This Time . . .
Buffy led Lance down
a pathway that brought them to a large stone well that had no bucket over it.
“This is it?” Lance
asked as they stopped.
“Yup . . . The
Well of Time.”
“How does this work
then?”
“See that step?”
“Yeah . . .”
“Walk up!”
“Ok . . . Now wha . . a
. . . WHOA!” He said falling back into the hole, landing on a concrete roof. “Ow!” He said pushing himself up and rubbing his face.
“Where the hell. . . Oh . . .” He said walking over to the edge of the roof,
seeing Lynn and a young Justin walking into the building of what appeared to be
a hotel. “But how am I supposed to get down?” He said looking over to the roof
door that led into the building, its slanted roof where the roof of the
staircase ended. He walked over and pulled at the door. “Locked!”
He then heard someone inserting a key into the lock and turning the knob, he
quickly got behind the opening door and climbed on top of the slanted roof. He
saw the person go to the right, behind the back of the door; Lance quickly
rolled over the roof and slipped inside the staircase, running down the stairs
quickly but quietly. He escaped onto one of the hotel floors, irony setting in on
him as he’d never snuck on a floor, it was always the
other way around, dodging fans who had found their rooms. He walked down the
hall and had to duck behind a soda machine when he saw Lynn and Justin walking
by.
“Damn, that was
close! But at least I know what room they’re in now!” He said heading for the
elevator.
He waited outside the
hotel for them to come out and head for the building they were taping Star
Search in. Just as they came out of the building, it turned out that the taping
was right next door to the hotel.
“Good . . . don’t
have to steal a car!” Lance laughed to himself.
He tailed them
inside, the sun just setting as they entered the building. As they did their
sound check Lance felt a vampire presence backstage. He crept back and saw a
team of three planning their attack.
“You take stage left,
I’ll take stage right, and you go up in the rafters just in case we miss!” the
vampire said as they turned to see Lance standing in front of them, cutlass in
hand.
“Sorry boys, not
gonna happen on my watch!” he said as he sliced their heads off with one swing.
He took some of their
supplies and was about to climb up to the rafters, when he noticed that one of
the floor panels was moved. He made sure no one was looking and quickly made
his way under the stage. Sure enough he saw a small contingent of vampires who
were coming up through a staircase that lead to the basement of the building.
He hid in the dark until they had their backs turned, when he threw several
knives at them, taking out four of them, leaving two in the group. He ran
quickly forward, staked one and sliced the other. He then descended down the
stairs and saw that there were more coming out from a
secret passage that led into the end of a large sewer system.
“Damn, how many are
there!?” Lance said as he charged at two that were coming out from the door.
He entered through
the door and saw a swarm of twenty vampires gearing up for a covert assault on
the building.
“Well, he found us!”
One vampire said from afar, the leader of the group. “That was faster than I
thought!”
“You might as well
give up now cause there’s no way I’m letting any of you go through this door!”
Lance said closing the door, not needing any light to see in the dark sewer.
“Cocky huh?”
“Confident!”
“Right . . . GET
HIM!”
He waited for them to
charge in on him, for a moment remembering all the times he and Josh sparred in
the dark to train for situations like this. Once they were about four feet in
front of him, he sent out an energy wave from the blade of his sword, taking
out a third of the group, forcing back the rest from the force. He then ran
forward and began swinging with precise fluid movements, slicing heads,
throwing knives at hearts taking out another six of the group. One vamp made a
break for the door and was met with a knife in the head leaving six left, plus
the leader. The remaining vamps circled Lance and all came at him at once;
Lance not phased by the tactic decapitated two, swept kicked another three and
staked them, and jump kicked the last one, throwing a knife at him as he flew
through the air.
“Impressive!” The
leader said clapping. “You have quite the skill . . . it’s a shame you continue
to fight your true nature.”
“This is my true
nature . . .”
“No my dear boy, Darlos will always be your true self!”
“That’s where you’re
wrong!”
“Am I? Then why is it
you were the freest you have ever been those few times he came out of you?”
“He was free . . .
not me!”
“Yes, keep telling
yourself that to justify your actions!”
“Enough mind games,
don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing!” Lance said throwing a knife
towards the door killing one last vampire that lay hidden in the shadows.
“Impressive
indeed!”
“This ends now!”
“So be it!” The
vampire said charging at Lance avoiding the blade and landing a punch in the
abdomen and an elbow in the back.
Lance fell to the
floor and coughed up air, regaining his wind he flipped back to his feet and
sent out two waves of energy from the sword, the vampire dodging the impact but
getting knocked over by the force. Lance flipped over to the fallen vampire,
jumped in the air and punched him in his face as he rose to his feet. He
countered with a left hook and the vampire lost his balance, but regained it in
time to catch Lance’s hand and prevent his head from being sliced off. Lance
punched him in the jaw and uppercutted him, then
jumped up and sliced his head off. He landed in the ashes and stared at the
pile.
