14.       "Oh boy," Xander muttered as he stared at the green glowing dynamo before them.

            Jimmy had raced, as soon as she had been blasted back, to help Buffy, who got up at Xander's words.  "Are you all right?" the only mortal in the building asked.

            "I'll be ok, thanks Jimmy," Buffy answered back and walked forward to confront the now costume-clad Dawn.

            "Dawn?  Are you all right?  You had us worried there for a minute," Buffy spoke normally to her sister, walking up beside the other Super Slayerettes.

            Without warning, the glowing suddenly ceased around Dawn and she dropped to her own two feet, though the costume remained and the symbol on it still glowed, the emerald-eyed girl smiled at the shorter blonde and nodded, answering, "I'm…fine.  Now.  It…got a bit scary there for a minute, but…I'm okay with it now.  Really."

            "Are you talking about me being bisexual with Faith or the whole 'inheriting all-power and knowledge from your ancestors the Guardians?" Buffy asked in her 'I'm kinda confused' voice.

            Dawn, in reply, just smiled a bit too-brightly and turned around, not answering in words.  Buffy shared a look with her dark counterpart and sent 'She's pissed.'

            'How can you tell?' Faith sent back.

            Because when Buffy tried to 'save' me and interrupt the process of my powers evolving she established a link between us.  An empathic one that secures us as sisters now more than ever

            'WHAT the freakin hell was THAT?!' Faith 'shouted' at Buffy.

            'Dawn.  Her…the Key has evolved, into the Dawn.  As in the "Dawn of a new Era"?' Buffy answered.  'Dawn, our Dawn, now has the culmination of all the powers that the Guardians ever had, and probably a few more, not to mention a lot more power reserves.  One of those powers was telepathy…and that's not even the beginning if what I saw was any clue.'

            "Buffy?  Are you all right?  Did…uh, the Dawn hurt you?" Xander almost winced as his question sounded more than just a little cliché.

            "I'm fine Xander," Buffy answered absently, still staring at Dawn, who was going around the shop, almost like she was window shopping, except it seemed like she was just wasting time until the superhero convention started up, given how she was dressed.

            "Yeah, and that's what she said.  Are we dealing with another possession type deal here?  Just so I know and don't get angry without good reason this time?" Xander asked.

            Faith winced at the reminder of how she had come to rejoin the group, which instantly drew Buffy to her side, comforting her with her mere presence.

            "OK, the bisexual thing wigs me out a little," Dawn suddenly said, turning back around.

            Buffy and Faith just smiled at each other, now ignoring Dawn, knowing it was infuriating the young…former-Key, now New-Dawn.

            "Are you really…what you said?" Anya finally asked.

            Dawn, and everyone else, looked at her, and the descendant of the Guardians nodded easily before speaking.  "Whistler's story opened my mind to the possibility.  The possibility was all that was needed for the beacon to activate my evolution.  I…am more than human now.  As all of you are, but at the same time, we are all still very much human.  Gawd!  This is so weird.  Being a 16-year-old girl with the power of the cosmos at my fingertips, and at the same time the total wisdom and knowledge of a dead race that was born at the exact same moment the universe was."

            "I can imagine," Buffy muttered dryly.

            Dawn looked at her sister and remarked, "Having the total knowledge and memory of an entire race that was older than the sun will be is not the same as being able to hear and know every single thing that the planet does.  But…"

            "You have better control.  And as much as I agree with the philosophy of being thrown in the deep end, which actually I don't, we need to learn about our powers before we struggle with containing them in society and learning the balance between that and the level of power we put into whatever fight we'll be having with DoomVamp…"

            "Why do I get the feeling this is all gonna come back to me?" Dawn asked worriedly.

            "Can somebody please explain what is going on?" Willow demanded.

            "Sure.  But not here," Buffy then gave her younger sister a look that told the Dawn that she had been right.  It did come back to her.

            "Fine," Dawn shouted exasperated after a brief starring contest, and before anybody could even think of asking what the two Summers meant, she spun around and held her right arm out and them slowly moved it from left to right.  The moment that her arm lifted, the same green glow shot out and hit the air five feet in front of her.  As she moved her arm, the glow spread to over seven feet high and widened with the arch of her sweeping arm.  Almost like a sliding door, the space where the green glow was changed.

