Merlin
Doctor Who
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Resurrection, Past Tense
(part 1)
"So, tell me again why we're going to some stuffy old museum instead of riding the eye and taking in the sights of good old blighty" said Xander Harris, as he dodged the splash from a puddle as a double decker moved past. It had been raining all night and most of the morning, and now the streets were littered with puddles, and people on their way, to and from places. If anything could be said for London, it was that it was fast and wet, and not in the nice way.
"The current curator contacted me two days ago, and asked if I wanted to see the priceless collection of supposed Arthurian artefacts that have recently been donated to the British Museum, before they go on show to the general public" Giles told him. "It should be fascinating, considering the legends that surround the stories" he added.
"But, wasn't King Arthur a myth?" asked Willow Rosenberg, as she stepped out of the way of a beefy looking man with an overly large trench coat.
"Supposedly, yes, but that is why this collection is so important, it pertains to have letters, weaponry and even jewellery that date back to the time of King Arthur, and the area they were found, a dig in Wales I believe, which has long been said to have been the location of Camelot, would mean, that if they are genuine, then King Arthur may well have been as real as you or I" Giles told her.
"Nifty" replied Willow, looking over at Buffy Summers. "well, if anything, Buffy gets to see all the old swords and stuff" she said brightly. Buffy looked over at them, and blinked.
"Sorry, swords? What?" she asked, having been clearly preoccupied. The other's of course could not blame her, for the past two weeks, strange disappearances had been taking place in the London Underground, and even though she had patrolled down there, she had come up with squat. And if there was one thing Buffy hated, it was questions with no answers. Of course Giles was in full research mode, but still, it was grating to be able to do something about it, but then not know who she would have to beat on to get it done, she sighed as she sidestepped a large 1960's police Box, glancing at a young man with bright eyes and dishevelled hair, he waved at her, before he closed the door, but then they were past him. A second later she felt Xander's hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, sooner or later we'll find out what's happening" Xander reassured her. "Then you can bring on the beatings and we can all go home for mucho pizza and too much soft drink" he added with a smile. Buffy, despite her mood, found herself smiling back. No doubt about it, Xander's enthusiasm was infectious.
"As long as I have pepperoni and tomato" she said, letting herself fall into the moment at last.
"Cheese and green peppers" added Willow.
"Anchovy and Olives" Giles called back, hearing the other three grimace. He chuckled to himself as they crossed the road, and passed the gates leading into the British museum.
The Doctor closed the door of the TARDIS, and looked around, he immediately knew he was in London, mainly because after he'd waved to the preoccupied looking girl, he'd had to dodge a splash from a puddle as a Black Taxi drove past. He shook his head, thinking maybe he should have brought a coat, but then shrugged, he had work to do, people to save. He'd been near the Zypeed nebula when he'd picked up a signal, being generated from London, November, 2011. It wasn't a distress signal, but it wasn't one he remembered Humans in general ever using. Stepping forwards, he held up his sonic screwdriver, the tip glowed as he waved it around, then looked at it. Nothing. Whatever was causing the signal wasn't currently active. With a sigh he looked around the street, nothing seemed out of place, at least, not at the moment. So he set off at a brisk pace, finding a small shop, he entered it, and went to the racks of Papers and magazines.
"Now let's see, Bella? Nope, Gardener's world? If only they knew… ahh!" he said picking up a paper from the bottom shelf. Underground Absence! Forty two people now missing the headline read. He scanned down the article, looking for something, when the shop owner, a portly Indian man in his fifties cleared his throat.
"I only want to read one bit" said the Doctor with a smile. The owner raised an eyebrow at him.
Paper in hand the Doctor left the shop, and read the article to himself. Apparently, over the last few weeks, people had begun to go missing whilst on the underground, Workers at night, and even people on empty carriages during the day. The police where of course, looking into it, but an investigation of the Northern Line, the tube line affected, had brought up no leads.
"yeti's?" muttered the Doctor guessing. Then he shook his head. He'd had his fair share of encounters on the London Underground, all by different enemies, truth be told, it could be anything down there. Pondering to himself, he carried on walking.
