Five years into the future. A bleak, post- apocalyptic future for which the Slayer herself is responsible. Her mother has been killed. Angel is missing and presumed dead. Her friends are different, harder. But that's not the worst of it. Buffy's enemies are different, too ... In this alternate reality, old foes are wreaking havoc in vampire-dominated Southern California. This in and of itself is no surprise. But when Buffy learns that even the vicious Spike is merely a minion, lackey to the chief bloodsucker, she is rocked to the core. For he serves none other than Giles, the Vampire King. Whom Buffy must face and conquer -- as her friends back in real time struggle to bring her disembodied spirit home ... To be continued.