Chapter Fourteen: Showdown At The Initiative

"I win again!" Dawn crowed.

"I don't believe it!" Anya grumbled. "How can you keep guessing who I am?"

Dawn looked at Anya over their Guess Who boards. "It's 'cause I've practiced at it," Dawn grinned smugly. "Pay up."

"Fine, fine," Anya grumbled, passing Dawn a nickel. "This has to be rigged," she muttered. Dawn started talking, but Anya didn't hear. Out of the blue, she felt great darkness. "Power," she muttered, not knowing that she cut Dawn off. "Anger. Hatred. Despair. Vengeance." She got a better grasp of the aura, and she gasped. "Willow?"

"Anya," she heard Dawn say, "what's wrong?"

"Dawnie," she said, snapping back to the Magic Box, "stay here. Something's really, really wrong. I'll be right back." She blinked, and teleported.

"To paraphrase Dr. Hank McCoy," Xander heard himself breathe, "'Oh, my fucking stars and garters.'" Willow had done- something- with some of the bad books, and now she looked like something out a scary witch-related horror movie.

"How do you like my darkness now?" she asked Rack, and she pointed at him. She muttered something in a really weird language, and black lightning shot out at Rack. It barely missed Batgirl. Rack screamed, but managed to shield himself halfway through the blast. He jumped to the side.

"Attack!" the Monk yelled. He went back to beating on Spike. Dala started attacking Robin again, and Xander saw that Giles suddenly had his hands full with a bunch of demons heading up the stairs. The Jester attacked Batman again. He saw a lot of demons rush Willow, but she fried them with a wave of her hand. That left him with nobody to fight. Then he heard the running. Buffy and Nightwing were charging at him.

He didn't even have the time to pee himself when they were suddenly thrown back. "What the-"

"Get out of my way, Xander."

"Ahn?" He looked in the direction of her voice. She was going to where Tara lay, and he quickly followed her. "Willow's gone off the deep end," he told her.

"Anything else painfully obvious you have to tell me?" she snarked.

"We're getting our butts kicked?"

"I noticed." She knelt down by Tara and touched the dead witch's neck while he recapped everything that had happened. "She's dead, Ahn," Xander finished. Then it hit him. (Tara- gone?)

"Xander!" Anya snapped. "No, she's not."

(She's not?) "Huh?"

"At least not yet, but she will be." He followed Anya's gaze to where Willow and Rack were doing really weird magic-things to each other. "And I can't help her."

"What?" Xander protested. He felt shock. He knew that Anya was a little shaky with most of the Scoobies, but she always got along fine with Tara.

"I'm not allowed to do anything," Anya told him, as she started fingering her necklace. "It's against the rules."

"Well to hell with the rules!" Xander snapped. "You have to do something."

"Xander," she snapped. She sounded strained, and she started fingering her necklace even more. "Oh screw it," she sighed, sounding defeated. "D'Hoffryn's already unhappy with me. I may as well go full out and really piss him off." Her face turned all demonic, and she and Tara winked away.

Then he realized that with Anya gone, so was whatever protection she provided him. He saw that Buffy and Nightwing were still dazed from whatever Anya did to them, and everybody else was pretty close to losing, and that Batgirl was where Nightwing had dropped her, and was struggling against her bonds. (Batgirl!)

He ran to her as quickly as he could. He grabbed a fallen sword, and quickly sliced the ropes. As he did, he noticed that the demons going up the stairs had gotten to Giles and were beating him up. His first impulse was to go up to him, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to do much to help- unlike Batgirl.

"Help Giles!" he told her as he sliced.

"Right!" she called as she fired her jumpline and went to the Watcher.

Giles looked up at the demons standing in front him. He had taken a lot of them out, more than he would have expected, but there were too many of them. They had rushed him, getting in several shots, and he had to retreat. They now had him backed against the railing, and would either kill him straight out or shove him over the edge.

"Game over, human," one of them smirked.

Giles glared up at it. (No, dammit, not like this! Not with my Slayer under a madman's spell!)

Suddenly, amazingly, a figure in black swung by his side. She swept him into her arms. The arc of the swing carried them both into the elevator shaft. She put him down gently before turning to face the demons.