From the shadows Lord Silarax watched as the man reading the paper walked past the little alley where he stood with his small band of Vampire followers. One of them made to move forwards, but Silarax grabbed his arm.
"But I'm hungry" the Vampire protested.
"Feed here and now and I will kill you myself, there will be ample opportunity for that later, once we have completed our task" he told it.
"What's so special about this trinket you want anyway?" asked another of the Vampires, stepping forwards. Silarax turned his horned head towards him, letting go of the other Vampire.
"According to reports it is the supposed Amulet of Le Fay, a powerful witch from the time of King Arthur, and it is said that she imbued the Amulet with her essence, her power, before it was lost. If the stories are true then we can use it to bring the Slayer, her watcher and her followers to their knees before we take our rightful place as rulers of the world once again" he told them.
"Amulet of Le Fay? That sounds a bit pants actually" said the first Vampire. Silarax turned to face him, before grabbing him roughly.
"I would not expect someone like you to understand it's significance" he spat. "Do your job and you will be rewarded. Fail me and you will, surely, die" he hissed through sharpened teeth. The Vampire held up his hands and waved them about.
"Hey, you're the boss" it said, its feral yellow eyes glinting in the darkness.
"Yes.. I really am" Silarax said, dropping him to the ground. "We move in at nightfall" he said, turning around, looking at the Vampires. They nodded, and satisfied, he moved towards the back of the alley.
The Underground was an immense labyrinth of tracks, tunnels and small offshoots. And it was dark, the little orange lights situated every twenty five feet or so doing nothing to illuminate the general darkness of the tunnels. This section of it had been closed this weekend, so that upgrade works could be carried out, between the Elephant and Castle and Stockwell. But work was work, and in this day of high prices and low wages, one did what one could to get by. Even with the mysterious disappearances that had taken place of late.
"Hey, Brian! You sure the tracks been turned off here?" called his current companion in the darkness, a woman called Tess. Brian looked in the general direction of her voice, and saw her, well saw was too strong a word, as the darkness only showed an outline.
"Yep, turned it off myself!" he called back, "Why?"
"Nothing, just keep hearing sounds like a train coming up the tunnel" she explained.
"It's just the echo, you know they're on the next track over" he called back.
"Okay, if your sure" she replied, turning back to her job. Brian smiled and chuckled to himself, Tess was a newbie to the job, only two months, but he'd immediately taken to her. Not in a fanciful way, Brain was old enough to be her dad after all, no, in a big brotherly way. She was new yes, but unlike the other's who'd started, she was keen, strong willed and had a willingness to do the job at hand. Shaking his head, he turned back to the open junction box, and shining his torch waved the light in at the old wiring. He worked in silence for a few moments when he heard it. A sound like a piston pressing somewhere down the tunnel. He looked over to see that Tess was still working at her own junction box further down. He sighed and put the noise out of his mind.
"Trains, it's the trains" he told himself. But found himself quietly relieved when, a few moments later the sound ceased.
"BRIAN!" Tess's scream made him jump, and he cursed as he dropped the torch. Looking over towards where Tess had been working, he saw nothing, but her torch, rolling about on the floor. Apart from that, the tunnel was empty.
"Tess!" he called out, bending down to pick up the torch. There was no reply, but a moment later the piston sound began again, before it abruptly stopped. Slowly he reach out for the torch and picked it up. Standing he shone it down the tunnel. There was something there now. A man with some weird helmet on.
"You're not authorised to be down here!" he called out. The man in the helmet did not reply, but seemed to just stare at him. Brian, annoyed beyond fear now, stepped forwards.
"I said you're not meant to be here, now get lost before I call security!" he repeated, pulling a radio from his pocket. The man still did not move. Brian shook his head.
"Alright, you've had your fun, don't say I didn't warn you!" he called out. He went to press the button to connect, when a silver hand shot out from behind him and gripped his wrist tightly. It turned him around forcefully, and he found himself staring into a robotic face, devoid of emotion.
"What in god's name are you?" Brian whispered. The metal man pulled him closer, and looked him up and down.
