Soon enough, Buffy and Willow entered the living room, where Hel, Spike, Principal Wood, and Kennedy were keeping watch over Andrew. All eyes were on them.
"Guess what, Andy? You just won yourself a vacation to the beautiful downtown Hellmouth." Buffy announced.
"So he can do what? Yell at it in its own language?" Spike quipped sarcastically.
"Maybe." Willow replied.
"What?" Principal Wood blurted, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I— I'm not following."
"Look, we have to deal with the seal right away. We already might have to just shut the school down, and I'm not losing any more territory to the First. Besides, it's the only thing we've got." Buffy explained.
"The seal responds to this language somehow, or–or the First wouldn't have needed this knife." Willow added on. "Andrew knows the language, can really talk to it, maybe give it commands."
"Robin, Spike, you're with me." Buffy glanced at Hel. "Hel, can I count you in? You've recovered remarkably fast, but this could be dangerous—"
At the words 'could be dangerous', Hel's face immediately lit up.
"No, wait, hang on a bleedin' minute here." Spike intervened, stepping forward. "You have no place risking her life again, not after—"
"Spike, speak for me again and I'll detach something from you." Hel cut him off curtly, without her gaze straying from the Slayer. "I'm in."
"Okay, let's go." With a nod, Buffy turned on her heel and strode from the room.
Hel followed suit, Principal Wood and a disgruntled Spike in tow.
Upon arriving at Sunnydale High, they lingered in the front entrance for a moment, taking in the chaotic scene before them. Spike and Buffy swept the dark space with the beams of their flashlights.
Fifty-five gallon drums flanked either side of the hallway, fires blazing within them. Locker doors hung open, and every foot of wall had been spray-painted with phrases like: "DIE CHEERLEADERS" and "MARCHING BAND RULES". The floors were littered with all sorts of rubbish.
"The riot that almost happened." Proclaimed Buffy.
"Looks to me like it happened after all." Principal Wood corrected her.
From out of nowhere, a glass bottle was hurled across the hall and shattered against a wall.
"Looks to me like it's still happening." Spike countered. "Nice way to run a school." He commented, glancing around as, cautiously, they all proceeded further into the school. "There's got to be kids injured in here."
"Yeah, easy picking for the likes of you, huh?" Came Wood's unexpected jab.
Spike tossed him a frown. "Hey, here to help, you know."
"Right."
"Check out Spike and the Principal." Andrew whispered into his camcorder. "There's something going on there."
Spike moved away from Principal Wood, walking alongside Hel. He glanced down at her as she conjured a source of light for herself. The small flame in the palm of her hand could only be described as elegant— delicately licking her fingertips, burning bright orange. It cast her slender facial features in a soft, warm glow.
The loud commotion of students running amuck shattered the eerie silence every few seconds, echoing off the walls. One kid ran by them brandishing a hockey stick.
"These kids went nuts, didn't they?" Spike remarked, sounding almost impressed.
"No kidding." Came Wood's sarcastic reply.
"Shh, they'll hear you." Buffy warned them.
"Buffy, they're all the way down—"
Principal Wood was abruptly cut off when a kid jumped him from behind,whacking him in the head with a fire extinguisher. Buffy dragged the teenaged boy off of him, while Andrew hid and videotaped the events unfolding.
A second student arrived, grabbing Buffy and carrying her off. Another kid joined in on the action, smacking Spike over the back with a locker door. Hel came to his aid, fighting the kid off.
"The kids are getting stronger." Spike observed.
Scampering away but still recording, Andrew avoided the brawl. "Oh, God. Struck down before I achieve redemption." He declared dramatically.
Buffy tripped one boy, while Hel lifted up the locker door to knock another down with one unforgiving swing. Spike shoved the third boy against a locker and began punching him repeatedly.
"Hel, Spike!" Buffy shouted, and they both turned to look at her. "Don't kill them. They're just students."
Hel kicked her opponent down when he attempted to sit up. She pinned him to the floor with one foot, his chest under the sole of her boot.
"They'll live." Spike replied, striking the boy again.
Striding briskly down the hallway, towards Andrew's hiding spot, Buffy found the basement door. "Okay, Spike, Wood, Hel. I need you to stay here and hold our line of retreat."
"So, I'll be staying here with these men, helping out that holding-the-line thing." Andrew said feebly, but was hasty to correct himself when Buffy frowned and snatched his arm. "I'll be with Buffy."
While Buffy and Andrew vanished into the depths of the basement, Spike, Principal Wood, and Hel guarded the door.
Rummaging around the debris with the toe of his boot, Spike met Hel's gaze. "Wonder what's keeping 'em. I thought they'd be up here by now." Spike bent down, picking up a two by four that was adorned with the lethal points of a dozen nails. "How'd they make this in here, you suppose?" He tossed it to Principal Wood, who caught it effortlessly.
"Wood shop, I guess. It's nice to know they're paying attention in class."
At that, Hel couldn't help but chuckle.
Their momentary tranquility was brought to a sudden end when three more students jumped them, starting another fight.
In the midst of defending himself, Wood splintered the two by four and broke off a rather large shard. Retrieving the wooden fragment, he eyed Spike darkly. Spike fought side by side with Hel, oblivious to Wood's murderous intent, as they held off two students without breaking a sweat.
Making a split-second decision, he charged at Spike's turned back, wielding the makeshift stake. Thankfully, one of the boys intercepted his trajectory, knocking him off balance.
The battle continued, punches and kicks delivered back and forth by both sides, until the students abruptly stopped fighting back. As if in a daze, the three boys blinked, shook their heads, and wandered off down the hall.
Principal Wood relaxed his stance. "She got it done."
"Always has." Spike replied simply.
"So far." Hel added gravely.
YOU ARE READING
Gods And Monsters
Fanfiction"Everyone else I've met here is dull as a table lamp. Not that I blame them, of course. It's in their nature. They're just too... Human." "What am I then?" He inquired, his eyes searching hers intently. She smiled. "You're a riddle. I like riddles...
