Interlude
'If You Wear That Velvet Dress'
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AN: Originally this was part of chapter one, right between the last two scenes. But it just didn't feel right there. But I felt it had to be included in some form, even if it's not part of the overall story. The idea for this interlude was given to me by one of my clever readers, who suggested it in his review. I'm sorry if I forgot your name, but rest assured, your suggestion has been duly noted.
AN 2017: For those who follow this story, if you're not getting any update messages, there appears to be something that sometimes goes wrong when I add a new chapter.
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A-Day minus 1045
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With a shock Ferucca opened her eyes.
She should have been dead after what that whore had done to her. Instead she stood and breathed air again. By Priya, it felt good to be alive. First thing she did was get up from the ground she had been lying on and took stock of her surroundings.
It was clear that she was no longer on Tanjecterly. For it was night wherever she was now. And on Tanjecterly it had been daylight all day, every day. By the Goddess, she had missed the night on that foul place with its eternal sunlight.
As she looked around she appeared to be in some residential area that was miles above the disheveled mud holes and pigsties that were the standard on Tanjecterly. It was still a far cry from home but at least she was back in civilization.
Of some sort.
Because she recognized the place. The asphalt roads, the style of buildings. But above all, the levels of pollution she could almost taste in the atmosphere. As soon as she recognized the planet she was on her spirits sagged.
Earth?
By Priya, was her nightmare never going to end?
Was she still in that accursed dreamscape back on Tanjecterly with that whore Angela playing mind games with her?
"Damn you, whore," she cried out aloud, "Show yourself!"
There was no reply.
Then came the sound of a throat being cleared behind her.
"Ahum."
Lightning fast Ferucca turned around.
Only to come face to face with the last person she expected to see.
"Xander?" she said surprised as she faced the young man she'd left crippled back on Tanjecterly. He also looked different. The limp leg seemed gone, as the boy stood normal. He also looked less gaunt, like he had been well fed and exercised regularly again. And there were the clothes of course. Also markedly different from the rags he had worn on Tanjecterly.
"Hello, Ferucca," Xander said calmly, with just a hint of sadness..
"Are you real?" Ferucca asked hesitantly as she examined him closely, "I'm not dreaming?"
"No, Ferucca," Xander said sadly, "you're not dreaming."
"But how?" Ferucca asked confused, "I left you for dead?"
Xander shrugged.
"I got better."
Ferucca's looked at him bewildered. Then she reached behind herself and drew forth the blade Kahanthus and swung it at Xander's head.
"Only to have it blocked as somebody else stepped in and grabbed her hands.
"I don't think so, bitch," a voice said sneering to her right.
Ferucca glanced to her right and saw a blonde woman grin confidently at her.
"And who might you be?" she asked the newcomer.
"Hi," the blonde suddenly smiled in a very empty headed way, "I am Buffy, the Vampire Slayer."
"I've heard of you," Ferucca said back, "but aren't you really the vampire layer?"
The blonde girl looked at Xander accusingly.
"Xander?" she whined, "For god sakes, what have you been telling her?"
"Sorry, Buff," Xander shrugged apologetically, "I was in pain at the time. I couldn't always think straight."
Ferucca meanwhile tried to wrestle herself free but the blonde wasn't having any of it.
"Oh no you don't, sister," the blonde said as she effortlessly blocked every attempt of Ferucca to break free. Finally she had enough and elbowed Ferucca in the face. As Ferucca staggered back the blonde took away the blade Kahanthus.
"I'll take this," the blonde said, then she swung the blade around for a moment, her eyes lighting up.
"Nice sword," the blonde smiled, "Maybe I should ask your friend for a new sword as well. It's been a long time since I had one."
"Maybe a shorter one though," Xander said appraisingly, "a long broadsword doesn't really suit you."
The blonde turned around.
"You wouldn't accidentally have some extra swords lying around, would ya?," she said to someone else.
"I might have a few," new a voice said in response. And that's when Ferucca realized she really was in trouble.
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(A little earlier that day)
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It was just after 5 PM when Ethan Rayne decided to call it quits. For over a week now he had been selling costumes in this town, right under the very nose of Rupert. Hell, he had even sold them to his precious Slayer and her friends. What could trump that? He could go on for a little longer to really empty his stocks but he had had his moment of perfection. Anything after that was just decadence.
And besides, he had sold most of his inventory by now. By now three quarters of his costumes were gone.
He was about to move towards the door to close it when it opened and somebody stepped in.
Now if it had been just another kid Ethan would have just told the kid to go to Partytown's, as he had already sold enough costumes to children. But when he saw that his latest customer was an elderly man he decided not to. The vast majority of his costumes had been sold to children and teenagers His low prices had seen to that. But the vast majority of adults in this town preferred quality over pricing. Which meant that his chaos would be mostly demographically limited when unleashed. It might be cool to spread a little of it to a different demographic.
"Can I help you?" he asked his customer in his best shopkeeper tone of voice..
The customer looked around for a moment before answering.
"Mmm, I'm looking for a costume," the elderly man said tentatively.
"Then you've come to the right place," Ethan said as he put on his best shopkeeper smile as well, "Although I have to say that at the moment stocks are low. After all, it's almost Halloween."
"That's alright," the elderly man smiled, "I know exactly what to look for."
"Is it for yourself?" Ethan asked hopeful, he might have a few costumes left that would appeal to the elderly adults. After all, those were the ones the kids and teenagers had mostly shunned.
"No," the elderly man said shaking his head, "I need something for a young woman."
Ethan managed to hide his disappointment well as the smile never left his face. Such was the nature of chaos. Wild and unpredictable. A chaos mage therefore had to roll with both the good and the bad. Overall it balanced out though.
"I take it it's for a grandchild then?" Ethan smiled.
"In a fashion," the elderly man smiled back.
"I have to warn you though, the local youth has been buying most of those costumes like mad," Ethan said, "so choice might be a little limited."
"How about that one?" the elderly man said and pointed to a costume hanging on the wall.
That was weird.
