Sacrifices

Episode 24 (Part I)

The Entrance to the Hellmouth:

            "All evil creatures throughout this world and others are traveling here to aid me in bringing Hell to earth," the Goddess informed.

            "You will fail!" Buffy shouted.

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

            "Me."

            The Goddess laughed loudly and obnoxiously. Then she smirked at her.

            "You expect to stop me?" the Goddess asked, "You and your weak band of friends: two vampires, a witch, several humans, and several girls who could eventually be slayers?"

            "That's right."

            "I'd love to see you try," the Goddess laughed.

            Buffy reached for the sword on her back. She drew it quickly and shoved it forward, stopping millimeters from the Goddess's face. The Goddess smirked.

            "So, you'd attack an unarmed woman," she said.

            "You're not unarmed," Buffy replied.

            A sword formed in the Goddess's hand. Its blade was curved and looked very sharp.

            "You're right," she replied, clashing hers against Buffy's.

            Buffy countered, stabbing the sword forward, towards the Goddess's stomach. The sword slid in cleanly. But she knew it wasn't over this soon.

            "Oh, you got me," the Goddess said.

            Buffy pulled the sword out and swung it at her head. The Goddess ducked and clashed hers against Buffy's once again. She was forcing Buffy backwards to the wall of the basement.

            Buffy's back was against the wall now. She was trapped. But she kept calm.

            "I have you right where I want you," the Goddess said, "I knew this would be easy, but I didn't think this easy."

            She brought the sword back and stabbed it forward, towards Buffy's head. Buffy ducked, the sword missed her by just mere seconds. Buffy swept her leg under the Goddess's, causing her to fall.

            Buffy held her sword high and stabbed the Goddess in the chest. The Goddess smirked. She grabbed Buffy by the wrist and tossed her across the basement. Buffy landed on her back in the dirt. The Goddess rose to her feet, pulling the sword out of her.

            "You can't kill me bitch," she said, "I'm a god!"

            Buffy slowly stood up. She noticed that the Goddess held both swords now. Buffy realized she was in trouble now, she was weapon-less.

            "Someone's in trouble now," the Goddess informed.

            She charged Buffy, slashing both swords wildly. Buffy dodged as best she could. She finally got a break and jump kicked the Goddess backwards, sending both swords flying. Buffy caught one and the other hit the ground.

            As the Goddess reclaimed her weapon, Buffy inspected herself for any serious injuries. Blood was dripping from wounds all over her body. They were minor though.

            "You think you're some big, tough, immortal goddess!" Buffy exclaimed, "Well let me tell you something. I won't back down from you Goddess! I've come up against many things in my time as a slayer and I've never back down. I won't start now!"

            "You're quite strong. I figure since you won't be alive for long, you're worthy enough for me to tell you my name," the Goddess informed.

            "You have a name?" Buffy questioned, clashing her sword against the other.

            "Jasmine," she informed.

            "Where'd you get that name?" Buffy asked, blocking an attack, "It's so tacky."

            "When I first came to this dimension, I could feel the presence of a powerful, evil being," Jasmine replied, "Her name was Jasmine and she took away all pain and evil from the world. But she was killed. So I decided to take her name so she wouldn't leave with the reputation she had."

            "Wow, what an interesting story," Buffy said sarcastically, "It almost put me to sleep."

            "Enough!" Jasmine shouted, "I've kept you alive too long."

            She charged Buffy once again.

Downtown Haynesville:

            Angel was leading the gang in battle with all sorts of demons and vampires. They were fairing pretty well actually. Angel was impressed by everyone's performance.

            "Where's Buffy?" Spike asked, coming up to Angel.

            "I don't know," he replied.

            "Is she still down there?" Spike questioned.

            "I'm not sure," Angel answered.

            The two rushed to the edge of the building. They looked down and watched as Buffy and the Goddess were drawn in combat. Neither had a clear advantage and Buffy seemed to doing well.

            "She looks fine," Angel said.

            "Yeah."

            "But keep an eye on her," he informed, "The minute something happens, get down there."

            "Right."

            Angel dashed off to help Cordelia, who seemed to be having a little trouble fighting two vampires. Spike lunged at a large demon with one horn upon its head. He knocked the demon to the ground and began pummeling it.

            The demon tossed Spike off and charged him. Its horn was pointed right for Spike's heart. Spike grabbed the horn and shoved the demon backwards. Unfortunately, a vampire jumped on Spike's back, distracting him from the battle with the demon.

            "What the bloody hell!" Spike shouted, tossing the vampire to the ground, "Can't you see I'm busy."

