"I knew you'd come," La Morte hissed slowly as he reared himself up to his
full height. He looked over at Faith, who stood in a fighting stance by
his side. She had never looked more beautiful, with her raven hair, her
fiery brown ears, her luscious body and her warrior spirit stood out more
than ever. If it involved him, it involved her.
"Faith," snarled Buffy, "so typical of you to be screwing the enemy while your friends die at his hands." She stood opposite Faith by Angel, Gideon's scimitar in her hands.
"Sorry B, guess I wasn't cut out for your lot, but no worries, I found my own dark, brooding boyfriend. And you know what? He's not a bloodsucker, which is more than what I can say for you."
"You leave Spike out of this, you're not fit to even mention his name," Buffy's eyes narrowed as she tensed to lunge right at Faith and put an end to the dark slayer once and for all. Her free hand clenched into a fist as she imagined smashing Faith's face in.
Giles spoke up, "I thought you were a new woman Faith, the old murderous traitor was gone. Unfortunately, it seems my hopes for you were a bit idealistic. It seems some people never do change indeed." He remained the most stoic of the group, but his eyes bored into Faith as he gripped his ax with a firm hand.
"I guess you were wrong G, but I admit I was beginning to tire of the good fight," Faith grinned, "so are we here for a talk or a battle? C'mon!" She danced back and forth, daring her former friends to come attack her.
"We never should have trusted you!" shouted Wesley, who held a crossbow in his arms and pointed it straight at Faith. "I knew you were still the same lying slut I left in Sunnydale!" His face showed pure rage as Wesley gritted his teeth and stared down the sights of the weapon and raised his free hand by the trigger.
"Woah there, Wesley I would watch it if I were you, you could shoot your eye out with that thing," Faith gleefully chuckled, "and for your information, you couldn't even take me if you had the whole Scooby gang with you and you don't have a chance with my man here."
She was interrupted by a loud guffaw from Angel, who had remained strangely silent during the heated exchange. Angel shook his head and hefted a broadsword that he was carrying with one hand. He spoke, with pure malice in his voice, "your man killed Wood, Gunn, Fred and Connor and almost killed Willow and Oz. Now it seems a bit strange to me that you're with him, but nevertheless, I really could care less right now. If you want to die with La Morte, that's perfectly fine with me."
The rival groups stared at each other for what seemed to be the longest time. Buffy, Angel and Wesley stared at Buffy and La Morte with complete hatred in their eyes. Faith was gleaming with joy and bloodlust; she had reverted back to her violent self, her sensitive side dissipating as battle drew near. Giles glanced at Faith like a wounded dog whose master had betrayed him. La Morte stood beside Faith, his head down and staring at the floor beneath him. He had a vacant expression on his face, free of any emotion or pain. It was as if he had withdrawn from the world.
The silence was broken by a shout from Angel as he rushed forward at La Morte, swinging his blade high above his head in a cutting motion. Instantly, La Morte stepped backwards and brought up his claymore to parry the blow.
Buffy took Angel's attack as a signal and ran straight at Faith, screaming "traitorous bitch!" at the top of her lungs. The attack took Faith somewhat by surprise, but her slayer instincts helped her react quickly to Buffy's assault. Faith blocked Buffy's slash with her dagger, wincing as steel collided against steel. Slayer fought slayer while the black knight fought the souled vampire as the sounds of battle reverberated throughout the church.
Wesley kneeled and aimed the crossbow at La Morte, trying to secure a perfect shot which was made impossible by the swift movements of the two combatants. Giles stared at Wesley and then back to the twin battles taking place at the church. "Shoot him!" he cried at Wesley when he saw La Morte knock Angel's sword out of his hands with a powerful thrust with the claymore.
Wesley took his opportunity and fired. "NO!" Faith screamed, glancing over at the black figure of her lover as she took a brief respite from her battle with Buffy.
