Chapter 11 – Strike One
"Willow, RUN!" Buffy screamed, while she staked another living impaired person. This was not a good day for the Slayer. Talk about things being calm. Twenty five vampires surrounded them in an instant, before they could do a thing. The Slayer managed to open a hole in the circle for her friend to run for help.
Luckily for her, He-Man and WarWolf, had followed the smell from Ares' ex-house to their current position. They were standing at higher ground, meaning a rooftop right to the side of the cemetery, so they did have a good overview of the situation. Twenty to one odds were not good, even for a Slayer. Ok, nineteen now. He-Man noticed that Willow took the cue to leave and transform, away from prying eyes.
"Let's add some fear to the mix. WarWolf, please announce us."
The mystical wolf howled into the night. The sound was so loud and so scary that everyone on the ground stopped …er…dead on. Even the living.
Buffy took the opportunity to stake another two, before looking at what had done that sound. What she saw froze her to the core. A giant black and silver blur jumped from high above, and landed on the street outside the cemetery. Slayer senses freeze-framed the situation, and the blur took the form of a giant wolf, being ridden by a giant man. The wolf took impulse again and jumped from the street, almost sixty feet away, right into the middle of the vampires. It only took a second and two more vamps dusted under the pressure and strength of those massive paws. The giant man drew a sword from his back and with a swift and almost casual motion, severed two more heads, dusting them. No one had yet moved a muscle, aside from the new participants.
Then time began running again.
The giant unsaddled, his feet hitting two other vamps and making them fly some sixty or seventy feet in the opposite direction, making quite a rough trip of it. Buffy saw at least six tombstones being destroyed by the impacts. The remaining vampires tried to attack the man and his animal, the Slayer almost casually being left behind.
WarWolf turned his head laterally and took a single bite, removing the head of a vampire as if it was a snack. He tried to 'spit' the remaining dust from his mouth, without much success. So, this wasn't a good plan.
No problem for a wolf with four inches claws. He jumped up, standing in his back legs, and with two quick swipes, removed another two players from the undead game.
He-Man impaled another vamp, and what was his surprise when the vamp dusted immediately. So, the Sword of Power was a holy weapon. Interesting. He grabbed another one's head in his big hand, and with a single motion, tore it off. Another swipe of the sword, and two more were severed in half horizontally.
The remaining ones tried to attack en masse, only to be received by a giant fireball that burned and dusted them quite nicely.
"So nice of you to show up." He-Man shouted to his sister, who was approaching at a leisure step, pointed quarterstaff in hand. He placed the sword back in its secure place on the back of the armor.
"You could have kept a few more to me. Didn't even warm me up." She transformed the staff back into the sword, guarding it in her back.
"Well, you surely warmed them" the Heir deadpanned, pointing at the dust piles behind him.
"Oh, spare me the bad jokes" She-Ra pleaded him, but grinned.
"WAITAMINUTETHERE!" the petite Slayer yelled. She was almost forgotten in the aftermath. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?"
The trio looked at her, and she almost wished that she hadn't spoke in that tone. Damn, it's not wise to piss a wolf that can bite a man's head off. Literally.
"Oh, sorry, Slayer. Allow me the introductions. My name is He-Man, that is my sister She-Ra and the big puppy…" WarWolf growled, He-Man grinned "… and the big puppy behind me is WarWolf."
Buffy was struck speechless for a moment, but the higher brain functions began working in a moment. "Nice to meet you, He-… HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, YOU ARE A CARTOON!" She screamed, again. The warrior groaned.
"Damn, I should have picked another name. But noooo, had to be faithful…" He muttered, under breath. But out loud, he spoke "Yes and no. Yes, I'm related to the cartoon, in fact, my last incarnation was the one who gave origin to the cartoons, but no, I'm not that cartoon, or /A/ cartoon."
Buffy remained silent for another minute. That was waaay too spooky.
"All right." She finally spoke, voice dripping with sarcasm. "So, you are He-Man, she's She-Ra and you're not a cartoon."
"Correct." The warrior spoke, seriously.
