Chapter 11

Sundown. Rayden now (denim, t-shirt, tired look), sat on the floor of his cell and wondered just how much longer she could hold him here. He reached out to his younger self. Nope. Not gonna work. OK. There had to be someone else. He tried to reach out and find the possible champion, a martial artist, something, anything. He touched a mind, a thought pattern. This was interesting. He recoiled abruptly. What he had touched was darkness, yet it wasn't. He tried to marshal his thoughts.

"Oh, my. Are we trying to work it out again?" the woman in green taunted. "Can't have that," she said with a laugh. Energy shot between the bars of his cell enveloping him in coruscating, shimmering shafts and shots of agony. He managed to hold off most of it, but it left him weak, dangerously weak. He knew he was sending some of it somewhere else. He hoped he wasn't doing any damage with it, but considering the source, wherever it went, it was probably destroying something.

Rayden the younger went to his knees abruptly. This time Buffy could see something twisting around him. It looked like a pillar of energy shot through with lightning. The van pulled up while she was trying to figure out something to do about it. Willow piled out behind the guys and then moved around them to stop and stare at Rayden. Her jaw dropped. This was not good. This was bad. This was - oh, discharge! Of course.

"Oz, tire thingy. Now, please."

Oz managed to translate "tire thingy" into four way lug nut wrench and retrieved one from the back of the van. He looked at Willow with raised, expressively waggled eyebrows. "Wire - lots of wire," she responded with a bright look.

"Wire," he agreed. He dove back into the van and returned with a coil of electrical wire. Inspired, he wrapped some bare copper ends around the tire iron. He handed the coil to Willow. He had the idea, but where were they going to safely discharge all that energy?

Willow looked around and decided the earth itself would do. She shoved the bare ends of the wire into the ground. She frowned. Giles yard might never recover from the last 24 hours of having people and things dumped on it, but it was in a good cause. She nodded to Oz who quickly dropped the tire iron next to Rayden, just touching the energy crackling around him.

With a massive *POP* and a sort of *ZIZZZZ* sound, the energy took the path of least resistance and made a nasty black spot on Giles' lawn. Rayden fell over. His breath was coming in heaving gasps. Never had he dealt with such power. Was there another god involved? He hoped not.

Willow gave Oz a hug, which he returned. They were making quite a team. Xander was standing bemused by the entire show while Cordelia was complaining that she was getting tired of standing around in Giles' yard. She looked at the potentially cool guy in robes lying on the ground. Not too cool, just at the moment, but kinda cute, anyway. She looked at Buffy and Giles. Willow was not the only one who could tell that momentous things were about to happen. She allowed herself one wistful recollection of the days b.b. (before Buffy), straightened her shoulders, which had an astonishing effect on most males between 17 and 80, and stepped forward to find out what had been discovered since last she had known what was going on.

Giles gave them a quick run down on the Earthrealm/OutWorld confrontation.

"Oh, great. We get to go up against people who make Jackie Chan look spastic and if we lose, the world goes bye-bye," she summed up. Xander looked at his "lost love" with admiration. He didn't know she knew who Jackie Chan was. Was Jackie Chan cool? "So, who gets to fight? Because I'm not dressed for this. And where? Why don't I stay with Mr. Sparkly Eyes while you go settle this?"

"I think we may *need* Mr. Sparkly Eyes," Buffy pointed out.

"Oh. OK. So, this is, like, an "end of the world, Cordelia gets to help out" sort of thing, isn't it? Is it going to be messy? Do I *have* to be there?"

"Cordelia - even if you're not there, if we lose, it won't be cool," Giles cut in. A part of his mind was sitting back staring at him and wondering if he'd lost his mind. The rest of it was wondering where he'd picked up the attitude.

"Oh." She frowned for a moment and nodded. "OK. Well, where?" She looked from Giles to Rayden, who was sitting up again, to Buffy. No help there. "All right. This is an incredibly, not cool, not really together sort of gathering, right? All we have to do is figure out where a bunch of uncool, violently inclined types would hang out!" Regardless of her bright, "I managed to suss this one" presentation, Cordelia was right.

Xander and Oz looked at each other. "Lextor's."

They became aware of five pairs of inquisitive eyes fastened on them. Xander grinned. Oz looked like he wanted to dive behind something.

"Lextor's. It's a - big warehouse sort of thing on the edge of town - *south* edge. They stage martial arts competitions and stuff - well, mostly. Yeah."

Rayden was on his feet. Buffy was frowning. Giles was heading for his car. Oz, Willow, Cordelia and Xander piled back into the van. Buffy and Rayden followed Giles. Cordelia stepped out of the van and grabbed Rayden's arm.

"No. Van. Much safer. Well, safer," she conceded with a look that said it was the lesser of two evils. "Oz takes good care of the van," she ended up and led the bemused Rayden back to the van.

He was surprised at the comfort within as he sat on the floor with the others. A thick shag carpet protected them from the metal floor. Willow had the place of honor as co-pilot next to Oz. She liked sitting next to Oz. She was steadily *not* considering the next move.

