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Buffy just looked at him for a very long moment. Her eyes were unfocused
and far away. An expression of despair covered her face.
Belial smirked at her. "Aw, whatsa matter? You mad 'cause you just
figured out what a dumb bitch you are?"
Buffy didn't even answer.
"What?" he asked. "No reaction at all? I think I'm hurt."
Buffy's eyes hardened. "Is this the part where I say 'You'll never get
away with this!'?" she asked.
Belial shrugged. "You might as well for dramatic effect. Hell, since we
got a little time, I'll even be a good villain and give that whole master
plan speech thing."
"Do I have a choice?" asked Buffy.
"Not really." he said, smirking.
"There never was a wolf cub, was there?" asked Buffy.
"Oh, sure there was." said Belial. "Wanna meet him?"
Belial walked Giles' body over to the altar. He pulled the fur covering
to the side and held something up. Still attached to the fur and skin of
the rest of the body was the head of a Garou in Crinos form. A small
head. Even though he was dead, Buffy could see the final expression
of pain and fear etched into the cub's feral features.
"His name was Tommy." explained Belial. To the head held near Buffy's
face he said. "Say hi to Buffy, Tommy."
Belial worked the cub's dead jaws in a speaking motion. "Hello, Buffy."
said Belial, in a mocking imitation of a child's voice.
Filled with anger at the violation, Buffy strained against the bonds to
get free. Belial watched her futile struggles with an amused expression.
"Giles here was right about one thing. You *are* cute when you're angry."
"You killed him. You bastard!" hissed Buffy.
"Sure did. The Dagger draws power from a different source. Still,
whatever the species, there's nothing quite like the death by torture of
an innocent child to get them mystical juices a' flowin'." Belial smirked,
pleased with himself.
Buffy looked around herself. Men in urban camouflage were hooking up
electronic equipment. Around the altar had been drawn some kind of
circular mystical diagram. She saw a good many vampires and recognized
the mishapen forms of Black Spiral Dancer werewolves. Rising up on a hill
in the near distance, she recognized Elvis' mansion.
Belial followed her gaze to the house. "Yeh, I know. Nothin' quite like
havin' a rich buddy when ya need a place to have a party, huh?"
"Elvis may be a vampire, but there's no way he'd let you do what you've
got in mind." said Buffy.
"True. Too very true. It was only with the greatest of difficulty that
Giles here, under my direct control at that point, was able to convince
him that the only way to free himself from the blood bond was to sacrifice
a killer of Kindred, that would be you."
Belial continued. "What the King *doesn't* know is that we've replaced
his *usual* blood-bond freedom ritual with dark, sparkling Folger's
crystals. Oops." giggled Belial. "Too much TV. I mean, with a ritual
that makes your Hellmouth open wide and say 'Aah!' Then a bunch of my
relatives show up and we get to have ourselves a *grand* ol' time."
"Doesn't the whole destroy the world thing get *just* a little old?" asked
Buffy.
"Destroy the world?!" asked Belial, chortling. "Why Hell no! Thing is,
demons, in their natural form, are bodiless. We need bodies. Oh, sure,
we *could* rip the world apart to get the raw material to *make* our own
bodies, but why bother? Epecially when there's five and half billion or
so factory originals right here for the taking."
"You're going to possess us." concluded Buffy.
"Got it in one. But 'possession' is such an old-fashioned term. I prefer
merger, or at least hostile takeover." explained Belial. "Look, we'll
accomplish great things together. I mean, by yourselves you humans have
come up with some *dandy* sensory experiences for us. Wars, rapes, the
Black Plague, Hitler's death camps. That last one still gives a warm
feeling right here," he said, grabbing his crotch, "when I think about it.
It was *that* beautiful." He mimed wiping away a tear.
A werewolf shifted to the form of a large, one-eyed man in army fatigues.
"Sir," it said. "We've got the transmission dish set up. Everything's
pretty well ready." He turned an eye toward Buffy, a hungry look stirred
within it.
Belial grabbed the guy's chin and wrenched it toward him. "Ah-ah-ah. No
thinking about the reception cake before the wedding."
The man swallowed, nodded and walked away quickly.
"Transmission dish? What are going to show? Hell's public access
channel?" asked Buffy.
"Somethin' like that. Remember, demons are bodiless. They can hook into
energy waves just fine, though. And when they get here, they ride the
satellite transmission waves into every phone, TV or electrical appliance
on the face o' the Earth. Oh sure, those starving Ethiopians and a few
hermits in Buttfuck, Oregon might escape for a little while, but we'll
hunt 'em down soon enough. We'll have nothing *but* time after all."
"And then what?" asked Buffy.
"Then we walk around the Umbra and find whole *new* worlds to play with.
We'll take them alive, too. Who wants to mess with a dead planet? It's
like fuckin' a corpse. You ever fuck a corpse?" he asked Buffy. "Oh
yeah, I guess you *have*. 'Course your vampire boy-toy was *un*-dead, so
technically he doesn't count."
Buffy just glared at him in helpless rage.
"What about Giles, or Deveraux? Is he alive or what?" asked Buffy.
