Disclaimer: I claim no rights over the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer portrayed in the
piece of fiction. All rights of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is reserved by Mutant Enemy,
Sandollar, Kuzui Enterprises, Fox and(or) WB TV. This piece of fiction is not to be reproduced
anywhere or edited without the express consent of the author as named above.
Warning: This piece of literature contains scenes with violence, strong language and religious
references that may be considered offensive. Parental disgression should be applied.
Note: This story takes place just before Surprise during the 2nd
season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It represents an alternative storyline, which moves away
from the BtVS story arc as represented in the series for the purpose of the story I want to tell.
Chapter 4: War and Angels
"Spike! The sun has gone down", one of his underlings yelled and jumped down from the second
floor. "Good", the vampire said and fingered the amulet. He looked at the seven vampires
kneeling in a half circle before him. None of them had killed for seven days as commanded in
the ritual.
Soon Spike and his seven warriors would become a true force of evil. Soon the blood of man
would flow like wine in the streets of Sunnydale. As soon as he had gained the strength of many
souls. Spike finished the last unholy incantation.
"Rise my brood", he jumped to his feet. "Tonight we rule the night", Spike yelled in triumph. All
of the gathered vampire growled in response. They all turned to leave. "Remember the Slayer,
Angelus and her pet librarian is mine", he commanded and they went for their cars.
Buffy was hidden on the roof of a school building, she could see the entire lawn, the road and
most of the entrances from her lookout. She had just restringed the crossbow and loaded her first
arrow. Spike wouldn't be long. Suddenly Angel and her blackhaired successor walked out onto
the lawn and stopped. They were talking about combat moves and her.
Buffy sucked in air and sighed again. Could the new Slayer also take her position with Angel.
Then she saw Giles and Jenny armed with the light crossbows sneaking onto the roof of the
gymnasium. Buffy smiled at their plan. They would fight the vampires to a stop on the lawn, so
Giles and Miss Calendar could get shots off at the bloodsuckers, then when the fighting got too
dangerous Angel and her replacement would probably run away. That would be repeated inside
with different weapons.
She hoped, they didn't mind some help from her. Buffy could suddenly sense dark presences
moving up the road towards the school. Spike was arriving. She dodged into hiding and checked
the crossbow once again. She would help her friends no matter what.
Wendy saw the three vans stop and the doors open. Vampires came running towards her. Besides
her Angel prepared as well. A vampire came within her reach. Instead of engaging it Wendy
threw the stake in her hand like a knife. It landed right in it's heart. It burst to dust before it
landed on the ground. "Subdue them", Spike screamed as he walked calmly from the open bay of
a van.
Seven vampires dressed in black long coats stepped out and formed a half circle in front of him.
Angel dusted another, while he and Wendy withdrew. The vampires kept getting closer to the
gymnasium. They were encircled. "Game over", Spike said in a satisfied tone. "Now where are
your friends?", he asked impatiently.
"Here!", Giles yelled and fired an arrow in the back of a vampire, who was about to tackle
Wendy from behind. Jenny joined in as well, but neither Giles nor Jenny were expert bowmen
and many arrows didn't hit anything much less the exact heart of a vampire. But the hail of
arrows from the rapid firing crossbows gave Wendy and Angel room to escape towards the
doors.
Suddenly a vampire about to jump upon Angel's back was shot by a very large arrow. The
creature dusted. "The angle of that arrow was wrong", Angel thought, "it didn't come from
above". Suddenly one of Spike's warriors stared stupidly at his chest as the next arrow came out
through his chest. He fell into a pile of dust. Everyone looked in the direction the arrow had
come from. There was nothing.
"Inside!", Wendy yelled as the remaining 26 vampires and Spike was about to continue their
onslaught.
Angel slammed the door shut behind him. The lock clicked. It would probably not even hold
them for more than a second or two. He ran into the gymnasium after Wendy.
Inside Xander and Oz were ready with their patented holy water grenades, made up mostly of
water ballons filled with Giles entire store of holy water, while Willow and Cordelia was hiding
at the fuse box to make sure the light was on during the fight.
Giles and Jenny were climbing down from the roof. More arrows waited at their new posts at the
back end of the gymnasium. Still everything seemed hopeless. "Unless...", Angel thought about
the last arrows unknown source. It had reminded him of a heavy crossbow arrow like the one that
had been stolen.
Buffy had drawn her hood down. She had to get to the gymnasium to prevent a disaster. She had
to save her friends no matter the cost. She didn't have much time. Buffy ran faster than she had
ever been able to before.
The door was kicked into a thousand splinters. "Don't kill them. Bring them to me alive.
Remember that", he commanded as his remaining vampires swarmed around him. The vampires
charged into the lighted gymnasium. Spike welcomed the open fight, he knew that he could lose.
The vampires were greeted with a batch of water ballons containing holy water. He saw some of
his underlings getting hurt, but no one died. The two boys quickly ran out of ammo and ran
away.
