Keep in mind that this story is set during the 2010's, Ironman time frame, not the 90s.
Chapter 20: Danger Time for Slayers and Tony
*****Where We Left Off*****
Mr. Trick looked down at his rifle in satisfaction. "I knew a sedative that would knock out an elephant would do the trick," he said, chuckling.
"Why don't we just kill them?" Lyle said. "They're there and totally helpless."
"That's not the point of the event," Mr. Trick said. "You have to compete for the privilege of tasting these girls or spilling their blood. Now pick them up and put them in the car." The trunk was open, so none of them would be unduly tempted on the car drive.
The couple complained but did what he said. They would get the girls to the location, and then the fun would begin.
"Tonight is going to be epic," Mr. Trick said, smiling.
The vampire couple agreed, and they were determined to come out the winners.
*****At the High School*****
Buffy's friends were having a good time dancing with their dates, so they didn't immediately notice when Faith and Buffy didn't arrive. After an hour, Giles, who was minding the punch bowl, complimented the girls on their dresses when they took a break from dancing.
"Girls, you look beautiful," he said. Willow was in green, while Cordelia had on a bronze-colored dress that was painted on.
"Thanks," Willow said.
"Tony was right when he said the tuxes he bought for the shindigs in New York would be used again," Xander said. He didn't have to rent a tux and was glad for Tony's generosity. "We can use them for prom in the spring."
"Guys can totally get away with that," Cordelia said. "We can't."
"No," Willow agreed. Her mother had tons of dresses because she said she couldn't be photographed wearing the same dress twice. Once a year, she donated them to a charity group that helped single mothers.
"Where's Buffy and Faith? I haven't seen them," Giles said. Joyce was also chaperoning and was currently dancing with the new history teacher, Phil Coulson. "Should we ask her mother?"
"We don't know where they are," Willow said, frowning. "They said they were walking and would meet us here. There was no way she was going to let Joyce drive her here, though."
"I offered to drive them," Xander said.
"So did I," Oz added.
"No need to alarm Joyce just yet. We don't want her to get in trouble in case her and Faith decided to just ditch the dance all together. They didn't want to horn in on couples' night, and Buffy was being stubborn," Willow said.
"My slayer is stubborn? Never," Giles said with a smile.
"They will be announcing the homecoming queen toward the end, but they won't get to vote if they don't get here soon," Willow said.
"I'll text them," Xander said, pulling out his phone. Then his girlfriend pulled him back onto the dance floor.
*****In the Nearby Miller Woods*****
When Buffy and Faith regained consciousness, they both jumped up quickly, expecting a fight.
"What the hell happened?" Faith asked when she saw no attackers. Both of them heard a beeping sound come from their small purses they kept their stake and phones in, so they reached into them.
Buffy saw a text from Xander and then another from an unknown.
"I got a video message," Faith said, looking at hers.
"I think I did, too," Buffy said. She looked at Faith's as Faith played hers.
A black man wearing sunglasses smiled. "Welcome ladies to Slayerfest. I'm your host Mr. Trick. You are the stars and main attraction of tonight's entertainment. Several people have paid handsomely for the privilege of killing a slayer, so good luck! May the best slayer win. Better yet—may you both lose!"
The message went off, and the two slayers looked at each other in disbelief. Faith had the exact message on her phone.
"This is a joke, right?" Buffy asked.
"I can't imagine anyone we know doing this during homecoming," Faith said. "Is Tony into elaborate tests?"
"Yes, but he wouldn't spoil our evening wear," Buffy said with a snort. "Pepper would kill him."
"Should we call for backup?" Faith asked.
"I think you should text your watcher, but mine will tell everyone," Buffy said. "We don't want them leaving the dance and becoming a target themselves. Not to mention, alarm my mother, who's chaperoning the dance with Mr. Coulson."
She pulled out her phone and sent Xander a text. Go held up with unexpected slayage. No worries. Be there when we can. Have fun.
"Okay, I told Xander we are held up because of unexpected slayage but not to worry," Buffy said.
Faith called her watcher. "Don't tell the others because B is worried about collateral damage, but there's been a kidnapping of sorts," she said, the phone on speaker.
"Whose?" Diane asked.
"Mine and B's. A Mr. Trick—probably a vampire—had us hit with some knockout darts. We're in some woods," Faith said.
"Miller Woods," Buffy interjected.
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
"We're fine, but we wanted someone to know what was up. I'll forward you the video, so you can see who Mr. Trick is," Faith said.
"Be careful, Faith. Work together. When you feel it's safe, come to headquarters," she said. "Tony's mansion is fortified and very safe."
"Good idea," Faith said. "Later." She hung up and put her phone back in her bag.
"Let's head to your place—she's right," Buffy said.
"Should we call Natalie and let her know?" Faith said.
"Your watcher will let her know if she thinks we need help. Let's just start walking toward the road," Buffy said.
Before they got very far, however, the vampire cowboy and his lover, Candy popped up.
"We get first crack," Lyle said, giving them an eager grin.
"Don't you me we get first crack at you?" Buffy said as she charged the cowboy, hitting him hard in the face.
Faith, however, just pulled out her stake and impaled Candy in the heart while she was watching her husband fight Buffy. "Too easy," Faith said with a chuckle.
Lyle roared in rage and hit Buffy hard in the face, knocking her down before charging Faith. Faith exchanged blows, ducking from one of his swings and hitting him in his stomach, bending him over.
"Catch," Buffy said, throwing Faith her stake since Faith had already lost hers.
Faith staked the bimbo vampire with a grin. "Damn, that was too easy," she said. "So is that two points for me?"
