Chapter 3: All About the Power
She recognizes the transformation quickly. At least that's what I think the gasp and awful moan she lets out means.
I quickly smother my body with hers. "Willow - listen to me. This is just a hex cast by that weak, stupid witch Amy. You can break it, sweetie. You have more than enough power."
Willow lets out a sob. "No... can't... he's coming back, he's so strong this time..."
"Yes, you can, Willow. You did it before."
Willow's body shakes and she tries to bury her head in the bed's pillows. "No! I can't!" She sobs again.
Crap. I'm going to have change strategies.
"You weak, worthless little girl," I snap. "I'm so ashamed of you."
Willow stops sobbing, and her body tenses up. That got her attention.
"You heard me. You're so pathetic, I can't believe it. A total loser. Oh yeah, and a junkie, too."
A low growl emerges from the bed. "What did you say?" she whispers.
"You heard me. What would your mom and dad say? Their perfect girl, a little loser junkie."
"Watch your mouth," Warren / Willow snaps.
"Oh yeah? If you really weren't a loser, you'd cut through this hex right now, like it was hot butter."
Warren / Willow growls at me, but she begins straining against the curse.
"That's it, that's it. Prove who you really are."
A few seconds later, her shape wavers, and she's back to being Willow. With solid dark red eyes.
Solid black means trouble. Having her hair turn black means big trouble. Having her veins swell and possibly break open means... well, we've all had an object lesson on what that means.
Dark red, however, I can work with. That precious balance between normal but weak, afraid Willow and powerful but out-of-control Willow. It's risky to maintain the balance for long, especially in a tough magic battle, but I don't have a choice. Amy must be dealt with.
"Willow, I'm sorry I had to do that," I say softly. She sneers.
"Listen to me. Do you know who just laid that curse on you?"
"Amy. That rat is after me again. Probably at the First's bidding."
I nod. "What do you think happened?"
"First probably appeared to her as Rack, maybe all stiff and crusty, maybe not. Told her about me. Told her I killed him. Told her what to do. And we all know she had a thing for being used by that piece of crap. 'Oh, Rack. Use me. Have me. Just give me some of that mojo. Please Racky, oh pleeze....' Little rat." She sneers.
I nod. "Can you locate her?"
She thinks for a second, then nods. "In a meeting of the same coven as last time. Amateur hour, trees and fluffy bunnies crew. She's secretly using their power to boost the hex."
"Can you teleport us there?"
She nods.
"Willow - we need to stop her. Before she does some real damage. Do you understand?"
She nods.
"One more thing - we need to avoid killing her if possible. We're going to need her. Besides, she is being controlled by the First."
"If you insist." She gives me a grin.
"Let's go."
There's a brief flash, and we're there. Showtime.
* * *
A few minutes later, we suddenly materialize in Buffy's living room. Us and a sobbing, quivering, half-conscious mass that is Amy.
The others look at us, shocked. Not at all surprising. Amy's in pretty bad shape, after all. "Dark... cold... burning... oh God..." is all she occasionally sobs.
Willow looks down at Amy, and lets out an "oh, Goddess" herself. She bolts up the stairs to her room, stumbling twice. Not good.
[Xander, go to her, no matter how much she protests.]
Xander just stares at me.
[There was a vicious magic fight with Amy. She won, but some heavy darkness came into play. She needs you. Now.]
A flash of understanding appears, and Xander dashes up the stairs after Willow. A little slow, but still a good boy.
The others just stare at Amy and me for a few seconds, before Buffy breaks the tension. "What the hell happened?" screams Buffy.
Time to act like the paragon of gung-ho-ness and naiveté they think I am. I show them a wide, excited smile.
"Guys, it was so cool! We were upstairs, um... you know, kissing..." some of the SITs giggle, "when suddenly, Willow started turning into that bad Warren guy again." Gasps. "But then a few seconds later, she pulled herself out of it." Relief. "She was pissed, though. Said it was Amy again, and that we had to stop her before she did any real damage. So you'll never guess what happened then." The SITs lean forward.
