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Post by jeff on Apr 20, 2007 14:04:21 GMT -5
Wesley clapped his hands; "That will do. Might we get to work now? We haven't much time," he said, looking pointedly at Xander and Spike.
Walking over to the bed Angel reached under the bed, grabbing what was under there, he lifted it up and peered into the eyes of what looked like a baby dragon, as he looked into its eyes he started thinking about that night in the alley when he got to slay a dragon, "Wes, I think we should hold on to this little guy for a while, you know, just in case."
"It's so cute," Buffy cooed, as the dragonlet turned in Angel's hands, trying to bite his thumb and letting out a small burp of flame.
Looking around the room Lindsey noticed a trunk in the far left corner, walking over to it he lifted the lid and found the weapons Charles had left for them; "Looks like we will be needing these."
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Post by Lola m on Apr 20, 2007 22:54:02 GMT -5
Wesley clapped his hands; "That will do. Might we get to work now? We haven't much time," he said, looking pointedly at Xander and Spike.
Walking over to the bed Angel reached under the bed, grabbing what was under there, he lifted it up and peered into the eyes of what looked like a baby dragon, as he looked into its eyes he started thinking about that night in the alley when he got to slay a dragon, "Wes, I think we should hold on to this little guy for a while, you know, just in case."
"It's so cute," Buffy cooed, as the dragonlet turned in Angel's hands, trying to bite his thumb and letting out a small burp of flame.
Looking around the room Lindsey noticed a trunk in the far left corner, walking over to it he lifted the lid and found the weapons Charles had left for them; "Looks like we will be needing these."
"A miniature dragon and a whole bunch of broadswords, maces, axes and . . . a waffle iron?" said Buffy, as she began digging through the trunk; "What's up with that?"
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Apr 21, 2007 14:48:59 GMT -5
Wesley clapped his hands; "That will do. Might we get to work now? We haven't much time," he said, looking pointedly at Xander and Spike.
Walking over to the bed Angel reached under the bed, grabbing what was under there, he lifted it up and peered into the eyes of what looked like a baby dragon, as he looked into its eyes he started thinking about that night in the alley when he got to slay a dragon, "Wes, I think we should hold on to this little guy for a while, you know, just in case."
"It's so cute," Buffy cooed, as the dragonlet turned in Angel's hands, trying to bite his thumb and letting out a small burp of flame.
Looking around the room Lindsey noticed a trunk in the far left corner, walking over to it he lifted the lid and found the weapons Charles had left for them; "Looks like we will be needing these."
"A miniature dragon and a whole bunch of broadswords, maces, axes and . . . a waffle iron?" said Buffy, as she began digging through the trunk; "What's up with that?" "I'll tell you later," said Lindsey, smirking.
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Post by jeff on Apr 21, 2007 23:09:34 GMT -5
Wesley clapped his hands; "That will do. Might we get to work now? We haven't much time," he said, looking pointedly at Xander and Spike.
Walking over to the bed Angel reached under the bed, grabbing what was under there, he lifted it up and peered into the eyes of what looked like a baby dragon, as he looked into its eyes he started thinking about that night in the alley when he got to slay a dragon, "Wes, I think we should hold on to this little guy for a while, you know, just in case."
"It's so cute," Buffy cooed, as the dragonlet turned in Angel's hands, trying to bite his thumb and letting out a small burp of flame.
Looking around the room Lindsey noticed a trunk in the far left corner, walking over to it he lifted the lid and found the weapons Charles had left for them; "Looks like we will be needing these."
"A miniature dragon and a whole bunch of broadswords, maces, axes and . . . a waffle iron?" said Buffy, as she began digging through the trunk; "What's up with that?"
"I'll tell you later," said Lindsey, smirking. As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive."
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Post by jeff on Apr 21, 2007 23:19:49 GMT -5
(I felt it was time for catch up posts, so I am posting the story by chapter to where we are at this time)
As Angel looked around the alley he could not believe how his life had changed since he spoke those four words and waged the biggest battle of his life. It was amazing that nearly a year had passed since he had stood at this very site with Spike, Illyria and Gunn, expecting nothing more than to live out his final moments while fighting the good fight. He turned and glanced at Illyria who was looking bluely at the cracks scarring the old brick walls, souvenirs of their battle. They both heard a voice coming from the shadows saying "Funny how we all seem to end up back at the scene of the best damn fight of our lives." "My apologies. I meant the 'best damn fight of your lives.' I missed this one, for obvious reasons."
Angel's expression softened as his gaze fell upon a familiar face.
"Now that we're here, though," said the newcomer, "the question needs answered, how are we going to fix what we broke?” I’m not sure even I have the mojo for that kind of a job" Wesley said.
"Wes," said Angel, his face now breaking into the largest grin that anyone, even his mother, had ever seen on his dark face during his long existence, "with you back, what was broken is already fixed!!"
Wesley couldn't help but smile back, but then his face grew grim again. "But what about the Mirror of Vir?"
Suddenly Illyria's head shot up and she looked hard at Wesley, "What do you know of that Mirror, and where is it now?
"And why do we want to know about a mirror named for a character in Babylon 5?" came a voice from the other end of the alley.
Looking Up and seeing Andrew strolling toward the group, Angel rolled his eyes, "Can't a man come back and reflect on his life in privacy."
"Well, not if there's been a prophecy." "Prophecy? Bollocks the soddin' prophecy! What kind of prophecy has someone fight to drink a cup of Mountain Dew?!" said an irritatingly familiar voice from above the alley.
Unsurprised by the voice Angel just looked up and shook his head, " I never thought I would say this but I agree with the Blonde Crusader up there, I have had my fill of prophecies if you have not noticed they don't tend to work out to well for me."
"This is a new prophecy, that the coven in Devon just uncovered, and Mountain Dew has nothing to do with it, it is a serious prophecy of doom and destruction." Willow stated as she and Xander got out of the Limo at the end of the Alley.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Angel’s voiced rose in exasperation, "I came here for a quiet moment of remembrance, and suddenly we’ve got a crowd scene out of Day of the Locust, filled with people who only show up to give me bad news or a hard time; Illyria’s talking about some mirror she hasn’t mentioned before even though we've been hiding together for the past eight months, and Wesley’s not dead; let’s have some explanations, and, well, how about dealing with that last detail first, and slowly, please?”
"Ah, yes; well, Angel, I am dead; the contract you signed with Wolfram & Hart had some subclauses much akin to those in Lilah's agreement with the Senior Partners; one of them covered persons who came to work for the firm under your aegis: I've had... quite a time of it, since Vail killed me, in escaping their custody without losing my ability to play at being alive."
"So," said Xander, "you're, what: a vampire or a zombie?"
"IMMEDIATE QUIET or death to all humans," said Illyria as she turned slowly and eyed everyone ominously, "even if they are already dead, and most certainly to anyone who does not reveal to me the whereabouts of the Mirror of Vir, which removes and captures the most essential power of any being that gazes into it, and then reflects that power onto to its owner instead."
Sitting 5 stories above the alley both Ripper and Ethan knew when they heard about the Mirror of Vir and the prophecy that surrounds it, that it was their chance to get the old gang back together and finish them off, if only Buffy and the slayers had shown up it would have been perfect, but this would have to do.
Well, that was on Ethan's mind, anyway; he'd always been remarkably easy to read, which allowed Giles to position Ethan precisely where he wanted him. Yes, setting Ethan up to take the fall for the bomb was much easier than getting the gang back together.
"So I asked myself," said a voice from the stair cover, "Why would two elderly gentlemen be on the roof of an abandoned hotel, lurking in the dark, watching Daddy and his children talk about the past, and then the stars told me that they could only be up to no good, and I should ask them nicely to come down the stairs before I threw them down."
"Drusilla!" two voices exclaimed as one.
"Ooo, a lady does like to be remembered, even in these trying circumstances," Drusilla purred,” and it does save a lot of muss and bother if you both remember what happened the last time you tried to do what I didn't want you to do, so scurry, scurry, codgers, and don't forget your canes" (Giles and Ethan both snorted at her implications of them being elderly and feeble, but neither felt inclined to make an issue of her superior strength just that minute).
