Graduation Day -- Sunny Side Down by Shuvcat (c) 2000
Yes....yet another Graduation-sucked-I-can-do-better-what-would-happen-if.... story. Rated R for violence and character death-o-rama.
For Dreamsmith, who likes Faith good n' evil. :)
Buffy is owned and operated by Joss Whedon, Sandollar, Mutant Enemy, Fox, the WB. No copyright infringement intended.
Buffy and Faith were fighting in the apartment, hurling each other into things. The fight moved onto the balcony, then outside, as Buffy grabbed Faith and the both of them crashed through the huge arch window. This is it, thought Faith. See you in hell, B. But there was no thousand foot fall. Hooray for the fourth floor, thought Faith as she hit the gravelly tar roof on her back. Damn. She was momentarily winded and took a little too long to get up -- and as she pushed herself up she felt something cold and hard clamp around her wrist. Whipping around, she found herself face to face with Buffy. "Stick around," the blonde Slayer hissed. Faith looked down to see the handcuffs on both of them. Handcuffs. Faith appreciated the bondage factor, but this sunk something cold in her belly like a stone in a creek. Buffy wasn't playing. Some deep down part of Faith had always believed that Buffy wouldn't, couldn't, didn't have it in her.... Well, there went that fantasy. She went with her gut reaction -- she socked Buffy in the jaw. Buffy's response to that was to jerk her by the chain and send her flying head over heels. She jerked Faith's arm back -- and Faith was startled to find that it actually hurt. She looked desperately up at Buffy's face behind the blond strands, trying to read something, anything.... The blonde Slayer's voice was shaking, but that might have been the rush. "What's the matter?" she got out. "All that killing and you're afraid to die?" Faith's scalp burned, like electric currents around her brow. No more partying. Buffy was here for business. Fine, Faith thought darkly. That was how she wanted it....time to bring out the trump card, as the boss called it. Wondering what the hell a trump card was anyway, Faith jerked Buffy around by the chain, feeling what was hidden in her jacket cuff slide down into her hand. A flash of spring lightning illuminated the rooftop as the Slayers clashed. Faith braced Buffy's arm with her legs and tugged at the cuffs that bound them together, snapping them and rolling away. She jumped to her feet, grabbing the first thing she could lay hands on, the ornate curtain rod from the window. Hefting it she turned around and saw Buffy bring out....that knife. Faith froze, stunned at the sight of the blond Slayer poised there, gripping the knife. As she watched, Buffy -- who looked semi-stunned herself at the weapon in her hand -- slowly held it up, tossed it in the air, and caught it by its point. She flung it across the roof. It whipped through the air and landed neatly, wobbling where its point stuck in the wall. "Y'know what?" Buffy's voice came over the roof. "I've got a better idea." Faith just stared. Buffy launched herself at the other Slayer. The off-guard Faith swung with the rod, hitting Buffy in the side of the head. Buffy hit the tar on her shoulder and spun around, kicking out at Faith's legs. Faith went down, the curtain rod flying. Buffy scrambled up and lunged, using the advantage to get on top, pinning Faith to the tar. She grabbed the brunette hair and started slamming Faith's head into the ground as hard as she could, over and over and over.... Faith kicked and shoved, swiping at Buffy, scratching her arms. But after ten or twelve blows, her eyes rolled back. After a few more slams, Buffy finally ceased, heaving. Faith was very, very unconscious. ******************************************** At Angel's mansion, Oz and Willow stood nervously in the foyer, whispering about how the fever-mad Angel had mistaken both of them for Buffy. They were both still glowing from their first night together, but both were worried. Buffy should have been back by now.... A figure came stalking into the front door. Oz and Willow looked up guiltily. "I checked on him!" exclaimed Willow. "Just now....we were watching..." Her voice died away as whoever-it-was lugging whatever-it-was walked purposefully through the room, breaking right through the two of them without a word. The grim expression on Buffy's face as she carried Faith -- a very bruised, very battered Faith -- was chilling. "Buffy..." Willow murmured as the Slayer strode into Angel's room, ignoring them. In his bed, Angel lay moaning, the wound in his shoulder inflamed and veined. His damp face twitched, and his eyelids fluttered as he focused on the bulky form next to his bed. He blinked faster, trying to sit up. "Buffy?" He