Chapter Nine
The Sunnydale Swim and Sports Center looked like a sorrow shell of what it had once been; Willow remembered well what the center had looked like before it closed, she had gone to the center before when she was little. Now, it looked like it was built by 'crazy people'. There was dust all over and the lights were burned out so it was hard to see.
"Where is this guy, Spike?" Xander asked, holding up his pick-axe and running his fingers along the stem.
As if answering his question, a large shadowy thing appeared in front of the Scooby Gang. Anya drew back behind Xander, poking with the bolt in her crossbow. "What the hell is that?" Anya asked.
Spike walked away from the Scooby Gang and toward the figure. "This, my friends, is Chaos itself." Spike said, as though he was reading off a cue card.
Buffy had never seen anything like it; it seemed to be made of faces and shadows. Its body was ever-changing, a new face appeared and then disappeared and was replaced by another face.
"Yes, I am Chaos itself; I will unleash Hell on Earth." Chaos said.
"Like we haven't heard that before." Darry muttered, running her finger along the bolt of her own crossbow.
Chaos turned to face Darry, surprised by her fearlessness. However, he didn't let it show for long. "Now, wonderful Miss. Summers and friends, welcome too...forgive me for being cliche but...to my house of horrors. I won't keep you waiting, so let the games begin." Chaos said and lifted his bony hands.
There was a bright flash of light and Buffy felt as though she was lifted from where she stood and dropped somewhere without even leaving the floor.
When the light disappeared, Buffy looked around and it looked like she was in a large room; there was a pool behind her that looked like it was filled with mud.
She noticed that Darry and Oz were standing in the room as well but the others were no where to be seen. Chaos appeared in the room as well but Spike was not with him; Spike couldn't get over how the vampire had tricked them into coming here. However, if Chaos and Spike were looking for a fight they were sure going to get it from one pissed off Slayer.
Chaos floated over to them and looked at the Slayer, then at Oz and Darry. "Well, looks like you two are going to join your friend for what will be the last fight of your life. Not that it will even be a fight." Chaos said, looking at Oz and Darry.
Darry didn't seem to falter but Buffy could tell that Oz was slightly shaken by his words. "Well, let's get it over with then." Darry said and put down her crossbow, figuring out that it was useless.
Chaos seemed pleased by her words. "Yes." He agreed and then studied her. "I know you, or I used to; your soul used to reside within me, forced to wander the Ghost Roads. Oh yes, its too bad you are still not dead because your damned soul had great energy within it." Chaos said, a smile stretching across his face, which wasn't really a face.
Darry raised the crossbow and fired, shaking as she did so; the bolt went right through Chaos, who seemed unfazed. Darry took a step back, right into Oz, who wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.
Chaos laughed, shaking the walls of the building. "I guess I don't have to worry because your soul will soon return to me, werewolf, and you will not escape this time." Chaos promised.
Xander lifted his head and blinked his eyes before realizing that it was too dark to see anything. He looked around and made out another shape beside him; he reached out to touch it, not sure if it was something he wanted to do. His shaking hand reached out and touched the shoulder a human being for he felt the skin against his fingers.
The form beside him suddenly jerked, causing Xander to pull his hand back and nearly fall back onto the ground, for he was propped up on his other arm. The from beside him moved, he could tell because he saw the shadows move and change. "Hello?" The voice said, shaking but recognizable.
"Dawn? Dawn, it's okay." Xander said, sitting up straight and crossing his legs underneath him.
"Xander? Where are we?" Dawn asked, her voice getting slightly louder so Xander guessed her had turned to face him.
"I don't really know, Dawn, but don't worry we'll find the way out." Xander answered.
"In the dark?" Dawn asked, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped when a soft sound reached her ears. She knew that Xander could hear it too because he shuffled in the dark. "What was that?" Dawn asked.
The sound became louder, and it was clear that it was a growling noise that they heard. Dawn inched closer to Xander. "What is it?" Dawn whispered, dreading the answer.
When Willow opened her eyes, or awoke she didn't know what, she saw that she was in the exercise room, resting on one of the machines. A little light shown from broken light bulbs on the ceiling; Willow looked around and saw Anya resting on the floor near one of the treadmills.
Willow sat up and rubbed her eyes, feeling the sting of sleep. "Anya." She said, looking down at the ex-demon, who appeared to be asleep.
However, at the sound of her name, Anya jerked up, looking scared and surprised. "Xander?" Anya asked, looking around.