Giles had never seen anything like it. She was remarkable, even more so than Buffy. He knew that the Watcher's Council had files on every superhero and supervillain- not that they shared. Still, some few bits of information had leaked out, and there were any number of rumours based on what might be in those files. Giles knew that Batman generally only trained ordinary humans, but some rumours hinted that Batgirl was the exception to that rule. He didn't know if she were human or not, but he suddenly thought that she might have been a Potential Slayer. (Whatever she is, she is remarkable.)

"Are you okay?" she asked him after she had finished.

"Bloody wonderful," he grumbled. The demons had done quite a bit of work on him, enough that he was out of the battle for now. He smiled at her anyway. "I'll live. You just get back in there. You are bloody brilliant, you know." He saw her mouth shift under her mask. She was smiling.

"Thanks," she told him, before returning to the fight. He saw her swing down and engage Buffy and Nightwing, who were about to go for Xander again.

Dawn paced the Magic Box. One minute she and Anya were playing Guess Who, the next Anya was babbling about darkness and vengeance and Willow and teleporting away. She hoped that whatever it was that Anya felt, it wasn't too bad. Anya suddenly materialized in front of her.

"Anya what's- your blouse!" There was blood on Anya's blouse. Anya glanced down and groaned.

"Two blouses in two days!" Anya moaned. "My bank account is going to hate me in the morning!"

"Anya! What happened?"

"Short version? Rack zapped Tara. Willow thought Tara was dead. Willow absorbed all the power in a few of the dark tomes and now she's Super-Scary-Witch. She wants to feed Rack his teeth, rectally. Tara wasn't dead. I teleported her to a hospital. The doctors said that I got her there just in time. Now I'm back here."

"Is she gonna live?"

"They think so."

"What else is happening?"

"Our side is about to get its ass handed to it. Xander thinks that Rack has Buffy and Nightwing under control but I could feel what really happened to them." She looked at Dawn, and a really weird look appeared on her face. "Well, I'm already pissing off D'Hoffryn," she muttered, and looked back at Dawn. "Buffy is going to be pissed at me too, but it's the only thing that I can do to help."

Before Dawn could react to that, Anya grabbed her arm. She turned all demonic and Dawn felt herself wink away from the Magic Box.

Robin grunted as he blocked yet another punch from Dala. He was fading fast, and he knew it. "Giving up so soon, little bird?" she taunted him.

"Never," he spat at her. (I've gone into a lot of bad situations. I got out of them. I'm gonna get out of this one, too. I wish I knew how.) Giles was out of the fight. (He must be hurt) Spike was still occupying the Monk. Batgirl was fending off Buffy and Nightwing. Rack and Willow were occupying each other. Batman was still trying to get through to Jason. He noticed Anya appear and take Tara away- did that mean that she was alive? That left Xander handling the few remaining demons and thugs. He was doing a surprisingly good job, but unless something big happened he'd be dead soon. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the air ripple. Anya appeared- with Dawn?

"You're gonna have to free Buffy, and I'll tell you how," he heard Anya say.

"What?" Dala breathed. She looked worried. She grabbed him and shoved him to the ground. As he stood up, he saw her racing towards them. He got up and followed. He grabbed a batarang from his utility belt and readied a throw. That wouldn't change anything. (It'll be too late!) He saw Dawn hold up a small necklace. Whatever it was, it made Dala stop in her tracks. (Of course) he grinned. (A crucifix!)

"Bring it, bitch," Dawn smirked. "Oh I'm sorry- you can't."

Robin heard Dala give a very satisfying scream. He readied his throw and followed through. At the last second, Dala spun and caught the batarang. (Uh-oh!)

"I'm going to kill you!" she yelled. Before she could run, Anya stepped forward. She grabbed Dala, whirled her around, and gave her a headbutt. Dala crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Do you have a stake on you?" Anya asked Dawn. Dawn shook her head. "Oh well. Like I was about to say- Buffy's been possessed by the spirit of the First Slayer. Rack put a spell on the First Slayer to make her obey the Monk."

"How do you know?"

"I just do, okay? Anyway, Buffy and the First Slayer are fighting each other for control of the body. That means that they aren't fighting the spell. You have to get through to Buffy. You have to convince her that she and Sineya- the First Slayer- have to work together, so they can break the spell."

