The group started at the newcomer in shock. They all knew directly or at
least indirectly about the great Buffy the vampire slayer. Some of them,
particularly Willow, Angel and Giles, suspected Buffy to be in a latest
state of depression but none of them could have expected her to vanish so
suddenly. It just didn't seem like her to disappear and abandon her
friends to their fates.
Angel noticed the looks of disbelief on the faces of the others and nodded, "I know this doesn't seem like her, but Buffy's different. She's not the same person that left Sunnydale. I just tried to talk to her, but she refused to acknowledge me and told me that she was leaving."
Willow found the news especially distressing since Buffy was her best friend and she seized Kennedy's hand in a tight squeeze. Giles raised an eyebrow as he struggled to accept what Angel had just relayed to the crowd. Looks of astonishment passed amongst the slayers in training and the fang gang.
Faith erupted, "What are you talking about? B would never do anything of the sort!" She fought back tears of anger and frustration as her voice quavered in fury.
"Good riddance," grumbled Dawn, who decided to hide her sorrow by expressing insults about her sister, "I guess she just decided it was time to stop saving the world and let everyone else die while she goes off and cries about her stupid Spike."
"Dawn!" Willow snapped at the younger brunette. "How dare you say such a thing? She is your sister!"
Angel tried to comfort the despairing crowd, "I tried to stop but she was just not Buffy. I let her go because she didn't want to even hold a pleasant conversation with me.she even informed me that her friends hated her and she had none, the only friend she ever had was-.and he's gone, so she's leaving." He tried to restrain himself from losing it in front of them, but deaf ears heard his reassurances.
"Great! Just great! Buffy decides to go through a psychological crisis when another big bad rears his ugly face and is about to destroy us all! It never fails!" Xander shouted as he stormed off towards the rooms upstairs.
"Xander, after all the things she did for you? After all the times she saved us from some evil or even ourselves? And yet you still remain ungrateful? I honestly don't believe this," Giles retorted back, his stern British features tearstained.
Wesley and Fred looked at each other and tried to promise reassurances to the group, but the lobby group dispersed to their respective rooms or to the lounge to wallow in misery or frustration. Soon, all the people left were Faith, Fred, Wesley, Willow, Kennedy and Angel. Willow was in tears while her shorter lover held her hand and tried to soothe her acute distress while Wesley paced about the room. Angel and Faith were the hardest hit by the loss of Buffy, they remembered how she continued to believe in them ironically after both of them caused her terrible misery and tried to kill her in cold blood. Angel tried to walk over to Faith in an attempt to reach the stubborn raven-haired beauty in her leather ensemble, but Faith remained rooted to her spot and refused to listen to the tall vampire. Fred let out a loud sigh and held up her hands.
"I know I'm as upset as all of you, but we need to regroup and prepare for battle. Buffy might have left us, but Micah Luke and his followers sure have not, in fact they're probably marching on this position right now with the sole intention of killing us all and razing this place to the ground. It might be beneficial if we stop brooding and start fighting." Fred had tired of the constant sermons she had to preach for the past few hours, especially with the newly arrived contingent from the former town of Sunnydale.
Wesley joined her, "Fred's right, I'll go try to rally the others. No telling when Luke and his followers will be here. And these are humans we're up against, not demons, which makes the job harder since most of us haven't fought humans before." He emphasized the most while staring at Faith, Willow and Angel, all of whom had dark histories concerning human bloodshed.
"What's that supposed to mean 'most of us'?" Faith asked skeptically.
Willow interrupted her, "I'll go with Wesley and try to gather the others, Kennedy, Angel and Faith, we're going to need scouts on patrol to warn us when this army will be upon us."
"Can do," Angel nodded and he whirled around and tramped outside the comfortable shelter of the Hyperion into the bleak California night.
Willow, Fred and Wesley ran throughout the Hyperion, trying to assemble a defense force against the ever-looming threat. Pole arms, axes, swords, crossbows and other hand-to-hand weapons were distributed amongst the fang gang, the potential slayers and the scoobies. Several potentials approached Wesley armed with stakes. He shook his head and handed them some edged weapons from the chest he was carrying.
"I'm afraid there aren't any vampires tonight."
"Well, then what type of demons are we up against?" one of the potentials asked, a really tall blonde haired girl who spoke in a heavy southern drawl.
Wesley hesitated for a second to answer her question, then he shrugged his shoulders and answered nonchalantly, "there are no demons, only humans."
He left the potentials to ponder his words and he ran over to the lounge to warn Giles and the others.
