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Buffy the Vampire Slayer(tm) & (c) 2000 Twentieth Century Fox film Corporation. All rights reserved. TM designates a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, except for satirical purposes, is purely coincidental.
Some of the inventions in this book belong to the respective inventors/dreamers.
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Eternal Duty
Prologue
"...and the soter is to be dormant in the second
world until the third generation of her children
are to arise to their sixteenth year of birth, thus
until then, none are to take her place.....Only
after the death of the third generation, are the
demons allowed to roam the planet. After the
death of the third generation of the soter's
children, the demons will reclaim the earth."
- The Book of Marduk 9:13-17
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Chaos reigned around her, the fire dancing it's way up the walls and across the floor. The structure seemed as if it was about to collapse, but eerily it stayed string and defiant.
It had now been three years since the initiative was been destroyed, however demonic activities still seemed to rise. All the magical, demonic and other worldly activity had been building to a climax, to the pinnacle of the Slayer saga. The saga was to end, and it was to end tonight.
A pair of red glowing eyes locked onto Buffy. The man standing over her looking down to Buffy's pleading face. The crystal he held in his hands sparkled in Buffy's eyes. She was transfixed, but completely aware of what was going on around her.
"I'm glad I'm gonna be the one who finally finishes off the slayer. Many people have tried. Hell, not even people. Things! But the person, who finishes off the slayer, is just a mere old human. Isn't that amazing?" Quentin stood there looking at Buffy.
Buffy broke away from the long stare at the crystal. She could see her closest friends from all angles, running towards Quentin. She looked back at the dreary man, and his eyes suddenly glowed red. She prepared to scream out to her friends, however it was too late. Quentin had already aimed his hands at her friends and they were thrown back towards the wall simultaneously. The crystal was now levitating in the air by itself, while Quentin performed magic on her friends. Quentin rose his hands, and the Scooby gang began to rise up off the floor. He clicked his fingers and immediately blue bubbles appeared around Xander, Giles, Willow, Cordelia and Angel. He had finally returned to Buffy, and now he was a human...no longer vampire.
Frantically they all tried to free themselves from the bubbles, but to no avail. Buffy now fully realised the power that was to be unleashed onto the world. She had been told that tonight the slaying would stop for good, but no-one knew what that had meant. Was the slayer to die ? Would there be eternal peace from the Vampire, demons and other non-worldly activities ? Tonight, she would find out.
Once again she looked up towards Quentin. His hands were glowing from the magic that flowed through him. Quentin clapped his hands together, and grabbed the crystal once again. He began to chant witchcraft, and the crystal began to glow.
She had been told of the power of this crystal. With the right commands, it would open a portal from the darkest regions of limbo. Every single creature imaginable would be released to create havoc on the earth, to rightly reclaim it.
Buffy wasn't going to let this happen, she couldn't. It was her right to save the world tonight, and it was a prophecy that foresaw her death tonight. Buffy knew it, for tonight she would die.
Quentin spoke once again, but didn't look at Buffy. He concentrated his vision on the vortex that was forming in front of him, and behind Buffy.
"Do you like this Buffy ? For this is what will kill you tonight, this is what will heal the Earth. This is what will change everything. You cannot stop it Buffy, for Marduk has it written in stone..."
Buffy didn't like this, if he was to succeed the Earth would be reclaimed by the demons. She had to stop it, and she knew that the only way she could was to kill herself and Quentin. Buffy cocked her head to look at the portal. She could just see her friends in absent horror. Willow however was chanting a spell and Buffy knew what it was. The bubbles suddenly disappeared and everyone fell back to the ground.
The portal suddenly flashed, and turned a dark green. Immediately demons began to appear from it. Willow began chanting again whilst Giles and Xander grabbed anything they could get to battle the demons with. Giles pulled out his revolver and started to shoot the demons in the eyes. The demons disappeared. Xander saw how this worked, and started to poke the demons in the eyes with wood and metal poles. Willow then turned into a huge fireball, and flew towards the portal to close it. Quentin saw this and used his magic to restrict her. She turned back to her normal form, and fell in front of the portal. Laying on the ground, Willow looked up at the demons that were standing around her. Horror filled her face as she knew what was to happen. Once of the demons picked her up and began to throw her across the room. Willow now became a ball for the demons evil game of volleyball. Willow hit the wall opposite the demons, and Xander saw this. He ran over to Willow and stood in front of her, braving the oncoming demons. Giles then ran over, and stood next to Xander and began to battle the demons once again. They became crowded, and within seconds Buffy couldn't see her friends. The Demons had surrounded them, and what was happening now was anyone's guess.
