Original of the Species 2B: The Mayor and the Saiyan: Wilkins Chapter Five, a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer + Dragon Ball Z Crossover fanfic

Chapter 05

'The Zeppo'

AN: This chapter put up stiff resistance. It seemed like an exciting concept in the beginning, and initial progress was good. Then towards the end I hit a snag as my muse deserted me. Also I had some other interferences. In the end I was able to finish it. There are probably a few things that still need tweaking, but then again, you could do that forever and then it never gets published.

Regarding the previous chapter, Infinix posed a good question how come the Cruciamentum drug took away both Buffy's Slayer abilities and her chi. For those who wondered the same, they're linked in Buffy's case. The way I see it being the Slayer is not just a simple power up, it's integral to who she is. This is also what Slayers are made to believe, adding to the whole Slayer mythos. And since I gave the drug a magical component once it took away her Slayerness it took away everything. I hope that answers that question once and for all.

On with the next chapter, my little ironic homage to all those Buffy bashers who use this particular episode, which was about Xander coming to grip that he has no special power and was fine with it, and instead they turn it into a lets have the group turn against poor ol' Xander fest. With often Willow as one of the main culprits doing the pushing.

"We came, we saw, it's Miller time," Xander yelled triumphantly as he high-fived Oz sporting a huge grin, "God, I feel great!"

"I think you have adrenaline coming out of your ears," Oz remarked, who was sporting a sly smile himself..

"Can't be the only thing running from his ears," Faith said as she rubbed her ears, "damn those bitches can scream! My brain feels like it has turned to mush."

"You have a brain?" Oz grinned and deftly evaded Faith's angry swat towards his head.

"I think that was the last," Giles said as he examined the battlefield, a large cave underneath Sunnydale, with the slain bodies from three large dead demons lying on the cave floor.

"These babes were wicked rowdy," Faith said as she looked down on one of the demon corpses, "what's their deal?"

"I wish I knew," Giles said as he crouched down next to one to get a good look at it,

"most of my sources have dried up since the, uh, Council has relieved me of my duties. If it weren't for Clem's warning I wouldn't even know they were here. To be quite frankly, I expected them to be vampires. These things, these are new."

"And improved," Buffy said as she examined a large hole in her sweater, "since when can demons do chi attacks?"

All eyes turned to Belmovekk, who sat casually on a protruding ledge near the entrance of the cave. Throughout the fight he hadn't lifted a finger, par his usual method of watch and learn while the kids fought and learned, only ever joining in if really needed.

"I did not observe them using any Saiyan style techniques which they could have gotten from Angelus," the Saiyan said as he pointed to the corpses, "either they were using their own techniques, which they recently developed, or some of them could do it all along. In which case their techniques were just mistaken as magic."

"Well, I'm glad then this wasn't my fault," Angel said as Buffy came next to him.

"You alright?" she asked worried as she examined a nasty gash on his shoulder, "you took some big hits."

"I'm fine," Angel said as he flexed the injured shoulder, "it will heal in no time."

"You fought good, D.B.," Xander said as he came up to the two, "those were some good moves. And thanks for the save."

"Anytime, Harris," Angel nodded in thanks.

"I still hate you though," Xander quickly added.

"And I still think you're stupid," Angel quickly countered.

"God, I need to get out of here and get laid proper," Faith sighed ruefully, "before all this repressed homosexuality suddenly erupts."

"Where's Willow?" Oz asked suddenly as he began to look around him.

"Uh, I'm here you guys," came up from behind the Saiyan's broad back on the ledge. Willow looked visibly shaken as she climbed down.

"Be careful," Oz said as he came forth and helped her climb down.

"Willow, you okay?" Buffy asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Willow said as Oz helped her down, "th-the shaking, its, its a side

effect of the fear, right?".

"I'm sorry," Giles said, "I should've had you better prepared. If I had known these demons were this strong…., I'm sorry."

"What I do not understand is why you made so little progress with your sorcery," Belmovekk said as he hopped of his ledge, "I expected more of you once you demonstrated your talent."

"Be nice," Buffy said defending her friend, "you nowhere train her as much as you do us."

"The art of chi fighting is complex and requires much training and supervising," the Saiyan said he first looked at Buffy, then at Willow, "and while I admit I cannot spend as much time with the young lady as I would like, there is little I can do for her, young lady. She must make the next step on her own. I cannot do it for her."

"But that's why I want to do magic as well," Willow said, causing Giles to look somewhat uncomfortable. It was Faith who bluntly said in her usual idiom what everybody was thinking..

"Yeah, but Red, let's be honest," she said, "you suck at magic."

From Faith Willow expected such a remark, but to her surprise nobody protested or came to her defence. Not even Oz, who sort of averted his eyes downward.

"But I just want to help?" Willow said looking injured

"If this is what we can expect more and more then maybe you shouldn't be leaping into the fray with us," Buffy said pointing to the dead carcasses, "m-maybe you should be... fray-adjacent?"

"You're still wicked with the books, Will," Xander suggested, "remember? You outsmarted us and figured out something was wrong with Buffy with that Watcher thingamabob. Maybe you're just not captain Kirk who always beams down into danger. Maybe you're more captain Picard who stays on the bridge and sends Riker to do his dirty work."

It wasn't what Willow wanted to hear.

"But I just want to help," she said softly. Since nobody had a good answer to that the issue was quickly side stepped.

"Uh, what do we do with the trio here?" Buffy asked pointing to the dead demons, "should we burn them?"

"I expect we can leave them," Giles said as he kicked the nearest carcass, "I'm more interested in finding out what they are, and whether we can expect more of their kind."

"But the stink," Xander said, "they're already getting quite ripe. Can't have the whole underworld stink to high heaven. I mean, we occasionally have to travel here as well."

Belmovekk put his hand on Willow's shoulder.

"Well, here is a good test for you, young lady," he said pointing to the dead demons, "clean them up. Burn their corpses."

"But how," Willow asked.

"Just gather in your Will, young lady, form in your mind what you want it to do, and then release it as you say the Word," Belmovekk said and looked at one of the corpses, "burn!"

The corpse suddenly caught fire and started to burn brightly in no time..

"Hmmm, extra crispy," Xander said appreciatively.

"And now you, young lady," the Saiyan said pointing to another .

All eyes turned towards her and Willow swallowed. If she could this, then maybe they wouldn't think of her as useless. But it was also hard. So far the best her sorcery had been able to do were small things and with small things. Not a large dead demon.

"Maybe I could do a spell instead?" she suggested hopeful, "I know of a fire spell?"

Giles almost let out a pained sigh and made a mental note to keep his magic books behind better locks the next time.

"Magic requires borrowed power, it can be taken away," Belmovekk said dismissively as he shook his head, "your Will is your own. Make them burn."