            Dawn held her arm steady once it stopped moving, a beam of energy connecting her to the green rimmed…doorway that was before them.  Instead of the front of the shop that they should have been seeing, there was a totally alien landscape.  Made even more so as two green moons could be seen in the night sky on the other side.

            "What…?  Wha—" Willow tried to form a single thought.

            "OA," Buffy answered, seemingly confirming all of Anya and Whistler's fears with that one word.

            "Ya mean…it's still…there?" Whistler timidly asked.

            "Well…not exactly," Dawn answered, a minor strain in her voice as she was concentrating on the doorway.  "The planet and its satellites, aka moons, shifted into another stellar orbit several millennia ago, and has been following the theory of universal drift ever since.  So it's not where it was last known, but the planetary system still exists yes.  Come on guys, go on.  I can't keep this up forever ya know!"

            "I thought you had deeper power reserves than the Guardians?" Faith asked, forgetting that that knowledge had been conveyed telepathically before.

            "Yeah, but they couldn't open a two way portal between OA and Earth before either, so the fact that I'm doing it says enough.  And come on before I start to sweat here guys.  I really don't want to see if this outfit is stain proof." Dawn replied.

            "Uh…leavin the planet is where I draw the line.  'Sides, I've still got some more stuff to take care of.  Toots, uh, well, they are your responsibility now, so, uh…" Whistler started to get shifty.

            "It-it's all right Whistler, I-I'll go with them.  Just try and delay DoomVamp until their training is complete, all right?" the Balance demon pleaded with the other.

            Whistler nodded gravely.  "We'll do all that we can.  Good luck."  And with that, he just vanished.

            "An, you can't expect us to…" Xander started to say until he felt a very strange sensation.  He looked down to see that he was flying…except that he wasn't.  "Hey!  What the…what's wrong with my powers?!"

            "Nothing," Buffy answered him, and then with a casual flick of her own outstretched arm, she threw him, telekinetically, through the opened portal.  She then turned to the rest of them.  "Who else do I have to throw through?"

            In reply, Faith just quickly raced through the portal, as did Anya.  Willow and Tara shared confused looks with each other for a moment before finally nodding to one another and stepping through.  Buffy nodded and stepped through herself.

            "Uh, hey!" Jimmy shouted just as Dawn herself was about to enter her own portal.  She looked back at the mortal.

            "Wh-what about me?" he asked.  "I mean, I'm not a super hero or anything, but I'd kinda like to help if I can."

            Dawn seemed to regard him for some moments before finally answering, "Well, Giles is in England, and I'd rather not put him in danger by bringing him all the way out here…so why don't you look after the shop until we get back.  Don't worry, it's easy, Anya loves it.  And since she's coming along to help train the others…"

            "Uh…but wait!" Dawn paused to see what Jimmy was going to say, which kind of threw him off guard for a moment.  "I-I just tried to rob this store like an hour ago and now your trusting me with taking care of it?"

            In answer, Dawn just smiled and said, "Do you really want to find out what happens if you try and double cross this group?  Or a demon in the service of GOD Himself?  Herself in some traditions."

            Jimmy visibly paled.  "Good point.  Uh, how do I…?"

            "There are instructions in the safe.  Whistler can help you with anything else.  Oh, and lock the doors at night.  Have fun, see ya!" And with that the last Green Lantern walked into the portal, which disappeared with in a spark of green energy.

            "What in the world have I gotten myself into?" Jimmy asked himself as he went to look for the safe and the instructions within.

            In his layer, the former sewers beneath the prison where Faith had been held, DoomVamp suddenly looked up from his contemplating.  Then he smiled, his blood red eyes shining with great amusement.

            "What is it my Lord?" Prophet asked carefully.

            "It would seem, my dear Prophet," DoomVamp answered with glee, "that all of our troubles just went out the window.  The Inheritors of Kal'El's power," he spat the name with such disdain and contempt that even the evil creature that was the Prophet shivered at it "have disappeared from the planet.  The disappeared completely after a sudden explosion of power that I'm still trying to interpret, but nevertheless, the fact remains that they are no longer here.  Which puts me in a very good mood.  Go and tell all the minions…open house.  I'm feeling generous.  Allow the demons to go out early and let the vamps have some fun on the town.  You're allowed to have some fun for yourself of course my dear Prophet."

