"Buffy, are you sure you want to do this? It is very dangerous." Giles' was heavy with worry, as he rubbed his glasses and looked at his Slayer.
"Yes, Giles, it's the only thing we've been able to come up with to fight Adam. Just tell me how this works and what I need to do."
"We use a sacred gourd that each of us must touch. There is a ceremony before the larger one that will provide you with the power. The first, to put it in simple terms, will in essence cause the spell to recognize us and join us together. Once we enter the Initiative, we perform the enjoining spell itself. It will take part of each of us as representatives. I will be the mind, Xander the heart, Willow the spirit, and Buffy, you are the body. We will send all our representative power into the gourd, then into you. We will call on the very essence that makes you a Slayer. All the ones before you, plus your own part will be sent into you. There will be more than enough power to kill several Adams, I would say."
"Are you sure that was the simple version?"
"Buffy, please take this seriously. I haven't finished, if you don't mind. Now, as I was saying, the power will all go to you - the body. The importance of this part, I can't stress enough to each of you. We only have four hours before we must perform the final ceremony and break the gourd. If we don't, we will be forever locked-in the spell, the consequences are unspeakable." Giles continued to polish his glasses.
"You mean I'd have your brains, G-man?" Xander smiled at the thought of being as smart as Giles, it intrigued him.
"To some degree, but the person most affected would be Buffy. She would have the strongest connection, but the real concern would be the amount of power she would have to control. Buffy, you are just now accepting your destiny and all that it entails. I don't think you could handle an energy burst that large for very long."
"Thanks a lot, Giles, I love you too. I got it, okay. Slay the Frankenator fast, then get back before I turn into Super Slayer. We break the magic morocco and poof; I'm just plain ol' Buffy again. Now, we need to do this already. So, make with the shaking of your morocco and let's go."
Giles sighed wondering if Buffy understood the seriousness of the spell and its repercussions. Buffy wondered if Giles would ever look at her and see nothing but a dumb blonde.
She realized it was dangerous, but so was every night of her life. No one ever considered that. Her friends and even Giles would patrol with her occasionally, but most nights she went out alone. Buffy always wondered why they thought it was so easy, just because she was strong? When you fight someone equally strong and twice as big as you, then strength doesn't matter too much. You have to be able to think on your feet in the middle of a fight. To look for any advantage, no matter how small. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, it takes intelligence to be able to do what I do each night.
Buffy moved a large file case in front of the door. It provided another layer of protection for her friends. Giles, Xander and Willow sat down preparing to perform the enjoining spell.
"Buffy, it will take us several minutes before the spell takes affect. Will you be all right?" Giles looked at her, memorizing her face.
"Don't worry, Giles; I'll dazzle him with my footwork. Adam is like all the baddies, he likes to talk about his plans. I'll be back in three shakes of a magic squash." With a trademark Buffy-grin, she moved through the door. Her cheerfulness fell away like she had slipped off a coat. Buffy's muscles tensed and the adrenaline raced through her body. Silently, she moved through the tunnel towards Adam and the largest fight of her life.
Giles, Willow and Xander sat in a small circle. Giles lit a candle as Willow chanted.
The power of the Slayer and all who yield it.
Last to ancient first, we invoke thee.
Grant us thy domain and primal strength.
Accept us in the power we possess.
Make us mind and heart and spirit joy.
Let the hand encompass us
Do thy will.
Willow held a deck of cards turning one over she placed it front of her saying. "Spiritus...Spirit." Turning over the next card, she handed it to Xander.
Xander took the card and placed in front of him. "Animus...Heart."
Willow turned over another card, handing it to Giles. He placed it directly in front of him, by the burning candle and repeated. "Sophus...Mind."
Willow placed the fourth card in its place and continued with the spell. "And Manus...The hand."
We enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel--the hand...daughter of Sineya...first of the ones...
We implore thee, admit us, bring us to the vessel, take us now.
Buffy dove behind a bank of computers as bullets shot out of Adam's arm. "They need to hurry up. I'm not Superman, ya know. Bullets don't bounce, they make nasty holes." Buffy muttered to herself.
Adam blew up the console looking for Buffy, but she wasn't there. The Initiative control area had bullets holes riddling the wall and computer banks.