“I will always be in
control!” He said, then walked to the door, returning
to keep an eye on Justin.
The night went as it
was supposed to and his mission came to an end, once the sun came up, he found
himself back in the garden with Buffy.
Justin did as told
and closed his eyes, in his mind, he felt the mist behind his eyes and around
his body, feeling it dissipate, he opened his eyes to find himself on the roof
of a house. He looked around, the night sky filled the air, and he glanced in
front of him, the ledge overlooking the house across the street. On the stoop
of the porch sat the young Fatone, sitting with his
older brother and two friends, Ritchie and Carmine
"So what do you
think it'll be like?" Steve asked.
"I have no
idea!" Joey replied.
"Well at least
you'll be able to go to Disney World all the time!" Ritchie said smiling.
"No stupid!
That's like, a lot of money!" Carmine said smacking Ritchie in the back of
the head.
"Oh . . . You're
dead!" Ritchie said standing up and putting up his hands in a fighting
stance.
"Come on!"
Carmine replied doing the same.
"Uh oh!" Joey said instigating as the two boys proceeded to slap
box.
As the brothers Fatone joined in the match, Justin turned his head up and
noticed a vampire presence on the roof above the boys.
"Shit!"
Justin said looking behind him. "Fuck it! Gotta risk it!" he said
backing up to the parallel ledge. "Here goes nothing!" he said taking
off at full sprint.
Moving in a blur to
the human eye, Justin took off, jumping from the ledge of the roof and soaring
through the air, unnoticed by any below. Getting more height than he expected,
he grew confident in his flight. As he descended nearing the ledge of the next
roof, he locked his legs together in drop-kick form. Connecting with the skull
of the intruding vamp, Justin kicked himself off as the vamp fell, and back
flipped so he came down hands first, knife in his right hand. He stabbed the
vamp and as he turned to dust, Justin steadied himself with his left hand, did
a cartwheel and threw the knife at a second vamp as it stormed in on him as he
got to his feet. Looking to his left, he jumped and did a flying spin kick,
sending electricity through his leg, decapitating the third and final vamp as
his charged up foot connected. He walked over to the ledge and looked down at
the four boys saying goodnight as Joey and Steve went inside. He then attached
a grappling hook on the ledge and scaled down the wall. With the help of the
mirror spell, Justin snuck into the house unnoticed and found Joey in the
living room watching TV. With the help of magick and
technology, Justin placed an undetectable mystical tracker on Joey. After
magically charging it, Justin brought his hands together and parted them,
creating a portal back to the roof. Standing with his foot on the ledge, he
stuck out his right palm face up, letting out a ball of energy. He then took
out the receiver for the tracker and placed it on top of the energy ball,
causing it to fuse together, displaying an orb-like screen with Joey in the
center.
"That takes care
of that." He said sitting on top of the roof, picking up a dead branch
that had fallen from the tree in the backyard, he then took out a knife and
started carving. "Funny, me and Chris are in the same place kind of. Hmm .
. . Vanessa lives here too . . . But neither of them live
in
The night passed into
day and again into night, with Justin keeping himself occupied, yet still
focused; the lessons of an assassin. He'd once gone a week without food or
drink, watching a mark in the arctic Siberian tundra. He was glad those days
were over, it was a life void of emotion, family, friends, music
and living; everything he loved. He had zoned out thinking about his past and
before he knew it, it was dusk. He immediately looked to his right at the orb
and saw a frightening site; Joey was at the park being strangled by a vamp.
"SHIT!" He
yelled sitting up abruptly. "What the . . ." He said looking around,
the sun still up, half an hour from setting. He looked at the orb and saw that
Joey was still at home, getting ready to walk out the door with Steve.
"We're leaving
now!" Steve said as Joey opened the door.
"Where
you goin?"
Joe Sr asked.
"To the park, I
told you!" Joey said smiling.
"Okay, be back
by seven for dinner!"
"What the hell .
. ." Justin said still confused, "It must've been a vision!"
"Come on, let's
go!" Joey said as he and Steve ran down the block, trying to get to their
friends as fast as possible.
"They're on the
move!" Justin said taking off, jumping from roof to roof, keeping up with
and quickly passing the two boys. He knew where they were going due to the
vision; he just had to get there first. He reached the last building before the
park and figured it too risky to jump into an adjacent tree without breaking
it. Since he was a good ways ahead of the boys, he decided it'd be okay to
walk. He climbed down a pipe that was on the side of the building, which led
into an alley. He waved his hand to change his clothes so he'd be able to blend
in with the people around him. He casually walked out of the alley and across
the street into the park. Once he was able to be concealed by the bushes, he
changed his clothes back to his black slayer assassin gear.
“Time to get
some height!” He said
quickly climbing a sturdy tree.
Once situated on a
strong branch, he maintained his balance and searched for the playground in
which Joey was to meet his friends. He focused his eyes and zoomed in on
several different playgrounds spread out through the park when finally, he
found the one he was looking for, seeing the Fatone
boys greet their friends.
