Author's Notes: Ok; so I had intended to give this in chapters, but then I'd be posting another three chapters up only and then we'd be done, so instead I decided to leave this as a One-Shot... Probably going to be a lot of those until my stories become long enough to support the multi-chapter approach again, so I'll post them slowly and give everybody a chance to read them at their liesure so they can absorb everything. I've begun working on a Timeline of sorts; which I'll either post in my Profile or as part of a future chapter in one of the stories, I think you'll be most impressed by it I've gone on to add some off-camera things that I might go back to write one day. Anyway; I hope you'll enjoy this brief tale, if I failed to live up to the fans of Buffy's expectations well, the big character interaction parts were kind of planned for Buffy the Vampire Slayer Dark Alliances and Inherrent Evil, and I appologize in advance for pulling a Duex Ex Machina, but hey I'm only human.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters within they belong to Joss Whedon and I have simply borrowed them for this little plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone; Alain Desrochers, Amy Chelerise Desrochers, Jennifer McMahon and Christine Delisle belong to me as characters and should anyone be interested in playing with them then they'd better ask first or else I'll send Ravage after you. Down kitty... Anyway I think that covers the basics; I go now and hope that you will enjoy Buffy the Vampire Slayer Meets Sithicus... Hmmm; maybe I should have changed that title to read Buffy the Vampire Slayer Meets Omnibus. LOL.
Oh yes; before I forget, this takes place in Buffy Season Six before... I think it was called Wedding Bells; I'd have to look it up, it's the episode before Xander and Anya were supposed to get married only they didn't because of the typical Hellmouthy badness.
Prologue
Inside an old warehouse that sat dilapidated and falling apart creatures stirred; five of them to be precise. They were humans who had become infected, they were undead things feasting on the blood of a squirming, nubile young woman; they were Vampires yet their actions did not go unobserved. He sensed the primitive evils within these disturbing beasts that stank of death; he had been lost for unknown eons, time meant nothing to a spiritual essence and now he had managed to find a place with enough primitive dark magics to release him. He made his presence known with a low growl of pain and the vampires ceased their feasting trying in vain to see him, yet of course they could not; after all one can not see a spirit for his essence lay veiled in a realm beyond visual sight and yet they could still sense him.
"Who's there?" The leader, a medium built man with close cropped auburn hair and a thick Texan accent demanded.
"You can not see me." He stated in a weak rasping tone; communicating with the physical realm after so long proved difficult. "I have need of your service."
"Yeah and why should we help you?" The leader demanded with a sneer, several of his companions chuckled sharing dark looks; they thought they were the biggest bads around, but they had yet to even face a Slayer.
"Because; I can amply reward you for your services." He replied as once again the group of undead chuckled beneath their breaths. "And because you have no other options." He added using what little power remained to shove a wooden beam through 'Red's' chest causing him to crumble into dust mid-chortle; the others quickly grew silent and looked wildly about in case of another attack. "That's better." He stated pleased. "Now here is what I need you to do…" He began; the vampires grew extremely atentative.
"Coochie, coochie yah, yah, yah, yah!" The woman's voice blared in perfect harmony with the actual singers as the turbo lift opened and I entered the guest room a half-smirk playing across my lips; for a Jedi as old as she was Master Contrelle sure did have a lot of spirit.
"I never should have played that song for you." I teased eliciting a chuckle from the Jedi Master.
"Life in this reality is better then I could hope." Sarill exclaimed whirling to face me with a smile. "I no longer feel so old." She added eliciting a wide grin from me.
"Well; I just finalized the deal for that apartment Sarah." I stated using her chosen Earth name; she sighed and patted my arm gratefully though her eyes betrayed a hint of sorrow. "I know you'd rather live with me, but this was built as a guest room, which implies guests actually leaving." I added half in jest.
"Yes; I understand you've been so helpful." She whispered climbing from her seat and switching off the stereo. "But I have to make a life for myself." She admitted with a slight wistful smile.
"Just don't forget to keep in touch." I stated with a soft smile; I had become quite close friends with the older woman after all, she was one of the only ones who knew the truth about me in this reality and after two weeks of keeping things secret I was starting to feel trapped. Not to mention because of her ties to my destiny she'd been forced to live an extremely long life; she patted my arm once again and returned my smile, opening her mouth about to say something a blinding flash brought her up short.
Q stood nearby in his usual Starfleet uniform; I sighed as I rolled my eyes and turned to greet the informal guest appropriately, his eyes widened point zero, zero, zero two seconds as I leapt at him and wrapped my hand over his neck squeezing hard.
"Perhaps this is a bad time." He mused eyeing me indifferently.
"You have some nerve showing up now; if this isn't about her you'd better pray I recover my good mood otherwise I'll find out just how immortal you truly are." I hissed growling low in my throat; he snapped his fingers and flashed over to the opposite side of the room.
"Temper, temper Alain." He warned clucking his tongue and waving his finger in a scolding manner. "You'd better play nice or I won't explain anything." He added.
"Screw that; I'm not in the mood for any more games Q!" I shot back rushing to recapture him in my grasp just because I was feeling totally pent up; after all those years running around fighting super villains and the like two days of inactivity and no access to a holodeck started to wear on a guy, especially with my jerk of a brother pestering me and junk.
"Oh well, I tried." He remarked with a shrug; he snapped his fingers yet again and a small travel bag popped into my left hand, before I could so much as question him I sensed the oddly familiar pull behind me and then I felt myself dragged inexorably towards the vortex. "Do try to calm down while you're gone young Padawan and the best of luck." He called out his voice growing fainter as I hurled further away from the entrance; I would have said something in retort, but the doorway had already sealed up.
"Was that absolutely necessary?" Sarah demanded trying hard not to show fear or frustration with the obstinate entity before her.
"Couldn't be helped." Q replied. "I'm afraid he has some unfinished business to take care of and besides… I had no intention of being his stress relieving punching bag." He added tugging at his uniform in mock annoyance.
The rippling ball of multi-hued energy expanded into a huge vortex and a man fell out crashing unceremoniously to the ground; he rose to his knees fists clenched tight and digging into the pavement of the road, eyes burning with rage.
"Q!" He screamed his voice echoing across the night sky; if he bothered to check the sign nearby he might have had a brief respite from the anger and annoyance, it read…
Welcome to Sunnydale.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Meets
Sithicus
The next day I'd finally managed to calm myself down and decided to check the travel bag for supplies; four mobile emitters were the first things I found aside from the changes of clothes, Rumble, Laserbeak, Ravage and my newly perfect holographic regen-bed. I'd figured that if the Doctor could create fully functional lungs for Neelix then I could create a convenient travel sized regeneration bed; on the off chance I was called back into the Omniverse for something, two weeks may not seem like a lot of time for such a thing, but hey having a computerized brain had its' advantages.
I also found, a credit card, cash, my tricorder, a small crystal orb of some kind and my sword encased in its' scabbard; all useful tools, especially if I needed to become Justice to face down a demon.
"Well; time to figure out what I'm here for." I began carefully removing the orb from the bag and examining it slightly. "If you're anything like the last one Q gave me I hope you have surge protectors." I muttered; placing my fingers on the indentations surrounding the crystal orb I waited, as expected images rushed through my mind in a flash and I fell backwards writhing and screaming, so much for surge protectors.
The chime sounded above the door of the magic box as Buffy Summers entered after a grueling shift at one of the local eateries; she sighed in disgust as she peeled her grease stained uniform top off revealing a white tee-shirt light and airy for quick change purposes.
"Yuck; I feel like someone emptied a grease trap on me." She muttered flopping down at one of the chairs around the big table.
"Aw poor Buffy." Willow began from her far left; she lowered the book she'd been studying and smiled encouragingly at her best friend. "Do you need some chocolate?" She wondered.
"Not even comfort food can help when the everyday hum-drum workaday world ends." Buffy replied with a tiny sigh; Tara smiled behind her own book and rubbed her foot up Willows' leg affectionately. "So anything yet on what those Vamps are up to?" She asked changing subjects in hopes of hearing something to perk herself up; Xander sighed deeply and tossed his recently finished book aside.
"Nothing and I mean that; these blood suckers are seriously beginning to get on my nerves." He replied glaring across the table at an empty chair.
"Thank you for your money, please come and spend more real soon." Anya stated in the background her most recent customer turning away with his bag and heading out.
"Ahn; I thought we talked about that?" Xander reminded with a sigh.
"I think it's unique." Anya returned with a slightly clipped tone. "Besides they don't complain."
"Ah!" Willow exclaimed before Xander could offer another retort.
"Found something?" He asked expectantly.
"What?" She returned as if she'd forgotten where she was briefly. "Oh, yes, it's not much… But there is a picture here." She elaborated slipping her dusty leather-bound book across the table. "That statuette is called the Siren of Hecate; it's purported to have the ability to grant power over men… But I can't imagine what Vampires would want with it." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose exhaustedly mimicking a gesture Giles had often used; consciously or sub-consciously the others couldn't be too sure.