Willow looked at her. "No, just me, I don't know where Xander is. I don't know where are." Willow asked.
Anya sat up and looked at the redhead. "What happened? Why are we here?" Anya asked.
Willow shrugged. However, before either was able to say another word, a large bat/bird like creature swooped down, as though from the wall, and dug his talons into Willow's shoulders, trying to pick her up.
Both Willow and Anya began to scream and Willow beat at the bird as blood ran down her arms. Anya stood up and grabbed the bird away from Willow, getting a talon slashed upon her cheek.
The bird fell away from Anya and hovered at the ceiling, looking down at Willow and Anya. Willow knew that they had to find something to defend themselves with, before the bird decided to attack again.
Kellie reached beside her to grab her weapon, which was a dagger, or any weapon near her. Spike was on the otherside of a room that Kellie guessed was like a steam room, also looking for a weapon. She grabbed the hilt of her dagger and held it in front of her; when she was younger, her father had showed her how to fence so she got the general idea of how to sword fight.
Spike also grabbed his weapon, which was a sword which Buffy had decided to give to him; Kellie was afraid to admit that she didn't really stand a chance against Spike's sword. However, she didn't really want to fight him at all because he was, after all, her boyfriend and she loved him. She knew he loved her but that shadow-guy had put a spell on him, so he couldn't tell that he did love her. But she knew he did.
Chaos blocked Buffy's attack easily, as though she had never jumped at him. Buffy fell to the floor and Chaos glided past her, toward the swimming pool.
"Rise up, Kraken, for your day has come; rise up and feast and rid the world of the Slayer and her friends." Chaos commanded.
Water rose from the pool, as though pull by strings but Darry could see that it was something under the water that was causing it to move. Buffy quickly rose to her feet right as a large sea monster like creature rose from the water.
Water dripped from its snake like body, as well as from itself teeth, nostrils and head. The creature let out an earsplitting roar as it trashed, spilling water everywhere.
Buffy jumped back as water splashed over the edges of the pool; the Kraken lashed its tail around and jerked its body as well.
Darry and Oz tried to back away from the pool but the Kraken whipped its tail toward them and knocked Darry off her feet. Oz tried to make a grab for her but Darry was knocked into the pool. Darry and the Kraken both disappeared under the dirty water.
The growling continued and to Xander it sounded like it was getting closer; Dawn clung to his side, he could feel her rapid heart beat. There was a louder growling noise and three sets of two red eyes appeared in the darkness; Dawn looked up and then buried her head in Xander's arm, afraid of what was in the dark.
Suddenly, lights came on with no warning and Xander could see they were in a room where you could play racquet ball. The floor was shinning under them and a net separated the court in two halves.
Standing on the other side of the net was a three headed dog that Xander was sure he had seen before, somewhere, perhaps in a book. It looked like a normal dog, except for the heads; the dog would exactly be beautiful, for its coat was shiny and sleek and its paws were perfectly formed. The only reason why it wasn't beautiful was because instead of a tail it had three snakes, coming from its rear end, where a tail would be. The snakes jerked around and hissed and snapped at each other but the dog didn't seem to mind.
The dog's left head lowered and growled at Xander and Dawn; the middle head raised and looked up at the sky as though it was bored; the right head looked behind it and looked at the snakes.
Dawn moved back a little, as though she was trying to get away. As the sound of her body against the shiny floor, all three heads jerked to face her, growling and bearing their teeth. Xander saw that blood, instead of saliva, dripped from its teeth.
Willow picked up a barbell and nearly dropped it, do to the weight; the bird flew at them and Willow managed to lift the barbell and swing it at the bird. The bird flew out of the way and Willow fell to the ground, her hand getting crushed under the barbell. She yelled in pain and tried to pull her hand out from under the weights but found she couldn't.
The bird flew at Anya; the ex-demon had a tennis racket in her hand and swing at the bird. She hit the bird and it knocked into a weight-lifting machine. Anya ran forward and grabbed the stunned bird; she stuck it by the weights and pulled the string. About forty pounds of weights dropped and landed on the bird with a sickening crunch; blood dripped from the weights and Anya grimaced.
She turned to Willow and helped lift the barbell off her hand; Willow stood up and cradled her hand. "Let's get out of here." She said, holding back the tears and gritting her teeth against the pain.
Spike swung his sword and cut Kellie across the arm. As hard as she tried, she couldn't bring herself to swing her dagger at Spike, not that it would do any good.
The only thing she could do was hope that Buffy figured out something to do before it was too late.
