Crown and Key: Chapter 10
by Kerythand Ginafae
Crown and Key
By Sandra and William Johnson
Chapter Ten
Buffy entered the kitchen just as Xander and Oz were putting the finishing touches on tying the still unconscious muscle man to the chair. She looked over at Willow, “I think they’ve made him safe for now. Will, you can release him from your spell.”
Willow nodded and leaned next to the man’s ear, whispering into it, “Awaken”. As she stood back up, the man’s ice blue eyes slowly opened.
Xander stood above him, arms crossed interrogator style. “All right Mr. Terminator,” he began, slowly leaning in so he was eye to eye with his captive. “ Who are you and why exactly did you come rushing in here, swinging that fancy sword of yours?”
He-Man shook his head to clear the cobwebs from it, “Huh?” He asked. Xander reeled back as if to slap him hard across the face. Oz reached out and intercepted his palm seconds before it made contact. “Woah, lay off the Cobra Commander tactics.” He insisted.
“Sorry,” Xander said with a sheepish shrug. “I got a little too into this.” He looked at the bound muscle man and smiled with satisfaction at his work. “Well, what are you waiting for?” The man continued to stare blankly. “SPEAK!” Xander roared getting far up in his face. Buffy grabbed him by the collar and hauled him into a nearby chair. “Down boy, or I’ll put you back on doughnut detail.” She turned to the man with a smile. “Now, would you care to tell me why I arrived at my home this evening to find it trashed and this `muscle-bound monkey’ as I believe my sister called you lying on the floor?”
“My name is He-Man, and I came here to help you people”
Oz looked at the man, arms crossed across his chest, “Right”
Xander began circling around He-Man, “Came here to help us? With what? Getting bigger biceps? Perfecting that six-pack stomach?”
“Xander…”Buffy cautioned.
Xander continued to berate He-Man. “Here’s two words for you, leather skin; Self Tanner. You’re bound to get skin-cancer with all the fake and baking you must do to keep up that tan.”
“Xander…” Willow repeated warningly with a quick glace at Buffy.
“And what kind of a hokey-pokey name is He-Man, anyway? How long did it take you to come up with that one, brainiac? A minute? An hour maybe? “
“That’s it.” Oz growled. With a quick movement, he clapped his hand over Xander’s mouth and looked him in the eye. “Chill man, don’t make me go all furry on you.”
“You won’t.” Buffy remarked.
Oz smiled. “Yeah, I know, but it’s cool to say anyway.” He looked at He-Man solemnly. “Besides, I don’t think pissing him off is a good idea. Chances are he doesn’t need to be in that chair, but hasn’t broken the ropes out of politeness.”
“What makes you say that?” Willow wondered. Oz shrugged non-commitally. “Look at him.”
“Good point.” Buffy said with a smile. He-Man nodded in agreement. “Okay, He-Man,” Buffy began, rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of the name. “Why exactly are you here? And why did you decide to trash my living room.”
“He didn’t!” Willow interrupted. “That Adora person Dawnny mentioned did.”
Buffy grimaced. “Great. We now have two rogue slayers on our hands. One dead, one alive.”
Willow’s face drew in shock. “So, Dawn was right. Faith is dead, and Adora is the next slayer. But what made her go all destructo?”
Buffy looked confused. “Will, WHAT are you talking about?” She paused, and then remembered the conversation from that afternoon. “Oh, right. Well, we don’t know about the Faith front yet, but apparently Adora has been possessed by the ghost of Kendra.”
Xander’s eyes widened in understanding. “That explains it! She recognized me and Willow, and she did have that really mixed Caribbean accent.”
He-Man, having easily slipped his ropes during the preceding conversation, stood up and cleared his throat. Buffy whirled around at the sound, having forgotten that they did have a hostage, sort of. “Wait, how did you-“
“They don’t call me He-Man for nothing.” He replied with a charming smile. “Now, I do believe the lady asked me a question.” He said as he took in Buffy’s disheveled form. Noticing a small trickle of blood running down the Slayers arm, He-Man grabbed a paper towel. “You’re hurt.” He stated.
“Obviously.” Xander said as Willow shot him her resolve face.
“It’s nothing, really.” Buffy said, a becoming blush tinging her cheek as the attractive and barely dressed man gently pressed the towel to her bleeding arm. “I kind of had a little trouble on patrol.”
“Nothing serious, I hope.” He asked, staring deeply into her eyes.
“No…”, Buffy’s voice trailed off as her gaze met his. This man had eyes almost as blue as Spike’s…
“Buffy? He wanted to answer your question?” Willow interrupted.
Buffy broke the stare abruptly. “Right!” She looked at him intently. “What did I ask you again?”
He-Man laughed good-heartedly, his laughter bouncing off the walls of the demolished kitchen. “You asked me what I was doing here.”
“Right!” Buffy smiled, waiting for his answer. None came. “”Well? Why are you here.”
He-man took a seat. “I was sent to protect the Key.”
Buffy looked at He-Man in a new light. It had been some time since she had heard that particular phrase, “The Key…did those monks send you?”
“Monks? No…the Sorceress sent me.”
“The Sorceress. That’s the voice Dawnny heard!” Willow exclaimed. Buffy looked around, astonished. “Dawn’s hearing voices now?” She groaned, putting her head in her hands. “God, there’s no way I can afford a psychiatrist on what I make at the Doublemeat Palace!”
