Sunnydale
3.25 PM
The skies were cloudless with a bright sun in the middle as the birds ceased their singing. Everything became quiet. The air took on a different fragrance and some plants closed up their blooms. The daytime animals became quiet and prepared for sleep, while at the same time the nocturnal animals got ready to come out. Suddenly most of the birds started to plunge from the sky in terror, while some of them began flying to roost and started their evening chorus. A few simply stayed quiet, they were in shock.
It got darker, but unlike at sunset, the color of the remaining light did not become orange and red, it just got grayer.
Fortunately, there was so much to do at this point, and the spectacle was so exciting, that the wave of horror passed quickly for those who witnessed it. Except for the people at Sunnydale High.
Faith stared in awe at the Mayor as she felt the strong background mystical powers of the Hellmouth converge into the man standing next to her. Combined with the natural feeling of the eclipse, the experience felt beautiful and terrifying at same time. It was strong and something she was completely at the mercy of. She didn't register the cold feeling of steel being pressed in her hand as she couldn't tear her eyes from the man standing next to her who was staring at the crowd with his eyes wide open.
The black disk of the moon glided with effortless deliberateness before the circular bright spot of the sun. The sky became dimmer and dimmer in a quickening twilight.
Instead of screaming in pain the Mayor turned his head towards his 'daughter' and smiled fatherly at her. "I'm glad that you're here, Faith," he said with a sweet smile.
After the diamond ring effect - the beautiful inner corona forming a ring around the moon with a brilliant white jewel of light - a couple seconds were left for one to notice the crimson-colored chromosphere.
Faith jaw dropped as she saw the politician began to shift and metamorphose, showing his true self. The core demon moved out of its shell and clawed mandibles surrounded his mouth. Faith gulped as she started to feel the rise of other mystical powers swirling around the Mayor.
Gigantic jets and loops of gas around the edge of the sun and the full glory of the solar corona became visible: total eclipse. In a matter of minutes it had gone from a hot, dry sunny day to a fresh and very dark night. The air was cool and charged with tension, apprehension. Something about it really did feel like the end of the world.
Faith's delicate demonic power sensor went off tilt as she felt parts of demonic powers shifting out of other dimensions and started to feed the demonic seed. The forces emerged into one as Faith witnessed the 'birth' of a pure demon right in front of her eyes. The Mayor smiled at her terrified face as he rose into the air. Pure fear turned Faith into total shock.
He was so grateful and proud that his little girl was with him on *his* moment. There was no loss, she made it complete, it was perfect . . . almost . . .
The demon scanned the area quick and saw an almost invisible movement in the darkness; like someone blonde jumping from the first platform of the roof to the plateau higher.
He didn't waste any attention on it and moved his head further. Then he stared at the disruptor standing on the chair shouting commands. It was the bitch's White Knight instead of the blond Slayer herself. His own dark Slayer had pleaded, no begged, to cut this boy into pieces and *he* still had the nerve to interrupt finishing his masterpiece. The youth's speech was strong and convincing, he admitted, but civil pride was *his* project, his pride; something the veteran politician had worked on for a hundred years. Not something to be wiped away by an opportunist. #At least I *keep* my campaign promises.#
To his surprise he realized that the words of his young rival had worked as he watched furiously how the first few rows were empty, without any of the students running away, and started attacking him. He saw how another kid, a blond boy, had taken command of the last few rows and they had formed a protective ring around their parents.
His rage tempered when he saw his boys coming out of the sewers and the buildings behind them. They moved into flanking position and formed an impenetrable group, to seal off any exit. The boy's pathetic army wouldn't stand a chance. And he still had his dark Slayer.
With overwhelming hunger he tore forward, ignoring the arrows, but found himself to be blocked by huge flames. He swayed above the puny opponents and roared in anger, trying to attack them, frighten them, but couldn't pass the burning heat and their bravery.
A light penetrated the deep darkness of the moonless sky as a rocket missile rushed through the air, barely passing the snake's head as he watched the missile pass him from behind, fly over the students and slammed with high accuracy into the groups of vampires, blowing them apart with a huge cloud of dust as its result. He heard a new command and the last rows fired arrows on the surviving vampires.
