A/N Ok, I promise you that "My Own Version" is going to come back with a
part 3. Angel's still on isn't he? As long as Angel stays on, this story
will continue. I was a little angry with the way Buffy ended. Don't get
me wrong, I loved the episode, but it just left you hanging. Well, not
this story. You'll have something to look forward to next season.
Chapter 81
Spike sat on his cot as the first rays of dawn streamed down on the world. He stared at the medallion dangling on its chain. Buffy walked down the stairs and he got up to meet her. It was time. She and Spike walked bravely up to the living room and looked at all the potentials. They were armed and ready. Angel took her hand and they walked out the door. Robin and Faith were waiting outside for them. Spike took the tarp and covered up. No rays hit him as they walked towards the school. It sat abandoned, papers strewn across the grass, a car crashed into a tree on the main quad. The group strode purposefully toward the front entrance, led by Robin. They entered the school and made their way through the ransacked corridors.
"Welcome to Sunnydale High. There's no running in the halls, no yelling, no gum-chewing. Apart from that, there's only one rule: if they move, kill them."
Buffy joined Wood at the head of the group. "Okay, potentials in the basement. Follow Faith and Spike." Faith pointed the way and they headed off down the hall.
"If you have to go to the bathroom, it's to your left. If you don't have to go to the bathroom, picture what you're about to face. Better to go now." Xander said.
"Willow, my office is straight through there." Wood said.
"It's right over the Seal." Angel said.
Willow handed her bag to Kennedy who said, "I'll start getting you set up."
"Thanks." Willow said.
As Kennedy headed into Robin's office, he turned to the rest of the group: Anya, Andrew, Giles, Dawn, and Xander. "Okay, civilians.... if the vampires get upstairs, we have three areas they could get through to another building and then down into the sewers. Down the hall in the atrium, the north hall here and the primary target, through the lounge and straight to the science building. Now odds are most of them will head there."
"Teams of two, then? I suggest you and I take the lounge." Giles said to Robin.
"I concur." Robin said.
"Xander, I want you with Dawn." Angel said.
"I concur." Xander said.
"We'll check out the atrium." Dawn said.
"So that leaves me and the dungeon master in the north hall." Anya said.
"We will defend it with our very lives." Andrew said.
"Yes, we will defend it with his very life."
"And don't be afraid to use him as a human shield." Xander said.
"Good, yes! Thanks."
"I just want to say how proud I am to die for this very special cause with you guys." Andrew said. He took a sheet of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. "There's some people I'd like to thank, both good and evil. A shout-out to my brother Tucker who gave me the inspiration to summon demons and also...."
Anya yanked him down the hall by the arm. "Nobody cares, ya little monkey."
"I'm going to check out our field of engagement." Dawn said.
She headed toward the atrium but Buffy stopped her. "Dawn...."
"No. Anything you say is going to sound like goodbye."
The two sisters shared a silent look that said everything that needed saying, then Dawn turned and walked away. When she was gone, Buffy turned back to the four who are left: Giles, Willow, Angel, and Xander. One by one she looked at the best friends she's ever known, then smiled. "So.... what do you guys want to do tomorrow?"
"Nothing strenuous." Willow said.
"Well, mini-golf is always the first thing that comes to mind." Xander said.
"I think we can do better than that." Angel said.
"I was thinking about shopping.... as per usual." Buffy said.
"There's an Agnes B in the new mall!" Willow said.
"Good. I could use a few items." Xander said.
"Aren't we going to discuss this? Save the world and go to the mall?" Giles asked.
"I'm having a wicked shoe craving." Buffy said.
"Aren't you on the patch?" Xander asked.
"Those never work." Angel said.
"And here I am, invisible to the eye, not having any say...." Giles muttered. Xander, Angel, Buffy, and Willow started to head off down the hall.
"See, I need a new look. It's this whole eye patch thing." Xander said.
"Oh! You could go with the full black secret agent look." Buffy said.
"Or the puffy shirt, pirate-slash-poet feel. Sensitive yet manly...." Angel joked.
"Now you're getting a little renaissance fair on me." Xander said.
"It's a fine line."
"The earth is definitely doomed." Giles said to himself. He headed off to the lounge to join Wood while Buffy, Angel, Xander, and Willow walked silently together side-by-side. Willow steeled herself, then broke off and headed into Wood's office. A little further along, Xander took Buffy's hand and squeezed it, then he went to join Dawn in the atrium. Alone once more with her husband, Buffy took his hand and headed for the basement. She entered and Spike and Angel flanked her as they approached the Seal of Danthazar. Faith and the other potentials were already gathered around it waiting.
Faith took out Andrew's Tawarick knife and handed it to Buffy. "You first B."