The librarian and his black haired girlfriend were still trying to hit with their crossbows, but they
would run out of arrows and time sooner than he would run out of vampires vampires. Only the
two fighters in the center of the large gymnasium concerned him. The Slayer and Angel. They
would cost him some vampires for sure, not that he really cared as long as he won.
Wendy saw the throng of vampires approaching. They were too many. She drew a stake and
prepared herself. A really ugly female vampire jumped in front of her. Wendy recognized her.
She had been a classmate of hers. She had disappeared last week.
Without thinking any further Wendy gave her a solid high kick and moved forward. The vampire
sailed through the air and landed hard on the wooden floor. Wendy flipped forward and plunged
the stake into the prone vampiress. She cleanly landed on her feet and moved on to the next in
line.
Giles fired on the group that ran towards them. "Rupert, we should have practiced more", Jenny
said in a light tone, trying to diffuse the tension. The vampires were only seconds away, when he
got off his last shot. For once it struck true and the vampire fell to dust.
But one of his three buddies threw himself forward and bowled Giles over. Suddenly the vampire
turned to dust as well and rained all over him. Jenny had fired at point blank. Another vampire
hammered her in the ribs. She let out all her air and fell to her knees.
Suddenly the vampire glanced stupidly at his chest where the tip of a stake protuded. He fell to
dust revealing Willow and Cordelia coming to the rescue. The last vampire tackled Cordelia.
Giles jumped onto it's back and tried to struggle with it. Xander and Oz were also on the way
over. They were followed by five vampires. The odds hadn't improved at all. Ten vampires were
fighting a hardbitten battle against Angel and Wendy, while Spike and his remaining six warrior
hung back.
Wendy reeled back. The vampire had punched her hard in the gut, and she had lost her breath.
Suddenly another vampire kicked her hard in the knees from behind. Wendy fell. She was in
trouble.
Angel staked another of his enemies. Suddenly a female vampiress jumped into him from the
side and pushed him to the ground. Two vampires tried desperately to capture his arms and pin
him down. The battle was almost lost.
Spike smiled and gestured to his warriors. "Go knock them out", he commanded with a growl
and looked towards the end of the gymnasium, where the most of Buffy's old friends were
making a stand. Five of his vampires were already there, and two more were running from the
fight with Slayer to help them. Spike laughed hard and knew he had almost won. Too bad Buffy
had died. She would really have suffered while watching this happen.
Angel saw the two huge warrior vampires moving towards him. He wasn't finished yet, but they
were out of time. He could defend Sunnydale no longer. "Soon my love. I'm coming soon", he
thought.
Suddenly there was a loud whine and a long arrow struck one of the warriors in the chest. He
was flung backwards and dusted in midair. Before anyone could possibly react another arrow
struck the vampire holding him down.
Angel jumped to his feet.
Suddenly the sound of battle quieted and everybody engaged in battle with Angel and Wendy
looked towards the deep shadows up on the right side of the stands.
A vision of darkness stood there. It was cloaked in what seemed to be an impenetrable deep
black cloak and a large hood hid the creature's face fully. In it's hands were the heavy crossbow
stolen from the armory. Only two small white hands hinted that this was actually a human
shaped.
"Kill it", Spike suddenly screamed, "And bring me the others".
Wendy also saw what had to be the One and she shuddered. Something in the creature scared
her. It`s appearance had given her time to regain her breath though.
Wendy swung her feet high and locked them around the neck of the vampire, who had been
trying to hold her. Wendy swung her self backwards in a salto. She heard the vicious snap of the
vampire's neck breaking as she landed on her feet. It didn't move nor did it dust. She would
finish it later, if she got the chance.
Five vampires ran towards her. Behind them Spike's warriors moved to engage her love and the
Slayer. She had to act fast. Buffy began humming a happy tune, as the fighting made her feel
truly alive.
Her hands moved with inhuman speed. She drew an arrow from her sidequiver, cocked, loaded
the crossbow and fired right on target with unerring precision. The weaker vampires fell like
lambs to the slaughter.
She was as good as before her death, but she was a lot faster. Four vampires exploded into dust
one after another, then she ran out of arrows. The fifth vampire saw it's chance and dashed up
towards her. Buffy also moved.
Without batting an eye she used the heavy wooden crossbow as a stake and hammered the
ungainly weapon through the vampire. It died.
Angel saw the creature move with a grace and speed unmatched by anyone. When it used the
crossbow as a stake he winced. Another memory of Buffy destroyed.
The warrior vampires were well trained and many times more dangerous than anyone of the
vampires he had fought this night. He moved with a learned precision. He began the dance of
blocks and parrys which made up a fight amongst warriors.
He kicked, it dodged. It punched, he blocked.
His blood sang. Suddenly Angel saw an error in the vampire's move.
It had come to close and had turned to the wrong side during it's last dodge. It crouched low.
