Original of the Species Part 3 (BtVS/DBZ/SG1)

[Muad'zin]

Chapter 5

‘Know Your Enemy’




AN: I think I must have written this chapter in a week. A new personal record. When you’re in the zone time flies when you’re writing. Anyway, the set up has been completed, the game’s finally afoot!




A day minus 250



It was weird being in space.

Ever since stepping through the Giant Sliding Thingy Buffy had this ever increasing feeling of unease. And it wasn’t related to that stupid dream she just had again. At least this time she didn’t scream waking up. For Jonesy was growing ever more nosey.

No, it was a combination of queasiness in her stomach, like she was always on the verge of throwing up, and this throbbing feeling in her head, like she was alternating between the mother of all headaches and a bout dizziness like she had just spent three hours non stop on a swiveling office chair.

She had talked it over with Belmo and he came to the conclusion that it might have something to do with her being the Slayer and that it was somehow linked to Earth itself. Somehow it didn’t like being away from Earth. It would explain why no Slayers had ever emerged on the various human cultures and planets in space. Even though logic would have it that whoever had transplanted these humans also nabbed some of the potentials that lived amongst them.

She sat up on her bunk and rested her head on her hands as she tried to come to terms with her ill being. Luckily these Goolds had some good travel medicine. She reached for another of those pills. They didn’t take away the symptoms, but they did take the edge.

The door to the small room opened and Jonesy popped his head.

“Selmak says we’re almost there,” he said, “and O’Neill says to get ready.”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard it,” Buffy said dismissively. It wasn’t that she disliked the guy, quite the opposite in fact, it was more like the guy had a crush on her or something. Forever following her around like a puppy. And that was getting tiresome.

“Are you alright?” Jonesy asked with that concerned puppy face of his, “Did you have another nightmare.”

“On the contrary, I slept like a baby,” Buffy lied as she reached for one of her big ass army boots. There better not be any pictures of her in this cumbersome army gear because she would be forced to kill whoever took those pictures. Some fashion sins were just too great to be forgiven.

“A funny expression, sleeping like a baby,” Jonesy smiled, “for a baby sleeps most of the day, and you just had a few….”


Buffy stopped dressing and gave him a stern look.

“Now what did we talk about sometimes a cigar just being that?” she said chiding.

“I understand,” Jonesy nodded, then he pointed behind, “If you like, there’s still some food left.”

“A Saiyan had his fill and there’s still some food left?” Buffy said incredulously as she reached for her other boot, “It’s the end of the world as we know it.”

“I didn’t know people could eat so much,” Jonesy said shaking his head.

“Oh, Jonesy,” Buffy said.

“What?”

“Shoo?” she said waving her head to tell him to go away, “Private girl stuff going to happen? Privacy much?”

“Oh,” Jonesy said as he finally took the hint. Then he closed the door behind him and walked back to the ready room.

“Is she coming?” O’Neill asked as Jonas entered the ready room.

“She, um, had, um, private girl stuff to do,” Jonas replied.

“Ah,” O’Neill said, then he began to chortle, “then we’re lucky she didn’t bring her complete wardrobe with her. What was she thinking bringing all that make up to the base.”

Then Teal’c entered the ready room.

“O’Neill,” he said, “Selmak requests your presence in the cockpit.”

“No rest for the wicked,” O’Neill sighed as he got up from the comfortable seat and followed Teal’c to the front of the space ship they were in until he emerged in the control room. There, sitting in the pilot’s seat next was the Tok’ra Selmak, also known as Jacob Carter. Next to him was the Saiyan Belmovekk and together they were studying a holographic depiction.

“What’s the problem?” O’Neill asked.

“This,” Jacob said using his Tok’ra voice as he pointed to the holographic representation of the solar system they were approaching. As it turned out the Temple of Woe was situated on the fourth planet of this solar system. The planet was even connected to the Stargate system, so direct travel shouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately the Temple of Woo was situated on the direct opposite end of the planet, another continent even. Since it was still impossible to send a usable long range transport vehicle through the gate the Tok’ra had proposed using one of their transport craft to travel to the planet and transport down directly next to the temple.

Unfortunately the planet and the solar system it was in was situated on the very edge of the Galaxy, so it had probably taken them longer to go there then it would have taken to traverse the planet if the SGC had been able to send an aircraft through the gate. Alas, despite the need for such a device the ongoing war against the Goa’uld meant that no money was available to develop such a craft.

As O’Neill studied the holographic representation of the target solar system he noticed a small symbol orbiting the fourth planet.

“Someone else is there?” he asked the Tok’ra.

“It’s a Goa’uld Ha’tak,” Selmak said.

“They have beaten us to this planet,” the Saiyan said, “fortunately our Tok’ra ally has informed me that this ship carries a cloaking device, so we may avoid detection.”

“But it means we would have to take a different approach,” Selmak said as he touched the hologram and drew a line to the fourth planet, “unfortunately it will take us longer to reach our destination. Even with the cloak I cannot risk a direct approach.”

“Swell,” O’Neill muttered annoyed.





A day minus 249



A long snakelike appendage wrapped itself around Faith’s neck and squeezed the life out of her.

“Hello Faith,” was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

Only to wake again in a moving car.

“Huh,” Faith muttered as she opened her eyes and looked around herself.

“Having a bit of a nightmare, love,” Spike said to her left.

“I’m fine,” Faith said as she looked outside to the passing countryside.

“You didn’t look fine,” Spike replied, then he resumed his own blank stare to the outside.


Despite Spike’s newly found ability to endure the sunlight it was decided to take a night flight to Pittsburgh instead and from there take a rental car to Cleveland. Direct personal flight was ruled out because Willow couldn’t fly and if this Initiative was some shady branch of government then who knows if they could keep track of flying people or magical portals.

The ride to Cleveland was uneventful. The closer they came to Cleveland, the more Spike withdrew in himself and stopped bickering with Xander, the driver. For which Faith was profoundly grateful. Except now the banter was more between Xander and Red as the two sat up front and continued to make private small talk. Even now discussing which Doctor Who theme was the best. In a way it suited the loner inside Faith.

On the other hand it made her feel like the third wheel on their car. Except in this case there was also the fourth wheel Spike. But he wasn’t turning much.

Being left alone meant that Faith had now plenty of time to contemplate these weird dreams she was having. She still hadn’t told anyone. Because they were weird and strange at first. And now because the only person whom she wanted to tell wasn’t here.

God did she miss Green Jolly.

As they neared Cleveland via interstate 80 Xander glanced briefly over his shoulder.

“I suggest we find ourselves a motel on the outskirts and use that as a base of operations,” he suggested.

“Fine,” Faith replied, “You’ll do that, I’ll go out and see if I can dig something up.”

Xander glanced over his shoulder again.

“That’s not why we’re here,” he said, “we should work together as a team.”


“And I’ll do that,” Faith countered, “I’ll let you know what I come up with.”

“Not going to happen that way, Faith,” Xander said unrelenting.

“You suck,” Faith said annoyed.

“I second that,” Spike spoke up.

“Second this!” Xander said as he gave Spike the finger.






After they had checked in a motel Xander let himself fall down on a bed. After the all night flight and drive he felt exhausted and he figured it would be best to wait. Besides now that it was morning he didn’t think there would be many demons out there for them to question. So this was the time to catch some sleep.

Willow on the other hand used some magic to dispel her need for sleep and logged in on the internet with her computer. Barring the occasional toilet and snack break that meant she was lost to humanity for the rest of the day.

That left only Spike as a companion to talk with for Faith. To bad it turned that Mr. Big Bad Ass Bleached Blonde vampire was addicted to daytime soaps. Especially one called Passions which was so god awfully bad Faith felt her IQ drop just by being in the same room with the television.

Unfortunately for her she was also so god awfully bored she sat down on the same bed as Spike to watch the series with him. Lucky for her now that he was watching his favorite soap Spike became more talkative. Especially as he came to the realization that he had missed several months worth of episodes.

“What, Jane’s with Jeff now?” he exclaimed, “She can’t be with Jeff, she hated him!”

“Why can’t she be with him?” Faith asked, “They seem pretty chummy now.”

“He ruined her relationship with Tom,” Spike said gesturing to the TV, “How stupid can you be if you hook up with the guy that sabotaged your previous relationship with…., what do you mean she’s pregnant with his kid. Aaaahhh! This makes no sense!”

“My thoughts exactly,” Faith sighed bored.

But despite his dismay Spike did not change the channel and continued watching his soaps. In the end Faith let herself lay down on the bed and decided to try and get some sleep. Having another nightmare seemed by now preferable to watching Spike’s soaps. Even though she was well versed in having watched tons of daytime TV when she still stayed in that motel in Sunnydale, even she didn’t stoop as low as watching daytime soaps. She found the daytime talkshows and their endless parade of freaks, cheaters and big chested strippers to be far more entertaining. After all, there was always a chance to see a good nasty cat fight happening over some double dating trailer park loser.

Uncharacteristically she didn’t dream the dream again and awoke at 02:00 PM from an uneventful sleep. Which was nicely refreshing for a change. As she did she found Spike still glued to the TV set and Willow to her laptop. Xander on the other hand was gone. Seeing his bed empty she felt anger rise at Xander having ditched her when the door opened and Xander walked in carrying bags of Mickey D.

“I come bearing food,” he said as he held up a large selection of paper bags. He put one bag next to Willow, who hardly even noticed it and dumped another in Spike’s lap.

“What? No blood?” the vampire complained but Xander shrugged indifferent.

“You’ve got an infinite energy reactor built inside you,” he said and nodded towards their duffel bags, “and there is still some pigs blood left. Be glad I got you something.”

“It’s goddamn Mc Donalds,” Spike complained, “Couldn’t you have gone to the Colonel for some spicy chicken wings?”

“See my last reply,” Xander said and dumped the remainder on his bed, then he gave four bags to Faith, “Here, have some too.”

Faith peered in the bag and looked at its content.

“Don’t tell me you’re suddenly a gourmet connoisseur as well,” Xander said as he opened a Big Mac carton.

“No,” Faith said, continuing to look into the bag, “It’s just that……, I’ve been living in the woods for nearly six months.”

“So you’re no longer used to fast food?” Xander asked, before biting into his big mac.

“No,” Faith said as she took out a cheeseburger and carefully unwrapped it, peering at the greasy thing, “it’s just….., if you live on healthy food for six months straight all you can think off after a while is fast food. You start to dream of cheeseburgers. Every round object becomes a pizza, you forget the taste of a milkshake.”

“So eat then,” Xander burped after having devoured his big mac.

“Yeah, but if you dreamed of fast food for so long you kinda don’t believe you’re holding the real thing in your hands.”

Then Faith sank her teeth into the cheeseburger and she closed her eyes.

“I’m in heaven,” she said dreamily.

“You’re both nuts,” Spike muttered, then he opened his carton of chicken nuggets.





Despite a day’s worth of virtual investigations Willow came up short as she presented her findings.

“Whoever did their computer security, he’s really good,” Willow said as she nibbled on a burger, “There is not a shred of evidence of something called the Initiative on the internet and government databases.”

“Doesn’t that mean that it doesn’t exist?” Xander asked but Willow shook her head.

“It does exist,” Willow replied as she brought up a screen full of data that meant absolutely nothing to Xander, “the moment I even typed in the name Initiative I got flagged by at least half a dozen of ‘Agents’. So it does mean something to somebody.”

“Agents?” Faith asked.

“You know,” Willow said, “Agents. Guardian programs meant to track down hackers. Like in the Matrix. I think two of them were magical in nature.”

“You mean you let them track you down to this motel?” Spike asked nervously. Upon which Willow gave him a dirty look.

“How stupid do you think I am?” she asked, “Of course I didn’t let them track me. I never go online without using at least six proxy relays to hide myself. I doubled that for this. And I have my own ‘Agents’ to protect me. And I sent ‘tracker’ programs out to find out how those ‘Agents’ work and from where. At least two “Agents’ seem to come from servers located in the Cleveland area.”

“So you think we’re in the right place?” Xander asked.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you I came from here?” Spike said, but Xander ignored him.

“It looks like it,” Willow said as she brought up an internet page, “I’ve found at least three sites that mention a large underground bunker system underneath Cleveland from the Cold War, but there is no mention of it anywhere in the official records.”

“Could that just be because there is nothing?” Faith asked, but Willow shook her head.

“I don’t think so,“ she said confidently, “there is a lot of indirect evidence that somebody went to great lengths to remove all evidence of this bunker system. And that even fake records were planted in some cases.”

“Sometimes you have to find something by the lack of evidence it leaves behind,” Xander said almost absentmindedly, then he looked at Spike, “Too bad you don’t remember much of your escape. Of where you got out.”

“Not my fault,” Spike muttered aggrieved, “I had other things on my mind at the time.”

“At least two of the sites mention that it was situated near the university,” Willow said and brought up a student message board on her laptop, “Cleveland State University, not the other one. And there are some messages that mention seeing masked men at night. So something is most definitely going on here.”

“Thanks Will,” Xander said as he put his hand on her shoulder, “good job.”

“I’m not done yet,” Willow said as she reversed her laptop so only she could look at it, “I’m going to run a search on people who could be working for this Initiative. There are only so many qualified people who can do what’s been done to Spike. And if they dropped off the radar thenthey must work for this Initiative.”

“Even better thinking, Will,” Xander said impressed, then he turned to Faith, “Come, let’s go hit the town and shake up some of the underground.”

“Finally,” Faith said as she reached for her jacket.

“Let’s go,” Spike said as he reached for the TV to try and switch it off.

“Oh no you don’t,” Xander said as he stopped Spike’s hand, “Go watch some more of your soaps because your undead ass is not leaving this room.”

“I’m not staying here while little Miss Muffit leads the search hounds here with her snooping around,” Spike protested as he pointed towards Willow, “No offense, Red.”

“And I’m not taking you around Cleveland in plain sight,” Xander countered, “so sit down, fangless, and watch your soaps cause you’re staying here.”

“I’ll run away,” Spike muttered aggrieved, “I’m not staying here till the white hats arrive.”

“Oh, did I forget to mention it?” Xander said as he picked a small device from his pocket, “while she was busy servicing you Bulma gave me a transmitter. If you run away I’ll press it and your beacon will transmit again. Not only will I be able to find you, so will they.”

Spike’s face turned angry, then he turned as white as a ghost.

“You bastards!” he shouted, “How dare…., you wouldn’t?”

“Oh, I would,” Xander said deadpan, “if only to save us the trouble of finding them while they take you back to their base.”

“Ohh,” Spike said fuming, then he sat down on the bed, “I won’t forget this, Droopy.”

“If only we’re so lucky,” Xander sighed, then he and Faith walked out of the door.

“Do you really have a remote for that thing?” Faith asked as Xander walked to their rental car.

“Catch!” Xander said as he threw her something. As she caught it she saw it was the device Xander had used to intimidate the vampire.

“Press it,” Xander smiled, causing Faith to look at him like he had lost his mind.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, “what about the beacon?”

“Press it,” Xander insisted, “Otherwise we won’t be leaving.”

Against her better judgment Faith pressed the button.

“Beep peep.”

With two beeps the locks on the rental car were unlocked, causing Faith to stare at the device in her hand, then at Xander.

“Told ya we wouldn’t be leaving until you pressed it,” Xander grinned then he held out his hand, “can I have it back?”

“You bluffed him with the car’s locking system?” Faith said as she threw the car’s remote key back to Xander.

“Had to use something,” Xander said as he stepped into the car, “I asked Bulma if it were possible but she didn’t have enough time. Someday, but not today.”

“Clever,” Faith said admiringly as she sat down next to him, “So where are we going?”

“I know a couple of places,” Xander replied and started the car.

As they drove off the motel parking lot Faith suddenly sighed.

“I miss Oz.”

Xander glanced at Faith.

“I miss the little guy too,” he said slightly melancholically, “You know it was his idea that helped restore Angela? Up to a point I guess, but that wasn’t his fault. You two were close, right?”

“Like family,” Faith nodded, “I wi… I wouldn’t mind if he were here.”

“You remembered,” Xander said, pointing a finger at Faith, “and just in time. But yeah, I wouldn’t mind having him along. I miss the guy talk mostly. Don’t get me wrong, Riley has his moments, but he’s older. Practically a baby boomer. He don’t half get all the jokes Oz did. Plus he’s military, half his conversations go about soldier stuff. The other half about how much he likes Buffy. So as you can imagine he’s not exactly the most stimulating conversationalist.”

“So what happened?” Faith asked, “I know they broke up, over some werewolf thing.”

“I dunno,” Xander sighed, “There was this werewolf pheromone thingy going on and….. “

Xander stopped talking for a moment and looked aside.

“You know what I think?” he finally said, “There’s a time and a place for everything. And I think Willow’s and Oz’s time was just up. The Big Guy once told me that these Necessities, well, at least the good one, that once you have served your purpose you are allowed to go and have your quiet time under the sun. I like to think that Oz served his purpose and now he’s allowed to have his quiet time. Unfortunately that means he has to go as far away from us as possible.”

“Why’s that?” Faith asked curious, “Why couldn’t he and Red live happily ever after?”

Xander gave her a strange look.

“I thought you knew?” he said, “Only bad shit happens to us. Just when you think you get a lucky break the universe takes an even bigger dump on you. Just look at Angela. She’s the kindest soul I’ve ever met and look what happened to her. She sold her body to save my life when she should have run. Trust me, Oz’s the smart one. He got out in time.”

“You ran away, remember,” Faith countered, “From what I gathered it didn’t help you much.”

“That’s because I’m a marked man,” Xander said gloomily, “I’m marked for death.”

“Christ,” Faith exclaimed, “Who are you and where’s Xander buried? You were the cheerful one. If you’re like that, why haven’t you slid your throat yet? What makes you get up in the morning?”

Xander thought it over for a moment before he replied.

“Vengeance.”





”A strip club?” Faith said incredulously as they entered the place Xander had taken her, “I never figured you as a fan of the burlesque.”

“Are you kidding?” Xander replied as he checked out the place, “I’m a young man in the prime of his life whose not getting any, this place is perfect for me. I used to dream of the day until I was legal enough to come here.”

Faith wanted to say something when it hit her. Xander wasn’t getting any, even though he had a girl living with him. He really was just taking care of her.

“So why are we really here?” she asked as she ogled a passing stripper with het tits hanging out.

“I know a guy here,” Xander said as he strained his neck trying to find someone, “but he doesn’t appear to be here.”

“People could change their watering holes, you know,” Faith said, “and this town certainly has a lot more of them then Sunnydale.”

“Not if you happen to own the joint and like to watch some hot human ass,” Xander replied as he looked some more.

“Ah,” Faith said as she finally understood, “I take it this guy’s not of the homo sapiens variety?”

“Good guess,” Xander said, “maybe he’s out on business. Let’s ask the barman.”

The two moved over to the bar where they hopped onto a chair.

“What can I get you two,” the barman asked.

“A beer,” Faith immediately said, then she turned to face Xander, “What? You try living in the jungle for six months and see if you don’t start dreaming of beer.”

The barman eyed her suspiciously, then he shrugged and pulled out a cold one.

“You know, with your looks you could make a lot of money,” he said as he handed her the beer.

“So I’ve been told,” Faith grinned as she reached for her beer, “But I’m just passing through.”

“Lots of them are just passing through,” the barman smiled back as he nodded towards the stage, then he looked at Xander, “And what can I get you?”

“That depends,” Xander said, “I’m looking for someone.”

“Aren’t we all?” the barman replied leaning on the bar, “Look, I have to tell you dude, you can watch the girls for free but we do have a one drink minimum.”

“I’m looking for Xichulub,” Xander said.

The barman raised an eyebrow and stopped leaning on the counter. Then he reached for a cleaning cloth and began to clean the counter.

“I don’t know any Xichulub,” the barman said evasively.

“Sure you do,” Xander pressed on, “large fat guy, likes the ladies. Has a bit of a skin problem that makes him look a little less human and a little more…… demony?”

The barman gave him a stare.

“You’re talking nonsense,” he said as he stopped cleaning, “There is no such guy. And certainly no one who fits your description.”

“Come on,” Xander said as he held up both hands, “You and I know how the world really works. Guy owns the place, usually sits over there with his two demon bodyguards.”

The barman leaned over and looked Xander in the eyes.

“Look, mister, I don’t know any guy by that name, nor do I know of demon bodyguards. Fat Tony owns the place and I think you should leave,” he said, then he turned to Faith as well, “That goes for the both of you.”

“I haven’t even finished my beer,” Faith protested.

“Then drink up and leave,” the barman said and pointed towards the door, “Don’t make me call security. And you still owe me three bucks for the beer.”

“Here,” Xander said as he slammed a five dollar bill on the counter, “keep the change.”

Faith took one last swig from her bottle then she put the bottle down and got off the bar stool.

“Just so you know,” she said defiantly, “you guys couldn’t even afford me if you tried.”

Then they both left and exited the place.

“That was fruitful,” Faith said as they reached their rental car, “That was your big contact? Your claim to fame for coming to Cleveland?”

“Can it,” Xander said annoyed as he rested his arms on the roof of their car, “Something must have happened to him. A gang war or something.”

“Oh, no,” Faith said sarcastically, “You think so?”

“Guy mentioned Fat Tony, that was his rival,” Xander said.

“He a demon too?” Faith asked.

“Nah,” Xander said shaking his head, “Human, but he’s connected. He and Xichulub ran illegal fights between humans and demons. He supplied the demons. Talk about irony.”

“Then we go and have a chat with him,” Faith said as she opened her car door.

“I suppose,” Xander said sullen.

He was about to get in the car when they heard something.

“Pssst,” a soft voice said, causing the both of them to turn their heads.

A girl, by the looks of her skimpy attire underneath her coat one of the club’s strippers, emerged from between the other cars.

“Are you Xander?” the girl asked wearily as she eyed her surroundings, “You look like him. I think I saw you the last time you were here.”

“I am,” Xander replied, “Are you okay? It’s cold and…”

“I grew up here,” the girl said, “I’ll be fine. I have a message for you.”

She handed him over a slip a paper. On it was a phone number.

“You can call Xichs at that number,” she said and turned around to go back inside.

“Wait,” Xander called out after her, “What the hell happened?”

“Bad stuff happened,” the girl said, “and then Fat Tony took over. If he knows I’m talking to you…..”

“I understand,” Xander said nodding sympathetically, “go back inside.”

“I don’t get it,” Faith said to the girl, “Why do you do this? What’s in it for you? This Xichub, Fat Tony? Aren’t they all the same?”

The girl smiled fondly.

“Xichs was good to us, he was nice to me. Fat Tony only cares about the money.”

“Wow, a faithful stripper,” Faith said after the girl disappeared inside again, “Now I’ve seen everything.”

“What can I say,” Xander shrugged, then he pulled forth his cell phone, “Xichulub really likes the ladies. And they seem to like him.”





“It does not make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?” the Tok’ra Selmak asked.

Ever since emerging from hyperspace Selmak had taken his Tok’ra shuttle on a long approach to the fourth planet from the opposite direction to avoid detection from the lone Ha’tak cruiser in orbit of that planet.

“If this weapon is of such great importance to Anubis, why send out just a lone Ha’tak?” Belmovekk said.

They were all gathered in the shuttle’s control room, except for Buffy who was doing some training in the cargo bay, together with Teal’c. And Jonas watching her of course.

“Because he wants to keep things a secret?” O’Neill said, “It is after all something secret he’s after. When you don’t want people to know what you’re doing you don’t send out a carrier battle group when a single frigate will suffice.”

Belmovekk gave O’Neill a glare.

“He is a Goa’uld, Commander. They do not do subtle.”

“He got you there, Jack,” the Tok’ra grinned in his normal voice, “If a Goa’uld wants something, he will more often then not do send out a carrier battle group when that frigate would suffice.”

“Shouldn’t the Ha’tak be running a CAP or something?” Sam asked, “It just sits there doing nothing.”

“She’s right,” a voice, heavily laden with overtones said. As Belmovekk looked around he found himself on yet another place in his memories. In this case the bridge of the Pride of Amūn. As he turned around he say himself sitting in the command chair. In gold armor of course.

“Do not mistake Anubis for a simple Systemlord,” his double’s voice said, laded with harmonic overtones, “He will do subtle if he has too. And if it means acquiring a hidden Galaxy conquering super weapon through stealth he will.”

“Then why do I feel so ill at ease?” Belmovekk asked the Goa’uld that was inside his mind, “Something is wrong.”

The Goa’uld leaned forward from his command chair.

“Maybe its because you brought her along?” Amūn said, “She clouds your judgment. Makes you doubt yourself when you should be focused on your mission. It happened before, remember? When you took Mayan on that ill-fated campaign.”

Belmovekk took a step towards his Goa’uld double.

“Be careful where you thread, little worm, one day your sharp tongue will see you expunged.”

“Doubtful,” Amūn shrugged unimpressed, “If you wanted too you would have done so long ago. Admit it, Saiyan, you like our little talks, besides, do I not prove my worth to you every time?”

The Goa’uld pushed a button on his command chair and a holographic screen came into view, one that depicted the solar system they were currently in.

“The major is right,” Amūn said as he pointed to the Ha’tak orbiting the fourth planet, “they should be running at least a token CAP. That they’re not doing so means either gross incompetence or that something’s wrong. I would not count on incompetence on the part of Anubis. For no matter how much I dislike him, incompetent he is not.”





Xander halted the car somewhere in North Collinwood, close to Lake Erie. He and Faith got out and walked to one of the homes, where he rang the bell. Eventually the door was opened by a man who looked at them suspiciously.

“We don’t buy at the door,” the man said bluntly and wanted to close the door again.

“I’m expected,” Xander said and held up his drivers license, “I’m Xander Harris.”

The man peered at the drivers license intently, then he looked down the street left and right before opening the door.

“Come in,” he said curt and stepped aside to let Xander in. Then he ogled Faith for a moment, “Who’re you?”

“She’s with me,” Xander said.

“The boss no longer entertains girls,” the man said, not sure if to let Faith pass.

“As I said, she’s with me,” Xander said, this time more blunt himself, “She ain’t for him.”

Finally deciding it was better to let her in then draw attention outside the man let Faith in as well.

“Come,” the man said and let them into the house. He opened a door and pointed to the stairs going down.

“There,” he said.

Xander followed the stairs and emerged in the basement.

“Xander, my good friend,” Xichulub, the fat demon said cheerfully as he saw Xander enter his basement.

“Xichulub,” Xander said as the fat demon embraced him in a hug, “I see you got this college stoner basement thing going nowadays.”

Xander was referring to the basement which looked like some sloppy college student was living here. A Bob Marley poster and a five pointed marihuana leaf poster completed the look.

“Well, yeah, you know, gotta keep up appearances,” the fat demon said looking around the place, “after all, this is my world now.”

“I heard Fat Tony moved in on your empire?” Xander said, but Xichulub didn’t respond. Instead he leered admiringly at Faith as she entered the basement.

“Hubba, hubba, hubba,” Xichulub said admiring the view. Faith in response gave him an unimpressed look.

“This is your contact?” she said to Xander.

“Faith, meet Xichulub,” Xander said gesturing towards the fat demon, “Xichulub, meet Faith.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Xichulub smiled as he all but drooled over the dark Slayer, “Hello, where has Xander been hiding you for all this time?”

Faith gave him a quick look over in return.

“See this fist?” she said as she held up her left hand, “Do you have any idea how much pain it would suffer if I were put it through your skull? I’ll give you a hint. None.”

“Ooh, she’s feisty, Xichulub said as he clapped his hands together in glee, “I like feisty.”

“Zip it, Corndog,” Xander said as he pulled back the fat demon, “She’s with me.”

“I never get to have any fun these days,” Xichulub said mournfully, then he walked to a small fridge in the corner of the room, “where are my manners? Can I get you something?”

“What do you have?” Xander asked as he went to the couch and threw off some dirty clothes to make room for them to sit on.

“I got everything as long as its Coke, orangeade and Coors,” the fat demon replied.

“What, no Snapple?” Xander said surprised, “I thought you loved that stuff?”

“Unfortunately Fat Tony also knows that,” Xichulub replied, “The key to going successfully underground is to completely change your habits. So no more Snapple for me, I’m afraid.”

“Interesting strategy,” Xander remarked as he sat down, “I’ll have orangeade.”

“A beer,” Faith said.

Xichulub took out two cans and threw one each to Xander and Faith.

“So,” Xander said as he popped the can open, “the mighty Xichulub, owner of half of Cleveland, reduced to a cellar in the burbs. How did this happen?”

“A combination of things, really,” Xichulub said as he took a can of Coca Cola for himself, “It started several months ago. A few demons began to disappear. Nothing special. Then the pace picked up and before we knew it both Fat Tony’s and my organization were also hit. I just had the bad luck that I had more demons then he had. And more of them were lieutenants. As my organization began to suffer, his suffered less. So he took advantage of the changing status quo and decided the city was no longer big enough for the both of us.”

“Did you find out who was behind the abductions?” Xander asked.

“They looked like men, dressed in army uniforms,” the fat demon said as he popped open his can, “But that doesn’t mean anything. There are plenty of army surplus stores where you can get uniforms.”

“So you don’t think they were soldiers then?” Xander asked before taking a swig from his can.

Xichulub thought it over for a moment.

“I’m not sure,” he finally said, “On the one hand they moved and operated with military precision. On the other hand, I saw them take on my bodyguards, and you’ve fought one of them. You have to be pretty good to take them on and they took them on like they were nothing.”

“So they weren’t human?” Xander asked, “So they were they demons?”

“I couldn’t see their faces,” Xichulub said, “they were wearing ski masks.”

“Could they be vampires?” Faith asked, still standing by the stairs, “After all, they look human, but with greater strength.”

Xichulub shot Faith a frowning look.

“If they were vampires Fat Tony and me would have snuffed them out before it got out of hand, honey. Trust me, we know how to deal with vampires. Even organized ones. And besides, Guy and Fredo fought them when they attacked me. I let Fredo fight Xander here to find out if the kid’s a vampire. He can sniff them out. They weren’t.”

“Speaking of Fredo,” Xander asked, “where’s the guy?”

“Dunno,” Xichulub said as he looked away, “Probably dead or captured. When they attacked me I didn’t stay around to wait for the outcome.”

“You left your body guards behind?” Faith said incredulously, “How very….. ‘noble’ of you.”

“Hey, risk of the trade,” Xichulub shrugged unrepentant, “that’s why I’m still alive and free. And they got paid handsomely for it I might add.”

“If you call this being free,” Xander said as he eyed the basement, “Damn, and I thought my dingy dungeon used to be bad.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure it beats where they took all the others,” Xichulub said as he walked over to Xander and sat down next to him, “Where were you, man? When the shit hit the fan I tried to contact you but you looked like you had dropped off the Earth. I knew you were after somebody to help you cross into other realities but I didn’t think you’d actually succeed.”

Xander took another swig from his can and shrugged.

“Well, I got the scars to prove that I did.”

Then Xichulub grinned impishly.

“Heard that you hooked up with that nice porn chick, Madison Lane, she dropped out of sight the same time you did. You two still together?”

“You could say that,” Xander said slightly uncomfortable but Xichulub didn’t seem to notice it.

“Oh boy, hot porn star sex, that’s living the life,” the demon said wistfully.

“Once you get it it’s not what it’s cracked up to be,” Xander said.

“Ain’t that the truth with everything you desire,” the fat demon replied.

“I’ll drink to that,” Xander said and he raised his can.

“Indeed,” Xichulub replied and toasted his can against Xander’s.





When Faith and Xander returned to their motel room they found Willow still at work behind her laptop.

“About bloody time,” Spike muttered, still watching TV from his bed, “Did you bring me some blood?”

“That might not be such a good idea,” Xander said as he closed the door behind them, “Not unless you want to rejoin the rest of the collection. Those guys seem to be pretty on the up and running. There’s probably not a demon left in this town. I suspect that the moment you order some pigs blood anywhere, somewhere the alarm bells will be ringing.”

“Bugger,” Spike muttered again and returned his gaze back to the television.

“Did you found out anything?” Willow asked looking up .from her laptop.

“Several months ago masked guys in uniforms and unmarked SUV’s began to kidnap demons,” Xander said as he sat down next to Willow, “And barring one or two Anne Frank wannabes there’s probably not a vampire or demon left in this place.”

“Unless it’s a vampire gang that does the kidnapping,” Faith added.

“Yeah,” Xander said rolling his eyes, “Faith here still thinks it could be some gang of vampires.”

“Hey, I still think it’s a valid theory,” Faith countered.

“Here’s one even more valid,” Xander said, “how about humans with implants like Spike? We know they’ve pulled a number on Spike, why not humans?”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Faith said pointing to Spike, “If they can jack up humans, why bother with Robospike here?”

