AH FINALLY ANOTHER CHAPTER. THANKS AS ALWAYS FOR THE FEEDBACK. LOVE THOSE REVIEWS KEEP EM COMING.

TITLE: THE END OF ALL THINGS

AUTHOR: AVES

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU DON'T KNOW BY NOW WHY BOTHER TELLING?


CHAPTER 23
GREATEST ENEMIES

Connor and Spike reached the entrance to the tunnel. "You sure you want to go in there?" Connor asked.

"Do you know the way?" Spike replied.

"Well, no."

"All right then I guess I'm doing with you."

Connor drew his weapon and entered the tunnel. "Let's do it then."


Buffy and her allies were still outnumbered over two to one but those odds were slowly becoming more even. The demons had the numbers but the Slayers and friends had the skills. Buffy had about six different colors of demon blood on her scythe and her latest kill had just made it seven. She started to stab another enemy when it disappeared. She swung her weapon around striking at a demon that thought it was sneaking up on her only to have it vanish as well. The Slayer looked around to see that quite a few of the demons were vanishing. Buffy kept looking around and saw Faith who looked as confused as she did. Faith looked back at her ally, shrugged, and went back to fighting the remaining demons. "Girl has got the right idea," Buffy thought and went back to her assault.
Angel would have thrown up if he would have had anything in his stomach. The force of Angelus' kick made him feel like his gut had jumped into his throat. Angelus was truly kicking his ass and the evil vampire was in no way hiding the fact he was enjoying it. "Please Angie, I thought this was going to be our great battle. Where's the drama? Where's the intrigue? Maybe what I knew all along is true, you are just a weak, useless nothing." Angelus kicked at his opponents stomach again, but this time his foot was caught. Angel grabbed the other vampire by the leg and threw him across the chamber. The good vampire got back on his feet and stalked his opponent.

"Do you have any idea," Angel said as he grabbed his enemy and slammed him against the wall, "how annoying it is to always," Angel began punching Angelus repeatedly in the face, "to have you," punch, "in my head," punch, "all the freaking time!" Angelus head butted Angel in response and tackled his opponent. Now it was the evil vampire's turn to land punches.

"Do you know how annoying it was," punch, "to have to watch," punch, "your goody-goody crap," punch, "over and over again!" Angelus pulled out a stake and traced its point over Angel's bloodied face. "Lucky for me I won't have to much longer."


The battle between Marcus and his brother was like their last one, a brutal, personal war. Hamilton smiled evily as he landed a punch to his brother's head, but the smile was quickly knocked off his face as Marcus spun around and brought up his leg to deliver a kick to Hamilton's chest. The warrior pressed his attack executing several martial arts chops and kicks sending his enemy reeling. Hamilton tried to counterattack with a clumsy punch that Marcus easily dodged. The warrior followed with an uppercut that snapped his brother's head back. Hamilton fell to all fours and Marcus started to pick him up to continue his assault, however he was met with a low blow that allowed Hamilton to regain the upper hand. The lawyer delivered a series of punched to his brother's temples, and followed by grabbing his opponent and throwing his about ten feet. Marcus hit the floor and slid until he was stopped by the wall. The warrior tried to get up but struggled to even move. Hamiltons smiled and picked up the weapon his opponent had discarded earlier.

"You know when I said I preferred to kill you with my bare hands? Well I lied." Hamilton said as he admired his brother's bladed. "I don't care how I kill you. I just know I'm going to."


"Remind me never to let you take me anywhere," Connor said as he and Spike exited the sewer tunnels.

"Blame your daddy, not me," Spike replied. "I hate those sewers. I think people in this city are more foul than some demons."

Connor took in his surroundings as they were now in the lowest level of the dark temple. "Maybe the sewer wasn't so bad."

"Bah, you seen one dark scary place you seen them all," Spike replied.

"It's not the dark scary place I'm worried about," Connor said. "It's what's inside it." The pair pressed further into the strucuture. All was silent until they heard what sounded like a woman humming.

