Part II: Fate’s Exposition

Last Time . . .

“Well, from what I’ve heard, L.A. will be a total vampire city by the end of the week if the sun isn’t brought back! Even the team there has their hands full! I don’t know if them, plus my guys, and your guys together can handle them all! Even with all our skill combined, it’s an army! I think what we need to find out is if and how they’re connected . . .”

“That is not your fight!” A voice said in Josh’s head.

“Oracle?” Josh replied.

“Yes . . . You are only there to assist in making sure that her line isn’t destroyed. As far as the L.A. situation, they are only there to do damage control. The big pictures are being taken care of, and those aren’t your fights.”

This Time . . .

“Josh?” Buffy said confused at his mid-sentence cutoff.

”Shh . . .” Justin said knowing what was going on. “Hold on . . .”

”What’s going on?” Willow questioned.

“Just a second!”

“But why didn’t we know of each other till now?” Josh asked.

“You never needed to until now!”

“Why’s that?”

“You are on two separate paths! Had you’d met sooner, the lines would have been crossed and both your fates would have been destroyed. The Chosen Ones and The Slayers have two separate goals. Yours is to destroy what we unleashed, hers is to take down what has always been.”

“So we’re not here to help with the First?”

“No, you are only there temporarily, in the end, it is she who will take on the First. You are only there to help her keep her potentials from being slain by a bounty hunter worse that the Bringers.”

“Who?”

“He goes by the name of Nibris, he’s a minion of the Vampire Gods who stumbled through Sunnydale on the way to L.A. and was picked up by the First.”

“Is he a Vampire Lord?”

“What is he doing?” Andrew asked.

“Shut up!” Justin said getting annoyed with the guest.

“He’s a Werecat, a man that can willingly transform into a cougar. He’s also a very powerful worker of the dark magicks.”

“That’s why I’m here too then . . .” Justin commented.

“Yes.”

“Where will we find him?” Josh asked.

“He’s after them now, you must go and find the one they call Giles, he is with the potentials and another of their allies, a vampire with a soul.”

”Spike?”

”Yes. You must go now before it’s too late!” She said breaking the link.

“Grab some weapons, we gotta go!” Josh said coming out of the trance.

“Huh? What the hell is going on?!” Buffy said surprised.

“I’ll explain on the way, for now, get some weapons, your friends are in danger!”

“How do you . . .” Willow began.

“Come on, we’ll talk in the car!” Buffy said tossing a crossbow to Willow and an axe to Xander, then grabbing a sword for herself. “The rest of you stay here in case Giles calls.”

“We got some stuff in the car, so don’t worry about us!” Josh said walking to the door.

“But you didn’t . . .” Buffy began.

“Remote control!” Justin said smiling.

“Awesome!” Andrew said.

“Come on, we gotta book!” Josh said walking outside. “Justin you ride with Willow and Xander in their car. No offense guys, but I think you should let Justin drive, he knows how to follow me in our car without losing us.”

“Let’s do this!” Justin as they all followed suit.

“Justin will fill you guys in, in the car. You’re gonna follow me.”

“Whoa! Nice car!” Buffy said, standing in front of a shiny black, vintage car.

“Supped up ’68 Camaro Coup, but there’s time for that later! We gotta get a move on!” Josh said getting in the driver’s seat.

“So are you gonna fill me in?” Buffy asked as they drove off.

“I got a message from a contact, she’s known as the Oracle, she’s a powerful psychic. She told me that a bounty hunter is after your friends, which is why we’re here. He’s a werebeast . . .”

“As in werewolf? But it’s not a full moon!”

“So I take it you’ve dealt with them before?”

”Yeah . . .”

”Well this isn’t a wolf, it’s a cat, a cougar to be exact. He can transform at will.”

”So what does that have to do with you?”

“He’s a minion of the Vampire Gods and just so happened to be hired by the First.” Justin said as he also explained to Xander and Willow.

“Vampire Gods?” Xander confusedly asked.

“It’s part of how they got their powers,” Willow started, “they set open a portal between the realm of the Vampire Gods and ours a long time ago, and that’s how their Chosen Ones lineage began.”

“Oh . . .”

“So you’re not here to help stop the first?”

