A/N Again thanks for the dialogue with Buffy and Batman in this chapter Eckles. Also this will probably be the last cannon episode I do until I get to the episode Prophesy Girl. Also in order to semi understand what's happening in this episode, you would have had to have seen the actual episode. I just didn't want to do it in this one, because it's gonna take to long and I found the episode to be kind of boring anyway.

Also thanks for the reviews Dilvish and Anthony1. I hope you two like the these two chapters that I'm about to upload. I was going to originally going o skip this episode, but I didn't want everything to be about Xander.

Chapter 12

I Robot, You Jane

A castle in Cortona, Italy, 1418

A young italian man named Carlo was standing by a window looking into the room at a big green demon, with large horns and red eyes. He was looking his master, Moloch.

"Carlo, my dear one." the demon called out upon seeing him.

Carlo then came into the room and kneeled down before him. With a grin crossing it's demonic face, Moloch stepped over to him and puts his hand on his head.

"Do you love me?" Moloch asked. "I can give you everything. All I want is your love."

"You have my love." and as soon as those words left Carlo's mouth, Moloch growled and viciously twisted his head, snapping his neck.

A church

The head priest, Thelonius was talking to a group of monks, about a demon and they all bore torches.

"It is Moloch." Thelonius warned the other priests. "The Corrupter. He walks again. More and more people have fallen under his mesmerizing power. There is still time to bind him. We must form the circle."

The monks then gathered around him as he opened a large book, but the pages of the book seemed to be blank. But not for long.

"By the power of the circle of Kayless..." as they chanted, Moloch smiled as he straightened up and let Carlo's body fall to the floor. His expression changed however when he realized something was wrong.

"No!" he yelled in outrage as he felt himself, leaving this plane of existance.

The Church

"By the power of the circle of Kayless, I command you! Come!" Thelonius yelled as he held up the book. "I command you! Come! COME!" as he yelled that final command Moloch started to scream and just as suddenly burst into millions of tiny particles.

The particles travelled and fell into the book as an ancient script appeared. When the pages were filled, Thelonius closed it, stepped over to a table and put the book into a heavy wooden box.

"Pray that this accursed book is never again read..." Thelonius said to the other monks as he looked down at the book. "Lest the Demon Moloch be loosed upon the world." and with that he put the lid on the box.

"Ahhh..." Xander said sleepily as he came out of his fit of dreams.

"Xander are you okay?" Diana asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Xander replied groggily, as he lifted his head off of the table and looked at her. "It was just a wierd dream."

"I wasn't really just talking about just now." Diana replied as she sat down next to him and handed him a fresh cup of coffee, which he accepted. "You've been quiet for the last couple of days. Do you wanna talk about something?"

"Well you know that dance on next friday. The one where the girls ask the guys?"

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked as she took a sip of coffee.

"Well Cordelia asked me out." Xander said kind of bummed.

"And...that's a bad thing?" Diana asked increduously.

"Cordelia's a sweet girl and when she asked me out, I couldn't help but say yes." Xander said as he sat the cup of coffee on the table. "But, still at the same time I was hoping that someone else would ask me out. But at times...I just feel that she's not attracted to me in the same way. Plus, I promised my best bud that I wouldn't make a move on her." Xander said as he took a sip of coffee.

"Would this girl happen to be, Buffy?" Diana asked, making Xander spit his coffee out.

"What? Who told..."

"Xander please." Diana said with a raised eyebrow. "Somebody would have to be blind, to not see that you two like each other."

"Well even if it was Buffy. Which it isn't." Xander lied. "I still promised Jesse that I wouldn't make a move on her."

"If Jesse is a good of a friend as you say then he would want you to be happy right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?" Diana cut him off. "Xander, for some people true love only comes around once in a lifetime. Trust me I know." she said thinking of her husband. "Even though you might not love, this girl, right now, one day you might. Do you really think that Jesse would want to have stood in the way of that?"

"How is it, you always know exactly what to say?" Xander asked with a smile.

"It's just a gift." Diana replied with a smile of her own. "Now go, before you're late for school."

"Yes dear." Xander joked as he leaned across the table and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Uncle Xander." Selina said as she walked into the room. "How come, everytime I see you two together you're always kissing?" she joked.