            He pulled out a stake and shoved it down into the vampire's heart. It exploded in a cloud of dust. Suddenly, he was knocked to the ground, his face in the dirt.

            "All right bloke," he said, "It's just you and me."

            The demon charged him again, aiming its horn for his heart. Spike stepped aside and stuck his foot out. The demon tripped and fell to the ground. The horn busted off.

            "Uh oh," Spike said, "There's goes your precious horn. What are you gonna do now?"

            The demon stood up and rammed Spike backwards into a broken wall. It shattered on impact, sending pieces of stone everywhere. The demon charged through what was left of the wall. It then proceeded to kick Spike in the ribs.

            Spike had had enough and rolled out of the way. He stood up and kicked the demon backwards. As it stumbled, Spike charged forward, shoving his stake into the demon's chest and puncturing its heart.

            The demon howled in pain and smacked Spike away. It pulled the stake out and looked down at the bloody hole in its chest. Without warning, it fell to the ground dead.

            "Bloke thought he could mess with me," Spike said.

The Entrance to the Hellmouth:

            "You're boring me," Buffy told her, "I thought you were supposed to be all-powerful."

            She brought her sword up to block another attack from Jasmine.

            "You're awfully talkative for one who is about to die," said Jasmine.

            She swung her blade again. Buffy ducked and countered with an attack of her own. Jasmine blocked it easily.

            "You keep saying that, but I'm still here fighting," Buffy replied.

            "I'm just warming up," Jasmine said, "Its part of my plan."

            "Oh a plan," Buffy said sarcastically, "How exciting."

            Jasmine ran at Buffy, sword raised. Buffy was startled to see how fast she moved. It was like one minute she was several feet away and the next she was right there in front of her. Jasmine swung her blade, slashing Buffy's left away.

            "No catchy comeback?" Jasmine asked, "Scared yet?"

            She swung her sword again. The sword moved faster than Buffy could see. The next thing she knew, she had a large gash on her stomach. Buffy swung her blade, but Jasmine stepped backwards, dodging the blade easily. The swing caused sharp pain in her stomach wound.

            "I finally shut you up slayer," Jasmine said.

            She swung the blade, cutting Buffy's wrist. Buffy's sword flew through the air and landed on the ground several feet away. A look of panic crossed Buffy's face.

            "This makes it all the more easier," Jasmine said.

            She punched Buffy across the face. Buffy stumbled backwards. Jasmine followed with two more blows to the face. She was too fast for Buffy. She moved like lightning. Buffy didn't see her until it was too late.

            Jasmine kicked Buffy in the chest, knocking her to her butt. Buffy winced in pain as she hit the ground. The next thing she knew, Jasmine was kicking her in her side. Buffy gasped in pain as she heard some ribs break. Jasmine kicked her again. This time Buffy caught her foot and flipped her.

            Jasmine landed on the ground. Buffy quickly rose to her feet and followed up her attack. Unfortunately, Jasmine was on her feet, holding her sword. She swung it at Buffy. Buffy jumped back, the blade lightly slashing her stomach again. Jasmine kept attacking.

            Soon enough, Jasmine had Buffy backed against the wall of the basement again. She smirked as she prepared to finish Buffy. She punched Buffy a couple times in the face. Blood was now dripping down the slayer's face. She was tiring quickly now.

            "Your friends," Jasmine began, "I wonder how they're doing against the onslaught of vampires and demons. I'm sure they could use a little break. I have a way that could help them rest up a bit."

            Jasmine dropped her sword. She brought her hands together. As she did this, they were engulfed in black flames. Buffy watched on, very confused. Seconds later, her hands were completely together and Buffy and her friends disappeared. The Goddess and the vampires and demons disappeared as well. The potentials were the only ones left. They were completely baffled. They hadn't a clue to where everyone had gone or what had happened.

Unknown Location:

            "Where am I?" Willow asked, suddenly appearing in the middle of a cemetery.

            The cemetery appeared familiar, like she'd been there before. Glancing around, she noticed some of the major tombs and mausoleums. That's when it hit her! She was back in the Sunnydale cemetery. But that was impossible! Sunnydale had collapsed last year. This couldn't be.

           She felt a hand touch her shoulder. She nearly jumped a foot in the air. She turned around slowly to face her attacker. But it wasn't what she expected.

            "Geez Wesley," Willow said, "You scared me half to death."

            "I'm sorry about that Willow," he replied.

            "It's okay," she said, "But where are we?"

            "It seems like we're in a cemetery, babycakes," Lorne said, coming up from behind Wesley.

            "Lorne, what are you doing here?" Wesley questioned.

            "I'm not sure," he replied, "But my guess is the same reason why you both are here."

