CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
Thunderstruck
Mayor Wilkins was having a moment of thoughtful reflection as he drove himself to the graduation ceremony. He had been anticipating, waiting for and dreaming of this moment for one hundred years and now that his day had arrived, he found himself feeling slightly letdown. Wilkins sighed as he thought he should be happier than what he was currently feeling now that he was about to ascend to demonhood. He sighed again as he knew the reason why he was feeling this way. He had developed a fatherly feeling towards Faith and he had planned to have her by his side when he ascended. He didn't show it outwardly, but Faith's defection had hurt him deeply. He found it funny, but there was a small part of him that was actually happy that Faith had found someone to love—though he did have reservations about their age differences. The unfortunate part was that her love affair had happened with the wrong person at the wrong time. She would now have to pay the price for her disloyalty. At this moment, Faith was being brought through the sewers to the high school by the Mayor's vampires. When he changed into his demon form he would consume her—the first of many as Wilkins planned to feed on and destroy all of Sunnydale.
Wilkins was caught up in his thoughts as he pulled into the high school parking lot. He was still thinking deeply as he got out of his car and started walking onto the grounds of the high school heading for the area where the graduation ceremonies were being held. As he got closer, he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts—something wasn't right. It was quiet—there should have been the noise of people gathered for the graduation ceremony. He realized that he didn't see anyone around—where were the students and parents? He reached the ceremony platform and he looked upon an empty courtyard and empty chairs.
The Mayor looked around in disbelieve, "What the heck is going on?!" he said out loud.
Damn that Snyder… I told him that he was to make sure that everyone attended the ceremony, Wilkins thought angrily.
oOoOo
What Wilkins didn't realize was that Principal Snyder along with all the parents and teachers were being kept a safe distance away from the school by the students. It had taken a lot of last minute adjustment by Buffy, Giles and the rest of the Scoobies, but they had gotten the word to the rest of the graduation class. Where everyone had gathered they could see the high school and there was a lot of murmuring about why the graduation ceremony had been moved or cancelled. Numerous excuses and lies were used and in some cases the truth was used, but that was the exception rather than the rule. The only thing consistent was that the graduating students refused to let the teachers and their parents out of the area. Principal Snyder had ranted and been angry, but Giles had a brief discussion with the principal which ended with chloroform being used on Snyder to make sure that he didn't cause any further problems.
Giles stood looking at the high school in the distance. Willow and Xander were standing beside him.
"Anything happening?" Xander asked.
"I saw a car drive up to the school and saw someone get out… I can't tell for sure at this distance, but I think it was the Mayor." Giles replied.
"Any sign of Buffy or Michael?" Willow asked with concern.
"Nothing… But Michael said we would know when things started…" Giles replied showing his own concern in his tone.
"Will Michael be able to pull this off…? He's hurt pretty bad." Xander asked worriedly.
"I don't know… I just don't know…" Giles replied.
oOoOo
Mayor Wilkins now stood on the empty podium looking out at the empty chairs and he seethed at this turn of events. He had planned for this day for so long. Everything had been planned for and taken into account—except for this.
This is all the Slayer's fault! That bitch Buffy will die today! Wilkins thought with furious anger while trying to maintain his outward composure.
The Mayor was startled out of his angry thoughts by a taunting female voice.
"What? No one show up for your ceremony…"
The Mayor turned to face the voice and was met by the sight of a smiling Buffy just standing outside the main school doors.
"You did this! How dare you interfere!" the Mayor seethed back at Buffy.
Buffy kept smiling and took a few steps closer into the courtyard, "Looks like no one is coming to today… Except for us." Buffy replied.
"You have no idea what you are dealing with…girl!" the Mayor yelled back angrily.
"Oh I know who you are and what you are… I'm here to stop you like I have done to every other demon and vampire before." Buffy replied still smiling.
The Mayor was about to reply when he felt a sharp pain from inside his body, It's starting, he thought.
"It doesn't matter… You're too late and too weak to stop me… Soon I'll ascend to my demon form and I'll feed on you and the rest of this damned town!" the Mayor said smiling as he felt his changes begin.
Buffy could only watch and she could tell that the Mayor was starting to begin his ascension. There was still no sign of Faith and Buffy continued to stall for time. As she watched the Mayor begin his change, she also saw the sky begin to darken.
The eclipse… It's starting, she thought as she glanced back at the Mayor.
The Mayor also noticed that the eclipse was starting and he could begin to feel more changes.
"You can't stop me… I'll feed on two Slayers today!" The Mayor said smiling as he waved his hand.