On the wall hung a costume of almost exquisite quality. A chain mail armor that seemed part metal, part unknown composite. It was too small to fit a man or a large teenage boy, although a smaller one could probably fit in it. And way too good in quality to still be here. There had been at least a dozen girls in here looking to be Xena and at least three times the number of boys wanting to be some fantasy hero straight out of Lord of the Rings, or Dungeons and Dragons.
That aside Ethan was at least 99% sure there was no way he had put it up there to begin with. And he was 100% sure no such item even existed in his inventory.
Still, without blinking an eye, Ethan began to extol the virtues of the costume.
"As you can see the costume is made of an almost exquisite craftsmanship. For all intents and purposes it looks like you could actually put it on and go into battle with. Although in your case I would advise against it, cause as you can clearly see, it is not made for the likes of you and I. Like I said, the quality and fine craftsmanship alone that go into making this costume are…"
"I'll take it," the elderly man said resolutely. For the first time Ethan raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the elderly man, then at the costume and then back towards the elderly man again. Something fishy was going on here. He wanted to ask a question but the man smiled just friendly at him. So instead he took the costume from the wall. Only to get eyes big as saucers as he saw the price ticket.
Holy shit. Now he knew something was wrong. He knew he was selling his inventory at below cost prices but even he wouldn't sell a costume of this craftsmanship for this low.
"Is there something wrong?" the man asked amused, but Ethan shook his head.
"Just the pain of parting with such an exquisite collection item," Ethan replied as he walked to his cash register, "after all, parting can be such sweet sorrow."
"True words indeed," the man agreed as Ethan put the costume on the counter. As he entered the ridiculously low price in the machine he looked at the man again.
"Can I get you something else, something for yourself perhaps? We still have some costumes left that would befit you."
The man smiled and slowly shook his head.
"I am too old to be running around all dressed up for Halloween," the man smiled, "it is after all a young person's holiday."
"Suit yourself," Ethan shrugged, "Can I get you something else instead? Some accessory perhaps?"
"How about that sword?" the man said as he pointed towards the wall behind Ethan.
"What sword?" Ethan said as he turned his head around only to be shocked. On the wall behind him was a large blade of pure blue metal with a handle inlaid with plaques of ebony and terminating in a large red ruby cabochon. Tentatively Ethan took the sword of the wall and noticed it was way lighter then it looked. This was a real quality blade, one that would fetch high prices on at least half a dozen black markets he knew off. This was near four feet of sheer deadliness he was holding in his hands, most definitely not a prop. And something he most definitely didn't put up for sale in his own shop.
"If you could wrap it up that would be helpful," the elderly man said. Upon which Ethan looked at him wearily.
"Who are you?" he asked, his shopkeeper tone of voice gone.
"Just a customer," the elderly man shrugged, then he took out a wallet and began taking out bills of cash, "now, how much for the costume and the sword?"
"Customer my arse," Ethan said as he raised his voice as he slammed the sword on the counter, "Something's fishy is going on here."
The elderly man tried to smile but it lacked his earlier confidence.
"If you don't want to wrap it up, that will be fine as well," he said but Ethan shook his head.
"Not going to happen, pal," Ethan said. The old man sighed and looked downwards. When he looked up again the nervousness was gone and steel shone from his eyes.
"I think you will sell me those items," the old man said sternly, "they are mine after all."
"My shop, my rules," Ethan said undeterred, still holding the sword, "possession is 9/10th of the law. And the law says I can refuse sale to whomever I like. Now if you were black, gay or Hispanic you might get some bleeding hearts to come to your cause but since you're not I think it might be best if you were to leave my premises."
The old man leaned on the counter, then he looked at the door and with a loud click its locks went shut. Before Ethan could react the old man raised a hand and began to draw something in the air. In the wake of his drawing finger a glyph of power began to take shape, burning in a fiery golden glow. Seeing the glyph take shape Ethan dropped the sword on the counter and inadvertently took a step backwards.
Holy crap! Glyphs of power were relatively harmless but it took considerable skill to create them, denoting that their creators were exceptionally capable magic practitioners. The business card of the crème de la crème in magic as it were. If he had a few hours and all the right ingredients Ethan could do a convincing one himself. But never with the ease and sheer casualness like the old man in front of him. So again, holy crap!
"I'm sorry," Ethan said both hurriedly and apologetic as he reached for his role of wrapping paper, "Forgive me, I did not know."
"That's alright," the old man said as his good humor returned, "misunderstandings can happen."
Ethan stopped wrapping the sword for a moment and looked at the old man.
"Are you here to take over?" he asked almost mournfully. He knew when he was outclassed and if this old man so desired there was little he could do to stop him.
"I wouldn't dream with interfering with your little pleasures," the old man smiled, "especially one that is so…., original shall we say?"
Ethan smiled at the compliment.
"Really? I must confess a lot of thought went into it."
"I don't doubt it," the old man said as he took hold of the sword and costume, "now if you excuse me, I have to go."
"Of course," Ethan said, then his face turned serious again, "If I may ask, if you're not here to take over, why are you here?"
"Piggyback ride," the old man smiled, "you're little prank offers me a great opportunity to advance my own interests."
"I see," Ethan said. He wasn't completely put at ease by the old man's cheerful behavior. The magic profession tended to be loaded with people who would sell their own mother if it meant being able to do a new spell. Or a powerful yet casual done glyph of power. If the old man was weaseling in on his operation there was little he could do about it.
"Now I bid you good day," the old man said as he walked towards the door and tried to open it. Only to find that it was still locked.
"Clumsy me," the old man chuckled as he waved a free finger and the door unlocked itself again. Then he stepped outside.
Ethan let out a deep sigh after the old man was gone. Maybe he should abort his plans and skip town? Cut his losses and run? Then he looked at the still glowing glyph of power still floating in the air.
Some magic users used glyphs of power as a salesmen handed out business cards. In which case they incorporated a symbol that denoted who they were. Others used them to show off their power and made something flashy and elaborate but without any identifying symbols. The old man clearly fell in the last category. Still, to leave one glowing this long after they were gone was flashy.
