Author's Notes: Ladies and Gentlemen I give to you the second part of the Buffy Trilogy; a Fast Paced Action Extravaganza featuring my OC Alain Desorchers of Earth Prime, a shame no one seems to have reviewed yet, but as always I press on because I need to post up this and a lot more. Expect a Comprehensive Timeline of the Chrysalis Saga to be posted under the heading Chapter Two on this and as a brand new Capter to many of my Older Tales Long Since Finished. I'm putting the Timeline up under all my stories that are relevant to it because I felt it was necessary; I do hope you wonderfully loyal readers shall review one of these days so that I can further continue the wonderful world of Alain and all the rest, for now...
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns all datum and stuff pertaining to the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; the characters created by me to further expand upon Al's role in this reality belong to me and may not be liked by all and for that I appologize. I make no claims to owning the Buffy stuff; I simply borrowed them for the express purpose of filling in a gap that I felt was sorely needed or perhaps it was not... Who can say? Anyway I think that about covers it all; so I'll let you read this since perhaps you've been waiting for it or maybe were completely confused by the last segment of the Chrysalis Saga.
Prologue
The elder woman sat on the floor of the Dojo fearing what was to come, but knowing there was little choice in the matter; three would come from America however the fourth would have to be found, the only problem with this was the utter lack of time. And time as it were could not be asked to halt; its' flow could not be frozen in one spot long enough for the fourth and final member of this impromptu team to be found, instead it could only be dealt with as it happened and alas she knew of no true way to find the one without tapping into the ancient arts… Thus it fell to her to seek out and find this one; and so she closed her eyes and began to meditate.
Beneath the city of Tokyo it sits; a large disgusting cocoon, covered in pustules and colored an ash grey. This was only one of four; the other three were once again being born due in part to the presence of the Overlord, it stirred within. A grotesque kind of beauty that would soon rain destruction upon the Earth; unless the four could be gathered and gathered quickly.
I sat in a hotel room staring with unblinking eyes; the deadline was almost up, I had to do this… I couldn't let the world end just because of my moral scruples. Retrieving the body had been pretty easy actually; the others were all too worried about Willow to pay attention to the coroner, it's amazing what you can do with a change of clothes and about fifty pounds of Hollywood make-up.
Then of course I did what was needed; I brought her here, removed the bullet and used my all purpose tricorder to repair the external damages. Now all that remained to bring the dead back to life was the crucial element; a miracle drug from the Twenty-Fourth century called Cordrazine; normally this drug shouldn't work after the patient had been dead for a considerable length of time, unless the patient happened to be cryogenically frozen. It was also a very tricky drug to use considering certain ramifications; if I didn't administer the proper dose it could drive the patient mad as had happened to Doctor McCoy during that whole Guardian on the Edge of Forever deal. With a heavy sigh I depressed the tiny replicated hypo as it lay against her neck; then I snapped open the tricorder and began to monitor her vitals. At first… Nothing, but then a tiny flutter; her heartbeat slowly registering once more, the drug had worked its' so called magic. The blood began to circulate; organs resumed functioning, and with a startled intake of air she began to breathe again.
"What have I done?" I whispered snapping the offensive device closed and tearing up; her eyes began to flutter, she was alive… When she should be dead. "What have I done!" I wailed hurling my tricorder to the side; it flew across the room and smashed a mirror, shattering it, but not damaging the casing in the slightest.
"A… Al?" She asked with a cough slowly sitting up; her skin tone was healthy once again, not waxy or pale. She touched her chest; she was still wearing the clothes she'd died in. She gasped; though she never knew what killed her, she had known that she had died. But then; how could she be here? Alive and with a stranger she both knew, yet did not know; she tried to get up only to fall back down.
"T… Take it easy; you haven't fully adjusted yet." I spoke in a hoarse tone; one of misery beyond imagining, she looked at me.
"What did you do?" She demanded fearful that sorcery might be involved; ironically echoing my own words previously, I sighed as I looked into her eyes.
"What I had to." I replied the morality issues grappling with my soul faded slightly with those words, but did not vanish completely; they never could. "Welcome back to the living… Tara." I stated softly eyeing the young woman with a guilty expression; when this was all over, Whistler was getting his ass kicked that I could definitely promise him.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Dark Alliances
"Wh-What? H-How?" Tara asked backing away from me fearfully; I sighed and got back to my feet, then I retrieved the tricorder.
