AN: And I'm back, I have consulted my writing aid(a one Onyxwraith) and with his advice shall continue this story with a tad more clarity.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, DC comics or Magic the Gathering.
Xander of the Green
"So you're my successor now"
"Huh! What! Where am I?" Xander asked the stranger, "And what about a successor?"
"You're in the Green, any chance you know what that is?" He replied.
"Uhh, no… is this like heaven, cause I'm pretty sure I just died." Xander looked around to see the mass of trees, moss, ferns, grasses, and even mushrooms as far as the eye could see.
"No, it's the physical, psychic, and cosmic representation of all plantlife. It represents nature and growth and survival. Is that clear enough?" the man asks.
"Yeah, I guess for now, but why am I here and by the way who are you?" Xander asked again, he was being unusually calm for such a circumstance, but then again to remember his favorite spaceship pilot, what's the point of calm if you only have it when there is no crisis.
"In opposite order, I'm Alec Holland also known as the Swamp Thing. As to…" Xander interrupted.
"Wait! I thought the swamp thing couldn't take human form? What's with this?"
"To put it simply, I'm in the form of my own mental image of myself, which happens to be my old human form, I could be a giant hulking monster of plant-flesh, but I prefer this form, unless you want me to change?" Alec grinned at Xander as his eyes widened with fear.
"No no no no, human form is perfectly fine, please continue." Xander begged slightly.
Alec nodded and continued, "As to why you are here, I'm fairly certain that you are the next avatar of the Green."
"Fairly sure?" Xander asked.
"Divine intervention, I heard a voice soon after I gave up my mantle to begin looking for my successor, it said he'd handle finding you" Alec explained.
"You heard a voice too? Weird, um right before I… um died, I guess… I heard a voice offering me survival and power to protect good and balance and all that" Xander explained scratching the back of his head.
"And you accepted didn't you?" Alec asked smiling at the boy. "You sealed your fate then you were given a choice by God to die in peace or live on in the struggle of nature, I like you already kid, you don't give."
"Survival's my thing; Nature's a great role model. So what does this mean, me being your successor and Avatar of Green, honestly I get the Green but I just don't understand how I fit in."
"Alright kid, I guess this is story time, layback and get comfortable, because this is gonna take a long time to really explain." Alec advised. Xander followed directions and leaned back, he'd been sitting on the ground so he just leaned back, he was surprised when he felt a soft cushion behind him, he turned to see it was a real bed of clover, he turned back to Alec with an eye brow raised, "Comes with the job plants love you. Deal." As he sat and branches grew and shifted to catch him in a rather comfy chair.
"Ok, this all began with the Parliament of Trees and their war with the Gray, essentially the Green but for fungus. The Parliament sought to protect plant life and in proxy humanity. The Gray sought to corrupt everything and destroy it. I fought for the Green as the plant elemental, aka the sucker for all of the Parliament's plans. Eventually the Gray corrupted the Parliament; this led to the Parliament believing that they had to destroy humanity to survive. They forgot that the Green was but a piece of nature all of it was needed for the system to work. So the Word caught wind of the Parliament's intentions and after they gave me all of their power he destroyed it, and then restructured nature itself to work better. He combined the Green and Gray, and gave it the will to grow and set an Avatar to restrain it. I was that Avatar, but I had to retire to keep from eventually following the Parliament's steps and separating myself from humanity.
So you were chosen, but that's not all. He also created other Aspects, namely the Red, the Blue, the White, and the Black. While the Green is represented by plant life, growth, survival, and the forests of the world, the Red is represented by fire, passion, land dwelling animals, and the mountains and chaparrals. The Blue is represented by the mind, change, aquatic animals, and the flowing waters of the world. The White is represented by purity, order, flying animals, and the plains and savannas of the world. The Black is represented by death, rebirth, corruption, and forgiveness, and it claims the marshes, swamps and graves of the world.
Furthermore, each of the aspect will have an Avatar, to control and restrain the aspect of nature to maintain balance. For example, without restraint the White would strive to destroy all that is not pure and ordered, this would conveniently include everything. So far you are the only avatar, mainly because the Green has had so many problems recently we got priority. The other Aspects will get avatars in the coming week or two…"
"But if we're required to exist for nature how can we exist with just one of us! That sounds like a problem!" Xander interrupted.
"Kid, does a plant need attention twenty-four seven?"
"No…"
"Then why can't nature exist, each of the Aspects already existed and did essentially the same thing but the Word just changed them around to make it work different, now our powers overlap some and we have to interact and work together or else we all lose."