Yup. It looked like leaving town looked more and more appealing.
But then Ethan looked the glyph over one more time. While the mark carried no recognizable mark associated to any of the known powerhouses of magic it was crafted in a style that seemed almost…. ancient. The style was one that was exceedingly rare these days. In fact Ethan was sure few people still remembered the Elder Isles. The long lost Elder Isles that now lay sunken underneath the Atlantic Ocean and whose legend had blended into that other sunken land legend, the Greek legend of Atlantis.
But Atlantis, like Troy, was an ancient Greek legend that dealt with the fall of the Minoan/Mycean civilization almost a thousand years before the rise of the Classical Greek civilization. It had little to do with the Elder Isles. The lands of magic and mystery that were once to the southwest of England and south of Ireland and disappeared in the darkest days of the middle ages.
But Ethan remembered. For his grandmother was from Cornwall, the most Southwestern part of England where rumor had it many survivors of the Elder Isles had settled. His fascination with her stories of kingdoms where kings and nobles dueled, where fairies and other mythical folk roamed and some of the mightiest magicians the world had ever seen had dwelt as well. It was what had interested Ethan to learn about magic in the first place, long before he had met Rupert.
And he knew that there was one magician from the Elder Isles that still lived. One whose obsession with not interfering in the order of things meant he kept to himself. But not averse to hitching a ride to someone else's work if it meant no interference in the order of things.
As the glyph finally began to fade Ethan began to smile again. In a way he had just met one of his childhood heroes. As he walked towards the door to close the shop it seemed like he was going to have his fun after all.
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Outside an old but pristine Ford Thunderbird convertible stood by the sidewalk, seemingly unoccupied as the elderly man walked up to it.
"Why are you hiding in there," he asked as if he was addressing some invisible occupant.
"Isn't it obvious, Doc," a voice replied from inside the car, "I'm hiding."
"From who?" the old man said as he put the costume and sword in the back of the car. A shaggy haired head peered up from behind the seats and nervously looked around.
"Cordelia," Xander said shiftily, "her car just drove by. Can't risk a temporal paradox now can we, Doc?"
"You watch way too much television," the old man chuckled, "it doesn't work like that."
"You sure, Doc?" Xander asked as he checked a corner just to be sure, "Cause that's not what they say in Star Trek."
The old man gave Xander a stern look, then shook his head.
"Who are you going to trust? Some stupid TV show or the foremost expert in dimensional portals through time and space?"
Xander looked at Shimrod like he still wasn't sure. Sure Shimrod was the guy who breathed portals through time and space. But television had raised him since he had been a small kid. Basically taught him everything he knew up to the point that he had met Buffy and the G-man. Okay, so Shimrod may know his stuff, he begrudgingly admitted. But almost running into past Cordelia was rattling. If only because it was, well, Cordelia.
While Xander grappled with his inner temporal doubt Shimrod sat down in the passenger seat.
"Now may be a good time to drive back to your friend," the magician smiled. Xander glanced at the mage, then he started the car and drove away.
"I still can't see why we just can't use one of your portals to return to Buffy," Xander grouched.
"Still afraid to run into your lady friend again?" Shimrod replied pert, "Like I said, do not worry. Time will not go wry when you see her or your friends."
"So meeting Cordelia may not rip apart the time continuum," Xander said as he took a corner, "but she's way smarter then she looks. All the others thought she was a ditz but she notices things. And when she puts two plus two together…."
"Time is not like that," Shimrod countered, then he pointed towards Xander's head, "for instance, do you remember you or your friend seeing your future selves at this point in history?"
"Uh, no," Xander admitted.
"There you have it," Shimrod said triumphantly, "you never ran into her or your past self. If you did you would remember. Since you do not, it will not happen."
"So you mean time is like Babylon 5's War without End?" Xander asked, "where you go back to set things in motion that otherwise wouldn't have happened?"
"You watch way too much television," Shimrod responded gloomily, then he shook his head. Upon which Xander glanced at the mage.
"I watch too much television?" he snorted, "says some 1500 year old pervert who watches porn DVD's of my sort of girlfriend?"
"Touché," Shimrod chortled.
"So how did it go?" Xander asked, "I see you got the goods back."
"Could be better," Shimrod replied, "the Sandestin was sloppy. Way too sloppy. It placed the sword and the outfit in Ethan's shop alright, but it was a bit too gaudy in its display, causing Ethan to suspect something's afoul."
"That's bad, right?" Xander asked nervously again, "what if he doesn't perform that spell? It could change history and…."
"Now what did I say about temporal causality again, young man," Shimrod said chiding, "since events unfolded as they did history is not changed."
"Then why skulk about?" Xander countered as he steered the car out of town,
"if nothing we do affects the past why not be blazing about? Why do we even have to wear these amulets."
Xander put a hand on a small silver pendant hanging on a thin silver chain around his neck.
"It's complicated," Shimrod said back, "just because time has a certain flexibility does not mean it cannot be derailed. I do not use portals because this town has a powerful warlock mayor who could notice them. We wear those amulets so your Saiyan friends won't notice us. Time will forgive a casual glance, my young friend, but it cannot ignore blatant evidence staring it in the face. Your female friend might have seen you and think strangely of it. But she will dismiss it as some trick her mind was playing on her. We do that all the time. Maybe even you. Who knows what you have casually dismissed in the past that may have been real."
"You mean time travel is that common?" Xander yelped as he felt a rising panic take hold of him again.
"Just drive the car," Shimrod sighed dejected.
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(Fast return forward a few hours again)
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"Oh no you don't," the blonde said as she effortlessly blocked every attempt of Ferucca to break free. Finally she had enough and elbowed Ferucca in the face. As Ferucca staggered back the blonde took away the blade Kahanthus.
"I'll take this," the blonde said, then she swung the blade around for a moment, her eyes lighting up.
"Nice sword," the blonde smiled, "Maybe I should ask your friend for a new sword as well. It's been a long time since I had one."
"Maybe a shorter one though," Xander said appraisingly, "a long broadsword doesn't really suit you."
