Successor (BTVS)

[X] Buffy makes a Wish. Being able to see Halfrek grant it will give her a major bonus on the very difficult upcoming roll.

Even considering the idea felt irresponsible, but Buffy couldn't quite make herself let it go. Halfrek did have a point, that all wishes couldn't be as earth-shattering as the one Anya had granted (or sort of not-granted, as it ended up) last year. If they were, there'd be nothing but chaos everywhere.

But as a test subject, her mom was- no. Just no. Maybe things between them hadn't been the best, especially lately, but part of that was down to her own mistakes. Moving out had been an effort to get some distance and let bad feelings cool off, and this would do the opposite of that. Even if she wanted to keep a wish under control, it'd mean she'd have to get very involved, and that would be the end of distance and the start of heating up.

As for Travers, she'd already dealt with that herself. Giles had heard through his sources the whole Watcher's Council was back at each others' throats again, with him more or less at the center of the mess. Slinging a wish his way might have the opposite effect she'd wanted and mobilize them all against her as an external threat. Besides, just like her mom, if she wanted to wish at him and make sure nothing went too wrong she'd have to be there for it, and going to England wasn't on her itinerary.

Her dad was tempting though. It wasn't like he hadn't been throwing himself into the supernatural deep end already, and he kinda owed her one for the Sour thing too. He'd understand the necessity of it, once she explained, and now that she thought about it, it might be an extra excuse just to hang out.

One he couldn't bad-quarter himself out of.

"So if I just wanted a little bit of justice, that would be OK right? Like, a justice kids' meal."

"Justice kids' meals are what I do," Halfrek said encouragingly.

"But they're still very normal-sized meals," Anya said. "Sometimes too big to finish, even. Like at Megaburger."

"Don't be such a buzz-kill, you'd think that turning human made you forget how to have fun. And I believe that all my justice is very fair." Then Halfrek turned to Buffy, "And don't you worry, the person who wronged you will get just what you say he or she deserves. No more, no less."

"As long as that's clear," Buffy said. She went over her idea one more time in her head, then put all her attention on Halfrek. "I wish that the next time I go to Los Angeles, my father has to take me to an ice show." She couldn't see how it could go too wrong. She'd be in complete control of it, after all.
KILL
And suddenly Buffy could sense something probing out at her, whipping quickly like a tentacle. If she hadn't been ready, she might've struck physically, but she managed to restrain herself and grab onto it metaphysically instead, just like Echo had shown her, a wisp of invisible shadow wrapping itself about something even more ephemeral.

It was complicated and new, like trying to read braille for the first time. There was something she recognized though, even if she didn't quite have a name for it. It was sort of like a blueprint sketched on, but that wasn't quite right.

Maybe it was a yellowprint instead? Something about it was definitely yellow. Anyway, she thought she had a pretty good idea about it now, and Halfrek's mystical tentacle thing had started buzzing in her grip, like it was really stressed out. She let it go, and it quickly snapped back.

"D-, done," Halfrek said shakily.

"Are you OK?" Buffy asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, totally fine," Halfrek waved her hand and put on a smile. "That was just a little unexpected."

"That was a good enough wish, right?" Buffy continued. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble or anything, but I don't really want to hurt my dad."

"I -" Halfrek stuttered again, but kept the smile plastered on her face. "I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

"Really," Anya said, giving Halfrek a side-eye. "I guess we'll see about that."

Something about the subtext here was making Buffy a little worried.

"Well for one I think it'll be nasty enough for him to def count as a Wish," Harmony said. "Dads hate ice shows, he'll be majorly suffering."


It was the dead of night, and no moon lit Revel's alien sky, but there were enough torches burning all around to let everyone see. Crowds of satyrs, nymphs, and other demons of every description filed in. They were subdued and quiet, in contrast to the raucous behavior she'd gotten used to expecting from them even when they were under control.

The massive amphitheater that everyone gathered at for the Deeper Magic event was buried deep in the woods, far from the main complex of paths and clearings. Most of the other construction the Olympics had used had been shiny with fresh garish paint jobs, but these stones were worn down like something you'd expect to find abandoned on Earth.

Seating was broken up by frequent aisles and breaks in the rows, so every contingent was able to grab a spot for itself, which might've contributed to the lack of violent outbreaks happening. Buffy had been hoping to grab a strategic position in the back, but Willow was just so obviously interested in everything, and she heedlessly charged out ahead, leading them all to the very front.

"I'm so regretting we didn't spring for the full sensor package in the bot," she said. "But I think the jury rigging I did should at least let me get something informative-"

"I believe that I'm the one holding up the spell matrix, thank you very much," CyberWillow sniped from the radios.

"The jury rigging we did!" Willow amended, then she continued with her babbling. "But it should work, right? It was picking up the tachyons when Buffy was doing her last minute practice session. At least I hope they were the tachyons and not one of the secondary products."

"I for one am just going to sit back and enjoy the show," Skip said, then he took a big bite of turkey leg-like thing he'd gotten from one of the vendors on the way. "But I hope there's more food. It's the first time I've been to one of these."