struggled to focus his burning eyeballs. "Is that you?" "It's me." Something large and heavy pressed on top of him. The tiny blonde girl had dumped something -- no, someone -- on his bed. "Buffy," he moaned, so relieved to see her face. "I thought -- I thought I'd never see you again. I...I can't leave you." He had to tell her, now before... "I was wrong...I need you..." "That's right." Her soft voice was resolved. "You need Buffy. Sit up." He tried, weakly. "I didn't want to leave...without seeing you..." "You're not going anywhere." Buffy smiled. Angel's damp brow furrowed. For the first time he really acknowledged what Buffy had unloaded on his bed. The girl's face was blackened and bruised, but it was definately Faith. Blood stained her white T-shirt, across the picture of the sacred heart printed on it. "What--" "Drink." Buffy's green eyes regarded him tensely. "Drink her." Some unfevered part of Angel's brain was jangling. "You killed Faith?--" "No." Buffy recanted. "She's not dead...not yet. I brought her...for you. It's the only way. The blood of a Slayer is the only cure." Faith was still alive. Angel could see the pulse in her neck, could smell the blood pumping through her. She was lost, she had chosen her path of darkness. He himself had tried to reach out to the troubled Slayer, and it had gotten him shot, nearly killed. She was evil, she deserved no pity. Still.... "Did you fight her?" "Yeah...yes." Buffy nodded. "It was self defense. She came at me with a knife." Worry crossed her face as she looked at the vampire. "Drink her now. You have to." The feverish Angel looked uncertainly down at the twisted, breathing body. He already had so much blood on his hands...both good and evil. It shouldn't be this hard.... "Drink her, Angel." Buffy was getting nervous. "Drink! I'm not....gonna let you die, I went through hell to get her for you! Angel...." She sat back, staring at the vampire's face. There was only one way to cinch this. With lightning speed she reared back and punched him. Angel's face snapped back with a look of stunned horror. The second time she hit him he came back with a look of realization on his face. Cursing inside, Buffy punched Angel again -- and this time he came up vamped out. His fangs bared, his eyes narrowed yellowly. "Good," Buffy murmured, voice shaking. She grabbed Faith's jacket and pushed her up, burying her neck against Angel's face. To make sure, Buffy grabbed Angel's head and pressed it down against the Slayer's jugular. And to make it worse, Faith was waking up. Her lids were fluttering, her eyeballs rolled, trying to focus. Her arm rose, wearily. Her brow furrowed as her vision focused, and she moaned. "Angel?" Her eyes went wide as she realized. "No--" Angel, in his animal instinct, sank his fangs into Faith's neck. Faith's mouth opened in a silent scream. Her wavering arm suddenly shoved into Angel's chest as she tried to free herself. Buffy jerked the Slayer's arm away, trying to pin her arms while Angel fed. He was grabbing the girl's dark hair now, drinking her in great, terrible gulps. Faith made a god-awful noise, like a goose getting its throat cut, and fell silent, arms still jerking convulsively as her body gave out. Her leg kicked out; a final, violent spasm, and she died. Angel fell back on the pillows, blood on his mouth, gasping for air. He already felt better. The pain in his shoulder seemed less, much less, and the dizzying cloud around his skull seemed to be dissapating. His vision blurred for a minute and when he could see again, he could see better -- and the first sight he saw was Buffy, smiling beautifully at him. "Good boy," she breathed, exhausted herself. Angel didn't feel good, in spite of his newfound strength. But it was done, Faith was dead. He glanced down at Buffy's hands, for no reason, and frowned. "What's that?" he rasped, his voice still weak. Buffy looked down at the bizarre metal object in her palm. Three tendons with silver rings affixed stuck out from the curved center. She looked as though she was surprised to see it there. "Weapon of some kind," she whispered softly. In a sudden, reflexive movement, she crushed it in her hand, destroying it. She looked up at Angel with a smile. "Didn't work, whatever it was." She turned her gaze to Faith's lifeless body, and her smile grew even broader. . ****************************************************** . "...and that is how we save the high school," Buffy finished. Giles and the rest of the gang stood around, staring at the petite blonde Slayer in the middle of the library. No one knew what to say. Except, of course, Cordelia. "I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan!" she blurted out. Buffy blinked. "You calling me crazy?" The