"Neil's dead parents and uncle tried to attack Neil at Sunnydale High?! What the hell is happening Giles?!" Buffy demanded.

"I do not know Buffy. The situation is becoming truly grave, I'm afraid. We sho-" Giles started to answer.

"Hold on Giles. Someone is banging on the front door." Buffy interrupted.

Buffy put the phone down on the kitchen counter and hurried to the front door, peeked out the door window, and with her eyes widened in surprise, unlocked and opened said door.

"What are yo-Oh my god...Willow! Xander!" Buffy almost shouted.

"Hey Buff. Mind if we drop in?" Xander joked weakly.

"Oh my god...Buffy...oh my god…" Willow whispered. She threw her arms around Buffy and Buffy returned the favor.

"You guys! What the hell happened?! "Buffy asked worriedly.

"They said they were attacked by Jesse, Buffy." Athena answered grimly.

"Jesse? Xander and Willow's dead friend Jesse?!" Buffy exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes. That would be the one." Diana replied.

Buffy stared at Diana and Athena, then at her friends. They were covered in numerous wounds, but fortunately none of them were too serious.

"They weren't the only ones." Buffy stated.

"Pardon?!" Athena growled.

"Explain Elizabeth." Diana ordered sternly.

"Giles phoned me and said Neil's deceased parents and uncle tried to assault him at the high school, but fortunately Helen and the others fended them off." Buffy told the two Amazons.

"FUCKING EXCUSE ME?! Where's the fucking phone?!" Athena snapped at Buffy.

"It's in the kitchen on the counter." Buffy answered tensely.

Athena charged in the direction of the kitchen with Diana following. Buffy turned her attention to Willow and Xander, but before any more words could emerge from her mouth, Joyce and Dawn appeared.

"Oh my fucking god…" Dawn muttered, stunned at the sight of Xander and Willow.

"Willow! Xander! What happened?!" Joyce nearly cried out, shocked at their condition.

Willow stepped back from Buffy, Buffy releasing her, and responded with:

"Would you believe we were assaulted by our departed best friend?"

Before Joyce or Dawn could react to that explanation…

...there was an ominous creak upstairs..

They waited patiently.

At Area 51, SG-1, Eppy, and Spidey were standing nearby an unused hangar waiting for their ride.

Eppy and Daniel were busy chatting about ancient religions, which the others were listening to with varying degrees of interest, when Sam suddenly spoke up eagerly:

"There he is!"

The others turned to look and spotted a small gray space vessel approaching.

"That's your father's ship, miss Sam?" Spidey asked curiously.

"It is." Sam confirmed.

"Wow. What a peculiar design." Spidey commented.

The Tel'tak coasted to a halt near where they were standing and landed near them. The back opened and a middle-aged man approached them, a smile on his face.

"Dad!" Sam cried joyfully, and she rushed to him and put her arms around him, a gesture which he returned.

"Sam. Jack. Teal'c, Daniel. Good to see you. George said you needed a ri-" He paused when he noticed Eppy and Spidey. He stared in disbelief, and then said:

"What in-!" in Jacob's voice and then in Selmak's:

"the world?!"

"Greetings Jacob/Selmak! I am Eppy and this is my friend Spidey. We are pleased to meet you!" Eppy said enthusiastically.

"Hi!" Spidey said with a wave.

"L-Likewise." Jacob/Selmak answered, a little startled.

"Jacob. Meet our new allies." Teal'c told Jacob.

"A pleasure to meet you." Jacob said to Eppy and Spidey.

They both bowed in response with a warm smile.

"I can see where miss Sam gets her good manners. Unlike some people." Spidey pointed at Jack as she said this.

"Well, Jack is an acquired taste." Jacob acknowledged.

"Yes, yes I am. Like liver-mush." Jack agreed with a shrug.

"Liver-what?" Eppy asked.

"Oh that's not important right now. What is important is flying off into the wild blue yonder before the world comes to an end." Jack said dismissively.