The blonde turned around.
"You wouldn't accidentally have some extra swords lying around, would ya?," she said to someone else.
"I might have a few," a new voice said in response. And that's when Ferucca realized she really was in trouble as the magician Shimrod stepped into view.
"Shimrod!" she exclaimed.
"Ferucca, Ferucca," Shimrod said shaking his head, "you have been a very naughty girl."
"Bad girl?" Xander said incredulously, "Dare I say crazy bitch? I think I do."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ferucca said as she rubbed her face where Blondie had hit her, "So I pissed off a few people, been there, done that, gotten the flexi-armor."
"I don't believe it," Xander said angry, "you still feel no remorse, do ya?"
Ferucca closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at Xander.
"Well, what did you expect? Shimrod took me from the dead, stuck me in a living body again and you expect me to roll over, play nice and die again? Get real! I saw an opportunity, I took it. If you're expecting an apology, go fuck yourself. I'm only sorry that I failed."
"You crazy Saiyan bitch!" Xander yelled and almost accosted Ferucca if it weren't for Shimrod stepping in.
"No need to resort to violence," Shimrod said imploringly, "that's not what we're here for, remember?"
"Bitch got Fisk and Liana killed," Xander muttered angrily.
"Like you cared," Ferucca snorted, "You and Fisk were always arguing over everything."
"You had him fucking castrated," Xander yelled angry, "any argument I may have had with him before becomes moot if you rip away the guy's family jewels."
Ferucca looked at Xander again and a very self-satisfying smirk grew ever bigger.
"I think you're just pissed off because I fooled you," she smirked, "you were always going on how you were always the one who catches on to the bad guy, how you see things the others don't, how you always knew that Deadboy guy was up to no good. Mister All-Seeing-Eye! And yet a simple Saiyan girl outsmarted you."
Xander looked like he wanted to jump and strangle her but decided not to. Instead Blondie spoke up.
"You really are one crazy bitch, lady," Blondie said awestruck, "you make Faith look like she could be cover model for Sanity Fair."
"Spare me your platitudes, so-called Slayer," Ferucca said in annoyance towards the blonde girl, "You can walk in my shoes for all your life and still not understand why I do what I do and why I did what I had to do."
"Yadayadayada I'm so misunderstood, yadayadayada," the blonde said dismissively as she rolled her eyes, "you bad guys are so predictable."
"Well, what do you want to hear then?" Ferucca asked the Slayer.
"I don't know," Buffy shrugged, "how about…, because I'm a crazy evil bitch?
"How about…. You're a crazy bitch?" Ferucca said unrepentant to the Slayer, then she turned to Shimrod, "Why am I here?"
Before the mage could answer and before Buffy could mutter 'takes one to know one' an explosion could be heard in the distance. Ferucca turned her head aside and saw the lights of a average sized town shining in the distance. A series of flashes could be seen coming from a suburb. Somebody was using chi attacks down there. Saiyan chi attacks.
"What by the seven hells is going on down there?" she asked, "Somebody's using chi attacks down there. Saiyan chi attacks."
"Uh, that might be me," Xander said sheepishly as he raised a hand.
"But you're here?" Ferucca said surprised. Then her eyes grew big as saucers.
"It's that night, isn't it? The one you told me about," Ferucca said out loud, then she looked down and noticed that her flexible armor was sporting way more curves then it should have, on her chest that is.
"Oh, for the love of the Goddess, what have you done to me?" she exclaimed in horror.
"In a way it is poetic," Xander said calmly, "Shimrod stuck Angela into your body and you took over. Now we've stuck you into hers and… "
"YOU BASTARDS!" Ferucca as she began to struggle against Buffy's hold on her.
"Time to go, Ferucca," Xander said as Shimrod pulled out a bag and opened it to take out various magical implements, "we're going to drive you out like a bad smell."
"NO!" Ferucca yelled as she used her chi to get free. But while her power was considerable by the standards of planet Vegeta they failed to impress Buffy.
"Easy lady," Buffy said as even she had to struggle to hold the desperately straining Saiyan, "you're gonna die anyway once Giles smashes the statue."
"I hate you, Xander," Ferucca hissed, locked helplessly in Buffy's iron grip, "for hate's sake I curse you. I call upon the power of the Seven Hells of Jerherherod to grant me my vengeance. May they curse you into the thousandth generation! May you…."
"Don't bother, Saiyan bitch, I'm already cursed," Xander said unimpressed, "now shut up! The power of Christ compels you!"
Xander pretended he was sprinkling her with holy water but when he touched her forehead a glimmer of light suddenly erupted from her.
And then she erupted in a hurricane of flames.
"You just had to say it, don't you!" Buffy said accusingly before the flames blocked out everything.
x
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In the skies above Sunnydale Belmovekk the Saiyan floated above the town now in chaos. Things were now set in motion that could no longer be undone. Ugly things. Things that might backfire against him and his purpose. But he felt they had to be done.
When he had come to this town he had found the girl by accident. Not only did she intrigue him, stir emotions he hadn't felt in a long time, he also felt pity for her fate. It was then that the decision was born that he would make Sunnydale his base of operations and in doing so take the girl under his wings to help her as best as he could, within the limits of the mission of course.
It was then that the boy presented himself to him as well.
In a sense he took even greater pity on the boy then he did on the girl. For he understood the pain of unrequited love all to well himself. The pain of being near the object of one's affection and she not taking any notice. The driving force that propelled the boy to put himself in harms way even though he stood no chance at all. It was a sentiment Saiyans admired greatly and inspired many an epic tale. So he allowed the boy to attend training as well.
Of course the boy stood no chance in hell to undergo a Saiyan training regime. At best he could do the Auxiliary program. And he was gearing the boy for that when he had that fateful chat with the boy in the park. And things changed.
In a rare act of revelation one of the two Necessities had revealed to him an ugly plan of a Chaos magician's evil plot to cause massive chaos to this town. It should be something he would have to put a stop to it. Instead it told hem to make use of it to strengthen the boy.
