Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow II: The Rising Sun
Previously:
"We're going to call Lucifer out tonight," Kara replied. She stopped for a moment, just a few yards away from the casket. "And we're gonna kick his ass."
"Or die trying," Kennedy said, walking away from the casket to join her girlfriend. "You in?" She asked, turning to Buff and Faith.
Both slayers grinned wryly before responding in a clear voice, "Hell yeah."
Chapter Thirty-Two:
Buffy stood in the middle of the cemetery as night fell on the gravestones. The trees were silent, no breeze rustling the leaves or birds chirping merrily in the branches. An utter stillness held the cemetery captive. Buffy stood several feet away from the others, a look of fierce determination gracing her features. The moon shone above her, round and full, lighting up the darkness. Finally, Buffy smiled slightly and folded her hands behind her back. Then, in a clear, ringing voice, she said, "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
……………………………………….
One Hour Earlier:
Buffy surveyed the living room of her mother's house. The entire group was assembled there, going over last minute preparations for the night's battle. Anya and Xander were making an inventory of weapons while Tara, Willow, and some Coven members prepared a spell that would send Lucifer back to Hell. The spell was designed to open a portal to Hell. Kara, Buffy, Faith, and Kennedy would then propel Lucifer through the portal. Willow would close it behind him. Though the portal wouldn't be permanent, it would take more power than one entity possessed to open from the inside.
Kara, Kennedy, and Faith were stretching, each mentally preparing for what they had to do. Meanwhile, Giles, Jack, and Joyce were hovering over everyone, obviously worrying about the outcome of the night's events. Giles hadn't been too optimistic about their likelihood of defeating one of the oldest evils in the world. However, no one was particularly listening to him. Callum and Lucian were the only ones not in the living room. Lucian, who was still grieving over the loss of Cordelia, was out on the front porch, getting some air. Callum had gone outside with him, presumably to help talk him through his grief. Buffy looked over at Dawn and Spike, who were sitting on the couch.
They were in charge of the half a dozen slayers the Council had managed to round up and deliver on such short notice. While Faith, Buffy, Kara, and Kennedy were fighting Lucifer, Dawn's team was going to be fending off any curious vampires or demons with a crossbow brigade. Buffy looked out of the window. The sun was quickly dropping in the sky, cool shadows stretching over the ground. Giles looked up and met her eyes, nodding swiftly before turning to the group.
"It's time to go," he said solemnly. The group jumped to their feet, each person grabbing the items allotted to them to carry to the cemetery. Faith walked over to Buffy and put her arm around her waist. She pulled Buffy close to her, resting her forehead against her partner's.
"Time to fight the big bad, huh?" Faith smirked. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Can't you take anything seriously?" Buffy admonished.
Faith smiled her patented crooked smile and shook her head. "Not really."
"You guys ready?" Kara asked, walking up to them.
"Never more ready in my life," Buffy responded.
"I don't see why," Anya said, as she and Xander walked passed them. "We're all going to die."
"Optimism, An," Xander said, shaking his head. "Let's give it a try."
"Well, this won't be the first time we've rushed headlong into deadly peril," Giles said, smiling softly at Buffy and Faith.
"And it won't be the last," Buffy whispered.
…………………………..
Buffy stood in the middle of the cemetery as night fell on the gravestones. The trees were silent, no breeze rustling the leaves or birds chirping merrily in the branches. An utter stillness held the cemetery captive. Buffy stood several feet away from the others, a look of fierce determination gracing her features. The moon shone above her, round and full, lighting up the darkness. Finally, Buffy smiled slightly and folded her hands behind her back. Then, in a clear, ringing voice, she said, "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
"That was the best she could do?" Kara whispered into Faith's ear.
"Hey, you don't know how difficult it is to come up with something witty at a moment's notice. There's a lot of pressure there," Faith countered as seriously as she could, before smiling to herself and looking down to keep from laughing.
"Like I said, she could have done better," Kara said triumphantly.
"Guys! Does it really matter?" Kennedy asked, glaring over at them. "We're about to fight The Evil One, Lucifer, Satan, the Devil, whatever you want to call him, and you're more worried about the quality of Buffy's punning. Get a life."
"Nice girl you've got there," Faith commented.
"Yeah, I was thinking I might trade her in," Kara said as she ducked out of the way of Kennedy's fist.
"Guys!" Buffy said, looking back at them. "We've got company. Wouldn't want him to think we're amateurs or anything." Faith, Kara, and Kennedy instantly straightened and looked ahead into the slight mist surrounding the cemetery. They could see a man approaching.
"That him?" Kennedy asked, moving closer to Kara.
"I think so," Kara said.
"He's kinda short," Faith commented, eliciting laughs from the two girls next to her.
"Not as short as Buffy though," Kara replied.
"I can still hear you," Buffy said, agitated.
"Were you looking for me?" Lucifer said, interrupting their conversation as he drew closer.
"More or less," Buffy said, shrugging noncommittally. "But now that you're here, we do have something we wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh, what's that?" Lucifer asked, stopping and folding his hands behind his back, mimicking Buffy's pose.
Buffy smiled and said, "We just wanted to know how exactly you'd like your ass kicked out of Sunnydale."