Everyone was gathered outside the school. They were led by Buffy, Angel,
Connor, Dawn, Willow, and Xander. Tonight was the night that the Hellmouth
would open and people would die. They were all ready for it, or so they
claimed. Everyone was broken up into teams. Buffy's team, then Riley's
team, Gunn's team (which was made up of him, Tara, Oz, and a few others),
and three other teams led by a guy named Andy and the two Slayers Rachel
and Kennedy. Everyone was armed. Some had flamethrowers and others had
simple weapons like swords, crossbows, stakes, daggers, and maces. Some
even carried guns of all sizes. It was almost Graduation Day all over
again.
This was it. The battle to end all battles... At least demonically. After this, Buffy and Angel would be normal human beings. After this, there would be no need for Slayers or a Watchers Council or homeless teens to fight for their lives from demons and vampires on a nightly basis. Tonight was the night when the Hellmouth was closed for good and demons and vampires, with the exception of one, everywhere would die.
Buffy looked at Willow. "You ready for this?"
Willow looked 100 percent. She nodded. "What better way to go out of this world than to rid it of the bumps in the night and close the Hellmouth forever?"
Buffy smiled and squeezed Willow's hand. "Then let's do this." She turned to the groups behind her. "You all know what to do. This is it. Get into position." They all nodded and went into their places. Riley and Gunn's teams would be with Buffy's team. They would be inside the school while the three others guarded the outside and the outer hallways. Buffy looked at Connor. "You don't leave my side, hear me? If anything happened to you..."
"I love you mom." Connor said, hugging her tightly.
"I know. I love you too." Buffy looked at Dawn. "Be safe in there."
"There's no way I can't. I've got you for a sister." Dawn said, playfully rolling her eyes and lightly punching Buffy's shoulder.
Buffy smiled and looked at Angel. "I think it's time for us to go in with the others." She didn't need to tell him to be safe, she knew he would be.
He nodded. "I think there's someone you need to talk to before you head in there. We'll meet you in the library." Angel and Connor turned and followed Willow and the others in. Xander was walking in behind them, but Buffy grabbed his arm and stopped him. He turned. "What the... Oh, it's you."
"Xander, I don't want to go in there on bad terms." Buffy said. He didn't say anything. "This isn't easy for me. I wanted to stay with you guys through everything. I never meant for it to turn out this way. But when Connor was born, everything changed. Most especially me." Still nothing. "Xander, I'm sorry about everything. I can't change the past.... but I can change the future." With that, Buffy grabbed Xander around the neck and hugged him tightly. He stiffened and Buffy held on tighter. After a minute, he melted into it and firmly hugged her back.
Xander pulled away and looked down at her and smiled. "Damn it. I was going to use that anger on some demons. Now what do I have to go on?"
Buffy shrugged. "Love?"
"Good answer. Never would have thought of that myself. You were always the one looking on the bright side... Well, most of the time anyway." They hugged again and then turned to the school. "So Buff, it's not our twentieth reunion, but what's say we go back to school and blow it up all for old times sake, huh?"
"Works for me."
The two headed in arm in arm. The three teams were gathered in front of the library door way. The doors had been taken off their hinges and used as barricades for the bottoms of the hallways. Any demon trying to escape would trip over them and the team assigned there would take the thing out. Buffy walked to the front and looked in. It was more modern than the old library. She hadn't taken time to really look at it the last time she was in here. They'd all been a little busy fighting to stay alive. The place was a disaster area, but a team had volunteered to come out and clean up enough of the mess to make it a better battleground, so it wasn't as bad as it had been before.
Buffy turned and looked at everyone. Most of them looked downright terrified. They had every right to. This was going to be a terrible battle and they all knew that some of them wouldn't make it. Angel stood by her side. He looked completely ready for this. He should. He had always been ready for a battle. Buffy didn't think it was possible, but she loved him even more in the moment she stared at him than she had ever thought humanly possible to love someone.
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. 'I know just how you feel." He whispered. She smiled and then looked at Willow. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Willow said proudly.
"Go ahead and get set up. They know not to mess with you while you work."