Buffy then remembered a chant that Willow had taught her just before entering the building. She jumped up from beneath Quentin and placed her hands on the crystal.
"What are you doing Buffy...." Quentin asked in his evil voice, unknowing of what she was about to do. Buffy ignored his question and began chanting furiously. Again the crystal began to glow but this time it was a different colour. It glowed a furious pink.
*Typical, just because I'm a girl* Buffy thought to herself. Buffy continued to chant, and Quentin began to laugh.
"What do you expect to accomplish in this infernal....." Quentin realised what she was doing. The demons were now being pulled back into the vortex. Long strands of blue swirl began to reach out and grab the demons, and upon touch contact of the strands the demons would slowly disappear in a mass of loose molecules.
"NO !" Soon enough all the demons had disappeared and Buffy continued to chant. Willow got up, with the aid of Giles and Xander and heard what her friend was saying.
"No, Buffy..." Xander became confused. Giles answered for Willow.
"She's reciting the engulfment spell...."
"What is That ?!" Xander asked.
"Suicide," Willow replied.
The vortex appeared instantly in a flash of white light, but a new vortex was slowly being created from the crystal. Both Buffy and Quentin became enveloped in the vortex, and were now inside a giant blue ball. Giles, Willow and Xander could plainly see Quentin trying to break away from Buffy, but Buffy kept him in place. The blue ball now began to shrink, and contract. Within a matter of seconds it became the height of both Buffy and Quentin, and continued to shrink.
"Quentin, If I'm going down," Buffy started. "You're coming down with me !" Suddenly immense pain filled both Quentin and Buffy. They both screamed out aloud as their molecules began to fall apart. They were falling apart like sand trickling through the hands of an 8 year old.
The fire all around them began to disappear and fall into the centre of the bubble. Soon enough all the fire in the building was now in and around the bubble.
Willow screamed for her friend. Suddenly the bubble exploded in a flash of white light, and disappeared.
Everything turned deadly silent. Xander fell to his knees, Willow cried and Giles fell against the wall trying to keep himself up. Everything had disappeared. Everything was silent. All that was left were the cries of Willow, Xander and Giles as well as the last, gut-wrenching screams of Buffy Summers.
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"NO !" The girl shot up in her bed, breathing heavily from the nightmare she just had. Her body was damp from her own sweat, and her covers were on the floor as they had fallen off her during her movement in her bed during the night. She looked to her clock. In it's bright green digital letters, it read 2:15am.
"Clara ? Are you alright ?" Clara looked towards the doorway. There was her mother walking into the room with a glass, and a jug of water. "Another bad dream ?" Her mother asked caringly.
"Y-yes. But this time it was different. It was all so real,"
"Well don't worry about it. You're 16 tomorrow," The mother looked at the clock. "Well, actually you're 16 today. Just go back to sleep, and then you'll be able to celebrate your birthday in the morning."
Clara took a sip from the water her mother had poured her, Clara's hand still shaking. "Ok Mum, but this was more intense. It was like I was actually there."
"Don't worry Clara honey. If you're really that worried about it, you can see Veronica in the morning. You know what she's like with dreams."
"You're right. I'll see her tomorrow."
"There's my girl." Clara laid back in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mother walked out. "Goodnight sweetie." Clara turned her head and smiled at her mother.
"Night mum" Clara replied as her mother closed the door. Clara turned on her side, ready to sleep. She looked at the clock once again. A puzzled expression covered her face.
"Who the hell is Buffy ?" She closed her eyes once again, and fell deeply into sleep.
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Veronica was standing in her favourite nightgown looking out to the London skyline. Her bedroom in the OXO tower gave her the most beautiful view of London. Sure it may not be the most hygienic place to live, London, but it was one of the most glamorous places in England at night.
