Dawn of Destruction

By:  Morrigan & Blacknblue2


A/N:  Thanks to everyone who has continued to review!  We love hearing from everyone, and we hope you enjoy this chapter!


Disclaimer:  All characters are property of Joss Whedon and ME, except for our original characters, of course.  They are ours, ours ours!  *L*



At the slayer's request, Jason, the dark haired man sitting to Richard's right, took it upon himself to start the ball rolling.  "All right, here's what we know," he began.

Half an hour later, after a long and tedious speech from Jason, the Scoobies knew exactly two new things:  One, the portals were indeed gateways to another dimension.  Two, a large group of Mahe'era demons were spotted near each portal.

"So," said Dawn, "you're saying there are portals and demons."

"That's correct," answered Jason.

"But you don't know where the portals travel to, or why they've suddenly started showing up."

"Well," Jason replied, "There is some connection between the portals and the demons.  Although we can't be certain exactly what--"

"That's right," interrupted Richard, with a wink to Dawn that caused her to blush, "which is part of why we're here.  We're hoping to acquire your help with determining what plans these demons may have.  Although we have extensive data on the different types of demons, we were told you were the ones to see in case of potential apocalypse."

Noticing many individuals in the group beginning to murmur amongst themselves nervously after his declaration, Richard held up his hands and quickly continued, saying, "Now we're definitely not at the apocalypse stage, but there has been massive destruction and devastation as a result of these portal-produced tidal waves, and we hope to keep future damage to a minimum."

"But," Willow held up her hand to gain Richard's attention before she continued to speak, "if you don't know what they are here for, or even what the connection is, how can you say anything for certain?  With all due respect, an apocalypse doesn't just come out and say, hi! I'm the apocalypse, just wanted to introduce myself before I go about my business."

A few chuckles rose up from the group around Willow, in response to her words, causing her to lower her eyes in embarrassment for a moment.  As Tara's hand quietly settled in hers, she took a deep breath, raising her eyes again to meet Richard's and continued.

"All I am saying is that I know a little bit about these sorts of things.  And, what I know for certain is that portals don't appear for no reason and they don't just *stay* open.  Someone opens one for a specific purpose, and once that purpose is fulfilled, they are closed.  Otherwise, anyone or anything on the other side could follow the portal's creator back through.  Has anyone even tried to find out where they lead?"

"The portals appear to be sealed on this side," answered Jason.  "We know they must still be open on the other side, or they would have closed by now.  However, it is possible that there is simply some sort of barrier keeping us from entering."

Xander snickered.  "So you're saying you can't get through because of a force field? That's classic!"

"A force field?" asked one of the previously silent military men.

"Ummm, yea," answered Xander.  "Y'know, in Star Trek, there were...  Oh, never mind."

"Actually," Tara spoke up, shyly, "That's not such a far fetched idea.  I mean, not in a Star-Trek kind of way, of course...  But, more like a barrier spell.  Like - like those used for protection."

"Oh!"  Willow exclaimed, excitedly.  "That's true! And, if it's a protection spell, we may be able to find a
counter-spell to take it down!  Tara and I can do that!  It would take us a little time, but..."

The New Initiative members exchanged glances to one another, while Willow babbled on, each silently wondering if they had stumbled upon the key to solving this mystery.

After first nodding to Richard, Jason waved to get Willow's attention.  "Okay, slow down," he said to her, smiling lightly.  "What do we need to do in order to find out?"

Willow began telling Jason about a simple reveal spell while Tara wrote down a list of ingredients.  "Now you can't do this yourself," said Willow.  "You have to have someone with at least slight mystical abilities.  Actually, if you can have all your men gather a little closer together..."  She paused, waiting while they followed her suggestion.  "Acclaro magus ingenium," she said, while tracing a rune in the air in front of the men.

Nothing appeared to happen, until Tara turned off the overhead light.  A faint glow could be seen coming from one of the men.  "What's your name?"  Xander asked the man.

"Ummm...it's Kevin," he answered, looking rather worried.

"Well, congratulations, Kevin," said Xander, "You're pregnant."

"Huh?"  Kevin's eyes bugged in confusion, and he leaned in a little closer to Xander as he finished, "Excuse me, I'm what?"

It was Giles who stepped in to answer his question.  Patting Kevin on the back, he announced, "You, sir, appear to have a little un-tapped magical potential in you.  It looks as though you get to be the one to help us solve this part of the riddle."

"Wow!"  Kevin exclaimed, showing a bit more excitement than he had intended.  As the rest of the team turned to him, he sniffed and suppressed his grin, changing his look to one of indifference as he said, "That's cool.  Let's get this thing on the ball then."

While Tara went over the spell with him, Willow told Richard where to find the ingredients they would need.

"So you'll call us as soon as you discover whether the barrier is, in fact, mystical, correct?" asked Giles.

"That's correct, sir," answered Jason.  "However, it is a rather long flight, and we won't be there for at least eight hours, even with the fastest transports we have available."

Jason was interrupted by his cell phone ringing, and he quickly answered it.  "Yes, Sir.  Yes, Sir.  I understand.  Right away, Sir," he said, and then hung up.  He then turned to his squad.  "Looks like we'll be able to try out that spell a little sooner than we thought," he said.  "Another portal just opened in Hualañe."

"Hualañe?" asked Dawn.  "Where's that?"

"It's in Chile, Bit," answered Spike.  "That's South America.  Looks like they're getting closer."