Title: Darkness Rising

Summary: With The First Evil defeated and hundreds of Slayers called worldwide, Buffy must face the world's ultimate threat, originating from within herself, in one final apocalyptic battle.

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, have not created these characters, nor do I own any of them. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Giles, and the rest of the Scooby Gang are the sole property of Joss Whedon and of the Mutant Enemy company. The story itself, however, is mine. Enjoy.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
A strong wind swept through the principal's office, and a bright light shone down on Willow as her fingers made contact with the Scythe containing the very essence of the Slayer. She couldn't help but stop mumbling the incantation that she was performing as she felt an incredibly powerful force rock through her body, shaking her right down to her core. Her eyes widened and her hair turned the purest shade of white as the power surged through her.

"Oh. My. Goddess."

As quickly as it had begun, the energy sprung forth from her body and was unleashed worldwide. Almost instantly, every single girl in the world who may have one day been the Slayer was called. Girls everywhere were being awakened with a new strength, duty, and destiny; to help fight the battle against Evil and protect the entire human race.

Among them, a group of girls, an army, down underneath the school. The largest fight in all of Sunnydale's history was about to commence. The First Evil, the very source of all Evil in the world, had been busy for the past year preparing to raise an army of prehistoric vampires known as the Turok-han.

Slayers versus Vampires; it all came down to this one fight. If the Slayers won then the world would be safe for a while longer. If not, it would most definitely be the end. The First Evil's army would spread throughout the world like a plague, infecting every mortal with the essence of a demon. When the masses were turned into vampires the scales between Good and Evil would tip. The First Evil would be made flesh, and would be rendered unstoppable.

It all rested on Willow's shoulders to call the army of Potentials as Slayers. Without the power of the Slayer, the group of girls would fail. Now that her part was complete, there was nothing more for her to do. Her hair returned to its fiery red colour as the force left her body, and she collapsed into a heap on the floor. Now she had nothing to do but wait.

Below Willow, underneath the school and in the very depths of the Hellmouth, the battle raged on. Casualty numbers were large on both sides, and soon the vampires began to outnumber the army of Slayers. Just when Buffy thought that all hope was lost, something happened.

The amulet that Spike was wearing kicked in. He let loose a scream of pain and anguish as the amulet shot a ray of energy through the ceiling of the cave, blasting through the school's floors and ceilings and exposing the sunlight. The light filtered back down onto Spike, through the amulet, and surged out into the cave. Thousands upon thousands of Turok-hans were vaporized as the sun touched their skin. The cave walls began to shake from the cleansing power, and debris began falling from the ceiling as the place started to collapse upon itself.

Taking this as their cue to leave, Faith rallied the army out of the Hellmouth and out of the school. She called out to her sister Slayer to come, but quickly ran up and out to safety when Buffy, who was standing in front of Spike, waved her off.

"You've done enough! There's still time," she cried out to Spike, not understanding why he wasn't trying to escape. She glanced around frantically at the carnage before turning back to him. Their eyes locked, and as much as Spike wanted to believe her, he knew what he had to do.

"No...you've done what you can, it's up to me to do the clean-up." He looked back at Buffy, the sunlight pouring through him, into his very soul, and out through the amulet, cleansing all evil and impurities left in the Hellmouth, killing off the last of the fearsome Turok-han. "I have to do this."

Buffy's heart tugged at her, calling at her to just grab him and make a run for it, but she knew she couldn't. She knew what had to be done.

Slowly, without making much movement, she raised her arm and took his hand in her own. Their fingers interlocked, entwining themselves in one another, and in a second Spike's hand burst into flames with Buffy's still in it. She didn't feel any pain as their hands burned. Despite the chaos, death, and destruction that had just gone down all around them in the caverns below Sunnydale High School, Buffy felt at peace. She felt whole. Complete.

And the fire burned.

In that instant, she knew what would happen.

Spike would die.

