Author's note: Hey sorry for the delay but there are a few fight scenes in this chapter, and I'm not too good at writing them, I tend to write what I see in my head, which means when other people read it they don't understand what the hell I'm going on about. I think I confused myself when I wrote this chapter so if nobody understands what's happening don't worry cause neither do I. Thanks again for the reviews and please keep them coming, I'm determined to get to at least get to two hundred, so even if you want to criticise please feel free lol.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns everything.
Chapter 33 (Part two)
SUNNYDALE HIGH - INSIDE
Cordelia screamed as one of the daywalkers came straight towards her. She franticly shrugged Xander off of her, and thrust the sweaty sock into the daywalkers face before high tailing it down the corridor in the opposite direction, leaving the boys to fend for themselves.
"Hey where are you going!" Xander yelled successfully managing to dodge a blow aimed for his face.
"I'm going to get help! Keep them busy!" she shouted disappearing round the corner.
"Well we've got that part covered." Oz commented from beside Xander. "Here take this sword it'll make it easier to distract them." He said, throwing the sword towards Xander, who attempted to catch it and missed, luckily by some freak of nature the sword managed to impale itself in the daywalkers foot, distracting him long enough for Xander to stake the vampire with his dagger.
"When your right your right." Xander said grinning at Oz. They both turned to face the group of daywalkers that now stood before them and Xander's face dropped. "Okay there's eight of them and two of us, do you think now would be a good time for plan B?" he asked.
"Pretty much." Oz said dryly, they both looked at each other before running in opposite directions down the corridor, the daywalkers looked at one another before giving chase.
BATTLEFIELD - OUTSIDE
Olmeck stood safely on the sidelines watching as the army he had spent years gathering was slaughtered in a matter of hours. Olmeck saw with fury that the Garou's appeared to have the upper hand. All this planning had been for nothing, his pathetic excuse for an army was failing him, and his Drachna's hadn't lasted five minutes.
"If I had my old army once more, this battle would be over and we would be celebrating by now!" he roared angrily. He looked at Kennedy who was watching the battle intently, he knew she was dying to get out there and test her new found abilities, and who was he to deny her that. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him expectantly. "I think it's time we went and tipped the scales in our favour." he said.
Kennedy smirked at him and nodded. "I won't disappoint you." she growled. With a powerful flap of her wings she rose into the air. He watched as she let out a triumphant screech before swooping into the battle.
He spared a glance at Wesley, who was standing restrained behind him. "You are about to witness the raw power of the Vessel, I want you to remember what you see as you will be the one to record this moment for all prosperity." he said. He morphed into his true form and laughed at the look of fear on Wesley's face. Flapping his wings he soared into the air, before following his Vessel into battle.
Wesley made no attempt to escape, he stood transfixed by the battle before him, the outcome of which would decide the fate of mankind. And he knew no matter what the outcome of the battle, he would be in for a world of hurt when it was over.
Kennedy could feel her adrenaline surging through her body, as she neared the battle. Screeching in excitement she swooped down into the fray. Effortlessly slashing her way through the Garou's before her, her bladelike tail and claws easily slicing through skin, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. Nobody had a chance to defend themselves as she was upon them before they knew what was happening.
Buffy winced as a foot connected with her jaw, sending her crashing to the ground. She looked up and found she was surrounded by daywalkers. She hesitated for all of two seconds before attacking. She grabbed a couple of swords from the ground and spun herself up to her feet, slashing with the swords as she went. She came to a stand in front of the daywalkers who looked at her in puzzlement before collapsing to the ground in pieces.
Buffy smirked in satisfaction as they're remains turned to dust, glancing round at the fighting around her she saw that the scales appeared to be tipping in they're favour. However she couldn't shake off the bad feeling she had. Despite the fact that they appeared to be winning, there had still been no sign of Kennedy or Olmeck, and when the big bad doesn't show at their own battle it's never a good thing.