La Morte watched the bolt sail towards him and he made a quick backflip to dodge the imcoming missile. The arrow buried itself in the wall behind him, beheading a statue of a saint and imbedding itself in the plaster. Wesley fumbled with the crossbow as he tried to reload. La Morte growled and rushed at the two former watchers, his sword raised high. Giles stepped in front of Wesley.
"You'll have to fight me first, black knight," Giles spoke as he swung the ax wildly to counter La Morte's blow. The black knight, noting the watcher's tall height, ducked underneath the blow and slammed into the out of shape Brit like a rock against paper, knocking Giles to the floor. Wesley charged at him, hoping to catch La Morte off guard by using his crossbow as a club. La Morte reached out with an armored fist and wrapped his hand around the taller man's throat.
He squeezed, forcing Wesley to drop the crossbow and flail about with his hands, hoping to free himself before La Morte strangled him. Luckily, Angel came to his rescue and tackled La Morte, freeing Wesley, who doubled over and started breathing heavily as he fought to return oxygen to his lungs.
The force of Angel's rush knocked the claymore out of La Morte's hands, sending the knight sprawling in a tumble with Angel, who was snarling and slashing with his long nails at La Morte's exposed face. The pale man seized the vampire's arms but had to put all of his strength into the parry. Angel lashed out with his foot, hoping to catch the knight in a vulnerable spot, but Robert avoided it by swinging his lower torso out of the way. He gathered enough strength to throw the vampire away from him and dive for his sword. Angel flew backwards, crashing against a wall where he left a huge dent.
Giles swung the ax, hoping to sever La Morte's arm in a hopeful attempt. La Morte saw the watcher rush at him from his right and he somersaulted over to the left to avoid the downward stroke. He seized the sword from midair and landed against a pew, smashing it into splinters with the force of his fall. His fall broken by the boards, he rose to his feet to face Angel, who had also regained his blade and the two went at it again while Giles joined Angel in the battle with La Morte as Wesley struggled to reload his crossbow and recover from getting the wind knocked out of him.
Meanwhile Buffy and Faith struggled, locked in a fierce combat and oblivious to the other battle only yards away from them. Buffy and Faith exchanged blow for blow, slash for slash, thrust for thrust until they were both exhausted from the exchange. They continued to fight, Faith slashing with her dagger hoping to strike a weak spot while Buffy parried the blow with her scimitar. She then tossed the scimitar away from her.
"Now you're mine!" Faith sneered as she ran at Buffy and hurled the dagger at the blonde slayer. Buffy caught it effortlessly and slashed Faith with it, cutting across her arm. Faith winced but continued her charge and head- butted Buffy in the stomach, sending the shorter blonde reeling backwards and forcing her to drop her newfound weapon. Buffy struck back with an uppercut, but Faith blocked it and launched a judo kick against her nemesis, catching Buffy in the abdomen.
Buffy staggered backwards, "I didn't think you had it in you Faith. I never though you'd betray your friends again, especially me, after all the things I've done for you!"
Faith, who was nursing her wounded arm, responded, "Did your little friends tell you how they abandoned me to La Morte? How he almost killed me if it hadn't been for some bizarre stroke of luck on my part? You never cared about me Buffy, or any of your friends for that matter, all you cared about was your stupid vampire boy toy. And I don't mean Angelface over there-" Faith grinned, "He was the only one you cared about and now he's dead. Boo Hoo Hoo." She said in a mocking voice.
"Don't you dare." Buffy shouted as she charged at Faith, striking out with a karate chop and a judo kick which Faith calmly absorbed and buried her fist in Buffy's stomach. They both fought, trading blow for blow and smashing each other in until both were bloodied and bruised all over.
Faith wiped the blood off her lip as she smiled back at the enraged other slayer, "had enough?"
"Don't worry F, this time, I'm not going to let you live," Buffy replied as she punched Faith right in the face while Faith savagely kicked her in the shins, sending Buffy doubling over in pain.
