SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL, SUNNYDALE – TWO DAYS AGO
Quinn Farrell sat anxiously in class. He rubbed his hands nervously as he stared at the assignment sheet on the desk in front of him. He picks up his pencil preparing to write. He stared down the page and began to sweat. He wondered to him self what the problem was English was his best class and he never had this kind of problem before. The classroom door opens and Miss Donovan enters. She sees Quinn and smiles to herself. Taking small deliberate steps she approached the anxious student. Quinn looks up at her and wipes the sweat from his for head.
“I . . . I can’t do it miss Donovan,” he said painfully, “I don’t understand why? I used to be good at this stuff. Now all I see is jumbles.”
“Shh.” She said softly “take it slowly, look at each problem one at a time, if you think about it enough the answers will come to you.”
Quinn looked at her for a moment longer then nodded slowly. He went back to the page and attempted to work again. As he did so Miss Donovan walked around behind him. She raised her left hand and positioned it just above Quinn’s head. It began to glow and a stream of energy lifted up and pooled into Miss. Donovan’s hand. Quinn began to convulse. After about a minute the energy dried up and Quinn Collapsed onto the table. Miss. Donovan looked at him for a moment then, from her pocket, pulled out a Cell Phone. She dialed 911 and in a frantic voice she screamed
“You have got to help me! I was tutoring a student and he collapsed, I can’t wake him!”
Miss Donovan smiled evilly as she received instruction from the paramedics.
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL GYM, SUNNYDALE – 8:30 AM
Xander swing he new sword around happily. He felt like his ten-year-old self again getting the cool toy of the year. Every time the sword moved it made a light humming sound like a church choir warming up for a performance. Since he was to fight his own kind of evil he decided to arrive at school early and get some practice in at the school gym. A few feet away Lukus watched him cynically.
“Make sure you don’t stab anything you’re going to use later,” he yelled
“No head wounds,” Replied Xander “got it.”
“I said something you’re going to use later!”
Lukus rolled his eyes and went back to his scroll. Big things were about to happen in this town and he had a lot of research to be done. Xander stopped playing with his sword and examined it closely. He walked up to Lukus
“So how does this thing work anyway?” he asked him
“It’s very simple,” Lukus replied not looking up from his work, “it has two ends. You see the pointy one? You stick it in the bad guys and they die.”
“No I mean how does it really work? When I picked this thing up last night it felt like I have been using it for years.”
“The sword of Marquessa holds the knowledge and skill of every Pure-Light that has wielded it before.”
Xander thought about this for a moment.
“So I know what they know, when they knew what was known when they knew it.”
Lukus looks up at Xander with an annoyed expression.
“Stop being an ass” he yelled
“I mean think about it. It would be cool if we could all have a thing we could put our brain into for future generations to study.”
“Hey kid. See how my eyes are moving across this page? That’s called reading. Now I’m not sure how well you know this but people don’t like being disturbed when they’re reading.”
“Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed in pixie land this morning,” Xander said as he want back to his air fencing, “if you want me to keep fighting these demon things you are going to be more in the way of niceness . . .”
“Turidul.” Replied Lukus blandly
“What?”
“Their not demons their Turidul.”
“Hey they’re tall, slimy and want to kill me. What’s the difference?”
“Power. A single Turidul Has been know to destroy twenty Demons at a time without getting a single injury.”
Xander stopped swinging his sword. He Glared at Lukus
“And you were going to give me this information when?” he asked angrily
“Don’t get misty with me girly,” Lukus replied, “I guarantee you they don’t have any interest in hitting you.”
Xander shrugged in acceptance. He goes back to his swordplay as Lukus goes back to his reading.
“It’s when they start sucking the life out of you is when you have to worry.” Lukus continued Calmly
“Again, with the needing of the information” Xander yelled.
“I think I remember something saying something about blinding pain then the loss of bladder control. I think your brain melts out your nose next.” Lukus replied
“You’re are not sweetening this deal.” Xander said in an annoyed tone.
He looked down at his watch. It was later then he thought. He gathered his school bag.
“I gotta go. I got to swing by the library and memorize the entire American Revolution in ten minutes before I fail my test.”
Xander took about five paces to the Gym doors and stopped. He turned back to Lukus while examining his sword again
“Where do I put this?”
“See the pointy end kid?”
“I mean now,” Xander snapped, “it’s not like I can walk into class with a medieval weapon without people noticing.”
“Just drop it,” replied Lukus
Xander stared confused at Lukus for a moment. Lukus looked up to the roof and sighed.
“It’s a simple concept Harris just loosen your grip until the sword follows the law of gravity.”
Xander looked back down at the sword. He wasn’t so much worried about the dropping of the sword it was more the loud ‘clang’ after and the running in of people that scared him more. He closed his eyes and let go.
