Disclaimer: Any character that you've seen on the show is owned by Joss, not me.
Colleen - The new slayer
Jordan - Psychic and receives The Visions
Dawn - Buffy's little sister and The Key
Aaron - Dawn's friend who works at the Magic Box
*****
"Weren't you just here this morning?" Jordan said as he sat on a couple of boxes in the basement of the Magic Box.
"Yeah," Aaron said as he looked through row after row of strange herbs.
"So why didn't you just grab it while you were here?"
"Because Anya was here," Aaron explained.
"Wait," Jordan said. "We're stealing this stuff?"
Aaron stopped looking for the herb and paused to just look at Jordan. "What did you think we were doing?"
"I don't know," Jordan said. "I figured that there was leniency for Armageddon or something."
"I guess you really don't know Anya then," Aaron said as he kept looking through the herbs. "Here it is." Aaron opened up a jar and took a large scoop of a shining brown powder and put it in a Ziploc bag.
Jordan felt the vision coming on a second before it happened. He wasn't surprised by what he saw. He was expecting it.
"They're on the move," Jordan announced.
"Just in time," Aaron said as he shoved the bag into his backpack. "Let's go."
"I don't know how I feel about this," Jordan said as he and Aaron walked up the stairs back up to the Magic Box.
"Don't worry about it," Aaron said. "I'll just overcharge one of those "I'm doing this to rebel from my parents" Wicca for their candles and incense.
*****
"Did you get it?" Colleen asked Aaron and Jordan when they met up with her and Dawn a block from the school.
"Yeah we got it," Aaron said.
"He means we stole it," Jordan said looking towards Dawn.
"So?" She said with a smile.
"OK," Colleen said as they started walking towards the school, "Is everyone clear on the plan?"
"I'm doing my spell," Aaron said as he read through his notes for about the 50th time in the last three days.
"Dawn and I are going to be with Aaron in case anything happens," Jordan said.
"And you are going to be on distraction duty," Dawn said. "Pretending to be interrupting their ceremony so they don't come after us."
"So does anyone think this plan is really going to work?" Jordan asked.
"You sound like Aaron," Colleen pointed out.
"Yeah he's covering for me," Aaron said. "I'm way too nervous to be pessimistic right now."
"It's a good plan," Dawn confirmed. "It's quick and simple. Go in, do a spell, slay some vampires, get home in time for Conan."
"You don't think Gold Chick did anything stupid do you?" Jordan questioned. "I mean, you don't think she tried to take on Martyr on her on and got herself killed or anything like that."
"Nah," Colleen said, "She's smarter than that." Colleen was still having some repressed anger for what Jordan did last week with the Omicron, but she had decided that she wasn't going to make an issue of it.
"I don't know," Dawn said. "She seemed to be getting in full out vengeance mode when we last saw her."
"I think if she was going to go after Martyr then she would have gone after him then and there," Aaron said.
"Yeah," Colleen said. "When she would have had the best chance of finding him."
"But who knows," Dawn said. "We don't even know what she is capable of. Maybe she can track him anywhere. Maybe she just didn't want us stopping her."
"She was kind of injured," Jordan pointed out. "Maybe she just wanted to heal up first."
"Listen," Colleen said, "She has made it pretty clear that she doesn't want anything to do with us. She's going to come and go as she pleases so there's no point worrying about her."
"Well I guess it's good to know how you really feel about me," Gold Chick said from the shadows cast by the school. "It really warms my heart."
No one knew what to say. Colleen felt really stupid but she knew that this wasn't the time for her to be worrying about whether or not she hurt someone's feelings. Dawn was relieved that now they had someone else with super strength so Colleen wouldn't have to face all the vampires on her own. Jordan was relived that Gold Chick was OK. Aaron was too busy concentrating on the spell to really worry about anything else.
"I'm here to help," Gold Chick said as she joined the group. "It's because of me that they have the book so I'm not going to let them end the world. It's as simple as that."
"We could really use your help," Dawn said.
"Here's the plan," Colleen said. "You and I are going to go downstairs through the basement looking for the entrance to the Hellmouth. Jordan's fairly confident that it's down there. We're going to distract the vampires and hopefully delay their ceremony while Aaron casts a counterspell against their spell."
"And what are you doing?" Gold Chick asked Dawn and Jordan.
"We're making sure the ceremony doesn't get interrupted," Jordan explained.
"Doesn't sound like much of a plan," Gold Chick said.
