The Harvest

Suddenly Luke hissed and jerked back. A silver cross shone wickedly on Buffy's neck. Michael didn't care. He swung the rotten plank at full force, and it snapped around Luke's thick skull. Buffy seized the moment opportunity and push kicked him out of the coffin. Michael grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the crypt. They ran to catch up with Willow, Xander and Jesse. Nearby, a vampire roared and a girl screamed.

They looked at each other. "Willow."

They ran toward the sounds. Willow struggled on the ground, about to be bitten.

"No! Get off!

Buffy got the vampire's attention. "Hey!" The vampire looked up, and Buffy snap kicked him off of Willow. He got up and ran off. Willow was sitting and staring, mouth wide open. Michael picked her up and pulled her along with them, Buffy quickly starting the hunt again. Two vampires were dragging Xander and Jesse towards the other crypts.

Willow called out. "Xander!"

The vampires turned and Buffy took advantage and jumped in, high punching one and side kicking the other. Michael noticed a dry branch on a tree and snapped it off. As one of the vampires got up she plunged the stick into him, turning him to ashes with a scream. Willow rushed over to Xander who was lying on the ground, looking dazed. Jesse was out cold.

"Xander, are you okay?"

Xander winced and shook his head. "Man, something hit me."

Buffy looked down at the injured boy. "How's Jesse?"

Willow looked desperate. I don't know! He won't wake up!" The anxiety in her voice struck something in Michael and he flinched. He nodded at the thought he had had when Buffy was fighting Luke.

"We need to go see Mr Giles, he can help Jesse.

Buffy looked at Michael. "Thanks for the save Mikey." She turned and hugged him tightly.

She stood up straight and slowly scanned the cemetery. Then she whispered into the wind. "...Merrick."

1010101

Giles paced across the library floor. He had been brought up with this speech from birth. It was his time to shine, although the extra audience watching was doing nothing for his nerves.

"This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures...

"- And vampires," finished Buffy.

Xander nodded. "Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a *talk* with vampires in it."

Willow was still in shock, but managed to speak up "Isn't that what we saw last night?"

Buffy gave them a look. "No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light." Xander gave her a look. "That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part."

Willow shuddered in her chair, with the blanket around her shoulders. "Oh, I, I need to sit down."

Michael shook his head. "You are sitting down."

Willow smiled weakly. "Oh. Good for me."

Xander wrung his hands, agitated. "So vampires are demons?"

Giles nodded and sighed. "The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding... Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return."

1010101

Luke dragged the dazed Darla by the hand back to the Master. "Move!"

They reached the lair, and Luke forced her down the slope to the floor below. The Master
approached.

The Master pointed his hands at himself. "Is this for me?

Luke knelt. "She failed, Master."

Darla whined, "He was a good one! His blood was pure!

The Master sneered. "You tasted it." Darla looked down in shame. "I'm your... faithful dog. You bring me scraps."

Darla whimpered. "I, I didn't mean it..."

"I have waited. For three score years I have waited. While you come and go I am stuck here, here in this house of... worship! My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that when it comes..." he took her by the neck, "I'm in a better mood."

Darla fell to her knees. "Master, forgive me! We had more offerings, but there was trouble. A girl!"

Luke agreed "And there was a girl. She fought well and she knew of our breed. It is possible that she may be..."

The Master snarled towards the ceiling. "...a Slayer!"

1010101

Xander and Michael each said it. "And that would be a what?"

Giles smiled. "For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One."

Buffy sighed. "He loves doing this part."

Giles snorted. "Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need."

"So my little sister fights the forces of darkness for a living? SWEET!" Buffy rolled her eyes. Michael could be such a child some times.

Xander shook his head. "Except for one thing: how do you kill them?"

Buffy turned to him, now deadly serious. "*You* don't, *I* do."

Xander blinked. "Well, this is my..."

Buffy interrupted. "This is *my* responsibility. I let you three get taken."

"That's not true. I ... well me and Michael. We followed you."

Willow nodded, still pale, "If you hadn't shown up they would have turned or killed us. Does
anybody mind if I pass out?"

"Breathe," said Buffy.

