Greetings and salutations. It's me again. Thank you to all the reviewers of Slayer's Knight. There is more coming. I'm glad people like the team up.

This is the continuation of Phoenix Rising, as promised. Pleas review, I beg of you. I'd say review or I won't post anymore, but I'd be lying (hahahahaha).

Basically, Faith and Zealot, but when they meet a threat they can't face, Piccolo comes on the scene to train Faith, and they all find out something about Faith they didn't expect.

She is a warrior from the planet Kera, older than recorded history,

Trained in the arts of war, a member of the Coda Sisterhood.

For centuries, she fought against the Daemonite Empire.

Now, she has a new war.

Against the Coda sisterhood she built on earth, and those who corrupt the way of the warrior.

She is shadow, striking like lightening.

She is Zealot.

There has always been One girl, One Slayer.

But Buffy's death at the hands of the Master, and her revival by her friend resulted in others being called.

 This one reveled in the hunt, ultimately turning against those who would call her friend.

Now, she wishes to atone for her mistakes.

She is the renegade Slayer. She is Faith.

            The Coda looked at the woman who had invaded their sanctuary, a woman they all knew as the one who had brought their sisterhood together.

            Zealot.

            "Well, well, well." Their leader said. "Come to beg for forgiveness, traitor?" Zealot looked at them, a cold, unforgiving stare that would make a boulder sweat.

            "If there is a traitor anywhere," Zealot stated coolly. "she would be among you. You have betrayed the ideals I taught you, and you will be punished." Their leader laughed.

            "Oh really? Incase you hadn't noticed, you are outnumbered." Automatic gunfire rang out suddenly. Twenty Coda went down. The rest dived for cover. Zealot drew her weapons and smiled. She did not have to look up to know who it was.

Faith.

"Looks pretty even to me." The renegade Slayer said, as she absailed down from the roof, gun in hand. "But I might be wrong." She dropped the gun, and drew her own swords. "Let's find out." She leapt into action, Zealot coming in on her left.

The Coda thought it would be an easy victory. They thought the two women would fall quickly.

They underestimated their opponents. Their first mistake, and their last.

Faith's natural Slayer reflexes were fast on there own. Six months of intensive training under the former Magestrix had increased them to proporsions most Slayers only dream of and as her blade cut through the throat of her opponent, she grinned. This was the shit she lived for, nothing could change that. She just had to be careful she didn't lose control like last time.

It didn't take long for them to clean up. A lot of the Coda had run for it once they realized that chances for survival were slim. Zealot grimaced.

"They have grown soft." She said. "In the old days, they would never have run. They would have fought to the end."

"Survival over self-sacrifice. Can you blame them?" Faith said, searching the bodies for clues to the next enclave. Just then she heard a noise. "Looks like we might have missed some." She said.

"Easy, Faith." Zealot said. The girl was wild, undisciplined. Given time, she would be a great warrior. I just have to keep her alive until then, she thought. "Slowly." Faith nodded and took a deep breath. They headed down the stairs to the basement.

They moved quietly, moving with stealth even the most skilled ninja would have envyed.

They approached the door. Fatieh eased it opened, was met with a side of the Coda that she had been unaware of.

"Oh…my…" There were at least fifty girls. They were clad in training garb. Some of them could not have been any older than five. "What is this?"

"They take girls frome the safety of their homes, train them as Coda. Given time, they would forget their families. They would live for the Coda." Faith shot a look at her teacher.

"Did you…" Zealot shook her head.

"I would track girls I thought had promise, yes. But I gave them a choice. If they refused, I would leave them alone. This…" She walked over to a group of girls. The older ones stood forward, protecting the younger. "It is alright." She said softly. "We are not here to hurt you. Come. We will take you home." The children' eyes widened.

"We can't." One girl said. She was about eighteen. "We have responsibilities here." Faith couldn't believe it.

"Responsibilites to who?" She said angrily. "Bitches on a power trip?" She walked over to the girl. "They don't care about you. When we attacked, most of them ran. They didn't come down here to protect you. Your nothing to them." She held out her hand. "Come on, you've probably got parents who are worried." Thje girl looked at her suspicioulsy, then took her hand. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She asked with a grin. The girl grinned back. "What's your name?"

