BtVS: Just Another Day - 6.13 Twenty Questions
Previous episode here.
Morale is low around the Slayer house following their defeat of Persephone. The revelation of Ally's dirty secret (that she killed Iris) has sent Ally and Simon into hiding at the Tapahattam State Park campground, and Jack into his basement room to brood. Joey, Teresa, and Tran sleep until afternoon but don't feel any better about the current state of things when they wake up. Fortunately, all three of these Slayer fragments have tried-and-true strategies for working out their frustrations. Tran is shocked to wake up with the Edge of Twilight sitting on his chest and the voice of the Nemesis in his head, telling him that he'll never stop her if he keeps stalling. Trying to get his mind off of doing something really stupid like going after Sabrina/Alerion on his own, Tran hits the workout room (and the punching bag). Joey sits in his room with a silver spray-painted hat on his head (mimicking Cerebro) trying to tap into the Intelligence of Professor Xavier. He also calls Kirsten to set up a coffee date for that evening, since the two of them haven't spent much time together lately. Teresa is on her way out the door to go try to whip Art-Mental into shape when she notices that the mail is really piling up in the Slayer fragments' mailbox and brings it inside. Amidst the bills and junk mail is an envelope of heavy paper with a postmark from Tibet - a response to Ally's letter about Tran. Teresa decides that she'd better bother Ally to let her know.
At the campground, Ally and Simon are having a discussion about what to do next. Ally's tattoo-related leads haven't been as quick in getting back to her as she hoped, and she doesn't want to let Jack's soul rot away wherever it's hidden for any longer. She thinks it's time for desperate measures - that is, getting Simon's family involved. She remembers Simon saying that both of his parents and other relatives are big-time ceremonial magicians, and wonders if they might be able to give her advice. Simon thinks they would, but is understandably reluctant to go back since he hasn't spoken to them since the falling-out that occurred after he came back from Europe. However, if that's what Ally needs, he's willing to face his past. Then Ally's phone rings; it's Teresa, calling about the letter. Ally says that she's on her way out of town but will stop off at the Slayer house and take a look at the letter. She and Simon break down the campsite and hail a taxi for the long ride back to the Slayer house.
Joey is getting some serious screen-staring done in an attempt to build up his Xavier persona when his phone rings. Surprisingly, and for the first time since Joey got into technomancy, the voice on the other end when he picks up is not Nokia. Instead, it's an unfamiliar female voice who tells Joey that she desperately needs to meet with him to discuss something of utmost importance, since she can't get in touch with Ally right now. Remembering Ally's source, and how she had given the Slayer fragments accurate if cryptic information in the past, Joey agrees to meet with Ally's source at an intersection she names - if she'll just explain how she got past his "secretary". The source says she isn't sure, and didn't even know that Joey had any such intermediary, and Joey believes her even if he doesn't understand. They set up a meeting for about an hour later.
Ally shows up just as Joey is getting ready to leave, and opens the letter without hesitation. What she reads shocks her. It seems that the leaders of the monastery where Jake studied have never heard of a technique that could do the sorts of things Tran describes, let alone Tran himself. In fact, monks generally try to avoid avenging each other because it can throw things out of karmic balance; each monk must fight his own battles and deal with the karmic debt earned by his own soul. There is a student named Tran at the monastery, but he is a recent arrival from Vietnam who is only five years old, and certainly not a doctor.[1] But if Tran didn't come from the monastery, and he's not practicing officially sanctioned techniques, who is he and what is he doing?
Just then, the (relative) silence of the Slayer house is interrupted by a sudden, heavy knock on the door. Teresa opens it up and is shocked to see Louie barge through, heading for the workout room and shouting Tran's name. Tran tries to get away by walking on water across the pool, but Louie just catches up to him at the edge, points at him and calls out in a loud voice, "Dr. Tran! Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you FREE!"
