Chapter 10: Tokyo III

Renee is suddenly struck by the strangest sensation. Like she is floating almost. The edges of her vision grey as she sees pools of fog turn into dozens of vampires. She sees some dark haired girl fly into Willow and both of them fly through the window outside. Huh she really should do something about that but can't seem to find the energy to do anything but fall to the ground seemingly in slow motion. She sees Xander rush towards her panic and horror written on his face. Now what is that about?

It takes a few seconds for her fuzzy brain to finally work out what has happened. OH GOD!

No, no, no. She isn't ready. Not yet. "Xander!" she tries to yell but her mouth has stopped working. Oh god. Please god no. Not yet. Not before she gets to tell him. She had never said the words. She hopes he knows. Her vision starts to fade more until she can no longer see the fight in the background. Only Xander but he too is starting to fade. "Xander," she tries to say again but can't. "I love..." The words die even in her mind. Her vision goes black before it is filled by this white light. So pretty she thinks to herself before it consumes her making her feel at peace like she had found home.

"Renee!" Xander screams as he cradles her in his arms. Tears are streaming down his cheek from his one eye. The damage done to the other one meant it could no longer produce tears.

"Man Down!" Buffy yells truly horrified by what has happened but too busy fighting for her life right now to think about it as a vamp turned wolf jumps on her back tearing at her jacket with its teeth and claws. Dammit. She just bought this jacket as well.

Looking on at the chaos standing with serene calm is Dracula. "Slayer!" he shouts at Buffy to get her attention.

Buffy seemingly doesn't hear him as she sticks a stake in another vamp. "Close ranks around Xander now!" she orders.

Dracula tries again. "Slayer listen to me!" he commands as he moves forward and pulls the wolf off Buffy's back and tosses it aside. "Get your witch," he tells Buffy.

"What?!?" she asks back totally lost.

"I can stop them," he assures her. "But I need your witch! Go get her!"

"I'm not leaving!" she protests vigorously. "I can't leave Xander alone," she explains. In his current state huddled over Renee's body he is a sitting duck.

Dracula vamps out. "He is not alone." Dracula then tears into the vampire hoards.

Buffy hesitates for one second more before she turns and heads for the smashed window where Willow was thrown out. "Satsu!" she shouts. "You have command!"

Satsu slicing at the vamps with her sword briefly turns her head to see Buffy leaping over a vampire using its back as leverage. "What!?! Why!?! Where are you going!?!"

"I'll be right back!" Buffy promises. "I just gotta get Willow." Which sounds a hell of a lot easier in her head than in practice as Willow and the dark haired witch are several stories below fighting in the air and Clark is nowhere in sight. Typical. Where is he when she really needs him.

Kumiko slams Willow into the side of a building. She had been looking forward to this for some time. "Hello," she greets Willow. "We have not been properly introduced. My name is Kumiko Ishihara. Daughter of Kazuo."

Willow's response is to cast a spell. "Incurdio," she chants and green energy flies from her hand as she pushes them clear of the building.

Kumiko blocks with a chant of "Decrete" and red shields absorb Willow's attack. Kumiko continues. "I've been following your ascension for quite some time," she remarks.

"Percussus!" Willow chants.

"Consti," Kumiko retaliates blocking the attack. "Save you breath," she tells Willow dismissively like nothing Willow can think of will work. She then tells Willow why. "Or did you think were Saga Vasuki's only student?" Kumiko asks referring to one of the many teachers Willow had spent learning from since she went evil so she could control her powers. "We speak the same language you and I," Kumiko tells Willow.

"Good," Willow says. That has given her an idea. She grabs Kumiko's head. "Talk to me," she commands as she enters Kumiko's mind.

The images flicker past. Death, destruction, cities lying in ruin and something else. Something dark and terrible. "Darling Willow," A voice echoes. Willow's own voice. "I am so disappointed in you. I had such high hopes when you skinned Warren alive and then tried to destroy the world. Now look at you. Trying to redeem yourself. You can't. Nothing you will do can change the crimes you have committed but it matters not whether you return to me. The world will still perish. See how it ends. Behold Doomsday."

A shadow loom over Willow's vision and then she sees it. Dark and terrible. It is massive with grey skin and bony protrusions covering its body. The glowing red eyes. Soulless eyes of a soulless creature. She can feel its emptiness. Death, destruction, more death. All things must perish. Over and over the chant echoes. It has no other purpose. Only this. Only death. Forever death.

