Take That!Xander Magnet |
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Take That! Author:
Xander Magnet Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one used herein, JW and ME own it all – I’m just playing in a pretty big sandbox! Notes: Challenge fic in response to Margot on the BBBFic list – new demon, returning character and film quote. My film quote comes from “The Wild Bunch” spoken by a character called Lyle it’s “You crazy bastards! Both of you!” (it’ll make sense – or at least I think it will!) Set during Season 5. Other Note: This is unbetad, all mistakes are mine and it’s just a quick throwaway story that I came up with today to see if I could do a Xander-less story! She drummed her fingers impatiently on the edge of the tombstone she was leaning on. Patrol had been quiet recently but Giles insisted that there was going to be some activity of a demonic nature soon – the moon was in the fifth house of something or other while Mars was doing something bizarre somewhere else in the stars. Sometimes, Buffy thought that the ex-Watcher made up this stuff to see how long he could keep talking for. Still, his insistence that the position of the planets meant some demon was rising gave her the opportunity to get out and about, away from all the intense research into this Glory chick. “Hey, Buffy, whatcha doing?” She turned to see Willow coming towards her across the cemetery. The red head was munching on a packet of chips and making no effort at all to be quiet. Not that it really mattered; it wasn’t as though anything was going to happen anyway. Almost as if that very thought had triggered it, a burly figure came flying towards Buffy knocking her to the ground before she could react. “Told you it wasn’t over, Slayer,” sneered a guttural voice with a distinctive Texan accent. She rolled her eyes, Lyle Gorch, she thought she’d seen the last of him when Cordy had chased him off – although she still found that hard to believe! He had her pinned to the ground but judicious placement of her left knee soon moved him. As he rolled away curling up in a pain-filled ball, she jumped to her feet and assumed a fighting stance. Fists raised she watched with a sneer on her face as he struggled up, gasping for air he didn’t need. Sometimes she despaired of the stupidity of vampires. Willow came running up, knowing better than to interrupt the Slayer whilst she was fighting, she was reaching into her oversized satchel and pulling out a handy stake. She tossed it towards the blonde girl and Buffy caught it, nodding her thanks. Gorch finally made it to his feet and backed away from her trying to put a brave face over the obvious agony he was feeling. Taking a deep gulp, he stood upright and faced off with her. Stake poised, she moved in for the kill only to see his eyes widen as he saw something over her shoulder. Warily she turned around, manoeuvring so that she could keep the vampire in her line of sight. Before she could prevent it a gasp escaped her. Willow was still in front of her, but the air between them shimmered with an ethereal light. Looked like Giles had been right about the demonic activity tonight after all. The ground began to shake violently beneath her and out of the corner of her eye she could see Lyle Gorch grabbing at his hat and struggling to keep his balance. Buffy was more prepared, however, Giles had briefed her well on the tricks used by this demon and she was ready for it. Right on cue, a lightening strike forked down from an otherwise clear sky causing a crack in the ground directly in front of Willow. Looking a little shocked, the redhead looked straight at Buffy and nodded slightly. Slowly, inexorably, the fissure between the witch, the Slayer and the vampire widened. There was a strange sound emanating from the gap, almost like a quiet roar. “Damn, Slayer, what the heck’s that?” Buffy barely glanced at the vampire beside her, without replying she pushed him to the side, she’d deal with him later. He hit a nearby head stone with a satisfying thud and went motionless. Good, if he was out cold she could concentrate on the task at hand. From what Giles had told her about this demon, it was relentless. Just when you thought you’d gotten rid of it, it would pop up with a slightly different appearance but identical where it mattered. It was insidious and managed to work it’s way into normal life until soon it dominated everything around it. The sound coming from the gap was growing louder; it was definitely a roar with what sounded almost like screams mixed in with it. A fog began to rise from the gap peppered with irregular flashes of light. A rhythmic stamping sound began and the screams began to overtake the roaring. Strangely the screams weren’t pain filled, it was hard to put her finger on it but the screamers sounded more like they were in desperation than in mortal terror. Dark motionless shapes began to rise from the hole; it was hard to make out what they were with the fog and flashing lights. “Buffy? What do we do?” There was a hint of panic in Willow’s voice but Buffy could see the determination in her best friend’s eyes. “Stay strong, Will. We can beat this thing. Remember what Giles said!” Suddenly the figures shot up to ground level. The noise stopped but Buffy could tell that it was just a lull in the storm; it would be back, louder than ever. She squinted, trying to get a clear picture of the thing they were facing. It was hard to make out; it looked like a group of men, barely more than boys. They seemed to be good looking in a wholesome way, although there was one who was breathtakingly handsome and, as if balancing the scales, another who was remarkable only in his ordinariness. She tried to judge the size of the group but every time she looked at it the number changed; one second there was five of them, then four, then five again. It was as if the thing couldn’t quite make up its mind. The plain looking one of the group held something up to his face and Buffy felt a small thrill run down her spine, as it seemed he was looking directly at her. He noticed her! “Hello, Sunnydale!” he said in a rich, but somehow slightly nasal, voice. Buffy could feel herself getting breathless and a giddiness threatened to take her over completely. “Buffy! Remember!” It was Willow’s voice; the redhead seemed to be coping better than she herself was, maybe the fact she was a witch was preventing the spell affecting her. “It’s just a demon, you know how to fight this! Oh!” The latter was aimed at the shortest (and apparently youngest) of the group in front of her. He had turned at the sound of her voice and seemed to be smiling sheepishly at her. That spurred Buffy into action and she called out at the top of her voice, “Write your own songs!” They all turned to look at her again, but she forced herself to keep going, to not let them get to her. “Nobody likes you! You’re has-beens! Yesterday’s news!” The leader of the group seemed to wilt a little and the others clustered around him. Willow joined in with hurling insults, albeit a bit shakily at first. Soon the group was physically shrinking away from them. It was time for the killer blow. “You’ve been dropped by the record company!” A look of sheer agony came across their faces as they clawed desperately at the air in front of them. They held their hands out, as if in supplication but Buffy and Willow simply looked at each other across the heads of the cowering demon-things and nodded at each other. Lyle Gorch watched from the vantage point of the recently unconscious. Some shapeless thing was between the Slayer and her witch friend and instead of killing it, the two of them just shouted at it and then turned their backs to it. Puzzled, he watched as the shape tried to move towards them both at the same time. They were on either side of it however, and Lyle just shook his head as it tore itself apart, an inhuman screech marking the end of whatever it had been. The Slayer was facing him now, and he could see his presence register in her mind. She’d clearly forgotten all about him. Jumping to his feet he nodded at her in what he hoped was a courteous way. Her eyes narrowed and he could see the muscles in her jaw tensing. No snappy come back from her, however. The witch came and stood beside her, holding a stake out to the Slayer. He looked from one to the other; either of them would dust him in a second; he could see that in their expressions. Tipping his hat at them he called out, “You crazy bastards! Both of you!” Then he turned tail and ran, next time he’d have to actually plan ahead a little. “Are you going after him Buffy?” Willow looked at her friend with concern. The Slayer looked wiped out and near tears. Buffy shook her head slowly, “Nah. He’ll be back.” She turned and smiled at Willow, “Let’s head back and tell Giles we killed the big bad– what was it he called it again?” “A
N’Bluebustlife or something.” The redhead answered, continuing, “I
wasn’t really listening to be honest, have you ever noticed how when he
has nothing to say, he’ll spend five minutes talking about the position
of the planets?” Buffy smiled, so Willow had noticed that as well then.
She linked arms with the other girl and they headed back to the Magic Box,
giggling as they compared notes on what else they had both noticed. |
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