Angel suddenly kicked it's knee with full strength and heard a satisfying crack as it's kneecap
was busted. Angel hammered his fist into the exposed neck as it fell forward. He heard the spine
break. The vampire was paralyzed and could be destroyed later. Angel wheeled about and looked
for another enemy.
Spike saw which way the battle was going. He wasn't beaten yet, but he would be. He needed
help from at least a demon to fight that damned cloaked figure, who had destroyed his warriors.
Spike withdrew, while cursing. Then it occured to him. He didn't need to make this a total loss.
He could still become stronger. The vampire stalked into the night for other prey.
Two warrior vampires approached her. She seemed unarmed to them. The slim figure underneath
couldn't be armed with more than one or two stakes at most. They grinned and prepared their
attack. This one would make them nearly invincible, if they could drink her blood.
Buffy smiled broadly as the two cocky vampires circled around her. She had reached the floor of
the gymnasium. She could see Giles and Oz defeating the last of their vampires. Only one
remained back there. Her successor was fighting a normal and a warrior vampire. She seemed to
be a match for them. And Angel was just finishing his enemy. She could destroy the two demons
in front of her, then go off to hunt Spike without endangering her friends. She crouched low and
readied herself.
Suddenly the leftmost vampire tried to rush her with a low punch. Buffy made a perfect
crossblock. Her great strength outmatched the hardness of his bones. She heard his wrist break.
The vampire cursed.
Suddenly the one, who was now behind her, tried to knock her out with a twohanded blow to her
neck. Buffy bowed low, while pushing her arms hard forward and kicking high and backwards
with her left foot.
The vampire in front of her landed hard several yards away, while her kick connected to the
other vampire's solar plexus. Buffy heard it's bones break and shatter. The vampire howled in
inhuman pain.
Buffy went back to a relaxed fighting stance. The vampires got up. They seemed unsteady but
not beaten. Angel had finished his enemy. He would be approaching her soon. She had too finish
early.
Buffy drew her long sword from out of nowhere. She didn't know where it came from or how she
had gotten it. She only knew that it was her weapon and that it could kill vampires like they were
normal humans. It even penetrated steel if swung hard enough.
The vampires growled, but didn't show their surprise. They tried to attack her from both sides
again. Buffy swung out her sword in the direction of the one in front of her, while ignoring the
one behind her.
The vampire was chopped in two by her sword and both parts dusted before they landed. The
other vampire hit her hard. Buffy felt the pain in her back, but she only staggered forward. Buffy
felt a strange outrage and anger towards the vile creature.
Suddenly she spun around, reached out with her bare hand and grabbed the surprised vampire,
who had expected her to at least fall, by the throat. Suddenly the vampire screamed as her touch
made it's skin boil and burn as if hit by holy water. It looked into the darkness hidden under the
hood.
Buffy threw the creature backward against some gym equipment. The creature suddenly
screamed in utter terror, as she walked towards it to finish the job. It crawled to it's feet and tried
to flee. Buffy felt strangely detached as she uncerimoniously threw the sword tipfirst like a spear
through the chest of the vampire. It died.
Angel saw the entire battle. He couldn't help, as he had to rescue Wendy from the warrior
vampire. The last he saw was the creature drawing it's strange slender and beautiful sword from
the floor and disappear out the door. The vampire finally turned to dust as Wendy rammed it
with a stake from behind. They had won.
Thanks to the wonderful and at same time strangely dreadful cloaked creature, who had saved
them. Uncertainly Giles and the rest of the gang approached. Every one had some minor wounds,
bumps and scratches but seemed all right. "Giles, I'll call you later. I have to see, if I can catch
that thing", he yelled and ran towards the door.
"Damn it I lost him", Buffy cursed and kicked the dumpster to relieve her pent-up frustration. It
rolled down the alley, until it was stopped by a heap of garbage. "Ok, that just means that it'll
have to wait until tomorrow or the day after that or the day after that. He won't get away", she
mumbled and turned to leave.
She still had to pick up something to eat. Her stomach growled and she was deeply hungry.
Buffy checked her wallet. She only had enough money for this meal. She would have to beat up
a couple of vampires with money soon or find a job. She sighed and began the long walk back
toward her apartment.
Angel looked down the alley. He saw the cloaked one disappear around the corner like a shadow.
"You sure know how to sneak around, but I'll find out your secret", he swore and followed.
Angel turned out onto the street as well. He walked fast so to keep up. Angel walked down
another alley, but he couldn't make out the creature anymore. He looked around for tracks. "I lost
her", he realized and looked around again. "The only thing around here is the Bronze. I don't
think it'll go there, but it won't hurt to look", he thought and walked that way. Buffy smiled from
her hideout on the fire escape. She had heard him, as she had walked in here. Buffy jumped
down and began walking to an all night cafeteria nearby.
Xander was helping Cordelia put her shirt on over her large scrape. Giles and Jenny were in his
office trying to bandage her forearm. Willow was applying a bandage to a scratch on Oz's knee.