"You will be upgraded" it replied, as it dragged Brian off into the darkness of the tunnels.
"Rupert, thank you for coming over so quickly" the Curator stood and grasped Giles's hand with a smile.
"With a chance to see possibly the most important Arthurian artefacts, how could I refuse?" he replied warmly.
"Indeed" the curator said nodding, he looked past Giles at the others. "And your friends?" he asked, glancing at them
"Oh, I do apologise, This is Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris, friends from my tenure in Sunnydale" he explained, as each gave an acknowledgment of some kind. "This is Robert Jones, curator of the British Museum" he told them. They smiled, nodded then went back to looking at some of the displays.
"Ahh, that would be the famous Slayer then?" asked the curator, causing Buffy to blink.
"Slayer?" she asked. Giles chuckled at her.
"Sorry, I should explain, Robert was a member of the Council of watchers, before it… got blown up" Giles explained.
"Ohh, your not a Quintin Travers fan are you?" asked Buffy, looking at him.
"Oh, not at all, that pompous… arrogant…. But I digress, you're here to see the artefact's, so see them you shall" Robert said with a smile, leading them away.
"Professor Jones I presume" muttered Xander in his best German accent, causing Willow to chuckle. Giles turned to glare at them, but Robert just turned back, smiling.
"I don't get around as much as he does, I'm afraid" he called back, causing the three young people to chuckle.
Robert led them up several staircases, and past various exhibits, until they entered a small door on the fourth floor. A stairway led down, and they walked down, emerging into a large room with packing crates and bits of foam protection all over the place.
"Sorry about the mess, cleaners day off" Robert said, leading them to several large crates at the back of the room. The group gathered around them as Robert opened the first one. It contained tarnished Armour, dented and battered, and what looked like a tabard, but was decomposed to shreds.
"Cool" said Xander looking in.
"Yes, very, but we have hundreds of items of armour here, so I have to admit I was a little disappointed at first, until I opened this crate" Robert told them, opening a second crate. They looked in, seeing yellowed parchment, bound in faded red ribbon. Gently Robert took one out and handed it to Giles, who opened it carefully.
"Well?" asked Willow as Giles looked at it. Giles blinked and looked at her.
"Intriguing, It starts out, 'My dearest Gaius' and goes on to explaining how this woman sent her son to this man, because of his talents" Giles said.
"What talents? Does it say?" asked Buffy, honestly interested.
"No, but it does say the boys name" he said with a smile.
"Let me Guess, Arthur" offered Xander. Giles shook his head.
"No, it's Merlin actually" he replied. Willow blinked and leant over Giles's shoulder to get a look.
"As in Merlin the magician?" she asked.
"It would appear so" Giles replied.
"So he was real. Neat" she said with a grin.
"And these have been carbon dated, these scrolls?" asked Xander, looking over at Robert. Giles shot him a look,. But then realised it was a very valid question.
"I'm glad you asked" said Robert pleased at Xander's question. "With the legend, the romance, that surrounds Arthur, it would be remiss to just accept these at face value" he agreed, picking another scroll up and handing it to Giles. "But they have been carbon dated, they are over a thousand years old" he said.
"It's amazing they survived in this condition" said Giles, reading the other scroll. This one was a declaration, a warning to people against the use of magic, under penalty of death by the King, Uther.
"Indeed, but they we're found locked away in chests found in catacombs beneath the dig site" said Robert, gesturing to the scrolls.
"Wow, this is beautiful" said Buffy suddenly. The group turned to her to see a beautiful jewel encrusted Amulet in her hands, the light glinting from it creating rainbow patterns on her face.
"ahhh, yes, that is the main piece, from the description in the legends, and its age, we believe it to be the amulet of Le Fay" Robert said with a smile. Buffy looked at him, nodded, then placed it back into the small crate it had been in. Robert opened up the last crate, weapons and the like.
"So, which ones Excalibur?" Xander asked, looking into it. Robert chuckled.
"That I'm afraid will have to remain a mystery-" Robert began, but was cut off as the door to the warehouse crashed open and several Vampires strode in, followed by a large, horned demon.
"Slayer…" it snarled.
