Aug 23rd - Monster Hunters
Title: Monster Hunters
Author: acswatwst (acs)
Rating: FR-18
Word Count: 1,548
Crossover: BtVS / Dr Who / Clifford B. Hicks: Alvin's Secret Code
Disclaimer: This is a derivative work. All BtVS characters and concepts belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. The BBC owns all things Dr Who (K-9, Romana, etc.). Riverton, its residents and the events that occur there belong the the estate of Clifford B. Hicks.
Author's Note: A little background, but we don't really find out who or what killed Shoie at this point. May take a few days.
Summary: A conversation with some monster hunters. Joyce is eager to help out. Missy is being mysterious. Romana doesn't have much to say, yet.
There was a loud pounding on the TARDIS doors. Romana pushed a button on the console and the view screen showed the front of the TARDIS. Alvin was pounding on the door, Daphne was facing away out towards the cemetery, and Chewie was standing on her shoulder.
"Do we let them in?" Joyce asked. "How do we know it's really them and not whatever monster killed Shoie?"
"If they were a threat they wouldn't have seen through the perception filter," Romana said. "K-9? Please escort them in."
"Yes, Mistress," K-9 said, rolling down the passage to the entrance. With a flick of another switch, Romana opened the door.
"Enter please," K-9 said.
Alvin stepped into the TARDIS first, still holding the long pole-like object he'd been holding earlier. Daphne backed in, never taking her eyes off of the cemetery. As soon as she was through the door, and it had closed, Chewie jumped off of her shoulder and strolled into the console room ahead of them.
"Hi," Joyce said.
"Hi," Alvin said. Daphne mumbled something unintelligible in a low voice. "She said your cat creature was very helpful tonight," he added.
"He can be, when he feels like it," Romana said, "though he's Missy's pet."
"Missy?" Alvin looked around puzzled.
"Koschei?" Joyce said. "That's what your Mr. Link called her, though I don't think she's used that name for a very long time."
"Right," Alvin said. "He's not really a cat, is he. The monsters ran away when they saw him."
"Nope," Joyce said. "Looks like a cat, but he's not."
"Idris has set up one of the lounges for this discussion," Romana said. "It'll be more comfortable than standing here. Joyce, please take them to the North Library lounge. I'll be along in several minutes."
"Okay," Joyce said. "Are you coming, K-9?"
"No, Miss," K-9 said.
"Okay," Joyce said, shrugging. "Follow me," she said. When she opened the door, Chewie raced ahead, into the interior of the TARDIS.
Daphne mumbled again, Alvin interpreting for her again. "Daphne was wondering if Chewie was coming with us?"
"He does his own thing," Joyce said. "He might or might not." Setting a brisk pace, she led them through the TARDIS to the North Library and then further into the lounge.
"Looks like Idris has provided snacks," Joyce said, noticing a tray with a steaming teapot, a pitcher of milk, and large mugs. There was also a stack of small plates and a basket of different kinds of cookies. "I'll pour. Help yourselves to cookies."
By the time they'd all been sufficiently supplied with tea and cookies, Romana arrived.
"Good, tea and cookies," Romana said. "Sometimes Idris has different ideas about what appropriate snacks are."
"She never gives me coffee," Joyce said, in a stage whisper. "If I want coffee I have to make it myself in the kitchen. But her chocolate cookies are amazing."
Daphne murmured around a mouthful of cookie, clearly enjoying them.
"Nothing is as good as Mom's, she said," Alvin said. "But that's more about psychology and nostalgia than the actual cookies."
"I've noticed that too," Joyce said. "My mom makes awesome banana bread, but I know I've had better in our travels. But my tongue insists my mom's are the best ever."
"You were going to explain," Romana said, before they could get too sidetracked.
"Don't start without me," Missy said, strolling into the lounge, Chewie at her heels. "Nothing for me?" she pouted.
"You know Idris refuses to make that molasses date pastry you like," Romana said. "Have a cookie."
"Whatever," Missy said, grumbling. Pulling a small flask out of a pocket she poured some into a glass that appeared on the tray. She then leaned against the door, glass in hand.
Chewie jumped onto Daphne's lap and made himself comfortable.
"We won't talk about all the things we got into after you left last time," Alvin said, "but they were good years. We did a lot of things, even a trip to Europe. Shoie got athletic scholarships from everywhere. I had my pick of schools. We'd always done everything together so we picked the same university out in California. Warm winters seemed like a great idea."