Meanwhile, Kennedy and Faith followed Angel. They matched the vampire's movements but kept a slower pace and always remained a few steps behind him. Faith gazed over at her sister slayer. Kennedy was dressed in blue jeans and a lime colored t-shirt, a slightly more conservative style than Faith. Faith chuckled at the thought but immediately turned her thoughts to more important matters.
For the past few hours, her thoughts had kept wandering over to La Morte. It seemed so ironic that the fiery hatred that had consumed them had so suddenly been transformed into fervent passion. It reminded her once again of Buffy, who despised and hated the platinum blonde vampire punk in a leather duster but ended up falling head over heels for his British charm and his dangerous attitude. Maybe B was right; she and Faith weren't that much different, only she was darker in alignment and more passionate in disposition than the shorter blonde. She had previously enjoyed a fling with Robin Wood, the sex was enthralling but he didn't quite have the spark, the wit, the battle skills or the strength of La Morte. Angellus was nothing compared to La Morte, the dark-haired, bearded, scruffy form embellished by the glistening suit of black armor and the billowing black cloak surely topped the inhuman viciousness of Angel's darker demon side.
Faith knew she had an attraction to evil, worse than her blonde counterpart. After all, it was she who betrayed her friends for the compassionate paternalism offered by the Mayor. He was a father figure to her, respected her and treated her like she wasn't just some raging slut. But her devotion for the mayor inspired her to commit vile acts, such as murdering innocent humans and trying to kill both Xander, Buffy and Angel and of course help the mayor in his scheme for world domination. Buffy always believed in her even when they were fighting outside Faith's apartment, a brawl that ended with a knife in Faith's abdomen that sent her in a coma for a year. Then, she returned with a vengeance and wrought havoc in both Sunnydale and La, inflicting more misery on her former friends who had sheltered her and treated her like an equal and it was all for jealousy and hatred. Those two darker sides of passion almost destroyed her but she overcame her evil half and reformed. Still, she knew secretly that she still possessed the same brutality and murderous instincts only she just knew how to restrain herself and conceal such thoughts better than she could several years ago.
And La Morte seemed like her true love, he was just like her. A dark, malevolent personality filled with passion and addicted to danger and violence. She knew where she would go tonight and her attraction towards the black knight outweighed her responsibility to the others. Faith even figured that she could somehow extract information from the dark demon and angel childe by making him her boy-toy like all the other guys she met. Yet, he was different than the others, this one would not be her boy-toy, in fact the probability was greater that he was powerful enough to make her his toy. And in her own little screwed up brain, she loved it and she lusted for him, for his body without the menacing armor. And she would have it. Her thought snapped to figuring out a way to discreetly escape from the monotony of patrolling and pay a visit to her Catholic friend.
"Kennedy, Angel, I think we'd cover more ground if we split up. You guys should take the East side and patrol around there and I'll watch the West side for any sign of fanatic activity. I'll call you on your cell if I spot anything and vice-versa. We'll meet back regardless in three hours, all right? Sound good to you guys?" Faith spoke slowly, to assure Angel and Kennedy that she was not up to the surreptitious plan she had so recently concocted.
They believed her lie and concurred, running off towards their end of the neighborhood while Faith sprinted off with a huge smirk on her face. She remembered the location of their first violent rendezvous and Faith decided that Robert would probably be there.
Inside the church, Micah Luke amassed his followers. There were hundreds, thousands of them standing in the pews or clustering inside the church. He smiled as he hurled communion water into the masses. When he finished, he clapped his hands to attract the crowd's attention and then relayed his orders.
"You all have a mission tonight, you shall march in the direction of the Hyperion but shall wait to carry out your assault until I arrive. My little ceremony is necessary for the success of our mission and I shall meet you in the park a mile away from the Hyperion. I'm afraid I will be unable to accompany you as you carry out the first stage of our plan against the infidels but I must prepare for a second ceremony with a necessary ingredient you must extract from our friends," he grinned viciously as he contemplated the thought.
"Her name is Dawn Summers and she is the Key that will allow us to secure our victory!"
The crowd repeated, "Her name is Dawn Summers and she is the Key!" Their gaunt faces grimaced with dreams of victory and bloodlust. They quieted and awaited their shepherd's further guidance.
"My congregation, in precisely three hours you shall march on the Hyperion hotel, destroy our enemies and bring back the Key. I shall be prepared by then and rest assured, God shall grant me the strength to destroy the infidels and scourge this world of corruption. The righteous shall reign and the damned shall be punished," he said each word emphatically, pausing between each one to allow them to sink into the impressionable minds of his flock. They all nodded their heads and understood their mission.