A rush of power swept through her veins. She felt Willow, Xander, Giles and all the Slayers before her. Something else went through her as well, something that tried to burst from her chest. It shot Buffy straight up from the floor. Everything looked strange, she could see the heat radiating off Adam.
He fired at her again and her hand moved without her realizing it. The bullets stopped a mere foot in front of her. Buffy heard voices, hundreds of voices, coming from her mouth. She even heard Willow, Xander and Giles.
Buffy looked at Adam, then began speaking in Sumerian. His head tilted in confusion. "What are you?" "You cannot understand what we are. What we have become. We are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We are all that you are not, cannot be. Our power comes from the strongest force there is - love."
Adam fired a rocket at Buffy who again raised a hand. The rocket turned into three doves. Another flick of her hand caused his arm to return to normal. He stared at it as if it belonged to someone else. Buffy moved out from behind the data banks. Adam stepped closer like a curious child. His head looked from his arm to her as if he tried to find a proper place for her in his computer driven brain. She calmly walked forward and shoved her hand into his chest, to pull out his uranium power source.
His eyes grew wide for a moment. "You have killed me but that is impossible. This does not comp..." His large patchwork body crumpled to the ground and the light faded from his eyes.
The radioactive heart lay in Buffy's hand. "This is kinda pretty." She looked at the glowing center then a woman's voice started speaking Sumerian causing the heart to float above her hand and explode.
Riley stepped into the room from the doorway where he watched everything happen. He froze in place watching Buffy become...whatever she was now. "Buffy, are you all right?"
She turned to look at him and Riley couldn't stop himself from flinching away. Her eyes... What has she done to herself? She really is a hostile. No, she is still Buffy. Buffy is still in there. I can't think that way.
Buffy couldn't read Riley's thought, but she could feel them. Her senses were even more sensitive and she could smell his fear. Riley was afraid of her. Before Buffy could process anything else, she heard a scream, Willow's scream. She raced past Riley without a second thought. Buffy pushed her body and it responded with an incredible burst of speed.
Tearing around a corner, Buffy saw total chaos. Giles and Xander fought to keep any more demons from breaking into the room. Unfortunately, Willow faced a large Fyarl demon on her own. She tried to pull on her magic but the enjoining spell drained too much of her energy. Willow swung a baseball bat frantically trying to keep the demon off her.
Buffy plucked the demon up and brought it down on her knee breaking his back like a dried twig. Willow's eyes dilated until only a small circle of green showed. "Buffy?" Her voice trembled as she looked at her best friend in equal measures of awe and fear.
"Willow, it's okay now. Stay back here and I'll clear a path for you guys to get out."
"Buffy, you are coming with us right?"
"I'll be along in a little while, after I clean house." Buffy walked over to the door and gently moved Giles and Xander out of the way.
Her appearance startled Giles, who stood speechless. Xander didn't have the same problem. "Great googly moogly, Buffy. What, the hell, are you? Did we do that to you? I don't remember anything about glowing red and gold eyes."
She just smiled at her friend. "Can't see my eyes from this side, Xan. I want you to stay here until I clear a path for you. Then go to Giles' and I'll meet you there."
"Buffy, I'm not leaving you here. I am more than capable of defending myself," Giles blustered.
"Giles, listen to me, please. Everything they caged up is free out there. They are pissed off and looking for payback. They won't know that you aren't with the Initiative and won't care. You are human and humans are who experimented on them. Just this once, would you please do what I ask?"
He nodded his head feeling like a chastised child. He should have reasoned the situation out and came to the same rationale himself.
Buffy slid the heavy bookcase, the two men struggled to put in place, like it weighed nothing. She slipped out the door into a scene straight out of hell. Demons tore into soldiers and scientists, right and left. None of them tried to eat their prey. They bit into them and spat large chunks of flesh out, as if it tasted spoiled. Soldiers worked in groups shooting at everything that moved, but too little effect. The demon's rage overcame their pain as they continued to devour and destroy their enemies.
Stepping into the largest group of demons, Buffy started doing what she did best - slay. She grabbed a Polgara demon's spike when it tried to stab her. She broke off the long spike, then turned and used it to cut off its head. With the spike still in her hand, she moved forward to take on her next opponent. She felt the location of every demon. In her mind's eye, they stood like pieces on a chessboard waiting for her next move. She saw the soldier's heat signature. An amber light glowed around them, and she heard, then saw their hearts beating. Wow, I wonder if there is a way to keep the cool X-ray vision. Buffy quickly eliminated the largest group. She shouted to Graham to get everyone out. He used hand signals to tell the rest of his squad to do what Buffy ordered. Graham slipped away from the fighting. No one saw him go.
