CHAPTER 6

The blonde demon stood proud over the charcoaled Babylon. The Empire State building is all that stood erect of the once proud sky line. His smile was broad. He turned towards some of his minions. The gargoyles stood up. "There is still an ounce of hope in the world", the demon said.

"Master", A gargoyle growled as he knelt in front of the humanoid. "We will take care of it".

"Fine", the devil said. "Rita will lead you".

The seventeen year old girl looked up. "I hope this is more than a fare challenge", she said. "I would hate to go and kill just humans".

"Not just humans", the blonde said. "Hunters. They spend their life making our mission impossible".

The girl yawned as she stretched. Two large bat looking wings spurted out of her back. "Where?", the girl asked as she rolled her eyes.

"A small town in California", the monster said. "It is called Sunnydale".

Rita shrugged as she took off. The blonde shook his head in disagreement. "Rob! Pete!", he called out.

Two large gargoyles stepped up. "Take a pack of five each", the demon said. "Snatch them from L. A. Destroy the town".

Both Gargoyles nodded and took off after the young girl. The blonde demon extended his arms and a red vortex portal opened in the sky. His three followers entered it and disappeared into it.

"KILL THEM ALL!", the monster screamed. His powerful cry echoed through the ruins. Bits of glass shattered and turned to dust in response to the vibrations. The dead bodies shifted on the ground. Soon… silence followed. Deadly silence.


"Unbelievable!", Wesley exclaimed as he rubbed his eyes. "This makes no sense. No words. Not even pronounceable syllables".

Giles sat down on one of Xander's bean bags. He was exhausted. And time was running out. Willow walked up and handed him a glass of water.

"It is hopeless", Wesley said.

"To stop the end of the world you must bring forth THE APOCALYPSE", Dawn said as she read the transcripst. "Done so… Daristos will be defeated".

All eyes turned towards the young brunette. She was writing ferociously on a sheet of paper. "Daristos is a powerful hell demon whose only weakness is human hope.", Dawn continued as she wrote. "A sorcerer. He has been brought up from hell. Still… his true master will not support his actions. If Daristos is to succeed… hell will be brought upon earth. Darkness will rule again. Mankind will seize to exist on this plain, starting with Babylon. With hell on Earth, the first fallen Angel is to rule the now monster infected world. That would be denying the true good's dictation. ´EVIL WILL NOT RULE THE DIMENSION CREATED FOR THE HUMAN RACE´. By denying the rule imposed on the demons... It would be denying existence itself".

Dawn stopped suddenly and looked up. The surprised friends returned the stare. "The document is written in code", the girl said with a smile. "A very silly code in fact. Um… Buffy and I used to use it to pass ourselves notes so mom wouldn't know our private life. Very stupid really"

"What else does the document say?", Giles asked her.

"Oh", Dawn said as she turned back to the writings. "THE APOCALYPSE can be brought forth only by the power of four Pure bread warriors, with pure intentions". Dawn turned towards the last page. "THE WARRIOR'S PLAIN. Enter it. Surpass the obstacles and claim your glory".

Dawn turned her attention upon her listeners. "That's it", she said.

"That doesn't make sense", Willow said. "How can you stop the end of the world by bringing forth The Apocalypse".

"Dawn?", Giles asked. "You are sure you decoded the message correctly?".

"Wanna give it a try?", Dawn asked giving him the pages. "Trust me… the code is not that complicated. You will have to learn it though. And you need plenty of speed to arrange the letters correctly".

"Ok", Xander said grabbing the piece of paper. "Obviously the thing is more than meets the eye".

"Or the document is too literal", Wesley said out loud.

"What do you mean?", Willow asked. "Do we actually destroy the world so we can save it?"

"No", Wesley said. "An ancient legend tells the ultimate battle between good and evil. The demons were banished from this world unto hell. The Head warrior held a weapon beyond deadly. It was called The Apocalypse. A large sword. It had a large golden heart on one side. On and a cross on the other".

"You think that is what the message means", Giles asked.

"It is the only way it makes sense", Wesley answered as he grabbed the paper. "It is a weapon. It is powerful enough to kill any type of creature".

"Great", Xander said. "We just find the weapon, find out where he is which will be simple and nighty night to all".

"I don't think is that simple", Wesley said. "The weapon was lost after the battle. Many have searched for it and have failed".

"We must find it", Willow urged. "This guy just destroyed two cities in this country. Who knows what else he will do"

"He will keep on destroying", Giles said. "As long as hope exists in the world".

"Weird question", Dawn interrupted. "If he is here to destroy all mankind and his first step is destroy hope, wouldn't he try to kill the people that are most likely to stop him?"

Giles looked at the girl. He than looked at Wesley who returned the stare. Willow looked at both watchers and than at Xanders. "There are some weapons behind the T.V.", Xanders said as he pointed at his set. He reached under the table and pulled out a large axe. He placed that on top of the table while he kept looking for more weapons. Giles and Wesley pulled back the television set and pulled out a small chest. Willow grabbed the sheets of paper and place them on one of her bags. She than headed for her suitcase and pulled out a small box. Dawn slowly walked towards the table and picked up two small daggers Xander had placed. She hid them in her pants pockets. Funny how nobody noticed that the brunette did that.