Wendy was holding some ice to her forehead. "You should have seen that thing", Wendy
exclaimed and turned her head slowly, so she wouldn't feel more dizzy.
"You mean that cloaked person?", Xander asked.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure it was not a human being. I mean, it fired six arrows with a heavy
crossbow in under ten seconds, then it used the crossbow as a stake. The next I saw was that it
gripped a warrior vampire by the throat, which had just landed a perfect blow in it's lower back,
without even blinking. You know what happened then? The vampire started to cook as if it had
been hit by a vial holy water. Then it threw the vampire over five yards and the vampire started
scream as if it had seen the devil himself. It was about to leave through the sidedoor, when that
cloaked critter threw a really long sword like a lance and implanted the poor sucker to the floor.
Then without reason the vampire just dusted as if hit by a stake and that thing just waltzed over,
took it's long toothpick and walked out of here like we had just been on a picnic", Wendy paused
to regain her breath.
Giles had been listening at the door. The others were staring at Wendy in confusion. "That sort of
means that we owe our lives to that thing, right?", Cordy asked. No one answered. Oz just
replied after a second or two: "Well as long as it only slays vampires, I say we party and leave it
alone".
Willow shook her head. "What if it doesn't realize that Angel is a good vampire? It could kill him
too", she said and looked around.
"You're all missing something very obvious. That thing knows us", Jenny commented and found
a chair to relax in.
"What do you mean?", Xander asked and looked curiously at miss Calendar. "Well, it knew
enough about us to steal a crossbow and arrows. It appearantly already knows that Angel is good,
because it saved his life back there as well as ours. It knows the layout of the school, and it
appearantly had some knowledge of Spike and his plans", she explained.
"And it knows Willy enough to want to smash his bar into kindling. Besides it is probably what I
keep hearing amongst the stacks", Wendy added. "All that certainly adds up. But what is it?",
Giles asked and looked around for suggestions.
"I say, we should look for references or legends about swords and swordbearers", Willow
suggested. Giles nodded sagely. "I had hoped to get some sleep", Xander moaned. "Don't worry
tomorrow isn't a schoolday", Oz said and patted him on the back. "I can't help, I have to go to a
family dinner out of town tomorrow", Cordelia said sheepishly. "That's all right. We won't get
any constructive work done anymore tonight anyway. Let's all go home and sleep. All those who
can comes here tomorrow then we can start our research", Giles said and went for his coat.
"I'll bring some snacks", Jenny offered. "Great see ya all tomorrow", Wendy said and turned to
leave. "Wait all of you", Angel said from amongst the stacks. Wendy spuns about. A stake was
in her hand. "Good reaction", he replied and walked down the stairs.
"I'll stay here, if you don't mind, so I'll be able to help as well. I might have more information by
then", he said and sat down. Giles nodded and they all left. Angel looked out the windows.
"Strange, something about the One's fighting style seemed very familiar", he mumbled and
looked around for a place to sleep without getting hit by the sun.
Buffy stopped in front of the two story building. It had been her home once, but somehow she
knew that she couldn't just go in and saw hello to her mother. The same car stood in the same
spot as always. The garden was well tended and everything else seemed the same, but Buffy now
knew that she had been dead for a year. Things would change when a year passed, they usually
did.
Buffy walked up to the side of the building, where her room had always been. The clock was
well past midnight. Buffy sighed, but she had to get some stuff. She just needed something to
make her feel at home in the new place, she had chosen just a few hours back. She didn't want
Angel to find her accidentally back at his old place, and so she had found an entire floor above a
warehouse, where someone stored old furniture and boxes. The owner of the warehouse seemed
to have abandoned it as serious storage space because of the low ceiling and lack of access apart
from an old rusty iron stairwell and a normal steel door.
Buffy had already informed him that she would be moving in and the owner had agreed to rent
the place to her for a hundred dollars a month. It was a ridiculously low price, but the place also
didn't have any heating. Buffy didn't really freeze anymore and as the roof was leakproof, and no
windows were broken, she could live and train there. All she needed now was some money and
some of her stuff.
The money Buffy had already gotten hold off. She had walked into Willy's as the Cloaked One
and decked him without saying a word. She had stolen all of his money. She did feel a little dirty,
but Buffy knew that he hadn't come by those money legally anyhow, and the most of it were
bloodmoney or cash from the different criminals and vampires he catered too. All she wanted
now was her personal stuff.
Buffy had crawled up to the window to her room and looked inside. She was surprised. Her room
looked nice and tidy as if she had just cleaned and had then covered everything with white
bedsheets. Her mother were still maintaining her room, Buffy realized.
She felt a deep sorrow. She so wanted to wake her mom and tell her. She wanted to go to Angel
and kiss him. She wanted to be with her friends. She even wished that she still went to high
school. Buffy sighed and shook her head.
She took out one of the stakes she had stolen earlier and jammed into a certain spot in the
window frame. Buffy knew exactly where the lock was. She wiggled the stake up and down.