That was the moment Belmovekk realized these kids weren't just some diversion to keep him occupied while he helped Goku and his friends. These kids were the reason he was sent here. They were the fighters he was supposed to help. And if that was the case, then he should use every means at his disposal to give them a fighting chance to help fight the coming darkness. Be that Gero's androids, something linked to them or beyond even that.
The Saiyan mind not suffering from brain damage as an infant is an amazing thing. Where most humans take a long time to reconcile themselves that a given course is no longer working, may actually be counter productive to continue, Saiyans can reach such a decision in a split second. In a split second Belmovekk not only realized that these kids were his real charges, he also accepted that what the Necessity was proposing was, while despicable, also necessary. It was the only way for the boy to grow into his destiny.
So in that split second he decided to risk everything and allow this town to be plunged into chaos. After the boy had given his assent of course. In a fashion. After all, he wasn't a complete monster.
The workings of the chaos mage had been interesting to observe as his spell took hold of the town. Many young children turned into the monsters they were dressed as and while he tried his best to keep the death toll low, he couldn't be everywhere and not lose sight of his charges at the same time. Unleashing a Saiyan elite in this town was risky but he had to have faith that the Necessity told the truth that no harm would flow from him.
Luckily the other friend of the Slayer stepped up to the plate. While incorporeal she managed to keep the boy under some form of control.
And then the vampire called Spike intervened. Master Giles had told him vampires and demons usually held themselves aloof on this day but it would seem nobody had told Spike that as he sought to exploit the situation as well. To bad for him the situation wasn't as exploitable as he thought, as the boy turned Saiyan elite was now chasing him across town. He hoped the boy would catch up with the vampire and rid them of what looked like a very troublesome foe.
All seemed well when suddenly his scouter lid up like a Christmas tree. For an instant it seemed like the night sky would erupt in flames when the phenomenon disappeared as rapidly as it had come. Belmovekk turned to the north-east, to the forested hills that lay there. Something had happened there. For an instant it seemed like a massive burst of chi had erupted and then disappeared, going off the scale. Just for an instant.
Belmovekk adjusted his scouter to scan for ultra sensitive chi emissions. He was taking a risk, as another burst might cause an overload, but he felt it was necessary. For the burst had every sign of it being Saiyan in nature. And it couldn't be the boy because he was chasing the vampire in the other side of town.
Was there another Saiyan in the area?
It couldn't be Goku or Vegeta. Just moments before his scouter had shown them to be in China and San Francisco respectively. Damn, this night was getting weirder by the minute. In ultra-sensitive mode his scouter didn't pick up any large chi signature. That is, no permanent one. But whenever he looked in a certain north-easterly direction he did notice that the scouter went up and down a few points, like somebody there was really, really masking their chi.
He was about to go off and investigate when a voice spoke in his mind.
"You will do no such thing."
"But…..," he tried to respond but the Necessity cut him off.
"Certain things are being put into motion that need to be put into motion. Yours is not the only one taking place. Leave it be. Besides, you have bigger problems on your mind."
He was about to protest when his scouter went off again. Belmovekk tapped his scouter to switch back to a lower but wider setting and realized that he had indeed bigger problems.
The others were on their way. Goku had used his instant transmission to teleport him and the Namek to Hawaii and together with his short human friend were on a low intercept course. Vegeta on the other hand was making for Sunnydale with full guns blazing and would be here in minutes.
What was it that Master Giles was so fond of saying at such times?
"Oh dear."
x
x
"You just had to say it, don't you!" Buffy said accusingly before the flames blocked out everything. For a moment everything turned to gold, then a shockwave hit her, sending her away flying.
Just as fast as the shockwave sent her away flying, she crashed into what felt like a brick wall. Only brick walls no longer felt like they used too. In fact nowadays they felt more like papier-mâché when you crashed into them. But hey, you had to call an indomitable wall something, right? Wouldn't do to call it the indomitable wall of invisible strength capable of stopping a chi supercharged Slayer. Even if that was what it was.
Somehow an invisible barrier had been erected between the eruption coming from Porno Saiyan and the town. Which was probably for the best because Porno Saiyan was emitting some serious juju. She was surrounded by a helix of golden energy, swirling around her as she stood motionless, frozen in a silent scream.
"What on Earth is happening here, Gandalf?" Buffy yelled to make herself heard above the noise.
"I erected a barrier to contain the phenomenon," Shimrod's voice called from the other side of what he euphemistically called 'the phenomenon', "No need to thank me. I managed to freeze time for two days and work on a containment field to shield us from the town. I'm fairly sure it went unnoticed down there thanks due a chameleon field I also erected to….."
"I didn't mean your fancy force field, Gandalf, I'm talking about volcano girl here," Buffy called out pointing to Porno Saiyan, then something sank in, "what do you mean you froze time for two days?"
"Quit showing off your temporal shenanigans, Doc," Xander yelled towards the mage, "were you able to drive Ferucca out?"
"I wish I could claim merit but except for laboring two days solid to come up with the containment and chameleon fields none of this is my doing," the mage said back, "this all happened when you struck her."
"XANDER!" Buffy yelled angry, "you just had to do something stupid!"
"I'm sorry, Buff," Xander said, "I, uh, um…."
And then the shit really hit the fan.
x
x
High in the skies over Sunnydale Belmovekk and Vegeta were in the middle of a shouting match when suddenly Belmovekk's scouter peaks again and the Saiyan looks to the northeast again.
"Hello, my eyes are here, Movekk," Vegeta said pointing to his face, angered by the Saiyan's rude behaviour of ignoring his royal presence in the middle of his speech.
"I am sorry, my prince," Belmovekk said apologetic, "my scouter noticed something."
"It's amazing it can pick up anything in this disgusted soup," Vegeta growled as he folded his arms across his chest, "now, about the boy…."
He didn't sense that, Belmovekk thought, the great Prince of all Saiyans who claims he can sense anything without a scouter nowadays didn't sense that for a brief noticeable moment somebody or something just went Ozaru in those hills.
Belmovekk glanced briefly towards the hills.
