Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Michelle, Katy, and Morgan.
CHAPTER 33-WHAT A CRAZY WORLD
"This is just going from bad to worse Angel, you and your buddies are all going to die," Lilah stated with a very confidant and mocking tone to her voice as she stepped up towards Angel and looked around at the various fights that were going on around the club.
"We'll see, Spike get Buffy and the others out of here now," Angel started to say with a confidant smirk on his face before turned to Spike and shouted the rest.
"Right," Spike shot back with a very serious expression on his face before he sliced the throat of the nearest guard with the tip of his sword before he grabbed Buffy's arm and began to drag her out of the club.
"What are you doing, let go of me," Buffy started to shout with an angry scowl on her face as she tried to break free of Spike's grasp, but he held firm.
"Can't pet, this place is about to get pretty uninhabitable to those that need to breathe, Dawn come on time to leave," Spike began to say back with a nervous but restrained smile on his face before he raised his voice so that Dawn would hear him. Buffy started to shout something back but was surprised when Dawn did what Spike said and was soon at their side.
"What's that supposed to…," Buffy started to angrily demand before Dawn joined Spike in helping to drag Buffy out of the club.
"Wesley, Faith, get Katy and get out of here, get the others out to," Gwen shouted in alarm as she ducked under an attack, shocked the guard off of the second story railing, and then grabbed David's collar, hauling him back towards the exit.
"Easy for her to say, she's not the one with forty guards trying to kill her," Faith grunted back with an unhappy and impatient scowl on her face as she struggled to fend off three guards that had surrounded her.
"I'll get Katy," Wesley said back with a very determined look on his face as he used his shotgun as a club, breaking one guards nose after another, using their recovery time as his window of opportunity as he raced forward and helped the injured Katy back to her feet.
"Just like you to take the easy job," Faith shot back with at first an angry scowl on her face before the tips of her mouth began to curl up into the beginnings of a smile.
"I never really saw you as one to run Angel, guess you learn something new every day," Lindsey stated with a confidant smile on his face as he poked Angel in the chest with his finger.
"I'm not running Lindsey, just getting my people out of harms way, Willow do it now," Angel started to reply calmly with a slow step back before he turned, grabbed a hold of both Giles and Xander by the arm, and started to pull them back out of the building, just as a terrified Andrew followed.
"The witch," Lindsey said softly, almost in a gasp, before the possibilities of Angel's odd retreat began to materialize in his mind.
"Bet you forgot about her huh," Nina added with a triumphant grin on her face as she briefly glanced in Angel's direction and then quickly backed up the stairs.
"Willow's here…where, Willow," Xander exclaimed with a surprised look on his face before he followed his norm and started to shout for his friend.
"Shut up Xander, she's busy casting a spell to closing the portals, saving all of us from an unstoppable demon army," Angel growled with an unhappy scowl on his face as he held onto Xander's collar a little tighter and dragged him back a little faster. Hearing this Kennedy grabbed first Rhona by the arm and then Vi, shoving them both out of the club in front of her through a hole in the wall that some of the Wolfram and Hart guards had caused earlier in the fight. She had just passed through the hole herself when something struck her in the back of her head and her entire world went black.
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"Guess it's time to get this party started…God that was lame," Willow started to say with a very proud and excited smile on her face before her countenance soured and she shook her head at herself.
"What was," Michelle asked with a terrified look in her eyes as she quickly hurried back to the table and looked up at Willow.
"Nothing, okay once I start the spell this small cauldron will start to smoke, we're safe as long as the smoke stays white, but once it turns red then we'll need to get out of here as fast as we can," Willow replied back with a nervous smile on her face as she waved off the young slayers worries and went back to the cauldron.
"What about them, what if they find us before the smoke turns red," Michelle shot back with a very nervous look of fear in her eyes as she held onto her weapon tightly and hoped that she would never have to use it.
"Then we're screwed," Willow replied with a nervous look on her face as she kept from looking back up at Michelle before Groo interrupted.
"When we must leave please alert me and I will protect you," Groo interjected with a very kind but also serious look on his face as he only briefly glanced back at Michelle and Willow before he snapped his gaze back to where the Wolfram and Hart guards were beginning to fan out and do their best to find them.
"Deal," Willow said back quickly with a deep in thought look on her face before she pulled the slip of paper, that had the spell on it, out of her pocket and began to read. Michelle recognized a few of the words but kept her observations to herself rather than possibly screw up the spell. Instead she kept her gaze riveted on the smoke coming from the cauldron. The second that it turned red she promised herself that she would turn and run, no matter how many guards there were between her and the exit. Willow was almost done reciting the words of the spell before the smoke turned to a bright pink and then started to turn red.
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"Spike, let go of me," Buffy demanded with an unhappy scowl on her face as she finally wrenched her arm from Spike's grasp.
"We far enough away Angel," Spike asked with a very concerned look on his face as he thought briefly about saying something to Buffy but knew that now was not the time or the place for their talk.
