Chapter 19

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for my own insanity




Xander couldn't believe it. 50,000 hits. That's how many times their Anita video had been viewed. While it would have been nice to make some money off of the video, he and Spike probably wouldn't have lived very long after listing it on E-Bay. After all, things like that could be traced. This way, though, the video was untraceable and would never die. He grinned. 'Revenge of the Clown' was rapidly becoming a hit. He just wished he could get jean-Claude too. unfortunately, the vampire was so well-surounded by his lackeys and security, that he was fairly un-approachable. All they had managed to think up so far was sewing little fairies on all clothes coming back from the dry cleaners, or maybe stealing the neon vampire sign from the Circus. Those were just childish, and more likely to get them caught. So were the standards: putting dye in his shampoo, coloring or garlic oil in his toothpaste. No, they needed something big, something embarrassing, something noticeable, and, above all else, something that wouldn't get them caught. He had no desire to end up as snack food, and Spike, of course, didn't want to be a pile of ashes. They had been debating for days over what their next plan of attack would be. Xander had rejected Spike's idea of redoing Jean-Claude's office in pastels; it would be too obvious who the culprit was. Magic was out, so was carpentry. They debated summoning Sweet again, but that would be a little risky. Too bad they couldn't trick Anita into summoning him. Asking Halfrek for help would also be dangerous, or at least embarrassing.

In the end, they decided that the best torment would be psychological. With everyone on high alert, it would be stupid, as well as suicidal, to make a move. They would simply watch and wait, let their hapless victims worry over what might be coming. He just wished he had managed to sneak in a camera to catch their reactions when Anita and Jean-Claude had seen the video. It was priceless, and would have been hilarious, if not for the whole scary-bitch and stone-face master bit. There would have been no way to ward off suspicion if they put out another video. Still, he would always treasure that moment.




***FLASHBACK***




Xander had been in the process of adjusting a new desk that was being installed in Jean-Claude's office when it had happened. Jean-Claude was overseeing the process, more for his own sense of power than any actual necessity. Anita had been there as well, going off on one of her usual bitch-fests, most likely her usual rant about the ardeur. Personally, Xander thought that was a load of shit; she just couldn't handle the fact that she was promiscuous and was looking for someone else to blame. Stupid Catholic upbringing; idiot girl had a real guilt complex going on and was making everyone else miserable.

He was just finishing up, relishing the thought of getting out of the madhouse, when the door was thrown open so hard, it was torn half off its hinges. He turned to see who, besides Anita, could be stupid enough to damage Jean-Claude's office.

Jason, usually a good little pet, barged into the office. His usually perfect hair was messy, and he looked as though he was maintaining self-control by the thinnest of margins. Amusement warred with fear as he fought to keep his face straight.

“You forget your place, my wolf,” remarked Jean-Claude. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?” He gave Jason a disdainful glare. Anita was the only one who could damage his office and hope to escape without punishment.

Looking back and forth between the vampire and the executioner, Jason swallowed hard. Apprehension filled his eyes. He had been amused at the pranks being played, but now HE was the one in the line of fire. “Um, please don't bite the messenger?” He turned to Anita. “Or shoot him?” Swallowing again, he continued. “The prankster has struck again. It...it's big. Huge. On a completely different scale.” He crossed the room and booted up the office computer. Soon he had the You-Tube link up and loading. “You're not going to like this. Someone had a camera on you.”

They watched the clip in silence, Anita's face going dark. Her hands reflexively gripped her gun, fingers turning white. As the clip ended, she exploded. “When I find the fucker, I'm going to kill him. NO ONE does this to ME! I want this joker dead!” She had her gun half out of its holster when Jean-Claude's voice stopped her.

“Ma petite, put your gun away. The prankster is not here and I have no wish for you to ruin my new furniture just so that you may feel better. All we can do is hope that no one sees this video. In any case, it is not well-lit, so no one will know who you are.”

Hesitantly, Jason cleared his throat. The bickering couple turned as one towards the shrinking werewolf. “Actually, here's the thing. The description on the clip names Anita. It also contains a link to her page in Animator's Online.” He paused, trying to think of a way to say this without getting killed. “The hit count for the video is very high; I think it's in the top 100.” He quickly backed away from the executioner, who looked like she wanted to kill something.

As office supplies started flying around the room, and the air was filled with blistering curses, Jason felt a tug on the back of his shirt. He looked down to see Xander crouching, trying not to be seen. He tilted his head, and the pair quickly snuck away from the storm.




***End Flashback***




Xander smiled at the memory. They really didn't need to do anything more to add to the chaos. Anita and Jean-Claude had hardly spoken to one another since The Incident, and rumor had it that the master vampire was trying to distance himself from her, both emotionally and politically. The embarrassment of the zombie clown had escalated into worldwide public humiliation for the animator; no one could take the Executioner seriously after having seen the video. Vampire executioners were supposed to inspire fear, not giggles. Jean-Claude had been forced to confiscate Anita's weapons after an unfortunate incident with a minion who wouldn't stop laughing. Luckily, the Master had been able to knock her gun aside before she fired, so the minion had escaped with only a flesh wound. Still, it would definitely be a good idea to stay away from her for a while. Say, for the next hundred years or so...







Thanks everyone for all the great reviews! I hope you like. I think I will end on this note, as I seem to have killed my plot bunnies. Thanks for reading!