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"Okay. We've got everything we need to slay a demon." Buffy began, without preamble, the next morning in the library before school. "Except one thing." She continued, pivoting to face Giles, a look of concentration upon her face. That look quickly shifted to irritation. "We need the damn demon!" She finished exasperatedly, throwing her hands into the air to emphasize her point.
"Well, according to my research, Laralek tends to attack groups that have performed major deceptions. There is something about the existence of that deceit in the brains and on the tongues of the perpetrators that attracts him. So, all we need to discover, is simply which group the demon is targeting." Giles explained.
Xander gave a wry chuckle. "Why not the Cordettes? They do more lying to peoples' faces and backstabbing their victims than the entire Skrull invasion put together. Demon Lie-guy gets his meal, we don't have to deal with Harmony and Aura and all the rest. Sounds like a win-win to me."
James shook his head. "While Cordelia's pack of female canines lie and backstab more than the Borgia family did, I don't think they're the target. I mean, think; there hasn't been a single girl killed by this guy."
"He's got a point, Xander." Willow agreed with a sigh. "It can't be them."
Buffy let out a short, humorless laugh. "What about us? I mean, considering all of the lying we do about what really goes on in this town, I wouldn't be surprised if he thought we looked like a gourmet meal."
"It isn't us, Buffy. Same reason it can't be the Cordettes; the only one of us that was attacked was James, and that was before he even came to a meeting on purpose." Xander refuted.
Something clicked in Willow's mind. "Oh, eureka! I think I know!" She exclaimed.
"Well? Don't keep us in suspense, Willow." James encouraged.
"Okay! Well, think about it; where did we find the first body?" Willow asked.
"The trap door in the auditorium." James promptly responded.
"Right!" She smiled brightly at him before turning to Buffy. "And Laralek attacked you guys when you took James home right?"
Buffy nodded. "Yeah; and he asked me to let him have his lunch. I figured he meant James." She offered.
"Exactly." Willow agreed. Turning back to James, she asked, "And didn't you say you knew Morgue-Guy?"
"Yeah; Mike Adams." James confirmed.
Giles nodded as he began to see where Willow was going. "And where did you meet Michael?" The Watcher asked.
"The community center during a play, just like-" Understanding dawned on James. "Just like Terry." James did a double-take as he processed the information. "Wait, are you saying Laralek's after the drama department? 'Cause that doesn't make any sense. Most of the guys in it are as honest as can be."
"Well, the truth is that it doesn't necessarily matter how honest an individual is." Giles broke in. "Laralek tends to be drawn to groups who deceive, not individuals."
"Groups who deceive?" James looked taken aback. "But we're naught but humble actors; deception isn't in our nature." He affected the manner of a wounded manager as he said so.
Which made Xander, in turn, realize something. "But it kind of is." He refuted.
All heads swiveled toward him. Suddenly at the center of attention, Xander seemed to grow even more certain.
The boy lived on attention, Buffy was certain.
"Well, isn't a play just an accepted lie?" Xander began. "I mean, you're telling the audience that you're someone you're not, doing something you're only pretending to do. Isn't that basically lying, even if the audience likes it?"
"But the audience knows that it isn't true. It's not really a lie." James protested feebly, feeling the need to defend his friends, even if there wasn't really a way to do so, or a point in it.
"So? I can tell Wills I'm a woman, even though she knows I'm a guy. It's still a lie, isn't it?" Xander challenged.
Giles nodded. "Well-reasoned, Xander. I believe you may have found the answer." Xander basked momentarily in the short-lived proud smile Giles gave him. It made him feel like there was a little more of him to be proud of.
"Okay. So, I go to the fundraiser practice, and when Laralek shows up, I shish-kebab him." Buffy shrugged cockily. "Nothing to it."
"I don't think so." James broke in. Buffy shot him an irritated glare-she didn't like having her skills questioned. James barreled through the disapproving look, responding far better to the other three questioning looks in the room. "Remember the whole hypnotic voice thing? Once he started talking, you were helpless."
Buffy frowned at him. "Well, do you have a better idea?" She challenged.
Before James could respond, Willow announced timidly, "I do."
All heads turned to look at her.
"The Odyssey." She said by way of explanation. Understanding blossomed across Giles' and James' features, but Xander and Buffy both still looked perplexed.
"The sirens?" James clarified and Willow nodded. Giles grinned. "Yes, that should work. Of course, there would have to be enough for everyone, just in case. We don't want Laralek taking control of any one of us." The Brit agreed.
"Okay, I swear I'm going to pick up a book after this, but for now, can someone please explain what you guys are talking about?" Xander asked exasperatedly. Buffy agreed, nodding fervently.
Giles took over the spot light. "Well, the Greek tale of the Odyssey tells the story of one man-Odysseus- and his journey through a series of monster-infested islands. One of the stories had Odysseus sailing past the island of the sirens. Their song was supposed to be so compelling that it would fill any man with the desire to follow it to its' source, barring all other distractions. Including self-preservation. However, there was a legend that much wisdom could be gained from the sirens' song, if one could survive listening. Odysseus desired to learn what wisdom the song held, but he did not want to drown, like the other men who attempted to reach the song did. Which is perfectly understandable, to be frank. So, he had his crew tie him to the mast so that he could not guide the ship." Noting both of the less literate of the Scoobies' faces rapidly becoming blank and bored, Giles quickly wrapped up the tale. "And to ensure that his crewmen could neither hear his cries to be set free nor the siren song itself, he had his crew fill their ears with candle wax prior to the attempt."
Buffy frowned. "So you want me to stuff wax in my ears?" Her tone was incredulous.
"Well, it would certainly increase your chances of surviving the battle." Giles stated as a way of explanation.
"Alright, fine." Buffy acquiesced at her Watcher's commentary. "If it'll help."
"It will." Giles assured her confidently. "And if by some chance it fails to protect you, then one of us should be able to, ah, break the spell."
