"What happened to you?" Jessica asked when she saw the bruise on Xander's face.
"Angel punched me and left me unconscious on the street. If it wasn't for my protections, I'd be dead or a vampire now."
"What?! Why would he do that?!"
"Buffy and the others aren't just sidelining me anymore, they're keeping me out of their plans almost entirely. Apparently the Mayor wanted Angelus back in play so he hired a mystic to yank his soul. Bummer for the Mayor, but the mystic knows Giles, so he told Giles what the Mayor was planning. The others decided to use it as an opportunity to prove Faith has gone rogue and didn't bother to tell me about it. The mystic put on a light show for Faith. Then she and Angel pretending to be Angelus captured Buffy and acted like they were going to torture her. Faith used it as an opportunity to pass on some information on the Mayor's plans. Not that Buffy or any one of them realize she was doing it on purpose. I ran into them when the others sent me on a donut run, on purpose, as further proof to Faith that Angel was Angelus."
"They knew he'd hit you? Do they understand he hit you hard enough to knock you out and left you on the street?!" Tony exclaimed. "Were any of them watching to make sure you were okay?!"
"No, none of them were watching and apparently Angel overestimated how much strength to use to just stun me."
"No he didn't. He's a Master vampire, soul or no soul, he knows how much strength it takes to knock out anything from a child to an adult." Charles said grimly. "They're playing games with your life. Did they at least apologize?"
"No, I doubt it occured them. They think I'm making too much out of it."
"Their behavior has been questionable many times, but this? This goes way beyond anything else they've done." Mary said. "What are they thinking?!"
"We'll have to deal with that later. Did they share what Faith passed on?" Madelyn asked.
"Yes. She confirmed that the Mayor built Sunnydale on purpose. And on graduation day, the centennial, he'll achieve Ascension. Giles has a diary from some guy from a town called Sharpsvillle. Sharpsvillle no longer exists. Someone there achieved Ascension and everyone died or was killed."
"I'll start researching Ascension." Joshua said.
"Do that." Charles said. "Faith did good. Hopefully she'll be able to get us more information."
The next day Xander reported Buffy wanted to be proactive with the Mayor.
"She wants to go after something called the box of gavrox. Apparently it's essential to the Mayor's Ascension. She, Angel and Willow for magical support are going after it. Oz and I will be building the breathe of Atropix to destroy it."
"Finally they have a good idea." Charles said. "Let us know how it goes."
"Didn't go so good. They got the box, but Willow got captured. We're doing an exchange." Xander reported when he called later that night. "Faith'll be there. I'll keep an eye out to see if she passes on any information."
The two groups faced each other in the cafeteria. Xander and Faith's eyes met across the way and he saw her glance down. Following her eye line, he saw her move her hand, carefully, slowly extending and pointing her finger at Willow's shoe. Willow had smuggled something out and Faith had let her.
"Faith was the one who caught Willow when they went after the box." Xander said. "She didn't bother to search her. She could tell, Willow had something stuffed in her shoe. Turned out to be pages from the books of Ascension. Giles and Wesley are studying them now."
"In less then a week, she's already gotten us more information on the Mayor's plans then we've been able to find out in years." Charles commented. "She's good."
"I know what Ascension is." Joshua announced a couple of days later. "He wants to turn himself into a giant demon. And Old One. He's spent the last century sacrificing and making trades to get himself to this point. Thousands dead and he needs the Hellmouth to complete it. On the centennial, on the kid's graduation day, he'll draw Hellmouth energy and transform. He'll need to eat a lot of people to sustain the change."
"Giles has come to that conclusion too." Xander reported. "And he thinks he knows what demon in particular. Olvican. Dinosaur sized snake. Someone in Hawaii achieved Ascension and became an Olvican. It took a volcano erupting to stop it. That Professor guy, Faith asked us to get out of town and we planted a golem in place of? He found the carcass. And that's why the Mayor wanted him dead."
"A while back Charles asked me to research how to close the Hellmouth permanently." Jessica said. "There's two ways. One, bury it completely. Which would destroy the town. Or two, pull so much energy it can't sustain itself any more. What the Mayor's planning will draw a lot of energy, but not enough. But we can do a ritual at the same time that will siphon off the needed extra. We can shut the Hellmouth down."