"Amy? You've been doing all this?" Buffy asked, astonished.
"Yep. Little old me," she replied innocently.
"You murdered those women! They were innocent and you murdered them!" Willow exclaimed indignantly.
"Oh, please. Spare me the whining, Willow."
"You know this psycho?" Sara said, regaining her composure as she tried to stand.
"Amy Madison," Buffy replied, "an old 'acquaintance' from back home. What did she do to you, Sara?"
"I don't know. It felt like..." Sara said as she winced. "It felt like something was ripped from me."
"Actually, more like 'copied'," Amy said.
"What?" Sara asked, hoping to clarify Amy's statement.
To their horror, Amy pulled up her sleeved to reveal an onyx-colored metal gauntlet with a red eye in the middle. Seeing their mouths agape Amy said, "There was no way to recreate the Witchblade and I'd thought all my plans would come to a grinding halt. Imagine my surprise when one of my mother's old mystical contacts had a spell on him that could duplicate vessels of great power. Apparently, he had forgotten he'd acquired it."
"And he just gave it to you?" Buffy asked unbelievingly.
"No. I just turned on the charm, pranced around seductively, and... pilfered it. Now I have the power that Willow took for granted. I have the power to shape the world. I have the power to rule it."
"We'll see about that," Willow said as her eyes turned black.
"Oh, yes," Amy said. She lowered her head and raised it back up, her eyes like Willow's. "You will." Immediately her Witchblade's metal began to crawl up and down Amy's body, forming a smooth outer layer of armor. As it crawled around her head, the metal stretched around her forehead and down the side of her face. She squirmed in ecstasy of its movement, as if it were a lover's touch. Her black robe fell to reveal a bodysuit and cape, also black. When the metal of her Witchblade had finally stopped, there Amy stood, in a costume of a mixture of black with red designs, the red parts having edges to them to show its viciousness. Finally, she extended a sword from her Witchblade, primed liked a cobra and ready to strike.
"You ready?" Amy taunted.
Willow charged at her with her sword, black-eyed and enraged. Amy parried Willow's strikes and grabbed her, pulling her into a head-butt. She then punched Willow in the stomach with so much force she flew back.
"I could definitely get used to this," Amy quipped.
Buffy decided to get into the fray and swung her scythe toward Amy. Sparks flew and metal clashed, but it all became moot as Amy pinned Buffy's scythe down, delivered a left cross to her face, and kicked her into the other wall.
Sara, as lousy as she was feeling, nevertheless charged at Amy and struck with all of her might. Someone had dared to copy the Witchblade. Aside from Sara being pissed, her own Witchblade was furious. It felt violated. Raped. The only way to settle the score was with blood, blood to wash away the injustice done to it. Sara, full of rage, slashed and cut at every opening, but Amy had parried them all. Grabbing Sara, Amy said, "Let's face it, sweetie; you're just not the 'It' girl anymore." With that, she pulled Sara into a knee strike, hit her with a right elbow, and backhanded her with the butt of her sword arm, flinging her against the wall.
But the fight was not over yet. Willow had regained herself and began chanting, "Let the fires of my rage burn my enemy to ash as I look upon her!" Letting loose a stream of fire, it hurtled toward Amy. But Amy stuck out her left hand to block it. After a struggle between the two, Amy redirected the much-reduced blast back to Willow. Willow had only a second to respond as she covered herself and was again thrown against the wall, her hair and clothes singed.
Buffy had had enough. She wanted this finished... and soon. Amy had caused enough problems in the past, but now she was a living, breathing sociopath. She engaged Amy in a blur of motions, hoping for an opening. Spinning around to her left, her scythe met metal. She quickly rotated to her right and ducked, slashing Amy's stomach. While it wasn't a fatal strike, it was good enough. Or so Buffy thought. Amy, stunned, regained herself and telekinetically threw Buffy back violently. The scythe flying from her hands, it was caught by Sara, who proceeded toward Amy with a double-armed attack.