Willow nodded and walked to the place where the Hellmouth was going to open. Buffy watched as the most powerful Wicca in the world prepared the space. From the mid-point of the Hellmouth, Willow walked out five paces and set down a candle made of bone and a dead Larzak demon. She turned and walked back to the middle again and then repeating the same process, the red headed Wicca set down five candles at the points of an invisible pentagram. She chanted something in Latin and then the pentagram did appear. It was made of magickal energy that had come from countless spells done over the Hellmouth itself. Willow smiled at Buffy and then walked out of the middle and stood next to the candle at the top of the pentagram. Then with a deep breath, Willow began the last spell she would ever recite.
The ground began to shake and tremble beneath their feet. Some of the people started to get scared, but not the main people. They held fast, watching Willow. She chanted and the longer she chanted, the more the ground shook. Suddenly, a fissure shot between Buffy's feet and began to open. Angel grabbed her waist and pulled her away as a demon's head erupted out from the opening and sent them flying backwards. It was the same demon that Buffy had fought twice in her high school career. It's three heads swiveled about, taking in the new surroundings. This thing was smarter than it looked. Three heads really were better than two or one for that matter. Then, as if it recognized her, all three heads jerked over in her direction and they let out a deafening scream.
Buffy shot her hands to her ears. "I think it remembers us!"
"I think it does to." Angel said, helping Buffy up off of him and getting to his feet, battle ready.
"I think it's time for this thing to die once and for all."
"No arguments here."
Buffy nodded and attacked with Angel and Connor at her side. Each took a head and started pounding the thing. More demons poured out of the Hellmouth behind them. Gunn and Riley charged their teams toward the oncoming demons. Xander was already engaged in battle with a large Karnak demon that shot knives out of its stomach. He dodged around them and kicked the demon from behind. Moving back to the demon at hand, Buffy slashed downward with her battleaxe and the head fell off. She gave a whoop and then was bucked off as the neck spasmed. Shortly after that, it died from Connor and Angel each slicing off the last two heads. They jumped down next to her and turned back to back, facing the horde of demons coming towards them.
"YIKES!" Gunn yelled. "What the hell is that?"
Buffy looked at the fissure and saw a nasty, bald headed thing coming out of the Hellmouth. It looked remotely like a vampire. "What the hell is that?" She repeated Gunn's question.
"A Turok-Han!" Dawn yelled. "Their an ancient vampire. And they're nasty too. Even regular vampires are afraid of them."
"Well, that's just spiffy!" A familiar voice said from the doorway. Buffy looked over and found Spike standing there.
"Spike?!" Buffy asked incredulously.
"Oh, you finally decided to join the group again, did ya?"
"Now isn't the time." Buffy punched one of the Turok-Han away from her. "Just join the fight yourself and we'll talk later."
"All right then luv!" Spike jumped on a nearby demon and started to pummel the thing.
Buffy lost track of everything and brought her Slayer skills and instincts to the surface. Her only thoughts were of the survival of herself and her family and friends. Nothing was going to stop her from winning. Even if she had to sacrifice herself to save one of them. Willow was deep into her spell. Her eyes flashed black then red then yellow and back. She was sweating and the determination showed on her features. Buffy hated that she was going to lose her best friend and she was powerless to stop it. In that instant as she beheaded a Turok-Han, Buffy decided that all the fighting she did this night would be in Willow's name. The red headed Wicca was the strongest and bravest person Buffy had ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Angel kept his eye on Buffy as she fought. She didn't seem to notice any of the cuts or hits that she took. The Slayer, the original Slayer, his Slayer was fighting like she never had before. For every turn or twist of her body, demons fell. Angel wasn't doing to badly himself. He wasn't as dedicated to the fight. He had no reason to be. The only reason he had to be there was to protect his wife and son. Nothing mattered to him but them. Dawn would be ok, Willow would be ok, and the others were stronger than they had ever been. Angel glanced at Connor. He was fighting with a slight smile on his face. He looked like his mother, twisting and turning and taking down any demon that dared try to harm him. Like his mother, Connor didn't seem to notice the blows that were dealt to him. Angel smiled at his little family.