No sooner had she thought that than a loud screech filled the air causing Buffy and probably everyone in a thousand kilometre radius to wince. looking towards the source of the noise, she wasn't really surprised to see that it was Kennedy. Or at least what she assumed was Kennedy, cause whatever it was, was ugly as hell and fast to boot, not to mention loud. "Speak of the devil." she sighed. Buffy watched as Kennedy began quickly cutting down the Garou's and realised if she carried on the way she was going, there would be none of them left. Looking up at the archers on the roof she realised that Kennedy was too fast for them to hit, any arrows fired at her where more than likely going to hit the remaining Garou's.
She knew without a doubt that Kennedy would quickly get bored of fighting Garou's and that she would eventually come looking for her. "If Kennedy wants the slayer, then it's the slayer she'll get." Buffy said, gripping her swords tightly she let out a scream of her own before diving back into the crowd, cutting her own path towards Kennedy.
SUNNYDALE HIGH - INSIDE
Xander skidded round the corner and ran as fast as he could down the corridor. He could hear the Daywalkers following closely behind him. He risked a glance behind him and saw at least four of them, which meant that either the others where stupid enough to chase after Oz or they where trying to get into the library. He turned back to see where he was going just in time to trip over thin air and land face first on the ground. He groaned and looked up he could hear the daywalkers laughing and rolled over onto his back. He saw that they had stopped running and where now slowly walking towards him.
"Stupid human, what did you think you where gonna do? Run forever?" One of them laughed.
"No, I just wanted you guys to follow me so I could show you something." Xander replied, shifting his position slightly.
"And what would that be? Your amazing mid air acrobatics." A daywalker commented causing the others to laugh.
"It's a surprise." Xander said edging backwards as the vampires moved closer to him.
"Oh yeah and when do we get this surprise?" The Daywalker nearest Xander asked, as soon as the words left his mouth he felt his foot snag on something. Xander watched in satisfaction as the daywalkers became impaled on numerous spikes that swung down from the ceiling dusting them immediately.
"Surprise!" Xander grinned, struggling to his feet, he glared at the four piles of dust in triumph, before running back towards the library.
Meanwhile Oz was currently hiding behind the bleachers in the gym hall. He heard the squeak of the door that signalled the arrival of the daywalkers that had been following him. He heard their shoes squeaking as they walked across the gym floor.
"Are you sure he came in here?" he heard one of them ask doubtfully.
"Positive, now shut up and help me find him, they're ain't many places to hide for him to hide." The first daywalker replied.
"Man it stinks in here! What the hells that smell?" Another mumbled.
Peering over the bleachers Oz saw that they where almost in position, reaching behind him he grabbed a basketball, waiting for the right moment he threw it across the hall, causing it to smack off the opposite wall. The daywalkers spun and looked towards the noise, seeing that they where distracted, Oz pulled the lighter from his back pocket and lit the Molotov cocktail he had hidden earlier. He threw the lit bottle towards them, igniting the puddle of petrol at their feet. The flames quickly engulfed the vampires, their screams echoing round the gym before stopping abruptly as they turned to dust.
As soon as he saw them turn to dust, Oz scrambled out from his hiding place and hurriedly left the gym, he heard a hiss as the school's alarm system detected the blaze, and turned the sprinklers on. He splashed his way out into the corridor and headed for the library.
BATTLEFIELD - OUTSIDE
Kennedy scanned the battle field, looking for her prey, the Garou had put up a small fight, but they where too easy. She wanted a real challenge, she wanted the slayer. She saw a flash of blonde hair amongst the fighting, and saw her prize. Screeching in anticipation, she swooped down towards Buffy, plucking her from the ground.
One minute Buffy was blocking advances from a couple of Daywalkers, the next she found herself soaring through the air. Disorientated, she looked up and saw that Kennedy, or what used to be Kennedy, had a grip on her shoulders and was carrying her higher and higher above the ground. She looked down and instantly regretted it as she saw just how high they where.
