The Tear

by Ash The Wanderer

(Chapter 2 Summery) Hideous beast men. Carnavorious wasp creatures. An invasion of a myraid of other horrors. And Dawn's logic homework. Buffy may not have a prayer, but she does have an axe...(SV,ML)

2. Once More Into The Breach

Chapter 2: Once More Into The Breach

In another world, across vast oceans and rolling plains, through green forests and high mountains, past small hamlets and vast futuristic cities, through the trees of a dark and dismal, abet safe forest, there was a large mansion set at the base of a mountain. The house looked even more forbidding then the forest, and underneath that aura of danger lurked plenty of real ones that would make an unwanted intruder pay dearly for his choice to invade this home.

Within the house, past a large living room and kitchen, past gyms and storage areas, past trophy rooms and rooms of memoranda, within the master bedroom, two people slept on a bed, one curled against the other, both sleeping peacefully.

And within the figure on the left's head, something began to buzz.

His eyes opened instantly, blinked once, and then stayed open. Slowly, he removed his companion's slim arm from his chest and laid it down carefully. She murmured but didn't awaken.

The figure slid out of bed and walked across the room, clad in only a pair of pants. He was a tall figure, with wide shoulders and a tight, firm gut. He was in incredible shape and looked it, with muscles on his muscles in some places. His long black hair lay in the tangle of the newly woken, and he swept it out of his face as he picked up a small device on a table.

And then a red glow issued from his face, as one of his eyes seemed to come apart, the blue and white eyeball becoming a glowing metal orb. The red gleamed from a letter V, and if the room was lit, you would have seen the same letter slashed across the figure's face, over one eye and back up, a self made scar.

He lifted the device and spoke into it.

"You know the reason you are supposed to use this signal. So if it isn't one of them…" the figure said into the device, before trailing off. Only he could hear the wild, excited voice. It echoed in his head like another's thoughts.

His brow darkened and he frowned.

"I see. That is a good reason. I'll be right there. Now who…you're sure…you're sure? I hope not. Out." The man said, answering questions out loud before he turned off the device and put it down.

The female stirred on the bed again and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her long hair cascaded down the white sheets, a waterfall of midnight.

"Erik…what's going on?"
"Get dressed Celeste. We have a problem." The figure said, terse and to the point. Celeste frowned. She hated when her husband was like this, but he had his reasons. She yawned and tried to chase the sleep from her brain, but it had gotten comfortable and didn't want to move.

"A problem?" she muttered, as Erik paced around the room, pulling various clothing on his frame. "Please tell me it involves coffee…and chocolate chip muffins. I could really go for some chocolate chip muffins…"

"Salende." Erik suddenly said, walking over to the bed and snapping his fingers in front of Celeste's face. Her eyes widened, and then she glared at him.

"You know, that's really disorienting."

"Sorry sweetie, but I wouldn't have used it unless I had to. We need to move." Erik said, getting up and walking over to a wall. He pushed a few keys on a keypad there and the wall slid open to reveal a brightly lit area the size of a very large closet. Erik headed in.

Celeste sighed, pulled herself out of bed, and walked naked into the hidden room. Erik was choosing equipment off a wall and inserting it into his metallic arm. Celeste quickly dressed in her own clothes, and was pulling on her pants as Erik finished. He started back out the door, then paused and went back to Celeste as she struggled to get her other boot on quickly. A quick blur of fingers and it was securely fastened.

Celeste gave her husband a "I could have done that I'm not helpless you pig" look. The serious look on Erik's face dissolved into a sheepish smile, a strange look. Celeste made him squirm for a few more seconds before she smiled herself, forgiving him for the boot and for using the hypnotic command he had implanted in her brain to wake her up quickly if she needed to. She didn't mind the fact it was like that, because she had her own words to use on Erik if need be, but it annoyed her he always woke up so much easier then she did. Damn computers in his brain.

"I ever tell you how lovely you look in the moonlight?" Erik whispered.

"Don't be so cheesy." Celeste replied, leaning forward. The two exchanged a brief kiss. "I still might make you sleep on the couch tonight."

"Great. I'm gonna warm up the bike. Hurry up and finish, I'll fill you in as we get there." Erik said. He gave his wife one last quick peck and ran out the door. Celeste stood up, finished dressing, slipped the sheaths on her arms and headed out of the room. On the table next to her bed lay two long daggers, black instruments of death and destruction. She picked them up and slipped them into the sheaths.

A horn honked outside. Celeste turned her head to it.