"Our mass is ended, let us go in war to destroy the infidels and fulfill our prayers to bring judgment upon this evil world!" Micah's voice reached a crescendo and he began cackling evilly, glancing over at the elite guard compliments of the Pope that stood beside him. Their leader, a steely eyed, tall South African with swarthy skin and dressed in a red and white, flowing cloak complete with a red cross on a white background on his breastplate although he wore no armor otherwise, stared back at him with an expression of sole loyalty to him on his face. Micah Luke used his powers of persuasion to influence the Pope into sending his best soldiers to aid him in his righteous Crusade, now with them as his obedient followers, he planned to use them as the nucleus of his army. He allowed his congregation to file out and then he strutted over to the leader and the other men, who were dressed in black cloaks with red crosses on the center of their cloaks. They all carried swords and polearms while their commander hefted a massive curved blade. Luke's cold blue eyes met the brown eyes of the South African.
"And the Lord said unto Gideon, that he should defeat the great host of foes circling around his pitiful army. And so shall you, Gideon, like the Lord said, bring justice to our enemies," he patted the man on the back. The man returned the pat by beating his chest with an abrupt motion.
"I have no masters but Micah Luke and I shall lead the righteous flock to victory tonight," his face showed no emotion other than loyalty.
"Good, but now where is my liege Robert La Morte? I told him to be here, alas, I'm sure he is battling them as we speak and shall meet up with you at the designated time. Now, you'll have to excuse me, I have to become a champion of God right now," he motioned for them to leave. He smiled as they marched out of the room, confident of his assured victory.
Robert La Morte returned to the church where he had taken up temporary residence. There, he stripped himself of the shotgun, assault rifle and pistols he carried and deposited them in a secure locker concealed under the altar. He kneeled for a moment and prayed silently to God for what seemed like an eternity. However, his prayer was broken by the sound of loud footsteps entering the church. He jumped up and swiveled around to face the raven-haired beauty dressed in a red & black leather ensemble standing only a few feet away from him.
"Hiya R, remember me?" Faith grinned and wet her lips with her tongue in a titillating manner.
Robert La Morte tossed aside his sword and his cloak to reveal his face. He closed in on her and they embraced, falling to the floor in a passionate heap as they made love among the pews to the light of the prayer candles flickering to the sides of the church.
Angel noticed the looks of disbelief on the faces of the others and nodded, "I know this doesn't seem like her, but Buffy's different. She's not the same person that left Sunnydale. I just tried to talk to her, but she refused to acknowledge me and told me that she was leaving."
Willow found the news especially distressing since Buffy was her best friend and she seized Kennedy's hand in a tight squeeze. Giles raised an eyebrow as he struggled to accept what Angel had just relayed to the crowd. Looks of astonishment passed amongst the slayers in training and the fang gang.
Faith erupted, "What are you talking about? B would never do anything of the sort!" She fought back tears of anger and frustration as her voice quavered in fury.
"Good riddance," grumbled Dawn, who decided to hide her sorrow by expressing insults about her sister, "I guess she just decided it was time to stop saving the world and let everyone else die while she goes off and cries about her stupid Spike."
"Dawn!" Willow snapped at the younger brunette. "How dare you say such a thing? She is your sister!"
Angel tried to comfort the despairing crowd, "I tried to stop but she was just not Buffy. I let her go because she didn't want to even hold a pleasant conversation with me.she even informed me that her friends hated her and she had none, the only friend she ever had was-.and he's gone, so she's leaving." He tried to restrain himself from losing it in front of them, but deaf ears heard his reassurances.
"Great! Just great! Buffy decides to go through a psychological crisis when another big bad rears his ugly face and is about to destroy us all! It never fails!" Xander shouted as he stormed off towards the rooms upstairs.
"Xander, after all the things she did for you? After all the times she saved us from some evil or even ourselves? And yet you still remain ungrateful? I honestly don't believe this," Giles retorted back, his stern British features tearstained.
Wesley and Fred looked at each other and tried to promise reassurances to the group, but the lobby group dispersed to their respective rooms or to the lounge to wallow in misery or frustration. Soon, all the people left were Faith, Fred, Wesley, Willow, Kennedy and Angel. Willow was in tears while her shorter lover held her hand and tried to soothe her acute distress while Wesley paced about the room. Angel and Faith were the hardest hit by the loss of Buffy, they remembered how she continued to believe in them ironically after both of them caused her terrible misery and tried to kill her in cold blood. Angel tried to walk over to Faith in an attempt to reach the stubborn raven-haired beauty in her leather ensemble, but Faith remained rooted to her spot and refused to listen to the tall vampire. Fred let out a loud sigh and held up her hands.