Holding the open cut on her forehead she looked westward into the city. She could see the Twin Towers that were built in 2046. London had built these to commemorate the Alliance with America in the most important technological decade in history. She could see the hover crafts cruising 50 foot above the ground at high speeds. People going into night clubs could be seen with the new fashion of the year, 'Soft' Clothes.
"These are computer-generated clothes that are projected around the body from a digital necklace. Thermal insulation is provided by a variable, kinetic force field that agitated air molecules adjacent to the body to provide heat. The opacity of the virtual garment can be controlled by a small, hand-held unit." Veronica remembered from a magazine article. Teenagers had much fun with these soft clothes when they were able to hack the code for a girl's garment and render it transparent while she was bending over. Girls had equal fun by making guys' clothing transparent while they were looking at the girl bending over. However, new advances in this field stopped these kids from making these practical jokes.
Mobile phones had evolved too. They had been changed into watches. You speak the persons name, it dials and you see the person on the other end on your wristwatch. It even had an option to create a holographic representation of the person you were speaking to.
However, in this new age of technology, crime had risen. People were still being mugged, beaten and killed. There was never going to be a perfect earth, there would always be evil. The Evil side had ruled the earth for a long time before we had, and they would probably rule for a long while after as well. There was new technology to battle crime, and it was very successful. However, criminals always seemed to avoid these measures and create new machines to destroy the old ones. It seemed now days all of the criminals were hackers. Geniuses that had a bad life. Shame, if they stopped what they were doing, they probably could make machines that would change the world. But, it's their choice.
Veronica turned away from the glistening lights of the city and decided to put some pressure on her wrist with her other hand to ease the swelling pain. However in doing so, she released her hand from the cut on her forehead, so more blood trickled known her face.
"Dammit," She spoke aloud. She grabbed a cloth from her pocket and held it to her head. She suffered with the pain in her wrist for now. "TV" she commanded and automatically a glass box appeared out of the wall which suddenly emitted the full body of a reporter, with a faded background. "TV, sharpen background". Immediately the image came a little into focus. "Little more, little more" she was becoming impatient. "MORE !" Suddenly the image became distorted "Hey," She squinted her eyes to combat the intense view of the background against the reporter. "Too much." The image turned out clear as day. She continued to her bathroom cabinet to grab some first aid materials for the cuts and bruises she had.
::And yet another body has been found in the city of London today by what looks like another victim of the serial killer that seems to be roaming around London. Police have identified the body but are not yet giving out any information as to who the person is. However they have disclosed information onto how the victim was injured, by massive blood loss. As to how the blood was drained from her body, the police have told us that they do not yet know. Yet again, this body was discovered by an anonymous person who had alerted the police. This reporter suspects that the attacker has a conscience, and feels that the police must be alerted. This is Jane Kushoto reporting for Sky News::
"New age reporters. What a piece of crap." She then took the position and mimicked the reporter. "'This reporter suspects that the attacker has a conscience, and feels that the police must be alerted.' What a bunch of crap. These reporters should just read the news, then shut the hell up". She stood in front of the TV for a few seconds in total silence. "Well at least they got my call," Veronica breathed. "Vampire's are too much for a Watcher to take on, and at 3 in the morning, this is getting too much."
Veronica was no ordinary girl. Sure, the watcher thing was different, but she was also psychic. Although she hadn't been properly trained, she could do anything she wanted. Well, sort of. Levitating pencils, bending spoons, and almost reading people's thoughts was the most she could do. Veronica was a medium height brunette, standing at about 5"8' she was the only woman at the Watcher's main headquarters in London. Unfortunately the council still believe in good old fashioned English ways, they don't exactly like girls taking over "male" jobs. However, because of her roots, she has become a valuable asset.
Using her thin, sporty figure she was able to battle vampires fairly well, hell, better than most people could ever fight. Everyday she ran around the streets of London to keep fit, and appeared at the door of the Gym a few days a week to work out.
