Fic: Orb Of Mentez (3/?)

[annelise@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Orb Of Mentez, Part Three.
Comments/Flames/Etc. to: annelise@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

--

Willow peered down the hole. "Cooee!" she called.
"I'm okay!" came Xander's echoey voice.
"Did you break anything?" Buffy called down the hole.
Xander took stock. "No, I'm okay!"
"I meant the equipment, moron!" Buffy rolled her eyes.

*

Thirty youngsters threshed their way through Sunnydale's once-quiet 
museum, screaming like Banshees. To the untrained eye, it seemed like 
the museum was being invaded by Tribbles, albeit with an effect not 
unlike a combine harvester.
"Come back," Giles whispered softly. Then, nodding at a job well 
done, he made his way to the curator's office for a chat and a quiet 
cup of tea.

*

Xander peered about. The light on his mining helmet illuminated 
dusty yellow walls and those silly carvings Willow kept getting all 
excited about. Not that he minded; anything that excited Willow was 
okay by him. He'd never gotten over his schoolboy crushes on the 
Slayer and her partner, and the fact they were shacked up together 
didn't help his state of mind over the years much either.
"What can you see?" Willow's muffled voice came from above.
"Lots of carvings of stick men doing Michael Jackson routines!" 
Xander shouted back. He smiled as he heard Willow's excited 
squeals. "Oh, and there's a glowing football in the arms of this 
gooey dead guy."
A pause.
"Gooey?" Buffy shouted. "What do you mean, gooey?"
Xander considered. "You know. Like... Mostly dead."

*

Buffy looked to Willow. "Levitation spell?"
"I really shouldn't. You know I tend to drop things when I'm tired."
"Just me, then. If Xander can survive the fall, hell, I could 
probably jump down there and not feel it." Buffy gave her love a 
squeeze as she began to chant. Then her feet left the floor by an 
inch and she hovered above the hole.

*

Buffy was halfway to terra firma when Willow lost her mental hold 
and she plummeted the last fifteen feet.
"Ouch!" she cried, although she wasn't really hurt.
"Eek!" Willow shone her torch vaguely into the darkness. "Are you 
okay?"
"No problem!" The Slayer shouted back. "I landed on Xander! Jump 
down... I'll catch you."
"Promise?" Willow replied. "I still remember the last time!"
Buffy nodded, then felt silly because it was too dark to 
notice. "Yes, I promise."
"Hey you," Buffy smiled as the witch landed snugly in her arms.
"Do you think," Xander asked from underneath the kissing pair, "you 
could stop standing on me?"
"Oh!" Buffy obliged, hopping off. "Sorry!"
Xander groaned.

*

The obnoxious kid from row three stared at the Incan relics. 'Rod 
of Velious' one item proclaimed itself to be. This being Sunnydale, 
there was very little security for such an ancient and mystical item. 
The little bastard nabbed it and stuffed it into his trouser pocket.

*

"Is it alive?" Willow asked staring at the accurately-described 
gooey dead person.
Buffy gave her well-worn Mr. Pointy a spin, then thrust it through 
where the heart should be. Nothing happened, except for a slightly 
embarrassing 'squelch'.
"Shouldn't think so," she said.
Xander peered closer. There was something about the dead mummy's 
face, something... he leaned closer.
The eyes on the mummy snapped open, and it said, "Waurgh!"
Xander replied in kind, and back-pedalled at supersonic velocity. 
Buffy made with the kicking.
"Do you think," Buffy huffed as she executed a reverse spin-
kick, "you could give me a hand here guys?"
Willow snapped out of her dreamy expression. She loved watching 
Buffy work. "What do you need?"
"Something pointy, sharp, acidic, deadly... Oof..." Buffy took a 
fist to her stomach that doubled her over. Willow took a hand-axe 
from Xander's trembling fingers and threw it on the floor in front of 
Buffy. The Slayer snatched it up and dismembered the mummy into many 
little gooey pieces. Then she stamped on the pieces for good measure, 
in case the religious guys of the ancient Incas had seen Terminator 2.
"Sorted," she said.
Willow picked up the Orb of Mentez, then juggled it. "Oh! Oh! Hot! 
Hot!"
Xander, in a rare flash of insight and intelligence, opened a 
canvas sack for Willow to drop the ball into.
"Job done? Let's get out of here!" Buffy took the lead, and stared 
up at the hole thirty feet above their heads. "Willow..."
"No way, Buffy. There's just no way. I'm too tired."
"Damn girl, we should have thought to drop a rope down." Buffy 
considered their next move. Then rapidly changed all her options when 
she heard, in unison, from around a half-dozen throats, "Waurgh!"

*

End Part 3.