"But you always complain I'm so noisy," Willow protested as her face fell more and more.

"We are all by ourselves," Belmovekk smiled encouragingly, "and the Hellmouth masks it anyway over greater distances. Be as noisy as you wish right now, young lady."

"I'll try," Willow finally sighed. No sooner had she said that as Buffy turned to Xander, her eyes flashing.

"Make one do or do not Yoda joke and I'll go all Dark Side on you!"

While Xander feigned innocence that he wasn't going to make a Yoda joke Willow concentrated. The first step was always to gather in the Will, to draw in power from everything around you. This wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was in the release.

"Burn," Willow said, with sweat forming on her forehead.

At first nothing happened. The smoke came from one of the arms of the dead demons. Then a small flame appeared.

And that was it.

"That's all?" Faith exclaimed as the fire diminished to an even smaller almost invisible glow, only to get a swat against her head from Oz, "Auw!"

"Uh, Willow, I think in the future perhaps it would be best if you, you, uh, h-hung back to the rear of the battle," Giles said, "you know, for your own sake."

He hated being the bearer of bad news, but for her own protection Giles felt it had to be said.

"I suppose," Willow said bitterly disappointed. Then Belmovekk put his hand on her shoulder again and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Maybe it is the Hellmouth," he said trying to comfort her, "once I have a free weekend we will go to my cabin in the mountains and work on it outside its evil influence."

It was lunch hour at Sunnydale High and Willow walked the campus ground looking for her friends when she spotted Xander. He was playing football with a couple of jocks from the football team.

"Hey Xander, Willow called and waved to get his attention from the game. More then a year ago the jocks wouldn't have even seen him. Like her he would have been one of those unwanted ones who got picked last at team selection. In fact, both had ended up often being the last ones picked. Which was what helped forged their bond between them in the first place.

Nowadays though the others fought to get Xander at team selection. The coach of the football team at many occasions had pleaded with Xander to join the school football team. Besides his greater muscle tone it mostly was the greater confidence he seemed to exude. If he wanted too he could be very popular. Willow often caught other girls looking at Xander and had no doubt that if he wanted too he could have a new girlfriend in no time. It was to his credit Willow thought that Xander had not gone that way.

As she tried to catch Xander's attention Willow didn't pay as much attention to where she was walking herself. Had she known where she was going she would have given the notorious school bully and town psycho, Jack O'Toole, a wide birch. Instead she tripped right into him, causing him to spill his bag of chips all over the place.

Jack looked at her, then the remains of his unhealthy lunch, then at her again. As he did his eyes grew bigger and his nostrils started to flare.

"Look…., um…, I…., I-I'm, sorry," Willow stammered as she involuntarily stepped backwards as the school bully got up.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch?" Jack said angry.

"I-i-it was just an accident," Willow said apologetic as she involuntarily took a step backwards..

"You spilt my lunch, bitch," Jack shouted, then he leaned over until his face was close to Willow, "I oughta bust your lip, bitch!"

Willow recoiled from the look of pure malice on Jack's face. He probably would. Jack O'Toole believed in full equality of the sexes as far as bullying was concerned. He probably believed in even more things as he was rumored to be part of a gang of hardened young criminals. Not even Snyder dared to touch him.

Suddenly Jack was gripped from behind and thrown backwards on the ground.

"What's the matter with you?" Xander said out loud as he stepped in, "Is that how you get your kicks these days, Jack? At least when you beat me up you were still a man of some sorts. You've sunk to terrorizing girls now?"

The look anger on Jack's face of being attacked from behind made the look he previously had given Willow child's play.

"I'm going to kill you, Harris," Jack yelled as he tried to get up but Xander swept his feet from under him, making him fall on his back. Then he placed his foot on Jack's neck and applied pressure

"What makes you think you even stand a chance?" Xander said confidently as Jack clawed in vain at Xander's foot trying to breathe. But Xander was just too strong for him. As it went on more and more students came around to watch. It was after all not often that somebody challenged Jack O'Toole. And seemed to be getting away with it.

"What's going on here?" a voice yelled. As Xander and Willow turned around they saw Snyder walking towards them through the now massive cloud on onlookers who were watching the incident intently.

"Are you guys fighting?" Snyder said suspiciously once he managed to get throw the watching mob, "because you know the penalty of fighting on school grounds."

"Us?" Xander said, playing innocence personified as he extended a hand and pulled a flustered Jack up, "I'm just helping out my fellow man here."

Snyder looked at the smiling Xander, then at the red faced Jack, but if he expected Jack to talk he probably had to wait for an eternity. If Jack had one saving grace it was that his hatred for snitches was total. He'd never rat out anyone, even if he hated them with a fiery passion that he now did with Xander.

"I'm keeping my eye on you, Harris," Snyder said pointing his finger at Xander, "I know a future drop out when I see one."

"Sure thing, chief," Xander grinned as Snyder walked away, then he whispered in Jack's ear, "you're pathetic! I can't believe I was ever afraid of you."

Jack went away like a dog with its tail between it's leg and considering most of the other students who had seen the incident were too shocked to make fun of him he was lucky. Then Xander nodded towards Willow.

"You're welcome," he smiled and tipped his head at her before moving off to find what he was looking for before he got detoured by a snack vending machine. As Xander walked off, so did the crowd, leaving Willow alone by herself again.

"Boy, of all the humiliations you've had I've witnessed, that was the latest," Cordelia's voice said behind Willow.

Willow turned around to see a smirking Cordelia.

"What do you mean," she asked Queen C.

"Again a big strong man needs to come to the rescue of Willow Rosenberg," Cordelia smirked as she began walking around Willow, "again she can't fight her own battles."

"That's not true," Willow objected, "I can fight!"

"Oooh," Cordelia shooed impressed, "so you were going to wave your mighty floating pencil of doom in front of O'Toole then? I'm sure that would've impressed him!"

"I can do more then that," Willow said, it just was that she couldn't think of something else there on the spot..

"Oh, yeah, then show me," Cordelia said and assumed a fighting stance in front of Willow.

"I'm not going to fight you," Willow said flinching. What the hell was wrong with Cordelia?

"Bah," Cordelia snorted in disgust as she relaxed her stance, "you're a joke, Willow. No, you're worse then that. You're useless, Willow Rosenberg!"

"No I'm not," Willow said, but Cordelia wasn't impressed.

"It must be really hard when all your friends have, like, superpowers - Slayer, Saiyan, formerly possessed Saiyan wannabe, werewolf, watcher, vampire - and you're, like, this little nothing. You must feel like Fay Wray. Forever needing to be rescued by the big strong men or girls."

"Hey, what's wrong with you, Cordelia?" Willow bit back as the words struck home a little close to home for comfort..

"Ooo, I struck a nerve?" Cordelia said, pretending to be scared, "The little Willow that could?"