She moved out of the shadows, and they saw her eyes flash yellow for a brief moment; playfully, whimsically.” Let’s go down the outside stairs, gentlemen," she said, pointing at the fire escape with one elegantly manicured finger, " you first, please, you silly mage, and then the watcher; and leave all your toys right here on the roof."
Ethan reached into his pocket and started chanting under his breath, but Giles grabbed his wrist in a bone-breaking grip and clapped a hand over his mouth, hissing in his ear "She could rip your throat out before you could scream: she isn't interested in killing us, right now; let's see what she wants."
Snippets of an argument rose to meet them as they started down the steel ladder:"... so you're like Kai on Lexx..would anyone want you to have more power, any... do you mean we're still under contract... coven says that the mirror isn't meant... or more like Frye... you sods sound like a flock of..."
When they were almost to the bottom, Giles' foot slipped, which caused Ethan and him to fall the rest of the way and land in an undignified, discombobulated heap on the ground.
"Obviously something is calling us all here," Wes said, than continued with a smile, "or maybe none of us have anything better to do."
"Well, if I recall, one of you said something about a prophecy. Perhaps there's something to that," Giles said, slowly disentangling himself from Ethan and standing up.
"Bad guisers," Drusilla scolded "how can anyone think you can be the big, bad, bombers if you can't even walk down a ladder!"
"Wait, wait!" Andrew yelled, "We can't discuss any prophecies until everyone is here and even though Angel, Illyria, Wes, Spike, Willow, Xander, Faith, Ethan, Giles, Drusilla and myself are all here we are still missing someone very important in the ever-vigilant fight against the dark forces of the universe!"
"Andrew" Xander and Spike yelled, simultaneously; Spike looked abashed as Xander continued, "We now have the word bomb in play, so I think we need to deal with that first...also with the whole matter of Drusilla" and his voice rose to a squeak at her name.
Drusilla turned to look at Xander, with a face that she could still read, but the poem had changed - just as the boy had.
"Why, my shiny kitten has turned into a big lion, now," Drusilla purred, and fluttered long eyelashes over eyes still sparking gold "maybe that's why the jealous guisers wish to snuff you with a bomb" snapping her fingers on the word so that the air, for a moment, seemed to explode in flame. Illyria, head cocked, was watching this exchange with extreme curiosity. "Who is this half-breed, and why has she brought these two mages to my presence; Wesley is the only magic-worker I need."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Illyria, my dear, but if we are to defeat the one who now controls the power of the Mirror, we need to join forces with Ethan and Giles - or", turning his attention to Giles, "should we call you, Ripper?"
"Bomb, Wesley, the scary vampire lady said bomb," Xander's voice had returned to a manly baritone, but he grew louder with each word, "and I for one want to know why Giles is even talking to that creep Ethan Rayne let alone having a bomb to throw at us!"
"You don’t have to worry about the bomb now, its not like we are going to set it off while standing 10 feet from it, as for why I am talking to Ethan, if you would check in with your slayer from time to time you might already know the answer to that question.
A moment later, a small sports car pulled to the curb and the window rolled down; "Did someone call for a Slayer?” the driver said.
Faith's eyes glanced over the newcomer's tanned, golden girl good looks, stylish yet affordable wardrobe and shiny wheels with little of her old resentments visible, "They already have all the Slayer they need, Buffy."
"My slayer, though, is still dead," Xander's voice was full of sorrow, but the stepped forward and glared into Giles' face,” and you were there when she died." Giles barely flinched, but didn't look away; "A watcher always loses his slayer: you saw me lose mine."
There was a look of utter befuddlement on Buffy's face as she blurted out, "Xander's never had a slayer; he sent girls back from Africa, but he's never been a watcher to any of them!"
Giles turned towards her, irritation and confusion lining his features: "Buffy, even though I've left the council, Xander had lost two slayers by the time I resigned; he'd just been cleared to take on a third, due to the lack of trained watchers."
"Yet in my reality," Andrew said in his best Alistair Cookiemonster voice, "Xander came back from Africa after he found one very young Slayer, and she has never gone into the field; we're waiting for her to finish kindergarten even now." "What?" everyone else said in unison.
"I believe the annoying young man's point is that we don't actually all belong in the same time and place," Ethan's voice came from half-way up the fire escape, the need for stealth falling second to his need to be the one with all the answers, "And Ripper and I were just going to take the opportunity to remove you from this reality and unmuddle the time-line, more or less, as well as taking the Mirror of Vir for ourselves."
"So if we are not in the correct reality, who, what, where, when, will someone explain what the hell is going on!" Xander said, frustrated.
"I believe, we just did," Giles said, one hand on the mirror; at that moment, all hell broke loose.
End Chapter 1
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Post by jeff on Apr 21, 2007 23:21:05 GMT -5
Chapter 2
________________________________________ When the last bit of flying brick settled to the ground, Angel stood up and tried to find everyone who had been with him before the explosion.
Spike came through the smoke waving a hand in front of his face, "We really need to stop coming to this alley mate, nothing bloody good ever happens here."
"We'll it's not like I actually asked any of you to come along, so . . . hey!", Angel's irritated response was cut short when, from behind him, a hand on his shoulder pushed him against the crumbling brick wall. "That's it! There will be no cookies for you, mister! How could you alter reality on me again?"
"I haven't...what do you mean again," Angel's forehead furrowed like Iowa in April, "I haven't even seen you since I left Sunnydale after you graduated from high school."
"And you!" Buffy said turning to Spike, "What, you get a soul, save the world, come back to life, drink Mountain Dew, then come to Rome and don't even stop by?!!!" "What?" Spikes question was more yelp than inquiry,” I left you in bed in Cleveland three days ago after you had a slayer dream and told me I was needed here."
Angel glared at him and said, "That Hellmouth has a lot to answer for!"
"Yes, yes, that's what I said, we're all from different realities, yadda yadda yadda," Ethan's voice came from above their heads, and they looked up to see him clinging tenaciously to the fire-escape where it had jammed across the alley, "it's all well and good to determine who's what to whom back home, but the point remains: someone has exploded my bomb, and it wasn't me."
"Actually, I have rather more of a concern about returning all of you to your respective dimensions, now that the Mirror is shattered," said Wesley, as he disentangled himself from a pile of boxes and assorted debris, carefully holding on to a largish fragment of the item in question.
"Wesley, shattering the mirror has just made the situation worse; it has dispersed the powers it had contained, and closed the portal that brought us all here." Illyria stepped forward, her hand reaching for the piece of now-ordinary glass, "Had vermin not stripped me of power, this trinket would not be needed, for my glory bestrode the universes, no moment could hold me!"
"Yes, Blue, we were as worms in the muck beneath your feet; you played with suns as pretty baubles and ate nebulas on crackers with your tea; that's all lovely."
As Willow came slowly from the other side of the alley, she looked over to her left to see a body lying face down covered in blood. In panic, she looked around her: Xander and Buffy standing together, Giles (or was he Ripper?) facing Wesley, Andrew holding one of his arms and the weird blue thing with Fred's face holding the other, Spike and Angel facing each other with scowling faces, Ethan still hanging on the ladder, so who was this?
As Willow knelt down beside the blood splattered body she realized exactly who this was, "Angel, you lost a member of your team in this alley one year ago, we need to get out of this alley now if there is to be any chance of saving Faith."
Angel and Buffy both raced to Faith's side, other concerns forgotten.
Angel carefully lifted Faith into his arms and ran toward the entrance of the alley, stopping in shock when he saw horse-drawn traffic going by in the street ahead.
"Don't," Wesley exclaimed as he ran to Angel's side, "we can't leave the alley that way, or we'll all be trapped in the past."
With a look of complete frustration Angel turned toward Wes, "are you telling me we are trapped in this alley, because I am not going to just stand here and let Faith die!"
