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Two Days Later, Student Lounge, Sunnydale High School
Xander's POV
~Damn troll and his hoops!~ He thought angrily as he waited for the space around the results of their career placement test to loosen up a bit, ~The guy thinks that this school is his own personal country!~
With the memories and skills that'd become clearer since Eyghon left his body he considered his future more or less decided. He'd be a soldier but the old resentments Big Boss had towards countries and those who led them made it impossible for him to enlist with the American military. Based on the memories he had they stopped at nineteen seventy-five and while it was possible things had improved in the last two decades he somehow doubted it. Much like the Watcher's Council the governments of the world saw their soldiers as disposable weapons and thought nothing of abandoning them when it became politically convenient or profitable.
He did care about America and the people who lived here but he didn't trust those in power to always have the country's or the peoples' best interests at heart.
They were only human after all and when one gained the power to shape a country if not the world it was probably damn hard not to give it a shot.
Still that left him with only a few options for putting the skills he'd gained to good use.
The first and most obvious option would be to join one of the many private military companies stationed around the world. All of them had different methods of operation, different rules, but they all operated under the same basic premise. Approach or get approached by a client who wanted you do to something, negotiate the details out and then achieve whatever the objective was before going your separate ways. Some PMCs were fairly respectable and some even steered clear of any clients with murky reputations but others were only interested in the bottom line: profit. For the right amount of money or certain assets that could be put to use to gain money later those companies would do just about any job.
The next was private security and while that might sound similar it wasn't. Those people just focused on protecting a specific location or a person for the duration of the contract with rules of engagement specified by the client depending on how showy they wanted it all to be. The money would be arguably better and it had the possibility of letting him stay close to home where his friends would be. The only con he could think of would be that some clients only hired private security when they were up to no good and the more ruthless liked to tie off 'loose ends' once the job was done. If he had someone he could trust to show him the ropes first, help him get a grip on the metaphorical topography, he might be willing to give it a shot.
Going in blind though…not something he wanted to do if he could avoid it.
Lastly was bounty hunting or more specifically demon bounty hunting.
The demonic community was similar enough to the human community that there had to be a business of taking on contracts to eliminate rivals, enemies or simple thorns in something's side. Depending on who he took a job from he could get a decent amount of money and help fight the good fight at the same time. He'd have to keep a good poker face, ask questions about the target to make sure he wasn't killing a white hat, but otherwise it seemed like a good fit. He'd probably have to take on small jobs at first, built a rep that people respected, before he'd get anything really lucrative but he could be patient.
~Too bad the career placement tests don't include jobs like that.~ He thought as he saw the students around the results list drop by half.
Walking up to the bulletin board he let his eyes scroll down the list of names until he found his own and when he slid to the side to see what job the test said he had the most aptitude for. He almost had to snort when he saw what it was.
Soldier.
Not surprising considering all that he'd inherited from Halloween and how much he'd been working to incorporate into himself. Even if he had no intention of signing up with the military at least it was better than some of the other students' results.
NO WAY would he be happy if he'd gotten 'prison guard' as his most likely career.
"Guess this settles it then." A voice with a light Russian accent commented from behind him.
Almost unbidden his arm began to move to counter a possible threat but before it moved more than a foot a hand clamped down on it to keep it from going any further.
"Easy slabak." The voice he realized was Cordy's said from behind him, "It's just me."
"You know that with all I'm doing to file away the 'new stuff' in my head sneaking up behind me isn't the smartest thing to do." He said forcing himself to relax.
"You might be ahead of me on that filing job but I am doing good enough." She said not sounding worried in the least.
"Maybe." He said not quite sure of that himself, "So…you've made the choice to accept your new memories?"
"Not like I have much choice now." She replied still not sounding happy about Giles' big reveal, "Besides I pride myself on being able to make anything fashionable. This'll be no different."
~Heheheheheh. Leave it to Cordy to make her inner Black Widow fashionable.~ He thought with a smirk before turning back to the list on the bulletin board, ~Not that she'd have to work very hard. Part of Black Widow's training was using beauty to accomplish the mission. She might even like the ideas Widow will wind up giving her.~
"Looks like they've got you slotted for the private security booth." He said finding Cordy's name on the list, "Guess it was the closest fit since 'super spy' is nowhere to be found."
"Great! Means either rent-a-cop or being someone's woman in black." She grumbled after confirming what he'd said herself.
"Somehow I think you'd manage to make either outfit look good." He said trying to reassure her a bit.
"Of course! I could make a garbage bag look like the sexiest thing since the cocktail dress." She said with her usual confidence and high class air.
"Now there's an interesting image." He said finishing off their little verbal skirmish.
Seeing what was there was to see they both went their separate ways afterwards.
Looking about the student lounge he was a little surprised that he hadn't seen either Buffy or Willow around. Sure with Buffy she was stuck in the whole 'I have no future because I am the Slayer' rut but he'd been certain that Willow would've been here before the list had been posted. Strolling towards the library he figured that if the two ladies weren't checking their names on the list they were probably there. The library had always been Willow's sanctuary and he suspected that with her inheritance from R of MI-6 she was probably using the resources there to make the most of it. As for Buffy she was probably trying to badger Giles into continuing his search for a way to turn them all the way back to normal or at least into JUST the Slayer.
While he wasn't willing to rule out the possibility of there being a method out there he wasn't sure if they had the means or the time to go get it.
Not without tipping off the wrong people that something was up with the Scooby gang.
He didn't know much about the outside world, about the organizations that didn't make the news, but it was obvious that there'd be parties interested in five people with the potential to become the best soldiers of the times. Willow's James Bond level IQ would probably be coveted as well since the various intelligence agencies around the world would probably be VERY interested in equipping their operatives with gadgets like that. Right now what they'd inherited Halloween night was being kept within the Scooby gang and the local denial syndrome would keep that info from spreading very far.
If they left Sunnydale or started making contact with people elsewhere without there being a Slayer reason for it people would take notice.
Pushing open the library doors he found his earlier suspicions confirmed.
Willow, Giles, and Buffy were all gathered about the main library table discussing something but it didn't look like the girls were working on Giles to get him to continue looking for a cure. They were all huddled over one of Giles' books.
"What's up guys?" he asked as he came to a stop a few feet away.
"Buffy encountered some suspicious activity in one of the cemeteries last night." Giles replied turning to look at him, "A group of vampires, possibly Spike's men, were looting a mausoleum. She attempted to pursue them but they had someone with a crossbow guarding them with VERY good aim."
"Good aim and a little something extra put on the crossbow bolts." Buffy said looking a little disturbed by this fact, "One of them ate away a bit at a tree it hit instead of me."
