Post by a0040pc on Oct 15, 2009 12:05:03 GMT -5
This story takes place in Buffy the Vampire Season Eight between issue eleven (A Beautiful Sunset) and issue twelve (Wolves At The Gate Part One).
It was a stormy night at the citadel in Scotland where Buffy and the Scoobies had set up base there was a lot going on. Buffy had recently fought the Twilight and in her mind the results could have gone better. She was more focused then ever on defeating this demon. Not only was she training herself but she was also training all the other slayers that lived in the Citadel. She wasn’t really thinking about much else.
Inside her personal training room Buffy was punching and kicking away at a dummy. She was picking up a sweat but she kept going. But eventually Xander came into the room. He was wet since it had been raining outside. He brushed some of the water out his hair using his hand.
“Typical Scottish weather,” said Xander. “Rains every other day.”
“Xander you didn’t come here to talk about the weather,” replied Buffy. She continued to punch and kick the dummy.
“You got me there.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Its Dawn something seems to be troubling her.”
“Something’s always troubling her and since she’s become a giant she’s always gone on about her problem.”
“I really think you need to talk to her.”
“She’s a big girl now whatever’s troubling her she can overcome it herself don’t you think?”
“But you’re her sister. Aren’t you suppose to be there for her through thick and thin. From infinity and beyond?”
“That’s to Infinity and Beyond.”
“But you catch my drift. You need to talk to her.”
“Oh can’t someone else do it?”
“I tried but she’s just shutting me out.”
“What about Willow?”
“Willow’s gone to Stonehenge with the other witches. She said there was trouble brewing there.”
“Looks like I’m the only one who can talk to her then.”
Just then a roar of thunder made Xander jump. Buffy couldn’t help but giggle at her friend.
“Is Colonel Fury afraid of a little thunder?” asked Buffy.
“Hey it caught me by surprise,” replied Xander. “But this doesn’t change everything as co-leader of the Scoobies I’m requesting that you talk to Dawn.”
“Fine but you owe me for this.”
“Thanks Buff.”
Buffy then left her training room and she walking to the stables where Dawn was staying. She could see her giant sister drinking a barrel of water. But when she discovered that it was empty she threw it at the wall completely destroying the barrel. She then gave out a small sigh. At this moment in time she didn’t realise that Buffy was there watching her.
“A waste of a perfectly good barrel,” said Buffy.
Dawn then turned her head and she saw her sister standing at the top of the stairs. Since Dawn was too tall to stand up in the stables she had to sit down. But when she would sit down she would just be able to fit into the stables.
While she was sitting down Dawn and Buffy were at eye level. But Buffy was not too far away from her sister. But Dawn didn’t really like seeing Buffy right now and she glared at her.
“What do you want?” asked Dawn.
“Well I wouldn’t mind having a million bucks and Johnny Depp as my husband,” replied Buffy.
“Don’t get smart with me.”
“Ok I’m here because Xander says something was wrong with you. So here I am trying to be a good sister.”
“If you were a good sister then I wouldn’t be feeling like crap.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong.”
“Its you.”
“What me?”
“You’re too busy with your slayers that you haven’t been seeing me at all.”
“Come on I see you all the time.”
“When was the last time you saw me when you wanted to?”
“We saw each other outside yesterday.”
“That was because you were training the other slayers. I was there because I didn’t want to be cramped in here.”
“What about the time before when I came in here to see you.”
“That was because there was a party and you wanted to make sure I didn’t drink too much.”
“Ok I get it. I admit I should be here more for you. But right now I’m trying to deal with something very important.”
“More important then me?”
“Yes more important then you. I’m dealing with something that could possible bring the apocalypse.”
“There’s always an apocalypse Buffy. You could have given some time to see me. Do you know how lonely I am here? I can’t train with you, I can’t go shopping and everyone thinks I’m a fifty foot freak.”
“You’re not a freak Dawn.”
“But everyone acts like they do. I wish Mom was here.”
“She’s not here Dawn as much as we hope she’s never coming back. There’re things I need to get back to. Sorry Dawn.”
“Don’t leave.”
“I’ve got to.”
Dawn then moved towards Buffy and put her hand in the way of the door so that her older sister couldn’t get through.
“Let me through Dawn,” said Buffy.
“No you’re staying here,” replied Dawn. “You can’t ignore me forever.”
“Well if you weren’t being such a brat I wouldn’t have to ignore you.”
These words hit Dawn like an arrow into her heart. A couple of tears rolled down her face and she removed her hand from the door. But her sadness quickly turned to anger and rage.
“Fine if I’m being such a brat then I suppose I can give you another reason to ignore me,” said Dawn.
She then moved towards the large doors of the stables and she opened them. She then began to crawl out. Buffy began to walk down the steps and she was getting worried with what was happening.
“Dawn what are you doing?” asked Buffy.
“Getting as far away from you as possible,” replied Dawn coldly. She continued to crawl out. “You can’t stop me even if you wanted to.”
After a couple of seconds Dawn got to the outside and she stood up to her full height. The rain was still pouring down and she was getting wet. But she didn’t care about the rain. She just walked away from the citadel. Buffy ran to the doors of the stables and she saw Dawn walking away.
“Dawn come back here right now!” shouted Buffy.
But Dawn just ignored her older sister and continued to walk. A couple of seconds later Xander came to the barn. He walked over to where Buffy was standing and he gave out a small sigh.
“Something tells me it didn’t go well,” said Xander.
“I said something that I shouldn’t have said,” replied Buffy. “And now Dawn’s gone.” She then put her hand on her head. She was feeling stressed.
“Shouldn’t we go after her?”
“No she needs time to blow off some steam. She’ll be back soon. Besides we wouldn’t be able to catch up with her.”
Not too far away Dawn was still walking away from the citadel and towards the forest. In rage she kicked a tree. But since her strength was disproportionate to her size it caused her a lot of pain. It did make the tree fall but it had caused some damage to her foot. At first she thought that she had broken a bone in her foot.
But just then she saw a bolt of lightning hit the ground roughly a mile away from where she was. But she was amazed to see that there seemed to be a small town right next to where the bolt of lightning had struck. There were also a couple of farmers fields right next to the town.
Towns like this were pretty common in Scotland. But Dawn had walked here several times and she had never seen this town. The town itself was too large for her to have missed.
Her common sense told her to walk away and keep going. But her curiosity began to set in. She began to walk towards the town to investigate. She didn’t know what she was going to see there.
Due to her size the mile walk was accomplished in mere minutes. But she noticed something odd about this town. The only building that was taller then her was a clock tower. But all the buildings looked to be of a very old design. But they seemed to be brand new.
She saw people walking the streets of the town. But they were all wearing clothes that were in fashion in the mid nineteenth century. At first none of them had really noticed her coming towards them.
But eventually one person saw her and they began to alert the other people. A couple of women screamed and a few people ran away.
“Bloody hell it’s a giant!” shouted a random man. “Get the women and children to safety.”
Dawn could see that it was best that she leave the town. She turned around and walked away. But just on the edge of a field surrounding the town she hit something. At first she thought that someone had thrown something at her. But she felt an invisible wall in front of her. She knocked it a few times just to make sure it was there. She punched it a few times to try and break it. But unfortunately for her it wasn’t doing anything. It just stopped her from getting past.
“Crap,” she thought. “I’m stuck in here.” She then looked back to the town. “Guess my best way out is asking the townspeople. If I can get a word in before the scream and run away.”
She then went to walk back to the town. But instead she was met by several men with cannons. Again they wore clothes that were in fashion in the mid nineteenth century. A couple of the men had torches with them.
“FIRE!” shouted one of the men.
The other men then fired their cannon balls at Dawn. Most of them missed her but on her in her leg.
“Hey stop that!” demanded Dawn.
But then one cannon ball hit Dawn in the head and she fell to the ground. She could see the men walking towards her. But the world around her began to go back as Dawn lost consciousness.
When Dawn woke up several hours later. The sun was shining and the sky was clear. Her head was hurting her and she tried to move. But to her surprise she couldn’t move. As her vision came back she saw that her hand was tied to the ground. When she turned her head she could see that the rest of her body was tied to the ground. She tried to life her hair but that had also been tied to the ground.
Not too far away from her several men were watching her. These men were different to the ones that had attack her the previous night. But they saw that she was awake and they were wondering what to do.
“The giant she’s awake,” said one of the men.
“Get the mayor,” replied the other man.
A couple of minutes later a huge crowd gathered around Dawn. One man in particular stood quite close to Dawn’s face. He was surrounded by other men wearing nineteenth century military clothes. She still wasn’t very happy about being tied to the ground. Since it had rained the other night the ground was muddy.
“You’re a big lass now aren’t ye,” said the man.
“Let me go,” replied Dawn.
“I can’t do that since I don’t know if you’re just going to go back to our wee town and destroy along with these good townspeople.”
“Let me guess you’re the mayor.”
“Yep Reginald McMillan the third. And what’s your name?”
“Dawn Summers.”
“Ok Miss Summers we’ll release you when we no that you pose no threat to the townspeople of Featherstone. Until then you’re stuck there.”
“Wait what’ll happen to me?”
“Don’t worry you’ll be fed. But if any harm comes to any of my feeders then we’ll end your life immediately do I make myself clear.”
“Whatever.”
“You got some attitude on ye lass. I’d advise ye to lose it. It could cost you dearly.” He then turned around and walked away. “Give her some food.”
Most of the crowd then left with their mayor. A couple stayed to marvel over Dawn’s size. But one man with a wheel barrow walked towards her. He was average height with ginger hair and brown eyes. His attire fitted with the rest of the people in Featherstone. One thing that was striking was that he had a gold chain coming from his pocket. It meant that he had a pocket watch. The wheelbarrow he was carrying had a yellow product inside and Dawn looked at it.
“What’s that?” asked Dawn.
“That is your breakfast Miss Summers,” replied the feeder.
“What is it?”
“Creamed corn. We feed it to the animals.”
“I’m not eating that.”
“I’m afraid it’s all we can spare. You either eat this or I’m ordered to let you starve to death.”
“Fine.”
He then brought the wheelbarrow of creamed corn closer to Dawn. He put it close to her mouth but she just looked at him.
“You expect me to eat it by myself?” asked Dawn.
“Well yeah,” replied the Man.
“My hands are tied down. How the hell am I suppose to feed myself?”
“I see your point Miss Summers.”
He then walked away and a couple of minutes later he came back with a shovel. He then looked at Dawn again and gave her a small smile.
“Open up,” he said.
Dawn then opened her mouth and the man began to shovel the creamed corn into her mouth. With each shovel load he put in she would chew a little and then swallow. It was definitely not the best tasting food Dawn had ever had. But unfortunately it was the only one she could have.
It took several minutes to eat the entire lot. But she felt a little sickly from eating all the creamed corn. The man was still there with his shovel. He grabbed his wheelbarrow and turned it around. He looked at Dawn one more time.
“Did you want anymore?” he asked.
“No I’m fine thank you,” replied Dawn. “I guess I should be thankful to you for feeding me.”
“Well my father did tell me to always be nice to women.”
“I guess your dad was a smart man.”
“I bid you farewell for now.”
“Wait a minute.”
He then stopped and fully turned around.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Well I guess I do have some time left. Besides I’d do especially for a pretty lass like you Miss Summers.”
“Please call me Dawn.”
Meanwhile in the town hall. The Mayor was in his office. There was a large crystal ball on his table. There were a few women around the room dressed in red robes. They had hoods over their eyes so their full face couldn’t be seen.
