Chapter 16: Welcome to the Hellmouth
Int: Basement at Sunnydale High.
Buffy joined Faith and the potentials in the basement where the Seal of Danzalthar is located.
"All good?" Faith raised an eyebrow at the blonde. She had retreated into the basement with the potentials, giving the Scoobies some time to just be alone together before what was surely to be their most epic battle yet.
"Five by Five." Buffy smiled warmly at the brunette, taking her place beside Faith in the circle they had all formed around the seal.
The dark slayer chuckled and shook her head, "You first, B." she handed the blonde Slayer a knife.
Buffy smiled resignedly, took the knife from Faith and used it to cut the palm of her hand so that it bled. She handed the knife to Faith who did the same. When all of the girls in the circle had cut their hands, they all held them out over the seal, their blood dripping on to it to activate it.
The seal started to open, groaning as the parting circular blades revealed a staircase leading down into the hellmouth. Buffy turned to Faith and planted a kiss on her lips, "Stay safe." Then she turned and lead the way down into the depths of the hellmouth. Faith took a brief moment to wallow in the amazing feeling that filled her after Buffy's kiss. Rona cleared her throat, bringing the dark slayer back down to earth. Faith smiled apologetically before gesturing to the potentials to follow Buffy down into the hell mouth.
Int: Principals Office
Kennedy was sitting on the floor across from Willow, watching the witch intently.
"They should be in place." The witch sat back with her hands on her knees, admiring the semi-circle of white candles in front of her.
"OK, magic time." She turned to Kennedy, "You ready to, uh, kill me?" she laughed nervously.
"Starting to be." Kennedy replied, a dark frown on her face.
Willow knew that Faith would do the job if Kennedy couldn't, to be honest she was pretty certain that Kennedy wouldn't be able to handle Dark Willow. Even Faith, a seasoned slayer, was barely able to survive the encounter.
The witch swallowed nervously, pushing those thoughts out of her mind before the regret for her past deeds overwhelmed her.
"Good. Fun. Great. Brace yourself."
Int: Hellmouth
Faith gazed down into the hellmouth, gulping a little at the site of hundreds of thousands of Turok Han. She glanced down at the amulet around her neck and tentatively touched it.
"Nothing." She turned to Buffy and gestured to the amulet, "I have no idea how to get this thing to work." She shrugged.
Buffy glanced at the amulet, letting her gaze linger on Faith's cleavage, "I'm not worried."
Faith smirked at the blonde, "We're about to go into a deadly battle and here you are oogling my goodies." She chuckled teasingly.
Buffy punched Faith in the arm good naturedly.
The dark slayer grinned and winked at the blonde, "You ready to do this, B." she was amped, ready to get into the fight.
Buffy swung the axe she was holding, "With you by my side, I'm ready for anything." She gazed over the cliff edge at the thousands of Turok Han and gulped back her fear.
"I'm not worried." The blonde said again, trying to convince herself.
"Really?" Rona chimed in, unable to take her eyes off the hordes of vampires, "Cause I'm flashing back to Xander's whole bathroom speech."
"I'm not worried, as long as Willow can work her spell before they –" Buffy paused as collectively the Turok Han stop making noise and all look up towards the blonde and the gang, "see us." She gulps.
The snarling Turok Han army rushed toward the cliff and start to clamber up the sides.
'Everyone get ready." Faith yelled, preparing for the onslaught, her sword held in front of her.
Int: Principal's office
Willow is gripping the scythe which is laying in front of her, performing the spell that will create an army of slayers. Suddenly she is overcome with power, good magic, strong magic. She looks up as she and the scythe start to glow with a bright, white light.
"Oh….my….goddess." she gasps breathlessly, smiling. The scythe is glowing white in her hands.
Int: Hellmouth
The potential Slayers all feel a surge of power go through them and both Faith and Buffy are suddenly aware of the presence of the other Slayers around them. The connection between the two of them, the chosen two, is different though, still distinct, stronger even.
Their eyes lock briefly as they both relish the renewed power of the Slayer coursing through their veins. In that moment they both also feel the intenseness of the love they have for each other. Faith reluctantly breaks eye contact with the blonde as the newly created slayers get rowdy, ready to enter the fray.
"These guys are dust." Vi shouts confidently, gripping her axe, the power of the slayer coursing through her giving her confidence.