darkness that briefly crossed her face was so startling that most of the gang backed off. "No," murmured Cordy, briefly offput. "I mean, crazy or not, it is pretty much the only plan, and it's Buffy's...and she's slay-gal, you know, Little Miss Likes to Fight. So--" As Oz muttered something about hummus, the blonde Slayer sat back, placated. She caught sight of Angel, way back there in the corner, gazing intently at her, and she winked at him. "Um, Buffy..." She blinked. "Huh?" Giles was speaking. "All of this is rather dependent on your being able to control the Mayor." "Oh....yeah." Buffy grinned, sitting up perkily in her seat. "Yeah, the Mayor. By the way, do you -- do WE know what kinda big bad demon he's turnin' into yet?" "Actually--" "Check the dictionary under 'Olvocan'," Buffy interrupted. "I'm tellin' you, Faith couldn't shut up about it. She kept saying, 'Oh, the Mayor, you know, he's gonna turn into this demon and kill all your friends' and she kept saying Olvocan." Giles adjusted his glasses. "Um, yes, actually...Xander and I have already arrived at that conclusion. Olvocan.... bastardization of Ollokai." The gang looked up, uncomprehending. "The Mayor has illegitimate kids?" asked Willow, hopelessly lost. "It's a fairly huge snake-like demon," Giles went on. "Considering it took a volcano to kill one last time round I can't see as we're going to get out of this lightly." "Can say that again," smiled Buffy. "Excuse me?" Buffy blinked. "Oh...I'm just saying, yeah, we need the heavy firepower." "Right." Giles nodded. "An explosion...in the library." He looked extremely pensive about the plan they'd spent the last hour concoting. "It's strangely fitting...in a grotesque fashion...." Buffy watched them all smiling. This was killer. Literally. Nobody suspected a thing. "Well, listen, here's what I'll do. I'll get him to chase me, you know, cause he'll probably be all mad about me killing Faith, right? And--" "Buffy." Angel stepped from the shadows, where he'd been lurking. Buffy seemed to realize how blunt that had sounded. "Which....I am...too," she said abruptly. "I mean....I had to, for Angel. But I can't even tell you...how horrible it was to kill her." The gang seemed to have been waiting for this. Giles took a step forward, as if he would comfort her. "Go on," he encouraged. Buffy gave him an uncertain look. "Well....it was just sad," she offered. "I mean, she was was a total waste of skin, and she had it coming anyway--" "Not to mention she was super duper EVIL," Willow piped up. Buffy shot the young witch a glare. And now we know who's the first to die, she thought bitterly. Well...maybe second, after Miss Round-the-World there. "And, uh, she was evil, but....she was a person." Her face grew hard. "I mean, all the garbage she went though, and all the people comin' down on her her whole life... people she thought she could trust, us...." She looked around at the room, and her throat tightened with rage. She swallowed it down and tried to continue. "But nobody should get fed to a vampire. Maybe not even her. That's no way to go down. Especially for a Slayer." Her voice was low and unlike her normal one. She looked very sad now. "It sucked. She deserved better." The gang stood uncomfortably around. Buffy noticed the looks on their faces. "But hey, she had to die so Angel could survive, the needs of the many against the needs of the few, right?" Long uneasy silence. "I gotta go," she said suddenly, getting up out of the chair she'd been sitting in. "Go?" Xander watched her leave. "Um, go where?" She was waiting for that. "There's something I gotta get," she told them over her shoulder. "Something that'll grind the Mayor's gears. You guys just keep plannin', you're doin' great. BBL." She swaggered out the door. The gang looked around, thoroughly unnerved. "Something's wrong," muttered Angel. Xander sneered. "Hey, it's Mr. States-the-Obvious." "She's changed." Angel didn't like it one bit. "You didn't see her face last night. It was like she didn't feel anything." "We saw her face," volunteered Oz. "And really, is there anything to feel?" asked Willow. "I mean, it's the truth....Faith kind of had it coming." Angel shook his head. "That's not the point. Buffy...." He couldn't finish. Xander, of all people, was the one who got what Deadboy was trying to say. "She's lost," he muttered. "I asked her...I said I didn't want to lose her, and she said she'd be okay." He didn't look like he thought Buffy was okay. "I don't get it. I mean she looks like same old killer instinct gal to me!" said Cordy. "That's just it." Angel glanced at the door Buffy had left by. "Killer instinct. I told Faith....after a while it becomes a high. I wonder if maybe Buffy's had too