"Yeah; I mean unless their working for some horny she-demon…" Xander began trailing off as he remembered too late Dawn sitting quietly at the table. "Not that there even is such a thing." He added in his usual quick attempt-to-recover-from-embarrassment tone.
"It's ok Xander she's got headphones on." Buffy revealed pushing Dawns' own book down to reveal the device she'd mentioned; Dawn glared at Buffy and spun quietly around dragging her book out of her sisters' grasp and returning to reading.
"What a relief." He muttered as the rear entrance opened and Spike slipped in ignoring the glares sent his way.
"Anything?" Buffy asked careful to keep her tone devoid of emotions.
"Not a thing love." Spike replied examining a few trinkets and charms out of boredom. "Whatever these mates want isn't exactly being advertised." He added moments before the front door opened and another potential customer entered a travel bag slung over one shoulder; he examined the room briefly, his eyes lingering over the people in the place as if he was making sure no one else was around. With a small sigh he slipped a tiny glass sphere from the bag and hurled it at the ground; before anyone could react the orb shattered and everyone was blinded by a giant flash before blacking out.
I navigated through Sunnydale relatively easily; I mean it wasn't that hard to figure out where everything was in relation to the burnt out hulk of Sunnydale High, though I wasn't sure how I'd settled on it for a landmark, but probably had something to do with mystical convergences and junk. I arrived at the Magic Box just as one customer was leaving; glancing in the window I saw Spike slipping in from the back door and glance to one side while he talked with Buffy.
"No time like the present." I muttered shouldering the travel bag and pushing open the door; Anya's eyes lit up when she saw me and the others barely registered me, except maybe Dawn who was facing the door and obviously checking me out. I offered a little smile as if to apologize for what I was about to do; slipping the information sphere from the bag I hurled it, the orb hit the counter rather then the floor and shattered engulfing us all in a brilliant white light. One by one the group collapsed until I was left standing alone; switching the open sign to closed I locked the front entrance and strode into the room pausing in front of the monitoring device the trio had placed inside the shop.
"Sorry boys personal business; you understand of course." I stated with a knowing smirk before I used my tendrils to expertly cut the feed without damaging the device; wouldn't do to mess up with continuity too much after all this should only take a day or two. Sitting down across from Xander who was slumped forward over the table; I didn't know how long the condition would last so I picked up one of their books and started to read, studying all I could about the local demon life.
Buffy lifted her head groggily before snapping into full alert mode and glaring about the shop; everything was in place the strange man was sitting quietly next to a pile of books his eyes distant, except he wasn't a stranger his name was Alain Desrochers and he came from Earth Prime, but how did she know that?
"Oh my head." Xander moaned stirring as well. "You can add that to my list of experiences I never want to have again."
"Dawn are you ok?" Buffy demanded shaking her sister awake in fear and perhaps a tad too forcefully.
"Yeahuh I'm fine, but I won't be if you keep shaking me like that." She replied putting her headphones on the table; either her music had ended or for the past who knows how many hours she'd actually been faking so she could listen in on private stuff.
"That was strange, it didn't feel like magic." Tara observed; Willow was quiet as she stared at the seemingly distant young man, she hated what had happened because she knew things she shouldn't and didn't want to know.
"That was vile; it felt like I was being violated, Xander hit him." Anya stated sharply glaring at the interloper who still hadn't moved a muscle.
"Bleeding hell." Spike cursed rising from the floor where he'd fallen; the sun had set and it was night out, which surprised everyone.
"My sincerest apologies, but it was the most convenient way to get the exposition out of the way; not to mention the fastest." The man stated in a soft and gentle tone; his voice was quite pleasant surprisingly, despite his dues ex machina method of explaining his presence and origins in brief.
"It's ok Al no harm done." Willow whispered using his name for the first time; her tone was haunted and Buffy failed to understand why.
"I beg to differ." Spike complained. "That sodding hurt you little git." He snapped.
"Those tainted by the touch of evil would naturally experience pain when speaking with God; even if she isn't the God of this realities Earth." Al retorted turning to eye the annoying Vampire; Buffy was more surprised that she took his words at face value rather then the words themselves.
"You… What did you do to us?" Anya demanded marching over to glare at Al. "I've never met you before in my life; at least I'm pretty sure… Reasonably sure, and here you are and yet I know more about you then Xander and we've never even slept together." She rambled her glare intensifying as she studied the man she never met before yet somehow knew.
"Quite simply I needed to inform you of a lot of information in a limited amount of time; so logically I concluded that the information sphere would do all the work and leave me free to get down to business." He replied leaning back in his chair with a rather smug expression on his face.
"You are not a nice person." Anya retorted bluntly.
"On the contrary I am the epitome of gentlemanliness, I just got fed up with all the slaggin' times I have to go over my origins; plus I wasn't given my pre-recorded message to facilitate the exposition process." Al returned stifling a sudden yawn; Willow and Spike were having a hard time not laughing at the expense of Anya.
"Too many big words, make him stop Xander." Anya demanded turning to her fiancé with a pout.
"Ahn he's fully entitled, he wasn't mocking you or anything… I think." Xander returned with a small confused smile.
"Correct oh confused one." Al quipped chuckling at his own little joke. "I tend to perpetuate acts of perspicacity more often now that I possess a multitude of vocalizations and grasp upon the English language… And boy is it hard to keep a straight face while saying that." He finished a wide grin plastered on his face.
"You definitely have problems mate." Spike chimed in searching for a fag.
"Nah; just a healthy love of life and a spoon full of sugar." Al shot back pleasantly; he was obviously having a good time, and Buffy wasn't liking it.
"So how long do you think it will take this Omnibus character to gain enough power?" Buffy asked getting straight to the point rather then chewing the man out for making fun of her friends; no matter how polite he'd been, in reply Al produced a long furl of paper and tossed it to her.
"I took the opportunity to create a list of the mystical artifacts his minions have already procured. The numbers beside them represent their strength; speaking mystical properties-wise." He explained shrugging at his last remark. "According to that gradient and the amount he still needs it'll take five years; if his minions aren't helped along a little." He added sliding a book over to her; Buffy studied the page Willow, Xander, Tara and Dawn crowding around her.
"And just how do you propose to get this?" Xander asked; Al grinned slyly in amusement and climbed to his feet.
"Trans-Tech Armor Engage!" He cried striking a decidedly Japanime pose; thin black threads erupted from his watch and made their way along his body solidifying as it went into a mechanical based armor, smooth in appearance. It enveloped his left arm first; then proceeded down his chest, abdomen, crotch, legs and then back up the opposite side of his body, his right arm, his neck and finished by covering his head in a form fitting mechanical looking mask. The remaining threads whipped about his collar and fanned out coalescing into a long black cape; the eyes lit up with a red glow and blinked a few times before the mouth pulled back in a smile at the expressions aimed his way.
"That was unexpected." Buffy finally remarked after a lengthy silence; Al in turn chuckled and they noted the deeper resonating of his voice, as though he were trying to be Darth Vader.
"This puppy was crafted in the twenty-fourth century." He explained flexing his right arm. "I conceived it, designed it and crafted the unique metallic thread used in its' construction… Well replication anyway." He added with a tiny shrug before reaching up to remove the clasps of the helmet, which weren't obviously visible at first until he started popping them off; once again his human face looked upon the Scoobies.
"That is so cool." Dawn exclaimed giddily. "Can you make me one?" She asked a twinkle of hope in her eyes.
"No." Buffy responded before Al had the chance.
"You must be a great genius; I mean to create such a unique design… Ok sure you had twenty-fourth century technology to work with, but still." Willow began reaching over to pick up the helmet and examine it. "How does it work?" She wondered.
"The armor itself is pretty basic, mostly designed to hide my identity when I'm doing the super hero thing back home." He began; not bothering to mention that he hadn't started fighting crime just yet on Earth Prime. "To that end its' got little in the way of gadgets; slight strength and reflex enhancers, infrared vision, night vision, x-ray vision…" He paused a sheepish grin on his face. "That one didn't exactly pan out as I hoped so I usually don't use it." He elaborated with a brief shudder as though the thought of it freaked him out.
"Let me guess, instead of seeing through objects all you see through is clothes right." Buffy retorted with a roll of her eyes; the young man shook his head.
"Actually it won't see through fabrics, metals, minerals or certain objects, all it does is let me see through flesh, fine if I want to be a doctor, not so much for super heroing." He revealed with a smirk. "Anyway; it's a light weight polymorphic metal compound, I think the Talaxians used it at one point, or at least one of those Delta Quadrant species… Then again for all I know Q just conjured it up in my brain; I was never just entirely sure where the thing came from, but anyway… I managed to shape it into a thread-like compound; all of the sensor nodes and other necessities are inlaid through the very armor itself." He stated proudly. "It isn't really invulnerable or anything like that; I don't really need invulnerable armor after all, however it is equipped with self-repair functions that activate in watch from should the armor be damaged." He concluded reaching out to take the helmet back from Dawn, Willow having passed it around to the others while he was talking; reaffixing it to the rest of the ensemble he struck another cheesy pose.