Nothing
He opened one eye slowly. The sword had completely vanished. He looked around for a moment and saw no sign of it.
“Neat,” he said to himself, “how do I get it back.”
“You’ll know.” Lukus
“Okay enough with the mini cryptic man routine.” Xander exclaimed
“It comes when you need it.” Lukus explained, “Not when you want it. You’ll know when that is.”
“Right it’s a whole ‘if you build it they will come’ thing”
“Haven’t you got somewhere to be?”
Xander tried to absorb this new informant as he leaves the Gym.
“Don’t let the door hit you on the butt on the way out,” Lukus yelled after him, ”try aiming it for your head I think it will help.”
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY, SUNNYDALE – 8:45 AM
Xander jogged to the library swiftly. As he passed a classroom something caught his attention. Inside Miss Donovan was preparing for a class but something was wrong. Miss Donovan had a strange purple-white glow around her. It reminds him of the glow that Turidul he fought last night had. Shaking off the thought he enters the library.
He hadn’t needed to go to the library as much since he stopped helping the slayer with saving the world. Inside nothing much had changed much. Same old shelves, same old check out desk. Same old pile of dusty books covering the center table. Xander Stopped jogging when he realized that around the pile of books the entire Scooby gang was in research mode.
He stayed near the check out desk hoping not to attract their attention.
“So the demon was collecting children? For what purpose?” Giles asked in his thoughtful British tone.
Buffy shrugged. She brushed the hair away from her eyes
“I’m guessing it didn’t want to start up a chain of hellmouth daycare canters,”
“Come for the service, stay for the skinning” Oz joked blandly
“Besides the book thing is your department.” Buffy replied
“Well there are a number of demons that use children in their rituals it would help if . . .”
Giles train of though was broken when he heard the sound of the library door shut. The group turned to face Xander. Willow sat up excited at the appearance of her best friend. Xander raises his hands apologetically
“Sorry you guys are busy I’ll come back later.”
As Xander turned for the door willow stood up.
“Don’t go,” she said, a little more emphatically then she hoped.
Xander turned back to the group. The sadness in Willows voice broke his heart. Willow looked around for a moment. She then sat back down and calmed herself
“I mean you came here for a book right? No point in doing all that walking then going empty handed. And since you’re here maybe you wanna help us find our demon?”
Xander looked at the entire group. The feelings of guilt and shame began to surface again.
“Sorry Will,” he said quietly, trying to mask the pain in his voice, “with the books I think there is enough dead weight in this room.”
Xander tried not to look at the group as he exited the library. Willow’s eyebrows furrowed. She pouted and continued to stare at the door hoping that this was just another one of Xanders jokes. Buffy turned to look at willow and felt extremely guilty. Her friend was in real pain and there is nothing she could do about it. Deciding that enough was enough Buffy followed Xander outside
“Xander!” called Buffy. He turned back to her with a look of sadness on his face. For the fist time since she met him Buffy didn’t know what to say. The air between them became tense.
“This is stupid,” Buffy said finally, “you shouldn’t have to leave the library every time we’re in there.”
“It’s only a history test Buff. Don’t think I’m going to need it when I am printing licenses out at the DMV.”
“Still it no reason to become failure guy. Come back in I’m sure willow can be very big on the help “
He smiled at her briefly. In his heart he knew that she was trying to help but he just wasn’t ready to go back to that life.
“Actually I kinda find it easier to skulk when I’m doing it down a long hallway.” He replied
“Willow misses you.” Buffy said hopefully, “She hasn’t been the same since you left.”
At the sound of willows name Xander cringed with guilt. He held onto the straps of his backpack so tight his fingers turned white.
“Before she was all smiles and jokes, now, she just sits around and stares into space.”
“Willow’s strong.” Xander replied in a controlled tone, “She’ll bounce back soon.”
“It’s hard to get up when you have nothing to stand for.” Buffy replied softly
Xander looked away. Buffy followed his eye line. She paused for a moment to read his emotions
“What happened to you Xander?” she asked him curiously, “after we defeated the hellmouth you just disappeared. It was like you didn’t want to be seen with us anymore.”
Xander didn’t reply. He tried to avoid her gaze as much as possible. His hands began to ache from gripping his bag so much.
“We just want to know Xand, all the things we’ve seen and been through, we deserve an answer. Willow deserves an answer.”
“Willow deserves better then me” Xander replied.
Buffy was taken aback by this response. Tears begin to well in Buffy’s eyes as she tried to move in closer to reassure him but he backed off.
“You want to know what happened buff? I choked, I had my moment and I choked. My one moment in the spotlight and I fell off the stage. It’s not like I was captain helpful anyway. I mean you have your super strength, Willow has her witchy mojo, Giles has his gigantic British brain, and Oz gets to be wonder-dog every month. What was my job? I bought the donuts. So far there hasn’t been an end of the world crisis involving low blood sugar.”