"That's half the reason there are so many aisles," Anya said. "They come through at the intermissions."

"I heard they're going to have Isktali Curves," Andrew commented.

"Oh, really? I hope I can get one before we're up," Anya said. "Not that I think Buffy is going to warp me beyond the ability to enjoy simple pleasures, but you know, just in case."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Buffy said. She was still nervous, but at least she hoped she had an idea what she was doing now. Getting up close and personal with Halfrek's magic had helped a ton.

"You can still back out if you're afraid," Harmony told Anya. "I trust Buffy!"

"Not a chance, this is my big night," Anya said. "Just wait your turn."

Harmony made an urghy noise of complaint, which Buffy stifled by pulling her down into the seat next to her and snuggling her into her shoulder. Harmony managed to get mostly convinced of the logic of the plan each time they argued it out, but she had a tendency to forget. Buffy just didn't want to go through it all again right now, and snuggles were easier.

Before they had a chance to continue the conversation, the light from the torches all around slowly began to dim. The already muted crowd quieted with it, and in moments even the forest's insects were silent. Just before it seemed the light might gutter out completely though, it flared extra bright, concealing D'Hoffryn's appearance in center stage. She supposed it was fitting: Anya had told her he had a flair for the dramatic, after all.

He stretched his arms out in an expansive gesture to the crowd. "Greetings, creatures of dark and light! We have gathered here tonight to see nothing less than the most profane exercise of power that remains in our world. Not the mere flash and pop of lesser spellcraft, but True Magic, that which the very fabric of everything was built upon before it was Sundered apart. Few of you know enough to fully appreciate the rites you will witness here, but have respect: not just for fear of me, but fear of forces greater than yourselves.

"That which is on the stage tonight will be that which spills your blood and hews your flesh tomorrow. It will forge empires and destroy them. It will end grudges in death and then begin them anew. It is the stuff of miracles which have passed into legend, and of the harsh realities that define your pitiful existences. This night will be both your greatest privilege in life, and the curse of knowing the deaths that will come to end you."

He lowered his arms then, and his serious expression twisted into a merry one. "All that being said, I hope everyone has fun, and may the lowest being win! Let's all give our thanks to Pan for hosting, and a round of applause to Eris, the guest of honor."

The firelight subtly shifted, highlighting a judge's panel lurking above the main stage, with Pan and Eris both already seated. D'Hoffryn waltzed back to join them as the demons cheered all around, taking a seat on the left side. Even though this was D'Hoffryn's big thing, she supposed he had the decency to at least pretend Pan was still in charge of it.

"And now, let's get this party going with our first contestant!" Pan declared. "The Rat King has been gracious enough to volunteer, and I'm sure everyone's eagerly waiting to see what kind of weird shit he's come up with."

Buffy half-expected him to take the stage with Amy, but instead she saw it was the one owl on his team accompanying him down to the stage. Something about the Rat King looked a little different than usual too, but it was hard to place.

"He's herding a number of mundane rats," CyberWillow said quietly over the radios.

Buffy knew his kingdom supposedly had tons of them, but why he'd bring them here she couldn't fathom. She'd offered to help him prepare in the quick study session they'd had a few days ago, but he'd been confident he had his show under control and hadn't shared the details.

The Rat King started with a chorus of squeaks that nobody in her party could properly translate, but then Buffy was surprised when the owl let out a single hoot from the perch it had taken on a half destroyed stone pillar. The little ones had never made a noise; just the big one. It almost sounded mournful, but Buffy couldn't understand Owl any better than Rat.

The Rat King squeaked at it some more, and the Owl just shifted between its talons, looking nervous. After a last couple squeaks though, sounding sharper than the rest, the Owl hooted one more time, and glided down, aimed straight for the center of the Rat King's writhing swarm.
¿PlagueOfRats?
What happened next hurt to see, more than the dull ache of optical confusion looking at the Rat King normally generated. The owl was sort of surrounded, and sort of not, rats skittering all around and around, some of them in directions different from the usual three. For a moment, she had the weird thought that she was seeing it all from a new angle, because the owl looked much bigger, in little glimpses between the rats.

SQUEAK.

Then the Rat King flowed away in a rush, displaying his creation for all to see. It was a giant owlrat! Not truly giant, but bigger than person sized. Like the one Amy had made the smaller owlmerge into, during the fight in the embassy, except-

SQUEAK SQUEAK.

It wasn't a mismatched abomination, but fully coherent creature, like some kind of chimera. It had a quadrupedal body and a rat's stubby legs and tail, but all of it was covered in a coat of owl feathers, and the feet were massive talons. A pair of wings extended out from its back like a dragons, and its head was that of a rat, but with an owl's massive eyes, almost the size of dinner plates.

"Well isn't that just the cutest thing!" Harmony said.

