"Heroes don't accept the world the way it is. They fight it."
Ch. 11: Heroes
For some reason, the Powers' connection to Earth -namely, to Charisma- had been severed. They hadn't heard anything from her since she'd gone back down to Earth, and couldn't see anything that was happening down there. Giles and Gunn had kept vigil at the Well in case there was trouble a-brewin', but the rest of the gang went dimension-hopping, trying to see if the problem was isolated to just one world.
"G-man, we got trouble," Xander announced.
"How many times have I asked you- what trouble?" Giles replied quickly. "And where are Willow and Spike?"
"All of the dimensional portals are closed."
"Closed?" Gunn echoed.
"Yeah. As in we can't get through," Xander said gravely. "And it gets worse."
"Willow and Spike?" Giles asked again.
"Gettin' to that. The dimensions are all starting to bleed together. And though we can't leave the Higher Plain, all sorts of baddies are coming in."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Willow and Spike are taking care of our little uninvited guests, but my guess is we can't hold them off forever -Powers-That-Be or not." As if on cue, Wesley and Cordelia burst through mounds of clouds, talking quickly over each other.
"These really weird skeleton guys-"
"I think the world is truly ending-"
"And this dragon, with the fangs and the scales-"
"It's the work of the Senior Partners, I know it-"
"And did I mention vampires galore-?"
"Faith is fending off as much as she can-"
"I don't know how long Doyle can last by himself-"
"HEY!" All heads turned towards Gunn. "We've got to stop panicking," he continued calmly. "I'm not the expert when it comes to theories and strategies and stuff. But I agree with Wes. I think the Senior Partners initiated this. They must have found out about our plan, so this is a last-ditch attempt. The balance of the universe is thrown in favour of evil, so clearly the Partners are on Earth." All heads looked to Giles and Wesley for confirmation.
"Well, yes, sounds about right," both ex-Watchers agreed.
"Well, we know the 'why'. Now what about the 'how'?"
"How?" Cordelia echoed.
"Yeah," Xander continued. "As in 'How are we gonna stop this?'"
"We go down to Earth, we're leaving this place defenceless," Faith spoke up. Willow, Spike and Doyle soon followed.
"I bound the portals," the redhead explained. "My magick's strong, but with the universal balance gone...the barriers won't hold them for long."
"So whatever we're gonna do, now would be a good time to do it," Doyle added. A blinding flash of white light engulfed the Powers with those words, and all they could see was darkness, loud screams echoing in their ears.
"Sure you know what to do?" Charisma asked for the millionth time as Buffy looped the amulet around her's and Angel's necks.
"You do your thing, we do the chant-y thing," the Slayer replied promptly.
"You still haven't told us what your thing is," Angel pointed out.
"Don't worry about that," she said, dismissing the question with a wave of her hand. "Oop, we better start this thing. My spidey-sense is tingling, an' it's tellin' me that trouble's a-brewin'."
"What kind of trouble?" Buffy asked sharply.
"Oh, the usual kind," she replied airily. If Buffy and Angel knew what was really happening, they'd be too distracted for the ritual to work. "Okay, mystical circle thingy, check. Pretty sparkly jewels in place, check. Y'all ready for this?"
"Let's do it." Angel and Buffy watched in fascination as Charisma slowly slipped into a trance-like state. Her eyes looked glassy and unfocused, and a white glow began to surround her. A thin beam of white light emanated from her and filtered into the blue amulet, making it glow sapphire.
"Your turn," Angel murmured.
"Here goes nothing," Buffy gulped. Charisma explained that Buffy ought to be the one who should say the incantation, for she could also draw power from the Slayer line.
"Hermes, Messenger of the Gods,
Here our plea.
We beseech access to the past.
Let us rectify the error that was made.
Return us to our time.
Bring us back to the darkness.
Bring us back to the light.
Make what once was as is now."
The glow from Charisma faded, and the amulet pulsed with unreal energy. The former angel slumped onto the ground, and Angel made to help her, but found that he couldn't leave the circle. The last thing they saw before they were enveloped by a blinding white light was a group of vampires that pounced upon the human girl that lay there.
"Buffy? ...Buffy?" Dawn grasped her sister by the shoulders and shook her lightly. With each passing second, Dawn grew progressively more worried. Buffy was a Slayer; colliding with a stack of shoeboxes -albeit full ones- shouldn't have knocked her out cold. "Buffy! Wake up!"
"Would you like me to call the hospital?" The salesclerk asked in her thick accent. Dawn bit her bottom lip anxiously. If something was wrong with Buffy...it might be more of a mystical thing.
"No, no, that's alright. My sister, she's very clumsy. Stuff like this always happens," she lied. The salesclerk nodded hesitantly, then went to re-stack the tower of shoes. Dawn flipped open her cell and speed-dialed. Whatever was wrong with Buffy, Giles would have an answer.
