Somewhere in Sunnydale.

The older, future Willow – the Herald of Twilight - stopped walking as a smirk formed on her face before she crossed her arms over her chest. She had only just walked out of the opening of the small pyramid shaped building which was once blocked by gold plated doors; the very doors that were laying crumbled at the bottom of the stairs where the lifeless form of the dead guardian lay still in a growing pool of her own blood. Future Willow licked her lips as her eyes focused on the blonde in the cream-colored blouse and grey trousers.

"Well, well, well," Willow said, her eyes roving along the body of the blonde from the legs, to the hips, to the chest, and then up to the rage filled eyes glaring back at her, "hello Buffy, or…" Willow then shrugged, "would you rather be called the First Evil."

The First, who took on Buffy's form, scowled at Willow who shrugged again before walking right through the incorporeal body of the First. The First turned around and glared at Willow's back before growling out, "I can feel it inside you. A part of it…" The First hissed when she said the word 'it', and jutted out her lower jaw as Willow turned around and turned her nose up at the spectral being in front of her.

"Twilight has already taken care of you and your acolytes in the future," Willow said, her voice low as her eyes turned black, "and I have used the power bestowed on me by him to destroy any impediments in his way, including your children and that damn priest, in the here and now." Willow took a step towards the First as she continued, "you are nothing to me, nothing to the Master. When he brings his entire being here, then you will fade away like a mayfly."

"Beware, child, you…"

The First stopped speaking and took a step back, her eyes widened in fear, when Willow leaned forward and roared in rage. The sound coming from deep within Willow's chest forced the ground to shake around the First as she took another step back. Even the trees around them swayed violently from sudden violent gusts of wind and the stone tombstones around them cracked and crumbled down to the blackening grass.

Closing her mouth a few seconds later, the sudden gusts of wind vanished and it was all silent once again. Willow then chuckled while the First, in Buffy's form, still had her eyes wide open at the redhead before taking another step back.

"Your Bringers…" Willow said as she shook her head, "all of them are dead. Good thing you moved the ones in Sunnydale to LA, or else the Christmas tree lot, and the whole of downtown, would have been destroyed."

The First still continued to look on with a tinge of something it hadn't felt before; fear.

"Oh, in case you were wondering?" Willow looked away thoughtfully while tapping her chin with her forefinger, "That entire town where that priest of yours was preaching? All gone. All kaput."

The First was enraged at the loss of its acolytes, "You don't belong here, and neither does Twilight."

"Run," Willow said, tilting her head at the First before she turned and began walking away, "run away. Run to the ends of the universe. Run to the end of this dimensional wall." Willow waved her hand back at the First without turning around, "the Master will be coming for you… just as he did when he arrived in my timeline. And he will devour you. He will devour everything."

And the laugh that erupted from Willow as she walked away was enough to have the First Evil roll her hands into fists. She couldn't sense any of her Bringers, she couldn't sense any of her other human acolytes. She realized what Willow said was true, the First had lost… something which was supposed to be impossible.

The First glared at Willow's back as she walked away with her hands in her pockets while it was surrounded by a graveyard full of blackened dead grass, the crumbled remains of headstones lying on the grass.

The First was the beginning of all. It was there before God and before the first word was ever spoken. It existed before the Big Bang and before the first lifeform evolved. And it would remain, the First reminded itself. It would remain, and there was no way that Twilight would be allowed to come to this dimension.

"You know what they say," the First whispered to itself as it looked back over its shoulder at the streaks of blood that were dripping out the open front door of the mission. She couldn't sense the Slayer Scythe anymore; it was completely gone. In fact, it was the disappearance of the scythe and the sudden appearance of a sliver of Twilight's energy several minutes ago, that brought the First to Sunnydale. The First then turned back towards Willow who suddenly teleported herself away, "the enemy of my enemy, is my ally."

The Magic Box, a few seconds earlier.

Having heard that from the older Dawn's voice on the phone that Twilight was responsible for what was happening around the world, the Scoobies were understandably worried. What the older Dawn had told them about the coming of Twilight was still in their minds – the death and destruction that the older Dawn had described earlier sent a chill through them as Buffy and the others imagined going through the same thing. However, the Scoobies were not going to lie back and let Twilight take over, not without a fight.

