It wasn't long before the others arrived and introductions were made all around. Everyone was pretty impressed with Damon, especially Giles who thought that with his knowledge and skills Damon would make an excellent Watcher. Well, maybe if he showed a bit more discipline, that is.
"So what brings you to Cleveland, Mr. Thatcher?" Giles asked.
"My brother, actually," answered Damon. "I'm trying to find him. He's in danger."
"What makes you think he would come here?" Now it was Buffy's turn to ask. She stood with her hands on her hips, almost in defiance of this newcomer. Damon smiled at this.
"Childhood memories. My grandparents lived here. We would visit in the summer and sometimes on Christmas."
Giles stared intently at Damon. "This-this thing that is after him. What kind of demon is it?"
"The Shadowed Man," came Damon's solemn response.
"The Shadowed Man?" Giles rolled the words over in his mouth.
Buffy asked, "Ring any bells, Giles?"
"Actually, no." He seemed troubled that he never heard of this demon before.
Damon laughed, causing everyone to look at him with nothing less than contempt. "Sorry," he apologized, still laughing. "Don't look so glum, Mr. Giles. You haven't heard of The Shadowed Man before because he's new."
"What do you mean 'new'?" Giles had now removed his glasses.
"I mean 'new' as in 'only existed for a short time'. My brother created him."
"What? How?" Willow quickly jumped into the conversation. She had tasted complete power before but never enough to create a new entity. Well, other than that one time they brought Buffy back from the dead, but she didn't technically create that.
"My brother, Damien, has learned a thing or two about magic."
"A sorcerer?" from Xander.
"No," Damon answered. "He has more natural power."
Willow sighed, "A warlock."
"If you want to call him that. But he isn't the problem. He was trying to create a spell to help our gang deal with a new threat. He succeeded, though we soon wished he hadn't."
"So, um, how bad is this-this Shadowed Man?" Angela asked.
Damon took a deep breath then looked over at Montoya. She had been quiet through the whole thing so far, and he didn't blame her. He was used to the whole meeting-with-various-people-to-share-information thing. She was getting a crash course to the supernatural in a couple of days.
"He's the worst thing I have ever faced," Damon said.
"The most frightening," Montoya's voice cut the tension. Everyone looked at her.
"So you do talk," Buffy said, a hint of sarcasm to her statement. "What's your story?"
"I helped her out with some vamps and she let me stay over before The Shadowed Man caught up with me."
"Oh," Buffy said, giving Montoya a funny look.
"Not like that," Montoya assured her. "He slept on the couch."
It was Kennedy's turn to jump into the conversation. "What does this...Shadowed Man want with your brother?" she asked.
Damon answered, "Freedom. He is still tied to Damien by the magicks. He needs his blood to be a completely free entity. I sent Damien away until we could figure out how to stop The Shadowed Man. I should have expected he would chase after him."
"Of course you should have," came a voice from the back of the shop. Damon jumped up in front of everybody, fear painted across his face. Standing in the shadows, all but out of view, was The Shadowed Man.
"Did you honestly think I would just stay in New Roanoke waiting for Damien to return?" The Shadowed Man asked. Montoya felt the fear overwhelm her again. Everything told her to run. Everything told her to stay. She could feel "The Pull" kicking in.
Get out of here.
No. I can't abandoned them.
Why? You don't owe them anything.
But Damon... Forget him!
No!
"You can't have him," Damon said, trying to sound threatening but the fear he felt apparent in his voice.
A hollow sound that could have been The Shadowed Man laughing filled the room. "And what, exactly, do you plan to do about it, Damon?"
They're all going to die. You know that.
They'll find a way. They have to.
They won't. They can't.
They will.
"Not just him," Buffy stepped up. "You have to deal with all of us now."
This is going to end badly.
No, it won't.
Why do you fight it? It's inevitable.
It's not.
You're right. Let me free. I can handle this loser.
No!
Come on, Montoya. It's the only way.
No. And I won't give in. Not this time. And I won't accept that nothing can be done.
Something can. You're just to damn stubborn to accept it.
"My, my, my," The Shadowed Man chuckled. "Aren't we ever the team of heroes? Tell me then: what is it you believe you can do to me?"
"Let's find out," Buffy taunted as she approached The Shadowed Man.
She won't make it.
We have to run.
I agree. Run. Run away from here. Forget them. This isn't your fight. Not that you're ever willing to fight.
No. I have to help them.
You'll die if you try.
I have to help Damon.
He's already dead.
"NO!" Montoya screamed.
Buffy turned towards Montoya. The dark haired woman had thrown her head back and grabbed her hair. She had seen it before: the girl had lost it.
Montoya slowly brought her head back up. Buffy immediately noticed something different about her. There were little things like the way her hair fell over her shoulders or the sudden cock to her hips, but nothing stood out more than her eyes.
