Fanfiction: A Tale Of Slayers : Finale
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“This must be the place,” Buffy said, as the diner came into view. Buffy was about to turn into the parking lot.
“No, Buffy! Keep going straight!” Angel suddenly called from behind her.
“What is it?” she asked, puzzled, but automatically did what he said. She slowed the jeep as they passed by the diner.
“Giles and Willow aren’t alone.”
She focused her gaze and saw what he had seen. A group of vampires were in the diner and appeared to have their friends trapped. “Damn! They must have been spotted.” She quickly shut off the headlights and pulled to the shoulder, away from any street lights. The diner was still in sight.
“We got to get in there!” Xander exclaimed from the back.
“Let’s go!” Faith grabbed the handle to the passenger door.
“Wait!” Angel insisted. “If they see us coming they’ll definitely make their move.”
“Well, I’m not waiting!”
“He’s right,” Buffy agreed, catching Faith’s arm in her hand. “It looks like Giles is stalling for time. But it won’t last long. Angel,” she glanced in the rearview mirror to look in the back seat before realizing he wouldn’t appear in it, and turned in her seat. “Can you get around to the back?”
“Just give me thirty seconds. If you guys can sneak up to the front and wait for my signal?”
“What’s the signal?” Faith asked.
“You’ll know.” Angel threw open his door and he seemed to fade into the night as soon as it was closed again.
“Let’s move!” Buffy said. “Xander, arm yourself.”
“Way ahead of you, Buff.” The teenager was stuffing a stake into the waistband of his baggy jeans and hefted a wooden baseball bat.
“So much for our surprise attack,” Faith commented.
The three of them evacuated the jeep and ran in low crouches across the parking lot of the diner, which was only partially lit due to only two dull street lights. But they would not be invisible to a vampire’s keen eyesight. Luckily, it seemed they were all focused on the humans inside. Buffy was leading the way and she headed straight for Giles’s car parked right in front of the diner. Xander, without the benefit of Slayer efficiency, was falling behind the females.
“Hurry!” Faith called back in a whisper.
“Don’t wait for me!” he replied.
The Slayers reached the car and ducked behind the rear bumper. No sooner had they reached it, when all the lights in the diner shorted out.
“That’s it!” Buffy hissed, in a whisper.
She and Faith split from each other and charged up the sides of the car straight for the diner.
The lead vamp shouted, “Take them now!”
There were suddenly seven pairs of yellow eyes glowing in the darkness of the diner as the rest of the vampires put on their `game’ faces. Giles braced himself for attack, keeping Willow and Sherri behind him, when one of the large windows exploded inward right in front of them. Amid the shower of glass he saw Buffy land inside the diner catching the lead vamp in a tackle that threw them to the counter. The glass hadn’t even settled yet, and she was already lashing out with a back-kick into the nearest vampire, sending him stumbling back into another vampire and the human Tarakan, all the while keeping the lead vamp pinned face-down on the counter top.
At the same time, Faith had crashed through another window, landing behind the group. Just as the closest vampire turned to face her, Faith was also turning in a spinning heel kick that connected with the vamp’s face and sent him flying against the counter. A second vampire came at her with a right cross to her face that she deflected with a wave her left palm, causing the creature to step off balance, then she countered with a right ridge-hand strike to his throat. He gagged, clutching his throat, and Faith grabbed two handfuls of the back of his jacket and tossed him toward the front door.
Xander had just reached the Citroen, no longer running in a crouch since seeing Faith and Buffy crash into the diner, and the party seemed well on its way. Once again, fashionably late, he thought. He was heading for the front entrance when a vampire suddenly burst through, sending glass and the metal doorframe onto the parking lot. The vampire stumbled right for him, trying to regain his balance, and Xander broke his bat in half when he swung it across the creature’s face. The vampire’s momentum kept it moving forward, but Xander saw him do a really cool backflip, from the impact, and land on his chest hard. With the broken handle of the bat in his hand, Xander realized he had a makeshift stake. He dropped to his knees, beside the creature, and slammed the jagged point into the vamp’s back. The creature roared in pain and threw the teenager off with a powerful arm. Xander tumbled back and saw the vampire rise to its knees, the bat handle still sticking out of its back.
“Close,” it growled at him. “But no heart.”
Inside the diner, the trench coat demon hopped onto the lunch counter and ran along the top planning to jump Faith, as she fought against the vampires. But the kitchen door swung open and Angel rushed out just in time to sweep his arm, clipping the demon’s legs below the kneecaps. The demon executed a clumsy flip through the air and smashed through one of the booth tables along the side wall.