While Tara and Willow worked together with Anya to figure out the meaning behind the scratched symbols on the Scythe's handle, Xander, Giles, and the younger Dawn were arming themselves in the basement. They didn't know what weapons would work against a living dimension, but they still had to try something; at least they needed to fight off the interdimensional demons the older Dawn spoke off.

In the meantime, realizing that the situation would be getting much, much worse without any aid from any of the other magical covens or the Watchers Council, Buffy picked up the phone on the counter next to the cash register. She eyed the cracks on the glass counter as she placed the phone receiver to her ear, and then pressed her lips together in frustration upon hearing no dial tone.

"The phone's out!" Buffy yelled out as she looked over her shoulder before looking back down at the Scythe in her hand. Glancing at Tara and Willow sitting at the table, Buffy then breathed out and put the phone back down on the cradle. She looked down at the scythe and felt her entire being still being called towards the weapon in her hand – she felt as if it belonged to her, that it was made for her – and then asked while looking back up, "Will, Tara, anything?"

"We haven't found anything about those…." Tara was about to say that they still hadn't found any information on the scratch marks in the metal handle when suddenly the sound of a loud roar tore through the air. Everyone in the Magic Box turned towards the shattered front window with their eyes wide open in stunned silence.

In the meantime, hearing the otherworldly roar as well, Giles and the others in the basement were rushing up the stairs with weapons in their hands prepared to fight off any demon. Buffy was already dashing around the counter while looking out at the debris filled street outside the shop. As she stepped on the dirt and debris covered floor of the Magic Box, Giles and the others were now in the back office after climbing the stairs from the basement and then out the doorway into the shop, around the counter, and then behind Buffy.

"What's that?!" Dawn yelled out as the roar petered out – at the time of the roar, all of them had chills running up and down their spines. Dawn was carrying an axe in her hands, the handle held tight across her chest as Buffy turned around and eyed the weapon in her sister's hands. Buffy arched her eyebrow, something that did not go unnoticed by Dawn who then said, "I have to protect myself, you know." And before Buffy could answer, Dawn powered through in a whiny voice, "and I'm not gonna be a distraction to you."

Buffy then sighed before taking a step forward and placing a hand on Dawn's shoulder, at the same time scarcely believing that the older version of the brunette survived the coming of Twilight. 'If this is only a small part of the chaos that Twilight caused…' Buffy couldn't finish her thought; it was too painful to imagine her sister – both of them – having to face such a powerful enemy that essentially ended everything. She wanted to protect them… the two of them… now more than ever as she said, "No matter what happens, you follow what I say. You get me?"

Dawn nodded her head.

Buffy then looked over at Xander, Giles, and then at Anya, "Anya, continue helping Willow and Tara." Anya nodded her head as Buffy shifted her line of sight towards Giles and then to Xander, "we're going out there on patrol."

"Now?" Xander asked, his eyes showing his surprise at leaving for a patrol in the day.

And it was Giles who answered, in fact he was going to suggest they go out on patrol before Buffy brought it up, "I am certain the demons who are already in Sunnydale have realized something powerful is coming. Some may have probably begun leaving the city, others would take this time to loot, murder, and kill humans. We should be out there and…"

"And what?" a new, but still familiar, voice spoke as everyone gasped out loud before the sounds of chairs hitting the floor with a thud rang out through the air. Buffy, Dawn, Xander, and Giles all turned towards the figure standing with her arms folded across her chest in the middle of the shop next to the table. Willow and Tara were panting as their eyes were wide open after shooting up off their chairs and stumbling back from the sudden appearance of the figure, and Anya was leaning back against the side of the counter, her trembling hands pressed again the cracked glass.

"Who are…" Buffy whispered as she stared at… herself. Buffy closed her eyes and shook her head hoping she was just seeing things before she opened her eyes once again to a copy of herself smirking back at her. Buffy's eyes scanned the person in front of her with her eyes while Xander pushed Dawn behind him. At the same time, both Willow and Tara got back up to their feet and took a few more steps back before giving the image of Buffy a wide berth as they rushed around her and then stopped next to Buffy.

"You know who I am, Buffy," the First said before it changed and took on the form of Jenny Calendar, much to the shock of Giles and the others while Buffy pressed her lips together deep in thought before her eyes widened in realization.