They had changed to black.
Buffy was so taken aback that she actually stepped away from Montoya and towards The Shadowed Man. She quickly corrected this by turning her body to face both Montoya and the shadowed threat.
Buffy glanced at Damon for some sort of explanation, but saw that this struck him as shocking as it was to her. In fact, everyone didn't know who to turn to face: Montoya or The Shadowed Man. All of them glanced from the girl to the shadows. No one said a word. Finally, Montoya spoke. Her voice was cold and uncaring. It reminded those who were there of Willow when she went evil.
Montoya spoke a single word: "Run."
The Shadowed Man laughed his hollow laughter. "This is most interesting," he said. "I would look into this more."
"No, you won't," Montoya told it. She walked casually towards The Shadowed Man. "Leave here and never return."
"Please, little girl. Whatever power you believe to have found within yourself won't stand up to me."
"Maybe she was afraid. I am not."
"And who are you?" The Shadowed Man met Montoya, their faces inches apart.
"Something more."
There was a moment of intense silence. The tension was so thick one could drown in it. Finally, The Shadowed Man stepped back.
"Soon, I'll be free. Until then...," The Shadowed Man stepped back into the shadows, then was gone. There was an audible exhale from Giles, Willow, Damon, and Xander.
"Now I've seen and fought a lot of scary things in my life," Xander said. "But I have never been as terrified as I was when that arrived."
Willow nodded. "Me, too."
"The Shadowed Man certainly seems to radiate a sort of fear aura, doesn't he?" from Giles.
"One of his gimmick," Damon informed the group. "Makes him that much harder to fight."
"What are you guys talking about?" Kennedy asked. "It was intense, but nothing worse than normal."
Buffy agreed, "Yeah. It was far scarier fighting The First."
"I have to disagree with you on that, Buff," Xander was still shaking from the fear. "This was like total, complete, and utter terror. It was all I could do to not run away. And, strangely, I'm not ashamed to admit that."
"Yeah, well, I want to see what Miss I'm-all-scared-and-quiet-until-I-meet- danger has...," Buffy stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed that the changes in Montoya had gone back to "normal."
"Oh God," Montoya looked around. "What happened?"
Willow asked, "You mean you don't know?"
"I-I," Montoya was having a hard time talking.
"It's okay," Willow's voice was calm and gentle. She stepped towards the shaking Montoya.
"I was so scared. And the voices were talking. My head was pounding. I- it hurt so bad. I blacked out." "Why don't you start from the beginning," Giles suggested.
And she did.
"So what brings you to Cleveland, Mr. Thatcher?" Giles asked.
"My brother, actually," answered Damon. "I'm trying to find him. He's in danger."
"What makes you think he would come here?" Now it was Buffy's turn to ask. She stood with her hands on her hips, almost in defiance of this newcomer. Damon smiled at this.
"Childhood memories. My grandparents lived here. We would visit in the summer and sometimes on Christmas."
Giles stared intently at Damon. "This-this thing that is after him. What kind of demon is it?"
"The Shadowed Man," came Damon's solemn response.
"The Shadowed Man?" Giles rolled the words over in his mouth.
Buffy asked, "Ring any bells, Giles?"
"Actually, no." He seemed troubled that he never heard of this demon before.
Damon laughed, causing everyone to look at him with nothing less than contempt. "Sorry," he apologized, still laughing. "Don't look so glum, Mr. Giles. You haven't heard of The Shadowed Man before because he's new."
"What do you mean 'new'?" Giles had now removed his glasses.
"I mean 'new' as in 'only existed for a short time'. My brother created him."
"What? How?" Willow quickly jumped into the conversation. She had tasted complete power before but never enough to create a new entity. Well, other than that one time they brought Buffy back from the dead, but she didn't technically create that.
"My brother, Damien, has learned a thing or two about magic."
"A sorcerer?" from Xander.
"No," Damon answered. "He has more natural power."
Willow sighed, "A warlock."
"If you want to call him that. But he isn't the problem. He was trying to create a spell to help our gang deal with a new threat. He succeeded, though we soon wished he hadn't."
"So, um, how bad is this-this Shadowed Man?" Angela asked.
Damon took a deep breath then looked over at Montoya. She had been quiet through the whole thing so far, and he didn't blame her. He was used to the whole meeting-with-various-people-to-share-information thing. She was getting a crash course to the supernatural in a couple of days.
"He's the worst thing I have ever faced," Damon said.
"The most frightening," Montoya's voice cut the tension. Everyone looked at her.
"So you do talk," Buffy said, a hint of sarcasm to her statement. "What's your story?"
"I helped her out with some vamps and she let me stay over before The Shadowed Man caught up with me."
"Oh," Buffy said, giving Montoya a funny look.
"Not like that," Montoya assured her. "He slept on the couch."
