See Part I for disclaimer and details. Thanks heaps, everyone who has reviewed. Well, sorry to have to say it, but this one's coming to an end; it's just this chapter and one more to go. Time to move on, in more ways than one! Hope you enjoy the penultimate chapter.

Part IX: Harvest Time

The underground prison of the Master, Sunnydale. Not long before sunset

All the vampires were gathered for the big occasion.

In the darkness lit only by torches Darla approached the Master and knelt before him. Angelus and Drusilla, only a short distance away, watched as the ritual for the Harvest began; one with barely concealed semi-boredom, but the other with great interest.

The Master offered his hand to his childe. Darla took it and kissed it. She then released him and the Master turned his arm over, to offer her the underside of his wrist. ( Let us proceed quickly now, my dear... )

Darla opened the cuff of the Master's sleeve and pulled it back. She took his hand again, sank her fangs into the wrist and drank deeply of the blood. Finally she released her sire's hand and the Master stepped back.

"My blood is your blood. My soul is your soul," Heinrich Nest intoned solemnly.

"My body is your instrument," Darla said simply.

The Master stepped over to the female vamp and began to draw a three-pointed star on her forehead with the blood still flowing from his wrist. "On this...most hallowed night...we are as one. Darla is the Vessel!"

"Big surprise," Angelus whispered nastily, but out of earshot even for vampire hearing.

Dru just watched in rapture as the Master continued. "Every soul the Vessel takes will feed me. And their souls will grant me the strength to free myself. Tonight I shall walk the Earth, and the stars themselves will hide!"

Angelus just rolled his eyes. ( And they used to call ME a big showman... )

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. The same time

It was the beginning of what would eventually become a legendary age: the first ever complete Scooby gang meeting.

Willow and Jesse were looking through Giles' volumes, when they heard the door open and looked around to see Xander and Buffy come in.

Now, the McNally boy had made a promise to Willow to behave himself around Xander. On account of the redhead had been mortified to hear what he'd done, and threatened to end their friendship if that was the kind of person he was now. It had all basically been a bluff, of course, but the sight of Willow's Resolve Face had an almost magical hold over Jesse and he had acceded to her demands.

"So, Giles! What's new about the whole Harvest thing?" the Slayer asked as the twins came over to the table.

Rupert said simply, "If it succeeds in happening, tonight might very well be the end of the world!"

Xander stared at the Watcher. "And for those of us in the audience going, 'huh'?"

"Well, this is what we know so far. Some 60 years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire calling himself the Master came here to Sunnydale, and not just to feed," Giles got into lecture mode again.

"Lemme guess. He came 'cause this town's a mystical who's-it?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'la Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated, the mouth of Hell, or, or 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of, um, portal between this reality and the next. Apparently, this vampire hoped to open it."

Buffy said at once, "And bring the demons back?"

Xander nodded, "End of the world."

Willow added excitedly, "But he blew it! Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that swallowed half the town back then, a-and him, too."

Giles nodded. "You see, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle."

Jesse asked, "And this Harvest thing is supposed to get him out?"

"It comes once a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal fully. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol," Giles said to all of the teenagers as he drew a three-pointed star on the whiteboard, the same thing Nest had drawn on Darla's forehead.

Buffy was a practical girl and thus simply asked, "So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol and no Harvest?"

"Simply put, yes," the Council's field man replied.

Buffy nodded once. "Okay! Well. Any idea where this little get-together is gonna be held?"

"Well, there, there are a number of possibilities-" Rupert started to say.

"They'll be going to the Bronze," Jesse interrupted.

Willow looked at her crush. "Are you sure?"

Jesse looked certain. "Come on. All those tasty young morsels hanging out there, spread out all over the place? Complete no-brainer!"

Giles grabbed his coat. "Then we should get over there and check it out. If you're wrong, Xander can always try to sense wherever else they may be congregating. But the sun will be down before long, and we haven't much time."

Buffy and Xander shared a brief glance. "We just gotta make a quick stop at home first. It shouldn't take long-" the Slayer started to say.

"What for?" Giles demanded.

"Supplies," Xander answered simply.

The Bronze, Sunnydale. Not long after sunset

Cordelia was present with her entourage at the club, and was taking great comfort in knowing that things were FINALLY back to normal. Which happened to mean that she and her followers had just spent the last 15 minutes talking about lipstick.