Riley led Willow, Xander, and Giles to the closest exit after ensuring no demons lurked nearby. He followed Buffy and witnessed his girlfriend's super human strength. Riley was only minutes behind Buffy and heard her tell the others to leave. Just as Giles made it out the door, Riley's eyes followed someone else and took off after them.
Buffy checked the room and found it empty. Relief flooded through her body once she realized her friends left, like she asked. She noticed Riley running down the hall and with a sigh took off after him. She rounded a corner to find Riley beating up - Spike. "Riley, what are you doing? There isn't time for that. Now come on, you need to get out of here before the others decide to come and help Spike."
"Buffy, he is a hostile and he betrayed you. He needs to be terminated." Riley reasoned. His jealousy of the blonde vampire overrode his common sense at every turn.
"There isn't time for this. Spike is a vampire it's his nature to do stupid things. The important thing is that in the end he helped us. Now, come on, the both of you. I don't have much time before we have to break the spell. Both of you go to Giles' and I'll meet you there. The others should be there already." Buffy turned and in a blur of motion, ran down the hall, and back into the fighting.
Spike got up off the ground, brushing his clothes off. He gave Riley his trademark smirk. "Well, Capt. Cardboard, looks like Slayer doesn't want ole Spike dead. Guess we better do as she says. Wouldn't want to piss her off when she's just herself. Sure don't want to with all the mojo she had going on right now." Spike strutted towards the exit with Riley reluctantly following him.
Buffy searched for any other humans in the large open area of the Initiative. She saw none and with a quiet 'thank you' moved towards the remaining demons. Thirty remained and were now turning on one another. Buffy felt tempted to let them fight it out until she recognized several Tsara demons hiding from the fighting. She remembered meeting similar demons on her patrols with Angel or at Willy's. They were harmless and kept mostly to themselves.
She flipped onto a tall Mohra demon's neck and twisted her feet breaking its neck. Jumping off the body as it fell, Buffy searched for the next one. She worked her way over to the Tsaras and shouted for them to run for the exit. Nodding, the large-eyed, purple skinned, creatures made a mad dash for the exit. All but one made it through, Buffy couldn't reach it in time to save it as a large grey lizard looking demon devoured it.
Buffy heard a strange sound behind her, and turned. She spotted Graham coming out of a room next to the weapons cage.
He ran over to her a strange look on his face, and he grabbed her roughly. "You have to get out of here. This place is going to blow in five minutes."
She spun around heading for the door. Her hand was on the knob when she heard a scream. Looking over her shoulder, Buffy saw the Mohra demon holding Graham by his throat. She rushed over, flipping back up on the demon's shoulder, and twisted its neck once more. Jumping down she told Graham to get out.
"I'm not leaving you here." He shook his head at her.
"This is what I do, now go. The others are at Giles' apartment. I'll be right behind you as soon as I get rid of this guy." She watched the Mohra demon come back to life, something about this tickled a thought at the back of her mind.
Buffy wrestled with the large demon. She had killed it three times now and options were getting thin. She noticed the jewel in its forehead and shrugged. Why not? Pushing with all her strength, she shattered the stone. The Mohra exploded as the tiny pieces of its power floated to the ground. Buffy spun to head towards the exit door when she heard the timer stop its countdown.
Graham made it to the University's quad and waited for Buffy. He paced as the minutes ticked away. "Come on, Buffy. Hurry up. Where are you?" His heart dropped, when the five minutes expired and still no Buffy in sight. Graham helplessly watched as Lowell House exploded. The Initiative labs, records and remaining 'experiments' were gone, in a puff of smoke.
His direct orders were to ensure no records remained that traced back to headquarters. Graham walked back towards the tunnel that he had run through only minutes before. What he saw when he got there made his face lose all its color. The tunnel caved in all the way to the outer exit. Graham's shoulders sagged Buffy didn't make it. "How do I tell Riley, I helped kill his girlfriend?"
Giles sat the kettle on the stove. His hands shook causing it to rattle. The doorbell rang and he couldn't help the shiver it sent down his spine. He saw Riley quit pacing to answer it. He moved to the counter to see who was there, when he heard Riley's shout.
