Title: "Episode 83 & 1/2 - With A Little Help From My Friends".
Part: 03/12
Author: "A Gentleman Of Leisure".
Summary: There's a stranger in town and the world's about to end. Who you gonna call?
Story Type: In-Canon adventure set between Episodes 83 & 84 (hence the title).
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to Series 5, Episode 83 (of course).
Pairing: In-Canon
Disclaimer: In the beginning there was Joss. And Joss said "Let there be Buffy". And there was Buffy. And it was the morning and the evening of the first episode. And lo, Joss saw that it was good. (All copyrights and trademarks acknowledged - it's all just a bit of fun, folks. Thank you.)
Author's Note: I'm a British writer, so there may be some terms (and spelling) not used in the US. OK? Now read on...
*
Part Three - 'Heroes And Villains' - the Beach Boys.
The stranger nodded to Buffy.
"I see you had no trouble after we met, Miss Summers. Did you kill any more vampires?"
"No. It was a bit odd, that. I didn't see another one all night after you..." Buffy thought for a second, choosing the right word "...disappeared. And I didn't hear you leave".
"No, people don't, usually. Or arrive", the man added cryptically. "But that's one of your trademarks too, isn't it - Slayer? Softly, softly?"
"One of them, sometimes", Buffy acknowledged.
"The other one is leaving lots of little piles of dust behind", Willow said.
"And sometimes broken furniture", Xander added brightly.
"That's my big sister - Destructo Girl", Dawn said.
"Well, people have insurance, don't they?" Buffy protested. "I help the economy of the town, by boosting sales of new and improved furniture".
"Hopefully less breakable", Xander commented.
The stranger looked round the shop with interest, at all the esoteric herbs and other less savoury ingredients in glass jars, the magical objects stored on the shelves and in the drawers and cupboards behind the counter, and the things on display where customers could pick them up and handle them before deciding whether or not to buy, and he nodded to himself, as if the short cross-talk act had passed him by unnoticed. He looked at each of them in turn - Buffy herself, Giles, Willow, Xander, Anya and Dawn. He looked longest at Dawn. Then he turned back to Buffy and Giles.
"I am Michael", he said and put out his hand to Giles, who shook it politely. He looked enquiringly at Buffy, as if to say 'Shall I shake hands with you too?' She just waggled a few fingers at him - these British habits were too formal for her taste.
"Are you looking for something in particular, er Michael?" Giles said. "We have the best stocks of magical materials in Sunnydale".
"In the whole of Southern California", Anya told him proudly. "And if we haven't got it, we can get it for you in forty eight hours, guaranteed".
"Well, almost", Giles added cautiously.
"Thank you", Michael said. "Really I'm looking for two things. One is your help. As you see, I know who you are and what you do, Buffy Ann Summers. That's why I'm here. I need your skills and knowledge, and that of your two witch friends in particular".
"Hey, the rest of the Scooby Gang is here to back them up as well. Don't forget us", Xander protested.
"Ah yes. 'They also serve...' Thank you, Xander. You're right - I shall need the help of all of you".
"Hey, does that include me?" Dawn demanded. "I'm not just the Slayer's annoying bratty little sister, you know. I'm not too young to help".
Michael smiled at her.
"Thank you, Dawn, but you're very young, yet. I don't want to put you in danger".
"Danger? Goody. Danger is our middle name. Bring it on, Michael", Xander said, rubbing his hands. "It's what we do best. We stare danger in the face, and give it a bloody nose".
"If it doesn't give you one first, Xander", said Anya. "I want you in one piece, with your nose still pointing forwards instead of signalling a left turn".
"Can you tell us what you want our help for, first of all?" Giles asked.
"I'll tell you what I'm looking for, first. It's why I need the help of you, Mr. Giles, you too Willow, and your friend Tara. It will take your particular abilities to find what I need".
He paused, as if waiting until he was sure he had their complete attention.
"I am looking for a magical weapon called the 'Hasta Longinorum'".