"We're hoping that the simplicity will leave fewer factors that could go wrong," Aaron explained. "With this group, anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
"Way to jinx us," Dawn said as the five of them prepared to enter the school.
*****
"Time check," Aaron said as he dumped his backpack out on a table in the library.
"11:45," Dawn told him. "There's a clock right there." Dawn pointed at the wall directly in front of Aaron. Aaron ignored her comment.
"Plenty of time to set up," Jordan said. "Right?"
"Yeah," Aaron said while trying to gather up his supplies. "At least I'm pretty sure that it will be enough time."
"Well that's reassuring," Dawn said.
"Where are we doing this thin?" Jordan asked.
"Right over here," Aaron said pointing to the floor in the middle of the library. "It should be the closest spot to the Hellmouth."
"Unfortunately it's also right in front of the door," Dawn pointed out.
"Hopefully that won't become an issue," Aaron said. He set up everything he needed for the ceremony. He put six candles around him in a circle. In front of him were the pages he ripped from the Omicron and the notes he made. There was also a bowl right in front of him and several different kinds of liquids and powders.
"This looks kind of complex," Dawn said while Aaron light the candles around him. "Are you sure you can handle this?"
"What?" Aaron asked her. "Do you doubt my mad skills?"
Dawn gave a little laugh. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
"Same thing I want," Aaron said.
"T-minus ten minutes and counting," Jordan announced.
*****
"We only have ten minutes till the ceremony will start," Colleen told Gold Chick as they walked through the basement of the school.
"I don't see any entrance," Gold Chick said as they began their second lap around the basement of the school.
"Jordan said they were down here," Colleen said.
"Could he have been mistaken?" Gold Chick suggested. This bothered Colleen a little. Why should Gold Chick doubt Jordan when he was a big part of the reason that she was still alive?
"No," Colleen said. "He's usually dead on with things like this."
"Usually?" Gold Chick said, but then let the subject drop.
Colleen looked down at her watch. They only had five minutes till midnight and Martyr could start the ceremony. She was starting to get worried, which was leading her to get desperate. That's when she felt it. It was a shiver that crept up her spine. A presence that she couldn't quite explain. It was a feeling that she was starting to get quite accustomed to. It was her slayer sense telling her that vampires were nearby. She stopped for a moment and tried to focus on it. She tried to hone in on where the vampires where exactly. She looked at a wall of the basement that had a lot of boxes.
"Hey um," Colleen tried to think of something to call Gold Chick other that Gold Chick. "You."
"You can call me Gold Chick," Gold Chick said. "I don't mind."
Colleen wondered how she would even know about the Gold Chick nickname but she decided that this wasn't the time. "I think our door is back there."
Colleen and Gold Chick walked through the boxes and when moving one found a hole in the floor.
"Looks like a little bit of a drop," Colleen said as she bent over the hole.
"I'll let you know after I hit the ground," Gold Chick said and then dropped through the hole.
Colleen smiled to herself. "I'm starting to like that girl," she said to herself right before she dropped through the hole too.
*****
"It's time," Dawn said. Everyone was starting to get nervous.
"I hope Colleen and Gold Chick are OK," Jordan said.
"Quiet," Aaron said. He started the ritual. "Oh guardians of the gate, followers of the ancient ones, I beckon thee. Here my pleas and answer my calling. Accept the gifts that I offer you and look down upon me with pity. Honor me, for I am most humble." Aaron took one of the powders and sprinkled it into the bowl. He followed that up with pouring a clear liquid onto it which caused a mist to rise from the bowl. Aaron reached in and pinched a different powder and tossed it into the bowl. This caused a small bang and changed the color of the smoke to a crimson color. "Followers of the ancient ones, here my pleas and answer my calling," Aaron repeated.
For the first time, Dawn noticed the dagger at Aaron side and gave it a curious stare. She wondered how this fit into the ritual.
Jordan looked at the clock and back down at his watch nervously. He hoped that the others were safe.
*****
Colleen and Gold Chick walked down the dimly lit corridor together. Every so often there was a torch, but overall it was much to dark to really see. Eventually, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
"Light," Colleen said as she pointed towards the end of the tunnel.
"It's almost poetic," Gold Chick said.
"Here," Colleen said as she handed Gold Chick a stake. "You might need this."
"Thanks," Gold Chick said, and for the first time noticed the axe in Colleen's hand. "You wouldn't happen to have another one of those by chance would you?"
Colleen smiled. "Nope, as impressive as they are they don't travel well."