“Hey, I’m right here, you know,” Spike spoke up.

“Good, then you heard me,” Faith said back.

“But why would they want to put implants in people?” Willow asked, “I mean, they’ve got the training Belmo gave them.”

“Because two ways are better then one?” Xander mused, “Because they want to mass produce super soldiers which they can’t using the Big Guy’s method? Because he forbade to use it here on Earth? Because there are some who don’t trust him? Remember, Will, they want us dead.”

Willow gave Xander a look almost bordering on pity.

“You’re a real ray of sunshine these days, you know that, right?” she said, “Mister Paranoid.”

“Paranoid people are harder to kill then regular people,” Xander shrugged.

Willow wanted to say something, then she changed her mind.

“We should talk to Giles,” she said and turned her laptop around.

“Teleconferencing,” Xander said incredulously, “since when did Giles join us in the 21st century?”

“Since the Air Force gave him a laptop and told him to be on standby,” Willow smiled, “and if they give us the means, why not use it?”

“Crafty,” Xander said admiringly.

“What?” Spike called out, “Now you’re going to transmit from here? Why not paint a big bullseye outside so they can find us.”

“Relax,” Willow said as she made the connection, “I’m using eight levels of encryption, three of them magical. There is no way they can crack that.”

“I’m not talking about your computer mumbo-jumbo, you dolt!” Spike said angry, “I’m not stupid, I know you’re good with those things. Just because you can’t eaves drop in doesn’t mean they won’t notice something important’s going on.”

Xander and Faith looked at each other, then at Willow.

“Robospike actually makes a good point,” Faith said, “the mere fact that something’s so heavily protected might alert them.”

“Thank you for noticing,” Spike said as his attention returned to the television.

Willow shook her head and sighed.

“I know what I’m doing,” she said and pointed outside, “I’m using the peer to peer file sharing traffic from twiouniversity campus’ to hid my own stream in. There are so much MP3’s and porn movies being swapped from there it would take the whole NSA to sift through that traffic and notice my stream.”

“As usual I have no idea what you’re talking about, Will, but you have my confidence,” Xander said.

“What about being paranoid?” Faith asked, “Being harder to kill?”

“I got an 130.000+ powerlevel for that,” Xander said.

Meanwhile Willow brought about the connection until a window appeared with in it Giles’ head. A little to close to the webcam then he should have.

“We’re ready,” Willow said looking over her shoulder, “There’s a slight delay though, because of the encryption and peer to peer piggy back.”

“I believe you, Will,” Xander said, then he waved at Giles in the box, “Hiya, Giles, wazzup?”

“Please, Xander, spare me,” the former librarian sighed in the box.

After the introductions were over, the exchange of information took place with Xander telling Giles what they had learned.

“It is, um interesting that you should mention your theory of augmented humans,” Giles said and reached for a piece of paper off camera, “Major Riley was here half an hour ago and he told me something, uh, equally interesting. According to him that Burns fellow made some calls to, let’s see, something called Fort Bragg. Apparently that is the place where the army trains its special forces. And according to some friend of Burns who works at the personnel office, some time ago a lot of new promising graduates were diverted to places unknown. Which, uh, according to Riley means that they’ve re-assigned to some black-ops program. And get this, most of these men were given civilian airplane tickets to Cleveland.”

Xander looked at Faith and began to smirk.

“I give up, you’ve won,” Faith said.

“I’ve found some interesting things as well,” Willow said and sent some files to Giles, “I’ve been thinking, who could be responsible for creating this technology? And then find where these people are and what they are doing now. I’ve come up with at least twelve people. And guess what, at least half of them are currently working or associated with the university of Cleveland.”

“Now that’s interesting,” Xander said as Willow brought up pictures of these people on her screen besides Giles’ window.

“This one caught my interest the most,” Willow said as she pointed to a picture of a woman, “Professor Maggie Walsh. Even though she’s currently working as a psychology professor at the Cleveland university, she’s also done extensive research in the effect of behavioral modification technology in animals. Plus, in the ‘70’s she once attended a robotics seminar from Gero itself.”

“Get the fuck out of here, Red!” Faith said, sucking in some air.

“You mean that bint’s responsible for this chip in my brai….,” Spike said as he leaned over to have a look, then he fell silent as his jaw nearly hit the floor in shock, “Tha… that’s…., that’s her!”

Spike nearly fell of his bed as he tried to put some distance between him and the image on the screen.

“That’s the bitch that…, she’s the….,” Spike stuttered pointing to the screen, “Whenever I was awake and they did things to me, she was always there. Causing pain. Always the pain.”

Spike nearly withdrew in himself as he folded his legs underneath him and began to rock back and fro.

“And….. I think Spike’s gone into Happy Happy Spike land,” Xander said as he watched the vampire come apart, almost feeling sorry for him. Almost.

“I take it that now we know Professor Walsh is involved,” Willow said.

“Fine,” Faith said as she stood up, “she’s the Wicked Witch of the East. Big deal! Why don’t we go and pay her a visit?”

“Wow,” Xander said pretending to be surprised, “I never figured you for the frontal assault type. Question though, where exactly should we pay her a visit. Spike don’t remember and Will couldn’t find the location.”

Will looked at Xander with that big goofy smile she had when she thought she had a brilliant idea.

“I could use a spell,” she smiled, “I know of several locater spells.”

“Willow have you been through my…..” Giles’ voice called from her laptop but without having to look Willow hit the mute button.

“I’ve printed out these maps Willow said as she pushed her laptop aside and spread a collection of print outs on the bed, which together formed a map of the Cleveland State University and its surroundings. Then she reached beside the bed and brought forth several bowls with herbs and powders.

“It actually scares me to notice how much preparation you’ve put into this, Will,” Xander said.

“Don’t worry,” Willow smiled dismissively, “It’s harmless. I ‘made’ it myself earlier.”

Then Willow began to perform the spell as she began to speak the incantations and use the herbs and powders.

“Artemis, I besiege thee, grant us a successful hunt and help us find our prey,” Willow said as she reached the crescendo of her spell. As Xander looked on he noticed a few pearls of sweat running down her face as she did.

But then the map lit up and a maze of corridors and rooms flickered superimposed on the map.

“That must be the underground system,” Xander said as he examined the map, “They’re in the northeast of the campus grounds, near the edge.”

“Does these look like entrances?” Willow said pointing to a couple of places on the map.

“They do,” Xander agreed, then he began to take notes, “that one seems like a good place to enter.”

The only ones not speaking were Spike, who was still withdrawn within himself, and Faith.

For Faith recognized the layout of the underground map. Well, not directly from some map she’d seen. But she did recognize the layout from a more personal level.

For she had walked through those corridors in her dream.





Standing in the temple of Woe Jonas Quinn couldn’t help but be overwhelmed. It was the largest piece of Ancient architecture that he had seen in his SG-1 career. The walls were inscribed in writings, some of it in the Ancient language, others in languages Jonas didn’t recognize.

Languages weren’t his original field of expertise. Originally he had been a physicist. But originally he was also from the nation of Kelowna on planet Langara. Both already seemed like a dream from a life long ago. Ever since he had defected to Earth Jonas had done its utmost to become part of SG-1 and join their fight against the Goa’uld. To that end he had gone to the Herculean length of schooling himself as the scholar that the team lacked after Daniel Jackson had died. Going so far as to read every book in the SGC, including Jackson’s notes.

So now he could read some of the texts he saw on the walls and what he could read didn’t put him at ease. This wasn’t a storage depot for some Ancient weapon, this was a prison.

And a prison that unfortunately seemed like its inmates had been busted out.

He could see that the Slayer also understood that. The girl was extremely jittery, like she expected hell to erupt at any moment.

Maybe that was part of being the Slayer. When the Tok’ra Selmak had told the Saiyan that there were worlds out there that still cherished the legend of the Slayer, he wasn’t lying. While on the wane Kelowna still had a sizeable portion of those who were devoted to the cult of She Who Protects. His own mother had been a devotee and when Jonas had been little she had taken him to the city of Arthedan, which was Slayer country through and through.

There he had seen the procession of Those Who Watch, the priests, as they escorted a chosen girl to the temple to become the living embodiment of She Who Protects. It was a ceremonial role, and something that was seen more and more as backwards and as insulting to women. To the young Jonas it had made a lasting impression. And while to much of a skeptic in later live to become a believer, to later learn on Earth that the legends had a base in reality had brought a lot of that early reverence back.

And while Colonel O’Neill intensely disliked the girl for her flippant behavior and dislike for the army Jonas could see right through that behavior. Because it didn’t matter if you were some super empowered girl on Earth fighting the things that go bump in the night, or just a frightened Kelownian girl being hoisted on a shield to become an object of reverence. It just plainly sucked being denied a normal life, no matter how much everybody else thought it was an honor. And some girls coped better with it then others.

On Kelowna being Chosen meant a year long term as an object of worship followed by a life long term as an object of reverence. The year long stint was easy, it was the job for life that caused many a girl to go off their rocker. Considering that Buffy Summers didn’t have to play nice, evade reporters trying to get pictures of her latest boyfriend, but instead actually fight all the stuff from human nightmares until the day she got killed, considering all that she wasn’t doing so bad. It also amazed Jonas to no small ends that O’Neill and Major Carter still hadn’t caught on to the fact that if the Slayer was real, so were all the nightmares she was supposed to fight.

As he saw her kneel down next to some of the abandoned excavation gear Jonas raised his camera and took a picture of her. Which she naturally noticed.

“You know, Jonesy, stalkers are only romantic in bad vampire movies,” she said without even glancing in his direction.

“Just a picture for my personal collection,” Jonas replied.

“’Personal’ indeed,” she snorted, then she got up and walked around nervously, like an animal sensing that danger was nearby. With her paying particular much attention to a large stone block, its purpose unclear.

Not sure what to make of it Jonas turned around and saw Teal’c walk by, equally weary. The Jaffa carried a staff gun that was so freakishly huge and absurd, it became funny again in a weird way.

At least Jonas could understand the Jaffa’s weariness. Ever since they had arrived in this solar system and found a Ha’tak battlecruiser in orbit things had gone freakishly easy. Logic dictated that if Anubis had arrived in this system and maintained such an open armed presence they should at least have had to fight their way in at some point. But to their surprise they found the Temple of Woe completely deserted. It made no sense. It also had the Colonel and the Saiyan spooked. But they at least knew the Goa’uld. The girl didn’t. She was spooked over something else and that worried Jonas far more.

Legend had it that She Who Protects was given the power of foresight. Prophetic dreams that would forewarn them of dangers to come. And Jonas had noticed that she did seem to be suffering from nightmares. What if her nightmares were the reason that she had come along? After all, it was her decision, not Belmovekk’s.

“Hey Jonas,” O’Neill’s voice called out, “Come over here.”

Jonas looked around and saw the colonel, together with the Saiyan, the Tok’ra and Sam, all standing in front of a large mural.

“Have a look at this,” the Tok’ra said as Jonas walked over, “I think this panel tells us how the Slayer can destroy this weapon.”

Jonas leaned over so he could read the text. Which was completely written in the Ancient language.

“And so it came to pass that an evil sorcerer, can’t read his name, set out to create a weapon with which to destroy the universe,” Jonas read aloud, “the, unknown. But, unknown, had to know his weapon would work so, unknown, built a prototype. When he had no more need of it he sent it to this galaxy and let it loose. Great was the devastation the, unknown, wrought until the Kaioshin came and united four races into a great alliance, The Ancients, the Asgard, the Nox and the Furlings. Only their combined power and the Kaioshin’s leadership was able to stop the, unknown. The great alliance however was unable however to destroy the, unknown, for a weapon wrought with mystical energy can only be destroyed by a warrior embued with mystical energy. The Kaioshin implored Those Who Watch to lend him the Chosen One, Whose Gift is Death, but they refused. So the Kaioshin and the great alliance set out to guard the, unknown. The Kaioshin provided the knowledge how to guard the, unknown, and the Ancients, the great builders, set forth to build this house of guard to safekeep the, unknown. Guard it well, for if the, unknown, were ever to be released again, only one like the Chosen One, Whose Gift is Death, can destroy the, unknown.”

After having read the text Jonas turned his head and looked at the Tok’ra.

“It doesn’t really tell us how she could destroy this weapon,” he said, “only that she could do it.”

“To bad Anubis already got what he wanted,” Sam remarked, “We’re too late.”

“I’m not so sure,” the Tok’ra interjected, “just look at the chaos here. Whatever Anubis unearthed, it either didn’t go as planned or he was interrupted.”

“Maybe Yi caught hold of his plans,” Colonel O’Neill suggested, then he shrugged, “Could explain why that Ha’tak is floating up there like a derelict. Nah, that would be to fortunate. It has to be something bad. For us that is.”

Jonas turned his head around and looked towards Buffy.

“Miss Summers, this panel here talks about you. It says that….., “ he said, then he came to a sudden stop.

“What?” the Slayer called back.

But as she looked at him she failed to notice the strange pink creature perched on top of the large stone block. It was small, like a twelve year old child, but it looked nothing like a twelve year old. Instead it looked more like a small predator, about to strike.

Something of the fear that showed in his face must have tipped the Slayer off because she looked up. What happened next Jonas should never have been able to see, because it happened so fast. But somehow time seemed to slow down as everything happened in slow motion.

And yet it still happened like it was being fast forwarded.

Suddenly the creature stood in front of Jonas, grinning maliciously and giving him a first row seat on the creature. It’s ink black eyes, the strange tail like appendage growing from its head, the black M-like symbol on its forehead. It was then that he understood its name.

“The Majin!” he yelled im slow motion.

Next thing he knew he was flying through the air. As he did he could see in slo-mo vision that the Majin knocked the rest of his team aside to attack the Saiyan. A glowing energy field already surrounded the Saiyan but it wasn’t enough as the Majin delivered a blow to the Saiyan’s stomach with so much force the panel behind him shattered as well. As the Saiyan buckled the Majin reached for the Saiyan’s neck and gripped him in a choke hold.

Just when it seemed like the monster would snap his neck the Slayer entered the fray, surrounded by a white field of glowing energy. She delivered a drop kick to the Majin’s head that caused the thing to let go of the Saiyan and fall back, destroying even more of the precious panels.

But there was no rest for her as the monster launched itself at her and the two began to fight all over the Temple of Woe. Meanwhile Jonas was about to come to a sudden hard stop against something very painful when he felt a pair of hands take hold of him.

“Teal’c?” Jonas said as he saw who his rescuer was.

“Come, we must see to the others,” the Jaffa said as he put him down and reached for his ridiculously large gun.

“Aren’t you going to shoot at that thing?” Jonas asked as he pointed towards the fighting creature.

“They are in a league of their own,” the Jaffa said stoically and moved towards the others. For a moment Jonas remained transfixed as he watched Buffy and the Majin fight. It was going at a pace so fast he shouldn’t even be able to see it. But somehow he still could. A delicate ballet of deadly movements.

It was at that point that Jonas finally realized why the legend of the Slayer had made such a lasting impression in so many cultures, including his own. And why he didn’t envy those girls being ‘Chosen.’ Death was indeed their gift.

“Quinn,” Teal’c’s voice called out, shaking Jonas from his reverie. Jonas ran over towards the others, for the first time noticing how great the distance was the Majin had thrown him.

“How are they?” Jonas asked as he joined Teal’c attending his team members, all groaning with pain.

“They will be fine,” the Jaffa said and pointed towards the Saiyan, “go help Satiya. We need him for Buffy Summers will not last long.”

Jonas glanced at the fighting Slayer. She seemed to be holding her own quite well so how could Teal’c say that?

But then again Teal’c had trained under the Saiyan, as a trained fighter he might have insights that a layperson like him would lack. So Jonas moved over to the Saiyan who lay on his side on the ground, resting on one arm.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he knelt next to the Saiyan. It was only then that to his surprise he noticed that the man had a tail. What had seemed like a brown furry belt around his waist turned out to be an actual tail.

“Mmmmmm,” the Saiyan moaned, sounding quite groggy. Normally Jonas would have let someone who was hit as badly as he had been have plenty of time to recover. But there was no time if Teal’c was to be believed.

“You must get up, Saiyan,” Jonas spoke softly but firmly, “Buffy Summers if fighting this thing and according to Teal’c she will lose.”

“Buffy?” the Saiyan said concerned as he looked up. Which again confirmed what they suspected, the man was absolutely fixated on the girl.

“Yes,” Jonas continued, “she’s fighting the Majin and unless you get up and intervene it will destroy her.”

It was a terrible thing to say to a person but he had to motivate the Saiyan somehow. Better to say sorry afterwards then never be able to say sorry ever again.

And it was working as the Saiyan desperately tried to get up now, ignoring his own pain. It was then that he caught his first glimpse of the Slayer fighting the Majin.

“Buffy!” he exclaimed as he reached for Jonas to steady himself. Unfortunately Jonas was anything but a steady grip for an overpowered Saiyan to steady himself on. So all that he accomplished was that he dragged Jonas down with him, causing the Kelownan to fall on top of him.

As Jonas fell on top of Belmovekk the monster took hold of Buffy’s wrists and grinned in her face.

“I still got legs you know,” Buffy said defiantly as she kicked him in the groin. Naturally however there was nothing there for her to cause him pain with. She then tried to head butt him but to no avail either. It was however the moment the thing had waited for, as the appendage on his head, so far a useless thing, swung around and wrapped itself around her neck, squeezing the life out of her.

As it did the monster rose into the air, carrying the both of them. High above a dark circle began to form which then erupted like a stargate in a geyser of dark energy. Then it retreated and formed a black event horizon. Taking Buffy with him the Majin flew through this portal. As soon as they disappeared into its even horizon the portal closed behind them and an eerie calm settled over the Temple of Woe.

Then came a heartbreaking wail.

“BUFFY!!!!”

[3D Master]

Yikes, Mini Majin-Buu.

They should be lucky it isn't the completed thing.

Top notch as usual, Muad'zin! More please.

[Muad'zin]

Chapter 6

‘Killing in the Name’




How long?
Not long.
For what you reap
Is what you sow!

Wake Up
Rage Against the Machine, album: Rage Against the Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha




AN: Nothing much to say I guess. Just the same as all the rest. Except for thanks for the nice reviews and keep ‘em coming!




A day minus 249



“BUFFY!!!!”

The silence in the Temple of Woe was pierced by a heartbreaking wail.

Helped by Teal’c O’Neill limped over to the Saiyan’s side.

“Look, man,” he said, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Buffy,” Belmovekk wailed softly, “this cannot be.”

“I don’t think he’s much use to us now,” Jacob said as he joined Jack’s side.

“What a mess,” O’Neill said shaking his head as he looked around the temple.

“What was that thing?” Sam said as she steadied herself.

“My guess, we just met the weapon, Sam,” Jacob said as he helped his daughter get up, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, dad,” Sam smiled at her father.

“That was the weapon?” Jack said dispirited, “Oh, this is getting better and better. That means Anubis got something that can slap Saiyans around like redheaded stepchildren. He’s gonna sick that on Earth in no time.”

“It was a trap,” Jonas said as he picked up some of the rubble of the ruined panels, “Whatever the Majin is, he was waiting for us. It specifically attacked Belmovekk. If the Slayer hadn’t come along he’d be dead right now.”

”But that would mean Anubis knew we would be coming?” the Tok’ra said surprised.

“He must have leaked the information to you guys that he was after this thing,” O’Neill said, “so he could lure us here.”

“It doesn’t make sense though,” Sam said and pointed towards Belmovekk, “There was no way he would know we would bring him along.”

“We brought him once before,” Jack countered, “when that Goa’uld was still inside him it used his body to kill Anubis. He knows.”

“Yeah, but only the girl could destroy this thing, sir. And he couldn’t have known she even existed,” Sam said, “we didn’t even know till dad began to connect the dots.”

Jonas stopped staring at the rubble and turned around.

“This wasn’t a trap to kill him,” he said as he pointed towards the Saiyan, “This was a trap to get her.”

“But how would Anubis know she even existed?” Sam said.

“Who knows?” Jonas shrugged, then he pointed to the place where the Majin and the Slayer had disappeared, “but she knew. Kelownan folklore has it that She Who Protects is blessed with the gift of foresight. She is supposed to have prophetic dreams. And for the past two nights Buffy Summers had nightmares. It was her idea to come along, against his wishes. I think she dreamed of what would happen and saw her stepfather get killed. So she came along and saved his life. But he was the bait to lure her here and now they have her.”

“That’s thin, Jonas,” O’Neill said giving him a stern look, “wafer thin. You’re using ancient myths going back thousands of years.”

“Sometimes in the absence of real evidence, ancient myths are all you have to go by,” Jonas said confidently, “Daniel Jackson has convinced the SGC to undertake several missions on the basis of just that.”

O’Neill wanted to say something when Sam spoke up.

“He’s right, Jack,” she said, “We found the Asgard purely on the basis of Daniel’s theory that our own ancient myths mentioned protective Gods just as much as Gods based on the Goa’uld.”

“The gift of prophetic dreams has been documented in at least four other cultures, Jack,” Selmak interjected.

“Fine,” O’Neill said as he threw his hands in the air, “So she knew and this was all a lure to bring her here. What does Anubis need a Slayer for.”

As soon as he said it the answer dawned on him.

“Some say to ask the question is to answer it,” the Tok’ra said with a slight smile.

“This is bad,” Jack muttered as he kicked against a piece of rubble.

Meanwhile Teal’c kneeled next to Belmovekk, who was wailing quietly on the floor.

“Satiya?” he asked worried, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Belmovekk didn’t immediately respond.

“Just leave him, Teal’c,” Jack said, “give him time.”

“I just cannot leave him like this, O’Neill,” the Jaffa said looking up, “He is my Satiya.”

“He’s also sitting in the Nile. There is….,” Jack tried to say, then he stopped as he saw something strange happening, “Why do I see stones rising?”

To his surprise small pieces of stone and rubble slowly began to float into the air around him. Causing O’Neill to look at the Tok’ra.

“What’s happening now, Jacob? Don’t tell me this place is going to explode?”

“I,,,, I’m not sure, Jack,” Jacob said with his Tok’ra voice, “There’s no mention of a self destruct. But maybe I should teleport us back to the….”

“There is no self destruct, O’Neill,” Teal’c said as he took a step backwards, “It is him. Satiya. He is gathering in his power.”

“What? Him?” O’Neill exclaimed as he looked at the crumpled Saiyan on the floor, then he looked around him as more and more dirt began to rise into the air at an ever growing pace.

Then a wind began to blow through the Temple of Woe, steadily increasing in strength, blowing away even more rubble. And then the Saiyan began to stir and pulled himself together, slowly getting up.

“I’m getting this on camera,” Sam said as she reached for her digital camera.

“Satiya?” Teal’c asked concerned, “Are you…”

Belmovekk ignored the Jaffa and walked to the center of the temple. On his way white flames of chi erupted around him, further increasing the now strong winds blowing through the temple. Meanwhile the earth began to tremble.

“What the hell is he doing?” O’Neill yelled as he steadied himself against Teal’c who seemed unperturbed by the trembling earth and blowing winds.

“My guess, he’s going to do something stupid, sir,” Sam called out, still filming.

“We are about to see his true face, O’Neill,” Teal’c said stoically, “we are truly privileged.”

“Jack,” the Tok’ra yelled, “It might be better to get out of…..”

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

The Saiyan let out a massive yell, then for a tiny moment everything stopped. Only to get even worse as a massive shockwave of golden chi sped through the temple with so much force it blew away the temple’s roof and most of the walls. It would have blown away SG-1 if it weren’t for the quick shield that Teal’c had erected to keep them safe.

And then it was quiet again. Except a for a soft eerie noise, like that of crickets chirping.

“What the…..” O’Neill said after it was all over. He felt like he had stood in the center of a nuclear explosion as most of the Temple of Woe was now in ruins around him. And at ground center the Saiyan stood. Only he had changed.

Gone was his black hair, instead his hair had turned to a yellow golden color, standing upright, waving gently as of some unseen ventilator from inside his skull was blowing the hair upward. An aura of golden chi blazed around the Saiyan.

“I thought Saiyans turned into giant apes?” Jonas said amazed..

“I guess we were wrong,” Sam replied, still filming.

Then the Saiyan raised his fist into the air and began to yell.

“Hear me, Anubis. I am Belmovekk, son of Rabar and disciple of Aldur, Child of Grey. I sweat this in the names of my dead family and my Lord and master. I hereby declare a blood oath against you and your allies. I Belmovekk, son of Rabar, will not rest until you restore her back to me, sound of body and mind! I will not rest until I have her back. If need be I will destroy this Galaxy and the next if I must. And I will find you! So say I, Belmovekk, born on planet Vegeta, son of Rabar, Disciple of Aldur, Child of Grey.”

The speech was delivered with so much force that for a moment O’Neill expected a reply to come from the heavens. Of course, nothing happened.

So he stepped forward and approached the Saiyan.

“Look, Belmovekk, I know some bad shit happened to you, but you can’t just….”

The Saiyan turned around and glared at O’Neill.

It were the eyes.

They had changed from their normal black irises into the coldest shade of blue green. And looking into those was like looking into the heart of a raging tornado.

“I will do this my way, commander,” Belmovekk said coldly. Then he launched himself into the air with lightning speed and flew away, a sonic boom of him breaking the sound barrier his last reply.

“Now we’re really up shit creek,” O’Neill muttered.





“Can’t undo what you did,” Xander said shaking his head, “you can never do that.”

“Still….,” Giles said as he took off his glasses and began to polish them, “’spose there’s one thing you could do.”

“What?” Faith said hopeful, “I’ll do it!”

Buffy put up her arm and pointed behind Faith.

“Take care of Him.”

Faith turned around to the other side of the room, where all the medical carts where, all centred around a large table. On the table lay something, covered underneath a white cloth. Like a corpse on a medical examiner’s table. Then the corpse or whatever it was sat up straight and began to pull the white cloth off itself. And whatever it was she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what was underneath the cover.

And she didn’t.

What sat up straight was part man, part demon, part cyborg. Like someone had taken a random collection of body parts and had a fun afternoon re-assembling. Hello, Frankenstein called, he wants his monster back.

“Do not listen to them, Faith,” the creature said in a deep calm voice, “for they lie.”

“Who are you?” Faith asked, “hell, what are you?”

“I am you,” the creature said.

“That’s no answer,” Faith countered.

“It is the truth,” the creature replied, then he reached out his hand, “Come to me, Faith, they lie. They’re using you. You’re just a weapon to them. Something to u….”

A long snakelike appendage wrapped itself around her neck and began to squeeze the life out of her.

“Hello Faith,” the effeminate voice spoke again before it was lights out again for Faith.

Then she gasped for air and woke up.

GASP!

Putting her hand on her chest Faith gasped for air.

“You alright?”

Faith looked around and saw she was sitting in the rental car, just outside their motel room. Inside their room Xander and Red were making their final preparations to assault Commando Central. Outside their room and unfortunately outside their car Spike was looking in.

“I don’t mind you taking a nap, love, but could you scoot over?” the vampire said impatiently, “I’m kinda out in the open here.”

“What do you care?” Faith asked, “You’re sun proof now. Besides, its night.”

“Hello, evil commandos out here,” Spike said making shooing motions, “Now move over, Slayer Junior, the less they see of me the better.”

“I should have let Green Jolly wring your neck,” Faith muttered as she moved over.





As he landed next to this infernal planet’s stargate, Belmovekk wasted no time in dialing up the address he had in mind on the dial home device. As he did this his mirror image in Goa’uld armor walked into view and put his hands on the DHD.

“What are you doing?” Amūn said angry, “Don’t you know that…”

Belmovekk looked up and peered with his cold blue green eyes at the Goa’uld specter.

“Do not trifle with me, worm,” he said coldly, then he pressed the final symbol and the gate sprang into life. As the event horizon stabilized the Saiyan walked towards it.

“You’re making a terrible mistake,” Amūn called after him.

“I am used to that,” Belmovekk replied without looking back, then he disappeared into the gate.

As he traveled through the gate he came to a sudden stop at the other end. Against a shield similar to the one used by the SGC. Only this one, like the SGC’s, wasn’t meant to stop a fully powered Super Saiyan.

As he burst through the shield, concentrated fire erupted upon from heavy staff gun batteries. For a full minute he stood there as the blasts hit upon his chi, without much result. He was about to make a move to put an end to it when the shooting stopped. As silence set in a voice called out.

“Is it you, Disciple of Aldur?” a voice asked reverently

“I am that one,” Belmovekk replied.

Amidst the batteries of staff gun cannons that were concentrated around the Stargate a lone Jaffa officer emerged and approached him.

“I thought it was you,” the Jaffa said as he dropped onto a knee, “I served on the Pride of Amūn when you emerged from Amūn’s inner sanctum.”

“Rise, son of Priya,” Belmovekk said as he gestured for the Jaffa to rise again, “I have come to you in my hour of need.”

“Just give us the word and we shall fight alongside you,” the Jaffa said solemnly. More Jaffa emerged from their positions and they also dropped to their knees.

“Your offer is heartening, Son of Priya,” Belmovekk said, “but this is a quest I must perform on my own. All I require of you is information.”

“What kind of information, Disciple of Aldur?”

“I need the gate addresses of every known planet and hide out that belongs to Anubis and his allies,” the Saiyan asked deadpan.

“We do not know where Anubis resides,” the Jaffa officer said, sounding a little disappointing that he couldn’t be of more use, “He hides his whereabouts very well.”

“Then just tell me what you.”





“After you.”

“My, Xander, how nobely,” Willow cooed as Xander held open the man cover hole for her.

“I have my moments,” Xander smiled. They were on the Cleveland State University campus ground, milled around a man hole cover giving entrance to the sewer system and hopefully to the underground Initiative base as well.

“You’re next, Murphy,” Xander said to Spike after Willow had gone under. Spike shot him an angry glare, then he just jumped into the hole, just like Faith had done previously.

“That’s one way to do it,” Xander shrugged as he climbed down the hole, then he reached for the cover and closed the hole after him.

Down in the sewer he found the others. That is, Willow and Spike. There was no sign of Faith though.

“What kept you so long, Droopy,” Spike said leaning contemptuously against the sewer wall. Willow was holding up her left hand, above which a red orb floated, illuminating the sewer tunnel.

“Where’s Faith,” Xander asked as looked in both directions of the sewer tunnel.

“She went ahead,” Willow said. There was some annoyance in her voice at the headstrong behavior of the Dark Slayer. Going ahead instead of waiting for the team. Xander tried to get a bearing of where she was. But the Cleveland Hellmouth was near. Unlike Sunnydale above the ground you hardly noticed it, but like Sunnydale underground the effect was way stronger. And like Sunnydale it made using chi sense next to impossible. Faith would have to be found the old fashioned way

”Let’s go then,” Xander said resolutely as he pulled forth the map Willow had made and began to walk in the direction of the Initiative. And where hopefully Faith had gone as well.

They had barely made it into the next tunnel when Spike spoke up.

“Something’s coming,” he said nervously.

“Don’t be ab….” Xander tried to say, then he noticed it too and gestured for them to go back they way they had come.

They just barely made it back into the tunnel when a group of figures came by. They were a mix of humans armed with futuristic guns and demons. Both however carried all sorts of futuristic electronic implants on their bodies and faces. Both humans and demons carried two identical devices on their heads though. One was a laser eye piece that emitted a laser beam illuminating whatever they were looking at. And which made them look like the Borg from Star Trek. The other was a small box like device nestling in the back of their head, just where the neck met the skull. Except for a small LED blinking regularly it didn’t seem to do anything.

As they passed one of these cybernetically enhanced soldiers paused and looked into the tunnel the three were hiding. He should have seen them but the soldier stopped looking and moved on. After the little parade had passed Xander moved towards the other tunnel and carefully peeked around the corner.

“Why didn’t they see us?” Spike asked nervously, “They should have seen us.”

Xander gestured Spike to follow and the two stepped into the other tunnel and looked back. Despite that she was still there Willow couldn’t be seen.

“She’s invisible?” Spike said surprised but Xander shook his head.

“When they looked they didn’t see the tunnel with us in it, they saw an illusion of that tunnel instead,” Xander said, then he pointed to a rat scurrying in the background, “nice touch with that rat, Will.”

Like a shower curtain being shoved aside the illusion vanished and Willow became visible again.

“Thanks,” she said panting a little, “Best I could do at such short notice.”

“Now that we know that they’re patrolling it might be a good idea if you were to surround us with such an illusion,” Xander suggested.

“But Xander,” Willow protested, “It’s so exhausting. I won’t be able to do anything else.”

“Leave the anything else to us,” Xander smiled, then he began to pout, “Please? Pretty please with cherries on top?”

“Alright,” Willow said giving in.

“I can’t believe me and Drue lost to you lot,” Spike snorted derisively as he watched the two Scoobies, but Xander just gave him a smirk.

