A/N: Before we begin, I just want to say a few things. First of all, I want to give a huge thank you to all of you who have stuck with this story even though I was not at my best when it came to updating. Second, as this story is nearing the end, I want to make it clear that THERE WILL BE NO SEQUEL. It has been a lot of fun, but all good things must come to an end. If you had even marginally been following my author notes and the note updates in my member profile page, you will have some idea what I am going through in my life right now. Some days, it's so bad that I am tempted to jam a pickaxe down my throat. I really do not need the added stress of writing yet another multi-chapter story. Genetics and my politics classes are more than enough for any sane person, thanks. Maybe I will write one someday, but if I do, I'll make darn well sure that it's finished before I even think about posting. No more of this three months between updates crap, which I am very sorry about, by the way.
This chapter is for X-Lander, who seems to have become my personal cheerleader for this story. :) Thanks. I really do appreciate it. Now on to the fic!
The Web of Our Life: Part V
By Gaeriel Mallory
"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together." -- Shakespeare, Twelfth-Night, IV, iii, 83
Spider-man let go of his webline and landed on the side of the hotel. It was towards the end of his patrol and he was looking forward to sitting down to dinner with MJ. But before settling in for a night of domestic bliss, he wanted to check in on the Slayer.
Inside, he saw Giles pacing around the room, phone in hand looking extremely agitated. Spider-man knocked on the window and waved at the Brit when he looked up, a bit startled.
Giles sighed and walked over, unlocking the window and opening it without letting up on his conversation. "Look in the Mayler text. The big leather bound one. The other big leather bound one. No, not the Jendling, the Mayler. Oh, for God's sake, Spike! It's the one that says 'Mayler' on the side in Greek!" He waved Spider-man towards the chair as he groaned. "Oh, of course," he said sarcastically. "And while we're waiting for the Council to get back to me, the world's going to end!" Taking off his glasses and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he sighed. "Never mind, Spike. Thank you. Call me when you've found something." He hung the phone back onto the hook and turned to the webcrawler. "Spider-man. I didn't expect to see you again."
Spider-man shrugged. "I came by to see how the world-saving was going."
Giles plopped down in the other chair in the room and stared at the hero. "I won't lie to you. It's going abysmally. We're missing one person already and the team that was going to rescue her is late checking in."
"Anything I can help you with?"
Giles pursed his lips. "Possibly. Right now, every one of the X-men is missing except for Jean. Don't suppose you're willing to go with her to give her some backup?"
Under his mask, Peter chewed his lip. He had promised Mary Jane that he would be home for dinner that night. He sighed. It would not be the first time that he had reneged on a promise in order to fight some madmen--and it would not be the last, either. "I have some stuff to pick up first but I'll be back her in about an hour," he told the Watcher.
Giles nodded. "That should be fine. If you can get back here sooner, though..."
"I'll try." He swung out the window again, heading for Frank, the gargoyle that he regularly used as a perch to survey the city. He had stashed the vampire fighting tools that Whistler had given him there.
He swung the duffel bag over his shoulder and looked over at the stone statue. "Well, wish me luck, old buddy. I'm going to need it."
The gargoyle, as usual, stayed silent and Spider-man swung out over the city, keeping an eye out for a pay phone so that he could call Mary Jane and tell her that he would not be home for dinner.
* * *
Jean finished pulling on her uniform, adjusting her gloves. There was a knock on the door and she called out, "Come in."
"You know, you really shouldn't do that."
Jean turned around, putting her hair back in a ponytail. "Do what, Dawn?"
"Just invite people in. If I were a vampire, you would have basically given me free run of your room."
Jean smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." She tucked a last few strands of hair back behind her ears. "So what can I do for you?"
"You're going to find Buffy, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"I want to come," Dawn blurted out. "She's my sister, and they're my friends, and I should have a chance to go find her."
Jean sighed and sat down on the bed so that she was facing the girl. "Dawn, I understand where you're coming from this, but what can you do to help?"
"I can do plenty! I can do magic--"
"And these people are looking for witches, remember? If they get their hands on you, we'll be worse off than before."
"I can fight some. Buffy's been teaching me." Dawn raised her chin and looked at Jean resolutely.
"Dawn..." Jean let her voice trail off and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I can't let anything happen to you. Your sister would kill me." She looked Dawn in the eye. "And I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, either. You're Scott's family, which makes you my family."
Dawn's lower lip quivered and she sighed. Jean pulled her into a hug. "Just," Dawn whispered, "just bring her back, okay?"
