Revenge

Episode 10 (Part II)

Unknown Location:

            Buffy laid the body on the ground and stood up. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked right into Glory's eyes. All Glory saw in them was pure rage and hatred.

            "YOU WILL PAY, GLORY!" Buffy yelled in rage, "YOU WILL PAY!"

            Buffy ran at the god. She was fueled by rage. She raised the sword as she ran. Glory was unsure of what to do. She could feel the slayer's rage. Never had she gone up against anything like what she felt from the slayer.

            "I WILL KILL YOU!" Buffy shouted.

            She brought the sword down and it sliced Glory's arm off.

            "What?" Glory was confused. She didn't know how the sword could have hurt her.

            Back where the others were standing, Angel turned to Giles.

            "What's going on?" Angel asked the watcher.

            "Buffy is fueled by pure rage," Giles said, "She will not stop until she kills Glory."

            "Shouldn't we stop her?" Xander questioned.

            "No!" Giles shouted, "If we interfere, she may take her rage out on us."

            "Alright," Anya said, "I'm with the staying here and watching."

            Buffy ran at the god again. Glory kicked the sword from her hand and it flew off to the right.

            "If you actually think that I'm going to let you kill me without a fight, you've got another thing coming," Glory said.

            "I will kill you Glory! And I won't fail!" Buffy yelled in rage.

            Glory was surprised that there was no sarcasm in her voice. She knew that the slayer wasn't going to give up until she killed her. She couldn't allow herself to die. But she had no idea how to stop someone powered with pure rage.

            Glory raised her arms to the sky again. It began to get cloudy. Another lightning storm was starting. Lightning struck both her arms.

            "This is where your life comes to an end!" Glory shouted to the slayer, "Yours and all your little friends!"

            She pointed both her arms at Buffy. Buffy ran at her once again. There was no fear of death in her eyes this time. She didn't know if she could withstand the blast, but hell, she was willing to try.

            "Willow, you must do something to protect Buffy," Giles said.

            Willow began chanting a protection spell. Buffy ran off to the right and picked up the sword.

            "I'm gonna need something to kill you with!" she shouted to the god as she ran closer.

            That's when the lightning left Glory's arms. It flew towards Buffy, who was not afraid to face death. Willow was still chanting. The lightning hit an invisible force right in front of Buffy.

            "What!" Glory shouted.

            "You're time is up, bitch!" Buffy shouted as she brought the sword down to Glory's head.

            Right before it hit, Glory disappeared in a puff of smoke. Buffy was shocked and angered.

            "I'll be back, slayer," Glory's voice said, "And when I do, you will pay."

            "I'll pay?" the angry slayer questioned, "I think you'll be the one to pay!"

            Buffy dropped the sword down at her side. She was still furious that Glory had killed Sarah. It was supposed to be her that died, not Sarah. Stupid girl, she said in her mind.

            "She saved me," Buffy whispered to herself, "She risked her life for me."

            That's when the field changed back into the hospital area. Everyone was back inside. Buffy stood separate from her friends. She didn't say anything as she walked out and headed for her room.

            "Buffy, wait!" Willow yelled after her.

            "Let her go, Willow," Giles told her, "She needs to recover."

            Willow noticed the other slayer, lying lifeless on the floor. She couldn't believe that Sarah had risked her life to save Buffy's. She was really upset to see the death of this young slayer. She hadn't even met her.

            Everyone left the hospital, except for Spike. The doctor had finally decided to take him in and see what was wrong. The others headed for their rooms. Willow let Anya stay with her and Angel let Xander stay with him.

            Buffy entered her room. She jumped onto her bed and put her face in her arms. She cried her heart out. She had grown so close to Sarah over the past couple of months. But now she was dead, all because she had wanted to save Buffy's life. As Buffy fell asleep, she wondered about the family, if any, that Sarah had left behind.

            Meanwhile, Spike had woken up. He was confused. He didn't remember where he was or how he had gotten there. He stood up and walked out of the hospital room.

            "I'm sorry, sir," a nurse said to him, "You can't just walk out."

            "I can and I will," he answered.

            She stood in front of him, blocking his exit. He didn't say anything to her. His face transformed, his lips pulled back, revealing fangs.

            "Oh my god!" the nurse shouted, "You're a vampire!"

            Spike grabbed her by the neck and threw her into the wall. She hit it and collapsed, unconscious.

Erie, Pennsylvanie:

            Jake had had a long day. He had searched all over town for a part-time job, but couldn't find one. He needed someway to make money. He couldn't ask for Cindy and Stephanie to have to pay for his living there. He didn't feel right about it.

            He climbed into his bed. He was exhausted. He closed his eyes and instantly drifted off to sleep. He had no idea what had happened back in Sunnydale that day, unaware that his old friend had been killed.