"You guys are going to be fighting him too?" Buffy asked. "Isn't the point of having a Slayer so that I'm the one who, you know, slays the baddies, instead of you guys throwing yourself into danger? I mean, what if someone gets hurt?" The concern in her voice touched Giles' heart.
"You will still be our, ah, 'big gun', is how you would say it, isn't it?" Giles reassured her. "We are simply there as support, to aid you in extricating yourself should your situation prove untenable."
Buffy nodded dumbly, eyes glazing over slightly at the big words. Willow noticed and offered an explanation. "We're just going to be there in case you get into too big of trouble."
"Right; got it." Buffy nodded confidently. Then her confidence faltered momentarily as she considered. "So, what's the plan? What are you guys going to be doing?"
"We shall find other ways to prepare, I assure you. I myself happen to know a spell or two that may be of use in restraining Laralek during the fight, but I'm afraid that that may be the extent of my usefulness in the actual combat bit." Giles explained to his charge.
"Alright; what about the rest of you?" Buffy asked.
James shrugged. "I can be your page boy. Fetch your dagger when you lose it, and shout encouraging words."
Xander feigned enthusiasm as his hand shot into the air. "I can shout encouragement to him while he's fetching your dagger."
Everyone in the room let out various forms of small chuckles and grins.
Xander felt his heart give a little jump at Buffy's radiant smile.
"Thanks, Xander; I'm sure I'll need the encouragement." James said with a chuckle.
"But seriously, I'm not sure what I can do to help." Xander shrugged.
Buffy waved at the weapons locker inside the cage. "Take your pick, Xand. Tools of destruction half off for the weekend; sale ends on Monday."
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Buff, I don't know how to use any of this. If I use a crossbow, I'd be more likely to shoot Giles than the bad guy. Let alone you, if you're fighting the nasties." He pointed out.
"I trust you, Xander." Buffy said simply.
"And there's a lot of time left before Laralek usually attacks people; m-maybe Giles could teach you how to shoot a crossbow. Right, Giles?" Willow suggested shyly.
Giles was already cleaning his glasses in anticipation of the stress and irritation. "I suppose I could try…perhaps give a few pointers."
James raised his hand. "Hey, can I take one of these classes? 'Cause I've never shot a crossbow before."
"Perhaps after we conquer our current foe, I can teach all of you how to properly handle a crossbow." Giles offered as he replaced his glasses.
"But we're still going to need a few pre-game tips." Xander commented.
"Yes, of course. I merely meant that after this encounter, I may be able to start training all of you more completely, as we hardly have the time at the moment." Giles explained.
"Okay; for our game plan, we need wax to stuff in our ears; we have the dagger; Giles can show you three how to at least fire a crossbow and hit the target; all we need to do now is to wait for Laralek to show up." Buffy summed up.
"Indeed. Now, if I am not mistaken, I believe you all may need to head to class soon." Giles suggested mere seconds before the school bell rang. "Ah; there we are." He commented, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder as he strode toward his office. "I will be doing some last-minute research on Laralek to see if I can find anything that may aid us while you four are in class."
After school found Buffy, Xander, Willow, and James purposefully striding toward the library to prepare for what they all hoped was to be their last encounter with Laralek.
Buffy took a deep breath, and turned to her friends and allies. "You guys ready?"
Each of them responded with a steady-if a little fearful-nod. More than a little, actually, in James' case, but that was understandable, the Slayer felt. After all, this was going to be his first full-on fight against a demon. If one didn't count the conflict outside the school two nights ago, which had been sort of a draw anyway. Or at least Buffy saw it that way; since Laralek left, she figured it would have been an even fight.
She pushed the library doors open, to see Giles sitting at the main table in the library with a pile of equipment. His head shot up, gaze distracted from whatever book he was reading by their entrance.
"Ah, good, you're here." The librarian commented, rising from his chair and striding toward them. "As it turns out, wax is somewhat difficult to obtain in a form that can be applied to the ear, so I settled for getting these." He held his palm out toward the students, revealing five pairs of ear plugs.
"These are probably going to be a lot more comfortable too." Buffy commented, a note of relief in her voice at not needing to stuff wax into her ears.
Giles shrugged. "I'm not certain, actually; if not heated too much, wax can be comfortable, actually."
Buffy looked at her Watcher incredulously. "Why do you know that?"
Giles ignored the question, turned back to the table, and began rummaging through the equipment. "Unfortunately, I'm not certain how much time we have, so lessons must be, ah, brief." Giles said as he turned around bearing a crossbow. "Now, watch closely." Giles held the crossbow like a rifle, peering down where the bolt would be on a loaded weapon, eyes watching the sight intently. "This is the way one should hold a crossbow. If a vampire or other enemy is not coming at you directly, take your time to line up your shot. A quick, unfocused shot is likely a wasted bolt, and a crossbow takes far too long to reload to risk it." He glanced over at the three ordinary teens. "Xander, James, Willow; are you paying attention?"
James and Willow nodded. Xander's head shot up, back to looking at Giles instead of all of the equipment Giles had on the table. "Uh, yeah; got it Giles. Look before you leap and all."
Giles eyed Xander suspiciously for a few seconds, before turning his attention to continuing his demonstration. "Yes, right. Well, when you are looking down the sights, be sure to take gravity into account-" Giles was interrupted by a loud bang as one of the library's double-doors swung wide open.
Giles peered around at the intruder, and hastily began trying to hide the crossbow in the pile of equipment on the desk. Hearing a cough, the librarian spun around, putting on a false smile as his eyes fell on the short, balding, ugly-tempered school principle.
"Mr. Snyder!" Giles' eyes were filled with undisguised shock, and barely disguised panic at the possibility that Snyder might have seen him showing students-in particular Buffy Summers, who Snyder was convinced was a trouble-maker-how to use a deadly weapon.
Snyder ignored Giles; instead, he only had eyes for three students in particular. "I thought I might find you hear." Snyder commented, disgust heavy in his tone. "You three, in my office. Now." He commanded, poking a short finger at James, Xander, and Willow. The three in question got up as he pointed to them, and began moving toward the door. Willow turned around and shot Buffy an apologetic look, before turning around and hurrying out of the door after the two guys.
