Chapter 4

        Antrosis stared at Buffy for many minutes.  She was chained
to a wall, and even in her present state, a beautiful lady.  Lady.
The thought that the Slayer was called a lady by some made Antrosis
laugh.  After all, how could someone be so violent, and cause so much
trouble, be a lady?
        "Unnnhh..."  Buffy moaned, starting to come to.
        "Ah, good.  You're coming to."  Buffy opened her eyes slowly,
and saw Antrosis.
        "My God, you're an ugly bastard."
        "Thank you.  I am glad that you are awake.  Now, you can be
witness to me obtaining the one weapon that can destroy the world."
Antrosis walked to an altar, adorned with many candles.  He raised
his arms.
        "Dark forces of realm of hell, bring to me the ultimate
weapon of destruction.  Bring to me the sword forged with the black
fire, bring me the Sword of Darkness!"  A brilliant array of pinks
and blues, accompanied with reds and blacks, began swirling above the
altar.  The colors began to merge, to form one giant cloud, storming
with electricity.  A lightning bolt struck Antrosis with great
intensity.  It channeled through his body, and went to his right
hand.  Then, it emerged, and took the shape of a sword.  It was about
five feet long.  Soon, it solidified into a sword that was as black
as the night sky, and came to a very sharp point.  It's blade
was sharp enough to cut through five sheets of hardened steel with
one swipe.
        Antrosis held the sword, which had a small black ball on the
end of the handle.  He looked at it for a moment, then turned to
Buffy. 
        "As you can see, I am the sword's master.  It is controlled
by me, and by me alone.  This sword has the greatest magical powers
in the cosmos.  I could kill you right now."
        "Then why don't you?" Buffy asked.
        "Because...live bait is always more appealing to the prey."
Antrosis gave an evil grin.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some
preparations to make."  Antrosis disappeared in a cloud of gray
smoke.
        Buffy tried to break the chains, but to no avail.  She became
frustrated, and tried again.  Still no luck.

_____________________________________________________________________

        All the Sailor Soldiers, Tuxedo Mask, and friends of Buffy
were standing outside the school, looking for the portal.  They did
not find it.
        "He must've closed it," Giles said.  "Now, there's no telling
what he'll do to Buffy."
        "Sailor Mercury, how about your VR visor?" Sailor Mars asked.
        "Well, it's worth a try."  Sailor Mercury touched her
earring, and her visor materialized across her face.  She scanned the
area thoroughly, and after it seemed that there was no sign of a
portal, something came up.  She saw it!  "Over there!" she shouted,
pointing in the right direction.
        "I don't see anything," Xander said.
        "That's because it's invisible to the naked eye.  Now, follow
me."  Sailor Mercury walked over to the invisible portal, and
disappeared.  Everyone else followed; they did not want her to face
what was on the other side alone.

_____________________________________________________________________

        Anton watched as the humans spilled out of the portal.  He
smiled as each one saw him, after getting up from their falls.
        "Welcome to the cross-dimension.  I have been expecting you.
We have a real treat in store for you."
        "Where is Buffy?" Giles asked.
        "That's what I always liked about you.  Right to the point.
No beating around the bush."
        "Where is she?"
        "I like you.  Unfortunately, I have this nasty habit of
killing people that I like."  Before anyone could do or say anything,
a vortex opened.  It was like a black hole, with brilliant colors all
around it.  A lone figure flew out of the vortex, and landed on it's
feet.  The vortex closed. 
        "You..." Willow murmured.
        "Willow...what's going on?  Where am I?" asked the person.
Well, he looked like a normal person, anyway.
        "Come on, let's get out of here!" Xander shouted.
        "Noooo!" shouted Anton.  But it was too late.  All of them
jumped through the portal.  Antrosis appeared behind Anton.
        "You let them escape.  I am less than pleased."  Anton
clenched his fist, and scorned Antrosis mentally.
        "It will not happen again."
        "See that it does not."

_____________________________________________________________________

        All of the Sailor Soldiers had powered down into their
everyday-people look.  After all, Xander kept looking at them in
those mini-skirts.  They were waiting for an explanation as to how
their new friends knew the man who came out of the vortex.
        "Boy, Buffy will be glad to see you," Willow said.
        "Where is she?" asked the man.
        "Well, we're...not exactly sure.  But, we think we're close
to finding her."
        "Wait a second!" Serena yelled.  "How do you all know him?"
The man looked at Serena.
        "Who are you?"
        "We're friends."  The man looked at Willow and Giles, to make
sure.  They nodded.
        "Well, let me see if I can explain.  It's been a while, and
now I'm pretty sure I remember everything.  A long time ago, I was
bitten by a vampire. This made me a vampire.  I was one of the worst
vampires in history.  Then, one day, all that changed.
        "I was cursed by a family, for taking their daughter and
turning her into a vampire.  This curse gave me back my soul, and
after a while, I remembered everything I had done.  All the torment I
caused.  And I was to live with that for eternity.  Then, along came
Buffy.  The slayer.
        "I wanted to help, to try to make up for everything evil I
had done.  So I did.  But, one night, we did something that was not
right.  And I experienced true happiness.  But pert of the curse was
that if I ever experienced true happiness, my soul would be taken
from me.  And it was.  I was then nothing more than a vampire that
wanted to destroy the entire world.
        "I came very close to doing that.  I managed to open a vortex
to hell, and the entire world was going to be sucked into hell.
Buffy and I fought each other hard.  I nearly killed her, but she
managed to turn the tables on me.  She was about to kill me, but just
then my soul returned to me."  Willow jumped in.
        "I re-did the curse."
        "And," the man continued.  "I looked up at Buffy.  She was
holding a sword, and about to kill me.  I did not know what was going
on, but she understood, somehow, that my soul was returned.  We
embraced each other, and kissed.  But the vortex to hell was already
open.  She told me to close my eyes.  So I did.  Then, a sharp pain
went through me, and I looked down.  The sword was in my chest, no
doubt protruding out my back.  I looked at Buffy; her eyes were full
of tears.  She said she was sorry.  Then, the next thing I know, I
get sucked into the vortex, right before it closed.  I was in hell.
        "Then after what seemed like ten years, Satan just gave up.
I still had my soul, and only pure happiness could drive it from my
body.  Satan couldn't give me pure happiness, because I knew that
whatever he made me see was an illusion.  So, I got kicked out of
hell."
        "You got KICKED OUT OF HELL?"
        "Yeah," said the man.  "By the way, you can call me Angel."
        "Angel?  What kind of sissy name is that for a guy?" Lita
asked.
        "I said you can call me Angel.  It's not my real name.  I
hate my real name."
        "Fine, what matters is your here," Giles said.  "Now, what do
you suggest we do?"
        "I'm going to need some information first.  Like, what are we
dealing with"
        "You remember the Master?"
        "Yeah."
        "Ten times worse, and a hundred times more ugly.  His servant
is about two times worse, and three times more ugly."
        "Sounds like fun."



                                To Be Continued...