The ground shook violently. Bits of rocks and rubble crumbled from the high ceiling and landed on the ground beneath the Master's feet. The rite was almost completed. Hell-on-Earth was virtually minutes away. The whole world would crumble. And he would be there to witness it all.
And best of all, no Slayer.
She was still trapped in the Dreamer's dimension, hopefully dead. He didn't really care what became of the Slayer down there, as long as she stayed out of his way.
Suddenly, the tremors stop. He looked up to see what the Dreamers were doing. They began to fade. The Dreamers floated towards the open gap, getting dimmer and dimmer as they got closer. Soon, they were gone, just like that.
Wha…what happened?
The answer to his question came from behind him.
"I'm back! Did you miss me?"
He turned around to see the Slayer smirking at him. He let a growl of utter frustration.
"Aaaaarrrrrrgggggggg!"
"I guess that's a big fat no." she smirked.
Hot rage surged through his body. His anger almost uncontrollable. He started for her, ready to rip her into shreds.
---
Giles, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and Angel sat in circle around the mixture of herbs and salts. A candle sat in front of each of them. They closed their eyes and concentrated on the image of the Master, freeing their minds of everything else. Giles began the spell. Soon, everyone joined him.
"Lords of light and dark, guardians of the gate, of the twixt order and chaos, hear our pleas. This abomination, a wound upon the world, must be sealed. This specter must be anchored to the world of flesh. Now return form and weight, now return blood and bone. Take this spirit and make it of flesh…"
---
The Master stopped suddenly in his tracks. The white mist around him began to dissipate. He looked around at his hands as they began to form into flesh.
"What is this? It can't be. This must be some fortuitous side effect of the Dreamer's last burst of power as they died."
When the mist finally cleared, Buffy was staring back at the Master as he was that year ago when she ground him to dust.
"Well, well, well. Guess this is just your unlucky day."
Buffy smiled smugly.
"Not to be a killjoy, but the Dreamers had nothing to do with it. It's magick, moron. A spell my friends whipped up."
"Don't be ridiculous. They would be insane to return me to flesh and bone."
"I think you're missing the point. I couldn't touch you while you were all spooky ghost."
She got into a defensive stance as the Master approached.
"Now then, touch."
She kicked the Master just as she said the last word. He disappeared after the kick, and materialized further away. He ran down the hall. Buffy gave chase. She sprinted down the long hallway. The hallway dead ended at a huge glass window.
She spun around, confused.
Where did he go?
The Master materialized in front of her. He stretched out his arm and lifted her off the ground. He shot his arm forward, sending her crashing through the window. She crashed down onto the balcony below.
The Master rematerialized in front of her, and lifted her off the ground again before she had a chance to get up. She flew off the ledge, onto the ground far below.
Every bone in her body felt like it was broken. She tried her best to gather up all her strength. She knew she had to get up, or the Master was definitely going to kill her.
The ground underneath her began to tremble. She looked around in a frightened panic. Cracks and fissures formed around her. The floor was about to crumble.
Buffy gathered up her strength, and rolled out the way. The floor gave in just as she tumbled onto solid ground. She rose to her feet, only to be knocked back down by a strong uppercut as the Master appeared in front of her.
"Slayer! Your time has come at last!"
Buffy snapped a kick from the ground as the Master leaned over her, connecting with his jaw. She flipped up to her feet and faced the Master as he cradled his face.
She came in and performed a series of punches and kicks at him. Unleashing her anger out on him from all the trouble he had given her since she moved to Sunnydale. She killed him once, she would do it again.
She knocked him back with a fierce kick, knocking him back. She ran up and performed a bicycle kick, a powerful move Giles had taught her earlier. The Master quickly recuperated from the attack and threw a fierce blow to her face. She grabbed his arm, blocking the move. She spun around, and broke his arm on her shoulder.
The Master screamed and knocked her back with his free hand. He cradled his broken arm, seething in rage and pain.
"The Master. You're uglier than the last one. Wait, you are the last one."
She withdrew her stake and came in for the kill.
---
Cordelia repeated the lines to the spell over and over with the rest of the group. She was pretty damn proud of herself. She managed to keep up so far. She hoped Buffy was keeping up with the fight. The Master so deserved to get his ass kicked. Cordelia's mind began to wander. She thought about what was going to happen once the Master was dusted again. Buffy was going to make the squad, and become the best damn cheerleader in Sunnydale. She would send the squad to the cheerleading competition, and win the medal. And Cordelia will be on her side, her personal trainer.