Buffy stared at Xander with tears streaming out of her eyes. She’s never really seen him this upset before. Out of everyone in the group he always had a way of lightening the mood even in their darkest moments.
“That doesn’t mean you have to cut us out completely Xander.” she replied, “Just because you don’t want to fight doesn’t mean you can’t visit.”
“And if we get attacked what then? Damsel in distress Xander needs to get saved from Super Buffy! I’ve been weighing you down from the start. Look at what a bang up job I did saving Jesse from becoming a vampire.”
“That wasn’t your fault.”
“Wasn’t it?” he yelled defiantly, “there you were, all in control and super-powery, and what did I bring to help fight? A flashlight! That was another brainwave from the Xander Harris think-tank.”
“So what am I supposed to tell Willow?” Buffy snapped back, “How am I supposed to go back into that room, look her in the eye, and explain to her why her best friend of ten years won’t even speak to her anymore?”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something to say. That’s what your good at right? Telling people what to do.”
“That’s not fair Xander”
Xander threw his hands up in defeat. He had had enough of the third degree from the slayer.
“Fair? Oh I forgot that the mighty chosen one is an expert on fair” he yelled, “Hey maybe next time I’m getting eaten by a horde of vicious monsters coming after you. You could explain to them the concept of fair.”
Xander turned and stormed off as Buffy watched. About halfway down the hall, Xander was stopped by Mr. Wynn who exited his classroom.
“Is everything alright out here?” he asked Xander
Xander looked at Mr. Wynn. He had the same purple-white glow that Miss. Donovan had. Xander blinked his eyes a couple of times to see if it was his emotions getting to him.
“It cool I was just blowing off some steam” he replied to him cautiously
“Well next time do it outside and not in the school hallways.” Mr. Wynn replied as he entered his classroom again.
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASS, SUNNYDALE – 10:30 AM
Things were just getting weirder. So far he had seen five teachers with the same purple-white glow. And since nobody else seems to notice it he figured that this is something Pure-Light related. On top of that in history class today Mr. Hannegin kept staring at him in a way that screamed ‘I am going to hurt you’. Secretly he wished that a British guy would walk in the door and explain everything to him but he knew the odds of that happening were slim to none. Xander sat in the back of the classroom. He was never a front row kind of guy because that front row people actually have to pay attention. Next to him sat Angie Turner. She was one of these lucky kids who sat in the middle tiers of the popularity, which meant that the cool kids remember your name but at the same time you don’t have to put in as much of an effort at parties. She was partnered with Xander on an English assignment. At first there was three of them in the group but Quinn Farrell has been away sick for the past two days.
“Okay,” Angie said as she brushed back her curly read hair to reveal a pair of amazing jade colored eyes, “all we have to now is write the outline and bind it. We may have to ask for an extension since Quinn has most of our stuff.”
Xander didn’t reply. He just continued to doodle on his notepad. Angie looked over at him. After a moment she waved her hands in front of his eye line to get his attention. He blinked a couple of times as he snapped back to reality.
“What?”
“Are you okay? You’ve been out of it for, like, the whole class.”
He sat up for his patented slouching position.
“Yeah I just had a major blow out with a friend of mine.” He said
“That suck’s. What happened?”
“It’s a long story.” he replied, “So what was that you were saying about an outline?”
“I was saying that that is all we need to write the outline and bind it. But we need to talk to Miss Donovan because Quinn had most of the stuff. And since he’s in the hospital there is not much of a chance we are gonna have it done.”
“Quinn’s in the hospital? When did this happen?” Xander asked with surprise
“Two days ago. The word around school is that he overdid it with the schoolwork and past out. He hasn’t woken up.”
Xanders Scooby sense started to tingle. First there were the people with the strange auras now he finds out that a kid was in the hospital there had to be a link between the two. At first he thought he would ask Lukus but that would mean talking to him, which Xander didn’t want to do, so he decided to the next best thing and try and find out for himself. He looked up at miss Donovan. She was staring at Xander that same way Mr. Hannegin was.
SUNNYDALE HOSPITAL I.C.U., SUNNYDALE – 5:30 pm
It took Xander about and hour to find the ward where Quinn was placed. Either the nurse was really bad at giving directions or maybe it is time to invest in that compass he thought he always needed. Quinn was hooked up to some heavy-duty life support. Xander sat down in the seat next to Quinn’s bed and stared at him. He wondered to himself what could have happened to put him in this vegetative state a few seconds later a doctor arrived. He was writing notes down on his clipboard and looked up at Xander briefly
“Visiting hours ended about half an hour ago. So I’m afraid you are going to have to leave.”
Xander stood up and but still continued to look at Quinn.
