Okay, I just noticed something. It's over two months ago that I updated
this story. So, after a long time of writing, editing and rewriting I
present Stolen Innocence Chapter 10. I hope it fulfills the expectations
you guys have.
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Xander parked the van on the opposite side of the street and looked over at the magic shop. Checking the address on the business card one more time, he stepped out of the car and walked across the road.
He opened the door and the chiming bell immediately caught the attention of all the occupants of the room. The Scoobies had gathered around the table in the middle of the room, where Giles was currently treating a wound on Buffy's forehead. Faith ,as usual, kept her distance from the group and sat on top of the counter.
"Nice," Xander commented casually and walked up to them. "Like what you've made out of the place."
"Thanks," Giles replied dryly and continued to clean the cut on Buffy's forehead.
"What happened to her?" he asked and motioned at the blonde slayer.
"We visited one of Spike's contacts for some information about Glory," Buffy answered with a shrug of her shoulder. "Unfortunately this contact also is one of her minions. Instead of greeting us with a warm smile he threw a dagger in my direction and scratched my head."
"Would've paid money to see that," Xander exclaimed and sat down in one of empty chairs, like Faith making sure to keep his distance from the rest of the group "Did you at least get your information?"
"Yes, they did," Giles commented and placed a small bandage over around the wound. "And it's not looking good."
"It's never looking good," Xander told him sarcastically. "But how bad exactly?"
"We have one," Giles said and checked his watch. "Maybe two hours left. That's the time window during which Glory has to perform the ritual to get back to her home dimension."
"One hour," Xander mused and went through his mental checklist. "Should be enough time for us. Do you know where they are?"
"Well," Willow started and turned her laptop in Xander's direction. "I cast a locator spell on Dawn and they're hiding here," she said and pointed at the map of Sunnydale on her screen.
"Interesting," Xander said and leaned forward. "What do you know about the place?"
"It seems to be some kind of abandoned construction site," Willow told him.
Xander nodded and studied the map, analyzing the site and the surrounding buildings. "And how exactly will this ritual be performed."
"They only way they can extract the key's energy from Dawn's body is to make her bleed," Giles explained, falling back into lecture mode. "The blood will then open the portal.."
"And destroy the whole universe," Xander finished the sentence. "Okay. I need fifteen, maybe twenty minutes to finish my preparations. How long do you guys need?"
"Well," Giles exclaimed and looked around. "Basically we're done. We waited for you."
Xander nodded. "Okay, let's get this show on the road," he said and turned to Faith. "Faith, I could use some help with some of the boxes."
"Sure," the dark slayer replied with a shrug and hopped off the counter. "But why do you need my help. Aren't you strong enough to lift that stuff?"
"I am," Xander said with a shrug of his shoulder, as the two walked up to the door. "But if I accidentally drop one box.. Let's just say that Giles would have to search for a new place to run his shop."
While the shocked watcher continued to stare at the retreating backs of the slayer and the assassin, Spike decided to add his two cents.
"Why do we even bother with this fucker?" Spike muttered angrily
"Shut up Spike," the Scoobies told him simultaneously
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Dawn looked up from the chair she was tied to, as the door suddenly opened. She had been here for several hours, most of time alone. Glory had left after they arrived here and only now and then one her minions showed up to check on her. She was however not prepared for the person that entered the room.
"Ben," she called out in relief. "What the hell are you doing here. Doesn't matter. Look, we have to get out of here before the bitch comes back."
"I'm sorry Dawn," Ben told her emotionlessly. "But I can't help you."
"Are you kidding," Dawn asked confused, but noticed for the first time the strange clothes Ben was dressed in. "And why are you wearing a dress?"
"That's because," he started but in mid sentence he turned into Glory "Ben and I've been working pretty close together."
"Oh my god," Dawn gasped out.
"No need to be shocked," Glory told her, as some of her minions strolled into the room to prepare her for the upcoming ritual. "In a few minutes you won't remember any of this," the goddess told the terrified teenager and walked out of the room.
"Why are you here?" Glory asked once she was out of the room.
Doc walked out of the shadow and bowed in front of her. "The slayer and her vampire visited me earlier your splendiness," the demon told her. "They know what you're planning. And with the witches they probably also know where we are hiding."
"The slayer will try to rescue her little sister," Glory stated. "We have to stop her."
"What do you want me to do?" Doc asked eagerly.
"No matter what happens," Glory said. "The ritual has to be completed. And you're the one to make sure that happens."
"As you wish Glorificus," Doc replied dutifully. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
The Scooby gang arrived about ten minutes after Xander had finished his preparations. The van was big enough to transport them all. They stepped out of the car and assembled in front of the construction site.
"Nice," Xander commented and tilted his head in order to examine the tower from a different angle. "In an insane kind of way."
"Yes, I've only seen such a thing in Pisa," Giles agreed and loaded the Benelli shot gun he had taken from one of Xander's boxes. "But we are not here to discuss architecture."
"Right," Xander agreed and stepped back into the van. "Give me ten minutes to set everything up. Then you can start the show."