Daphne mumbled something, waving her cookie filled hands.
"Daphne couldn't convince Mom and Dad to move to California," Alvin said, poking her fondly. "But we promised to come home for every break. And that worked out great our freshman year. We made it home for every holiday and spring break."
Daphne stood up, unseating Chewie, and started pacing and mumbling. She turned to face all of them and said one word clearly "Dreams!"
"Yeah," Alvin said, nodding. "Things changed that summer. Daphne started having dreams. Mostly nightmares with monsters, but occasionally just strange ones. She must have woken us up once or twice a week all summer."
Daphne sat back down, slumping back against the couch. "Scared," she said, "Mom and Dad."
"Mom and Dad didn't know what to do to help," Alvin said. "I know we were a handful as kids but this was more than they knew what to do with."
Daphne nodded, picking Chewie back up. She grabbed another cookie and started nibbling on it, waving at Alvin to continue.
"Shoie suggested going to Mr. Link," he said. "He'd always given us good advice, and he knew more about the world than we did, even after all of our adventures."
"Sounds like Link," Missy said. "Rather clever for a human. Sometimes too clever."
"He wasn't happy about the dreams, especially when Daphne described a few of them," Alvin said. "He said he knew someone who might be able to help, but that it might take a little while to contact them."
"And then things got strange," Alvin said. "Daphne suddenly got a lot stronger. She must've broken every door knob in the house in a week. I was very busy fixing them and hiding it from our parents."
Daphne giggled, and waved a hand.
"Yes, very funny," Alvin said, rolling his eyes. "Almost got caught too many times. Explaining to Mom that tiny little Daphne was suddenly so strong she could bend metal would not have gone well."
"Did you know what caused this sudden increase in strength?" Joyce said.
"Still not sure what caused it," Alvin said. Daphne muttered something else. "And her hearing is better, a lot better."
"Did Mr. Link's friend ever show up?" Joyce asked.
"We're not sure," Alvin said. "They found someone torn to pieces down by the river that might have been them. They said it was wild dogs. And Mr. Link and Mrs. Murphy, his housekeeper, disappeared the same week."
"That's not good," Joyce said. "How long ago was this?"
"Link wouldn't just run off," Missy said, shaking her head. "He's stubborn. And he can't walk."
"It was almost a year ago," Alvin said. "Around the same time, Daphne started sneaking out at night. She wouldn't tell us what she was doing, so one night Shoie decided to follow her."
"Stupid boy," Daphne said, grumbling angrily to herself. "Not safe."
"We didn't know that," Alvin said softly. "We actually thought it was just some wild bear or something, and Shoie was the fastest person in Riverton. He should have been able to outrun whatever it was. We thought we were invincible." He sighed, pausing to take a sip from his mug. "But he didn't," Alvin said, viciously biting down on a cookie. "Something out there killed him. A victim of another wild dog attack."
"Got it," Daphne said, making a stabbing motion. "For Shoie!"
"Yes, yes you did," Alvin said. "We aren't sure what it was, not really. Large with lots of arms. But she chopped its head off with an old machete that Dad kept in the basement."
"You couldn't tell what it was?" Romana said, frowning.
"By the time Daphne found me and showed me it was just a large puddle of some kind of ecto plasma," Alvin said. "I tried to analyze it but it didn't make any sense."
"But that was it?" Joyce said. "Monster destroyed?"
"Nope," Alvin said. "There have been several more attacks in the last nine months. Daphne killed another one last month but we think there's a whole tribe of the things. And people have been seeing other things at night. And that fog? Not normal."
"We'll help," Joyce said. "Won't we, Romana?" She gave Romana a hopeful look.
"Of course," Romana said.
"You don't know what you're getting into," Missy said.
"Do you?" Joyce retorted.
"I have an idea or two," Missy said. "I'm not sure if you're ready to find out about that part of this world."
"Horror movie monsters?" Joyce said. "Sounds like they're killable."
"If they don't get you first," Missy said.
Daphne murmured again, this time directing the sounds at Missy.
"You should have come with me last time," Missy said, shaking her head. "Would have been a lot safer out there than this."
"So, how do we help?" Joyce said. "We can't just leave them facing whatever it is."
"First we give these two a ride home and then we talk," Romana said, looking pointedly at Missy.
"I'll behave," Missy said. "Always up for a bit of chaos."