"Ouch B, that hurt, but not as much as this one's going to," Faith squealed in pain as she drop kicked her wounded sister slayer. Buffy latched onto her leg and threw the taller raven-haired woman against the altar, knocking effigies and crosses aside.
The holiest of places was being defiled by combatants. Priceless artifacts and ornate walls were destroyed by sword slashes, body slams and other vicious moves executed by the warriors that fought inside the church. A stained glass window was shattered by one of Wesley's straw crossbow bolts while Giles smashed a statue of the virgin Mary as La Morte knocked him backwards as he fought both the fallen watcher and the souled vampire.
Angel refused to relent, lashing out with his free hand, his sword, his feet, his fangs, anything he could get his hands on. Vengeance clouded his mind and his soul as he fought the murderer of his friends and his only son. He swore he would make La Morte pay, he didn't care how much pain the black knight inflicted on him, he was going to win at all costs.
"This is for my son!" he screamed as he swung his broadsword at La Morte, who blocked it with his own massive blade.
"Afraid that's not good enough," La Morte replied as he unsheathed his rapier from his other side and ducked under Angel's cover, hoping to score a successful thrust to the vampire's heart. His blow was interrupted by Giles, who managed to sneak up on the black-haired man and the tall watcher brought his ax against La Morte's back in a crushing blow. The ax barely pierced La Morte's armor, but it sent the knight sprawling against the floor. Angel thrusted downward with his sword, but La Morte managed to avoid the blow and he knocked both of his adversaries to the floor with a series of kicks and punches to their legs. Both of them went sprawling to the ground while La Morte rose to his feet and rushed to aid his girlfriend in her predicament.
He tossed his rapier into the air and Faith caught it as Buffy rushed at her with her retrieved scimitar. Faith blocked the rush and managed to slash Buffy across the shoulder, leaving a red gash longer than the one on her arm. Buffy backed off and hit the floor as Wesley fired another crossbow bolt at Faith, but her slayer instincts instantly detected the arrow sailing through the air and she dove to the side, crashing into another group of pews, sending a cloud of splinters into the air as the wooden benches broke her fall.
She rose to her feet and returned to fighting Buffy but she had become tired as a result of the constant fighting while Buffy seemed to be absorbing the pain with merciless ease. Finally, Buffy managed to disarm Faith and held her sword to the raven haired brunette's throat. She walked her hostage forward as she saw La Morte smash Giles into a set of pews while he disarmed Angel with a thrust from his claymore.
Angel looked over at Buffy, "kill her." He said nonchalantly, staring defiant in La Morte's face as La Morte raised the claymore in a motion to decapitate his foe. Wesley crouched and aimed the crossbow right at La Morte's eye, his finger about to depress the trigger while Buffy held her blade at Faith's throat. Giles staggered up and dusted himself off.
"It seems we're in a difficult situation right now," he mused.
"Yes.you're right," La Morte sighed, "there has been enough killing. It's time I was judged for my lifetime of sin and murder." He threw the claymore against the floor. "Spare Faith, she's not the one you hate. I love her dearly, but I must pay for what I've done. Angel, I want you to pick up my sword and kill me with it."
"With pleasure," snarled Angel as he seized La Morte's sword and walked up to him. Robert fell to his knees, his hands clasped in prayer with his head lowered, awaiting the executioner's blade.
"Robert no!" Faith screeched as she managed to land a kick against Buffy's stomach, freeing herself. She rushed over to La Morte as Angel was about to bury the blade in the black knight's exposed neck.
"You will both pay then!" Angel screamed as he was about to deliver the final blow when he was interrupted by a loud voice from the church entrance.
"Stop this at once! There has been enough murder for one day!" It was Willow, whose red hair was billowing in the night breeze. Her voice had enough power to make Angel release his grip on the blade and back off, lowering it to the ground.
