The phone rang.
Kevin Sorbo -- known to a select few as Hercules -- blinked sleepily.
Then bolted out of bed and dashed to the phone.
Only a few people knew this number.
"Hello?"
//Herc?//
"Xander," Hercules smiled. "What's up?"
//We've got a problem, Herc, a big one.//
The demigod's face fell, and he asked, "What do you need?"
Xander explained, and Hercules felt his blood run cold.
"Okay," Xander said as he burst back into the library, "I think I've got a line on getting around that 'no weapon forged by man' thing." He looked around. "Still no word on Angel?"
Willow shook her head, "No, no word."
He nodded, "How's Buffy dealing?"
"Not too well," the redhead said.
Xander sighed, "Okay, let's not worry about him for now. We need to come up with a back up plan in case my plan doesn't work." He paused and looked at Willow, then without words, he walked over and engulfed her in a hug. "What's wrong, Will?"
The redhead shuddered, and she suddenly seemed so fragile in his arms. Finally, she said, "What's not wrong, Xander? The world's going to end, Angel's missing, Buffy's going crazy with worry, and you won't even trust me with your great plan!"
"It's not that I don't trust you guys," Xander said. "It's just... you wouldn't believe me if I told you." He sighed, "Will, we still need that backup plan. Maybe some fresh air will help."
"Maybe," she said, unconvinced.
"Hey," Xander stroked her cheek and tentatively kissed her. Their relationship was still on eggshells, and neither was exactly sure where they were going with it. "We'll get through this."
She smiled faintly and nodded, "I think I'm up for that fresh air."
They were in the hallway, near the exit, when the lights died.
"Shit," Xander murmured. "We've got trouble."
"Library?"
He nodded, "Library."
They turned, but stopped when a familiar voice called their names from behind.
Turning back, Xander smiled, "Angel."
"You're all right," Willow smiled. "Did you see Buffy?"
"Yeah," the vampire said. Looking up, he asked, "What's up with the lights?"
Xander shrugged, "I dunno; they just died. We're trying to figure out a backup plan."
"Not right now," Angel abruptly broke in. "I... I've got something to show you. Xander, get the others."
Xander nodded and turned, "Gotcha."
"Willow," Angel said softly. "Come here."
At that, Xander stopped and slowly turned to face Angel again.
Something wasn't right.
"Don't, Will," he said softly, catching her arm, and the redhead stopped and turned in confusion.
"Willow, Xander, get away from him."
"What?" Willow asked, as she and Xander both looked at Jenny in surprise. The computer teacher held a large cross and was eyeing Angel suspiciously.
"Walk to me," she said.
"I think we should listen to her, Will."
"What are you talking about? It's Ang-..."
Willow was cut off as the vampire suddenly moved and picked them both up by the throat, slamming them against the lockers.
"Angel..." Willow choked out.
"He's not Angel anymore," Jenny said, her voice trembling slightly. "Are you?"
"Angelus," Xander spat.
"Hmm, and everyone said she was the smart one," Angelus nodded disdainfully toward Willow.
A small bundle of screaming energy rushed across the hallway and latched onto the vampire's back, and he dropped the two Slayerettes in surprise, whirling away and trying to dislodge the new combatant.
Finally, he threw the interloper down the hall, the boy's small frame bouncing and sliding across the floor until he finally skidded to a stop at Miss Calendar's feet.
The boy sat up, his head catching under Miss Calendar's skirt, and the gypsy backpedaled, pulling her skirt away from him.
"Ah, sorry about that, Miss Calendar," Jonathan Levinson said, blushing furiously.
Meanwhile, Xander had interposed himself protectively between Angelus and Willow. The vampire lashed out at him, but Xander was ready for it, deflecting the blow and planting his own fist on Angelus's chin, sending the vampire stumbling back for a moment.
*Heh,* Xander thought as he spun and kicked Angelus's side. *Just like sparring with Herc.* Deflecting another blow, he smirked, *Except Herc's stronger.*
WHAM!
"Oof!" Xander fought for air after the blow landed in his solar plexus, and he amended silently, *And Angel's faster...*
The vampire slammed him up against the lockers and hissed into his face, "I've got a message for Buffy."