Buffy ran to Oz's side as soon as Darry fell into the water; the Kraken ducked its body under the water as well.
"Darry!" Oz yelled and dropped to his knees beside the edge of the pool. Half-way to the middle of the pool, Darry appeared, breaking through the water and gasping for breath. She disappeared under the water again and that was when Oz remembered that she had told him that she couldn't swim.
The Kraken appeared again, swinging its tail and causing the water to churn like a whirlpool. Darry appeared again and floundered around; the Kraken roared and turned its had to face Darry.
Darry disappeared under the water again and the Kraken with her, still churning the water.
Before Buffy could stop him, Oz jumped into the pool, in hopes of saving Darry. Buffy would have jumped in after him but Chaos was behind her and jerked her away from the edge pool. Buffy was thrown into a wall and was stunned for a few seconds; when she looked up, Chaos was standing in front of her.
The three-headed dog lunged at Dawn and Xander as they jumped to their feet. The dog's heads each snapped for them; the middle head grabbed a part of Dawn's skirt and ripped it. Dawn fell to the ground as well; Xander quickly picked her up, putting her behind him, trying to shield her. He knew, however, that if this dog wanted them then he was going to have them.
The dog's right head snapped forward and grabbed Xander's ankle; he fell to the ground and Dawn jerked backward, running quickly toward the glass door. She grabbed the door handle and yanked but the door was locked. However, Dawn had an idea.
She turned back to face the three-headed dog with snakes for tails and took her shoe off, throwing it at the dog. All three heads and all three snakes turned to look at her, all looking angry.
"Come here fido." Dawn said, making 'come here' motions with her hands. The three-headed dog leapt for her, its claws ripping at the shiny floor as it charged at her.
As the dog jumped at her, Dawn jumped out of the way, falling to the floor. The dog, unable to stop itself, crashed through the glass doors. It landed, amidst the glass, stunned; the dog lay there, covered with a dozen tiny scratches.
Xander looked over at Dawn, who was standing up. "Nice work." He muttered. Dawn offered him a hand and he took it, standing up slowly and looking down at his chewed ankle.
"So what do we do now?" Dawn asked.
Xander shrugged but then he had an idea, he turned to Dawn with a smile on his face.
Oz opened his eyes and found that it wasn't much better then having them closed. It was almost impossible to see his own hands in the water, let alone a foot in front of him.
The water moved beside him and he looked, seeing what he believed was the Kraken's tail. He swam toward the surface, deciding to get his bearings. He looked around, Buffy was fighting with Chaos, who was kicking her butt, to say the least. He could see the top of the Kraken, moving above the water but he couldn't see Darry anyway.
He took another breath and drove under the water again; it was still no better then before but at least he was getting used to the murkiness. In front of him, he could barely see the shape of something that he knew was not the Kraken.
He swam toward it and as he got closer, saw that it was indeed Darry. He grabbed her and swam toward the surface, as fast as he could.
When Oz broke the surface he saw that he was near the edge of the pool; when he got to the edge to gently eased Darry out of the water and then climbed out himself.
He knelt by Darry's wet body and tried to see if she was breathing. As soon as he knelt beside her, she coughed and began to spit up water. She looked up at him with dazed eyes; she sat up and then fell into his arms, holding him tightly.
He broke the embrace and looked down at her. Darry looked up at him with a slight smile on her lips. "I really hate the water now." Darry muttered.
Xander took his belt off and tied it around the dog's middle neck. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dawn asked.
Xander nodded. "This thing belongs to that Chaos guy right? So, it'll lead us to it and Buffy probably." Xander answered, making sure the belt was tight.
The dog awoke, shaking its heads; when it saw that it was tied it, it went crazy, bucking and barking and roaring and jerking around.
Then the dog took off running down the hallway, dragging Xander along with him; Dawn hurried after them, wondering if Xander was right.
Willow and Anya hurried down a hallway, aware that there were sounds coming from in front of them; sounds of running and yelling and, as hard as it was to believe, barking. However, Anya and Willow continued down the hallway, in the direction where they were going.
In front of them, Willow saw what looked like a huge three-headed dog. As they got closer, she saw that it was a three-headed dog; it was leading Xander on what looked like a belt and Dawn was following close behind.
Anya lit up when she saw Xander in front of them; the dog came to a halt and growled at Willow and Anya. Xander stopped and Dawn crashed into him.
"What's that?" Willow asked, looking down at the dog.
"This thing is going to lead us to the Chaos guy and hopefully Buffy." Xander said.