"You…you're wrong, Cordelia," Willow said vehemently, "as it happens I happen to be an integral part of the group. I happen to have a lot to offer."

Cordelia let out the mother of all snorts.

"Oh, please!"

"I do! I can do magic and sorcery stuff!"

"'Integral part of the group?" Cordelia said stepping up to Willow, "Magic? Sorcery? Willow, you're the, the 'useless' part of the group. Giles can do magic. Belmovekk can do sorcery. All you can do fail is fail at both. Because of you Giles lost his job! Because of you I was humiliated! I wouldn't let you perform magic even if the world depended on it! You're the 'Zeppo'. Look it up. It's something that a sub-literate that's repeated twelfth grade three times has, and practically your only skill."

Willow was too cowed and too shocked by Cordelia's words to say anything but stand there looking lost for words. And Cordelia drank the humiliation in.

"There was no part of that that wasn't fun," she said smugly to herself as she walked away.

"Cordelia," Willow called out after Queen C, "why are you so mean?"

"Because I can," Cordelia smiled over her shoulders, then her smile faded, "and because nothing I say seems to stick to that other asshole anymore."

"They're the Sisterhood of Jhe," Giles said as he gave Belmovekk a book. The Saiyan put on a pair of reading glasses and started reading.

"What is it they want, master Giles?" the Saiyan asked as he read the brief bit of information Giles had been able to find about them in his books.

"Oh, nothing much," Giles said trying to sound casually," how about the end of the world?"

Belmovekk looked over his reading glasses.

"Surely you are jesting, master Giles?" he said blandly

"I wish I were," Giles sighed as he sat down, resting his head on his hand, suddenly looking twenty years older.

"Can they do that?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"They seem fairly committed," Giles sighed, his eyes closed, "the Sisterhood of Jhe is an Apocalypse cult. They exist solely to bring about the world's destruction, and we've not seen the last of them. More will follow."

"And they're here in Sunnydale for what?" Buffy remarked, "Demon Expo?

Giles gave Buffy a stern look.

"Buffy, this is no laughing matter."

"Hence my no laughing," Buffy countered.

"I'm sorry," Giles said, sounding somewhat apologetic, "I know I'm no longer your

official Watcher, but..."

"It is written here that they are all female," Belmovekk read out loud, "and that they are all warrior women."

"Yay for girl power then," Buffy said then she looked at Giles, "well, do we know why they're here?

"I think so," Giles said and reached out for a box containing some items which he put on the table, "based on some artefacts I, um, I found with them, and, um, taking into

account the current astral cycle..."

"Giles, I don't need to see the math," Buffy interjected. Giles shrugged and continued

"They intend to open the Hellmouth," he said offhand.

"The Hellmouth. The one that opens..." Buffy said softly to herself.

"About twenty feet from where you're sitting," Giles said and nodded to the exact location, where a round mosaic on the floor denoted its exact location.

"I guess there's nothing to it but rallying the troops," Buffy sighed, "then she looked at the Saiyan, "are you going to help?"

"Everything I read about them leads me to think this sisterhood is extremely dangerous.," Belmovekk said as he closed the book, "you can count on me."

"You can count me in," Xander said during morning break as the Scoobies had gathered on their favourite couches in the school lounge, "as always. In fact, I'd be offended if you had counted me out."

"Thanks," Buffy said, "there's something about this one that..., scares me. I need my Xander."

"Only now does she realizes," Xander said, wiping away an imaginary tear.

"How about you guys," Buffy asked the others.

"Hey, I'm in dire need to raise my kill score," Faith said eagerly, "I'm there!"

"Me too," Oz said, "but what about Will?"

He was of course referring to the currently only missing member of their little group.

Buffy shook her head no.

"I think it might be best if she sits this one out," she said with a tone of finality.

Oz nodded. He loved Willow to death but she seemed to be getting into situations that were way too hairy and way too much over her head lately. As far as he was concerned, if they were going to face a cult willing to bring about the end of the world the greater the distance between her and them the better.

"Will's wicked with the books though," Xander countered, "nor is she stupid. If she finds out we're hiding stuff from her again she might make in another uninvited drop."

"There's nothing left to research in Giles' books," Buffy said shaking her head, "we're down to calling in individual contacts and hustling local demons."

"We can't just lie to her," Xander said as he waved an arm about to illustrate his point, "it's Will, we tried that before. It's not right. She deserves the truth."

Buffy bit her lip. She didn't relish what had to be done.

"Don't worry," she sighed, "I'll tell her."

"So what have you found?" Android #13, the white trash looking Gero type android said as he and #14 entered the backroom of a small business building in Sunnydale where #15 had busy gathering intelligence. Upon their arrival a week ago they had spent their time getting a feel for the place. Much to the annoyance of the brutish #14, who seemed to have come without a patience chip installed or something. Which seemed strange since Gero, when he had sent them, had programmed the need to maintain a low profile into them at every cost.

Which was why #15, the small well dressed black android, had taken the utmost caution to hack into Bulma's secret computer files. It had taken him weeks to covertly probe her firewalls, carefully mapping out her layers of defense. And just as long to break those defenses and snoop around inside without leaving any trails. Maybe it was good that #13 had taken #14 off to do something else instead, cause otherwise #13 feared that #14 might have done something unto #15 for being so slow. Again, why Gero had send #14 along with them was beyond comprehension to #13. Still, the good doctor must have had a reason. And if anything #13 was forever a loyal servant of the good doctor.

#15's careful research ultimately proved fruitful and netted them a name, Belmovekk, and a place, Sunnydale. It also netted them something else about the place, something called a Hellmouth. According to Bulma's research it was some sort of inter-dimensional gateway between this universe and a Hell dimension. Or maybe even a series of them. It was also populated by strange beings, taken straight from popular folklore and myth. Vampires, demons, ghosts, they all seemed to be very much real and very much present in Sunnydale California.

Which complicated matters. If Bulma knew of this place and she had done work for this Saiyan then surely he knew of the nature of this place as well. Chances were he kept a vigil on anything strange happening. Which meant that the three of them had to be extra careful. Even more so as it turned out when they learned that one of these strange creatures that inhabited this place had been watching them since they had left the bus depot.

For once #14's brutal nature turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After he captured and mercilessly tortured the luckless demon they quickly learned some of the fineries and details that made this place run. Of the Edict, the proclamation of the Slayer that spelled collective death and doom to those non-humans that dared to harm a human. That required demons to be on the look out for any potential dangers to humans lest they become victims during the reprisals. It meant a keen eye for them on any potential danger, strangers and odd behavior. Which included three strangers, Gero type androids with seemingly no business in Sunnydale.

