A/N: Hey all here I am for my little pro chap pep talk. First sorry its been a while, long chapter and I couldn't face the gruelling re read which is why my very good friend sarah, (Rubyservant ofeli-check out her stuff!) agreed to beta for me so props to her. And also you know the drill…angel isn't mine, don't sue!
Chapter 3: Tomb Raiders
Angel looked around the small basement apartment. He didn't know why but something just reminded him of his old apartment back when he first came to L.A. of course, Spike's was no comparison to his instead of masses of antique furniture and first edition books Spike had crap like this. Angel picked up one of the controls to spikes x-box, fiddled a little with it and set it back on top of the TV. This was just further back up. proving how much, not only older and wiser Angel was but how mature he was in comparison to Spike. The first mention of us needing back up in this whole apocalypse and Spike wants to run off and get Buffy involved, oh sure Angel had tried to reason both verbally and physically with Spike But he never listens does he? he had the crystal so he used it and then poof, gone. So now Spike was there getting Buffy involved with something that would probably kill her. Again. Reminding Angel just how utterly selfish Spike was, he doesn't understand that when you love someone you have to let them go and be happy even if that means your left brooding alone in the dark. Ok so Angel was also a little riled that he wasn't the one going to Rome to see Buffy, I mean after that fiasco with the demon head a couple of weeks ago he had kind of hoped to see Buffy. But he didn't want her involved and the second she got here he was going to try to get her as far away from here as possible. He glanced at his watch, he was waiting for Illyria to return, pacing up and down he waited. Gunn and Spike had both gone ahead already and time was of the essence. As if some higher power was honing in on his thoughts Illyria appeared from within a bright light and materialized into the room. Angel turned to Illyria, a look of relief on her face as she stared around her taking in her surroundings.
" So where did it send you?"
Angel asked getting a whiff of something unpleasant
"You wreak of ……lobsters?" he guessed
"Shrimp" she corrected
"Vast eternity's of shrimp. Crawling, living breathing, around me….I feel violated"
"And I have been" she said looking at the markings that had appeared on her arm
"What is the meaning of this symbol?" Illyria demanded getting angry at her own ignorance.
"Relax, it's protection. Its so we can stay on this plane undetected by the senior partners…if we get spotted hell begins to descend on us again, and we have things to do" said Angel calmly
"How do you know this half-breed? Was it that creature that sent me to the shrimp world" her obvious agitation present
"Look, let me start at the beginning, so we're up on cloud nine or whatever and the light thing says…."
"They want you to finish the job you started, your going to bring the wolf ,ram and hart tumbling down forever…"
"And now your going to tell me how" Angel replied.
"One thing at a time vampire, first thing being. You require back up and that's something we can't provide. While we have some control over the lesser planes, we hold no power in the dominion of the wolf, ram and hart…we can get you passage but our armies wont be able to follow, and when we say passage only a select few will be able to go"
"Select few? How select are we talking?"
"10 or less anymore and your presence there will be alerted, so choose your champions wisely. And in this task you must be swift, so I present you with these to aid your quest. Both of you hold out your hands"
They did as the being requested. Into each of their palms materialized an amber stone, it glowed with an intense light and sparkled like a fallen star.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Angel asked
"Speak to them and they will take you where you desire, use them to gather your forces. And remember I said be swift, when your team is assembled gather all four crystals and shatter them…they will bring you back to me"
"Four? We only have 2 between us"
"The human will be provided with one, and you can give this to the old one" another began to form in Angels hand.
" Now before you leave is there anything else you require knowledge of?" the being questioned.
"Yeah just one thing, how are we going to move freely down there undetected by the senior partners? The second our feet hit the ground, thousands more will follow in the form of yet another demon horde"
"Look at your arm" the being instructed
" You as well spike" it added.
Angel rolled up the sleeve on his right arm revealing a marking, it was black and intricately designed but was undeniably mystical non the less. Spike took of his leather duster and there it was. The same marking on his own arm, he admired it confirming that by grinning.