Buffy watched as vampires came out from doors on the other side of the school and streamed into the school courtyard. She suddenly saw that Faith was being dragged between two vampires. Other than having her hands shackled she appeared no worse for wear.
It was at that moment that music started playing from the sound system in the courtyard…
oOoOo
Faith had spent hours locked up and she had spent that time planning and thinking. She tried to think of a way to escape and strike back, but there appeared to be no chance. She did all this planning to try and keep her mind from dwelling on Michael and whether he was alive or not. She needed to keep her focus and composure, but it was hard. Finally two vampires came for her and they unlocked the chain that had her shackles attached to the wall and they dragged her out of the room. Faith looked for an opportunity to escape, but there were lots of vampires around her. Soon she was down in the sewers and she was being dragged through them. She knew that they were heading to the high school and she feared that there was going to be a bloodbath there.
As she was brought out of the sewers into the school basement and dragged upstairs, she couldn't help but notice that the vampires around her were not too happy—something wasn't going according to their plan. She hadn't heard any explosions or shooting as what had been outlined in Michael's plan and her heart sank at the thought of Michael not being there for her, but the thought of the Mayor's ascension plans being upset gave her some hope.
Buffy and the others must be giving them problems… I may get my chance, Faith thought trying not to give away any signs of hope.
Faith was finally dragged roughly outside into the courtyard. She could see that the eclipse had started and that the vampires were gathering, but there were two very surprising developments. One—there were no people in the courtyard other than the Mayor, herself and the vampires just milling around looking confused. Two—Buffy was standing across the courtyard from her and she was just smiling.
Faith heard and saw the Mayor and knew that he was beginning his transformation. She saw Buffy turn her head towards her and Buffy made eye contact with her. Faith was a little confused as Buffy just stood there smiling looking at her. That's when music started playing from the sound system in the courtyard. Faith recognized the music as an AC/DC song. As the music played and the tempo increased, so did the volume and the vampires were starting to look around even more confused. Faith was just trying to figure out what was going on when the head of one of the vampires guarding her—holding her shackles—exploded! Faith stood there in shock and so did the other vampire guarding her. It felt like an eternity as they stood looking at what had happened, but it was only a quick second and the other vampire finally started to turn towards her when his head exploded as well…
oOoOo
Michael had placed himself on the rooftop of the high school. He picked out spots across the rooftop that he could move between that would give him full view and coverage of the courtyard below. When he had outlined this new plan, he had told Buffy what he expected of her. She was to keep everyone's focus at ground level, once they were able to locate and determine Faith's status—he would open up. Buffy was then to grab Faith and the two of them would run as fast as they could to get out of the kill zone while he covered them.
Michael had used the time waiting on the roof to check the sniper rifle he had recovered. It was a Barrett M82A1 .50 caliber sniper rifle which was the ancestor to the SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle which he was very familiar with and had lots of experience using. Michael knew that going up against vampires he would have to make sure that he either got head shots or put one through their heart. He wasn't too worried about hitting his targets—he'd been rated "Elite Marksman" on sniper rifles as were all Spartans.
As he waited, he continually checked his wounds and had Junior do a diagnostics on his battle armor to make sure that nothing failed at the last moment. Junior kept insisting that he seek immediate medical treatment, but Michael pushed the AI's concerns aside as he knew that ship had left. He could feel it—he could feel the pain going away which some would take as a good sign, but Michael knew otherwise. He recalled his drill instructors hammering at him and the other Spartans—"As long as you feel the pain…you're still alive". Michael could feel his life slipping away. If it wasn't for his augmentation, bio foam, and battle armor he knew that he would be dead already. He recalled the looks on everyone's faces back at Giles's apartment—the looks of concern and sadness. He could see and knew that they wanted to help, but as he'd told them there was nothing in this world that could help him. There was one chance and that was if he opened a portal and transported to Virgil—his access to Forerunner medical technology—would help, but that was not an option for Michael. He was needed here and now.
As he waited, Michael had to focus and concentrate as a part of him kept on insisting that he should just close his eyes and rest. It seemed to be hours of waiting on the rooftop, when his hearing and motion sensors started to pick up movement coming towards the school. He quickly determined that the Mayor had arrived and his finger slowly stroked the trigger of the sniper rifle, but he knew that he had to wait. A smile did come to Michael's face as he figured that the Mayor wouldn't be too happy about what he found waiting for him. He heard Buffy move into the courtyard and confront the Mayor. It was then that the eclipse started and Michael saw more red targets approaching the school and come out into the open. One green target stood out among the mass of red targets…
"Junior… Arm all explosives… Prepare for detonation on my command…" Michael ordered as he looked at the green target among the red targets.