"Window, open."

The command went through and the window swung open as if Celeste had ghost servants. She didn't, but she did have a voice activated computer network.

Celeste did one quick stretch and then ran at the window, diving on her hands, flipping and then diving backwards out the window. She twisted and twirled and landed perfectly on the seat behind Erik. Behind her, the window closed.

"Nice form, but the landing was a bit off. I think you'll have to settle for the silver." Erik said. Celeste slapped his shoulder. "Ow."

"Let's get going, judge. Where we headed?"

"Oriam." Erik said, as he started the bike. "Computer, maximum defenses. Disable only after code word."

"Acknowledged."

The bike's engine roared up and the couple took off down the rough gravel road that led through the forest.

'What's the problem, hero?" Celeste said into her husband's ear as they left their house behind.

"Gateway trouble."

Celeste's features showed some alarm.

"It's not…"

"No, it ain't Goku. But that doesn't mean it can't be bad. Strap yourself in, I'm pushing this baby to the max." Erik said, and did so. The bike's engine roared through the forest.

"Do we have…you know…"

"No, nothing's come through…but the opposite…that could be a problem…"

"Why?"

"We might have more then one entry/exit hole in the Zardonox Sealed Zone."

"Oh crap, not the…"

"Yep. And considering how bad that situation could turn out, I hope whoever is on the other line has some idea of what to do."

"I have no idea of what to do." Buffy said.

Dawn's look was that this was the worst crisis in the history of all their crises (and believe me, there had been a lot of those), and Buffy's declaration did not take away the look. If anything, it made it worse.

"But you have to! You can't just leave me here!"

"Dawn, I'm sorry, but this logic homework is Greek to me too."

Dawn groaned and buried her head in her hands, and Buffy felt a sudden urge to grab the various papers and books on the table that were causing her sister so much pain and rip them up, except that would ultimately do nothing but create even more problems.

"I mean, you're older! Aren't you supposed to know these things?"

'Dawn, I wasn't pulling straight A's when I didn't know I was the Slayer, and after I did know, well, need I say more?" Buffy signed, looking at the problems Dawn had been assigned. She had been given three days to solve them, but her attempts by herself had borne no fruit, and eventually she had gone to her sister. But Buffy had no better idea then she did.

"I mean, is this SUPPOSED to make sense? X equals Y, X and Y, therefore X equals Y? I'm supposed to say if it's right or wrong? The whole thing is wrong! Homework is wrong! The whole educational system is wrong!"

"I know. I swear, they do this on purpose to drive students crazy. You just have to know how to look at it." Willow said, pulling herself from the 10 Ways of Coping With Withdrawal book she had been reading.

"Unless someone invented a new alphabet lately…"

"No, it's easier. Let me put it this way. Let's say if I left for LA today, I would arrive on Sunday. I left for LA today. Therefore I'll arrive on Sunday."

Dawn's brow furled, and she briefly wondered if lack of magic had frizzled her poor friend's brain.

"No…you could get delayed, or maybe find a shortcut, or you may…aha…" Dawn said as a look of general understanding came over her face.

"Heck, that even makes sense for me, and I'm blonde." Buffy added, taking another look at the book. "I wonder if we can find examples involving shopping. I'd ace it if it involved shopping…"

"Speaking of shopping, where are my customers! I need them, and more importantly, their money!" Anya groaned over at the cash register.

"Anya, the shop's only been empty for fifteen minutes."

"FIFTEEN MINUTES!?!? NOOOOOO!" Anya wailed, and collapsed on the cash register like it was going to disappear (well, if it was going to disappear without Willow's involvement). Willow watched the spectacle for a few seconds, and then turned back to Buffy.

"It's not our fault she dyed her hair that colour."

"I wonder if Xander and her happened to watch Gentleman Prefer Blondes before she decided to do that."

"Gentleman Prefer Blondes?" Anya said, looking up from her grief. She fingered her now golden locks, suddenly looking smug.

"Yes, but Gentlemen Marry Brunettes." Dawn added.

"They do? Why didn't anyone tell me? I have to dye it back! Now! Willow, quick cast a…" Anya blurted before she realized what she was saying and did a rare thing by clamping her mouth shut.

Too late, as Willow suddenly looked very depressed.

"Doh! You see what happens when you use Marilyn Monroe movies for fashion tips! It always ends in tears!"

The conversation was interrupted at that, and rather violently, as the door didn't just open, it FLEW open. Anya was on her feet, putting on her "Welcome Buy Now Or Get Out" face instinctively.

