Disclaimers: Buffy, Angel and
related characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, Inc. And WB
Entertainment, Inc. The rest of the other characters are of my own creation. Some concepts of Mr. Gaiman's Sandman
was slightly incorporated into my Morpheus and Death characters -
with a little dash of Piers Anthony's concept concerning the personification of
Death - and other myths involved here were taken to the extreme. This is a piece of original fiction I made
crossed over with a very familiar universe: BTVS and ATS in an alternate
universe setting.
The story's
setting were episodes after ATS's "To Sanshu……." And before the fifth season of
Buffy….. so Dawn doesn't appear here. I
had nothing against the character of Riley – and nor do I like it (just being
in the middle here)……… I just think "Riley" wasn't required in here, so there. J
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cast:
Buffy Summers - The Chosen One. The Slayer. For each generation, there is a slayer. One who will hold back the darkness. - A mortal enemy towards vampires and demons alike.
Angel - The vampire with a soul.
Rupert Giles - The Slayer's chosen Watcher.
The Scooby Gang - Buffy's Slayerettes. (What? - You
expecting a roll call?)
Max Quaylen - the mysterious stranger who
has just arrived - just as a series of brutal murders surrounds the community a
week before. No one knows his true
agenda. But he says he is here to help.
Christine Cherolton - the by the book, level headed
police detective who just started her job on the sixth precinct and finds out
she's landed in a horrifying nightmare.
Darien Fortuna - the city's commissioner who
feels powerless as the murders take a turn for the worse, and the death toll
rises.
Richard Todd - Having returned to visit a
friend and her family… only to find that his friend's family was also among the
list of victims, now he is out for revenge and to exact his own brand of
"justice". But who is he really, and what
is he after?
Gail Springfield - torn by her parents' death,
she wakes every night with a vision of violence that leaves her mind blasted
and shattered. Her fiancée is at a loss
to explain her torment.
Barton Cheswick - Gail's concerned and angry
fiancée.
Morpheus - the lord of dreams, horrified
at finding out that an ancient horror stalking in and out of his realm to get
to it's victims enlists the aid of another certifiable lunatic insane enough to
stop the madness.
Thanatos - death by any name, alerted and
enraged to the unauthorized terminations of souls before their time has ended
enters into mortal affairs until it recovers its stolen scythe. Hat's off to famed sci-fi and fantasy author;
Piers Anthony on this one, and hope he forgives me for
taking liberties with it…… I changed Death to suit my own needs – so Mr.
Anthony, please don't kill me. J
Prologue:
The very region of sleep was his
domain. Every thought. Every wish. Every hidden secret and it's content, his to know and act upon. As it was since the dawn of humanity, every
portion of his realm is laid before him. He knows all and becomes all. Until….
The very foundation of his
reality shivers, at an unexpected change. The Dream Lord realizes that the impossible has happened! It has been breached! And like a thief in the night, the presence
he feels with him in the void of dreams passes. Disturbed by such an occurrence, it could only mean one thing:
Armageddon has arrived a little too early. Horrified by the thought, he spreads his hands over his Dream Sphere and
begins a plan of rectification. Without
an instance of hesitation, he plants the beginnings of a warning and a summons
for his chosen champion.
----------------------------------------
YAAAARRRGGGGHHH!!!!
Not again! Please, let them rest! Please! No more senseless deaths! Please!
Maxwell Quaylen violently jerks
awake, his mind in turmoil from memories that won't die down. Quietly, he stretches his muscular six foot
two frame and reaches for a cigarette in his coat pocket and eases himself out
of the cabin. Careful not to disturb
his traveling companion, he walks down the length of the train and ventures
towards the mess car for a drink. A
rueful smile played across his handsome features.
"What the hell am I doing here?"
he mutters to himself as he walks up to the bar and asks for a beer. "Fourteen
years pass and the nightmares won't friggin' stop."
Recalling how strangely the
priest had spoken to him, asking for help. To return once more, to be the "Eternal Champion", a gatekeeper -
a "protector" of life though darkness be his path. He sighs then as he does now under his
breath, at how easily the priest sent him packing to Los Angeles, California to
investigate a string of murders that have bodies turning up at alarming
intensity as the week goes by. And sent
then by train, no less. As well within
the priest's own spending. Well, as long as his honor-debt to the priest was
concerned - this was within his field of expertise. He may not like it, but he's still the best in his line of "business":
killing things that go bump in the night.
Hours later, as he arrived at the
station - his contact flags him down as he disembarks from the train. "Sir, my name's Joe." The thin, gangly man said as they shook
hands. "I'm glad you were able to come
on such short notice, I've been waiting since this whole damned affair started,
in fact, once the others arrive we can begin searching for whatever's behind
the murders."
Max grunted as they walked to
Joe's car. Looks at Joe and points at
it. "Keys."
"Here, sir. But I…"
"No buts," Max said slowly,
eyeing the man with a gaze that made Joe want to shrink in on himself. "There's another train leaving out of this
city within a few hours and I want your butt out of here ASAP. Rejoin your fellow Templars and stay out of
my way."
"But sir!" Joe protested. "I just can't leave. Too many people are dying here and you might
be next if we don't wait for more reinforcements to try to stop this madness!"
"Reinforcement's already here."
Quaylen said. With that, Maxwell
Quaylen slams the door of his newly acquired vehicle and roars away, leaving
the other man with only one option left to him - to leave as ordered.
Cursing in half a dozen different
languages, Brother Joseph watches the tail lights of the car fade into the
distance, not willing to accept what he has been told to do and knows better
than to brook any argument with the "Eternal Champion". The loyal Knight Templar offers up a prayer to God as he
sorrowfully waits for the train to come.
"Heaven help us all."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It moved, stalking its prey with
all the grace of a ghost. Watching as
the two arrive at their home, and waited until they were inside. It knows their fear, their hopes and
dreams. And it is delighted in taking
them all away piece by bloody piece.
They never knew what hit
them! Not even time enough for either
one of them to scream as they join in a macabre dance of pain that went beyond
the threshold of description. Something
stood in front of them and a barely audible "snikt" of a blade's entrance as it
hummed a dirge as old as time itself.
They fell.
It laughed as it took in their
souls as one takes in food. Tasty, it
thought to itself, but wanting so much more. It moved on, stalking another
prey.
------------------------------------------
Gail Springfield looked beside
her at the man she loved. God, he's
just perfect. She thought. Sighing as their plans for a wedding was now
in full swing. She would never have
known she would be this happy. She
glanced at the two-story house that was once her home all those years spent as
a child to two very loving parents. Now
they're going to just love Barton, I know it. I just hope that now I can put the past behind.
"Honey," She began, glancing back
to him. "We're here, I hope you'll
behave yourself for my mom and dad. You
can be such a riot sometimes."
"Yeah, but you're worse than I am
and I expect to hear your family embarrass you to me before the night's
through." Barton replied, shutting down
the car and gets out to walk to Gail's side and opens her door. Taking her hand lovingly with his, they both
rang the doorbell and waited.
"Gee." Gail mused. "I wonder where they are? They should've been home already."
Forgoing the doorbell, she rapped
on the door - only to find it swing open at the first touch. Curious, she stepped into her old home. It hadn't taken her five steps inside the
door when she saw them.
Her screams didn't stop till the
next morning. And she will never be the
same again.
------------------------------------------
"Damn!" The young man swore as he debarked from the international
airport. He wonders why he just didn't
come under his own power, but realized the need of keeping up appearances. Plus the fact that he made it a rule to do
so annoyed his sense of practicality. One must not abuse one's power for one's own material gains. If he wants to live a normal life, he would
have to make do. Besides, this trip was
personal. He hasn't been back home in
over a year. He made a promise to
someone long ago, now he intends to keep it.
Passing the car rental desk just
near the exit of the airport, he registered and deposited money for a car.
"For how long will you be needing
the vehicle, Mr. Todd?" The pretty
receptionist asked as she processed his information onto the main
computer. The man in front of her
looked just about average and easily blended in with a crowd. Not exactly a "Don Juan" type, she noticed. At least he still looks cute behind those
glasses he wore.
"Just a couple of days or so,
miss." He smiled, as he hands her his international driver's license. On it, it said:
Richard Todd
Class: C - Restriction: A
626460443-7566-SCI
"That will be one hundred fifty
dollars sir, per day." The receptionist
said as she hands him the keys and receipt, then she pointed towards the rental
bay doors at a silver-gray BMW. "Have a
pleasant stay here, and come back soon."
"I will." He grins and walks
away, towards his rented car. Now, he
says, we can get down to the business at hand. I wonder how my old friend's happily engaged? The last thing I heard from her was that she met up with "Mr.
Wonderful". Bet the guy's so full of
himself.
Getting into the car after
stowing away his luggage in the trunk, he turned it on and started in the
general direction towards the city he never cared returning to. Sometimes, the past will just have to stay
in the past. But then again, he
thought, the road not traveled is still open. And sometimes, if desired, can be returned to again. But he wasn't expecting to return home again
this soon.
And he certainly wasn't expecting
what he saw when he got there.
------------------------------------------
Having heard through his portable
scanner tied to the police's frequency, Max Quaylen watched from inside his car
a block behind the police cordon surrounding the new victim's home. Using high-powered binoculars, he surveyed
the goings on around the area. Shaking
his head in sadness, he noted a girl screaming incoherently beside a police
cruiser and another man at her side trying to calm her down. It had to be going on for the better part of
the hour. Geez, he wondered, where the
hell did she get that set of lungs? Its
as if her mind has been blasted by some gut-killing nightmare!
I need to get inside that
house! He thought, willing to wait
until the rest of the police force leave. It might take hours, but he can do it. Making a mental note to also approach the woman later and ask her what
else she might have seen. That, plus
how she can scream her head off like some banshee on steroids. Well, might as well sit tight until I can
get inside the crime scene.
------------------------------------------
Having seen the hell inside the
house, the newly reassigned detective blanched and headed straight to the
bathroom and upchucked all her dinner. The sight was pretty gruesome enough, now she knew why the girl outside
was having fits. How can this be? All the victims have been "tastefully"
slaughtered and filleted like someone's idea of a gourmet banquet of the insane
kind. Torn insides showing like the
victims have been put inside a blender switched on high speed. Oh God, and the horrible stench! She's not new to the killings but this case
was by far the strangest, and the most brutal she ever encountered. Whoever's behind this is enjoying their
work. Then she wondered if the sick
bastard even ATE the victims since some of the body parts were discovered
missing.
"Hey Christine!" Police Commissioner Darien Fortuna called
from behind the door. "Are you all
right? I know its hell out here, but we
need your help in getting the girl to stop screaming her fool head off."
"I'm gonna be okay." Detective Christine Cherolton called back and
straightened her clothes. Seeing a very
pale reflection staring back at her from the mirror didn't hide the fact she
didn't want to go out there again. But
duty calls, and she had a job to do, no matter what. Clearing her head and trying to bring a semblance of calm she
didn't feel to her face, she opened the door and walked out of the house. Blanching again a little as she passed the
crime scene, she ran to the woman who was still screaming by the time she got
to the squad car.
No matter what tack she took, she
couldn't get the girl to stop. Sighing
loudly, she slapped her across the face for good measure.
"OW!" Gail whimpered, regaining
some sense of sanity. Then it all
rushed back to her. The house, the
bodies, her life was now over. She
nearly began to wail again till she saw the look on the policewoman's face that
said she might shoot her if she screamed some more. "Okay, I'll be quiet."
"Thanks a lot." Christine replied, relieved. "Now will you please tell me what just
happened in there? Did you see anything
else?"
"No ma'am, we didn't." Barton answered for Gail, which drew
Christine's glare. "I'm her fiancée,
Barton Cheswick, we were about to break the news to her parents. That's why we were here tonight."
"Looks like you both picked a bad
time for a surprise," She quipped. "Now
you got the end of a shock instead of the other way around. May I advise you two not to get out of town
for a couple of days and stay at a hotel or return back to your
apartments? I'm sorry about what
happened, you have my sympathy. We
might need to ask you for more info la…"
Her voice trailed off as she saw
who was standing just outside the cordon. She couldn't believe it! "Phil,"
She called to another uniform. "Stay
with them, will you?"
------------------------------------------
Quaylen stiffened as he saw
another newcomer come into the field. His hands, tightening its grip around the binoculars, went bone
white. The hairs on the back of his
neck prickled upwards as his sixth sense sent alarms through his system. Whoever the new guy was, he definitely
wasn't from around "here". Could this
be the killer? He asked himself, but
no, though he may not "feel" right - killers may be braggarts at best, but they
do NOT stroll casually back to the scene of the crime in front of a fully armed
swat team…. They were not known for stupidly going in to get their head blown
off - when they HAD a head. No, whoever
this one is, isn't the killer.
------------------------------------------
She walked towards the cordon and
stared again, not wanting to believe seeing someone whom she thought would
never return here again. Her mind ran
back to the day he left, so full of mystery, saying that one day - he would return. It was an odd and yet intimate friendship
that was between them. While although
not as physically intimate as others, but that was by far, the most complex
"friendship" that bordered on personal secrets and loyalty.
"Richard?" She asked, as she motioned to the guard to
let the man through. "How? What brings you back here again?"
"Them." He replied, pointing to the two couple. "I was told they were going to drop the bomb of marriage on her
parents. She called me a while back to
help me set up plans for the ceremony. Can you tell me why does it seem like a terrorist blockade is erected
around the house?"
"We've been having a steady
stream of murders here that began a few weeks ago. Commissioner Fortuna's been trying to stem media panic for some
time now, but this latest one might make it into the six o'clock news."
"Her parents?" Richard's eyes went wide as he guessed what
happened. Seeing her nod made his gut
wrench. "How did it happen?"
"Its not a pretty sight, but
would you like to see the scene?" She
offered, knowing ahead that Richard can be pretty stubborn about wanting to
help them. It was a trait she always
loved. "I didn't know you knew the
bride. Was she someone special to you
before?"