"Why don't you give it to me yourself?"
Angelus whirled and shook his head, "Well, it's not really the kind of message you tell. It sort of involves finding the bodies of all your friends."
Xander twisted and struck the inside of Angelus's elbow, folding the arm and causing his captor to drop him in surprise. Once free, he rammed his foot into the vampire's crotch and lashed out with a savage chop to the throat.
Angelus backed away, then charged Buffy. Grabbing her and giving her a rough kiss, he said, "The boy's good, I'll give him that. Things are about to get very interesting."
With that, he vanished into the night.
"Xander, are you all right?" Willow asked anxiously.
"Yeah," he replied, "I'm fine. What about you, Buffy? Buffy?"
The Slayer didn't reply.
Xander frowned and shook his head, then turned his gaze on Jonathan, "So, what are you doing here?"
"Ahem, let me see if I understand correctly," Giles said, looking at Jonathan. "This past Halloween, you went to Ethan's in search of a costume at the last minute. You took the last prop gun remaining and dressed as a soldier. Subsequently, you turned into a soldier for the night."
Jonathan nodded, "Yeah, and I remember all those soldier skills, so I thought I could, y'know, help. I've been trying to figure out how to offer it without looking, well, crazy." He looked at them and asked, "So, uh, can I help?"
"Depends," Xander said, shooting Buffy a concerned look before looking back at Jonathan. "Got any ideas on how to kill a demon that 'no weapon forged by man' can kill?"
"Um... no?"
Xander sighed, "So that leaves us with just my plan."
Giles blinked at him, "Your plan? And what plan would that be?"
"I believe," came a new voice from the library doors, "that his plan would be me."
Everyone turned and -- except for Xander -- stared. Standing there was one Kevin Sorbo.
Xander rose and greeted him, "How'd you get here so fast?"
"Private jet," the big man replied. "Wealth does have its advantages."
There was also an unexpected benefit. The new arrival broke Buffy out of her funk.
"Xander? You... you... you know Kevin Sorbo?!" she screeched.
"Ah, you didn't tell them?" the actor looked at Xander, who shrugged.
"Not really my place to tell, Herc."
The larger man sighed. "We can't really do this without telling them, Xander."
"I know," Xander shrugged, "but I didn't have a whole lot of choice, and I trust them." He shifted and pointed to each of them in turn, "Buffy over there is the Slayer. Giles is a Watcher. I grew up with Willow and Cordy, and I trust them, and lastly, Miss Calendar and Jonathan here both sorta just saved my life."
Hercules looked at them in turn, his gaze lingering on Willow and Jonathan for a moment. There was something familiar about them...
He shook that off as Xander gestured to him.
"And, guys, this... is Hercules. The real one."
The others stared, transfixed by the bombshell he'd just dropped.
Hercules nodded, "Most of what you saw on the show really did happen back then. Xander knows me because he's Iolaus's reincarnation, and this past Halloween, the spell caused him to regain all his memories, which in turn, set off a spell I'd had watching for things like that."
"That..." Buffy sputtered, "...is insane. You expect us to believe he's really Hercules?"
Xander shot Hercules a look, then looked at Buffy, then said, "Arm wrestle him, then, if you don't believe me, Buff."
"Oww," Buffy complained as she rubbed her sore arm. "Okay, so he's really Hercules," she pouted.
"Have we wasted enough time yet?" Xander asked, looking around. "We need a fix on the Judge and a line on why Angel's soul went bye bye."
"Who's Angel?" Hercules asked.
Giles sighed, "A vampire. Cursed by the Romany a hundred years ago with a human soul. He's an ally of ours. Or, at least, he was."
"Angel, huh?" Hercules mused.
"Have you met him?" Giles asked. "In his darker days, he went by the name Angelus, the Scourge of Europe."
Hercules shook his head, "I've heard of him, but no, I don't think I've ever met him."
Giles looked around, "You're absolutely sure he lost his soul?"
"Pretty damn obvious, Giles," Xander said. "He was about kill both me and Will when Jono here showed up."