They all looked at him blankly, except for Giles who frowned. After a moment a slightly surprised expression came over him.
"The 'Spear of Longinus'? Are you serious? Does it really still exist?" he said.
Michael looked at him and merely nodded.
"But I thought it was just a myth, that it had been lost nearly two thousand years ago".
"Oh, it exists. I've been looking for it for a very long time, many years, and I've finally discovered that it wasn't really lost at all, just hidden. 'Not lost, but gone before' if you like. It's taken me decades to find out where it is, but now I have, and only just in time".
"Hey, Slayer here!" Buffy interrupted, a little ticked off at being talked across like a small child. "What is this magical thingy, and why do you need it? What's it for? Why do you need us? Why do you want us to help you get it?"
"One thing at a time, Buffy. Give the man a chance to explain. What it is, or at least was", Giles said slowly, "is the spear belonging to the Roman Centurion who was at the Crucifixion. It's a religious relic nearly as precious as the Holy Grail itself. If it does actually still exist, it would be the most potent magical weapon imaginable, in the whole world even!"
"So", said Willow thoughtfully, "what do you need it for, this magical weapon?"
"It must be something pretty damned serious", Buffy said. "So what is it? Save the world? Again? This isn't Smallville you know, it's Sunnydale - Hellmouth Central. Been there, done that! Lots", she added, and she yawned like a cat, as if to say 'why should we believe or trust you?'
"The world, yes I know you have, and more than once. I know all about your struggle with The Master, for instance. But what I have to do is slightly more difficult, and I cannot do it without help. I have to save this Universe", Michael said simply.
"Hey, we know all about the different sorts of universes and dimensions", Buffy replied confidently, "- the demon dimensions, alternate and parallel worlds and all that stuff. Nothing to them we couldn't handle. What's so special about saving the Universe?"
"Wait just a minute, Buffy! He said _this_ Universe". It was Willow. "I've been keeping up with reading about science as well as Magic. I still have my subscription to Scientific American, you know. There are theories that there is more than one actual Universe - not just parallel to this, or alternate variations of this one (like we've already experienced), but each one completely self-contained and separate, so that they have nothing at all to do with this one or any other. They might even have different laws of physics, or maybe time runs in a different direction. They don't have any contact or influence on each other at all. Is that what you're talking about, Michael?"
He nodded, and she continued.
"So you mean something big's going to happen between this Universe we're in, and another one we shouldn't normally be able to have anything to do with ever, no access of any sort, even by magic?"
"You have it, Willow. You've hit the nail right on the head".
"Why should we believe you?" Buffy demanded.
"Let's hear the whole story first, Buffy", Giles said quietly. "Give him a chance to explain. So, Michael, what do you say is going to happen between this Universe and the other one?"
"Will it be a great big cosmic explosion like matter and antimatter meeting - mutual annihilation and general 'ceasing to be'?" Willow asked excitedly.
Michael smiled at her description.
"Yes, near enough at the end, but not all at once. First something else is going to happen - a hole will open between the two normally mutually inaccessible universes. And when that happens, the other universe will start to suck this one into itself".
"So they'll merge, right? Then wouldn't it just expand some more, like the Inflation phase after the original Big Bang?" Willow asked. "Rather like an infinitely large balloon?"
"Yes, precisely so. It would absorb every particle of this Universe - but they'd all be mixed up inextricably with the material of the other universe and completely randomised. It would mean the end of everything in this universe.
"There would be no life at all - nothing left. No more intelligence, no stars, not even any dust, just an amorphous continuum with no form at all, not even atoms, just the basic particles which had once been the components of atoms. In merging, both the other universe and yours would be destroyed - utterly and completely and for ever".
"Wouldn't the remains evolve into a new universe eventually?" Willow asked, but Michael slowly shook his head.
"All gone?" a little sadly.
"Yes, Willow, as if it had never been".
"So we have to stop it, then", Willow said firmly.
