"Giles, we have a problem," he said as he entered the school library and saw the rest of the Scooby gang plus Cordelia sitting around the main table.
"What sort of problem?" the Watcher asked as he watched the founding male member of the Scooby gang approached the table with an unfamiliar look in his young eyes.
Xander tossed an object onto the table that landed with the heavy sound of metal hitting wood. When the object came to a halt all could see that it was a ring, gold for the most part but with some sort of crimson inlay present around an unknown symbol, and he could tell that the Watcher recognized it.
"Where did you get this?" Giles asked his voice full of concern and worry while he carefully inspected the ring to make sure that his suspicions were correct.
"Off the body of some Spartan warrior that tried to kill me about half an hour ago. From the way he talked, he was a hired assassin and he mentioned that he was here to fulfill a contract of some kind." He replied sitting down in the only vacant chair, placing both his katana and his wakizashi close by, "I managed to beat him but just barely. He was good Giles, I almost couldn't beat him, and I have a feeling that he's not alone."
"You are quite right about that. This ring is worn only by members of the Order of Teraka. It's a society of deadly assassins dating back to King Solomon." Giles stated with dread as he placed the ring back on the table for all to see, "Their credo is to sow discord and kill the unwary."
"So they're after Buffy and Xander?" Willow asked with worry, not liking the description of the latest threat one bit, "But why? I mean sure Buffy's the scourge of the demon underworld but Xander's just Xander. Sure he's like wicked cool swordsman now but he's been patrolling for only a few weeks now like this."
"I haven't been that scourge-y lately." Buffy muttered just above the volume necessary for someone to hear her.
Looking at her, he could understand how she might want to look for some other reason why two deadly assassins were in down and attacking both her and a friend. He felt the same way after his parents had been wheeled into the emergency room barely clinging to life. It had been due to his interference in the mission of that group of mercs and their deaths that had caused that, he was sure of it. While he hadn't been all that sorry about the deaths of Tony and Jessica, he had been worried that one of his friends might be next on the hit list. He didn't know if he could live with himself if one of those close to him or one of the others was killed because of something he did or didn't do. They were his life, his world, the thing that kept him from allowing his soul to be pulled down into the dumps where a guy with his sort of past usually wound up sooner or later. He would do whatever it took to keep them safe, even if it meant sacrificing another life in order to save them. He would only do so as a last resort, but if it came down to that sort of choice, he knew which direction he would go in.
"I don't know, I don't know." Giles replied with an exhale of air that made it clear the Watcher was at a loss as to how to remedy the situation at the moment. "I think the best thing we can do is to find a secure location. Somewhere out of the way you two can go until we decide on the best course of action."
"Okay, now you and Angel have both said to head for the hills. Are you saying I can't handle this, that I'm not strong enough to fight these people?" Buffy asked with anger and a growing mass of fear, "I mean sure the guy I faced at the skating rink was good but he turned tail and ran in the end. I can take these guys!"
"You mean we can handle them, right Buffy?" he said not liking the fact that she seemed to be dismissing his newly obtained skills, "Between the blonde Slayer bombshell here and me the reborn Hitokiri Battousai we can take these guys without breaking a sweat!"
"They're a breed apart, Xander. U-unlike vampires, they have no earthly desires," Giles explained, trying to impress the gravity of the situation on his two warrior charges, "but to collect their bounty. They find a target, and, uh... they eliminate it. You can kill as many of them as you like, it won't make any difference. Where there's one, there will be another, and another. They won't stop coming until the job is done. Each one of them works alone in his own way. Some are human, some... a-are not. Y-you won't know who they are until they strike."
The Watcher stopped there, no doubt for dramatic effect, to give his words a chance to sink in before pressing on.
"I am not dismissing either of your abilities; I am merely saying that we need time to plan an effective strategy." Giles explained trying to dispel any notions that he didn't trust them, "We need to get a better idea of who we are up against and how best to go about defeating these assassins. We must try to determine who exactly it is that put the contract out on Buffy. If we can do that, we might be able to convince them to terminate it and put an end to this before it goes too far."