Willow snaps back into the real world with terrible force. Her eyes roll back into her head. "Goddess," she whispers in horror and she slips into unconsciousness and begins to fall from the sky.

Buffy can see Will in trouble as her attacker latches her hands round Willow's throat. She closes her eyes and pulls a knife out of her boot. "It's just like a diving board, it's just like a diving board, it's just like a diving board, it's just like a diving board," she chants over and over before she leaps out the window.

Kumiko has a hold of Willow. "Don't pass out on me now Miss Rosenberg," she says with false concern. "You never got to see the best part."

So occupied is she with Willow Kumiko doesn't see Buffy until after Buffy has slammed the knife into her back. With an agonised cry she falls away.

Meanwhile Buffy gets a hold of Willow's arm wondering just what the hell she was thinking jumping out of that window. "Not like a diving board! Not like a diving board at all!" She and Willow continue to plummet downward. "Will! Willow! I need to wake up now!" she yells pleadingly until it strikes her what she should be doing. God is she thick. "Clark!" she shouts and almost instantly she finds herself and Willow in the familiar comforting powerful arms of her fiancé.

"Now if you're going to jump out of windows I'll have to teach you to fly," he comments wryly.

"Don't be a smart ass," Buffy tells him. "And thanks."

"You're welcome," Clark says warmly. He had been on the other side of the building helping out the other slayers as a full blown battle had erupted with the vampires when he heard Buffy shout.

Willow stirs "What happened?" she asks groggily.

"You got your ass kicked again," Buffy tells her in a not very sensitive manner.

Willow's eyes shoot open. "Hey!" she protests. "That is so..." she trails off as she sees them floating above the ground. She looks up to see who is holding her. "Hey Clark."

Clark smiles. "Hey Willow. Now I know you can fly so why did I am doing all the work here?" he jests lightly.

Buffy snorts with mild humour. "That's good. Defuse a tense situation with humour. I do it all the time."

"I noticed," Clark mentions. He had seen it on their trip whenever Buffy goes patrolling she quips constantly when she has to fight something.

"Told you you were having an influence on him," Willow reminds Buffy smugly.

"Alright Ladies! We're taking that building!" Faith shouts out from below. Despite being outnumbered the slayers were kicking ass and were now marching on the building with the giant red lens on top.

"Clark I don't suppose you can melt that thing can you?" Buffy asks.

"No," he says negatively. "I tried. Too much magic and there is some kind of shield around it. I can't even get within a few feet of the building without my powers waning. I hate magic and I hate witches."

"Hey!" Willow protests once more.

"No offence," Clark adds quickly not wanting to offend Willow before he lowers them to the ground next to Faith.

"Hey B!" Faith greets her. "Where's the scythe?"

"Um, still working on that part of the plan," she answers.

"That guy on the roof has it," Clark mentions looking up.

Buffy peers and sees 2 fuzzy blobs on the edge of the roof. "Ok. I'll take your word for it. Come on Will now your conscious take me up there. Clark you stay away from all the magic."

"You know I am not completely helpless," he complains.

"I never said you were but I need you to trust me here," she asks of him.

"Of course I trust you Buffy. One question though."

"Shoot."

"Is that a giant robot that looks like Godzilla that just appeared ahead of us?"

"Yep," Buffy confirms for him and indeed standing there is a 50 foot Godzilla-esque looking robot that suddenly appeared in a flash of light.

"Well there's something you don't see everyday," Faith remarks.

"Another question before I go deal with that," Clark mentions to Buffy.

"Shoot."

"Is that Satsu holding the scythe that just jumped off the roof?"

"Yep," Buffy confirms with him.

"Ok. Just checking."

Faith shakes her head. "I always choose the crazy ones to sleep with."

"That doesn't explain Buffy," Willow mentions to Faith.

"Huh?" Faith queries.

"You haven't slept with her," Willow points out inferring a certain degree of craziness about her best friend.

Buffy makes a face. "Eww! Will!" she protests. "Faith isn't even on my list." Ok so that is a total lie but Buffy doesn't want Faith to know about some feelings she may have or not had at one point in time for the dark slayer.

"List? What list?" Clark asks.

"Oh you know just a list. A not important list of names of people I thought about sleeping with to relieve the itch when you were gone for a year," Buffy explains in a far too innocent tone of voice. Clark looks at her incredulously. "What? I told you slayers have needs that cold showers can't meet so forgive me if I fantasised a little."