"With this." I replied. "It's my all purpose medical tricorder; I managed to duplicate all the functions of Twenty-Fourth century medical science, reduce it into this compact form." I elaborated. "Although I did get a little help from Q considering I haven't made another one yet." I added with a slightly bitter tone centered more at myself because of what I'd done rather then the device; Tara got up her eyes darting between me and the tricorder.
"But wh-why me?" She wondered. "If- if you need help with something why not g-go to Buffy?" She asked; I let out an angry sigh.
"Because some pissant little prick messenger for the PTB decided I couldn't do it with just anybody." I grumbled clenching and unclenching my free hand to help control the rage.
"Whistler." Tara muttered looking down at her messy attire; I glanced up sharply at the name.
"You heard of him?" I asked disbelievingly.
"You could say that." She replied before heading for the door. "I have to see Willow."
"Ah; you can't." I stated moving to block her way; she eyed me with a surprising amount of courage.
"Get out of my way." She stated though in a soft tone lacking the harshness of the Slayer.
"They saw you dead Tara." I interjected. "And… They made a stupid rule." I added emphasizing the word they; Tara shot me a pained look.
"I can never see them again can I?" She asked. "Never be with my Willowy one." She added barely audible even to my sophisticated audios.
"I'm sorry, but… No." I returned as gently as I could; she broke into tears falling to her knees, her pain was a silent one not as explosive as Willows had been. She did not want my pity or my comfort, but I could deny my heart not; and so I picked up a small bag of clothes I'd procured earlier. I left them at her side; and silently slipped outside leaving her alone in her grief. "I am so grateful my Mistress isn't as hands on as these so called powers that be." I muttered darkly before I moved over to the phone and began to verify the plane tickets; from everything I'd gotten out of Whistler I knew we didn't have much time before whatever it was went down.
The airport was fairly crowded as we made our way through the process; in order to fool the metal detector on my part I had to discreetly interface with it, after all I couldn't remove my implants. Tara still looked upset; I didn't exactly know what to say, I mean sure a lot of those hard core Buffy fans hated Tara's death, but it was another thing entirely when you're the one apparently destined to revive her.
"Are you gonna be ok with this?" I asked her as we sat waiting to board. "I mean; working with me and everything?"
"It's not that I can't deal with this sort of thing… I mean the way my life was I always thought something like this could happen." She replied sounding slightly less upset than before. "But I always thought I'd have my friends and Willow to help me cope." She admitted; I sighed as I fidgeted with one of my mobile emitters.
"I suppose I'm a far cry from Willow." I returned trying to make a joke; Tara actually smiled glancing over at me.
"Yes, but at least you're not pushing things." She stated remarkably trying to cheer me up; I was at a loss. "You know; bossy like Buffy." She elaborated; I chuckled as a stewardess began to call for the passengers.
"Believe me; I am not a leader, at least not like her." I returned; Tara smiled wistfully as we headed for the plane entrance, I knew she was masking her pain. I was so not going to like it if the supposed PTB screwed her over a second time, which gave me a little idea. The problem was putting it in motion; then again Roma was a close friend of mine, at least I liked to think so.
The cocoon exploded at last freeing its' captive; long closed eyes opened, eyes the sickliest green. She climbed out of her fetal position revealing a female form; she stood roughly nine feet tall and her flesh was not true flesh, her body had no covering, but that did not matter for her body was not like a humans'. Instead it was comprised mostly of long dead leaves; thick vines coiled about her forming musculature, a white moss clung to her brow mimicking human hair, dried branches and roots aided in keeping her together.
Her lips were smooth; black rose petals, and upon her back were great wings formed of a thin membranous substance. She shuddered as she felt the sickness of the Earth and reveled in it; then she felt it, the captive essence of her one true love.
"I am coming my love." She whispered before she burrowed through the concrete and into the Earth itself racing along to her destination; the balance of the Earth began to unravel, for this creature was not meant to awaken so early and the Powers that Be were forced to do some heavy manipulations in order to prevent the total destruction of the very balance they sought to keep in check.
"Why are we in Paris?" Tara wondered. "Didn't you say the trouble lay in Japan?" She continued as we left the hotel.
"True." I returned. "But we've got to get one more ally first." I revealed glancing around the quiet street; we'd taken the taxi straight here once our plane landed, I had no idea how long it would take to find him.
"Who?" She asked curiously.
