REPRECUSSIONS
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Alyssa, Kelli, and Amy.
CHAPTER 31-ALL OUT WAR
Connor anxiously strode down the street, feeling the smooth edges of the shaft of the axe that was strapped to his back. Behind him his two dozen strong unit fanned out onto both sides of the street. He had chosen each and every one of them himself; something that he noticed afterwards had taken almost the entire day. Angel had let him choose the men from the list of all of the Wolfram and Hart soldiers that were currently in Sunnydale. He and his men had hurried as fast as they could to get to the school before the sun set. He deployed his men in two groups, sending one around to the back of the school while deciding to take the rest of them straight into the school with him.
"Everyone ready…," Connor asked with a serious tone to his voice and a grim scowl on his face as he unsheathed his sword and looked back at his men.
"Yes sir," They all exclaimed in unison, whether out of fear or respect Connor wasn't exactly sure.
"Then let's go…kill anything that isn't human," Connor stated with a completely emotionless expression on his face before he lifted the point of his sword up and headed inside.
"I'd have thought that we would have gotten a warmer reception than this," Spike stated with a glum frown on his face before he flicked his stub of a cigarette away.
"Easy Spike, we're just getting started, it's our job to take out these harbingers…granted that before we can do that we actually have to find them but…," Buffy sputtered out before she took another drag of her cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke.
"We're usually pretty good at that, harbingers seem to usually be about as plentiful as cockroaches…but now they're nowhere," Spike added with an impatient frown on his face as he knelt down and poked at some of the accumulated trash in the tunnels with the tip of his sword.
"They'll be here soon enough, what with you making all of that noise…," Buffy stated with a pretend glare cast Spike's direction even though she was doing her best to keep from smiling like a fool.
"Me…sorry pet but if I remember correctly I wasn't the one that was wailing like a bloody banshee…," Spike joked with a sly grin on his face as he slowly turned around and beamed up at Buffy.
"Hey…that was only because you wouldn't stop…," Buffy started to say with a sarcastic scowl on her face before a noise from further on down the tunnel caught her attention.
"What…," Spike started to ask with a slightly confused look on his face before his senses kicked in and the time for talking was over, they had found the harbingers.
"Uh Giles…we uh, need to talk…," Willow stated with a very shaken and teary eyed expression on her face as she stepped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind her.
"Oh really…about what pray tell, what happened to Alyssa last night, or why none of you that I sent out reported back…for a day and a half," Giles replied with a very concerned and frustrated scowl on his face as he scratched at the beginnings of a beard.
"Look Giles, we meant to call…we really did, but you know how things go in this town, nothing goes right…," Willow protested with a meager smile on her face as she walked past him and into another of the bedroom's, quickly checking to make sure that no one else was in the room.
"I believe that the telephone's were working this entire time Willow, so whatever we have to discuss it had better be damn important or else…," Giles started to say with a less than thrilled frown on his face as he followed Willow into the room before she cut him off.
"She's pregnant Giles…Alyssa's pregnant…," Willow stuttered out with a look of disbelief on her own face, one that soon matched the look on Giles' face.
"Are you sure," Giles quickly shot back, not completely ready to accept Willow's diagnosis of Alyssa's condition.
"Aura's don't lie Giles, and here's another shocker, I don't think that she was pregnant when she arrived…," Willow answered slowly with a very serious and worried frown on her face as she sat down on the bed and stared out of the window.
"How can that be, that doesn't make any sense, the only ones capable of…but they never…," Giles stammered out with a very deep in thought frown on his face as he began to pace the room, wracking his brain for a logical explanation.
"Andrew and Robin did say that they did see a guy after they picked Alyssa up, maybe he…but why would he still be here, everyone else cleared out days ago…," Willow wondered with a worried and confused look on her face as she turned her gaze back to Giles.
"Did…did they give you a description of the man, did Alyssa say anything about him…," Giles asked with an almost scared look in his eyes before he turned away from Willow and walked over to the window, staring out of it sadly.