Buffy shook her head, "I should've known. When I saw him at the house, he was different. The things he said..."
"What things?"
"It's private."
"But you didn't know he'd turned bad?" Jenny asked.
"How did you?" Willow asked.
"What?"
"Yeah, Miss C," Xander nodded. "You knew. You told us to get away from him."
"Well," she said, "I saw his face."
"If only we knew how it happened," Giles murmured, leaning back.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.
"Well," the Watcher elaborated, "something set it off. Some... some, uh, event must've triggered his transformation. Well, if anyone would know, Buffy, it-it should be you."
"I don't."
"Well, did anything happen last night that... that might...""
"Giles, please, I can't..." the Slayer begged before fleeing the library.
Xander sighed and shook his head, "Leave her be, guys. Let's focus on the plan."
"Yes," Giles said, "the plan. The plan you still haven't told us about."
Xander looked at Hercules, who leaned over and said, "It's like this..."
After the meeting broke up, Hercules walked with Xander. Shooting a look over his shoulder, he said, "Xander, ah, I don't know how to put this, but Willow-..."
"Yeah, I know," Xander interrupted. "She's Gabby. Your sister told me."
"Oh," the demigod nodded. "So you know about them?"
That caused Xander to stumble to a halt, and he looked at his old friend, "'Them'? Who else is there?"
"Jonathan," Hercules replied.
Xander thought about that and smiled, "He's Joxer, isn't he?"
"Uh, no, I don't think so," Herc shook his head. "When I look at him, I don't see Joxer."
"Who do you see, then?" Xander asked.
"Well," Herc shrugged, not understanding it himself, "I see... you, actually."
"Wait, wait, wait," Xander said. "He can't be me. I'm me."
"I know. It doesn't make any-..."
The realization struck them both at the same time.
"Iolaus Two."
"Hold on," Xander said. "How is that possible? Shouldn't he be reincarnated on his world?"
"Why are you asking me? You're the one who's done the reincarnation thing, not me. How should I know?"
Xander was running the plan through his head for the umpteenth time while waiting for word about the Judge's location, when someone knocked on his bedroom door.
His head jerked up, and he hurried over and opened the door.
"Willow," he said with a smile, "any word on the Judge?"
"N-no," she said, shaking her head. "No word."
"Oh," he said, shoulders sagging. Herc couldn't stay in town too long, but he hoped they'd find the Judge before the demigod had to leave. "So, what brings you here, Will."
"I-I just..." she stammered. "I wanted to... I..." She paused and swallowed, then dove into his arms and said softly, "Hold me."
Xander did, backing away and gently reaching over to swing the door closed.
"Hey," he crooned, sitting her on the bed, "it's all right, Will. I'm here."
He blinked in surprise but didn't draw away when he felt her lips on his. The kiss grew more urgent, he found himself being pushed back onto the bed.
After a moment, he felt her hands caressing his chest, but it wasn't until one of the redhead's hands slid up his shirt that he realized something was up.
Tearing himself away, he rolled out from under her and sat up, looking at her strangely, "Hey, Will, what's going on here?"
"I... I..." she stammered. "I'm sorry," she choked out, blinking back tears. "It's just... I'm so scared, Xander, and I don't wanna die a-a-a..."
"We're not gonna die," Xander said firmly, taking her by the shoulders. "We are going to survive this, and we are going to find the Judge, and we are going to kick his ass back to hell where it belongs."
"I want to believe that, Xander, I do," she said softly, "but your plan, it's..."
"It'll work, Will," Xander said, pulling her into a hug. "Trust me."
It wasn't the first time she cried herself to sleep in his arms, and he knew with dismal certainty that it would not be the last.
Xander blinked sleepily when he heard the ringing sound. It took him a moment to recognize it as the phone. Yawning, he tried to sit up, only to be resisted by a weight on his chest.
He looked down and saw hair. Red hair. Willow. Panic filled him for a moment before the memories rushed back.
Gently extricating himself from beneath his best friend, he tiptoed over and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
//Oh, thank God. I can't find Willow.//
"Hey, hey, she's here with me. What is it, Buff?"