"Okay, so what do I do?" Xander asked.
"Exist, oh and fix a few problems we've had in the Green but nothing major and immediate." Alec offered shrugging.
"What problems?" Xander asked worriedly.
"Okay there are one or two people who can tap into the Green even without you knowing unless you are actually looking. They also have a grudge against humanity, although it should have died down some now that the Gray is gone. The other issue is that some of the old Parliament still exists along with some of the old Gray Parliament. They may cause problems or may not, so you only need to find them if they do, see no biggies." Alec answered.
"Okay, to break this down, I am in charge of all plantlife in reality, need to protect and essentially run a major portion of the natural world to keep it from destroying everything. And also balance relations with four other forces of nature to keep them from destroying it too. That sounds like a lot of work, where's the benefit."
"Um you're in the good graces of the big guy upstairs… and the guy downstairs too." Alec joked.
"…"
"Your nigh immortal, girls like the pheromones, all you can eat as far as produce, no expenses to speak of, and your only job pretty much does itself as long as you have a force of will."
"Cool so are you going to show me how to use my powers or do I have to figure that out on my own"
"I help you don't worry just follow me," Alec told him as he stood from his chair and walked off.
IPUMM
"Well Alexander it seems you fit right in now I just need to get your fellow avatars, soon nature will be back on track."
Sunnydale, California – Rosenburg Residence- Same night
Willow was working on her computer, surfing the web for something to distract her. She was listening to music to keep from thinking about her life. Willow was angry right now, Oz had broken up with her after everything to run for safety. Now it was a little known fact that Willow had serious internal problems with emotional control, she kept a cheery façade to keep people from worrying about her. Not that her cheery face was false but it was intended to hide her anger from others. Willow was just a very passionate person; yes that's how her mother referred to it.
Sadly for Willow, she should have been paying attention to the noises going on down stairs but alas she did not. Downstairs a man had walked in to her house, no, this was no ordinary man. This man was a member of the League of Shadows. John is how he is referred to by his clients. You see John is the kind of hitman you send to leave a message. Very little is known about him he has no family and no real friends, and the majority of his income goes straight into the League's funding. He just loves to kill and make his mark suffer.
So here he was inside the Rosenburg house with a combat knife intent on killing everyone here in a rather gruesome way. Or at least make their corpses into a message. The parents were easy they were asleep and he just slit their throats and let them bleed out. He then hung their bodies in the living room on the rather useful and decorative.
He prepared himself for the final kill this one was special. His client wanted her to know all her little friends were dying and there was nothing she could do but die.
He could hear the sound of typing and the faint noise of music blaring with his trained senses. He crept up to her room's door and entered silently. The music was louder now; he was surprised she could hear at all if she listened to this volume regularly, not that it mattered. He was behind her without a sound, she felt his presence for a moment and paused typing, and he placed his knife as her throat, he then removed her earbuds to speak.
"Child, you will die tonight." Her breathe hitched in fear.
"But I have a message from my client 'tonight the slayer's friends die, you are among them, Ms. Summers will lose and I shall ascend, I must thank you for your efforts though I have been unable to stretch this much in decades. Have a nice afterlife.' That is all, and your corpse will become yet another example to fear the League of Shadows." He pulled his knife across her throat barely cutting the carotid artery just enough to insure she bleeds out slowly. Then she heard a voice speak again but it was different.
"Child, will you accept my charge and live. To be one with the passion, hunger, and fire of nature? Will you accept?"
"Okay I have to live I have to save them I'll protect my pack." She thought already taking on her more animalistic mindset.
John saw her eye's glow red and her wound heal as he felt a pull in his mind, a hunger as desire for the kill, but also a fear of this girl and as his animal side overwhelmed his humanity he knew she was alpha and then his flesh felt like it was on fire it burned as muscle and bone twisted and changed and he became his inner animal.
The now wolf-like man was covered in a matte black fur. His mouth extended out like a canine and a tail grew and flicked his feet twisted and this leg became like a wolf's the claws extended from his feet and hands making him drop his knife. His transformation was complete, and he bowed in submission to the girl he almost killed. And she commanded, "Save my friends in particular my wolf." Somehow she knew Xander and Giles would be safe.
John's higher thought being limited he simply burst through the window to follow the smell of a fellow were. Willow then felt a tug on her and she fell into it on instinct. She burst into flame leaving to find her realm.