He nodded, in a distant, yet
remorseful way. He told her the
reader's digest version of his acquaintance with Gail a few years back. "But that was before you and I met. Sometimes I still couldn't believe she
somehow got this loony looking lout. Oh
well, stranger things have happened. But I promised her I'd help in any way. I just didn't think it was to reassure her parents to accept the two and
then work on her wedding ceremony. But
you know me, always a stickler about promises. I always mean what I promise when I promised to help in any way as long
as anyone asks. And that includes you,
by the way."
She smiled, but then she suddenly
realized what he meant by that last remark. "Whoa, wait a minute! You just
can't mess with my case. You're not
even a cop! For God's sake, Richard,
the killer's as sadistic as they come. And you're just a free-lance art designer, what can YOU do?"
He smiled back. A smile she knew that spoke in volumes what
words never could. Her closest friend
had many levels of mystery, could this be one of them coming to light?
She could only hope that she
wouldn't regret it for the rest of her life.
------------------------------------------
The moment Richard got a passing
glimpse of the crime scene; he had to admit it was waaaaay out of the
norm. Even for someone like him, though
he had seen a lot worse. Well, I hope
Gail's okay. From the way I saw her on
the way in, she looks like she got a taste of hell. Hope her fiancée can help her take it. I have a feeling this isn't going to be easy. He looked back at where Gail, Barton, and
Christine were and a grim line formed on his lips.
No, he decided, its not going to
be easy on everybody at all.
------------------------------------------
"Hi Gail, I'm sorry this had to
happen. If there's anything I can do…"
A familiar voice said as someone approached the police car. Gail looked up and gave a cry of relief as
she saw the one person to have helped her deal with some pain long ago. She bolted and ran up to Richard, falling
into her friend's arm, crying. All in
all, it surprised the heck out of Christine and Richard, both. Barton just glared.
Uh-uh…. Christine thought as the
meaning of Cheswick's glare became obvious. Male testosterone territoriality time, hope Richard doesn't overdo
it. Come to think of it, I'm getting
pretty damned jealous myself. She
looks like she can charm a flea off a dog's back…. Waitaminute…… Oh my…. I AM
jealous!
Richard, for his part, blushed
beet red. Trying to soothe Gail's cries
with soft words of sympathy and encouragement. After a while he handed her over to Cheswick and introduced
himself. He offered Cheswick his hand.
"Hi," He began. "I'm Richard Todd, one of Gail's old
friends. She told me about you and said
that she needed my help in planning the wedding ceremony. I'm sorry this had to happen. The police are doing their best to solve
this."
"I've heard of you." Barton replied, shaking Todd's offered
hand. "I never expected we'd meet like
this. All we were looking forward to
was to announce our engagement to her folks - looks like we ran into some bad
luck."
Richard stared at the man in
surprise. Thinking how odd it was for
the her fiancée to sound too glib about it, but then saw the underlying fear in
the man's eyes. He's a good man, Todd
thought, even though this situation will probably give both of them nightmares
for years to come - he still tries to put up a brave face to it. Hope he doesn't crack in the long run, I may
need him to do some things for me as I look for whoever brought hell on earth
on them both. Come to think of it, I
might as well sneak back in here later to study the crime scene better. I don't want anyone to see what I'm doing.
"Christine," Gail said. "Is it all right for us to go home for
now? I don't really want to be here
right now."
"Sure, just don't leave town for
a while. We don't know yet if whatever
did this might come after you." Christine replied, and then she looked over at Richard. "And where are you staying?"
Richard grinned sheepishly and
spread both of his arms wide. "Well, I
was thinking I could shack out at a local inn or motel that's right close to
the airport. I'm only here for a few
days, is all." At least long enough for me to find the bastard or bastards that
did this, he thought to himself, and make them pay.
"Okay," Christine smiled, and
giggled. "How about you stay over with me and do the cooking and laundry? The rent's free and you can stay as long as
you like. I sleep in my bedroom and you
take the floor outside. Good enough?"
"What? Haven't I owed you enough already?" Richard whined good-naturedly, accepting the offer. "Let's see that these two are escorted safely
back to their homes, first."
Richard and Christine exchanged a
few more words with Gail and Barton before the couple got into their car and
drove off with a squad car each behind and ahead of them, Richard tugged on
Christine's coat and moved her over to a secluded side and started talking.
"I've got to get back in there
later when the rest of the cops leave. I want to see the place up close." He said.
"The guys as the crime lab will
handle it, Rich." Christine
answered. "Besides, there's going to be
two squad cars patrolling the area every other few minutes. I can't have you messing around with a
police investigation! What can you do
that the rest of us haven't tried already?"
"Things." He replied off-handedly. "I can do a lot more than what they've
tried, Christine. Just trust me on this
one, okay?"
"On ONE condition, I go with
you." At those words, Richard Todd knew
he was going to regret it. But he went
with it anyway, cursing and admiring the brash detective. His friend from long ago has indeed grown
up. "Just don't make me regret it."
"You won't, but I will." Christine said, having the last word.
------------------------------------------
Later that night, Quaylen managed
to slip into the house unnoticed and started examining the area for clues. The wall a few feet from the door was
splattered all over with drying blood. It didn't disturb him much, but the stench got to him. His heightened senses told him something
different. Aside from human blood,
there was the odd telltale residue of something else… - Something very old, and
very dangerous. Definitely not that guy
he saw with the lady cop earlier. So
engrossed with the search and examining the wall that he missed sensing someone
enter the door and gasped in surprise when the light turned on.
Oops.
"HOLY SHIT!" a female voice
exclaimed in shock. "HANDS UP! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!!"
------------------------------------------
Richard and Christine ate dinner
later that night and he changed to more comfortable clothes and decided to head
back to the crime scene. Richard began
to have this funny look on his face when he neared the house. He didn't want to mention it to Christine,
but it gave him the willies. Somehow,
it doesn't "feel" right. He mulled over
the things he has been sensing all evening. That's when he suddenly, instinctively, reached out and stopped
Christine from opening the door. He
motioned her to one side and opened it himself, making sure no sound would be
made. Once inside, he pulled her in and
switched the lights on. Christine
reacted on instinct as well. In one
swift move, from surprise to battle ready, she had her gun out and barked like
the trained cop she was:
"HOLY SHIT! HANDS UP! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!!
------------------------------------------
Time seemed to elongate for all
three of them and each moved as in slow motion. In truth, it did!
Max was caught in a half-crouch -
getting up- and was positioned in a way much like a martial arts stance, though
neither of them could figure out the style.
Christine had her gun drawn and
aimed right at Quaylen's head.
Richard's eyes had narrowed
briefly since this all began. He
remained silent, his hands still on the switch. But this did not mean he couldn't act fast enough. All in all, it was a stalemate.
When they knew the crisis was
past. All three looked at each other
warily. With the two never knowing what
it was that Richard did for the past few seconds. Max was the first to come out of it with a well-placed compliment
to them.
"Well," Max began. "Got to hand it to you both, you're one of
the rare bunch who's been able to sneak up on me like that. I must have been too engrossed with studying
the evidence that made this "home as sweet as hell in a home"."
"And how do we know you didn't do
it yourself?" Christine said; the gun
still unwaveringly aimed at the man's head. "You could be one of those perps who like coming back for a second
taste."
"He didn't do it." Surprised at himself for saying this as it
surprised all of them that he said it. Richard walked up to Quaylen and studied the man up close. Then like a brief flash of insight, he made
a guess. "You're hunting whatever did
this aren't you?"
"WHAT!" Christine exclaimed. Looking at Richard to see if he grew another head and turned to the new
guy and saw that what Richard said unnerved the man enough to make him pale a
shade this side of death.
------------------------------------------
How the… Quaylen was more than worried that whatever
did this was still on the loose, now he's got a damn mind reader on his
butt. Just who and what IS this guy
anyhow? -The cop's boyfriend? Trouble like this, he didn't want or need
right now. He returned the look Richard
gave him and studied the man in front of him. Average looking on the outside but not quite on the inside. The guy even "smelled" dangerous to
him. Man, do I wish I'd rather be at
the beach right now. A vacation or
early retirement is better than having to deal with this crap. Both men stood and observed each other up
close. When Max knew that the guy
wasn't even willing to start a new conversation, he sighed loudly and began it
himself.
"He's right. My name is Maxwell Quaylen, and I am sort of
a hunter." He said, and gestured
towards the bloodstained wall. "An old
friend of mine asked me to look in on this, on his behalf."
"I'm Detective Christine
Cherolton, and this is Richard Todd. What are you? A private investigator?" Christine
asked, curious as to why Richard was still silent and hoped that he's right
about this Quaylen character.
"Not exactly." was the cool
reply. "Someone close to him recently
died, and so he was concerned about the rest of these murders. Asked me a favor of looking into it." Quaylen lied, but it was technically correct
since the priest looked as if somebody DID kill his best friend. And wondered for the millionth time why his
life was as always, perverse enough to grant him a piece of hell every so
often. It's not as if he didn't want
this, but life was not about to give him a reprieve for his duties.
Of all things considered, their
conversation was getting them nowhere - at least until both men shuddered as if
they were given a jolt of pure ten thousand volts of electricity. Richard could sense that Max felt whatever
he felt as well, and whatever "it" was - it had all the signs of foreboding
danger. Max seemed to sniff the air and
pointed northwards, away from the house and through the night-leaden
streets.
"You felt it too?" Max
asked. Seeing Richard nod in agreement,
gestured again towards the city and took off at a dead run to his car
outside. Richard followed, knowing at
that moment that both of their unspoken question lay where the feeling was
telling them to go.
What in the hell? Christine thought both guys looked like they
just had a major brain seizure and was even more confused (and a little more
than shocked) as both men jumped and ran out as if their lives depended on
it. Wanting to get answers from both of
them, she tore after them as well, yelling for them to explain what in hell
just happened to them.
"Get in the car!" Was all the two ever said, with Max Pointing
at his car across the street. Max got
in and took the wheel, then looked over at Richard and asked as he drove
pell-mell. "What the heck are you
anyway? I only thought no one other
than myself could pick up those kind of heebee-jeebies."
"Long story," Richard
replied. "One thing at a time,
though. First, we have to stop whoever
or whatever is doing this - then we talk. There'll be time enough for all the chitchat later when this is all
over. I just hope we won't have to
arrive for another dead body, seeing one like that is enough. For now, just drive!"
Quaylen just grunted assent and
rode through a red light and turned, causing the car to nearly lift on its side
as he took the corner at an almost ninety degree angle. He tore through traffic like a maniac and
rode up the wrong service ramp to the freeway. Richard just gritted his teeth and checked up on Christine in the back
seat, her eyes were wide and her complexion was a lot paler than usual. She
just held on tight, her hands clutching the overhead grip, praying that she
wouldn't have to lose -yet again- her dinner while waiting for the total maniac
behind the wheel to stop driving the car like a race driver on steroids. Fish-tailing the car to swerve through the
oncoming traffic, Max's eyes grew wide as the sensation returned in force and
made him groan as he felt like being pummeled by raw lightning. Finding the will to concentrate past the
pain, he floored the accelerator and goosed all the speed available to him by
the car. Richard was having more
success in throttling the searing pain, appearing to show no discomfort at all,
he began to sort out what he was receiving.
OH CRUD! Richard suddenly realized what it was that
he had just sensed. Now he knew! As the car neared another corner, he
yelled. "Here! Get off the freeway here, go down four
blocks and turn right." Max complied,
hoping to God the guy was right.
After more harrowing turns later,
they came to a stop alongside a building, an old apartment high-rise complex
actually. Todd was already halfway out
of the car as he ran towards the building, which seemed to radiate in a
different way in only he could discern. Quaylen yelled something he didn't hear and looked back to find Max
colorfully swearing in a few languages deader than the dead-sea scrolls. Each briefly wondered about his unknown
ally's true nature and origin, as both men stormed towards the door. Christine followed shakily from the rear,
silently refusing the urge to kiss the solid, stable ground after the car ride
from hell. In one swift movement, she
had her gun out and her demeanor from totally dizzy to totally "cop" kicked in
and hurried to catch up with them. On a
count of three, they crashed through the door without so much as a warning and
looked around.
Max sniffed the air again and his eyes took a grim cast. The killer's still here, and it knows we can sense it! Damn! He motioned to Richard that he was going through the south-wing hallway and that he should take the west wing, which prompted Christine to go up the stairs in the middle of the hallway. And with each one of them praying that they weren't too late to do anything at all.
------------------------------------------
The thing stopped in mid-slash
and cocked whatever it called for a head to one side, listening with
non-existing ears. It smiled with rows
of teeth very much like a shark's glinting as moonlight struck it through the
darkness. How it loved more and more to
kill. It was not afraid at all by the
newcomers, in fact, it got more excited that there will be more to kill.
------------------------------------------
Christine just entered the second
floor landing, and already she could feel the hair on the back of her neck
rise. She strode forward through the
first hallway she came to and opened the first door on the right, expecting to
be attacked any minute.
She was.
------------------------------------------
The
broom fell down as the door of the closet opened in full glorious view.
"Damn." She whispered, telling herself to calm down
her hyper over-reactive imagination. "I
don't even know what the hell I'm looking for. Those guys down there go all testosterone happy for a few seconds and
look where I'm in now. I have got to
get a life."
Moving
towards the next one, she peered in and saw an empty room. The place might have once been an apartment
at one time, but now it was an empty husk. Seems the landlord hasn't redecorated yet, she surmised. Moving down the corridor and up two more
flights of stairs, she reached the fourth floor and approached to open another
door.
She
never knew what hit her.
A low,
inhuman laughter filled the air.
Below,
on the first floor, both men froze.