Buffy heard a small click. Slowly she drew the window open and slipped inside.
piece of fiction. All rights of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is reserved by Mutant Enemy,
Sandollar, Kuzui Enterprises, Fox and(or) WB TV. This piece of fiction is not to be reproduced
anywhere or edited without the express consent of the author as named above.
Warning: This piece of literature contains scenes with violence, strong language and religious
references that may be considered offensive. Parental disgression should be applied.
Note: This story takes place just before Surprise during the 2nd
season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It represents an alternative storyline, which moves away
from the BtVS story arc as represented in the series for the purpose of the story I want to tell.
Chapter 4: War and Angels
"Spike! The sun has gone down", one of his underlings yelled and jumped down from the second
floor. "Good", the vampire said and fingered the amulet. He looked at the seven vampires
kneeling in a half circle before him. None of them had killed for seven days as commanded in
the ritual.
Soon Spike and his seven warriors would become a true force of evil. Soon the blood of man
would flow like wine in the streets of Sunnydale. As soon as he had gained the strength of many
souls. Spike finished the last unholy incantation.
"Rise my brood", he jumped to his feet. "Tonight we rule the night", Spike yelled in triumph. All
of the gathered vampire growled in response. They all turned to leave. "Remember the Slayer,
Angelus and her pet librarian is mine", he commanded and they went for their cars.
Buffy was hidden on the roof of a school building, she could see the entire lawn, the road and
most of the entrances from her lookout. She had just restringed the crossbow and loaded her first
arrow. Spike wouldn't be long. Suddenly Angel and her blackhaired successor walked out onto
the lawn and stopped. They were talking about combat moves and her.
Buffy sucked in air and sighed again. Could the new Slayer also take her position with Angel.
Then she saw Giles and Jenny armed with the light crossbows sneaking onto the roof of the
gymnasium. Buffy smiled at their plan. They would fight the vampires to a stop on the lawn, so
Giles and Miss Calendar could get shots off at the bloodsuckers, then when the fighting got too
dangerous Angel and her replacement would probably run away. That would be repeated inside
with different weapons.
She hoped, they didn't mind some help from her. Buffy could suddenly sense dark presences
moving up the road towards the school. Spike was arriving. She dodged into hiding and checked
the crossbow once again. She would help her friends no matter what.
Wendy saw the three vans stop and the doors open. Vampires came running towards her. Besides
her Angel prepared as well. A vampire came within her reach. Instead of engaging it Wendy
threw the stake in her hand like a knife. It landed right in it's heart. It burst to dust before it
landed on the ground. "Subdue them", Spike screamed as he walked calmly from the open bay of
a van.
Seven vampires dressed in black long coats stepped out and formed a half circle in front of him.
Angel dusted another, while he and Wendy withdrew. The vampires kept getting closer to the
gymnasium. They were encircled. "Game over", Spike said in a satisfied tone. "Now where are
your friends?", he asked impatiently.
"Here!", Giles yelled and fired an arrow in the back of a vampire, who was about to tackle
Wendy from behind. Jenny joined in as well, but neither Giles nor Jenny were expert bowmen
and many arrows didn't hit anything much less the exact heart of a vampire. But the hail of
arrows from the rapid firing crossbows gave Wendy and Angel room to escape towards the
doors.
Suddenly a vampire about to jump upon Angel's back was shot by a very large arrow. The
creature dusted. "The angle of that arrow was wrong", Angel thought, "it didn't come from
above". Suddenly one of Spike's warriors stared stupidly at his chest as the next arrow came out
through his chest. He fell into a pile of dust. Everyone looked in the direction the arrow had
come from. There was nothing.
"Inside!", Wendy yelled as the remaining 26 vampires and Spike was about to continue their
onslaught.
Angel slammed the door shut behind him. The lock clicked. It would probably not even hold
them for more than a second or two. He ran into the gymnasium after Wendy.
Inside Xander and Oz were ready with their patented holy water grenades, made up mostly of
water ballons filled with Giles entire store of holy water, while Willow and Cordelia was hiding
at the fuse box to make sure the light was on during the fight.
Giles and Jenny were climbing down from the roof. More arrows waited at their new posts at the
back end of the gymnasium. Still everything seemed hopeless. "Unless...", Angel thought about
the last arrows unknown source. It had reminded him of a heavy crossbow arrow like the one that
had been stolen.
Buffy had drawn her hood down. She had to get to the gymnasium to prevent a disaster. She had
to save her friends no matter the cost. She didn't have much time. Buffy ran faster than she had
ever been able to before.
The door was kicked into a thousand splinters. "Don't kill them. Bring them to me alive.
Remember that", he commanded as his remaining vampires swarmed around him. The vampires
charged into the lighted gymnasium. Spike welcomed the open fight, he knew that he could lose.
The vampires were greeted with a batch of water ballons containing holy water. He saw some of
his underlings getting hurt, but no one died. The two boys quickly ran out of ammo and ran
away.
