Subject: [darkmark_fanfic] Buffy / Supergirl: Chicago Crossover, part 11 (conclusion) Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 17:05:25 -0000 From: "darkmark90" Buffy / Supergirl: Chicago Crossover Part 11 by DarkMark The two women were shocked awake unceremoniously by a bucket of water in their faces. Kara hoped it was water, anyway. As their respective eyelids fluttered open and they saw the night sky and two figures before them, both Buffy and Kara felt themselves to be seated flat on the building roof, with their arms bound behind them. The bindings were of something stronger than mere rope, Kara guessed, which would have been hard enough for her to break right now, but something which Buffy might have escaped. From the feel of it, they were bound with metallic ropes to some sort of post behind them. There were two gangster vamps before them. One was the bucket-wielder, a smirking, unimportant type in a black turtleneck and jeans, looking like the sort of bruiser that filled out the Outfit's bottom layer or that just above it. He banged the bucket arrogantly against his thigh. Beside him was a vamp who was obviously of more importance. He was no more than 5 foot 10, but he was dressed in a simple business suit and grey tie. His grey hair was barely visible under a hat, but, looking closely, one could see the hint of fangs near his lower lip. They could see something on the roof surface, between them and the two vampires. A line of metal. No, more than that. Some sort of high-tech stripping, like a rake-edge bit of roofing, with circuits of some sort upon its surface. And within those circuits, Kara could almost testify she saw etched symbols. She wasn't sure that she wanted to look at them too closely, or too long. "Good evening, ladies," said John Vladislav. "You cost us a few men. We're going to let you make up for it." "Kind of considerate of you," muttered Supergirl. "Easy, Kara," said Buffy, testing the strength of her bonds and finding them still too much. "It isn't every day we get to sacrifice a Slayer, and Supergirl to boot," Vladislav continued. "You made it pretty easy on us. Did you really think you could outmuscle my men? With what we showed you we could do, using this system?" He gestured up toward the TV towers behind them. Buffy shrugged. "Seems we managed to take a few of your boys down before they took us. I don't think we made that bad of a showing." "We did better," said Vladislav's aide. "Shut up, you," said Vladislav, and cuffed him. The vamp grabbed his wounded ear, but said nothing. To the women, he said, "You bitches. You stupid bitches. You really thought you could pull it off, like we were in some kind of James Bond movie or something. Don't you know better than to go into a situation like this without enough backup? I never go anywhere without I know what's against me, and how much muscle I have to have against it." "I came here because of a vision," Buffy said. "You're the Blood Red Moon, aren't you?" Kara noted, with satisfaction, that Vladislav did a double take. "How'd you know that?" "A friend of mine told me what she'd seen," the Slayer continued. "A vision of a blood red moon over the Sears Tower, with bats flying around it. Kara helped me with the interpretation. I've never heard of your group before. They must not get out to California much." "We're all over," said Vladislav. "Doesn't matter what you know. In a few minutes, you're gonna be lunch." He turned away, looking at the night sky. "So will the daysiders in this city. But you'll go first." Kara said, "Mind telling us about your great evil plan? This is the place where the villain usually does his bragging." He turned back to them. "Watch your mouth, blondie. You aren't exactly super while we're broadcasting. I may want you alive for awhile, but I don't have to make it pleasant. Capeesh?" "All I want to know is what this setup is all about," said Supergirl. "If we're going to be the main course for this vampire or whatever you're going to be hosting, just call me curious." "Call you dead," said the guy with the bucket, and drew a .38. Vladislav slapped his hand, then slapped his face. "How many times do I got to tell you? How many times? How many?" "No more, boss, no more," pleaded the vamp. "I understand. I understand. I swear on my father's coffin." The fangfather buried his hands in his underling's turtleneck. "I don't really have time for this aggravation, Lester. You got me?" "Gotcha, boss." "I said we don't shoot the women, and we don't shoot the women. We need them for later. Got that?" "Got it, boss." "Now get out of my sight." He shoved Lester away. The