------------------------------------
Max felt
his skin begin to crawl as he went from one room through another, disgusted to
find nothing. Something's here, he
keeps telling himself. Where by the
blood of the ancients is it! And what,
for a lack of words, is IT? What drives
this to kill? - Whatever it is, he
vows, it must be stopped at all costs.
He
entered what seemed to be the kitchen area and walked over towards the freezer
room.
The
whole kitchen area had an odd scent about it. Narrowing down his hypersensitive sense of smell. He crossed the room towards the locker door
and into the next room. What he saw
when he entered made him gag. He may
have seen every sort of horror known and unknown to man, but never like this.
It was
filled from wall to wall with bloody body parts.
Every
single piece that was missing from the murder victims was found inside, and
then some. He recognized some fresh
kills from the way blood was still dripping from some of them. A latent psychic scar ran up and down the
room, making it feel like each part was remotely still alive… kept alive for
the pleasure of torture!
The
latest ones were children. -And from
the looks of it, one of them had the telltale signs of infancy.
Oh
GOD!!!! This was the last thing he
wanted to see, it made the bile rise up his throat as he took in the sight of
all the evidence. Each of the parts
hung on hooks on walls and "clothes lines" like trophies. Hell's private collection. The room itself was decorated with
blood. The stench was really getting to
him now! Quaylen had to fight down his
horror as he slowly backed away from the room. Face drained of all color.
OHGODOHGODOHGODOHGODOHGOD,
WHYWHYWHYWHY?????????
Horror
turned into resolve. Resolve turned into pure anger at the desecration of the
sanctity of human life. Anger turned
into righteous conviction that he would send whoever or whatever did this back
to hell where it came from. Even if he
had to shove it down himself and stay there with it so it won't ever come out
again. The victims shall be
AVENGED!
The
murderer hunts, doesn't it? Now it is
the one being hunted, now it is the prey. And Maxwell Quaylen knows EXACTLY what to do with prey. Especially this kind of prey:
This one
gets overkill.
And
that's when he heard a low rumble that sounded very much like laughter.
He
froze, growling in return, and ran to meet up with Todd and Cherolton.
The hunt
begins . . .
------------------------------------
In
another part of the building, Richard's eyes were glowing softly. Taking in the scenery before him. He notices the subtle changes of the
molecules in the air. Even the usual
energy stored in this place seemed twisted, out of balance. As if something more than human had
disturbed the very foundation of the place. He stopped by one door and peeked in, and saw the mutilated body of a
child, which had to be no older than four years old. Shaking his head sadly, he wonders when will things like this
ever stop. Even when he knew the answer
to that: that death had a way of balancing things out in its own way, it did
not make him feel any better knowing this. But even this "felt" wrong, he could "feel" the energy of psychic
torture the souls had taken and knew that death never even had a hand in
this. If this was not death's handiwork,
then he had an obligation to stop whoever or whatever was doing it.
The
universe balances things out, he sighed with disgust. Sometimes, even someone such as himself could never begin to
unravel just how close good and evil really were. Yin-yang, one always needing the other in some twisted way.
"I
wonder what the fates have in store for us in this sick adventure?" Todd mused, then his head turned as he heard
a low growl behind him. He turned and
got his first look at the thing. If
nightmares had a face, this was it, he said to himself.
With a
flick of its wrist, it sent a long curving piece of metal flying towards
him. He ducked in time and sent a burst
of plasma energy shooting from his outstretched palm at it as he rolled and
dove for cover. He missed, and the
blade returned to its master. It
laughed and vanished.
Richard
fumed. Then he heard the laugh again,
sounding fainter now. He froze,
listening. Then his eyes went wide, it
sounded like it came from upstairs. He
ran back in the opposite direction. One
thought sending shivers down his guts:
CHRISTINE!
------------------------------------
Both men arrived at the stair
landing and glanced up.
"You heard it too?" They asked in unison. Of one mind, they ran up the steps. By the time they reached the fourth floor,
they heard an almighty ruckus and a loud crash coming from one of the rooms at
the far end.
"I'm point." Max said. "You're on guard." Richard
nodded and hid his smile as he let his eyes glow behind Quaylen. Making sure Max wasn't looking, he scanned
the area and knew that the creature was indeed here.
And so was Christine! … But then he also sensed someone else!
What is really going on here?
Richard let the thought trail
off. Anger won't get him anywhere if he
can't stay focused.
As they got near, they heard
another crash and a woman say: "OW!!!" rather loudly. They both rushed the door. With Max kicking the door open as he heard that thing give another of
its low rumbling laughter, they got in just in time when it was slowly
disappearing along with Christine in tow.
"NOOOOO!!!!" Richard yelled as his palm opened and fired
off another plasma burst, only to place a crater on the far wall behind it as
it went through the vanishing creature.
"HELL!" Quaylen growled, he barely noticed the stunned blonde lying dazed
as he futilely leaped after the energy bolt flying towards the vanishing
monster, only to slam into the far wall's crater the energy bolt blasted a few
seconds ago as he passed through. He
fell stunned, but not out cold. The
only coherent thought he could muster was why in heck did that thing looked
oddly familiar? I never even crossed
one like it before in any of the lifetimes I can remember and yet it's
familiar.
Richard had the sense of mind to
check the girl up and heard her mutter. "Vampires, I can handle. Demons,
I can handle - maybe. Wigging
prophecies, I can't - at least ones that almost always don't make sense. Hell, they never DO make any sense!" His eyebrows went up at what she said.
The girl dusted herself and
stared at the two strangers as if she had seen a pair of heretics. "And who the hell are you two, not to
mention why are you both giving me the `Not Quite Human' vibes in my
head?"
Quaylen groaned from his position
on the floor and got up to face the girl. Another one? This is getting pretty
damned funny if it wasn't for the body parts filed back downstairs -plus a few
dead bodies Max heard Richard mention on the way up. He had a feeling this was going to be one of those "missions"
where anything can and WILL happen, and none of them all good.
"C'mon," Richard said, offering
his hand out to the girl to help her up. "Its not safe here, we'll take you home." To Max, he added, "Quaylen,
get up. We have to get out of here and
re-group. I want to find out how to
fight this thing. And I want to get
Christine back in one piece." If she's
still alive, that is, but he didn't say it out loud. That thing's going to PAY.
Offering Max his other hand, the
man just grunted as Quaylen shook his head and hauled himself up under his own
power. "Thanks," Max said, "But I can handle myself and I heal real
fast. Just how did you do that anyhow?"
Richard smiled. "Later." He said. He led a dazed Max and
a bemused young woman out of the building and escorted them to Max's parked vehicle. Max was about to get inside the driver's
seat until he was stopped by Todd's voice.
"Uh-uh, no way are you
driving." Richard said as he took the
keys and grabbed Quaylen's arm, ushering him into the back seat and made sure
his seat belt was clipped on. He got in
the driver's side and motioned for the girl to strap in as well. "Where to miss? I want to get you home and safe before me and handsome back there
tackle that thing again."
"No." she replied with
conviction. "As much as I don't know
what the hell is going on around here, this town and goonies like that is my
responsibility. As for where to, let's
go to a certain place I know of in Sunnydale. I'll bet Giles will have a field day when he sees you two come in with
me. By the way, my name's Buffy Summers."
The men stared, not believing
what they heard. Her name was what? Who in their right mind would name their kid
"Buffy"? Max also stiffened when he
heard the Watcher's name. Oh great,
this day WAS full of surprises. He was
beginning to hate his job more and more.
Richard frowned, but
nevertheless, he gunned the engine to life and started heading towards the
Sunnydale the girl said. He introduced
himself and Max - while Max for his part, kept his mouth shut almost the entire
trip. Following her directions and
nearly getting lost after a couple of turns got his ire up when Max burst out
laughing as Richard missed another exit. After a while, they were able to get to Giles's house in one piece,
though the same couldn't be said for Richard's slightly bruised ego. The place HAD changed much since he was here
last. The fact that he had never even
been to Sunnydale gnawed at him - added by another fact it was a few good miles
outside of L.A. As they neared the
city limits, though, both men started feeling very wary and very, very,
paranoid. The sensation passed as they
fully entered the town. That was when
Richard and Max heard the girl unfortunately confirm what their uneasy feeling
was with just a few choice words.
"Uh guys, welcome to the Hellmouth."
"What's a Hellmouth?" Was all Richard thought of as he drove
towards the house the girl mentioned, he had a distinct impression that he
would soon find out. Meanwhile, in the
backseat, Maxwell Quaylen silently moaned - this definitely wasn't a good day
for him.
------------------------------------
Rupert Giles was a nervous wreck
from worrying too much. It had been
hours since they last heard from Buffy who was tracking down the thing that was
randomly killing humans and demons and everything else without the slightest
disregard. He only hoped Buffy wasn't
the next one on its list of victims.
"Cool it, G-man." Xander said as he watched Giles get up and
pace for the longest time since he could remember. Beside him, Anya snuggled closer. He watched the Watcher travel a
path up to his beloved books on the shelf and glanced at the clock on the
wall. "You could wear a hole into the
Hellmouth doing that."
"Xander's right." Willow
added. "I'm sure Buffy's okay. Like they always say: "No news is good
news", right?"
"Maybe we should call Dead Boy
since she WAS heading into L.A." Xander
said. "Its his so-called turf now,
y'know."
"Maybe we should." Giles answered, and started making a beeline
towards the phone when the front door opened. His eyes widened as Buffy came in with two men in tow. One of the men on Buffy's side looked
vaguely familiar. Max himself nearly
did a double take, his suspicion about Giles confirmed.
"Giles, you'll NEVER believe the
night I'm having." The Slayer said.
------------------------------------
"…And that's when these two
showed up with some very interesting fireworks." She finished recapping the events that transpired in the house.
"Maxwell Quaylen…" Giles
mused. "Where have I heard name that
before?" Then like am imaginary cartoon
light bulb going off in his head, his eyes takes on a look of fear, dread, and
awe. "Y- you're HIM! How can that be? You're supposed to be dead! And how have you not aged a day? No I can guess how."
"I got better." Was all Max got
out as the man he knew as Rupert "Ripper" Giles shoved him towards the nearest
wall and hissed.
"I don't know how or why you're
still alive and I don't care, but I've vowed to kill you and I will. Better say your prayers butcher!" Giles said, in spite of the shock he gave to
everyone present.
"And if I hadn't killed everyone
in that town, would you be alive today?" Max retorted. "Didn't you know
how much I hated to kill every man, woman and child then, but know this Rupert
- the Slayer your mentor was watching had turned into one of them. Even your mentor fell into that cesspool
called `Divergent Road'. So don't
lecture me on morality, for I am paying it for eternity. I was newly awakened then, man, even then -
how do you explain to a mere mortal that the entire town was
`soul-twisted'. I may have lost some of
my memory whenever I am reborn, but that was then - and this is now. Now I am at my final form and never again
will I be integrated to this world. I
AM the gatekeeper, the sanction against the crimes of order. I am destruction and restoration!!"
Giles was nevertheless shocked;
he let go and moved away. "Then this is
it then? - The time of judgment? And
are you truly the Eternal Champion?"
"I didn't want the job
then." Quaylen sighed as the Watcher
gave him enough room to breath easier. "… I still don't want it now. But come to think of it, I think I
originally volunteered. Had you arrived
a few days earlier before I did, then you would be dead as well. I swear that I NEVER butcher the innocent,
much less children. I'm sorry about the
previous Slayer and her Watcher, but I had no choice!"
"Um - do you guys, like, KNOW
each other?" Buffy asked, totally
confused and a little afraid seeing a bit of the infamous `Ripper' side of him
that he doesn't mention a lot. "And if
Mr. Quaylen here isn't human nor demon, then what is he?"
"Years ago." Giles began. "We were in a secluded town just out of Wales, and I was visiting
one of my favorite teachers. Another
Watcher - you know, one that guides you through the importance, and seriousness
of the nature of our work. Before you
even start to be a full Watcher - you must be secured in all forms of its
aspects, from research to assisting in the Slayer's field assignments."
"My teacher, Gerald Dupree, was
one of the best. But a little
altercation with the vampires left him helpless as they massacred his entire
family right in front of his eyes. He
changed then, started to teach a Slayer `commando style', and to go and fight
alongside one. It was in this town
where he met Quaylen, who claimed he was just passing through, but that was
after the town was already suffering through stages of massive demonic
possession. Even his Slayer fell under
the influence, the last I heard from him was to call for me to help. I was a loose cannon then and pretty much
did as I damn well pleased. Upon
hearing of his need, I rushed out there but too late. I arrived in time to see this man behead both the Slayer and
Dupree with a glowing golden sword. Around him were perhaps dozens of dead
corpses. You could say I lost it and
attacked him, he knocked me out and when I woke up he was gone."
"When I returned home, I began an
obsessive search for the man fitting his description. What I found was a secret even the Watchers were afraid to deal
with. This man before us now is perhaps
the embodiment of the immortal human spirit. When man first walked away from paradise and started to multiply, God
really didn't leave us alone without a protector. When the first man most people today knew as `Adam' died, the
Creator reached out and sent one of His newly born Angels to be reborn as man's
destined guardian. Immortal, yet living
the same lifespan as man, dying and being reborn in Angelic flame - the legend
of the Phoenix told of his death and rebirth - always to fight on behalf of
humanity. It was even said that when
Jesus walked out into the desert, the Champion was there to guard Him - but he
never interfered with the Son of Man's trials, he didn't even interfere with
His death. Sometimes the champion knew
of his destiny, sometimes he slumbers buried beneath every other generation
until he is called to service once more. But in the end he was always alive, watching humanity grow and
evolve. Legend says there will come a
time when his powers nearly reaches its maximum potential and he will not need
to be reborn in angelic fire again, that when this happens, he will be more
than he ever was when he was either angel or human. He will become truly immortal in very sense of the word. Not even death will have any influence over
him, for he will be akin to the being prophesied to have been responsible for
the birth of existence, the same being who has the power to utterly create as
well as destroy the very fabric of reality. If Maxwell Quaylen here is the fulfillment of such a myth, then the
other legend is true as well. While it
is said that the Eternal Champion may know himself, the other may not choose
his responsibility despite his crucial place in all life. The Champion himself volunteered for God's
call to be, whilst the other had it forced, never given the easy way out of
such awesome responsibility. The last I
heard of Quaylen was that he was executed while trying to save some refugees
getting out of a place called Mindanao, running from a demon assuming a human's
guise. He and the refugees he was
saving were recaptured and butchered."
