Spike stood there smiling in the doorway. As if out of nowhere, a stake flew at him. If he had not dropped to the floor, ashes would have been all that was left of him. Everyone turned and saw Xander standing there with an infuriated look on his face. "Get the hell out here before I kill you, Spike," he growled at the vampire.
Faith stared at her one-time love in disbelief. "Where did you learn
how to
throw like that?" she asked.
"Why are you so angry with me, boy?" Spike questioned.
Xander ignored Faith and looked right at the vampire. "You tried to
kill
Willow."
"Little protective aren't you?" Spike asked him.
Before Xander could answer, Oz walked in.
"What's Fang-boy and Crazy-lady doing here?" he asked with a joking
smile.
Drusilla's face changed to its vampire form and she hissed at Oz.
Being
called crazy did not make her very happy.
"Wow, evil thing, down," Faith ordered with a smile.
Xander shot her a disgusted look and the slayer's smile quickly
disappeared.
Since the time they had slept together, the two teenagers had not been
on the
best of terms. Faith suspected it was because of his love for Willow.
"What are you doing here, Spike?" Giles asked calmly.
"Well, watcher-man, me and Dru like Sunnydale. As I told your slayer
once
before, it's full of happy meals with legs. Or people as you call them.
Besides, no other town has a slayer like your Buffy. Or any slayer at
all for
that matter," Spike answered with a grin.
"Reality check, vampire. There's four of us now," Faith informed him.
Spike's eyes widened in disbelief. The implications of a situation like that ran through his head. With four slayers in town, vampires and all the evils of the world were going to be in some deep shit.
Willow looked over at Faith, "Good going, moron. Let all the demons
know we
have some extra help."
"Like they're not gonna find out anyways," the slayer shot back.
"Look, Faith. You need to learn to keep things to yourself, you little
bitch.
One day someone might decide to kick your ass," Willow said in a
dangerous
tone.
Everyone turned and looked at Willow in utter disbelief. It was at
this
moment that Cordelia waltzed into the library. For once she had her
nose stuck
in a book and she didn't notice what was going on.
"Files, I have to do a report on the Egyptian pyramids. Do you think
you
could help me…" Cordelia then looked up and realized the library wasn't
empty.
"Why are we all staring at Willow? Who's boyfriend did she steal this
time?"
she asked.
"It seems our little witch is finally getting a backbone," Faith
answered
her. The young woman obviously wasn't taking Willow seriously at all.
"Faith did you ever think that it might be time to shut the hell up?
'Cause,
everything that comes out of your mouth manages to piss at least one
person
off. At least," Xander told her.
"You ARE protective of her, aren't you?" she asked with a wicked
little grin.
"You're pissing me off, and from the look of it, you're doing the same
to
every other person in this room. Too bad Buffy's not here. Maybe she
could
kick your face in like she did last time."
"Geez, Xander. Since when did you start snapping back at your betters?
You
used to be just Buffy's wanna be guard dog," Cordelia cut in.
"Ugh. Cordelia, just shut your big mouth. Nobody wants to here
anything from
you either," Willow said in a disgusted tone to her enemy.
Wesley inched his way over to Giles. "Aren't you going to put an end
to this,
Mr. Giles?" he asked nervously.
"You're the watcher, Mr. Price. And that's your slayer involved. By
Council
rules, I'm not allowed to interfere," Giles told him with a satisfied
grin.
The watcher looked at him in horror and then stepped out boldly into
the
middle of the argument. "Please, everyone just calm down. No need to
fight
over stupid things."
Everyone looked at him as if they hadn't even known he was there.
"Shut up!"
they yelled in unison.
Wesley decided that it wasn't worth being beat up, so he quietly
backed out
of the fight. Better to just let the teenagers duke it out. He went and
stood
next to Giles again. "Who do you think will win, Mr. Giles?" he asked.
"I'm going to put my money on Willow and Xander. I think they have
enough
fuel to
win hands down," the librarian answered him.
Wesley nodded and turned his attention back to the arguing teenagers.
It was
going to be an interesting fight.
"Angel, I didn't know you were consorting with slayers nowadays," Mr.
