Destini Comuni

Disclaimer: See first section
Author’s notes: See first section

Chapter Seven: Chuckiesque

Two Years Prior: 1997

A profile, low as the ground, kept its focus trained on a young girl dancing on stage. “I will be whole. I will be new!” It growled out lowly, deep in its throat.

The girl’s body laying on the ground, the profile above her, knife raised. The knife plunged down and sunk deep into the girl’s chest.

Her body laying there, blood soaking the entire area around her, a gaping hole in her chest. The heart missing and the bloodied knife laying to the side of the body.

Amy sat up, rubbing her eyes, desperately trying to forget what she saw. A feeling of recent magic-use pulsed through her body making her slightly worried. The sorceress sat up slowly, glancing around her room for her clock. What good is knowing what you’ve done if you don’t know what time it is?
A blurred smoking wreckage lay in the corner just begging for attention. Amy slid out of bed, her oversized shirt clinging slightly to her body due to sweat. Nightmares can do that, y’know. The sophomore padded over there, not wanting to make too much noise for some reason. Upon picking up the piece of scrap metal, she saw it was her clock. “Damnit…” She said, forgetting about being quiet.
“Everything alright over there?” Willow’s groggy voice drifted over across the gap. Amy blushed slightly.
“Yeah…just…um…I’ll tell you later, what time is it?” She asked sheepishly, laying down again.
“Look at your clock…” Willow responded, sleepiness not leaving her voice.
“I…can’t…I toasted it…” Amy said, her face bright red with embarrassment.
“You what? Never mind…tell me later…” Willow said. “It’s 3:14 in the morning…go back to sleep, Morgan…” The amusement in Willow’s voice was obvious.
“Yes ma’am…” Amy replied quietly.

The fearsome foursome trotted slowly down the isle of the Sunnydale High School Theatre. They nearly skipped as they sang “We’re off to the see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz,”. Amy didn’t sing, she thought the Wizard was a “Nazi douche”. But all that remains irrelevant.
Buffy stopped the group right by Giles. “If it isn’t the great producer!” She exclaimed as they all got into the seats that surrounded the poor British librarian.
“Personally, I had to see this to believe it.” Xander commented.
“Oh, you four…” Giles replied halfheartedly.
“The school talent show. How did you finagle such a primo assignment?” Buffy asked, her voice dripping in amusement.
“Oh new furor, Mr. Snyder.” Giles replied.
“I think they call ‘em “principals” now.” Willow noted.
Buffy and Amy let out a short laugh. “Not where we come from,” they replied in unison.
“I hate it when you two do that…its so…twin like…” Xander said, his teenage male brain tangenting to a dirty mental place about twins and the two girls as his eyes glazed over.
“Right. He thought it would behoove me to have more contact with the students. I did try to explain that my vocational choice of librarian was a deliberate attempt to minimize said contact, but, uh, he would have none of it.” Giles said.
“Giles, unto every generation is born one who must run the annual talentless show. You cannot escape your destiny.” Buffy said in a semi-serious tone. The rest laughed.