"Hello welcome…" Anya said, and then her voice faltered.

The woman who had come crashing through the door was a picture of panic. Her red hair was disheveled, her face was flushed and sweaty, and her outfit was dirty with a few tears Buffy automatically knew had been acquired recently. She either really wanted some Essence of Calm, or she was being chased.

"He…l-p!" the woman managed to gasp out between taking great whooping gasps of air as she stumbled into the store.

Buffy's instincts kicked in instantly as she rose and ran over to the woman, helping her up and away from the door.

"What happened? What's the matter?"

"Mon…sters…!"

Then the door crashed open again, and Buffy whirled. There were two new figures in the doorway, and they definitely didn't look like panicked woman.

'What the hell…"

"…do you mean FOUR GATEWAYS!?!?!? HOW THE HELL COULD YOU OPEN FOUR GATEWAYS!?!?!??" Erik yelled, shaking the small nerdy man who had given him the message. The man looked about ready to faint, or crap his pants, or both.

"Erik, calm down! He didn't open the Gateways! He was just telling us they had been opened! Quit violently shaking the messenger!" Celeste said, restraining her husband. The small man pulled away, looking quite relieved to be free of Erik's grasp.

"Sir, you misunderstand. WE didn't open the Gateways. Someone else did." The Small Man said, ready to bolt if Erik came after him again. He had heard of the man's reputation, and even if he hadn't, the man's sheer look and incredibly intimidating presence would have scared him anyway.

"Oh. Sorry." Erik said, now looking embarrassed. "Then who did open the Gateways?"

'We were hoping you could tell us." Said a new voice, and then another man walked through the same door the small man had come out of. He was a tall, athletic figure, although not quite as well built and muscular as Erik. He had shoulder length black hair tied in a ponytail, and he wore a stylish pair of glasses with pop-up shades attached. He was dressed in jeans and a blue shirt.

"Hey Paul." Celeste said.

"Paul." Erik said.

"Celeste, Erik…"

"Christopher."

"Oh yeah. That's really confusing, you know."

"Fine. Just call me Erik." Erik (or was it Christopher?) said. "I assume you are on top of things here?"

"I'm always on top." Paul said. "C'mon, we have it on screen in the main room, follow me. I'll fill you in on what you don't know."

Paul turned, and Erik/Christopher and Celeste followed him.

"Well, it all began at 6:28 AM, this morning. That was when our computer registered the first Gateway opening. The second one followed at 6:31 AM, and the last two almost immediately afterward. I got down here at 6:43; we called you at 6:48. It's now…7:25. That was quick."

"I have a fast bike. Where are the Gateways?"

"Well, see for yourself." Paul said, as they emerged in a large room filled with computers and people. A large circular chassis made of shiny metal with a strange purplish hue dominated one end of the room. Several people bustled around the circle of metal, and a baker's dozen filled the rest of the room, some working on the computers and some speaking to each other. Paul motioned to one large screen, on which four blinking dots were on a map that looked strangely like Earth's continents, if they had suddenly been turned into molds of clay and played with by a rambunctious child. Erik looked at the screen, taking it in.

"We lucked out. One of the Gateways opened right up in Oriam, somewhere in the slums. We sent men to seal the location up ten minutes ago. One of the others…is somewhere near the top of one the higher mountains in the Cedarbrae range."

Erik (Christopher?) nodded in seeming approval.

"Good. Nothing lives up there and it's virtually impossible to reach the area."

"Yes, but we're sending a small team anyway, just to be sure. That's the good news, seeing how you're probably going to be pissed off at this one way or another."

"The other two are in a bad place."

"Worse. They're in Wylogy Forest."

Erik paled at bit.

"Oh no…"

"Yep, no only are they in the Zardonox Seald Zone, they're in old Suicide Massacre Woods! What fun we had there, even before we turned it into a monster preserve!"

Now Erik was getting angry.

"Try a prison…shit, virtually every type of monster that Xaxargas put on this planet is there! Shit!"

"Oh wait Erik. I'm about to top it. Records are sketchy, but we seem to have pinpointed in what part of the forest the Gateways opened in. One's in a Class A section."

Erik muttered curses. Celeste looked confused.

"Um, ok, maybe I'm just dumb, but could some fill me in?"