"You mean, does he have to live with the knowledge that he fucked the
whole universe? Damn straight. Where's the fun otherwise? Besides, I
kept up *my* end of the deal." said Belial in a mock defensive tone. "I
brought his little rugrat back to life. I mean sure, there was that whole
screaming in pain thing from the burned flesh and the bomb shrapnel, but I
never claimed to be perfect. Still, I do good work. Hell, the little
shit'd be wailin' up a storm even now if Marty hadn't cut off her life
force and sent her spirit back. Some people are just *damned* ungrateful,
you know?"
Buffy felt too ill to even respond to that.
"As for the rest of it, once I got in I put a copy of his personality in
charge up front in his head. I kept the real him with me so I could
torture him some. It can get a little boring just sitting in somebody's
skull with nothing to do. I'd give the upfront autopilot a few nudges
here and there that he thought was his own idea. It worked like he said
that artificial personality bullshit with Melissa worked.
"That was funny as hell by the way. The real Giles slipped in some info
here and there, but you never caught on. I guess you're a *natural*
blonde, huh? Hell, you just about got the whole plan told to ya. Only
the names were changed to protect the guilty. I'll tell you. I just
about *shit* when that little bug-eyed vampire stole the Dagger. Luckily,
you got it back for me, and blew Melissa all to hell.
"Andru managed to hack into my personal journals, but he tripped a
safeguard that alerted me. The satellite is protected from demons,
mostly. I had to do a quick brainwash on the autopilot to convince him of
that whole traitor story. We hit the station and chased Andru out. If it
gives you any hope, he's down on Earth somewhere, maybe running to your
rescue. Or at least *crawling* to your rescue, running not being an
option for him at this point. 'Course the whole company thinks he's a
traitor and they've got shoot on sight orders for him. He's a survivor.
Probably dug himself a hole and pulled it in on himself to hide. When my
buddies come we'll dig his ass out, eventually."
Belial rubbed his hands in glee. "Guess it's showtime. Go call the
King." he said to a vampire. "I said this ritual would free him from the
blood-bond, and I'm a demon o' my word. It's amazing what a little
Slayer blood can do."
The vampire dialed on a cell phone and spoke into it. Belial stuffed a
ball gag into Buffy's mouth. He patted her cheek. "Sorry, sweetie, no
screaming during the ceremony." The demon gestured at the boombox again
and it started playing Peter Gabriel's "Family Snapshot".
Lyrics: Four miles down the cavalcade moves on, driving into the sun;
Elvis and his entourage of guards and the Colonel, his old manager and now
ghoul, started down the hill toward the floodlamps and his salvation.
Lyrics: If I worked it out right, they won't see me or the gun.
Elvis spared one last glance at the foundation of the house. Soon he'd be
free of Emily forever.
Lyrics: Two miles to go, they're clearing the road and the cheering has
really begun;
Some of Belial's minions, their eagerness mirroring their master's,
watched the progress of Elvis' party toward them.
Lyrics: I've got my radio, I can hear what's going on.
Buffy and Belial watched his approach on a giant TV screen near the altar.
Lyrics: I-iiii've been waiting for this.
Elvis closed his eyes, savoring the approach of freedom.
Lyrics: I-iiii have been waiting for this.
He hated to shed the girl's blood, but since it was the only way to
prevent countless more atrocities, then so be it.
Lyrics: All you people in TV land, I will wake up your empty shells;
Lights flickered on several screens and consoles as the transmission dish
completed it's power-up.
Lyrics: Peak-time viewing blown in a flash as I burn into your memory
cells!
A vampire flashed his fangs in triumph at Belial and gave him the O.K.
sign.
Lyrics: 'Cos I-iii'm alive.
Belial smiled at Buffy and fingered the Dagger in unholy anticipation.
Lyrics: They're coming 'round the corner with the bikers in the front,
I'm wiping the sweat from my eyes.
Elvis' two front-door guards entered the gathering of Belial's people.
Lyrics: It's a matter of time,
Belial made two incisions, one on each of Buffy's arms, just deep enough
for blood to well out. Oddly enough, the cuts were painless.
Lyrics: It's a matter of will.
The demon touched the blade to the blood on her arms. Instantly, the
wounds closed and the Dagger absorbed the blood into itself.
Lyrics: And the governor's car is not far behind, he's not the one I've
got in mind.
The Colonel entered the gathering, casting guilty, nervous looks at the
altar and trying not to be noticed.
Lyrics: 'Cos there he is -the man of the hour, standing in the limousine.
Elvis entered the circle and stood next to Belial and the altar. He
avoided Buffy's gaze.
Lyrics: "I don't really hate you, I don't care what you do; we were made
for each other, me and you.
"I am truly sorry for this, Buffy. I wish before God that there was
another way, but Dev says there's not and I have found nothing helpful
elsewhere." said Elvis as Buffy grunted into the gag, trying to get him to
stop the ritual before it was too late.
Lyrics: I want to be somebody, you were like that too.
"I just want to be free, that's all." said the King.
Lyrics: If you don't get given you learn to take, and I will take you."
Elvis looked away from her and nodded to Belial, who had retreated into
his persona as Giles.
Lyrics: Holding my breath,
Belial caused Giles to raise the Dagger above Buffy's chest.
Lyrics: Release the catch;
A smirk of glee crawled across Giles' face as Buffy tried one last,
desperate struggle to be free.
Lyrics: And I let the bullet fly...
The Dagger plunged down.
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