April 2000

Writer: Brendan Crowther

Marcie Ross	Owen Thurman	Scott Hope	Michael Kawer

Harmony	Nancy Doyle	Shrouded Man

I’ve gone through my whole life without anyone seeing me…and then, in high school, I turned invisible. I’ve remained invisible for a few years, but now, I’m going to be seen.

Friday Night.

"I’m Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," Marcie said to her audience, as she held the vampire across his chest. She plunged her wooden stake into his heart, and he turned to ash. Dusted.
"And, oh yeah," she laughed like a ditz, "Vampires are real!"

Marcie the Vampire Slayer

Pilot Episode:

"Buffy Who?"

Featuring:
Clea DuVall
Christopher Wiel
Fab Filippo
Blake Soper
Mercedes McNab
Lauren Roman
Paige Moss
AND Gary Bullock as the Shrouded Man

Two and a half years ago: Marcie Ross was never seen – metaphorically – and when charged with the energies of the Hellmouth, she turned invisible – literally. After she attacked multiple peers, she was sent to a special government school, which trains invisible individuals the art of espionage.

One and a half years ago: No longer taking classes at the institute, Marcie watched the Scooby Gang deal with the ongoing problem of Angelus, Spike and Drusilla.

One year ago: Continuing to watch over Buffy and the gang, Marcie took a great interest in the new slayer, Faith. She remembered often thinking, ‘I like her.’

Six months ago: Marcie often wondered why the Scooby Gang tried so hard to bring Faith back to the "good side;" especially since they gave up on her so quickly. The Invisible Girl finally begins to draw some conclusions regarding Buffy and her Slayerettes.

In the confusion, while Giles was preparing to blow up the Library,* Marcie stole a number of his occult books.

*(off-camera in "Graduation Day")

The Present. Monday.

Sunnydale, the Mansion…

A thick notebook sat on a table, which was in front of the fireplace, in the high-ceilinged main foyer. The pages seemed to be flipping as though the wind was blowing them, but there was no breeze. Handwritten all over the pages were notes – excerpts from Buffy Summers’ diary, and Giles’ Watcher Chronicles. The page flipping suddenly stopped at a page with a group of pictures pasted on it. From the most recent, and final, Sunnydale High yearbook were photos of Buffy, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, Oz, Giles and Anya – the Scooby Gang. A second book, the selfsame yearbook, appeared to be levitating towards the notebook, and opened. The book wasn’t actually levitating, though; it was held in the hands of the invisible Marcie Ross.

"Buffy thinks that, simply because she’s the Slayer, she’s the best damn demon slayer there is. To quote Cordelia: "As if." Sure, she saved the world from being sucked into Hell, but I can take out demons and vampires just as well as she can. It’s time I prove that I’m just as good as she is, if not better, and I certainly don’t need her vaunted Slayer super-powers – all I need are her team dynamics. Alone, she’s nothing, but with her Scooby Gang she’s practically unstoppable. She has her Slayerettes, and so I need mine"

"Let’s see; starting with my sort of useless side kick… I need a guy who’s attracted to me, but does little more than make witty remarks. Who can fill Xander’s shoes?"

Friday Night.

Scott Hope walked lightly down a dry-stretch in the Sunnydale sewer system alone. It could be accessed through one of the many crypts, and had been sealed off from the rest of the sewer system years ago, after numerous city workers disappeared from this area.

"Why am I here?" Scott whined quietly to himself.

‘Buffy,’ the answer quickly came to mind. He saw her as a whirlwind of life and excitement, and he’d wanted to go out with her for what seemed like forever. Of course, when he finally screwed up his courage to ask her out, it was during the five minutes that she was rebounding from breaking up with the love of her life.

Buffy.

He was walking around a sewer with a flashlight, a wooden stake and the invitation that was wrapped around it because of her. After he found Buffy’s invitation to the sewer, and the stake, in his dorm room, he’d been trying to figure out what this was all about. He doubted that she wanted to rekindle their old flame, which had been more like a glowing ember. The wooden stake reminded him of…something. He was pretty sure it had something to do with graduation, but he had pretty much repressed the memory of that day.