"Breathe."

"Now breathe out, you're turning blue," said Michael.

Buffy smirked and turned to Giles. "This big guy, Luke. He talked about an offering to the Master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding then this may be bad. I'm gonna find them."

Willow looked puzzled. "Uh, this may be the dumb question, but shouldn't we call the
police?"

Giles snorted. "And they'd believe us, of course."

Willow considered it. "Well, we don't have to say vampires. We, we could just say that
there's a, a bad man."

Buffy shook her head. "They couldn't handle it even if they did show up. They'd only
come with guns."

Giles sat down. "You have no idea where they went?"

Buffy sighed. "I looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!"

Xander looked at her, wide eyed. "They can fly?"

Buffy gave him a look. "They can drive."

Xander looked sheepish "Oh." He ignored Michael's sniggering and yelp as Buffy subsequently jabbed him in the shoulder.

Willow frowned. "I don't remember hearing a car."

Giles rubbed his chin. "Let's take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground."

Buffy agreed. "Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching any rays. But I didn't see any access around there."

"Well, there's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town."

Giles nodded. "If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system it might indicate a, a meeting place, it would, uh... I suppose we could go to the building commission.

"We *might* not have time."

Willow raised her hand and smiled nervously. "Uh, guys? There may be another way."

1010101

The Master smiled. "A Slayer! Have you any proof?"

Luke stood still. "Only that she fought me, and yet lives."

The Master nodded. "Hmm, very nearly proof enough. I can't remember the last time that happened."

Luke snarled. "1843. Madrid. She caught me sleeping."

"She mustn't be allowed to interfere with the Harvest!"

Luke growled. "I would never let that happen!"

"Don't worry about it. I believe she'll come to us. We have something she wants."

Luke smiled.

"If she is a Slayer, and sees the town as home, she'll try to save it."

Luke looked to Darla. "I thought you nothing more than a whore, wretch."

He moved behind her and took her neck. She gasped for air.

He leant into her ear. "Congratulations. You've just been upgraded... to cannon fodder."

1010101

Buffy pointed to a path on the computerized plan. "There it is."

Willow blinked. "That runs under the graveyard."

Xander narrowed his eyes. "I don't see any access."

Giles turned to Willow. "So, all the city plans are just, uh, open to the public?"

Michael was staring in wonder at the red head. He was no stranger to government systems and Willow had sliced into them like a hot knife through butter. Here was the queen of the hackers. All shall hail her genius!

Willow blushed nervously. "Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system."

Xander smiled smugly. "Someone's been naughty."

Buffy shook her head. "There's nothing here, this is useless!"

Giles looked at her. "I think you're being a bit hard on yourself."

Buffy despaired. "You're the one that told me that I wasn't prepared enough. Understatement! I thought I was on top of everything, and then that monster, Luke, came out of nowhere..."

She suddenly went very quiet and then gasped.

"What?" said Xander.

Buffy realized it. "He didn't come out of nowhere. He came from behind me. I was facing the entrance, he came from behind me, and he didn't follow me out. The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum! He must have picked up the girl after I got out! God! I am so mentally challenged!"

Xander stood up. "So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?"

Buffy became very serious. "There's no 'we', okay? I'm the Slayer, and you're not."

Xander sighed. "I knew you'd throw that back in my face."

"Xander, this is deeply dangerous."

Michael snorted. "This coming from the lady herself, of course."

Xander held up his hands. "I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man."

Willow spoke up. "Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters. But I do want to help. I need to."

Giles smiled "Well, then help me. I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine."

Everyone stared at him. He looked back at them all.

Giles coughed nervously. "That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"

"Just cause you're paranoid, doesn't mean the machines aren't out to get you," said Michael.

Buffy smiled. "Welcome to the New World."

Giles turned to Willow. "I want you to go on the 'Net."

Willow smiled a little. "Oh, sure, I can do that!" She began to type.

"What are my orders, master?" said Michael, hunching over and making Xander laugh. Giles sighed.

"Michael, I want you to look after Jesse and give him an excuse when he wakes up. You seem like the sort who could spin a good yarn."