Hearing the commotion, Jack, Joey, and Teresa come in to investigate, with Ally and Simon not far behind. After some prodding, they learn that Louie has shown up because now that Persephone is dead, he can focus on "less pressing" matters - such as the fact that Tran is deceiving himself. Louie insists that Tran doesn't really know who he is, and that his lack of knowledge and understanding of himself is only going to hurt him in the long run. For one of the first times in recorded history, Ally actually has to agree with Louie on this point. She shows Tran the letter and asks him if he can explain why the monastery wouldn't be willing to claim him as a student, particularly when he claims to be advanced enough to hold the equivalent of a doctorate from them. Tran is clearly flustered and cannot answer Ally's question. Having finally realized that something extremely fishy is going on with Tran ("If Jake did something, it's not monk-y"), the Slayer fragments - and Louie - decide they have no choice but to investigate Tran until they get to the bottom of everything. However, Joey excuses himself from this mission, saying that he needs to get to a meeting (and a date).
The first step in the process of finding out who Tran is, Ally and Teresa decide, is to check on something that's been bothering both of them for a while now. When the two of them were fighting each other in the house at Chandler's Brook and Teresa teleported Ally inside Jake's coffin, no body was inside. (In fact, it is Tran who reminds them of this, saying that he had "a dream" about this happening and didn't understand why it would be that way.) Needing to confirm this, Teresa somewhat reluctantly teleports Jake's coffin into the pool area. Both she and Ally are surprised to notice that the wooden lid of the coffin is broken and splintered from the inside out, as a result of Ally and her imp clawing to get out - "That really happened?" they both say with some astonishment. This makes it easy to see that not only is Jake's coffin empty, there is no sign that anybody was ever actually buried in it.
So Ally, Jack, Simon, and Teresa start grilling Tran about his past again, with Louie joining in. They don't get much new information, or really know whether they're ever going to be able to learn anything useful from Tran, until Louie asks a very strange question: "Animal, vegetable, or mineral?" He repeats it a few times until Ally realizes that Louie is trying to draw out the idea of who Tran really is. It makes sense; Tran's decided lack of knowledge about his own background is one of the stranger aspects of his personality, and unraveling that is probably the key to figuring out Tran. So a new round of Twenty-Questions-style questions begins, but the Slayer fragments aren't getting very far and Tran is starting to get frustrated. Even worse, Tran is hearing the voice of the Nemesis in his head, taunting him about his lack of progress and telling him that he'll never stop her, trying to prod him into impetuous and foolish accent. Then Nokia gets in on the action, warning him not to let the Slayer fragments keep questioning him like this. Tran speaks out loud in response to the voices, which makes him seem unbalanced and dangerously ready to snap at any time. Getting to the bottom of all this has never been more important.
While the questioning continues, Joey drives downtown to meet his source, who is waiting for him in a phone booth. He is somewhat surprised to see that she is a Delphinia demon - but that also makes sense, considering that Delphinia demons are known for having strong telepathic and prophetic gifts. The demon introduces herself as Faultre, and says that she's been getting all sorts of messages relating to the things that Alerion is doing ever since Tran came to town, and that in good conscience she would not be able to keep silent about them. Thus, she has been warning Ally about the visions she saw, but fears that it hasn't been enough. Now, she has seen enough to know that discovering Tran's identity is the key to figuring out some of Alerion's plans. Toward that goal, Faultre says that the Slayer fragments need to ask Tran "every question you can think of - no matter how ridiculous it may seem - and make sure he answers it."
Joey feels that he can trust Faultre, so he thanks her and calls the others before his coffee date with Kirsten to tell them what he's learned. When he hears how badly the questioning of Tran is going - and how much Teresa wants him to come back and help ("Are you coming back?" "I actually have a date with Kirsten in 40 minutes." "Well, have fun on your DATE.") - Joey reluctantly decides that they need his help. He calls Kirsten to cancel the date and returns to the Slayer house.
