The trio found themselves running through a long arched corridor that seemed to continue forever in a left-handed curve. Buffy was beginning to wonder if they might end up back where they had started before long.

Like the room they had fled from only moments ago, this corridor also shared the grey/brown decor. It also had a dark orange carpet and with the lack of windows coupled with the dim lighting; it was all the more menacing.

Their motion, which started as a sprint, had gradually faded into a half-hearted jog when Xander came to an unsteady stop, his lungs burning and out of breath; "H…hey." He barely managed to call out, "H…hold up."

Willow and Buffy, hearing his desperate plea, abandoned their escape and joined him. Having stopped, Willow realised how badly she had needed to breathe.

Buffy was hardly even panting, "Come on you guys, we have to find our way out before someone realises we’re gone!"

Xander caught his breath enough to argue his point, "…I…we can’t, Buffy. We…we aren’t like you; if we keep on like this… I don’t know about you, Will… but I think I’m gonna pass out!"

Willow, leaning heavily on a panelled wall, nodded intently; "…I’m……pooped!"

"Besides," Xander added, "I think I’m getting blisters on my feet.

Wait a minute! Blisters! My hands!"

He brought his palms up to view them. Buffy had a look, "Your hands are fine – no blisters."

"I know. But there were, remember? From work today. Only not today. Buffy, how long have we been here? How long have ‘they’ been using us as lab-rats in this place? What have they done to us?"

"I don’t know, I don’t know and I don’t know. But I do know we can’t hang around. We’ll get all the answers later, Xander."

Feeling a little better, he stood up fully, "Face it, Buffy, we’re the jam-filling in a donut from hell. We’re going in circles and getting nowhere real fast."

At that moment, a loud siren set off and strips along the walls began to flash red.

The three shared a glance, then ran like bats out of hell.

It was a welcome surprise to them when they finally came to a T-junction and, on hearing voices and footsteps ahead, they took the new route.

A door recessed in the wall ahead opened suddenly and from it came two figures.

Buffy stopped dead.

Willow almost ran into her.

Xander made a desperate effort to stop and ended up falling back, skidding to a halt on his sore ass. Glancing up, he saw looming over him two of the ugliest damn Demons he ever did see.

The one nearest to him wore a snarl that quite possibly had the power to dust a vampire. Its piercing stare was set in a dark and hideous bearded face with deep ridges that ran the length of its nose, covering an enormous forehead. Wild, flowing hair; like a brown mane, hung heavy over It’s huge and padded shoulders. They were both of the same breed and their clothes were tough and thick…and bloody. They were warriors.

"D’KULLAH MARG RAH K’NEL!" It howled down at Xander.

Xander was afraid, but he wasn’t impressed, "GAHLV GAHOH KE–SPLURGE to you, ya big freak!" ‘This’d be a good time, Buffy’ He thought.

The Demon’s gnarled features creased up and with a growl it bared it’s sharp and rugged teeth at him.

"Dear God! Please tell me I didn’t just say somethin–"

It reached down for his neck with a large semi-gloved hand.

As it made a grab for Xander, Buffy stepped forward and planted a bare foot right in its mashed up face. And man did it hurt.

It worked a treat, though, as the beast fell back and rolled onto its stomach. It didn’t look pleased at all.

The other came forward and lunged at her artfully. It bore a massive scar where a left eye should be. ‘Gross’

It wasn’t artful enough, however, as Buffy took hold of its thick wrists and brought her leg up at a tight angle – right on its hairy chin.

The Demon’s feet left the ground and it hit the wall with the back of its head, landing hard on the floor. The first one made a strike for her and, as she went for a hard kick to the ribs, it caught her leg with one hand, spun and slammed a powerful back-hander into her face.

The Slayer hit the deck; her stomach wretched and her nose hurt like a bitch. Nausea and dizziness left her stunned. This was not good.

The Demon took hold of the back of Buffy’s neck and started to lift her off the floor.

Willow had to try something. Even though it was an experimental something she hadn’t quite got all the kinks out of yet; "Deslavo!"

A flaming blue ball of energy formed in her hand and she flung it at Buffy’s attacker. The beast looked up in shock as the energy ball arced toward its head… and hit the wall, dissipating into nothing.

"Still a few kinks…" she muttered to herself.

The second creature was picking itself up. The Slayer was still grounded and Will was a little busy with the first, so Xander plucked up a little of that crazy thing called courage and jumped on the second one’s back. He managed to get the thing in a sort of sleeper hold. For about half a second.

It clenched his head with a muscled hand and flung him over its shoulder. It was all Xander could do to just thank the dear lord he landed softly enough.

The first Demon let go of Buffy and moved gingerly to Willow, "CHONUQ!" it snarled at her.

Thinking on her feet, she recalled the time she and Tara had combined force to move a soda machine with their minds. It was now or never.

She put all she had into making a stab at the air in the beast’s direction and was amazed at herself as it flew at least 6 feet away from her onto it’s back. "No kinks there, then."

