From the Desk of Lizzy Rebel
Well, it's not too late is it? I just wanna get this out and get this fic done with. So I can focus on my other two (which really are taking up all my time). Oh, and I started watching Buffy on FX again since Riley leaving the show—God, I hate him—and I realized something… I freaking love Spike. I hate Joss Whedon for killing Spike. And by the why, does anyone know why Spike showed up on Angel for that last gut-wrenching, painful season? Like what was the reasoning behind that?
Chapter Thirty Forty- Chaos Bleeds
Buffy glanced over at Sidney as she spoke in low voices to an unseen person.
Sidney turned away from her ghost charge and looked at Buffy with sad, tired eyes. She nodded stiffly. "We're ready."
Buffy turned to Kitty. "Hell kitten, I want you to stay by me okay? It's likely that Jake will keep his strongest vamps with him so they'll probably out-fight you within minutes. I'll try to protect you."
"What about me?" Sidney asked, "I hadn't trained at all and I wasn't good at fighting to start with."
"Stick by Colossus until I give you the signal to start the plan, k?" Buffy said and placed a hand on Sidney's shoulder. "Be brave, Sidney. This is the only way."
Sidney's shoulders trembled slightly, but only for a moment, then they stiffened and she nodded, "I know. I know we have to do this. I'm not afraid."
Buffy nodded and then turned back to Kitty and Colossus. "Okay. Ready?" Everyone, even the ghosts, nodded. "Let's go."
They walked down the stone steps in silence. Kitty, in fear of the darkness, reached out for Buffy's arm. Buffy smiled softly in the darkness and grabbed Kitty's hand to assure her everything was going to be okay.
The steps winded, curved, dropped for what seemed like eternity, but finally Buffy recognized the light of a candle glowing at the end of the stairs. She looked over at her team and signaled to them to get ready. She received nods as answered.
Sidney raised twin stakes given to her by Buffy. Colossus unhooked the sword given to him by Bain from his waist belt and Kitty pulled out her longsword, given to her by Logan, from her the on her X-Men uniform.
They stepped into the light…
"Oh Jean," was the first thing Kitty said as her eyes fell on the young, redheaded girl sprawled on the stone platform a few feet away.
Just as I saw it, Buffy thought grimly, except Jean doesn't have any wounds yet. She looked over at Kitty who had tears in her eyes. "Don't let your guard down. Concentrate on the mission," she snapped and Kitty nodded stiffly.
"Ah see ya've finally arrived. And unharmed! Ah don't give Furia the credit she deserves," came the Southern drawl that had them all turning. Their eyes narrowed as they met Jake's, who laughed. "Come on now, why the long faces? Ya'all are gonna die together! That's something ain't it?"
Buffy looked at the Tora-Kone behind him and snorted. "Only twelve of your vamps, Jake? Getting a little cocky, aren't we?"
"Now, now, don't get yar panties in a twist, sugah. Ah haven't underestimated ya. These are my strongest Tora-Kone. But because ma lord is going to waken here 'n' smite ya without a glance Ah figured Ah'd gave you a little fairness."
"How kind of you," Buffy said sarcastically. "But I plan on kicking your skinny ass to kingdom come. Alrighty then?"
Jake just smirked and Buffy felt the rumbling beneath her feet. She fell against Colossus, who caught her and keep her standing. The Slayer's eyes were drawn the area behind the platform Jean rested on.
A large chasm was opening in the floor. Red fire, the colour of blood, rose from the crack. It grew larger and larger and larger until it was big enough for a red hand to reach out and grab the Earth. Buffy gasped as the talon-like fingers dug into the ground. The rumbling increased and a horn began to appear from the chasm.
Jake was laughing, backing away from Buffy and towards the chasm. He stopped at Jean and drew his Sealie dagger down her arm, drawing blood. Jean gave a small cry but didn't awake. Jake moved over the chasm and allowed the blood on the dagger to drip into the expending hole.
He laughed wickedly. "Chaos bleeds. Slayer." He looked over at Buffy. "Let meh introduce you to ma lord."
--&--
The Tora-Kone fell down on the fighters above ground. The younger Slayers, Dana, Charlotte, Hannah, May, Nicola, Ana and Bridget, fought side by side. They used the swords and stakes given to them by Buffy to hack at their enemies. Charlotte was easily the strongest of the fighters and so the others followed her lead. She thrust and killed. The high of battle was in her veins as she led her attack.