vampire stumbled, fell over his own bucket, picked himself up and went to another area of the roof, where some other shadowy figures were working. The ganglord took a cigar from a stainless steel case in his pocket, lit it himself with a lighter bearing a sorceror's star, and took a couple of puffs before turning back to the women, a bit more calmly. "We're doing a Summoning," he said. "A Hellmouth?" asked Buffy. "Not exactly, but maybe a little similar," said Vladislav. "The Order has pretty good files on what comes down in our line of work. I know, I saw them. One thing I picked up on was something that went down in a place called Perdition, up in New York. Somethin' manifested up there. Some dumb bastard who didn't know what he was doing opened something up around there. Let something in. Wasn't much of a spell, so it didn't manifest very effectively. Not enough power. But it did okay, as it was. Somebody or other ran across it, got lucky, shut it down. Later on, it happened again, and it got shut down again. Big problem, as I see it: not enough power in the spell. Up the power of the summons, you get a bigger, better manifestation. That makes sense." "Guess it does," allowed Buffy. "And this magic broadcast thing and these little metal things are part of that?" "You guessed it," Vladislav said, tipping the ashes off his cigar. "You can't see it. We got it in a pentagram shape, facing the South Side. High-tech. Moving with the times. But to get the Big Guy over here, we have to offer a sacrifice. That's where you come in." "Kinda figured it would be like that," said Supergirl. "I've never heard of these things you're talking about, but that's okay. What is it you're bringing over? Something out of H. P. Lovecraft?" The gangster paused, then looked over the night sky. "That guy," he said. "He was off about a lot of things. But he was close about some others. He never knew. Just as well." Supergirl glanced at Buffy with a meaningful expression. Buffy returned it. Both of them noted the grimness in each other's eyes. Despite their bravado, they both realized that the end of the trail might be looming closer than they'd like to admit. "When is all of this supposed to go down?" asked Buffy. His back to them, Vladislav said, "You guys ready to power up?" A tech answered him. "I think we're on it, Mr. V." He glanced back towards the Slayer and the Girl of Steel. "Get the Chanters up in position," he said. "Get the boys back. If anybody misses a beat on this, you're lunch for the Big Guy." The vampires stepped back from the perimeter of the metallic flange, far enough back so that Kara could tell they really respected its power. "Do you know anything about this?" she asked. Buffy nodded. "We're toast." "Like something out of Ghostbusters?" "Even worse." "Buffy. Can you reach in the back of my dress?" "What?" "Can you reach," said Kara in a low voice, "in the back of my dress? You'll have to rip it open. But I've got the wire cutters in there." "You do?" "Yeah. Dropped 'em in during the fight. Think you can manage to reach them?" "I don't know," Buffy admitted. "Kind of awkward with these things on. It'll be hard to get into position." "Especially with them watching," said Supergirl. "But if you don't—" "Oh, can it, Kara," Buffy said. "You know I'm going to try." There were no more lights on the roof of the Tower than were absolutely necessary. Mainly, just the lights that illuminated the TV towers behind them, plus a few portable lights scattered in various places. There was still a possibility they might be found out, but the necessity for concealment was passing. The two of them couldn't see everything from their vantage point, but they did see two figures in dark robes going to separate positions and standing there, holding strange books before themselves, open like hymnals. Which, Kara guessed, in a negative way, might not be too far off. The voice of John Vladislav rang out. "Power up." A switch on a portable generator was thrown. Track lighting on the metal flange was activated, revealing more of the mystic symbols than Kara wanted to see. They could both hear the hum of power. "Chant," called out Vladislav. The two robed figures, and more of them than Buffy or Supergirl could see, fixed their gazes on their open books and began to repeat words from the books, rhythmically, hypnotically. Kara knew many of the languages of Earth, but this one was mostly a mystery to her. She suspected that its origins lie somewhere other than Earth. This did not reassure her. "Stand by," Vladislav ordered. Kara felt Buffy's fingers straining, fumbling at her dress. The wire cutters had