Snyder shot an almost equally disgusted look at Giles, who merely responded by putting his false smile in place again. Giles paled as he noticed Snyder's eyes wander to the table. He paled even further when he saw the man's eyes lock onto something.
Moving with a purpose, Snyder strode over to the table and snatched up a piece of Buffy's Slaying equipment. He held it up so that Giles could see the stake's sharp end. "What is this, Mr. Giles?" Snyder asked menacingly.
The Brit opened his mouth to respond, but Snyder pre-empted him. "Because to me, it looks like a dangerous weapon was placed in your library. And I doubt that it was part of the staple library decorations." Snyder glanced around the sparsely decorated library to emphasize his point.
"A weapon? No way." Buffy waved Snyder's glare off as if it was ridiculous instead of menacing. "I just wanted to learn how to whittle, and Giles was teaching me the proper technique." She explained.
"I didn't know you could whittle, Mr. Giles." Snyder challenged, suspicious.
"Well, with all due respect, Mr. Snyder, it was hardly something one would put on a teaching application." Giles responded, taking his glasses off to polish them.
Something that was said finally percolated through the Emperor of Sunnydale High's brain. He glared at Buffy. "Shouldn't it be Mr. Giles to you, Summers? Unless, of course, there's something other than a professional teacher-student relationship going on here." Snyder's tone was menacing, an implied threat that didn't need to be translated.
Giles' face was an interesting picture as it attempted to blush and pale at the same time as Snyder's implication got through to him. "Good god man, what are you thinking?! Of course there isn't! I would never do something like that!"
"Of course not." Snyder being patronizing was almost worse than regular Snyder. "But it would be understood if the school board didn't know you like I do. After all, she does spend more time in here than some would consider…reasonable for someone of her age and disposition." Another semi-veiled threat from Snyder. "So just be careful, Mr. Giles. Spending too much time with a hoodlum like Ms. Summers can get one into trouble." Finished giving his 'sage advice', Snyder turned and left the library.
He was barely out of earshot when Giles exploded in one of his rare fits of anger. "That moronic, odious troll of a man!" The Watcher roared. "How dare he accuse me of such things!" Taking a deep breath, Giles attempted to regain control of himself.
"Woah; calm down, Jekyll. Hyde is the last thing we need right now." Buffy admonished, taking a step back in case of a second outburst.
But all Giles did was take another deep breath, close his eyes for a few seconds, and breath out. If anyone could make him lose his temper, it was Snyder.
Opening his eyes, they locked on Buffy. "A literary reference? I'm impressed, Buffy. We may make a scholar out of you yet." Giles joked with his charge.
"Oh, please, god, no." Buffy pretended to pray aloud.
Giles gave her a smile. "Well, it can pay rather well."
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, except you have to spend it all on those itchy tweed suits." She gibed back.
Giles frowned. "This suit is actually rather comfortable." He defended.
"Sure." Buffy agreed sarcastically. "And I'm Little Red Riding Hood."
Giles turned back to the table. "Yes, well, statuses as a fictional character notwithstanding, you are still a Slayer, and as such we need to prepare to face Laralek. With, I might add, three fifths of our force missing."
Buffy nodded. "So, are we assuming they won't make it in time for the big demon bash?"
Giles nodded. "I suppose we should. Which means that we are going to need a slightly more involved plan than 'kill it.'"
Buffy shrugged. "Why? It worked all the other times."
Giles let out a long-suffering sigh in response.
Snyder glared at Xander, Willow, and James from behind his desk. "I think you all might like to know that I got a call from the mayor yesterday." He examined all of their faces, noting the reactions. "Do you know what he said?"
"That we all get to automatically graduate next year?"
"That you need to start serving Twinkies as part of the new lunch program?"
James and Xander, respectively, quipped at the same time. James noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Xander was holding a fist out low in the space between their seats. Noting the grin on his face, James couldn't help but complete the fist bump.
"No." Snyder spoke severely, quietly seething at the flippant dismissal the two students had given him. "He told me that all three of you were to come to me to discuss your punishments. Guess what didn't happen." His austere glare killed the quips that had been born in James and Xanders' mouths.
Snyder stood up from his desk and began pacing around the room in a square. "I was told that I wasn't allowed to expel you; so I won't. However, in light of this recent disrespect shown to both me and the mayor," he stopped behind them and leaned in close, his left hand on Willow's left shoulder, his right hand on Xander's right shoulder, and his head dipping between James and Willow's heads in the center. "I am going to make you wish you'd been expelled. And I can do it, too." Snyder assured them as he straightened up. "I don't want to be in this building any more than you do, so come back to me Monday before school. And, if any one of you isn't there, for any reason," Snyder paused dramatically, taking the time to give each one his best soul-crushing principal glare. "All three of you will be expelled, regardless of what the mayor says. Even at risk to my job, I will have…satisfaction. Understand?" The last word was spoken in a low tone that was even more threatening than the rest of the speech combined.
The three students simply nodded fervently and tried to avoid aggravating him more.
"Good. Now get out of my sight." Snyder commanded, his voice returning to his usual-imperious with a side of disgust whenever he saw a student.
"Yes sir." Xander couldn't resist giving Der Fuhrer a flippant salute as he closed the door behind him.
###
Buffy frowned as she paced around the back of the auditorium. No sign of Laralek, and while she was sure the monologues being performed onstage were riveting examples of their kind, she didn't exactly…what was the word? Oh yeah; care. She almost-almost- wished the demon would start causing trouble already so she could kill it. But not quite; after all, this was Sunnydale, and who knows? Something might lurking, waiting to grant her wish in a horribly twisted way.
She doubted it, but hey; anything was possible on a Hellmouth.
She started when she felt a tapping on her shoulder; she spun around reflexively, pure silver dagger up and in stabbing position. The blade stopped barely an inch from James' chest.