By the time Joey gets back, desperation has begun to set in, so his suggestion of focusing on "any question, no matter how silly" is well-received by the others. This strategy initially touches off a round of inconsequential personal questions (like "What's your favorite animal?" and "What's your favorite color?" - the answers to which are "a dragon" or if pressed, "a crane", and "black").[2] But then, Simon spins things off in an entirely new direction - strange, crackpot theories about where Tran might have come from. All kinds of ridiculous theories are tossed around, from amnesia to demon possession to brainwashing to haunting to just plain old lying to things that are even less probable, until Ally realizes something very strange that has not yet been addressed. Tran has experienced Alerion features such as a tail and a sensitivity to sunlight, but as far as anyone can tell, Tran hasn't done anything that would cause him to hate himself enough to receive those traits. Instead, the traits arose after incidents that would have troubled Jake greatly - that is, learning that Sensei Lu had become a vampire and Mrs. Rossi being deceived into joining Persephone/Marie's cult. Could it be possible that Tran is somehow receiving Jake's self-loathing because of the Nemesis connection between them Emboldened by this new direction, the Slayer fragments start questioning Tran about his relationship with Jake. Most of the questions posed are very difficult for Tran to answer, and he is becoming visibly agitated as the conversation wears on and he tries to withstand the psychic assaults of both Alerion and Nokia. Finally, Ally asks a question that gets a very different response:
"Tran, do you have Jake's soul?"
Immediately, a strange rush of energy runs through the entire Slayer house. The lights begin to flicker, casting Tran's body in shadow as it begins to grow in height but shrink in muscle. When the energy passes, Tran is no longer standing in front of the Slayer fragments. A confused-looking Jake has taken his place. "Shit," says Jake. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Ally immediately shrieks and hugs Jake in joy - "I'm so glad you're alive!" - then just as quickly demands to know what happened and who Tran was, anyway. Jake explains that Tran's existence was the result of an advanced kung fu technique known as the Nemesis Avenger technique. By giving away all his possessions and faking his own death with the help of a false technique-created body, Jake was able to transform himself into an unstoppable monk warrior, fueled by the rage and sadness of the people he left behind - that is, Tran. That's why it seemed like Tran had no life of his own - it was because he never really did. Jake hoped that becoming Tran would give him the power that was needed to defeat Alerion once and for all, because he didn't believe he could do it on his own. The catch was that Tran could only exist as long as all of Jake's friends believed that he was dead...and when the Slayer fragments started asking questions about him, it was only a matter of time before his secret was revealed.
The Slayer fragments are mostly happy to have Jake back (though Simon is less than impressed by Jake's actions, which he sees as an overly complicated way of causing a lot more problems than Jake solved), but Jake himself is not so happy. In fact, "devastated" would be a better word for it. He had hoped that Tran would give him the power to defeat the demon that still hounds him, and now that ability is gone. Jake asks to be left alone for a while, and the rest of the Slayer fragments give him some space. He retreats to his room and spends most of the rest of the night crying and feeling sorry for himself. Louie, seemingly pleased by this turn of events, announces that "the truth has set him FREE!" and marches out the door with a promise to see the Slayer fragments again soon. Joey retreats to his room, and Ally and Simon continue their journey to New York.
While Joey is sitting at his desk continuing to work on the Intelligence of Xavier, and Ally is making her way through a crowded train station, both Slayer fragments are visited by Faultre - though she speaks with Sabrina's voice. Faultre makes it clear that she was a pawn of Alerion all along, and that her attempts to get the Slayer fragments embroiled in the Persephone situation and curious about Tran were planned by Alerion all along, and that the plan has been a success. However, Faultre/Sabrina/Alerion's attempts to get Ally and Joey to feel self-loathing over having shot their own plan in the foot backfires both times. Both Ally and Joey can honestly say that although Tran was more powerful than Jake, the loss will not be noticed because they all value Jake more as a friend than they ever did Tran. Faultre disappears to parts unknown with a promise that "it's not over".