"Alright," the watcher said. "Good luck Xander."
"Yeah," he said and took his time to look at each of the Scoobies. "You too."
He started the engine and drove the van around the next corner.
"Okay," Buffy said when the car was out of sight. "You all know the plan. Spike and I will face Glory. Giles, you and the others take care of her minions and rescue Dawn."
"I've got one question," Faith interjected. "Shouldn't I join you two against that bitch?"
"Normally yes," Buffy agreed. "But I need someone strong enough to rescue Dawn," she said and looked at Spike. "And I can't trust him to do the job."
"Well," Faith said after a pause. "I'm feeling kinda honoured."
"I'm not," Spike threw in. "I'm feeling insulted."
Buffy turned to him and put on her best fake smile. "Good."
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Xander only had to drive a few hundred meters before he reached his destination. The house was abandoned like most of the buildings in this area. But what made it that more attractive for him was that it was taller than the surrounding.
He quickly left the car, grabbing the rifle case in the back of the van and walked up the stairs to the top of the building.
Once on the roof, he set all his equipment up. His last action was to fasten a long rope to the front of the building.
Satisfied with everything, he took a quick look through his binoculars. As expected he could overlook most of the surrounding area and especially the construction site Glory had chosen as her headquarters. And of course he spotted the girl that was tied to the top of the improvised tower.
He checked his watch a final time. One minute to go.
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"Oh, glorious one," Jinx said and bowed in front of the goddess. "Everything is finished. We are awaiting more of your divine commands."
"Good," Glory exclaimed with a smile. She just wanted to walk in the direction of the tower when a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned around and spotted the entire Scooby gang walking up to her.
"Well," Glory greeted the them. "If its not the slayer and her friends."
"Yeah, we love you too Glory," Buffy replied sarcastically. "Now release my sister and none of us will get hurt. Understood?"
"You're really expecting an answer to that," Glory exclaimed amused and turned her attention to the minions. "Guard the tower. I don't want one of those insects near my key."
"Yes glorious one," Murk replied and began to organize the defence.
"Where is my sister?" Buffy asked.
"You still don't get it do you," Glory said and laughed at her. "You've already lost," she said and motioned to the top of the tower. Buffy followed her hand and immediately spotted Dawn at the end of the platform. But more importantly she saw the figure that walked up to her.
"Even if you would get passed me and my minions you would still be too late," the goddess taunted her.
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Dawn smiled when she saw that her sister and the Scoobies have come to rescue her. She was startled when suddenly someone stood in front of her.
"You," she said, when she remembered him after a moment. "I know you. You helped me when I tried to resurrect my mother. You have to help me."
"Well, it seems that she is going to be a bit delayed," Doc said, ignoring Dawn completely. "But it will be a much greater honour for me to accomplish this task for her."
Dawn looked afraid as the demon focused his, now black eyes at her. "Hey kid," he said with a smile. "Wanna see a trick?" he asked rhetorically and produced a large knife out of nowhere.
Dawn looked terrified at the blade as the demon walked up to her. But almost instantly the smile vanished from Doc's lips.
The body of the demon jerked suddenly and one second later Dawn could hear the sound of a gun shot in the distance.
Doc first looked confused at the teenager and then finally down at his own body. Much to his shock most of his chest had disappeared leaving a hole of the size of a plate in its place.
Dawn looked equally shocked, much to the fact that she could clearly see through Doc's chest.
"That didn't go as planned," he exclaimed weakly.
Dawn's eyes followed doc's body as it fell down the platform and right in front of Glory.
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On the other side of the street, Xander watched as Doc's body fell off the tower. No waiting a second he released the spent .50cal shell from the M82 sniper rifle and slid the bolt forward.
He quickly fired two shots, both bullets cutting through the steel poles Dawn was tied to. The teenager first looked shocked at her now free hands, but quickly pulled herself together and carefully walked in the direction of the other end of the platform.
Scanning the tower for any immediate danger for the young girl, but finding none, he levelled the sniper rifle around and aimed at the now enraged goddess.
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Glory stared shocked at the mutilated body of her head minion. It took her full ten seconds to decide what to do next.
"Kill them all," she screamed at the top of her lungs. Immediately her minions and the insane people under her command advanced on the Scooby gang, preparing to attack them.
But their movement came to a sudden halt, when Glory was thrown back by a powerful impact.
When she finally found her equilibrium again she looked shocked at the Scoobies. The bullet from Xander sniper rifle hadn't been able to penetrate her skin, but the blow matched that of ten slayers.
"What...," the goddess started, but right on that cue the next bullet hit her.
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Xander kept on firing at the surprised goddess, the bullets raining down on her and driving her constantly backwards. Even if they didn't kill her, they were more than enough to weaken her seriously.
"Time for the wiccan trio," he muttered and grabbed a fresh clip for his sniper rifle.
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It took Glory a long moment to get back to her feet after the last bullet's impact.
"You're cheating," the goddess growled and walked up to the blonde slayer and her friends.