"You got it, kiddo."
* * *
Spider-man swung with Jean in one arm. Every so often, Jean would tell him to readjust the direction he was heading, but for the most part, the two stayed quiet.
The two landed on the roof of the warehouse next to the one they were targeting. "What now?" he asked her.
Jean closed her eyes and concentrated. "I feel them there, they're unconscious. But there are also others there: one human, one vampire, and one...one that's not quite either." Her face wrinkled up in puzzlement.
Despite himself, he felt himself smiling. "Don't worry. They're friends of mine."
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. "Logan! He's awake, and he sees your friends as the enemy. We have to get over there before anything happens."
* * *
Logan woke to voices talking. His head hurt and he realized that he was lying on a cold cement floor. He stifled a groan when he heard unfamiliar voices talking. Sniffing the air, he bared his teeth. He smelled vampires.
He opened his eyes slowly and saw three unfamiliar figures standing in a corner talking softly amongst themselves. Buffy and Willow lay unconscious (or dead, a part of his mind nagged him) near the three.
Stifling a growl, he lunged to his feet and released his claws before throwing himself at the largest of the three, a black man dressed in a leather jacket.
* * *
Standing in front of him, Cat's eyes widened. "Blade, look out!" she cried out.
He turned around and managed to catch the wrists of the man hurtling towards him, just managing to keep the metal claws coming from his hands from impaling him. Blade grunted and kicked the stranger in the stomach so that he was thrown back several feet.
Faster than Blade had though possible, the man regained his balance and took a fighter's stance, his claws at the ready.
"We're on your side!" Morbius yelled at the man.
The man's lips lifted in a sneer. "Like I'd believe that, vampire." He charged and ducked under Blade's arm and swiped his claws.
The Daywalker managed to avoid being cut himself, but the side of his jacket was shredded. He growled and pulled out his laser gun out of its holster. As he was about to shoot, he felt arms grab him.
"No, Blade!" Morbius shouted as he wrestled the gun away from his partner.
Cat moved towards the strange man, her hands out in front of her. "Look, I know how this must look to you, but we really are on your side. We came in just as the vampires were about to pull the Slayer and her friend down there." She gestured towards the tunnel.
"How do you know that she's the Slayer?" he asked, his claws still pointed towards the trio.
"We're friends of Spider-man's. He introduced us. We're vampire hunters ourselves."
"Vampires hunting vampires?" He snarled. "Pull the other one." He was about to leap at them again when a voice stopped him.
"Logan!" Jean appeared through the doorway. "Stop!"
"Jeannie?" The man, Logan turned around and sheathed his claws back into his hands. Blade stared. Did that hurt?
"They're the good guys." A second figure appeared behind Jean: New York's resident wall-crawler.
* * *
Jean gently woke up the others with a mental nudge. Buffy was the first to wake. She groaned and levered herself up on her arms. "Anyone get the plate of that truck?" she asked.
Cat helped her to stand. "You all right?"
Buffy nodded as she regained her balance. "Yeah. Thanks." She looked around the empty warehouse in puzzlement. "What happened?"
"It was a trap," Logan said. "The vamps had the place gassed. You and Willow would have been hauled off and sacrificed."
Buffy frowned. "Wait. Why me? They needed three witches, not the blood of the Slayer or something like that."
"Maybe they thought you were Tara," Willow said groggily from her spot on the floor. "I mean, you both have blonde hair. There information might not have been fully accurate."
"Do you really want to bet on that, Red?" Logan asked. He turned towards the others. "You know, ever since this thing started, it's felt all wrong. Everything we've done, they've still always been one step ahead of us. We did a scrying to find this egg, it was a trap to nab Ororo. She then contacted us, we came to rescue her, and it was a trap to get Buffy and Willow."
"So the question is, just how are they getting their information?" Scott murmured.
"Got it in one." Logan looked around at the group. "So is one of us a traitor, or are they getting their info some other way?"
Buffy glared at Logan. "None of my friends would ever betray me."
"Not saying they are." Logan looked suspiciously at the three newcomers.
Cat bristled under his glare. "Now just wait a minute here--"
Scott cut her off. "This is getting us nowhere. Now for the moment, let's just assume that no one here is a traitor, so that means they're finding out what we're going to do either magically or technologically."
"Let's start from the beginning," Buffy said. "Will, just what did that prophecy say?"
