Goddess
Disclaimer: I own nothing (unfortunately). All rights and characters in this fic belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other respective owners and creators. I gain no profit from this. It's purely for fun. I only own my OC's.
Note: The following is a rough outline of what was to happen in this chapter. I apologise for not being able to write the full chapter as intended, however, life has proven hectic and along with my plans to start writing original stories, I don't have the time needed to finish all my stories. I didn't want to leave them abandoned, so I decided to give a rough outline of the story's events so that you could see how it would have progressed and ended. I hope that you understand. Maybe one day I might come back and fully finish them as intended, but as that's up in the air, I thought that I'd end things this way rather than leave unfinished. Thank you for your time.
Chapter Two (Rough Outline)
At Slayer HQ, everyone was busy with their daily routine.
New Slayers with their potential unlocked arrived so that they begin training under the tutelage of Giles and the more experienced members of the Scooby gang. However, Giles finds himself occupied with more urgent and pressing matters…namely why the books in their makeshift library had been placed out of order.
''They were supposed to be arranged alphabetically,'' he muttered, pushing up his glasses so that he could rub the bridge of his nose.
Andrew shuffled timidly. ''See, I thought that was a neat idea too. But, then I was considering organising them chronologically from when they were written. That way, we don't mistake outdated information for solutions. By the time I realised that might not work I was already half-way done and just kinda continued.''
Just then, Anya strolls over, hearing their argument and stopping in their tracks. ''Wait, you mean we weren't putting them up according to cover colour?''
''Please, tell me you didn't…'' Giles sighed.
''Okay, I won't tell you.'' Anya shrugged and walked off.
She passed by Xander who rubbed his hands together nervously. ''I won't lie, my hands might have slipped once or twice…thrice…fourice?''
Giles released a tired huff. ''Well, I know what I'll be doing for the rest of my evening.''
''It's actually closer to morning…'' Andrew mumbled. Upon receiving a deathly glare from Giles, Andrew cleared his throat and turned to the others with a more optimistic expression. ''So, Willow and Tara should be back from their date any second now! I hope that it all went well.''
At that very moment, Willow and Tara burst through the door and slam it shut. Their expressions are stricken with panic as sweat pours down their faces. The two witches remain at the door, listening for any sound coming from outside. When all was silent except for the concerned whispers shared between in-training Slayers, Willow and Tara let out a sigh of relief together and slid down to the floor.
Andrew gulped. ''Oh my, am I cursed?''
''You'll get used to it.'' Anya patted him on the back.
After Willow and Tara gather their composure and inspect each other for injuries, they rush to the others and quickly detail everything that happened on their date, including all the cute build-up that happened before they were attacked. Once they start describing the spiders with the markings on their backs, Giles feels a twinge in the back of his mind. He recalls seeing something that matches the description in one of the books. The group stare at the shelves, lined with thousands of books that they have found and gathered over the past year. They call on everyone awake and available to help.
''When we're done,'' Xander said. ''Do we put the books back up alphabetically, by page count, or…'' he stops when everyone glares at him. ''We'll sort that out afterwards. Got ya.''
Even with everyone chipping in to help, the Scooby gang's process is slow as they scan through every page of every book, hoping to find something that mentions the spiders. During this time, Tara moves closer to Willow and asks about what she wanted to mention earlier before their date was interrupted. Willow dismisses it as unimportant for the moment and that they'll talk about it later. While Tara accepts and continues searching, Willow is unable to mask her sadness. Sensing that his friend is down, Xander offers some words of encouragement, already knowing that Willow's plan was the propose to Tara. He's able to help Willow push aside her gloom by reminding her that there'll always be another day to ask, one that's not filled with terrifying arachnids.
''I know I might not be the first person that comes to mind when you're looking for marriage advice, but…''
Willow silences him by placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. ''You might not always be the first, but most often, your advice is what I remember most.''
They return to looking through the books. Willow glances around the room, noticing that Buffy was nowhere to be found.
While patrolling the streets, Buffy glances up at the starry night sky, wondering how Willow's proposal plan is going. Giddy with excitement, she fails to notice the extra skip in her step until a young woman stumbles past her down the street. Acting poised, Buffy continues walking until she bumps into a hooded man who appears to be following the young woman. The Slayer trails them.
Eventually, she finds the woman cornered in a dark alley by the man. He slowly advances towards her, laughing at her cries for help. Buffy acts quickly, grabbing the man by the shoulder and tossing him to the side. With his hood down, the man stares up at Buffy, revealing his fanged teeth and deformed face.
Buffy sighs with relief and turns to the scared woman. ''False alarm, it's only a vampire.''
She brings out her wooden stake and lunges at the vampire, stabbing him in the chest.
Upon contact, her stake splinters and breaks. Caught off guard, the vampire lashes out and strikes Buffy. Her attempts to counter prove fruitless. Every punch and kick against the vampire's skin felt like trying to break through a tank. With no way to overpower the vampire, Buffy's opponent begins to get the upper hand. She is knocked to the ground. The vampire towers over her, laughing maniacally as a spider runs across his face and into his hair. He grabs her neck and hoists her up into the air.
Suddenly, the woman that Buffy was protecting raises her hand and conjures a ball of light that brightens the alley. The vampire cries out in pain and loses his grip on Buffy. She is able to escape and rushes towards the magical woman. The ball of light disappears and the vampire readies himself for round two.
Before the gap closes between them, Faith and a small group of Slayers-in-training appear to assist Buffy.
''Nope.'' The vampire turns heel and runs away.
Buffy orders the Slayers not to chase after him despite Faith's protests. They help the woman, Sam, who reveals herself to be a witch that is being hunted down by an ancient evil.
''So, what's the schtick with this ancient evil?'' Faith questions. ''World domination? Revenge? Boredom?''
Sam shakes her head. ''To feast on the flesh of the world's most powerful witches.''
To Be Continued...