"Maybe you better bring me up to speed as we get ready to leave." Jacob suggested.

"Good idea." Daniel agreed.

They all turned and headed to the Tel'tak.

"Wh-What was that?!" Joyce whispered nervously.

Everyone stared at the ceiling, adrenaline pumping through their veins, and Buffy assumed a fighting stance.

It was a good thing too.

Because Jesse crashed through the living room window!

Dawn, Joyce, Xander, and Willow screamed in horror as Jesse roared:

"XANDER! WILLOW!"

The monstrous former friend lunged at them, talons at the ready, but never got to use them as a Slayer-powered side kick knocked him backwards! He slammed back into the wall! Looking up at Buffy, he hissed:

"You…!"

Jesus. Buffy thought. It really is Jesse!

Regaining his clawed feet, Jesse renewed his determined onslaught. He violently slashed at Buffy with all eight of his decayed sore-ridden arms, but she parried his attacks, firing back with punches and kicks!

The other four watched on in horror. Then they were distracted by the sounds of combat coming from the kitchen. Clearly Athena and Diana were battling with their own foes.

Tired of being a spectator, Xander picked up a lamp and hit Jesse from behind. Jesse whirled on Xander but Buffy tackled him through the broken window!

The creature upstairs took that as her cue.

A snake/slug...thing rapidly oozed down the stairs and turned to confront them. She smiled with a mouth of razor-sharp tentacles. They were really more like worms than tentacles, or perhaps a strange hybrid of the two.

"B-BUFFY!" Dawn, Willow, and Joyce all screamed. Xander stepped forward and swung the lamp at this new enemy, but the monster tore the lamp from Xander's grasp and flung it aside. They were now defenseless.

But that quickly changed when Athena attacked it from behind with a vicious blow from behind! Her face was fully vamped.

The gooey beast was clearly surprised, but reacted quickly, coiling around Athena's muscular form. She began to rapidly constrict Athena with a frightening strength.

It wasn't frightening enough.

Slowly forcing her way free, Athena grabbed her enemy's head and tore it away from the abomination's body! With a pained shudder, it gave up the ghost.

Pushing the deceased monstrosity off of her, Athena turned to face the others.

"Oh my god. Thank you so much!" Joyce almost shouted.

"Yes! Thank you!" Willow added as well.

Before Athena could answer, Diana appeared at the dining room doorway. She was covered in a blue slime.

"DIANA! Are you-?!" Joyce began.

"I am fine Joyce." Diana reassured her friend.

"The other one kaput?" Athena asked her mother.

"Yes. Very...kaput. As you say." Diana replied.

"What about Bu-" Xander began, only to be interrupted by Buffy hopping back through the window.

"Jesse's gone. He vanished in a flash of light." Buffy reported, answering their unspoken questions. She paused when she noticed the slain being laying on the floor.

"Christ. Willow…" Xander whispered. Everyone looked at him, then at what Xander was staring at.

Willow's green eyes widened in disbelieving shock and horror at who she saw laying there.

Outer space.

Silent and serene.

In this seemingly infinite void, sitting behind the only natural satellite of a small blue and green planet, floated an artificial object, all alone in the night. (sorry, couldn't resist).

And inside that object, waited seven people for their ride.

"I forgot how beautiful and eerie it is out here. I never really got a chance to just gaze at it, but wow." Daniel remarked.

"Yes. It makes one feel insignificant." Teal'c agreed somberly.

"It is pretty. And very alien. Your reality is a strange place...but fascinating." Eppy commented.

"What is your universe like?" Selmak asked Eppy.

"We have no spheres as you do, but great landmasses floating in space, and what you would call stars are very different from yours, with colors and shapes not found here. Our cosmos sings and moves in strange ways, like a living thing." Eppy explained.

The Tau'ri, Teal'c, and Jacob/Selmak all regarded each other, puzzled by Eppy's words, but before it could continue…

...the Tel'tak's instrument panel started reacting and beeping. Teal'c checked it, and then announced:

"Our sensors have detected a disturbance."