"Yes master!" He hugged Buffy tightly. "Take care out there sis." He whispered. "Kick some undead ass for us, yeah?"

Buffy nodded. "Then I'm outta here."

Giles stopped her. "Do I have to tell you to be careful?"

Buffy turned back, gave Giles a look and went.

1010101

Willow and Xander paced down the hallway to the next class, Michael following close behind; giving suggestions as to what Willow should search for on the internet.

"Murder, death, disaster. What else?"

"I still say going with unexplained glowy junk and Halloween costumes would work. That or morgue staff needing guns to put down the spread of the undead..." Willow gave Michael a look. "What? George A Romero is my deity of choice at this moment. Him or Bela Lugosi."

Xander nodded. "Paranormal, unexplained, did you get natural disasters?"

"Earthquake, flood."

Xander grinned. "Rain of Toads."

Willow gave him a look. "Right."

Michael smiled. "It's biblical genius if nothing else. Water into blood would make far more sense for vampires at any rate."

Xander was serious. "Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like that in the paper?"

Willow shrugged. "I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires."

Michael nodded, agreeing. "I'll go watch over Jesse. Free period is of the good, me thinks." He turned and walked off to the library, leaving a confused Willow in his wake.

Xander sighed. "And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot." It was said not a little sadly and dripping in sarcasm.

Willow shook her head at him. "Not like an idiot, just... standing. Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt."

They stopped in front of their next class. Willow put as much effort and care into her words as possible. "I don't want you getting hurt."

Xander threw his arms up in frustration. "This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, 'Uh-
oh, pop quiz.' Today it's 'Rain of Toads'."

Willow's eyed him carefully. "I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day."

"Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret."

Willow blinked. "We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't."

Xander indicated the door. "Right. Look, maybe you should get to class."

Willow became a little suspicious. "You mean 'we'. *We* should get to class." It wasn't that she didn't trust Xander not to run off, but she didn't. He really was too much of a kid sometimes.

Xander shifted nervously. "Yeah."

Willow put a hand on his shoulder. "Buffy'll be okay. Whatever's down there, I think she can handle it." 'I hope.'

His face softened at his oldest friend and partner in crime. "Yeah, I do, too." 'I hope.'

Willow smiled widely. "So do I!"

1010101

The mausoleum looked almost pretty in the daylight. Buffy walked in slowly, looking and listening. She scanned around. Satisfied that no one was going to jump her again, she walked down the steps to the floor. She continued and found the tunnel access. It was locked with a thick chain. She lifted the lock. Good heavy steel and hard to crack. The presence from the other night came up behind her. Her 'friend' was nearby.

Buffy spoke to thin air. "I don't suppose you've got a key on you?"

The air answered her, "They really don't like me dropping in."

Buffy turned to face him. "Why not?"

He looked a little guilty. "They really don't like me."

Buffy bit back sarcastically. "How could that possibly be?"

"I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later. Actually, I thought it was gonna be a *little* sooner."

Buffy glared at him. "Sorry you had to wait." She sighed. "Okay. Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this Cryptic Wise Man act on a regular basis, can you at least tell me your name?"

"Angel."

Buffy nodded. "Angel. It's a pretty name."

She turned to the tunnel entrance.

Angel stepped towards her. "Don't... go down there."

Buffy turned back. "Deal with my going."

"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk. Tonight is the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it, the Master walks."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Well, if this Harvest thing is such a suckfest, why don't *you* stop it?"

Angel breathed deep. "'Cause I'm afraid."

She looked at him for a moment and then spun around quickly, kicking open the doors to the tunnel. She turned back to him.

"They'll be expecting you."

"I've got friends out there. Or at least potential friends. Do you know what it's like to have a friend?"

He lowered his eyes as a look of sadness filled them.

Buffy looked at him, feeling guilty. "That wasn't supposed to be a stumper."

They looked at each other a moment longer. Each was sizing the other up, feeling a little awkward.

Angel spoke first, "When you hit the tunnels head east towards the school. That's where you're likely to find them."

Buffy nodded and asked hopefully, "You gonna wish me luck?"