The mayor sat down at his desk and put some sheep bones right next to the crystal ball. He then closed his eyes.
“Kindon Resjusun masi,” said the Mayor. Suddenly the flames on the candles lighting the room flickered. In the crystal ball two lights represented eyes appeared in the ball itself. The Mayor opened his eyes. “My master.”
“Why are you communicating with me?” replied his master.
“You won’t believe what has come to our town. There is a giant woman amongst us my lord.”
“How is that possible?”
“I do not know.”
“And what has happened with this giant woman?”
“We have captured her and secured her. As far as I know she is no danger to you my master.”
“See to it that she isn’t.”
“You want me to kill her?”
“No she could be useful to me. If she becomes too much of a danger to myself then take necessary action.”
“I shall my lord.”
“Do not contact me unless it is anything important. I will contact you when I need you Reginald.”
“As you wish my Lord.”
It then disappeared from crystal ball and the Mayor just sat there for a moment. He then looked towards one of the priestesses.
“Bring me the local bobby,” he said.
One of the priestesses then left the room. Only a couple of seconds later she came back with a man wearing a policeman uniform from the nineteenth century. He seemed to be a little worried about being in the Mayor’s office.
“Good morning Mayor McMillan,” he said.
“Constable Lang I need a service from you,” replied the Mayor.
“What is it?”
“I need the giant under constant surveillance. I want a report of her done every hour on the hour.”
“As you wish.”
Meanwhile Dawn enjoyed talking to her feeder. She had learned that his name was Rory Alistair. He was a very nice man and she enjoyed listening to his accent. It made her feel somewhat normal.
“Now Dawn if it were up to me I’d let you go,” said Rory. “But I cannae do that. I’d be killed.”
“I hope I get free sometime,” replied Dawn. “I feel like I’m suffocating a little.”
“I cannae do anything to ease that either sorry. But on a lighter note you remind me of Gulliver.”
“Who’s Gulliver?”
“You know from Gulliver’s travels.”
“Oh yeah.”
“You remind me of when he first went to Lilliput. The inhabitants tied him down to the ground just like we did to you. I can’t say that was entirely original of us don’t ya think?” he then laughed a little and even Dawn giggled.
“And you remind me of a friend of mine. He references things just like you do. And at one point he was one of the few men who were actually nice to me. Just like you’re doing right now.”
“So I take it that’s a good thing.”
“In my mind its one of the best. But I’m just wondering something.”
“What’s that?”
“What’s up with this town?”
“What do you means?” replied Rory nervously.
“You’re all dressed like you’re from some history book and why couldn’t I leave here when I tried to last night And…”
“Don’t say another word.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Those are questions you really shouldn’t be asking.”
“What isn’t there any free speech here?”
“I regret that I must leave now.”
He then picked up his wheelbarrow again and he began to walk away. Dawn called out to him but he kept on walking. She couldn’t do anything to stop him. Her only friend in this town had just walked away from her. This caused her to cry a little. She was stuck where she was.
Meanwhile back at the Citadel Buffy was worried about Dawn. She had barely slept because she was worried. But what probably worried her the most was that because Dawn was taller then all the trees, she would easily be seen from the citadel. But there was no sign of her anywhere.
Buffy stood on the roof of the tallest tower of the citadel. She had binoculars with her and she was using them to look over the horizon. But sadly for her she couldn’t see her giant sister anywhere.
Eventually Xander was able to get onto the roof. He was a little nervous with being so high up without anything to make him feel safe. He just walked to Buffy and put his hand on her shoulder.
“Any sign of her?” asked Xander.
“Nothing,” replied Buffy. “She couldn’t have gone too far.” She then looked towards Xander. “Anything on the local news?”
“There are reports on a protest against a landfill, politics and there was even a report on a singing dog. But nothing on Dawn.”
“Which means she hasn’t gone to a populated area.”
“Maybe the reason why we can’t see her is that she’s lying down.”
“I hope so. I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to her.” A tear rolled down her face. “She was right I wasn’t there for her.”
“Well you have been busy.”
“But that was no excuse. She needed me and I wasn’t there for her. I was suppose to take care of her after Mom died.”
Just then they began to see what seemed to be lightning bolts right next to them. But these weren’t ordinary lightning bolts. They were purple and a lot smaller then the regular ones. But then a figure appeared right next to Buffy and Xander.
When the lightning bolts stopped they quickly saw that the figure was their good friend Willow.
“Willow,” said Xander. “I didn’t expect you to be back so quickly.”
“Well it turns out that disturbance at Stonehenge was just a squirrel that someone decided to make a monster,” replied Willow. “But other then that it went smoothly.” She then saw that Buffy was upset. “Don’t worry I didn’t kill the squirrel. I just turned him back to normal.”
“Buffy and Dawn had a little sister to sister dispute.”
“It ended badly?”
“Yes I said something to dawn that I shouldn’t have said and she stormed off,” replied Buffy. “And now we don’t know where she’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I don’t know there’s no sign of her.”
“Well maybe I can help. Mecre Goddess of the Lost show me Dawn Summers.” There was a brief flash. But nothing seemed to come to Willow. She seemed to be very surprised. “That’s odd.”
“What is it?”
“I couldn’t find her.”
“Does that mean she’s…”
“Dead no. If she was dead I would have known the location of her body. But I’m not picking up anything on her.”
“I guess that’s some relief. But why can’t you find her. I thought you were a powerful witch.”
“I am but there’s one of two reasons why I can’t locate her. Number one she’s out of my range.”
“How far is your range?”
“From here to L.A. But the second reason and the most likely is that someone’s cloaking her from me.”
“Then it means she’s in trouble.” She then looked at Xander. “We need to send a search party immediately.”
“How many should we take?” replied Xander.
“Ten should cover it. Willow you don’t mind coming do you?”
“Sure I don’t mind,” replied Willow. “Although I was going to shave my legs.”
“Willow.”
“Just kidding.”
Roughly an hour later in Featherstone Dawn was still tied down to the ground. She didn’t like the fact that there was someone watching her all the time. She had been a little lonely. But she also wanted some privacy. She just glared at them.
“Do you mind?” asked Dawn.
“Sorry Mayor’s orders,” replied one of the men watching her. “We’re just doing our jobs.”
“But I need to go.”
“I’m sorry but you can’t go anywhere.”
“No I mean I need to go.”
“What?” He then thought for a moment and then he realised what she meant. “Oh I see. I’ll have to talk to the Mayor.”
He then walked back to the hall. The Mayor was still in his office writing a couple of letters. The man then entered the office and the Mayor didn’t seem to be too happy to see him.
“What are you doing here Burt?” asked the Mayor. “You’re suppose to be watching the giant lass.”
“But sir she says she needs to go,” replied Burt.
“She isn’t going anywhere.”
“No I mean she needs to go to the toilet.”
“Oh I see now.”
“What do we do?”
“Assemble the cannons and temporarily release her. Make sure she doesn’t try anything understood?”
“Yes sir.”
A couple of minutes later several of the townspeople were releasing Dawn from the ropes that were tying her to the ground. Once they were all undone Dawn stood up once again. The people couldn’t believe how tall she was. They thought that she was big when she was lying down. But now that she was standing up they could see just how large Dawn really was.
“This way ma’am,” said Burt.
“Where are you taking me?” replied Dawn.
“Exactly where you wanted to go. To relieve yourself.”
“Fine.”
Dawn was then led to a field that was just on the edge of Featherstone. The men with the cannons quickly followed her. But she didn’t like them being there and once again she glared at them.
“Privacy please,” said Dawn.
“Can’t do that,” replied one of the men.
“At least turn around. I don’t want you perverts watching me.”
One by one the men all turned around. This was working exactly how Dawn had hoped. When she made sure that she wasn’t being watched she began to creep away. If she walked normally then they would easily be able to hear her. She tried to walk out of the town.
But once again met by the invisible wall. She hoped that she could break through it this time. But instead it stood strong. She doubted even a nuclear bomb would be able to penetrate it.
But by now her watchers had realised that she wasn’t going to the toilet but rather was trying to escape.
“She’s trying to escape!” shouted a random man.
“Open fire!” demanded another.
They then began to fire at Dawn once again. But she was able to duck out of the way of them. She got close to the cannons and stomped on them. When they were all destroyed all the men could do was run away.
“Yeah you better run,” said Dawn.
Dawn watched as they ran. She felt happy with herself. But she realised that there was still no way out for her. She was stuck here with everyone else. She went back to the wall but it still wouldn’t break. She was starting to get a tired at this point and her knuckles were beginning to hurt her.
But meanwhile at the Mayor’s office he was just about to have a nice cup of tea. But then one of the men who had been instructed to watch Dawn came into his office. He was scared out of his mind. Almost instantly the Mayor realised that something had gone very wrong.
“What’s wrong Jeremy?” asked the Mayor.
“The Giant Lass tricked us and escaped,” replied Jeremy.
“Did she get pass the wall?”
“No sigh.”
He then sighed. “Guess I’ll have to deal with her myself.” He then looked at another priestess. “Fetch me my book.”
“As you wish.”
A couple of minutes later the Mayor went to where Dawn was. He had several of the townspeople with him including Rory. The Mayor had a book with him. He then pointed his finger at Dawn and she just looked at him.
“What are you going to do?” asked Dawn. “Point at me to death?”
“Pactum is nequam res!” shouted the Mayor. “Pactum EGO TO ORDER Is!”
With those words Dawn saw the world around her begin to grow. She realised that she was shrinking. She felt her confidence begin to shrink along with her. But as she got smaller the mob began to get closer to her.
Eventually Dawn stopped shrinking. But she was a lot taller then she normally was. But her strength was now gone and she was at the mercy of the crowd. She tried to back away from them but they quickly caught her. Most were screaming for her to be killed. But Constable Lang quickly coughed her.
“Your nicked lassie,” said the Constable.
Dawn was taken away and quite a lot of the townspeople continued to shout abuse at her. But she was taken to a small building that was the police station of Featherstone. She was placed inside a cell.
“Let me out,” demanded Dawn. “I’ll pay for the cannons. Just please let me go. I won’t hurt anyone.”
“You ain’t going anywhere until you’ve paid for your crimes,” replied the Constable. “You’re trial will begin shortly.”
“A trial on the same day that’s insane.”
“As you can see this town doesn’t exactly fit into the norm of things. Now your attorney will be with you shortly.”
All Dawn could do was sit and wait in the cell. She thought that she had hit rock bottom. For now there was nothing she could do but wait. All she wanted to do was get out of the town and back to the citadel. She didn’t care if she was going to have another argument with Buffy.
Roughly an hour later Rory came into the station. Constable Lang took him to where Dawn was. For once she was actually happy to see someone in the town. Then Constable Lang left them to be alone.
“Rory what are you doing here?” asked Dawn.
“I’m your attorney,” replied Rory.
“You didn’t tell me you were a lawyer.”
“I’m not. But I was the only person willing to defend you.”
“Oh.”
“Now the charges brought against you is property damage and treason.”
“Treason? What did I do to be charged with treason?”
“Well by the law of Featherstone all who are here are residents. Acting against the wishes of the Mayor or his superiors is an act of treason.”
“That’s stupid. I’m not a resident.”
“But you’re trapped here like the rest of us and that makes you a resident. I’ve seen one bloke go down for a year for property damage. But for treason the penalty is a lot worse I’m afraid.”
“What’ll happen to me?”
“You’ll be taken to see the Mayor’s superior.”
“And who’s his superior?”
“We don’t know. No has ever seen him. All who have have never returned. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you Dawn.”
