The Observer:
It's D-Day. In the last few days, people have been pouring into this relatively small town from all over the world. The forces of darkness have converged in a foreboding building uptown. And as for the Slayer and her crew, they're preparing themselves in the slums, where I've spent most of my existence. For some reason I always felt more at home among the downtrodden.
The Slayer's surveying the troops, and there are more than I thought there'd be. Well, no, I knew exactly how many there'd be; it just looks like more when they're all standing in one place, you know? There's Angel standing by, a smile on his face. Funny, but I've never actually seen him smile before, and I spent quite a lot of time with him when he had a soul. I like to think I helped him on his righteous path. Anyway, there's Jason and Edward, and I have a feeling that Matt'll be along soon enough.
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Matt:
My life is collapsing around me. Eve, the sister that I've protected for as long as she's lived, turns out not to be the person I thought she was. She's not the weak, mute girl I thought, but is instead a warrior from a bygone age, with preternatural strength and uncanny leadership. She was the one I was fighting for, and if she doesn't need protecting then why do I bother? But more than that, more than the loss of a sister, is the loss of my lover. Jackie's dead, and she was the greatest part of me for years. I opened up to her more than any other, and she could understand me to a greater degree than even myself sometimes. We fought side by side, and now there is nobody for me to share my life with.
I left the meeting after the appearance of Jericho. How could they trust a vampire that had for so long been trying to destroy us? For all I know, he may have been the very one that killed Jackie. How do I know what he did to her before her final breath? Oh my god, what if he…?
A voice brings me out of my reverie.
"What have we here? A champion all dressed up with nowhere to go. Shameful." I've been walking in such a daze that I hadn't even realised that there was somebody there until he spoke. I turn to look at him, and I can see that he's a small man, wrapped in loud and dated clothes, leaning against a broken streetlight, clipping his nails.
"What?" I ask, confused by what he's just said. He raises his head to look at me, and I can see his eyes beneath the rim of his small hat. Now that I know he's there, he seems so noticeable, but I could have walked past him a hundred times on the streets without giving him so much as a second glance.
"Your world's turning upside down and you can't handle it."
"What do you know about it?"
"Only that you keep walking and you're eventually gonna hit the Wall. Know what happens when a fly thinks too much while it's trying to get somewhere? Time to get a new perspective. You can keep walking, leave your obligations behind you, or you can see what you had."
"I don't understand." He smiles.
"I know. You get used to it after a while. Come on, I want to show you something." He walks off, and despite myself I follow.
He takes me to the top of a building and we look down onto the streets, at the people walking around, completely oblivious to all that I've fought for and against.
"Look at that," he tells me, nodding at the milling crowds. "Tell me what you see."
"It's people – millions of people living out their lives. They don't understand any more than you do."
"Maybe, but maybe if you look closer you'll see better. The people down there, most of them have loved and lost. God, most of the people you walked out on have gone through exactly the same thing. But they keep fighting; they don't just lie down and die. They carry on with their lives. It's what separates us from them. If you leave, you're not just turning your back on yourself; you're turning your back on everybody that doesn't understand. You do things no normal person could. And if you give up on them, you don't deserve to call yourself a champion. Hey, if you give up, you're not even human."
I look at him. Some of what he said makes sense. Then again, some of it makes no sense at all. He just pats me on the shoulder and starts to walk away.
"I just wonder what your Slayer would have wanted."
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Soldier:
I'm in a line up, and there's a petite girl at the front pacing up and down. When I got the call from Edward, I thought something big was going down. But since I've got here, she's just looked at us and said nothing. You know there's something familiar about her, as if I've seen her before but never really seen her. There are some others that I don't recognise, a tall dark man with an instantly likeable demeanour, and a well built man with a mop of blond hair that, despite his obvious good looks, radiates a horrible feeling of mistrust.
All at once, the blonde girl stops walking and just stands still.
"Okay, you all know why you're here," she begins, and is immediately silenced by numerous shouts from the crowd, all of which fervently deny the accusation.
"You don't?" she continues, then turns to Edward who was standing behind her. "How much did you tell them?"
"Not much."
"I gathered," she mutters, so quietly that only those in the first few rows could hear her, then turns back to the group. "You're here because we're going to stop the summit. We're going to destroy BC&N, once and for all." Everyone is just staring at her, all except for the few standing behind her. They're just smirking. They probably had to deal with this the first time it was suggested.
Just then Matt appears. Everyone looks to him. He's a mess, but he seems to be in quite good spirits.
"Matt? Where did you take off to?" asks Edward.
"I needed some time to think. This thing with Jackie… it shook me up. I had to work out some things."
"And?"
"And I've realised something. All this time, I thought I was fighting for Jackie, for Eve, for you. But that was never really it. We're fighting for the people who can't fight for themselves, to protect them from the darkness that exists all around them. We're the guiding light, and if we give up, no one will be there to lead mankind to salvation." The girl looks at him with wide eyes.
"Wow. When did you get all knowy?"
"I met this really weird guy across town. He showed me that I still had something to fight for." The tall dark man looks suspicious for a moment, then asks.
"What did this guy look like?"
"Uh… short, badly dressed. He was kinda obvious yet easily overlooked. Why? Do you know him?"
"I don't know. Maybe." The girl smiles and lays a hand on his arm.
"I'm glad you came back. We can't do this without you." Then she turns back to the ranks. "We can't make you do this, but this is our last shot. The First's lieutenants from around the world are going to be gathered at BC&N, and we can take them all out in one sweep. You know the risks, and you know what we're fighting for. So… everyone willing to do this, take one step…" As one, the army moves forward, and she smiles. Beautiful.