"So what? You're gonna go to wherever this little trinket is and steal it then, call me crazy, but I think that'd get you a lot of unwanted attention there mate." Spike stated a small smile on his lips; in response the young man moved deeper into the shadows, his body seemed to stand there briefly and then as if the shadows were some kind of liquid he began to melt directly into the wall, or perhaps the shadow it was hard to tell in all the dark.
"Eep!" Dawn exclaimed as the others still seated leapt to their feet watching Al in half-shock, half fear and about three quarters been there done that. He vanished completely and though unknown to them he could still see them they couldn't see him.
"Ok, kinda glossed over the whole melt into the shadows part." Xander stated for the group; Al chuckled his voice sounding as though it were coming through a badly garbled phone line or something.
"Not a standard feature." He stated; the disembodied voice succeeded in causing Anya to jump, obviously she didn't like invisible people.
"Where are you?" Buffy wondered glancing around as if she could see him; not knowing he hadn't left the spot he'd been in to begin with.
"What kind of magic was that?" Tara demanded. "I've never felt anything like that, it, it was e-e-evil." She stammered; Al quirked an unseen eyebrow at that.
"I did not know that." He admitted slowly rising back up near the table. "Shoulda figured though." He muttered looking a tad odd considering so far all they could see again was his upper torso.
"What did you mean by it wasn't standard?" Xander wondered stepping on the shadow tentatively as if he could do it too, naturally for him the shadow remained solid.
"I never built the armor with that ability in mind; when I was sent to Earth Nine Hundred Twenty-Nine on a mission for Roma I dealt with a strong mystical element." Al began as his armor started to retract back into its' watch form. "That's when I discovered the Shadow Realm." He added.
"Like in Yu-Ghi-Oh?" Dawn wondered; the others eyed her queerly. "What it's on Saturdays." She defended.
"No, nothing like that; the Shadow Realm or Plane as it's more commonly called is akin to a negative image of the real world. It's sort of like…Reverse World or something; basically." Al began tilting his head to one side almost like Data might as he dredged up the information he'd gotten from Roma's special book, the caring and feeding of your Shadow Warg; or something like that. "Creatures exist there and traverse the many mystical realms; sometimes they can be summoned by a wielder of the Shadow Magic, think Drizzt Do'Urden from Forgotten Realms." He stated.
"Who?" Buffy wondered confusedly.
"Dark Elf from a Fantasy series of books." Willow replied automatically; Spike snorted at that.
"Hardly see the connection mate." He remarked; Buffy shot him a curious look.
"You read fantasy books?" She asked incredulously; Spike got a shifty look as he tried to avoid answering the question.
"Anyway back to what I was saying." Al cut in smirking secretively. "Most alternate realities have a Shadow Realm in some form or another, when I was on Earth Nine Twenty-Nine I was captured by a really big bad; she had mastered Shadow Magic and was trying to recreate the world in her image by harnessing the forces of Chaos she'd unleashed. While I was stuck in the Shadow Realm I couldn't see anything; even with my Night Vision ability, as a result I was attacked by a Shadow Warg, and I have no idea what it even looked like." He elaborated with a shudder. "During the skirmish it clawed my armor; something passed between us and now I've got this little symbiotic shadow creature living inside of it, when I focus my mind on the beast I can control it, kinda like a pet and it takes me into the Shadow Realm." Al finished with a brief shrug.
"Interesting; I've heard of symbiotic relationships before involving mystical creatures and demons, but nothing like this." Willow observed moving as she spoke to get her bag while Tara, Anya and Dawn began to put books away; it had gotten late after all.
"It's rather late." Buffy observed glancing at the clock. "I should be patrolling, so maybe we can finish this strategy meeting in the morning." She suggested.
"I whole heartedly agree." Al concurred with a none too subtle yawn.
"You can stay at Spikes'." She stated brusquely.
"What?" Al exclaimed defensively.
"Bloody hell not." Spike snapped at the exact same moment.
"So I'm supposed to put him up at my place with Dawn in the house and everything." Buffy returned with a glare.
"He ain't gonna bite love." Spike pointed out.
"Maybe not, but… Where am I supposed to put him, he's a little big for the couch." She pointed out indicating the man's rather impressive height as opposed to the rest of the Scoobies.
"He could share my bed." Willow offered without thinking. "I mean, I wouldn't mind at all or anything." She stammered glancing briefly to a hurt looking Tara, Al cleared his throat.
"May I say something?" He wondered looking for all the world like he wanted to punch somebody.
"Please do." Xander replied nervously glancing between Willow, Tara and the young interloper; although Al was around twenty-eight years old so aside from Spike and Anya he was the oldest living person in the room, if you call what Spike did living.
"I didn't exactly come unprepared; just point me out a room and I can set up my own bed." He explained indicating the travel bag with a quick glance.
"There's a bed in there?" Buffy wondered skeptical.
"You'll see." Al returned with a wide grin; Buffy shrugged and led the way out of the Magic Box, anything was better then standing around arguing for the rest of the night when there were Vamps and Demons running around loose.
Thirteen Sixteen was the address; or something like that I wasn't paying too much attention to it more interested in just being surrounded by Buffy and her friends, that was always the best part about Omniversal travel, but then again when it meant having to deal with a reborn Omnibus… I still wasn't too clear on how the demon survived last time, but I knew it had to involve spiritual essences and other such mystical mumbo jumbo.
"Al are you ok?" Dawn suddenly asked noticing my lack of concentration and the fact that I was lagging a little behind; I was feeling what some might term Omniversal Jetlag.
"Fine Dawnie." I replied acting out of reflex. "Just a little drained at the moment; I've been up two full days my time." I elaborated with a tired smirk; Dawn shrugged as she Buffy and Willow entered the house first; Xander, Anya and Tara had been dropped off at their own homes earlier while Spike had said something about needing more blood.
I entered the surprisingly familiar foyer and turned to my left into the living room; the house looked just like it did on the show, and since I'd watched practically every episode thanks to the box sets I had intimate knowledge of what it looked like.
"Uh Al I thought you said you had a bed?" Buffy wondered assuming I was going for the couch, I smirked at her naiveté.
"Yeah; I was looking forward to seeing you prove her wrong." Dawn added crossing her arms as she eyed me curiously.
"You'll see." I repeated cryptically as I grabbed the coffee table and shoved it up out of the way.
"Hey careful with that it's expensive." Buffy exclaimed taking a step closer as though intending to stop me.
"Halt." I ordered producing the correct mobile emitter with one hand and waving her back with the other; a short gasp escaped all three women as my tendrils emerged and input the correct codes, holding the emitter at the appropriate height I watched satisfactorily as the hologram materialized.
"Oh wow that… That wasn't magic?" Dawn queried eliciting a snort of bemusement from me.
"Hell no, mobile holo-emitter; fully functional holographic bed courtesy of the United Federation of Planets." I returned with a small smile.
"Oh, so, it's like Captain Spock or something?" Buffy remarked slightly confused; I chuckled at that, and if the trio were observing the events in this house they'd probably be having one of their customary hissy fits, but then again I don't think they managed to get listening devices inside the house.
"Yeah sure whatever." I replied climbing up into the bed slowly due to my exhaustion.
"What's the deal with those whooshy things?" Willow asked pointing to my right arm; I eyed her incredulously.
"Let me guess more borrowed technology." Buffy quipped; finally I reached a conclusion and shot them an annoyed look.
"Let me guess." I iterated. "Info sphere glossed over the whole Borg thing." Both older women nodded while Dawn took an involuntary step back. "Well we'll just have to play Giles when everyone's back together I seriously need time to regenerate." I continued removing my shirt and slipping under the holographic covers.
"Giles? Does it scare anyone else how much he knows about us?" Buffy asked turning to regard Willow.
"Well he is from an alternate Universe." Dawn pointed out as I dropped my pants beside the bed having wiggled out of them while I was covered up.
"Hello, impressionable young girl right here; you better have some PJs mister." Willow stated beating Buffy to the punch.
"Just let's get some sleep. "I groused tugging the comforter closer about me. "Honestly complaining about modesty; you try living five years in ancient Greece and see what happens then." I added grumbling lower and lower under my breath until I finally fell asleep and the familiar green glow enveloped the regen bed.
After he fell asleep Buffy sighed; Dawn stretched a little, hugged her goodnight and went to bed. Willow offered Buffy another embrace and also went upstairs to bed; Buffy put herself to work sealing up the house and switching off the lights before she made her way outside locking the front door in the process.
"Seriously why can't anything ever be normal?" She muttered double checking to make sure she had her mister pointy.
The many bangings of pots and pans served to wake up the residents of the Summers' household rather forcefully in some cases; Buffy tried to ignore it and turn over, but then the sounds of someone singing wafted up from downstairs and she couldn't ignore it any longer, plus she was a little curious.