“Is there anything you can do to prove my innocence?”
“Its very difficult but I just might be able to do it. But it is going to be a long shot. It might not work.”
“Then do it. I don’t care what you have to do just do it.”
“Ok.”
Almost immediately after Rory finished talking to Dawn Constable Lang returned and opened the door of the cell. Once again he cuffed Dawn and took her away. But on the way out she hit her head on the doorframe. This was because she was still a foot taller then her normal height. The shrinking spell hadn’t gotten her down to her exact natural height.
Dawn was taken to a larger building where all the townspeople were. She recognised it as a court and she saw the Mayor sitting in the Judge’s chair. There were twelve townspeople sitting to one side as the rest sat on wooden benches. There was a table for Dawn and Rory was already sitting there. She was forcefully sat down on a chair and she was very upset. She heard the Mayor bang a gavel on the side and everyone looked towards him.
“Miss Dawn Summers you are accused of five counts of property damage and one count of treason,” said the Mayor. “How do you plea?”
Dawn didn’t realise that she had to say anything at first. But when Rory gave her a nudge she quickly stood up.
“Not guilty,” said Dawn.
“We’ll see about that,” replied the Mayor. “The prosecution can go first. Begin when ready.”
“My pleasure your honour,” answered a nicely dressed man. He stood up from his seat and he looked at Dawn and pointed at her. “Ladies and Gentlemen what you are seeing is a monster. Not a monster that you hear in stories but a monster in the true sense of the word. Miss Dawn Summers over there used her former size and strength to take advantage of our hospitality.”
“Indeed.”
“If your honour hadn’t have cut her down to size she would have most likely have killed us all.”
“Your point is well considered. But now the defence may make their opening statement.”
The prosecutor then at back down and Rory stood up from his chair. He was trying to think of the words to say. But it was going to be very difficult for him to clear Dawn’s name. Practically everyone in town hated her.
“Ladies and Gentlemen Miss Summers is in no way a monster. Ok she was bigger then the rest of us but that didn’t make her a monster. You might say that she used her size and strength against us but she was confused. This isn’t where she came from and our actions against only made her situation worse. For her crimes we are as much guilty for them than she is.”
“You have also raised a valid point Mr. Alistair,” replied the Mayor. “Now the Prosecution speaks.”
The Prosecutor stood up once again. He walked around the court a little and everyone was wondering what he was going to say. Dawn was specially nervous since he was the one about to make her seem like a monsters.
“The Prosecution would like to Dawn Summers to the stand,” said the Prosecutor. Everyone gasped a little. But a couple of guards took Dawn to the stand and she sat back down. The Prosecutor then looked at Dawn and he smiled a little. “State your name to the court.”
“Dawn Summers,” replied Dawn.
“Now tell me why you destroyed our cannons?”
“You were shooting them at me. I didn’t want to get hurt again. I just wanted to go home.”
“Destroying public property doesn’t get you home little missy. Threatening every townsperson doesn’t get you home.”
“I didn’t threaten anyone I swear.”
“But you did strike fear into the hearts of everyone in this room?”
“Well yeah.”
“You did take advantage of our hospitality and attempted to escape not caring how much damage you caused.”
“Well yeah.”
“And is it not true that you were willing to endanger everyone in this room just so you could leave.”
“Wait I didn’t want to endanger anyone. I just wanted to leave. But there’s something around this town that stops me.”
“You must not speak of it.”
“Why because no one will? There is something wrong in this town. I come from a town called Sunnydale and this is weird even by my standards. Just because no one talks about doesn’t mean its not there.”
“Security!” demanded the Mayor.
Several guards then began to circle around Dawn. She was afraid and she wanted to defend herself. But since she was cuffed there was nothing that she could have done to help herself as the guards restrained her.
Meanwhile just outside Featherstone Buffy and a couple of the slayers were looking for Dawn. Buffy, Xander and Willow had split up into three teams so that they could cover more ground. They kept in contact with each other through Willow’s magic. But so far they hadn’t found any sign of Dawn.
Buffy was worried most. She remembered promising her dead mother that she would protect Dawn against almost anything. This was a promise that she was not willing to break.
But just then one of the slayers noticed something. She quickly got Buffy’s attention and she pointed towards a fallen tree. Another slayer examined the tree a little and looked back at Buffy.
“What is it?” asked Buffy.
“It’s a tree,” replied the Slayer.
“I know that Ann. I meant what happened to it?”
“Well obviously it’s fallen down ma’am. It wasn’t cut down by a saw. It’s in perfect health. It could have been knocked down by a bolt of lightning last night. But there would have been some burn marks. The only other explanation is that something physically pushed it down.”
“Like a 50 foot teenage girl?”
“Most likely.”
“Then we’re on the right track.” She then shut her eyes tight. “Willow can you hear me?”
Not too far away Willow was picking up Buffy’s voice. She responded by also closing her eyes.
“I read you loud and clear Buffy,” replied Willow. “Found anything.”
“We’ve found a fallen tree that’s most likely been attacked by Dawn. I think we’re on the right track.”
“Any other sign?”
“No not yet. But she couldn’t be too far from here. If she is then others would have seen her by now.”
“We’ll head your way and I’ll inform Xander.”
“Good.”
The communication then broke off and Willow communicated with Xander about the fallen tree. They could now limit their search down to a smaller area. But they had no idea what Dawn was going through.
In her trial the jury were deciding whether or not she was guilty. She felt very scared at this moment. In her life time she had faced vampires, demons and even a couple of witches. But she had never been through anything like this. But eventually one of the members of the jury stood up.
“Has the jury reached verdict?” asked the Mayor.
“We have your honour,” replied the Juror. “We find the defendant guilty on all charges.”
“Thank you.” He then looked at Dawn. “Raise Miss Summers.” Dawn was then forced to stand up. “I hereby sentence you to death. Your punishment will be carried out immediately. Take her away.”
Dawn attempted to struggle but the guards began to drag her away. She was kicking and screaming.
“Rory help me!” cried Dawn.
But this fell onto deaf ears. She was taken to a small room within the building. But within this room was a bright yellow portal. It felt very warm and Dawn continued to struggle. But she was thrown through the portal. For a few moments it felt like she was flying like a bird. But eventually she landed on the ground. At first she thought that she had broken a bone. But after she got up everything seemed to be fine.
But then she heard a growling sound. She looked around but she couldn’t see anything. She seemed to be in pure darkness. But then suddenly the entire area lit up as if it was being hit by daylight. For a moment it blinded Dawn but her eyes eventually got use to the light and she was able to see once more.
But then a creature came up through the ground. It was like nothing Dawn had ever seen before. It seemed to be humanoid in form but it was ten feet tall with spikes growing out of its back. It was grey in colour and had featureless eyes. She thought that it looked similar to a character she had seen in one of Xander’s old Superman comics. But she was still gripped with fear.
“You’re a big girl,” he said. He then licked his lips. “That’s good it just means there’s more of you to eat.”
“Stay back,” begged Dawn.
“Now why would I do a silly thing like that?”
Dawn expected to be killed there and then. But another portal appeared just below her and she fell through it. She heard the creature cry out in annoyance. She had no idea what was happening. But she guessed that anywhere was better then where she had been. But she didn’t know where she was going.
After several seconds Dawn landed quite hard on the ground. But the first thing she saw was Rory with a book. She quickly got up and gave him a big hug. She even began to cry a little.
“Thank you Rory,” said Dawn. “Thank you thank you thank you.”
“Dawn I can’t breathe,” wheezed Rory.
“What?” she then realised that poor Rory was suffocating from her hug. She quickly loosened her grip. “Sorry I guess I don’t know my own strength.” She then stopped hugging him.
“I was afraid in case I was too late. They sent you into that portal almost an hour ago.” This statement shocked Dawn. “What’s wrong?”
“I was only there for a couple of seconds.”
“That’s lucky for you then. Time must travel differently there.”
“But what was that thing?”
“That’s what the Mayor talks to. I’m not sure exactly what happened but after the Mayor began to deal we’ve all not aged.”
“So is that a good thing?”
“We’re trapped here. It’s nice to live forever but this town is a prison nonetheless. We just want to be free.”
“Then why not just kill this thing?”
“A couple have tried but they’ve never returned. And any attempt has led to us being tortured. Instead of trying to destroy it most of us have decided to live with it. Some of us even try and forget that it exists.”
Meanwhile in the Mayor’s office the Mayor himself was relaxing a little. The priestesses were giving him some food. But then the crystal ball lit up. This caught everyone by surprise and the Mayor quickly looked inside the ball. He saw the eyes again and he knew something was wrong.
“What is it my Master?” asked the Mayor.
“My dinner has escaped,” replied the Creature.
“But Master that’s impossible. She couldn’t have escaped.”
“She did and she had help. Someone from your side helped her to escape my dimension and back into yours.”
“I assure you Master she will be found and sent back to you.”
“She better if she’s not back here within the hour I am coming to bring her back myself.”
“Master is that wise?”
“Are you questioning me Worm?”
“Of course not. She’ll be with you within the hour.”
“See that it does.”
The crystal ball then reverted to normal. The Mayor looked at the priestesses around him.
“Don’t just stand there get everyone available man, woman and child looking for Dawn Summers. I want her found and I want her found now.”
“As you wish,” replied one of the Priestesses.
The Priestesses then disappeared in a flash of light. The Mayor also left the office so that he too could look for Dawn.
Meanwhile outside the town Buffy and her slayers were still looking for Dawn. But they hadn’t found anymore clues leading to her. They discovered the huge opening in the forest. This was where the Town of Featherstone was located. But it was cloaked from the outside world. The Slayers walked through one of the walls and they came out at the opposite side of the clearing. Buffy looked back to see where she had been just a couple of seconds earlier.
“That was weird,” said Buffy.
“What was?” replied a Slayer.
Buffy tried to think but she just came up with a blank. She turned back around and kept walking.
“Nothing.”
Inside the dome Dawn was still with Rory. But from a building they could see the Town Square. The Mayor was standing on a stand and everyone in the town was looking at him. He cleared his throat before speaking.
“The criminal Dawn Summers has escaped her sentencing,” said the Mayor. “She must be discovered within the hour or else the hour or else the consequences will be dire to us all. Everyone will be split into four teams. One team will search the North, one the East, one the South and the last the West. Each team will be led by one of the High Priestesses.”
Inside the building Rory was puzzled. He didn’t understand why the Mayor had ordered Dawn’s capture within the hour? He began to think and he began to get a rough idea with what was going to happen.
“I think its coming,” said Rory.
“You mean that thing’s coming for me?” asked Dawn.
“I’m not sure. But if it does we’re probably going to be in big trouble. If it’s as powerful as the Mayor says it is it could destroy us all.”
“Don’t you people have anything hat could destroy it?”
“If we did then we would have used it by now. The only thing that could possible destroy it is you.”
“Me?”
“Well not now. But when you were a giant.”
“But the Mayor made me smaller.”
“Then maybe we’ll just have to make you big again. The Mayor keeps his magic books in his office. Since everyone is out looking for you there shouldn’t be anyone there guarding it. I should be able to enter and steal the books undetected. Then we can hope that my Latin’s not too rusty.”
“Where is the Mayor’s office?”
“Not too far from here. But we best wait for the square to empty. Then we can get going.”
The pair waited for the square to empty. It took several minutes for the square to empty and the pair made their move. But if they caught the glimpse of anyone they would quickly hide. But since Dawn was a lot taller then Rory it was more difficult for her to hide.
