TITLE: The Goddess Must Be Crazy.. Who Are We Kidding? She Is.
AUTHOR: Silence
DISCLAIMER: See previous parts.
SPOILERS: General warning for everything.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: If you haven't, it might be a great idea to read "Confessions of a Mary Sue" before reading this.
** = *thoughts*
Feeding the Feedback:
BookCrazy77: Lol, I'm glad you do! Sue, as if anything could keep that witch down. Mythe is truly creepy. The DADA version and the real version. *hopes she doesn't see this*
Holly :o): Hehe.. Legolas. Highly doubtful. To have him around would make Lacey happy, and where's the fun in that? lol
*sniffles* Even a touch of feedback is enough to make me feel loved.
I'm not too sure when the next post will be, as I'm in Missouri and we're having those lovely thunderstorms and tornados.. And it keeps me distracted and worrisome. But anyhow, here you go, and I'll shut up now! Uber hugs everyone! *pelts all readers with Cookies of DOOM*
~Silence, has a need for another granola bar~
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Part 6: Flashbacks Make The Heart Grow Fonder.. Or Not
Look, A Flashback! Cause there's so few of them.. *cough*
May 2001
Sunnydale, CA
Amalthea watched the battle with Glory, her green eyes filled with amusement. It was truly a pathetic sight. Such imperfections, the Slayer versus a sad excuse of a god. She strolled past the dueling women and headed up the rickety tower, disdain briefly marring her features.
By the time she reached the top, the old man, or perhaps demon, named Doc, was ready to slice little Dawn and open Glory's portal.
Doc closed in on Dawn and pulled an antique pocket watch out of his pocket. He looked at it. "What do you know? Just about that time."
Dawn stared past him and cried out. "Spike!"
Spike had appeared on the scene. Amalthea watched him try to save the Key, but soon enough, he went flying over the ledge. She peered down to the ground below and with a flick of her wrist, some debris slid to where the vampire was meant to land.
With a smile, Perfection watched as Inferiority landed on a well placed piece of wooden shrapnel.
"Ashes to ashes, dear boy." Amalthea cooed. With a snap of her fingers, the tower began to shake, causing Buffy, who was climbing up, to stagger and fall to the bottom.
Buffy winced and groaned but started back up the tower.
Amalthea merely turned her gaze to Doc as he finished cutting Dawn, her blood dripping down and into the empty void below the platform. Within two strides, Amalthea had reached Doc and she removed the ring from her finger. Doc's eyes widened in surprise as she appeared before him.
"Ciao." She said and grabbed his head, twisting it until she heard a satisfying snap. As his body slid down, Amalthea tossed him aside and over the platform.
Dawn stared at her gratefully and tried to ignore the pain she was in. "Who are you? Thanks you. I--" Her voice froze in her throat as Amalthea caused the tower to shake with another snap of her fingers. "Wha.. What are you doing?"
Amalthea merely smiled and placed the ring back on and disappeared. Soon a crackling ball of energy began to form where Dawn's blood had spilled.
Dawn whimpered as she watched her sister to climb the tower one more time. Dawn's gaze was torn between watching Buffy struggle up the still shaking tower and the portal that was growing before her.
Amalthea eyed the portal with obvious disregard. "Primitive. No grace."
Terror filled Dawn's eyes as she watched the effects of the portal. Worlds melding, demons appearing.. And even a dragon suddenly shadowing the sky.
"Jump little one." Amalthea murmured softly. "Let's not make the world suffer any longer than it has to."
With one last glance at Buffy, who was now trapped at the bottom of the tower, Dawn closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks.
"It has to be blood." She cried, trying to muster the courage she knew she'd need. "Blood opens it. Blood closes it."
Amalthea grinned in satisfaction as the young girl threw herself into the portal. The portal began to close as it absorbed Dawn's very being. By the time the portal hissed shut, nothing remained.
She laughed. She didn't know how long she allowed herself to lose herself in the moment, but when she came to, she found herself on the ground, alone next to Ben's body.
Kneeling next to the corpse, the blonde beauty caressed the body's cheek with her right hand. "A pity. Such potential. Such power that still lies. No where to go." Amalthea held out her left hand and a glowing ball of energy crackled to life. "Let's not waste it."
She lowered the ball of energy next to Ben's face, even as the body shifted from Ben, to Glory, and into a shapeless form, neither male nor female. It looked as if it were waiting to decide which to be.