been thrown down the back of her collar, in between her dress and the Supergirl suit she wore beneath it. It was a miracle their captors had missed them, but Kara estimated that Rao owed them a miracle or two right now. "Buffy," she said, urgently. "I'm trying to get to it, Kara," said Buffy. "I'm trying." The voices of the strange cantors rose and fell. Kara had been in the presence of sorcerers before–Mordru and Drang came to mind–but none quite like this. Mages of the Undead, things to whom damnation had long ago become an established and inescapable fact, and to whom service to the Dark was a thing as common as a corporate executive apple-polishing for his boss. The ambience had changed, perceptibly. The cold winds that lashed them bore a new note. There was a cry of surprise and, yes, fear from the vampires. "Shut up, shut up," said Vladislav. But his voice, too, had a tinge of terror. The cantors were chanting one word now, over and over: M'NAGALAH....M'NAGALAH...M'NAGALAH... Supergirl looked up, behind and above them, beyond the post both of them were tied to. She looked at the two TV towers, and her mouth opened in astonishment. An aperture was opening in the very air above them, and something was tumbling out. Something glistening, gelatinous, tentacled, eyed, and alive. It settled around the towers, but there was more of it coming out. It was starting to slide down the sides of the towers. "Mr. Vladislav," shouted one of the vampires, "I'm gone!" He shifted into bat-form, tried to get away. Vladislav snapped his fingers. Two others, gifted with form-shifting, turned into bats, went after him, grabbed him, dragged him back to the gangboss. With terrible efficiency, Vladislav tore the offending bat to pieces with his bare hands. That was when Buffy ripped open Kara's dress and, fumblingly, grabbed the wire cutters without seeing them. "Don't look up," advised Kara. "Can you use those things on the ropes? You've got more strength than I do, now." "Let me try," said Buffy, getting the cutters fully into her grasp. "Take your time," said Kara. "We've probably got all of thirty seconds." The glob of whatever-it-was was moving down the towers. Kara knew that the thing could think. She could sense its mentality, as alien to a Kryptonian as to any Earth-being. Whatever M'nagaleh was, in evil he was as far beyond the vampires as the vampires were from her and Buffy. It was drawing on the energies broadcast from the TV towers and from the high-tech pentegram surrounding them. She sensed that it could draw on more energy than that. The power system of the building itself, and, when it consumed that, of the buildings and the city around them. And the lives of all humans in its path. Including hers and Buffy's. A tentacle began to reach down towards them. Not quite like that of an octopus, flatter and thicker, yellowish-orange and partly translucent. The damnable thing was groping around, getting closer to her face. "Buffy..." "I've almost got it. Give me a second more." The flat tip of the tentacle came near her face. She wondered, wildly, if biting it would do any good. Then the most welcome sound of the night reached her ears. The sound of a pair of wire cutters snipping through their bonds. Kara threw herself forward, the top of her hair brushing the tentacle as she passed it. She lay flat on the roof for an instant, then rolled and grabbed Buffy, who was also sprawling. The cut cable still trailed from their wrists. "Give me the cutters," she said. "Now!" Buffy slapped the wire cutters into her hand like a nurse handing a surgeon a pair of forceps. "Hope you're strong enough to do it," she said. A vamp saw the both of them. "Mr. Vladislav," he called out. "Mr. Vladislav, they're..." Buffy Summers leaped up, ran at him, knocked one of the cantors off his feet, and slammed into the vampire. She didn't stop until both of them were at the roof's edge. He had his mouth open and his fangs ready. She slugged him in the chops. With a long cry, he toppled over the side of the building. Evidently, she thought, he wasn't a bat-form kind of guy. Too bad. Buffy whirled, faced the coterie of vampires, and gaped as she caught sight of the abomination on the TV towers. "Good Lord," she whispered. She caught sight of Kara, the rip in her dress showing her red cape, hustling towards the wire she was seeking. The bad guys had to be kept away from her. Even if it meant getting inside that high-tech pentagram again. Even if it meant being under that...thing. With a cry of fury, Buffy ran back, slammed a great kick into the neck of one of the cantors, grabbed his book of spells, and sent it