But while the townspeople were searching in vein for Dawn the pair were getting closer to the Mayor’s office in the Town Hall. The trip felt a lot longer then it actually had been. But at this moment in time the Mayor was the most nervous person in town. As the minutes went by his master was becoming more and more impatient. He only had fifteen minutes to find her before his Master would come to town.
Eventually Dawn and Rory reached the Town hall without being spotted. As they went to the Mayor’s Office they quickly saw a guard by the door and they hid. Thankfully the guard seemed to be asleep so they had dodged a bullet almost. The office was down a corridor and the guard was sitting on a chair.
Just before the corridor there was a bust that Rory picked up. He then looked over to Dawn.
“Dawn stand right there,” he said pointing to a spot. She quickly moved to the spot as instructed.
“Now what?” replied Dawn.
“Get his attention.”
“Are you high?”
“Just do it. I have a cunning plan.”
Rory hid behind the wall just outside the corridor. Dawn was standing a couple of more feet away from the corridor. She thought that she was going to be captured for sure. She didn’t have much to lose.
“Hello!” she shouted. She saw the guard stir a little and he groaned a little. “Hello!” This woke him up more and he saw Dawn. He quickly realised who she was and got up and ran towards her.
“Hey you!” he shouted.
The guard then ran up towards her. But when he reached where Rory was he came out of hiding and the Guard on the head with the bust rendering him unconscious. He landed on the ground with a thud.
“Oh my God,” said Dawn.
“Don’t worry he’ll live,” replied Rory.
The pair quickly ran down the corridor and they entered the Mayor’s office. But on the shelves there were several different books and they didn’t have enough time to look through them to find the growing spell.
They began to briefly look at them. But Dawn spotted one that looked familiar. She recognised it as the book the Mayor had used to shrink her. She quickly got it out and looked at it. But it was all in Latin and she couldn’t understand a word of it. It was unfortunately not one of the languages she was fluent in.
“I think I’ve found it,” said Dawn.
“Well that’s a start,” replied Rory. “Found the spell yet?”
“I can’t read Latin.”
“Looks like I’ve got to look through it. Keep a lookout for anyone coming down the corridor.”
“Ok.”
Dawn kept watch as Rory began to go through the book. But it would likely take him sometime before he found the correct spell. He didn’t want to make her situation any worse by saying the wrong spell. It could cause her to transform into a hideous creature or even shrink her again.
But outside the Mayor was still looking with his group. But he could hear a rumbling sound above him. When he looked up he saw clouds forming. His body ran cold with fear and he began to shake uncontrollable. A bolt of lightning struck a few metres from where he was standing and suddenly the creature once more appeared.
The rest of the group saw the creature as well and like the Mayor they were frozen in fear. They had never seen it before but they had heard about it. They hoped that they would never have to see it.
Quickly the Mayor bowed down to it and the rest of the group followed quickly. They were too terrified to speak.
“You have failed me McMillan,” said the Creature.
“But Master Kanro I assure you she’s within our grasp,” replied the Mayor. “We just need a little more time.”
“Time is up.” He then grabbed the Mayor around the neck and lifted him up. “You have failed me for the last time.” He then easily snapped the Mayor’s neck. His lifeless body hit the ground when Kanro released his grip. “You.” Kanro then pointed to a random man in the group.
“Me?” asked the Man.
“Yes you’re the new Mayor of Featherstone,” replied Kanro.
“I can’t be mayor. I don’t have the right qualities.”
“This is opportunity that you can not turn down. If you do turn it down you’ll end up like the last Mayor.”
“Ok, Ok I’ll do it.”
“Good now dare not fail me. Find me Dawn Summers.”
“Y-yes sir.”
The new Mayor began to bark orders to the group. They had no choice but to obey. But they were more scared of Kanro then they were of the new Mayor. They feared if they didn’t find Dawn soon they would all end up like Mayor McMillan.
But then Kanro began to pick up a familiar scent. He looked towards the main town and he smiled.
“She’s over there,” he said. “Go get her.”
“Yes sir,” replied the New Mayor.
Inside the Mayor’s office Dawn looked out of the window after hearing the lightning. She saw Kanro in the distance. She was struck with fear before looking towards Rory. He was still looking through the book.
“He’s here,” said Dawn.
“Who?” replied Rory.
“That thing everyone’s afraid of.”
“What?” He then looked out of the window. He was horrified with what he saw. He didn’t think such a creature like that could exist. But it was standing right there. But what scared him most was that it was looking in their direction. “We haven’t gotten much time left.”
“Have you found it yet?”
“I’ve found the shrinking spell.”
“I don’t want to get any smaller.”
“It’s got instructions on how to counteract the spell. But we need something that has that has a shard of lightning power.”
“You mean like electricity?”
“Yes that’s it.”
“I think I might have something.” Dawn then went into her pocket and she picked out a tiny mp3 player. It had shrunk when she did and was almost microscopic in size. It had been a miracle that she was even able to find it.
“What’s that?”
“Its called an mp3 player. It runs on electricity.”
“This should do. But I need to put it into a boiling pot and say the incantation in reverse order.”
Dawn looked outside the window and saw that Kanro was closer to them then he had been before. He was picking up her scent and was tracking her like a bloodhound would. He wasn’t going to lose her anytime soon.
“You better hurry.”
Thankfully for them there was a kettle in the office. Rory quickly began to boil the water inside. But they had to wait for it to heat up. It was going to take a minute or two. This was too long for them.
Outside Kanro was getting closer. He was fixed onto Dawn’s position and he licked his lips. He was looking forward to feeding on her. In his mind it was only a matter of time before she was his.
Just then inside the kettle boiled and Rory dropped the tiny mp3 player into the boiling water. He looked into the book and was a little nervous. This was due to two things. The first was that Kanro was coming towards them so he knew that there wasn’t much time. The second was that he would have done this outside. But since it was close to impossible to do this he’d have to do it inside. This meant that if he didn’t get out of the building when Dawn grew he would surely be crushed.
“Is order to ego Pactum,” said Rory. “Res Nequam is Pactum.”
The boiling water began to really bubble over. A flash of electricity came out of the kettle. But when Rory looked at Dawn he could see that she was getting taller and within seconds her head was hitting the ceiling.
Rory quickly turned around and he ran out of the room. He could hear cracking noises and he could only guess that Dawn was breaking out. He didn’t have time to look back and he just ran.
Eventually he got outside but he ran straight into Kanro. He was grabbed around his neck and picked up off his feet like Mayor McMillan had been earlier. He was afraid as he stared into the eyes of Kanro.
“Looks like you’ve failed,” said Kanro. “Any last words?”
“Take cover,” replied Rory.
Just then Dawn burst out of the building. Most of the people covered from the flying rubble. Kanro on the other hand just stood there and looked at her. He still had Rory in his grasp. He seemed unmoved that Dawn was a giant again. In fact he seemed to be enjoying his meal even more. There was now more for him to eat.
The first thing Dawn noticed when she stopped growing was that everything seemed smaller then it had before. This was because she was bigger then previously. She had originally been fifty feet tall. But now she was over seventy feet tall. She hoped that this would be an advantage.
“A challenge,” said Kanro. “I haven’t had one of those in a good long time.” He then chuckled as he threw Rory to one side. “Never eaten a giant before.”
“And you never will,” replied Dawn.
Most of the people began to flee. They didn’t dare stay during this clash of titans. But a few stayed to watch the fight.
Kanro jumped up into the air and punched Dawn in the face. This sent her back a little and she went into a building. She hadn’t been punched that hard for a long time. But this just made her angrier.
When Kanro landed on the ground she kicked him as hard as she could and he went flying through the air like a football. He hit the old clock tower and it was completely destroyed. But this didn’t seem to have done much damage when he hit the ground. He seemed to be enjoying himself. He just jumped back to where Dawn was and he smiled at her.
“You’ve got spunk girl,” said Kanro. ”Let’s hope that I can smack some of that spunk right out of you.”
Dawn went to kick him again but this time he caught her foot and was able to flip her onto the ground. This caused a small earthquake and it almost seemed that Dawn was going to be down for the count.
But Rory couldn’t bear to see her get killed. He grabbed a nearby shovel and ran to Kanro and hit him in the head with it. But it did nothing and Kanro just looked at him and was somewhat annoyed.
“Insect,” he said.
He then swatted Rory away as if he was nothing. He went through a glass window killing him. The impact from the swat was enough to kill him. The glass going through his body was an added injury.
Dawn saw Rory’s heroic sacrifice and this enraged her. She grabbed Kanro and picked him up. She held his arms in her one hand and his legs in the other and she began to pull. Spikes were going into her hand but she didn’t care. She just began to cry as she continued to pull.
“What are you doing?” asked Kanro.
“Making sure you don’t hurt anyone else,” replied Dawn.
With one great pull Dawn was able to rip Kanro into two killing him instantly. She seemed to be out of breath. But in a flash Kanro’s body disappeared. She quickly went over to where Rory was. But there was nothing she could have done for him. He was already dead.
But outside the town the barrier was now down and the town was there for all to see. It took a moment for one of the Slayer’s in Buffy’s group to notice the town. She pointed towards it.
“Buffy there’s something over there,” said the Slayer.
Buffy looked and saw Featherstone. She hadn’t noticed it before due to the barrier. But now that it was down she could see it. She could also see Dawn standing taller then the buildings.
Likewise Willow’s magic could now detect Dawn now and she quickly teleported her group to where Dawn was. In mere seconds Willow and her group were in the town of Featherstone. They were amazed with what they saw. In Willow’s mind it was like something from a Charles Dickens book. But she was over the moon to see her giant friend.
“Dawnie you’re OK,” said Willow.
“Define OK,” replied Dawn.
Willow then looked into the hands of Dawn and saw Rory’s body. She didn’t know who he was but she could see that Dawn was upset.
“Dawn I’m sorry,” said Willow.
“I just want go,” replied Dawn.
“We will go right after Buffy gets here.”
Dawn had to wait for what seemed to be an eternity for her older sister and the other slayers to come. Buffy was mixed with emotions. She didn’t know whether to be angry at her giant little sister for running away. Or happy to know that she was alright. But she could see that Dawn wasn’t too happy to see her.
“Dawn where have you been?” asked Buffy. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She could still see that Dawn was upset. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just want to go back to the citadel.”
In the crowd of Slayers they were quietly talking amongst one another. A few noticed that Dawn was taller then she had been before.
“Is it me or Dawn look taller?” asked one slayer.
“Sush,” replied another.
Dawn wasn’t sure what was going to happen to the town of Featherstone now. The people were now free to leave if they chose. She doubted that they’d lived forever now. But she guessed that they were happy that they’d die someday. It would allow them to be at peace.
She reluctantly gave the townspeople Rory’s body and she left along with the slayers. It was getting late and it looked like rain. To save time Willow teleported them all back to the citadel. But this took a lot out of her and she had to rest immediately afterwards.
Everyone one else was tired from their day of searching and they retired to their rooms. Buffy wanted to talk to Dawn about what had happened in Featherstone. But Dawn didn’t want to do much more today. She just wanted to get some rest.
Dawn went back to her barn and tried to put on a pair of PJs that had been grown to her standards. But since she was bigger then before they didn’t fit her that well. She’d have to ask the witches to make them larger for her.
But as night drew in dawn lay down on the ground to sleep. But now her feet were outside the barn. She was too big to fit in it properly anymore. But there wasn’t much she could do.
“Things can’t get any worse,” said Dawn. Just then she felt something wet hit her feet. Several seconds later more wet things hit her feet and she soon realised that it was raining outside and her feet were going to get wet. All Dawn could do was give out the world’s biggest sigh. “I hate my life.”