"Oz." I replied; Tara began to tremble then, but I quickly turned and pulled her into the alley now that we weren't being watched. "I know you haven't exactly been on good terms with him." I admitted slipping two of the emitters out as I talked; she watched uncertainly. "But I promise; if he get's all Grrry about you, he'll be very sorry." I added flicking the emitters on so my charges became active in their cassette modes.
"Well at least we have something in common now." She admitted in a bitter tone. "We've both lost Willow." I felt a pang of guilt at that, but pushed it aside; then I held up my cassette friends so she could see them.
"These are kind of my own creation; they're… Ah sentient holograms." I explained; she looked at them curiously, before glancing back at me.
"What are they going to do?" She wondered not questioning their current forms; I sighed as I eyed my allies.
"Find Oz… Do the leg work for us." I admitted. "Unfortunately it'd go a lot better if I had some of his DNA." I grumbled; Tara surprised me by pulling out a tiny pendant from her pocket, she eyed it wistfully.
"He gave this to Willow and she…" She choked up; I took it delicately and opened my eyes wide, though it was a sub-conscious move on my part and I failed to notice it.
"Initiating scan." I whispered feeling the strange urge to announce what I was doing; a remnant from my days locked into Voyagers' main computer perhaps, or maybe it had something to do with my merger with Teletran-One. I couldn't believe our luck; a small trace of his DNA still lingered, one tiny fingerprint from his pinky that hadn't been wiped clean. "Uploading now." I stated beaming the sample directly to the Decepticons.
"Not to be rude, but how can audio cassettes help?" She wondered skeptically; I grinned at her question and held my hand out at arm's length.
"Ravage… Laserbeak; transform, operation retrieval." I ordered in Soundwave's voice; I couldn't help it, whenever talking to them I enjoyed issuing orders like the cartoon. As one both Decepticons adopted their robotic guises; Tara gasped and took a step back as Ravage landed beside me, Laserbeak circled above us.
"Are… Are they d-dangerous?" She asked me; I shook my head with a smile.
"Nah; they couldn't hurt a fly unless I ordered it, I made absolutely certain they couldn't kill unless I overrode that program for rare emergencies." I explained petting Ravage on the head as if he were any other cat; Tara smiled weakly and reached out a hand to touch him, of course he probably felt like smooth metal to her.
"Nice… Ah… Kitty." She stammered; Ravage smiled as he tilted his head to look at me questioningly, I shook my head.
"You have my orders and the DNA." I stated; Laserbeak circled once more and squawked lightly before taking off, Ravage nodded silently slinking off then I turned back to Tara; she was still a little upset judging by her expression.
"I know it's probably not the same… What with me bein' a guy and all, but… Wanna go shopping?" I asked feeling obligated to at least try and cheer her up a little; the curse of my gentlemanly honor.
"I don't know." She returned cautiously; I stood and waited patiently for her to reach a decision, not pushing her into something she wasn't ready for. She seemed to sense that and smiled graciously; then she nodded. "O-ok, if y-you're sure." She finally consented.
"Tara I'm never a hundred percent sure of anything." I returned with a tiny white lie; Borg were most definitely sure of a lot of things, but I kept that to myself because I didn't want to come off as all-knowing, arrogant or a total prig. "But I think we both could use a change of wardrobe." I pointed out with a small smile.
"It won't be the s-same without Willow." She admitted with a sigh; I didn't know what to say at that, but Tara seemed to understand. "But you do raise a valid point." She added with a slight tilt of her head; so I led the way off to the nearest shops around, fortunately it wasn't that late so they weren't all closed.
She unleashed a great wave of rotted detritus; the dead things of the Earth swarmed the forgotten temple, her defenders were skewered upon flying branches three quarters of an inch thick. Soon none remained to stop her; the ornately crafted stone coffin was shattered by the Earth she commanded, he erupted from his captivity at long last. Her love arose on a pillar of air; his body resembled the rancid remains of dead men and women, rotted bones and black flesh forming his own corporeal presence. Yellowed and rotted were his teeth; his hair a scraggly mat of white and grey resting upon his brow. His eyes; twin pools of black, no pupil, no iris, this then was the second of the beasts and her great love; she kissed him passionately upon their embrace.
"Spyre my love." He greeted; his voice a bare whisper, she smiled coyly at him.
"Triage my mate… It has been too long." She returned her voice sounding like the rustle of leaves in the fall, crackling and almost beautiful in comparison.
"I sense my brother… He is near." Triage stated his head snapping to the left as the inexorable pull was felt and he closed his eyes breathing in deeply, she smiled.