"Rupert Giles, here," came the familiar voice from the other end of the line.
"Giles, I need help," Dawn whispered feverently. "Buffy, she-"
"What happened?" Giles asked briskly.
"Buffy finally took me up on that shopping trip. We're in a shoe store. She tried on a pair of six-inch heels for laughs, and she lost her balance. She collided with this massive tower of shoeboxes, and now she's out cold." It took Giles a moment to understand what Dawn had said, she was speaking so fast. Then it took him another moment to register that his Slayer had been taken down by shoeboxes.
"Dawn, is this a joke?"
"No!"
"Inside voice, Dawnie," came the hoarse voice from behind her. Dawn spun around so quickly she nearly pulled a muscle in her neck.
"Buffy," she gasped. "Are you alright? What the Hell happened to you?"
"Good question. Wish I knew the answer." Buffy rubbed the back of her head, though it didn't hurt. She rose to her feet with the help of the salesclerk, and could hear a faint, distant voice that sounded like-
"Giles?" She looked around the store in confusion.
"Whoops." Dawn picked up her cell from where she'd dropped it on the tiled floor. "Giles? ...Yeah, sorry about that. She's awake now, and- hey!" Buffy grabbed the phone away from her sister and spoke quickly.
"Giles?"
"Dear Lord, Buffy? Are you alright? What happened?" She allowed a smile smile to flicker across her lips. Giles would always be Giles, no matter when or where he was.
"I'm fine. But we need to assemble all our forces. Call in Willow, Faith, Xander, everyone. Prepare the Slayers. We move out as soon as possible."
"Move out-? Buffy, move out to where? What in God's name is going to happen?"
"To Los Angeles," she replied matter-of-factly. "It's the Apocalypse. Finally."
"Well, personally? I kinda wanna slay the dragon," Angel smirked. Strangely enough, he wasn't scared. There was nothing left for him to be scared for. He was excited. Every fiber of him tingled with anticipation of the war. Always knew I'd go out fighting. "Now," said, stepping forward and raising his sword, "let's go to work." He moved to attack the first demon that came for him, but was surprised when it keeled over, an arrow firmly planted in its back. Peering through the rain-soaked darkness, he could make out the forms of hundreds of young women entering the fray, from all ends.
"Slayers," he heard Spike murmur. Yes, they were Slayers. Hundreds -maybe thousands, who knew?- of Slayers. Their strength and speed were unbelievable. An army of Slayers. And where there was an army of Slayers... Spike looked up the same time as he did, realizing, understanding. But for reasons Angel didn't quite comprehend, Spike inhaled sharply, then fully dove into the melee, obscured by the millions of demons.
"Whooo! Here comes the cavalry," Faith yelled, laughing. Armed with a big sword and an even bigger lust for the kill, the Rogue Slayer was in her element. Inclining her head slightly, she spotted Angel and gave him a small wave and a smile.
"I gotta be the first Slayer in history to be sponsored by a vampire."
"Take care of yourself, Faith," Angel murmured. It was impossible for her to have heard him, he knew, but he hoped that she would make it out of this. It would be too much to hope that they'd all survive, but if only one person did...all the better the world would be. Angel blocked out all distractions of Slayers and friendship; he concentrated only on the kill. There was no point in keeping a lookout for Buffy, hoping that they'd meet.
It was a strange feeling inside him, as he severed the head of the dragon and flipped off its scaly golden back; he knew that before he died, he wouldn't see her lovely face again. So once again filled with hopelessness, he continued on fighting the good fight. Because that's what heroes do.
"This is nuts. Absolutely crazy," Marla Mannings murmured. Lance nodded his head in agreement. The heavy downpour made driving downright dangerous, so she and Lance had to walk the the fifteen blocks to the Hyperion Hotel. This is what you get for deciding to put in some overtime. Marla, Lance - her cameraman- their boss, and his secretary were the only ones at the station at this hour, putting the final touches on tomorrow's top story.
Then the phone had rang. Some hysterical-sounding teenaged girl was calling in to report monsters in the area of the once-famous Hyperion Hotel. Her boss sent her and Lance to check it out right away. He said it might be a lead on that drug gang they uncovered a while back. She thought he just wanted to screw his secretary.
"M-Marla," Lance stuttered. They were about two blocks away from the Hyperion, but that was enough. They saw streams of young women and soldier-clad people rushing down the streets into the already-packed alley. Young women and soldier-clad people armed with everything from machine guns to battle axes. Young women and soldier-clad people armed with everything from machine guns to battle axes fighting every grotesque monster imaginable.
"Oh my Lord," Marla breathed.
"We're gettin' outta here, right?" Lance asked anxiously, eyeing an injured vampire several feet away.