The End.
It was a stormy night at the citadel in Scotland where Buffy and the Scoobies had set up base there was a lot going on. Buffy had recently fought the Twilight and in her mind the results could have gone better. She was more focused then ever on defeating this demon. Not only was she training herself but she was also training all the other slayers that lived in the Citadel. She wasn’t really thinking about much else.
Inside her personal training room Buffy was punching and kicking away at a dummy. She was picking up a sweat but she kept going. But eventually Xander came into the room. He was wet since it had been raining outside. He brushed some of the water out his hair using his hand.
“Typical Scottish weather,” said Xander. “Rains every other day.”
“Xander you didn’t come here to talk about the weather,” replied Buffy. She continued to punch and kick the dummy.
“You got me there.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Its Dawn something seems to be troubling her.”
“Something’s always troubling her and since she’s become a giant she’s always gone on about her problem.”
“I really think you need to talk to her.”
“She’s a big girl now whatever’s troubling her she can overcome it herself don’t you think?”
“But you’re her sister. Aren’t you suppose to be there for her through thick and thin. From infinity and beyond?”
“That’s to Infinity and Beyond.”
“But you catch my drift. You need to talk to her.”
“Oh can’t someone else do it?”
“I tried but she’s just shutting me out.”
“What about Willow?”
“Willow’s gone to Stonehenge with the other witches. She said there was trouble brewing there.”
“Looks like I’m the only one who can talk to her then.”
Just then a roar of thunder made Xander jump. Buffy couldn’t help but giggle at her friend.
“Is Colonel Fury afraid of a little thunder?” asked Buffy.
“Hey it caught me by surprise,” replied Xander. “But this doesn’t change everything as co-leader of the Scoobies I’m requesting that you talk to Dawn.”
“Fine but you owe me for this.”
“Thanks Buff.”
Buffy then left her training room and she walking to the stables where Dawn was staying. She could see her giant sister drinking a barrel of water. But when she discovered that it was empty she threw it at the wall completely destroying the barrel. She then gave out a small sigh. At this moment in time she didn’t realise that Buffy was there watching her.
“A waste of a perfectly good barrel,” said Buffy.
Dawn then turned her head and she saw her sister standing at the top of the stairs. Since Dawn was too tall to stand up in the stables she had to sit down. But when she would sit down she would just be able to fit into the stables.
While she was sitting down Dawn and Buffy were at eye level. But Buffy was not too far away from her sister. But Dawn didn’t really like seeing Buffy right now and she glared at her.
“What do you want?” asked Dawn.
“Well I wouldn’t mind having a million bucks and Johnny Depp as my husband,” replied Buffy.
“Don’t get smart with me.”
“Ok I’m here because Xander says something was wrong with you. So here I am trying to be a good sister.”
“If you were a good sister then I wouldn’t be feeling like crap.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong.”
“Its you.”
“What me?”
“You’re too busy with your slayers that you haven’t been seeing me at all.”
“Come on I see you all the time.”
“When was the last time you saw me when you wanted to?”
“We saw each other outside yesterday.”
“That was because you were training the other slayers. I was there because I didn’t want to be cramped in here.”
“What about the time before when I came in here to see you.”
“That was because there was a party and you wanted to make sure I didn’t drink too much.”
“Ok I get it. I admit I should be here more for you. But right now I’m trying to deal with something very important.”
“More important then me?”
“Yes more important then you. I’m dealing with something that could possible bring the apocalypse.”
“There’s always an apocalypse Buffy. You could have given some time to see me. Do you know how lonely I am here? I can’t train with you, I can’t go shopping and everyone thinks I’m a fifty foot freak.”
“You’re not a freak Dawn.”
“But everyone acts like they do. I wish Mom was here.”
“She’s not here Dawn as much as we hope she’s never coming back. There’re things I need to get back to. Sorry Dawn.”
“Don’t leave.”
“I’ve got to.”
Dawn then moved towards Buffy and put her hand in the way of the door so that her older sister couldn’t get through.
“Let me through Dawn,” said Buffy.
“No you’re staying here,” replied Dawn. “You can’t ignore me forever.”
“Well if you weren’t being such a brat I wouldn’t have to ignore you.”
These words hit Dawn like an arrow into her heart. A couple of tears rolled down her face and she removed her hand from the door. But her sadness quickly turned to anger and rage.
“Fine if I’m being such a brat then I suppose I can give you another reason to ignore me,” said Dawn.
She then moved towards the large doors of the stables and she opened them. She then began to crawl out. Buffy began to walk down the steps and she was getting worried with what was happening.
“Dawn what are you doing?” asked Buffy.
“Getting as far away from you as possible,” replied Dawn coldly. She continued to crawl out. “You can’t stop me even if you wanted to.”
After a couple of seconds Dawn got to the outside and she stood up to her full height. The rain was still pouring down and she was getting wet. But she didn’t care about the rain. She just walked away from the citadel. Buffy ran to the doors of the stables and she saw Dawn walking away.
“Dawn come back here right now!” shouted Buffy.
But Dawn just ignored her older sister and continued to walk. A couple of seconds later Xander came to the barn. He walked over to where Buffy was standing and he gave out a small sigh.
“Something tells me it didn’t go well,” said Xander.
“I said something that I shouldn’t have said,” replied Buffy. “And now Dawn’s gone.” She then put her hand on her head. She was feeling stressed.
“Shouldn’t we go after her?”
“No she needs time to blow off some steam. She’ll be back soon. Besides we wouldn’t be able to catch up with her.”
Not too far away Dawn was still walking away from the citadel and towards the forest. In rage she kicked a tree. But since her strength was disproportionate to her size it caused her a lot of pain. It did make the tree fall but it had caused some damage to her foot. At first she thought that she had broken a bone in her foot.
But just then she saw a bolt of lightning hit the ground roughly a mile away from where she was. But she was amazed to see that there seemed to be a small town right next to where the bolt of lightning had struck. There were also a couple of farmers fields right next to the town.
Towns like this were pretty common in Scotland. But Dawn had walked here several times and she had never seen this town. The town itself was too large for her to have missed.
Her common sense told her to walk away and keep going. But her curiosity began to set in. She began to walk towards the town to investigate. She didn’t know what she was going to see there.
Due to her size the mile walk was accomplished in mere minutes. But she noticed something odd about this town. The only building that was taller then her was a clock tower. But all the buildings looked to be of a very old design. But they seemed to be brand new.
She saw people walking the streets of the town. But they were all wearing clothes that were in fashion in the mid nineteenth century. At first none of them had really noticed her coming towards them.
But eventually one person saw her and they began to alert the other people. A couple of women screamed and a few people ran away.
“Bloody hell it’s a giant!” shouted a random man. “Get the women and children to safety.”
Dawn could see that it was best that she leave the town. She turned around and walked away. But just on the edge of a field surrounding the town she hit something. At first she thought that someone had thrown something at her. But she felt an invisible wall in front of her. She knocked it a few times just to make sure it was there. She punched it a few times to try and break it. But unfortunately for her it wasn’t doing anything. It just stopped her from getting past.
“Crap,” she thought. “I’m stuck in here.” She then looked back to the town. “Guess my best way out is asking the townspeople. If I can get a word in before the scream and run away.”
She then went to walk back to the town. But instead she was met by several men with cannons. Again they wore clothes that were in fashion in the mid nineteenth century. A couple of the men had torches with them.
“FIRE!” shouted one of the men.
The other men then fired their cannon balls at Dawn. Most of them missed her but on her in her leg.
“Hey stop that!” demanded Dawn.
But then one cannon ball hit Dawn in the head and she fell to the ground. She could see the men walking towards her. But the world around her began to go back as Dawn lost consciousness.
When Dawn woke up several hours later. The sun was shining and the sky was clear. Her head was hurting her and she tried to move. But to her surprise she couldn’t move. As her vision came back she saw that her hand was tied to the ground. When she turned her head she could see that the rest of her body was tied to the ground. She tried to life her hair but that had also been tied to the ground.
Not too far away from her several men were watching her. These men were different to the ones that had attack her the previous night. But they saw that she was awake and they were wondering what to do.
“The giant she’s awake,” said one of the men.
“Get the mayor,” replied the other man.
A couple of minutes later a huge crowd gathered around Dawn. One man in particular stood quite close to Dawn’s face. He was surrounded by other men wearing nineteenth century military clothes. She still wasn’t very happy about being tied to the ground. Since it had rained the other night the ground was muddy.
“You’re a big lass now aren’t ye,” said the man.
“Let me go,” replied Dawn.
“I can’t do that since I don’t know if you’re just going to go back to our wee town and destroy along with these good townspeople.”
“Let me guess you’re the mayor.”
“Yep Reginald McMillan the third. And what’s your name?”
“Dawn Summers.”
“Ok Miss Summers we’ll release you when we no that you pose no threat to the townspeople of Featherstone. Until then you’re stuck there.”
“Wait what’ll happen to me?”
“Don’t worry you’ll be fed. But if any harm comes to any of my feeders then we’ll end your life immediately do I make myself clear.”
“Whatever.”
“You got some attitude on ye lass. I’d advise ye to lose it. It could cost you dearly.” He then turned around and walked away. “Give her some food.”
Most of the crowd then left with their mayor. A couple stayed to marvel over Dawn’s size. But one man with a wheel barrow walked towards her. He was average height with ginger hair and brown eyes. His attire fitted with the rest of the people in Featherstone. One thing that was striking was that he had a gold chain coming from his pocket. It meant that he had a pocket watch. The wheelbarrow he was carrying had a yellow product inside and Dawn looked at it.
“What’s that?” asked Dawn.
“That is your breakfast Miss Summers,” replied the feeder.
“What is it?”
“Creamed corn. We feed it to the animals.”
“I’m not eating that.”
“I’m afraid it’s all we can spare. You either eat this or I’m ordered to let you starve to death.”
“Fine.”
He then brought the wheelbarrow of creamed corn closer to Dawn. He put it close to her mouth but she just looked at him.
“You expect me to eat it by myself?” asked Dawn.
“Well yeah,” replied the Man.
“My hands are tied down. How the hell am I suppose to feed myself?”
“I see your point Miss Summers.”
He then walked away and a couple of minutes later he came back with a shovel. He then looked at Dawn again and gave her a small smile.
“Open up,” he said.
Dawn then opened her mouth and the man began to shovel the creamed corn into her mouth. With each shovel load he put in she would chew a little and then swallow. It was definitely not the best tasting food Dawn had ever had. But unfortunately it was the only one she could have.
It took several minutes to eat the entire lot. But she felt a little sickly from eating all the creamed corn. The man was still there with his shovel. He grabbed his wheelbarrow and turned it around. He looked at Dawn one more time.
“Did you want anymore?” he asked.
“No I’m fine thank you,” replied Dawn. “I guess I should be thankful to you for feeding me.”
“Well my father did tell me to always be nice to women.”
“I guess your dad was a smart man.”
“I bid you farewell for now.”
“Wait a minute.”
He then stopped and fully turned around.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Well I guess I do have some time left. Besides I’d do especially for a pretty lass like you Miss Summers.”
“Please call me Dawn.”
Meanwhile in the town hall. The Mayor was in his office. There was a large crystal ball on his table. There were a few women around the room dressed in red robes. They had hoods over their eyes so their full face couldn’t be seen.
The mayor sat down at his desk and put some sheep bones right next to the crystal ball. He then closed his eyes.
