Champions All
by W/T4Eva
Into the Light
[reviews]
Willow had finished packing away her things. Tara had been gone a lot over the past two days and she was wondering whether to leave her a note and go to LA when suddenly in front of her appeared the now familiar light show followed by Tara herself, in the flesh. Without saying a word Willow stepped forward and took Tara in her arms.
Ten minutes later, after the essential kissing and hugging Tara explained to Willow that she and Paige had now tracked down the Beast.
"Well I'm going to LA anyway to see Cordy and do the spell to give Angel his soul back," Willow explained. She'd briefly explained about Cordelia's e-mail in between snuggles during one of Tara's brief return visits.
"I can take you there quicker than regular transport," said Tara smiling. "We can come back for your stuff afterwards." Tara explained about her agreement to go back to LA with the Halliwells. "They'll do one of their 'Power of Three' spells to get rid of the Beast. I'd like us to be there as well in case they need any magical backup. There are a lot of vampires and demons roaming LA in the dark at the moment. The more power we have the better our chance of getting rid of it."
"What is it, where did it come from?" asked Willow. "I wonder if it had anything to do with Angel losing his soul."
"It comes from a demon dimension," explained Tara, "rather like Glory although from a different one. When we spoke to it, it referred to its master. I don't know who or what that is."
"Could it be this First Evil that Dawn referred to?" asked Willow.
"It might be, I just don't know," said Tara. "I get most of my information from Leo. He's my ...well I suppose he's a sort of mentor. Neither he nor the Elders know any more about it. I do know we need to destroy the Beast to get rid of the darkness. If we don't get rid of it soon the darkness will spread."
"That'll be good news for vampires and demons," said Willow. "I dread to think what might happen if it gets as far as the Hellmouth."
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It was night time at Sunnydale bus station. A bus stopped and opened its doors. A couple of people left the bus. "Watch your step," said the bus driver as a third person, a young African-American girl left. She was wearing denim overalls and carrying a backpack.
The young girl looked around and walked forward between parked buses to the bus terminal building. The girl looked at the building but the doors were closed and no lights were on. She looked around anxiously and went to the nearby pay phone, picked up the phone book and started flipping through it. She got to the correct part of the book for Summers only to find that the relevant page had been torn out. She looked up from the book to see a black-robed, hooded, eyeless man approaching her.
The girl threw the book at the man and turned to run, but then saw two more such men coming towards her with their distinctive knives in their hands. She backed up against a wall, terrified but determined that she would at least get in a few good kicks.
Just then, the pair of Bringers between the buses were lifted off the ground and were sent flying apart, revealing Buffy, who had thrown them to the ground. The third Bringer ran away but was hit in the back by a crossbow bolt fired by Molly causing him to stagger and fall.
Buffy's two opponents now attacked her. One lunged at her with his knife, but Buffy grabbed his hand and stabbed the other Bringer with the knife. The stabbed Bringer doubled over in pain, and Buffy kicked him to the ground. Buffy continued to wrestle with the other Bringer, ultimately breaking his neck.
Buffy walked up to the newcomer, who was still shaking. "Rona, right?" she asked, offering her hand. Rona nodded and took Buffy's hand. "I just got word you were arriving," explained Buffy.
"You're her!" said Rona.
"She's the Slayer all right," said Molly.
"You know, I thought, uh, they told me I'd be safe here," said Rona.
"Right, well, you are," said Buffy. "I mean, you will be...safer...with me and the gang around."
"That's good," replied Rona who then turned to Molly and examined her crossbow. "Nice. Hope you got one of those for me somewhere."
Buffy started to walk away. Rona walked beside her. Molly followed along behind keeping hold of her reloaded crossbow and with eyes open for any more bringers.
"Next time you're attacked..." began Buffy.
"You saying I'm gonna get attacked again?" asked Rona, "In that case I very definitely want one of those bows, and a few other things besides."
"Welcome to the Hellmouth," said Buffy.