sailing over the edge of the roof. Then she grabbed the cantor, lifted him over her head, and ran with him protesting back inside the pentagram itself. She made sure of where she was going. "No!" "Sorry," she said, and pitched him towards M'nagaleh. A tentacle reached out, snagged him on the fly, and drew him within the greater mass. Buffy could still see his body. But it wasn't moving. John Vladislav was shouting obscenities, and, in between, yelling, "Kill them!" None of the vamps seemed to want to go in the pentagram. They started drawing guns. Biting her lip, Buffy grabbed part of the metal flanging, exerted all her hyped strength, and wrenched it up from the bolts which held it to the roof. Then she ran at the vampires, swinging it like a club. Several shots rang out and she dropped flat to the roof, dodging them. The flange skidded across the surface and stopped at the foot of Robert Platt. Vladislav looked at him. "What're you waiting for, dumbass? Put that thing back where it goes! And you guys, cowboy the Slayer bitch!" Buffy, getting to her knees, saw several guns of various calibers pointed towards her. "So long, Kara," she muttered. "Hope you finish this up for me." Somewhere in there, two hands compressed the ends of a pair of wire cutters as hard as they could and bit through a telltale wire. An instant later, a blurred figure interposed herself between Buffy Summers and her attackers, and hot lead spanged off a blue-clad chest with an S-shield on it. Supergirl's hands flashed out, grabbing the guns out of the hands of the trio of vampire button men and compressing them into scrap. Then her fists flashed out, and rocked their foes into dreamland. Vladislav had already taken it on the lam. Kara turned, grabbed Buffy, and flew with her to another corner of the roof. A sheet lay over a section of it, right where they landed. "What," Buffy started. Supergirl grabbed the sheet and flung it away, revealing what lay below. Some Host wafers, two unbroken vials of holy water, a crucifix, and three stakes in the midst of it. Plus a purse. "That's where it landed when they got me," said Kara. "They couldn't touch it, so they put it under the sheet. My powers are still being drained by the magic here. Can you..." "I can," said Buffy, taking as much of the armament as she could in both her hands. Then she turned to face the vampires, who were keeping their distance, somewhat. "I don't know if this is gonna work, Buffy," said Kara. "But you've got to hold them off so I can try." "You came through for me, Kara," said the Slayer, with a resolute tone. "Now I'll do the same for you." With that, she ran in the direction of the mobsters. A tentacle flopped down in the spot she'd just vacated. Kara looked up. M'nagaleh was improving his reach. "O-kay, Brother Blob," she said, gritting her teeth. "Let's see if this works." She flew upward, but a tentacle caught her by the waist and wound about her. It burned, like acid. Desperately, she caught it with a blast of heat vision, severing it from M'nagaleh's body. Then she unwound it, burning her hands in the process, and flung it to the roof. On impulse, she blasted at M'nagaleh with her eye-beams. The amorphous being sizzled a bit, blackened in spots. But it was too large, too powerful, and too other-worldly to be destroyed by that. If it even could be destroyed. Kara went with her original plan and, flying to the top of the towers, put her hands on one of them, exerted her reduced strength, and, with a great wrenching of metal from ferroconcrete, tore it out of the roof. Then she did the same to the other tower. All over Chicago, TV screens would be going blank. Perhaps that would be a blessing. She glanced for an instant at Buffy. The Slayer girl was in the midst of the foe, slamming home stakes, brandishing her crucifix, kicking out, dodging bullets. What Kara was doing had to be done quickly, if she was to survive. Supergirl grasped the top of the left-hand tower and, flying upward, began to haul both towers and M'nagaleh into space. The voice filled her mind. She didn't have to know who was sending it. sent Kara. But, as she accelerated into the ionosphere and beyond, she felt M'nagaleh's power trying to dominate her will. And, given what he seemed to be capable of, she admitted that his will might override hers in a very short time. She had intended to strand him in space, if she could. But it didn't appear as though she'd be able to get him far out enough in the void, given her reduced power and velocity, to keep him from being drawn back to Earth in too short a time. it thought. Its tentacles and mass began crawling up the