Disclaimer: The cold wind bites through my thin jacket as I search my
purse. Where the fuck is my keys? My friends are no help, either. "Come the
fuck on, Lily!" screams Tom from the car. I'm about to scream back, but I
find them underneath my wallet. As I pull them out, a new voice comes up
from behind me. "Lily?" he asks. I turn. Mark Darcy is standing in the
street, sheepishly looking at me. "What are you doing here?" I ask. The
bastard had left for New York weeks ago. "Well," he starts, shoving his
hands into his pockets, "I'm back because I remembered something." "What's
that?" He grins at my question and comes up to me. "I remembered I forgot I
have a mission," he states, his voice changing into a robotic monotone, "I
was sent back twenty years in the future by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy
the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Enslaved World, to kill you. It is my
mission to destroy Lilith in her youth, the one person who stands a chance
of defeating his Supremeness." Out of his trench coat, he pulls out a sawed-
off rifle. Fuck!
Rating: R- guess why? Lots and lots of violence! Life is good!
Summary: Buffy, after running away from Sunnydale, comes home six years later with a new identity. While searching for some mysterious evil threatening to destroy all, she begins to see how much she was missed.
Author's Notes: And we reach the climax! No, not THAT climax, you sick fucks. Here is the high point of the story. Now, a warning: this is the first time I've ever attempted to write a battle scene. I watch a lot of action movies, so I hope that will make up for it. Another warning: see Gillian's prophecy from the last chapter. It's all happening. Everything. No turning back now. I'm about to risk fire and brimstone from Mountain William, but it's worth it. And if you don't get the ending, wait until tomorrow. I love you all, and hope that you will love my decisions.
PS: Did I just screw with that disclaimer, or what. At first, you think it's from the movie version of Bridget Jones's diary, but then I switch to a weirded out version of the movie Terminator. God, what the hell am I smoking? Oh yeah, pot! (kidding)
Chapter Seventeen- Battle
It was a large metal door; painted a sterile white, just like the halls. Yet it opened without a noise, allowing Buffy and Spike to slip into the room undetected.
Both stood near the entrance, taking in their surroundings. The room was large, about 200 feet in length, enough space to hold a small fleet of vehicles. Chain link fences, stretching from floor to ceiling, divided the room into smaller sections. Or at least they would have. The fences had been taken down, save one. It caged the machine.
At a first glance, there wasn't anything to fear. Twenty feet square, painted black, with small tubes and hoses protruding out of the box. But, every so often, the hoses would be filled with light, brilliant blue and white electricity traveling into the box. The Hellmouth's energy. When the machine drank the energy, the lights would dim, and a bolt of lightning would scream out of the box, singeing the fence.
In front of the barrier was a small platform, a work area. Pitatch, with his back turned to the door, was examining the items on the tables. Some helpers stood by, apparently answering the questions asked by their master. At the moment, he was examining a thin tube of blue gel.
The other Flueruins congregated on the ground floor, weapons held in the ready position. But all eyes were on Pitatch, no one taking notice of the human and vampire.
Getting Buffy's attention, Spike made a stabbing motion with his hands, held up two fingers, and moved them in opposite circular directions. Finally, he pointed at himself and Pitatch, then at her and the machine. It was his plan. They would kill the guards first, then each would take care of their task.
Gripping his knife in his right hand, Spike crept up behind a guard. Buffy did the same to another guard, raising the axe above her head.
The guard took no notice of Spike until the vampire's hand covered his mouth. As he tried to scream, Spike raised the knife and slid it along his throat, cutting the flesh. The demon went limp, and was thrown to the ground.
Nearly three feet away from her guard, Buffy held the axe over her head. Then she swung, sending the cold steel into the minion's skull with a wet thud.
"GUARDS!" Pitatch spun around and pointed in the direction of the intruders.
A smaller guard rushed Spike, but Spike buried the knife into its stomach. In a quick motion, he pulled the metal pole out of his coat.
Three demons surrounding her, Buffy swung the axe in wide circles, lopping off the head of two. The third one kicked the axe out of her hands, sending it across the room. She responded by kicking him squarely in the chest, then sliding on her knees to the axe. The guard followed, but she picked up her weapon and swung upwards, lodging it in his throat and jaw.