Before Giles and the others could say anything, Buffy whispered, "the First… you're the First Evil."

"No," Giles whispered in disbelief. He had heard rumours of the First Evil – it was no demon or monster, it simply was. Giles had read that the First was the progenitor of all evil, that it existed for a very, very long time and that it had no physical form. But the First joining them here and now… it was unexpected. And so, to find out the answers to questions forming in his mind, Giles took in a deep breath at the sight of his dead lover – confirming one of the things he had read; that the First could take on the form of the dead – and asked, "what do you want?"

The eyes of the First shifted towards the former Watcher and smirked, "oh my love…"

"What do you want?" Buffy spoke, ice in her voice while Giles told the others what he had read about the First Evil when he was last at the Watchers Council.

The First sighed dramatically before saying, "while I would love to play around with you meatbags, the situation has forced me to give you a little warning."

"Warning?"

"Twilight… or rather his Herald…" the First said, her eyes shifted towards Willow standing next to Tara, "is here. She wants…"

"Who is this herald?" Anya asked as she stood next to Xander who was trying to push Dawn, who was trying to stand next to him, behind him for her protection, "why is she trying to…."

"Are you stupid?" the First turned to Anya before she glanced at the scratches on the handle of the scythe. She then looked up at Buffy in surprise before saying, "inocian symbols… that pesky Guardian was smart."

"What are you…"

"The language of Angels," said the First in Jenny's form before changing her form to that of a white-haired old woman, "it was meant to protect you and the people around you from being sensed by the highest of high beings."

"Who are you?" asked Willow.

"And where is this herald?"

"I am a Guardian, or rather I was a Guardian of the One," the woman said before her eyes looked over to Buffy, "we were formed to watch over the weapon that rightfully belongs to the Slayer…" her eyes shifted towards the scythe in Buffy's hand, "the Scythe." The white haired woman then transformed to a copy of Buffy, "and the herald used powers given to her by Twilight to destroy any resistance to its coming."

"Dear Lord," Giles whispered.

"That scythe, it can be used to call an army… an army of Slayers," the First said while glaring at Buffy, "that is why I never wanted it in your hands. But now… well… it seems you have to call on your army."

"I… I can't" Buffy whispered as she stepped back while the eyes of the First went wide, "I…"

"The world will end, and you…" The First then narrowed its eyes at Buffy. It wondered why the Slayer was hesitating, especially since everything it knew about the girl yelled out 'I will protect the ones I love!' But here she was, hesitating. "What's with you? Call the rest of the Slayers… why are you hesitating?"

"If I call the army… if I activate all the Slayers…." Buffy whispered as she looked down at the scythe and then back to her friends and family before looking back down at the scythe, "then Twilight will manifest here, and…."

"Who told you that?" the First asked. It was surprised, something that rarely happened, as it demanded to know how Buffy knew what would happen if she used the Scythe to activate the other Slayers.

"Dawn did," everyone froze at that familiar voice. Willow, the younger Willow, gasped before spinning around and then placing her hands over her mouth. It was a familiar voice that continued speaking as the First widened its eyes; the surprise on the primordial being's face prompting Tara and the others to turn around as well to find an older, black eyed, black haired Willow stepping through the shattered front window and into the store.

"Buffy, Giles, Anya," the older Willow said with a smirk on her face while the First simply vanished away. She then shifted her eyes towards her younger self and scoffed, "me." Everyone was speechless as the older Willow's eyes went to the woman whose arms were around the younger Willow, "Tara." And then her eyes were affixed on the brunette, "Dawn, my troublesome Dawn."

"Will… Willow?" Buffy whispered as she took in the sight of the older redhead who, according to the older Dawn, was dead, "how…."

Older Willow shrugged her shoulders before saying, "I died, and then Twilight brought me back better than ever." Her fingers brushed the table near the entrance before she took few more steps forward and then stopped. She looked around at her surroundings and then back at the Scoobies before saying, "this is all gone in my time," She then looked back towards Dawn and said while wagging her finger, "Dawnie, don't you worry your little head." She looked away from a confused Dawn towards Tara, "and you too, Tara… once Buffy's activated the rest of the Slayers, the master will make his way here."

"The master…" Willow, the younger one, whispered in shock, "you… I mean I… we're the Herald?"