"Melody." She said, as Faith and Zealot sed her and the others out.

"How long have you been down there?" Melody thought a moment.

"I have been traing since I was three." She said. Faith gaped in horror. "I have not seen my parents since. I do not even remember them properly." She bowed her head. "They have probably forgotten me, and moved on."

"Hey, don't go talkin' like that." Faith said. "That goes for all of you." She stopped and looked Melody in the eyes. "They probably looked for you for as long as they could before they gave up, and I'll guarantee they haven't forgotten." Melody's eyes filled with hope.

"Do…do your really think so?" Faith nodded certainly.

"Sure. Don't worry, we'll get you home, right Zee?" Zealot grinned. For all her skill, as much as she revelled in battle, Faith always knew what to say.

"Of course. I have some resources we can use." She thought of S.H.E.I.L.D., then of the Wildcats. Either organisation would be able to help, though she would steer clear of her former teamates for now.

"Cool." Faith said. "Right now, though, let's get you guys some real food." Melody's eyes lit up again.

"Hamburgers?" She asked hopefully.

"Pizza!" One voice said.

"Pasgetti!" One of the younger girls cried. Faith grinned.

"All right, then. Let's go!"

"Yay!" All the girls cried. Melody gave the Slayer a quick hug. Faith grinned as they walked down the road.

He watched the scene unfold. The girl had skill, sure, but…

"You want me to train her?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes, I do." The voice came from nowhere, but seemed to be everywhere. The warrior grunted. "She has the potential to be a great source of good. Zealot's doing her best, but Faith needs to be ready sooner than the training will allow." He grunted again. "Now, come on, it won't be that bad. I'm sure everything will turn out just green." The voice stopped a moment, and then burst out in giggles. "Hahahahahaha! Green! Get it?" More laughter.

"Very funny, King Kai." Piccolo grunted. "So when am I supposed to introduce myself?" King Kai stopped laughing. That was Piccolo, through and through. All work and no play.

"Just watch her for now, and then step in when the time is right." Again, Piccolo grunted. After what happened in Sunnydale, he thought that he'd be able to head back home. Since Goku's death at Cell's hands, he had taken the mantle of his earth's protector. He didn't have time for this.

Faith looked around the warehouse that had become their home while staying in London. Zealot's resources seemed just this side of limitless. The girls were sitting down quietly eating the various meals they had asked for. Melody had a group of younger girls gathered around her. They seemed more comfortable with Melody than anyone else. She wondered what the current Maestrix would say if she knew she had a clique building in her sisterhood. She walked over to them. "Mind if I take a seat?" She asked. Melody motioned to a space on the floor with a smile. Faith nodded her gratitude. "Zealot made a few phone calls. We should be able to find where most of you belong."

"What about the rest?" One of the smaller ones asked.

"Don't worry." Faith said. "She hasn't exhausted her options yet, and I have a friend or two up my sleeve." She thought of some of the contacts she had made through working for the Mayor, and some of her prison mates that had been released. Not the cleanest bunch, but she trusted them, and there was always Angel Investigations. "Now, buck up. Think of it like a big slumber party."

"What's a slumber party?" Melody asked. Faith rolled her eyes.

"I think I'm going to have to educate you girls on how to be a proper teenager."

"Like you know how to." She stiffened. That voice! She knew that voice! "Renegade!" She turned slowly to meet the eyes of her tormentor.

"Quentin Travers." She said slowly. "What do you want?"

"A Slayer that follows orders would be nice." He said politely. He looked around the warehouse. "Trying to find some Slayers of your own, are we?"

"We just rescued them from being turned into mindless killing machines. Where were you?" Travers raised an eyebrow, amused.

"What does that mean?"

"What it means," an icy voice said. He felt a blade at his throat. "is where were you when these, the innocents you and your Council supposedly exist to protect, needed you?"

