Old Friend
Episode 4
Council Base:
"Willow?" Buffy stared in disbelief. Her old best friend had just come back from another dimension and she didn't look very happy.
Willow didn't say anything; she just lifted her arms up and the window and part of the wall exploded. She jumped down the three stories of the base, more like floated.
"Willow! Come back!" Buffy shouted.
"What the hell!" Jake shouted.
"She has been overtaken by dark magick. She cannot be saved," Giles said.
"Amanda! Did you bring this evil witch back?" Quentin questioned the young witch.
"No! I had nothing to do with it," she answered.
"Sir," Giles said to Quentin, "She may have done this on her own.
"I don't care how she got here, I just want her stopped!" he yelled to all of us.
"Don't worry, Buffy," Angel comforted her, "We'll get Willow back somehow."
"Giles! Take your group and stop that evil witch!" Quentin yelled again.
"Yes sir!" he said, then he turned to talk to us, "Come on. We have a witch to stop."
Downtown Sunnydale:
Willow walked through downtown Sunnydale. Magikal energy surged through her body. She was angry at that witch that had sent her to the dimension. It took her years to get out, but she finally did it. Now there was hell to pay. She waved her left arm and a bunch of shops burst into flames.
Suddenly, several police cars drove in front of her, making a barricade. Of course, they didn't know that it wouldn't stop her. She waved her arm again and the cars flew in different directions. Some flew into some buildings. People were running away.
"Pure terror!" Willow said, "I love it!"
She continued walking down the street, destroying everything in her path.
Buffy and the others came running into town. Everything was totally destroyed, buildings and cars."
"Uh oh!" Jake said, "We're in trouble."
"I don't think anything can stop her," Giles said.
The six of them walked down the street, following the path of destruction. It wasn't hard to find Willow. She was waving her arms and destroying everything.
"Willow! Stop this!" Buffy shouted.
Willow spun around. Her eyes were filled with hatred.
"You!" she shouted, "It's your fault that I was trapped in there!"
"My fault?" Buffy said, "Your fault!"
Willow waved an arm and magical energy flew at Buffy. She dove out of the way. The energy made a deep trough in the street.
"If you didn't go crazy with magik, you wouldn't have been sent there!" Buffy shouted.
"Crazy? I don't think so, Buffy," Willow said, "This is fun!"
"Fun for you, maybe, but not for everyone else," she replied.
"I'm truly sorry Buffy, but now your time is up," Willow told her, "You've lived longer than any other slayer. You don't need to be here anymore. Goodbye old friend."
Suddenly, the remains of a half destroyed building began to fall on Buffy.
"Buffy! No!" Angel shouted.
Right before the building fell, magical energy surrounded the debris. It was lifted off to the side of Buffy. She was amazed. She turned and looked behind her. Amanda has saved her again. Maybe some witches could be trusted.
"Another witch," Willow smirked, "She's not very strong though."
"Leave her out of this, Willow!" Buffy shouted, "This is between me and you!"
"Just like the first time right," she replied, "Just like how you stopped me from destroying the world. Oh wait. That was the witch!"
"I can take you this time, Willow!" Buffy yelled.
"And Giles, you have no powers this time either. Too bad for you," she said to the watcher.
"Willow! I order you to stop this!" Giles yelled, "Do you really want to hurt innocent people?"
"Of course not, but they're in the way," she answered, "I'm looking for that witch!"
Sarah, Amanda, Angel, and Jake were standing at a distance. Giles and Buffy were pretty close to the evil witch.
"I think we should just stay out of this one," Jake whispered to Sarah, "There's no way I'm gonna fight something that powerful with just a crossbow or an axe."
"Good idea," she replied.
They continued to watch what was going one between the three people.
"Poor Buffy, you are always trying to save the world. That's not happening this time! Go away before you get hurt!" Willow shouted.
"You know I can't do that Willow! It's my job to stop you, even if you're my friend," Buffy said.
"Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. When will you ever learn?" Willow said, "Nothing on earth can stop me now."
"Your magik doesn't make you invincible," Buffy told her.