With an unearthly howl the Old One searched for a way to reach the kids, when a flame thrower that was pointed at him jammed. The moment was enough for The Snake's tail to whip around and throw the attacker up in the air. This brought the desired disturbance among the students and The Mayor's head swung in the air and tried to get some of the students. To no avail as the kids quickly regained their composure and backed away from him on command. Their leader was standing alone now, in front of his troops. The Mayor rushed forward to him with raging hunger and tearing hate.
Faith forced herself with all her willpower to get out of the shock. With the source of demonic power moving away from her it became easier for her to rip her stare away from him. She succeeded and managed to register how the monster was suddenly blocked in its path . . . again.
The demon looked at the yelling piece of distasteful food in front of him. After a short moment of doubt he lunged down with its mouth open. But before he could bite he suddenly noticed that the snack had doubled itself and laid flat on the ground. The Mayor looked at the two and attacked them both. Xander turned around and fired his PPK empty. "Here, load up on your calcium!"
The Snake roared furiously in pain and after a moment of amazement, when he had recognized the figure with the gun, he lunged down again . . .
Xander eyes widened as he saw the open mouth coming towards him. "Oh, gosh . . ."
He found himself jerked away a split second before the demon could finish his bite. The Mayor looked up, bewildered. He was stunned when he saw his precious Slayer standing with his gift in her hands, facing him. Her fear had changed in anger and her eyes flashed hate.
She looked at the knife, then at Xander and gave him quick kiss with sparkling eyes. "*He* is the best and the most important friend I'll ever have."
She then looked back up at her self-pronounced father who was gnashing his teeth and growling, realizing her betrayal. "Aren't you happy for me?" she asked girlish.
Faith held up the dagger in her right hand. "You remember this?" She looked at her razor sharp knife as she turned it around. Light coming from the school reflected on it, mirroring her own determined face between Xander and the Snake. "Thanks for the gift, I think it's perfect to stab people in the back with . . . Let's take the batting average on that one . . . Dad!" Faith turned and ran towards the school with the Mayor roaring out in fury before chasing Faith.
Xander sighed with relief, still shaking. He knew she would be scared, like Giles said, but not as shocked like she was. It was a mistake in his judgement and he had been lucky. He frowned and absently caressed the cheek which she had kissed as he saw her open the door and running in while the Mayor simply smashed through it.
Slowly a goofy grin appeared on his face. "Check mate!"
Then he turned his gaze towards the on-going battle. The vampires who had tried to escape were confronted by another group of students led by Angel. They found themselves confronted with a mass of armed and angry teenagers armed with baseball bats, crosses, stakes and bottles of blessed water. The vampires didn't stand a chance, especially once Buffy also threw herself into the middle of the fight with lightening sword moves. The remaining vampires were quickly finished. He gulped when he saw one last vampire being beaten to a pulp by a furious Cordelia. "You keep your cold filthy hands away from him, you hear that, you slime ball!" she yelled while Willow had joined the party as she kicked the vamp in his groin.
Faith kept running towards the library while the Mayor teared through the school like a freight train. She jumped out of the window, leaving the Mayor surrounded with the self-made bomb.
Faith crouched down next to Giles who pushed down the plunger, activating the detonator. A fire cloud erupted from the top of the school. Buffy, Angel and the rest of the group looked up at the explosion. Xander just walked around at the back, checking for any surviving vamps, while he savored the moment. Only a few injuries was the result of the battle.
Faith stared at the explosion and then looked over at Giles, her face excited and gasping for air. "Damn, am I hungry!" she said. "And h . . ."
"Five by Five?"
"Hole in one."
"Excellent."
"You just know how to use a stick, right G-man?" Faith said pointing at the plunger while still breathing hard while wiggling her eyebrows.
Giles frowned in misunderstanding.
Faith smirked at the stuffy old brit. "Nice blow job!" she explained pointing at the fire.
Giles shook his head. "No, that was Xander's work."
Faith grinned proud as she nodded. "Yeah, that's my boy toy alright."
"Perhaps you should return him the favor," Giles commented dryly, causing Faith to raise her eyebrows in surprise.