On the opposite side of the diner, Buffy ducked as the lead vamp swung a back elbow at her face. The momentum brought him face to face with the blonde Slayer and she sent a one-two combo into his face, following through with a spinning backhand that sent him sprawling to the floor. With that foe momentarily out of the way, she turned to face the next threat, and took a hard fist to the face. As she stumbled a step back, she saw a stout, solid looking vampire advancing on her and just barely blocked the front kick aimed at her abdomen.
Xander scrambled to his feet and pulled the stake from his waistband trying to imitate one of Buffy’s fighting stances. The vampire charged him, snarling as it flashed its fangs. Xander wielded the stake and aimed for the creature’s heart, and he seemed on target, too. But the vamp knocked the wooden weapon from his hand with the swipe of a forearm and the teenager felt pain stab his wrist. He tried to back away but the vampire grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hurled him over the hood of the car, clearing it completely, and came down hard on the other side. Xander pushed himself off the pavement and looked over his shoulder to see the vampire standing on the Citroen’s hood, glaring down at him. He threw himself flat on his back, as it dropped down on top of him, tucking his knees to his chest. The soles of his sneakers were planted against the vamp’s chest and its fangs came within inches of Xander’s face. Heaving with all of his strength, he kicked the vampire off and the creature flew back and could not regain its balance before it fell against the car’s large fender. Xander saw the point of the broken bat burst out of the vamp’s chest and it didn’t even have time to scream when it exploded into ash.
When the diner turned into one big free-for-all, Giles had dove for his weapon bag as the group’s attention was divided between the two Slayers, and then Angel had jumped in seconds later, throwing himself into the fray. He reached the table and pulled his bag out of the seat. Then something slammed into him from the side and he lost his bag. It was the human Tarakan, he realized, just before he was punched across the face. He managed to keep his balance, and, miraculously, his glasses, too. The Tarakan came at him again, pulling a large hunting knife from his belt. Giles caught the man’s wrist stopping the blade from stabbing him through the chest, but was forced back against the table and the man leaned his weight behind the knife, which was hovering over the Watcher’s face. Giles had to use both hands to keep the blade at bay and the Tarakan clamped his free hand around Giles’ throat.
Sherri screamed and ran into the farthest corner of the diner, and Willow was suddenly standing by herself. Then she saw a lithe vampire hop onto the counter and jumped high over Buffy and the two vampires she was currently occupied with and land right in front of her. The redhead pulled out her cross as the creature reached for her and shoved it in front of its face. The vampire hissed and brought its hands up to shield itself and unintentionally knocked the cross from Willow’s hand, sending it flying across the diner. They both just stood there for a stunned moment staring at each other. Then the creature roared and slammed an open palm against the teen’s chest. Willow’s feet left the floor and she landed on top of one of the booth tables, the wind knocked out of her. She saw the vampire advance on her and rolled herself down onto the seat, then quickly dropped underneath the table. She reached into the pocket of her overalls and pulled out a small bottle of holy water. From under the table she could see the vampire’s legs striding towards her. She pulled the top off the bottle.
Buffy finally gained the upper hand on the stout vampire with a sharp fist to its nose and sent him flying with a hard front kick to the chest. But just as she freed herself of that creature, another vamp was charging her. She side-stepped and used its own momentum to send him flying over the counter, where it shattered the long mirror on the wall, and fell out of sight. The Slayer took in her immediate surroundings and saw Willow disappear under a table as a vampire stalked her. She hurried forward but two powerful arms wrapped themselves around her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. It was the stout vampire again. Struggling, Buffy knew she wasn’t going to be able to break the hold soon enough, and she could only watch as the vampire ripped the table from the wall, stripping Willow of her hiding place.
“Willow!” Buffy shouted.
The skinny vamp grabbed the redhead by the strap of her overalls and hauled her to her feet. Willow didn’t make a sound but she dropped something from her hand and it shattered, scattering glass on the floor at her feet. Buffy was helpless to stop the vamp from leaning close to her friend, its fangs aiming for her neck.
Then Willow spit directly in its face. Completely drenching it.
Understanding swept through the Slayer as the vampire began to claw at its own face when its flesh began to smoke, releasing Willow. The redhead pulled out a stake from her overalls and held it with both hands, her chin damped with holy water. She gave a yell and plunged the sharp point into the creature’s chest.
Buffy actually giggled in relief as the vamp disintegrated. Then she turned her attention back to the goon that had her pinned. She kicked a leg back and up between the vampire’s legs. It grunted in pain and she shoved herself back, slamming it against the counter and she was free.
“Buffy!” Willow shouted and tossed her stake to her.