Veronica turned off the Holographic projection and went to her kitchen to fill a glass of water. She had been doing the night slaying ever since she became a watcher, and she still hates it. She didn't even want to be a watcher, but does she have a choice ? All watchers all over the world have had to be a temp slayer because of an absence of the slayer. The Watchers Council has increased five-fold to compensate for the lack of a slayer. The scary fact was that most of the watchers were unofficial watchers. What would they do if they found a slayer ? Any slayer ? The chances of that happening were one in a couple of trillion. There hadn't been a slayer in three generations. The last watcher that had looked after a slayer was Rupert Giles back in 2003, her great grandfather. But what continued to confuse Veronica was the question "Why hasn't there been another slayer ?" Giles had seen Buffy die right in front of his eyes and, according to the rules, there should be another slayer. However, there isn't another slayer. Many potential slayers, but no actual slayers. She even kept in contact with the only potential slayer in England, Clara. Veronica had a feeling about Clara, but she didn't quite know what it was.
A New slayer has to be found soon though. After the Sunnydale hellmouth was destroyed by Buffy and co, another had been slowly created. Where exactly ? None other than London. The actual whereabouts in London, no-one knows. It hadn't surfaced just yet. The Watchers council knew it was there, because of the increasing amount of Vampires, demons and the undead. Even the magical influence over the city had increased, with more people figuring out how to use witchcraft.
Again Veronica looked out of the window whilst drinking her tap water. It was a view of the River Thames, and at night the river shimmered like glass. It was a truly memorizing sight.
"Beautiful isn't it ?" A voice coolly cut through the air behind Veronica. She slowly pressed a button on her uninjured wrist projecting a wooden stake into her hand, and span around aiming it at the intruders heart. The man suddenly screamed and jumped back hitting a glass table, falling over it and landing on the automatic vacuum cleaner setting it off on a cleaning rampage. Realising who the person in front of her was she pulled back the stake and put it down. She ran over to help her friend up.
"Can you STOP doing that ? Every time I come around do you HAVE to freak me out with your freaking stake ?" the intruder proclaimed.
Gary was Veronica's best friend since she was born. It wasn't exactly coincidence that they were both watchers, their fathers were watchers as well. So it was easier for them to talk about things, and not have to hide the watchers council from each other. They shared everything together. They ate bugs together when they were 3, went to the same school, did the same activities and basically never had an argument.
They had seen things together that would that people wouldn't believe. Together, they captured a witch hell-bent on talking over London and seeking revenge on everyone. The witch was now kept at the Watchers Council Headquarters, under lock and key. All the cases that they had ever done, they did together. They were so close, they would risk their life to save the other.
And he DID have a tendency to sneak up on people.
"Well it's your fault Gary. You never knock !"
"You're gonna kill me with that one day," Garry said as he brushed himself down. "Hey, what happened to your head ? That's pretty bad !"
"Oh nothing," Veronica replied. "Just a vampire scratch. Nothing a little TCP can't handle. How the hell do you get in here anyhow ?"
"Getting in here is not the point...."
"Yes it is"
"No....it isn't" Veronica then released the catch of the stake holder and the stake once again shot out into her hand.
"Ok, ok jeez. I got in through the door with your thumbprint. I got it from the council. You know how much information they store there.." Veronica looked at the stake, then looked back at Gary.
"Actually," she replied. "I don't. How much OTHER information do they store ?"
"Um," Then miraculously changing the subject "I've been sent by the highest priority."
"So ? Whenever they send you by the highest priority, it's usually to clean up the mess in the office or something."
"There's been a sighting." Veronica started to walk back into her bedroom.
"Once again, I say, So ?"
"A Sighting of a slayer"
"Probably another hoax." Veronica shouted from inside her bedroom. Gary started to walk inside.
"No. Let me re-phrase this. The council have in their possession a slayer."
As he walked inside, Veronica screamed whilst trying to cover herself up.
"WHAT THE HELL ? GET OUTTA HERE !" Gary jumped out of her room, walked over to her settee and sat down.
"Whoa, sorry. I didn't know you were changing. Anyhow, yeah, we have a slayer."
"A Fake. A Person who has read up."
"No. THE slayer" Veronica appeared at her bedroom door. She was wearing a jet black jacket, with a skirt of the same colour. Underneath the jacket she was wearing a light blue top. Gary looked at her.
