"Sunnydalopolis..." Part XVIII...

digital art courtesy PB

Opening theme
Spike and Buffy Rebecca love theme

Sunnydalopolis part XVIII

***
When Giles learned from his answering machine in order: that Willow had reluctantly organized
a gang Mall excursion with Buffy Rebecca...passing as Buffy...That Buffy and Dawn had gone to
the Mall... And that the Byzantine Emperor's subcommander begged to inform him that the
Knights were marching to meet the Brethren at the Sunnydale Mall...He realized that his
carefully crafted plan of bringing Glory, Buffy Rebecca, and the Knights together in the
presence of Dawn and without the presence of Buffy...had fallen to pieces... Both Buffies
would be in Glory's sights and both were likely to be destroyed...

And, if his plan still succeeded through the loss of the Key to Glory or its destruction by the
Knights...Buffy would soon be aware that he had secretly negotiated with both Buffy Rebecca
and the Knights... Allowing Dawn to be placed in jeopardy...He was sure to lose the love of
the only child he'd ever had...

It was time to leave the sidelines... He would fight and if things went as might be expected, die
with the Knights...And, if he should not be killed in the fight...There was no shortage of ways
for a human being to die in Sunnydale...

***

With Buffy's sudden, unannounced departure...to offer her congratulations to Dr Walthrop (aka
Spike), Xortox Labs' new shining star in cybernetics, on his achievements in robot design...
Dawn was unknowingly left alone at the shoe superstore of the Sunnydale Mall...

She was still angry at her sister over the issue of Spike's robot...Dawn being of a young and
romantic age was inclined to see the "brighter" side of Spike's action in any case...And Buffy
Rebecca had seen to it that they recovered Joyce Summers' insurance papers, not to mention
old therapy tapes held by Sunnydale's sleaziest therapist and now defunct vampire, Milton
Remington...She was nice, Dawn had firmly decided...And Buffy was being....

Having decided to allow her sister the infinite grace of a brief glance, Dawn was disappointed to
find that Buffy was not only not abjectly awaiting her sister's pleasure, but had disappeared
entirely...

But Dawn is not unobserved....
***
Anya is being "held prisoner"...in least by her own estimation... by Buffy Rebecca...who had
ducked them both into the nearest store to avoid being spotted by Buffy and Dawn...

Too clever to risk instant death at the potentially homicidal robot's hands by crying out, Anya
feigns a casual, relaxed attitude while awaiting her opportunity to signal those nearest to her,
Willow and Tara...Xander being still "far away" at her own request...
Willow and Tara, who are perfectly aware who Buffy Rebecca is...Willow having arranged her
coming...and that she is incapable of killing humans...besides being Buffy's one chance of
escaping death at Glory's hands...are far more interested in the commotion developing far
down the mall corridor where Ms. Buffy Summers (human) is about to make contact...
physically...with the distinguished Dr. William Walthrop...

As regards Anya, their main concern is that she not be too hard on Buffy Rebecca in opposing
her desire to have Xander guard Dawn during the upcoming battle with Glory...

Buffy Rebecca, apart from wanting to avoid Buffy, deal with Anya's fears and anger over
Xander's assignment, and plan out strategy against Glory with Willow...is hoping to find an
opportunity to mention Spike's new position at Xortox to one or more of her friends...

Not that she would want to boast about the little rat or anything...Just well, laying the
groundwork...for improving his standing with them...in the distant future...And, well...it really is
a nice job and all...Especially for a dead man educated in the last century...

And she hopes to see Dawn...if she can catch her alone...Just for a moment's glance...Maybe
even a quick chat...When Buffy is occupied elsewhere...
***
Dawn is also the source of keen interest for...

Dreg, Chief Minion and Commander of the Goddess of Glory and Victory's legion, now
"General" Dreg
moving into the Mall food court with some dozen Brethren and a captive Benedictus,
benevolent counterpart of Glory...Dreg's fondest wish right now in fact is to locate and
meet Dawn...and hold her hostage for the return of Glory's Key...

And...three well-dressed young couples who have been shadowing Buffy and Dawn for some
time...Knights of Byzantium, elite assassins sent by their Emperor to destroy the Key...Dawn
Summers...

Of the two groups...the Knight assassins are closer by far...They can see Dawn...And they
have seen Buffy depart...

***
Spike vaguely sees a blonde cloud of fury bearing down upon him before he is hurled into
space and lands against a wall...Long experience leaves him with no doubt as to who
this is...

"Buffy..? Nice to..." He is once again propelled into space...

She's really upset... He thinks...No, "Spike-here's-the-deal"...No long
pronouncements of eminent doom to all things vampiral...Just a grim, steady assault
without words.

Still, he can't help noting, a little proudly...Even as she sends him once again across
the corridor...Her speed just can't compare to Buffy Rebecca's...
***
[The Battle of the Sunnydale Mall (The Planets-Mars)]

Events however are conspiring to prevent Buffy from completing her get-together with
Spike...

Scodos, leader of Dreg's vampire mercenaries, his men, and a horde of Brethren have
begun to overrun the Mall parking lots and surround the building...

and...

The Knights of Byzantium have begun to arrive in the rear and front parking lots in force,
their Emperor in their midst...
***
Despite Benedictus' efforts to hold her, Glory now manifests her divine self in the
Sunnydale Mall food court...

Dreg has several mallers taken prisoner by his men brought over to provide Glory with her
needed neural energy...enough at least to hold Ben back for the moment...and engage her
enemies...

"Dreg!? Situation!?"

"Your divinity...The Slayer and her sister and her companions are here..."

"Key? Dreg...Key?!"

"Gloriousness, I believe our best chance to recover the Key is to capture the Slayer's
young sister and ransom her for the Key..."

"Excellent...Dreg...If I had had one like you back in 382..." She sighs, and seems
a little down...

Remembering those treacherous Caesars...Dreg thinks sadly...

He gallantly presents the teary goddess with a Cinnabun...

Glory blinks away her tears...and smiles a little...at her rapidly crimsoning Chief Minion...

"You're a sublime minion, Dreg..."

"Oh, your divine gloriousness..."
***
Recognition of the enemy, as Dreg might have informed us from his perusal of military manuals,
is a key factor in the early stages of a battle...
So naturally he was quite pleased when one of his men looking down the mall corridors from
the food court recognized Buffy Rebecca as she peered out from the store where she and
Anya had taken refuge...Hoping to see Dawn...
***

Xander, getting a little tired of his exile was starting to return when he noticed Buffy whizzing
past him...on her way to meet with 'Dr.' Walthrop...

It was strange...not so much that Buffy Summers would be hurling down a mall corridor to
tackle something...but that she seemed to be dressed a little differently than from when he
had talked to her a few moments before...

What soon exceeded that in strangeness was his catching sight of Buffy Rebecca peering down
the corridor from a bookstore in the direction of the shoe store where Dawn unknowingly
faced assassination at the hands of the Knights' elite team...
***
Anya, catching sight of her salvation, waves frantically at Xander...

While Buffy Rebecca, hoping to find a chance to meet Dawn alone, sees that three couples
seem to be moving in on Dawn as she stands, annoyed, forced to pick through a rack of
crummy shoes alone by her mean human sister...

It's almost as if those people were going to...

Xander, still uncertain, happily waves back to Anya...All must be well...That must be Buffy...
and the other thing that had streaked past him on its way down the hall...

***