CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

"What was that?" Gunn questioned as the building shook violently.

"Giles," Dawn said, her heart broken. She looked to Gunn with tear filled eyes. "He's gone."

"What?" Gunn asked with shock. "How do you know?"

"I just know," Dawn replied. "And Xander…he's broken."

"Did Lucifer…?" Gunn started to ask.

"We didn't see," Dawn said. "We were wrong. Xander never should have been there. He was the key to all of it. He…" Her eyes suddenly went wide.

"Dawn?" Gunn questioned fearfully. She took off running down the stairs. "DAWN!"

"KEY!" she yelled back. "I'M THE KEY!"

"WHAT?" he shouted as he gave chase. She burst into the lab and immediately began searching for the templates. "Dawn. What is going on?"

"I'm the key," she replied.

"Okay," he said reluctantly.

"I've always been the key," she said. "Illyria said it. Lots of people over time have said it. There's an answer."

"To what?" he questioned.

"To how we stop the end of the world," she said. "Because everything just went wrong. The well is opening. The fallen are coming. And God is going to send Michael. There's an answer. I have to find it."

"What's the question?" Gunn asked. "Wait. How do you know about Michael?"

"Who are the twins?" she said plainly.

i*****

"Willow?" Kennedy asked fearfully as she saw the change in her eyes.

"Giles is gone," she said softly.

"How do you know?" Kennedy asked.

"I don't know," Willow replied. "I just felt it. Just like I feel Xander slipping away."

"He's hurt?" Kennedy asked with concern.

"He's lost," Willow said.

"There are over a hundred creatures approaching the Bakersfield location," Sam stated. "Can you identify them?"

Willow looked at the monitor view of the satellite camera footage. "Scarthans," Willow replied. "They haven't been seen in centuries."

"What do the teams need to know?" Sam asked.

"They're strong and their claws contain a neurotoxin," she replied. "But, they can be killed like a human. Heart. Head."

"Conventional weapons?" Carlos questioned.

"Yes but their skin is thick like armor," Willow said as she read from the screen.

"Echo, Foxtrot," Sam said, "take cover. We're coming in for assist. Any engagement with incoming bogies should be at a distance with large caliber weapons."

"Understood," Robert, team leader of foxtrot replied.

The helicopter swung left and dipped. Carlos, Sam, and Red hung their feet out the door and aimed their weapons.

i*****

"How is that even possible?" Gunn questioned with disbelief. He was slumped in a chair.

"Apparently, my father really was an ass," Dawn replied.

"Can they Actually do that?" he asked. "I mean. This is the holy grail kind of thing. This could change the world in ways that we can't even begin to understand. The loss of faith or the sudden change in beliefs of billions could destabilize everything."

"No one needs to know about what happens today," she replied as she saw a sadness in his eyes.

"We'll know," he responded.

"If this doesn't work, the entire world may die," she said. "And I don't think anyone will be going to heaven then."

He nodded reluctantly.

i*****

"Xander," Faith pleaded. "Xander. You have to get up."

"His destruction is nearly complete," Lucifer said joyfully. "And when my brothers emerge, the scourge of this world will finally be wiped away. And my father will have no further distractions."

With hatred in her eyes, Faith jumped up and charged the angel, sword high. "I WILL kill you," Faith screamed as she swung her sword. He brushed the blade away easily.

"That ward may protect you from my power," he replied with a terrifying smirk, but not from me. He reached out his hand and grabbed Faith by the neck. He lifted her and swung her to the ground, hard. Bones crunched.

"FAITH!" Xander screamed as he jumped up and ran at the angel. He plowed his head into Lucifer's chest and both went tumbling to the ground. Xander punched him furiously. The ground began to shake. Buffy moved to help Faith. The shaking grew stronger as a loud sound began to fill the air. The angel was laughing. Xander got to his feet and retrieved his sword. When he turned, Lucifer was on his feet in front of him.

"What are you going to do, child?" Lucifer questioned. "Kill me? Every decision you made today was wrong."

"I can hurt you," Xander said with an eerie calm. "Don't you wonder how this sword can cut your flesh?"