That was definitely one way to put it. The owlrat seemed more obedient than the owl had been, conversing easily with the Rat King and doing all kinds of tricks, including a lap flown around the amphitheater to the cheering and jeering of the demons watching. It was surprisingly agile in the air, and Buffy could tell just by looking that this thing was meant to fight.

"Well that was definitely something, wasn't it?" Pan said. "A good clean job, as far as I can see, and pretty cheap on power use, even if each one is going to take the same level of personal craftsmanship. Monster hybrids have been done to death though, so I have to penalize heavily on originality. Call it a five."

"I've had scarier nightmares than that when I was on downers," Eris scoffed. "Three, and I'm being generous."

"You two can just be the best sometimes, and by that I mean the worst," D'Hoffryn shook his head. "You don't see that the real point here is that the Rat King took a defeated foe and warped it into his own image. What will that owl's family think when they see him like this? They'll be devastated. What will his people think, when they realize this might be their fate? They'll live in dread. What does the owl himself think, looking out from those giant eyes at the mockery of his new body? This is the hell he'll live in for the rest of his life.

"You've brought joy to me on this night, Rat King, and I think you really know what this is all about. I give you an eight, and it's that low only because on objective merits I can't go any higher."

Buffy found herself a little unsettled, but she tried to swallow her doubts. The owls had reacted totally out of proportion to the Rat King's initial probe, and people working under her had been killed. And if you didn't respond harshly to attacks like that in the demon world, things would only get worse, right?

But aside from that, she was surprised by how harsh the judging was. She kept her voice respectfully low, "Was that a bad set of scores? Or a good one? I mean, that seemed pretty challenging?"

"Going first can be a disadvantage, both Pan and Eris are intentionally leaving space to go up," Andrew said.

"So is going last a big advantage then?" She asked. Pan had offered her the spot when they were setting up details today, and she'd taken it without being completely sure what it meant.

"As long as second last isn't a tough act to follow," Anya said. "But don't let yourself get intimidated. Sure, the owlrat's cool, but do you think it could take Rachel in a fight?"

"Well, it can fly, which is a big deal, but no. I don't think it could." she answered. Ever since she'd gotten KILL in the first place, she'd been very good at judging that sort of thing by eye.

"There you have it then," Anya said.

None of the next couple presentations seemed as impressive to her as the Rat King's did, and the judges seemed to agree. King Delthrox stuffed a screaming ghost into his sword, but the judges all claimed it had been done to death; he got a three from Pan and Eris, and a five from D'Hoffryn. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a pun or not, but the King left the stage loudly muttering about newfangled ideas either way.

A Mok'tagar Great One literally brought a chalkboard up there and started doing economics, like something out of Professor Park's class but way way more advanced. Eventually the symbols started to literally move around, and if she understood what was happening right he was actually predicting the future. Maybe?

Willow and CyberWillow were clearly interested, and Jonathan even popped out from his Veil to get in on the discussion. He'd been hiding in those a lot lately. But despite the interest from her quarter, the actual judges were a lot less impressed: D'Hoffryn impatiently drummed his claws on the stone, Eris was blowing bubblegum, and Pan had literally fallen asleep by the end. Pan's four was probably more about pretending he understood it than anything, but Eris' two and D'Hoffryn's one didn't show any such mercy.

When the Groosalugg was introduced she learned (after all this time in events against him) that he was actually on the pylean team, which was a surprise since he looked human. That wasn't the only surprise though; instead of a pylean participating in his performance, it was some weird looking demon woman with reflective skin and glassy eyes. Was she blind? Some kind of light based thing? If she had a nasty trick, it wasn't reading as any kind of direct threat to Buffy's extra senses.

She thought they'd be demonstrating something finicky and elaborate, so she went from being surprised to actively shocked when both of them dropped clothes and just started literally having sex onstage. Pan gave a few lazy claps, but the judges seemed largely nonplussed overall, as if they actually had some idea what was going on. The greater crowd around them was more amused, hooting and hollering to egg them on.

"Does anyone have like, literally any idea?" Buffy's whisper was covered by the grunts and moans. She couldn't quite look away, but she tried.

"I've heard a rumor there's some prophecy involving the Groosalugg, visions, and sex," Andrew said.

"And what does the prophecy say?" Buffy asked.

"I dunno!" Andrew was a little defensive. "Nar'fl told a joke once and that was the punch line, but he got distracted with something and never explained it."

Nobody else had any idea what was happening, so Buffy just sat there in horrified embarrassment until it ended. Willow was blushing bright red; maybe this would teach her to sit in the front.

After it finished though, nothing seemed to happen. First she thought she'd just missed the point entirely, but as the Groosalugg blinked with confusion onstage and the cheers from the crowd started turning to jeers she started to think something had gone wrong.

"Will that be all?" D'Hoffryn eventually said, clearly unamused.

"Master of the Most Low, if you will only give me time to access the visions, I must not-" Groosalugg started.

"Trust me sweetie, it'll take a lot more than knocking boots three times," Eris said. "At least the way you did it."

"Just get off the stage before you make more of a fool of yourself, boy," Pan said.