"You and I are but the others aren't, Nina take Connor and get everyone back to the fallback point, Spike and I will stay here and make sure that you're not followed, please," Angel replied back to Spike with a slightly unsure look on his face before he turned over to Nina and punctuated his request with a kiss, an act that surprised Buffy even though she knew of the connection between the two.
"But I can help you fight," Connor started to argue with an unhappy scowl on his face before Gwen cut in.
"Nice thought kid, but the spell that Willow's casting in there will kill anything that's not already dead within a fifty yard radius when it goes off," Gwen interjected with a very serious look on her face before Wesley handed a slightly better Katy over to her and turned back to Angel.
"We'll wait there for an hour, if you're not there by then we'll take everyone to the mansion, Buffy and the slayers to," Wesley said with a very serious look on his face before he pulled a knife from behind his back and handed it to Angel.
"What's this for," Angel asked with a confused look on his face as he took the knife, thinking that it looked oddly familiar.
"A little luck, it's the knife that you gave me after you returned for your sabbatical after Buffy's death, it brought me luck so I just thought that it might do the same for you," Wesley answered with a sly grin on his face before Faith pulled him away and over towards their car.
"This is crazy Angel, tell me what's going on…I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me," Buffy started to exclaim with a very stern and unwavering look on her face before Dawn cut in before Giles could.
"When Angel and the others fought the demon army in LA the senior partners opened up a ton of portals to get the demons there, and unless Willow can cast the spell they'll simply just do it again and it won't matter how many slayers or vampires with souls that we have, it'll be the end of the world," Dawn said with such a very serious and scared look on her face and in her eyes that Buffy didn't continue to argue.
"Fine, but when this is over Angel you and I are going to sit down and have a nice long talk," Buffy unhappily agreed with a quick nodding of her head before she glared at first Angel and then Spike.
"Works for me, but now would everyone please leave before the spell is cast," Angel said with a calm but nervous look on his face as he knew that he didn't have long before Willow's spell would be cast.
"What about Groo and Willow and Michelle," David asked with a scared look on his face as he hurried to not be left behind in the rush to the vehicles.
"They'll be fine, just leave one car running for them and they can take that, now go," Spike replied with a very serious look on his face as he pulled his sword out and began to get ready for the onslaught. Buffy looked back into the alley at Spike and Angel, wondering if she would ever see either one of them again, before Nina very nearly shoved her into the back seat of one of cars and slid behind the wheel.
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She awoke to find herself in a strange place, being drug back away from what at first glance looked like a nightclub. The last thing that she remembered was not getting home in time and winding up running into the wrong crowd. She had danced an extra dance at the club that night and had just barely missed her bus. She glanced down and was surprised to find herself completely naked, wondering where her clothes were. The only thing that she did know for certain is that wherever she was she was not in California anymore.
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"Who would have thought this is how it would end, the two of us fighting side by side against Dru and two lawyers that are most certainly dead however oddly enough have come back to exact their revenge," Spike joked with a sly but serious grin on his face a she glanced over at Angel after a few moments of silence between the two after Nina and Buffy and the others had left.
"Who says it has to end here Spike, I don't know about you but I don't plan on dying here tonight, I plan on making it through this and taking Nina away from everything and everyone and spending the rest of my days in peace and quiet," Angel said with a calm and serious tone of voice as he leaned his sword up against one of the walls and got a better grip on his axe.
"I hope you get that chance Angel…really, just promise me a couple of things, if I don't come through this make sure that Buffy knows that…," Spike started to reply with an honest look on his face before Angel held up an understanding hand to tell Spike that he knew what the rest of his first request was going to be and that he would keep the promise. "And secondly, I want to be the one to stake Dru, it may be your fault that she's a nutter but it's mine that she's still a threat," Spike added as his second request just as Willow came tearing out of the club with a terrified look on her face and Groo carrying an injured Michelle right behind her.
"It's done Angel, you just have to make sure that they don't shatter all of the crystals, if they do then the spell won't work, but there's a problem the senior partners must have figured your plan out because right before we got out I think that I saw a few small portals opening up and I didn't recognize the demon's that came through them, one had six legs and looked like a big spider, it said something about talking meat," Willow exclaimed with a very nervous look on her face as she hung onto Angel's arm while she tried to catch her breath.
"Okay, now get to the car, they left one running for you, and whatever you do don't look back, this won't be pretty," Angel replied with a very serious look on his face before Willow straightened up and nodded her head and then helped Groo get Michelle to the car.
"After you," Spike said with a mock salute to Angel as he nodded towards the club and couldn't help but allow a slight shrug of his shoulders. Angel only scowled in earnest and shook his head in dismay before he rushed back into the club, with Spike close at his side. On their way in Spike thought that he smelled a familiar presence but shrugged it off.
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It was several hours later before she would awake, although no longer living. Whereas once she had been a rookie slayer she was now a member of the undead, a vampire. That fact alone would require several weeks, if not months, for her to adjust to. However her biggest question became what to do about her former friends, most importantly her former girlfriend, the witch that had cast the spell to close the portals. She stripped off her old clothing, likening it to the saying out with the old and in with the new, before she put on the clothes that had been set out for her and went in search of her first meal.
