"My Way - Chapter Thirty-One"
Author: Sydnie
Email: sydniep@hotmail.com
Xander and Cordelia were going through newspapers. Buffy had had a dream and a voice told her that the key to the ascension was in the papers.
Cordelia threw the paper on the desk. "Didn't that voice or whatever tell you what exactly what we're looking for?"
Buffy was holding Meghan and bouncing her in attempt to keep her happy. "Just said we'd know it when we saw it."
"Hey, listen to this." Oz interjected. "Professor Lester Worth has discovered what he thinks to be a new species of dinosaur buried in an old lava bed in Kauai. The fossil is said to be approximately three stories high."
"Wait, I read something about his murder. It was like last week." Buffy said.
"Ooh, ooh, I saw a dinosaur/snake looking demon." Willow said excitedly. She grabbed one of the books in front of her and began flipping pages. "Here it is, Olvikan." She began unfolding the picture of the demon.
"No wonder it took a volcano to kill this thing." Xander observed.
Everything became clear to Buffy. "Once he ascends, he can be killed. Now all we have to do is figure out how to recreate a volcano blast."
Joyce walked into her bedroom to find Buffy packing her clothes.
"What are you doing?"
"Mom, I need you to leave town tonight and take Meghan with you."
Joyce looked at her daughter with confusion. "Sweetheart, your graduation's tomorrow."
"Remember the whole ascension thing with the mayor?"
Joyce nodded.
"It's scheduled to take place tomorrow at graduation and I need you and Megg as far away from Sunnydale as possible."
"But Buffy..."
Buffy reached for her mother's hand. "I need to know that if anything happens to me or Angel, that Meghan will be safe. I'm counting on you, Mom."
Angel watched as Buffy tossed and turned in her sleep.
'She's probably reconsidering letting Xander lead the attack.' He thought.
Once they had figured what demon the mayor would ascend to, a plan was formulated. Xander would get the charges needed to detonate the explosion. Willow and Oz would work on the chemicals needed for the blast. Cordelia would pack all of Giles' books and Angel and Giles would gather weapons.
Buffy's part was the simplest. Get the mayor into the library after he had transformed into Olvikan.
That's why she was sleeping. Angel wanted her to be extremely well rested. However, it just wasn't happening. Her dreams were filled with Faith's death. But instead of Faith falling on the knife, Buffy stabs her.
"No!" Buffy sat up, her breathing rapid.
Angel ran to her side and took her into his arms. "It's okay, Sweetheart. Meghan's in L.A. with your mom."
Buffy nodded. 'He thinks I was dreaming about Meghan.' She thought. "What time is it?"
"Five a.m."
She ran her hands over her face. "I should get up. Lots to do today."
"Are you sure you're up for this?"
She took a deep breath. "After everything he's done? Hell yeah. No one messes with my family!"
As "Pomp and Circumstance" played, the senior class of Sunnydale High filed into their seats. Prepared for whatever happened.
Snyder stepped to the podium. "Congratulations to the Class of 1999. You've all proved more or less adequate. This is a time of celebration. So sit still and be quiet." He glared at a student. "Spit out that gum. ... Please welcome our distinguished guest speaker, Richard Wilkins III." He glared at the same student. "I saw that gesture. You see me after graduation."
He began to clap, signaling the mayor to approach the podium.
Wilkins cleared his throat. "Well, what a day this is. Special day. Today is our centennial. The one hundredth anniversary of the founding of Sunnydale. And I know what that means to all of you kids ... not a darn thing. Cos today, something much more important happens. Today, you all graduate from high school. Today, all the pain, all the work, all the excitement, is finally over. Now what's a hundred years of history compared to that? ..."
Buffy shook her head in disbelief. "My God! He's gonna do the whole speech."
"Oh man, just ascend already." Willow added.
Buffy looked at her and then back to the mayor. "Evil."
The mayor's speech continued. "It's been a long road getting here ... for you, for Sunnydale. There's been achievement, joy, good times, and there's been grief. There's been loss." He looked at Buffy. "Some people who should be here today, aren't. But we are. Journeys end. And what is a journey? Is it just distance traveled? Time spent? No. It's what happens on the way. It's the things that shape you. At the end of the journey you're not the same. Today is about change. Graduation doesn't mean that your circumstances change, it means you do ... to a higher level. Nothing will ever be the same. Nothing."