Willow scrunched up her eyes in thought. "Um, something about worshipping and feeding the green the three of power." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. That's as close as I can remember."
Scott held up a hand for silence. "I'm talking to the Professor now. He's getting Giles to find it again... Okay. This is a translation. 'On the light of a full moon, two hundred and fifty years from the fall of the Peling, The Rising will come..."
* * *
"...and the mighty will fall," Giles read. "The green shall be worshipped with adulation and fed the blood of the triad of magic. And then He shall rise and bring destruction with Him, gorging on the souls of humanity."
He looked up from the book at Charles, his eyes wide. "Good lord. I just realized... Tell them to get out of there. All of them."
Charles briefly touched the other man's mind and images and thoughts passed into his. His breath caught and he gripped the armrests of his wheelchair.
* * *
Scott froze for a second before pointing towards the door. "Everyone out, now! There's no time to explain, just get out!"
Any who would have objected were pulled along by the X-men, who had learned to follow Scott's orders, especially when he had just been in contact with Xavier.
A figure dropped down in front of the doorway. "Is our hospitality not good enough for you?" he inquired. He tossed back the hood of his robe to reveal the demonic visage of a vampire.
* * *
Giles grabbed his jacket, berating himself as he gathered weapons. "How could I have been so stupid? It all makes sense now. "Triad of magic." Not three individuals," he told Xavier, "but three groups, all touched by magic."
Xavier steepled his fingers. "Buffy and her friends, my X-men, and the three vampire hunters?" He frowned. But how are the last two magic?"
"Not necessarily magic, but just touched by it enough that it rubbed off onto them. Fighting Glory took care of that for the X-men, and fighting vampires was more than enough for Spider-man's friends."
"So what can we do?"
"I'm going after them. Hopefully, I can get there in time. If not..." Giles's eyes grew hard. I'll kill that monster with my own two hands if I have to."
The phone rang and Giles picked it up. "Yes?" he answered quickly. "Wesley, you got my message?"
Xavier eavesdropped shamelessly.
"Fire to kill Grarrum? Well, that shouldn't be too hard. Oh. That much, huh?" Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, we'll figure something out. No, there's no reason for you to come out here. You wouldn't be able to get here in time anyway."
As Giles finished his conversation, Xavier sent a mental query to some of his students. When Giles had hung up the phone, he was startled to find Tara standing next to Xavier and three students -- he recognized them as Jubilee, Remy, and John. "Shouldn't you still be in bed?" he asked the blonde witch sternly. After the aborted scrying session, Tara had collapsed under the strain of the magics.
Tara smiled shyly at Giles. "I'm fine. A little tired, but fine. And besides, an adult will have to look after these children."
"Yes, as to that..." Giles turned towards the students. And what do you think you're doing?"
It was Jubilee that answered. "We promised Dawn we'd get her sister back. And the Prof told us that you need fire? Well, we three can give you all the fire and explosions you need."
The red-haired boy nodded and created a fireball in the palm of his hand. Tara looked over sharply. "John, not in the hotel."
"Sorry." He closed his hand and the flames disappeared.
Giles looked at the four earnest faces before him and turned to the other man. "You planned this," he accused.
Xavier's eyes twinkled. "Of course," he replied. "How else am I going to ensure that you bring my team back?"
Giles sighed and picked up his pack. "Well, come on then," he told the four.
* * *
Buffy glared at the vampire. "All right, I want answers," she demanded. "Who are you and how you do you trapping us?"
The vampire smiled nastily. "That would be telling. Too bad you had to figure it out so soon. I would have rathered you be like lambs to the slaughter." He chuckled and motioned with his hands. Lights illuminated the warehouse and the group instinctively backed together when they found themselves encircled by vampires.
Lots and lots of vampires.
The lead vampire held up his hand. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way. A pity." He let his hand fall and the army of vampires surged forward.
* * *
Giles exited the taxi, carrying his weapons bag with him. The driver looked at him in askance. "You sure you want to be left here, mac? It's not a safe place to be at night, especially for the kiddies." He looked at the three mutants that were getting out of the back seat with Tara. The four had managed to squeeze themselves into a space normally reserved for three.
"I'm quite sure, thank you." Giles handed the man a bill. "Keep the change," he told him. The driver drove off without another word.
The five surveyed the tow rows of warehouses that lined either side of the street. "Well," John asked. "Which one is it?"
Tara closed her eyes and pointed. "That one," she said.