"Then we shall go to him." She stated taking to the air on her wings; Triage smiled and rose on a pillar of air, as one they took off for the third member of their party intent on liberating him.
"You're sure you can pull it off." Alain asked eyeing his hated watcher; or at least what some might consider his version of a watcher, of course he always thought of himself more as a teacher.
"Of course." He returned in a haughty sounding tone. "But she will have to make the decision ultimately herself." He added; Al nodded in understanding, with a brilliant flash he was gone and Al sat back with a contemplative expression. Laserbeak chose that moment to return; he squawked his report and the young looking man smiled with relief, Oz was found.
Tara was wary as we approached the one bedroom flat; or did they still call it an apartment here? I couldn't blame her; when they first met Oz hadn't exactly proved the most altogether guy, up there; I knocked on the door movement could be heard inside and I turned back to Tara.
"Relax; he's probably much better." I tried to assuage her fears; she shot me a weak smile.
"Yeah?" A voice asked as the door partially opened; Oz didn't let it show, but he was probably surprised. "Tara?" He wondered eyeing the woman confusedly; then his eyes fell on me, I smiled in way of greeting ignoring his outlandish looking blue hair color.
"Name's Al." I introduced holding out my hand. "Don't have much time to explain I'm afraid… Big problem in Japan, needs particular warriors and; well we're it." I stated as fast as I could while we shook hands; Oz eyed me strangely, and then turned to Tara.
"Serious huh?" He asked; she nodded. "Slayer can't handle it." He surmised turning to me; I grimaced a little at that, more then likely she was busy with Dark Willow right this minute.
"She's kind of got her own problems right now." I returned feeling slightly queasy for keeping the truth from Tara about her so called Willowy one.
"Ok; I'll just grab a few things." He returned; I turned slightly to Tara.
"Can you; ah, fill him in… I've got to make a few arrangements." I requested; Tara eyed me with trepidation, Oz regarded the both of us sensing something amiss.
"If he won't mind." She finally relented; Oz didn't betray any emotion as he held the door open for her, once she was gone inside I pulled out Rumble.
"Operation surveillance." I whispered; the Decepticon transformed instantly standing eye to eye with me, well almost.
"What's up boss?" He asked.
"I've already sent Laserbeak ahead; find Ravage and meet him in Japan, I need you three to scout out the area for possible trouble on an Omnibus level." I informed; wordlessly Rumble took off, I let out a sigh… Now for those plane tickets.
Tara was quiet while Oz was in his bedroom; he didn't seem all that bad, maybe all that time away had changed him allowed him to finally get total control over the Wolf inside of him.
"What's the deal with Al?" He asked; Tara jumped a little at his voice, she just wished she could be at home with Willow rather then stuck on this crazy mission with a guy she was totally afraid of and a guy that seemed to be more then capable of pulling it off without her.
"Omniversal traveler." She supplied trusting Oz wouldn't want too many big details; he popped his head in briefly with hmmming noise and quirked an eyebrow. "He was sent here to deal with some unfinished business… A-And then Whistler sort of i-intervened." She elaborated; Oz took it all in gave a little nod and vanished resuming his packing.
"How's the gang?" He asked; Tara didn't know how to answer that, a part of her couldn't even think straight where it concerned her old life.
"F-fine I g-guess." She replied fidgeting a little; Oz knew she was nervous and he couldn't blame her, as he came out with a suitcase he slowly approached her.
"Listen; I know when we last met I kind of… Attacked you." He began choosing to not mince words. "But I'm ok now; total control and everything, I would never hurt anyone who made Willow happy anymore." He stated in assurance; Tara took those words in and offered a half-smile, but then she just broke down completely.
"B-but; I c-can't anymore…" She began before collapsing into a fit of sobs; Oz had no idea how to handle this, he didn't understand or know what had gone down back in Sunnydale. He hadn't been following with the gang; he hardly even e-mailed Xander anymore, he had always meant to stay in touch, but something always seemed to happen to make him forget.
"Of course you can." He countered in his usual calm manner. "I saw the two of you… You were so in love." He pointed out; Tara shook her head.
"I-I-I know, b-but I d-d-died!" Tara blubbered out. "W-Whistler m-m-made Al b-b-bring me back." She revealed; Oz felt a stab of cold, like ice water ripping through his veins. He knew something about magic and resurrecting the dead was not… No strike that; never good. "N-n-never again… N-n-never be wh-whit her ag-again." She muttered; that's when the door opened and Al entered, Oz felt the urge to tear out his heart for denying Willow her happiness, the wolf in him considered them all still his pack and that meant he protected them no matter what, even if only in memory.