//Turn on the news.//
"Why?" he asked, turning reflexively, but having no TV nearby, he didn't comply. "What's up?"
//It's the Judge. He's at the mall.//
The Judge looked down in surprise at the crossbow bolt embedded in his chest. Plucking it out, he looked around and snarled, "Who dares?"
Buffy smiled tightly and lowered the crossbow. "Do I have your attention yet?"
"You're a fool," the Judge snorted. "No weapon forged can stop me."
"'No weapon forged by man,' you mean," Xander said, stepping around the corner, a study-looking but otherwise unremarkable broadsword in his hands. He kept one eye on the Judge, and the other on the two vampires.
"So how about one forged by a god?" Hercules added, stepping around another corner and lifting his own sword, boxing the Judge in between them.
The demigod charged, his gleaming and glittering blade flashing, slicing into the Judge's blue flesh. The Judge hissed and retaliated, but the blast missed Hercules.
Xander, meanwhile, turned his attention to Drusilla, who stood between him and the Judge. Of Angelus, he saw no sign. The once- ensouled vampire had apparently disappeared.
"Look into my eyes," Dru said softly, seductively.
Xander screwed his eyes shut and thrust the sword forward, but he did not meet the expected resistance. Opening his eyes, he turned and saw Dru hissing at him, her head low and fingers bent, game face on.
He would later liken her stance to that of an agitated cat, but at the moment, he didn't have time for such comparisons.
Xander lashed out with his broadsword, and the insane vampire danced back. With a quick double slash, he advanced and, with a kick to her knee, dropped her to the ground. Twirling the blade, he raised it high and decapitated her.
Hercules, on the other hand, was hard pressed. The Judge was strong and fast, and his sword barely slowed the demon down. Finally, the Judge backhanded the weapon, shattering the blade.
"It seems your weapon is less than advertised," he rumbled triumphantly.
"Who said I was talking about this sword?" Herc shot back, holding up the broken weapon and tossing it aside dramatically.
The Judge roared when he felt a sharp, searing pain stabbing deep into him from behind. He staggered as he felt the wound sap his strength. He turned in disbelief and saw Xander, holding the broadsword, dripping with demonic ichor.
The broadsword arced down and sliced his shoulder open, and he stumbled back. He had to get away. Holding up a hand, the Judge tried to burn him, but even now, his power was fading, and only a faint flicker danced harmlessly from his fingertips.
Adrenaline -- or the demonic equivalent -- surged through the Judge as he turned to flee. He swung hard, using his tremendous strength to send Hercules flying across the mall. His path of escape now clear, the blue demon ran.
For a moment, Xander was torn between checking on Hercules and following the Judge, but only for a moment. He charged after the demon and burst out onto the street. His eyes swept across the area, but there was no sign of him.
"Damn!" he muttered.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and he turned to see the others.
"Didja get him?" Buffy asked anxiously.
Xander shook his head, "No, but I dusted Drusilla. What about Angelus?"
Buffy's eyes flickered guiltily for a moment before she looked away and said softly, "He got away."
"Well, so this is how you spend your spare time, little brother," the black-clad figure mused aloud, shaking his head. "Still helping out the little guy, I see."
He grinned. "The Hellmouth, huh? Could be fun."
With that, the god of war teleported away.
Twelve-year-old Cassie Newton watched the events with more than a little curiousity. She wanted to know what was going on.
She didn't have a lot of friends, and Mom and Dad were fighting a lot lately. It only got worse when Mom finally put the divorce in motion. She'd been threatening it for as long as Cassie could remember, usually when Dad got drunk, but only recently had she decided to follow through.
Cassie had made a habit of locking herself in her room when the lawyers showed up. She didn't like seeing and hearing her parents yelling at each other.
Now this new man was here. A social worker.
She didn't like the sound of that.
So, young Cassie watched anxiously.
"Mister and Missus Newton," the social worker -- whose papers identified as Aaron Warrick -- said, "we're merely concerned with what's best for your daughter."
Warrick was of average height, impeccably dressed and well-groomed. His dark hair was cut short, and his full beard was neatly trimmed. More than that, he had a presence that seemed to fill the room.