"Were you able to bring any of them back?" he asked processing this info and thinking of the possibilities.
"No. The bolts were dripping with whatever they'd been dunked in." Buffy replied with a shake of her head, "If it ate away at a tree I couldn't think of anything I could use to carry it that'd last all the way back to the library."
"Whatever they coated the bolts with I think it's safe to say that Spike is taking extra measures to ensure we do not interfere with whatever he's planning." Giles said as he turned the page on the book before him, "Fortunately Buffy was thoughtful enough to remember the location of the mausoleum. Once we found a name I thought it sounded familiar but could not quite place it. We are attempting to find the answer right now."
"So you don't think it could be a couple of grave robbers looking to fence some gold for cash?" he asked feeling an obligation to point out a less serious possibility.
"While I would not rule out the possibility I would prefer to stay on the side of caution and determine conclusively that there is nothing to be concerned about." Giles replied only glancing his way for a moment.
"Hey Giles! Is this it?" Willow said sliding an open book towards the Watcher.
"Well let us see." Giles replied as he picked up the book before reading the pages, "Hmmmm…golden cross…hmmm…Dear Lord!"
"It's never good when he says that." He said in perfect deadpan.
"What's wrong Giles?" Buffy asked showing concern for the situation.
"Joseph du Lac was buried in that mausoleum. He belonged to a religious sect that was excommunicated by the Vatican at the turn of the century." Giles replied as he continued to read the book intently, "Do you remember the book that was stolen by the vampire at the beginning of the situation with Ford. It was written by Du Lac. Damn it! I let it slip my mind with all the excitement."
"I'm guessing the book wasn't a boring treatise on purifying yourself with repeated self-inflicted injuries?" he asked hoping that was indeed the case.
The others looked at him clearly saying with their eyes 'where did that question come from'.
"What? Isn't that what all the crazy religious sects preach?" he asked defensively as he crossed his arms over his chest, "The church is too soft, wah wah, I must purify my sinful body with pain, wah wah!"
"Um…no… the, uh, book was said to contain rituals and spells that reap unspeakable evil. However, it was written in archaic Latin so that nobody but the sect members could understand it." Giles replied putting the discussion back on track.
"And you think the cross they took has something to do with it?" Buffy asked cluing him in to what'd been stolen.
"If my fears are correct the cross plays some role in deciphering the contents of the book." Giles replied putting down the book finally.
"Then we need to figure out what's in it before they do." Willow said sounding ready for an all nighter research session.
"If I recall correctly Du Lac was both a, a... a theologian and a mathematician." Giles said as he began to pace in thought, "It is likely that the true contents of the book were encrypted and the cross is the key to deciphering the contents. In order to find out what they're planning ahead of time we must look through my books to find a translation."
He was about to suggest a plan of action to speed up the research when he heard the sound of the library doors opening. Turning around to see who'd come in so he could figure out a line of bullshit to convince them to leave while forgetting anything they heard he was surprised to find no one there. Looking a bit harder he couldn't see anyone moving away from the door through the circular windows but that could just mean they'd walked away to the sides and thus out of view. Still it seemed a little odd that someone could accidentally enter the room, turn around and then leave without him so much as catching a glimpse of them.
That kind of stealth required conscious thought.
It wasn't something you did by accident.
Not something you'd see in your average high school student.
That led his mind to a very troubling possibility: had someone else retained something from Halloween?
If the answer was yes then whoever it was had gone as someone with no small degree of stealth capability AND the person knew something of interest went on in the library. Turning his gaze away from the door he was about to ask one of the others if they'd seen anything since they hadn't had to turn around when he noticed a brief mass of distortion near the bookshelves. It didn't even last two seconds but it was enough to put him on edge since it implied much especially with the resonance he felt in his Big Boss memories.
Someone was in the library.
Someone he'd only managed to catch a glimpse of before whatever method of invisibility they had stabilized.
He wanted to warn the others but was worried what the unseen visitor might do. Would they focus on escaping? Would they attack and bank on surprise to let them get a few kills in before the remaining Scoobies could react? Could he even sneak up on the thing and get close enough to attack it? No. He'd only been able to see it for a moment before it'd become completely invisible again. Depending on the circumstances involved in the momentary destabilization there was no way to be sure it'd happen again or that the intruder was where the distortion mass had appeared still.
So HOW? How could he protect his friends and at the same time ascertain the intruder's current location?
The answer came to him but he couldn't help but feel a little hesitant given what'd likely happen.
Still it was the best course of action he could come up with in the spur of the moment.
~Here's hoping lady luck's feeling merciful.~ He thought taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"There's another way we can end this." He said drawing the attention of everyone in the room including he hoped the intruder's.
"What do you have in mind?" Giles asked sounding like he was open to the possibilities.
Buffy's POV
"We arm up and begin raiding vamp lairs one after another." Xander replied with a focused seriousness she'd never seen before, "Maybe with some research we can narrow down the possible places Spike'd hole up in. We take him out and the threat ends."
"It's not that easy Xander." She said not feeling confident in his proposed course of action, "There're probably dozens of places vamps can hide out in during the day and that's just counting the ones above ground."
"While I will concede that eliminating Spike before he has a chance to utilize the book would eliminate the threat I must agree with Buffy." Giles said nodding in agreement with his Slayer, "There are simply too many places where Spike could be hiding. It would take too long to check them all especially since we don't know what sort of time frame we're operating under."
"Trying to find out what's in the book they stole could take just as much time. Maybe more." Xander said not sounding like he was giving up anytime soon, "At least by putting pressure on the vamps of Sunnydale Spike might make a mistake trying to rush things. We might also be able to squeeze out where he's holed up from the vamps we beat."
"Or we might wind up accumulating more enemies that we are prepared to deal with." Giles said sticking to her side of the argument, "While it is true that Spike is currently the most powerful vampire in Sunnydale with the most minions but he is by no means the only vampire threat in town. There are likely smaller groups of vampires scattered about. If we make enemies of too many of them and they come at us while we're dealing with Spike's forces we will be overrun."
"You're assuming they don't consider us the enemy already. Some of them might even get ideas about attacking us while we're distracted with Spike." Xander said still digging in his heels with his point of view, "We go on the offensive the more spineless ones'll back off and go to ground. The rest'll be off guard enough that it'll take a day or more to figure out what to do. That'll buy us some time and if they know where Spike is then we're all set."
With those words Xander strode over to the weapons cage and began to go through the contents preparing for combat.
"Xander! We still have classes to go to!" she objected as she moved to stop him and remind him of their obligations.
"Snyder will throw a fit if we skip out on them!" Willow said adding her opposition to the mix.
