Angel was frantic. When the students descended the steps en masse, he knew that it was the signal for Buffy to act as bait. He absolutely hated her plan, but there hadn't been a better one. Buffy was the Slayer, and that meant she had Slayer speed. But she was still recovering from … He couldn't even form the words to describe what had happened at the mansion. She'd said she was fine. No, that was a lie. Her exact words were, "I heal fast." If Faith hadn't poisoned him, … That wasn't true. If Buffy hadn't forced him, he would never have… That also wasn't true. I've always wanted her. Except she thought I would stay because she let me … He couldn't finish this thought, either. It was one more reason to leave, one more thing to regret. Both of which he had been completely prepared to do until the school didn't blow up as planned. That meant something had happened to Buffy. And he had to know what.
His gaze swept the chaos around him. Students and vampires were engaged in vicious hand-to-hand fighting. There had been little time to prepare the graduating class of Sunnydale High. For now, the teenagers had the upper hand. The Mayor's forces had been expecting sheep, not combative and organized students. Xander had done an admirable job of coordinating the offensive attacks on the vampires. The Mayor's foot soldiers had been completely surprised. But, the vampires were physically stronger, and they had greater stamina. It was only a matter of time before they overcame the students. The number of human casualties was already climbing.
Angel caught Xander's eye and shouted, "Where's Buffy?" Xander shrugged and looked worried. A vampire grabbed Angel from behind, and the two wrestled to the ground. When Angel got up, he shook its dust from his clothes. He searched for Xander but couldn't find him.
Willow had heard the question, though. She yelled Angel's name to get his attention. "She told me to go. Then she took off running. She should've been there by now." As soon as she spoke the words, Willow guessed what had happened to her best friend. "Buffy?" she whispered and sank to her knees numbed by shock and grief. Oz screamed Willow's name just as a vampire sunk its fangs deep into her neck and sucked greedily. She didn't hear her boyfriend's inhuman howl.
Angel could only stare. He was too far away to help Willow. He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued to fight his way up the steps towards the school and Buffy.
Cordelia had an unobstructed view of the insanity at the top and bottom of the steps. She was also too far away from Willow when the redheaded teenager died. Tears welled in Cordelia's eyes. The brunette quickly brushed her hand across her face. She so didn't have time to cry. And speaking of time, there should've been a big kaboom already. She'd seen Buffy run into the school with the Mayor (or snake or whatever) racing behind her. C'mon, Buffy, what's taking so long?
There was a momentary lull in the fighting around Cordelia, and she scanned the crowd for Oz and Xander. They were both knee-deep in vampires. God, you'd think that after all this time hanging out in cemeteries with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Xander would've developed some kind of decent fighting style. What does he call that? Duck and stake?
Xander suddenly looked straight at Cordelia. "Find Buffy and Giles," he ordered over the din. Find Buffy and Giles? Sure, I can do that. I'll just ask these very nice vampires if they could please stop fighting so I can find the Vampire Slayer and, by the way, could they also help me look for Giles. I can see it now. Cordelia sighed and rolled her eyes. "OK," she mouthed back. Xander nodded and returned to the fighting. It occurred to Cordelia that he probably didn't know that Willow was dead.
There was no way she was going into that school building. She gripped her stake tightly in her hand and hugged the contours of the building as she followed it to the rear of the school grounds. She peered around the last corner and spotted the detonator and wires, but no Giles. Now what? This whole crazy plan was centered on blowing the mayor up à la volcano. She looked at the sky. The Mayor-as-demon towered over the school; his head was directly over the library. If she left now, without doing the Wiley Coyote thing, who knew when the Mayor would die. She hoped Buffy and Giles would understand. Cordelia sprinted across the lawn. The sudden movement caught the Mayor's attention and his long neck plummeted towards the girl. Oh, hell, I'm not gonna make it. May as well go out in style. Cordelia dove for the detonator just as the Mayor's jaws closed around her body. Her momentum depressed the plunger, and a fantastic explosion rocked the school.
The fighting ceased abruptly as explosions rocked Sunnydale High. Students and vampires froze and stared in awe as the building exploded and then collapsed on itself. Angel wanted to believe that Giles and Buffy had blown up the school, but the timing was wrong. He had seen Cordelia leave. Humans and demons didn't move as the dust settled. Suddenly, part of the building stirred, and the Mayor's head emerged. "Well, that wasn't very nice," he said conversationally. "In fact, that makes me really angry." It was the cue for the fighting to resume.
They had tried to plan for every contingency, including this one. "Run! Get out! Go!" yelled Xander to the remaining students. It was the signal for retreat. Angel grabbed Xander's arm at the top of the steps. "I have to find Buffy," he said.
"Yeah, I know," replied Xander, and he headed to the school. He was damned if he was going to let Buffy die like Willow. He didn't want to think about Willow. His best friend since kindergarten was dead. He'd sent his ex-girlfriend on a suicide mission. There was no way he was not going to help Deadboy find Buffy.
The Mayor spotted them immediately. If he was going to retain his new demon self, he needed to feed soon. But Angel had rejected his Faith, and that was unforgivable. As the Mayor roared towards them, Angel shoved Xander back down the steps ; the vampire ran in the opposite direction. The diversion worked. The Mayor's head whipped around and refocused on the lone figure racing towards the school. Angel disappeared into the crumbling building. The Mayor followed without a second thought. Outside, the vampires converged on the surviving humans in an orgiastic feeding frenzy.