            "Thank you my Lord, but my "fun" is at its greatest when I am at your side serving you," the demon seer said humbly.

            DoomVamp glared at the seven-foot lawnmower demon.  "Flattery will only get you dug deeper, my dear Prophet.  Whether that be in my good graces or your own grave has yet for even you to see.  Now.  Deliver my message to the underlings, and then.  Go.  Have.  Some.  Fun.  Do I make myself clear, Prophet?" DoomVamp spelled out.

            Trying to hide his fear, and gulp at the same time, Prophet just nodded, bowed, and left without saying a word, understanding completely that his new Lord wanted to be left completely alone.  For what, he dare not contemplate.

            DoomVamp sighed unnecessarily and rolled his eyes as he settled once more upon his bone-throne.  He chuckled at the thought, both the rhyme and that the inheritors of Kal'El were gone from his planet.  That chuckle soon developed into a whole-un-hearted laugh that quickly evolved into the same evil laughter that made everyone in the dead prison, whether alive, undead, or demonic, shiver in stark fear.

            The Super Slayerettes stared as they all arrived on the very real and very literal alien landscape.  They were in what appeared to be a ghost town, on the scale of New York City, after the apocalypse was done and over with.  Buildings were crumpled or in the process of crumbling to pieces, and debris were all over the place.

            The night sky overhead was a completely different sky with constellations that were so alien that none of them even bothered with trying to figure out the new shapes in the heavens.  They all spent a couple minutes staring at the two green moons, one full of craters like Earth's moon, and the other sparkled and seemed smooth, save for a few lights here and there on it.

            But what had Dawn's attention was the empty and derelict structure directly in front of them.  It was gray, covered with the dust of time, but its shape and overall appearance remained forever the same.  Dawn slowly walked up to it, the others falling in behind her.

            "Is that what I think it is?" Xander asked.

            Dawn just stopped and looked up at it.  Then she nodded and proceeded to the base of the structure, and wiped away millennia of dust and soot, revealing a metallic emerald green as the true color of the monument that to human eyes looked like an old fashioned lantern.  A really big one, but still.

            "The Battery.  This used to be me.  The Great Battery was the central pillar of the Guardians and the Green Lantern's civilization for centuries.  Then the threat came, and the Key was made from it, and Earth became the center of the universe.  Before the Fall…OA was."  Everyone was quiet as Dawn spoke.  They could all sense how troubled the young girl was, given what they had all just learned about her.

            "And OA shall once again be the center of the universe, but in a different light.  The light of Earth's sun, Sol.  The Green Lantern will shine once more.  If I have anything to say about it…" Dawn swore her oath.

            Then, holding herself ceremoniously straight, Dawn turned around, and spread her arms into a T.  Her body was once again covered by the green energy, and then she was raised up until she was level with the vacant and dark portal to the Great Battery.  Before any of the Slayerettes could say anything however, she flew back into the Battery in a stream of green light, and just like that, the Great Battery of OA shone its light once more.

            The brilliant emerald rays shone forth from the giant lantern like it was designed to, and then something more happened than the Battery just lighting up again.  Beams of light, like beacons of power, shot out from the Battery, and everywhere those beams hit, the planet OA was repaired.  The Great Battery was no longer gray and covered with the soot and dust of time, it was a clean magnificent green, like it had been in Dawn's vision, in the days of old.

            And everywhere else, where had once been a derelict ghost planet, every building and more was given renewed life and shone as though everything were new again.  And to a point, it was.

            Then…something like a wave passed through the entire planet.  All of them could feel it, both as it passed through them and the planet itself.  It was Anya who first noticed it.

            "Look at the sky," she told the others.  They did, and then frowned as they realized the alien sky wasn't so alien now.

            "Hey, isn't that Orion?  But…that's a winter constellation," Willow said after she pointed out the particular star cluster.