Willow's voice was terse and hoarse, she looked haggard and ruined. Her sordid appearance induced Wesley to lower his crossbow while Giles did the same with his ax. Willow walked up to Angel and gently caressed his face.
"I know it's hard, to suffer the loss of your closest friend. But don't let vengeance take hold of you. I know, it happened to me when Tara died. It seems for the longest time that there's nothing you can do but extract a bloody revenge on the person who did it. You can't let it dominate your life, slowly wearing you down until you've turned into the very monster that you're fighting," Willow spoke slowly and softly, trying to stir the anger out of Angel's soul.
Angel refused to listen to her, shouting back, "you cannot know how it feels! To loose your only son! To loose almost all of your friends to some accursed madman's blade! You don't know the rage welling up inside me, filling me with hate! I 'll tear him apart!" He bared his fangs, his eyes yellow with rage, glaring at La Morte.
Willow continued caressing him, "please, Angel, if you let vengeance control your life, soon you won't care about the people you love. All you'll care about is revenge and you'll loose all vestiges of your soul to Angelus. And you don't want that, I know. I became the embodiment of vengeance and look what it did to me. I nearly killed my friends in a ruthless quest for retribution, almost destroying the world in the process. I won't let that happen to you as it did me."
Angel glared at La Morte, who stood beside Faith, who had her arm around his waist. She glared back at him with hate and then back to La Morte, whose face was twisted with sorrow and despair. His vampire face slowly disappeared as he regained control of himself. Hate vanished from his eyes as he felt a tear drip down his cheek.
"So we just forget about Wood, Connor, Gunn and Fred? I can't do that," Buffy glowering with fury at Willlow. "I'm not about to let this killer go free!" she screamed, raising her own blade. She walked over to La Morte, her eyes filled with death. "It's time he paid." She raised the sword to strike while La Morte prepared to accept it. Buffy brought the blade down towards La Morte when an ax suddenly appeared between La Morte and her sword, parrying the blow with a loud clash of steel upon steel, sending sparks into the air.
Buffy found herself staring at Giles. The tall, bespectacled watcher stared down at her. His face was no longer contorted with violence and expressed the same gentleness as Willow.
"I have no love for what he did but I won't let you descend into the same mindless violence as him or Faith. I love you too much for that Buffy," He reached out his hand and helped her drop the sword. Buffy lost her hateful expression and stared at the ground with a vacant expression as her mind realized what she almost had turned into.
"No, don't spare me," La Morte blurted out, breaking down before everyone in the room. "I am nothing but a ruthless killer. I was used to be a honorable warrior, a noble knight who fought for the oppressed, but that part of me is no more. You don't know how it is like to watch your own blood be poured out of you in some grotesque ritual. To be turned into some abomination, to be constantly struggling with your own sanity as your two halves tear each other apart! Thousands died before my wrath, before my inquisition. I burned alive men, women and children for my demon's own sadistic pleasure. I did things in the name of good that are too horrible to utter in this place-" He paused for a moment, then pointed at Willow.
"Yet you freed me from the clutches of the demon. He was the monster who had consumed me, made me do those horrible things. My mind was left imprisoned while I watched in horror- for hundreds of years. And you freed me from that madness, but I remember the faces of everyone I murdered. Especially your boy, Angelus," he sputtered, "I am sorry for what I did, but the only way for me to atone-"
He pulled his rapier from his side and brought it alongside his throat. "Is to die." He looked at the ground as he was about to pull the sword back to slit his own throat. But before he could do it, Faith jumped on him and wrested the sword from his grip, tears filling her eyes.
"No! You can't die!" She screamed, "you can't!" She hugged him while he looked at the others with a glazed expression on his face, as if he was still begging for death to overtake him.
Angel's eyes suddenly glared yellow once more with hate as he felt a new surge of violence overcome him. Overpowered by this sudden force, he broke free from Willow, raising the claymore above his head and charged. La Morte shoved Faith away from him, sending her sprawling several feet away from him. She wept bitterly as Angel reached La Morte and was about to swing the claymore down upon the helpless knight, who bowed his head in defeat and submission.