Scott and the X-Men tended to fight to together as well. He used his optic blasts to destroy any Tora-Kone that tried to move in for the kill. Lance shook the ground with his powers and stabbed the disoriented Tora-Kone with his stake after. Evan was meant for these kinds of battles. He summoned his stakes and shot them from his skin, dusting dozens of Tora-Kone at once. Pyro and Ori used their powers to scorch the skin of the Tora-Kone. Then together they used their sword to decapitate their foes. Rogue was off to the side using her agile body to slip through the grasps of the Tora-Kone and then ramming her stake through their backs. Gambit was farther away, grabbing Tora-Kone after Tora-Kone, using his powers to make them blow up and then finishing off his weakened foes with a good lopping of the head.
Logan was fighting with the half-demons, having found soul-mates with their equally hard war-ways. He was behind Shibita hacking at the Tora-Kone with his metal claws. The vampires didn't stand a chance. Shibita looked over at him and grinned before decapitating her foes with her deadly sword. Her army followed suit.
Tabitha, Xander and Andrew stood besides Willow to defend her. Willow wasn't a very good fighter though her strong spirit made her powerful. Tabitha and Xander were an excellent team. Tabitha used her booms to disorient the vampires and then Xander finished them off with his sword. Andrew proved to be useless in battle but he attacked a Tora-Kone when it came dangerously close.
But Faith wasn't doing much fighting. Her eyes were locked with Furia who stood at the edge of the battle, watching it. She noticed Faith's eyes and smirked.
"You want to fight Slayer?" she asked and shrugged. "Well, I had been hoping to fight the Summers girl but seeing as how Deltoramina claimed her, you'll do. Come on then."
Faith growled and bared her teeth. Ever since she had started being a Slayer she had been compared to Buffy. Buffy's shadow, the not-quite-as-good Slayer. She wasn't the better fighter, wasn't the better person, and was always second place. But Furia was pissing her off. She'd be damned if some bad-ass demon put the Dark Slayer in second place for a fight.
Time to play. Growling, Faith moved after Furia.
"Where's Faith going?" Dana shouted over the rush of battle. She had stopped fighting to watch Faith and Furia walked off to do battle. "We need her here! FAITH COME BACK!"
"Watch your back!" Charlotte shouted and Dana turned to see a Tora-Kone baring down on her. Dana screamed and raised her hands to her face as the claws made their way to her neck.
But Charlotte jumped in front of Dana. Her teeth bared in a snarl as the claws found her neck instead. She gave a small scream of pain and fell to the floor. Dana screamed in horror and lunged, bringing her sword down on the Tora-Kone's face. She dropped to her knees in front of Charlotte and rolled her over.
Charlotte stared blankly at the sky, her eyes wide and her lips parted. She was so dead, Dana knew, but the tears came to her eyes none the less. Charlotte had died because of her and the guilt was heavy on her bosom. She reached and touched Charlotte's still face in a silent goodbye. A single tear rolled down her young face.
There was a scream above her and she felt the soft dust settle in her hair. Gasping, she turned her head and looked up. Shibita loomed over her with a scowl, her sword outstretched. She had just killed a Tora-Kone going after Dana.
"If you're not more careful you'll get us all killed!" Shibita snapped at Dana, who nodded. As the half-demon warrior turned back to battle the young Slayer stood with a cold, emotionless look on her face. A battle cry tore her lips as she ran back into battle.
"This… is… getting… annoying!" Ori shouted through gritted teeth as she lit another Tora-Kone on fire. Pyro backed against her, breathing hard.
"Don't I know it?" he panted, dusting another vampire. He looked over at Ori and opened his mouth to shot a warning when a clawed hand clamped around his throat. He gave a choked cry as he was dragged to the ground.
"PYRO!" Ori shouted in horror. She grabbed one shoulder of the man she loved and the creature she hated. She engulfed them both in her gold fire. Pyro was unaffected but the Tora-Kone, who was affected and greatly, wouldn't let go. The fire-wielding young woman growled and dragged both men to their feet.
"SCOTT!" Ori roared, rearing the fiery couple in front of her. Scott turned and without thinking fired an optic blast. The red laser sliced through the Tora-Kone and it burst into dust.