"Soup de jours; hot hors d'oeuvres why we only live to serve, try the gray stuff it's delicious. Don't believe me ask the dishes; they can sing, they can dance after all Ms. this is France and a dinner here is never second best." Al was singing as Buffy entered the kitchen discovering a sight to behold; the young man was near the oven preparing breakfast happily belting out the tune as several utensils floated about coming into his hand when needed. "Go on unfold your menu, take a glance and then you'll be our guest, oui our guest, be our guest." He finished dipping a finger into a simmering pot and taking a taste; Dawn sat at the table-like counter a smile on her lips as she watched the quirky young man flip a few flapjacks. Willow looked very nervous about the floating objects and Buffy was about to say something when Al beat her to the punch, glancing back at the recovering Witch he offered a slight smile. "Relax it ain't magic; I'm a living pole, so I can create gravity fields that surround me and also control metallic objects, make'em float, summon them to my hand, all that Jedi-like stuff." He explained. "Even the minute traces of minerals in water obey me when I turn my focus on them that is." He elaborated sounding slightly smug.
"Where'd all this come from?" Buffy asked noting the eggs, bacon and ham also cooking.
"Up at six, lack of food in fridge, went shopping." Al replied in clipped tones as he floated a few plates onto the counter all while maneuvering the bacon out of the frying pan with deft flicks of his wrist.
"You had money?" Willow wondered incredulously as her stomach growled.
"Standard Omniversal package, cash, credit card and no fear of debt… Don't know why exactly, must balance out somehow." He replied passing out the eggs and ham. "Didn't know what you wanted so I just cooked breakfast staples." He added pouring four glasses of OJ and setting the pancakes in front of Dawn. "Hope you're hungry."
"Oh yes." She stated drowning them in syrup and digging in.
"Hmm and here I thought the house guest gave more work." Buffy remarked snagging her own breakfast as her stomach let out a noisy complaint of lack of food.
"Rather make your own breakfast?" Al retorted playfully with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"Not a morning person." She returned. "Which reminds me; don't wake me up with singing Disney again or else full on slayer strength might be your reward." She added all serious; Al rolled his eyes.
"Well anyway; it's your lucky day, I'm Mister Morning." He informed before ravenously digging into his own meal.
"What's in the pot?" Willow wondered between bites.
"Chocolate Mousse; I felt like making it, never had before, but I think I was channeling Mister Neelix this morning." He replied gulping down his OJ and pouring a second glass despite the grimace he made.
"Hello, I come bearing… Oh you're already eating." Xander observed his face falling slightly as he entered the kitchen via the back door and saw the massive meal.
"Sorry Xand, but I get bored easy so I just made breakfast." Al apologized snagging one of Xanders' offered donuts anyway. "But the way my metabolism acts some days anything extra is a life saver." He added chomping down with vigorous aplomb.
"Oh good; I'm glad I'm still semi-useful." Xander returned seating himself and snatching some bacon and eggs for himself; in truth he was getting tired of donuts and junk.
"You're more then semi-useful." Willow stated patting his shoulder; Al reached over the table and snagged another slice of ham, it was his tenth.
"So you gonna explain that Borg thing?" Dawn asked suddenly; Xander froze mid chew and eyed the other man confusedly.
"Borg? As in Collective?" He guessed; Al nodded.
"Rather explain it with Anya, Tara and Spike around too, but I suppose they can always be filled in by one of you later." He stated after swallowing. "So you know I've traveled to other realities right?" He began by asking.
"Yeah we got that last night; not the funest experience." Xander quipped.
"Well, while I was aboard the Starship Voyager I sort of had this thing… Oh high and mighty Borg Queen wanted to test a new strain of nanoprobes designed to assimilate beings with the unique biological signatures of alternate realities, her intent being to journey to said realities and expand her Collective throughout the Omniverse." Al began in a dark tone of voice that came off as both pained and snide all at once. "She… Acquired me as a test subject thanks in part to Q, the lousy slag heap." He cursed finishing the last of his meal in between venting. "Thing of it is; when she tested her little beauties on me there was a rather unexpected development, no joining her hive mind for me. I retained my individuality, but I also wound up becoming exactly what she hoped." He paused with a tiny sigh and switched off the stove with his tendrils, the mousse being finished. "Absolute Perfection, what the Borg ultimately seek; the ultimate fusion of organics and machines. In essence a walking, talking sentient computer." He finished with a roll of his eyes; as if he found the irony less then humorous.
"That sounds cool." Xander remarked reaching for another donut.
"Cool?" Al demanded his tone growing icy. "To have your physical body torn apart on a sub-atomic level and yet still be consciously aware of everything including the pain is cool? To suffer temperamental mood swings and sometimes pain when you fail to regenerate regularly is cool? To become aware of your nigh immortality when someone stabs you in the heart and you wake up a few minutes later hale and hearty is cool? To wake up screaming in the night because you can't forget anything including the sick perverted kiss and molestation nay violation of your body is cool?" Al listed off with rapid fire words; Xander shied away, obviously the message had gotten across it wasn't cool, in fact it was far from it.
"So, uh; what's your plan for gettin' the buffster into the spirit realm?" Xander asked trying to change subjects.
"There is a doorway situated near the old high school; left open after the explosion and subsequent death of Ex- Mayor Wilkins." He explained beginning to wash the dishes. "All we have to do is find the correct frequency and it will open." He stated mater of factly.
"No magic?" Willow wondered relief clear in her tone.
"Not when you've got me around." Al concurred with a smile. "All I have to do is hit the right note and pitch and the door should open." He elaborated singing slightly off-key to emphasize the words.
"Neat; I didn't know you could do that, I thought portals all involved some kind of spell." Dawn remarked; Al grinned as he once again turned to face the quartet of Scoobies.
"Well, since Omnibus will be tapping into a lot of mystical energy the barriers will be weaker; normally a spell would be called for, but we wouldn't want to be mixing magics during Omnibus' physical resurrection." Al explained quickly finishing the last of the dishes.
"I don't…" Xander began trying to tell him the whole thing sounded impossible, but Willow cut him off before he could bring logic to bear.
"So, what are you doing today?" She wondered. "Other than stealing that artifact." She added hastily.
"Don't rightly know." Al admitted adopting a western style accent. "Maybe I'll phone Angel up and chit chat with Cordelia, or I could go wail on Spike to pass the time." He mused.
"Oh, I'd pick that last one." Xander informed with a small grin.
"Not me, I hate to hit a dog when it's down." Al informed in kind rising once more to put away the Mousse; Dawn eyed the dessert hungrily, but when Al opened the fridge everyone gasped.
"Real food." Buffy exclaimed speaking for the first time in what might have been an hour, morning person she definitely wasn't.
"Oh cool, no more Double Meat Burgers." Dawn added with a grin.
"Thank you God." Xander chimed in.
"Oh, well who's going to cook it?" Willow wondered. "I mean I don't really…" She trailed off.
"Relax Ma'am; Master Chef Al is in the house." Al cut in with a little bow. "Not to be confused with Master Chief; at least for a few more days, you shall eat like royalty." He added with a shrug.
"How do you know that?" Xander asked confusedly.
"Q isn't known for his punctuality; especially when he knows I'm still a little on edge from lack of action." He replied eyes narrowing with animosity; Dawn suddenly leapt from her seat as she caught sight of the clock.
"I'm gonna be late." She exclaimed.
"Whoops, my fault… Quick go get ready and I'll fly ya to school on time." Al vowed as Dawn hopped to her feet and rushed back upstairs for her school supplies.
"It'll be safe?" Buffy asked eyeing the young man nervously.
"Since when can you fly?" Willow added confusedly.
"Living pole remember." Al reminded with a wink. "If I can levitate objects what makes you think I can't do the same with myself or other people?" He asked sounding a little smug.
"But it'll be safe?" Buffy repeated; Al laughed loudly at that.
"Safer than running to catch up with the bus; and faster too, because I'm able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, faster then a speeding bullet and pretty handy to have around when you miss the bus." Al stated jokingly as he struck the classic Superman pose; Xander snickered at that, Dawn returned hefting her school bag just then still struggling to do up her blouse.
"You better be damn careful." Xander warned partially wagging a finger at Al. "And can I go next?" He added innocently.
"No worries, and maybe." Al replied taking Dawn into a one handed hug-like hold; together they stepped out onto the lawn out back completing the forties comic book image they weren't really going for, but resembled nevertheless.
"At least this is Sunnydale; no one'll probably notice, or chalk it up to some weird excuse." Al remarked as he climbed slowly into the air so as not to jar Dawn loose.
"This is so cool." Dawn exclaimed her voice growing distant as the duo climbed higher; in a flash they were gone, traveling under the willpower of the living pole named Alain.
"Forget it Xander; I'm next." Buffy stated resolved face on.
The trip was a relatively short one; we made it with plenty of time to spare and as usual the residents of Sunnydale paid no mind to a flying man dropping off what could have been his daughter at school, Dawn was extremely giddy and excited after the little trip, she leant up on her tiptoes in order to kiss my cheek and raced off.