            Cindy sat on the couch in the living room. Something was calling her back to Sunnydale. She just didn't know what. She had begun feeling it this evening and it hadn't gone away yet. There was also that strong feeling for Jake that she had. They hadn't really talked since the night before, when the kissed.

            She stood up and decided to go for a walk, even though she was tired. She slipped on her leather coat and left the house. She was heading for the church for some unknown reason.

            "Where am I going?" she asked herself aloud.

            "Lost, sweetie?" a voice behind her asked.

            Cindy turned around and came face to face with a guy.

            "Actually, I'm not," she said, "I'm just going for a walk."          

            "You shouldn't be out at night by yourself, pretty," the guy said.

            That's when his face changed. His brow got bigger and his lips pulled back, revealing his fangs. His eyes glowed yellow.

            "I'm kind of hungry," he said, "You'll do for a small snack."

            He grabbed Cindy by her wrist. Cindy had no idea what to do. She was completely frozen with fear. She knew that she had no magik to get rid of the vampire. She decided to fight it.

            She kicked the vampire in the stomach. It flew backwards and hit the cement.

            "That hurt!" he said, standing up.

            Cindy was unsure of where this strength came from, but she liked it. She gave the vampire a roundhouse kick. The vampire's neck snapped when her foot twisted its neck to the side. It flew to the ground, but exploded to dust before it hit. The dust blew away in the light winter breeze.

            She felt stronger than she had before. She couldn't figure out where this unexplained strength had come from. She turned and walked back towards her home.

Meeting Room:

            Everyone was seated in the meeting room the next day. Giles, Angel, and Willow on one side of the table and Xander and Anya sat on the other. Quentin sat at the head of the table. Buffy did not show up and they thought it better to let her be alone. Amanda had left and headed back to her home, in Pennsylvania.

            So it was now back to the original Scooby's, Xander, Willow, Anya, and Buffy. But Buffy was not in it at this moment. She was alone in her room, trying to cope with Sarah's death.

            "The funeral arrangements have already been made," Quentin said.

            "Well that's good," Giles commented.

            "Does she have any family anywhere?" Willow asked.

            "Not that we could find," Quentin told her.

            "Well, what about Jake?" Angel asked.

            "What about Jake?" Quentin questioned.

            "Shouldn't we contact him and let him know what happened to his friend?" Angel continued.

            "Angel is right," Giles added.

            "Ok," Quentin said, "I will contact Jake after this meeting."

            "No," Giles said, "I believe it will be better if I did it."

            "That's fine with me, Mr. Giles," Quentin added, "Now on to other matters. Glory must be stopped before she kills anyone else."

            "But how are we going to find her?" Willow asked.

            "That's a good question," Giles said, "But we haven't figured it out yet."

            "Couldn't Buffy just call her out?" Xander questioned.

            "We need to leave Buffy out of this for now," Giles said, "She has too much on her mind and she needs to calm her rage."

            "Well, then what should we do, oh great watchers?" Xander asked sarcastically.

            Quentin and Giles both gave him evil looks.

            "What?" Xander said, "I was just kidding."

            "Look," Giles began, "Glory is a god and a powerful one at that. We need to find a way to hurt her."

            "Buffy did," Angel mumbled.

            "Excuse me?" Giles asked.

            "Buffy hurt Glory," Angel repeated louder.

            "Yes, I know that," Giles said. 

            "She did it with pure rage," Angel added.

            "Angel's right!" Willow exclaimed, "We shouldn't let her calm down. We need her to gather her rage and unleash it on Glory."

            "I'm not catching on," Quentin said.

            "Ok," Willow began, "Buffy was able to injure Glory, right? It happened because she was powered by pure rage. This may be the weakness that we're looking for."

            "She's right," Giles said, "Pure feelings may be able to injure her, not just rage. Pure happiness may also hurt her."

            "Happiness?" Xander questioned, "Let's not go there!"

            "Get your mind out of the gutter, Xander!" Anya yelled and hit him on the back of the head.

            "Other pure feelings may be able to hurt her, pure happiness or sadness," Giles continued, ignoring Xander's comment.

            "Anya, I'm just saying," Xander began, "I'm not gonna be the one to volunteer to give her pure happiness."

            "No one is saying that's what's going to happen!" Anya yelled.

            "Because I'm most definitely not going there," Xander continued.

            "Will you two please talk about something more appropriate than sex?" Giles shouted and took off his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt.

            "Ok," Quentin began, "Let's focus here people."

Erie, Pennsylvania:

            "What do you mean you feel stronger?" Jake questioned.

            "I am able to lift things that I never could before. I can run faster," Cindy told him.

            "How did this happen?" Jake asked.

            "I don't know," Cindy answered, "It just happened yesterday."