"Oh balls, not again," Spike cursed.

"Spike? Oh my Spike you've come back to Mommy," Drusilla said as she came into sight.

"Oh no, not her," Connor groaned.

Spike stared daggers at his sire. "Connor get out of here."

"What?" Connor replied. "What about you? How am supposed to find the others?"

"Don't know the rest of the way myself," Spike said as a wicked smile came on his face, "Besides you can't waste time here, me I got some business to take care of."

"Be careful," Connor said as he ran away leaving the chamber.

"I think you just sent my little brother away to die," Drusilla said with a laugh, "Oh well goody for me, now come give Mommy a kiss."

Spike tensed up and prepared to fight his maker, "Let's just get this over with."


"Any last words Angie?" Angelus said as he held a stake over Angel's heart.

"Yea," Angel said. "Never leave your opponents leg free," Angel lifted his legs and was able to catch Angelus' arm between them. Angel twisted his opponent's arm, nearly breaking it. Angelus yelled in pain and dropped his stake. Angel took the opportunity to free himself from his enemy's grasp and got back to his feet. Angelus got back up as well, and began to rub his throbbing arm.

"You are going to pay for that!" the evil vampire growled.

Angel smiled at his opponent knowing he was getting under his skin, "Less talk more action Angelus, but then performance has always been a problem for you hasn't it?" Angelus roared in anger at the taunt and ran at Angel their battle resuming once more.


I've got to admit brother, I like your weapon. I think I'll keep it." Hamilton said with a sneer as he slashed at Marcus. The warrior was able to duck out of the way buthis pain was slowing him down, making him have to be strictly on thedefensive as Hamilton came at him withhis own weapon. Marcuswas dodging every swing and stab buthis brother's attackswere keeping him off balance.

"I've togot to get him to make a mistake,"the warrior thought. Marcus dodged to the left to avoid anotherswing. "Sloppy brother," he saidtrying to angerhis opponent. Hamilton frowned and tried to stab at his opponent, however the warrior jumped back to avoid the attempt. "You know I'vejust realized something about you," Marcus said as he easily dodged another attack by spinningoutof the way. "Without the Senior Partners you would be nothing." He ducked a swing at his head and smiled, realizing Hamilton's attacks were becoming unfocused."Of course you don't seem tobe that much withthem," he taunted whilejumpingto the side to avoid another swing. He looked at his opponent assaw that Hamilton's face was bright red. "I mean a vampire beat you, a half-breed demon, man sucks to be you." Hamilton screamed in rage and lunged at the warrior. Marcus easily caught his enemy by the wrist anddisarmed him. "Sloppy and stupid," the warrior said right before punchingHamilton right in the mouth.The lawyer stumbled backwards andput his hand over his now bleeding mouth. Marcus sheathed his weapon and raised his fists. Hamilton's eyes burned withanger as he stared at his enemy.

"I am sick of your games brother," Hamiltongrowled. "Now, I finish this."

Marcus smirked and readied himself to resume the fight. "Then come finish it."


Connor felt like he was running in circles. Every chamber looked the same to him, and he felt totally lost. He was toying with the idea of going back and helping Spike when something that felt like a danger sense went off in his head. He moved on pure instinct and dodged an attack from a demon he could have sworn had not been there just a second before. He swung around with weapon and impaled the creature. He pulled out his weapon and saw that he was now surrounded by nine more demons. He frowned as he noticed the odds. "Ah crap."
"I thought having half these things disappear would make our jobs easier," Buffy quipped as she divided a would be attacker in half.

"Since when has anything involving us been easy?" Willow responded as she disentegrated a vamp with a burst of flame. Buffy turned toward her friend and saw a look of pain on her face.

"Will?"

