Preparations

Episode 23

The Cemetery:

            Buffy was at full strength now. She had completely recovered from her time in the coma. And she was ready to kick butt. She wanted to make the goddess pay for what she put her and her friends through. The time for the final battle was closing in.

            Giles had finally let her go out. He had been hesitant at first, but the others convinced him that she needed to go get some training in before the battle. But Buffy had no intention to go out and train. She wanted to find out information about that orb. She had to know what it could be used for.

            She wandered around the cemetery, searching for any clues. She figured that the last time something mysterious had come her way she had discovered information about it in the cemetery. So it was worth a shot.

            As she walked, she began thinking about how she would have to prepare her small army for this battle. She wondered how she'd do it. It wasn't like she usually prepared. Last time, she had run away and returned just in time to take the gang into battle. They hadn't even planned anything. She had just come up with the idea of going into the Hellmouth on her own. This time, she didn't even know how to find the goddess.

            It was quiet tonight. There was no activity at all throughout the entire cemetery. Buffy was kind of disappointed. She had kind of hoped to run into a vampire. She hadn't slain any in a long time. She walked along, glancing around. She noticed a church at the back of the cemetery.

            That's when she saw something. There was something standing near the gates surrounding the church. When it saw Buffy glancing its way, it took off towards the church, dashing inside. Buffy immediately took off after it. She was going to have a little fun now.

Giles's Apartment:

            "Has anyone found anything yet?" Giles questioned, coming back into the living room.

            "Not yet," Willow called from the computer, "I'm not quite sure what I'm even looking for."

            "Look for something that looks like this," Giles said, holding the orb in his hands.

            "Don't you think that's a little dangerous?" Xander questioned, taking it from Giles with gloves, "We don't want to lose you now."

            "Its fine, Xander," he replied, "Buffy has touched it and I have been studying it. It doesn't seem to be of any danger."

            "Wait a minute!" Cordy said, "You told us that some light shot out and made Spike corporeal and now you're saying it isn't dangerous. It definitely has mystical powers that shouldn't be toyed with."

            "She does have a point, Giles," Willow agreed, "We shouldn't mess with it until we are sure of what it does."

            "I wasn't messing," Giles argued.

            Just then the apartment door opened. Everyone turned their heads to see who it was. Faith and Angel walked in, followed by Kennedy, Oz, Wesley, and Axel. They seemed to be injured in some way.

            "Are you all alright?" Giles questioned.

            "Yeah, we'll be fine," Faith replied, "Just had a little run in with the remaining Ubervamps."

            "It seemed like they still had their malice even with their master dead," Wesley informed, "It wasn't a very pretty sight."

            "They almost beat us, Giles," Oz informed.

            "But we held it together and we finished them off," Faith finished.

            "So the threat of the First Evil is completely gone?" Xander questioned.

            "As far as we know," Giles answered, "I don't see how it could still be alive."

            "Well you never know," Willow added, "This is a Hellmouth."

            "And strange things do happen here," Xander finished.

            Angel had kind of snuck off alone. He wanted to talk to Buffy, so he snuck into her room to see how she was doing. He carefully opened the door so as not to draw attention to himself.

            He walked in and flipped the light on. He saw Buffy's form, lying under the covers. Sitting down on the bed, he began rubbing her side.

            "Buffy," he whispered.

            He continued rubbing her side, very gently, trying to wake her up. She moved a bit and then turned to face him. Angel gasped.

            "Angel?"

            "Fred?" Angel questioned, jumping up from the bed.

            "What are you doing?"

            "Sorry, I thought you were Buffy."

            "It's okay. I figured since Buffy wasn't using the bed anymore that I could take a little snooze."

            "Where is Buffy then?"

            "I think Giles let her go out to train. She's probably at the cemetery."

            "Thanks Fred," he said, "I'll be back later."

A Church:

            Buffy cautiously entered the church. She was ready for anything. Luckily, whatever it was had come in here instead of running out into town and harming someone. In here, she could finish it off quick and easy.

            She walked out of a hallway and into the sanctuary. She glanced up towards the pulpit and saw the shadowy figure, staring at the stain glass mirror. She crept up the center aisle of pews towards the front.

            "I've been waiting for you, slayer," the figure said.

            "Who are you?" Buffy questioned, stepping closer to the figure.

            "Your prom date," he replied.

            "You!" Buffy exclaimed, "Whistler!"

            "That's right," he said, "The immortal demon sent down to earth to even the score between good and evil."

            "What are you doing here?" Buffy questioned, annoyed.

            "I guess you received the present."

            "That was from you?"

            "Not really from me. It's from the Powers. They realized that they had made a mistake sending the goddess to earth in the form of Spike. They want to make it up to you."

