Chapter Fifteen:
Aftermath
Buffy was panicking. She couldn't breathe. She pushed the tent's material up again and again to gain only a small amount of oxygen. It was hard to crawl under its weight. Her fingernails were getting torn off as she scraped the ground to pull herself forward. It was hot. Very hot. She was sweating and suffocating.
Just when she was about to give up and die she hit the end of the tent. She took in a deep breath and relished the air. Then she saw the chaos and destruction and carnage laid out before her. The soldiers that hadn't been killed were either clutching their bleeding limbs and screaming as they died or unconscious and dying. Blood was everywhere. Dead bodies were everywhere. Buildings had collapsed and she didn't realize until later just how lucky she had been that the tent hadn't been trapped under debris.
Then she thought of Dawn. She ran off right after thinking about Dawn. She couldn't deal with Dawn's death.
As she ran to Dawn she saw dead Slayers. Slayers who had been there last year to battle the First. Slayers who she had trained and prepared. Then she thought of the others. Xander, Willow, Kennedy, Faith, Angel, Robin, Spike, Giles, Oz. She felt a big pit in her stomach. She searched for her sister.
Meanwhile…
Dawn stared up into the night sky. Stars were twinkling. Smoke was partially concealing them. Light from dozens of fires was concealing them. Buildings were concealing them. The ground was so uncomfortable.
She couldn't talk, she could only swallow more blood and saliva. She could feel many scratches on her body from flying glass. She was bleeding. These weren't shallow cuts. She felt pain or numbness in many places where loose bricks had connected with her. She somehow conjured up enough strength to turn her head to the side.
Illyria was lying on the ground, her mid-section arched a little bit because the wooden beam that had impaled her was propping her up. Dawn was surprised that Illyria's blood was red. Illyria was staring into the sky with a blank stare that creeped Dawn out. It was blanker than any stare Illyria had ever had in Dawn's presence. Blood was everywhere. Puddles. Big puddles. Illyria's mouth was partially open. Dawn thought that Illyria was dead. Illyria… the one who had saved her from that demon. From the voice.
Dawn closed her eyes, ready to die or pass out, whichever came first. Just before she passed out she heard Buffy's voice, distant yet still distinct, shouting her name over and over again before screaming inarticulately her fear and rage and grief. Then Dawn was temporarily saved from the pain.
Meanwhile…
"What the bloody fucking hell is going on?" Spike asked in a shrill voice as he spotted Faith and Robin climbing over rubble.
"I don't have any clue," Faith replied. Her voice was worried and Spike understood why she should be worried.
"We should get to the base now," Robin stated. He was holding his forehead. Spike could smell blood, yet he couldn't really see it. Robin's skin color and the lack of light were conspiring to conceal the blood.
"Yeah," Spike said, his voice calm and his head nodding slightly. "We should." It took them nearly a half hour to get to the base. They trudged through puddles of water provided by the backed-up sewer systems and climbed over mountains of flotsam and jetsam. When they did they immediately spotted Angel. He was hanging two feet above the sidewalk on a building side because a metal pole and driven itself into his lower mid-section. His head was hanging and he was unconscious. Faith feared for a moment that Angel was dead, but then remembered that he would be nothing but dust if he was. The building across the street from Angel was partially demolished.
"Jesus," Robin breathed. He was looking at all of the dead bodies of soldiers. The color red was too common in that sight for comfort.
"Find the others," Faith ordered Spike as she grasped the pole stuck in Angel and began to pull.
"I doubt they're living and breathing," Spike stated. Faith glared at him.
"Find them," she repeated through gritted teeth. Robin joined in on the pulling, not that the Slayer needed help.
"Okay, yeah, okay." Spike turned to the base and walked forward to find any survivors.
Faith and Robin got the pole out and Angel tumbled to the ground. He was still unconscious. Faith turned him over onto his back.
"Go find others, Robin," Faith ordered.
"Yeah," Robin replied and followed Spike. Faith picked up Angel with ease and began to carry him to the medical tent, hoping it was still there.
Meanwhile…
"NO! Not again! Not again! Kennedy! Kennedy!" Willow was holding Kennedy's head up and tears were streaming down her cheeks. Kennedy's face was bruised and swollen and bleeding. There were soldiers walking around and screaming for their unconscious or dead friends. Willow searched her mind frantically for an incantation to wake Kennedy up. In her panic she found none.
"KENNEDY!" she shrieked. She looked to the mess hall tent's flap and saw a man with blooding running down his face standing there and crying. A Slayer was next to him and surveying the tent. The Slayer looked alright other than a large bruise on her arm. "Help!" she screamed at them and they ignored her. "HELP!" They either couldn't or wouldn't hear her.