"If someone will get me down from here, Ripper and I can do something about making an exit that doesn't involve smelling horse manure," Ethan's voice was strained and impatient, "and meanwhile, may I point out that the 'scary vampire lady' as the young man with the nice arse called her, seems to have taken a powder."
"Hey, never, and I mean never talk about my arse, I mean ass, I mean, oh my god Buffy lets shoot the annoying man stuck on the ladder, just once, please!"
"Buffy, you and Angel go help Ethan; I can do more for Faith than you can right now, anyway," Willow said as she crouched down at Faith's side and put her hands over the largest wound. As Angel and Buffy were walking toward Ethan, Angel looked over at Buffy, "So the question is can we trust Ethan and Giles to get us out of here, I mean we have a witch that has more power in her hands than they have combined, or we could just beat the solution out of them, that has worked for me in the past."
"Look, Angel, if you think I'm going to let you torture Giles, any version of Giles, then your timeline is too different from mine for us to have anything at all to talk about."
But before their argument could escalate into a full blown argument, Xander interjected with a: "Does anyone else hear that?" a question made moot as the hum grew into a piercing whine, like a cranky teen on venti mocha. "Oh, bollocks," said Spike, shifting his grip to Giles' shoulder,” what is it, Drusilla, and where the hell are you?"
"Oh, dear Lord," said Giles, polishing his glasses, "It wanted only that".
"Daddy and Spike need to get out of the alley," Drusilla's hysterical whine came from the bottom of the basement stairs under the wrecked fire escape,” the nasty bomb blew us to morning!"
Angel and Spike glanced at each other as they walked over to the basement stairs, "if you know a way out of the alley love, maybe you should start making some sense so we can get out of here."
All eyes turned to Drusilla, who lowered her lashes as a wisp of a smile appeared on her face.
"Oh, blow it all," Ethan snorted, and dropped from the broken fire escape, hoping that Buffy's slayer strength would break his fall.
Buffy realizing the fall was not high enough to do any major damage, quietly stepped to the side and let Ethan land on hard on his arse, looking over at Xander she gave him the slightest of smiles, "it is time to get out of this alley, someone needs to start talking now, before I get all slayer like on a specific non souled vampire."
Drusilla cast an angry glance at Ethan, and a subtle growl rumbled in her throat before she said, "I hear the smashing and tinkling and the butterflies screaming. They want us to go home."
"And I'm trying to think of a reason to help you people at all, since this version of the senior slayer is so devoid of good manners as to let a man of middle years fall twelve feet to pavement," Ethan's voice was like ice, "I rather think you might now understand why Ripper and I wanted to take these versions of you out of all realities."
Willow, glancing up at Ethan and Buffy screams "Hello, Faith dying here. Buffy please I can't help her here; we have to get out of this alley, now!"
A voice full of contempt and accented with the tones of Baja Oklahoma drifted from above," Y'all should be as competent as you are durable, then nobody on my side would ever get away with anything."
Looking up at the shadow above, Angel recognized that voice from many battles over the last 6 years, in fact other than Spike he could not think of a person who has been a bigger pain in the ass than Lindsey.
"Let us continue this fascinating conversation over there in the shade with Dru, you big poof, or we'll end up in an amusing pile of ashes," Spike shouted in Angel's ear as he hauled on his lapels and then shoved him down the stairs to huddle next to Drusilla.
Andrew, rubbing his chin, walked over to Xander, "Interesting situation we have ourselves here isn't it Alexander, yes, I believe without the mirror we may be in for a most unfortunate demise, while we may be able to leave the alley, we would not be sure where or when we would end up, yes indeed, what we do know may in fact determine not only our existence in this dimension but the other dimensions as well.
"Oh, for the love of pete," Lindsey's voice boomed in the thinning darkness, "you guys are hopeless; if all my assignments are as easy as this, Wolfram and Hart are going to ask for their hell dimension money back."
"Are they behind this? Is that why you're back, I mean I assume you're dead, like Wes here, but I thought after we destroyed their little army that Wolfram and Hart went back to the hell they belong in."
"You're such an optimist, Angel," Lindsey was laughing now, "You did your damage in one dimension, and it was one you'd pretty much had Wolfram and Hart build to order for you; how much do you think that effected the grand scheme of things?"
As Lindsey was laughing at the group below him, he suddenly felt as if they were getting closer somehow, then he realized that he was floating down toward them, eying the witch he knew she had him in a binding spell and was forcing him down to the alley and right into the middle of everything.
"Somebody grab him- Buffy, you get him," Willow's voice was both pleading and exasperated, " it's taking all my strength to keep Faith from bleeding out, and whoever sent him, I don't think we want him running around on the loose."
Illyria walked over to Lindsey grabbing him by the throat, "you and Wesley stink of death, you more so, I am tired of this alley and am ready to leave now, tell me how we achieve this."
"You know, I liked you a lot better when you were a skinny little gal from Texas," Lindsey gasped out past Illyria's chokehold, "but truth is, I don't know, I don't need to know, when I'm done here I'll be sent for; it's those two old magicians who set up the bomb, and they're the ones who know how to undo it."
Without releasing her hold upon Lindsey, Illyria turned and fixed Ethan and Ripper with a stare that looked as though it was coming from eyes literally made of blue steel.
Giles cleared his throat and reached up to polish glasses that had been blown from his face in the blast and said, "Actually, we don't know how to undo this unless (Lindsey, you say?) Mr. Lindsey recited the spells that we would have used before he ignited the bomb."
Not knowing what spells Giles was talking about, Lindsey glanced over at the mirror, and started laughing hysterically, "you mean to tell me that you had the mirror here in the alley along with a bomb and didn't think of a way to get out of this dimension if the mirror were to get damaged?
"Yes, we did- that's what the incantation was for, you dolt," Giles drew himself to his full height and put on the spare spectacles he kept in the inside pocket of his coat, "what kind of an evil superpower is Wolfram and Hart, to send a rude mechanic to sabotage a magical nexus this complicated?"
"Let me get this straight, you had the mirror, you had the bomb, you knew the incantation to protect the mirror, yet you did not use the incantation before the bomb went off, and you have no contingency plan in case the mirror was damaged, and your calling me a dolt, that’s rich.""
"We had been interrupted in the middle of our preparations by a vampire of legendary violence, and were not even done climbing down the fire-escape when you blew it up without even stopping to think there was a reason for all the scattered magical paraphernalia; that sounds definitively dolt-like to me," Ethan added his voice to the pointless wrangle, "and in any case, Rupert, he's not even anything so useful as a rude mechanical- I recognize him, he's Lindsey MacDonald, a lawyer for Wolfram and Hart."
"Well I was a lawyer for them, here lately I have become more of a liaison for them if you will, its kind of hard to get out of the contract that extends after death, isn't that right Wesley?"
Buffy stomped her foot and said, "If you guys are done with the pissing match, can we focus already; things need doing here...important, life and death things!"
"Quite right, Buffy, and if someone will please retrieve our spell components, and let Ethan and Wesley and I talk in private, then it might be possible to get us out of here and not into some unknown earlier time or pre-industrial dimension," Giles turned to Buffy and smiled gently, but she looked at his face and abruptly took two steps back.
Shocked to her core, Buffy turned on Angel, "What the hell is going on here? Didn't you defeat Eyghon?" "Eyghon is old news, child; the problem we have here is that Angel demanded a custom-made reality as the price of working for Wolfram and Hart, and Wesley destroyed the spell that kept that reality coherent and let things drift between dimensions," Giles covered his mouth and coughed out "and then there was the small matter of random dimensional incursions after we... after Glory."
Buffy took one step in Giles' direction, fists balled, peering at him, "Well, if you're not Eyghon, who the hell are you and what have you done with Rupert Giles?"
"Oh, dear, Rupert, we seem to have gotten the Special Slayer from the dimension of the dim," Ethan's eye roll was so exaggerated as to be nearly audible, "he's not the same as the Rupert Giles you know because he is not the Rupert Giles from your dimension; I imagine the one in your dimension didn't have a terrible personal crisis when he discovered what the soldier boys got up to with me, and thence quit the council and dedicate his life to correct the damage you'd done to the coherence of reality."