Somewhere
Willow found herself in a desert or chaparral with several bushes in blazing flame. The heat didn't bother her though as her eyes were locked onto the figures before her. They were all male and humanoid with animal heads, like the Egyptian gods. But they were covered in tribal tattoos. They were all different skin colors also: one black, one white but still tanned, and the other reddish brown. The black one had the head of an Alligator, the white one the head of a tiger, and the red one had a head of a wolverine.
They spoke at once creating a weird echo of voices, "Hello avatar, we are the Red"
"Who? What? Where am I?" Willow yelled. She had changed and her eyes had become slit and turned blood red. Her muscles had grown firm and tone but kept a graceful catlike look.
"We are the Red and you are our avatar, our hand in the realm and our handler of sorts. We are in the realm of the Red, Which is the physical mental and spiritual representation of all animal life, fire, and passion."
"So what does me being the avatar of the Red mean?" Willow asked as she relaxed the people and this place calmed her like Xander often did.
"You were chosen to act as the human will of the Red, to prevent us from consuming the world in fire and hunger. You are to maintain the balance within nature among the other avatars."
"Other avatars?"
"Yes, child, you must balance the Red with the other four aspects of nature, the Green of the plants, the Blue of the Oceans, the Black of the Rot, and the White of the Purity. We were given sentience and sapience by the Creator, to assist you and maintain day to day balance, all major issues are taken in the Grand Parliament of the Avatars. So would you like to learn what you can do?"
"If I've nothing else to do, I will."
"Good, follow"
Sunnydale High Library
Giles was busying himself working replacing those books that had been removed from their respective shelves. Giles was really relaxing for the first time in weeks. This was one of the few simple pleasures of librarian duty. The repetitive action somehow soothed him and calmed the inner Ripper.
He turned, hearing the door to the library open he saw six vampires file in. "What are you doing here?" he asked moving toward his weapon cage, it was already open. However the vampires spread out cutting him off from his office and the cage, he unbuttoned his sleeves for better movement and prepared to fight. The first vampire that had entered spoke and lifted his hand to show the tattoo on it, "We are the Umbra Mortis, your death has been called, and we will serve, prepare to die." When Giles saw the tattoo he gasped, these were the true blood vampire assassins, one that only took hits as challenges, because they turned anyone they killed. Apparently the Scoobies had proved a challenge.
A vampire struck to break his legs; Giles barely reacted in time to shift his leg to keep his tibia from shattering under the force. His leg still broke though and he cried out in pain and fell to the ground. The vampire that spoke picked up the broken man and snapped his arms. He then spoke, "You are to know that your friends are dead your slayer will live until the mayor ascends though. You are going to die and become a fellow shadow and watch your precious slayer die." With this said he sunk his teeth into the Watcher's neck and began to drain him.
"Well Rupert, do you wish to live? You will become one with the corruption and you will be all that stands to keeping it from corrupting everything. Will you take my offer?" Giles heard the voice in his head, it wasn't demonic from what he could tell, so he would give it a piece of trust.
"Who are you?" Giles responded in his head, he winced as he felt the vampire bite deeper for more blood.
"I've many names, but the most likely one you would now is God. You must choose before you are turned, make your choice, and this might help you choose: your friends you will see them again should you take my offer."
"Fine, I'll take it, I've got to protect them." Giles relented as the Vampire released him and then slit his own wrist and brought it to Giles mouth.
"Excellent timing, well thank you for your help avatar of the Black, enjoy your new life." The voice laughed as the blood entered Giles' mouth.
The blood demon immediately started to try and take over his body. The key word there is try. It heard a voice speak to it, a voice more ancient than the old ones themselves, the voice of the one that vampires are a very mockery of, the voice of nature's corruption: The Black, "You, would enter my servant, you the unstrengthening corruption, you are a mockery and I will consume you!" These were the last words the demon ever heard again.
Giles eyes flashed black and his skin paled to death, and one of the dumber vampires watching asked, "Is this supposed to happen?"
"No, Idiot but we'll stay to see what's happening." The leader ordered. The vampires looked on at the man.