tower towards her. It took Supergirl all of five seconds to decide what to do. She knew the correct vibrational harmony to attain to reach a score of parallel Earths and sidereal dimensions. It would take some doing, especially to shake the towers and what was on them along with her. But it was possible. With all her power, Kara began to vibrate. In seconds, the TV towers and M'nagaleh were vibrating sympathetically with her. In a move the Flash had taught her and Superman long ago, they began to lose the vibrational pitch that attuned them to Earth-One, and to slip into another plane of existence. The deadliest one she knew of. thought M'nagaleh, and, indeed, she had to fight the impulse to stop right then and there. But she didn't. Within seconds, she saw a similar but different Earth below her, and a different solar system and set of stars about her. She felt the bee-stinging of contramatter particles against her body, and knew if she remained more than a few seconds here, she would be in more danger, perhaps, than M'nagaleh could offer. Below her was the anti-matter Earth of the universe of Qward. thought M'nagaleh, his bulk coursing towards her. said Supergirl, and thrust the towers away with all her strength. A tentacle reached out for her face, brushed it, missed. The mass of metal and monster hurtled towards the rotating globe below. In seconds it was within the outer atmosphere, and small bursts of flaming explosion were seen. By the time it got to slightly denser atmosphere, the anti-matter fully reacted with the positive matter of the towers and what was on them. It exploded, greatly. There was a terrible moment of obscenity in Supergirl's mind. Then it passed. Hovering outside the blanket of anti-air that surrounded the Qwardian Earth, Kara took a long moment to compose herself. Then she began to vibrate once again. In seconds, she was back within the space of her own universe. Seconds after that, she was over the Sears Tower. Thankfully, Buffy was still holding her own. There were several piles of dust and clothing about her. Evidently, she'd been busy. Supergirl landed nearby and began knuckle-dusting jaws. A couple of vamps tried to batshift out of there. Her heat-vision seared their wings, and they dropped back to the roof. Buffy took a stake in each hand and dispatched them both. Kara winced. "I'm sure glad I don't have to do that," she said. "You should be," Buffy answered. John Vladislav was already starting to run towards the door to the stairs. The entire operation, gone. Just like that. Just because some dumb son of a fanger hadn't searched the two bitches well enough. An op that could have put the whole world at the feet of the Moon, under M'nagaleh. Well, they'd get payback for it. All it took was time, and money, and he had enough of those. A hit squad after the Slayer, and Kryptonite for Superbroad. He'd attend to both of them as soon as he went to ground. But someone was waiting for him on the stairs. Robert Platt. "Outta my way," snarled Vladislav, starting to bring his hand out in a slap. "Don't you know who's behind me?" One of Platt's hands came out from behind him to ward off the slap. "Oh, I wouldn't worry so much about who's behind you, Mr. V.," he said. "It's what's in front of you that you should worry about." His other hand came out with a stake in it. Vladislav's eyes went wide. He tried to twist away. He wasn't quite fast enough. Platt buried the stake in his chest and watched the Big Boss go dusty all over his shoes. From the pile that remained, Platt salvaged a pair of diamond cufflinks and a wristwatch. Then he turned to go. He felt something grabbing him by the shoulders. Then he felt it hauling him up the stairs and out the roof door with terrific speed. "Hey, what," was all he had time to say before the force holding him set him down on his feet, in front of the Slayer girl. There were a lot of piles of dust covering the roof. That saddened him. But he knew he had other things to worry about. Time for bargaining. He smiled at her and held out the stake, blunt end first. "I borrowed this," he said. "Used it to take care of somebody for you." "Isn't that nice," said Buffy, neutrally, and took the stake from him. Then she began to advance, holding the crucifix in one hand. Platt started to back away. He ran into Supergirl, with her arms folded. To her, he said, "Listen. I know you're not into this slaying thing. I did your work for you. We can do a deal." "No, we can't," said Kara. "And our work isn't finished yet." A second after that, a wooden stake slammed through Platt's body and abutted Kara's chest. She saw terror in his eyes