A dangerous sorcerer named Felix Faust has come to Sunnydale, intent on raising an ancient demon to subjugate all of humankind. To succeed, he must perform a powerful curse to displace his enemies, transporting them from one time and place and exch...
Outside the walls of their hourglass prison, Xander spied a dark figure entering the cave, wearing a cloak that billowed out around him. It was Batman! Thank God!
Then he noticed another shadowy cloaked figure, walking ahead of him. Two Batmen?
Both silhouetted figures approached Faust, Avurkana, and the Scarecrow, as the small pack of standing werewolves swarmed around them.
"Hey, Will, look, we're saved," he said with forced enthusiasm. "I hope ..."
"All right, I've brought her," Batman announced, keeping Faust directly in his sights as the werewolves surrounded them. He held the arm of the Red Rider as she stood before Faust and the others, her head bowed, her wrists bound with thick rope.
"How mercenary of you, detective," Faust said, pleased. "I didn't know you had it in you."
"Just remove the hourglass illusion and release those kids," Batman ordered. "Let's not prolong this any more than we have to."
"Of course," Faust said, spreading his hands graciously. "I don't want to keep offending your sensitivities about sacrificing an innocent girl. Scarecrow, take her."
The Scarecrow seized the Red Rider's shoulders, forcing her to gasp as he tugged her away from Batman. "Relax, my dear," he hissed. "It will soon be over. For you, and the rest of the human race, once your darkest fears provide the fuel to raise Kalderon."
Batman stared at the wooden box set on the dirt behind the Scarecrow. The same crate with etched markings that sat in Giles' library back at Sunnydale High School, housing the same half-man, half-scorpion demon statue of Kalderon. The monster existed in both times, waiting to be awakened in all times at once, to subjugate all of humanity with his demonic hordes.
"You know what?" the Red Rider said. "My darkest fears are kind of private. Sort of like a diary. Not to be shared with those who still sing, 'If I Only Had a Brain.'"
Faust and Avurkana turned toward her, as Faust scowled. "That's not the Red Rider," he grumbled.
"No, I am," Helena said, entering from behind them all in her plain white tunic, her crossbow raised. "And I know more than one way into this cave."
A werewolf snarled and lunged forth. Helena fired a single bolt as he leapt at her. She struck him dead between the eyes and he fell to the dirt in a heap.
"Pay no attention to that girl beneath the hood," Buffy said, peeling back the red hood she was hiding underneath, as the Scarecrow gaped at her. "Unless you want to avoid getting punched."
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She rabbit punched his face, knocking him off his feet.
Batman flung a wad of putty at Faust's mouth. It slapped his lips and spread across them, sealing them shut. "No more spellcasting," he said.
