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"She's been gone for more than a day." Willow bleated, "Shouldn't we be doing something?"
Giles shook his head sadly, "I've already notified the police and Joyce is keeping watch at home, in case she turns up there. Other than that, I can't think of anything else to do."
"So she went chasing after Faith and never came back?" Xander swallowed the lump of fear in the back of his throat. "You don't think that . . ." he couldn't say it.
"Buffy is the better Slayer." Giles declared hotly. "In a fair fight she would defeat Faith."
"Yeah, but who ever said Faith fights fair." Willow pointed out, glumly.
Each looked to the others for reassurance, but found little.
The library doors opened slowly and all three whipped around, hope gleaming on their faces. A tall auburn haired man in his mid thirties somberly entered the room.
"Peter?!" Giles gasped in shock. "How-? What are you doing here?"
Peter raised his head and gave his brother a pained look. "I have terrible news, Rupert. Gabriel and your Slayer are both dead."
Giles knees gave way and he slumped back into a nearby chair. Xander gaped in horror, barely conscious as he placed his arm around Willow and she burst into tears.
"How did this happen?" Giles couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Peter turned his eyes to the floor. "There was a battle." He began slowly, "Gabriel and the Slayer were chasing another person."
"Faith." Giles nodded, feeling a surge of guilt welling.
"They reached an alleyway and dozens of vampires attacked them. They fought well together, but there was no chance against such numbers. I was terrified, but I immediately sought you out." Peter wanted to smile. The fools were so desperate for an explanation that they swallowed his story hook, line, and sinker.
"Why here? Why did you come to America?" Giles asked levelly. He had to push through the pain and keep a level head through this.
"The reason may be even worse news." Peter wanted to be very careful. Rupert was an intelligent and suspicious man. "We can't let Mayor Wilkins retain the Sword of Seals. We have to get it back."
Giles pressed his fingers to his temples. "The Sword is incomplete. It's no use to anyone."
"The power contained in even a piece of the Sword is too great. It could destroy the entire town if he tries to use it."
"Why would you care about this town?" Giles spat, his pain surfacing.
"I don't." Peter answered plainly, "But I do care about my son."
"I don't know about the rest of you, " Xander stated resolutely, "But I'm tired of sitting around while Mayor Wilkins hurts the ones I care about. I say we take the fight to him."
"Anger is not the answer." Giles struggled to stay focused. Something inside him knew that this was not right. "We must remain calm."
"No, " Willow pursed her lips and swallowed back her grief, "I don't want to be calm. I want to stay angry and use it against them. Before it fades and all I want to do is curl up and die."
"She may have a point, Rupert." Peter keenly interjected, "The Mayor won't be expecting retaliation so quickly. Speed is of the essence."
Giles rubbed his temples furiously. He wanted to retain control of his emotions, to approach this situation with a clear head, but, for the moment, what the others were saying made sense. Buffy was dead and so was Gabriel. His nephew and the girl he had come to look on as a daughter were gone, taken away from him by the Mayor's cruelty. When Jenny had been killed, he had lost all rational thought. His world became a void and the only thing that lit the darkness was the flame of his rage. Now that flame had returned, a hundredfold of what it once had been. A small voice inside him, the same one that had nagged him since Peter's arrival, begged for him to so see reason, but he drowned it out with another voice. Xander wasn't the only one who was tired of being unable to protect his loved ones.
"Willow get your books." His voice held a flat, cold, steady tone, like he had become another person entirely. "We have a battle to plan."
Gabriel screamed, a long agonized sound that ripped through Buffy's heart like barbed wire.
"He's awake again." Buffy quickly rolled out from under her blanket and bounded for the main room. "I'll take it."
Angel stepped in front of the door. "Let me go. It sounds like he's getting worse. Sometimes these things get . . . out of control."
"I've already gone three rounds with our resident seventh son and lived to tell the tale. I'll be fine."
She entered the room to find it dark, lit only by the glow from the dying fire.v Gabriel huddled in the corner, hugging himself against the pain, his breathing harsh and tightly controlled. Buffy tossed a fresh log on the fire and approached him. There was a stink in the room, a mixture of fear, anxiety, sweat and vomit. He shrank away from her, pulling himself tighter into the corner. She could hear him muttering to himself faintly.