"Seeing as how these killing machines showed up just after those vamps stole the Do Lack cross thing I think it's a safe bet that they're the ones who put out the contract." Buffy pointed out not taking a whole lot of solace in Giles' attempt to reaffirm his confidence in her, "So let's start busting heads in the demon world until they spit out where Spike's crew is hiding. After all, it's not like there's any honor among monsters with them right?"
"P-perhaps after we've relocated to a more defensible location. Our primary goal at the moment should be in establishing a more secure base of operations from which to fight them." Giles stated not completely objecting to the idea, "We're too vulnerable at the moment to risk going off half cocked."
"And give them time to attack someone else? Not going to happen." Buffy said as she got out of her chair and went to the weapons locker, "The best defense is a good offense! Xander's already taken one down and I sent the other packing so the best thing to do is keep up the momentum. We attack every demon or vamp lair in the city until the vamps that stole the cross send their assassins for hire right at us and then we kill them. You with me, Xan?"
"'Course Buff'!" he said getting out of his chair and grabbing his swords, "We'll fight side by side and kick some assassin butt!"
"I understand how the two of you loath not acting on this threat immediately, but you don't seem to understand the situation." Giles said with some annoyance at his stubborn charges, "While it is true that your skills with a katana have improved much since Halloween, they still fall short of what the Battousai was reportedly capable of in the past. Besides, attacking all of the local demon haunts will only weaken you, leaving you vulnerable when the assassins arrive."
"Giles, I think you're overestimating how tough the demons in Sunnydale are just a tiny bit. None of them have been more than a light workout for me and I haven't been hurt bad enough for you to break out the First Aid kit in weeks." Xander said a little annoyed that the G-Man thought that way about his skill with a sword, "By the time the vamps are scared enough to tell their hired goons to stop beating around the bush, Buff' and I should be all nice and warmed up for the main event. Right, Buff'?"
"You got it Xand! Let's get going and start dealing out some fear inspiring pain into the little bads in this town." Buffy replied with a smile showing how much she appreciated his support, "Oh and let's spin by Angel's and see if he wants in on the fun."
Just when I was starting to think this might be a nice Buffy-Xander outing! He thought to himself cringing internally at the idea of having to tolerate Lord Forehead.
The two of them walked out of the library to raise some hell (metaphorically speaking of course) in the demon community with the hope of drawing out the assassins on their terms. While no longer the heroic Slayer and Battousai pairing he'd wanted, it would still be a good chance to show the Summers girl what he could really do and if he was lucky he might get to show up Deadboy a few times.
Keep those happy thoughts coming brain oh mine! He thought as he kept far enough behind Buffy to enjoy the view and guard the rear (sort of literal and sort of metaphorical) on their way out of the school.
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The Estate on the Outskirts of Sunnydale, Ten Minutes Later"Sir we have just received a report from one of our surveillance teams outside of the high school. According to the hidden microphones and cameras in the library, both the Battousai and the Slayer have decided to try and lure the Terakan assassins out by putting pressure on the demon community." Hiroshi said as he reviewed the report in his hands, "Do you wish for me to inform the two remaining swordsmen to make contact with them immediately, or wait until the local underground is in enough of an uproar?"
"I think it would be best to let them get warmed up a little before letting the main event start. Tell our surveillance teams to keep an eye on them and keep me informed of their locations at all times." The Lord of the Estate replied while holding up his glass full of wine up in front of his face to look at, "Once I am satisfied that the Battousai is ready we'll send our two assassins to the location and sit back to watch the show. Until then , both of them are to remain where they are and prepare themselves accordingly."
"As you wish, sir. There has also been another… development… I think you should be made aware of. Mr. Udō has gone missing and none of our usual methods has been able to determine his location." Hiroshi said bracing himself for the likely angry outburst his Lord would likely let loose, "I have some of our forces looking for him in the surrounding area but I have kept them out of Sunnydale so as to make sure that none of them encounter Himura even by accident."
