CHAPTER 8

The following morning, everyone is eating breakfast at a little restaurant. Willow and Oz had just finished explaining about Tara's spirit, and everyone looked on incredulously.

"Are you sure it was Tara's spirit?" asked Giles in a somewhat disbelieving tone.

Willow, stung a little by the accusatory tone in the question, smartly replied: If anyone would know, don't you think it would be me?"

Giles nodded his agreement, but still had his doubts; however, his thoughts were interrupted by Buffy.

"I believe you Will, even if no one else does."

Giles gave her a stern look. "Buffy, may I ask why you so readily believe this fascinating tale?"

"Well Giles, you have to admit we've seen much more fascinating stuff." Giles again nodded his agreement. "Besides, it fits."

Xander, who had been concentrating on a humungous three egg omelet up until now, put down his fork and asked Buffy what she meant.

"Isn't it obvious to you all what we're up against here?" She asked incredulously.

Everyone replied with a resounding and synchronous "NO!"

Buffy sighed, shook her head in disbelief, and continued.

"It's all like a big jigsaw puzzle…we have all the pieces to figure out the puzzle…we just have to put them together. So let's put them together. First, we have the Buffy-Bot-Bomb. When we expected the wreckage, we found this." She shows everyone the piece of wreckage with the inverted hexagram. "Willow tells me this is part of a spell to create a new hell mouth, right here in River City." Xander chuckled at her reference to one of his favorite musicals. "Next, we have a very sick and extremely depressed Warren, just before he died. Helena talked to Andrew. What did he say, Helena?"

"Well, he confirmed that not only was Warren suffering from extremely painful headaches, but also a loss of equilibrium and severe mood swings….severe even for him."

Buffy had a glazed look in her eyes. "Does any of this ring a bell to anyone?"

No one spoke up until Dawn's squeaky voice mumbled "Mom."

Buffy nodded and continued.

"Yes. Willow checked the records, and sure enough, Warren was suffering from an inoperable tumor in his brain. Even if he would have survived Willow's assault, he wouldn't have lived for much longer. Add to that, according to Andrew, he was getting involved in some major dark magic….the kind that never leads to anything good. I think that before he died, Warren had cast a spell to create a new form for him to exist in. Somehow, he is back, and he has chosen now to strike."

The solemn looks on everyone's faces told Buffy they all realized the seriousness of the situation.

"So, what's our next move, Buffy?" Asked Willow.

Suddenly, the restaurant is filled with electrical energy. The staff and patrons all ran in astonishment. Then, a single form materialized in the midst of Buffy and the gang. It was Warren. He had a devious smile as he stood there, laughing hysterically.