The older Willow smiled at her younger self before looking away towards Buffy. Her eyes went to the symbols scratched onto the metal shaft before she said, "the symbols prevented me from sensing the Scythe, but I knew you'd either be here, the Bronze, or at home." Willow then sighed before saying, "and since you're alive, then I take it my Dawn succeeded?"

The Scoobies didn't answer.

Willow then dramatically sighed as she walked towards the counter with all eyes on her, "yes, I am the Herald." Willow stopped, placed her hand on the glass as she stared at the partially stocked shelves behind the counter and spoke, "Buffy, did my Dawn tell you what happened?"

There was still no answer.

The older Willow slowly turned around, the black in her eyes shifting away to reveal her green iris'. A smile formed on her face as she leaned on the counter, "I destroyed every single being that can go up against Twilight, all except you guys. Well, most of them anyway… the First was always neutered. The Master will take care of that one."

"Willow," Tara whispered. She felt something; a tiny bit of warmth that was travelling through her body. It wasn't coming from the hand of her girlfriend holding onto her as they stared at future copy of the redhead, no… this feeling was coming from the future Willow, "you're in there. Somewhere, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Xander asked while the future Willow chuckled. Xander looked to Tara, as did the younger Willow, and repeated his question, "what do you mean, Tara?"

"Twilight showed me the truth," Future Willow said, "everything that made me Willow… the one who cared, the one who was weak…. Well, she's gone. Twilight locked her away… I'm now a part of Twilight and his plan."

"I'm not weak," younger Willow was interrupted before she could continue on.

"Twilight will have fun corrupting you," the Older Willow looked over at her younger-self before looking over at Tara, "you too, Tara."

"Will…."

"Xander," the older Willow cooed his name; the way she said it brought a chill up and down his spine, "you and Giles… well… the two of you are useless… but I suppose Twilight could use a pair of monkeys to…"

"Willow!"

"Giles," older Willow said staring at the person who yelled out at her, her eyes now locked onto his, "how about I twist your neck clean off your shoulders, and…"

"Willow, stop!" Dawn yelled out. Willow snapped her head towards the brunette, and she smiled. The older redhead took a few more steps towards Dawn who was now in front of Xander. The young man was pulling Dawn behind him when he was thrown backwards with a wave from Future Willow's hand. The younger Willow and Tara used their magic to push the older one back while telling Buffy and the others to run out the back way.

"Go!" the younger Willow barked before she was pushed aside after the older one took a step back. Willow was soon followed by Tara, the two of them landing on the floor in a heap just as Buffy and the others too were sent flying back with a wave of older Willow's hand. There was the sound of a metallic 'clang' as the scythe fell out of Buffy's grip after she was slammed into a shelf before falling onto the floor.

"I am the supreme witch of the Earth realm with powers given to me by Twilight," the older Willow hissed as she glared at the Scoobies who were lying on the floor, all trying to get up as soon as possible, "did you really think you could stop me?" Willow reached out and magically grabbed the Scythe; the weapon flew into her hand, her fingers gripped the long handle before her eyes shifted towards Dawn who was gripping tightly to the axe handle until her knuckles turned white.

"Dawnie," the Older Willow as she took a few more steps towards Dawn, "the older you tried to prevent a future where Twilight would never come here, to this dimension." The older Willow stopped few steps away as Buffy, already rushing towards Dawn, then grabbed her arm and pulled her further away from the Older Willow. In the meantime, the other Scoobies were already on their feet while the older Willow looked on, "but she failed."

The Herald brought up the Scythe to her eye level while Buffy rushed at her before being simply brushed away with a wave. Dawn yelled out loud before running towards her sister who was sent crashing through three of the wooden steps that led to the second floor. Giles and Anya rushed to the groaning Buffy, crumbled on the floor in pain, while Xander, young Willow, and Tara remained standing against the older Willow.

"Will, I can feel you… the real you in there… you need to fight…" Tara said as Xander brandished a sword, "please…"

"Willow, please stop!" Dawn, tears streaming down her face as she was helping Buffy who was struggling to stand up since she felt pain through her entire body, "please… stop!"

The older Willow took in a deep breath before she placed her fingers on the blade of the Scythe, "Dawnie, no." Older Willow locked her eyes with the younger Dawn and said, "the end of your world comes with the activation of thousands of Slayers."