"Attacking vamps will be easier during the day. Blow open the windows and doors they sealed up and you box them in." Xander explained revealing his strategy, "It'll be like fish in a barrel."
"And just how do you propose to blow open the windows and doors?" Giles asked sounding a little irritated at the rash action Xander was preparing for at the moment.
"I think I'll just bring a crow bar since they'll probably just use wood to cover up the windows and maybe a sledgehammer for the doors. A couple good wacks in the right places and they'll come right down." Xander said taking out a spiked mace before testing its heft, "This'll do too. If it's metal and bolted in or something I'll improvise with whatever's handy."
"While improvisation is a valuable skill to have when hunting demons it is always better to have a well thought out plan." Giles said only partially pacified by the reply to his inquiry, "I realize that the prospect of long hours of researching is not popular for your generation but it is the safest and most valid route open to us at the moment."
"Sometimes you gotta be willing to take risks Giles." Xander said showing his seriousness by not using his 'G-Man' nickname for the Watcher.
Watching him as he began to head for the rear exit of the library, a smart move since walking out into a populated school with medieval weaponry would not have been smart, she knew that if reason wasn't making him stop then maybe force would.
"You're not going Xander." She said in her best 'I have spoken' tone of voice, "You might've gotten some extra junk tossed into your head by Halloween but that doesn't mean you can take on vamps solo. I'm not about to let you go and get yourself killed just 'cause you don't like taking the long route."
"It's not just about taking the long route Buffy. Who knows how quickly they'll be able to decode the book now that they have the cross. It could be all decoded right now for all we know." Xander said trying to wrench himself free of her grip, "The more time we waste trying to figure out what they already know the more time we give them to do whatever it is they want to do. Best way to stop them is to not give them time to act on what they know."
"I very much doubt that they've managed to decode Du Lac's book so swiftly Xander." Giles said voicing his opinion on the potential problem, "For one thing they will have no way of knowing where in the book the information they desire is located necessitating going page by page from the front to the back. Also depending on the complexity for the encryption Du Lac used to conceal his work it could very well take anywhere from hours to days to go through the entire book."
"Still not seeing the downside to a preemptive strike." Xander said somehow managing to twist his way out of her grip to resume his march towards the rear library exit.
She was about to take another step forward to reassert her grip when out of nowhere Xander whirled to the left and threw the mace he'd picked out in that direction. For a second or two she thought all she would see would be the weapon fly through the air until it either fell to the floor or embedded itself in the wall. Instead the consequence defied logic as the mace seemed to hit something ever so slightly knocking it off course and drawing blue blood from thin air. It was as an inhuman form shimmered into existence that she realized what had been going on with Xander and immediately moved to take advantage of the opening he'd given her.
Somehow Xander had picked up on the fact that they'd had an intruder in the library and had been trying to flush it out with his actions or at least get a bead on it.
Using her Slayer strength, speed and agility she leapt over the main table executing a damn good side-kick at what was now revealed to be some sort of lizard man. Unfortunately whatever kind of demon it was it had incredible flexibility and agility of its own and was able to bend its body out of the way of her kick. It was just as her foot passed the point where it would have impacted the thing's chest that she spotted it orienting an arm to aim at her while something decidedly pointy grew from its forearm.
Not good.
She didn't have anything to push off of to change her position and at this range she'd get skewered.
That is she would've gotten skewered if a blur of grey hadn't flown through the air and forced the demon to abort its attack and relocate a few feet to its right to save itself. Landing on the floor she looked and saw that the blur of grey had been a knife and a quick bit of tracing back to its source revealed that Xander had had her back the entire time. Putting her focus back on the demon she almost charged in once more but a part of her she only barely recognized as belonging to 'Sonya' kept her from doing so. The instincts she'd gotten from the special forces operative told her to analyze her foe's form to get a handle on its range of movement before coming up with a plan of attack and putting it into effect.
As much as she preferred to fly by the seat of her pants and rely on the unpredictability of fighting on instinct she had to admit that a little thought might be helpful.
The demon was roughly the same height as Xander but hunched over somewhat like it was not natural for it to walk fully upright.
Looking at its forearms she could see that the pointy thing she'd detected earlier bore a strong resemblance to the bolts that'd been fired at her in the cemetery and even now had some liquid dripping off of them.
With scales almost completely covering its humanoid body and distinctly reptilian eyes she was a little more creeped out than usual.
"Heheheheheheheh." The lizard man laughed even as an abnormally long tongue slid out of its mouth to wag for a moment.
"No…couldn't be…" Xander whispered too lowly for anyone not possessing Slayer hearing to pick up.
Seeing the lizard man raise an arm to use its weapon she prepared herself to dodge…when the arm abruptly changed the direction it was aimed to…GILES!
Quicker than she thought she could she charged the demon since it was by far closer to her than Giles was while mentally praying that Xander was close enough to the Watcher to push the man out of harm's way. She came within half a foot of reaching the threatening arm but despite her great speed it proved to be too late as the pointy forearm protrusion shot out into the air like a real crossbow bolt. Still she didn't let this hinder her since even if she hadn't been able to prevent the initial shot she could make sure that any subsequent shots would not be aimed at her friends.
Grabbing onto both arms she immediately pushed them skyward and once she was sure that they'd stay there she brought her right knee up intending to strike the demon's stomach as well as ribs.
Or at least that was the plan until the demon brought up its own foot and somehow wrapped its toes around her knee in a vice grip stopping it in its tracks.
She immediately wrenched her knee free but not before something sharp bit into her flesh causing her to wince a bit even as the leg went back to supporting her. From what she could feel it didn't feel like whatever damage had been done was severe since she had no trouble putting her weight on it. Still it could be that she was saved from more serious injury only because she'd freed her knee quickly so she wasn't about to try another knee attack until she was sure it wouldn't be countered.
Instead she brought her considerable Slayer strength to bear and threw the demon across the room into the book stacks causing two shelves to fall over to the ground.
She knew that this would only daze the creature for a short time so without pause she ran to the second level where the demon was recovering picking up the spiked mace that Xander'd thrown and was along her route before bringing it back for a swing. However just before she passed the halfway point a sound and an action spoiled her plan: the sound of breaking glass and the mace being decapitated just below the metal head.
"Buffy! Down!" Xander yelled and before she knew it her 'Sonya' side had her dropping to the ground in the blink of an eye.
"Heheheheheheheheh! Fear!" the lizard demon cackled once it was back on its feet, "FEAR!"