Anya looked behind them, in the direction the dog was headed. "Well, he's not that way we just came that way." Anya muttered.
When she and Willow looked back they saw that the hallway was different, changed since they had ran down it.
"That's weird." Willow muttered. The dog took off running again, down the changed hallway. Xander ran along after it, followed by Dawn, Willow and Anya. Xander only hoped that the dog would indeed lead them to the Chaos guy.
Chaos grabbed Buffy's arm and twisted it, not only blocking her attack but cracking the bone as well. Buffy bit her lip to keep from crying out and hit Chaos with her other hand. Instead of going right through him, as she had thought would happen, her fist connected with his head like a normal human head. Chaos staggered backward, surprised by Buffy's ablitly to hit him.
Chaos raised his hand to do another spell but was surprised when something hit him in the side, knocking him to the ground, away from Buffy. Chaos looked to see what it was and saw a very upset Darry, holding him to the ground.
"I don't acrpicate being almost drowned and eaten by a sea monster. I also don't apricate you trying to kill my friend." Darry told him, calmly as though she was talking to a normal person.
Chaos was surprised and became even more suprised when Oz came up and hit him in the 'face' with a boogeyboard.
Darry stood up and turned to Buffy. "He's all yours." She said, motioning to the Chaos demon.
Suddenly, the door to the room brust open and a three-headed dog ran in, howling and roaring. Everyone, including Chaos, turned to face the door; Buffy saw Xander being pulled after the dog and Dawn, Willow and Anya following him.
"What the..." Buffy muttered, surprised by the four (not including the dog) suddenly showing up. She was, however, happy that her friends were okay.
The dog pulled free of Xander and ran forward; for a second, Buffy thought the dog was going to attack Chaos but it charged past them and dove into the swimming pool. The dog began to attack the Kraken with all three heads.
"Well, at least I don't have to go fishing later." Buffy muttered and then turned back to Chaos, who was surprised by the attacking animals.
In the room, Kellie had finally given up standing and had decided to fight. She managed to knock Spike's sword away and get it for her own; she pressed it against Spike's throat as she held him pinned against the wall.
"Go ahead, kill me, you have the chance." Spike said, looking up at her.
Kellie hesiated.
Buffy kicked Chaos, driving him backward. Behind her, in the pool, the battle between Kraken and Fido raged on. To Dawn it looked like the dog was winning as it tore into the Kraken's head, spilling blood.
Buffy kicked Chaos again and then got the idea to throw him in the pool; perhaps the Kraken would attack him or he would drown. It was worth a try since All she was doing at the moment was keeping him busy. She turned around and came up behind Chaos; he turned around surprised but Buffy kicked him, standing him staggering toward the pool.
Xander caught onto what Buffy was trying to do; the Chaos guy did as well and began to block her kicks and move away from the pool. Xander knew that all Buffy needed was someone to distract Chaos until she could get him into the pool.
Xander picked up the boogeyboard that Oz had hit Chaos with eariler and threw it at the shadow. Chaos turned to look at him when the board hit him in the head.
Perfect. Buffy kicked Chaos square in the 'stomach' and sent him into the pool. As soon as their 'master' hit the water, the Kraken and dog stopped fighting and dove into the water after him.
Buffy knew that Chaos was dead when there was a bright flash of light and the Kraken and three-headed dog disappeared.
Just as Kellie raised to the sword, Spike fell forward slightly, as though he was in pain. "Spike?" Kellie said, dropping the sword. Spike also dropped his dagger and then looked up at Kellie.
"Kellie..." Spike said, remembering everything that had happened before, with the Chaos guy and everything he said. "Oh, I'm sorry." He whispered.
Kellie dropped to his knees in front of him and lifted his head, kissing him. There was a spark and Kellie laughed and drew away from him.
"Well, I guess this means sparks are flying." She laughed.
Spike was surprised. "You're not mad at me?" Spike asked. "For everything?" He added.
"I forgive you; I know it wasn't you." Kellie said with a smile. "Let's go find the others. And get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps." She added.
Later, after everyone returned to the Summers house, they tried to fall into the normal nightly 'thing'. Darry leaned back on the couch, her wet hair falling over her shoulders. "Well, looks like everything is back to normal." She muttered and then rested her head on Buffy's shoulder.
Then she looked over to her cousin, who was sitting at the far end of the couch making out with Spike. "Yep, it's like nothing ever happened." Darry added.
Buffy nodded but couldn't help but think of how long it would be to their next battle.