just before he turned into a heap of dust. She shivered. "Does that ever get to you?" "All the time," said Buffy. -S- It took a good deal of explanation to the cops and building authorities, plus the reconstruction of the TV towers, which took her a few hours. Advertisers complained about lost income, but the stations promised to make it up to them. A lot of viewers griped about missing their favorite programs. Luckily, everybody trusted Supergirl enough to accept what she told them, which was that they'd faced a bunch of super-villains and an invader from space. That was true, as far as it went. What of the Church's armament there was to be recovered was bundled up and taken back to Bishop Ryan, with thanks. Blackie had her pose for a Polaroid with him, which was taken by one of the Megans. He would never reveal to visitors the whole story of her visitation. The day after that, Buffy announced to the crew at Mrs. Rabinowitz's boarding house that she'd learned enough about the Sears Tower for now, and that she was leaving. Linda smiled warmly, shook her hand, summoned a cab for her, and helped her with her luggage. At the airport, Buffy wondered, idly, what was in store for her back in Sunnydale, because something always seemed to be. She thought about her friends, and what it would be like to see them again, and how much she could tell them about her new sister-in-arms. Mostly, she looked out of the window she was facing, towards the planes that were loading and unloading passengers. "Excuse me," said a voice. "Okay if I sit here?" She recognized it. Buffy turned her head and saw a familiar blonde woman in a green pantsuit, standing before her. "Absolutely," she grinned. "I'm glad you came." "Couldn't let you go without saying goodbye," said Supergirl, sitting beside her. "Suppose I could have flown you myself, but I'm kind of busy today and you've already paid for your ticket." "Yeah,"said Buffy. "Besides, I'd like to get back to normal. Relatively normal, I mean." "I think we made a good team out there," said Kara. "But I hope we don't have to do it again. It isn't really my speed." Buffy nodded. "I understand, Kara. But I really liked working with you." "Yeah. And I like you, Buffy." "Thanks." Supergirl's expression sobered. "But if what you have back in Sunnydale is as tough as what you had to face here..." "Sometimes it is," said Buffy, and wondered what Kara would say next. "...Then I'm glad they've got somebody like you to take care of it," Kara finished. Buffy hugged her warmly. "Thanks, Kara. I'm glad you understand." Hugging her back, Supergirl said, "Oh, yes, I understand, Buff. Just like I had to understand when I came here, sixteen years ago. It was tough. Tough as Sheol. But I managed to make it, because I had to. And I think you will, too." "If you ever get out to Sunnydale, look me up," said Buffy. "I've got friends who'll want to meet you." She paused. "But if we do, it'll probably be on business." "Yeah," said Kara. "So you take care of business where you are. And if you need some help, call Clark Kent at WGBS in Metropolis. Tell him Kara sent you. He knows how to get in touch with Superman, and Superman can get in touch with me." She pressed a piece of paper into Buffy's hand. "This is the number." Buffy stuck it in her purse. "Thank you," she said. Kara looked out the window at a plane taxiing towards the docking area. "I think that's yours," she said. "Be good, Buffy. I'll be seeing you." "You too, Kara," said the Slayer, squeezing her hand. "Take care." She bussed Supergirl on the cheek. Kara smiled, then got up and walked away. Half an hour later, by a window seat, reading a romance novel, Buffy's attention was drawn by a number of surprised squeals and raised voices. Among them was one familiar phrase. "Look! Up in the sky!" She turned towards the window. Flying beside their plane, pacing it, was a blue-clad, red-caped, blonde-haired figure. She was close enough that Buffy could see she was smiling. A number of the passengers were waving at her. Buffy waved, too, as hard as she could, and mouthed words of greeting. Supergirl looked straight at her, and waved back. Then she banked off and headed towards Chicago, with the people in the pressurized cabin cheering. Buffy watched her until she was lost in the distance. Then she turned back to her romance novel. For awhile, it'd be nice to think about normal things, for a change. Then she sighed, gave it up, sat back, and closed her eyes. And, for the rest of the trip back home, she mainly thought of Supergirl. ******* Like it or not, this one has to be for Frito, who put me up to it. So much for that.