The Slayer's Scythe (Part One)

Buffy-bot 2.0 marched through the sewer. Her scythe was here somewhere. She knew it. The voice that whispered in her head said it was so.

She turned the corner of and saw something more precious to her than the missing weapon. It was Spike rushing towards her with his Tesla mace ablaze and in his right hand.

"You are Spike...you have washboard abs," she announced.

Spike slowed his approach. "Looking for something Slayer?" he asked. Here was her anchor. He would know what to do.

"Have you seen my scythe Spike?"

"Listen, you have to find the scythe and bring it to me."

"I lost it."

"No, you must find it...find it and bring it to me."

"It's under there," Buffy-bot pointed to the ground.

Spike made a noise then he ran away down the tunnel. Perplexed, Buffy-bot watched him go.

----
Soon she came across several police officers who also looked like they were searching for something.

"I found Spike," she announced. "He will help me find my scythe."

Officer Willow Rosenberg [Bellarata], the soulless vampire, asked, "Do we need Spike?"

"I need him very much," replied Buffy-bot

"It does look like the scythe from the records I hope." remarked Officer Freng, his red demonic eyes flashing in the dim light.

"He will help find my scythe."

"Good," replied Officer Freng. "Now find the scythe."

Buffy-bot thought this was very nice. Everyone she spoke with so far encouraged her to find her scythe. She tried to be helpful, "Maybe Willow knows...she used my scythe and it bleached her hair."

"Yes," commented Officer Rosenberg, " and not a good color for us either."

"I miss Spike," sighed Buffy-bot. "I will find him."

As she wandered off, she heard Officer Freng asked his companions, "Who is monitoring the Scoobies?"

----

The ground near the cemetary was broken and uneven. Buffy-bot saw Spike up ahead in front of an old abandoned house. He was standing side by side with Willow [Faith C] and Xander [Soara]. Behind them stood a small green dragon.

The police officers had the house surrounded but Buffy-bot paid no attention to them. There was only one person she wanted to talk with.

"Hello Spike...I missed you."

"Hello Slayer...bot ...thing."

"You have washboard abs," she remarked.

"Oh please," said Spike.

Willow laughed.

"Oh Spike, oh Spike. I need you Spike," implored Buffy-bot

"Spike don't listen to her," warned Willow.

Redy kicked Spike to wake him up. "Oi!" hollered Spike.

"Will you help me find my scythe?" asked Buffy-bot.

"Spike! It's not Buffy, you know that," said Willow.

"Think I'm falling for this robot?" snapped Spike.

Meanwhile, Officer Freng pointed to Redy the dragon "Do you have a license for that thing?"

Officer Rosenberg interjected, "Sir, I can have animal control on the line in seconds."

While the police prepared for their raid, Buffy-bot walked into the empty house.

Crouching Spider, Tiny Dragon

Pepper screamed in frustration and struggled against the bindings.

Redy the dragon stood before her, and with Pepper on the ground, they were looking eye to eye.

"Now...you can tell your stories," began the dragon.

"Let me go!" demanded Pepper.

"Uh no," remarked Willow, the ensouled vampire-witch.

"Nah, I like you hog tied," added Hathor, the vampire who lived with the lycan, a traitor to her own kind.

"Let me go and I'll tell you..."

"Nice try," returned the dragon,"You will tell us or you will stay until sunrise."

Pepper growled with rage.

"Information first or I'll put you on a cross to BBQ when the sunrise approaches." Hathor smiled sweetly revealing her fangs.

Pepper paused for a moment then started talking, "They want the scythe, the Slayer's scythe. Arresting the Slayers? That's gravy. Making a new bot from the designs of the old one? That's just an opportunity. It's always been the scythe they wanted. Willow used it.... will use it... to activate all the Slayers that can be..."

Hathor interrupted, "What's so great about this Scythe...I've heard about it once before."

Redy replied, "I can remember old stories .. this scythe has great powers but they will need white magic for it."

From her awkward position on the ground Pepper looked around at then all, "Has it never occurred to any of you ... maybe Willow's spell can be undone....a world without slayers!"

Pepper struggled against her bonds, "Okay I told you..let me loose."

"I like the idea of letting you rot in the sun personally," said Hathor.

Redy mused, "Let's think ... what will happen when we let you go?"

"She'll be up to no good again, I'm sure, "answered Willow.