Trick
told the vampire.
Buffy took on a confused look for the millionth time that night. "You
two
know each other?" she asked.
"Not exactly. I knew Angelus-the REAL vampire. Not this weak, whipped
creature I see before me," Mr. Trick answered her.
Kiara walked up to him and looked him in the eye. "So nice to see you
again,
Fangy," she greeted him with a smile.
Before Buffy could ask another question, Raven cut in. "We know him
too. He
was there when our watcher was killed," she said in a grim voice.
"Your watcher was weak and easily killed. Wasn't even really worth
it," Mr.
Trick taunted the druid.
"You're gonna wish you'd never have crossed me," Raven warned in a
dangerous
voice.
"I'm shakin' in my boots," the black vampire joked.
Raven's fist lashed out quick as lightening and slammed into Mr.
Trick's left
cheek. She hit him so hard that his eyes rolled back in his head and he
fell
limply to the ground.
"We gotta tell Giles," Buffy repeated.
Raven stood up straight and her eyes suddenly went distant. She stood there for a few moments and then her eyes refocused. "He already knows. He finally found one of the druid prophecies. But, we need to get back to the library or we may be a slayer short by the end of the night," she told them.
Kiara and Kevin stood up and let their eyes go distant also. When
their eyes
refocused, they both started to laugh. Soon after, unable to resist the
temptation, Raven also cracked up. Buffy and Angel looked on in
confusion.
When Raven saw this, she was able to control herself long enough to
explain.
"Faith has managed to upset your friends big time. Willow's gonna kill
someone and Xander is just gonna explode. Unfortunately, we DO need
Faith on
our side."
Raven's back was to the door of the mansion and suddenly the hair on the back of her neck began to rise. "Angel, were you expecting any more company tonight?" she asked nervously.
"No, why?" But before she could even answer him, a new person appeared in the doorway.
He wasn't tall - shorter than Buffy and Raven both. His hair was blond, though it looked like there was a lot of gel in it. One would guess that he was one of those idiots that never got the girl. The only thing remarkable about him was the fact that he was a vampire. He already had his game face on.
"I have orders to take you back to the library," he told them.
"Who the hell are you?" Raven asked rudely. This night had not been
going the
way she had planned.
Kiara looked at her sister and shook her head in dismay. It looked like she was gonna have to handle this. "Whose orders?"
"Drusilla's. And by the way, my name is Justin. Are you gonna go peacefully, or am I gonna have to call reinforcements?"
Raven was about to tell him just where he could stick his damn reinforcements, but Angel managed to get himself between her and the grinning vamp.
"We'll go peacefully," he told him.
And with that, the group left the mansion and headed for the library-where there was already a strong storm brewing.
Faith looked at Willow challengingly. They were now standing right in each other's faces. "Do you REALLY think you could take me?" the slayer asked.
Although she was acting tough, Faith was inwardly cringing. She knew that Willow and Xander would put up one hell of a fight.
It was at this point that Kiara, Raven, and the rest of the group walked in. Faith turned around with a sneer on her face. "You gonna help the losers, huh? Use your druid powers to blow me to pieces?"
"Actually, Faith my dear, I'm here to save your sorry ass. Willow wants to kill you. Unfortunately, we need all four slayers or you can say 'bye bye world'," Raven explained to her.
"I don't NEED your help," she retorted.
"Fine, we'll pick up the pieces after Willow's done," Kiara said.
The group went and stood next to the two watchers. Oz also joined them. Only Cordelia, Xander, Willow, and Faith were left standing in the middle of the room.
Faith turned back to face Willow. "You know you're just jealous, Will. You can't stand the fact that I got to your precious Xander first-and you'll NEVER get the chance," she taunted.
Then the fight began. Willow threw the first punch and it hit home. Faith was knocked to the floor immediately. Cordelia stared at Willow in horror. Then she snapped out of her daze and looked angrily at the witch.
"Geez, Willow. You really ARE jealous, aren't you?" she asked with a look of disgust.