“Yeah sorry doc. I’m a friend of his from school. What happened to him?”
The doctor folded his arms holding his clipboard to his chest.
“I’m sorry I can’t give out privileged information about the patient . . .”
The doctor stared at Xander for a moment in complete awe. Xander felt a strange energy wash over himself.
“ . . .The Patient came in suffering what looked initially like exhaustion. But when we examined him further something didn’t add up.”
The doctor ushered Xander over to a machine monitoring Quinn’s Brain activity.
“As you can see here all cerebral function has stopped. It’s as if something shut his brain down completely.”
“Has there been anyone else with this problem.” Xander asked
The doctor consulted his notepad.
“So far there have been three other cases that match this description. The paramedics arrive at the high school and reported Exhaustion but when they arrive with no brain activity.”
“High school?”
“Yes. Apparently all of the cases involve students getting tutored by a teacher.”
The doctor’s beeper sounded. He checked it and dashed out of the room. As he entered the hallway he stopped briefly to shake off the weird sensation he had just experienced. Xander sat down in the chair again stunned.
“Okay,” he said to himself, “that was just way to easy.”
“All part of the power kid.” Said Lukus from across the room, “Pure-Lights are instantly trusted by the normals as long as your intentions are honorable.”
“Well I’ll just have to give up telemarketing scam I wanted to do,” replied Xander, “you go any insights into what’s going on?”
“Might. Did you get anything from the doc?”
“Yeah I think I did.” Xander replied thoughtfully
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM, SUNNYDALE - 8:30 PM
Xander slowly opened the door to Miss Donovan’s classroom slowly. He moved carefully as to not make a sound. He shone his torch towards the Miss Donovan’s desk. It was covered with papers. He approached her desk and began to search through them.
“You should try the draws.” Lukus said startling Xander and causing him to drop the papers onto the floor
“Jeez! don’t sneak up on me while I’m sleuthing.” Xander whispered to him
“Quit your bitching Nancy.” Lukus replied to him
Xander glared at him as he picked up the last of the papers. The last thing Xander picked up was a manila folder. Inside was Quinn’s schoolwork. Xander quickly flicked through the pages of assignments and noticed a pattern. He placed the folder on the desk to show Lukus
“This is weird.” Xander said
“What?” replied Lukus
“This is Quinn’s work from two months ago.”
He showed Lukus the immaculately hand written assignment with the shiny ‘A+’ written
“Now look at this.” Xander said flicking to the assignment at the bottom of the pile.
The page was the polar opposite to the first piece of work. The handwriting was erratic and hard to read. The pages were torn and in the top corner sat a very angry looking ‘F’
“Looks like Quinn was riding the learning curve in the wrong direction.”
Lukus contemplated this new information. He placed his scroll on the desk and rolled it out. He placed one of his spidery fingers on one of the illustrations.
“I thought it was.” Replied Lukus
“What?”
“Looks like were dealing with a Turidul Wengororildu.”
Xander looked down at the illustration. A lot of these creatures’ physical features matched but it was considerably smaller without the tubes for sucking life forces.
“A Wengorilla what?”
“Wengororildu,” replied Lukus in an annoyed tone, “their parasites. They force their way into a hosts body and force it to do its will.”
Xander though about this for a moment then looked at Lukus
“Like a hijacker?” he asked
“Kind of. But it’s called Wengororildu.”
“Why don’t we just call it a hijacker? It’ll be a lot easier to say.”
Lukus folded his arms and Glared at Xander
“You have no sense of culture do you kid.”
Ignoring Lukus Xander stood up. He picked up Quinn’s work and examined it again. There was definitely a steady decline in the quality of his work. Xander just had to put the puzzle pieces together. He started to pace.
“What do we know so far?” Xander asked in his most detective sounding tone “For the past few months Quinn’s work has done a nose dive which ended up making him brain dead bobby along with three other students. The connection with him and the others are that they were getting tutored which brings in the purple aura people. The question is why?”
“Must be something big,” continued Lukus, “Turidul don’t usually keep their meals alive unless they have a reason to.”
“I have to find out who the other three are.” Replied Xander
Lukus rolls up his scroll casually. He moves to the far right of the desk.
“Well you could always ask her.”
“Who?”
At that moment the lights in the classroom switch on. In the front row Miss Donovan sat causally with her arms folded. Xander looked from Miss Donovan to Lukus and back again.
“How long have you know she was sitting there?” he ask Lukus
“About ten minutes. I though you would have worked it out yourself.”
Xander glared at Lukus who glared straight back at him.
“Oh come on!” yelled Lukus “you think a creature with evil plans would leave Critical information just lying around with out it being a trap.”
Xander sighed heavily as Miss Donovan walked towards them.
“When this is over we’re going to have a talk about sharing.”