"Have a good day." I called out with a smirk, getting the chance to unwind a little after having to hide myself for two weeks was kind of refreshing; so two weeks didn't seem like that long to most people, try living like a regular mild-mannered reporter or the like when you have amazing powers. "I might as well get the whole stealing over and done with, the sooner we deal with Omnibus the sooner I can get back to Earth Prime and begin fulfilling my destiny; whatever that is." I muttered to myself taking to the sky again with a speedier ascent this time.
"You think they got there all right?" Buffy asked as she, Willow and Tara headed for another fitting; being a bridesmaid wasn't all glamour and glitter after all.
"I'm certain they did." Willow replied pausing to gawk in a shop window.
"This is exciting; you know the whole wedding thing." Tara added smiling with giddy appreciation; Willow smiled back and was about to say something when the nearby shadows began to liquefy. Al popped out and quickly retracted his armor to watch form; he smiled and held up the artifact for all to see.
"Got it." He beamed slipping in stride with the three young women.
"What about Dawn?" Buffy demanded shooting a sidelong glare at the young man.
"School in no time; and typical Sunnydale response from the locals who saw us land." He replied as they paused in front of the bridal store.
"That's great; well here's where we part ways." Buffy added and then snatched the young man's watch off his wrist before he could object.
"Hey, what the slag?" Al exclaimed confused.
"We're getting a fitting today; so I'll just keep this." She explained slipping the watch into her purse; Willow and Tara appeared as confused as Al was, but were having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"What in the name of Primus for?" He demanded marching up to Buffy and showing just how tall he was, Buffy was not intimidated.
"I don't trust a guy not to use this to his advantage." She explained with a tiny smile before turning and entering the building.
"She'd think I'd peep." Al declared turning to glare at Tara and Willow incredulously. "What, do I look like Warren?"
"How'd you know about him?" Willow asked forgetting who she was talking to for a moment; Al shook his head.
"Oh forget about it, I guess I'll go hang out with Xander and do manly stuff or something." He sighed turning to where he'd spotted the construction job Xander was working on the previous day.
"We'll see you later at the Magic Box then." Willow called holding the door to the shop open for Tara; Al nodded haphazardly and trudged along lost in thought, or so it would appear.
"How annoying; just what does the Slayer take me for? Besides you really don't see people in the Shadow Realm the same way you would in ours." I thought to myself; still Buffy had moved pretty fast grabbing that watch of mine, maybe she just wanted to try it out herself, which probably wouldn't work considering I'd never let anybody else use it and had no idea if it would for somebody else.
"Excuse me, but we'd like to have a word with you." A nasally type of voice stated from behind me.
"Yeah so don't try anything funny." Andrew stated; since he was in front of me I figured Jonathan was directly behind me, oh joy conversations with aspiring super villains. Not high on my list right now; still they did offer the opportunity to have a little fun considering they were totally easy pickings.
"You presume to order the master of Gravity!" I cried rising into the air as I spoke; Andrew cringed at my tone while Jonathan rushed around to gawk up at me with awe and slight fear. "Consider this the only warning I intend to give." I snarled raising both geeks to eye level and spinning them around like tops before depositing them back on the ground in a heap and taking off for Xanders.
"That was so cool." Andrew stated as he climbed groggily to his feet.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Jonathan grumbled clutching his stomach queasily.
"So now what?" Andrew wondered. "Directly confronting Magneto wannabe didn't help." He added.
"I don't know, but that guy creeps me out and not in the good Vader-like way." Jonathan exclaimed.
"We should tell Warren." Andrew suggested getting a tad moony eyed when he mentioned the head villains name.
"Yeah sure, but we can skip the spinning in the air thing… Right?" Jonathan agreed and questioned at the same time.
"Obviously; oh yeah." Andrew conceded with a bobbing sort of nod.
"What a couple of maroons." I muttered leaving my perch on the boutique where I'd stopped curious to see how they'd react and resuming my trip to Xanders.
"Hey Al can ya give us a hand?" Xander asked with a grunt as he and three other guys fought to balance a brace into position; no one else was free at the moment so I snagged a spare hard hat and lent a hand. "Thanks." He said after the fact.
"No problem; I could use something to occupy the time and physical labor always helps." I returned as a fourth guy made the final connections while we kept the brace in place.
"Well I'd hire ya, but…" He trailed off and I grinned.
"Relax Xand, I can dig you know." I stated with horribly cliché slang.
"Don't ever say that again." Xander requested eliciting a hearty chuckle from me; I spent the rest of the afternoon helping out around the site, occasionally using my powers to assist without drawing too much attention to it. Around dinner time we headed off to the Magic Box; Xander was rather pleased with my accomplishments, and I in turn felt a little good being of some use to somebody.
"So you're gettin' married." I spoke up for lack of anything better to do; I had to fight not to mention what I knew was going to happen at this so called ceremony.
"No kidding, my in-laws are having a hard time mingling with the relatives." He returned with a world weary sigh. "Wanna change lives?" He asked jokingly.
"No thanks; I've got more to deal with then you could possibly imagine." I stated looking up at the sky and leaning my head against my hands; I was still in that relaxive pose when we entered the Magic Box.
"Hello ladies; anything new to report?" Xander asked greeting Anya with a kiss.
"Not really." Tara replied lightly tracing the curvature of the tiny statue as she curiously studied it.
"I still can't believe this has so much mystical powers." Willow added a deep rooted hunger in her eyes; I snatched the statue up with a deft flick of my wrist and promptly deposited it in my pocket.
"Believe me it does; the Arturian is one of the oldest mystical artifacts on Earth, it was fashioned from a chip of Stonehenge." I returned turning to eye Buffy pointedly; she smiled lightly and tossed me the watch, which I effortlessly caught. "In the future kindly refrain from absconding with this." I haughtily requested. "I neglected to mention that it also monitors my power levels and possesses other necessary traits such as the communication device." I elaborated.
"Sure, as long as you agree not to enter the Shadow Realm or use the armor again during your stay here." She returned with a serious look. "It gives me major bad vibes." She added.
"I hardly use it as it is." I stated with a sigh examining the watch face; the readings told me infinitely more then I'd revealed to the Scoobies, my heart ached as a particular number changed, too many hours since I'd last been with Amy. "Little one, so many hours…" I moaned though not soft enough to avoid being heard and as usual we weren't alone.
"Kindly stop moping, it's unseemly for a champion of your stock." An all too familiar voice spoke up; judging by the shocked expressions staring past me I knew with certainty chuckles had showed up.
"Your presence is not required until my task is complete." I stated logically. "And I must apologize for my earlier assault old friend." I continued with a slight sarcastic lilt to my tone as I used the F word. "Apparently I hadn't counted on two weeks of inactivity to affect me in such a manner." He clucked his tongue at that and I heard him pick up something; I hadn't been able to face him just yet afraid I might attack again.
"Fascinating how you humans enjoy the occult so much; a pity Jean-Luc couldn't see any of this." He remarked as if we were having a casual conversation; amazing how easily it was for him to ignore me when I was being nice, I think he preferred dealing with humans who were on edge around him. "Incidentally your sister asked me to deliver something." He added; with an all too familiar burst of light a CD was in my hand; I smiled despite myself as I saw the image of Jem and the Holograms, including Misfits Roxy and Stormer looking far less garish with their new makeup.
"Thanks." I stated again turning to face him at last; a twinkle flickered through his eyes as this time he acknowledged it.
"Well at least you show me some gratitude for the things I do." He observed with a mischievous smile. "Ah yes, lest I forget Optimus Prime also gave me something; said his Matrix and something about visions telling him you might need a pick me up." He continued; a second flash greeted me and a standard sized Energon cube rested on the table behind me. "I'll see you again I'm sure." He concluded before his presence was gone; I sighed deeply and took a few steps closer to the table.
"Is that what I think it is?" Xander asked in a hushed tone recognizing what I'd received for what it was no doubt; trust Xander to be one of those kids who grew up with The Transformers.
"Yes, don't touch Dawn!" I snapped; Dawn's hand froze part way to the cube as I examined it, I didn't like it if Prime was getting visions about me through the Matrix then this was going to be big. "Sorry for shouting, but one slight breach of that container and it will be bye-bye Magic Box." I apologized to the pouting teen.
"Oh." Dawn whispered eyeing the cube fearfully now.
"Ok, I get what just happened here; sort of." Buffy spoke up crossing into my line of sight. "But one question, how do you know this Optimax Prome guy and why's he getting visions about you?" She demanded.
"That's Optimus Prime Buff." Xander returned.
"Whatever." She dismissed. "Spill."
"Earth Nine Hundred and Twenty-Nine is full of a lot of things, not just my little Shadow Realm living friend." I began with a twinkle in my eye. "And if I told you why he was having visions about me you'd probably get ticked; it sort of involves a God and stuff I'd really rather not get into." I elaborated.
"Fair enough; can we get back to the plans now, I'm good with those." She sated in a mock child-like tone and with a fake pout on her lips; of course she was playacting a carefully rehearsed dumb blonde part, which made me laugh as I took a seat and plucked the CD off the table again in order to see what was so special about it that Syn would send it here.
