Of Those Chosen: The Twins - 04
Previous chapters can be found milling around the water cooler like a bunch of ruffians. Those damn kids. They need haircuts.
Chapter Four
They’re Truly Outrageous
“You’re not seriously going to follow her out there, are you?” Robin asked once the girl and her group left.
“Yeah, why not?” Faith asked. “Girl needs a lesson, yo.”
“No kidding,” Kennedy said.
“Kennedy!” Willow said.
“She does,” Kennedy said.
“That’s beside the point!” Robin grabbed Faith’s shoulder and turned her toward him. “You’re a Slayer! Your duty is to protect humanity, not beat it up in bar fights!”
“Hey, look, it’s five by five, okay? Either she’s a demon and I’m doing my duty, or she’s just some girl and I’ll take it easy on her. No big.”
Robin seethed. He stared at Faith for a second, then turned quickly. “Willow, you gonna back me up here?”
Willow nodded. “I’m on Robin’s side, guys.”
Robin nodded. “Kennedy, you’re not going to go fight some citizen behind a bar,” he stated.
Kennedy glared at her Watcher, but said nothing. Faith looked over at her and shrugged, then turned to her Watcher. “Harris? Official ruling?”
Xander shook his head. “You better watch your ass out there, Faith -- but you know I’ve got your back. I’ve told you, I’m not going to dictate your private life to you. It’s your party, cry away. But still, I think it’s stupid.”
“What the--“ Robin cursed.
Faith grinned, and turned to Kennedy. “Know any Slayers who can back me up, in case there’re vamps around?” she said.
Kennedy grinned. She tossed back a shot and slammed the glass on the bar top. “Yeah, some hot dyke comes to mind.”
Faith laughed. Kennedy could be okay, once she had enough to drink. “Close enough to five minutes?”
Kennedy tossed a bill onto the bar and nodded. “Let’s go.”
:#:
Donner found Cole waiting on the roof of the club, deep in shadows, looking down into the alley where Katharine’s gang waited for Faith and her friends.
Donner came up beside Cole. “How many?” Cole asked quietly.
“Three,” Donner whispered, just as quiet. The three vampires, only five feet behind him, heard nothing. “This our meal?”
Cole smiled slightly. “This? No. This is--“ He shook his head. “This is simply beautiful, Donner. Words hardly describe it. Two Slayers are about to fight, and I didn’t even have to do a thing to bring it about.”
“Oh, my,” Donner said, his voice equally as dry as Cole’s.
“I assume the only help you could find on such short notice was of the dumb and violent sort?” Cole asked after a moment.
Donner nodded. “Plans?”
“Forming,” Cole said.
:#:
Faith led her friends toward the alley. Kennedy followed right behind her, almost beside her, but the others lagged behind -- especially Robin, Willow, and Andrew.
“Come on, guys,” Faith said. “Aren’t you all supposed to happily support me when I make some dumb decision? Isn’t that what the Scooby Gang is all about?”
“I don’t think your gang would be called the Scooby Gang,” Xander said. “Maybe the Pips, or the Holograms, or whatever Rob Zombie’s touring band is called -- but not the Scoobies.”
“Five-by-five,” Faith said. “I like that, Faith and the Holograms. That’s sweet, Harris.”
They turned the corner and saw Katharine's gang. They relaxed against a large pile of plastic crates which surrounded an old, beat-up mattress on the ground.
“Oh, I get it!” Faith said. “That’s how you knew about this place: the mattress! It’s where you earn your money for the cover charge, right?”
Katharine grabbed one of the crates and flung it at Faith. “You are going down!” she screamed.
Faith raised her arms just in time to block the crate. The impact thudded up into her shoulders, and she almost got knocked back a step.
“Aw, hell, guys,” Faith said. “This chick’s strong.”
“What’s wrong, skank?” Katharine said. “Don’t tell me you’re already too scared.”
Faith laughed and walked forward. “Come on, Lite Beer,” she said. “Meet big sister half way.”
Katharine’s face went blank for a second, then she shook her head and stared intensely at Faith. “You know -- every word out of your mouth, you make it so I’ll enjoy this more and more.”
:#:
“Wait,” Donner said. “They don’t know about each other?”
Cole smiled and shook his head. He wondered if the two would figure it out before one died, or if they would just assume the other was a vampire.
Cole knew that the world held more than one Slayer now, but he had no idea what brought that about. He believed it started about a year ago, but so far all his experiments brought vague data at best and faulty data at worst. He wondered if they Slayers knew about it, and how he could find out from them if he did.