"Life is never easy Tara." He stated in a surprisingly gentle tone. "Fate is cruel… I should know; I started out a pitiful mortal on my travels remember, I was dealt many a harsh lesson." He added in an almost bitter tone of regret. "I broke the Prime Directive when I used the Cordrazine on you, but I had no choice; Whistler told me your soul would remain forever trapped in your body until I did it. The thing of it is Federation science can only go so far; if I didn't do it eventually it wouldn't have worked because there was no way to cryogenically freeze you to prevent cellular decay." He paused realizing that he was babbling now and took a moment to clear his throat while glancing down at his feet. "If I didn't do it; your very soul would have most likely been lost trapped for all eternity in the decayed shell that was your body, the so called PTB aren't exactly known for changing their minds after all." He finished a little lamely; Oz said nothing, but clearly there was a hell of a lot more to this man then what Tara had offered. Tara's sobs slowed as he spoke and finished altogether soon after he stopped speaking; she looked shocked and also sympathetic towards him.
"I never… Wh-why didn't you t-tell me that sooner?" She wondered; the young man sighed.
"I wanted to spare you that knowledge." He admitted; he seemed to shrink in on himself even more. "Tara… Could you ever forgive me for what I have done?" He whispered sounding as though a desperate child; Tara surprised by this odd request looked between the two men uncertainly.
"I… N-n-never blamed you in the f-f-first place." She finally returned; Al snapped his head up at that and all the guilt he'd been carrying seemed to finally vanish.
"Thank you." He stated gratefully. "And believe me; if it's the last thing I do, I will find a way to make it up to you." He vowed the steely conviction of his tone startling both occupants; he shrugged and shot them both a goofy smile. "What can I say; I'm overprotective towards my friends." He admitted sheepishly.
"Ah." Oz remarked as the three of them left and he locked the door. "Federation huh?" He asked; Al seemed to lose his good cheer, but Oz didn't pressure him for answers, instead all he said was. "Cool."
"I'm really your friend?" Tara asked on the ride down in the elevator; the young man shrugged.
"What can I say; I have this thing about picking up lost souls and making them feel better or in the least making up for the way I hurt them." He revealed with a sheepish grin. "Spider-Girl, Circuit Breaker, the Misfits well most of them at any rate, a host of Starlight Girls, a Jedi Master, the Earth nine hundred and twenty-nine counterpart of a girl I used to know in high school." He rattled off ticking each name on his fingers; now both of them were eyeing him curiously or bemusedly. "Er." He fidgeted.
"Beyond cool." Oz stated; Tara smiled broadly at this man's gesture, a shame he was a man though; she shouldn't even be thinking about dating so soon after finding out the horrible truth, but still.
"I wonder what he'd look like if he was a woman?" She thought as the young main hailed a cab.
The Decepticon Condor watched as the twin creatures overran a great palace near the sea; with strange unearthly powers and unnatural swiftness. Without warning Rumble appeared beside him; Ravage on his back, he arrived in time to witness the rise of a third creature composed of flame and ash.
"Whoa; I think we just found the slag goin' down." Rumble stated turning to Laserbeak who squawked at him. "Yeah; better tail'em, sooner or later they'll run into the boss." He agreed as the three creatures began to make their way inland; the Decepticons easily followed making sure to go unseen, it was definitely looking more and more like their so called boss was going to be in a world of trouble soon.
When I led the duo off the plane hours later I expected there to be something; perhaps even Whistler or some other sign, to tell me what we had to do. However I did not expect there to be an elder woman obviously getting on in years; who grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me towards the exit.
"Hey; what's the big idea?" I demanded trying to pull free of her grip; it wasn't going to be that easy.
"No time, no time." She returned; of course, always someone more in the know then yourself when dealing with such matters.
"Uh; Al, who's this?" Tara asked catching up to us with both our luggage; Oz silently followed.
"No clue, but she seems to have been expecting us." I replied as the old woman dragged me outside and towards a small red car; a burly looking young man opened the door for her.
"Quickly, quickly; they have already awoken." She urged the reluctant Tara; Oz slid in first, Tara followed and the young man got in the drivers seat.
"Who is they?" I asked; then I realized the complete wrongness of that sentence. "Er; I mean are they?" I corrected; this woman had indeed managed to get under my skin in a way.