The librarian and his black haired girlfriend were still trying to hit with their crossbows, but they
would run out of arrows and time sooner than he would run out of vampires vampires. Only the
two fighters in the center of the large gymnasium concerned him. The Slayer and Angel. They
would cost him some vampires for sure, not that he really cared as long as he won.
Wendy saw the throng of vampires approaching. They were too many. She drew a stake and
prepared herself. A really ugly female vampire jumped in front of her. Wendy recognized her.
She had been a classmate of hers. She had disappeared last week.
Without thinking any further Wendy gave her a solid high kick and moved forward. The vampire
sailed through the air and landed hard on the wooden floor. Wendy flipped forward and plunged
the stake into the prone vampiress. She cleanly landed on her feet and moved on to the next in
line.
Giles fired on the group that ran towards them. "Rupert, we should have practiced more", Jenny
said in a light tone, trying to diffuse the tension. The vampires were only seconds away, when he
got off his last shot. For once it struck true and the vampire fell to dust.
But one of his three buddies threw himself forward and bowled Giles over. Suddenly the vampire
turned to dust as well and rained all over him. Jenny had fired at point blank. Another vampire
hammered her in the ribs. She let out all her air and fell to her knees.
Suddenly the vampire glanced stupidly at his chest where the tip of a stake protuded. He fell to
dust revealing Willow and Cordelia coming to the rescue. The last vampire tackled Cordelia.
Giles jumped onto it's back and tried to struggle with it. Xander and Oz were also on the way
over. They were followed by five vampires. The odds hadn't improved at all. Ten vampires were
fighting a hardbitten battle against Angel and Wendy, while Spike and his remaining six warrior
hung back.
Wendy reeled back. The vampire had punched her hard in the gut, and she had lost her breath.
Suddenly another vampire kicked her hard in the knees from behind. Wendy fell. She was in
trouble.
Angel staked another of his enemies. Suddenly a female vampiress jumped into him from the
side and pushed him to the ground. Two vampires tried desperately to capture his arms and pin
him down. The battle was almost lost.
Spike smiled and gestured to his warriors. "Go knock them out", he commanded with a growl
and looked towards the end of the gymnasium, where the most of Buffy's old friends were
making a stand. Five of his vampires were already there, and two more were running from the
fight with Slayer to help them. Spike laughed hard and knew he had almost won. Too bad Buffy
had died. She would really have suffered while watching this happen.
Angel saw the two huge warrior vampires moving towards him. He wasn't finished yet, but they
were out of time. He could defend Sunnydale no longer. "Soon my love. I'm coming soon", he
thought.
Suddenly there was a loud whine and a long arrow struck one of the warriors in the chest. He
was flung backwards and dusted in midair. Before anyone could possibly react another arrow
struck the vampire holding him down.
Angel jumped to his feet.
Suddenly the sound of battle quieted and everybody engaged in battle with Angel and Wendy
looked towards the deep shadows up on the right side of the stands.
A vision of darkness stood there. It was cloaked in what seemed to be an impenetrable deep
black cloak and a large hood hid the creature's face fully. In it's hands were the heavy crossbow
stolen from the armory. Only two small white hands hinted that this was actually a human
shaped.
"Kill it", Spike suddenly screamed, "And bring me the others".
Wendy also saw what had to be the One and she shuddered. Something in the creature scared
her. It`s appearance had given her time to regain her breath though.
Wendy swung her feet high and locked them around the neck of the vampire, who had been
trying to hold her. Wendy swung her self backwards in a salto. She heard the vicious snap of the
vampire's neck breaking as she landed on her feet. It didn't move nor did it dust. She would
finish it later, if she got the chance.
Five vampires ran towards her. Behind them Spike's warriors moved to engage her love and the
Slayer. She had to act fast. Buffy began humming a happy tune, as the fighting made her feel
truly alive.
Her hands moved with inhuman speed. She drew an arrow from her sidequiver, cocked, loaded
the crossbow and fired right on target with unerring precision. The weaker vampires fell like
lambs to the slaughter.
She was as good as before her death, but she was a lot faster. Four vampires exploded into dust
one after another, then she ran out of arrows. The fifth vampire saw it's chance and dashed up
towards her. Buffy also moved.
Without batting an eye she used the heavy wooden crossbow as a stake and hammered the
ungainly weapon through the vampire. It died.
Angel saw the creature move with a grace and speed unmatched by anyone. When it used the
crossbow as a stake he winced. Another memory of Buffy destroyed.
The warrior vampires were well trained and many times more dangerous than anyone of the
vampires he had fought this night. He moved with a learned precision. He began the dance of
blocks and parrys which made up a fight amongst warriors.
He kicked, it dodged. It punched, he blocked.
His blood sang. Suddenly Angel saw an error in the vampire's move.
It had come to close and had turned to the wrong side during it's last dodge. It crouched low.
