Phase 25
She felt like she was falling into an darkened void. Her body was no longer hers and the senses
began to falter.
Numbly she wondered if death was always like this only to realize that it didn't really matter.
Death was just that.
She was so distracted by the...dying that she did not register the thick projectile that narrowly
missed her to bury itself in the vampire.
The startled creature dropped his prey and the Slayer crumbled to the floor. The Master backed
away as his clawed hands tried to stop the bleeding from his now empty eye socket. Nancy
rushed to the Slayer's side as Giles aimed the weapon directly at the vampire's heart and fired.
The second projectile missed its target but effectively damaged the shoulder. The ancient
vampire howled in pain.
Nancy checked Buffy's vitals and found them dangerously weak. She wasn't breathing. Nancy
dragged her towards a corner of the room while Giles' covered their backs. She quickly
removed the leather duster to have better access to the Slayer's chest and began CPR.
"One...two...three..."she counted as she positioned herself better to compress the chest.
"One...two...three...press...Come on Buffy, breathe"
"Breathe Slayer...just do it"
Nothing. The heart had stopped.
"Dammit Buffy. You can't quit us. You can't quit on him"
A flutter.
Realizing something, Nancy doubled her efforts while urging the unconscious girl.
"Listen. He is downstairs waiting for you. He needs you to come get him"
The flutter became stronger.
"Yes, that's it. Keep on fighting. Spike needs you to fight for him"
The Slayer's eyes opened suddenly and focused on her rescuer. She tried to speak but her throat
was painfully dry. Nancy removed a plastic bottle filled with holy water from her jacket pocket
and unscrewed the top.
"Here" she said softly.
Buffy drank deeply as the liquid quenched her need. When the bottle was nearly empty she
licked her lips and tried to speak.
"T...thank you. What h....happened?"
"We came just as the Master was about to finish you off Giles wounded him but I don't think
that's gonna hold for long"
Giles fired at the Master once more but missed this time as the creature rose unexpectedly and
hissed at the Watcher.
"Damm" Nancy cursed as she ran to help Giles leaving Buffy to get her bearings. The Slayer
stared after her while trying to rise on weak legs.
Nancy arrived in time to push Giles away as the Master lunged at him. The creature was thrown
by her sudden actions and roared his anger. The girl retaliated by throwing the remains of the
holy water bottle at him.
The liquid fizzled on the vampire's face. He clawed at the burning flesh in an effort to assuage
the pain. Nancy dug a stake from her side pocket. Months of training had taught her where to
aim and how to take advantage of a foe's weakness. Gripping the stake at its middle she
plunged it upward into the Master's chest.
The wooden weapon buried itself into flesh. Giles and Buffy held their breaths. Expecting the
regulation shower of ashes, they were confounded to see none. Their confusion turned to terror
when the vampire summarily grabbed Nancy by the throat and quickly broke her neck.
"NO!" The Slayer's cry reverberated through the room as Nancy's lifeless form crumbled to the
ground. Her eyes open and lifeless.
The vampire grinned victoriously at the Slayer and her Watcher. Buffy knew that it wasn't the
time for grief but for revenge. A untapped source of energy ran through her blood as the Slayer
of vampires channeled her anger, grief and fear into her power. She smiled.
"You laugh when my hell is on earth?" the Master asked coldly
"You are that amped about hell.... go there." she said as she made for the vampire aiming for the
stake already lacerating his chest. Using her full strength she pushed on the protruding object
causing it to tear through the Master's reinforced chest cavity and penetrate the heart.
This time the result was entrancing as the Master slowly turned to ash until only his skeleton
remained. The Slayer stood quiet before the remains. Her expression grim but finally secure in
the knowledge that this was the role that she was here to fulfill.
Wordlessly, she walked towards Nancy. The girl had died quickly and with an expression of
acceptance in her face. With her index and middle finger she closed the hazel eyes for the last
time.
"I'm sorry" she whispered.
Giles knelt before both. His heart ached for the girl who he'd admired even more so than Buffy,
because she'd taken a mantle that wasn't her own.
After a quiet moment, Buffy got up "I have to go"
Giles nodded. They would take care of the body later. He promised himself that he wouldn't
leave her there as he followed the Slayer.