Buffy.

Monday.

‘Best friend…best friend…’ Marcie thought, as she looked through the yearbook for a certain student to be her Willow. ‘Maybe. It’s a bit of a stretch, but at least I’ll be getting a whiny, repressed witch.’

Friday.

Michael Kawer walked cautiously deeper into the sewer. He thought he could hear footsteps up ahead, and so he made the golden ball of light over his shoulder glow brighter with a quick incantation, and he held his hooded black cloak tighter around himself. He decided to wear the cloak because it made a nice dramatic effect; plus it hid his bruised and bandaged body.

He didn’t want to be here – not really – after what happened…*

*(in The Coven #1. If you haven’t read it yet, go read it!)

He only showed up because the invitation came with a wooden stake, and that meant vampires. Slaying vampires.

Michael smiled wickedly.

Monday.

‘Now which of Buffy’s boyfriends do I want? Army farmboy, or the brooder?’

Marcie came across a picture of Owen Thurman.

‘Definitely the brooder.’

Friday.

Owen’s feet hit the ground of the sewer. He had absolutely no idea why Buffy would ask to meet him, or why she’d want to meet him in a sewer. Especially considering the way she brushed him off, after how got overexcited by her idea of fun – breaking into a funeral home, and battling seriously disfigured punks. He had run into her again at graduation, but that was when she and her friends were turning the graduating class into a temporary vampire fighting army. She had said something like, "We’ll need your enthusiasm," and he’d never heard from her after that.

Owen twirled the stake in his hands. Whatever the reason Buffy wanted to hook up here, he was sure it was going to be fun.

Monday.

‘Giles…’

Marcie shut the yearbook. She started flipping through her notebook, looking through her copied sections from the Watcher’s Diaries. There was someone with the knowledge she needed, but Marcie wasn’t sure if he could be trusted. That mistrust merely meant he’d also add a little Jenny Calendar to the mix.

‘This is going to take some effort.’

Tuesday.

Marcie sat on the floor in front of a flaming ebon candle. She concentrated on the words she was murmuring that she barely understood. Behind her, a black-shrouded man silently stepped out of the shadows. As he approached the invisible girl, Marcie suddenly gasped, and spun around.

"I didn’t see you there," she said, and chuckled after a pause. "It’s usually the other way around…"

The Shrouded Man remained silent.

"I need your assistance. Y’know, your vast knowledge, and some of your mystical abilities. I’m forming a…group to fight the demons and vampires in Sunnydale better than… I want to make the town safe, and with you backing me…"

"Do you know the perils you risk by simply invoking my presence?" he said in his baritone voice.

"Don’t give me this ‘I’m so more powerful that you’ act. I know that although I’m not invulnerable to your magics, I have a certain immunity to them, since I’m invisible and in close proximity to the Hellmouth. Plus, Rupert Giles told me all about you."

"He told you about me?" he asked suspiciously.

"Not in the…most technical sense, but I do know you. That’s why I offer you this tribute…" Marcie picked up a small wooden crate, which was large enough to hold something the size of a bowling ball.

He looked at it, and with his multitude of senses, he could tell what was in it. He brushed his hand over the crate, which made it vanish, and gazed where he could detect Marcie was. His expression became less severe, "So, you want to fight demons?"

Everything was falling into place, and so Marcie smiled. …Of course, he couldn’t see her smile, because she was invisible.

The Shrouded Man smiled as well. …Of course, she couldn’t see his smile, because he was wearing a mask from the nose down. While Marcie believed that he was in her service, he knew that Marcie was now in his service.

"Now…we have to pick up Cordelia," Marcie said, as she dug through a trunk by the fireplace.

Confused, he asked, "Cordelia?"

"Never mind that," the invisible girl added quickly, and she tossed the Shrouded Man the translucent orb she’d been looking for.

He caught it, examined it, and asked, "An orb of Thesulah?"

‘God, he questions everything!’ Marcie thought. ‘He is just like Giles.’