"Woah! Hey there; I never liked kebabs!" James protested.
"Sorry. Just kind of wound up waiting for Laralek." Buffy looked around a little, and noticed something. "Where are Xander and Willow? You all went to talk to Snyder together."
James nodded. "Willow went back to get the weapons, and Snyder decided he didn't like Xander's attitude; they're still talking."
Buffy shook her head in annoyance. "Come on, Xander! Now is not the time!"
"Hey, not all the guys are out here; how about I go keep an eye on the dressing room, since you can't go there and the guys know me?" James suggested.
"Good plan. I'll stay out here and wait for something to happen." Buffy agreed with a little irritated impatience.
"Don't worry; if he shows up, you'll hear me screaming." James half-joked as he walked down the aisle of the auditorium.
It was barely ten minutes later when she heard crashing and screaming coming from backstage. Her head jerked up-just in time to hear her name being called out in James' voice.
Buffy bolted down the aisle and leaped onto the stage with barely a thought. Holding the dagger at the ready, she burst into the dressing room-to find another headless corpse lying on the table, and James on the ground against the wall to her right, clutching his side as blood soaked through his shirt. Seeing her, he pointed toward a door cross the room from where she was, and called to her, "He went through there, into the hallway!" His voice was full of pain and fear, galvanizing her into action.
She jumped over the wooden table in the center of the room, reaching for the doorknob as soon as she landed. She grabbed it and twisted, preparing to pull-but she didn't get the chance to open it. For as soon as she grabbed the knob, she felt a large, heavy, rough hand land on her shoulder as 'James' dropped the illusion, revealing a grinning Laralek, fresh blood coating his teeth. Before she could react, the hand gripped hard, and pulled back forcefully. Buffy was sent flying into the wall next to the door to the stage, keeping a strong grip on the dagger, but too stunned to do much else. Her hand feebly made for her pocket, where the earplugs were, but she felt one of Laralek's hands encircle her own, preventing it from making the distance. Laralek grabbed the hand holding the dagger just below the fist, raised her up, turned around, and slammed her onto the table in the center of the room. The force was too much for it, and the table snapped in half, leaving Buffy lying in the debris with a sharp shard of wood pushing into her back.
Laralek, still holding her hands, bent over her, meeting her eyes. He opened his mouth, and Buffy nearly gagged at the powerful scents of old and fresh blood mingling.
Then any thoughts of her own vanished when the demon began to speak in that indescribably transcendent voice of his.
"You will do exactly as I say. You will not try to harm me; you will help me to kill your friends who are, undoubtedly, rushing to meet you as we speak. Understood?"
Buffy could only nod as a shimmering mist clouded over her irises; she'd kill her own mother if Laralek asked in that beautiful voice, she knew.
###
The running, screaming, oddly dressed actors were probably the first clue that something was already going down, Xander realized as they emerged from Snyder's office into the hallway.
"What's going on?" James called out to one of the fleeing students, who slowed but didn't stop as he shouted, "Big freaky thing killed Adrian!" After that, he sped up again, and was gone in seconds.
"Alright; looks like it's go time. Let's gear up." Xander suggested with a half-smile.
The other two nodded determinedly, and made for the library.
###
Laralek loomed over the last remaining of the actors, the one who had foolishly stayed behind to ensure his friends go out. A deep chuckle emerged somewhere from within the demon's cavernous chest as he bent his head toward the boy, jaws extending like a snake to accommodate the size of his head.
Just before he could bite down, though, he felt a stinging pain in the center of his back. He emitted a truly monstrous roar and spun around. Hunched over, jaw still extended, clawed hands extended and ready to rip, he cut a truly terrifying figure.
Still, James shouted out as he reloaded, "Get your hands off my friends!"
Xander winced; he could hear the other teen even through the ear plugs. Actors and their projecting, I guess. "Hey, James; think we could have gone with a little less theatrical and a little more sneak attack?" Xander yelled, his own voice at sufficient volume to penetrate the protection of the ear plugs.
"Sorry, I'm an actor; theatrical is a requirement." He called back to Xander, bravado barely covering the powerful fear coursing through him.
Laralek shook his head, standing up tall. "It doesn't matter; it was no surprise anyhow." His head shifted not-so-subtly to the left of the door the four-Xander, James, Willow, and Giles, who they had met up with outside the auditorium, loaded for bear already- were standing in front of.
Frowning, Xander followed the demon's gaze-to see Buffy rushing at them, eyes clouded over with a shimmering white mist. "Oh sh-" was all he could get out before being launched into a row of seats by a Slayer-powered punch to the chest.
"Ow…" He muttered, waiting for a few seconds before the pain subsided enough for him to sit up.
What he saw was not encouraging.
Giles was making an understandably poor showing at fighting Buffy-not only was she the Slayer, but she was someone dear to the older man's heart, whom he didn't want to harm.
James and Willow were frantically playing keep-away by firing their crossbows at the demon heading out into the auditorium; one would shoot him, and he'd start after them, but a bolt from the other would-usually-pierce his scales, causing him to start chasing the other one. Lather, rinse, repeat. Of course, Willow and James were hardly expert marksman, and there were a few that went wide; however, Laralek was a rather large target, which probably helped.
Xander struggled to his feet, his breastbone still complaining. I'd better help someone out if I want to survive this. Well, someone non-demony, anyway. Or under said demon's control. He took another quick survey of the battlefield. Looks like Wills and the newbie have things covered for now; better see if I can find a way to help Giles, maybe snap the Buffster out of the whole hypnotism thing. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he hefted his crossbow and strode towards the battle between Slayer and Watcher.
Buffy was so concentrated on beating up Giles that she didn't hear Xander coming. Raising his crossbow over his head, he opted for a non-lethal blow, and brought the butt of the crossbow down on the back of her head, sending her staggering forward. Xander felt a little guilty about hitting Buffy at all, but then he figured, eh, she'll forgive me later. So, overall, he felt pretty good about being able to take the Slayer by surprise and land a blow-that is, of course, until she spun around to face him, dagger held at the ready.
