"Sunnydalopolis..." Part IV...
Sunnydalopolis part IV
It's nearly a mile through the trees to the gravesite and Spike, running to keep up with the rapidly striding Buffy II, continues to scan about nervously. Something is twinging his sense of danger and he can tell from Buffy II's careful if swift moves that she senses something as well...
She halts and whirls back to him. "Something's up over here...Wait." She looks at him and frowns.
"Still planning to come along? You'd better be ready for a longnight...Spike!"
She screams as the six hooded figures burst upon the vampire, knocking him to the ground.
She deftly stakes two before they can do any more damage to the now unconscious Spike and the others pull back into the trees...
A voice, laughing through the trees..."Sl-a-yer...Slay-er"
Buffy II looks carefully through the trees. No movement. She turns to the prone Spike, "Spike!...Spike!" She hisses. He's out for the moment.
"My...hero." She breathes to the trees, again scanning the grove carefully...
Suddenly out of the wind, she hears the disembodied voice of Joyce Summers. "And you know, my Buffy's been having some terrible nightmares recently. I don't know why, I try to keep her away from scary movies and TV..." A tape machine is fast-forwarded with a gurgle. "I've been so worried about my girls, sometimes it seems like there's no time for me to even think..." Joyce's soft laugh echoes through the trees...
"Mom?! ...Oh, you bastard...you bastard!" Buffy II screams at the trees. A laugh comes drifting back to her...
"Sla-yer... I've been waiting so long to use these tapes...just waiting for the right moment...And here it is...If only your mother could be with us right now...to really make the moment complete..." Shadows flit through the trees, moving in on them...
***
Spike starts and slowly begins to come round. He feels himself flat on his back. God, all a dream...home...safe on the slab. Then he sees the two vamps holding Buffy...and feels the ropes around his arms.
A chubby, bearded fellow in slacks and sweater is clearly the Leader here. He grins at Spike and points to the struggling Buffy II. "You know, friend, she could have left but she waited for you. If I were still a therapist, I'd say Ms. Summers here has a serious problem with her relationships to vampires."
***
Warren is swiftly finishing up work at Xortox. He's been going like a dog to catch up on his bionetics project, paperwork, reports, paperwork, and more paperwork-all dangerously backlogged during his two weeks of all-night sessions with his new assistant "Dr. Walthrop". He's looking forward to a reasonable night's sleep but even more to spending an hour or so visiting Spike and the new Ms. Summers. A third young woman stops by to ask about the intriguing young British scientist. "CalTech," Warren repeats for the third time. "He'sgiving a seminar this week at CalTech." He starts to stuff some papers in a bag, ready to head out. A call, from upstairs, holds him. He's wanted by Dr. Severn, head of the company. A brief meeting, if he has a moment.
You always have a moment for Dr. Severn if you work for Xortox.
Trouble, no doubt about it-trouble...
"Warren, come in, come in" Severn is in an expansive mood. Warren notices that Willes, "The Hatchet", Severn's right hand man in administration is also present. Willes wears one of those oily, semi-smiles that could mean anything. Severn points to a chair and grabs some papers. Who was it, Kat said her uncle looked like...Oh, right the Dean...the Dean from the "Animal House"movie...After seeing the movie, he knew she was right...the same phony heartiness, the same combination of ruthlessness and pompousness. And Willes...Needlemeyer? No, a better image from his history reading...Beria, Laventi Beria, Joe Stalin's favorite hatchet man...the one who killed the killers...the same piggy little eyes.
"Warren, son...we have a little problem... Mr. Willes here has just brought some rather startling expense reports to my attention...All of them seem to be on your company card."
He gazes at Warren, smiling, but dead cold...
"Twelve hundred dollars in one week...But that's not the problem" he's quick to put in as Warren, a little surprised, is about to point out the paltriness of the sum, barely enough to cover a day's operational expenses at the lab...
