Chapter Ten: Here Comes The Resurrection
Magic is one force, an energy radiating from the Source. In its own way, it is a vital part of existence. Channeling that one force occurs in many different forms, and each form puts its unique stamp upon the magic. When spells of two or more different sources collide, they can go wild, producing results that none of the original casters may have remotely intended. When sorcerers duel, they must take care so that their spells do not mix with those of their opponents, because nobody can predict what might happen if they did.
"Attack! Neutralize them, but don't kill them!"
"That's our cue!" Nightwing called as he sprang out of the shadows and into action, taking a thug down with a kick. A second thug tried to sneak up on him. (Needs lessons at being quiet) Nightwing reflected as he turned and brought the man down with an escrima stick to the temple. A third was bringing his gun up to line up a shot at Nightwing. (Oh crap.) Nightwing quickly bounced an escrima stick off of the thug's head before he could finish aiming. "Nighty-night," he smirked, before he noticed a situation requiring his immediate attention.
Xander entered the melee more cautiously, carrying a crossbow. He scanned the melee, and quickly picked out a demon stalking towards Nightwing, who was fighting some of the Joker's thugs. Xander raised his crossbow and fired. The bolt hit the demon in the eye, and it went down. (I'm getting good at this!) Xander crowed mentally.
"Oh, you again." That was all the warning Xander got before he felt a punch in the back. He dropped to the ground and dropped his crossbow. His back hurt like hell. He looked up, and saw the thug that broke down Buffy's back door. "I liked hurting you," the thug grinned. "I wanna do it again." Xander felt a split-second worth of fear, then he saw Nightwing coming their way. Xander saw him tap the thug's shoulder, and when the thug turned around Nightwing belted him in the mouth. The thug pitched to his teeth, mouth full of blood and broken teeth. Xander got up, and knocked the thug out with a knee to the face.
"Thanks," Xander panted.
"That's what I'm here for," Nightwing smiled. Both picked out new targets and attacked.
Elsewhere in the library, Tara was busy fending off demons with an axe. She felt terrified but after facing vampires, hellgoddesses, even scarier demons, and her own family she knew how to push past her fear and act.
Finally, one got too close. She swung and her axe connected in the demon's torso. It went down, dead. Tara tried to jerk the axe out but it was stuck on something. She put her foot on the demon's corpse and pulled but the axe barely budged.
"Oh, looks like the little bitch is defenseless," another demon announced. "Let's have some fun, boys!"
The words caught Robin's attention. He dropped the thug he was fighting with a blow from his staff and withdrew a batarang from his utility belt. He took aim and let it fly. It clipped one of the demons in the head, dropping it. The others turned to him.
"Get the kid first," the leader snarled. They charged him. Robin readied his staff. He caught one demon in the forehead with his staff and pivoted the staff to clip the second in the temple. The third, the leader, had a sword and swung it at him. Robin blocked with the staff.
"Ignis incende!" he heard Tara say. The demon burst into flames. It dropped its sword and screamed. It dropped to the ground and rolled, trying to extinguish the flames. Tara walked up to it and hit it on the head with the butt of her axe. It collapsed, still burning.
"Thanks," he told her.
"You're welcome," Tara smiled.
Looking around, Buffy could see that Giles engaged a group of vampires while Spike went straight to the demons. She smirked in spite of herself. (Figures.) However, Giles would need help soon. She headed his was but was blocked by a really large, ugly demon. "Wanna get out of my way?" she asked.
"No," it replied.
"Then we do this the hard way." She stuck her foot out and pivoted. Her leg sweep knocked the demon down. Out of the corners of her eyes she saw two sword-wielding vamps charging her from opposite directions. She rolled onto the demon and let them hit each other, running each other through. (That had to hurt. Too bad it didn't finish them off.) She withdrew one of the swords and used it to cut the vamp's head off, and then decapitated the second vamp, leaving her with two swords. She heard the big demon get up, so she whirled and swung one of the swords. She severed its head with ease, and then went to join Giles.
As soon as she reached a relative lull in her battle, Batgirl made a decision. (Why fight the minions when you can go straight to the top?) She fought her way past thugs and vampires, and ran straight for Dala.
"Oh look," Dala sneered, "it's a costume-" Batgirl shot a kick at Dala's face, knocking the vampire down. "That actually hurt," Dala growled as she got up. She vamped out. "So will this!" Dala aimed a roundhouse punch at Batgirl. Batgirl dodged, and countered with a punch of her own. Dala grabbed Batgirl's arm and flipped it. Batgirl rolled the instant she hit the ground, avoiding Dala's crushing foot.
(Strong. Fast. Trained. Trouble.) She felt herself smile. (I like trouble.) She sprang at Dala again, further engaging the vampire leader.