Miss Donovan. Grabbed Xander and threw him across the other side of the room. He slammed hard against the rear wall. Xander picked himself up as Miss Donovan walked up and hit him with a series of blows to the stomach. As he doubled over she threw him roughly against the blackboard. Before Xander could recover any further Miss Donovan and moved at lightning speed, knocking her desk out of the way, and now has Xander in a choke hold against the blackboard. The pain was getting too much for Xander. He closed his eye. Inside his head he heard a sound that reminded him of a church choir warming up for a performance. He felt something cold and hard in his hand. Knowing instantly what it is he swung his sword knocking Miss Donovan back. Xander quickly got to his feat and started swinging precision strikes against her. As she regrouped for a final attack Xander found his moment he rolled under Miss Donovan’s punch and drove his sword into her stomach. With a look of pain Miss Donovan collapsed to the floor leaving the hijacker standing. Xander pulled his sword up quickly slicing the hijacker in two pieces. As the creature exploded into vapor Miss Donovan opens her eyes.
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA, SUNNYDALE – 9:15 pm
Miss Donovan sat anxiously at one of the tables as Xander returns with a cup of water. She sips it slowly. Xander sits down in the chair across from her
“Thanks.” She says
“How long has this been going on?” asks Xander
Miss Donovan thinks carefully. Xander notices that she is still shaking from the experience.
“I’m not sure,” She replied shakily, “I can’t remember much, I thought they were just blackouts at first. But then I would feel the . . . thing inside of me.”
She looks over at Xander.
“How did you know that I was . . .?”
Xander laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder
“Lets worry about the why more then the how. What the last thing you remember?”
Miss Donovan shifted in her seat.
“I . . . I was in the teachers lounge. We had just finished with a meeting about an after school tutorial program. I went outside and . . .”
Miss Donovan started to shake more predominantly.
“It’s okay we don’t; have to go on. Do you need a lift home?”
Miss Donovan nodded softly and Xander help her to her feet.
DEAD MANS POINT, SUNNYDALE - 10:30 PM
Legotha stood calmly as he watched a series of cars arrive at the base of dead mans point. The Sunnydale high teachers started to file their way to the top of the cliff. As they arrived at the top the teachers were guided to a large creature lying on the cliff top. They walk up to its head and position their hands a few inches about. A thin stream of energy emanates from the palms of their hands and travels into the creature. Legotha smiled to himself as the more energy the creature received the stronger it became. One of the teachers approached Legotha
“How goes the energy siphon?” Legotha asks the teacher
“We have a situation,” the male teacher replied seriously, “one of our brethren was slain by the Pure-Light”
“Merely a complication” Legotha replied as he watched the creature squirm with every drop of energy it receives.
He walks slowly towards the creature. It was about eight feet tall. With a thick armor like skin and claws that could rip through steel. The glow in its eyes was not yet at it’s brightest but as the energy transfers into it they became brighter.
“One more round should surface. Then the Rongoli with have enough energy to find what we seek.”
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL GROUNDS, SUNNYDALE – NEXT MORNING
Xander sat on one of the picnic tables that surround the high school. After assisting Miss Donovan home he decided to pick up with the sleuthing the next morning. As he stared off into space he tried to put together the evidence he had so far. Lukus stood next to him and consulted his scroll.
“What do we know so far?” Xander said half talking to himself, half talking to Lukus, “the Turidul have been taking brain juice from kids for at least two months now. We know the link is that they were all being tutored which brings in the glowing people. What we don’t know is that names of the other three students who are juiceless and why they are taking the energy at all and not killing them. And as of right now we have no more suspects no more leads and no more clues. I don’t have a computer genius to help me, or an old guy with a big pile of dusty books. To solve this I am going to have to use all of my wit and cunning.”
Xander thought about this for a moment then turned to Lukus
“We are so screwed.” He finished
“You know for a great warrior for the powers you do a lot of whining,” Lukus replied calmly, “you just said that you still need to find those three names. Why don’t you run along like a good little idiot and find them out.”
Xander stood up from the table he collected his bag and started to walk. He turned back to Lukus briefly
“You really think I’m a great warrior?”
Lukus rolled up his scroll and rolled his eyes.
“Do I need to beat you to death with this thing?” he replied angrily waving his scroll at Xander, “go find out those three names!”
SUNNIDALE HIGH SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION, SUNNYDALE – 8:45 AM
Xander was beginning to like his new trust power as he efficiently retrieved the details of the three students. He sat down in one of the waiting room chairs and went through the details. The first student was Kristen Goodman. There was a note in her file about organizing accelerated learning program for her work in science. The next was Boyd York. It had been noted that he had a strong musical Prowess. The last was Samuel Holden his work in art had been put forward as masterpieces.