"So what are you going to do with me then?" asked Pepper.

Hathor got down on her knees, pushed Pepper's hair back and looking at her said, "Yes I take my answer out on vampires for making me a beast. You, on the other hand, I won't kill just now but I will do this." She smirked and sank her teeth into Pepper's neck.

Pepper screamed, "I'll get you for this..."

Hathor smirked at Pepper. Her blue eyes had taken on a slight glow to them having fed on the other. "You don't like to be the prey do you?"

Pepper fumed, "Okay.... what else do you want?"

"Aha, birdy is singing." Redy asked, "Do they already have info where the scythe is?"

"I don't know for sure... but they stopped trying to get the one the Slayer has already. They plan to dig it out of the ground."

"So where are they digging?" asked Willow

Pepper almost smiled, " No one noticed the signs in town? Sewer repair?"

"Ah. The old sewer repair trick?" Willow shook her head. "I missed the signs. I so embarrassed."

"Every little bit of information you can provide keeps me from draining you down to no vital blood," added Hathor.

"Drain away Hathor.... my dad's a lawyer...and mom is Kailyn. I never stay down for long."

"No, I'll give you that," remarked Willow, and looking at Hathor she asked "Did she give us enough?"

"Perhaps I should take you down to 0.25 liters of blood....See if you can crawl to the safety of the shadows from the Sun's reach."

Pepper started to wiggle, trying to crawl away She grunted in frustration. "Wait!" she cried out, "at least put me indoors."

"I think we have what we needed from her and I got more than she took." Hathor looked to the other vampire, "Want to take a drink?"

Willow replied, "Erm, I'm good. I've tasted her before, not much with the yummy."

Sensing what she thought was opportunity Pepper looked at Redy, "Doesn't this make you uncomfortable? How long before they are feeding off you?

"Don`t worry about me"

"You can't trust them ..."

Willow rolled her eyes.

"Yes, your right. We're done here with Spiderman." Hathor cut the binding with a hidden knife, but not before hitting Pepper hard on the back of the head to knock her out a bit. Pepper's head hit the dirt.

As the hue of the sun starting to appear Hathor said, "I need to get out of the sun before I'm roasted. I'll stay in Spikes crypt I guess." She made a face as if not caring for sharing rooms with the guy. "I could have killed her...but I'm being nice..." She said moving towards Spike's crypt.

Before unconsciousness finally took her, Pepper felt the dragon drag her into the safety of the shadows and heard her say, "The hairy thingy could have other info some day for us."

Buffy-bot 2.0

"Oh no, this is bad..."

Willow[Javelin] examined the data on the screen of her laptop. She sat by the window of the Wicca Academy and, with a worried look, glanced at the golden robot standing in the middle of the room.

No one had seen the Buffy-bot since it was confiscated by the Sunnydale Police Department, Special Task Force. Then today, a mechanical woman appeared in town, resembling Buffy, but with golden skin and the markings of the Sunnydale Police. It was easy to see that there was a connection.

It had tried unsuccessfully to apprehend Buffy in the Bronze. Buffy disabled it and sent it to Willow at the Wicca Academy.

Kaezin stood examining the robot. He was a benevolent demon, a friend and companion to the Slayer, constantly seen with a trademark beer in his hand. The robot stood motionless with a blank vacant look on its face.

"Yup," remarked Kaezin,"...its blonde."

"Looks like all her files were downloaded, then erased," said Willow.

"But if its got that information. its root directory has to be intact."

"...and they've installed a program to search for a network...a direct net-link to Sunnydale PD." Willow looked up at Kaezin. "She's like a walking radar..."

Kaezin waved the beer in his hand "Ooo...can we use that? She's bypassing the firewalls and wards."

"She can take new orders and commands anytime they feel like inputing something...they don't even need to take her back."

Kaezin took a gulp of his beer, "So...they can be monitoring this whole conversation"

"I... I... I'll take this to Giles. Well, I better print it out before I do...He's like a computer slayer."

Willow's fingers flew across the keyboard of her laptop."y... you think... umm, it's a good idea to leave her here?"

"um...no."

"What do you suggest we do? We can't...carry her..."

"Ya...know, I would put that chip back in and pretend this didn't happen."

"..it's broad daylight and she weighs a ton."


"Here goes nothing." Willow plugged the chip back in."Okay, switching on..."

