So here it is! It's battle time! I'm sure it doesn't really stand up to some of the end-of-the-world battles on the show, but I tried my best!

Disclaimer: Nothing but the original characters belong to me. All songs quoted through-out the story are owned by their respective artists.

Rating: M-ish, overall (for violence, mild language, maybe some sexual innuendo in later chapters, but there will be absolutely NO smut!)

Thank you to all who have reviewed so far!

~o~

"When you walk through the garden,
You gotta watch your back
Well I beg your pardon,
Walk the straight and narrow track
If you walk with Jesus,
He's gonna save your soul
You gotta keep the devil,
Way down in the hole"
- "Way Down In The Hole" by Tom Waits

Chapter 37: Fissures

It was a strangely cool night considering it was late spring, as the group gathered around Olly's car just a few blocks away from the cemetery. Their expressions were grave, and the sound of the wind moaning ominously through the leaves wasn't helping to lift their spirits. Olly and Lily were especially on edge, having never been involved in a battle before. Lily's face was ashen, as she fidgeted with a stake in one of her hands, and tightly gripped the small sack of herbs Willow had given her in the other. Olly bounced nervously on the balls of his feet next to his open trunk as Spike, Angel and Buffy pulled various weapons out of it.

"Are you sure you're alright with being out here Giles? It's been awhile since you've had to actually be in the battle..." Buffy asked hesitantly as she passed her trusty crossbow to the Watcher.

"Yes, don't worry Buffy... I'm sure it's quite a lot like riding a bicycle... you never forget." he muttered sardonically.

"Just stay close to Willow and Lily, make sure no one or nothing interrupts them." she turned back to the other three men, all now equipped with their own weapons, "You three stay with me, watch each others backs." she turned finally to Lily and Willow, hugging Lily tightly and giving her a reassuring smile, before squeezing Willow's arm affectionately, "Stay safe."

"Question!" Olly piped up, "What if they see us coming?"

"That's why we parked all the way over here, genius." Spike huffed.

"Hopefully, it'll interrupt them." Buffy said, shooting Spike a pointed glare, "Let's go."

She led the gang away from the car towards the cemetery gate. Angel fell into line behind her, even though they still hadn't uttered a word to each other since the other night, Spike followed next, then Olly, with Giles picking up the rear behind Willow and Lily. They crossed through the gate into the cemetery grounds, the tension mounting with every step further into the maze of headstones. Just as they began to near the edge of the clearing where the large angel monument was located, Buffy could hear the faint sound of a woman chanting.

"Shhh..." she whispered, throwing her arm out to the side in order to slow the group behind her. She crept slowly forward to the edge of the trees, and discovered Dustin standing at the base of the statue, the young gypsy kneeling at his side with her head bowed, clearly already in the middle of the ritual. There were only a dozen or so vampires at his side, a minimal amount considering the magnitude of what he was planning on doing. Suddenly, Buffy saw the gypsy raise her hand high above her head, and a glint of bronze caught her eye. It was the dagger, now crusted over with her dried blood. The gypsy plunged it into the marble base of the statue, and it cut through as though it were no more than butter. She stood as a deep rumbling rose from underneath them, and a large crack began to form from the hilt of the dagger, all along the middle of the statue's base.

Angel watched the gypsy with a peculiar feeling in the pit of his stomach, he couldn't see her face, but he could sense something strange about the energy she carried around her. It wasn't until she finished her incantation and rose turned to face Dustin that he realized what it was; her eyes glowed yellow below her deeply ridged brow bone, and sharp jagged fangs protruded from her lips as she smiled at her master. Angel's stomach twinged with guilt as he remembered what she'd asked him outside the caves weeks ago.

"Giles," he whispered, reaching out towards him and motioning for his crossbow. Giles passed him the weapon without question, though puzzlement marked his features.

"Angel, wai-" Buffy began, but before the words had barely left her lips, Angel had aimed and launched a bolt, striking the gypsy square in the chest.

The vampire formerly known as Nadya looked down at the crossbow bolt protruding from her ribcage in confusion, before exploding into ash. Dustin surveyed the empty space where the gypsy stood in shock only momentarily, before a wicked grin spread across his face, and he turned towards the shadows where the attack had originated.

"You're too late, little Slayer! Everything has already been put into motion! You may as well come out and enjoy the show before your time is up!"

Buffy spun towards Willow and Lily, "You guys hang back here, you know what to do." she ripped the crossbow out of Angel's hands, and shoved it into Giles' chest a little unceremoniously, "Be careful," she grumbled before tightening her own grip on her battle axe and turning back towards the clearing. "Let's go boys." she growled, before bursting out of the shadows and charging towards where Dustin stood gloating.

His lackeys immediately jumped into action, rushing towards them at full speed. Buffy swung her axe, decapitating one, as the sound of others being dusted echoed behind her.