Xander closed the last file and returned them to the office. Three honor student all good at different fields. The skills these three possessed seemed totally unrelated unless the Turidul were paining on making the ultimate snooty socialite. As he exited the office he accidentally bumped into another student.
“Sorry,” he said apologetically until he noticed that it was Angie and she looked a little paler then usual, “hey are you alright? You’re looking kind of pale.”
Angie started to fidget. It was like she was trying to search for something in her brain but she couldn’t find it.
“I’m trying to be good. I used to be good at it . . .”
Xander help her to then nearest seat and sat her down.
“Slow down. What did you used to be good at?”
“The numbers,” she replied in a confused tone, “they used to look right now they look wrong. All jumbled”
Xander thought about this for a moment. For the short time he had know Angie he always seemed to be extremely good at math. She would do this trick where she would multiply two large numbers in her head. Now Angie looked like she would have trouble passing remedial Math.
“I though the tutoring would help,” Angie continued, “I think it made things worse.”
Tutoring? Of course a pattern began to emerge in Xander’s mind.
“Who was tutoring you Angie?”
“Mr. Reynolds. He . . . He said that he saw my grades were slipping. But they weren’t”
Xander helped Angie to the Nurses office. After she was being cared for he made his way down to the mathematics room. On the way Lukus show up.
“You look like you are on a mission.”
“I figured it out,” Xander said confidently, “as first I though they were looking for skills, you know, art, science, music, math, but then it hit me. The only real connection between all of these students is that they were all honor students. You know what that means?”
“They all work harder then you do?”
“They’re smart people. Think about it if you wanted to use brains for something wouldn’t you want to go for the smartest people.”
“Good theory kid. But we still don’t know why.”
“That’s what I’m about to find out.” Xander said as he rounded the corner to the math room.
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS ROOM, SUNNYDALE – 8:45 AM
Mr. Reynolds was quietly grading papers to himself as Xander bursed into the room. He looked up briefly then continued. Xander stormed up to his desk
“Mr. Harris if you have come to inquire about the results of your last test don’t bother,” Mr. Reynolds stated calmly as Xander approached, “You will get your results when the rest of the class receives theirs now if you would kindly like to oh my god you’re the Pure-Light are you?”
Xander didn’t answer him. He rounded Mr. Reynolds desk and kicked his into the corner. Calling his sword he pressed it hard into Mr. Reynolds chest.
“You and I are going to have a conversation,” Xander threatened, “and if you don’t start singing the tune I like then me and mister stabby here are gonna make sure you have hummed your last!”
Mr. Reynolds looked at Xander with a confused expression.
“I’m confused do you want me to talk, sing or hum?”
“Don’t start being smart with me smart guy. Or else I’m gonna make sure that you lose a few I.Q. points in your chest”
Mr. Reynolds confused expression got deeper. Lukus, who arrived shortly after Xander’s attempt at interrogation, slapped himself in the forehead.
“Oh for god sakes Harris just asks him the question!”
“The brain energy what’s it being used for?”
“I have no idea what you are babbling about Harris.” Mr. Reynolds
Xander pressed harder into Mr. Reynolds chest. Turidul energy began to leak out.
“What are the Turidul doing with the brain juice?”
Mr. Reynolds started to scream in pain but he didn’t reply to Xander’s question. Xander pushed the sword in deeper. The pain was getting too much for Mr. Reynolds
“Rongoli.” Mr. Reynolds eventually replied.
Xander pulled out his sword. Lukus looked concerned about what Mr. Reynolds had just said.
“Oh no” Lukus said quietly
“What?” Xander asked
“This is bad.”
“What’s so bad about it? All we have to do is find this evil pasta and kill it right?”
“Rongoli can’t be taken lightly kid,” Lukus said rolling out his scroll again, “they are one of the most dangers Turidul sent to this plain.”
Xander looked at the creature that Lukus was pointing to in his scroll. Xander frowned
“That’s not Italian noodle goodness” he exclaimed
“My guess is that this Rongoli didn’t make the trip through the portal to well,” Lukus continued, “that’s why the hijackers have been harvesting brain energy. They want to revive this thing.”
“So they just energizer bunny this thing and then what?”
“Then,” Lukus replied in a concerned tone, “It searches.”
Xander leant against the desk. Usually when something two times his size is looking for something it’s never good. From behind Xander Mr. Reynolds slowly gets to his feet.
“For what?” asked Xander
“Theses guys can sniff out power like it was cotton candy,” Lukus replied, “Also there method of searching involves finding the what they want by getting rid of what they don’t.”
Xander is shocked. This is one of those times where he would run and hope Buffy would save the day only this time, it was just him. Mr. Reynolds reached out his arms to choke Xander when suddenly he felt something sharp in is stomach. Xander turned, removed his sword for Mr. Reynolds stomach and with one swift move decapitated the hijacker leaving Mr. Reynolds unharmed slumped on the floor. He turned back to Lukus
“So what your telling me is that if we don’t find this thing it’s going to destroy the city.”