Ally and Simon ride the train for an hour or so and eventually arrive at Simon's family's home in Manhattan. Simon is obviously quite nervous to be reconnecting with his family after so many years, but when the actual meeting takes place, he gets a loving and warm reception from his parents, sisters, and cousin that he obviously was not expecting. Ally is also well-received by Simon's family; when they learn that she bears the tattoo of Lo Wai and serves as the Walker Between Worlds, they are intrigued and glad to welcome her into their home. Over dinner and conversation, Ally can see that Simon's family is clearly a warm and loving bunch, if somewhat chaotic and strange due to the frequent use of magic that occurs in their house (for example, his cousin Steve levitating over the dinner table while Simon's sister and mother telekinetically pass spice jars back and forth in the process of making dinner). Simon and his parents have a serious conversation about the causes of his estrangement from the family, but weird situations like Simon's are par for the course in the Blue family and it seems clear that with some time and patience, all will be forgiven between him and his family.
With Jake holed up in his room, Joey busy, and everyone else gone, Teresa decides that it might be a good idea to check in on Jack and see how he's doing. The answer is "not very well". Mostly, Jack is worried about what will happen if he vamps out again, especially considering that the newly-returned Jake and others have promised to kill him if he becomes evil. Now that Ally, his biggest defender, can't even look him in the eye when they're in the same room, what will happen if he can't control himself now that he knows that he's capable of killing an innocent person in that state? Teresa promises to protect Jake if Ally can't or won't, and also points out that despite the bluster of the other Slayer fragments, she doesn't think that any of them could actually bring themselves to harm him even in the most dire of circumstances. But she offers to do a protective spell on him if it will make him feel better. Using a stuffed Chewbacca doll (a stand-in for Jack's beloved childhood collection of Star Wars action figures) as a focus, Teresa casts a spell that will have a chance of deflecting fragments of Alerion away from Jack's soul and into another vessel somewhere else. Then the two of them go dancing at a club to take their mind off the current situation.
In New York, after a lot of family bonding time, Ally is finally getting down to business and asking Simon's parents if they can help her find Jack's soul. They, personally, don't have a lot of experience in the astral plane - but it seems that Simon's grandmother, who is currently residing in a nursing home in New Jersey, has copious amounts of experience in dealing with such things and will probably be able to help Ally out. The family makes arrangements to visit her the next day, then calls it a night (Ally beds down on the living room couch but sneaks into Simon's bedroom when everyone else is asleep).
The next morning, Teresa decides to report for her first official day of work as a vengeance demon. Following the feeling of anguish, she finds herself at a wake where a woman is weeping over a casket containing the body of another woman. Teresa comforts her and learns that the deceased, Heather, is this woman's partner. She died when a group of "weird gang members" - that is, vampires - broke into their apartment and took both Heather and her partner hostage. They were then interrupted by a group of "freedom fighter types" who didn't even listen to the vampires' threats of killing Heather if they didn't drop their weapons. The vampires were defeated, but they killed Heather in the process. Heather's partner makes a wish: "I wish I could have Heather back so we could be together again." Teresa panics momentarily but then realizes there's more than one way to solve this problem. She uses the power of the wish to manipulate events so that Heather rises as a vampire, then tells her partner to be at her graveside tonight. Teresa leaves feeling good about herself for having reunited two lovers in her first day on the job.
What's more, Joey is stepping out of his comfort zone just as much as Simon has. He's decided that if he wants to get serious about his relationship with Kirsten, he needs to clean up his act and get a job that he won't be ashamed to tell her the truth about. So he submits a letter of resignation to Natural Publishing and starts searching for new jobs in the computing industry. Then he brings lunch to the preschool where Kirsten works to apologize for missing the date last night. Kirsten is delighted to see him, and congratulates him on having the drive to look for a better job (though he still hasn't admitted the truth of his old place of employment). Many things are changing in the Slayer house, but it seems that some of them at least are going to change for the better.
1 - Yeah, I know. I couldn't resist.
2 - Ally: Tran, what's your favorite animal?
Tran: Dragon!
Ally: A dragon isn't an animal. Pick something else.
Tran: Well...A crane is the least likely to eat me.