#########
"Hey baby... I sooo missed you" a deceptively, sweet singsong voice.
He wouldn't look at her. This wasn't her.
"Come on hon... don't tell me you've forgotten me already. I still remember you"
Not her.. not Will.
"I remember how you touched me... how you were my first" she teased
Willow is dead. Dead. Gone. But her animated corpse still spoke and it sounded just like her.
"Wanna give it another go?"
She was smiling. Even though she was mostly paralyzed was smiling in that pouty, seductive
way that was really leagues away from the real Willow. Still, it burned deep in his soul.
"Oh please... Aren't you gonna talk to me? Pretty please and sugar on the side"
"No. You are not her" he responded bitterly.
"Then who am I? I am her. I'm the one that she always wanted to be. Don't you know that by
now"
"That's a lie. Willow would never be you. She would never do the things that you've done. She
would never kill"
"The capacity to 'kill' as you put it, is in everyone. I was no exception. In fact I've never had so
much fun, so much freedom. This is me. This is who I was meant to be" she finished breezily
"No Willow. They killed you. I let them kill you and now you are like this... and its all my
fault. We should have left Sunnydale before things got to bad. But now its too late" grief and
regret was etched in his words.
"Dammed right. Its too late for your little group. The Master is probably sucking on their
marrows by now" she said cheerily.
Horror descended on Oz's face. Horror at the realization that there was really nothing left of the
girl he'd loved. Nothing but an empty heart.
Oz was a team player so going against plans was really against his better judgement but he really
wasn't thinking. All that he knew was that he had to save her from this. She needed an end.
So after kissing her hand tenderly he cut off her head.
TBC.
Two down and one to go. Where is Xander? Something tells me he is going to be a bit of a
challenge. I have two chapters (3 tops) to conclude this. The thing is that even if Buffy saves
Spike, she still has to 'save him'. You know Post traumatic Stress aftermath and all that. Those
that had read my stuff before know that I love playing with Spike's mind. Its almost diabolical
what I put that poor guy through. Well, as long as you like it. So read and review please.
She felt like she was falling into an darkened void. Her body was no longer hers and the senses
began to falter.
Numbly she wondered if death was always like this only to realize that it didn't really matter.
Death was just that.
She was so distracted by the...dying that she did not register the thick projectile that narrowly
missed her to bury itself in the vampire.
The startled creature dropped his prey and the Slayer crumbled to the floor. The Master backed
away as his clawed hands tried to stop the bleeding from his now empty eye socket. Nancy
rushed to the Slayer's side as Giles aimed the weapon directly at the vampire's heart and fired.
The second projectile missed its target but effectively damaged the shoulder. The ancient
vampire howled in pain.
Nancy checked Buffy's vitals and found them dangerously weak. She wasn't breathing. Nancy
dragged her towards a corner of the room while Giles' covered their backs. She quickly
removed the leather duster to have better access to the Slayer's chest and began CPR.
"One...two...three..."she counted as she positioned herself better to compress the chest.
"One...two...three...press...Come on Buffy, breathe"
"Breathe Slayer...just do it"
Nothing. The heart had stopped.
"Dammit Buffy. You can't quit us. You can't quit on him"
A flutter.
Realizing something, Nancy doubled her efforts while urging the unconscious girl.
"Listen. He is downstairs waiting for you. He needs you to come get him"
The flutter became stronger.
"Yes, that's it. Keep on fighting. Spike needs you to fight for him"
The Slayer's eyes opened suddenly and focused on her rescuer. She tried to speak but her throat
was painfully dry. Nancy removed a plastic bottle filled with holy water from her jacket pocket
and unscrewed the top.
"Here" she said softly.
Buffy drank deeply as the liquid quenched her need. When the bottle was nearly empty she
licked her lips and tried to speak.
"T...thank you. What h....happened?"
"We came just as the Master was about to finish you off Giles wounded him but I don't think
that's gonna hold for long"
Giles fired at the Master once more but missed this time as the creature rose unexpectedly and
hissed at the Watcher.
"Damm" Nancy cursed as she ran to help Giles leaving Buffy to get her bearings. The Slayer
stared after her while trying to rise on weak legs.
