Here it is, at last. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you do.


Bad Tidings part 3.


Seattle.


“Faith, stop fighting!”

“Love to Red, if I thought for a minute she would too.” Faith retorted as Buffy struck another blow to her stomach and winded her. She fell backwards and fell to her knees. Willow took the chance to come between the two opponents.

“Buffy, stop this now!” She commanded.

Buffy did stop, and stared at Willow. “Dead! Not real. Can’t be real, another trick.” Buffy raised her fist to strike her best friend. Willow, acting out of reflex raised a magical shield around herself and deflected the blow. Buffy looked again, confused.

“O.K. Buffy, you can stop now. I did tell you things would be a little different here didn’t I?” A figure stepped from the shadows. Xander gasped as he recognised the voice and the posture without even seeing the face.

“Anya??…”

Now Anya, stared, and tears welled in her eyes. “Xander. Oh my God, Xander. You’re alive. I didn’t realise..” She ran and hugged the one, true love of her life. So fiercely and tightly that Xander felt momentarily as though she would crush him. She then proceeded to kiss him, passionately. Willow looked away, in a vain attempt to give the pair privacy. “But what happened to your eye? Have you been w**king out? Have you been eating properly? Willow has he been eating properly? Faith, what are you wearing? It makes you look like a frump. You never used to wear clothes that made you look like a frump, but then, you are a lot older than when I last saw you. How’s business at the magic box? Is it still in profit? How much richer am I?” Anya finally paused, as she realised that everyone was staring at her. “Uhm, did I run off at the mouth again?”

“Just a little.” Xander was regaining a little of his composure. “I suppose after everything we’ve been through, I shouldn’t be surprised by this turn of events, I mean, I think we’ve all been dead at least once now, though Buff still holds the record for most resurrections, and I should know, I’ve been involved in ‘em all.”

“What are you talking about Xander? I’m not dead!”

“You are in this reality Anya.” Willows voice was weaker than usual. “I think I’ve figured out what’s going on.”

“Great, have you got a cliff notes version for the factually retarded members of the group?” Xander looked at his oldest friend with earnest pain and desperation etched on his face.

“This Anya, and this Buffy, come from an alternate reality. One where we are all dead. Am I right?”

“You got it in one. You always were, sorry, are, the smart one.” Anya replied. In our reality, the biker demons that attacked when we were bringing Buffy back from the dead killed you all. She woke up, a little miffed at the demons and tore them all to shreds. Everything went downhill from there. The first attacked, and killed all of the potential slayers in waiting, then killed you Faith, sorry about that by the way. Then, well then it killed Giles.”

“Talk about your historical rewrites.” Kennedy stalked towards Anya, but Buffy leapt in front of her and snarled.

“Buffy had no choice but to accept the Shadow men’s offer, and she took the demon’s essence into herself. She gained the full power that they had always intended the Slayers to have. But with the power came a little of the demons mentality. But she’s fiercely protective, of me anyway. But she used the power to push back the super vamps and close the hell mouth for good. But then IT came. It tore our world down around us, and there was nothing we could do. It took everything that was left to get us here, to warn you, to help you stop it.”

“Stop what? What’s coming Anya?” Willow asked, taken aback with all of this new information.


England.


“Pain? What the hell are you talking about Cordelia?” Buffy was both exasperated and a little jealous of the way that her old, and formerly deceased friend was touching Angel, and the way he was reacting.”

Cordelia took her hand off of Angel and said, “There, all better now.” Angel felt his face and his scars had healed. “Pain, Buffy, is what’s coming to destroy this universe. The powers don’t want that to happen. So they sent me to warn you about it, so you can prepare one of your oh so timely plans, and save the day.”

“What is this ‘pain’ that is coming Cordelia? Is it a demon? A God of Pain?” Giles’s mind was already racing, full of possibilities, none of them good.”

“No Giles, it’s not a demon, or a God. It is the embodiment of Pain.” Cordelia took a second to brush a strand of hair from her eye. “As you know, the Universe came into being from nothingness. But that nothingness had a consciousness. It gave birth to creation, and the birthing process is painful enough when it’s a baby, but imaging giving birth to a Universe. The Pain was extraordinary, and it too, was aware of itself. It suffered perpetual torment. Just so that the Universe could live. It got angry, and began to lash out. But the other children of creation, Love, Hope, and even Evil, combined forces to beat it back and hold it in check. But then you,” She looked straight at Buffy as she spoke, “beat Evil. You tipped the balance, Evil was an integral part in the barrier that was holding Pain at bay. Without it in place, Pain could return. And it has. With a fiery vengeance. And you have to stop it before it undoes all of creation.”


To be continued…

:thumbsup: good stuff Jamie nice alternative reality, more please. :lol: @ Anya :thumbsup:

Yeah, Anya was always my favourite "funny" character in the show. So I'm just letting her mouth off a bit, for a while at least. ;)

I don't usually read fanfic cos it annoys me when people try to write somebody elses characters and they do it badly ( <_< ) but you've got them all spot on! :D More, more, more!!! :thumbsup:

Aw shucks :blush: :blush: :blush:

Part 4 is in the works as I type.

As well as part 5 which is going to be a heartbreaker for fans of a certain soul owning vampire :shifty: :shifty: