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Ten Minutes Later, The Magic Box, Sunnydale, California, Xander's P.O.V
"Uuuhhhhh! Someone tell the operator to stop 'cause I wanna get off." He said as he pushed himself off the floor into a sitting position.
As his thoughts settled and the barf inducing feelings wore off, thoughts and memories began to enter his mind that definitely did not belong there. It wasn't so much the idea that there was someone else inside his head but more like everything that someone else was had been annexed onto his own consciousness, allowing him to access one or the other depending on what he desired. What was more interesting, though, was the nature of the memories, mannerisms and thought patterns that he now had access to that had not been there before. He now knew how to run a Kansas farm, he knew things equivalent to someone who had graduated from university with all As, he knew how to be a top notch newspaper reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper and he knew how to wield godlike powers yet remain a man at heart. He knew it all and, in an instant, he knew what the orb Whistler had assigned to him had done. Opening his eyes, he looked down to see that he had changed in more ways than he had originally thought when he'd been told that he'd be getting a power up to take down Doomsday. Gone were his usual jeans, T-shirt and Hawaii shirt (dammit, that had been his favorite one!) and in its place was a dark blue bodysuit, red knee high boots, a yellow utility belt of some kind, red gloves, a partial face mask and a red cape. The other way he had changed is that he could tell that his legs, arms and chest were distinctly more toned and muscled than he could ever recall them being when he looked in the bathroom mirror.
You look very sexy, Xander! Anya's voice told him as he got to his feet as a desire to find a mirror rose inside of him. I'd take you to the nearest bed to see you naked if we weren't about to fight a horrible monster.
"Ahn! What've I said about saying… things, huh?!" he said as he realized that what his estranged fiancé had just said had been done in his head rather than out loud.
Looking around, he was stunned to find that he wasn't the only one who had been given a make over by the spheres but the most telling one was the one done to his ex. Sitting with legs crossed about a foot off the ground, with green skin, yellow eyes and an outfit that looked like a cross between what the Martian Manhunter wore and a Sailor Senshi outfit, was one Anya Jenkins looking quite happy with the changes. In fact she looked more beautiful than he remembered though he was pretty sure that her legs were longer and more toned, her figure had definitely been enhanced to supermodel levels and her chest had undergone a size increase as well. Looking at her, he mentally asked her whether this was the result of the sphere she'd been assigned or simply the use of the Martian's shapeshifting ability.
"Actually I did it myself. Much cheaper than going to a plastic surgeon and being able to shapeshift will save me a fortune once we get to where ever the Powers send us." Anya said out loud this time as she used those same shape changing abilities to transform to her usual human appearance.
Leave it to Ahn to take a life altering situation like this and turn it into something involving money. He thought with a shake of his head as he got to his feet and took in the area around him.
"Oh for cryin' out loud!" he exclaimed as he took in the makeovers that the rest of the Scooby Gang had undergone.
Willow now had black hair and was dressed up like a female magician straight from the stages of Las Vegas and, considering what he and Anya had been transformed into, he was fairly certain that meant his bestest bud had been given the powers of one Zatanna Zatara. While it did make sense when you considered the fact that the formerly red haired wicca was their powerhouse magic user, he wasn't quite sure how to take her new look. Fishnet stockings, a black or blue speedo, light gray vest that pushed up and highlighted her chest, a white blouse, a dark blue bowtie, a formal jacket with tails, white gloves and a top hat made up her outfit. He was fairly certain that if someone checked the pockets of the jacket they'd find a wand of some kind in there but he wasn't about to check to see if it was a Harry Potter wand or the white tipped stereotypical wand found in every home magic kit in America.
Next came Tara, who was starting to come to although it was anyone's guess how long she'd stay that way once she got a good look at herself. Blue ankle high boots with one inch heels, blue fishnet stockings, a dark blue/black one piece bathing suit, a jacket that had long sleeves but barely reached halfway down her back and dark blue ladies gloves. Now, he might have been mistaken but he was pretty sure that Tara was dressed up like the Black Canary but there was no way of knowing for certain until she tried to use the heroine's trademark canary cry power. Not exactly something Giles would be in favor of, considering the number of glass containers and crystal objects in the Magic Box.
Speaking of the G-Man, he was the next person his eyes fell upon and it didn't take him a minute to figure out who the Watcher had been dressed up as. His gut told him though that this would either be very good or very bad depending on what traits the Brit might have been given along with the costume. After all, while the character was one of the smartest and most skilled heroes in the entire DC universe, he was also anti-social which would make things somewhat difficult. Add the potential hours of brooding that could be on the horizon and it was anyone's guess who'd annoy who more before the first month passed. Brooding was of the Deadboy, of course, so inheriting anything like that would definitely be a downer but on the other hand having someone who could kick ass and deduce with the best of them might balance things out. He'd have to wait until the G-Man woke up thought to get a better idea of which version of the Caped Crusader the Brit had received his empowerment from. If it was the comic book version, it'd be rough seas ahead for one and all but, if it was the Batman from the cartoons shown in the last ten years, then it'd be okay.
Allowing his eyes to continue on to the next person in the room, he had to gulp a bit at the potential explosion on the horizon both figuratively as well as literally.
Laying face down on the floor where Buffy had been standing prior to the activation of the spheres was now a redheaded young woman wearing an avian style headdress, a strapless, sleeveless shirt, green pants and red boots with an impressive looking mace tucked beneath her belt. However he was only peripherally aware of these things because the most noticeable additions made to the former Slayer were two gray feathered angel wings that easily looked as though they could carry her through the air. The costume mixed with everything else left little doubt in his mind that Elizabeth 'Buffy' Summers had been given the powers, abilities and mental characteristics of one Shayera Hol aka Hawkgirl. On the plus side this transformation had given the girl five more inches of height by his estimate and as an added bonus (at least in his opinion) it looked like she had a bit more padding in the chest area. Of course he'd never say anything about that to her face because, if Buffy had inherited Shayera's temper, then words of a perverted nature would be the surest way to provoke her into swinging that mace of hers at his head.
And if you're listening, Anya, I would really appreciate it if you didn't tell her either. He thought on the off chance that his now telepathic ex-fiance was eavesdropping on his thoughts, After all, while I might be invulnerable to just about everything now, an Nth metal Thanagarian mace will still hurt.
No problem, Xander. I quite agree with you that larger breasts would make her look sexy and would be necessary now that she's a bit taller. Anya thought to him with a small grin, After all, given how small they were before, it's a wonder that she wasn't mistaken for a boy.
Quickly moving his thoughts away from that particular comment he directed his gaze to the last person to have been assigned a sphere by the balance demon Whistler.
Dawn Summers.