Angel says nothing. They look at each other for another moment, then Buffy turns and heads into the tunnels. He watches her go.

Angel stood still, and then whispered, "Good luck," feeling guilt pour into him.

1010101

Michael booted the library doors open, apologizing to Giles as he walked through the doors. The librarian in question was nowhere in the sight. Michael sighed and stepped up to the desk in the centre, where he had stashed the copy of Vampyre the day before. He was feeling overwhelmed and very tired.

The creatures in every nightmare he had ever had were probably real, his sister fought them and he had a few splinters in his fingers. Not of the good. He had nearly let his sister down again. That was what scared him the most. The incident after Hemery with the hospital... he could never forgive himself for that. The bastard that called himself their father had her committed. Michael was convinced that the vamps could have him. He had flinched and hesitated, almost letting Luke kill her.

Thank God for silver crucifixes and wooden planks. He was angry, completely angry. Not at anyone in particular, but his spirit was in flames. He didn't like that his sister was the only one in the world that could fight these things effectively, but as he always did, he would go along with it and help his little sis win. Saving the world is only a few steps up from beating a jerk boyfriend... right?

He jumped as he heard the unconscious Jesse groan and begin to stir. Oh crap. 'Think of excuse, think of excuse, THINK OF EXCUSE!'

Jesse twisted and turned, his eyelids fluttering and whimpering about monsters. Michael was cringing away and trying desperately to think of a way to explain his nightmares. Then Jesse was completely still and began to snore slightly, muttering occasionally about a dark haired beauty, whoever that was ... Michael exhaled with relief and sat back down.

He heard Giles quoting aloud from the stacks, "For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life. P... Pours life...On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice
it will come... Of course. That's tonight!"

"What's tonight Giles? What did you find?"

The older librarian came out of the stacks holding a thick tome of yellow pages and wearing a grim smile on his face.

1010101
Cordelia threw her hands up and whined, "No! It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or wait..."

Harmony looked at the screen, dazed. "Are we going to the Bronze tonight?"

Cordelia gave her a look. "No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale."

Harmony looked confused.

Cordelia sighed. "Of course we're going to the Bronze. Friday night? No cover? But you should have been there last night. 'Cause I ran into Buffy..."

Willow overheard them talking. She didn't like where this was going.

Cordelia blabbed on, "...and can she be any weirder? She attacked me! Do you believe it? I swear! There is no way she can be related to that sweet piece of salty goodness that is Michael."

Harmony exhaled, "I think we did this part wrong."

Cordelia: Why do we have to devise these programs, isn't that what nerds are for?" She whispered, indicating Willow. "What'd she do?"

"Uh, she's doing something else."

Cordelia smiled. "Okay and then pattern run, right? Or go to end? That's it!"

Harmony smiled nervously, "Maybe!"

Cordelia sat back in her chair. "So anyway, I come outta the bathroom, and she comes running at me. Screaming! With a stick! I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you! I swear!"

Another classmate turned and asked, "Who?"

Cordelia said it loud enough. "Buffy!"

Harmony raised an eyebrow. "The new girl?"

"What's her deal?"

Cordelia scoffed. "Well, she's crazed."

Harmony leaned in closer. "Did you hear about her old school?"

Cordelia and the boy both shook their heads.

"Booted." Harmony said it with a sadistic satisfaction.

Cordelia smiled quickly, storing it away for later, and rolled her eyes. "Well, I exhibit no surprise."

"Why was she kicked out?"

"Uh, because she's a psycho loony!"

Ok that was enough. Willow's face turned a light shade of pink. "No, she's not!"

Cordelia's jaw dropped in outrage. "What?"

Willow turned to them, her eyes glinting dangerously. "She's not a psycho! You don't even know her! And her brother isn't just some piece of male ... flesh for you to get your hands on!"

Cordelia smirked nastily. "Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist?"

Willow turned away, her eyes down. That had hurt.

"Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you're boring."

Willow got up and went to get her printouts. She wanted payback for Buffy and her hurt pride.

Harmony smiled and breathed out, "Okay, I think the program's done."

Cordelia stretched her arms in the chair. "Finally the nightmare ends! Okay, so how do we save it?"

