In Sunnydale things were beginning to look grim. In the hour that had passed after Xander had left the Scooby Gang had almost completely exhausted what little knowledge the Council had collected on Green Lantern, and the reports they did have were suspect because of the tampering done by Oliver Rayne.
"Giles so far every report Ethan's dad turned in says that the Lantern is just about all powerful, and even if we do find some kind of weakness how are we going to get all the way to Gotham?" asked Buffy as she closed a book in frustration.
"We aren't simply researching to aid Xander in this particular fight, we are researching in case Xander loses. As much as we may not wish to say it Xander could very well die tonight, and if he does it will fall to us to stop whoever has the ring before he can harm others," said Giles in a grim tone.
Buffy's only response was a look of shocked terror as she picked up the first book she had read once again. This time though she spent longer on each page, searching for any clue to help in her quest to find the answer to her question.
The silence continued for quite a while, and while Giles wasn't proud of what he did to accomplish it he knew it had to be done. The people that had arisen during the Second World War had been insanely powerful, and now one by one, they seemed to be returning.
"Hey Giles, I think I found something," said Cordelia.
"What is it Cordelia?" asked Giles as he walked over to where Cordelia was reading old newspaper clipping.
"I haven't found anything new on the Lantern guy, but I know where we can find another one of these," said Cordelia as she pointed to a faded photograph.
"Oh and tell me, where in Sunnydale have they stored the extra copies of Dr Fate?" asked Giles as he got a good look at just what Cordelia was pointing at.
"What, did you go nuts in the last five minutes or something? I'm not talking about the whole guy, I just know where the helmet is," said Cordelia. "According to the journals its supposed to be powerful so maybe we could use it to help Xander out."
"I'm sorry Cordelia you are quite right, it would be quite helpful to have the helmet. Where is it located?" asked Giles in a softer voice.
"Ra has it. Bast saw him with it during some recent trips to the underworld," said Cordelia with a satisfied smirk.
"Are you seriously suggesting that we go to the land of the dead to steal from a God?" asked Giles. At Cordelia's nod the middle aged Englishman completely lost it and screamed, "Have you lost your bloody MIND!"
"It may not be a very good idea, but it's the best one we have. Now unless you were lying about how dangerous this Lantern guy is we should be working on a way to get to the land of the dead instead of yelling at each other," said Willow, concern for her childhood friend clear in her voice.
"Oh getting there isn't that hard. It's already night so all we need to do is the ritual so we can fallow the path of Ra, it should take us right to him," said Cordelia with her ever present smile.
"Following the path of Ra? It sounds ideal but I've never heard of it before," said Giles.
"Back when the Egyptian gods first came to earth they were more laid back. Ra being the nice guy he is came up with a ritual so people could talk to him face to face any time they wanted. When people started to abuse the ritual Ra erased the knowledge from the mind of human kind to get some quiet time. Lucky for us I got some memories from a goddess," explained Cordelia.
"So finding Ra and getting to him is no problem, but that still leaves getting the helmet from him," said Giles.
"We can burn that bridge when we come to it Giles, but right now every second we waste talking is another second we aren't helping Xander," said Buffy in a firm tone.
"Very well, we'll do the ritual. How long will it take Cordelia?" asked Giles.
"With the right stuff it should only take half an hour," said Cordelia with a shrug.
Xander and Batgirl slunk through the streets of Gotham; avoiding any green glow they could, except when they heard the cries of someone in trouble. What disturbed Xander the most was that the cries seemed to lessen as they neared the center of the city, while the emerald glow only increased. Xander could only come to one conclusion as to why that would happen, and he didn't like it at all.
"So where are the others?" Xander asked Batgirl after they had saved another person and dropped him off at Gotham Park.
"When this started the old man sent us all out armed with wood, but the ring still separated us early on. I ended up a couple of blocks from where we met, and you know the rest. Why do you ask, can't you find them with your 'super-bat-finding' power or something?" asked Batgirl.
"Wasn't around them enough to memorize their heartbeats, and like I said I can't see through the constructs because they're magical in nature. Our visitor may have some suggestions on how to get around the whole magical roadblock though," said Xander.
"If she does she better speak up, the constructs are almost everywhere now so the time for hiding in shadows is over," said Batgirl as both she and Xander turned and looked at a particularly dark shadow.
The face and uniform the emerged from the shadow were familiar, but Xander had never seen the two together before. The uniform Xander recognized from his fathers memories as the battle gear of Wonder Woman, and while it may simply look like a patriotic version of outdated roman armor, Xander could almost feel the magic radiating from it. The face however Xander recognized first hand as the one that had threatened to kill him if he so much as touched the ground of her homeland.