"Call them back, Hiroshi. Our dear Mr. Udo must be planning to confront the Battousai directly, in which case he is likely already in Sunnydale, sending men out to search outside of the town would be a waste." The Lord ordered with concealed anger in his voice, "It seems our insane swordsman couldn't wait for my plan to finally be realized and decided to act on his own. I think it is time I remind him who holds his leash!"
Walking over to a large tapestry hanging on the wall, it looked as though he was about to push it aside but instead he somehow reached into it as though it was a portal of some kind and withdrew a box the size of a bowling ball. All about the surface there were engravings, some letters from some unknown language while others were pictographs of some kind, and in the front was a solid looking lock that could probably take a stick of TNT and be barely dented. Placing one hand flat against the lock, a glow appeared briefly around that hand and with a –snik- the lock disengaged. Wasting no time for meaningless drama he opened the box, expecting to see the means he'd employed to keep the rogue hitokiri under control since the madman's rebirth. What he found however caused his anger to turn into barely controlled fury and his features begin to take on some decidedly fierce demonic traits. The method he had been using to control Udo had been the heart of the demonic body that his spirit had been placed in all those years ago. The organ had been placed in an apparatus that would allow him to inflict serious pain when discipline was required or burn the still pulsating sack to ashes should the man become more trouble than he was worth. However, inside of the box now a bloody and torn mess of heart tissue that looked like it had been stabbed repeatedly. Hiroshi was obviously shocked and clueless about what could have happened to the heart but the Lord knew exactly what had occurred.
Udo had somehow destroyed his own demonic heart.
It had been the only risk to using an apparatus such as this to control the man turned demon but it had been one he had been confident would never be an issue. Due to the type of demon body Udo's soul had been placed in, it was possible for the fool to lose the majority of his limbs and still live. However, if the heart were ever damaged or destroyed then the demon body's days would be numbered. While mentally disturbed he had never really thought of the rogue hitokiri as being suicidal despite how he had died after the duel with Himura years ago. It was never considered a possibility that Udo would sign his own death warrant, but now it had been because with the irreparable damage to the demonic heart the hitokiri would be dead in a matter of hours. With that bit of information, he knew what Jinei was up to and how the madman intended for things to come to an end. Udo intended to not only defeat Alexander but also escape punishment by dying before such retribution could be carried out.
"Well played, Jinei." The Lord commented after forcing his anger down thus allowing his features to return to their former human-like appearance.
"Sir? Do you wish me to perhaps dispatch a member of your elite to track down and eliminate Udo before he can meet with Himura?" Hiroshi asked uncertainly since he didn't know why the anger on his Master's face had vanished so quickly.
"No. The rogue hitokiri has played his hand masterfully and succeeded in getting his one most verdant wish granted. I'll let him fight the Battousai, but have one of our men positioned nearby with a sniper rifle loaded with our 'special' ammunition." The Lord replied as though the change in plans was of less importance than others might think, "While I do not mind if Udo fights Battousai, I do not want that fool spilling any secrets before he dies. I want the revelation that I'm back on Earth to be made at a time of my choosing and my choosing alone."
"Certainly, sir. I know just the sniper for the job." Hiroshi said obediently as he closed the folder containing the surveillance report, "She is well trained and has helped us remove quite a few difficult annoyances in the past. Her unflinching loyalty to you and the odds of her failing to terminate Jinei at the right moment are virtually non- existent."
"Good." The Lord said putting the box back into its dimensional pocket, "It's a pity I won't be able to lure the Battousai into my ranks, but in a way, this is almost better. Like history repeating itself, there's a certain comfort in events replaying much as they did before. The only difference being that this time the final act will have quite a different ending than the last time."
"Indeed sir. It should be a sight to behold." Hiroshi commented with a smile of anticipation.
"That it shall, my old friend." The Lord said before placing one of his cigars to his lips, "It most certainly will be."
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Outside of Willy's Place, 8:30p.m"So do you think we've made enough demons shit themselves to get the vamps to send in the assassins or should we hit a few more places?" Xander asked as he finished cleaning his katana before sliding it back into its sheath.
