Guest: Yep, LOL!
Thor roared as he brought Stormbreaker down on the ground. Electricity shot out of the ground, paralyzing several demons as Tony and Rhodey flew side by side, firing at various demons.
Some distance away, Drax jumped onto the back of one of black demons, roaring as he stabbed it in the back with his dagger. A few feet away, Peter was shooting various webs, trapping demons when he was suddenly struck in the back. Peter went flying and hit a large piece of debris. Dazed, he looked up to see one of the demons from K'un-Lun approaching him.
"Hey. Any chance we talk about this?" Peter asked and the demon snarled at him. "Didn't think so."
The demon moved to strike him and Peter jumped into the air, dodging so the demon struck the ground instead. Peter then shot out two streams of webbing, catching the demon by the back and yanked, hard. The demon went flying into the air and was promptly struck by a repulsor beam from Tony, which killed it instantly.
Steve was fighting off a hoard of demons, using his Wakandian shield. Sam was flying overhead and threw his own shield. The shield struck one of the demons and Steve followed up with a punch. Steve sent the demon crashing into a pile of debris before he caught the shield. He turned around, struck another demon with it before he whirled around, throwing it back at Sam. Sam caught it before flying down. He delivered a kick to another demon before whirling around, striking another in the head with his shield while Steve struck the last one with his own.
"Nice to have you back Cap," Sam said and Steve smiled.
"Thanks. But it looks like that's your name now," Steve said as he glanced down at the shield that he had carried with him through such a significant part of his life.
Spike was fighting off three demons at once when Buffy rushed over, whirling the M?. Within seconds, she had cut them all down.
"Buffy-" Spike began.
He didn't get any further when Buffy whirled around and slugged him. He stumbled back, holding his face as Buffy glared at him.
"That was for not telling me you were alive," Buffy hissed, glaring at him with anger and hurt.
"Okay, I deserved that," Spike admitted, wincing at the look on her face.
"Yes, you did," Buffy agreed. "And if we live through this, I'm going to tell you exactly how pissed at you I am. But for right now-"
To Spike's surprise, Buffy walked over to him, grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Although surprised, Spike placed a hand on the arm not holding the M? and pulled her close as he returned the kiss.
Scott was trying to hold the Red Hulk back but, even in his giant form, the Red Hulk was far stronger than him. With a punch to his abdomen, Red Hulk sent Scott doubling over. With a snarl, Red Hulk sent him flying onto back back, groaning in pain. Red Hulk approached him with a sneer before a burst of electricity sent Red Hulk stumbling back. The Behemoth looked up as Thor jumped in front of Scott, wielding Stormbreaker.
"If you wish to fight someone, then fight me," Thor ordered calmly.
Red Hulk let out a roar before he and Thor rushed each other.
Connor was running through the battlefield as chaos reigned around him, the Gauntlet still in his hands. He ducked, dodging as the dragon unleashed a stream of fire on a group of Wakandian soldiers near him.
"Hey, what should I do with this thing?" Connor asked as he ran.
"Get it as far away from here as possible Connor!" Angel shouted as he punched a demon away.
Connor's retort was cut off when he had to jump aside to dodge a burst of fire from the dragon.
"That's gonna be easier said than done," Connor retorted.
"Then I'll give you a hand kid."
Connor looked up as Tony Stark of all people flew up to the dragon and unleashed a repulsor beam. The dragon wailed before Sif jumped up and stabbed her sword into the dragon's chest.
"Go Connor! Now!" Angel barked and Connor took off running.
Strange used his power to summon multiple tentacles of purple energy. They grabbed one stone demon each and dragged them down, stealing them. Turning around, Strange saw Peter swing down on a web, landing in front of him.
"Uh, Mr. Strange, you said that we only won one time out of fourteen thousand," Peter said uneasily.
"If I tell you what happens, it won't happen," Strange said, turning to leave before pausing. "When the time comes, you'll have to let him do what needs to be done."
Strange then flew off, leaving Peter staring after him in confusion.
Kennedy was fighting off a ground of demons near a body she wasn't paying any attention to. Suddenly, the body stood back up. Kennedy looked behind her to see Hamilton, his eyes glowing and his neck snapped back into place. She tried to punch him but, to her shock, this had no effect. Hamilton then grabbed her by the neck. She gasped in pain as Hamilton tightened his grip before a crack was heard and she slumped in his grip. Hamilton dropped her body to the ground before looking over at the demons.
"Bring us the stones," he said, but instead of Hamilton's voice, it was three different voices speaking at the same time.
Connor ran, pursued by demons. He kicked one in the chest and performed a backflip in midair, landing a few feet away. But they were still coming when, suddenly, T'Challa jumped down. He unleashed a burst of kinetic energy, sending the demons all flying back.