It was Kennedy's turn to jump into the conversation. "What does this...Shadowed Man want with your brother?" she asked.
Damon answered, "Freedom. He is still tied to Damien by the magicks. He needs his blood to be a completely free entity. I sent Damien away until we could figure out how to stop The Shadowed Man. I should have expected he would chase after him."
"Of course you should have," came a voice from the back of the shop. Damon jumped up in front of everybody, fear painted across his face. Standing in the shadows, all but out of view, was The Shadowed Man.
"Did you honestly think I would just stay in New Roanoke waiting for Damien to return?" The Shadowed Man asked. Montoya felt the fear overwhelm her again. Everything told her to run. Everything told her to stay. She could feel "The Pull" kicking in.
Get out of here.
No. I can't abandoned them.
Why? You don't owe them anything.
But Damon... Forget him!
No!
"You can't have him," Damon said, trying to sound threatening but the fear he felt apparent in his voice.
A hollow sound that could have been The Shadowed Man laughing filled the room. "And what, exactly, do you plan to do about it, Damon?"
They're all going to die. You know that.
They'll find a way. They have to.
They won't. They can't.
They will.
"Not just him," Buffy stepped up. "You have to deal with all of us now."
This is going to end badly.
No, it won't.
Why do you fight it? It's inevitable.
It's not.
You're right. Let me free. I can handle this loser.
No!
Come on, Montoya. It's the only way.
No. And I won't give in. Not this time. And I won't accept that nothing can be done.
Something can. You're just to damn stubborn to accept it.
"My, my, my," The Shadowed Man chuckled. "Aren't we ever the team of heroes? Tell me then: what is it you believe you can do to me?"
"Let's find out," Buffy taunted as she approached The Shadowed Man.
She won't make it.
We have to run.
I agree. Run. Run away from here. Forget them. This isn't your fight. Not that you're ever willing to fight.
No. I have to help them.
You'll die if you try.
I have to help Damon.
He's already dead.
"NO!" Montoya screamed.
Buffy turned towards Montoya. The dark haired woman had thrown her head back and grabbed her hair. She had seen it before: the girl had lost it.
Montoya slowly brought her head back up. Buffy immediately noticed something different about her. There were little things like the way her hair fell over her shoulders or the sudden cock to her hips, but nothing stood out more than her eyes.
They had changed to black.
Buffy was so taken aback that she actually stepped away from Montoya and towards The Shadowed Man. She quickly corrected this by turning her body to face both Montoya and the shadowed threat.
Buffy glanced at Damon for some sort of explanation, but saw that this struck him as shocking as it was to her. In fact, everyone didn't know who to turn to face: Montoya or The Shadowed Man. All of them glanced from the girl to the shadows. No one said a word. Finally, Montoya spoke. Her voice was cold and uncaring. It reminded those who were there of Willow when she went evil.
Montoya spoke a single word: "Run."
The Shadowed Man laughed his hollow laughter. "This is most interesting," he said. "I would look into this more."
"No, you won't," Montoya told it. She walked casually towards The Shadowed Man. "Leave here and never return."
"Please, little girl. Whatever power you believe to have found within yourself won't stand up to me."
"Maybe she was afraid. I am not."
"And who are you?" The Shadowed Man met Montoya, their faces inches apart.
"Something more."
There was a moment of intense silence. The tension was so thick one could drown in it. Finally, The Shadowed Man stepped back.
"Soon, I'll be free. Until then...," The Shadowed Man stepped back into the shadows, then was gone. There was an audible exhale from Giles, Willow, Damon, and Xander.
"Now I've seen and fought a lot of scary things in my life," Xander said. "But I have never been as terrified as I was when that arrived."
Willow nodded. "Me, too."
"The Shadowed Man certainly seems to radiate a sort of fear aura, doesn't he?" from Giles.
"One of his gimmick," Damon informed the group. "Makes him that much harder to fight."
"What are you guys talking about?" Kennedy asked. "It was intense, but nothing worse than normal."
Buffy agreed, "Yeah. It was far scarier fighting The First."
"I have to disagree with you on that, Buff," Xander was still shaking from the fear. "This was like total, complete, and utter terror. It was all I could do to not run away. And, strangely, I'm not ashamed to admit that."
"Yeah, well, I want to see what Miss I'm-all-scared-and-quiet-until-I-meet- danger has...," Buffy stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed that the changes in Montoya had gone back to "normal."
"Oh God," Montoya looked around. "What happened?"
Willow asked, "You mean you don't know?"
"I-I," Montoya was having a hard time talking.
"It's okay," Willow's voice was calm and gentle. She stepped towards the shaking Montoya.
"I was so scared. And the voices were talking. My head was pounding. I- it hurt so bad. I blacked out." "Why don't you start from the beginning," Giles suggested.
And she did.