Giles soon completed his change. His eyes were black with no corona and his skin was deathly pale. His hair took on a straggly unwashed look. His suit was torn and changed so it looked worn like the single suit owned by a homeless man. And he spoke in an ancient whisper sounding sick, "Demons of blood, you have corrupted many you corrupt the strong and with discrimination, you're progenitor created you in my image and now you will perish, for that is the will of the Black." With this the vampires followed their demons voices and knew he spoke the truth and they turned to run. But as they ran they stumbled as necrosis took their flesh and their muscles atrophied. They felt pain as the necrosis sped all but the leader were on the ground whimpering in pain far beyond the state of screaming. But their pain was short for their heart was taken and they dusted, the last vampire remained, he was eldest by a few centuries among these relative fledglings in the order. His right arm was a shriveled mass of blackening flesh, his left foot in no better condition. His face and neck were also festered with rot as he dropped on his knees in front of the former Watcher.
"Who are you? How?" The vampire whispered, the rot being in his lungs.
"Simple, I am Ripper, and you will be my messenger, tell the Umbra and every demon you see for the rest of your days that true corruption has come to consume the weak and purify the masses." With this the rot took hold of Giles and spread fast across his flesh eating away to his bones in seconds moments later even his bones were taken by the rot leaving only a pile of very decayed flesh where he stood. Then the vampire heard a voice, this time female, "Demon your service was the cost of your life. Should you fail, the rot shall take you otherwise you will live, and should you die then every member of your organization will rot and the Umbra will die." At hearing this he felt the pain that had pervaded all higher function subside and he knew that the rot had stopped he stood limping and favoring his left he had no feeling left there but he didn't want to fall. He shambled out of the library to give his message for he had to give his organization a chance his duty to his sire demanded it.
Somewhere with Giles
Giles awoke. The last thing he remembered was the blood flowing in his mouth and him agreeing to the voice. He looked around and found himself in a sunken graveyard in the middle of a swamp, the tombstones were cracked and aged, any wood was rotten and decayed. Everything smelt of death and curiously when Giles looked deeper, he found life, fungus and a crocodile, a vulture looked out of place but was roosted searching for the recently deceased. The next thing he say truly surprised him: A woman, clad with silk covering her chest and legs but leaving her stomach and upper thigh bare. She wore a large black silk loincloth that easily covered her modesty but left little to imagination. Her eyes had zigzag tattoos underneath her eyes. Her face was pale and eyes dark. Her hair was a reddish black and pulled back in two firm ponytails. She was tall and carried an air of competence and danger. She spoke.
"Hello Avatar, Welcome to the realm of the Black." She smiled slightly when speaking.
"Who are you? Where am I, and what is the Black?" Giles speedily shot off as he tried to take the circumstances into account.
"If you are here, then you accepted the bargain of the first God. You are now the avatar of the Black, the physical mental and spiritual representation of rot, death, life, rebirth and the swamps. I am Phage, formerly of the Cabal. I was chosen by your same God to aid you under the condition that you rebuild the Cabal."
"Cabal, what is that?" Giles asked warily.
"The Cabal is corruption as it should be, we feed the vices of the weak and it rots them to death leaving the strong to rise to strength. Everything has a price that is the one rule, and no one breaks it."
"So the Cabal is the Black made into an organization essentially?"
"Yes, if a crude comparison."
"So where do I fit in this as the Avatar?" Giles asked.
"You are the avatar, the hand of the Black and will that prevents the Black from consuming the world to allow it to grow stronger. You will balance the Black with the other aspects of nature: the Green, of plant life; the Red, of animal life; the Blue of the waters; and the White, of the purity. That is your calling."
"I think I understand now so how am I supposed to rebuild this Cabal of yours and what can I really do?" Giles asked.
"You could just take over that weak little organization that almost killed you, they are prime to use as a building block for the Cabal; they have many thumbs in the supernatural areas. And the supernatural is a wonderful place to begin the corruption. As for to what you can do I will need to teach you that."
"Been a while since I've been taught, so what will I learn?" His inner Watcher's curiosity showing.
"The proper way to corrupt something of course," she stated happily as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
AN: I've done it my second chapter, sorry if It seemed kinda repetitive but if seemed lacking if I just stopped with them showing up in their respective realms so I just made it as interesting as possible but it was mainly just to relay info, I'll try and answer any questions also for if the Buffy characters seemed OOC sorry but the whole avatar thing changed them slightly and also after you get shocked so much you don't really talk much. Also sorry MoG fans if Phage is OOC but I mainly am going off of what my brother can tell me, which is essentially she is obsessed with the Cabal and the most likely way to get her to do something is to offer the expansion of the Cabal or its goals which was done. Also if you don't want to really see the Blue's first moments as an Avatar, then tell me but the White isn't optional. White is an OC and Blue is a semi-OC(you'll see later)
Thanks for reading please keep reading and REVIEW of Phage will give you a hug.