"Are you out of our mind?! This story will put me on the map!" At twenty-three, Marla was a fairly new journalist. She'd take any story that could further her career. Though as Lance reluctantly set up his camera, she had the strangest urge to pick up a sword lying at her feet and charge into battle, like a primal force stirring deep within.
"Okay, ready," Lance signalled, as Marla took her spot. The rain plastered her red hair to her head, but she was in her element. Lance cued her in, and the words flowed from her.
"This is Marla Mannings with late-breaking news. Our special bulletin: It's the end of the world." Lance pivoted the camera to show the battle that was raging in the background. "Masses of monsters have flowed into the streets of Los Angeles, presumably from that black hole up there." Again, the camera panned to where Marla was pointing. "What seems to be an army of young girls have taken up arms against these creatures...and...to Hell with this!" Marla could no longer resist her calling. Picking up the sword, she cleanly decapitated the vampire going for Lance, then rushed off to join the battle.
"Mom, come check this out," Dana called out. She'd been channel-surfing, when the absurd news bulletin appeared on every channel.
"Dana, why don't you watch something with a little more substance to it, hmmm?"
"It's news," she replied lamely. "It's on every channel." She swept her long brown hair out of her face, and to emphasize her point, she flicked to every channel.
"Odd."
"Uh-huh."
"What does it-?" Her mother's face paled as she caught sight of the grotesque yellowish-green thing through the window making for their front door.
"...To Hell with this," came Marla's voice from the television. Dana watched as the reported dove into battle. She looked from her window, to the Los Angeles streets shown on the television. She knew what she had to do. She bolted into the kitchen and grabbed two cast-iron frying pans. Giving one to her mother, she prepared herself.
"Honey?" Her mother asked weakly. "What are you going to do?"
"We're champions. We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be."
"I'm gonna fight. And I'm gonna win."
"Father, come quickly!" Mahendra called, his eyes glues to the computer screen. The live broadcast had appeared on the monitor, and he watched as the reporter turned the vampire to dust.
"Mahendra! Leave the computer and come! We must get into the basement!" The sixteen-year-old obliged and ran to the basement door. Though the weather was usually hot and humid in India, it had become frigid. Worse, he and his family could see the shapes and shadows of monstrous creatures prowling the streets.
He actually had his hand on the doorknob when the image of the blonde woman in the background had fought on bravely, though the demonic creatures overwhelmed her.
"Never give up, never surrender."
He heard the words as clearly as though they'd been spoken to him. He knew what he had to do.
Mahendra's family sat huddled in the basement, terrified for their lives. They didn't hear his footsteps racing into the kitchen to grab the biggest knife off the rack, nor did they hear the front door click as he went out into battle. Nor did they hear the battle cries of the brave boy as he went to fight a war he wouldn't survive to win.
"After a year of apocalyptic onslaught, it seems as though the world has finally beaten back the denizens of Hell..." He flicked off his television. All the news stations said the same thing. It was over, it was done. But he knew better. It would never be over. Exactly twelve months ago this night, war had erupted. Demons appeared everywhere. Countless people had seen the broadcast in Los Angeles, and had rushed out to do their part. To save the world.
But was any of that ever mentioned? No, of course not. Thinking about all of those valiant, noble souls who had sacrificed their lives...it made him choke up. Now that the streets were once again declared monster-free, he felt better wandering aimlessly. He nearly laughed when he saw where his feet had taken him.
Right where the once-glorious Hyperion once stood, there was now a small garden, hidden amongst the massive-ness that was the city park. In the middle, surrounded by mounds of roses, were small tombstones. Their bodies were never recovered, of course. But it made him sleep easier at night once he'd constructed the memorial.
Three marble gravestones were there: one behind a two slightly smaller ones. The first was all colours imaginable, and the second was smoky gray. The third was white tinged with pink.
In memory of all those that sacrificed themselves to save the world:
Winifred Burkle
Cordelia Chase
Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok Clan
Rupert Giles
Charles Gunn
Alexander Harris
Illyria
Connor O'James
Faith Lehane
Tara Maclay
Daniel Osbourne
Willow Rosenberg
Spike
Dawn Summers
Andrew Wells
Wesley Wyndham-Price
Kendra Zabuto
& Every other brave soul who sacrificed him or herself to fight the good fight.
You did it. You won.
Rest in Peace.
Absorbed in grief, he didn't notice the shadow which skulked about.
Buffy Anne Summers
1981-2003
Beloved Sister,
Devoted Friend,
She saved the world...
A lot.
"The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live."
Angel
1735-2003
Loyal,
Determined,
Loved...
A Champion in all rights.
"Live as though the world were as it should be to show it what it can be."
"You did it, kid," Whistler muttered softly into the darkness. "You became someone." The vampire attacked then, draining the life out of the balance demon. He didn't fight, didn't struggle against death. In fact, he welcomed it.
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