Gods And Monsters

Chapter Ninety-seven:

Faith took the weapon from her, stood, and returned to the battle. Buffy remained prone on the floor, grunting in agony as blood seeped from her stomach.

In spite of the amulet burning painfully against his chest, Spike continued to fight with Faith and the others. After slaughtering yet another Turok-Han, he caught a glimpse of Hel that gave him pause.

She was basking in the carnage. The loose, tousled curls of her black hair swayed with every movement she made. Her milky-white skin was almost luminous under the yellowed glow of the cavern. Her pink pout was drawn into a sardonic smile and her bright eyes shone as she slaughtered any demon who dared to face her. Her darkly radiant beauty was blinding. But he knew better than to be fooled by her pretty face. She was a warrior, through and through, capable of killing on sight and without remorse.

A grouping of Turok-Han attacked Faith, and she whirled around, her determined eyes searching the battlefield. "Rona!" She tossed Rona the scythe.

Rona caught the handle effortlessly, slashing down a couple of Turok-Han with the blade.

The First materialized before Buffy, disguised as her, and looked down at the bleeding wound reflected on its body. "Oh no... Ow! Mommy, this mortal wound is all... Itchy." The First's face contorted into a cocky smirk as it gave up the act and crouched down in front of Buffy. "You pulled a nice trick. You came pretty close to smacking me down. What more do you want?"

Buffy glowered up at the First, her green eyes burning with murderous intent. "I want you..." She ground out through gritted teeth, dragging herself into a sitting position. "To get out of my face." She snarled, ignoring the pain as she rose to her feet.

Seeing Buffy standing, Rona threw her the scythe. Buffy snatched it from midair and swung it in a mighty arc, sending three Turok-Han flying off the cliff at once.

Faith felt a renewed rush of strength and kicked her assailants off of her. She then took out a few Turok-Han. Vi slew one after another after another, and Kennedy disarmed one and dusted another. Buffy tossed one off the cliff and slaughtered one with the scythe.

Gasping, Spike clutched at the amulet against his chest and stumbled away from the fight. He released the amulet hastily when it burned his hand for the second time. "Oh, bollocks."

A beam of electric blue light shot up from the crystal at the centre of the amulet. It blasted a hole in the ceiling and shone up through the floor of the Principal's office, past Willow and through to the open sky. The light transitioned into a warm, fiery orange.

"Hel!" Spike cried out.

At the sound of his voice, Hel whipped around. "Spike!"

Before she could go to his side, the amulet refracted its light out into the Hellmouth like rays of sunshine—but with the concentrated intensity of a laser. Hel stared at Spike, her lips parting in silent shock as the amulet's luminescence swept throughout the Hellmouth and dusted every Turok-Han in its path. The ground started to violently shake, the stone rumbling below their feet.

"Everybody out, now!" Faith called out to the others,

The Potentials rushed to the stairs in a panic, desperate to escape before its too late. Everyone except Hel, who rushed to Spike's side instead, and Buffy, who paused upon noticing that Hel was running in the opposite direction of everyone else.

Spike gazed out at the destruction, amazed. "I can feel it, Hel."

"What?"

He turned his head, his eyes locking onto hers. "My soul. It's really there. Kind of stings." Seeming to realize the danger she was putting herself in as the walls crumbled around them, he snapped out of his trance. "Go on, then."

She shook her head rigorously. "No. No, you've done enough. You could still—"

"No, they've been beat back." He interrupted. "It's for me to do the cleanup."

"Buffy, come on!" Faith called out from the mouth of the exit.

Reluctantly, Buffy left Hel with Spike and followed Faith up the steps.

"Gotta move, lamb." Spike insisted. "I think it's fair to say school's out for bloody summer."

Hel took an adamant step forward and stood her ground, stubborn as always. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I mean it! I gotta do this." He held out his hand to stop her from moving any closer, but she only reached forward and interlaced her fingers through his. Their joined hands burst into flame, tendrils of fire licking their entwined fingers.

Hel blinked back the tears that stung her eyes and threatened to overflow. "If this is to end in fire, then we shall burn together."

The ghost of a smirk flickered fleetingly on his lips. "Just this once, can you stop being so bloody stubborn?"

The corner of her mouth lifted into some semblance of a smile, but it failed to reach her watery eyes. "No." Her expression fell, her upper lip quivering. "William... I—"

He cut her off, shaking his head slightly. "Everything you're about to say, I already know. Don't do it now. We've already had enough bad timing."

"There has to be something I can do."

"Smile for me. Go on. One last time."

Her breath hitched in her throat as she struggled to compose herself. "How could I smile?"

He forced a smile for her benefit, attempting to comfort her. "It's okay. Don't you worry. I'll remember it."

Another earthquake shook the vast underground cavern, dust and chunks of rock raining down as the ceiling began to cave.

He untangled his fingers from hers, gave her hand one final squeeze, and released her. "Now go!"

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Hel backed away from him but kept her eyes on his face. At the very last second, when she could put it off no longer, she spun around and dashed up the steps.

Spike grinned to himself, admiring the demolition of the Hellmouth. "I wanna see how it ends."