"Big question; how do we get this puppy in their hands without arousing suspicion?" I wondered referring to the statuette as I took a sip of the highly concentrated energy as if it were a simple can of pop. Xander eyed it curiously while Dawn practically beamed like the chesire cat; as though she'd just gotten an idea, Willow took the opportunity to study the paper while Anya went back to counting money in the background and Tara carefully took the CD from my hand after asking me with her eyes.
"We could have Spike deliver it." Dawn suggested; Buffy shook her head, but Xander beat her to the punch.
"No way, tall dark and fangy might get swayed by this Omnibus jerk." He countered.
"Besides; I think I've just stumbled onto the perfect delivery system." Willow spoke up sliding the paper over to us; the three of us read it, naturally I finished first.
"Clever." I remarked with a sly smile.
"That could actually work." Buffy added patting Willow on the shoulder.
"Talk about convenient." Xander added; I chuckled, grabbed the Energon cube and finished it off with one great swig; my body literally crackled with energy and a small dark smirk crossed my features briefly. A consequence of drinking too much raw power too quickly, but one I could temper.
"It's settled then, and this time tomorrow night; Omnibus will fall." I stated clenching my hand into a fist and smiling darkly; I blinked and shook my head briefly to dispel to evilness. "I gotta get out more." I muttered jokingly.
"No argument from me." Buffy returned with a chuckle; I laughed a little and stretched my arms to alleviate the tension brought on by the over energization.
"What exactly does that do?" Dawn wondered curiously; I blinked slightly and took a brief intake of air as I entered logic mode.
"Energon is a highly concentrated source of energy; one full Energon cube can last an Autobot several days if he doesn't get too involved with battling Decepticons, in my case one cube has the full power to keep me at maximum energy levels for a total of at least twenty-five days, possibly more if I don't use my abilities too often. And when dealing with an oversized Demon Overlord every advantage one can muster is a blessing." I stated finishing with a chuckle; Dawn eyed me with quirked brow, but decided to shrug and accept my all too brief lecture.
"And th-this?" Tara asked nervously passing the CD back; I smiled and eyed the object.
"Most likely a gift from my friend Jerrica." I replied popping the case open and taking a look inside; a wallet sized photo and a square piece of paper fell out.
"I'll get it." Willow offered quickly scooping up both objects which had landed on the floor; I was too busy reading the info on the songs to worry about it just then. "Aw, cute." She spoke up; Tara moved up beside her and took a peak.
"Awwww." She cooed; Xander was extremely curious now and he too approached the picture wielding Willow.
"Cute kid; who's the cat-girl holding her?" He wondered; my heart skipped a beat and I snatched the photo from Willow's grasp, there she was; my little one, and she was holding a baby girl in her arms while looking up and smiling broadly at the camera.
"What the?" I wondered; Willow passed me the square piece of paper and I unfolded it handing the picture to Buffy so she could show it to Dawn and Anya if she wanted.
"Dear Daddy; as you know Jerrica and Rio got engaged while you were on Earth Nine Hundred and Twenty Nine." I began to read aloud so I wouldn't have to explain things again to the others. "Apparently Ms. Benton was already two months pregnant at that time and didn't know it yet; she wanted to share the child with you, so to speak. Enclosed is a picture of me holding little Theresa; the Starlight Girls, Holograms and even the Misfits… I can't think of them as anything else with your memories in here Daddy, and even Synergy had a hard time deciding on a name." I continued tears forming at the corners of my eyes; I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and smiled gratefully despite not knowing who it was. "Her middle name is Phyllis; I miss you daddy and I want to be with you now that you're on Earth Prime… I love you, sincerely; Amy Chelerise Desrochers." I finished now in tears, it always hurt so much when I thought about my little one; especially when it neared the time of her Birthday, still it was better then being in the Star Trek universe where time flowed a lot faster and I'd be missing so much more then just a few months.
"This is your daughter?" Anya asked confusedly. "What did you copulate with to have that?" She blurted with typical Anya flair; Xander tensed up, but didn't say anything and everyone else kept glancing between the two of us, Anya's bluntness made me stop crying and start laughing, and it took me a long time to stop.
"Thanks for that Anya." I returned wiping tears of mirth and sorrow intermixed from my eyes. "She's adopted; a member of the Catarian species from the planet Eternia." I explained. "And I'd really rather avoid playing Giles for the rest of the night." I added with a tiny shake of my head.
"Eternia?" Willow wondered her eyes lighting up with inner geekyness.
"Not what you're thinking; entirely different." I returned with a good natured chuckle.
"I suppose I'd better go on patrol." Buffy remarked grabbing her coat; I hopped up at that and snatched a stake from her pile hefting it a little as I got a feel for the unusual weapon. "And who said you could come?" She asked pointedly.
"Aren't you the least bit curious as to my skills Slayer?" I returned with a grin.
"I don't…" She began trailing off as she really thought about it. "Come to think of it I am a little curious to see what you can do, oh warrior prince." She admitted with a mock bow; I grinned openly and claimed a sword testing the weight, not practical enough. Selecting another one, which looked old enough to have been forged before the time of Greece and which had a jewel in the center of the hilt; this one suited me better and I grinned as I swept through an invisible enemy indicating the door with the tip.
"Shall we dance?" I asked grinning widely as my previous mood of loss and despair and the absence of Amy seemingly vanished at the prospect of a good scrap.
"Come on." She returned impatiently; with a wink to the others I followed after her.
"Don't wait up for us." I called over my shoulder secreting the sword under my coat and using my power to hold it in place; as though I was The Highlander or something, I could have just used my own sword, but I was saving that for Omnibus and Omnibus alone.
"You don't think…" Xander began turning to eye Willow; his friend shook her head.
"She's still dealing with her feelings for Spike; no way she'd get all touchy feely with mister brooding Omniversal traveler guy." She countered looking slightly uncertain. "At least; I sure hope not." She added under her breath so the others wouldn't hear.
Buffy led us through the cemeteries; unfortunately it seemed very quiet, very little Vamp activity as she would put it. I was admittedly bored; of course there was no real big bad this year, just three geeks thinking they could be super villains. I knew real super villains; those three didn't have a prayer of becoming one, they didn't have that villainous heart, well except maybe Warren.
"Don't talk much?" She asked after our fifth cemetery.
"Nothin' really to say now is there." I returned tripping over a root I hadn't noticed in time; she steadied me and I let out a great sigh. "Unless you wanted to ask about my particular gift." I added.
"Actually yes; just how can you go toe to toe with demons?" She asked curiously.
"God gave me an edge." I replied. "By harnessing all of my mental focus I unleash this power; it's kind of a physical representation of my soul." I explained; she eyed me skeptically, but I didn't feel like going into it. Thankfully a gaggle of vampires chose that moment to show up; I sat back while Buffy engaged in typical Buffy style wit, something rather unoriginal and completely forgettable, then of course the battle began and I pulled out my borrowed sword.
Buffy took out three of them before I could blink; she was definitely a pro and being on this side of the television screen one got the chance to see a whole lot more action, I drop kicked one of the slower moving ones and decapitated a second in one clean sweep of the blade. I watched as Buffy danced in the art of combat; there was very little for me to do except pick off the few foolish enough to attack me. "This patrol is far too quiet for my tastes." I remarked as the last of the vamps was dusted.
"That's because it's a diversion." Buffy exclaimed; I stared at her incredulously, and then it hit me.
"Oh shit." I growled. "That damn ghoul probably has mystical detecting powers." I cursed racing for the entrance of the cemetery three steps behind Buffy.
The Magic Box was at least still standing when we got back; quite frankly I wasn't the least bit surprised that Willow, Tara, Anya, Dawn and Xander managed to avoid serious injury; after all they had experience. Unfortunately Omnibus now had the artifact; I sighed, now we had to step it up a notch.
"No chance of breaking the fourth wall with that musical trick now." I grumbled under my breath. "It was a dumb idea anyway Q." I added speaking more to myself then my old teacher, though I'd never call him that to his face; Anya glared at me.
"You owe me for that window and three jars of incense." She stated flatly; without thinking I handed her my credit card. "Oooo." Her eyes lit up and she dashed over to the cash register.
"Don't overcharge Ahn." Xander warned; she pouted, but didn't object.
"We can't do the magic thing." Willow reminded looking a little fearful; I nodded and shot her a smile to assuage her doubts.
"It can be done without the magic thing… Unfortunately I really don't think you're gonna like how." I returned with a tiny sigh.
"Why?" Buffy immediately demanded hands on her hips.
"Because we're gonna be ripping open a portal." I sighed looking to Dawn; Buffy moved to stand in front of her sister.
"Hell no." She proclaimed eyes narrowed.
"No other way… Relax it won't hurt her or anything." I tried to put her fears to rest. "I'll just take a drop or two of blood and intermingle it with my aura, it should allow us to open a controlled portal." I added.
"Should?" Buffy repeated darkly; Xander came up beside her.