"Ah, at last something I can understand", said Buffy, who was feeling she'd been left rather far behind by the short session of high level theoretical quantum cosmology. "So how do we do that? Do we have to close the hole? 'She's got the needle and she can sew'? This spear is like a needle, right? And we use it to shut the entrance somehow?"
Michael looked a little confused by her musical quotation.
"First we have to vanquish the inhabitant of that Universe".
"What, just the one?" Buffy asked drily.
"Then we close the hole" Michael continued, ignoring her comment, "and for that our time will be very limited. The only thing in our favour is that our Universe is far more stable than the other, and the inertia of ours will have to be overcome before it will succumb totally to the other's influence".
"Does this creature, this inhabitant, have a name then?" Giles asked.
"We know it as the 'D'yah Ba'Wuk'".
Giles frowned. "It sounds vaguely familiar, I'm sure. Let me just see if I can find it in one of my books".
"I'm afraid you would be wasting your time - it's not there", Michael told him, and Giles looked very surprised.
"Wait a minute. How do you know that?" he said, but Michael ignored the question and continued.
"Beyond its name very little is known about it", he said. "I don't even know what it looks like, let alone if it's even capable of being seen by your normal human eyes. You have to understand that other universes can have completely different rules of existence, different physical laws as Willow said. Nothing you are familiar with necessarily applies".
"Oh terrif! So we're going to be fighting an invisible monster with unknown powers? Just what we need", Buffy grumbled. "As if we didn't have enough problems already".
"So how long will we have - I mean, to do the deed?" Willow asked, rather more practically.
"And when does all this start?" Xander said.
"And where? Oh, silly me, it's here of course, isn't it? It's always flaming well here!" said another oh-so-familiar English voice from behind them.
Buffy spun round.
"Spike, who let you in? Go away, now is not a good time!"
"Hey, hey, Slayer. When is it ever a good time? By the sound of things you are going to need every bloody bit of help you can get. Oh and by the way, have you looked outside recently?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Spike? We're busy here!" Buffy said angrily.
"Yes, yes, I know. I heard - 'the end of the Universe as we know it'. Big deal. First things first, Slayer. Haven't you noticed? The sun is down, the moon is blue, and the streets are alive with the sound of vampires!"
"What?" Xander jumped up and rushed to the front door to have a look outside. Buffy too jumped to her feet and immediately headed for the back room where the weapons were kept.
A moment later there was a sudden crash and she came flying back into the shop again, head over heels, followed by a crowd of the ugliest, palest vamps anyone could ever remember seeing. At the same time the street door burst open with a smashing of glass, and another crowd of un-people who were definitely not prospective customers charged in, knocking poor Xander flat.
Instantly all was pandemonium as each of the Scoobies grabbed the nearest object, sharp or blunt, and set about them. The sound of breaking jars and splintering wood filled the air, mingled with the shouts of the combatants.
Dawn and Willow beat a strategic retreat - they dived under the table, from where they could contribute to the melee in relative safety by tripping up passing intruders.
Buffy produced her favourite stake from somewhere on her skimpily clad person, and a spare one for her other hand, and attacked the uninvited guests with gusto.
Anya and Xander each seized something heavy from his carpentry toolkit and laid about their attackers. Xander soon discovered that a saw, if wielded aggressively enough, could make vampires just as nervous as living people. Losing your head can be equally terminal whether you're alive or undead!
And above the row, even as he hacked and slashed to-and-fro with a small double-bladed axe he kept under the counter, strictly for emergencies like this of course, Giles could be heard bewailing the destruction of his stock.
"Didn't you fill in that insurance form I gave you?" Anya shouted across the room, as she impaled one vamp on a broken chair leg, and vigorously kicked another towards the nearest person who also had something sharp and wooden with which to finish it off.
"I never got around to it. We've been so busy this last week that I forgot! Take that you business wrecker!" he added and swung his axe enthusiastically at another whey-faced member of the undead.