            "When did you notice all this?" he questioned.

            "Last night, I went for a walk," she began, "I was attacked by a vampire and I was able to beat him really easily."

            "So it is true," Jake said, "There are vampires other places than on the hellmouth. I encountered one a few weeks ago."

            "You don't care that he attacked me?" she questioned.

            "I do," he replied, "But if you were able to fight him off and kill him, then I know you can handle yourself."

            "Oh."

            "I have a feeling this isn't some side effect from you doing something," Jake told her.

            "Huh?" she asked, "What are you talking about?"

            "It's just I've seen stuff like this happen before," he continued.

            "Meaning…?" she questioned.

            "This happened to two of my old friends," he said.

            "So?" she asked.

            "I think you're the new chosen one," he told her.

            "The what?"

            "I think you're the new vampire slayer."

            "But I thought that only happened when the previous slayer dies?" she asked.

            "It does."

            "But that means either Buffy or your old friend Sarah died."

            "Exactly and I'm gonna find out who it was."

            "That's good."

            "And if you are the new slayer."

            He went over to the phone and dialed the council's base in Sunnydale.

Sunnydale, California:

            The phone rang in the meeting room. Giles stood up in the middle of the discussion to answer it. Everyone else got quiet.

            "Hello, Mr. Giles here. How may I help you?"

            "Hi Giles, how's it going?"

            "Oh my god, Jake?"

            "That's right!"

            "Why are you calling us here?"

            "Well, I have something important to ask."

            "Go ahead."

            "Who died?"

            "Excuse me?"

            "Which slayer died?"

            Giles took the phone away from his ear. He stared at everyone else.     

            Giles spoke to them, "He knows that a slayer died."

            "What?" Angel questioned, "How?"

            "What should I tell him?" Giles asked.

            "Tell him the truth about Sarah," Willow said.

            Giles put his ear back to the phone and spoke again, "I'm sorry to say this, but Sarah is dead."

            "What?"

            "She was killed in the line of battle. She saved Buffy's life. I'm really, truly sorry."

            "It's ok, Giles. I'm fine. I'll deal."

            Giles knew everything wasn't fine. He could hear the emotion in Jake's voice.

            "How did you know that a slayer had died?"    

            "I found the new one."

            "What?"

            "She's right here. She has the strength and speed and endurance."        

            "Who is she?"

            "You're not gonna believe me."

            "Tell me."

            "It's Cindy."

            "How can you be so sure?"

            "Well one thing is she's really strong. She told me she took out a vampire last night without a stake."

            "Why don't the two of you come for a visit and we'll see about her being the slayer?"

            "Alright, we'll be there in a few days, I hope."

            "Goodbye, Jake."

            "Later, Giles!"

            Giles hung up the phone and went back to the table. He sat in his seat.

            "What was that about?" Willow asked.

            "Jake's found the new slayer," Giles informed everyone.

            "Who is it?" Angel questioned.

            "It's your old friend," Giles told Angel.

            "Which old friend would that be?" Xander asked, jokingly.

            "Cindy," Giles told them, "Jake and her will be arriving here in a few days."

            "What happens if she's the chosen one?" Willow asked.

            "I'll get there," Quentin said, "First, we must put her through some tests. If she passes, then she's the slayer. Now these are only tests that a slayer could pass."

            "No!" Giles shouted, "I refuse to let this young woman partake in the council's test!"

            "You have no say in this, Giles!" Quentin yelled, "You aren't even officially part of the council."

            "I have been teaching these young people things for a long time and I believe I have the authority to stop you from conducting your test," Giles said, "I will not let this young woman die in your pointless tests!"

            "That's it Mr. Giles!" Quentin shouted in anger, "You're fired!"

            "You're firing Giles?" Willow questioned.

            "I don't want to see you in this building ever again!" Quentin yelled, "And you are not allowed to communicate with any of these young people! GET OUT!"

            Giles slowly stood up and pushed his chair in. He didn't say anything to anyone. He slowly walked out of the meeting room and headed towards his room to gather his belongings.

            It took him several minutes to completely empty his room. He had all his stuff in two suitcases and a knapsack. He was about to leave the building when he forgot about Buffy. He went and knocked on her door.

            "Come in," came Buffy's voice.

            Giles opened the door and walked in. Buffy was sitting on her bed. Giles went over and sat down next to her.

            "What is it, Giles?" she asked.

            "Buffy, I've been fired."

            "Fired? Why?"

            "I argued with Quentin about having the next slayer being put through the council's tests."

            "That's so stupid!"

            "I've come to say goodbye, Buffy."

            "I love you Giles."

            "I love you too, Buffy."

            Giles stood up and walked out of her room. He left the council base and headed towards a new life, free of the dark forces. Or so he thought.