"We should head for the shelter", Wesley said as he opened the door. "We will find Angel, Buffy and the others there". Xander walked out followed by Dawn and Willow. As they reached the surface, they looked at the sky. It was pitch black. Not a single star was visible in the sky. Abruptly, the sky lit up. A orange vortex portal opened high in the heavens. Thirteen gargoyle demons came out headed straight for them.

Dawn grabbed Wesley's sword and pushed him down. "Get down!", she yelled. Everyone crouched as the beast flew in their direction. As they flew past them, Dawn jumped up. She swung her blade in an upward motion decapitating one of the beasts. As she was coming down, she swung horizontally. The deadly steel found it's mark as the bat wings of one of the monsters separated from it's body. The demon flew out of control into one of the buildings head first. It encrusted itself on the concrete like swatted fly. Dawn came down gracefully and looked at her foes. There were eleven of them. "Head for the shelter", Dawn said calmly. "I will cover you"

"Are you crazy?", Wesley exclaimed. "You are outnumbered. They are going to kill you!"

"Help is on it's way", Dawn said calmly as he grabbed the sword tightly. "I will hold on until they get here".

"We will help too", Xander said standing up.

"No", Dawn ordered. "You do not have the strength to endure this. I do. You need to take them to the shelter. I can't cover for all of you. Go!"

"We are not leaving you!", Giles exclaimed. "We will hold on with you"

"You will die in the process", Dawn said looking at the monsters. "We need you to find the sword". Dawn looked at her friends. "I am going to make it. Go! Now!"

All of them looked at each other. Willow slowly walked up the brunette and hugged her. "Don't be long", she said.

Xander pulled on Willow and Giles. Wesley walked back reluctantly. Dawn turned her full attention to the monsters in front of her. She slowly removed her black jacket. She heard her friends start running. One of the monsters at that instant spread his wings. He shot upward and started to fly towards the fleeing humans. Dawn pulled out both of the daggers she had hidden. As the fiend flew over head, she threw one of her knives upward. As the small metal piece left her hand, she fired the second one at the group.

The first knife found it's mark as it encrusted itself in the beast's eye. It growled in pain as it fell to the ground. The paved street cracked with the impact. The second knife was heading for a another gargoyle. It all indicated it was going to make it. But it didn't. A female hand grabbed the dagger. The young girl with bat wings on her back twirled the weapon in her hand. "Impressive", she said. "Very impressive… SLAYER"

"You leave them out of this", Dawn said. "This only involves me".

"Gladly", the girl said as she stretched her wings. "After we kill you, we will kill them".

Dawn grabbed the sword with both hands tightly. "Master", one of the gargoyles called out to the female demon. "Slayer blood flows through her veins".

"I know that", the demon said smiling evilly. "The smell is intoxicating isn't it?"

"Allow me to finish her", the monster pleaded.

"And why should I?", the girl asked mocking curiosity.

"A slayer killed my brother back there. I want blood".

"Ok", the girl said. "Just don't disappoint me".

Dawn readied herself as the beast growled loudly. He walked towards her with a steady pace. Things were bound to get bloody.


Angel put the respective ingredients on the altar. He held Buffy's hand tightly as he smiled at her. She smiled back. Could this possibly be completeness? He looked at the people that surrounded him. Nikon and Mary held hands and smiled back. Faith crossed her arms and looked at them with a strange stare. Angel looked back at Buffy and was about to say something when a soft grunt was heard in the room. All eyes turned towards Mary. She was being held by Nikon for extra support. "It's Dawn", she said. "She is in trouble"

"What do you mean?", Buffy asked as she approached the vampire.

"Hell Gargoyles", Mary said as she closed her eyes. "Not far from here".

"How many?", Buffy asked.

Mary fixed her composure. "Thirteen Total"

Buffy's face fell. She had trained Dawn well. Dawn had her blood running through her veins. She knew she could handle herself in very tight situations. But this was too tight. Buffy looked at Angel. Her soul mate. Her true love. She was torn.

Angel returned the sad stare. He knew of Dawn's Slayer powers. Few knew, and he was one of them. He looked at the ingredients left in his hand. The ingredients mixed in the altar opened the portal. The portal to that room, where the product of his unconditional love for Buffy waited. It was their choice. Their choice alone.

He looked at everyone in the room. They waited for him to make the decision. He knew that leaving to help Dawn would mean waiting until the end of all this to come and open the portal. A look into Buffy's eyes told him she had come to that same conclusion. It would mean coming back after the final battle. Only the survivors would share the joy. For the first time he hesitated. It was a split second. He wanted to be selfish. He wanted Buffy and his daughter. Together. Now

It was his choice. He placed the ingredients back in the small box Nikon had given him. He looked at all in the room. "We must help Dawn".

Buffy smiled a sad smile. Only true champions made the toughest calls. Putting the greater good over the needs of just two people. "We need weapons", Buffy said.

Mary returned their sad look. The couple had made the right choice. "Our car has some in the trunk", the ancient slayer said.

"At last", Faith said as she stretched. "Let's get into the action".

"Mary leads", Angel said. "If these things are the ones we saw in L.A., Dawn is in trouble".

The group exited the mansion. Buffy's game face was on. "If they touch one hair on my sister", she started. "They are going to regret ever coming here."