So all this is our fault, things we did years ago caused this rift, no I don’t buy that, you and this Giles brought us here, you had the mirror, I want to know why you did, and what we are supposed to do here in order to go back to our own place and time.
Wesley stepped in front of the irrationally angry slayer,” That would be fine, Buffy, except I brought the Mirror of Vir here, and called Angel and Illyria; how the rest of you ended up here is not something I know, but I suspect Lindsey does."
Illyria looked at Lindsey and offered him a fake yawn, "All this talk has bored me, I think I will beat on the lawyer until my boredom subsides or until he tells us what we need to know."
"Hey, Witchy-poo, you're good at the healing stuff," Faith's voice was weak and scratchy, but full of humor, "now, if you could just help me get unglued from the ground, I'd like to help the blue girl beat on Lindsey 'cause it always makes me feel better."
A that moment a wide smile came across Willow's face, "Faith, thank god, you know it also helps that you have that incredible healing ability, if not for that no amount of me would have helped you, but I am glad to see your back."
Willow stood quickly and made a hand-washing movement over Faith, and there was a sort of gooey slurping sound as the dried and clotted blood released its hold on the slayer. Faith got up and dusted her hands on her pants, Handy little trick there Red, remind me to send you the dry cleaning bill later, but right now I think I am gonna spill me some lawyer blood."
"Willow, torturing Lindsey is just another waste of time," Wesley's voice was sharp and commanding, and the Sunnydale crew all looked at him with curiosity as he spoke, "we need those spell components from the roof of the hotel, and even Illyria can't teleport."
"Guess it's me or batvamp scaling the bloody wall, then, inn'it?” smirked Spike, turning toward Angel, "unless you still got one of those handy grappling hook belt things."
"Right, Spike, first you haul me over here to hide in the stairwell because the sun's coming up, and now you're going to climb a crumbling wall to get stuff that's lying in the full sun," Angel said, his voice full of patronizing contempt, " seems to me that what the man means is if Willow can get Lindsey off the roof, she should be able to gather the rest of the stuff.";
"All right, you two stop squabbling or I'll knock your heads together," said Buffy, stepping between the vampires; "We have work to do, so let's get to it."
Silently Willow walked to the center of the alley, raised her hands above her head and started whispering the incantation she had used earlier to lower Lindsey to the ground. A glittering whirlwind of paper and crystals, small packets and candles in silver candlesticks, green branches and dried sticks rose from the roof of the wrecked hotel and then gracefully descended to land at Willow's feet.
"Now, I am assuming you two are powerful enough to get us out of this alley without destroying everything and everyone, however, I do not trust you either of you right now, so you will need to come over here and explain to me in detail what it is you plan to do, and the results your actions will bring us."
Drusilla set up a nerve-wracking keening noise again, and then wailed, "You need to get out of the sun, the sun, and away from the eyes of the terrible cherubs!"
Wesley was gathering the items at Willow's feet, ""Unfortunately Willow, Drusilla is most right, we have to trust them, if not Angel, Spike, and Drusilla are going to be dust in about 5 minutes. Perhaps it would be a good thing to see if there's open space behind that door, Angel- do you still have the key?"
END OF CHAPTER TWO
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Post by jeff on Apr 21, 2007 23:22:45 GMT -5
Chapter 3
Angel started pacing back and forth, "I have the key, but are you sure you want me to open it, the last time I did we almost didn’t make it out alive."
"I don't see that we have any choice, Angel; at this point, we aren't going to make it out at all," Wesley closed his mouth with an audible snap and bent again to gather the last of the papers Willow's spell had brought down in a disorderly heap.
Angel approached the door and turned the key, "ok, anyone with fighting skills get ready for action, this could get ugly." The door resisted his push at first, but when he rattled it, it came off its hinges and fell with a bang and a cloud of dust.
Angel and Spike led the charge through the door screaming their respective war cries, ready to wage battle, only to find what was left of a once vibrant (evil) office was now just covered in cloth and dust as if it hadn’t been used for decades.
"Well, that's a bleedin' let-down," Spike scoffed,” and here I was hoping for a bit of a scuffle so you gits could stop insulting each other and start figuring out a way to get us back where we belong."
As Wes started setting up the numerous magical items in the center of the room, both Ethan and Giles had managed to work their way to a corner of the room while having a heated but very quiet exchange of words.
"Do you suckers think that's what's going to happen, that you're just going back to your own lives after this," Lindsey's question rang out of the dark corner where Illyria had thrown him, "because I've gotta tell you, you're guessing wrong on that."
"Oh I suppose Wolfram and Hart have some special plan for all of us, they want to use us to get to something, or use us to stop something, or use us to blah blah blah, been there done that , we are going home, and if they get in our way we will beat them in this dimension just as we did in mine." [/blue]
"No, not at all, unfortunately," Giles spoke quietly from the shadows, and Ethan reached out ant took his shoulder, as if to stop him, "no, Ethan, they must know: if we succeed here, there is no way of knowing if the realities we came from will still exist."
Buffy, stared horrified at Giles, "succeed at what, what is it you're going to do, do you mean we may all be stuck in this dimension?"
"No, dear, we don't even know what will be left when we mend the damage Angel and Wes have done to time; all of our home realities are the result of those acts."
Xander walked up to Giles, "am I understanding that if you fix this , all the wrong realities will go away and the right one will be the normal dimension, but whose dimension is the normal one?"
"I don't know, Xander; there's no way to know which reality will win out, or if any of them will,” Giles ran his hand over his forehead and stood for a minute, staring down at the dirty floor; "Ethan and I tried to determine that when we first realized that time had been broken, but all we can say is that it is possible that what results may very well not resemble what any of us have experienced."
Wesley finished setting up the circle, "ok, we are ready here, are there any others that has become proficient in magic while in there dimension, I am afraid we will need all the power we can get, I know Willow is powerful, Giles, Ethan, and I know the magics, but are there any others?
Willow cleared her throat nervously, "Well, I am up to most spells, of course, but I'd be happier if we knew exactly what this one consists of; I don't much want to meld consciousness with an evil chaos mage or an animated corpse (sorry, Wesley)."
Wesley smiled at Willow, "actually I am much more than an animated corpse, my brain functions just like it had before, the only fix is I don’t breath, or eat, much like our Vampire friends here, of course I can walk in sunlight, and I don’t crave human blood, which of course I find a big plus considering my current condition."
At Wesley's words, Drusilla roused from her corner and eyeing the tasty morsel in the corner purred, "Mmmmmm, will this spell require a blood sacrifice?"
Ethan caught Xander's eye and made an exaggeratedly flirtatious wink, "You're right, cutie, that vampire lady is quite scary."
"Yes and in a strange way I think she has a thing for me, so keep calling me cutie and I just might ask her for the favor of giving you a little bye bye bite." Xander straightened his shoulders and glared at Ethan, and continued "I try to avoid magic, as the side effects have never been much fun."
Clearing his throat Wesley said "Well then, if there are no others that are proficient in the magics then I suggest that we all sit down and understand our parts, magical or not, we all have to do this exactly right, or we are not going to live through this day."
"Wait!" Andrew's voice was an indignant squeak, "I am quite adept with most forms of magic, although not blood magic, not anymore, it's just too volatile, but I'm well equipped to do most spells and incantations and am ready with a potion for many circumstances and..."
"Relax, Andrew, even you are going to be needed for this spell, that is why I asked if anyone had any experience in magic, although I am curious why you didn’t come forward right away."
"But everyone else was talking, and then there was the door, and the dust, and anyway I had to pick up the bits of the mirror, at least I think I had to pick up the bits of the mirror, we do need to have them all together, and face down, so we don't scatter the spell at random, isn't that right, Mr. Giles?"