"Not good!" Xander squeaked. He saw Buffy's arm begin to move, and he reflexively threw himself backward. Not a second too soon, Xander thought as he felt the stinging pain from the shallow cut the dagger had left across his chest. He landed on his back, he couldn't help but notice, in the perfect helpless-victim position for when Buffy would come over to eviscerate him. He caught her figure striding toward him relentlessly at the bottom of his range of vision. He hoisted himself onto his back hands and began scuttling down the aisle, away from the murderous Slayer. She kept coming after him, though, dagger raised.
Her stride was longer than his scuttling was fast, and she swiftly began to overtake him. She had just reached him when he clenched his teeth and thought, Come on, Giles! I helped you; would it kill you to return the favor?! Even in the heat of the moment, he couldn't help but pun as he thought, 'Cause it'll sure as hell kill me!
"Come on Buff, you don't want to do this; killing Xander is not a productive exercise. We're trying to slay the giant scaly thing, which, in case you forgot, does not happen to be me!" Xander frantically pleaded as he tried to escape his friend.
Buffy was preparing to stab down into him, and Xander was preparing for the faintly glowing white light that surrounded the dagger to be the last thing he saw, when suddenly, a light blue aura surrounded Buffy and she stopped short. Frowning, Xander could tell she was attempting to move forward, but no dice. He breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god for stuffy Watchers that know magic. Just then, the spell weakened, and Buffy jerked forward suddenly. With an incredibly manly high-pitched yelp, Xander lashed out with a reflexive kick. His foot slapped into Buffy's dagger-holding fist, and, surprised, her grip loosened as she was drawing it back, sending the silver dagger high into the air.
Xander tracked the gleaming, glowing blade as it flew over his head, twisting before coming down. He scrambled to the right, closer to the seats again, trying to avoid being impaled. He tucked his head in towards the first of the row of seats and closed his eyes, praying to whatever powers that were that he wasn't going to be killed by a combination of a murderous Buffy and his own efforts.
There was a distinct thunk that rang clear in his ears. Opening his eyes, he saw the dagger sunk into the seat his head was resting near, stabbing through the cushion and into the black plastic below.
Xander took a moment to blink in surprise at his lack of dying, before scrambling to his feet. Glancing over at Buffy, adrenaline shot through him again as he saw the spell's aura noticeably fading. Thinking quickly-or maybe panicking, he wasn't entirely sure-he leaned down, gripped the dagger's hilt in his hand, and with a might yank, pulled it free. He spun back around just as the spell faded, holding the dagger blade toward Buffy, pretending that he knew what he was doing.
Then he realized what it was he was doing, and gulped. He knew that even with a knife, he was infinitely less threatening than Buffy was; and that was the case even if he could bring himself to stab Buffy with it, which he seriously doubted.
Suddenly, his eyes did him the disservice of straying from the inevitable ass-kicking coming his way to lock onto Giles standing a ways behind Buffy. The older man was making short, sharp gestures, which was what had attracted Xander's attention. Giles was pushing down forcefully with a fist, then gesturing to the skin of his forearm and pretending to run whatever invisible object he held in his other hand over said forearm crosswise; when he'd done this, he would begin all over again, clearly trying to communicate a message. What was he doing with his fist at the beginning? It looked like he was slamming his fist down on something, like what you'd do if you were trying to hammer something in with your bare hand; or like what you'd do if you were trying to put more force behind a sharp object you were trying to push into something. Wait, a sharp object? Oh, the dagger! He's telling me to use the dagger! To…cut myself on the arm? What does he want me to do with it? Xander's train of thought was interrupted by a roundhouse kick that sent him tumbling into the next row of seats. He struggled to his feet, but Buffy vaulted over the row between them and slammed her feet into his chest, knocking him back down. His head hit the floor hard, and his vision blurred for a few seconds. When it cleared, Buffy was standing over his chest, one foot on either side. Before he could try to escape, Buffy quickly sank down to her knees and brought her hands around. Slowly lowering them, she grasped her friend around the throat, and began applying pressure.
Xander struggled against Buffy's Slayer-strong grip, to no avail. He brought his hands up, trying to push Buffy off, but had to take an extra second with his right hand so that he didn't stab Buffy between the ribs and hit something vital. He repositioned his hand and pushed, but that didn't have any effect either. His brain raced, trying to find ideas, plans, ways to save himself even as his lungs were burning and his vision was tunneling. Muscles weakening, his head tilted a little without his consent, and he found himself staring at Buffy's forearm. Inanely, it reminded him of Giles' message. He idly wondered what the Watcher had been trying to tell him to do with the dagger, but he didn't think he'd get the chance to figure it out. Buffy was choking him, slowly killing him, his mind was clouding, and his chest, oh god the cut on his chest hurt so much as his heart was pumping furiously, forcing more blood to ooze out, the same blood that was on the tip of the dagger he now held, the dagger that had improbably cut him from a slash…
It was then that Xander's gut instinct picked up the pieces of the puzzle, jammed them together into a reasonable solution, and shoved his conscious minds' metaphorical face in the solution.
The revelation almost came too late; Xander was just about to black out, but knowing what Giles had been trying to tell him-not to mention a way to save his life-galvanized him, giving him just the few extra seconds of consciousness that he needed. As swiftly as he could, he brought the enchanted silver dagger up, under Buffy's arms and towards her side. Trying to balance between speed and carefulness-he still didn't want to full-on stab her, after all-he sank the tip of the dagger into Buffy's side. He felt like cheering-seconds before he blacked out from the lack of oxygen.
What Xander didn't see as his eyes closed, was a small fragment of the white glow that the ritual had put around the knife bleeding from the knife itself into Buffy's side. The fragment swiftly flew upwards, leading a glowing trail from Buffy's side to her chest. Just below her breasts, the glow split in two, separated, and continued upwards, one taking the left and the other the right. They traveled in sync up her neck, and to her temples. From her temples, they seemed to soak into her eyes, blowing the mist of Laralek's hypnotism apart, revealing Buffy's own hazel eyes, which sparked with the white glow for a second or two before it vanished completely from her being.
