Here Goes Nothing...
"Faith, Spike you two are going in through the east side." She ordered and we just nodded and started loading up on weapons, I listened to every word even though my duty had been assigned.
"Xander, Willow you two are going to enter through the west." They nodded and continued watching her everyone move, listening to her every word. Dawn was in the corner sparring with Faith, She'd been through so much. She was going to be twenty in a couple months now and Buffy hadn't spoken to her like she was a child since Sunnydale's last days. I could feel myself shaking, I wasn't scared, Hell no, I was on overdrive and anxious for the fight but at the same time I would rather be tortured in a demon dimension for eternity then start this fight. No one in the room was scared, not a trace of fear came from anyone, But the same thought was on everyone's mind, This was it.
"Angel, You and me are going in through the front." I glanced at him and loaded a cross bow before throwing it to Dawn. A few years ago I would have had a fit about that little decision, Me and Angel had been the only survivors of the Los Angelus Apocalypse. Gunn have been gone in a few minutes, the fight lasted for weeks and in the end it was just us, We don't know what happened to Illyria and we don't want to.
"Dawn I want you to go in first through the back, Giles your with her." She picked up a sword and nodded. Everyone silently starting getting ready and within two minutes we were on our way. This was it, I could feel it in my bones. The woman I loved was going into a battle that no one would come out of, But we had to do it. It was us or the world and when it came to that question nobody even had to answer. This was Dawn's third Apocalypse... I snorted as that thought crossed my mind. This wasn't Dawn's third, This was her first. This wasthe Apocalypse, because after this we'd be gone. After this the world wouldn't have us anymore and a new slayer would be appointed. We'd sacrificed everything in our last apocalypse, every slayer there was, save two. Those two were the most extraordinary women I had met in my entire life, Faith was silent, Wood had died in the last Apocalypse and she'd been heart broken, It had been nearly three months ago and we'd thought it was over, We had redefined the word wrong. At the heart of sunnydale, in the very bottom of the pit, a demon had been grow, taking the life of every person we'd lost to make iteself stronger. We'd found out shortly after that their deaths meant the enemies gain, Willow's reaction had been awful. Kennedy had died and because of it the enemy was stronger. Evil Willow would have been proud of the pain she'd caused, even if it was to demons. She was in total self control yet at the same time she couldn't control anything. She was nothing but anger and it had lasted weeks. She'd stayed in her room the whole time and when she came out all she had said was "He's finished" and we all knew what it meant. After a few hours Willow, Xander and Buffy had gone into Willow's room and stayed there for hours, coming out only once to to ask for Giles. When they came out the rest of us found out what was going on, Another prophecy. It said:
The tenth battle is the last, It's cost will be the highest.
When the battle comes to close, There will be no one.
Two bodies will be found and Two will remain.
Didn't really make a lot of sense to me. Everyone's gonna be gone, Only two bodies, and two survivors? Guess it meant we're all gonna get blown to bits, Except two of course. The last part was what bugged me, After LA it had been horrible. We'd saved the world and as punishment they let us live, Sorry if that sounds ungrateful but they'd taken every thing and thenmade us go on living. I glanced at Angel and sighed, No one knew who the survivors were going to be and no one had looked into it because it was more then anyone could bare to think about, Two of us were going to live and it would cost us everyone else. My money was on Faith and Buffy, I glanced down into the blackness. No one would speak, It would be goodbye and no one wanted it. No one made eye contact and we all knew where we were supposed to be, So we just set off for the end with our heads held high.
Angel was gone, I'd see him dust. Xander had died saving Willow and she'd died afterwards trying to kill it, she'd been sobbing and when I looked back she'd been gone. Giles had been stabbed and Andrew had shown up half way through just in time to save Dawn and have his throat slit. Angel had died and that must mean I was going to, Which meant Buffy&Faith would live. Dawn was a few feet to my right, but my right ear had been slashed into quite deep, I saw her scream out of the corner of her eye and turned around eyes wide. There was nothing near her, what was she... I followed her gaze and I froze for half a second before breaking into a run. I knew it was hopeless, She was more then a hundred feet away from me. Something hit my side and I glanced over, It was Faith, She jumped back up and ran forward right into... I turned away and my eyes were back on Buffy. My heart shattered and my eyes were glazed over.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed and ran forward, she was gone. The demon itself had sucked the energy right out of her. I heard Dawn's mournful screech and a tear fell, the first one, I gritted my teeth and swore it was the last, knowing it was a lie. I grabbed the weapon that she'd been holding and plunged it into him, earning a violent jolt of energy. I ignored it and plunged deeper, The shakes getting more violent by the second. He roared one last time and the earth began to shake as he sank. I had to get her body out, I turned around and the first thing I saw was Dawn. She was it, Two will remain, it was us. I didn't have another thought about her body and as the earth around my feet began to crumble I raced to Dawn's side. She was on her knees sobbing, her hands pounding the ground infront of her.
"She's gone." She said, each word emphasized by a fist pounded on the ground.
"Get up!" I screamed, ignoring her words. I couldn't let that settle in, once it did we'd never get out of here. She sobbed, her body shaking violently and I realized it wasn't all due to her sobbing. I glanced behind me and saw the ground starting to collapse, it was traveling towards us at an extraordinary pace. I grabbed her arm and wrenched her off the ground.
"Run."
It had been three days until the quakes had stopped and we'd only waited a day for any aftershocks before starting on the long journey back to the pit. We were just reaching it and we looking down, It was ten time's deeper then the grand canyon hardened lava could be seen coming up about half the crater. I glanced around and saw them, First Giles and then a few hundred feet later Andrew. Two bodies had been found. I glanced at Dawn, Her eyes had lost their sparkle and her familiar smile was gone. They were dead, There would be time to greive, but it wouldn't be just us, we would all greive. It was time to find them.
The End
KTMO I know you wanted me to finish this and I greatly apprieciate that. But I worked my butt off making this and I put everything I had into it. I was extremly happy with the out come. I believe the word 'Crushed' fits me when it only recieved one review. I love this story and I'm glad it got a review but I can't continue to write this with so little a result, sorry.