"Oh shit." she mumbled, she began to panic as she realised what Kennedy planned to do. Looking around franticly she saw the nearest building was a couple of feet away. If I could just steer her towards it. Reaching into her waistband, Buffy pulled out her knife, gripping it tightly she drew her arm back and buried the knife into Kennedy's leg, causing her to release her grip on Buffy's shoulders. Grabbing hold of Kennedy's other leg before she fell to the ground, Buffy swung herself round behind her and began climbing up her back. Kennedy screeched angrily and began to buck wildly, trying to throw Buffy off her. But Buffy held firm, she pulled down on Kennedy's right wing causing her to veer towards the rooftops, Kennedy saw what she was trying to do and tried to steer away but it was too late. Buffy positioned herself so that Kennedy hit the roof first, landing face first on the tiles, before jumping off her back and landing on her feet. She drew her sword and took a defensive stance as Kennedy climbed to her feet, laughing slightly.
"Gotta admit I didn't see that coming." Kennedy said, shaking her head in amusement. "Your full of surprises aren't you."
"Well at least I can say I'm not boring." Buffy said, watching Kennedy's every move. She knew the small talk was a front to distract her, and she wasn't in any hurry to give Kennedy the upper hand. She watched Kennedy warily as she began circling round her.
"So what do you think of the new me." Kennedy said gesturing at her body.
"Same as the old you but uglier." Buffy said shrugging indifferently. "And balder, but look on the bright side you'll save a fortune now that you don't have to buy shampoo and conditioner." she said smiling sweetly, she ducked as Kennedy aimed a punch for her head, kicking her foot back she caught Kennedy's thigh sending her staggering away from her. As Kennedy turned, Buffy saw the daggers sticking out of her back, just above her wings. Now that she knew Kennedy's weak spot all she had to do was pull them out, which was easier said than done.
Kennedy saw Buffy staring intently at her back and knew she as looking at the daggers. "Ah, ah Buffy, they're mine." she said, using her tail as a sword she slashed out at Buffy, catching her by surprise. She barely managed to get her sword up in time, narrowly avoiding a gash to the throat..
Kennedy's tail flashed through the air again, with all the skill and accuracy of a swordsman, Buffy went on the defensive, blocking the attacks as best she could, however even she wasn't fast enough to prevent them all from getting through. Buffy flinched as Kennedy's tail slashed towards her face once again, knowing that she was unable to get her sword up in time, she threw herself backwards and felt the blade slice her cheek. Ignoring the blood running down her face, she saw her opportunity and grabbed Kennedy's tail, pulling hard she knocked her off balance. Bringing her sword down she severed the end of Kennedy's tail and threw it over the side of the building. Kennedy screeched in pain and looked at the bloody stump where her tail once belonged. Roaring in fury she charged towards Buffy.
MEANWHILE ON THE GROUND
Faith saw the glint of metal too late, she tried to dive out of the path of the blade and winced as it cut a deep path across her arm. Roaring in anger she grabbed the Daywalker by the throat and punched her hand into his chest. He was dust in the wind before she could pull his heart out. She looked around the battle field searching for Buffy, but she couldn't see her mate anywhere, she could feel the panic beginning to build. Looking around she realised that there was no sign of Kennedy either, who was pretty hard to miss with the new screeching fetish she'd adopted.
She looked over at Olmeck, who at the moment looked like a human bat, and saw that he'd stopped fighting and was busy staring intently at something behind the school Following his gaze Faith saw signs of a struggle on the rooftop of one of the adjacent buildings. She could see a flash of blonde hair and new that Buffy was up there with Kennedy. Faith glanced back at Olmeck and saw panic on his face, he spread his wings and flew into the air, Buffy was obviously gaining the upper hand and Olmeck was going to try and bail Kennedy out. Over my dead body Faith thought.
She growled angrily and ran towards the side of the school. She crouched low before easily leaping over the heads of the daywalkers, and onto the side of the building. She ran up the wall on all fours as fast as she could, trying to reach Olmeck before he got to Buffy. She jumped over the ledge and landed with a skid on the rooftop, before running full pelt towards the end of the building. She saw that Olmeck was too preoccupied with reaching Kennedy, to notice her closing in behind him. Not missing a beat, Faith pushed of from the edge of the rooftop and glided through the air, slamming into Olmeck's back, sending them both careering through the air.