"Explanations can wait, we must first reach the sanctity of the Dojo." She returned as our car drove off into the city of Tokyo; I sighed, this was going to be a long day, and it was practically dinner time now.
"Who are you?" Tara asked politely asking the one question I hadn't even thought to ask myself.
"I am Masuko Chika; Sensei and Master of the Light Dojo." The woman replied.
"Light Dojo?" I repeated breaking out in a wide grin. "Get the feeling we just entered an anime?" I whispered to Oz who shook his head.
"The Light Dojo has existed for many centuries; we are the guardians of Japan, we do what the Slayer can not." She revealed; this got our attention.
"You know of the Slayer?" Tara asked awestricken; the woman nodded.
"Hush now; it is safer to speak when we arrive." She cautioned; I let out another sigh and turned to look out the window, after all I hadn't been to Tokyo before.
"You are certain you can sense him?" Triage demanded of his brother once more; the creature whose body was made up of fire and ash, looking as though fiery magma once it has begun to cool, nodded.
"I was always closer to father than you, dear brother." He returned; Spyre smiled as she kissed her love.
"Then let us free him, and then all of Japan will fall; or worship us." She conceded with a wicked smirk; all three quickly resumed their journey still unaware of the three who followed after them, three who worked with machine-like precision to guarantee that they would be ready when these beasts struck at their intended destination.
The Light Dojo looked quite impressive for something so common a name; the main training grounds were surrounded by high walls, it was only when we passed inside that I realized people on the street paid it no mind. This led me to believe that not all could see it; as though warded from sight of the outside world, as evidenced by the untouched soil within and the almost pristine agelessness all around.
"Cool." Oz remarked; being around that guy really wasn't what I thought it'd be, he had a habit of creeping me out with his less then vocal attitude.
"Oh m-my." Tara exclaimed looking up at the timeless wonders before her; I had to admit, I shared their feelings this was my first time looking at something that seemed straight out of feudal Japan.
"Come; now we can talk." Masuko Chika-Sama spoke beckoning us into what appeared to be an ordinary looking home; I lingered outside wondering if my surveillance team was nearby, but I could not detect their signals. I bowed respectively to the Sensei as I entered her home and moved to sit beside Tara and Oz; she didn't let it show, but I could tell she was pleased with my display of honorable greetings.
"Do you know why we are here?" I wondered; the woman nodded and poured four cups of tea, Tara took hers, Oz chose to wait. I declined; she eyed me briefly as if searching, when she appeared satisfied she addressed my question.
"Before the race of man; before the demons that once walked the Earth, there were the spirits." She began painting a very vivid picture with her words. "Creatures of purity and wisdom; some say it was they who created the demons, others that they became the dark things that haunt our nightmares. But what is known is that they were quite powerful." She revealed; her words weaving such an intricate spell that I found myself lost amongst them. "Our order has guarded a terrible secret from all concerned; even the so called Watchers' council, when mankind first appeared after the demons vanished some spirits returned." She stated; once again I was reminded of a Japanese Anime. "Twisted by darkness and shackled with mortal bodies; they used their powers to enslave the Asian countries. Until the founders of our order discovered the secret to trapping them; for none had the power to kill them outright, and their bodies did not age as we do." She explained.
"Mortal; though aging far slower than man." I surmised briefly looking at my own hands; Masuko Chika nodded seeming to sense my inner demon.
"Before the last of the spirits were imprisoned he claimed that one day he would return, and that day is today." She stated; Tara dropped her cup in surprised fear.
"B-b-but why… H-h-how can we h-h-help?" She wondered; Masuko smiled as she passed me a photograph, something in her eyes the way she was looking at me felt wrong.
"A messenger came to the founders of our order; she told us that one day four would be chosen who could defeat these ancient spirits, you three were sent to find her." She indicated the photograph in my hand. "Mei Lin is her name; she is the key." She stated; I looked at the image, it was a young Chinese woman of nineteen. With black hair and a seemingly ethereal beauty; she appeared to be talking with another young woman of mixed ancestry.
"Thank you Chika-Sama." I told the woman with a brief bow before I began to secretly reach for my sword; Oz suddenly stiffened as he too finally caught on to the subtle gestures and hints the old Sensei was throwing, or maybe his enhanced senses could smell the trouble.
"Trouble." He warned moments before three creatures burst in; I could not begin to describe what I saw, they appeared to be composed of the very elements themselves. Pocketing the photo I leapt across the table and brought my sword to bare; the creature of rotted flesh seemed to smirk as he removed a wicked curved blade of bone from nowhere. I charged; it was only good fortune that my first blow didn't shatter my blade, this thing slammed me aside sending my sword clattering to the ground.
