"Title: End of Days
Chapter: Chapter Five– The Arena
Author: Queen Akasha
Rating: R in some chapters
Summary: B/S. Season Seven. Spike got his chip out – but there seemed to be a problem after that. Oh-oh.
Feedback: Yes PLEASE!!! This site or e-mail me at Queen_Akasha@telus.net
Disclaimer: Joss created the Buffyverse and then, yada yada yada, no-one else owns anything. Also I'm riding on Stephen King's coat-tails by borrowing one of his characters. See if you can spot them.
Spoilers: Up to the end of Season Six
Distribution: That would be too cool. Just tell me so I can brag…..
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Chapter Five – The Arena
*BLOOD,* was her first incoherent thought. * So much blood. * In the quick instant that the flashlight had been on, that was the first thing that had registered in her shocked brain. Blood on the walls, blood congealing on the floor. No wonder the place smelled so bad. And Spike. He was almost worse than the blood. His whole right side appeared to be black – she didn't know what from – and he was also completely covered in gore. He had been semi-reclining on a make-shift cot against the far wall. Buffy took a deep breath and turned on the light again. The visual didn't change.
"Spike, what happened?" she asked as she made her way over to him. He shielded his eyes from the small glow of her light, and Buffy aimed it away from his face. She stopped in front of him and reached towards him with a shaking hand. She had, in the past, physically hurt him many times. She had beaten him and blacked his eyes, broken bones she was sure, and probably worse, and that was the worst damage she had ever seen him withstand. She had even crushed him with an organ. This, however, was a whole new ball game. When her hand made contact with his flesh, he instinctively cringed away. He had always been able to take whatever she could dish out. That was how it was supposed to be. She gave pain, he took it. He gave love, she ……. well, that part she wouldn't think about right now. Spike was in a world of hurt, and she didn't know how he could have survived it.
"Buffy, I told you to go," Spike said quietly, as if the last of his resolve had been used up trying to convince her that he was still the Big Bad. "I didn't want you to see this, luv." He relaxed down onto his pallet. "You could still go," he said.
"Well, maybe, but I still need to take you with me. We're needed in Sunnydale together, and I have strict orders to bring you back with me," she replied, trying to portray a "Gung-ho" type of attitude. She carefully touched his un-blackened shoulder. "Spike, what happened to you?" she said very gently. "Can you tell me?" He remembers.
Spike is in an arena. He is naked to the waist, and covered with blood and slime. He is also covered with bruises and gashes, one on his arm so deep that he thinks he can see the bone. He holds a long gore covered sword in one hand, and something that looks like a rotting pumpkin in the other. The crowd, mostly demons and vampires and others of the underworld, is hushed. He lays the severed head of the final Kirakas Demon at the feet of The Man. (Spike always thinks of him capitalized.) Spike bows and salutes with the tip of his sword, then lays down the sword as well. The Man stares at Spike thoughtfully and begins to clap. Instantly the arena goes wild, cheering, clapping and stomping. Spike thinks The Man is smiling at him – he can't be sure as he has yet to be able to look him in the face. "Now, THAT'S entertainment!" The Man says, still clapping. "So, Spike, what are you gonna do now that you've killed twelve Kirakas demons? Gonna go to Disneyland?" The Man laughs at his own joke, an insane high giggle that quiets the crowd around him.
Spike gathers his courage. He doesn't know why, but this Man terrifies him more than he's willing to admit. He looks up, finally meeting The Man's eyes, which seem to be no colour and all colours. The irises are twirling gaily. "Something was said about a chip, mate," Spike replies. "Oh, yes, of course, my friend." The Man turns to a tall, black man beside him and whispers in his ear. The tall man looks at Spike speculatively. "He may do fine, Mr. Flagg," the tall man says quietly.
Now Spike has a name for The Man. Flagg. Flagg gestures to two small, hunched and greasy demons that are crouched down behind him, awaiting his bidding. They scuttle up to him, and he speaks in a language that seems to be mostly gargling. The demons go to Spike and reach for his hands. "No thanks, boys, I'd rather not if it's all the same to you," Spike says, not wanting to touch them. The demons hop away, gesturing for Spike to follow.
"Go with them, my friend," Flagg says. "When this is over, come back. I may have another proposition for you."
Spike is led to a waiting van by the greasy demons. They shut him in the back, all the while doing their annoying gargling. The van immediately starts driving, making Spike sway dangerously. There are no seats, so Spike sits on the floor. He's exhausted – didn't want to admit it to The Man - *Flagg * Spike thinks – but the twelve demons almost had the best of him. He had kept on by picturing Buffy in his mind, but now that the fight is over, he can't let himself think of her. *Just get through this next thing and I'm home free, * he thinks. There are no windows, and the front of the van is barricaded from the back, so he can't see where they are going. He lies down and sleeps.
"M'bene, m'bena, m'bela," the tiny, wrinkled black man chants, passing his hands over the back of Spike's head. Spike closes his eyes. He doesn't know how the witch-doctor is going to get out the chip, but he doesn't think it's surgical. There's no obvious surgical implements in the little man's hut – just a lot of chicken feathers, bones, and herbs hanging about. Spike opens his eyes in time to see the man's eyes fill with black. * Here comes the big mo-jo now, * Spike thinks. The small man reaches towards Spike's head. Spike can actually FEEL fingers in his brain, but even though the pain is excruciating, he can't seem to move. The witch-doctor twiddles around in there for what seems like forever, and then triumphantly pulls his hand out, clutching a small metal object. The pain dissipates. Spike is released from his paralysis, and holds out his hand. The little man gives him the chip. "Thanks, mate," Spike says. "You wouldn't believe what a bleedin' pain in the ass that thing has been." The witch-doctor gives Spike a toothless grin, his eyes returning to normal. Spike shakes his hand, and then heads out the door, back to the waiting van and his meeting with Flagg. He's afraid, but won't admit it.
"Lots has happened, luv," Spike replied to Buffy. "I did get me chip out, but I had to be a bloody greedy wanker and want it all. That's why I'm here in the honeymoon suite. Couldn't quit while I was ahead."
TBC
A/N For those of you who don't read Stephen King, he has common characters or places in many of his books. One of the common characters is Randall Flagg, also known by other names that start with RF. Stephen has yet to come out and say that this man is actually the devil, but he could be. If you haven't already, read "The Stand." An awesome book by a fantastic author.