Earth.

"What do we have to do?"

Josie turned towards Picard who was holding close a distraught Crusher who had just encountered an apparition of her dead husband, and then to Data who was using a tricorder to collect whatever he could on the phenomenon they had just witnessed. Josie then turned back towards Amara's face on the screen and bit her lower lip before turning her head back towards Picard.

"You need to get whoever you can get- and I mean anyone from the Federation Security Services to Starfleet personnel on Earth, here to Sunnydale," Amara said while Josie was gripping the handle of the Scythe tightly, "the Hellmouth is right under Sunnydale, and its full of every single nightmare you can imagine. Get your people here, and… and Captain?" Amara stared at Captain Picard, her eyes locking with his, "I'm going to repeat myself. These things are not coming to trade or have diplomatic discussions with us. They want the planet and they will kill everyone, humans and aliens."

Josie turned her back towards Picard and the others so that she could close the case that once contained the Scythe and said, "set your phasers to kill. Tell everyone to set phasers to kill." She could sense that Picard was about to say something, as was Data, so she turned around again while her eyes shifted towards Crusher who continued to stare at the spot where the First Evil appeared, tears still trickling down her cheeks. Josie then turned her eyes towards Picard and said, "they will be looking to kill. So, don't give them any quarter."

"This is the Apocalypse, Captain Picard," Amara said before her lips pressed together, "I never hoped that Josie would have to go through this."

Josie turned back towards Amara and a chill went up her spine when she said, "this is what Slayers have done all this time, right? Make sure that the world keeps on spinning?"

"Josie, this is the apocalypse," Amara repeated in a louder voice as several voices in the background yelled out. Josie saw Amara looking over to the side, her lips were moving, before facing the screen once again, "the skies here have started to become red. We're sending a team to where the crack in the seal first occurred."

"Open the portal," Josie said, her fingers tightening around the shaft of the scythe while Picard looked over at Data as the doctor stepped back from the Captain and turned towards Josie. She asked what would happen next, and what had to be done.

Crusher took a deep breath before adding, "I'm still not sure about… all this… but I just saw my dead husband. So… there's that." Josie looked over at Crusher and then nodded her head. She then turned to Picard and asked if he could call in for help, and if possible prepare an evacuation of the city.

"At least the area around the dig site," Josie said

Picard nodded his head at Josie before he pressed down on his badge and let go of Crusher. As Picard walked towards Data, Josie turned back towards Amara and told her that she was ready, "activate the portal, Miss Amara. Get me to the breach."

Amara nodded her head before the screen turned off on its own. Josie then turned to Crusher who was looking back at her, "the evil that we believe are nightmares, Doc? Well, they're real. And they've come to take back what is theirs."

"The First Evil takes on the form and memories of anyone who died," Josie added as the air behind her… in the space between the couch and the screen… rippled out from a central point mid-air. Crusher stared at the portal tearing open behind Josie, all the while Picard had just finished ordering several Rapid Response Units from Starfleet Command to mobilize for Sunnydale while he stared at the blue hued portal with eyes wide open in shock. As for Data, he walked towards the portal while scanning the breach with his tricorder. Josie nodded at Picard before she strode around the couch and stood next to Data while she stared at the blue hue of the portal.

Looking over her shoulder, Josie fixed her eyes on the Captain and whispered, "good luck, Captain. Doctor. Everything's going to be alright."

Picard nodded his head before Josie jumped through the portal. It was then that Data looked back at Picard, the latter then nodded his head indicating for the android to follow Josie through. And that's what Data did just before the portal closed. Now, there was only Picard and Crusher left in the room.

"Captain?" crusher asked turning towards the bald man.

"Let us head to Starfleet Command, I need to brief the Rapid Response commanders and the Admirals about what's happening," he replied placing a hand on the doctor's shoulder, "I have no idea what they will say or do since this was a very… unique experience."

"You don't say," Crusher whispered looking back over her shoulder to where her 'husband' was standing before vanishing, "but if what Josie said was true then..." She then turned her head back towards Picard, "we need to convince them."

