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"Chosen Ones"Written By: Dùlin
Archive: This arc is archived on this site with permission. Do not reproduce it anywhere without permission. Disclaimer : I don't own them. Life is not fair. Rating : R to NC-17 for violence Warnings : Crossover GW/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
which means, AU and OOC-ness for the GW characters (since they're
not humans, niark niark !) Pairings : 1x2, 3x4, 6x5, explicit references to past 13x5 Author's note : You need to know quite a bit about
the Buffy universe to understand this fic. If you don’t know
what Buffy is or stopped watching after season two, just take a browse
on the official UPN site to see what the heck this is all about. The greatest thanks to the ever faithful Karina, to Amejisuto and the best beta-reader of the world, Laurence-sama ! Please do not take or reproduce without permission.
"Chosen Ones"
Part 10 - Confrontations “They were mean with me, they were all saying bad things, and then, the bad girl punched me”, Relena whimpered. Dorothy sighed. Why in the name of Morgoth had she summoned the poltergeist ?? Oh yeah. To annoy Heero, and Duo, and the four others too if Relena could find them. The problem was that poltergeists were a pain in the ass whether you were the one the prank was aimed at or not. Relena had been loudly complaining about Heero and the other spirits for an hour, and she had been repeatedly telling that story about a girl punching her right in the nose. “Enough, Relena ! What you are saying is nonsense. Humans cannot damage you like this.” “But I swear she did !! And I swear she’s human too !!! I felt it ! But she was different …” “Humans are sheeps, Relena. They’ll follow anyone’s lead as long as you scare them enough. There is absolutely no reason for one of them to be different.” “Why not ?”, a new voice interrupted. Dorothy turned around quicker than sight. She hadn’t felt anyone arrive, but then, that was understandable, since Quatre was one of the three people standing there. Hiding auras was something he had always been very good at, as much as Dorothy loathed to admit it. Dorothy looked at Trowa, then at the girl that was between the two spirits. Unmistakably human. “That’s her !”, Relena shouted. “That’s her !!! She’s the mean girl who punched me !!! Get her, Dorothy-sama !! Get her !” “Silence !”, Dorothy barked. Relena obeyed and sat in the grass, shooting murderous glances to Buffy. The Slayer was looking at Dorothy, unable to detach her eyes from the very very singular eyebrows. This was probably rude to stare at a spirit like that, but Buffy couldn’t care less. “Woa”, she said. “What’s with the look ? Did we fall back into the eighties and no one told me ?” Dorothy smirked at Quatre. “The company you keep is most deplorable, Quatre. As one of the most powerful spirits that exist, you could at least pay attention.” Quatre answered nothing, but shot a look at Relena, then at Dorothy again, his eyes questioning ironically. “I am flattered to see that you still consider me one of the most powerful spirits, Dorothy. I suppose that this includes you, naturally.” “Naturally. I wouldn’t want to defeat my enemy too easily. It would lack glory.” Trowa let himself fall on the grass and motioned to Buffy to do the same. “This could last a while”, he whispered. “Not mentioning that they’re probably having a mental conversation in the same time, and that they’re trying to put each other off-balance.” He shot a look to Relena, who had the face of someone plotting revenge. “Don’t even think of it”, he said very softly, “or I let her punch you again.” Buffy confirmed with a nod before turning her attention back to Quatre and Dorothy. The female spirit was taller, but somehow, she wasn’t as impressive as Quatre. The energy that radiated from them was very different. Quatre was sending out golden waves, while the light that Dorothy emitted was very dark, almost black. “The logical question to ask first would be ‘Why?’, wouldn’t it, Quatre ? But I know you’re not going to ask it. You know it already.”, Dorothy said. “I know. You, Treize and Une have always been greedy for more power. This is why you will fail and die.” “If I were you, I wouldn’t assume too fast who is going to die, Quatre. My powers have increased since the last time we met.” “Your powers are nothing but an imitation of your nature now. Your forsook your life and your people, Dorothy. For such a crime, there is a prize to pay. Now you are neither from the Dream, nor from the Darkness. You are stuck between the two, a freak of nature that shouldn’t even exist.” Dorothy was caught off-guard by that remark and stumbled backwards. “I will not fail. My Master will prevail.” “He is wrong too. Spirits should not be mastered. Only freedom and happiness can make them bloom to their full powers.” “You know what, Quatre ? You’ve always been an insufferable know-it-all. It will be a pleasure for me to kill you.” “Now, look who’s