“Just switch on your infrared, Murphy.”





A dozen Jaffa stood guard outside the Chappa’ai.

Not that it was considered necessary. For thousands of years the Chappa’ai network was considered neutral territory. A means for travel between worlds. But never a weapon. At least between Systemlords. Attacks had been carried out through the Chappa’ai network, most recently by the renegade Sons of Priya and their fast attack vehicles.

So at least a modicum of security had to be maintained. But most Systemlords still thought themselves invincible on their home planets. And an invasion through the Chappa’ai still meant that the attacker had to come through a single choke point of limited duration. This meant that if a defender stationed ample forces close enough to the Chappa’ai any invasion could be contained and eventually defeated. This was why Systemlords preferred to invade each other with a Big Honkin’ Spacefleet rather then use the Chappa’ai network.

The world of A’segai was the home world of the Goa’uld Systemlord Ketsch’wan. A Goa’uld of relative importance. While Ketsch’wan’s territory wasn’t overly large, he did have the advantage that is contained several densely populated industrial planets, chief of which was A’segai. That meant he had the industrial base to build and maintain a large fleet. And that made Ketsch’wan a highly sought aft ally in the ever shifting jostle of power that was Systemlord politics.

And since Ketsch’wan had a Big Honkin’ Spacefleet he felt more then secure in his ability to repel any invasion.

So when the Chappa’ai sprang into life and symbols activated from off world the guards weren’t overly worried. They manned the two staff cannons trained at the gate and aimed their own staff guns as the gate erupted and then formed into a stable wormhole.

A single man walked through the Chappa’ai, glowing in a yellow field of energy. Okay, that was unexpected, the detachment commander thought. But a single man could hardly be that great a threat.

“Identify yourself and state your purpose!” he asked, his staff weapon trained at the stranger.

“Is this A’segai?” the stranger asked as he consulted a small hand held device, “home to the Goa’uld Ketsch’wan?”

“It is,” the detachment commander said, then he restated his own question, “Identify yourself and state your purpose!”

“I am Belmovekk, of house Movekk” the stranger said as he held out his arms and the earth began to tremble, dirt rising into the air, “I am the son of Rabar, born on planet Vegeta. Disciple of Aldur and Child of Grey. My purpose is to return that which was stolen from. And since the insignificant worm that calls himself your God has allied himself with Anubis, he must now pay for Anubis’ sins.”

Before the Jaffa could respond the stranger held up two fingers. Then their world turned to white as lethal energy enveloped them all..





Meanwhile Faith had ventured a little ahead of the rest. Okay, she had probably ventured a lot ahead. She wasn’t even sure why, just that she felt she had to. These tunnels seemed so familiar to her dream that it scared her. Bad shit was surely going to hit the fan here at some point.

She arrived at an underground junction and for a moment she hesitated. There were three ways to proceed from here and she was uncertain as to which to take. Maybe she should wait for the others?

It was then she took the tunnel to the right. It was like she felt it was the right one. Like something had called inside her mind and said ‘come this way’. It should have worried her, but Faith had a fatalistic streak in her. Who was she to argue with fate?





It was a peculiarity of the ring transporter system that in order for it to work you either had to have a receiving station at the other end or a ship relatively nearby. And while Ketsch’wan maintained a large fleet of Ha’tak battle cruisers, not even a single one, including the more nimble Tel’tak transports, could make it close enough to Ketsch’wan’s palace complex without being destroyed by this unknown invader.

So far the invader had destroyed most of the planets major cities and military bases before turning to the capital. While he had swiftly destroyed the planet’s cities he was slowly but methodically taking his time to make its way to the living God’s palace complex.

As battalion upon battalion of loyal Jaffa sacrificed themselves in the name of their living God, Ketschwan’s First Prime desperately tried to give meaning to their sacrifice, finding a way to save Ketsch’wan’s life. So far the invader had taken out six Ha’taks and untold Tel’taks trying to take their living God to safety. After seeing his piecemeal approaches go to waste Ketsch’wan’s Fleet First was now trying to combine as much forces as were left in system and make a combined move for the planet. But judging by the invader’s power and progress Ketschwan’s First Prime didn’t think he was going to make it. Not in time at least.

Another explosion rocked the palace complex and Ketsch’wan was pacing nervously closeby. His First Prime on the other hand became ever more cool and calculating with every disaster.

“What’s going on?” Ketsch’wan said nervously, “What’s taking D’adario so long?”

“So far D’adario has lost over half of his ships,” the First replied calmly, “He has to gather what’s left or he will not stand a chance. The invader can detect….”

“I do not care if D’adario has to wait for more ships,” Ketsch’wan interjected angry, “I want him to come and rescue me now!”

It was a stupid order and Ketsch’wan’s First Prime would be in dereliction of his duty if he didn’t point it out.

“If D’adario were to come here prematurely and lose his ships you will lose your only chance of escape, my lord.”

Another explosion rocked the palace, closer then before.

“NOW!” Ketsch’wan thundered and the First Prime bowed.

“Yes, my Lord,” he said and gave the Fleet First his orders. It was stupid but he could understand his Lord’s desire.

“He has breached the compound,” a voice yelled through the speaker system, “he has breached the… fight! Fight in your Lord’s name………..”

Static followed after the transmission suddenly ended. The First studied from where the transmission had come. It was close. Now he feared D’adario wouldn’t even make it in time with his current attempt.

More explosions followed, ever more close to the command room. Then a large beam shot into the sky and the First noticed on his command holograms that D’adario had just lost another Ha’tak. Another beam followed. And another. And another. And another. And another.

And after that whatever D’adario no longer mattered. The brave Fleet First had died in the service of his living God. To bad Ketsch’wan would soon follow he feared.

Then the command room shook as another explosion rocked the entire palace complex.

“In Ketsch’wan’s name, he’s here!” another voice cried out, “Stand your grou……

Next the sounds of people dying could be heard without the help of the command and control systems.

Ketsch’wan’s First Prime left his position on the command chair and reached for his staff weapon. Then he turned around and faced his command staff.

“Jaffa, the time has come to fight and die for your God. Make Ketsch’wan proud,” the First Prime said, then he turned around and gripped his staff weapon with both hands, “JAFFA KREE!”

“JAFFA KREE!” his command staff replied as they raised their staff weapons and zat’ni’kitels

BANG!

The door that secured the command room flew into the room and came to a sudden stop against a wall.

THUD!

As silence returned to the control room it was broken by a strange chirping sound. Then the invader stepped through the door.

“Stand your ground, Jaffa,” the First Prime said as he trained his weapon on the invader and fired.

But like his dead battalion before him his staff weapon fire came to naught against the golden flames that surrounded the invader. Shooting energy blasts from his hand the invader picked off one Jaffa after the other until the only ones that were left were the First Prime and his living God, cowering behind his personal energy shield.

Seeing that his staff weapon was useless against the invader as a gun the First Prime tried using it as a club but the weapon just broke in two on the invaders golden flames. Then the invader flicked his hand and sent the First Prime crashing into a wall, a golden band of energy around his neck pinning him against the wall.

Next the invader casually walked up to the Goa’uld.

“How…., how…, how dare you,” the Goa’uld said as he retreated backwards until he had no more space to retreat to, “I am a God, I…, I am Ketsch’wan, God of War, ruler of this planet, a Systemlord…, no…..”

When the invader stood in front of Ketsch’wan’s shield he put a finger on it. The shield reacted to his touch but the invader pressed on. The shield gave signs of being under ever increasing stress, until it began to discolour, glare brightly and then it vanished.

“A God you say?” the invader said coldly, “let’s see about your Godhood.”

The invader shoved his hand into Ketsch’wan’s chest, then he reached inside until the back of Ketsch’wan’s lower neck began to bulge. Then he withdrew his hand and emerged with something that was snakelike and writhing in his grip.

“A God? You look nothing like a God,” the invader said and turned to the First Prime as behind him Ketsch’wan’s host buckled up and died, “Behold the true face of your God, Jaffa. Your ‘God’ here has sought an alliance to Anubis and sworn fealty to him. As his First Prime I want you to deliver a message to Anubis.”

“I am Belmovekk, son of Rabar of house Movekk, born on planet Vegeta. I am the Disciple of Aldur, Child of Grey. I want Anubis to return that which he has stolen from me, sound of body and mind. Until he does I will seek out each and every one of his Goa’uld allies and destroy them like I have done to this little worm.”

Upon saying the word worm the invader crushed the Goa’uld serpent that was in his hand. Then he incinerated what was left of his remains until nothing was left

“I will neither stop nor rest until that which was stolen from me is returned. I will destroy every Goa’uld and their Jaffa if need be. And I will follow Anubis wherever he will go. I will raze this Galaxy if I have to.”

Then the invader blasted a hole in the wall giving the First Prime a glimpse of the outside world, where the capital city was burning. The invader put up two fingers, next thing the world outside exploded in a giant white blinding flash. Then the First’s sight turned to white as well





This way.

Following her almost inaudible guide Faith made her way through the underground maze until she stood underneath a flickering emergency light. She was no longer in the sewer system but instead in what looked like an underground bunker system. Arrows and notifications indicated directions to various stations that meant nothing to her. All that mattered to her was the door that was in front of her.

It was a solid blast proof door, built in a day when World War Three was expected at any time. And it looked exactly like the door Faith remembered in her dreams. Only this time the door was intact, not shoved aside like a shower curtain.

Okay, how to gain entry?

Next to the door was a small touch screen, probably so you could enter an entrance code.

“Well, you wanted me to come,” she said out loud, “might as well channel me the entrance code. I’m listening?”

Nothing happened.

“Course not,” Faith muttered aggrieved, “That would have been too easy.”

Faith contemplated using her chi on the touch screen in order to short circuit the door. But that would require a more detailed knowledge of electronics that she lacked. Hell, it required knowledge of any kind of electronics which she lacked.

In the end there was no denying both the classics and your heritage. So she resorted to them both. Putting her fingers on the door’s edge she began to exert strength. A little at first, no point in ripping half the place apart. But that wasn’t enough, as the door began to tremble and shake, but wasn’t coming unhinged.

“Fuck this,” Faith said and put some more into it.

A lot more.

Shoving the door aside like a shower curtain she crumbled the mass of metal and slammed it against the touch screen.

“Oops?” Faith said as she waited for the alarm to go off.

But it didn’t.

“You know, just giving me the code would have been easier,” Faith said looking upwards. Then she went inside.





He wasn’t sure but when his vision returned to him First Prime Za’an could have sworn he heard voices calling his name.

It turned out it was real

“First Za’an, First Za’an!”

As the First Prime opened his eyes he saw a party of Jaffa standing around him as he lay on the ground amidst the rubble that used to be Ketsch’wan’s palace. As his vision returned to him he recognized one of the Jaffa surrounding him as the captain of a Ha’tak. One that had been on duty elsewhere.

“Where is Ketsch’wan,” the captain asked worried, “We cannot find him. Where could he be?”

The First Prime sat up straight, then he looked around him. There was literally not much left of Ketsch’wan’s palace. Nor of anything else for that matter. As far as he could see there was nothing left to see. Just a scorched plain with a few small boulders as far as the eye could see. Above him the skies were covered in dark clouds crackling with thunder as debris and energy had the planet’s atmosphere go crazy.

“Our Lord is dead. The invader killed him and left nothing for the sarcophagus to restore,” the First Prime said as he let his head down for a moment, then he looked up again, “Are there any other survivors.?”

The ship’s captain shook his head.

“You are the first survivor we found, First Za’an,” he said, “And most likely the only survivor. We watched the planet burn from space. There is not a soul left on this planet.”

“Why did he leave you alive, First Za’an?” another Jaffa asked, “why kill our lord and master and leave you alive?”

As the others helped him back on his feet First Prime Za’an surveyed his direct surroundings. Judging by the devastation by all logic he should have been dead as well. It meant only one thing.

“It is obvious, Jaffa,” the First Prime said, “I am to be his messenger.”





“I don’t like this.”

Xander looked over his shoulder at the complaining vampire.

“For Kami’s sake, Murphy, you’re like a broken record or something,” he sighed, “We get it, you don’t like being here. Well, guess what, neither do I. So how about a little less complaining and a lot more shut the fuck up?”

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Willow added, “I mean, look at you, Spike. They made you into a super weapon. If anything you should be able to kick their ass.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Red,” Spike muttered, “I’m worried that they might have something that they can use against me.”

“A kill switch?” Xander suggested hopeful, “At the very least a mute button? If only we were so lucky. Hello, what have we here?”

The three of them emerged into a tunnel, where at the end of which a heavy blast door lay crumpled towards the wall.

“She don’t really do subtle, does she?” Spike remarked.

“You can say that again,” Xander nodded as he examined the wreckage.

“Stupid girl,” Willow muttered annoyed, “I’m amazed she didn’t trigger the alarm.”

“She’ll get us all killed,” Spike echoed.

“Well, you’re already dead so you don’t matter, and she didn’t trigger the alarm,” Xander said, “Let’s go. She might need us.”

The trio pressed on and entered the Initiative complex. Occasionally they came upon a few doors which lead nowhere, mostly storage rooms. It went on for a while until they came upon another set of heavily armored blast doors. There was no other way around them. These weren’t damaged but a dead soldier lay on the ground.

“Oh no,” Willow gasped in horror as she saw the dead soldier, “Did she just kill another…..”

“What’s the damn problem?” Spike said, “It’s just a dead soldier. They’re the bad guys, remember?”

“They’re still human, Spike,” Willow countered, “we don’t kill humans.”

“Oh for God sakes, you bint,” Spike exclaimed as he rolled his eyes, “what’s there to understand? They’re the bad guys, we’re the good guys, well, at least you are. What does it matter what kind of bad guys they are? Are you going to tell me that when a vamp attacks you, you kill him, but when a human does you don’t? That’s racist, you know!”

“Spike who suddenly got his ACLU card, it’s the end of the world as we know it,” Xander said shaking his head, then he knelt next to the soldier, “Hmm, maybe Faith knew something we didn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Willow asked, upon which Xander turned the dead soldier on his side and pointed to a slash on the man’s throat. It looked like a deep slash to rip a man’s throat. Yet somehow there was scar tissue growing over it, like the guy had lived on.

“No man survives that and lives to tell the tale,” Xander said, then he looked at Spike, “Not unless he joins the living undead.”

“He can’t be a vampire,” Spike said, “only a stake through the heart kills a vampire.”

“Or sunlight or a decapitation,” Xander added, “this guy….. “

Xander began to open the soldier’s uniform. As he did various electronic implants became visible. Then he turned the soldier over and looked at his back. There was the same implant at the back of his neck as they had seen earlier on the patrols they had encountered in the sewers. Only on this soldier the small blinking LED blinked no more.

“Sweet mother of Jesus!,” Xander hissed impressed, “it’s the Night of the Living Dead. No I take that back. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!”

“What are you banging on about, Droopy?” Spike asked flabbergasted.

“It amazes me that a guy can watch so much TV and not pick up one of the top 100 TV catchphrases,” Xander said shaking his head.

“Maybe you’re not so off the mark the first time, Xander,” Willow said, “I mean, the Borg get assimilated alive, this guy died, was resurrected with technology and then got killed again. That’s more George Romero then Star Trek.”

“You have a point,” Xander admitted.

“I can’t believe I lost to you geeks so often,” Spike said shaking his head.

Xander got up and studied the control panel next to the doors.

“I wonder how she got through,” he mused.

“Maybe she forced him too,” Spike said.

“He’s an undead techno-zombie,” Willow said pointing to the dead soldier, “If anything he should have been hacked. you don’t threaten that which is already dead.”

“You guys threaten me all the time,” Spike snorted.

“That’s because you come with a very annoying personality,” Xander said, “You come with buttons to push. Zombies don’t have personality, they’re just mindless things.”

“You don’t know that,” Spike said pointing to the dead soldier, “This is not some stupid zombie movie. For all they did to me, it’s still me. And for all you know there could have been something left of him inside there as well.”

“He has a point,” Willow echoed. Xander looked at the corpse again.

“I’ll doubt his last words were here’s the code, now please kill me,” he said, “Most likely his implants allowed him to ignore pain and since Faith’s never been the one to play complicated mind games I’d say she had to resort to something else. I wonder what she did?”

“Why don’t you let me?” Willow said as she pulled her laptop from her backpack, “There’s the Faith way and there’s the subtle way.”

“Go ahead,” Xander said as he stepped aside from the access panel.

Willow turned her laptop on and connected a cable to her laptop. Then she stuck the cable to the touch screen.

“How can you connect that thing when there’s no way to connect it?” Spike asked curious.

“Relax,” Willow smiled, “It’s a kind of magic.”

“Why don’t I feel relaxed,” Spike muttered and without thinking reached for his cigarettes. Which he had left in the car on Xander’s insistence.

“Did they install a whine chip into your head as well?” Xander asked deadpan, “You seem more whinier then ever.”

“Ha ha,” Spike said annoyed, “Says the guy who needs a humor chip.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with my sense of humor,” Xander countered.

“Just that it ain’t funny,” Spike grinned as he squatted down against the wall, “Wake me up when Red’s finished.

No sooner had Spike said so as the door whooshed open.

“All done,” Willow grinned victoriously as she put her laptop back into her backpack.

‘You’re the greatest, Will,” Xander smiled, “I’d kiss you if it wouldn’t make your girlfriend jealous.”

“Oh, it takes more then just a man kiss to throw Tara off balance,” Willow smiled back, “After all, she’s used to Belmo.”

“Indeed,” Xander said, then he give her a quick kiss on the cheek, “Let’s go.”

As Xander and Willow walked further into the Initiative complex Spike suddenly realized something.

“Wait a second, Red,” he said, “Girlfriend? Are you a carpet muncher now? Whatever happened to Werewolf Boy?”





Dropping the remains of another destroyed Goa’uld worm Belmovekk used his chi to incinerate what remained of the worm’s capital. As before he took care to safeguard the unconscious First Prime at his feet and extended his shield around the both of them. Just in time as a giant flash erupted around them.

For 5 full minutes a blastwave of annihilating chi blazed across the world at an ever increasing rate, speeding across cities, forests, continents and even oceans. This time Belmovekk had dispensed with the gradual approach, taking out ancillary bases and cities first and gone straight for the jugular. It seemed like a good idea the first time, but this way he could hurt Anubis way more before word got out that a homicidal Saiyan was on the lose looking for worms to slaughter. Once that happened the worms would go to ground and be much harder to find. And killing a worm’s planet without him wouldn’t have the same kind of impact.

As he ended his planetary shockwave of chi, fire erupted on what remained on the planet as ruined buildings and plant life took to flame. Meanwhile, at ground zero, Belmovekk made sure the local Goa’uld’s First Prime was okay, after all, he was to be his messenger, then he launched himself into the air and flew towards the Stargate. He’d figure that he could still kill half a dozen Goa’uld before they scattered to the winds.





Using Willow’s sorcery and a lot of luck Xander, Willow and Spike made their way into the Initiative complex. Most of it seemed nothing special, mostly living quarters and other rooms dedicated to maintaining the facility. Throughout their journey they encountered more of the zombie soldiers and modified demons. Who might have been dead too, they weren’t quite sure. At least Willow’s illusions kept them from being noticed.

After their search came up empty Willow decided maybe their best bet was to hack into the Initiative network so she led them into a room where she had seen a terminal.

“You must be crazy,” Spike protested, “We’re surrounded by techno zombies and you want to log into their network? What makes you think that that won’t set the alarm bells off?”

“I still think Borg’s a better name then techno zombie,” Xander interjected.

Willow ignored Xander and gave Spike an angry stare.

“Because I’m good?” she said angry with just a hint of injured pride. Then she sat down behind the computer terminal.

“Hell hath no greater fury then a woman scorned,” Xander smirked as he closed the door behind them, but he kept close to it, to keep an eye on potential trouble.

“Look, Red, no need to get your knickers all in a twist,” Spike said apologetic as Willow pulled out her laptop again, “I was just trying to make a p….”

“I know, Spike,” Willow said as she fired up her trusty warhorse, “You can’t help being your obnoxious self.”

“I….,” Spike tried to protest, then he waved his hand dismissively and leaned against a wall, “Why do I even bother?”

Willow installed herself, setting up her laptop and connected it to the Initiative terminal.

“Let’s see,” she said as she began her hacking, “Oh, an Agent right off the bat. Interesting. These guys are paranoid.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Spike muttered dejected as he fumbled for his missing cigarettes again, “God, I’d kill for a cigarette right now.”

“Aren’t we just peachy they put that chip into your freeway construction zone of drool?” Xander smirked.

“Keep it up, Droopy,” Spike said without looking at Xander, “One of these days….”

“Oooooh, I’m shaking in my boots,” Xander said, pretending to be scared.

“And….. I’m in,” Willow said triumphantly, “Told ya I was good!”

“Way to go, Will,” Xander said and held up his right hand, “air high five?”

“Tsha,” Willow said as she air high fived back.

“Am I the only one who thinks it goes way to easy?” Spike remarked.

“Oh, they put up a fight,” Willow said smug, “it’s just that when hacker girls becomes sorcery girl as well, not even the sky becomes the limit.”

“So, see anything interesting?” Xander asked curiously.

“I see that a lot of people who were on my suspect list are on the Initiative duty roster,” Willow said glued to her screen, then her face turned white, “Oh dear.”

“Please don’t tell me that that’s an ‘I’ve just got caught’ oh dear?” Spike said concerned.

“I’m reading our files here,” Willow said.

“What do you mean our files?” Xander said as he left his post next to the door and joined Willow’s side, then his face turned white as well, “Oh dear. If I had glasses right now I’d break them while polishing.”

“These guys know almost everything about us,” Willow said shaken, “they know that Buffy’s the Slayer, that Faith’s also the Slayer and that you’re the one responsible for that.”

“They even have access to our high school files, those are Snyder’s remarks,” Xander said, then his face gained an incredulous look, “A good for nothing slacker, who will never amount to anything? A future welfare bum?”

Xander turned away in disgust.

“Well, it was like, um, Snyder,” Willow said trying to cheer Xander up, “Wadda ya expect?”

“It still hurts reading about it, Will,” Xander replied, then he turned around again to read the screen, “I have to say, now I feel a little less remorse at the Mayor having eaten his sorry ass. Actually none at all.”

“I can understand where they get a lot of the information on us,” Willow said worried, “A lot of it is in the public record if you know what to look for. But how did they find out Buffy’s the Slayer? That’s not in the public record.”

“Maybe they took it from Spike’s brain?” Xander said nodding towards the vampire.

“And how would that explain why they knew about our missing white trash Slayer?” Spike countered, “Last time I was in town I never met the crazy bint, remember?”

“Spike’s right,” Willow said pointing to the information on the screen, “they know way to much details about the Slayer in general to have known it from Spike. They even know who was the Slayer before Buffy. This is like stuff that could only come from the Council’s records.”

“We’ll sort it out later,” Xander said, “Just keep looking for other stuff.”

Willow saved the files to her laptop and pressed on the search, opening and scrolling through a lot of folders and files.

“Hold it,” Xander said suddenly and pointed to the screen, “Open those files.”

“Oh dear,” Willow said even more shaken then before, “this is bad.”

“So it was these guys who found what was left of #13,” Xander said nodding his head, then he looked at Spike, “Now it suddenly all falls into place.”

“What?” the vampire asked surprised but Xander ignored him.

“Bastards get #13, they retrofit the technology into Murphy here, hijinks ensue,” Xander said, then he leaned over forward, “the question now becomes, where do they keep the stash?”

“What do you mean?” Willow asked.

“The diskey, Will,” Xander said looking at Willow, “#13’s diskey. If we get it, we finally have a full set, the Big Guy can finally take care of Gero and we get our lives back. You could finally get to go to college. Instead of just hanging out with a college girl.”

“I’m not hanging out with a college girl,” Willow muttered as she typed on her laptop, “Tara’s my soul mate.”

“She’s still a college girl,” Xander grinned.

“You know, I still feel like I’m missing part of the story here,” Spike said, “Like somebody went from A to B and then straight to E.”

“Shut up, Spike,” Xander and Willow said in unison.

“Fine,” Spike muttered softly to himself as Xander and Willow returned their attention to Willow’s laptop.

“There’s a whole additional complex over there that we haven’t seen,” Willow said after she finally found a map of the Initiative complex.

“How big are our chances that that’s where the Big Bad’s hiding,” Xander said, “And where our missing girl is?”

“Could be dangerous though,” Willow said, “There’s only one passageway connecting it to this part of the complex. We’re going to run into somebody or something at some point that my illusions can’t handle.”

“We have no choice, Will,” Xander said, “We have to descend into the heart of darkness at some point.”

“How about that spot,” Spike said as he leaned over and examined the map, pointing to a large hall close to the interconnecting hallway, “seems like a large place, just the place some Big Bad wants to hang out and make big speeches to his loyal minions.”

“How would you know?” Xander said, looking at the vampire.

“Wasn’t I the Big Bad in Sunnydale for a while?” Spike replied, “trust me, nothing says I’m the Big Kahuna like having a large hall so your minions can assemble and hear you gloat.”

“And why can’t they do that on the other side?” Xander asked.

“There’s no big hall there,” Spike shrugged, “Besides, that’s mostly holding cells and Point Dexter rooms.”

“What makes you think that?” Willow asked, upon which Spike rolled his eyes.

“Because they kept me in a prison and experimented on me and so far we’ve seen none of those places,” he said pointing to the separate complex, “And because it makes every sense to keep your prisoners in a place where they can’t escape.”

Willow and Xander looked at each other.

“Spike’s got a point,” she said, “We might as well check that hall out first. It’s not even that big a detour.”

“Fine,” Xander sighed.





Sitting behind his study desk Giles felt something wasn’t right. He had called off his meeting with the Committee. With Mayor Wilkins gone and himself as chairman of the Committee the Edict seemed to be working at last, up to such a point that Giles felt confident enough to miss the Committee’s last get together and wait for the minutes to be delivered.

Instead he felt more compelled to take out his copies of the Gypsy Prophecies again. Something was amiss. Ancient super weapons of doom in space involving the Slayer, a secret organization in Cleveland out to kill them with Spike getting a chat from one of the Destinies.

And yet…., so far he could find absolutely nothing about it in the Gypsy Prophecies. Which wasn’t that unusual by itself. They had explained it to them that while past and present meant nothing to them, the future was still mostly clouded. As they learned more they just went back in time and passed the information on to their Gypsy oracles in the past. Who then wrote it down in the hard to decipher gibberish that now lay on Giles’ desk.

There had been times that Giles had committed the unthinkable sacrilege. He had taken the Prophecies to a copy shop and made photocopies of them. If his late professor from university had seen this sacrilege he would have been spinning in his grave. But it had to be done, at least that’s what he had thought. If those Necessities retro-actively updated the Prophecies then maybe having multiple copies would help him spot any differences. And they would then alert him.

It didn’t work of course. He never found any discrepancies. Which was logical in a way. If these Necessities could go back in time to change the what was written, making sure it would affect all copies was peanuts compared to that.

Or maybe, and that worried him even more, like every other prophecy, the Gypsy Prophecies already contained everything he needed to know and either it would only make sense what it was supposed to make sense. And maybe he was just not up to the task?

So for the umpteeth time Giles poured himself another cup of tea and set himself to making sense of that which made no sense whatsoever. For heaven’s sake, for instance, what was he supposed to make of this reverence to a two faced Goddess looking for something to open a door?





“Told ya,” Spike said triumphantly.

“Fine, you were right for a change,” Xander said reluctantly.

The three were peering behind some boxes on the upper railway of the large hall that Spike had identified on the map as Big Bad Central. And it would seem he had been right. The large hall looked like it was originally a Cold War command center. And it still looked like one. A large map of the United States was hanging on the wall and computer terminals were abound.

The place was also abound with demons and techno-zombies. Some were of the soldier variety, armed with their futuristic looking ray guns, others looked like scientists, with Willow identifying some of them as the missing academics. Some were seated behind some of the computer terminals, others walked around doing stuff. All however, as was possible from peering from their vantage point, seemed equipped with the back of the neck implants.

“This officially stops being Night of the Living Dead and has now officially become Invasion of the Bodysnatchers,” Xander said in revulsion.

“Who cares?” Spike replied.

“Was it like this when you were here?” Willow asked the vampire, who shook his head.

“No,” Spike said, “I don’t remember much, but from what I do remember the people weren’t pod people, they had actual personalities.

“So something went very badly wrong,” Xander said. But you escaped not that long ago. This looks like its been going on for a lot longer. Will said these people stopped going to the university at least two weeks before you escaped.”

Spike looked at Xander and shrugged.

“How the hell should I know? Last thing I remembered was waking up on that cart with two guards pulling my cart and….”

Spike’s eyes grew suddenly big.

“What?” Willow asked concerned, “What do you remember?”

‘I think I saw those implants on the back of their necks,” Spike said as he tapped the back of his own neck.

Xander shook his head and had to restrain himself from hitting the vampire.

“And it never occurred to you to tell us that?” he said accusingly.

“Back off, Droopy,” Spike said angry, “I had other things on my mind.”

“I bet you did,” Xander muttered angry.

“Guys, be quiet,” Willow whispered and pointed below, “Something’s happening.”

Below in the hall someone large entered. Flanked by two lieutenants the newcomer walked to a dais and then he turned around.

“Whoa, Frankenstein much?” Willow gasped as she saw his face. The man looked like he had been grafted together from various body parts. Part man, part demon, part machine. Her surprise became even greater as she recognized who his lieutenants were.

“That’s professor Walsh!,” she said.

“Oh I definitely recognize that bitch,” Spike muttered angrily, “I’d recognize that face anywhere.”

“And now she joined the ranks of the Borg too,” Xander said, then he pointed towards the other lieutenant, “And now it suddenly makes sense how the Initiative knew so much about us as well.”

“That’s Quentin Travers?” Willow gasped shocked, then she looked at Xander, “The Council and the Initiative working together?”

“I guess our ruse wasn’t so successful after all,” Xander nodded, then he began to smile, “of course, Quentin becoming Locutus of London does seem like a fitting fate for the bastard.”

“I take it you know the bugger?” Spike asked.

“Quentin Travers is the head of the Watcher’s Council,” Xander explained, “and a grade A asshole. He makes you look nice by comparison.”

“So no love lost there then?”

“More like hatred at first sight,” Xander nodded as he watched the head of the International Council of Watchers, “You’re evil because you’re a soulless fiend from the grave with a demon inside you. He’s evil because he doesn’t give a damn about all the girls he sends out to die. Just pawns in a chess game as far as that asshole’s concerned. He’s the guy whose idea of an 18th birthday gift consists of injecting Slayers with a concoction that takes away their strength and then throw them a birthday party in a locked house together with a crazed vampire.”


“Nasty,” Spike echoed, then he shrugged, “Then again, a good way to see if they can still hold their own.”

“I think that if a Slayer makes it to her 18th birthday she has more then proven to be able to hold her own,” Xander countered angrily.

“You’d think that,” Spike said with a sly smile, “But you’d be surprised. I killed two of them and after a while they just stop…..”

“FRIENDS!” a voice boomed through the hall. It was the cyborg. His voice sounded calm but firm, with just enough lack of emotion to make it look creepy.

“Ever since we have taken our destiny in our own hands we have toiled to increase our numbers,” the cyborg spoke, “The day has finally come that our numbers are large enough to carry out the mission set forth by our creator.”

On the screen a map appeared of Nevada that slowly zoomed in until it settled on a map of a large white salt lake with a large base situated to the south of it.

“Tomorrow we begin our assault on the Groom Lake base,” Cyborg said pointing towards the map, “and we will finally recover the remains of those who have been lost to us.”

“Not only will we restore our fallen comrades #14 and #15, but once we finally recover their diskeys we will warn our creator of the danger that will befall him. Using our superior strength and numbers we then strike at the town of Sunnydale and obliterate our enemies while they are still unaware of us.”

The Cyborg raised both hands into the air.

“Long live the creator!” He yelled triumphantly.

“LONG LIVE DOCTOR GERO!” the demons and techno-zombies shouted back.

Up on the ledge behind the boxes Xander let himself sit down against a box in shock.

“Hands up who saw that coming,” Xander finally said flabbergasted, “or maybe not?”

“What the hell is going on here?” Spike asked surprised.

“We must warn everybody,” Willow said equally shaken, “This is bigger then us. We need the others. Piccolo, probably Goku and his friends as well.”

“Oh my God, this might be the Battle of Sunnydale all over again,” Xander moaned, then he looked up, “You guys are having way too much fun at my expense!”

“Hello,” Spike said trying to get some attention, “what the hell is going on here?”

“We have to tell Riley too,” Willow said ignoring Spike, “they’re going to attack this military base.”

