YAHF: Limitless" Before Graduation (BtVS/Dragonball/Z/Super/Movies)
As Faith ignored the ringing telephone upstairs, knowing Mrs. S would pick it up, she couldn't help but be awed by the sight before her. While Xander was seemingly doing nothing but meditating while floating mid-air, a sight that was so common now that it lost it's novelty long ago, his almost otherworldly glow was a sight to behold.
She only hoped that Xander's plan to defeat the Mayor would actually work. Even with the help of two Slayers, there was a risk factor involved. The fact that the person who was their heaviest hitter was out of commission for the time being was also felt- though not as much as it could be. As the days counted down towards graduation and the Mayor's Ascension, the evil side of the Supernatural Community was taking it easy.
She was distracted when she her Joyce make her way downstairs. Buffy's mom stopped to take in the sight of Xander for a moment, before adressing Faith.
"That was Willow on the phone," Joyce informed her. "Apparently, Mr. Trick shot Kendra with a poisoned crossbow bolt. She said Giles and Wesley believe that it was done in an effort to distract us from what is going on."
"Th-then... It's a good thing... W-we already... Have a plan..." Xander suddenly spoke up, his voice straining with effort. He'd already been awake for a couple days without sleep, on top of gathering the required energy needed for his plan to work, slowly and subtly, so that no one- especially the mayor- would figure out what he was up to. Typically, when one was summoning energy for an attack of the magnitude that he was planning to unleash on the Mayor, they would do so outside of their body. Xander, on the other hand, was internalizing it all. Already, he was well beyond his body's natural capacity to contain energy and if he didn't maintain his concentration, he could explode- taking several blocks with him when he did so.
"Xander, do you need anything?" Joyce asked with ever increasing concern.
"N-Not... A g-good... Idea..." Xander replied. Not once did he move or even open his eyes during all of that.
Joyce nodded, but was unhappy to be unable to help him. "If you're sure..."
Xander didn't answer. Nor did they expect him to as they made their way upstairs.
"How's Kendra?" Faith asked.
"Not good, but stable for now. The shot itself was non-fatal, but the poison seems to be both magical and fairly exotic, so they are attempting to find a cure for her before it's too late," Joyce informed her.
Faith shuddered. She remembered when she first met Kendra and her Watcher, thinking the girl was a bit too uptight and in desperate need of a good screw. Her Watcher too, for that matter. Still, seeing what Kendra and, by extension, she one day could do against Vampires was simply staggering. Despite knowing academically that Slayers rarely lasted more than a year, she's been completely caught off guard when Kendra and her Watcher had been taken down by Trick's tactical thinking and Kakitos' raw power, thinking the Slayer was invincible, or somewhat close to it.
Even to this day, Faith was unsure how, due to her extreme terror at the time, that she managed to get Kendra out of that warehouse. The sacrifice made by the Potential's Watcher not withstanding, Faith had thought they were done for. Still, the two teens, then bereft of Watchers, went to the only place either could think of- Sunnydale, California, home of the other Slayer and the mysterious Martial Artist whose skills allowed him to almost match a Slayer.
Of course, by the time they'd gotten there, the Martial Artist, Xander, was a more than a match for a Slayer- when using all of his abilities. In pure hand to hand combat, while Xander was more skilled than either Buffy or Kendra, the gap wasn't wide enough to net him a victory against either Slayer- especially with their accelerated learning curve when it came to fighting. Still, Xander had taken to training others. While none had his, or even Buffy or Kendra's rate of growth, they had been coming along fairly quickly. After the incident with Kakitos, Faith, feeling totally and completely useless, had begun learning from Xander. She was quick to catch up to her peers and even surpassed most of them. While she couldn't exactly fly, she could hover around a battle field and while she wasn't all that great at using energy attacks- other than using basic energy blasts- she was adept at using her energy to boost her bodies' melee attacks. She's even mastered the Wolf Fang Fist- better than Xander had in fact.
Some of the geeks had made a big deal of it, of course. Most of Xander's techniques and style were from what many of them called the Turtle School, though apparently flying was originally something only those of the Crane School learned. The technique she mastered wasn't from either school, but was a signature move used by one of that Goku guy's friends before he became a student of the Turtle School.
Xander had acknowledged that fact, but then explained that Goku had seen the move enough times that he could replicate it was well and that he (Xander) had done his best to train himself to be able to use it as well. He had then demonstrated the Crane School's Volleyball Fist and another move he called the Destructo Disk. He even mentioned that another move, used by Pic-something... Called a Beam Cannon that he could do as well. It went without saying that Xander knew most, if not all, of the moves used by Goku and his friends, allies and even his enemies to some extent or another.