"Gabriel?" she crouched down near him. He looked like Hell. His eyes were sunken and red-rimmed, haunted. A crust of blood caked his upper lip and long red furrows marred the right side of his face where he had scratched himself. She carefully reached out and lightly touched his face.
"Get away from me!" he screamed, scrambling against the wall "You can't control me! You can't!" Thrashing his head from side to side, he shook with the pain of another seizure.
"Gabriel, I'm here." She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. "Gabriel!"
"The fire will forge the blade!" he cried, "The fire will forge the blade! What does not kill will only strengthen. The fire will forge the blade!"
He screamed again and began to weep like a baby. "Father." he whispered, his throat raw and dry. Her heart aching for him, she held him until the weeping passed, "The fire . . . will forge . . ."
His eyes cracked open slowly. There seemed to be more red than white in them now, but she could see recognition there. "Buffy." His teeth gritted, as his muscles slowly uncramped. "I thought you were someone else. How long have you been here?"
"Not long, " she lied with a consoling smile. She had brought him to Angel's doorstep yesterday morning and she had not wandered more than a hundred feet away from him since. She hadn't even taken the time to let the others know where she was.
"My throat is sore." He whispered, pawing around the floor, searching for a glass of water that had been left for him.
"That's no big surprise. You were screaming pretty loudly for a while there." Buffy rose quickly and went to the windowsill. She had moved the water there hours ago when he had first started thrashing about. "Here," she pressed the rim of the cup to his lips.
He slurped greedily, gulping down the lukewarm water. "Thanks." Suddenly, he pushed away the empty glass and looked at her, panic-stricken. "Mayor Wilkens! You have to stop him!"
"I'm not leaving here until you're better." She declared stubbornly, holding him carefully still.
"You don't understand!" he shouted, grasping her wrists and holding her hands close to his face. "I remember now. It's starting to come back to me. The Sword. . . "
"What about it?" she asked, carefully sidestepping the painful memory, "The . . . Mayor has it."
"We have to get it back." He rose to one knee and braced himself for a push to both feet.
"Whoa!" she cautioned, catching him as he lurched. "You're not going anywhere."
"It's not broken." He sank weakly to the floor, "The blade was always there, but it exists outside of our perception. It's made of the same energy as the seal on the Hellmouth. Giles was right, it can close the portal, but what he didn't know is that it can open one, too."
"What?" Buffy's jaw fell slack.
"Yes." Gabriel nodded with deadly certainty, "I overheard Faith talking. That's why we have to go. Now." He struggled to stand again.
"No." Buffy was already gathering up any weapons she could find. Fortunately, Angel's home was well stocked. "You better stay here. You're in no shape to fight."
"I'll be fine." Gabriel protested.
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Angel watched her intently.
"We don't have much of a choice." Buffy shrugged, "Gabriel's too weak and I don't expect you to follow me out at this time of day. The Mayor has to be stopped." She paused by the door, looking at Angel, then Gabriel. "Take care." She said, softly.v "I'll be back." Shoving a small bag of weapons under her arm, she strode through the living room and headed out the front door.
Gabriel pushed himself up and swooned. No, he berated himself. I was too weak once. Not again. Battling nausea, he clasped a stake that Buffy had left behind, and took a few careful steps to the door. Never again.
"So explain this to me again." Xander took long strides to keep up with the driven Giles. Behind them, Peter, Willow and Oz followed carefully. "We're just going to walk through the front doors?"
"No, not the front doors. We'll look for a less obvious entrance, a window or fire exit. It's just past noon. Wilkins' vampire minions will be useless to him." Giles stormed forward purposefully. "With any luck, we'll be able to get in, get the Sword, and get out with minimal conflict."
"And if we're really lucky, we'll get a stab at that murdering piece of garbage, too." Xander rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
Giles halted instantly. "No!" he commanded with an outstretched finger, "The mayor is still impervious until the day of the Ascension. Battling him now would be suicide. We must keep level heads about this. Revenge can wait for another time. That goes for everyone." He pointed to each of his comrades in turn.
Peter folded his arms across his chest and arched a knowing eyebrow. "Including you, Rupert?"
"Yes." Giles nodded solemnly, "Including me. Especially me."