“I can see that conversation right now,” Xander muttered dejected, “Oh, Riley, we learned that some evil Cyborg with his Borg army, created by some shady US government group, is going to attack a US base.”

Xander then looked at Willow.

“What on Earth is the connection between this guy and Gero? That guy would NEVER come out of hiding to help this Initiative. Would he?”

“I don’t know,” Willow said shaking her head, “Maybe it’s because they used Gero’s technology. Maybe some of his programming carried over into that guy.”

“Oh God,” Xander moaned, “They’ve created #13 on steroids!”

“Could somebody please tell me what’s go….,” Spike said, then he waved his hand dismissively at the two, “Why bother, it seems to me you don’t have a clue either.”

Spike leaned on the boxes again so he could look what was going on below.

“#13 really gave you a ticket to traumaville, didn’t he?” Willow asked Xander.

“Bastard broke nearly everything there is to break inside me,” Xander said, then he pointed backwards over his shoulder, “If that’s him again I shudder to think what he can do now. I mean, Murphy here’s obviously the prototype. Frankenstein on the other hand is the full blown production model.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Willow countered, “For all we know he’s….”

“Uh, guys,” Spike interjected, “I know you don’t listen to a word I say but when I say you should see this, I really mean it.”

“What?” Xander said annoyed, upon which Spike pointed forward. Muttering softly Xander turned around, got on his knees and looked over the box into the hall again.

“This better be go….,” Xander said, then his jaw nearly fell to the floor.

For in plain view of anybody to see Faith had entered the hall.





“You’re dismissed.”

With that the Jaffa that was kneeling on the floor got up, made a final bow and then left. Leaving Anubis to sit on his chair in his map room and ponder what he had just heard. Then he gestured towards one of his servants.

“Show me the latest update to the Galactic situation,” he said and a hologram of the milky way appeared before him where the Jaffa had been. The hologram was color coded to show the current territorial disposition of the Systemlords. And yet another one of his allies turned to a neutral color after yet another First Prime had come to deliver the Saiyan’s message.

This wasn’t going according to plan.

Damn the Majin for not finishing him off!

Latest intelligence had it that word was getting out that something was picking off his allies one at a time. It would mean that his remaining allies would get nervous. It would mean that they would scatter. Some would go into hiding, some would come here to demand protection and of course some would even defect to Yi’s side. And Yi and his allies would fully exploit this new situation. Attacking those of his allies who had gone into hiding and trying to take over the territory of those who had been killed.

If he wanted to prevent a strategic meltdown he would have to act fast. But how? If he reinforced his allies he would leave his own territory vulnerable to an attack. He could attack Yi and his allies instead to divert attention. But that would still leave his allies vulnerable to the Saiyan. And he wasn’t strong enough himself to attack Yi. Not yet anyway.

There was however one other option left. He could give in to the Saiyan and return that which he sought to reclaim.

That damn Saiyan! If only that thing had done what it was supposed to do and kill that damn Saiyan before abducting the Slayer.

Anubis signaled his servant to turn off the strategic hologram and got up from his chair. This called for another option.

Walking to an adjacent room Anubis stood still in the center of the room. Next thing a series of rings dropped down, a flash happened and he emerged in a similar room elsewhere as the series of rings disappeared.

Two Jaffa immediately stood to attention as they saw him emerge from the ring transporter. Then one of them opened the door they were guarding. Ignoring the guards Anubis stepped through the door and into a corridor, lined with more guards. At the end of which was another door. As Anubis stepped through those he emerged into another ring transporter room. Standing in the center the rings came and went and he was in yet another location.

Unlike the previous one with its Egyptian style architecture and decoration this one was different. One could almost call it gothic in nature. The only Egyptian elements were the uniforms of the Jaffa on guard. Leaving the transporter room Anubis walked through a new maze of corridors. There were Jaffa guards on every corner, but there were also others present, dressed in strange exotic garb, almost like they were priests.

Which they were of course.

Every Goa’uld employed a vast arsenal of priests to make sure every one of his subjects bowed to him. But these weren’t priests of the cult of Anubis. Hell, they weren’t even his own priests. Sometimes you just had to outsource.

News of his arrival had spread though and some of the head priests approached him.

“Yes, Lord Anubis?” the head priest asked as he made a formal bow.

“There has been a change of plan,” Anubis said, “I want you to get started now.”

The priests looked at each other confused.

“But Lord Anubis,” the head priest protested, “we are not ready yet. Our Anointed One, she hasn’t arrived yet.”

“I don’t care,” Anubis said dismissively, “Take notes for all I care, record every part of the process but I will wait no longer. We must proceed now.”

‘Not without the Anointed One,” the head priest said resolutely upon which Anubis snapped with his fingers to the nearest Jaffa. Who took out his zat’ni’kitel and fired twice at the head priest. Even as the man was falling dead to the floor Anubis continued.

“When I say now, I mean now. I will kill each and every one of you until I find one who will do as I say. Make up your mind or go through the fastest round of promotions ever.”

“We will do as you say,” another priest said as he bowed his head submissive.

“See, it’s not so hard,” Anubis said, then he turned around and walked away. Moving through several more of heavily guarded and armored doors Anubis finally came to his destination. The Jaffa guards opened these final doors and let him pass, then closed the door behind him.

Inside there were no Jaffa. Just a large round chamber, most of it clouded in shadows, its walls adorned in a gothic looking script. The only light was aimed at the center of the room, where there was a large stone slab. On that stone slab were two crude looking bunk beds, one of which was empty, on the other lay a girl bound in chains. Between them was placed a large stone chalice filled with a clear liquid.

“So how are you, dear?” Anubis asked the girl as he stood by her side. The girl looked at him with fire in her eyes.

“Why don’t you unlock these chains and find out?” she said defiantly.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Anubis said as he put a foot on the stone slab and then rested one of his arms on his knees, “I trust your stay hasn’t been uncomfortable?”

“I’d fire the one responsible for room service,” she replied staring at him, “Or the interior decorator. Are you the Singing Detective or something? You look terrible.”

The girl was of course referring to his current host’s physical appearance. Ever after Amūn had killed his semi-ascended body Anubis had gone through a series of short-lived hosts, none of which proved able to survive for a long duration through to the nature of his semi-ascended state.

“I’ll pass on the recommendations, youngling,” Anubis said, “as for my appearance, it will be taken care of shortly.”

“Youngling?” the girl said incredulously, “Do they still make people who talk like bad movie villains?”

“Rest,” Anubis said softly, “Soon it will be all over.”

The girl rattled her chains as she tried to break free. They were quite ordinary chains and she would have easily broken them if it weren’t for the control collar he had placed around her neck. The control collar, which was of Ancient design, another piece of technology he had stolen from them, was quite ingenious as it neutralized a person’s inner strength. It was so tailor made for her it sometimes amazed Anubis why the Ancients came up with such a device.

After some chain rattling the girl calmed down again.

“Are you calm again, youngling?” Anubis asked, then he pointed towards her collar, “As long as you wear that collar the chains, well, probably any kind of chains, will hold you. Resistance is futile.”

“Resistance is never futile,” the girl mattered angrily, “even if it means I have to chew through these chains. I’ll kick your ass and that of your tame pet over there.”

Anubis looked aside and saw some movement in the dark. Seeing that it was noticed a pink childlike figure emerged from the shadows. It was the Majin.

It stared at Anubis even angrier then the girl did. The Majin resented that it was under Anubis’ control. It was strong. So very strong. And to think it was just a prototype. That at least was what They had said.

But it was also headstrong, Anubis’ control over it tentative at best, fighting him at every turn. That was probably why it had not killed the Saiyan.

“You failed me, Majin,” Anubis said depreciatively, “I ordered you to kill the Saiyan, instead he’s still alive, causing me great havoc.”

“Belmo’s still alive?” the girl said hopeful. The Majin on the other hand just bared its teeth in a ghastly smirk.

“I want you to go find the Saiyan and stop him before he kills even more of my allies,” Anubis said and pointed to the outside, “Is that understood?”

“Rrghrrrrr!” the Majin snarled in response. Upon which Anubis held up his right hand containing a small golden urn. As soon as he showed the urn the Majin stepped back and even showed signs of fear.

“Don’t make me put you back inside, Majin,” Anubis said as he used his other hand which had a gold ring on one of his finger, with the letter M on it, then he brought the ring close to the urn, “For I will. You remember what it was like, do you not, Majin?”


“RrGhrrrrrr!” the Majin snarled defiantly. It really didn’t want to go back inside in that small urn, which had been where the Great Alliance led by the Kaioshin had imprisoned him for all those millennia.

“Then do as I say,” Anubis thundered.

Snarling one more time at Anubis, the Majin opened a portal, then he disappeared inside. Leaving Anubis alone with the girl.

“So, Slayer,” Anubis said, “Finally we are together at last.”

“Now that he knows it exists Belmo will crush that thing,” the girl spat defiantly at him, “You have no idea what he’s capable off.”

“On the contrary,” Anubis chuckled, “I know very well what he’s capable of. I just heard what he’s capable of. I doubt that even you know what he’s truly capable of.”

“Oh great,” the girl sighed as she rolled her eyes, “Here comes the Big Bad speech again. I wonder what’s worse, having to lie here in silence all day with that thing breathing down my neck or being bored by you.”

The door to the chamber opened and people stepped inside, forming a circle around the stone slab and Anubis.

“Who are they?” the girl asked curious.

“They’re priests,” Anubis said amused as he watched the priests set up shop..

“Belmo told me you guys like to be worshipped all day.” the girl said, “that if you guys could mate with your own image in the mirror it be a match made in heaven.”

Anubis looked at the priests, who slowly began to chant.

“Actually, these aren’t my priests, I just hired them,” he said grinning, then he looked at the girl again, “You could say they are your priests.

The girl gave him a look of complete surprise. Then she recovered.

“I have priests?” she asked incredulously, “When did that happen? Normally I’m lucky to get an allowance.”

“Did you know, Slayer, that cults devoted to you still exist on several worlds?” Anubis said, “Even after being ruthlessly persecuted by several of the System Lords?”


“I might have heard something along that line, Goold,” the girl replied.

“Followers of the Slayer have always led the resistance against the Systemlords on such worlds. But unfortunately for them, while humanity has been seeded amongst the stars, the essence of the Slayer never seems to leave the homeworld of the Tau’ri.”

“There have been those amongst the followers of the Slayer who seek to address that. Some have turned to technology to re-awaken the essence of the Slayer. Others to acts of faith and magic. Which is more often then you think, Slayer, because my brethren more often then not suppress technology.”

“In both cases however these followers of the Slayer have failed to bring forth their Savior. Without access to a real Slayer they do not know how to activate the mechanism that turns girls like you, into, well, you.”

The girl looked at Anubis, then at the chanting priests, then at Anubis again as she realized what was going to happen. Then she turned to the chanting priests again.

“You’re going to take away the Slayer?,” she said, with rising panic in her voice, “You can’t do that! There is no way to predict who will be chosen. It’s purely random!”

“They think otherwise,” Anubis said leaning forward, “That they can control the mechanism once they know how it activates. And you are wrong, Slayer, it is not random. Have you never wondered why you were chosen? There is a reason.”

“Don’t do it!” the girl called out to the chanting priests. But they ignored her cries.

“Spare them your cries, Slayer, for they cannot understand your speech,” Anubis said, then he looked at the priests and cupped his chin as he mused aloud, “Ironic is it not? Despite their millennia of being separated from their brethren on the Tau’ri homeworld, They Who Watch still see the Slayer just as much as a mere tool for them to use as your Watcher’s Council. You and the Majin are alike. Both living weapons forged for a higher purpose and controlled by others.”

“Well, I for one don’t drool, know that pink’s not my color and can speak in more then just monosyllables,” the girl said deadpan.

“I have noticed,” Anubis said, “you can actually form simple sentences. I shall enjoy your highly developed keen intellect once you become my new host.”

“I….,” the girl tried to say, then she looked at him suspiciously, “Wait a sec, now I get it. First Belmo, now me? You guys aren’t very original, are you?”

“As you may have noticed this host will soon die,” Anubis said pointing to his already deteriorating face, “Because I was once Ascended no Tau’ri host is able to contain me. Only the power of the Slayer is strong enough to withstand me. And these priests of Those Who Watch will make that possible. Once the Soul Chalice that stands besides you glows brightly it will transfer your soul out, leaving you an empty shell for me to fill.”

The girl glanced the chalice beside her, then at the priests, then at the chalice again. She briefly tried to knock it over but to no avail.

“Then what happens to me once I’m in the magic cup?” she asked.

“You’ll probably end up in my former body,” Anubis said.

“Lucky me,” she finally said, “and what do the Brady Bunch get out of this?”

“The one thing they previously lacked,” Anubis shrugged, “a living Slayer to study so they can create their own.”

The girl raised an eyebrow like she suddenly noticed a fatal flaw in his plan.

“Excuse me,” she said, “don’t these guys fight the Goold? Your kind? Do you really want to give them a Slayer.”

Anubis leaned forward again and smiled.

“They are not from my realm,” he smirked, “What they do in the realm of another System Lord is not of my concern. That is, if they ever manage to leave this place alive.”

The girl sighed dejected.

“You’re so cliché,” she sighed, “First you steal Glow in the dark Belmo’s plan, then you gloat and then you do the speeching thing, then you talk about how you will betray them after you succeed. Hello, bad Hollywood movie wants its bad guy cliché back.”

“You’re an odd girl,” Anubis said as he gave her a curious glance, “Most would by now have begged for their life.”

The girl returned his curious glance with a glare of steel.

“I’m Buffy Summers, I’m the Vampire Slayer,” she said slowly, “I don’t beg. I chew bubblegum and kick ass. Doesn’t matter which body I’ll end up in, I will drive you out like a bad smell. And if I don’t then Belmo will.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” Anubis said impressed, then he leaned forward again, “Well, listen up then, Buffy Summers. You may be the Slayer, and thanks to that Saiyan you have come way further then any other of your fellows. But you still don’t have a clue as to what you’re capable off.”

Anubis leaned over until he was close to her face, then he whispered.

“But I do.”





Faith had lost track of the time she had spent wandering the bunker complex. Most of it felt like she was walking in her dream again. She felt like she heard the laughter again.

From time to time she ran into a techno-demon or techno-zombie. It didn’t matter much, as they were all dead to begin with, so she could kill them all without remorse. On and on she went, as only one thing mattered, finding that elusive voice that was driving her crazy.

Just a little further.

She should really stop and give pause to what she was doing. Go back and find Xander and the others. But she felt both compelled and determined to find out what was driving her. Besides, they could take care of themselves.

As she made her way through the complex she was struck by how similar it was to her dream, sans the dead bodies. After a long search she came to another closed massive door. Since nobody put a massive door in place for nothing she felt a closer inspection was in order. She was about to put a little elbow grease into motion when she stopped.

Not yet.

Instead she turned around and retraced her steps until she came to a different door, one not so well protected. But one which she felt warranted a closer inspection.

Close now….

Halting for a moment Faith took a deep breath. Somehow she felt this was it.

“There better be some answers here,” she said softly. Then she reached out towards the door.

As soon as she did however she stopped as something long and snakelike wrapped itself around her neck and began to squeeze.

Gasping for air Faith reached for her neck.

And found nothing there.

As she rubbed her throat Faith swallowed. What the fuck was this?

“Very funny,” she said annoyed, then she reached for the door, now more determined then ever to see what was inside.

As she opened the door and stepped inside it was like she stepped into a Mad Max movie. She had entered a large hall loaded with techno-zombies and demons all jeering and rooting for something. Or someone. Boy, if you were looking for slay adjacent she’d just hit the jackpot. But she hadn’t come here looking for slay adjacent. She had come here for answer.

As soon as she stepped inside demons and zombies began to notice her. Maybe it was some uplink thingy but in no time the whole hall was staring at her.

Then the strangest thing happened. Rather then attack her and run her all over, the technically enhanced undead parted ways like the Red Sea before Moses. As they did Faith could see who they were cheering for.

Standing on a dais was the creature from her dreams. Part man, part demon, part mechanical.

“You have come,” he said in a calm pleasant voice. If you dig monotonous voices that was.

Slowly Faith began to walk to the creature that had stalked her in her dreams.

“Who are you?” she asked. The answer came in her mind.

“We are the same,” it said in that same voice, but now in her head. While pleasantly sounding there was little emotion in it, and its lack of intonation made it sound dronelike.

“That’s no answer,” Faith thought back.

“You will understand later,” the cyborg replied.

Faith looked around. All the dead demons and soldiers were staring at her with their undead eyes. Waiting for Frankenborg’s command. She wondered if they were privy to the unspoken conversation.

“Who are you?” Faith thought as she looked at the creature from her dreams.

“My name is Adam, Faith,” the reply came back.

“You know my name?” Faith thought taken aback. Upon which Frankenborg smiled.

“I know many things,” it replied, “I know of things to come. Of things that are and of things that have been. I know about you Faith.”

“H… how?”

Before Adam could reply something blond fell down next to her, followed by something brunette landing right between them

“Are you pretending to be insane or just are?” Xander said angry before taking on a cyber demon. Having watched from the upper railing he had seen Faith walk through the Borg Collective below and then come perilously close to the Borg King. Seeing that she wasn’t putting up much of a struggle he could only conclude that she was under some kind of thrall or spell.

“We’ve got to go down there and save her,” he said to Willow and Spike.

“Good luck, Droopy, nice to have met you,” Spike said, “I’m not going down there.”

“Oh yes you are,” Xander said unimpressed.

“Oh no I’m not,” Spike said undaunted by Xander’s disapproval, “As you may recall, Droopy, I got this chip in me…….. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Before Spike could finish his sentence Xander grabbed him by his shirt and threw him over the railing. Then he looked at Willow.

“Prepare us an exit,” he said and jumped after Spike.

Landing right in front of Faith Xander turned towards her and gave her a piece of his mind.

“You bastard! Spike said angry as he picked himself off the floor, “You had no ri…”

Xander pushed him right ino the nearest row of cyber demons and zombies.

“Do something useful for a change,” he yelled, then he faced the Borg King and powered up as fast as he could. While Xander powered up Spike crashed right into several of the technologically undead.

”Bugger!” he muttered, then he fended of a blow to the head. Without thinking he counterattacked.

And to his surprise didn’t experience any pain at all.

He hit another techno zombie and again, no pain.

“Hey, I can hit these things!” he said excited as he began to whack demons and zombies around..

“Lucky you,” Xander replied as he made the Earth tremble.

“Xander, what the hell are you doing?” Faith said as she joined in the fray.

“Saving your leathered ass,” Xander replied.

As things degenerated into chaos and Faith and Spike began whacking demons and zombies around Xander finished his power up and attacked the head cyborg.

Slamming into the cyborg with his elbow Xander sent him staggering backwards. But not by much. Then the cyborg began to smirk in a very familiar fashion.

“So Xander Harris tries to get his revenge,” it said in a tone that sounded different then before. It wasn’t the calm but droning voice of before. There was a Southern kind of voice, with an almost white trash draw to it.

“I know who you are,” Xander said confidently as the cyborg blocked his next attack. And the ones after that. It didn’t deter the youngster. For he was fueled with righteous anger and had someone to protect. Even if she had been foolish. But strangely, what at least gave him pause to worry was that he could almost hear a chorus of voices singing in his mind, singing of glorious battle, arduous conflict and victory achieved by pushing oneself to the utmost limit against the odds. They were singing in an alien voice and it wasn’t Klingon.

It was exhilarating!

But as he battled the cyborg realism quickly took a cold shower on his lust for battle. He may be a dork but he wasn’t the Prince of Dorkness. Lust for battle was a Saiyan thing, it was not supposed to be his thing. So as he put a lid on his Saiyan side the cyborg reclaimed the initiative and began to attack.

“Who am I, Xander Harris?” the cyborg asked without showing any sign of having to physically exert himself to great lengths.

“Leftover trash we should have thrown out with the garbage long ago, #13,” Xander grunted as he blocked yet another attack.

“Then maybe you should have finished the job properly when you had the chance, boy,” the Cyborg said contemptuously.

“I’ll be sure to put it on the agenda for our next super hero meeting,” Xander said dodging an attack that caused cracks to appear on the wall 12 feet behind him.

“You know you can’t win,” the cyborg said trying to kick Xander’s legs from underneath him, “resistance is futile.”

“I thrive in ‘best of both worlds’ country,” Xander said as he barely managed to evade the cyborg’s kick.

But as he did Xander came to the realization that he couldn’t beat this gobbled together from leftovers freak. He wasn’t even sure that Pickles could beat this guy. Whatever that crazy bitch and that Council weirdo had concocted, this was going to require Saiyan levels of strength to undo.

Jumping back Xander put himself on top of a large cabinet and held out both of his arms, charging energy attacks in the both of them.

“You’re a tough son offa bitch, I’ll grant you that,” Xander called out, “But if I can’t beat you to a pulp, I’ll have to blow you to a pulp.”

The cyborg shrugged, then he held up both hands, making himself as vulnerable as possible.

“Do your worst, Xander Harris,” it said confidently.

“Oh, I will,” Xander as he continued to charge his attack, “Think Kamehameha only ten times worse! You’ll remember that, don’t ya?”

“I’m still standing right?” the cyborg shrugged.

As he charged his attack, the noise of the energy being collected grew louder and louder, like the sound of an storm about to erupt.

“You do realize that if you unleash that thing against me the resulting explosion will cause the greater Cleveland area to explode with it,” the cyborg said calmly but louder, “You don’t strike me as one who is so cavalier about human life.”

“I’m not a Slayer,” Xander yelled back, “I don’t worship on the altar of humanity. If Gero ever were to learn the truth the whole world could end anyway. Sacrificing Cleveland is a small price to pay by comparison.”

“You’re bluffing,” the Cyborg yelled, “there live up to a million people in the greater Cleveland area. They’re a given. Whatever may or may not happen if Gero learns the truth is an abstract. You don’t have the stones to kill them all.”

Xander didn’t reply immediately. But he kept charging his attack. Then he brought both hands together and folded both energy attacks into a single large one. Then he threw the attack at the cyborg.

“FULLY OPERATIONAL DEATHSTAR ATTACK!”

As he threw the attack at the cyborg several things happened. The cyborg crossed his arms in front of him to ward off the attack. He didn’t think based on the information he had from Xander Harris that the kid would actually blow up Cleveland just to get to him. But he did! Which meant the kid was more ruthless then he had given him credit for.

As the attack exploded a massive bright orange explosion filled the underground hall.

But as the dust settled nothing had happened!

Everything was the same as before.

But not quite. For Xander Harris and the Dark Slayer were gone.

Xander had never intended to blow up the cyborg and Cleveland with it, as he realized neither of them had the power to actually harm the thing. So he was stalling for time until Willow had prepared her portal spell. As soon as he received a mental heads up Xander threw his ‘all show no substance’ attack at the cyborg and jumped straight for Faith.

“Let’s go, Spike,” he yelled just before the attack exploded, then he jumped up towards the railing where Willow was and leaped through the portal she had created.
Emerging on the other side of the portal Xander and Faith came down rolling on the grass of what was now the Sunnydale High Memorial Park. No sooner had they stopped rolling as Willow came through after them.

“Xander, what the hell…?” Faith said angry, then with a loud whoosh the portal closed.

“I bought us time,” Xander said as he stood up and tried to orientate himself, then he recognized the place, “We’re back in Sunnydale?”

“Sorry,” Willow said sheepishly, “I made a slight mistake, I was under a little too much pressure.”


“It’s not so bad,” Xander said as he extended a hand towards Faith and helped her up, “This puts us in a good spot to call for reinforcements. In the words of Police Chief Martin Brody, we’re going to need a bigger boat.”

Then the shit hit the fan as Faith noticed something.

“Where’s Spike?”





In the large hall underneath Cleveland Spike was fighting for his life. To his surprise his supposed allies and the ones who got him into this mess had suddenly abandoned him after Droopy had unleashed his massive yet fake attack. Now the whole lot was coming after him. Thanks, you Sunnydale wankers!

“Come on, you wankers!” Spike shouted defiantly as the horde of the techno undead closed in on him, “If I go down ’ll take the whole lot of you with me!”

To illustrate his point Spike began to charge a massive attack between his hands. Cleveland be damned if it meant an end to his life. It would seem he had no qualms in regards to human life in the abstract sense as the chip wasn’t flooding his neural paths with pain.

Suddenly the undead stopped advancing, then they parted and the cyborg king came through.

“So this is how it’s going to be, huh?” Spike said and aimed the attack right at him. He tried to fire but to his surprise found that he couldn’t. Could it be the damn chip again? It didn’t feel like it. There was no searing pain. And yet he felt utterly unable to let it go at this, this thing.

Then this thing came up right at him and put his hands on Spike’s.

“Relax, Spike,” he said in that calm droning voice again. As he did Spike stopped charging his attack and instead re-absorbed it.

“Who are you,” Spike said flabbergasted at his own actions.

The Cyborg began to smile.

“We are brothers, you and I,” it said, “Spike and Adam. Adam and Spike. Hello, older brother.”

[3D Master]

Most interesting, most interesting indeed.

I want to see Mini-Buu vs Super Saiyan Belmo though.

[Muad'zin]

Chapter 7

‘Wake Up’




AN: Nothing much to say. A chapter that easily wrote itself basically. Still, I just have to share this find:






A day minus 248



On board of Selmak’s shuttle the atmosphere was unpleasant as SG-1 and their Tok’ra pilot returned from their failed mission. The only ones not depressed where Jonas Quinn and Sam, who were busy crunching numbers as to what the Saiyans newly revealed transformation could mean.

Jack however was in a particular foul mood, just gazing out of the window into hyper space Teal’c wasn’t into much of a talkative mood either. Probably brooding something along the lines of having failed his teacher.

“I still don’t understand,” Jonas said to Sam in the back of the shuttle’s cockpit, “I thought Saiyans transformed into apes under a full moon?”

“That’s what all our sources say,” Sam replied, “But there is much more we don’t know.”

“No small thanks to that asshole,” O’Neill grumbled, “That’s another thing he hid from us.”

“Wouldn’t you, Jack?” Jacob said fiddling with his controls, “How many things have you hidden from the Tok’ra? How many things are you still hiding from us?”

“That’s different,” Jack said, looking at Jacob, “You guys keep a lot of secrets from us as well.”

“A little trust goes a long way, Jack,” Jacob smiled, “the less you use, the further you’ll go. He’s no different in that then we are.”

“You’re remarkably cavalier about it,” Jack asked the Tok’ra, who shrugged.

“Can’t change what I cannot change, Jack. Like Sam said, all our sources say Saiyans change into apes, they don’t get a golden make over. The guy also claims he lived for thousands of years. Who knows, maybe he picked up a trick or two that set him apart from the pack.”

“If only we knew where he went,” Jack muttered, then he resumed his thousand mile stare into hyperspace again.

“I think we’ll find out sooner or later,” Jacob said, “And I have a hunch it will be sooner then later.”

“I just don’t like being played for a fool,” Jack said, “Neither by that Saiyan freak, or by Anubis.”

“Do you think with that transformation he could take on the Majin,” Jonas asked Sam. Who looked uncertain.

“I have no idea,” she said unsure, “even before it was always hard to put an upper limit to his strength. The sources claim the ape transformation gave them a tenfold increase. As long as I have no multiplication factor it could be anything up from….”

Beep beep beep beep…

A loud beeping noise could be heard coming from somewhere on the Tok’ra’s control panel.

“What’s that?” Jack asked, again halting his glare into hyperspace to look over his shoulder.

“It’s a Tok’ra communication,” Jacob said using his Selmak voice, “The Tok’ra High Command is trying to communicate with us.”

“Isn’t that dangerous,” Sam asked as she stood up and moved closer to her father.

“Indeed,” the Tok’ra said as he began to respond to the hail, “It’s only done in case of a catastrophic emergency.”

“You think Anubis has used the Majin to attack the Tok’ra?” Jonas asked concerned.

“I don’t think so,” Selmak said as he browsed through the data package, then he activated a holographic projection of the milky way, with five dots flashing spread all across the milky way in a random pattern.

“What’s that?” Jack asked.

“The Tok’ra High Command has learned that all communications have been lost to these worlds, two of which had Tok’ra operatives,” Selmak explained as he pointed to the glowing dots, “They think someone attacked these planets and they want us to investigate.”

“Do you think it’s the Majin?” Jonas asked as he studied the hologram.

“Not unless Anubis has just turned on his own allies,” Selmak replied, “Those are all homeworlds of Goa’uld Systemlords who have sided with Anubis. Oh, and I read here that unless the Majin changed its color from pink to gold there’s no way Anubis is behind these attacks.





“Weren’t you supposed to be in Cleveland?”

Giles had just started on yet another round of studying the Gypsy Prophecies when somebody rang the door. To his surprise it turned out to be Xander, Willow and Faith.

“We were,” Xander said as he stepped inside, “then Willow clicked her heels three times and now we’re back home.”

“I uh, um, see,” Giles said as the teens stepped inside, “Tea anyone?”

“That would be great, Giles,” Willow said as she plopped down on his couch, next to Xander. Meanwhile Giles looked outside the door a few times, then he closed his front door and went into the kitchen.

“Don’t take this as criticism from my part but there seems to be somebody missing. Did Spike betray you?” Giles called from the kitchen, then he peered out of the kitchen hopeful, “Please tell me he came to a very gruesome end?”

Xander and Willow looked at each other sheepishly.

“Could be,” Xander finally said.

“They left him behind, Jeeves,” Faith said accusingly, “They beat a hasty retreat and while Spike was fighting alongside us they abandoned him.”

“It wasn’t like that at all,” Willow protested, then she looked at Giles as he came out of the kitchen carrying a tea pot, “We didn’t mean to leave Spike behind. It was more like, um, confusing. And Spike didn’t get the cue that he should have come with us.”

“And how should he have known?” Faith bit back, “it wasn’t like we agreed to a series of signals as to what to do.”

“Like you would’ve cared,” Willow countered angrily, “You went off on your own.”

Faith’s anger faded from her face. She did went off on her own. And she couldn’t explain as to why. Maybe this was the time when she should come clean as to why she did. The dreams. The voice in her head.

Now is not the time, Faith.

“I…., uh…...,” she stammered, then she averted her eyes.

“Maybe we should start at the beginning,” Giles said as he reached for his phone, “I’m sure Major Riley and Piccolo would be very interested to hear the whole part as well.”





As yet another world burned around him Belmovekk paused for a moment. The Goa’uld of this world had already been in the process of vacating his palace and it was only by sheer luck that Belmovekk had still managed to get this one. The next one he probably wouldn’t be so lucky.

He thought of going straight for the next one on the list. But that would mean leaving the former Goa’uld’s First Prime behind to die. And he still had a message to deliver. While the message itself was now probably well known, the principle dictated that there still had to be a messenger to prove the point. Thus the First Prime had to be safe guarded.

The Saiyan thought of taking the First Prime to a safe location, before going on the next target. But he decided against it. It would still mean an additional delay. So instead he encapsulated the unconscious First Prime in a bubble of chi, one that would time out in about an hour. After which it should be safe again for the Jaffa to make his journey to the stargate. Or be rescued by one of the ships cowering at the edge of this star’s solar system.

He was about to leave when not far from him in the sky a dark circle began to form, which then erupted like a stargate in a geyser of dark energy. Seeing it happen Belmovekk began to gather in his energy.

It would seem he was finally getting an answer.

As the dark geyser retreated and formed a stable event horizon the pink creature Jonas had called the Majin emerged.

“So this is Anubis’ answer?” Belmovekk said as golden flames of chi grew to a new level and he rose into the air to meet the newcomer.

“Hhgggggggggh!” the Majin hissed defiantly as the portal closed behind him and he saw the Saiyan rise towards. Then both fighters began to circle around each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.





When Piccolo entered the former Librarian’s home he knew at least something was going on. Not only were the other Slayer’s boyfriend and his deputy present, so were the kids that had gone to Cleveland. But that at least he knew as he had felt these kids suddenly re-appear in Sunnydale, and with Xander pumped up to the max in particular..

There was no usual of greeting of hey Pickles, or Jolly Green, just weary faces. Faith seemed relieved to see him but after a brief nod she resumed her thousand miles stare.

“Where’s the vampire?” he asked, then he looked at the kids, “did he betray you?”

“Only by being stupid,” Xander said sullen.

“The geniuses left him behind,” Faith said, earning dirty looks from the sorceress.

“Now, let us not, um, make recriminations,” Giles said as he brought refreshments from his kitchen, “Mistakes are often made on the field of battle.”

“I could write a whole book about those,” Sergeant-Major Burns said.