The Buffy-bot made a sound like powering up. In a voice eerily like Buffy's, the bot looked around the room and asked,"Where is Buffy Anne Summers? She is under arrest."

Kaezin looked around like an innocent bystander. "Then she must be in jail, " he replied.

The Buffy-bot tilted its head. "Processing ..orders..."

"Wh... Why shall we tell you?" asked Willow. She gripped her notebook and hugged it tight.

The bot noticed Willow. "Willow Ronsenberg, witch. Buffy's ...friend." It looked confused as if it was struggling to comprehend the situation.

"Looks like she knows who I am..." Willow frowned, her forehead creasing. "They must have filtered out some of the old data, and used it in the re-programming."

The Buffy-bot intoned, "...orders...uploading...failed. Secondary protocol, return to station." It started suddenly and walked out of the door of the academy.

"Wh... what do you think it's doing?" cried Willow.

Kaezin took a sip of his beer and watched as the robot as it left the building and crossed in front of the High School, its golden skin sparkling in the sun. Stating the obvious he remarked, "Leaving."

Summoning the Guardian

Buffy wasn't so sure this was a good idea.

Merissa Frost was from an order of Witches that dated back to Egypt, whose duty was to watch over all active Hellmouths. And here she insisted on doing a ritual at the Hellmouth to, in her words, "summon one of Anubis' guards."

The candles flickered and the incense smoke curled and twisted. Merissa opened her book.

"I call on the Gods of the Nile. Bast and Anubis. The gods of Ma'ip and Neter Ket. We who have served you require a guardian. Send him forth now." She started the incantation, first in Latin and then what can only be Ancient Egyptian, ending on a high pitched counterpoint.

She turned to the two Buffys [Zeno and Diana] and warned, "It's going to get real light in here and then real dark."

The area around the Hellmouth filled with a shower of particles of light then just as quickly with thick black smoke.

One Buffy coughed, "Woah, stinky... smells like wet cat"

The other Buffy covered her nose.

Merissa smiled, "Funny you should mention that..."

Suddenly before them was a large white tiger with black stripes. Both Buffys suddenly went on guard.

"Slayers! It's okay. He's the guardian. His name's Gar!"

Then the tiger spoke, "marsha blooz ma r'izz ... shi zuut sar myazrakk sar"

"He? you mean it worked?" asked Buffy.

"Yep. I wasn't sure it would. He got stuck in transit. But he's here," replied Merissa.

She then addressed the tiger, "I summoned you because here is where the breakdown in reality is."

She turned to the Slayers "Buffys, he's going to take, well, a humanoid shape. I warn you. He appears nearly naked." Then just as the witch predicted, the tiger shifted shape into that of a tall naked man.

The guardian spoke again, this time in English, "I sense a paradox. I see one in fact....You summoned me, Merissa. That means you've found a Necromancer or something worse. And who are the girls?"

"Multiple timeline versions of the Vampire Slayer," answered Merissa.

"You have passed to the afterlife and were brought back. It wasn't necromancy which brought you and it was done with pure intent. I bear you no ill will."

Buffy smiled and replied, "Well that's a relief... I'd hate to have to send you on your way since you just got here."

The guardian smiled, only half indulgently, "Of course."

The Coven

The air was full of the scent of aromatic herbs. The floor was made of old clay tiles. The solarium of the Wicca Academy reminded Buffy a little of her grandmother's house.

That's where the similarity ended. Her grandmother never had a bubbling cauldron in the middle of her kitchen or a rack of jars labeled "Crocodile Heart" or "Salamander" in her pantry. Well, at least not that Buffy could remember...

Buffy stepped inside and gently closed the door behind her. She was careful not to interrupt the coven meeting. She stood there quietly listening to the soft voices.

"What would you have me do?" asked Prescott.

Laken consulted her grimoire. "Okay, please find Griffin Claw."

Prescott took a container from the shelf and read the label. "Griffin Claw - State: Solid; Claw. Used in: Strengthening Solution when powdered." He nodded knowingly, and added it to the cauldron.

Wicca smiled. "Good job."

Buffy watched as witch after witch each took an item from the shelf and added it to the potion bubbling in the old iron pot.

Desdemona asked, "I see salamander, is that the right one?" She took the bottle from the shelf and read the label, "Salamander Blood.."

"Okay Prescott," said Laken, "something for flavor...pomegranate juice.... and Des excellent work on that blood....it's green so can be tricky for a beginner."