Olmeck was surprised to find himself with four hundred pounds of Garou on his back, turning he smirked at Faith before tucking his wings in and spinning towards the ground, trying to throw her off. Faith growled and dug her claws deep into his flesh, determined to win this game of chicken, she watched as the ground began to approach fast. She could sense Olmeck's indecisiveness and could feel his muscles tense as he pulled up at the last minute, taking them back up into the air.
The Garou's on the roof saw that with Olmeck and Kennedy currently preoccupied the battle was once again a free for all, with the Garou's numbers severely depleted due to Kennedy's attack. Realising that there bows where now of no use, they leapt over the side of the building and joined their clansman on the ground. The sound of a horn blared across the school grounds and carried out into the street, signalling to Marcus and the others to come and join the battle.
LIBRARY
To the two witches in the library the battle outside sounded muffled, as if the room was filled with cotton wool. They sat in their trance like state, their chants had died down to a quiet murmur. They could hear the distant banging of the daywalkers on the library door, which meant that they had gotten past the others outside. They renewed their chanting with determination, they would be damned if they would let the daywalkers in now.
Tara frowned as she became aware of a presence in the back of her mind, whatever it was she sensed that it was benevolent, and wielded a great power. The power scared her and she tried to ignore the presence and push it from her mind, however the more she fought the stronger it got. Tara could feel herself starting to panic and her control on the spell begin to falter.
/ Don't fight child, we mean no harm, let our power aide you./ A voice said gently. The voice seemed to come from all around them, with it the voice brought a sense of peace and protection. / Relax childe and let our power flow through you./ Tara found herself powerless to resist and felt herself drifting. Then all either of them knew was darkness and peace.
CORRIDOR - OUTSIDE LIBRARY
Xander and Oz had both heard the breaking of glass and knew that more daywalkers had somehow gotten inside the school. The corridors where echoing with the sounds of fighting as the daywalkers and the Garou's faced off against each other. They both came racing round the corner at the same time and saw with horror that the corridor outside the library was heaving with hundreds of vampires, who where desperately trying to get into the library.
Finding themselves unarmed they knew there was nothing either of them could do to prevent the vamps from getting in. The only thing that was keeping the daywalkers out was the spell Tara and Willow had cast, and there was no telling how long that would hold.
Hearing a noise behind them they spun round and saw a group of daywalkers coming up from behind them, they where now effectively trapped, and from the sounds of the fighting both inside and out they knew that there would be no one coming to their rescue this time.
"Looks like this is it." Xander said, fear evident in his voice.
"Yeah, not the way I'd ever imagined I'd go out." Oz said, looking at the vamps warily as they came closer. They both jumped as they heard a loud bang, as the library doors flew open. Risking a glance behind them they saw a bright light spilling into the corridor, the light grew in intensity until they where forced to close their eyes. Relying on their other senses they listened in confusion as the daywalkers screams of agony echoed round the building.
ROOFTOP - OUTSIDE
Buffy ducked as Kennedy soared over her head, slashing up with her blade she managed to sever Kennedy's wing, but not before Kennedy's foot connected with her jaw causing her to drop her sword, and sending her flying across the rooftop, where she collided against the tiles knocking the wind out of her. Kennedy picked Buffy's sword up and threw it across the rooftop, well out of Buffy's reach.
Before Buffy could get up she felt Kennedy's hand tangle itself in her hair and she was yanked painfully to her feet. Kennedy aimed a punch towards Buffy's chest which Buffy knocked away with her forearm, before sending her elbow crashing into Kennedy's neck. Kennedy grunted and let go of Buffy's hair, going on the offensive Buffy aimed a series of punches and kicks at Kennedy, which she blocked easily.
"C'mon Buffy, you've got to better than that!" Kennedy exclaimed, backhanding Buffy across the face, Buffy moving with the hit spun round three sixty degrees and returned the hit by backhanding Kennedy across the face, and kicking her in the stomach winding her. Planting her foot on Kennedy's knee, she back flipped, kicking Kennedy full force in the jaw with both of her feet. Kennedy spun backwards, landing nimbly on her feet.
