The Dark Age: Through the Looking Glass

[Kean]

Angel

:: It was rare that Angel ventured out during the day. All the cheerful happy people grated his nerves and the fact that the glaring, vengeful sun prevented him from rushing out and ripping the smiles of these disgustingly cheerful peoples' faces pissed him off. Today, however, he had a feeling, Angel had learned a long time ago to trust his gut and right now it was telling him to be in the library of UC Sunnydale. The second he entered the library from the stacks he was certain of two things: Buffy had yet to arrive and his gut had been right, he most definetly was needed here, the room reeked of magic::

The Group: "Well looky what we have here...is Watcher playing Merlin again? Tut tut...not trying to resurrect your ex for old times sake, are you Rupe? I thought we had spoken about this?"

:: Angel sauntered through the shadows and down the steps, taking his pretty little time, as he addressed the group, ok Ripper, but the rest were there too. He revelled in the knots of rage that contorted the old Brits face. It was a cheap shot and he knew it but it just brought forth the most deliciously potent emotions from the old fella that he coulnd't resist.::

I'm evil what do you expect?

Group:" So what's this I hear about turning us invisible? Now why would you go and deprive the world of my handsome mug?"

:: All jokes aside, although he was only joking a little about his handsome mug, he didn't like the plan. His dislike for it increased when he was told who found the spell: Xander boy-wonderless himself. He looked around the room and studied those assembled. Ripper, totally cracked since, well I cracked his whore's neck but he was unpredictable and powerful. Angel eyed him cautiously, he pushes him but only so far. Then there was evil-lite, Xander. Angel would have killed him long ago but Buffy, for reasons unknown to him, finds the boy amusing. Angel just found him extremely annoying. Cordelia, well she...likes shoes. Nothing really else worth adding is there? Oz though, he was very interesting indeed. Angel was wary of him. He had untold potential but as far as he could tell the colour or the wolf's hat was still white. He didn't trust him, especially after that Anyanka business. Then there is Tara, such a wonderfully sadistic soul. Angel actually found himself quite found of the witch. Also, something that he found extremely amusing was the waring emotions both she and Oz were fighting within themselves over Willow::

Someday those raging emotions are going to spill out...I truly hope I'm around to see that.

 

[bufsum]

Xander (with an assist from Giles)

The Group: "Well looky what we have here...is Watcher playing Merlin again? Tut tut...not trying to resurrect your ex for old times sake, are you Rupe? I thought we had spoken about this?"

::Giles raised his eyebrows, and turned to Angel, and spoke quietly.::

Angel: Ah, yes... very clever, Angelus.

Xander's eyes flicked to Angel's face, he knew that merely calling Angel Angelus could set him off. Angel did not react; he was in his own head. This was hardly surprising.

I just hate that guy. Slipping on his broody black and Buffy everyday, all cool and mysterious.

He had would have to settle with working the deck from his hand.

Group:" So what's this I hear about turning us invisible? Now why would you go and deprive the world of my handsome mug?"

What a pompous ass.

::Xander stood up, with the spell book in hand.::

Angel: Maybe you should worry less about yourself, and more about how we can bring down the Whities. Besides, Will, Giles and Tara can rock this one. It's gonna be like HP, without the cloak.

::He stopped himself from explaining what "HP" meant, and walked over to where Giles was drawing a symbol on the floor.::

It was as if Xander had proverbially passed the baton to Giles, he clearly was looking for Ripper back-up. He knew that as long as the rest of the group kept Giles and Angel in check there wouldn't be any fireworks. He also enjoyed making stabs at Angel's expense, whether or not the group would go with his plan.

::Giles nodded, pulling the invisible string that lie between himself and Angel tighter::

Angel: Good show, Xander. Quite right. Angel... stop being such an ass, and have patience. This plan could work. It's a sneak attack... quiet different from the normal rabble-rousing approach that has thus-far only resulted in the death of one pathetic little vengeance demon. Perhaps you should give stealth a try.

