there was a God, don't you think he'd keep it that way?"
Tara watched in sympathy as Cordelia dragged Buffy away. Cordelia brought Buffy over to Richard and Tom, who had gotten out of the car.
"Hi, sweetheart. I'm Richard. And you are?"
"So not interested." Buffy tried to leave.
Cordelia grabbed Buffy's hand. "Heh, she's such a little comedian."
"What, she likes to play hard to get?" Richard asked her.
Tom looked at him. "No, Richard. I think you're playing easy to resist."
Buffy started to leave again.
Tom paced her. "Uh, feel free to ignore him. I do all the time."
She stopped.
"I'm Tom Warner. I'm a senior at UC Sunnydale, and I...and I just feel like a complete dolt meeting you this way, so...here I stand in all my doltishness."
Tara was within earshot of Buffy and Tom and overheard the conversation.
"I'm Buffy Summers."
"Oh, nice to meet you. Are you a senior here?"
"Junior."
"Oh. I major in history."
"Mm. History stumps me. I have a hard enough time remembering what happened last week."
"No, nothin' happened last week; don't worry, I was there. So, uh, my friend invited your friend to a party we're having this weekend. You know, actually, he's not even really my friend. I only joined the fraternity, because my father and grandpa were in it before me. Y'know, it meant a lot to them. Oh, I know, I talk too much, anyway. They're really dull parties full of really dull people, so...would you like to come and save me from a really dull fate?"
"Oh. No, I'm involved."
"Well, sure, of course, you are. Well, thanks for letting me ramble."
"Y'know, people underestimate the value of a good ramble. Well, bye." Buffy turned to go but stopped and looked at him. "It was nice to meet you."
"Oh. Same here."
Buffy hopped up the stairs and over to Tara. She kissed Tara passionately on the lips. When she ended the kiss, she looked at Tom, who turned and walked away.
Buffy looked at Tara and smiled. "That oughta get 'em off my ass."
Tara smiled. "Good. I don't like sharing your ass."
Buffy strolled through the cemetery at night, keeping a careful watch. Cordelia was tagging along and playing with a stake.
"Buffy, did you lose weight? And your hair..." Cordelia paused. "All right, I respect you too much to be dishonest. The hair's a little..." She smiled widely. "Well, that really isn't the point here, is it? The Delta Zeta Kappas have to have a certain balance at their party, and Richard explained it all to me, but I was so busy really listening that I didn't hear much. Anyway, the deal is they need you to go. And if you don't go, I can't. And I'm talking about Richard Anderson, okay? As in Anderson Farms, Anderson Aeronautics, and Anderson Cosmetics." She sobbed. "Well, you see why I have to go. Buffy, these men are rich. And I am not being shallow. Think of all the poor people I could help with all my money!"
"Don't you already have a boyfriend?" Buffy reminded her.
Cordelia sighed. "Yeah, but-"
Buffy looked at her. "Don't be like that, Cordy. If you don't wanna be with Angel, you should let him know."
Cordelia was frustrated. "But I do wanna be with Angel."
Buffy sighed. "Then don't go to the fucking party!"
Cordelia thought for a moment. "But I wanna go to the fucking party!"
Buffy was about ready to punch Cordelia in the face. She dug her fingernails into her palms.
"Maybe..." Cordelia hesitated. "Maybe we can go, so I can make some connections? It might be useful for a future career or something."
Buffy sighed. "Fine, I'll go."
Cordelia was surprised. "You'll go?" She gave Buffy a huge smile. "Great! I'll drive. Oh, Buffy, it's like we're sisters! With really different hair."
"Uh-huh. You do know I'm a natural brunette, right?" Buffy asked her.
"Oh, I know you're a bottle blonde. I meant my hair's just better overall."
Buffy spotted a bracelet on the ground and bent down to pick it up.
"There's blood on it."
Buffy got up, startled, and faced Angel.
Cordelia faced Angel and smiled." Hi. It's nice to see you."
"Blood?" Buffy asked Angel.
"I can smell it."
"Oh." Buffy looked at the bracelet. "It's pretty thin. It probably belonged to a girl."
"Probably."