assuming”, Quatre snickered. “You can’t stop us, Quatre. You can’t even kill me now.” “Assuming again. I could kill you now, but it would not serve my purpose. I need you to answer a question.” “You really think I will ?” “Oh yes, I think you will.” Before Dorothy could react, Quatre held out his right hand. “Lasto beth nin, Toro dan an galadh !” (1) Dorothy did her best to fight the spell, and she was doing quite well, actually. Quatre concentrated a bit more. He felt something giving in his ex-fellow Dream spirit’s mind. He pushed his advantage. “I know when, I know why. I don’t know how.” Dorothy struggled not to answer, but the spell was too strong. Her mouth opened automatically. “The ritual … of Amsarach … killing … you and the others … Zechs … sacrifice …” Quatre’s eyes widened. Buffy could tell it looked bad. The blond spirit took his hand back, breaking the spell. Dorothy fell on the floor, panting. She began to get up, her hand ready to strike, but suddenly, a bold of lighting tore through the cloudless sky and went to hit the ground somewhere in town. “Oh oh, not good”, Trowa said getting up and frowning. Dorothy took advantage of their confusion to vanish, quickly followed by Relena. “What’s that ?”, Buffy asked. “Heero”, Quatre answered. “Heero’s been attacked.” “And he’s pretty pissed-off”, Trowa added. “I think we should go see what’s going on before California is ravaged by typhoons.” “Heero creates typhoons when he’s pissed off ?”, Buffy asked with worry. “No, Heero creates typhoons when he’s a bit unnerved”, Quatre answered deadpan. “When he’s pissed off, he prefers tsunamis and earthquakes.” “I thought Duo was with him”, Trowa said. “He is, but if Heero is using his powers, they’re probably in trouble. Let’s go.” **** “I think you will find I am quite alright, Heero”, Une said. Duo snorted. “Yeah, you’re even a bit too loud and alive for someone supposed to be dead, Une. You’re much too alive for my liking.” “Duo, you shouldn’t try to bite my head off. We are akin now.” “Hell no !”, Duo growled. “I told it to Treize, and I’ll tell it to you, you’re fuckin’ not related to me in any way !” “We both serve the Darkness, Duo.” “I do not serve the Darkness, Une. I AM the Darkness. I feed off it, and it feeds off me. The thing me and Darkness have, you’ll never even get close to experience it ! You’re just a freak ! Mind, you’ve always been a freak, so it’s not that much, but now you’re even more of a freak than before. You and I, it doesn’t make ‘We’!” “You could still join us, Duo.” Duo’s eyes widened in disbelief. “WHAT ?” “Imagine what it would be. You could be so powerful, just second to the Master. You could take anyone’s life as you wish to increase your power. You could be truly yourself, instead of hanging around with the pathetic loser Zechs is.” Heero was watchful. Persuasion was one of Une’s powers, and she was deploying everything she could right now to get Duo to turn. But, then, Heero knew that it would take more than that to take Duo astray. He looked into his lover’s eyes. They were strangely unfocused. Heero felt panic creeping along his spine. Suddenly, Duo laughed, and his eyes became violet again. “Shit Une, what have you been smokin’ ? Are you on crack or what ? No, wait, I got a better one !! How long is it since you got laid ??” He turned to Heero. “For one thing, she hasn’t changed, she’s still completely out of her mind. Join them ! As if ! I am in control of my own life, Une ! I don’t like being second to anyone.” “How dare you … ?”, Une groaned. “Oh”, Duo interrupted, “and since you missed your appointment with me last time, please make a new one. Just ask my assistant, and I’ll find some time for you”, he smiled, pointing to Heero. Heero couldn’t help grinning too. That was all Duo. They were quite a team to enrage people, Heero thought. He was doing the silence and ignoring part, and Duo did the teasing and talking part. Those happy thoughts were interrupted when the ground started vibrating. Une’s eyes had turned completely dark. She suddenly held out her right hand, and before he knew anything else, Heero was hurtled into the shelves supporting the bottles of alcohol and whatever was in them behind the bar. He crashed in the wall and fell on the floor, showered by bits of wood and glass. Duo got up, but he could do nothing before he was sent to join Heero. The dark spirit got up with difficulty … to find that he couldn’t move. Une was using her telekynesy to prevent them from moving. “How …”, Duo managed to say. Une smiled evilly. “Unlike Treize, I value the virtues of work. He has a tendency to take everything for granted, like Wufei, for example. I fight for what I want. I have spent the last hundreds of years learning how to wield these powers. They are amazing, really, Duo.” “You don’t have half of the powers I got”, Duo said through gritted teeth. “And, yet, strangely, I am able to control you.” “You are not controlling us”, Heero said very quietly. “You are preventing us from