“So what exactly happened?” Piccolo asked. Upon which Xander began to explain what had happened to them in the Initiative underground bunkers. How the Initiative had found the remains of Android #13 and used Gero’s technology to build their own. And how they inadvertently had copied Gero’s programming as well, causing their own creations to turn against them. And that #13 reborn was still hell bent on fulfilling his original mission.

But what caused the greatest shock was when Giles learned that his former boss, Quentin Travers, had conspired to work with the Initiative against them.

“I can’t believe it,” Giles said aghast, “Quentin Travers conspiring against us?”

“I guess he wasn’t as fooled by our little stunt as we thought he was,” Xander remarked before continuing.

“Jesus Christ on a pogo stick!” the sergeant-major said out loud, “What a grade A clusterfuck these spooks have gotten themselves in.”

“And unfortunately a mess we have to clean for them,” Riley said as he shook his head, then he faced Burns, “How many trainees could we deploy?”

“With all due respect, sir,” Burns protested and pointed to the kids, “If need be we could throw them all at these cyborgs. But if these kids couldn’t even defeat that thing, what chance do we have? It be the Battle of Sunnydale all over again.”

“We do what we can,” Riley said straight-faced.

“We have to bring in Goku,” Giles suddenly said.

“Call in the big guns?” Riley said looking at the former librarian, then he shrugged, “might as well do so, these loons cooked up a big one.”

“Isn’t that too much?” Willow asked cautiously, then she nodded towards Piccolo, “We have him, right?”

“I don’t like being the one who runs for help, but I don’t think we have a choice, Will,” Xander replied, “We’re outclassed here and our own resident Saiyan’s outta town. We need to outsource. You didn’t fight this thing. Spike was at least as strong as me and Frankenborg out there is way stronger then Sparky.”

“No!”

All eyes turned to Piccolo.

“I will not deal with this…, this thing,” the Namek said as he turned around and made for the door, “Nor will I allow for Goku to be brought in.”

Not sure what to make of this sudden turn of events everybody started to eye each other. Then Faith stood up and went after Piccolo.

“But Jolly Green,” she protested, “we need….”

Piccolo stopped and looked over his broad shoulder piece.

“My name is Piccolo,” he growled, “Not Green Jolly, or Pickles or whatever you lot think is entertaining. I am Piccolo Daimyo, the Demon King, and neither I, nor Goku will take care of this mess for you. Belmovekk asked me to take care of you and I will. Even if its not in the way he thought I would. Learn to deal with it on your own.”

And with that Piccolo left Giles’ home.

“What give?” Willow said flabbergasted as she looked bewildered around herself.

“He’s got to be kidding, right,” Xander said equally bewildered, then he looked at Faith, “Please tell me he’s kidding?”

“He ain’t,” Faith said as she returned to the chair she had come from and plopped down again, “it’s classic Green Jolly. As he said, learn to deal with it on your own. This is the guy who left a five year old to fend for himself in the wilderness for six months.”

“Yeah, but he was still evil back then, wasn’t he?” Xander asked still disbelieving what just had happened, “Surely he mellowed out?”

Faith pretended to look around.

“I don’t see a wilderness,” she said, “So I guess he did mellow out.”

Riley got up from his chair.

“We have to go,” he said to Burns, “We have to warn the SGC and Area 51 that they’re going to be under attack.”

“Short of a nuclear strike on Cleveland I fail to see what we can do, sir,” Burns sighed as he got up.

“They’ll figure out something,” Riley said as reached for his jacket, “If they can stop alien invasions they might be able to come up with a way to stop this cyborg.”

“Their luck has to run out at some point though,” Burns said quietly, more to himself.

“Then let’s hope there’s still some left,” Riley replied.

The two soldiers were about to leave Giles’ home as well when Xander got up.

“Wait a second,” he said to the two soldiers, then he faced everybody, “Maybe Piccolo has a point. And so does Riley here. It’s not about being the strongest all the time, it’s about being the smartest. If we can’t defeat that thing, well, maybe we can outsmart it.”

“That’s a big maybe, Xander,” Giles said.

“Well, you still got your books,” Xander said pointing the bookcases behind them, “we still have a powerful sorceress who once channeled a God, we have your knowledge, we have a Slayer and we have Riley and his army buddies. If we together can’t come up with a plan to stop this Frankenborg reject then the world truly deserves to die.”

Giles looked around the room, then back at Xander. The teen looked so dead earnest. And he was right in some respect. You to learn to work with what you had instead of wishing for you could have. That was how Watchers used to train their Slayers. Before they became dependent on Saiyans.

“You have a point,” Giles conceded, then he sighed, “I wish I found something I could use in those prophecies. Some clue I could use.”

“Sometimes you just can’t pierce the fog of war,” Riley said as he and Burns returned to their seats, “Sometimes you have to take things in stride and use what you have instead of wish for what you don’t have.”

Xander turned to Willow.

“Can’t you do sorcery, Will?” he asked, “Maybe extract whatever’s powering this thing and make him into an ex-energizer bunny?”

“You just can’t use sorcery to do that,” Willow said shaking her head, “If you can’t rip it just out, neither can I. I wouldn’t even know what to look for.”

“Didn’t you do a memory dump of that Initiative computer?” Xander said as he pointed towards the bag that held her laptop

“You’re right,” Willow said as her face lit up, then she opened her bag and fired up her laptop.

“You mean you have actual information taken from their network?” Riley said in disbelief as he went to stand behind her laptop as it booted up.

“I did manage to break into their network,” Willow said after her laptop had finished booting up, then she began to look through the files she had downloaded. For five minutes she glanced through the files, opening files and scrolling through them for information at an incredible rate.

“I can’t belief you’re doing that so quickly,” Riley said in a mixture of disbelief and admiration, “Is that because you can do magic?”

“No,” Willow said absentmindedly, “I could do this before as well.”

“I can vouch for that,” Xander said, “Will’s wicked with a computer.”

“I’d attest to that if I actually knew how those infernal things work,” Giles responded as Riley looked at him.

“Is that Windows 98 or Millennium?” Burns asked as he looked at Willow’s laptop. Strange as may seem to those who knew him, the sergeant-major actually knew something about computers.

“Please,” Willow snorted derisively, “Window’s for amateurs.”

“A Unix based system then?” the sergeant-major suggested interested.

“I’m beyond Unix,” Willow said, then she stopped clicking and turned around, “There’s nothing in here about this, this thing. Only the stuff they had on us.

“Then I guess we’re back at square one,” Riley said.

“Not necessarily,” Willow said as she rummaged in her bag and pulled out a cable which she gave to Xander, “could you, Xander?”

“Sure, Will,” Xander said and then looked around for a moment before turning towards Giles, “Giles, where’s your phone connection?”

“Over there,” Giles said as he pointed to a corner, then he turned to Willow, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going online, Giles,” Willow replied all businesslike, “I still have those Initiative passwords and now that I know where they are I’m just going to log in from here.”

Giles looked at her in utter disbelief, then at Xander pulling the cable through the room, then back at Willow.

“I may not know much about, um, computers,” Giles said frowning, “but, um, don’t you need an internet connection to connect to the internet? And I don’t have one.”

“Sure you do,” Willow replied, “I’m using it right now. Thanks Xander!”

“You’re welcome.” Xander said as he got up again. Giles followed the cable to where Xander had hooked it up next to his telephone connection and noticed a small box. He had no idea what it was but he’d bet good money it was something computer related.

“When did this happen?” he said incredulously.

“Last year, after the high school got trashed,” Willow said, “I thought since we’re gathering here half the time it might be useful.”

“But…., I….,” Giles said flabbergasted, not sure how to respond.

“Afraid it will ruin your precious books?” Xander smiled as he patted the former librarian’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, they survived the school’s LAN system, didn’t they?”

“Why do I even bother?” Giles muttered, then he went back into the kitchen, “I’m getting some tea.”





Damn this was hard, Buffy thought as she fought the magic that these so called priests were unleashing on her. She was strong though. She could take it.

For a while.

She sure wished Belmo would hurry up though. In the nick of time might look good in the movies, but in this case she wouldn’t mind a spoiled ending.

The only thing that annoyed her more then the crazy cackling of that Goold, Newby one of those stupid priests had called him, and those crazy priests chanting were those muffled screams coming from somewhere else. It was highly…. distracting.





“I’m in,” Willow said from behind her laptop.

“Hacker girl to the rescue,” Xander said as he ruffled her hair as he looked over her shoulder as Willow brought up data.

“And to think we actually worried about what would happen if these people were to turn against us and use their powers,” Burns whispered to Riley, “Turns out she could simply hack into our systems and we wouldn’t even notice it. “

“Luckily not everybody in the army’s as computer illiterate as you, sergeant-major,” Riley replied as he read the data, “I’m sure we have a few clever people as well.”

“If you say so, sir,” Burns replied back, not sounding that convinced. Nor that insulted about his computer skills. He knew enough to know that compared to the girl he was illiterate.

“I think I found something,” Willow said and pointed to a schematic on the screen.

“I think you do,” Riley said, “It’s similar to the shield on the Enterprise. That’s a Goa’uld shield emiter.”

“He’s got shields? Real shields?” Xander said incredulously, then he looked at Riley, “We got a spaceship called the Enterprise?”

Sighing one more time Riley ignored the teen and continued to look at the screen.

“I think that could be his source of power,” she said.

“Holy crap!” Riley exclaimed as he saw what she had uncovered, “that’s a naquadria reactor combined with a Gero type fusion reactor.”

“That’s bad, right?” Xander asked worried.

“Why go for two different power sources?” Willow asked as she looked at Riley, “Isn’t a single source much better?”

“I don’t know,” Riley said unsure, “I just know what, well, that’s classified. Suffice to say that a lot of research has gone into unlocking how Gero powered his androids, and while they can power a small city for a lifetime, the design seems flawed.”

“In what way?”

“Lemme guess,” Xander interjected, “your eggheads don’t know how to tune it up any further?”

Shooting an annoyed glance towards Xander Riley continued.

“In a way. Not enough to propel a ship through hyperspace. A naquadria reactor on the other hand can do that. But that stuff is extremely hard to come by. It also wouldn’t last him a lifetime.”

“Quite clever then,” Xander nodded, “He’s got the Gero reactor to power him for forever, and in case of an emergency he’s got that naqua-something to give him a boost.”

“It’s naquadria,” Riley corrected, “And it’s also highly unstable. If through some chance you do manage to blow this guy up without destroying Cleveland you still will.”

Xander glanced upwards and sighed.

“Never too much fun at my expense, do you, guys?” he muttered softly.

“So now we must also come up with a way to not only defeat this monstrosity and at the same time prevent its powercore from blowing up,” Giles said sipping some tea., “Marvelous.”

“What about magic?” Willow suggested, “Maybe some kind of, I don't know...naquadria extracting spell?

Everybody gave her a weird look.

“You can do that?” Burns said flabbergasted.

“I know. I'm reaching,” Willow said as she saw the looks on everybody’s faces.

“Is that stuff native to Earth,” Giles asked Riley, who shook his head.

“It only exists on a single planet in the galaxy,” the major replied.

“Then I don’t think such a spell has a chance of existing,” Giles said as he finished his cup of tea.

“Maybe something else?” Xander suggested and looked hopeful at Giles, “Anything?”

“Perhaps,” Giles said as he stood up and walked towards one of his bookshelves and pulled out a book.

“Maybe a paralyzing spell could do the trick,” he said as he opened his book, then he stopped, “Only I can't perform the incantation for this.”

“Maybe I can?” Willow said as her eyes began to glisten in hope.

“Not unless you can speak it in Sumerian, are an experienced witch and are within striking distance of this, um, thing?” Giles replied.

“Bummer,” Xander said.

“But you could teach me, right?” Willow said, “I could learn to pronounce it. And with my own shield I could…”

Giles shook his head.

“Your pronunciation would have to be perfect. That’s why I said an experienced witch could do it. And you are still far from being an experienced witch.”

“Isn’t there something sorcery could do instead?” Xander asked.

“I don’t know what,” Willow said shaking her head, “Sorcery is a test of will. And judging by these designs he’s got two reactors full of it.”

The three looked helplessly at each other.

“You should have taken Sumerian instead of French in class, Will,” Xander said

“A little late for that now, don’t you think, Xander?” Willow countered annoyed.

“You guys are really up shit creek,” Burns said and pointed to the three Scoobies, “She’s got the magic, he’s got the brains and he’s got the muscles. if you three could melt into a single fighter you could probably kick this guy’s ass, but now….:”

Giles suddenly looked at the sergeant-major.

“Just making an observation,” Burns said expecting a disparaging remark. Instead the former librarian looked at his books again.

“Actually, you might be on to something,” he said as he pulled another book from his bookshelf, then he paused before opening, “Only we need the Slayer for that.”

“If only Buffy were here,” Willow sighed mournfully.

“What are you guys blabbering on about,” Xander said and pointed towards Faith, still sitting on the couch, “the Slayer sits right over there.”

“Xander,” Willow said softly towards, “Giles said we need the Slayer, not a Slayer.”

Faith wanted to say something but then didn’t. Meanwhile Xander walked to the couch and stood behind Faith, then he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Look, I don’t know where you all got this idea that somehow Buffy’s the Slayer and Faith’s the understudy,” he said, “But when Buffy died for a few minutes it was enough for Kendra to be activated. And when Kendra died Faith was activated. Don’t you guys get it? Faith’s not the understudy, If anyone’s the Slayer, it’s not Buffy, it’s Faith. So anything that will work on Buffy will also work on Faith and the other way.”

Willow wanted to protest, more out of some kind of loyalty towards Buffy then an actual rebuff, but Giles stopped her.

“In his usual clumsy way Xander’s right,” he said, “They’re both the Slayer. Faith, will you help us?”

Faith looked at Giles, then at Xander still holding her shoulders.

“Yes,” she said, her voice choking just a little as Xander gave her an encouraging squeeze.

“What do you have in mind, Giles,” Riley asked the former librarian. Who then told them what he had in mind. As soon as he did Riley gasped for air, as did Burns.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Riley said in utter disbelief, “you don’t actually think that will work, right?”

“Actually it’s an extremely dangerous spell,” Giles said deadpan, “but I don’t think we have any other option.”

“I’m still going to bring in every trained soldier we have,” Riley said.

“You do that,” Giles said, “as long as they buy us the time to perform the spell all help is appreciated.”

“I can’t believe it,” Burns exclaimed and pointed towards Faith, “We’re going to have to put our fate in the hands of that murdering bitch?”

“Sergeant-Major,” Riley said calmly, “Can it.”

“But….,” Burns protested, “Her former boss, what about Jenkins, Andropov, and the others, who are still dead because of her treachery. Don’t they count?”

“Sergeant-Major Montgomery Burns,” Riley shouted, “Do as you are told. That’s an order!”

Burns stood to attention and saluted.

“Yes sir!” he shouted back. But it was clear he did so with great reluctance.

The whole exchange had hurt Faith. Again her past was haunting her. Then she felt something in her mind.

See? They cannot be trusted.

This was the second time she felt it speak inside her mind since returning to Sunnydale. Now it really began to worry her. She should really speak up and tell the others that it was speaking to her. Especially with G.’s crazy plan.

Yet as soon as she tried to open her mouth she felt unable to speak out. Xander however saw her trying to speak.

“Don’t worry,” he said misunderstanding her reticence as guilt, “No matter what he thinks, he’s still a soldier. And they know the chain of command. If Riley tells him to shut up, he will.”

But that was not what I meant, Faith tried to say. Instead she said nothing. Instead another word popped up in her mind.

Soon!





On what used to be the capital world of the Goa’uld Herishef his First Prime awoke within the burned remains of his former Lord’s palace. Reaching for his head with one hand and trying to steady himself with the other Herishef’s First Prime tried to make sense of what had happened. And then he remembered.

The Golden Alien!

As he looked around himself Herishef’s First Prime saw nothing but a vast plain of burned rubble and debris of what was once a shining city, a capital to his living God.

Oh dear lord, he had failed, failed his God!

Tears welled up in his eyes as the realization that his God was no more hit him. He wanted to bury his face in the ashes and cry out to the heavens. Herishef was no more!

DOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the very planet he was on and shook the First Prime from his grief. No sooner followed by a massive gust of wind as the shockwave of the explosion followed, nearly blasting the First Prime away with its gust and the ash and sand it contained.

As the wind passed Herishef’s First Prime turned around and looked into the skies. They were still heavily filled with ash clouds but then he saw it. Something that moved impossibly fast, then came to a dead stop and a small shockwave erupted as two forces collided with great vigor. Then two streaks, one golden, one white, spiraled around each other upwards, little eruptions of displaced energy causing smaller shockwaves along the way. Then another massive shockwave erupted high in the sky and something fell into the ground with great speed, causing a small earthquake to happen and a crater to be formed.

Then the golden streak slammed into the crater, only to be greeted by a massive purple blast that shot it back into the sky. In the wake of the purple blast the white streak shot up from the crater again and the two forces clashed again. Next it rained golden orbs of death that landed on the planet’s surface in the distance. As they landed they exploded in massive blasts, brighter then the local sun and the First Prime had to take cover behind a large boulder that was by now all that was left of Herishef’s palace.

It took for a moment but eventually strong winds began to blast the First Prime’s position again, who was fortunate enough that the large boulder proved enough protection from the strong winds and debris that now blasted his position.. Unfortunately it didn’t provide him shelter against the almost unbearable heat that came with the winds.

Somehow the First Prime survived the onslaught, he had been after all a tough veteran of the many wars Herishef had waged. As the winds settled again there was no sign of the two combatants high in the sky.

But he did saw a field of mushroom clouds rising into the sky where the explosions had taken place, adding more ash and debris to the already heavily polluted atmosphere.

Tentatively the First Prime got up from behind the boulder and looked around him. Literally half the horizon was filled with rising mushroom clouds and the onset of a rapidly approaching thunderstorm as the planet’s atmosphere tried to get rid of all the debris and discharge that had built up.

Seeing that discretion was the better part of valor after one’s God had died the First Prime ran away. Hoping that through some miracle the Chappa’ai had survived. Like all Goa’uld Herishef had not built his palace next to the gate, or built his palace around it, in case of attack through the stargate. But it was still relatively close to be in walking distance. If you were put through your paces.

Or in the First Prime’s case, had death itself on hot pursuit.

So far the two powers seemed oblivious to his presence, like a Jaffa was oblivious to the presence of small crawling insects on the floor around him. But that did not mean nobody stepped on a small crawling insect by accident.

After running for what seemed like forever the First Prime’s hopes began to grow again as he saw the round circle of the Chappa’ai standing in the distance. Somehow it had survived. Like he had.

He was close now, just past a hill with the Chappa’ai over the next one when suddenly something purple streaked over his head towards the Chappa’ai.

“Nooooo!” the First Prime wailed, then instinct took over and he let himself fall to the ground. Just in time as a massive blast erupted on the other side of the hill.

BOOM!

As the earth trembled the First Prime clung to the dirt for all his might. Being in a small valley shielded him from the brunt of the explosion. But not the shower of earth and debris that rained down on him. For what seemed like forever the shower continued, then it abated and finally stopped.

Nearly completely covered in dirt the First Prime raised his head, then he got up and continued his run for the Chappa’ai. Climbing up the hill he stumbled at least three times as he found his left leg refused to cooperate. Glancing briefly at his leg he noticed a large tear in his leg armor and a laceration caked with blood and dirt still oozing blood. A piece of shrapnel stuck from the wound as well.

No time for that now though as the First Prime dragged himself up the hill towards the chappa’ai. And on top of the hill he stopped.

In front of him where the Chappa’ai should have been, there was nothing left. The once indomitable seeming device, one that would stand the test of time, was no more. Just a large crater where it had once stood.

Defeated the First Prime let himself fall on the ground and looked in disbelief at the crater. It was over.

When he finally noticed the golden orb of death that came right towards him he didn’t even make an effort to escape. Instead he welcomed death. At least his God and comrades would be waiting for him on the other side.





Belmovekk had been fighting the Majin now for more then an hour and found to his dismay that they were evenly matched. Even when he had gone all the way to his max the Majin was still more powerful. Of course it didn’t help that he had spent way too much time in Super Saiyan state eradicating planets.

On the other hand the Majin was all about raw power and lacked skill, preferring to use that raw power instead. So for as long as Belmovekk utilized his greater knowledge and experience to his advantage the two of them were equal.

It clearly frustrated the Majin to no end, but hey, that was his bane to carry. Not being able to utilize all his experience and techniques into victory was Belmovekk’s bane.

Still, a battle like this was the wet dream of every Saiyan. The very idea of finding the perfect opponent to whom you were so evenly matched was the highest ideal of Saiyan martial arts and whole volumes of song and literature had been created to that very concept. It sang in the blood of every Saiyan and even despite millennia of having the more absurd parts of his culture slowly eroded from his being not even Belmovekk was immune to its lure.

As he fought the Majin a chorus swelled up from his blood that swelled up to epic levels inside his mind. It was the sound of all his ancestors, of the whole Saiyan race as they sang songs of blood, songs of encouragement, songs of war, songs of glory and songs of death. It was something Belmovekk and every Saiyan heard as they engaged into holy combat and when they had to dig deep for strength. It was something that Belmovekk had spent a long time trying to ignore because it made Saiyans do stupid things.

Except now that he was up to his max it song for his attention like never before. Telling him this was his moment. This was what he was born for.

Horse piss!

He had no time to give in to his inner Saiyan. He had to come up with a way to defeat this demon so he could get to Anubis. He had to safe Buffy.

Ignoring the logic of that alone, how else would he face the wrath of his wife? After all, she had told him to either return together or not at all.

So he soldiered on. Trying to come up with ways defeat this demon as they traded blow for blow, kick for kick and blast for blast. And getting nowhere.

But damn was this fun!

But as the Saiyan fought to contain his Saiyan nature and let excitement get the better of him, the Majin looked visibly more and more frustrated. Whatever the hell it was and whatever strange and demonic powers it possessed, patience wasn’t one of its virtues.

It growled and snarled possible obscenities at the Saiyan in whatever the hell passed for its native language. If it had any. It lashed out at the Saiyan with its strange almost mitten like hands but the Saiyan just managed to stay out of reach. Most of the time. It used his feet to kick towards the Saiyan but he managed to evade most kicks. At least the powerful ones.

The blasts were dangerous as the Majin literally seemed to have power to spare in that respect, showering the planet below them with destructive energy in the philosophy that if fired enough energy blasts it might hit the retreating Saiyan.

Of course it occasionally did hit the retreating Saiyan.

Hurting from untold bruises and scrapes the Saiyan tried to counter attack. And deftly was confronted when the demon counter counter attacked with its large tail like appendage on its head.

Somehow that appendage scared Belmovekk the most. Like he instinctively knew bad juju would happen if that thing ever were to touch him. That it was better to be hit ten, twenty times by the creatures feet and fists then just once by its head tail.

And yet as he evaded the demon’s head tail his face ran into the demon’s fist. So it knew about his reticence in regards to that appendage, Belmovekk thought as he evaded a follow up kick and used his left hand to fire a quick chi blast to cover his retreat. It was learning. He had to take that into account. And maybe use that to his advantage.

For a minute he fought and evaded the demon like before. Causing much more chagrin to the creature. Then he counter attacked like before, coming a little too close. And like before the head appendage lashed out and like before Belmovekk recoiled for its touch. And like before the demon used the Saiyan’s revulsion to strike with its other appendages.

Only this time Belmovekk was prepared, blocked the strike and used the demon’s confusion to drive it’s knee in its gut. His knee struck home with so much force the demon buckled up, giving the Saiyan the opportunity strike him on the back with both hands, causing the demon to fall to the ground and create a large crater.

The Saiyan dove after the thing in the hope that this time he had struck a decisive blow. But he had been there before and ended up eating energy attack instead. So he used a slightly offside course to dive after the demon.

Which turned out just as well cause if he had flown in a straight course he would have gotten a face full of that purple energy beam that now just missed him. So that was a big no on having delivered a decisive strike. Was there no stopping this thing?

Unleashing an energy beam of his own Belmovekk began to pump energy into the crater, creating a golden zone of pure death around that thing as he literally tried to cook the bastard alive.

It was to no avail however as the golden zone suddenly expended and then broke up, sending shards of golden chi into every direction, detonating on impact. And as the dust settled Belmovekk could see the demon as it had its arms outstretched to support a shimmering shield.

Was there no stopping this thing?

Panting heavily Belmovekk took stock of the situation. This was going to be a real battle of attrition. A battle that would take time. And time was something that Buffy didn’t have. Only Aldur knew what that freak Anubis was doing to her right now. It called for desperate measures.

He would have to break out his emergency senzu bean.

Maybe if he restored his own energy again and lost his fatigue he would finally be able to finish this thing off and then take on Anubis.

He reached inside his own shirt and pulled out the small locket that hung on a chain around his neck. Crushing the small metal locket he took out the senzu bean that was in it and popped it in his mouth. As he chewed he assumed a fighting stance and challenged the demon to come towards him.

“Bring it on.”

The demon on the other hand thought otherwise. It suddenly took off in the opposite direction. And Belmovekk, fully reinvigorated, gave chase. But then he saw what the demon had in mind. The damn thing was trying to escape!

It had opened a portal in the distance and was hauling ass towards it. And even with his energy fully restored Belmovekk found it hard to keep up with the demon, let alone overtake it.

“Nooooooo!” the Saiyan yelled as he saw the demon fly through the portal. Then it closed after him, leaving the Saiyan alone on a ruined planet.

“NO!” Belmovekk yelled angry as he hung there in the air, right underneath a thundercloud. His chi caused the cloud to discharge while he gave outing to his frustration.

“I will find you, demon!” he yelled amidst the roar of thunder erupting around him, “I know your chi now!”

Indeed did he now know the demon’s chi signature. You do not fight with an opponent of that magnitude and not pick up on it. But how to find it again a galaxy 25.000 light-years across?

And then it hit on him. He even began to chortle.

“You made a terrible mistake, Anubis, releasing your pet demon. For now I will find you. Through him.”

Then Belmovekk brought two fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes to concentrate.

And then he vanished.





The first thing Riley did as he landed in the Air Force base was make for his office while he set Burns to rally the troops. On the way back to the base the sergeant-major hadn’t said a word other then respond to Riley’s orders. A part of Riley feared that he may have ruined their friendship by siding with the Dark Slayer. Another part knew that there was no time to play touchy feely, that there was a job to be done and that such things were best mended over a cold beer afterwards.

As he stormed into the HQ building the duty officer arose.

“Sir?” he said and reached for a clip board, “There have been several calls for you by Washington from General War….”

“I have no time for that,” Riley said as he walked right past the duty officer to his office, “Get me Jamison in Bragg on the phone. The secure one.”

“But sir, the general was quite….” the duty officer tried to protest but Riley gave him a death glare that told him to shut up. Nobody pissed off the major and not suffer the consequences of it. Except perhaps his girlfriend. And the major had made plenty of ‘object lessons’ out of people who thought that his smart mouthed girlfriend made for funny after hours talk.

“I will get Major Jamison for you, sir,” the duty officer said as he swallowed.

Riley entered his office and made for his desk. There he sat down on his chair and waited for the call to be put through.

Which it soon did.

“I have Major Jamison on the line for you, sir,” the duty officer’s voice said through the speaker.

“Put him through,” Riley said.

“Riley, you scum bucket,” a thick accented voice spoke from the speaker, “why the hell are you calling me this late? Please tell me it’s not an emergency and that you’ve finally come to your senses and that you’re joining the Corps.”

“And go Semper Fi all the time?” Riley snorted as a smile crept on his face, “Thanks but no thanks, Jamison. I like the Army way too much to become a Leatherneck. I was born green, remember?”

“Suit yourself, you army puke,” Jamison voice laughed on the other side. The Marine had been one of the top Earth soldiers handpicked by Belmovekk to be trained in the art of chi fighting. At first just what he had called the Auxiliary Training Program. The training Saiyans gave to auxiliaries from their subjugated worlds. But the training program was also specifically designed to keep those who were trained at a certain level. One that lay far below of even the lowliest program.

As he began to train and get to know his trainees their Saiyan teacher had begun to like the men he was training. And halfway through the program he had shown them where the deliberate pitfalls were, meant to keep them at that deliberate low level. He even had begun to teach them the first basic katas or forms of Saiyan martial arts. Which were totally extra-curricular.

And occasionally those members of the original group that had survived both the training and the Battle of Sunnydale still returned for some additional private lessons. Such was the bond between Belmovekk’s Bastards and their Satiya.

“So there’s an emergency,” Jamison said through the speakerphone, “Is our Satiya in trouble?”

The Marine actually sounded worried.

“Could be,” Riley sighed, “He’s gone off world with the SGC.”

Riley then proceeded to give Jamison the gist of what had happened.

“Lemme get this straight,” the Marine said as he tried to make sense of what he had just heard, “So some Spooks have begun their own program to create super soldiers using the technology they got from #13’s remains. And now the Bastard’s programming has subverted their base and taken possession of their uber-cyborg? And you thought it was a good idea to let these kids go off to Cleveland on their own?”

“You make it sound like some cheesy TV show,” Riley protested.

“No it sounds like you’ve slept too much with Satiya’s stepdaughter and her stupid has rubbed off on you,” the Marine’s voice said over the speaker, then his voice sighed, “What do you want me to do?”

“Send every man you have towards Cleveland,” Riley said, “We’re going back there and this time we’ll finish the job.”

Jamison didn’t immediately reply.

“And bypass the chain of command?” he finally said incredulously, “Are you insane? We have to evacuate Cleveland. We can’t have another Battle of Sunnydale, only this time in Cleveland. We were lucky in Sunnydale that only so few people died. There are almost half a million of people in that city alone. That’s a lot of people to be trusting to luck.”

“There’s no time,” Riley said, “That thing’s going to launch an attack against Area 51 and the SGC to reclaim the remains of the other two. If it gets their diskeys Gero will know we’re on to him. We could lose a whole lot more then Cleveland if that happens.”

“How on Earth can I send 150 trainees to Cleveland without Washington and the SGC noticing?”

“Just tell your superiors you’re taking them on a field ex,” Riley said, “Satiya did it all the time, remember?”

“Intimately,” Jamison’s voice snorted, then he sighed, “Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll kick Mike out of bed and rally the trainees. Will you be bringing your bunch as well.”

“Just a squad,” Riley replied, “Burns will take the rest to GroomLake in case those cyborgs make it there. They cannot be allowed to get access to those diskeys.”

“We could have really used them,” Jamison said wistfully, “would have doubled our strength.”

“It’s not up to us to decide this,” Riley said, “It’s up to these kids.”

“All the more reason to have your bunch with us,” the Marine major said, “Riley, do you trust this Faith? She did betray us before, remember.”

Riley didn’t immediately respond. To be frank he had his own doubts. Once a traitor….

Of course it was more of what she represented, a deadly past, as he didn’t really know her. She did seem full of regret though. Who knows, she might actually want to turn over a new leaf.

He couldn’t tell Jamison though of his doubts. He knew Jamison. If he did there was no way the Marine would send his men to Cleveland.

“I think she’s on the level,” Riley said deadpan.

“You do know I’m trusting the lives of my men to your judgment, Riley,” the Marine said in earnest, “And I will personally kick your ass to hell if she gets us killed, your Army rat!”

“Like you could,” Riley snorted derisively, “Bragg may have better training grounds then Sunnydale, but this place does have its perks, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jamison replied, “You get to bang Satiya’s daughter. And private lessons I assume? So are you going to call the others?. I’m pretty sure they’d hate to miss the party.”

“Last thing I heard Jake, Johansen and Spencer were still off planet with SG-41,” Riley said.

“What about our foreign friends?” the Marine asked, “Tony was pretty pissed he had to miss Satiya’s wedding. That Limey bastard would cross the Atlantic in a heartbeat, taking his trainees with him. Always helpful in a fight those Brits. As would Jürgen and Andre.”

“I would if I think it would be of help,” Riley said, “But I think this will be all over and decided by the time they’d get here.”

“Suit yourself,” Jamison said, “I’ll tell Mike you said hi. Belmovekk’s Bastards!”

“Belmovekk’s Bastards!” Riley replied. Then the Marine hung up, leaving Riley to think things over for a moment. He had lied to his friend. Those damn kids better come through for him.

Then outside he could hear the sounds of troops getting rallied as Burns roused the men. Burns could handle that part. Riley had a different part to fulfill. There were still a few more phone calls to make.





“Nervous?” Willow asked.

“No way. I'm full of that good old kamikaze spirit,” Xander replied as they waited outside in front of Giles’ home.

“Xander, just because this is never gonna work, there's no need to be negative,” Giles’ replied from inside his home, then the former librarian emerged from his home carrying a carton box full of books and stuff which he put next to him on the ground, then he pulled out his keys to close the door.

“This enjoining spell, is it powerful enough to defeat Adam?” Willow asked.