I just hope those Necessities know what they are doing.
x
x
"There's something you don't see every day," Buffy said almost absentminded as she took a step backwards. In fact it was more then just a single step. Quite a lot of steps actually as Porno Saiyan suddenly ceased being volcano girl and stopped spewing energy into the air. Instead she threw up her arms into the air and began to grow in statue.
As she did her hands turned into sharply nailed claws, her legs grew a little shorter and apelike and her face…. It began to grow a large snout.
"Oh shit," Xander muttered aghast, "what have I done?"
"Ozaru," Shimrod said both horrified and spellbound, "I've heard about it but this is the first time that I've seen it happen up close."
"This might be a good time to watch it from a distance, Gandalf," Buffy said as she jumped next to the mage and put her arms around his waist so she could lift him to safety, "trust me, there's not a whole lot of control left in them at the best of times and if Porno Saiyan's in charge you don't want to be here."
She was about to lift off when Xander gestured her to wait.
"Wait!" he said pointing to the still growing Ozaru, "Look at her fur."
"Yeah, it's blonde," Buffy said, "so what? Can we go now?"
"Saiyans don't turn into blonde Ozaru," Xander countered, "Belmovekk turned into a dark brown one, remember? Ferucca also turned dark brown in Tanjecterly."
Buffy gave Xander an incredulous look.
"Hello, Earth to Xander, Angela was a blonde, Belmo's not. He told me there were no blonde Saiyans. If there were I'm sure there were some yellow haired Ozaru as well."
Now Shimrod also gestured Buffy to wait.
"Your friend may be right though, Buffy," the mage said, "in fact, if what he thinks is the same thing I am thinking….."
"ROOOOOOAAAAARRRR!"
With a load roar the golden Ozaru had reached its full stature, then it began to glow in a equally golden glow and belched up a ball of blue fire and shot it into the air where it dissipated high in the sky.
As it did Buffy could almost swear she heard a scream of frightened desperation.
As soon as the ball of fire had disappeared in the sky the Ozaru looked at the gathered threesome standing at its feet.
"Angela?" Xander said almost mournfully as he took a step towards the beast.
For a moment the beast didn't react. Then it spoke in a low rumbling voice.
"XANDER?"
Before anyone could react the glowing golden Ozaru began to shrink again, transforming back into a human shape as fast as the transformation originally had taken place, until all that remained was Angela's body, resting on one knee, panting heavily as a golden glow surrounded her body, her hair waving gently back and fro in the stream of unseen energies..
"Angela!" Xander yelled as he ran towards her to help her. Dropping on his knees he took hold of her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. Those cold blue green Super Saiyan eyes. The very color that had so many shaking in their boots.
But Xander was no stranger to Super Saiyans. So the cold blue green stare didn't frighten him. Cause for the first time in a long time there was intelligence behind her eyes. And not the malicious indifference that characterized Ferucca. There was love in her eyes again.
"Xander?" Angela said tentatively, "is it really you?"
"It is, Ange," Xander said smiling. Next thing he knew she almost crushed him as she leapt around his neck.
"XANDER!" Angela yelled, then she buried her face on his shoulder, "I thought I was never going to see you again."
"Not half of much as I did," Xander said, his face turning red, "Ange, please….., breathing…., hard…"
" Oh, sorry," Angela smiled and let go so Xander could breathe. Buffy and Shimrod took this as their cue to give the two some privacy.
"I can't believe it," Buffy said incredulously as she watched the two from a distance, "She really is a Super Saiyan. I couldn't believe it when I heard it, Belmo couldn't even believe it. And somehow she is. How does she do it?"
"It boggles the mind, I have to admit," Shimrod said equally puzzled, "maybe the spell did transform her into a Saiyan body."
"But Gandalf, she barely registers as a Saiyan," Buffy said pointing to Angela, "Belmo told us you had to be pretty powerful to become a Super Saiyan. He also said nothing of becoming a big giant ape also."
"Then maybe there is more then one way to become a Super Saiyan, my dear Buffy," Shimrod shrugged, "admittedly my knowledge of Super Saiyans is virtually non-existent. To be honest, until your friend told me of them I did not even knew they existed. And while I doubt your teacher is a bit more of an expert on the matter I would not be so presumptuous to think there is only one way to skin a cat."
"I suppose," Buffy nodded.
Meanwhile Xander and Angela were still embracing each other.
"Xander, how can this be?" Angela asked, "this is Earth. Why aren't we on Tanjecterly?"
"Ssssh," Xander said as he tried to stroke her head through the upstanding hair, "lets just say it's a kinda magic. Shimrod, you remember Shimrod, right? He did this. You're safe now."
"Did we make it?" she asked, "Did you succeed in the quest? I remember so little after what happened in the Citadel."
Xander bit his lip and looked down. He didn't have the heart to tell her it had all been for in vain.
"We did, Ange, we did. We made it back. Fisk and Liana, they're alright. And Shimrod did his thing."
"Is that her?" Angela asked nodding towards. Xander glanced over his should towards Buffy.
"Yep, that's her," he replied as he smiled softly, "the one and only. Accept no substitute."
"Does that mean you will be leaving again?" Angela asked as she looked Xander in the face.
"Not a million years," Xander said so resolute he made her smile.
"Don't tell me you're aiming for a threesome now?" she smiled, "cause that will cost you extra."
Xander chuckled and looked over his shoulder towards Buffy.
"Hey, Buff, are you in for a threesome?"
The very ugly words coming back from Buffy soon laid to rest any idea regarding that particular coupling.
"I don't think she wants to share you with me," Angela chuckled mildly.
"She'll come around," Xander grinned confidently, "you'll see."
"Oh," was all Angela said sullenly, "so what now?"
"Well, first we're going back to Doc's place, to check you out," Xander said, "and then you're coming home with us."
Angela looked at Buffy.
"Wouldn't she object? I mean having a girl who… "
Xander's smile evaporated and then he bit his lip.
"Look, Ange, I didn't want to bother you with this at this moment, or get your hopes up. But it didn't quite work out as planned on Tanjecterly. And Buffy here, well, it's not her. This is friend Buffy, not love Buffy."