Batman saw Batgirl fighting Dala. She had the right idea: cut off the head, and the beast dies. His current position made a shot with a batarang impossible, so he went forward for a better shot. A particularly ugly demon suddenly stood in his way.
"You're the Batman," it rumbled. "You don't look so tough. Come on." It touched its chin. "How 'bout you hit me right here?"
Batman responded with a punch to its solar plexus. (At least it would be the solar plexus if it were a human.) The demon went down gasping, leaving Batman free to continue. He withdrew a batarang and lined up a shot on the Joker when Rack pointed at him.
"Stop," the sorcerer said calmly and Batman's muscles froze.
"Now what am I going to do with you?" Rack mused as approached Batman with the Sword of Veils in hand.
Nightwing dropped yet another vampire with an escrima stick to the face. (I really should have brought a stake) he mentally grumbled. Looking up to see another target, he saw a man with a sword at Batman's face. His response was immediate. He leapt in the man's direction. He withdrew a batarang and readied a throw.
"Sorry, boy," a vampire leered, getting in his face. "Gotta get past me."
Nightwing readied his throw a few seconds later, after kicking the vamp in the kidneys. His aim was perfect but the batarang ricocheted off of an invisible shield. Fortunately, it nailed one of the last conscious Joker-thugs in the head on the rebound.
"I know what I'll do with you," he heard the man say. He lifted the sword and drew the tip down Batman's cheek. It was a long but thin cut, but the sword still became wet with some blood.
"Thank you," he heard Rack say. The sorcerer turned and put the tip of the blade in the Chalice, letting the blood drop into it. He then picked up the Ring and dropped it in the Chalice. He held the Sword in the air and began to chant.
"He's starting the ritual!" Giles yelled.
"He's starting the ritual!" Tara heard Giles yell.
"Oh no, he's not," Tara said firmly. Then she saw her lover begin a spell. "Willow!" she called. "I can stop him! Don't do anything!"
Tara's mother had once taught her a spell designed to safely stopmystical ritualsfrom being performed. It wasn't so much a spell as a repeated chant. She never taught it to Willow, and now was not the time for Willow to learn. She pointed at Rack and began her chant, throwing every last drop of her power into it. (I may not be able to stop him, but I will slow him down!)
Rack chanted, holding the Sword and swinging it, as per the ritual. He could feel the energy building. (Soon I'll be able to-) In a flash, he could feel the energy ebb. Somebody was blocking him! He looked to see who it was. (Little blond) he mentally growled. He couldn't stop the chant, not now, not even to tell his partners to kill her. He raised his voice, and began intensifying the spell. (She's strong, but I am stronger!)
Tara's chant faltered as she felt Rack put more of his strength into it. (He's got at least one shield going, and he's keeping Batman paralyzed, and he's still putting this much power into this? No. Keep it up, Tara. Just pour it on. Sooner or later something has to give. Hopefully not me.) Tara intensified her own spell.
(Unbelievable!) Rack breathed silently. (This one isn't as strong as the Strawberry can be, but she's damn close!)
Willow watched the exchange of power. Most of the bad guys in the room were down or else fighting with one of the others. Batgirl was still fighting Dala, Batman was still paralyzed, and Nightwing was trying to take the Joker down, only to have several beings get in his way. The others were trying to get to Rack, but the various baddies in the room were in the way, and fighting back.
She ignored these battles and focused on the mystical one. She could feel the energy being expended. Tara's white aura was trying to drain Rack's black aura. (She's even stronger than she knows, but Rack is unbelievable.)
If Rack succeeded, then something bad might happen to Buffy. Something so bad it caused a seer to have a vision about it. On the other hand, she didn't know the spell that Tara was using, so if she just charged in there the results could be disastrous.
She watched her love struggle. She could see the sweat bead on Tara's forehead. She could hear the way her lover's voice was already starting to tire. She made her decision. She cut her hand with a small ritual knife she had the foresight to bring with her, and she began to chant. "Spirits of the great beyond, children from the beyond the void, I summon thee to my aid!" She could feel the power building up inside of her. (Good. All I need to do now is say what I want!) "End this battle of wills so that the good can be happy and the wicked be undone!" She pointed her hand, and a burst of red energy flew from her hand. She saw both Rack and Tara look at her.
(Oh, no…) the dueling mages thought in unison as the red energy collided with their dueling magics. All three briefly convulsed, toppling to the floor. The Sword of Veils flew out of Rack's hand, and remained airborne.
Willow felt almost completely drained. She lay gasping on the floor, and it was a while before she could even lift her head. When she did, she saw that the Sword was alternately glowing black, white, and red. The colour shifts grew in speed, and intensity, until the Sword's shape became a kaleidoscope of white, red, and black. And blue. (Blue?)
