Batman gripped the steering wheel tight, making a hard turn onto the main thoroughfare. The Batmobile weaved between traffic and tore through the streets, racing back to the Sunnydale High library. With Faust already there, holding Willow and the others hostage, they had little time before the sorcerer raised the dormant monster, Kalderon, unleashing every manner of demon into the world.
"We're too late to stop them from finding Kalderon," Batman said through clenched teeth. "But we're near the Janus Imports warehouse. We'll pick up Giles and Buffy on the way. We'll need their help to take on Faust, the Scarecrow, and Ethan all at once."
Xander drummed the side door nervously. "Yeah, okay. So long as we make it in time."
"I'm doing everything I can, son," Batman said in a clipped tone.
A minute later, they arrived at the rear loading dock of Janus Imports. Spotting Giles and Buffy leaving the warehouse, Batman brought the car to a screeching halt. Giles and Buffy jerked in alarm.
"They found Kalderon at the library!" Batman shouted. "They're all there now."
"And they've got Willow!" Xander said.
"Good heavens. I'll get my car," Giles said, pointing over his shoulder.
"No time. Climb in," Batman ordered.
Xander smiled, spreading his arms. "Hey, Buffy. My lap's totally free," Xander said, spreading his arms as he joked. Though his face and tone remained dulled as he worried about Willow.
Giles opened the door and climbed in, sitting on Xander's legs. "Thank you, Xander. Much obliged."
Xander winced at the pain in his knees. "Don't mention it. Plenty of room for librarians, too."
"Sorry," Batman said. "Limited seating."
Buffy climbed on top of Giles, half-standing as she gripped the edges of the open glass ceiling. "Let's go."
"Hang on," Batman said, jamming on the accelerator.
"Relax, I'm the Slay-yeaaiiee!" Buffy swung backward at the sudden lurch, falling onto Giles' lap.
Xander put a hand on her waist to steady her. "Good enough," he said with half-hearted appreciation. "Worth the trip." But his voice was still subdued.
"How fast can you get us there?" Buffy said, clutching tight to the glass canopy.
Batman continued to push the Batmobile's limits, careening around corners as he sped across town. "As fast as humanly possible," he said, knowing that most members of the Justice League could run or fly them there in an instant. But without their super-powered help, he and Buffy's team had mere minutes to stop Felix Faust from unleashing Hell on Earth.
"Try not to fret," Ethan whispered in Willow's ear, bending over her as she sat at the library table beside Oz and Cordelia, each of them with their wrists bound behind their backs. "After all, we're about to make you fret far more than you ever could on your own."
Willow tried to steady her breathing. Ethan Rayne was bad enough to deal with, but Felix Faust, dressed in ceremonial robes and conjuring up some sort of mystic energy between his hands, seemed downright dangerous. And the Scarecrow, with his inhuman smiling expression, distorted by the burlap face mask and shadowy hat, was unsettling, to say the least. They had barged in and taken over the library with a couple of quick energy blasts from Faust's hands, to turn it into their own ritual site.
To cast the spell that would raise Kalderon, right in the center of the library!
She stared at the disgusting statue on the center table, with its reptilian face and scorpion body. Her stomach gnawed at her as she pictured the vicious monster coming alive before their eyes.
And growing to its full size.
"What are you guys are trying to do, anyway?" Cordelia complained, straining against her own ropes, as Oz sat beside her, studying Ethan and the others in tense silence. "Look, if you're going to bring that ugly bug-thing to life, at least let us out of here so we don't have to watch it happen."
Ethan gave her a tolerant smile. "My charming young miss. Once Kalderon rises, it won't matter if you're three feet or three million miles away. He'll still get in your face."
"Eww," Cordelia said, genuinely unnerved as she arched back in her chair, away from the statue's pincers.
The Scarecrow strode to Ethan, holding up three syringes full of dark green fluid. Ethan turned to see the Scarecrow's bizarre face standing inches from his own. He gasped, clutching his throat.
"I trust you are still capable of administering the correct dosage," the Scarecrow said to him. "Powerful enough to create intense hallucinations that their minds will find all too real."
Ethan swallowed, taking the syringes. "Yes. Charming."
The Scarecrow smiled at Ethan with wicked glee. "Mister Ethan Rayne. Forever dabbling in occult powers far beyond his control. What frightens you, I wonder?"
Ethan stiffened as he met the Scarecrow's gaze. "A little bit of everything, actually."
The Scarecrow snorted and walked away.
Ethan took the syringes and moved to Cordelia's side, preparing to inject her neck.
"What is that?" she said with a rising panic. "Hey, I don't want to be scared! Untie me and I'll give you money! Or a fashion consultation. Though I've gotta admit, this shirt really works for you. But stop! No!"
He inserted the green liquid into her skin as she winced.
"Sorry, but I've got a job to do. Glad you like the shirt," Ethan said. He moved to Oz, who looked aside, staring blankly at the far wall.
"Leave him alone!" Willow cried, as the needle pierced his skin. She watched Oz close his eyes, accepting the inevitable drug, as if he was entering into deep meditation.