"I haven't even started," Buffy responded with a smirk and motioned at the three witches that stood behind her.
Glory looked confused. Her main focus had been the slayer up to now, which meant that she had totally forgotten the potential threat of the witches.
The wiccans stood behind the rest of the group, carefully guarded by Faith and Giles. The three of them had joined hand and chanted softly under their breaths, gathering as much power as possible for what was coming next.
Their spell finally came to its end and a bright, blue ball of energy appeared in Willow's outstretched hand.
"Showtime," she muttered under her breath and flung the ball in Glory's general direction. The goddess tried step out of the way of the magical projectile, but the ball just corrected its paths and followed her.
"Damn.," she exclaimed just before the ball hit her.
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Xander quickly reloaded the rifle and focused the scope back to the spot where he had last seen the Goddess, just in time to see her airborne body as it crashed through the wall of a nearby building.
Spike and Buffy immediately gave chase, while Faith and Giles were engaged in a furious battle with Glory's minions. Willow, Tara and Jenny were still too exhausted from the spell to take part in the fight and took refuge behind some boxes. Xander grimaced. There were no targets left for him to shoot from his current position. Glory was out his sight and he couldn't shoot the minions without the danger of hitting one of the Scoobies.
So he grabbed the rope, attached it to his tactical vest and rappelled down the side of the house.
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"You tricked me slayer," Glory shouted enraged, standing shakily on her feet. "But I will still win."
"Don't bet on it," Buffy responded and punched her hard in the face. Glory nearly went down under the blow, but still managed to stay on her feet.
Buffy prepared another punch, but this time the goddess managed to grab her hand on its way.
"My turn now," she said and applied pressure on Buffy's hand. Buffy fell to her knees under the pain, unable to free her hand.
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The fight between the slayer/watcher tagteam and Glory's minions had come to a sudden standstill. The minions quickly noticed that even if not outnumbered they still stood no chance against the Scoobies in close combat, especially with the Faith cutting through them.
So they retreated back to the security of the entrance to the tower, where they loosed a series of crossbow bolts and everything else they could use as a distance weapon.
The three witches were already in the security of their cover, Faith and Giles followed suite on the other side of the battle field.
Xander choose that exact moment to enter the construction site. He quickly ran up to the watcher/slayer duo and crouched behind their cover.
"How are you guys doing," Xander asked and fired a shot of his Spas-12 at one of Glory's minions.
"Not too god X," Faith told him. "They pinned us down here."
"Is Dawn safe?" Giles asked and shot down another minion with his shotgun.
"As safe as she can get," Xander responded. "But all that is for nothing if we don't take that blonde bitch out. Where is she?"
"I don't know," Giles admitted and took cover behind the box. "They are probably somewhere in that building," the watcher said pointing into the general direction.
"Okay," Xander said and took two egg shaped objects out of his rucksack. "Get Dawn out of here. Just in case we can't stop Glory."
"And how are we supposed to do that," Faith asked.
"You know," Xander said with a smile and removed the pin from the two grenades. "I always wanted to say this. Fire in the hole," he screamed at the top of his lungs, so the witches also could hear him.
With these words he stood up and threw the grenades in the general direction of Glory's minions.
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"What is he saying?" Murk asked confused. "The fire is whole?"
"No no," Jinx said. "He said that there is a hole in the fire."
But before either of them could dwell two much on that phrase, the grenades exploded, taking a large part of Glory's minions with them.
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They looked at the damage Xander had caused. Most of Glory's minions had been taken out, the rest of them now less than organised.
"You finish those guys off," Xander told Giles and Faith. "And I'll help Buffy."
Both nodded and jumped over their cover and ran in the direction of the remaining minions, while Xander ran in the direction of the hole Glory had left behind.
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Glory looked down at the bruised and broken body of her opponent. Buffy was barely conscious and out for the count. Even in her weakened state, the Goddess had still managed to wipe the floor with the slayer.
"You delayed the inevitable long enough," Glory said, grabbed the slayer by throat and lifted her up. "Now it's time for you to die."
But before the goddess could follow through with her threat, she was pulled away from the vampire slayer. The arm that was around her throat tried his hardest to choke the life out of her.
"That's really annoying," Glory exclaimed with a roll of her eyes and grabbed the hand, twisting it hard until she could hear the bone break.
"Oh, it's you," the surprised goddess said once she had turned around. In front of her and currently on his knees was Spike, trying his hardest to free his now useless hand out of the vice like grip Glory had on it.
"You know," she said and twisted his hand even further, which resulted in a loud scream of pain from the vampire. "I always wondered. Why is a vampire helping a slayer. Don't you guys have any kind of morals now a days?"
"Have no other choice," Spike grunted through clenched teeth. "Got a chip in my head, can't hurt anything human. It's either help her," he said and moved his head in Buffy's direction. "or the pointy end of stake for me."
"And that supposed to be an excuse?" Glory asked angry. "I mean, if you wanted to act evil, you could have at least told me where the key was before I had to torture that bit of information out of you. I think that deserves some punishment."