moving. That’s quite different.” Duo shivered when he heard Heero’s very cool tone. He knew that tone. Heero was very, very angry. And maybe a bit more than that. He hated being taken at unawares, and most of all, he hated realizing he had underestimated his enemy. Duo concentrated on the task of fighting the binding power that was preventing him to move. If Heero was angry, he didn’t want to be too near him when he would decide to strike. Une laughed coldly. “And now, Heero, tell me just what would prevent me to kill you and Duo, right here and now ?” That was maybe Une’s greatest mistake. If she had just threatened to kill Heero, the Japanese Spirit would probably not have found the strength to resist the power. But she had threatened to kill Duo too. Heero’s eyes began to glow dangerously blue. His head suddenly jerked upwards in a silent invocation. The bolt of lighting crashed through the ceiling and hit the ground between Une and Heero. Une was put off-balance for only a second, but that was enough for her spell to be broken. Duo jumped lightly over the counter. It wasn’t his fight. OK, it was ridiculous, he could have helped, but somehow, he had a feeling Heero would resent that, and maybe even kill him if he tried to help. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Duo decided to stay out of their way. He levitated to the ceiling, and sat himself cross-legged in the air, to have a better look at the scene. Everyone else had left. The two Warrior spirits were left facing each other. Heero’s right hand glowed blue, and his saber appeared. A gloomy dark light was emitted by Une’s hand, leaving behind a long German-styled sword. Great. Now they were in for a fencing match. Duo stifled a yawn. They were not going to finish that any time soon if that was how they were going to settle this. The clank of metal against metal echoed in the now empty room. The blades sent sparkles as each of the fighters was egging on his opponent fiercely. The two spirits were very concentrated, spinning around like dancers in a perfectly choreographed dance. It was terrible and beautiful at the same time. Duo stopped yawning when he realized that Une seemed to have a little advantage. It was not normal. Heero should have been able to beat her easily. OK, he was a bit tired, but that didn’t make it up for Une’s sudden improvement in fencing. She had probably been saying the truth when she had said she had been practicing. Duo hesitated. He could stop this fight now if he wanted to. Quatre, Trowa and Buffy burst in just at that moment. Une was distracted by the commotion. She turned around to see who had arrived and smirked. “Well, well, look who’s here ! Backups ! The little dream conjurer and the Healer.” Quatre’s face flushed and Trowa clenched his fists. Heero decided to take advantage of Une’s distraction to finish her off. Now was as good a time as any. But for the second time in the evening, he was thrown backwards by a wave of telekynesy. It wasn’t Une, though. It was Quatre. When Heero got up again, Une had disappeared. The Japanese spirit turned to Quatre, his eyes expressing cold fury. “Why did you do that ?” “I had to. I couldn’t let you kill her now.” “Why not ?”, Heero snapped. “This is my fight, my enemy ! You shouldn’t put yourself in the middle and you know it !” “Calm down, Hee-chan”, Duo said, floating down to the ground and landing beside Heero. “You know Cat never does things without a good reason.” Heero stopped ranting, but kept on glancing at Quatre furiously, waiting for an explanation. “How did she find you ?”, Quatre asked Duo. Duo rubbed his head. That was a good question. How on Earth had Une tracked them ? “Don’t have a clue”, he said finally. “I suppose she could feel me. My aura is not exactly the discreet one, is it ?” “I suppose not”, Quatre admitted. “When you care to explain what this was all about, you’ll warn me”, Heero said, his voice still ringing with anger. “Heero”, Quatre said, “if you don’t calm down immediately, I’ll make you. I’m not joking.” Heero opened his mouth to argue, but closed it immediately again. He grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like ‘Sorry’ in Duo’s opinion. The Darkness Spirit had a hard time believing it actually. “It’s okay”, Quatre said calmly. “You were right on one thing. This is your fight, and in a normal situation, I would not have tried to prevent you from killing her. But we are not in a normal situation. They are going to use the ritual of Amsarach.” Duo frowned. “Okay, Cat’s been having a smoke too ! Whatcha talkin’ about ?” “Tell me it’s a joke”, Heero said, suddenly looking very pale. “I’d like to”, Quatre answered. “But I’m positive.” “Shit !” Duo waved his hands. “Guys ?? Care to share ??” Buffy sided with him. “I’m a bit lost too”, she said. “What’s wrong with the whole ritual thingy ?” “I’ll explain to everyone at once, but basically, we can’t kill any of them before they actually try to open the Hellmouth, or we’re all dead.” “Great !”, Buffy