The Sunnydale Swim and Sports Center looked like a sorrow shell of what it had once been; Willow remembered well what the center had looked like before it closed, she had gone to the center before when she was little. Now, it looked like it was built by 'crazy people'. There was dust all over and the lights were burned out so it was hard to see.
"Where is this guy, Spike?" Xander asked, holding up his pick-axe and running his fingers along the stem.
As if answering his question, a large shadowy thing appeared in front of the Scooby Gang. Anya drew back behind Xander, poking with the bolt in her crossbow. "What the hell is that?" Anya asked.
Spike walked away from the Scooby Gang and toward the figure. "This, my friends, is Chaos itself." Spike said, as though he was reading off a cue card.
Buffy had never seen anything like it; it seemed to be made of faces and shadows. Its body was ever-changing, a new face appeared and then disappeared and was replaced by another face.
"Yes, I am Chaos itself; I will unleash Hell on Earth." Chaos said.
"Like we haven't heard that before." Darry muttered, running her finger along the bolt of her own crossbow.
Chaos turned to face Darry, surprised by her fearlessness. However, he didn't let it show for long. "Now, wonderful Miss. Summers and friends, welcome too...forgive me for being cliche but...to my house of horrors. I won't keep you waiting, so let the games begin." Chaos said and lifted his bony hands.
There was a bright flash of light and Buffy felt as though she was lifted from where she stood and dropped somewhere without even leaving the floor.
When the light disappeared, Buffy looked around and it looked like she was in a large room; there was a pool behind her that looked like it was filled with mud.
She noticed that Darry and Oz were standing in the room as well but the others were no where to be seen. Chaos appeared in the room as well but Spike was not with him; Spike couldn't get over how the vampire had tricked them into coming here. However, if Chaos and Spike were looking for a fight they were sure going to get it from one pissed off Slayer.
Chaos floated over to them and looked at the Slayer, then at Oz and Darry. "Well, looks like you two are going to join your friend for what will be the last fight of your life. Not that it will even be a fight." Chaos said, looking at Oz and Darry.
Darry didn't seem to falter but Buffy could tell that Oz was slightly shaken by his words. "Well, let's get it over with then." Darry said and put down her crossbow, figuring out that it was useless.
Chaos seemed pleased by her words. "Yes." He agreed and then studied her. "I know you, or I used to; your soul used to reside within me, forced to wander the Ghost Roads. Oh yes, its too bad you are still not dead because your damned soul had great energy within it." Chaos said, a smile stretching across his face, which wasn't really a face.
Darry raised the crossbow and fired, shaking as she did so; the bolt went right through Chaos, who seemed unfazed. Darry took a step back, right into Oz, who wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.
Chaos laughed, shaking the walls of the building. "I guess I don't have to worry because your soul will soon return to me, werewolf, and you will not escape this time." Chaos promised.
Xander lifted his head and blinked his eyes before realizing that it was too dark to see anything. He looked around and made out another shape beside him; he reached out to touch it, not sure if it was something he wanted to do. His shaking hand reached out and touched the shoulder a human being for he felt the skin against his fingers.
The form beside him suddenly jerked, causing Xander to pull his hand back and nearly fall back onto the ground, for he was propped up on his other arm. The from beside him moved, he could tell because he saw the shadows move and change. "Hello?" The voice said, shaking but recognizable.
"Dawn? Dawn, it's okay." Xander said, sitting up straight and crossing his legs underneath him.
"Xander? Where are we?" Dawn asked, her voice getting slightly louder so Xander guessed her had turned to face him.
"I don't really know, Dawn, but don't worry we'll find the way out." Xander answered.
"In the dark?" Dawn asked, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped when a soft sound reached her ears. She knew that Xander could hear it too because he shuffled in the dark. "What was that?" Dawn asked.
The sound became louder, and it was clear that it was a growling noise that they heard. Dawn inched closer to Xander. "What is it?" Dawn whispered, dreading the answer.
When Willow opened her eyes, or awoke she didn't know what, she saw that she was in the exercise room, resting on one of the machines. A little light shown from broken light bulbs on the ceiling; Willow looked around and saw Anya resting on the floor near one of the treadmills.
Willow sat up and rubbed her eyes, feeling the sting of sleep. "Anya." She said, looking down at the ex-demon, who appeared to be asleep.
However, at the sound of her name, Anya jerked up, looking scared and surprised. "Xander?" Anya asked, looking around.
Willow looked at her. "No, just me, I don't know where Xander is. I don't know where are." Willow asked.