"Buffy I,"

"Willow!" the Slayer screamed as her friend collapsed. Buffy dropped to her side and was horrified to see a dagger in her back. The Slayer checked her pulse and was able to find a very weak, fading sign of life. "Willow, please wake up." she pleaded. Tears filled the Slayer's eyes as more demons circled her. Buffy screamed and picked up her weapon charging into the group of demons with nothing but revenge on her mind.


"Spike, Angel, nasty blue lighting, everyone trying to ruin our happy home!" Drusilla screamed as she leaped at Spike her hands formed into claws, her nails going for Spike's eyes. The blonde vampire countered her attack with a foot to her gut. He followed by grabbing her hair and slinging her into the wall. "Ooh," she moaned. "Spike doesn't love his mommy anymore." Spike moved in to follow up on his attack, but Drusilla grabbed his belt and jerked slamming his face into the wall. The female vamp continued her counterattack by moving behind Spike and slamming his head into the wall repeatedly. Spike was beginning to black out when he heard Drusilla's annoying cackle. "Oh Spike, you're still so cute. Mommy could just eat you up, in fact I think Mommy will."
Connor held up his weapon in a defensive stance ready for the demons surrounding him to attack. They seemed to laugh at him as they stalked closer. One lunged at him and Connor hit it in the face with the hilt of his sword and finished the creature by stabbing it in the throat. The other demons shrieked in anger and all moved in at once. Connor braced himself for their attack but instead found himself staring dumbfounded as they all started convulsing from an attack of blue electricity that was coming from an unseen source. The blue energy disappeared after just a few moments and all the demons looked like they had been char-broiled. Connor looked around for his unseen benefactor, "Uh hello? Anyone here?" He walked around in a circle trying to locate the source of his aid. "Hello?" he said again. A movement in near the exit to the chamber caught his eye. He turned and saw a ghostly figure moving farther away into the next room. He didn't know who or what it was but it seemed to be calling for him to follow it. "Oh well," Connor thought. "It's not like I can get anymore lost in this place." He exited the chamber and followed his ghostly guide.
Marcus groaned in pain as Hamilton's elbow connected with his chest. He fell back against the chamber wall and moved to the side as Hamilton's fist came at his face. Marcus avoided the attack and brought up his knee landing a shot to his brother's sternum. Both combatants staggered back to regroup, both were bruised and somewhat bloodied. "You can't win, you must know that," Hamilton growled.

Marcus smiled cooly in return, "I can, and I will," he said. "In fact I've already won."

"Oh really," Hamilton said with a smirk, "How do you figure that?"

Marcus looked directly into his brother's eyes as he responded. "I see defeat in your eyes."

Hamilton popped his knuckles together and charged at his opponent. "And I see fear in yours." The lawyer said as he came at his brother with fists swinging. Marcus blocked each attempt and countered with an open handed blow to Hamilton'stemple, followed by an elbow to his chin, and another punch to the head. Hamilton countered by sweeping his opponent's leg however Marcus quickly recovered by leaping to his feet and landing a roundhouse kick to Hamilton's jaw. The lawyer spun around and tried to catch his brother with a fist, but the warrior ducked and connected with a hard right to Hamilton's ribs. The lawyer's ribcage shattered from the impact and Hamilton began to spit up blood. He fell to his knees and looked up at his opponent. "You think you havewon?" he couged. "Mymasters will tear you apart, and I will receive what I deserve."

Marcus looked down at his brother, his face stoic. "You areright about one thing Hamilton. You will get what you deserve." The warrior grabbed hisopponents head and snapped it around breakingHamilton's neck. "Burn in Hell, brother."


