Alison and Seo found the corner of First and A street. It was pretty obvious which house they were looking for… it was the house that had all the lights still on, even in the early morning, and whose lawn displayed a small statue of a chaos-demon.

Seo picked the lock to the door easily. Shoved open the door, to reveal a living room — ill lit, but still with the lights on, littered with statues of chaos gods and evil-looking charms. Magic books lining every wall. And there, in the center of it all, was Ethan Rayne himself.

He looked like someone who'd just been in a fight. Scraped up and bandaged all over, a bruise across his forehead, and he was limping, slightly, with every step. It looked, to Alison, like Buffy had creamed him, thought she'd gotten off free, and been caught unawares while escaping.

Ethan glanced up at Seo and Alison, who were leading a still utterly bewildered Buffy in through the door. Then they stopped, and stood in the doorway, barring Ethan's only escape route, their arms crossed, eyes determined and biting and angry.

"Well," said Ethan, studying them, carefully. He seemed a little awkward. "This is… unexpected." He glanced around them, as if looking for someone else. "Ripper not with you, then?"

Ripper?

Seo didn't seem concerned with the comment. Marched up to Ethan Rayne, struggling to keep her anger in check. "What," she growled, "have you done to my mom?"

Ethan laughed. "Oh, so that's who you are! You're her…" Then stopped. Paused. Trying to work out all the dates and ages in his mind. "Wait. That doesn't make sense."

Seo lunged at him, grabbing him up by the shirt and slamming him against a wall, fury and adrenaline racing through her, burning through her remaining energy. Her eyes stared into his. "What. Have. You. Done?!"

"Definitely her kid," Ethan muttered. Then, when it looked like Seo was about to deck him, he raised up his hands in surrender. "Look, this is nothing personal. Really. I've got nothing against you or your mum. I just wanted to get back at Ripper—"

"Ripper?" asked Alison.

"Rupert," said Ethan. "Giles. But, turns out, he's got… friends in high places, now. Couldn't get to him. Not directly."

"So you went after Seo's mum, instead," Alison realized. "To get back at your long-time rival emotionally, rather than physically." Her face turned bitter. "You heartless git."

Buffy looked around herself, still unsure of what was going on, unable to process anything around her. Her eyes fixed on a magical gemstone, sparkling in the moonlight that trickled in through the windows. She smiled. Then walked over, reaching out for it.

Alison grabbed her up. Tugged her back.

Buffy seemed shocked. Looking at Alison as if she'd completely forgotten that Alison was there at all.

Seo, in the meantime, jerked Ethan, harder, against the wall, grip tightening on his shirt, fire running through her. "Fix her. Now."

"I… can't!" Ethan squeaked. He gestured at the vacant Buffy. "See for yourself. I drained her mind. Destroyed everything inside of it. Anything that was once in there is gone. Long gone!"

"I don't believe you," said Seo.

"Neither do I," Alison chimed in.

"No, really!" Ethan said. "I—"

"I read up on you," Alison put in. "You're supposed to be all about causing chaos. Which is interesting. Because… there's chaos everywhere else in the world. But not here. Not in California."

"There's another part of your plan," Seo agreed. "Something else you're up to. Something chaos-causing. And I want to know what that is."

"It's nothing," Ethan said. "It didn't work! Your mum is gone. Accept that."

Seo thought this over, very hard. Hesitating, for just a second. Then, she let Ethan go. Stepped back. "All right," she said. A small, sly smile spreading across her face. "I believe you. You drained everything from Mom's mind. Even the sparks of mental cohesion holding it all together. And now… there's nothing you can do to get that back."

Alison wasn't sure she liked where Seo was going with this. "Seo…"

Seo ignored her. Reached a hand out, and grabbed Ethan's head. "So," she continued, her voice cool and impassive, "here's how this is going to work. I'm going to suck the energy from your mind. And give it to her. She might not remember me, but at least she'll still be Buffy."

Ethan stared at her. "What?"

"Seo, are you sure you want to…?" Alison started.

Seo snapped her head around. "I have to. For Mom."

Ethan's eyes went wide, as a steady energy-related pulsing began to grow from the back of his head — just where Seo had placed her hand. He gasped, writhed, but Seo held him in place.

"No, wait!" Ethan shouted, as the hand began to duck inside his mind.

Seo withdrew the hand. A smile on her lips. "Yes?"

"Her… mind's still out there," Ethan told them. "I just transferred it. Inside a monster. An evil creature with no soul, no humanity, no conscience."

Seo and Alison both stared at him. Jaws falling open.

"You put all the knowledge and fighting skills of a Slayer," Alison said, "into a monster without a soul?" She shook her head. "You're not just heartless. You're completely mad!"

Seo grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him along after her. "In that case," she said, "you're showing us where it is." She grabbed a set of car keys from the key-hook nearby, and tossed them to Alison. "And then… you're going to change Mom back."


"Turn left!" Ethan shouted.

Alison, behind the wheel, swerved the car in the direction Ethan said.

"No, not right, you thick-headed girl!" Ethan snapped. "Left!"

Alison huffed. Bloody America, where the left turn wasn't the easy turn, like it was supposed to be. And it didn't help having a brain-drained Buffy in the passenger seat, constantly trying to open the doors, reach for things on Alison's side of the car, throw bits of paper and books at Alison, etc.

Or that the area they were driving in had experienced a power-cut, and none of the street lamps were working.

And then there was Buffy's mobile.

It had been going off, non-stop, for the last five minutes, now. And Alison could guess why. With the rest of the world going to hell, fast, she was probably getting calls from every world-saving organization out there, asking her how to fix whatever Seo had mucked up with the rift.

"Shiny girl," Buffy said, turning in her seat, and looking back at Seo. "Pretty girl."

Course, Buffy wasn't going to be much help to anyone, the way she was, now.

"Why does she keep calling you shiny?" Alison asked Seo, as she rounded the block to get back to the intersection she'd screwed up the turn on.

"No reason," Seo put in, a little too quickly.

Alison stopped at the intersection, and turned the correct direction.

"Now… sharp right!" said Ethan.

Alison swerved the car left, before she had time to think about switched directions, and only realized her mistake when it was too late to correct it. She slammed her foot on the brakes, as the car careened off the road, the nearby tree colliding with her side of the car and screeching across the metal.

She managed to get the car to stop. Then took a few deep, shaky breaths.

Then Seo gave a loud gasp of pain, and Alison spun in her seat, to find Ethan slipping a hypodermic needle out of Seo's arm. He then slammed the car door open and leapt out.

"She's got about an hour to live!" he called to them, as he raced off in between the houses, climbing fences and scrambling away, cloaked by the thick darkness of night.

Alison's eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat. Poison. He'd poisoned Seo. Poisoned her and run off! And now, she was going to die, and there was nothing Alison could do, except…

"Don't just sit there!" Seo shouted. "Get after him!"

"But… you…" Alison started.

Seo gritted her teeth. "Not fatal," she said. "Not for me. Just need to…" She grunted, squeezing her eyes shut. Then hissed. "Not enough energy."

Alison opened her mouth to speak, but Seo cut in, first.

"Coma," Seo said. "Only way to heal. Few hours, I'll be fine." She pointed into the night. "Just… get him!"

Alison didn't have to be asked twice. She leapt out of the car, then grabbed up Buffy, who could run a whole heck of a lot faster than she could. And they sprinted into the night.