Were it anything less than their daughter at stake, the Newtons would not have wanted to argue with him.
"She's my daughter, Mister Warrick," Mrs. Newton said, as if that finished the argument.
"Our daughter," her soon-to-be-ex-husband interjected acidly.
"And this is exactly the problem," Warrick said, shaking his head. After a moment, he shrugged helplessly and said, "I'm just the messenger here. This is only going to be temporary, I assure you. Just until the messy details of your divorce are finally worked out. Until then, Social Services wants her in a public care facility. Can you two honestly tell me you want your daughter to witness your shouting matches?"
They looked at each other, then their shoulders slumped in resignation at the reasoned argument.
*A couple of gullible yutzes like you don't deserve a kid with that kind of potential anyway,* Aaron thought derisively.
"You bloody bastard!" a voice roared. "How could you let them kill her?!"
Three guesses on who that was.
Angelus whirled on his accuser and stalked toward him. Grabbing him by the jacket, the vampire hauled him out of the wheelchair and slammed him against the wall.
"You should remember to respect your elders. Especially since I'm the only one here who can hunt."
"They are formidable foes," rumbled the lone non-vampire present. "The wounds still burn."
Dropping Spike, Angelus whirled and stabbed a finger at the Judge, "And you! What happened to 'burn the righteous down,' huh? You got your ass handed to you by Xander, of all people! He's pathetic! He's a joke! He's the guy that gets the donuts! What kind of an apocalypse demon are you, huh?!"
"I can feel your anger, Angelus," the Judge said, ignoring the vampire's tirade. "It... soothes me. Feed it well, my friend, feed it so that we may burn them ever hotter."
Xander sat back and considered what Buffy had told them after the fight at the mall. She'd confronted Miss Calendar about certain suspicions.
Janna, of the Kalderash clan. Descendent of the ones who first cursed Angel.
Talk about some heavy stuff. He wondered how Giles was taking it. He shook that thought off. He had to focus on the Judge.
Herc had gone back to L.A., but he promised to be ready to fly over and keep the private line open (after admitting rather abashedly that he'd been talking with another "old friend" when Xander had tried to call during the mess 'Dite had created).
He blew out a sigh. They had to find the Judge before he started killing again, before he had time to recover. Dozens had died before they'd even been able to reach the mall, and none of them wanted a repeat of that fiasco.
The question was how. The Judge's blood from the sword Herc had loaned him -- and had left behind, thankfully -- had evaporated before they could try anything like a locator spell.
It was damn frustrating.
In the currently deserted building of a high school, something unusual was happening. Mist concealed the swim team's pool, and a small boat drifted out from nowhere.
There were four figures on the craft, and one of them -- humanoid except for her skin color, bat-like wings, and clawed fingers and toes -- knelt by the pool and dipped her hand in uncertainly.
"Is this another -- what did you call it? -- swimming pool, Elisa?"
The sole human among the travelers -- a dark-haired woman of mixed heritage -- looked around and nodded, "Yeah. Looks like a high school of some sort. I wonder where we are."
"There is power here," the largest of them -- another gargoyle -- rumbled. "Dark power. I suspect that is why Avalon sent us here."
The fourth member of the group -- a quadruped of canine behavior that bore a striking resemblance to the Hound of Gozer -- whined in agreement.
"We should get going," Elisa said. "It'd be pretty hard to explain three new statues here."
Daniel Osbourne was babysitting for his Aunt Maureen.
"Hey, Jordy," he said with a smile, reaching down and tickling the baby.
CHOMP!
"Ah! Okay," he said as he headed for the kitchen to wash out the wound. "No tickling."
It was then that he heard Aunt Maureen's voice echoing from outside.
"Oh, Daniel? Be careful. He's teething."
Oz nodded. He'd sort of figured that out.
"Yes, Aunt Maureen!" he called back absent-mindedly as he hunted down the first aid kit.
It had been a nice date.
More importantly, it had been wonderful to let sleeping demons lie for once and get away from the stresses of saving lives and passing class, even if it was only for a few hours.