            "That was their fault?"

            "She took the form of the vampire and tricked the Powers. They sent her to earth, making her corporeal. So yes, it was their fault. But they sent you that orb to help you defeat her."

            "What does it do?"

            "Well first of all, it made the champion corporeal again."

            "Spike?"

            "That's right."

            "He's a champion?"

            "He saved the world, didn't he?"

            "But so did Angel."

            "Spike also sought out his soul, while Angel was cursed with one. There's a big difference there and the Powers keep note of that."

            "I see."

            "Spike is closer to fulfilling the Shanshu Prophecy than Angel even though he only saved the world once."

            "But why?"

            "Spike loved without a soul. He aided you and your friends without a soul. He fought with you against the hell god to help, not for personal gain. He truly is the champion."

            "Guess you shouldn't tell Angel that then. You know, he's been working pretty hard for this prophecy thing. He's gonna be disappointed."

            "The Powers that Be have a plan for Angel."

            "What is it?"

            "That, I don't know."

            "Wait…what else does this orb thing do?"

            "I was waiting for you to ask. The cube is full of powerful energy. It was sent to you to destroy the strongest creature to ever walk the earth. It is the slayer's ultimate weapon. It fuses the slayer, you, with a power beyond imagination."

            "How do I make it work?"

            "You'll have to figure that one out on your own because I haven't a clue. They don't tell me everything."

            "Anything else that I need to know?"

            "This could be the end."

            "Well thanks."

            "I was being serious. The orb has the potential to destroy the world."

            "Then why did they send it to me?"

            "They have no other choice in the matter. It's either let everything get destroyed or just this world."

            "But that isn't fair!"

            "When are you going to learn, Buffy? Not everything here is fair. It is your choice though. The Powers that Be know that you will make the right decision."

            Whistler turned and began walking towards a door on the side. He turned back to her and smiled.

            "Good luck kiddo!" he called, "You'll need it!"

            And with that he was gone. Buffy was left standing there, trying to sort out everything that she had just discovered. She had no idea what to do. Could she actually destroy the thing that she was sworn to protect in order to save the rest of existence?

Downtown Haynesville:

            Buffy walked through the streets. She couldn't decide what to do. But she realized that she had to do what the Powers that Be wanted. She couldn't be selfish or could she? This was the toughest decision that she'd ever have to make.

            "Buffy!" someone called, "Wait up!"

            She'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was the guy that she had loved before and would always love forever.

            "Angel," she said.

            She spun around and looked back down the way she had come. There he stood, dressed in a black leather jacket. It was slightly open, blowing in the warm night breeze. He caught up to her within a few moments.

            "Where have you been?" he asked.

            "I've just been out and about. You know, just seeing if anything changed while I was in a coma," she replied.

            "Have a nice conversation with Whistler?" he asked.

            "You were spying on me?"

            "Not spying. I saw you walk into that church after a shadowy figure. Figured it was some demon and that you'd need help."

            "Why didn't you come out of the shadows?"

            "Didn't want to. I just wanted to listen."

            "Oh."

            "So you have a choice to make…what's it going to be?"

            "I don't know!" she shouted, "This is all so hard! I can't do this!"

            "No one said it would be easy. I mean, come on you have to decide if you want to destroy the world."

            "My conscious says that I should go for it, but there's that one little part that's saying that there might be some other way."

            "There may be."

            "Wait a minute!"

            "Hmm?"

            "Whistler said it had the potential to destroy the world, not that it definitely would. So maybe there still is a chance for the world."

            "We won't know until we try," Angel replied.

Giles's Apartment:

            "So what's the plan, B?" Faith questioned.

            "I'm not exactly sure of all the details right now," Buffy answered.

            Buffy had gathered a few of her friends into Giles's kitchen. They were discussing their plan of action for this large battle. Buffy stood, addressing Faith, Giles, Willow, Xander, Angel, and Spike.

            "Giles, what information have you guys gathered?" Buffy asked.

            "Well, the Goddess's power has been channeling through the Hellmouth. She will unleash hell on earth through the Seal of Danthalzar in the center of town," he informed.

            "We're guessing that we should battle her near the seal since it's giving her power," Willow added.

            "Okay so the battle will be at the Hellmouth," Buffy concluded, "What else?"

            "Everyone here is willing to fight," Xander told her.

            "Even Cordy?" Buffy questioned.

            "Yes, even Cordy," he replied.

            "We didn't find out anything about the orb yet," Giles informed.

            "That's okay," she told him, "I did."

            "What did you discover?" he asked.