::Xander gave a nervous laugh, and continued to draw on the ground.::

 

[Joyce Summers]

Buffy

::Buffy had had no idea what had been going on in class. Okay something about....no, gone. Oh come on- like she was ever gonna use English or whatever it was in the real world? And who cares about...whatever it was they were teaching? Okay it was so much harder to bitch about a class when you didn't remember what was being taught. It didn't matter anyway- wasn't the whole point of her vent in the first place?- she was headed to the library now. To check in with Giles to see if anything needed killing or maimed. She hoped it was a bit of both. If she just maimed things felt incomplete, but if she just killed then she felt unsatisfied. Maimyness followed with a side order of killing would be perfect. She was still on a high from Anyanka. The way she had felt her neck- the bones so thin and fragile in her superstrong hands. One simple swift movement and SNAP. It had been beautiful. Poetry Angel called it and Buffy was beginning to know what he meant by that. It was an art in itself really- to have the ability to take someone's life however and when you wanted to. To have so much control- whoa. Buffy stopped where she was in the corridor, a few paces away from the library doors, and shook her head as if to clear it::

I am getting way too deep for a school morning. I'm all...profoundy. Mornings are not the time for profoundness. They are time for much in the way of sleep...and the eating of candied things. Ooh, I wonder whether Xander's brought any Twinkies?

::With the thought of soft chewy cake bars on her mind- and maybe a Hershey Bar or two- Buffy strode the last few paces towards the library using both her hands to boldly knock open both of the swinging doors::

Group: Never fear, Buffy is- whoa why does it smell of funky symbols in here?

::She slowed down her 'striding in' pace to wander round and see what Giles and Xander crouched over and discovered the origin of why she felt something wiggy when she walked in. Magic stuff always got her wigged out- symbols, spells, symbols with spells...the whole shebang. It just...wigged her. I mean if you were meant to make bunnies hop outta hats wouldn't they do that their own without wand waving and abracadabra bibbity bobbity boo?
Shaking away the wig and instead focusing on curiosity, she hopped up onto the library table and let her legs swing childishly. She could sense Angel stood behind her but she wasn't going to say hello to him till he said hello to her first. A girl had to have some pride and Buffy Summers NEVER looked desperate. Not that saying hello would look desperate..but she needed to be all cool and aloof like that book was always saying/ Men are from Mars, Women are from Veuns It talked of women being all glacier like...or something. And so she was. Being glacial. Cool as a Valley Girl Cucumber. Or maybe not saying hi wasn't cool and just looked kinda bitchy. The bad kind of bitchy, not the good kind...so should she say Hi? Or would that ruin the whole 'cool and aloof I'm not desperate plan?' Argh! Now she was all confused::

Quick focus on something else!

Giles: Whatcha dooo-in?

::Giles began to give her a quick run-down of what he and Xander were working on and Buffy tried her hardest to not let her eyes glaze over- this spell would lead to getting the white hats after all, but still unless she was in the action punching and kicking Buffy found it hard to pay attention. Besides something non-symbol relatedly weird was going on. Giles was all stiff and Xander was all edgy...Angel more quiet than usual...::

Group: Okay, what's going on? Did I miss something? You guys are all...bad moody. Bad moodier than usual anyway. What gives?

 

[TheHeartist]

Spike

Watching from a dark corner of the library, Spike eyed his foes and kept track of what they were doing.

'A stealth spell of sorts eh? You're not the only one staying hidden...' Spike thought, looking down at his right arm self consciously. They still stung his skin, being fresh and all. But it did mean a definite advantage. Without his new arsenal of tricks, the brooding poofter would have most definitely sensed him by now.

And with what he still carried in his pocket...maybe the time was right. He should go see Darla...and if he could stand it...Dru. He still needed to talk to her, to try and make her see the desperate situation they were in, without his own personal feelings and her madness clouding the conversation.

'Damn those Scoobies...' Spike thought to himself, before quietly leaving the library for his new crypt hideout to prepare for dusk.

Because when night fell...whatever happened was either going to make or break him.

 

[bufsum]

Xander

::Xander continued to work on his drawing, Giles told him once they started one had to be focused on it, or it wouldn’t work. He was extremely happy that Buffy was finally here.::

She looks really hot today.

He half listened as Giles went over the plan.

Wonder where Will is.

He knew that Willow had been out, doing her magic… and Tara a lot lately. Which he was totally cool with…. Totally. It was just annoying when it messed with the planning parts of life. He was certain that Willow would be in for whatever spell him and Giles presented her with. Magic had become like crack to her. She was Sabrinaing herself all over these days. Xander was also down with that; especially when just the two of them went out hunting together. She was like to Phoenix status… she seemed indestructible. Plus, they were both fiery hot redheads. She seemed to be looking for something to satiate her appetite.

::He drew the final symbol, and stood to face the group::

Group: Okay, I think we’re ready.

::Giles turned to him, and nodded::

Group: So… Scoobs… gather around the symbol, and face us.