Buffy suddenly headed for the door. She had heard enough. In fact, one could argue that she had heard too much.

Police Action in Sunnydale

Report to Mayor Richard Wilkins III
From Sgt. Pepper Siamendes,
Special Task Force, Sunnydale Police Department

Dear Sir:
This report covers two attempts by our Special Task Force to apprehend Buffy Summers, Faith Lehane, and their associates, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris, in our on-going crackdown on the troublemakers in our community.

Wednesday, July 8 - Operating on an anonymous tip, members of the Special Task Force made a general sweep of area nearby Sunnydale High School. We encountered several suspects and quickly surrounded them. As expected, these troublemakers refused to come quietly and added resisting arrest to the charges already against them.

Our forces pursued the suspects apprehending who we believed to be Buffy Summers. Only upon later examination did we learn that we had in fact arrested a robot likeness of the young woman.

This picture was taken shortly before the camera attached to my uniform inexplicably ceased to function. It shows that despite being frozen in one place by Officer Rosenberg, Buffy Summers is a force to be reckoned with. This young woman and her associate Faith Lehane successfully incapacitated several of our officers.

Tuesday, July 14 - Trying a different approach, members of the Special Task Force attempted to apprehend Willy the Snitch, a known associate of several of the troublemakers. As expected several of the known suspects rushed to his aid.

Our security cameras took this picture of Willow Rosenberg as she prepares to cast a spell during an attempt at breaking Willy the Snitch out of jail. She is a vampire much like our own Officer Rosenberg but has been tainted with a soul and fights alongside the Slayer.

The bartender behind bars at last. Our officers managed to re-arrest Willy the Snitch. However, he could not provide up with useful information and was released several days later.

I would describe these police actions as marginal victories at best. Over the two separate encounters we apprehended their robot the so-called "Buffy bot" and the bartender that these troublemakers have been protecting, while Buffy Summers, Faith Lehane, the witches Willow Rosenberg (both human and ensouled vampire), and their associate Xander Harris remain at large.

The Wish (Part Three)

Wednesday, June 24 (Part Three)

Giles looked up suddenly.

"Good Lord! Who are you?"

In the door of the library stood a young woman, dressed in camouflage. Her blonde hair tied in a tight braid that hung down her back.

Glory realized who this was. "Oh Buffy!"

"That's right. Wanna tell me what I'm doing here?"

Giles replied. "We have a huge problem." He proceeded to tell the Slayer about Cordy's wish and his plan to reverse the spell. He told her how the town was dominated by vampires.

"Haven't you sensed them? This town is overrun."

"You know where they are and no one's ever tried to take them out? Well, point the way..."

"I have seen the Master, " added Glory, "at the Bronze."

"We do what we can. We're not slayers. If you'll help us, Glory can guide you to the nests."

Buffy replied, "I might as well do something good while I'm in town."

She looked at Glory, "Where is their nest?"

* * *

Buffy pushed open the heavy door of the factory. Following closely, Glory called out, "Buffy."

There in the middle of the workshop floor was a hideous looking machine with hoses and needles, and a conveyor belt that led to a nasty looking furnace. The vampires were in the process of placing a captive Cordelia on a metal table that rested between the sides of the machine.

"Oh no," cried Glory.

The vampire Willow looked up. "May we help you?"

Buffy drew her stake.

* * *

This is how they died.

Cordelia Chase, whose wish had set this tragedy in motion, had her life blood drained away by the Master's infernal machine.

Glory Chase, her cousin, died at the hands of the vampire Xander despite her powerful healing powers.

Buffy Summers was killed by the Master in fulfillment of ancient prophecy.

Rupert Giles attempted to restore reality to the way it was before Cordelia's wish. He invoked Anyanka, Patron of Scorned Women with these words:

"O Anyanka, I beseech thee
In the name of all women scorned
Come before me."

Caught inside his library office, he was slain by Anyanka for daring to call upon her.

* * *

The wooden stake rolled from Buffy's lifeless hand.

As the dust settled on the factory floor, the Master walked away from the fallen Slayer. Surrounded by his most loyal servants, Xander and Willow, he drew a goblet of fresh blood from the machine quietly humming as it drained the life from Cordelia .

"You have done well my children. We are the future!!"

Raising the goblet high, he added, "...and the future indeed tastes sweet."