The Slayer snatched it out of the air and whirled on the vampire. Two seconds later, it was a pile of ashes.
Faith still had her hands full with the other two vampires. Their attack was slowly driving her into a corner and she was a fury of motion as she deflected most of it. A chambered leg blocked a mid-level kick from vamp one and a raised forearm blocked a right hook from vamp two, then she ducked under vamp two’s left hook and deflected vamp one’s right hook with an open palm wave. But a fist finally snuck by her defenses, as the back of her thighs came up against the corner table, and plowed into her stomach. Then the other vamp punched her across the face, sending her on top of the table. She kicked her legs at them as they moved in to restrain her but they were too close. Then vamp one was suddenly pulled away from her and she saw Angel wrapping his hands around the vamp’s neck and flip it over his shoulder in a reverse head lock. The vamp’s lower body slammed on the top of the counter and it flopped limply to the floor on its back. This distracted vamp two long enough for her to send the heel of her foot into the vampire’s chin and its head snapped back painfully. She hopped back to the floor and immediately drove a knee into its gut, then grabbed its shoulder, as it bent forward, and smashed its face against the table. The vampire slumped there, cheek resting against the wooden surface, and Faith sent a kick under the table that broke through it and the vampire’s face. She had nearly broke the table in half and she ripped off a large chuck of the wood that had a nasty looking point, as vamp two fell to the floor. She brought her new weapon up to drive it into the vampire’s heart when vamp one got to its feet and charged her. Reversing her hold she let vamp one impale itself on the wooden point. Its ashes were still falling when Faith drove it through vamp two’s chest and its ashes left an outline of itself around the piece of wood sticking up from the tiled floor.
No sooner had Angel freed Faith of one of the vampires had the long tentacle wrap itself around his neck and he was pulled around to face the trench coat demon. Having no need to breath, the blockage of his airway really didn’t effect him, but he was concerned that its grip could snap his neck, and he struggled to untangle himself. But the demon did not give him time and swung him around in a wide arc until he slammed into the wall. Angel was dazed, but he did not release his hold from the tentacle, and the demon reeled the appendage into its sleeve dragging the vampire to it so it could smash a fist into his face.
Giles drove his knee into the Tarakan’s side, making the man waver slightly, and deflected the tip of the knife away from his face and let it bury itself into the surface of the table. The Watcher then headbutted the man in the face, again without losing his glasses, and kicked him off. The Tarakan stumbled back but regained his balance and was about to come after Giles again when Buffy grabbed him by the shoulder. One second later, he was flying over the counter and disappearing from sight.
Buffy turned to her Watcher. “You all right, Giles?”
“Look out!” he shouted.
She turned just in time to duck under the lead vampire’s punch aimed at her face and came back up with an uppercut to its chin. But, this time, the vamp shook off her blow and retaliated with a hard left that sent the Slayer spinning. As the lead vamp pressed its advantage Giles came up from behind with his hands clamped together and brought the huge fist down on the back of its head. This succeeded in only getting the vampire’s undivided attention and it turned to face the Watcher. Giles took a step back then threw another punch at its face. The lead vamp caught his fist in an open palm. It snarled at him and grabbed the front of his shirt at the knot of his tie lifting his feet off the floor.
There was a loud ripping sound of splintering wood behind the lead vamp.
“Hey, snaggletooth!”
The vampire looked over his shoulder giving Buffy a perfect target to swing the seat of the stool, she had ripped from the floor, across its face. It was as if the vampire was suddenly torn away from her Watcher, and Giles fell to the floor, coughing for air, and he watched in grim satisfaction as the creature flew halfway across the diner.
Meanwhile, Angel was still struggling against the trench-coat demon’s hold.
“Hey!”
The demon turned his head and saw Faith standing behind him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” she asked.
Then she slammed a hard round kick into the demon’s side. It staggered and its hold on Angel loosened and the vampire freed himself. He came in swinging a powerful fist into the creature’s face as Faith pressed her attack and they began to methodically pummel the bad guy. Then it swung its tentacle in a wide arc and swatted them away.
Raising the stool ready to strike, Buffy started towards the lead vamp again. That was when the vampire she had sent over the counter reappeared, and the human Tarakan stood up next to it. The vampire was snarling and flashing its fangs at her, but the Tarakan was brandishing a sleek 9mm Baretta. And he was aiming directly at Buffy.
Buffy threw herself to the floor, falling back, keeping the stool held in front of her and she felt bullets hit the metal stem.
“Buffy!” she heard Giles and Angel yell at the same time as she hit the floor.