Willow thought quickly and laughed internally. "Deliver."

Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the keyboard. "Deliver? Where's that? Oh!"

She hits the "Del" key, and her program disappeared. She stared at the screen in wide-eyed, open-mouthed horror. Willow closed the door behind her, a small smug smile gracing her lips.

1010101
"She escaped?" The Master was now snarling at his minion, who was shivering in fear and shame. "She walks free when I should be drinking her heart's blood right now? Careless..."

Colin stuttered, "M-Master, we had her trapped!"

The Master raised a thin white eyebrow. "Oh, are you going to make excuses?" Colin remained silent.

The Master sneered. "You are all weak. It has been too long since you have faced the Slayer. Huh. It is no matter to me. She will not stop the Harvest. Just means there'll be someone worth killing... when I reach the surface. Is Luke ready?

Colin nodded. "He waits."

"It's time. Bring him to me. Ah, Colin... You failed me. Tell me you're sorry."

Colin fell to his knees. "I'm sorry!"

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it? Hold on..." He stabbed his finger into Colin's face. "You've got something in your eye."

1010101

"So what you are telling me is this? Powerful ugly vampire is coming out to play tonight after sixty years? Damn it, why can't this be more simple than blood and gore flying everywhere? ... Actually, come to think of it, that's pretty simple." Giles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. They both turned as the sound of the door opening caught their attention.

Giles called out from the stairs. "Buffy?"

Willow smiled awkwardly. "It's just me. So there's no word?" Michael shook his head, a little anxious smile on his face.

Giles took off his glasses and began to clean the lenses with his blazer sleeve. Michael had seen him repeat this ritual ever since Buffy left. "Ah, not as yet, no."

Willow stuttered, "Well, I-I'm sure she's... great."

"Did you find anything of interest?"

Willow blinked innocently and nodded. "I think, maybe... I surfed through the old newspapers around the time of that big earthquake back in '37? And for several months before there were a rash of murders."

Giles smiled. "Great! I-I mean, well, not, not 'great' in a good way, uh, um, uh, go on?"

Michael grinned, "Of course Giles. Not morbidly enthusiastic at all there."

Willow smiled. "Well, they sound like the kind you were looking for. Throats, blood..." She grimaced at some of the case reports.

"It's all coming together. I rather wish it weren't."

Michael looked at the older man, a little in awe, a lot in exasperation. "Nothing seems to really faze you British, does it?"

1010101

Luke approached the Master and knelt before him. The Master offered his hand. Luke took it and kissed it. He released it and the Master turned it over to offer the underside of his wrist. Darla was watching and she frowned. Luke opened the cuff of the Master's sleeve and pulls it back. He took his hand again, sank his fangs into the wrist above it and drank of the blood. He released the hand, and the Master took it back.

The Master watched Luke appraisingly. "My blood is your blood. My soul is your soul."

Luke bared his fangs in respect. "My body is your instrument."

The Master stepped down to Luke and began to draw a three-pointed star on Luke's forehead with the blood still flowing from his wrist.

"On this... most hallowed night... we are as one. Luke is the Vessel!"

Darla's whimpered quietly as the other vampires cheered. Her sire had changed since he had awoken. He was crueller to her and even the fledglings. This wasn't Angelus' cruelty either, her Master now treated her worse than William, before he had ran off with Drusilla. She didn't like it.

The Master raised his arms to the air. "Every soul he takes will feed me. And their souls will grant me the strength to free myself. Tonight I shall walk the Earth, and the stars themselves will hide!"

1010101

Willow was looking at one of Giles' volumes with Michael reading over her shoulder. They
heard the door open and looked up to see Xander and Buffy come in. Michael quickly ran up and embraced his little sister.

He smiled down at her. "Hey sis." She slowly returned it.

Willow looked at them expectantly. "Did you find them?"

Xander sighed. "Yeah."

Willow felt despair "They're not dead?"

Buffy sat down and cupped her head in her hands. "Nope. I'm sorry, Willow. We were too late. And they were waiting for us."