But before Spike could ask what she meant by that, the goddess had already finished her action. Moving with lighting speed, she grabbed the vampire's arm with her other hand and ripped it clear off his shoulder.
The shocked vampire looked down at the stump where his arm had been seconds earlier. It took full ten seconds before the pain finally set in, turning the normally cold blooded vampire in a screaming, writhing mass on the ground.
Glory completely ignored the suffering vampire and inspected exposed joint at the now separated arm. "Interesting," she commented and looked at Spike's humiliated form. "I though that it would turn to dust too. See, even I can still learn something," she told him with a smile.
"I guess," Glory said and turned the vampire around with the tip of her foot. "That you wish that you had never met the slayer. Or that someone just staked you right now. Well, can't help you with the first one. But I damn sure can make the second one come true."
And with these words the goddess rammed Spike own arm through his chest, impaling his heart with some of the exposed bone. The vampire's eyes nearly bulged out when he saw his arm sticking out of his chest. But before he could mutter another word, he already exploded into dust, leaving nothing but a small pile of ashes behind.
Glory looked down for a few more seconds at the remains of the master vampire, before she turned her attention back to Buffy. But she stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around when she heard the sound of clapping from the other side of the room.
"Excellent," Xander commented, as he stepped through the hole in wall. "A perfect finish. Not many people know that vampires can be staked with bone. I couldn't have done it better myself."
Glory eyed the newcomer for a few seconds "You're the one that shot me when I took my key," Glory exclaimed and walked up to Xander. "I will be a pleasure to torture you before I leave this plane."
"Yeah right," Xander said and took the tube that had been hanging around his shoulder for the whole time. He quickly prepared the weapon and aimed it at the goddess. "You won't be too angry if I decide to take a rain check, will you? Now, say cheese."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Glory asked confused. But before anyone could answer her question, Xander had already pressed the button on the LAW rocket launcher.
The rocket propelled out of the tube and hit the advancing goddess square in the chest. The force of the projectile threw Glory through the whole room and yet again through another wall.
Xander had modified the rocket for exactly that purpose. Knowing that they had to fight on very little space, he applied the rocked with a three seconds timer. That was enough time to for everyone to get out of the explosive range of the weapon.
Xander counted down from three and was rewarded. The explosion of the rocket rocked the foundation of the whole building.
"You still alive?" he asked rhetorically and helped Buffy back on her feet.
"Barely," she responded weakly and looked at the hole Glory had left behind. "Do you think that finished her."
But before Xander could answer her, they heard they sound of rubble from the other room.
"Guess not," he commented and took his shotgun.
Glory finally stumbled through the second hole, barely able to stand on her own feet.
"No mere mortal is able to defeat me," Glory shouted at the two. "I'm Glorificus, the hellgoddess. No one will stay in my way."
Xander left Buffy's side, the slayer still not able for yet another fight. He raised his shotgun and fired at the approaching form of the goddess.
Glory was thrown back by the impact of the 12 gauge slug, but still she managed to stay on her feet. Xander walked up to her and fired again, each shot driving the goddess backwards and steadily onto her knees.
Xander stood in front of her, when the magazine of his shotgun finally ran dry. But that didn't stop him from continuing his attack
"Why can't you just die," he shouted and hit the fallen goddess several time in the face with the butt of the shotgun.
Suddenly Glory's hand rose up and grabbed the striking weapon in her hand.
"Do you still don't get it," she said and glared at her opponent. "I'm a goddess. You have nothing against me."
With these words she ripped the gun out of Xander's hand and punched the Tarakan in the face. The blow sent him a few feet backwards. But when he rose up, Xander smiled at her.
"I get it," Xander said and wiped away the blood from his lips. "You're a goddess. But also know that you have already hit harder."
Glory looked with disbelief and horror at him. But before she could respond she felt a sudden pain in her chest.
"No," she started. "Not now," but by the time she finished the sentence she had already transformed back into Ben.
Xander walked up to the prone figure, Buffy following him shakily behind.
"Ben?" she asked surprised when she recognised his face.
"You know him," Xander asked casually, while he watched as the intern turned and twisted in pain.
"He is an intern at Sunnydale hospital," Buffy told him. "I would have never expected him to be Glory's host."
"So close. We've been so close," was the mantra that Ben repeated over and over again.
"Time to put him out of his misery," Xander said and took the SOCOM pistol out of his holster. Buffy didn't protest. She was far too tired to argue and couldn't have stopped Xander even if she wanted to. She turned around and waited for the inevitable.
She barely heard the silenced shot, but the end of Ben's mantra told her that Glory's host really was dead.
"You think that was necessary?" Buffy asked,
"Better kill him now before Glory comes back," Xander replied.
"Well, at least it's finally over," Buffy exclaimed relieved and limped in the direction of the exit.
"No it's not," Xander muttered. But before Buffy could find out what he meant with these words Xander had already pinned her against one of the walls.
"I told you I would act as a professional as long as the world was in danger," he told her and produced a combat knife from his vest. Buffy still groggy from the fight with Glory, could only stare with fear as he planted the blade at her throat. "But that's over now. The question is: What am I going to do with you?"