            Before more questions could be asked, the Great Battery suddenly died once more, yet everything remained shiny and new.  Then, surrounded in a bright green aura, Dawn emerged and silently flew to the other Slayerettes and landed.  When she did, the aura disappeared.

            "I've moved the planet and its moons," Dawn said before anyone could say anything to her.

            "We're now exactly 180º from Earth, along the same orbit.  In short we're on the other side of the sun.  And don't worry, I've already taken care of all the gravity issues, and I've also cloaked the planet so Hubble won't notice us or anything." Dawn concluded.

            "OK…" Buffy decided that she, as actual sister of the Dawn now, would have to be the one to confront the power titan before them.  "Dawn, I'm asking this as one adult to one omnipotent being.  Why did you do this?"

            "Because we need a place to train, and it's really a strain opening a portal from where OA was and Earth.  This way is a lot easier.  Heck, Xander can fly between here and home now." Dawn replied in the typical teen fashion.

            Buffy shook her head.  "No Dawn, that's not what I meant.  Not why did you move the planet closer to Earth, not why did you restore the planet, because I can actually agree with that reason, why did you bring us here?  Anya and Whistler already had a place for us to train."

            Dawn deflated some and her face grew somber once more.  She turned away and took a couple steps before stopping and answering.  "Because it was long since past that it was done.  After we take care of this crisis with DoomVamp, I'm going to restart the Green Lantern Corp, starting with their human descendants, and anyone else who remembers and would be willing.  This way, both OA and Earth can become the center of the universe, without division over which base is more important.  And…I brought you here because, well obviously I didn't want to just take off without a word to you guys and I didn't want to be alone here either.  And I'm totally committed to helping you guys out.  With my powers I can help you control and learn about yours!  Not to mention helping with DoomVamp."

            "Whoa, who says that you get to…oh." Buffy started in her typical "Protect my sister" speeches, but then with but a flash of green light from the Dawn's eyes reminded her that her sister could probably do more to protect her than she could for the Green Lantern.

            "Why do you want to restart the Lantern Corp Dawn?  And why start with us?  We already have powers, we don't need rings," Tara spoke.  Everyone startled a bit, despite the blonde witch not being that talkative in the first place, she had been even more quiet since she had woken up and her outburst stopping Faith from going too far with Whistler.

            "And I'm not powerful enough to actually make them, let alone fuel them like the Battery was," Dawn replied.  "In case you hadn't noticed, when I flew before, I was entirely covered by green, and now all I got is an aura.  I can't divide myself up like the Great Battery was into the individual recharge units that the Lantern Corp used to have.  I'm actually thinking something more along the lines of the Thundercats, since were still talking about comics.  Only one guy, the leader, had all the power and magic and stuff.  The rest of them were just incredibly skilled, some only in one area, but were dedicated to a cause and were the best at what they were, not to mention great warriors.  The Knights of Byzantium and loads of others are just that.  Great warriors.  You guys are the power houses, but mostly we're just going to need people to go around and enforcing the laws."

            "But Dawn, don't you remember, the Knights kinda wanted to kill you," Buffy pointed out.

            Dawn shrugged.  "Faith tried to kill all of us, multiple times.  Spike killed two Slayers and thousands of people, and Xander ate a pig raw.  I…we are not ones to hold grudged Buffy.  The people I just mentioned accepted that they had committed a crime and accepted punishment for it, not to mention were there were extenuating circumstances.  Like being possessed by demons or just possessed period."  Xander and Faith both flushed crimson.

            "OK, ok, I get your point," Buffy conceded.  "And I'm, amazingly, actually willing to help.  I think I got cursed with Kal'El's sense of duty and wanting to do the right thing along with his mental powers," the Slayer muttered to herself.

            "Naw, you've always been your own kinda Superman, Sis!" Dawn said as she hugged Buffy, and kept her arm around her big sister's shoulders.

            Buffy laughed right along with Dawn, until she suddenly stopped and gave the omnipotent girl her Slayer glare, "Don't ever call me that again," she warned.  Dawn just sort of smiled sheepishly back at her and nodded meekly.

            "First things first…how come I get the Wonder Twin's power to turn into water?!" Willow suddenly exclaimed, eliciting a round of laughter, which then quickly sobered.