"You couldn't kill me, Buffy," she told the slayer.
"I will if I have to!" Buffy yelled.
She began running towards the witch. As she ran, she pulled her sword out of its scabbard. She held it with both hands as she ran at Willow. Mystical energies flew at Buffy. She dodged them all. Her time in that cell had made her quicker and more agile.
When she reached Willow, she lifted her sword above her head. Time was in slow motion. She began bringing it down towards Willow's head. Willow lifted her arm and energy flew out. It hit Buffy in the chest.
"Buffy! No!" Giles yelled.
She flew back about twenty feet and landed on her back on the ground. Giles came running up to her unconscious body. He bent down and felt for a pulse. There was one. He stood up and faced Willow.
"Willow! How could you hurt your friend?" Giles demanded.
"The Willow you once knew is gone. And I have no friends!" she shouted and disappeared.
Jake, Angel, Amanda, and Sarah came running up to Buffy and Giles. Angel grabbed her shoulders and Jake grabbed her feet. They lifted her up and carried her back to the base.
Council Headquarters:
Jake and Angel took Buffy into the hospital part of the base and laid her on a stretcher. She was still unconscious. Two nurses pushed the stretcher into the doctor's area. Jake and Angel headed to the meeting room.
When they got there, Giles, Sarah, and Amanda were already seated and waiting for the two guys to arrive.
"What happened to the witch?" Jake questioned Giles.
Giles answered, "I'm not exactly sure. She might have gone somewhere to regenerate her powers."
"Meaning…?" Jake asked.
"That she will most likely come back," Giles answered.
"Oh that sounds just swell," Jake replied.
"We have to figure out how we're going to stop her before she hurts anyone else," Sarah said.
"Giles, do you know anyone that can possibly stop her?" Jake asked.
"I don't think anyone on earth can stop Willow," Giles answered.
"Wait," Angel said, "I know a witch that may be able to."
"And you couldn't have spoken up before," Jake said.
Ignoring Jake, Giles said, "Where is this witch located?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Angel responded.
"So does that mean we have to search for her?" Jake asked.
"That could take a long time," Sarah said.
"You think?" Jake said sarcastically.
"Shut up Jake!" Sarah said.
"Knock it off you too!" Giles snapped, "Angel, do you have any idea of where she might be?"
"She is most likely living near Erie," Angel answered.
"Then some of us will have to go there and find her," Giles told them all.
"Finally, I get to have a vacation!" Jake exclaimed.
"Angel, take Jake and Sarah with you, and find this witch," Giles told them.
"Oh great," Jake said, "You're making her tag along."
"As soon as Buffy is better, we will figure out a plan if you can't find this witch," Giles told them.
"What about Amanda?" Jake questioned and pointed to her.
"She can stay and help us with a plan," Giles added.
"That's fine with me," Amanda said.
"I'm guessing that it will take us a few days to find this witch," Jake said, "right Giles?"
"That's correct, Jake," Giles told him.
Erie, Pennsylvania:
"Man, its cold here!" Jake said as he stepped off the airplane.
It had taken them several hours to get to Erie. When the three of them stepped off the plane, they noticed it was freezing cold.
"What is it, winter here?" Jake questioned.
"No, Jake," Sarah said sarcastically, "It's the middle of the summer."
They walked into the airport building and gathered their bags. None of them owned a warm coat, so they had to stop in one of the stores and buy them.
A few minutes later, they stood outside the airport waiting for a taxi. Angel flagged one down and they all got in.
"Where to?" the driver asked.
"Center City please," Angel answered.
The ride to center city was that long. The car was quiet. No one spoke at all. They arrived in Center City and they got out. Angel paid the driver and he drove away.
"Where are we gonna stay?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know, but I'm sure we can find a place," Angel told her.
"It better not be a sewer!" Jake exclaimed.
"Don't worry," Angel said, "It won't be."
They wandered around the city for about an hour, looking for a hotel or something. They finally found one. It had two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room.
"There's only two beds," Jake said, "I guess one of us is gonna have to sleep on couch."
"We'll draw straws for the beds," Sarah added, "Whoever draws the short one, has to sleep on the couch."