"Alyssa didn't say much…understandably, all that she said was something about being called luv, and that the guy was older and British and very smug…," Willow replied with a tired and somber smile on her face as she hoped that her answer would help Giles figure out who was behind it all. Giles paced around the room silently for a few moments before he straightened up and slapped his forehead in a manner as if to say that he just realized something that blew him away.
"I don't know about…bloody hell…damn him…," Giles exclaimed with an astonished look on his face before his face grew grim and filled with more seething hatred than Willow had ever seen. Before she could say anything though Giles threw open the door and descended the stairs.
"Any sign of Adam yet," Oz asked with a nervous twitching of his eyebrow as he flipped the safety off of his crossbow and half turned back towards Angel.
"Not yet…who knows maybe we'll get lucky and he vanished," Molly replied over the comlink with a youthful tone of hope and fear in her voice before Angel squelched it.
"We're not that lucky Molly, if we were I'd be human and none of this would be happening," Angel jumped in with a very serious and commanding look on his face as he got a good grip on his axe.
"Are we supposed to be bait," Kelli asked with a worried look on her face as she held her sword up defensively in front of her, appearing to think that if she kept the sword in that position that it'd protect her from anything.
"Of course not Kelli, Angel wouldn't be stupid enough to…Angel…," Cordelia started to quickly reply with a humorous laugh before she quickly stopped as Angel remained silent at first.
"Uh…well you see Cordy…," Angel started to say with a nervous smile on his face as he slowly turned back around to look at Cordelia before she jumped in.
"Angel," Cordelia shouted with a very surprised and angry expression on her face as she reared back and punched Angel in the shoulder.
"I knew I should have stayed in LA with Wes and Faith, those two had the right idea…," Lorne mumbled with a forlorn look on his face as his shoulders slumped a bit and he got a tighter grip on his crossbow.
"Alright settle down people, our job is to draw out the First's forces while the others try to close the hellmouth, for good…," Angel stated with a very matter of fact tone of voice before everyone's eyes grew wide as the ground beneath them began to shake violently.
"What the…," Oz mumbled with a very nervous and scared feeling in the pit of his stomach before the street exploded in front of him as a large serpent like creature exploded up out of the ground.
"Oh God…the Mayor," Cordelia screamed with a terrified and panic-stricken look on her face as she scrambled back away from the Mayor, who had now dropped its head down to get a look at those directly in front of it.
"You are late," Adam stated with a fake tone of unhappiness in his voice as he walked up out of the darkness.
"Sorry about that…but you know what they say, better late than never…," Angel joked with a serious tone to his voice but a joking smile was spread across his face before he hefted his axe and charged at the Mayor.
The harbingers were no match for Buffy and Spike; even a layman could see that. At least they were not a match for them with Buffy and Spike in the frame of mind that they were currently in. When the harbingers had invaded her home and kidnapped Spike Buffy had been weary and in the middle of something. But now she and Spike had gotten the drop on their prey by using some of the special presents that Angel had given to them before they left the hospital, namely a belt of hand grenades for each of them. When the battle had first started Buffy and Spike had cut off the only means of escape from the room that they found themselves in by lobbing a couple of grenades into the entrances of the exit tunnels. Then they had taken advantage of the ensuing confusion to launch their attack. Had the two not been in desperate circumstances to begin with Buffy and Spike would probably not have even started the fight, or used the grenades more. But as Spike slew the last of the harbingers Buffy tried her best to withhold an exclamation of surprise at how many harbingers they had killed.
"Looks like that's the last of them," Spike stated with a proud smile on his face, even though Buffy could detect a bit of relief in his voice, as he stabbed the last harbinger again just to make sure that it was dead.
"Yeah, for now…but we know that there's more of them out there somewhere, and Angel's plan can't work if…," Buffy started to say with a heavy sigh before she was interrupted by a blast from the past.
"Angelus' plan will fail," The Master stated with a very confidant sneer on his face as he walked into the room, smiling wickedly at the shocked look on Buffy's face.
"And we're here to make sure of that," Glory called out from her perch up on a ledge near the top of the room before she effortlessly jumped back down to the ground to stand beside the Master.
"No…this is not happening," Buffy sputtered out with a look of total disbelief on her face as she backed up a few steps, very nearly tripping over the bodies of the fallen harbingers at her feet.