Buffy came to herself to find her hands locked around the throat of an unconscious Xander. Quickly, she removed her hands, recoiling at the thought that she might have just killed one of her closest friends. That particular fear was allayed as Xander's form took a welcome breath, and Buffy sighed in relief as she stood up. Stooping to gently wrest the silver dagger from Xander's hand, Buffy only paused long enough to fish in her pockets for her ear plugs, withdraw them, and put them into place before turning, vaulting over the row of seats, and running to confront Laralek.
###
James was backing away from Laralek, reloading frantically as he made his way through an aisle of seats. His plan was to reach the end of the row, and run around the auditorium to the front, so that Laralek would have to chase him all the way to the stage. Which, hopefully, would give James ample time to run away again, leading the demon in a never-ending chase. Or, well, until he got tired…
James hefted the crossbow, aimed, and fired in one smooth motion. Apparently too smooth, as the bolt sailed over Laralek's right shoulder instead of piercing it. James was already reloading, trying to put another bolt in before the demon could reach him.
While the battle between Xander, Giles, and Buffy had been going on, Willow and James had been attempting to distract Laralek long enough for the others to figure out at least how to get the knife from Buffy. The strategy for surviving had been fairly simple; shoot at him. Whenever he started targeting one of them, the other would do their best to increase their fire rate while the first would slacken off a little, in the hopes that he would be in enough pain to go after the second one, who would likely be stationed across the room. That would give the first ample time to increase their own fire rate to take the heat off of the second one, and so the pattern would begin again.
It was a good plan, and it had worked-for a while. However, as much as they might wish it so, Laralek was not stupid. He had figured out the plan, and then started targeting one of the crossbowmen-well, man and woman, at any rate-exclusively.
Just his luck, the one he targeted happened to be James.
While James was reloading, Laralek reached low to his right, and gripped one of the auditorium's seats. With a sharp jerk upward and the groaning of metal under pressure, the seat was free of the screws and metal plate that had kept it moored to the floor. Laralek hauled back, and threw the seat at James. The newest demon fighter dove back in an attempt to get out of the way. He grunted in pain as he landed heavily on his right arm, but the seat hit the floor just in front of his foot with enough force that it bounced over him and landed, blocking the aisle.
Looking up, James noted the new obstruction to his plan.
"Uh oh." He muttered intelligently as he heard the roar of an angry demon from behind him. Rolling over onto his back, he saw Laralek approaching far too rapidly for his liking. The demon grinned maliciously as he loomed over the near-helpless teen.
"Where are your bold declarations and quips now?" The demon challenged, enjoying every second.
James did his best to look innocent. "Quip? Who, me? I don't quip; I think you're thinking of Buffy." He pointed behind Laralek.
The demon spun around, searching for the Slayer-who was nowhere to be seen. However, while he was looking, a stinging pain shot through his left knee. Looking down, he saw a crossbow bolt sticking out just above his kneecap. Looking up, he saw James scrambling past the seat that was blocking the aisle. The actor glanced back to see the demon glaring at him, black-and-yellow eyes full of hatred.
"If I was the quipping type, this is where I'd do it!" He shouted as he raced away, down toward the front of the auditorium. As he reached the stage, he turned to look at Willow, who was standing across the room from where he had just been. He caught her eye, and he made a questioning gesture. She held up her crossbow and pointed to her waistband. Spotting the small-ish bags where they were keeping their crossbow bolts, he suddenly understood-Willow was out of ammunition.
"Well, shit." He muttered as the demon's roar sounded again from his right. Turning, he saw Laralek wading through the sea of seating, not breaking his stride as his passage threw the seats out of their places, showering the aisles with screws, and bits of metal and plastic. He pointed one clawed finger at James, and shouted with a voice filled with pure anger, "You deceived me! You tricked The Deceiver! I shall have your head on a pike!"
Then, from behind the demon, a cocky voice rang out. "Isn't that a little old-fashioned?"
Spinning, The Deceiver saw The Slayer standing just up the center aisle from him. "Slayer. I will have your head like the others." He growled.
Buffy stayed smirking, stance confidant. "Sorry; couldn't hear you." She tapped her ear for emphasis.
The two pairs of eyes met, and for a second, the two gazes simply burned into each other; then, with a sudden battle cry, both fighters charged each other.
Laralek ran at the Slayer with no technique; his arms open wide to slash, punch, or grab as needed. Buffy sprinted at the demon, head bowed slightly, arms in close, making herself smaller, harder to hit. She ran with a purpose, dagger clenched in her right hand. As they drew closer, Laralek drew his arm back and swiped-at the space Buffy had just been. Buffy, however, had leapt at her opponent, simultaneously avoiding his attack and delivering one of her own as the dagger sank deep into the demon's shoulder with a hissing sound strongly reminiscent of a vampire doused in holy water. The demon brought both arms in for a bear hug, but Buffy had kicked off of the demon's larger, more solid body, landed with a back handspring, and kept her feet when she hit the ground again. She clenched her fists, ready to fight again-and felt something missing from her right hand.
"Oh no." She sighed as a glance confirmed her fears. The flying stab she'd managed had jarred her a little-enough to make her lose her grip on the dagger. So, when she'd made her stylish withdrawal, the dagger had been left behind.
The hissing sound continued for the next few seconds, until Laralek ripped the dagger out and tossed it behind him.
Buffy felt a tinge of fear, but managed to keep it hidden behind her usual bravado and quipping.
"You don't want your handicap? Fine then, but I'll have you know; I'm a black belt in ass-kickage." Buffy warned.
Laralek ignored her and repeated what he had done earlier against James. Reaching over to his side, he wrenched a seat out of the floor and threw it at her. Buffy prepared to leap to the side, but a streak of a vaguely familiar-looking light blue light flew overhead and slammed into the seat, killing its momentum and sending it crashing to the floor. Laralek's eyes focused behind on Buffy, and he growled out, "Watcher."