"Faith," snarled Buffy, "so typical of you to be screwing the enemy while your friends die at his hands." She stood opposite Faith by Angel, Gideon's scimitar in her hands.
"Sorry B, guess I wasn't cut out for your lot, but no worries, I found my own dark, brooding boyfriend. And you know what? He's not a bloodsucker, which is more than what I can say for you."
"You leave Spike out of this, you're not fit to even mention his name," Buffy's eyes narrowed as she tensed to lunge right at Faith and put an end to the dark slayer once and for all. Her free hand clenched into a fist as she imagined smashing Faith's face in.
Giles spoke up, "I thought you were a new woman Faith, the old murderous traitor was gone. Unfortunately, it seems my hopes for you were a bit idealistic. It seems some people never do change indeed." He remained the most stoic of the group, but his eyes bored into Faith as he gripped his ax with a firm hand.
"I guess you were wrong G, but I admit I was beginning to tire of the good fight," Faith grinned, "so are we here for a talk or a battle? C'mon!" She danced back and forth, daring her former friends to come attack her.
"We never should have trusted you!" shouted Wesley, who held a crossbow in his arms and pointed it straight at Faith. "I knew you were still the same lying slut I left in Sunnydale!" His face showed pure rage as Wesley gritted his teeth and stared down the sights of the weapon and raised his free hand by the trigger.
"Woah there, Wesley I would watch it if I were you, you could shoot your eye out with that thing," Faith gleefully chuckled, "and for your information, you couldn't even take me if you had the whole Scooby gang with you and you don't have a chance with my man here."
She was interrupted by a loud guffaw from Angel, who had remained strangely silent during the heated exchange. Angel shook his head and hefted a broadsword that he was carrying with one hand. He spoke, with pure malice in his voice, "your man killed Wood, Gunn, Fred and Connor and almost killed Willow and Oz. Now it seems a bit strange to me that you're with him, but nevertheless, I really could care less right now. If you want to die with La Morte, that's perfectly fine with me."
The rival groups stared at each other for what seemed to be the longest time. Buffy, Angel and Wesley stared at Buffy and La Morte with complete hatred in their eyes. Faith was gleaming with joy and bloodlust; she had reverted back to her violent self, her sensitive side dissipating as battle drew near. Giles glanced at Faith like a wounded dog whose master had betrayed him. La Morte stood beside Faith, his head down and staring at the floor beneath him. He had a vacant expression on his face, free of any emotion or pain. It was as if he had withdrawn from the world.
The silence was broken by a shout from Angel as he rushed forward at La Morte, swinging his blade high above his head in a cutting motion. Instantly, La Morte stepped backwards and brought up his claymore to parry the blow.
Buffy took Angel's attack as a signal and ran straight at Faith, screaming "traitorous bitch!" at the top of her lungs. The attack took Faith somewhat by surprise, but her slayer instincts helped her react quickly to Buffy's assault. Faith blocked Buffy's slash with her dagger, wincing as steel collided against steel. Slayer fought slayer while the black knight fought the souled vampire as the sounds of battle reverberated throughout the church.
Wesley kneeled and aimed the crossbow at La Morte, trying to secure a perfect shot which was made impossible by the swift movements of the two combatants. Giles stared at Wesley and then back to the twin battles taking place at the church. "Shoot him!" he cried at Wesley when he saw La Morte knock Angel's sword out of his hands with a powerful thrust with the claymore.
Wesley took his opportunity and fired. "NO!" Faith screamed, glancing over at the black figure of her lover as she took a brief respite from her battle with Buffy.
La Morte watched the bolt sail towards him and he made a quick backflip to dodge the imcoming missile. The arrow buried itself in the wall behind him, beheading a statue of a saint and imbedding itself in the plaster. Wesley fumbled with the crossbow as he tried to reload. La Morte growled and rushed at the two former watchers, his sword raised high. Giles stepped in front of Wesley.