Willow walked over slowly to her fuming raven-haired friend. The sounds of a pitiful magic act tryout ringing through the theatre. “You look pretty in them, Amy…” she said softly, smiling gently at her as to not provoke the sorceress’ wrath.
Amy scowled at her. “I do not. I look like a freak,” she said bluntly, not happy in the slightest.
Willow scowled back and sat next to her. “You do not. You said the same thing when you had braces. And you look much better with these than with braces,” she said reassuringly.
Amy scoffed. “I look horrible! They make my face look weird and don’t fit me at all…god, I’m like Giles now,” Amy declared ruefully, burying her face in her arms on the back of the seat in front of her.
Giles turned around in his seat two rows ahead of the girls. He glared at them. “I take major offense to that remark,” he said, perturbed.
Amy lifted up her head and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Giles…” she said, leaning back in her seat.
Willow swatted Amy’s arm. The sorceress gave her a confused look and Willow locked eyes with her. “You look beautiful,” she said again.
Amy scowled. “Its so messed up. They call with the whole “How are you, honey?” kind of garbage, and then they tell me to check the mail and bam! I look like this,” Amy said dejectedly. “I am never filling them in with what happens to me in a Chemistry room again…”
Xander plopped into the seat next to Amy. As he straightened up, he glanced at her. “Woah! Amy got glasses! Since when?” he asked confusedly.
“Since yesterday. Gift a la mom and dad,” She explained bitterly.
“Well, you look…” Xander stalled. Willow leaned over Amy and smacked him on the shoulder. “Great! You look great,” he finished.
Amy groaned and hit her head against the chair in front of her. Willow took Amy’s hand in hers gently.
“Oh look, the freak just got freakier,” Cordelia said scathingly as she walked up to the trio. Amy snapped up and glared at Cordelia. “I must hand it to you, Amy. I didn’t think it was possible,”
Energy crackled in the sorceress’ hand that Willow was holding. The redhead dug her nails into the back of Amy’s hand both because the energy hurt and to get her to not attack Cordelia.
“At least mine are still natural, unlike yours, Queenie. Was that your 16th birthday gift from your father? To make his daughter look more like a whore?” Amy shot back. Willow dug her nails harder into Amy’s hand to shut her up as well.
Cordelia glared at her before storming off. Buffy approached and plopped down into the seat directly behind Amy. “Claws out today?” She asked.
Amy turned to face her and nodded. “Just…don’t comment, okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I think the glasses make you look even more sexy,” Buffy said off-handedly before standing up. She headed over towards Giles.
Amy’s pale face blushed deep red with embarrassment. Xander and Willow stood up, Willow pulling on Amy’s hand. “C’mon, we’ll go see Morgan’s act,”
Amy stood and nodded resignedly. “Hey! At least now you could see it!” Xander pointed out and Amy thwacked him.

Giles approached the four teenagers. He cleared his throat before speaking. “It was Emily…”
“Damn…” Amy muttered, taking off her glasses and starting to clean them. “EEP! Hell no! I am not pulling a Giles,”
The comment got a chuckle out of everyone, even Giles himself.
“Emily. Dancer Emily?” Willow asked.
“Oh, man! I hate this school,” Xander stated.
“Uh, it must have happened just after, uh, dress rehearsals. There was a cross-country meet at Melville. She, she, she never showed up for it,” Giles explained.
“Vampire?” Buffy asked.
Giles opened his mouth to respond, but Amy beat him to it. “No. I think it’s a demon.” Amy said shakily. What little color she normally had in her face drained.
“What? How do you know?” Giles asked.
Amy breathed deeply, her eyes closed tightly. Willow took the sorceress’ hand in hers. “Her heart was removed.”
“Yikes…” Willow responded.
“How do you know this?” Giles asked her.
“I dreamt it two nights ago. I thought it was some weird, hellmouth-y nightmare. But this is exactly it,”
“There are various demons which, which feed off human hearts, but…” Giles said,.
“It used a knife,” Amy said, gesturing to the same bloodied knife from her dreams in an evidence bag.
“Uh, demon or no, we have some investigating to do. I suggest we start with your… your talent show compatriots. One of them may have been the last to see her alive,” Giles told the gang.
“I’ll head to the band room, since I have class there next. See what Lisa knows,” Amy said.
“Get to it,” Giles replied.

“I didn’t know her too well. C’mon Amy, you know about our whole dancer/band rivalry. We’ve, what, pranked the dancers together since sixth grade!” Lisa said, grinning as she looked up from cleaning her trumpet. “Pass me the third valve,” she said to Amy.
Amy grinned back, handing her the valve. “That we have. Did you happen to talk to her yesterday?” Amy asked.
“Yeah. I did…” Lisa commented. “She was like, happy. I guess. She seemed really stoked about doing the show. Rivalry aside, she was a really good dancer,”
Amy nodded. “She was,” Lisa finished putting together her trumpet and laid it on her lap. Lisa seemed to be searching for something. “Here’s your mouthpiece, you might need it,” Amy said, smirking. She handed the mouthpiece to Lisa. “Do you remember the last time you saw her?” Amy asked.
“She was talking to genius-boy,” Lisa said dryly.
“Yeah, he’s so creepy. I think something is wrong with him,” Amy commented.
“Well, Morgan’s just strange. He’s always rubbing his head a lot and moaning. But not in the good way. He was doing it a lot yesterday. He seemed kinda paranoid… Looking around at everyone… and I think I saw him arguing…with his dummy,”
“That’s bizarre…” Amy stood up as Lisa took a drink of her water bottle. “I’ll let you be, Lise. God knows you need to practice,” Amy started to walk away.
“Shut up!” Lisa yelled indignantly, but grinning at her band mate. She threw her water bottle at Amy, but the sorceress dodged it. Amy stuck her tongue out at her. “Love the glasses, Ames. Just thought I’d tell you.” She said serious. Amy rolled her eyes and groaned. She gave a small wave to Lisa as she exited the band room.

