21.  Rise of the Old Ones

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“Whoa, now this is kinda cool,” Angel said

The humans had been freed from their cages, but were now lying around, squirming in agony next to the piles of empty coffins. One human started coughing, as centipede-like legs burst out from his chest. The human screamed in pain, as his entire body started shifting and changing, growing larger. Soon, the human had been transformed into a massive Old One, whose palm was the same size as Angel himself. Angel let out a small impressed whistle as he stared at the gigantic Old One

“Whoa, that is a big boy,” Icarus said

The Old One let out a thunderous roar, as more Old Ones started forming out of the humans. Soon, they were busting their way through the rubble that was Sunnydale. Angel followed after the growing Old Ones with a look of glee on his face, while Icarus was looking nervous around the gigantic beasts

“Icarus, my man, it’s so close I can taste it,” Angel said, “The war is nearly upon us. And we’re going to win. I know we are”

“How are we going to get like a hundred or more Old Ones to the battlefield?” Icarus asked, “What makes you think they’ll fight for you?”

“I liberated them from their prison. Plus, they’ll want their world back. And I’ll be giving it back to them. When I do, I’ll succeed in destroying the Slayer line all together. That and magic. It’s a great plan”

“Yeah, Angel, I’m already freaked out by these guys”

“Ah, don’t be, Ic. Well, let’s get them moving. Hey, you!”

An Old One that looked like a giant rock golem peered down at Angel

“What, puny vampire?”

“How does it feel to be free of your prison?” Angel asked

“Good. I haven’t used my joints in millenniums!”

“That’s great. Listen, I’ve got an offer for you guys. If you all fight for me, seeing as I’ve freed you, I’ll give you this entire world back to you. Pretty much one of the reasons why I freed you. This world is not for humans. It’s for you!”

“And you shall lead us? Why? What’s in it for you?”

“Just a little something in mind. So, what do you say?”

“Very well then, vampire. We’ll accept your offer. What is your name?”

“Call me Angel. And this guy is Icarus”

“When and where does the battle take place?”

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“So, you managed to get the dragons to fight for us?” Spike asked, “Nice one. How the hell did you manage to do it?”

“It was kinda easy actually,” Wesley replied with a small smirk, “They had heard of Angel’s power and they knew he was bad trouble. They also had an idea of what he might do, so they pretty much signed up straight away”

“Great. Now we have dragons on our side. When do they get here?”

“In another few hours time actually”

“Nice. What about the Slayers? They’re coming in now?”

“I believe so. Dracula and Faith have quickly travelled to Transylvania to raid his armoury, so I think we’ll have enough weapons. Oh and the dragons have something for us to use in the fight”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Not telling. You’ll have to wait and see”

“Bitch”

At that moment, Illyria came into the room and headed over to Spike, resting her chin on his shoulders, while wrapping her arms across his chest. Spike smiled, kissing her temple, while reaching up and stroking her blue-streaked hair

“So, how’s the marriage going?” Wesley asked

“Going quite good actually,” Spike said, “I think it’s what we all needed: a little bit of happiness before everything goes to hell”

“Hey, guys, you should come and see this,” Faith called, coming into the room

Wesley, Spike and Illyria quickly joined her outside, seeing that the sky had turned dark orange. Not only that, but the ground was also shaking, as crashing reverberated throughout the city. Spike peered into the distance, seeing dust rising into the air, as another building came crashing down, followed by another

“Oh bollocks”

“What is it?” Faith asked

Illyria felt a strange, but not unfamiliar tingle running through her body and she looked to the sky, seeing a massive flying creature. Her jaw dropped, as more buildings came crashing down and her brethren all stepped into view. Angel was flying before the army of Old Ones, his vamp face on, while Icarus was marching along with the Old Ones, carrying Dawn over his shoulder

“This is not good,” Wesley said

“Old friends of yours, honey?” Spike asked

“Indeed. These are nearly every single warrior who fell in combat, but had prepared ahead so they could be resurrected”

“So, this is Angel’s payload?” Spike said, “We are so screwed. There’s no way we can combat all those guys”

“Hey, guys,” Angel cried, “You like my new army?”

“Just what the hell are you thinking, Angel?” Spike cried, “Unleashing the Old Ones upon the world? You really have gone mad, haven’t you?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Angel replied

He flew down and uppercutted Faith, slamming her against the apartment wall, before backhanding Wesley to the ground and kicking him along the footpath. Spike growled and lunged at Angel, but he whirled around and caught Spike by the throat, as Illyria went for him. Angel kicked her in the stomach, throwing her back, before punching Spike in the face, drawing blood. The younger vampire growled and struck Angel in the stomach, followed by a blow to the jaw, as Angel kicked Spike back into Illyria. Wesley got to his feet and threw a large ball of magic, but Angel smacked it aside, destroying a section of the apartments, before driving his palm into Wesley’s chest, throwing him through the air. Faith went for Angel, lashing out with a kick, but he blocked her leg, before stopping her punch and kicking her aside. Spike and Illyria both charged at Angel at the same time, but he flew over them, before kicking them in the back and knocking them down

“Jeez, you guys really do suck,” Angel grinned

At that moment, someone attacked him from behind, grabbing him around the throat. Angel growled, grabbing hold of blonde hair and threw the offender aside. She squealed, as Angel started laughing

“Harmony?! What the hell are you doing here?”

“Someone told me you were trying to end the world,” Harmony replied, “So I came here, hoping to help stop you”

“Don’t make me laugh, Harm. You can’t do anything against me”

Harmony growled and lunged, but Angel uppercutted her, knocking her flat on her back. Wesley charged up another ball of magic, but Angel was upon him quickly, smacking the magic ball aside and backhanding the ex-Watcher

“Well, it was fun, but I’ve got a world to destroy,” Angel said

He grinned, as Spike lunged, only to get knocked down. Angel walked away, joining Icarus as he held Dawn tightly. Non appeared from amongst the Old Ones, brandishing a glistening sword with a golden hilt. Angel took the sword from her, fingering the blade, before facing the small, defeated group

“I want you all to witness this,” Angel said, “This is what you can’t stop”

Spike struggled to get to his feet, blood running down his face, as Angel grinned and spun around, slashing downwards. Dawn let out one small cry of pain, then fell limp in Icarus’ arms. Spike cried out, charging at Angel, but Non intercepted him, grabbing Spike by the throat and slamming him against the ground

“Sorry, moppet, but you couldn’t save her,” Non grinned, “Not this time”

Dawn’s blood ran down from her body, as Angel started chanting. As soon as the blood touched the ground, a bolt of energy shot up into the sky, sparking through the clouds and opening a massive electric blue portal. Angel grinned at Spike, before flying into the portal, as the rest of the Old Ones all leapt into the portal, disappearing from sight. Icarus dropped Dawn’s body aside, before following the Old Ones, as Non struck Spike once, then was also sucked up into the portal. Spike slowly got to his feet, staring at the portal as it sat in the sky, before heading to Dawn’s body and gently picking it up. Tears started to run down Spike’s face, as Illyria joined him. She closed Dawn’s eyes, before wrapping her arms around Spike, trying to comfort him, as he cried into her shoulder, clutching Dawn’s body to his chest

“We must bury her,” Wesley said, “We can’t let Angel get away with this”

“And we won’t,” Spike said, wiping a few tears away, “The minute the dragons get here, we’re all going to war. Be ready by then”

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