"Willow, don't please…"

"Will…."

"You can't, Willow!"

The older Willow chuckled at Giles, Buffy, and Anya respectively before saying with a sweet smile on her lips, "bored now." Her eyes shifted towards the curved blade of the scythe as she said, "all you Slayers will bring forth Twilight… it will be a lovely hell."

Everyone watched with horror as Willow laughed while pushing magic into the Scythe. White electrical current crackled on the weapon as Willow's hair turned dark black and her black eyes looked away from the Scythe and towards the Scoobies in front of her. And on her face was sickly sweet smile.

Willow's Soulself.

Willow was still covered in darkness. Her body still chained by the thing that Twilight put in her… the thing that corrupted her. She couldn't see what was happening in the outside world, instead she could hear and feel everything around her. She felt the fear and pain of the priests who were brutality murdered, she felt the smile on her physical body as necks were snapped and bodies pounded into the ground. She could feel the Herald's frustration at the scythe having gone missing before discovering it was in the hands of one of the Guardians.

Willow felt the anger from her physical body as she approached the Guardian, she felt the thick blood running down her hands after tearing out the old woman's throat. She could feel the emotions from the visions her physical body adsorbed from the mind of the Guardian… anger and rage at the sight of the Scoobies.

Willow heard everything as the First, in Buffy's image, spoke to her… she shivered as the thing occupying her body threatened the First Evil. That being escaped her mind, she had wondered what happened to the First back in her future… and now she knew. The First was another casualty of Twilight's incursion.

All the while, Willow was pushing against the black chains around her ankles, knees, abdomen, chest, and her neck. She tried to pull apart the chains that shackled her wrists behind her back… but she was unsuccessful. She could feel the uncorrupted feel of Earth's magic… but it was so far away despite her physical body being on Earth. She wanted to touch it… to regain at least some of the power that would help in fighting the thing that walked in her body.

And then she heard Buffy's voice. The real Buffy. And Willow yelled out, "Buffy! Buffy! Run! Run!" She felt a surge of power as her physical body hurt the people she loved – and all Willow could do was scream in anguish. She heard Tara yelp in pain, and something flared in her. She gritted her teeth and reached out with all her being out into the darkness around her. Another scream of pain and fear was heard over the buzzing in her head as the chains around her tightened even more.

"DAWN!"

She felt the metallic handle of the Scythe in her hand; Willow immediately knew what was about to happen. Images of Giles with his neck broken haunted her mind, images of Tara burning, Xander's body twisted and bloody, Buffy ripped apart, Anya flayed and her blood drained by nether-demons, and Dawn… Willow saw Dawn murdered by her own hands as Twilight, in Angel's body, laughed.

This wasn't her Dawn. She wondered where her Dawn was… she wanted her Dawn.

'You're still Dawn,' Willow thought as she screamed out loud in frustration and anguish while reaching out through the darkness for a hold on the uncorrupted magic that surrounded her physical body.

And she did. It was a sliver, but access to that that uncorrupted magic was enough for more chains to burst out of the darkness and wrap tightly around her. The chains were trying to prevent her from accessing more of the uncorrupted magic. For one moment, she felt herself fighting for control. She was the most powerful witch of the Earth realm, and as more and more chains covered her body, she fought against the evil that took over her physical self with everything she had – her family needed her to be strong.

The real world.

"Abandon hope. Twilight will…"

They heard Willow gasp before she opened her eyes wide. The crackling white energy vanished and her eyes returned to their green shade. However, her hair was alternating before black and red while her arms trembled. Dropping the Scythe onto the floor with a resounding 'clang!', the older Willow brought her hands up to the side of her head and winced in pain as she shut her eyes tight.

Willow, the young Willow that is, held out her hand and pulled the Scythe to her before handing it to Buffy. At the same time, they heard the older Willow hiss through gritted teeth, "kill me…"

"Willow?" Buffy whispered, pain still ripping through her body from the crash through the stairs as she held the Scythe in her hand.

"Kill me… end it now!"

"I… I can't. There has to be another way!" Buffy yelled out as the older Willow screamed while she went down on one knee. In fear, the younger Willow held back Tara who wanted to run to the older Willow and comfort her. Younger Willow was afraid of what her older self would do if Tara was caught when the Herald regained control.

