The End (14/26)
"What do you mean 'now'?" Angelus asked as he slammed his fist into
Riley's face for the fiftieth time. "I've been having fun all along."
Willow winced as she heard the bones in Riley's face break. *Even if
Riley _is_ a vampire, this is getting too cruel* she thought. Angelus
then grabbed the completely dazed Riley by the arm and dragged him to
the door. "Out of my way, I need to take out the trash!" Angelus
ordered with a smile. The vamps cleared the path of the door
willingly, and Angel tossed the semi-conscious Riley out into the
sunlight. Riley screamed and burst into flames, his short,
unsuccessful career as a vampire over forever.
"Okay, so Angelus is good for one thing before he goes away forever,"
Xander admitted. When Anya didn't reply, he continued, "There is
Angelus slayage on the menu today, isn't there?" When Anya still
didn't answer, "Anya? Someone's going to stake him, or throw him in a
pool of holy water, or behead him, or throw _him_ outside in the sun,
right?"
"That wasn't quite part of the plan," Anya admitted quietly.
"WHAT??!"
Anywa sighed, not really wanting to explain the bring-back-Angel-plan
to the man who'd just spent two hours being tortured by him. "I'll
explain after I kill Spike," she said, as she saw Spike notice them.
Spike said, "I thought Angelus had killed you. Both of you, actually."
He approached them menacingly, looking slightly more horrific than
usual due to the burns on the right side of his face and neck caused
by the holy water attack.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Anya replied. She lifted her axe again in
her right hand, and shoved Xander away, saying, "Lean on the wall."
"Huh?"
"Lean on the wall, Xander," Anya said patiently. "I can't hold you up
and fight vampires at the same time."
"Oh," he said slowly, and complied with her demand, leaning against
the wall behind them.
*******
While Angelus was admiring his latest work, Buffy took advantage of
that time to check on her friends. She smiled as she saw that Giles
was definitely doing his part. Crossbow in hand, he shot two of the
vampire minions through the heart as they came at him and Wesley. She
breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that at least for now, the man she
still considered her Watcher would be okay. *Two down, eight more to
go. Not counting Spike and Angelus* Buffy thought.
Buffy's attention was distracted by a shriek from Cordelia. She was
struggling unsuccessfully against the hold of a burly male vampire.
Just as Buffy was about to go to her assistance, though, Oz beat her
to it. He walked over to the vampire, and tapped him on the shoulder
quietly. The surprised vampire let go of Cordelia, turning. Cordelia
ducked as Oz swung an axe, beheading the vampire.
"Nice one--" Buffy remarked, but was interrupted by a yell of "Buffy,
DUCK!" from Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Wesley and Xander. Buffy saw
Angelus out of the corner of her eye and complied, narrowly missing
her own beheading.
Buffy rolled over onto her back to see Angelus standing over her with
a sword of his own.
"Now I'm going to kill you," he said.
"Wasn't that the intention a second ago?" Buffy said with roll of her
eyes, as she kicked out and knocked Angelus on his ass. "That was
interesting work, though," she said, nodding out the front door to
where Riley's remains were still burning. "Planning on doing anything
similar to Adam?"
"Planning on letting me live that long?" Angelus countered with a
smile.
"Nah," Buffy returned. "I just wish you'd taken care of both of them
for me....oh well," she shrugged. "I'm over it now. Let's fight!" she
said, jumping to her feet.
Angelus jumped to his feet also. "Back off!" He yelled behind her,
and Buffy looked to see five of his minions scatter. "The Slayer's
mine," he said, never taking his eyes off Buffy," They backed off,
knowing better than to defy Angelus.
"I'm not your anything," Buffy retorted, swinging her sword, as she
and Angelus began fighting.
"Sure you are, Buffy," Angelus replied. "You can't tell me you
actually prefer the souled version of me, can you?"
"It's not you, it's Angel!" she yelled angrily.
"No difference, Buffy dear. We're the same vampire. Besides, I can't
believe you'd prefer him when he had the chance at a life with you
and turned it down."
"What?" Buffy muttered distractedly, trying to concentrate on not
being cut in half by his sword. "You're talking old news, Angel's
been gone for months," she said with a shake of her head.
"That's" he paused to jump back as she lunged at him with her sword,
"--not what I was talking about. For someone who said, 'I'll never
forget', you certainly...well, forgot," Angelus grinned.
"What?" it was almost a whisper. {"I'll never forget, I'll never
forget, I'll never forget....."} "What the hell...?" she added, as a
memory of something that couldn't have happened surfaced.
In her momentary distraction, Angelus attacked, landing the blade of
his sword across her right arm. "AAH!" Buffy yelled, but switched the
sword to her good hand and went on the attack again.
"Left-handed, I'm impressed," Angelus said.
"Well, I _was_ training with the Initiative until they tried to kill
me," Buffy shrugged. "I guess it paid off."
*********
Meanwhile, Willow had raided the weapons stash. "Mace?" she remarked
with a grin, as she swung the medieval weapon experimentally. "Not
very vampire-killable, but it would definitely hurt." She proved the
point when another vampire charged her, catching her off-guard. She
swung the mace, hitting him square in the face with it. He fell to
his knees screaming, and she grabbed a stake out of the bag to shut
him up.
"I hate that part," she muttered as she brushed herself off. "The
ashes just stick to you, and they won't wash out of your clothing for
the longest time. And this was one of my favorite blouses!"
She looked over at Spike to see if her spell really had worked, and
smiled. She was proud of herself for finally succeding in a spell,
not only in fact, but in timing as well.