Joey: Don't be so sure.
peloria, OOC: ...That sounded so slashable.
Morale is low around the Slayer house following their defeat of Persephone. The revelation of Ally's dirty secret (that she killed Iris) has sent Ally and Simon into hiding at the Tapahattam State Park campground, and Jack into his basement room to brood. Joey, Teresa, and Tran sleep until afternoon but don't feel any better about the current state of things when they wake up. Fortunately, all three of these Slayer fragments have tried-and-true strategies for working out their frustrations. Tran is shocked to wake up with the Edge of Twilight sitting on his chest and the voice of the Nemesis in his head, telling him that he'll never stop her if he keeps stalling. Trying to get his mind off of doing something really stupid like going after Sabrina/Alerion on his own, Tran hits the workout room (and the punching bag). Joey sits in his room with a silver spray-painted hat on his head (mimicking Cerebro) trying to tap into the Intelligence of Professor Xavier. He also calls Kirsten to set up a coffee date for that evening, since the two of them haven't spent much time together lately. Teresa is on her way out the door to go try to whip Art-Mental into shape when she notices that the mail is really piling up in the Slayer fragments' mailbox and brings it inside. Amidst the bills and junk mail is an envelope of heavy paper with a postmark from Tibet - a response to Ally's letter about Tran. Teresa decides that she'd better bother Ally to let her know.
At the campground, Ally and Simon are having a discussion about what to do next. Ally's tattoo-related leads haven't been as quick in getting back to her as she hoped, and she doesn't want to let Jack's soul rot away wherever it's hidden for any longer. She thinks it's time for desperate measures - that is, getting Simon's family involved. She remembers Simon saying that both of his parents and other relatives are big-time ceremonial magicians, and wonders if they might be able to give her advice. Simon thinks they would, but is understandably reluctant to go back since he hasn't spoken to them since the falling-out that occurred after he came back from Europe. However, if that's what Ally needs, he's willing to face his past. Then Ally's phone rings; it's Teresa, calling about the letter. Ally says that she's on her way out of town but will stop off at the Slayer house and take a look at the letter. She and Simon break down the campsite and hail a taxi for the long ride back to the Slayer house.
Joey is getting some serious screen-staring done in an attempt to build up his Xavier persona when his phone rings. Surprisingly, and for the first time since Joey got into technomancy, the voice on the other end when he picks up is not Nokia. Instead, it's an unfamiliar female voice who tells Joey that she desperately needs to meet with him to discuss something of utmost importance, since she can't get in touch with Ally right now. Remembering Ally's source, and how she had given the Slayer fragments accurate if cryptic information in the past, Joey agrees to meet with Ally's source at an intersection she names - if she'll just explain how she got past his "secretary". The source says she isn't sure, and didn't even know that Joey had any such intermediary, and Joey believes her even if he doesn't understand. They set up a meeting for about an hour later.
Ally shows up just as Joey is getting ready to leave, and opens the letter without hesitation. What she reads shocks her. It seems that the leaders of the monastery where Jake studied have never heard of a technique that could do the sorts of things Tran describes, let alone Tran himself. In fact, monks generally try to avoid avenging each other because it can throw things out of karmic balance; each monk must fight his own battles and deal with the karmic debt earned by his own soul. There is a student named Tran at the monastery, but he is a recent arrival from Vietnam who is only five years old, and certainly not a doctor.[1] But if Tran didn't come from the monastery, and he's not practicing officially sanctioned techniques, who is he and what is he doing?
Just then, the (relative) silence of the Slayer house is interrupted by a sudden, heavy knock on the door. Teresa opens it up and is shocked to see Louie barge through, heading for the workout room and shouting Tran's name. Tran tries to get away by walking on water across the pool, but Louie just catches up to him at the edge, points at him and calls out in a loud voice, "Dr. Tran! Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you FREE!"