"Yes, yes, just stop with the babbling, you are quite right, we do need the mirror, and unless I am mistaken you did achieve getting the entire mirror together, correct?"
"Yes, sir, I did; not the papers, though, isn't that a lot of pages for one spell, it's going to take us a long time to recite all of that, if that's all the spell, and if it's not the spell what is it then?"
Giles snatched the papers from Andrew's hands, "No, not all of it is the spell, you annoying little man, but what it is, is none of your concern, so just don’t worry about it, listen to Wesley explain what you need to do, and don’t screw this up."
Giles turned his back on the group and resumed his whispered conversation with Ethan, sorting through the papers as they talked and handing some sheets to Ethan, both shuffling through their pages and putting them in order.
Slowly walking over toward the two men trying not to be noticed Angel started picking up part of their conversation.
From his place next to the remains of the fire escape, Angel managed to hear, "No, Ripper you don't..." before he accidentally brushed his hand against a dangling rebar and sent it clattering to the ground.
With a look of surprise Giles looked up toward the group and cleared his throat, "well then, yes, if everyone is ready, I think we should get this spell underway."
Xander cleared his throat; "Will someone please explain what the hell is going on, because I'm lost here?"
Shaking his head Giles turned to Xander "in it's simplest form, because of things we were all part of at one point or another we have caused a rift in space and time, we are all from another dimension, yet we have all wound up in this dimension, we need to conduct a spell in order to correct this mistake, we all need to pay attention to what our own part to this spell is, so we don't screw this up, because if we do, it could destroy life as we know it, now please focus, you are a watcher for god's sake, you need to be alert and focused at all times."
Within minutes, most of the group had organized themselves into a circle around Giles and Ethan; rough, quickly-drawn mystical symbols decorated the floor and many of the participants as the two men began to chant. Giles and Ethan began lying down sheets of paper in turn, obscuring the pattern on the floor with a more elaborate pre-drawn, brilliantly colored mosaic of words in many languages and what looked like a star map. Above their heads, a circle of light began to glow and the air of the room felt charged and expectant.
"Wait a minute, what the hell do you guys think you're doing?" Dawn's voice broke through the resonant chant.
Buffy turned; "Dawn? Tuesday, is it?"
"I don't know; what day is it when you think it's a good idea to drag me out of my International Baccalaureate Degree exams?" Dawn's voice had risen to a familiar screech; "I was on a roll, Buffy, I was in the groove, and WOOSH," she made a sweeping gesture with her arms that caused the flames of the circle of candles at her feet to dip and flicker, "ZOOM, BAM, here I am in a dirty basement in the middle of a circle of candles and oh, hell what kind of spell is this, anyway?"
"Hush yourself, little one, while the grownups play their silly games; and, my, aren't you a pretty dolly?"
"Drusilla, behave yourself, leave Little Bit alone", said Spike, "and let the experts sort this thing out so we can all go back to where we belong." "This person is not what she seems," Illyria's voice was filled with wonderment, "I remember when this being shown its light on us, when we were all children."
Dawn shook her head and backed away from Illyria; "No, no, no, no, no! I am so not doing the Key thing, so over it, last time my sister died and we are so not doing this again!"
"Stop this immediately," Wesley's voice broke through the chatter, "We still have a growing portal, here, and we need to determine how Dawn's presence changes our circumstances!"
"I'm thinking maybe, a lot?" Xander said, pointing at the rapidly expanding swirl of sparking energy and light that hovered over the crowd, just before it flared bright white, momentarily blinding them all.
Angel blinked against the glare; when he shook his head, trying to clear his vision, he caught a glimpse of Spike's black leather-clad arm against the brightness, and suddenly realized where they were.
"It looks like... Pylea", Angel said; "Where I met Fred", he added, softly. Angel looked around to see if any others beside Spike and himself were brought through the portal to Pylea.
Illyria stared at the sunny landscape; "I remember this place", she said, "Why do I remember this place?"
"Perhaps you are accessing the memories of . . . the one whose body you inhabit?” Wesley said quietly.
"Yes, these are memories from the shell, she was not happy here, her feelings were of fear, and sadness, and loneliness, I am not sure why but these feelings are overwhelming me as well, I have never actually felt these feelings before, I do not understand why this is happening.
"Never mind all that," said Spike, "Who else came through the portal with us... Or what else?", he added, looking around nervously.
Wesley looked around him, "since we were not surrounded by metal on 4 sides like before, they could be anywhere, here, another dimension, there really is no telling where they ended up, but I suggest we get moving, and find out where we are, and when we are, I mean this looks like Pylea but something feels, I dont know, wrong somehow."
End Chapter 3
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Post by jeff on Apr 21, 2007 23:26:58 GMT -5
Chapter 4
Morning was only minutes away as they continued to trudge along the rough path they had been following for hours, and Spike was getting a bit edgy; "You better be right about this Pylea sun not torching our kind, Angel."
Angel noticed a particularly odd shaped tree over to his left, swearing to himself he stopped walking, "something is not right here, I saw this tree no more than a hour ago, I would say we are walking in circle's but this path has not turned the entire time we have been on it, so what the hell is going on here."
"I believe you are right, Angel" Wesley replied, "I suspect we are being misdirected, perhaps due to a spell or other agency blocking our progress."
Shaking his head as he came around a large boulder to their right, Lorne smiled at the 4 of them, "more to the fact your not actually in Pylea, your not and I am not, which might I add a big thank you to the powers for that, this mirage is frightening enough, could you imagine if I actually had to deal with my family again. "
"Right you are, Big Green," Lindsey's voice rang out like a rifle crack from directly behind them, , "and none of us would be in this mess if you'd just have left me alive."
"Sorry, Oklahoma, I was doing one last favor for a friend, or at least I thought, until I get pulled out of a wonderful dream where I am on stage with Aretha, and we are getting much respect let me tell ya, then I get sent here, the last place I want to be, I hate this room, honestly I dont know why Charles loved it so, he could spend hours here."
"Oh, sh..." Angel closed his eyes and shook his head again, but when he openedhis eyes, they were still there, "...the White Room, I should have known we'd end up here."
"Yep, I never really cared for this place either, all the years I worked for Wolfram and Hart, this was the one place I dreaded coming to, it just really creeps me out, but in order to get a start on fixing our little situation, there was really no alternative." By the way, I'll warn ya'll that the door over there marked "Fire Exit" has nothing to do with escaping fire, so don't get any ideas."
"Are you people going to share with the rest of the class?" there was no patience left in Xander's voice,"because I'm thinking that this Architectural Digest nightmare has significance that some of us are not aware of, and there seems to be a largish cat next to you."
Slowly Willow walked over to the cat, leaning down she looks the cat deep in the eyes and starts petting it under the chin, "There is much power behind these eyes Xander, you see its not really a cat, thats just how it has chosen to show itself, but it is very powerful, now the question is , will it help us or hinder us."
"Oh, yeah, right, that's the question,"Lindsey's laugh was full of cynical contempt, "Except where it isn't- do any of you people ever stick to the point long enough to even figure out what the real problem is?"
"Would you like to shine a little light on the subject mate, cause frankly I am starting to get a little bored, dont get me wrong, I like a mystery as much as the next bloke, just as long as I am not a part of the mystery, so please enlighten us."
"And you're the one who once reminded, let's see- Mr. Harris, I believe, and Mr. Giles- that you were not on their side; I'm not here to answer your questions, I am not Jiminey Cricket or some guy behind the counter with his hat on backwards- I'm the bad guy, here, and it would be a good idea to remember that, along with the fact that I may not be the only bad guy."
Frustrated Wesley threw a bonding spell onto Lindsey, "why must we make this a game of charades people, if he is a "bad guy" then he does not get to walk around freely, now Lorne you were part of bringing us here, do you know anything that could shed some light on our current situation.
"Well, no, not really- I was brought here, as much as the rest of you were, my tall glass of Dalwhinnie; have any of you even gotten so far as figuring out why we're here at all?"