“I’m afraid not . . .” Josh continued telling Buffy. “She told me that this isn’t our fight. It’s part of your destiny, and we can’t intervene. The reason we’ve never met before, and why your Chosen line never knew about mine, is cause if our lines crossed, it could destroy our destinies.”

”So why now?”

“Because this Werecat is a direct link to our problem. In order to prevent them from joining forces, we need to stop Nibris from completing his task and kill him before he can report back to the Gods.”

“So where is he now?”

“He’s going after Giles, the potentials and Spike.” Justin continued.

“He knows about Spike?” Xander asked.

“Things were explained.” Willow answered.

“Have you ever faced him before?”

“No, but he’s a powerful wielder of dark magick, and even with the potentials fighting skills and Spike there, they’re still no match for him.” Justin said as he sped up to catch up to Josh.

“So this Oracle of yours, why didn’t she tell us sooner? Or why didn’t you try and contact her?” Buffy asked as the sped through the town of Sunnydale.

“Well, she can only give info when it’s time for her to do so. She answers to a higher power. Even if I’d contacted her, she probably wouldn’t have been able to tell me anything. There are only certain things she can answer.”

“So it sounds like the powers that be finally saw that we were desperate!” Willow started, “Although from the sound of things, we’re not really any better off than we were to begin with. Since you can’t help us out with the First!”

”I wish we could darlin, but destiny’s a bitch like that sometimes!” Justin replied.

“Where’d you learn to drive like this?” Xander finally got the nerve to ask, as the steady controlled speed seemed impossible for him to grasp.

“Part of the gig . . . we spent some time in New York with another Chosen One who at the time, was more experienced than us due to him containing all five powers, passed on from his family that was slain. Ironically, it turned out that he was the one meant to have them the whole time . . .”

”Beryl?” Willow asked.

“Yeah . . . Haven’t seen him much since, but he was the first to bring us in on how this whole network of Chosen Ones worked together. The only other team we’d met before him was also killed. That hit is close to the heart, cause they were the ones that helped us ‘Open up our eyes’ and learn how to use our powers. But anyway, we have government funding, and we get some really cool gadgets, among them are really awesome high-tech cars with advanced weaponry. So in order to be able to use the stuff, we had to train. Part of that training was high-speed driving.”

”Are you guys connected with the Initiative?” Xander asked.

“The who?”

“Guess not . . .”

“I hope Josh and Justin are having better luck than we are!” Joey said staking yet another vampire.

”I dunno, but one thing’s . . . for damn . . . sure!” Chris said blocking the blows of an oncoming vamp. “I KNOW they’re not dealing with . . . as much . . . as we . . . are!” He said staking the vamp.

“I talked to him . . .” Lance said slicing the head off of a vampire. “He said he came in contact with some chick who’s a Slayer, but not of our lineage! Turns out her line existed before ours, and he’s there to help keep our lines from crossing and bringing some MAJOR evil into the world.” He said as they moved on to another group of vamps. “We’re here to do damage control. We have to find some guy called Angel when we have a chance to breathe! He might be able to help us and explain why the sun’s out!”

“Not out you mean!”

“Come on, let’s wipe this group out and get to that hospital up ahead! Hopefully we’re not too late!”

“Let’s hope they didn’t strike there too!” Joey said as they ran towards the building in front of them.

“There they are!” Buffy yelled pointing at the group under attack as they ran into the forest just outside Sunnydale’s boarder. 

“J, go in from the right, I’ll go round left!” Josh said as they continued to run.

“I’ll go through the middle, Willow, Xander, you follow me!” Buffy ordered as Spike was thrown up against a tree.

“One guy against a group of potentials and a vampire, how is it a big deal?” Xander said as Spike groaned in pain.

“Sorcerer . . .” Willow said as they reached the clearing. “What the hell are those black things!”

“Shadowcats!” Justin said expelling energy blasts at the beings that were ganging up on the young girls. “Minions of Nibris!”

“But where’s Nibris?” Josh asked.

“Who are these guys?” Giles said as Buffy helped him up from the ground.

“Long story, we’ll explain later, just know they’re friends!”

“How do we kill these things?” Willow asked as she let off an arrow that went through the shadow and stuck into a tree.

“Slash through their midsection or cut through their head!” Josh said as he kicked away a Shadowcat and sliced through another.