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Fred sat in the office at the Hyperion continuing her research into the Beast. Wesley had gone back to his apartment to fetch some more books. Cordelia had gone with him to help rather than staying to research with Fred. Cordelia never enjoyed book research. If it didn't come up on the net she soon got bored.
Fred got up and went over to the bookcase muttering to herself. "Now if I were a runic transcription guide I would be...ah." She found the book shelved wrong.
"Talking to yourself, Fred?" asked Angelus. Fred, alarmed, turned round and saw Angelus standing in the door to the office. "There's a lot of that going around."
"You can't hurt me," said Fred with as much bravado as she could muster. "We did a no-demon-violence thingy."
"Oh, the sanctuary spell," said Angelus with no concern whatever. "Shucks, oh, wait a minute, I think I—" He pulled a charm out of his pocket and twirled it around as he walked toward Fred. "Oh, yeah, kinda thought you pesky P.I.'s would be humming that old tune, so I picked up a little something. Something that lets me be as demony as I wanna be."
"I don't believe you," said Fred desperately. Where are those Slayers? Where is everybody she thought?
Angelus took the book out of Fred's hand and pressed her back to the wall, slamming the book against the wall behind her. "How 'bout now?" he asked.
"What do you want?" asked Fred.
"Maybe I just miss you," he suggested. "Well, since you brought it up, let's talk Beastmaster. Whaddaya got?"
Fred shook her head. "Nothing," she said.
"Come on, Fred," said Angelus looking at the papers all over her desk. "All this raw material, Brainiac like you, you must have a theory."
"If I did, you're the last person I'd tell," said Fred defiantly.
"What about Cordy then? Any interesting visions?" asked Angelus. Fred kept silent.
"Well, all right then," he replied putting the book down and walking over to the desk. "I guess I'll figure it out myself, huh? Let's see." He gathered up the papers and a book from the desk. "I'll take these, and this. Thanks for nothing."
"I do know one thing. You're out of your league. What you're up against—he'll make you its bitch just like the Beast. So, if you're gonna kill me, get it over with," said Fred. Suddenly she really looked at Angelus's charm for the first time and noticed the 'Made in China' stamp on it.
Fred grabbed a glass pitcher and smashed it over Angelus's head and then grabbed her tranq gun. She shot at Angelus, but he ducked and the dart went into the wall behind him. He rolled on the floor toward the door and ran out of the office, with Fred in pursuit.
Immediately outside the door Angelus ran into a cross fire from two dart guns, one fired by Connor and the other by Kennedy. He dodged one but the other stuck in his right arm.
Angelus immediately pulled the dart from his arm but realised he had to get away quickly before he was slowed by the tranquilizer. Dodging a further dart, this time fired by Fred he threw the book and papers at Connor and Kennedy and turned towards the door.
Angelus turned straight into Faith's fist and fell to the ground. Fast, but already a little slower than usual he tried to roll with the blow back to his feet. A net fell over him, tossed there by Kennedy. As he struggled to throw it off, Connor fired another dart into him from point blank range. This time the dart took full effect and Angelus passed out.
Connor and Kennedy fetched the chains and secured Angelus. Lorne arrived while this was being done and saw Connor and Kennedy take Angelus away to the basement to be locked up.
"Sorry we left him in there with you for so long," said Faith to Fred. "We thought we'd see if he said anything interesting."
"He could have killed me!" said Fred annoyed. "Anyway once he's got his soul back he'll tell you all you need to know. If his amulet had been real I think I'd be dead."
Lorne took the amulet and sniffed as he realised it was a cheap fake. "No way doll," he said. "There's no amulet made that could protect him from that spell. If there was, my place would have been out of business inside a week."
Cordelia and Wesley arrived laden with books. Fred happily told them of the capture of Angelus. "After last time nobody should talk to him, or better yet listen to him," said Wesley.
"I'll ask Kennedy to watch him," said Faith. "He doesn't know anything to use against her.
"I'll ask her," said Cordelia, "and I'll warn her about what he's like." Cordelia started to leave the room to go to the basement.
"Any word from Willow?" Faith asked Cordelia as she left.