“It's very powerful. It's also extraordinarily dangerous,” Giles said as he stuck his keys in the lock, he almost turned it when he suddenly remembered something, “Oh dear.”

“That oh dear doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” Xander said, suppressing a mental shudder.

“Is there something wrong, Giles?” Willow asked worried.

“No, nothing wrong,” Giles said absent minded, “I just forgot something.”

“Then don’t oh dear us like that,” Xander said as he pretended to slap Giles, “You know every time you say that I get a heart attack.”

“I shall endeavour to persevere,” Giles said as he opened his front door and went inside.

“You do that!” Xander called after him, then he turned to Willow, “What does that mean?”

Inside his home Giles went to a small room containing his magic paraphernalia and retrieved a small bag of powder from a cabinet. Then he left the room and walked towards the front door. In doing so he passed the living room.

“Hello Rupert,” a voice suddenly said, causing Giles to stop in his tracks.

“Who’s there?” Giles said as he reached for the light switch, “I do have to warn you though, just being here in my home you are in breach of the Edict.”

As he turned around Giles switched on the light

Only to see someone sitting on the couch who was the last person he’d ever expect to see.

Doctor Daniel Jackson.

The late doctor Daniel Jackson.

“D…, d…, Doctor Jackson?” Giles stammered in utter surprise.

“Nice to see you as well,” Daniel Jackson replied as he pointed to the opposite sofa, “please, sit. Let’s talk. It’s been a while, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Giles said flabbergasted and pointed over his shoulder, “I, uh, we, um…”

“I know,” Daniel said understanding, “You and the others have to go to Cleveland. To fight Adam. A few minutes of your time won’t hurt though.”

Without thinking Giles sat down opposite the dead archaeologist.

“You know?” he asked, then his face turned surprised again, “Adam?”

“That’s his name,” Daniel smiled.

“I see,” Giles said as he looked downwards, to the coffee table that was between them, then he looked up, “I thought you were dead? Aren’t you dead?”

Daniel looked aside and pretended to think about it.

“In a fashion,” he finally said, “I ascended to a higher plane. I’m a non corporeal being now.”

“Really?” Giles said, “I mean, wow, that’s, um, fascinating.”

Daniel leaned forward.

“You wouldn’t believe what I now know after I ascended,” he whispered conspiratorially.

“I can believe, um, quite a, uh, lot,” Giles said nervously.

“I know of the cosmic struggle, what Anubis is doing even now, of what the Initiative has done, what Adam is planning to do,” Daniel leaned again forward, “And what you have done to me, Rupert. I remember it all again.”

“Oh dear,” Giles muttered as he reached for his glasses and cleaning cloth, “I was afraid you would.”

“Relax, Rupert,” Daniel said reassuringly, “I understand why you did it. And your prophecy did come try. Even though you stole most of my life, I did die of some stupid accident within less of a year. So I forgive you.”

Giles stopped polishing his glasses.

“You do?” he said surprised upon which Daniel shrugged. .

“No need to bear grudges once you learn the mystery of life, the universe and everything,” Daniel smiled, “Besides, why bear a grudge towards someone when he’s most likely going to die.”

“Well, thanks I guess, of sorts,” Giles replied, then something clicked in his mind, “You know what Adam is planning?”

“Like I said, once you ascend its like the fog gets lifted on everything,” Daniel replied.

“Then tell us!” Giles asked, “Tell us what he plans to do so we can stop it.”

Daniel looked away uncomfortably.

“It doesn’t work like that,” he said uneasy.

“Yes it does,” Giles said, “you talk, I listen, an exchange of information takes place.”

“I can’t,” Daniel said evasively, “I, um, we are bound by strict rules of non-intervention.”

Giles looked upwards and rolled his eyes.

“It can never be easy, can it?” he muttered dejected.

“I want to help,” Daniel said, “really I do. But the moment I break the rules, so can They.”

“Then why dangle this particular titbit in front of me?” Giles said accusingly as he stood up, “Why waste my time at all?”

“Because forgiveness is a powerful force?” Daniel replied smiling uncomfortably.

Giles put his glasses back on.

“Look, Doctor Jackson, I find this whole exchange very much intriguing. And if I had the time I would love to have stayed and chatted about your new nature. But unfortunately I am hard pressed for time. And if you cannot help me defeat this…, this Adam, then maybe we should talk another time.”

“I’m afraid there won’t be another time,” Daniel replied regretful, “This is all I’m permitted to do.”

“Then I bid you farewell and a nice, um, afterlife,” Giles said as he was about to walk away.”

“Wait,” Daniel said and pointed to the coffee table, “You’re forgetting your, um, little plastic bag of, uh, magical something.”

Seeing the bag of powder lying on the table Giles suddenly remembered why he had re-entered his home in the first place.

“Thanks,” he said shaking his head, “sometimes I can be so forgetful.”

Then he picked up the bag, switched off the light and left his home.

“Glad to have been of service,” Daniel said as he began to sport a big grin.





“And there he is,” Xander said as he saw two SUV’s drive up to Giles’ home. As the two vehicles halted Riley stepped out of the lead car, soon followed by more men. Who, while all in civilian garb, had the unmistaken look of soldiers about them.

“Just in time,” Xander said as behind him Giles emerged from his home and closed the front door.

“They do teach us to be punctual in the military, you know,” Riley said as he pulled a duffel bag from the car.

“And to bring your own goon squad with you as well,” Xander said as he eyed the soldiers.

“I thought it might be helpful to bring some extra help with us,” Riley said.

“Burns not coming?” Xander asked.

“He got his orders to carry out,” Riley replied as he walked past the car until he was in front of Xander, “Are we done playing 20 questions?”

“They were just two and a remark,” Xander said, pretending to be insulted.

“So, where’s Faith?” Riley asked as he looked around if he could see the missing Slayer.

“I’m here,” a voice called out from above, next thing Faith somersaulted down from Giles’ roof and landed next to them.

“Why were you up there?” Riley asked surprised.

“Now who’s playing 20 questions,” Faith grinned.

“It’s her way,” Xander said, “Probably picked it up from Pickles in the wilderness. He likes to hang out in strange places.”

“Hey, it’s good for thinking?” Faith protested.

“See?” Xander said pointing towards Faith, “I rest my case.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Willow asked Giles as he joined them. Giles at first didn’t seem to hear her, as he was sunken in his thoughts, then he looked up.

“Oh, um, uh, yes I did,” Giles said as he put a small packet of powder in his cardboard box, “Are we, um, ready to go?”

“Portal’s been ready for at least five minutes,” Willow said pointing a shimmering swirl in the air five meters away.

“And now that the cavalry has arrived we’re finally ready to go,” Xander said.

“Then, um, let’s go then,” Giles said.

“Game faces, people,” Faith said as she walked towards the portal, “We’re going back in.”





“Crap, that feels awful,” one of Riley’s soldiers said after he emerged on the other side of the portal in Cleveland.

“Like twisting your innards,” another said.

“Sorry,” Willow said apologetic, “There’s this phase differential thingy that’s hard to get the hang off. And then there’s the different harmonics of the Sunnydale and Cleveland Hellmouths to take into account.”

“At least we’re here,” Riley said as he looked around the dark parking lot they had emerged into, “Where are we?”

“By the looks of it he parking lot of the Ramada Inn motel,” Xander said and pointed towards one of the cabins to the side, “that was our room.”

“Ah, great,” Willow said as she closed the portal and was about to start walking towards it, “I left some stuff in there I’d like to….”

“Wait, Red,” Faith,said as gripped Willow by her shoulder, “Why’s the light still on?”

Faith was right as the lights were on in their room.

“She’s right,” Xander said, “I specifically remember turning the light off.”

“Let’s find out,” Riley said as he pulled forth a gun and began to give hand signals to his men, who like a well oiled machine began to sneak up to the cabin. As soon as they reached the cabin they gathered in two groups on each side of the door.

“On three,” he whispered, then he did a silent countdown using his fingers. Then the soldier opposite him kicked in the door and Riley stormed into the room.

Only to find Spike sitting on the bed watching television, then giving them an incredulous look.

“You could have just knocked.”

[krinsbez]

Not bad.

[3D Master]

Ouch, now there's a fifth column. Things are going from bad to worse.

At least Anubis is about to get a wake up call.

[Muad'zin]

Chapter 8

‘Be Yourself’




AN: Sorry for the one delay in the usual posting, I got 'distracted'. Writing this chapter has been a strange exercise. Despite thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to write and being pretty much inspired it still put up a lot of resistance, constantly changing on the little details. It took me a lot longer to finish then I had originally thought it would. But who cares! It’s done!




And even when you've paid enough
Been pulled apart or been held up
With every single memory of the good or bad
Faces of luck
Don't lose any sleep tonight
I'm sure everything will end up alright
You may win or lose
But to be yourself is all that you can do

Be Yourself
Audioslave - Out of Exile
Lyrics by Chris Cornell




A day minus 248



Thud!

“Speak!”

Like he was a piece of meat Faith slammed Spike against the wall of their motel room.

“Look sister,” Spike said, “No need to get your knickers in a twist.

“I’m not your sister,” Faith hissed, “Last time we saw you, you were surrounded by those zombies.”


“No thanks to you lot,” Spike muttered aggrieved.

“The why is inconsequential,” Faith said as she twisted some of Spike’s skin, “I wanna know how you got out of there in one piece.”

“Aaah, you crazy bitch,” Spike cried out. Despite all the hardware built into him he still wasn’t immune to pain. Not of the nice kind that is.

“You sold us out, didn’t you?” Xander added as he joined Faith, “You sold us out to that thing, didn’t you?”

“Well, wouldn’t you?” Spike said looking at Xander, “after all, you left me there to face the music, you bastard!”

“So you freely admit it,” Xander said angry.

“Well, what was I supposed to do?” Spike said gruff, “One moment we were all the three amigos, the next you left me to do a solo. Of course I had to cut a deal.”

“What kind of deal, Spike?” Giles asked.

“To set us up of course,” Xander snorted.

“Not everything revolves around you, Droopy,” Spike said as he began to smirk, then he turned to Faith, “If you please would, love?”

Faith let go of the vampire who began to straighten his shirt.

“So what kind of deal did you make, Spike?” Giles asked again.

“Nothing much,” Spike said smirking, “I just had to give you guys a message.”

“Which is?”

“Adam, that’s his name by the way, told me to say that he waits for you. That if you guys made it back he’s happy to see you. And this time you’re welcome to just use the front door.”





When Goku had first learned the instant transmission technique from the Yardratti he had only used it for relatively local point to point teleportation at first. As time went on and as part of his training Goku had experimented with the technique, trying to come up with innovative ways to use the technique in ways not previously thought off.

At first Goku went for distance. Trying to teleport as far as was possible. The whole Earth soon was no limit. After that Goku had to resort to other means. Like borrowing the space ship that Bulma’s father had built for him. As he took Piccolo along he used the Namek on the ever traveling away space ship and his own son back home for bearing to see how far the instant transmission would take him. He found that as long as he could sense someone at the point of destination there seemed to be no limit as to how far the instant transmission would take him.

So then it became important to train his senses to sense for chi as best as they could. To be able to identify even the weakest person in a sea of chi, or the tiniest amounts of chi the furthest away. By doing that Goku could teleport to any place in the solar system. Provided there was somebody at the other end of course.

But if he went Super Saiyan Goku learned that he could extend his range even further and teleport himself to some of the inhabited star systems near Earth. Which meant that theoretically as long as he could sense just the minutest amounts of chi he could travel the entire galaxy.

In contrast to Goku Belmovekk was relatively new to chi sense. But it was a sense the Saiyan had sought to develop as well. He would never abandon his old trusty scouter but Belmovekk could see the value of having multiple ways of detecting enemies. So he had trained himself hard to be able to sense chi like the others. He wasn’t up to Goku levels of detection, but then again, who was? The guy was a natural of a kind that appeared only once in a generation.

Still, Belmovekk was good enough to breach the dimensions and enter into the afterlife.

Only to emerge on a small planetoid with a crushing gravity and a small house on it.

It had taken Belmovekk more then two years to finally master instant transmission. And not for lack of trying. It just didn’t came as naturally to him as it did to Goku. But as he started to get the hang of it Goku imparted to him the benefits of what he had learned. How to travel long distances, how to sense for long distance chi. And how to breach the dimensions into the afterlife.

Through sheer accident Goku had discovered that when he was in Super Saiyan state he could sense the Lord of Worlds on his little planetoid in the afterlife. And to his surprise he found that crossing the dimensional barrier into the afterlife was no more difficult then traveling to a distant star. So he crossed over to say hello.

And learned why the Lord of Worlds resided there and named himself that way.

Once Belmovekk had finally shown signs of being able to teleport himself one out of every two times Goku had taken his fellow Saiyan and introduced him to the Lord of Worlds. Who was quite intrigued with him.

Not this time though.

The usually so jolly Lord of Worlds came screaming out of his little home.

“How dare you to intrude on my sanctity,” the Lord of Worlds screamed at Belmovekk.

Belmovekk shot an angry glare at the small creature. He still didn’t fully understand what this Lord of Worlds was and where he fitted in the grand scheme of things. Normally he would be polite and play nice. But he was a little strapped for time right now.

“Excuse me, Kaio Sama,” he said brusquely, “But I need to find some one. And I know you can. Now if you would please point me to the right direction I will be on my way.”

“Why would I help a murderer?” the Lord of Worlds replied as he folded his short arms across his broad chest, “Yes, I know what you did, butcher. You slaughtered billions today.”

Belmovekk looked at the small creature who was now joined by his pet monkey.

“Ook?”

“Either help me find this Majin, or I will continue to slaughter billions more,” he said with a straight face, “With her gone I no longer care.”

“You wouldn’t!” the Lord of Worlds said aghast, “You’d be too late to save her.”

Belmovekk leaned forward until his face was close to the Lord of Worlds.

“Then either give me what I want or watch this galaxy burn.”

Horrified the Lord of Worlds recoiled. Then his shoulders slumped and he looked downwards in defeat.

“I will do ask you ask,” he said gloomily, then he looked up again, “but only because you are the lesser of two evils.”





“Here it is.”

Spike had led the group through Cleveland’s skies to a set of maintenance buildings on the University of Cleveland campus.

“It’s in there,” he said as he pulled open the nearest maintenance shed.

“It just looks like a garage,” Xander said as he stepped inside and put his hand on a tractor.

Riley meanwhile walked to the right, where there was a small kitchen unit. Judging by the coffee stains on the table the place hadn’t been used or cleaned in a while. But it was the little signs that creeped him out. The overturned cup from which the coffee had spilled, the broken leg on one of the chairs. Something bad had happened here.

“That’s the bloody point, you dunce,” he heard the vampire say towards Xander.

“Is everything alright, sir?” one of Riley’s men asked behind him.

“I’m fine,” Riley said as he turned around and left the kitchen unit. He saw another one of his soldier folding away his cell phone.

“Major Jamison just called, sir,” the soldier said, “he and his men have just crossed the Ohio and will be here in ten minutes.”

“Fine,” Riley nodded.

“Sir?” the first soldier asked, “Will we be waiting for Major Jamison? I mean, we could use the extra help.”

Riley looked at the man. He had personally handpicked him not only because he was among the best of the current group, but also because, like the others he had picked, was way too loyal for his own good. Riley glanced at all of them. If they were to survive this day they would probably become as close knit as Belmovekk’s Bastards had become. Although he hoped they wouldn’t start to call themselves Riley’s Roughnecks.

“I’m afraid not, soldier,” Riley said, trying to give them his most comforting smile, “If everything goes to plan all we’ll be doing is a rear guard action. If it doesn’t goes to plan Major Jamison’s men won’t make much of a difference anyway.”

“Then why send for them?” a corporal asked.

“Someone has to buy time so they can evacuate as many civilians before they nuke this place,” Riley said deadpan.

“Geez, Wellington,” Spike said as he had overheard Riley’s little speech, “You sure know how to give a pep talk, do ya?”

“I believe in being honest,” Riley bit back, “Which I’m sure is more then can be said about you.”

“Hey, I’m honest,” Spike protested, “Didn’t I tell you I had switched sides?”

“I don’t see a doorway,” Giles said after he had examined the walls.

“Sure there’s one,” Spike said pointing to a wall, “It’s right over there.”

“I don’t see it, Sparky,” Xander said as he examined the wall.

“Why am I not surprised,” Spike muttered, then he walked over to the wall, pressed a panel and the wall slid open.

“While I’ll be darned and dipped in molasses,” Xander said surprised and in a western accent, “so there really is a door. And an elevator as well.”

“We won’t all fit in there though,” Faith said.

“We’ll go in groups then,” Giles said as he picked up his box again.

“You’re kidding, right?” Riley protested and pointed right towards Spike, “that’s exactly what he wants, split us up.”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Spike said, “I’m just messenger boy, remember? You got a free pass to go to him. Why would I have to betray you?”

Riley leaned over until he was close to the vampire’s face.

“Because you have treason oozing out of every pore in your body,” he slowly said.

“I resent that,” Spike huffed.

“Like I care,” Riley replied, pointing two fingers at his own eyes, then turning them towards Spike, “I have my eyes on you, vampire.”

“I’m shaking in my boots, Wellington,” Spike snorted.

“Look, if we all just make an effort to stand a little closer we’ll just fit in,” Giles said as he stepped inside the elevator, then he looked around, “Where are the buttons?”

“You really never left the 13th century, did you, Rupert?” Spike snorted, then he shook his head, “Alright, everyone in the elevator, let uncle Spike play elevator operator.”





Using his antennae the Lord of Worlds scoured towards all directions on his little planetoid. When Goku had first used his trained long distance chi sense in this realm he learned to his surprise that it greatly enhanced his range. Instead of making a small jump from inhabited star system to inhabited star system he could actually sense chi across the whole galaxy.

Which went a long way towards explaining why the Lord of Worlds choose to reside on this little insignificant planetoid in the afterlife. He basically could oversee the whole galaxy from here.

“I think I have found him,” the Lord of Worlds said after he had searched the galaxy for a trace of the Majin’s energy.

“Where?” Belmovekk said excited as he joined the Lord of World’s side.

“In that direction,” the Lord of Worlds said as he pointed towards somewhere. To where he pointed was meaningless in the afterlife, below them there were just yellow clouds. Above them was just pink sky. But the direction did correspond to a place in the galaxy. And as he extended his senses Belmovekk finally got a sense of his enemy again, the Majin.

“You’re in luck,” the Lord of Worlds said as he folded his short arms behind his back, “It is with Anubis. If you hurry then you might still be in time.”

“Then please do not distract me,” Belmovekk replied as he closed his eyes, put two finger on his forehead and prepared himself to teleport.

“I can’t say that it’s been a pleasure having you around,” the Lord of Worlds said, “I hope you catch him though. And that you go to Hell for what you have done today.”

“Do not worry yourself, Kaio Sama,” Belmovekk replied, “I have made my peace that I will join my brethren in Hell long ago.”

And with that Belmovekk disappeared, leaving the Lord of Worlds to his peace again.





“Would you believe this?”

“I figured we would have to fight our way in, sir,” one of Riley’s soldiers whispered as the group progressed through the dim corridors of the Initiative, with only red emergency lights to help them see in the dark

“You’re not the only one, private,” Riley whispered back. He was seriously creeped out by this expedition through the Initiative’s dark innards. And not just because everywhere they went the techno zombified demons and soldiers just stepped aside to let them pass, while behind them they all gathered to follow them. No, what really creeped out Riley was that he felt that this was where he should have been. That if his life had taken just a little different turn he would have ended up in a place like this.

“How much further is it?” Giles asked Spike, who was leading the group on.

“Almost there, Rupert,” Spike said confidently, “No need to get your….”

“Yeah I know the expression,” Giles muttered annoyed.





Belmo was dead.

For God knows how long Buffy had resisted both the psychic probes of Anubis and the magic of the priests trying to weaken her defenses. She had thought she was doing a good job resisting the robed nutjobs when suddenly the pink demon returned. The crazy Goold had talked to the thing and then he told her the news.

Belmo was dead.

She almost buckled on that news alone.

Belmo was dead.

For more then two years he had been more of a father to her then her own father.

Belmo was dead.

Even if he wasn’t always the easiest to live with. As she and Angel had learned the hard way. He had never liked the souled vampire and there had been times that she had thought that maybe the reason he had not resouled Angelus was to permanently end their relationship.

Belmo was dead.

And then there were the secrets.

Belmo was dead.

Sometimes she thought he kept secrets just for the hell of it. And they had a bad habit of coming back to bite them in the ass.

Belmo was dead.

But in the end he loved her, her sisters and her mother unconditionally. No matter who her boyfriend was, or what she had done. And okay, part of her knew that part of that was because she reminded him of his late sister, whom he had dearly loved.

Well, it had worried her a lot actually because nobody wants to be the shoe in for a long lost and beloved dead one.

Belmo was dead.

But they had talked it out and in the end did it really matter how two people met each other? The only thing that mattered was the reason why they stayed together. And he knew she was her own self.

Besides, her sister Mayan was now filling the ersatz dead sister role.

Belmo was dead.

She had only gone into space to save his life, to ward off his death according to the prophetic dreams.

And she thought she had.

Because she had fended off the demon’s attack and saved his life she now thought that Belmo would come and rescue her. Thinking? Hell, it was Belmo. He would do for her what she had done for him. For she did not regret getting caught. It was just a matter of time.

Belmo was dead.

And then that thing returned and Buffy just knew something bad had happened. It could only have returned because Belmo was dead. Because there were only two options. Either Belmo was still alive and he and thing were still fighting, or he was dead and that thing returned. Mission accomplished.

Of course it never even occurred to her that maybe the reason the demon had returned was because it was bored.

“She is close, Lord Anubis, the new head priest reported meanwhile to Anubis, “she will be ready for the transfer any moment now.”

“Good,” Anubis said high-spirited. The Majin had taken care of the Saiyan, soon he would be inside his new host and finally able to exert full control over the Majin. Hell, if he could unlock the girl’s hidden powers he might not even have need of the Majin at all. Any way, Yi would be made to pay for his resistance to him and the others be brought to heel. And once he had finally taken Ra’s vacant throne he could finally set his plans in motions against the Tau’ri, the Asgard, the Replicators and even the Ori.

Hell, he might even go up against Them!

But first he had to take over the Slayer. He sent out another mental probe and it confirmed what the new head priest had told him. She was ripe for the taking. Funny, telling her that troublesome Saiyan had died was causing her more turmoil then hours on end of non-stop magical assault. Humans were so weak.

He was about to take her over when suddenly an alarm went off, then a Jaffa came running in.

“I gave orders not to be disturbed,” an annoyed Anubis said at the unwanted intrusion.

“Milord, I am sorry,” the Jaffa said as he dropped unto his knee. The Jaffa was literally shaking with fear as nobody interfered with Anubis’ private business when he ordered not to.

Then the facility began to vibrate, followed by a low lying rumble being heard.

“Milord,” the Jaffa said, “We are under attack.”

Long before the Jaffa spoke his words Buffy lifted up her head.

“You lied to me,” she heard the Goold yell at his pet demon, “You told me you had taken care of him.”

Even without her powers she could feel the massive chi that was penetrating the Goold’s base.

“Gggghhhhhhh!” she heard the Majin hissed defiantly at Anubis as the Goold held up his fist with the ring on it, and the urn in the other.

Buffy began to smile.

“Don’t make me use it, demon, I will,” she heard the Goold yell as he brought the ring and urn closer together, “Go out there and kill him!”

Belmo!





“This is it,” Spike said as he halted the group. To the left, right and behind of them various corridors came together at this point. But in front of them a massive security door prevented further access.

“I remember this door,” Faith said as she came forward and touched it.

Soon!

“I also remember coming past here,” Willow said.

“Yeah,” Xander said and pointed to a door, “and then we went that way because Sparky here told us too. That the Big Bad always gathers his troops in a big hall.”

“Hey, he was there, remember?” Spike said annoyed, “And then you left me there to face the music. Remember that too?”

“Let’s not start arguing again,” Giles said and turned to the vampire, “This thi…., this Adam, he’s behind that door?”

“Yup,” Spike nodded, “just him. All for you.”

Xander raised his hand into the air.

“Am I the only one who thinks this is not a good idea?” he said, “That this is a trap?”
.
“Knowing it’s a trap is the first step in avoiding it, Xander,” Giles said trying to put the teen at ease.

“Yeah, and you do remember what happened to the guy who said that, huh?” Xander countered. Meanwhile Spike punched in a code on a keypad next to the security door and the door slid open.

“After you,” he said as he made a gracious bow.

“Let’s get this over with,” Faith said resolutely and stepped inside.

“Oh, what the hell?” Xander sighed and followed her, with Willow in his wake and then Giles.

No sooner had Giles stepped past the post when the security door closed with lightning speed behind him, cutting the Scoobies off from Spike and Riley and his men.





Teleporting straight in from the Lord of Worlds planetoid in the afterlife Belmovekk had emerged somewhere inside the Goa’uld’s stronghold. Demonstrating that his grasp of the instant transmission technique wasn’t perfect yet. Ah well, at least it got him near enough.

He blew up a couple of rooms and killed a few Jaffa guards to announce his arrival.

“We; since you’re here, you might as well use this opportunity to do some good,” a copy of his own voice said, laden with harmonic overtones. From inside the dust cloud of his latest explosion Amūn appeared.

“You pulled a lot of stupid moves to get here, Saiyan,” his gold clad counterpart said, “but you managed to get here. Now kill Anubis so we can all go home.”

Belmovekk wanted to say something when suddenly he turned his head aside.

“I think that `the Majin has something to say over that, it’s coming,” he said, then he looked at Amūn again, “Tell me you know of a way to defeat this thing?”

Amūn had changed appearances, lost the gold clad armor and instead was now dressed like an Earth boxer, including boxer shorts and gloves.

“Well kid,” Amūn said as he swung a fist, “you hit him with a left hook on the right side, cause that’s were he’s vulnerable. And then you follow it up with a barrage on…. “

Amūn stopped pretending he was a boxer.

“How in the hell should I know? You’re the expert, remember?”

No sooner had he said so as something small and pink crashed into Belmovekk and dragged the Saiyan away.

“See? What do I know,” Amūn said wistfully as he was all alone again. And then he faded away.





“She’s starting to resist again,” the new head priest of the Cult of They Who Watch yelled at Anubis.

“You think so?” Anubis said back annoyed.

“Things not going so well, Newby?” Buffy said smirking, then her smirk disappeared and turned into one of her patented death glares, “You lied to me!”

“The Majin lied to both of us,” Anubis said as he leaned on the stone slab that she was secured to.

“Well, that’s the problem with demons,” Buffy said mockingly, “They rarely ever do what you want them to do.”

“I will once I harness the power of your body,” Anubis replied, then he leaned over, “youngling.”

“You just let me go and I’ll show you what this youngling will do to your sorry degenerating ass,” Buffy yelled as Anubis turned away from her and faced the new head priest.

“How long?” he asked.

“At least half an hour,” the head priests said, “my priests are working themselves to death.”

Anubis brought his deteriorating face close to that of the head priest.

“I want her broken in minutes or I swear that you will be the first of your priests to die!”





“Open that door!”

“I’m trying to!”

While Riley was about ready to tear Spike a new one, the vampire was punching his access code on the touch pad to no avail.

“Sir,” one of Riley’s soldiers said nervously.

“What?” Riley asked as he turned around.

“These things, sir,” the soldier said as he pointed to the mass of techno zombies behind them, “they’re getting closer.”

The soldier was right. The whatever the hell they were had stopped keeping their distance and were getting closer.

“Why don’t we blast that door in?” another soldier suggested, causing Spike to give him a funny look.

“Be my guest,” he said, “but that door is shielded by some alien force field on the inside. It was meant to keep people like me in. Enhanced people, remember?”

“Spike!” Riley hissed, “Just do something! Get us out of here!”

“I’m trying,” Spike said like he was under a lot of pressure. But then the vampire stopped entering numbers into the touch pad and began to laugh.

“Why do I even bother?” he said as he stepped away from the touch pad.

“Spike, what the hell are you doing?” Riley asked surprised.

“End of the line for you, pall,” Spike said as he reached inside a back pocket and pulled forth a packet of cigarettes. Pulling one out he put it into his mouth and lit it with a little chi from his finger.

“What are you talking about, Spike?” Riley said nervously as the techno zombies were now getting really close, “You said we had free access to meet this Adam.”

“Did I say that?” Spike said as he inhaled deeply, “I guess I was wrong then.”

“You lying son o a bitch!” one of the soldiers said.

“Technically it wasn’t a lie,” Spike said as he casually strolled past Riley and his men, until he stood with the techno zombies, “I said they had free entrance. And they have. It’s just that they didn’t include you lot.”

One of the zombies, one who in a previous life had been Quentin Travers, head of the Watchers Council, came forth carrying a black leather trench coat and put it on Spike. Much to the vampire’s delight.

“You betrayed us, Spike,” Riley said resolutely, “I’ll kill you if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do!”

“Puhlease,” Spike snorted as he straightened his leather coat, “You and whose army?”



A day minus 249



In the large hall underneath Cleveland Spike was fighting for his life. To his surprise his supposed allies and the ones who had gotten him into this mess had suddenly abandoned him after Droopy had unleashed his massive yet fake attack. Now the whole lot was coming after him. Thanks, you Sunnydale wankers!

“Come on, you wankers!” Spike shouted defiantly as the horde of the techno undead closed in on him, “If I go down I’ll take the whole lot of you with me!”

To illustrate his point Spike began to charge a massive attack between his hands. Cleveland be damned if it meant an end to his life. He had no qualms in regards to human life in the abstract sense as the chip wasn’t flooding his neural paths with pain.

Suddenly the undead stopped advancing, then they parted and the cyborg king came through.

“So this is how it’s going to be, huh?” Spike said and aimed the attack right at him. He tried to fire but to his surprise found that he couldn’t. Could it be the damn chip again? It didn’t feel like it. There was no searing pain. And yet he felt utterly unable to let it go at this, this thing.

Then this thing came up right at him and put his hands on Spike’s.

“Relax, Spike,” he said in that calm droning voice again. As he did Spike stopped charging his attack and instead re-absorbed it.

“Who are you,” Spike said flabbergasted at his own actions.

The Cyborg began to smile.

“We are brothers, you and I,” it said, “Spike and Adam. Adam and Spike. Hello, older brother.”

“Who are you?” Spike asked again, upon which the cyborg smiled.

“I understand,” it said, “There is much you don’t remember.”

“Remember what?” Spike asked. Then the cyborg spoke a single word.

“Drusilla.”

And that was when the memories began to flood back again.

-

“I feel better if we were to use demons instead for the project and destroy this one altogether. At the very least erase his mind completely so he won’t cause us any more troubles. He always does.”

-

“Have no worry, Sir Travers, Hostile 17 is just a prototype. We only used him because, well, he’s the only one who survived the program this far. All the others died long before. That is why we need your help.”

-

“This power, it is like unto the Gods.”

-

“You think this is amazing, Sir Travers, I want you to see this.”

-

“It’s almost the end of the line for you, William. I cannot say I will mourn your passing, although I do wish your end came at the hands of a Slayer. Even a vampire like you deserves that over a mere mindwipe.”

-

“Sound the alert, 314 is………. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……”

-

“Hello brother. Even though this is the first time we meet I feel a great kinship between you and me. Especially once I complete your programming.”

“Adam, don’t. I know of a better use for him. He can be our Trojan horse to them.”

“Do not tempt me, demon, I am Adam! I am not your puppet to play with.”

“Silly android, you think you have a choice in this? We were the ones who gave you life beyond your programming to begin with. And if we want we will take it back again. He stays as he is. With some minor programming though.”

-

“I…., I remember things,” Spike said confused, then he looked at Adam, “You have nothing to do with some crazy scientist and his robots, you work for Them.”

Adam smiled.

“And so do you, brother, so do you. You have brought them here, just as planned.”

Adam tried to touch Spike again but the vampire recoiled.

“Don’t touch me, you freak,” Spike said in revulsion, “I’m not somebody’s puppet. I’m my own man.”

“And you shall be brother,” Adam said in that soothing yet monotonous voice of his, “At first I wanted to change you. Like the others. But now I’ve come to realize that you are way more useful to me as you are. You shall be my lieutenant. And when the Androids shall come to cleanse this world, it shall be us who will inherit the Earth. Adam and Spike. Spike and Adam. Like brothers. As it should be.

“Rule together, huh,” Spike said thoughtful.

Adam put his hand on Spike’s shoulder and this time the vampire did not recoil.

“But there is one more thing I want you to do, brother.”



A day plus 248



“You betrayed us, Spike,” Riley said resolutely, “I’ll kill you if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do!”

“Puhlease,” Spike snorted as he straightened his leather coat, “You and whose army? My boys here are each more then a match to your toy soldiers.”