Connor kicked and punched and reveled in his strength and newfound knowledge of fighting. This was the coolest thing that had ever happened to him next to being born to a Slayer and a vampire with a soul. As far as he was concerned, his parents were the coolest parents in the universe. They had saved the world time and time again. His mother had died saving the world. She had sacrificed herself for the world. There was no one on this earth that could ever live up to his mother, Buffy Anne Summers- Callaghan and his father Liam "Angel" Callaghan. And there was no one luckier than Connor because he was Connor Angel Callaghan, son of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Vampire With a Soul. With a whoop, Connor through himself at a fairly large demon and started pounding the thing to death.
Buffy glanced at Willow again. The strain was really showing on her face now and sweat covered her body. She looked as if she were in pain, but her eyes, even though they flashed different colors, said that she was calm and reserved and even the pain wasn't touching her. The red head noticed Buffy and nodded, adding a smile to her face. Buffy kicked a demon away from the candles and nodded back at Willow.
"Buffy! Cover your eyes damn it!" Dawn yelled.
Buffy looked over and saw Dawn starting to do her glow thing. Obviously this one was going to be big. Angel and Connor had their eyes closed, ready for the flash. Buffy closed her eyes and listened to the movement around her. She still fought with anything that attacked. Then there was a bright flash in front of her eyelids and she opened her eyes. There were only demons left now. Even the Turok-Han hadn't survived Dawn's insta-sun thing. Buffy smiled at her sister as she backed into a corner and allowed a protective shield to cover herself as she regenerated.
Angel opened his eyes and got back to work fighting the demons. There were no more vampires to deal with. Spike looked to be ok. Dawn had protected him from the vampire killing light. Angel ducked kicks and punches from a large demon and then ran it through with his sword. It yelped and fell to the ground where Angel beheaded it. He looked over at Buffy again to see if she was ok. She was fighting spectacularly, but she didn't see the demon that snuck up behind her with the large bolt sword. He tried to yell out her name, but Willow's scream cut him off.
Behind Buffy, Willow let out a scream and then, as her spell completed with a flash, she fell over. Buffy felt the sword embed itself in her stomach. She looked down to see blood pour out of the wound as the sword was ripped out again. Turning to see what had stabbed her, she found a decapitated demon and Gunn's face filling her vision as Buffy fell to her knees, gripping her stomach. Pain hit her and a single tear rolled down her face before the world went black and Angel yelled her name.
This was it. The battle to end all battles... At least demonically. After this, Buffy and Angel would be normal human beings. After this, there would be no need for Slayers or a Watchers Council or homeless teens to fight for their lives from demons and vampires on a nightly basis. Tonight was the night when the Hellmouth was closed for good and demons and vampires, with the exception of one, everywhere would die.
Buffy looked at Willow. "You ready for this?"
Willow looked 100 percent. She nodded. "What better way to go out of this world than to rid it of the bumps in the night and close the Hellmouth forever?"
Buffy smiled and squeezed Willow's hand. "Then let's do this." She turned to the groups behind her. "You all know what to do. This is it. Get into position." They all nodded and went into their places. Riley and Gunn's teams would be with Buffy's team. They would be inside the school while the three others guarded the outside and the outer hallways. Buffy looked at Connor. "You don't leave my side, hear me? If anything happened to you..."
"I love you mom." Connor said, hugging her tightly.
"I know. I love you too." Buffy looked at Dawn. "Be safe in there."
"There's no way I can't. I've got you for a sister." Dawn said, playfully rolling her eyes and lightly punching Buffy's shoulder.
Buffy smiled and looked at Angel. "I think it's time for us to go in with the others." She didn't need to tell him to be safe, she knew he would be.
He nodded. "I think there's someone you need to talk to before you head in there. We'll meet you in the library." Angel and Connor turned and followed Willow and the others in. Xander was walking in behind them, but Buffy grabbed his arm and stopped him. He turned. "What the... Oh, it's you."
