Buffy Part 2

Buffy recap. Yes it’s long but I think worth the skim. A big event happened.

Whilst the scoobies were in Frisco researching Ember’s untimely demise, Sascha was feeling the effects of the Harry Potter Bone Knitting potion she took, having her bones snap and knit back into place. Once that 3 hour fun period was over, she headed upstairs to join the search for the harbinger of this vampire god, who was supposed to be hitting town any minute. When she got upstairs her watcher did something rather odd…he asked her to sit this investigation out. She was a bit taken aback at this, being a vampire problem and all, and eventually the old man from the government agency (Arthur Broom from Hellboy) came in to pick her up. Broom mentioned they had done initial investigation and had determined who the harbinger was…and that he was here. The harbinger was a nasty ancient vamp by the name of Kurzan, who was well known to her watcher. He once again asked her to sit this one out, saying that the vampire who broke her arm and almost killed her the previous night was nothing compared to Kurzan and mentioning that he carried three braided scalps on his belt of the three slayers he had killed previously. She thanked him for brightening her day, but in the end took off with Broom to meet Liz, Bastion and Broom’s two operatives, codenamed Red and Blue, and plan the attack.

Well obviously we know who Red and Blue are (Hellboy himself and Abe Sapien). Sascha’s meeting with Hellboy didn’t go extremely well (he mentioned he wasn’t on babysitting duty). Meeting Abe went a bit better, other than that he shook her hand and seemed to see something he didn’t like (insert ominous future foreshadowing sound here). The only hint Sascha got about it was that it might involve her feelings on the subject of death (either the fear of it or the assumption that she was doing to die soon).

Kurzan was at the mall, so we started heading over there. On the way there Sascha broke the ice with the biggest question she didn’t want to ask, and found out Liz and Bastion had previously dated for a bit (though she was now with Hellboy). Later in the conversation Liz mentioned that she was the backup plan in case we failed, and her sad look at that made Sascha blurt out that Bastion had mentioned she reminded him of Liz in a lot of ways. She seemed to take a lot of interest in that and then got very introspective. A conversation hole which Abe filled.

He mentioned with some interest as he pointed to the old book he was holding, that he was fairly certain Sascha was supposed to be present at this event and would be instrumental in some aspect of it. She mentioned something to the effect of becoming another scalp on his belt, which got Abe to thinking. He hypothesized that all slayers shared a sort of supernatural memory, which gives them their visions and some of their fighting ability before they are trained. He said he can probably tap into that and give her some of the memories of the three slayers who fought him before. That way she might just go into it with some knowledge of how to fight him. Knowing she was dead unless she got SOMETHING to help her, she reluctantly agreed.

Flashbacks started. The first one was a remote mountain village in the far east in ancient times, where he killed a young girl defending the village. The second was a much faster and better trained slayer in what looked like medieval France, the third a gunslinging slayer in 1800s Dodge City. All three had definite similarities. In all three he took a hit and went down. In all three the slayers moved in for the kill and he struck. In all three, he promised them as they died that he would turn their families and friends into his minions and torture them for a very long time. The last one he mentioned that he would keep killing slayers and their families until one finally put him down, and on that day something extraordinary would happen.

Sascha woke from the vision with tears in her eyes and a look of pure rage on her face. She knew what she had to do. She had to outsucker the bastard. In order to do that she had to play this all out like it was before, and she had to survive his final hit. And in order to do that she needed help.

The car pulled up in front of Laz’s house, and after a brief conversation with his mom and aunt, they produced a set of amulets. When one person is hit while wearing one, it transfers the pain and damage of the hit to whoever is wearing the other amulet…as long as they are willing to take it. The amulets cannot be put onto someone who isn’t willing, and they only work for one hit. So all she needed was someone very large and tough who could survive the hit……*evil grin*

Bastion and Hellboy met us at the mall and Broom gave Bastion a gift he really didn’t want…..his sword from back when he was an angel. Also after a brief and tense conversation with both Sascha and Abe, Hellboy ended up with the second amulet in his pocket and instructions to put it on as soon as Kurzan appeared to be taken down by Sascha. Oh yeah, and he was hers. Given the memories she just regained…this was personal.

Not that the two boys didn’t have their own problems however, in the form of the 50-odd vamps he had with him at the mall who attacked us all. Sascha was quick to break away and engage Kurzan, who smiled and mentioned he wasn’t a big fan of dye jobs in his scalps, but he would be sure and wash it out before braiding it into his belt. Then he hit her so hard he sent her flying into the Baskin Robins sign.

She couldn’t hit him. No matter what she tried she just wasn’t fast enough. He played with her like she was nothing to him. She was close to believing he might just kill her outright instead of playing out the drama of the previous slayers when Bastion got involved and his attention shifted. Knowing Bastion was fated to die and usher in the third sign of this vampire god’s arrival, Sascha rushed Kurzan desperately and was deposited on her arse once again. Bastion was disarmed and Kurzan grabbed his sword from the air and looked at it. Then his hand began to smoke.

Sascha took advantage of the opening and swept his legs out from under him. He his the floor and the drama started. He begged for a moment and she a bunch of crap lines like every other slayer had told him. That vampires deserved no mercy and she straddled him, ready to strike.

Of course it never hit. He caught her wrist and with a motion so fast she couldn’t even see it, he hit her so hard she flew up with enough force to break THROUGH the concrete ceiling to the second floor of the mall. And she didn’t feel a thing.

Flopping back to the stage in front of Kurzan, she tried to get up and collapsed. He prepared to stake HER through the heart like he had done with the slayer in Dodge City, and as he brought it up to hit her, a large stone hand wrapped around his. The opening she was looking for had arrived. She did a desperately fast kippup, leading with the second stake she had hidden in her belt.

The bastard’s look of shock was priceless. Right up until the point where he started laughing.

He motioned towards Bastion and asked why she was concerned about Kurzan killing HIM when Kurzan HIMSELF was the real sacrifice that was required. Apparently “angel” wasn’t the correct translation. Perhaps “servant of a higher power” was closer to what was the truth. And Sascha just did him the favor.

She sat back hard and watched him crumble, and he was laughing the entire time.

In the end, the cleanup crew mopped up the rest of the vamps and we were left laying on the floor of the mall stage, Sascha’s head on Bastion’s chest. In the end they had won, but had brought about the third sign that was required for the vamp god to become free. Sascha said her goodbyes to Broom, Hellboy and Abe. Liz watched Sascha looking worriedly after Bastion as he was wheeled out to an ambulance, hugged her goodbye and whispered into her ear “he’s worth it.”.

Being the least hurt of the three, Sascha decided to walk home. It’d been three days since she’d last patrolled, and she had a job to do.