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...
Batman ran at the Sunnydale High School, eager to find Buffy and the others. He could hear them screaming for help, somewhere deep inside the building.
But what did it matter? He couldn't save them any more than he could save Jason. Involving himself in their lives only put them in greater danger, and ultimately cost them their lives. They would all be better off if he stayed away.
He could still hear them crying for help from somewhere within the school. Help that he couldn't possibly give them. They would have to survive on their own somehow, without his dangerous influence. Resigned, he turned to walk away from the school, to spare them from Jason's fate. If he interfered, Angel would still kill them all, the same way he had killed Jason.
He stopped.
Angel had never killed Jason, until today.
He was in the Scarecrow's nightmare. His grief had subverted his ability to reason. Why would Angel, a vampire he had never met, appear in his nightmare? Let alone be the cause of his anguish, watching Jason die, when it was the Joker who had killed him? Angel was Buffy's enemy, not his. Which meant his dream – and everyone else's – was somehow linked to Buffy's nightmare about Angel. Faust and Avurkana must have enhanced the Scarecrow's effects, merging all of their dreams together in the same nightmare realm, with Buffy at the center of it. They were using her perception of Angel as a focal point, sending the vampire to threaten each one of them. If Buffy failed to defeat him, as the Champion protecting those depending on her, her fear would amplify theirs.
Effectively raising Kalderon, just as Faust planned.
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In reality, they were all still unconscious somewhere near Faust, possibly hearing one another talking or crying out in their sleep. The screams he heard from the others weren't from the dream realm. They were real screams and moans from the sleeping hosts, as they suffered through their own nightmares.
He considered using his sonic whistle to wake everyone up, but his devices here were only manifestations of his mind. He couldn't know what was happening to his sleeping form, or if anything he did would even rouse him, after Faust had enchanted the Scarecrow's drug. The only way to break free of their nightmares was to overcome each of their private fears. Including his own fear of losing another teenage partner.
He had to find the others. Faust's spell that merged their dreams together, creating a common enemy, would work to his advantage. They were all sharing this nightmare realm, so they could break free of it together.
He started back toward the screams within the school. Then he stopped, upon hearing another cry, followed by rapid hoofbeats.
Helena. He was not only hearing their unconscious cries, but in this merged reality, even their subconscious thoughts had become closely connected. Helena was riding, galloping fast on Crimson.
He shut his eyes, focusing on the sound of Helena's horse approaching. The measure of each hoofbeat pounding the ground, the height and speed and distance of Crimson's gallop, combined with his knowledge of Helena's stature and position of her saddle. Then he leaped sideways toward the sound, finding the back of the horse and climbing up onto it. He opened his eyes to find himself straddling Crimson directly behind the saddle, as they raced through the forest. "Helena!" he called.