Making a mental note to thank Giles later, Buffy vaulted over the seat between her and Laralek and charged. As she got within range, the demon threw a punch, but Buffy slid below the blow and jumped to her feet behind him. Swiftly jumping into the air, she landed on his back and twined her legs around his torso to keep her locked in place. Leverage assured, Buffy drew back her fist and delivered a punishing blow to the back of Laralek's head, staggering him forward several steps. However, because her torso was straight up, she proved to be an easy target when Laralek reached back to grab her. Ripping her from his back, he threw her onto the floor, followed her down, and began raining blow after vicious blow onto her prone form.
###
James felt a mix of panic and anger as he watched Laralek beat Buffy into the ground. Raising his crossbow, he aimed down the sights, finger tensed on the trigger-and realized he didn't have a bolt loaded. Reaching down to his ammo pouch, his fingers grasped only air upon entering it. He cursed silently at his inability to help-when a glimmer caught his eye. It was down in the aisle, closer to him than to the titanic Slayer-demon clash, now that the conflict had moved several steps away. He peered closer to see the enchanted silver dagger glint up at him.
He moved toward the dagger, only to have his promise to Willow float through his head again. He'd promised not to get involved unless someone really needed his help. Glancing up, he assessed Buffy's condition. As he watched, she caught one of the fists Laralek was hammering her with between her own hands, preventing it from slammed into her bloodied face. However, she lost her hold when his other fists caught her head, rocking it back into the floor.
Okay, he thought, I think that qualifies. With that, he hopped off the stage and ran over to where the dagger was resting on the floor. Stooping to pick it up, a quote his head. It was from…well, he couldn't remember where it was from, but it didn't matter now.
Smiling to himself as he picked up the dagger and gazed into its' intricate design, he solemnly intoned, "As truth is my sword."
With a slight chuckle at his own whimsy, he turned to the battle and began to run, blood audibly rushing through his head thanks to the earplugs. As he reached the hunched over Laralek, he took a jump, leaping onto the demons' back, knife in hand. He wasn't aware of the fact that he was screaming out a war cry until his voice began to grow hoarse, His arm locked around Laralek's thick neck as well as it could, and he stabbed down with the dagger. The demon roared in pain and staggered in response, and a hand began grasping for James' form on his back. However, having learned from Buffy's example, he kept low to Laralek's back, making himself a smaller target. His thought process mostly vanished to adrenaline, his only plan was to keep stabbing. I'm going to hit something vital eventually! He thought to himself as he pulled the dagger out of the demon's flesh and jabbed it back in again in a different spot.
As James began stabbing furiously, picking up speed, Laralek began thrashing and turning, trying anything to stop the immense pain. Laralek began picking up speed, even as James himself did.
Something had to give.
Buffy was still trying to regain her feet when Laralek suddenly spun, sending James whirling out from his body, only holding on by the dagger lodged in Laralek's back. The hissing sound of scalding flesh increased in volume as pressure pushed it closer to the flesh inside the wound.
Suddenly, Laralek turned the other way, so that James' body was now flying at his head. With surprising speed, he reached up and grabbed the teen, ripped him away from the dagger, and threw him down the aisle, to the base of the stage where his head hit with a loud crack. The force with which he'd ripped James away dislodged the dagger, sending it high in the air.
The demon, incensed nearly to the limit of coherent speech, began stalking down the aisle toward where James sat, dazed and confused due to his head wound.
"I am going to be glad to be done with you!" Laralek had growled before, but now his voice seemed positively animalistic.
He reached James swiftly, and grabbed the teen up and held him just before him. Then, he extended his neck just slightly toward James. "Dinner time." He muttered, and his jaws began to extend. James began to struggle feebly, but he was still out of it from the hit to the head.
###
Down the aisle, Buffy was struggling to her feet, still dazed but with her head clearing quickly. She glanced around and saw what was about to happen. She also saw that there was no way she could get there in time; Laralek's mouth could already encompass almost all of James' head. She felt a surge of fear for her new friend's life, and began looking around frantically. Her eyes locked on the dagger that had landed, blade down in the floor next to where she'd been laying. A desperate idea formulating, she whipped around to see Giles staring in horror at the tableau of Laralek and James. Catching his attention, she rapped out an order. "Giles! Do your mojo thing; I need a few seconds!" Spinning around, she held her hands out to her other conscious friend. "Wills! I need the crossbow!" Adrenaline ensured her voice was at a high enough volume that they could hear her even through the ear plugs. Giles' hands were already glowing an increasingly familiar light blue color when Willow called back, in a voice barely loud enough to be audible, "I don't have any more bolts though!"
Buffy shook her head. "Don't care; I need the crossbow!" Willow desperately hoped her friend had a plan to save James as she acquiesced, and tossed the crossbow to the Slayer.
Buffy caught the crossbow, and immediately stooped to wrest the dagger from its' resting place. In one relatively smooth motion, she loaded the dagger into the crossbow, aimed, and fired. She lowered the crossbow, eyes tracing the dagger's path, and acknowledged that that was the last chance to save her new friend. All she could do now was hope that she shot well.
The dagger was not a weapon designed to be fired from a crossbow; however, Buffy's Slayer instincts, aim, and training from Giles all came together, and the dagger flew straight and true. It flew down the aisle, toward the demon. For a brief second, as Buffy watched, it seemed like Laralek's form flickered…and then the dagger pierced the demon's brain and lodged halfway into his mouth.
The demon froze as the dagger pierced a vital organ; it teetered for a second, began to fall forward, and stretched out of a leg in an attempt to stay standing. It staggered back and forth for a second or two, then seemingly gave up, and fell backward collapsing. Its' arms fell wide and the hands relaxed, leaving James rolling out of the right fist for a foot or so. Then, the demons' body seemed to collapse in on itself, transforming into a green smoke, and was gone.
Silence fell across the auditorium for a few moments.