Picard nodded his head and then pressed the badge on his shirt and contacted Starfleet Command in San Francisco, "two to beam out to Starfleet Headquarters." Once he made that order, he took in a deep breath while trying to contemplate every single thing they were told by both Josie and Amara; that they were now in the battle for the planet itself – to keep it away from the hands of forces that were supposed to be supernatural in nature. A second later, there was a high pitched while as the two of them were beamed out of Josie's apartment.

'If Miss Charney is correct, then we are facing something that could very well eclipse the Third World War,' Picard thought as he and Crusher rematerialized at Starfleet Command.

Sunnydale High.

Principal Valar was still unsure of the need for a Homecoming Dance as he sat behind his desk looking over the latest budget for the upcoming school year. The Vulcan principal believed it served no purpose except to allow the students an outlet for the release of frustrations built up slowly over the school term. Some of the human teachers explained the need for such an outlet, and the significance behind Homecoming when he first joined Sunnydale High thirteen years ago. But he still had his reservations about the dance even though his human wife would tease that if it wasn't for the Homecoming Dance ten years ago, they would never have met.

Valar's blinds were closed and his office glowed a dim orange from the gently burning Vulcan relaxation candles all around him. With his wife visiting the in-laws, something he was glad not to be doing that very day, Valar decided to stay in the office the whole day to finish up any work before doing some meditation techniques after completing his duties.

Thanks to the screened dark tinted windows, he was unable to see the sky turning red in colour. However, after a few seconds after the red clouds covered the while of Sunnydale, his eyes went wide open before he looked up from the report on his desk to looking around his office for a presence that he felt had just rushed past outside his door. The orange glow of the candles against the walls, usually very calming, suddenly had an oppressive feeling about them. He felt something off in the atmosphere before he thought to himself that it must have been just his imagination. He straightened his back and then looked back down at the report on his PADD. But he still couldn't concentrate, there was a feeling that he was being watched… looking around at the computer to his left, he searched the school cameras for anything unusual, but he couldn't find anything.

"Computer," Valar spoke in a steady voice while his eyes moved from watching a small part of the screen to another, "search any unusual activities around the school compound."

"Searching," the female voice of the Computer said. And a few seconds later it concluded its scans by stating, "no unusual activities detected."

However, the Computer's reassurance still hadn't alleviated the feeling of being watched. Valar took in a deep breath before he stood up from his chair, 'perhaps a meditation session would useful.' He walked around his table and then walked to the closed-door shelf to the left. He opened the door, took out a mat, and then lay the mat on the floor. The man then sat down on the mat with the fingers on his hands pressed together into a steeple shape as he controlled his breathing – in and out, in and out, in and out.

But no matter how much he tried to concentrate, Valar couldn't help but feel a presence nearby… one that he could not see. However, he continued telling himself that there was a logical explanation for the sensation of being watched, but nothing came to mind – especially since he felt the ground trembling. He snapped his eyes open and looked around. Everything was in place, nothing in his office was shaking – which may be a sure sign of an earthquake. But, he still felt the ground trembling.

And then he started feeling wetness on his forehead. He rubbed his fingers across his forehead and then brought his fingers towards his eyes, 'this is sweat." Valar felt as if there was something pressing down on his as he slowly got up to his feet and slowly spun around. His mind was closed to any outside mental attack, his senses were reaching out for anything unusual, while his emotions remained impassive. However, he started feeling something in his gut, an emotion that he could not describe as he called out in a whisper, "is anyone here?"

His heart was racing, his mouth was dry, his breathing was erratic, his palms were sweating. The man was feeling fear, but he didn't know it. And the trembling on the floor was now worse than before.

"Who is there?" he asked spinning around a hundred and eighty degrees when he sensed a presence behind him. Turning around sharply, he found there was no-one standing behind him. He was staring at the door to his office. And then, suddenly, the trembling become much more violent as his office… no… the school itself started to shake. His awards on the wall, the certificates of recognition – all fell to the floor, the glass shattering as he stumbled towards the door while yelling out, "computer, what is happening?"

"Warning," the computer spit out before the voice started to trail off, "warning. Basement…."

The computer cut out just before there was a loud bang, and the building shook as Valar stumbled towards the door to his office. Just as he reached the metallic door, the lights went out. All the lights. Then, all of a sudden, even the candles in his office were snuffed out by a breeze.