&&&&&&&&&&
End part 14
"What do you mean 'now'?" Angelus asked as he slammed his fist into
Riley's face for the fiftieth time. "I've been having fun all along."
Willow winced as she heard the bones in Riley's face break. *Even if
Riley _is_ a vampire, this is getting too cruel* she thought. Angelus
then grabbed the completely dazed Riley by the arm and dragged him to
the door. "Out of my way, I need to take out the trash!" Angelus
ordered with a smile. The vamps cleared the path of the door
willingly, and Angel tossed the semi-conscious Riley out into the
sunlight. Riley screamed and burst into flames, his short,
unsuccessful career as a vampire over forever.
"Okay, so Angelus is good for one thing before he goes away forever,"
Xander admitted. When Anya didn't reply, he continued, "There is
Angelus slayage on the menu today, isn't there?" When Anya still
didn't answer, "Anya? Someone's going to stake him, or throw him in a
pool of holy water, or behead him, or throw _him_ outside in the sun,
right?"
"That wasn't quite part of the plan," Anya admitted quietly.
"WHAT??!"
Anywa sighed, not really wanting to explain the bring-back-Angel-plan
to the man who'd just spent two hours being tortured by him. "I'll
explain after I kill Spike," she said, as she saw Spike notice them.
Spike said, "I thought Angelus had killed you. Both of you, actually."
He approached them menacingly, looking slightly more horrific than
usual due to the burns on the right side of his face and neck caused
by the holy water attack.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Anya replied. She lifted her axe again in
her right hand, and shoved Xander away, saying, "Lean on the wall."
"Huh?"
"Lean on the wall, Xander," Anya said patiently. "I can't hold you up
and fight vampires at the same time."
"Oh," he said slowly, and complied with her demand, leaning against
the wall behind them.
*******
While Angelus was admiring his latest work, Buffy took advantage of
that time to check on her friends. She smiled as she saw that Giles
was definitely doing his part. Crossbow in hand, he shot two of the
vampire minions through the heart as they came at him and Wesley. She
breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that at least for now, the man she
still considered her Watcher would be okay. *Two down, eight more to
go. Not counting Spike and Angelus* Buffy thought.
Buffy's attention was distracted by a shriek from Cordelia. She was
struggling unsuccessfully against the hold of a burly male vampire.
Just as Buffy was about to go to her assistance, though, Oz beat her
to it. He walked over to the vampire, and tapped him on the shoulder
quietly. The surprised vampire let go of Cordelia, turning. Cordelia
ducked as Oz swung an axe, beheading the vampire.
"Nice one--" Buffy remarked, but was interrupted by a yell of "Buffy,
DUCK!" from Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Wesley and Xander. Buffy saw
Angelus out of the corner of her eye and complied, narrowly missing
her own beheading.
Buffy rolled over onto her back to see Angelus standing over her with
a sword of his own.
"Now I'm going to kill you," he said.
"Wasn't that the intention a second ago?" Buffy said with roll of her
eyes, as she kicked out and knocked Angelus on his ass. "That was
interesting work, though," she said, nodding out the front door to
where Riley's remains were still burning. "Planning on doing anything
similar to Adam?"
"Planning on letting me live that long?" Angelus countered with a
smile.
"Nah," Buffy returned. "I just wish you'd taken care of both of them
for me....oh well," she shrugged. "I'm over it now. Let's fight!" she
said, jumping to her feet.
Angelus jumped to his feet also. "Back off!" He yelled behind her,
and Buffy looked to see five of his minions scatter. "The Slayer's
mine," he said, never taking his eyes off Buffy," They backed off,
knowing better than to defy Angelus.
"I'm not your anything," Buffy retorted, swinging her sword, as she
and Angelus began fighting.
"Sure you are, Buffy," Angelus replied. "You can't tell me you
actually prefer the souled version of me, can you?"
"It's not you, it's Angel!" she yelled angrily.
"No difference, Buffy dear. We're the same vampire. Besides, I can't
believe you'd prefer him when he had the chance at a life with you
and turned it down."
"What?" Buffy muttered distractedly, trying to concentrate on not
being cut in half by his sword. "You're talking old news, Angel's
been gone for months," she said with a shake of her head.
"That's" he paused to jump back as she lunged at him with her sword,
"--not what I was talking about. For someone who said, 'I'll never
forget', you certainly...well, forgot," Angelus grinned.
"What?" it was almost a whisper. {"I'll never forget, I'll never
forget, I'll never forget....."} "What the hell...?" she added, as a
memory of something that couldn't have happened surfaced.
In her momentary distraction, Angelus attacked, landing the blade of
his sword across her right arm. "AAH!" Buffy yelled, but switched the
sword to her good hand and went on the attack again.
"Left-handed, I'm impressed," Angelus said.
"Well, I _was_ training with the Initiative until they tried to kill
me," Buffy shrugged. "I guess it paid off."
*********
Meanwhile, Willow had raided the weapons stash. "Mace?" she remarked
with a grin, as she swung the medieval weapon experimentally. "Not
very vampire-killable, but it would definitely hurt." She proved the
point when another vampire charged her, catching her off-guard. She
swung the mace, hitting him square in the face with it. He fell to
his knees screaming, and she grabbed a stake out of the bag to shut
him up.
"I hate that part," she muttered as she brushed herself off. "The
ashes just stick to you, and they won't wash out of your clothing for
the longest time. And this was one of my favorite blouses!"
She looked over at Spike to see if her spell really had worked, and
smiled. She was proud of herself for finally succeding in a spell,
not only in fact, but in timing as well.
&&&&&&&&&&
End part 14