Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 166

[madimpossibledreamer]

thIS CHAPTER IS SO LONG
(how did this happen)

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Buffy phones a friend.
Word Count: 1714
Rating: Teen (Buffy|Jojo's level violence)
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS

          Part of being a leader, Buffy’s getting to learn, is just a bunch of boring stuff like knowing her people and their strengths and weaknesses and not being afraid to ask for help when she needs it.  She’d remembered to grab her phone, even when she was sneaking out the window.  It’s a habit she’d had to get in, considering that phones didn’t used to fit in pockets, and also she’d actually had a pager for a bit.  A pager.  Some of the Slayers these days didn’t even know what those were.  But this isn’t the time for reminiscing; this is the time for thinking about the future.  And walking toward the future, and hoping she’ll actually get an answer before she has to throw herself into the void and wing it.
          And finally her research gal-slash-magic expert picks up.  “Hi—”
          “Oh my goddess, Buffy, I’m so sorry—”  Oh, good.  Willow’s in full apology mode, and she’s a continent away and can’t eat Guilt Cookies and doesn’t have time for guilt-babble.
          “I appreciate that, but—” Not that she doesn’t appreciate hearing from Willow, especially in this little bubble of self-isolation, but that’s a conversation they can have later.
          “No buts!  We were treating you like an infant that couldn’t do anything on her own just like that situation with the First all over again and that just wasn’t right and I hope you can forgive us—”  Well, at least they know what they did wrong, which will help for the fixing of it later.  Emphasis on the later.
          “Willow.  I was kind of fed up, but I also kind of played it up.”  It’s probably the easiest way to gt through.
          “…we’ll do our best to treat you like you deserve to—” Buffy can tell the exact second Willow actually processes what she said given the whole speaking over each other thing, because that’s the longest pause she’d heard this entire conversation. “…Wait, what?  I…don’t get it.”
          “I had a Slayer Dream, and kind of had to take off or Bad Things would happen.  I’ll go into the details later.  Right now I don’t have a lot of time.  I found the Siphon.”
          “Oh.  Oh!  Are you okay?  I mean, of course you are, you’re Buffy, and you’re talking to me and everything and this isn’t a blackmail call or anything—I mean, just…keep being alive?  Please?  So you can eat Guilt Cookies, and Giles doesn’t have to yell at me again, except I’ll take it better than last time but I like you being alive—”
          That’s really sweet, and Buffy definitely has to agree even as she grins into the night still following the wet-cobweb map.  “I like being alive, too, which is why I called you.  I hate to make you think about it, but you absorbed that guy’s life force and made your magic stronger, right?” When she’d been all Darth Willow.  Because maybe there’s a clue or two there for the Scoobies to find.
          Willow’s voice suddenly gets much quieter and much guiltier, which is not a good sound on her.  If the Slayer didn’t think it was necessary, she wouldn’t be doing this.  “Yes, but I don’t see—Oh.  Never mind.  I’m a liar.”  She pauses, thinking, then continues.  “You’re saying that’s how the Siphon works, and given the words you just said you agree with all the rumors that the Siphon isn’t friendly, and you want me to give you something to protect yourself.”
          Buffy sighs, because that’s a hard choice she didn’t want but she wants to be out here, in the field, which is where these kinds of decisions are made.  Her heart hurts a little as she sees dust and what is maybe a few corpses just lying on a side street.  He’d definitely taken a detour to ‘feast’.  “Remember how militantly anti-demon the Initiative was?”  Of course she does, but it’s an easy conversational shortcut.  “I think he might be addicted, but he’s killing or at least torturing humans and innocent demons.  Sure, some of the humans might work for W&H, but…”  She’d love to save him, if she can, but it might not be that easy.
          Willow whines into the phone.  “Whose bright idea was it for us to grow up and be responsible?  I want to teleport over there and help but I’m trying to keep all these Slayers across the world alive like I’m NASA Mission Control Center.”
          It’s not really the time, but then, none of them have a good sense of timing about any of this.  Comes from growing up on a Hellmouth, probably.  She’s smiling despite herself.  “I’d say Xander, but given that we kind of had to drag him kicking and screaming that’s too unrealistic of a scapegoat even for me.”  She pauses, thinking, and eventually comes up with, “Giles?”
          She doesn’t have to be there to see Willow roll her eyes.  “No, absolutely, and he’s still cleaning his glasses.  Okay, back to this power analysis thing.”
