~~~~~~~~~~ Part 3 ~~~~~~~~~~


"Frankly, madam, I haven't the faintest idea what time it is, nor do I care. Now, unlock his cell, un-strap him, and bring him to the telephone immediately. This is a matter of life and death!" Buffy could hear Giles cry. She sighed, glancing over at Angel who seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"Got it!" Willow shouted, "Coroner's report, complete with... Yuk! ...color pictures." "There *are* teeth marks. Which match perfectly the one insect that nips off its prey's head." Buffy said idly. "Okay, I-I don't like this." Willow said. "Huh!" Buffy thought, "It's the way they feed, head first. It's also the way they mate. The female bites off the male's head while they're..."

Willow shook her head, "No, no, no! See? Xander's, I like his head! I-it's where you find his eyes, and his hair, and his adorable smile..." Buffy lightly touched Willow's arm, "Hey, hey, take it easy, Willow. Xander is not in any immediate danger. I saw him leave school. He's probably safe at home right now."

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"Oh, God! Oh, God!" Blayne shouted. "Are you all right?" Xander asked. "Oh, God!" Blayne inhaled deeply, "You gotta get me outta here! You gotta! She, she, she gets you, and, uh..." Xander frowned, "What?" "...she, she..."

"What does she do?" Xander asked sternly. "Oh, God! Oh, oh, no!" Blayne cried. "Blayne! What does she do?" Xander demanded. Blayne stuttered, "She, she... she, she takes you outta the cage, and she ties you up, and, and... she... she starts movin', and throbbin', and these eggs come shootin' out of her! And then..." "What?" "She mates with you!" Blayne shouted.

Xander's eyes widened, "Sheeee..." "That's not the worst part!" Blayne cried. "That's not?" Xander asked, not sure if he wanted to know. "You seen her teeth? Right while she's, you know, right in the middle of... I saw her do it! I don't wanna die like that!" Blayne was whimpering. "Blayne! Blayne! Chill! It's okay. It's gonna be okay. We'll get outta this." Xander said firmly. Trying to keep positive.

Blayne looked at Xander, hopeful, "You gotta plan? What is it?" Xander gave a nervous laugh, "Just, uh, let me perfect it!"

"Oh, God... Oh, God... Oh, God..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles was still talking with Carlyle on the phone in his office, "I-I understand, Carlyle. Yes... I-I'll take every precaution. Uh, absolutely, i-i-it sounds exactly like the creature you described. Y-you were right all along about everything. Well, n-no, you weren't right about your mother coming back as a pekinese, but... uh... Try to rest, old man. Yes... Ta! Bye now!"

Willow and Buffy were at the PC. when Giles came out, "Dr. Ferris Carlyle spent years transcribing a lost pre-Germanic language. What he discovered he kept to himself until several teenage boys were murdered in the Cotswolds. Then he went hunting for it." He glanced over at his nephew, leaning against the counter.

"It being..." Angel started. "Uh, he calls her a She-Mantis. This type of creature, the Kleptes-Virgo, or, or virgin-thief, appears in, in many cultures. The Greek sirens, the Celtic sea maidens, who, who tore the living flesh from the bones of, um..."

"Giles, while we're young!" Buffy cried. "Uh, well, basically the, uh, the She-Mantis assumes the form of a beautiful woman and then lures innocent virgins back to her nest." Giles said. "Virgins? Well, Xander's not a, uh..." Buffy glanced at Angel, then back to Willow, "I mean, he's probably..." "Gonna die!" Willow shouted, moving to the phone. "Okay, okay," Buffy walked around Giles, "so this thing is breeding and we need to find it and snuff it. Any tips on the snuffing part?"

"Uh, Carlyle recommends cleaving all body parts with a sharp blade." Giles suggested. Buffy glanced over to where Willow was, she was babbling to Xander's mom, "Slice and Dice." Giles frowned, "Well, whatever you do, it had better be certain and swift. This beast is extremely dangerous."

"Well, your buddy Carlyle faced it, and he's still around." Angel said. Giles turned to him, "Yes, in a straitjacket, howling his innards out day and night." "Okay, Admiral, way to inspire the troops!" Buffy snapped. "Sorry..." Willow got off the phone, "Xander's not home! He told his mom he was going to his teacher's house to work on a science project. He didn't tell her where."

"See if you can get her address off the substitute rolls." Buffy said, then turned to Giles, "And you need to record bat sonar, and fast!" Giles started, "Bat sonar, right. What?" "Bats eat them." Buffy led Giles to the stairs, "The mantis hears sonar, its entire nervous system goes kaplooey." "Where am I gonna find the..." "In the vid library? There're no books, but it's dark and musty, you'll feel right at home, go!" Buffy exhaled to herself, "I guess I'll handle the armory."

Angel started up the stairs, "Not alone, your not." Buffy shook her head, "No. No, no. You can't--you might--" "Buffy, in case you haven't noticed, I can take the hits like the best of them."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander gazed at Miss French. She was looking... pretty mantis like... And he had just broken the cage to use a crowbar like thing which he dropped on his foot. She was looking back and forth between the boys. "Oh, God!" He heard Blayne run through the hole into Xander's cage, "Uh, he did that, he broke the cage, take him, not me, take him!"

Xander turned to look at Blayne. His eyes wide, in shock and disbelief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What now, exactly?" Giles asked, "We can't just kick the door down." He, Angel, Willow, and Buffy had just ran out of his old car, preparing to confront Miss French at her home, but Giles was a little reluctant, wanting to know exactly how Buffy was going to handle the situation.

"Yeah, that *would* be wrong." Buffy was about to kick the door down, she was too worried to think about the consequences, but the door opened before she got the chance to knock it down. An old lady stood in the door way, "Hello, dear! I thought I heard... Are you selling something? Because I'd like to help you out, but... You see, I'm on a fixed income."

"I'm looking for Miss French." Buffy said. "I'm Miss French." The old lady said. "Natalie French," Buffy said, blinking, "the substitute biology teacher?" The old lady laughed, "Goodness, that's me! I taught for over thirty years. I retired in 1972." Buffy turned to Giles, "I can't believe this! She used Miss French's records to get into the school." She gritted her teeth, "She could be anywhere!"

Miss French was a little confused, wondering if the blond headed girl was all there, "No, dear! I'm right here!"