'The emergency power generators, they should have activated by now,' Valar thought to himself, 'even they were… what happened? An explosion? Did whatever happen cause the emergency generators in the basement to be deactivated?' With the door now effectively closed and unable to be opened without power, Valar strode towards the manual override behind a panel to the left. Dropping the panel to the floor with a 'Klang', Valar reached into the recess and gripped the lever when suddenly he heard breathing behind him.

Valar felt his heart stop as his body stiffened; and he felt that same emotion again. The one he couldn't describe. His logical brain was telling him that he was alone in the room, and that the breathing he was hearing was simply his mind playing tricks on him due to his isolation from the other students. But there was another part of him that didn't want to move, a part that was…

'Fear,' Valar realized the emotion he was feeling, 'I am afraid… I…'

And suddenly the breathing was gone. But the oppressive atmosphere still remained. The Vulcan closed his eyes, said a quiet prayer, and then breathed in and out to get a hold of his primal emotions. He needed to be calm for his students.

In the meantime, while Valar pulling the lever that would release the magnetic clamps from the door to his office, there were still a few students in the gymnasium who were setting up the area for the dance. With the large bang and then the resulting jolt throughout the building, several students were on the ground while several more were holding onto anything that was bolted down as the ground violently shook. As decorations fell off the ceiling, a few teachers acting as supervisors were calming everyone down while they verbally spelled out the proper evacuation procedures in case of an Earthquake.

However, everything went to hell when the lights turned off – with several screams of surprise from both guys and girls. After the violent trembling stopped, students and teachers with PADD's in their hands got up to their feet and switched them on to provide some light.

"Is everyone alright?" one of the teachers yelled out as one PADD after another turned on until there were about fifty lights from different areas of the large gymnasium.

"I think so," a female, a fifteen year old Bajoran, answered while rubbing the back of her head.

Another female voice then asked, "the emergency power generators must be damaged."

"You think?" a male voice answered sarcastically.

"Does… does anyone not feel that?" another male voice asked from a corner of the room, "does anyone not feel…"

"Komar," one of the teachers asked as she trained the light from her PADD onto the distant form of the Vulcan student who was cowering in the corner as he lay on the floor, "Komar, are you alright?" The teacher rushed to the boy who was staring back at her while his body was trembling.

"I… I… feel…" another male student, a Betazoid, said as held both sides of his head in his hand, "I… no! Something's coming! Something is coming!" Another Betazoid student started to become hysterical, and then another, and then another Vulcan student. All those with mental abilities started to become hysterical in the school where even Valar was now cowering in fear just outside his office. It was the same all over the world as a sense of fear began permeating through the population, both humans and aliens with certain mental and empathic abilities.

While hysteria was breaking out all over the words, deep beneath Sunnydale High, there was a room with the door blasted out of its hinges. Bodies lay scattered along the walls and on what remained of the linoleum floor– all of the humans and aliens dead. They were the technicians inspecting the powerplants beneath the school when there was a massive explosion from the middle of the room that blasted out dirt, rocks, and concrete. The explosion damaged the powerplants, resulting in all power to the school being shut off.

As the kicked up debris started to fall back down to the bloodied ground, a metallic manhole-like cover, with a goats head etched on it, started to glow. The areas around the cover rumbled and shook as the fallen dirt sifted around before everything stopped moving and the glow was gone. Blood from the dead technicians flowed over the dirt and debris as if being pulled by an invisible force. The blood collected on the metallic cover filing up the grooves and etched ancient symbols. The blood was then absorbed into the cover before there was a 'click' sound. The cover started to open- a quarter sinking down, and then another quarter, and then another, and then another. Now a darkened spiral staircase of rock and stone was revealed to the world.

The room now shook, and not from an earthquake. The rumbling sound came from thousands of bodies in the deepest depths of the Hellmouth rushing towards the second newly opened seal. A minute later, pale hands with razor sharp claws reached out of the open cover. And then there were snarling sounds coming from the opening accompanied by deep roars.

The Hellmouth was now truly, and surely, opened.

Voyager, Orbit of Earth.

"Tuvok, report," Janeway said turning away from the screen in front of her as the red clouds covered nearly eighty percent of the planet, "any news on what this phenomenon is?"

