Part One

Buffy skated smoothly around the rink once again, catching up with the pack from behind. With a swift swipe of her leg, the woman blocking her progress fell with a crunch to the floor, her layers of padding softening the blow just a bit. Buffy victoriously skated past her and her team members nudged her forward as she made her way to the front of the pack. The woman Buffy had just knocked down had gotten back up on her feet and was coming after her. Buffy could have easily outskated her, but, after all, a fight was what the crowd wanted to see. She slowed down and let the middle-aged woman skate up behind her. The crowd shouted words of warning to Buffy as the woman hit her over the head with her fist. Buffy momentarily lost her balance, but she regained it, and tripped her attacker. The woman flew downward to the rink and came to a stop. Buffy went over to her and bashed her in the head. Of course, she didnąt injure her badly (although she certainly could). The "referees" (whatever good they did) approached and Buffy allowed herself to be hauled away, but not before she delivered a kick to the woman's shin. Her team won of course, and the females hugged each other and congratulated each other on their victory. Buffy and her team went to a nearby ice cream store that happened to be open at 11:00, and they all sat down and talked. Buffy was the star of the night, but she was slightly withdrawn. As her teammates bonded around her, Buffy wondered how she had ever gotten here.

She had gotten on a bus to leave Sunnydale two weeks ago after Acathla had been put to rest. She had sent her one true love, the only one who understood her, to hell, where he was doomed to an immortal life of pain and torture. Just when they had found each other again, she had to destroy him. She decided it would be best not to lead any more people she cared about down her path of destruction. Buffy couldnąt even say goodbye in person, she didn't feel like she could say anything without breaking down into tears. The guilt was overwhelming. First she had caused Angel to become evil again, then Theresa and Ms. Calendar were killed, then Kendra, Willow fell into a coma, Giles was tortured almost to death, Xander broke his arm, she had roughly dismissed her mother, and Angel was burning in hell. And all of it was her fault. She couldn't face any of them, so she got out of there as fast as she could. When she finally found the will to get off the bus, she found companionship by joining the roller derby. Her teammates became her friends. They supported her in a very motherly way (they were all older than her), but gave her space and didnąt know her secret. Roller derby was the perfect "sport" for her, combining her superior fighting skills and her previous knowledge of ice skating. Plus, after competitions she could go hunt vampires before going to sleep in her cheap hotel room.

"And on my command, open this portal into the fiery other realm," Willow chanted. Energy swirled above the mirror, sending sparks into Willow's face. But she did not waver. "Open the gate. Now!" The energy converged and created a swirling vortex of fire. Giles, Willow, Cordelia, Xander, and Oz watched as it grew larger and larger, threatening to consume the table over which it swirled. "Stop your progress, keep the portal open! The fire shall grow no more." The vortex stopped growing and remained that size, crackling and twisting. Willow stopped chanting and took a breath of relief. "Almost done," she told the others.

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