"The last defenders." The beast of fire spoke; his voice sounding like the crackling of embers.
"You shall not claim victory." Masuko proclaimed adopting a combative pose; the creature of Earth laughed a twisted perversion of joy, she fluttered over to the ancient defender on wings that closely resembled decaying leaves.
"Such spirit; your students felt the same, they soon learned otherwise." She mocked before thrusting her hand into the woman's chest in such a sudden and swift move that the elder had no time to block it; the light faded from her eyes as blood spurted from the wound.
"That Anime comparison seems most apt." Oz called taking a defensive stance before Tara; I growled and with a thought my blade appeared in my hand once more, driving it into the unsuspecting creature of decay before me. He bellowed in pain; unfortunately he did not bleed, bashing me into the table I felt the wood drive into my back.
I let out a cry of pain; suddenly the fire beast appeared before me, clutching a hilt of pure dense smoke. His flame sword drove into my hand lobbing it off; this caused Tara to scream, the Earth bitch approached her with a wicked smile. That's when the laser beams pierced her wings and she crashed to the floor in obvious pain; Laserbeak swooped in and grabbed Tara by the shoulders lifting her out of harms way.
"Sorry we're late boss." Rumble called. "We didn't know the place was here." He added hefting me off the floor; Oz was completely at a loss, while the three spirits were frozen on the spot dumbfounded.
"No big… R-r-retreat now." I ordered; Rumble nodded while Laserbeak took off with Tara, Ravage approached Oz and indicated the man should climb on. Wisely deciding to ask questions later Oz complied; Ravage ran off and Rumble paused to reclaim my lost limb, he took off as I slipped into emergency stasis.
"They're getting away!" Spyre cursed; Triage and Talon snapping from their stupor.
"It doesn't matter." Talon countered. "He is here; and once he is free we shall deal with them." He stated smiling darkly; Triage said nothing as he eyed the Light Dojo's now dead Sensei. He smiled even as his wounds began to heal; for with his power none could ever kill him, Spyre winced as she climbed back to her feet.
"Next time… They will suffer." She vowed with narrowed eyes.
Buffy was not happy; she glared daggers at the Vamp nest she had recently dusted, or at least the remains of said nest three tonight alone and she still didn't have the answers she sought. Willow and the others didn't know; they couldn't know, if they did they'd be worse then she was at the moment and they'd probably get themselves killed trying to find Tara. Her body was missing; whoever took it was going to seriously pay as soon as she found out who it was, maybe it was time to start asking the right people, maybe it was time to ask Angel for help.
The Powers that Be never received visitors; at least those that weren't called by them personally, not even the Slayer line had received that honor in countless centuries and yet for a being as powerful as Q it didn't matter. He appeared with his usual flair; except this time he wasn't dressed in any Starfleet uniform, in fact his true physical form defied description, and the Powers that Be as they preferred weren't very thrilled to see him.
"Ah; greetings fellow omnipotent ones, shall we discuss the matter at hand?" He asked; the Powers frowned, but Q's irascible nature would not be deterred and had he a human visage he would have smiled, possibly even rubbed his hands together expectantly as he laid the deal on the table, so to speak.
To Be Concluded
Interlude
Amy giggled as she dangled her tail in reach of the baby; little Theresa cooed and grabbed it laughing bubbly and Amy giggled loudly, playing with babies was fun did her Daddy ever get to play with her? No; he'd only had a few minutes with baby her, how sad for him.
"She really likes you." A tired Jerrica announced; Amy beamed proudly and then frowned as she saw how tired everybody was.
"I wish I could shut my ears off like you." Ashley complained reaching for the box of Fruit Loops; Amy sighed and looked to Synergy for help, but her Aunt merely shrugged and smiled.
"Well it's not my fault; I bet it's a natural trait of my species augmented by the nanoprobes." She retorted turning back to entertain Theresa; unfortunately the tiny girl started crying again and Jerrica came to scoop her in her arms.
"Hungry again?" Terri complained with a yawn.
"Babies need lots of nourishment." Krissie pointed out; Rio snorted in his sleep and the girls all giggled, Amy felt a tiny tingling in her horns and she quickly hopped to her feet.
"Training time with Mister Xavier; you should all take a nap." She urged the Starlight Girls before rushing out of the kitchen to find a peaceful place to begin learning more control over her psychic abilities, Professor Xavier wasn't Catarian, but he was a great teacher.