much." The atmosphere in the library was unbearably grim. "All right," sighed Giles, adjusting his glasses. "In the meanwhile, the plan, crazy as it is, is indeed all we have. This is....." "....how it's going to lay out," spoke Mayor Wilkins as he strode around his office. The vampires he had assembled listened dutifully, somewhat nervously. They had good reason to be nervous. The Mayor's favored girl, Faith, the Slayer, was missing. The strain was obviously showing on the Mayor. He stalked around his office with none of the smooth cheer he usually exuded. It was down to zero hour, and Faith was nowhere to be found. The night before he had been interrupted from the ritual Gavrok bug eating to the news that there was trouble at Faith's, but by the time he'd gotten there, all that was left behind was a smashed window. He had the hospital and police on alert, and roadblocks had already been set up at the city's main roads to stop the flee of people when the Ascension happened, but Faith was not to be found. He tried not to worry, for he knew Faith, and her resourcefulness, and had supplied her with certain things to give her an edge, but still.... Suddenly the office door banged open. The Mayor and the assembled vampires looked up, and the vampires immediately started snarling. Buffy Summers was standing in the door she'd just kicked in. The vamps alternated between fight or flight. Half of them were eager to take on the Slayer, the other half had heard of her and knew what she was capable of. But all of them were damned if they'd let her get the Mayor. The noise of snarling could probably be heard way out in the front hall. "Hey," the Mayor interrupted. "Hey, hey, hey, HEY!!" He finally had to shout to make himself heard, and the better half of the assembly shut up. Casting them all a glare, he finally set his gaze on the blonde Slayer as she set foot inside the office. The vamps, still snarling, tensed, waiting for the first move. "Just cool your heels, boys," the Mayor spoke up, moving around to the front of his desk. "I'm not kidding, first one to jump gets a stake sandwich." He could barely crack a smile at his own bad joke. He regarded the Slayer calmly as she walked through the vamps, right up to him. There were all sorts of sharp toys on his desk, not that his invincibility wouldn't have rendered them useless anyway. They stood nearly toe to toe, staring into each other's eyes. "How are you feeling?" he asked her politely. The blonde Slayer seemed to consider the question. Then a huge, girlish grin broke over her pink lips. "Five by five," she answered. But knowing he would need more, she leaned forward, smoothing out the lapels of his jacket. "Thanks for the toy, sugar daddy," she whispered. It was not the lurid come-on that the average observer would have taken it as. The Mayor beamed. Only one other person knew about that first rather embarrasing exchange. "I knew it," he grinned. "I knew you could take care of yourself. That's my girl." To everyone's surprise, including the Slayer's, he couldn't refrain from giving her a huge hug. And after a second of awed shock, she rather eagerly hugged him back. The Mayor chuckled, his mood improved one billion percent. "Gentlemen....I believe we have a rather abrupt change in the program." . ******************************************************* . Willow was more worried about her friend than she'd let on. Something was deeply, deeply wrong with Buffy, something about her aura...it was all messed. While the others prepared the school for the Ascension, Willow had locked herself in Oz's van with her magic paraphernalia, trying to divine the nature of Buffy's sudden weirdness. She sat in a circle, meditating. The spell really worked best with two witches, but since she was the only witch around....she sighed. It would be nice to meet other people like herself someday... The front driver door opened. Willow's eyes opened, dismayed. "Oz, I told you I need total silence for this to--" Buffy was climbing into the van. An unreasonable fear clawed at Willow's stomach. "Buffy! I mean....uh..." Buffy coolly noted the assembled stuff on the floor. "Whatcha doin, Red?" she asked casually. "Trying to sniff out that super duper evil you were talkin' about?" Willow backed off, ever so slightly. "You-you called me Red," she whispered, her lips barely moving. Oh, goddess, what's wrong with her? Buffy tilted her head, glancing out the tiny window. "Yeah, you're right, there's better words I could use for you." Her hand withdrew from her jacket -- the black trench she usually wore slaying -- and she was holding a knife. Faith's knife. "I don't have time though. Got a graduation to go to." She came forward, forcing Willow back, out of the