She answered him, "Yeah, haven't you ever given a vampire a soul?"

Tuesday – before sunset.

Marcie strut into an underground bedroom – Harmony’s bedroom. Harmony, now a vampire with a soul, was curled up in a ball on her bed, crying. This slightly surprised Marcie; it had taken her a while to arrive, and she figured Harm would have already accepted the fact that she wasn’t entirely responsible for what the demon insider her body did to innocent victims.

"It hurts, doesn’t it?" Marcie asked the vamp, in her best impression of Buffy Summers’ voice. "Knowing that you’ve killed people…"

Harmony whimpered without looking up, "Not really. That totally wasn’t me who bit and sucked those people dry… Like I could actually bring myself to do that. I...I just can’t believe that demon-thingie in me dressed me in an outfit like this..."

She moaned before continuing, "…and that I slept with Spike!"

Marcie sighed. "Do you want to atone for the wrongs you’ve committed? For the wrongs that the demon within has committed against you?"

The big words hurt Harmony’s head. "I dunno. Maybe?"

"Listen, blondie, it’s simple. I need your vamp strength to slay demons and evil vampires. Now, I have a big ol’ wooden stake in my hand, and if you say "no" to me, I’m gonna shove it in your chest. So what’s it gonna be? Are you willing to help me kill the things that go bump in the night?"

"Yes," Harmony squeaked, as she began to cry again. When she finally looked up, the girl was gone, and the stake lay at the foot of her bed. Wrapped around the stake was a piece of paper – an invitation.

Wednesday.

Standing with her arms folded, in the foyer of the Mansion, Marcie wore a black leather jacket, and black jeans, which were specially made by the government institute she had spent time at, to counteract the effect of her invisibility field. She still remained invisible, but the two articles of clothing did not.

Michael and the Shrouded Man sat on the floor of the foyer. Around them were candles and various magical ingredients – things that could be typically found at spellcastings. On the floor between them was a chalk outline of a girl, which was dressed up with clothing that once belonged to the girl they were summoning.

Marcie strolled over to the two sorcerers. "Are we ready to create a teensy-tiny temporal fold?"

They both looked at her for a moment, looked at one another, and then began to chant, as the Shrouded Man picked up a jar of enchanted sand.

‘Now I only have to leave an invitation in the dorm room of that useless bitch, Nancy Doyle. Who better to be my Anya?’

Seeing a crackle of energy out of the corner of her eye, Marcie’s pondering turned back to the temporal fold. ‘Choosing my Oz was simplicity. The only difficulty was finding a way to bring back…’

Veruca stepped into a large chamber of the sewer system on Friday night. She saw Owen, Scott, Nancy, Harmony and Michael (who smelled like he was in pain) standing around, away from one another. Losers. All of them. But they were her co-workers now. Since a couple of them had saved her life, or resurrected her from the dead or whatever, she owed them. Plus, she was promised plenty of demons to slay, which meant she could kick ass, without getting arrested, even when she wasn’t in wolf-form. Bonus.

From one of the passageways came a vampire walking awkwardly, as if he was being pushed. Marcie, the invisible girl, was in fact holding him across the chest and pushing him. She pulled a wooden stake out of her sleeve, which became visible as it went beyond her invisibility field.

"I’m Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," Marcie said to her audience, as she held the vampire across his chest. She plunged her wooden stake into his heart, and he turned to ash. Dusted. "And, oh yeah," she laughed like a ditz, "Vampires are real!"

Nancy gasped, and jumped back! Among the rest of the gang there were shrugs, and mutterings of "so what?" With the exception of Veruca, they had all killed vampires at graduation.

Raising her hand, Harmony announced, "I am a vampire"

"In that case," Marcie said quickly, "You’ll be able to deal with the nest of vamps on their way here now?"

A vampire with brown hair ran into Marcie, knocking her to the ground and the wooden stake out of her hand. Half a dozen more vampires ran in the chamber behind the brunette one, and began attacking the stupid humans who had ventured into their territory. They’d be a quick dinner – like fast food.