groaned. **** Settings : Buffy’s living-room. Situation : end of the world in about four days. Actors : six very pissed-off spirits, two wiccas, an ex-demon, a vampire, a plain human, a retired librarian and a very cranky Slayer. That summed the situation up quite correctly. “Are you sure of that, Quatre ?”, Zechs asked again. Quatre nodded. His eyes were locked to the Light Spirit’s, expressing something like despair. Buffy shook her head. Quatre couldn’t be despaired. He was the hope cheerleader around. Angel coughed, bringing everyone’s attention to him. “Sorry”, he said, “but it kinda rings a bell. It looks like the ritual I … used to wake Acathla.” “Does it ?”, Giles asked, interested. “The ritual is similar”, Zechs admitted. “Blood opens the gate, and blood closes it. Except that the blood opening and closing the door are not the same.” “Whose blood does open the door ?” Zechs shifted uneasily. “My blood”, he said finally. Wufei’s eyes widened. “We can’t let them do that”, he said fiercely. “Of course not, Wufei”, Quatre said. “How do we prevent them from doing the damn ritual ?”, Buffy asked. “It’s too late for preventing anything”, Quatre said. “The ritual started thousands of years ago, when Dorothy, Treize and Une shifted. That’s the first step. ‘Three forsaking their lives willingly’, if I remember well. That’s what they did. With our help”, he added bitterly. Trowa frowned and took Quatre in his arms. “If you dare blame yourself, I’ll give you the plague and lots of furry boils”, he said threateningly. “Thanks love, that’s comforting”, Quatre smirked. “So what do we do ?”, Willow asked. “We can still stop that ritual, right ?” “Yeah”, Duo said. “We mustn’t let them rip Zechs open. Since we all agreed that he’s a fine man and we want to keep him, I guess that means we will fight on his side, uh ?” “How do we stop it concretely ?”, Giles asked. Quatre got out of Trowa’s embrace. “We must kill them, but on the right place and at the right time. The right place is on the Hellmouth, and the right time is when Morgoth comes to open it.” “Great !”, Buffy said. “That means we will have to be actually on the Hellmouth when they come to do their magic tricks. Anyone havin’ a better idea to get killed ? ‘Cause this one has my vote as the best ever !” No one spoke for a while. Zechs got up and paced up and down for a few minutes. “We will need backup”, he said. “Trowa, you must see if you can contact Sally and Lucrezia. Maybe they’ve done it first, in case we will have to convince them to come back. Quatre, you know what I await from you. Call them when you see fit, but I would advise to wait until the last minute. Duo, you are one of our best hopes at turning Darkness spirits against them. Heero, Wufei, I know you can’t call any of your people to fight for us, but I hope you are ready to put forth all your power.” “Stay here, California, ‘cause you’re gonna burn tonight !”, Duo said under his breath. “What about us ?”, Buffy said. “You’re still an important part of the plan miss Summers”, Zechs said. “Your sacred duty makes you a most powerful weapon. They underestimate you and your power. They underestimate humans and the love they have for their world. It is up to us to make sure this will be their last mistake.” “We will help”, Tara said. “We will do whatever it needs. Anyway, if we don’t fight, we are going to die.” Quatre shot them all a radiant smile. “I told you they were going to make it, Trowa. They are on the way.” “On the way to what ?”, Buffy asked. “The power. The Real Power. The one that will make us win although everything seems lost. Remember the prophecy.” “Hey, Quatre is right ! I almost forgot about the damn speech”, Duo said. “It will happen soon.” Duo glared at each of his comrades. “Don’t even try to get yourself killed, because if that’s the case, I’ll try to refuse you, and I don’t care if you become ghost zombies !” “We’ve been warned”, Quatre said. “Refuse ?”, Tara asked politely. “Technically, I can refuse the death of some people. I don’t really have a reason to do such a thing in a normal situation, but that’s what happens when somebody tries to leave without having finished what they were supposed to be. I refuse their death, I refuse to accept them as part of my power and they are sent back. Either as ghosts, if it’s really too late, or sometimes alive . You know, all those near-death experience things, they’re not crap ! Except about that funny tunnel thing. I don’t know where you humans picked that up !” Buffy sighed. Duo had a tendency to get off-topic with an ease that puzzled even her, and she was well-known for going off-topic at awkward moments. She had obviously found her master, she thought with an inner smile. “Ok, that’s great !”, she said. “Now we know we’re all united against the big bad and the first one to touch Zechs is as good as dead, what do we do ?” “I think, Miss Summers, that you should lead us
to the Hellmouth”, Zechs said.
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