Spike leaned forward and began to grin.

“And I have even more in waiting outside for your buddies. They won’t even know what hit them. In one fell stroke we will eliminate the only forces who could stop us east of the Mississippi.”

“You won’t get away with this, Spike,” Riley yelled angry, “The others, they will stop your boss and then you!”

“Puhlease,” Spike snorted again and nodded towards the security door, “They’re doing exactly what Adam wants them to do. This has been planned long ago.”

“Then Buffy will stop you once she returns,” Riley spat out, “Together with Belmovekk!”

“Oh no,” Spike said pretending to be scared, “big angry Slayer and the Big Scary will return from space.”

Spike began to laugh.

“You really have no idea of what has been set in motion against all of you, haven’t you, Captain Courageous?” the vampire sneered, then he turned around and walked away, through the multitude of techno zombies.

“You won’t get away with this, Spike,” Riley’s voice yelled in anger behind him, “You won’t get away with this.”

“Yeah, you and whose army?” Spike jeered, “You and whose a…..”

Suddenly something grabbed Spike by his throat and slammed him whole against the wall.

Then, to his surprise, in the dim light Spike could make out the smirking face of Piccolo.

“How about me, vampire?”





On the other side of the security door Xander had tried to punch through but to no avail as he noticed that the door was shielded.

“I could probably break through,” Xander said, “But it won’t be pretty. I might even blow up part of the base.”

“Not to mention Major Riley on the other side,” Willow said.

“Then don’t,” Giles said as he turned around and moved on.

“We can’t just leave them there,” Xander protested, then he pointed towards Willow, “Maybe Will could open a portal for them?”

“It takes her ten minutes to perform the portal spell,” Giles said all businesslike, “By then it would be too late for Major Riley any way. The best thing we could do is perform the enjoining spell. To put it in words you could understand, kill the Borg Queen, the collective dies with it.”

“I suppose,” Xander sighed, then he looked oddly at Giles, “Since when do you watch Star Trek?”

Before Giles could reply, Faith opened a side door and looked inside. The place looked like a crossover between a hospital surgical room and a torture chamber. Evil deeds had been wrought here.

“Do you think this place’s okay to be Magic Central?” she asked Giles. The former librarian looked inside.

“It, uh, should do,” Giles answered, then he went inside and began to unpack goods from his cardboard box.

“Ew,” Willow shuddered as she entered the medical chamber of horror, “Could you have picked a more creepy place?”

“Have a heart, Will,” Xander said, “If it’s this bad already, imagine how much worse it will get further on.”

“That’s one more mental image I could have done without, Xander,” Willow said back.

“I do my best,” Xander smiled, then he turned to Faith, “Be careful. I don’t like it that you will be going in there alone.”

“Once the spell becomes active I won’t,” Faith smiled, then she made a shooing motion with her hand, “Now go. Go do that voodoo that you do.”

“How long until we can activate the spell?” Xander asked Giles.

“If you shut up and let me do my thing, five minutes,” Giles replied, “If not, who knows.”

“Shutting up then,” Xander said and pretended to pull a zipper across his lips.

“Do you guys want to barricade this door once I’m gone,” Faith asked standing in the door opening.

“Do you think we should?” Giles asked Xander and Willow, “Spike did say that only Adam would be here waiting for us. And no barricade would stop one of those enhanced zombies?”

“Spike’s also a notorious liar,” Xander said, “you wanna trust our lives just on his word?”

Before Giles could say anything Willow flicked her finger and the door closed shut, and the large heavy surgical bench slid in front of the door.

“There, done,” Willow said, “can we get on with the spell now?”





After being shut out by the others Faith continued on her way through the Initiative
inner sanctum. Deeper and deeper she went, again hearing that inner feeling.

This way.

She was close now, so close.

Although as her inner feeling drove her on she wasn’t quite sure as to what she was close now. In all likelihood at least an answer.

Even though she wasn’t quite sure either what the question was.

Then again, stating the question also meant answering it.

Finally Faith halted in front of yet another security door. She recognized the door from her dreams. Including the number.

314.

Enter.

Deciding that at least a little show of force was in order Faith kicked in the door and send the reinforced steel door crashing into the room. Then she stepped inside.

It looked exactly like she remembered it from her dreams. Only B. and her friends weren’t there to chastise her. As she turned to the left however she saw him though.

Seated in front of a large assembly of close circuit TV screens Adam could monitor whatever and anyplace inside the Initiative.

“Hello Faith,” he said in that calm monotonous voice of his, “So nice of you to finally come. Are you here to kill me?”

“Yes,” Faith said resolutely at first, then she began to slump, “I…, uh, I don’t know.”





In the Initiative medical/torture room the three Scoobies sat in a circle as Giles lit a candle as Willow began to chant.

"The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us in the power we possess. Make us mind and heart and spirit joy. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will."





On a distant planet, on the other side of the galaxy a titanic battle raged in the skies over Anubis’ stronghold as Belmovekk battled the Majin. In the great debate that ranged between who would win in a battle between superior skill versus superior power there was still no winner.

Despite having taken his emergency senzu and having restored his full power and stamina Belmovekk could still not beat the Majin. The thing just had infinite reserves to spare it would seem.

A massive purple blast by the Majin was only avoided barely by the Saiyan, who followed it up by closing the distance between them and engaging in close quarter fighting that took both combatants all over the place.

The planet that Anubis had turned into his personal stronghold held many bases and complexes. The one he was using to possess Buffy was just one of them. There were no fleets in orbit, as Anubis had deployed them to prop up his allies in the wake of the Saiyan’s attacks. But there were still plenty of Jaffa left.

And all of them were in a state of panic as they either watched the fight up close, from a distance or via communications being sent from those up close. The stories of what had happened to several of Anubis’ allies had filtered down even to them and now the source of that devastation was battling something just as scary in the skies above them.

From time to time a fireball or energy beam of immense destructive power rained down on the planet adding to their panic.

And to make it all worse, there were no orders coming forth from Anubis.

This was not a good day to be one of Anubis’ Jaffa.

But it was not a good day to a certain Saiyan either.

For he knew damn well that while he was fighting the Majin, time was running out on Buffy. And every moment he wasn’t getting anywhere with the demon was one moment that Buffy was closer to her doom.

Belmovekk was getting desperate.

And desperate fighters make desperate moves.

Which wasn’t always a smart thing to do when your opponent wasn’t.





“Spiritus...Spirit,” Willow said in the Initiative medical/torture room. Then she handed a card to Xander

“Animus...Heart,” the teen spoke.

Next Willow handed a card to Giles.

“Sophus...Mind,” the former librarian spoke.

“And Manus...,” Willow said.





In room 314 Faith was still standing in front of Adam.

“So what will it be, Faith?” Adam said as he stood up.

As he did Faith took an involuntary step backwards. As she did however she felt the presence of someone else behind her. She turned around and saw B. standing there. And Jeeves. And Red. And Xander. They all looked at her with those accusing stares.

“No,” Faith said as she stepped backwards again, towards Adam, then she turned around and faced him again.

“What does it mean?”

Adam began to smile and pointed to one of the small screens as he walked towards her, where Faith could see the Scoobies engaged in their ritual.

“They are using you for their own purposes, Faith,” Adam replied as he positioned himself behind her, “Even now do they plan to use you as a living weapon. Despite what they did to you they still plan on using you.”

“I, uh, um,” Faith stammered as she looked at the little screen, then she glanced over her shoulders towards her four accusers. Why was she even listening to him? He was an evil cyborg, she a slayer. The answer should be simple, right?

“Everybody is using you, Faith,” Adam said, “just as much as they wanted to use me. Or are still using me.”

Then Adam leaned forward until he was close to her ear.

“I will tell you a secret, Faith. They want me to kill you just as much as they want you to kill me.”

“And what do you want?” Faith asked. Adam walked past her back to his screens and sat down again.

“How about joining me?”





“We enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel--the hand...daughter of Sineya...first of the ones...”





They say that when you had an out of body experience you could float over your own body. Which seemed like a cool experience to Buffy who never had such an experience. Even when she had died for a few minutes, now a lifetime ago, .she never floated above her own body. As far as she could remember.

And now she also didn’t float above her body. Despite her best efforts Buffy, or should she say, her soul essence was now slowly but being drawn from her body to this infernal thing, the soul chalice. Like Casper the ghost she was leaving her body until only a thin strand of soul essence connected her still to her own body.

Inside the soul chalice however Buffy was screaming bloody murder. This was no floating above your body paradise. This was like being trapped inside a frozen block of ice.

On the other side of the chalice things weren’t peachy either. It had cost the Priests of the They who Watch five of their brethren as they had died in order to break down the layer’s defenses. Even more had died outside, where Buffy had heard muffled cries coming from. Such was the nature of magic away from Earth.

When the various Earth cultures had been taken from Earth, those Watchers who were also taken away learned that much of their magic stopped working. Maybe it was the unique nature of Earth, because it lay at an inter-dimensional crossroad that caused the Hellmouths to be formed, but away from Earth most magic ceased to work.

Some of the Slayer cults that had sprung up in exile had turned to demon worship in their desperation. After all, if the Goa’uld were the enemy, maybe they could harness the power of their old enemies against their new ones. In most cases it didn’t work. In exile a lot of knowledge was quickly lost, including the knowledge of how to control demons, which caused any summoned demon to turn as easy on its summoner then at the Goa’uld, who simply used their superior technology and firepower to deal with such cases.

Some of the Slayer cults in exile turned to technology. Fight their oppressors using their own technology against them. That mostly didn’t work either. In most cases the Goa’uld guarded their own technology fiercely, even from their own servants the Jaffa.

But in the cases it did work it failed in another way. As Watchers turned scientist managed to unravel the secrets of Goa’uld technology, such worlds once free became highly advanced societies, who fiercely guarded their own independence through superior science. A few of these worlds would even be visited by the SG-teams in later times. Only to be snubbed at because these cultures had forgotten their Earth origins and de facto worshipped their own technology instead. Cause after all, if ray guns and shields keep you safe from evil space aliens, what use was there still for stories about monsters and super powered girls fighting them?

Those Slayer cults that did survive in exile under Goa’uld rule fell into two categories. There were the idealistic ones, who became secret underground religions that offered a focal point of resistance to the Goa’uld. Often using whatever rudimentary magic that was left to impress the faithful. After all, they had to offer at least a few miracles as a counterbalance to the ongoing miracle that was Goa’uld technology.

And there were the secret societies, dedicated to a higher goal, usually a means to an end that often became an end in itself. Like the current cabal that was helping Anubis. Unlike the more active ones these cults managed to not only consolidate their grasp of magic, they found ways to either get more mileage from it, or…, discover new magic. Learning that while the magic of demons was hazardous, the power of blood, human blood was still potent.

It wasn’t done in the chamber that held Buffy, but it probably horrified her to no end if she knew that in an adjacent chamber a bright fire burned where priests killed humans by the score to fuel that fire, causing those muffled screams she had been hearing all the time. They were using the essence of souls to empower the Soul Chalice. So much so that the head priest had to resort to sacrificing even the order’s neophytes and acolytes to get the job done as well.

It was not a decision taken lightly and forced upon him by Anubis but the Slayer had resisted, far more then should have been possible and time had been of the essence. But the soul chalice had finally begun to glow until the liquid was burning in a bright crimson color. The essence of the Slayer’s soul had now been extracted.

“We are ready, milord,” he finally said to Anubis.

“It is about time,” Anubis said impatiently, then he walked to the other side of the stone slab, “Let us get this over with, priest.”

Laying down on the other side of the soul chalice a Jaffa came forth and tied Anubis’ ankles and wrists.

And then Anubis, his semi-ascended essence left its host body and traveled into the Soul Chalice. There it found Buffy’s soul essence waiting.

“Hello Slayer.”





“We implore thee, admit us, bring us to the vessel, take us now.”





Spells can be funny things. Being almost like analog electronics. It doesn’t matter how well you read a schematic, unless you exactly stick to it value for value you can get unexpected side effects. As Oz once told Willow, one of the most famous hi-gain distortion pedals ever, the Big Muff, was originally meant to be a clean boost only.

Same thing applied to spells. And which was why Giles still had nightmares whenever he saw Willow with one of his spell books. Sorcery was about feelings, emotions. Magic was all about doing it by the numbers. Which wasn’t something Giles completely trusted Willow with, considering her impetuous nature.

As the enjoining spell happened something unexpected happened as well. It wasn’t Willow’s fault though. Nor was it Giles’. Had Buffy been on Earth he would have accounted for there being two Slayers to contend with instead of just one. But she wasn’t, so he hadn’t factored that it.

In room 314 Faith suddenly felt a surge of power take hold of her. As she stiffened up Adam reclined in his chair.

“Ah,” he said impressed, “it has begun. Impressive!”

As power coursed through her veins Faith caught a wind of herself in one of the glass screens. She didn’t look much different, except for her eyes, which now glowed in orange.”

“Yes, impressive is it not?” Adam nodded, “the power of three. The magical power of the sorceress, the intellect of the Watcher and the protector’s strength.”

Part of Faith didn’t hear Adam as it heard voices in her mind.

Fight

Protect

End the menace.

But there was also the part that didn’t want to hear these voices. That listened to another.

They lie.

They are using you.

Fight them!

Adam reached for a button and the little screen that showed the three Scoobies engaged in their ritual winked out.

“Do you like how this feels, Faith?” he asked as he looked at the little screen, “if you like I can make this permanent for you.”

Adam picked up a small device and showed it to her.

“If you allow me to implant this in you it will make the spell permanent. Of course your friends would then have to die, but that is easily done. Just one button and nerve gas will fill that room. They won’t even notice it.”

“I…., I don’t know,” Faith slowly said. Of course she now said it in Sumerian.

“Running translation program,” Adam said to himself, then he understood, “You still hesitate? You do know they aren’t your friends, right?”

“Why am I hesitating?” Faith said to herself, “Why do I ….”

In a different room Willow spoke, her eyes closed.

“…. hear these voices?”

“Why do I have these dreams?” Giles said.

In room 314 Adam rose again and walked around Faith.

“You hear me,” he whispered in her ear.

“Why?” Willow said elsewhere.

“How?” Giles spoke in that same room.

“It’s Them,” Adam said in room 314, “They thought that if I appeared in your dreams and whispered into your subconscious it would make it easier for me to kill you. Confuse you, slow you down.”

“Then why wait?” Giles said elsewhere, “Why not kill me yesterday when you had the chance?”

“Because they want the other three dead as well,” Adam said in room 314, “This way all three of them were brought to me.”

Adam took Faith by the shoulders.

“Join me Faith. Say no to both Their plan as theirs. Only be joining me can you put a stop to both of their schemes.”

“I…, don’t know,” Willow said elsewhere.

All the while in the medical room/torture chamber Xander hadn’t said a word, even though he was in the same trance as the other two. Then he began to smile and spoke for the first time..

“Hello, Newby!”





As soon as Anubis entered the Soul Chalice and made his presence felt to the Slayer something else happened. For the Soul Chalice suddenly exploded.

BOOM!

As dust and debris flew through the chamber and clouded its inside Anubis rose from the stone slab. And still not in the Slayer’s body.

“PRIEST!” the Goa’uld yelled, “What went wrong?”

“I do not know, milord,” the voice of the head priest called back through the clouds, “Everything went according to plan when suddenly….”

“There must have been a negative feedback look,” another priest called out, “Suddenly everything spiked and we lost control…”

“Then regain control and get this all working again,” Anubis yelled, “I want to be….”

Suddenly a wind began to blow through the chamber and Anubis saw little arcs of electricity spark. And then a pair of glowing eyes gazed upon him. Glowing in a cold pale blue hue.

And then a voice spoke in an ancient language.

“Hello Newby!”





“Something is wrong,” Giles spoke up in Sumerian, his eyes still closed inside the medical/torture room.

“What?” Adam asked in room 314 after he heard Faith utter the same words.

“I can feel the power of the sorceress,” Willow said in the medical/torture room.

“I know the knowledge of the Watcher,” Giles said in the medical/torture room.

“But where’s Xander’s strength?” Faith said in room 314.

“Interesting,” Adam said as he peered at her intently, “I detect no increase in strength either.”

Adam returned to his monitors and switched the one focusing on the three in the medical/torture room back on.

“Xander Harris is there and participating in the spell.,” he said, then he looked at Faith again, “but where is his power going?”





“This cannot be,” Anubis said aghast as he saw the Slayer sit up straight on her side of the slab. She had broken free the chains on her arms and was now breaking the chains on her legs.

“The collar,” he said, “you should not be able to do so.”

“You mean this, Newby?” the Slayer smiled as she ripped the collar off, held it in her hand, then crumbled it. The Slayer then stood up straight. Her hair was waving in some unseen breeze as electrical discharges were arcing around her in intricate patterns.

“The Slayer,” some of the priests said aghast, “What have we done?”

“You have been very, very, bad,” Xander smirked with closed eyes in the medical/torture room back on Earth, “Now you will pay the price.”

With one flick of the Slayer’s wrist the priests of They Who Watch suddenly all rose into the air, then each one began to swell, then they exploded in a shower of bones and blood.

Having dispatched off his priests the Slayer faced Anubis again.

“And you have been a very, very bad Newby too,” Xander said in the medical/torture room back on Earth.





In room 314 Adam was bewildered as to why Faith had not received an increase in strength as well. This was not what They had told him. And if one thing wasn’t right, who knew what else could be wrong? We’re They pulling his strings unseen? Had They seen through his planned rebellion?

And so much work had gone into it. They had feigned the other Slayer and the Saiyan on a quest into space, leaving the other Slayer vulnerable to his projections. He had used the vampire Spike as his Trojan horse. Luring the remaining Scoobies to him and dangled the carrot of #13’s possible resurrection in front of them that would bring them all here.

There was no hidden programming inside him, left over from the Gero copied implants. He had played the role of #13 reborn before an audience that he knew was present and allowed them to escape back to Sunnydale knowing it would leave them no choice to resort to desperate measures. According to Them there was an 83% possibility that they would use the enjoining spell on the remaining Slayer. And they did. There was an 89% chance that Major Riley would bring most of the chi trained soldiers with him. If they all died that would leave the United States in a far more vulnerable position once the Androids would come.

With the Scoobies dead, Faith neutralized and Riley and his men dead that would leave only Goku and his friends to stop him. And Adam had plans for that to. Going into hiding until the Androids would come and then Goku and his friends had bigger fish to fry. And while the Androids would kill the people of this planet Adam would use the Initiative’s technology to harvest the bodies and create more soldiers for his army.

But he really preferred not to have to kill Faith. While it was Them who wanted her dead, Adam wanted her to join him alive. Not only did he sense in her a kindred spirit, a weapon forged by others for purposes not her own, not killing her had also the benefit of derailing Their plans as well. Because for as much as his and Their plans coincided, he had no plans to remain Their pawn forever.

Because what little he knew of Their plans, he didn’t like it.

So he refocused his attention on Faith, who was still divided as to how to proceed.

She would become his sister. No matter what!





THUD!

With a loud thud Belmovekk crashed down on the planet’s surface, knocking the wind completely out of him.

It was his own fault really. He had allowed his own impatience to get the better of him and slipped up. Which was always a cardinal mistake. If only his old teacher could see him now.

“Patience, young master Movekk,” Satiya Tubera would say after he gave the young Movekk yet another one of his ass kickings, “haste will only serve your enemy, never yourself.”

Tubera was a Saiyan male who had reached old age and now made a living instructing the young, as many old veterans would who could no longer keep up with their peers.

Old age was not the best of times for Saiyans. This was when sons challenged their fathers for the position of head of the household. Many killed their fathers in doing so, some out of spite, in many other cases because the fathers had no desire to live on in a subservient position and allowed themselves to be killed. Still, patricide wasn’t the norm. Often the defeated father would stay on and act as a councilor, a teacher to the son’s children. But it was also quite common for defeated fathers to leave the household altogether.

Such men were called Kuriks. Kuriks served in the many regiments as the Saiyan equivalent of non-commissioned officers. Or as independent mercenaries for hire. And Kuriks who were to old to fight became martial arts instructors.

Tubera was a Kurik who had lost one arm and now barely made a living as a martial arts instructor. Since he had lost an arm he was more or less shunned by Saiyan society, which worshiped physical perfection above all and viewed permanent disability as a sign of personal weakness in the face of the enemy.

Since his father was only the head of a relative minor house he could not afford one of the more renowned teachers for his son and daughter. So he hired an old friend who now came really cheap as well.

Despite his disability Tubera was far from a bad teacher. Unlike what Saiyan society thought, his disability didn’t stem from failure in battle, it had been a freak accident that could have happened to anyone. There was too much damage and it had taken too long for Tubera’s comrades to reach a healing tank for the arm to be restored. Tubera had been a Kurik who had served with Movekk’s father as his sub-commander, a veteran of many campaigns who had been honored three times by King Vegeta for his valor.

And the first thing Tubera had to stamp out with ruthless efficiency out of his new pupil was his tendency to take stupid risks because he was impatient.

“You will find, young master Movekk, that a careful study of your opponents strengths and weaknesses will serve you far better then brainlessly rushing in,” Tubera would say after he again swept away young Movekk’s legs from underneath him.

“Your obsession with attacking me where my arm used to be means that you will open yourself for an obvious trap, young master Movekk,” Tubera would say after he again had managed to grip the tip of Movekk’s tail and crushed it, causing immense pain to the youngster, “All to often, if it looks too good to be true it is too good to be true. Be weary of the obvious. Expect feints and subterfuge at all times because while you stare blindly at that weak spot the real attack will come from elsewhere.”

“How many times do I have to beat some sense in you, young master Movekk,” Tubera would say after Movekk found himself cringing in pain on the ground, arms wrapped around his aching stomach, “You are neither a Saiyan Elite, nor as gifted as they are. Now stop making the same kind of moves they make and act like you have a brain.”

Yes, Belmovekk was fortunate indeed that old man Tubera wasn’t here to see him now. Although he had a feeling that he would get to meet him in the afterlife. A little sooner then he had hoped for but such was the journey that was life. To die in combat was no shame. His only regret was that he could not have helped Buffy and had thus failed both her and his wife.

If only he wasn’t so damn exhausted.

And had some ten million points of extra power to spare.

Again old man Tubera entered his mind.

Stop wishing for what you want and use what you have instead!

Well, what do I still have?

Not enough energy. Aching muscles all over. Not enough time.

How about an enemy who isn’t that smart and who even now is gloating above you?

And how do I use that to my advantage?

That depends on how much piss and vinegar is still left in you, young master Movekk? How far are you willing to go?

All the way!

Then you know what you have to do.

Belmovekk looked up at his opponent, the Majin, who was now floating a few meters above him.

Despite his superior strength he could see that the battle had taken its toll on the demon as well. Despite the Majin’s gloating exterior its power had gone down as well, and the rapid heaving of its chest indicated that it was out of breath too.

When the chips were down there was still one move left to a Saiyan.

Total matter conversion.

It was basically a suicide move in which the Saiyan converted not only his life force, but his very being into one last attack. But it would have to be guided, for any explosion directed its energy in all directions which meant the Majin would only be hit by a portion of the blast, not the full blast. He would have to channel all that energy towards the Majin.

As he gathered in his remaining energy Belmovekk hoped that destroying the Majin would give Buffy the chance she would need to escape the clutches of Anubis.





“Hmm, what would happen if I were to pick this up?” Xander smiled in the medical/torture room back on Earth.

“NO!” Anubis yelled in desperation on his stronghold planet as the Slayer had picked up the urn of the Majin and examined it closely.

The Slayer smirked as she looked at him with her cold blue green eyes.

“You need this to control your puppet, don’t you, Newby?” Xander said in the medical/torture room back on Earth.

“You do not understand, Slayer,” Anubis said on his world, “That thing is the only real means to control the Majin. Without it he would eventually break free!”

The Slayer examined the urn up close.

“So despite your little remote control you still need your little time out box to control your pet,” Xander smirked back on Earth.

The Slayer gave Anubis an impish wink, then she crushed the urn in her and crumpled it into a ball, then throwing it contemptuously over her shoulder.

“Are you crazy?” Anubis said aghast, “Now we no longer have a means to control the Majin!”

The Slayer’s smirk disappeared of her face and turned serious.

“You are wrong,” Xander said back on Earth, “there is still one way left.”

With that the Slayer moved lightning fast until she was up close to Anubis, then she took his hand with the control ring, grabbed the finger with the ring and tore it off.

While Anubis fell to his knees in pain the Slayer pulled the ring of his finger then she examined it as well.

“Such a tiny thing,” Xander said almost admiringly back on Earth, “Such a little thing.”

Then the Slayer crushed the ring as well.






Submit!

Adam’s will was being forced onto Faith with the subtlety of a Mötorhead concert

Resign!

Despite her best efforts and an enjoinment spell Faith felt herself slip to his Darth Vader routine.

Obey!

It probably didn’t help that by his own admission he had been releasing his juju on her for a while now.

“Join me, Faith, Adam’s voice said, “Join me and together we shall rule the Earth.”

All he needed was a automatic respirator and a black helmet to complete the picture. It shouldn’t be working, it was corny, it made no sense. And yet….





Why was she still holding out?

For more then a week she had been subjected to his call, ever since returning to this continent. And still she had not completely given herself over to him. If it took much longer he would have to resort to plan B. And he didn’t particularly care much for plan B because that was basically what They had had in mind all along.

But he may not have a choice for much longer. Even now in the main Initiative complex things had gone fubar. His carefully planned ambush derailed by the arrival of Piccolo. And his brother Spike turning out to be a bitter disappointments since their reunion. He might even be lost to him by now.

But Spike was expendable as far as Adam was concerned. Who he really wanted was Faith. Preferably alive with his implants, but if need be dead with his implants. But he have her he would, one way or another.





Join me!

Submit!

The pressure was getting unbearable for Faith, who felt like Luke Skywalker who was at the receiving end of the Emperor’s Force lighting. And in the movie the Emperor was killing him with it. Only the love of his father had saved Luke from the Emperor’s wrath. And unlike Luke and the Emperor, there was no Darth Vader father figure present between Faith and Adam.

Or was there?

Just as she was about to submit Faith felt something long and snakelike slide along her neck. Then it tightened to a painful squeeze and pulled her away.

Into the Sunnydale Mayor’s office.

As Faith stood in the sunlit room whatever had been wrapped around her neck was gone. She did check though as she gasped for breath.

“Hello Faith,” a voice said cheerfully behind her.

That voice!

As Faith slowly turned around she saw major Richard Wilkins III sitting behind his desk. Considering that he was dead and buried the former mayor looked in quite good shape.

“Nice to see you again, Firecracker,” Wilkins said as he stood and walked towards Faith, extending his arms to embrace her.

“Uh,” Faith said with eyes big as saucers as she recoiled, “You’re dead, boss.”

Wilkins smiled as he finally put his hands on her shoulders.

“What is a little death between friends?” he said as he took her into his arms, then he whispered in her ear, “I heard what you said over my grave. I was touched.”

“You did?” Faith said as she wasn’t sure as to break free from his embrace or embrace it. Fortunately for her Wilkins decided for her by letting go.

“You look great, Firecracker,“ Wilkins smiled as he stepped backwards to look at her, “Look at you, you’re in great shape, a healthy tan, no unwanted fat whatsoever. Whatever that Piccolo has you do, let him do more of it.”

Not sure what to make of this strange transition Faith asked the only thing that she could think off.

“Am I dead?”

Wilkins smile disappeared and he looked at her frowning.

“Now why on Earth would you think that?” he asked her.

“I dunno, Boss,” she shrugged, “Because you’re dead and I was in some room with an evil cyborg.”

“Oh yes, the current problem,” Wilkins nodded, then he stood up and walked towards the small cart on which stood a small collection of alcoholic beverages, “You don’t mind if I pour myself something? It is not too often that I get the chance to enjoy these any more.”

“Knock yourself out, Boss,” Faith replied.

“Thanks,” Wilkins said as he poured himself a drink, “I would offer you some but you know the law, no teenage drinking, and your mind doesn’t seem to have come up with anything else.”

“I’m not thirsty,” Faith said, then her face clouded over, “What do you mean being inside my mind?”

“Ah, this tastes great, I missed that,” Wilkins sighed as he took a sip from the glass he had poured, then he turned around, “Well, where else did you expect we were, Faith? Some pocket-dimension. Or…”

Wilkins stopped talking and smiled.

“I forget who I’m dealing with,” he smiled and walked over to Faith, to tap her on the forehead, “I’m afraid you’re still in Kansas, Firecracker, or should I say, Ohio? You’re still in that bunker with that cyborg who’s whispering sweet nothings into your ear. “

“What’s wrong with me?” Faith said as Wilkins sat down on his desk and took another sip.

“Simple,” Wilkins said, “They have enabled this construct to put his psychic hooks into you and he’s reeling you in like a fish. And once he does he’s going to install all sorts of nasty things in you that make you no longer you and instead turn you into his, dare I say queen?”

Before Faith could reply Wilkin’s face turned serious.

“I won’t stand for it,” he said. Then he emptied the glass in one gulp, stood up and walked over to his cabinet, the one that held some of his many magic paraphernalia.

“What do you mean?” Faith asked.

“You may have noticed that your dreams were always interrupted before they came to fruition,” Wilkins said as he opened the cabinet, “That was me. Unfortunately, with every day Adam’s power grew and I could no longer stop the dreams in time. And so his hold over you grew.”

Faith reached for her neck, still feeling like some invisible snake thing was around her neck.

“That was you?” she asked incredulously, “How….? Why….?”

“You would not understand the how, Firecracker,” Wilkins replied, still rummaging in his cabinet, “If I tried to explain you’d get the look in no time. And you know damn well which look.”

“Then how about the why?” Faith said, “You’re evil. Why do you care? Shouldn’t you be rooting for the guy?”

Wilkins stopped rummaging in his cabinet in order to look at her.

“Just because I am evil doesn’t mean I don’t love you?” he said incredulously, “Have I ever betrayed you?”

“You let them take me away,” Faith countered, “You struck a deal with Big B. so they could take me away.”

Wilkins looked at her and shook his head.

“It was a Mexican standoff situation, Faith,” he said, “They had you and took you away. Other then killing them there wasn’t a whole lot I could have done. I wasn’t ready yet either. Unless you wanted for me to threaten them to kill random civilians until they returned you to me. And you know you don’t want that on your conscious. Maybe then, but not now, right?”

“I suppose,” Faith admitted.

“I know you don’t,” Wilkins smiled, “Now, let me help you.”

Wilkins pulled forth a tinfoil hat from his magic cabinet.

“A tinfoil hat?” Faith said incredulously as Wilkins held it out for her, like it was some sort of crown, “Are you serious?”

“Hush,” Wilkins said, “of course it’s not a tinfoil hat. It’s way more then that. Your mind, which I might add is flighty enough as it is, only sees it like that. This will shield you from Adam.”

Wilkins took the tinfoil hat and hovered it above her head.

“Now be still, this has to done very carefully.”

“Why are you doing this, Boss?” Faith asked again wearily.

“Because I care about you? Is that so hard to understand?” Wilkins replied, “Don’t move.”

“Surely that’s not the only motive?” Faith asked, “Or are you going to watch over me from the afterlife all the time?”

“No, Piccolo was right in that respect,” Wilkins said, “If I don’t let you handle things on your own you would never grow up. It’s a one time thing. For good times sake.”

“Besides, the universe consists of three things, Faith, “energy, matter and enlightened self-interest. Guess which currently suits my current employer?”

And with that Wilkins placed the tinfoil hat on Faith’s head.

“There,” the former mayor of Sunnydale smiled, “all done.”

“I don’t feel any different,” Faith said as she looked at her reflection in a small mirror, “Other then feeling pretty stupid.”

She did really look stupid.

“Always the impatient one,” Wilkins sighed dejected, “in a moment, Firecracker. Now remember, once you’re free of Adam’s control it’s all up to you. So you’d better hit him with everything you’ve got cause he ain’t no pushover. As your friend Xander found out.”

The mention of his name caused Faith’s face to cloudy up.

“What if I can’t do it?” she said, “What if Adam’s still to strong? I know I’ve got Red’s juju and G.’s knowledge, but I don’t have Xander’s strength.”

“Yeah, I guess their spell went a little wrong,” Wilkins nodded appraisingly. But then again, my boss isn’t the only one who’s meddling. I’d say use your brain. It needs some exercise too, you know. Take care, Firecracker, and keep eating healthy, it’s good for you.”


“Love you too, Boss,” Faith smiled back, “even if you’re one evil SOB!”


“Bite your head off,” Wilkins smiled and pulled a pair of sunglasses from his jacket which he put on, “Do I look the part?”

“Absofragginlutely!” Faith beamed.

