Two hulking demons ripped the door from its handles. Buffy just stood there, unimpressed, sword in hand. The demons looked unsure for a second, but they quickly set their doubts aside, wanting to be the ones to end the Slayer curse once and for all. When they approached, Buffy stood her ground. Yes, she had none of her powers, and yes, the sword felt a lot heavier in her hand, but she still had been trained by Giles, and she would stop at nothing to protect her friends.

"You see the blood on this blade?" taunted Buffy. "It's your brother's. I hope you are better fighters than he was."

The two demons lunged at her, blinded by anger. They tossed aside the table behind which Buffy was hiding like it weighted nothing. They furiously swung their battle axe at her, but Buffy dared not parry any of their strikes. She knew it would rip her arm right off. Instead, she ran and dodged and hided, infuriating the pair of monsters even more. Would anything of the store be left after that fight? Buffy very much doubted it.

"Any progress?" she shouted to Will and Ethan Rayne.

No one answered her. They were probably busy cancelling the spell. Good, she thought. Now I just hope to live long enough to become the Slayer again.

But Buffy was exhausted. A punch that she was trying to roll away from clipped her in the shoulder, sending waves of pain all through her body. Thinking they had the advantage; the demons went for the kill when a voice coming from behind stopped them cold.

"You know, I'd rather get coffee and doughnuts than swinging a sword around, but for you two uglies I'll make an exception."

Xander lifted the broadsword he picked up high above his head and swung it as hard as he could at the closest demon. "I have grossly underestimated the strength of a Slayer," whispered Xander, standing over the pile of goo that used to be a giant horned demon. The last demon, briefly taken aback by this brutal attack, was quick to retaliate, striking Xander hard with the pommel of his weapon. Xander fell brutally on the floor, a big bump already forming on his head. Still fearing the Slayer more than any other potential assailant, the demon turned to Buffy, striking at the defenseless Slayer with his blade in a giant growl of triumph as the sound of thunder was erupting all around the magic shop.

Buffy parried the strike.

Rising up to her feet, she shouted with joy: "Hey, look at this! I'm back!"

Wasting no time, Buffy slashed the demon chest, then followed with a shoulderbutt that threw the monster off-balance. Wanting to show off a little, she swung her sword around with grace, drawing circles in the air before plunging the blade into the heart of the final demon.

When it was done, Buffy moved a strand of hair that was glued to her cheek by sweat, let out a "Eww" and then turned to Xander, a big smile on her face. It quickly faded when she saw that her friend was jumping around in pain.

"Xander? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. It's just that I dropped the broadsword on my toes when you got your powers back."

Buffy laughed gently, happy that everything was back in order. Willow soon joined them, happy herself that her magic had worked.

"Where is Ethan?" asked Buffy after hugging her friend.

Willow turned around, looking for the warlock. "He was right behind me," she said shamefully.

"It's okay Willow. We will get that weasel sooner or later. Why don't we go to Giles to tell him the good news and see if he is still broody and depressed?"

"As long as there's no swords," replied Xander jokingly.