"What do I do?"

"Talk to her," Anya told her, and looked at him. "Robin," she called to him, "come over here and be ready to have her back if she needs it." He saw Dawn look at Buffy, who along with Nightwing was fighting Batgirl. She started talking.

The desert. Just like last time, the damn desert. The desert was on top of the Initiative, as if somebody had put two paintings on top of each other and was shining a flashlight underneath them. Buffy was looking out of her eyes. She watched herself fight Batgirl, but it felt like she was watching a movie. Only three things were completely real: herself, her enemy, and the nimbus of red energy that surrounded them both.

"Give me back my body!" Buffy snapped.

"I have to have it," Sineya snarled. "You're too weak to break free from the sorcerer's grasp! The evil must be punished. We slay, and we slay alone! That's how it is."

"You're wrong, and so were those shamans that tried to control you!" Buffy snapped back. "If you couldn't stand up to them, how the hell do you think you can stand up to Rack and the Monk? Oh, that's right- you didn't, and you used my body to have sex!"

"It is more difficult than you know to fight something that you genuinely desire! I apologize for not being strong enough, but I notice that you could not resist when I gave you back control and you were ordered to fight the girl that came to rescue us- and that was not something that you wanted to do!"

Buffy thought about that as she fought. (Damn- she's got a point) Fighting the spell was like fighting Glory- no matter what she did, it still came back for more. She opened her mouth to speak when she heard a voice.

#Buffy# For a second Buffy thought she was hallucinating. Then she heard it again. #Buffy, I know you can hear me#

"Dawn?"

"Your sister?" Sineya asked. "How can she be heard here?"

"She's my sister!" Buffy snapped. "She was made out of me!"

"Yes," Sineya nodded. "Yes, that's it! Her connection with you is deeper than Rack's spell!"

#Buffy, you have to stop fighting#

"She sounds desperate," Sineya noted. "Given what we are doing, I can't blame her."

#Buffy, the only way you can beat this is if you and the First Slayer work together#

"What?" Buffy exploded.

#Buffy, we really getting our butts kicked out here. We need you#

Buffy looked at Sineya. "I don't-"

#BUFFY!#

"Okay!" she reached out and grabbed Sineya's hand. Sineya grabbed her other hand, and they pushed against the spell. It was heavy, much heavier than anything Buffy had ever had to move before in her life. However, Dawn's desperation gave her all the strength that she needed and much more. With a scream, they broke the spell.

Even in a fight for his life, Rack paid attention to his pre-existing spells. He noticed when the Slayer's sister started talking to her, and he definitely noticed the fact that her voice registered on her.

"I am going to kill you!" Willow hissed.

Rack sighed. He didn't have time for this right now. He was still going strong, but so was Strawberry. He hadn't had to fight this hard since the last time he took on Kent Nelson, and it had been a long while since that last battle. He was somewhat 'out of shape.' Strawberry wasn't as sophisticated or trained as Nelson was. Even now she was far less powerful, but she had Nelson beat cold in terms of ruthlessness and pure viciousness. If she had access to more books than just the few, he knew that he would have long since been dead.

He had a sense of the general battle. (We're winning, but if the sister gets through to the Slayer that could change) He turned his attention back to Strawberry and rattled off another spell.

"What are you trying to do?" she sneered. "Crush me? My shield is stronger than that spell."

"I know," Rack purred, as his spell teleported her away. She would break his spell in time, and head back here, but by that time this would be over. He strode towards where the vengeance demon and the boy were guarding the sister. He readied a spell, and cast it. A bolt of energy struck the demon and the boy, stunning them. A second spell caused a ball of fiery rock to manifest in the air and crash down towards the girl. The girl grabbed the demon and the boy and tried to run, but she wouldn't get out of the way quickly enough unless she dropped both of them. She wouldn't do that. People like her never did.

"Buffy!" the girl screamed. Rack doubled over in agony a second later. (The girl did it! The Slayer and the First Slayer had joined their will to break my spell!) Looking up, he saw the Slayer run from her fight with Batgirl at top speed. She grabbed her sister and the would-be protectors and ran. The rock just barely missed them. (Damn) he cursed. (Well, I've got a few seconds before Strawberry gets back. Let's throw the odds back to our side.)

