Chapter Eleven

Robot wars

A/N Ok, so thinking this battle sequence will be shorter than I think it will. I don't know yet but BIG STUFF IS HAPPENING, it's crazy. I made a sketch for this and everything.

Sunnydale, the world without shrimp 2002

The were assembled, it mirrored the way they'd stood in formation in front of Sweet, the songs reminiscent of a shielded time. Feet plunged into breaking tarmac, the army swarmed, larger than life, an attack from all sides. The bases covered. There was a mere two foot gap between Buffy and Warren, piercing eyes meeting for the single pause moment before estrangement. The looked like tiny plastic soldiers, placed perfectly on the battlefield road outside the house. There had been no traps, no, Warren wanted this properly, to kill her in a battle like the ordinary. Breaking her away from what made her special, different.

They hadn't expected such a perfect setup for rally, just thought it would be a mess like usual, but this was precedented, planned, by a big nerd for one, which meant every detail probably had a matching sketch. Accompanied by his budding sidekicks, only useful as expendable bodies. Sacrificial.

"We've been expecting you." Buffy said, her stare glassy as all background came to a stop. The Scooby Gang in its full glory and precipice. Giles gave her a sudden nudge in the ribs spurring her into the full activated slayer she was. A blow landing squarely at the base of Warren's jaw, knocking his head around his neck like a whack-a-mole station. His shoulders retaining their position facing her, he twitched, pulling himself back together as he launched the full-scale attack. The others joined in, Warren's minions at his side, fighting the small fight, Buffy began battling Warren, Giles moving in to fight Andrew, whilst the others fought the mass of army before them. All identical, all Warren, all enemy.

Eventual fighting led to switches, the Scoobies splitting further and further apart as robots fell by their sides. Buffy was tiring, the bullet gone from her shoulder, but the pain and tiredness was still there, even for her. Tara hung back beside the house with Dawn, still too weak to fight. Gripping onto her tightly; but Dawn was too much to hold back now, all she could do was stand back and watch everyone she had left to love bleed and fight the impossible army. And she wasn't doing anything about it. She wasn't fighting with them, she was just waiting for it to be over, like she was useless. The spare part she'd always been.

Rushing out of Tara's arms, she tore herself out of spectating, "DAWN!" Tara cried as the teenager ran headlong into the screaming battle, arms tucked neatly by her sides as her legs carried her the extra distance.

The road was breaking up now, the tarmac pierced with scratches, reflected in the faces of the good. A single, blow, shot fired from the arm of a bot, the accurately named 'Warrenbots' were now peeling away and falling back, the last few shots misfiring as Warren began to lose power, the energy of being awake for so long was draining him. But it wasn't enough. He still had the fight left in him. Giles flew out of range, his back crushing into the curb as he groaned, the pain coursing through him, he lay flat on the ground now, the cement meeting yards of repaired sidewalk, his body just the fragmenting remains of life.

He clung on, pulling himself over onto his front, trying to stand. He caught a glimpse of Anya's shocked eyes as she turned back to look at him, then a silent stare as she fell to the floor, her body crumpling. Xander stopped. Doubling back, he bent over her body, crying helplessly as he cupped the back of her neck, weeping like a little boy. He couldn't move, every bone in his body was frozen, all he could hear were the silent thumps of her chest as she awoke quietly beneath him.

"Takes a lot more than that to kill a vengeance demon you know." She said, her eyebrows lifting as he slowly opened his drained eyes. In a hit of sudden romantic music, he kissed her, more out of relief than anything. Even if she did hate him, he would never want to see her dead. She gave him one final look of peace before deciding it was over between them. One last kiss of life before they parted forever. It was still his fault.

Buffy just stared ahead. "Buffy, what is it?" Dawn cried out, a worried tone shaking her voice, she was still fighting but the glances back at her sister had revealed she was no longer moving. But not fallen, she was standing in the middle of the road paralysed, nothing happening, glass for eyes. Glass for heart, her energy had fractured and she just stood, she thought this was the end. Dawn fighting alongside her as all her friends fell, she couldn't protect them against this. It was over. So she stopped, froze her actions so Warren would take her. She was more at peace when she was dead anyway, what was so different now? They would all end up there together, be happy, be at peace together. That's what she'd felt and now she wanted it back.

One final lunge at Buffy pushed Warren to grab her. Pulling her close to him, he savoured the feeling of victory he had rising over her. Gripping her pale cheeks he held her head up towards his chin. "I've been waiting for this slayer. To take you..." He froze. Magically forced through the wailing army, knocking the foot soldiers loose. Dividing the enemy. Buffy fell regardless, a horrified Dawn rushing to her aid, taking a few rise and fall breaths realising she'd just fainted from the weight of such a spell. "Will, NO."

"Dawn, you..." Buffy gargled as she came to, mumbling something. "You need to get," she swallowed, pulling her head upwards off the road. "Get out of here, go and stay safe with Spike." The awareness of her surroundings was gone, she was lost in a babbling daydream, the battle long forgotten. The gang huddled around her, Xander holding Anya and Giles resting on the other side. They stared, Dawn was closest, she could hear the jumble of words better than anyone.

"Oh, what Buffy, Spike's gone." She said panicked, Buffy was clearly out of her mind, what was going on?