"Connor," T'Challa stood up, retracting his mask. "Give it to me."
"Here," Connor said, handing the gauntlet to T'Challa before looking over his shoulder at the approaching demons. "Not sure how you're gonna get through all that though."
"We've got your back," Sharon said over the Comms, taking aim at some of the demons. "Just go."
T'Challa took off running as various demons ran after him. Lorne, who was nearby, began to sing and the demons held their ears in pain as T'Challa continued running further away. A demon from K'un-Lun was rushing towards T'Challa when Sam flew in, throwing his shield. It struck the demon in the chest and it stumbled as Sam caught the shield before delivering a flying kick to the demons chest. T'Challa continued running passed as more demons ran after him. Natasha used her Widow's Bite on a few as Sharon, Fury and Wesley fired their guns on the demons. A few feet away, Clint aimed an arrow.
"Your highness, stay away from those demons. I'm gonna make things easier for you," Clint said.
Clint then fired. The arrow sailed passed T'Challa and landed in front of the demons as they continued running towards T'Challa. They were within a few inches of it when a large explosion went off, deep frying them.
"Thank you Clint!" T'Challa said, jumping to avoid another demon.
He landed a few feet away when suddenly he found he couldn't move. He struggled as Vail approached him.
"Even a king can't defeat a sorcerer," Vail chuckled. "I'll be taking those stones."
"Break hold."
T'Challa found himself free and jumped away from Vail. Shocked, Vail looked a few feet away, where Willow was standing.
"Why don't you pick on someone who can actually stand up to you?" Willow asked and Vail chuckled.
"Willow Rosenberg, the witch whose powers rival my own. You have amassed quit a reputation," He noted. "You have fought so many enemies. It shall be my honor to be the last."
Thor roared, bringing Stormbreaker down on the ground and shocking Red Hulk. To his surprise, Red Hulk shook it off and lunged for him with a roar. Thor dodged his strike, catching Hulk's hands with his down, to the creature's surprise. Thor's eyes flashed with lightning and he roared as Red Hulk was sent flying back from a powerful blast of lightning.
T'Challa was continuing to run, dodging as Wanda sent out powerful blasts of energy that sent the demons flying back. Wanda jumped down, unleashing a blast of energy that sent demons in all directions flying away. T'Challa jumped in the air as Nick flew overhead.
"I'm open!" Nick shouted, holding his hands out for the Gauntlet.
T'Challa threw it at him and Nick grabbed it. He began flying off, away from the battlefield. Suddenly, Hamilton jumped into the air and grabbed one of Nick's wings. He threw Nick down and Nick flew down, hitting the ground hard enough to form a small crater. Hamilton then jumped down, landing a few feet away from Nick.
"It was a valiant effort," Hamilton said, the three voices still speaking through him as he approached Nick. "But we are eternal. We are The Wolf, The Ram and The Heart. You shall not defeat us. We shall destroy you all."
As Hamilton neared the unconscious Nick, Hamilton was suddenly jumped by Angel. Hamilton elbowed Angel in the chest before turning around, lifting him up by his throat.
"So much time, wasted on you," Hamilton said, the three voices sounding disgusted and angry at the same time. "Now, you will bear witness as we tear this word to pieces."
Hamilton then tossed Angel away. Angel landed in a pile of debris as Hamilton turned back to Nick. However, the Gauntlet was missing. Looking up, Hamilton saw Peter fleeing with it. Hamilton smirked before jumping after him.
"Fire," Willow said and Vail cried out as he was suddenly light aflame. "You may have been strong once, but now you're weak. Any properly trained witch with a reasonable amount of power can defeat you. You have power, but your body is too weak to handle it all. There's a price for what you've done. Its time you've paid it."
Willow waved a hand and, with a final scream, Vail was reduced to ashes.
Peter was swinging on his webs when Hamilton jumped after him. Hamilton grabbed his leg and slammed Peter into the ground, hard. Hamilton pried the Gauntlet from the dazed Peter and got to his feet. Before he could do anything however, Bucky was suddenly there. Bucky punched him with his robotic arm and Hamilton was thrown back, dropping the Gauntlet.
Hamilton quickly recovered, using a hand to block Bucky's next punch. Hamilton then grabbed Bucky by his elbow and lifted him up into the air before tossing him into some debris. As Bucky picked himself up, Spike suddenly rushed Hamilton with a roar. They briefly traded blows before, with a kick to Spike's abdomen, Hamilton sent Spike flying.
"Vampires," the three voices said in disgust.