"You mean like this?" he asked as he walked over to her. Instead of giving her a kiss on the cheek, he stuck his tongue out and gave her a raspberry.

"Uncle Xander!" Selina whined, while laughing.

"See you later, babe." Xander sais as he smiled down at her and walked out of the door for school.

Sunnydale High

"I'll see you later, Giles." Xander heard Buffy saying, as she emerged out of the library.

"Getting out of work again, Buff?" Xander asked as he walked up beside her.

"You would too, if Giles asked you to help catalogue and scan some books." Buffy said as they fell into step with one another and started to walk down the hallway. "Listen...um...there's a dance next week and I was wondering...ummm...if..if you would like to go with me to it." Buffy said, finally getting it out. She had wanted to ask him out since last week, but with vampires and all...

"Well, Buff I would like to go but..."

"Hey, Xand." Cordelia said as she looped an arm around his. "I don't want our outfits clashing for the dance. So what did you say you were wearing again?"

"Oh..." Buffy said with wide eyes. "I...I see you already made plans." she said as she quickly walked off.

Xander let out a heavy sigh, as he watched Buffy walk off.

"Um...hello." Cordelia said annoyed, as she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "I'm still here..."

A little later that day

"So how did everything go with, Xander?" Willow asked Buffy as they walked down the hall, after class.

"Not good." Buffy said with a pout. "He's taking, Cordelia."

"Cordelia?" Willow asked surprised.

"Yeah...but what about you?" buffy said changing the subject. "Are you and Jesse going to the dance together?"

"No...um, I'm not going to the dance at all." Willow said sadly. "I...I think, I'll just stay home and study."

"Listen Will, if Jesse hasn't noticed you by now, then he probably never will." Buffy informed her. "Why don't you try to find somebody else to go out with?"

"May...maybe." Willow said shyly, even though she wasn't gonna do it. "What about you? Are you gonna go to the dance anyway?"

"Something tells me that the only date I'll have is with the tv." Buffy said as she looped an arm around Willow's shoulders. "Now come on let's go to lunch."

Willow's room

That night

After quickly putting on her pajama's, Willow sat down at her computer and flicked it on. Buffy was right. If Jesse couldn't appreciate her then maybe she should try to go out with somebody else. As her computer booted all the way up, the words "You have mail" quickly sounded. Curious as to who would be sending her mail, she went into her email box.

"Malcolm?" she said as she read the name of the sender. Opening up the mail that he sent her, she read that it simply said "Hi." Shrugging to herself, she responded in kind.

"I'm glad you responded." came Malcolm's reply only seconds after Willow's.

"Who are you?" the beautiful red head, typed back.

"A secret admirer." Malcolm typed, making Willow blush. "I don't want to sound like a stalker or anything, but I saw you earlier today and I had to ask around about you."

"Why?"

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" he asked increduously. "You're completely beautiful. Besides red has always been my favourite color."

"Thanks for the compliment." Willow said getting a little nervous about the praise. "Maybe we could talk later?"

"No..." he typed back. "Can't we just talk a little longer? I really want to get to know you better."

A hall at Sunnydale High School.

Buffy finished gathering her books from her locker and saw Willow walking around a corner.

"Willow! Willow, hey, wait up!" Buffy called out as she ran over to her.

"Oh, Buffy, I didn't even see you." Willow said finally coming out of her own world.

"Or hear me." Buffy said giving her a look. "What was up last night? I tried your line, like, a million times."

"Oh, I was, I was talking." the redhead replied nonchalantly.

"Talking to...?" Buffy tried to get her to say, but got no answer. "Okay, that's it, you have a secret, and that's not allowed.

"Why not?" she asked as she opened up her locker, to dump in some books.

" 'Cause... there's a rule."

"Well, I sort of met someone." Willow said with a huge smile.

"I knew it!" Buffy said excitedly. "This is so important! When did you meet?"

"Last week after we did the scanning project in the library." Willow said as she closed her locker.

"Does he go here?" the noisy blonde asked curiously. "What's his name? Have you kissed him? What's he like?"

"No, Malcolm, no, and very nice." she replied amused.

"You are a thing of evil for not telling me this right away!" Buffy said more then a little annoyed.