Angel, Spike and Drusilla had left as soon as it was safe. Reno was staying with Cheri, Tanya and Siro. Reno knew something was up and as soon as the vampires reported back, he had a feeling his own usefulness would come to the fore. For now, he was content to pace while the others ate.

Tanya snagged a bottle from the case, handed it to Reno and made him sit down while he drank. "You are making me nervous," she pointed out.

He smiled. She didn't look nervous.

Lextor's was deserted looking. The last time Oz and Xander had been aware of the place, it had been surrounded by expensive vehicles, most of them with license plates from places other than Sunnydale. This had attracted their attention. Tonight, nothing. Yet there was a tension about the place that indicated they were on the right track.

Oz parked the van a discreet distance away. He wished Giles would get that heap of his tuned up. The van disgorged it's cargo, Rayden following the others out. He staggered and nearly fell as he stepped down. Cordelia was at his side, her concern showing. This wasn't just Cordelia making a show of concern, it was real, which surprised Cordelia as much as anyone. She so prided herself on remaining as shallow as possible.

She looked at Giles as he joined them. "Something is *really* wrong."

"Yes. I know. Proximity?"

Rayden looked up at him and forced his eyes to focus. "Proximity?" What was the man getting at? Oh. That. He was close to his present self. A faint smile curved his lips. He nodded. Perhaps his presence on this foray had not been such a good idea. He was sharing his force with the other Rayden. At this distance, it didn't seem to be such a wonderful idea.

Inside, Rayden (now) was feeling stronger than he had for some time. There was a strange feeling of pressure inside his head. It was almost as though he was sharing his thoughts. No. He *was* sharing thoughts, and energy. He was sucking energy out of his younger self. He touched the bars which contained him. They twisted and warped under the energy glow in his hand. Careful. He didn't want to suck the other one dry. That could be disastrous.

Outside, Spike and Drusilla had spotted the Slayer and party. They dropped in. Buffy dropped into stance. There was no telling with Spike. He had helped her twice now, but Drusilla, spitting like an enraged kitten, did not like the Slayer.

"Enough, Dru," Spike chided her. He turned to Buffy. "Well, looks like we've got a right gathering here. This the place?"

Buffy looked confused. "You know?"

"Know? About the fight? Yeah."

"And you didn't tell anyone?"

Spike looked hurt, then grinned. "Well, we only just figured it out ourselves, you know. Dru, go tell the others."

"Don't want to. I want the nasty Slayer."

"Dru!" Spike's voice was sharp. Drusilla sulked. He relaxed his tone with her. "Come on. After it's done, we'll see what happens. But we need the others."

"Don't see why."

"Because we don't want the world to end."

"We don't? No, I suppose not. I'll go." She turned her attention to Buffy. "Stay away from Spike. He's mine." And she was gone.

Buffy decided it was best not to get into this now. She became aware of another presence. A hundred feet away stood a figure, motionless. A full cape flowed out around it, the hood concealing head and face. Silence. Buffy could begin to hear the friends around her breathing. She swallowed and stepped forward.

"Hi. I'm Buffy. And you are?"

She laughed. She pushed the hood back. Rayden stiffened. "Vorpax." He identified her. How had the wench survived all this time?

"Yes," she almost cooed. "Vorpax. I survive. And I will bring Earthrealm to OutWorld dominion. *This* is your champion?" She laughed again. "Well, don't just stand around out here, *do* come in."

She turned with a sweep of the cloak and strode toward the old warehouse and the battle ground.

Bereft of speech and anything else to do, Buffy and the Slayerettes followed, Cordelia bringing up the rear with Rayden.

Rayden (now) had almost worked a hole in his cage when he sensed something about to happen. With an unexpected expenditure of energy, Vorpax moved him from his cage there to a new cage suspended above the battleground. The warehouse roof was thirty feet high. Rayden (now) was suspended in a small, uncomfortable cage just below the rafters. The spells on this cage hurt when he touched the bars. He very carefully sat right in the middle of the floor. He had a good view of the area.

Vorpax gestured again. A ball of energy took form beneath her tapered fingers. It grew and moved, darting around the Slayer and her immediate companions to engulf Rayden and Cordelia. Cordelia's sound of protest was muted as the expanded ball shifted and changed. It came to rest directly beneath the cage holding the older Rayden. Another cage formed. It was a little larger than the first as it was accommodating two people. A spike of pure blue energy shot up from the cage on the floor to meet a similar spike from the cage suspended above.

Vorpax laughed again. She turned to Buffy and company, dropping her cloak which shimmered and disappeared before it hit the floor. "Now, we are safe. No one will gain admittance who is not called. Buffy Somers. Oz Harris. Bloody William, known also as Spike. You are summoned. You others may sit, there." She indicated a space which had been empty before. A selection of comfortable seats had appeared. "You will not be in combat. You will *not* interfere. To intervene is to die. Is this clear?"

Giles, a hand on Willow and Xander's shoulders, nodded and ushered his companions over to the seats. He didn't want Buffy to know how worried he was. He hoped the others would come soon. He hoped they were summoned. He did *not* like what was going on and desperately wished he had more time, more information and could take Buffy's place.