Dawn of the Key
by Lancer 47, AKA LancerFourSeven
Summary: Just how powerful could Dawn become?
Disclaimer: This is Joss Whedon's territory.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Dawn Summers sat in the most comfortable chair available in the Sunrise Coffee Cafe. She had received the most recent Watcher's Council reports and was quickly skimming through to see if there was anything that needed her attention. She looked up from her pad when she noticed that the noise level in the cafe had become unusually quiet in the last half hour or so. She looked around and noticed that everyone in the cafe looked like the nutcases in the Knights of Byzantium, if they were trying to be undercover. They must have slowly come in, replacing the regulars one at a time. This didn't look good.
An older man, weatherbeaten, rough, big Roman nose, the eyes of a fanatic, sat across from her.
"The KEY!" he intoned piously, "we have you at last. Make your peace with what ever gods you pray to in your last few moments of life."
"Well, well, well, if it isn't another General Looney-Tunes. I see you dress a little better than the last crazy general. Where'd you park your horses?"
"I am General Westhausen, of the Knights of Byzantium! You may joke all you want, but it won't delay the end of your dangerous existence!"
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm in no danger, the power of the Key is under control. It's not possible for anyone to use me to open portals anymore."
"Others may not be able to use you, but over time, you will be able to control the Power of the Key, and with power comes corruption. With absolute power, comes absolute corruption."
"Oh now that just isn't true. I don't have designs on power, I mean, what would I do with it?"
"The truth is, I don't know, exactly. The Books speak of the power of a thousand suns in the palm of your hand, even though that may be hyperbole, we just can't take the chance. Even if you can only access the power of one sun, it would still be too much for a single human to wield. For instance, with just a little power, you could perhaps use it to make certain you control the Slayers, all seventeen hundred of them. And then what could you accomplish?"
"Pfftt! As if. I have about as much chance of controlling all the slayers as I would convincing a litter of kittens to march in lockstep."
"You humble yourself, and I notice your use of the word 'all' in that sentence – maybe controlling just two slayers would be enough to make you Emperor of the Earth. I've been watching you, even though you're not the named head of the Council, somehow everyone ends up doing what you say, what you want. All the reports come to you, you read them all. Even your sister ends up doing what you want. Oh she would deny it, she thinks of you as her little sister that need protection. She doesn't even think about the Key as part of you anymore – your doing, perhaps?"
"So if I'm this all-powerful being, what's to keep me from wiping out you and your gang right now?" Dawn asked.
"Several things. First, you don't have complete control of your own 'Keyness' yet, although that will change over time. Second, we're in public – we know you wouldn't want to cause a visible scene, something publicly bizarre that could not be denied would not be desirable to you, or anyone else. And finally, you're still mostly human, you still have a soul."
Dawn finished her latte and stared at the General. She put her cup down and carefully looked around the room, making a mental note of every person in the room and on the sidewalk outside her window.
She said, "The possession of a soul does not guarantee the possessor won't do bad things to protect herself – after all, Hitler had a soul, and so did Stalin. So yeah, I have a soul, but it may not be burning as brightly as you would think. Second, you're right, I wouldn't care to cause a scene – but maybe I can clean up after myself using the power of the Key. But finally, and most importantly, you're too late on your point number one, unfortunately for you and your followers." She smiled brightly and added, "Yay me!"
He had started to give her a devious smile, but it slipped when she mentioned her conclusions about point one. "What do you...?"
As Dawn sat serenely in the sunlight streaming through the window, everyone in the room became stone still, then little wisps of smoke came from them, seconds later all turned to piles of dust. General Westhausen's demise was delayed by enough seconds for him to look on in horror as he saw his men, the last defense against the Key, turn to ashes. Then he too turned to dust.
A few people on the street had noticed the strange activity, but then all the piles of dust disappeared, the sky flashed brightly, then people appeared right where they had been one hour earlier, before the General's men had started to infiltrate the cafe.
"There we are," Dawn said to herself, "normality, no fuss, no muss, and no more Knights who say 'Key!'."
Buffy and Willow came in. "Hi Dawnie," they said as they sat down.
"Anything need attention today from the Council?" asked Buffy.
"Nope, everything is perfectly normal."
Willow asked, "Did you feel a momentary disturbance a few minutes ago? Like something affected the magical background?"
"No, I didn't," said Dawn, "did you feel something?"
"Well, I thought I did, but maybe it was just indigestion."
A waitress brought over a latte for Dawn. "Here ya go hun," she said, snapping her gum.
Dawn looked at the cup. She said, "Hey, wait a minute, where are my chocolate sprinkles?"
The waitress picked it up and said, "Oops, I'll fix it, be right back." She didn't notice Dawn's narrowed eyes, didn't realize how close to death she had come as she rushed off to fix Dawn's coffee.
The End