They finally got to the end of the tunnel. "OK," Colleen said, "Be ready for-" Colleen suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Gold Chick turned her head to see what stopped her only to face the same thing that took Colleen out. All she saw was the strange cloud of purple dust and then fell to the floor. Her eyes stayed up just long enough for her to see Martyr standing over her laughing.
"OK boys," Martyr said to four of the vampires standing next to him. "You go upstairs and see where the others are. If these two are here the others can't be too far behind." The vampires ran off through the tunnel. Martyr turned to the remaining three vampires. "You three grab these two. This is going to be fun."
*****
"I offer you the four pillars of virtue," Aaron said, continuing the ritual. "I offer you the four bloods that you require." Aaron took a bottle filled with red liquid and poured it into the bowl. "The blood of the unknown."
Dawn was taken a back. She turned to Jordan and whispered "Where did he get that from?"
"Remember the blood drive a couple days ago?" Jordan whispered back. Dawn looked a little horrified. "It's for a good cause," Jordan defended their actions.
"The blood of the noble," Aaron said as he added a red crystal into the bowl. Red energy began to encircle the area directly above the bowl. "The blood of the forgotten," Aaron said as he sprinkled some red dust into the bowl. The energy surrounding the bowl expanded so that it encircled Aaron. It sparkled and cracked with power. Aaron seemed to tense a little and reached for the dagger at his side. "The blood of the willing," Aaron said as he cut his own hand and allowed his blood to fall into the bowl. The energy surrounding him immediately regrouped into the bowl and formed a pillar from the bowl to the ceiling. Aaron stuck his bleeding hand into the pillar. "Accept this offering and look down upon us in pity."
Dawn looked at the pained expression on Aaron's face and it tore her up inside. She would have never let him do this if she would have realized what this spell was really like. She knew the only reason that Aaron had agreed to do this was because he thought he was worthless to the group. Aaron let out a little scream. Dawn attempted to go over and stop him from continuing the ritual but Jordan put out his arm to stop her.
"Jordan," Dawn said panicked, "He's in pain!"
"We have bigger problems," Jordan said as he looked over towards the door. "We're about to get company."
*****
"Wake up," Martyr said as he lightly patted Colleen on the face. He waited for her to wake up before he flashed her a smile and slapped her hard across the face. Colleen was dazed at first but quickly realized what was going on. She looked around the chamber and saw a vampire who was performing a ritual in the center of the cavern. She went to attack Martyr but quickly realized that she couldn't move. She looked over to her left and saw that Gold Chick was in a similar position. Her eyes were panicked.
"Now," Martyr said as he walked away from the slayer and towards the ceremony, "I've seen a lot of Bond movies and I realize that I should just kill you now, but in a couple minutes your friends are going to be dead and the Hellmouth is going to be open, and I can't resist having you watch that.
Colleen was horrified. There was nothing that she could do. She tried to move but other than flicking her wrists or moving her head she was trapped. She looked at a small pedestal directly in front of her and there was a vase that was glowing the same purple as the dust that had done this to her. She looked over to the ceremony as it got closer and closer to completing. There were tremors going through the chamber but the chamber itself was not moving.
Colleen was at her breaking point. She felt pressure behind her eyes but looked up to try to fight the tears. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to give Martyr the satisfaction.
"Oh no you don't slayer," Martyr said to her, moving her head back so she was watching the ceremony. "You don't want to miss this."
*****
Jordan and Dawn were quickly piling up furniture in front of the doors to the library. They were trying to barricade it as quickly as possible. Aaron still had his hand in the beam of light. All that was left was to wait out until the energies built up enough to counter the spell that Martyr was casting.
Jordan and Dawn stepped away to look at their quick work. It wasn't bad. For a second they thought that it just might stop the vampires. But it was only a second. As soon as the vampires tried to open the door it immediately started to move back.
Jordan ran up to the edge of the barrio and put his hands on it. He closed his eyes and immediately the doors were completely shut. Dawn could see the strain on Jordan's face and knew that he couldn't keep this up for very long.
"Colleen," Dawn said quietly to herself, "I don't know what's going on but you need to hurry up."
*****
Colleen even surprised herself with the fact that she hadn't given up. Even though Martyr was across the room admiring the ceremony that was taking place she still hoped that somehow she could get out of this. She hoped that somehow she would just suddenly be too much for the spell to hold and that she would just break free.
That's when Colleen noticed Gold Chick. She had her head down so that her hair covered her face. Colleen watched as suddenly the gold seemed to fade away and her skin became white. The bright gold of her hair became a pale blonde. Before Martyr could move to stop her, Not-So-Gold Chick ran over to the pedestal, picked up the vase, and smashed it on the floor.