Lukus nodded slowly.
DEAD MANS POINT, SUNNYDALE – 10:40 AM
Legotha was very displeased with the progress of the energy harnessing. One of his troops approached. Legotha turned to face him.
“The Pure-Light?” Legotha asked menacingly
The Turidul nodded. Legotha slammed his hand into a nearby rock the look of frustration obvious to all around. He turned back to his troops.
“We can’t delay this any further the Rongoli must awaken now.”
“But how?” asked one of the hijacked teachers who was present
Legotha looked in his direction and smiled. He walked up slowly and deliberately. He placed one of his bony hands on the teachers shoulder.
“We just have to find an alternate source.”
Legotha plunged his hand into the hijacked teachers chest. The hijacker screamed as Legotha drained his energy. As the teacher turned to dust Legotha walked to the Rongoli and placed his hand on its head. The energy shifted quickly from Legotha. The Rongoli bellowed and convulsed as the final drops of power were transferred. It stood and looked at the crowd. The Rongoli turned and sniffed the air. Sensing what it was looking for it leaped into the air the in the direction of Sunnydale. Legotha turned back to the hijackers
“Make sure the Pure-Light doesn’t interfere.”
The crowd quickly filters off the cliff face leaving Legotha standing alone.
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE CLASS, SUNNYDALE – 1:30 PM
Xander and Lukus decided that with only a name to go Lukus would try and find out more about what the Rongoli while Xander will go to Classes, despite Xander’s protests. Things seemed to have calmed down since last nights activities and Xander was happy to notice that the substitute science teacher wasn’t glowing. As he wrote down some notes he could feel someone staring at him. He looked up to find Willow gazing at him with a hopeful smile. He flashed her a brief smile in return and continued his work.
When he decided not to be around the Scooby gang anymore he thought he was doing them a favor. It was never his intention to hurt any of them particularly Willow. He thought back to the bomb. The way Jack stared at him searching for anything in his expression to use against him. And when he found it and just folded his arms and waited for the timer to reach zero. He still counts himself lucky that the undead are not so good with explosives and that as he bolted for the door the flame only shot upward but that was the moment that that he knew how much he was worth to the Scooby’s were. If he couldn’t stop one psychopathic Zombie with a kerosene bomb how was he supposed to help with averting the end of the world? It became clearer as the fire fighters brought the flames under control that it was best for everyone that he wasn’t around anymore.
He still feels the guilt especially when he looked up briefly to see Willow, his best bud, turn sadly back to her work. This moment was short lived however as the sound of a loud crash, followed by a small rumble, came from outside. Everybody scrambled for the window to see what was going on. Outside was there was nothing unusual that anybody could see. Anybody that is except the Pure-Light Xander Harris who was the only one who saw the eight-foot Rongoli making it’s way towards the school ground.
“Harris!” Lukus yelled from the hallway.
Xander used the classes’ confusion to slip out of the classroom.
“We just got the word,” Lukus yelled, “The Rongoli is on the move.”
“And what was your first clue?” Xander asked as he pointed out the window.
Lukus cringed as he saw the Rongoli make its way slowly towards the school.
“I think I have a good idea what it’s searching for. This things gone Godzilla this close to the school it’s got to be looking for the hellmouth.” Xander continued.
“Then we’ve got to move!” yelled Lukus
Xander and Lukus rushed quickly down the halls of the school until they reached the entrance. Xander stares up at the behemoth as it slowly crushes its way to the campus.
“Mr. Harris don’t you know it’s against school policy to leave the school grounds during school hours.”
It was Mr. Morton, the original science teacher, and he wasn’t alone. Surrounding Xander was about half the school faculty all with the purple-white glow.
“That sentence had way to much ‘school’ in it.” Xander replied calling his sword.
The teachers advanced. Xander dodged the first few blows but was knocked down by the next. Rolling out of the way of a few other strikes he made short work of two of the hijackers. Xander moved towards the others. With a few precise cuts those hijackers were no more. The last three advanced in a group. Xander swung his sword like an expert stabbing the one behind him first then decapitating the last two Hijackers simultaneously leaving their human host unharmed. Xander saw the pile of unconscious bodies and smiled.
“And Xander Harris takes the clean sweep.” Xander said in a proud voice
Lukus moved down from his viewing point on the front steps and studied Xander’s handiwork.
“Not bad,” replied Lukus in an even tone.
Xander turned to Lukus with surprise.
“Not bad? Turidul army zero me everyone. That’s a definite ‘yay Xander’ in my books.”