"How was that?" Buffy asked snidely.
"Okay." Kennedy rubbed her jaw and smiled at Buffy, "But I'm better." she said, knocking Buffy across the rooftop with a roundhouse kick to the head, Buffy collided against the tiles where she lay still.
Kennedy walked over to Buffy's prone form and knelt beside her, her grin fell as she realised that she'd knocked Buffy unconscious. "Damn and I was just beginning to enjoy myself." she said sulkily.
BATTLE - OUTSIDE.
Faith held on tightly as Olmeck took them both higher into the air. Olmeck swung his arm back towards Faith attempting to slash her with his claws. Faith dodged the blow, growling angrily she sank her teeth into his neck, grimacing as the foul taste of his blood filled her mouth.
Olmeck screamed in agony as she tore off a chunk of his flesh. Reaching his hand up he slashed Faith across the face. Faith couldn't see anything as the blood dripped into her eyes, and she couldn't release her grip for fear of being thrown off.
Doing the next best thing she grabbed one of Olmeck's wings and used it to wipe the blood from her eyes. Smoke instantly began to pour from the area as her blood burned his skin, moving quickly while he was distracted, she slid down Olmeck's back, and swung herself round so that she was now facing his front, dodging his legs as he attempted to kick her free, she began climbing up his chest.
She ignored his claws as they tore at her skin, the blood from her wounds dripping onto his skin wounding him, he eventually gave up as he realised that he couldn't hurt her without hurting himself in the process. His hands where now nothing more than fingerless stumps, and his left wing was a mangled mess as her blood had caused his skin to dissolve, he was using what was left of his energy to stay in the air.
When she was level with his head she glared at him. "Sucha tu essrach mir famiach (This is for everything you've put my people through)." she growled, sinking her claws deep into his eyes, blinding him.
Olmeck screamed in agony, and began flying erratically, Faith looked behind her and saw that they where veering towards the power lines. She quickly climbed round onto Olmecks back, and steered him towards them. Just before they where upon them, she leapt from his back, throwing herself into a tree by the side of the road. She crashed though the branches slowing her descent, before she finally managed to grab purchase on one of the larger branches. She climbed down to the ground and looked up just as Olmeck careered into the power lines.
A flash of light filled the air followed by a loud bang, he screeched in pain and began convulsing as fifty thousand volts coursed through him. Sparks flew for a few seconds before Olmeck eventually fell to the ground, smoke pouring from his prone form. Several of the Garou's drawn by the light show saw who it was lying on the ground and eagerly descended on his corpse.
ROOFTOP - OUTSIDE
When Buffy came round, she saw Kennedy staring over the edge of the building, looking at something on the ground. Painfully climbing to her feet, she cautiously moved towards her, expecting Kennedy to turn round at any minute, however she was surprised when Kennedy didn't even notice her presence. When she looked over Kennedy's shoulder she saw what had caused the distraction, that had saved her life. Olmeck was roasting on the power lines like a giant marshmallow, and when she saw Faith standing underneath him with a cocky grin on her face she knew without a doubt that she was responsible. She saw Olmeck fall to the ground and winced as the Garou's made quick work of tearing him apart.
Kennedy wailed in grief and Buffy saw her opportunity, leaping onto Kennedy's back, she grabbed hold of the Daggers and pulled, before Kennedy realised what had happened it was too late. A blast of energy seemed to shoot out of Kennedy, sending Buffy flying backwards across the rooftop. She looked at Kennedy from her position on the ground and watched as she began contorting in pain, black smoke seeped from her eyes and mouth as she slowly began changing back into her human form. When it was over Kennedy fell to the ground unconscious, the black smoke disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.
MEANWHLE ON THE GROUND.
The Garou's and Daywalker's where too caught up fighting one another to notice the white light streaming from the school. Every window was filled with the bright light till eventually the whole school appeared to be glowing. The light faded slightly before flashing brightly, enveloping the school grounds before extinguishing.