"Well, first her eyes turned all dark red and glowy. It was a little scary, you know, but it was, like so cool." The SITs are so caught up in this that they don't notice Buffy and Giles gasp. Good morning, lady and gentleman. Time for your wake up call.
"And then, suddenly, there was a big flash, and we were in this lecture hall..."
* * *
And indeed we were in a lecture hall. Same place, same coven as last time. Same ohming, umming, and discussing of bake sales as last time. Two differences, though. Willow looks like a girl, and Willow has dark red eyes.
Willow points at Amy. "Rat," she growls. "Little rat, I've come for you."
Amy jumps up from the coven's circle. The coven leader looks over at us, sharply. The rest of the girls cower.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Stay out of this," glowers Willow. "I've come for the rat."
"No. You will answer my question..." This could get messy, so I jump in.
"What my girl here means is that Amy, your prime example of magic-abuse recovery, isn't so recovered. She was the one who turned Willow into that man. And she just tried again. We're here to provide some more radical therapy."
The leader looks extremely annoyed, but does bother to glance over at Amy. "Is this true?"
Amy answers in the affirmative by throwing a fireball at Willow. The leader responds by shrieking.
Willow catches the fireball easily, bounces it up and down a few times, and then makes it fizzle. "Amy, Amy - is that really the best you can do?"
"I'm just getting warmed up," she sneers.
Willow turns to the other members of the coven. "This is between Amy and myself. The rest of you need to leave now."
They hesitate. I spur them on. "Girls, this is so far beyond your... screw it, just discuss the bake sale later. Go. Now."
They promptly run out of the lecture hall, leader included. Now we can get down to business. Amy promptly starts by throwing another fireball at Willow. This one's slightly stronger, but Willow catches and destroys it easily.
Amy starts to look concerned. That last fireball was closer to her maximum than she wants to admit. She conceals it with insults.
"Well, look who's here? Here for more fun? Here to give in to evil? Again?" She stops with the direct magic and instead propels a chair at Willow. The chair promptly explodes into sawdust about 5 feet away from the dark-eyed witch.
"Nope, we're here for you, little rat," says Willow. She crosses her arms. "Has anyone been talking to you lately, telling you things about me? You know, who was dead?"
Amy hisses at Willow. "Yes. The spirit of Rack came and visited me. He told me all about you. What you did. All of it. He told me - he told me I was really his favorite. He told me everything he wanted to do for me. Everything you took away." She throws another fireball at Willow.
Willow just deflects the fireball this time, meaning the university is going to have a very expensive repair bill for the gaping hole in the lecture hall's wall. She sighs. "Oh, waah. I know what he wanted to do. Except it wasn't for you. It was to you. Most of it would have involved you screaming and begging him to stop."
"You lie," Amy hisses. "You took it all away. But soon we'll be even. If I can't hurt you directly, I'll hurt your little pet instead." With that she throws a fireball at me.
Crap. Amy puts just about everything she has into this one. It's lethal. Which means I have to block it, which means showing my power. Fortunately, my split-second reverie comes to an end as the fireball explodes twenty feet away from me. Willow is taking no chances with my safety. She also doesn't seem to notice my eyes briefly flashing violet. That's good.
Willow's also clearly pissed. Her hair is starting to darken. That's less good. She manages to main control, though.
"Listen, little rat, the only reason I haven't sliced you in half is because Kennedy asked me not to. And this... is how you repay her?"
Amy just sneers. [We're still going to need her,] I think. Willow, nods grudgingly. She manages to remain in control.
"Kennedy still doesn't want me to kill you, which is very good for you." says Willow. She takes a deep breath. "So I'm going to say this one time only. Rack is still dead. What you saw was a manifestation of the First Evil, the biggest, baddest big bad of them all. It already tried to attack me, and failed. Now it's using your power to get to me."
