Disclaimer: I don't own nothin', which is why I live how and where I do. All characters belong to their respective creators and, or, their distributing studios, as the case may be. A more detailed description will will appear in the next chapter.
On with the show….
Much Better Off Dead.
Rupert Giles, high school librarian and Watcher, threw the book he'd been reading down on the table in frustration.
"Bunch of useless piffil!"
Buffy and Willow stared at the older man in shock.
"What?" he asked.
"You called a book useless! A-and piffil!" Willow exclaimed, wide-eyed.
"So?"
"So?!" Buffy jumped in. "You're book guy! You tout the greatness of the book! No matter how bad things get or what we're up against we can rely on you to find the answers while drinking your tea and saying British things like "quite" and "dear lord"! But if you're all "useless books", then the little bit of comforting consistency we have left is shattered!"
Giles rolled his rolled. "Well, I apologize if my growing frustration is causing you to lose faith in my ability to glean much needed information from these volumes," he said, indicating the pile of books that littered the library's sole table. "but, even I must admit that not everything can be found within their pages.
"And the lack of news about what Spike, Drusilla and Angelus are up to is extremely disconcerting. Are you sure that Willy didn't know more than that it was "some sort of powerful book"?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" she replied, defensively. "I even punched him a couple times."
"So, we're dealing with some sort of evil mojo book…maybe another Moloch scenario?" Xander suggested.
"Perhaps, though I doubt it. Angelus would not rely on another demon to do his work, especially….especially when it comes to Buffy," Giles finished, looking at his Slayer with sad, tired eyes. "He'll want to deal with you, personally."
Buffy cast her own eyes down, suddenly unable to look at her Watcher. She'd been unable to kill her former lover, and so Giles' own love had paid the price when Angel had killed Miss Calendar. She was ready now, however, and swore to herself that she would dust him next time they fought.
The mood in the library had turned somber quickly, so, of course, that was when Cordelia chose to speak up.
"So, if these books aren't going to help us, why am I still here?"
Xander was about to answer with a biting comment, when a small, flickering circle of light appeared above the table, just below the ceiling. The library's six occupants moved away from the table, preparing to either fight or run, as the circle rapidly grew bigger and brighter. Then, with a brilliant flash, a large object appeared at it's center and fell.
Buffy, Xander, Willow, Oz, Giles and Cordelia barely made it out of the way, diving to the floor as the thing smashed down, destroying the table and chairs around it.
As the dust settled, they regained their feet, warily circling the object, unable to believe their eyes.
Oz shoved his hands into his pockets, then said, "Well, at least it wasn't a stretch-limo."