"Don't worry Xander, it's just a test. Nothing too difficult. Two or three vampires tops. I promise."

"Hey, whose worried? Not me. I'm the Chosen One! I feel like I could take out an army of vampires plus a dozen demons on the side."

"Don't be overconfident. That's how you get killed. Cordelia was very clear: nothing too dangerous."

"I think I already demonstrated what I am capable of, Buff."

"It was really impressive to see you do push-ups with Willow and Giles sitting on your back, but I still think a field test will tell us more about your capabilities."

The duo fell silent for a moment. It was awkward to just have their role reversed like that, with Xander being the hero and Buffy the sidekick. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the whole situation. She had wanted to be normal for such a long time, but she couldn't deny that huge chunk of her that was missing.

"How was it? When you discovered you had powers? What did you do?" asked Xander.

"I was angry at first. I had friends, a boyfriend, a life; I wasn't ready to have all that go away. And unlike you, I wasn't that thrilled to have superpowers. But I got used to it and made new friends. It became a lot easier after I started hanging out with you guys. What about you? Are you alright?"

"I'm honestly having the best day of my life. I'm already thinking about super-hero names. What do you think about Xan-Man? Kind of like He-Man, but with more Xander in it. I think I'm going to like being able to lift heavy things like this big bag of weapons. Can you imagine? I won't be sore for days now when I go shopping with Cordelia."

"And you don't even know about the best part yet. Imagine if…"

"Shhh… did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

She then heard a noise coming from the woods. Something big was coming, the ground was even shaking a bit. It then appeared: a gigantic demon with brown skin, an unusually long chest, horns like a mouflon and a black, rusty great axe on its shoulder. The creature approached Buffy, who just stood there, paralyzed by fear. The demon then pointed its axe towards her, and said: "I just have to kill you now, and the spell will be complete." It lifted its weapon, and the only thing Buffy could see was the giant blade that was about to cleave her in half.

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground with Xander on top of her. The axe missed them by an inch. Xander was already facing the monster when she managed to get to her feet. He was attacking the demon with a barrage of punches and kicks, getting more confident each time it took a step back.

"Xander, be careful!" warned Buffy.

But the young man wasn't listening. Out of nowhere, the demon threw a backhand that would have beheaded any normal human, but instead the rookie Slayer was sent flying a couple of feet into the air.

"Xander!"

"Wait for me Slayer, I'll first kill your abnormally powerful friend, then it will be your turn," shouted the demon.

Buffy briefly saw the face of her friend, which was now covered in blood instead of bravado as the hulking figure was slowly walking to him to finish him off. Without even thinking, Buffy rushed over to the axe the demon dropped in the grass, but it was too heavy for her to pick up. Buffy then remembered the bag of weapon they brought and rushed over it. She took a sword and ran towards the demon as it was about to smash Xander's face with its fist. Buffy plunged the sword in the back of the creature as far as she could and moved out of the way. The demon yelled in pain and turned around to face her.

"Xander, now!"

The young man did not hesitate, pulled out the sword and with one great swing chopped the demon's head clean off.

"Wow," said Xander after catching his breath, "this Slayer thing might be a lot harder than I thought."