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Los Angeles, 2017...

The punching bag groaned under the assault, as thirteen-year-old Emily kept pounding the bag, fury driving her blow. It had been six years since her mother had gone out to face Angelus one last time and failed to return. She remembered that night she had gone out with Faith and Connor into the pouring rain, hours after Buffy had failed to return with Dawn and she remembered finding her mother's broken and battered body lying in a puddle of blood. The tears had burst forth like a dam as she cried upon her mother's body and Connor had to carry the child away, as Faith brought her friend's body back to the compound. Emily remembered the funeral that had taken place two days later, where only a handful of people had turned up, all dressed in black, as both the rain and tears continued their assault. She had placed a small bouquet of flowers onto her mother's grave and swore that she would get revenge and kill Angelus in her mother's name.

Faith stood in the doorway of the new training room, arms crossed over her chest and a small smile on her face as she watched the young teenager assault the punching bag, until finally, with a powerful kick, Emily snapped the bag off its chain and it slapped against the wall, as the teenager stood there panting, sweat rolling down her body.

"Nice job," Faith said, walking into the room, "You're definitely her kid."

"Thanks," Emily said, "I want to make her proud."

"Don't worry, you already did that. Trust me, kid, I know."

The teenager nodded, picking the punching bag up and setting it back on its hook, getting ready to go through another set, but Faith stopped her.

"Why don't we try some weapons training?"

"Yeah, I guess. I've been slacking off in that."

"Good. Then afterwards, we can go and do a patrol."

Emily's eyes lit up as she looked at Faith in disbelief. She was yet to gain her Slayer abilities, something that Faith had told her would possibly happen in the next year or so, but she had never been on patrol before. Sure, she had done some training before with Faith and Connor on combating and slaying vampires, but she had never really fully faced a vampire in a one-on-one fight before and was very keen to do so. She always enjoyed the thrill of a fight, something that Faith had told her she must have inherited from Spike.

"So, what do you want to try out?" Faith asked, "Sword, staff, axe or dagger?"

"I'll pick a sword, thanks," Emily replied.

The elder Slayer nodded and grabbed a pair of wooden swords off the wall, tossing one to Emily, who caught it expertly and got into the stance she had been taught. The pair trained and practiced together for well over an hour, before Faith called it quits and took the young teenager upstairs, handing her a wooden stake and pocketing her own.

"So, you ready for this?" Faith asked.

"Ready as I'm supposed to be," Emily pair left their small base and headed out into the night streets of Los Angeles, walking amongst the dark, hidden alleys in search for any vampires looking for a late-night snack. Making their way out of the alleys after having found nothing, Faith led Emily towards one of the smaller nightclubs, knowing that she'll be able to get something there. Sure enough, after taking a short alley to behind one of the clubs, the pair found across a vampire cornering a young woman against the wall, his game face on and his gold eyes glinting with hunger, as he bent his head towards the woman's neck.

"Out for a quick bite, huh?" Faith called out.

The vampire snarled as he whirled around, growling when he saw Faith and instantly recognised her, growling out her title in suppressed fury.

"Don't worry, champ, you won't be fighting me," Faith said, "Emily, take him."

"Yeah, I'll take the small fry," the vampire grinned, "A nice little appetiser."

Emily headed towards the vampire, as he growled and lashed out with a right punch. She barely dodged it in time, swinging the stake in her right hand, but he smacked her hand aside, his other fist crashing into her jaw, staggering her back.

"Focus, Emily," Faith called out, "You're as strong as him, remember?"

Regaining her footing, Emily dodged the vampire's next punch, landing a blow in his stomach, but he barely flinched, grabbing the teenager by the hair and throwing her into the open. Emily rolled back up onto her feet, parrying the vampire's frontal kick, her fist slamming into his jaw, as she then followed through with a left hook. The vampire growled as he staggered, doing a backhand strike, only for Emily to duck under it and land an uppercut on his jaw. As he took a step back from the blow, Emily followed through with a roundhouse kick to his chest, knocking him to the ground, then she darted in and jammed the stake into his chest. However, the vampire growled in pain, as she had missed his heart by inches and his fist swung up into her jaw. Quickly recovering, Emily snatched the stake out of his chest while he was getting up and plunged it back in again, this time, hitting the heart. The vampire snarled as he burst into dust and Faith joined her side, once she had made sure that the would-be victim was okay.

"Nice work," Faith applauded.

"Yeah, but I missed his heart," Emily said.

"Don't worry. B told me she missed on her first try. Like mother, like daughter."

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Two years later…

The rain was pouring down heavily when Emily finally stirred and opened her eyes. Her body was drenched from being out in the open for the past few hours and the blood coming from the cut on her left eyebrow had dried up, but that was the least of her worries as she stumbled through the streets of Los Angeles. Her body was aching with dull pain due to the fight she had just been in, though most of the pain was centred around her left eyebrow where…Angelus had struck her with her own stake.

Panic overcame her as flashes of the previous event came rushing back to her and she quickened her pace, rounding the corner and finally a body lying in the middle of the road. The tears started to run down her cheeks, hidden by the rain as she approached the body, rolling it over onto its back, the tears bursting forth more freely now as she looked upon Faith's face, her head rolling limply to indicate a broken neck, which was also punctured by two fang marks. Emily sobbed as she held Faith's body to herself, rage and disappointment welling up inside her. She had just received her Slayer powers a month prior on her fifteenth birthday and following another assault from Angelus, Faith had decided to go out and finally end him. However, she didn't want to make the same mistake that Buffy had done and so, she took Connor with her. Emily had wanted to go, but the pair refused, until Faith relented and decided that three on one would be better odds. Angelus had been waiting for them in the rain, however, none of them expected that he would have Drusilla by his side. Connor had faced off with the mad vampire, while Faith and Emily fought together against Angelus. But it had been a completely one-sided fight, with Angelus dominating Faith in combat and smacking Emily aside like she was an annoying housefly whenever she tried to intervene.

"Emily? Faith?" came Connor's voice in the rain.

The young Slayer didn't look up when she heard his voice, his slow footsteps indicating he was getting close, until he had fallen down beside her, caught up in sadness, as his arm went around his protégé's shoulders. He knew that he was now the last person left to watch over Emily and continue her training, knowing that with Faith's death, the teenager was now the last Slayer left in the entire world. It was now up to him to make sure that she was prepared in order to finally face down and defeat his father.

"Connor," Emily sobbed, "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know," the elder dhampire replied, "But we'll have to move soon."

He drew back from his charge and with a painful groan, lifted up Faith's body as gently as he could…until his damaged leg gave out from underneath him, sprawling him on the ground once more, blood still pumping from the wound he had suffered from his battle against Drusilla. He had thought that he could fight her, only to learn that she was surprisingly far stronger than he had expected. He was just glad to be alive still.

"You're hurt, Connor," Emily cried, "Let me take her."

Connor nodded, rain rolling off his body, as Emily lifted up Faith's body as best as she could, then helped Connor and together, they set off into the rain to bury their fallen friend and find a way to finally get their revenge on the one responsible for their pain.

"I swear to you, Angelus, I will find a way to make you pay for this," Connor thought.

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