Cordelia sighed and rolled her eyes. "I-I was...just thinking...wouldn't it be funny some time to see each other when it wasn't a blood thing." She smiled briefly. "Not funny ha, ha."
"What are you sayin'? You wanna have a date?" Angel asked her.
"No."
Angel was confused. "You don't wanna have a date?"
"Who said 'date'? I-I-I never said 'date'."
"Right. You just wanna have coffee or somethin'."
Cordelia was hopeful. "Coffee?"
"I knew this was gonna happen."
"What? What do you think is happening?" Cordelia asked him.
"You're sixteen years old. I'm two-hundred-forty-one."
"I've done the math."
"You don't know what you're doing; you don't know what you want..."
"Oh. No, I-I think I do. I want out of this conversation." Cordelia started to walk past him.
Angel bumped into her. "Listen, if we date, you and I both know one thing's gonna lead to another."
"One thing already has led to another. You think it's a little late to be reading me a warning label?" Cordelia asked him.
"I'm just tryin' to protect you. This could get outta control."
"Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?" Cordelia asked him.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her closer. She drew a startled breath.
"This isn't some fairy tale. When I kiss you, you don't wake up from a deep sleep and live happily ever after."
"No. When you kiss me, I wanna die." Cordelia pulled herself free and ran off.
"Cordy!" Buffy gave Angel a death stare and then ran after her friend.
Buffy and Cordelia went to Buffy's house. Buffy called Tara and invited her over, and then Buffy ordered a large supreme pizza for the three of them. They sat at the dining room table and ate it.
"You're going to the fraternity party?" Tara asked Buffy. "What made you change your mind?"
"Cordy. Talking. Repeatedly."
Cordelia stuck her tongue out at Buffy.
"Also, I wanna keep an eye on her. Those frat guys creep me."
Tara smiled at Buffy. "You wanna protect her."
Buffy smiled back at her.
Tara looked at Cordelia. "So what happened with Angel?"
"Nothing, as usual. A whole lotta nothing with Angel."
"I don't understand. I mean...he likes you. More than likes."
"Angel barely says two words to me. And when he does, he treats me like I'm a child."
Joyce walked into the dining room. "Oh. Hey, girls. What's going on?"
Buffy looked at her. "We're having a girls' night in."
"And you ordered pizza."
Buffy rolled her eyes, picked up the change, and offered it to her mother.
Joyce took the cash. "Good night, ladies."
The three girls looked at her. "Good night."
Joyce went into the living room and went upstairs. The girls resumed eating their pizza.
Tara looked at Buffy. "Oh, you said you were gonna call Mr. Giles."
"Oh, right." Buffy stood up, picked up the bracelet, walked over to the phone, picked up the handset, and called Giles.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Giles, it's me."
"Oh, Buffy. Um, how did patrolling go?"
"I found a bracelet. There's an inscription that reads 'E-N-T'. It's broken in two. I don't know what the rest of the letters might have spelled. And there's blood on it."
"Blood."
"Yeah."
"You should probably make the rounds again tonight, and we should try to figure out who that bracelet belongs to, and - and-"
"No."
"I beg your pardon?"
"We can work on the bracelet, but I'm not going out again tonight. And I'm not available tomorrow night either."
"Why not?"
"Cordelia needs me."
"Buffy, this is a little more important than-"
"I said no. Are we clear?" Buffy asked him.
"Buffy, you're being difficult."
Buffy smiled. "Thank you. Look, I'll take an early pass tomorrow evening and, um, one later on, but for the bulk of the evening-"
"Yes, yes, of course. Well, good night."
"Good night." Buffy ended the call and put down the handset.
She walked back over to the dining room table, sat down, and dropped the bracelet on the table.
Tara picked up the bracelet. "I've seen something like this before."
Cordelia looked at Buffy "Okay, listen up. This isn't about fun. This is about duty - your duty - to help me achieve permanent prosperity. Okay? Dos and don'ts: don't wear black, silk, chiffon, or spandex; these are my trademarks; and don't do that weird thing with your hair."
Buffy was confused. "What weird thing with my-"
"Don't interrupt. Do be interested if someone should speak to you. It may or may not happen, but do be polite. And laugh at the appropriate intervals. Do lie to your mom about where we're going. It's a fraternity, and there will be drinking. And possibly orgies."