Using a broken tazer as a pole, a demon began to spar with Spike. The guard blocked all of Spike's attempted hits. Then Spike tried to hit the demon in the torso, leaving his legs exposed. The demon blocked the vampire's hit, then swung his weapon at Spike's legs, sending him to the ground. Before the demon could do anything else, Spike quickly raised his pole and speared the demon, sending it straight through his chest.
Four guards lay dead at Buffy's feet, and a fifth ran around the room, her axe stuck in his back. Taking out her crossbow, she took aim and sent an arrow right in the eyes of a demon. Another guard snuck up to her left, and using the tazer as a bayonet, ripped Buffy's arm. Buffy turned, taking her dagger out, then stabbed it in the demon's chest.
Removing his knife from a corpse, Spike ran his eyes along the room. At least twenty of the guards were dead, the rest approaching Buffy. Knowing she could take care of herself, he turned and leapt onto Pitatch's platform.
Grinning, Pitatch removed a stake from the table and gripped it in his hands. "Is this the point where you try to kill me?" he asked.
"No," growled Spike, taking his axe out of his coat, "This is the point where I kick your ass."
Charging, Spike swung the axe at the demon, but he was quick and jumped out of the way. Spike tried again, but he only hit air. Pitatch took the opportunity to kick the axe out of the vampire's hands. Recovering, Spike roundhouse kicked him in the torso, then backhanded him across the face. But he left his arm out too long, and Pitatch was able to grab it and flip him to the ground. As Spike head smacked into the ground, Pitatch jumped on his legs, pinning them to the ground. Slowly, he bent down, raising the stake above his head.
Buffy had just recovered her axe, and turned to face any new attackers, when she saw Pitatch standing over Spike, ready to stake. She ran up behind the demon, hopped onto the platform, and did a jump-kick to his back, sending him sliding across the platform.
Spike leapt onto his feet, and ran to Buffy. "You ok pet?" he asked, noticing the deep cut along her arm.
She shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle."
Quickly kissing her, he turned her in the direction of the cage. "Go destroy that fucking machine!"
As she ran off, Spike turned his attention to Pitatch, rising from the ground. Surprisingly, he was laughing.
"What's so funny?"
Picking up the stake, Pitatch grinned. "You'll understand in a few minutes."
Buffy ran into the cage. At first, she just stared at the machine, unsure of how to destroy it. Every time she got close, a bolt of lightning would escape from the metal frame.
Lost in thought, she didn't see three demons emerge out from the shadows. Two crept up behind Spike, while another went in her direction. She didn't notice until he had shut the door and locked her in.
"What the fuck . . ." she turned at the clicking sound of the lock. On the other side of the now closed door, the demon smiled, held out the key for the lock, and threw it across the room.
Panicked, she looked in Spike's direction. He was staring down Pitatch, not noticing the two guards quickly approaching him.
"SPIKE! WATCH YOUR BACK!"
Too late. As he turned, the guards grabbed his arms, pulled them behind his back, and chained them together.
"SHIT!" he screamed, desperately trying to pull his arms apart.
Pitatch came up to him. "That's what's so funny. Your pathetic ability to sense an enemy sneaking up on you." Pointing at the ground, the guards moved him into a position so that Spike now faced Buffy, fear showing through his face.
"Now William," Pitatch cackled, "You should be honored to know that you will be the first one to test my new invention." He held up his hand, revealing a stake. Except, this one was painted black. "I've been having my laborers work on this for months now, trying hard to figure out this problem: How do you make a vampire edible?" He started to advance, and Spike tried hard to shake the guards off. But, they were strong and held on. "Make a vampire edible. Almost like a riddle. I must say, your kindred aren't very tasty. Dead, rotting flesh is hardly appeasing. But, they said they found a way." He raised the stake, two feet from the vampire. "Let's see if it works."
Buffy screamed as the stake plunged into his chest. Spike's eyes grew wide, and he fell over the edge of the platform. She heard him land, then saw a cloud of dust billow from the ground.
An evil grin growing on his face, Pitatch turned his attention to the Slayer. She grasped the door, tears streaming down her face.
"Leave her there," he ordered the guards, then started to make his way out of the room. But he stopped when he heard the cage door sailed past his head, hitting the wall and crumpling onto the floor.
"Get the fuck back here!"
Timidly, he turned. She stood in the cage doorway, fists and jaw clenched in rage.