Buffy extended her hand and slashed her palm with the knife, drawing blood. One by one, everyone else did the same, then they all extended their arms outward, letting their blood drip onto the Seal. It pooled in the grooves on its surface and was instantly absorbed. The Seal began to glow from within and the pointed tips of the pentagram at its center folded up, forming a pyramid which sank into its center. Buffy stared down into the dark hole, finding her center, then with a glance at Faith, she stepped into the Hellmouth. Faith followed right behind. Buffy emerged into a shadowy cave with Angel and the others right behind her.
Spike stepped up to Buffy and Angel, indicated the amulet around his neck, and spoke softly to them. "Not to be a buzzkill, but my fabulous accessory isn't exactly tingling with power."
"I'm not worried." Buffy said.
"I'm getting zero juice here.... and I look like Elizabeth Taylor."
"Cheer up, Liz." Faith said, taking Spike's hand. "If Willow's big spell doesn't work, it won't matter what you wear."
"I'm not worried." Buffy said, gripping Angel's hand tightly. The group spread out as the cave tunnel opened up and they approached the edge of a dizzying drop. The flickering light of burning fires and the snarling and bellowing of a vast multitude came from far below. Buffy and the potentials approached the edge of the precipice and looked down at a legion of Turok-han vampires, screaming, growling, and readying for war: the army of the First. Buffy's eyes went wide at the sight. The potentials stood rooted in place by fear and even Angel and Spike were awed by the sheer number and ferocity of the teeming throng below. "I'm not worried."
"Really? Cause I'm flashing back to Xander's whole bathroom speech." Angel said.
"Buffy...." Amanda said, terrified.
"I'm not worried. As long as Willow can work her spell before they...." Buffy said. Far below, the Turok-han army went silent as they all turned as one and looked up, directly at Buffy and the potentials. "See us." As if on cue, thousands of Turok-han raced toward them with a bellowing cry of rage. They began to scale the walls, climbing them with frightening speed. Buffy's calm façade started to crack at the awesome sight. "Willow...."
Behind them, Vi, Amanda and Rona sucked in a gasping breath as Willow's spell passed through them and released their potential and they became Vampire Slayers. The horde of raging Turok-han surged up and over the edge of the chasm toward Buffy, Angel, Faith, Spike, and the team of newly called Vampire Slayers.
"These guys are dust." Rona said.
Spike, Faith, Angel, and Buffy braced themselves as the first wave lept up over the edge and attacked. They fought like they never had before, almost as if Willow's spell had enhanced their already-formidable strength in addition to calling all the potentials to Slayerhood. More Turok-han charged up from the abyss and now the rest of the Slayers joined the fight. Roundhouse kicks, uppercuts, sidekicks, leaps, punching, and twirling in a stunning battle dance such as the world had never seen. Each Slayer, cloaked and anointed in the power, burning bright as they fought back the ravening horde, slaying as if they had been doing it all their lives. Vi lept into the air and slammed into one of the vampires with tremendous force, sending it reeling backward into the abyss. Rona cracked another in the head with the cast on her broken arm, snapping its neck. Amanda impaled a third with her lance, turning it instantly to dust. All around them the battles raged, three dozen Slayers against an army of super- vampires.
Buffy, Faith, and the others were in the fight of their lives. They beat back the Turok-han one after the other, staking them, punching them, slicing them to pieces, whatever it took. Kennedy lept down from the entrance above and called out to Buffy. Buffy spun around just as Kennedy threw the scythe to her. She caught it with one hand and became death incarnate. All around her, the Turok-han disintegrated to dust as she whipped the scythe around, dispensing one fatal blow after another. Kennedy was suddenly rocked backward by a vicious blow to the head as a Turok-han broke free from the melee and attacked her. She kicked it in the chest and brought her elbow down on its neck, snapping it in two.
"I could get used to this!" Kennedy said.
She seized another Turok-han and hurled it upward with tremendous force into the cavern's ceiling. It's head impacted a stalactite and its skull shattered like an eggshell. The lifeless body dropped to the ground at her feet. About a dozen of the Turok-han broke off their attack and dashed up the stairs and into the school above. They were replaced by dozens more from below before Buffy and the other Slayers could stop them.
Angel, in vamp face, beat back his own horde of Turok-hans. He kept tabs on Buffy the whole time. Nothing was going to happen to her if he could help it. Already he had cut down two attacks that would have caught his wife by surprise. Now he was a little cornered. Buffy was fighting fiercely and Angel took his eyes off of her and glanced at Spike. In the midst of the raging battle, he snapped the neck of a Turok-han, then staggered backward as some unseen force hit him. He looked down at the medallion around his neck, then touched it only to jerk his hand away in pain, his flesh seared from the heat.
"Buffy! Whatever this thing does, I think it's...." Spike suddenly screamed in agony and writhed in pain but Buffy didn't hear him in the heat of the battle. She dispatched two of the feral vampires, then stopped to yell out commands to the other Slayers.