Hearing the commotion, Jack, Joey, and Teresa come in to investigate, with Ally and Simon not far behind. After some prodding, they learn that Louie has shown up because now that Persephone is dead, he can focus on "less pressing" matters - such as the fact that Tran is deceiving himself. Louie insists that Tran doesn't really know who he is, and that his lack of knowledge and understanding of himself is only going to hurt him in the long run. For one of the first times in recorded history, Ally actually has to agree with Louie on this point. She shows Tran the letter and asks him if he can explain why the monastery wouldn't be willing to claim him as a student, particularly when he claims to be advanced enough to hold the equivalent of a doctorate from them. Tran is clearly flustered and cannot answer Ally's question. Having finally realized that something extremely fishy is going on with Tran ("If Jake did something, it's not monk-y"), the Slayer fragments - and Louie - decide they have no choice but to investigate Tran until they get to the bottom of everything. However, Joey excuses himself from this mission, saying that he needs to get to a meeting (and a date).
The first step in the process of finding out who Tran is, Ally and Teresa decide, is to check on something that's been bothering both of them for a while now. When the two of them were fighting each other in the house at Chandler's Brook and Teresa teleported Ally inside Jake's coffin, no body was inside. (In fact, it is Tran who reminds them of this, saying that he had "a dream" about this happening and didn't understand why it would be that way.) Needing to confirm this, Teresa somewhat reluctantly teleports Jake's coffin into the pool area. Both she and Ally are surprised to notice that the wooden lid of the coffin is broken and splintered from the inside out, as a result of Ally and her imp clawing to get out - "That really happened?" they both say with some astonishment. This makes it easy to see that not only is Jake's coffin empty, there is no sign that anybody was ever actually buried in it.
So Ally, Jack, Simon, and Teresa start grilling Tran about his past again, with Louie joining in. They don't get much new information, or really know whether they're ever going to be able to learn anything useful from Tran, until Louie asks a very strange question: "Animal, vegetable, or mineral?" He repeats it a few times until Ally realizes that Louie is trying to draw out the idea of who Tran really is. It makes sense; Tran's decided lack of knowledge about his own background is one of the stranger aspects of his personality, and unraveling that is probably the key to figuring out Tran. So a new round of Twenty-Questions-style questions begins, but the Slayer fragments aren't getting very far and Tran is starting to get frustrated. Even worse, Tran is hearing the voice of the Nemesis in his head, taunting him about his lack of progress and telling him that he'll never stop her, trying to prod him into impetuous and foolish accent. Then Nokia gets in on the action, warning him not to let the Slayer fragments keep questioning him like this. Tran speaks out loud in response to the voices, which makes him seem unbalanced and dangerously ready to snap at any time. Getting to the bottom of all this has never been more important.
While the questioning continues, Joey drives downtown to meet his source, who is waiting for him in a phone booth. He is somewhat surprised to see that she is a Delphinia demon - but that also makes sense, considering that Delphinia demons are known for having strong telepathic and prophetic gifts. The demon introduces herself as Faultre, and says that she's been getting all sorts of messages relating to the things that Alerion is doing ever since Tran came to town, and that in good conscience she would not be able to keep silent about them. Thus, she has been warning Ally about the visions she saw, but fears that it hasn't been enough. Now, she has seen enough to know that discovering Tran's identity is the key to figuring out some of Alerion's plans. Toward that goal, Faultre says that the Slayer fragments need to ask Tran "every question you can think of - no matter how ridiculous it may seem - and make sure he answers it."
Joey feels that he can trust Faultre, so he thanks her and calls the others before his coffee date with Kirsten to tell them what he's learned. When he hears how badly the questioning of Tran is going - and how much Teresa wants him to come back and help ("Are you coming back?" "I actually have a date with Kirsten in 40 minutes." "Well, have fun on your DATE.") - Joey reluctantly decides that they need his help. He calls Kirsten to cancel the date and returns to the Slayer house.