"You aren't going to leave me! If you wanna kill me, do it now!"
Pitatch turned to the demons by his side. "Kill her now," he ordered.
They started to approach her. But she glared at the guards, her eyes daring them to touch her. They froze, looked at each other, then dropped the tazers and ran out of the room.
Staring helplessly at the exit door, Pitatch turned back to Buffy. She flipped onto the platform.
"Get up here!"
Pitatch slowly walked onto the platform.
"Slayer . . ." he began.
"Shut up!"
He did.
"Look at you!" she laughed. "Without your powers or your guards, you're just a helpless demon with a machine." He watched Buffy plunge her hand into her coat pocket. "Wait," she stopped, pulling out a grenade, "Let's see if we can take the machine part away." Her other hand pulled out the pin, and she tossed the grenade into the cage behind her. Both stood their ground, not moving. Then Pitatch watched in horror as his machine burst into a thousand pieces. He went to the ground, arms covering his head for protection.
Sounds of metal hitting the ground echoed through the room. A large fire now burned where the machine had been. Buffy's back was cut with debris shards, little pieces of metal embedded in her skin, but she wasn't even hindered.
Pitatch was still cowering, and he didn't move as she walked up to him and grabbed his forearm. With both hands, she snapped his arm, and the broken bone cut through the skin. He screamed, but she ignored it, grabbing his other arm and flipping him onto his back.
"I want to tell you something my friend Anya told me," she said, crouching on the demon's stomach. Both of her hands traveled to his neck as he stared, paralyzed with fear. " 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' "
Her body pinning his to the ground, she gripped his neck, then with her Slayer strength, pulled off Pitatch's head.
@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@
Minutes passed as she stayed in that position. It felt like she had been watching someone else, like it was a movie. But, she looked into the face of the decapitated demon, and realized it was all true.
The machine was destroyed.
Pitatch was dead.
Her friends were safe.
Spike was dead.
Tossing the head away, Buffy began to bawl. Spike was dead. It made her sick with sorrow to think that.
As she cried, the cut on her arm began to hurt. Through her tears, Buffy examined the wound. It was very deep, and she had lost some blood. And her back was probably cut to hell. She would have to go to the hospital. Quickly.
Pushing the body aside, she spotted her axe, teetering on the edge of the platform. Wiping the tears away, she walked over to pick it up. But, as she reached her hand down, it fell to the floor.
"Fuck." Her voice cracked as she leaned over the edge to retrieve it. It was lying on top of a body.
She blinked her eyes rapidly when she realized it was not just a body.
It was Spike's.
Buffy shot up.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Rating: R- guess why? Lots and lots of violence! Life is good!
Summary: Buffy, after running away from Sunnydale, comes home six years later with a new identity. While searching for some mysterious evil threatening to destroy all, she begins to see how much she was missed.
Author's Notes: And we reach the climax! No, not THAT climax, you sick fucks. Here is the high point of the story. Now, a warning: this is the first time I've ever attempted to write a battle scene. I watch a lot of action movies, so I hope that will make up for it. Another warning: see Gillian's prophecy from the last chapter. It's all happening. Everything. No turning back now. I'm about to risk fire and brimstone from Mountain William, but it's worth it. And if you don't get the ending, wait until tomorrow. I love you all, and hope that you will love my decisions.
PS: Did I just screw with that disclaimer, or what. At first, you think it's from the movie version of Bridget Jones's diary, but then I switch to a weirded out version of the movie Terminator. God, what the hell am I smoking? Oh yeah, pot! (kidding)
Chapter Seventeen- Battle
It was a large metal door; painted a sterile white, just like the halls. Yet it opened without a noise, allowing Buffy and Spike to slip into the room undetected.
Both stood near the entrance, taking in their surroundings. The room was large, about 200 feet in length, enough space to hold a small fleet of vehicles. Chain link fences, stretching from floor to ceiling, divided the room into smaller sections. Or at least they would have. The fences had been taken down, save one. It caged the machine.
At a first glance, there wasn't anything to fear. Twenty feet square, painted black, with small tubes and hoses protruding out of the box. But, every so often, the hoses would be filled with light, brilliant blue and white electricity traveling into the box. The Hellmouth's energy. When the machine drank the energy, the lights would dim, and a bolt of lightning would scream out of the box, singeing the fence.