"Hey, not me, Mister. I'm on your side!" they heard Spike complain, as he merrily joined in the slaughter of his fellow vampires.
"Sorry!" Michael's English accent could be clearly heard through the hubbub.
Flashes of blue and purple lightening streamed out of the far end of the shop where Willow and Dawn were now backed into a corner, Willow bravely shielding the younger girl behind her as she intoned the words of a spell to keep the enemy at bay with blasts of magical fire. Dawn was fending off any vamps that got within reach with the sharp point of a broken wooden broom handle, screaming insults at them all the time at the top of her voice.
"You call those teeth? I've seen better teeth on an Barbie doll! Chew on this, you blood sucker! I hope it gives you terminal indigestion!"
Buffy meanwhile hurtled here and there round the shop, wielding Mr. Pointy to great effect, and the dust was gathering in the air from her slaying, but it was Michael's dark sword that was doing most damage. Snicker-snack, the blade sliced to-and-fro, and at nearly every other slash a vampire bit the dust, or rather contributed to the thickening cloud now rapidly filling the shop.
Then all at once things came to a stop, and it suddenly went quiet. By now the air was so thick with dust that the members of the Scooby Gang could hardly see each other, and there was no one left to fight. The only vampire left was one who had short blond hair and wore a long black coat.
"Open the shop door someone", an invisible Giles called from somewhere deep within the dust cloud.
"What door, Giles?" Xander asked from somewhere else. "I think the survivors took it with them in friendly bite-sized pieces for souvenirs".
"Destructive bastards!" came the muffled reply. "There's nothing I hate more than dead people who come in, break up the place, and leave without paying!"
The dust began to billow out into the street, which was now curiously empty.
Somebody sneezed.
"Bless you!"
So did somebody else. Vague figures started to become visible again.
"Everyone OK?"
"It's just a scratch. I've had worse putting up shelves".
"Spike, what the hell was that all about?"
"Wow, Willow, we really kicked some butt, didn't we?"
"Cup of tea anyone?"
End Of Part Three. To Be Continued...
Part: 03/12
Author: "A Gentleman Of Leisure".
Summary: There's a stranger in town and the world's about to end. Who you gonna call?
Story Type: In-Canon adventure set between Episodes 83 & 84 (hence the title).
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to Series 5, Episode 83 (of course).
Pairing: In-Canon
Disclaimer: In the beginning there was Joss. And Joss said "Let there be Buffy". And there was Buffy. And it was the morning and the evening of the first episode. And lo, Joss saw that it was good. (All copyrights and trademarks acknowledged - it's all just a bit of fun, folks. Thank you.)
Author's Note: I'm a British writer, so there may be some terms (and spelling) not used in the US. OK? Now read on...
*
Part Three - 'Heroes And Villains' - the Beach Boys.
The stranger nodded to Buffy.
"I see you had no trouble after we met, Miss Summers. Did you kill any more vampires?"
"No. It was a bit odd, that. I didn't see another one all night after you..." Buffy thought for a second, choosing the right word "...disappeared. And I didn't hear you leave".
"No, people don't, usually. Or arrive", the man added cryptically. "But that's one of your trademarks too, isn't it - Slayer? Softly, softly?"
"One of them, sometimes", Buffy acknowledged.
"The other one is leaving lots of little piles of dust behind", Willow said.
"And sometimes broken furniture", Xander added brightly.
"That's my big sister - Destructo Girl", Dawn said.
"Well, people have insurance, don't they?" Buffy protested. "I help the economy of the town, by boosting sales of new and improved furniture".
"Hopefully less breakable", Xander commented.
The stranger looked round the shop with interest, at all the esoteric herbs and other less savoury ingredients in glass jars, the magical objects stored on the shelves and in the drawers and cupboards behind the counter, and the things on display where customers could pick them up and handle them before deciding whether or not to buy, and he nodded to himself, as if the short cross-talk act had passed him by unnoticed. He looked at each of them in turn - Buffy herself, Giles, Willow, Xander, Anya and Dawn. He looked longest at Dawn. Then he turned back to Buffy and Giles.