Mayor Wilkins tapped the small black and white screen that displayed the feed from one of his surveillance cameras and sighed. It never failed to amaze him how heroism was invariably coupled with stupidity. And, noting his former business associate amongst the group, how so-called heroism often sprouted from greed. Calmly reaching into the perfectly ordered top drawer of his desk, he retrieved his small black spellbook. Flipping it open with a practiced motion, he almost immediately found what he was looking for. It was a simple spell, something he had mastered a century ago. Reciting the short passage absently, he traced a few magical symbols in the air. Slipping the book back into his drawer, he turned his attention to a stack of paperwork with a smile.
"Um, Giles, " Xander tapped the librarian on the shoulder anxiously, "Is there anything particular supposed to be happening today? You know, any rare natural phenomenon?"
"No, nothing." Giles answered, most of his attention focused on prying at the seam of a low window. "If there were, I would have warned you. Please, you're standing in my light."
"No, I'm not."
Giles turned and looked at the sky. The sun was steadily being swallowed up by shadow and thick, dark clouds rolled in. In less than a minute, it was dark as night.
"Oh, no." Willow whispered.
Giles clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Perhaps this isn't such a wise decision after all."
"Don't forget about the Sword, Rupert." Peter snapped, pushing past him and, giving the window frame a solid kick, bent it open enough to slip inside. "We just have to be more careful now."
Willow and Xander looked questioningly to one another then followed Peter inside without a word.
Faith slipped out a side door, not far from the bent window frame. With a knowing smirk, she approached the opening.
"Where do you think you're going?" Buffy stood atop a concrete wall, her arms folded across her chest.
Faith started, whipping around. "You're dead." she breathed, stunned.
"You know, people keep saying that but it never seems to come true." she leaped off the wall and came down with a hard right hand across Faith's face. The dark-haired Slayer hit the ground, rolling into a crouch.
"This time I'm going to make sure you stay dead." she snarled, launching herself forward.
She dipped her shoulder, driving swiftly forward and tackled Buffy. Buffy's wounded shoulder flared with fresh pain, but she ignored it. Coming up with her knee, she jammed it into the fleshy part of Faith's thigh and shoved her back with a punch to the throat. Faith choked, stumbling, but retaliated with a swift roundhouse.
"Your boy was good, B." Faith sneered, "A bit of a wet blanket, but not bad once I showed him the ropes."
Buffy's face twisted in rage as she circled her opponent.
"If you've got something to say about me, Faith, say it to my face." Gabriel stood at the end of the concrete walkway, a vengeful look on his face.
"Gabriel!" Buffy exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
Angel appeared behind him. "We came as soon as it turned dark. He wouldn't let me go alone."
"You better get inside, " she advised, "There's no telling when this freaky eclipse might lift."
"Both of you go ahead." Gabriel walked purposefully up the walkway as Angel gravitated instantly to Buffy's side. "Get the Sword."
Faith eyed the pair archly. "Well if it isn't Junkie and the Dead Man. You're not looking so hot, Gabriel. You need another hit?" She produced a small black pill and held it out to him.
Buffy and Angel looked back and forth between Faith and Gabriel apprehensively.
"It's fine." Gabriel assured them, his eyes filled with green fire, never straying from Faith. "You two go after the mayor, get the Sword."
Buffy and Angel, the old team, hesitated, then quickly slipped through the window into the mayor's building. Almost simultaneously, a pair of vampire cries rose and dissolved into airy nothingness.
"Guess it's just you and me now." Faith squared off with Gabriel, her mouth bent in a malicious smile.
Wasting no more time with words, he jabbed and followed with a swift kick. Faith ducked backward and blocked the kick against the hard heel of her boot. She countered with an overhand right that caught him glancing across the chin. He grabbed an incoming kick and tossed it aside, throwing his shoulder forward hard. Faith nimbly sidestepped and neatly flipped him over her hip. He landed harder than he hoped she knew, but was on his feet again and retaliating in an instant. Ducking inside the arc of a sharp hook punch, he kneed her in the stomach and snapped the heel of his palm into her nose.
Undaunted, she rolled backward with the punch, bringing the sharp toe of her boot up into his side, and followed with a short chop to his chest. The blow stunned him and he took a few more painful hits before he could back off. Faith eyed him confidently, a trickle of blood seeping out of one nostril.
