Chapter Twenty-Two:
Some Things Happen
Gunn was sitting on the ground. His throat was parched so he asked for a sip of the limited water supply. After that he asked how long he had been out.
"Four days maybe five," Angel replied.
"A hundred twenty-five hours," Gunn whispered.
"No, maybe a hundred and twelve hours since it's pretty far from being night now," Fred stated.
"You don't know what happened to Illyria?" Gunn asked for the second time.
"No." Angel glanced at Fred after saying this.
"Or why she's not dead?"
"No."
"That's… that… I'm very confused." There was a long silence that followed.
"So, who is Vin-whatever?" Buffy asked.
"Huh?"
"Vinieria," Angel corrected her.
"I repeat, huh?"
"Saw that coming a mile away," Angel sighed. "You were screaming that you saw a 'goddamned bitch' named Vinieria with metal skin and now you don't know about her. Sounds like something out of a B-movie or a bad story." Another moment of silence followed.
"And Connor's back?" Gunn continued.
"Yes."
"Have you heard from the Senior Partners yet?"
Angel hesitated. "No we haven't, actually."
"Nothing since the weak-ass army however long ago?"
"No…" Angel looked like he was thinking a lot.
"What do you think they're waiting for?"
"I don't know. Maybe they're not waiting."
Meanwhile…
Dawn was surveying herself in private. The glass shards had cut her good in so many places. The wounds had been healed so efficiently that only she could see where they had been and even that was probably her imagination. They were like phantom wounds. They itched and they hurt. She thought of one of the most overused similes she had read in books: a man feeling an itch on an amputated arm. A phantom arm. She wondered why it was so overused. Probably because it was so fantastic.
Well, before when it had been said that they were all healed so efficiently that there were no scars was a lie. There was a deep cut on her left breast that could be easily seen. She feared men would feel revulsion upon seeing that scar. She realized that was just paranoia, but that realization didn't obliterate the paranoia.
What did was the sudden appearance of the Bolinkodagenat in front of her. She didn't have time to scream. She was grabbed and disappeared into thin air along with the insect-like demon. No one was around to witness their disappearance.
Meanwhile…
"Giles!" Spike shouted upon finally spotting the old, exhausted Watcher who couldn't believe he had been able to outrun that white demon. Giles shot Spike a distrustful look and waited for the vampire to catch up with him.
"What is it, Spike?" Giles asked impatiently and tiredly. He fought off a yawn.
"I have to talk to you," Spike stated. The only people around were well into their own conversations with others.
"About?" Giles fought off another yawn. He was still worked up from the run and trying to keep his breathing under control. The fact that he wasn't getting as much as he should be was leading to his continuous need to yawn. He was worried, wondering why he was still so worked up. The sun was rising and it had been hours since the run. He hoped he was winded from other activities like carrying the buckets of water to the recently healed wounded. Maybe that had just prolonged his extremely exhausted state.
"Have you ever heard of the Shape-Shifting Magi of Old?" Spike tried as hard as he could to keep a straight face.
Giles thought for a moment and then started laughing. As he did so he yawned. "No and it sounds like a name someone pulled straight out of their ass."
"Well," Spike chuckled and then got it under control. "Well, he's been giving me these visions."
"Visions?" Giles queried, suddenly intrigued.
"Of people dying."
"Who've you seen the deaths of?"
"Lorne, Illyria, and Buffy." "Have you prevented any of them?"
"Lorne's."
"What about Buffy's?"
"I haven't seen her in a dangerous situation yet."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Haven't seen her in a dangerous situation? You're as blind as you are dumb."
Spike had to think a few seconds to get that. "No, I mean like that… thing I saw. The situation I saw her die in." He then explained to Giles what he had seen. He had seen Illyria kill Buffy as Lindsey watched and laughed.
Spike's first question wasn't why Lindsey was standing idly by and laughing; he knew Lindsey was evil. His first question was why Illyria had turned on them and how, since he hadn't prevented her death, she was still alive.
"For your first question, it's probably because she's no longer anchored to humanity through a human body and her mind is free to be as bad as it wants. For your second, I don't know. Maybe someone wanted her back to her original form so they sucked her out of her human body, Fred, and then resurrected her."
"What bloke could possibly have the power to do that?"
"Satan maybe. There are so many demons out there with the power to do so. Even a couple humans. The Senior Partners could've done it."
"Satan? He exists?"
"Possibly. His existence is just as plausible as God's."
"Which, to me means not likely."
"To me it is."
"You saw my death?" Buffy asked, letting her eavesdropping presence be known. She didn't know why she had waited till then to say anything.
"Plaything! Err… uh… I mean Buffy!"
"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't just hear that," Giles whispered.
There was an uncomfortable silence that followed that.
"I'm gonna go now," Giles stated and left, not wanting to be around those two and continue to be barraged by bad thoughts.