"These will keep you undetected long enough for your task to be fulfilled"
Angel looked satisfied with that, and Spike was still admiring his new tattoo.
"When you are ready, I shall return you"
"We're ready" angel affirmed.
"And with those words we were teleported here."
"Why are you the only on here? Spike and Gunn where are they?"
"They've gone ahead" Angel said tossing one of the crystals to Illyria
"This is yours"
She caught it. Looking at it inquisitively before throwing it back to Angel.
"I have no use for this" she told him.
"Any warriors I once knew are dead and in the ground…" she made eye contact with the vampire.
"Where is it you are going?" she questioned
"New York" his answer brief.
"I shall follow…"
"Fine whatever, take my hand " he said holding it out for her to grab, she did as he requested.
"What now?" Illyria queried.
Lifting the crystal he held in his hand he spoke to it.
" Take us to New York city"
The crystal responded by glowing brighter, an amber wave of light surging over them engulfing them whole and within seconds they were gone, leaving the empty basement room to the silence.
The lost city, the Magumbai Rainforest, Brazil
She made her way through the winding corridors of the ancient temple, she knew she was nearing its centre because she had ventured in so deep that the calls of the rain forest and screaming macaws could no longer be heard. The stone it had been built from was decades old and crumbled off with the slightest touch or even sound. Her foot came across a step, she shone her torch which was dimming by the second onto the ground and made her way down the steps which opened out into the main tomb. She had found it. The resting place of crone, buried here when the world was young and her infinite wisdom stored in an orb and buried in her tomb, so her mind and body would be together for eternity. Well not for much longer. The tomb was dark and full of dust she probably shouldn't be breathing in, and her torch was almost out of juice. Lucky I'm the worlds most efficient, walking, talking energy source then. Gwen quipped to herself as she unscrewed the torch. She slid out the batteries gave each one of them a quick jolt in the palm of her hand before placing them back inside and turning the torch on once more. She shone it around the vast room and stopped on a plinth that sat in the centre or what she guessed was the centre of the room. There It stood before her in all its grandeur, it had been locked away in this temple and forgotten to scrolls and ancient texts but here it was - proof, proof it existed. Man this had been a bitch to track down, the trip to Brazil, trekking through the rain forest, her guide getting struck by lightning and dying half way there. Not to mention that witch and her little groupie getting in her way, man she was tough to shake off, if she'd known it was going to be this much work she would have asked for double what her client was paying. She popped the torch into her mouth so she could take off her backpack, then kneeling down she took the torch out of her mouth and steadied the light over her rucksack and began to search it.. Satisfied she pulled out a scroll and opened it. Now I'm sure there was something mentioned here about a keeper or a guardian or something… she skimmed the scrolls with her eyes pity I cant really read in this stupid ass torch light putting the torch down on top of the scroll to weigh down the corner she then began passing electric charges between her finger tips, it crackled as she passed it back and forth getting brighter each time, she shaped the growing static charge into a tiny ball and held it in her hand. It was better but not much better.
"Crap!" she voiced angrily. Letting the charge fizzle out into the dark.
"Fiat lux! "
The Latin words echoed in the darkness sharply followed by the shattering of glass, Gwen knew she wasn't alone. A flame erupted from the stone slabs on the temple floor like a firework crackling and fizzing and the entire room as if by magic was lit with a soft light making everything in the temple visible.
"Better to light a candle than curse the damn darkness" came the feminine voice.
The red haired female stood on the steps that opened out into the room Her figure was thin and meek looking. She had a bag draped over her shoulder and on the floor by her feet lay a shattered vial. Gwen got on her feet and turned to face the familiar woman. looking around at the lighted temple as she spoke
" Nice trick" complimented Gwen.
"Thanks, learned it from a woman I once knew"
Gwen turned away and knelt down to read the scrolls.
" So how's the brunette? Shocked her pretty bad back there" she said guiding her finger across the text.