But then outside the Bronze, the vampires arrived.

Angelus was in the lead, with Dru and Darla right behind him. An entire horde of the fang faces appeared behind them in support. "So now it begins," Darla murmured, a look of unholy anticipation on her face.

Angelus suppressed an annoyed snort. But he didn't look back as his attention was focused on the bouncer at the door, who said, "Okay, let's see some ID!"

Some of the vampires went to barge past him. "Hey! Nobody gets inside until I get some sorta-"

Angelus grabbed him by the throat, cutting off the doorman's voice. "Everyone inside!"

Darla strode past like an undead queen amongst peasants, as Dru eagerly followed her so-called 'grandmother'. The rest of the minions followed suit as Angelus dragged the bouncer inside and one of the undead soldiers locked the front door behind him.

Darla made her way to the front stage. One of the lesser vamps then cut the power and the club was plunged into darkness. "Ladies and gentlemen! There's no cause for alarm," the Vessel said, as a spotlight shone down on her.

"I thought there wasn't any band tonight?" Cordelia asked her second-in-command.

"That's what I heard too!" Harmony quickly agreed.

Then as everyone saw Darla's game face, the female vamp went on, "Actually, there is. It just won't do any of you any good!"

Cordelia instantly screamed like a girl. ( Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! It's happening all over again! ) She quickly and instinctively looked all around for Xander, or even Buffy, but to her dismay only saw the same kind of nightmarish monsters all over the place. ( Dear Lord, if you let me survive this, I swear I'll be a good person for the rest of my life! Well, as long as I don't have to mingle with the ugly and undeserving, of course- )

Angelus dragged the doorman over to his sire, who was staring at the Happy Meal on legs hungrily. "This is a glorious night! Unfortunately for you, it's also the last one that you'll ever see."

"What do you mean? What do you guys want? You want money? Oh man, lady, what's wrong with your face?" the bouncer demanded.

Darla wasted no more time on pointless chatter. She grabbed the mortal and drank deeply, before letting the corpse fall to the floor. Elsewhere, the Master felt it through their link and demanded of the Vessel, "More!"

Outside the Bronze, the good guys finally arrived. Joyce Summers was present as well, part of the group and ready to kick some vampire ass. Well, since it was either that or both Buffy and Xander would have been grounded till they were legal adults.

The Slayer tried the door. "It's locked!"

"We're too late!" Giles hissed in frustration.

"Can you break it down?" Jesse asked Buffy.

She instantly shook her head. "No way, not without them hearing us coming from a mile away! Look, you guys head around and try the back, I'll find my own way in."

"Be careful!" Joyce cautioned her daughter.

"Same here," Xander shared a meaningful glance with his other half that Buffy acknowledged with a quick nod.

Inside the club, Darla was feeding on one of the Cordettes that another of her vamps had brought to her. She could hear the Master in her mind shouting, "More! More!"

Just then, Angelus spotted his prize. "Well, well, well. If it isn't little Miss Motormouth!"

He headed right for her. As soon as she spotted him approaching, Cordelia tried to run, but it was pointless as the bloodsuckers had her surrounded. "Get away from me!" the Chase girl yelled at the soulless vampire, showing a bit of spunk in her most desperate hour.

"Sorry, little girl. But I'm afraid that's not an option," the Scourge of Europe chuckled, before he grabbed her and started heading for Darla.

Suddenly, Drusilla – who had just been hanging around, watching the show – started to shake and shiver. "No...no..."

"What is it, Dru?" Angelus asked his childe, pausing as he did so.

"My kitten, he's close by..."

"Good!" the male vamp looked ecstatic. "I'll be able to take care of him too."

"I CAN FEEL THE MASTER'S STRENGTH GROWING!" Darla screamed in exultation, just as Buffy climbed into the club through an upstairs window. "I can feel him rising. Every soul brings him closer to release! Angelus! Bring me another!"

The male vampire in question began to obey, as Buffy saw Darla and said to herself, "The Vessel..."

The former Angel ignored Drusilla's freaked look; for as noted earlier, thanks to Whistler's work, Dru couldn't 'see' Buffy. But at this range, she could feel the Slayer's presence close by. Angelus just brought the struggling Cordelia to Darla and said cheerfully, "How about this one?"

"Perfect!"

Just then, Buffy engaged in a brief battle with a vampire on guard duty before kicking him down to the floor from the upstairs level. The Slayer came to the railing as Darla looked up at her, and the good guy said, "Oh, I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?"