Buffy jumped as Giles cleared his throat. "May I suggest a visit to the hospital?"
###
The next morning, after all wounds and injuries were seen to, despite it being a Saturday, the five demon fighters convened in their normal meeting place; the school library.
The tally of injuries was impressive, but there was nothing permanent. Giles had several bruises and a slight shoulder fracture from fighting Buffy; Xander would be left with an impressive ring of bruises where Buffy had choked him, a severe black eye and bruised chest from where he'd been punched, and the shallow cut on his chest from Buffy wielding the dagger against him; James had collected a nice bump on the head from hitting the stage, cuts across his back and right shoulder from when Laralek had grabbed him, bruise on his right arm from when he'd landed on it, slight burns on the face from the mild acidic properties of Laralek's blood that had spilled on his face when the dagger pierced through the back of Laralek's mough(that had not been a fun discovery) and a possible case of trauma from almost having his head devoured. Buffy had had some serious injuries, but her Slayer healing had reduced them to bumps and bruises by the next morning.
Willow, the lucky one, had cut a finger on a crossbow bolt that had slipped from her grasp when Laralek was chasing her. That was all.
Xander, though glad that his childhood friend hadn't been hurt, thought that it was patently unfair.
The meeting began with a question from Buffy.
"So; what happened to you guys only being there as support?" She asked.
"We did say we'd be there to pull you out if it got too bad; which I think we can fairly say it did." Xander reminded her.
Willow nodded. "Yup! Especially with the whole hypnotized-Slayer thing."
Buffy conceded the point. "Fine; I needed the help. Thanks guys."
Willow nodded, smiling; but suddenly her smile turned into a frown, and she turned to James. "But you broke your promise!"
James looked at her, confused. "What?"
"Remember? If you're going to help us, you can't go running into fights like that! You agreed!" Willow reprimanded him.
James shook his head. "Didn't we just cover that Buffy really needed the help? 'Cause I remember that being the condition on whether or not I fight."
Willow frowned, but accepted the response.
"And speaking of promises…" James began. "When are we going to be putting that dagger back?" He asked pointedly.
Giles sighed. "You know, we really should keep the dagger. It may be useful in the future."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Against what? I mean, you don't approve of killing werewolves, and Laralek is dead."
Giles inclined his head. "Granted. However, this has not been the first time we have encountered a being that we had no indication existed before."
James nodded. "Then we can go grab it again when we need to. Or we can find a different one. I mean, don't you have a supplier or something that gave you all of these occult books?"
Giles nodded, defeated. "Very well; I will contact the Watcher's Council and ask them to send one. We can replace the dagger tomorrow. Although there may be some suspicion as to the cause of the glow around the blade."
James nodded triumphantly. "Thank you."
"Yes, well, good job everyone. Defeating Laralek was no easy feat. I am inclined to say that we were incredibly lucky." Giles congratulated.
Xander shot Giles an incredulous look. "Lucky?! Since when are we lucky?"
Giles gave a small, almost embarrassed shrug. "Ah, well, while you all were in school, I, as I said, was researching Laralek. And, it seems, that Laralek was the, ah, cousin would be the best translation, of one of our late foes."
Willow looked curious. "Really? Who?"
Giles looked at Willow meaningfully. "Moloch the Corruptor."
A surprised silence was all that escaped from the experienced Scoobies. James, however, interrupted, glancing at the more experienced demon hunters' shocked expressions. "Okay, can I get case files from you guys or something? Because I have no idea who that is."
"Moloch the Corruptor was a powerful demon who would lure people into his thrall with promises of love and power. And, according to my books, Moloch was the, um…gentler, of the two. And the less clever, but we have some cause to doubt that, due to the rather simple and brutal nature of our final encounter with him." Giles expounded.
"Well, the trap he laid for me was pretty clever. He pretended to be James, and lured me into the dressing room. Then he whammied me with his hypnotic voice, and…well, you know the rest." Buffy commented.
"Ah, yes, well, that is true." Giles conceded. "But let us not dwell on that; Laralek is dead, we are not. I believe we should take this opportunity to rest for the day." Giles noticed the relieved smile spreading across the faces of the three more experience Scoobies, and continued. "However, the opportunity to rest during the day does not excuse you from patrol at night."
A chorus of resigned moans and groans emanated from the demon-fighters as the gang all stood up and made their way out the door, into the light of a peaceful Saturday morning.
###
"Hey, James!"
The teen in question slowed his stride, half-turning to see Buffy jogging up to him.
"Hey Buffy. What's up?" He greeted.
"So, Willow told me you're planning on sticking around for a bit. Fighting the Good Fight and all that." Buffy broached as she slowed her own pace to match his. There was a little bit of a question in her tone.
James shrugged. "Probably. I mean, it's good work and all, and I was really gung-ho about it coming off of the whole heist thing-which probably says I should look into counseling, considering-but I have to think about some things first. You know, nearly getting your head bitten off kind of makes you re-evaluate your priorities."
Buffy nodded understandingly. "What kinds of things bear thinking about?" She queried, curious.
James shrugged. "Well, my dad for one. I mean, if I died, then I'm not sure what would happen. On the other hand, if I don't help you guys, I might not be able to take care of him."
Buffy nodded. "Family. I get that. Not that I ever really had a choice about the whole fighting-evil thing, but I can understand wanting to protect them."
James nodded. "And I kind of want to get some answers before I commit." He continued.
"Why don't we go find Giles? I mean, he can answer just about any question you have about any of this stuff." Buffy suggested, but James shook his head.
"That would work…if I was talking about a question about the supernatural. Or mystical, or whatever you want to call it." He gave a small smile at having caught her in an assumption.
"Oh." Buffy realized her mistake.
"But the odds are looking good." James told her as he began to pull away. "So I'll let you know my decision pretty soon either way. Assuming, you know, I don't get eaten by a vampire or something on the way to tell you. That would suck and be irritatingly ironic at the same time." He flashed a genuine smile and a wave at her as he walked away.