Finally Lindsey gives in, "Fine, you want to know why your here, I need you people to collect some Items for me, see I dont like being dead, it does not suit me, I am sure Wes, along with Spike and Angel would agree that its not all its cracked up to be, so I want your help retrieving some artifacts, that if used properly will restore life to those who want it, including vampires, but there is a catch."
Giles left eyebrow twitched nearly to his dashingly receding hairline, and he broke in with a snort: "You seem to forget, counselor, that some of us are more concerned with the future of this dimension than with your selfish wish for mortality."
Lindsey shot back, "Well you're right, I don't care a bit about the fate of dimensions and since I'm the one with the big brass testes that brought us here, I think y'all better listen to what I want. I can return you to your dimensions after you have completed the job, see the reason I brought you here is because the Sphere of Daigon was split into four sections and scattered across four dimensions with a spell that it could not be retrieved by persons from just one dimension, hence the reason your all here.
"Well, I think that returning us to our pre-existing timelines is probably a false promise, since there is the split subsequent to that one, when the Window of Orlen created the pocket universe which saved Angel's son, but since the alternative is a permanent shattering of the human home dimension and the possible end of any dimension with which ours has had contact, I'm afraid we will have to fall in to Lindsey's demands," Wes said, casting a pleading look at Giles.
" I never said I would correct the problem caused by you all messing with things you shouldn't have, I said I would send you back to your dimensions, I just took advantage of what you created to bring you here, now I can put you back where you were, but I can't fix the problems you created, I think Mr Giles will be able to help that situation after we have recovered the Sphere, in the mean time what does everyone say, care to make the dead live again."
"Uh, that would be a big no, Mr. Mini Lawyer, we've pretty much been there, saw that, and got the special gift with purchase monster," Xander's voice shook a little as he remembered the last resurrection they'd accomplished, "and I'd still like a few explanations and a little exposition, with or without musical accompaniment." Uh, that would be a big no, Mr. Mini Lawyer, we've pretty much been there, saw that, and got the special gift with purchase monster," Xander's voice shook a little as he remembered the last resurrection they'd accomplished, "and I'd still like a few explanations and a little exposition, with or without musical accompaniment."
"This is a little different, you're not really raising the dead, at least not in the way you did with the slayer; in this case the dead are already raised, your just giving them their life back, Wesley and I are like this because of Wolfram and Hart, our souls are in a holding cell in a manner of speaking,so we have no internal conflict: the vampire twins, that's a little more complicated, they have to really and I mean really want to become human again, because they will have to wage an internal battle between their soul and the demon that possesses their bodies, whichever one wins, gets to keep the body, the other will be destroyed forever."
"That's all very well, Mr. McDonald, but the fact remains: we have no reason to trust you, especially since you destroyed the Mirror of Vir and put us in what I believe is a place outside of time and space where the Senior Partners of Wolfram and Hart hold sway," Giles looked around nervously as if he expected the Senior Partners to be lurking in the corners of the White Room, "and I cannot see how we can break into teams since, except for Angel and Illyria, Ethan and I, and Xander and Willow, everyone has come from a different timeline, and is therefore unknown and untrustworthy. "
Angel looked at Giles and the rest of the group, " If the Senior Partners were in charge we would not be standing in the white room, I am not sure where they are but Lindsey is risking an awful lot to pull this off, so I think he can be trusted for now, besides who are you to deny this opportunity to Wesley, Spike and Myself, all three of us having stood by your side in your time of need, I believe it is time to return the favor."
"Speak for yourself, Peaches," said Spike, lighting a cigarette, "I like my unlife the way it is, thanks."
Buffy walked over to Spike pushing him against the wall, looking him deep in the eyes, "William, your telling me that given the chance to live again, to walk in the daylight, to eat real food, to watch the sunrise, the sunset, to actually breathe air, to feel your heart beating again after centuries of nothingness, to spend the rest of your life knowing that its not going to go on forever, that you have to live each day like its your last, to truly feel again, to have the chance to love someone, and recieve love in return, to have a chance to live a normal life, your telling me you would pass that up!"
Spike eyed Buffy up and down,"You don't even smell like my Buffy, and she'd never ask me that; I like being strong and staying young and she needs me to be as I am now, to watch her back and keep her and Dawn safe, and hey, Dawn, where do I fit in in your life, am I part of it or are you in one of the places where Buffy and I are avoiding each other?"
Exasperated Buffy turned to Giles, "you got to tell us, if we go after this Sphere of Daigon, and you fix the whole Dimension rift thingy, do the ones choosing life get it in what is supposed to be the correct dimension, or just the dimension they are from, because, hello, not so keen on risking my life and not getting to see live William, or live Angel."
"Great diversion, Buffy, but since the Buffy in my life would never refer to Spike as William in public, I don't think you've answered his questions," Dawn said in her bossiest voice, "And, anyway, Giles was right: we need to figure out a way to divide up into teams we can trust, and to do that, Xander's right: we need to know who's the bad guys."
Wes looked up "well,you cant say could all bad guys please raise your hands, I dont think your going to get many takers, besides Lindsey of course, no for starters I think we need to have someone who is very familiar with Magic on each team, so I am assuming that would be Giles, Ethan, Myself and w"Uh, that would be a big no, Mr. Mini Lawyer, we've pretty much been there, saw that, and got the special gift with purchase monster," Xander's voice shook a little as he remembered the last resurrection they'd accomplished, "and I'd still like a few explanations and a little exposition, with or without musical accompaniment."
"This is a little different, you're not really raising the dead, at least not in the way you did with the slayer; in this case the dead are already raised, your just giving them their life back, Wesley and I are like this because of Wolfram and Hart, our souls are in a holding cell in a manner of speaking,so we have no internal conflict: the vampire twins, that's a little more complicated, they have to really and I mean really want to become human again, because they will have to wage an internal battle between their soul and the demon that possesses their bodies, whichever one wins, gets to keep the body, the other will be destroyed forever."
"That's all very well, Mr. McDonald, but the fact remains: we have no reason to trust you, especially since you destroyed the Mirror of Vir and put us in what I believe is a place outside of time and space where the Senior Partners of Wolfram and Hart hold sway," Giles looked around nervously as if he expected the Senior Partners to be lurking in the corners of the White Room, "and I cannot see how we can break into teams since, except for Angel and Illyria, Ethan and I, and Xander and Willow, everyone has come from a different timeline, and is therefore unknown and untrustworthy. "
Angel looked at Giles and the rest of the group, " If the Senior Partners were in charge we would not be standing in the white room, I am not sure where they are but Lindsey is risking an awful lot to pull this off, so I think he can be trusted for now, besides who are you to deny this opportunity to Wesley, Spike and Myself, all three of us having stood by your side in your time of need, I believe it is time to return the favor."
"Speak for yourself, Peaches," said Spike, lighting a cigarette, "I like my unlife the way it is, thanks."
Buffy walked over to Spike pushing him against the wall, looking him deep in the eyes, "William, your telling me that given the chance to live again, to walk in the daylight, to eat real food, to watch the sunrise, the sunset, to actually breathe air, to feel your heart beating again after centuries of nothingness, to spend the rest of your life knowing that its not going to go on forever, that you have to live each day like its your last, to truly feel again, to have the chance to love someone, and recieve love in return, to have a chance to live a normal life, your telling me you would pass that up!"
Spike eyed Buffy up and down,"You don't even smell like my Buffy, and she'd never ask me that; I like being strong and staying young and she needs me to be as I am now, to watch her back and keep her and Dawn safe, and hey, Dawn, where do I fit in in your life, am I part of it or are you in one of the places where Buffy and I are avoiding each other?"
Exasperated Buffy turned to Giles, "you got to tell us, if we go after this Sphere of Daigon, and you fix the whole Dimension rift thingy, do the ones choosing life get it in what is supposed to be the correct dimension, or just the dimension they are from, because, hello, not so keen on risking my life and not getting to see live William, or live Angel."