Meanwhile…
There weren't zombies in the crater anymore. All the zombies were running around the streets. Seeing all of those zombies Andrew was certain that the others were dead. Devoured by these unholy dead things. But the crater wasn't full of zombies, but it was full.
Those white demons Andrew had decided to call Balrogs after the "Lord of the Rings" creature made of fire and shadow. Unknown to him they were called Zombie Commanders as has been stated before.
There were at least ten of them in the crater. He had witnessed the births of most of them. He had seen so many zombies in the last ten hours that their novelty had worn out and he was bored. Scared of them, but bored of them. These Zombie Commanders were losing their interest as well.
What they did was different from what the zombies did. There were five of the Z.C.s in front and five in back. The five in the back raised their arms. Their arms turned into whips. Spiked whips.
They then began to whip the Z.C.s in front of them. There was no sound but the cracking of the whips. Had those been humans there would've been screams, but the Z.C.s felt no pain. They sensed damage, but they felt no pain.
Clear fluid flowed from the wounds. It was like blood. Clear blood. The blood then ran down to the legs of the five Z.C.s. They then walked forward to the exact center of the crater. A pond was formed of their blood. The pond was a mixture of sewage water and their blood, actually.
The sewage water was not wished for, but it wouldn't hinder the birth of the Zombie Emperor.
The blood and sewage water then began to take a solid form. It molded itself into a familiar shape and then ceased to be clear liquid.
It was a human. That's it. If Angel had been there he would've stared in awe and then reacted with anger and rage.
The man standing in the center of the crater was a confused and bewildered Allen Francis Doyle.
666
Once again I was supposed to have a longer chapter and once again I had time restrictions. It would've twice this length were it not 11:30 at night on Sunday.
So, yeah. I hope you liked this chapter. Before I began this story I was gonna make it Cordelia, but everyone still remembers her so it wouldn't be such a great, big shock. I don't think this was either, but it was a bigger one than it would've been with Cordelia. Plus putting Cordelia in this story seems so anticlimactic considering she's gone through so much hell with being dead, being in a coma, being possessed for a year, being a Higher Being for a year, being half demon for several more, having the visions, etc. Plus I miss Doyle's character and don't think it was done justice in the show.
So this is the end of my weekly update. See you next week.
"Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's gonna be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it." - conversation in Joel's last memory to be erased "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (a movie about a man having his most recent relationship erased from his mind by Lacuna, Inc., but deciding half-way through that he doesn't want the procedure done after all, which sucks because there's no way he can stop it. Stars Kirsten Dunst, Jim Carrey, Elijah Wood, and Mark Ruffalo)
Some Things Happen
Gunn was sitting on the ground. His throat was parched so he asked for a sip of the limited water supply. After that he asked how long he had been out.
"Four days maybe five," Angel replied.
"A hundred twenty-five hours," Gunn whispered.
"No, maybe a hundred and twelve hours since it's pretty far from being night now," Fred stated.
"You don't know what happened to Illyria?" Gunn asked for the second time.
"No." Angel glanced at Fred after saying this.
"Or why she's not dead?"
"No."
"That's… that… I'm very confused." There was a long silence that followed.
"So, who is Vin-whatever?" Buffy asked.
"Huh?"
"Vinieria," Angel corrected her.
"I repeat, huh?"
"Saw that coming a mile away," Angel sighed. "You were screaming that you saw a 'goddamned bitch' named Vinieria with metal skin and now you don't know about her. Sounds like something out of a B-movie or a bad story." Another moment of silence followed.
"And Connor's back?" Gunn continued.
"Yes."
"Have you heard from the Senior Partners yet?"
Angel hesitated. "No we haven't, actually."
"Nothing since the weak-ass army however long ago?"
"No…" Angel looked like he was thinking a lot.
"What do you think they're waiting for?"
"I don't know. Maybe they're not waiting."
Meanwhile…
Dawn was surveying herself in private. The glass shards had cut her good in so many places. The wounds had been healed so efficiently that only she could see where they had been and even that was probably her imagination. They were like phantom wounds. They itched and they hurt. She thought of one of the most overused similes she had read in books: a man feeling an itch on an amputated arm. A phantom arm. She wondered why it was so overused. Probably because it was so fantastic.
Well, before when it had been said that they were all healed so efficiently that there were no scars was a lie. There was a deep cut on her left breast that could be easily seen. She feared men would feel revulsion upon seeing that scar. She realized that was just paranoia, but that realization didn't obliterate the paranoia.
What did was the sudden appearance of the Bolinkodagenat in front of her. She didn't have time to scream. She was grabbed and disappeared into thin air along with the insect-like demon. No one was around to witness their disappearance.
Meanwhile…
"Giles!" Spike shouted upon finally spotting the old, exhausted Watcher who couldn't believe he had been able to outrun that white demon. Giles shot Spike a distrustful look and waited for the vampire to catch up with him.
"What is it, Spike?" Giles asked impatiently and tiredly. He fought off a yawn.
"I have to talk to you," Spike stated. The only people around were well into their own conversations with others.