Willow deflated. "At least you two are okay. We sent Jesse home. He's pretty shaken, but Michael told him we found him passed out outside the Bronze with that girl sucking on his neck. As he said, 'one freaky hickey'."

Xander violently kicked a waste basket. Buffy was startled. Michael raised an eyebrow. "Ookkkaaayyy..."

Xander breathed in deeply. "I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're
not good."

Buffy turned to Giles. "So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?"

He went over to the whiteboard and put down his pen.

Giles smiled grimly. "How about the end of the world?"

Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Knew I could count on you."

"This is what we know. Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed."

Buffy nodded. "He came 'cause this town's a mystical who's it?"

"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of, um, portal between this reality and the next. This vampire hopes to open it." Michael sighed and hit his head on the desk top.

Buffy pursed her lips. "Bring the demons back."

Xander concluded. "End of the world."

Michael sat up and breathed out. He turned to Willow. "We're doomed ma bonny lass. I hope ye can forgive me." Buffy snorted and Willow blushed a little.

Willow shouted out, "But he blew it! Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that swallowed half the town, and him, too."

Giles nodded. "You see, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle."

Xander made gestures with his hands. "And this Harvest thing is to get him out."

Giles continued, "It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." He drew a three-pointed star on the whiteboard.

Buffy clapped her hands together. "So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no Harvest?"

Giles: Simply put, yes.

Buffy: Any idea where this little get-together is being held?

Giles: There, there are a number of possibilities.

Xander and Willow said finality, "They're goin' to the Bronze."

"Are you sure?" asked Buffy.

Xander gave her a look. "Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where I would be, trust me."

Giles grabbed his coat and started out of the library. The others began to follow. "Then we should get there. The sun will be down before long."

Buffy took Michael's arm. "We gotta make a stop. Won't take long."

Giles turned back to her. "What for?"

They both answered at the same time. "Mom."

1010101

The warm California sun glowed orange and red as it began to sink behind a ridge on the west side of town. Buffy went her closet and pulls out a heavy, black jacket. Michael was sitting on the bed, tying tape around his right fist. Joyce walked in.

"Buffy? Michael?"

They both looked up and smiled at her. "Mom!"

Joyce raised an eyebrow. "You're going out?"

Buffy pulled on her jacket as Michael said, "Big bash at the Bronze tonight."

Joyce was suspicious. "I didn't hear you come in last night."

"We were really quiet," they both said.

Joyce became frantic. "It's happening again, isn't it? I got a call from your new principal. Says you missed some classes today?"

"She was running an errand for Mr Giles, the new librarian. I was helping him after school as well," said Michael through clenched teeth as he ripped the tape's end away.

Joyce's eyes widened in surprise and she smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah he's from England. Nice guy once you get past the awkwardness," said Buffy.

"That's fantastic you two! Already working with ... Michael, why are you wrapping your hand in duct tape?"

"H-He's getting it signed by the lead guitarist of the band tonight. One of the guys from his home room. Oz, right?" Michael nodded. 'Good cover Buff.'

Joyce nodded, apparently satisfied. "Ok, don't stay out too late you two. You never know who or what might be lurking around out there." They laughed nervously as she left the room. Buffy packed some equipment into a bag and tossed one to Michael as they headed down the stairs and out the door.

1010101

Luke raised his arms to the shaking crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen! There is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good."

Cordelia was confused. "I thought there wasn't any band tonight."

She looked at the boy next to her, Colin. She inhaled in fright at the sight of his game face. Jesse was standing on the balcony, and rushed down, trying to fight his way through the crowd to save the girl of his dreams.

Luke continued, "This is a glorious night! It is also the last one any of you shall ever see. Bring me the first."

A vampire brought the doorman to Luke. "What do you guys want, man, huh? You want money? Man, what's wrong with your faces?" Luke grabbed him by the throat. He wrapped his other arm around the doorman's head.

Luke sneered at the crowd. "Watch me, people. Fear is like an elixir. It's almost like blood."

He sank his fangs into the doorman and fed on him. The doorman screamed, and as did the crowd. He dropped the doorman's body. "Next!"

Outside, they arrived running. Buffy tried the door. "It's locked!"