"Maybe one more before we go choose where to ambush the assassins." Buffy replied as she casually strolled down the sidewalk to the next demon haunt that would soon become haunted once they were through with it.
"We should probably try Shark's place down by the docks." Angel suggested, taking up the rear with his broadsword resting on his shoulder, "He runs most of the organized demon activity in Sunnydale as well as a few criminal enterprises. We make him nervous and everyone under his command will get nervous as well."
"Good idea. Scare the big fish and make all the little fish scared too." Buffy said in agreement clearly liking the idea.
Swell! Another brilliant idea from the walking corpse! He thought to himself not liking the fact that he'd only managed to upstage Deadboy twice so far, This is seriously not turning out the way I planned.
It had been pretty much a given once they'd hooked up with Angel that this was not going to be the shining team up of two warriors of the light that he'd wanted it to be. Still, he had been reassured that while Angel might be a decent fighter the skills of the Battousai would make him deadlier and give him a larger kill count that Sir Broods-a-lot. However Buffy seemed to be going more for the 'scare them until they break' method of intimidation rather than just the simple 'break them in half' M.O he'd been expecting. There hadn't been much call for killing of any kind except perhaps when one or three demons decided to make a name for themselves. That meant that Deadboy, who had a century more experience, had the edge and was able to terrorize the demons by reminding them of his darker days. Whereas he himself, a newcomer to the hellmouth good versus bad scene, often needed to go completely Battousai in how he acted to get a reaction out of them. Twice that had been enough to get a head honcho demon and a lieutenant of another group to cave and start rambling out every bit of useful information they could think of and then some. Otherwise, he had zero quality opportunities to impress the Buffster and show up Gel Boy. To say he was not in the best of moods would be something of an understatement.
Of course, he kept his feelings to himself and stayed in his usual 'antagonize-Deadboy-until-Buffy-gives-him-the-look' self while doing his best to support the blonde Slayer.
It was about when they were halfway to Shark's place that he felt something in the surrounding area was out of place. It was like a part of his brain was asking him to look at a specific spot and never stopped nagging him about it no matter how much he wanted to focus on something else. It wasn't until he actually tried to figure out what it was his grey matter was trying to tell him that it clicked for him and instantly he was on guard.
Someone was watching them.
He couldn't get an exact feel from the person but he knew where they were and didn't think they harbored any hostile intent just yet. It felt more like a wariness one would expect from someone conducting surveillance on a dangerous target with there always being an underlying worry that the person being watched might notice the watcher. Nevertheless it was unmistakably there and he had to decide how best to deal with it without making the situation worse in the process. Telling Buffy and Angel right away would only let the observer know that they had been spotted, causing them to either retreat or attack. Neither possibility was very good considering that if the one looking at him retreated, an opportunity to learn who they were would be lost. If the observer chose to attack that would also pose a problem since it would force a battle in which he knew too little about his enemy. Knowledge about one's opponent before a battle often proved to be the deciding factor since it made predicting the adversary's moves possible. In the end he decided to take a risky route and separate himself from Buffy and Angel, using some excuse like he was going to hit a lair in the industrial sector of Sunnydale.
He told them this and like he knew they would, they were not crazy about him going off by himself when there were two dangerous assassins lurking about. He just reminded them that Buffy was the primary target and that with his skills recalled from his life as Hitokiri Battousai he would be able to escape if a fight got a little too hairy. Their acceptance was reluctantly obtained and so he began to walk to the west down a separate street from the blonde Slayer and Deadboy. Doing his best to look casual and relaxed the truth of the matter was that all his senses were on high alert and every scrap of sensory input was being perceived and examined. After five minutes of this, he began to worry that the one that had been watching him, Buffy and Angel had decided to stick with the Slayer instead of follow him. When he had departed from the others he had been quite certain that the observer would choose to follow him since he was but one person thus the weakest link. Now to find that he had no one following him made him believe that the observer had chosen to go after Buffy and Lord Forehead which meant he had to beat feet back in their direction in order to sneak up on their unknown watcher.