"Fine with me," Jake said.
Sarah went into the kitchen. She emerged a few seconds later, with three straws in her hand. Angel and Jake both drew a straw.
"Damn!" Jake shouted, "I got the short one!"
"Looks like you get the couch!" Sarah giggled.
That night, Jake stayed up a little later and watched television. Sarah and Angel had already disappeared to their rooms.
"This is gonna be one weird vacation," Jake said to himself.
The Next Day:
"So where do you think this witch lives?" Jake asked Angel.
"I'm not exactly sure," he told Jake, "She could live anywhere."
"When you say that, you do mean in this city, right?" Jake asked.
"No!" Angel added, "She could live in a suburb outside the city. When I knew her, she lived in a small suburb."
"Then what the hell are we doing here?" Jake asked frustrated.
"We had to find a place to stay overnight, right?" Angel told him.
"Well, that makes sense," Jake said.
The three of them headed for the train station. Angel bought three tickets to the supposed place where she lived. They stood outside the station, waiting for their train to arrive. Five minutes later, the train showed up. They got on and sat in the very back, trying to avoid everyone else.
About a half hour and several stops later, the train reached the station. They stood up and got off the train. They walked across the parking lot and stood under a tree on the sidewalk.
"Now where do we go?" Jake questioned.
"Well when I knew her, she lived near here," Angel told him.
"Alright," Sarah said, "Then let's go!"
"I'm guessing we're walking again!" Jake added angrily.
"You wanted a vacation from fighting the dark forces," Sarah said to him.
"Yeah," Jake said.
"Then shut up and stop complaining!" she yelled.
Five minutes later, they came walking up to a house. Angel walked up to the front porch. Jake and Sarah stood at the foot of the porch stairs.
Angel knocked on the door. It took a minute of so, until someone came to the door. A beautiful young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair opened the door and walked out onto the front porch.
"It's been a while Angel," she said.
"Yes," he said, "it has."
"What are you doing standing out in the daylight?" she asked.
"I am human," he told her.
"Well, that's good," she said, "Now you get to enjoy the things you couldn't before. Who are your friends?"
"That's Jake and Sarah," he told her.
The woman looked at them and motioned for them to come up on the porch. She smiled when they walked up the steps.
"Hello," she said to them, "My name is Cindy."
"Hi, I'm Sarah."
"Hey! I'm Jake!"
They both shook hands with her then, stepped back.
"Now tell me Angel, why did you come all the way here to see me?" she asked.
"Well, there is a bit of a problem back in my town."
"Why don't the three of you come inside and tell me the story?"
"Sure, why not?" Jake said.
She turned and opened the door, they followed her in. They sat on the couch, while Cindy took at seat in the chair.
"First of all, I have a question for you, Cindy," Angel said.
"What is it?"
"Do you still practice magik?" he asked.
"Of course I do," she told him.
"Ok, here is our problem. Back in Sunnydale, an extremely powerful witch escaped the dimension she was sent to. No one there has been able to stop her, not even the slayer. Sarah here is also a slayer," Angel told her.
"And what do you need me for?" Cindy asked.
"We came here to ask for your help in getting rid of or saving this witch. She is a friend of the other slayer," Angel said.
Cindy was silent. She was thinking to herself.
"Can you help or not?" Jake asked.
"Not only can I help, but I will help," she told the three visitors.
Angel spoke, "Alright then! We have to leave soon if we want to save the town."
The Council Base: Sunnydale, California:
Giles, Amanda, and Buffy sat in the meeting room. It was the middle of the afternoon. Angel, Jake, and Sarah had been gone for about three days now.
"Giles," Buffy asked impatiently, "Have you figured out anything yet?"
"No, not yet, Buffy!" Giles shouted.
"We have to hurry before Willow returns again," Buffy added before sitting down in her seat.
Suddenly, the doors opened and Jake, Sarah, Angel, and some blonde chick walked in. The young woman had shoulder-length blonde hair and was about Buffy's height.
"Angel," Giles said, "I'm glad to see you back and that you have found the person who can help us."