::As the group moved over to them, Giles began his chanting::

::Xander grabbed the companion book, and read, stumbling over some of the words of this unfamiliar language. The two men moved over the symbol, reading from the books as the symbol glowed a blinding white. Xander tried to focus on the book; his eyes were burning. Finally, just as he reached the end of the passage there was a tangible silence, and a notable wind filled the library. It felt as if his whole body was humming, like an electric charge was passing through him. It subsided quickly, and he knew that it had worked.::

Giles confirmed it; he loudly declared that everyone was now invisible. He challenged them to test out the theory, as Angel had doubt written on his face. Xander himself stayed behind, he was supposed to be with Giles on this one.

Group: We will be invisible for half an hour, then Giles and I will pull us back.

Giles told them that they should not only have invisible fun, but decide whether this would be a good way to alienate the White Hats.

Cordelia: Wanna go have sex in public?

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Drusilla

Drusilla: "Dru, sweetie, get me something to clean these wounds."

Drusilla wrang her hands as she stood over Darla, her eyes jittering left to right. The Anya demon was dead. She was Drusilla's friend - always brought her her dollies when she needed them. Whispered to her when she was lost in the darkness in her head.

She nodded once to Grandmummy and went into the next room, walking quickly down the hall to where they kept the bandages. She grabbed a magickal salve that sped up the healing process, and bandages.

She came back down the hallway and knelt gently besides Darla.

She needs to be buried. She deserves respect, and it's all we can give her now. Our respect."

Drusilla nodded, sitting with her knees curled against her chest. She nodded, not saying a word, staring at the corpse of Anyanka laying so still across the floor. Drusilla's heart didn't beat, and she didn't need to breathe. But she still cocked her head to the side at the sight of Anya's still chest.

She crawled over to the demon, reaching a flitting, waving hand out to touch her dress.

Drusilla: "Where's Glory?"

Drusilla sensed the goddess before she entered the room. She turned her head and looked pointedly to the hallway, where Glory emerged a minute later.

She turned her attention back to the demon. "Grandmummy's hurt," Drusilla said aloud, to Glory. She turned around and looked at the goddess, her eyes wide and child-like. "And Annie's still."

Drusilla turned away, closing her eyes. She sensed the built-up rage in Glory - being trapped here was still so very hard for goddess. Glory smashed her fist into the wall, screaming. Drusilla flinched. "Such loud noises," she said quietly. "And Annie's still quiet."

She glanced up as Glory came over to her, holding her. Drusilla squeezed her eyes shut and leaned her head on the goddess's shoulder, tears threatening. "They hurt them, Glory," she said into the other woman's shoulder. "I can still see the blackness swirling around their heads. They took my Daddy, they try to take my Grandmummy..."

Glory rose, speaking to Darla. Drusilla craned her head at the ceiling, bright shards of sunlight cutting a swath of death across the otherwise dark and dank manor. The sunlight was glittering, a pretty shade of death.

Glory: "Spike is on one of his unnanounced walkabouts..."

Drusilla's head whipped around. William had whispered to her in her dreams...he was going to watch the Dark Ones. She wasn't supposed to tell Grandmummy.

Something painful and dark roiled in the pit of her stomach. She moaned a little and closed her eyes. "My William..." she hissed. She clapped her hands over her ears and curled up tight next to the body of Anya. "He's spying, with his hawk's eyes. He sees them dancing and cavorting. They speak words..." Her eyes snapped open. She crawled, skiddish, over to Darla. She wrapped her arms around the other woman's legs. "Don't let them take my William, 'Mummy! They speak in dead tongues, trying to end us all!"

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Glory - Crawford Street Mansion

::Smoothing the earth over the newly filled grave that housed the body of the fallen demon, Glory smiled ruefully. It was done. As she straightened up, she hesitated a moment looking down across the disturbed earth.

"Pull yourself together. You're a Goddess. Capital G."

::Fluffing her hair, she strode confidently back towards the front of the mansion. She wasn't going to let this make her look any less radiant than was befitting of such a deity "“ even if she was bleeding inside. Just as she was getting her old strut back (she could tell from the reflection that she glanced at in every window she passed), just as she was feeling impressive again, just as she knew she was the hottest thing on this damned earthly plane, she was suddenly struck by a wave of dizziness. She stumbled, and fell face first into the mud.

"Son of a BITCH!!!"

::Clambering onto all fours in a most undignified fashion, she steadied herself as her head swam. She rose to her feet slowly. She hadn't been in this dimension for long, but she knew for sure that that wasn't normal. She shook her head to clear it of the befuddling dizziness that had taken up residence. Big mistake, it merely danced around in there more furiously. Stumbling into the house, she addressed Darla.

Darla: "Those damned kids are playing with big magicks. Serious stu"¦..Look at what they did to my dess!!"