"I know I'm as upset as all of you, but we need to regroup and prepare for battle. Buffy might have left us, but Micah Luke and his followers sure have not, in fact they're probably marching on this position right now with the sole intention of killing us all and razing this place to the ground. It might be beneficial if we stop brooding and start fighting." Fred had tired of the constant sermons she had to preach for the past few hours, especially with the newly arrived contingent from the former town of Sunnydale.
Wesley joined her, "Fred's right, I'll go try to rally the others. No telling when Luke and his followers will be here. And these are humans we're up against, not demons, which makes the job harder since most of us haven't fought humans before." He emphasized the most while staring at Faith, Willow and Angel, all of whom had dark histories concerning human bloodshed.
"What's that supposed to mean 'most of us'?" Faith asked skeptically.
Willow interrupted her, "I'll go with Wesley and try to gather the others, Kennedy, Angel and Faith, we're going to need scouts on patrol to warn us when this army will be upon us."
"Can do," Angel nodded and he whirled around and tramped outside the comfortable shelter of the Hyperion into the bleak California night.
Willow, Fred and Wesley ran throughout the Hyperion, trying to assemble a defense force against the ever-looming threat. Pole arms, axes, swords, crossbows and other hand-to-hand weapons were distributed amongst the fang gang, the potential slayers and the scoobies. Several potentials approached Wesley armed with stakes. He shook his head and handed them some edged weapons from the chest he was carrying.
"I'm afraid there aren't any vampires tonight."
"Well, then what type of demons are we up against?" one of the potentials asked, a really tall blonde haired girl who spoke in a heavy southern drawl.
Wesley hesitated for a second to answer her question, then he shrugged his shoulders and answered nonchalantly, "there are no demons, only humans."
He left the potentials to ponder his words and he ran over to the lounge to warn Giles and the others.
Meanwhile, Kennedy and Faith followed Angel. They matched the vampire's movements but kept a slower pace and always remained a few steps behind him. Faith gazed over at her sister slayer. Kennedy was dressed in blue jeans and a lime colored t-shirt, a slightly more conservative style than Faith. Faith chuckled at the thought but immediately turned her thoughts to more important matters.
For the past few hours, her thoughts had kept wandering over to La Morte. It seemed so ironic that the fiery hatred that had consumed them had so suddenly been transformed into fervent passion. It reminded her once again of Buffy, who despised and hated the platinum blonde vampire punk in a leather duster but ended up falling head over heels for his British charm and his dangerous attitude. Maybe B was right; she and Faith weren't that much different, only she was darker in alignment and more passionate in disposition than the shorter blonde. She had previously enjoyed a fling with Robin Wood, the sex was enthralling but he didn't quite have the spark, the wit, the battle skills or the strength of La Morte. Angellus was nothing compared to La Morte, the dark-haired, bearded, scruffy form embellished by the glistening suit of black armor and the billowing black cloak surely topped the inhuman viciousness of Angel's darker demon side.
Faith knew she had an attraction to evil, worse than her blonde counterpart. After all, it was she who betrayed her friends for the compassionate paternalism offered by the Mayor. He was a father figure to her, respected her and treated her like she wasn't just some raging slut. But her devotion for the mayor inspired her to commit vile acts, such as murdering innocent humans and trying to kill both Xander, Buffy and Angel and of course help the mayor in his scheme for world domination. Buffy always believed in her even when they were fighting outside Faith's apartment, a brawl that ended with a knife in Faith's abdomen that sent her in a coma for a year. Then, she returned with a vengeance and wrought havoc in both Sunnydale and La, inflicting more misery on her former friends who had sheltered her and treated her like an equal and it was all for jealousy and hatred. Those two darker sides of passion almost destroyed her but she overcame her evil half and reformed. Still, she knew secretly that she still possessed the same brutality and murderous instincts only she just knew how to restrain herself and conceal such thoughts better than she could several years ago.
And La Morte seemed like her true love, he was just like her. A dark, malevolent personality filled with passion and addicted to danger and violence. She knew where she would go tonight and her attraction towards the black knight outweighed her responsibility to the others. Faith even figured that she could somehow extract information from the dark demon and angel childe by making him her boy-toy like all the other guys she met. Yet, he was different than the others, this one would not be her boy-toy, in fact the probability was greater that he was powerful enough to make her his toy. And in her own little screwed up brain, she loved it and she lusted for him, for his body without the menacing armor. And she would have it. Her thought snapped to figuring out a way to discreetly escape from the monotony of patrolling and pay a visit to her Catholic friend.