"Keep the line together! Drive them to the edge! We can't let them do...." She stopped and gasped in shock and pain as a Turok-han ran her through from behind with its sword. She looked down amazed at the tip of the blade protruding from her abdomen. She staggered forward a few steps, then her eyes rolled up and she fell facefirst to the ground.
Angel looked back over to where Buffy had been, but he didn't see her. Suddenly, Faith yelled his wife's name and then he saw her. She was laying on the floor, blood starting to pool beneath her. With a feral growl, Angel shoved the Turok-hans back and over the edge of the cliff. He ran over to his fallen wife and kneeled next to her as Faith reached her too.
Buffy raised her head and grimaced in pain. "Hold the line." She pushed the scythe toward Faith. The raven-haired Slayer stared at Buffy in shock, then took the scythe and stood up, whipping it around with superhuman speed, destroying one vampire after another. Angel gripped Buffy's hand and knocked vampires away from them. "Angel, go."
"I'm not leaving you." Angel growled.
"You have to. They need you."
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine. I'll just lay here and enjoy the show."
"Buffy...."
"Please Angel, just go."
Angel stared at her a moment and then stood up, fighting off more Turok- hans. He stayed close to Buffy, making sure no vampires got near her except him. The battle raged on. For every Turok-han that died, three more took its place. Faith dealt death with every swing of the scythe but there were too many. Moments before she was overwhelmed, she called out, "Rona!" Then she hurled the scythe to Rona just as she was driven to the ground beneath five of the Turok-han vampires. Rona caught the scythe and picked up where Faith left off, swinging the gleaming blade in a deadly arc. Lying on the ground, bleeding and barely conscious, Buffy watched with dismay as Chao-ahn was seized from behind by a Turok-han. The vicious beast sank its fangs into her neck, tearing into her flesh and killing her. Then a bloody stake fell to the ground right in front of her and Buffy's head turned in time to see Amanda fall, her face covered in blood, her dead eyes staring sightlessly at Buffy. Buffy's own eyes closed as the pain became too much. The battle may still rage on, but Buffy's part in it was over. Then suddenly the sound of fighting faded around her and she heard her own voice. She looked up to see a mirror-image of herself standing over her, an identical puncture wound in her belly dripping blood. It was the First.
"Oh, no.... ow! Mommy, this mortal wound is all.... itchy." The First crouched down next to Buffy. "You pulled a nice trick. You came pretty close to smacking me down. What more do you want?"
Buffy stared at the First with smoldering hatred. The fight slowly came back into her eyes and her face hardened with grim determination. "I want you.... to get out of my face!" She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, then regained her feet. The First backed away and vanished. Rona slashed the neck of a Turok-han with the scythe, then tossed it back to Buffy who whipped it around in a 180° arc, taking out half a dozen Turok- han and driving several others back over the edge of the precipice to slam into the cavern floor far below.
Next to Buffy, a pile of raging Turok-han suddenly exploded outward and Faith and Angel lept to their feet. Angel's arms and legs were a deadly ballet as he landed one killing blow after another. All around Buffy, the Slayers found renewed strength and determination, beating back their attackers one at a time. In one fluid motion, Vi raked her stake through the abdomen of one vampire, then pirouetted and brought it down through the neck of another. Kennedy sent one attacker reeling with a roundhouse kick and followed through with her sword, decapitating another of the snarling beasts. Spike suddenly staggered backward in mid-blow, clutching his chest as if having a heart attack. He braced himself against the wall as a surge of energy welled up within him.
"Oh, bollocks...." The white-hot energy coalesced around the amulet and rocketed upward, punching a hole up through the ceiling of the cavern and through the basement of the school, tearing up and out through the building. Spike stood pinned in the center of a glowing ring of orange light. "Buffy! Faith!"
"Spike!" Faith yelled.
Before she could move, the medallion suddenly flared into life, lit with the intensity of a million suns. Streams of pure solar energy radiated outward in a circle like beams from a lighthouse. The energy pulses swept the cavern, destroying every Turok-han they touched. The vampire creatures screamed in agony as they were cut down and annihilated by the hundreds, then by the thousands as the light extended down into the chasm. Faith ran to Spike's side as the cavern around them began to shake and tremble. Chunks of rock and pointed stalactites tumbled from the ceiling as the ground lurched beneath their feet.
"Everybody out now!" Angel yelled, grabbing Buffy's hand and hauling her towards the stairs up.
The girls followed Angel's lead and dashed up the stairs and into the school basement. Buffy and Angel stayed behind, helping the injured to safety as Faith stood before Spike who was still pinned in place, illuminated by a crimson glow. She wanted to help him but was unsure what to do.
"I can feel it, Faith." Spike said.
"What?" Faith asked.
"My soul. It's really there. It kind of stings."