"seriously, advertise it to everyone why don't ya?" said Buffy taking up a fighting stance. Willow and Xander doing the same. The Demon looked at her.
"I'll make this easy on you Slayer, give me the amulet and we'll leave, if not we wipe the floor with you, the red head and patchy" it offered.
"Hey, no name calling" Xander called back.
"You really don't want to mess with us" Willow added. "A Slayer, a witch and a kick ass carpenter and a watcher" she finished. The demon laughed, then looked at the Vampires.
"Kill them" it said, and the Vampires surged forwards.
Five minutes earlier….
The Doctor was sitting on a bench outside the now closed museum, using one of the lights that illuminated the building to read the paper he had bought. So engrossed was he didn't notice several figures climbing over the railing at the edge of the building. At first that was until he put the paper down and looked around, catching sight as they vanished around the side.
"Hello" he muttered, standing up. Slowly he moved to follow them, and reached the end of the wall, peering around to see the fire exit closing. He was pretty sure it wasn't normal to open a fire exit without the alarm going off, but then the feral features of the people he had glimpsed, told him that these weren't ordinary humans, if they were human at all. Cautiously he moved forwards, and after waiting a few moments opened the door. A stairway went down into a small corridor, which he quietly followed around, before hearing a crash, he tiptoed forwards, and poked his head around the corner.
"- easy on you Slayer, give me the amulet and we'll leave, if not we wipe the floor with you, the red head and patchy" a big horned thing was saying.
"Hey, no name calling" the man with the eye patch, he'd seen them earlier, when he was locking the TARDIS.
"You really don't want to mess with us" the Red head added. "A Slayer, a witch and a kick ass carpenter and a watcher" she finished. The horned creature laughed, then looked at its cohorts.
"Kill them" it said, and the not-humans ran forwards. The doctor watched as the blonde haired girl kicked out into a jump kick which sent one of the men reeling into a wooden crate, the doctor winced as it was impaled through the back, then blinked when it crumbled to dust.
"No… it can't be" he muttered to himself, when he felt a hand grab his shoulder, and push him roughly forwards. He fell to the floor in the middle of the room, the fight fell apart as everyone turned to look at him.
"Hey boss, got us a spy" said the Vampire who had grabbed and pushed him.
"Who are you?" demanded the Horned creature.
"Me? I'm the Doctor, you can call me… well the Doctor" he said looking around.
"How'd you get in here?" demanded one of the Vampires.
"Ahh that, well you see, I saw you lot climbing the fence, not that there's anything wrong with that, keeps you fit it does, climbing fences, but fences around museums? Not the act of law abiding citizens, of which, now I see you, your most probably not" he explained. "Oh and the opened fire exit, with no fire alarm going off, a mystery, and I can't have that, hate mystery's" the doctor babbled.
"Kill them, kill them all" the horned thing snarled. The Doctor backed up, between the blonde and the red head, and stood.
"Hi" he offered, but the blonde woman shoved him behind her as the Vampires began to attack again, while horny went for the crates.
"Buffy! The amulet!" Giles called out, as the demon began to sift through the crates.
"Kinda busy here Giles!" Buffy called back as she delivered a particularly nasty kick to the nearest Vampires head. It snapped back, and staggered, before charging at her, but was stopped as its eyes went wide, a piece of wood jutting from its chest. Buffy looked around and saw the Doctor pulling another piece of wood from a crate and handed it to her.
"So Vampires" he said to her. She took the offered wood and nodded.
"Yep, Vamps" she replied, "nice shot by the way"
"Thanks, I was the champion archer in the Sirrius five tournament" he replied. Buffy raised an eyebrow, but let it pass. A moment later, another vampire was dust, this one from the redhead. Behind the vamps, the horned creature roared in triumph as he held the amulet aloft.
"Enough!, we have what we came for!" he roared, running for the doorway, but even as he started to move, the Amulet began to glow brightly.
"Alert, strong energy signature detected" The Cyberman turned away from its instruments, and looked to the black masked Cyberleader, who stood impassively just behind him.
"Location?" it questioned.
"Two miles south, above ground" it reported.