"You know we don't take kindly to people wanting to harm Dawnie." He added; I sighed and with a mental shove pushed them aside using a gravity field.
"We do not have time for this." I growled and with a flourish my Grecian sword appeared in my hand summoned with a simple mental call; Buffy moved to stop me, but I wasn't going for Dawn just yet. Channeling my mind and soul into the sword I touched my soul and the gift, which lay within; raising the sword high single-handedly as though I was Prince Adam I let all of my power flow through the blade using it as the focal point. "I…Am…Justice!" I cried out; my aura flared once again being released, this time I felt the control thanks to my training with Master Contrelle I was more attuned then ever and as I physically transformed in appearance to that of the scourge of all Demonkin I began to sense the very darkness surrounding the Hellmouth. Turning my sword on Dawn I hastily approached and pricked her nearest index finger; twin trickles of blood escaped and I drew them towards me, as soon as they touched the golden light of my inner self a portal tore open and Buffy was dragged in because she was the closest person to me at the time.
"Wh-wh-what just happened here?" Tara asked her tiny voice breaking the silence.
"I'm afraid I took matters into my own hands." I replied as a great evil cried out; Willow and Tara both gasped as they too felt the darkness exploding from the spiritual plane and I turned sideways to stare out the window into the night. "I just hope Buffy doesn't hold a grudge for long, because Omnibus is back." I added with a knowing grimace.
He was reborn in fire; the intense hot flames destroying his pathetic Vampiric minions, he laughed darkly as he felt the world once more. And as soon as he reappeared he felt the presence; Omnibus smiled darkly as he who robbed him of corporeal form once before was made known to his senses again.
"I shall kill you this time human fool." He proclaimed unfurling massive wings and flying swiftly through the night.
Buffy appeared in a desolate looking landscape with no visible source of light; no weapons and a seriously bad attitude, it looked worse then that Hell dimension she'd visited once before in LA.
"Ok… As soon as I deal with this I am so kicking his ass." She growled in typical fashion; that was when the light flared off in the distance, she had to shield her eyes in order to see. "So this Omnibus creep thinks he's gonna mess with my town?" She remarked. "Don't think so, now if only I had a weapon." She muttered; before her eyes a sword appeared in her hand, it was a gorgeous looking blade that seemed to resonate with inner power, a weapon forged of her heart and soul. "Oooo nice new things appear out of nowhere; I could get used to this." She tried to conjure a new wardrobe, but it didn't work; with a tiny pout she began to march towards the radiant brilliance.
"Anya." I stated turning briefly to the group. "I think you're better off keeping that card." I added just before the entire front end of the store collapsed and Omnibus burst in; glancing up and up at the behemoth I noted that he was identical to the form I'd seen him in last, save for a tiny scar running around his neck indicating where I'd decapitated him previously.
"Whoa; nobody said Demon Overlord… Really big now " Xander babbled in an attempt to make light of the situation; he just struck me as Willowy at the moment.
"Oh my Goddess." Willow gasped; I smiled and flipped the sword around in my hand getting a feel for it once again.
"You… Are…Dead." Omnibus proclaimed haltingly in a dark and hate filled voice that set what windows remained to rattling in their frames; I smiled and this time allowed my aura to flare even more as I approached him.
"When I left you I was but the learner… Now I am the master." I quoted before leaping at Omnibus and drawing first blood; with a bellow of pain he lashed out and sent me barreling down the street straight into a custom job Jaguar.
"Ouch; that's gotta hurt." Xander remarked as Omnibus turned to follow; Anya was too busy calculating damages to pay much attention and Willow was having bad Mayor Wilkins flashbacks.
"This is so cool." Dawn exclaimed bouncing up and down and moving closer to see the show; Omnibus had reached me now and this time I was truly putting up a better fight.
"I see you left that whore Serenity." He remarked casually blocking a jab; I shrugged.
"More like she left me." I retorted leaping over an attack from his tail; he slammed his foot into my gut and I went hurling back up the street ripping a deep trench in the cement. "Times like this I'm glad I got invincibility type powers… So to speak." I winced knowing I must have lost eight layers of skin and two of bone with that move, but it was working; Omnibus was so focused on me he wasn't paying attention to what was important, the absence of the Slayer.
Leaping into the air I met him full-on; my borrowed blade now also in hand as I fought dual-bladed, that didn't last long though since the blade I'd borrowed snapped in half and left the tip buried deep in Omnibus's gut. Fortunately my Grecian blade was incapable of breaking; at least I hoped that this time it wouldn't, then again Hephaestus had forged it out of Olympian steel or some kind of metal. Omnibus pounded me in the chest and sent me reeling slightly; I managed to right myself and drove the jagged edge of the broken blade directly into one of his eyes, he screamed in pain and rage and tried to hit me. He missed as I dodged and lashed out with the other blade; I was starting to worry, if he figured out why I wasn't going for the kill there could be trouble. He came at me again; this time I missed the tail and felt my ribs crack all along one side. "I'm gonna feel that in the morning." I groaned; and then the dance resumed as mere battle became war for survival.
Buffy stood before the very gross inky black humanoid form of Omnibus's soul; fortunately it didn't stink, but that didn't diminish the ick factor of seeing a demons soul up close and personal.
"Ok; so all I have to do is stick nice and sharp into that… Shouldn't be a problem." She remarked; taking a few steps closer she prepared to stick the blade in, only to be slammed back by a ten foot snakes' tale.
"Ah, ah, ah little girl… There isssss a problem." A voice countered as the ethereal form of a half-man, half-snake, which happened to be twelve feet tall emerged from the blackness of Omnibus's soul.
"And who are you?" Buffy wondered eyeing the creature warily and noting a few tendrils of dark essence still clinging, almost as though anchoring it to the soul of the Overlord class demon.
"I am Callopiasssss; and I will feasssst upon you thisssss day." The creature replied seconds before lashing out; Buffy blocked it leaping out of its way, then she coiled back into it. This revealed two things; it could go intangible, and her nice new toy couldn't hurt it unless she found some way to get him before he went all ghost-like.
"Well that sucks." She complained before being whacked by the snake head that served as this things' left hand; she moaned a little as she felt her ribs being bruised, but charged again. Callopias smiled and lashed out with both hands; Buffy rolled out of the way and in the process managed to slice one of the tendrils anchoring the one demon to the other, Callopias screamed in agony and lashed out mindlessly drawing back to protect the remaining tethers of his limited existence.
"So you can be hurt." She remarked with a smile; Callopias glared at her and charged lashing out with everything he could, Buffy leapt and dodged all these assaults weaving quickly in and severing one tendril after the other. And when the last one was destroyed Callopias vanished with a scream; breathing heavily Buffy cautiously approached the dark thing, when she was sure nothing else could protect it she drove her blade home twisting it deep into the disgusting ichor like substance the served as a soul for a demon overlord.
Battered though not broken I eyed my opponent; our battle in the sky had taken us into the stratosphere almost out of Earth's atmosphere, which was a good thing considering it meant no more collateral damages. Omnibus suddenly halted mid-motion and let out a painful cry, when he'd last been defeated his death wiped out an entire planet; I was certainly hoping that this time it'd be different and I was right. This time he completely imploded generating a shockwave that caused me to plummet back to Earth; fortunately I managed to right myself in time and caught the falling Buffy, who'd been blasted or pushed out of the spiritual realm with the Demons demise.
"Oooo that was new sensations of not good." She muttered rubbing her temple in the process.
"Good thing we fell enough that the air is breathable at this altitude." I remarked. "Well at least I kept my promise to fly one of you older Scoobies around." I added with a smirk.
"Get me back down now; I'm still mad at you for the whole Dawn get's hurt thing." She reminded dangerously. "And why didn't you warn me about tall, dark and venomous?" She demanded punching my shoulder; though not hard enough to cause me to drop her, considering how high up we were.
"Huh?" I muttered incomprehensibly.
"You know; that Calliopea guy." She elaborated; I shook my head, at least I managed to figure out who she meant by the garbled name.
"Didn't know… His essence must have been bonded to Omnibus's ever since I killed him." I hypothesized.
"Whatever." Buffy retorted. "Get me down fast so you can get back home and stop being here now mucking up our lives further." She stated in a lippy tone.
"Gladly." I returned taking off as fast as was possible now that I carried a passenger.
"You've maxed out." Anya reported once we got back down to the shop; I took my card back and shrugged.
"No big; I don't have to pay it back anyway." I remarked; Buffy immediately moved to check on Dawn, I on the other hand began to gather my things, it was just a good thing everyone had gone back to Buffy's after the Magic Box front entrance got trashed.
"Really?" Xander inquired doubtfully as I snagged the travel bag from the living room.
"Most definitely." I returned pocketing the miraculous credit card while I shut down the regen-bed; Tara and Willow were whispering with Buffy now, I ignored it and stepped past the soon to be wedded couple who were snuggling on the couch and headed for the front door.
"Hold it mister." Buffy called approaching me with some new sword I hadn't noticed her carrying before; I sighed and turned back around.