“So, the Chosen Ones have found me?” Nibris said standing in the branch of a tree above the clearing. “This might not be as easy as I thought!”

“There was a cat beast thing, he got away!” Spike said swinging at a shadow causing it to dissipate.

“I’m gonna have to rethink my plan of action!” Nibris said jumping from the branch to another, unnoticed by the fighters below. “Things just got a bit more complicated!” He said jumping through the night.

“Hey! Where’d they go?!” Xander said as he brought down his axe against nothing. “I was just getting the hang of this!”

“He must’ve gotten away!” Josh said resheathing his katana.

“Well duh, I said that!” Spike said noticing the new guests. “Who are these wannabe’s anyway?”

“You look familiar!”

“Everyone,” Buffy began, “meet Josh and Justin. They’re . . . Slayers!”

“You mean hunters!” Giles said cleaning his glasses.

“No . . . Chosen Ones.” Josh said sticking his hand out to Giles to shake it. “It’s a bit complicated. You must be Giles!”

“Yes . . . It’s a pleasure to meet you, thank you for your assistance!” Giles said accepting his greeting, then turning to shake Justin’s hand. “How did you . . . shoot those energy blasts?”

“I’m a Wizard!” Justin said realizing that seemed to be his catch phrase for the evening.

“We’ll explain in the car, let’s just get home, it’s been a long night!” Buffy said as they walked out of the forest.

“Willow, would you take some of the girls in my car please? I’d like to start this conversation on the drive home!” Giles said passing the keys.

“Sure! It’ll be like a Girl Scout trip! Only more like a slayer scout trip!” Willow said taking the keys.

“I bet you’d look cute in one of those uniforms!” Kennedy whispered as they walked over to Giles’ car.

“The rest of you can ride with me!” Xander said waving his keys in the air. “Not that I mind babysitting . . . as usual! I mean what’s wrong with a bunch of teen girls talking and talking and talking and talking and talking all the way home!” He said muttering to himself. “I’d even prefer it if Spike road with me! Whoa . . . I must be desperate!”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ll be riding with Buffy and night hunter over there!”

“Actually Spike, I think it’d be better for now if you did ride with Xander, there’s not that much room in Josh’s car, and we’re already four people!” Buffy said as they all reached their vehicles.

“Oh joy!” Xander said getting in.

“Oh, Xander,” Justin said walking up to him.

“Yeah?”

“Ixnay on the boyband thing . . . the girls are still under the spell.”

”Gotcha! Last thing we need is them SCREAMING all the way home! Add that to the talking, and talking, and talking . . .”

“Thanks!”

“So would you mind telling me just again who you gentlemen are, what you are doing here, and how is it that you say you are Chosen Ones?” Giles said as Josh started the car.

“Damn, he wastes no time!” Justin said buckling up.

By the time they explained the whole thing they were almost home. Giles stayed quiet for a few minutes, pondering the whole situation.

“Well, with the counsel gone, there’s no way to find out if they knew of you. But I highly doubt that they did, otherwise they would have either made contact or tried to destroy you!” Giles finally said after Justin thought he’d worn a whole through the lens of his glasses.

“Destroy us?” Josh said amused at the comment.

“The Counsel is . . . was a very prideful organization!” Buffy said biting her lip. “Highly protective of their knowledge and mission and really . . . had a giant stick up their . . .”

“Buffy . . .” Giles interrupted.

“Sorry . . . Well regardless, that’s why I renounced myself from them. They didn’t take it that well . . . but . . . they really couldn’t do anything about it either after the countless times I’d saved the world before bedtime!”

“Ok Bubbles!” Justin said laughing and smiling seductively.

“Um . . . Ok?” Buffy said giggling nervously, stroking her hair behind her ear.

“We’re here!” Josh said pulling over in front of the house.

“They’re back!” Dawn said looking out the window.

"For the last time," Xander said as they walked through the front door. "I will NOT show you! I don't care how curious you are!"

"Is he still obsessing about the shower incident?" Anya said rolling her eyes.

"Hey, if a bunch of teenage boys wanted to see YOU naked . . . Forget it! I'm going to use the bathroom, ALONE!"

"Okay?" Justin said walking in. "Did I miss something?"

"He's just upset that the only girls interested in him are under age!" Dawn said.

"Or demons!" Anya added.