"You're not dumb sweetie. Wylogy Forest was a sort of natural death trap, filled with some of the nastiest creatures Xaxargas dreamed up. We had to pass through it three times on our quest before we got the Starfire, and we nearly all got killed each time. And plenty of others who tried to pass through it did. Hence, the name Suicide Massacre Woods. Suicide to go through, Massacre is what always happened. Well, after we defeated Xaxargas we decided to do something about all the other monsters wandering around the surrounding area, so we drove them all into the woods and an area around it and sealed it with VERY powerful spells and technology. We hoped that all the monsters and creatures in there would kill each other off, but that didn't happen, not to the degree we thought it would."

"Also makes a handy supermax prison for all those villians Erik doesn't kill." Paul added.

"What's a Class A section?"

"The monsters, creatures, and everything else eventually settled into various territory. Class is how dangerous they are. Class A…that's very dangerous creatures."

"Oh…oh…ho dear…" Celeste said.

"Oh, there's one more thing. The other one…it's in a Class X section."

This time, all the colour drained from Erik's face.

"And Class X is?"

"INSANELY dangerous creatures."

Buffy's didn't know what kind of class to put the two hulking figures in the doorway in, but they seemed to be a threat, and anything that was a threat needed no class with her.

The creatures made vampires look handsome. Their skin was a grey colour with a greenish undertone, shining with some kind of liquid (sweat? They stank, but then again, all monsters did). They had small eyes set into a thickly-boned head, with a large forehead and jaw from which two long lower canines protruded up about an inch (and the rest of their teeth didn't look any better either) They had bulb-like squashed noses and more then a few scars to finish off the picture of ugly. They wore what looked like to be some kind of animal skin with a few rotting pieces of cloth armour and a piece of metal here and there, scavenged from some soul that had found itself in an even more unfortunate situation then her. One had a big rusty sword. The other had a bigger and rustier spear.

Hunters. Buffy thought. But from where? And hunting what?

The girl was screaming again, but that was somewhere far away from Buffy, as she took another small step towards the two creatures. They were looking at her as if she was the most interesting thing they had even seen.

"Well…" one of them finally said, but Buffy barely recognized it as English. The voice was so low and snarlsome it may have well have been Farsi. But she somehow picked it out. It was English, just terrible English.

"Look here Niuxr! You were complaining about their only being one. Now we have four!" the creature said. It's talking was painful to Buffy.

"Hey, I've never said this before, but we don't want your patronage! Get out! Get!" Anya said from her position behind the cash register. The creatures only looked at Anya to give her a brief examination, then looked on to Willow, and finally Dawn. It frowned.

"That one's too young. She hasn't ripened yet."

"Oh no matter Hgud! We can have plenty of fun with three. We'll just eat the small one."

As the meaning of the words came to her, fury washed over Buffy.

"Ok…whatever you are…" Buffy said, standing up straight and walking to the side. "For chasing that girl I was gonna hurt you. For planning something so disgusting I don't even want to think about it I was gonna kill you. But for threatening my little sister…"

Buffy reached behind the nearest bookcase and pulled out a five-foot battle axe with a blade a body builder would have had trouble using out. She hefted it and gave it a quick twirl as her body adjusted to the weight and her mind accessed the many painful things she could do with the weapon.

"…you get the Almighty Axe of Ouch."

The creatures stared at her, and then they started laughing. If anything, that was even worse then their speaking.

But it worked against them in the end, as Buffy suddenly took four quick steps and swung.

The blade bit deep, piecing deep into Niuxr (or maybe Hgud, Buffy didn't know or care) chest with a loud wet sound. The look on Niuxr/Hgud's face was priceless as he suddenly opened his mouth. Maybe it was to scream, but all that came out was a flood of black blood. More blood exploded from the wound as Buffy pushed, shoving the axe in deeper to insure the damage of vital organs.

Then two things happened.

The other creature realized that it actually had an opponent on its hands and drew back to stab Buffy with its spear.

And the now dead creature fell to the ground, its heavy body pulling the axe with it, leaving Buffy weaponless.

The still living creature shrieked and stabbed.

Buffy pivoted to the side, grabbing the spear and snapping her leg up at the same time. Her foot connected with the thick jaw and snapped the creature's head back. It let go of the speak in it's pain, and Buffy added to it by driving her palm into the creature's chest, sending it stumbling back.

The axed creature's dying momentum caused it to roll as it hit the ground, leaving it on its back with the huge axe stuck in its chest.

Buffy dropped the spear as the creature recovered, reaching to its arm and pulling a small dagger from somewhere in the filthy nest it called clothing.

It shrieked and charged again.

Buffy lowered herself and spun, kicking the creature's ankles as it charged.