For all the evil and carnage he'd caused when he was a vampire, he more than made up for it during the past couple of years, especially after having his soul restored. He loved her unconditionally, and she would be forever grateful for that. These were his last moments, she knew, and she had to give something back to him. She swallowed, took a deep breath, and looked deep into his eyes.

"I love you."

Spike blinked in disbelief, but quickly fought back his shock, and tears, with a sly smile. "No, you don't," was his response. "But thanks for saying it."

She smiled back at him. She knew that at that point it was no use to argue, that there wasn't any time left. The place was literally falling down around them. A tremor shook the ground on which they were standing, shaking them both and forcing their hands apart.

Spike broke the eye contact and looked out at the destruction. "Now go," he cried out to her.

With one final glance at him, Buffy dashed up the stairs and out of the Seal in the high school's basement, leaving Spike alone. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, reveling in the irony of it all, how he, the newly ensouled vampire, could enjoy such annihilation and brutality as was taking place around him. "I want to see how it ends."

With that he felt the sunlight burn all throughout him as the amulet ceased to work it's magick. Slowly, painfully, the light ate away at him even as the vast cavern collapsed around him. First his skin, then his muscle tissue, and finally, his bones.

His entire body disintegrated into dust as he finally achieved not only the goal that the Scooby Gang had set out to accomplish, to squash The First Evil, but also that which he had decided upon for himself.

Redemption.

Outside of the school, Dawn helped to rally up the remaining survivors. She looked around the group, assessing the damage. She knew going into the battle that not everyone was going to make it, and by merely looking around, she realized how true this was. People were gone, missing in action. Amanda, her friend from school, Anya, Xander's sort-of girlfriend, and...

Buffy, she thought to herself. Where are you?

She tried to see in through the high school's doors to see if her sister was anywhere to be found, but so far there was nothing. She lost sight of the doors however when the school and the surrounding area started shaking violently. Panic arose within her, and she knew that if Buffy didn't emerge soon, it might be too late.

Dawn did her best to swallow her fear when Giles began instructing the senior Scoobies to get the Slayers away from the school. Turning towards the group, she helped Xander, Faith, and Giles in moving any injured girls away from the school grounds. Something severe was about to happen, and none of them felt particularly inclined to be near the school when it did.

Turning back to look for Buffy again, Dawn's heart nearly stopped when she heard an explosion from within the school, and saw a massive cloud of dust shoot out from the main doors. A deep rumbling sound emanated from the school, and she could hear concrete grinding against itself. Dawn realized that it was most likely too late, and she struggled to fight back tears. Then, just as she was about to turn away from the destruction before her, something caught her eye. Something other than dust shot out of the main doors, and she was beyond relieved to find that it was her sister.

Dawn smiled her biggest smile ever as she saw her soot-covered sister dash out of the doors. Dawn reached out to hug her, but instead Buffy grabbed her by the shoulders and ran. When they'd both caught up with the rest of the group, they turned back to look at the scene before them.

The school was literally collapsing upon itself. More explosions and grinding was heard, and a few creaks and groans later the entire school was sucked into the ground, leaving nothing more than a cloud of dust and a crater as large as the perimeter of the building itself.

For the longest time, everyone just stood there, in complete shock. Giles took a step towards the crater, and was the first to break the silence. "I don't understand what did this."

Buffy didn't move, only stared into the center of the crater where she'd stood mere minutes earlier. Her answer was short, but full of emotion and meaning. "Spike," she responded.

No one said anything else. Each was left with their own thoughts. When it all came down to it, they had won. The First Evil had been defeated, and its army had been stopped. The Hellmouth was closed, and soon the residents of Sunnydale could begin moving back into town.

Buffy looked into the pit, and despite the casualties they had suffered, she couldn't help but smile. She was no longer the one and only Chosen. With the essence of the Slayer released, hundreds of girls worldwide were called, with a newfound strength, courage, and duty. She no longer had to fight the battle herself.

Buffy, at long last, could rest.