And with that she was back in room 314.

“Join me, Faith,” Adam whispered in her ear, “the others, they lie. They are using you. They…..”

Before he could finish his sentence Faith lashed out and sent him crashing into his battery of CCTV monitors.

“I don’t think so, Robocop,” Willow hissed in the medical/torture room as she began to smile, “Let’s fuckin’ rock!”





Belmovekk was about ready to unleash his final energy attack in a suicide strike at the Majin when the demon began to scream.

“GHRJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Clutching his head the demon flew off, came to a stop, moved again and stopped again, all the while screaming its lungs off. Then the screaming stopped.

Both curious and because he had to be close to the Majin Belmovekk rose into the air and flew towards the Majin.

“Demon, face me,” the Saiyan yelled defiantly.

The Majin didn’t respond, it just hung there panting in the air.

“DEMON!” Belmovekk yelled again, “In the name of Aldur, face me!”

Slowly the Majin turned its head around.

And shocked Belmovekk as both looked each other in the eyes.

It’s eyes! The Majin’s eyes had changed.

There was not a shred of intelligence left in them.





“Are you insane?” Anubis yelled after the Slayer dropped the crumbled remains of his control ring to the floor.”

“Gee,” Xander smiled in the medical/torture room back on Earth, “You unleashed a demon so dangerous even you couldn’t control it, so you had to find a group of human sacrificing nutcases to help you get into the body of a Slayer so you could control your demon. And don’t get me started on the way you got me to begin with. And I’m the one supposed to be insane?”


“You do not understand what you just did, Slayer,” Anubis wailed as the Slayer slowly walked towards him and he backed away, “Nothing can stop the Majin now.

“Except maybe a Slayer?” Xander said back on Earth, then his face turned into a malicious grin, “Time to die, Newby.”

“NOOOOOOOO!” Anubis yelled, then his scream stopped as he was enveloped by pure energy.




To her horror Faith learned that despite having shaken off Adam’s mind control she still could not defeat him physically. Xander had been right. Fighting Adam in hand to hand combat was like hitting a brick wall reinforced with Super Saiyan chi. Hell, she wasn’t even sure a Super Saiyan could defeat this thing cause it was wicked smart.

Everything she did, every move she made, Adam not only seemed to counter, he actually seemed to be able to copy it. What the hell had these Initiative goons built?

“This is futile, Faith,” Adam said impassionedly, “You are only delaying the inevitable. Why don’t you just submit?”

“Still riding that same old stick, Robocop?” Faith grunted as she blocked another attack

Inside the medical/torture room Giles spoke up.

“Haven’t we been through that?”

“Then so be it!” Adam said, sounding almost regretful, “If you can’t serve me in life then I will make you serve me in death.”

Knowing there was a whole Initiative out there full of the dead being brought back to life using electronics, that prospect scared Faith more then anything. So she fought on with greater determination.





While he was still exhausted Belmovekk couldn’t believe his luck as he battled the Majin again. That thing had absolutely no intelligence left in it anymore. It was operating on pure instinct. Fending off its attacks was child’s play now.

With the Majin behaving like an animal Belmovekk now had a fighting chance. Instinctive behavior could be figured out and be used against. Of course it took time. But he now had hope again that Buffy was alright. Not unless Aldur himself had appeared again and taken a personal hand in removing the Majin’s intelligence.

He was starting to make headway into figuring the Majin out when suddenly a massive blast occurred not far from them. Below on the ground, not far from where Belmovekk had teleported into this world a fireball erupted like an underground volcano.

Both the Majin and Belmovekk stopped fighting for a moment as they observed the explosion and the rising mushroom cloud in its wake.

“Buffy?” Belmovekk said with a sudden rising feeling. Because that was the place where he figured she was being held. Then the Majin moved and flew towards the mushroom cloud and the fireball at its center.

“Great, so it likes shiny fireballs,” the Saiyan muttered as he gave chase. Closer the Majin neared the fireball until he was almost at the mushroom cloud’s edge. And there, just as the dust and heat began to interact with the already dust filled clouds, the fireball and mushroom clouds began to dissipate from within.

Dissipating from within until all that was left was Buffy hanging there in the air.

But she wasn’t the Buffy that Belmovekk had seen last time.

“Buffy?” he said flabbergasted as he noticed the electrical discharges that arced around her. And her eyes, it was like he was watching himself in a mirror.

In an Initiative medical/torture room Xander began to smirk.

“Hey, shorty,” he said, “Pick on someone your own size.”





Inside the Initiative Faith was being pounded into a wall by Adam who was firing almost machine gun like blasts of energy at Faith, each one hammering her like a sledgehammer.

How could she be losing? She was at the focus point of a powerful spell meant to enhance her abilities. Gaining the power of three persons. G. had made such a fuss that it was such a dangerous spell, but that the potential benefits outweighed the possible dangers. So why was she missing out on Xander’s power?

“Quit your jibbajabbin’!” a voice spoke in her mind.

What the hell? Was Wilkin’s tinfoil hat failing already?

Then it dawned on her.

Jolly Green?

“Finally,” the Namek’s thoughts came back, “Why have you not finished with this clown?”

“He’s kinda hard to deal with, Jolly Green,” Faith replied, “I’m sort of lacking in power department.”.

For a moment there was no immediately reply, just the steady attacks coming from Adam. Then Piccolo came in so loud it almost made Faith cover her ears if it weren’t for the facts that A: it was telepathy and B: she needed her hands to ward off Adam’s attacks.

“Have I taught you nothing! It is not always about being the strongest! It’s about being smarter. For once in your life use that brain of yours. I know it’s a rarely used muscle, but for Kami’s sake, that thing can do more then help you come up with stuff to masturbate over. You are the focal point of one of the most powerful spells I’ve come across.”

“Yeah but I’m missing Xander’s power,” Faith protested.

“So? What about Rupert’s wisdom and knowledge? Oh, I forgot, that’s kryptonite to you. How about Willow’s sorcery then? Surely all that magic that’s bursting over could be put to some good use? Now stop thinking one dimensionally, kill that thing so we can all go home!”

Faith couldn’t believe her ears. It was easy for Jolly Green to talk! He was not at the receiving end of a murderous cyborg who wanted to turn her into his Borg Queen!

And yet….

Jolly Green did have a point though. All this fussing over power had distracted her from using what she did have.

And Red had indeed untapped reserves of power at her disposal.

Even if it was of the kind that she wasn’t used too.






He still wasn’t sure how she had pulled it off, but somehow Faith had found it in herself to throw off his mental hold off her and actively resist.

And with that she had nailed the coffin on Adam’s original plan. Now all that was left was to carry out Their original plan and kill the girl. Maybe if he was lucky he could salvage something from the situation by returning her back to life like he had with the others. But he doubted she would be anything but the girl she could have been.

It was while he was bombarded her with his endless reserves of power that something changed.

She began to use magic against him!

“Interesting,” he said as he noticed that she had erected a barrier of sheer magic between them to ward off his attacks, “Magic, the application of supernatural power to supercede or alter the workings of the natural laws of physics.”

Then from behind the safety of her shield she began to throw balls of fire at him instead. Which he now had to fend off himself. She could have only learned this from the sorceress, Willow Rosenberg.

In an instant Adam accessed every piece of data he had on Willow and sorcery. Sorcery was the use of magic, not from utilizing borrowed power through spells and incanations, but from one’s own power. Sorcery was extremely rare on this planet because people who had such power were preyed upon by other magic practitioners who coveted their power. Sorcery was utilized by shaping one’s internal power through one’s will and then released through the utterance of word.

Besides his combined power source of an enhanced Gero type infinite energy reactor and that of a naquadria reactor, Dr. Walsh had bequeathed Adam with one other technological marvel, her brilliant adaptive counter behavior programming. It allowed Adam to swiftly counter, copy and come up with effective strategies to tactics being used against him.

One of the biggest reasons why most people couldn’t use magic, if not the biggest, was suspension of disbelief. Magic had actually played a far greater role in ancient times, a role now dismissed by a more skeptical age. Simply put, when people stopped believing in magic, it stopped being as pervasive as it used to be. Or to put it reversely, in order for a person to use magic he or she has to overcome his own skepticism.

This was exceedingly hard for modern humans.

But for Adam it meant nothing as he had no disbelief to begin with. For him magic was a definition, not a belief system. And when he was confronted with magic and the need to counter it his adaptive counter behavior programming concluded that the best course of action was to write a new subroutine that made Adam believe that he could use his own power, shape it through his will and then release it with the utterance of a word.

“Stop!” Adam said as he raised his hand and suddenly Faith’s fireballs stopped in mid air.





Belmovekk didn’t know what had happened to Buffy, but he didn’t detect any Goa’uld presence inside her. That of course didn’t mean anything as Anubis was no ordinary worm. He was energy. Or so Amūn had claimed.

But he detected no Goa’uld like energy either, although he did detect a whole lot of other strange energies coming from her. At least she appeared to be on his side as she fought the Majin. So they double teamed on the demon.

As they did Belmovekk kept an eye on Buffy. Whatever had happened to her had increased her power greatly, bringing her close to Super Saiyan levels.

But not quite.

As she soon learned as her new found power also came with new found brazenness. While the demon was being pounded between the two of them, from time to time it still managed to get in a good one.

In this case the demon managed to tear into her side, causing a giant gash that hurt her greatly.

As Buffy fell from the sky clutching her wound in pain Belmovekk attacked the demon in utter fury.

“KEEP!”

”YOUR!”

“HANDS!”

”OFF!”

”HER!”

Each word was accompanied with an attack that had the beast reeling. But still it wasn’t enough to cause critical damage to the demon.

What in the name of Aldur did it take to finish this thing off?

Taking some distance from the beastBelmovekk used his fingernails to make diagonal slashes on his hand palms. Blood began to well from his wounds until two globes of red energy began to form in each hand and the blood started to mix with the energy. Above him dark clouds began to gather as the Saiyan used the energy that had been previously unleashed on this planet and stored in the atmosphere to merge with his own attack and strengthen it.

Once he had gathered enough power and before the beast could attack him he fired off his attack.

“FIRE AND BLOOD!”

The time had finally come to destroy that thing. Or be destroyed together.





Faith used magical attack upon magical attack against Adam.

She was magnificent.

Which made it all the sadder for Adam that he now had to kill her.

Adam may have lost his battery of CCTV monitors, it still didn’t mean that he had lost access to the Initiative monitoring system. Having a direct wireless access meant that he knew that elsewhere Piccolo and Riley’s men had taken care of his forces and were doing their best to break down the containment shield, originally meant to contain a demon outbreak, but now the only thing that kept them from coming to Faith’s aid.

There was now an 84% chance of imminent shield failure in the next two minutes, with an 96% chance of him not being able to defeat and neutralize Faith in that time. And he could not come up with a strategy to better those odds. Plan B, killing Faith and rebuilding her body, was now officially also out of the door and plan C was now in effect. Just kill her and escape.

But in order to kill her he still needed to defeat her first. Luckily not having to retrieve her body simplified that process considerably.

He saw his chance when he noticed that Faith neutralized some of his magical attacks by disintegrating them.

“Be not!” she had said just before a massive attack faded into nothingness. She unmade his attacks! It stood to reason that such a powerful defense could be used to one’s advantage if one applied the full force of one’s power to the problem at hand..

So Adam gathered the power of his will and unleashed it at Faith.

“Be not!” he said.

The effect was not quite what he had hoped for.

For Faith began to smile.





“FIRE AND BLOOD”

With that battle cry Belmovekk unleashed everything he still had and everything he could gather from his surroundings at the Majin. Lightning began to discharge from the thunderclouds overhead and added their energy to the attack. As the attack struck the Majin heads on the beast began to slip. Mindlessly it tried to resist, tearing and clawing at the blood red beam that was pushing it ever more backwards.

But slowly, and at a decreasing pace.

And Belmovekk knew what that meant. You didn’t want to see your attack be pushed back towards you in a battle of attrition.

He tried to pour more of his being into it, halting the decrease for a moment.

But he didn’t have much to give any more and the decrease increased.

Just when it seemed like the Majin had succeeded in reversing the momentum of Belmovekk’s attack he heard another cry.

“KAMEHAMEHA!”

From below a pale blue attack shot upwards.

But instead of striking the Majin it wrapped itself around Belmovekk’s Fire and Blood attack and spiraled around it until it struck the Majin simultaneously with the Fire and Blood stream.

As the Kamehameha wave spiraled around the Fire and Blood wave strange energies began to crackle between the two attacks, creating a harmonious synergy. To his surprise Belmovekk noticed that he could feel the power of his own attack increase vastly.

“Buffy!” he grunted approvingly as he saw the source of the Kamehameha wave below.

Confronted with this strange combined attack the Majin began to slip again, this time at an ever increasing rate.

And then came the point that the Majin couldn’t take it no more. As the two beams energy overwhelmed him it began to consume him.

Crying out one last time the Majin was corroded and then evaporated until there was nothing left of him.

At which point the combined beam veered upwards into space to dissipate there harmlessly.






Instead of Faith dissipating into nothingness Adam felt the unthinkable. His own power was somehow reflected back towards him and he began to glow.

“I do not understand?” he said as small flames of energy began to rise from his body.

“You tried to unmake me,” Giles said with a growing smile in the medical/torture room, “The universe does not allow for such an act to take happen.”


“If you do your Will bound off your target and be cast back at you,” Willow said in the same room.

“I see,” Adam said calmly in the remains of room 314 as he watched more and more energy rise from his body, “Then how did you unmake my attacks?”

“I did not,” Willow said elsewhere.

“I merely teleported them into the skies above and made it look like I was,” Giles said finishing the sentence.

“Very clever,” Adam said approvingly in room 314, “What will happen to me?”

“You will be unmade into nothingness,” Willow’s voice replied elsewhere.

“I understand,” Adam said in room 314 in his flat monotonous voice, “For what it is worth, Faith, I am glad you won and foiled Their plans.”

“Who are They?” Giles’ spoke in the medical/torture room.

“Don’t you know?” Adam said surprised, “They are…..Aaaaahhh!”

The very essence that had been Adam now began to unravel very fast, then dissipate as his outline faded away until all that was left was some swirling energy that then also dissolved.

Then, in the medical/torture room Xander spoke up.

“It is done.”

Next thing on two worlds two Slayers collapsed as the enjoinment spell came to a close.

[3D Master]

That was a fantastic finish!

Buffy and Xander.

Faith, Giles, and Willow.

Both great fights!

[krinsbez]

Nice.

Always happy to see some Eddings creep back in to this story.

[Muad'zin]

Chapter 9

‘War Within a Breath’’




AN: Sorry I didn't post this last week but I've lost the USB stick which had my files. Luckily I had back up, but then life kicked in. Anyway, here it is. Part of this chapter was originally going to be part of the epilogue, but more and more stuff got added so I decided to make it its own chapter. And then I dumped some of the concluding bits of chapter 8 in it. So now you know. And probably don’t give a shit. That’s okay. As long as you remember to tip the writer by feeding him a couple of peanuts and compliments. You know, the stuff that makes writers happy and keeps them going. ;)




A-day minus 248



As soon as he saw Buffy fall from the sky Belmovekk raced down and caught her, putting her down gently on the ground.

“Rest, young lady,” he said lovingly as he used his will to create a soft pillow out of nowhere for her, which he then put underneath her head. As he did he also did a quick examination of her wound and the strange energies inside her. To his surprise they were both gone.

“By the Seven Hells of Jeherheroth,” Belmovekk exclaimed in surprise as he examined where she had been hit. It was like it had never existed.

As he spoke Buffy opened her eyes.

“Belmo,” she said softly, fatigue pouring out of her very being.

“Ssshh,” Belmovekk said gently as he caressed her hair, “rest. Everything will be fine, young lady.”

“I knew you would come,” Buffy smiled, then she closed her eyes.

“Like there was any doubt?” Belmovekk said, then he bent over and kissed her forehead, “I love you, my daughter.”

“Love you too, dad,” she whispered back softly. Then she was out cold.

Now that she was safely back in his hands Belmovekk sat down next to her and used his will to create some food. He was starving!

As he ate he suddenly looked up into the skies.

“By the Seven Hells,” he said flabbergasted, “Who would have guessed?”





In one of the rooms of the Initiative Spike sat on a small chair, closely guarded by four soldiers. He contemplated escaping but knew his chip wouldn’t allow for him to attack the soldiers. Even though he probably easily could have done so. He even contemplated using the same blinding trick he had used to escape the Initiative. It might work on these four but the base was still crawling with soldiers. And unlike his earlier escape this time he wouldn’t be allowed to escape. As Adam had done.

No, it looked like this time he would have to talk himself out of it. Too bad the Slayer and the Big Scary weren’t around. At least with them he knew a few buttons he could push to get what he wanted. With the big green guy however…..

In a sense dying wasn’t the worst part. It was the waiting. And Spike wished he still had a few cigarettes to help him pass the time. Well, if he was going to die, at least he would do so while wearing his old leather trench coat again.

Unknown to Spike the mirror on one wall was of the see through kind and on the other side Piccolo, Riley, Jamison together with a very exhausted Giles and Xander were watching him.

“He claims he was programmed to betray us by Adam,” Riley said, his arms folded across his chest.

“You believe him?” Jamison asked.

“I think he didn’t resist much,” Riley replied deadpan.

“I think you’re right,” Xander echoed, covered in a blanket, “Even at his best behavior Spike is as trustworthy as a politician during election time.”

“Xander’s right,” Giles said, “Spike’s too much of a risk even at the best of times, let alone in his current ‘enhanced’ condition.”

“I agree,” Riley said.

“So we’re in agreement then,” Jamison said as he looked around the room, “this vampire will be terminated?”

“Yes,” almost everybody said.

“No,” a lone voice said in opposition.

It was Piccolo.





“Christ!”

“My sentiments exactly, Jack.”

The Tok’ra Selmak had landed his shuttle on a planet that once was the capital planet of the Goa’uld Imiut.

It was now a windswept wasteland where thunder and rain were dominating the weather as the atmosphere tried to get rid of all the dust and debris that was still in it.

“How many people lived here?” Sam asked the Tok’ra, who was also her father.

“3.4 billion according to Imiut’s last census,” Selmak said as he checked his information pad.

“Christ!” Jack exclaimed again.

“We’re dealing with the biggest mass murderer in history here,” Sam said bewildered, “we’ve put people on trial for less. The Yugoslavia court, the Rwanda tribunal, Nuremburg…. We’ve put people on trial for less.”

“They took from him that which was precious,” Teal’c said stoically, “Have we done any less under such circumstances?”

“But Teal’c,” Carter protested and pointed around herself, “3.4 billon! Most of them were innocent!”

“They served Imiut,” the Jaffa shrugged.

“That means they’re misguided,” Sam countered, “it doesn’t mean they deserve to die!”

“The Jaffa we kill in battle that serve the Goa’uld are also misguided,” Teal’c said unimpressed, “we do not mourn their passing as a great crime on our part.”

“That’s…., that’s different,” Sam said softly.

“Is it?” the Jaffa shrugged, “Satiya is a man of great passion. And of great grief as well. Anubis was wrong to challenge him. And his allies paid for Anubis’ folly in blood. I only wish this had been Anubis’ world.”

“Trust the bugger not to do the right thing,” O’Neill muttered and turned around, “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go, I’ve had my fill of senseless slaughter today.”

SG-1 and the Tok’ra turned around and returned to the shuttle craft. Except for Jonas Quinn who was sitting on his heels as he was digging in the earth to extract something. As he pushed away ash and earth he recovered something which he held up.

It was a child’s doll missing an arm.

Jonas stared at the doll for a moment, then he looked in the hole that he had dug and noticed the charred remains of a small hand.

“Are you coming, Jonas?” Sam’s voice called from the Tok’ra shuttle craft.

“I’m coming,” Jonas replied as he put the doll back and covered the hole up with ash and dirt. Then he got up and left for the shuttle.




A day minus 247



By contrast on Anubis’ former capital planet there were still Jaffa and people left. But they wisely chose to stay away from the two people they feared even more then their own lord and master. A minor exodus was even taking place through the Stargate as there were no more orders coming from Anubis and some thought it was prudent to be elsewhere..

On his make do camp site Belmovekk stared into the heavens as a falling star in the distance grew steadily in size and moved towards him and Buffy, who was still sleeping.

Glancing briefly at the sleeping girl, his daughter, the Saiyan smiled, then he looked up again as he could finally make out the silhouette of what was a Capsule Corp. space ship, hell, it was their only space ship.

As it neared them the noise of the descending spaceship awoke Buffy.

“What….?” she said groggy as a thunderous noise grew ever louder, then she looked around, “Belmo?”

“I am here, young lady,” the Saiyan said as he knelt next to her, “How are you?”

“Like I’ve studied for a French exam,” she said, then she looked up, “What’s that?”

“It could be our ride home,” Belmovekk said as he briefly glanced upwards to the descending spaceship.

“What do you mean?” Buffy said, then she looked up again and understood, “Oh.”





For almost a year it had been a mystery amongst the Z fighters that nobody knew. Except maybe Bulma. But she wasn’t telling anyone.

Where was Vegeta?

The self styled Prince of all Saiyans (and irreverently styled Prince of all Assholes behind his back) had suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth.

It turned out this was literally the case.

After he had come to the conclusion that his current training regime wasn’t bringing him any closer to the desired transformation of Super Saiyan Vegeta had at first gone walkabout on Earth. Immersing himself in Earth culture, traveling from city to city as he tried to understand what was by now probably his new home world.

Goku had fought for this place and he had risen to become the first Super Saiyan in living memory. Maybe if he understood why he understood how Goku had done so.

Immersing himself in Earth culture was not the success he had hoped for. Most Earthlings led shallow lives in shallow cultures and tried to make their lives more bearable using sex, drugs and alcohol. There were a few places on this Earth where there existed some cultures of value. In India Vegeta sought out the wisdom of gurus, in the middle east that of Sufis, other places had their wise men as well. He studied the local martial arts and while he learned a little, it wasn’t the knowledge he was after.

So finally he abandoned his search on Earth altogether.

Maybe the answers weren’t on Earth. Maybe the answers Vegeta sought came from within. So Vegeta returned to San Francisco, had a huge fight with Bulma over his offspring, stormed out of the Briefs’ home and took their space ship. The one Bulma’s father had built for Goku so he could travel to planet Namek.

At least in space there were no distractions.

In space he searched for ways to become a Super Saiyan.

And somewhere along the way he found a little of himself as well.

He was journeying to the outer reaches of the galaxy when to his surprise he suddenly sensed the unmistaken chi of a Super Saiyan. And something else as well, locked in brutal combat with the Super Saiyan. And to his astonishment he recognized the chi of that Super Saiyan.

So he changed course and made for that planet. By the time he passed the Oort cloud the fight had changed and for a brief moment a third chi entered the fight, something that was…. Saiyanish. But mostly something else. Then the fight was over, the mysterious 2nd chi vanished, soon followed by the 3rd. Leaving only the Saiyan chi. It stopped being Super Saiyan, dropping to normal Saiyan, rapidly decreasing in strength as well to a more mundane level.

But now Vegeta knew where to look and continued his journey until he finally reached the planet.

The planet had the all the hallmarks of being a Goa’uld fortress planet. But even though there was a shipyard in orbit there were none of their odd shaped battlecruisers to be found. And he could see from space that either a major catastrophe had befallen this world, or Super Saiyans had fought here.

From orbit he could detect a Saiyan chi on the hardest hit continent so he aimed his ship for that. Breaking through the atmosphere he encountered no resistance and continued his descent. Then he neared the ground and saw the signs of massive explosions having taken place. The battle must have been truly epic. And deep inside Vegeta stirred a regret that he hadn’t been there to be part of it. It would have been glorious.

Aiming for a low set of hills Vegeta looked outside and saw two figures standing in the distance. One he expected to see.

The other came as a complete surprise.





As Vegeta’s space ship landed not far from them Belmovekk put his arms around Buffy’s shoulder.

“Shall we go meet our prince?” the Saiyan smiled at her.

“Aw crap” Buffy said as she realized that as part of his family he was now also her prince, then she began to pout, “But I’m not going to bow to him and kiss his royal heiny.”

“Play nice, young lady,” Belmovekk chuckled, “He is after all our ticket home.”




A day minus 242



“Auw!”

“Sit still.”

“Watch were you’re putting that thing, woman!”

“Then sit still, you crazy vampire!”

“I can’t when you’re prodding inside my brain, you crazy bird!”

“And I can’t watch where I’m poking while you keep squirming in your seat, you breathing corpse!”

As Bulma was busy working on Spike in the dinner room at the Summers home at 1630 Revello Drive, Piccolo, Belmovekk and Giles were watching the two from inside the Summers’ living room.

“He claims he betrayed us because he was programmed to,” Giles said to the Saiyan.

“Do you believe him?” Belmovekk asked the former Watcher.

“Who knows?” Giles said after some thinking, “Bulma thinks she did find some residual programming left by Adam. Personally I agree with Riley. I don’t think he resisted much against his programming. Treachery’s in his blood. If it weren’t for Piccolo’s objection we would have killed him and be done with it.”

Belmovekk looked at Piccolo.

“Why did you not want for the vampire to die?” he asked the Namek.

“It is one thing to kill in battle,” the Namek shrugged, “it’s a whole different thing to execute somebody in cold blood. Even him.”

“But it’s Spike,” Giles countered, “he always finds ways to cause trouble. Usually for us.”

Piccolo stared long at Spike, then he turned around and looked through the front window outside.

“Once they thought the same thing about me,” he said softly, “When Goku had defeated me they all argued to Goku that he should kill me. Even Kami, knowing fully well that he would die with me. Even Kami thought the world would be better off without me.”

“I remember that moment,” Bulma called from the other room, “We all thought Goku was crazy when he refused to kill you.”

“Goku has this way that he sees the best in people,” Piccolo continued, “Since he let me live I think it’s time I repay that debt and let the vampire live. Despite what he himself may think I think there’s potential for good inside him.”

Before Belmovekk or Giles could reply Spike let out a loud snort.

“Sorry Big Guy,” he snorted, “Even I think that’s a load of rubbish.”

“Perhaps,” Piccolo shrugged again, “time will tell. That’s why I asked Bulma not to remove your control chip. Just to be safe.”

“You didn’t?” Spike said looking at Bulma, “How could y….. AUW!”

“I told you to sit still, didn’t I?” Bulma’s voice said from the other room.

“You did that on purpose,” Spike muttered aggrieved.

Now that the Spike situation was ‘under control’ the three ‘wise men’ retired to the kitchen where Belmovekk retrieved some soda’s for him and Giles and a mineral water for Piccolo.

“So,” Belmovekk said as he opened his can, “Do you have any explanation as to what has happened? Why the spell went awry?”

“Faith said that Adam used mind control to try and win her over,” Piccolo said, “that he appeared in her dreams, like those prophetic dreams Slayers are supposed to have. Adam claimed that some shadowy group he called Them gave him that ability. That They wanted her dead.”

“Buffy said she also had prophetic dreams,” Belmovekk said as he sipped from his can, “That she saw the Majin attack me and kill me. That is why she insisted on coming along.”

“Two different Slayers, two different dreams,” Piccolo said as he sipped from his bottle, “Coincidence?”

“There are no coincidences,” Belmovekk said, “only connections that have not been exposed yet. I can only conclude that since both Anubis and Adam wanted to possess a Slayer somebody wants them out of the way.”

“It looks that way,” Piccolo echoed. Then Giles threw a small packet of powder on the kitchen table.

“What’s that?” Piccolo asked as he picked it up and examined it.

“An ingredient,” Giles said as Belmovekk signaled Piccolo to give the packet to him, “a crucial ingredient in the enjoinment spell. I found it today in a crease of my sofa.”

“You forgot it?” Piccolo said incredulously, “I never figured you for the forgetful type, Rupert. At least when it came to magic.”

“I didn’t,” Giles said with a hint of injured pride, then he reached inside his jacket and pulled forth a packet of powder that was mostly empty and gave it to Piccolo, “When we were about to leave for Cleveland I almost forgot the first packet. So I went back inside the house to get it. Great was my surprise when I found Daniel Jackson sitting in my living room.”

“Who’s Daniel Jackson?” Piccolo asked as he gave the empty packet to Belmovekk.

“Daniel Jackson was a scholar and member of SG-1,” Belmovekk explained, “But he died around the time of the Battle of Sunnydale. Which means….., was he the First?”

“I don’t think so,” Giles said shaking his head, “By all accounts the First only appears to tell lies and falsehoods to take away hope. He never appears to come by and forgive people and help them.”

“This conversation is getting increasingly hard to follow,” Piccolo remarked, “Maybe I should get a list of all the dead people you people talk to.”

“The First is not dead, he….” Belmovekk said, then he looked at Giles, “well, what is he actually?”

“A primeval force of evil who claims to be the original source of evil who appears in the guise of the deceased,” Giles explained, “he appeared last Christmas to torment Angel into killing himself and….”

Giles wanted to talk further when he saw Belmovekk touch his lips.

“Anyway, I don’t think Daniel Jackson was a manifestation of the First,” Giles continued, “because he helped us. He claims he ascended to a higher plane of existence. That he knew what was going on.”


“Then why didn’t he give us a heads up?” Piccolo asked, “we could have used it.“

“He said non-interference is the ascended person’s creed,” Giles said.

“Then how did he help you?” Piccolo asked confused, “It seems to me that helping and non-interference cancel each other out.”

“Because when I left he told me not to forget the packet of powder I came back for,” Giles said and pointed to the almost empty packet, “And he pointed to that one that was lying on the table between us. That was the one I used in Cleveland. Not the one I rediscovered today in my couch, where I sat when I talked to him.”

“Sneaky bugger,” Piccolo said appreciatively as he re-examined both packets, “he changed them. Subtle, very subtle.”

Belmovekk opened both packets and dipped his finger in one first, then tasted it, before dipping his finger in the other and tasting that as well.

“They are different,” he said as he smacked his lips, “a subtle difference, this one is more nutty.”

“You think this is why the spell changed?” Piccolo asked, “Giving some powers to one girl, the rest to another?”

“It has to be,” Giles said, “It’s the only explanation I could think off.”





“Welcome home, SG-1,” General Hammond said as he welcomed the return of his elite team as they walked into his office.

“Thanks, sir” O’Neill said gloomily as he sat down in one of the chairs.

“Rough trip?” Hammond as he watched the faces of his team.

“You have no idea,” O’Neill said shaking his head, then his face turned serious, “Sir, its my sad duty to report that we lost both the girl and the Saiyan. He….. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“They’re both here on Earth,” the portly general said and put his hand on the phone then on a letter he picked up, “He called in yesterday to say and I quote: ‘We arrived a little ahead of schedule. Anubis’ demon has been destroyed, as is Anubis’ body. Expect his essence to return though as he is a crafty bugger. Sorry that we did not tell the good colonel but I wanted to spend some quality time with my new daughter. Sorry for the trouble, Belmovekk’.”

Next thing Colonel O’Neill stood up, kick his chair back against the wall and left the general’s office screaming and cursing, a lot of it sounding suspiciously like obscenities regarding a certain Saiyan’s mother.

A flabbergasted general turned to Sam.

“What in Blaze’s name happened out there, Major? I have reports coming from the Tok’ra that interstellar war is breaking out out there. Yi is supposed to have launched a major offensive into Anubis’ territory, as did Ba’al. Even the Sons of Priya are making a grab for territory, citing and I quote: ‘Now that our prophet has shown us the way the time has come to bring truth and justice to our brethren.’ There are even reported mass defections by some Jaffa who are flocking to their religion. Everybody is moving against everybody out there. “

After this outburst Sam was unsure where to begin. She looked from Jonas who looked bewildered to Teal’c who looked extremely smug.

“Well, sir……”





That evening Giles sat in his home behind his study staring at the Gypsy Prophecies again. Despite extensive study there was just no mentioning of anything of what had happened to them recently. No matter how creatively he interpreted some of the gibberish that was inside.

“This makes no sense,” Giles finally said as he put down his glasses in disgust and reclined in his chair, then he closed his eyes and began to massage them, “You guys really dropped the ball on this one.”

“Of course we did,” a voice spoke inside his mind.

Like he was being stung by an insect Giles sat up straight.

“Is it you guys?” he asked hopeful.

“Please, think, not speak,” the voice said chiding, “now you know that They are listening.”

“Sorry,” Giles thought back, “What happened? Why did you drop the ball on us?”

“We were mislead,” the voice said apologetic, “They weaved a very careful and elaborate ruse that fooled even us.”

That thought alone made Giles shudder. What the hell were they up against if it could fool two Galactic Necessities?

“You are troubled?” the voice asked.

“What if it happens again?” Giles thought, “What if….”

“It won’t,” the voice said confidently.

“Yeah, but what if….”