"Well, I wasn't sure there was anything to tell. But last night, oh! We talked all night, it was amazing. He's so smart, Buffy, and, and he's romantic, and we agree about everything!"

"What's he look like?" Buffy asked with a sigh.

"I don't know!" Willow replied as she walked down the hall with a big smile on her face. Buffy was confused by her comment and stared after her a moment, then started to follow.

"Yes, I will. I promise." a heavy set teen named Fritz said to his computer monitor as Willow and Buffy entered the computer lab.

"So, you've been seeing a guy, and you don't know what he looks like?" Buffy asked with raised eyebrows. 'How the hell do you pull that off?' she thought to herself. "Okay, this is a puzzle. No, wait, I'm good at these. Does it involve a midget and a block of ice?"

"I met him online."

"You met someone on line for what?" Jesse asked as he walked up behind them.

Before Willow could answer, Mr. Plummer, the new computer teacher, strode quickly into the room holding a mug of coffee in one hand and his books in the other. He was an older man that looked as though he were in his mid-fifties and he was slightly balding.

As he headed over to his desk, he turned and saw a student he didn't know talking to Miss Rosenberg and Mr. McNally.

"Excuse me miss." Mr. Plummer said to Buffy. "But don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"We'll talk about this later." Buffy said as she smiled at the teacher and walked out of the room. If she had of stayed longer, she would have seen that Fritz pulled up her school record.

"Watch her." Malcolm said to Fritz secretly.

"You have mail." Willow's computer beeped out.

"It's him!" Willow squeaked excitedly as she typed to get the message. "I'm thinking of you." the message read. "He's so sweet."

"You met somebody on the internet?" Jesse asked.

"What should I write back?" Willow asked, ignoring what he had said. "I'm thinking of you, too." Willow said excitedly, but then she thought about how lame that was. "No, that's incredibly stupid."

"Will, down girl. Let's focus here, okay? What do you actually know about this guy?"

"Oh, see, I knew you'd react like this." Willow said a little dissappointed.

"Like what?"

"You're jealous." Willow informed him.

"What?" Jesse asked shocked.

"You heard me. You're jealous that I've found someone and you haven't." Willow told him angrily. "Malcolm told me that you would act like this."

"I just wanna make sure you're careful, that's all." Jesse said, trying to control his emotions. "We've been friends forever Will's and I care about you."

"Jesse..."

"He could be different than you think." Jesse said cutting her off. "And like I said before, what do you even know about this guy?"

"His name is Malcolm Black, he's eighteen, he lives in Elmwood, which is about eighty miles from here, and he likes me!" she growled the last part out.

"Short, tall, skinny, fat?"

"Why does everything have to be about looks?"

"Not everything, but some stuff is. I mean, what if you guys get really, really intense, and then you find out that he... has... a hairy back?"

"Well, no! Uh, he doesn't talk like somebody who would have a hairy back. And anyways, that stuff doesn't matter when you really care about each other. Maybe I'm not his ideal either."

"Hey, " Jesse said putting his arm around her shoulder. "I'm just trying to make sure that he's good enough for you. I think it's great that you met someone." he said not really meaning it. For some reason, he didn't want Willow dating anyone.

"Excuse me, Fritz... I'm, uh, lookin' at the logs." Mr. Plummer said as he walked over to him. "You and Dave are clocking in a large amount of computer time. Care to explain why?"

"New project." Fritz replied, not looking up at him.

"Something new huh?" the old man asked as he rubbed at his chin. "Will I like it?"

"You'll die."

Later that day

the quad

Willow walked down the steps of the highschool off in her own world and didn't notice Jesse sneaking up beside her. With a smile he put his hand over her eyes, and forcing her to stop and nearly making her lose her balance.

"Guess who?" Jesse said into her ear.

"Uh, Jesse?" Willow played along.

"Yeah, but keep guessing anyway."

"Jesse." Willow said, making him take his hands from her eyes.

"I just wanted to apologize for acting like a jackass earlier." Jesse informed her. "And to ask if you're going to Xander's party, tomorrow?"

"Xander's throwing a party?" Willow asked. "How come nobody told me?"

"You have to be kidding me?" Jesse asked increduously. "Every teenager in Sunnydale is gonna be there and it's right before the school dance."

"I guess, I just had some better things to do." Willow told him.