Giles and Faith saw Xander, Buffy and Angel running towards them. Xander rushed over to Faith as she stood up. He hugged her fiercely and Faith smiled.
Buffy smiled at Xander as he stood with his back to her still in the hug. She pushed away a tingle of her own feelings towards him and complemented Xander. "Great throw," she said while looking at the dagger which was still in Faith's hand.
"Nah, you caught it with your slayer reflexes. Great shot, by the way," Xander complimented her from over his hug.
Buffy grinned as she looked at the school. "I think I left the launcher on the roof."
Xander's eyes widened. "What?"
"I stopped thinking," she apologized.
Xander left Faith's hug, turned and stared at Buffy with wide eyes. "Good idea to stash it there, Buf, but you didn't have to leave it there."
"Like your plan worked so fine. I put the dagger in her hand," she said annoyed while pointing at Faith, "And the only thing she does . . ."
"Hey!" Faith snapped.
"Buffy . . . That's unfair, I mean . . ."
Faith got pissed. "That you are still not over your boy toy doesn't give you any reason to act like that to me."
Giles could feel a headache coming from all this teenager bickering as he prepared to give his Slayer his own opinion.
Buffy ignored Faith and continued her argument with Xander. "You gave this unplanned speech and it took our attention away from the Mayor. He didn't even see me giving her the dagger."
Attacking her boyfriend's leadership made Faith even more mad. "Hey, Queen B! X's speech kicked ass! It made the Mayor real angry."
"Buffy, the plan worked perfectly. You don't have the right to . . . "
Buffy moved her stare to Giles and held up her hand as she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, alright." Xander's remark was just too much for her. She had to give up Angel and had to give up command. She missed her dad very much and had a huge argument with her mother. And above all she was impressed with the way Xander had done the job. Something she had never imagined.
Angel walked over to the mentally lost Slayer, not able to stand by as he was thinking the same as everybody else that this was about him. "Buffy?" he asked gently with a hint of worry, "How are you doing?"
Xander left Faith's side and walked over to the burning school. This was *not* the moment for brooding or fighting.
Buffy shrugged. "Okey dokey."
Angel looked at Faith, who shrugged in innocence, and then towards Buffy again. "Are you okay, Buffy?" he asked, worried.
Buffy sighed and stared at him. "Look, I am over you, okay . . . It's just that . . . I'm just tired."
Giles flashed a smile, relieved. "I should imagine so. It's been quite a couple of days."
Buffy nodded slowly.
Xander and Faith both nodded in agreement as they felt the same and grinned. Xander turned and continued his walk to a little flame as Faith lifted her jacket a bit, reached under it and pulled something out to replace the dagger with. The eyes of Giles and Angel grew as they saw with which she had replaced it: the gun. Faith saw their surprise and played with it. Angel knew it had to be the fake one as he had heard the gunshots earlier, but with the two you never knew. Giles almost freaked as he saw it pointed at him.
"You should sleep well, B. But not with my boyfriend."
Only Buffy ignored the whole upset and Faith. "I haven't processed everything yet. My brain isn't really functioning on the higher levels," she continued.
Giles nodded in understanding while he was way more interested in following the changing directions of the gun.
"The most I get at the moment is: Fire bad; tree pretty."
Giles almost got an heart attack as Faith aimed at Buffy and fired.
"Water bad." Faith sprayed her again with a grin while Buffy turned to her as she growled, "Faith worse."
Buffy pounced on Faith and wrestled her with the gun to the ground. The two then struggled and twisted on the floor laughing hard until Buffy snatched the pistol away from her and sprayed her back.
Xander came back bringing a burning cigar to his mouth. He ignored the two wet Slayers fighting over the gun and Giles furiously polishing his glasses, his face flushed red, in deep embarrassment.
Both Faith and Buffy were struggling for the gun as they stared at him when Xander said with a huge grin, "*I* love it, when a *plan* comes together," in his best John 'Hannibal' Smith imitation and put the cigar between his lips between his lips. Both Slayers, still on top of one another, looked into each other's eyes, then smiled wickedly. Both of them held the gun and raised it, spraying Xander directly in his face.