The Turok Han army clambers over the cliff and charges the group waiting for them. The newbie Slayers make short work of the first wave, each of them holding their own. Faith and Buffy are moving in unison, their years of experience showing as the chosen two finish off 3 or 4 vamps for each one the new Slayers dust.
Int: Principal's Office
Kennedy is smiling, relishing the feeling of her newfound power. She looks around and stares in awe at Willow.
The witch's hair is completely white, and she is glowing with white light from the spell. She is looking heaven-word, ecstasy in her expression, panting as the power runs through her. Finally, the scythe stops glowing and so does Willow. Her hair returns to normal, and she looks into the face of her lover.
"You. Are. A goddess!" Kennedy exclaims.
"And you're a Slayer." Willow smiles weakly as she hands Kennedy the scythe, "Get this to Buffy."
Willow watches her girlfriend bolt out of the office, eager to join the action.
She collapses to her side, smiling, "That was nifty."
Int: Hellmouth
Kennedy's eyes widen as she descends into the Hellmouth and sees the battle before her.
She locks eyes with Buffy, "Catch." She yells, throwing the scythe to the blonde.
Buffy catches the scythe and feels the extra surge of power course through her. She kills the Turok Han even faster with this weapon.
Faith is fending off 3 of the ubervamps when she feels a burst of power from the amulet. Her strength doubles and she is able to annihilate them effortlessly. She notices the blonde Slayer is easily destroying any Turok Han in her path with the scythe. It dawns on Faith then that the scythe and the amulet are linked, which explains the sudden surge of power now that the scythe is back in the game. Her momentary distraction nearly costs her dearly however Spike beheads the Turok Han that was creeping up on the dark Slayer unnoticed. Faith is momentarily stunned; she stares open mouthed at the vampire who just smirks at her and disappears into a mob of the vamps. She shakes it off and turns her attention back to the battle. She tries to clear a path to get to Buffy; she has a feeling they will be unstoppable if they bring these two weapons together.
"Keep the line together." Buffy yells, "Drive them to the edge! We can't let them do –" she stops suddenly, looking down in disbelief at her abdomen. A Turok Han found his mark, stabbing her through the back, the blade exiting her abdomen below her ribcage. Blood pours out of the wound and stains her white shirt.
Faith stops in her tracks, seeing the blood on Buffy's shirt, feeling the pain from the wound, time slows down; she watches helplessly as the blonde stumbles forward and collapses to the ground, face-first.
"Buffy!" Faith yells desperately as the pain is overtaken by her urgency to get to the blonde. She charges through a hoard of Turok Han, decapitating every last one in her desperation to reach the fallen Slayer. Faith falls to her knees in front of Buffy, fear gripping her heart, making it hard to breath.
Buffy leans up on her elbows weakly, "Hold the line." She hands the scythe to Faith.
The brunette chokes back a sob, "I can't, not without you." All she wants to do is pick Buffy up and take her away from the battle.
"You have to, Faith, they need you now, you have to lead them." Buffy pleads with the dark Slayer, "Do this for me, for them."
Faith nods sadly, she knows, deep down, that Buffy is right but that doesn't dampen the heart wrenching pain she feels when she takes the scythe, her fingertips connecting with Buffy's, the warm tingle of their bond distracting her but only briefly before she feels an incredible surge of power fill her being. She is an unstoppable force, the joining of the scythe and the amulet giving her unlimited power.
Buffy watches the brunette from her fallen position; she is unable to find the strength to stand up. Faith is magnificent, not a single ubervamp survives her onslaught. She is killing them, a dozen at a time.
Buffy tries again to get up but is stopped by the appearance of the First in her form.
"Oh no." the First looks down at the wound that appears on its body, a mirror image of Buffy's wound, "Ow! Mommy, this mortal wound is all...itchy."
The First glances over at Faith, the slayer is destroying any ubervamp unlucky enough to cross her path, and shrugs, "You pulled a nice trick. You and your girl came pretty close to smacking me down. What more do you want?"
Buffy digs deep to find the strength to stand, "I want you…" she says through gritted teeth as she sits up, "to get out of my face." She struggles to her feet and faces the First, unwavering, determination set in her jaw.
Out of the corner of her eye Faith sees the blonde is standing again, an overwhelming sense of relief fills her.
"B!" She gets the blonde Slayers attention and throws the scythe back to her. Buffy catches it and swings it with a mighty force, knocking three Turok Han off the cliff at once.