"You mean...No it can't be. It's a look-alike." Veronica stated and walked over to the window again. Gary stared. Veronica saw him in the reflection of the window, and turned around. "GARY !" He suddenly clicked back to reality.
"Oh, sorry," Gary apologised while readjusting himself and nervously looking away from Veronica. "She's passed the tests. Blood, thumb, eye, bio-scans..."
Veronica looked out to the skyline.
"Slaying tests ?" she asked.
"No. Veronica, you have to see her. She's a state. She can't take any more tests. She just about took our ones...she's been put through a lot."
"No, I still can't believe you. It's been 90 years for gods sake"
"It's her V," Veronica looked at Gary once again. Gary pulled out a picture from his wallet. A black and white picture. "Buffy Summers."
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A man stood on a lone piece of rock in a huge cavern. Mist swirled around him, as if the mist particles were praying to their god. In front of him, a blue swirl hovered. It looked like it could be screwed up and thrown away. It was thin, it didn't even have an edge, and it was just like a hole. Behind the man, thousands upon thousands of creatures stood. All growing weary and impatient. Some kicking off small fights with each other, only to be stopped by their sorcerer . It seemed wrong. A small male controlling hoards of monsters thrice his height. It all seemed wrong, but so did his plan.
"The time has come my soldiers. Today is the 16th birthday of the great granddaughter of the soter. Fate has written that once this girl dies, the earth will once again be ours." The man turned around and jumped down off the rock. "We have waited too long to reclaim what is rightfully ours. It's our day to get it back !" The crowd roared, and the cavern rocked.
"An eon has passed while we have waited ! An eon in this hell hole ! However, this is what we had to endure to get our land back." His then face turned of that to disgust. He walked over to the demon a few feet to his left.
"You...you disgust me," The demon dropped his head in shame. "For years we handled the slayer, and you let her get away" The man pushed the demon off the edge of the rock, and the demon fell straight into the flowing lava beneath him. With a scream, he disappeared under the magma. The man continued to speak.
"We have handed back the slayer to her reality. Now everything has been set in motion !" The man stepped down from the rock, and began walking through the crowd of monsters, all moving out of his way. Some growled at him, some almost lunged at him, but they knew they had to obey him. He walked up to the fire in the middle of the cavern. Slowly, he brought his hands together at his chest as if he was praying. His hands then balled up. A purple glow surrounded his hands and he started to shake. A groan could be heard from his throat, then suddenly he shot his hands up above him and beam of purple colour appeared from his hands which reached the ceiling. He moved his hands in front of him, and aimed at a demon. The beam hit the demon, and straight away the demon started to scream.
It started to change. The demon grew smaller, and more human like features. The surrounding demons stepped back whilst the transformation was occurring. Then as fast as it had started, the beam disappeared. The demon fell to the floor convulsing.
The man kept his eyes closed for a few seconds to concentrate the pain he just went through. He opened them, then walked over to the demon.
"Get up." The demon laid there, trying to adjust to the new body it was in.
"GET UP !" The man kicked the demon in the stomach. Slowly, the demon stepped up. It was human, well had the appearance of a human. Its eyes were glowing, and its teeth kept tightly shut , growling at the man. "That's better."
The man walked back to the swirl, with the demon following suit. "It is your duty to destroy the third generation. You will capture her, and bring her here for the final integration of the two worlds. You cannot fail"
It speaked.
"But master, how will I know the girl ?"
"Good question." The man then pointed towards the swirl. Everyone looked towards the swirl. An image of a girl appeared in it. "This is the girl that you are tracking. Get her and bring her here. If you are unable to capture her, do not come back here. We will be monitoring you, I will send more demons if necessary."
"How will I find her ?" The man looked at the demon.
"You will be drawn towards her."
"I am ready". The human-demon walked up to the blue swirl. The man paused him.
"Bring back the girl. Bring back Clara" The demon nodded, and stepped into the swirl. A flash of white light appeared, and the demon was engulfed. "It is our time. We will rule once again !"
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Fate has a way ...
It acts as your comrade ...
Then stabs you in the back ...
God save the slayer ...
To be continued ...