            "Actually, I think you got the power to shapeshift Willow," Anya answered the redhead's question.  "Remember, despite the unevenness of it, the powers were divided.  Faith and Tara we've decided got the powers of Soul, and you and Xander the powers of Body.  Xander apparently inherited Kal'El's actual physical powers, whereas you gained the powers to control your own body.  You might, depending on your own skill, actually be more powerful than Xander and Buffy combined."

            "Yeah, well, being telepathic ain't all its cracked up to be," Buffy shot in.  "Although here, it's relatively quiet.  I like that much about this place.  The other powers I'm still trying to sort through, but it seems pretty basic.  Think of every psychic power that you have ever heard about, and I've got it and every variation of it imaginable."

            They all kinda stared at the blonde for a couple seconds after that, and then Faith changed her black leathers to the black sparkly outfit, complete with silver bracers, that she had worn before.  "Kay, other than the chains and doing the Wonder Woman thing with these," she held up the bracers, "what else constitutes a 'Soul' power?"

            "I'm not sure," Buffy answered her.  "I guess it's mostly up to you though.  Don't worry, I'll help where I can."

            "Thanks B," Faith said appreciatively.

            "Well, as great as that outfit is, it's missing something," Dawn interrupted the new couple's moment.  Faith looked down at herself and wondered what the former Key meant.

            "What?  A utility belt?" Faith asked incredulously.

            Rather than answer the jibe, Dawn just pointed her finger at Faith's face, and in a shimmering of green light, coming from the tip of said pointed finger, a black mask appeared on Faith's face, covering only the area around her eyes, like that mask Chris O'Donnell had worn in Batman & Robin.

            Faith reached up as she felt the mask appear on her face and smiled as she looked at her newest friend.  "Thanks D!  Should at least keep me off the cops radar for a while."

            "Something tells me that won't be a problem," Buffy said with a sudden sullen face.

            "What do you mean Buffy?" Willow asked.

            "I said it was relatively quieter up here, remember?" she asked the group.  Several nodded.  "Doesn't mean I can't still hear some things.  We must be directly across from LA or something because…I've been catching some…I guess you'd call them transmissions, of people's thoughts.  It's all over the News Faith.  The prison where you were being held has been sealed off…because they've found everyone in there dead.  You're part of the assumed to be dead.  Even if we had proof that you had nothing to do with it, if you get caught using your old identity, they'd probably kill you on site.  Right now…your dead."

            "And its best if she stays that way," Anya said suddenly.  "I'll get things rolling…uh, up there," she was indicating Heaven and they all knew it, "and I'll also set up some new identity stuff for Faith.  I'll make her Giles' niece or something.  It's OK if you use your first name, but we'll have to change the last name.  Any one your particular of?"

            Faith suddenly smiled, a warmth settling in her heart as she saw the determination in each of her friends' eyes to protect her and help her.  Then a mischievous thought crossed her mind.  "Oh, I don't know, I'm kinda partial to Summers.  Any objections, B?  D?"

            "None by me," Dawn said with a large smile on her face.

            Buffy embraced her sister Slayer, "It's five by five with me too.  Thanks Anya.  We'll go ahead and get started with figuring out who's got what abilities, then we'll start figuring out how to use them.  How long until we have to confront DoomVamp?"

            "Well, normally I'd say the longer we wait the safer we'll be, but given what this thing actually is…I'm forced to say the sooner the better.  If we just sit on the sidelines where he can't get us, the Earth will be trashed pretty quickly.  Starting with California.  That was the last place anyone knew where he was, and assuming that DoomVamp was the one that had Faith possessed, the prison was his last headquarters.  So, for now, at least we know where he is.  But he won't stay there for long."

            Everyone nodded understandingly.  They all knew the dangers of waiting too long, and rushing head long in unprepared.  "I'll set up some rooms for everyone," Dawn said suddenly, and the green aura, a little bit stronger than before, returned around her as she lifted off to do as she said.

            "I'll get things started," Anya said before she just disappeared.

            "And we," Buffy indicated the rest of them, "will start racking out brains on Tara's power."

            "Huh?" the timid blonde exclaimed, suddenly extremely nervous.