Sara fought like never before. Before, she knew it was herself combating the evils in the warehouse. But now, she and the Witchblade were like one. For once, they had agreed on something: Amy had to die. She was a raging wind of blows and counter-attacks, so fast that it was almost a blur. Anger built up in every strike, in every hit, and sparks flew like a small swarm. Faster and faster the attacks poured out, like a dam that had burst. Sara finally scored a hit with her sword, coincidentally, on Amy's left thigh. As Amy stumbled back, Willow let loose lightning from her hands, which Amy barely blocked. She took most of it, but deflected a lot of the bolts away. By the end, all four combatants were winded from the fight.
Sara tossed the scythe back to Buffy. "Looks like you aren't as tough as you thought, Amy," Buffy said, breathing heavily.
"I'm not at my full power. That spell took a lot out of me. However, I still have one trick left up my sleeve..." Breathing in and out, Amy marshaled her forces. Gathering her power, she hunched over and lifted up her leg. As she stomped, she cried out in a guttural yell.
The floor shook and rumbled, as the middle started to crack and collapse. Hovering in the air, Amy blew a entrance out of the wall and drifted away, laughing as she did so.
The three women left there tried to stay steady, but the floor collapsed beneath them. There was a length of chain that was attached to the ceiling. Seeing it, Buffy grabbed it and held on as she fell, dropping her scythe. She caught Willow, who was on the way down, who in turn caught Sara. The chain was strong enough to hold the weight of the three of them. Unfortunately, the damaged metal structure of the second level was not, and they all fell fifteen feet on through a few rotting wooden crates. Luckily for Willow, Sara had held on to the girl to cushion her fall. Still, all three women just lay there, bruised, bleeding, and defeated.
The twenty-minute mark had passed, and none but the previous occupants had been seen coming out. Desiring in his deepest recesses to go and check on the girls, Giles knew what he was supposed to do. He started up the motorcycle and sped off back to base camp.
A few minutes later in the building, a prone figure started to moan.
"Uhhh..."
Buffy was trying to sit up as best she could. She felt just like she did after her first encounter with Sara: lousy.
"Are you two alright?" she asked. Sara and Willow started to come about.
"Yeah," Sara replied. "Just as soon as that brass section stops playing in my head... again."
"Man, remind me to bring football gear next time we do that," Willow said groggily.
"Let's get back home. We have to tell Giles and the others about this," Buffy said. "Things just went from bad to worse."
12:35 am, Friday – Slayer Base HQ
Giles had arrived home, frantic to contact the other Slayers and get them to New York. If something had been powerful enough to take out Buffy, Willow, and Sara, then he was going to need as much help as he could get. Pondering the difficult road ahead, he started dialing numbers on his cell phone.
"Hey, Giles. How's it going over..." the voice on the other side said.
"Faith, get whatever Slayers you can and get to New York."
"Wait... Giles, what's going on? Is Buffy..."
"Faith, just do it, please!"
"Okay, you got it."
Giles hung up quickly and dialed the another number, given to him in case of something like this.
"Hello?" the other voice said.
"It's Giles. Get to New York... now."
"I'm on it," Kennedy replied. With that, she hung up. She had been prepared to leave for New York at the drop of a hat. Willow was there, and if she was in trouble, then Kennedy wanted to be in the thick of it.
Giles was about to call Xander when his phone rang instead. He saw that it was Willow and excitedly answered.
"Willow?"
"Giles, it's Buffy. We're all fine... sort of. We'll be by in about twenty minutes. We've got a serious problem on our hands."
"Understood. I've been making phone calls and gathering things since I arrived."
"Thanks. By the way... could you get some ice packs ready?"
"Huh? Um... y-y-yes, certainly."
"See you in a few, Giles."
The phone hung up and Giles walked over to the fridge to get the ice packs. Closing his eyes and pausing before opening the door, he sighed in relief. His charges had been spared. They were alive, alive enough to come home first. Fortune favors us again, he thought. For now.
In the cab they had caught, Sara was in deep thought. She started mentally berating herself. I should've seen something. I should've done something. Why didn't I see it? How many people are going to die because of my mistake? What did I unleash on the world? Buffy had seen Sara's face and decided not to say anything to her. She had also seen Willow's face and hers was completely different. Hers was a look of brimming rage and anger.
The cabbie that picked them up had seen in his rearview mirror the state of his passengers and asked, "What happened to you three?"
Buffy, brought out of her stupor, curtly said, "Kickboxing class."