The skies were cloudless with a bright sun in the middle as the birds ceased their singing. Everything became quiet. The air took on a different fragrance and some plants closed up their blooms. The daytime animals became quiet and prepared for sleep, while at the same time the nocturnal animals got ready to come out. Suddenly most of the birds started to plunge from the sky in terror, while some of them began flying to roost and started their evening chorus. A few simply stayed quiet, they were in shock.
It got darker, but unlike at sunset, the color of the remaining light did not become orange and red, it just got grayer.
Fortunately, there was so much to do at this point, and the spectacle was so exciting, that the wave of horror passed quickly for those who witnessed it. Except for the people at Sunnydale High.
Faith stared in awe at the Mayor as she felt the strong background mystical powers of the Hellmouth converge into the man standing next to her. Combined with the natural feeling of the eclipse, the experience felt beautiful and terrifying at same time. It was strong and something she was completely at the mercy of. She didn't register the cold feeling of steel being pressed in her hand as she couldn't tear her eyes from the man standing next to her who was staring at the crowd with his eyes wide open.
The black disk of the moon glided with effortless deliberateness before the circular bright spot of the sun. The sky became dimmer and dimmer in a quickening twilight.
Instead of screaming in pain the Mayor turned his head towards his 'daughter' and smiled fatherly at her. "I'm glad that you're here, Faith," he said with a sweet smile.
After the diamond ring effect - the beautiful inner corona forming a ring around the moon with a brilliant white jewel of light - a couple seconds were left for one to notice the crimson-colored chromosphere.
Faith jaw dropped as she saw the politician began to shift and metamorphose, showing his true self. The core demon moved out of its shell and clawed mandibles surrounded his mouth. Faith gulped as she started to feel the rise of other mystical powers swirling around the Mayor.
Gigantic jets and loops of gas around the edge of the sun and the full glory of the solar corona became visible: total eclipse. In a matter of minutes it had gone from a hot, dry sunny day to a fresh and very dark night. The air was cool and charged with tension, apprehension. Something about it really did feel like the end of the world.
Faith's delicate demonic power sensor went off tilt as she felt parts of demonic powers shifting out of other dimensions and started to feed the demonic seed. The forces emerged into one as Faith witnessed the 'birth' of a pure demon right in front of her eyes. The Mayor smiled at her terrified face as he rose into the air. Pure fear turned Faith into total shock.
He was so grateful and proud that his little girl was with him on *his* moment. There was no loss, she made it complete, it was perfect . . . almost . . .
The demon scanned the area quick and saw an almost invisible movement in the darkness; like someone blonde jumping from the first platform of the roof to the plateau higher.
He didn't waste any attention on it and moved his head further. Then he stared at the disruptor standing on the chair shouting commands. It was the bitch's White Knight instead of the blond Slayer herself. His own dark Slayer had pleaded, no begged, to cut this boy into pieces and *he* still had the nerve to interrupt finishing his masterpiece. The youth's speech was strong and convincing, he admitted, but civil pride was *his* project, his pride; something the veteran politician had worked on for a hundred years. Not something to be wiped away by an opportunist. #At least I *keep* my campaign promises.#
To his surprise he realized that the words of his young rival had worked as he watched furiously how the first few rows were empty, without any of the students running away, and started attacking him. He saw how another kid, a blond boy, had taken command of the last few rows and they had formed a protective ring around their parents.
His rage tempered when he saw his boys coming out of the sewers and the buildings behind them. They moved into flanking position and formed an impenetrable group, to seal off any exit. The boy's pathetic army wouldn't stand a chance. And he still had his dark Slayer.
With overwhelming hunger he tore forward, ignoring the arrows, but found himself to be blocked by huge flames. He swayed above the puny opponents and roared in anger, trying to attack them, frighten them, but couldn't pass the burning heat and their bravery.
A light penetrated the deep darkness of the moonless sky as a rocket missile rushed through the air, barely passing the snake's head as he watched the missile pass him from behind, fly over the students and slammed with high accuracy into the groups of vampires, blowing them apart with a huge cloud of dust as its result. He heard a new command and the last rows fired arrows on the surviving vampires.