Amy remained sprawled out on the library table, tossing a chunk of crystal up into the air and catching it repeatedly. The shard glowly bright violet whenever it touched her hand and loosing it once it left her hand into the air. The rest of the gang shuffled in slowly and gathered around the table.
“Okay, next time we split up, someone else is on Cordy detail. Five more minutes with her and we woulda had another organ donor,” Xander said.
“I think I had a bit more luck. Everyone I talked to seemed to point their fingers at the same person,” Willow said.
Giles came out of his office and over to them. “Morgan?” Buffy asked.
“Morgan.” Willow replied.
“Lisa pointed at genius-boy too,” Amy added.
“We have a winner!” Xander exclaimed.
“I fear I was led to the same conclusion,” Giles said.
“Well, what do we do? We don't slay him, right? We wanna bring him to justice,” Xander said.
“We could set up a complex sting operation where we get him to confess!” Willow suggested.
“I should wear a wire!” Xander said.
“Whoa, hey, you guys, all we know is that Morgan is a grade A large weirdo. That doesn’t lead directly to murderer,” Buffy said.
“Guy talks to his puppet!” Xander said.
“And for his puppet,” Willow added.
“Well, yeah, but what about the whole ‘it’s a demon’ theory?” Amy asked, stopping her throwing routine.
“I’m looking into that, but, uh, my investigation is somewhat…hampered by our life in the theatre,” Giles said.
“Uh, priority check, Giles?” Buffy asked. “Talent show, murder," she said, weighing the two options with her hands.
“Yeah, we can’t do the talent show, it’s unthinkable. I’m not able to think it!” Xander exclaimed.
“Principal Snyder is watching us all very closely,” Giles started.
Amy interrupted him. “Not me! I left before that escapade,” she said smugly.
“Now, if he chooses, he can make all our—all but Amy’s—lives extremely difficult. A Slayer cannot afford that! We will find this murderer, but in the meantime… the show must go on,” he said.
“I can track him. I’m under Snyder’s radar," Amy said.
“Amy, you, uh, watch Morgan, then. Check his locker, see if there’s anything there,"
“Like a heart?” Willow suggested.
“Or something,"
“Okay. Will do, G-man,” she said. Amy saluted her friends as she left the library whistling ‘We Are The Champions’.

After school, Amy approached Morgan’s locker stealthily. She remained semi-crouched and looking all around her. The sorceress gave a small chuckle and brought her hand up in front of her face, her head bowed slightly. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “Scáth dar dáta aon, aon dar dáta scáth," she said softly. Shadowy tendrils emerged from the floor and wrapped all around Amy, covering her head to toe. She grinned. ‘Shadow Cloak. Coolest spell ever,’
She walked normally over to Morgan’s locker and took the lock in her head. “Oscail," She whispered and the lock fell open. The sorceress was about to open the locker when the door at the far end of the hall opened. Amy stood stock still and even suspended her need to breathe.
Snyder stopped right by Amy and looked around suspiciously. “There’s something going on around here…I’ll figure it out soon enough…” He muttered to himself.
Amy bit her lip and chanced a spell, even with Principal Snyder that close to her. “Pléasc…” she whispered under her breath, flicking her wrist towards the window. A fiery blast shattered the window, flinging all the glass outside.
“What?! I will not tolerate this at my school!” he exclaimed, rushing outside.
Amy whirled around and threw open the locker to find out what she was looking for. The locker was empty. Amy growled and slammed it shut, storming down the hall to the exit.