Riley paced the floor waiting for Buffy to walk through the door. He knew he never should have left her there. He admitted to himself the changes in Buffy scared him. He couldn't get the picture of her red and gold eyes out of his mind. The guilt ate at him while he waited.
Willow clung to Xander as sobs shook her body. She wouldn't believe her childhood friend that Buffy was okay. Willow knew; she started feeling what they felt. Their concern shouted in her head. The deadline to break the spell grew closer. She wondered if her magic made her more sensitive to the changes between them. The doorbell made her jump. Maybe it's Buffy; she made it. But, why would she use the doorbell?
Xander knew Buffy would walk through the door any minute. The Buffster couldn't lose; she was his hero. No, nothing bad was going to happen to her! He told Willow but she wouldn't believe him. Xander went still not saying a word when the doorbell rang. He watched Riley go to answer it.
Riley pulled the door open expecting an injured Buffy but saw only Graham's face. It told Riley everything he didn't want to know. Before Graham said a word, his best friend attacked him. He tried to grab hold of Riley to explain. He found himself on the ground defending himself from Riley's fists. Xander and Giles rushed over to pull Riley off Graham.
They heard Riley screaming and cussing at his friend but didn't understand. Buffy's Watcher and friend heard his words at the same time. Willow stood up and ran across the apartment screaming at Riley. "Shut up, shut up, don't say that."
Xander barely caught her when she tried to get between the two soldiers. Giles finally pried Riley off Graham. "What is the meaning of this?" Riley started to speak but a look from Buffy's Watcher and his jaw snapped shut.
Graham slowly got up from the ground wiping the blood from his mouth. His breath hitched from a cracked rib. "It's Buffy, sir. She never came out of the Initiative."
"You mean you left her inside, alone?"
Graham shook his head. "No, sir, not exactly."
"Well spit it out, boy. We need to know, so we can go help her," Ripper growled out.
"No one can help her now. Can they, Graham? It's gone, all gone," Riley mumbled as tears ran down his face.
"Sir, the Initiative is gone. It was blown-up per final orders." Graham reported to Giles as if he were the commanding officer.
"How? Who blew it up?" Xander demanded; his Halloween soldier persona fought to get out. "Report the timeline, soldier."
"I carried out the final orders to remove all data should the situation became imminent of discovery."
"You mean you did it. You knew Buffy was inside and you left her." Willow's eyes began to turn darker but her power still wasn't up to par, yet. The spell was still in effect.
Giles looked at his watch. "We have no choice but to end the spell. The time is almost up."
"NO!" Willow shouted. "You can't, then Buffy will be stuck in the spell."
"Willow, she is gone. Didn't you hear what Graham said?"
"Xander, first you tell me not to give up, now you tell me it's over. Quit being such a Charlie Brown." He couldn't respond to her words. She had never spoken to him that way in all these years. "She is not gone." Her chin went out daring them to say different.
"Willow, I'm sorry. I don't want to believe it either, but we must face facts. Even if she were all right, we must stop the spell immediately." Giles pulled his glasses off to wipe them clean from nervous habit. What do I do now? I'm a Watcher with no one to watch. He moved across the room towards the large black gourd.
"Ya mean, ya don't want me stuck inside your head, G-man?" Xander gave a half-hearted grin. What do I do now? I don't even remember my life before Buffy. I'm a fan without a super-hero.
"I'm going to leave, Mr. Giles. I need some time alone." Giles nodded in understanding at Riley. What do I do now? I'm a soldier without a commander.
Willow bit her bottom lip. She watched Giles bring down a small hammer and shatter the gourd. A gust of wind ruffled her hair and warmth ran through her body. Should she tell them she felt Buffy. What do I do now? My magic's not the same. I can feel the differences. It's as if a large piece is missing. Will Tara still want me? What do I do now? I'm a witch without my craft.
Large pieces of stone were strewn across the floor. Whole bodies and pieces littered the ground. Small outbreaks of fire surrounded the outer most edges. Smoke wafted throughout the rubble. The silence made it even more a disturbing a picture, as if sound wasn't allowed or possible.
A small figure tiptoed across the floor. Shadows hid their face as they moved. Light from a fire played across their face for a moment. They would have startled anyone until one became used to seeing someone so - blue. A sweet little voice sang out.