"B-Buffy?" Dawn asked her sister. She noticed Anya and Robin stirring beside her, but her focus was on her sister.

"Yes, Dawn, it's me." Buffy's voice sounded weird, like two people were speaking out of one mouth. "Actually, it's us. Don't worry- we will protect you."

"Buffy, I-" A moan interrupted her. Dawn looked to the source, and she noticed that Buffy did too. It was Spike, on the catwalk. He was leaning back against a wall. Dawn gasped. He wasn't as badly beaten after Glory tortured him, but he still looked very bad. The Monk was laughing, and started punching him. "Buffy, you have to help Spike."

Buffy/Sineya looked torn. "But- I can't leave you to save that vampire."

Dawn rolled her eyes. (Great- the First Slayer thinks she gets a say! No, no she doesn't!) "Buffy," Dawn said, "Anya and Robin are here, and I can fight." She looked around, and noticed two things- Robin's Bo staff, and a fallen sword. She went for the sword. "I can use this," she said. "I've watched you."

"I'll take care of her, Miss Summers," Robin told Buffy as he grabbed the Bo. "I promise."

"So do I," Anya vowed. Dawn noticed that she was in demon face.

Buffy/Sineya shot her a weird look, then nodded. "Okay," she said, as she raced over to the Monk, and Spike.

"Actually, it isn't." Dawn heard Rack's voice a second before he appeared. He snatched Anya's necklace from off of her neck. It burst into flames in his hand, and quickly melted.

"No!" Anya screamed. Dawn had never heard Anya- or anybody- hit that note before. Anya glowed for a few seconds. When it faded, she looked human again. "Not again!" she heard Anya moan. She saw Robin swing his staff at Rack's head, but the sorcerer teleported away before the swing could connect.

"One last gift," Dawn heard Rack say as he faded away. The ground suddenly started shaking. Everyone still standing fell down due to the intensity of the tremors. Dawn saw the complex's floor crack. Lumps of earth rose up through the cracks. The lumps quickly took on human shape.

"Elementals!" Anya screamed. One of the elementals tried to bring its fist down on Dawn's head, but she dodged it. As she got up, Dawn saw Robin attacking two of them with his Bo, and more were engaging Buffy.

"Anya, get out of here!" Dawn shouted. "We'll keep them occupied."

"Right!" Robin shouted.

"But I can't just-"

"Go!" Buffy and Robin yelled at her. Anya got the hint and left. Dawn saw one of the elementals go after her.

(Okay Dawn, what would Buffy do?) Dawn lunged forward. She shoved her sword into the thing's 'neck.' It shuddered, and it collapsed, turning back into dirt. She felt and heard the heavy footprints behind her. She pivoted and lowered the sword, driving it into the second elemental's body. Like it's 'brother,' the thing shuddered and collapsed.

"See Buffy," she called. "I can fight!" She looked over to Buffy/Sineya, who had dropped the elementals that attacked her. Buffy/Sineya smiled at her, nodded, and turned. She raced up the stairs and charged the Monk.

Buffy/Sineya crossed the ground between herself and the Monk easily, launching a kick at the Monk, who turned to look at her. The Monk's body language radiated confidence. Her kick knocked him into the faraway wall so hard it left an impact crater. She grabbed Spike and set him far behind her, near the stairs. She smiled as she saw the Monk stand up, reeling slightly. She felt different, better, powerful. As the Monk charged her she knew that she had a difficult battle ahead, but she knew that she would prevail.

"Demons!" the Monk screamed. "Engage the Batgirl!" The remaining demons obeyed him.

Rack watched the Slayer with a scowl. She was more powerful than ever. (Well, I can fix-)

"Rack!"

(Oh great- Strawberry's back.) He turned to face her. She was floating in the air.

"You will drown in my darkness," she promised him.

Rack smirked. (Now, there's an idea.) "You want to know what real darkness is, Strawberry? Why don't you find out?" He quickly rattled off a spell. He felt his body collapse, but his spirit rose to face her. It transformed into a cloud of pure shadow, and enveloped the surprised witch. (Who will drown in whose darkness?) he thought.