“Hey, hun. How’s the talent show coming?” Amy said across the gap to Willow, smugness written across her face.
Willow laughed dryly. “It’ll be over soon,"
“I can’t wait to see you three perform beautifully,” Amy said sarcastically, grinning ear to ear.
“Seeing? I-in the sense of actually attending?” Willow asked, scared and shocked.
“Of course, Wils!”
“Uh-uh! No, Ames…y-y-you can’t! It’s going to so bad…and I don’t want you to see me like that,”
“But, Firefly, I just want to show some love for my best friend!”
Willow blushed slightly at Amy’s pet name for her. “Look, Violet, if you really love me, and wanna show some love. You’ll run away. Far away,"
Amy blushed a bit at Willow’s pet name for her. She laughed at her comment as well. “Morgan’s locker was empty. It was a waste of time," She said, changing the topic.
“Damn, we’ll have to search in other ways,”

“Yeah, exactly! But when I turned the lights on it was already gone. I-I think it went out my window," Buffy exclaimed, leaning back in her chair.
“Like a cat," Xander said again, looking at her like she was crazy.
“Yeah! No! It was Sid, the dummy,"
“Or possibly the nightmare of somebody who had… dummies on her mind," Giles pointed out.
“You did say they creep you out," Willow added.
“Excuse me? Can I have a little support here, please? I'm not just some crazy person, I'm the Slayer," Buffy exasperated.
Amy sat down beside Buffy, glaring at the other three. She put an arm around her sister’s shoulders and gave her a side hug. “I believe you, seriously,"
Buffy smiled thankfully at her.
“Well, on the side of the ‘Morgan’s just crazy’ theory there is,” Willow gestured to Morgan and Sid. “Well, Morgan,”
“I'd like to see Morgan without his better half for a few minutes. Bet he could tell me something," Buffy said.
“Oh, uh, if it's any consolation, I... I may have found a possible demon culprit," Giles said, handing Xander a book. “There's a reference in here to a brotherhood of seven demons who take, uh, the form of young humans. Every seven years these demons need human organs, a brain, and a heart, to maintain their humanity. Otherwise they revert back to their original form, which is, uh, uh, slightly less appealing," Giles explained.
“So Morgan could still be the guy, only demon Morgan instead of crazy Morgan," Willow said.
“It's said that these demons are, are, are preternaturally strong, and, and, and... Morgan is, is... Well, he seems to be getting weaker every day," Giles pointed out.

”Morgan?” Amy called out. She walked up the stairs on the side of the stage while Buffy easily jumped up onto it.
“Morgan?” Buffy called out.
“Maybe he’s backstage?” Amy suggested.
“Maybe," Buffy replied and the pair headed off to investigate.

Amy watched Buffy trip over something so she walked over to her. “Oh my god…its Morgan…the demon’s got himself a brain…” Buffy said.
“Seeya, Kansas…” Amy muttered. Buffy walked back through the bead curtains and screamed. Amy could only watch as she saw the wrought iron chandelier fall right on top of her blonde friend.
Amy stared in shock and looked up to see Sid, hand pointed at her. “Chun caith clocha le," He said. That was the last thing Amy heard before turning to stone.

“Maothaigh chun feoil," Sid said and Amy turned back to flesh.
“I hate you for that,” Amy said to Sid, glaring at him.
“Sorry, babe. I thought you were in league with the demon,"
“I should give you genital termites …” Amy said spitefully and Sid’s eyes went wide.
“So, once we know who’s missing from the show…” Sid started, changing the subject.
“We’ll know who our demon is!” Buffy exclaimed.
Amy gave them a confused look but moved on.
“The show!” Giles exclaimed, hurrying towards the door.
“What?” Buffy asked.
“It’s gonna start! I’m supposed to be there!” He explained.
Buffy turned to Willow. “okay, um, start pulling everyone’s addresses in the talent show. I-if they’re not there, maybe we can catch them at home,”
Sid looked at Giles. “And you, get ‘em all on stage, form the power circle,"
“Um, uh, the what?” Giles asked.
Amy rolled her eyes. “The power circle. You get everyone together, you get ‘em, you know, revved up," She explained. “I’m going with you, by the way. I don’t feel like being a statue again," she said, shooting a look at Sid.