All the while as they all
listened in awe to Gile's tale, Todd felt something nagging behind his skull
and realized it for what it was. While
Max and Buffy's mystic awareness were slightly more focused, his was random and
a lot wider in range. Having picked up
the creature's psychic `echo' as it were, he knew where it was. His composure nearly faltered when he realized
it was tracking THEM!
It was coming!
"EVERYBODY DOWN!! NOW!" He screamed, as he threw himself over Buffy and dragged Max down as
well. A purple-like electric blur
ripped across the room as the Watcher and the Slayerettes dove for cover, but
it was only for a moment. Then it was
gone! It left in its wake a wrecked
living room and some very frightened people.
It left Richard hopping mad. The bastard still had Christine! He felt Christine's life force as the
creature swiped past them. To hell with
sitting around here, there was still enough of its energy signature to track
it.
"You guys figure a way to
permanently kill this thing." He said,
heading out of the house. "I'm going to
pay that piece of shit a visit and rescue my friend."
Still dazed by the surprise
attack no one had time to react to what he said as he left, much less to try to
stop him.
------------------------------------
Once outside, making sure no one
saw him; Richard Todd took to the skies and headed for L.A.
------------------------------------
Inside the house, Max was fuming
at being caught so off guard. He never
even realized just how sensitive Todd's awareness was. That damned thing must've been following us
all the way here. Good thing he picked
it up on time, thing is, it only registered to me when it was almost on top of
us. And if this "Hellmouth" works just
like it was advertised, then that thing got a hell of a lot stronger. Damn fool's running on a suicide mission out
there alone, just what the heck can he do?
"Is everybody all right?" He asks as the others shake off their dazed
stupor. He reaches towards Buffy and
helps her up as he moves up himself. Hearing replies from across the room where Giles and the others were
made him smile. They're all okay -
guess living on top of one of these places gave them the extra courage to keep
on holding on. Judging from the way my
senses are reacting now, one of them must be Wicca. Been a long time since I ran into one of those white magic users,
glad to know there are still some of the good ones left.
"Hey!" Buffy said, starting to realize something. "You're cute friend's missing. Oh no, don't tell me… I vaguely heard him
say he was going after it."
Max nodded, tried for a smile and
got out a grimace instead. He knew he
definitely had better days.
"DAMN!"
After a few hours of searching
for Richard around the block, Buffy scrunched her face in disgust. She headed back into the house and
asked. "Giles! Are you okay? We need help muy pronto if we're ever going to sleep quiet
again. We've got to find a way to stop
the berserkoid thing out there. And can
I borrow your car again? I promise I
won't total it like last time."
Giles stared at Buffy for a
moment, rather thoughtfully. "No one's
going anywhere yet until we've reached a fool-proof way of dealing with
whatever that thing was." To Max, he
asked. "Did you get a good look at it
while you and Mr. Todd were fighting it?"
"Yeah, its not exactly a face
you'd ever forget." Max replied, moving
over to some books spilled over the floor and leafed through them. It all started to make sense to him in a
rather disconcerting way. Discarding
each book he didn't want - noticing Giles frown each time he tossed another
book aside - he then went through the next pile and leafed through it as
well. He stopped at one particular
ancient tome and then turned each page with care, finding the right one, he
held it up for everyone to see. "This
is what it looked like. Thought it
looked a bit familiar."
Under the artist's depiction, the
name, once translated, said: GRENDEL.
"Oh dear…" Giles's voice trailed
off, his hands shook as he took the book from Quaylen and sat down. "B - But surely, this can't be real? Can it really be as old as the Hyborrian
hills? It was supposed to be just a
myth, but I thought Beowulf killed it. What is it doing here?"
"I think I may have a rather
far-fetched guess." Max put in. "Long before man, as you would eloquently
put it: There was a time when other
beings ruled on this earth. Some of
them were demons, and some of them something else entirely. My best guess is that, whatever this species
was - could have been the oldest. The
Bard did rather imply that the creature was older than man's time then, it
might be safe to say that Beowulf DID manage to kill one of them. But remember, Beowulf himself was reputed to
have been half-demon because of his massive strength, so it could explain why
only he could vanquish said monster."
"And what we have here," Giles
now grasped the opening. "Could be
another one of them; albeit stronger, more powerful than Grendel. For lack of a better word for the species,
let's call it `Grendel'. But how did
Beowulf actually kill it? All the text
say is a fight to the death. Maybe I
have more books, think I'll start looking. Willow, would you please start your search as well?" The young witch nodded as she began typing
searches through the computer.
Over by the corner, Xander was
talking to Buffy and glanced back at the man chatting with Giles. "Talk about role-reversals; one minute, he
was gonna kill `im. Now they're acting
like buds, what gives?"
"I think we've got a common enemy
right now and all the help we can get is better than nothing." Buffy shrugged, thinking about the other one
who called himself Richard Todd. "What
really has me spooked more is that his other friend sensed that thing even
before we did. Hell, I even thought I
saw him hurl a lightning bolt at the thing while it kicked my butt back in
L.A. Now he's out there hunting that
`Nightmare From Elm Street' and trying to get himself killed in the
process."
Xander saw the look on her face
and shook his head. "Don't tell me he
reminds you of someone of who I think he reminds you of - tall, dark hair,
always silent - Mr. Broody-type?" When
she didn't respond, he sighed. "Buffy,
if it makes you feel better, Dead Boy's still out there. He's already started a P.I. biz in L.A. Maybe he's also fighting this thing."
"I know." She thought she had pegged Max Quaylen to be
the strong silent type, but it was the other way around. Richard had kept silent for the whole trip
here and even seemed to vanish into the woodwork when Giles and Max nearly
squared off. The fact that he was able
to sense the creature before they did didn't surprise her that much, but the
way he vanished when they tried to look for him earlier after he left was
downright wiggin'. It's as if he simply
disappeared like a ghost! Jus who IS
this guy? She hated to admit that it
even reminded her that Angel was just like that when they met for the first few
times.
------------------------------------
Meanwhile, the topic of their
discussion was entering Los Angeles, slowing at twice the speed of sound. Carefully flitting between the canyons
around California and straight towards the busiest city - day in, day out -
tracking the thing's trail. It was only
a matter of time before he realized it found another hideout. This time, the monster shacked itself inside
a modern high-rise - one that wasn't abandoned, and full of nice warm bodies to
add to the tally. Disgusted, Richard
made sure to mask his presence and landed down on the roof and opened his
senses to full blast.
He regretted it the instant he
did it.
A jumble of thoughts, and scents,
and emotions, and energy reeled through him all at once. The entire universe
sang to him in a din of voices. He
cursed and curbed it down to at its lowest strength. This time, he only focused on Christine's aura and that of the
creature's weird energy signature. It
was a few floors down. Twisting the
locked roof door open, he made his way down and started narrowing his
search. The psychic level of
Christine's fear was increasing, so much that he instantly knew where they
were. The absurdity of it all hit him
when he spotted the building diagram near the elevator. Gods, that thing has the gall enough to hide
in the honeymoon suite? Just what is
it that we're dealing with here, a manic-depressive with all the beauty of
godzilla?
Once he arrived at the door of
the room, he didn't hesitate scanning the area for friendlies. Finding none, he crashed through; plasma
bursts streaming out from his fists in rapid succession. The creature, in the early process of
ripping his latest catch to shreds was taken off guard by the assault. Surprised to see the being that aroused its
curiosity before at the abandoned building, it let the girl go and fought
back. Bringing out the long curving
blade it used in its victims, the room suddenly hummed with ancient power. To Richard's astonishment, the thing began
to speak. It's voice sounding like
steel scratching steel, and echoing; never seeming to come from the creature
itself:
"And just what do you hope to
accomplish? You are as unique as my
kind, though I know not what you are, in your human guise. This has been my world far longer than it
has been for these demons and "humans". Neither you, nor the Slayer, nor humanity's Eternal Champion can
stop me. Join me."
"Never!" Richard fired another shot straight at the
creature's head. It sent the thing
reeling and crashing through the window, tumbling fifty floors down. He knew he injured it by the way it
screamed, but he had to be certain. Richard was about to follow when it vanished again before it hit the
ground.
"Pity." The creature's voice echoed in the room as it left. "Then you and your precious
"humans" shall die." Its laughter lingered in the air, like a bad
aftertaste.
Richard moved to check on
Christine and nearly choked, she was in a real bad way. She was dying. She was pretty much torn up; slashes covered nearly every part of
her body. And she was losing blood
fast. If he didn't do this right, she
could die. Gently easing her to a
position as comfortable as possible, he started healing her. Golden, radiant energy surrounded them both
as Richard stopped her internal bleeding; right down to the sub-molecular
level. Somehow, he instinctively knew
that whatever the blade might be that the creature was using, it cut more than
just normal tissue: it breaks it down to the sub-molecular DNA components it
was once. Some of the fragments lodged in the girl looked oddly familiar - only
one other person had a blade similar to the creature. Making sure there wasn't a scar left, he boosted up her body
resistance and regenerated as much blood she lost. The only thing I'm not too sure of is her psychic shock, he told
himself. She was tortured way too long,
maybe I can destroy those memories and implant nearly identical ones so she
wouldn't have gaps - but this time, without the trauma. Damn, I'm going to hate doing this. Swimming around in someone else's shattered
mind is not my idea of a fun, but she needs it.
He dove in, checking each memory
strand and repairing as much as he could. Removing as much trauma as he can, he began restructuring her psychic
shell to restore it to what it had been before the abduction. When he was done, he rechecked each strand
and closed her up, physically, and mentally. Now he knew more about her than he had ever wanted to in his entire
life, and he regrets it. The glow faded
and he waited for her to open her eyes. All in all, it just took a few minutes to someone who might've been
watching, but for Richard, it was nearly an eternity. Now he waited.
------------------------------------
Christine opened her eyes to find
herself in a strange room, the smell of burned sheets evident around her. She looked up and saw Richard smiling down
at her.
"Hey.." She said hesitantly. "Where are we? I thought we were
inside some building with you and the other guy tracking the killer. What happened, and why do I feel so
exhausted?" She tried to sit up and
suddenly found her clothes torn around her. Her eyes widened in shock and as she checked herself, she looked like
her clothes must've gone through the blender! They were all so BLOODY! Then
she remembered, feeling as if she was detachedly observing herself being sliced
opened. She couldn't feel anything.
She remembered, but couldn't feel
anything about it at all.
"How did I…" She whispered, voice
trailing off, looking at Richard for an answer.
"Don't ask." Was all Richard said, trying not to sound
bitter at such revelations, "We've got to get you home to rest, you've been
through this much and I'd rather not let it happen again." He carried her towards the window, willing
her to sleep. When she did, he took to
the air again and flew her home.
------------------------------------
After leaving Christine with the
strongest barrier he could erect around her house, he flew back towards
Sunnydale. I made sure Christine's
going to be asleep for a few days till her body totally recovers. He had a few things to ask Quaylen and the
Slayer's Watcher. But first things
first, he decided to take a slight detour as he remembered someone else who
might be able to help him.
------------------------------------
Angel sensed a familiar presence
in the room and walked out into the office. Cordelia and Wesley were both frozen as if time somehow stopped for
them. In the middle of the office was a
being Angel had the pleasure of meeting only once, and that was before he met
Buffy. Richard smiled at the
vampire. "Sorry for doing that to them,
but what I have to say must only be said to you alone." He hands him Christine's picture and
address. "Please, I'm calling in a
favor. I want you to put in a little surveillance time for me. Please watch her till the recent wave of
killings stop."
Angel wasn't surprised. He'd been working frantically too because of the murders. He nodded at Richard's request and asked. "I have a few friends who might be willing to put in some overtime. If there's anything else I can do, let me know. I've been looking into some possible leads as to how to fight whatever it is. By the way, Giles called a few hours ago, asked me to look out for some stuff. Probably the same one you're after?"
Richard smiled and nodded. "Any news? I kinda left them to go after it and rescue a friend."
"Not much to go on," Angel
replied. "But Giles and some guy he
called the Eternal Champion said this thing could be a Grendel. And before you ask, not THE legendary
Grendel. But for lack of a better word
for their species, they came up with that."
"Great." Richard moaned. "Just confirms what that thing said when its been around long
before demons and humans even set foot in evolution's door. If Beowulf killed one of those things
before, isn't it possible for us to kill this one as well?"
"I don't know." Angel said as he sat down on his desk,
surprised to know there was intelligence behind the monster after all. "We still have to find a way as to how and
what Beowulf used to kill Grendel. I've
got Wesley sputtering for an hour, insisting that such a creature can't
exist. Calmed him down long enough to
call in some favors and ask for some info into the Beowulf texts, they were
supposed to have faxed us a copy of the original epic. Still waiting for it to arrive when you
showed up."
"Thanks." Richard grinned. "Look, I've got to get back to them. They're probably pissed by now." He turned to leave, but Angel's voice stopped him.
"How's Buffy?" He asked.
"Alive and well." Richard answered. "I'll give her your regards." With that, Richard Todd phased through the far wall and flew back on his
course towards Sunnydale. He was
already going at half the speed of light when Cordy and Wesley unfroze as time
ran again for them. Angel chuckled as
the two exchanged bewildered glances at each other, and then at Angel who
seemed to have just appeared in front of them when they thought he was in the
other room.
"What's so funny?" Cordelia asked.
