"Queen Buffy..."
Summary: The Immortal is a true showman...And has spared no effort or
expense...
A little fun cobbled from my various IB brainstormings and a certain
film...
Archived at the 'normal' Buffyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/index.html
or direct to story at
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/qb.html
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire
Slayer series...
***
Part VIII...
Hell/Broadway...A fleeing mixed crowd of demons and condemned human
souls...No, they can't be killed but they sure can be hurt...Nervous
and rather brainless demonic troops firing and attacking randomly as
their commanders tried to give orders...
The most joyous romantic night of my life, Buffy happily thought,
holding William's hand tightly...But, damn...Looks like Hell has no
moon...Quickly pasting a look of desperate anxiety as William turned
to her...
"There..." she suggested, pointing to an alleyway..."Lets hole up in
the alley and see if we can spot Denham's people...He's sure to have
them around trying to film the whole mess...They can lead us right to
him..." Will nodded and they hurried across the street...The crowd's
brief sighting of them only serving to add to the panic...
"Film this?..."
"The nut thinks he's Cecil B. DeMille..." she shrugged...
"Actually I've seen one or two of his movie's..." Will nodded
thoughtfully... "Whatever else he is, the man...or whatever...an
artist...He's also still likely trying to recapture us..."
"I'd guess he'd settle for just killin' us now he's seen how his
little Jurassic Park scheme plays out...Hey, I see a camera!..." she
pointed...Careful, he pressed her back as an open truck loaded with
heavily armed demons...Naturally firing weapons in all directions,
especially at the crowd, passed...
"After all the trouble you've gone to, my girl...Lets not blow
this..." he smiled at her frown...
"So you love me, too?" she grinned...
"I suppose after 100 plus years of marriage, despite our little period
of separation, I'd better...Cicely..." he smiled...
"He said..." her bright mood fading suddenly...
"Yes..." Will looked into her darkening, again worn and weary, face...
"But that's for when we get out of here...She's safe, Cics...Her soul
is safe..." he took her free hand carefully in his...
"I'm sorry...William..." tears running now... "If I'd known..." she
pulled his hand to her face, hers clenching it tightly...
"If you'd known sooner...Spike would have taken advantage and killed
you..." he shook his head... "And God knows if we would have found
each other in that case...As for our girl...We'll find her...Or she'll
find..."
They looked at each other...My God...
"Dawn..." Buffy gasped... Will motioning her to be still and pull back
as another truckload of armed creatures passed...
"You think?..." she whispered as the street returned to the domination
of the frenzied, panicky mob...A few scurrying by the alleyway's
entrance... "Even Spike..?"
"Even Spike..." he nodded slowly, wonder in his voice... "Even Spike
knew her...Protected her..."
"I...I'm so...Happy..." Buffy croaked out through her sobs, clutching
his left hand to her chest, as he caressed her with the other ... "I
could hug that bitch Glory...Even kill that bastard Denham mercifully
quick..." She wiped eyes with a bit of her blouse and grinned at
him...
"Time to stop fooling around and get home to our little girl..."
"Right you are, Mrs. W..." he smiled back...
***
"What the hell do you mean, you lost them?!!..." Denham screamed into
his cell phone, Irina sighing beside him as hordes of the terrified
condemned raced past, a truckload or two of Hell's finest occasionally
passing as well...Looking about equally terrified, despite the heavy
weapons they carried, including in a few cases Irina noted, artillery
and what appeared to be...Yep...Tanks...
"How could a vampire and a human...Super-human...Not be tracked by our
people in Hell?...They gotta stick out like sore thumbs against the
condemned souls here..."
We did bring a lotta humans in the flesh across the Hell portal,
Boss...Irina thought...
"What?!!...Listen, you...Are you saying I'm responsible for
this?!!..."
Well, Boss...You did bring us humans here...Not to mention insisting
on putting her and her boyfriend on stage...Irina noted to herself...
"Damnit, Floyd!!!...I won't accept excuses!!!...Screen every one of
our human and vampiral people out, scan for William alone if nothing
else works...Souled vamps can't be that common in Hell....But find
them!!!...Your job and a ticket back to Earth depend on it!!!!..." he
abruptly closed the phone...
"Do you believe that guy?!!...As if I'm to blame for this, bringing my
crew here... 'It's hard to find another human with all our aural
traces and human vitals, Boss'...he says...God, I try to be a decent,
understanding kinda boss...Nurture my people like they were my own
children...And this is the return?!!..." Denham continued fuming,
stamping feet...
"We're sure to find them, Boss...They'll be looking for you to get
them outta here and back to Earth..." she noted with a sigh...
"Yeah, yeah..." he gave an impatient wave..."But in the meantime, the
shots we're missin' out on!...The spectacle...Buffy and her William,
trapped in Hell, facing its hordes in their last battle...Not to
mention they oughta be reviewing the Cicely stuff I spilled by now..."
She looked at him, a suspicious, sidelong glance...
"What?..." he gave an innocent stare...
"You knew they'd escape..." she frowned at him... "This whole thing
was a setup...You knew when you told them..."
"I didn't...Know...For sure..." he noted, evasively... "I guessed,
based on past performance and took the gamble...I mean, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, after all...But hey, nothing is certain in the movie
game...And it still woulda been a swell finish if they hadn't made
it...As far as they have...And what a scene that was when they broke
out!!..."
"Boss...They're destroying the place...Wiping out your Partners and at
this rate, all of Hell..."
"Hey..." he put up a stern finger... "I said I was neutral in this
fight...And as a version of human I ...And you, too, Rina...Should be
pleased to see Humanity's Slayer and Champion making out so
well...Besides...Sacrifices have to be made for great art...And as I
used to say when I was Flo Zeigfeld's partner..."
"'The show must go on'?..." Irina eyed him...
"Exactly...And if we could just find those two, what a show!..."
"If we just stand out here long enough, they will..." she shook her
head...
Hmmn...Denham pondered...
Yeah...But not quite soon enough, assuming the faint chance that
Hell's Finest might get lucky on their own turf..
Maybe what we need is to stop hunting them...And start offering 'em
what they want...he noted to Irina...
No...There are limits...she thought...I am not standing on some
platform or building with searchlights and a hundred-foot high sign
reading "Hell-Earth exit portal"...
"Irina...I need a large, tall...And I mean, tall...I want them
climbing a while...Platform or building, searchlights, and a hundred-
foot high sign..."
"Right, your B..." she sighed again...Noting it down and preparing to
call...
"The sign reading 'Hell surrenders...And offers Carl Denham to the
Slayer!'...Have them broadcast that on loudspeakers everywhere they
can, too..." he told her startled face...
"Your Benevolence?..."
"Oh, and include '...exit portal'...Somewhere in the line...And do not
forget to have the boys still alive set up their cameras to cover the
side angles as well as everywhere else ..."
"But your Benevolence..."
"They'll tear me limb from limb, I know...'Tis a far, far better thing
I do'...For art..."
"But not really..." he grinned... "After you get the other stuff in
motion, connect me to General Droog or whoever's still alive and in
charge...I'm thinkin' it's time to see what Hell's got for an air
force..."
***
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