A black-haired vampire, who’d once been named Todd, ran at Scott with his fangs bared. Hope thrust his arm at the vamp’s chest, with the stake in hand, and it hit Todd’s chest, but didn’t pierce it. Scott and Todd looked down to see that Scott had hit him with the but of the stake, instead of the pointy end.

"Dammit," Scott muttered, just as Owen grabbed Todd from behind. Taking advantage of the vamp’s confusion, Scott put the stake into the vampire’s heart – pointy end first. Dusted.

A female vampire named Beatriz, with green streaks in her hair, pounced at Michael. He held his hands up to defend himself, and she froze in mid-air – held in place with his magical telekinesis.

"From what I’ve heard, vampires are traditionally killed with a stake through the heart." Wearing a cruel smile, Michael levitated his wooden stake into place so that it barely brushed against her chest. "I’m not too fond of vamps, though, and that just seems too easy for you. I’m fairly certain there’s another way to slay ‘em, but I just can’t remember... Do you?"

The red-haired Albert ran at Harmony. He thought she was cute. He thought she’d make a good vampire. He was stopped in his tracks when he saw her switch to her vamp face.

Unsure of what to do, Harmony slapped him across the face. While this would have normally been ineffectual, it hurt him because of her vampire strength. It also left a deep gouge in his cheek because she also happened to be holding a wooden stake in her hand.

"Oh yeah!" she exclaimed, just remembering that she was holding a stake. Harmony kicked him in the groin, and jabbed the stake in his heart, while he was still in pain. Dusted.

Veruca jumped on a relatively new vampire, named Sigrid. The vamp with white-blonde hair fell flat on her back, with Veruca straddling her. The wolf-girl placed the stake above the vamp’s heart, and said, "I could stake you now, but I’d much rather hear you scream."

Snapping his fingers, Michael said, "Now I remember…" The stake twirled away from her heart and plunged into her neck. It went in through the front, and came out the back. Beatriz tried to scream…but couldn’t. Making a twisting motion with his hand, Michael used his telekinesis to snap her head off. Dusted.

"…Beheading!"

The ash fell to the ground, and then, so did Michael.

"I said SCREAM!" Veruca yelled in Sigrid’s face. Sigrid obeyed with gusto after seeing how Beatriz was killed, and how crazy her own opponent was. Nancy, who was running from a vampire, tripped over Sigrid’s skanky boots, fell on Veruca, which pushed down Veruca's stake into the vampire’s heart. Dusted.

Veruca growled, "Get off me," and shoved Nancy into the wall. Veruca stood up grumpily, after not being able to enjoy her kill, and found herself face to face with the vamp that had been chasing Nancy. Veruca smiled a smile that revealed her bloodlust; a bloodlust that rivaled the lust of a vampire.

She was denied another kill as a wooden stake soared from the hand of Marcie into the vampire’s heart.

"Showoff," Veruca muttered under her breath.

With the dust of the last vampire settling on the floor, Marcie walked towards the far wall, where her soon-to-be Scooby Gang was standing awkwardly. Scott and Owen were making small talk, Veruca was staring at Marcie distrustfully, Michael had regained consciousness and seemed wholly unaffected by his earlier outburst, Harmony was staring distracted at the ceiling and Nancy was holding her arms across her chest, rocking slightly.

‘I did it,’ Marcie thought. ‘I’ve pulled my Scooby Gang together!’

‘Although, Owen and Scott have no special abilities or talents, Veruca and Michael have violence issues, Harmony would rather be shopping and Nancy is shell-shocked. Sure, I’ve brought this Scooby Gang together, but now I’ve got to keep it from ripping apart and killing all of us in the process…’

To be contnued...

Next time on Marcie the Vampire Slayer: The last time Marcie’s Scooby Gang saw Buffy, she wasn’t invisible. And now, the Invisible Girl is claiming to be Buffy. If she’s going to pull this slaying team supreme together, Marcie’s going to have a lot of questions to answer.

Did you like this episode? E-Mail Brendan and let him know!

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