In front of the barrier was a small platform, a work area. Pitatch, with his back turned to the door, was examining the items on the tables. Some helpers stood by, apparently answering the questions asked by their master. At the moment, he was examining a thin tube of blue gel.
The other Flueruins congregated on the ground floor, weapons held in the ready position. But all eyes were on Pitatch, no one taking notice of the human and vampire.
Getting Buffy's attention, Spike made a stabbing motion with his hands, held up two fingers, and moved them in opposite circular directions. Finally, he pointed at himself and Pitatch, then at her and the machine. It was his plan. They would kill the guards first, then each would take care of their task.
Gripping his knife in his right hand, Spike crept up behind a guard. Buffy did the same to another guard, raising the axe above her head.
The guard took no notice of Spike until the vampire's hand covered his mouth. As he tried to scream, Spike raised the knife and slid it along his throat, cutting the flesh. The demon went limp, and was thrown to the ground.
Nearly three feet away from her guard, Buffy held the axe over her head. Then she swung, sending the cold steel into the minion's skull with a wet thud.
"GUARDS!" Pitatch spun around and pointed in the direction of the intruders.
A smaller guard rushed Spike, but Spike buried the knife into its stomach. In a quick motion, he pulled the metal pole out of his coat.
Three demons surrounding her, Buffy swung the axe in wide circles, lopping off the head of two. The third one kicked the axe out of her hands, sending it across the room. She responded by kicking him squarely in the chest, then sliding on her knees to the axe. The guard followed, but she picked up her weapon and swung upwards, lodging it in his throat and jaw.
Using a broken tazer as a pole, a demon began to spar with Spike. The guard blocked all of Spike's attempted hits. Then Spike tried to hit the demon in the torso, leaving his legs exposed. The demon blocked the vampire's hit, then swung his weapon at Spike's legs, sending him to the ground. Before the demon could do anything else, Spike quickly raised his pole and speared the demon, sending it straight through his chest.
Four guards lay dead at Buffy's feet, and a fifth ran around the room, her axe stuck in his back. Taking out her crossbow, she took aim and sent an arrow right in the eyes of a demon. Another guard snuck up to her left, and using the tazer as a bayonet, ripped Buffy's arm. Buffy turned, taking her dagger out, then stabbed it in the demon's chest.
Removing his knife from a corpse, Spike ran his eyes along the room. At least twenty of the guards were dead, the rest approaching Buffy. Knowing she could take care of herself, he turned and leapt onto Pitatch's platform.
Grinning, Pitatch removed a stake from the table and gripped it in his hands. "Is this the point where you try to kill me?" he asked.
"No," growled Spike, taking his axe out of his coat, "This is the point where I kick your ass."
Charging, Spike swung the axe at the demon, but he was quick and jumped out of the way. Spike tried again, but he only hit air. Pitatch took the opportunity to kick the axe out of the vampire's hands. Recovering, Spike roundhouse kicked him in the torso, then backhanded him across the face. But he left his arm out too long, and Pitatch was able to grab it and flip him to the ground. As Spike head smacked into the ground, Pitatch jumped on his legs, pinning them to the ground. Slowly, he bent down, raising the stake above his head.
Buffy had just recovered her axe, and turned to face any new attackers, when she saw Pitatch standing over Spike, ready to stake. She ran up behind the demon, hopped onto the platform, and did a jump-kick to his back, sending him sliding across the platform.
Spike leapt onto his feet, and ran to Buffy. "You ok pet?" he asked, noticing the deep cut along her arm.
She shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle."
Quickly kissing her, he turned her in the direction of the cage. "Go destroy that fucking machine!"
As she ran off, Spike turned his attention to Pitatch, rising from the ground. Surprisingly, he was laughing.
"What's so funny?"
Picking up the stake, Pitatch grinned. "You'll understand in a few minutes."
Buffy ran into the cage. At first, she just stared at the machine, unsure of how to destroy it. Every time she got close, a bolt of lightning would escape from the metal frame.
Lost in thought, she didn't see three demons emerge out from the shadows. Two crept up behind Spike, while another went in her direction. She didn't notice until he had shut the door and locked her in.
"What the fuck . . ." she turned at the clicking sound of the lock. On the other side of the now closed door, the demon smiled, held out the key for the lock, and threw it across the room.