The Tarakan swung the gun toward the other end of the diner and fired off several shots, forcing Angel to dive behind the end of the counter. Faith threw herself into the trench-coat demon and swung it around so that its back was facing the gunman and the bullets meant for her ricocheted off the demon’s hard back. Then the Tarakan swung the gun back at Buffy.
“No!” roared the lead vamp, still on the floor. “I want the Slayers alive!”
But it didn’t look as if the Tarakan was paying attention or was just out right ignoring his orders, and Buffy knew he was going to pull the trigger. This close, there was no way he was going to miss, and she had lost the little protection of the stool when she had hit the floor.
Giles threw himself on top of her, using his larger frame to shield her body.
“Giles no!” she screamed, just as the gun went off.
The bullet dug into the floor right next to her head, missing her and Giles by mere inches. Pushing against her Watcher, she saw that the vampire, behind the counter with the Tarakan, had grabbed the human just as he pulled the trigger, deflecting the shot just enough to spare them. But the vamp wasn’t done yet. It swung the human around and buried its fangs deep into his neck. The human screamed and tried to struggle as the creature ripped through its neck, not feeding, only killing, and the human quickly went limp.
The lead vamp was on his feet again and was striding towards her. Then the other vampire jumped over the counter and looked down at her as well.
“Giles move!” she shouted.
He rolled away from her and she started to rise. That was when the lead vamp kicked her in the face and she flew back, knocking Giles down again as he was getting to his feet. She shook her head to clear the stars she was seeing and found herself lying across her Watcher.
“We have got to work on our dance moves a little more,” she told him.
“Indeed,” he replied, as they pulled themselves to their feet.
She was holding his arm, helping him up. The shorter vampire reached them first and swung a fist at them.
“Duck!” Buffy shouted. She planted the palm of her hand against his back and forced him to lean forward and the punch missed him. At the same time she was delivering a side-kick into the lead vamp’s chest, who was coming at them from her side, causing him to stumble a couple of steps back. Then she side-stepped her Watcher to slam a front kick into the shorter vampire’s stomach. As it bent forward from the pain, she saw the lead vamp coming at them again. Still holding Giles’ arm she side-stepped him again, spinning into a roundhouse kick that caught the lead vamp across the face, and Giles took the opportunity to kick the shorter vampire in the face, and both vamps fell to the floor at the same time.
Buffy smiled at her Watcher. “That was better!”
“Indeed.”
“Uh, oh,” Buffy said, and pushed Giles away from her. He fell into one of the table seats just as the lead vamp slammed into his Slayer, carrying her to the side of the diner.
Buffy struggled for leverage but the vamp had her nearly off the floor, her toes barely touching, and it seemed as if it was determined in driving her into the wall. The lead vamp threw her with, what felt like all of its strength, into the wall and all the wind was knocked out of her and she fell to the table top under her. She was dazed and her vision was blurred, but she saw the tall vamp about to reached out for her again, when it suddenly stopped. It turned its eyes and locked its gaze on Willow, who was kneeling next to the waitress, probably watching over her. The redhead’s eyes widened as the vamp looked at her.
“You!” it declared.
And what surprised Buffy was that the vamp actually turned away from her and took a step toward Willow.
A new surge of adrenaline hit her system and Buffy sprung to her feet and leaped off the table onto the lead vamp’s back, wrapping her arms around its neck.
“Willow, run!” she shouted.
Willow pulled the waitress to her feet and they made a run for it. The lead vamp reached out for Willow, but Buffy jerked on its neck as hard as she could forcing it to grab at her arms before she broke it.
Willow and Sherri made it out of the vampire’s reach and they saw Giles, who was struggling against the only other vampire still alive. The creature was slowly lowering its bloodstained mouth toward the Watcher’s neck. Then Xander finally came running into the diner, through the broken doorway, and threw himself at the vampire. The teenager managed to push the vamp away from Giles and slam it against the counter. He had taken the creature off guard, but with its superior strength, it would soon throw him off of itself. Willow pulled out her other stake, just as Giles straightened himself on his feet again.
“Giles!” she shouted, and tossed the stake to him.
He caught the wooden weapon in his opened palm and advanced on the vampire, just as it shoved Xander away. The vamp did not have the time to defend itself before Giles pierced its heart with the stake.