"If you want, you can go help them," Joyce offered.
Faith shook her head. "I'd just be getting in the way. Besides, someone what to watch that Xand-man. If one of the mayor's goons figures out where he is or what he's doing, that could spell badness for us. We can't hurt him until after he ascends and Xander's the only one who can take him down." She frowned as she fought down the bile that threatened to make her start retching. "As much as I hate to say it, he's more important right now."
It was a cold calculus to put a value on a life like that- one that Faith herself didn't want to think about. One that Buffy herself did not and would not agree with, but one that Kendra understood and acknowledged. As much as she hated to admit it, if only because she considered them both friends of a sort, it was probably better that Kendra was the one who got poisoned, rather than Buffy. Buffy would fight tooth and nail to save Kendra- possibly to the detriment of the world, whereas Kendra would probably let Buffy die if it meant serving a greater good. Faith, who was far more selfish than either of her potential predecessors, wasn't sure she could ever fully agree with one side or the other.
"Faith, tell me really. Is this plan of Xander's going to work?" Joyce asked.
"Short of breaking into the Sunnydale Armory for some heavy duty bombs, this is our best shot," Faith replied honestly. "From everything I've seen, I think his Spirit Bomb is the only thing that has a shot at taking the Mayor out."
Joyce sighed. "I actually checked out the source material that Xander got his powers from. That move was used twice and failed to destroy either enemy it was used on, what makes you or Xander so certain it will work against the mayor."
"I'm not certain, but I don't have any better idea and I trust him," Faith told her. "Most of the Geek Squad seems to think it's a good idea as well and the ones that didn't asked the same thing you did, but X turned them around."
"And what did Xander say?" Joyce inquired.
"He explained that the first on used against that Veggie guy, was done in a hurry while Goku was extremely injured. Even then, it still fucked his shit up," Faith replied. "As for that Freezer guy, Xander pointed out that Southern California alone almost has more life on it than the enitre solar system the second one was used in and he's making this one in advance. All he has to do is release the energy and shape it, before launching it at the big bad. The power he's gained should finish the mayor no problem."
"What's the downside, other than the obvious," Joyce asked.
"Aside from the fact that he can't fight or do much of anything else until then, he's completely defenseless. And if he makes it too strong, he could destory a lot more than just the mayor," Faith responded. "Honestly, we'll be lucky if he just destroys the mayor and the school."
"So much power and responsibility... I don't see how he deals with it," Joyce admitted.
"As good as he is, if Buffy or Kendra trained like he does or were more willing to learn what he has to teach, just think about how strong either of them would be," Faith pointed out. "I'm starting to catch up to them and I'm only a potential and Lil' Dawnie is even better than I am, when she doesn't let herself get distracted."
Joyce laughed at that. "She's always liked Xander from the very first time they met. And while Xander was a nice, good looking boy even then, he wasn't in the shape he's in now. If she was older, I'd worry a lot more and probably have her on birth control already, since she seems to have been more affected by that Halloween than any of the others. I'm just glad I know I can trust Xander with her."
"I don't know how you do it, honestly," Faith comments. "When it was just me, Kendra and the Watchers in Boston, I couldn't help but feel like the odd man out. Then I get here and pretty much everyone in the know either has powers, knowledge or both, but you don't have any of those things."
"It comes down to trust," Joyce told her. "I thought about learning about all of that stuff, if only to take Buffy's place so she could have a normal life. Xander's offered to teach me more than once. But, Buffy's more like me than she wants to admit. If I got more involved than I am, she'd just work harder to keep me out of things. As much as she doesn't like her burden, she also doesn't want to force it on anyone else. So I have to trust that Buffy, Xander, Giles and Willow all know what they're doing and will all make it home at the end of the night. And since I can't help her out with the physical aspects of the slaying, knowing the mental parts of it would do nothing for my state of mind. Truth be told, I barely hold myself together as it is, especially if something happens and you kids get injured. Knowing what is out there and how it could hurt you would only make me worry more. Ignorance is bliss, as they say."
"I getcha," Faith replied. "I can remember how scared I was of Kakitos after what he did to Kendra and our Watchers and not being able to do anything to help them. I thank God and whatever other powers that are up there on our side that Xander was willing to take me under his wing like he did, otherwise I don't know what I'd've done."
"I don't what I'd do without Xander especially. It's mostly because of him that Dawn doesn't go out patrolling," Joyce admits. "But she's getting antsy and I'm not sure the old excuses will continue to work when Dawn hits High School herself."