"You'll have to fight me first, black knight," Giles spoke as he swung the ax wildly to counter La Morte's blow. The black knight, noting the watcher's tall height, ducked underneath the blow and slammed into the out of shape Brit like a rock against paper, knocking Giles to the floor. Wesley charged at him, hoping to catch La Morte off guard by using his crossbow as a club. La Morte reached out with an armored fist and wrapped his hand around the taller man's throat.
He squeezed, forcing Wesley to drop the crossbow and flail about with his hands, hoping to free himself before La Morte strangled him. Luckily, Angel came to his rescue and tackled La Morte, freeing Wesley, who doubled over and started breathing heavily as he fought to return oxygen to his lungs.
The force of Angel's rush knocked the claymore out of La Morte's hands, sending the knight sprawling in a tumble with Angel, who was snarling and slashing with his long nails at La Morte's exposed face. The pale man seized the vampire's arms but had to put all of his strength into the parry. Angel lashed out with his foot, hoping to catch the knight in a vulnerable spot, but Robert avoided it by swinging his lower torso out of the way. He gathered enough strength to throw the vampire away from him and dive for his sword. Angel flew backwards, crashing against a wall where he left a huge dent.
Giles swung the ax, hoping to sever La Morte's arm in a hopeful attempt. La Morte saw the watcher rush at him from his right and he somersaulted over to the left to avoid the downward stroke. He seized the sword from midair and landed against a pew, smashing it into splinters with the force of his fall. His fall broken by the boards, he rose to his feet to face Angel, who had also regained his blade and the two went at it again while Giles joined Angel in the battle with La Morte as Wesley struggled to reload his crossbow and recover from getting the wind knocked out of him.
Meanwhile Buffy and Faith struggled, locked in a fierce combat and oblivious to the other battle only yards away from them. Buffy and Faith exchanged blow for blow, slash for slash, thrust for thrust until they were both exhausted from the exchange. They continued to fight, Faith slashing with her dagger hoping to strike a weak spot while Buffy parried the blow with her scimitar. She then tossed the scimitar away from her.
"Now you're mine!" Faith sneered as she ran at Buffy and hurled the dagger at the blonde slayer. Buffy caught it effortlessly and slashed Faith with it, cutting across her arm. Faith winced but continued her charge and head- butted Buffy in the stomach, sending the shorter blonde reeling backwards and forcing her to drop her newfound weapon. Buffy struck back with an uppercut, but Faith blocked it and launched a judo kick against her nemesis, catching Buffy in the abdomen.
Buffy staggered backwards, "I didn't think you had it in you Faith. I never though you'd betray your friends again, especially me, after all the things I've done for you!"
Faith, who was nursing her wounded arm, responded, "Did your little friends tell you how they abandoned me to La Morte? How he almost killed me if it hadn't been for some bizarre stroke of luck on my part? You never cared about me Buffy, or any of your friends for that matter, all you cared about was your stupid vampire boy toy. And I don't mean Angelface over there-" Faith grinned, "He was the only one you cared about and now he's dead. Boo Hoo Hoo." She said in a mocking voice.
"Don't you dare." Buffy shouted as she charged at Faith, striking out with a karate chop and a judo kick which Faith calmly absorbed and buried her fist in Buffy's stomach. They both fought, trading blow for blow and smashing each other in until both were bloodied and bruised all over.
Faith wiped the blood off her lip as she smiled back at the enraged other slayer, "had enough?"
"Don't worry F, this time, I'm not going to let you live," Buffy replied as she punched Faith right in the face while Faith savagely kicked her in the shins, sending Buffy doubling over in pain.
"Ouch B, that hurt, but not as much as this one's going to," Faith squealed in pain as she drop kicked her wounded sister slayer. Buffy latched onto her leg and threw the taller raven-haired woman against the altar, knocking effigies and crosses aside.