The ball of energy seemed to pulse with excitement as Amalthea moved it closer.
"Mmm. You like it, do you?" Amalthea smirked. "Riddle me this, Riddle me that.." Her smirk never fading, she proceeded to push the ball of energy into the misshapen form that was once Glory. She took her hand out as soon as she felt the energy leave her palm and stood up.
As she watched. The body, if one could truly call it that, began to glow brightly and slowly take a new shape. Flesh turned white, with a build that was skeletally thin. The newly formed body rose to it's feet and eyelids opened to reveal eyes of red with catlike slits of darkness.
Amalthea looked at the completed form in disgust. The lack of a nose with mere slits for nostrils reminded her of how imperfect her newest crony thought. "Pathetic. I allow you to have the power of a god and THIS is what you choose?"
Red eyes tried to burn through to Amalthea's heart, "It will strike fear into those that see it."
Amalthea snorted, unaffected by her companion's effort at terror. "I'm afraid I can not allow such disregard and lack of respect for me to exist." She flicked her wrist and her companion doubled over in pain as his body took yet another form. "I will have no less then perfection in my presence."
She waited patiently as her work completed and what stood before her was not the snake like skeletal figure, but a rather distinguished young man with perfectly styled dark hair and pale skin. The only thing that remained from his previous incarnation were the red eyes.
Amalthea nodded. "It will do." She snapped her fingers as she turned around, and a wand appeared before him, floating in midair. "You'll be wanting this."
The man growled at her and snatched the wand. He pointed it to her back, "Avada--" His voice cut the curse short as a blade was forced to his neck. He looked to his left to see several figures in dark robes, their faces hidden within the darkness of their hoods. "What is this?"
"They are Nazgul. Ringwraiths." The new bearer of the One Ring explained. She turned to the wizard, her green eyes now blazing silver. "They serve me, and me alone. As you shall begin to do so. You may be a wizard with the magic of a hell god now, but you are NOTHING to me. I can crush you with a thought."
To prove her point, the wizard was struck down with an intense pain as if the very fires of Hell were devouring him. The pain quickly ceased as Amalthea grew bored. "Now come. I do believe we have a world to recreate.. And you no doubt will want a little revenge."
The red eyes perked up in interest, his voice filled with sarcasm. "So I am allowed that?"
"Among other things. In order to recreate things in my image, we must start by removing all obstacles, which include the champions of this world. It would not do to mar my perfection with such flawed beings."
Amalthea clapped her hands and she and her minions vanished, as if they never existed.
*End said flashback. We now bring you back to the story's 'present', already in progress*
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Willie the bartender's face met the counter with a loud thud. "I told you! I don't know nothing!"
Alli rolled her eyes as she watched Buffy press his skull into the wood even harder. "Dude, double negative thing." She skipped over to him, her blue eyes sparkling merrily. "See, Buffy is a very mad slayer. I mean her sis and mom are dancing around in Heaven, her boyfriend left her for a special ops thing, her friends are missing, and she has a lot of other issues to deal with. She's soo liable to do something drastic."
"C'mon, slayer, ease up! I told you! I got nothing!" Willie pleaded.
"Wrong answer." Buffy hissed and pulled his head off the counter, only to punch him in the face. Willy stumbled back and into several bottles of liquor that shattered when they hit the floor, due to the now broken shelves. She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. "Now what new faces have been hanging around here?"
Willie's beady eyes were marred with panic. "No one's been in here! I swear!" He paused. "But.. There's whispering. Something big. Worse then that Glory chick. People looking to be hired by 'em, but end up corpses or ash. Like they aren't accepting applications for minions or something. Has everyone spooked." With a whimper, Willie tried to plead again. "That's all I know, I swear! On my kid's souls!"
Buffy dropped him with a sneer. "You don't have kids."
"I could someday." Willie whimpered as he tried to get to his feet.
Buffy ignored him and turned to Alli, "We're done here."
Alli nodded and they walked outside. "So what now?" Alli asked, her head bobbing to some tune in her head.
"We go back to the house. Wesley said he'd call if he had any leads with Angel." Buffy frowned and sniffed the air. "Do you smell smoke?"
Alli snapped her Zippo shut and pocketed it quickly. "Nope." She grabbed Buffy's arm and lead her down the street..
And away from the now burning bar.