"Let me guess," Lucifer replied, "you coated it with the blood I left after our violent encounter at the Council." Xander's jaw dropped. Faith and Buffy looked over. "Did you really believe that you could outsmart me? I have been here longer than your species."

"You planted the blood," Buffy said with understanding as she helped Faith stand.

"Why?" Faith asked with difficulty. Obviously, she had a few broken ribs.

"You wanted me to think I could hurt you," Xander stated. "You wanted us to believe we could win."

"I do not really care what you believe," Lucifer replied. "I needed you to attack me. I needed you to hurt me." Three blank faces stared back at him.

"Why?" Faith asked as she walked next to Xander. He glanced into her eyes apologetically.

"You still do not understand," Lucifer said. "I am not the villain of the story. And you are not the hero."

"Xander," Buffy said suddenly as she watched large lightning bolts streak the sky in all directions. They began striking the ground everywhere for miles. Explosions rocked the landscape. "We need to go."

"I can see it in your eyes," Lucifer said, "You finally understand."

"Understand what?" Faith asked.

"My father is not sending Michael to save your species," Lucifer said to him. "He is not coming to stop me. Michael, oh Michael, he is not like me. He is a machine designed for one thing. He carries out the vengeance of my father. He is coming for you. And when this day is done, I will be sitting in the graces of my father and your species will cease to exist." He laughed again even as a lightning bolt struck the ground a few feet behind him. He looked out at the rolling cloud quickly approaching. "I would say run. But nothing can outrun Michael."

"Xander," Dawn said suddenly in his head. "I know who the twins are. I know what they can do."

Xander's eyes went wide and a smile crossed his lips that made the angel take notice. Xander turned quickly to face the girls. He yanked the amulets from their necks. "Listen to Dawn," he said in their heads. "Do what she says."

"What are you going to do?" Faith asked.

"Stall an angel," he replied with a sideways smile. "I love you both. Be careful."

i*****

Alarms began to blare all across the facility. Rolph burst into the lab. "Get in the panic room, NOW!" he ordered.

"What is it?" Gunn asked.

"Vampires," Rolph replied. "Hundreds of vampires. Get moving."

"How many employees are still here?" Dawn questioned.

Rolph tilted his head with irritation. "Ten Slayer teams remained," he replied.

"How many untrained in fighting monsters employees?" Dawn asked again.

"Fourteen, including Denise," he replied.

"How many people does the panic room hold?" she asked.

"ONE," he replied angrily. "The president."

"How many?" Gunn asked.

"Maybe twenty," he replied, "but it won't be comfortable."

"Better than death," she responded. "Send them." She turned to Gunn. "Get us some equipment." He nodded.

"OH NO," Rolph replied. "You are not…"

"I'm trained and I've been fighting vampires since I was fourteen," she stated emphatically.

"The president is NOT going on the front line," he replied.

"Who are you kidding?" she questioned. "Not two days ago you let Xander start a war inside the German Presidential Palace. Now, you can either try and make me go in the panic room, or you can stop wasting time and command this battle."

"What is it with you people?" he said with exasperation. "Do you all have a death wish?"

"I'm Council," Dawn said proudly.

Rolph let out a sigh and some choice words under his breath before giving up. "You are not front line," he said emphatically. "You, Gunn, and a team stay inside in the lobby. If anything gets past us outside, you take care of it. No arguments." She smiled wide. "And don't do that either. You are all going to be the end of me."

"I love you, Rolph," she said honestly.

"I love you too, kid," he replied. "Don't get killed."

i*****

The weapon's fire subsided. Only a couple of demons were still standing. The teams on the ground quickly finished them off. "This is Bravo," a frantic voice called out over the radio. "We've been overrun. Whatever these things are, they're multiplying. We kill one, ten more take their place."

"That sounds like M'koks," Willow said in a panic. "They're mythical. You can't kill them. They just multiply and.." She turned to Sam, fear in her eyes, "they don't care about eating or drinking. They just kill anything and everything. They're a plague. Animals, people, it makes no difference. Once released, they're unstoppable."