Amy reached out her mental feelers and felt the semi-familiar mind of Professor Charles Xavier; even though he'd expected her he could barely sense her, she was becoming very good at hiding her presence.
"You are starting to excel at hiding your presence." He complimented; Amy giggled and reached out for Jean who was nearby.
"Hi." She greeted telepathically; Jean smiled.
"That's good Amy; you're starting to contain your emotions." She congratulated. "Now try and contact Scott." She encouraged; Amy nodded internally and sent her feelers out yet again in a wider pattern, mastering the natural abilities of the Catarian species was something she just had to do.
"I am still uncertain as to why you requested this Amy; you appear to be making remarkable progress on your own with the exercises I gave you." Xavier remarked; Amy sighed explaining this wasn't easy, but she'd try.
"When my Couriach or Matriarch used their powers they could open links without causing Daddy to sense them at all, he really had no clue half the time they were listening in to his thoughts." She revealed. "They were doing it to better understand humans and humanity; to their way of thinking Daddy was a little strange, because he acted more like a Mommy then a Daddy in Catarian society. I want to be able to do that too, but I can't ask them for help because I don't want to ask Q to bring me there for a visit or them here… I want to be independent and surprise my Daddy." She frowned mentally and then she heard Scott talking to Jean.
"No; I still haven't felt any other thoughts besides yours." He was saying; Amy giggled happily and mentally hugged Scott taking the X-Man by surprise.
"I did it; I did it!" She exclaimed before suddenly remembering to dampen her emotions. "Whoops, sorry." She apologized; Xavier, Jean and Scott all smiled as they felt the pure innocent joy of a child.
"Well, now I felt something." Scott teased.
"Amy lets' try tighter control together." Xavier suggested; Amy nodded and cleared her mind of all distractions as the Professor had been teaching her, it wasn't easy to be so disciplined all the time the child she was conflicted regularly with the Borg she had become.
"I'm ready." She said after mastering her emotions and bottling them up so as not to short out the X-Mens' minds with emotional overload; her challenge was to keep in contact while doing these exercises, she wanted to show her Daddy how much she could learn while they were separated so he'd be proud of her and know that she didn't blame him for their current predicament.
Mega Zarak bowed to Unicron; it was strange to see the Great God with such a short stature compared to himself, but with his current planetary form destroyed this tank body was what he had to work with, as usual the Decepticon did not know just which version of the multitude in existence he was speaking to.
"Report." Unicron ordered; Mega Zarak nodded.
"The Universe Conflict is going well; Nemesis Prime has just returned from Eternia and has the Dark Matrix." He informed; Unicron smiled evilly, his long term plans had gone exactly as he'd hoped. "Apparently the human has proven more useful then I would have thought." The Decepticon remarked; Unicrons' optics narrowed and he glared dangerously up at his pawn.
"Do not question what you can not possibly comprehend Mega Zarak; my reasons for my continued interest in the human are as always my own." The Dark God stated; Mega Zarak inclined his head in a show of apology.
"I did not mean to question you my liege, but you must admit you have seemed to be totally obsessed with Primus's former human avatar." He pointed out; Unicron smirked and turned back to the Multiversal viewing windows, numerous wars were currently being fought and Chaos fueled his restoration.
"Simply a matter of pride Mega Zarak, simply a matter of pride." He returned beginning his next plan; choosing one of the portals he left the limbo-like realm they were in and joined the Decepticons of Cybertron Five Thousand Eighty-Six and their war, Mega Zarak sighed and returned to waiting for his moment of destiny. And beyond the stars a young man in emergency stasis awaiting restoration of his lost limb remained unawares of his future part to play in the final reclamation of the Dark Matrix on distant planet Eternia, for after all as a certain wild eyed scientist once said… No man should know too much about his own future.
To Be Continued…
Well there you have it; I hope I haven't confused you too much with this last bit and I do apologize if my grasp of Japanese naming was off I did try the best with my research, but alas I am still a novice when it comes to such things and so if I offended I meant no offense and deeply apologize. Also if you are quite confused by the Unicron scene in this Interlude I trust that the Timeline I will be posting after this as Chapter Two will shed a few lights on some things. Well; please be kind read, review and if necessary flame to your hearts content if you're a big Buffy fan and hate what I did to Tara... Still I think it's one of the more original Ressurrect Tara from the Dead Scenarios out there.