Amy shrieks at this. "No. It's not true. You're the one trying to use your power on me. It's all about the power. So let's see how you handle this one." With that, she throws the most pumped fireball she can muster at Willow. Every bit of her energy goes into it. It makes an impressive display when it explodes harmlessly ten feet away from Willow.
Willow sighs. "So it's about power is it? Let me tell you something about power. It comes from more than the ability to throw fireballs. Power also comes from choice. From choosing not be used. Like me, for instance. You could decide as I have done, and choose not to be the First's bitch."
Amy is beginning to swoon noticeably, but she still manages to sneer. "What are you doing lecturing me about power? You're the one who's really weak. You're the one who gave into evil. You're the one who tried to destroy the world," she spits.
Right before being hit with a paralysis spell.
Willow lets out a terrible laugh. "Hey, now. You talk too much. Don't blame me for that whole burning the world thing. Not my fault the stupid humans can't figure out what they want. First one of their champions - Super Buffy - goes out of her way to try to kick my ass, which puts me in a majorly bad mood. Then Daddy - oops, I mean that mage Rupert Giles - and his coven buddies trick me into loading up on their dark magic, which puts me in touch with all the horrible suffering and agony on this planet. What's a girl to do but think the humans want me to take away their pain, and permanently? So I'm in the middle of giving them what they want, when they send a representative - Xander Harris, think you know him - to beg me not to do it. Something about a yellow crayon was involved. Whatever. If the humans want to continue stumbling around, that's their business. So I've changed my scene. I'll never try to waste a dimension again unless I'm damn sure that's what the inhabitants want."
Amy manages to shake slightly. Willow grins at her. "Besides, Amy, if you're so into death for people who threaten this world, does this mean you're going to blow your brains out after we're done here? I mean, you totally qualify. That hex the First had you cast on me was designed to make me go completely insane and destroy this world."
Amy manages to shake back and forth, which I interpret as meaning that she rejects Willow's argument. Too bad, since Willow is correct. But, there's no arguing with some people.
"Of course, I could just kill you now, you know," says Willow. "I mean, you are pretty bad news for a rat. Besides, you tried to get me to kill Kennedy, and you just tried to kill her now. Bad move. She's my Special K. You have no idea how much she means to me. We've been together for a very long time. Seen and done a lot together."
Amy manages to shake in a confused pattern. I'm incredibly touched. For a second, I allow my emotions to well up inside of me - and then I remember that I'm not sure I want her to remember this yet, even in her red-eyed version.
"Besides that, I've already seen her die before, right in front of me. Quite a shock. Went a little crazy after that," she grins. "I'm not going to see it again."
Oh, no. This part she needs to not remember. Fortunately, she's distracted by Amy, who has managed to wriggle out of the paralysis spell.
"You... evil... worm." she spits.
Willow chuckles. "You're just jealous... yes, that's it, isn't it? You're jealous aren't you, little rat? Don't deny it, I can hear your thoughts."
"So what if I am?" sputters Amy.
A twisted grin appears on Willow's face. "So you like magic, do you Amy? Want to have the power? Want to know what it feels like to be me, get the full experience?"
Amy says nothing, but Willow seems to pick out a thought.
"I thought so. Give them what they want, that's what I do." Willow lets out an awful laugh. "As you wish." With that, Willow fires what looks like a purple bolt of lighting at Amy.
Amy's eyes widen, and her face twists into the gaping, drooling smile of an addict who's just been fed the biggest dose of her entire life. "Oh... yes... power, so much power, I can feel it... I am it... wait, something's wrong... what the hell did you just do... it's burning, it's on fire... oh, God!..." And then she says nothing more besides an ear-splitting scream.
Willow smiles at Amy. "What's a matter, Amy? You just wanted to be me, to feel what I feel. So I gave you exactly what you wanted - the me experience, changed not in the least. Now you know what it's like to have all the power. What it's like for me, every second of every day."
Amy collapses to the ground. Her veins become visible, turn black, and begin to swell. Black oil oozes out of her nose and ears. Willow continues smiling.