Giles nodded and unzipped his bag. He pulled out an axe and handed it to Tara. "Think you can handle this?" he asked her.
The witch fingered the handle of the weapon nervously. "Are-are you sure? I mean, I'm better at magic than fighting."
"You'll be spell casting, yes, but with the number of vampires that I'm expecting, you'll also have to defend yourself." Giles pulled a larger axe for himself and placed several stakes on his person. He handed a stake to each of the students as well as a wooden cross. "Pierce them through the heart to kill them. Use the cross to repel them," he instructed.
The five set off towards the warehouse that Tara had pointed out.
* * *
"Okay, this isn't good," Willow whimpered.
"Understatement of the year, girlie," Blade muttered. He unsheathed his katana and beheaded the nearest vampire. Without even waiting for it to turn to dust, he turned towards another one.
Cat reached for a metal sphere from her belt and pressed a button. "Shield your eyes," she commanded as she threw it into the sea of vampires. A burst of light appeared and the vampires cried out in pain. Those nearest to the blast of synthetic sunlight turned to dust.
"Nice trick," Buffy commented. "Have any more of those?"
"Not very many," Cat replied.
"Well save them." Buffy pulled out a stake and dusted a vamp that tried to grab her. "We'll use them when we have to."
Around them, the battle waged. Over a hundred vampires against the ragtag group.
* * *
Jubilee settled her sunglasses on her nose. "Well, here goes nothing." She held out her hands and liquid plasma shot out, blowing the doors away, flattening the vampires closet to the doors.
Giles advanced and swiftly beheaded the vamps that were trapped under the doors. His eyes were cold as they surveyed the room, marking out the visible members of his side. He nodded towards the vampires that were charging at them. "Remy, if you would be so kind?"
Gambit grinned and fanned out a hand of playing cards, charging them with kinetic energy. He threw them into the fray and they exploded. "How dat?"
Giles nodded. "All right. Spread out and just do the best you can. Remember, fire is the quickest way to take out a large number of vampires at a time. You're all well equipped in that area." He gestured towards the blond witch. "Tara, you're with me."
They dispersed into the warzone.
* * *
Buffy dusted another vampire and realized that she was standing in the middle of a clear area. She took the chance for a breather. Looking over the warehouse, all she saw were vampires. "Where are they all coming from?" she wondered. For every one that she killed, it seemed like another two were there to take its place. She spotted Spider-man swinging in the air above and waved towards him.
The wallcrawler landed next to her.
"How you doing?" she asked him just before a vampire rushed her. She sidestepped him neatly and plunged the stake into his chest.
"Feeling a bit useless," the webslinger admitted. "I have this pack of vampire weapons but they don't work well in close quarters."
Buffy staked another vampire before tossing her stake to Spider-man. "Here, take this." She pulled another one from her backside. "You know how to use it?"
He nodded and dusted a vampire to demonstrate. "Thanks."
She flashed a quick smile. "Good luck," she called out before the crush of the vampires discouraged conversation.
* * *
Logan had lost count of how many he had beheaded. He had somehow teamed up with Scott and the two of them were fighting back to back. Scott let loose another beam, cutting a swath in the vampiric army.
"You doing okay, Cyke?" he grunted.
"Hanging in there." Scott blasted another wave of vampires to dust. Between the two of them, they had managed to keep the area around them relatively clear save for piles of dust.
Logan hoped the others were doing as well.
* * *
John concentrated and called down fireball upon fireball. The vampires near him screamed as they turned to dust.
John, he heard in his head. Can you expand the area? Make it so that the entire warehouse is bombarded?
He recognized the 'voice' of one of his professors. I can try, but won't I hit the others, too?
Jean answered, You create the fire and I'll manage the rest. Ready?
John nodded and closed his eyes. He imagined a wave of fire sweeping across the length of the building as he raised his hands and let the flames loose.
* * *
Jean was in a corner with Morbius and Cat protecting her. "Incoming," she warned them just before she stiffened and clutched at the wall. Her face was clenched in concentration. She carefully pinpointed the mind of everyone on her team and directed the fire away from them using her telekinesis.
The effort was brutal. She tried to block out the death screams of vampires as she focused on keeping her friends safe.
Suddenly, as quickly as it began, it was over. Jean opened her eyes to see a thick layer of dust on the floor. The X-men, Scoobies, and the three vampire hunters were all standing. She made sure of that before letting her knees give out under her. She was vaguely aware that Cat and Morbius had caught her before blackness claimed her.