"You!" hissed Darla.

"Yep, little old me. Come on, Miss Crow's Feet Face, you didn't really think I'd miss all this – did you?"

"I hoped you'd come. I really did," the centuries-old vampire rapped out in reply, anticipating the thrill of a savage battle.

Buffy said cheerfully, "Be right down!" just before she jumped over the railing to the ground floor of the Bronze. And while everyone was distracted, Cordelia kicked Angelus in the shin and managed to run for it.

"Go after her, you fool!" Darla hissed at her childe, as she stalked towards Buffy. Her comment though did not exactly endear her to Angelus in any way, shape or form.

At the back of the Bronze Willow, Jesse, Xander, Giles and Joyce finally managed to break into the nightclub. Elsewhere, Dru instantly felt it. And as the Vessel and the Slayer started to fight the mad seer got another glimpse of the uncertain future.

"Daddy! Oh, no..."

The white hats started to move some of the captive humans out of the club. "Come on! Let's go, let's go!" Jesse told them all, as he attempted to hustle the patrons out of the establishment.

Giles whispered as the people started to go out the back door, "Hurry up! Come on! Through this door! Come on! This way!"

In the meantime, Angelus finally caught up with Cordelia. "To hell with the Master – you're mine, you little bitch!" he snarled at Miss Chase. "And I'm really going to enjoy drinking you!"

( Okay! Okay! I believe in vampires! I believe in vampires! ) Cordelia begged for help to somebody upstairs. ( Just as long as someone helps me right NOW! )

"Haven't we been here before?" came a masculine voice from out of the darkness.

( XANDER! ) Cordelia wanted to scream for joy. ( It's Psychic Boy! You came for me? Oh God, I think I love you! )

Angelus just turned around in annoyance. "You again?"

Xander pointed a crossbow bolt right at his heart. "Bet your undead ass, Angelus."

Back in the main room, Buffy and Darla continued to fight. The Slayer managed to land a vicious backhand punch into her enemy's face, sending her tumbling away. Then seeing a vamp about to feed on one of the crowd, Buffy grabbed a cymbal from the drum set next to her and threw it like a Frisbee. "Heads up!"

Decapitated, the undead guy dusted at once. Buffy just chuckled a little at her own joke, before Darla came at her again and the fight was resumed.

Elsewhere, Giles and Willow were still guiding people out. "One at a time! Quickly, quickly!" the Watcher tried to hurry things along.

"We're gonna have to open the front door too. This is taking too long, isn't it?" the redhead asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, damn it..."

Not far away, Jesse and Joyce were suddenly faced by Drusilla, who somehow appeared in front of them. "You're not supposed to be 'ere," the insane undead murmured in her London accent, staring at Joyce. Then she looked at Jesse, "And you're supposed to be one of us now..."

"What are you talking about?" Joyce asked as she began to back away, instinctively pulling Jesse behind her.

"Bad mummy! No tea and cakes for you today. The young ladies of the manor will be most upset," Drusilla babbled angrily, with a rather violent mood swing. "And now the kitten will be, too!"

"What's she talkin' about?" Jesse asked in confusion. To their surprise though, Dru just turned around and ran for it.

Angelus never even noticed Drusilla's arrival a few seconds later, being focused completely on Xander. "You think your little stick can hurt ME, boy?"

"That's exactly what Lothos said in LA, not long ago. Just before my sister staked him!" Xander spat back, wondering how much longer their Mexican standoff would last.

"Ah...so, your sister's the Slayer? That cute little blonde thing? Funny. I don't see the resemblance," Angelus snarked back.

"Oh, that's it. Xander, DO something!" Cordelia yelled out, annoyance finally winning out over terror and gratitude.

Just then Dru grabbed her sire's arm, pulling him away and letting Cordelia fall to the floor. "Daddy! We 'ave to go! Grandmother won't win against the wicked Slayer!"

Xander instantly fired off a shot, but with inhumanly sharp reflexes Angelus caught the wooden arrow. "Another time, boy!" he managed to shout, before the two vamps disappeared with supernatural speed – the older bloodsucker implicitly trusting in Drusilla's words. ( Sorry, Darla. But you made your own bed, so lie in it! )

Xander raced off, eager to find Buffy as Willow arrived on the scene to help Cordy up and out of the club. On the dance floor, Buffy and Darla continued their deadly duel. All of a sudden Darla managed to get on top of the female Champion, and her fangs lunged for Buffy's throat.