Buffy shook off the last of the nausea and got up. This was war!

She sauntered up to the one over Xander, "I was gonna kick your ass." She said, "But then I saw your face!"

It turned to her just in time to see her heel coming at it’s one and only eye. It roared and covered the eye with a hand, with the other it tried to get hold of her but she turned and forced a sharp elbow into the thing’s gut. It keeled over, making it easy for Buffy to bring an effective double axe-handle down at the base of its neck. It dropped like a lead weight. ‘One down…’

The other was again on its feet and coming for her. It dodged another of Willow’s misguided energy spheres and went to take Buffy by the throat. She caught the arm and twisted it round and down until the Demon was knelt on the floor with its back to her. Then she saw what she needed. On its back it wore what looked to be an axe-like weapon; a boomerang shaped axe with 3 handles and 4 sharp points.

She tore it from its straps by one handle, raised it over her head and brought it down at the Demon’s neck with all her might.

----------

Worf quickly pulled his D’k tagh knife from his belt, dropped onto his back and blocked his own Bat’leth with it.

This Human female was an insult to his years of battle experience. He would show her the strength of a Klingon warrior and then he would show her her insides. For his honour!

"PREPARE TO DIE!" He yelled, knowing that without a universal translator she had no idea what he was saying. She would understand the feeling behind it.

He pounded his feet up and into her stomach, flinging her up, away and down with a crack.

Worf then rolled to his feet, picked up his fallen Bat’leth and took the stance of a warrior.

The Human pulled herself up and stood before him. What was she doing? She was flicking her head at him…she wanted him to turn around.

-----------

The Demon spun round just as Willow managed to hurl another ball of blue fire. It struck the monster perfectly in his chest.

----------

Worf felt a sudden lethargic sensation take hold of his whole body and he felt himself falling.

He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

----------

The Three bruised and battered Scoobs quickly regrouped and made sure none of them was too badly injured. Willow was fine but Buffy’s foot and nose felt broken.

Xander, tenderly holding his friction-burned butt in the doorway the Demons had come from, said, "I take back whatever I said about hell being overstated."

They joined him at the entrance and were horrified by what they saw.

Beyond the doorway was a vista blanketed with bodies. Bloodied and maimed bodies upon bodies. Carpeted with crusty death.

Willow let out a whimper, "These two Demons did all…that?"

Xander clapped, "I say ‘yay’ to us." Then he looked quickly back to where they had come from, "I hear people coming. Could be more of them."

Again they made their getaway, turning a corner and slamming hard into a wall, knocking them to the floor. But when they looked up there was no wall there.

Buffy stood and walked carefully forward with a hand held out before her. With the first couple of steps, nothing happened but on the third her fingers touched something solid.

The air in front of her shimmered blue – like a wall of energy, "We have to find another way."

They searched for some way out of the corridor and the sound of people approaching grew louder every moment.

Buffy stopped a second. There had to be a ventilation system or access tunnels of some kind…

She checked the part of wall closest to the floor and thought she had found what they wanted.

Will and Xander watched her kneel in front of the wall, grab a plain looking panel and lift it down. A hatch!

"Let’s go."

---

After a few feet of crawling, they came to an intersection. The horizontal tunnel they were in met one running upward. Buffy had a feeling they may have been underground – all these tunnels and no windows – so she took to the ladders and headed up.

Two flights up, they came to a blue hatchway above them. Buffy tried but it wasn’t gonna open up and she crawled back into one of the circular tunnels.

"Anyone else here get the feeling we’re being herded?" Xander called.

Soon they came to an exit hatch that led them back into a corridor. Xander was ready to complain again about getting nowhere when he realised that this passageway was square and very grey. At the end of it stood one of those sliding doors. It read ‘Shuttle Observation Gallery’.

"Looks like they have a subway system." Commented Willow.

"Yeah? Maybe we can hitch a ride outta here." Said Xander.

"Sounds like a plan." Agreed Buffy.

They stepped through the ‘door’.

The room was small and simple with a lit up panel at one end. The three went over to it and saw that there was a large opening in the wall – they were on a balcony.

Looking down at what appeared to be a hanger bay of some kind, they watched as people of the Human variety fussed around a set of what seemed to be electric train cockpits.

"What, in the name of all things decent, is this place?" Xander pondered desperately.

But he got no answer; the other two were far too distracted.

They were gazing out of a ceiling-to-floor window, looking out at…

‘No way!’

An ocean of blackness littered with stars.

Outer space.

Willow managed half a sentence, "Are we…?"

Xander put his hands on their shoulders as if he needed the support as much as they did, "I think Dorothy left the building a long time ago, Toto."

At that moment, the doors opened and a group of armed men in what must have been uniforms burst in and completely cornered them.

They were way in over their heads.

Turning to Buffy for guidance, Willow and Xander couldn’t believe it when she lifted her hands up in surrender; "Take-us-to-your-leader."

---

Back Next
Return to Authors