The Thing the Darkness Fears:
The light from the spell is blindingly bright, and if it weren’t for the warmth radiating from it Willow thinks she’d believe herself to be in the middle of a snow storm, a very windy snowstorm she thinks as her vision is clouded by strands of her ruby hair whipping about. The last words of the chant pass through the lips of all the women in the room and Willow opens her hand to let the sand she held there drop onto the photograph of Tara. Just when she thought the world around her couldn’t get any brighter there is a flash and everything for just a moment is stark white.
Slowly the wind disappears and the light fades. After a few moments the room dims down as if nothing had happened. Everything is back to normal, except that in the center of the circle a woman stands in a long white gown.
--
They haven’t even made it into the building yet, but Buffy can see a sinister smirk creeping across the First’s face and she knows that things are coming together and they are doing so now. The slayer grips her axe tighter and raises it ready to fight.
“You know,” the First says, “Out of all the forms I have taken on yours is my favorite… I think I might just keep it.”
“Yeah, well… it looks better on me.”
A powerful gust of air erupts from the First’s from and pushes out in all directions. It moves through the air like a sonic boom and knocks Buffy back a step sending her hair flying, however, she quickly regains her composure. When the slayer looks back up at the First she sees that it's staring down at its hands, its solid hands. This is it, the First is corporeal and it looks up at Buffy with a face that is its own version of a twisted happiness. Buffy doesn’t hesitate, she rushes forward with her axe drawn and swings with force.
The First may be evil and have a wide expanse of knowledge, but there is one thing that Buffy has more experience in, and that’s fighting - physically fighting. If there’s one thing that Buffy Summer’s knows how to do well it’s giving big uglies a run for their money and that’s exactly what she does with the First.
The First has a body now. It’s in a physical state of being of which it has never before experienced and with its slow reflexes it barely has time to realize that Buffy is coming at it with an axe. The metal blade drives deep into the First’s shoulder. Buffy watches as an expression of shock crosses her evil double’s face.
--
Willow stands to find herself face to face with Tara. The world seems to stop all rotation as their eyes meet. Seeing Tara again makes Willow’s heart swell. As the witch looks on at her lover she notices how her skin glows warmly, her smile is bright and her eyes glimmer lovingly. Dirty blond hair frames the angel’s face before her and tears come to Willow’s eyes.
“You have to help Xander,” Tara says and Willow is snapped back to reality.
“Wha…” and then Willow hears him. His cries of panic come from the front yard and Willow rushes to the door.
The front door flies open and as Willow looks out into the front yard she sees Spike in an intense battle with a turk-han, Giles clumsily avoiding the blows of another and Xander being held up by his neck two feet above the ground by a third. Willow instantly steps forward and throws her hands out. Her fingers are stretched and palms face upward. With one Latin word she sends out three bolts of energy that strike the three uber-vampires. Two things happen in that instant; first the three turk-hans fall to the ground as does Xander who gasps for air and second Willow passes out and collapses on the front porch.
--
“Ow, that… hurt,” the First says pulling the axe from its shoulder and throwing it off to the side. It hits the pavement with a clatter. Blood drips from its wound for a moment, but then it heals up completely wthin seconds it’s as if nothing had even happened. “So that’s what pain feels like.” Pow, the First’s head reels back from a powerful punch from Buffy. It doesn’t even have time to react as Buffy throws one bone crunching hit after another. After that, however the First is staring to catch on. With both its hands the First shoves Buffy and she falls to the ground. She doesn’t stay down long however. Quickly Buffy springs to her feet and pulls out a knife hidden in her waist band at the same time.
It’s now that the dance begins. The First throws more blows at Buffy, but the slayer is far more skilled and dodges every one. The First quickly becomes dismayed and as anger grows in its now solid black heart its throws become heavier and hastier. Buffy, however remains calm and is able to easily avoid the First’s attempts at fighting leaving the First with nothing but wasted energy. Buffy then jabs at the First with the knife she holds in her hand and manages to sink it into the First’s side, all this does though is outrage the First even more and with all the strength it has it punches Buffy square in the jaw.
“Now that felt good… don’t you see little girl, you can wound me with your weapons but I heal fast… in the end you are going to loose.” the First says happy with itself for the first time in this fight.
Buffy hears her own jaw bone break with a terrifying crack and feels the air against her skin as the First’s blow sends her flying back. Her body hits the ground first and then her head bounces against the pavement. For a moment she remains still. Every inch of her is pulsating with pain, but she quickly remembers the mission at hand and forces herself back onto her feet. Buffy then sees that she’s only a foot from her discarded axe and she quickly picks it up. Once it’s in her hands she looks back at the First and sees that it has pulled the dagger from its side and is walking back toward Buffy.
The Slayer takes note of the swagger in the First’s step and the fear-invoking look across its face. Each step it takes is precise and every movement it makes is for visual effect. The first has spent centuries having to be intimidating by its looks alone and it has the process down to an art; however it’s just a smokescreen. The First is far less of a threat then Buffy had expected. Sure, she knows she will leave this fight broken and bruised, but she doubts that the First has any more physical power then Glory had, or at least that’s how it feels. In truth the First probably has a lot more power then Glory had, but Buffy is also stronger now so the difference goes unnoticed.
Buffy takes a deep unneeded breath to steady herself and then rushes forward with her axe ready to strike.
--
Spike looks up to the doorway of the Summer’s home just as Willow collapses on the front porch. The uber-vamp that he had been fighting was struck with some strange blue bolt of energy, for which Spike is grateful. He then realizes that that bolt had come from Willow. Spike watches as Kennedy rushes to her side to carry her back into the house with help from Amanda.
Spike then finds that he is unable to look away from the doorway; his eyes are locked there even after Willow is safely inside and the reason for his stare is the angel standing in the entry gazing at him. Tara smiles at Spike and finally the vampire is knocked out of his reverie. When Spike looks back to where the uber-vamp was that he was fighting he sees that the rest of the potentials have joined the fight. With multiple people trying to take out each of the creatures the job seems to be moving along a lot easier. Spike rushes back in to the fight with his axe raised.
--
The First barely has time to react as Buffy’s axe swings quick and precise and glides straight through the First’s neck. Buffy watches as its head is severed cleanly and rolls off its shoulders. It’s a surreal sight to see this being that looks exactly like her die in that way and even more so for Buffy to be the one that killed it. Buffy expects the blonde haired head to bounce against the pavement, but before it reaches the ground it bursts apart into billions of tiny black swarming shards. The First’s body does the same. Like flies the black flecks explode and fly away into the night. As they branch out and expand, Buffy sees that their numbers are vast and soon she is surrounded by them, however only for a moment. Then they are gone.
--
Spike beheads the last of the uber vamps. He watches as the creature’s body turns to dust. Spike then wipes away blood from a split lip and turns around to see Xander and Giles still waiting in the yard while the rest of the potentials shuffle into the house. Luckily no lives were lost, however Xander looks to have quite a serious bruise forming around his neck and up the side of his left cheek; and Giles has what appears to be three claw marks across his right cheek.
“Hell of a fight that was,” Spike says as he approaches the other two men.
“Yeah… let’s just hope Buffy was as victorious as we were,” Xander says and the three men walk to the door side by side.
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