"The location known as the British Museum, retrieve the cause of the power and bring it here for analysis" The Cyberleader commanded.
"We obey" the Cyberman turned and walked off, quickly joined by several others.
The Doctor had stopped handing out wood, instead, focusing on the glow from the amulet. The signal was strong, but for once he was speechless, he didn't know what the energy was, it wasn't the signal the TARDIS had picked up either, but he did know he couldn't let the horned creature get away with it, so he waved his sonic in the general direction of the door, a high pitched noise filled the room, and everyone covered their ears. The horned man turned around, his face contorted in rage.
"WHO DARES!" he roared, revealing several rows of really sharp teeth. The air began to vibrate as if charged with static electricity, and then the roof of the passage behind the doorway caved in. The Doctor turned off the sonic and grinned to himself, then frowned as he realised that the leader of this little band of undead was glaring at him, before it Ran over and picked him up, its stinking breath breathing into the Doctor's face.
"Seriously, Polo's they do wonders for that" The Doctor offered. A moment later he was dropped as a large piece or crate smashed around the back of the Demons head. Buffy nodded at the Doctor, as the battle resumed around the room, but the vamps we're falling left and right, one of them even going up in a ball of fire. The Doctor looked over to the redhead, seeing her gesturing with her hands, muttering in Latin under her breath.
"Vampires, magic" he said, this was turning into an amazing day, and he hadn't even found the reason he'd come here yet.
"Xander! Left!" Buffy shouted, The Doctor turned his attention to the man with the eye patch, who was fending off a particularly nastier looking cousin of Popeye. Buffy moved to help him, but was caught by the Horned Demon and thrown across the room, The Doctor winced as she went crashing into several priceless, and now broken vases. But at least Popeye was a pile of dust now, the man with the eye patch, Xander, moving over to stand next to the recovering Buffy. There were now four Vampires and the horned creature left. And they advanced as one on the group.
"Oh could this possibly get any worse?" muttered the man with glasses, as he hefted one of the ancient swords from the crates. He was answered a moment later when a silvered gauntleted fist smashed through the floor. The horned Demon whirled around, as a large, metallic figure climbed out, followed by another and another.
"Now what!" he demanded.
"Cybermen?" asked the Doctor looking at them. The one who had emerged first pointed at the horned creature.
"Energy source detected from the misshapen swine" it said. The horned demon reared back, and clutched the still glowing amulet tightly.
"I don't know what the hell you're meant to be but this is mine!" Silarax snarled at them.
"You will give us the energy source or you will be deleted" the Cyberman stated.
"Over my rotting corpse"
"That is irrelevant, you will give us the energy source or be deleted" it repeated.
"If you really want this, come and get it!" he yelled, suddenly jumping down the hole the Cybermen had made. "Catch you later Slayer!" Silarax called up.
"Pursue and destroy" said the lead Cyberman, as it climbed down into the hole, quickly followed by the others. Everyone in the room blinked and looked at each other. The remaining vampires grinned, even as Buffy, Willow and Xander turned them into dust. Behind one of the crates, Robert poked his head out, and looked around.
"Oh my god" he said breathlessly. "What did you do?" he asked. Buffy offered a half apologetic shrug.
"okay, Vampires, a demon a glowing trinket and humanoid robots. Who wants to start" she offered, looking around.
"The Vampires and the demon, I think are more your territory" said the Doctor, stepping forwards.
"The robots on the other hand, they're called Cybermen" he said, "and they're not robots, not totally, they're upgraded humans form a parallel dimension" he finished.
"So what's so special about the Amulet of Le Fay?" asked Willow, looking at Giles. He shook his head.
"I'd need to research it" he said.
"I might be able to help with that" said Robert, walking over to a case containing several large bound books. He pulled one free, looked at the side, then putting it down gently pulled another one free, before putting that one down.
"These books we're donated to us over the past several years" he explained, as he discarded a third book. "Unfortunately, their content was deemed to be too… dangerous, shall we say, to be put on general show, ahh, here it is" he said, blowing dust from the cover. He opened the bindings, and leafed through it.