The holiest of places was being defiled by combatants. Priceless artifacts and ornate walls were destroyed by sword slashes, body slams and other vicious moves executed by the warriors that fought inside the church. A stained glass window was shattered by one of Wesley's straw crossbow bolts while Giles smashed a statue of the virgin Mary as La Morte knocked him backwards as he fought both the fallen watcher and the souled vampire.
Angel refused to relent, lashing out with his free hand, his sword, his feet, his fangs, anything he could get his hands on. Vengeance clouded his mind and his soul as he fought the murderer of his friends and his only son. He swore he would make La Morte pay, he didn't care how much pain the black knight inflicted on him, he was going to win at all costs.
"This is for my son!" he screamed as he swung his broadsword at La Morte, who blocked it with his own massive blade.
"Afraid that's not good enough," La Morte replied as he unsheathed his rapier from his other side and ducked under Angel's cover, hoping to score a successful thrust to the vampire's heart. His blow was interrupted by Giles, who managed to sneak up on the black-haired man and the tall watcher brought his ax against La Morte's back in a crushing blow. The ax barely pierced La Morte's armor, but it sent the knight sprawling against the floor. Angel thrusted downward with his sword, but La Morte managed to avoid the blow and he knocked both of his adversaries to the floor with a series of kicks and punches to their legs. Both of them went sprawling to the ground while La Morte rose to his feet and rushed to aid his girlfriend in her predicament.
He tossed his rapier into the air and Faith caught it as Buffy rushed at her with her retrieved scimitar. Faith blocked the rush and managed to slash Buffy across the shoulder, leaving a red gash longer than the one on her arm. Buffy backed off and hit the floor as Wesley fired another crossbow bolt at Faith, but her slayer instincts instantly detected the arrow sailing through the air and she dove to the side, crashing into another group of pews, sending a cloud of splinters into the air as the wooden benches broke her fall.
She rose to her feet and returned to fighting Buffy but she had become tired as a result of the constant fighting while Buffy seemed to be absorbing the pain with merciless ease. Finally, Buffy managed to disarm Faith and held her sword to the raven haired brunette's throat. She walked her hostage forward as she saw La Morte smash Giles into a set of pews while he disarmed Angel with a thrust from his claymore.
Angel looked over at Buffy, "kill her." He said nonchalantly, staring defiant in La Morte's face as La Morte raised the claymore in a motion to decapitate his foe. Wesley crouched and aimed the crossbow right at La Morte's eye, his finger about to depress the trigger while Buffy held her blade at Faith's throat. Giles staggered up and dusted himself off.
"It seems we're in a difficult situation right now," he mused.
"Yes.you're right," La Morte sighed, "there has been enough killing. It's time I was judged for my lifetime of sin and murder." He threw the claymore against the floor. "Spare Faith, she's not the one you hate. I love her dearly, but I must pay for what I've done. Angel, I want you to pick up my sword and kill me with it."
"With pleasure," snarled Angel as he seized La Morte's sword and walked up to him. Robert fell to his knees, his hands clasped in prayer with his head lowered, awaiting the executioner's blade.
"Robert no!" Faith screeched as she managed to land a kick against Buffy's stomach, freeing herself. She rushed over to La Morte as Angel was about to bury the blade in the black knight's exposed neck.
"You will both pay then!" Angel screamed as he was about to deliver the final blow when he was interrupted by a loud voice from the church entrance.
"Stop this at once! There has been enough murder for one day!" It was Willow, whose red hair was billowing in the night breeze. Her voice had enough power to make Angel release his grip on the blade and back off, lowering it to the ground.
Willow's voice was terse and hoarse, she looked haggard and ruined. Her sordid appearance induced Wesley to lower his crossbow while Giles did the same with his ax. Willow walked up to Angel and gently caressed his face.