"I am Michael", he said and put out his hand to Giles, who shook it politely. He looked enquiringly at Buffy, as if to say 'Shall I shake hands with you too?' She just waggled a few fingers at him - these British habits were too formal for her taste.
"Are you looking for something in particular, er Michael?" Giles said. "We have the best stocks of magical materials in Sunnydale".
"In the whole of Southern California", Anya told him proudly. "And if we haven't got it, we can get it for you in forty eight hours, guaranteed".
"Well, almost", Giles added cautiously.
"Thank you", Michael said. "Really I'm looking for two things. One is your help. As you see, I know who you are and what you do, Buffy Ann Summers. That's why I'm here. I need your skills and knowledge, and that of your two witch friends in particular".
"Hey, the rest of the Scooby Gang is here to back them up as well. Don't forget us", Xander protested.
"Ah yes. 'They also serve...' Thank you, Xander. You're right - I shall need the help of all of you".
"Hey, does that include me?" Dawn demanded. "I'm not just the Slayer's annoying bratty little sister, you know. I'm not too young to help".
Michael smiled at her.
"Thank you, Dawn, but you're very young, yet. I don't want to put you in danger".
"Danger? Goody. Danger is our middle name. Bring it on, Michael", Xander said, rubbing his hands. "It's what we do best. We stare danger in the face, and give it a bloody nose".
"If it doesn't give you one first, Xander", said Anya. "I want you in one piece, with your nose still pointing forwards instead of signalling a left turn".
"Can you tell us what you want our help for, first of all?" Giles asked.
"I'll tell you what I'm looking for, first. It's why I need the help of you, Mr. Giles, you too Willow, and your friend Tara. It will take your particular abilities to find what I need".
He paused, as if waiting until he was sure he had their complete attention.
"I am looking for a magical weapon called the 'Hasta Longinorum'".
They all looked at him blankly, except for Giles who frowned. After a moment a slightly surprised expression came over him.
"The 'Spear of Longinus'? Are you serious? Does it really still exist?" he said.
Michael looked at him and merely nodded.
"But I thought it was just a myth, that it had been lost nearly two thousand years ago".
"Oh, it exists. I've been looking for it for a very long time, many years, and I've finally discovered that it wasn't really lost at all, just hidden. 'Not lost, but gone before' if you like. It's taken me decades to find out where it is, but now I have, and only just in time".
"Hey, Slayer here!" Buffy interrupted, a little ticked off at being talked across like a small child. "What is this magical thingy, and why do you need it? What's it for? Why do you need us? Why do you want us to help you get it?"
"One thing at a time, Buffy. Give the man a chance to explain. What it is, or at least was", Giles said slowly, "is the spear belonging to the Roman Centurion who was at the Crucifixion. It's a religious relic nearly as precious as the Holy Grail itself. If it does actually still exist, it would be the most potent magical weapon imaginable, in the whole world even!"
"So", said Willow thoughtfully, "what do you need it for, this magical weapon?"
"It must be something pretty damned serious", Buffy said. "So what is it? Save the world? Again? This isn't Smallville you know, it's Sunnydale - Hellmouth Central. Been there, done that! Lots", she added, and she yawned like a cat, as if to say 'why should we believe or trust you?'
"The world, yes I know you have, and more than once. I know all about your struggle with The Master, for instance. But what I have to do is slightly more difficult, and I cannot do it without help. I have to save this Universe", Michael said simply.
"Hey, we know all about the different sorts of universes and dimensions", Buffy replied confidently, "- the demon dimensions, alternate and parallel worlds and all that stuff. Nothing to them we couldn't handle. What's so special about saving the Universe?"