Angel suddenly kicked it's knee with full strength and heard a satisfying crack as it's kneecap
was busted. Angel hammered his fist into the exposed neck as it fell forward. He heard the spine
break. The vampire was paralyzed and could be destroyed later. Angel wheeled about and looked
for another enemy.
Spike saw which way the battle was going. He wasn't beaten yet, but he would be. He needed
help from at least a demon to fight that damned cloaked figure, who had destroyed his warriors.
Spike withdrew, while cursing. Then it occured to him. He didn't need to make this a total loss.
He could still become stronger. The vampire stalked into the night for other prey.
Two warrior vampires approached her. She seemed unarmed to them. The slim figure underneath
couldn't be armed with more than one or two stakes at most. They grinned and prepared their
attack. This one would make them nearly invincible, if they could drink her blood.
Buffy smiled broadly as the two cocky vampires circled around her. She had reached the floor of
the gymnasium. She could see Giles and Oz defeating the last of their vampires. Only one
remained back there. Her successor was fighting a normal and a warrior vampire. She seemed to
be a match for them. And Angel was just finishing his enemy. She could destroy the two demons
in front of her, then go off to hunt Spike without endangering her friends. She crouched low and
readied herself.
Suddenly the leftmost vampire tried to rush her with a low punch. Buffy made a perfect
crossblock. Her great strength outmatched the hardness of his bones. She heard his wrist break.
The vampire cursed.
Suddenly the one, who was now behind her, tried to knock her out with a twohanded blow to her
neck. Buffy bowed low, while pushing her arms hard forward and kicking high and backwards
with her left foot.
The vampire in front of her landed hard several yards away, while her kick connected to the
other vampire's solar plexus. Buffy heard it's bones break and shatter. The vampire howled in
inhuman pain.
Buffy went back to a relaxed fighting stance. The vampires got up. They seemed unsteady but
not beaten. Angel had finished his enemy. He would be approaching her soon. She had too finish
early.
Buffy drew her long sword from out of nowhere. She didn't know where it came from or how she
had gotten it. She only knew that it was her weapon and that it could kill vampires like they were
normal humans. It even penetrated steel if swung hard enough.
The vampires growled, but didn't show their surprise. They tried to attack her from both sides
again. Buffy swung out her sword in the direction of the one in front of her, while ignoring the
one behind her.
The vampire was chopped in two by her sword and both parts dusted before they landed. The
other vampire hit her hard. Buffy felt the pain in her back, but she only staggered forward. Buffy
felt a strange outrage and anger towards the vile creature.
Suddenly she spun around, reached out with her bare hand and grabbed the surprised vampire,
who had expected her to at least fall, by the throat. Suddenly the vampire screamed as her touch
made it's skin boil and burn as if hit by holy water. It looked into the darkness hidden under the
hood.
Buffy threw the creature backward against some gym equipment. The creature suddenly
screamed in utter terror, as she walked towards it to finish the job. It crawled to it's feet and tried
to flee. Buffy felt strangely detached as she uncerimoniously threw the sword tipfirst like a spear
through the chest of the vampire. It died.
Angel saw the entire battle. He couldn't help, as he had to rescue Wendy from the warrior
vampire. The last he saw was the creature drawing it's strange slender and beautiful sword from
the floor and disappear out the door. The vampire finally turned to dust as Wendy rammed it
with a stake from behind. They had won.
Thanks to the wonderful and at same time strangely dreadful cloaked creature, who had saved
them. Uncertainly Giles and the rest of the gang approached. Every one had some minor wounds,
bumps and scratches but seemed all right. "Giles, I'll call you later. I have to see, if I can catch
that thing", he yelled and ran towards the door.
"Damn it I lost him", Buffy cursed and kicked the dumpster to relieve her pent-up frustration. It
rolled down the alley, until it was stopped by a heap of garbage. "Ok, that just means that it'll
have to wait until tomorrow or the day after that or the day after that. He won't get away", she
mumbled and turned to leave.
She still had to pick up something to eat. Her stomach growled and she was deeply hungry.
Buffy checked her wallet. She only had enough money for this meal. She would have to beat up
a couple of vampires with money soon or find a job. She sighed and began the long walk back
toward her apartment.
Angel looked down the alley. He saw the cloaked one disappear around the corner like a shadow.
"You sure know how to sneak around, but I'll find out your secret", he swore and followed.
Angel turned out onto the street as well. He walked fast so to keep up. Angel walked down
another alley, but he couldn't make out the creature anymore. He looked around for tracks. "I lost
her", he realized and looked around again. "The only thing around here is the Bronze. I don't
think it'll go there, but it won't hurt to look", he thought and walked that way. Buffy smiled from
her hideout on the fire escape. She had heard him, as she had walked in here. Buffy jumped
down and began walking to an all night cafeteria nearby.
Xander was helping Cordelia put her shirt on over her large scrape. Giles and Jenny were in his
office trying to bandage her forearm. Willow was applying a bandage to a scratch on Oz's knee.
Wendy was holding some ice to her forehead. "You should have seen that thing", Wendy
exclaimed and turned her head slowly, so she wouldn't feel more dizzy.