------------------------------------
Back in Sunnydale, Quaylen and
Buffy tensed as a familiar presence made itself known to their mystic
senses. They each eyed the door as it
opened inwards to let an enigmatic Richard Todd through.
"Lookie here," Quaylen
drawled. "Looks like we won't have to
hold an eulogy for you after all. How's
the bastard? Did you get to Christine
in time?"
"Yeah. Also visited my friend, Angel for some info." He noticed the general activity as each of them leafed through some books and Giles was nowhere to be seen. "Seems you guys have been busy while I was away.'
"You saw Angel? You know
him?" Buffy asked, surprise evident on
her voice. Forgetting her concern for
the new guy, she suddenly wanted to find out what happened there than wanting
to yell at the man for jumping off on a suicide mission. "How is he?"
"He's fine, Buffy. And he sends his regards." Richard answered and began his recap of his
dialogue with Angel and how he asked him to do a little watchdog duty for
him. Richard however omitted several
points on how he got to L.A. and how he was able to save Christine Cherolton's
life. When asked for more details about
Christine and the monster, he easily changed the topic to asking them about any
more news on the creature.
"So we know it's a lot like
Grendel." He began. "Now how do we off
the thing and stay in one piece at the same time?"
"If we can find tall, dark, and
gruesome first." Xander Harris said as
he looked through some books Buffy handed him a while ago. "Seems all the major villains we've got
before lived in some dark, disgusting hole under the ground. Now beastie boy here loves high places. Yep, we are definitely heading up in the
world."
"Xander's right." Willow chimed in. "Just how many tall buildings are there in Sunnydale and in
L.A.? I mean, there can't be that many,
right? Maybe we could ask Angel, maybe
he knows. He's always there, and so is
Cordelia. He could help us on this
one. Maybe we should all go to
L.A. What do you think, Buffy?"
Richard and Max just stared at
the redhead, which made Willow blush down to her roots. Max snickered, which got him an elbow in the
ribs from the Slayer. Richard simply
stared at her, then cogwheels started turning in his head.
"Looks like our new Mr. Cryptic
Guy has some ideas." Xander
observed. "Any one of them crazy?"
Richard smiled. At that, Buffy suddenly didn't want to see
Richard's smile. She was starting to
think bad things tend to happen when he smiles the way he smiles right
now. Oh boy! She's beginning to like that smile.
"You're not thinking of another
road trip to L.A. are you?" Quaylen
asked. "We haven't come up with
anything solid yet. And I for one want
to meet that thing on an equal or near to equal footing as we can get."
"Not yet anyways." Richard smiled. "I may have a few guesses as to where our little nightmare is
holed up."
"At least that helps," Buffy
tries to look everywhere else but directly at Richard's devil-may care
smile. "Giles, anything yet?" She called out.
"What?" The source of the
Watcher's voice was lost between some boxes down by the basement of the
house. A muffled sneeze was heard and a
thump signaled someone falling over books. Then a shout brought their attention. They were about to rush over when a red-faced Watcher barreled out from
the basement. He was holding a rather
small book that was the color of dried blood. Small as it was, Giles muttered something in obscure Latin and then the
book seemed to have gotten larger and thicker.
"Is that what I think it
is?" Quaylen asked in all innocence.
"If you mean by this being a
"Grimoire", then you are correct." Giles replied smiling, then suddenly made a face. He sneezed loudly after that. " It - It is one of the oldest, and rarest
of spell books known to exist." He
sneezed again.
"So mind explaining to me what
you're doing with one of them?" By the
sound of Max's tone, he didn't approve having something as dangerous as that
anywhere near human, or demonic hands.
"Well," Giles explained. "Technically, such a book of magic as this
tended to have been around for as long as humans and demons walked the
earth. I'm sorry I didn't realize it
sooner, but it might give us a clue - or -or and an edge against that
creature."
"Whoa!" Richard said. "But aren't those things `black magic'? We could be opening up another can of worms
if we go trough with it."
"What else is new?" Buffy grinned, once she saw the look on
Willow's eyes beam at the mere mention of magic, she knew it was way past
trying to get that look out of her face. "We've gone through much worse."
There is that, Richard
thought. From what she told him awhile
back, they've been through some major fights before. But that thing was something else entirely; fighting a "grendel"
like that is not something he enjoys tackling again. But fate never plays favorites. And fate sometimes has a nasty habit of setting you up when you least
expect it. I just hope everybody lives
through this, he added mentally, I'll be damned if anyone dies again while I'm
around.
"See here," Giles indicates a
page in the book that shows a flowing depiction of man glowing with power and
another man wielding a flaming sword rushing a creature twice as large as both
of them. The page itself moved as if it
was a mini-tv. "It looks as if it's a
passage or an excerpt of someone like Beowulf as he kills the creature. But see here…" He points towards the ancient
text containing the full epic by the table. "There is no mention of Beowulf or anyone else having a partner in
destroying it, plus the fact that the text - if it is as accurate as I think -
describes "Beowulf" killing it single-handedly. But the Grimoire itself says that two things happened then, and
that more than once was the creature destroyed - and that Beowulf wasn't the
first to have slaughtered its kind."
Quaylen glanced at the ancient,
moving symbols in the Grimoire and suddenly felt very strange. Why the hell does this sound familiar? The language itself, though hard to enough
to translate even without Giles's help, was teasing a part of him
knowingly. Could I have fought one of
them before in one of my past lives? Is
that why it looked so damned familiar when I first saw it? With gremlins scrambling in his brain, he
asked Giles a very disturbing question. "Did the book say there was more than one creature or is it the same?"
Giles looked at Max with dread in
his voice. "No it doesn't. But for all of our sakes, let's hope what
you've just hypothesized is wrong. For
if it is the same creature that Beowulf fought, then its strength has increased
tenfold due to its contact with the Hellmouth. And if so, such an ancient, magical creature as that is near impossible
to kill for it may have already gained true immortality. Other than that, there is no possible way of
correctly reading a Grimoire because of its paradoxical nature. For all we know, it could show us a history
of the future rather than the past."
Behind them, the rest of the
group felt glum enough from the prospect of something truly evil coming now
groaned at hearing where Giles and Max's conversation went.
"Can't we have some simple,
NORMAL monsters once in a while?" Buffy
whined, "I mean, does the world need
THAT much saving everyday? This really
sucks, Slayer-wise. And why me?"
Richard's eyebrows went up at
that. "Buffy, just because a lot of
hell breaks loose doesn't mean it's your sole job to fix it. Take the Eternal Champion here for one, he's
supposed to be "old" enough to wallow in this biz. I on the other hand, had enough bad luck to
get dragged into scrapes he wished never to be in the first place - but has no
choice."
"And just what are you
anyway?" She countered, a question everyone
there wanted to ask but were afraid to. "Just how did you get to L.A. and back? At least Max here isn't too tight lipped about who he is and
what he is. So what's you're story?"
He looked at her and answered in
all honesty. "I don't know." He said. "I don't know what I am anymore. Hell, sometimes even I don't know if I'm too sure about `WHO' I am
anymore. It's like a weird dream
wherein I woke up and just "AM" this way. I know that's no explanation, but I'm still looking for some
answers to your question myself."
Although Richard did know one
thing: his greatest failure - his greatest "sin". All those lives, ceasing to exist because of him. He paid the price of victory. Now he only makes sure it will not be in
vain. No one had the right to know,
least of all the very ones he sacrificed it all for. "You can't exactly tell everyone at how you simply wiped off an
entire universe and became one of the most feared creatures of cosmic legend
now could you?" He thought. He met the
young Slayer's gaze and briefly wondered if he had already earned the right to
be forgiven. He is surprised to find
innocence in such a face, no matter how torn the years behind her were; she
survived. He looked at Max and saw in
him: honor, loyalty, virtue, and a deep love of life. His gaze passed each of the Slayerettes present: he found courage
and determination in every one of them. He didn't need to glance back at the Watcher behind him - he already
knew the resolve and determination also showing in his eyes. What may have only seemed mere moments for
everyone there - but for Richard, it was an eternity of weighing each endless
infinite possibilities of their souls combined. In that moment, he made a choice. And that was to insure their survival. No one needed suffer more than he did over such "cosmic"
responsibilities. And maybe he could
start being what some people have always thought of him to be: a hero.
Buffy grouched. "Like what's that supposed to mean? You know, I've just about had it up to here
with cryptic guys and all. It's bad
enough Riley had to go away for a while, at least he's plain enough to see
through." Too much, she thought.
Richard smiled at her outburst.
He looked at the slayer and replied that he understood what she meant. But they had a job to do right now, and
still nowhere near to finding out how to deal with the creature. The night wore on. After a few more grunting hours of silence
followed by the occasional sound of pages turning, Max stretched and
yawned. Looking slightly sheepish, at
least until he suddenly noticed everyone doing the same thing. With the exception of a certain Richard
Todd, of course.
"Okay boys and girls." He began, gesturing at the wall clock that
showed them at being half past six in the morning. "Looks like we all need to go to bed. We've done the night through and we have to be fresh enough to
tackle it again later at sundown. Giles, how about we all shack in here for a few hours for rest."
The watcher was too tired to
argue, looking beat up himself, just nodded and walked up to his room took down
some blankets and pillows. He gave them
each a set and returned to his room and shut the door. Buffy simply put the book down and took the
coach, and within minutes she fell asleep. Max tapped Xander; his face still buried on a book and realized that the
boy was already asleep. Anya and Willow
already excused themselves a couple of hours ago to go home and return that
night. Max then looked at Richard and
didn't have to guess at what the young man was thinking.
"You're worried about your
friend, huh?" He asked. "I understand."
Todd just nodded and glanced at
Buffy's sleeping form. "In some ways,
the slayer reminds me of her. She's
almost just as strong, and yet also compassionate. I don't want anything to happen to her - or to anyone else, for
that matter while I'm around. Don't
know what'd I'd do if I ever lost more people I call my friends."
"Then get some rest." Max said. "We all need to be refreshed to face that thing whether we find a way to
beat it or not." He took the rug on the
floor next to the slayer and lay down, but not before he tucked in Xander and
Buffy. Noticing that Todd had not
moved, he glanced back up at the enigma before him.
"You go ahead." Richard said, as he headed towards the
door. "I'll keep Christine company and
be back by nightfall." Max grunted and
sighed as the man closed the door behind him. Summoning a little psychokinetic talent, Max locked the door from where
he lay before he closed his eyes and fell asleep himself.
------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Richard returned to
Christine's home and peered into her room. His saw his friend still sleeping and smiled. He re-checked the energy ward he erected and then went to the
guestroom and got ready for bed. His
eyes closed, but total sleep eluded him. The reason became clear when Morpheus: Lord of Dreams entered his
slumbering mind.
"Funny," Todd said, charging up
energy. "How'd you get past the ward I
put up."
"That is because it is on
the physical realm. Allow me to
introduce myself, I am Morpheus." The
dream lord answered. "You of all people
should know by now that I only manifest myself whenever someone is asleep, or
when there is such dire need as to physically manifest into the mortal
plane. My brother, on the other hand,
only appears when someone is ready to leave the mortal realm."
"Death." Todd whispered, piecing the puzzle of the
blade's origins. "Now I know why that
creature's blade looked vaguely familiar. I take it that it has the same properties as Death's scythe?"
"Yes," Morpheus replied, anger
showing in his velvet voice. "Unfortunately, it hasn't just the properties of the scythe - it IS the
scythe itself! That wretched thing
stole my brother's weapon and corrupted its use!!"
"What? HOW!"
"It seems that while my brother
was attending to a client, the beast appeared from out of the soul he was
drawing from the dying that it was able to snag into his cloak and wrench it
from him." Morpheus explained, his
demeanor all but calm. "Thanatos was
torn for that and is incapable of doing anything. He can still do his job, but his powers are slowly decaying -
turning into something akin to be unable to send a soul to its rightful
destination. You see, the scythe also
acts as a conduit to both sides and makes sure it protects the souls to make
sure it gets to wherever it has to go! Without it, all the souls he'll collect will spend eternity in limbo, or
worse!"
"Eh, shouldn't you be telling
this to the Eternal Champion instead of me?" Richard asked. "He's got more at
stake in this than I do. He was once a
warrior Archangel for crying out loud. I'm nothing but a cosmic oddity, a misfit who does not fit in with the
grand scheme of things. Does the
saying: "heaven doesn't want me and hell's afraid I'll take over" mean anything
to you? I have no destiny, no matter
what powers I have."
"Oh yes, you do." Morpheus shot back, "You are one of the
rarest creatures to be truly able to solely choose his own destiny. After your role in the grand scheme was
finished, you should've died and your life ended there, a noble and fitting
reward. But no, you had more power than
anyone gave you credit for - and most of those are powers that you've even
barely begun to learn using! You have
total power over yourself! To truly die
or live again at your own whim - can you not see the irony? You can make and remake your own destiny an
infinite number of times over! You have
total freedom, and with no side to choose from and no side to adhere to, you
are now truly your own creator and destroyer."
Richard was shocked! Could he really do that? "I'm not God."
"No one can be." Morpheus said, "That's why He's always number ONE. He gave you that choice just as He gives it to all His
children. You need only be responsible
to yourself, but I am here to appeal to your former humanity. Was it not one of your favorite characters
that said: "With great power, comes great responsibility"? I doubt he meant it in a selfish sense."
"Help us." The Dream Lord
said. "And help people like her -
thereby helping your self find your rightful place." He gestured and Christine's room immediately came into view in
the dreamscape around them.
"You want to give yourself a
purpose, a destiny? Then make the right
moral choice. You may not be attached
to either light or darkness. But the
decisions you make say otherwise. And only few can stay neutrally in the gray
for long." Morpheus then darkened the
dreamscape and the two were again alone. Richard said nothing but just looked at the being before him, his
thoughts jumbled. The Lord of Dreams
smiled, at least the young man listened - rarely had he had this honor to speak
to one with such power. He nodded at
Richard and walked away, saying: "Why
don't you sleep on it? I bid you sweet
dreams."