The judges didn't bother to score it, and the Groosalugg left the stage looking rejected, not even bothering to pick up his clothes. Mirror-woman followed him off, and immediately got into an argument with the pyleans over something, but the next act was already starting and she tuned it out.

After a few much less scandalous presentations went by, none of them scoring even half-decently, the fish woman took the stage and was introduced as Queen Soco of the Nartec. She was sort of human-looking, if you discounted the big eyes, blue skin, gills, and webbed feet, and she didn't seem that dangerous on the surface.

"Is her whole deal just swimming?" Buffy asked. She'd done well in the water events, but even that hadn't been super-impressive.

"The Nartec are mainly just scavengers, and very closely related to humans," Anya said. "She's a greater being as a courtesy, not because she'd wreck the normal events."

There was another fish-person accompanying her, but he didn't look too hot, needing help from Soco to even walk down. A bunch more Nartec brought various equipment to the stage behind her: an operating table, a portable cooler, and some other gear that was hospital-weird instead of demony-weird. All of it looked like the sort of things she'd find on Earth, so she guessed they took the scavenging thing seriously.

Unlike some previous contestants, Queen Soco was one to explain herself. After setting her injured friend down on the operating table, she started talking in a haughty accent.

"My nephew Dosan has been a cripple all his life, his weak lungs barely letting him survive above the surface, much less thrive. All too many of my people suffer from such maladies, but my tireless efforts have found a solution!" She popped the cooler and displayed the gory contents to the crowd. "The lungs of a Fyarl will replace his own, and he will be as strong as any Nartec warrior has ever been!"

What followed was an open-body surgery of the most gross kind, and despite the Earther implements used, there didn't seem to be much in the way of cleanliness standards. Apparently they hadn't managed to scavenge germ theory.

"Is he just going to reject the lungs after?" Jonathan asked. "Do demons have normal immune systems?"

"Soco's using some lachrymal magic too, but it's subtle, I can barely detect anything," Willow said.

"Won't it be kind of expensive to do that for everyone?" Andrew asked.

"It does not appear to be using very much of it," CyberWillow said.

"There could be some nonlinear scaling too," Willow commented. "I've run into that in Cybermancy a lot."

Whatever Dosan's final fate would be, he seemed surprisingly healthy when he got up at the end, just after being put back together. The judges had mixed opinions.

"Well, it's another chimera, sort of," Pan said. "But I can't say the methodology wasn't novel. Six."

"As much as I hate to agree about anything, at least it wasn't boring," Eris said. "And we could do with encouraging more blood on the stage. I'll give it a six too."

"All style, little substance, and no spite," D'Hoffryn rolled his eyes. Two."

Queen Soco stomped off in a huff after that dismissal, complaining that nobody understood her genius. Buffy knew a mad scientist tantrum when she saw it, and figured she'd be trouble for someone later, but at least it probably wouldn't be her.

Halfrek was up next, eager to get started. Just like Soco, she was taking the stage with someone else, but in this case it was a Hork-Bajir of all things. A very small Hork-Bajir.

"Thank you, everyone, for giving us the opportunity to do Justice today," Halfrek gushed. "This poor young boy is Jad Hashee, and I'm proud to say I felt his anguish across dimensions. When I found him, lost and alone, I could see his amazing potential, and he bravely agreed to be here today instead of wishing immediately, so we could see the most fitting justice done.

"There are many children in the galaxy today who have been effectively orphaned by the Yeerks, but Jad here is a special case. His tribe had escaped to one of the many valleys of Nefteshaal, a dimension thought to be safe from their conquest, a safe place to raise children. When the Yeerks came, not only Jad's parents were taken, but all his elders, all his relatives, all his friends, as he was forced to watch in hiding. The valley was left scorched and barren, and Jad clung to life until I could be there to rescue him.

"Now Jad, your time has finally come," Halfrek started tearing up, and paused to wipe her demony face dry. "Make a Wish."

The little Hork-Bajir was clearly overwhelmed, and froze in front of the crowd of hundreds of demons. "I- ah, I wish, umm."

"The ghosts, remember the ghosts," Halfrek whispered, obviously trying to coach him to some kind of specific result.

"The ghosts!" Jad half-remembered. "Wish ghosts, umm. Ghosts haunt Yeerks like tribe haunt me!"

"Done!" Halfrek proclaimed. And this wish wasn't like the last one, it was no paltry trick. Buffy could practically feel reality warping around as it happened, it was big. But looking around the amphitheater, she couldn't see any effect, not even on the Yeerks in the crowd.

"Perhaps you'd like to show us what you did," D'Hoffryn said leadingly. He seemed pleased; he'd probably known about this one in advance.

"I'd be honored!" She pulled out some dust from the pocket of her robe and threw it up in the air, where it coalesced into a ghastly image. It looked like a chicken with a worm for a head, except the worm had rows of nasty teeth, and it looked huge, though the true size was impossible to judge.