Giles caught his breath. "We're too late!"

Xander wrung his wrists. "Can you break it down?" he asked hopefully.

"No, not that thing. You guys try the back entrance, and I'll find my own way."

Giles nodded. "Right. Come on."

Buffy thought a second and called out. "Uh, wait! Guys! Here! You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all! Don't go Wild Bunch on me."

Giles deflated. "Uh, see you inside, then."

Willow ran to the side door and tried the lock. "No joy!"

Xander banged on the door. "We've gotta get in there before it turns into an undead cocktail mixer!" Michael nodded and aimed a kick at the lock.

1010101

Luke finished with the girl and dropped her body. Darla struggled over Cordelia with Colin.

The one eyed vampire whined at the elder. "This one's mine!"

Darla rolled her eyes. "They're all for the Master." 'Even if it's not fair."

She pulled on Cordelia, who was screaming at the top of lungs. Colin let go of her. "I don't get one?" Darla turned and shrugged. She threw Cordelia back towards him and grabbed another girl from the crowd.

Buffy broke an upper window and crawled in. She heard a familiar voice from below her. "I feel the Master's strength growing!"

Buffy saw Luke on the stage. He looked to be in the throes on ecstasy or something. "I feel him rising. Every soul brings him closer! I need another!"

"The Vessel," she muttered.

The vampire on the upper level saw Buffy and growled. She looked over at him. "Tonight is his ascension. Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy. What? No volunteers?"

Darla brought the girl up and passed her to Luke. "Here's a pretty one."

Cordelia screams when she sees Luke up close. He caressed her face. He was about to bite her when Buffy kicked the vampire down from above them. Luke watched him land with a thud. Buffy approached the railing.

Buffy looked at him innocently. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?" The screams in the crowd stopped as they turned to look at the angel on the balcony.

Luke's face contorted in anger. "You!"

Buffy shrugged. "You didn't think I'd miss this. Did you?"

Luke snarled. "I hoped you'd come."

Buffy grinned cheerily. "Be right down!"

She stepped and then leapt down to land on a pool table. A vampire attacked from her right. Buffy kicked off of the table, grabbing a pool cue on the way. When she lands she thrusts it into her attacker and let go. He began to fall and burst into ashes.

"Okay, Vessel boy." Buffy removed her jacket. "You want blood?"

Luke released the girl. "I want yours! Only yours!"

Buffy shrugged. "Works for me."

She ran and cartwheeled up onto the stage, and immediately launched into a full spinning hook kick. Luke staggered into a pile of chairs. Buffy assumed a fighting position. Luke got up and growled. He comes at her and swings, but she ducked the punch and came up behind him.

He tried a backhand punch, but she blocked him, held onto his arm and gave him three roundhouse kicks to his stomach before he shook loose. She took her stake and lunged at him. He blocked the lunge, knocking the stake from her grip. He lifted her up and threw her into a pile of boxes.

Michael and Xander cracked the lock and they burst inside. They came out at the back of the stage and made their way onto the floor. The four could see Buffy was handling Luke well and so pushed a few people towards the open side door. Giles whispered to them, "Hurry up! Come on! Through this door! Come on! This way!"

Buffy spun around and landed a backhand punch on Luke's face, knocking him into another pile of equipment. She turned to see a vampire grab Xander. She stole a cymbal from a drum set
and threw it at the vampire like a Frisbee. Xander saw it coming and ducked. The cymbal decapitated the vampire. His head hit the ground before dusting.

Xander called out to her, quite impressed, "Head's up!" Buffy couldn't resist a chuckle. She felt Luke grab her from behind.

Cordelia lay on the floor with Thomas above her. She struggled and he grabbed her arms. He was taunting her as she lay vulnerable. "Hold still! You're not making this easy!" He laughed mercilessly as he aimed towards her neck, fangs bared.

Cordelia saw a shadow come up behind him, a bottle in hand. She saw the lick of an orange flame, illuminating the pale face of Jesse McNally, the loser, the reject and freak. Then she saw him light the bottle of Smirnoff and break it over Thomas' head. With a scream of agony, the vampire leapt off him and ran towards the bar, only to be met with a sharpened piece of wood below the ribcage.