Buffy and Tara laughed.
"Makeup, makeup..." Cordelia paused in thought as she studied Buffy's face. "Well, give it your all and keep to the shadows. We're gonna have a blast!" She smiled.
Buffy let her head fall to the table.
The following night, Cordelia drove onto the street in front of the fraternity house and parked in front of another car.
Cordelia looked at Buffy. "Are you ready for this?" She checked her hair.
"I dunno. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
"Me, too. Let's go!" Cordelia unfastened her seatbelt, unlocked and opened the door, got out of the car, and locked and closed the door. "C'mon!"
Soon, Buffy and Cordelia were inside the fraternity house.
"You know what's so cool about college?" Cordelia asked Buffy. "The diversity. You've got all the rich people and all the other people." She spotted Richard. "Richard!"
"Welcome, ladies." Richard handed them drinks.
Cordelia smiled. "Thank you."
Buffy smiled. "Thank you."
"Have you seen our multi-media room?" Richard asked them.
"Oh, the one with the cherry walnut paneling and the two forty-eight-inch televisions on satellite feed?" Cordelia asked him. "No. Wanna show me?" She smiled.
Richard looked at Buffy. "What about...?"
"Oh, her? She's happiest by herself."
Cordelia and Richard went off and left Buffy standing there by herself. Buffy was bored and lonely and fidgeted with her hands, nearly dropping her glass. She decided to sniff her drink. She stirred it idly for a moment, then thought better of drinking a drink offered to her by a stranger and put it down. She looked around the room at the people dancing.
The dance crowd separated for a moment, and a young man on the other side of the room looked at her. He raised his drink to her. Buffy noticed him but didn't react.
Suddenly, a drunk man started to stagger toward Buffy. "New girl!" He grabbed the young man for balance and pulled him away before he even got his drink to his lips.
"Easy, man!" the young man told him.
"Dance!" the drunk man exclaimed.
Buffy stared at him in wide-eyed surprise when she saw him coming for her.
He laughed and staggered over to her. "C'mon, sweetheart, ha, ha, yeah!"
Tom arrived in the nick of time and took her arm. "Can I have this dance?"
"C'mon!" the drunk man exclaimed.
Tom pulled her away to the dance area just as the drunk man was about to crash into her.
Buffy looked at Tom. "Thanks."
"No. We're not all a bunch of drunken louts. Some of us are sober louts. I'm really glad that you decided to come."
Buffy looked down.
"And you're not."
Buffy looked at him. "Not really, but I have an obligation to my friend."
"You're big on responsibility. I like that. But there's such a thing as being too mature. You should relax. Enjoy yourself once in a while."
"You think I'm too mature?"
Tom chuckled. "I talk too much. Have you picked up on that yet? Anyway, the, uh, the Hulk is gone, so you don't have to dance with me."
"'Kay." Buffy pulled away from him.
"Ouch."
Buffy strolled out of the house alone, onto the patio. It was chilly, and she rubbed her arms a bit and crossed them. She stepped on a piece of glass and looked down. There were several small pieces there, and she crouched to pick one up. She looked up above her and noticed the door to the balcony had been boarded up. She stood back up.
"You okay?"
Buffy dropped the piece of glass, startled, and looked at Tom. "Yeah. I was...just thinking."
Richard came outside and handed them both drinks. "To my Argentinean junk bonds that just matured into double digits!"
Tom nodded. "Uh, to maturity."
"What the hell? I'm tired of being mature." Buffy gulped the drink.
The two boys raised their eyebrows and drank theirs also.
Tara was sitting at her desk in her bedroom at home, talking with Giles on the phone. They were playing word games, trying to figure out what the word on the bracelet might be.
Tara typed the words as they thought of them. "Bent."
"Sent."
"Rent."
"Uh, Lent. Dent."
"Went. Kent." Tara realized something. "Kent! That's it!"
"Her boyfriend's name was Kent?"
"No! Kent Preparatory School. Just outside of town. That's where I've seen these bracelets." Tara Alt+Tabbed to Netscape Navigator and started typing. "I'm pulling up their school newsletter for the past few months. See if there's anything about-"
"A missing girl."