:#:
The fight started out slowly. Both girls tested the other. Each girl believed she was superior to the other, wanted to prove that superiority by beating her with the minimum effort necessary. Faith threw a fancy roundhouse kick which Katharine countered by kicking out Faith’s other leg from underneath. Faith hit the ground flat on her shoulders and immediately nipped up to her feet again. Katharine threw a quick jab at Faith; Faith met the girl’s fist with her own, and the two Slayer’s fists slammed together with a loud, sharp crack.
The blows went back and forth. They gained in strength, intensity, and cunning.
After a few minutes, Faith took a few steps back. The girl was good, and just as strong and fast as her.
“Finally,” Xander said, “you gonna take this seriously and end it?”
“Yo, Munch, on guard,” Faith said. “This ain’t human. Too strong.”
Katharine stepped back, too. Faith’s strength and skill were far greater than anything she encountered before, and her words just confused her more. “What the hell are you talking about, freak?” she said.
“Red, you got a scan spell?” Faith said. She ignored Katharine’s words, and concentrated only on her body movements. “I’d love to know what else we got around here.”
“I’m on it,” Willow said.
:#:
Cole turned to Donner. “Magic-user,” he said. “She’s too strong to miss us.”
Donner nodded. He motioned the three vampires he brought with him to come forward.
“You three hungry?” Cole said.
“Of course,” the largest said.
“Good.” He pointed to the three guys with Katharine. “You three drop down behind them, work your way in. We’ll hit the other side, make sure no one gets away.”
The vampires nodded and hurried to get into position.
Donner looked at Cole. He knew Cole had no plans to drop into an alley with two Slayers and a powerful witch.
“Now we watch,” Cole said. Donner nodded. Research -- he should’ve known.
:#:
“So what are you?” Faith said. Willow needed time for the spell, she knew; so she stalled. “Vamp? Demon? Something else?”
Katharine gave her a look that almost made her laugh. “Okay, skank, you got some problems,” she said. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on, I already know--“
“Faith, from the roof!” Willow screamed.
Katharine spun around as three large humanoid forms dropped the three stories from the club’s roof and landed lightly behind Rick, Danny, and Brad. The guys had no time to react before the three shadows grabbed them and bit down into their necks.
Faith and Kennedy rushed past Katharine and each engaged one vampire right as they dropped their prey. The third vampire saw Katharine, stunned and wide-eyed, completely frozen, and rushed toward her.
Xander charged the vampire and lowered his shoulder into him just before he reached Katharine. The vamp stumbled a step but quickly righted himself. Robin attacked from the other side, but even with a two-on-one advantage, the vamp was fresh from feeding and quickly had the two humans on the defensive.
Faith and Kennedy fared well with their respective vampires. Kennedy pounded on her vampire -- she accepted that her blows would be blocked, but her superior strength would still hurt him and make him more likely to attempt to dodge an attack, which opened up holes in the defense. Like the one where he ducked under her high thrust kick. She dropped her heel down onto the back of his head and drove him into the ground. Her stake came down from behind, and the vampire fell to dust.
Faith’s tactics were similar, but slightly different. All the Slayers fought differently -- Buffy fought like Ali, stinging and jabbing and darting around to frustrate a foe into a fatal mistake; Faith accepted body shots she knew would only hurt for a moment to get the adversary to over-extend so she could land a heavy blow. Like the right-foot side kick her vampire aimed her way, which left him wide open for a thundering left-foot roundhouse to the head which flipped him over onto his back on the ground. Dust.
Katharine watched the third vampire grab Robin and toss him bodily into Xander. They both fell hard to the ground, and the vampire grinned. She saw the blood on his face; it dripped down his chin, not her friend’s blood but still someone she knew, and Katharine felt her rage release.
She charged into the vampire much like Xander did, but far more effectively. Her shoulder slammed into his sternum, and she heard bone crack. A moment later, he slammed into the pile of crates and bounced forward to Katharine. She snapped punches and kicks one after another, and all hit the mark on the vamp. Six blows, and then a hard roundhouse right slammed her knuckles into the vampire’s already-broken breastbone. He crumpled to the ground.
Katharine turned around to face Faith and Kennedy, who stood about ten feet away from her. “Okay, so what the hell--“
“Look out!” Kennedy yelled. She threw her stake to distract the vampire so Katharine could get away; there was no way the thrown weapon would actually hit the vampire’s heart.
Katharine snatched the stake out of the air and spun, all in one movement. The vampire turned to dust, and she stumbled back in shock.
“Hey!” Willow said. “She’s a Slayer!”
Katharine spun around. “What? I’m a what?”
:#:
And as Faith (and the Holograms) gave Katharine a quick explanation of Slayers and how she came to be one, one very interested and very intelligent vampire lurked in the shadows with his friend and listened intently.