"This is the book I was looking at while I cross referenced the items that were sent to us, here, take a look" Robert said, handing the Book to Giles. Giles took it and began to read.
"It says the amulet was forged during the reign of King Arthur, by his mortal enemy Morgana, or as the legends call her, Morgan Le Fay" he said.
"That's all well and cute, but what's so special about it?" Buffy asked again. Giles raised an eyebrow at her and cleared his throat.
"It is said to contain the essence, or the magic of Morgana, she imbued it while on her death bed, planning to use it in a last revenge on Camelot, and King Arthur, but she was defeated and killed before she could do so, and the Amulet was lost in the warren of tunnels beneath the city" he said.
"Okay, that explain's while Horney and his buddies wanted it, but what about those Cyber-dude things?" asked Xander, looking over at the Doctor. The man grimaced as he thought.
"Well, when it started glowing, it gave off a tremendous amount of energy, and the Cybermen are always looking for ways to power their technology" he offered.
"So they think it's a really powerful battery?" asked Willow. The Doctor smiled and nodded.
"Well, there's not much more to be done here, Robert I am sorry for the damage-"
"Considering the circumstances, it could have been a lot worse" Robert replied, looking around. Giles nodded and then looked over at the door.
"Willow?" he asked. Willow nodded and stepped forwards, removing the blockage from the passageway.
Silarax had finally managed to elude the Cybermen, but had no doubt that should the Amulet start to glow again, then they would be on him. But the power from it, he could still feel it, even now the amulet was dormant. He knew powerful magic when he felt it, and this amulet contained powerful and ancient magic, waiting to be unleashed, and he had the text to do so back at his base. With a snarl that was half a laugh, he doubled his pace, until eventually he entered the dimly lit warehouse situated by the Thames. Gently, almost reverently he placed the Amulet on the rickety table. He watched as it began to glow again, and knew he didn't have long until the Cybermen were upon him. He opened the book of ancient texts and quickly found the one he needed.
"Lor'vare, Talanor. Death to Life, Lor'vare, Stgigmia. Life to Revenge, Salanor, exporde-" he chanted, before the door splintered inwards and the Cybermen walked in, taking positions around the room.
"Lor'vare SOLOMA! REVENGE TO LIFE!" he roared, even as the Cyberleader himself grabbed the demon around the throat. He began to struggle, but the grip was strong, but his eyes suddenly found the amulet, which had gone strangely dark.
"Energy signature has dissipated" reported one of the Cybermen.
"You will be deleted for your interference" the Cyberleader said to Silarax. The demons eyes went wide, when there was a sudden, feminine couth behind them. The Cybermen all turned as one, even the Cyberleader, dropping Silarax as he did so. A woman stood in the shadows, her blue dress flowing around her, her eyes glowing slightly yellow.
"Identify yourself" The Cyberleader ordered. The woman stepped out of the shadows and looked around, then smiled.
"I am a friend" she replied.
"This…. This is the power of the amulet?" Silarax sputtered, glaring at her.
"sublime I know, I wouldn't expect something like you to comprehend the power" she replied.
"Conversation pointless, you will be upgraded" the Cyberleader stated, cutting in. Two of the Cybermen advanced on Morgana and she tilted her head.
"Now now, lets not get off on the wrong foot" she said, pleasantly. The Cybermen did not respond. And with a weary sigh she blew them to bits. The Cyberleader actually stepped back.
"Explain" it demanded.
"I explain to nothing and nobody. I am the Lady Morgana, and you will serve me" she intoned.
"Cybermen do not serve, Cybermen conquer" The Leader said flatly. She glanced at it.
"Then perhaps another arrangement can be made" she said. Behind the Cyberleader, Silarax poked his head out.
"And what of me? I was the one who released you" he stated, the horns on his head bobbing as he spoke.
"Yes, you did, and what is your boon?" she asked.
"The Slayer. I want the slayer's dead, all of them" he said. Morgana nodded, and looked at the Cyberleader.
"Then we have a deal, together we will destroy the Slayers, whatever they are, conquer this foreign land, and then you will all help me take my place as rightful queen of Camelot" she said, stepping forwards.