"You can't kill them," Carlos said. "What about tranqs? Knock them out. Worry about what to do with them later."

"My team is lost," the Slayer called sadly. "I can't hold….."

"BRAVO!" Sam shouted. "Sonya?" She pounded her fist against the fuselage. "Alpha team." There was no response. "Red. Get us to their last location."

"There might be another way," Willow said.

"There is another way," Xander said in all of their heads. "Capture one. Then use this spell."

"What will it do?" Kennedy questioned.

"Eliminate their species," he replied.

"Xander," Willow said sadly.

"They were never supposed to be here," Xander replied. "He called this plague. I'm just ending it."

"Are you okay?" Willow questioned. But he was gone.

i*****

The cavern shook violently again and the collective cry of thousands of tortured souls rose in the air until everyone was grabbing their ears. "They're coming," Connor said.

"Illyria," Angel asked, "can we hurt them?"

"The Fallen are under my guard and protection," Groo said as he raised his sword in front of him. "You will not harm them."

"Do you have any idea what they are going to do to the world if they escape?" Angel asked.

"My duty is clear," Groo replied.

"Groo?" Angel started to plead.

"Dad," Connor said shaking his head. "Do you really want to fight him and all of his men and fallen angels. We need a different plan."

"OH," Illyria suddenly exclaimed. The cry from the cavern rose again, but this time it was full of despair and dread.

"What is it?" Angel asked.

"Michael's coming," Illyria said.

"Why?" Connor questioned.

"If Michael is coming," Illyria stated, "your world is in trouble. Michael is the personification of vengeance and retribution."

"If we can't fight the fallen, and we certainly can't just let them be unleashed on the world, what can we do?" Connor asked.

"Can the cells be locked again?" Angel asked.

"I know not of how they are held," Groo replied.

"That was the Kingdom's power," Illyria replied.

"The magic Xander has now," Angel stated.

"Enacted by Michael," Illyria said. "The tricks Xander can do, or even Lucifer, are nothing compared to Michael's power."

"When the fallen were first banished," Connor said to Angel, "they weren't sent here."

A light seemed to turn on behind Angel's eyes. "You were sent to other dimensions," Angel said to Illyria. She glared angrily.

"We need a portal," Connor said.

"The place Holt took you to," Angel asked, "was it inhabited?"

"By every evil creature you ever saw in a nightmare," Connor replied. "But no humans."

"Illyria," Angel asked, "are you afraid of Michael?"

"I fear nothing," she said arrogantly.

"Please be honest with your emotions just once," Connor begged.

"I fear him," she said softly.

"Do all the fallen fear him?" Angel asked. She nodded.

"If we offer the chance for the fallen to escape to another world instead of being anywhere near Michael, will they go?" Connor asked.

"You cannot talk to them," she said plainly. "They will not hear you or see you. You are nothing to them."

"What about you?" Connor asked. "Will they recognize you?"

"They may," she replied. "The fallen are many."

"Will they trust you?" Angel asked.

"There is no trust," she replied. "Their last act of obedience brought them here."

"I think you may be ahead of yourselves," Groo stated. "If I remember, portal spells are not easy."

"Get in touch with Willow or Dawn," Connor said with urgency.

"If we want a portal to any specific dimension, there's only one person that can help us," Angel stated. As he looked towards the entrance. The fallen screamed again, this time louder. Everyone glanced towards the well apprehensively.

i*****

"What do you think you're going to do?" Lucifer asked.

"This is the part that you don't get," Xander stated as he looked at the rolling cloud that was clearly visible even in the sunless sky. "Because this is a fight we can't win, you expect us to give up?" He laughed.

Faith started to turn her head, but Buffy yanked her arms. They were holding both hands, facing each other, and saying the same words over and over. "Are they saying a prayer for their love?" Lucifer mocked. "He will not hear it. Not anymore." Xander glanced over at the girls, closed his eyes, and flexed the fingers on his right hand. They disappeared in a flash of light.

"Now," Xander said, "back to you. You've already ended the world. But you still won't win. Michael is coming. So, I have nothing to lose by killing you." He raised his sword and brought it down towards Lucifer's head.