"Wish I could say that I was happy to see you…," Spike joked with a very sarcastic smirk on his face as he glared daggers at their enemies.
"Spike…yes I remember you, one of the disappointments…," The Master stated with a mocking sneer on his face as he stepped forward and momentarily blocked Glory from Spike's view.
"What is this…some shitty take off of Buffy Summers, this is your life," Buffy asked with an impatient and angry look on her face, mostly to try to cover up her fear, as she stepped forward and raised the scythe.
"No…this is when you die," Glory stated with a very proud and confidant smile on her face before she became instantly obsessed with a split end.
"Over my dead body…and yes I'm bloody well aware of the irony," Spike exclaimed with a very clear and threatening tone to his voice, making sure that the Master and Glory got his point.
"You're just like Angelus, stubborn to the last an full of pride, but that matters little right now…seeing as how neither one of you will make it out of this room alive," The Master shot back with a very confidant and cocky sneer on his face as he gestured with his hands like he was leading and orchestra.
"You like to talk big don't you…just like last time, and if I remember correctly I dusted you…," Buffy quickly said with a very determined look on her face as she retraced her steps to stand beside Spike.
"Ah…that you did, but that is the past, I am here now and this time the result of our confrontation will be different, this time…," The Master began to proudly announce with an angry glare cast Spike's way before he was interrupted from behind by a quick burst of gunfire that ripped into his torso, sending Buffy and Spike diving to the ground.
"This time she'll make damn sure that there won't be a next time," Riley said with a very certain and serious look on his face before he took aim at the Master and squeezed the trigger as the rest of his men quickly filed into the room.
"Where is he going…," Andrew asked with a confused and scared look on his face as he watched Giles walk out of the house, loaded down with weapons and magical spell components.
"Who," Amy asked with a scared look on her face as she walked into the living room and shrugged her shoulders at Andrew.
"Giles…he just left looking like the librarian version of Rambo…ah Rambo…," Andrew replied with a look of awe on his face before he dreamily stared off into space at the last bit.
"He must know who attacked Alyssa…," Vi added with a nervous look on her face as she peered out of the shadows.
"And he's gone to get him," Amy guessed with a look of surprise on her face before she turned and looked at Andrew, seemingly silently asking Andrew if Giles could do something like that.
"I'd better tell Willow," Andrew exclaimed with a very frantic look on his face before he bolted up the stairs, missing the scene outside as Giles pulled away only mere moments before several large trucks pulled up, each bearing the Wolfram and Hart logo.
The Mayor easily dodged Angel's first attack, but not his second. Adam seemed to be enjoying the fighting as he stepped forward, taking on anyone or anything that crossed his path with a look of childish glee on his face. Oz was just about to fire off a bolt aimed directly at where he guessed Adam's heart was when he was knocked to the ground by a flick of the Mayor's tail, with his crossbow sent sliding across the pavement. Lorne leapt back out of the fray and was able to fire off a couple of bolts before he was tackled from behind by a trio of harbingers, which elicited a scream of panic from the empath demon. Kelli's hands were shaking mercilessly as the first harbinger rushed towards her. Nearly wetting herself with fright Kelli gripped her sword tightly, causing her knuckles to turn white, before she leaned back and parried the first strike of the closest harbinger.
"Kelli," Cordelia shouted in alarm before she hefted up her sword and charged towards the potential, hoping to draw some of the attackers.
"Help," Kelli screamed with a very panic-stricken expression on her face as she continued to parry blow after blow, but each time taking a step backwards and growing ever closer to a brick wall. While that was happening the Mayor snapped at Angel a couple of times, coming close to getting Angel the second time, close enough to tear away the bottom half of his duster.
"Cordy get down," Oz shouted with a very serious look on his face as he caught his breath and scrambled forward across the ground and grabbed his crossbow. Barely hearing his exclamation Cordelia only barely ducked as a bolt flew over her head and sliced into the throat of the harbinger that was about ready to plunge its knife into Kelli's stomach.