"Clumsy. Clume-see!" Buffy said.

And with one final shriek, the creature landed on the other end of the axe. The sound of its dying scream and the sound of bone being snapped and sliced simultaneously formed one single gruesome reverberation. Then the air was silent except for the low gurgle of blood pooling on the floor.

Then Anya stood up.
"Do you have any idea how long that'll take to clean up? You owe me a new mop! And some Mr. Clean!"

Paul was in need of a few things as well. Like a new row of lockers for the nearest locker room, after Erik had flipped out and destroyed them. Then again, maybe it was best that he had put the gym so close to the main computer room (hey, with the amount of time you could spend down here, you could always use some exercise). If Erik hadn't trashed that, he would have trashed some considerably more expensive computer equipment. Celeste had finally calmed him down with a combination of pleading not to wreck their friend Paul's stuff and threats to kick his ass. Paul really couldn't tell which one had convinced Erik.

"Ok…so we have four Gateways, two in Wylogy Forest…ok, first off, what's being done about that?"

"Well, we have sufficient weaponry and defenses that could allow us to guard the Gateways in the forest…the problem is, we canvassed for volunteers, and we haven't found many."

"Really? I think I could convince a few more of them…!" Erik snapped, before Celeste grabbed his arm.

"Erik! Beating people up and yelling at them will not make them any more willing to go into one of the most dangerous spots on Earth, armed to the teeth or not!"

Erik glowered, not happy at the obvious fact.

"Fine. Do whatever you must, but get those holes guarded ASAP. We don't want one of those really big Class X creatures to sneak off and make a meal out of…well, whatever is on the other side. Or a lot of whatevers on the other side."

"Well, Laura said the really big ones like to stay on one spot and don't move much to feed…hey Laura! Can we tell if there's anything like a Alsk near those holes?"

A pretty brunette popped her head of the computer bank she had been working on.

"What? Oh. I'll try Paul." Laura said, and went back to her work.

"Tsk tsk. Making your wife work like that." Celeste teased.

"She volunteered. Besides…"

"The point, which is what this conversation is. Ok Paul, lots of our things can go through, tell me, has anything come into our world?"

"Um…as far as we can tell, no. I heard nothing from the Oriam spot, and the computer would probably read anything else…"

"No Alsks Paul." Laura called.

Erik relaxed a bit.

"But our records show a fair amount of other things moving at a steady clip. The dumb things must be attracted to the light, and the smart ones…I don't want to think about it."

Hello, I Want To Kill Someone Erik. He wasn't gone long. He opened his mouth to say something, only to have it cut off when Celeste jabbed him with her elbow. He looked at her. She met his eyes.

"Don't make me cut you." Celeste said. Paul looked a tad bit alarmed.

"Relax. Just a saying. Ok, nothing coming in, but lots of things leaving. Great. Well Paul, you may as well tell me where our creatures are vacationing."

"Well, that's the thing. The coordinates…"

And then a door opened and a few uniformed men stepped in, all wearing thick armour and carrying firearms strung across their back. Their faces were hidden with helmets.

"Sir." The head one said to Paul. Celeste noticed one of his two associates was carrying something.

"Captain Keis, I presume? I can't tell with that damn hat."

"Sorry sir." The captain said, removing it. Underneath it with a man in his mid-forties with closely cut hair and hard piercing eyes. "We have fully secured the Gateway in Oriam."

"And you had to tell me to my face?"

"No sir. It's just that in the warehouse we located the Gateway in, we found some…odd things. It was like someone had been living there, at least for a short time. There was some discarded equipment…parts of some kind. Looks quite advanced, I thought we should show you…" Keis said. He motioned, and one of his faceless soldiers handed whatever he had been holding to Paul.

Paul only got to tell it was long and made of metal before Erik snatched it out of his hand. He stared at it for a few seconds, as if he was trying to push his gaze through the device.

Then his lips skinned back from his teeth and his eyes blazed as one literally rolled back, turning a blue and white orb into a grey metal one with a blazing red V in the centre.

"Purge…" Erik hissed, and then his fingers began digging into the metal, crushing the device inward. In five seconds the device was a crumbled piece of scrap in Erik's hands. In the few seconds before it was destroyed, Paul recognized it as some kind of empty tank, probably for a concentrated fuel. A fuel tank perfectly shaped to be inserted into a gauntlet, like a man might have in a giant robot suit, like a guy who had tried to…

Celeste realized things were about to get bad and sidled up to Erik, putting her mouth close to his ear.