-:-
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Chapter Four
They’re Truly Outrageous
“You’re not seriously going to follow her out there, are you?” Robin asked once the girl and her group left.
“Yeah, why not?” Faith asked. “Girl needs a lesson, yo.”
“No kidding,” Kennedy said.
“Kennedy!” Willow said.
“She does,” Kennedy said.
“That’s beside the point!” Robin grabbed Faith’s shoulder and turned her toward him. “You’re a Slayer! Your duty is to protect humanity, not beat it up in bar fights!”
“Hey, look, it’s five by five, okay? Either she’s a demon and I’m doing my duty, or she’s just some girl and I’ll take it easy on her. No big.”
Robin seethed. He stared at Faith for a second, then turned quickly. “Willow, you gonna back me up here?”
Willow nodded. “I’m on Robin’s side, guys.”
Robin nodded. “Kennedy, you’re not going to go fight some citizen behind a bar,” he stated.
Kennedy glared at her Watcher, but said nothing. Faith looked over at her and shrugged, then turned to her Watcher. “Harris? Official ruling?”
Xander shook his head. “You better watch your ass out there, Faith -- but you know I’ve got your back. I’ve told you, I’m not going to dictate your private life to you. It’s your party, cry away. But still, I think it’s stupid.”
“What the--“ Robin cursed.
Faith grinned, and turned to Kennedy. “Know any Slayers who can back me up, in case there’re vamps around?” she said.
Kennedy grinned. She tossed back a shot and slammed the glass on the bar top. “Yeah, some hot dyke comes to mind.”
Faith laughed. Kennedy could be okay, once she had enough to drink. “Close enough to five minutes?”
Kennedy tossed a bill onto the bar and nodded. “Let’s go.”
:#:
Donner found Cole waiting on the roof of the club, deep in shadows, looking down into the alley where Katharine’s gang waited for Faith and her friends.
Donner came up beside Cole. “How many?” Cole asked quietly.
“Three,” Donner whispered, just as quiet. The three vampires, only five feet behind him, heard nothing. “This our meal?”
Cole smiled slightly. “This? No. This is--“ He shook his head. “This is simply beautiful, Donner. Words hardly describe it. Two Slayers are about to fight, and I didn’t even have to do a thing to bring it about.”
“Oh, my,” Donner said, his voice equally as dry as Cole’s.
“I assume the only help you could find on such short notice was of the dumb and violent sort?” Cole asked after a moment.
Donner nodded. “Plans?”
“Forming,” Cole said.
:#:
Faith led her friends toward the alley. Kennedy followed right behind her, almost beside her, but the others lagged behind -- especially Robin, Willow, and Andrew.
“Come on, guys,” Faith said. “Aren’t you all supposed to happily support me when I make some dumb decision? Isn’t that what the Scooby Gang is all about?”
“I don’t think your gang would be called the Scooby Gang,” Xander said. “Maybe the Pips, or the Holograms, or whatever Rob Zombie’s touring band is called -- but not the Scoobies.”
“Five-by-five,” Faith said. “I like that, Faith and the Holograms. That’s sweet, Harris.”
They turned the corner and saw Katharine's gang. They relaxed against a large pile of plastic crates which surrounded an old, beat-up mattress on the ground.
“Oh, I get it!” Faith said. “That’s how you knew about this place: the mattress! It’s where you earn your money for the cover charge, right?”
Katharine grabbed one of the crates and flung it at Faith. “You are going down!” she screamed.
Faith raised her arms just in time to block the crate. The impact thudded up into her shoulders, and she almost got knocked back a step.
“Aw, hell, guys,” Faith said. “This chick’s strong.”
“What’s wrong, skank?” Katharine said. “Don’t tell me you’re already too scared.”
Faith laughed and walked forward. “Come on, Lite Beer,” she said. “Meet big sister half way.”
Katharine’s face went blank for a second, then she shook her head and stared intensely at Faith. “You know -- every word out of your mouth, you make it so I’ll enjoy this more and more.”
:#:
“Wait,” Donner said. “They don’t know about each other?”
Cole smiled and shook his head. He wondered if the two would figure it out before one died, or if they would just assume the other was a vampire.
Cole knew that the world held more than one Slayer now, but he had no idea what brought that about. He believed it started about a year ago, but so far all his experiments brought vague data at best and faulty data at worst. He wondered if they Slayers knew about it, and how he could find out from them if he did.