"It's the items that were ordered, all of them apparently at the Sunnydale Mall..."
He reads slowly through the list of Buffy II's wardrobe. Willes' smile gets just a bit more oily. Warren squirms a bit, waiting for a chance to interrupt...
"...twelve sets of ladies underpants...and ten pairs of...stockings."
Severn finishes, staring at Warren. God, Spike...you said you just needed a couple of things...Warren nervously curses "Dr.Walthrop"...
"Dr. Severn, if I could explain..."
"I think you'd better, son. You know...if I didn't know you were engaged to my dearest niece, I'd wonder if you might be keeping a mistress on the company's dole."
Mistress? Warren thinks. Dearest niece? That would really amuse Katrina, if she ever came back...
Warren clears his throat...
"My new assistant Dr. Walthrop..well, he's just arrived, with his...wife. He needed a few things for her and well, he had to borrow my card...Of course I'll refund the money to the company account."
"Ah, the mysterious Dr. Walthrop. Tell me what exactly does he do here? He assists you in some way...?"
"He's...a real genius in cybernetic development...He's helped enormously in cracking some of the problems in my bionetics project."
"Well, we must meet this fellow. I understand he works off his own grant...If he's as good as you say we should have him on the team permanently. Certainly anyone you would stick your neck out so far for must be of considerable help to you."
"CalTech...He's away at CalTech. For the week."
"Well, next week then. Please set up an appointment with my secretary. Now, as to your project and this little incident...You two have been putting in some long night hours, I understand...Have you anything to show for it?"
"We've been constructing a complete body unit...To test the limbs through the full range of everyday motions."
"I think I'd like to see the fruits of your labors..."
Warren, not quite the novice he seems in dealing with the workings of the world, is prepared for this...
***
"Lad", Spike hisses at the younger of the two vamps near him. He's noticed most of the waiting vamps looking edgily at the Slayer as Mr. Remington, former therapist to Joyce Summers continues his gloating. Their confidence in theirLeader is clearly fading as fast as the buzz from their drinking...
"Say, lad...You don't really believe this fellow is going to kill the Slayer do you? THE Slayer?...Why not save yourself some trouble and earn some Slayer points inthe process?"
The young vamp pulls himself up. "DR. Remington is a great man, an annoited one, blessed with great insight into the workings of the universe."
God, thought Spike, not another Annoited One. They fall out of the trees these days. Great, just great...I pick the one religious fanatic in the lot...
Remington leers at Buffy II...
"Slayer...before I make you my bride...would you care to hear more from your dear, departed mother? To be honest, I kept these tapes mainly for my own amusement-before and after my transformation...but when I heard my old patient was the Slayer's mother...Oh, I knew I was blessed by the gods to be your destroyer."
He signs to his followers and the two holding Buffy II drag her over to where Spike is tied down.
"My only problem is...do I sacrifice this worthless traitor to his people first, or leave him to witness your transformation?"
"Say, doc...what were you annoited in...Crisco?" Spike turns to the gaggle of nervous-looking vamps. "Is this the fellow who's going to take the Slayer? I don't think so... Just what has he got, anyway?"
A chorus of voices...
"He's got you...he's got the Slayer's mommy on tape...He really helped me outwith this problem I have with my mom..."
"Ah, my tapes...thank you Benedict..." A vamp brings in a couple of recorders left in the woods, along with a stack of tapes.
Buffy II looks fixedly at Spike. He suddenly realizes this is what she's been waiting for...
Vampires who have seen the Slayer in action have often been surprised by her bursts of strength, even after clashing with her several times. It goes without saying however that when Buffy II pulled the two vampires holding her apart in a single violent surge and then killed half a dozen vamps, including her mother's slimy former therapist, by splintering the table in front of her, that this evening was to become legendary among survivors...
"I told you this was a bad idea," one of the four battered survivors muttered to his colleagues. "We should have sent her a sympathy card like I wanted to."