"Calm down Erik…I know you're angry, but stay calm…"

"After what he did to you? I'll…kill him! I'll rip him to shreds! I'll give him a death that…"

"I know, I know…but he's not here now. You and I…we'll get Zachery…now calm down…calm down…" Celeste whispered in a calm and motherly tone.

Erik snorted and dropped the ruined fuel tank. One of the soldiers snatched it up and scampered away like a scared deer away from Erik. Paul took a step back, wondering if he should grab his gun. If Erik went postal anyway, a heavy dose of tranquilizers would take the wind out of his sails before he did too much damage (he wouldn't actually hurt any of them, of course, but what he would do would hurt Paul's wallet…)

Celeste continued to whisper in Erik's ear, and eventually his muscles relaxed. He slid one arm around Celeste and gave her a protective squeeze, as if he was checking to see if she was still there. He sighed.

"I'm still gonna kill him."

"But of course. I sure ain't giving him a pardon."

"If we can drop the personal stuff here, this makes the situation even worse." Paul said, thanking inwardly he wouldn't need the Flatliner. "Monsters are bad, but most of them are just big nasty dumb animals…but Zachery…he's smart, heavily armed, and of course, crazy. God knows what kind of damage he could do…"

"Burn it all down…all because he thinks it's trying to kill him. Him and his germs. Fool." Erik snorted. "Fine Paul. Where does the Gateway go?"
"Well, that's the strange thing. As you know, randomly exploring other dimensions is dangerous…so we don't have many coordinates. So you can imagine our amazement that we punched them up…they matched one of them in our database."

"Which one? Goku's?"

"No. The other one. What was her name…Betty?"

"Buffy."

"Buffy?" Celeste said in the "I know her" tone.

"Buffy."

"Buffy…what's going on?" Willow said, looking at the dead bodies of the two creatures.

Buffy sighed, not moving from the chair she was sitting in. In the past thirty seconds, it seemed her name had been used more times then it had been in a month, as Willow and Dawn asked her what to do and Anya repeatedly demanded Buffy's money to clean up the Magic Box. Buffy blocked them out, focussing on the main problem: the witness. She wasn't One Of Them, and in its own way, that was just as bad as two ugly as HFIL monsters making oral plans to eat her sister and…yuck, bad mental picture.

"Buffy…"

"Hold that thought Will. And in your case Anya, lose it." Buffy said, as she stood up and walked over to where the witness was sitting, looking at the dead creatures with eyes that were horrified and yet dead, as if her sense of reality had been overloaded and shut down.

"Miss…"

"What were those? What…where...how…no such thing as monsters…" the witness babbled. Buffy wanted to laugh out loud at the last comment.

"Miss…where did they come from?"

"What….don't know…was shopping and…out of nowhere…monsters…am I dreaming?"

No, but you might be a part of my nightmare, or as I sometimes call it, my daily life. Buffy thought.

"Were there more?"

"I was running, I didn't pause to check! What are those things!" the witness said angrily. As, the pointless rage of those whose lives have been turned upside down. Kansas was gone, and there weren't any red shoes in your future.

"I don't know." Buffy said. It was the truth, in a sense. If these were a kind of demon, she hadn't met it before, and hence she did not know what it was.

While she was making these mental justifications, Buffy had shooed the witness up and towards the door. She had enough problems to deal with herself, playing shrink to some girl whose name she didn't even know was too much.

"What do I do?"

"You want my honest advice?" Buffy said. The witness nodded.

"Forget it."

Buffy opened the door.

"But…"

"Yeah, I know. But thinking about this, trust me, its more trouble then its worth." Buffy said. Now she could feel a low buzzing in her head, and she winced. She hoped she wasn't getting a headache. "Do whatever you have to, make up whatever lies are necessary. You're sleeping, you're on drugs, anything. In the end, you'll just be happier if you think this was a figment of your imagination."

The buzzing was getting louder. Buffy felt it rattling in her teeth.

"But…I…just…" the witness said, as she separated herself from Buffy and took a few steps back.

And screamed.

Buffy took her own step back in surprise, and then two things happened. She felt something beating her air over her head, and she realized the buzzing wasn't in it.

Then the thing swooped down, the size of a large stuffed duffel bag. It's body started out thin and got fatter as it ran from head to abdomen. Six coiled legs curled from its body, a racing stripe pattern of red and yellow colours. Its head was all eyes, huge orbs with thousands of optic receivers, and…

A huge proboscis, a long uncoiling weapon of sharp and sucking parts, as the wasp/bee/mosquito creature did a quick swoop around.