"Camelot?" asked Silarax, frowning. "Camelot was real?" he demanded. Morgana paused and looked at him.
"What do you mean was real?" she demanded.
"Camelot. Mythical land, if it existed it was thousands of years ago. It is ruins now if it is still standing" The Cyberleader clarified. Morgana stepped back, shocked.
"Thousands?" she demanded, "What year is this?"
"2011" Silarax told her. Morgana, eyes wide, went to the window and looked out.
"And this place?" she asked.
"London" The Cyberleader responded.
"London? A two bit village a hundred miles from my home? How could it have grown to this!" she snarled. The Cyberleader stepped forwards suddenly.
"The bargain can be struck" it stated. Morgana looked at it, her eyes narrowed.
"How?" she asked.
"Cyber technology can return you to your time" he stated. Morgana looked at it, then back out of the window.
"Very well, the deal is done" she agreed finally. "But first, we need an army" she intoned. Silarax stepped forwards.
"I can help with that" he stated, the Cyberleader looked at him, then back at Morgana, then seemed to nod, though it was more of a slight bow.
"Cybermen, Demons and ancient witches working for a common goal, this is indeed a glorious day" Morgana said with a smile. "Now first task… These slayers…" she said moving over to them.
"So, these Cybermen, you say they're actually upgraded Humans?" asked Giles as he led the Doctor, Buffy, Xander and Willow away from the British Museum. Beside him, the Doctor nodded, holding out his glowing screwdriver and checking it every so often.
"Yes, You see, the Cybermen are the brains of humans placed in robotic bodies, not a plesant process to be sure, very gory, but once the process is finished, everything but thought process is removed. They have no emotions, to speak of, and they work as a collective unit, one dies, another takes its place" he explained.
"So how long you been fighting these things?" asked Xander, from behind them.
"Ten regenerations, so… a few hundred years" The Doctor replied.
"No, seriously" Buffy said. "How long?" The Doctor stopped and turned to face them
"Yes, seriously" he said, before turning around.
"Just how old are you?" asked Willow, with a frown.
"Nine hundred years, give or take a decade or two" he said.
"so you're what? Not human? Alien?" asked Xander.
"Yep, that's me, Alien to the bone, and DNA actually but what's a few cells among friends" he replied with a smile, as they walked past the Police Box, they had noticed earlier. Well they did, but the Doctor had stopped. It took a moment but the others did so as well.
"Just a sec, need to grab something from the TARDIS" he told them, as he went inside.
"Okay, who's for losing the fruit loop?" asked Xander.
"Nine hundred, he doesn't look a day over thirty" muttered Giles. A moment later the Doctor poked his head around the side of the Blue box.
"Thanks, but I try to be modest, and I can see I'm not convincing any of you, so maybe this will, come on in" he said, before going back inside. The group looked at each other.
"Maybe he likes to be up close and personal" offered Willow, as she opened the door, then stopped short, her eyes wide.
"Ermmm Guys…." She said softly.
"Creeping Jehoshaphat" said Xander as he joined her, looking in.
"Good lord, that's… impossible" Giles added.
"Nice décor" added Buffy, as they entered the little Blue box, and into a huge room with a large console at its centre.
"Welcome to the TARDIS" said the Doctor proudly. "now, lets see… If I realign the dynamic amplifier, cross feed the TRADIS index… now press the big flashing button. And voila!" he announced proudly as a blip appeared on the television monitor he was looking at.
"What' that?" asked Buffy, joining him, while the others still walked around the room.
"That, my dear, is the location of your horned friend, I took the liberty of tagging him when he grabbed me earlier" the Doctor explained.
"Ok you get the cookie" Buffy said with a smile.
"Cookie? I prefer Jammie Dodgers" he replied.
"Ok, a big Jammie Dodger" she said, turning to the others.
"Okay guys, we know where the big evil is at, so let's do this and go home" she said.
"See, now you don't need to walk" the Doctor told her. She turned back to him.
"huh?" she asked.
"Xander?" called the Doctor. The young man looked over at him. "See that leaver? Pull it down would you" he said. Xander did so, and immediately the column in the centre of the console began to rise and fall, with a whooshing sound.