            "This is really weird," Willow said, "One minute we're fighting off vampires and demons in Louisiana and the next we're in a cemetery in a supposedly collapsed town."

            The three of them started to walk through the graveyard. They needed to find answers and they sure weren't going to find them in the graveyard. They decided to walk into town and find someone to question. It was the only thing they could do. Within a short while, they arrived at the cemetery gates. Wesley attempted to pull them open but his effort proved futile.

            "Having some trouble?" someone asked.

            The voice had come from behind them. They spun around at the same time and came face-to-face to a familiar vampire.

            "This isn't possible," Willow stuttered, "You're dead."

            "Well obviously, I am a vampire," the Master replied.

            The vampire grabbed Willow by the neck and tossed her through the air. She landed on her back in the grass. He turned on Wesley next. He punched Wesley a few times, but Wesley punched back. The ex-watcher wasn't about to take crap from this vampire.

            "Wesley, watch out!" Willow called, slowly standing up, "That's no ordinary vampire."

            "What do you mean?" he replied.

            The vampire punched Wesley in the face a few more times before knocking him down. Blood dripped from that man's nose.

            "They call me the Master," the vampire told him.

            He picked Wesley up off the ground.

            "Come on Watcher, fight me like a man!" the vampire exclaimed.

            "I'm not a Watcher!" Wesley shouted, knocking the vampire across the face.

            The Master stumbled backwards. Lorne took this opportunity to attack. He jumped on the vampire's back, attempting to tackle him to the ground. Wesley stepped back, allowing Lorne to take over. Willow walked over to Wesley. She looked concerned.

            "We need to be careful, Wes," Willow told him, "This is the vampire that killed Buffy."

            The Master reached up and grabbed Lorne's head. He pulled and flipped Lorne to the ground. Lorne landed on his back and the vampire stepped on his chest to keep him from moving.

            "Foolish demon, what business do you have with these humans?" The Master questioned.

            "They are my friends," he replied, trying to get up.

            "Demons do not befriend humans!" the Master shouted angrily, "You are pitiful!"

            He reached down and grabbed Lorne's head with both hands. He tightened his grip and then flipped his wrists, cracking Lorne's neck. The green, horned demon was dead.

            "Lorne!" Wesley shouted, "You killed him, you bastard."

            Wesley charged the vampire. He was furious. He tackled the vampire, knocking him to the ground. The Master easily tossed Wesley off and rose to his feet. Wesley stood up too. He attacked the vampire once again, punching and kicking furiously.

            The Master blocked every one of Wesley's attacks. He was getting bored very quickly and Wesley was only getting on his nerves. He grabbed Wesley by the neck and lifted him straight into the air.

            "You humans and your attempts at vengeance," the Master said, "It's so pathetic."

            He pulled Wesley back down and bared his fangs. He sunk them into the man's neck, drinking quickly. Willow watched on in horror as the Master continued to suck the life out of Wesley. She couldn't believe it. She had just let two friends die. And now she would be next.

            "Poor little girl," the Master said, tossing Wesley's body aside, "You look so frightened."

            He slowly walked towards Willow, taunting her. There was nothing she could do but stare on in horror as the vicious vampire drew closer. The Master was now within reach of the witch. Unfortunately, she was too terrified to protect herself with spells. She couldn't concentrate long enough to do one.

            The Master reached out and grabbed Willow by the neck. He pulled her in close and bared his fangs once again. He sunk them into her neck. The slight pain caused her to gasp. The vampire then began licking the blood out of her body. Everything began to get black.

            "I'm sorry," Willow said to no one in particular.

            And with her last breath, her eyes closed forever. She was dead.

Unknown Location:

            Oz looked around. He wasn't in the streets of Haynesville anymore. He was somewhere else. One minute he was fighting vampires and demons and the next, he's in the sewers somewhere. It was really weird. Glancing around, he noticed something coming towards him.

            This thing looked like some hybrid between a demon and a machine. It freaked him out a lot. He had never seen anything like it before.

            "Welcome," the demon/machine said, "My name is Adam."

            "What the hell are you?" Oz questioned.

            "I am part machine and part demon. Well actually I'm made of parts from a bunch of different demons," Adam replied.

            "That's freaky," Oz said.

            He was beginning to get a bad vibe from this thing. It was a demon after all, so it was no surprise to him. But it could have been friendly for all he knew.

            "Oz, stop away from him!" Giles shouted, coming up behind him.

            Oz noticed that Faith was behind him.

            "This isn't possible," Giles said, looking at Adam, "Buffy killed you a long time ago."

            "I can never be killed," Adam laughed, "I'm indestructible."