"You brought the cavalry! It'll be nice to have an audience!" Dustin bellowed above the sounds of the battle. Buffy focused her attention back towards him, and was about to lunge when suddenly the rumbling earth beneath them began to shake violently. The sounds of fighting stopped, as everyone steadied themselves, and turned towards the monument as the loud crack of splitting stone thundered through the night. Buffy watched in horror as a long fissure grew and grew through the base of the statue, rising, twisting, and splitting up the draped folds in the angel's robes. The delicately carved feathers of the outstretched wings began to crumble away, revealing inky blackness underneath. The elegant fingers on the remaining hand seemed to curl into a fist as the stone broke away, and a leathery black, clawed hand burst free. Some of the minions seemed to suddenly have realized what was happening, and took off running towards the gate, while others used the distraction to jump back onto Buffy, Angel, Spike and Olly. Dustin simply remained rooted to his spot, his expression one of pure delight as he watched the rest of the stone wings crumble away to expose a large set of onyx bat wings. They flapped once, shaking off the remaining rubble, before a deafening shriek erupted from the statue. The angel's mouth wrenched open gruesomely, revealing a jaw full of razor-sharp and yellowed teeth. From the stump where the other stone hand had been knocked off, another clawed hand grew forth, bursting out of the stone dramatically before the rest of the arm jerked side to side, freeing itself from the confines of the rock. The hand clawed at the blank, sorrowful eyes of the angel, tearing away the stone so the creature could see. Its icy-white eyes had no irises, and its pupils were long slits like those of a feline, it looked around at the battle raging at its feet, and shrieked again as it began to wriggle the rest of its body free of its hardened prison.

Dustin watched in awe as it finally freed its feet, and hovered with its horrible wings flapping above the fray. With his arms outstretched, he laughed triumphantly, "Welcome Guardian!" he cackled, drawing the creature's attention towards him. It studied him a moment, before making a sound reminiscent of a snort mixed with a growl. It extended its long, bony finger towards him, and spoke in a language no one present could understand. The sound was bone-chilling, many of the minions stopped fighting, giving Buffy and her fellow warriors a momentary upper-hand.

"Yes! I called you forth! I will do your bidding!" Dustin called to the Guardian, but it remained hovering silently in place, its icy eyes transfixed on him. Without warning, it swooped down, grabbing Dustin's dreadlocks in one of his claws and lifting him off the ground. With another deafening shriek, he wrenched Dustin's head from his body, sending a rain of ash down on the others below before it swooped back up and seemed to be studying the surroundings. It focused suddenly on a spot near the entrance gate, and began to slowly float towards it.

"Olly! NOW!" Buffy shouted, and began to chase after the Guardian on foot.

Olly ripped a large gun-like weapon off his back, and aimed it at the sky. Pulling the trigger, a large net exploded from the barrel and hurdled through the air, trapping the Guardian inside. It shrieked again as it began to plummet from the sky, clawing at the netting. Just moments before it was about to hit the ground, it managed to shred a large enough hole to free its wings and swooped back towards the gate.

While the net had slowed the Guardian down, Buffy had managed to gain on it, and hurdling herself through the air, caught the tail end of the net, which was still wrapped around the demon's legs, just before it ascended back into the sky. Tree branches and leaves whipped her in the face as she was pulled further and further away from the others, but she didn't dare let go. "I got you Buffy!" she heard Spike holler behind her, and felt a hand briefly grasp around her ankle before slipping away.

Angel had taken out the last of the vampires just in time to see Buffy lifted away. Olly ran up behind him, panting heavily, "Where do you think it's going?" he shouted over the rumbling that still continued underneath their feet. Angel watched Buffy's form shrink in the distance, being carried away by the Guardian's ghastly wings. It was then that he noticed, far off near the entrance of the cemetery, an eerie yellowish glow emitting from the over the trees.

"To the Hellmouth..." he answered, before taking off after the beast. Olly, struggling to keep up, followed closely behind him.

Giles stood dutifully by Willow as she knelt in the earth, a small urn full of burning herbs, and surrounded by candles sat in front of her as she chanted in some archaic language. Lily stood at her side, intermittently sprinkling more herbs from a small pouch into the urn. He watched in horror as Buffy had been dragged away by what appeared to be the Guardian spoken of in the text, but he didn't dare leave the two young women on their own.

"Where's it going?" Lily whimpered. Her hands trembled as she reached back into the pouch, thinking of her best friend being at the mercy of that horrible creature.

Giles didn't answer immediately, he simply turned in the direction that the Guardian had flown off in, when suddenly an expression of realization and shock washed over his face. "Of course... why hadn't I thought of it sooner..." he muttered.

"Wh-what?" Lily asked.

"The fire... the deaths... it all makes sense." he said in awe

"What makes sense Giles?" Lily pleaded

"The Hellmouth... it's underneath the old church."