The most recent issue of the newsletter had a picture of a girl with long brown hair on the front page. The title of the article read "Callie Our Hearts & Prayers Are With You".
"Callie Megan Anderson. Missing for over a week. No one's seen her; no one knows what happened to her. This being Sunnydale and all, I guess we can rule out something good."
"I'm calling Buffy."
"She's with Cordy. Anyway, there's no point in disturbing them until we know more." Tara turned her attention back to her PC.
Some more information came up.
"Like...if there're others. Brittany Oswald, junior at St. Michael's, disappeared a year ago. So did Kelly Percell, sophomore at Grant."
"A year."
"Almost to the day."
"An anniversary or perhaps some other event significant to the killer."
"Killer? Now there's a killer?" Tara asked him, worried. "We don't know that there's a-"
"No, but this being Sunnydale and all." Giles sighed. "We need to know where Buffy found that bracelet, and then we can begin our search there."
"Good idea. Call Angel. He was there when Buffy found it. We're gonna need all the help we can get."
Buffy was at the front door of the fraternity house. She was woozy from the drink and steadied herself against the wall. Buffy made her way over to the stairs. She knocked down a drink but couldn't react fast enough to catch it. Through hazy eyes and a wobbly head, she slowly started to make her way up the stairs to find a place to rest.
Once upstairs, Buffy pushed open a bedroom door, walked in, and bumped into a sculpture. "Ooh! Ooh, sorry..." She steadied herself and headed for the bed. "Okay." She crawled onto the bed. "Nice bed. Just need to stop spinning for at least..."
She lay down and fell asleep.
Cordelia woke up and found herself shackled to a wall. Buffy and another girl were also shackled to the wall.
"Buffy? Where the fuck are we?" Cordelia asked.
"In the basement, far as I can tell."
"What's happening? What did they do to us?" Cordelia asked her.
"They drugged us."
"Why? What are they gonna do to us?"
"I don't know."
"I wanna go home."
"No one's going home. Ever. Look, one of them's different than the others." Callie Anderson looked at Tom. "Nicer."
Buffy looked at him. "Tom."
Richard finished carving symbols into Tom's body. He got up and turned to the girls. Two other guys helped Tom on with his robe.
Callie stared at Tom. "He's the one to watch out for."
Buffy shook her chain a bit and looked up where it was anchored.
Tom looked at her. "She's last."
"Last? For what?" Cordelia asked.
Tom walked over to the well and picked up a bag.
"Who's first?! Answer me! Who's first?!" Cordelia yelled.
Tom let three stones drop out of the bag and into his hand.
"Three stones." Buffy looked at Cordelia and Callie. "Three of us."
Cordelia began to panic. "Buffy..."
"Stay calm. We'll get outta this."
Tom poured water over the stones.
"Why'd I ever let you talk me into coming here?" Cordelia asked Buffy.
Buffy couldn't believe her ears. Tom was done with his stone-cleansing ritual and faced the girls. He stared at Buffy.
Giles had set up a conference call between himself, Tara, and Angel.
"She found the bracelet in the cemetery. Near the south wall."
"South wall."
"South wall." Tara paused and thought for a moment. "That's near the university and...the fraternity house!"
"A fraternity?" Giles asked.
"Yeah."
"Could they be taking these girls?" Angel asked.
"Yeah."
"Let's get out there!" Angel exclaimed.
"Buffy!" Tara suddenly exclaimed.
"W-W-We don't know that it's concrete. Uh, let's not disturb her until-"
"Is there! With Cordelia. They went to a party at the Zeta Kappa house."
"What?" Giles asked in disbelief.
"Did...Cordy have a date?" Angel asked.
Tara wasn't sure how to respond. "Well..."
Angel huffed.
"Well, why do you think she went to that party?" Tara asked him. "Because you gave her the brush-off."
Angel was speechless.
"Anyway, we've gotta help Buffy. I'll meet you guys there." Tara ended the call, put down the handset, stood up, and hurried out of her bedroom, grabbing her keys on the way.
In the basement, the ritual was continuing.
Tom was standing on the basement stairs, holding a sword. "Machida." He started down the stairs.
"In his name!" the fraternity brothers replied.