With an unearthly howl the Old One searched for a way to reach the kids, when a flame thrower that was pointed at him jammed. The moment was enough for The Snake's tail to whip around and throw the attacker up in the air. This brought the desired disturbance among the students and The Mayor's head swung in the air and tried to get some of the students. To no avail as the kids quickly regained their composure and backed away from him on command. Their leader was standing alone now, in front of his troops. The Mayor rushed forward to him with raging hunger and tearing hate.
Faith forced herself with all her willpower to get out of the shock. With the source of demonic power moving away from her it became easier for her to rip her stare away from him. She succeeded and managed to register how the monster was suddenly blocked in its path . . . again.
The demon looked at the yelling piece of distasteful food in front of him. After a short moment of doubt he lunged down with its mouth open. But before he could bite he suddenly noticed that the snack had doubled itself and laid flat on the ground. The Mayor looked at the two and attacked them both. Xander turned around and fired his PPK empty. "Here, load up on your calcium!"
The Snake roared furiously in pain and after a moment of amazement, when he had recognized the figure with the gun, he lunged down again . . .
Xander eyes widened as he saw the open mouth coming towards him. "Oh, gosh . . ."
He found himself jerked away a split second before the demon could finish his bite. The Mayor looked up, bewildered. He was stunned when he saw his precious Slayer standing with his gift in her hands, facing him. Her fear had changed in anger and her eyes flashed hate.
She looked at the knife, then at Xander and gave him quick kiss with sparkling eyes. "*He* is the best and the most important friend I'll ever have."
She then looked back up at her self-pronounced father who was gnashing his teeth and growling, realizing her betrayal. "Aren't you happy for me?" she asked girlish.
Faith held up the dagger in her right hand. "You remember this?" She looked at her razor sharp knife as she turned it around. Light coming from the school reflected on it, mirroring her own determined face between Xander and the Snake. "Thanks for the gift, I think it's perfect to stab people in the back with . . . Let's take the batting average on that one . . . Dad!" Faith turned and ran towards the school with the Mayor roaring out in fury before chasing Faith.
Xander sighed with relief, still shaking. He knew she would be scared, like Giles said, but not as shocked like she was. It was a mistake in his judgement and he had been lucky. He frowned and absently caressed the cheek which she had kissed as he saw her open the door and running in while the Mayor simply smashed through it.
Slowly a goofy grin appeared on his face. "Check mate!"
Then he turned his gaze towards the on-going battle. The vampires who had tried to escape were confronted by another group of students led by Angel. They found themselves confronted with a mass of armed and angry teenagers armed with baseball bats, crosses, stakes and bottles of blessed water. The vampires didn't stand a chance, especially once Buffy also threw herself into the middle of the fight with lightening sword moves. The remaining vampires were quickly finished. He gulped when he saw one last vampire being beaten to a pulp by a furious Cordelia. "You keep your cold filthy hands away from him, you hear that, you slime ball!" she yelled while Willow had joined the party as she kicked the vamp in his groin.
Faith kept running towards the library while the Mayor teared through the school like a freight train. She jumped out of the window, leaving the Mayor surrounded with the self-made bomb.
Faith crouched down next to Giles who pushed down the plunger, activating the detonator. A fire cloud erupted from the top of the school. Buffy, Angel and the rest of the group looked up at the explosion. Xander just walked around at the back, checking for any surviving vamps, while he savored the moment. Only a few injuries was the result of the battle.
Faith stared at the explosion and then looked over at Giles, her face excited and gasping for air. "Damn, am I hungry!" she said. "And h . . ."
"Five by Five?"
"Hole in one."
"Excellent."
"You just know how to use a stick, right G-man?" Faith said pointing at the plunger while still breathing hard while wiggling her eyebrows.
Giles frowned in misunderstanding.
Faith smirked at the stuffy old brit. "Nice blow job!" she explained pointing at the fire.
Giles shook his head. "No, that was Xander's work."
Faith grinned proud as she nodded. "Yeah, that's my boy toy alright."
"Perhaps you should return him the favor," Giles commented dryly, causing Faith to raise her eyebrows in surprise.