Faith looked around desperately as the last of the Slayers climbed up and out of the Hellmouth. Angel yelled for her to come on as he hauled Buffy up by the hand. Buffy yanked back and told Angel to go, she'd meet him up there. Angel tried to grab his wife, but she dodged out of his way. With an exasperated sigh, he ran up the stairs.
Buffy stood next to Faith in front of Spike. "How you doing?"
"Oh, this is Disneyland." Spike said. "Go on, then. Angel's going to kick your ass."
"No! No, you've done enough! You could still...."
"No, you've beaten them back. It's for me to do the cleanup."
Behind them, a vast section of the cavern ceiling collapsed inward, millions of tons of rock crashed into the abyss. Angel called down frantically from the top of the stairs near the Seal. "Buffy! Faith! Come on!"
"Gotta move, lambs. I think it's fair to say, school's out for the bloody summer." Spike said.
"B, go." Faith said.
"Faith...." Buffy said.
"Please Buffy."
Buffy grabbed Faith in a tight hug. "I'll be waiting in the basement. Hurry your ass up."
Faith watched the blonde Slayer go up the stairs and then she turned back to Spike. "Spike...."
"I mean it! I gotta do this." The light emanating from the amulet flared even brighter and Faith reached out and took Spike's hand in her own, entwining her fingers with his. A moment, then both their hands burst into flame. Faith ignored the fire and held his gaze with her own.
"I love you." She kissed him desperately. "Please don't do this. I know I've screwed up with us, but you can't just leave like this!"
"I love you too, pet, but you know I gotta do this. It's too late. Go on up there and live your life. I think you've got something with Robin. You deserve him, Faith." They shared one last look between them, two souls came together as one at last, then the ground heaved beneath their feet and chunks of stone slammed down like bombs around them. "Now go!"
Faith let go of Spike's hand and ran up through the Seal. Buffy grabbed Faith's hand and they ran out. They dodged and weaved through the crumbling hallways as they disintegrated around them. They came to the front entrance but found the way completely blocked. Turning around, they saw sunlight streaming down from above and ran up the stairs.
As the bus raced down the street, Buffy and Faith paced it on the rooftops of the adjacent buildings above, running for all they were worth, even gaining on the bus as it flew toward the city limits at 60+ miles per hour. Behind them, the buildings fell away as the town was slowly sucked into the Hellmouth. As the warehouse beneath their feet collapsed into rubble, they lept two dozen feet to the next building and kept running. Looking out the back window of the bus, Dawn spotted her sister and Faith just as they made one last desperate super-human leap into mid-air. They sailed past the Sun Cinema marquee and landed hard on top of the bus. Buffy turned around and watched as the bus shot away from the town that had been her home for the last seven years. She and Faith bot watched as the entire city disappeared into the abyss, leaving nothing but a vast gaping hole in its place.
When the bus stopped, Buffy and Faith immediately lept off the back and stared in shock at the smoking black crater before them. Then, with excitment, both women grabbed each other in a tight hug. Buffy told Faith she was sorry, but Faith told her everything was ok. Buffy understood that Faith was choosing Robin because Spike had told her to. Faith walked to the front of the bus just as the back door opened and Dawn and Angel lept out into her arms. The three shared a silent beat of joy and thanks in the embrace. Buffy released Dawn and kissed Angel deeply as Giles, Willow, and the others disembarked and gathered around, staring in awed disbelief at the total destruction of Sunnydale.
"I don't understand. What did this?" Giles asked.
Buffy broke the kiss with Angel and looked at the crater. "Spike." As Buffy walked forward toward the edge of the pit with Angel firmly attatched to her hands, she noticed a green sign balanced precariously on the very edge and bearing the logo "Welcome to Sunnydale! Enjoy your stay!" The sign swayed in the wind, then fell backward into the hole, a final coda to the town's history. Faith, Giles, Dawn, Willow, and Xander all gathered around Angel and Buffy on the edge of the crater.
"Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business." Angel said.
"There's another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment." Giles said.
"We saved the world." Xander said.
"We changed the world. I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere." Willow said.
"We'll have to find them." Dawn said.
"We will."
"Yes, because the mall was actually in Sunnydale so there's no hope of going there tomorrow." Giles said.
"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side." Dawn said.
"All those shops, gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toy R Us.... who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world of them?" Xander asked.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us." Giles said.
"Can I push him in?" Faith asked.
"You've got my vote." Willow said.
Faith playfully shoved Giles. "I just want to sleep for like a week!"
"I guess we all could. If we wanted to." Dawn said.
"Yeah, the First is scrunched so.... what do you think we should do, Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, you're not the one and only Chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, Buffy. What are we going to do now?" Dawn asked.
Buffy Anne Summers looked off into the future, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. She turned in Angel's embrace and looked at her friends. "I wanna start baking." Angel smirked, getting what she meant. "I wanna get married in front of you guys in a big ceremony at the Hyperion. I want the wedding dress and I wanna move to LA with my husband and I wanna be a family again. Maybe there could even be a honeymoon in there somewhere. What do you think?"