She looked the most ordinary among the lot of them in terms of appearance but there were a few tell tale signs that there was more to her now than met the eye. Shiny silver gauntlets, sandals that looked like they'd been made in ancient Greece and a glowing golden lasso were the most telling that he could see but, if one looked closer, they could see something more. At first glance it looked like she was wearing a midriff-revealing red shirt but with his new eyes he could tell that the top was actually made of thousands of mini-metal rings linked together like chainmail, revealing the shirt to be armor. It was an amazing piece of craftsmanship that he highly doubted modern tech could reproduce even if the company behind it was given unlimited funds. You could almost say that it was crafted by the gods. Kind of fitting, considering he was pretty sure that Dawn had been given the attributes of one Cassandra Sandsmark, aka Wonder Girl. While he was a bit surprised that it was Wonder Girl rather than Wonder Woman, since the former had never been a part of the League like everyone else's costumes, he was pretty sure it was for the best. If Buffy woke up and found her little sister wearing the traditional Wonder Woman outfit, she'd freak out big time and probably start yelling death threats towards Whistler at the top of her lungs. Threats she could very well make good on, depending on whether or not the qualities of her mace were the same as Hol's in the cartoon.
Getting to his feet, he could see now precisely what the Powers That Be had intended and while he would have preferred a bit more power in his team he had to admit that it was a pretty good selection of powers and abilities. Whether or not they'd be able to take down Warren 'Doomsday' Mears with them would depend on how everyone handled their upgrade when they woke up. If they woke up with their minds more or less in the same state as his own, then only a few minutes of adjustment time would be needed before they could get underway. If that was not the case, though, if their transformation had left them disoriented, then he would have to take only those who were most coherent or confident in their newly acquired skills. He more than anyone else knew just how powerful and deadly Doomsday was by himself but, with the mind of Warren behind the wheel, it'd be far more horrible than any demon. He could only imagine what horrible things the sicko was doing right now and, if it weren't for the fact that the others would need his help coming to grips with their changes, he'd already have flown away in pursuit.
It didn't take the others long to regain consciousness, no more than ten minutes, and while he knew that the situation was serious, he was sort of looking forward to seeing their reactions to everything.
"Uhhhh…Killing Whistler isn't going to be near enough for putting me through something like this." Buffy said as she pushed herself off the ground and planted her feet, "I'm going to use his ribcage for a hat, his intestines for garters and his skull as an ashtraaa----!"
The newly minted redhead's words were forcibly stopped as she suddenly found herself with quite a bit more weight on her back than she was used to. As a result she nearly fell on her butt and probably would have had he not zipped across the room and steadied her with his hands. He'd been a bit leery of using super speed in such a cluttered room but it looked like along with everything else, the PTBs had seen fit to give him a loose grip on his abilities. He didn't think he'd be trying any of the more complicated things without a little practice first and it'd probably be the same for Buffy and the others.
"Xander? What? How?" Buffy asked once she managed to regain some semblance of balance.
"Long story short, Buffy, you now have a pair of fully functional angel wings on your back and, in case the costume I'm wearing doesn't clue you in, I just moved at super speed." He replied with a smile as he watched the others get to their feet, albeit slowly due to their lingering disorientation, "As for why you have wings and I can move at super speed it looks like we've all become members of the Justice League."
"Just us what?" Buffy asked, clearly not understanding the reference marking her as being a non-comic person.
"Justice League. A group of superheroes from the same universe as Doomsday." He explained as he tried to repress his inner geek that was all but hopping up and down inside of him, "You're Hawkgirl, I'm Superman, Willow is Zatanna, Giles is Batman, Dawn is Wonder Girl, Tara is Black Canary and Anya, I'm guessing, got turned into a female version of the Martian Manhunter, J'onn J'onzz."
He watched with some interest as a light bulb of sorts metaphorically turned on inside their heads as he spoke the name of their costumed identities. In fact much of their disorientation seemed to pass now that they had a name to put to the things floating around inside their heads and that would hopefully make things easier for them once they tracked down Doomsday.
"Remind me to thank Whistler next time he shows up." Giles said getting to his feet but in a tone none of them could recall hearing from the Brit before.
Looking at the surrogate father of the former Scooby gang turned Justice League, it didn't take any super vision powers to clue him into the fact that some drastic changes had been wrought. The most visible was the chiseled physical features made visible by the skintight nature of the costume because what he saw was definitely not consistent with a fifty-four year old. Even if such a man engaged in vigorous exercises every day, he very much doubted that anyone over forty-five years of age could look like they belonged on the set of a martial arts movie. The lines of age that should have been visible on G-Man's jaw were also not present and in their place was the smooth skin of someone younger than a 35 year old. Calling upon the knowledge and memories of the hero whose powers he now possessed, he used his X-Ray vision to look beneath the cowl and was stunned by what he saw. Instead of a fifty-four year old man he saw someone who didn't look a day over thirty and to say that Giles looked dashing now would be something of an understatement. Returning his sight to its default setting, he had to wonder what sort of reactions the others would have once they got a look at the new and improved Rupert Giles. Jaw dropping would definitely happen and one or two 'holy shit' statements could happen as well. Unfortunately, they had more pressing business to attend to and it was time for them to get going before Doomsday added to the death toll any more than he already had.
"Time to get going." He said as he turned to the front door of the Magic Box, "Warren's already had almost an hour of lead time to do as he pleases. No telling how many people are dead now."
"But how're we going to get there?" Dawn asked, pointing out a potential flaw in his train of thought, "Some of us can fly, of course, but we have no idea where to start looking for him."
"Oh that won't be hard." Anya said looking somewhat distracted by something, "If this Doomsday is as bad as Xander's mind is making him out to be, then it'll be on all the news stations for sure."
"Ahn! Please don't eavesdrop on my thoughts." He said, not liking the fact that the ex-vengeance demon now had the ability to peek inside the minds of others, "It's disrespectful and more than a little embarrassing for the one being mind scanned."
To this Anya just shrugged and resumed doing whatever it was she was doing before Dawn spoke. Considering what she'd said, he was fairly certain she was peeking inside the heads of everyone there and looking for anything amusing. Hopefully the others wouldn't catch onto this possibility or taking down Warren would be made all the harder by the fact that his own teammates would be at each other's throats. Shaking his head to get that mental image out of his head, he zipped off at super speed into the back training room where they had a TV hooked up for reviewing Buffy's performance on patrol. It was something that Giles had suggested soon after the Magic Box was purchased and thankfully the previous owner of the place had made sure that cable came with the place. Running back into the main shop area, he placed the television on top of the counter and inside of two seconds had everything hooked up and the idiot box turned on. He didn't have to flip very far through the channels before finding what he sought, but what he saw was far worse than anything he'd originally anticipated.