Giles and Faith saw Xander, Buffy and Angel running towards them. Xander rushed over to Faith as she stood up. He hugged her fiercely and Faith smiled.
Buffy smiled at Xander as he stood with his back to her still in the hug. She pushed away a tingle of her own feelings towards him and complemented Xander. "Great throw," she said while looking at the dagger which was still in Faith's hand.
"Nah, you caught it with your slayer reflexes. Great shot, by the way," Xander complimented her from over his hug.
Buffy grinned as she looked at the school. "I think I left the launcher on the roof."
Xander's eyes widened. "What?"
"I stopped thinking," she apologized.
Xander left Faith's hug, turned and stared at Buffy with wide eyes. "Good idea to stash it there, Buf, but you didn't have to leave it there."
"Like your plan worked so fine. I put the dagger in her hand," she said annoyed while pointing at Faith, "And the only thing she does . . ."
"Hey!" Faith snapped.
"Buffy . . . That's unfair, I mean . . ."
Faith got pissed. "That you are still not over your boy toy doesn't give you any reason to act like that to me."
Giles could feel a headache coming from all this teenager bickering as he prepared to give his Slayer his own opinion.
Buffy ignored Faith and continued her argument with Xander. "You gave this unplanned speech and it took our attention away from the Mayor. He didn't even see me giving her the dagger."
Attacking her boyfriend's leadership made Faith even more mad. "Hey, Queen B! X's speech kicked ass! It made the Mayor real angry."
"Buffy, the plan worked perfectly. You don't have the right to . . . "
Buffy moved her stare to Giles and held up her hand as she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, alright." Xander's remark was just too much for her. She had to give up Angel and had to give up command. She missed her dad very much and had a huge argument with her mother. And above all she was impressed with the way Xander had done the job. Something she had never imagined.
Angel walked over to the mentally lost Slayer, not able to stand by as he was thinking the same as everybody else that this was about him. "Buffy?" he asked gently with a hint of worry, "How are you doing?"
Xander left Faith's side and walked over to the burning school. This was *not* the moment for brooding or fighting.
Buffy shrugged. "Okey dokey."
Angel looked at Faith, who shrugged in innocence, and then towards Buffy again. "Are you okay, Buffy?" he asked, worried.
Buffy sighed and stared at him. "Look, I am over you, okay . . . It's just that . . . I'm just tired."
Giles flashed a smile, relieved. "I should imagine so. It's been quite a couple of days."
Buffy nodded slowly.
Xander and Faith both nodded in agreement as they felt the same and grinned. Xander turned and continued his walk to a little flame as Faith lifted her jacket a bit, reached under it and pulled something out to replace the dagger with. The eyes of Giles and Angel grew as they saw with which she had replaced it: the gun. Faith saw their surprise and played with it. Angel knew it had to be the fake one as he had heard the gunshots earlier, but with the two you never knew. Giles almost freaked as he saw it pointed at him.
"You should sleep well, B. But not with my boyfriend."
Only Buffy ignored the whole upset and Faith. "I haven't processed everything yet. My brain isn't really functioning on the higher levels," she continued.
Giles nodded in understanding while he was way more interested in following the changing directions of the gun.
"The most I get at the moment is: Fire bad; tree pretty."
Giles almost got an heart attack as Faith aimed at Buffy and fired.
"Water bad." Faith sprayed her again with a grin while Buffy turned to her as she growled, "Faith worse."
Buffy pounced on Faith and wrestled her with the gun to the ground. The two then struggled and twisted on the floor laughing hard until Buffy snatched the pistol away from her and sprayed her back.
Xander came back bringing a burning cigar to his mouth. He ignored the two wet Slayers fighting over the gun and Giles furiously polishing his glasses, his face flushed red, in deep embarrassment.
Both Faith and Buffy were struggling for the gun as they stared at him when Xander said with a huge grin, "*I* love it, when a *plan* comes together," in his best John 'Hannibal' Smith imitation and put the cigar between his lips between his lips. Both Slayers, still on top of one another, looked into each other's eyes, then smiled wickedly. Both of them held the gun and raised it, spraying Xander directly in his face.