The world around Todd faded and
then he was truly asleep.
------------------------------------
Buffy awoke to the smell of
steaming coffee. She glanced at her
watch and was amazed to find it read five-thirty in the afternoon. She had slept the whole day? How? She stumbled towards the kitchen and found Max Quaylen cooking and
singing a tune she didn't recognize, which wasn't surprising - it was a folk
song from the eighth century from one of the Champion's many lifetimes. He glanced behind him and saw Buffy looking
on in amusement. He shared her grin and
gestured her to take a seat by the table. She followed his gaze and saw what looked like a huge banquet for more
than ten people.
She sat down and started digging
in from the plate offered to her, mouthing thanks.
"Eat up." Max said as he switched off the stove and
placed what he was cooking onto another dish and set it among the rest of the
food. "We're gonna have a full night
ahead and we've got to be ready with full bellies. I've already called the rest of your friends and Richard should
here any time soon."
Buffy stopped eating at the
mention of their enigmatic companion and asked. "Where'd he go? I thought
he was sleeping it off in one of Giles's guestrooms. Did he rent a motel nearby?"
"No," He replied. "He went to visit a friend of his that was
with us when this fracas started. He
said he'd be here around nightfall. Meanwhile,
while you guys slept, I woke up early and started through most of the books we
had yesterday. Giles's came in after a
few minutes of digging into the all stuff we got on monster lore. All we came up with was a blank wall. Heck, now I know how to disembowel most of
the trash than I did before. Even with
my memories of past lives and how I battled each fiend didn't come up with
answers as to how we can nail that sucker."
"Can't we just find some way to
nuke the guy without taking all of us out in the process?" Buffy inquired, telling him of the time she
and the Scooby Gang destroyed a blue demon with an anti-tank missile.
Max smiled, admiring her guts
during that time. "Nah, would be too
easy. We could try though. I just don't know anyone around who's a terrorist
with some nuke ammo for sale. Plus that
bastard can simply vanish before the missile could ever make a direct hit. If only we could restrain him from vanishing
so we could shove a tactical min-nuke down its throat. That is - if ever get
our hands on even one of those things."
"So who's willing to hold the
bloody creature while someone else takes aim?" Giles said from the kitchen door, coming in from running errands Quaylen
sent him on. "Champion, the rest of
your gear I got from your rented motel are now in the living room. I must admit; half of the things I saw in
your duffel bag are one-of-a-kind ancient weapons of mass destruction. I can even feel the power emanating from
some of them. However on earth did you
acquire them?"
Max looked thoughtful and was
about to speak when Giles suddenly raised his hand. "On second thought, knowing you, maybe I really don't want to
know."
A knock on the door signaled the
return of the rest of the Scooby Gang. A few hours later, everyone was accounted for except for Richard
Todd. Giles and Quaylen briefed
everyone on their part of trying to entrap the creature to the best of their
ability and that Max, Buffy, and Richard would be the ones leading the frontal
assault. Quaylen lent Buffy one of the
weapons from his potable arsenal, an enchanted sword blessed by Archangel
Michael - ironically dubbed "Demon Slayer" by the warrior angel himself. Buffy looked pleased with herself until she
saw Quaylen materialize a golden flaming sword out of thin air and introduced
them to his own angelic blade - a part of the sword of fire which surrounds the
fabled Garden of Eden. Giles was
astounded to find out that the blade was also sentient; the sword shocked him
even more when it thanked him for the compliment.
"We can't wait any longer." The Eternal Champion said, after the
briefing. "We've got to find that thing
before it could kill more of those innocent out there. Let's leave a note so Richard may be able
to….."
He never got the chance to finish
what he was saying when the front door burst open, and a grief-stricken Richard
Todd just stood outside. Buffy and
Giles rushed over before the young man could collapse, hearing him mutter:
"They're gone, its all my fault!" over and over again. They laid him on the couch and Willow got
some water from the kitchen. Xander
gave Buffy some pillows to put under Todd's head as he lay in a daze. Max started for the man and asked what had
transpired. Richard told them what he
saw.
------------------------------------
Richard woke up an hour later,
feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Over
the years, his body chemistry had evolved so much that he only required an hour
of sleep every now and then to re-charge. Looking in on Christine's room: satisfied that nothing had been
disturbed, he set out to cook himself some breakfast. After calling in on Angel, he left word that he would be there
shortly. A couple of hours later, he
was already at the hotel the vampire was converting into their new base of
operations. Gingerly, he knocked on the
frail looking door, expecting the thing to fall any moment. A young black man with eyes that had seen a
world of hurt and more greeted him. Richard knew that look before; he saw them every time he looked at a
mirror.
"You Richard Todd?" The man asked, even though he was already
made aware of what he would look like. Todd simply nodded, shook his hands and asked to speak to Angel.
"Sure, man." He replied, "The dude's upstairs doing some repairs. Just be careful coz some of the floors may give a groan. The place IS old you know, like the door you
were about to knock over." Todd smiled
at that little joke. He liked Angel's
taste in friends - brash, smart, and full of courage. Thanking the man, he walked up the steps and noted that Wesley
was by the other end - repainting the back wall. He shrugged, since he didn't see Ms Chase, he surmised she must
be with Angel upstairs. A dozen wicked
comments went through his mind at the implications of such trains of thought
and noticed they would look cute as a couple. Musing on this, he found Angel and Cordy on the fourth floor, tearing
down some old wallpaper. Beside them
were trash bags full of the same wallpaper from the upper floors; he guessed
they must've been working their way down. They would have continued until Richard cleared his throat to announce
his presence. Cordy gave a little yelp
and Angel jumped at the sound of the stranger. They both turned to find Richard grinning at them like a Cheshire
cat. Angel looked annoyed, but glad he
was here.
"Took you long enough." He said, once Cordy calmed down and
introductions were made.
"I know you guys are kinda busy
and all, but I was wondering if you like to join us tonight in hunting the
creature before it strikes again."
Angel nodded, "I'm in. I was just doing some remodeling to pass up
the time. As for the research, we've
got more or less than what you and the others have. Wesley's down there with Gunn and will give you the notes later
to give to the others. I wish there was
more we can do."
"Thanks, but I guess since that
thing's too old and maybe too smart - it must've already done away with those
that once knew of its certain weaknesses. But I have a few things under my sleeves that might even things out a
bit."
"No doubt….." Angel said and then both men turned as Cordy
suffered another vision. Angel was
already getting used to this, and since it was Richard's first time to see her
like this - he reacted as if an attack was coming. He immediately assumed a battle stance and looked left and right
for any assailant, only then realizing Ms Chase's condition - she was a seer.
When the vision subsided, Angel
wrote down the impressions Cordelia received. She said she saw two people being overshadowed by a third, larger
shadow. An Inhuman laughter and the scent
of rotting flesh filled her sense. Blood was flying everywhere. Unlike most other visions she had, she was able to describe the victims
clearly before they went down. Richard's blood ran cold when the description matched those of Gail and
Barton Cheswick! He swore, then
vanished in a flash of light.
Angel looked up to find himself
all alone with Cordelia. From Richard's
muttered curse, he'd say things have just gone from bad to worse. And he had a feeling that tonight, things
will come to a head.
------------------------------------
Richard rushed to Gail's apartment only to find several police cruisers already there. His little fantasy that they were just here for protection when he saw a four pairs of rescue teams wheel two blood-covered gurneys out of the house. Giving a shout of despair, he shoved a few of the officers standing guard behind the erected cordon aside and ran towards the gurneys. Several policemen gave chase until they saw exactly where he was going. Shaking their heads in sympathy, they let him go. He got to one and pulled open the bloodstained sheets to reveal a badly mangled Barton Cheswick, he went to the other and saw how Gail looked. Seeing his friend gutted like some cheap piece of meat was the last straw in his mortal sanity. As if on autopilot, he studied the body and took notice of the missing body parts and realized that the left hand's finger with the engagement ring was also missing. Commissioner Fortuna led Todd away, asking if he knew any next of kin to contact. Richard blankly rattled a few names and told the Fortuna to look inside the house for Gail's address book for the complete list of kin. The commissioner saw the devastation in the young man's eye, he then remembered about another officer who was missing since yesterday.
"Have you seen Detective
Cherolton?" he asked, "She hasn't reported today and I was
wondering if she was all right."
Todd lied that Christine was
feeling a little sick and decided to take a day off since the events got to her
more than it should. Fortuna nodded his
understanding; this case was also getting on his nerves. It was close enough to the truth anyhow
without telling the man she nearly died from the very same cause that killed
Gail and Barton.
"You'd best go home, son." Fortuna said, guiding him out of the cordon
and escorted him to one of the police cruisers. He motioned to one of his men. "Sergeant, please escort this young man safely home - or to wherever it
is he wants to go. Relax, son, the ride
is on us - and we're sorry about your friends. We're doing all we can, just take care of yourself and be safe."
------------------------------------
"I asked the sergeant to drive me
all the way here." Richard finished,
his eyes regaining some semblance of emotion showing through. He looked at them and his gaze hardened to
crystallized glares, his voice cold as ice. "Let's finish this tonight or die trying."
"Isn't that too strong a
word?" Xander said, which got him
glares from the rest of the group. "Hey! I'm trying to lighten the
mood here!"
It was Giles who spoke up
first. "Richard's right. One way or another, that menace has got to
be stopped tonight. The death toll has
risen enough and I feel guilty enough as it is since we haven't gotten much on
how to destroy it."
"Call Angel." Buffy said, head turned to face her
Watcher. "We're going to need all the
help we can get to stop that thing out there. Between Willow, and Giles; they may have enough mystic energy to be able
to trap the thing temporarily with a spell or two. At least enough time for us to try and kill it."
Max agreed; the plan they have of
subduing the creature might work if they pooled all of their resources together
- no matter how or why - the all have a slim chance of stopping it or die
trying. Max wondered if Richard was up
to it, but he could already see the cold determination in the young man's
eyes. Quaylen could almost swear he saw
electric lightning hiding behind those eyes, and that unnerved the former
Archangel. He prayed he never got the
receiving end of those glares, and was thankful to the lad for being on their
side. His hope that everyone would get
out of this alive went up a notch. He
also hoped none of them will be too traumatized by the events that were about to
follow. He offered up to heaven a
silent prayer of protection, nodded towards them all, and led them to war.
------------------------------------
The battle started easily enough - or was it "the chase", it didn't take a genius to figure out where the screams were coming from as they passed by a deserted part of downtown Los Angeles. Catching up to it was another matter. Giles's car wasn't exactly that fast, but thanks to a bit of a psionic push from one of Max's angelic spells; the car got faster. Everyone inside hung on for dear life as Max gunned the car way past the speed limit.
Richard was used to these speeds
but he noticed Buffy looking green as the speed gauge went past
one-twenty. Giving Buffy a pat one the
shoulder, he handed her a small pill to swallow. She grabbed the pill and shoved it down with a huge effort, later
she was rewarded with the feeling of ease and calm. She gazed at Todd, wide eyed.
"What was in that?" She asked Richard.
"You don't want to know, at least
you're not car sick anymore."
"Bag
the banter, kids!" Max yelled from the front seat,
keeping his eyes on the fleeing monster. He wondered for perhaps the hundredth time since they caught sight of it
why it didn't just disappear, as it usually did. "I'm driving here! Pipe
down, and relax! Make sure you're
seatbelts are fastened and enjoy the ride!!"
"If this is your sense of humor,"
Richard quipped. "Then I really hate to
see you go crazy."
"Nag! Nag!" Max howled with
glee, enjoying the hunt in earnest.
------------------------------------
Deciding that merely a few measly
victims weren't enough, the creature orchestrated a bloody massacre. Entering a neighborhood between rival
gangs, it picked them off in droves. The first few didn't even have time to scream, but when they noticed
blood flying everywhere while some maniacal demon with a scythe filleted them;
they started a chorus of stampedes. Fortunately for them; Max, Richard, and Buffy were passing through the
area when they screamed. As it was, it
started the chase from there into the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Crowing with inhuman joy, the monster tore
through the rooftops and deliberately led its pursuers to its new home. Tonight will be the feast to end all
feasts. Looking down, the creature once
again felt the stirrings of something it cannot recognize. The only other being dangerous enough to it
was near. It sniffed the air and
realized the faint scent of a former angelic warrior. So, the "man" brought along the Eternal Champion - it sniffed
again, and smiled - including the infamous "Slayer". Well, well…. It will dine upon rich blood and souls indeed! Upon looking beyond the people following it,
it was surprised to notice another vehicle joining the chase. From the newcomer: it sensed one of the
living dead, two white mages, a reincarnated enchanter, a young human male with
the most naïve of souls, and a former vengeance demon. Wonders! Taking that soul along with such powers would satiate it for a century!
It stopped before a familiar
vacated high-rise and turned to glare at its quarry, then proceeded to blur and
fade into the building. It settled on
the roof - about fifty floors up - and waited.
------------------------------------
Buffy felt the seatbelt tighten
and hold as Max slammed on the brakes of Giles's car. Hearing another set of wheels screaming to a halt beside them,
she was surprised to see Angel - along with Willow, Giles, Tara, Anya and
Xander in tow - join them. It was
amazing at how they were all crammed into Angel's prized Cadillac. The vampire with a soul immediately leaped
from his black caddy and brandished a broadsword before him. Max was already out and running towards the
building. Todd waited until the girl
got out and nodded a greeting towards Angel. Buffy looked on, eyes meeting Angel's and smiled.
"Glad you guys could join us, I
was getting worried." Richard
said, "Let's go and get this over
with!" He gestured at Quaylen, who was
holding the door open for them as they ran past.