"Push comes to shove, don't forbid her outright. Just make sure she has back-up," Faith offers. "There'd be no point in her training like she does if she's not going to use what she practices. At least if something goes wrong, you know she won't be alone."
"I'm not sure I can agree with that, but it might be the best I can get her to promise," Joyce reluctantly acknowledges. "Lord knows if she or Buffy didn't want to listen to me, they wouldn't. A major downside of being a non-powered parent with children with superpowers. Though something tells me that being a parent with superpowers wouldn't be any easier."
Faith shrugs in response, not being able to relate to Joyce in that way since she didn't have nor want children of her own.
"Do you want to come with me later to see Kendra in the hospital?" Joyce asks.
"No, but thanks anyway. I hated seeing her vulnerable like that after what went down with Kakitos in Boston. It's a huge reminder that for all of their abilities, Slayers aren't invincible, no matter how badass they might seem," Faith admits to Joyce. "Seeing her in the hospital right now would make it more real and make me think about things I don't want to think about. And I really, really don't want to be in the room if she flatlines for any reason and suddenly, bam! I've got Slayer powers. I'm not like Kendra. I didn't grow up knowing I could one day be a Slayer and that to become a slayer, some other chick would have to die. And even then, growing up knowing what she could be a Slayer one day, she didn't know Buffy before she got her powers. I know Kendra and Buffy and as much as we have our differences, if something happens to one of them and I get powers, I'm gonna have a major freak out."
"I never thought much about what a Slayer goes through when they get their powers," Joyce replies. "Especially in your circumstance."
"I didn't either until this whole Ascension thing started goin' down," Faith admits. "Any of us could die when this whole thing goes down, and I get and accept that. But since I'm a potential, it doesn't mean the same thing for me than it does for everyone else if Buffy or Kendra dies. What would happen to me if something happened and I got powers... Or if something happened and I don't get powers. It's something I've actually thought a lot about lately."
"Have you tried talking to the others about what you're feeling lately?" Joyce asked.
"A couple times, but its different for a witch or a martial artist because almost anyone can be one or the other, so they can't really relate," Faith tells her. "And as for Buffy and Kendra... Buffy ignores me or changes the subject and Kendra is all honored duty and sacred callings and serving a higher purpose. Her preaching is actually more irritating than B's complete avoidance of the issue."
"Just because I'm Buffy's mom and fairly hands off when it comes to the Slayer stuff, doesn't mean you can't come to me if you need to talk or vent or whatever," Joyce offered. "If nothing else, I can offer a different perspective."
"Thanks, but I'm fine for now. I have already talked with X and Jeeves about all this stuff, but, like I said, neither of them can really relate. If you could work on getting B to talk to me, I'd owe ya one."
"Faith, you're one of the people helping my daughter come home every night. If anything, I already owe you," Joyce replied. "It would be the least I could do."
"Way I figure it, Buffy watches my back just as much as I watch hers, if not more. That makes us at least square, if not me owing her a bunch of favors," Faith counters before letting out a sigh. "There was a time when shit like this wouldn't bother me, ya know. But you guys are like one really big family and you've let me be a part of it. You guys made me care and it scares me a bit, how much I don't want this feeling to go away. You, Buffy, Kendra, Xander and Giles and even Lil' D, make me feel like I'm really a part of something here, just like my old Watcher used to and I'm scared to lose that again."
"We're not any less scared," Joyce assures her. "Kendra uses her duty a shield. Her belief in serving a higher purpose allows her to carry on. And Buffy... It's childish, but her reasoning is that if she ignores the bad stuff, the people she couldn't save, the things that go wrong that she can't fix... Then it didn't happen. We all have our ways of coping. Me, I'm not too different from Buffy. I don't ask too many questions so when everything is said and done, I don't know how close we came to losing everything or just someone. Even Xander, with all that he can do now, is probably the most afraid of all of us, given the way he trains. To be honest, his way of coping is probably the most mentally healthy way of doing so."
"Doesn't hurt that he gotta killer bod outta the deal," Faith commented with a smirk.
Joyce lightly blushed, and avoided Faith's gaze. "I've never really noticed."
Faith's smirk turned predatory, but before she could tease Mrs. Summers, a strange feeling of strength hits her, causing her to gasp. Her teasing smirk, turned into a look of horror as to what that could have possibly meant.
"Faith...?" Joyce asked worriedly.
Faith's attention centered on Buffy's mom. She was hoping against all odds that she was wrong, but her gut told her she wasn't. "Call B and the others!"