Then without any pause it leapt through the library skylight before disappearing again making it impossible to track even if she'd followed it a second or two later. When she got back to her feet though she looked about to find out what the hell had broken the head off of the mace she'd had only to find a marble sized hole in the wall. Looking into it she expected a bullet of some kind but from what she could make out it had more in common appearance wise with a plant seed than something artificial. But that didn't make sense since unless this was a repeat of straw being put through a telephone pole by the high winds of a hurricane the seed should've gone splat the second it hit the stone wall. For something organic looking to be so hard that it could pierce this deep into stone without seriously fracturing…looks like they had another weird demon to contend with.
"Okay Xander what the hell was that all about?" she asked turning to see how her friends were doing.
Her harsh criticism came to a stop when she saw that something had torn through the shoulder area of the shirt Xander was wearing and blood was visible beneath. Willow was already at her friend's side and she was soon there as well even as Giles peeked as safely as he could through the window that now had a slightly bigger than a marble hole in it.
"Xander! Are you okay?" she asked trying to inspect the wound to see how bad it was.
"It's burning a little but nothing serious I think. Must've just been a graze and not a lot of whatever was on that bolt got in." Xander replied only lightly under duress from what she could see, "All in all I think I got lucky."
"Yes…well…thank you for protecting me Xander but next time could you please use a stack of periodicals rather than a first edition copy of 'Vampyre'." Giles said pulling back from the window, "It's not going to be easy to explain away to the Council the need for a replacement copy."
Looking to the floor a few feet away she could see the book Giles had presented to her upon their first meeting in this very library but with some visible changes. For one thing it had a sizeable hole in it and it looked like whatever liquid had been on the bolt had been mostly absorbed by the volume resulting in the pages as well as the cover being corrosively eaten away. If that had managed to directly hit Xander or Giles…
"What's going on Xander?" she asked now that she figured the danger had passed, "You talked like you knew the lizard guy and told me to get down like you knew what'd taken the top off the mace. Spill!"
"I don't know for sure Buff' but I think that was The Fear we just fought and unless I'm very wrong…BOY do I hope I'm wrong…your mace got beheaded by The End." Xander replied looking increasingly upset, "Thing is both of them died over thirty years ago. Either someone knows about what I got for Halloween and did this to spook me or they found a way to bring those guys back with a little extra."
"The Fear? The End? What kind of lame names are those?" she asked never having heard anything about either name to make her think something was wrong.
"It was kind of a thing with the unit they were in during World War Two. Their codenames reflected the emotions they took into battle with them." Xander explained even as he got up off the floor and walked over to a nearby chair, "The Joy, The Fear, The Fury, The Pain, The End and The Sorrow. If the memories I've got bouncing around my head can be trusted they played a big role in the Allies winning the war and were each considered elite soldiers."
"So someone brought back some dead soldiers and gave them a demon upgrade." She thought grasping the situation in her mind, "A little different from what we're used to but I don't get the big deal."
"These were not just 'soldiers' Buffy." Xander said forcefully as though angry that she wasn't taking things more seriously, "They were to the rank and file what Slayers are to normal demon hunters. If they've been juiced up by demon genes then we're in seriously deep shit."
"Perhaps if you were to tell me the name of the unit they belonged to I could verify their elite status." Giles offered sounding like he was giving Xander's words the benefit of a doubt.
"Collectively they would've been referred to as the Cobra Unit." Xander said with emotion invested in the last two words.
SNAP!
Her head swung towards her Watcher and she was surprised to see that in the middle of cleaning his glasses Giles had snapped off one of the arms. Something had shocked him to the point where he'd broken his glasses without even realizing it.
Not good.
"You know about these guys Giles?" she asked hoping that the shocked reaction was to something else and not Xander's concern.
"Not the individual members but I do recall reading about the unit during my studies. While the bulk of our education was focused on demons, magic and other forms of supernatural phenomena we also had classes on the history of the Council." Giles replied looking regretfully at his broken glasses, "During World War Two we were part of the effort to counter Hitler's attempts to bring the supernatural and demonic onto the battlefield. Whether it was preventing various demons from joining either side or sabotaging the Nazi's efforts to acquire dangerous supernatural artifacts we worked in concert with many of the Allied nations. It was during many of those missions that Council operatives would work alongside the Cobra Unit lending their knowledge and skills at casting spells to help ensure success. The general consensus from the reports filed was 'capabilities bordering on superhuman' and 'strongly recommend recruitment for future Slayer training'."
"And now they're after us and someone's given them demonic upgrades." Willow said spelling it out for them and showing signs of sharing Xander's level of concern.
Elite soldiers that the Watchers Council agents were strongly recommending train future Slayers.
Elite soldiers that'd been given some impressive demonic upgrades.
"We need to let the others know." Xander said as he pushed himself out of his chair, "We need to find a place to regroup and hole up."
"You don't think we can take them?" she asked feeling a little insulted by the implication.
"Buffy…during World War Two one member of the Cobra Unit was good enough to take down a platoon all on their own." He replied glaring at her with seriousness, "Together, fighting as a team, they could defeat a company of soldiers. THAT was when they were human armed with human weapons. Wanna take a guess at how many people they could kill now with their demony upgrades?"
Soldiers that could take down a platoon on their own and together a company. All that focused on just the Scooby gang.
"I'll call mom and Dawn at home." She said moving to the library phone, "You find Cordy and bring her back to the library. We'll decide where to go from there."
"I'm…on it." Xander said as he moved towards the door.
She was only halfway turned towards the phone when she heard a heavy thump followed by Willow's exclamation of distress. Whipping her head to the source of the thump shock reverberated through her when her eyes beheld Xander face down on the ground with increasing amounts of sweat flowing down his face.
"XANDER!" she said rushing to his side and trying to get a response out of him.
All she got was unintelligible murmurs and eyes that definitely weren't focusing on her at all.
"Dammit! Some of the poison DID get into his system!" Giles exclaimed before rushing into his office, "Willow! Get Cordelia here! Buffy! Get Xander on the table!"
"Right!" both she and Willow said before they moved to act on their orders.
Hooking her arms underneath Xander it was about as easy as lifting a pillow to get him off the floor and as carefully as she could set him down along the length of the table. Seeing her friend worsening her mind produced images of the other suffering a similar fate when the Cobra team attacked them. It horrified her and epitomized every nightmare she'd had since she'd come to Sunnydale where both Willow as well as Xander volunteered to help her in her Calling.
A small part of her want to kick them all out of them team right now.
Leave it to just her and Giles.
But she couldn't make herself believe that it was still possible to do so. They'd already been changed far too much both physically and mentally by the Hellmouthiness.
There was no going back to who they used to be.
Not for the first time in almost three years she cursed the fates who decided to make her the Slayer and condemn her friends to a life of abnormality.
1630 Revello drive
Joyce Summers' POV
"We're on our way." She said before hanging up the phone and yelling, "DAWN! GET YOUR GEAR! WE HAVE A FIGHT ON OUR HANDS!"
