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". . . You look worried," Nita observes, settling onto a stool next to him. "That's usually a bad sign. What's the crisis du jour?"
He looks up sharply, lowering his coffee mug. "Nita! Hey. Yeah, it's ... it's kind of a big one."
She orders a coffee of her own from the bar, frowning.
"Anything I can help with?"
"Anything I can help with?"
"Frith, I hope so," he says, low. "-- Can you hand me a napkin?"
"Yeah, sure" -- she snags a napkin and passes it over -- "am I gonna need more than coffee?"
A subtle tension goes out of his shoulders as he takes the napkin from her.
"Maybe. It's, um. ... I can't remember if I've told you about it before or not."
Beat.
"It's the First Evil."
"Maybe. It's, um. ... I can't remember if I've told you about it before or not."
Beat.
"It's the First Evil."
". . . No, I don't think so. This is something different than the Lone Power, I take it."
"Analogous? I think? It operates under way different rules, though, so probably let's not overplay the comparison ..."
He pauses to organize the information in his head, and then lets out a short breath before starting. "It's from my world, and it says it's basically the first and ultimate incarnation of evil. It can take on the appearance of anyone who's ever died, whether or not they've come back to life again. It's incorporeal, so it can't touch or move any material objects directly, but it's got a posse of servants called the Bringers or Harbingers, and they can."
He swallows and adds, lower: "And some of them have already. Here."
He pauses to organize the information in his head, and then lets out a short breath before starting. "It's from my world, and it says it's basically the first and ultimate incarnation of evil. It can take on the appearance of anyone who's ever died, whether or not they've come back to life again. It's incorporeal, so it can't touch or move any material objects directly, but it's got a posse of servants called the Bringers or Harbingers, and they can."
He swallows and adds, lower: "And some of them have already. Here."
Her gaze flicks to the napkin, and his mug, and understanding dawns in her expression.
"Right. Does it have any specific goals that you know of?"
"I don't know yet."
His gaze drops.
"It ... it might just want to mess with people for fun. Or it might just be waiting for the right time to tell someone what it wants."
His gaze drops.
"It ... it might just want to mess with people for fun. Or it might just be waiting for the right time to tell someone what it wants."
"Lovely. You know, it's weird how I can like the chaotic thing so much in Raven and Coyote and dislike it so much in beings that call themselves the First Evil."
"I'll take Chaotic Neutral over Chaotic Evil any day," he agrees.
"So -- unknown goals for the moment. Takes the shape of people who've died. Any known weaknesses?"
"Aside from not being able to touch anything ... no."
He looks up again. "The last time we faced it, we were only able to thwart its plan by collapsing the whole city on top of the Hellmouth. And we still couldn't kill it."
He looks up again. "The last time we faced it, we were only able to thwart its plan by collapsing the whole city on top of the Hellmouth. And we still couldn't kill it."
Her eyes widen.
"Jesus, you collapsed a city?"
"Jesus, you collapsed a city?"
"Yeah. A mostly empty one, but ... did I never tell you this story?"
"That was Sunnydale. My hometown. I mean collapsing the city was really sort of a side effect, but since it was built over the Hellmouth, there was no way to collapse that and leave the town standing ..."
She winces and nods.
"Pyrhhic victories," she says, rueful. "And collapsing the Hellmouth, what -- trapped the First Evil? Or its servants?"
"Pyrhhic victories," she says, rueful. "And collapsing the Hellmouth, what -- trapped the First Evil? Or its servants?"
"Trapped and possibly killed the army of proto-vampires it was gathering, plus most of its servants. Also cut the First off from the energies of the Hellmouth, for good. I don't think it trapped the First itself. I don't ... know if that's even possible."
Another nod. She knows the Lone Power can be trapped, but he did say it wasn't exactly analogous.
"There's no Hellmouth here, though, right? I feel like we'd have noticed."
"There's no Hellmouth here, though, right? I feel like we'd have noticed."
He shakes his head. "No, but the end-of-the-multiverse energies might be enough to let it ... manifest, I guess? Anyway it's here."
A pause; he swallows.
"And its guys hurt somebody."
A pause; he swallows.
"And its guys hurt somebody."
"Out back. He, he's in the infirmary now --"
His throat is thickening, painfully.
His throat is thickening, painfully.
She puts out a hand -- support, if he wants it.
"Who is it? Is he going to be okay?"
"Who is it? Is he going to be okay?"
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