By the time Joey gets back, desperation has begun to set in, so his suggestion of focusing on "any question, no matter how silly" is well-received by the others. This strategy initially touches off a round of inconsequential personal questions (like "What's your favorite animal?" and "What's your favorite color?" - the answers to which are "a dragon" or if pressed, "a crane", and "black").[2] But then, Simon spins things off in an entirely new direction - strange, crackpot theories about where Tran might have come from. All kinds of ridiculous theories are tossed around, from amnesia to demon possession to brainwashing to haunting to just plain old lying to things that are even less probable, until Ally realizes something very strange that has not yet been addressed. Tran has experienced Alerion features such as a tail and a sensitivity to sunlight, but as far as anyone can tell, Tran hasn't done anything that would cause him to hate himself enough to receive those traits. Instead, the traits arose after incidents that would have troubled Jake greatly - that is, learning that Sensei Lu had become a vampire and Mrs. Rossi being deceived into joining Persephone/Marie's cult. Could it be possible that Tran is somehow receiving Jake's self-loathing because of the Nemesis connection between them Emboldened by this new direction, the Slayer fragments start questioning Tran about his relationship with Jake. Most of the questions posed are very difficult for Tran to answer, and he is becoming visibly agitated as the conversation wears on and he tries to withstand the psychic assaults of both Alerion and Nokia. Finally, Ally asks a question that gets a very different response:
"Tran, do you have Jake's soul?"
Immediately, a strange rush of energy runs through the entire Slayer house. The lights begin to flicker, casting Tran's body in shadow as it begins to grow in height but shrink in muscle. When the energy passes, Tran is no longer standing in front of the Slayer fragments. A confused-looking Jake has taken his place. "Shit," says Jake. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Ally immediately shrieks and hugs Jake in joy - "I'm so glad you're alive!" - then just as quickly demands to know what happened and who Tran was, anyway. Jake explains that Tran's existence was the result of an advanced kung fu technique known as the Nemesis Avenger technique. By giving away all his possessions and faking his own death with the help of a false technique-created body, Jake was able to transform himself into an unstoppable monk warrior, fueled by the rage and sadness of the people he left behind - that is, Tran. That's why it seemed like Tran had no life of his own - it was because he never really did. Jake hoped that becoming Tran would give him the power that was needed to defeat Alerion once and for all, because he didn't believe he could do it on his own. The catch was that Tran could only exist as long as all of Jake's friends believed that he was dead...and when the Slayer fragments started asking questions about him, it was only a matter of time before his secret was revealed.
The Slayer fragments are mostly happy to have Jake back (though Simon is less than impressed by Jake's actions, which he sees as an overly complicated way of causing a lot more problems than Jake solved), but Jake himself is not so happy. In fact, "devastated" would be a better word for it. He had hoped that Tran would give him the power to defeat the demon that still hounds him, and now that ability is gone. Jake asks to be left alone for a while, and the rest of the Slayer fragments give him some space. He retreats to his room and spends most of the rest of the night crying and feeling sorry for himself. Louie, seemingly pleased by this turn of events, announces that "the truth has set him FREE!" and marches out the door with a promise to see the Slayer fragments again soon. Joey retreats to his room, and Ally and Simon continue their journey to New York.
While Joey is sitting at his desk continuing to work on the Intelligence of Xavier, and Ally is making her way through a crowded train station, both Slayer fragments are visited by Faultre - though she speaks with Sabrina's voice. Faultre makes it clear that she was a pawn of Alerion all along, and that her attempts to get the Slayer fragments embroiled in the Persephone situation and curious about Tran were planned by Alerion all along, and that the plan has been a success. However, Faultre/Sabrina/Alerion's attempts to get Ally and Joey to feel self-loathing over having shot their own plan in the foot backfires both times. Both Ally and Joey can honestly say that although Tran was more powerful than Jake, the loss will not be noticed because they all value Jake more as a friend than they ever did Tran. Faultre disappears to parts unknown with a promise that "it's not over".