Willow looked beneath the Sword, to the Chalice. The Chalice was glowing with a deep, brilliant blue light. The Sword moved of its own accord, and made a slash in the air. A hole opened, with a loud crack, which got the attention of everybody in the room. (It kinda looks like what happened when I teleported) she thought.
With the slash went the white, red, and black energy. The Sword now radiated emerald green energy. The Sword pointed down, and lowered itself into the Chalice, and the green and blue energies mixed. The tear in reality began to glow with that same colour, and Willow could feel- something. (Whatever's gonna happen, is gonna happen now!)
She wasn't wrong. Two sparks emerged from the tear. One was a deep black. The other shifted between blinding white and a deep crimson. The black spark headed for the Chalice as the white-and-red spark headed for the decaying body.
The Chalice began to spark, as did the Sword. The blue-green aura dimmed, and became sickly. The contents began to bubble, and run out the sides. Black sludge emerged. (Whatever that gunk is, its eating away at the Chalice and the Sword!) After the sludge stopped emerging, Willow saw that the Chalice was a melted mess. The Sword, which was half eaten away, limply dropped to the earth. The sludge coalesced. It rose into a vaguely human shape. It changed colour, and coalesced further, until a naked man was standing in the remains of the Chalice. He looked down at himself, and his gaze lingered on a black ring that was on his index finger. He looked around at the room, and began to laugh. "I live!" he crowed triumphantly. Then he entered into vamp face. "Figuratively speaking, of course."
Meanwhile, the red-and-white spark entered the decaying corpse. When it did the body glowed a deep, healthy shade of pink. The body also grew. Not very much, but there was definite increase in size and mass. The glow intensified and the body moved. It sat up and then stood up as the glow started to fade. It was a young man. He was around Willow's age, maybe a little younger. The suit he wore was far too small for him. He looked down at himself.
"What?" He looked up, and there was an extremely confused-looking expression on his face. He stopped looking around when he saw the paralyzed Batman. His eyes widened with some emotion. Shock, followed by- was it recognition?
"Retreat!" Dala suddenly yelled. "Retreat! Remember the plan!"
The thugs and assorted demons burst into action. Dala grabbed the naked man and headed for the nearest exit. The Joker conked the young man on the head with the butt of his gun, and followed. He carried the now-unconscious young man in his arms. Rack stood up and quickly followed them. The thugs just skedaddled, leaving their unconscious comrades behind. The demons did the same.
"Oh no, you don't!" Nightwing called, and led the pursuit. Willow went to join in, but she was stopped by Tara.
"We have to free Batman," she told her. Willow nodded. Tara was right.
As the posse began to gain on the fleeing villains, Rack turned and extracted several pellets from his pocket. He threw them down, and several demons sprung out of them, quickly becoming full sized. "Kill them!" Rack shouted before continuing his escape.
The demons roared, and charged the heroes.
Spike leapt to meet them head on. With a snarl, he extended his hands around the nearest demon's neck, and twisted. The demon fell, dead. He spun and punched a second, sword-bearing demon right in the face. With it down, he picked up the sword and decapitated a tentacle-headed demon. (I am such a bloody animal!) he thought with glee. He seldom had a chance to really let loose anymore.
Giles took a different approach. He calmly raised his crossbow and shot the nearest demon in the eye. Then he reloaded and shot a second demon in the forehead. He lowered his crossbow and drew his sword. He entered into a brief duel with a Polgara demon, which he won.
It soon became a free-for-all. It was shorter than the previous fight, but nastier for all involved. When the new demons were either dead, down, or fled, the heroes noticed something. "Hey, where's Buffy?" Xander asked. "And that Nightwing guy- don't tell me they're having all the fun right now!"
"I don't think so," Robin said slowly. He bent down, and when he stood up he held two small darts. "Tranquilizers."
"Bloody hell," Spike breathed.
"Did anybody see which way they went?" Xander demanded.
"We have to calm down," Robin told them.
"Calm down?" Spike spat. "We have to go after them!"
"He's right!" Xander yelled. "And I can't believe I just said that."
"Robin is right," Giles told him patiently. "We need to be very careful about how we proceed, while remaining fast. We split up-"
"Split up? Giles, did you not count the number of guys they have? We have to-"
"Enough." The voice was gravelly, and omnipresent, seeming to come from everywhere. Batman joined the others. Willow and Tara were behind him. "None of you saw where they went, so following them now will be impossible. They are walking on a paved road, so there will be no tracks to find unless they cross back onto grass. Even if they did, it would not be possible to find those tracks in a timely manner. We will return to the Magic Box and regroup. Spike, I want you to think of everything you know about Dala and the Monk. Even the smallest details could be important. Mr. Giles, I assume you have contacts in this community."
"Yes," he nodded. "I'll start making the rounds as soon as we return."
"Good." He turned, and walked in the direction of the Magic Box. The others followed behind, depressed and extremely worried.