“No, it’s okay. That’s how she contacts people. Her powers force her to remain in Castle Greyskull, but she is extremely powerful as well as telepathic. She probably used telepathy to reach your sister. Through the stone.”
“What stone?” Buffy asked.
“The Stone of Earthly magic.” He-Man replied. Buffy looked puzzled. “Your sister wears it around her neck.”
Xander snapped his head up. “The pearl Lara gave her this afternoon.”
“So that’s why you’re here, to get my sister’s jewelry?”
“No, my sister and I were sent to---“
“YOUR SISTER?!” Buffy, Xander and Willow exclaimed.
“Yes.” He-Man began. He took a deep breath before continuing, suspecting what would inevitably come next. “Her name is She-Ra.”
“Go figure.” Oz interjected.
“We were sent by the Sorceress for several reasons, including the pearl, but we were told not to contact any of you until after the Sorceress had reached the girl.”
“So that’s why you were here tonight.”
“Yes.” He paused. “We also need to recover the Ruby of Eternia, and restore the pearl to my sister’s Sword.”
Xander laughed, “And after you do all that I suppose you’ll have to take the Ring of Power to Mount Doom and throw it in!”
“Okay, so I understand why you were outside my house, but what happened here tonight?” Buffy asked.
“That Adora chick kicked my ass. That’s what happened.” Xander said.

“I got that part, Xand.” Buffy said with a smile at her friend. “What happened before that? With Dawn?”
“Dawn was in the kitchen. She seemed fine.” Xander said. Willow laughed dryly. “Xander, she was petrified when she came in here. How could have missed that?”
Xander blushed, “Oh, right. Forgot. The 90210 marathon was on, and between Jennie Garth, Tiffani Theissen and Shannen Dougherty I was a little…”
“Distracted?” Buffy asked.
“To say the least.” Xander finished.
Buffy shook her head, “You watch too much TV, Xander” she then turned her head to He-Man, “Why don’t you take it from the top?”
“The top of what?”
“Oh boy, this is going to be a long night…Begin at the beginning.”
Buffy, Willow, and the two boys took seats, listening to He-Man weave his tale. “Thirty years ago, Queen Marlena’s spaceship from earth crash landed on the planet of Eternia. She was rescued from the wreckage by Man-At-Arms and Prince Randor. They fell in love and married…”
Buffy held up her hand, “Whoah, Whoah, Whoah. Who the hell are Queen Marlena and Prince Rudolph? I don’t remember hearing their names in History 101.”
“Maybe we should wait for Giles to get here. He knows all about this other worldly stuff.” Willow suggested.
“Good idea, Will.” Xander said. As he stood and walked behind the chair where He-Man again sat. A wicked smile spread across his lips. “Till then, you are mine to toy with, Bicep Brain.” He added with a very BAD German accent.
“XANDER!!” The girls shrieked in unison.
“What?!” He shrieked, jumping back. He looked at the girls, and noticed Willow was wearing her resolve face for the second time that night. He-Man laughed again and looked Xander directly in the eye. “Should I let you tie me up again?”
“Are you into that sort of thing?” Oz asked. “Oz!?” Buffy groaned. Oz blushed. “Not that I am or anything. Just ask Willow. I’m strictly cuddly.”
“For the sake of those of us who aren’t getting any lately, can we please drop the subject of sex?” Xander said.
“Sure.” Oz replied.
“I mean, sure, I’ve done it. Can we say Faith, Anya, and let’s not forget the Praying Mantis teacher who was hot for me…”
“Way too much sharing Xander.” Willow said. Xander dropped his eyes to the floor and said with a sigh, “Doughnuts anyone?”
“Beat you to the punch, spyboy.” A sultry British accented voice said as the back door opened and Lara and Giles entered the kitchen. Xander’s head snapped up at the sound of the lady’s voice and he turned as red as his bowling shirt.
“I do hope we’re not intruding, but Lara reached me on her phone after she, uh, contacted some friends in L.A.” Giles said.
“Whistler sends his love, Buffy.” Lara tossed at the blonde.
“Always nice to hear from an old friend.” Buffy commented dryly, thinking back to her encounter with Whistler and his half-vampire friend during yet another of Angel’s transformations into Angelus. Xander, meanwhile, was staring out the remains of the back window.
“Is that a HUMMER out there?” He asked, turning to face the girls.
“A girl can never have too many toys.” Lara said as she dropped casually into the remaining empty kitchen chair. “Meanwhile, I think I have something that belongs to you.” She reached into her black leather trench coat and pulled out the handkerchief wrapped crown. With a wave of her hand she idly tossed it on the table.
“Then you have Adora.” He-Man asked at the same time Buffy exclaimed, “Where did you find that?”
“”If you’re referring to our blonde friend in the red leotard, yes, she is sleeping peacefully tied up in the backseat of my car.” Lara said. “As for this, well, a friend gave it to me.” She finished, inclining her head to the door to the living room. There, leaning against the frame, stood Jonathan Levinson.
In an instant, Willow’s hair went from fire engine red to jet-black. With a growl of rage, she charged towards the door-
And straight into a half wolfed out Oz. He encircled her waist with his arms, using his powerful strength to contain her fury. Slowly, Willow’s hair regained its sunny tint. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed with abandon into Oz’s furry shoulder. Oz grimmaced as he looked the Slayer in the eye.
“Remember I said I needed to tell you something?” He growled with a shrug.



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