"Yay, kid!" the Joker cheered. "Beat him up! Make him bleed! But remember- I get to kill him! Unless you find a crowbar and some dynamite, in which case you get to kill him because the irony would be far too delicious for me to overlook! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Batman countered another of Jason's kicks, and blocked another punch. He could end this easily, but- "Jason, please! You are stronger than he is!"

"In… Hell…" Jason muttered as he began another attack.

"The dear boy thinks he's in Hell," the Joker purred conspiratorially. "I'm letting him run with that hypothesis. He thinks you're a demon in Bat shape, sent to torment him for whatever sin got him thrown out. I wonder if I could make any of your other kids think that."

(That is it! Jason, forgive me.) He blocked Jason's next punch, and countered with a right cross at his full strength. Jason reeled, and a blow to the neck put him out. (Forgive me, son) he thought as he turned to the Joker, who had suddenly stopped laughing.

"I didn't think you had that in you," the Joker cackled weakly as Batman advanced on him. "Now Bats, before you freak- remember that the boy is alive again, so you really don't have to-"

Batman's punch caught the Joker in the nose. The punch was at full strength, throwing the clown against the wall. The Joker collapsed, unconscious. Batman took a second to cuff him before joining Batgirl's fight against Nightwing and the remaining demons. "Take the demons down!" Batman called. "I'll handle Nightwing!" Batgirl nodded and obeyed.

"Dawn got through to Buffy by talking to her," he heard Robin call. "Talk him into joining with the spirit in him to break Rack's controlling spell!"

"Noted," Batman called back as he engaged Nightwing. Nightwing/Okonkwo launched a kick at him, which he dodged and countered with a punch.

"Nightwing," he said urgently as they continued fighting. "It's me. Listen to me. You have to join with the spirit in you to break Rack's spell."

Nightwing/Okonkwo launched a kick at him, which Batman blocked before flowing into a punch. "Listen to me," he said, letting more of his urgency enter his voice. "I have seen you do amazing things, and you can do this. You have to. Come back to us, son. We need you."

Nightwing/Okonkwo stopped. Batman saw him look down. When he looked at Batman, he flashed his trademark roguish grin. Batman felt an immediate surge of relief. (I didn't want to put two of my children down in one night.)

"Took you long enough to do that," Nightwing/Okonkwo told him. His voice sounded strange, as if two voices were speaking in unison.

"You're stubborn."

"We learn from the best," Nightwing/Okonkwo retorted. "Handle the demons and remaining elementals. We will help our love destroy the vampire that did this to us." He picked up his long fallen sword, and ran to Buffy and the Monk.

Batman was unused to taking orders, but he saw the logic behind them. The field needed to be cleared of remaining threats. He saw Batgirl handling the demons with ease, so he turned his attention to the elementals. He grabbed a batarang and threw it at one of the elementals surrounding Robin and Dawn. The elemental collapsed into dirt.

"Thanks for the help, Batman," Dawn called as her sword dropped the last elemental.

"Robin, Miss Summers," he nodded as he went to them. "Are either of you injured?"

He noticed that they were both scraped, as well as the beginnings of bruises on Robin's body.

"Fine," Robin told him.

"Ditto," Dawn grinned. She was probably on an adrenaline-high from the battle.

Suddenly, Batman heard a gunshot from a far corridor, shortly followed by a scream. "On it!" Robin called, heading off in the direction of the shot. Batman looked back at Dawn. The widening of her eyes was his only warning before he was tackled from behind.

"You thought you could defeat us?" Dala screamed at him as she got on top of him and started punching. "My master and I will feast on your blood as everything you love burns!"

He saw Dawn Summers try to strike Dala with her sword. Dala moved off of Batman, but she got up and lunged at Dawn. Batman stuck a leg up, obstructing her. "Get Robin!" he yelled at her. She nodded, and complied.

Willow swam in darkness. She couldn't see anything no matter where she turned.

"I mean, I just feel like the-the junior partner. You've been doing everything longer than me. You've been out longer ... you've been practicing witchcraft way longer." It was her own voice, coming from behind her. She turned, and she saw herself. She was sitting on the bed in her old dorm room, the one she lived in before moving to Buffy's place.