"Yeah well maybe I have a list too," Clark hits back childishly. "And maybe Faith's name is on it."

Faith snorts. "Maybe nothing! I am on your list. You told me so more or less."

"What!" Buffy yells.

Clark rubs the back of his head nervously. "I might have just mentioned that I find Faith a teeny, tiny bit attractive," he admits. He does kind of have a thing for brunettes not that he doesn't like blonds...loves blonds...loves Buffy.

"And women with great asses," Faith adds not so helpfully with a slap on her own leather covered behind which causes Buffy to fume more so with a death glare aimed at Clark.

"Well as interesting as this is shouldn't we deal with the robot and save Satsu?" Willow points out.

"Yep. I'll take the robot," Clark volunteers and zips off into the air and rocks the robot back with a mighty punch.

"Guess we'll take Satsu," Buffy concludes along with a mental note to make Clark suffer. Good God Faith! Faith of all people! What the hell is it with Faith that she gets men drooling all over her. Not that she is obsessing or anything but good god Faith! She shakes her head. She can think about this later. There isn't time right now. "Come on Will. Lets go be heroes and save the world," she tells her red headed friend.

Willow takes Buffy by the arms and lifts them up into the air wondering how the hell Satsu ended up falling off the building.

A few minutes ago.

"Well there's something you don't see every day," Toru quips to Raidon from their position on the edge of the roof as their robot creation appears in front of them. That should keep the slayers and that strange flying man at bay. He will have to take up why he wasn't told about him with his master as soon as this is over.

They turn from the edge of the building and walk towards the giant lens that towers over them standing in the centre of the roof. Surrounding them are dozens more of their vampire minions acting as guards.

"Slayers are within radius," Raidon mentions.

"Good," Toru replies.

"Kumiko's not responding," he tells Toru.

"Less good."

"An understatement," Raidon comments. "We need her to do the spell."

Toru removes his coat and hands it to Raidon. "This is why we have secondary protocols Raidon," he points out to his lieutenant. "I'll do the incantation myself." He address the technician at the lens controls. "Power up the lens," he commands.

The red lens crackles to life with magical energy. This is it. The fruition of his master's plan and the beginning of the end of the slayer line. Toru holds the scythe above his head and begins the incantation. "MAKURAYAMI INTER CANEM ET LUPUM..."

Raidon, meanwhile, has moved next to the technician whet he hears an odd sound. "What's that noise?" he asks the technician.

The technician is looking at the readout on his screen. "Standard boot procedure. Lens mechanisms locking into place," he answers thinking that is the noise Raidon is referring to.

"No," Raidon corrects. "Beneath that. It almost sounds like...screaming."

Then, suddenly the access door to the roof bursts open as Dracula, Satsu, Grace and Andrew pour through having fought their way up here. Dracula rushes forward and tackles Toru knocking the scythe from Toru's grasp. "Get the scythe!" Dracula orders.

Satsu rushes forward running over the heads and shoulders of all the vampires. "On it!" She leaps into the air, grabs it and then realises she has just jumped over the edge of the roof. "Oh hell!"

Satsu falls for a long time it seems until Willow catches her with one hand while holding Buffy in the other and no Willow isn't superstrong suddenly. It is just a small bit of magic that makes Buffy and Satsu weightless.

"Thanks," Satsu says gratefully. "But I kinda thought your fiancé would be the one to catch me," she mentions to Buffy.

"He is kinda busy," Buffy tells her while pointing.

Satsu looks to see a red-blue blur buzzing around a giant robot. "Well that's something you don't see every day," she remarks.

"Can I get my scythe back now?" Buffy asks of Satsu.

Satsu hands it over and Buffy feels the familiar surge of power infuse her. Right now it's payback time.

Raidon meanwhile is rushing across the roof to where Satsu jumped over calling into his radio. "Raidon to ground team. I need a retrieval, west side of the building. We've lost the scythe. Repeat: we've lost the scythe..." He stops as there before him are Buffy scythe in hand, Willow and Satsu who through all that managed not lose her sword which is good. It's her favourite sword.

Willow drops Buffy who lands deftly and swings the scythe at Raidon who turns into fog and the scythe passes through him harmlessly. "Oh come on!" Buffy complains. "Fog is totally cheating!"

Meanwhile Willow who is blasting a vampire with an electrical burst has her attention caught by Dracula.

"To me witch!" he commands.

"What does that even mean?" she asks having no clue.