"Xander, I don't want to go in there on bad terms." Buffy said. He didn't say anything. "This isn't easy for me. I wanted to stay with you guys through everything. I never meant for it to turn out this way. But when Connor was born, everything changed. Most especially me." Still nothing. "Xander, I'm sorry about everything. I can't change the past.... but I can change the future." With that, Buffy grabbed Xander around the neck and hugged him tightly. He stiffened and Buffy held on tighter. After a minute, he melted into it and firmly hugged her back.
Xander pulled away and looked down at her and smiled. "Damn it. I was going to use that anger on some demons. Now what do I have to go on?"
Buffy shrugged. "Love?"
"Good answer. Never would have thought of that myself. You were always the one looking on the bright side... Well, most of the time anyway." They hugged again and then turned to the school. "So Buff, it's not our twentieth reunion, but what's say we go back to school and blow it up all for old times sake, huh?"
"Works for me."
The two headed in arm in arm. The three teams were gathered in front of the library door way. The doors had been taken off their hinges and used as barricades for the bottoms of the hallways. Any demon trying to escape would trip over them and the team assigned there would take the thing out. Buffy walked to the front and looked in. It was more modern than the old library. She hadn't taken time to really look at it the last time she was in here. They'd all been a little busy fighting to stay alive. The place was a disaster area, but a team had volunteered to come out and clean up enough of the mess to make it a better battleground, so it wasn't as bad as it had been before.
Buffy turned and looked at everyone. Most of them looked downright terrified. They had every right to. This was going to be a terrible battle and they all knew that some of them wouldn't make it. Angel stood by her side. He looked completely ready for this. He should. He had always been ready for a battle. Buffy didn't think it was possible, but she loved him even more in the moment she stared at him than she had ever thought humanly possible to love someone.
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. 'I know just how you feel." He whispered. She smiled and then looked at Willow. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Willow said proudly.
"Go ahead and get set up. They know not to mess with you while you work."
Willow nodded and walked to the place where the Hellmouth was going to open. Buffy watched as the most powerful Wicca in the world prepared the space. From the mid-point of the Hellmouth, Willow walked out five paces and set down a candle made of bone and a dead Larzak demon. She turned and walked back to the middle again and then repeating the same process, the red headed Wicca set down five candles at the points of an invisible pentagram. She chanted something in Latin and then the pentagram did appear. It was made of magickal energy that had come from countless spells done over the Hellmouth itself. Willow smiled at Buffy and then walked out of the middle and stood next to the candle at the top of the pentagram. Then with a deep breath, Willow began the last spell she would ever recite.
The ground began to shake and tremble beneath their feet. Some of the people started to get scared, but not the main people. They held fast, watching Willow. She chanted and the longer she chanted, the more the ground shook. Suddenly, a fissure shot between Buffy's feet and began to open. Angel grabbed her waist and pulled her away as a demon's head erupted out from the opening and sent them flying backwards. It was the same demon that Buffy had fought twice in her high school career. It's three heads swiveled about, taking in the new surroundings. This thing was smarter than it looked. Three heads really were better than two or one for that matter. Then, as if it recognized her, all three heads jerked over in her direction and they let out a deafening scream.
Buffy shot her hands to her ears. "I think it remembers us!"
"I think it does to." Angel said, helping Buffy up off of him and getting to his feet, battle ready.
"I think it's time for this thing to die once and for all."
"No arguments here."
Buffy nodded and attacked with Angel and Connor at her side. Each took a head and started pounding the thing. More demons poured out of the Hellmouth behind them. Gunn and Riley charged their teams toward the oncoming demons. Xander was already engaged in battle with a large Karnak demon that shot knives out of its stomach. He dodged around them and kicked the demon from behind. Moving back to the demon at hand, Buffy slashed downward with her battleaxe and the head fell off. She gave a whoop and then was bucked off as the neck spasmed. Shortly after that, it died from Connor and Angel each slicing off the last two heads. They jumped down next to her and turned back to back, facing the horde of demons coming towards them.
"YIKES!" Gunn yelled. "What the hell is that?"
Buffy looked at the fissure and saw a nasty, bald headed thing coming out of the Hellmouth. It looked remotely like a vampire. "What the hell is that?" She repeated Gunn's question.
"A Turok-Han!" Dawn yelled. "Their an ancient vampire. And they're nasty too. Even regular vampires are afraid of them."