"Understood Michael… All explosives armed and ready to be detonated on your command…" responded the AI.
Michael had told Buffy that when they had established where Faith was and her status that he would give her a signal before he started firing. A smile came to his face, "Junior… I think we need some music… I have just the song in mind…" he said.
He heard the song he selected start to play over the school PA system and he took a long relaxing breath and quickly moved to a kneeling position—wincing from his injuries—and took aim on the head of one of the vampires guarding Faith. He slowly squeezed the trigger…
Michael didn't even wait for the first shot to hit before he shifted his aim on the second vampire guarding Faith and fired another shot.
oOoOo
Buffy heard the music and she started to tense herself to get ready. She had seen Faith—letting out a sigh of relief at seeing her alive—and had made eye contact with her. When Buffy heard the shot and saw the vampire's head explode, she immediately started running towards Faith. Buffy had only gone a couple more steps when she saw the second vampire's head explode. She didn't stop her run towards Faith, there was at least 50 meters between her and Faith with lots of vampire between them.
Buffy saw the vampires looking around confused and could only watch in awe as those vampires that tried to get in her way were taken out—Michael was covering her just like he said he would. The vampires were confused and didn't know what was happening or where to turn.
oOoOo
Faith saw the vampire's, who were guarding her, heads explode from what was a very large caliber rifle. She then saw Buffy running towards her as shots rang out and echoed through the school courtyard. Faith didn't hesitate as she saw her opportunity—she may have had her hands shackled but she wasn't defenseless. She felt movement and turned and saw a vampire moving towards her. She readied to defend herself, but that vampire's head exploded suddenly from another shot. Faith turned towards the school roof and got a brief glance of someone moving—she immediately recognized the shape of the person.
Michael… He's alive! Faith thought as her heart soared knowing that he was still alive and was here to rescue her. Faith saw that Buffy was almost to her as more shots rang out and more vampires turned to dust. Something on the ground caught her eye. She recognized it was something one of her vampire guards had been carrying—it was a long thick stick with a crystal on top. Faith picked it up as it looked hard enough that she could use it as a weapon to defend herself with her hands still shackled.
oOoOo
Buffy reached Faith's position and saw that Faith had armed herself with a sturdy looking staff that she had picked up off the ground. She had used it to beat back a couple of vampires that had gotten too close to her before Michael had taken them out.
Buffy punched and kicked a few of the vampires that were close by, but most of the vampires were running around confused as Michael continued to fire on them. She knew that their confusion wouldn't last much longer.
"Faith… Can you run?" Buffy asked hurriedly.
"Hell yeah! Let's get out of here!" Faith replied with a smirk.
"Follow me!" Buffy yelled pointing the direction to run towards.
"Is Michael going to follow us?" Faith yelled over all the noise.
Buffy didn't hesitate with her reply, "He'll be right behind us…" she lied as she knew that if she said anything else that Faith would refuse to leave. Michael had made it plainly clear that getting Faith and herself out of the kill zone was the primary goal.
The two Slayers sprinted with shots still ringing out behind and around them. They didn't stop or look behind themselves as they heard a loud whooshing sound followed by an explosion behind them. They both felt the pressure wave and heat from the explosion, but they kept running. Another loud whooshing sound roared behind them followed by another explosion…
oOoOo
The Mayor could only watch in helpless rage as the two Slayers were escaping. The Mayor's vampires were being shot at and kept in a state of confusion and the Slayers were escaping. He blinked and jumped slightly as huge explosions went off taking out more of his vampires. He was helpless to stop the Slayers or do anything else as he started convulsing. All he could do was stand there and watch and feel his rage build up.
It's that bastard Michael! It has to be him! the Mayor raged to himself as he convulsed and started his ascension transformation.
No matter… I'll soon deal with all of them! the Mayor thought angrily as he continued to feel his body change and could feel the dark magic and power start to flow through his body.
oOoOo
Michael kept up his firing and moved quickly between his alternate firing positions. He saw—with much relief—that Buffy had reached Faith and that they were making their escape out of the kill zone. He saw a group of vampires start to chase after them and he quickly moved to the firing positions where he had placed the RPGs. He quickly hoisted one of the loaded RPGs to his shoulder and sighted to where the vampires were going to be and pulled the trigger.