"This is Catherine Chung with Channel Five action news continuing my coverage of his horrible maelstrom of destruction that looks like something straight out of a monster movie," an Asian woman's voice from off screen while the camera focused on the action on the street below. "Less than half an hour ago a creature baring a disturbing resemblance to the comic book villain Doomsday dropped from the sky above San Francisco and immediately began carving a path of destruction deeper into the city. Every police officer and S.W.A.T team member within reasonable distance of the disturbance has been called in to deal with the situation however, from this reporter's vantage point, they have had little success."
No shit! He thought as he watched the signs of automatic gunfire and explosives being directed at the grey and white form of Doomsday, They might as well be using squirt guns and water balloons against him!
"According to an update I've just received from Channel Five's newsroom, National Guard troops are en route to the city to reinforce the courageous law enforcement officers already combating the monster. However the latest estimate puts them at least forty-five minutes away and by that time the being with the appearance of the fictional Doomsday will most likely have be past Prescott street by then." Chung said as a particularly loud explosion rocked the street below, "Still, one has to wonder that even if the National Guard do make it here if they will be able to turn the tide against this creature. At this very moment S.W.A.T team members appear to be hard pressed to even slow this monstrosity's advance and they are both trained and prepared to handle heavily armed threats. Will the arrival of the National Guard truly be enough?"
"If they aren't then we'll be there to make up the difference." He stated before marching towards the front door of the shop with determination in every movement.
"But Xander, even if we now know where he is, how're we supposed to get there in time?" Buffy asked sounding a little more at peace wither new form.
Opening the front door of the Magic Box, he found himself to be momentarily struck speechless as his eyes took in the vehicle that pretty much took up the entire street from one side to another. Either the Powers That Be were being overly generous tonight for some reason or Doomsday was a bigger threat than he'd originally thought to get those cheapskates to give them this.
Whatever the reason for this bit of good luck, their transport problems were officially solved.
"By using this Javelin aircraft, of course." He said pointing at the primary means of transportation for the Justice League in recently televised cartoon series.
The slack jawed looks on most of their faces as they exited the Magic Box was priceless but he was a little more worried about Rupert 'Batman' Giles, given how the man's eye slits were narrowing in accordance to the face beneath the cowl. While it was a well known fact that Bruce Wayne was a master at keeping his emotions off his face when wearing his cape and cowl, the addition of the Brit once known as Ripper to the mix allowed some cracks to be seen.
Cracks that showed him that the Watcher's anger was on the rise.
"Where's my car?" Giles asked, looking at the vacant spot where the automobile that symbolized the man's attempt to reinvent himself had been parked.
The PTBs had better hope that G-Man doesn't get to them, otherwise mere mortal or no, they're going to be sporting more than a few bruises when all is said and done. He thought with a shudder when he thought of the Dark Knight Ripper going spooky creature of the night on those higher beings.
En Route to San Francisco, ETA Five Minutes, Inside the J.L.U Javelin, Dawn's P.O.V
Damn, Xander looks good! Dawn thought as looked at her former crush sitting in the co-pilot's seat.
She knew that she should probably be focusing on the battle that was going to happen in a matter of minutes but she just couldn't get over how well her former (and perhaps future) crush looked wearing tight fitting bodysuit. Muscles that before had only been hinted at were now almost impossible to miss since his costume left very little to the imagination, given how it molded itself to the young man's body. While she couldn't be sure, she'd bet her entire life savings that the Harris boy's transformation had made him much more drool worthy muscle-wise then he'd been before this mess began. With the perfect body combined with a mind that had always treated her as an equal in the past, she was really going to have to re-evaluate how she looked at him. Up until today she had all but given up on ever being more than a good friend to the founding male member of the Scooby gang and this had only been reinforced when he announced his engagement to Anya. While it was true that they were currently estranged and the wedding put on indefinite hold, it was pretty much the consensus of everyone else that they'd eventually get back together. They had three years of history together, after all, and that wasn't something you threw away because of a little bit of conflict here and there. Still a little voice inside of her was kinda hoping that the estrangement would grow into an actual break up or an agreement to just be friends. It was irrational, of course, but just like Xander, she secretly bought and read comic books. Thus she couldn't help but draw comparison's between Superboy's relationship with Cassie and what might be possible between her and Xander.
After all, Superman and Wonder Woman were an item for a while until the writers went down the predictable path to Lois Lane. Superboy and Cassie were shaping up to be an item in recent issues. She thought as she followed comic book logic through to its logical conclusion, If things keep going according to the pattern, then it could very well be fate that me and Xander come together.
It made sense since Xander'd probably worry himself senseless if he started dating an ordinary woman, so it'd be a stroke of good luck if the two of them hooked up. While not as invulnerable to harm as, say, Supergirl or anything, she'd never seen a panel in a single comic book featuring Wonder Girl where it took anything less than a super villain to injure her. Add to that the fact that even injured heroines managed to get back into the fight within a couple of issues and, even if she did get hurt, she'd heal remarkably quickly. Therefore her durability and skill as the new Wonder Girl would make it seriously difficult for anyone to hurt her, thus making it less stressful for Xander to do his hero thing. She could even fight by his side! Oh, she could already picture the heroic acts they'd perform together! Taking down Doomsday! Fighting crime bosses by the dozens! Saving the world on a monthly basis! Sure, they sort of did that already, but this time she wouldn't be playing second fiddle to her sister. Sure, she'd seen the Justice League cartoon with Xander and, sure, Hawkgirl was pretty good in a fight, but she was nowhere near Superman's league when it came to the kind of baddies she could take down. In fact she wouldn't be surprised if she wound up on crowd control or search and rescue duties once they hit San Francisco instead of tackling Doomsday. That would be the perfect opportunity to show him just how grown up she was now and obliterate that stupid 'she is my little sister' roadblock that kept getting in the way of her pursuit of him. Once that was gone and they got shipped off to whatever new dimension the Pricks That Be decided to fire them off to, she could start making inroads to his heart so she could someday soon claim it for her own.
It was perfect!
Perfect except for the fact that Buffy'd kill him if he tried anything like that with you. Then there's the fact that'll take more than a tight mini-t-shirt to make him see you as anything other than 'the younger sister of Buffy Summers', thought Anya from insider her mind with a derisive tone. Besides, with this massive make over of mine me and MY Xander might be getting back sooner than you think, so don't go making any long terms plan yet, kiddo!
Oh, shut up! She thought back at the blonde Martian, who sat behind Rupert 'Batman' Giles, who was in the pilot's chair.
Nevertheless she had to admit that with the powers of the Martian Manhunter at her disposal, Anya could very well have what it took to put her relationship with Xander back on track. After all, with impressive shapeshifting powers, the former vengeance demon could literally change anything about her physical form she wanted in order to better fulfill Xander's desires. Add to that her telepathy letting her know precisely what buttons to push to get the reactions she wanted and it made her a woman to be reckoned with in the war for Xander's affections. Still, she wasn't going to just let this go this time around and accept the fact that he'd never see her as anything other than Buffy's little sister. Nope! This time she was going to keep on trying until he either saw her as her own woman or realized that, in her case, resistance was futile.