"Last but not least," Ethan said, bringing the third syringe to Willow. "I'm sorry it has to be this way. The potion will take less than a minute to start working. Then your terror will help feed Kalderon, while I help Faust perform the Remnant curse. Thus securing Kalderon's throne on Earth once more."
He injected Willow's neck with the toxin.
"I truly am sorry, for all of you. But I'd rather serve under Kalderon and Faust with a position of authority, than be a slave under their whips. Which is, sadly, the fate that awaits all of you. Farewell, Willow."
She struggled against the ropes as her eyelids grew heavy.
And the whole world turned black.
The Batmobile's tires squeaked as it pulled to a halt near the Sunnydale High School front lawn, angled toward the school building.
Which was surrounded by a thick cloud of dark green gas.
"Who ordered the pea soup fog?" Xander asked. "Did someone open the forbidden box of year-old cafeteria food?"
"It's the Scarecrow's toxin," Batman said. "But it's not dissipating. Faust must have enchanted it somehow to form a shield around the school. Anyone who enters that ring will walk straight into the Scarecrow's living nightmares."
Buffy grit her teeth. "So how do we get in?"
"Hold your breath, and roll when you land," Batman said, flipping a switch on his front control panel.
The next moment, Buffy found herself propelled skyward, along with Giles, Xander, and Batman. She gasped and glanced at the sidewalk and quad far below them, shrouded in green gas, as she wondered what had happened.
One look at Batman's grim face told her, as he focused on the school entrance they were arching toward. He must have equipped some sort of ejector seats in each of the Batmobile's cockpits. Now all she had to do was help Giles and Xander land safely.
"Help Xander!" Batman ordered as they descended toward the cloud-covered grass.
"And hold our breath! Got it!" Buffy called.
Batman seized Giles by his lapels, tugging him to himself. His feet barely touched the ground before he rolled sideways with Giles, their backs rolling across the lawn. Buffy was less coordinated in mimicking his maneuvers – partly because she didn't want to face Xander as they rolled across the grass together – but she managed to bear the brunt of the landing, keeping him safe.
Until they stopped tumbling and his head struck the ground a little too hard.
"Ow!" he said.
Buffy instantly clamped her hand over his mouth to prevent him from breathing in the gas. Then she wrapped her other arm around his waist to carry him sideways into the building, following Batman and Giles. Once inside, she set him on his feet.
"As I suspected, the air's clear in here," Batman said. "Faust put some sort of protective spell around the school building, to keep people out. And to trap them like flies in Kalderon's web of fear."
Giles squinted. "Why didn't Faust think to form a ring around the library?"
"I'm no sorcerer," Batman said. "There may be limitations to whatever spell he's casting. But my personal guess is, he's just not that smart."
"Okay, from now on," Xander said. "The only girl I want manhandling me is Buffy." He paused to consider what he was saying. "Nobody tell Cordy I said that. And let's get Willow!"
He sprinted down the corridor, as the others rushed with him to the library.
"Please! Let me help you!" Willow cried, struggling to free her bound arms while she focused at something high above her. She knelt on the floor at Ethan Rayne's feet, disoriented, unable to perceive what was actually happening in the library. Ethan held out a scroll to read from, in the center of a chalk circle they had drawn on the library floor.
Nearby, Faust's hands hovered around the Kalderon statue on the table, while his other young captives fidgeted in their seats behind him. Cordelia screamed in terror as Oz twitched and grit his teeth in the fit of his private nightmare.
"I'm down here!" Willow cried out to an invisible group above her. "I keep shrinking, but I can still help, if someone will just pick me up. Can't anybody see me? Can't anyone hear me?"
"Fascinating," the Scarecrow mused, pacing outside the circle as he studied Willow's reactions to his toxin. "Atelophobia. The fear of failing at a task or proving one's self to be insignificant. Miss Rosenberg's secret fears involve being found useless and overlooked. Essentially, discovering she is unnecessary to her team and her peers."
"What she fears is irrelevant," Faust said dismissively, his hands poised around the bizarre half-man, half-scorpion statue on the center table. "All that matters is that her fears give Kalderon strength to rise. I can feel him stirring but it's still faint. We need the Remnant spell to incite the highest level of terror. Ethan!"
"Working on it, Faust," Ethan said, standing nearby and poring over the Gachnar scroll in his hands. "Forgive me if I read straight from the scroll. I know you typically memorize your incantations, but my ancient Gaelic's a bit rusty." He tossed a friendly smile at Faust, who returned a scowl. Ethan cleared his throat, returning his attention to the spell. "But never fear. It's coming along. Just keeping you in the loop."
"Focus on keeping your own head and move faster!" Faust sneered.
Ethan began chanting from the scroll spread out in his hands.
As Batman and the others burst through the entry doors.
Ethan hurried through the incantation, while Faust turned toward the intruders. A ball of light emitted from each of his palms, knocking the entire group backward.