Nancy arrived in time to push Giles away as the Master lunged at him. The creature was thrown
by her sudden actions and roared his anger. The girl retaliated by throwing the remains of the
holy water bottle at him.
The liquid fizzled on the vampire's face. He clawed at the burning flesh in an effort to assuage
the pain. Nancy dug a stake from her side pocket. Months of training had taught her where to
aim and how to take advantage of a foe's weakness. Gripping the stake at its middle she
plunged it upward into the Master's chest.
The wooden weapon buried itself into flesh. Giles and Buffy held their breaths. Expecting the
regulation shower of ashes, they were confounded to see none. Their confusion turned to terror
when the vampire summarily grabbed Nancy by the throat and quickly broke her neck.
"NO!" The Slayer's cry reverberated through the room as Nancy's lifeless form crumbled to the
ground. Her eyes open and lifeless.
The vampire grinned victoriously at the Slayer and her Watcher. Buffy knew that it wasn't the
time for grief but for revenge. A untapped source of energy ran through her blood as the Slayer
of vampires channeled her anger, grief and fear into her power. She smiled.
"You laugh when my hell is on earth?" the Master asked coldly
"You are that amped about hell.... go there." she said as she made for the vampire aiming for the
stake already lacerating his chest. Using her full strength she pushed on the protruding object
causing it to tear through the Master's reinforced chest cavity and penetrate the heart.
This time the result was entrancing as the Master slowly turned to ash until only his skeleton
remained. The Slayer stood quiet before the remains. Her expression grim but finally secure in
the knowledge that this was the role that she was here to fulfill.
Wordlessly, she walked towards Nancy. The girl had died quickly and with an expression of
acceptance in her face. With her index and middle finger she closed the hazel eyes for the last
time.
"I'm sorry" she whispered.
Giles knelt before both. His heart ached for the girl who he'd admired even more so than Buffy,
because she'd taken a mantle that wasn't her own.
After a quiet moment, Buffy got up "I have to go"
Giles nodded. They would take care of the body later. He promised himself that he wouldn't
leave her there as he followed the Slayer.
#########
"Hey baby... I sooo missed you" a deceptively, sweet singsong voice.
He wouldn't look at her. This wasn't her.
"Come on hon... don't tell me you've forgotten me already. I still remember you"
Not her.. not Will.
"I remember how you touched me... how you were my first" she teased
Willow is dead. Dead. Gone. But her animated corpse still spoke and it sounded just like her.
"Wanna give it another go?"
She was smiling. Even though she was mostly paralyzed was smiling in that pouty, seductive
way that was really leagues away from the real Willow. Still, it burned deep in his soul.
"Oh please... Aren't you gonna talk to me? Pretty please and sugar on the side"
"No. You are not her" he responded bitterly.
"Then who am I? I am her. I'm the one that she always wanted to be. Don't you know that by
now"
"That's a lie. Willow would never be you. She would never do the things that you've done. She
would never kill"
"The capacity to 'kill' as you put it, is in everyone. I was no exception. In fact I've never had so
much fun, so much freedom. This is me. This is who I was meant to be" she finished breezily
"No Willow. They killed you. I let them kill you and now you are like this... and its all my
fault. We should have left Sunnydale before things got to bad. But now its too late" grief and
regret was etched in his words.
"Dammed right. Its too late for your little group. The Master is probably sucking on their
marrows by now" she said cheerily.
Horror descended on Oz's face. Horror at the realization that there was really nothing left of the
girl he'd loved. Nothing but an empty heart.
Oz was a team player so going against plans was really against his better judgement but he really
wasn't thinking. All that he knew was that he had to save her from this. She needed an end.
So after kissing her hand tenderly he cut off her head.
TBC.
Two down and one to go. Where is Xander? Something tells me he is going to be a bit of a
challenge. I have two chapters (3 tops) to conclude this. The thing is that even if Buffy saves
Spike, she still has to 'save him'. You know Post traumatic Stress aftermath and all that. Those
that had read my stuff before know that I love playing with Spike's mind. Its almost diabolical
what I put that poor guy through. Well, as long as you like it. So read and review please.