The Slayer left and the soldier dropped to his knees. A man was running around and screaming with his left hand chopped or blown off. "Oh GOD!" the man screamed. He was pale.
Another man was clutching his bleeding stomach. Blood. Guts. Body parts. Everywhere.
Then Willow looked at Xander. He was holding his limp arm disbelievingly. He was muttering something under his breath over and over again that sounded like "I'm a one-armed, one-eyed man." Willow fought back at a surfacing evil she had hoped was behind her.
Evil Willow was trying to come back and Willow was fighting back with every ounce of power she had.
She didn't think she could suppress evil, veiny, Willow for long.
Meanwhile…
Connor jerked awake suddenly and groaned at the stiffness in his back and arms. He had no knowledge of the fact that he had been pummeled nearly to death by flying bricks only an hour or so ago. He looked around himself and felt the blood drain from his head.
So much destruction. So many collapsed buildings. He could hear fire nearby.
He was suddenly certain that the Apocalypse had occurred. He stood up and began to walk aimlessly through Los Angeles. As he walked away he stepped into the dust of Drusilla.
Before the explosions…
Lorne was being reminded too much of Wesley by Giles. He was being filled with unbelievable grief for the ex-Watcher. They were trying to figure out what Oz had to do with the Apocalypse. No luck thus far. And Toby was acting odd… mechanical, actually. No personality. And his stature was a bit different. If Lorne had known him for more than a day or two he could've put his finger on what about Toby's stature was different, but, alas, Lorne had only known the man for less than a day before his death, which Lorne didn't know about.
What was different about Toby was his size. He was two inches taller and two inches wider. He was bloated. It appeared as though his body were containing something more than organs and bones… So Lorne was reading an old, musty book for references to Oz. Giles had told them to look for something more along the lines of 'werewolf' or 'Lycanthrope' because prophecies never mentioned names. So book after book they read.
Five minutes later they would all be unconscious, but between then and the explosions the following occurred.
The Bolinkodagenat was what was inside of Toby. It had been throwing around the thought of just killing all of them all day and had just reached a decision. It grabbed one of Giles's swords, which was lying on top of a big box of weapons, and stood up. It took two running steps to Lorne, who was closest, and lifted the sword, meaning to decapitate the green demon. Its plan was to kill the others after decapitating Lorne, and to then come back and destroy Lorne's body. Things didn't go according to plan.
Lorne, who had been keeping a watchful eye on Toby all day, heard the running steps and leapt from the chair he was sitting in, knowing Toby was trying to kill him and glad that the waiting was over. The sword hit nothing but air. The Bolinkodagenat turned its attention to Oz, who had just chucked his book at it and missed. It smiled.
Oz felt panic--an extremely rare feeling for him--and then he changed. He hadn't even realized he had changed until he was looking at the thing that looked like Toby through red-tinted eyes.
The Bolinkodagenat paused for a second and stared at the werewolf before continuing his charge. He was batted away by an enormous paw and slammed head-first into Giles's desk. Giles was grabbing his tranquilizer gun and about to aim it at Oz, wondering why he had changed because there was no full moon that night. Oz held up a finger and shook it back and forth to signal 'no'.
Giles paused after this human gesture and watched as Oz hurled the Bolinkodagenat across the tent. It came to a halt just before sliding right out of the tent's flap. Oz howled.
Toby, still holding his sword, went after Lorne again.
That's when the explosions began. The Bolinkodagenat was trapped under half of the tent as it collapsed. Oz tore a hole through the material and Lorne, Giles, and Oz filed out.
That's when the Bolinkodagenat revealed itself. All hell broke loose.
Meanwhile…
Ashley woke up and noticed immediately that she was trapped. She couldn't see anything because it was too dark. She began to panic.
She screamed.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Hey, MorbidMan here. I hope you enjoyed this update. The fight between Oz and the Bolinkodagenat will be included in next chapter. Even more of the aftermath will be included in the next two chapters before they all get themselves under control.
Will I bring Evil Willow in? You'll have to wait to find out. For those of you who never saw the sixth season finale for "Buffy", Evil Willow is quite destructive. But only watch the episodes once because the second time you'll notice that Alyson Hannigan isn't a good actress when she's trying to be evil and you won't enjoy the episodes as much. They're still good episodes, though.
Anyway, more on the characters later. I didn't have a long time to write this, otherwise it would be longer. See you all next chapter. Oh, and I'm allowed to say the F-word at least once in this story because it's PG-13. I don't think I can say it more than once in a PG-13 story, though.