"Willow, she's learned her lesson. You can turn it off now."
Willow turns her eyes to me, which have gotten noticeably darker, as has her hair. She gives me a "who, me?" look. "But she just wanted to be me. I'm just giving her what she wanted," she whines. "Besides, it's not like she's suffering anything I don't suffer. And I can't turn it off."
"Willow - you're much stronger than she is. She can't handle it."
Willow shrugs. "That will teach her then, won't it?"
"Willow - she will die unless you stop it. Please, stop it. For me."
Willow lets out an ostentatious sigh. "Whatever. I'm such a pushover, you know." She extends her hand, and a purple lightning bolt shoots from Amy back to Willow. Amy remains curled in a ball on the ground, but begins to moan and sob slightly.
I quickly walk over to Willow and embrace her. "I love you so much," I say, and kiss her. I feel her body softly shake next to mine, sense her eyes turn back to normal, and her hair become fully red. Super Buffy and Daddy Giles, take note.
She continues the kiss for a few seconds, then suddenly pulls away from me. She looks at the quivering heap that is Amy. "Oh, Goddess," she moans. I feel a wave of guilt and self-hatred coming from her.
Crap.
We need to get back to Buffy's house quickly. So we teleport into the living room - but using my power. Of course, I don't tell the SITs that detail.
* * *
There are, in fact, many details I don't tell in my expurgated, starry-eyed version of what happened. I tell them enough, though, to make the SITs wildly excited about mousy Willow totally kicking ass, and make Buffy, Dawn, and Giles sick to their stomach. It's also enough to make Buffy begin to feel guilty, and reinforce Giles's guilt.
Xander, who has no guilt in this matter, gets the full mental broadcast of what really happened, so he can try to help her. Slightly edited to take out the "Special K" part, of course.
"So yeah, it was really cool. And now, such a let down - but, well I really need to go the bathroom." The SITs giggle while Buffy, Dawn and Giles nod. Giles sends me a thought of the [I want the real story] variety, and I send him back a [yes, later].
I dash upstairs, leaving the SITs dreaming of great magic battles, and that someday, they too, will be able to kick major ass. That's nice. Now I have other priorities to attend to.
I rush into the bathroom, close the door, and begin listening to the conversation, both verbal and mental. It doesn't take me long to realize that something is very wrong. Xander tries to say something about "Kennedy," and Willow lashes back at him with "That's not her name! [how the hell do I know that? oh Goddess... no...]"
I can feel her losing it, losing control. So I don't even need to hear Xander say "Willow, honey - your hair, it's turning black, and you're kind of getting that all scary-veiny look again..."
I manage to cast a sound-dampening spell around the bedroom just in time to block an ear-splitting scream. I can sense Xander desperately thinking thoughts about yellow crayon stories. That's not going to work this time.
Oh, Goddess. Please let me be right.
I take a deep breath and charge into Willow's room. She's curled up in a ball, eyes jet black, hair black, veins turning black and swelling. Rivulets of black oil run out of her eyes, nose and ears.
"Willow, sweetie?"
Xander takes a quick breath. "See, Willow? Kennedy's here for you."
Willow glares at me. "You... you're not human... you were in that field, on that temple... how do I know that..."
"Willow, sweetie? Let's talk about this, okay?"
She cuts me off. "I know you. I... I'm still grieving for Tara, but you're already in my heart... And there's more... I have these visions... memories... of all this death and destruction... that I caused..."
I move towards her. "Get away from me!" she yells. "Who are you?"
I take a deep breath. It's time for the truth to come out. "My name is Prospexa, Willow."
She lets out a low whimper. "I knew that, but how... how do I know everything else...the memories, the killing, always the killing... oh Goddess..."
She lets out a sharp gasp. I feel a massive surge of dark energy inside her. Now it's really showtime.
The second she before she loses control, she lets out one final whisper.
"Who am I?"