Lukus shrugs and continues to inspect the work. Xander rolls his eyes
“Oh what? I didn’t yell ‘stop evil doer’ when I fought?”
“It’s not that” Replied Lukus
“Then what is it monkey man?”
Lukus moves to the closes step and sits down. He stares up at Xander calmly
“It’s just while you were having your little victory party you let the Rongoli walk right up behind you.”
Xander stared at Lukus curiously. Suddenly he heard a soft growling coming from behind him. He swings around and ducks down narrowly missing the swipe of the creature’s claw. Xander swung back slicing at the Rongoli tough hide. It howled in pain. Xander went on the offensive swinging at the creature like an experienced Swordsman. The Rongoli seized a moment when Xanders blade missed it mark to grab the Pure-Light. He tossed him high in the air.
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY, SUNNYDALE – MOMENTS LATER
Giles paced nervously around a large of books. His research into the Demon that was stealing the children was not going very well. Frustratingly scratching his head he enters back into his office to refill his tea. At that moment there was a loud crash as Xander plowed through the skylight and onto the table. He rolled off and sat up briefly.
“Okay. Ouch” Xander said as he attempted to stand.
Giles rushed out of the office. The scene of Xander having trouble getting to his feet while surrounded by the remains of the sky light was one the watcher had trouble processing.
“Good lord are you okay?” Giles asked as he helped Xander to his feet.
“Yeah but I think my pride is still sitting somewhere on the roof.”
As Xander steadied himself Giles noticed the sword he was carrying.
“Where did you get that?” he asked
Xander looked at his weapon then looked back to Giles
“Oh you know. You go to one of those exotic flea markets then next thing you know your buying a weapon.
There was a crash from outside the room. While Xander and Giles were talking the Rongoli had smashed through the front door and was now making its way to the library. Xanders eyes narrowed. Walked to the library door to see the Rongoli making short work of the hallway. Without another word he left the library and dashed down the hall. This bold move was short lived when he was knocked back into the library. Giles examines the scene
“That didn’t work” Xander said painfully
“I don’t mean to pry,” Giles said cautiously, “but I am assuming now that we are both in danger.”
“If by dangerous you mean an eight foot tall monkey guy that only I can see then yeah were in danger.” replied Xander as he gets up off the floor for the second time.
“Right, of course, well if you need me Xander I’ll be hiding in my office.”
The Rongoli burst through the library doors. It stopped and sniffed the air. It eyes trailed down to the floor. Xander moved swiftly striking at the Rongoli with all he had. It was taking a long while for the sword of Marquessa to penetrate the creature’s thick armor. Lukus walked from behind one of the stacks and casually watched the battle. Xander was knocked down violently onto the ground.
“I would take that from him you know,” Lukus said calmly “I’d knock him off then try to find a seam in his armor.”
Xander pushed the Rongoli from on top of and glared at Lukus
“Hey do you want to do this? No? Then don’t back seat fight!” Xander yelled
He was thrown against the library wall. Xander dodged as the Rongoli charged. Xander was thinking quickly. There had to be a weak spot on this thing. Then something occurred to him. Xander dodged one of the Rongoli claws and made his way up the steps. From the railing he jumped onto the creatures back. Holding his sword high he plunged it into the creatures skull. It howled in pain. And collapsed to the floor. Xander removed his sword from the cranium of the creature and gave a look to Lukus. From the hole a steady stream of energy flowed out. This energy coursed through the sky until it reached the its destination. In the hospital Quinn lay silently. From the window a stream of energy enters
And surrounds his head. When the light show ends Quinn opens his eyes.
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY, SUNNYDALE – THE NEXT DAY
Giles slowly continued to sweep up the shattered glass from the floor. His concentration was broken by the sound of the library door closing. Xander walks in cautiously. Giles stops sweeping.
“Xander.” Giles replies calmly
“Hey,” Xander replies, “just wanted to check in to see if you’re okay.”
“I’ll still yet unable to explain certain individuals falling through my sky light but otherwise I’m fine.”
Xander stood awkwardly. Explanations weren’t his strongest skill
“Yeah, that is a tough one.” Xander replied
After a brief pause Xander continued, “Well I just wanted to see how you are doing.”
“I heard that Quinn Farrell woke up from his coma yesterday afternoon.”
Xander stopped. He turned slowly and faced the serious eyes of the watcher.
“It seem coincidental,” Giles, continued, “that Quinn awoke roughly around the same time you were fighting your invisible monster.”
Xander stood silent. He knew lying wasn’t going to help.
“Would you care to explain it?” Giles asks gesturing for him to sit down.
“Oh man would I ever,” Replied Xander
He sat down and steadied himself. Giles sat down opposite and listened as Xander layer down the story so far. It felt good to tell someone else. It helps him to relieve the burden of being one of the chosen
One of the Pure-Light army.
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