 

[TheHeartist]

Spike

"It'll be more than your dress that gets ruined if you lot don't pull yourself together RIGHT NOW," Spike said, appearing from a dark corner of the room ", Beat 'Em Up Barbie and her merry gang are preparing to finish us off. Lucky I got other things in mind."

Spying Darla, he threw her the book he had been lugging around.

"Darla love, you best read these incantations quick," Spike continued, before turning to a surprised Drusilla.

"And Dru, pet...I've missed you," Spike finished, walking over and pulling her close to him, "it's alright now...dear William's back...and he bought payback with him."

As he spoke those words, he slipped out a green jewelled ring from his pocket and put it on. Giving Drusilla a long and passionate kiss, he turned to the others and started for the front door. Darla was about to shout when he stepped into the sunlight, unharmed.

"I got planning to do. Stay in here, you'll all be safer, Glory, come with. I could use some firepower where I'm going," Spike said with a grin.

 

[bufsum]

Xander

::As the spell broke, everyone was reassembled in the library.::

Xander looked around at the satisfied faces around him. Clearly, they had enjoyed their invisibility. Xander and Giles had discussed the fact that if they had playtime beforehand, it would allow their bodies more time to adjust, as well as be a turning point for everyone whom was skeptical.

Hope it worked, I had my fun.

Group: So you see, damage to the max can be done with the invisibility.

He turned to Giles to make a point; he seemed to be swaying slightly. He had warned Xander that the spell would have the greatest effect on the two of them. Giles really seemed to be taking it hard.

::He muttered something about tea, and stumble/walked to his office.::

Great, all eyes on me. Think of something clever.

Group: So, likey?

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Glory

"I got planning to do. Stay in here, you'll all be safer, Glory, come with. I could use some firepower where I'm going," Spike said with a grin.

Come with? Come with?!?

::Glory was incredulous. Nobody spoke to her like that, like a dog, like a human! She was a Goddess! She looked up from her dress to issue a scathing reply,

Spike: "You littl- Huh?"

::He was already halfway down the path, sauntering along in the sunlight. She sighed, deflatedly.

Glory: "Vampires. Why are there so many vampires in my life..."

::A couple of seconds later, a blur pulled up alongside Spike. He had barely reached the gate, and there Glory was, resplendent as ever in a brand new red dress. It would complement the bloodstains she intended on making nicely. It seemed that justice for her friend's murder was indeed at hand.

::Glancing down at William, she noticed the new ring that adorned his finger. It was golden, with an inlaid emerald of some sort.

Spike: "So, nice to see you're embracing the metro with your sexual. I suppose the nail polish should have been a clue. You couldn't have chosen something a bit more"¦this century though?"

::Moving with a confident and carefree stride to counteract William's swagger, Glory kept herself from asking the obvious question. Well, obvious in the way that billowing smoke and flames were rather noticeable when absent. She'd never actually admit that she didn't know why he could walk freely in the sunlight, but from the smug look on the vampire's face, she could tell that he had noticed her fishing. She swiftly changed the subject:

Spike: "You mentioned firepower. Do get to hurt someone yet?"

 

[TheHeartist]

Spike

Spike: "You mentioned firepower. Do I get to hurt someone yet?"

"Oh yeah, my brazen hellgoddess friend. Pain o'plenty. We're on our way to that wonderful pit of hormones that is UC Sunnydale. We've let them dictate the pace of this war for too long, for once, we hit 'em first, that's where I've been this whole time: gathering up firepower. We both know you're stronger than the Slayer, and I'm more than a match for the rest of 'em, especially the quiffed ponce. We hit them now, burn down their little library of goodies, even if we don't kill 'em all...I reckon they'll be reeling for weeks. Better yet, they won't see me coming during the day. And just in case anyone gets any ideas about relieving me of my shiny little bauble..." Spike explained, as he pulled out some duct tape, and wrapped it around the Gem of Amarra.

"In case you were wondering, yeah, it's in the ring. This thing...well, let's just say it puts the IM in IMmortality," Spike said with a grin, as the two of them drew closer to the campus.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Glory - UC Sunnydale

::The sun continued to stream down as the unlikely pairing of Goddess and Vampire made their way across the University quad, towards the Library. Glory could feel the after-effects of the magic hanging softly in the air. Whatever it was they were doing in there, the spell was over.

::Outside the Library door, they paused. Glory looked down at her companion.

Spike: "Are you ready for some carnage? I know I am."

::Without waiting to let him get out his smirking reply, she threw her palm at the door, bringing the whole front wall crashing down. As the dust cleared, she took a delicate step forward into the room.