"Giles; you, Xander, Anya, Tara
and Willow set up a warding spell around the area. It wouldn't hurt adding an enhancement spell on Buffy to beef up
her enhanced strength and stamina - she'll need it for what's coming!" Angel shouted behind him as he ran with the
others waiting in the elevator. Giles
replied a hasty affirmative and got them busy as they were left in the lobby to
start the workings of the spell.
The tension inside the confines
of the elevator was palpable. Neither
one of them said a word until the power went out. Someone grunted and Quaylen lit a match. Max asked everyone to stay still and
searched for the roof panel. Quickly opening
it, he urged them upwards the shaft and they started climbing. Upon reaching the next floor, he jimmied the
elevator doors open and led them out into a darkened hallway.
"How far up are we?" Buffy whispered, straining to see in almost
pitch-blackness. "Last I know before
the power blew, we were around the thirty-sixth floor."
"Best guess would be the
thirty-ninth, we had to climb two floors up before we got to a door I could
easily open." Max said, lighting
another match and muttered a spell. With that done, the match floated on air and never burned out. Angel looked warily at it and asked how he
did it. "It's a simple spell,
really." Max said, his eyes searching
the vampire's. "Comes in handy for
someone who's lazy enough not to own a flashlight. C'mon, we still have to take the stairs up to the roof where we
saw the thing go to."
"Didn't you find it odd it didn't
vanish while we were chasing it?" Richard spoke, finding the emergency stairwell doors and broke the lock
to let them in - gesturing for the floating match and Angel to go first, then
Buffy second. Max, who brought up the
rear, agreed. "As if it wanted us to
follow it." Max mused as they all took
the steps three at a time, conserving energy for the coming battle above. "Smells like a trap to me."
"Bet it was surprised to find out
our numbers grew." Buffy said, keeping
up with the men on the way up as they took the lead. "But it still feels weird to see the thing! Reminds me of the time I fought Dracula,
that thing vanished like he did."
Angel's eyes went wide at the
mention of Vlad's name. "You met the
Impaler? I'm impressed, he usually
doesn't like to let people live after they get to know him."
Buffy's eyes rolled at her former
boyfriend's surprise. "Oh
puh-lease! That guy has the worst
fashion sense in the world!"
"Yeah." Max remembered the vampire "prince". "Too bad you can't kill him. Heard he had his heart and other vital organic weaknesses removed by
enchantments even I don't remember. So
you can't just ordinarily stake, behead, burn, or flush him with holy
water. You can stall him or temporarily
stop him, but that won't totally do him in unless you reunite him with his
missing pieces. And unlike Angel there,
he has full command of both his human and demonic souls. Hell, that bloodsucker's still the worst
vamp there is - even the rest of the vampire population respect and fear him."
"Quiet." Angel shushed him, he pointed beyond the
door with his sword and putting on his game face. "We're here."
"About time!" Buffy said, feeling the spell their friends
below begin to work on enhancing her already enhanced strength, speed, and
stamina. The Slayer was ready. Bringing her own enchanted sword to bear,
her face fell into a deep look of adamantine resolve.
Max uttered the spell of change
and his own sentient sword appeared before him, golden flame illuminating the
darkness of the stairwell. He also took
on a golden hue, manifesting his angelic warrior soul. The vampire had to look away, knowing his
former demonic nature would retch at such a sight.
The most unusual thing that
happened was the way Richard looked. Gone
was the gentle and quiet look the man had exuded since they met and was now
crackling with miniature lightning all over his body. His hands and eyes took on a bluish glow of pure energy. Awed, Quaylen and Buffy watched and heard
him as his voice seem to come from everywhere and nowhere - everyone there,
with the exception of the vampire; wondered exactly what the being who had
called himself "Richard Todd" was. He
uttered but two words: "Let's go!"
Behind the door, the beast
waited.
------------------------------------
The creature watched as the door
towards the stairwell explode outwards, amused at such theatrics. "Come, my pretties!" It cajoled. "Come and meet your end! I am
your alpha's omega!"
The heroes burst forth from the
shattered doorway and quickly surrounded the snarling beast. Seeing it up close, they found it never
really bore a passing resemblance to the artist's depiction of Grendel in the
Beowulf legend - the general outlines fit the bill to a "T" - but calling it
grotesque was downright polite. A
ridged, bony frame formed the thing's torso and lower body. Spikes rose from behind, ending in a
prehensile tail - which was also encased with a bony exoskeleton. Long arms and hideous claws gave it an
almost ape-like appearance, while its legs seemed to have been carved of solid
granite. The face itself could win "The
World's Ugliest Bastard Award" hands down! What posed for eyes seemed right out of the "Aliens" movies - two sets
of jaws with long jagged teeth gave it a demented, clownish appearance and
complete with dripping venomous acid. Not one there knew where the neck and jaws began and ended. From the look of it, they could've sworn it
was laughing!
It reached out a hand into the
air and a long black scythe appeared. It
grunted and hissed at them. It let out
a low rumbling laugh and let them encircle it.
As one, they tried attacking the
creature from all corners. In response,
the thing raised its stolen weapon and slammed it down onto the floor. Immediately, the entire building was shaking
down through the very foundations. Off
balance, the four tried to stay firm - but the enemy wouldn't give them a
minute's notice, swinging the scythe outwards, the beast hit Quaylen broadside
and sent him reeling almost to the edge of the building. Buffy was no worse for the wear but was
almost thrown off as she barely ducked in time as the weapon went her way.
Meanwhile, Angel was having a
little luck on his own as he managed to hit the creature with his
broadsword. The impact sent sparks
flying from the bony exoskeleton without any sign of being hit at all. Noticing an opening between some of the bony
protrusions, he stabbed selectively and was satisfied when he ducked as a spray
of black acid spewed forth and the beast gave a low hiss of pain. He shouted to the others to try his tactic
and was rewarded by a blow from the creature's tail. Slamming against the far wall, he fell, momentarily stunned - but
not out cold.
Quaylen regained his footing
after his near tumble over the edge and pressed forward, his sword singing
mayhem towards the creature. Having
heard Angel's shouted advice, he tactically probed and slashed at any opening
with his sentient sword every chance he got. The thing roared annoyance and backhanded him with the butt of the
scythe's handle. Richard caught Max as
he nearly flew off from the force of the impact and simultaneously fired a
volley of plasma energy straight at its eyes. However, the thing deflected it with the long flat blade and set its sight
on the Slayer as it was sneaking around towards it back.
Buffy never saw it, but rather
felt the tail suddenly rush up and send her clear through the wall and into the
next room. Dazed, she felt Angel's
hands helping her up and lead her back into the fray. Her eyes widened as she felt another tremor run through the
building, then she remembered her friends on the ground below and hoped they
were able to get out and run. She
almost wished she was with them, but she couldn't live with herself if this
didn't end tonight. She heard the
thing's low, mocking laugh and wanted nothing more than to silence it
forever. With renewed determination,
she rejoined the battle.
Knowing that the greatest threat
there was the being that hurled plasma and anti-matter bolts, the beast
summoned another tremor and hurled a concussive force blast outwards towards
him. And by pure luck, the rest of the
meddlesome insects were in line along with him. Thinking that the blast was meant for his comrades, Richard
created an energy bubble and shoved it outwards to his friends. In spite of Angel and Max's protests, they
were bodily thrown clear of the oncoming blast along with the Slayer - Buffy
cried out in anguish as she saw Todd get the full brunt of the impact.
The blast sent Richard and a good
part of the upper level with most of the two floors beneath him out onto the
night air. Richard cried out from the
pain and had no control as he and a several parts of the building fell down
towards the ground below with all the grace of a sledgehammer. His last thought as he slammed into the
ground was: how in hell was he going to pay the car rental bill from the
airport rent-a-car and return the damn over-priced BMW?
The media later swore the impact
on the ground created a crater twenty feet around the area on the morning news
- that and how a large building seemed to have accidentally gone down.
------------------------------------
Buffy's friends were already out
and running full tilt when the first tremor started. They were at a safe distance and saw the flashes of light coming
from near the roof of the building. The
expected battle was well under way and they were stunned when a second tremor
was felt. Xander let out a yell of
surprise and pointed upwards at what seemed like a good portion of the building
exploding outwards and was now falling towards them. Scrambling for cover, they heard a distant voice screaming for
them to get out of the way. That was
when they felt a sharp wind pick them up and hurl them away from the oncoming
debris. Willow screamed as she saw
Richard hit the ground with several tons of concrete and building framework
fall right on top of him.
"My God!" Giles exclaimed, watching helplessly as the
young man was killed. "By all that is
holy, please help them."
------------------------------------
Buffy shouted with despair as she
saw Richard fall to his death. "Bastard!" She screamed in anger
at the creature that had done the deed, laughed much harder now. Her companions essayed the same sentiments
and redoubled their efforts in bringing it down.
Quaylen let loose with angelic
spells which stopped the creature from laughing any further as it howled in
pain from such an unexpected attack.
"So, the Eternal Champion does
possess the abilities granted!" The
thing muttered to their surprise. "It
seems I have underestimated you kind's tenacity. And for that, you insufferable maggots - you and all of this
planet will PAY!"
It howled once more and swung the
scythe in an arc that had them all backing away. Buffy deflected most of the blows coming her way and was dismayed
as she noticed her enchanted sword become duller with each parry. Didn't the Archangel Michael enchant this
sword?
"What is that thing made of
anyhow?" She asked in desperation,
blocking another random swipe.
"I don't know." Quaylen shouted back, his sword having zero
effect on the blade either, decided looking for weak spots between its
exoskeleton again. "But something tells
me that I think I may have an idea whom that blade really belongs to, and if my
hunch is right - we're all in deep shit!"
"How so?" Angel asked from his side of the room,
dodging the beast's spiked tail as it came for him. He rolled and blocked an oncoming blade swipe.
"Ever heard of a certain guy in a
black robe with a hood in bones and all, riding a pale horse?" Max shot back, stabbing at an unprotected
flank and ducked as the thing's claws tore through his coat.
"C'mon!" Yelled Buffy, blocking one last time as her
sword gave out and broke from the next impact. Dropping the useless hilt, she ran for cover by Max's side. "A lot of vampires, demons and ghouls fill
that description! Just what the hell
are you getting at?"
"Only one of them "ghouls" as you
put it, visit you when you're about to die." Quaylen answered, handing her his angelic blade and cut loose with his
own brand of energy -Angelfire!
"Death?!" Angel said, putting all the pieces
together. "You mean that thing is
holding Death's scythe?! How the hell
did that thing steal it?"
"Yeah, its Death's all
right! And I don't know how that sucker
got the damned thing." Max
replied. "Add that with its own power
and the power that monster absorbed from the Hellmouth - then you've got one
mean ugly neigh invincible S.O.B."
Angel deflected another blow from
the scythe and began backing up, noticing that the blade also ate the enchanted
energy of his own sword and frantically looked around for an opening to strike
while there was still power left in his sword. With power almost gone, he quickly aimed and threw. The sword buried itself somewhere by the
creature's supposed abdominal area, spraying black acid as it struck. The creature howled and lashed its tail
towards the vampire. Seeing that
retreat was the better part of valor, Angel back flipped and landed behind
Quaylen.
"Got any more swords handy?" He asked the Eternal Champion as he landed.
"You wish!" Max answered. "I just gave mine to Buffy. Ah, hell! Here!" Reaching into the folds of his torn
overcoat, he brought out a sawed off twelve gauge shotgun and handed it to
Angel.
"What good is this?" The vampire asked.
"Enchanted with pure Hellfire
bullets." He replied. "Got that idea from a comic book called "Ghost
Rider" - kicks demonic ass real good. Plus the bullets are infinite, so you won't run short of supply."
Angel fired off a few shots and
was rewarded with loud retorts of ear-shattering booms along with new howls
from the creature.
Buffy, for her part, was too busy
stabbing at openings whenever she could at the direction of the sentient blade
to notice until the sword told her to dive for cover as her former vampire
boyfriend opened fire with the shotgun.
The air was suddenly filled with
smoke that they stopped fighting and regrouped by the destroyed stairwell
doors.
"Did we get him?" She asked, coughing as the smoke enshrouded
them for a moment.
"I don't know." Angel said, appearing at her side. "Max! Where are you?!"
"Here, sport." Quaylen answered through the smoke. "And don't ask me, that thing just stopped
yelling as soon as this blamed smoke engulfed us."
Gradually, the smoke began to
clear and they saw the creature hunched over near the far side of the
building. They moved towards it and
halted when it suddenly reared up and the smoke cleared all of the sudden. To their shock, the thing had now increased
its stature by a factor of five. They
could see fire coming from within its double jaws and the bony spikes around
its body seemed a lot jagged than before. Plus it wasn't laughing any longer. In fact, it was growling.
"I think its mad now." Buffy said, her voice sounding tiny.
The sudden explosion of anger and
ancient energy blew them off the roof.
------------------------------------
Darkness.
Everlasting pain.
"I want to die" - was all Richard
ever thought of now. Please let the
pain and torment end. I can't go on
anymore, not knowing what I am. Everyone's
dying because of me, he thought. I
can't even protect them when I try. So
what's the use? Better to end it all
and quit now. He was nothing!
Richard didn't know if he was in
heaven or in hell. He opened his eyes
and noticed a small figure in front of him carrying a candle. To his surprise, he saw that it was a miniature
skeleton wearing a black robe!
"I must have gone insane or I
must be dreaming." He muttered.
"No." The fleshless skull answered. "On the contrary, you're still alive. Its not everyday that I can converse with someone who is among those out
of my reach, even in his given condition."