"I did a thing today so he couldn't have you. I was wrong. You made me weak and then you hurt me." - Francis Dolarhyde "Red Dragon"
Aftermath
Buffy was panicking. She couldn't breathe. She pushed the tent's material up again and again to gain only a small amount of oxygen. It was hard to crawl under its weight. Her fingernails were getting torn off as she scraped the ground to pull herself forward. It was hot. Very hot. She was sweating and suffocating.
Just when she was about to give up and die she hit the end of the tent. She took in a deep breath and relished the air. Then she saw the chaos and destruction and carnage laid out before her. The soldiers that hadn't been killed were either clutching their bleeding limbs and screaming as they died or unconscious and dying. Blood was everywhere. Dead bodies were everywhere. Buildings had collapsed and she didn't realize until later just how lucky she had been that the tent hadn't been trapped under debris.
Then she thought of Dawn. She ran off right after thinking about Dawn. She couldn't deal with Dawn's death.
As she ran to Dawn she saw dead Slayers. Slayers who had been there last year to battle the First. Slayers who she had trained and prepared. Then she thought of the others. Xander, Willow, Kennedy, Faith, Angel, Robin, Spike, Giles, Oz. She felt a big pit in her stomach. She searched for her sister.
Meanwhile…
Dawn stared up into the night sky. Stars were twinkling. Smoke was partially concealing them. Light from dozens of fires was concealing them. Buildings were concealing them. The ground was so uncomfortable.
She couldn't talk, she could only swallow more blood and saliva. She could feel many scratches on her body from flying glass. She was bleeding. These weren't shallow cuts. She felt pain or numbness in many places where loose bricks had connected with her. She somehow conjured up enough strength to turn her head to the side.
Illyria was lying on the ground, her mid-section arched a little bit because the wooden beam that had impaled her was propping her up. Dawn was surprised that Illyria's blood was red. Illyria was staring into the sky with a blank stare that creeped Dawn out. It was blanker than any stare Illyria had ever had in Dawn's presence. Blood was everywhere. Puddles. Big puddles. Illyria's mouth was partially open. Dawn thought that Illyria was dead. Illyria… the one who had saved her from that demon. From the voice.
Dawn closed her eyes, ready to die or pass out, whichever came first. Just before she passed out she heard Buffy's voice, distant yet still distinct, shouting her name over and over again before screaming inarticulately her fear and rage and grief. Then Dawn was temporarily saved from the pain.
Meanwhile…
"What the bloody fucking hell is going on?" Spike asked in a shrill voice as he spotted Faith and Robin climbing over rubble.
"I don't have any clue," Faith replied. Her voice was worried and Spike understood why she should be worried.
"We should get to the base now," Robin stated. He was holding his forehead. Spike could smell blood, yet he couldn't really see it. Robin's skin color and the lack of light were conspiring to conceal the blood.
"Yeah," Spike said, his voice calm and his head nodding slightly. "We should." It took them nearly a half hour to get to the base. They trudged through puddles of water provided by the backed-up sewer systems and climbed over mountains of flotsam and jetsam. When they did they immediately spotted Angel. He was hanging two feet above the sidewalk on a building side because a metal pole and driven itself into his lower mid-section. His head was hanging and he was unconscious. Faith feared for a moment that Angel was dead, but then remembered that he would be nothing but dust if he was. The building across the street from Angel was partially demolished.
"Jesus," Robin breathed. He was looking at all of the dead bodies of soldiers. The color red was too common in that sight for comfort.
"Find the others," Faith ordered Spike as she grasped the pole stuck in Angel and began to pull.
"I doubt they're living and breathing," Spike stated. Faith glared at him.
"Find them," she repeated through gritted teeth. Robin joined in on the pulling, not that the Slayer needed help.
"Okay, yeah, okay." Spike turned to the base and walked forward to find any survivors.
Faith and Robin got the pole out and Angel tumbled to the ground. He was still unconscious. Faith turned him over onto his back.
"Go find others, Robin," Faith ordered.
"Yeah," Robin replied and followed Spike. Faith picked up Angel with ease and began to carry him to the medical tent, hoping it was still there.
Meanwhile…
"NO! Not again! Not again! Kennedy! Kennedy!" Willow was holding Kennedy's head up and tears were streaming down her cheeks. Kennedy's face was bruised and swollen and bleeding. There were soldiers walking around and screaming for their unconscious or dead friends. Willow searched her mind frantically for an incantation to wake Kennedy up. In her panic she found none.
"KENNEDY!" she shrieked. She looked to the mess hall tent's flap and saw a man with blooding running down his face standing there and crying. A Slayer was next to him and surveying the tent. The Slayer looked alright other than a large bruise on her arm. "Help!" she screamed at them and they ignored her. "HELP!" They either couldn't or wouldn't hear her.