He was about to turn around and do just that when the feeling of being seen with hidden eyes popped back up on his senses and he knew that the observer was now there. Had there been some sort of delay? Some reason why it had disappeared from his senses before reappearing? He didn't know but it was there now and he figured that now was the time to deal with the follower on his terms and chosen battlefield. Casting his eyes about for a moment he tried to spy a place that would be most beneficial for him in a fight with an unknown person. Fortunately it looked like fortune favored him this time because not too far away was Sunnydale Park and with all the vegetation there as well as shadows he could easily utilize some of his Hitokiri knowledge to get the drop on his pursuer. Picking up the pace just a little bit, hopefully not enough to tip off the following observer, he soon entered the park. Moving silently along the beaten paths he waited until he was certain that the follower was inside of the Park's perimeter and then with a burst of speed darted around a corner then leapt up into a nearby tree.
Being careful not to jostle the tree or cause any leaves to fall he climbed out of sight and then looked down to see if the observer that had been tailing him would pass by. A couple of seconds ticked by but then what he had hoped would happen occurred because before another second ticked by a form came into view and came to stop beneath him. He was surprised to see that his pursuer appeared to be a young woman, a teenager about his age more or less, Jamaican in appearance he thought and definitely beautiful from what he could see. It also looked like she was ready for a fight by the fists her hands were formed into and the way she was making sure to look everywhere for her prey.
So what to do now that I know who was spying on me? He thought as he kept a close watch on the person below him, She doesn't exactly look like a Terakan assassin but then I guess she wouldn't be a very good assassin if she looked the part.
In the end he, decided to become the follower rather than the followed in the hopes that by watching what this woman did he could determine what sort of person she was and whether or not she was a Terakan assassin. It took a few impatient moments, moments in which he was mentally snapping at the teenage girl to hurry up and move along, but eventually the mocha skinned girl moved on and after counting to sixty he dropped from his branch to the ground. Tracking her both by her footprints in the dirt of the path and using his ki sensing ability that he had gained from his awakened memories of the Battousai, he soon found her. Much to his surprise, he found her standing in a clearing and looking right at him as if she had been expecting him the entire time. This knocked him for a loop because he was certain that he had not made a sound nor given any physical signs that he had been in the tree above her before. So since he was certain he had given no normal sign that he had been watching her he could only assume that she possessed some sort of sixth sense similar to his own ki sense. If that was the case then she had likely known he was up in the tree watching her the entire time and had been waiting for him to make his move before deciding to relocate their meeting to this clearing. If that was the case then there was little point in hiding any longer so he stepped out into the moonlight but kept his hands away from his katana and wakizashi.
"So you been waiting long?" he asked trying to sound like the two of them had set up this meeting in advance rather than how it had really been.
"Onlee a few mo'ments." She replied with a thick accent that was definitely native to more southerly locale than California.
"Good because I was always taught that it's bad manners to keep a lady waiting." He said being completely honest with his statement since he remembered a few times when he had kept either Buffy or Willow waiting and how THAT had turned out, "So you want to tell me why you've been tailing me or what?"
"To kill you!" she replied and without another word charged him with a hatchet in hand and determination on her face.
Well, I tried my best! He thought before he leapt back a good few feet before unsheathing his katana.
From a strategic standpoint, he knew he had the advantage of his weapon's long reach since a hatchet would be better suited for either getting in close to your target. Oh he knew she could throw it but he doubted that she'd disarm herself willingly given what kind of situation that would put her in when facing his katana. However he quickly found out that while his weapon did help him keep her at a distance it was much harder than he had anticipated. She possessed speed and agility easily on par with Buffy, perhaps even more than the blonde Slayer, and that allowed her to come dangerously close to getting inside his guard. Fortunately his ki sense and his skills in the Hiten Mitsurugi style kept him alive as it allowed him to predict her movements with a reasonable level of accuracy as well as block them.