"You mean that cloaked person?", Xander asked.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure it was not a human being. I mean, it fired six arrows with a heavy
crossbow in under ten seconds, then it used the crossbow as a stake. The next I saw was that it
gripped a warrior vampire by the throat, which had just landed a perfect blow in it's lower back,
without even blinking. You know what happened then? The vampire started to cook as if it had
been hit by a vial holy water. Then it threw the vampire over five yards and the vampire started
scream as if it had seen the devil himself. It was about to leave through the sidedoor, when that
cloaked critter threw a really long sword like a lance and implanted the poor sucker to the floor.
Then without reason the vampire just dusted as if hit by a stake and that thing just waltzed over,
took it's long toothpick and walked out of here like we had just been on a picnic", Wendy paused
to regain her breath.
Giles had been listening at the door. The others were staring at Wendy in confusion. "That sort of
means that we owe our lives to that thing, right?", Cordy asked. No one answered. Oz just
replied after a second or two: "Well as long as it only slays vampires, I say we party and leave it
alone".
Willow shook her head. "What if it doesn't realize that Angel is a good vampire? It could kill him
too", she said and looked around.
"You're all missing something very obvious. That thing knows us", Jenny commented and found
a chair to relax in.
"What do you mean?", Xander asked and looked curiously at miss Calendar. "Well, it knew
enough about us to steal a crossbow and arrows. It appearantly already knows that Angel is good,
because it saved his life back there as well as ours. It knows the layout of the school, and it
appearantly had some knowledge of Spike and his plans", she explained.
"And it knows Willy enough to want to smash his bar into kindling. Besides it is probably what I
keep hearing amongst the stacks", Wendy added. "All that certainly adds up. But what is it?",
Giles asked and looked around for suggestions.
"I say, we should look for references or legends about swords and swordbearers", Willow
suggested. Giles nodded sagely. "I had hoped to get some sleep", Xander moaned. "Don't worry
tomorrow isn't a schoolday", Oz said and patted him on the back. "I can't help, I have to go to a
family dinner out of town tomorrow", Cordelia said sheepishly. "That's all right. We won't get
any constructive work done anymore tonight anyway. Let's all go home and sleep. All those who
can comes here tomorrow then we can start our research", Giles said and went for his coat.
"I'll bring some snacks", Jenny offered. "Great see ya all tomorrow", Wendy said and turned to
leave. "Wait all of you", Angel said from amongst the stacks. Wendy spuns about. A stake was
in her hand. "Good reaction", he replied and walked down the stairs.
"I'll stay here, if you don't mind, so I'll be able to help as well. I might have more information by
then", he said and sat down. Giles nodded and they all left. Angel looked out the windows.
"Strange, something about the One's fighting style seemed very familiar", he mumbled and
looked around for a place to sleep without getting hit by the sun.
Buffy stopped in front of the two story building. It had been her home once, but somehow she
knew that she couldn't just go in and saw hello to her mother. The same car stood in the same
spot as always. The garden was well tended and everything else seemed the same, but Buffy now
knew that she had been dead for a year. Things would change when a year passed, they usually
did.
Buffy walked up to the side of the building, where her room had always been. The clock was
well past midnight. Buffy sighed, but she had to get some stuff. She just needed something to
make her feel at home in the new place, she had chosen just a few hours back. She didn't want
Angel to find her accidentally back at his old place, and so she had found an entire floor above a
warehouse, where someone stored old furniture and boxes. The owner of the warehouse seemed
to have abandoned it as serious storage space because of the low ceiling and lack of access apart
from an old rusty iron stairwell and a normal steel door.
Buffy had already informed him that she would be moving in and the owner had agreed to rent
the place to her for a hundred dollars a month. It was a ridiculously low price, but the place also
didn't have any heating. Buffy didn't really freeze anymore and as the roof was leakproof, and no
windows were broken, she could live and train there. All she needed now was some money and
some of her stuff.
The money Buffy had already gotten hold off. She had walked into Willy's as the Cloaked One
and decked him without saying a word. She had stolen all of his money. She did feel a little dirty,
but Buffy knew that he hadn't come by those money legally anyhow, and the most of it were
bloodmoney or cash from the different criminals and vampires he catered too. All she wanted
now was her personal stuff.
Buffy had crawled up to the window to her room and looked inside. She was surprised. Her room
looked nice and tidy as if she had just cleaned and had then covered everything with white
bedsheets. Her mother were still maintaining her room, Buffy realized.
She felt a deep sorrow. She so wanted to wake her mom and tell her. She wanted to go to Angel
and kiss him. She wanted to be with her friends. She even wished that she still went to high
school. Buffy sighed and shook her head.
She took out one of the stakes she had stolen earlier and jammed into a certain spot in the
window frame. Buffy knew exactly where the lock was. She wiggled the stake up and down.
Buffy heard a small click. Slowly she drew the window open and slipped inside.