“Kindon Resjusun masi,” said the Mayor. Suddenly the flames on the candles lighting the room flickered. In the crystal ball two lights represented eyes appeared in the ball itself. The Mayor opened his eyes. “My master.”
“Why are you communicating with me?” replied his master.
“You won’t believe what has come to our town. There is a giant woman amongst us my lord.”
“How is that possible?”
“I do not know.”
“And what has happened with this giant woman?”
“We have captured her and secured her. As far as I know she is no danger to you my master.”
“See to it that she isn’t.”
“You want me to kill her?”
“No she could be useful to me. If she becomes too much of a danger to myself then take necessary action.”
“I shall my lord.”
“Do not contact me unless it is anything important. I will contact you when I need you Reginald.”
“As you wish my Lord.”
It then disappeared from crystal ball and the Mayor just sat there for a moment. He then looked towards one of the priestesses.
“Bring me the local bobby,” he said.
One of the priestesses then left the room. Only a couple of seconds later she came back with a man wearing a policeman uniform from the nineteenth century. He seemed to be a little worried about being in the Mayor’s office.
“Good morning Mayor McMillan,” he said.
“Constable Lang I need a service from you,” replied the Mayor.
“What is it?”
“I need the giant under constant surveillance. I want a report of her done every hour on the hour.”
“As you wish.”
Meanwhile Dawn enjoyed talking to her feeder. She had learned that his name was Rory Alistair. He was a very nice man and she enjoyed listening to his accent. It made her feel somewhat normal.
“Now Dawn if it were up to me I’d let you go,” said Rory. “But I cannae do that. I’d be killed.”
“I hope I get free sometime,” replied Dawn. “I feel like I’m suffocating a little.”
“I cannae do anything to ease that either sorry. But on a lighter note you remind me of Gulliver.”
“Who’s Gulliver?”
“You know from Gulliver’s travels.”
“Oh yeah.”
“You remind me of when he first went to Lilliput. The inhabitants tied him down to the ground just like we did to you. I can’t say that was entirely original of us don’t ya think?” he then laughed a little and even Dawn giggled.
“And you remind me of a friend of mine. He references things just like you do. And at one point he was one of the few men who were actually nice to me. Just like you’re doing right now.”
“So I take it that’s a good thing.”
“In my mind its one of the best. But I’m just wondering something.”
“What’s that?”
“What’s up with this town?”
“What do you means?” replied Rory nervously.
“You’re all dressed like you’re from some history book and why couldn’t I leave here when I tried to last night And…”
“Don’t say another word.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Those are questions you really shouldn’t be asking.”
“What isn’t there any free speech here?”
“I regret that I must leave now.”
He then picked up his wheelbarrow again and he began to walk away. Dawn called out to him but he kept on walking. She couldn’t do anything to stop him. Her only friend in this town had just walked away from her. This caused her to cry a little. She was stuck where she was.
Meanwhile back at the Citadel Buffy was worried about Dawn. She had barely slept because she was worried. But what probably worried her the most was that because Dawn was taller then all the trees, she would easily be seen from the citadel. But there was no sign of her anywhere.
Buffy stood on the roof of the tallest tower of the citadel. She had binoculars with her and she was using them to look over the horizon. But sadly for her she couldn’t see her giant sister anywhere.
Eventually Xander was able to get onto the roof. He was a little nervous with being so high up without anything to make him feel safe. He just walked to Buffy and put his hand on her shoulder.
“Any sign of her?” asked Xander.
“Nothing,” replied Buffy. “She couldn’t have gone too far.” She then looked towards Xander. “Anything on the local news?”
“There are reports on a protest against a landfill, politics and there was even a report on a singing dog. But nothing on Dawn.”
“Which means she hasn’t gone to a populated area.”
“Maybe the reason why we can’t see her is that she’s lying down.”
“I hope so. I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to her.” A tear rolled down her face. “She was right I wasn’t there for her.”
“Well you have been busy.”
“But that was no excuse. She needed me and I wasn’t there for her. I was suppose to take care of her after Mom died.”
Just then they began to see what seemed to be lightning bolts right next to them. But these weren’t ordinary lightning bolts. They were purple and a lot smaller then the regular ones. But then a figure appeared right next to Buffy and Xander.
When the lightning bolts stopped they quickly saw that the figure was their good friend Willow.
“Willow,” said Xander. “I didn’t expect you to be back so quickly.”
“Well it turns out that disturbance at Stonehenge was just a squirrel that someone decided to make a monster,” replied Willow. “But other then that it went smoothly.” She then saw that Buffy was upset. “Don’t worry I didn’t kill the squirrel. I just turned him back to normal.”
“Buffy and Dawn had a little sister to sister dispute.”
“It ended badly?”
“Yes I said something to dawn that I shouldn’t have said and she stormed off,” replied Buffy. “And now we don’t know where she’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I don’t know there’s no sign of her.”
“Well maybe I can help. Mecre Goddess of the Lost show me Dawn Summers.” There was a brief flash. But nothing seemed to come to Willow. She seemed to be very surprised. “That’s odd.”
“What is it?”
“I couldn’t find her.”
“Does that mean she’s…”
“Dead no. If she was dead I would have known the location of her body. But I’m not picking up anything on her.”
“I guess that’s some relief. But why can’t you find her. I thought you were a powerful witch.”
“I am but there’s one of two reasons why I can’t locate her. Number one she’s out of my range.”
“How far is your range?”
“From here to L.A. But the second reason and the most likely is that someone’s cloaking her from me.”
“Then it means she’s in trouble.” She then looked at Xander. “We need to send a search party immediately.”
“How many should we take?” replied Xander.
“Ten should cover it. Willow you don’t mind coming do you?”
“Sure I don’t mind,” replied Willow. “Although I was going to shave my legs.”
“Willow.”
“Just kidding.”
Roughly an hour later in Featherstone Dawn was still tied down to the ground. She didn’t like the fact that there was someone watching her all the time. She had been a little lonely. But she also wanted some privacy. She just glared at them.
“Do you mind?” asked Dawn.
“Sorry Mayor’s orders,” replied one of the men watching her. “We’re just doing our jobs.”
“But I need to go.”
“I’m sorry but you can’t go anywhere.”
“No I mean I need to go.”
“What?” He then thought for a moment and then he realised what she meant. “Oh I see. I’ll have to talk to the Mayor.”
He then walked back to the hall. The Mayor was still in his office writing a couple of letters. The man then entered the office and the Mayor didn’t seem to be too happy to see him.
“What are you doing here Burt?” asked the Mayor. “You’re suppose to be watching the giant lass.”
“But sir she says she needs to go,” replied Burt.
“She isn’t going anywhere.”
“No I mean she needs to go to the toilet.”
“Oh I see now.”
“What do we do?”
“Assemble the cannons and temporarily release her. Make sure she doesn’t try anything understood?”
“Yes sir.”
A couple of minutes later several of the townspeople were releasing Dawn from the ropes that were tying her to the ground. Once they were all undone Dawn stood up once again. The people couldn’t believe how tall she was. They thought that she was big when she was lying down. But now that she was standing up they could see just how large Dawn really was.
“This way ma’am,” said Burt.
“Where are you taking me?” replied Dawn.
“Exactly where you wanted to go. To relieve yourself.”
“Fine.”
Dawn was then led to a field that was just on the edge of Featherstone. The men with the cannons quickly followed her. But she didn’t like them being there and once again she glared at them.
“Privacy please,” said Dawn.
“Can’t do that,” replied one of the men.
“At least turn around. I don’t want you perverts watching me.”
One by one the men all turned around. This was working exactly how Dawn had hoped. When she made sure that she wasn’t being watched she began to creep away. If she walked normally then they would easily be able to hear her. She tried to walk out of the town.
But once again met by the invisible wall. She hoped that she could break through it this time. But instead it stood strong. She doubted even a nuclear bomb would be able to penetrate it.
But by now her watchers had realised that she wasn’t going to the toilet but rather was trying to escape.
“She’s trying to escape!” shouted a random man.
“Open fire!” demanded another.
They then began to fire at Dawn once again. But she was able to duck out of the way of them. She got close to the cannons and stomped on them. When they were all destroyed all the men could do was run away.
“Yeah you better run,” said Dawn.
Dawn watched as they ran. She felt happy with herself. But she realised that there was still no way out for her. She was stuck here with everyone else. She went back to the wall but it still wouldn’t break. She was starting to get a tired at this point and her knuckles were beginning to hurt her.
But meanwhile at the Mayor’s office he was just about to have a nice cup of tea. But then one of the men who had been instructed to watch Dawn came into his office. He was scared out of his mind. Almost instantly the Mayor realised that something had gone very wrong.
“What’s wrong Jeremy?” asked the Mayor.
“The Giant Lass tricked us and escaped,” replied Jeremy.
“Did she get pass the wall?”
“No sigh.”
He then sighed. “Guess I’ll have to deal with her myself.” He then looked at another priestess. “Fetch me my book.”
“As you wish.”
A couple of minutes later the Mayor went to where Dawn was. He had several of the townspeople with him including Rory. The Mayor had a book with him. He then pointed his finger at Dawn and she just looked at him.
“What are you going to do?” asked Dawn. “Point at me to death?”
“Pactum is nequam res!” shouted the Mayor. “Pactum EGO TO ORDER Is!”
With those words Dawn saw the world around her begin to grow. She realised that she was shrinking. She felt her confidence begin to shrink along with her. But as she got smaller the mob began to get closer to her.
Eventually Dawn stopped shrinking. But she was a lot taller then she normally was. But her strength was now gone and she was at the mercy of the crowd. She tried to back away from them but they quickly caught her. Most were screaming for her to be killed. But Constable Lang quickly coughed her.
“Your nicked lassie,” said the Constable.
Dawn was taken away and quite a lot of the townspeople continued to shout abuse at her. But she was taken to a small building that was the police station of Featherstone. She was placed inside a cell.
“Let me out,” demanded Dawn. “I’ll pay for the cannons. Just please let me go. I won’t hurt anyone.”
“You ain’t going anywhere until you’ve paid for your crimes,” replied the Constable. “You’re trial will begin shortly.”
“A trial on the same day that’s insane.”
“As you can see this town doesn’t exactly fit into the norm of things. Now your attorney will be with you shortly.”
All Dawn could do was sit and wait in the cell. She thought that she had hit rock bottom. For now there was nothing she could do but wait. All she wanted to do was get out of the town and back to the citadel. She didn’t care if she was going to have another argument with Buffy.
Roughly an hour later Rory came into the station. Constable Lang took him to where Dawn was. For once she was actually happy to see someone in the town. Then Constable Lang left them to be alone.
“Rory what are you doing here?” asked Dawn.
“I’m your attorney,” replied Rory.
“You didn’t tell me you were a lawyer.”
“I’m not. But I was the only person willing to defend you.”
“Oh.”
“Now the charges brought against you is property damage and treason.”
“Treason? What did I do to be charged with treason?”
“Well by the law of Featherstone all who are here are residents. Acting against the wishes of the Mayor or his superiors is an act of treason.”
“That’s stupid. I’m not a resident.”
“But you’re trapped here like the rest of us and that makes you a resident. I’ve seen one bloke go down for a year for property damage. But for treason the penalty is a lot worse I’m afraid.”
“What’ll happen to me?”
“You’ll be taken to see the Mayor’s superior.”
“And who’s his superior?”
“We don’t know. No has ever seen him. All who have have never returned. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you Dawn.”
“Is there anything you can do to prove my innocence?”
“Its very difficult but I just might be able to do it. But it is going to be a long shot. It might not work.”