The End..... For Now.
Chapter 81
Spike sat on his cot as the first rays of dawn streamed down on the world. He stared at the medallion dangling on its chain. Buffy walked down the stairs and he got up to meet her. It was time. She and Spike walked bravely up to the living room and looked at all the potentials. They were armed and ready. Angel took her hand and they walked out the door. Robin and Faith were waiting outside for them. Spike took the tarp and covered up. No rays hit him as they walked towards the school. It sat abandoned, papers strewn across the grass, a car crashed into a tree on the main quad. The group strode purposefully toward the front entrance, led by Robin. They entered the school and made their way through the ransacked corridors.
"Welcome to Sunnydale High. There's no running in the halls, no yelling, no gum-chewing. Apart from that, there's only one rule: if they move, kill them."
Buffy joined Wood at the head of the group. "Okay, potentials in the basement. Follow Faith and Spike." Faith pointed the way and they headed off down the hall.
"If you have to go to the bathroom, it's to your left. If you don't have to go to the bathroom, picture what you're about to face. Better to go now." Xander said.
"Willow, my office is straight through there." Wood said.
"It's right over the Seal." Angel said.
Willow handed her bag to Kennedy who said, "I'll start getting you set up."
"Thanks." Willow said.
As Kennedy headed into Robin's office, he turned to the rest of the group: Anya, Andrew, Giles, Dawn, and Xander. "Okay, civilians.... if the vampires get upstairs, we have three areas they could get through to another building and then down into the sewers. Down the hall in the atrium, the north hall here and the primary target, through the lounge and straight to the science building. Now odds are most of them will head there."
"Teams of two, then? I suggest you and I take the lounge." Giles said to Robin.
"I concur." Robin said.
"Xander, I want you with Dawn." Angel said.
"I concur." Xander said.
"We'll check out the atrium." Dawn said.
"So that leaves me and the dungeon master in the north hall." Anya said.
"We will defend it with our very lives." Andrew said.
"Yes, we will defend it with his very life."
"And don't be afraid to use him as a human shield." Xander said.
"Good, yes! Thanks."
"I just want to say how proud I am to die for this very special cause with you guys." Andrew said. He took a sheet of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. "There's some people I'd like to thank, both good and evil. A shout-out to my brother Tucker who gave me the inspiration to summon demons and also...."
Anya yanked him down the hall by the arm. "Nobody cares, ya little monkey."
"I'm going to check out our field of engagement." Dawn said.
She headed toward the atrium but Buffy stopped her. "Dawn...."
"No. Anything you say is going to sound like goodbye."
The two sisters shared a silent look that said everything that needed saying, then Dawn turned and walked away. When she was gone, Buffy turned back to the four who are left: Giles, Willow, Angel, and Xander. One by one she looked at the best friends she's ever known, then smiled. "So.... what do you guys want to do tomorrow?"
"Nothing strenuous." Willow said.
"Well, mini-golf is always the first thing that comes to mind." Xander said.
"I think we can do better than that." Angel said.
"I was thinking about shopping.... as per usual." Buffy said.
"There's an Agnes B in the new mall!" Willow said.
"Good. I could use a few items." Xander said.
"Aren't we going to discuss this? Save the world and go to the mall?" Giles asked.
"I'm having a wicked shoe craving." Buffy said.
"Aren't you on the patch?" Xander asked.
"Those never work." Angel said.
"And here I am, invisible to the eye, not having any say...." Giles muttered. Xander, Angel, Buffy, and Willow started to head off down the hall.
"See, I need a new look. It's this whole eye patch thing." Xander said.
"Oh! You could go with the full black secret agent look." Buffy said.
"Or the puffy shirt, pirate-slash-poet feel. Sensitive yet manly...." Angel joked.
"Now you're getting a little renaissance fair on me." Xander said.
"It's a fine line."
"The earth is definitely doomed." Giles said to himself. He headed off to the lounge to join Wood while Buffy, Angel, Xander, and Willow walked silently together side-by-side. Willow steeled herself, then broke off and headed into Wood's office. A little further along, Xander took Buffy's hand and squeezed it, then he went to join Dawn in the atrium. Alone once more with her husband, Buffy took his hand and headed for the basement. She entered and Spike and Angel flanked her as they approached the Seal of Danthazar. Faith and the other potentials were already gathered around it waiting.
Faith took out Andrew's Tawarick knife and handed it to Buffy. "You first B."
Buffy extended her hand and slashed her palm with the knife, drawing blood. One by one, everyone else did the same, then they all extended their arms outward, letting their blood drip onto the Seal. It pooled in the grooves on its surface and was instantly absorbed. The Seal began to glow from within and the pointed tips of the pentagram at its center folded up, forming a pyramid which sank into its center. Buffy stared down into the dark hole, finding her center, then with a glance at Faith, she stepped into the Hellmouth. Faith followed right behind. Buffy emerged into a shadowy cave with Angel and the others right behind her.