"You're slower than you used to be." She pointed out, her breathing only mildly labored. "A lot slower. I'm going to kick your ass and I'm going to enjoy it."
Gabriel swallowed nervously and forced his breathing to calm. This was not good. She was right, he was slower. Movements that had been second nature two weeks ago felt clumsy and awkward now. Sheer rage and determination wouldn't be enough to carry him. Every muscle in his body felt soft and tired, drained already at this early stage of the figh . He had known that he would not be at top form entering this fight, but too much was at stake. He had no choice but to fight. Matching the confidence in her gaze, he raised his hands and advanced on her.
"Any time you're ready." He challenged.
"I hope he'll be okay." Buffy ducked under a clumsy vampire's swing and stabbed it in the chest with a roughly hewn stake.
"He'll be fine." Angel staked his own vampire and kicked it aside. "Concentrate on finding the Sword."
They bounded up the stairs, following the sounds of battle. Xander fell back at the top of the staircase, nearly tumbling down it. He fired an oversized crossbow and there was a scream announcing a vampires demise. Buffy ran to his side.
He sat up, dazed, a smear of blood staining his temple. "You're alive!" he exclaimed, "Or am I dead?"
Helping him to his feet, she guided him away from the stairs. "You're going to be fine. What are you doing here?" she asked.
"We came to get the Sword back. The others are already heading for the mayor's office." He stammered, pointing weakly. "With P-Peter."
"Peter?" her voice chilled instantly, "Gabriel's father?"
"Yeah," he responded confusedly, "How did you know?"
"I knew I smelled a rat." She rose determinedly, "I was just looking in the wrong place. Angel will help you keep a handle on things down here."
"Where are you going?" Angel called after her.
"Upstairs, " she answered without looking back, "It's time to take out some bad guys."
Gabriel landed hard on his back and kicked upward. His feet connected awkwardly with Faith's ribs, exerting only enough force to bruise them, not break them as he had intended. Laughing, Faith backhanded him as he tried to rise, raising a worn leather boot to stomp down on him. He rolled, coming up into a leap, and grabbed her around the waist. Unbalanced, she fell backwards, driving her knee up into his midsection. He gasped in pain and felt her twist out of his grasp. Desperately, he threw his whole body into a punch.
Whirling, she caught his wild swing and twisted the arm up behind him.
"I don't know what you were thinking when you came here." She drove his arm up harder against his back. "But it was stupid."
He gasped as the pain in his shoulder worsened. Damn it! She had him trapped. The drug had left him too weak. There was no way he could escape. There were other ways to win a battle, however.
"You're the one who's being stupid." He said, taking a risk.
"What are you talking about?" she gave his arm a sharp twist, leaning over close to his ear. If he hadn't already been on his knees, the sudden jolt of agony would have driven him down.
"What do you think is going to happen to you when the Ascension finally arrives?" he said, "You don't think Mayor Wilkins is going to keep you around do you?"
"He promised me." She snarled, giving his arm another twist, "All I have to do is finish the two of you and then it's easy sailing."
Good, he thought, she's already unsure, losing her temper. All he had to do now was feed the flames.
"When Buffy and I are gone, then what use are you going to be? " he continued to push.
"Shut up!" she cried, giving his arm a savage tug. The explosion of pain in his shoulder was enough to set his head swimming. "You're just trying to mess with my head.v Forget it, Puppet-boy, there's no way you're going to get away."
Gritting his teeth and forcing his voice to remain calm, he looked over his shoulder at her "I know I'm not going to make it." He said with deadly seriousness. "I knew it the moment I decided to come. Why would I expect mercy from you?"
"You can't." she grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled hard.
"You're right." He glared at her, "So why would I bother to lie?"
"Enough!" she released him, kicking him hard in the back. He landed face down, a dozen sharp-edged stones biting into his chest and arms.
"Get up!" she commanded.
He crawled to his feet, feeling almost as weak as he looked.
"I got something for you." She whispered vehemently, holding a tiny black globe in her hand.
His eyes fastened on the pill. Unconsciously, he took a half step forward.
"Come on, " she leered, "You know you want it."
He reached out with his left hand, his fingers trembling. His right hand hung deliberately behind him. "Give it to me." He said, desperately, never taking his eyes off the pill. He plodded mindlessly forward and closed his fist tightly around her hand and the pill.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" she smiled, reaching behind her and drawing a long, razor sharp knife.
