Part One: Sunnydale, CA 1998
"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late," Buffy said, dropping
a large package
on the library desk. "The mall was way too
crowded, so I decided
to check out those bunches of little shops
on McLeerny Street."
"Buffster, man you should have been here, Cordelia
said the
cutest thing--" Xander snapped his mouth shut
and mentally
punched himself for that one. Jeez, why don't
I just put out fliers,
he thought disgustedly, and went to work repairing
the damage. "I
mean the stupidest thing it was so dumb I...I
can't even repeat it!"
Buffy looked on suspiciously as Cordelia and
Xander quickly
busied themselves looking something up for
Giles. "Umm...okay.
Anyways, look what I got!" She said excitedly,
pulling out an
ancient looking lava-lamp. It was crusted
with rust and grime, as if
it had perhaps been buried, or had sat upon
a forgotten shelf for
years and years. For a few moments her friends
were speechless,
not quite sure how to react to the artifact
before them.
"Uhh...Buffy? I definitely think someone cheated
you out of your
money. That has got to be the ugliest lava-lamp
I've ever seen..."
Willow finally blurted. Realizing that she’d
spoken her thoughts
aloud, she quickly added, "I mean ugly in
the nicest way possible,
of course—kind of like Cabbage Patch Dolls."
"Well I like it!" Buffy said defiantly, rubbing
off some dust. "It will go
good with my—"
"Stakes, metal crosses and holy water?" Cordelia
cut in snidely.
"For once I'm agreeing with Willow, that thing
is atrocious. I have a
brand new lava-lamp that comes up to my waist
and it is sooo
much better than that crusty old thing."
"I dunno, I guess it's kinda cool looking,"
Willow decided, coming
over to inspect the large hour-shaped glass.
"It looks old," she
continued, wiping off some dirt.
Xander leaned across the table and ran a finger-line
through the
muck on the glass. "I hope they gave you a
couple hundred
scrubber sponges with that," he remarked staring
at his finger in
disgust.
"EW! It moved!" Cordelia yelled, jumping from the table.
"What are you blabbing about now?" Buffy sighed,
pulling out her
math book.
"Your stupid, crusty lamp, It MOVED! Look—it did it again!"
Buffy and Xander eyed her skeptically and started
to return to
their work.
"Guys," Willow called, her voice shaking slightly,
"Umm...Cordelia's right, I saw it, too..."
"Ya know...What is it with you two? First Cordy
backs you up with
the ugly lamp thing and now..." Xander trailed
off as the lamp
jumped to the ground and started shaking.
Buffy tried to grab it, but the lamp fell on
its side and rolled under
the desk. Cordelia screamed and jumped up
onto the table while
Xander and Buffy chased the lamp.
"Got it!" Xander yelled triumphantly as he
tackled the lava-lamp. A
weird expression crossed his face and before
Buffy could grab
him he was floating ten feet in the air, hanging
on to the lamp for
dear life. "Umm...I think it's pissed."
"You bet your sweet ass I am," came a disembodied
voice. A
second later, Xander was in the arms of an
auburn haired girl,
who lowered him to the ground slowly. "What
in the lords name
are boys eating this century?" she grumbled,
dropping a shocked
Xander into a chair. She scanned the room,
to gain her bearings.
She stopped as she spotted Buffy. She eyed
the Slayer curiously
noting that the girl’s bell bottoms and platforms
matched her own
almost exactly. The only difference in their
dress was that she had
on a tie-died halter top, while Buffy was
wearing a white tank-top.
"Is it still the 70's? I could have sworn I'd
been in there for at least
20 years!" the mysterious stranger stretched
and sighed
impatiently. Xander, Buffy, and Willow were
all staring at her as if
she had appeared out of nowhere...which she
kinda had, she
reminded herself. "OK are you guys gonna tell
me what year this
is or sit around with your tongues hanging
out?"
"I...I...think I'll continue with...with...t-t-the
latter..." Xander
stuttered, still not moving. Cordelia sighed
impatiently and stepped
down from the table, pushing past Buffy who
was trying to decide
whether to start fighting, or apologizing.
Well, at least she was
going to do something, unlike her companions.
"Hi, and welcome to our country...err, world.
My name is Cordelia.
That moron you were just carrying is my boyf—Umm...I
mean he's
Xander, and that blast-from-the past girl
is Buffy, and computer
geek, here, is Willow. Welcome to the Hellmouth.
Now, who the
Hell are you?"
The girl smiled a brilliant smile and gazed
at her. "My name is
Talia, and I’d like to thank you all for setting
me free!"