"We who serve you, we who receive all that you bestow, call upon you in this holy hour."
"In this holy hour!"
Tom turned to walk toward Richard, holding the sword horizontally in both hands. "We have no wealth, no possession...except that which you give us."
"Except that which you give us!" the brothers exclaimed.
Tom placed the sword on Richard's arms. "We have no power, no place in the world...except that which you give us."
"Except that which you give us."
Richard hugged the sword to his chest, crossing his hands over his heart.
"What are they, some kind of cult or something?" Cordelia asked.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a psycho cult."
Cordelia looked at her. "You've gotta do something."
"It's been a year since our last offering." Richard lowered the sword and rested the tip on the floor. "A year in which our bounty overflowed. We come before you with fresh offerings."
"Offerings? He's talking about us?" Cordelia asked.
Callie looked at her. "Do you see anyone else chained up in here?"
"Accept our offering, Dark Lord, and bless us with your power. Machida!"
"Machida!"
Tom tossed the stones into the well at the center of the basement, one at a time.
Cordelia was frightened. "What's down there?"
"Come forth and let your terrible countenance look upon your servants and their humble offering. We call you, Machida."
"In his name. Machida."
Cordelia looked at Buffy. "There's something down there, and he's gonna throw us down there with it."
"I don't think so."
"No? Well, that's good! That-That's-"
"I don't think we go to it. I think it comes to us."
Cordelia was terrified. "Ooohhhhhhh! No!"
Tom looked up, awaiting Machida's arrival. Suddenly, Machida rose out of the well. It was half-man, half-snake, green, and scaly.
"Oh, my God!" Cordelia screamed.
Machida growled as he looked at the girls. Cordelia kept screaming at the top of her lungs. Buffy stared at Machida in wide-eyed horror and then tried to yank her chains from the ceiling.
"C'mon, Buffy! Oh, my God! Oh, c'mon! Oh!" Cordelia yelled.
Machida remained stationary and spread his arms.
"For he shall rise from the depths, and we shall tremble before him. He who is the source of all we inherit and all we possess. Machida."
"Machida."
"And if he is pleased with our offerings, then our fortune shall increase."
"Machida. Let our fortunes increase."
"And on the eighteenth day of the tenth month, he shall be enhungered. And we shall feed him."
Machida gazed over at the girls.
"Feed him?" Cordelia asked.
Machida rose before her.
"Feed him?!" Cordelia repeated.
Buffy renewed her efforts to break the chains from the ceiling.
"Oh, no!" Cordelia cried.
Machida closed in on Cordelia, and she screamed.
"Hey, reptile boy!" Buffy yelled.
Machida looked at her.
"No woman speaks to him!" Tom yelled, angry.
Buffy smiled. "You don't want her. Look at her. She's all skin and bones. A half-hour later, you'll be hungry."
Tom came over to Buffy. "I told you to shut up!" He backhand-punched her and held up his sword. "You speak again, and I'll cut your throat."
Outside, Tara, Angel, and Giles walked through the bushes from the street to the lawn.
Tara looked around. "Looks like everyone's gone. I think Buffy's still inside somewhere with Cordelia. Her car's still here."
They looked up at the house and walked up to it. Tara stepped up to the door and knocked. There was no answer. Tara backed up a bit and then kicked the door open. She ran into the house.
A guy that was standing inside started yelling.
Tara ran at him and shoved him against the wall. "Where are they?!" She punched him in the face and knocked him down.
Angel came in behind her and punched out another guy. Giles followed them in.
In the basement, two brothers unchained Cordelia and held her.
"Something's going on upstairs." Tom looked at the brothers. "Go. Go!"
Several of them rushed upstairs to see what was going on. Buffy looked up at her chains again, then back at Machida.
"Feed, Dark Lord!" Tom exclaimed.
Machida rose above Cordelia, then moved in to take her from the brothers' grip. She screamed loudly and struggled. Buffy yanked hard at her chains again, and they finally broke loose from the ceiling. She quickly stepped over to Machida and punched him in the face. He pulled back away from them, holding the side of his face. Buffy started fighting the brothers. Tom took a swing at her with his sword.
Upstairs, Angel threw a brother to the floor. Tara jumped over him, ran to the basement door, and went in. Giles struggled with a door. A brother tried to grab him from behind, but he elbow-punched him and knocked him out.