"Let, me guess..." Jesse said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "It's Malcolm, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Willow replied . "Have a good time." she said as she quickly left, leaving a confused Jesse in her wake. Xander then arrived and watched her go, too.

"Willow looks perky." Xander said startling him.

"Yeah, color in the cheeks, bounce in the step... I don't like it. It's not healthy." Jesse quickly said as they began to walk.

"You sound jealous man."

"What are you talking about?" Jesse asked as he whirled on him.

"You are jealous." Xander realized with a big smile.

"Of what?"

" Of Willow and her new boyfriend."

"Oh, that's meaningless drivel." Jesse said as he looked at him hard. "I'm not interested in Willow like that."

"Why not?"

"Willow's my friend and it's just... this Malcolm guy? What's his deal? I mean, tell me you're not slightly wigged."

"Actually, I'm not." Xander said with a shrug. "I hate to sound rude for saying this but you really need to grow up and see what's right in front of you. Willow's a beautiful girl, who obviously had a thing for you for a long time. Now that she's finally found someone, you're acting like you can't deal with it."

"You're crazy man." Jesse said, trying to figure out if he was right or not.

"Am I." Xander said as he walked off.

Batcave

Later that night

"Xander you seem frustrated about something." Diana commented as she saw him angrily tapping at the keys on the bat computer.

"I've been trying to get in contact with my dad." Xander said as he stopped typing and looked up at her. "He hasn't answered his communicator all week and I'm worried about him."

"Well maybe he's just real busy." Diana said as she sat down next to him. "I mean he has to run a company during the day and then be Batman at night, to put all the criminals the Joker let loose, back in prison. That's gotta be tiresome."

"Maybe you're right." Xander said as he stood to his feet and shut off the computer. "I think, I'll just go on patrol to clear my head." he said as he walked over to the costume room. If Diana had of been looking at the computer, instead of Xander's retreating form, she would have seen a green demon on the screen looking at her curiously.

Restfield Cemetery

As Batman jumped from crypt to crypt, he suddenly spotted the Slayer. Deciding to have a little fun with her, he quietly snuck up behind her.

"You're finally able to sense me." Batman said as he let go of the leg Buffy tried to kick him with.

"Yeah, now is there a reason you've made another appearance out of thin air?"

"I was bored." Batman said as they fell into step with one another. "When I think boring, I think of you."

"Ex-squeeze-Me?" Buffy said as she gave him a look.

"I mean, you're not a boring person. You're Ms Excitement. Things are never boring around you, and if they are they're never boring for long. So if I hang out with you, some excitement is bound to come my way sooner rather then later."

"Boredom vs. Excitement. Wow, Bats, you really know how to make a girl feel totally appreciated." she said, dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't take it personally, Ms Summer's. I find you to be a very exciting person to be around."

"Yeah, well, you're the only one." she said deflated.

"Troubles in paradise?"

"What are you? Dr Ruth? What makes you think I got problems?" Buffy said, only for the Dark Knight to give her a look.

"Okay, look, just because I unburden myself to you doesn't mean I like you, it just means you're the only one here and I need to tell someone."

"Then speak."

"Alright then - There's this guy I know. Total hottie, funny, smart, all the good things."

"The problem?"

"How do you know there's a problem?" Buffy asked.

"You're a teenager. Teenager's problems are always greater then everybody else's by their own perspection."

"Alright, here's the thing." Buffy said giving in. "He's got Cordelia trying to sink her claws into him, and hey, I'm not blind - I get it! The woman's got breasts bigger then my head and I'm totally out of my league. He's a sweet and caring guy. But he's also a teenage boy. And the head that teenage boy's think with are not the ones attached to their neck."

"You think he's attracted to breasts?"

"Hello, teenage boy remember. Breasts are like a 24/7 thought process."

"What if he's a leg man?"

"Cordy, has a pair of those too." she pointed out.

"I think you have to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. If he's everything you say he is, and if this 'Cordy' is as obvious as you make out. Then the two of them have already done it."

"They haven't, if they did Cor would have made a effort to let me know about it straight away. Not too much on the subtle hints is she."

"Well then, if the two of them aren't 'together' yet what's the problem?"

"I guess I'm scared that if I make a move he'll put me in the same gold-digging class as Cordelia. And I like him, Hell, I'd like him if he was dirt poor. But how would he be able
to trust my true intentions?"