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Angel and Spike tore into the Wolfram and Hart guards, both cutting a swath of death and destruction into their ranks before they got to the newer demons and then the true battle began. Neither Angel nor Spike had any idea what the crystals that Willow had been talking about looked like so they didn't take any chances, anything that looked like a crystal they made sure to protect, even if afterwards they would find out that it was only a worthless piece of glass.
"The sealing spell of Kalikos, nice idea Angel, except you forgot one little thing," Lindsey shouted out about the din of the battle as Spike skewered one demon and then rolled completely underneath a table to the other side to avoid the demon falling on top of him.
"Oh yeah, and what's that, I just know that you're going to tell me," Angel shot back with a mocking but yet very serious tone to his voice as he lopped off the head of one of the guards and then blocked the first attack of the next one.
"The sealing spell of Kalikos requires there to be a sacrifice of someone's life to finish it, and seeing as how neither one of use can qualify for that, and Spike over there either…well it looks like you're fresh out of luck, and don't think about using one of the guards, the death has to be of someone that's a good person, or else the spell is useless.
"Thanks for the reminder, but this is all…part of the…plan," Angel shouted back in between punches and kicks before he buried his axe in the chest of a demon that reminded him of the one that had worshipped Jasmine and took Wesley hostage while they were in the sewers.
"Some plan, you're outnumbered twenty to one, who's going to rescue you," Lilah joked with a mocking sneer on her face as she shoved one of the guards out of the way.
"Well," Spike started to reply with a nervous look on his face before a large explosion ripped through one of the walls of the club, sending everyone to the ground amidst a shower of debris.
"Everybody stay down," A heavily armed soldier shouted at the top of his lungs before he and a seemingly endless army of Initiative soldiers flooded into the club until they matched the number of Wolfram and Hart guards.
"Resistance is futile," Riley announced with a very stern and confidant expression on his face as he took point and aimed his gun directly at Lindsey's heart.
"Please, that has got to be the most overused expression on the face of the earth, right next to hasta la vista baby," Spike interjected with a very sarcastic grin on his face as he turned around and glanced over at Angel, keeping his back to Riley at first.
"He said down, what part of that did you not understand," Sam added with a stern scowl on her face as she aimed her weapon into the middle of Spike's back.
"We understood it just fine, we just don't feel very much like complying since your husband is such a total bonehead," Angel shot back with a sly grin on his face as he waited impatiently for Riley's reaction.
"Angel, I should have known that you would be behind this," Riley growled with a very unhappy scowl on his face before he shifted his gaze to Spike and it looked as if he was momentarily bowled over by shock before he recovered.
"What can I say, I get around," Angel shot back with a sly grin on his face as he and Spike took a step back towards the exit.
"We thought about calling ahead first but…," Spike added with a sarcastic grin on his face as he turned around and sized Sam up.
"Enough of this, get rid of them," Lindsey stated with a frustrated and anxious expression on his face as he scowled in Riley and Sam's general direction before all hell broke loose as he began to usher Lilah and Dru back out of the club. The Wolfram and Hart guards all opened fire on the Initiative soldiers, who in turned returned fire. The bullets were flying so fast and furious that no one in the forefront on either side got out unscathed. Sam was hit first in the leg and then through the stomach while Riley was hit in the shoulder.
"Sam," Riley shouted in alarm as he turned back to look for Sam, who was lying on the ground clutched her heavily bleeding stomach and trying to crawl out of the line of fire.
"Ri," Was all that Sam could garble out before Riley bent down and picked her up despite the pain in his shoulder, carrying her towards the back of the club, just as he began to notice a thick plume of red smoke billowing up into the club. A few seconds later to death screams were heard and then a complete and total silence enveloped the area. Lindsey and Lilah screamed and shouted as loud as they could but no sound came out of their mouths. Dru meanwhile seemed to somehow know or feel what was coming and ran away silently shrieking with Ms. Edith left behind in the haste. Angel and Spike could only begin to move before it happened. Similar to a sonic boom the explosion centered around the table that Willow had cast the spell on and radiated outwards. A massive shockwave ripped through the club, pulverizing brick, wood, and flesh alike. Angel and Spike were both hit full force by the shockwave, very nearly dusting them because of all of the flying wooden debris. Spike was sent flying back through the wall and into the air, flying three city blocks before he finally crashed through the large window of a factory and slammed headlong into a large press, stopping his journey instantly. Angel however was shot directly back through first the wall of the club and then every wall for an almost equal number of blocks to Spike. He finally came to a stop when he started to tilt to one side and was nearly cut in two by a solid metal pole that held up the loft in an apartment complex. He could only manage to cough up a bit of blood before the shock of him hitting the pole had knocked it over far enough that it could no longer support the loft and the entire loft crashed down on top of Angel, burying him under its contents.
END OF CHAPTER 33