Hearing the sound of feet quickly moving about she decided to get her own gear as well. Moving to the closet beneath the stairs she took her keys out of her pocket and unlocked it. Mister Giles hadn't been very clear about what precisely they were facing but the fact that it apparently involved 'legendary soldiers' from World War Two turned into demons was enough to concern her. She hadn't asked all that many questions of Buffy about the things she'd been forced to handle as 'The Slayer' partially because she didn't want to hear and partly because she preferred to look to the future. However what she had heard had forced her to reevaluate her definition of 'the real world' as well as some of the things she'd seen since coming to Sunnydale.
If demon soldiers were coming after her daughters then she'd take the situation dead serious.
Taking out the case holding her rifle she quickly opened it up before strapping the bullet webbing holding her bullets around both forearms as well as from left hip to right shoulder. She knew she'd look strange to anyone that caught sight of her but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered would be that she had in her hands the tools she'd need to protect her daughters from those who wished them dead. Since Halloween she'd been able to recall another signature weapon of Lady Deadshot, wrist mounted guns, but sadly they were not something you could get at the local gun store. She'd brought it up in conversation the few times Willow had come over to speak with Buffy but according to the redhead many of the mechanisms and parts would need to be custom made. She'd of course conveyed all the structural details of the weapons and how they were meant to work, something Lady Deadshot believed was required of a 'true professional', but the girl had still said it would take time.
Not that she couldn't do it but rather that it'd take time to use the equipment it the metal works class at the high school to make each piece without anyone suspecting the truth.
Making guns or any type of weapon in a high school class was a one way ticket to the principal's office.
~Sure could use them now though.~ She thought after being satisfied with the placement of her extra rounds, ~A sniper rifle's good when you're at a safe distance or your target doesn't know where you are. With a bolt action Remington Seven Hundred though the amount of time between shots would be roughly two seconds. A lot can happen in two seconds.~
Add to that the fact that the rifle could only carry in it six rounds before you had to reload from the ammo webbing and that was maybe four to six seconds for a single bullet. If you wanted to put all six in before resuming fire that'd be between twenty-four and thirty-six seconds. It'd be one thing if she could find a good nest for herself or if the terrain was such that it'd take ten seconds more than that for her opponent to get to her but she couldn't count on that. The more she thought about it the more she was certain she needed to look into getting a secondary firearm to compensate for the weaknesses of her rifle.
Hearing the footfalls of Dawn coming to the stairs she began loading rounds into the rifle until it was at max capacity before looking up. She was pleased to see that Dawn hadn't simply slipped her Halloween costume back on in terms of 'getting her gear' because while she would always love her daughter Taki's costume was a little too revealing now. Before she'd been able to brush it off as a bathing suit or something to be worn for gymnastics but now with the recent…maturing of Dawn's body it'd turn way too many heads.
Even if there was only one head in particular she knew Dawn wanted to turn.
~Still maybe I should take this as a good sign.~ She thought as Dawn reached the bottom of the stairs, ~Before she wouldn't have hesitated to metaphorically and in some cases literally rub Xander's face in the fact that she was older and much curvier than before. If she's choosing to take the patient route then maybe I'll have the time I need to adjust.~
From what she could see Dawn had the two kodachi from her costume strapped to the back of her waist ready to be pulled at a moment's notice. The six pieces of armor from the costume were also present protecting the shoulders, forearms and shins from harm. Personally she thought her little girl could do with a bit more coverage around the vitals that most enemies would target but she recognized that going too far would limit mobility as well as range of motion. Assuming Dawn planned on adopting a fighting style similar to her character who was apparently some sort of ninja she couldn't have anything that hinder high mobility focused combat.
~Maybe I should look into lightweight plates capable of stopping most blades and lower caliber bullets.~ She thought before bits of Lady Deadshot's memories flitted in, ~Add in some Kevlar too. Something to think about.~
"What's up?" Dawn asked looking like she knew something was up but didn't know enough yet to determine how serious she should be.
"Trouble. Buffy and the others got attacked at the library." She replied leading her daughter to the back door, "They're mostly okay but from what they found out the demons that attacked them were good and they might be coming after us."
This instantly had most of the ease in Dawn's posture vanish and in its place was someone ready to act upon any perceived threat. She couldn't say that she completely approved of this, a step away from being an innocent teenage girl, but after learning of the craziness of Sunnydale it was a necessary survival trait.
Better to sacrifice a little and increase your chances of survival than to cling to what you were and wind up dead.
"Are they okay?" Dawn asked with concern in her voice.
"A few scratches but nothing a First Aid Kit can't handle." She replied keeping certain facts to herself, "But they want us to get to the library ASAP. If trouble's coming our way we'll do better together than split up."
"Then why aren't we going in the car?" Dawn asked looking back a moment to the front door, "Wouldn't we get there faster?"
"Because we don't know how long these demons have been in town or how much surveillance they've done on us. They might've guessed we'd try to regroup and done something to the car." She replied as the two of them exited out into the backyard, "Better to do the unexpected and sneak out the back."
"You think they might've rigged our car to blow like in the movies?" Dawn asked no longer sounding quite so enthused about using their car to get to the library.
"Maybe. Depends on how flashy they want to be." She replied as Lady Deadshot's experiences coasted through her mind, "Blowing us up would definitely send a message and be relatively quick but it'd also indicate foul play and that would require police involvement. It'd be more low profile just to just tamper with the brakes to make our deaths look like an accident."
Hearing the sound of Dawn's footsteps come to a halt she turned to see what was wrong and saw a look of being a little creeped out on her daughter's face. Reflecting on what she'd just said she was a little embarrassed to realize that one's mother listing possible ways to kill them might be just a LITTLE creepy.
"Let's get going." She said moving past the awkward moment, "If someone is watching our house it won't take them long to realize we're gone."
"Right." Dawn said before they resumed moving to the fence before vaulting over it.
Carefully but quickly they proceeded towards the school with her scouting out the area ahead of them with her scope before signaling Dawn to proceed. At every corner, every spot that had been out of their line of sight before, they stopped to make sure that they wouldn't walk blindly into a hail of projectile fire. Hopefully they were moving quickly enough that only a handful of citizens of Sunnydale would catch a glimpse of them since it'd make for something rather bothersome to have to explain away her rifle and Dawn's kodachi.
It was as they reached the edge of the border between the residential area of Sunnydale and the business area that she noticed something unusual.
The sidewalks were completely empty of people besides her and Dawn.
Sure there were cars parked on either side of the street but no one walking on the sidewalks.