* * *
To be continued...
She recognizes the transformation quickly. At least that's what I think the gasp and awful moan she lets out means.
I quickly smother my body with hers. "Willow - listen to me. This is just a hex cast by that weak, stupid witch Amy. You can break it, sweetie. You have more than enough power."
Willow lets out a sob. "No... can't... he's coming back, he's so strong this time..."
"Yes, you can, Willow. You did it before."
Willow's body shakes and she tries to bury her head in the bed's pillows. "No! I can't!" She sobs again.
Crap. I'm going to have change strategies.
"You weak, worthless little girl," I snap. "I'm so ashamed of you."
Willow stops sobbing, and her body tenses up. That got her attention.
"You heard me. You're so pathetic, I can't believe it. A total loser. Oh yeah, and a junkie, too."
A low growl emerges from the bed. "What did you say?" she whispers.
"You heard me. What would your mom and dad say? Their perfect girl, a little loser junkie."
"Watch your mouth," Warren / Willow snaps.
"Oh yeah? If you really weren't a loser, you'd cut through this hex right now, like it was hot butter."
Warren / Willow growls at me, but she begins straining against the curse.
"That's it, that's it. Prove who you really are."
A few seconds later, her shape wavers, and she's back to being Willow. With solid dark red eyes.
Solid black means trouble. Having her hair turn black means big trouble. Having her veins swell and possibly break open means... well, we've all had an object lesson on what that means.
Dark red, however, I can work with. That precious balance between normal but weak, afraid Willow and powerful but out-of-control Willow. It's risky to maintain the balance for long, especially in a tough magic battle, but I don't have a choice. Amy must be dealt with.
"Willow, I'm sorry I had to do that," I say softly. She sneers.
"Listen to me. Do you know who just laid that curse on you?"
"Amy. That rat is after me again. Probably at the First's bidding."
I nod. "What do you think happened?"
"First probably appeared to her as Rack, maybe all stiff and crusty, maybe not. Told her about me. Told her I killed him. Told her what to do. And we all know she had a thing for being used by that piece of crap. 'Oh, Rack. Use me. Have me. Just give me some of that mojo. Please Racky, oh pleeze....' Little rat." She sneers.
I nod. "Can you locate her?"
She thinks for a second, then nods. "In a meeting of the same coven as last time. Amateur hour, trees and fluffy bunnies crew. She's secretly using their power to boost the hex."
"Can you teleport us there?"
She nods.
"Willow - we need to stop her. Before she does some real damage. Do you understand?"
She nods.
"One more thing - we need to avoid killing her if possible. We're going to need her. Besides, she is being controlled by the First."
"If you insist." She gives me a grin.
"Let's go."
There's a brief flash, and we're there. Showtime.
* * *
A few minutes later, we suddenly materialize in Buffy's living room. Us and a sobbing, quivering, half-conscious mass that is Amy.
The others look at us, shocked. Not at all surprising. Amy's in pretty bad shape, after all. "Dark... cold... burning... oh God..." is all she occasionally sobs.
Willow looks down at Amy, and lets out an "oh, Goddess" herself. She bolts up the stairs to her room, stumbling twice. Not good.
[Xander, go to her, no matter how much she protests.]
Xander just stares at me.
[There was a vicious magic fight with Amy. She won, but some heavy darkness came into play. She needs you. Now.]
A flash of understanding appears, and Xander dashes up the stairs after Willow. A little slow, but still a good boy.
The others just stare at Amy and me for a few seconds, before Buffy breaks the tension. "What the hell happened?" screams Buffy.
Time to act like the paragon of gung-ho-ness and naiveté they think I am. I show them a wide, excited smile.
"Guys, it was so cool! We were upstairs, um... you know, kissing..." some of the SITs giggle, "when suddenly, Willow started turning into that bad Warren guy again." Gasps. "But then a few seconds later, she pulled herself out of it." Relief. "She was pissed, though. Said it was Amy again, and that we had to stop her before she did any real damage. So you'll never guess what happened then." The SITs lean forward.