Feeling as well as hearing the change in velocity, she knew that they had arrived at their destination and the flaming, damaged city below pretty much sealed the deal. Now on the cusp of battle, even she would admit to feeling a little uneasy about it all seeing as how this would be the first time she'd be using her new powers under real battlefield conditions, but she knew she'd have her friends and family by her side.
"T-minus sixty seconds." Xander called back from his position in the co-pilot's seat, "Once we arrive, Wonder Girl, Miss Martian and I will take on Doomsday head on. Batman, Black Canary and Zatanna will be on both crowd control as well as search and rescue."
"What's with the order giving, Xander?" Buffy asked, sounding both surprised as well as a bit annoyed at her friend's presumption of leadership, "And what the heck do you want me to do?"
"Well I guess the bossiness comes from what I got from Superman since he was pretty much the top dog in the Justice League next to Batman." Xander replied sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head, "As for the other, I thought you could be our eyes in the sky keeping tabs on local law enforcement and emergency back up for whichever group got into trouble first. Do you mind?"
Fortunately when things were explained like that, her elder sister soon found herself without a leg to stand on as far as rejecting Xander's orders were concerned. She personally saw nothing wrong with the arrangement since it meant she'd be fighting alongside Xander, providing her with an excellent chance to show him what she could do.
"No, and I guess that means that I get to park this thing after letting you guys out the back hatch, right?" Buffy asked with less resistance in her voice than before the explanation was given.
"Right. In fact it's time for you to take over right now." Rupert Wayne stated as he set the Javelin in hover mode over the city of San Francisco not twenty blocks from where Doomsday was currently demolishing a residential area, "Let's go."
I gotta admit that if it wasn't for my crush on Xander, I'd be thinking that Giles is a hottie to now. She thought as she considered what the Watcher looked like now under that cape and cowl, I wonder what a late twenties or early thirties version of G-man looks like.
"Something like this I'd expect." Came the voice of Anya but when everyone looked in the direction it was coming from they found a much younger version of Giles sitting in Miss Martian's place.
"ANYA! Stay out of my head!" she exclaimed angrily before she noticed everyone's eyes go from the young Giles copy to her.
Growling out all the swear words she'd ever heard, she marched angrily to the rear hatch, slapped the button to open it almost hard enough to break it and then flew out into the open air, heading for Warren for some much needed anger venting.
Time to strut my stuff and show that mental peeping tom what she can look forward to if she eavesdrops on my thoughts again! She thought before amping up her speed and pointing both her fists at Doomsday's back.
Ten Minute Earlier, San Francisco, California, Two Streets Over From Prescott Street
Warren 'Doomsday' Mears' P.O.V
"Well this is getting old fast," He said as he slammed his spiked knuckles into another clump of S.W.A.T officers, causing them to explode in a show of blood and guts. "I hope those National Guard soldiers get here soon. Maybe they can pack a bigger punch then these wimps."
It had been a blast starting out when he'd first landed!
Fists, bullets, grenades and just about every other weapon that could be found in the armories of municipal law enforcement institutions had been thrown at him and he hadn't felt a thing. Neither pain nor the sensation of impact was felt despite the powerful firearms that were brought to bear against him. Even grenades and various gases did little more than irritate him before his unique physiology adapted, rendering them useless. It was intoxicating to know that nothing could harm him and with the knowledge that not even the most powerful weapon of this age, a nuclear bomb, could kill him, he knew he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. However things were getting a bit dull with so little of his awesome strength needing to be brought to bear to tear through these weaklings. It was this fact that almost made him wish that he had allowed Andrew and Jonathan to get their power ups as well since the characters they'd dressed up as just might have provided him with a small challenge to overcome. However this thought was swept aside when he recalled the price that would have been exacted on him if he hadn't gone through with using them as his sacrificial pawns.
Looking around, he realized that the local P.D and S.W.A.T teams had pulled back for yet another regrouping session so that they could come up with another useless plan to stop him. When were they gonna realize that it was all hopeless? Unless they had some super secret project where they were creating something with superhuman abilities, they were just wasting their time. Perhaps he should assault one of the more powerful demon clans in the area. They would certainly provide him with more of a challenge than these weak humans and, with the jewel embedded in his new body, he was completely immune to all manner of sorcery unless he willed himself to be affected by it. It was, after all, a common fact that demons were grouped into one of two groups: those that were physically powerful and those that were strong because of their skill with magic. In terms of brute force he had them outclassed completely since none that he had ever heard of were strong enough to leap miles in one hop or punch a vault door off its hinges. As for those with potent magic, they too were not a concern since his jewel protected him completely, rendering them no better than an ordinary mortal compared to him. Still, they'd provide more amusement then these pitiful humans were currently throwing his way and he just might be able to learn something useful from them in the process.
He was just about to leap towards the demon district of the city when he spotted something two streets over that made him reconsider. He'd known from the moment he'd arrived in the city that the local P.D would do everything they could to evacuate the area around him so as to protect civilians so seeing signs of non-law enforcement life was somewhat unexpected. Stepping towards the sounds of life, it wasn't long before he heard the tell tale sounds of chanting and instantly knew that he was facing some spell casters. Grinning at the possibility of a true opportunity to explore the depths of his new power, he slowed his steps so as to give the magic users as much time as possible to complete whatever they were trying to do. He wouldn't wait all night of course, since then he'd get bored again, but he was feeling generous in light of the possibility of actually having to put forth some effort.
Perhaps they're creating some golems or something to throw at me? He thought as he threw a punch at the house blocking his path shattering the back of it like it was made of ice, Those might actually keep me busy for a couple of minutes.
It was then that he realized that the magic using demons might actually be more of a challenge than he'd originally thought. While it was true that they wouldn't be able to affect him directly without his consent, the environment around him was another matter entirely. While he wasn't worried per se about this little wrinkle in his original plan, he would have to take the sorcerers and witches a little more seriously since he didn't want them to magically bury him a hundred kilometers beneath the surface of the Earth. With that in mind, he began tearing through the house in front of him with a little more effort than before, thus cutting the time the spell casters had to work with in half. Punching, kicking or stomping whatever he felt like, he idly wondered where some of the things he'd knocked into the air had landed. There had been a few times in the confrontations with the local law enforcement officers that he'd gotten annoyed, thus putting a little more strength behind his throws than he should have. This had resulted in several cars, trucks and, in one case, a big dump truck being thrown high into the air until it disappeared from sight. Had it touched down in San Francisco somewhere or had they all flown past the city limits and into the middle of nowhere? He didn't know and, in the end, he decided that it ultimately didn't matter since even if one of them landed on a hospital or an orphanage, he wouldn't give a shit. This world was his playground now and all of the people in it only as valuable as they were amusing to him.