"Great diversion, Buffy, but since the Buffy in my life would never refer to Spike as William in public, I don't think you've answered his questions," Dawn said in her bossiest voice, "And, anyway, Giles was right: we need to figure out a way to divide up into teams we can trust, and to do that, Xander's right: we need to know who's the bad guys."
Wes looked around the group, "somehow I dont believe your going to get any cofessions from this group, other than Lindsey of course, no I beleive we are going to have to split the teams up evenly as possible based on specific needs, for instance each team will need someone proficient in magic, I know Willow, myself, Giles and Ethan are capable, so each of us should be in a separate group, is that suitable to everyone for starters?"
Xander looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke; "It sounds like one of those logic problems where you have a rooster, a fox, and a bag of grain, and a too-small boat."
Deep in thought Willow had an Idea, "Wait, Lindsey earlier you said your and Wes's souls were being held captive by Wolfram and Hart, and this Spike does not want to become alive again, and I am not sure about what Angel wants to do, but since we can't decide on how to split everyone into teams why not have a larger group of us go into Wolfram and Hart and retrieve yours and Wes's souls, then I can do my mojo and bam you two are alive again, it wont be life Buffy, because we know your souls are not in heaven,I mean I know its not going to be easy, but splitting into four groups and hoping each succeed in retreiving a piece of a sphere,will not be easy either."
"Not going to work, unless you've got a key to the Senior Partner's home dimension, and Angel knows how useful that is," Lindsey fluttered his eyelashes at Willow, and she looked at him as if he were a particularly cute kitten, which was not the effect he had intended; he stood as tall as he could and dropped his voice an octave, and continued, "we really have to divide up, find the sphere, and come back together to make this thing happen."
During the entire conversation in the white room the large cat had been pacing back and forth, cocking its head from side to side as if it were taking in everything that was being discussed, suddenly it walked over to Angel, reared up on its hind legs and placed its paws on Angels shoulder, looking him deep in the eyes, at that moment it started changing shape.
"Charlie my man!" "Hey it's Gunn, cool!" "Charles?" "Gunn, good to see you!" "Why look, it's our extra rich caramel mocha!" the voices called out in unison, but all Angel could do was stare, remembering the fire to which he'd consigned Gunn's body they day after the fight in the alley.
Staring back at Angel, Gunn smiled "Yes its me, not my actual body, but when you have become the link to what is left of the senior partners you can take whatever form you want, so I have chose to show myself as you knew me, you have a big problem, while its true the sphere is in 4 dimensions, what Lindsey hasn't told you is each one is in the possesion of a senior parter, so in order to get the sphere, you are going to have to destroy the senior partners."
"Well, that's it, then," Ethan made a great show of wiping his hands, smacking the palms together with a decisive crack, "game over, time to pack up and go find a nice little pocket dimension without too many demons and have a good orgy until the universe pops out like a very old balloon;" at the word "orgy" Dawn, Willow and Xander squeaked in three part harmony.
"Destroy them?," Giles mused, "or merely confuse and distract them enough to get what we need?"
"Well the problem with confuse and distract is there are reprecussions involved when they find out the sphere is missing, destroying them solves that problem, of course I would not split into four groups and go after them all at once, I would take them on one at a time, sending in at least half of the group, you are going to need all the power and magic you can muster in order to pull this off, may I also suggest the other part of the group get to work on finding a way to fix this rift, with the mirror broken you are going to have to find another way to repair that."
Andrew piped up, "Um, could we get back to the part with the orgy?" earning him simultaneous glares from everyone present except Ethan.
Looking around at the group Wesley started sizing up who should go for the sphere and who should help solve the rift, "Now this is just my view of things but I feel we should split up as follows: Angel, Spike, Buffy, Xander, Lindsey, and Myself should go after the first part of the sphere, with Giles, Willow, Faith, Illyria, Lorne,Ethan, and Andrew working out the rift and what needs to be done there; after the first part of the sphere is retrieved we can make any adjustments that are deemed necessary, if that is good with everyone I suggest we get started."
"That's all well and good, old man," said Ethan, "but I don't think we've properly addressed my orgy idea."
Shaking his head at Ethan, Wesley looked over in the corner and noticed that Dawn had that look on her face as if she was being picked last, "Dont worry Dawn, there is something special planned for you, Charles asked for you to stay here with him, he has things he would like to show you, to help you maybe better understand things about your new found abilities."
Giles smirked in Wes' general direction. "And they called me a fuddy-duddy."
Smiling back at Giles "I am not a fuddy duddy, whatever happens after we have gone through the portal is none of my concern, if you have no need of them then let them play, but I want this sphere, and you need to find a way to fix this rift, Charles is there anything we need to know about this particular partner and the Dimension we are heading into?
With just a hint of a matching smirk, Gunn addressed the entire group, "You were kinda on the right track when you brought up the orgy thing, for starters."
"See?" Andrew chimed in, to much rolling of the eyes, "and you thought I was talking dirty when I was talking shop!"
"OK, before this goes any further, I just want to make it clear that I don't do costumes, mostly; I won't stand for the use of Hostess products in any way that the factory didn't intend; and . . ." Xander's voice trailed off as he noticed the various looks directed his way.
Gunn grew taller and more serious "No, its that the first piece of the sphere is with the Senior Partner that surrounds himself with lust, sex, wanting, desire, and some of the most sexual beings that have ever walked the earth, it sounds like a fun place to be, however, a man or woman for that matter, can get lost in his or her sexual wants and desires very easily in this dimension and never be seen or heard from again, completely consumed, not knowing or caring about anything other than trying to satisfy their sexual cravings."
"Oh, so, what, there is a Senior Partner that's a 17-year-old boy?" Buffy said. A voice from behind them chimed in, "Yeah, and he's surrounded by linoleum tiles-miss me, guys?"
As Angel turned toward the sound of the voice, he broke into a run, as he picked up the person and hugged her he was quickly joined by Wes and Gunn, "Is it possible, is it really you?"
"Sure" Buffy thought, "get that happy with me and you go all psycho-killer, but with her happiness is just happy?", but aloud she said, "Don't get too happy, soulman, just put Cordy down and let's get some answers here."
Coughing quietly in the corner Willow looked wearily over at Buffy, " I may not have answers when it comes to this sphere and the rift, but I am part of the reason Cordelia is here, remember my travels after we left Sunnydale, well its funny who you will run into while astro-projecting on a different plane, she informed me on how she had to go help Angel and for me to go to LA and claim her body, so I did, after she helped Angel, we went into hiding and , well, with a lot of help from the coven we made her Cordy again."
"I just hope this doesn't turn out to be a big soul-sucking mistake, Willow", Buffy warned.
"Hey, have a little faith, I didn't do it alone, in fact I had the backing of the coven, I have learned from my mistakes Buffy, so dont start on me, believe it or not there are some things that go on in this world that do not require your approval, plus I didn't do this just for Cordelia."
"Hey, hey, I'm not talking about you! I was referring to how happy Angel looks now that Cordy is back-you do remember what happens when Angel gets too happy, right?"
"Oh, um, well, ok, um, yes, well, I know that, but It's Angel, Buffy you know I have a soft spot for the big lug, I fully expect him to control himself, so I dont see it being a problem, isn't that right Angel?"
Buffy's eyes got big then narrowed as she said, "Since when? Since he killed your fish, or Ms Calender, or Sandy, or awakened Acathla? Where is the real Willow-who are you?!"
Spike with a tint of Jealousy and anger, spoke in a loud voice so he could be clearly heard, "Look Buffy, He has had sex after he left you, and the simple fact is he didn't go all evil, so the fact is your probably the only one that gives him is true happiness, your the love of his life, your his soulmate, his love, the chances of him finding another true love are infetesimal, so get off your high horse and lets get this show on the road." Buffy looked abashed, and hurt as she turned away from the one person she thought knew her better than anyone-well at least at one time.