"What's happening?" asked Willow looking around.
"Well, it's going to take us awhile to walk there, but the TARDIS can home in on the signal no problem" the Doctor explained.
"So, the killers of your kind. I too know what it is to be hunted.. persecuted" Morgana stated as she looked at Silarax.
"Yes, and now there are hundreds of the self-righteous little cows running around" Silarax spat.
"Alert, Energy source detected" one of the Cybermen suddenly stated.
"Where?" asked the Cyberleader.
"In here" it replied, as over in the corner the TARDIS began to materialise.
"TARDIS detected" the Cyberman stated, as it solidified.
"The Doctor must be deleted" the Cyberleader intoned, as the Doctor stepped out, followed by Buffy and the others.
"What a charming little magical box" Morgana said looking at the TARDIS.
"Oh, a new face, and seeing as you're not dead or being turned into a Cyberman, I can only assume not a friendly one either" said the Doctor.
"Indeed, so you're one of these, Slayers my new friend has been telling me about" Morgana said looking at Buffy.
"Yep, that's me, and I swear I might as well take an add out in the paper, 'Hi I'm Buffy, for all your Slayer needs, just text 0800 dustavamp'" she replied.
"Very droll" replied Morgana, Stepping forwards.
"So seriously, who's the girl?" asked Buffy, looking at Silarax. He smirked as he looked at her.
"This, Slayer, is the Lady Morgana, rightful ruler and heir to Camelot" he said.
"Morgana? But that's not possible" Giles muttered.
"Really? Bout a thousand years too late aren't you?" asked Buffy.
"I might be, but I won't be for much longer, now, this conversation grows tiresome, so I really must be the death of the party" Morgana told her, raising her hands. They glowed, and the group stepped back.
"Buffy, we must tread carefully, this woman is a very powerful witch" Giles whispered to her.
"Witch smitch, seen one, seen em all" Buffy replied.
"Just saying hey! To that Remark" Willow said, looking at her.
"No, buffy, if legends are true, Morgana brought an entire kingdom to its knees before she was defeated" he said.
"NOW!" Silarax suddenly shouted, and from the rafters it rained Vampires, and even as they closed in, so did the Cybermen.
"Have a wonderful death Slayer!" Silarax snarled as the Vampires and Cybermen converged on the group. Morgana's hands still glowed, and she laughed with genuine glee. Buffy looked at her friends, and then the Doctor.
"Okay, plan b?" she asked, as the Vampires and Cybermen closed in.
To be continued…..
"Buffy, Morgana is more powerful than most of the evil's you've faced, she cannot be beaten by fists alone" Giles explained.
"We can't let her have the run of the city Giles" Buffy shot back.
"Actually I have an Idea" said the Doctor looking over at them.
"Which is?" asked Willow, standing next to Xander by the TARDIS console.
"Well, it looks like we're going to need some help, and if there's one thing Morgana could possibly fear…."
"It would be King Arthur" said Xander suddenly, catching on.
"You are not serious" said Buffy. "I mean for one thing, it's about a thousand years past his sell by date" Buffy said. The Doctor grinned.
"Did I mention Time Machine?" he told her.
The new base was much roomier than the one she had appeared in, but also, it was terrifying in its own way, the machinery around her, blinking lights, steam being produced every so often, and the piston sound as the Cybermen walked around.
"This is unnatural" Morgana stated to Silarax, who stood beside her. He nodded his horned head.
"Indeed, but its efficient" he added.
"Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander. Welcome to Camelot" said the Doctor, leading them into the city.
"What sorcery is this?" Demanded the young man, running across to the Doctor and the others.
"Uther?" muttered the old man, looking at Giles. Beside him, the young serving boy stared at them.
"They are indeed need of help young Warlock, and it is help you and Arthur must provide, for the very future is at stake" the Great Dragon told Merlin. Merlin stepped back and ran a hand through his hair.
"The TARDIS has departed" said the Cyberman, looking over at another one.
"Good. Begin the upgrading of Camelot" it ordered.