"Another question: What are you doing here?" still sarcastic.
"Well, matter of fact, we were searching for you. We came to help you in your fight." She-Ra finally spoke.
"Thanks, but I already have help… WILLOW!" She finally remembered she told her friend to leave "Gotta find Willow!"
She-Ra grabbed Buffy by the shoulder with one hand, before she could run. Buffy tried to release herself, but not even with all her strength she managed to do it. The woman had a grip like steel.
"Relax, I found your friend while I was coming in here. She explained what happened to me, and she said she was going to find a man by the name… Graves." She-Ra acted quickly, having already thought on the explanation. "She talks quite quickly."
"Giles." Buffy corrected her. The last part of She-Ra's speech calmed her a little. Yeah, it had been Willow.
"Yes, that's it. Giles." She-Ra stood corrected.
"I believe that he is your Watcher. So, you want to go to him so we can explain all of this only once?" He-Man asked.
"How do you know of Watchers?" Buffy asked, still not comfortable with the man.
"I know a lot of things, Slayer Elizabeth Anne Summers. Including the Council of Watchers." He-Man intoned, seriously.
Buffy was not sure on going to Giles with the three in tow, but she didn't have much choice. If the man proclaiming to be He-Man knew her full name, he probably already knew about Giles, and where to find him.
"Ok, let's go. But the name is Buffy." She turned around, beginning to walk to the cemetery's gate.
"Buffy… don't you want a ride? It will be quicker." He-Man asked, already perched in WarWolf's saddle, hand stretched.
Buffy thought about it for a second. Ok, the guy helped her, he appeared to be kind enough, and her gut told her that she could trust him. That last part was what was giving her the wiggins. How did she know that? How could she already trust a man she met for less than five minutes? And a guy who claimed to be He-Man, for Christ's sake?
"Ok." She went with her gut instinct, but her hand froze before catching He-Man's. Jumping into a giant wolf was a serious problem. Damn, the beast was huge, and those canines…
"Come on. WarWolf is nothing but a big puppy." He-Man grinned, while the wolf growled, again. "Oh, come on, you are and you know it." He intoned, while patting the wolf's head.
"A big puppy with teeth the size of swords…" Buffy murmured, but finally accepted the hand. He-Man hauled her up in his front, and the Slayer grabbed the saddle horn immediately.
"Sorry about the position. In the back the sword could poke you." He-Man spoke calmly into her ear. The action made Buffy shiver from head to toe. Damn, the man had a sexy voice. "Ready? She-Ra, you coming?" he asked, turning to his 'sister'.
"No, gonna extend the patrol a little bit, see if I can find more fun." She-Ra spoke, cracking her knuckles and grinning.
"Suit yourself. I'll meet you later. Where to?" He-Man asked the Slayer. He already knew, but it would give Buffy a vote of confidence. She would have to trust him to divulge such information.
"School's library." She answered without a beat. Unseen to her, He-Man was grinning. Strike one.
"Ok. Let's go, WarWolf." The wolf jumped again, landing outside the cemetery, and in a second bound, he cleared a rooftop. Buffy was screaming the whole time.
She-Ra laughed, and with a quick incantation, disappeared in a stream of light.
Nobody noticed that three unknown and uninvited guests had watched the fight. One was too small, and her position or shape wouldn't alert anyone, even if they saw her. The hawk took flight, flying in the direction of the school's library.
Another one was quite surprised, she had gone out in search of the person she saw fighting early on. When she saw the number of vamps, she decided to introduce herself, but before she could move a muscle, the man… He-Man…had dropped in, literally. Damn, the man was good. And those muscles… And his sister was even better.
Faith, the second Slayer, was still curious about the other Slayer and He-Man, so she got out of her hiding, and in a light sprint, ran in the direction of Sunnydale High.
The third one was a lucky bastard vampire who stayed behind during the attack. He saw the whole fight, and, if it were possible, he would have wetted his pants. He needed to tell her. He needed to tell her /rightnow/.
He was the only one who ran in an entirely different direction.
- To be Continued -