"Almost too easy." He answered with a strangely clear, strong voice. Swinging his right hand forward in a swift arc, he smashed a fist sized rock into her temple. The knife tumbled out of Faith's fingers, midthrust, and she crumpled like a broken puppet.
Gabriel fell to one knee and rolled her over, checking for vitals. Still alive, he noted, but not going anywhere any time soon. His temples pounded and blood thundered in his ears. Unconsciously, he picked up the knife. His hand hovered over her face, trembling with fury, the steel barely an inch above her heart. It would be so easy to kill her like this. One quick strike and she would never wake up. It would be fitting after everything she had done to him. He watched her, laying as peaceful as a sleeping child, the picture of innocence to the casual observer. One quick strike. But that wouldn't change the past. What was it Angel had said to him? Sometimes what someone wants to do and what someone needs to do aren't the same thing.
Hurling the knife as far away as he could, he struggled to his feet again and stumbled, his head swimming. Not now! He couldn't abandon the others. He crouched over heavily, balancing hands on knees, and waited for his head to stop spinning. Maybe in a few minutes, he would be ready to follow Buffy and Angel.
Giles knocked a scrawny vampire onto its back and ran for the mayor's office. The Sword would most likely be there. Behind him, he heard Peter and Willow attack the fallen vampire as a team. A few seconds later, the vampire screamed its death cry.
All this way and only one skinny vampire to show for it. Something wasn't right.v The thought was barely formed when the doors to the mayor's office swung open and a burly vampire stepped out. Giles skidded to a halt and reached around inside his pack in search of a stake. The vampire snarled and grabbed him around the throat. Gesturing with his free hand, he beckoned to Peter and Willow. "Which one of you wants to be next?" he cackled.
"Don't you think you should at least chew your first bite before you try to take another?" a wry voice called down the hallway.
All eyes turned toward the voice, only one set reflected something other than amazement. The last set turned gray and burst into a cloud of dust and ash.
"Hi, guys." Buffy smiled, "You miss me?"
Giles and Willow surrounded her, hugging her tightly.
"Buffy, we thought you were dead." Giles eyes were filled with tears of joy.
"I appreciate the sentiment guys," she disentangled herself from the mass of overjoyed greeting, "But who told you that? Wait a minute, I know this one." She fixed Peter with a withering stare.
Peter backed away uneasily. "I thought you were dead." He whispered.
"That's been a popular rumor today. Sorry to disappoint."
The door to the mayor's office opened and the warlock stood patiently, framed within the doorway. "I'm glad to see you've all met my associate here." He smiled, focusing his attention on Peter, "I am disappointed in you, however. We had an agreement. You were to be paid in full. There was simply no need for this foolish behavior. I supposed you came looking to steal this? So predictably greedy." he dangled the handle of the Sword of Seals carelessly before him. "Of course with the Slayer still alive, I guess your half of the bargain is no longer upheld. Now I'll have to kill you."
"Peter, you made a bargain with this man?" Giles was aghast, but not entirely surprised.
"It was nothing, Rupert." Peter shrugged off the accusation, his green eyes locked on Mayor Wilkins. "Just a small business transaction."
The mayor nodded in agreement.
"Tell them what you sold him." Buffy spat.
Peter shifted uncomfortably under the combined gazes of the Slayer and his brother, glaring hatefully at Buffy.
"If you won't say it, Father, then I will." Gabriel topped the stairs, cradling one shoulder. "You gave him my soul. In exchange for Buffy's life."
"Gabriel!" Peter and Giles gasped in unison. Buffy was relieved to see that he had apparently survived his confrontation with Faith.
"Now isn't this a touching moment, " Mayor Wilkins watched harmlessly from the office doorway, idly toying with the Sword. "A father and son have their first big talk about betrayal. Boy, I remember having this discussion with my father like it was only yesterday."
Gabriel advanced on Peter, his lips tight with distress. "The pills you gave me. They weren't medicine, were they? They messed up my mind, so that THEY" he jabbed a blood-smeared finger over Peter's shoulder, indicating the mayor, "could mess it up worse."
