Things were relatively quiet for the group for a few months and then something stunning happened.
"There's a new Slayer in town." Xander announced to the group. "Buffy is not taking it well. Add in the fact that this Slayer knew instantly that Angel was a vampire and managed to wrestle him into a cage and Buffy is freaking. Then add in the fact that Spike and Drusilla are planning a ritual that involves using Angel, as Drusilla's sire, to restore her to health and Angel missing. And just to make it even more interesting, Spike's called out the Order of Taraka to distract Buffy. How's everyone else's day going?"
"How is there another Slayer?! There's only ever one at a time. In all my research on the Slayers, I never came across any references to more then one being active at a time." Joshua said.
"Apparently, the fact that Buffy was clinically dead for a few minutes before I revived her was enough." Xander said.
"I wonder if the line now passes thru both of them or thru this new Slayer?" Mary asked.
"I wouldn't mention that to Buffy." Xander advised. "The way she's acting it's a personal insult that another Slayer exists."
"Well, it is a graphic reminder that she died." Jessica said. "I can understand her being upset."
"Our biggest problem is probably the order of Taraka or at least, it's the one we can help with." Tony said. "How many assassin's have been sent so far?"
"I don't know. Buffy killed one when it attacked her during her and Angel's date. Giles said they'll just keep sending them until the contract is fulfilled."
"Or until someone cancels the contract." Charles said. "We've dealt with the Order before. It's possible to buy out the contract and cancel it. It'll cost a Hell of alot, but I can afford it. I'll get ahold of the Order. Try to help Buffy deal with any assassin's already in town."
"Cordelia and I ran into one while we were looking for Buffy." Xander reported later. "A guy made of bugs. I mean, literally, bugs. And one pretending to be a cop, shot at her at the school."
"I know, Johnathan mentioned that when he got home from school today. He distracted people by pretending it had been a demonstration." Joshua said.
"Yeah, people are buying it." Xander said. "A kid got hit in the arm with a bullet trying to protect Willow. The assassin got away."
"I've negotiated a buy out price on the contract. The money will go thru tomorrow morning." Charles told the group. "You just have to deal with any that attack before they receive notification. Which, I understand, will be automatic."
To Buffy's relief, they managed to save Angel and stop both the bug assassin and the fake cop. By the time Kendra went home, she and Buffy were getting along better. Once again, things were fairly quiet for the group, until Buffy killed her mother's new boyfriend, that is.
"What do you mean, Buffy killed her mother's boyfriend?!" Charles asked, incredulous.
"She's claiming she caught him reading her diary and attacked her. She shoved him down the stairs and he broke his neck. She really didn't like him. She claimed he hurt her when the three of them went miniature golfing. The rest of us thought he was great and Joyce seemed happy. She's totaly freaking out and the cops are investigating. I mean actually investigating, they're asking alot of questions." Xander said.
"Interesting, no freak out over killing Catherine Madison or the zookeeper, but get the cops involved and big time freak out?" Coral said. "But why are they doing more then a token investigation? That's not their normal behavior."
"It can't have escaped the Mayor's notice that there's a Slayer in town. Finding evidence of a crime would go a long way towards helping him. I'll see what I can find out about the investigation." Charles said.
Turned out, Buffy was right, there was something wrong with Ted, her mother's boyfriend. He was a robot. A robot with four dead wives stacked in his basement. Buffy stopped him when he kidnapped her mother to add to his collection. Charles managed to get the investigation halted by having Calvin Sheppard, FBI agent and former alumni of Sunnydale High call the local precinct and make inquires. The last thing the Mayor wanted was federal people looking into Sunnydale, after all.
"And about that matter you wanted me to check into." Calvin told Charles. "The invisible girl? Some stupidity from WW II that someone wanted revived. I had enough clout to get it shut down. I can't give details, just it's shut down and they're trying to help the kids affected."
"So there was more then one?"
"Yeah, a few. Hopefully they'll get better. Call if you need anything."
"Will do and thanks."
Of course the week after when Xander reported a prehistoric parasite had been dug up in the school basement and had taken over both Johnathan and Cordelia before Buffy managed to kill it, also didn't go over very well with their parents. But it's Sunnydale and stuff like that happens around here.