Just as a stake in the back slammed home into her heart.

As Darla exploded into ashes thanks to Xander's excellent timing, in his prison the Master – who had been forcefully trying to break free of his mystical confines – felt her death through their bond.

"Noooooooo! Noooooooo!" he screamed, pounding impotently at the magical walls still imprisoning him.

Back at the Bronze, Xander helped Buffy up. "Thanks," the Chosen One said simply. And a lifetime of familial love and devotion could be heard in just that one word.

"Anytime," Xander silently returned her feelings.

Buffy Summers then glared at the few vampires in front of her. And like cowardly scum they decided to run for it. Not long afterwards, when all the undead were gone, outside the club Whistler whistled. "Well, I'll be. They actually did it!" He walked off as the weary combatants gathered together within the Bronze.

"Is it over?" Joyce asked fearfully, looking at the wreckage all around her thanks to the fight her daughter had just participated in.

"For now, I suspect so," Giles answered her wearily.

"Uh, did we win?" Willow asked timidly.

"Well, we're all still alive, so I'd give us a definite 'I think so'," Xander rubbed his head as the last nearby vampire presence disappeared from his inner radar.

"And we averted the apocalypse. I'd give us points for that too!" Buffy added in her own two cents.

Jesse looked resigned more than anything else. "One thing's for sure. Nothing's ever gonna be the same after this."

City Hall, Sunnydale. A short while later

Mayor Richard Wilkins chuckled out loud when Deputy Mayor Allan Finch finished his report over tonight's happenings. "Well. Gosh! That little girl sure seems like something, doesn't she? Quite the little firecracker. Yesireee, an absolute pistol!"

"What are your orders, sir?" Allan asked at once, showing no sign of his nervousness. "Should I arrange a, an accident for her?"

"Oh, no, no, just leave the Slayer and her family alone for now. That'll be all, Allan, thank you."

As Finch nodded and left the room, Wilkins got up from behind his desk to practice his putting skills. And once again he congratulated himself on ordering the school board to accept the Slayer's brother despite that little fracas in LA, in order for his Chosen sibling to come here as well.

( Yes, Miss Summers, I'm really looking forward to a very profitable working relationship between the two of us, indeed I am! Well, for the next two and a half years anyway... )

The underground prison of the Master, Sunnydale. Not long before sunrise

"You failed me."

The Master's tone was not a nice one, as he stared at Angelus. "Darla was my favorite, for nearly 400 years. And you failed her as well."

Angelus glanced around and saw that the Master's chambers were a wreck. Obviously, the old geezer had had a major temper tantrum when the Vessel had become history. It was easier to think of Darla that way, oddly enough, as Angelus was not without his own grief now when it came to his lost sire.

"Well? Anything to say?" Heinrich Nest requested silkily, but his new tone immediately put the Scourge on his guard.

"Not really. Apart from the Slayer fought better than Darla, and beat her. What else is there to say?"

"How YOU survived this...debacle, for one thing," the Master suddenly snarled, looking ready to tear his grandchilde's heart out.

"My own secret weapon since 1860, of course. NOW, DRU!"

Many things then seemed to happen very quickly.

A vampire guard named Colin was staked in the back and dusted as Dru came forward.

Angelus dived out past the borders of the mystical barrier imprisoning the Master, distracting the other vampire for a few seconds.

Drusilla threw a Molotov cocktail at her great-grandsire, who at the last moment managed to deflect it. But when it impacted against the wall, the entire chamber seemed to go up in flames.

"NOOOOOO!" the Master screamed, as the fire spread everywhere. But there was nowhere to run, and soon there was nothing but the remains of a skeleton that Angelus smashed to pieces once the blaze had exhausted itself.

"Well, Drusilla," Angelus then said cheerfully, but sporting a lascivious grin. "I feel like celebrating! What do you think?"

"You've been a very bad Daddy...oh, yes please, whatever my Angel wants!"

"Don't call me that!" Angelus instantly scowled, annoyed at the reference to his ensouled alter ego even after all these years.

But the insane vampiress seemingly paid no attention to him. And as her sire began to rip off her clothes, Drusilla simply went away to her own happy place...and began to dream of her kitten, and the day he would come to her...

To Be Concluded…