          Buffy makes up her mind and goes over to check the bodies, almost certain she won’t find a pulse and getting distracted might get even more killed, but at the very least she has to finish this conversation before she’ll be ready to confront the guy.  She needs a plan if she’s going up against a legend, and one more detailed than Punch.  In his stubborn face.  A lot.  “All I did was see a thing that was similar—you’re probably more the expert on that kind of thing.  And there’s something else.  I think he’s doing it through the same thing Xander and Josephine used.  The glow-breathing thing.  It took me a bit to recognize that I’d seen it before, but it’s not like your sunlight spell.  I don’t know if the two things are connected.”
          “Wow, that sounds fascinating!”  Willow suddenly remembers herself, it sounds like, because she quickly covers the awe in her tone.  “And Evil, with a capital E.  Very, very Evil.  I don’t remember everything, because I was also kind of capital Evil at the time, but yeah, it could be related, except a power that just doesn’t turn off, rather than a one-off magic suck.  I asked Josephine about the glow-breathing thing, and she said it’s something called Sendo.  Our Xander learned some kind of weird real life martial art Qi thing.”  They’re both probably remembering his goofy martial arts movie phase.  He’d been kind of clumsy, so he was banned from acting them out, but at this point maybe it didn’t really matter all that much.  Particularly if it helps keep him alive.  “If it’s channeling life force to attack, it makes sense that it could be used in reverse, to take someone’s life force.  But I guess it retains some of the victim’s personality if it doesn’t just give him Sendo power, but that person’s powers, too.”
          “Do you think Sineya would show up?”  She’s not planning on getting grabbed but it’s probably going to happen anyway.  It’d be nice if the First Slayer threatened someone that wasn’t her friends for once.
          From the hesitation, Willow also gets the how of that situation, and she doesn’t like it.  Buffy also doesn’t like it, but sometimes a Slayer’s gotta act as bait.  “I doubt it.  I think the spell weakened her, because all of a sudden there are all these people sharing the Slayer power and she can’t haunt everyone.”
          Rats.  That had been her plan.  Time for Plan B…if she can think of one—wait.
          “You did the spell, so you’re connected to all the Slayers, right?”
          “Right…” Willow responds slowly, trying to figure out where Buffy’s going with this probably.
          “You think if he siphons enough Slayer power, he’ll join the Slayer Mobile Network?”  With all those roaming charges and everything.
          It’s still the bait plan, and her bestie’s still not on board.  “…That’s a really dangerous plan, Buffy.  It might work, but…can you try something else first?  Please?”
          “Sure.  Just…be ready just in case?”  If she’s realistic, she hasn’t really thought about fighting Sun Karate, so she’s not sure how to counter it, and if all else fails it’s what she’s got to fall back on.  She’d feel better if Willow’s waiting on the other side to catch her.
          “…I can probably get Andrew to cover for me for an hour or two,” Willow agrees.  “And if it’s going to go there, I really can’t be there throwing fireballs he’s probably just going to absorb.  Just in case I need to concentrate.  I can probably emergency teleport you out if I need to.  Anything else?”
          “Is there a way to counter the channeling or a tasing type power or the Sendoff thing?”  Willow snickers, and yeah, okay, so maybe she still doesn’t have a grasp of all these fancy words.
          “Hang on.”  Nope, no pulse, not in any of them, and a Slayer’s senses would catch that if it was a thing.  That sucks.  In both senses of the word, and maybe she should stop.
          “Okay, Josephine says it’s something about breathing, so if you can interrupt his breath that should stop it.  Oh, um.  There’s something called an athame.  It’s a weapon that counters magic.  The Siphon could be kinda like that…except, wait, it doesn’t grow in strength from vamped life force, so never mind.  Ignore the ramblings of the crazy cat lady.”  They’re going to ignore that her best friend only has a single cat. 
          “Oh, we also need to get a warning to an apparently friendly Old One named Illyria?  He’s going after her.”  And she’s going after Severin, stride longer, and she’s catching up.  He’s waiting.  Probably a trap, but she’s not about to sit here and play Old Maid.  “I’m going to leave you on, just so you can keep track of what’s going on.”
          Willow’s response is some sort of blessing spell, and Buffy feels a little better.  Maybe it’s placebo, maybe Willow’s still one of the strongest magic-users on planet Earth.  Either way, she’s got Buffy’s back, and that’s enough to make her feel just a little bit better.  The Slayer pockets the phone without turning it off and hopes the durability spells don’t have an end-of-warranty.