Michael looked on satisfactorily as the group of vampires was torn apart by the rocket grenade explosion. He quickly hoisted the second loaded RPG launcher to his shoulder and fired again. He watched as Buffy and Faith continued running making their escape…
"Good-Bye Faith…" Michael said softly as he saw Faith get further away.
oOoOo
Giles and the others could only watch helplessly as they heard the shots and saw the explosions coming from the high school. It seemed like an eternity since the fighting had started but it had only been less than five minutes. He then saw two people running towards them. He could see that they were female and there appeared to be a number of vampires chasing after them.
Buffy was running and keeping pace with Faith. She wasn't going to leave Faith behind. She had promised Michael she would get Faith out of danger. As they ran Buffy looked over her shoulder and could see a group of vampires chasing after them and they were closing.
"Run faster!" Buffy yelled.
Buffy saw that they were approaching some barrels placed at what seemed random points. The barrels had the words, "Save the Environment… Keep Sunnydale Clean!" painted on them. They quickly passed by the barrels and had gotten maybe 30 meters past the barrels when there was a huge explosion behind them that picked up both women and tossed them through the air. Both Slayers hit the ground hard and had the wind knocked out of them. Buffy stood up shaking her head and looked behind her. There was only a scene of fire and devastation, but no vampires were standing or chasing them anymore. Buffy helped Faith up. She noticed that Faith was still carrying that staff she had picked up in the courtyard.
"Hey until I get these shackles off…I need a weapon I can use!" Faith replied explaining why she refused to drop the staff.
oOoOo
Michael had monitored the situation with his motion sensors and using his augmented vision to keep an eye on Buffy and Faith escaping. He saw that they were close to the boundary of the kill zone, but they were being chased a group of vampires.
"Junior… Detonate mines Alpha-Five and Alpha-Six on my command." he ordered the AI.
"Understood Michael…" replied the ever cheery voice of the AI.
Michael watched and waited and did the rough calculations when Buffy and Faith were safe outside the blast radius.
"Mark…" he said ordering the designated IEDs to be detonated.
Michael watched with grim satisfaction as his home-made claymore mines went off in a huge explosion sending ball-bearings and nails into the approaching group of vampires shredding their bodies to pieces.
It's time to end this, he thought.
Michael dropped the sniper rifle and pulled his MA5 from his back. He quickly checked his magazine and jumped down to the ground from the roof. He hit the ground with a large noise making an indent into the ground, he turned to face the remaining vampires and the Mayor.
oOoOo
Buffy and Faith finally reached Giles and the others in the safe zone. Both Slayers were out of breath from their run. Angel and Xander came over to the Slayers and along with Buffy they quickly broke off the shackles and freed Faith's hands from the restraints.
Giles came over to check on both Slayers, "Are you both alright? Are either one of one injured?" he asked with concern.
"I'm fine." replied Buffy.
"I'm 5 by 5." replied Faith.
"When's Michael meeting up with us?" Faith asked while still catching her breath.
Everyone got pained and awkward looks on their faces. Faith saw the looks on everyone's faces and she got a bad feeling.
"Faith…" Buffy began to say.
"What's wrong? Where's Michael?" Faith asked as she started to feel like her world was falling apart.
Giles stepped closer to Faith and placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked directly into her eyes, "I'm sorry Faith… Michael was badly injured in the attack on Angel's… He's staying to hold off the Mayor…"
"You're wrong! He's fighting and moving… He can't be hurt…not that badly… You're wrong!" Faith said as she tried in a failing attempt to control her emotions.
"It's his armor and his will power that are keeping him alive right now… He wanted to make sure you were safe and that the Mayor was dead…"Giles said sadly still looking into Faith's eyes.
Giles could see Faith's eyes glisten with tears as the news sunk in. He couldn't look at her anymore and that was when he looked down at the staff she was holding in her hand. It took him a moment as he stared at the strange looking staff with the crystal on one end. His eyes widened as his brain finally processed what he was looking at.
"Where did you find that?!" Giles demanded excitedly.
It took Faith a moment to focus and understand that Giles was speaking to her again, "Wha… What?" Faith said puzzled.
"The staff? Where did you find that staff?" Giles demanded again.
"Uhh… It was on the ground… One of the vampires that Michael killed must have been carrying it… Why?" Faith asked still sad and puzzled.
"That's the 'Staff of Uman' that you're holding in your hands! That's the staff Michael has been looking for!" Giles said excitedly.
Everyone gasped and looked back towards the school. They could now hear loud roaring sounds and automatic weapons fire now echoing in the distance.
It took a moment for the information to sink into Faith's head and it took her even a quicker moment to decide what she needed to do—what she had to do.
Before anyone could react, Faith turned and sprinted back towards the school carrying the staff…