Gunn walked to the center of the room and with a wave of his hand four doors appeared, "Look people, do not forget things that may have happened in one person's dimension, are not the same thing that happened in someone else's dimension, so lets cut the bickering and arguing about things we can't control, once the rift is fixed and all Dimensions are righted then you can bicker all you want, now as you see there are four doors, Angel, Buffy, Spike, Lindsey, Wesley, Xander, and Cordelia, your Portal awaits, once your there, you will find I have left you some things that will help you on your mission, Good Luck."
End Chapter 4
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Post by jeff on Apr 21, 2007 23:40:20 GMT -5
Chapter 5
In a surprisingly short time and with strangely minimal fuss (although perhaps not so strangely, considering what was to come), the group paired up in front of each of the doors; Angel and Buffy at the first door; Spike and Xander at the second door; Wesley and Cordy at the third; and Lindsey alone at the fourth, looking both irritated and slightly smug when none of the others were willing to travel with him.
Smiling, Gunn ushered them all toward the first door,"not quite the auspicious start I hoped for, but I guess I should have been more specific, each door is a portal to a piece of the sphere, you must all travel through the first door, after you have retrieved the piece and destroyed the Senior Partner then you come back and see what is behind door #2, be careful after you go through this portal and mind your thoughts for they will lead you to, let us say, focus on other things than your mission, if you get my meaning, good luck."
"What about me?", said Andrew, raising his hand plaintively.
As Angel and the crew walked through the portal, Ethan walked over and whispered into Andrews right ear "Lucky for me, your going to be joining Ripper, myself, Faith, Willow, and Illyria on a little excursion of our own, athough I have to say going into a den of sin makes me a wee bit jealous, but I think you and I could find something to occupy our time."
Andrew's half-fearful, half-excited squeak was the last thing the gang heard before they found themselves sprawled among the pillows and silks heaped on the floor of a large, luxurious room; Cordelia was the first to move, running her hands over the jewels embedded in the wall - "You know, this portal thing is starting to grow on me", she said, doing her best to ignore the mystical symbols swirling around the jewels.
Looking down at his pants, Spike gave a little smirk "hey, this portal thing is not the only thing starting to grow, anyone ready for a nice little refresher before we go into battle?"
"Buffy's right, you are a pig", Xander muttered.
Taking a closer look at the symbols on the wall, Wesley realized that they were similar to the symbols that Lindsey had on his body when he was hiding out from the senior partners, "I believe Gunn has fixed this room to where we are not noticed by anyone outside of it, so while we have a moment we should look around for anything Charles may have left for us, and formulate some kind of plan in order to retrieve the piece of the sphere."
"Sounds like a plan," said Xander, "And by the way, how did Spike and I get here? I thought we chose Door #2."
Cordelia looked toward Xander, "Um short term memory boy, remember Charles telling us we all have to do this one door at a time, once we finish with door #1 then we go to door #2, then #3 and #4, so lets focus on the job, and hey, what is that under the bed?"
Xander said under his breath, "You haven't changed much since high school," and wandered over to peer under the bed, "Looks like a dragon," he added, backing away hastily.
"Been thinking about goin' places with me, Xaaander?", Spike said with a smirk, "An' what kind of dragon fits under a bed, anyway?" Wesley clapped his hands; "That will do. Might we get to work now? We haven't much time," he said, looking pointedly at Xander and Spike.
Walking over to the bed Angel reached under the bed, grabbing what was under there, he lifted it up and peered into the eyes of what looked like a baby dragon, as he looked into its eyes he started thinking about that night in the alley when he got to slay a dragon, "Wes, I think we should hold on to this little guy for a while, you know, just in case."
Wesley clapped his hands; "That will do. Might we get to work now? We haven't much time," he said, looking pointedly at Xander and Spike.
Walking over to the bed Angel reached under the bed, grabbing what was under there, he lifted it up and peered into the eyes of what looked like a baby dragon, as he looked into its eyes he started thinking about that night in the alley when he got to slay a dragon, "Wes, I think we should hold on to this little guy for a while, you know, just in case."
"It's so cute," Buffy cooed, as the dragonlet turned in Angel's hands, trying to bite his thumb and letting out a small burp of flame.
Looking around the room Lindsey noticed a trunk in the far left corner, walking over to it he lifted the lid and found the weapons Charles had left for them; "Looks like we will be needing these."
"A miniature dragon and a whole bunch of broadswords, maces, axes and . . . a waffle iron?" said Buffy, as she began digging through the trunk; "What's up with that?"
"I'll tell you later," said Lindsey, smirking.
As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive."
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Post by Lola m on Apr 23, 2007 12:25:48 GMT -5
As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive."
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna work well with this group," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes and moving toward the large carved double doors.
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Post by S'ewing S'cubie on Apr 24, 2007 8:48:24 GMT -5
As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive."
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna work well with this group," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes and moving toward the large carved double doors. As she passed through, Buffy couldn't help considering the possible combinations their group offered and a pleasant tingle passed through her causing the faintest quirk of a smile to curl her lips upward.
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Apr 25, 2007 14:08:25 GMT -5
As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive." "Oh, yeah, that's gonna work well with this group," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes and moving toward the large carved double doors. As she passed through, Buffy couldn't help considering the possible combinations their group offered and a pleasant tingle passed through her causing the faintest quirk of a smile to curl her lips upward. Slowly and dramatically, the doors opened; someone gasped, and someone snickered.
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Post by jeff on Apr 25, 2007 15:50:36 GMT -5
As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive."
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna work well with this group," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes and moving toward the large carved double doors. As she passed through, Buffy couldn't help considering the possible combinations their group offered and a pleasant tingle passed through her causing the faintest quirk of a smile to curl her lips upward. Slowly and dramatically, the doors opened; someone gasped, and someone snickered. Each person looked at the others, realizing they were all without clothing, and being the only woman in the group, Buffy started to cover herself on instinct, but then lowered her arms when she realized she was not entirely uncomfortable with the groups current situation.
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Apr 28, 2007 17:35:45 GMT -5
As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive." "Oh, yeah, that's gonna work well with this group," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes and moving toward the large carved double doors. As she passed through, Buffy couldn't help considering the possible combinations their group offered and a pleasant tingle passed through her causing the faintest quirk of a smile to curl her lips upward. Slowly and dramatically, the doors opened; someone gasped, and someone snickered. Each person looked at the others, realizing they were all without clothing, and being the only woman in the group, Buffy started to cover herself on instinct, but then lowered her arms when she realized she was not entirely uncomfortable with the groups current situation."I think we'll get a lot more done if we all maintain eye contact", Buffy said, "And I hope I get that outfit back, it was one of my favorites".
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Post by Lola m on Apr 29, 2007 11:56:18 GMT -5
As everyone walked by the trunk and took the weopon of their choice, Wesley spoke; "I am not sure what we will run into when we leave this room, but I do know we will no longer be unnoticed by the senior partner, so be prepared, it has surrounded itself with sexual beings, who will pray on your sexual desires, your wants, lusts, and deepest hidden feelings, it will offer you the things in your life that you have wanted, desired or loved, your best move is to fight your feelings for if you loose yourself in your desire you may not make it out of here alive."
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna work well with this group," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes and moving toward the large carved double doors. As she passed through, Buffy couldn't help considering the possible combinations their group offered and a pleasant tingle passed through her causing the faintest quirk of a smile to curl her lips upward.
Slowly and dramatically, the doors opened; someone gasped, and someone snickered. Each person looked at the others, realizing they were all without clothing, and being the only woman in the group, Buffy started to cover herself on instinct, but then lowered her arms when she realized she was not entirely uncomfortable with the groups current situation.
"I think we'll get a lot more done if we all maintain eye contact", Buffy said, "And I hope I get that outfit back, it was one of my favorites".
"Yeah, the outfit's important, I wanna get that shirt back, too, 'cuz it was one of my faves, can't usually find real rayon Hawaiian shirts anymore, and if we're not wearing clothes how come it's so warm . . . . and kinda sticky, and God, please no one answer that . . . " babbled Xander, his eyes deliberately aimed toward the ceiling and hands strategically placed, front and back.
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