Michael stepped back as the vamp dusted and clapped at Jesse, who looked down at himself and Cordelia, a little shocked at what he had done. Xander saw the rescue and hollered his approval, before beating another vamp down with the pool cue. Luke called out to Buffy, who was circling him slowly. "I always wanted to kill a Slayer!"

Giles shepherded panicked teens through the side door. "One at a time! Quickly! Quickly!" He crosses to the other side of the room in front of some stairs. Darla was standing on the steps above him. "We're going to have to open the front as well!" With a scream of frustration, Darla leapt onto him from behind, knocking him to the floor.

"Master! Taste of this... and be free!" Luke roared and moved in to bite Buffy. She sensed his proximity and snaps her head back to land a headbutt on his face, knocking him off of her and back to the wall. She turns to him, winded but grinning.

"How'd it taste?"

Giles and Darla struggled on the floor. Willow approached them while taking out a jar of holy water. "Get off of him!" Darla looked up. Willow gingerly threw the contents at her. It burnt her face and steams. She got up and ran from the club, screaming.

Buffy grabs a microphone stand and brandished at Luke like a javelin. Luke laughed, "You forget, metal can't hurt me."

Buffy smiled a small sincere smile and said, "There's something you forgot about, too. Sunrise!"

She threw the stand at Luke. He ducked, and it broke the window behind him. A bright light pours in through it. Buffy picked her stake up and lunged at him from behind and jammed the stake home between his shoulder blades. "It's in about nine hours, moron!"

Luke fell from the stage and turned to ash. She stared at Luke's ashes. Two vampires had Xander by the shoulders. He shrugged and sighed with relief and she smiled down at him. She lifted her gaze to meet theirs. The vampires panicked and run. The vampires ran past Angel standing behind some crates stacked against a wall. He watched them run, and then looked back the other way. Angel raised his eyebrows in amazement. "She did it! I'll be damned!" He walked away.

Buffy hops down to the floor. Giles and Willow met her. Michael ran up from behind and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Alright Buffy! We saved the goddamned world from ugly demons, oh yes go us!"

Willow's hopeful eyes met his. "It's over? We won?"

Buffy sighed and gave them a goofy grin. "Well, we averted the Apocalypse. I give us points for that."

Xander nodded. "One thing's for sure: nothing's ever gonna be the same."

Michael scoffed, "Dude, you knew that the moment you saw us walk into the school."

1010101

Cordelia Chase walked along, blabbing about the craziness of the previous night to Harmony. "Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Buffy, like, knew them! And McNally saved my life from one of them. He's not quite the same loser he was yesterday, I tell you that. Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show!"

"Oh, I wish I'd been there!"

Cordelia nodded. "You should have been there. It was so creepy..."

Michael walked between Buffy and Xander, whistling some song by Nerf Herder or whatever the band was called. "What exactly were you expecting?" asked Buffy.

Xander shrugged, "I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at
least have an assembly." They run into Giles, Willow and Jesse and the six of them continue to walk.

Giles summed it all up. "People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't."

Buffy nodded. "Believe me, I've seen it happen."

"Well, I'll never forget it, none of it," said Willow fervently.

"Good! Next time you'll be prepared," said Giles enthusiastically.

Xander froze. "Next time?"

Michael stared at the floor in annoyance, "Oh hell no!"

Giles straightened up and turned to them. "We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning."

Michael sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't even have to say it, do I?"

Willow grimaced with worry. "More vampires?"

"Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different."

Buffy threw up her arms in defeat. "I can hardly wait!"

"We're at the centre of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction."

"Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!"

Jesse perked up, "Now that's my kind of bright side!"

Xander laughed and shook his head. "Oh, yeah, that's a plan. 'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths."

Willow giggled. "Maybe you could blow something up. They're really strict about that."

"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, y'know, like excessive not studying."

"Of course if that fails there is always the time tested method of burning down the gym Buffy." Buffy went speechless as Michael ruffled her hair and ran off to find Oz.

Giles turned to go back to his library. "The Earth is doomed."