"Curious indeed, to hear a name long dead and gone, erased from all mortal memory!" The horace-man roared, raising the pitch in his voice.
"Guess someone didn't get his spell quite right!" Spike retorted before tackling the bird demon.
He'd been aiming for just above the knees to throw his opponent off his balance, but to Spike's dismay, he hit nothing but unrelenting steel. The bird man chuckled as Spike looked up from Emmanuel's unwavering boots into an aviary stare of fire and ice.
"A bit rash, aren't we?" His voice was low and exuded control once more.
Spike didn't move, his mind was thinking too fast for a new weakness, anything. His enemy continued to stare evilly down at him, expression empty and reptilian.
"No matter then. Emmanuel is long dead. And you'll forget you ever knew him in just a moment..."
Spike lunged for the crotch in desperation. As fist hit what seemed like sheer stone, a peel of black laughter erupted from the demon. Spike's hand ached, but he'd used the momentum of the swing to get to his feet. He kicked and punched as the creature continued laughing. Whipping the stake from out his jacket, he aimed for the breast, and gulped as he watched the tip splinter. This psycho was impenetrable.
"You amuse me...But I tire of this distraction..."
Spike turned in a flash, escaping the blow of his opponent by half an inch and lunged toward the still motionless Buffy.
"Buffy, are you there? Buffy, we've got to get you out of this." He shook her violently, already filled with terror at the gray pallor of her skin and the webs of blue veins covering her face and body.
Her eyes were wide open; her face expressionless.
"No Spike, I have to stay here."
"No, you don't, Buffy!"
The bird-creature was coming closer, sauntering over with heavy steps. The other demons remained agitated, not daring to enter the circle of sorcery at work around Buffy's sickly frame.
"Perhaps it's better this way, I'll finish the ritual with you both together..." Emmanuel was only a foot or so away. Spike jumped to the other side of the dais and started pulling at the chains binding Buffy.
"C'mon Buff, wake up, please..." Spike muttered between jabs at the chainwork.
Emmanuel stepped up on the stone dais. His weight made the entire slab shift like a ship tilting on the waves at sea. Spike wagered that as the spell progressed, the demon was getting denser, heavier, more impenetrable.
"Now, little vampire boy, you flit like a bat in that slick black coat, let's see how you flop and flap when I've got you by the throat..." The bird-goliath spat and put his other foot onto the dais, tilting the whole apparatus further askew.
Spike knew it was desperate, and probably wouldn't work, but he lept a step backward and began pushing up on the raised end of the slab. Gathering all his strength as a warrior, he pushed and pushed for what seemed like minutes until he felt the stone shifting. Cold blood burning in his brain, he kept pushing, waiting for the stone to shift just a little bit more. Hearing the confused growl of his enemy, he took heart and gave the thing one last taste of his might.
The dais buckled as Emmanuel swayed trying to catch his balance. The creature's weight and Spike's force combined had snapped the slab. The crack snaked up to one of the anchors for Buffy's chains, and the sound of metal breaking off stone made Spike's chest sing.
"Noooo!" The bird man cried in outrage. Falling to the side, he reached out to steady himself.
Leaping over Buffy, Spike landed a kick to the beak, forcing the not yet stable Emmanuel to wrench his neck sideways.
But Spike still didn't know how to get the rest of Buffy's shackles free from the dais.
"Hah, you think you're so tough." Spike coughed out tauntingly, desperate to buy time.
The bird-demon steadied himself and slowly broke into soft, sinister laughter.
Confused, Spike turned to see what he was looking at. To his dismay, he saw Buffy's eyes now glowing red, limbs awakening.
"Who has summoned me on this night! And who has dared to chain me!" A deep feminine roar tore from Buffy's slight frame.
A grey and blue-veined Buffy stirred and slowly ripped the chains off her body as though they were made of styrofoam.
"Mother, Isis, your Son hath summoned you! Be gracious, the powers that bring you here have not yet completed their work."
"You are no son of mine! Filthy wretch, what trickery is this?!" Buffy-Isis was standing now, eyes aglow, and magic energy whipping like a tornado around her body.
"Mother, you are mistaken! The spell is not yet cast!"
"I do not belong here! And I shall reap vengeance upon the one who has summoned me!"
All Spike could do was blink and gape.
He watched as Buffy-Isis marched to the now trembling horace-look-alike, saw as he pleaded on his knees before her, and gulped as she summarily ripped his head off and threw it into the crowd. The rest of Emmanuel's stone body flickered with electricity before collapsing to the ground.
Then Buffy-Isis roared at the hordes of demons. Lightning sprouted from her fingers, barbequing rows of otherworldly patrons. The rest ran for the nearest exits, and half were crushed in the frenzy.
Buffy-Isis' fury continued, as the air around her whirled with electric charge and violence. Spike realized if he didn't do something quick, Buffy-Isis was on the verge of barbequing herself.
Not knowing what else to do, Spike crept behind her and threw his arms around her. He could feel the winds and sparks biting him from every side.
"I'm not Osiris, but God dammit I'm your boyfriend, and I'm not having Buffy toast!"
"No one touches Isis!" she roared and threw Spike to the ground.
Spike swallowed hard and looked up into red glowing eyes. They were both caught in the force field of power surrounding her, nothing was visible except for the whirling vortex containing them.
"Buffy, you're killing yourself."
"What is one mortal body?" She retorted and raised a hand to strike him.
As the electric shock hit his chest, something in him seemed to respond. A blue flow of energy began to pour out of him and repulse the white bolt of charge that was meant to electrocute him.
"What is this?" The red eyes opened wide in surprise.
The blue light overtook the white. Buffy-Isis tried to pull her hand away, but the blue light held it fast and drew it forward until she stood in wonder with her hand directly over his heart.
"A soul...two souls...but these are but mortal souls!" She cried in dismay, still unable to wrench her hand away.
"Yeah, well, two souls that have been through a lot together. So get out of my girlfriend and go back to where you came from." Spike shouted pointedly amid the whirlwind of magic engulfing them. A pulse deep from inside him spread out and seemed to shift the surrounding air.
He watched as her face twisted in realization. The pulse swept through her and the light in her eyes began to fade. Spike could feel the tornado they were in losing energy. Seeing the light die in her eyes, he reached out to catch Buffy before she fell limply to the ground.
Clothes torn, cut, bruised, but skin returning to a normal pale, Spike held Buffy in the empty hall, littered with demon carcases. Stroking her blond hair, he watched her for signs of life.
"Spike..." she moaned softly, "I don't think this place is such a great idea..."
Spike crushed her to his chest, overjoyed to hear his Buffy back to normal.
Still dazed, she let him squeeze her a moment before asking with utter bewilderment, "Spike, how did I get this torn red dress on?"
"Buffy, I'll explain later. Right now, let's just get back to the hotel. Do you think you can walk?" He eyed her with genuine concern, tenderness coming back into his voice.