"I know it's hard, to suffer the loss of your closest friend. But don't let vengeance take hold of you. I know, it happened to me when Tara died. It seems for the longest time that there's nothing you can do but extract a bloody revenge on the person who did it. You can't let it dominate your life, slowly wearing you down until you've turned into the very monster that you're fighting," Willow spoke slowly and softly, trying to stir the anger out of Angel's soul.
Angel refused to listen to her, shouting back, "you cannot know how it feels! To loose your only son! To loose almost all of your friends to some accursed madman's blade! You don't know the rage welling up inside me, filling me with hate! I 'll tear him apart!" He bared his fangs, his eyes yellow with rage, glaring at La Morte.
Willow continued caressing him, "please, Angel, if you let vengeance control your life, soon you won't care about the people you love. All you'll care about is revenge and you'll loose all vestiges of your soul to Angelus. And you don't want that, I know. I became the embodiment of vengeance and look what it did to me. I nearly killed my friends in a ruthless quest for retribution, almost destroying the world in the process. I won't let that happen to you as it did me."
Angel glared at La Morte, who stood beside Faith, who had her arm around his waist. She glared back at him with hate and then back to La Morte, whose face was twisted with sorrow and despair. His vampire face slowly disappeared as he regained control of himself. Hate vanished from his eyes as he felt a tear drip down his cheek.
"So we just forget about Wood, Connor, Gunn and Fred? I can't do that," Buffy glowering with fury at Willlow. "I'm not about to let this killer go free!" she screamed, raising her own blade. She walked over to La Morte, her eyes filled with death. "It's time he paid." She raised the sword to strike while La Morte prepared to accept it. Buffy brought the blade down towards La Morte when an ax suddenly appeared between La Morte and her sword, parrying the blow with a loud clash of steel upon steel, sending sparks into the air.
Buffy found herself staring at Giles. The tall, bespectacled watcher stared down at her. His face was no longer contorted with violence and expressed the same gentleness as Willow.
"I have no love for what he did but I won't let you descend into the same mindless violence as him or Faith. I love you too much for that Buffy," He reached out his hand and helped her drop the sword. Buffy lost her hateful expression and stared at the ground with a vacant expression as her mind realized what she almost had turned into.
"No, don't spare me," La Morte blurted out, breaking down before everyone in the room. "I am nothing but a ruthless killer. I was used to be a honorable warrior, a noble knight who fought for the oppressed, but that part of me is no more. You don't know how it is like to watch your own blood be poured out of you in some grotesque ritual. To be turned into some abomination, to be constantly struggling with your own sanity as your two halves tear each other apart! Thousands died before my wrath, before my inquisition. I burned alive men, women and children for my demon's own sadistic pleasure. I did things in the name of good that are too horrible to utter in this place-" He paused for a moment, then pointed at Willow.
"Yet you freed me from the clutches of the demon. He was the monster who had consumed me, made me do those horrible things. My mind was left imprisoned while I watched in horror- for hundreds of years. And you freed me from that madness, but I remember the faces of everyone I murdered. Especially your boy, Angelus," he sputtered, "I am sorry for what I did, but the only way for me to atone-"
He pulled his rapier from his side and brought it alongside his throat. "Is to die." He looked at the ground as he was about to pull the sword back to slit his own throat. But before he could do it, Faith jumped on him and wrested the sword from his grip, tears filling her eyes.
"No! You can't die!" She screamed, "you can't!" She hugged him while he looked at the others with a glazed expression on his face, as if he was still begging for death to overtake him.
Angel's eyes suddenly glared yellow once more with hate as he felt a new surge of violence overcome him. Overpowered by this sudden force, he broke free from Willow, raising the claymore above his head and charged. La Morte shoved Faith away from him, sending her sprawling several feet away from him. She wept bitterly as Angel reached La Morte and was about to swing the claymore down upon the helpless knight, who bowed his head in defeat and submission.