protective circle. As Buffy stepped into the rim a violent red light shot up from the edges, creating a cell of light. Within this light all the disguise fell away, and Willow's pounding heart skipped as she saw Faith, clear as day, standing there in Buffy's skin. Faith frowned at the look on Willow's face. She looked down at herself. "Aw, damn," she rasped, her voice mottled, a mix of Buffy's and Faith's. "I mean, I was gonna kill you anyway, but this cinches it. What's your problem, anyway? Didn't you ever hear that ignorance is bliss?" She stepped out of the circle with those last words and Faith's lips became Buffy's. Willow grasped the handle of the van's back door, but Oz had welded the doors shut when he'd bought the van. She slammed against them as the Slayer shoved her back, raising the knife to her face. "I owe you one, babe," Buffy's voice hissed. "Think the Mayor'll come along and bust us up before we get into it?" "Get away from me," Willow pleaded. Buffy's mouth was fixed in an awful smirk. "C'mon, scream for me. There's lots of people out there. Someone's bound to hear ya." She drew the blade gently down over Willow's neck and over her shirt, toward her belly. "Don't--" Willow cried. The last bell rang. It usually signaled the outlet of school, now it was starting the graduation ceremony. Buffy smirked sadly. "Time's up," she sighed, slicing into Willow's sweater. "Come on, Red...you know you always wanted me inside you." . ******************************************************* . "Where's Willow?" asked Oz. They were sitting in the assembly, waiting for the Mayor. Oz looked worriedly around and saw Buffy come hurrying down the aisle. He tried to catch her eyes, but the Slayer ignored him as she shuffled into her chair -- next to an empty one -- and sat down with a smile. Her maroon graduation gown looked like she'd spilled water on it, there was a stain across the front, turning it a slightly darker red than the rest of the material. Principal Snyder was introducing the Mayor. The seniors all looked nervously around, casting glances toward Buffy. She was their last hope. They were all counting on her. The Mayor cast a smile out at the crowd that came to rest on Buffy herself. She beamed back at him, trying to look subversive. She was supposed to be against him, after all. "Well! What a day this is. A special day. This is the day all of you graduate, the day all of you find what life has in store for you. It's going to be quite a ride, I can tell you that." He chuckled. "Nobody knows what the future holds. You can plan, you can scheme, and sometimes you don't get what you bargained for." He set his smile on Buffy. "Sometimes it's better than you hoped." He looked out at the nervous faces, and his leer deepened. "And sometimes.... it's worse. Sometimes it's infinately, painfully, heartbreakingly worse. I wish I could stand before all of you today and tell you your future's gonna be peaches and cream...it's not. Quite likely, it's going to be different than you ever dreamed. But all of you must realize that change....is a grand thing. Sometimes in this life, sacrifices must be made." His expression had darkened, and though no one was close enough to see, his eyes had started changing color; an evil hazel green. "We give up some things for the greater good. No matter what you lose, kids, just keep this in mind...the gain from it is enormous. The ends really do justify the means. And nothing must keep those ends -- your ends -- from coming. Nothing." The sky darkened. The Mayor glanced upward as the field suddenly went black. The sun was eclipsing. And suddenly he doubled over with the pain of his body changing from the inside out. The class watched, waiting. The Mayor let out a gutteral scream as his body distorted. He changed. He grew. He mutated. He turned into something a hell of a lot larger and scarier than a hundred foot snake demon. The senior class was frozen, gaping up in horror, as the still-mutating dark form rose over the trees. It towered over the school, demolishing the cafeteria under one huge clawed foot. It had wings.... and tentacles.... and four arms -- and lots of sharp, pointed teeth. It turned its horned head toward the tiny earthlings, and reaching down a gnarled hand scooped up as many screaming kids as it could, gulping them down in one shot. Buffy jumped to her feet and bellowed, "NOW!" And the entire class bolted from their seats and made a mad dash for the back of the field. They ran like water over the steps -- and were met by hundreds upon hundreds of vampires. That wasn't supposed to happen. The vamps were supposed to come in from the podium....that was what Buffy had told them..."Oops," she murmured, smiling. The senior class