It was #15 who hit on the idea of renting a small business and pretending to be a start up business. It also gave him an excuse to get back at #14 and put him to use carrying crates, much to #14's chagrin. They were lucky that the demon #14 had tortured to death claimed he had not told others of them. And that the whole town seemed to be wired with fiber optic internet connection. So while #13 and #14 slaved away pretending to be beginning entrepreneurs, renovating a new business, #15 scoured the internet to get into whatever records he could get in to.

For all their sophistication none of the Gero type androids came with a means to exchange information with each other, other then through verbal means. Nor could they speed up the process. Gero was only interested in strength, not efficiency in other areas, and he had to rush the three back into service for this particular job. Only #15 for instance had seen any modifications, trading in strength for advanced computer and infiltration abilities. So when #15 was asked to give a report he had to do that using notes and an old school blackboard hanging in the back room.

On the blackboard was drawn a large letter B. and the word Slayer, each within their own circle. A double ended arrow ran between them. Underneath each circle was a list of key phrases and definitions. #13 couldn't help but notice that regarding their target, the Saiyan Belmovekk, #15 had managed to gather far less intelligence then in regard to the other point of interest, the Slayer. And the Slayer was only of interest because of the relation to their target.

"According to public records, our target Belmovekk bought a place in town more then a year ago, around the time of a local custom called Halloween," #15 said as he turned around his chair to better face the other two, "this is his first appearance in the public record, be it under various aliases. According to what #14 extracted from that 'thing' this was about the time a group of local do-gooders started to exhibit a rapid increase in strength. Very much like chi. So it seems obvious the two events are linked."

"I knew that already, numbskull," #14 said, looking bored as he stood by the door, arms folded across his chest. #15 shot him a quick angry look for the insult and interruption.

"Did you find anything useful about our target?"#13 asked as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

"He has a place out here," #15 said as he marked a spot on the Sunnydale map that also hung in the room, "he uses a lot of aliases. We know that that thing #14 tortured knew him as Mr. B. and that it was scared shitless of him. And he seems to have something going with the mother of this Slayer, having fathered some children with her."

"That's it?" #14 snorted incredulously, "That's all your fancy hacking skills could come up with? Or are you going to tell me next that you need another six months to slowly hack your way inside his systems?"

"Shut up!" # 15 said angry as he pointed to his laptop behind him, "It so happens that there's nothing for me to hack in to! He doesn't use computers!"

"We should have known," #13 quickly interjected before #14 made another scene, "Saiyans aren't known for being brainiacs. I think we outsmarted ourselves in that respect. "

"Says who?" #15 countered, "based on a sample of two? Just because Goku and Vegeta have low IQ's barely above #14 doesn't mean all of them do!"

"Hey?" #14 said angry but #15 continued.

"If anything how this guy has set up a network of aliases to hide himself and avoided creating a paper trail that can identify him shows he's nothing like Goku and Vegeta. If anything I suspect that if he uses computers at all it's either an isolated system or just to browse the internet. Not data keeping. Not keeping up a network means your data is more secure. If he needs additional data all he needs is a public terminal and a floppy disc. That way he leaves no traces back to himself."

"That's akin to how Gero operates," #13 said musing, "so you think he's smart then?"

"He's at least smarter then the other Saiyans," #15 nodded, "that's what I believe. And we would do well to assume he's at least as smart as us."

"Considering you're stupid that's no accomplishment," #14 snorted. Meanwhile #13 thought things over.

"Hmm," he said getting up as he walked up to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk, "so our boy likes to shroud himself in mystery. Fine. We can't investigate him that way. How about the other connection?"

#13 underlined the word Slayer a few times.

"What do we know of this Slayer?" he said as he put down the chalk.

"That demon thing said it was something mystical," #14 said, "supposed mortal enemy to anything demon related. Yet I find it strange that neither we, nor Gero, know anything of this mystical warrior."

"Or maybe he did," #15 suggested, "and he chose not to tell us."

"If you can do better, please do so, little turd," an annoyed #14 said, "otherwise butt out!"

"As a matter of fact," #15 grinned smugly as he tapped his laptop behind him, after which #14 lowered his head.

"Oh god," he'll be insufferable now," #14 sighed as he shook his head dejected.

"The internet can be an amazing thing," #15 said smugly as he turned around and tapped the laptop to deactivate the screensaver and brought up a website, "You can really find the craziest things on there. Anything related from people having sexual fun with turds to mystical warriors of old fighting things that really do go bump in the night. The Slayer is supposed to be one girl. One girl in the world chosen to fight all evil. One girl given the extra strength needed to fight vampires and demons."

"Sounds like some stupid fairytale," #14 said disinterested, "besides, just some strength to fight demons? From what I've seen those things are pathetically weak."

"Many fairytales have their origins in myths," #13 said as he leaned over to view whatever #15 brought up on his laptop, "and if these girls are just above average in strength it probably explains why Gero ignored them. But please, continue, #15."

"The thing is," #15 continued as he got up, picked up the piece of chalk and drew a series of stick people on the board, "attrition amongst these Slayers is extremely high. So if the Slayer dies the essence is transferred to a different girl who then becomes the Slayer. It is said that the line of Slayers goes back thousands of years"

As he spoke #15 drew an arrow from one stick figure, then from that to another until all were connected.

"Does her knowledge also passes?," #13 asked, "Cause the way I see it that would be the only way her being so weak would make any sense."

"The web sites don't say," #15 said as he checked his notes, "there is some speculation regarding that each girl instinctively knows a basic set of skills and fighting instincts but mostly they all agree the new Slayer starts a blank compared to her predecessor."

"Who cares then," #14 said dismissively, "they're shrimp."

"No human can be as strong as Saiyans," #13 interjected, "and we should do well to remember that even Goku was but a far cry of the power he showed against Vegeta when he took out the Red Ribbons. We should do well to keep that in mind, #14."

#!4 let out a loud disgruntled snort. Then he pointed to #15.

"All these days he had us carry around boxes, do work in that stupid shop to not raise suspicions. All that time for him to snoop around and this that all he comes up with? I should break his scrawny neck and go fetch me some more demons to torture. At least that got just as much results as he did! Nor did it take me a whole week to do it!"

"Even though I hate to agree with Captain Stupid here," #15 said as he nodded dismissively towards #14, "but there's a limit to what I can do behind the computer if our targets don't use any."

"Then we have a problem," #13 said, "surveillance is too tight in this town for us to do something. And there's probably a limit to the number of demons we can abduct before word of that reaches their ears either."

"I say we just go in and bust their lips," #14 said, "Our instructions were not to be discovered by Goku, Vegeta and their buddies. They never mentioned a third Saiyan or his Slayer wench. As far as I'm concerned this Belmovekk and Buffy Summers are both fair game."

"We are not to raise any suspicion," #13 countered and then pointed up north, "besides, he is connected to Vegeta. That means an indirect connection. We will not do as you say, #14 and that's final!"