Xander didn't even hesitate. He jumped in the air, spun around, and jabbed his right foot at Cordy's face. He did not miss. The sneaker that Xander was wearing cut into her face and Cordelia began to bleed.
The fight came to a standstill while the teens looked at each other with hatred in their eyes. Faith and Cordy were just realizing how much trouble they were in; Xander and Willow were just getting started.
Spike leaned over to Drusilla. "Fighting among the group, pet. We should take advantage."
In a flash, Kiara was behind him with an iron grip on the back of his
neck.
"You said something, honey?" she asked in a sweet voice.
And then, for about the third time that night, someone came barging through the library doors unexpectedly. Faith, not even checking to see who it was, picked up a chair and threw it with all her might at the person-they didn't even have time to duck. Luckily, Kiara was quick. She lunged in front of the person, knocking him down as she did so. The wooden chair smashed into her head and splintered into pieces. However, it didn't seem to faze her. She got right up to see if the person was okay. When she saw whom she had saved, Kiara almost burst out laughing.
"Mike, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked instead. Kiara gave him her hand to help him up. He graciously took it and stood up.
"I'm here to talk to Mr. Giles," he explained. "Why the hell did you throw that damn chair at me?" Mike asked Faith angrily.
"I don't like your attitude," she growled at him. Faith picked up a book and flung it at him. Suddenly, the book stopped its light midair and just floated. Everyone looked at Raven and Kiara curiously.
"Don't look at us," Raven told them.
"That's right, 'cause I did it," Mike said.
"You?" Faith asked incredulously.
Mike concentrated and the book flew back at the slayer. The book
knocked her
in the head so hard that she fell backwards on her butt.
"You little…," she began.
"What? What are you gonna do, Faith? I've got the upperhand here. You
got
nothin'. Come at me again and I'll throw your ass across the room," he
warned.
Faith ignored the warning and tried to jump Mike. She quickly was thrown mid-jump back in to the rows of books behind her. Her head slammed against the wall and she went unconscious. The group turned and stared at the teenager in awe.
Mike looked at Kiara. "Thanks for taking that chair for me. I wasn't expecting anyone to be throwing things at me," he said to her with a smile.
"No problem," she returned, answering his smile with one of her own. Raven watched the sparks flying between the two teenagers. It was time her sister found a boyfriend. And although Mike could be a TOTAL jackass sometimes, he and Kiara usually got on pretty damn well.
"Is that what you wanted to talk to Giles about?" Raven asked Mike.
"Yeah. Look, I know all about you guys. Slayers, werewolves, vampires,
witches. I know because I'm a druid like Kiara and Raven. Thought you
guys
might like to know," He explained.
"Look, that's great and all. But, I'm tired! Can we go home and talk about this tomorrow?" Willow whined.
Giles laughed at the exhausted witch and nodded. "Yes. But because
tomorrow's
Saturday, I want you all here at 10:00 a.m. sharp."
"You act as though you're in charge..." Wesley began. Then he thought
twice
about it and shut up.
Everyone turned and slowly exited the library, headed for their homes.
The next morning dawned bright and warm. Spring had finally melted the cold winter weather, and the sun was reassuring everyone that it would be there for a while.
Raven and Kiara were the first ones at the library that morning with the exception of the sleeping Faith. Her face had swollen considerably where Willow had slammed her fist.
Shortly after, Giles, Buffy, Mike, and Kevin showed up. Willow, Xander, and Oz came together, while Spike, Drusilla, Angel, and Justin came heavily garbed in thick clothing from head to toe. Wesley and Cordelia were the last to arrive.
Giles immediately took control of the meeting. It seemed that Wesley was still quite frightened from last night's episode. Just to add to the effect, Buffy nonchalantly began to whittle a new stake.
"Anybody going to wake up Faith?" Cordelia asked first.
As if on cue, the dark-haired slayer began to open her eyes. When she
finally
mustered the strength, Faith stood up and looked around the room.
"How long have I been out?" she asked curiously.
"Since last night. Willow hit ya fairly hard," Oz informed her.
"Wait a minute. I remember this part. Willow hit me, but she did NOT
knock me
out. That stupid bastard over there threw me across the room with his
mystical
powers," Faith argued.