Bashing through the final house blocking him from seeing the spell casters, he was amused to see that it was three women ranging in age from late twenties to early thirties according to his eyes. One had long hair and looked to be the type to run her own business or perhaps fall for some guy from a level or two above her in terms of social level. The one in the center had short hair that barely reached her shoulders and practically screamed 'responsible' and 'surrogate mother' in how she behaved towards the other two. The final one had hair that was just as short but not only was she the youngest of the three but she had clothes on that implied that she was something of an eternal teenager at heart. An interesting mix as far as witches went and, from the looks of the elaborate set up they had in front of them, they were pulling out quite a few stops to try and stop him.
"Well, well, look what we have here!" he said with much humor as he began to step towards them, "Three lovely ladies who ignored orders from the police to clear out and think they can abra kadabra me away with their magic. Hit me with your best shot, ladies!"
This caused them to blink a bit since they probably didn't run into many beings that were actually willing to wait to be blasted into oblivion or vanquished somehow. Still, they were smart enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth and quickly went back to their chanting, albeit at a slightly faster pace since they probably expected him to get impatient sooner rather than later with them. One minute later, as their chanting reached its peak, he was rewarded for his patience by receiving a blast of magical energy that struck him dead center. It actually tingled as the arcane energy tried to force its will on his body but, thanks to his precious jewel, tingle was all it did and, with a flexing of his muscles, the spell was shattered. Scratching his chest to make it look like their spell had left an itch there, he yawned to make it clear to them that their efforts were useless beyond measure. He almost spoiled the entire act by chuckling as he saw looks of hopelessness and despair appear on their faces but managed to keep the bored look on his face.
"Well? Is that it? I gotta say I'm not impressed," he said as he resumed walking towards them. "Maybe if I tie one of you up in a knot the other two will actually put a little more effort into things."
"Stay away from them!" Shouted the business minded one as she thrust her arms in his direction to work some magic.
For a moment he felt as though everything including himself had been frozen in place, immobilized in some kind of stasis field, but as with everything attempting to influence his body it was soon neutralized. As his body began to resume moving, he had to admit he was a little impressed that the bitch had managed to stop him, even if it was only for a moment or two. Seeing as how his jewel hadn't automatically activated, he could only presume that the spell the woman had cast hadn't been directed specifically at him but rather on everything around her for quite a distance in all directions. Since it wasn't specific to him personally, the jewel hadn't done a thing and so it was up to his Doomsday body to physically adapt to the spell and then overcome it. Soon enough the stasis spell failed to affect him entirely and the looks of shock on the faces of the three witches were priceless as he managed to thwart their efforts for a second time. However, as the responsible one stood up, it was clear they weren't quite willing to throw in the towel just yet but, when the substitute mother nodded her head sharply in his direction, he had to wonder what she was doing. He got his answer when some invisible force actually knocked him back into the wreckage of the last house he'd destroyed but that was mostly because he hadn't known what to expect. Getting back to his feet, he began to march in the direction of the three ladies he was ready when Ms. Responsible used the spell on him again and so it barely caused him to break his stride. As the woman got more and more desperate, the potency of her force attacks began to diminish rather than strengthen, indicating that her rising fear was weakening her ability to channel her magic effectively.
"Well, it looks like you've reached the bottom of your bag of tricks, girls," he said as he brought up his right fist to finish things permanently. "Let's go straight to the big finish then."
"Couldn't have put it better myself!" Came a familiar voice from behind him.
Before he could turn his head to see who had yelled at him, something powerful struck him from behind and actually managed to send him tumbling down the street. It didn't hurt per se but it was definitely stronger than anything he had been hit with so far and that was enough to warrant his attention. Getting to his feet and turning around, he was shocked to see one Dawn Summers floating in the air wearing a very recognizable outfit.
"So this is what the White Hat committee decides to send against me?" He asked with contempt even though he was pleased with the change of sparring partners, "A high schooler given powers that imitate Wonder Girl's abilities? Please! The least they could have done was send a Superman impersonator or perhaps a Wonder Woman copy."
"Ask and ye shall receive!" Came Xander's voice less than two seconds before a fist slammed into his jaw, once more sending him to the ground.
Quicker to recover from this blow than the others he was on his feet in less than a moment but what he saw was enough to make him begin chuckling with happiness at the trio now floating in the air ten feet from where he was standing. Apparently the Powers That Be had decided to splurge a little because floating there before him were three people he knew from Sunnydale clad as heroes from the same universe as Doomsday came from.
Xander Harris as Superman.
Anya Jenkins as a female Martian Manhunter wannabe.
Dawn Summers as Wonder Girl Cassandra Sandsmark.
Three heavy hitters that would actually allow him to cut loose without fear of the fight ending before he achieved some measure of satisfaction.
Perfect.
Prescott Street, In Front of Halliwell Manor, One Second Later, Xander's P.O.V
"Miss Martian! Let's heat things up!" Xander said as he fired his heat vision at Doomsday at half strength before steadily increasing it due to lack of initial effect on his grey skinned foe.
"Right!" Anya declared as she added her own heat vision to the mix.
They had talked about it telepathically during the trip to San Francisco and had agreed that a direct fistfight with Warren should be avoided at all cost since that was the mistake the original Superman had made in the comics. That Man of Steel had focused far too much of his fighting on close quarters combat with the brute and allowed himself to be worn down gradually over the course of a day. If they wanted to have any chance of beating the monster here, they had to soften him up first with their other abilities and only at the end bash him into submission. However, as he watched the heat from the combined assault begin to light up the grass around the target, he knew that something had to be done to get the three women back there out of the danger zone. If this fight turned out to be anything like those in the comic books, then massive property damage was going to be a given and if they didn't want to add loss of life to the mix civilians needed to be evacuated before things went too far.
"You two keep him busy. I'll get those ladies to safety and then be right back." He said before zipping off to where the three witches or Wicca stood looking completely dumbfounded by the sight before them.
"W-w-who are you?" Asked the oldest of the three women.
"I think the S on my chest pretty much answers that, Ma'am." He said with a smile before he gently scooped two of them up in his arms before kneeling down slightly to allow the youngest to get onto his back, "For now, though, I think it's best that I take you clear of the battlefield. Things are going to get a bit intense from here on out. Want a lift out of here?"
"Sure thing, handsome!" Replied the youngest of the three women hopped onto his back, acting like a kid and wrapping her arms around his neck.
However, given how her legs soon followed her arms' lead in wrapping around him, he had to wonder if she wasn't acting more like a teenager who's spotted her latest crush or something. Shaking his head, he took to the sky and flew as quickly as he dared to where his telescopic vision said the local P.D command post was. He stirred up quite a commotion with the officers as well as the few newshounds behind held back behind the police barricades but he tried to not let that bother him too much. Once he touched down on the ground, he set the two ladies down gently on their feet and waited for the youngest on his back to release her grip on his neck and waist.