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Xander parked the van on the opposite side of the street and looked over at the magic shop. Checking the address on the business card one more time, he stepped out of the car and walked across the road.
He opened the door and the chiming bell immediately caught the attention of all the occupants of the room. The Scoobies had gathered around the table in the middle of the room, where Giles was currently treating a wound on Buffy's forehead. Faith ,as usual, kept her distance from the group and sat on top of the counter.
"Nice," Xander commented casually and walked up to them. "Like what you've made out of the place."
"Thanks," Giles replied dryly and continued to clean the cut on Buffy's forehead.
"What happened to her?" he asked and motioned at the blonde slayer.
"We visited one of Spike's contacts for some information about Glory," Buffy answered with a shrug of her shoulder. "Unfortunately this contact also is one of her minions. Instead of greeting us with a warm smile he threw a dagger in my direction and scratched my head."
"Would've paid money to see that," Xander exclaimed and sat down in one of empty chairs, like Faith making sure to keep his distance from the rest of the group "Did you at least get your information?"
"Yes, they did," Giles commented and placed a small bandage over around the wound. "And it's not looking good."
"It's never looking good," Xander told him sarcastically. "But how bad exactly?"
"We have one," Giles said and checked his watch. "Maybe two hours left. That's the time window during which Glory has to perform the ritual to get back to her home dimension."
"One hour," Xander mused and went through his mental checklist. "Should be enough time for us. Do you know where they are?"
"Well," Willow started and turned her laptop in Xander's direction. "I cast a locator spell on Dawn and they're hiding here," she said and pointed at the map of Sunnydale on her screen.
"Interesting," Xander said and leaned forward. "What do you know about the place?"
"It seems to be some kind of abandoned construction site," Willow told him.
Xander nodded and studied the map, analyzing the site and the surrounding buildings. "And how exactly will this ritual be performed."
"They only way they can extract the key's energy from Dawn's body is to make her bleed," Giles explained, falling back into lecture mode. "The blood will then open the portal.."
"And destroy the whole universe," Xander finished the sentence. "Okay. I need fifteen, maybe twenty minutes to finish my preparations. How long do you guys need?"
"Well," Giles exclaimed and looked around. "Basically we're done. We waited for you."
Xander nodded. "Okay, let's get this show on the road," he said and turned to Faith. "Faith, I could use some help with some of the boxes."
"Sure," the dark slayer replied with a shrug and hopped off the counter. "But why do you need my help. Aren't you strong enough to lift that stuff?"
"I am," Xander said with a shrug of his shoulder, as the two walked up to the door. "But if I accidentally drop one box.. Let's just say that Giles would have to search for a new place to run his shop."
While the shocked watcher continued to stare at the retreating backs of the slayer and the assassin, Spike decided to add his two cents.
"Why do we even bother with this fucker?" Spike muttered angrily
"Shut up Spike," the Scoobies told him simultaneously
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Dawn looked up from the chair she was tied to, as the door suddenly opened. She had been here for several hours, most of time alone. Glory had left after they arrived here and only now and then one her minions showed up to check on her. She was however not prepared for the person that entered the room.
"Ben," she called out in relief. "What the hell are you doing here. Doesn't matter. Look, we have to get out of here before the bitch comes back."
"I'm sorry Dawn," Ben told her emotionlessly. "But I can't help you."
"Are you kidding," Dawn asked confused, but noticed for the first time the strange clothes Ben was dressed in. "And why are you wearing a dress?"
"That's because," he started but in mid sentence he turned into Glory "Ben and I've been working pretty close together."
"Oh my god," Dawn gasped out.
"No need to be shocked," Glory told her, as some of her minions strolled into the room to prepare her for the upcoming ritual. "In a few minutes you won't remember any of this," the goddess told the terrified teenager and walked out of the room.
"Why are you here?" Glory asked once she was out of the room.
Doc walked out of the shadow and bowed in front of her. "The slayer and her vampire visited me earlier your splendiness," the demon told her. "They know what you're planning. And with the witches they probably also know where we are hiding."
"The slayer will try to rescue her little sister," Glory stated. "We have to stop her."
"What do you want me to do?" Doc asked eagerly.
"No matter what happens," Glory said. "The ritual has to be completed. And you're the one to make sure that happens."
"As you wish Glorificus," Doc replied dutifully. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
The Scooby gang arrived about ten minutes after Xander had finished his preparations. The van was big enough to transport them all. They stepped out of the car and assembled in front of the construction site.
"Nice," Xander commented and tilted his head in order to examine the tower from a different angle. "In an insane kind of way."
"Yes, I've only seen such a thing in Pisa," Giles agreed and loaded the Benelli shot gun he had taken from one of Xander's boxes. "But we are not here to discuss architecture."
"Right," Xander agreed and stepped back into the van. "Give me ten minutes to set everything up. Then you can start the show."
"Alright," the watcher said. "Good luck Xander."
