NOTE : This story is set within an alternate Buffyverse. Faith has stayed with the Scooby gang and has become Buffy's secret girlfriend. Dawn is now nineteen and at college. Willow and Tara are still together.
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"I doubt that is the pizza delivery boy," whispered Buffy to her Watcher as Mobadon turned and surveyed the conflict.
The demon was very muscular with smooth skin that was as black as coal. His face was handsome, after a fashion, but his eyes were a burning red that shone like a furnace above a cruel mouth that was filled with needle-like teeth. Long, pointed ears could be seen clearly, because the sides of his skull were hairless, while long lustrous black hair was swept back from the top of his head to hang down to his shoulders.
His body was adorned with golden jewellery; from the thick crescent medallion that hung on a sturdy chain around his neck, to the bangles on his arms and the rings on his fingers. The only article of clothing the fiend wore was a fine chain-link loincloth that looked like it could possibly be silver. Finally, jutting in opposite directions from behind his shoulders were the two pommels of his swords. They were expertly crafted oriental katanas that had runes written all along the length of their silver blades.
Before Giles could reply, the Slayer was suddenly occupied with dodging Angelus' fist. The two former lovers began to trade punishing blows at a pace no human could copy. Both ducked, dodged, struck and punched with a ferocity that appalled and amazed the Englishman. Then he too was suddenly occupied with an attacking vampire.
Oz and Cordelia had managed to reach the top of the stairs that descended to the monastery's maze of cellars, but were now hemmed in by four rather feral looking vampires. One of the bloodsuckers, still dressed in his Double Meat Palace uniform, lunged forward and snagged the brunette around the waist. With a snarl, he lifted her over his shoulder and disappeared into the throng of undead. As Oz tried to intercept them, the three remaining vampires grasped him and they struggled on the top step for a moment before crashing down the stairway.
Mobadon smiled at his newfound freedom. It had only been a thousand years, but it had felt like an eternity since he had last walked the lands of man. The battle around him was a pleasant welcome back; how thoughtful of his worshippers to arrange such a stimulating display for his return!
A vampire leapt backward to avoid the swinging blade of a raven haired man who wore spectacles and collided with the demon Lord. Hardly even realising he was doing it, the beast lashed out with his magic and the luckless creature burst into a pillar of fire. It felt so good for him to be able to channel his power after the void of the vortex!
Summoning forth the darkness, he lifted his claws and uttered a word long lost to mankind. Instantly every being in the room convulsed in agony and fell writhing to the floor. Their cries of torment and screams for mercy were music to his ears.
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Oz and the three vampires bounced down the stone steps and scattered across the floor of a corridor. The young man tucked himself into a forward roll and sprang to his feet with an agility that would have made a gymnast proud. Quickly darting down the passageway, he chose one of the many side corridors and ran to the thick oak door at its end. It was locked.
Turning around, he saw the three pursuers slow to a swagger as they followed him. A reed thin creep in a paisley shirt sneered in pleasure, "Looks like you're trapped, boy. What a shame. I could promise you a swift death, but I'm not in the mood. I think things are about to get really rough."
His two companions laughed and let their faces change to show the savage demon within them.
Unfortunately for the three would-be killers, there was a far more savage beast within the little man. Oz had spent the last few years mastering his control of the werewolf and now it obeyed him completely. He could do as he had tonight, and refuse to let it out even under the pull of the full moon, or he could stand in broad daylight and unleash the wolf.
The vampires looked on in disbelief as the small man swelled in size and muscles popped up all over his wiry frame. Grey and black hair swarmed through his skin and his face elongated into a vicious muzzle. In a mere couple of seconds, a seven foot tall wolf lowered itself into a predatory crouch and snarled as drool slathered from its deadly jaws. Claws that could slice through steel scratched a furrow in the stone of the corridor floor while the beast's sickly yellow eyes narrowed as they focused on the three men.
"Er... Sorry," the no-longer-cocky leader whispered as he began to back away. "No harm done. We'll just be on our way. Just stay calm an..."
The huge beast sprang upon him and snapped its jaws shut on his throat. Before his dust cloud had even finished expanding, the werewolf was slashing the second bloodsucker to pieces. While one mighty claw grasped his shoulder, the second twisted his arm and tore it loose as if it were no stronger than cotton candy. The undead thug screamed in agony as his own severed limb gushed bloody rain down onto his demonic face.
The final vampire turned to flee, but never reached the end of the small passageway. A single bound from the powerful lycanthrope landed the beast on his back and bore him to the ground. Slashing both talons in a berserk frenzy, the huge werewolf tore its way through him, digging great gouges of flesh from his back. He struggled and screamed as the creature burrowed through his body until its hairy paw finally granted him release by ripping through his neck.
For a moment, the monster just crouched at the end of the corridor, and sniffed in either direction. It may have left if it had not been for the whimper of the vampire it had torn the arm from regaining its attention. He was crawling across the floor on his belly, grasping the limb as if he could keep it and stick it back on later. When the wolf turned back and tilted its head to one side as its pale yellow eyes burned into him, he gibbered incoherently with fear.
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While the victims of his magic danced to his agonising spell, Mobadon drew a deep breath of satisfaction. Turning to the black rent in the wall, he held a hand out and a small burning orb of orange flame shot forth to disappear into the darkness. In a second, there was a bright burst of searing light from the portal and it quivered when its edges widened.
"Come to me, my faithful brethren. Climb the passage I have opened and feast on the flesh of this world. Under my rule we shall sear this land and bathe in the blood of our enemies!"
An inhuman scream of hissing pleasure answered his call and it was quickly joined by the voices of hundreds more.
Arrogantly, the demon Lord turned to the room of humans and vampires, "Tremble meat! I have opened the other end of the portal. My demonic army of servitors will come now and consume you in celebration of my release. Take pride in the fact that you will be the first to fall to the new emperor of this realm."
Every fibre in Buffy's body burned with a terrible agony but she still managed to stagger to her feet. Around her tottering form, her friends and enemies shuddered and shook in the grasp of the mystical torture. Pain blurred her vision as she caught sight of the thrashing body of her Watcher.
Concern for Giles gave her the strength to twist toward the huge ebony fiend that was grinning at the suffering it had caused.
"Hey, Moby!" she called, hoping the distraction would cause his spell to fail.
When he turned toward her, his bestial face showed amazement that anyone could function under the influence of his Spirit Flail. Using her foot to flip Giles' sword into the air, she snagged hold of it and flung it at the demon Lord. Snarling, he raised one vicious claw at the flying blade and it altered direction to embed itself in the ceiling.
A second flick of his wrist sent the Slayer skidding across the room.
Finally coming to rest besides Cordelia, she was shocked at the sight of the lovely brunette. While Cordy twitched and twisted under the spell, a luminous, translucent, pale blue figure kept flicking into existence around her and it too was contorting with agony.
Sima had never felt such pain. It seared its way through her astral essence and burned away at her soul. She knew that if it continued, she would die as quickly as the humans, so she defended herself the only way she could; lashing out with all the power she could muster.