"The Vanarxen, also known as the Yeerkbanes, were a species of demon predators that feasted on the parasitic slugs for millennia, keeping the natural balance by sucking them right out of their hosts. Unfortunately, the Yeerk's recent theft of Andalite demon plants let them drive these proud animals to extinction. But no more! I have raised up all their ghosts across the Yeerk homeworld!"

<Surely this is a breach of the insurance against interdimensional invasion.> Esplin complained psychically, easily heard over the roars of the crowd.

"Not in the least!" Halfrek said. "I made sure that right now, they're all full and sated, just like sweet Jad here. She pinched his scaly stomach with a smile. "There's no danger. Yet." Then she tilted her head and averted her eyes. "But in two weeks or so, well, they might start getting frisky."

"So Halfrek is a big anti-Yeerk girl?" Buffy whispered to Anya.

"Halfrek blows with the wind. She saw an opportunity and took it, don't read too much into it." She frowned. "This is going to score well though. It's the first real competition."

"The effects are well within the letter of my decree," back on stage, D'Hoffryn agreed with Halfrek's interpretation. "And as for your score, I'm pleased. There are some details that I would've done differently, but planning and executing a specific wish not only to engender vengeance, but to trigger a global catastrophe and intervene in a war, it's quite heartening. Not many of my vengeance demons so rise above the crudest use of the Wish, and lack any real inspiration or ability to bend it to their will. A nine."

Pan shrugged. "Well, it's a big effect, I'll give it that, but even if that kind of Wish isn't paint-by-numbers, it's still no Picasso. And I like to see this stuff with my own eyes, not get it summarized. Five."

Eris tsked, "I'd have liked to see more with my own eyes too, but sometimes you have to be patient and wait to get the best results. You can't stare right at good work any more than you can stare at the sun. And it is a hip new twist on an old nightmare. so I'll split the difference and say seven.

<The ghosts will be a mere inconvenience.> Esplin declared, seemingly forgetting his objection from moments earlier. <They're nothing compared to my creations, which will change the whole playing field against the Andalites.>

The Andalite Controller flew to the stage, already morphed into a small six-winged bird, and the whole cavalcade of other Yeerk-infested creatures on his team followed him down on foot. Each of them wore a big backpack with a long tube attached, all with that slimy organic look characteristic of Yeerk made stuff. She could tell that they were guns of some kind, but was pretty sure they had a specific purpose besides just blowing things up. One of the weapons pulsed, obviously primed and ready, but the others looked still, almost dead.

Esplin's bird morph perched on a broken pillar. <The Andalite morph magic has given them a tremendous advantage on the battlefield since its discovery decades ago, letting even their meanest foot soldier imitate some of the power of a greater being. But the days of their arrogance are at an end. Observe.>

Then the Taxxon carrying the one live gun fired it at the bird that was Visser Three, surprising some of the dimmer demons in the crowd. Instead of exploding, the bird quickly grew, morphing back into Esplin's normal Andalite body. If it was disorienting, he didn't show it, instead launching right back into his speech.

<Normally such an impressive device would require a great expenditure of power. However, I have matched and exceeded the efficiency of Seerow's blue box-trees. I will fully charge and prime the other five devices here before you, paying only a tiny cost for each.>

He strode through his group and tapped each of the guns with his tail as he did; at his touch, each pulsed to life like the other one had, and soon all six were active.

<Some of you may still doubt the efficacy of my labors, but I can demonstrate even more proof, right here onstage. I challenge any Andalite in attendance to come before me and resist the anti-morphing ray. Ha! Prove me a charlatan, and I will not only lose this event, but be made a fool before all the Cosmos! Ha! Hahaha!>

Almost immediately, one of the real Andalites cantered forward. She could tell it wasn't Elfangor, and wondered if he'd acted without even waiting for orders. <Your foul sorcery may be enough for a simple kafit bird, but it will not undo my proud Arenalak!>

The Andalite's body grew as he approached, morphing into something that looked like a big hairy elk. She didn't think it'd be too terribly impressive in a fight, but it was much bulkier than an Andalite, and could definitely take a few hits.

<Oh ho! It's hunting season now, I see!> The Visser grabbed the gun-part away from the Hork-Bajir he stood next to and fired himself, psychically cackling all the while. The eerie green beam it fired hit the Arenalak in one shot, and it immediately started morphing back into an Andalite.

The once proud warrior stopped dead on his hooves once the demorph completed, speechless as he examined every inch of his body with all four of his eyes. Then he drooped them all in failure, and slowly clomped back to his seat.

<Are there any other takers?> Esplin was really in his element. <I could do this all night!>

There was a short pause, but none of the other Andalites acted, not even Elfangor. When it was clear that'd be all, Eris started talking.

"And here I thought you'd just have some boring meat-head morph to show off," she said. "Color me happily surprised. I've gotta say I appreciate a lot of hard work being done just to ruin someone's else's toys. Eight."

"Great showmanship, usually when someone builds something you don't get to see anything interesting," Pan added. "But it's more niche than I'd like to see. Seven."