"Wait just a minute, Buffy! He said _this_ Universe". It was Willow. "I've been keeping up with reading about science as well as Magic. I still have my subscription to Scientific American, you know. There are theories that there is more than one actual Universe - not just parallel to this, or alternate variations of this one (like we've already experienced), but each one completely self-contained and separate, so that they have nothing at all to do with this one or any other. They might even have different laws of physics, or maybe time runs in a different direction. They don't have any contact or influence on each other at all. Is that what you're talking about, Michael?"
He nodded, and she continued.
"So you mean something big's going to happen between this Universe we're in, and another one we shouldn't normally be able to have anything to do with ever, no access of any sort, even by magic?"
"You have it, Willow. You've hit the nail right on the head".
"Why should we believe you?" Buffy demanded.
"Let's hear the whole story first, Buffy", Giles said quietly. "Give him a chance to explain. So, Michael, what do you say is going to happen between this Universe and the other one?"
"Will it be a great big cosmic explosion like matter and antimatter meeting - mutual annihilation and general 'ceasing to be'?" Willow asked excitedly.
Michael smiled at her description.
"Yes, near enough at the end, but not all at once. First something else is going to happen - a hole will open between the two normally mutually inaccessible universes. And when that happens, the other universe will start to suck this one into itself".
"So they'll merge, right? Then wouldn't it just expand some more, like the Inflation phase after the original Big Bang?" Willow asked. "Rather like an infinitely large balloon?"
"Yes, precisely so. It would absorb every particle of this Universe - but they'd all be mixed up inextricably with the material of the other universe and completely randomised. It would mean the end of everything in this universe.
"There would be no life at all - nothing left. No more intelligence, no stars, not even any dust, just an amorphous continuum with no form at all, not even atoms, just the basic particles which had once been the components of atoms. In merging, both the other universe and yours would be destroyed - utterly and completely and for ever".
"Wouldn't the remains evolve into a new universe eventually?" Willow asked, but Michael slowly shook his head.
"All gone?" a little sadly.
"Yes, Willow, as if it had never been".
"So we have to stop it, then", Willow said firmly.
"Ah, at last something I can understand", said Buffy, who was feeling she'd been left rather far behind by the short session of high level theoretical quantum cosmology. "So how do we do that? Do we have to close the hole? 'She's got the needle and she can sew'? This spear is like a needle, right? And we use it to shut the entrance somehow?"
Michael looked a little confused by her musical quotation.
"First we have to vanquish the inhabitant of that Universe".
"What, just the one?" Buffy asked drily.
"Then we close the hole" Michael continued, ignoring her comment, "and for that our time will be very limited. The only thing in our favour is that our Universe is far more stable than the other, and the inertia of ours will have to be overcome before it will succumb totally to the other's influence".
"Does this creature, this inhabitant, have a name then?" Giles asked.
"We know it as the 'D'yah Ba'Wuk'".
Giles frowned. "It sounds vaguely familiar, I'm sure. Let me just see if I can find it in one of my books".
"I'm afraid you would be wasting your time - it's not there", Michael told him, and Giles looked very surprised.
"Wait a minute. How do you know that?" he said, but Michael ignored the question and continued.
"Beyond its name very little is known about it", he said. "I don't even know what it looks like, let alone if it's even capable of being seen by your normal human eyes. You have to understand that other universes can have completely different rules of existence, different physical laws as Willow said. Nothing you are familiar with necessarily applies".
"Oh terrif! So we're going to be fighting an invisible monster with unknown powers? Just what we need", Buffy grumbled. "As if we didn't have enough problems already".
"So how long will we have - I mean, to do the deed?" Willow asked, rather more practically.
"And when does all this start?" Xander said.
"And where? Oh, silly me, it's here of course, isn't it? It's always flaming well here!" said another oh-so-familiar English voice from behind them.
Buffy spun round.
"Spike, who let you in? Go away, now is not a good time!"
"Hey, hey, Slayer. When is it ever a good time? By the sound of things you are going to need every bloody bit of help you can get. Oh and by the way, have you looked outside recently?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Spike? We're busy here!" Buffy said angrily.