"Oh, but you're way beyond me there! In just a few- I mean ... it frightens me how powerful you're getting." That was Tara.

Willow saw herself frown. "That's a weird word."

Willow's blood ran cold. She remembered what day that was: the day of the Multicultural Fair, when she and Tara had that argument, and Tara went to the Fair alone. Glory found her there, thinking that she was the Key. When Glory found out that Tara wasn't she brain-sucked her because Tara wouldn't give Dawn up. (This is the argument) Willow shuddered. Then she collected herself. "Is there a point to this, Rack?" she snarled.

#There is# Rack's voice echoed all around her.

"What is it?"

#You're getting far too worked up about this one, Strawberry. She's nothing compared to you#

"Don't. You. EVER. Say. That. Again!"

#It's the truth. She could have been something, but she was too afraid of her own power. You never were. Have you ever stopped to wonder what that means?#

"What does it mean, oh great and powerful Oz?"

#You think that you can psyche yourself by comparing me to a famous charlatan? Oh, Strawberry. To answer your question, it's because you like the power. You get off on it. Always have#

"That's not true!" Willow screamed at him, even though a small part of her agreed with Rack. A very small part that the rest of her quickly shouted down.

#Isn't it? Let's talk about your life. You're the daughter of two cold, distant professors who thought they could raise you according to theories, and proven psychological standards, and were so wrapped up in giving you an education that they neglected the real you. How about your friends? You didn't have many early on, just Xander and Jesse, and to some degree dear little Amy as well. You were in love with Harris, but he only ever saw you as one of the boys. Jesse was a loser who got himself vamped. And Amy- well, you know all about her. How much did they really care about you, hmm? Then, Buffy Summers and her sister came to Sunnydale, and your life got even worse#

Images of the people he talked about came before her eyes as he mentioned them. "That's not true!" She shouted that with as much conviction as she could, although more of her was starting to agree with him.

#I'm in your mind. I know everything that you do so yes, it is true. She started endangering your life from the moment she arrived there. What happened to you after she came to Sunnydale? Your friend Jesse gets vamped and Xander stakes him. You start to enter a real relationship, only to find out that you're dating a cyber demon that you accidentally released. Your childhood love falls in lust with your new best friend before getting over her and falling for a girl you'd hated for as long as you knew her. You finally get a boyfriend, and he becomes a werewolf in short order. You give yourself to him, and he eventually leaves you. And all that doesn't take into account the many times that the Slayer has directly or indirectly endangered your life#

"You're only telling half the story!" Willow shouted, although she was starting to think that she was trying to convince herself.

#Give me a minute, will you? It's true, there were good things as well, but we both know what the best was: the magic#

Images floated around Willow. Every one involved her casting a spell. She saw herself floating roses and pencils, re-ensouling Angel, turning ice into fire, contacting the spirit world, resurrecting Buffy, attacking Glory, among other images.

#And you eventually found yourself a true partner and equal, and what does she do to you?#

A new image appeared before Willow. It was from earlier that year. She and Tara were in the Bronze, and they were arguing.

#A simple little dimensional shifting spell, and she freaks out. It's not like you wouldn't have had it under control#

(Exactly) Willow mentally snorted, but then she felt guilty. "I could have hurt all those kids if I cast that spell!" she protested. It sounded a little weak.

#Uh-huh. You could have also found Dawn a lot more quickly, and wouldn't that have been better than letting be her out who-knows-where? Fast-forward to just this past afternoon. What does she tell you? You rely too much on the darkness. Take now, for instance- you absorbed all the power out of the books. To kill me#

(Finally, something I can completely agree with) she thought. "Yes!" she shouted.

#Because you needed the extra power to take me on#

"Yes!"

#Because you like the 'dark' power#

"Yes!" Willow gasped as soon as the words were out of her mouth, but she didn't take them back. She couldn't, because they were true. She… she liked the dark power. It filled every pore of her body. It made her feel powerful.

#Oh, Strawberry. Think about what you just said. You're calling on the dark power, the power your girlfriend distrusted, to kill me, the man who gave you a better taste of that power than any you've ever known? Does that make sense to you? We both know what the answer is#

"No," she admitted.

#I thought not#