***
It's nearly a mile through the trees to the gravesite and Spike, running to keep up with the rapidly striding Buffy II, continues to scan about nervously. Something is twinging his sense of danger and he can tell from Buffy II's careful if swift moves that she senses something as well...
She halts and whirls back to him. "Something's up over here...Wait." She looks at him and frowns.
"Still planning to come along? You'd better be ready for a longnight...Spike!"
She screams as the six hooded figures burst upon the vampire, knocking him to the ground.
She deftly stakes two before they can do any more damage to the now unconscious Spike and the others pull back into the trees...
A voice, laughing through the trees..."Sl-a-yer...Slay-er"
Buffy II looks carefully through the trees. No movement. She turns to the prone Spike, "Spike!...Spike!" She hisses. He's out for the moment.
"My...hero." She breathes to the trees, again scanning the grove carefully...
Suddenly out of the wind, she hears the disembodied voice of Joyce Summers. "And you know, my Buffy's been having some terrible nightmares recently. I don't know why, I try to keep her away from scary movies and TV..." A tape machine is fast-forwarded with a gurgle. "I've been so worried about my girls, sometimes it seems like there's no time for me to even think..." Joyce's soft laugh echoes through the trees...
"Mom?! ...Oh, you bastard...you bastard!" Buffy II screams at the trees. A laugh comes drifting back to her...
"Sla-yer... I've been waiting so long to use these tapes...just waiting for the right moment...And here it is...If only your mother could be with us right now...to really make the moment complete..." Shadows flit through the trees, moving in on them...
***
Spike starts and slowly begins to come round. He feels himself flat on his back. God, all a dream...home...safe on the slab. Then he sees the two vamps holding Buffy...and feels the ropes around his arms.
A chubby, bearded fellow in slacks and sweater is clearly the Leader here. He grins at Spike and points to the struggling Buffy II. "You know, friend, she could have left but she waited for you. If I were still a therapist, I'd say Ms. Summers here has a serious problem with her relationships to vampires."
***
Warren is swiftly finishing up work at Xortox. He's been going like a dog to catch up on his bionetics project, paperwork, reports, paperwork, and more paperwork-all dangerously backlogged during his two weeks of all-night sessions with his new assistant "Dr. Walthrop". He's looking forward to a reasonable night's sleep but even more to spending an hour or so visiting Spike and the new Ms. Summers. A third young woman stops by to ask about the intriguing young British scientist. "CalTech," Warren repeats for the third time. "He'sgiving a seminar this week at CalTech." He starts to stuff some papers in a bag, ready to head out. A call, from upstairs, holds him. He's wanted by Dr. Severn, head of the company. A brief meeting, if he has a moment.
You always have a moment for Dr. Severn if you work for Xortox.
Trouble, no doubt about it-trouble...
"Warren, come in, come in" Severn is in an expansive mood. Warren notices that Willes, "The Hatchet", Severn's right hand man in administration is also present. Willes wears one of those oily, semi-smiles that could mean anything. Severn points to a chair and grabs some papers. Who was it, Kat said her uncle looked like...Oh, right the Dean...the Dean from the "Animal House"movie...After seeing the movie, he knew she was right...the same phony heartiness, the same combination of ruthlessness and pompousness. And Willes...Needlemeyer? No, a better image from his history reading...Beria, Laventi Beria, Joe Stalin's favorite hatchet man...the one who killed the killers...the same piggy little eyes.
"Warren, son...we have a little problem... Mr. Willes here has just brought some rather startling expense reports to my attention...All of them seem to be on your company card."
He gazes at Warren, smiling, but dead cold...
"Twelve hundred dollars in one week...But that's not the problem" he's quick to put in as Warren, a little surprised, is about to point out the paltriness of the sum, barely enough to cover a day's operational expenses at the lab...
"It's the items that were ordered, all of them apparently at the Sunnydale Mall..."