Buffy clung to the net as she soared now just over top the trees. She was both surprised, and thankful that her axe was still clutched tightly in her hand, as the Guardian brought her closer and closer to a sickly yellow glow emitting from near the entrance of the graveyard. She couldn't say for sure, but she could assume that the light was coming from the location of the Hellmouth, and she knew she needed to keep the monster from reaching it. The creature began to speak again, in it's old language, and looking up she could see it reaching one of its long clawed hands towards the light. They would be over top whatever it was in mere moments, she had to act now. Tucking her axe into her belt, she began to climb up the netting like a ladder, until she reached the Guardians leathery legs. She grabbed one of its feet, and it stopped chanting. Looking down at her, it narrowed its cold blank eyes at her and shrieked again as it attempted to shake her off, to no avail. It kicked its leg forward, and snatched her off it's foot with one hand, leaving her hanging in mid-air by only her arm. Glaring at her viciously, it growled something incomprehensible to her, and she lashed her feet out, attempting to kick it in the face. It grabbed her foot with it's other hand and held on, leaving her now dangling upside down as the being continued to soar through the air. Looking at the ground below her, Buffy could now see that the glow was coming from the foundation of the old church. The eerie light was seeping through the cracked stones making up the floor. Just as they arrived over the old structure, the stones began to fall away, and the glow from underneath became brighter. Still swinging precariously from one foot, Buffy reached for her axe and swung it at the demon's neck. To her surprise, it slid through it's flesh almost effortlessly, and the Guardian's head plummeted into the glowing abyss below. The rest of it's body slowly began to turn back into stone, and suddenly Buffy found herself falling down towards the gaping hole in the church floor. Letting go of her axe, she squeezed her eyes shut, and shielded her face with her arms. She prayed the others weren't nearby, in case anything managed to escape the portal, and that Willow's spell would work. She braced herself, wondering what it would feel like to plummet into a demon dimension, what sort of torment would await for her. Instead, she felt herself slam into what felt like a cold slab of stone, and she opened her eyes to find herself lying on the floor of the church, as the ominous glow began to dim from beneath the stones. She looked up just in time to roll out of the way, as the once again stone body of the Guardian crashed suddenly to the ground where she laid moments ago, smashing to bits. Taking a deep calming breath, she rose slowly to her feet, and stretched, thankful for the lack of broken bones. She surveyed the cemetery; all was peaceful once more, until Spike and Olly burst forth from the trees, and stumbled to a halt upon seeing Buffy standing alone, and in one piece, just inside the ruins of the church.

"You killed it? You killed it! Right on!" Olly cheered.

"You alright then, Love?" Spike asked.

"Yeah... all good." Buffy exhaled, rubbing the back of her neck, she was sure she'd have some serious whiplash in the morning.

Giles, Willow and Lily came rushing to join the others, seeing the others unharmed, Giles sighed loudly, while Willow and Lily both smiled triumphantly as Buffy hopped over the church's crumbling foundation to join the others.

"It worked?" Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah, you guys did good." Buffy replied, smiling gratefully at her friends. The smile faded quickly however, as she looked around and realized that their group was one member short. "Um... have any of you seen Angel?" she asked, spinning around, hoping he would burst out of the shadows any moment now.

The look of triumph slowly melted away from everyone's faces as they all began to look to each other, and then to their surroundings.

"He was right in front of me just a few minutes ago... I..." Olly muttered peering into the shadows, "I swear, he was... he was here..."

Buffy's heart sunk, he couldn't even hang around long enough to celebrate with them. She wondered if it was her fault for getting angry with him the other night. Refusing to let the others see her upset, she put on a brave face, and turned back to them with a smile.

"No big deal guys. We made it! Let's just go home, and get some well deserved rest." she chirped, and began to lead the gang towards the exit. Willow, however, was not being fooled, and rushed to Buffy's side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders supportively. Buffy smiled thankfully; tomorrow would be the start of a new sort of battle, but at least she had good friends to help her through it.

~o~

Alright, now before anyone calls me on it, I know the whole thing with the net was a little too convenient, but I don't think it really had that big of an effect on the chapter as a whole, so I don't really care! Olly's still a newbie when it comes to apocalypses, I just wanted him to feel like he was helping!

Now, I bet you're all wondering what's going to happen with Angel going to Romania and all that jazz since Dustin is no more. Rest assured the story is not over! I was putting off mentioning anything until I was far enough into the story, but the remaining chapters are more like a Part 2. I won't be splitting it up from this half however, I figured if new readers stumble upon this now it'll be a lot less of a headache if everything is together, instead of them having to search through all the archived stories for the first half.
There is still one more chapter to kind of close this part, I'm thinking about maybe posting it in the middle of the week so I can keep up with my two-chapter updates without breaking up the first two chapters of the next part.

Maybe everyone can let me know what they think about that idea in a review! ;)

Until the next update.