Friday Fanfic

Buffy the Dragon Slayer

(An obvious continuation of last week's story)

Chapter Twelve-Gamma

"Okay," said Messalina. "Your Slayer is ready."

Laurel glanced at Buffy and noticed that her eyes seemed to be blank.

"Are you sure she's okay?" Laurel asked.

"Of course, she is," said Messalina. "All you have to do is prepare her for battle."

"But she seems so quiet," said Laurel.

"Would you rather she still be in hysterics?" asked Messalina. "The point is I calmed her down. Is there anything else you want her to do?"

"Okay," said Laurel. "Have her go back into that room over there and get undressed."

Messalina smiled. "You heard the lady, Buffy. Go into that room and strip."

Buffy did as Messalina asked.

"I guess I'll put the magic lotion on her now," said Laurel. "But first, is there something you're not telling me?"

"About Buffy?" asked Messalina. "You know as much as I do."

"That's not what I meant," said Laurel. "If I ever find out you did something to her..."

"You're wasting time," said Messalina. "I thought she had a dragon to fight. That dragon isn't going to stay out there forever. And the longer it takes Buffy to get out there, the more buildings it's going to burn."

Laurel started muttering under her breath but in the end, she went in and spread the magic lotion upon Buffy's body. And noted how weirdly silent Buffy was, even when Laurel applied the lotion to an especially ticklish spot.

When Laurel was done, she asked Buffy to pick up her sword. There was no response.

Then Messalina came into the room and asked Buffy to do the same thing. Buffy automatically picked up her sword with no problem whatsoever.

Messalina smiled again.

"Now walk into the hall," she said.

Buffy walked into the hall.

"Walk toward the front entrance," said Messalina.

Buffy started walking toward the front entrance.

Sir Roderick did not say a word but Laurel could not help being skeptical.

"Are you sure she's going to be able to fight a dragon like this?" Laurel asked.

Messalina just shrugged. "Actually the dragon is not Buffy's worst problem," she said. "Her worst problem is -- "

Just then the front door opened and a dark-haired woman with two crossbows on her arms stepped into the inn.

"My name is Faith Rappaccini," she said, "and I kill demons, vampires, and rogue slayers. Especially the type of rogue slayers who collaborate with vampires."

"Ah!" exclaimed Messalina. "There's Buffy's worst problem right there."

xxx

"Who the heck are you?" asked Laurel of the dark-haired woman in the front entrance.

Sir Roderick interrupted. "Laurel, please. Let me handle this."

He turned toward the dark-haired woman in the front entrance and said, "Now then... Who the heck are you?"

"I just told you," said the woman. "I'm Faith Rappaccini. I'm here to slay your dragon slayer."

"Why in the world would you want to do that?" asked Sir Roderick. "Your town is under attack by a dragon. You need a dragon slayer to take care of that. And anyway, what gives you the authority to prevent the Slayer from performing her duties anyway?"

"I take my orders from my father the mayor," said the woman who called herself Faith. "The dragon will be taken care of in due time but in the meantime, your Slayer has got to go. She's been compromised by her involvement with vampires and I'm here to see that she pays for it."

Messalina sighed and snapped her fingers. "Time to wake up, Buffy."

Whatever trance Buffy had been in ended and she looked around the inn with a startled expression on her face.

"Hey, why am I naked?" she said, shielding her breasts from view. "Why am I covered with lotion?"

Then Buffy noticed Faith. "Who the heck are you?" she asked.

Now it was Faith's turn to sigh.

"Not this again," she said. "I'm Faith Rappaccini. I'm the mayor's daughter. I kill demons, vampires and rogue slayers. And I'm here to kill you, Buf --"

Buffy interrupted, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it already. You're evil. Do we have to chat about it all day?"

"No, we don't," said Faith.

And with that, she fired a crossbow bolt in the direction of Buffy's chest, only to watch with dismay as Buffy caught the bolt just before it hit her.

"You sure you want to start something with a professional dragon slayer?" asked Buffy. "My job requires me to fight giant fire-breathing reptiles on a regular basis. A mere human is hardly a challenge compared to that."

"She's not a mere human, Buffy," said Stake. "She's a poison damsel. I can smell the difference from here. One touch of her skin or one whiff of her breath and you're a dead woman."

"The vampire has it right," said Faith.

"Wait a minute!" said Buffy, turning toward Stake. "You're a vampire?"

"You honestly did not know that?" asked Stake.

"Well, I don't encounter many vampires in my line of work," said Buffy. "Besides, why would a Slayer need to know anything about vampires?"

"I'm a vampire, too, for what it's worth," said Messalina.

Faith smiled when she heard this. "I guessed as much but since you were nice enough to confess..."

She fired a crossbow bolt in Messalina's direction but again Buffy intercepted it before it hit its intended target.

"Okay," said Faith. "Since that's the way it's going to be, it looks like I'll have to do this the hard way."

To be continued...