"You were meant for great things, Gabriel." Peter matched his son's angry stare as they came almost nose to nose, Peter less than an inch the taller. "Sometimes extreme measures must be undertaken to insure that everything goes as planned."
"Extreme measures?!" Gabriel's jaw quivered with barely contained emotion. "You hooked me on a drug so you could sell me to the highest bidder!"
"Dear God." Giles looked at his brother with horror and disgust, "How could you? With all the terrible things you've done in you're life, this is, by far, the most inhuman!"
"Spare me your whiny reproachments, Rupert." Peter snarled, "I've worked too long and hard to let my plans fall apart now."
With speed born of desperation, he leaped at the mayor and snatched the Sword of Seals from his hand. Brandishing it as if it had a tangible blade, he warded the others away.
Xander and Angel rushed up the stairs and froze when they saw Peter.
"What's going on?" Xander looked around, lost.
"I'll tell you what's going on!" Peter shouted, "Gabriel and I are getting out of here and none of you are going to do a thing about it."
"Or what?" Buffy rolled her eyes, "You going to imaginary stab us with your imaginary sword?"
"No." Peter reached inside his coat pocket and withdrew a black, large caliber pistol. "That's what the gun is for. I should be able to sell the Sword on the European market for a worthwhile sum. I might recoup some of my losses, at least. Come on, Gabriel. We're leaving." He stuffed the Sword in his pocket and leveled the gun at Buffy. As he turned the Sword to fit it in his pocket, there was a faint scraping sound and the outline of a blade, showering tiny sparks, became apparent.
"You fool!" Mayor Wilkins cried, "You're opening a portal!"
Peter turned and the semi-visible blade caught in the fabric of reality and tore it wide like it was tissue paper. The hole bathed the hallway in reddish light and filled it with the stench of brimstone. A discordant noise rose from inside the rift that sounded like the squealing of a thousand pigs. Gabriel leaped forward and tackled his father as a thick, brownish tentacle shot through the portal. The Sword skittered across the floor and lay still.
Buffy grabbed up a tall, slender lamp and, using it like a staff, batted at the tentacle. Three more tentacles whipped through the portal, tearing the makeshift weapon from her hands and nearly crushing her.
"Close the portal!" the mayor commanded, "It cannot be allowed to cross over!"
More tentacles wove over the edge of the tear and a monstrous head pushed itself through. Appearing like a cross between a lion and a crocodile, the creature's jaws were lined with rows of pointed teeth like a shark. Its blood red eyes were pure malice. The portal appeared to be stretching under the beast's formidable mass as it leaned forward.
Xander grabbed Willow around the waist and pulled her back, out of the reach of the creature.
"We must find a way to stop the demon or else we'll never be able to close the portal." Giles ducked another flying tentacle.
"How?" Willow fretted, "It's so huge." Xander nodded, stupefied.
Giles searched the room and found his shoulder bag lying discarded near the door. "I have an idea."
Across the room, on the other side of the demon, Gabriel and Peter struggled to avoid the demon's flailing limbs.
"I have to get to Buffy." Gabriel attempted to cross the room, but was forced to leap back against the wall to avoid being crushed by a questing tentacle.
"Forget about her." Peter shook his head to clear it, "We have to escape."
"You want me to leave them here?" he asked, unbelieving.v Then his face turned dark, "Of course you do."
"Don't be a fool, Gabriel." Peter sneered, "You and your friends don't have a chance against that creature."
"And if we don't stop it, no one else will either."
Buffy retreated from a wall of waving tentacles and bumped into someone. Whirling around, she came face to face with Mayor Wilkins.
"Are you going to help or are you just going to get in my way?" she snapped.
"What do I have to fear?" he shrugged, "I'm impervious to all harm."
Buffy regarded him archly. "Being impervious doesn't sound like a great deal if the octopus from Hell over there decides to chow down on a local political figure or two. What do you think?"
"Good point." He agreed, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"What is that thing?" she thrust her hand inside her backpack in search of a weapon. Coming up with a sharp tipped wooden stake, she briefly considered it then discarded it as useless.
"Looks like a Kevares demon." The mayor rubbed his chin in thought, "The babylonians called them Tiamat, their version of the Devil. Tentacle Beast, if you want the layman's term."
"No question of why." Her mouth quirked in a crooked smirk, "So how do we kill old grabby hands?"
