"Sunnydalopolis..." Part XVI...

Sunnydalopolis, part XVI

After settling matters with Spike, Buffy Rebecca naturally sought a heart to
heart with 'Dad' back at her birthplace...Xortox Labs...

"Well, Warren?..." She has broached a question on neural energy...

"I'm not experienced with neural energy but I assume Benedictus opposes Glory
with a similar but opposite energy... Maybe they're like the poles of a
magnet...one end in each dimension, periodically flipping over with Benedictus
mostly in ours...?"

"And should other energy be opposed...say electrical?"

"It might disrupt their situation...but it would probably take enough power to
blackout California..."

"So my brain couldn't handle it..."

"Only if the charge went around the brain...like being in a metal car in a
lightning storm...but...I ...can't guarantee what the after-effects could
be..."

"It wouldn't be like lightning?...I wouldn't have to see it?...I hate
lightning..."

Warren looks at her...my little Buffy Rebecca...vampire-slaying goddess
fighter...afraid of lightning... She'd kill me for the "...my little..." part,
fail-safe or not...

"You won't have to see it...but what does Spike say...?"

"Many things...very many things...mostly of little meaning..."
***
Buffy Rebecca out for a Saturday evening at the Sunnydale Mall with her
friends...

[Play theme for "Dr." Walthrop, family man (A Hard Day's Night)]

Dr. Walthrop is occupied...struggling to learn the rudimentals of
cybernetics...He can't always use the pipe-puffing,
well-let-me-consider-that-oh, Warren-old-boy approach... He can handle this,
two years at Cambridge and all...Good thing the little lady left plenty of
blood in the fridge...

Perhaps not a bad idea to check on the Niblett...pledge to the Slayer and all
that...
***
"Will, I have to speak to Xander..."

Willow, who has reluctantly arranged this get-together...without informing the
others which Buffy is coming...is puzzled...

"Xander...are you telling Xander?..." He's a great guy...don't get me
wrong...but gee...he has his limitations...and robot intolerance is one of
them...

"I have to ask him...something..."
***
Xander is quite pleased to see Buffy enjoying a quiet night out with her
friends...after nearly killing him back at Giles' during the Warren
interrogation... Maybe not having Dawn around for an evening is sort of a
tension-release...
***
The Emperor of Byzantium and Rome has reached a decision...cruel necessity
dictates that the Key must die to save the lives of millions, perhaps the whole
world...Much as he would like to give the Slayer a chance to defeat Glory and
save her sister...Too much rests on the destruction of the Key before Glory can
use it...

He is, after all, a Caesar...

But there is no point in sending a large force that Glory's followers would
detect...They would know instantly that the Knights had discovered the
Key...Yet, the Emperor is well aware of the Slayer's abilities...The Key will
be shadowed...By a small force, elite, in civilian disguise...And when time
offers an opportunity...

Learning from his faithful scouts that the Summers' girls have indeed left
their home and are in a public place...he despatches six of his best...The rest
are alert and ready to join the fight at a moment's notice...

Yet, he cannot help hoping that the brave Ms. Summers can succeed in her
quest...

What a consort she would make for that young Basil...
***
Buffy Rebecca...still presenting as Buffy...asks Xander to speak with
her...alone...

Anya is naturally pleased to be shoved away...ignored...And suspects Buffy has
the usual outrageous demand to make of her Xander... She insists on coming and
Buffy agrees...

She didn't mean to exclude Anya...See it's just...Well...

"Xander, I need you to watch over Dawn..."

Difficult, Buf...Dawn's not here right now...Oh...

"You mean when you fight Glory?..."

"The Knights will be there..."

Educated guess... Buf? Xander wonders

"Giles has arranged it...We'll be allies...up to a point..."

Allies...Allies are good thinks Anya...But why does Buffy need
Xander?...OH!...Wait a minute!...

"Buffy...You want Xander to hold off the Knights from getting Dawn?...The
Knights?...Alone?..."

Anya is always surprising me...Buffy Rebecca thinks...

Xander is getting over his blinking fit and tries to make a proper hero's
comeback...

"Hey...for Dawn...Anything..."

"Buffy, could we speak for a minute?..." Anya asks... "Go far away, Xander..."

Xander tries to look embarrassed at his girl's defensiveness...Anya, hero
here...you know...
Of course, if Buffy might be persuaded to include a leetle help...
***
"Anya, I know you're afraid for Xander..."

"Afraid...no... Certain that he'll be killed...yes...Why are you doing this,
Buffy?..."

"I need his help..."

"No...Why are you fighting Glory?...To protect Dawn?...She's not really your
sister..."

"She is to me..."

"You don't care about Xander...You don't care about anyone...It's no wonder you
hate that robot...She was nice..." Anya turns away... "I don't like you,
Buffy...I don't think it's fair what you do..."

"Anya..."

"Xander isn't superhuman... He'll be killed...And you wouldn't care one bit..."

"Anya, he'll be killed if I lose..."

"Give Glory her Key...She's going to beat you...And she might go easy on people
if she gets what she wants..."

Buffy Rebecca looks at Anya's tearful face...

"You know she won't 'go easy'... Anya, you have every right to hate me and
what I'm doing to Xander...and all of you...But I need help..."

"Can I stay with Xander?...When you make him help Dawn...Or is that too much to
ask..."

"You can stay..."

Anya's jaw drops...Buffy Rebecca does not need to be told what she's just
seen...Buffy and Dawn, shopping a few stores down from them... She is Buffy
after all...

Buffy, despite heavy medication, has no intention of missing her Saturday mall
night out...Besides Dawn needs shoes...Even if the sisters are not on good
speaking terms...

***
Dreg was slightly disappointed on learning from his scouts that the Slayer and her sister were not at home this night...He had worked out such a brilliant scheme for playing on a human tendency he'd noted at "our place"...the Sunnydale Mall...Human interest in any document offering 50% off...

He would simply knock on the Summers' door, make the declamation, and when the door was opened to him and his fellows...Ah, well...A truly intrepid minion must adapt to any situation...and his scouts had reported the Summers' seemed headed for his chosen battleground...

He alerted Scodos and his own Brethren...If the young ladies were headed for the battle site...It was time to secure Benedictus...
***