"Oh yeah . . . Hate it when that happens!"

"So I take it you guys took out this guy?" Dawn asked as everyone came in.

"Not really!" Giles said taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"He got away by the time we got there." Buffy said plopping down on the couch, resting the sword against the front of the armrest.

"So what do we do now?" Willow asked, sitting next to Buffy.

"Pretty simple, locate him, hunt him, kill him!" Josh said leaning against the doorframe.

"Yes, easier said than done, I'm afraid." Giles said sitting in a chair.

"Not really . . .  We just set a trap for him. Make him think that we're not expecting him, then take him down."

"And what of his shadow . . . whatevers, and sorcery?" Giles said mistaking his confidence for cockiness.

"That's where we come in!" Justin said motioning to Willow.

"And what do you propose to do?"

"Make him come to us at a place where he thinks he's caught us off guard."

"What about the Bronze?" Buffy suggested. "That's the last thing The First would expect us to do, let our guard down and go party!"

"And what of the girls? We couldn't possibly take them with us! They'd be sitting ducks in an enclosed place!" Giles continued.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" Kennedy said.

"I'm just simply saying if he sends his minions out again, and whatever else he may have up his sleeve! He's too powerful to risk your lives, and what happens if he has Bringers with him? Not to mention the bystanders!"

"We can rent the place out." Josh said.

"How would we . . ."

"Money is not a problem with us!"

"And to make it look like a normal night, I can work a spell to make it seem that the club is packed! And to protect the girls, I can make them appear to be other people, then project images of them on the floor like the crowd." Justin suggested.

"All fine and well to fool him, but if he has Bringers with him, they will be able to tell the difference!" Giles said slightly easing up on the idea.

"Then they fight! Nibris might think we brought reinforcements!" Josh replied

"What about his powers?"

"Leave that to me!" Justin said holding his hand out to call his book.

After the shock died down, Justin began planning. As the night wore on, it was only the slayers who were awake, speaking softly in the dining room, putting the finishing touches on the plan.

"Can I ask you guys a question?" Buffy started.

"Sure . . ."

"Do you ever wish it would end?"

"All the time!" Justin responded.

"But that's what keeps us going . . ." Josh said, speaking generally. "No matter how much it may drain us, I wouldn't be able to rest until my job was complete. If my powers were taken away from me, and it was no longer my duty to do this, I would go crazy!"

"Because you wouldn't be able to stand idly by knowing that all this evil and destruction was still going on." Buffy continued.

"It's an unbearable task to know that you are death. To know you are fated to die for the cause. The cause, bring death to the dead. To carry such a huge burden on your shoulders, especially when you are only one person! And no matter how close you are to a person, know you can never reveal yourself completely for fear of their safety!"

“But you have others who understand your burden!”

“No one could ever begin to fathom my burden! Not even you! Just like I couldn’t yours. We have a similar curse for lack of a better term, but our situations are different, so the actual burden differs with it. But we’re probably the only two people alive that could understand where each other is coming from.”

“Josh is the only one of us all, not just our team, of all the Chosen, who knows what the prophecy entails, and no matter how much we may want to be there for him, he can’t reveal it.” Justin said sighing, knowing how many times that subject had caused tension within their group.

There were a few minutes of silence, each slayer taking in everything. Josh was the first to break it, by sitting back in his chair and sighing.

“This is the best time of night!” He said stretching and yawning.

“I know what you mean . . . Everyone sleeping, no one worrying about what’s to come, just calm silence!” Buffy said running her fingers through her hair.

“The only things up at this time, the things we’re called to kill.” Justin said closing his book.

“I so wish I could just switch to this schedule . . . Sleep for most of the day, then just be up all night.”

“Seeing the sun as it rises, knowing that all things evil have stepped back . . . momentarily at least.” Josh continued.

“Then rise as the sun begins its decent after high noon!” Justin agreed.

“Only to go back out and do it all over again once the sun has set.” Buffy said as they all stood by the window to see the sun rise.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend . . .” Josh said as they saw the light beam over the horizon. “The sun, the bringer of life, without it, we’d all plunge into darkness and chaos.”

“Just like L.A.” Justin commented.

“How are your guys doing by the way?” Buffy asked as they turned from the window and started up the stairs.

“They’ve been going for 24hrs straight, but they’re still doing the best they can.”