"Believe me Ms Summer's, he'd know." Batman informed her. "And as too this 'Cordelia-woman' you're so concerned about, well I'm sure that if he had a choice with being with her and her breasts or just walking at night in a cemetery with you. Take it from me, it wouldn't even be a contest."

"That was so swe..." before Buffy could get the words out, something growled and punched her in the face. The force of the blow lifted her off of her feet, where she landed in a heap almost ten feet away.

Looking up, at their would be attacker, Batman saw a large green skinned demon with horns and one red eye, that seemed to be staring through his very soul.

"By the order of the Master...you die!" it growled out as it charged at the Dark Knight.

Ducking under it's outstrecthed arm's, Batman came up and spin kicked the demon in the face. As the demon's head twisted back from the move, a batarang suddenly embedded itself in his eye, causing him to howl out in pain. As it slumped over, Buffy stood to her feet and visciously snapped it's neck.

"So are you having any other problems?" Batman asked as the demon fell over dead and they continued their walk.

"Well not me, but I think my friend Willow is or might."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she met this guy on the internet and I think he might be dangerous."

"Why do you think that?"

"It's just a gut feeling that I have." Buffy said as she looked over at him. "And what's even wierder is that I asked some guys in her computer class, Dave and Fritz, to try to see if they could track his emails and they started to freak out."

"So you think that they might be up to something?" Batman asked.

"Big time."

"I like Miss Rosenberg." Batman said as he stopped walking. "So if you say that she might be in trouble, then I'll look into it."

"Thanks." Buffy said as she turned around, only to find Batman already gone.

The next day

Computer lab

Xander walked into the computer lab and wasn't a bit surprised to see a nerdy youth, typing away at the computer.

"Are you, Dave?" Xander asked as he walked up behind him.

"Ye...yeah." Dave replied nervously. "You're Xander Wayne, right?"

"I am." Xander said with a grin. "Now listen, Dave I need a little favor from you. Some guy has been bothering a friend of mine via email and..."

"You leave, Willow alone!" Dave almost yelled out.

"So you do know what's going on?" Xander asked as he grabbed the nerd by the collar, "Well listen then Dave. Willow's a good friend of mine and I love her like a sister. Having said that, if anything happens to her, that you could have helped me stop I'll come after you. Do we understand one another?"

"Y...yeah." Dave managed to get out. "I'll tell you everything I know. Just not here." he said nervously looking about the room.

"Alright not here." Xander agreed, as he let him go and reached into his jacket pocket. "Just meet me at my house for the party, I'm throwing tonight." he said as he gave him the invitation and walked out of the room. He still had one more nerd to trail.

Dave looked down at the invitation in his hands and let out a heavy sigh. 'God can my life get more complicated?' he thought to himself.

"So you're going to tell him everything?" a voice asked through the darkness of the room.

"Moloch?" Dave asked as he stood to his feet and looked at his computer.

"I'll teach you not to betray me." he said as he started to write a suicide note on his computer. Little was known to Dave, but someone was waiting for him in the shadows.

Batcave

Later that night

Batman quickly typed at his computer, trying to find out what the company CRD was. When he had left Dave, he had later followed Fritz and saw him going into a building marked CRD.

"Xander there's a party going on up here." Diana whispered from her commuication device, so nobody would overhear. "It would be nice if the host would show his face sometime soon."

"I'll be up in a minute." Batman replied. "Just stall them, I'm onto something right now." he said as he severed the communication link.

"Miss Kyle is right." a voice said in the cave. "Keeping your guests waiting is rude." Looking up Batman saw the face of a green demon with horns, on his computer monitor. "Oh don't look surprised Mr. Wayne." the demon said with a smile. "I know all about you."

"Who are you?" Batman asked, stepping to his feet.

"My name is Moloch the Corrupter, Mr. Wayne." Moloch told him. "But my friends call me, Malcolm."

"How do you know..."

"About your secret identity?" the age old demon asked. "Let's just say that, I had my way with your computer. I know all about you and your friends."

"What do you want?" Batman asked, none perturbed.

"The simple things. Things like power and love... especially from Willow."

"You stay the hell away from her." Batman warned.