"It means...COME OVER HERE!" Dracula raises his sword. "Take my sword!" he tells her. "It's one of the ancient relics. Bound with demon spirit. Like your scythe. Angle a reverse incantation of Augustine's curse through the portal. It should negate the vampire's abilities," he explains.

By now Willow has floated down to him and takes the sword into her grasp. "Why can't you do the spell?" she asks him.

"Because I am one of the vampires. GO!"

Willow flies up in front of the lens which is still powered up. "AUFERO INCUEBTATUS...KRITIKUS PILLANATBAN JELEN VAN..."

"Stop her!" Toru yells in desperation but it is too late.

Willow finishes the incantation. "LACRIMO AUGUSTINO!" Brilliant white light erupts from the blade of the sword into the lens that then casts it out in all directions encompassing all the vampires stripping them of the abilities they stole from Dracula.

Buffy discovers it when she stakes one through the heart turning it to dust. "Scales are balanced again girls!" she announces. "They're vampires. We're vampire slayers. Time to do what we do best!" Everywhere on the roof and down on the ground below the slayers are now completely on top as they slaughter their way through the ranks of the vampires.

Clark meanwhile is trying to figure out a way to beat the stupid robot. He had found out, painfully he might add, that he couldn't actually punch through the metal skin. It had left his knuckles bloodied attempting to do so. He is betting magic of some sort is the reason. He really, really, really, really hates magic. The force of the blows would knock it back but he didn't seem to be getting anywhere in disabling it. It tries to crush him with its jaws which he catches with ease long before they get a chance to chomp down on him. He is getting tired of this. He holds the robot there for a minute. Ok let him think. He has watched as many cheesy B-movies as the next guy. The control centre is usually in the head. Yes ok. He can rip the head off and see what happens assuming he actually can rip it off. With a strain of his muscles he rips the jaws away from the head. Ok if he can do that then he can totally rip its head off. He lands on the shoulder and digs his fingers into the neck and pulls hard. With a far greater effort than it should have taken the metal around the neck tears and he lifts the head clean off.

"Ha!" he shouts triumphantly. Kal-El of Krypton 1. Stupid giant robot 0.

Now he better catch the body before it falls over and crushes everyone. With a casual throw he tosses the head into space before he flies down to catch the falling body.

Faith had been having a marvellous night. Fighting unkillable vamps and winning she might add and now they were totally killable and she was staking them as quickly as they could flee in terror. Yep. It is so good to be her right now.

"Faith look out!" one of girls yells. Faith looks up and see the robot body about to fall on top of her crushing her body horribly. "Crap," is her only response but centimetres above her head it stops and she sees Clark there holding it. "Cutting it close," she tells him.

"Sorry. Got a little caught up in my moment of victory," he explains.

"Uh huh. Well if you could get rid of that thing there are still hundreds of vamps that could do with being barbecued."

"Complain. Complain. Complain," he complains. He lifts it into the sky, tosses it in the air and catches it by the tail. Clark then spins round faster and faster and then throws it in the same direction he threw the head. He turns to see Faith about to be jumped from behind. With a sigh he zips off back to the ground.

Faith can sense the vamp and she is about to spin round when a red-blue blur zips next to her. The vamp goes poof and Clark is standing there with a stake where the vamp's heart was. "Hey! What happened to the cool glow-y eye thing-y."

"Glow-y eye thing-y?" he repeats.

Faith shrugs. "Hey. I don't remember what you call it ok. Sue me."

"Heat vision Faith. It is called heat vision," he reminds her. "As for your question I have used a lot of energy tonight and there is no sun to recharge me at the moment," he explains the reason as to why he is not using it right now.

"Oh ok," she says in understanding. "By the way nice suit," she says with a little smirk. She forgot to mention it before. It is utterly skin-tight and damn he looks good. She doesn't know how he pulls it off but somehow Clark can make it work. Although it leaves a question. "Where did you keep the stake?" she asks him as she stakes another vamp

"Secret pocket under the cape," Clark answers as he does the same. Something then suddenly catches his attention. "Got to go. Buffy needs help," he says as way of explanation before he flies off.

Faith mutters a few insults at being left, dodges another vamp, stakes it and moves onto the next one.

Meanwhile on the roof Buffy is doing much the same which, unfortunately, means she doesn't see Raidon coming up behind her even with him shouting at his men telling them to stand their ground. "We don't need to be wolves to drink their blood," he adds just as he grabs Buffy by the shoulders and spins her round. "I bet you taste sweet. Slayer," he says just as he is about to bite down on her. Suddenly his face changes into one of shock.