Cordelia suddenly lost track. The gang continued the spell without her. She struggled in panic to pick back up with them.
"This abomination, a wound upon the world…"
---
Buffy drove the stake into the Master's chest. The stake went right through him. She looked up to see the ghost of the Master smiling down at her.
"Whoops."
The Master levitated her off the ground and tossed her to the side. She slid across the floor and off the ledge. She grabbed a hold of the ledge, struggling to get back up.
"Don't….you ever get…sick of…that move?" she taunted as she struggled for her life.
"Kinda hard to come up with a witty line while you're struggling for your life, isn't it Slayer? Let's finish this off once and for all."
---
Cordelia waited until the gang finished the next go-around of the spell. She picked herself back up just as they repeated the lines from the beginning
"Lords of light and dark, guardians of the gate, of the twixt order and chaos…"
---
The Master stopped again, and looked at himself in confusion as he began to turn corporeal again. She had a short amount of time before he advance on her again.
She mustered up her strength and pulled up on to the ledge. She sprinted towards the Master and leaped up in the air. She spun around in mid-air and came in with a powerful kick to his chest. The Master flew back into a burning pile of wood, and landed directly into a protruding splinter. The huge splinter pierced through his heart. The Master stood suspended, looking down at the fatal wound.
"Now this just suc…"
The Master was once again, nothing more than a pile of ashes and bones.
Buffy stood in the dark room of the sunken church, looking down at the pile. For the first time tonight, she felt like everything was over. The Master was dead, Angel was back, and she was still in one piece.
Her victory was short live when a violent tremor shook the walls of the church, threatening to crash the ceiling down over her head.
A huge pillar broke and tumbled over the ledge. The end of the pillar struck the ledge on the far side of the gap. Buffy ran up, and jumped on top of the pillar. She ran across to the other side.
"Buffy!" a familiar voice called down to her. She looked up to see her friends running up. Buffy smiled. They were okay.
"Buffy! You're all right!" Giles called down.
Xander made it over to the end of the ledge and extended his arm out to her.
"I suggest we get outta here!" he called down.
Buffy jumped up and grabbed his hand. Angel came up next to him and reached out for her other hand. Together, the both of them lifted her up.
She hugged Xander and Angel quickly, then ran out through the opening where Giles and Willow were waiting. She heard the church crumbling down from behind her, as they all ran through the caves, and out into the streets of Sunnydale, out of harm's way.
Epilogue
Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia sat around a small table at the Bronze the next night.
"That was one hell of a night, if I do say so myself." Xander said.
"And the best thing about it is, no one got hurt." Willow replied.
Cordelia cleared her throat loudly.
"Except, Cordelia. But, you didn't get seriously hurt, right?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Cordy got hurt. As long as she isn't lying on the ground, dying from internal bleeding, why worry about it? Thank you so much for your enthusiasm. And it doesn't help that Buffy didn't have the consideration at least to pass the squad." Cordelia rambled.
Xander patted her on the back.
"Its okay, Cord. There's still a position out there for water girl. You can save the team during the game from getting parched."
Everyone giggled. All except for Buffy. Who seemed to be sitting there, looking down at the table.
"What's the matter, Buffy? Still suffering from post-Master-slayage depression?" Willow asked her.
"Nope. Just coming to grip with me not making the cheerleading squad again. I've got spirit as well as spunk, damnit. More spunk than you can shake a stick at."
Buffy looked down at the dancers. She noticed a vampire walking towards the exit, a thin brunette under his arms.
Buffy stood up and withdrew her stake. It was time to continue doing her duty as the Slayer.
"Oh well, duty calls. I'd like to see those pompom girls try making my squad."
She ran off to chase after the vampire.
---
Giles sat in his living room, his journal laid out on the table. He took a sip of brandy and picked up his journal. As opposed as he was to some of the rules and habits of the Watcher's Council, he found keeping a journal on Buffy's adventures a good habit. Hopefully someday in the future, another Watcher would stumble upon it and hear about the greatest Slayer that ever lived.
He picked up the journal and began writing.
And once again, the Master is no more. She ground his bones to dust. And now she had to destroy his spirit as well. Buffy's time as Slayer has taught her one thing above else: Evil lingers. It's always there, waiting. Fortunately, there is always a Slayer to combat it. One girl in all the world. The Chosen One. Buffy Summers