Spike stepped up to Buffy and Angel, indicated the amulet around his neck, and spoke softly to them. "Not to be a buzzkill, but my fabulous accessory isn't exactly tingling with power."
"I'm not worried." Buffy said.
"I'm getting zero juice here.... and I look like Elizabeth Taylor."
"Cheer up, Liz." Faith said, taking Spike's hand. "If Willow's big spell doesn't work, it won't matter what you wear."
"I'm not worried." Buffy said, gripping Angel's hand tightly. The group spread out as the cave tunnel opened up and they approached the edge of a dizzying drop. The flickering light of burning fires and the snarling and bellowing of a vast multitude came from far below. Buffy and the potentials approached the edge of the precipice and looked down at a legion of Turok-han vampires, screaming, growling, and readying for war: the army of the First. Buffy's eyes went wide at the sight. The potentials stood rooted in place by fear and even Angel and Spike were awed by the sheer number and ferocity of the teeming throng below. "I'm not worried."
"Really? Cause I'm flashing back to Xander's whole bathroom speech." Angel said.
"Buffy...." Amanda said, terrified.
"I'm not worried. As long as Willow can work her spell before they...." Buffy said. Far below, the Turok-han army went silent as they all turned as one and looked up, directly at Buffy and the potentials. "See us." As if on cue, thousands of Turok-han raced toward them with a bellowing cry of rage. They began to scale the walls, climbing them with frightening speed. Buffy's calm façade started to crack at the awesome sight. "Willow...."
Behind them, Vi, Amanda and Rona sucked in a gasping breath as Willow's spell passed through them and released their potential and they became Vampire Slayers. The horde of raging Turok-han surged up and over the edge of the chasm toward Buffy, Angel, Faith, Spike, and the team of newly called Vampire Slayers.
"These guys are dust." Rona said.
Spike, Faith, Angel, and Buffy braced themselves as the first wave lept up over the edge and attacked. They fought like they never had before, almost as if Willow's spell had enhanced their already-formidable strength in addition to calling all the potentials to Slayerhood. More Turok-han charged up from the abyss and now the rest of the Slayers joined the fight. Roundhouse kicks, uppercuts, sidekicks, leaps, punching, and twirling in a stunning battle dance such as the world had never seen. Each Slayer, cloaked and anointed in the power, burning bright as they fought back the ravening horde, slaying as if they had been doing it all their lives. Vi lept into the air and slammed into one of the vampires with tremendous force, sending it reeling backward into the abyss. Rona cracked another in the head with the cast on her broken arm, snapping its neck. Amanda impaled a third with her lance, turning it instantly to dust. All around them the battles raged, three dozen Slayers against an army of super- vampires.
Buffy, Faith, and the others were in the fight of their lives. They beat back the Turok-han one after the other, staking them, punching them, slicing them to pieces, whatever it took. Kennedy lept down from the entrance above and called out to Buffy. Buffy spun around just as Kennedy threw the scythe to her. She caught it with one hand and became death incarnate. All around her, the Turok-han disintegrated to dust as she whipped the scythe around, dispensing one fatal blow after another. Kennedy was suddenly rocked backward by a vicious blow to the head as a Turok-han broke free from the melee and attacked her. She kicked it in the chest and brought her elbow down on its neck, snapping it in two.
"I could get used to this!" Kennedy said.
She seized another Turok-han and hurled it upward with tremendous force into the cavern's ceiling. It's head impacted a stalactite and its skull shattered like an eggshell. The lifeless body dropped to the ground at her feet. About a dozen of the Turok-han broke off their attack and dashed up the stairs and into the school above. They were replaced by dozens more from below before Buffy and the other Slayers could stop them.
Angel, in vamp face, beat back his own horde of Turok-hans. He kept tabs on Buffy the whole time. Nothing was going to happen to her if he could help it. Already he had cut down two attacks that would have caught his wife by surprise. Now he was a little cornered. Buffy was fighting fiercely and Angel took his eyes off of her and glanced at Spike. In the midst of the raging battle, he snapped the neck of a Turok-han, then staggered backward as some unseen force hit him. He looked down at the medallion around his neck, then touched it only to jerk his hand away in pain, his flesh seared from the heat.
"Buffy! Whatever this thing does, I think it's...." Spike suddenly screamed in agony and writhed in pain but Buffy didn't hear him in the heat of the battle. She dispatched two of the feral vampires, then stopped to yell out commands to the other Slayers.
"Keep the line together! Drive them to the edge! We can't let them do...." She stopped and gasped in shock and pain as a Turok-han ran her through from behind with its sword. She looked down amazed at the tip of the blade protruding from her abdomen. She staggered forward a few steps, then her eyes rolled up and she fell facefirst to the ground.