“It’s things like that that make me glad that I’m here, just think if the world became like that!”

“That’s what we’re here to prevent!”

“What time is it?”

“Ten after six.”

“Time to wake everyone up! I suggest you guys hit the shower first if you want to take one at all! A house full of girls won’t get you much bathroom usage when we’re all getting ready.”

“I have a better idea!” Xander said coming up the stairs behind them. “I’m heading over to my apartment, if you guys want to get all cleaned up you can do it there, cause trust me, you DON’T want to be around this place when the girls are gettin all girlied up!”

“He’s got a point! I remember Chris’ war stories!” Justin said laughing.

“And besides, I have the day off, and since the rest of you have things to do, I can help them set up for the plan!”

“Thank god it’s Friday!” Buffy said rolling her eyes not looking forward to work. “Sounds good to me then! You have a cell phone on you?”

”Yeah, here’s the number . . .” Josh said grabbing a pen and paper that was on a table in the hall.

“I’ll call you later to get a progress report.” She said taking the paper. “Now I gotta get ready before I wake the troops! So I’ll talk to you later!”

“Can’t we stay just to see that?” Justin said telepathically.

As the three gentlemen began their descent of the stairs, Buffy stopped them.

”Hey Xand?”

”Yeah?” He said turning.

“Could you do me a huge favor?”

“Sure . . .”

”Could you take Andrew with you? I don’t want him to be alone with the First trying to get in his head!”

“I guess . . .” He sighed as Josh laughed and Justin kept staring at Buffy. “But if he starts annoying me, I’m gonna have Justin turn him into a frog or something!”

“Don’t worry . . . Frog he won’t be, but I have my ways to shut people up! Or make them scream!” Justin replied still staring at Buffy, smiling seductively.

“Would you stop!” Josh said telepathically.

“Don’t hate just cause Lance ain’t here!”

“Please, if I wanted, I could SO seduce that Andrew kid!”

“But why would you want to?!”

“Point noted, but if I did, I could!”

”If it’ll get him to shut up, go for it!”

”We’ll see!” Josh said laughing as they walked down the stairs and Xander roused Andrew who was cuddling a pillow in the corner.

“Where are we going?” He said as he rubbed his eyes and Xander dragged him by the arm.

“We’re gonna have a guys day out!” Xander mocked.

“Where are you going?” Dawn said coming down the stairs.

“Gonna take care of the plan stuff while you guys are at school, training and at work!”

“But I wanna stay here and watch the girls!” Andrew said.

“Liar!” Josh said as they walked out the door.

“Let the games begin!” Justin said telepathically.

As they got outside they decided to take Xander’s car, it being less conspicuous.

“So I was thinking about it, and you guys are kind of like,” Andrew began as they walked to the car. “Green Lantern Core mixed with Batman, thrown in with some Blade!”

“Something like that!” Josh said cloaking the car.

“WHOA!” Xander and Andrew said amazed.

“Totally better than Batman!” Xander said getting in the car.

“What kind of car is that anyway?” Andrew asked as they pulled off.

“It’s a ’68 Camaro.” Josh said smiling at their amusement.

"What else can it do? Is it bulletproof? Does it shoot out missiles?"

"Bulletproof, yes; missiles, no. It has UV pulse lasers, obviously a cloaking device, a supped up 350 engine, it can go from 0 to 120 in three seconds, what else . . ."

"Grappling hook, fireproof," Justin continued. "navigation system, built-in computer with internet and satellite uplink, com system between our other vehicles, and only he gets to drive!"

"And remote control!"

As the small talk subsided and they reached Xander's apartment, Josh began a mental conversation with Lance.

"We're getting our asses kicked!" Lance said as he and the others fought on through their exhaustion. "We could really use you guys!"

"I wish we could help! But we have a plan to put into action! If Nibris were left just to The Slayer, yeah, she'd take him down, but by the time that'd happen, it might be too late! With us here, he'll be taken out quicker! This should all be over by tonight! Then we'll hightail it back there!"

"What about the LA team?" Justin chimed in. "How are they taking it?"

"Worse than we are! They've been going since before we got here!" Lance replied.

"Solomon almost died!" Chris commented. "If we hadn't gotten here when we did, he would've been one of the vamps we had to take out!"