One minute the Garou's found themselves fighting the daywalker's, then everything went white. When they eventually got their sight back all that was left of the vampires where smoking piles of dust. They looked at one another in shock and confusion before it sunk in. The daywalker's where dead, they had won!
ROOFTOP - OUTSIDE
Buffy forced herself to her feet and staggered over to Kennedy's prone form. She could hear the cheers from below and knew they had won. She looked at the broken form of her sister slayer and felt nothing but revulsion. All of the pain and all of the hate that Kennedy caused her came flooding to the surface and she knew what she had to do. She picked her sword off the ground and raised it sword above her head, she felt no guilt about what she was about to do. She was about to bring the sword down, when a roar filled the air and a gale blew across the rooftop. Shielding her eyes from the dust, Buffy saw a helicopter hovering in the air in front of her, she could just make out three people inside it, and from the looks of them they weren't police which could only mean one other thing.
"Put the sword down Miss Summers." A voice commanded over the megaphone, the English accent confirming Buffy's fears. She hesitated and looked at Kennedy, she could end it all here and Kennedy would never bother them again, if she let the council take her there was a chance that she would be let loose one day. The men in the helicopter sensed her indecisiveness. "We won't hesitate to shoot you, so I suggest you put the sword down so nobody gets hurt." Buffy lowered the sword and threw it across the rooftop. She watched the helicopter as it came to land on the roof. The men leapt out of the helicopter as soon as it landed, weapons trained on Buffy, who stepped away from Kennedy, hands raised in surrender. "Good work Miss Summers." One of the men said, "The watchers council is greatly appreciated." He gestured at the men at his side and they went to restrain Kennedy.
"What are you going to do with her?" Buffy asked suspiciously.
"She will be taken back to England for rehabilitation. If everything goes to plan and she is deemed 'safe' she will be reinstated as a slayer." he said.
"And what if that doesn't work?" she asked.
The man shrugged. "We will simply call a new slayer. There are always two ways to do things Miss Summers, the easy way and the difficult way. It shall be up to her which way she chooses." he said. Buffy saw that the other men had finished restraining Kennedy and where loading her into the helicopter. "Looks like our work here is done, thank you for being so cooperative." he said, Buffy merely glared at him. "Nice to meet you Miss Summers, until next time." He said knowingly, climbing into the front of the helicopter. She watched them warily as they took off, knowing that she hadn't seen the last of them.
Walking over to the edge of the rooftop she was about to look down at the scene below when Olmecks head popped up over the ledge, letting out a yell Buffy kicked his head with her foot and was surprised when the head easily flew off across the street.
"Ow, Jesus B!" Faith exclaimed as she climbed over the ledge and onto the roof, rubbing her hand where Buffy had unknowingly kicked it.
Buffy winced as she realised what she'd done and walked over to her girlfriend. "Sorry baby." she said, rubbing Faith's arm soothingly.
"It's okay, Marcus will be pissed, he was gonna have that thing mounted." Faith said grinning, she put her arms round Buffy's waist and pulled her close to her. Buffy wrapped her arms round Faith's neck and pulled her into a deep kiss, full of relief and longing. They where both alive and against all the odds they had won. They both broke the kiss as they heard the cheering below get louder, peering over the ledge they saw Tara and Willow standing bashfully in the doorway to the school, Xander and Oz close behind them, the Garou's instantly surrounded them and hefted them up onto their shoulders, cheering wildly.
"Where's Giles and Cordelia?" Buffy asked worriedly.
"G - man's talking to Marcus and as for Queen C-" Faith said and pointed towards the other side of the street where she saw Cordelia and Drake making out beneath the tree where Faith had stood earlier. "-She's sucking the face off my brother." Faith said grimacing. "That is something I would gladly pay not to see."
Buffy laughed at the look of disgust on Faith's face. She sighed happily, it was over they'd done it, Olmeck was dead, Kennedy was gone and her friends and girlfriend where alive. For the first time in months Buffy felt at peace.
Tbc.
A/N: Just the epilogue to go folks, that won't take as long to write compared to this chapter, so I should have it posted within the next week at least.