"Hey Oz watch it, that thing almost hit me," Cordelia shouted back at Oz with an angry scowl on her face before she blocked the attack of another of the harbingers with her sword and then slashed its throat open.
"This is not fun," Angel glowered with an unhappy and slightly nervous look on his face as he continued to try and dodge out of the way of each and every one of the Mayors attacks, even though he knew that the Mayor wasn't really trying that hard because Angel wasn't what he wanted to eat. He wanted Buffy.
"They're not doing so well…," Molly answered in response to Gunn's question as he and Fred continued to fly towards Angel's position in one of the Wolfram and Hart helicopters.
"You gotta give me odds here Molly, how outnumbered are they," Fred asked over the comlink as she did her best to keep her hair out of her eyes.
"The Mayor and Adam are down there with a lot of harbingers, if you guys don't get here soon then…," Molly replied with a very nervous and scared tone in her voice, a tone that Gunn and Fred quickly picked up on, as she slid her crossbow and sword closer to her, just in case.
"We're coming as fast as we can, but Molly you have to do something for us, when we're almost there we'll need you to tell Angel to get everyone out of there, then once everyone's safe we'll let loose," Gunn stated with a very grim and serious look on his face before he glanced back at the flotilla of helicopters behind him, each one armed to the teeth. All in all the flight of helicopters that Fred and Gunn were at the lead of had the firepower to level almost half of Sunnydale.
"But what if that's to late," Molly quickly asked back with a worried look on her face as she watched through the high powered telescope that had been set up on the rooftop so that she could watch from on high and help Angel plan his advance.
"Then we'll make sure that Adam and the Mayor don't hurt anyone else," Gunn answered with a very calm and deadly serious expression on his face before he pulled on a pair of gloves and took off his headphones.
Of the three Buffy was the only one that had fought both the Master and Glory and won. Spike had helped Buffy fight Glory but had also nearly been dusted by her, something that now fueled his fight against her. Riley charged into the room and instantly sought to take the Master on. The Initiative soldiers that Riley had brought with him stood no chance of even slowing Glory or the Master down but they rushed them anyway, firing off clip after clip, nearly hitting Buffy and Spike several times in the process. Buffy and Glory sought each other out through the fray and soon were throwing each other against one object or another. Spike had singled out the Master, and soon in between their punches a battle of wills was fought.
"So you're the Master…don't look like much to me," Spike quipped with a sarcastic grin on his face as he got a good punch in on the Master's shoulder before spinning back away from the next blow.
"You would do well to keep your tongue in check, it will bring you much pain," The Master growled back with a vindictive sneer on his face before he slashed Spike's left shoulder open with his claws, finally taking a step back and licking the blood off of his claws before suddenly spitting it back out. "What is this...filth, this is not human blood," The Master exclaimed with a look of extreme disgust on his face before he turned his angry glare accusingly towards Spike.
"You're right it's not, guess you're not as dumb as you look, it's pigs blood…mostly," Spike shot back with a pained smile on his face as he held his right hand over his bleeding left shoulder.
"Pig's blood, but…you are of my line, the blood of swine should be below you," The Master spat out with a very angry sneer on his face as he glared across at Spike, who did his best to shrug his shoulders and act as if he could care less.
"Sorry but human blood's not on the top of my list, hasn't been for awhile," Spike shot back with a somewhat tired look on his face before the Master rushed him, intent on landing another punch.
"And for good reason, it's fattening…and I'd hate for my lover to become a blimp," Buffy interjected with a sly smile on her face before she leapt in front of Spike and landed a kick on the Master's jaw.
"Lover…what, I'd thought that you would have learned your lesson with Angelus," The Master angrily growled after her recovered from Buffy's first kick and straightened up.
"Guess I'm a slow learner," Buffy quipped with a happy smile on her face as she shrugged her shoulders before she felt Spike dive out of the way behind her and she did the same. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the Master howling with anger as he rushed forward, only to be met by a likewise charge from Glory, who had obviously hoped to catch Spike and Buffy unawares, and drove the pointed end of a snapped off old mop handle straight through the Master's un-beating heart.
"Shit," Glory cried with a very angry scowl on her face as she slammed the old mop handle down to the ground and stomped her foot.