"Excellent," Faust gloated at Batman, who was shaking off the blow from slamming against the far wall. "Just in time for your journey, detective."
Batman hurled a smoke pellet at the floor, producing a thick cloud of cover as he ran sideways for a better angle of attack.
The Scarecrow followed after him, as Buffy and the others recovered, rising to their feet. Faust also focused on Batman, chanting another spell as his hands grew hot with flame. Buffy took a flying leap to kick Faust square in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Giles used the opening to run at Ethan, but Faust recovered quickly. Still sprawled on his back, he uttered another spell that sent an energy burst at Giles, hurling him against the wall, before he swept his leg to trip Buffy.
"Time to face your darkest fears, Batman," the Scarecrow said, throwing a small pellet at him.
Xander rushed to Batman's side, just as Batman jumped out of the way. Xander followed suit, making a sideways dive across the library counter. He landed and rolled to a kneeling position, giving Batman a thumbs up. "Dodging is good. Lesson learned, boss!"
Batman frowned. "Now hold your breath."
Xander took a deep breath, his thumb still raised.
Buffy somersaulted backward, rising to a fighting stance, then ran hard at the Scarecrow to seize him by his lapels. "Okay, you Wizard-of-Oz reject," she seethed. "You're off to see the Wizard." She lifted him high off his feet and spun him about, slamming his thin body into Faust.
Xander rushed and knelt to untie Willow as Ethan stood above them, hurrying through his spell. And suddenly, the words of the curse changed from the indecipherable Gaelic.
"... to make the transfer of Kalderon's enemies complete," he said, continuing to read from the scroll. "And render them powerless through their unbridled terror."
Everyone paused to stare at him.
"How is he suddenly reading 'ancient modern English?'" Buffy asked.
"It's the spell," Giles said, wiping his chin as he struggled to his feet. "It's taking effect and starting to translate."
Ethan kept reading, his words clear. "Now, tremble and suffer, you Champions and enemies of Kalderon here within his circle – ."
Giles gasped. "Everyone, quick!" he ordered. "Out of the circle!"
"Huh?" Xander asked, still working to free Willow. Behind him, Faust started rising again to attack, but Buffy looked back in time to punch him.
Batman glanced at the others, then leapt onto the table where Oz and Cordelia sat. He grabbed both of their chairs and shoved them backward, past the curved line drawn on the floor.
Giles lunged forth to grab Ethan, who looked up from the scroll as he finished.
"– and frustrate him no more!" Ethan cried.
Giles grabbed Ethan and dragged him out of the circle to toss him to the ground. A strange ball of light formed within the center where Ethan had stood, as Batman charged forth to pull Buffy, Xander and Willow out of harm's way.
But as he reached them, the light expanded and clung to each of their figures, as well as those of Faust and the Scarecrow, filling the six of them with light.
Giles squinted at the light formation as Ethan turned to stretch toward it. "No! Take me with you!" he cried.
The light surrounded each person within the circle, creating a blinding flash.
And then they were gone.
Another group of people appeared in their place. A rotund man, a slim man with a dark beard, a well-dressed woman wearing a vintage burgundy gown, and a young boy, each of their wrists bound in front of them with long ropes that lay on the ground as if they had been tied to something previously. Beside them stood a tall gaunt man with long dark hair and dark robes.
And what appeared to be seven werewolves, standing upright on their hind legs.
They each looked around the room, bewildered. Though the tall man seemed more curious than afraid.
They all turned toward Giles and Ethan, the only ones remaining in the room besides Oz and Cordelia, still bound and trapped in their living nightmares.
"Buffy," Giles uttered, blinking. "She's gone. They're all gone."
The tall man narrowed his gaze at them. "Who are you?" he asked, his English as clear as the words from the Gachnar scroll.
Ethan rose quickly and stepped past Giles. "I am the Summoner!" he announced. He pointed at Giles with a dramatic flourish. "This man and his young cohorts are your enemies. Seize them!"
Buffy blinked at the dark cave she found herself in. Batman tumbled beside her and stood to his feet, whirling to inspect their surroundings. Willow also looked around with Xander, as the spell's journey somehow counteracted the effects of the Scarecrow's toxin on her. Nearby, Faust and the Scarecrow slowly roused themselves and struggled to their knees.
A squat old woman in ceremonial robes studied them from twenty feet away. Buffy flinched at the woman's unsettling smile.
And the two dozen werewolves standing on either side of her.
"This is new," she said, breathless. "Giles, what happened?" She whirled about, searching behind them. "Where's Giles?"
"And – where are we?" Xander asked.
Willow cringed, lowering her voice. "Buffy. They're all werewolves. As in 'they're,' and 'all,' plural."
Xander swallowed. "So why aren't they attacking? Not that I'm complaining, of course."
One of the wolves stepped forward, balanced upright on its hind legs. "Who are these children?" it snarled. "Where's Simonet?"
Xander tensed. "And why are they talking? What is this, 'Red Riding Hood'?"
"You're right for once, son," Batman said, keeping his eyes trained on the squadron of wolves. "That's exactly what this is."