"Hey!" Jake said angrily, "What about us?"
"What is your name, young lady?" Giles asked her, ignoring Jake and Sarah.
"He is so nice to us," Jake sarcastically whispered to Sarah.
"My name is Cindy. I am fully prepared to help take out this dark witch," she answered.
"I see Angel has already informed you on our problem," Giles said.
"Yes," she said, "he has."
"Our first priority is to figure out a way to stop her," Giles told them all.
"I have an idea!" Cindy exclaimed, "I can use my magik to trap her in a binding."
"But that will only trap her for a while, or until she figures out how to break it," Angel said.
"Yes, but it will buy us some time," Buffy said.
"You notice how no one is including us in this planning," Jake whispered to Sarah.
"Yea, so!" she said.
"I don't think they need me here anymore," he said.
"Yes they do!" she exclaimed, "You're part of the team!"
"Now we have to figure out how to rid her of the powers," Giles told everyone.
"Hmm…." Buffy thought aloud.
"Wait! I've got it!" Giles exclaimed, "We could use a ritual to rid her of the powers."
"But the problem is…" Jake said.
"The problem is that it would take several hours to translate and gather the ingredients to do the spell," Giles finished.
"See, there's always a problem," Jake added.
"We need to get to work immediately on this ritual," Angel said.
Downtown Sunnydale:
It had taken them three hours, but they had finally gotten everything down for the ritual. When they arrived in the center of Sunnydale, everything was quiet. Willow must have still been gathering more power. They began setting up everything they needed for the ritual around the street.
Buffy stood in the middle of the street by herself. The others were all set up along the street.
"Willow!" Buffy yelled, "I'm back and ready to kick your ass!"
For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then Willow finally appeared in the middle of the street.
"You're back for more?" Willow asked, "After I kicked your ass the first time?"
"That was before!" Buffy shouted, "I'm ready for you this time!"
"Well then bring it on!" Willow yelled back.
Buffy just stood there with her sword in hand.
"What are you waiting for, bitch?" Willow yelled.
Buffy didn't answer. She just stood there with her sword down at her side.
"That's it!" Willow yelled and ran at Buffy.
Everyone shot each other a glance to get ready for the ritual. Willow reached Buffy and raised her hand to fire energy at Buffy. Cindy began chanting the ritual. Willow's hand went down, but no energy came out.
"Uh! What?" Willow said.
Cindy kept chanting as the others used their ingredients. The energy went from the ingredients and surrounded Willow. It lifted her off the ground and forced her to lie down.
"What's going on?" she stammered.
"You're trapped!" Buffy told her.
"What!" she yelled, "How?"
Cindy walked towards Willow's floating body. She was still chanting the spell.
"What! Where'd you get another witch?" Willow questioned.
"That's for us to know!" Buffy exclaimed.
Cindy kept chanting and the veins in Willow's face began to disappear. Then her hair changed back to its old color, red. It took several minutes for the spell to return her to normal. As soon as it did, she slowly dropped to the ground. Angel, Jake, Giles, Amanda, and Sarah came walking over to where Buffy and Cindy stood around Willow.
"Is the magik gone?" Sarah asked.
"No," Cindy said.
"No?" Buffy questioned.
"The magik will always been within here. The spell just tapped into her mind and helped me reach her. She'll be fine," Cindy said.
"She needs to recover," Giles said, "Let's take her back to the council base. She can rest there."
Council Base:
Angel and Jake had carried her to one of the hospital rooms, where she was under surveillance by some doctors. They had reported to the meeting room. Quentin was already there.
"Good job, everyone," he told the group.
"Thank you," Giles said, "But we couldn't have done it without Cindy."
"Ah, it was nothing!" she exclaimed.
"Are you going to be staying?" Quentin asked her.
"Yea, but just for a few weeks," she answered, "I don't think you'll need a powerful witch like me around all the time."
"You never know," Giles told her.
Jake had remained quiet the whole time. He would have usually made some kind of comment, but he hadn't. He was too busy staring at Cindy. He had a crush on her. He just hoped no one noticed.