"Oh right, after what he did. What I wouldn't..." She trailed into silence again as her head began to pound. Thumping somewhere away in the background was her real world surroundings and situation, for now all she understood was pain. "It was my fault, he left because I wouldn't do what he wanted, then he couldn't look after Dawnie, now she's gone too." She murmured, raising a blackened hand to wipe the swelling tears guarding her bruised face.

"No, Buffy I'm right here." Dawn replied, disregarding all the stuff about Spike as her fainting mind's own creation.

But then Xander interjected. "But Buff, what happened with Spike wasn't your fault." He was leaning over her more closely now, as Dawn helped pull her up. Buffy's feet lightly slapping the ground as she toppled a couple of times before reaching a state of balance.

"What happened with Spike?" Dawn said, turning swiftly to look at Xander with persuading eyes. She was like his little sister too, he couldn't lie, not now. It wasn't like Spike had a soul or anything, he was no hero to look up to.

"He tried to rape your sister." Xander admitted slowly, his thumbs twiddling. None of the others looked surprised by this news, they all knew and they hadn't told her. But the sudden quiet awkwardness was interrupted by arguing voices.

"Will, no, what are you doing?" Tara shouted, Willow was standing over Warren's crushed body, her hands flailed out to the side as she turned around slowly. Her face was plastered with an evil looking smile, the kind that extends through your entire face and makes your eyes dance. The wind blew her image backwards, her hair now a darkish brown, her eyes sharp as pins. Tara stood stable but crouching, she knew how dangerous magic was and Willow had abused it. This was the consequence, the magic had overtaken her, the desire to spell her way out defeating the urge to quit. It was too much to quit cold turkey. Tara thought, realising her mistake. Willow needed to find a use for her power, not stop it from expressing. The build up of magical refraining had taken its toll, far worse than the withdrawal.

"I am very powerful." Willow said, staring at the group, her feet hanging slightly, about half a foot off the ground, her toes pointing downwards at the wreckage below them. Warren lay scattered amongst his fallen army, Andrew and Jonathon scratched and bleeding fled towards the van sitting lonely by the curb. Willow flicked her wrist, dragging their feet off the ground as they tumbled through the air in stasis. They were stuck, standing like zombies beside her as she spoke softly to her friends. A male pattern voice layering over her usual higher one.

"I told you not to piss me off." She aimed at Giles, refraining from knocking him down simply because he wasn't her enemy.

"Willow stop this, its over. We've won." Tara said, her face pained at the thought of her love's dark magic, the very fact it was there denied every ounce of being, it had infiltrated her, it was not meant to be there. Years of living on the Hellmouth, countless dark witches and demon-like addiction had taken its toll, she was not the sweet, naïve, nerdy girl she had been before all this started, she was tainted, stained with the bane of darkness the Hellmouth left in all of them, the temptress of evil, the old ones come a calling.

"Here this is better sweetie." Willow called out, fixing Tara's broken arm and Buffy's sudden mental affliction, pulling her out of the heavy haze.

"No, Wil, this is wrong." Tara just stared now, she felt powerless to do anything, her Willow. Her Willow was broken, sucked apart by the magic she'd tried so hard to prevent. The bracing thoughts raced her mind, circling back were the images of Willow's deep betrayal, the violation of her mind that had split them. She refused to fight this with magic, this was a Willow problem, magic would just cause more harm, no good would come from using it. It was times like this that Tara felt like breaking all the rules and just making Willow forget it all, but she couldn't, it was just wrong.

Dawn stepped forward, detaching from Buffy and moving inwards towards where Willow was floating. It was like she was waiting for them to convince her this wasn't a good idea, she was letting them have a say, that went against evil. Tara thought as Dawn put her arm around her shoulders, a steady comfort.

"Willow?" Dawn called up, Willow had floated higher so they wouldn't be able to touch her. "Look, Willow I know what they did was wrong but, they didn't kill anybody, they just sided with the wrong guy." She sympathised a little with Jonathon and Andrew simply because she kind of understood being swept aside, feeling used. Willow shifted, her weight transferring as she uttered something cold in Latin. Energy jutted out at Dawn just missing her, it splintered through the road, knocking over their mail box. Her fingers gleaming as she hoisted the remaining duo into the air, a sealed sphere surrounding them both, a dark electricity coursing through them, a perpetual hell dimension.

Buffy rushed out in front of where Tara and Dawn stood clambering. Holding out her fists and staring up into the sky, she reeled. "Willow, you have to stop this, or am I going to have to protect everyone from you too?" She said with a little too much attitude, her head swaying like an over protective mother ordering her child downstairs for dinner. Her feet were hip-width apart, blood staining down her sweater and after a glance at the cobbling behind her, she began waving her hands around as she tried to coax Willow down.

"Buffy..." Dawn said quietly, releasing Tara from her grip she pushed past her sister's shoulder, standing before her, in Willow's main eyeline.

"Dawn, what are you doing? She'll kill you." Buffy whispered, still not wanting to hurt the dark Willow's feelings, despite her evil appearance. Dawn turned back, pressed a kiss lightly to Buffy's forehead and stepped forwards towards the floating spectre.

"I'll be ok Buffy, I love you, but I'm not a kid anymore, I can do this." With that Dawn's head rose towards the clouded darkness encircling them from above and started to speak.