"About?" Giles fought off another yawn. He was still worked up from the run and trying to keep his breathing under control. The fact that he wasn't getting as much as he should be was leading to his continuous need to yawn. He was worried, wondering why he was still so worked up. The sun was rising and it had been hours since the run. He hoped he was winded from other activities like carrying the buckets of water to the recently healed wounded. Maybe that had just prolonged his extremely exhausted state.
"Have you ever heard of the Shape-Shifting Magi of Old?" Spike tried as hard as he could to keep a straight face.
Giles thought for a moment and then started laughing. As he did so he yawned. "No and it sounds like a name someone pulled straight out of their ass."
"Well," Spike chuckled and then got it under control. "Well, he's been giving me these visions."
"Visions?" Giles queried, suddenly intrigued.
"Of people dying."
"Who've you seen the deaths of?"
"Lorne, Illyria, and Buffy." "Have you prevented any of them?"
"Lorne's."
"What about Buffy's?"
"I haven't seen her in a dangerous situation yet."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Haven't seen her in a dangerous situation? You're as blind as you are dumb."
Spike had to think a few seconds to get that. "No, I mean like that… thing I saw. The situation I saw her die in." He then explained to Giles what he had seen. He had seen Illyria kill Buffy as Lindsey watched and laughed.
Spike's first question wasn't why Lindsey was standing idly by and laughing; he knew Lindsey was evil. His first question was why Illyria had turned on them and how, since he hadn't prevented her death, she was still alive.
"For your first question, it's probably because she's no longer anchored to humanity through a human body and her mind is free to be as bad as it wants. For your second, I don't know. Maybe someone wanted her back to her original form so they sucked her out of her human body, Fred, and then resurrected her."
"What bloke could possibly have the power to do that?"
"Satan maybe. There are so many demons out there with the power to do so. Even a couple humans. The Senior Partners could've done it."
"Satan? He exists?"
"Possibly. His existence is just as plausible as God's."
"Which, to me means not likely."
"To me it is."
"You saw my death?" Buffy asked, letting her eavesdropping presence be known. She didn't know why she had waited till then to say anything.
"Plaything! Err… uh… I mean Buffy!"
"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't just hear that," Giles whispered.
There was an uncomfortable silence that followed that.
"I'm gonna go now," Giles stated and left, not wanting to be around those two and continue to be barraged by bad thoughts.
Meanwhile…
There weren't zombies in the crater anymore. All the zombies were running around the streets. Seeing all of those zombies Andrew was certain that the others were dead. Devoured by these unholy dead things. But the crater wasn't full of zombies, but it was full.
Those white demons Andrew had decided to call Balrogs after the "Lord of the Rings" creature made of fire and shadow. Unknown to him they were called Zombie Commanders as has been stated before.
There were at least ten of them in the crater. He had witnessed the births of most of them. He had seen so many zombies in the last ten hours that their novelty had worn out and he was bored. Scared of them, but bored of them. These Zombie Commanders were losing their interest as well.
What they did was different from what the zombies did. There were five of the Z.C.s in front and five in back. The five in the back raised their arms. Their arms turned into whips. Spiked whips.
They then began to whip the Z.C.s in front of them. There was no sound but the cracking of the whips. Had those been humans there would've been screams, but the Z.C.s felt no pain. They sensed damage, but they felt no pain.
Clear fluid flowed from the wounds. It was like blood. Clear blood. The blood then ran down to the legs of the five Z.C.s. They then walked forward to the exact center of the crater. A pond was formed of their blood. The pond was a mixture of sewage water and their blood, actually.
The sewage water was not wished for, but it wouldn't hinder the birth of the Zombie Emperor.
The blood and sewage water then began to take a solid form. It molded itself into a familiar shape and then ceased to be clear liquid.
It was a human. That's it. If Angel had been there he would've stared in awe and then reacted with anger and rage.
The man standing in the center of the crater was a confused and bewildered Allen Francis Doyle.
666
Once again I was supposed to have a longer chapter and once again I had time restrictions. It would've twice this length were it not 11:30 at night on Sunday.
So, yeah. I hope you liked this chapter. Before I began this story I was gonna make it Cordelia, but everyone still remembers her so it wouldn't be such a great, big shock. I don't think this was either, but it was a bigger one than it would've been with Cordelia. Plus putting Cordelia in this story seems so anticlimactic considering she's gone through so much hell with being dead, being in a coma, being possessed for a year, being a Higher Being for a year, being half demon for several more, having the visions, etc. Plus I miss Doyle's character and don't think it was done justice in the show.
So this is the end of my weekly update. See you next week.
"Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's gonna be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it." - conversation in Joel's last memory to be erased "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (a movie about a man having his most recent relationship erased from his mind by Lacuna, Inc., but deciding half-way through that he doesn't want the procedure done after all, which sucks because there's no way he can stop it. Stars Kirsten Dunst, Jim Carrey, Elijah Wood, and Mark Ruffalo)