"Hello, Buffy. I know you are in here. Come out, come out where ever you are."
The largest mound of rubble and bodies began to move and shift. The blue lady moved closer with a smile on her face. A groan from somewhere near the middle of concrete and creatures. Buffy's small hand pushed through the chaos, she found herself in. The little blue person rushed over and started pulling stuff out of the way.
"Come on, come up here out of all that stinky mess."
Buffy pushed her legs up to shoot her body up and out of its grave. She landed in front of her blue audience. "Who are you?"
"I am Nierra," she said, matter-of-factly.
Buffy shook her head from side to side. She put a finger in her ear trying to relieve some of the pressure. She looked over the 'lady' in front of her and large sky blue eyes blinked up at her. Buffy couldn't stop the smile that broke across her face.
"Hello, warrior. I am Nierra. I am your escort and guide." She smiled brightly and her eyes twinkled.
"Are you going to tell me the 411 or not?" Buffy felt her body tense. She knew she wasn't going to like what Nierra was going to tell her.
"The power inside of you cannot return to its source. It is locked forever inside of you. You are too powerful to remain on Earth."
"You mean I have to die because the building cratered in on me and I missed the deadline." Buffy rambled more to herself than to Nierra. "Stupid magic maraca. Why would you put an expiration on something like that?"
"Slayer!" Nierra shouted stopping Buffy mid-ramble. "I'm not here to kill you. I need to tell you where you're going and why. You didn't let me finish talking. Humans are very bad about jumping to wrong conclusions." She shook her tiny blue finger at Buffy. "Now, if you would let me finish. I can tell you all about what is going to happen to you." Nierra's large blue eyes stared straight into Buffy's red and gold ones.
"Fine, go ahead, I'm listening. I'm all ears, Buffy. Yep, that's me." Nierra didn't say a word, and Buffy finally stopped talking.
She nodded her head, then began to tell Buffy her future. The plans the Powers had decided on for her.
"So, I'm too powerful for this world. So, they want to send me somewhere the people are as strong as I am. That doesn't make sense even to me. How could I help anyone if we are all alike?"
"No, you misunderstood. There are some who can match your power, but they are few. Most are benign and cause no problems. They understand the big picture. There are others who are worse than any of the demons you have ever faced. The worst call themselves Necromongers. They go from planet to planet taking the strongest of each world to join their army and they destroy what is left. They kill whole planets - people, animals, everything. You are part of the hope to stop them. The only chance most will ever have."
"Hold on here. I'm supposed to stop a huge army that can destroy planets. The spell was powerful but not that powerful. I mean I'm a lot stronger and my senses are off the charts, but that isn't enough to do what you want. I don't think the echoey voice is going to scare them off." Buffy thought this had to be some kind of a cosmic joke.
"Buffy, you won't be doing this alone. There is another who will help you. He doesn't realize it but his life is about to change forever like yours. You have more power than you realize. Those echoey voices are the most powerful of everything you have received. Now, come take my hand. We have a lot to do before you meet him." Nierra put out her small blue hand for Buffy to take.
"What about my Mom and my friends? Don't I even get to say goodbye?" Tears filled her red within gold eyes making them glow even brighter.
"They think you died here, in this place. Do you not think it is kinder to let them believe that? They would never understand you have no choice but to leave." Nierra felt sympathy for the young girl in front of her. The Powers expected so much from her, Nierra only hoped they were right.
Buffy's face grew sad and the tears she was holding back fell down her face. "Yeah, it isn't fair, you're right. Will I ever get to return?"
"I'm sorry, they won't allow that; your powers are too tempting to others, as well as yourself. Others will be drawn to you and the power is addictive. Once you learn to harness it, you will better understand what such power could do to this world. Please, warrior, take my hand."
Buffy looked at Nierra with her blue hair, skin, clothes and eyes, then took a leap of faith. She placed her hand in the other woman's. It felt strange, almost fluid.
"Hold on, this will take some getting used to." In the blink of an eye, they dissolved into a liquid that floated in the air for a moment. It turned into steam then floated away.
Buffy felt the blood rush from her head then to the ends of her toes. She heard a loud pop. At first, she thought it was her ears, then she noticed white streaks shooting past them. She tried to ask where they were, even what they were doing, but words wouldn't form on her lips. They stopped and Buffy heard a squishing sound as she tried to get her bearings.