"Kennedy, Angel, I think we'd cover more ground if we split up. You guys should take the East side and patrol around there and I'll watch the West side for any sign of fanatic activity. I'll call you on your cell if I spot anything and vice-versa. We'll meet back regardless in three hours, all right? Sound good to you guys?" Faith spoke slowly, to assure Angel and Kennedy that she was not up to the surreptitious plan she had so recently concocted.
They believed her lie and concurred, running off towards their end of the neighborhood while Faith sprinted off with a huge smirk on her face. She remembered the location of their first violent rendezvous and Faith decided that Robert would probably be there.
Inside the church, Micah Luke amassed his followers. There were hundreds, thousands of them standing in the pews or clustering inside the church. He smiled as he hurled communion water into the masses. When he finished, he clapped his hands to attract the crowd's attention and then relayed his orders.
"You all have a mission tonight, you shall march in the direction of the Hyperion but shall wait to carry out your assault until I arrive. My little ceremony is necessary for the success of our mission and I shall meet you in the park a mile away from the Hyperion. I'm afraid I will be unable to accompany you as you carry out the first stage of our plan against the infidels but I must prepare for a second ceremony with a necessary ingredient you must extract from our friends," he grinned viciously as he contemplated the thought.
"Her name is Dawn Summers and she is the Key that will allow us to secure our victory!"
The crowd repeated, "Her name is Dawn Summers and she is the Key!" Their gaunt faces grimaced with dreams of victory and bloodlust. They quieted and awaited their shepherd's further guidance.
"My congregation, in precisely three hours you shall march on the Hyperion hotel, destroy our enemies and bring back the Key. I shall be prepared by then and rest assured, God shall grant me the strength to destroy the infidels and scourge this world of corruption. The righteous shall reign and the damned shall be punished," he said each word emphatically, pausing between each one to allow them to sink into the impressionable minds of his flock. They all nodded their heads and understood their mission.
"Our mass is ended, let us go in war to destroy the infidels and fulfill our prayers to bring judgment upon this evil world!" Micah's voice reached a crescendo and he began cackling evilly, glancing over at the elite guard compliments of the Pope that stood beside him. Their leader, a steely eyed, tall South African with swarthy skin and dressed in a red and white, flowing cloak complete with a red cross on a white background on his breastplate although he wore no armor otherwise, stared back at him with an expression of sole loyalty to him on his face. Micah Luke used his powers of persuasion to influence the Pope into sending his best soldiers to aid him in his righteous Crusade, now with them as his obedient followers, he planned to use them as the nucleus of his army. He allowed his congregation to file out and then he strutted over to the leader and the other men, who were dressed in black cloaks with red crosses on the center of their cloaks. They all carried swords and polearms while their commander hefted a massive curved blade. Luke's cold blue eyes met the brown eyes of the South African.
"And the Lord said unto Gideon, that he should defeat the great host of foes circling around his pitiful army. And so shall you, Gideon, like the Lord said, bring justice to our enemies," he patted the man on the back. The man returned the pat by beating his chest with an abrupt motion.
"I have no masters but Micah Luke and I shall lead the righteous flock to victory tonight," his face showed no emotion other than loyalty.
"Good, but now where is my liege Robert La Morte? I told him to be here, alas, I'm sure he is battling them as we speak and shall meet up with you at the designated time. Now, you'll have to excuse me, I have to become a champion of God right now," he motioned for them to leave. He smiled as they marched out of the room, confident of his assured victory.
Robert La Morte returned to the church where he had taken up temporary residence. There, he stripped himself of the shotgun, assault rifle and pistols he carried and deposited them in a secure locker concealed under the altar. He kneeled for a moment and prayed silently to God for what seemed like an eternity. However, his prayer was broken by the sound of loud footsteps entering the church. He jumped up and swiveled around to face the raven-haired beauty dressed in a red & black leather ensemble standing only a few feet away from him.
"Hiya R, remember me?" Faith grinned and wet her lips with her tongue in a titillating manner.
Robert La Morte tossed aside his sword and his cloak to reveal his face. He closed in on her and they embraced, falling to the floor in a passionate heap as they made love among the pews to the light of the prayer candles flickering to the sides of the church.