~~~~~~~~~~ Part 4 ~~~~~~~~~~

"Moe?" Xander whispered, letting his terrified face show beneath all the ounces of hope he was holding onto.

In Mantis form, Natalie opened the door to Xander's cage. He was more nervous than when she had asked him if he ever been with a woman.

Xander crawled out on his butt, bar in hand, "I'm comin', I'm comin'." When he was just out of the cage he took a breath and swung the bar, hitting Natalie as he moved to his feet. She staggered back while he ran for the stairs. Halfway up, Xander couldn't stop the moment of triumph that burned in his throat until Natalie tripped him with her claw, and he came tumbling back down the stairs.

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Angel, Giles, Willow and Buffy headed back to the car. Worried, Willow asked, "What do we do now?" "Abject prayer and supplication would spring to mind." Giles said. "I saw her walking past this park with her grocery bags. She lives in this neighborhood." Buffy said firmly. "I'm gonna start banging on doors." Willow said, heading for the next house.

Buffy reached over, stopping Willow, "Wait, no, we do *not* have time for that!" "We have to do something!" Willow exclaimed. "We will." Buffy said firmly.

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Angel recognized the manhole cover immediately. It was the same one he and Buffy saw the vampire go in. Buffy lifted the cover of it off and started to climb in, "I won't be long." She started to go down. "W... Buffy?" Giles said, just as Angel started to follow.

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"Can I just say one thing?" Xander asked as the She-Mantis held him, "HEEEELLLLP! HEEEELLLLP!"

Suddenly, the basement window smashed open and Buffy slid in. Panicked, Blayne glanced at the blond, "Uh, hey, o-over here, hello! In the cage!" Buffy pulled her bag through the window, "Let him go!" She ran down the stairs and set the bag down as Willow climbed in the window.

Buffy pulled two cans of insect spray from the bag and sprays Natalie in the face while Giles climbs in. Willow ram behind Buffy to open the cage.