"My stake, my point," Buffy said, smiling.
They kept walking when Buffy made an observation. "Did you get me a corsage?" she asked.
"No," Faith said. Then she looked down at her wrist and saw that she had one, too. "We didn't have these when we were walking and woke up with them."
Wordlessly, they both took them off and threw them behind them.
*****New York*****
Bruce was running a test in Tony's lab and saw Tony clutch his chest and collapse.
"Tony!" he called out, running toward him.
"Sir, your vitals have grown dangerously low," JARVIS said.
"Call 9-1-1!" Bruce said as he couldn't detect a pulse.
A half hour later, Pepper and Bruce, along with Happy, were waiting in the ER waiting room, anxious for a word on Tony's condition.
"It's that damn thing in his chest. I know it is!" Pepper said, pacing.
"Tony mentioned that he was looking for a new core because the palladium core wasn't good long-term," Bruce said.
"What's that supposed to mean? I was there when he changed it out once," Pepper said. "Or rather he made me change it out. I almost killed him."
"He said that the core can poison him if he uses it too long," Bruce shared.
"What? Why didn't he tell me that?" Pepper asked. She looked at Happy. "Did you know?"
"Of course not," Happy said.
The doctor came in and told them that he was stable.
"What's wrong?" Pepper asked. "It's that thing in his chest, isn't it?"
"It is," the doctor said. "We don't know enough to take it out. He has clear orders written out that says we can't take anything out without his authorization."
"I'm his power of attorney. Can't I give it?" she asked.
"Not now that he's stable," the doctor said. "Speak to him and ask him to decide what to do. The magnet he created is keeping the shrapnel out of his heart. A surgeon could remove the shrapnel, and then he won't need the core."
"Can we see him?" Pepper asked.
"Yes," he said. "We are admitting him overnight if you can get him to stay. We should keep him for monitoring."
Pepper nodded and led Bruce and Happy to the room Tony was in.
"I'm okay," Tony said as soon as they came in.
"No, you're not," Pepper said. "Why didn't you tell me that you were sick?"
"Because I was working on a solution and didn't want to worry you," Tony said. "We have the kids to worry about. It's enough."
"How would they feel, knowing you were dying because of that thing in your chest?" Pepper said. "Being Ironman is not worth your life."
"Ironman is worth my life," Tony said. "I just have to find a power source that won't poison me."
"You have to schedule to get the shrapnel out, Tony. Ironman can wait," she said. "Those kids love you, not Ironman. I love you!" she said.
"What she said," Happy added.
"We'll put Oz's project on hold and focus on getting you to hundred percent," Bruce said.
Tony nodded. "Okay," he said. The kids would be really upset if they knew he was sick, and they definitely had enough to worry about.
*****Sunnydale *******
Several miles away from the high school, Buffy and Faith were battling some ugly yellowish demon with spikes on its head.
"What the hell kind of demon is this?" Faith asked as the demon took yet another punch without showing pain. She already had a tear in her dress from his knives. The demon was ugly and tough.
"How should I know?" Buffy said. "Giles and Willow tell me the demon stuff—sometimes even Cordelia."
Buffy took her stake and rammed it hard into the demon's shoulder, missing the heart. The thing roared with pain and spikes came out of his arms, and he used them to slice her in the stomach.
"Damn it! That hurt!" Buffy said.
"Are you okay?" Faith asked in concern.
"It didn't go in very deep, but it stings," Buffy said.
"Well, rub a little dirt in it and kill that thing!" Faith said.
"Huh?" Buffy asked, confused. Then Faith kicked the demon in the back of the knee, so Buffy picked up one of its knives on the ground and jammed it in the heart.
"Finally, you got one," Faith said as she kicked the thing to make sure it was dead.
"That's two to two," Buffy said. "I'm claiming cowboy vamp since I threw you my stake!"
"Fine, we're tied," Faith said with a smirk. "Let's try to get a few more blocks before another demon jumps out at us." They took off at a run, having ditched their shoes a while ago.
*****The Dance*****
"It's almost time to announce the homecoming queen," Cordelia said. "I can't believe Buffy and Faith still aren't here."
"Should we be worried?" Willow asked, looking anxious.
"Well, some since we know they are doing their slay thing, but if they needed help, they'd have called," Xander assured her.
Jonathan took the stage. "It is time to announce the homecoming queen," he said. He opened the envelope and frowned. "It seems that we actually have a tie. I guess, the girls will have to rotate who gets the crown. Your new homecoming queens are Cordelia Chase and Willow Rosenberg."
"What?" Willow said in dismay.
Xander grinned. "Both of my girls are queens!" he exclaimed happily.
"Come on," Cordelia said, grabbing Willow's hand and pulling her reluctantly onto the stage.
Willow couldn't believe it. Students she went to school with were actually smiling and cheering and clapping for her. When she got up on the stage, she looked up, still expecting a bucket of paint or pig's blood to fall. However, there was no reason to be afraid.
They liked her; they really liked her.
*****Slayers' Headquarters*****
They were within sight of Faith's home, Tony's mansion they called their headquarters when a guy carrying a very large gun popped out in front of them.
Faith saw him first and jumped in front of Buffy, calling out, "Watch out!" as the man raised his gun.
Natalie, though, was coming out of the house having been contacted by Willow that the girls might be in trouble. She had just spoken to Faith's watcher and was going to find the two slayers being targeted when she heard Faith call out, and she raised her weapon. However, she was too late as bullets hit Faith's body.
Buffy watched in horror as Faith shielded her from the gun shot, and then she was hit, collapsing on top of Buffy.
*****To Be Continued*****