Back and forth they went with one being on the attack for a time before the other did something to turn the tables on the other and going on the offensive. Throughout the fight though he could not escape the underlying emotions he occasionally sensed from her ki when he had a moment to spare. Given that he was fighting a Terakan assassin he had expected a mindset somewhat similar to the Spartan he had fought earlier or perhaps something like the assassins he knew of from the movies or TV. Instead the feelings he was detecting were more those born of a protector or an honorable warrior and that made him wonder if he might have been mistaken about his earlier assumption that she was a Terakan assassin. If that was true though then what was she? No normal human could move as swiftly as this teenage girl nor deliver blows with such power behind them. True, some disciplines of fighting, such as his own, could increase a person's strength to superhuman levels but often that was done more by the utilization of ki in the right manner. While she was definitely using some ki to improve her movements, it was sluggish and crude making him believe that she was using her life energy unconsciously. Over and over he reviewed what he knew of this girl while at the same time making sure not to let his thoughts get him killed by a potent blow by his adversary. In the end it was a graceful leap and an agile landing on the part of the Jamaican beauty that finally clued him in to what it was he was fighting. The shock of it almost caused him to drop his guard but a hastily blocked overhead chop with the hatchet quickly got him back I the game.
I need to create some breathing space so I can put a stop to this! He thought since he no longer wanted to kill the girl since it wouldn't do to kill someone who was on your side and just didn't know it yet.
Leaping back as far as he could he brought his sword up and said "Hiten Mitsurugi style: Doryūsen!"
With just enough force to make the girl retreat even further he decided that now was the time to try and make piece for one of them did something they'd regret.
"Hold it! I think there's been just a teensy misunderstanding here lady." He said using a commanding voice in the hopes that it would be enough to stop the girl from renewing the battle, "You're a Slayer, right?"
The word 'Slayer' alone was enough to shock the Jamaican beauty into immobility but it did no lessen her desire to fight him if what he was sensing was correct. Obviously he'd need to lay it all out for her in order to get her to see reason then they could go see Giles who could hopefully shed some light on how the Chosen One could become the Chosen Two.
"Look, I'm a local demon hunter and when you spotted me I was just working with some friends to put some pressure on the local demons." He explained hoping that she was really listening rather than just pretending to listen.
"You 're friends wit a vampire and you 're a demon 'unter?" she asked disbelief clearly in her voice and looking like she was going to start attacking again if he didn't come up with something quick.
"Okay more of a barely tolerated acquaintance than a friend in the vampire's case." He said not wanting it to ever be mentioned that he considered Deadboy a friend, "Buffy on the other hand is most definitely a friend and unless I'm totally wrong on this she's a Slayer just like you."
"Nonsense! Dere is but one, and I am she." The girl exclaimed in denial of what he had just said.
Considering how floored he'd been when the possibility had entered his mind he could understand a bit of what had to be going through her mind. However it didn't change the fact that he was certain that she was a Slayer just like Buffy but at least her denial and to a degree her admitting that she was a Slayer gave him something to work with.
"I know that normally there's only one usually but I'm telling you that Buffy Summers is a Slayer and after seeing you fight I know you are a Slayer too." He said hoping that by mentioning the blonde Slayer's name would make a crack in the Jamaican girl's denial, "Look, how about we head back to the school library. Rupert Giles is there and he should be able to clear this up pretty quick. He's Buffy's Watcher."
The mention of a Watcher definitely struck a cord with the Jamaican Slayer and it looked like she was giving his request some serious thought. That was a good thing and hopefully once G-Man was brought into the loop they'd become buddies, giving the Scoobies one more warrior to use against the Terakan assassins. After all if the guild of assassins was so important they'd definitely be top priority by any Slayer no matter where in the world they were from.
"Very well. Take me to dis Rupert Giles an' we shall see if your claims are de truth." She stated making it clear in the tone of her voice that she was still wary of him.
"Great! Follow me and we'll get this all cleared up in no time." He said before something occurred to him, "By the way what's your name?"
"Kendra." She replied with no intention of divulging anything else.
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