Giles laid caution to the wind and pushed the pedal to the metal. His nerves were almost as frayed as a man's could be. Over and over again in his mind he kept replaying the description of the man that Willow had described to him. From his recollections the description could fit only one man, Ethan Rayne. Giles ground his teeth together as he drove, hoping that he could catch up to Ethan before his former friend and confidante did what he came to Sunnydale to do. Knowing that whatever it was wasn't good Giles ignored the erratically blinking stop lights and frantically searched for any sign of his old friend. He was driving so erratically in fact that he didn't notice the man standing in the middle of the road until it was to late.
"You know…you really should watch where you're going," Caleb stated with a smug smirk on his face before another figure emerged from out of the shadows.
"Can I have him, he looks tasty," A fledgling vampire asked with an impatient pout on her face before she slipped her game face on and glared at Giles, who had just picked his head up from the steering wheel.
"No…not yet, we need a blood sacrifice for the ritual to be performed correctly, and I think that Mr. Giles here has just volunteered," Caleb stated with a calm and easy going smile on his face as he walked around the end of the smashed car and leaned on the door.
"You sure…because I really want to get this bastard back for sending me to the school," Rhona added with an unhappy scowl on her face as she walked into view in full game face, much to Giles's surprise.
"R…Rhona what…," Giles sputtered out in total disbelief as his eyes grew wide in shock and he tried to unbuckle his seatbelt.
"That little bitch Kennedy let me die…but I'm on the other side now and I'm going to have some fun with her when I find her…just wish that those stupid Initiative idiots didn't have to try to stake me when they realized that they'd forgotten about me in all of the fray," Rhona answered with a less than thrilled look on her face as she stepped into the light and Giles was able to see the large spot of blood on the front of her shirt right over her heart that led up to a slowly healing gash in her throat.
"No…please, you can't…you have to," Giles gasped out with a desperate look on his face as he tried to open the door but found that he couldn't because it had been crumpled.
"I have to what, follow you around as you throw out small little useless tidbits of information about battles that no longer matter, sorry…but I've got my eye on Kennedy and she and I are going to have a little party, before I rip her throat out and…," Rhona shot back with a very angry and vindictive sneer on her face before Caleb calmly held up his hand and smiled softly.
"Easy Rhona, your time with Kennedy will come but you have to wait for her to come to her, besides the two of you and the lovely Kennedy will have enough time to play in sin after you've…," Caleb interjected with a calm look on his face before he walked over and with one easy motion pulled the smashed in door off of the car and flung it into the nearby house.
"Come now Caleb, you're not being a very good host, you didn't even tell me that we have guests…and Rupert Giles at that," Ethan Rayne stated with a fake tone of total worry in his voice as he walked across the front lawn, slowly sipping a cup of hot tea as he went.
"You…bastard," Giles growled with a very angry sneer of pain on his face as he tried to extricate himself from his car.
"Now Rupert, let's not get angry, the lovely young lady and I had a fun night, why must you spoil it with…," Ethan started to say with a mocking smile on his face as he rubbed his finger around the rim of the cup of tea.
"You raped her," Giles exclaimed with a furious look on his face as his glasses were barely able to stay situated correctly on his face before the smile slipped from Ethan Rayne's face, but only momentarily.
"That I did…but that won't be of any consequence after tonight, once I have become the human host for the First nothing that any of your slayers or vampire allies do will matter any…I will become a God…," Ethan said softly with a very proud and smug grin on his face, in direct contrast to the look of total and utter shock and terror on Giles' face, as he walked back up towards the house and away from Giles.
"You're outnumbered Glory…five to one, why don't you just give up now and save yourself one hell of an ass whuppin," Buffy stated with a very daring and confrontational look of glee in her eyes as she stepped on top of the skeleton that was the Master only moments before, smashing his skull in with the heel of her boot to further give meaning to her words.
"Is that supposed to scare me…please, I've heard better from a bunch of…," Glory started to shoot back with a very scornful sneer on her face before she was interrupted by a swift kick to the teeth from Spike.