"Jeez, that was gross." Pyro muttered and grinned over at Ori, who looked relieved. They moved back into battle.
"Summers!" Lance shouted behind Scott and he turned just in time to see a Tora-Kone coming down on him. But instead of pain, which was what Scott expected, he got dust. The vampire disappeared, revealing Lance holding a stake in his hand.
"You… you…" Scott stuttered, pointing a finger at Lance. "just saved my life!"
Lance blinked several times before saying with a twisted face, "I did, didn't I? Damnit! That will not happen again."
Scott bared his teeth at Lance but didn't retort. Then both young men turned back to the battle at hand. Obviously, they both understood that they didn't have time to insult one another.
"Willow!" Xander called over to the Wicca at the edge of the battlefield. "Ah, how long do you think it will be until the plan starts? They're so many Tora-Kone, Faith's gone off, and we can't hold out forever!" Tabitha blew up a Tora-Kone and as it weakly rose to its feet, Xander gave it a friendly introduction to his stake.
"I… am… getting… tired!" Tabitha panted.
"Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" Andrew cried as he pressed his sword into a Tora-Kone's chest.
"I'll know when its time," Willow said grimly and looked over at the crypt. Softly she said, "Hurry, Buffy."
--&--
Deltoramina rose from the chasm with dangerous foreboding. Inch by inch his red, scaly body began to rise from the ground. But as Kitty, Sidney, and even Colossus, gasped at his hideousness Buffy didn't do anything. She had seen this all before.
"May Ah introduce ya to ma lord?" Jake laughed and looked over at the demon with a smile. "Lord Deltoramina may Ah introduce ya to the Slayer?"
Lord Deltoramina was even more hideous in person, Buffy found. He wrecked of death and blood. The scales on his body glowed in the light, the talons on his hands were sharper, his horns darker, his tail was longer and he was so much taller than in the dream. Buffy backed up so she could look the whole of him.
"So you're the little Slayer who destroyed the First," Deltoramina hissed in a low voice but even then it sent shivers up her spine. "I must thank you for that. The First would have been a nasty enemy to fight. But I'm afraid you're little escapade has come to an end. I'm here to take my rightful place as ruler!"
Buffy frowned at him and then shrugged casually. "So you're the big bad, eh? Well, Deltoramina, I'm about to cut your vacation on Earth short and give you a one way ticket back to whatever hellhole you crawled out of."
Deltoramina cast his dark eyes on the Slayer and she almost flinched. "Foolish girl-child! You dare to presume you can defeat me? You have cursed your team and your friends to death! All shall die and you will be first!"
"You talk the talk…" Buffy said and raised her scythe. "But can you walk the walk? Let's find out! Get ready you sonofabitch. This if for all those who died at your filthy hands."
Buffy reared her scythe back and threw it over her head. "KIYYYAAAAAA!" she screamed and lunged forward. Deltoramina reared back to meet her.
Colossus moved to join Buffy in her fight but Jake stepped in front of him. In his hands was a jagged sword. "Ya ain't gonna help her this time, boy-o. You and me, we gonna fight."
Colossus looked over at Buffy, who jumped to Lord Deltoramina, and then turned back to Jake, "I'm gonna enjoy this," he said noncommittally.
"Colossus, what about us?" Kitty demanded but her voice was lost over the battle cries of Buffy, Deltoramina, Colossus, and Jake. She turned back to Sidney who was looking at her ghostly companions.
Then she saw the Tora-Kone moving behind Sidney, a bloodlust in their eyes. She motioned to them and Sidney turned. Both she and Kitty gripped their stakes as the Tora-Kone moved closer.
"I guess we fight, too." Sidney muttered as the Tora-Kone lunged. Kitty and Sidney moved to meet them.
AN: And now we've finally come to the end. Buffy's gotta defeat the big bad and everyone else has gotta tag along. Next chapter Faith goes crazy on Furia's ass and Jean gets her revenge.
Hellmouth2: aww, don't feel bad! At least you're still reviewing. And, one more thing, I'm allergic to glue… ;;
spk: thank you for review. I appreciate it and hope to see from you again. Please continue to support!
-And one more thing before we leave. Do ya'll realize that if everyone who's read this story took the time to write me even a two-word review I'd have over a thousand reviews? C'mon people! Is it that hard to click that button and type 'I like it' or 'I hate it'? Don't be afraid to criticize or praise!-