Angel had decided that getting his butt kicked by his evil alter ego was not part of the plan, but it was happening anyway. He had just landed face down on the floor after his opponent had picked him up and thrown him. "This has been real fun Angie," Angelus taunted, "but I've got a world to see destroyed so I've to end this little playtime." Angelus picked up the stake he had dropped earlier. "It's nothing personal, well Hell who am I kidding. It is personal." Angel was able to stand but he was moving noticeably slower. Angelus smiled evily at his opponent and resumed his attack. The evil vampire went right for Angel's heart with his weapon, however the attack was blocked and Angel countered by twisting his body around and delivering an elbow to the side of his opponents head. Angelus shouted in pain but quickly went back on the offensive. He caught Angel with a punch and then moved behind him. "Say good-bye," Angelus said as he started to stab with his stake. Angel moved quickly to avoid being dusted. He spun around and barely deflected the attack, and brought his arm up moving like he was going to deliver a palm strike to his opponent's chest. Angelus had a shocked look on his face as he looked down to where Angel's hand was. A stake that Angel had kept hidden in his jacket sleeve was now in the evil vampire's chest.

"Good-bye," Angel said just as his opponent turned to dust.


Buffy was totally surrounded by enemies. She was ready to attack again when all of them suddenly caught on fire and disentegrated. "What?" Buffy thought right before she heard a groan from behind her. "Willow?" she asked as she turned and saw her friend trying to sit up.Buffy ran to her side. "Will you ok?"

"Please get this dagger out of my back so I can finish healing myself." Willow groaned.

"Oh right," Buffy said. She grabbed the weapon and carefully removed it.

"Ow," Willow cried as the dagger came out. She sat up and began reciting a healing spell. "Oh that's better."

"I thought I had lost you," Buffy said as she hugged her friend.

"Ow, still tender," Willow cried.

"Sorry," the Slayer said.

"It's ok," Willow said with a smile. "It'll take more than a knife in the back to stop Willow Rosenberg." Their conversation was interrupted by an earthquake that caused them both to lose their balance. Buffy looked at the black temple.

"I wonder what's going on in there." she said.

"I don't know," Willow replied, "but our champions better hurry. The earth won't be able to last much longer."


Connor had followed the strange figure into a huge room that looked like some sort of cathedral. The center of the room had a strange red beam flowing into its center. Connor heard a sound like someone approaching. He turned to another entrance and saw another figure enter the chamber. "Dad!" the youngster exclaimed as Angel entered.

"Connor?" The vampire ran to his son and embraced him. "Am I glad to see you." He let Connor go and looked around. "Where's Spike?"

"We ran into Drusilla, he stayed behind to fight her so I could find you."

"You ok?" Angel asked.

"Yea," his son replied. "I ran into a pack of demons, but some kind of weird blue lighting fried them, then a ghost or something guided me here."

"Hm," Angel said thinking about his son's experience. "The blue lightning helped Marcus and I too, speaking of which I hope he's ok."

"I'm alive if that's what you mean," they both heard Marcus say as he entered the chamber.

"Glad to see you could make it," Angel said.

"Yea well it wasn't easy," Marcus replied. "I had a run in with my dear brother."

"Hamilton?" Angel said. "What happened?"

"We fought," Marcus responded. "I killed him. I wanted to do a little victory dance but I decided saving the world was more important. How about you?"

"Killed my evil alter ego," Angel said. "Also wanted to dance, but you know."

"Uh excuse me," Connor interrupted. "Don't you think we should get back to saving the world."

Angel looked at the beam of red energy in the center of the room. "Well I'll bet that big red light has got something to do with all this. We get rid of that, we might get rid of the earthquakes."

"Great idea," Connor said. "How do we do it?"

"You do not," they all heard something hiss. The three champions turned to the source of the noise and saw three beings. Each of them stood about seven feet tall. Each had identical human builds but different heads. Each head a different beast. "You have caused us much trouble," they all said. "Now that ends."

"The Wolf, Ram, and Hart," Marcus growled. "Your evil ends tonight."

The Senior Partners all seemed to hiss a sound that resembled laughter, "We do not think so." All three of the creatures lifted their hands and over five-hundred demons appeared in the room. "We borrowed these from our army outside," The Partners explained. "Now they will kill you."


COMING NEXT CHAPTER

The final battle begins