About twenty minutes later, the three women had shown up at the apartment, a mass of cuts and bruises to Giles' world-weary eyes. Willow's hair, eyebrows, and clothes were singed and she had a nasty bruise on her jaw. Buffy was once again hobbling because of her knee, aside from her own cuts, and Sara was sporting a black eye and a swollen jaw, along with a re-injured wrist. Both Sara and Willow had been silent on the cab ride home.
Giles stood there with his mouth agape, wondering what had happened in that warehouse.
"Giles, trust us... we feel a lot worse than we look. Still, can we get those ice packs you got?" Buffy asked.
"Oh... right," Giles said snapping out of his stupor to give the women the soothing cold bags for their wounds.
Taking her ice pack, Buffy moaned in profound pleasure at the numbness. She had been using them for years for her aches and pains, and they felt like ecstasy every time. Coming out of her temporary euphoria, she decided to tell Giles the bad news.
"Giles, we have a problem."
"So you said on the phone. What happened in there?"
"Well..."
"Amy Madison happened," Willow interrupted, removing the ice pack from her face.
"What?" Giles asked in surprise.
"Amy," Buffy continued. "She's been the one doing all of this. She orchestrated the entire thing."
"How? What? How?" Giles asked, confused at the notion.
"Seems she's been a busy little bee ever since she left Sunnydale," said Willow, contempt dripping from her voice.
"We have to stop her from whatever she's planning. We need to contact more Slayers, work out a plan, and..." Giles said anxiously as he started to dial more numbers. Looking at the dejected expressions of his former charges, he stopped and said, "And why do I get the impression that you haven't told me the worst part yet?"
"Giles, we've got some more bad news," Buffy replied, hesitant to tell.
Closing his phone, he was unsure he wanted to know what that bad news was. Deciding that he was going to find out anyway, he asked, "What is it?"
"Amy copied the Witchblade," Sara interjected angrily, breaking her silence.
"She what?!"
"She used the witch hearts for a spell, one that was able to duplicate the Witchblade. Pretty much tossed us around after that." Willow said.
"Oh good Lord. This is bad, this is extremely bad," Giles said pacing around.
"She had so much power. How? Why? I don't get it," Sara asked herself.
"Her mother was a witch, and Amy started going down the same route a few years back. And like her mother, she went evil with it," Willow replied.
"Giles, we need to figure out her next move," Buffy said. "We need intel. We need to know all we can about that thing and what it can do." All eyes in the room started to focus on Sara.
"Hey, I don't know how she did it! All I know is I'm pissed and this thing is pissed," she said pointing at her bracelet. "She shouldn't have been able to do it in the first place."
"Why not?" asked Buffy.
"The Witchblade is a balance against evil..." Sara started.
"Could've fooled me," Buffy interrupted.
"Look... when evil reaches a critical mass, it searches for Bladewielders to offset that, to balance the darkness. If Amy's as bad as you say, then she wouldn't have been worthy of it. She shouldn't have even been able to put it on."
"So how did she?" Buffy asked.
"If I knew that I'd be telling you, wouldn't I?" Sara replied.
"Maybe if you had known more about your 'trinket' we wouldn't be in this position," Buffy shot back.
"Newsflash, Buffy... your guys' 'stellar' research didn't come in handy either."
"Well, at least we had something. We went in there blind as a bat to what that thing was capable of."
"Just what are you implying?" Sara asked.
"I'm implying that for a detective who wears an evil gauntlet, you know absolutely jack about it!"
"Hey, I'm the one dealing with a killer because you guys couldn't handle her back home! Pretty lame for a supposed 'Slayer'."
"What did call me?!" Buffy replied lividly.
"I called you 'lame'. God knows how you lasted this long in New York," Sara said.
"Don't make me come over there and smack you down again."
"Bring it on, then!" Sara got up and stormed toward Buffy. Buffy then moved toward the detective.
"I've had about all I can take from you, Pezzini!" Buffy shouted.
"Then stop yapping and get down to it already!" Sara shouted back.
"Nothing would make me happier!"
"Any time, runt!"
Giles and Willow had been watching the escalating exchange, shocked at what they were seeing. Here they were, possibly on the cusp of a huge confrontation, and the two strongest combatants in the room were ready to tear the other's throat out. Giles quickly ran in-between them.