"You're hardly in any position to threaten me, Alexander." Moloch told him nonchalantly. "Now I'll give you ten minutes to go up top and get rid of your party guests. When you get back, I want you to transfer your fortune over to my secret account." he told him. Moloch still didn't have enough power to go global. If he did he would have just done it, himself.

"And if you don't obey with what, I say then I'll send all the files I have on you to the police." the demon said smugly. "And let's just say that even your father want be able to talk himself out of this one."

Wayne Manor

Xander moved through the crowd of teenagers, smiling brightly. Seeing Diana serving some drinks too a few guests, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side.

"Get too the piano room and wait for me there." Xander whispered into her ear. "Don't talk, just go."

"Hey, Xand this is a nice party." Buffy said as she and Jesse walked up to him.

"I'm glad you like it, Buff." Xander replied. "If you would excuse me for a moment." he said as he walked into the center of the room.

"What is he up too?" Jesse asked Buffy.

"I have no clue." she replied with a shrug.

"Can I have your attention please!" Xander spoke loudly to get everyone's attention. "I just wanted to say a few things to you guys. Firstly, I wanted to say thanks to all the bums that made it to my party." he said causing several of them to laugh.

"But seriously, why don't you back biting, gold digging jackasses get out of my house." Xander said as he started to look around at them. "Most of you people, I don't even know and the only reason you're here is just to suck up to me, hoping I'll share my money. Well I want all of you to get the hell out of my house. NOW!"

With wide eyes from all of his guests, they all started to leave, until only Cordelia, Buffy, and Jesse were left.

"I can't believe that I even wanted to go out with you." Cordelia said as she slapped him hard across the cheek. "Consider, our date for tomorrow off." she said in a huff as she walked out of his house.

"I thought you were so different." Buffy said, as Jesse merely shook his head, as the both of them walked out.

"Damnit." Xander muttered to himself as he ran into the piano room. "A demon has somehow gotten into the internet." Xander said quickly to Diana as he picked up his Batsuit off of the floor and started to put it on. "He has information on all of us and if I don't give into his demand's and hand over the money dad gave me, we're all going to jail."

"What do you want me to do?" Diana asked.

"I want you to go downstairs and stall him for a little while." Xander said as he put on his cowl. "I'm gonna go see Giles and tell him what's going on."

"Aren't you gonna take the Tumbler?" she asked as she hit the keys on the piano.

"No. Alot of the systems in the Tumbler are computerized. If I try to drive it and he get's control, I'll be a sitting duck."

Sunnydale Library

"This will be my first year at Sunnydale High, aswell." Giles was saying to Mr. Plummer as he poured him some more tea.

"Is it just me or is this place...dear lord!" he bellowed with wide eyes as he saw something over Giles' shoulder.

"Sorry to disturb you gentlemen." Batman said as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Batman what's..."

"I don't have a lot of time, Mr. Giles." Batman interrupted, even as he saw Mr. Plummer trembling on the floor. "There's a demon by the name of Moloch on the internet and he's..."

"Moloch the Corrupter?" Mr. Plummer asked as he stood to his feet and calmed himself down.

"Yes, how did you..."

"My family were the original one's to banish him, long ago." the old teacher answered.

"Who are you really?" Giles asked the man.

"That doesn't matter now. What matters is that Moloch has been unleashed."

"But how?"

"In the dark ages the souls of demons were sometimes trapped in certain volumes." Mr. Plummer explained. "They remained locked within the book, harmless, unless the pages were read aloud. Moloch, the Corrupter, was a very deadly and seductive demon. He drawed people to him with promises of love, power, knowledge. Preys on impressionable minds."

"He's not confined to a book anymore and he's not walking around." Batman said drawing the attention, back to himself. "Like I said, he's in cyberspace now."

"I'm afraid, I don't know how that happened."

"I do." Giles said as he saw the book in question, sitting on his table. "We must've accidently skimmed it into the computer."

"You mean scanned." Mr. Plummer corrected him.

"Giles call Buffy on her cellphone and tell her to meet me at the CRD building." Batman said.

"Right." Giles said until he thought about it. "What?"

"That's where Moloch's croonies are. Now I'll also need you to perform the binding rituals to put him back in that book." Batman said as he melted into the darkness of the room.