If this had been in the middle of the night or even early morning this might be understandable but in the middle of the day…no.
Something wasn't right.
Immediately she brought up a hand to make Dawn stop then using gestures told her to get behind the closest parked car and stay low. She didn't take her eyes off of the street the entire time and once she was reasonably sure that her daughter was in position she brought up her rifle to scan the barren street for anything suspicious. Nothing on the left warranted attention like antenna looking shapes beneath the parked vehicles and she couldn't see so much as a speck of someone hiding behind them either. As she moved to the right though she had to pause for a moment as a pair of wasps flew past her lens obscuring the street beyond for a moment. She couldn't afford to overlook the spot where an enemy could be hiding just because a wasp had obscured her sight for a moment. However when she was almost on the right side of the street and more wasps began to clog her field of vision through the scope she began to wonder if something was attracting the bugs.
Raising her head from her scope she looked about to find out where the wasps were hovering around since that was most likely the cause of the problem. However her concern was only increased when she could spot no single spot where the wasps were concentrated or being attracted to. It didn't make any sense since animals were creatures of instinct focusing on either feeding or breeding. With nothing catching the wasps attention and yet them remaining about puzzled her…until she factored in the threat that she'd been warned of minutes earlier.
Taking that into account and the possible purpose of controlling wasps to mess with her field of vision and immediately she dropped to the ground behind the car.
The enemy knew she was a sniper and was doing what they could to obscure her vision and mess up her shooting potential.
Looking over at Dawn she could tell that her little girl was afraid but was keeping the fear under control rather than let it spark her into doing something stupid. At the moment they were right at the edge of an obviously prepared killing field against a foe that knew at the very least her current abilities. The question she had to answer was whether or not she still had a chance to prevail despite this or if she'd already lost. As they were the wasps were flying in and out of her scope's field of vision in an unpredictable pattern increasing the possibility of error even if she found the assassin. She had no idea what abilities the demon assassin had besides the ability to control wasps so she had no idea whether he could kill her right now or needed her to poke her head up over the top of the car. Dawn's inherited skills were strictly close quarters and she hadn't seen anything approaching the area so the odds of her being able to take on the assassin before being killed were small.
Unless…unless one of them acted as a decoy to draw out the assassin or at least force them to give away their location so that the other could finish them off.
"Dawn…Dawnie…someone's out there. They know I'm here and that's why the wasps are flying about." She whispered to her daughter with authority, "I'm going to change positions and get their attention. When they try to come after me you keep your eyes peeled. Find them!"
"Then what?" Dawn asked obviously not thrilled at the idea of her being in the line of fire.
"Then…then I need you to take them out." She replied not wanting to force this role on her daughter.
Unfortunately for her even if her daughter called out the enemy's location her pausing and taking the time to line up the shot was a sure way to wind up dead. If she did her job right then the assassin's eyes would be right on her and if it had a way of attacking from a distance she'd be all but committing suicide. She'd die in a heartbeat if that's what it took to keep her daughter alive but at the same time she didn't want them to grow up without a mother. She couldn't count on Hank to care for Buffy or Dawn even if she'd named him as the guardian of their daughters in the event of her death. Her ex-husband had made it clear with his unfaithful behavior with his secretary that he didn't care about his family or the consequences of his actions.
Bottom line that meant that Dawn was the only option that they had at the moment.
Seeing her little girl reach with her dominant hand back to where her kodachi were sheathed was the only evidence she needed to know that Dawn would do what'd been asked of her.
She couldn't ignore the small mass of regret in her stomach at that sight.
Innocence should never be sacrificed without feeling anything after all.
Taking three deep breaths she leapt out from behind her cover sprinting for the car across the street before she slid to her knees and lined up her rifle for the windows and rooftops of the shops on the other side of the mass of wasps. Without hesitation she looked for anything that could look like a living thing and the second she saw something that fit her criteria well enough she fired a shot. A few wasps were obliterated but she saw no sign through her scope that she'd hit anything to feel pleased about. However that wasn't the point of her actions so she didn't mind. So long as the assassin's attention was focused on her, so long as they ignored Dawn, then she was doing her job. Nevertheless she didn't forget to look for any signs of the assassin altogether since even a second of warning would allow her to dodge.
She was making a mistake in placing herself in such a vulnerable position but that would just make her a more enticing target. So long as she focused more on evasion rather than taking the time to line up the shot there was at least some chance of her evading any projectiles sent her way.
Any chance was better than no chance at all.
As the last round flew from her rifle she immediately began to pluck bullets from her forearm to reload for another volley since nothing had appeared during the firing of the previous shots. Were the wasps merely to put her on edge, make her think an attack was incoming when there wasn't, or was something else at work? It was only when she was halfway through her reloading though that she realized that her plan had worked when she saw Dawn sprinting across the street.
Quickly scanning the various structures along the path her daughter was taking she soon saw what'd caught her daughter's attention. A mass of wasps too big to be natural was rising from the rooftop Dawn was running towards and with that as the source of the threat she began to reposition her rifle as though she intended to shoot. This was a feint after all since in reality she was priming her legs to let her dive to the side in an effort to evade whatever the initial volley of the assassin turned out to be. Instinct would be her only signal for when to dodge.
Hopefully that would be enough.
~NOW!~ She thought before diving off to the left where door archway to one of the stores would provide at least some cover from follow up shots.
She heard the thunks of something impacting on the metal of the car but it was instinct that caused her to reposition her rifle at the last possible moment.
As a result instead of the last projectile piercing her leg it went through the stock of the rifle but fortunately wasn't a through and through shot. Landing on the ground she went into a roll and the moment her feet were back under her she dashed into the doorframe pressing her back against both the frame as well as the door itself to provide the smallest target she could. Focusing to regulate her breathing she winced a bit as she realized that her evasion tactics had forced her body to do more than it'd been prepared for. Even with the Halloween inheritance she was still no more physically prepared for combat than any other American woman in their mid-thirties. All of her training thus far had been at the local shooting range increasing her accuracy while at the same time practicing the math all snipers needed to be able to do on the spot to make sure they hit their target.
~Guess I'll be joining Xander in his training regime after all.~ She thought since she'd likely be pushing herself harder in the future.
She couldn't keep from smirking.
~It's their own fault.~ She thought even as she heard shouts and grunts associated with martial arts moves, ~If Dawn had gone as a soldier and Buffy had embraced her inheritance more I could go to them for conditioning training.~
Actually it was more likely that it'd have to be Dawn since the difference in physical limitations between Buffy and everyone else were simply too great to make any cooperative training practical. She'd been forty-three when the Halloween spell hit but according to Mister Giles it appeared as though the magic had begun to reconfigure their bodies to better match their fictional counterparts. The result was that she had managed to get back a full decade of youth back by her estimate since how she looked now matched a photo of her during Dawn's birthday at the local Six Flags.