:#:
The fight started out slowly. Both girls tested the other. Each girl believed she was superior to the other, wanted to prove that superiority by beating her with the minimum effort necessary. Faith threw a fancy roundhouse kick which Katharine countered by kicking out Faith’s other leg from underneath. Faith hit the ground flat on her shoulders and immediately nipped up to her feet again. Katharine threw a quick jab at Faith; Faith met the girl’s fist with her own, and the two Slayer’s fists slammed together with a loud, sharp crack.
The blows went back and forth. They gained in strength, intensity, and cunning.
After a few minutes, Faith took a few steps back. The girl was good, and just as strong and fast as her.
“Finally,” Xander said, “you gonna take this seriously and end it?”
“Yo, Munch, on guard,” Faith said. “This ain’t human. Too strong.”
Katharine stepped back, too. Faith’s strength and skill were far greater than anything she encountered before, and her words just confused her more. “What the hell are you talking about, freak?” she said.
“Red, you got a scan spell?” Faith said. She ignored Katharine’s words, and concentrated only on her body movements. “I’d love to know what else we got around here.”
“I’m on it,” Willow said.
:#:
Cole turned to Donner. “Magic-user,” he said. “She’s too strong to miss us.”
Donner nodded. He motioned the three vampires he brought with him to come forward.
“You three hungry?” Cole said.
“Of course,” the largest said.
“Good.” He pointed to the three guys with Katharine. “You three drop down behind them, work your way in. We’ll hit the other side, make sure no one gets away.”
The vampires nodded and hurried to get into position.
Donner looked at Cole. He knew Cole had no plans to drop into an alley with two Slayers and a powerful witch.
“Now we watch,” Cole said. Donner nodded. Research -- he should’ve known.
:#:
“So what are you?” Faith said. Willow needed time for the spell, she knew; so she stalled. “Vamp? Demon? Something else?”
Katharine gave her a look that almost made her laugh. “Okay, skank, you got some problems,” she said. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on, I already know--“
“Faith, from the roof!” Willow screamed.
Katharine spun around as three large humanoid forms dropped the three stories from the club’s roof and landed lightly behind Rick, Danny, and Brad. The guys had no time to react before the three shadows grabbed them and bit down into their necks.
Faith and Kennedy rushed past Katharine and each engaged one vampire right as they dropped their prey. The third vampire saw Katharine, stunned and wide-eyed, completely frozen, and rushed toward her.
Xander charged the vampire and lowered his shoulder into him just before he reached Katharine. The vamp stumbled a step but quickly righted himself. Robin attacked from the other side, but even with a two-on-one advantage, the vamp was fresh from feeding and quickly had the two humans on the defensive.
Faith and Kennedy fared well with their respective vampires. Kennedy pounded on her vampire -- she accepted that her blows would be blocked, but her superior strength would still hurt him and make him more likely to attempt to dodge an attack, which opened up holes in the defense. Like the one where he ducked under her high thrust kick. She dropped her heel down onto the back of his head and drove him into the ground. Her stake came down from behind, and the vampire fell to dust.
Faith’s tactics were similar, but slightly different. All the Slayers fought differently -- Buffy fought like Ali, stinging and jabbing and darting around to frustrate a foe into a fatal mistake; Faith accepted body shots she knew would only hurt for a moment to get the adversary to over-extend so she could land a heavy blow. Like the right-foot side kick her vampire aimed her way, which left him wide open for a thundering left-foot roundhouse to the head which flipped him over onto his back on the ground. Dust.
Katharine watched the third vampire grab Robin and toss him bodily into Xander. They both fell hard to the ground, and the vampire grinned. She saw the blood on his face; it dripped down his chin, not her friend’s blood but still someone she knew, and Katharine felt her rage release.
She charged into the vampire much like Xander did, but far more effectively. Her shoulder slammed into his sternum, and she heard bone crack. A moment later, he slammed into the pile of crates and bounced forward to Katharine. She snapped punches and kicks one after another, and all hit the mark on the vamp. Six blows, and then a hard roundhouse right slammed her knuckles into the vampire’s already-broken breastbone. He crumpled to the ground.
Katharine turned around to face Faith and Kennedy, who stood about ten feet away from her. “Okay, so what the hell--“
“Look out!” Kennedy yelled. She threw her stake to distract the vampire so Katharine could get away; there was no way the thrown weapon would actually hit the vampire’s heart.
Katharine snatched the stake out of the air and spun, all in one movement. The vampire turned to dust, and she stumbled back in shock.
“Hey!” Willow said. “She’s a Slayer!”
Katharine spun around. “What? I’m a what?”
:#:
And as Faith (and the Holograms) gave Katharine a quick explanation of Slayers and how she came to be one, one very interested and very intelligent vampire lurked in the shadows with his friend and listened intently.
-:-
easy chapter navigation
<<< [ 04 ] >>>