"Bah, I don't get to ….," #14 muttered in disgust until he noticed #15 smirking, "what are you laughing about, shrimp!"

Sporting a big smirk Android #15 clicked on his laptop and another internet site started to load..

"Now it so happens that although they are creatures of ancients myths," he said smugly, "these various demons are quite up to date with modern technology. They even have various chat rooms and message boards."

"The Sunnydale Dungeonbattles message board," #14 sighed as he read out the site's title, "God, that's lame! Look at some of the nicknames these losers use. Deathwalker, Souleater, Genestealer. I bet they're all sad and pathetic bogeymen hiding under some child's bed!"

"Probably," #15 said, for the second time agreeing with #14 and not really liking it, "but that's beside the point. Look at the traffic and range of topics of the last 24 hours."

"They all seem to be about a single topic," #13 said as he leaned over #15's shoulder, "something about the Sisterhood of Jhe, and where they are. Hmmm. Interesting!"

"Which means what?" #14 asked, causing #15 to slap his forehead in frustration.

"Idiot!" he said, "Don't you get it? They're all looking for this Sisterhood. They're practically desperate for information regarding them. Which means…."

"…that nobody will pay much attention to us," #13 smiled.

Willow wandered the streets of Sunnydale in a daze. She had no idea for how long she had been walking, or how she had made it through the day.

It all started when Buffy, whom she thought of as her best friend besides Xander had taken her aside.

"Will, we have to talk," Buffy said as she sat down with Willow. Then she told them of the Sisterhood of Jhe and what they were planning to do. Willow was clearly shaken. This seemed like their biggest crisis since Belmovekk had been captured by those aliens. Even bigger because they weren't in any direct danger at that time.

"And if it opens?" she asked.

"Do you remember the demon that almost got out the night I died?" Buffy answered with another question. Willow gasped her mouth in horror at the memory.

"Every nightmare I have that doesn't revolve around academic failure or public nudity is about that thing," she said, "in fact, once I dreamt that it attacked me while I was late for a test and naked."

"Well, it'll be the first to come out," Buffy sighed, "and Giles says it won't be the worst by a long shot. Nor the last. The world will be overrun with demons if we don't stop it."

Both girls said nothing for a while, lost in their thought. Then Willow looked up.

"Do we know when this is supposed to happen?"

Buffy gave an uncertain shrug.

"Giles is trying to narrow it down. We're heading into deep research mode."

"Well, you can count on me," Willow said resolutely. To her surprise Buffy shrank back.

"Ah," she said uncomfortable, "the thing is, Will, we think it might be best if you sat this one out."

It was like somebody had put Willow against the wall and punched her in the gut.

"What do you mean, Buffy," Willow said incredulously, eyes wide in shock..

"I'm, sorry, Will," Buffy said uncomfortable, "it's just that we think that it be better if you stayed at home."

"But I can't just sit at home, Buffy," Willow protested, "surely I can do something, right?"

Buffy shook her head.

"Magic, I can do magic," Willow said, but Buffy shook her head again.

"Giles has that covered," she said.

"Sorcery?"

"Belmo is already preparing himself. We need the big hitters on this, Will."

"Research then?" Willow said triumphantly, "I can still do research! You mentioned research."

"We're not talking about looking through Giles' books, Will," Buffy said shaking her head, "I'm talking leg work here. We're all pumping our sources. Giles and Belmo are talking to their connections, Angel is working the underworld, as will I and Xander. Besides, the Hellmouth opens in the library, it'd be the unsafest place in the world."

"I suppose," Willow said dejected. She looked so disappointed that Buffy felt a moment's pity for her friend.

"I'm sorry, Will, I really am, but it's just too unsafe for you. This is the biggest challenge we have ever faced," she said, then she put on a smile, "hey, but maybe you could look on the internet? You can do that, right?"

"I suppose," Willow said sullen. Buffy looked her in the eyes.

"Are you okay, Will?" she asked worried.

"I'm fine," Willow said, suddenly sporting a smile again, "it's okay, I'll be fine. Kick some ass for me and if I find something on the internet I'll let you know."

"That's my Willow," Buffy smiled.

Of course, Willow wasn't fine. She had put on a brave face, not wanting to put pressure on her friend as she was about to go into battle. But inside she barely kept herself together. Buffy's words, coupled with Cordelia's remarks now combined into a mega-depression of epic proportions. One from which she only awoke still walking in the streets after sunset.

As she looked around she found herself close to the Bronze. Needing something to cheer herself up she went inside. The Bronze wasn't exactly packed but there were enough people to give it a decent atmosphere. A band played onstage with a female singing softly over a slow ballad.

Normally going to the Bronze cheered Willow up but not this time. Seeing the people there having a good time made her all the more conscious that she was on the outside staring in. Also how could she relax when her friends were about to go into battle? Then she saw Angel.

The souled vampire, they all agreed on that now, walked though the place, clearly looking for a certain somebody.

"Angel," Willow shouted to make herself heard over the music. When Angel took notice he came over to her.

"Have you seen Buffy?" he asked her. No surprise there.

"She's probably at the Library," Willow said, "doing library things."

"Hmm, Angel said musing, "I should go there then. Something's going to happen. I've seen portents."

"Yeah, the apocalypse," Willow nodded dejected, "they're on to it."

Angel shook his head and looked away uncomfortably.

"I don't think they know what they're dealing with."

Willow's face lit up as a huge smile appeared on her face.

"Let's go there... and tell them that."

Angel shook his head.

"No, it's probably best you stay out of harm's way."

"But….," Willow tried to say but Angel had already turned and left.

"I'll stay here then and guard the place," Willow said softly, as nobody took notice of her.

At the same time Buffy and Xander walked into Willy's bar wearily. The place looked completely trashed, like a bunch of English soccer hooligans had come there to celebrate their team's victory. A few bodies lie on the ground, most of them dead. Except for one. As Xander took up post beside the door to stand guard Buffy kneeled next to the injured barman.

"Tonight?" Buffy asked Willy.

"Before sunrise," Willy said through gritted teeth, then he winced in pain, "that's what they said.

Buffy looked around the place.

"Why did they do this?"

"They were looking for Angel," Willy coughed.

"Did they get him?" Xander said semi-hopeful, still standing next to the door.

"Xander!" Buffy said disapproving, then she faced Willy again, "Angel? Why?"

"Said they were coming after you, too," Willy said, before wincing in pain again, "and

nothing could stand in their way because tonight was the night..."

A severe pain took hold of Willy as he gritted his teeth to withstand the pain. Then he started to cough even harder.

"Oh, man..."

"Hang on," Buffy said worried, "the ambulance is on its way."

Willy started breathing fast and shallow.

