Scene 3
There wasn’t enough time to gather proper forces. Hopefully it would be enough. Buffy rummaged through her chest of weaponry.
“Can I at least have a stake this time?” Andrew asked from behind her.
Buffy turned. “I don’t trust you with pointy objects, Andrew. And who said you were coming at all?”
The boy fidgeted. His eyes showed hurt and she wouldn’t have been surprised if he started to cry.
“Mr. Giles showed me some moves,” he said. “I can do stuff. Please. Just a stake.”
Buffy sighed. “Fine, but I don’t think a stake will help you much against what I saw in my dream. They were demons.”
She handed him a large knife. Andrew took it with a huge smile. “Thanks!”
“I’m ready.”
Buffy spun around to see her sister come in. The teen was fully clothed in fight-ware. Her long brown hair was pulled into a pony-tail. In her hands was a sword. The blade had ended up being ‘Dawn’s sword’ because she used it every time they went on patrol. Italy might be a safe place but it still had an occasional vampire or demon mishap. Buffy hardly had to help at all, Dawn had it down. Basically she watched while Dawn did the work. Rome baddies were lame. Not that Dawn wasn’t good, just things wouldn’t have been so easy on the hellmouth.
Buffy stood, her arms crossing. “What are you doing up? You start school tomorrow.”
Dawn raised an eyebrow. “Please. One more day won’t hurt.”
“It’s dangerous, Dawnie. We’re talking apocalyptic stuff here.”
Dawn’s chin rose. “Yeah, I heard. I also caught the part about Spike being alive and in trouble. Count me in.”
Buffy glanced from Dawn to Andrew. Often she thought of them as children, them being in need of protection. Right now they looked pretty grown-up . . . even Andrew (despite his Spiderman slippers).
“All right, you two, but if you die I’m going to be very pissed off,” Buffy declared.
The trio grinned.
Scene 4
An hour later, Buffy stood in the entry hall of the council of watchers. It was packed with girls. Still, with what Buffy saw she still wasn’t sure their number could get the job done. They were all talking, admiring weapons and talking tactics. The original slayer’s head spun. She couldn’t get around the idea that she wasn’t alone anymore.
She spotted a red-head make her way through the crowd. Willow gave Buffy a sheepish look as she approached.
“Are you ready for this?” Buffy questioned.
“It isn’t like I’m out of practice. I haven’t let my mojo go to waste.” Willow’s face went pale. “Oh, well obviously you know that.”
Buffy took Willow’s hand. She gently squeezed it. “I don’t want to go into this with unresolved issues. I know you had best intentions.”
“I did,” Willow agreed. “But I was wrong. We all were. We should have done something else. Something . . .”
“I just. . .” Buffy sighed. “I don’t hate you, kay?”
Her friend gave a small smile. “Kay.”
“Don’t worry, Will, I still trust you.”
Willow relaxed. “Mostly I’ve been doing meditation and out of body exercises. My mind is more in tune with my body than ever. I’m all set for the bad we have to face. You don’t have to worry about me going all blackly on you. ”
Buffy’s expression grew more serious. She scanned over Dawn and Andrew. “Giles is pretty confident you can transport us all. Are you sure?”
“Oh, yeah, no biggie,” Willow assured her. She used her hand for emphases. “The trick is to imagine us all as one entity.”
“Uh, sure.”
“Now, hold hands,” Willow instructed.
“I love you, you love me,” Dawn sang. She noticed everyone’s non-amused expressions. “Sorry, carry on.”
Scene 5
Willow didn’t let them down. Her spell needed no props. She simply closed her eyes. Light spilled from her, enveloping them all. All they could see was white. A rushing sensation came over them.
All of a sudden Buffy crash-landed. She staggered. The light dissolved, replaced by darkness. The sound of roars, charging feet, and flapping wings flooded her ears.
The demons were everywhere. Buffy lifted her sword. Her blade swung, chopping off a head.
Demon after demon came. All she could do was keep going. There was no time to think. There was a great variety of creatures, but the majority resembled walking warthogs (smelled like it too). Nasty things. Why does hell being automatically equal non-bathing?
Suddenly there was a flash of white in the dark. It was gone as soon as it had come, and she began to doubt it had been there at all. And then it was there again. She rushed toward it. Her heart pumped wildly, adrenaline reaching overload level.
Before she could reach her target, however, she was carried away by the swarm. She hacked and chopped. The next time she looked the bleached head was gone. Buffy realized that she’d lost everyone in her party as well. Where was Dawn? She had to find Dawn!
Scene 6
Andrew swore himself as Dawn’s protector. He was like Luke Skywalker, saving the princess from the Storm Troopers. He waved his ‘massive sword’ as if it were a light saber. The force was truly with him. Nothing could defeat –
“Ah!”
Andrew was knocked to the ground. He felt teeth enter his legs through the fabric of his pants. He thrashed, panicked. The creature looked like a dog, but bigger and meaner.
I’m going to be legless, Andrew thought. I’m going to need a synthetic limb like Luke after Darth Vader hacked off his hand. No!
Andrew squeezed his eyes shut. He prepared himself for the ripping of muscle.
It never came.