As they watched, a massive warping and twisting of the fabric of reality began to occur. Then, there was a flash of...something...not light and not darkness...but other...it was literally impossible to describe what it was precisely.

And then it emerged.

It had to be a space vessel, but it possessed no known shape that any of them recognized. It was pitch black, but they could see it in the blackness of space perfectly. The ship was all antennae, spikes, tentacles, and eyes…? None of them were sure about that, but they felt it was observing them, even through the Tel'tak's cloak.

And it was fluid. All of them came to the startled realization that this peculiar craft was constantly shifting and morphing...like a living creature!

Even its size was staggering! The Dominion starship dwarfed even Apophis's mother-ship!

"What the hell...?" Jack whispered.

The others just stared, rendered speechless.

This...oh my god. Sam thought. Even the small Dominion vessel at Area 51 was nothing like this!

Naturally, Eppy and Spidey were unfazed by the sight.

I understand what Spidey means now about calling Jacob's Tel'tak a "peculiar design." Teal'c thought, astounded at what he was witnessing.

To them, it is.

"Wh-What kind of ship is this?" Sam asked breathlessly.

"You would call it a cruiser." Spidey explained to Sam.

"This is a military vessel?" Daniel asked.

"It is, but please don't be alarmed. We only have the authority to command warships." Spidey explained.

"Yeah. We understand." Daniel replied.

"They are communicating." Eppy stated suddenly.

"Do I need to lower the cloak?" Jacob asked.

"You can if you wish, friend Jacob, but they are already aware of us." Eppy answered.

With a nod, Jacob deactivated the cloaking device, and the Tel'tak shimmered into view.

Eppy turned and looked at all of them, then addressed the "Two-Legs" directly:

"Our new friends, you are officially welcomed to the Dominion."

"We are pleased to have you."

"It's Shirley Dobson! My childhood friend...But she died from a stroke in first grade...H-How...I-I d-don't…" Willow stammered, sorrow, rage, and fear all battling for control in her voice.

The girl she was referring to was laying on the floor where the snake/slug monster's corpse was earlier. She had long blond hair and a thin face. Her hazel eyes were open and staring lifelessly at the ceiling. There was a slight resemblance to Buffy.

Before any more words could be spoken, Shirley's body disappeared with a scarlet flare of unholy light, startling everyone. They all regarded each other with worry and confusion.

"What now?" Xander asked the others.

"Let's get the fuck out of here and head to the library. This place isn't safe. Strength in numbers." Athena replied, casting a leery look around.

"Yeah. That sounds of the good." Buffy agreed.

Swiftly exiting the house (with Joyce locking the front door), they made their way to the high school.

Later…

Upon entering the library, the others turned to look at them.

"Buffy! Joyce! Dawn! Xander! Willow! Good lord! What has occurred?!" Giles exclaimed.

"Diana?! Athena?! What the actual fuck?!" Artemis almost shouted.

"Would you believe Jesse tried to kill us?" Xander replied tiredly.

"And he brought friends." Athena supplemented. She looked around frantically.

"Where is-?!" Then she paused.

The new arrivals all stared.

"Neil?! What the hell happened to you?!" Buffy cried out.

Neil looked up at Buffy, Athena, and company.

"I don't know. I really don't." Neil answered.

"It happened after his parents and uncle attacked. He just had this big growth spurt B!" Faith explained.

Neil, who had been sitting on the stairs, stood up. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Dawn, Joyce, and Diana raised their heads to look up at him. He was a few inches taller and considerably bigger than before.

"Beloved, I am at a loss for words at this development." Diana commented.

"The same Di, the same." Neil responded.

"He wasn't the only one who changed physically. Hera's eyes became orange." Ares stated.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Hera said.

"Too many mysteries and not enough answers, I would think." Lilith observed.

"Then let's find some." Helen said.

She walked over to start treating the newcomers' injuries along with everyone else.