" She'll be fine, you on the other hand…won't be"
"Now now not so hasty, that was her problem. To quick to threaten me, I mean the girl started on me…I only finished it" said Gwen not even turning to look the woman in the eye.
"That 'girls' name is Kennedy. And this is far from finished" Willow approached her, her tone becoming far more menacing..
"Kennedy huh? Pretty butch name for a girl…I like it, she's you girlfriend right?" she turned round to get an answer.
Willow said nothing, but her face said it all
"I knew it" satisfied she continued to read the scrolls.
" Something about Wicca and all that female empowerment, goddess this, goddess that, all that crap you know just goes hand in hand with you hairy legged lesbian types"
"I do not have hairy legs! You know that's a misnomer"
any menace the witch had held was disappearing fast
" Spouted by the same ignorant people who think witches fly around on broomsticks cackling, with the warts and the dancing naked at the moon, ok so maybe there is a little naked moon dancing but only when its full and anyways.."
Gwen stopped her mid yammer
" Relax, geese can't you take a joke? Or well more of an insult….I knew you were a couple because of the way you were around each other the eye contact, you know, you sparked." Gwen flashed a smile back at Willow.
"That's why I didn't kill her, I'm an old romantic at heart"
Willow scowled as best she could, and moved the subject away from her and Kennedy
seemed to fluctuate within the orb like clouds forming in a storm. It held Willows gaze until Gwen spoke and broke Willows concentration.
" The one and only"
"Pretty" Willow smiled
"A natural, shame how I'm in no way compelled to help you with that" Willow replied sharply.
"Oh come on, I'll let you in on a cut of the spoils"
"I don't want a cut, and your not leaving here with that orb…its priceless and needed"
" Yeah by a guy in china who's going to pay me exorbitant amounts of money for fencing it for him, sorry sweetie but witchcraft or no your not getting your dainty little lady loving fingers anywhere near my orb" getting to her feet.
" You really have no clue who your dealing with do you?" Willow mused at the woman's ignorance.
" I think its you who has no idea, you saw what I did to little miss wanna pummel right? I wasn't even trying, by the time you get halfway across this room you'll be half way to well done, back off"
"Oh please I crap better electricity than that"
"You sound confident"
"I am"
"Lets go then"
And with that Gwen let the power surge from her wrists. It jumped at speed in Willows direction, she calmly flicked her wrist and it fizzled out
"Come on now, your not even trying" Willows arrogance apparent.
Gwen tried again, and failed. Again.
"I'm sensing one trick pony syndrome here" willow taunted
"...Ah well" Gwen said pacing over to her backpack" looks like I'm going to have to kick your ass the old fashioned way. With more of a 'hands on' approach"
She picked up her pack and threw it at Willow, catching her off guard. It hit her in the face disorientating her allowing Gwen to not only get close enough to give her a roundhouse kick to the other side of her face but smack her around a couple more times before Willow grabbed her arm.
What Willow felt now was heat, burning searing heat moving up from her fingertips and engulfing her entire body. She was burning from skin right down to the bone.
"Wrong move" Gwen said feeling the witch's turmoil.
Gwen let go. Any power she had been restraining was unleashed , Willow sparked and was tossed like a rag doll across the tomb, hitting the wall and as she connected it echoed and as she fell to the ground an echo sounded again. The shock should have been fatal…but Willow was far from dead.
"I did warn you", Gwen walked over to her sack, put it back over her shoulder. And strolled over to the plinth where the orb lay, she picked it up admiring it and placed it securely into her bag. Turning she found an angry Willow behind her. Her hair up on end and smoking at the tips, her eyes black with fury.
" What the hell does it take to kill you?"
Willow held out her palm and the orb materialized into it. Gwen was allowed to flash an angry expression before Willow with her other hand smacked Gwen across the room sending her an equally impressive distance as she had thrown her. Willow summoned her bag across the room and placed orb securely into it.
" Oh your going to regret that, " Gwen said wiping the blood from her nose as she picked herself up
"Why? Because you're the bastard child of thor? Big whoop, your veins flow with electricity. Whose don't?"