The vampire began to twist itself from side to side, in an attempt to throw Buffy off its back, but the blonde Slayer wrapped her legs around its waist, securing her hold. Then it changed its tactics and slammed itself back against the far corner of the wall, and the wind was knocked out of her for the second time in the past minute, and Buffy was unable to keep herself from releasing her hold and she slid down the wall. But instead of finishing her off, the vamp immediately started to march away, heading with purpose, after Willow again. She didn’t know what the creature wanted with Willow, but it was important enough so that it would turn its back on a Slayer, so she was certain that it meant to kill her. Buffy threw herself forward, stretching her body as far as she could, reached out, and caught the heel of the vamp’s boot, just before he was out of reach. He hit the floor with a satisfying thud.
The vamp kicked its foot free from her grasp and started to rise to its feet. Buffy forced herself to move and she stood up just a second after the vampire did, and had to quickly duck the powerful fist it swung at her head. She was much faster than the vampire and she came back up leading with an uppercut to its chin, followed by a quick left and right combo. The blows staggered it but did not appear to do much damage. This one was a tough one, she thought, and forearm blocked another punch, then used the same arm to slam a backhand fist across its face and continued with a following left hook, spinning into another right backhand. But the lead vamp caught it by the wrist and yanked her in close to raise a knee into her midsection, then, in an almost casual manner, tossed her into the air. She came down hard on another table, this one before one of the large pane windows. Her body was starting to feel like one massive bruise again and Buffy knew she wasn’t going to last much longer if this fight didn’t end soon.
Finally deciding that he needed the pesky Slayer out of the way if it wanted to reach Willow, the lead vamp came charging at her, just as she was sliding her legs off the table. Buffy waited until the last second, then dropped under the vampire’s reaching arms, its momentum carrying it forward through the now empty space, and she put her shoulder against its thighs. With all of her strength, she flipped the vamp over the table and it sailed through the large window in an explosion of glass.
Catching her breath, she leaned against the table and watched for the lead vamp to return. After a few seconds, it still did not reappear. Buffy stood on one of the seats and leaned closer to the broken window. She was able to see the open yard on the side of the diner, the glass littered on the grass, but the vampire was nowhere to be seen.
Figuring it must have retreated, Buffy hopped down and rushed over to the others, where it looked like they had just finished off the last vampire. Giles was dusting ash from his tweed jacket, a stake in his hand.
“You guys all right?” she asked.
“We’re all fine,” Giles told her.
Sherri, the waitress was standing close by but kept herself apart from everyone, silent with a unbelieving expression on her face. Poor woman, Buffy thought. But there wasn’t much they could do for her right now, and soon everyone’s attention turned to the other end of the diner where silence had fell.
Angel and Faith had backed the trench-coat demon into a far corner and when either the vampire or the Slayer tried to move in closer, it would swing its tentacle arm in a wide arc to keep them back. It was pretty much a stalemate.
Buffy saw the large hunting knife imbedded in the surface of a nearby table and pulled it out as she led the others across the diner, until they were all spread out behind Angel and Faith. She saw the worry on the demon’s face double as it was surrounded.
“So, are you going to give up?” she asked it.
The demon sneered at her. “You’ll just kill me again.”
“You bet your ass,” Faith said. “And this time we’ll make sure you stay dead.”
“No, wait!” Buffy shouted, before the demon decided to suicide-charge them. She threw a look at Faith that said “shut the hell up” and took a step closer. “We’ll make you a deal.”
“Tarakans do not make deals with our targets.”
“C’mon. We’ll let you go if you deliver a message to the rest of the Order of Taraka.”
The demon did not say anything for a few seconds. “What message?” it finally asked.
“There is no contract on the Slayers anymore. After tonight, there will be no one around to pay you.”
A long moment of silence again. Then the demon swung its tentacle and they all jumped back. But it hadn’t been aiming at them and it smashed the closest window to the corner and before anyone could react, it dove out of the diner and was running out into the night.
“I hope that was a `yes’,” Xander said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Buffy said, turning around and they started toward the entrance of the diner. She slipped her new knife into the back of her waistband. “We don’t have time to waste on him, that vamp that got away is no doubt on his way to tell Oran that they failed.”
“So what do we do now?” Willow asked.
“We stick to the original plan,” Faith said.
“We don’t have any choice,” Buffy agreed.
They all filed out of the trashed diner and gathered close to the Citroen. Giles was the last one out, having retrieved his weapon bag.
“Faith and I will go in first. You guys will follow us to keep any of Oran’s henchgoons off our backs. Hopefully, there aren’t many left. Angel, stay very close to them.”
Angel nodded, his promise in his eyes. Then she looked at the frightened waitress. She turned to her Watcher. “Giles, can—”
He nodded. “I’ll talk to her and make sure she’s safely on her way.”
Satisfied, she turned to Faith.
“Let’s load up,” the brunette said.
The Slayers marched back toward the jeep to arm themselves.