            He punched Oz, causing the man to stumble backwards. Oz wasn't expecting it at all and this made him furious. Suddenly, he began to change. His arms started to grow hair and his fingers became claws. More hair began to grow from his face. His clothes tore as his body began to change.

            "This doesn't look good," Faith murmured.

            Oz was now fully a werewolf and it probably wasn't a good thing for Faith and Giles. Oz had never been predictable before as a werewolf and he probably wasn't now. Oz began to advance on the two. He looked pretty hungry. Things weren't looking good for them at all.

            Meanwhile, Adam was just watching this nice twist of events. He stood, watching the werewolf move closer to his friends. This would be simple. The werewolf would kill the Watcher and the Slayer and then he would easily kill the werewolf. He smirked as the creature jumped towards the two humans.

           Faith shoved Giles out of the way as Oz lunged for her. She grabbed Oz by his hairy neck and tossed him to the side. He landed in the murky sewer waters. Faith walked cautiously towards Adam. She was ready to face him. Giles soon rose to his feet and joined Faith.

            "So you're Adam," Faith said, "You don't look so tough."

            "Be careful Faith," Giles informed, "He's very dangerous."

           Faith walked right up and bunch Adam in the face. He didn't flinch. Faith tried again. This time, Adam caught her fist. He squeezed it, causing her to gasp in pain. He was slowly crushing her hand. She could feel her bones cracking. She began kicking Adam as he squeezed, but he wouldn't release her hand. He got bored very quickly and tossed her across the sewer.

            Oz had come to and he was back to normal. He had slipped his torn clothes back on and snuck around the cyborg. He began searching for a weapon to attack Adam with. Within a few seconds, he discovered a large rock. He carefully picked it up and tossed it at the back of Adam's head. Adam stumbled forward. The rock obviously hurt him. He turned around and swatted Oz away with the back of his hand.

            This time, Faith had charged Adam. She quickly regained her strength for the attack and had risen to her feet. She jumped up and landed on Adam's back. She held on for dear life as he swatted around, trying to knock her off. Then Oz jumped at Adam. Both began hitting him with all their might and it seemed to be working too. Within minutes they had gotten him under control.

            Giles cautiously walked over to examine the creation. Back when Buffy had faced off against Adam, he'd never been able to fully examine this extraordinary being. He quickly noticed some sort of button on the back of the cyborg's neck. Maybe they'd figure out some answers by pressing it.

            He cautiously held out his finger and pressed the button. Faith and Oz stood back, observing what Giles was doing. As Giles pressed the button, Adam reached out and grabbed him by the neck. He quickly lifted Giles off the ground and tightened his grip. Faith and Oz began attacking him again.

            "Self destruct sequence activated," Adam said.

            "Now that doesn't sound too good," Faith replied.

            Her and Oz were back to pounding the cyborg over the head with rocks and anything else they could find. After a few minutes of doing that, Adam dropped Giles to the ground. Giles rolled out of the way and stood up. He rubbed his throat.

            "Ten seconds until self destruct," Adam said.

            In a quick movement, he tossed Faith and Oz aside and went after Giles again. Giles took off running through the sewers. Faith and Oz took off after them.

            "Five seconds."

            Faith and Oz grabbed the cyborg, attempting to hold him with all their strength. But it was becoming too difficult. Giles turned once he realized that Adam was being restrained.

            "Get out of here Giles!" Faith shouted.

            "I'm not leaving you," he replied.

            "You have to!" Oz shouted, "Save yourself! We've got you covered."

            "Never!" Giles exclaimed.

            "Giles, one of us has to get out of here, now go!" Faith yelled.

            Giles took the hint and took off through the sewers. He ran as fast as he could. Who knew how large the explosion would be?
            "One second."

            As that last second ticked away, Faith and Oz closed their eyes. This was it for them. Adam suddenly exploded in a massive fireball, completely engulfing Faith and Oz. It caused the sewer system to begin to collapse. Giles turned when he heard the explosion and noticed that the ground was beginning to collapse. He began to run once again. He hoped that he'd reach safety soon. That's when dark consumed him and he was no longer in the sewers.

Unknown Location:

            "Am I dreaming?" Xander asked, looking around at his surroundings, "I must be."

            The reason he said this was because he was standing out front of his old high school, Sunnydale High. But it looked exactly like it did before it exploded on the night of his graduation several years ago. It seemed impossible, especially since he'd been in Louisiana just moments before.

            "This isn't right."

            Xander spun around at the sound of the voice. It was a familiar voice. He had heard this voice many times during his years at Sunnydale High and he'd just begun hearing it again lately. It was Angel.