was dead meat. Vampires bit and tore and slashed their way through the unarmed kids like toilet paper. It was a bloodbath. The stragglers backed off, running back toward the quad -- where the demon Mayor was still feeding. Snyder, ranting on the grass, was snapped up, so were Xander and Oz. "Buffy!" shouted Giles, horrified. "That's not Olvocan!!" His shouts were silenced as the demon snatched him up. Crunch. Wesley had been trampled to death by the vampires. Cordelia was bitten and vamped alongside her friend Harmony. Angel looked around in horror as his friends died one by one. "Buffy!!" he shouted. Buffy stood alone in the mess of tipped chairs and shredded gowns, smiling up at the creature. "Time to light this candle," she whispered. But first....she unzipped her damp graduation gown and stripped it off, purring like she was shedding her skin. Underneath the gown was the soft pink floral print dress the Mayor had bought. Luckily Willow's blood hadn't soaked through. The demon's huge eyes gazed down at her, grumbling its approval. The blonde girl stretched, smoothing out her dress with a grin. "Yeah, except you're not leavin' me much in the way of studs here, boss," she called goodnaturedly. "Ah, maybe I can find myself a vamp to use and abuse. Hell, she did." Feeling unbound, the Slayer skipped happily through the wrecked quad toward the bushes, where the plunger for the explosives was hidden. The demon saw, took his cue. He stomped over the trees, getting well away from the school, snatching up people as he went, popping them into his mouth like they were berries on bushes. Buffy smiled as the demon got far enough away. "Rock and roll," she grinned, reaching for the plunger. "Faith." The Slayer froze. An awful smile twisted Buffy's pretty face. "Hey stud," she grinned. Angel stood there in front of the plunger, glowering. "You murdering bitch," he growled. His face was totally vamped out. The girl inside Buffy's body shrugged. "If the shoe fits." "You killed Buffy." His voice was strangled. "No, YOU killed Buffy." Her finger stabbed in his direction. "You remember? Thinkin' she was me? You sucked her dry?" With a roar Angel launched himself at the Slayer. The possessed blonde girl met him with a firm blow to the chest, boxing his ear, swinging him around. In Buffy's body she was stronger, and while Buffy might have played around with Angel, she sure wasn't about to. "Man," she grunted. "You and me, Angel, we could've had some fun. But you had to go for the gold." She sneered, landing another blow. "Both of you, layin' in bed cuddling and laughing at me, plottin' to mess with my head so I'd give it up about the Ascension. When you pretty much brought it all on yourself in the first place." She shot her fist into his gut. "Well the both of you can spend eternity screwing in hell for all I care. Think I'm gonna dance with you? With YOU?!" She spun around and slammed him again. "I'm the Slayer! I'm Buffy the Slayer, and you're nothing!!" She launched herself in the air and landed her foot in his jaw. She whipped out her knife, still coated with Willow's blood. Angel ducked her slashes. He knew he couldn't be killed by steel, so he was careless -- and the same hand that used to touch him so tenderly shoved the knife right into his heart. Angel choked. He stared down at the knife in his chest. Something was wrong...he could feel...that which he had feared feeling, years after the fear of everything else had died. His heart was turning to dust. He looked up to see Buffy's eyes sparkling wickedly. "Ain't magic a bitch?" she grinned. And it was the last thing Angel heard before he melted, like a sandcastle in a wave. Inside Buffy, Faith sneered grimly down at the pile of dust. "She was too good for you," she heaved. "I did her a favor." And that was about all she could say about that. She sheathed her knife and turned to the plunger. The ground trembled for blocks around as Sunnydale High School exploded in a huge fireball. The explosives were right over the library -- right on top of the Hellmouth. The tremor vaporized the walls and gutted the basement, and the boiler exploded, adding more pressure. The sealed crack under the school finally gave way, and a bolt of red, evil light shot from the crevice up toward the clouding sky. The clouds turned sickly, emerald green, and thunder grumbled. The sky flashed with red lightning. The demon Bavsurius stomped over the city, crushing everything under its neatly sharpened claws as it made its way toward Los Angeles. On the quad grass, in her new spring dress, in her new body, Faith Wilkins smiled as the demons of hell crawled up out of the Hellmouth and set off into the streets of Sunnydale, hungry for human flesh. . The End .
