A Game of The Vampire Slayer

Prologue

The bus was beginning to heat in the desert summer while the main Scooby gang waited for the other slayers to return. Andrew led the newbie’s on a mission to find a place to stay for the night. After the battle, and the destruction of Sunnydale, the group had their time to mourn the dead. Most are used to the loss that comes with being a slayer. Now though, was the time to plan their next move.

The main group that stayed behind (Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Dawn, and Faith) were in different seats in the bus, trying to decide their next move. Unsuccessfully.

“We should lay low for a while,” Faith was saying. Buffy watched her throw her favorite knife into the air, then catch it by the blade. It was the dagger the mayor gave her some odd years ago. Buffy gave it back to the once rouge slayer as a show of trust. “Now that the Hellmouth is gone, we got a lot of big bads out their itching to make us pay.”

“Or maybe you just want to avoid the police.” Dawn muttered so low that only Buffy, who was sitting next to her, could hear. The girl was sitting with a hand on her face, resting her elbow on her knee. “You did break out of prison after all.”

Buffy shot her sister a warning look. Now was not the time to go at each other’s throats. The gang had a lot to take care of before the others got back. “What we should do is find the other slayers out there,” she said. “They must be so confused and scared. Demons will be after them left and right.”

Giles took off his glasses to clean them, as he usually does when in deep thought. Noticing there was a large crack across the lens he hesitated. “I must agree with Buffy here. We have an obligation to train these girls, to protect them. Even more so now that the Watchers Council has been destroyed.” He absent mindedly passed the glasses to Willow and asked, “Willow, could you fix these please?”

She gave him a strange look. “Do I look like Hermione to you?” She questioned. He raised his brow and Willow sighed and took the glasses. She did a quick spell, sealing the lens back together, and passed the glasses back to Giles who thanked her.

“I agree with Faith though,” She said to everyone’s surprise. Buffy was hurt. Willow was taking Faith’s side so soon after her earlier betrayal, even after Buffy proved herself a capable leader. “We’re all tired and weak,” The witch continued. “Maybe now we should, not hide, but kind of stay away from all things bitey. At least until we get our strength back.”

“Thanks red. Nice to know you got my back,” Faith exclaimed. Willow gave her a tired smile and lounged back to the window. Though she would not want to admit it, she was the most drained. Activating all the potentials was a difficult task even with the help of the ancient Slayer weapon. Moreover, repairing Giles’ glasses took more out of her than she wished.

Dawn was leaned back like Willow, and exhaled loudly. She stared up at the one cloud in the sky, hoping it would move in front of the sun. She knew they were probably getting strange looks from people. After all, they are sitting in a busted up Sunnydale school bus parked in a town miles away. Usually she would care what strangers thought, but after what everyone went through, it seemed petty.

“Hey Willow? Do you think you can make a breeze or something?” She asked. “I’m sweating off all the Uber Vamp dust and it’s so gross.”

“I’m a fan now too?” Willow asked pleadingly.

“You can be whatever you want to be,” Xander reassured her. “Whether it be a fictional character or a spinning thing. Now on to my plan. I say we have a pizza party. One with lots of goodies and some cute girls who like one-eyed heroes.”

He was trying his best to seem like he was not hung up over Anya’s recent death. Even during the final battle, all he could think about was how much he wanted her to be okay. He must not have wanted it enough, because she was cut in half to save Andrew’s life.

A slow breeze started flowing through the bus. It started out calm and relieving but soon turned into tornado proportions. “A little much, don’t ya think Will?” Xander shouted over the wind.

“It’s not me!” She shouted back. “Something else must be causing it, something magic!” The back door buckled, then burst off the hinges and flew into a red vortex. The entire rear doorway was replaced with swirling energy that created the wind, and was pulling them in.

Buffy held on for dear life, as the wind was so strong it started to lift her upward. She reached out to dawn in the seat across from her, but not before her sister was forced into the isle and away from Buffy.

After years of fighting the supernatural and training with Buffy, Dawn’s reflexes had become quick. She jammed her hand out and wrapped her fingers tightly around a metal leg. She reached up and desperately brushed fingers with her sister, who was half leaning out of her seat.

Giles, being the furthest in the back, had the least amount of time to react. He was pulled out of his seat and would have flown into the portal had Faith not grabbed his arm. Whiplash had her out of safety as well, and after a struggling moment, she slammed her blade into the center of the seat.

“Giles!” Willow screamed. She was barley holding on herself when she shouted at Xander, “Buckle up quick!” She faced the swirling energy and tried to cast a spell to stop it, only to come up short on magic. Nothing left to do; she followed her own advice and started pulling the straps together. Sadly, she did not have the strength, and was flipped over her seat and pulled into the vortex screaming with the wind.

Xander managed to secure himself, and gripped his fingers into the plastic fabric. He closed his eye to shield it from the air’s sting, but opened it again when he heard Dawn screaming for Buffy. Always the hero, he clicked the button at his waist, feeling the straps flail around him. Making his way to the isle with one hand gripping a strap, he reached for Dawn. His hand wrapped around her wrist and he pulled her to Buffy’s reach.

The seat belt gave way and he was ripped backwards as the remaining group screamed. Even though Faith was holding on the best she could, her knife was tearing through the blue fabric. It reached the edge and caught for a split second then broke through and Faith and Giles hurled backwards.

“Dawn grab on!” Buffy shouted. Dawn let go of the metal leg and put her hand on Buffy’s arm. She was getting tired, arms aching and the wind so fast, so strong, it tore the air from her lungs. Buffy started to pull her sister into her chair, until a stray object smashed into Dawn’s head. She was simultaneously knocked unconscious and out of Buffy’s grip.

Buffy screamed and watched as her tears flew from her face after her sister. It was like slow motion, Dawn floating back with hair flying around her head. Then reality kicked in and she shrank in the distance. Buffy was so distraught that she didn’t notice the first aid box come loose and hurtle towards her.

It bashed into Buffy and ripped her forward into the air. Still conscious, she was able to grab her slayer scythe and hook it on the top of a seat. Within moments, it ripped through and Buffy hurtled into the swirling vortex. She tumbled endlessly through the portal, coming out the other side and landing in a pile of snow.

Lifting herself up on her arms, she looked around at the winter forest. It was desolate, endless. There was no sign that any of her friends had landed anywhere near by. “At least it’s not so hot anymore,” she said.