Panicked, she looked in Spike's direction. He was staring down Pitatch, not noticing the two guards quickly approaching him.
"SPIKE! WATCH YOUR BACK!"
Too late. As he turned, the guards grabbed his arms, pulled them behind his back, and chained them together.
"SHIT!" he screamed, desperately trying to pull his arms apart.
Pitatch came up to him. "That's what's so funny. Your pathetic ability to sense an enemy sneaking up on you." Pointing at the ground, the guards moved him into a position so that Spike now faced Buffy, fear showing through his face.
"Now William," Pitatch cackled, "You should be honored to know that you will be the first one to test my new invention." He held up his hand, revealing a stake. Except, this one was painted black. "I've been having my laborers work on this for months now, trying hard to figure out this problem: How do you make a vampire edible?" He started to advance, and Spike tried hard to shake the guards off. But, they were strong and held on. "Make a vampire edible. Almost like a riddle. I must say, your kindred aren't very tasty. Dead, rotting flesh is hardly appeasing. But, they said they found a way." He raised the stake, two feet from the vampire. "Let's see if it works."
Buffy screamed as the stake plunged into his chest. Spike's eyes grew wide, and he fell over the edge of the platform. She heard him land, then saw a cloud of dust billow from the ground.
An evil grin growing on his face, Pitatch turned his attention to the Slayer. She grasped the door, tears streaming down her face.
"Leave her there," he ordered the guards, then started to make his way out of the room. But he stopped when he heard the cage door sailed past his head, hitting the wall and crumpling onto the floor.
"Get the fuck back here!"
Timidly, he turned. She stood in the cage doorway, fists and jaw clenched in rage.
"You aren't going to leave me! If you wanna kill me, do it now!"
Pitatch turned to the demons by his side. "Kill her now," he ordered.
They started to approach her. But she glared at the guards, her eyes daring them to touch her. They froze, looked at each other, then dropped the tazers and ran out of the room.
Staring helplessly at the exit door, Pitatch turned back to Buffy. She flipped onto the platform.
"Get up here!"
Pitatch slowly walked onto the platform.
"Slayer . . ." he began.
"Shut up!"
He did.
"Look at you!" she laughed. "Without your powers or your guards, you're just a helpless demon with a machine." He watched Buffy plunge her hand into her coat pocket. "Wait," she stopped, pulling out a grenade, "Let's see if we can take the machine part away." Her other hand pulled out the pin, and she tossed the grenade into the cage behind her. Both stood their ground, not moving. Then Pitatch watched in horror as his machine burst into a thousand pieces. He went to the ground, arms covering his head for protection.
Sounds of metal hitting the ground echoed through the room. A large fire now burned where the machine had been. Buffy's back was cut with debris shards, little pieces of metal embedded in her skin, but she wasn't even hindered.
Pitatch was still cowering, and he didn't move as she walked up to him and grabbed his forearm. With both hands, she snapped his arm, and the broken bone cut through the skin. He screamed, but she ignored it, grabbing his other arm and flipping him onto his back.
"I want to tell you something my friend Anya told me," she said, crouching on the demon's stomach. Both of her hands traveled to his neck as he stared, paralyzed with fear. " 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' "
Her body pinning his to the ground, she gripped his neck, then with her Slayer strength, pulled off Pitatch's head.
@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@
Minutes passed as she stayed in that position. It felt like she had been watching someone else, like it was a movie. But, she looked into the face of the decapitated demon, and realized it was all true.
The machine was destroyed.
Pitatch was dead.
Her friends were safe.
Spike was dead.
Tossing the head away, Buffy began to bawl. Spike was dead. It made her sick with sorrow to think that.
As she cried, the cut on her arm began to hurt. Through her tears, Buffy examined the wound. It was very deep, and she had lost some blood. And her back was probably cut to hell. She would have to go to the hospital. Quickly.
Pushing the body aside, she spotted her axe, teetering on the edge of the platform. Wiping the tears away, she walked over to pick it up. But, as she reached her hand down, it fell to the floor.
"Fuck." Her voice cracked as she leaned over the edge to retrieve it. It was lying on top of a body.
She blinked her eyes rapidly when she realized it was not just a body.
It was Spike's.
Buffy shot up.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"