Willow let her fingertips spark.
" You want to see real power, I mean I don't usually enact on humans but for you I'll make an exception you did try to kill me and my girlfriend I think I owe you a little pain for that"
Gwen pulled a whip from her belt, it was made of aluminium she cracked it viciously at Willow, it sparked with electricity
"So do your worst" she taunted.
Willow began to mutter under her breath as Gwen encircled her, cracking the whip.
It began to writhe uncontrollably in her hand, flailing and hissing cracking back on her licking at her like a serpent. Gwen dropped it as it lunged for her. It began to spasm and trans-mutate on the floor, it grew a face and began to hiss, its metal scales and teeth glinting in the dim light of the tomb. It crawled over to Willow And coiled up beside her feet. Willow flashed her hand across her face, and as it passed her hair retuned to normal and the char marks were gone and her eyes were hazel once more.. Gwen looked annoyed.
"Now" she said pacing closer
gestured her hand and Gwen was dragged back to the wall. . She felt a release on her throat but she was pinned to the wall, Willow motioned her hand upwards and Gwen's body responded by flying upwards and stopping roughly half way.
Willow, happy, began to walk away
"You can't just leave me up here!"
She turned to face Gwen.
"Oh that's exactly what I plan to do…well until I get this to where it belongs, don't worry you just sit tight I'll see myself out"
"Where that belongs is here she witch" roared a hoarse voice..
Willow turned to see a massive stone spider bellowing down at her, its legs forged from the same beige stone that the temple was built from. She managed to shudder before it knocked her into the wall rendering her unconscious. Causing Gwen to not only fall from where she had been held but to land right in view of the giant spider, it lunged towards her but she jumped, up and onto its sandy stone body and off over the other side. Flakes of ancient stone crumbling off as she leapt. Her feet hit the floor as she spun round to face her attacker. The spider threw it's self up the far wall which she had been held on and flipped over so it was facing her,
"You also tried to steal crones riches, your life shall be forfeit" it seethed with anger.
"Really?" she questioned and let rip with the electricity. It hit him, a few rock like pebbles crumbling off .
Laughing at her attempt to damage it the guardian laughed.
" I am forged from stone, your power is useless. You dare to venture in where to a place where non have returned from this proves you are foolish human!"
Crawling closer to her she tried again and again, each time a few more pieces crumbled away. Its front legs waving at her, she moved back and continued in vain to damage it until she felt the opposite wall at her back, she was trapped. Pinning her to the wall , it opened its jaws revealing gleaming onyx incisors, sharper than steel blades but equally as sparkling, they lustfully dripped as it moved in for the kill. Gwen for the first time in a long time let out a squeal. As she did that the beast was thrown across the tomb knocking over the plinth and rolling over on its back, there floated Willow her eyes black once more and here face bearing a pissed off expression, Gwen was breathing heavily. She looked up at Willow who floated over to here she was to check she was ok.
"Your handy in a tight spot"
"Yeah well he pissed me off, plus look" she said pointing at her head
Babylonian.
"Leave it to flail, I'll be long gone"
Gwen was just about to argue about how she was taking the orb when they were both thrown back as an almighty amber light began to form and froth where they had stood. From within it a dark figure stepped out.
Gwen looked up at the figure, she knew him. Getting to her feet she spoke.
"Charles?" she asked
"Gunn!" Willow echoed also clambering to her feet
Looking at each other they said in sync "You know him?"
Then looking at Gunn they both chimed at the same time "You know her?"