"Mystical force is the only thing that can harm a Kevares Here, give me a stake." She handed him a stake and he held it, point up, in the palm of his hand. As he stroked it with his other hand, she noticed a subtle transference of power evinced by a faint glow imbuing the wood.
"Here, " he handed it back to her, "Do you think you can hit its head?"
"Just call me William Tell." She accepted the stake. She could feel the power within it. Taking aim with her free hand, she cocked her arm back and threw. The stake sailed through the air with unerring accuracy. At the last instant, the beast turned its head and the stake struck it in the neck. The creature's jaws opened wide and an ear piercing keen erupted from it. Its tentacles whipped about in pained fury.
"Ewww!" Willow backed against a wall in fear and disgust.
"I have to get to my bag. Can you two stage a diversion?" Giles studied the movements of the demon, waiting for an opening.
"I think so." Willow thumbed through a collection of loose pages, "I was prepared for vampires, not . . . Jabba the Hutt on steroids. Here it is. But I need to be able to see its eyes."
"I'm on it." Xander scrambled closer to the demon. He jumped up and down, waving his arms wildly and screaming. "Hey, you! Look at me, you big ugly!"
The demon brought its heavy head around with a snort, glaring down at him with its blood red eyes.
"Oh." Xander stopped moving immediately and his voice dropped to a meek whisper, "Bet you didn't get a lot of dates in high school, did you? But who knows with the crazy kids today, huh?" The demon snorted a blast of hot air that almost knocked him from his feet. "Okay, Will, " his voice quavered with fright. "Any time you're ready."
Willow rushed forward.v Reciting the words of a spell from the page in her hand, she threw a handful of dust in the demon's face and, grabbing Xander by the hand, fled with him.
Bright lights flared behind the demon's leathery eyelids and it reared, screaming and blind. Giles ran for the door and dove, sliding across the last few feet to his shoulder bag. Digging around inside, he took a small, cylindrical bottle filled with clear liquid in hand.v Rolling, he lobbed the bottle high. It landed against the demon's hard hide and shattered.v A fresh scream sounded as the creature's flesh boiled and smoked wherever the liquid had splashed.
Willow looked at Giles questioningly.
"Holy water." He explained, stuffing his pockets full, and taking three bottles in his hands. He pressed the bag into her hands. "Give some to Xander as well."
Buffy whipped another magically imbued stake overhand into the demon's hard flesh. It screamed and struck out blindly at her. Diving into a roll, she came up separated from Mayor Wilkins. With only had two magical stakes left, she would have to make them count. As calmly as she could, she stepped into the creature's reach.
"You want to eat something, Big and Ugly?" she opened her arms wide in invitation, "Come and get me."
Reacting to the sound of her voice, the beast lashed out with a pair of tentacles. Wrapping themselves tightly around her waist, they lifted her into the air and squeezed. The pain was great but bearable. Her plan was risky, but possibly the only chance they had.
"Come on, bite me, you big ugly freak!" she struggled within the grip of the tentacles, wriggling both arms free, a magically charged stake in each hand.
The demon drew her in close and opened its jaws. Now was her chance. With a snap of her wrist, she hurled a stake into one of the creature's eyes. Howling in agony, it thrashed about violently. The stake had hit the mark, but without enough force to penetrate the brain.
Buffy gasped in pain as the tentacles holding her convulsed and drew tighter. Her ribcage was still sore from her fight with Gabriel and the pain was too much. Her arm jerked and her last stake tumbled from her fingers. She hung defenseless as the demon's massive body shook along with its high pitched screams.
Peter clawed at the edges of the window desperately. Frustrated, he grabbed up a chair and slammed it against the pane. The glass spider webbed, but didn't break. Twice more, he hit it, but the window only bowed outward.
Gabriel grabbed him by the arm and turned him around. "I have to help her. The mayor said it takes mystical force to hurt the demon. What do you have that can help?"
"What do I look like to you? A travelling occult shop?!" Peter's voice was shrill with stress, " I have to get out of here!"
"The Sword." Gabriel breathed, "It's made of energy from the demon dimension." Scanning the floor, he found the Sword half hidden under a large bookcase.v Snatching it up, he tossed it end over end.
"Buffy!" he called out, "Catch!"