Anya sat up and looked at the redhead. "What happened? Why are we here?" Anya asked.
Willow shrugged. However, before either was able to say another word, a large bat/bird like creature swooped down, as though from the wall, and dug his talons into Willow's shoulders, trying to pick her up.
Both Willow and Anya began to scream and Willow beat at the bird as blood ran down her arms. Anya stood up and grabbed the bird away from Willow, getting a talon slashed upon her cheek.
The bird fell away from Anya and hovered at the ceiling, looking down at Willow and Anya. Willow knew that they had to find something to defend themselves with, before the bird decided to attack again.
Kellie reached beside her to grab her weapon, which was a dagger, or any weapon near her. Spike was on the otherside of a room that Kellie guessed was like a steam room, also looking for a weapon. She grabbed the hilt of her dagger and held it in front of her; when she was younger, her father had showed her how to fence so she got the general idea of how to sword fight.
Spike also grabbed his weapon, which was a sword which Buffy had decided to give to him; Kellie was afraid to admit that she didn't really stand a chance against Spike's sword. However, she didn't really want to fight him at all because he was, after all, her boyfriend and she loved him. She knew he loved her but that shadow-guy had put a spell on him, so he couldn't tell that he did love her. But she knew he did.
Chaos blocked Buffy's attack easily, as though she had never jumped at him. Buffy fell to the floor and Chaos glided past her, toward the swimming pool.
"Rise up, Kraken, for your day has come; rise up and feast and rid the world of the Slayer and her friends." Chaos commanded.
Water rose from the pool, as though pull by strings but Darry could see that it was something under the water that was causing it to move. Buffy quickly rose to her feet right as a large sea monster like creature rose from the water.
Water dripped from its snake like body, as well as from itself teeth, nostrils and head. The creature let out an earsplitting roar as it trashed, spilling water everywhere.
Buffy jumped back as water splashed over the edges of the pool; the Kraken lashed its tail around and jerked its body as well.
Darry and Oz tried to back away from the pool but the Kraken whipped its tail toward them and knocked Darry off her feet. Oz tried to make a grab for her but Darry was knocked into the pool. Darry and the Kraken both disappeared under the dirty water.
The growling continued and to Xander it sounded like it was getting closer; Dawn clung to his side, he could feel her rapid heart beat. There was a louder growling noise and three sets of two red eyes appeared in the darkness; Dawn looked up and then buried her head in Xander's arm, afraid of what was in the dark.
Suddenly, lights came on with no warning and Xander could see they were in a room where you could play racquet ball. The floor was shinning under them and a net separated the court in two halves.
Standing on the other side of the net was a three headed dog that Xander was sure he had seen before, somewhere, perhaps in a book. It looked like a normal dog, except for the heads; the dog would exactly be beautiful, for its coat was shiny and sleek and its paws were perfectly formed. The only reason why it wasn't beautiful was because instead of a tail it had three snakes, coming from its rear end, where a tail would be. The snakes jerked around and hissed and snapped at each other but the dog didn't seem to mind.
The dog's left head lowered and growled at Xander and Dawn; the middle head raised and looked up at the sky as though it was bored; the right head looked behind it and looked at the snakes.
Dawn moved back a little, as though she was trying to get away. As the sound of her body against the shiny floor, all three heads jerked to face her, growling and bearing their teeth. Xander saw that blood, instead of saliva, dripped from its teeth.
Willow picked up a barbell and nearly dropped it, do to the weight; the bird flew at them and Willow managed to lift the barbell and swing it at the bird. The bird flew out of the way and Willow fell to the ground, her hand getting crushed under the barbell. She yelled in pain and tried to pull her hand out from under the weights but found she couldn't.
The bird flew at Anya; the ex-demon had a tennis racket in her hand and swing at the bird. She hit the bird and it knocked into a weight-lifting machine. Anya ran forward and grabbed the stunned bird; she stuck it by the weights and pulled the string. About forty pounds of weights dropped and landed on the bird with a sickening crunch; blood dripped from the weights and Anya grimaced.
She turned to Willow and helped lift the barbell off her hand; Willow stood up and cradled her hand. "Let's get out of here." She said, holding back the tears and gritting her teeth against the pain.
Spike swung his sword and cut Kellie across the arm. As hard as she tried, she couldn't bring herself to swing her dagger at Spike, not that it would do any good.
The only thing she could do was hope that Buffy figured out something to do before it was too late.