"Whadyameanbythat?" Todd slurred as he took stock of his
predicament, his horror mounted at what he found. He felt his right arm and hand crushed and twisted by the huge
chunk of wall by his side. He also felt
that his throat was run through with part of the building framework. Lowering his chin confirmed that a rebar had
indeed entered from the back of his neck and go through his Adam's apple - and
he was surprised he can still talk! He
tried moving his other arm and found that it was dislocated and large pieces of
glass had mangled his muscles there - cutting them to ribbons. Trying to get a feel for his legs, he found
out that another rebar had punctured his spine at an angle that paralyzed his
lower body half. He couldn't feel
anything at all from the waist down. Scrutinizing himself, he found out more that his right leg was amputated
and that the left was totally smashed and broken in eight places!
Why was he still alive?!
"Idiot!" Said Death, shaking its head at the
horrified being in front of him. "Haven't you heard what my brother told you? Do you not remember what you have become? Surely, you've died before - or do you think
that it was a dream? Have you not the
power?"
"I'M HUMAN!" Richard answered vehemently.
"Aye!" Death lifted up the candle and stared its eyeless skull towards
the man's face. "Inside your spirit you
be - but no longer are you part of the race or of the universe that spawned
you. But remember the things you can do
when you were changed. - Remember how
INHUMAN you have become."
Richard was mute with anger,
staring the shrunken personification of death down; he said nothing.
"Its time to choose who you truly
are from here on." Death
continued. "You may be the Universal
Wildcard, but you can no longer stand by irresponsibly. Joining the battle today has decided your
camp. So choose now - or forever be a
coward! I know not for what slighted
reason you were chosen to be given such power, but to see it given to a selfish
fool was not one of its list of prerequisites!" It blew the candle out and left the man alone in darkness.
After a moment of reassessing his
thoughts, he stopped moping and evaluated his life. Granted that it wasn't exactly the most sterling existence
anybody had, it was his life - all good and bad parts of it. He thought about all the people and the
lives he touched and had touched him. -
Taught him. - Became his friends. - Became his "family". He remembered his promise to a few that he
needed to keep. He remembered the
Champion, how ready to die for the ideals of righteousness and peace. He remembered the vampire with a human soul
- how driven to atone for all of his sins. He remembered the Slayer, how thrust into a world not of her choosing -
but fighting the darkness alongside with her friends so that others may have a
life. And then he remembered
Christine, in doing so - he also
remembered those friends who had died and who will die if he stood by and did
nothing.
Morpheus said he and only he had
that rare ability to truly choose an infinite number of destinies for
himself. But would he have to give up
that part of him that still made him human? His mind once again drifted to remembering all those before him and what
they meant to him and the whole world.
Then he remembered the creature.
And that got him angry.
So he chose.
------------------------------------
"Hang on!" Quaylen yelled as he hung over side of the
building. The blast sent them over the
edge. Luckily, he was able to grab hold
of the ledge and snag Angel's hands as he sailed past. Angel in turn grabbed Buffy as she fell with
them. Now all three were hooked like a
chain with straining links.
The creature towered above them
and enjoyed their predicament. "Such
puny insects you are. And you call
yourselves guardians against the darkness? HAH! So who will help you
now? How pathetic!"
The thing flicked its spiked tail
and dislodged them from the ledge. With
cries of despair: Max, Angel, and Buffy fell from the roof for real.
------------------------------------
Below, the Slayerettes saw the
explosion and witnessed how their friends were now dangling from the
ledge. Then they noticed the creature
towering over them and flicked its tail, sending them to oblivion. Giles wailed in horror at his Slayer, while
Xander and the rest of the girls screamed and fainted.
Then another tremor shook the
earth, this time emanating from the debris that buried Richard Todd. Then an explosion of light and thunder fell
on the place as something violently erupted from under the debris and flew
heavenward, glowing like a fiery comet.
Giles mumbled incoherently and
lost consciousness then.
------------------------------------
Buffy screamed. Later she would wonder why her life didn't
flash before her, but would oddly remember how embarrassed she was at being
caught unawares. For Max, however, he
prayed for the chance to come back and get even with the beast - all the while,
straining to use the last of his energy to create a levitation spell to save
them all. Angel was more surprised to
find he was thinking of Cordelia rather than of Buffy - on what was supposedly
his last minute on earth.
------------------------------------
Then suddenly, Buffy felt strong
arms encircle her and bore her up. Surprised, she also noticed an energy bubble envelope Max and
Angel. She turned to get a better look
at her rescuer and gasped. For a face,
all it had were a pair of glowing eyes - but with no irises and no mouth. It seemed as if his entire face was made out
of pliable metal. She started thinking
T-1000 from the terminator, but something about the glowing eyes seemed
familiar. Slightly huge eyebrow ridges
formed above the eyes and surrounded its face with a pitch-black reflective
sheen. The rest of the head seemed
glossy with the color of blood. Black
clad gauntleted arms wrapped themselves around her gently. The head swiveled to see if her companions
were okay, Buffy couldn't help but noticed the dumbfounded stares the Champion
and the vampire were giving her rescuer.
"Are you guys all right?" The
being's voice resonated in the air around them, affecting an air of gentleness
and concern. It sounded familiar.
"Who…?" Buffy asked, then she took a guess. "Richard?"
"The not so very same person in
the cosmic flesh." The being
replied, "But in this form I am known
as "Ja'Redd", loosely translated to in some obscure alien language, that means:
"The Protector" or "The Destroyer" - whichever you prefer. However some have called me the "The Cosmic
Protector"."
"How?" Quaylen asked when they touched down on the ground. "I sorta knew you had power, but I never
knew you were the one most of the Hosts and Demons were scared of more than
me. Hell, what made you decide to fight
amongst the proverbial angels now? I
can't believe I'm talking to the ultimate wildcard!"
"Later." Ja'Redd said, gently putting down the Slayer
and made sure his friends were okay. "There's some unfinished business to attend to, and "Grendel"
needs to be put in its place before this becomes a bloodbath for everyone
else."
"But…" Buffy started, but wasn't
able to finish when he shot upwards again - this time, making a beeline for the
waiting menace.
Flashes of light and sounds were
exchanged above and soon, they saw them take to the air and slam back into the
building moments later after a series of trading energy volleys at each
other. The resulting impact shook the
high-rise through its very core and caused the loudest, oddest implosion they
have had the experience of ever witnessing.
------------------------------------
The monster was entranced by such
a show of raw power. It wasn't exactly
expecting this from the being that blindsided it in their earlier scuffle to
fall to his demise and return from the grave. It seemed it had underestimated many things this night. No matter, it will be naught but a pittance
to stifle it.
"YOU!" Came the sudden, starling
angry shout from behind it. It was
stunned to say the least. It whirled to
face a wrathful being that actually gave it fear! Fear was unknown to it, so when faced with it - the effect was
like an aphrodisiac. At the being's
show of rage, the creature simply smiled. - Its double jaws opening wide,
giving it a very twisted feral grin when it perceived the true nature of the
creature that guised itself in human form.
"Ah, so you finally show your
true nature." It began, "I say this again, join me and this world
and countless others like it shall be yours. I don't just hunt here, you know."
"I don't need other worlds, this
is my home in my former life - and it will always be my home. The others, I protect from scum like you.
You've stolen something that doesn't belong to you, so surrender it now or
forever face the consequences for that action."
"Really? And who do you think you are? I have not survived the destruction of my
former reality just to be stared down by a young upstart like you. I am beyond petty rules to be at your
eternal mercy. I am beyond you!"
Ja'Redd was taken aback by that
revelation! No, it can't be? One of the ancient survivors is still
alive? Then that means the thing's
powers came from a different level entirely. Oh great, not another one of those. The last time he had a problem like that was facing one of his friend's
archenemy, he definitely didn't want another psycho like that hanging around
the universe. At least this thing has a
homicidal fetish for murder rather than grand designs on universal domination -
he stopped in mid-thought - whichever way, it was still evil no matter what it
said. This madness had to end.
The creature swung the stolen
deathscythe and called upon another concussive force blast. Ja'Redd easily dodged the attacks and fired
more powerful plasma bolts at it, which was deflected by the ebony blade
itself. Seeing no other choice, Ja'Redd
increased his energy output tenfold and blasted the creature off the building
and flew after it.
The battle continued in mid-air,
each one trying to seek purchase through the other's defenses. The creature marveled at Ja'Redd's powers,
they seemed to be getting stronger! It summoned all the power it possessed and
threw itself like an energized "bullet" towards Ja'Redd. Almost taken by surprise, he swerved just in
time and swung a fist, knocking the scythe out of its hands amid the creature's
surprise and followed through with an up close plasma blast to the face. Adding to the momentum, both plunged back
into the building; their headlong dive drove them straight down through the
first floor.
A hole in the fabric of reality
automatically opened; a skeletal arm reached out and reclaimed the falling
scythe and the hole closed once more as the arm withdrew. A soundless sigh filled the recently sealed
space.
------------------------------------
Ja'Redd pounded on the thing's
face and was suddenly thrown sideways by its prehensile tail. Not used to such weird close quarter combat,
the creature used whatever was at reach with a desperation it never knew it had
before. It reverted to its natural
power of absorption - the ability to take in other powers and abilities. Ja'Redd was beginning to get worried.
"I'm going to absorb your power,
and when I am through - I will be the most powerful entity in all of
creation. I will be a god!"
Ja'Redd's eye's widened! Just what he needed, ANOTHER overgrown
parasite - when will they ever learn? They all wanted a piece of the cosmic powers he had at his
disposal. Well, why not? It wanted his powers, right? He braced himself and funneled his powers
straight into the creature's guts.
Crowing with joy, the creature
was filling up on cosmic energy. Shades
of the past, future, and present swirled around it. New knowledge of the inner-workings of the universe lay open to
it. It wanted more! Ja'Redd nodded at the sensed request, he
made sure to overload the thing's power absorption.
With too much power playing
across in such a small space and in such an accelerated rate created a
miniature black hole that "imploded" the creature to pure atoms. Ja'Redd was at the center of ground zero and
tried his best to stop following in himself. But before the black hole closed, it also managed to unhinge the
building and it collapsed right on top of him.
His last thoughts before the
entire building fell around him was a very sheepish "Oops."
------------------------------------
When the dust settled, Buffy and
company started to call out through the debris.
Max shook his head, he still
could hardly believe Richard was able to survive his earlier fall - much less
this. But knowing it was not the same
as seeing. The man was a complete
enigma from the moment they met. He
never knew what the enigma was until this. Like the vampire and the others, he sifted through the remains of the
building. He had recovered his sword
earlier, it was hollering loudly at him in a dozen languages to get his butt
over to it and pick it up. Some things
never change even when the rest of the world already did an about face.
Giles pointed at the northern
part and they all saw dust, broken concrete and layers of twisted steel starting
to stir. They rushed carefully towards
it. Max brought his sword out to bear
and got ready in case the creature was still alive. A large section of a former wall rose, and fell over. It revealed a very disarrayed, and
embarrassed Richard Todd - back to his human self.
"I am sooo sorry about
knocking the building down." He said,
cheeks getting red. "I don't have that
much money and I'm sure I'll be working my butt off paying for the damn thing
for the rest of my life."
Quaylen and the others laughed. Hugs seemed to be the order of the day and
everybody hurried over to Angel's place and retired for the evening before the
police could arrive. A big early
breakfast was served the following morning and everybody compared notes on the
night's events.
Buffy and Angel were chatting in
a darkened corner and Giles and Wesley were also having a talk session. Max and Gunn were showing off different
weapons by the other end and the other girls were simply giggling at something
funny near the office. Richard smiled
as he found them all like this when he came down from one of Angel's guest
rooms. One big happy family, he
thought. Then he spotted something that
shouldn't be there, he saw Death and Morpheus by the center of the room and no
one seemed to notice. They went up to
him and essayed their thanks.
"See? I told you can do things once you put your mind to it." Morpheus said, smiling. "And don't worry, they all can't see us. Only those who we allow to can, remember?"
Richard nodded, and spoke out of
the corner of his mouth. "I'll try to
remember that more often." To Death, he
asked. "Were you able to get your
scythe back? I sorta knocked it out of
the thing's hands and lost sight of it as we fell through the building."
"Yes," Death replied, showing him
the weapon - neatly tucked and folded under a fold in his robes. "You have my eternal gratitude for that,
Ja'Redd. As the humans like to say: I owe you one, big time."
"Just call me "Richard" when I'm
not in my "cosmic" self." Richard grinned. "Ja'Redd's just a title I am better off
without. Just make sure that thing's
more theft-proof - or next time; I may not want to do you two a favor again."
The pair nodded and faded from
sight. He smiled again and joined his
newfound friends. He knew then that he
would stay back here for probably a long time. The dream lord mentioned that he could choose any destiny he wished, and
right now: he wished nothing more than to continue living. Life may have its ups and downs - not to
mention a few out of normal goings on - but it was still the place to be.
Max looked up from his talk with
Gunn and saw Richard approach them. "Had a nice nap? I heard having
buildings fall on you could really get you tired."
Richard reddened, he almost
forgot about that one. "Har, har. What's for breakfast?"
Buffy and Angel approached them
and she offered him her doughnut. "So
where to now, Mr. Power guy?" she asked. The rest of them joined her and the same question was etched on their
faces. Max chuckled; they asked him
that question as well early that morning when he cooked their breakfasts after
what happened last night. He told them
he still had to go back to the priest - the head general of The Order Of
Templar Knights, and notify him of how this mess ended - and maybe after that,
who knows? Maybe he would come back to
Los Angeles or to Sunnydale and help with the problems out here. It was too much of a good opportunity to pass
up in the long run. Skills like his
were needed in this unseen war against darkness.
"Well," Buffy asked again. "What's your answer."
Richard gathered his
thoughts. This is good, he
thought. Looks like I've already made
my choice last night. I guess I'll just
have to follow through and make it official. A chance to help people, and this time; he won't pass up on a destiny he
already chose to walk on. And like the
Eternal Champion, his own brand of skills will be needed to safeguard life -
not only here, but on worlds that needed his help from beings like the monster
they fought.
Everybody smiled when he said the
next words.
"I'm staying."
THE END………?