"I do like the intent, and I very much agree about the presentation," D'Hoffryn said. "But I think there was an opportunity here for it to be nastier somehow, more acutely painful instead of just embarrassing. I'll give a seven as well."

It was the high score so far, and Esplin bowed his whole body to the judges theatrically before leaving the stage.

<I believe it is now my turn,> Elfangor said. He walked to the stage calmly, not in morph, accompanied by only one other Andalite, not the one who'd just gotten embarrassed. They carried nothing to the stage but themselves, and Elfangor's companion was silent.

<The starfish is a seagoing organism common to most dimensions with an ocean, known mostly for its primitive physiology,> Elfangor lectured. <This includes a highly redundant nervous system, and allows for total regeneration even after extreme damage.>

There was some discontent in the crowd, the demons obviously thinking this would be a boring repeat of the Mok'togar showing with biology in the place of economics.

"I'm not sure I can stay awake through another snorefest," Harmony said, not too quietly, and Buffy could've sworn Elfangor winked at her.

"Don't go to sleep just yet," Buffy said, twisting her hair around her finger to wake her up a little. "I've got a feeling about this one."

Elfangor continued to spout starfish facts, but it soon became obvious he'd started morphing too. The process was as elegant as he usually made it, first with his fur pebbling over into starfish texture, then with him shrinking down, and finally with his body rearranging itself completely. Instead of letting him fall to the ground, his friend caught him as he was morphing and held him in his hands.

<My morph is complete. As there is no ready reservoir of water, regrettably we must dispense with questions and proceed quickly,> Elfangor said. Nobody had asked any questions so far, so she wondered if it was a joke. But before she could even decide, Elfangor's friend threw him lightly into the air, and then cut him in half with his tail blade. Two pieces of starfish fell to the stage, and the crowd went wild.

"There hasn't been a ritual suicide at one of these for some time," Skip said. "I wouldn't have pegged Elfangor for the type, but you never know about the quiet ones."

"He's not dead." Buffy could tell, it'd been obvious to her from the start. "Look, they're growing."
HARMONY
She could definitely feel something this time; whatever this trick was, it was more like hers. Big and expensive, not small and reproducible. One of the starfish-halves pretty much reversed the initial morph, growing elegantly and cleanly, but the other seemed much more random and undirected, more like watching Esplin or the other Andalites morphing.

At the end though, both morphs had the same result. Where there had been one Elfangor before, there were now two. She could tell they weren't quite the same, and one had more raw power, but both still registered as dangerous.

<Separated, we can be morning and evening, one warrior that fights two battles,> one said.

<And together, we will now be more than the sum of our parts, the same blade forgiving even as it takes revenge,> the other concluded.

The crowd had quieted in shock when it became obvious Elfangor wasn't dead, and the applause now had a different character than it had before. Even Buffy was a little intimidated.

"Well, I've seen a lot of strange shit, but that takes the cake," Pan said. "I dunno if I agree that it's gonna be all upside, but still, nine."

"I don't like quoting the powers, but a house divided against itself can't stand," Eris said. "Then again, it's a tragedy I'd pay to see. Eight."

"I can't fault the technical achievement, but in the end both of you are less scary than the old one was. Less interesting too, I'd wager. Six," D'Hoffryn dragged the score down, but even then, Prince Elfangor was one point higher than Visser Three.

Buffy almost expected an outburst from Esplin, but none came as the Elfangors and the other Andalite left the stage.

There were a couple weak acts after that, but before too many there was another interesting group coming up. The more nasty parts of the crowd started to boo outright as the representatives from the Powers that Be approached. The two taller members of the party were carrying an unadorned half-pike, about seven feet long, but Whistler walked in front of both.

Buffy had seen Whistler a couple times around the compound, so she knew the Powers had some kind of delegation here, but she'd decided to avoid him and his team. Calling the last time she'd seen Whistler a bad note would be a huge understatement; it'd been more like a rained-out concert. Plus she wasn't quite sure where she stood with the Powers overall. They had reasons to distrust her given the Successor thing, and after her Oz vision she was a lot less sure of their motives herself.


The two accompanying Whistler were a pair of golden-skinned, blue-motifed humanoids that she knew called themselves the oracles and were at least heavily into playing up the image, jet black robes and all. Both were greater beings, and they'd alternated in the special events, though even then they hadn't done all that well. Whistler himself had forgone his usual film noir look today and instead was wearing similar robes, except in white.

The three took the stage and stood in a line, glaring pointedly. Both the oracles looked out at the crowd, but Whistler was staring her right in the eye. After another minute of catcalls and booing, Pan finally raised up a hand, and the demons quieted.

The female oracle gave him a respectful nod, while the male one took the spear and planted its butt securely in the ground, so the pike faced straight up. Whistler moved behind it, but unlike the other two, he didn't vary his gaze, still looking at Buffy. It was weirdly unsettling, like being menaced by a quiet chihuahua.

Then the female oracle waved a hand, and Whistler started to float up into the air.