Well she looked like she had back then if she'd gotten a boob job prior to the birthday party to upgrade a cup size that is.
In any case the inheritance she'd gained from Halloween and Dawn's new fighting style just didn't match up correctly. Sure she'd caught enough glimpses inside her mind to tell her that Lady Deadshot had not been too shabby in the area of unarmed combat but it hadn't included the same degree of mobility Dawn's new fighting style did. From what Xander had told Buffy his Halloween personae, Big Boss, had been a soldier trained in the American style so the methods of getting fit and mastering military weapons would be similar to what she had inside her head.
Between the two of them training together and correcting their respective mistakes along the way they'd be able to make good progress making the most of what they'd gained.
"MOM! I think you should come take a look at this!" Dawn yelled out bringing her out of her thoughts for the future.
Peeking out from behind her cover she could see that the wasps that'd been acting unnaturally were gone now either having been recalled by their master or having regained their own existences. Cautiously she stepped out from behind cover loading fresh rounds into her rifle as she went just in case. When she reached the building her daughter was on she made her way up to the roof using some stairs but when she arrived she saw the reason why her daughter had thought her presence was necessary.
When she'd heard her daughter fighting she'd presumed that she'd engaged the assassin but what before her wasn't a demon.
It would be more accurate to say that it was the molted shell of the assassin.
"Um mom…wasps don't molt…right?" Dawn asked not quite up to speed in comprehending what this new development went.
"Guess no one told the assassin that." She replied not liking slippery opponents like this.
Reminded her of the early days when Hank would talk his way out of some of the looks he'd given other women at the parties they'd gone to.
Sunnydale High School Library
Willow's POV
"You feeling okay for this Xander?" she asked a few minutes after both Missus Summers and Dawn arrived.
"Information is ammunition Willow. I'm not going to leave us without a single shot to fire back." Xander said looking better than he had before but still bad enough that she didn't trust him to walk on his own, "Tell me about the assassin that came after you two Dawn."
"We were on our way here but when we got to Pete's Card Ship Mom noticed that there was no one in the area. Not one person walking on the sidewalk or a single car driving down the street." Dawn explained a look of recollection on her face, "We ducked behind some parked cars and Mom tried to look about through her scope to see if she could spot anything weird but wasps started showing up out of nowhere. It got so bad you didn't need to be Willow to figure out that it wasn't natural. Mom had us drop to our stomachs just in case someone was trying to get us in their crosshairs."
"I knew running wasn't an option. The wasps buzzing about had to be a countermeasure against me, a sniper, and the old saying that it takes one to beat one so risking running would've been a bad move." Missus Summers said taking up the retelling of events, "So I used myself as a decoy to draw fire and when the assassin showed himself Dawn went after them."
"She went after them! That's crazy!" Buffy exclaimed clearly shocked and angered by the tactic.
"She's not the same little sister she was before Halloween Buffy." Missus Summer said standing firm by the decision she'd made, "You have to face up to that. Besides the assassin was prepared for me not Dawn. She had the best chance of getting close enough to beat him."
"ANYway when Mom played decoy I saw a big mass of wasps standing up on the roof. It didn't look human, more humanoid, but I knew it had to be the assassin." Dawn said with a slight roll of her eyes as she pushed past her sisters objections, "I ran over to the building it was on as quick as I could and climbed up the side using whatever handholds and footholds I could find. Once I got to the top I used every move I could pull out of what I got from Taki along with my two kodachi. It was hard as hell but I managed to score some sweet hits!"
"Language!" Buffy and Missus admonished causing Dawn to roll her eyes with a bit of exasperation.
"The thing is right before I was about to deliver my finishing move the wasps dog piled me and when they were gone I found what looked like this really icky plastic shell." Dawn said finishing up her report, "It looked like a bug person, half wasp and half man, but there was nothing in it but a coating of goo. Reminded me of all those biology classes about molting insects."
"It sounds as though this assassin could be part V'al'a'tan demon. They do share similar characteristics to garden variety wasps and they're capable of consciously molting their skin as a method of escape." Giles said having retrieved his spare glasses from his office, "The ability to control conventional wasps is also an ability they possess."
"Well whatever the assassin was both it and its pets were gone by the time mom got to me." Dawn said looking at Xander, "So we ran the rest of the way here as quick as we could."
"Probably a good thing that we did." Missus S said from her position leaning against the library's returns desk, "Rifle shots in the middle of the day in that area probably brought the cops in."
"You sure? They seem pretty see no evil hear no evil when it comes to anything Hellmouthy." Buffy said sounding skeptical about the S.P.D.
"Except this was not something 'Hellmouthy' Buffy. These were shots from a rifle in the middle of the day in the business district of Sunnydale." Giles pointed out looking concerned, "I assume Missus Summers that you had the foresight to collect your spent shells before leaving the area?"
"Of course. A professional is never that careless." Missus S said as though she was insulted by the question before something seemed to occur to her, "I mean it's just common sense to clean up after yourself especially if you want to avoid prison time right?"
"Quite so." Giles said with a nod before turning to Xander, "What do you think Xander?"
"Can't be one hundred percent sure but it sounds like they wound up locking horns with The Pain." Xander replied only needing a moment or three to think, "According to Big Boss' memories the guy could control wasps and make them do some pretty nasty things. He could do everything from just swarming and stinging someone to death to somehow being able to propel them at bullet speed. Sounds like someone brought him back in a body more like his 'pets'. Did he say anything while he was coming at you?"
"Nope. Not a peep." Dawn replied with a negative shake of her head.
"Odd. When Big Boss faced them they were chatty as they fought. Not as chatty as Buffy but far from silent." Xander said concerned about this discrepancy.
"It is possible that they're being controlled by someone." Giles said stroking his chin in thought, "Likely by the one who resurrected and changed them. If they are not behaving as your memories say they should then it is likely that the warlock responsible is using some enchantment to suppress their personalities and free will while leaving their skills free to be used."
"Reduced to mere puppets." Xander growled with a rasp, "Whoever's behind this is gonna pay!"
While she hadn't been told much more by Giles about the Cobra Unit she had to admit that it didn't sit well with her that a group of heroes from the second World War were being used like this. For all she knew the Cobra Unit had been responsible for her grandma and grandpa being rescued from the camps before they could be marched into the gas chambers. Indeed until she found proof to the contrary that was how she would choose to view them and would do all she could to end the suffering they must currently be undergoing stuck as someone's weapons.