"Yeah," he said and took his time to look at each of the Scoobies. "You too."
He started the engine and drove the van around the next corner.
"Okay," Buffy said when the car was out of sight. "You all know the plan. Spike and I will face Glory. Giles, you and the others take care of her minions and rescue Dawn."
"I've got one question," Faith interjected. "Shouldn't I join you two against that bitch?"
"Normally yes," Buffy agreed. "But I need someone strong enough to rescue Dawn," she said and looked at Spike. "And I can't trust him to do the job."
"Well," Faith said after a pause. "I'm feeling kinda honoured."
"I'm not," Spike threw in. "I'm feeling insulted."
Buffy turned to him and put on her best fake smile. "Good."
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Xander only had to drive a few hundred meters before he reached his destination. The house was abandoned like most of the buildings in this area. But what made it that more attractive for him was that it was taller than the surrounding.
He quickly left the car, grabbing the rifle case in the back of the van and walked up the stairs to the top of the building.
Once on the roof, he set all his equipment up. His last action was to fasten a long rope to the front of the building.
Satisfied with everything, he took a quick look through his binoculars. As expected he could overlook most of the surrounding area and especially the construction site Glory had chosen as her headquarters. And of course he spotted the girl that was tied to the top of the improvised tower.
He checked his watch a final time. One minute to go.
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"Oh, glorious one," Jinx said and bowed in front of the goddess. "Everything is finished. We are awaiting more of your divine commands."
"Good," Glory exclaimed with a smile. She just wanted to walk in the direction of the tower when a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned around and spotted the entire Scooby gang walking up to her.
"Well," Glory greeted the them. "If its not the slayer and her friends."
"Yeah, we love you too Glory," Buffy replied sarcastically. "Now release my sister and none of us will get hurt. Understood?"
"You're really expecting an answer to that," Glory exclaimed amused and turned her attention to the minions. "Guard the tower. I don't want one of those insects near my key."
"Yes glorious one," Murk replied and began to organize the defence.
"Where is my sister?" Buffy asked.
"You still don't get it do you," Glory said and laughed at her. "You've already lost," she said and motioned to the top of the tower. Buffy followed her hand and immediately spotted Dawn at the end of the platform. But more importantly she saw the figure that walked up to her.
"Even if you would get passed me and my minions you would still be too late," the goddess taunted her.
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Dawn smiled when she saw that her sister and the Scoobies have come to rescue her. She was startled when suddenly someone stood in front of her.
"You," she said, when she remembered him after a moment. "I know you. You helped me when I tried to resurrect my mother. You have to help me."
"Well, it seems that she is going to be a bit delayed," Doc said, ignoring Dawn completely. "But it will be a much greater honour for me to accomplish this task for her."
Dawn looked afraid as the demon focused his, now black eyes at her. "Hey kid," he said with a smile. "Wanna see a trick?" he asked rhetorically and produced a large knife out of nowhere.
Dawn looked terrified at the blade as the demon walked up to her. But almost instantly the smile vanished from Doc's lips.
The body of the demon jerked suddenly and one second later Dawn could hear the sound of a gun shot in the distance.
Doc first looked confused at the teenager and then finally down at his own body. Much to his shock most of his chest had disappeared leaving a hole of the size of a plate in its place.
Dawn looked equally shocked, much to the fact that she could clearly see through Doc's chest.
"That didn't go as planned," he exclaimed weakly.
Dawn's eyes followed doc's body as it fell down the platform and right in front of Glory.
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On the other side of the street, Xander watched as Doc's body fell off the tower. No waiting a second he released the spent .50cal shell from the M82 sniper rifle and slid the bolt forward.
He quickly fired two shots, both bullets cutting through the steel poles Dawn was tied to. The teenager first looked shocked at her now free hands, but quickly pulled herself together and carefully walked in the direction of the other end of the platform.
Scanning the tower for any immediate danger for the young girl, but finding none, he levelled the sniper rifle around and aimed at the now enraged goddess.
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Glory stared shocked at the mutilated body of her head minion. It took her full ten seconds to decide what to do next.
"Kill them all," she screamed at the top of her lungs. Immediately her minions and the insane people under her command advanced on the Scooby gang, preparing to attack them.
But their movement came to a sudden halt, when Glory was thrown back by a powerful impact.
When she finally found her equilibrium again she looked shocked at the Scoobies. The bullet from Xander sniper rifle hadn't been able to penetrate her skin, but the blow matched that of ten slayers.
"What...," the goddess started, but right on that cue the next bullet hit her.
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Xander kept on firing at the surprised goddess, the bullets raining down on her and driving her constantly backwards. Even if they didn't kill her, they were more than enough to weaken her seriously.
"Time for the wiccan trio," he muttered and grabbed a fresh clip for his sniper rifle.
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It took Glory a long moment to get back to her feet after the last bullet's impact.
"You're cheating," the goddess growled and walked up to the blonde slayer and her friends.
"I haven't even started," Buffy responded with a smirk and motioned at the three witches that stood behind her.