Buffy ran to Oz's side as soon as Darry fell into the water; the Kraken ducked its body under the water as well.
"Darry!" Oz yelled and dropped to his knees beside the edge of the pool. Half-way to the middle of the pool, Darry appeared, breaking through the water and gasping for breath. She disappeared under the water again and that was when Oz remembered that she had told him that she couldn't swim.
The Kraken appeared again, swinging its tail and causing the water to churn like a whirlpool. Darry appeared again and floundered around; the Kraken roared and turned its had to face Darry.
Darry disappeared under the water again and the Kraken with her, still churning the water.
Before Buffy could stop him, Oz jumped into the pool, in hopes of saving Darry. Buffy would have jumped in after him but Chaos was behind her and jerked her away from the edge pool. Buffy was thrown into a wall and was stunned for a few seconds; when she looked up, Chaos was standing in front of her.
The three-headed dog lunged at Dawn and Xander as they jumped to their feet. The dog's heads each snapped for them; the middle head grabbed a part of Dawn's skirt and ripped it. Dawn fell to the ground as well; Xander quickly picked her up, putting her behind him, trying to shield her. He knew, however, that if this dog wanted them then he was going to have them.
The dog's right head snapped forward and grabbed Xander's ankle; he fell to the ground and Dawn jerked backward, running quickly toward the glass door. She grabbed the door handle and yanked but the door was locked. However, Dawn had an idea.
She turned back to face the three-headed dog with snakes for tails and took her shoe off, throwing it at the dog. All three heads and all three snakes turned to look at her, all looking angry.
"Come here fido." Dawn said, making 'come here' motions with her hands. The three-headed dog leapt for her, its claws ripping at the shiny floor as it charged at her.
As the dog jumped at her, Dawn jumped out of the way, falling to the floor. The dog, unable to stop itself, crashed through the glass doors. It landed, amidst the glass, stunned; the dog lay there, covered with a dozen tiny scratches.
Xander looked over at Dawn, who was standing up. "Nice work." He muttered. Dawn offered him a hand and he took it, standing up slowly and looking down at his chewed ankle.
"So what do we do now?" Dawn asked.
Xander shrugged but then he had an idea, he turned to Dawn with a smile on his face.
Oz opened his eyes and found that it wasn't much better then having them closed. It was almost impossible to see his own hands in the water, let alone a foot in front of him.
The water moved beside him and he looked, seeing what he believed was the Kraken's tail. He swam toward the surface, deciding to get his bearings. He looked around, Buffy was fighting with Chaos, who was kicking her butt, to say the least. He could see the top of the Kraken, moving above the water but he couldn't see Darry anyway.
He took another breath and drove under the water again; it was still no better then before but at least he was getting used to the murkiness. In front of him, he could barely see the shape of something that he knew was not the Kraken.
He swam toward it and as he got closer, saw that it was indeed Darry. He grabbed her and swam toward the surface, as fast as he could.
When Oz broke the surface he saw that he was near the edge of the pool; when he got to the edge to gently eased Darry out of the water and then climbed out himself.
He knelt by Darry's wet body and tried to see if she was breathing. As soon as he knelt beside her, she coughed and began to spit up water. She looked up at him with dazed eyes; she sat up and then fell into his arms, holding him tightly.
He broke the embrace and looked down at her. Darry looked up at him with a slight smile on her lips. "I really hate the water now." Darry muttered.
Xander took his belt off and tied it around the dog's middle neck. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dawn asked.
Xander nodded. "This thing belongs to that Chaos guy right? So, it'll lead us to it and Buffy probably." Xander answered, making sure the belt was tight.
The dog awoke, shaking its heads; when it saw that it was tied it, it went crazy, bucking and barking and roaring and jerking around.
Then the dog took off running down the hallway, dragging Xander along with him; Dawn hurried after them, wondering if Xander was right.
Willow and Anya hurried down a hallway, aware that there were sounds coming from in front of them; sounds of running and yelling and, as hard as it was to believe, barking. However, Anya and Willow continued down the hallway, in the direction where they were going.
In front of them, Willow saw what looked like a huge three-headed dog. As they got closer, she saw that it was a three-headed dog; it was leading Xander on what looked like a belt and Dawn was following close behind.
Anya lit up when she saw Xander in front of them; the dog came to a halt and growled at Willow and Anya. Xander stopped and Dawn crashed into him.
"What's that?" Willow asked, looking down at the dog.
"This thing is going to lead us to the Chaos guy and hopefully Buffy." Xander said.
