SHS Quad, Morning, September 15th
"Hi, Xander!" Harmony called out as the other Cordettes waved as they walked by on their way to class. He waved back, still confused and amazed at the changes in his life since the wolf, and noticed the sign-ups for the science fair had gone up. He wasn't going to tell Willow that not only had he entered, but completed an entry with Dave and Fritz. Nothing that would win, but enough to make Principal Flutie and the teachers that had started taking an interest in his educational improvement happy. With all of the needs of property disposal, turnover, and other logistical factors in the demon-hunting, they'd come up with an automation system for estate appraisal and conversions, auction conversions, property time/effort conversion rates and appraisals, tax liens and investments and other factors tied together, with online auction, and other attributes ideal for investor and disposer alike. Xander during his cop training pointed out areas of legality, as well as aspects of consideration, then Dave and Fritz has gone wild with the efficient coding. They'd gotten the copyright confirmation on Saturday, and the two computer geeks were now happy team members in the fight as stake-holders. As of the sign-up ten minutes ago, the three had submitted it as a project in lieu of advanced placement computer science credit and business education credit as they'd pieced a business plan together that involved licensing for this particular product.
Xander wandered in quietly as Willow was writing in her entry. Eric passes Xander and gets close to Willow, pointing a camera at her.
"Smile!" he says, taking her picture. Xander notices a familiar but not everyday smell wafting from Eric.
"Hey!" Willow exclaims, not certain about whether to be annoyed or not. Eric turns away, and takes a picture of another girl.
"Oh, look at those legs!" Eric states loudly, being generally obnoxious.
"No, thank you," Willow replies, finishing her entry paperwork as Chris comes up behind her. Xander wrinkles his nose again at the same very faint odor coming off of the other student.
"Eric, will you knock it off?" Chris tells the photographer, who in turn looks upset at having his fun interrupted.
"Hey, Chris!" Willow greets the newcomer with a smile, "How are you?"
"Hey, just fine," Chris replies, picking up a sign-up sheet. Willow watches what he's writing, then glances up as he notices.
"Oh, I- I was just wondering what you were gonna do this year," Willow blushed, "Since every year you win and I place second, so I just thought I'd see what I'm up against."
"You know what the key is?" Chris said, smiling. "If Dr. Clark doesn't understand your experiment he gives you higher marks so it looks like he understands your experiment." Chris reads Willow's entry, 'The Effects of Sub-Violet Light Spectrum Deprivation on the Development of Fruit Flies' "That should do the trick," he declares as Cordelia shows up complaining.
"Okay, I'm doing this under protest," the head cheerleader sighs. "It is not fair that they're making participation in this year's science fair mandatory. I don't think anyone should have to do anything
educational in school if they don't want to."
"'The Tomato: Fruit or Vegetable'?" Willow reads with amused disapproval.
"I wanted to do something I could finish in a weekend, alright?" the girl admits, then stares pointedly at Xander. "Unlike somebody, it's not like my minions are smart enough to carry to carry out a project for me." Eric flashes a picture of Cordelia, interrupting her tirade.
"Stop it! What are you doing?" Cordelia demands, We're under fluorescent light, for God's sake."
"The camera loves you!" Eric declares smugly.
"I didn't think yearbook nerds came out of hibernation 'til spring," she noted. Buffy comes up and accidentally bumps into Eric hard enough to knock the camera to the floor. Eric yelps and is distracted. Cordelia takes the opportunity to leave.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt, Willow, but it's the Bat Signal," Buffy declared, then turned Xander, "Come on, let's go."
The two girls head off, Xander linking up with Dave and Fritz long enough to assign them a task.
"Chris and Eric smell 'science-y' but neither has a biology class this year," Xander mused, "could you guys wander by them, and then look to see if they or school inventories show anything funny?"
"Sure Boss," Dave said, Fritz adding, "Especially since we can always say we're just double-checking our science project."
SHS Library
Willow is sitting down in front of the computer when Cordelia walks in on Xander's arm, clearly trying to finagle something out of him.
"Fine, I'll pick you up at your place around six, we'll cover it, and then see about including you in the public relation and voice over portions of things. If Dave and Fritz agree, you're in for the science project, and sign a waiver. So take the preliminary brochure and practice sounding like a good infomercial."