CRD Lab

Willow groggily opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on a table, in a dark room.

The last thing she remembered was talking to Fritz and then nothing.After a moment she sat up. looked around and saw the boy in question and a technician standing on the other side of the room, by a computer monitor.

"Welcome, my love." she heard Malcolm's voice. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you..." he said as his metal hand slaps down on a table. As Willow looked up, terrified, she saw a large metal robot demon with horns. "...with my own two eyes."

"Malcolm." Willow whispered. As she tried to get up, Fritz and the technician then came to get her and took her by the arms as Moloch slowly walked over.

"This world is so new, so exciting. I can see all of it." Moloch rambled on. "Everything flows through me. I know the secrets of your kings. But nothing compares to having form again. To be able to walk," he said as he put his hand on Fritz's head. "to touch," he said as he broke Fritz's neck. "to kill."

Willow shivered inside as she watched Fritz's dead body fall. Terrified beyond belief she looked back up at Moloch, awaiting what fate he had in store for her.

Outside

Buffy landed gracefully on her feet, as she jumped to the other side of the fence. Snagging his foot, Jesse yelled as he fell after climbing over the top. With a sigh Buffy helped him to his feet.

"Jesse, are you sure you want to be here?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah." Jesse winced. "Back way?"

"Back way." Buffy agreed. Jesse was limping but they still managed to get to the rear entrance. Kicking the door open, Buffy walked in determinedly.

"Here they come." Moloch muttered to himself.

"I don't understand. What do you want from me?"

"I want to give you the world." Moloch said as he took her hand in his.

"Why?" Willow said shrugging out of his grasp.

"You created me." Moloch said, missing her contact. "I brought these humans together to build me a body. But you gave me life. Took me out of the book that held me. I want to repay you."

"By lying to me?" Willow asked increduously. "By pretending to be a person? Pretending you loved me?"

"I do!

The lobby

Buffy and Jesse walked up to a CRD guard and as he got up to stop them, Buffy punched him out and continued walking. Jesse then noticed the guard's monitor.

"Uh, Buffy!" he called out, making her come back to look.

"It's her." she said spotting Willow.

"Yeah, who's the other guy?"

Walking down another hall Buffy they burst through another set of doors. Seeing the door to the lab, Buffy used her Slayer strength to try to force it open.

"I can't bust it." she said straining against the door. "It's heavy steel."

"Then let's find another way in." he said as he started toward the next set of doors when an alarm went off and red lights started to flash. Jesse jumped to the door to try it, found it locked, then walked back over to Buffy. "What's goin' on?"

"Building's security system is computerized." Buffy said as she spied a security camera.

"Whoops!" Jesse said as green gas started to spray into the hall.

The library

"Almost there." Mr. Plummer said as he lit a few more candles and gathered his book.

"Couldn't you just stop Moloch by, by entering some computer virus?" Giles asked.

"Mr. Giles, you've seen way too many movies. Okay! We're up. You read, I type. Ready?"

"Uh, I am. By the power of the divine, by the essence of the word, I command you..."

"Let me leave." Willow begged.

"But I love you!"

"Don't say that!" she yelled out. "That's a joke! You don't love anything!"

"You are mine!" Moloch clarified.

"I'm not yours! I'm never gonna be yours! Never!"

She yelled causing Moloch to lower his head and considered for a moment while Willow just watched and waited.

"Pity." he muttered as he raised his head back up and reached out to make a grab for her, only for a batarang to be embedded in his arm.

"Sorry, I'm late Miss Rosenberg." Batman said as he glided down from the rafters. "Now is this your boyfriend?"

As the two started to fight, Moloch knocked Batman to the side then cornered Willow again. As she tried to flee, he reached up and put his hand on her head.

"I'll miss you." he said causing her to scream. Suddenly Moloch screams matched her own as he lifted his arms in pain, letting go of her.

His power weakening, the lab door opened and Buffy almost fell in, with Jesse close behind.

Spotting Moloch she leaped into a jumping side kick, making a dull thud when she connected with his chest. The impact made him stagger a bit, but she fell to the floor.

"Ow... Guy's made of metal!" Buffy said as Batman helped her to her feet.

The technician grabbed Jesse from behind and pulled him away, just as Buffy grabbed Willow's arm and watched as Moloch continued to writhe in pain.