"In order to do that we must first gain a better grasp of the Cobra Unit members and their abilities." Giles said being the voice of reason once more, "From what you have said thus far their augmentations are meant to amplify the abilities they had when they were alive and human. What can you tell us?"
"Well the first guy we fought, The Fear, focuses on psychological warfare. His entire way of fighting is meant to inspire fear in his opponents from how he looks to how he fights." Xander replied looking like he was mentally summarizing things in his head, "His arms were surgically altered to be double jointed allowing him greater agility and speed as well as make him appear more spider-like. His weapons of choice were two crossbows, the William Tell and a smaller one called Little Joe, both of which fired bolts either coated with various venoms and grenades. He also had some sort of prototype stealth camouflage device that let him go invisible for brief periods of time but I think it had a glitch in it."
"What do you mean?" she asked interested in a piece of tech that could turn someone invisible.
"Based on Big Boss' memories it looks like it did something to The Fear's body that forced him to decloak and eat between uses. Maybe he got dehydrated and since there weren't any lakes or rivers where Big Boss fought him he ate the local wildlife to make up for it." Xander replied not sounding a hundred percent sure but it was a logical enough theory, "Lizard Fear's invisibility looks like it might have some glitches too. Something caused it to distort letting me know he was there and then again right before I threw the mace at him. If we can figure out what that something is he'll lose a big advantage."
"There are several demonic species that resemble lizards and possess the ability to become invisible." Giles said probably already making a list of books to consult, "If I can identify which one mirrors the qualities The Fear has been enhanced with we should get a clue."
"The one that saved him from getting a spiked mace to the face was The End. Back in sixty-four he was called the Father of Sniping because it was believed that he'd originated all the known sniping techniques." Xander said continuing his briefing on the assassins they'd be facing, "It was also rumored that he had special powers that were a form of photosynthesis allowing him to keep going for days. He also had enhanced senses that allowed him to operate without a spotter."
"Is that a big deal?" Buffy asked clearly not getting it.
"Generally when it comes to being a sniper tunnel vision is a very real concept. Their focus, their gaze, is entirely focused through their targeting scope on their rifle." Giles replied explaining the necessity of a spotter, "As a result of this though it is very difficult to take in all the necessary factors required to successfully hit the target or make adjustments should they miss. Therefore it is the job of the spotter to ascertain the various bits of information required and relay them to the sniper so that they can achieve maximum accuracy. One shot, one kill, is the mandate of any sniper after all."
"Think of it like coming up against a demon you've never seen before but having Giles talking into your ear helping you adjust your technique and strategy right as the fight is happening." Xander said trying to help the blonde Slayer understand.
"Huh. Sounds like it'd be a pain having someone talk into your ear the whole time you're fighting." Buffy said sounding like she was no longer in the dark but not in favor of the method either.
"O-kay then. The next one that'll we'll probably have breathing down our necks is The Fury. Like the name tells you he has serious anger management issues but he has the firepower to back it up." Xander said smirking at his own private joke, "He wore a fireproof suit, a working jetpack on his back and a flamethrower powered by liquid rocket fuel instead of the usual stuff the rank and file flame units used. Thanks to this anything he lights up burns for a long time no matter what it is. Facing him head on is a quick way to wind up cooked. A flamethrower has an effective range of twenty meters and a max range of forty-three. Better to slink around and shoot him from behind. Puncture his fuel tanks if you can manage it."
"This one I think will be a bit easier to discern the demon half of." Giles said sounding a little encouraged by the info on The Fury, "There are not that many demon breeds out there capable generating their own flames naturally. Most are mere animals in terms of mentality but a few are capable of thinking on the same level as your average human."
"Well we won't have to worry about how he thinks with whoever resurrected all of them controlling them." Xander said brushing aside the little bit of trivia, "The last member of the Cobra Unit we'll probably be facing is their leader, The Joy. She's regarded as the mother of America's special forces and a legendary soldier that every soldier of experience in every nation knew about. More than that during her time with the other members of the Cobra Unit she learned their skills, maybe even mastered them, making her a jack of all trades."
"So how do you beat her?" Buffy asked her sounding like she thought herself the right opponent for The Joy.
"That's just it. There's no real plan for stopping her. No edge." Xander replied in a manner most cold and serious, "It's literally a case of you versus her and may the best warrior win. She has her own style of hand to hand combat that she calls CQC that she made herself. I…can't remember a lot of the particulars but there are parts of Judo and Jujitsu mixed in with the rest. Bottom line: she knows weapons and uses a style of hand-to-hand combat that you've never seen before. The only way you win is if you're better than her. Or she lets you win."
"Then I'll beat her." Buffy said with confidence, "One on one I almost managed to beat lizard boy. Even if his leader is twice as good as he is I can take her."
"Not with that attitude you won't." Xander said not losing his serious tone of voice, "Ever since I found out you were the Slayer you've had a bit of a superiority complex Buffy. You listen to Giles give you the whole 'one girl in all the world' speech and you think no human can match you. Even without the demon upgrades I personally think she could take you. With them and with that attitude you're sporting…all it's gonna take is one shot, one opportunity, and you're dead."
"Xander!" she exclaimed at the harsh tone and words he'd used on Buffy.
"That's why I'm gonna be the one to fight her if it comes to that." He declared ignoring her objection to the words used on Buffy, "I'm the ones with the memories of a guy who beat her once. I'm the one with the best chance of doing it again."
"Just because you have memories of someone who can beat this woman doesn't mean you can Xander." Buffy said returning Xander's seriousness with a bit of her own, "Whoever Big Boss was he had years of training and experience on you. You even said yourself that there're gaps in the memories you have. What if one of those gaps had some important trick or step? I may have my problems but the power I have as the Slayer means I can handle surprises better than you can."
"Not if you're not looking for them." Xander said not showing any signs of backing down, "If you're already convinced that you can beat her hands down you'll just be going through the motions until you're eventual victory. Maybe, MAYBE, you might have a few close calls that'll have you up your game a bit but then again maybe you won't. Maybe you'll take her lightly right up to the end. Your end."
"I-I-I think we can all agree that the leader of the Cobra Unit will not be someone we can afford to take lightly." Giles said a little more loudly than usual, "However given that her subordinates are the ones we will likely face first I suggest we focus on defeating them. Once they have been defeated we can present a united front against her."
"Assuming the one controlling them gives us that option." Xander said pointing out a very real possibility.
She didn't like it but she couldn't deny it either.
They had no idea who was calling the shots with the Cobra Unit and somehow she doubted that it was Spike. The vampire always struck her as a more hands on type of guy or at least someone that'd let you know if he was behind a group of demonically enhanced undead. To her that meant that there was another player out there.
One they didn't know about.
That bothered her.
A lot.