At the moment, the couple was headed for Willow's house, cutting across one of Sunnydale's numerous graveyards. After escorting her home, Xander was going to head over to Shady Hill Cemetery to join Buffy on patrol... or relieve her of newbie vamp watch if the bloodsucker hadn't come up yet.
Suddenly, Xander caught Willow's arm, and they stopped. Turning and looking at him strangely, she asked, "Xander? What...?"
"Shh..."
Then she heard it. A low growl.
"That... that didn't sound like a vampire," Willow said nervously.
"It's not," Xander replied.
That's when it stalked out of the brush ahead of them. It was covered with fur and stood on two legs, slightly hunched over. Sharp- looking claws extended from its fingers and toes, complementing its equally sharp-looking teeth, and it snarled a challenge, looking directly at Xander.
"Willow," Xander said softly, "get out of the way."
"What?"
"Go!" he shoved her to the side, just as the werewolf -- the odds of anything else looking like that were pretty slim in his opinion -- leaped at him. The impact knocked him off his feet, and he wrapped a hand around the werewolf's throat, desperately keeping its teeth away from him as he tried to throw it off.
At least he remembered that much about werewolf lore.
A roar rang in his ears, deep and reverberating, and suddenly, the weight on his chest vanished. He rolled over and rose to his feet. The darkness kept him from making out any details, but he was pretty sure he saw... wings?
In moments, though, the battle was over, and his savior disappeared into the night.
Suddenly, there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at his chamber door.
Actually, no. It was more like a pounding. A very loud pounding. Accompanied by an equally loud yelling.
"Bugger all," Giles muttered as he clambered out of bed. "This had better be bloody important."
He opened his apartment door and was surprised to see Willow and Xander standing there. Xander had some twigs and grass in his hair, and he looked a little worn out, while Willow was pale and trembling slightly.
All annoyance at the loss of sleep evaporated.
"What happened?"
"What do you know about werewolves?" Xander asked.
Detective Elisa Maza, NYPD, sighed as she leaned against the stone form of her largest companion.
"Almost sundown, big guy," she murmured, brushing a hand across Goliath's frozen face.
As the last rays of sunlight vanished, she stepped back. Cracks spiderwebbed across their statuesque forms, and with mighty roars, the three gargoyles burst free, their stone skin shattering and falling to the ground.
It still awed her when she saw it, even after nearly two years.
Goliath looked around and said, "Come. We must find the werewolf."
Bronx whined as he stopped.
Elisa sighed, "Great. A nightclub. Not exactly the most inconspicuous location."
"We have no choice," Goliath rumbled. "One bite is all it will take to infect another."
At that moment, a window burst open, and the werewolf leaped out, snarling ferally. Bronx snarled a return challenge and pounced as Goliath and Angela moved to block the alley entrance.
Elisa ground her teeth in frustration. Her sidearm was empty, she was susceptible to the werewolf's bite, and her hand to hand training did not include non-human foes.
A backhand from the werewolf sent Bronx flying to the side, though a large gash on its side stood silent testimony to Bronx's contribution. The werewolf's head swung left and right, looking at the two exits.
It leaped at Angela.
"ANGELA!" Goliath roared, charging across and grabbing it by the scruff of its neck. He slammed it into the wall, then hurled it down the alleyway.
It whimpered as it struck the dead end of the cul-de-sac.
"I'll be damned," came a surprised voice from behind them.
They turned and found themselves facing four people. It was the dark- haired young man who'd spoken.
"Gargoyles," the middle-aged man said in stunned amazement. "I never thought I'd ever see one."
The blonde seemed tense, but the dark-haired man placed a calming hand on her arm. "They're on our side, Buff. They're not demons. And I think they're the ones that saved me and Will last night," he said, gesturing to the redhead.
"Buff" swallowed and nodded, then extended a hand, "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer."
"You've gotta be kidding me," Elisa said, folding her arms. "Vampires?" Shaking her head, she sighed, "I can't believe this. So what Tom said about silver was right?"
She and the others had followed the new arrivals to the local school library, bringing along the werewolf and locking it in the book cage. More complete introductions had gone around, and Mr. Giles had been very... curious about gargoyles. She was just now getting back to the whole "vampire slayer" thing.