"There are no signals from Earth, Captain," Tuvok shook his head looking up at the Captain heading to his station, "subspace or otherwise. But I have accessed all weather data from the orbital weather platforms and they have reported no unusual atmospheric patterns."

Chakotay overhead what Tuvok said while staring out at the rolling red clouds covering their line of sight before asking, "so what's causing this?" He felt a chill going up and down his spine as flashes of light within the clouds flared up every so often before there were arches of black and blue lightning. "did anyone see that?"

Tuvok looked out at the screen while Janeway turned back towards the view of earth as more arches of lighting seemed to crawl along sections of cloud cover before vanishing.

"I just saw that," Kim said before shuddering, "and I kind of feel as if I'm…"

"Captain," Tuvok interjected as he looked at his hands, "I… this is something unusual." Janeway turned away from the screen as Chakotay too walked towards the Vulcan's station, "I am having a strange sensation going through my body. It is as if I am…" He saw, out of the corner of his eyes, Janeway looking at his trembling hands and then back up at him in surprise at the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Tuvok, you're sweating," Janeway said as Chakotay stopped next to the Captain and looked on in worry, "what are you feeling?"

"I… it is as if I am feeling… fear?" Tuvok then looked up towards Janeway, "I can only describe this feeling as… as fear." Tuvok saw the looks of concern shared between Chakotay and Janeway, and then back at Tuvok who whispered as his hands trembled, "I… I believe I am afraid."

"Captain," Kim cried out from his station, "I'm reading an unknown type of subspace radiation…" he then looked up from the main screen at his station and locked eyes with Janeway, "it's the same radiation signature from Hyperspace. I think it's a Pegasus Alliance vessel."

And just after Kim said that, a blue hued tear opened near the moon and out shot the Resolute, which then began hailing all ships in orbit.

"This is Colonel Keith Edison of the Pegasus Alliance vessel Resolute," Janeway and the others listened in to the open hail, "I need to speak to whoever is in charge."

Janeway and the others listened knowing that it would be Picard on the Enterprise who would automatically be the one in charge when there was no other flag officer present. And given that they couldn't contact Starfleet Command, where the Admirals were at this very moment and with Picard on Earth, this posed an issue that was quickly settled.

"This is Commander William Riker, First Officer of the USS Enterprise," came the reply.

"Commander," Colonel Edison spoke while Anika, Captain Heller, and Major Witting's stared out the forward screen on the Resolute as the various Starfleet ships began taking defensive positions around the newcomer, "permission for our representatives to beam on-board your ship."

"Of course," Riker nodded his head, even though the message was only coming through audio, "we'll be sending you the coordinates to our transporter room."

"Thank you," the Colonel replied and added, "trust me when I say there's a lot to talk about."

And just before the Colonel finished what he was about to say, a female voice yelled out, "Colonel!"

Resolute.

Colonel Edison turned on his chair towards the dirty-blonde haired woman walking into the bridge with three other girls by her side. It was just after Anika and the others were beamed back onto the Resolute from Ocampa, that the Midway Station recommended a stopover to collect a few more personnel who could ascertain exactly what was happening on Earth. Once the Resolute collected her and her companions, the ship headed for Earth from the Nox homeworld of Gaia.

"Miss Maclay?"

"We have a problem," Tara, the Supreme Witch of the Pegasus Alliance, was fearful as she watched what was happening to Earth through the massive forward window, "the Hellmouth really is open and…" Tara stepped back as her eyes opened wide, a gasp escaping her lips, while the apprentice witches who were being trained by her on Gaia trembled in fear. "By the goddess," she whispered looking back at the Colonel while Anika stared at Tara with confusion etched on her face, "it's happening." Tara then looked back over at the Colonel and asked, "does this ship have any Slayers on board?"

"No," the Colonel said, "we weren't planning to head for Earth, so…"

"It's too late," Tara whispered as she stared back out the window as a feeling of dread enveloped her, "they're coming out. All of them." As Tara spoke, all forms of monsters and demons, led by the fearsome Turok-han vampires, poured out of the open hole in the basement of the school. The walls reverberated with snarls and hisses as the demons rushed out of the room to an unsuspecting Sunnydale.

TBC.