“Then do it. I don’t care what you have to do just do it.”
“Ok.”
Almost immediately after Rory finished talking to Dawn Constable Lang returned and opened the door of the cell. Once again he cuffed Dawn and took her away. But on the way out she hit her head on the doorframe. This was because she was still a foot taller then her normal height. The shrinking spell hadn’t gotten her down to her exact natural height.
Dawn was taken to a larger building where all the townspeople were. She recognised it as a court and she saw the Mayor sitting in the Judge’s chair. There were twelve townspeople sitting to one side as the rest sat on wooden benches. There was a table for Dawn and Rory was already sitting there. She was forcefully sat down on a chair and she was very upset. She heard the Mayor bang a gavel on the side and everyone looked towards him.
“Miss Dawn Summers you are accused of five counts of property damage and one count of treason,” said the Mayor. “How do you plea?”
Dawn didn’t realise that she had to say anything at first. But when Rory gave her a nudge she quickly stood up.
“Not guilty,” said Dawn.
“We’ll see about that,” replied the Mayor. “The prosecution can go first. Begin when ready.”
“My pleasure your honour,” answered a nicely dressed man. He stood up from his seat and he looked at Dawn and pointed at her. “Ladies and Gentlemen what you are seeing is a monster. Not a monster that you hear in stories but a monster in the true sense of the word. Miss Dawn Summers over there used her former size and strength to take advantage of our hospitality.”
“Indeed.”
“If your honour hadn’t have cut her down to size she would have most likely have killed us all.”
“Your point is well considered. But now the defence may make their opening statement.”
The prosecutor then at back down and Rory stood up from his chair. He was trying to think of the words to say. But it was going to be very difficult for him to clear Dawn’s name. Practically everyone in town hated her.
“Ladies and Gentlemen Miss Summers is in no way a monster. Ok she was bigger then the rest of us but that didn’t make her a monster. You might say that she used her size and strength against us but she was confused. This isn’t where she came from and our actions against only made her situation worse. For her crimes we are as much guilty for them than she is.”
“You have also raised a valid point Mr. Alistair,” replied the Mayor. “Now the Prosecution speaks.”
The Prosecutor stood up once again. He walked around the court a little and everyone was wondering what he was going to say. Dawn was specially nervous since he was the one about to make her seem like a monsters.
“The Prosecution would like to Dawn Summers to the stand,” said the Prosecutor. Everyone gasped a little. But a couple of guards took Dawn to the stand and she sat back down. The Prosecutor then looked at Dawn and he smiled a little. “State your name to the court.”
“Dawn Summers,” replied Dawn.
“Now tell me why you destroyed our cannons?”
“You were shooting them at me. I didn’t want to get hurt again. I just wanted to go home.”
“Destroying public property doesn’t get you home little missy. Threatening every townsperson doesn’t get you home.”
“I didn’t threaten anyone I swear.”
“But you did strike fear into the hearts of everyone in this room?”
“Well yeah.”
“You did take advantage of our hospitality and attempted to escape not caring how much damage you caused.”
“Well yeah.”
“And is it not true that you were willing to endanger everyone in this room just so you could leave.”
“Wait I didn’t want to endanger anyone. I just wanted to leave. But there’s something around this town that stops me.”
“You must not speak of it.”
“Why because no one will? There is something wrong in this town. I come from a town called Sunnydale and this is weird even by my standards. Just because no one talks about doesn’t mean its not there.”
“Security!” demanded the Mayor.
Several guards then began to circle around Dawn. She was afraid and she wanted to defend herself. But since she was cuffed there was nothing that she could have done to help herself as the guards restrained her.
Meanwhile just outside Featherstone Buffy and a couple of the slayers were looking for Dawn. Buffy, Xander and Willow had split up into three teams so that they could cover more ground. They kept in contact with each other through Willow’s magic. But so far they hadn’t found any sign of Dawn.
Buffy was worried most. She remembered promising her dead mother that she would protect Dawn against almost anything. This was a promise that she was not willing to break.
But just then one of the slayers noticed something. She quickly got Buffy’s attention and she pointed towards a fallen tree. Another slayer examined the tree a little and looked back at Buffy.
“What is it?” asked Buffy.
“It’s a tree,” replied the Slayer.
“I know that Ann. I meant what happened to it?”
“Well obviously it’s fallen down ma’am. It wasn’t cut down by a saw. It’s in perfect health. It could have been knocked down by a bolt of lightning last night. But there would have been some burn marks. The only other explanation is that something physically pushed it down.”
“Like a 50 foot teenage girl?”
“Most likely.”
“Then we’re on the right track.” She then shut her eyes tight. “Willow can you hear me?”
Not too far away Willow was picking up Buffy’s voice. She responded by also closing her eyes.
“I read you loud and clear Buffy,” replied Willow. “Found anything.”
“We’ve found a fallen tree that’s most likely been attacked by Dawn. I think we’re on the right track.”
“Any other sign?”
“No not yet. But she couldn’t be too far from here. If she is then others would have seen her by now.”
“We’ll head your way and I’ll inform Xander.”
“Good.”
The communication then broke off and Willow communicated with Xander about the fallen tree. They could now limit their search down to a smaller area. But they had no idea what Dawn was going through.
In her trial the jury were deciding whether or not she was guilty. She felt very scared at this moment. In her life time she had faced vampires, demons and even a couple of witches. But she had never been through anything like this. But eventually one of the members of the jury stood up.
“Has the jury reached verdict?” asked the Mayor.
“We have your honour,” replied the Juror. “We find the defendant guilty on all charges.”
“Thank you.” He then looked at Dawn. “Raise Miss Summers.” Dawn was then forced to stand up. “I hereby sentence you to death. Your punishment will be carried out immediately. Take her away.”
Dawn attempted to struggle but the guards began to drag her away. She was kicking and screaming.
“Rory help me!” cried Dawn.
But this fell onto deaf ears. She was taken to a small room within the building. But within this room was a bright yellow portal. It felt very warm and Dawn continued to struggle. But she was thrown through the portal. For a few moments it felt like she was flying like a bird. But eventually she landed on the ground. At first she thought that she had broken a bone. But after she got up everything seemed to be fine.
But then she heard a growling sound. She looked around but she couldn’t see anything. She seemed to be in pure darkness. But then suddenly the entire area lit up as if it was being hit by daylight. For a moment it blinded Dawn but her eyes eventually got use to the light and she was able to see once more.
But then a creature came up through the ground. It was like nothing Dawn had ever seen before. It seemed to be humanoid in form but it was ten feet tall with spikes growing out of its back. It was grey in colour and had featureless eyes. She thought that it looked similar to a character she had seen in one of Xander’s old Superman comics. But she was still gripped with fear.
“You’re a big girl,” he said. He then licked his lips. “That’s good it just means there’s more of you to eat.”
“Stay back,” begged Dawn.
“Now why would I do a silly thing like that?”
Dawn expected to be killed there and then. But another portal appeared just below her and she fell through it. She heard the creature cry out in annoyance. She had no idea what was happening. But she guessed that anywhere was better then where she had been. But she didn’t know where she was going.
After several seconds Dawn landed quite hard on the ground. But the first thing she saw was Rory with a book. She quickly got up and gave him a big hug. She even began to cry a little.
“Thank you Rory,” said Dawn. “Thank you thank you thank you.”
“Dawn I can’t breathe,” wheezed Rory.
“What?” she then realised that poor Rory was suffocating from her hug. She quickly loosened her grip. “Sorry I guess I don’t know my own strength.” She then stopped hugging him.
“I was afraid in case I was too late. They sent you into that portal almost an hour ago.” This statement shocked Dawn. “What’s wrong?”
“I was only there for a couple of seconds.”
“That’s lucky for you then. Time must travel differently there.”
“But what was that thing?”
“That’s what the Mayor talks to. I’m not sure exactly what happened but after the Mayor began to deal we’ve all not aged.”
“So is that a good thing?”
“We’re trapped here. It’s nice to live forever but this town is a prison nonetheless. We just want to be free.”
“Then why not just kill this thing?”
“A couple have tried but they’ve never returned. And any attempt has led to us being tortured. Instead of trying to destroy it most of us have decided to live with it. Some of us even try and forget that it exists.”
Meanwhile in the Mayor’s office the Mayor himself was relaxing a little. The priestesses were giving him some food. But then the crystal ball lit up. This caught everyone by surprise and the Mayor quickly looked inside the ball. He saw the eyes again and he knew something was wrong.
“What is it my Master?” asked the Mayor.
“My dinner has escaped,” replied the Creature.
“But Master that’s impossible. She couldn’t have escaped.”
“She did and she had help. Someone from your side helped her to escape my dimension and back into yours.”
“I assure you Master she will be found and sent back to you.”
“She better if she’s not back here within the hour I am coming to bring her back myself.”
“Master is that wise?”
“Are you questioning me Worm?”
“Of course not. She’ll be with you within the hour.”
“See that it does.”
The crystal ball then reverted to normal. The Mayor looked at the priestesses around him.
“Don’t just stand there get everyone available man, woman and child looking for Dawn Summers. I want her found and I want her found now.”
“As you wish,” replied one of the Priestesses.
The Priestesses then disappeared in a flash of light. The Mayor also left the office so that he too could look for Dawn.
Meanwhile outside the town Buffy and her slayers were still looking for Dawn. But they hadn’t found anymore clues leading to her. They discovered the huge opening in the forest. This was where the Town of Featherstone was located. But it was cloaked from the outside world. The Slayers walked through one of the walls and they came out at the opposite side of the clearing. Buffy looked back to see where she had been just a couple of seconds earlier.
“That was weird,” said Buffy.
“What was?” replied a Slayer.
Buffy tried to think but she just came up with a blank. She turned back around and kept walking.
“Nothing.”
Inside the dome Dawn was still with Rory. But from a building they could see the Town Square. The Mayor was standing on a stand and everyone in the town was looking at him. He cleared his throat before speaking.
“The criminal Dawn Summers has escaped her sentencing,” said the Mayor. “She must be discovered within the hour or else the hour or else the consequences will be dire to us all. Everyone will be split into four teams. One team will search the North, one the East, one the South and the last the West. Each team will be led by one of the High Priestesses.”
Inside the building Rory was puzzled. He didn’t understand why the Mayor had ordered Dawn’s capture within the hour? He began to think and he began to get a rough idea with what was going to happen.
“I think its coming,” said Rory.
“You mean that thing’s coming for me?” asked Dawn.
“I’m not sure. But if it does we’re probably going to be in big trouble. If it’s as powerful as the Mayor says it is it could destroy us all.”
“Don’t you people have anything hat could destroy it?”
“If we did then we would have used it by now. The only thing that could possible destroy it is you.”
“Me?”
“Well not now. But when you were a giant.”
“But the Mayor made me smaller.”
“Then maybe we’ll just have to make you big again. The Mayor keeps his magic books in his office. Since everyone is out looking for you there shouldn’t be anyone there guarding it. I should be able to enter and steal the books undetected. Then we can hope that my Latin’s not too rusty.”
“Where is the Mayor’s office?”
“Not too far from here. But we best wait for the square to empty. Then we can get going.”
The pair waited for the square to empty. It took several minutes for the square to empty and the pair made their move. But if they caught the glimpse of anyone they would quickly hide. But since Dawn was a lot taller then Rory it was more difficult for her to hide.