"Look, kid, my clientele ain't exactly nuns and orphans, but I... I never seen anything like these demons."

"I'm gonna stop them," Buffy said resolutely.

"I hope so," Willy said, "when that Hellmouth opens they're gonna be the least of your problems is my train of thought. Boy, I never thought I would say this but I hope Mr. B. lives up to the advertisement!"

Willow walked the streets again, with nowhere special in mind. Part of her wanted to go to the Library and demand she be allowed to join in. But the other part of her mind, her rationality, cautioned against it. That the last thing her friends needed right now was her bitching about her insecurities.

Suddenly Willow found herself at the town's central park. She sat down in a bench and pulled her feet up underneath her. She looked around and for a moment she couldn't help but think that more then a year ago this was an open invitation to suicide. At least she had helped to change that. She had been of some use back then. Even Spike, their former sworn enemy had though she was of some use. Otherwise why had he kidnapped her then?

A wave of self pity hit her like a ton of bricks and Willow began to cry. She cried for what seemed like minutes, then she reached for a handkerchief and started to wipe away her tears.

"God, look at me," she said, then she blew her nose, "no wonder they think so low of me."

Willow looked down dejected.

"I wish I wasn't so useless," she said to no one in particular.

"Then why are you?" a voice suddenly said.

Willow nearly jumped three feet into the air.

"I didn't mean it," she said out loud, fearing she just stumbled on a vengeance demon. But as she looked around she couldn't see anything or anybody.

"Yes you did," the voice said again. And again giving Willow the fright of her life.

"Who are you?" she said looking around herself nervously, "Are you one of those vengeance demons? Cause even though I technically made a wish you can't grant it to me because I fall under the protection of the Edict and of the agreement that was made between us and you guys long ago so if you think of granting my wish you'll be in a sorry state of a mess and…"

"Relax," the voice said, sounding somewhat exasperated, "how a human being can chatter so much without breathing is a mystery."

"Who are you?" Willow said, still nervous from seeing no visible conversational partner.

"Just think your replies instead of speaking them aloud. I can hear you perfectly," the voice said, "in fact, I would prefer if you so did."

"Then who are you," Willow thought.

"A friend of the family as it were," the voice said smug.

"OHMIGOD," Willow exclaimed out loud, "you're one of those…"

"Please, thinking Willow, not speaking, remember? Especially out loud."

"Sorry," Willow thought, "you're one of those Necessities Belmo told us about. And who told Giles how to…"

"Yeah, I guess you can say we get around a bit," the voice said sounding even more smug.

"If you're one of those Necessities, then why don't you help Buffy and Belmo fight those things?" Willow thought accusingly.

"Okay, I can see where this is going," the voice sighed mentally, "here's how it works. We don't do anything. We're more like pool players. Trying to get the most difficult corner shot using the most minimal movement. Only we do it on a cosmic scale that's beyond your comprehension. It's just the way it is. The universe can't handle anything more direct by our hands. But if you wish you can do something though. While we can only attend by occasionally and sound cryptic you're free to do something."

"But that sounds so…, what do you mean that I can do something," Willow thought, "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm useless."

"That's not you, that's just Cordelia talking," the Necessity said upbeat, "in fact there's a lot you can do, Willow Rosenberg. Why are you holding yourself back?"

"I'm not," Willow protested, "in case you haven't noticed, my sorcery sucks and my magic fails more often then it works. That's why they don't want me to be there."

"If you don't believe in you, then why should they?" the Necessity said doing a mental shrug, "do you think Belmovekk had it easy learning his craft? He drove Belgarath mad blowing up rocks with his chi, rather then moving them with his mind. And Belgarath lived for a whole year with a God before he caught on to what he could do."

"But I'm not like them," Willow countered.

"So it would seem," the Necessity replied, doing a mental equivalent for shaking its head. If it had one that is. Then it fell silent for a while.

"Hello?" Willow thought, "Are you still there?"

"I think you should go to the cemetery," the Necessity said on a tone of finality.

"Why should I got to the cemetery?" Willow said flabbergasted.

"You wished to help your friends, then you must go to the cemetery," the Necessity said offhand.

"Which one?" Willow thought, "there are twelve of them."

"Sad Hill," the Necessity said, "you know, the one next to Restfield?"

"I know where it is," Willow thought annoyed.

"Just trying to be clear," the Necessity said smug.

While she was on the way to Sad Hill cemetery Willow looked up on a whim and saw someone fly over real fast, leaving behind a blaze of white chi. It was soon followed by another, also leaving a wake of white chi in their trail. As he flew slightly slower she could see it was Xander. Which made the other probably Buffy. Both seemed to be going in an awful hurry and way too flashy. Which probably meant things were getting dire.

While her friends seemed to be battling to save the planet here she was, walking to some backwater cemetery.

"Well, I'm here," she thought to the Necessity once she stepped through the Sad Hill cemetery gates, "what's next?"

A large part of her didn't expect it to answer. Another large part feared what it might say next.

But a small part of her hoped it would.

"Now we wait," the dry voice said in her mind.

"I saw my friends come over," Willow thought as she looked around, "are you sure I should wait here? Maybe I should go to the Library and…."

"If you go to the Library you will cause your friends to fail and the world to end," the Necessity said offhand, "now see that mausoleum to the right of you?"

"Yes," Willow said as she turned her head. A dilapidated mausoleum with its door ajar stood there.

"That might be a good place to hide in."

"But it's full of dead people things," Willow protested.

"Tsk, tsk," the Necessity said disparagingly, "they're just dead bodies. Nothing that can hurt you."

"Yeah, well, this is Sunnydale, remember?" Willow grumbled.

"My bad. Just get inside," the Necessity said droll.

"Hide from what?" Willow asked, but the Necessity said no more. Instead she heard somebody coming. Taking a cue from the Necessity Willow made for the Mausoleum and slipped inside.

To her surprise the mausoleum didn't contain any coffins or bodily remains. Instead it looked like this was a favorite make-out place for teenagers. Used condoms, empty beer bottles and a dirty mattress Willow wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

But the grubbiness aside, she did have a good view of the cemetery outside without getting noticed. As she peered out she saw a lone figure walking through the gates. It was Jack O'Toole. The notorious bully looked around skittish, making sure there was nobody around to see him, but he did seem to know where he was going.

Once he made sure there was no one around Jack took out a chicken foot on a string and started to dangle it above a grave as he began to chant.

"He calls forth the Spirit of Uurthu, the restless. No one shall speak. He shall arise! Hear me..."

Why can't their lives ever be simple, Willow thought as she observed Jack performing the ritual, it was bad enough that there were vampires and demons, and that there was some demon cult busy to end the world. But now even the likes of Jack O'Toole were practicing magic!