"Well, first her eyes turned all dark red and glowy. It was a little scary, you know, but it was, like so cool." The SITs are so caught up in this that they don't notice Buffy and Giles gasp. Good morning, lady and gentleman. Time for your wake up call.
"And then, suddenly, there was a big flash, and we were in this lecture hall..."
* * *
And indeed we were in a lecture hall. Same place, same coven as last time. Same ohming, umming, and discussing of bake sales as last time. Two differences, though. Willow looks like a girl, and Willow has dark red eyes.
Willow points at Amy. "Rat," she growls. "Little rat, I've come for you."
Amy jumps up from the coven's circle. The coven leader looks over at us, sharply. The rest of the girls cower.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Stay out of this," glowers Willow. "I've come for the rat."
"No. You will answer my question..." This could get messy, so I jump in.
"What my girl here means is that Amy, your prime example of magic-abuse recovery, isn't so recovered. She was the one who turned Willow into that man. And she just tried again. We're here to provide some more radical therapy."
The leader looks extremely annoyed, but does bother to glance over at Amy. "Is this true?"
Amy answers in the affirmative by throwing a fireball at Willow. The leader responds by shrieking.
Willow catches the fireball easily, bounces it up and down a few times, and then makes it fizzle. "Amy, Amy - is that really the best you can do?"
"I'm just getting warmed up," she sneers.
Willow turns to the other members of the coven. "This is between Amy and myself. The rest of you need to leave now."
They hesitate. I spur them on. "Girls, this is so far beyond your... screw it, just discuss the bake sale later. Go. Now."
They promptly run out of the lecture hall, leader included. Now we can get down to business. Amy promptly starts by throwing another fireball at Willow. This one's slightly stronger, but Willow catches and destroys it easily.
Amy starts to look concerned. That last fireball was closer to her maximum than she wants to admit. She conceals it with insults.
"Well, look who's here? Here for more fun? Here to give in to evil? Again?" She stops with the direct magic and instead propels a chair at Willow. The chair promptly explodes into sawdust about 5 feet away from the dark-eyed witch.
"Nope, we're here for you, little rat," says Willow. She crosses her arms. "Has anyone been talking to you lately, telling you things about me? You know, who was dead?"
Amy hisses at Willow. "Yes. The spirit of Rack came and visited me. He told me all about you. What you did. All of it. He told me - he told me I was really his favorite. He told me everything he wanted to do for me. Everything you took away." She throws another fireball at Willow.
Willow just deflects the fireball this time, meaning the university is going to have a very expensive repair bill for the gaping hole in the lecture hall's wall. She sighs. "Oh, waah. I know what he wanted to do. Except it wasn't for you. It was to you. Most of it would have involved you screaming and begging him to stop."
"You lie," Amy hisses. "You took it all away. But soon we'll be even. If I can't hurt you directly, I'll hurt your little pet instead." With that she throws a fireball at me.
Crap. Amy puts just about everything she has into this one. It's lethal. Which means I have to block it, which means showing my power. Fortunately, my split-second reverie comes to an end as the fireball explodes twenty feet away from me. Willow is taking no chances with my safety. She also doesn't seem to notice my eyes briefly flashing violet. That's good.
Willow's also clearly pissed. Her hair is starting to darken. That's less good. She manages to main control, though.
"Listen, little rat, the only reason I haven't sliced you in half is because Kennedy asked me not to. And this... is how you repay her?"
Amy just sneers. [We're still going to need her,] I think. Willow, nods grudgingly. She manages to remain in control.
"Kennedy still doesn't want me to kill you, which is very good for you." says Willow. She takes a deep breath. "So I'm going to say this one time only. Rack is still dead. What you saw was a manifestation of the First Evil, the biggest, baddest big bad of them all. It already tried to attack me, and failed. Now it's using your power to get to me."