Andrew opened his eyes. Dawn stood before him, offering a hand to help him up. He gaped, noticing the demon’s head separated from its body. He looked up again, taking in Dawn’s bloody sword. Whoa!
He scrambled up with Dawn’s aid. She snatched an abandoned sword near a crumpled corpse. She tossed it to him. Oh, much better than the massive . . . um, puny knife Buffy loaned him. He tried to catch it but missed. The metal hit the pavement with a clang. He quickly bent to retrieve it.
Okay, maybe he wasn’t Luke Skywalker. Sam from The Lord of the Rings?
Scene 7
Gunn clutched his chest. He had to double check to make sure his guts weren’t falling out. It felt like it.
He let out a sound between a cough and a laugh. Blood ran from his mouth.
So, this is it? The end? He wouldn’t mind it so much if he could make one of those nifty cool exits. He scanned the battlefield for just such a thing. All he saw were demons, demons, and more demons.
Gunn let his madness explode, hacking chunks of the nasty creatures. If he couldn’t go in style he could at least go having some fun.
All of a sudden he heard a roar. Gunn spun to see the dragon hovering not far away. Well now, I think I’ll have myself a go at that, he thought.
Fingers dug into his arm. He looked over to see Illyria. Her eyes were ice. “You are no match against such a beast.”
Gunn tugged his arm away. She let him go easily.
“No doubt. But I’m going against him just the same.”
“I do not understand,” she said.
Gunn headed toward the mythical monster. It flew in circles now. As he grew nearer he realized what it was circling. Angel lay facedown, unconscious.
Gunn stared at his friend for a moment, then back up into the sky. The pain shooting through him was suddenly gone, and numbness set in. He only had seconds left.
The dragon opened up its jaws. Its golden eyes targeted below at the motionless vampire. There was a menacing purpose shown in the orbs that disturbed Gunn. He knew what he had to do. When things count you don’t think, you just do.
“Never thought I’d die for a vampire,” Gunn sputtered.
It would be worth it, though, he was sure. He kicked Angel out of the way, taking his place instead.
Fire raged down. Charles Gunn didn’t feel a thing.
If the dragon had a large brain he would have found the dark-skinned man’s sacrifice amusing. He landed and nudged away the charred body, going after his true objective.
Another obstacle came into view, blocking his path. She gazed up at him, wildly.
“You shall die for that,” the tiny blue thing declared.
The dragon snarled. He took a claw and knocked her aside.
Scene 8
War. It roared in Buffy’s ears and she could hardly think from the cacophony of it. Her muscles ached with every motion. They begged her to take a second to breath, but she could not obey. If she stopped, even for a second, it would be the end.
She was breathing too hard, and her heart burned so much that it felt as if it might blacken a hole through her chest. She had never been this exhausted. I’m going to collapse, she realized. Maybe not ‘right’ now but sometime before the all clear; because this battle wasn’t anywhere near over.
She raised her arm again to swing her sword. The action was too slow. The demon saw his opportunity and took it. He dug his claws into her stomach. She cried out, her arm lowering and the grip on her weapon loosening.
Suddenly something swooped overhead. She glanced up and gasped. Willow was on the back of a brown dragon. She clung tightly to its neck as it thrashed around.
“Oh cripes!” Willow hollered.
“Willow!?” Buffy shouted.
“Out of the way!”
“Huh?”
“Get everyone out of the way!”
Buffy didn’t hesitate. She ran, gathering everyone she could, shouting orders to evacuate the alley-way. They huddled together near a dumpster near the opening.
The world was on fire. In the flames they could occasionally catch movement and a scream now and then. When there was nothing but the orange smoldering, Willow and the dragon touched down.
Willow hopped off, swaying. “Whoa, what a ride.” Laughter spilled from her throat. Once she started she couldn’t stop. Buffy joined in.
Dawn jumped up and down. “You’re amazing, Willow!”
She recovered fast. She extinguished the fire with ice, and then let that melt. All that was left was a dirty street. Buffy took a gander at her group. She found Dawn and Andrew easily to her relief. There seemed to be a slightly less amount of girls, but most still stood (or leaned on someone, rather). There was no sign of Angel or his team.
Willow patted the dragon’s head. “Hey, guys, what are we going to do about my friend here?”
Buffy took a step towards the abandoned street, not hearing Willow’s question. Dawn caught on to Buffy’s thoughts. She came up beside her sister and took her hand.
“Maybe he’s hiding out to recuperate. He was afraid of the sun,” Dawn suggested.
Buffy glanced up at the sky. Sunrise was far off yet. No, he was gone. Buffy covered her mouth and shut her eyes in emotion. She was too late. If only they hadn’t wasted time bantering over that stupid spell.
The hope died. Dawn surrendered to the sobs. She shook her head, letting go of Buffy. “I thought we could save him. I thought I’d get a chance to tell him . . . He died again thinking I hate him.”
Buffy stared at her sister with marred vision. Dawn was referring to Spike. She didn’t understand that Buffy’s grief concerned Angel and not this other vampire.
How can you mourn someone you never knew?
________________________________________________
Come on, don’t be mad. I had to be realistic. You can’t miss someone you don’t remember. |