“Time to
move!” He said as the sun
had finished setting. He stood at the edge of the branch and looked ahead for a
good place to land. Seeing a small clearing behind a thatch of bushes, he
sprung up through the air, twisted, folded into a flip and landed quietly
behind the bushes, rolling into a summersault. He paused for a minute and
waited for a man and his dog to pass. The dog stopped and started sniffing
towards the bush where Justin lay, luckily the man pulled the dog along and
exited Justin’s path.
“That was close!” He
said to himself as he jumped over the bushes, quickly ran to a tree ahead and
jumped to kick himself off to another tree.
As he grabbed the
branch he was aiming for with his hands then swung up, he heard the dog from
before start to bark. He couldn’t help but smile at what the dog must have been
thinking. Joey was now in sight, and Justin searched like a hawk for any prey
that might be near. As Joey moved into the position from the vision, Justin
hooked a line to the branch and quickly dropped down on the vampire that was
sneaking up on his friend and moved behind the tree. Unnoticed by anyone, all
that was heard was a barely audible rustle in the bushes. Justin could sense
the vampires that were around, but he now felt two distinct feelings. Both were
of vampire presence, but one more urgent than the other. Like the others, he
figured it to be vampires of that time, ones he couldn’t mess with no matter
how much he may have wanted to. After tuning out the unimportant vamps, he
focused on where the time travelers were. He climbed on top of a burned out
lamp post and took out his rifle; looking through the scope, he saw a figure in
the distance on the other side of the playground behind some benches. He waited
for a clear shot, which didn’t take long, and dusted the vamp, his silencer
muting the noise of the gun. He put his gun away and stood atop the post,
searching for the next victim. He saw that a vampire noticed him and was
starting to run into the bushes; Justin quickly stuck his hand out and motioned
his fingers closed, causing the branches in the bushes to grab a hold of the
vampire’s foot, causing him to fall. He flipped down and landed behind a bench,
while the vampire clawed away at the branches that held him, Justin waved his
hand and let him go, causing the vampire to fall to the floor. He threw the
stake that he had made the night before and caught the vampire dead in the
throat; he then turned and threw a knife at an approaching vampire that thought
he wasn’t noticed. Justin looked at Joey and his friends, still oblivious to
what was going on around them. He took a moment to sense out any other vampires
and felt only one in the immediate area. He looked around and determined where
the vampire lay hidden; he then saw that Joey and his friends were on the move
in that same direction. Justin began a sprint in that direction but was thrown
back into a tree by an energy shield that was placed in front of him. He hit
his head on the trunk of the tree and stumbled as he tried to get up. He shook
off the daze and saw in his orb the vampire ripping a chunk of Joey’s neck off
and his friends screaming in horror. The scream he heard drew his attention and
he noticed he was back on top of the light post with his rifle still in his
hands, and his eye still through the scope. The scream filtered into laughter
from the crowd below him, he quickly put his rifle away, and jumped down to a
branch; he threw two knives toward each of his sides and killed the two
vampires and this time jumped through the trees towards the final vampire.
Moving as quick as light, he tied a line around a tree, jumped from a branch,
swung around the tree with the stake that he made the night before in hand,
staked the vamp and swung back up to the branch of the tree just in time for
Joey and his friends to pass by without getting attacked or noticing Justin’s Tarzaan-icle narrow escape.
“That was fun!”
Justin said to himself as he wrapped his rope up and re-fastened it to the back
of his belt.
As the group of
friends walked the streets back towards Joey’s house, Justin followed, taking
once again to the rooftops. He relished in the feeling of the cool breeze
against his face as he cut speedily through it. When he flipped over the gaps
of the buildings, he for a split second felt free of all worries of war, death,
destruction and guilt as he defied gravity, feeling in control of his own
destiny. He reached the house across the street from Joey’s and saw two men
standing on the porch with Joe Sr. One of them looked familiar and the second
one felt familiar, he focused in his eyes to get a close up on their faces and
was surprised but not shocked to see Gabrielle, Beryl’s father, and Francisco,
the original owner of the teleportation and invisi-powers.
He listened in closely and heard that they were movers making arrangements with
Joe Sr to drive the moving van down to
“I know . . . the
mission is over. I felt it too.” Justin said as he continued to stare across
the street while the two elder slayers walked up to him.
“You’ve done well.
And I mean that in all respects, not just in this mission.” Gabrielle began.
“You should hold no regrets about the choices you made, for they have all made
you into the man you are today. The way of the assassin was just as much your
path as was becoming a wizard.”
“I know this . . .
now . . .”
”You’ve grown into a
good man, never forget that.”
“I won’t . . .”
”Would you do me a
favor?”
“I’ll tell him . . .
only if you do me a favor.”
“If it is
within my bounds.”
”Give this to Chris
when you run into him in a few years.” Justin said pulling out the stake he had
made the night before. “Tell him the runes inscribed on it will protect him. I
have a feeling he’s going to need it.”
TBC . . .