Scoobies: "You know, talking in the library is so rude."

::Her eyes sweeping quickly across the room, Glory made a quick check of who was present.

Everyone but the watcher. How convenient.

Scoobies: "I think I'm going to have to throw you all out. Rules are rules..."

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Drusilla

A single tear slid from Drusilla's eyes, clenched shut as they were. She opened them to watch the stain track down Darla's leg.

The door opened, slammed shut. Drusilla sprang to her feet. "Oh, my William!"

"And Dru, pet...I've missed you," Spike finished, walking over and pulling her close to him, "it's alright now...dear William's back...and he bought payback with him."

Drusilla grinned brightly, throwing her arms around Spike's neck, her momentary pain forgotten. The relief from being Spike again faded quickly, though as she turned. "William, my love...Annie is so still and quiet. The children..." She cocked her head to the sky, letting her fingers trail across the stain of bright sunshine on the ceiling. "They play evil games."

Whispers. She heard languages, could see them cavorting. They threatened the world. Her world.

Suddenly chill, Drusilla's eyes dipped and she rubbed at her shoulders. She shivered.

As he spoke those words, he slipped out a green jewelled ring from his pocket and put it on. Giving Drusilla a long and passionate kiss, he turned to the others and started for the front door. Darla was about to shout when he stepped into the sunlight, unharmed.

Drusilla's head whipped around to catch Spike's hand. Her mouth dropped into a small O, reaching out a tentative hand to hover over the shining green jewel. "My William has a new toy..." she whispered. "Open holes, all healed. Bright death is no matter for my William anymore..."

But Spike was gone a minute later, calling for the goddess Glory to follow him. Drusilla could only see black. "Careful, loves," she said sadly, taking a step back to stand next to Darla. "They bring the end of the world."

 

[Joyce Summers]

Buffy

group: so likey?

::At this Buffy quickly wiped off her expression of mild enjoyment- after all invisbility was you know, invisibility, and instead rolled her eyes. Obviously. Over-the-toply. And Xander flinched a little under her non-impressedness.::

Perfect

::He was being so presumptuous with this whole invisible thing, like she had no choice to be impressed. Or to 'likey'. And who says likey anymore anyway? I mean how dare he be all 'you likey my party trick' to her? She was The Slayer- effectively his boss. Not to mention she could snap his neck in a second. A playful smile came to her lips as she imagined doing just that, but sighed just as quickly as she wiped the image from her mind. Fun as that might sound on paper, in practicality more numbers was more numbers and the more they had on the lousy-ass I'm-so-righteous Darla and The Goonies, the better. Plus, Xander was annoying enough to distract the white hats sometime and him being all Mr Nobody meant they rarely attacked him. Wimps.

Taking a deep I'm-bored-and-you're-forcing-me-to-speak sigh, Buffy finally decided to answer Xander's question.::

Xander: Whatever. Yeah.

::As Xander gave her a look to say there must be more to invisibility than whatever, she looked eye to eye with Angel, matching the passionate look in his dark eyes and raising it up a notch with her own- enough to make the vampire raise his eyebrows suggestively anyway- as she answered Xander yet again.::

Xander: There were some benefits.

::Xander and Cordelia may have been at it like invisi-bunnies, but she and Angel had been at a much more erotic activity. Thanks to them, there were a few less residents of Sunnydale than half an hour ago that was for sure. Even if they had to travel through the grotty sewers....Angel was gonna have to find a new mode of tranportation. She had designer shoes on!::

::Without waiting to let him get out his smirking reply, she threw her palm at the door, bringing the whole front wall crashing down. As the dust cleared, she took a delicate step forward into the room.

Scoobies: "You know, talking in the library is so rude."

::Her eyes sweeping quickly across the room, Glory made a quick check of who was present.

Everyone but the watcher. How convenient.

Scoobies: "I think I'm going to have to throw you all out. Rules are rules..."

::Buffy's head whipped around to the intruder. Glory. The little two-bit hussy of a bad dye job good-two-shoes of the year. And crazy to boot. She also seemed convinced she had style.::

Glory: Glory. I should have known you'd show up sooner or later with your little...

::Buffy let her eyes flick over Spike with disdain.::

Glory: Your little lapdog.

::Buffy smirked, letting out a small laugh, at Spike's offended face and Glory's temporary frown.::

Glory: Wow, you've really planned this one haven't you? Walking in on our entire force with all our stuff here to hand, outnumbering you completely- what on earth are we to do?

::Buffy let out a sharp bark of a laugh.::

Glory and Spike: Try even one thing and we're going to rip your spines out.