He reads slowly through the list of Buffy II's wardrobe. Willes' smile gets just a bit more oily. Warren squirms a bit, waiting for a chance to interrupt...
"...twelve sets of ladies underpants...and ten pairs of...stockings."
Severn finishes, staring at Warren. God, Spike...you said you just needed a couple of things...Warren nervously curses "Dr.Walthrop"...
"Dr. Severn, if I could explain..."
"I think you'd better, son. You know...if I didn't know you were engaged to my dearest niece, I'd wonder if you might be keeping a mistress on the company's dole."
Mistress? Warren thinks. Dearest niece? That would really amuse Katrina, if she ever came back...
Warren clears his throat...
"My new assistant Dr. Walthrop..well, he's just arrived, with his...wife. He needed a few things for her and well, he had to borrow my card...Of course I'll refund the money to the company account."
"Ah, the mysterious Dr. Walthrop. Tell me what exactly does he do here? He assists you in some way...?"
"He's...a real genius in cybernetic development...He's helped enormously in cracking some of the problems in my bionetics project."
"Well, we must meet this fellow. I understand he works off his own grant...If he's as good as you say we should have him on the team permanently. Certainly anyone you would stick your neck out so far for must be of considerable help to you."
"CalTech...He's away at CalTech. For the week."
"Well, next week then. Please set up an appointment with my secretary. Now, as to your project and this little incident...You two have been putting in some long night hours, I understand...Have you anything to show for it?"
"We've been constructing a complete body unit...To test the limbs through the full range of everyday motions."
"I think I'd like to see the fruits of your labors..."
Warren, not quite the novice he seems in dealing with the workings of the world, is prepared for this...
***
"Lad", Spike hisses at the younger of the two vamps near him. He's noticed most of the waiting vamps looking edgily at the Slayer as Mr. Remington, former therapist to Joyce Summers continues his gloating. Their confidence in theirLeader is clearly fading as fast as the buzz from their drinking...
"Say, lad...You don't really believe this fellow is going to kill the Slayer do you? THE Slayer?...Why not save yourself some trouble and earn some Slayer points inthe process?"
The young vamp pulls himself up. "DR. Remington is a great man, an annoited one, blessed with great insight into the workings of the universe."
God, thought Spike, not another Annoited One. They fall out of the trees these days. Great, just great...I pick the one religious fanatic in the lot...
Remington leers at Buffy II...
"Slayer...before I make you my bride...would you care to hear more from your dear, departed mother? To be honest, I kept these tapes mainly for my own amusement-before and after my transformation...but when I heard my old patient was the Slayer's mother...Oh, I knew I was blessed by the gods to be your destroyer."
He signs to his followers and the two holding Buffy II drag her over to where Spike is tied down.
"My only problem is...do I sacrifice this worthless traitor to his people first, or leave him to witness your transformation?"
"Say, doc...what were you annoited in...Crisco?" Spike turns to the gaggle of nervous-looking vamps. "Is this the fellow who's going to take the Slayer? I don't think so... Just what has he got, anyway?"
A chorus of voices...
"He's got you...he's got the Slayer's mommy on tape...He really helped me outwith this problem I have with my mom..."
"Ah, my tapes...thank you Benedict..." A vamp brings in a couple of recorders left in the woods, along with a stack of tapes.
Buffy II looks fixedly at Spike. He suddenly realizes this is what she's been waiting for...
Vampires who have seen the Slayer in action have often been surprised by her bursts of strength, even after clashing with her several times. It goes without saying however that when Buffy II pulled the two vampires holding her apart in a single violent surge and then killed half a dozen vamps, including her mother's slimy former therapist, by splintering the table in front of her, that this evening was to become legendary among survivors...
"I told you this was a bad idea," one of the four battered survivors muttered to his colleagues. "We should have sent her a sympathy card like I wanted to."
***
posted by regertz at 10:40 AM
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