"Enough!" he yelled. "I have had enough of this bloody bickering! We have a witch with a powerful weapon out there, we have no idea how she plans to use it, and you two are carrying on like this is a some pissing contest! I know tensions are running high and we've suffered a major setback, but we have more important things to concentrate on. So, either you two shut up and start acting like adults or I will do it for you." The way Giles said it made it seem like more than an idle threat.
Willow had been rarely ever seen Giles so furious. It was the 'Ripper' in him coming out, and it started to scare her. She looked over to Buffy and Sara only to see them glaring at each other. Taking their eyes off of each other they both then sat down, Buffy on the couch and Sara in the easy-chair.
"Giles, what are we going to do about this? I mean, Amy's packing a lot of power and we're not exactly rich in resources," Willow asked.
"I've made some phone calls and I believe we'll get some assistance on this. I'll have to tell Faith she need not come..."Sara and a fugitive in the same room? I'll pass, he thought. "...but Kennedy will be, as well as some of the others."
"Good," said Willow. "We'll need all the help we can get." Aside from that, though, Willow was glad to be seeing Kennedy once more.
"Amy Madison, Amy Madison, Amy..." Sara said in a whispered voice.
"What is it?" Willow asked.
"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about that name. It seems really familiar," Sara replied. "I don't know, it just seems like I've heard it before."
"It's a pretty common name," Buffy said condescendingly.
"Whatever," Sara replied. "I just know I've heard that name before."
"Is she involved with the police somehow, like a witness or in some file, or something like...?" Willow asked.
"That's it!" Sara exclaimed. "Genovese Vitelli."
"Who?" Giles asked.
"Genovese Vitelli, Mafia don. I looked into their activities for some time. The Organized Crimes division always kept an eye on him, but they never had anything. But surveillance did catch him with some young girl a while ago, and then one day, he's married to her."
"And you think the young woman was Amy? You said 'kept' an eye on him. Why is that?" asked Giles.
"Because Don Vitelli died over a month ago, from a heart attack."
"Why would Amy, a powerful and crazy witch, be hooked up with a crime boss?" asked Buffy.
"An excellent question," replied Giles.
1:13 am, Friday – Home of Genovese Vitelli, Staten Island
Carlo Vitelli was exhausted. As the successor to his father, he had to make sure that things with other families were going to work out, especially if they wanted to counter the Yakuza and the Russian encroachment on their territories, as well as Triad strong-arming. Entering his limo, he wanted to get home to see his wife and kids... and to get away from Amy. He had never liked her, or the hold she had on his father in his last few months. It seemed that Genovese was so concerned with her that business affairs had taken a back seat. And Amy herself wasn't the peach she claimed to be. He sensed something in her, something he couldn't explain, but knew he didn't like... at all.
Hoping to put that business off until tomorrow, he noticed that the driver was making all of the wrong turns in getting to his house.
"Hey, Jerry, where're you going, huh? You know where I live. Get moving!"
The driver turned around only to reveal a deformed brow and fangs.
"You're not Jerry!"
"Aren't you quick?" the vampire said sarcastically. He rolled up the privacy window and Carlo yelled.
"Hey, what's going on here? Let me out! Let me..."
"Hello, Carlo," a voice said.
"What? Who said that?"
A disembodied head, illuminated in red light, appeared in front of him. To his surprise, he realized it looked like Amy. "Amy?" he asked.
"In the flesh, so to speak."
"What's going on?"
"You know, I always liked you, Carlo. Ambitious, handsome, just like your father. However, there are going to be some changes around this town and, well, I just don't think you'll fit with them."
"What are you talking about?" Carlo asked.
"I'm saying it's time for you to retire... just like your father did."
"You killed him, didn't you?"
"Well, I don't want to brag, but inducing that heart attack was extremely easy."
"You little..."
"Now, now, is that any way to talk to your stepmother? Oh, would you look at the hour? I think it's time for bed. I usually find a nice bubble bath relaxes me before sleeping. But I'm afraid your bath won't have any bubbles. Goodbye...'son'."
With that, Amy's head disappeared, and Carlo Vitelli was left screaming and cursing her name as his limo went off of the pier and into the New York Harbor.