"Willow," Giles said as he took a step towards the older Willow, "you need to hold on, you…"

"I.. I can't kill myself… this… this thing won't let me…" the older Willow struggled to speak, "it… its taking me… I… I can't… can't hold on… please. Giles… this… this is right. Kill…"

"No!" Buffy yelled out as she glared at Giles.

"I can give… some… some time…. Run! Run!" the Older Willow, her whole spiritual body now covered in a thick layer of chains, used the last of her connection to the uncorrupted magic of Earth to turn her physical body around and open a portal. Buffy and the others called out to her before she jumped into the portal… which closed behind her. Buffy and the other Scoobies just stood still… all of them were in shock before Giles said that they needed to leave. He ordered everyone to grab all the magic books that they could carry and that they needed to leave for any place where they would not usually meet.

"So home is out of the question," Dawn whispered, her voice quivering at the look of despondency on the older Willow's face.

"The Bronze too."

"The Magic Box too."

"Talk later," Anya said, "we need to leave."

While the others moved as fast as they could, Giles turned his head towards Buffy who was staring at the spot from where Willow jumped into the portal. He placed his hand on Buffy's shoulder and said, "she gave us a chance to run, Buffy. To be safe… even though it's temporary. We need to come up with a plan, or… or we have to kill her."

"Willow's in there, Giles," Buffy whispered, "no killing. We get her back, but no killing." She glanced at Giles, "Dawn should be back from LA in a few hours, we need to find a way to tell her where we're going to be. She'll want to know her Willow's back here, and that she's Twilight's pawn."

"Buffy," Giles said, "this is a war now. In a war there are casualties…"

"I…"

"If all else fails, Willow will have to die," Giles whispered as the two witches used magic to pull all the books down from the second floor, "we have no choice. We cannot let what happened in Dawn's timeline happen here and now."

Buffy glared at Giles for a few seconds, her lips trembling, before turning around and walking away. But not before whispering, "Let's get out of here first."

Older Willow.

She was so close. She felt the lines that connected all the Potential Slayers, and all she had to do was push the power in the Scythe through the lines and activate all the Potentials. But Willow, the one that was supposed to have been chained by Twilight, interfered. The Herald found herself in a place where the skies were dark red and the ground beneath her feet covered in ash. She narrowed her eyes as she spied the mountainous terrain all around her before feeling the ground shudder.

The air around her got hotter as she turned to face a giant of a demon; a horned head with yellow eyes, blueish black lips that pulled back to reveals rows and rows of fangs, blackish skin with red markings on the arms, chest, and face. It was running towards her with a spiked club in one of its thick muscled arms. It took an instance to know where she was – this was one of the regions of Hell that Twilight eviscerated within a day.

The demon roared. And the Herald smiled at how fierce the demon was trying to be as it closed in, the spiked club swinging down towards her head.

"Twilight will take you all again soon," the Herald whispered in Willow's voice before she lifted an arm directed at the demon's head, "so annoying." The entire upper half of the demon was blown off, the severed hand holding the club travelled quite a distance flying over her head before slamming into the ground. The Herald heard roars all around her before she turned and opened another portal and stepped through. Her master would destroy the Hells and heavens when the true breach was opened to let Twilight through, but first she needed the Scythe once again.

The portal closed shut behind her as the Herald looked around the unlit Magic Box. Smirking, she turned and slowly walked out of the shop through the smashed front window and looked up at the numerous stars in the night sky.

'A hell where time moves so slow relative to Earth,' the Herald thought with a chuckle, 'Willow gave them the time needed to escape.' She concentrated, but couldn't find the Scythe… nor could she find the other Scoobies, 'which means they're close to Buffy.' She shrugged her shoulders before turning away from the broken down stores on that stretch of street and began walking while muttering a spell – if she couldn't track them because of the symbols on the Scythe, then she would flush them out in other ways.

At the end of the spell, the Herald reached the end of the street before rising up into the air with a smile on her face.

Once she was high enough, the Herald then relayed her thoughts to the entire population of Sunnydale, along with mental images of the Scoobies, "Find them… and know you will be spared when Twilight arrives, I swear it. Others will fall, but the ones who bring them to me alive and unharmed will be granted a place of honour alongside the saviour of this world. Find them… find them now!"

TBC.