"She's in San Francisco," replied Cordelia. "Her e-mail said she'd be here in a couple of days." Cordelia continued on her way to the basement.
"We've got an orb of Thesulah in here somewhere," said Wesley opening the large bag that he had brought with him.
"So that'll just leave us to deal with the Beast and the darkness, those guys looking to kill the slayers and gazillions of vampires and evil demons," said Lorne. "Things are looking up." The odd thing was he really meant it.
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In a street in LA near the warehouse where the Beast had last been seen three flashes of light appeared. They dissolved to reveal Tara with Willow, Leo with Piper and Paige with Phoebe.
"This is the place," said Paige. "It came out of that warehouse. Let's check it out."
The six walked over to the warehouse. Leo and the sisters went inside. Willow and Tara remained on guard outside.
"Did your elders or Leo say anything else about the First Evil?" asked Willow. "Like what it is and how to destroy it."
"They said it's always been here and it can't be destroyed. Something woke it up recently. They don't know how to put it back to sleep," said Tara.
"Oh my god!" said Willow. "It must have been me, when I...I..." Willow put her hands over her mouth. In all the euphoria of having Tara back Willow had forgotten to say anything about what she had done after Tara died. She'll hate me she thought. She'll leave...
"I know all about what you did," said Tara taking hold of Willow's hands. "The Halliwells don't blame you and nor do I. What you did, you did under enormous stress. Temporary insanity in legal terms is how Paige put it. That wasn't you Will, that was the dark magic, and the only people to be killed were two evil people who used dark magic and dark science to harm other people."
"But what about the First Evil?" asked Willow. "Was it what I did that woke it up?"
"The elders don't know what woke it up this time but it wasn't you. It's been awake a few times before when the barriers between dimensions have been weak," explained Tara. "The elders think it's been active this time for about eighteen months or so. I think it was that portal that Glory had opened that gave it the chance to do what it's doing."
Willow uttered a sigh of relief. "So it's nobody's fault. I mean it was Glory who was to blame for opening the portal. We had to stop Glory or none of us would be here now," she said. She sounded sure but Tara knew she still needed reassurance, so she hugged her again and kissed her on the cheek.
Suddenly Willow became aware that they were being watched. She turned suddenly to see a vaguely familiar African-American man and a shorter dark haired, not to say hot, leather clad white woman walking towards them from a car across the road.
"It's Willow right?" Gunn asked. "I'm Gunn, Charles Gunn. We met briefly a year or so ago when you came to see Angel. This is Gwen."
Willow suddenly held a crucifix first against Gunn and then against Gwen. They didn't flinch. "Sorry," she said but you can't be too careful."
"You're one of those appearing, disappearing women who were here a little while ago," Gunn said to Tara.
"This is Tara," said Willow. "She's a witch like me."
"Yes, we can see she likes you," said Gwen.
The Halliwells and Leo came out of the warehouse and explained the Beast was not there anymore. After a round of introductions Gunn explained that the Beast had followed them away from the warehouse. They had shaken it off and had then come back to try to keep an eye on it.
"We don't know....wow," said Piper as she spotted the Beast running down the street towards them.
Gwen surprised everyone present except Gunn by whipping off a glove and firing a strong, prolonged lightning bolt into the Beast. This staggered him and he stopped, but didn't fall down.
"That's all I've got for a while so you guys better be able to do something," said Gwen.
The Halliwell sisters were now stood together chanting their Power of Three spell to destroy the Beast. Meanwhile Willow blocked the Beast by holding her thicken spell. Even so the Beast began to slowly advance upon them.
Gunn heard a noise behind him. He turned to see three vampires running at them. Quickly joined by Leo and Gwen he laid into them. Suddenly from behind him he heard a very loud, deep voiced scream followed by a bang as the Beast exploded. To his disappointment the darkness remained. Despite this the vampire in front of him exploded, followed by the two others as Piper turned her power on them.
"Now that's what I call witch power," said Gwen, impressed by the Halliwells and Piper's power in particular.