"The blood of the Earth shall restore him," Jack chanted as he put away the chicken foot and knelt beside the grave. He took out the switchblade that he always carried around to intimidate the other students with and cut his own hand, making a bloody line. The he turned his hand over and let the blood drip on the grave.

"And he shall arise!"

As Willow clasped her mouth with her hand something began to stir underneath the earth.

"Shall arise!" Jack said in triumph. Then a pair of arms punched through the grass, followed by a head. Even though she hasn't seen him for the greater part of a year and he has started to decay Willow recognizes the newly risen dead, it's Bob, One of Jack's old gang members who had died under suspicious circumstances. But just not supernatural ones. While the SDPD had kept the circumstances of Bob's death under the wraps Willow remembered hacking into their database and learning he had gotten himself killed while trying to hold up a liquor store.

Now Bob prepared to walk the Earth again. A huge frown adorned his face as he lifted himself from his grave. Still confused he finally stood on his two feet. Meanwhile Jack gave him a look over, to see in what kind of condition his friend was. Despite the slight visible decay Bob seemed to be in good condition overall and Jack looked pleased with the result. It took Bob a moment but finally his disorientation faded and he recognized Jack.

"Buddy!" Bob said with a big grin.

"Bob," Jack greeted his friend, then he held out his arms, "you big, hideous corpse... Come here!"

Bob grabbed Jack and lifted him a big bear hug, laughing out loud from joy. In a way it didn't look so gross Willow thought. There was something poignant about it. The friend who loved his buddy so much he even raised him from death. To bad it had to go wrong at some point. It always did. After all, Bob had been Jack's right hand man. The one who either held the kids that Jack beat up, or even more often, who beat them up for Jack.

Meanwhile the twosome frolicked on as Bob swung Jack around a bit before putting him down.

"Man! You 'raised me!" Bob said triumphantly as he let go of Jack.

"I 'told' you grandpappy could work that mojo," Jack said equally triumphant, "Big Bob is back in action!"

Bob raised an arm in triumph.

"Yes!"

Then the two headbutted each other like their heads were made from concrete in celebration. Then Bob put his arm around Jack..

"Oh, man, I can't believe you raised me! That is so awesome! You are the coolest," he said, then he stepped back, "Dude, where are the other guys? We gotta go

get 'em."

"Absolutely," Jack grinned.

"Alright," Bob said in agreement.

Meanwhile Willow clasped her mouth again, Jack used to have a whole gang of bully minions. Most were either gone or dead. Which in a way added to his mystique amongst the other students, the last of the bullies. Most of them had died before the edict had come into place so at the time it seemed like the results of the usual suspects, gangs on PCP. But after she had learned of how Bob had died she was no longer sure. One of the greatest discoveries of the Edict had been the amount of violent crime that had masqueraded itself as supernatural attacks. Bob had been the last of Jack's gang to die, but he wasn't the first. And Willow now had this sinking feeling Jack was going to reverse all of that tonight.

"How long I been down?" Bob asked.

"Eight months," Jack replied and pointed to the stars, "I had to wait till the stars aligned. Today's a special day."

"Oh, eight months," Bob said impressed, "I got some catching up to do."

Jack was about to go to the next grave as Bob stopped him cold.

"Whoa! Walker, Texas Ranger. You been taping 'em?" Bob asked dead serious.

"Every ep," Jack said solemnly.

"Alright," Bob said as he patted jack hard on the shoulder, "we're gonna get the guys together, and we're gonna PARTY, man! It's gonna be a night to remember! Yeah!"

As the two walked out of view Willow emerged from her mausoleum.

"What was that about?" she thought, but the Necessity didn't answer her. That left Willow to fend for herself.

If on a scale of one to ten and the Sisterhood of Jhe rating a 9.8 then Jack's little zombie gang rated perhaps a meagre 1.2. But then again it wasn't like she had much else to do. So Willow carefully gave chase to Jack and Bob. For a moment she couldn't find them. There were just too many large tombstones and mausoleums for them to disappear behind.

For a moment Willow contemplated what that meant. Despite having suffered a murder rate that should have attracted national headlines Sunnydalers never talked about it. The culture of silence was all pervasive. Having grown up here Willow knew that. Might it be that Sunnydalers, their lives seemingly of such little worth, wanted to leave behind a larger then life statement that said: I was here! That practically shouted it up for heaven (or hell) to see?

Willow wandered around Sad Hill cemetery for five minutes before she re-discovered Jack and Bob. The two stood beside another grave, with Jack performing the same ritual again. Willow knelt behind a tombstone to observe the gruesome ritual again.

"The blood of the Earth shall restore him, and he shall arise," Jack said, sounding with the confidence only success can give you.

As the blood fell on the ground the earth started to tremble again. Unlike Bob this guy came up headfirst. He also looked far more decayed then Bob, his face raw and bloody, yet still recognizable as Dickie, an asshole who had once knocked Willow's books from her hands, just for fun. Dickie also seems to be less disorientated then Bob as he immediately recognized his mates.

"Dudes!" Dickie yelled as he clawed himself fro the earth. Jack reached out and gave Dickie a helping hand.

"Long time no see, dude," Dickie said as he hugged Jack.

"Sorry I couldn't raise you before," Jack said as he smiled at his dead friend.

"It's okay," Dickie grinned, "you're here now."

The two friends stared at each other for a moment, not knowing what to say. So in the best male tradition they switched topics instead

"Let's get Parker," Jack said, "he's gone the longest."

"It'll be a blast," Dickie screamed, as he raised his fist in the air, "we're back!"

As Willow observed the raising she suddenly realized the 1.2 rating may have been in error. Besides bullying Jack's gang was rumored to be involved in various robberies and hold ups. The police just couldn't make any accusation stick. Former principal Flutie never dared to do anything against Jack and his gang, whereas Snyder only had eyes for Buffy. Or maybe he didn't dare to do anything about him either. Chances were that if Jack got his gang back he would resort to violent crime again, and people would get hurt.

Still, Willow wondered why a pan-galactic Necessity wanted her to see all of this. There had to be a purpose to it, right?

"Uh, hello," she thought, hoping to get an answer. But the Necessity kept silent.

"Look, if there's some purpose this, I'd really like to know cause I don't see what this gotta do with our current crisis, I mean the world may end so what does it matter that Jack and his two zombies are out on the lose, granted, they're dangerous zombies and that's bad, but I mean they're not Sisterhood of Jhe bad, right, so what….."

"Enough," the Necessity replied, a slight desperate edge to its normal dry voice, "how can you even understand yourself!"

"Ha," Willow thought triumphantly, "so you're still there!"

"Of course I am," the dry voice said dryly, "oh, and for the record, you missed one."

"I missed what?" Willow asked surprised.

"Him!" the voice said.

"What the hell do we have here!" a voice said behind Willow.