But while the townspeople were searching in vein for Dawn the pair were getting closer to the Mayor’s office in the Town Hall. The trip felt a lot longer then it actually had been. But at this moment in time the Mayor was the most nervous person in town. As the minutes went by his master was becoming more and more impatient. He only had fifteen minutes to find her before his Master would come to town.
Eventually Dawn and Rory reached the Town hall without being spotted. As they went to the Mayor’s Office they quickly saw a guard by the door and they hid. Thankfully the guard seemed to be asleep so they had dodged a bullet almost. The office was down a corridor and the guard was sitting on a chair.
Just before the corridor there was a bust that Rory picked up. He then looked over to Dawn.
“Dawn stand right there,” he said pointing to a spot. She quickly moved to the spot as instructed.
“Now what?” replied Dawn.
“Get his attention.”
“Are you high?”
“Just do it. I have a cunning plan.”
Rory hid behind the wall just outside the corridor. Dawn was standing a couple of more feet away from the corridor. She thought that she was going to be captured for sure. She didn’t have much to lose.
“Hello!” she shouted. She saw the guard stir a little and he groaned a little. “Hello!” This woke him up more and he saw Dawn. He quickly realised who she was and got up and ran towards her.
“Hey you!” he shouted.
The guard then ran up towards her. But when he reached where Rory was he came out of hiding and the Guard on the head with the bust rendering him unconscious. He landed on the ground with a thud.
“Oh my God,” said Dawn.
“Don’t worry he’ll live,” replied Rory.
The pair quickly ran down the corridor and they entered the Mayor’s office. But on the shelves there were several different books and they didn’t have enough time to look through them to find the growing spell.
They began to briefly look at them. But Dawn spotted one that looked familiar. She recognised it as the book the Mayor had used to shrink her. She quickly got it out and looked at it. But it was all in Latin and she couldn’t understand a word of it. It was unfortunately not one of the languages she was fluent in.
“I think I’ve found it,” said Dawn.
“Well that’s a start,” replied Rory. “Found the spell yet?”
“I can’t read Latin.”
“Looks like I’ve got to look through it. Keep a lookout for anyone coming down the corridor.”
“Ok.”
Dawn kept watch as Rory began to go through the book. But it would likely take him sometime before he found the correct spell. He didn’t want to make her situation any worse by saying the wrong spell. It could cause her to transform into a hideous creature or even shrink her again.
But outside the Mayor was still looking with his group. But he could hear a rumbling sound above him. When he looked up he saw clouds forming. His body ran cold with fear and he began to shake uncontrollable. A bolt of lightning struck a few metres from where he was standing and suddenly the creature once more appeared.
The rest of the group saw the creature as well and like the Mayor they were frozen in fear. They had never seen it before but they had heard about it. They hoped that they would never have to see it.
Quickly the Mayor bowed down to it and the rest of the group followed quickly. They were too terrified to speak.
“You have failed me McMillan,” said the Creature.
“But Master Kanro I assure you she’s within our grasp,” replied the Mayor. “We just need a little more time.”
“Time is up.” He then grabbed the Mayor around the neck and lifted him up. “You have failed me for the last time.” He then easily snapped the Mayor’s neck. His lifeless body hit the ground when Kanro released his grip. “You.” Kanro then pointed to a random man in the group.
“Me?” asked the Man.
“Yes you’re the new Mayor of Featherstone,” replied Kanro.
“I can’t be mayor. I don’t have the right qualities.”
“This is opportunity that you can not turn down. If you do turn it down you’ll end up like the last Mayor.”
“Ok, Ok I’ll do it.”
“Good now dare not fail me. Find me Dawn Summers.”
“Y-yes sir.”
The new Mayor began to bark orders to the group. They had no choice but to obey. But they were more scared of Kanro then they were of the new Mayor. They feared if they didn’t find Dawn soon they would all end up like Mayor McMillan.
But then Kanro began to pick up a familiar scent. He looked towards the main town and he smiled.
“She’s over there,” he said. “Go get her.”
“Yes sir,” replied the New Mayor.
Inside the Mayor’s office Dawn looked out of the window after hearing the lightning. She saw Kanro in the distance. She was struck with fear before looking towards Rory. He was still looking through the book.
“He’s here,” said Dawn.
“Who?” replied Rory.
“That thing everyone’s afraid of.”
“What?” He then looked out of the window. He was horrified with what he saw. He didn’t think such a creature like that could exist. But it was standing right there. But what scared him most was that it was looking in their direction. “We haven’t gotten much time left.”
“Have you found it yet?”
“I’ve found the shrinking spell.”
“I don’t want to get any smaller.”
“It’s got instructions on how to counteract the spell. But we need something that has that has a shard of lightning power.”
“You mean like electricity?”
“Yes that’s it.”
“I think I might have something.” Dawn then went into her pocket and she picked out a tiny mp3 player. It had shrunk when she did and was almost microscopic in size. It had been a miracle that she was even able to find it.
“What’s that?”
“Its called an mp3 player. It runs on electricity.”
“This should do. But I need to put it into a boiling pot and say the incantation in reverse order.”
Dawn looked outside the window and saw that Kanro was closer to them then he had been before. He was picking up her scent and was tracking her like a bloodhound would. He wasn’t going to lose her anytime soon.
“You better hurry.”
Thankfully for them there was a kettle in the office. Rory quickly began to boil the water inside. But they had to wait for it to heat up. It was going to take a minute or two. This was too long for them.
Outside Kanro was getting closer. He was fixed onto Dawn’s position and he licked his lips. He was looking forward to feeding on her. In his mind it was only a matter of time before she was his.
Just then inside the kettle boiled and Rory dropped the tiny mp3 player into the boiling water. He looked into the book and was a little nervous. This was due to two things. The first was that Kanro was coming towards them so he knew that there wasn’t much time. The second was that he would have done this outside. But since it was close to impossible to do this he’d have to do it inside. This meant that if he didn’t get out of the building when Dawn grew he would surely be crushed.
“Is order to ego Pactum,” said Rory. “Res Nequam is Pactum.”
The boiling water began to really bubble over. A flash of electricity came out of the kettle. But when Rory looked at Dawn he could see that she was getting taller and within seconds her head was hitting the ceiling.
Rory quickly turned around and he ran out of the room. He could hear cracking noises and he could only guess that Dawn was breaking out. He didn’t have time to look back and he just ran.
Eventually he got outside but he ran straight into Kanro. He was grabbed around his neck and picked up off his feet like Mayor McMillan had been earlier. He was afraid as he stared into the eyes of Kanro.
“Looks like you’ve failed,” said Kanro. “Any last words?”
“Take cover,” replied Rory.
Just then Dawn burst out of the building. Most of the people covered from the flying rubble. Kanro on the other hand just stood there and looked at her. He still had Rory in his grasp. He seemed unmoved that Dawn was a giant again. In fact he seemed to be enjoying his meal even more. There was now more for him to eat.
The first thing Dawn noticed when she stopped growing was that everything seemed smaller then it had before. This was because she was bigger then previously. She had originally been fifty feet tall. But now she was over seventy feet tall. She hoped that this would be an advantage.
“A challenge,” said Kanro. “I haven’t had one of those in a good long time.” He then chuckled as he threw Rory to one side. “Never eaten a giant before.”
“And you never will,” replied Dawn.
Most of the people began to flee. They didn’t dare stay during this clash of titans. But a few stayed to watch the fight.
Kanro jumped up into the air and punched Dawn in the face. This sent her back a little and she went into a building. She hadn’t been punched that hard for a long time. But this just made her angrier.
When Kanro landed on the ground she kicked him as hard as she could and he went flying through the air like a football. He hit the old clock tower and it was completely destroyed. But this didn’t seem to have done much damage when he hit the ground. He seemed to be enjoying himself. He just jumped back to where Dawn was and he smiled at her.
“You’ve got spunk girl,” said Kanro. ”Let’s hope that I can smack some of that spunk right out of you.”
Dawn went to kick him again but this time he caught her foot and was able to flip her onto the ground. This caused a small earthquake and it almost seemed that Dawn was going to be down for the count.
But Rory couldn’t bear to see her get killed. He grabbed a nearby shovel and ran to Kanro and hit him in the head with it. But it did nothing and Kanro just looked at him and was somewhat annoyed.
“Insect,” he said.
He then swatted Rory away as if he was nothing. He went through a glass window killing him. The impact from the swat was enough to kill him. The glass going through his body was an added injury.
Dawn saw Rory’s heroic sacrifice and this enraged her. She grabbed Kanro and picked him up. She held his arms in her one hand and his legs in the other and she began to pull. Spikes were going into her hand but she didn’t care. She just began to cry as she continued to pull.
“What are you doing?” asked Kanro.
“Making sure you don’t hurt anyone else,” replied Dawn.
With one great pull Dawn was able to rip Kanro into two killing him instantly. She seemed to be out of breath. But in a flash Kanro’s body disappeared. She quickly went over to where Rory was. But there was nothing she could have done for him. He was already dead.
But outside the town the barrier was now down and the town was there for all to see. It took a moment for one of the Slayer’s in Buffy’s group to notice the town. She pointed towards it.
“Buffy there’s something over there,” said the Slayer.
Buffy looked and saw Featherstone. She hadn’t noticed it before due to the barrier. But now that it was down she could see it. She could also see Dawn standing taller then the buildings.
Likewise Willow’s magic could now detect Dawn now and she quickly teleported her group to where Dawn was. In mere seconds Willow and her group were in the town of Featherstone. They were amazed with what they saw. In Willow’s mind it was like something from a Charles Dickens book. But she was over the moon to see her giant friend.
“Dawnie you’re OK,” said Willow.
“Define OK,” replied Dawn.
Willow then looked into the hands of Dawn and saw Rory’s body. She didn’t know who he was but she could see that Dawn was upset.
“Dawn I’m sorry,” said Willow.
“I just want go,” replied Dawn.
“We will go right after Buffy gets here.”
Dawn had to wait for what seemed to be an eternity for her older sister and the other slayers to come. Buffy was mixed with emotions. She didn’t know whether to be angry at her giant little sister for running away. Or happy to know that she was alright. But she could see that Dawn wasn’t too happy to see her.
“Dawn where have you been?” asked Buffy. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She could still see that Dawn was upset. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just want to go back to the citadel.”
In the crowd of Slayers they were quietly talking amongst one another. A few noticed that Dawn was taller then she had been before.
“Is it me or Dawn look taller?” asked one slayer.
“Sush,” replied another.
Dawn wasn’t sure what was going to happen to the town of Featherstone now. The people were now free to leave if they chose. She doubted that they’d lived forever now. But she guessed that they were happy that they’d die someday. It would allow them to be at peace.
She reluctantly gave the townspeople Rory’s body and she left along with the slayers. It was getting late and it looked like rain. To save time Willow teleported them all back to the citadel. But this took a lot out of her and she had to rest immediately afterwards.
Everyone one else was tired from their day of searching and they retired to their rooms. Buffy wanted to talk to Dawn about what had happened in Featherstone. But Dawn didn’t want to do much more today. She just wanted to get some rest.
Dawn went back to her barn and tried to put on a pair of PJs that had been grown to her standards. But since she was bigger then before they didn’t fit her that well. She’d have to ask the witches to make them larger for her.
But as night drew in dawn lay down on the ground to sleep. But now her feet were outside the barn. She was too big to fit in it properly anymore. But there wasn’t much she could do.
“Things can’t get any worse,” said Dawn. Just then she felt something wet hit her feet. Several seconds later more wet things hit her feet and she soon realised that it was raining outside and her feet were going to get wet. All Dawn could do was give out the world’s biggest sigh. “I hate my life.”
The End.