Tara ran back out of the basement. "Some guy's attacking Buffy with a sword! Also, there's a really big fucking snake!"
Angel punched another brother and sent him reeling into the sill of an opening in the wall.
"Guys! Buffy! Snake! Basement! Now!" Tara yelled.
She headed back into the basement as the others jumped to follow. Angel punched out a brother who was giving chase.
"You bitch!" Tom yelled at Buffy. "I'll serve you to him in pieces."
He attacked her with the sword, but she caught the blade in her chains, threw a loop of it around his neck, and pulled him in.
"Tom, you talk too much. Be a good little boy and shut the fuck up." Buffy shoved him away.
He rolled over a table, knocking everything off it. Machida grabbed Cordelia and started to drag her away as the others came down the stairs.
Buffy picked up the sword and jumped up onto the edge of the well. She held the sword above her head, ready to strike. "Let her go, wormy!"
Machida didn't heed her warning and continued to hold onto Cordelia, so Buffy wielded back the sword and slashed it into him. He dropped Cordelia and reared back, screaming in pain. A moment later, he dropped to the floor, dead. Buffy made a face at the grossness of it. Tara walked down the rest of the steps and went over to free Callie. Buffy walked down to look at what was left of Machida. Giles was behind her. Angel helped Cordelia up.
"You did it! You saved us!" Cordelia grabbed Angel in a tight hug and kissed him passionately on the lips. "I've never been so happy to see anyone in my whole..." She suddenly stopped and let go. "You guys." She started crying. "I just...hate you guys! The weirdest shit always happens when you're around!"
Angel brought Tom over.
Cordelia grabbed him by the shirt. "And you! You're going to jail for fifteen-thousand years!" She let go of him and started up the stairs.
Angel shoved Tom up the stairs ahead of him. Giles put his fists on his hips and gave Buffy a stern look. Buffy shrugged it off.
"You lied to me. You were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake. The words 'let that be a lesson' are a tad redundant at this juncture."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, bite me. I didn't lie to you. I said Cordelia needed me, which was true; I came to keep an eye on her. And I won, didn't I?"
Giles sighed. "I'm sorry. I...I drive you too hard, because I-I know what you have to face. From now on, no - no more pushing, no more prodding. Just, uh, an inordinate amount of nudging."
Buffy smiled at him and then started up the stairs. Tara, Callie, and Giles followed.
Later that night, at the Bronze, Jonathan Levinson was at the bar, anxiously waiting for a large cup of cappuccino. "C'mon, hurry!"
"Here you go." The barmaid handed him the large cup and saucer.
He took it and a plate with a muffin over to Cordelia.
"Thank you, Jonathan." Cordelia looked at the cappuccino. "Did we forget something?"
"Um...cinnamon, chocolate, half-caf, nonfat."
Cordelia just looked at him.
Jonathan realized his mistake. "Extra foam!"
Cordelia grabbed the muffin and waved the cappuccino away. She stepped over to Tara, Callie, and Buffy at their table. "Young men are the only way to go." She sat down.
Callie looked at Buffy. "So...do you do this often? Fight giant snakes, I mean."
"Well, the snake was a new one, but I've fought vampires, a witch, a giant praying mantis..." Buffy shrugged. "I pretty much do it all. Call me Buffy the Everything Slayer."
"You're amazing." Callie sipped her Pepsi. "Well, I'm sorry for all of the shit that my older brother put you through. He's a dick. I'm glad he's behind bars."
Buffy smiled at her. "Y'know, I could teach you to fight like that...if you're interested in learning."
Callie smiled at her. "I'd like that."
Tara looked at Cordelia. "Have you heard from Angel?"
"Not since we left the frat house."
"He got so mad about you being in danger. How many guys can-"
Angel came down the stairs and over to their table. "Cordy."
Cordelia looked at him. "Angel."
"I hear this place, uh, serves coffee. I thought maybe you and I should get some. Sometime. If you want."
Cordelia permitted herself a bit of a smile. "Yeah. Sometime. I'll let you know."
Angel eyed her suspiciously. Cordelia looked away with a smile on her face.