"Do you want an apology or something?" I asked; Buffy shook her head and glared at me for a little while, making me squirm uncomfortably after the first ten minutes.
"There I've vented." She proclaimed before shooting me with a smile succeeding in taking me by surprise. "If you're ever around here again look us up." She invited confusing me further.
"You're joking." I blurted; she shook her head and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"You're pretty handy in a fight; and Dawn here probably wants to get to know you better." She stated with a tilt of her head in her siblings' direction, Dawn's face flushed terribly and she whined in the background; I shook my head in utter disbelief and turned back to the door, but then I froze.
"If you ever really need me for anything." I began; she laughed.
"I'm sure we'll be able to get in touch." She returned; I smiled. "And if you." She returned the unspoken offer.
"Most assuredly Slayer of the Vampyres." I revealed with a chuckle. "Nice to know you're not the only one cursed with destiny isn't it?" I wondered in a low tone.
"Yeah; I suppose it is." She consented with a sad little smile. "A pity we can't do the whole girls night in like Faith and I used to." She added teasingly.
"Hey." I retorted in a hurt tone. "If all else fails you could try shouting for Q." I quipped slinging my duffel bag over my shoulder; the Slayer burst into actual laughter and I slowly made my way down the front walk and into the night, never to be seen by the Scoobies again most likely.
Sitting on the side of the road eight hours later with still no sign of my ticket back home I was seriously beginning to reconsider my good mood surrounding Q; and I certainly wasn't going to be all chummy with him when he finally deemed to show up, just why was he so damn late in the first place.
"Honestly if this is punishment for attacking him when this all started just how much longer does he expect me to cool my heels here?" I grumbled kicking a small stone into the desert night.
"Some time yet I'm afraid." A voice remarked; turning to the right I found an ordinary looking man in a very tasteless ensemble suddenly sitting beside me where no one had been before, including an odd style of hat.
"You're not Q." I noted rather obviously.
"Afraid not kiddo; names Whistler." He introduced reaching out a hand; I ignored it and looked back out at the road and the slowly beginning to rise sun on the horizon.
"My ride ain't comin' yet." I surmised with a sigh.
"Bingo; you see that Omnibus… Well he really did a number on the balance around here." Whistler explained. "So the Powers that Be have need of you." He added.
"To do what?" I wondered my eyes darting around in sudden concern. "Certainly not… The First." I whispered fearful of summoning the creature; Whistler shook his head hastily.
"Nothing like that… They just need you to handle a little problem brewin' over in Japan." He revealed. "And they're gonna let you have three others to help; the thing of it is they're insisting on two of the Slayers former group." He added.
"Who?" I wondered thinking there were any number of those hanging around.
"The werewolf for starters and…" He trailed off looking for all the world like a man who hated his job even though he wasn't a man at all.
"Tara." I stated; saying what he could not.
"They'll keep her soul in her body long enough for that doodad in your bag to do its' stuff." He returned confirming my worst fears.
"I… Can't do that." I stammered feeling almost at a loss for words. "To be so cruel as to take her away from Willow is one thing, but to then have me revive her after all her friends know she's dead… No way." I snapped shaking my head angrily.
"Got no choice; they're very strict when it comes to these things." He pointed out with a light shake of his head… I mulled over the consequences; the pros, the cons and what my heart told me, in the end I reached a difficult decision.
"I'll do it; on one condition." I began raising up one finger to draw emphasis on what I was about to say next. "She gets to live out her life; happy and without being called on again." I stated in a tone as unyielding as the Earth itself.
"That might prove difficult." He began. "But I'll do more then my best." He added; I nodded and climbed back to my feet.
"Well; I'd better start walking, it's a long way to Los Angeles." I remarked; I glanced back towards Whistler. "My line of credit is kind of…" I began; he shook his head and I blinked as a familiar flash occurred inside my pocket.
"You can find some really decent hotels around that way; just try to steer clear of Angel ok." He requested; I smiled and started heading down the highway.
"Relax; though I make no promises." I called back over my shoulder; then after I was sure Whistler was gone I took off into the air, this was going to be a very long stay and I could tell I'd have a headache or at least crisis of faith by the time it was all over.
To Be Continued
Interlude
Jennifer McMahon met Christine Delisle outside a small antique shop; she hadn't known were else to go considering most of their old hangouts weren't the best place for discussing things, so the two of them met up and began walking in the crisp autumn breeze. It was late afternoon and Christine still looked like she had a hangover; concerned for her friend she placed a hand on her shoulder as they reached a stop light, smiling gratefully Christine eyed her friend critically.
"Spill, what's up with you and Al; he calls you and then what?" She demanded searching her friend with her eyes; Jen sighed.
"I haven't got a clue Christine; I mean everything was ok after we said hello, but then I started to feel afraid, I mean I never gave him my number so…" She trailed off with a shudder; Christine smirked.
"Never figured Al to be a stalker, weird sure, but not that." She remarked mischievously; Jen frowned as though she couldn't remember something vitally important. "So that's when you blew up at him." She hazarded a guess; Jen nodded her dirty-blonde hair falling over one eye until she brushed the lengthy locks aside.
"All he wanted was to throw a party of some kind for some of us; he sounded so hopeless and lonely, and I shouted at him." She exclaimed with a sob a rush of emotions hitting her all at once. "I told him something along the lines; I'd never go to a party of yours and I wouldn't be friends with you if you were the last man on Earth." She revealed actually crying now as the two women paused after crossing the first street Jennifer was extremely guilt ridden; Christine was shocked at Jen's reaction to this and clearly concerned as she pulled her friend out of the line of pedestrian traffic.
"Hey, hey why so down?" She wondered trying her best to lighten the mood or at least get her to stop crying.
"You didn't hear him, his tone of voice when he growled goodbye; oh God Christine I think I broke his heart, he wanted to cry or yell, but all he did was bottle it up and growled at me… You know like he used to do in high school with those crazy sound effects; trying to be a Velociraptor or something. And he still sounded so lonely; Christine I don't understand why do I feel like this over one stupid phone call?" She demanded tears flooding down her cheeks; Christine forced them both to stop again halfway down from the last spot, she hadn't even noticed they'd resumed walking while Jen poured her heart out to her. She drew Jen into a hug, she didn't have the answers for her; possibly no one did and she couldn't know that her best friend was denying her own feelings to her, Jennifer was suffering from a feeling of loss only she had no idea what it was she'd lost or where to find it again.
"Jen; I… Jen, we should both go; you should call him back and apologize." She stated decisively. "Only by going to see him can you find the answers to those questions; I think, there must be something to explain it all, maybe just seeing he's alright and not suicidal will snap you out of this." She added brushing her best friends hair and ignoring the passerby; one person in particular caught her eye as he was standing close to the bus stop watching them both with a twinkle in his eye, but she brushed aside her urge to yell at him and looked back down into Jen's eyes.
"You really think so?" She asked hopefully. "I'm so confused; Christine I even broke up with Donny this morning." She whispered; Christine eyed her friend deeply concerned and smiled bravely to dispel her own fears, people couldn't get hypnotized into crazed love slaves or junk over the phone.
"Yes; I do." She agreed; Jen beamed the last of her tears falling away and hugged her tightly again.
"Come on; you've got to talk to him too, Halloween's coming up maybe we can have a costume party." She exclaimed racing across the street Christine hot on her heels rather reluctantly.
"Sure; sounds like fun." She lied under her breath; that's all she needed, another Halloween party to go to this year.
"Hmmm; looks like I can go too then." Q2 observed to himself with a smirk; a voice trickled down from the heavens.
"No playing match maker son, but you can always just… Help the two of them along." His invisible father returned; smirking wider Q2 snapped his fingers and followed after the pair, human females could be so entertaining at times, especially when they went clothes shopping.
"Too bad they don't take anything off to try costumes on; that Christine kinda reminds me of that young Q female mom was parading around the other day." He remarked to himself; and then he was somewhere else. "She's going to be so distraught when nobody answers; a pity her future husband happens to be on loan to the Powers right this minute." He added bemusedly watching as Jen eagerly dialed the pay phone not even questioning where Al's number came from in her head, God was quite the manipulator at times she could even give Q a run for his money at the best of times; Q2 shook his head and tuned in to the conversation awaiting the waterworks and knowing he really couldn't do anything to appease the poor young womans heart ache.
To Be Continued…
Duh, duh Dah! Al's stuck having to do something truly horrific; revive the dead and then go deal with the muck up caused by Omnibus... Meanwhile back on Earth Prime looks like Jen is really starting to feel something for him, the fault of being whammied with one big dose of soul matey goodness by God after years of nothing sparking her in that way I guess. It's a long one-shot, but it's a one-shot; maybe things happened way too fast, but Omnibus wasn't the main attraction here just the appetizer and those things always leave you wanting more. Next time; Oz, Tara and Al all get together and in the meantime we'll be visiting a familiar Catarian girl back on Earth 929 in the next exciting Interlude segment. All of this will soon be hitting the fan as Gates of Hell rapidly draws nigh.