“Quickly, everyone! Uh… um, power circle," Giles said awkwardly to the group of teens assembling around him.
The students, being more American than him, arranged themselves in a circle and clasped hands. Each person looking at each other for support and more surprisingly, finding it.
A better mood settled over the group without Giles having to give a speech. Amy, who hung back in the shadows as per her norm, made eye contact with Giles and nodded. Nobody was missing.
“Well, that’s that, then. Um, everybody, uh, get ready!” He said, heading over to Amy. The students parted ways and went over to their equipment.
Buffy landed right next to Amy and Giles. “No one’s missing," he commented
“So the demon isn’t in the show," Buffy said.
“Or maybe the demon was there and we couldn’t tell," Amy pointed out.
“Possibly, but either you or Buffy would have been able to sense a demon that close with ease," Giles said. “It seems we are off the scent. Uh, go tell the others. Look, it’s nearly curtain. I must get the show rolling,"
“Right," the two girls said in unison.
“Right," Giles said, walking off.
Buffy looked up and Amy followed her gaze. Where she and Sid were sitting laid empty. Sid was gone.
“Sid?” Buffy asked, though not expecting a response.
“Lets check backstage," Amy suggested.
“Yeah, cause that worked real well for us last time," Buffy said dryly.

Buffy walked up to a workbench, still looking around for Sid. A large glob of something dripped onto the front of her shirt but the Slayer didn’t notice.
Amy did. She let out a sound of disgust and pointed. “Uh…Buff, something seriously macked on you…”
Buffy looked at her oddly but then looked down at where Amy was pointing. “EW!!” She screeched, jumped away from the workbench and tried to brush it away but smeared it into her shirt.
Amy walked up to where Buffy was a second ago and reached up onto the shelf and brought down something just as gooey. The girls notice that it was a brain, presumably Morgan’s. Amy yelped and dropped the brain onto the ground where it bounced and jiggled a few times before coming to a stop.

Amy walked back into the library, her hands ablaze with violet flames. She doused the flames by wringing her hands together, then set them ablaze again. Both Willow and Buffy starred in amusement at her antics. Willow let out a soft laugh before turning back the computer. Buffy went back to obsessively scrubbing her shirt.
Amy walked up to Willow and doused the flames for a final time. She just starred at her hands. “I’m never gonna stop sterilizing my hands…”
Xander walked into the library looking slightly agitated. “So, the dummy tells us that he’s a demon hunter. And we’re like, fine, la, la, la, la. He takes off, and now there’s a brain. Does anybody else feel like they’ve been Keyser Soze’d?” Xander asked.
“Sid’s on the level, I’m sure of it. But why would the demon have rejected the brain? I-I mean, I thought Morgan was the smartest kid in school," Buffy said, taking a break from the scrubbing before she rubbed a hole through her shirt.
Willow pulled up Morgan’s file on the computer. “He was, look at his grades: all A’s. The majority of his classes were college classes, too. Wait a blip…” She said. Willow leaned into towards the computer and checked some numbers on it.
“What is it?” Buffy asked.
“Her spidey-sense is going off…” Amy replied, grinning.
Willow glared at her before turning to the rest. “All these sick days," Willow pointed out.
“He was off for, like, half the year!” Xander exclaimed.
“Check the school nurse’s file," Buffy said.
Willow typed a bit and brought up the file. “Look at this! ‘In case of emergency, contact Dr. Dale Leggett, California Institute of Neurosurgery, Cancer Ward.’”
“Brain cancer?” Xander asked rhetorically.
“That’s why he had all the headaches," Amy pointed out.
“This means that whatever’s out there still needs a healthy, intelligent brain," Buffy said.
“In other words, I’m safe!” Xander exclaimed, grinning.
Amy nodded and clapped him on the back. “Like Fort Knox," she replied cheekily.
The mirth drained from Buffy’s, Amy’s, and Xander’s faces. They all looked at Willow with a scared look on their faces. Willow looked back and forth between the three worried faces in front of her. “What?”
“The demon, Wils…” Buffy said.
“What could a demon possibly want from me?” Willow asked.
“What’s the square root of 841?” Xander asked.
“29. Oh, yeah…” Willow replied without much effort.
Amy knelt beside Willow. “Don’t worry, Willow. As long as you’re with me, there’s absolutely no way that demon is ever gonna hurt you," She said, fiercely protective of her best friend. Her features shifting slightly to their canine form.
Buffy started pacing nervously. “This is ridiculous. We can’t just sit here and wait for him to come to us. We have to figure out who we’re dealing with," Buffy pointed out.
“I still vote dummy," Xander said, knowing he was alone in this matter.
“No. Okay, so we ruled out all the people in the talentless show…” Buffy said.
“That’ because they were all there. But that’s before we found the brain," Willow said, stroking the top of Amy’s head lightly, causing her to relax once again.
“Right. So it probably is one of them. And, and Giles doesn’t know! He’s with them all right now!” Buffy pointed out, looking worried. Amy and Willow shared her worry.
Xander scoffed. “Giles can handle himself. I mean, he is really…” understanding dawned in Xander’s eyes. “Smart!”