"What would you know of responsibility to anyone, the only reason you found them…"

"Was because I was cleaning up a mess that I caused." The voice stated. "You speak to the original Majestrix of the earth bound Coda, Watcher." His eyebrow rose slightly. "This is my responsibility, and something I will rectify. What about you? What are you responsible for?" Faith glared at the Watcher.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're as bad as the Coda." She said. "You track down girls, possible Slayers, force them into training. You couldn't care if they die. Another comes. Always has, always will, right, Travers? We take the risks, what do you care?" She turned her glance just behind him, to whoever was holding him prisoner. "Let him go, Zee. As much as I'd like to see him in a puddle of his own blood, that's not how I work. Not anymore." Zealot was impressed. She released the man, and walked over to her friend.

"Are you alright?" She asked. Faith nodded.

"I'll be fine. Better once the fat heads gone." Travers composed himself.

"I'll not be leaving without you, Miss Williams. It's time…" He was stopped by the 'click' of a gun being cocked.

"She just gave you your life, pal." Another voice, male this time. "I suggest you take it and leave before she changes her mind. By the sounds of things, she's showing a hell of a lot more control than I would in this situation." Zealot looked at the owner of the voice, utter contempt showing on her face.

"Cash." Faith looked over at the man. This was the Grifter?

"Nice to see you too, Zee." The mercenary member of the Wildcats said. "Maim any exes lately?" Faith could almost see the wry grin under the mask.

"Don't tempt me." Faith glared at one of the only men to ever have Coda training, and as much of a traitor to those ideals as the Coda they had been hunting. "What are you doing here?"

"What, I can't check in on you now and then?" He asked. A dagger skimmed past his head, barely missing. "You're slippin', teach."

"She didn't throw it, knuckle head," Faith said, brandishing a second knife. "and you haven't answered her question." Grifter looked over at the girl.

"New student?" He asked.

"Old pain in the ass?" Faith countered. Travers took this moment to leave. There would be other chances to make a play for the girl. His departure was unnoticed.

"For cryin' out loud, ease up would ya?" Grifter couldn't believe it. This girl was as much of a bitch as Zealot.

"Why should I, you…" Zealot put a hand up.

"Faith, enough." Faith shut her mouth, but she still glared daggers at him. "Answer me, Cash, what are you doing here?" He sighed.

"Old contacts of mine told me about a contract out on your student there."

"Come to collect?" Faith said.

"Came ta back you up." Grifter corrected her, removing the mask. "The guys running the show want you dead, no witness'." Zealot raised an eyebrow and turned to Faith.

"I think I know who put it out. Wolfram & Hart, right?" Cash nodded. Faith rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"What the hell'd you do to piss of a bunch a lawyers enough to want you dead, that's what I want to know?" Faith shrugged.

"They asked me to kill someone. I didn't do it, and now they want me dead." Grifter stared at her. "There is a lot more to these creeps than meets the eye. Way more."

"Obviously." Grifter said. He looked past them. "So, what are you going to do with these?" He gestured at the girls. He suddenly found himself on the floor.

"They're not just 'things'." Faith growled.

"I didn't say that!" Cash yelled. "Take a Vallium, would ya! Settle down!"

"That's what it sounded like! These girls have been put through hell for most of their lives, just to line some bitches pockets!" Tears welled in her eyes. "I know how it feels. You can't just…"

"Faith, enough!" Zealot said firmly. She had never seen the girl this emotional, nor had their been any reference to her past. She wondered what the Slayer had been out through. "Get off him."

"But…"

"Do it!" She got off him and walked over to the girls.

"Come on, let's go set up some beds." They filed off. Faith shot a warning glance at Grifter, then followed them.

"Girls got spunk." He said.

"She is undisciplined, barely in control of her self. Like someone else I know." She shot a glance of her own. "Why did you come here? You could of called your warning in?" The merc shrugged.

"I was worried. Your girls right, there's more to these guy's than meets the eye." Zealot nodded.

"I know. Just like I know you are not the real Grifter." She drew her blades. "Are you, Mr White?" 'Grifter' grinned.

"I'm impressed." He said, as he shifted his shape. His hair turned white, a tattoo appeared on his face, which changed as she watched. "But then, I should have expected this."

"Why are you really here?"

"Faith was right." He said, as a gun came up. "I'm here to collect." He cocked the gun…

Then his face exploded.

"I thought you were done with these creeps." The real Grifter stepped out of the shadows. "Good thing I got here."