An eclipse darkened the sky.
"...and so, as we look back on..." Pain hit the mayor. "...on the events that have brought us to this day..." More pain.
Buffy was getting antsy. "Come on."
"...we must all ... argh!" He buckled in pain. "It has begun, my destiny. It's a little sooner than I expected. I had this whole section on civic pride, but I guess we'll just skip to the big finish."
He transformed into a huge snake creature.
As the adults ran, the students stood their ground.
Buffy shouted. "NOW!"
The students whipped off their gowns to reveal axes, crosses, stakes, etc..."
"Flame units!" Buffy ordered.
Flame throwers shot fire at the demon. Buffy signaled Xander.
"First wave!"
At Xander's words. spears were shot at the mayor. However, he ignored them and snacked on an innocent bystander.
Snyder put his hands on his hips. "This ... t-this is simply unacceptable!"
Some of the students began to run, but were stopped by the mayor's vampire lackeys.
"Xander?" Oz shouted.
"Bowmen." They grabbed their bows and lit the arrows. "Fire!" Xander ordered.
The flaming arrows hit a few of the vamps and they were dust.
"Fall back!" Buffy told her classmates as the mayor ate another student.
Xander yelled to the bowmen. "Fire!"
The vampires began to retreat, but were met by a very pissed off Angel, a group of students and surprisingly, Wesley, who had wanted to help. Unfortunately, three seconds into the fight, he was knocked on his ass.
Snyder was getting angrier. "This is not orderly. This is not discipline. You're on my campus, buddy. When I say I want quiet, I mean qui..."
The demon ate him.
Buffy cringed. "Fall back! Get Back!" She turned to Willow. "Go."
"Good luck." She told her best friend.
The Slayer yelled to Xander. "Xander, take em down!"
"Everyone, hand to hand!" Everyone fought, even Cordelia who staked her fair share of vampires. Wes, however, was still on the ground pleading for help.
Buffy was ready to face the mayor. "Hey!"
The snake looks down at her.
"Remember this." She showed him Faith's knife. "I took it from Faith. Stuck it in her heart. It just slid in her like she was butter. You wanna get it back, ... Dick?"
Buffy took off running as fast as she could through the school. The mayor followed her, crashing through walls. She went into the library and jumped through a window.
The mayor stopped when he saw the explosives stockpiled. "Well gosh."
Giles ignited the explosion, blowing up the school and the mayor.
Afterwards, fire trucks and ambulances surrounded the campus.
Angel held Buffy in his arms as they looked at the destruction.
Giles approached them. "Buffy, are you alright?"
She gave him a weak smile. "I'm tired."
"I should imagine so. It's been quite a couple of days."
Buffy nodded. "I haven't processed everything yet. My brain isn't functioning on the higher levels. It's pretty much fire bad, tree pretty."
Giles laughed. "Understandable. Well, when it's working again, congratulate it on a good campaign. You did very well."
Angel kissed the top of her head.
She smiled again. "Thank you, I will."
"I ... uh, ferreted this out of the wreckage. It may not interest you, but I say you earned it."
Giles handed her her diploma. She smiled and showed it to Angel.
The former watcher looked around. "There's a certain ... dramatic irony to all this. Synchronicity that borders on ... predestination one might say."
Buffy looked up at him. "Fire bad, tree pretty."
Angel and Giles chuckled.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll just go and attend to Wesley and see if he's still ... whimpering."
Buffy sighed and Angel held her tighter.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. I could use a little sleep though. If you could just wake me when it's time to go to college, that'd be great."
He leaned down and captured her lips. "I have a better idea. Why don't we go home and call your mom, take a nap and then go to LA for a few days? Maybe visit your father."
She rested her head on his chest. "I like that idea. Let's just go check on on the gang first. Make sure everybody's okay."
After finding their friends and seeing that no one was injured, Buffy and Angel went home. Once again, they saved the world.
The End