"Help me! Help me!" Blayne shouted. Buffy turned to Giles, "Get them outta here!" She pulled the tape recorder and a machete from her bag. "Hey, help me! Help me!" Giles undoes the leather straps that were holding Xander as Natalie retreated to the back of her nest. Buffy started to close in on her, "Remember Dr. Gregory? You scarfed his head? Yeah, well, he taught me, you do your homework, you learn stuff. Like what happens to your nervous system when you hear this!" Buffy pressed the play button.... and Giles' voice plays.

Buffy stared at the machine in disbelief as Giles' recorded voice played, "...extremely important to file not simply alphabetically..." Buffy stared back at her Watcher, "Giles!" Giles was on the floor pointing at Natalie, "I-it's the wrong side!" Natalie took her chance, knocking the tape recorder and machete from Buffy's hands. Giles watched the recorder fly over him, hit the ground and slide under a refrigerator. He scrambled to get it.

Natalie tried to trip Buffy, but she jumped over her claw. Xander came up next to her with a can of bug spray and sprayed it into Natalie's face. Buffy pushed him away from danger, and Natalie took the opportunity to knock her down. Raising herself onto her hands and one leg, and with the other, Buffy did two crouching side kicks to Natalie's legs to keep her at bay. She kicked again. Then spots the machete on the floor and grabbed it.

Giles grabbed the recorder now, jumped around on the floor with the recorder in front of him and played the tape. The sounds of bat sonar severely hurt and disorient Natalie. She flailed her claws around. "Bat sonar." Buffy said smugly, "Makes your whole nervous system go to hell. You can go there with it!" She slashed at Natalie fiercely and repeatedly with the machete, hacking her to pieces. She's winded afterward.

Giles gets up as Willow ran over to Xander. Blayne is out of his cage. They look at the carnage. Giles cleared his throat, "Well, I... I'd say it's deceased." Willow nodded, "And dissected." "You okay?" Xander asked Buffy. "Yeah." "Just for the record, you were right, I'm an idiot, and God bless you!" Xander cried, causing Buffy to lower her head.

"And thank you guys, too." Xander said to the others. "Yeah, really!" Blayne shouted. "Pleasure..." Giles began. Willow sighed, "I'm really glad you're okay. It's so unfair how she only went after virgins." Xander laughed and looked back and forth between the girls. "What?" "I mean, here you guys are, doing the right thing, the smart thing, when a lot of other boys your age..." Blayne shook his head, "Flag down on that play, babe. I am not..."

Giles clarified, "Well, you see, that's the She-Mantis' modus operandi. Uh, she only preys on the pure." "Well, isn't this a perfect ending to a wonderful day!" Xander exclaimed while Buffy's mind started to wonder. She didn't hear Blayne's protests about his father being a lawyer, but she did wonder about two things. Where was Angel? And secondly... if the She-Mantis only went after male virgins... did that mean he wasn't...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was at the bar wearing Angel's jacket when she felt him came up behind her. She looked up at him as he smiled, "I heard a rumor there was, uh, one less vampire walking around making a nuisance of himself." "There is. Guess I should thank you for the tip." Buffy joked.

Angel smiled, "Pleasure's mine." Buffy started, "Course, it would make things easier if I knew where exactly you run off to." Angel stated, "I'll be around." "Or who you were." Buffy finished. Angel just smiled, moving around to the other side of her, "I talked to Giles. Everyone seems to be okay."

"They are," Buffy said, "Except for Blayne who's denying ever being a virgin. Xander can barely look at me or Willow without feeling weird. But, I think he's getting over it. Being a *virgin*. I mean." She watched him, trying to read his face. He smiled faintly, "Not being a virgin isn't all its cracked up to be. Sometimes its better to be a virgin, than to do it, and then find yourself regretting it."

Buffy let his words sink in. It made sense. And yet, her heart seemed to break. Is that what he went through? Did he give himself to a woman who through that great experience in his face? Did she not want him? And if she didn't, then what was wrong with her? Buffy shook her head, stopping herself from getting worked up over a woman she wasn't even certain existed, "Well... Anyway, you can have your jacket back." She started to take it off. Angel held up a hand, stopping her, "It looks better on you." For a moment, he ran his hand along the collar, then turned to leave. Buffy stared after him just as Angel gave another look back and disappeared into the crowd.

To herself, Buffy breathed, "Oh boy."

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