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by Chris Kenworthy (scoobyhq@fcmail.com)
Disclaimer: I have no rights to the characters of Buffy, Faith, Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordelia, or Giles.
"Good thinking," Buffy broke in. "So, what have we got?"
"Take a look." Jonny unlocked a trusty old padlock chained through an old storage locker which almost faded into the background of the nightclub's rafter passageways. Curious, Buffy pushed towards it, and whistled in involuntary surprise. Stacked neatly inside was a remarkable arsenal of weaponry - there were two crossbows, one large triple-action model like the one Giles liked, and the other small and pistol-style. Two bokken, long wooden samurai swords, but these were not the blunted type she and Faith had practiced with last week. Instead, they were sharp, deadly models of samurai katana crafted out of strong, hard, wood. As Giles had told them, they would be excellent weapons against vampires - strong enough to parry with, sharp enough to wound or decapitate, wooden and slender enough to be driven through the heart.
"Let's see what else you've got," Buffy muttered. A Naginata, or curved-blade spear. Battle axe, short spear, and broadsword. Two 'Shikomi-Zue's - these ones quite possibly the ones she and Faith had been training with. These were also good anti-vampire weapons, quarterstaves with a spring-loaded V-shaped blade at one end. On the top shelf, three crosses, two extra stakes, and five small vials of holy water had been stowed.
"What didja bring this for?" Faith asked, bringing out a a rifle-looking implement. With a start, Buffy identified it as the Were-Oz dart gun. "You can't drug vampires. Or... can you??"
"You can indeed, sweetheart," Jonny told them. "Nobody knows quite why, but I've used phenobarbitol successfully on vampires several times. They're not nearly as susceptible as humans, but if you give them enough, they go under."
"Hmm," Buffy said, thinking. "This might be a good one to get the ball rolling then." With a nod to Faith, she put her hand on the tranquilizer gun and pulled it to herself.
(Inside the office.)
"Hmm," Tom said as he lightly touched the thick cylinder of dark walnut wood. Trick held it firmly in his hands, not moving but very tense, as if waiting for the other vampire to try for a firmer grip on the magic item at any moment.
But Tom did no such thing. After feeling the staff for almost a minute, his eyes closed, concentrating in total silence, the psychic vampire moved away and looked towards his leader. "It's the real thing, Jim."
"Very good," Jim said, nodding. "Now negotiations can begin."
"I already gave you our terms," Trick said stubbornly. "Mine and the Upriser's. You let all the kids go. I give you the staff. You go off and do whatever the hell you like with it."
"Well, okay," Jim said smoothly. "But surely there's some room for compromise. Say, for example, that one of my boys wanted to keep a hostage? For his own personal use. She's of no benefit to your Upriser. An accomplice of the Slayers. Just one girl - that wouldn't be a deal-breaker, now would it??"
(Around the dark corridors near the rear exit.)
Shiyanna stood alertly at the far exit to the back corridor. The operation was going well so far, just as Jim had said it would.
Jim. She loved Jim. Not romantically, but in a family sense. Of course, it wasn't very vampire-ly to put it that way, but Shiyanna didn't know yet how else to think of it. Jim was her sire, and Shiyanna would do anything for him.
Right not, Jim and his brothers wanted her to stand guard here, and stand guard Shiyanna would.
Until, of course, a tiny dart flew out of the darkness to dig itself into the soft flesh just beneath her shoulder. "What was that?" Shiyanna said, and then keeled over as the phenobarbitol overwhelmed her system.
"Okay, that worked well enough," Faith told Buffy, jumping down into the tiny vestibule.
"Why thank you," Buffy replied. With a heft she picked up Shiyanna's unconscious body and carried it towards the ladies room. Jonny and Faith stood watch outside the bathroom - they could hear the rustling as clothes were quickly removed, and then a soft 'poof' that signalled a vampire's heart meeting a stake for the first and last time.
After more rustling, Buffy emerged from the bathroom, in Shiyanna's army costume, her own tucked under her arm. "How do I look?"
"Very heart-of-couragey," Faith told her, nodding.
"Okay, so..." Buffy thought for a moment, then asked the other two. "What do we do next?"
"The fake prisoners trick," Jonny said confidently.
That surprised Buffy. "Are you sure? Could be risky, with these vampires all trigger-happy."
"It's doable," Jonny maintained. "Don't you think, babe?" he asked, casting a glance sidewards at Faith.
"I'm up for it!" the other Slayer confirmed with a smile.
"I'm sure you are, Faith," Buffy remarked dryly. "Okay, we'll try it. Do you think the dart gun looks enough like their weapons that I can keep it?"
Jonny looked at the weapon carefully. "Yeah, it's great." He held up two lengths of rope, that Buffy realized had been carefully weakend in two places each. "So, I guess you can tie us up now."
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