The man was to one side of the spear now, holding it securely with both hands as it still pointed up out of the ground. He spoke first:

Lest she follow the piper's steps,

Then the woman spoke too:

Lest her shadow outgrow her soul,

Whistler was high in the air now, floating above the spear, and he spoke last.

There is no rock that does not roll.

Something about it all was terribly familiar, but before she could place it, Whistler suddenly dropped, impaled brutally onto the spear, straight through his heart. It drew a gasp out of Buffy at the same time as it drew a roar from the crowd.

He never broke eye contact with her, even in death.

As his lifeblood soaked the Spear, it changed. Unlike the subtle sheen King Delthrox's blade had taken, the Spear's color shifted radically, taking on splashes of chrome blue and shining silver. The point at the tip seemed to sharpen, and there was a part of her that knew Whistler wouldn't be the last thing it killed. It was hungry.

The oracles defly removed Whistler's body from the Spear and then carried both off the stage, their expressions perfectly neutral. They didn't even wait for the judges to speak.

Pan either didn't care about the disrespect or expected it of the Powers. "Well, that was definitely better than King Delthrox's offering. Really liked the atmosphere too. But a spear's only as good as the hand that wields it. Seven."

"On the one hand, we aren't necessarily trying to reward making living sacrifices onstage," Eris mused. "On the other hand, if we do, it might start happening more often! Eight."

"This had elements that could've led to true perfection," D'Hoffryn said. "The details don't quite bear it out, but it's close. And anything else I could say here would detract from the performance instead of add to it, so nine."

She could've sworn D'Hoffryn was looking at her too when he said that last line, and it added to her worries.

"Do you guys think…?" She couldn't quite bring herself to say it.

"There could be all kinds of reasons they wanted to kill their own guy to get a blue glowy spear," Willow said unconvincingly.

"I've been warning you about the Powers That Be for months now," Anya said. "They don't like big splashes, no matter who's making them."

"Don't worry Buffy," Harmony said. "They didn't look so tough. And we'll fight for you to the death!"

That's what she was afraid of. "Thanks Harm."

They were getting to the end of the event, and now it was Echo's turn to shine. Buffy had started off on the wrong foot with her, but after spending time working together she'd changed her opinion. Even if the copycat thing had started off creepy, it had grown on her, and she had the sense that wearing Buffy's… whatever had grown on Echo too.

She wasn't quite sure of the specifics of what Echo was planning, but she knew that midway through their session Echo had suddenly gotten more interested and asked Buffy to demonstrate a lot of stuff. After, she'd said that she might need just an eensy weensy bit of not-quite-help from her during the event, and Buffy had cautiously agreed. It only seemed fair, since she'd learned a lot from Echo herself.

Echo took the stage alone, but she had an interesting prop; it was a near-copy of Buffy's hammer, just differing in some of the detailing. She was struggling to carry it too, so it was probably genuine dwarven make, but Buffy could tell there was no magic in it just yet.

And then Echo started doing some fighting moves with the hammer. Or at least trying. It was kind of pathetic looking, and she got roundly laughed at by the crowd. Buffy hoped this wasn't a failed experiment like the Groosalugg's had been.

Slowly though, her stance got better. Her moves got faster. The hammer seemed to weigh her down less. And most surprisingly of all, her appearance started to change.

It wasn't like a morph, not even a same species one like when Esplin had impersonated Elfangor. It was more like the details would phase in and out, like waves. Her height oscillating up and down. Red hair shifting back and forth to blonde. Silky dress and leather jacket rolling around her body, neither complete.
kill
Buffy felt it, just like she had when they'd practiced before, but it was a lot more stable. Or it could be. She knew where this was going now. She knew, instinctively, that she could pull on a metaphysical rope and shut this down right now, if she wanted to. But she didn't. Even without everything else to consider, they might be fighting back to back soon enough.

And then it all snapped into place, complete. Echo looked just like her.

"Tada!" She twirled the hammer around like it was nothing.
kill
"Oh my gawdess," Harmony said, shocked. Her other friends all looked at her with varying degrees of concern, but Buffy gave them a grin and a nod to defuse it without missing the show.

"But that's not all!" Echo-as-Buffy continued. "Now you see her-
ECHO
And she was suddenly back to being a redhead, hammer nowhere to be seen. "And now it's just me again. But-"
kill
"Don't count me out," copycat Buffy said. "I always come back. And in case you all thought this was just for show," she tilted her head, and a cavalcade of attackers rushed the stage.

It was obviously planned, and just a friendly brawl; her assailants were all Pan's satyrs. But those satyrs weren't slouches; most of them were fighting using various kinds of magic. There was one with a musical instrument shooting out energy, another coming in and out of invisibility, and a few other weird effects. Echo handled them all, and if she wasn't nearly as good at it as Buffy was herself, it was still pretty impressive; she could definitely outfight Rachel or Skip.

The crowd approved of all the violence, cheering for more, but Echo was about done with her act.

"I've gotten used to being subtle all the time," she started, then transformed again.
ECHO
"But now that I've got a hammer, it'll be fun to treat my problems like nails." Back in her normal form and dress, she gave a thoroughly un-Buffy curtsy to end her performance.