"Josh, have you heard from any other teams? Any that might be able to get here and help us out?" Joey asked.

"They're all pulling in overtime as well!" Josh replied. "Since every vamp in the world is trying to make their way over to the Vamp-a-palooza, they've all got their hands, feet and stakes tied!"

"What about that Angel guy? Were you able to find him?" Justin asked.

"We haven't had time to take a piss let alone look for some PI!" Chris retorted.

"Well why don't you teleport over there while Lance and Joe hold things down, and then ask them to use their can!" Josh replied.

"After we take out this nest maybe! I just hope this ends soon, cause I don't think Solomon and his team can take much more of this!" Lance said as they ended their conversation.

"Shower's free!" Xander said walking to his room, a towel clad around his waist. "I put extra towels on the back of the door!"

"Go ahead Andrew, me and Justin gotta talk anyway!" Josh said as both he and Andrew glanced at Xander's defined body.

"Um okay!" Andrew replied hoping no one noticed his gawking.

"Watch me mess with him!" Josh said as the bathroom door closed.

As Andrew stood, leaning up against the door of the bathroom, he closed his eyes and sighed. He began to remove his clothes and tossed them in the corner. He removed a towel from the door then walked over to the shower. He turned on the water then stood by the sink, looking into the medicine cabinet mirror. He stretched in front of it and closed his eyes. When his eyes reopened, to his surprise, he saw the reflection of Josh in the mirror, standing behind him.

“Jesus!” He shouted startled, “Josh, I . . . I . . .” He said turning to grab the towel, but was shocked to see that no one was standing there. “What the . . .” He said wrapping the towel around his waist. He walked over to the door and cracked it open, he could hear Justin and Josh talking in the living room, and was confused as to what he saw. “It couldn’t be the First, Josh is alive!” He said closing the door, once again leaning on the back of it. “Easy Andrew! Just your imagination! Like someone like him would really be interested in you?!” He sighed, then walked over to the now steam filled, shower. As the hot water hit his back, he winced at the feeling. He reach for the cold-water dial, then felt a hand on his, he turned to see Josh standing in the shower naked.

“Shhh . . .” The image of Josh said, placing his finger on Andrew’s lips.

With Andrew’s back still slightly turned, Josh stepped behind him, then traced his finger down from Andrew’s lips, to his nipple. Andrew let out a sigh of passion, as he felt the touch of Josh’s skin against his. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation, then turned around to face Josh. As he opened his eyes, he saw the steam of the water engulf the body in front of him. He brought his hand up to Josh’s face and caressed it, as he went in closer to kiss him, all of a sudden, the steam cleared and he was alone in the shower.

”What the . . .”

”Hey Andrew, don’t take too long, save some hot water for Josh and Justin!” Xander’s voice boomed through the door as he banged on it.

“That was wrong!” Justin said as he and Josh laughed in the living room. “Good . . . but wrong!”

“Yeah, well, like I said, I could so seduce him if I wanted to, but . . . I don’t like messing with his mind!”

“So why’d you . . .”

”To prove a point!”

“That being?”

“That I’m still sexier than you!”

“Riiiiight!” Justin laughed as their mental conversation was interrupted by Xander.

“If you guys want, I have some extra clothes that might fit you if you wanna change or something . . .” Xander said joining them in the living room.

“Nah, that’s ok . . .” Justin started. “I can take care of that!” he said pointing to the couch, making two outfits appear beside them.

“Whoa!”

“So what makes you think you can trust him?” Principle Wood asked as Buffy explained the appearance of the Chosen Ones. “I mean, what do you really know about him and his group?”

“A lot actually . . .” Buffy said standing up from her chair. “Well, not everything there is to know, but we linked minds, and they’re legit.”

“You sure it wasn’t just a spell that the wizard guy cooked up?”

“Positive, what we saw and felt, it was like we were there at the same time going through with each other what we were showing. Besides, they have no reason to pose a threat to me.”

”There’s always a reason!”

“I’m not saying that you have to trust them, but I do, I’ve seen what they’re capable of, and if they were after me, they’d have made a move already, they’ve had plenty of chances to. Josh is strong, one of the strongest men I’ve ever faced, but so am I!”

”All I’m saying is . . .”