After a minute, though, he had to wonder if something was wrong so he turned his head a bit to see if perhaps flying had spooked her to the point where she was afraid to let go. However, judging by the dreamy look on her face, he quickly became aware of another possibility about why she was not letting go now that they were on the ground. Sighing, he had to wonder if women were any better at keeping their brains from freezing when they spotted a member of the opposite sex in skintight clothing than men were.
"Miss? We're safely on the ground now." He said politely even though he was still a bit embarrassed at what was happening, "You can get off my back now."
"Huh? OH! Y-yeah… thanks!" The youngest woman said as she hopped off his back, sounding like she finally understood how things must look to everyone else.
Standing up straighter, he took in the police and S.W.A.T looking at him with a mixture of hope and suspicion that was understandable, considering the situation. He knew that if he wanted this to go smoothly, he'd need to gain their trust somehow so that the good guys didn't wind up fighting amongst themselves when they should be focusing on the real enemy. Thus, with a deep breath, he willed himself to take on as many of his bestowed Superman traits as possible in the hopes that it would instill the same amount of respect in these law enforcers as one would have for the real deal.
"Who's in charge of this operation?" he asked, hoping that by gaining the respect of the top dog everyone under that person would feel the same.
"That'd be me." Spoke a tough as nails African American decked out in full S.W.A.T gear, "Sergeant Dan Harrelson of L.A S.W.A.T. And you are?"
"Let's stick with Superman for the time being, Sergeant," he replied doing his best to sound professional and polite. "Would you mind if me and my team took a crack at that thing? No disrespect intended but it is a little more up our alley than yours."
"Sure. I'll order my men to focus on clearing the civilians from the surrounding area to give you and your people room to work," Harrelson, replied not sounding too annoyed at being told to back off by a stranger. "But it might a different deal when the National Guard shows up. They haven't had to fight bone face for the past hour like we have and will probably need to be smacked around a bit before they realize they actually need help. Don't expect them to be too polite when they show up."
"When do you expect them to show up?" He asked, wanting to know when the League and him could expect some friendly fire to be sent their way.
"Got an ETA from the C.O of the group ten minutes ago," replied the Sergeant as he took off his glasses and pocketed them. "They'll be here in less than an hour. I suggest that if you don't want to end up being asked some uncomfortable questions, you put this bruiser down before then."
"Will do, Sergeant." He said before lifting into the air once more and heading towards the sounds of battle no doubt caused by Anya and Dawn taking on Doomsday.
So they had one hour to take down something that made mince meat of the Justice League in the comics before they'd get shot at by the people they were here to help.
Great. No pressure.
Back At The P.D & S.W.A.T Regrouping Point, P.O.V #1
"Mmmm! Nice butt!" Phoebe muttered as she watched the cape-wearing young man fly off to fight a courageous battle against that monster.
"PHOEBE!" Prue cried, sounding less than happy about her youngest sibling's behavior.
"Oh please! Like you weren't looking at it too," she said with a snort at the idea of her sister scolding her for something she herself was doing. "Besides it's been so long since you last went out with anyone, it's nice to see you aren't completely out of it."
To this Prue could only turn away and fume but it was enough to for her to believe that she had hit the mark right on the head with her statement. Not that she could blame her sister since this Superman wannabe definitely filled out his costume quite nicely and made her wonder what it'd be like to peel it off him. True, he looked to be a little young for her but she was willing to make a few allowances for someone with such fine muscles and charming good nature. Besides, he was legal and it was only a three or four year difference, so it wasn't like she was engaging in cradle robbing or anything. Now if Prue got any ideas about going after Superman, then that could easily be considered cradle robbing since the difference in age was closer to ten years. Still, the prim and proper Prue Halliwell would never think of doing such a thing since it would probably throw every moral bone of her body by doing that. Add to that the fact that Piper was seeing Leo and that Superman would be wide open to her advances.
Assuming, of course, he sticks around after this. She thought with a bit of concern as the possibility of him vanishing after all was said and done was a distinct possibility.
Oh well! She was sure that the Book of Shadows would be up to the job of tracking him down and then he would be the Superman to her Lois Lane!
The Battlefield of Prescott Street, Thirty Minutes Later, Xander's P.O.V
O-kay! I guess it was too much to hope that freezing him in a block of ice would stop him. Xander thought as he watched Warren shatter his icy cocoon.
It had been a good planning starting out, to wear down Doomsday with their other abilities first, but even with the others helping him it was taking a bit more work than he'd originally thought. So far he and Anya had used their vision powers on him and were now using their secondary abilities but they weren't having all that much effect. Judging by the sweat on Miss Martian's head, her efforts to telepathically assault the monster's mind was being met with some pretty nasty resistance. Fortunately, with both him and Wonder Girl providing cover, his ex was able to work without fear of getting a car thrown at her but they couldn't keep it up forever. Warren might not have been a tactical genius but even amateurs got lucky occasionally. With that in mind, he decided that the best move be could make would be to make sure the asshole never got the chance to think up a half-decent plan. Diving in with a sudden burst of speed, he immediately began to tear into the monster, trying to focus on scoring hits that would affect joints or break off the bone spikes sticking out of its skin. By doing this he would hopefully reduce the killing machine's lethal potential and make taking him down easier.
A punch to the gut followed by slamming his head into the street, though, reminded him that he was dealing with something on par, if not superior, to his own abilities.
Twisting and slamming an elbow into the arm that had a hold of his head, he managed to free himself and with a little application of both flight as well as super speed he was clear before Warren could re-establish his grip. Rising back into the air while Wonder Girl made her attack run, he hovered next to Anya, who looked to have given up trying to bring down the killer with telepathy. Either it was because Doomsday's mind had evolved to the point where it could completely block telepathy or simply because there was another magical barrier in place like the jewel that prevented sorcery from working on him. Whatever the reason, it meant that they'd just lost one more avenue of assault with this brute and that meant things were going to get one level more difficult.
"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way, Miss Martian," he said, watching the fight below as Dawn tried to use her golden lasso to tie Warren up. "Let's double team him!"
"Right, lover!" Anya said with a smile that implied she was thinking of something and that was never of the good.
Swooping down by her side, they attacked him from the front and side delivering thunderous blows intended to knock Doomsday into the other's attacks. Not only would this increase the damage done but it would also minimize the chances of the baddie being able to get away from them or mount a counterattack. It worked for a while, especially once Wonder Girl got into the mix, but with a clap of his hands powerful enough to send out shockwaves, they were all knocked back a dozen feet or so. It was a move he should have anticipated since it had been done more than once in DC comics, but it was water under the bridge now so he'd just have to move on.
"Hahahahahaha! This is the most fun I've had in years, Harris!" Warren chuckled, looking more laid back then he should, considering the situation. "But if that's the best you can throw at me then this is going to get boring real fast."