The girl never had a chance, as the flying nightmare hybrid thing plunged its proboscis right into the girl's head. Flesh tore. Blood sprayed. The girl screamed in terror and agony.

Then the flying thing uncoiled one last pair of limbs, long arm-like tendrils with bladed ends, and snapped them up and down. They slashed right through the girl's throat and neck, turning the spray of blood into a fountain.

"Buffy!!!!!!!!! What's going on!?!?!?" Dawn was screaming somewhere behind Buffy. Buffy barely heard her, her eyes stuck on the horror behind her as the creature tore at the dead girl's face and head, devouring it. Well Dawn I'm not sure what's going on except I know we don't have to worry about the witness any more because she just got killed by the Beedril from hell…

Then the Slayer instincts kicked it, and Buffy blocked out the blood, the death, the terror of her sister, and acted, turning around, shoving her sister back and away from the creature, snatching up the dropped spear, turning once more, two big steps, a twist and thrust…

The spear impaled the flying thing. It shrieked, a horrible insectile sound that pierced into Buffy's ears like red-hot needles. It didn't stop her though, as she kept pushing, driving the spear out the other end of the thing's body and through one of the shiny crystal wings. The creature lurched and dropped the girl, and it crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

It hit the ground with a wet splat, green inchor spraying up on Buffy's pants. It continued to keen..

Buffy let go of the spear and the thing thrashed, trying to fly again and failing with its destroyed wing. She turned again, walking back into the shop, ignoring her little audience, yanking the dead creature (the dead non-flying non-insect creature that had been the first that tried to kill her, she corrected herself) off one end of her axe, pulling it out of the other creature's body, walking back to the thing as it continued to thrash and shriek.

She brought the axe down. Again. And again. And again and again until the creature was nothing more then a mass of sliced unidentifiable tissue.

With that done, Buffy put the axe down and leaned on it. She took a long deep breath as the rest of her mind came back to her. She looked at the poor girl and allowed herself a brief moment of sorrow. Another innocent to rob her of sleep.

"Buffy?"

Buffy looked over to the door of the Magic Box, where her sister and friends were standing. Besides them, they were alone, as Buffy realized the street was deserted. As if…

"Buffy…" Willow echoed.

"I'm ok Will. All in a day's work." Buffy said.

"What do we do?"

"Ummmmm…uh…" I just chopped a giant bug to death Will. Even for me, asking me to come up with a plan of action instantly is asking a bit much!

 "Ok… monsters coming oughta nowhere…Will, Anya, hit the books. Find anything you can about monsters invasions, possible Armageddons, Hellmouth openings, anything. These things just don't happen. Also, Anya, you call Xander at work and tell him to get his rear end here. And anyone else you can think of, call as well. I'm going to my house to get weapons, my gut tells me we'll need them."

"Buffy, what do…" Dawn said. Buffy whirled and fixed Dawn with her most intimidating look.

"You stay here. You do not go anywhere or do anything except twiddle your thumbs where Willow and Anya can see you. Understand?"

Dawn looked hurt, but it quickly morphed into a look of teenage anger and defiance.

"Yes."

"Good. Just realize Dawn, its for your own good." Buffy said, and turned. She hoisted her axe and began walking.

"Buffy! What do we do…with the…" Willow called after Buffy, unsure of what to do with the corpses.

"Whatever you think is best!" Buffy called as she reached the corner.

And then she was gone.

There was silence.

"Does this mean I still have to do my homework?"

"Buffy? That blonde who helped us with Vagane?"

"Yeah. The Slayer, some kind of uber-vampire killer. Vagane recruited one of her archenemies…no, two wasn't it? Strange, they weren't that powerful…" Celeste said.

"Maybe he saw something special in them. And they were strong enough to beat you…which, by the way, I now regret granting that vampire mercy for." Erik muttered.

"Spike? Eh, I kicked his ass twice. I called it even." Celeste said.

"Well, unless there is some kind of serious computer error, its her world."

"Hmmmmm." Erik said, as he began to think.

"We should help her Erik. She helped us against Spike. And Riot and Bloodbath, and Agony, if what you say is true."

"I never said we shouldn't help her. I was just considering something. Do you remember how each dimension has different limits?"

"What? Oh yeah, the sliding factor." Paul said. "I remember how insanely high the power levels in Goku's world was. I remember Buffy being surprised to…ohhhhhh." Paul said as he realized what Erik was considering.