Faith takes out the Turok Han that are closing in on her, feeling even stronger and more confident now that Buffy is standing and back in the fight. Suddenly a different energy from the amulet fills her and she is propelled backwards into the cave wall. She can feel the amulet drawing on her Slayer strength, almost bonding with her. She gasps as a bright blue light shoots up from the amulet, knocking a hole in the ceiling through to the sky allowing sunlight to pour in to the Hellmouth.
"Buffy!" Faith yells.
The blonde turns her attention to the brunette, "Faith?!" she panics a little when she sees Faith engulfed in light.
"This thing is finally kicking in." the brunette says. The amulet refracts the sunlight out in to the hellmouth with concentrated intensity. Buffy stares in awe as the Turok Han are dusting throughout the hellmouth. Her fascination is short lived as she struggles to maintain her balance on the trembling ground. Collapse of the cave is imminent.
"Everybody out, now!" Faith yells, taking a step forward, continuing to guide the light of the amulet towards the ubervamps. Sweat is pouring off her in rivers and she is shaking, the power the amulet is drawing from her taking its toll. This is why it needed to be a superhuman to bear this thing. Faith muses, barely holding on, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her.
Kennedy and Spike start directing the Slayers towards the exit, Spike not taking his eyes off Buffy and Faith.
Buffy limps to the brunette's side, she grabs her hand, "Faith, you've done enough, we have to get out of here."
Faith grips Buffy's hand and squeezes it reassuringly, "Not yet, I need to end them, I am going to close this hellmouth once and for all." She says through gritted teeth.
Buffy can see the exhaustion in the dark Slayers face, sweat pouring off her face, "But…"
Faith turns to face Buffy, "No buts, B." she says with grim determination, "I have to do this." She stares deeply into the blonde's eyes, "I have to do this one thing right, please." She pleads with the blonde to understand how much she needs to do this, for redemption, "You started this, let me finish it for you."
"Let me help you." Buffy pleads.
Faith gently pokes Buffy in her stab wound, a pang of regret in her chest when she sees the blonde fall to one knee clutching her side, gasping in pain. The blonde glares up at the dark slayer.
Faith swallows the regret back, "You're too injured, B." she stares intently at the blonde, willing her to listen.
Faith glances at Kennedy who is assisting the wounded up the stairs, "Get the rest of the wounded out, they need your help." She smiles at Buffy, "I will be right behind you, I promise."
Buffy grimaces at the determination on Faith's face and nods reluctantly, deep down she knows she needs to let the dark slayer do this, "You are so stubborn, you know that?" She plants a lingering kiss on Faith's lips, "I love you, Faith." She hands the brunette the scythe and then turns to leave, helping Kennedy with the injured Slayers, "Don't be too long." She calls over her shoulder to Faith as she limps towards the stairwell.
Faith nods, her brow creased in concentration as she focuses her attention on the hellmouth.
Buffy pauses on the stairwell to admire the brunette. She is fighting off numerous Turok Han while directing the beam of light from the amulet into the hellmouth. God she is beautiful.
Buffy reluctantly diverts her attention away from the dark slayer as she notices Spike is watching Faith as well. She yells at him to get out before it's too late.
"Right behind you, love." He spares a last, evil glance at Faith as she annihilates any of the vamps that are stupid enough to come within range of the scythe.
Exhaustion is threatening to overcome the dark Slayer, she is basking in the immense power that fills her from the pairing of the scythe and the amulet however controlling the power is taking its toll. She pauses to take stock of the situation; all the survivors have been evacuated, it is just her and a few remaining vamps. The ground is starting to cave in, walls are crumbling, she knows she can't handle the amulet for much longer before she'll pass out from exhaustion.
"Time to get out of dodge." Faith rips the amulet off from around her neck and shoves it in her pocket. Digging deep into her reserves and with the last remaining ounce of energy she can muster she turns and bolts up the stairs. She runs through the corridors of Sunnydale high, jumping over and dodging the debris, struggling to maintain her balance. Finally, she can see the exit but just barely through the dust and smoke. She moves towards the faint light, so close, when suddenly a defeaning noise precedes an intense, burning sensation in her right thigh and a force which wrenches the leg out from under her and sends her tumbling to the ground. Faith cries out in pain and clutches at her thigh, confused when she sees blood welling between her fingers.