"Then how about you try me on for size bones for brains! HHAAAHH!" Came a voice that he had hoped he wouldn't hear until he called for her.
In a blur of red, grey, yellow and green the former Slayer turned Thanagarian introduced herself to the bone-ridden behemoth the best way she knew how: she swung her energized mace at him like she was trying to hit a home run and managed to take the behemoth clear off his feet. It didn't stop there, though, because, with a little momentum built up, Buffy obviously felt encouraged to continue attacking and so continued to wail on Mears with her energy mace. He knew it wouldn't last forever, though, and when he saw Warren about to slap her out of the way, he used his super speed to charge in and grab a hold of the arm before it could deliver a blow that could seriously injure his friend or worse. It wasn't exactly easy, he had to put all of his weight and even add the power of his flying ability to keep the arm immobile, but he managed to do it just the same. Anya took his lead and immediately moved to immobilize the other arm so as to make sure that not a single slap or punch would make contact with Buffy's body. On the winged wonder's side of things, it looked like a mace made of energized Nth metal was having a greater degree of effect than anything they'd tried to date. Did this mean that somehow Warren's new form was still somewhat magical in nature? It was possible, given how Nth metal possessed properties capable of disrupting magic. It had been enough to knock Solomon Grundy for a loop and do some pretty serious damage to a Felix Faust possessed suit of armor created by Hephestus himself. How long it would stay that way he didn't know because he seriously doubted that the fight was going to end this smoothly for them.
"ENOUGH!!" Bellowed Doomsday before, with a surge of strength from the brute, everyone was thrown hard enough to leave dents in whatever they landed on.
For him and Miss Martian it hadn't been so bad despite the bruises he knew he'd have later, but for Buffy it was worse as his eyes could see cracks in some of her bones as well as serious bruises forming. He could only hope that the healing factor that was a part of all Thanagarians would be up the task of helping her make a full recovery. She was out cold for the moment, lying still on the front lawn of one of the houses, but still breathing and, given enough time, she'd recover. For the time being, though, they'd have to do all they could to keep the monster away from her so as to keep the damage to her body from getting any worse.
Dawn, thankfully, was completely behind that way of thinking as she shot into place as a red and blue before attacking in a way that would make a Slayer look pathetic. With power and grace he had never seen in the youngest Summers girl before, she made it look as though she might be able to take down Warren all on her own. This made sense since brute strength and durability alone does not guarantee victory in a battle and, even before his transformation, Mears was a complete amateur when it came to fighting. Even the original Doomsday wasn't really all that great of a fighter when you got right down to it; the killing machine was more of a brawler than a skilled fighter but, with the power the creature possessed, that had been sufficient to make up for it. Warren Mears, though, wasn't a berserker monster with a body filled with endless rage with which to draw strength from. He was a punk kid who used dark magic to turn himself into a mountain of muscle without any real idea of how to use it effectively. That was the primary reason they had been so successful so far because he had no doubt that if Mears had actually undergone training to make it so that he was able to use the power of Doomsday to its fullest, they'd be dead now.
I suppose that's an unintended gift on the part of the Black Hats. He thought since it was a safe bet if they'd known about Warren's lack of skill, they'd have done something about it.
Charging Doomsday's position, he began to add his own strength to the fight but, instead of going for precision hits, he was going for power moves in order to cause maximum damage. A suplex here, a back breaker there and other moves that came from the Superman memories he got from the sphere as well as from the world of professional wrestling. As a result, Prescott street was looking more like a warzone that had been hit with several tons of TNT and that could easily be stretched to the entire city if containment of Doomsday failed. They were managing to keep him there because the jerk wanted to give his powers a test drive and fighting superheroes was the best way to do that. If, God forbid, Mears got tired of that, he'd leave and there was no guarantee that they'd be able to stop him from getting to a populated area. If that happened… he didn't even want to think of the damage and deaths that would happen as a result. The scenarios his mind was able to come up with involving that possibility was enough to get him to push his body even harder to bring down Warrensday.
Too bad it's not going quite as easily as I'd like. He thought as he took a blow to the jaw from the bone-spiked fist of his enemy.
Indeed while his high powered blows were doing better than his earlier surgical strikes, the behemoth showed no signs of going down for the count anytime soon. Bone fragments littered the ground and a bit of black blood could be seen trickling from the brute's mouth, but the former geek of Sunnydale high took no heed of this. He seemed both pissed at the trouble they were causing him and at the same time overjoyed at the fact that he was being pushed farther and farther by the combined efforts of him, Wonder Girl and Miss Martian. There was no fear in this Warren's heart, no concern that he might be killed in this fight, and this lack of fear was allowing him to fight without any hesitation whatsoever.
It also made him sloppy.
Without the threat to his life or any serious amount of pain, Warren had no reason to improve his technique or think strategically. The idiot was just swinging at whatever was closest at the time instead of waiting for the right moment or trying to lure his foes into a no win position. However, the Doomsday body his spirit was inside and had control over was proving extremely resistant to attacks making him wonder just who would give out first between the two sides of this fight. Would the new Justice League drop dead from exhaustion or would they succeed in their task of taking down Doomsday? It was anyone's guess whether the former would prove to be the truth or if the latter would come to pass.
Personally he'd bet every Twinkie he ever had or ever would eat that the light would triumph over the dark in this situation.
The alternative was too horrible to conceive of.
Ten Blocks Away, Outside of a Burning Building, Five Minutes Later, Giles' P.O.V
"Is this the last of them?" Giles asked with a voice that he'd learned was impossible to suppress no matter how much he wanted to speak like he usually did.
The voice he referred to, of course, was the deep, gravelly and foreboding voice that Bruce Wayne always used whenever he donned the cowl to fulfill the silent promise he'd made beside the still bodies of his parents. It was a past that was both tragic and, at the same time, made the orphaned rich boy such a fool in the eyes of the seasoned Watcher. He could understand how seeing ones parents die would induce such a fierce trauma that a young boy would devote the entirety of his life to combating the criminal element that took the two most precious people he had. However, to sacrifice so many of life's greatest joys to fulfill that vow was a mistake that he would not permit himself to repeat now that he had assumed the identity of Batman. If he wanted a night off from fighting against the darkness, he'd do just that. If at some point he chose to get married and settle down in a life that didn't include a costume, he would do so without regret. Nevertheless, such thoughts would have to wait until they dealt with Doomsday and arrived in whatever new dimension the Powers That Be chose to sweep them into. While he was no more pleased about leaving his home reality than any of the others, he had a better grasp of the situation in the mystical sense than they did and understood why the Generals of the Light required that they leave. The world as they knew it operated on a principle of balance between the forces of good and evil with neither side gaining the higher ground for long. By resurrecting Buffy they seriously disrupted the balance and gave evil an opening to add something to its side of the scale in order to even things out. While he would think that this Doomsday creature was something in the range of overkill, he understood that the counterweight wasn't proportional to the one-to-one measurement most people would think. Instead it measured the number of lives that Buffy would seriously affect now that she was alive again rather than dead as she once was after throwing herself from the tower built by Glory's minions. In that respect, the monster Mr. Mears turned himself into was quite fair, despite appearances being to the contrary.