Ally and Simon ride the train for an hour or so and eventually arrive at Simon's family's home in Manhattan. Simon is obviously quite nervous to be reconnecting with his family after so many years, but when the actual meeting takes place, he gets a loving and warm reception from his parents, sisters, and cousin that he obviously was not expecting. Ally is also well-received by Simon's family; when they learn that she bears the tattoo of Lo Wai and serves as the Walker Between Worlds, they are intrigued and glad to welcome her into their home. Over dinner and conversation, Ally can see that Simon's family is clearly a warm and loving bunch, if somewhat chaotic and strange due to the frequent use of magic that occurs in their house (for example, his cousin Steve levitating over the dinner table while Simon's sister and mother telekinetically pass spice jars back and forth in the process of making dinner). Simon and his parents have a serious conversation about the causes of his estrangement from the family, but weird situations like Simon's are par for the course in the Blue family and it seems clear that with some time and patience, all will be forgiven between him and his family.
With Jake holed up in his room, Joey busy, and everyone else gone, Teresa decides that it might be a good idea to check in on Jack and see how he's doing. The answer is "not very well". Mostly, Jack is worried about what will happen if he vamps out again, especially considering that the newly-returned Jake and others have promised to kill him if he becomes evil. Now that Ally, his biggest defender, can't even look him in the eye when they're in the same room, what will happen if he can't control himself now that he knows that he's capable of killing an innocent person in that state? Teresa promises to protect Jake if Ally can't or won't, and also points out that despite the bluster of the other Slayer fragments, she doesn't think that any of them could actually bring themselves to harm him even in the most dire of circumstances. But she offers to do a protective spell on him if it will make him feel better. Using a stuffed Chewbacca doll (a stand-in for Jack's beloved childhood collection of Star Wars action figures) as a focus, Teresa casts a spell that will have a chance of deflecting fragments of Alerion away from Jack's soul and into another vessel somewhere else. Then the two of them go dancing at a club to take their mind off the current situation.
In New York, after a lot of family bonding time, Ally is finally getting down to business and asking Simon's parents if they can help her find Jack's soul. They, personally, don't have a lot of experience in the astral plane - but it seems that Simon's grandmother, who is currently residing in a nursing home in New Jersey, has copious amounts of experience in dealing with such things and will probably be able to help Ally out. The family makes arrangements to visit her the next day, then calls it a night (Ally beds down on the living room couch but sneaks into Simon's bedroom when everyone else is asleep).
The next morning, Teresa decides to report for her first official day of work as a vengeance demon. Following the feeling of anguish, she finds herself at a wake where a woman is weeping over a casket containing the body of another woman. Teresa comforts her and learns that the deceased, Heather, is this woman's partner. She died when a group of "weird gang members" - that is, vampires - broke into their apartment and took both Heather and her partner hostage. They were then interrupted by a group of "freedom fighter types" who didn't even listen to the vampires' threats of killing Heather if they didn't drop their weapons. The vampires were defeated, but they killed Heather in the process. Heather's partner makes a wish: "I wish I could have Heather back so we could be together again." Teresa panics momentarily but then realizes there's more than one way to solve this problem. She uses the power of the wish to manipulate events so that Heather rises as a vampire, then tells her partner to be at her graveside tonight. Teresa leaves feeling good about herself for having reunited two lovers in her first day on the job.
What's more, Joey is stepping out of his comfort zone just as much as Simon has. He's decided that if he wants to get serious about his relationship with Kirsten, he needs to clean up his act and get a job that he won't be ashamed to tell her the truth about. So he submits a letter of resignation to Natural Publishing and starts searching for new jobs in the computing industry. Then he brings lunch to the preschool where Kirsten works to apologize for missing the date last night. Kirsten is delighted to see him, and congratulates him on having the drive to look for a better job (though he still hasn't admitted the truth of his old place of employment). Many things are changing in the Slayer house, but it seems that some of them at least are going to change for the better.
1 - Yeah, I know. I couldn't resist.
2 - Ally: Tran, what's your favorite animal?
Tran: Dragon!
Ally: A dragon isn't an animal. Pick something else.
Tran: Well...A crane is the least likely to eat me.
Joey: Don't be so sure.
peloria, OOC: ...That sounded so slashable.