"Oh boy," Willow said softly before slowly turning around

Back near Dickie's grave Jack was still busy bonding with Dickie when he heard Bob yell, followed by a high pitched yelp.

"Bob," Jack asked worried as he turned his head towards where he heard his friend call.

"Let go of me," a female voice cried, then Bob emerged from behind a series of tombstones dragging a red headed girl along. A very familiar red headed girl.

"Look what I found," Bob said grinning as he threw Willow in the middle of the group.

"My, my, what have we here?" Jack said as he knelt in front of Willow.

"Who's she?" Dickie asked puzzled.

"That's Willow Rosensomething," the third zombie whom Willow had mistaken for Bob said to Dickie.

"Who the fuck is she," Dickie said even more puzzled.

"Computernerd," the third zombie said pointing at Willow, "always hung out with those two losers, something with an X and that Jesse loser."

"Ah," Dickie said, finally making the connection, "now I remember, she seems hotter though then I remember."

"You were in the ground to long, dickhead," third zombie said as he grinned his ghastly teeth.

"Willow Rosenberg," Jack said, as he peered into Willow's eyes smugly, "all alone at night and in my grasp. What'cha doing, little girl?"

"Funny you should ask," Willow grinned sheepishly, I was thinking the same thi…Aaahh!"

Suddenly Jack reached out and yanked her aside by her hair painfully, causing her to fall over. Then he lifted her head up by her hair and brought her face close to his.

"So where's your knight in shining armour now?" he sniggered as her face was distorted in pain, "Xander can't help you know, bitch."

Then he threw Willow on the ground again and spat on her.

"Did you find anybody else?" he asked Bob.

"She was alone," Bob said shaking his head.

"I'm not alone," Willow said defiantly, with tears of pain flowing down her face, "you'd better let me go or my friends will come!"

"And do what?" Jack grinned as he peered into her eyes, then he looked at his zombie gang smugly, "She's alone."

"No I'm not," Willow protested, "Xander's here, and Buffy, and…"

"Shut up!" Jack yelled.

"That was that loser's name, Xander," third zombie said to Dickie.

"Why should we be afraid of Xander?" Bob said, "That Buffy chick, she I can understand, from what I remember she's tough as she's hot. But Xander, I know him, he's a shrimp, Buffy had to protect him."

"You have missed more then a whole season of Walker," Jack said, "he's changed. All muscled up, mister high and mighty martial artist now. But he'll get his comeuppance. But first we'll deal with her."

Jack pulled out his switchblade.

"Katie, meet Willow," he grinned, "Willow, meet the last thing you'll ever see."

"If you'll kill me, Xander and Buffy will kill you in return," Willow said, hoping that it would stave of Jack's hand. To her surprise Jack and his zombie gang started to laugh.

"What's so funny," Willow asked puzzled. Jack and the others laughed again, then he lowered his knife and raised his shirt. As he did Willow could see a line of bullet holes lining his stomach."

"Oh," was all she could say as she finally understood.

"Drive-by three weeks ago," Jack grinned.

"Oh boy," Willow said, looking blankly ahead. Finally it started to make sense. They were all zombies.

"Grandpappy found my body," Jack said as he lowered his shirt, "I wasn't gone but ten minutes before he raised me."

Willow gulped. The group had heard of a drive-by shooting three weeks ago. Any murder had the 'underworld' up in jitters, but it looked like a human on human killing, so retribution was deemed unnecessary.

"Time to die," Jack said as funtime was over and he brought Katie back to Willow's face again."

"Could you not hurt her face?" Dickie suddenly asked.

"Why's that?" Jack asked surprised.

"Well," Dickie shrugged sheepishly, "she does look kind a hot, maybe you could raise her afterwards? For me, that is?"

"Dickie's got a crush," Bob said teasing, "Dickie's got a crush!"

With the attention of the four zombies diverted Willow seized the opportunity. None of her meager magic/sorcery repertoire would probably make a dent into these guys. But she did knew a move that Xander had once taught her.

Willow sat up, brought her hands to the sides of her head and yelled.

"TAIYOKEN!"

A blinding flash erupted as bright as the sun only directly in the faces of the four zombies.

"GODDAMMIT!" Jack yelled as he reached for his eyes, dropping Katie in the process, "you bitch!"

"What the fuck was that?" Bob yelled as he also reached for his blinded eyes.

"How the hell should I know," Jack yelled in annoyance.

It took the four zombies a moment for them to regain at least a semblance of their eyesight. By that time of course Willow was long gone.

On the neighbouring Restfield cemetery Giles stood in front of a large mausoleum holding a lit candle in front of him. As he stood there a bright cloud started to gather in front of him. The Spirit Guides had arrived and Giles spoke to them.

"Noli me renuere, umbra ducens. Sapienta manium super me effundatur."

An intangible voice replied softly.

"Illae res occultae sunt tempoti et locis obscuris. Enuntiare illas Chaos super orbem vivum terrarum ferat."

The Spirit Guides seemed reluctant to reply Giles' plea for help so he had to plea again.

"Belua propulsanda est! Invenire vitium suum noster spes sola est!"

A strong wind started to blow and now the voice of of the Spirit Guides sounded angry.

"Noli petere! Perturba nos non diutius!"

The cloud moved away from Giles and ascended into the sky. Once it had gone the wind settled and everything returned to normal. Unhappy with being rebuked from beyond the grave Giles sighed deeply. He blew out his candle when suddenly Willow came crashing through the bushes.

"Giles? Willow said surprised at finding the Librarian here at this hour in this cemetery, "What's goin' on?"

Giles was too dispirited with being rubbed off by the Spirit Guides that it hardly even registered with him that Willow should not be here at this time and place.

"Oh, uh," he said dejected as he glanced at the mausoleum again, "I was just trying to, uh, gain access to the, um, Spirit Guides. Not going very well, I'm afraid.

Since there was little here for him to do Giles began to pack up his gear.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked absentminded.

"Now that you ask," Willow said, "I was in town when I suddenly heard….."

She could see Giles wasn't paying any attention to her at all.

"Things that bad?" she asked as Giles finally stuffed everything back into his case, "do you guys need any help?"

"Hmm? Oh, no. Thank you," Giles said dismissively, "uh, probably best if you, you stay out of trouble."

For a moment Willow thought she could hear Jack O'Toole and his zombie gang looking for her.

"I wish," Willow sighed.

"There's something... different about this... menace," Giles said as he took a moment to reflect, "something in the air... the stench of death."

"Yeah, that might be Bob," Willow said, she could still smell him on her clothes.

"We may all be called upon to fight when it happens," Giles said absentminded, "I better go. Um, hopefully, we shall have time to prepare. All we need is more time."

Then Giles picked up his case and left.

"Wait," she called out after him, "Giles, what about the zombies?"

But he didn't hear her.