"You sure have a way with words, Xan," Buffy called back, her Slayer enhanced hearing apparently enabling her to hear his words..
"Then what happened?" Angela asked, "Did something go wrong? Did I….?"
Before Xander could reply Angela fell to her knees again and the chi flames around her flared up again, causing strong winds to blow.
"What's wrong?" Xander asked concerned and Buffy and Shimrod came running also..
"Something's wrong," Angela panted, "I feel…., I….., there's this noise I keep hearing."
"What kind of noise?" Shimrod asked with keen interest.
"A voice," Angela said, "a faint whisper. I've been hearing it ever since I got here but now…."
"Crazy Saiyan," Buffy said as she came by their side, "bitch's coming back."
"We have to get her back to your place, Doc," Xander yelled at Shimrod, "something's wrong!"
"Maybe it is the spell breaking up," Shimrod suggested as he pulled out some artifact of unknown origin to examine Angela, "it shouldn't have any effect though. The spells I wrought were intended to counteract that. She should remain herself even after Ethan's spell is over."
As if to illustrate his point an almost unnoticeable shockwave came from Sunnydale.
"See," the mage said pointing towards the town, "the spell has been broken by the act of Buffy's Watcher breaking the Janus statue. And Angela is still herself, isn't she?"
"I'm not so sure, Shimrod," Angela said shaking her head, "the voice keeps getting louder."
"Crazy Saiyan," Buffy said shaking her head, "it's got to be that bitch."
"Now, let us not jump to conclusions," Shimrod objected and reached inside his coat to pull out a small mirror, through which he looked at Angela. Xander recognized it as the same mirror Shimrod had used to examine him for what he had called Xander's true nature. As soon as Shimrod looked through the small mirror his cautious optimism vanished.
"Oh dear," he said aghast.
x
x
Under the light of a bright blue alien sun Buffy sat in the back of an old Ford Thunderbird convertible outside Shimrod's place on whatever planet or fun dimension it was built. After they had raced back through one of his portals Gandalf had taken Angela to one of his labs, with Xander in his wake.
Buffy felt she should have been there, at Xander's side. But she wasn't one who did the whole hospital sidekick thing very well. Sitting helpless by the sidelines wasn't her thing. Far better to let the professional handle things while she got out of the way. If they needed her they knew where to find her.
So she sat out here, in the sun. Wishing she had someone or something to pound upon.
To her right the door to Shimrod's mansion opened and the magician came out, looking very tired.
"Everything okay, Shim?" Buffy asked. But she didn't need to ask. The mage's face told the story for him.
"That bad, uh?"
The mage nodded as he sat down on the stairs leading up to his door.
"She has faded away," he sighed, "she has faded away. Despite the best I could do she has still faded away."
Just as soon as he had sat down the magician stood up again.
"I need a drink," Shimrod muttered to himself and went back inside.
Buffy watched him go inside, then she stared ahead blankly for a few moments. So the worst had came to pass. Buffy let out a deep sigh. Then she got up and out of the car.
"Should have gotten Willow along," she said to herself and went inside.
Inside she found herself in Shimrod's endless corridor of a thousand identical doors and halted. Now which door to take? Gandalf seemed to find his way effortlessly through this maze but to Buffy it felt like she had fallen into Alice in Wonderland meets the Wizard of Oz. Normally she'd use her chi sense to find Xander, but in this Wonderland it was hard to sense anything at all. And Shim seemed to have already vanished into whatever door led to his liquor cabinet.
Damn! If only she had brought a scouter along! Too bad she ruined them all using her EMP attack a few months back.
The memories of her EMP attack brought a momentary smile to Buffy's face. Oh, did she ever receive a mouthful for doing that stunt afterwards. As usual Belmo took the fall for that little stunt but the military was furious. They could explain that Sunnydale High had been leveled in some for of explosion, but that every electrical appliance inside the town and beyond had been roasted…. But hey, it got Mullet Joe of her back.
Unfortunately Buffy's EMP attack also blew up every scouter in the greater Sunnydale area, leaving them scouterless for the moment. New ones had been ordered from the good people at Capsule Corp. But it would seem that Bulma was still too pissed off at Belmo for ditching her on some alien world. That, the many notes she had taken from alien tech and being about to give birth at any moment meant that for the moment providing them with new scouters just wasn't high on Bulma's list of things to do. Not that it mattered much right now, it gave them a good opportunity to train their chi sense, but oh boy, Gandalf's funhouse and chi sense just didn't go together well.
Buffy was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed one of Shim's ethereal creatures passing her in the hallway. She still didn't know what the thin frail creature was, some kind of elf or something. Shim may have explained it to her but he tended to drone on like Giles and when the droning got too long she had a bad habit of zoning out. Which happened a lot when the details were all about the not vital for slaying variety.
"Hey you," Buffy said as she reached out towards the veiled creature, "I'm looking for my friend. Do you know where he is?"
The almost human looking creature stopped and looked at her through its veil like it didn't understood her and Buffy was tempted to yell at it, like adding volume would suddenly make it understand her question. Then it lifted a thin arm towards a door and pointed for a brief moment before moving on.
"Uh, thanks I guess," Buffy said, then she walked towards the door. Hoping it was the correct one, not some door leading into the heart of a fiery star to get rid of unwanted or rude visitors (like her) Buffy stepped inside.
Stepping through Shim's doors was like stepping into different worlds, like being taken to the past, present and future by the ghost of Christmas past, present and future. For a brief moment she felt disorientated, like always. She had asked Xander if he felt the same way but he just looked at her funny. She had wanted to ask Shim but never gotten around to ask Gandalf about why it affected her like that. Maybe it was the Slayer, noticing things that others would not.
Inside the room she saw Angela lying in a bed, staring absentminded towards a wall. It looked like she had the blank thousand mile stare again. Like she had reverted to her coma routine. God, it must be awful for Xander. Poor Xander. Who had put so much hope in this plan, first suggested to him by Oz, to make use of Gandalf's mastery of space and time to go back to that Halloween night and dress her up as herself. To bad it didn't stick.