"Works for werewolves," Buffy said absently, "not vampires."
"Oh," the detective said, surprised by the totally off-handed response.
"It is good to see the mouth of hell so well protected," Goliath said, "but I suspect our reason for being here is larger than one werewolf."
"Well, indeed," Mr. Giles nodded, "but I doubt very much that you could help us a great deal against the Judge."
"The Judge?!" Goliath's nostrils flared. "He has awakened?!"
"Yeah," Buffy said, stepping forward, "you know about him?"
"Know of him?" The big gargoyle's visage darkened, and he said, "I fought him once. Long ago."
"Who are you?"
"Just a man who'd like to lend you a hand," the man replied.
Angelus rolled his eyes and glanced at the Judge, "Burn him."
The blue demon shook his head, "No. I am still weak, and he is not one I would cross."
"Pansy," Angelus snorted derisively, stalking toward the intruder.
Grabbing him by the lapels, the master vampire slammed him against the wall, "Give me one good reason not to torture you to death right now."
"Because I have vision," he said with an insolent smirk. "Or, rather, access to one who gets them. And I'm prepared to offer that extra special little insight to your operations."
"It was before I led my clan," Goliath explained. "The Archmage was our ally then, and he cast a potent spell, binding the Judge in place so that we could dismember him."
"So where can we find this spell?" Xander asked.
Goliath sighed and shook his head, "I do not know. Perhaps it could have been found in the Grimorum, but..."
"Th-th-the Grimorum?" Giles squawked. "A-as in the Grimorum Arcanorum?"
"You know of it?" Goliath asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's only the most comprehensive and powerful book of magic known in the mystical community. Do you know where it is?"
"Gone," Goliath replied grimly. "Consumed by the Archmage."
Xander slumped back, "Great. So we're stuck. If only we could go back in time or something and copy the spell down... what?"
"The Phoenix Gate," Angela whispered.
Giles choked. Gargoyles, Avalon, the Grimorum Arcanorum, and now the Phoenix Gate?! Who were these people?!
"Father, we must!" the younger gargoyle said.
"History is immutable," Goliath snarled. "We cannot change the past."
"We don't want to," Buffy snapped. "We just want to learn something from it that we can use to help us now."
Goliath hesitated.
Cordy rolled her eyes. "I don't get it. Why are we supposed to save the world, huh? You'd think the government would do something about this. Lord knows we pay them enough."
"Thank you for your input, your majesty," Xander snapped sarcastically. "Got anything useful to add?"
"Okay," the cheerleader said. "How about: Why are we betting it all on that rusty old antique? I mean, Kurt Russell killed a god with a bomb, right?"
Xander ground his teeth, "That was a nuke, Cordy. I kinda like Sunnydale not being a radioactive crater. Besides, that Ra was an alien, not a god."
"But a bomb could work, couldn't it?" Willow asked. "I-I mean, just to stop him, right? If chopping him up could stop him, why not blowing him up?"
"But how could we get him in the right spot, and where would we get a bomb, anyway?"
"How about a rocket launcher?"
All eyes turned toward Jonathan, who shrank back.
"Can you get us one?" Giles asked.
"Uh, maybe."
"I am a cop, you know," Elisa deadpanned.
"We're way outta your jurisdiction, ma'am," Xander shot back, "and if your boyfriend here's not gonna help us find that spell, we've gotta look at alternatives."
"Very well," Goliath said softly. "Come, and we will find the spell."
He extracted the magical item and asked, "Who will come with me? The fewer, the better."
"I'll go," Xander said, standing up.
"Very well," Goliath said. He held up the Phoenix Gate and chanted, "Des legrate muri tempi et intervallia!"
When Xander and Goliath emerged from the Phoenix Gate's temporal portal, they looked around. Goliath nodded in satisfaction when he recognized the place.
"Where are we?" Xander asked. "For that matter, when are we?"
"Magus's study," Goliath replied. "In the year nine ninety-four."
Suddenly, an elderly man in robes stepped out from the shadows and interposed himself between them and the Grimorum Arcanorum.
"Greetings, travelers," he said. "I've been expecting you."