"Yes, yes, I know. I heard - 'the end of the Universe as we know it'. Big deal. First things first, Slayer. Haven't you noticed? The sun is down, the moon is blue, and the streets are alive with the sound of vampires!"
"What?" Xander jumped up and rushed to the front door to have a look outside. Buffy too jumped to her feet and immediately headed for the back room where the weapons were kept.
A moment later there was a sudden crash and she came flying back into the shop again, head over heels, followed by a crowd of the ugliest, palest vamps anyone could ever remember seeing. At the same time the street door burst open with a smashing of glass, and another crowd of un-people who were definitely not prospective customers charged in, knocking poor Xander flat.
Instantly all was pandemonium as each of the Scoobies grabbed the nearest object, sharp or blunt, and set about them. The sound of breaking jars and splintering wood filled the air, mingled with the shouts of the combatants.
Dawn and Willow beat a strategic retreat - they dived under the table, from where they could contribute to the melee in relative safety by tripping up passing intruders.
Buffy produced her favourite stake from somewhere on her skimpily clad person, and a spare one for her other hand, and attacked the uninvited guests with gusto.
Anya and Xander each seized something heavy from his carpentry toolkit and laid about their attackers. Xander soon discovered that a saw, if wielded aggressively enough, could make vampires just as nervous as living people. Losing your head can be equally terminal whether you're alive or undead!
And above the row, even as he hacked and slashed to-and-fro with a small double-bladed axe he kept under the counter, strictly for emergencies like this of course, Giles could be heard bewailing the destruction of his stock.
"Didn't you fill in that insurance form I gave you?" Anya shouted across the room, as she impaled one vamp on a broken chair leg, and vigorously kicked another towards the nearest person who also had something sharp and wooden with which to finish it off.
"I never got around to it. We've been so busy this last week that I forgot! Take that you business wrecker!" he added and swung his axe enthusiastically at another whey-faced member of the undead.
"Hey, not me, Mister. I'm on your side!" they heard Spike complain, as he merrily joined in the slaughter of his fellow vampires.
"Sorry!" Michael's English accent could be clearly heard through the hubbub.
Flashes of blue and purple lightening streamed out of the far end of the shop where Willow and Dawn were now backed into a corner, Willow bravely shielding the younger girl behind her as she intoned the words of a spell to keep the enemy at bay with blasts of magical fire. Dawn was fending off any vamps that got within reach with the sharp point of a broken wooden broom handle, screaming insults at them all the time at the top of her voice.
"You call those teeth? I've seen better teeth on an Barbie doll! Chew on this, you blood sucker! I hope it gives you terminal indigestion!"
Buffy meanwhile hurtled here and there round the shop, wielding Mr. Pointy to great effect, and the dust was gathering in the air from her slaying, but it was Michael's dark sword that was doing most damage. Snicker-snack, the blade sliced to-and-fro, and at nearly every other slash a vampire bit the dust, or rather contributed to the thickening cloud now rapidly filling the shop.
Then all at once things came to a stop, and it suddenly went quiet. By now the air was so thick with dust that the members of the Scooby Gang could hardly see each other, and there was no one left to fight. The only vampire left was one who had short blond hair and wore a long black coat.
"Open the shop door someone", an invisible Giles called from somewhere deep within the dust cloud.
"What door, Giles?" Xander asked from somewhere else. "I think the survivors took it with them in friendly bite-sized pieces for souvenirs".
"Destructive bastards!" came the muffled reply. "There's nothing I hate more than dead people who come in, break up the place, and leave without paying!"
The dust began to billow out into the street, which was now curiously empty.
Somebody sneezed.
"Bless you!"
So did somebody else. Vague figures started to become visible again.
"Everyone OK?"
"It's just a scratch. I've had worse putting up shelves".
"Spike, what the hell was that all about?"
"Wow, Willow, we really kicked some butt, didn't we?"
"Cup of tea anyone?"
End Of Part Three. To Be Continued...