Despite this, though, he couldn't help but feel as though there was something none of them were seeing. Call it Batman-induced paranoia or just six years of experience fighting against the darkness alongside his Slayer, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the Darkness was pulling a fast one on them somehow.
"Yes. The apartment building has been completely evacuated," replied Willow 'Zatanna' Rosenberg as she opened her eyes, completing her arcane search of the building. "Now all we have to do is put out the fire so the mess doesn't spread to the other structures. Fortunately I have just the spell for the job now."
Closing her eyes to center herself, it wasn't long before Willow was ready to cast whatever spell she had in mind. While he was suspicious of the 'gifts' that he and his charges had been given by the Powers That Be, if Willow's newfound powers were anything like his own, then he would give her the benefit of a doubt.
"Ldoulc taht rehtag, dniw taht swolb, tnarg su niar ot hsiugnitxe eseht semalf." Willow said before a cloud of sparkles drifted upwards into the sky from her wand.
When the sparkles reached a position high above the burning apartment building, they flowed towards a central point before the familiar signs of a rain cloud forming were perceivable. Larger and larger did the cloud become, growing in size in seconds, until finally rain began to fall onto the building below. At first it was merely a light trickle but, as the minutes ticked by, it soon became a torrential downpour that would have soaked Willow, Tara and him had they not been standing outside the range of the spell. Within the space of ten minutes the fire was completely out and, while the building would need significant repairs, it didn't look bad enough that tearing down the entire building would be necessary.
With this mess dealt with, the majority of the accidental damage caused by the battle the others were having with Doomsday but he had no doubt that there would be more fires for them to put out. He had no doubt that Xander, Dawn, Anya and Buffy were doing their best to bring the behemoth down but he had to wonder if there might be a clock they were racing against. Certainly the more time it took to bring down Warren, the more likely it was that people would get hurt or some sort of irreparable damage would be done to the city. Even with Anya occasionally sending them telepathic warnings of where a particularly large piece of debris was going to be thrown, he and his team were almost constantly on the move going from one location to the next. So far their efforts were sufficient to handle the major situations with the local P.D handling the rest as far as getting civilians out of the danger zone was concerned. There hadn't been any serious injuries that he'd personally seen nor heard the law enforcement officers speak of when they weren't aware of him eavesdropping. Part of him wanted to go to ground zero of the battle against Warren but both the Watcher and the Batman part of his mind told him that he'd only be a burden to Xander and the others. Bruce Wayne's training may have turned him into a man in both his physical and mental prime, he knew that would mean little in the face of the raw power of Doomsday. Physical blows from him would not even be registered. The tools that he had discovered in his utility belt, while a little better than his fists or feet, wouldn't leave so much as scratch the grey behemoth's skin. Lastly any of the many tools Wayne had constructed for dealing with foes with superhuman strength or durability were not available to him at the moment. While he supposed he could try to ram the Javelin down the boney bugger's throat, he had a feeling that that too would be a wasted effort.
He had to have faith that Xander and the others would be up to the task of defeating Doomsday.
"'Fraid we don't have that luxury anymore, Bats." Came a voice that had him reaching for his razor sharp batarangs that were contained in a compartment of his belt.
Turning in the direction of the voice, he found his initial guess about who the owner of the voice was proven to be accurate.
Whistler had returned.
"The higher ups got the same itch in the back of their brains as you did about this whole situation." Whistler said as he walked forward albeit carefully since he knew he was walking on eggshells, "Turns out changing Warren into Doomsday was only phase one of the First's plan. Damn! That overblown puff of smoke really thought this one through."
"Explain." He said with his best intimidating glare.
"As I told you before, the Black Hats chose to turn Warren into Doomsday to act as a counterweight to you guys bringing Summers back from the dead. They made sure that any attempt to summon a force strong enough to beat Doomsday would only give them another chance to put something new onto their side of the game board." Whistler stated as he looked away from the human's glaring at him, "The First Evil added a stipulation at the last minute: every spirit that winds up being destroyed by Doomsday officially becomes its property."
"So? Warren hasn't killed anyone yet so the First hasn't gotten any spirits." Willow said, sounding like she wasn't quite sure what was so important.
"You're only partially right." He said as he realized what Whistler was getting at with grim certainty, "While it's true that Doomsday hasn't taken any human spirits yet, there are other types of spirits that inhabit this world that would be affected by his destructive actions. Earth spirits, for one, would be disturbed and in some cases destroyed just by coming into contact with such an unnatural presence. Considering how long this fight has been going on…"
"So many spirits…!" Willow gasped as she realized just how serious the situation had become.
"Got it in one, Red. While there aren't as many nature spirits in a city like this as there would be in a forest, it's only a matter of time before the First gains some real power," Whistler said with a nod, confirming that the former Watcher's theory was the same as that supported by the Powers. "Originally the higher ups were planning on waiting until you guys finished kicking Doomsday's butt before shipping you all off to another dimension. Now they've decided that they'll have to settle for getting you all in one spot before pulling off the dimensional displacement, so you better hook up with your friends quick."
"Right! Get close to me, you two," Willow said as she closed her eyes once more to concentrate on preparations for a spell. "I'll get us there in a flash."
A bit leery of trusting Willow with what he believed she was about to attempt, he considered letting her and Tara go on ahead, allowing him to make it to Prescott street in a more conventional manner. In the end, though, he came to the conclusion that the current crisis required speed and hopping rooftops all the way to where the others were wasn't going to cut it. Thus, with his thoughts concealed beneath an impartial mask, he stepped forward until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Willow.
"Tropelet su ot erehw rou era gnithgif yadsmooD." Willow said and with a sharp swish of her wand all three disappeared in a flash of blue light.
Same Place, One Minute Later
"Man! The higher ups have really managed to drop the ball on this one." Whistler said as he watched the lingering effects of Willow's spell fade away, "Wouldn't be surprised if the Almighty decided to have a sit down with them after this. I wonder if I should take advantage of this and shoot for a chance at a promotion? The Power known as Whistler. I like the sound of that. I'd definitely do a better job that the schmucks currently ruling things."
A rumbling sound in the sky though let him know that it would be in his best interests not to continue that line of thought.
"Hmph! Fine. I wonder if peroxide boy is going to get there in time to catch his inter-dimensional flight." He said as he pulled out his cell phone and began to dial a number, "Better give him a call and make sure he isn't dragging his feet someplace. Heheheheheheh, that's a good one!"