Glory looked confused. Her main focus had been the slayer up to now, which meant that she had totally forgotten the potential threat of the witches.
The wiccans stood behind the rest of the group, carefully guarded by Faith and Giles. The three of them had joined hand and chanted softly under their breaths, gathering as much power as possible for what was coming next.
Their spell finally came to its end and a bright, blue ball of energy appeared in Willow's outstretched hand.
"Showtime," she muttered under her breath and flung the ball in Glory's general direction. The goddess tried step out of the way of the magical projectile, but the ball just corrected its paths and followed her.
"Damn.," she exclaimed just before the ball hit her.
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Xander quickly reloaded the rifle and focused the scope back to the spot where he had last seen the Goddess, just in time to see her airborne body as it crashed through the wall of a nearby building.
Spike and Buffy immediately gave chase, while Faith and Giles were engaged in a furious battle with Glory's minions. Willow, Tara and Jenny were still too exhausted from the spell to take part in the fight and took refuge behind some boxes. Xander grimaced. There were no targets left for him to shoot from his current position. Glory was out his sight and he couldn't shoot the minions without the danger of hitting one of the Scoobies.
So he grabbed the rope, attached it to his tactical vest and rappelled down the side of the house.
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"You tricked me slayer," Glory shouted enraged, standing shakily on her feet. "But I will still win."
"Don't bet on it," Buffy responded and punched her hard in the face. Glory nearly went down under the blow, but still managed to stay on her feet.
Buffy prepared another punch, but this time the goddess managed to grab her hand on its way.
"My turn now," she said and applied pressure on Buffy's hand. Buffy fell to her knees under the pain, unable to free her hand.
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The fight between the slayer/watcher tagteam and Glory's minions had come to a sudden standstill. The minions quickly noticed that even if not outnumbered they still stood no chance against the Scoobies in close combat, especially with the Faith cutting through them.
So they retreated back to the security of the entrance to the tower, where they loosed a series of crossbow bolts and everything else they could use as a distance weapon.
The three witches were already in the security of their cover, Faith and Giles followed suite on the other side of the battle field.
Xander choose that exact moment to enter the construction site. He quickly ran up to the watcher/slayer duo and crouched behind their cover.
"How are you guys doing," Xander asked and fired a shot of his Spas-12 at one of Glory's minions.
"Not too god X," Faith told him. "They pinned us down here."
"Is Dawn safe?" Giles asked and shot down another minion with his shotgun.
"As safe as she can get," Xander responded. "But all that is for nothing if we don't take that blonde bitch out. Where is she?"
"I don't know," Giles admitted and took cover behind the box. "They are probably somewhere in that building," the watcher said pointing into the general direction.
"Okay," Xander said and took two egg shaped objects out of his rucksack. "Get Dawn out of here. Just in case we can't stop Glory."
"And how are we supposed to do that," Faith asked.
"You know," Xander said with a smile and removed the pin from the two grenades. "I always wanted to say this. Fire in the hole," he screamed at the top of his lungs, so the witches also could hear him.
With these words he stood up and threw the grenades in the general direction of Glory's minions.
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"What is he saying?" Murk asked confused. "The fire is whole?"
"No no," Jinx said. "He said that there is a hole in the fire."
But before either of them could dwell two much on that phrase, the grenades exploded, taking a large part of Glory's minions with them.
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They looked at the damage Xander had caused. Most of Glory's minions had been taken out, the rest of them now less than organised.
"You finish those guys off," Xander told Giles and Faith. "And I'll help Buffy."
Both nodded and jumped over their cover and ran in the direction of the remaining minions, while Xander ran in the direction of the hole Glory had left behind.
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Glory looked down at the bruised and broken body of her opponent. Buffy was barely conscious and out for the count. Even in her weakened state, the Goddess had still managed to wipe the floor with the slayer.
"You delayed the inevitable long enough," Glory said, grabbed the slayer by throat and lifted her up. "Now it's time for you to die."
But before the goddess could follow through with her threat, she was pulled away from the vampire slayer. The arm that was around her throat tried his hardest to choke the life out of her.
"That's really annoying," Glory exclaimed with a roll of her eyes and grabbed the hand, twisting it hard until she could hear the bone break.
"Oh, it's you," the surprised goddess said once she had turned around. In front of her and currently on his knees was Spike, trying his hardest to free his now useless hand out of the vice like grip Glory had on it.
"You know," she said and twisted his hand even further, which resulted in a loud scream of pain from the vampire. "I always wondered. Why is a vampire helping a slayer. Don't you guys have any kind of morals now a days?"
"Have no other choice," Spike grunted through clenched teeth. "Got a chip in my head, can't hurt anything human. It's either help her," he said and moved his head in Buffy's direction. "or the pointy end of stake for me."
"And that supposed to be an excuse?" Glory asked angry. "I mean, if you wanted to act evil, you could have at least told me where the key was before I had to torture that bit of information out of you. I think that deserves some punishment."
But before Spike could ask what she meant by that, the goddess had already finished her action. Moving with lighting speed, she grabbed the vampire's arm with her other hand and ripped it clear off his shoulder.