Amy shrieks at this. "No. It's not true. You're the one trying to use your power on me. It's all about the power. So let's see how you handle this one." With that, she throws the most pumped fireball she can muster at Willow. Every bit of her energy goes into it. It makes an impressive display when it explodes harmlessly ten feet away from Willow.
Willow sighs. "So it's about power is it? Let me tell you something about power. It comes from more than the ability to throw fireballs. Power also comes from choice. From choosing not be used. Like me, for instance. You could decide as I have done, and choose not to be the First's bitch."
Amy is beginning to swoon noticeably, but she still manages to sneer. "What are you doing lecturing me about power? You're the one who's really weak. You're the one who gave into evil. You're the one who tried to destroy the world," she spits.
Right before being hit with a paralysis spell.
Willow lets out a terrible laugh. "Hey, now. You talk too much. Don't blame me for that whole burning the world thing. Not my fault the stupid humans can't figure out what they want. First one of their champions - Super Buffy - goes out of her way to try to kick my ass, which puts me in a majorly bad mood. Then Daddy - oops, I mean that mage Rupert Giles - and his coven buddies trick me into loading up on their dark magic, which puts me in touch with all the horrible suffering and agony on this planet. What's a girl to do but think the humans want me to take away their pain, and permanently? So I'm in the middle of giving them what they want, when they send a representative - Xander Harris, think you know him - to beg me not to do it. Something about a yellow crayon was involved. Whatever. If the humans want to continue stumbling around, that's their business. So I've changed my scene. I'll never try to waste a dimension again unless I'm damn sure that's what the inhabitants want."
Amy manages to shake slightly. Willow grins at her. "Besides, Amy, if you're so into death for people who threaten this world, does this mean you're going to blow your brains out after we're done here? I mean, you totally qualify. That hex the First had you cast on me was designed to make me go completely insane and destroy this world."
Amy manages to shake back and forth, which I interpret as meaning that she rejects Willow's argument. Too bad, since Willow is correct. But, there's no arguing with some people.
"Of course, I could just kill you now, you know," says Willow. "I mean, you are pretty bad news for a rat. Besides, you tried to get me to kill Kennedy, and you just tried to kill her now. Bad move. She's my Special K. You have no idea how much she means to me. We've been together for a very long time. Seen and done a lot together."
Amy manages to shake in a confused pattern. I'm incredibly touched. For a second, I allow my emotions to well up inside of me - and then I remember that I'm not sure I want her to remember this yet, even in her red-eyed version.
"Besides that, I've already seen her die before, right in front of me. Quite a shock. Went a little crazy after that," she grins. "I'm not going to see it again."
Oh, no. This part she needs to not remember. Fortunately, she's distracted by Amy, who has managed to wriggle out of the paralysis spell.
"You... evil... worm." she spits.
Willow chuckles. "You're just jealous... yes, that's it, isn't it? You're jealous aren't you, little rat? Don't deny it, I can hear your thoughts."
"So what if I am?" sputters Amy.
A twisted grin appears on Willow's face. "So you like magic, do you Amy? Want to have the power? Want to know what it feels like to be me, get the full experience?"
Amy says nothing, but Willow seems to pick out a thought.
"I thought so. Give them what they want, that's what I do." Willow lets out an awful laugh. "As you wish." With that, Willow fires what looks like a purple bolt of lighting at Amy.
Amy's eyes widen, and her face twists into the gaping, drooling smile of an addict who's just been fed the biggest dose of her entire life. "Oh... yes... power, so much power, I can feel it... I am it... wait, something's wrong... what the hell did you just do... it's burning, it's on fire... oh, God!..." And then she says nothing more besides an ear-splitting scream.
Willow smiles at Amy. "What's a matter, Amy? You just wanted to be me, to feel what I feel. So I gave you exactly what you wanted - the me experience, changed not in the least. Now you know what it's like to have all the power. What it's like for me, every second of every day."
Amy collapses to the ground. Her veins become visible, turn black, and begin to swell. Black oil oozes out of her nose and ears. Willow continues smiling.
