FIC: Inner Battle (6/?)

["Roman" <rrivaso@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE (Tentative): Inner Battle
AUTHOR: Roman.
E-mail: rrivaso@xxxxxxxxxxxx
PAIRING: Buffy/Willow
DISCLAIMER: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I'm
just borrowing them for a little while and I'll retun them as undamaged as
posible. <g>
SPOILERS: Set like 3 or 4 months after Who are you. Adam's still at large,
or is he now?
SUMMARY : Let it be a surprise for now, ok?
DISTRIBUTION: If you want to place this on a website just e-mail me and I'll
say yes.
FEEDBACK : I'm putting on my asbestos suit and charging my fire extinguisher
on this one. Just remember this is just chapter one, there's a long way to
go yet.


This is the end of chapter 1
*********************
Breaking into the state was easy. There was no kind of security, no alarms,
no guards, nothing. The slayer lead the way, Mr. Pointy in hand, with Giles
and Xander behind her carrying a battle ax the former and a sword the
latter. Willow and tara closed the group, both carrying loaded crossbows.

They had searched the front rooms of the main house and found them empty of
people and furniture, and now they were standing in front of a huge double
door entrance. Buffy signaled the group to be quiet and opened the doors,
taking a step inside.

A six feet tall, red skinned demon bathed in sunlight stood in the middle of
a room that extended almost 80 feet long and 50 feet wide, its whole ceiling
made of glass. He held a sword in fron of him with both his hands, its point
on the ground and a second one was resting on the floor 10 feet away from
him. He lifted his head and addressed the slayer and her friends as they
came into the large chamber. "Welcome. My name is Malcon. I think you're
looking for me."

The slayer kept walking until the sword on the floor was at her feet while
the rest of the gang stayed a little ways behind her. She couldn't help but
being surprised at the calmness that was emanating from a creature which
kind she had always envisioned as violent and hostile. His light leather
armor was lustrous and well taken care of. His whole attitude one of a
disciplined and well trained warrior. She instinctly knew this fight was
going to be a hard one to win.

"My name is Buffy, and yes we were looking for the being responsable for the
sudden change of the undead lifestyle in town. Why are you here?...if I may
ask?" She added the last bit surprising herself as well as the rest of the
gang who were looking at her like she had grown a second head. Respect was
not something she offered around easily.

"I've been sent to first study you, measure your abilities, find out where
your loyalties lay on.....and ultimately to kill you." Malcon explained, no
hint of hostility or anger, just stating a fact.

"Then by all means you are welcome to try." Said the slayer as she placed
her right foot under the pommel of the sword in front of her, kicking it so
it flew from the ground to get caught in the middle of its descent by a frim
grip as she got into a combat stand.

Just as her hand closed in on the pommel of the sword, the air crackled with
energy and some sort of shield flashed to live for a moment, sorrounding
them. It left the two enclosed in a circle of about 40 feet in diameter.
Giles inmediately tried to reached her protegé, only to bump into an
invisible wall. The shield left the slayerettes effectively out of the
fight.

"This battle will only be between us. No one shall interfiere" Malcon stated
as a manner of explanation.

The slayer nodded her consent and suddenly sprung to action swinging the
blade in a quick movement attempting to behead the demon and end the fight
quickly.

Malcon sidestepped from the direction of the swing bringing up his blade
deflecting the strike. He continued with the motion though and did a
complete 360 in a split second, his sword paralel to the ground slicing
through the air at waist level.

Buffy jumped and dove over the moving sword, rolling to an standing position
in one fluid movement that positioned her behind the demon and then
delivered a swing of her own to the demon's back.

The demon did a backwards flip and went over the slayer's head but she had
anticipated the move and was following her swing by placing her sword at a
protective angle over her head. Sparks flew as Malcon's descending blade hit
the slayer's and she turned her body around and up, using her bended kness
as leverage, pushing the demon away from her.

Now face to face again, they started to exchange swings and blocks, both
studying their oponent as they did, trying to find any openings that gave
them an advantage. The speed at what the blades were moving was amazing. The
Scobby gang could only stared open mouthed at the display, a deadly dance in
which both participants were evenly matched, each one of them getting a
scratch then and there, but nothing of real consequence.

Buffy began to notice Malcom leaving his right shoulder a little
unprotected. She was wary of taking the shot though, because she knew it
could well be a setup to try and make her do that specific move. Almost ten
minutes had gone by and heaviness was begining to set in her muscles. Even
with slayer strength, going non stop against this trained warrior was taking
its toll on her. She decided to go with it, taking extra precautions if it
was indeed a trap.

She deflected a swing aimed to her right leg and saw the opening then. She
took the shot and sunk the sword in Malcon's right shoulder. As she did so,
she could see his now left handed swing coming downwards directly to her
exposed neck. No time to think, she just reacted, she unlocked her knees and
her body went downwards, her hold still on her sword. Her weight pulled down
the sword, not entirely getting it out the demon's shoulder, but the pull
threw his balance off and his swing missed its target. The slayer swept the
now off-balance demon off his feet with her legs, the movement liberating
her sword.

She kneeled over the downed demon and quickly sunk her sword in his chest. A
clang could be heard as his sword hit the ground and Malcon laid down
staring at the sword protuding from his torax.

The magic shield flickered a bit and then it was gone. The scobbies moved a
little closer but not so much as to intrude in what seemed oddly a private
moment.

Malcon lifted his head to look at the slayer and she was surprised to see
sadness and sympathy staring from his eyes. He blinked and move his head
beckoning her closer and she leaned over him. He coughed a little bit trying
to speak and then said to her. "Well done chosen one. It was a fair battle".
He coughed again, this time blood coming out of his mouth signaling his
inminent death. "But now you real battle begins."

Buffy caught a flicker of motion to her left and turned to see a green ball
of fire racing through the air towards Willow. The readhead had no time to
react before the fireball reached her and engulfed her in a green halo. A
split second later a blinding white light filled the chamber and she was
gone. Only a dark ashen circle was left where the hacker was standing not a
second before.

The slayer could only watch this in growing horror and then turned to Malcon
to find him dead already. The Scobbies were rooted to the spot they were
standing, staring at the dark spot seemingly uncomprehending.

Buffy stood up and slowly walked to where she had last saw her best friend
and more. She kneeled down. Hundreds of thoughts, thousands of feelings
coursing through her. Her soul being torn to an unrecognizable extent. She
thought she could hear herself screaming just before the darkness enveloped
her and she blissfully passed out.

*******************
TBC in Chapter 2