Buffy lunged at Marc and tackled him to the ground. She swept his legs out from under him as he tried to get up. Buffy jumped up and kicked him in the face as he tried to stand. Marc growled at her and stood up finally, the skin pealing away from his face and showing his true demon form.
“Ewww!” Buffy exclaimed.
While she was distracted he punched her twice in the face, causing her to fall to the floor on her back.
The rope suspending the guillotine snapped and started to fall towards Giles’ head. Xander lunged for the rope and grabbed it right before it hit its mark. “It missed…” Xander said thankfully as he raised the blade back up. Giles looked up at him thankfully.
Willow ran over to Giles and tried to undo his restrains. “Where are the keys?” She asked him.
“Marc’s got it!” He replied.
“Willow!” Xander kicked the hatchet over to her. She picked it up and began to hack at the lock.
Amy walked over towards Marc menacingly. “Oh no, no one backhands my sister!” she growled at him and launched a fireball at him. It hit him in the chest and he roared in pain. The force of the impact launched him back into his disappearing-act box with the door closing on him.
Buffy got up and stood beside Amy. She gestured to the box. “How do you lock this thing?” Buffy asked to no point, since Marc started punching through the box’s door.
The two got into a ready position as Marc stepped out of the box, all his human flesh burned away by the fireball. The demon charged at the pair but Amy was ready for him. She launched another fireball, this one bigger and stronger, at Marc. However he reflected it back at her somehow at she took it to the chest. Amy flew back and hit the wall, slumping at the bottom.
Marc grabbed Buffy by the neck and lifted her off the ground. He slammed her against the wall right beside Amy, who lay there unconscious from her own blast and from the burns she obtained in the process. Her face and neck had dark red marks all over and most of her clothes were partially if not totally destroyed. Her hair remained singed and in terrible shape.
Buffy struggled against him grip but couldn’t break it. Buffy looked behind Marc to see Sid jumping up onto his back and stabbing him in the back with his knife. “I found you!” He yelled.
The demon ignored Sid and continued to slam Buffy into the wall. Marc couldn’t ignore Sid for long and dropped Buffy due to the pain. The slayer looked at the bench where Giles was and saw that he was free. Buffy grabbed Marc and threw him onto the bench. Sid jumped free of Marc. Marc landed on the bench with his neck under the blade.
Xander let go of the rope and the blade fell, severing the demon’s head. “That time it hit its Marc," Xander quipped.
Willow knelt beside Amy, biting the corner of her lip. “Oh my god…Amy…”
Buffy knelt beside Amy and picked her up as gently as possible. “C’mon, lets take her home, she’ll be okay. She’s Amy…” Buffy said.

“So, Firefly, you got your wish," Amy said, smirking slightly.
“Yeah, but not in the way I wanted…” Willow replied, leaning against her windowsill, still dressed in her Greek garb from her talent show performance. She looked saddened from the reddened skin along Amy’s face and neck. It wasn’t as bad as it was before, as it now looked like a bad sunburn, which she got easily. Her hair was a bit shorter, around chin length, but she fixed it to look good and stylish. Pixish, but not.
“True, but I’m okay now and I didn’t see you perform you’re dramatic scene," she said bemusedly.
“Thank god,” Willow replied. “You should get some rest…” she said right as Amy started to yawn.
“I-I’m not tired…” Amy replied.
Willow grinned. “Good night, Violet…” she said, walking away from the windowsill.
“Night…” Amy grumbled, heading back to her bed.