Angel looked back over to where Buffy had been, but he didn't see her. Suddenly, Faith yelled his wife's name and then he saw her. She was laying on the floor, blood starting to pool beneath her. With a feral growl, Angel shoved the Turok-hans back and over the edge of the cliff. He ran over to his fallen wife and kneeled next to her as Faith reached her too.
Buffy raised her head and grimaced in pain. "Hold the line." She pushed the scythe toward Faith. The raven-haired Slayer stared at Buffy in shock, then took the scythe and stood up, whipping it around with superhuman speed, destroying one vampire after another. Angel gripped Buffy's hand and knocked vampires away from them. "Angel, go."
"I'm not leaving you." Angel growled.
"You have to. They need you."
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine. I'll just lay here and enjoy the show."
"Buffy...."
"Please Angel, just go."
Angel stared at her a moment and then stood up, fighting off more Turok- hans. He stayed close to Buffy, making sure no vampires got near her except him. The battle raged on. For every Turok-han that died, three more took its place. Faith dealt death with every swing of the scythe but there were too many. Moments before she was overwhelmed, she called out, "Rona!" Then she hurled the scythe to Rona just as she was driven to the ground beneath five of the Turok-han vampires. Rona caught the scythe and picked up where Faith left off, swinging the gleaming blade in a deadly arc. Lying on the ground, bleeding and barely conscious, Buffy watched with dismay as Chao-ahn was seized from behind by a Turok-han. The vicious beast sank its fangs into her neck, tearing into her flesh and killing her. Then a bloody stake fell to the ground right in front of her and Buffy's head turned in time to see Amanda fall, her face covered in blood, her dead eyes staring sightlessly at Buffy. Buffy's own eyes closed as the pain became too much. The battle may still rage on, but Buffy's part in it was over. Then suddenly the sound of fighting faded around her and she heard her own voice. She looked up to see a mirror-image of herself standing over her, an identical puncture wound in her belly dripping blood. It was the First.
"Oh, no.... ow! Mommy, this mortal wound is all.... itchy." The First crouched down next to Buffy. "You pulled a nice trick. You came pretty close to smacking me down. What more do you want?"
Buffy stared at the First with smoldering hatred. The fight slowly came back into her eyes and her face hardened with grim determination. "I want you.... to get out of my face!" She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, then regained her feet. The First backed away and vanished. Rona slashed the neck of a Turok-han with the scythe, then tossed it back to Buffy who whipped it around in a 180° arc, taking out half a dozen Turok- han and driving several others back over the edge of the precipice to slam into the cavern floor far below.
Next to Buffy, a pile of raging Turok-han suddenly exploded outward and Faith and Angel lept to their feet. Angel's arms and legs were a deadly ballet as he landed one killing blow after another. All around Buffy, the Slayers found renewed strength and determination, beating back their attackers one at a time. In one fluid motion, Vi raked her stake through the abdomen of one vampire, then pirouetted and brought it down through the neck of another. Kennedy sent one attacker reeling with a roundhouse kick and followed through with her sword, decapitating another of the snarling beasts. Spike suddenly staggered backward in mid-blow, clutching his chest as if having a heart attack. He braced himself against the wall as a surge of energy welled up within him.
"Oh, bollocks...." The white-hot energy coalesced around the amulet and rocketed upward, punching a hole up through the ceiling of the cavern and through the basement of the school, tearing up and out through the building. Spike stood pinned in the center of a glowing ring of orange light. "Buffy! Faith!"
"Spike!" Faith yelled.
Before she could move, the medallion suddenly flared into life, lit with the intensity of a million suns. Streams of pure solar energy radiated outward in a circle like beams from a lighthouse. The energy pulses swept the cavern, destroying every Turok-han they touched. The vampire creatures screamed in agony as they were cut down and annihilated by the hundreds, then by the thousands as the light extended down into the chasm. Faith ran to Spike's side as the cavern around them began to shake and tremble. Chunks of rock and pointed stalactites tumbled from the ceiling as the ground lurched beneath their feet.
"Everybody out now!" Angel yelled, grabbing Buffy's hand and hauling her towards the stairs up.
The girls followed Angel's lead and dashed up the stairs and into the school basement. Buffy and Angel stayed behind, helping the injured to safety as Faith stood before Spike who was still pinned in place, illuminated by a crimson glow. She wanted to help him but was unsure what to do.
"I can feel it, Faith." Spike said.
"What?" Faith asked.
"My soul. It's really there. It kind of stings."
Faith looked around desperately as the last of the Slayers climbed up and out of the Hellmouth. Angel yelled for her to come on as he hauled Buffy up by the hand. Buffy yanked back and told Angel to go, she'd meet him up there. Angel tried to grab his wife, but she dodged out of his way. With an exasperated sigh, he ran up the stairs.