"Thank you Xander!" Cordelia nearly gushed, leaving the library, "I won't let you down!"
Giles, Willow and Buffy all looked at Xander questioningly as he sat down.
"Business dinner," Xander explained, "She wants to cover her requirement for science project participation, so I'm interviewing her tonight."
"Xander!" Willow gasped, "With her?" Her best male friend stared at her a moment, then chuckled.
"Didn't you look under my science project listing, DFX?" Xander smiled, "and Cordelia wants to be the publicity and narrative voice for our demo as DFX do not have he best possible demographic appeals or experience."
"DFX?" Willow considered, "I thought that was Dave and Fritz doing a computer thing?"
"Close, Will, but it's Dave, Fritz, Xander," the young man explained, "and includes our copyrighted software applications for asset investments." He then explained the background of said development.
"So you're making money on the programs you use to fence goods from vamp nests?" Jenny Calendar asked, stepping in behind them.
"I just finished reading your company-project information booklet and brochure, Alex, and I'm impressed."
"Thanks, Jenny," Xander replied with only a slight blush, "it just made sense...So what do we have on the bat signal?"
"Body stolen from grave," Buffy grimaced, "Wills?"
"I found it!" Willow declared as Amy and Marcy, Jonathan in tow, entered the library. "Meredith Todd died in a car accident last week from a broken neck. It says that Meredith and two other girls in the car were
killed instantly. They were all on the Fondren High Pep Squad, on the
way to a game."
"Okay, so we got a body snatcher," Amy asked, "What does that mean?"
"Uh, h-here's what I've come up with," Giles proceeded, "Demons who eat the flesh of the dead to absorb their souls. Or, i-i-it could obviously be a, a voodoo practitioner."
"You mean making a zombie?" Willow asked.
"Uh, zombies, more likely," Giles clarified. "For most traditional purposes a voodoo priest would require more than one."
"So, we should see if the other girls from the accident are AWOL, too," Buffy recommended, "Maybe we can figure out what this creep has in mind if we know whether or not he's dealing in volume."
"So, we dig up some graves tonight?" Jonathan asked, frowning.
"Oh, boy! A field trip!" Willow enthused as Dave and Fritz enter the library, "Hi, guys."
"So, we're set then," Xander remarked. "Say, nineish? BYO shovel?"
"And I'll pack some food. Who else likes those little powdered
doughnuts?"
"Sounds good," Xander responded, noticing Dave seemed wanting to speak, "I haven't eaten junk food in a week. Dave, Fritz?"
"We checked on the you-know-what," Dave demurred, "And there is a considerable inventory shortage in the last three weeks in formaldehyde and surgical-related equipment."
"Any connection to the two?" Xander asked, holding out his hand to belay Slayerette questions.
"No, nothing yet," Fritz responded, "We don't have your sense of smell and didn't want to be seen looking into lockers." Fritz handed a paper with not only the two, but three more names on it from school, plus twenty from local clinics as a back up. Security codes, combinations and other pertinents were on the sheet.
"Marcie, can you, Jonathan and Amy look into the lockers after school?" Xander asked. "It's hopefully just an embezzlement issue...but meet us around ten to compare notes."
Cemetery, 9:30 PM
Giles and Xander are digging while Jenny, Buffy and Willow relax and watch. The digging is nearly complete.
"I think we're there," Giles declares, drawing Buffy and Willow to get up and go over to the grave.
"By the way, are we hoping to find a body, or no body?" Willow asked.
"Call me an optimist, but I'm hoping to find a fortune in gold doubloons," Xander expressed, straining to open it. "Well, here goes."
SHS Library, After Cheerleading Practice, 9:50 PM
Xander can be heard outside in the hall as the grave patrol nears the doors.
"So, both coffins are empty," Xander states, That makes three girls signed up for the army of zombies." They come in through the doors.
"Is it an army if you just have three?" Willow asks as Angel gets up from the table and faces them. Cordelia, clinging to his arm gets up, too, but detaches when she sees Xander.
"You're back," Angel states, making sure everyone had returned.
"Angel!" Buffy greeted, giving him a peck on the cheek, "How did patrol go? Miss me?"
"Three young ones," Angel replied, "And of course."
"Um, as long as you're here," Giles took control of the conversation lest it turn away from business, "perhaps you could be of some help. Somebody's been digging up the bodies of dead girls."