By the time that Martyr got to Not-So-Gold Chick she was now completely gold again and punched him right in the face. Colleen was at him in a second and kicked him hard right into the vampire that was performing the ceremony. Gold Chick was right about to join in on the fight when Colleen stopped her.
"No," Colleen said as she hit another vampire in the face and then staked him. "Go help the others." Gold Chick nodded and was immediately running down the corridor.
*****
Dawn tried to push all of her weight into the barricade.
"I can't keep this up much longer," Jordan informed her.
"See if you can give the vamps a push or something," Dawn said. "Maybe that way we can try to get out there and stake them before they know what's going on."
Jordan nodded and the closed his eyes. Dawn heard noises out in the hall and started moving the furniture when Jordan collapsed. She managed to move the furniture completely out of the way of the door when she realized that there was still a struggle going on outside the door. Curiously, Dawn poked her head through the doors and saw Gold Chick taking on the last two vamps. She turned and dusted one and another was coming at her back. When Gold Chick turned to face her all she saw was the last of her dust and Dawn holding a stake.
"Thanks," Gold Chick said to Dawn.
"I was about to say the same thing to you," Dawn told her.
They turned around and walked back into the library. Jordan was just getting up. They turned and looked at Aaron. Suddenly, the energy pillar went crashing right down through the floor, just as all the candles extinguished themselves. Aaron was in a trance for another few seconds, but soon snapped up on it. He stood up and dusted himself off and that's when he noticed all the furniture and the way that Jordan was supporting himself on Gold Chick.
"Did I miss something?" Aaron asked.
*****
Colleen was still fighting Martyr. Every single blow he tried to land on her was blocked and then followed up by a counter attack. Martyr was in game face and was trying his best but on that night he was no match for Colleen. Colleen noticed that the only other vampire in the room, the one that was performing the ceremony, was attempting to complete his ceremony. Martyr tried to punch Colleen in the face but she ducked and threw him into the wall. She walked towards the vampire when suddenly a shower of red energy came pouring down on the vampire. The vampire burst into flames and the energy turned into a liquid which seemed to seep into the ground and the Hellmouth.
"Shiny," Colleen said she watched the ground flash red once before turning back to normal. "I guess Aaron's spell worked."
Martyr attempted to sneak up on Colleen but failed as Colleen grabbed him and flipped him over her shoulder. He was on the ground and Colleen grabbed her stake, knelt on him, and held the stake high above her head.
"It's been real Martyr," Colleen said, "But I think your time just ran out."
Colleen expected to see horror in Martyr's face but instead he looked satisfied. As she sunk the stake into her hear he whispered to her "you never wondered why the call me Martyr?"
Colleen watched as he turned into dust but then backed away when the dust seemed to come alive. She backed away and watched as the dust seemed to swirl and collect in a cloud above the Hellmouth. Its speed increased until the point that it burst into flames. The flames were so bright that Colleen had to shield her eyes but when she opened them again she never expected what she saw.
The demon that stood in front of her was at least eight feet tall. Its skin was red and its veins that protruded from his arms seem to have lava flowing through them. Colleen gathered her strength and attempted to punch the demon but he grabbed her fist. Colleen was at first shocked but that soon changed when she felt the immense heat entering her fist. That's when she dropped to the ground at the demon's feet. She looked up at him just to get kicked so hard that she flew across the chamber and hit a wall hard.
Colleen coughed and looked up at the demon in fear. "What are you?" she asked between coughs.
"I am Phoenix," The demon explained. He then picked Colleen up and threw her against another wall. Colleen fell but she quickly tried to get up and attack Phoenix but it was no use. He blocked her attack and again threw her up against a wall. Colleen lay in a heap on the ground but still refused to give up. She tried to stand up again but before she could Gold Chick was running in and pressing her shoulder into Phoenix. She managed to catch him by surprise and ran him into the wall. Jordan was right behind her and looked up at the loose rocks caused by Aaron's spell. He concentrated on them and they soon fell on Phoenix. Aaron and Dawn helped Colleen to her feet as the chamber began to collapse on itself.
"What," Aaron said as they barely managed to avoid the cave in, "was that?"
*****
Author's Note: I hope there is someone out there who is enjoying this. If you are please leave me some feedback. Let me know what you like and what you don't. Tell me what you think I should change or what I'm doing well. I'd especially like to know what you think of the characters and what direction I'm taking them. Thanks for reading all the same though.