"I bested all of my sisters to be able to have the honor of being the Wonder Woman, so how is it that a simple man can find me no matter how well I hide?" asked the blond goddess as her blue eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I can see through solid objects so shadows really aren't a problem for me," said Xander with a disarming smile.
"This armor is enchanted to hide when necessary despite the bright colors, so your vision would be useless," said the new Wonder Woman in a confident tone.
"Yeah it did that well, but I could still hear your heart beat," responded Xander.
"Enough!" snapped Batgirl. "Every second we waste is another second a madman controls the city. If you have anything to contribute tell us now or go back to your little island."
In response Wonder Woman held out a simple wooden javelin and said, "As soon as I see who is the cause of this I will kill him, that is what I shall contribute."
"Then you better stick with us if you want to get to whoever is doing this alive. We have another block, then its nothing but constructs, so we have a better shot of one of us putting this guy into the ground if we all stick together," said Xander.
Wonder Woman looked like she wanted to argue, but simply nodded. She didn't win the challenges by strength alone, and it was a good idea, even if it did come from a man.
"Okay people from here on it gets difficult," said Xander just before the three began to once again make their way into the center of the city.
Giles watched in fascination, and more than a little worry, as Cordelia continued to chant in perfect Egyptian. The knowledge that had been given to Cordelia because of her costume choice on Halloween was proving invaluable, but even the most benevolent of the old Gods weren't to be completely trusted, and Giles couldn't help but think of what price would come for such gifts.
As the chanting suddenly stopped a path of golden light formed between the lit incense and led into the western wall. Cordelia stood up, took a long drink of the ice water she had asked be ready for her, and casually stepped onto the floating pathway of light.
"The ritual allows two max, the caster and a friend, so I hope you guys can decide who else gets to come quickly," said Cordelia.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" asked a frustrated Buffy.
"Because I didn't want you to distract me with your arguments while I was doing the ritual, duh," said Cordelia in an irritated tone.
"Never mind, I will go," said Giles as he immediately stepped onto the pathway as well. "I would have preferred it if none of you children were put in danger, but it seems to be unavoidable for Ms Chase. However I have no intention of putting the rest of you in any more danger than you are already in."
Having said what he needed to say Giles quickly walked to, and then through, the west wall of the school library before his Slayer could recover and pull him off the path so she could go. He was soon followed by Cordelia who was screaming at him to wait for her.
After walking for what seemed like an eternity in the dark Egyptian underworld Giles could finally make out what appeared to be the end of the path. After walking so for long Giles didn't know if he should be relieved at the thought of ending the journey, or scared out of his mind at the thought of what he was to meet at the end of the path.
"Looks like Ra has some company," said Cordelia as it became obvious that there was more than one figure at the end of the path.
"Indeed, let us hope that is a good thing instead of a bad thing," said Giles while intentionally using the word hope, instead of pray. In this realm so close to gods of myth their prayers would certainly be heard, but would probably be twisted and used against them.
"That's definitely Bast, so that will probably help us," said Cordelia as she pointed to a woman with a cats head that had less clothing on that Cordelia did during Halloween.
"Perhaps," said Giles as they entered the presence of the gods and he saw the helmet of Fate being held in the hand of the sun god.
"Well, it's about time you came to visit," said Bast as she hugged Cordelia. "I didn't give you knowledge of a lost ritual just so you could stay in the mortal realm all the time."
"Sorry, I didn't want to seem needy," said Cordelia as she returned the hug.
"Cats are independent creatures, but we give plenty of affection to those that deserve it. Now let's let the Watcher and Ra talk while I introduce you to someone visiting from the Christian afterlife. Her name's Selina and she has wanted to meet you ever sense that incident with Janus a couple of months ago," said Bast as she led Cordelia off of the path.
"Is it safe for her to be off the path?" Giles asked Ra.
"Bast can be trusted not to harm her," said the Sun God. "Now let us speak of the events taking place in the realm of the living, and why you have sought me out."
The voice of Ra was once believed to be the voice of creation, and hearing it first hand Giles could see why. At the moment he considered the fact that he was still standing on his feet to be nothing short of a miracle, but now he would have to debate with the God why he should give the helmet of Fate to an aging mortal.
Oh how Giles was quickly learning to yearn for the days where he only had to deal with demons. Not even Ripper in his most reckless moments attempted to have a face to face with a God, so what chance did he have now that the strength of youth was quickly fading from him?