"In her world, it'll work in reverse. Instead of higher limits, our powers will be dampened at least. In fact, I think they'll be disabled entirely…but so will the creatures. And unlike us, they probably won't realize it…" Erik said.

"Which means they'll probably be confused, and hence won't be as dangerous?"

"Yes. But they could also get very aggravated and hence be even more dangerous. In any case they'll still be dangerous. But you're right, we owe Buffy a favour for what she did and endured for our sake. We should help her. Paul, open a Gateway."

"What, right now?"

"No, next Tuesday. YES NOW!"

"Ok ok, sheesh…program coordinates YHNO02-5O976E!"

"What, now?" some computer geek said.

"No, next…YES NOW!"

The men went to work on their computers. Erik went back to the expression that he was thinking.

"We'll go in now, Celeste and I. We'll assess the situation, possibly nip it in the bud." He said after a minute. "The big problem though, is Purge. Powers may be affected by different worlds, but technology ain't…and that's all Zachery uses. But…god help me…"

"Yes we know. Don't get all dark and blady now, like the last time you blew a gasket…" Paul said.

"Speaking of which, if our powers won't work …what about weapons?" Celeste said, holding up her daggers. "The Ruined Soul blades…will they just vanish?"

"I don't know…but if they don't…I don't think you'd be able to call them back to you…and on that note…" Erik said, and held out his hand.

White misty energy began to flow up from his palm, collecting into a shape. With a brief flash, a four foot long sword appeared, the handle pure white and the blade seemingly carved from crystal. It floated back down into Erik's palm.

"The Redemption sword may very well vanish too…or I won't be able to summon it. But I guess the only way to be sure is to go there…but to be on the safe side, I'll have it with me in physical form. Paul, can you grab a sheath?"

"Uh sure…get him a sheath!" Paul said. One of the assistants scampered off.

"If our weapons aren't effected, Purge won't be able to save himself. These things cut through anything." Erik said.

"Of course, what would you expect from two knives composed of pure rage and a sword composed of goodness itself." Paul muttered to himself. "I once had the cool toy, but nooooo…"

"Gateway is ready sir!"

"Open it!"

Erik started towards the metal structure.

"Wait Erik!"

"What?"

"Hold up, I just remembered something that might be handy. We've been developing a few things based on Gateway technology…I think one might be useful. If it works." Paul said, as he motioned to another assistant.

"If it works?"
"Well, we haven't tested it yet, but the theory is sound. Here." Paul said, as the assistant handed him something and Paul handed it to Erik. Erik examined the complex machine that was about the size of a brick.

"What's it do?"
"Opens a small Gateway for a few seconds. Long enough for you to toss in a message, or for us to send one to you. Just don't stick your finger in it."

Erik gave Paul a wry look.

"In any case, we designed it with your arm in mind. You should be able to insert and shrink it with no problems.

"May as well see." Erik said. He held his right arm out and the skin seemed to melt, flowing away to reveal a black metal counterface. Various motors whirred and the arm began to split open. Erik placed the device in the opening and the device slid in. The arm parts lid back over it, and Erik stood still for a few seconds as his mechanical eye blinked rapidly. A slight smile crossed his face.

"Integrated itself perfectly. Thanks Paul."

"No problem."

"Your sheath sir." Said the returning first assistant. Erik took it, looked it over, and then tried to slide his sword into it. It struggled at first, and then moved effortlessly as it adjusted its size and shape for the sheath. Erik tied the sheath around his chest, leaving the sword on his back.

"You look like Ash's evil twin."

"Where is Leader Boy?"

"Off doing some democracy I believe."

"Figures. Well, try and contact him. For all we know, we'll need help." Erik said. And then he ended the conversation in the way he usually did, turning away and heading for the Gateway.

Celeste looked after him, then turned to Paul.

"Sorry, I'll teach him to say goodbye yet. And speaking of which, see you later Paul." Celeste said, and headed after Erik.

"Gateway stable people?"

"All systems optimum sir."

"Good luck Erik, or Christopher, or whatever your name is."

Erik gave Paul a brief thumbs up, and then slid his hand into Celeste's.

"Once more into the breach, Raven?"
"Only with you, Hero."

And then the two were gone.

Can Erik and Celeste aid their former ally Buffy? What horrible creatures now await them in Sunnydale? What is Purge up to? Where has the Legion of Dim run off to? Which name is it anyway, Erik or Christopher? Find out, next time, in…

"Triple Threat"

This ain't no wrestling team