"Derivative," Eris snapped, sounding annoyed. "But if I didn't properly reward the boring head-smashing I'd never hear the end of it, I guess. Five."

"Do you have to be such a killjoy literally all the time?" Pan said. "She can go back and forth between a frail trickster and someone who can jump right into the thick of things. I thought I'd be giving out a high score just to keep the peace, but I honestly don't even have to, that's a nine and deserves it."

"I agree that the effect is very useful and the magic was quite superb, but really, Echo, you practically used the power of friendship!" D'Hoffryn woefully covered his face in his hands. "You're getting a six from me, and be thankful I don't give you lower than that."

It was time. Buffy looked at Anya seriously. "You can still back out of this."

"No way," she said. "I'm sure. Now let's blow the house-"

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSS"

And of course, now Buffy remembered she wasn't up quite yet, and the whole amphitheater was babbling in confusion as they realized Lethe was already onstage and in the middle of her act.

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSS"

This abrupt realization was followed by two more, both suddenly making sense like one of those magic images when you stared at it just right.

First, Lethe had been really obviously pregnant this entire time.

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSS"

And second, Lethe was right now, in full view of everyone, literally giving birth onstage, to what looked like a dense tangle of snakes.

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSS"

"This seemed like such a way way better idea when I first thought of it!" Lethe screamed.

Eris ran over to her daughter, looking just as confused as everyone else, but quickly getting her bearings. "Honey, seriously, you take delivering the joke too far sometimes. Now push!"

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSS"

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSS"

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSS"

And in what seemed to be the night's hundredth move that blatantly defied reality, as the baby was born, suddenly it was obviously not a baby, quickly crawling away from Lethe and standing up, already fully clothed.


And then all around her people were averting their eyes in panic. The petrification attack didn't get past her own resilience, but she noticed the ends of Harmony's hair were looking distinctly grey and quickly shoved girlfriend's face down into her lap. Right after she did, thick fog burst out from Jonathan, covering their block of seats and everything nearby.

"Sorry!" Lethe apologized loudly. "I didn't think she'd be so precocious. But it's all under control now, no harm no foul right?"

"I'll check," Buffy said, then she ventured out of the fog.

The medusa child was still there, she was pretty sure, but Lethe was doing something to perception again and she couldn't really make her out anymore. None of the demons in the stands looked like they were actually turned to stone, though a couple near the front had hair or fur that was slowly reverting back to normal.

"It's safe," she said loudly, and Jonathan dropped the fog.

"Well anyways, there you have it," said Lethe. "The medusa race, back from extinction. And mom! You get a granddaughter, finally! Aren't I the best?"

"This is so embarrassing," a high voice squeaked out from the blur. "I can't believe like a zillion people watched me get born. My life is ruined and I'm not sixty seconds old yet."

"Hisss."

"Don't even start with me orange. Ugh."

"Well then," Eris said. "I think that one speaks for itself. A perfect ten."

"That stunt almost killed half the audience!" Pan complained.

"There's no way she could've gotten anyone past the first row or two, and they knew they were signing up to be in the splash zone," Eris replied, acting totally calm.

"I'm going to prove I'm the bigger man and give your daughter a six, but only if she keeps the tyke covered up," Pan grumbled.

"I said I had it under control!" Lethe whined, then turned to her own daughter. "And don't exaggerate, plenty of monsters are born under way worse circumstances than this. Nobody's even tried to kill you yet! You should be thankful!"

"Whatever Mom."

"Now you know how I felt when you sassed me," Eris mocked Lethe in an aside.

"Even in the absence of vengeance, I do find a certain value in the absurd," D'Hoffryn said, putting on an especially dignified air. "I give it an eight."


Roll: Buffy's the last act in this show, and she's up for real this time. The mechanics will be similar to last time, with Both Buffy and Anya rolling 1d20 each in sequence. However, this time Buffy has a lot more modifiers: -7 for trying this on Anya in the first place, but +3 for general experience and learning and an additional +6 for what she figured out from the wish, for a total roll of 1d20+2. Anya's roll is a flat 1d20.

Rolls can start immediately after I post this update, but post order is what counts, and please only one roll per post/person. (The first posted roll will always be Buffy and the second will always be Anya.)


Metavote: And there's also a vote for you to think about, as usual. After the event is over but before the Olympics fully close, Buffy will have a confrontation of uncertain nature with another group. Pick which one.

[] There's still unfinished business with the Mok'tagar. Now that their dimension is stable again, that front might heat back up.

[] Visser Three isn't one to be scorned lightly. The fragile peace with the Yeerks could break down entirely.

[] By allying with Pan and Echo, Buffy's taken sides against the goddess who started the Trojan War. Eris wants to get her parting shots in.

[] It seems depressingly likely that the Spear that the oracles made is meant for Buffy, and not in the nice way. The Powers That Be have a message for her.

[] Write in. (But it better be bad.)