Buffy stood next to Faith in front of Spike. "How you doing?"
"Oh, this is Disneyland." Spike said. "Go on, then. Angel's going to kick your ass."
"No! No, you've done enough! You could still...."
"No, you've beaten them back. It's for me to do the cleanup."
Behind them, a vast section of the cavern ceiling collapsed inward, millions of tons of rock crashed into the abyss. Angel called down frantically from the top of the stairs near the Seal. "Buffy! Faith! Come on!"
"Gotta move, lambs. I think it's fair to say, school's out for the bloody summer." Spike said.
"B, go." Faith said.
"Faith...." Buffy said.
"Please Buffy."
Buffy grabbed Faith in a tight hug. "I'll be waiting in the basement. Hurry your ass up."
Faith watched the blonde Slayer go up the stairs and then she turned back to Spike. "Spike...."
"I mean it! I gotta do this." The light emanating from the amulet flared even brighter and Faith reached out and took Spike's hand in her own, entwining her fingers with his. A moment, then both their hands burst into flame. Faith ignored the fire and held his gaze with her own.
"I love you." She kissed him desperately. "Please don't do this. I know I've screwed up with us, but you can't just leave like this!"
"I love you too, pet, but you know I gotta do this. It's too late. Go on up there and live your life. I think you've got something with Robin. You deserve him, Faith." They shared one last look between them, two souls came together as one at last, then the ground heaved beneath their feet and chunks of stone slammed down like bombs around them. "Now go!"
Faith let go of Spike's hand and ran up through the Seal. Buffy grabbed Faith's hand and they ran out. They dodged and weaved through the crumbling hallways as they disintegrated around them. They came to the front entrance but found the way completely blocked. Turning around, they saw sunlight streaming down from above and ran up the stairs.
As the bus raced down the street, Buffy and Faith paced it on the rooftops of the adjacent buildings above, running for all they were worth, even gaining on the bus as it flew toward the city limits at 60+ miles per hour. Behind them, the buildings fell away as the town was slowly sucked into the Hellmouth. As the warehouse beneath their feet collapsed into rubble, they lept two dozen feet to the next building and kept running. Looking out the back window of the bus, Dawn spotted her sister and Faith just as they made one last desperate super-human leap into mid-air. They sailed past the Sun Cinema marquee and landed hard on top of the bus. Buffy turned around and watched as the bus shot away from the town that had been her home for the last seven years. She and Faith bot watched as the entire city disappeared into the abyss, leaving nothing but a vast gaping hole in its place.
When the bus stopped, Buffy and Faith immediately lept off the back and stared in shock at the smoking black crater before them. Then, with excitment, both women grabbed each other in a tight hug. Buffy told Faith she was sorry, but Faith told her everything was ok. Buffy understood that Faith was choosing Robin because Spike had told her to. Faith walked to the front of the bus just as the back door opened and Dawn and Angel lept out into her arms. The three shared a silent beat of joy and thanks in the embrace. Buffy released Dawn and kissed Angel deeply as Giles, Willow, and the others disembarked and gathered around, staring in awed disbelief at the total destruction of Sunnydale.
"I don't understand. What did this?" Giles asked.
Buffy broke the kiss with Angel and looked at the crater. "Spike." As Buffy walked forward toward the edge of the pit with Angel firmly attatched to her hands, she noticed a green sign balanced precariously on the very edge and bearing the logo "Welcome to Sunnydale! Enjoy your stay!" The sign swayed in the wind, then fell backward into the hole, a final coda to the town's history. Faith, Giles, Dawn, Willow, and Xander all gathered around Angel and Buffy on the edge of the crater.
"Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business." Angel said.
"There's another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment." Giles said.
"We saved the world." Xander said.
"We changed the world. I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere." Willow said.
"We'll have to find them." Dawn said.
"We will."
"Yes, because the mall was actually in Sunnydale so there's no hope of going there tomorrow." Giles said.
"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side." Dawn said.
"All those shops, gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toy R Us.... who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world of them?" Xander asked.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us." Giles said.
"Can I push him in?" Faith asked.
"You've got my vote." Willow said.
Faith playfully shoved Giles. "I just want to sleep for like a week!"
"I guess we all could. If we wanted to." Dawn said.
"Yeah, the First is scrunched so.... what do you think we should do, Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, you're not the one and only Chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, Buffy. What are we going to do now?" Dawn asked.
Buffy Anne Summers looked off into the future, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. She turned in Angel's embrace and looked at her friends. "I wanna start baking." Angel smirked, getting what she meant. "I wanna get married in front of you guys in a big ceremony at the Hyperion. I want the wedding dress and I wanna move to LA with my husband and I wanna be a family again. Maybe there could even be a honeymoon in there somewhere. What do you think?"
The End..... For Now.