"You have no idea," a voice says from behind Raidon an instant before he turns to dust to reveal Clark standing there holding his stake in the position where he stuck it in Raidon's heart. "I can't believe I just said that out-loud," he comments which causes Buffy to smile.

"You implying I don't taste sweet?" she asks him with false hurt.

Clark moves forward and gives her a quick kiss. "Oh no you do. Like cookies."

Buffy arches an eyebrow. "Cookies?!"

Clark shrugs. "I like cookies," he explains looking like a 5 year old suddenly.

God he looks adorable Buffy thinks to herself. If only their lives weren't in mortal danger right now. Otherwise she would be totally jumping him. Then another thought occurs to her. "Hey how are you here? What about all the magic?" she asks him.

"One you were in trouble and therefore to hell with the magic."

"I could have handled him," she argues with certainty.

"Uh huh. Sure you could. Duck!" Buffy ducks and Clark's fries a vampire sneaking up on them with his heat vision.

Buffy stands back up straight. "And second?"

"Second I think whatever Willow did consumed all the magical energy because I can't feel it anymore."

"Oh well that's handy. Move!"

Clark slides to the side as Buffy grabs his arms and uses him as a support as she swings herself round to kick another vamp in the head disorientating it for a second which is all she needs to stake it.

"And third," Clark continues. "I destroyed the giant robot and had some free time."

Buffy looks and sees that indeed the robot is gone. "Where is it?" she asks.

"I threw it into space," he says lightly like it was nothing.

"Ok cool. So with your free time what were you planning on doing?"

Clark looks and notices that the two of them have ended up surrounded by vampires. "Barbecue?" he suggests.

Buffy gestures for him to go right ahead. "Be my guest."

Clark's eyes light up and that is the last any of the vampires see.

"Witch!" Dracula shouts out to Willow from another part of the roof. "I'll take my sword back now."

Willow still hovering near the lens throws it to him only for Toru to intercept it. "Just like an old man. He needs his cane to stand," he says as an insult to Dracula. The powers may be gone but that doesn't mean he has lost yet. He moves to kill Dracula continuing his insulting rant. "He doesn't know what to do with himself now that he's an ordinary vampire again. Like the rest of us."

"My boy," Dracula begins to say as Toru attacks. Dracula dodges it, wrenches the sword back while elbowing Toru in the head using Toru's own momentum to knock him off balance. "I was never an ordinary vampire." With a quick swing he slices off Toru's left hand. "Or did you forget who I use to be?" With another swing Dracula slices off both of Toru's legs below the knee at the same time. "I am Vlad Dracul remembered by history as Vlad the Impaler. The fields of Europe use to stream with the blood of my enemies." He slices off Toru right hand leaving the Japanese vampire with no legs or hands. "I would slice off their hands and feet and then impale them on spikes to die and that was before I started eating people for fun. Trust me the vampire's the least of your concerns." Dracula stands over Toru helpless form. "It's the old man you need to worry about."

Toru props himself up on what remains of his arms. "Then do it. Finish me," he tells Dracula who turns away. "You can't leave me like this," Toru argues. "You owe me that honour."

"It's not my place to kill you," Dracula tells Toru as his gaze turns to the person walking towards them as the battle continues around them. "And you know nothing about honour."

Xander reaches Dracula who hold out his sword. Xander takes it.

In his last moment of life Toru laughs. "You may kill me but I serve one greater than any of you and they will see that the slayer line is erased for eternity."

Ignoring Toru's ramblings Xander takes one swing and cuts Toru's head off turning the vampire to dust.

"Faith to B. You hearing me?" she asks over the radio link.

Buffy who is still battling alongside Clark answers "Yes I hear you."

"The vamps are bugging out. They're making a run for it."

"So chase them," she responds. "No prisoners. Seal off the streets. Cut them down as they flee. Kill every single one of them," she orders with cold ruthlessness. The vamps numbers are thinning out so she starts to move over to where Xander and Dracula are with Clark following on behind.

Satsu takes over seeing Buffy will need a minute. "Did you hear that Faith?" she requests wanting a confirmation.

"Yeah I heard," Faith says in confirmation. Satsu can then hear Faith give the command. "You heard B girls. Not one leaves. Not one! Nobody gets out of here alive!"

Author's Note: Thanks to all those who wrote reviews.