"Willow, she's learned her lesson. You can turn it off now."
Willow turns her eyes to me, which have gotten noticeably darker, as has her hair. She gives me a "who, me?" look. "But she just wanted to be me. I'm just giving her what she wanted," she whines. "Besides, it's not like she's suffering anything I don't suffer. And I can't turn it off."
"Willow - you're much stronger than she is. She can't handle it."
Willow shrugs. "That will teach her then, won't it?"
"Willow - she will die unless you stop it. Please, stop it. For me."
Willow lets out an ostentatious sigh. "Whatever. I'm such a pushover, you know." She extends her hand, and a purple lightning bolt shoots from Amy back to Willow. Amy remains curled in a ball on the ground, but begins to moan and sob slightly.
I quickly walk over to Willow and embrace her. "I love you so much," I say, and kiss her. I feel her body softly shake next to mine, sense her eyes turn back to normal, and her hair become fully red. Super Buffy and Daddy Giles, take note.
She continues the kiss for a few seconds, then suddenly pulls away from me. She looks at the quivering heap that is Amy. "Oh, Goddess," she moans. I feel a wave of guilt and self-hatred coming from her.
Crap.
We need to get back to Buffy's house quickly. So we teleport into the living room - but using my power. Of course, I don't tell the SITs that detail.
* * *
There are, in fact, many details I don't tell in my expurgated, starry-eyed version of what happened. I tell them enough, though, to make the SITs wildly excited about mousy Willow totally kicking ass, and make Buffy, Dawn, and Giles sick to their stomach. It's also enough to make Buffy begin to feel guilty, and reinforce Giles's guilt.
Xander, who has no guilt in this matter, gets the full mental broadcast of what really happened, so he can try to help her. Slightly edited to take out the "Special K" part, of course.
"So yeah, it was really cool. And now, such a let down - but, well I really need to go the bathroom." The SITs giggle while Buffy, Dawn and Giles nod. Giles sends me a thought of the [I want the real story] variety, and I send him back a [yes, later].
I dash upstairs, leaving the SITs dreaming of great magic battles, and that someday, they too, will be able to kick major ass. That's nice. Now I have other priorities to attend to.
I rush into the bathroom, close the door, and begin listening to the conversation, both verbal and mental. It doesn't take me long to realize that something is very wrong. Xander tries to say something about "Kennedy," and Willow lashes back at him with "That's not her name! [how the hell do I know that? oh Goddess... no...]"
I can feel her losing it, losing control. So I don't even need to hear Xander say "Willow, honey - your hair, it's turning black, and you're kind of getting that all scary-veiny look again..."
I manage to cast a sound-dampening spell around the bedroom just in time to block an ear-splitting scream. I can sense Xander desperately thinking thoughts about yellow crayon stories. That's not going to work this time.
Oh, Goddess. Please let me be right.
I take a deep breath and charge into Willow's room. She's curled up in a ball, eyes jet black, hair black, veins turning black and swelling. Rivulets of black oil run out of her eyes, nose and ears.
"Willow, sweetie?"
Xander takes a quick breath. "See, Willow? Kennedy's here for you."
Willow glares at me. "You... you're not human... you were in that field, on that temple... how do I know that..."
"Willow, sweetie? Let's talk about this, okay?"
She cuts me off. "I know you. I... I'm still grieving for Tara, but you're already in my heart... And there's more... I have these visions... memories... of all this death and destruction... that I caused..."
I move towards her. "Get away from me!" she yells. "Who are you?"
I take a deep breath. It's time for the truth to come out. "My name is Prospexa, Willow."
She lets out a low whimper. "I knew that, but how... how do I know everything else...the memories, the killing, always the killing... oh Goddess..."
She lets out a sharp gasp. I feel a massive surge of dark energy inside her. Now it's really showtime.
The second she before she loses control, she lets out one final whisper.
"Who am I?"
* * *
To be continued...