Anya looked behind them, in the direction the dog was headed. "Well, he's not that way we just came that way." Anya muttered.
When she and Willow looked back they saw that the hallway was different, changed since they had ran down it.
"That's weird." Willow muttered. The dog took off running again, down the changed hallway. Xander ran along after it, followed by Dawn, Willow and Anya. Xander only hoped that the dog would indeed lead them to the Chaos guy.
Chaos grabbed Buffy's arm and twisted it, not only blocking her attack but cracking the bone as well. Buffy bit her lip to keep from crying out and hit Chaos with her other hand. Instead of going right through him, as she had thought would happen, her fist connected with his head like a normal human head. Chaos staggered backward, surprised by Buffy's ablitly to hit him.
Chaos raised his hand to do another spell but was surprised when something hit him in the side, knocking him to the ground, away from Buffy. Chaos looked to see what it was and saw a very upset Darry, holding him to the ground.
"I don't acrpicate being almost drowned and eaten by a sea monster. I also don't apricate you trying to kill my friend." Darry told him, calmly as though she was talking to a normal person.
Chaos was surprised and became even more suprised when Oz came up and hit him in the 'face' with a boogeyboard.
Darry stood up and turned to Buffy. "He's all yours." She said, motioning to the Chaos demon.
Suddenly, the door to the room brust open and a three-headed dog ran in, howling and roaring. Everyone, including Chaos, turned to face the door; Buffy saw Xander being pulled after the dog and Dawn, Willow and Anya following him.
"What the..." Buffy muttered, surprised by the four (not including the dog) suddenly showing up. She was, however, happy that her friends were okay.
The dog pulled free of Xander and ran forward; for a second, Buffy thought the dog was going to attack Chaos but it charged past them and dove into the swimming pool. The dog began to attack the Kraken with all three heads.
"Well, at least I don't have to go fishing later." Buffy muttered and then turned back to Chaos, who was surprised by the attacking animals.
In the room, Kellie had finally given up standing and had decided to fight. She managed to knock Spike's sword away and get it for her own; she pressed it against Spike's throat as she held him pinned against the wall.
"Go ahead, kill me, you have the chance." Spike said, looking up at her.
Kellie hesiated.
Buffy kicked Chaos, driving him backward. Behind her, in the pool, the battle between Kraken and Fido raged on. To Dawn it looked like the dog was winning as it tore into the Kraken's head, spilling blood.
Buffy kicked Chaos again and then got the idea to throw him in the pool; perhaps the Kraken would attack him or he would drown. It was worth a try since All she was doing at the moment was keeping him busy. She turned around and came up behind Chaos; he turned around surprised but Buffy kicked him, standing him staggering toward the pool.
Xander caught onto what Buffy was trying to do; the Chaos guy did as well and began to block her kicks and move away from the pool. Xander knew that all Buffy needed was someone to distract Chaos until she could get him into the pool.
Xander picked up the boogeyboard that Oz had hit Chaos with eariler and threw it at the shadow. Chaos turned to look at him when the board hit him in the head.
Perfect. Buffy kicked Chaos square in the 'stomach' and sent him into the pool. As soon as their 'master' hit the water, the Kraken and dog stopped fighting and dove into the water after him.
Buffy knew that Chaos was dead when there was a bright flash of light and the Kraken and three-headed dog disappeared.
Just as Kellie raised to the sword, Spike fell forward slightly, as though he was in pain. "Spike?" Kellie said, dropping the sword. Spike also dropped his dagger and then looked up at Kellie.
"Kellie..." Spike said, remembering everything that had happened before, with the Chaos guy and everything he said. "Oh, I'm sorry." He whispered.
Kellie dropped to his knees in front of him and lifted his head, kissing him. There was a spark and Kellie laughed and drew away from him.
"Well, I guess this means sparks are flying." She laughed.
Spike was surprised. "You're not mad at me?" Spike asked. "For everything?" He added.
"I forgive you; I know it wasn't you." Kellie said with a smile. "Let's go find the others. And get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps." She added.
Later, after everyone returned to the Summers house, they tried to fall into the normal nightly 'thing'. Darry leaned back on the couch, her wet hair falling over her shoulders. "Well, looks like everything is back to normal." She muttered and then rested her head on Buffy's shoulder.
Then she looked over to her cousin, who was sitting at the far end of the couch making out with Spike. "Yep, it's like nothing ever happened." Darry added.
Buffy nodded but couldn't help but think of how long it would be to their next battle.