They both turned to look. While they had conversed it had managed to crawl up and was now positioned on the wall behind, hissing it leapt for Willow
"Witch!!" she dodged its attack and it flew knocking Gunn over, spinning around to face her again it charged for her, this time she was ready she summoned a fire ball into her palm and flung it at the spider, chipping away its face and causing it to slide back in pain. Its face had caved in and now all that was visible through the cracks were its razor-sharp teeth . It hissed in pain, Gwen skipping past it grabbed her whip from the floor uncoiled it and began cracking the whip on its back chunks of rock flying off, its spun to face Gwen, those all too familiar teeth gleaming through the cracks. Willow meanwhile had reached into her backpack and pulled out a tiny sack of dust. As Gwen whipped at its face fiercely keeping it distracted, she pulled out the dust and began to sprinkle it over the gargantuan spider, chanting in Latin . It closed in on Gwen again, landslides of rock cascading down it face. Willow stopped mid chant, clapped her hands and shouted
"Discate!"
The spider hissed and was gone.
"What the hell did you do to it?"
"Teleportation spell," willow answered
"Nice"
"Damn and damn, you ladies know how to deal out some serious whoop ass I almost feel sorry for spidy" said Gunn dusting off his clothes and pacing towards the girls.
"He had it coming" Gwen assured
" He gave me concussion" Willow whined, pointing to the bruise on her forehead.
" So Charles, what brings you out here? Just testing your new crystal thing or whatever? And how the hell do you know Sabrina the teenage witch here ?"
Willow turned to Gwen and glared, Gwen returned the look. Gunn trying to break the hostility answered Gwen's question.
" Well I was here for Willow, but now I find you here I could use both your help"
"Willow? that's your name? …are you sure you don't have hairy legs?"
"Look if you want me to pin you to the wall again, just keep on talking"
Gunn stepped between the two who were inching closer like they were about to go another round or two.
"Erm ladies…kinda in a hurry here, I need you to come with me…I'll explain when we get there"
"Just like that? Forget it Charles"
"Yeah although I hate to agree with her, I cant just drop everything and leave." Willow added, pausing for a second"Oh god its not Angel isn't, you didn't take out his soul again?….what did I tell you about calling me first before you did
that!"
" No Angel's not…well currently evil I need you to trust me on this, its big in an apocalyptic way and not just some run of the mill hell's come to play, demons, mayhem…rats in the pipe work. this is it. The final battle, good vs. evil. time to step up or stand down its your decision but would you hurry up and make it because we only have so much time and we have to get back"
"Where are we going? Willow asked
"L.A."
" There's an apocalypse in L.A?"
"Again?" Gwen stated
"Well among other things yes,"
Willow mulled it over for a few seconds before answering him.
"Ok I'm in, not sure if I can help but I'll do all I can. Could we stop off at the hospital? I have to check in on Kennedy"
"Kennedy?" Gunn asked her.
"Her girlfriend.."
Willow scowled at Gwen again.
"My girlfriend" she confirmed
"Not a problem but we have to be fast, Gwen are you in?"
"Well if she's going I'm going she has my orb and she's not getting away with it that easily, plus I could use some action"
"Then lets go" Gunn said holding up an amber crystal
Gwen looked blankly
"Okay not so random…check out the wiccan fan girl".
"You speak words to the stone and it takes you wherever you desire…where did you get this?" Willow inquired.
"Long story, which I'll explain on the way…now really we have to go."
"Hold on got one last thing to do…" she said searching the floor for a rock. Satisfied she picked it up
"What's that for?" came a question from Gwen.
" That spell didn't kill the guardian, it just teleported him somewhere else. I'm going to put a glamour on this stone so it looks like crone's orb the guardian will be satisfied and wont come looking for us"
She began to encircle the rock with her hand. As she did so it began to slowly change shape, its jagged edges made smooth and its broken circular shape was now totally spherical until gradually it looked identical to the one in Willows bag.
"There" she said placing onto the pile of rubble where the plinth once was. She turned and looked at Gunn. She held out her hand and Gunn placed the crystal into it.
"Now lets get going"
A/N: well that was it, ok I know I promised you all Wesley and Spike but I had an idea and went off on a tangent. I can guarantee spike next chapter and only hope to bring you some wes action. But he isn't going to rot down there so don't worry. let me know what you think about the additions of Gwen and willow, and sorry it was so long. Til next time.
Chris.
p.s also thank you all for your reviews, they have all been really encouraging and much appreciated.