"Yeah, but Willow is the one that put a dent in your face," Kevin said
pointedly.
"And where do you get off calling ME names? You're the one that threw
a chair
at me before I even did anything," Mike put in.
Kiara stepped in. "Look, we didn't come here to fight. We gotta talk about what's going on and how we're gonna save the world from total destruction, okay?"
"Kiara's right, you guys. I mean, come on. End of the world? I'd say we need to do something about it considering we're the only ones that can," Buffy agreed.
"Right. I wasn't going to do this until later, but I think we should get things out in the open now. I'm gonna give you guys the rest of the druid prophecies. First I gotta tell the rest of the group what I already told Buffy last night. Kiara, Kevin, and I-and probably Mike if I'm reading the signs right- are more than just druids. Me and Kiara are more than just slayers. We're supertroopers. I can't really explain what that is; you have to see it. One other thing-one of you is also a supertrooper. I won't say who just yet," Raven explained.
"Why won't you tell us? I mean, if you're really on our side, then you'd tell us everything," Willow objected. She, like the rest, still didn't fully trust Raven and her friends.
Angel stepped in before Raven could make a snide remark. "Look, this
isn't a
game, okay? Slayers, watchers, vampires, witches, supertroopers,
werewolves,
and slayerettes have to unite if we're going to beat this thing."
"Ya know, Raven. It would REALLY piss the Council off if you told them
who
the other supertrooper was," Kiara pointed out with a sly smile.
"It would, wouldn't it?" Raven replied, thinking it over in her head.
"Why would you want to upset the Council?" Wesley asked.
"We don't like the Council, and they don't like us. They don't like us
because they're afraid of us. Our first watcher was sent to discipline
us-to
teach us the rules and make us obey them. We were quite the wild
slayers when
we were five and six. Two years later Keisha-our watcher-told the
Council that
she would no longer try to discipline us because our disobedience would
probably one day save our lives. She said she would be our watcher, but
also
our friend. The Council did NOT like this and they had her killed the
next
day-and made us watch," Raven's voice began to crack as tears rolled
down her
face. "The thing that killed her was hideous. Keisha tried to fight,
but it
was useless. As soon as he-I think it was a he-touched her, she began
to die."
Raven straightened and wiped away the tears. "After that the Council
announced
that they no longer wanted me to be one of their slayers. They would
like to
keep Kiara-she was the quieter one. But they had made a pact with the
druid
royalty and they were stuck with me. From then on it's been war between
us."
Raven paused and looked around, waiting for a reaction.
"What about the thing that killed your watcher? What was it? Is it
still
alive?" Mike asked.
"Jeez, curious much?" Cordelia asked, surprised that Mike didn't
realize that
his questions were rude.
"It's okay, Cordy. They're valid questions." Kiara turned to Mike.
"Karmarkstis. That's what killed Keisha. Raven and I have been tracking
him
ever since. But the Council is always prepared. Anytime Raven or I are
just
about to kill it, the Council threatens innocent people with a new
horror and
we have to go save them. Another ting about Karmarkstis-he can easily
change
form. That's why it's so hard to kill him. He'll change into someone
you love.
That and the fact that if he touches you-we're talking grabbing your
arm-poison sees into your body and you die in less than a minute. A lot
of
pain and suffering can be packed into that one minute. Believe me,
Raven and I
saw our watcher go through it." At this point Kiara lost control and
she began
to cry. Once again, the tears slid down Raven's face, although she
wouldn't
let herself sob. Kevin came right over to her and wrapped his arms
around her
waist from the back. Mike walked over to Kiara and gave her a hug,
trying to
comfort her.
"I think it's safe to say that we should probably steer our way off of this subject," Xander suggested.
A few moments of a very awkward silence followed. Everyone had new
respect
for the two druid slayers now that they saw that they had actual
feelings.
When Raven finally spoke, her voice was full of determination.
"I hate the Council. And just to upset them, I'll tell you who the
other
supertrooper is," she took a deep breath and faced Willow, Oz, and
Xander.
"It's you, Xander. You're one of us."