"I know," Angel replied, "Cordelia and I found some of them."
"You mean, like, two of the three?" Buffy asked.
"I mean, like, some of them," Angel grimaced, "Like parts."
"It was horrible. Angel saved me from an arm," Cordelia responded, a little pale from the recollection, "God, there were so many parts, they were everywhere. Why are these terrible things always happening to me?"
"So much for all our theories," Giles remarks, "But why dispose of the remains five miles from the cemetery at a school, of all places? And why just cut up th-three girls here just to throw them away?"
"Most of bodies, Giles," Angel remarked, "Different parts were gone."
"Ewww," Buffy replied, "Maybe because whoever did it had some business in the neighborhood. Like, say, classes?"
"And this was no hatchet job," Angel added. "Whoever made those incisions really knew what they were doing."
"Yes, really," Giles asked with a tone of disbelief creeping in, "What student here is gonna be that well versed in physiology?"
"Well, I can think of five or six guys in the science club," Willows assured him. Buffy interrupted further Willow-speculation.
"Willow, why don't you get these guys' locker numbers so we can do some checking?" Buffy asked, Xander placing a hand on her shoulder in order to say something.
"Guys, this might be tied into the inventory matter after all" Xander asserted, as Marcie waved to be recognized, "Uh, Marcie?"
"Oh!" the girl responded, "We found in Chris' locker 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Mortician's Desk Reference', 'Robicheaux's Guide to Muscles and Tendons' and a newspaper folded open to a picture of the three cheerleaders. The title above the picture reads 'Tragic Accident Kills Three' and in Eric's a collage of a woman made from parts of various pictures."
"Uh, Eric's sick enough to do something like this, but what about
Chris?" Buffy asks, "He seems like a human person."
"I dunno. That thing with his brother was really hard on him," Willow considered, Amy agreeing, "And he talked about death a lot. Maybe he just wanted to get one-up on it."
"But it's not doable," Buffy presses, "I mean, making someone from scraps, actually making them live."
"If it is, my science project's definitely coming in second this year," Willow joked weakly." Xander cleared his throat having had a quick whispered conversation with Giles and Angel.
"Okay, we have a tentative plan," Xander offered, "Angel and I will head over to Chris' house, then if necessary, Eric's house. Buffy, you provide protection here while everybody goes over the premises for possible mad scientist labs. After all, the parts were cast off here. We'll hopefully be back in an hour or so."
"Any reason in particular you two are going?" Cordelia asked, "And how about I drive? That way if police drive by I'm less likely to get pulled over, in case luck runs out."
Thanks, Cordelia, sure," Xander responded, then tapped his nose, "And our senses of smell make us the best choices."
Fifteen minutes later, Xander and Angel walk up to the front door of the Epp house, late as it is, in time to have Eric stumble into them, smelling of formaldehyde and an undertone of blood.
"Hey, Eric, Chris," Xander greeted falsely, "Cut up any girls lately? Oh wait, you have!" Eric bolts, and Angel thumps him in the head, unconscious. Xander continues talking to Chris as Angel tosses Eric into the bushes. Chris looks ashamed and doesn't move.
"Okay, Chris, time to come clean," Xander asked, turning cold. "Making a person out of dead parts is wrong. What girl would want to come back from the dead like that? So far, we don't see that you've killed anybody, but we're already going through the school premises to see if anything is there. Inventory shortages in certain areas are enough to get you sent away." Angel tapped him on the shoulder, Xander pausing.
"I smell formaldehyde and blood through a small crack in the basement window," the vampire remarked. The door behind Chris flew open, a frankensteinesque form hurling itself at Angel, the nearest target. Angel, surprised, took a glancing blow, but his vampiric reflexes kicked in, and game-face, he senses the unlife of Daryl Epps and fights back.
Xander holds back as Chris starts moving to intercede. Daryl sees Angel's vampiric visage and cries out in fear, stepping back, then running down the walk heedless of where he's going. An armored car is driving by on its way out of town on its nightly-varied route as the undead football player runs out into the street, too quick to even be noticed by the driver. Ka-thump, crunch, and the body of Daryl Epps is destroyed, and spirit released again.
Cordelia gets out of her car as Chris collapses to his knees, sobbing at losing his brother again. The ex-girlfriend of the twice-lost young man knees down to help his brother grieve anew.