But where was Xander?
"Hi, Buff," Xander's tired voice said behind her. Okay, question answered, Buffy thought as she turned around and saw Xander sitting on a chair in a corner close to the door.
"Hi Xan," she said as she put on a brave face for her friend. If Shim had looked tired, Xander looked like he had gone ten rounds with the Mayor, in his final form. She knelt in front of him and put her hands on his. He looked… almost un-Xanderlike. Like everything that made him who he was had been taken from him.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm so sorry."
Xander looked at her for a moment, then he shrugged and said nothing. Oh, that didn't look right. She'd rather have her friend scream bloody murder, sob like a little girl or trash the place. Anything but this.
"We should have brought Willow along," Buffy said, "And Giles. Don't get me wrong, Shim's good, but Willow's smart, and Giles knows things. Even Belmo could be of some use."
She didn't really mean it, much. She said it more to rouse Xander out if this, this, un-Xanderlike sullenness. And it worked as Xander raised an eyebrow.
"It wouldn't have mattered, Buff," he said flatly, "Shimrod knows what went wrong and Willow couldn't have helped. Giles couldn't have helped. They wouldn't have know what to look for."
"Which is?"
"It's that friggin' ape, Buff," Xander said as he nodded towards Angela, "we thought Ferucca might show up and she did. But we didn't expect that the Ozaru also came along for a ride."
"Your friend is right, Buffy," Shimrod's voice said as he stepped into the room. He was carrying two large cups of wine and gave one to Xander as he took a sip from his own before continuing, "somehow in Tanjecterly Angela's core got linked to the Saiyan untergestalt that is that monstrous ape creature. Xander told me the gestalt I sent into Tanjecterly exhibited changed behavior. When he first met her she was hesitant, more in line with Angela's persona. Then she transformed into an Ozaru and changed. From then on the Ferucca personality was in control and seems to have kept Angela's personality under control. She must have pushed Angela so far down deep that she somehow got pushed into the Saiyan unconsciousness. And that's where the beast dwells. It has to be the source of her Super Saiyan power. She's linked to the beast now. And unfortunately the spells I put in place to trap her essence weren't enough to also trap the beast."
Suddenly the mage threw his cup of wine and threw it across the room.
CLANK!
"Damn!" he yelled angry, "I should have foreseen this! I should have examined first the cause of her Super Saiyan transformation. I…."
Some of the wine had landed on the bed and to Buffy's surprise Angela reacted. She turned her head and looked at the wine stains that had landed on her blanket.
"I am wet," she said in a neutral voice, like it was a mere observation and not a request for a new blanket like a normal person would.
Surprised Buffy looked at Shimrod and then at Xander.
"I… I thought you'd said she was gone?" she said astonished.
"I said she has faded," Shimrod said, "talk to her and you'll know."
Looking one time at the mage Buffy walked over towards Angela. As she did she saw Angela look up towards her.
"Uh, hi…, :" Buffy said not sure what to say, "do you know who I am?"
To her surprise Angela just looked away disinterested.
"I know who you are," she said in a flat disinterested voice, "you're Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A friend of Xander Harris, who traveled to Tanjecterly to find the Axis of Pythia so he could cross over to an alternate universe so he could be with an alternate version of you."
Buffy looked around incredulously at Xander and Shimrod.
"I…, I thought you said…..?" she asked.
"Come," Shimrod said and beckoned Buffy to follow. Taking her by the hand he led her towards the door and opened it. Instead of entering his hallway of a thousand doors they emerged into Shimrod's private study. There on his desk stood a bottle of wine, from which Shimrod poured himself another cup.
"What is wrong here, Shim?" Buffy asked, "what's wrong with her?"
Shimrod drank from the cup before putting it down, then he leaned on his desk and sighed.
"You must understand the depth of her bane," he said with eyes closed, "the magic I wrought to keep her spirit brought back more then just her. The beast, the one that lurks within each Saiyan also came back. That is more then a mere human like her could bear."
"Shim, what are you saying?" Buffy asked with a growing sinking feeling.
"Two minds cannot occupy the same body," Shimrod sighed, "not one so powerful as the Saiyan beast and not one so frail as hers. To put it in simple terms, the ending of the chaos mage's spell caused an overload as it were. She is barely in there, Buffy, but a shadow of a shadow."
"But she talks," Buffy countered, "how can she talk if she….."
"She's not mindless, Buffy," Shimrod said looking up, "she still has Angela's memories. She….., I'm not still not sure. You know those blue carbon copy papers you could stick underneath a piece of paper and make a copy of what you wrote? And…."
The vacant look Buffy returned was enough to tell that his little analogy wasn't hitting home.
"Well, um, …., the point I was trying to make is that while she still has Angela's memories, her essence, maybe even her, um, soul? It has all been seriously, uh, eroded?"
Poor Xander, Buffy thought, he had had his hopes up so highly on this plan, contacting Shim and first proposing his plan, then working out the details with the mage. Only to have it fall apart like this. Of course, it probably sucked even more for the girl . But Buffy never knew her. Aside from helping Xander bringing her drooling body to Sunnydale and help him clear out her apartment in Los Angeles the only real instance she had gotten to know her was when Oz had come up with a DVD detailing her more 'intimate' exploits. Some of things she had seen on it, well, it was true what they said, ignorance truly is bliss.
"Is there nothing you can do?" Buffy asked, "you're like the smartest wizard we know. Surely you can do something."
"I wish I could," Shimrod said as he reached for his bottle for a refill, "and I know of a few dark arts that might help. But…."
The mage downed his glass in one swig..
"But what, Shim?" Buffy asked and the mage looked back at her sternly.
"The beast, Buffy, it's still inside her. They're linked together now. When she's looking like you don't exist, she's not being rude. Or, how should I say this?"
The mage looked aside, like he was thinking of the right words to describe Angela's current situation.
"Absentminded?" Buffy suggested, "Vacant?"
"She hears the beast, Buffy," the mage said, "its constantly with her. She hears it sing."