The Sword flew through the air and landed solidly in her hand. Grasping it with both hands, she waited until the tentacle moved close enough and stabbed downward. The Sword connected with the demon's forehead, driving into its skull with a screech like metal on metal. Black ichor sprayed out and the demon shrieked its death cry. The tentacles holding Buffy released their grip and she fell to the floor. Xander and Willow rushed into the fray and dragged her away from the writhing beast.
Tentacles convulsing reflexively, the demon began to retreat through the portal.
"The Sword!" Giles cried, pointing to where it stuck out of the demon's head.v "Without it, we can't destroy the Hellmouth. It must not go through the portal!"
The creature screeched deafeningly and continued to writhe on the edge of the portal to the demon dimension. A multitude of twitching tentacles whipped back and forth in pain, almost completely blocking the embedded blade from view.v One of the trailing appendages mindlessly twisted around Peter's legs and started dragging him.
"Help!" he wailed in terror A dozen roiling limbs flopped about with deadly force on all sides of him.
Gabriel, his face stern and determined, charged into the dangerous mass.
"Gabriel, no!" Buffy called out to him, but he was already halfway to his destination.v She winced as she saw him take a glancing blow, which took him off his feet. He rolled with the impact and came up close to his father.
"Gabriel, my son, help me!" the older man struggled against a second tentacle that had wrapped itself tightly around his upper body.
Gabriel pounded on the tentacle and started pulling on Peter's arms. There was an explosion of shattering glass behind him and a pained shudder ran across the length of the creature. It's constant scream rose sharply in pitch and the tentacles wrapped around Peter loosened.
"Hurry!" Giles shouted, lobbing another volley of holy water vials at the demon.
"Yes! Yes! That's it! I'm almost free!" Peter exulted, "We'll leave this place, Gabriel. You and I. We'll go back to Europe and finish my rivals there. We'll both be rich men, I promise you."
Gabriel stopped pulling on his father's arms, his green eyes hardening.
"W-What are you doing?" Peter cried, "Pull me out!"
Gabriel looked intently at his father, the shroud of self-denial finally falling away. Everything the man had ever done had been for personal gain. His children, purposely fathered for the sake of having a seventh son, were merely pawns to be played in the dubious games he partook. Even now, on the threshold of death, Gabriel found no remorse within him. Sadly, he let his eyes fall. He had never been so disappointed in all his life.
Giles shouted something as a glass vial shattered against the demon's thick, leathery skin. The creature shrieked ear piercingly and thrashed about, mad with pain. A thin, wiry tentacle snapped down and struck Gabriel across his left arm. He screamed as he felt bones cracking and his grip on his father was lost. The demon beast reflexively tightened its hold around Peter and reared, retreating further through the portal.
"Gabriel, help me!" Peter screamed, as he slid helplessly across the floor, "You can't do this to me! I am your father. You belong to me! Save me!"
He continued to scream as he was dragged through the swirling, mystical gateway. The sound of his cries was cut short, swallowed by the portal. Gabriel watched through pain-blurred vision as the Sword of Seals glowed hotly, spray a shower of sparks in all directions as it, too, crossed through the portal. The rift collapsed in on itself with a wispy pop and then the room was silent.
Gabriel stood as still as stone, paralyzed with shock, hot tears crawling slowly down his cheeks. "Sometimes what someone wants to do and what someone needs to do aren't the same thing." He whispered, too low for anyone else to hear.
Mayor Wilkins dusted his hands together and straightened his suit jacket. "Well, that's the end of that unpleasantness." He commented casually. As quickly as it had appeared, the darkness outside dissipated.
Buffy stood ready for action. Her ribs were bruised badly and it felt like she might have sprained her wrist when the demon had dropped her, but she was ready. "So what now?" she watched him carefully.
Mayor Wilkins shrugged helplessly. "The Sword of Seals is gone now. I don't see any point in continuing this. Please get the door on your way out." Fretfully, he appraised the damage to the room and shook his head. "I just can't seem to keep this office tidy."
Looking to each other in confusion, Buffy and her friends slowly let their guards down. Giles took Gabriel by the arm and guided the shell-shocked young man toward the door.v Buffy took his other arm, and, limping, they all headed for home.
"See you at the Ascension!" the mayor shouted to them once they were in the hallway.