"Better watch it blondie, or else those pearly whites of yours are going to get shoved down your…," Spike exclaimed with a very proud grin on his face before Glory summoned up a bit of her powers and surged forward, catching him across the jaw with a punch that sent him flying up into the air and slamming through the room's brick wall.
"Spike…," Buffy screamed with a frantic expression on her face as she watched Spike go through the wall before spinning back around and leveling an intense glare at Glory.
"What…he had it coming," Glory stated through a proud grin on her face before Riley jumped her from behind, putting her in a headlock.
"Riley no," Buffy started to shout with a surprised and scared look on her face before Glory's expression turned from one of daring glee to one of a simmering bubble of anger.
"You get any closer and I'm going to have to charge you ya know," Glory stated with a sly and sexy grin on her face before she grabbed a hold of Riley and flung him off of her as if he were weightless. Buffy watched helplessly as Riley went sailing through the hole that Spike had originally made in the wall before there was a loud cursing by Spike. "Looks like it's just you and me slayer, only this time you don't have that troll's hammer," Glory added with a sly and arrogant smile on her face for a moment before Buffy couldn't control herself any longer and landed a punch right on the side of Glory's nose, causing the god to go stumbling backwards before tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground.
"What's the matter Glory, you don't seem very talkative now…," Buffy exclaimed with a very threatening look on her face before Glory growled in anger and leapt back up to her feet.
"You'll pay for that," Glory declared with a very serious and furious sneer on her face before she launched herself at Buffy, aiming to choke the life out of her.
"Like I haven't heard that one before," Buffy snapped back with a sarcastic grin on her face before she ducked under Glory's attack and rolled out of the way.
"Angel clear out, get everyone out now," Molly nearly screamed over the comlink as she looked over her shoulder and shivered as the flotilla of Wolfram and Hart helicopters flew overhead, cloaking her in shadows.
"Go…everybody go," Angel shouted at the top of his unmoving lungs as he grabbed Lorne's collar and hauled the empath demon back up onto his feet.
"Angel what is it, what's going on," Cordelia exclaimed with a confused and terrified look on her face as she rushed over to him.
"Fire in the hole," Angel shouted over the commotion before Cordelia's eyes grew wide and she tore off away from Angel, grabbing a quickly tiring Kelli along the way and soon the two were racing off down the street.
"Angel…help," Lorne exclaimed with a very frantic tone to his voice as he flailed around underneath the pile of harbingers that were punching and kicking him.
"Oz get out of here now, I'll get Lorne," Angel yelled with a very grim and serious look on his face as he flung a harbinger off of Oz and ran over and dove into the pile of harbingers that were attacking Lorne.
"But what about…," Oz started to ask with a breathless edge to his voice before he was knocked back up into the air and through a large window by the Mayor as he surged forward, hoping to eat Angel and Lorne, in essence killing two birds with one stone.
"Just go…," Angel snapped back through the mass of arms and legs, even though he hadn't seen Oz's flight, before Adam stepped up and began to pull the harbingers off of the pile as if they were made of pillows. Just as the Mayor bore down on them, opening its gaping maw, Angel finally managed to grab a hold of one of Lorne's arms and using all of his might he pulled the empath demon and himself free of the pile and scrambled away from the scene, never looking back to see Gunn and Fred release the bomb.
"This sucks, I should be there," Faith mumbled with an anxious and scared frown on her face as she leaned her forehead up against one of the large glass panes of the Wolfram and Hart infirmary.
"Nnh…but you're injured," A very weary Sam stammered out from her bed before she winced in pain and brought a hand up to her forehead.
"Never stopped me before," Faith replied softly with the faintest traces of a smile curling up the edges of her lips as for a moment her mind raced back through the various times that she had fought while injured.
"But…it was easy before…before, you were alone, it was just you, you only had to look out for yourself, that's no longer the case," Sam replied slowly as between each point she took a couple of painful deep breaths. Faith opened her mouth to start to spit out a venomous one liner but just as she started to summon up the breath required the truth of Sam's words fully hit her. For the first time in her life Faith was not making decisions for herself alone. Now and to her hopefully forever she was thinking for two.
END OF CHAPTER 31