”I know what you’re saying, and it’s all valid, but I trust him, and believe me, I’m not one to give my trust freely! I’m grateful for your concern, I’m grateful for your aid, but just trust me when I tell you, they’re the real deal!”

“So you see, we’d really appreciate it if you could make an exception this one time!” Josh said trying to convince the manager of the Bronze to rent them the club for the next evening, one of their busiest nights.

“You’d be making more money on us than you would if you had triple your regular customers!” Justin added.

“I don’t understand why you would wait till the last possible minute to schedule this? I mean, even if you can afford it, why would you need the entire club?” The manager asked.

“I told you, the place we had originally planned for got closed down last night!” Justin said his blue eyes staring into the manager’s eyes, hypnotizing him. “Now please, we ask you, let us rent your club for the entire evening, without any outside security, and closed off to everyone but who we have invited. As a matter of fact, none of your staff need even be here, we can handle everything ourselves!”

”You can handle everything yourselves, you don’t need me here to mess things up!” The manager said being convinced.

”Exactly!”

“Here’s the key, you can begin setting up tomorrow morning!”

“So he just gave in like that?” Buffy asked as she spoke to Josh on the phone.

”Well, we had to do a little convincing via implied suggestion!”

“Ah . . . So now what?”

”We plan for the attack tonight, set out a thorough plan, take everything into consideration as much as we can.”

”How do we get Nibris there?”

“That’s what we’re taking care of now, we’re basically roaming around town, lurking in places where he might be, making sure we talk about it where he can hear us. He doesn’t know that I’m familiar with his human form.”

”Well once that’s done, make your way back to the house and inform the troops. They’ll be able to soak in more severity coming from you.”

“Will do.”

”Also, when I get back, I want to show you and Justin something. You should probably see the Hell Mouth.”

”Ok . . .”

”I’ll talk to you later.”

“What do you mean the sun’s back?!” Josh asked as he resumed conversation with Lance.

”All of a sudden, whatever was blocking it disappeared!” Lance said his happiness evident. “It was like, we were fighting, the hardest we’d ever fought, and then, the next thing we know it, bright light, and massive flaming dust piles around us!”

“SOLOMON’S DEAD!” Chris mentally yelled. “So’s his team!”

“What?!” Justin said in shock. “How? When?”

”They were across the street from us, in another building, I just went to check on them, they were bombarded! I had to break open the windows to make the suck heads back off!”

“Do we know who their successors are?” Joey asked.

“No . . .” Lance said.

“So you know what has to be done.” Josh replied. “You have a city to protect!”

”But the sun is back!” Joey said.

“But there are still plenty of vamps to keep us busy! And because of that, we need their ashes to protect their successors, whoever they may be! You know what has to be done.”

”We have to cremate their bodies before they turn!” Chris replied.

“Slayer blood is powerful, whatever vamps fed from them just became your prime target! You have to get to them before they realize that their strength increased!”

“You have to get those ashes, mix it with holy or blessed water and a drop of your blood. The magick will work its course from there!” Justin began.

“How will we find those vamps?” Lance asked.

“Before you cremate the slayers, take a drop of each of their blood in a jar then place it in the sun. Once the sun sets, it’ll lead you to them!”

“We’ll get there as soon as we can, once Nibris is taken down.” Josh said as they all went to work on their tasks.

“Is everything ok?” Xander asked, as he noticed their solemn look.

“The good news is that the sun is back in LA, the bad news is that the Chosen Team that resided there was killed.” Josh replied.

”Were they your teammates?” Andrew asked.

“No . . . they were another team.” Justin answered.

“I’m sorry to hear that . . .” Xander said.

“It’s ok . . . they went down fighting, that’s all that matters!”  Josh said. “They were pushed to their limit.”

”Way beyond their limit!”  Justin added.

“Good thing we’re having that birthday party for Buffy at the Bronze tomorrow!” Josh said quickly, noticing Nibris just in front of them.

“Tell me about it, we could all use a break from all of this!” Justin responded.

“We just gotta make sure we tell everyone who’s going that it starts at 7!” Xander said catching on to what they were doing.

“Seven o’clock at the Bronze? I’ll be there!” Andrew said wanting to add something.

“Now come on, let’s go, we got some stuff to get for the party!” 

TBC . . .

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p.s.

We’ll miss you Buffy!