"Well, that's just spiffy!" A familiar voice said from the doorway. Buffy looked over and found Spike standing there.
"Spike?!" Buffy asked incredulously.
"Oh, you finally decided to join the group again, did ya?"
"Now isn't the time." Buffy punched one of the Turok-Han away from her. "Just join the fight yourself and we'll talk later."
"All right then luv!" Spike jumped on a nearby demon and started to pummel the thing.
Buffy lost track of everything and brought her Slayer skills and instincts to the surface. Her only thoughts were of the survival of herself and her family and friends. Nothing was going to stop her from winning. Even if she had to sacrifice herself to save one of them. Willow was deep into her spell. Her eyes flashed black then red then yellow and back. She was sweating and the determination showed on her features. Buffy hated that she was going to lose her best friend and she was powerless to stop it. In that instant as she beheaded a Turok-Han, Buffy decided that all the fighting she did this night would be in Willow's name. The red headed Wicca was the strongest and bravest person Buffy had ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Angel kept his eye on Buffy as she fought. She didn't seem to notice any of the cuts or hits that she took. The Slayer, the original Slayer, his Slayer was fighting like she never had before. For every turn or twist of her body, demons fell. Angel wasn't doing to badly himself. He wasn't as dedicated to the fight. He had no reason to be. The only reason he had to be there was to protect his wife and son. Nothing mattered to him but them. Dawn would be ok, Willow would be ok, and the others were stronger than they had ever been. Angel glanced at Connor. He was fighting with a slight smile on his face. He looked like his mother, twisting and turning and taking down any demon that dared try to harm him. Like his mother, Connor didn't seem to notice the blows that were dealt to him. Angel smiled at his little family.
Connor kicked and punched and reveled in his strength and newfound knowledge of fighting. This was the coolest thing that had ever happened to him next to being born to a Slayer and a vampire with a soul. As far as he was concerned, his parents were the coolest parents in the universe. They had saved the world time and time again. His mother had died saving the world. She had sacrificed herself for the world. There was no one on this earth that could ever live up to his mother, Buffy Anne Summers- Callaghan and his father Liam "Angel" Callaghan. And there was no one luckier than Connor because he was Connor Angel Callaghan, son of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Vampire With a Soul. With a whoop, Connor through himself at a fairly large demon and started pounding the thing to death.
Buffy glanced at Willow again. The strain was really showing on her face now and sweat covered her body. She looked as if she were in pain, but her eyes, even though they flashed different colors, said that she was calm and reserved and even the pain wasn't touching her. The red head noticed Buffy and nodded, adding a smile to her face. Buffy kicked a demon away from the candles and nodded back at Willow.
"Buffy! Cover your eyes damn it!" Dawn yelled.
Buffy looked over and saw Dawn starting to do her glow thing. Obviously this one was going to be big. Angel and Connor had their eyes closed, ready for the flash. Buffy closed her eyes and listened to the movement around her. She still fought with anything that attacked. Then there was a bright flash in front of her eyelids and she opened her eyes. There were only demons left now. Even the Turok-Han hadn't survived Dawn's insta-sun thing. Buffy smiled at her sister as she backed into a corner and allowed a protective shield to cover herself as she regenerated.
Angel opened his eyes and got back to work fighting the demons. There were no more vampires to deal with. Spike looked to be ok. Dawn had protected him from the vampire killing light. Angel ducked kicks and punches from a large demon and then ran it through with his sword. It yelped and fell to the ground where Angel beheaded it. He looked over at Buffy again to see if she was ok. She was fighting spectacularly, but she didn't see the demon that snuck up behind her with the large bolt sword. He tried to yell out her name, but Willow's scream cut him off.
Behind Buffy, Willow let out a scream and then, as her spell completed with a flash, she fell over. Buffy felt the sword embed itself in her stomach. She looked down to see blood pour out of the wound as the sword was ripped out again. Turning to see what had stabbed her, she found a decapitated demon and Gunn's face filling her vision as Buffy fell to her knees, gripping her stomach. Pain hit her and a single tear rolled down her face before the world went black and Angel yelled her name.