"Hey guys, no more Beast," said Gunn. "That's great. Pity we've still got the darkness." he said. "Can you do anything about that?"
Tara smiled at him. "Just wait until tomorrow," she said.
Gunn looked momentarily puzzled.
"It's night-time," explained Gwen.
"And some of us have got to work tomorrow," said Phoebe. "Keep in touch," she said to Willow and Tara.
"I hope it works out OK," said Tara smiling at Phoebe.
Everybody said their goodbyes. Willow and Tara agreed to go with Gunn and Gwen back to the Hyperion to see what they could do about Angelus. Leo and the Halliwells orbed back to the manor.
"Hope what works out OK?" asked Paige as she arrived home with Phoebe.
"Some people are just too perceptive," muttered Phoebe in reply.
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It was true, the Turok-Han was leading a posse of Bringers towards the house, giving every indication of expecting to be able to come in. "Are you sure..," started Giles intending to ask Anya about what she said about the Turok-Han being able to come in but she was no longer there.
"She's outside," said Vi. "She just disappeared and now she's outside."
Anya's sudden appearance outside in front of the door to the Summers House surprised the Turok-Han and his followers. A Turok-Han however didn't do a lot of thinking. He'd been ordered to enter the house and kill everybody there and that's just what he intended to do. He started towards the house again.
Anya stepped forward and hit the vampire sending him flying back into the crowd of Bringers. Three of the bringers went down with the Turok-Han on top of them. As he struggled to get up again two crossbow bolts slammed into him. Both bolts found his heart and he turned to dust.
Anya glanced to either side and saw Dawn and Annabelle, standing beside her reloading their bows. They were quickly joined by Giles with his axe and Vi with her sword. The Bringers were now totally confused and they quickly became more so as Dawn and Annabelle fired at them.
One of the Bringers went down with a bolt in the head, another was wounded by being hit in the arm. He and the other Bringers fled in panic. Vi started to give chase but Giles pulled her back. "Stay here," he ordered. "Don't give them the chance to ambush us. We'll stay put until Buffy gets back."
"What about the dead one?" asked Annabelle. "He didn't turn to dust."
"We can't leave him in the front garden for the police to find," said Dawn.
Anya suddenly gasped and Giles looked up from examining the dead Bringer. Giles had never seen the distinctive looking demon who now stood in front of the house before but Dawn had. "D'Hoffryn!" she said.
"Such a pity," said D'Hoffryn directing his remarks to Anya. "You were the best you know Anyanka, so creative."
"So why didn't you give me another amulet when my first one was destroyed?" Anya asked.
"Because you were stale," replied D'Hoffryn. "You never would have let a human destroy your amulet when you were at your peak. You know how it works. You appreciate something better if you have to do without it for a while. I never intended to lose you for good."
"Well you've lost me for good now," said Anya. "You couldn't resist playing your games, even with your own people. Well you've played your last game."
"What makes you think that?" asked D'Hoffryn. "The game's only just started."
Suspecting that all was not as it seemed Dawn fired a bolt at D'Hoffryn. It went right through him. "It's The First," she said. "It's not really D'Hoffryn."
"That's what I thought," said Anya. "I killed D'Hoffryn last night." Dawn and Giles stared at Anya in surprise.
"For which I thank you Anyanka," said The First/D'Hoffryn. "It makes everything so much easier." With that The First disappeared.
"What did he mean by that?" asked Vi, worried.
"It's trying to mess with our minds," said Giles going back to the dead Bringer. "Let's take this body out the back."
"Phew, it's already starting to smell bad," said Annabelle.
"It'll be gone in a couple of hours," said Anya. "Demon hybrids like that don't last long after you kill them."
"You mean all those dead demon bodies we helped Buffy to bury, we didn't need to?" asked Dawn somewhat miffed.
"No, what Anya said doesn't hold true for most demons," explained Giles. "Anyway we needed to bury them. It's never a good ideal to leave demon bodies around for anybody to stumble across, even for a few hours." explained Giles.
"Shouldn't the slayer be back by now?" asked Annabelle sounding a little worried.