"No!" the metal demon yelled. "I won't go back!"

"Willow let's go." Buffy said as they ran out of the lab.

Jesse pushed the technician back into a wall, turned around, punched him out, and quickly followed the others out.

"Hey! I got to hit someone!" he yelled out excitedly. As he ran into the hall Moloch slowly raised his head, as his screams died out.

Buffy and Willow opened a set of doors and saw a guard and two technicians running toward them. Not needing another confrontation, they pushed the doors closed.

"Let's go this way!" Jesse said as he began to run the other way.

"Wait!" Buffy yelled, feeling her Slayer sense tingling.

Suddenly Moloch crashed through the wall between them. He looked at Buffy and backhanded her in the face. As she fell to the floor unconscious, Moloch turned and advanced on Batman, Jesse and Willow. He started to swing at Batman, and he tried to block the hit, but Moloch didn't budge and just pushed the Bat aside and into the wall, making him slide to the floor, a bit dazed.

"I was omnipotent. I was everything!" Moloch yelled angrily. "Now I'm trapped in this shell!" he said as he reached out to grab Batman by the head.

"Malcolm!" Jesse yelled out. As Moloch turned to face him, Jesse slapped him in the face with a fire extinguisher. "I knew you were no good for Willow. I'm the only one who loves her!" he yelled as he hit Moloch again even harder.

He tried again for his chest, but this time the demon grabbed the extinguisher from him, threw it down, grabbed him and shoved Jesse down the hall into Batman, who was just getting up again., making them both crash in a heap to the floor. By that time Buffy recovered from her daze and got up to face Moloch. Sensing her movement he turned his attention on her.

"This body's all I have left." Moloch said looking down at himself. "But it's enough to crush you!"

Buffy looked around for a way to deal with him and noticed a power junction box on the wall. With a grin she faced him again and eased her way in front of the box.

"Take your best shot."

Enraged, Moloch reared back for a punch and swung, but Buffy ducked away, and he punched right into the electrical box. It shorted out, and Moloch was then enveloped by high voltage electricity. Seeing what was about to happen Buffy ran over to Willow and Jesse, just as Batman crouched down to protect them with his cape. Moloch's circuitry then overloaded, and his body exploded, shooting his head straight up in the air, where it landed in front of them.

Sunnydale High

The dance

"I still wanted to say that I'm sorry." Xander yelled to Buffy over the blaring of the loud music.

"Like you said it wasn't your fault." Buffy said back to him. "You could have lost your entire fortune if you didn't do what Moloch said and made us leave. I'm just sorry it cost you a date with Cordelia though."

"I'm not." Xander said as he twirled her around and pulled her close. She looked beautiful in the red dress she was wearing. And looking down at his tuxedo, he knew he didn't look half bad himself. "I can't think of any other person I would rather be with right now." as he looked into her eyes he, just for that moment, felt that she was the only other girl in the room. As he was about to lean down and kiss her on the lips, she suddenly pulled back.

"Have you seen, Willow and Jesse?" she asked. "They said they were gonna meet us here."

"I haven't seen them." Xander said a little dissappointed. "You don't think they're in trouble do you?"

"Let's go and find out." Buffy said as they ran off the dance floor.

As they walked by the library, Xander peeked in the window of the door and suddenly blushed.

"Come on, let's go back and dance." Xander said as he grabbed her hand and started to pull away.

"Why..." was all Buffy got out as she looked in and blushed herself, upon seeing Jesse and Willow passionately kissing.

Batcave

Much Later

Xander sat at the batcomputer, making out a file on Moloch the Corrupter, when he suddenly thought about his father. Clicking save on the file, he picked up his communicator. As the snowy picture cleared, he saw the blurred image of the Batman of Gotham.

"Dad, I've been trying to get in contact with you all week." Xander informed him.

"Xan...Xander?" Batman asked tiredly.

"Dad are you okay?" Xander asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I just need some...AHHHHHH!" Batman shouted out as something hit him from behind.

"DAD!" Xander shouted with wide eyes as the communicator/monitor went back to it's snowy image.

A/N Xander is gonna take a little trip to Gotham and the mystery hero is finally gonna show up in Sunnydale. Along with a few villians.

TBC...

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