            "It's some sort of gift for the Powers that Be to me," she began, "Its their way to get me to forgive them for allowing this goddess to become a threat. It's supposed to fuse me with unimaginable powers."

            "And how did you figure this out?" Giles asked.

            "A messenger," she replied, "From the Powers that Be."

            "A messenger?" Spike questioned, "You mean one of those immortal demony guys?"

            "Yes," Buffy answered.

            "And how do you know you can trust him?" Giles asked.

            "He's an old friend," Angel interrupted.

            "And his information can be trusted?" Giles questioned.

            "Yes," Angel replied.

            "Okay we need to start planning battle strategies!" Faith exclaimed.

            "Oh I hope that bitch doesn't sick those slice-n-dice demons on us again," Spike interrupted, "Now that I'm corporeal, I don't need to face demons that could slice my bloody head clean off."

            "There's been no trace of the demons for a little while now. I haven't seen any since the battle," Angel informed, "I've been patrolling throughout town on a nightly basis."

            "Okay so that means we'll only be up against the Goddess herself," Buffy concluded, "As far as we know anyways. But we need to be prepared for anything."

            "She's right," Faith agreed, "She probably has plenty of things to throw at us."

            "We've forgotten about something though," Giles informed.

            "What's that?" Willow asked.

            "The Gathering," Giles replied, "The Goddess will most likely call upon the aid of all the demons and vampires that she's called upon over the past few months."

            "Looks like we got ourselves a handful," Xander said.

            "Okay, here's the deal," Buffy began, "We need to muster up as many weapons as we can possibly find. Everyone needs to be loaded up with as many weapons as possible, including the potentials."

            "Are you sure you want to risk their lives?" Fred asked.

            "It's better to risk their lives and win, then to have them sitting around while we lose," Buffy replied.

            "I'll go round up the girls," Faith said.

            "Giles, where's that org?" Buffy questioned.

           "Right here Buffy," he replied, picking the orb off the table and handing it to her. Buffy slid it carefully into her pocket.

            "Is everyone ready?" Buffy questioned.

            "Ready as we'll ever be, Buff," Xander said.

Downtown Haynesville:

            Buffy walked down the street towards the Hellmouth. She remembered exactly where it was. It was the place where she had lived for a few months. She came up to the building. It had been condemned because of the damage that the Ubervamps and those other demons had done to it. Plus the building split before too.

            She walked up to the yellow police tape surrounding the property and tore it off. She walked into the building and up to the giant crack in the floor. She glanced down and saw the opening to the Hellmouth. The seal was no longer covering the hole, it was open now. Faith came walking up beside Buffy.

            "Well now that doesn't look to good," Faith said.

            Buffy turned around and faced her troops.

            "I know that we aren't much," she began, "But I have faith in you all. I know we can do this if we try."

            Buffy turned and stepped closer to the crack.

            "What are you doing, B?" Faith questioned.

            "I'll be back," Buffy replied and jumped down to the basement.

            "Buffy!" Spike shouted.

            "Stay there," she told him, "I promise, I'll be right back."

            She walked closer to the hole in the ground. She peered down into it. She could feel the evil radiating off of it. It was a powerful evil, more powerful than the last time she'd been near the opening to a Hellmouth.

            "I know you're down there!" Buffy called, "Come on out!"

            There was silence. The rest of the gang looked at her like she was crazy. They had no idea what she was doing.

            "Don't make me come down there!" Buffy called.

            "Or what, you'll kick my ass?" someone questioned, "I highly doubt that."

            A column of dark energy shot up out of the Hellmouth and into the sky. Out of the column stepped a young woman. Buffy had seen her before. This was the form that the goddess had used the first time they had met. Like last time, Buffy could feel the evil radiating off of her.

            "Hello Buffy," she said, stepping closer to the slayer, "I haven't seen you in so long."

            "I was out of commission for a little while, but I'm back now," Buffy replied.

            "You know, I seem to recall that," the Goddess replied, "I think it was my army that took you out. That's right, it was!"

            "Well I don't see your army here now," Buffy said.

            "They were destroyed in that little skirmish with the First Evil," the Goddess informed, "But I don't need them, I have others."

            The Goddess pointed upwards. Buffy looked in the direction that he finger was pointing. She saw her friends locked in combat with all kinds of demons and vampires. She didn't panic though. It was nothing that they couldn't handle.

            "A lot wimpier than your last army, don't you think?" Buffy questioned, chuckling.

            "What you don't know is that there is an unlimited supply of demons and vampires," the Goddess informed, "All evil creatures throughout this world and others are traveling here to aid me in bringing Hell to earth."

            "And you'll fail!" Buffy shouted.

            "Who's to stop me?" the Goddess questioned.

            "Me."