Hamilton spotted the Gauntlet and moved toward it. However, before he could get far, Buffy suddenly rushed him, trying to take off his head with the M?. Hamilton caught the scythe with one hand, grunting as he tossed Buffy over his shoulder and into some debris. He turned around as Bucky rushed him once more, delivering a powerful punch to Hamilton's face.
As Bucky and Hamilton traded blows, Peter picked himself up. Looking up, he saw Angel approaching from behind Hamilton. Angel locked eyes with Peter and suddenly, Peter understood what Strange meant. Peter nodded at Angel and Angel returned the nod. Without speaking, they understood each other. And Peter knew how this would end.
Hamilton suddenly roared and a burst of power sent Bucky, Spike and Buffy all flying back. Peter only avoided this by using his webs to hold on to a piece of nearby debris. As Hamilton turned to go back to the Gauntlet, Peter shot out another stream of webbing, striking Hamilton in the face. Hamilton roared as Peter swung over, delivering a kick to his face. With a growl, Hamilton yanked the webbing out of his eyes before grabbing one of Peter's legs, tossing him aside.
Peter used as a piece of debris as a trampoline, landing on it and using his legs to bounce back towards Hamilton. He kicked Hamilton in the face before using his webbing to spin around and sending a kick to Hamilton's chest. This had no effect and Hamilton punched him. Peter went down to the ground before getting back up, using his hands to block Hamilton's fist. They struggled for a moment, seeming completely even for a few moment.
"You cannot win," Hamilton said in his three voices. "We are eternal. You cannot defeat us."
"I know," Peter groaned before looking over Hamilton's shoulder. "But he can."
A sense of alarm filling them, Hamilton kicked Peter away before turning around. A few feet away, Angel placed his hand into the Gauntlet. Angel grunted as the power of the stones began to eat away at him.
"You know the thing about all powerful beings?" Angel asked through the pain. "They never see the people who can beat them coming."
Angel then snapped his fingers and there was a flash of light as the stones unleashed their power.
Angel suddenly found himself in a world that seemed to resemble the cliff he'd waited for Cordelia on, save the sky was orange and there was no water. He was dressed in his regular clothes and, as he looked down, he saw the Gauntlet was gone.
"Hey Champ."
Shocked at the familiar voice, Angel turned around to see Cordelia standing a few feet from him.
"Cordy," Angel breathed and she smiled at him. "How, I mean…am I dead?"
"No. Not yet," Cordelia said as she approached him, putting a hand on the side of his face. "You did it Angel. Now you'll get your reward."
"Reward? I don't understand, what are you talking about?" Angel asked in confusion and she laughed.
"You'll understand soon enough. Angel, you need to live your life. Be happy. And one day…I'll see you again," Cordelia promised him before leaning up and kissing him.
Sif jumped up, about to bring her sword down on the dragon when, to her shock, it suddenly turned into dust.
Thor and Red Hulk were still fighting, Thor about to throw Stormbreaker when, to his disbelief, Red Hulk turned into dust as well.
Everyone looked all around the battlefield as the various demons left standing turning to dust. Hamilton looked at the vanishing army before he looked back at Peter as Bucky, Spike and Buffy walked up behind him. For a moment, he simply stared in silent. Then, Hamilton turned to dust as well.
The Gauntlet dropped from Angel's hand as he staggered away, using some nearby debris before falling, sliding down against the debris. He breathed heavily, sensing something was happening to him. He looked down at his hands, shocked to see the burns from the Gauntlet were healing. Out of breath, he put a hand on to his chest, stunned to find what he found there.
"Angel? Angel, are you okay?" Buffy asked worriedly as she ran up to him, worried when he didn't answer.
"Bloody Hell," Buffy turned her head back to see Spike staring at Angel with a look of disbelief on his face. "The Shanshu."
"Yeah," Angel said lowly.
"Wait, what are you two talking about?" Buffy asked in confusion.
"The prophecy of the Shanshu," Buffy looked over as Wesley approached. "The vampire with a soul will play a role in the apocalypse and then become human."
"What? You Angel's…" Buffy trailed off as she looked at Angel in shock.
"Human. I'm human," Angel said as he let a laugh, beginning to smile. "I'm human."
This is a lot less insane than the other stories where I've done the battle at the Compound, but that's intentional. The Buffyverse demons are significantly less powerful than the Thanos and his army, so it wouldn't be as completely bonkers.
Anyway, tried to give the most important players all a time to shine, but I know some characters got sidelined. Hope you all enjoyed it anyway.
Hamilton coming back possessed by the Senior Partners was actually Chunk127's idea, so thank you to him for letting me use it.
Let's be honest, Vail, while extremely powerful, is weak physically, so Willow could easily defeat him.
And the prophecy has finally been fulfilled. Angel saved the world and got his reward.
Now, there will be one more chapter and then an epilogue. So stay tuned.