            "You've got that right," Xander replied, "This is weird. One minute we're fighting off vampires and demons and the next minute we're here."

            "This has to be the work of the Goddess," Angel said, "She's messing with us somehow."

            "Angel," Fred said, coming up to the two of them, "Where are we?"

            "Some alternate reality that the Goddess created," he replied, "We need to be on alert at all times."

            Suddenly, the ground began to shake. It seemed as if something very large was headed towards them.

            "What the hell is going on?" Angel asked.

            That's when a large serpent-looking demon crashed through the front of the school. It was the largest demon that any of them had ever seen. It was a demon that Angel and Xander had seen and gone up against in the past. Now the two of them were greatly puzzled. The demon thrusts its head down towards Angel. Its mouth was wide open, ready for a meal.

            At the last second, Angel dove out of the way and the demon got a mouthful of grass and dirt. Fred and Xander ran to help Angel to his feet.

            "What is that thing?" Fred asked.

            "He was the former mayor of Sunnydale," Xander informed, "He ascended into this large snake demon the day of my high school graduation. We beat him though."

            "None of this makes any sense at all," Angel said.

            The Mayor had come to his senses and raised his head high in the air. He was going in for the kill once again. This was going to be too easy for him. He'd eat each of them one by one. The huge demon roared loudly, causing Fred and Xander to shake. They were terrified.

            "Wait a minute," Xander said.

            "What is it?" Angel questioned.

            "Do you think we've gone back in time?" Xander asked.

            "I'm not sure, but why?" Angel asked.

            "Stay here and distract the Mayor," he told Angel, "Fred, come with me."

            "Where are you going?" Angel asked.

            "Keep him busy for a while," Xander informed, "When you see the signal, head towards the library."    

            "What's the signal?" Angel asked.

            "I'll scream," Fred replied.

            "Sounds good," Angel said, "Now get out of here!"

            Xander and Fred took off towards the school. If what Xander believed was true, they could get rid of the Mayor for good. And hopefully he was right. The two dashed through the hallways and ran into the library. Meanwhile, Angel was facing off against the Mayor. The Mayor had lunged at him several times, all failing. The demon knew that Angel would tire soon and then he would eat him. After killing Angel, he would seek out the other two.

            Xander was pleased at what he saw inside the library. It was packed with explosives. Fred was amazed at how that place could contain all the explosives.

            "Well so far so good," Xander said, inspecting the explosives to make sure they were all hooked up to a single detonator.

            "What are we going to do?" Fred questioned.

            "We're going to blow that snake into little bitty pieces," Xander replied.

            "Oh…"

            "Come on, it'll be fun," he said, finished up his inspection.

            "How do you know how to use these?" she asked.

            "Back when I first met Buffy, we were placed under a spell where we turned into our Halloween costumes. I became a soldier. I guess my mind retained some of the information I acquired," he told her.

            "Wow, that's amazing!" she exclaimed.

            "Yeah," he said, "I'm sure you have some pretty interesting stories of your own."

            "A few," she replied, "I'd tell you about them now, but we have to kill this demon."

            "Right, back to work," he said, "Okay, let's get out of here."

            Xander and Fred quickly exited the library and made their way outside. Xander carried the detonator in his hand, being careful not to set it off. The two made sure they were far away from the school and then carefully placed the detonator on the ground. They were in the small wooded area behind the school. Xander checked the connections and gave Fred the go-ahead. Fred screamed as loud as she could.

            Angel was still dodging the Mayor's attacks when he heard the scream. He took off towards the school, running as fast as he could. He ran through the hallways and towards the library. It was strange that he still knew where it was at. The Mayor was right behind him, moving very quickly for such a huge creature. Angel dashed into the library and gasped at what he saw. It was filled with tons of explosives.

            Noticing an open window, he dove through and landed on the ground below. He quickly rose to his feet and limped away from the school as fast as he could. The Mayor slithered into the library and stared in horror. Xander noticed Angel stumbling away quickly. He pushed the detonator, causing the library to explode in a ball of fire. Xander and Fred didn't notice one major detail though. Someone had set up explosives around then in the bushes around them.

            Suddenly, the area around them exploded in a second ball of fire. Fred screamed as the flames engulfed her body. Xander tried to run away, but the flames quickly torched his body as well. The Mayor didn't survive either. The explosion in the school consumed his large demon body, burning him to a crisp. The school completely collapsed to the ground.

            As he heard the second explosion, Angel spun around and gasped in horror. The woods where he'd known Xander and Fred were situated were now on fire. He didn't dare go near the fire to see if they had survived for he'd be dead as well. As he turned to walk away from the scene, tears dripped down the vampire's face. However, he was soon consumed by darkness.