The Slayer left and the soldier dropped to his knees. A man was running around and screaming with his left hand chopped or blown off. "Oh GOD!" the man screamed. He was pale.
Another man was clutching his bleeding stomach. Blood. Guts. Body parts. Everywhere.
Then Willow looked at Xander. He was holding his limp arm disbelievingly. He was muttering something under his breath over and over again that sounded like "I'm a one-armed, one-eyed man." Willow fought back at a surfacing evil she had hoped was behind her.
Evil Willow was trying to come back and Willow was fighting back with every ounce of power she had.
She didn't think she could suppress evil, veiny, Willow for long.
Meanwhile…
Connor jerked awake suddenly and groaned at the stiffness in his back and arms. He had no knowledge of the fact that he had been pummeled nearly to death by flying bricks only an hour or so ago. He looked around himself and felt the blood drain from his head.
So much destruction. So many collapsed buildings. He could hear fire nearby.
He was suddenly certain that the Apocalypse had occurred. He stood up and began to walk aimlessly through Los Angeles. As he walked away he stepped into the dust of Drusilla.
Before the explosions…
Lorne was being reminded too much of Wesley by Giles. He was being filled with unbelievable grief for the ex-Watcher. They were trying to figure out what Oz had to do with the Apocalypse. No luck thus far. And Toby was acting odd… mechanical, actually. No personality. And his stature was a bit different. If Lorne had known him for more than a day or two he could've put his finger on what about Toby's stature was different, but, alas, Lorne had only known the man for less than a day before his death, which Lorne didn't know about.
What was different about Toby was his size. He was two inches taller and two inches wider. He was bloated. It appeared as though his body were containing something more than organs and bones… So Lorne was reading an old, musty book for references to Oz. Giles had told them to look for something more along the lines of 'werewolf' or 'Lycanthrope' because prophecies never mentioned names. So book after book they read.
Five minutes later they would all be unconscious, but between then and the explosions the following occurred.
The Bolinkodagenat was what was inside of Toby. It had been throwing around the thought of just killing all of them all day and had just reached a decision. It grabbed one of Giles's swords, which was lying on top of a big box of weapons, and stood up. It took two running steps to Lorne, who was closest, and lifted the sword, meaning to decapitate the green demon. Its plan was to kill the others after decapitating Lorne, and to then come back and destroy Lorne's body. Things didn't go according to plan.
Lorne, who had been keeping a watchful eye on Toby all day, heard the running steps and leapt from the chair he was sitting in, knowing Toby was trying to kill him and glad that the waiting was over. The sword hit nothing but air. The Bolinkodagenat turned its attention to Oz, who had just chucked his book at it and missed. It smiled.
Oz felt panic--an extremely rare feeling for him--and then he changed. He hadn't even realized he had changed until he was looking at the thing that looked like Toby through red-tinted eyes.
The Bolinkodagenat paused for a second and stared at the werewolf before continuing his charge. He was batted away by an enormous paw and slammed head-first into Giles's desk. Giles was grabbing his tranquilizer gun and about to aim it at Oz, wondering why he had changed because there was no full moon that night. Oz held up a finger and shook it back and forth to signal 'no'.
Giles paused after this human gesture and watched as Oz hurled the Bolinkodagenat across the tent. It came to a halt just before sliding right out of the tent's flap. Oz howled.
Toby, still holding his sword, went after Lorne again.
That's when the explosions began. The Bolinkodagenat was trapped under half of the tent as it collapsed. Oz tore a hole through the material and Lorne, Giles, and Oz filed out.
That's when the Bolinkodagenat revealed itself. All hell broke loose.
Meanwhile…
Ashley woke up and noticed immediately that she was trapped. She couldn't see anything because it was too dark. She began to panic.
She screamed.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Hey, MorbidMan here. I hope you enjoyed this update. The fight between Oz and the Bolinkodagenat will be included in next chapter. Even more of the aftermath will be included in the next two chapters before they all get themselves under control.
Will I bring Evil Willow in? You'll have to wait to find out. For those of you who never saw the sixth season finale for "Buffy", Evil Willow is quite destructive. But only watch the episodes once because the second time you'll notice that Alyson Hannigan isn't a good actress when she's trying to be evil and you won't enjoy the episodes as much. They're still good episodes, though.
Anyway, more on the characters later. I didn't have a long time to write this, otherwise it would be longer. See you all next chapter. Oh, and I'm allowed to say the F-word at least once in this story because it's PG-13. I don't think I can say it more than once in a PG-13 story, though.
"I did a thing today so he couldn't have you. I was wrong. You made me weak and then you hurt me." - Francis Dolarhyde "Red Dragon"