The shocked vampire looked down at the stump where his arm had been seconds earlier. It took full ten seconds before the pain finally set in, turning the normally cold blooded vampire in a screaming, writhing mass on the ground.
Glory completely ignored the suffering vampire and inspected exposed joint at the now separated arm. "Interesting," she commented and looked at Spike's humiliated form. "I though that it would turn to dust too. See, even I can still learn something," she told him with a smile.
"I guess," Glory said and turned the vampire around with the tip of her foot. "That you wish that you had never met the slayer. Or that someone just staked you right now. Well, can't help you with the first one. But I damn sure can make the second one come true."
And with these words the goddess rammed Spike own arm through his chest, impaling his heart with some of the exposed bone. The vampire's eyes nearly bulged out when he saw his arm sticking out of his chest. But before he could mutter another word, he already exploded into dust, leaving nothing but a small pile of ashes behind.
Glory looked down for a few more seconds at the remains of the master vampire, before she turned her attention back to Buffy. But she stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around when she heard the sound of clapping from the other side of the room.
"Excellent," Xander commented, as he stepped through the hole in wall. "A perfect finish. Not many people know that vampires can be staked with bone. I couldn't have done it better myself."
Glory eyed the newcomer for a few seconds "You're the one that shot me when I took my key," Glory exclaimed and walked up to Xander. "I will be a pleasure to torture you before I leave this plane."
"Yeah right," Xander said and took the tube that had been hanging around his shoulder for the whole time. He quickly prepared the weapon and aimed it at the goddess. "You won't be too angry if I decide to take a rain check, will you? Now, say cheese."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Glory asked confused. But before anyone could answer her question, Xander had already pressed the button on the LAW rocket launcher.
The rocket propelled out of the tube and hit the advancing goddess square in the chest. The force of the projectile threw Glory through the whole room and yet again through another wall.
Xander had modified the rocket for exactly that purpose. Knowing that they had to fight on very little space, he applied the rocked with a three seconds timer. That was enough time to for everyone to get out of the explosive range of the weapon.
Xander counted down from three and was rewarded. The explosion of the rocket rocked the foundation of the whole building.
"You still alive?" he asked rhetorically and helped Buffy back on her feet.
"Barely," she responded weakly and looked at the hole Glory had left behind. "Do you think that finished her."
But before Xander could answer her, they heard they sound of rubble from the other room.
"Guess not," he commented and took his shotgun.
Glory finally stumbled through the second hole, barely able to stand on her own feet.
"No mere mortal is able to defeat me," Glory shouted at the two. "I'm Glorificus, the hellgoddess. No one will stay in my way."
Xander left Buffy's side, the slayer still not able for yet another fight. He raised his shotgun and fired at the approaching form of the goddess.
Glory was thrown back by the impact of the 12 gauge slug, but still she managed to stay on her feet. Xander walked up to her and fired again, each shot driving the goddess backwards and steadily onto her knees.
Xander stood in front of her, when the magazine of his shotgun finally ran dry. But that didn't stop him from continuing his attack
"Why can't you just die," he shouted and hit the fallen goddess several time in the face with the butt of the shotgun.
Suddenly Glory's hand rose up and grabbed the striking weapon in her hand.
"Do you still don't get it," she said and glared at her opponent. "I'm a goddess. You have nothing against me."
With these words she ripped the gun out of Xander's hand and punched the Tarakan in the face. The blow sent him a few feet backwards. But when he rose up, Xander smiled at her.
"I get it," Xander said and wiped away the blood from his lips. "You're a goddess. But also know that you have already hit harder."
Glory looked with disbelief and horror at him. But before she could respond she felt a sudden pain in her chest.
"No," she started. "Not now," but by the time she finished the sentence she had already transformed back into Ben.
Xander walked up to the prone figure, Buffy following him shakily behind.
"Ben?" she asked surprised when she recognised his face.
"You know him," Xander asked casually, while he watched as the intern turned and twisted in pain.
"He is an intern at Sunnydale hospital," Buffy told him. "I would have never expected him to be Glory's host."
"So close. We've been so close," was the mantra that Ben repeated over and over again.
"Time to put him out of his misery," Xander said and took the SOCOM pistol out of his holster. Buffy didn't protest. She was far too tired to argue and couldn't have stopped Xander even if she wanted to. She turned around and waited for the inevitable.
She barely heard the silenced shot, but the end of Ben's mantra told her that Glory's host really was dead.
"You think that was necessary?" Buffy asked,
"Better kill him now before Glory comes back," Xander replied.
"Well, at least it's finally over," Buffy exclaimed relieved and limped in the direction of the exit.
"No it's not," Xander muttered. But before Buffy could find out what he meant with these words Xander had already pinned her against one of the walls.
"I told you I would act as a professional as long as the world was in danger," he told her and produced a combat knife from his vest. Buffy still groggy from the fight with Glory, could only stare with fear as he planted the blade at her throat. "But that's over now. The question is: What am I going to do with you?"