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Chapter 79- The Price

"I have a feeling it's gonna get much worse in here", Buffy muttered.

"For some reason, I think you're right", Willow sighed as Buffy turned on the recording.

Angel ran his hand over a crack in the wall of his apartment as Groo said his council should be considered now, then said pomegranate mist was the wrong color for the room, and Fred added he should repaint the room for a change, Cordelia saying Groo had good color sense, and he even held up sample summer cards, calling 'purpla' unique though Angel corrected it was 'purple' while saying Groo had no problem pronouncing 'pomegranate'.

That brought in some chuckles as Dawn said. "He's funny like that."

"Yeah, he and Lorne are the only 2 good things we got from Pylea", Xander told them all.

Groo then said it was his mother's name.

That made them wince as Dawn said. "I feel bad now."

Gunn then carried a crisp piece of furniture to throw out, but Angel didn't want him to, and he didn't want to change colors either so everything could go back to the way it was, or close to it, but Cordelia said it wouldn't be, regarding the room. Angel then saw a snow globe with a bunny inside and picked it up, wondering why he'd bought it for Connor, and lowered the globe, saying it never snowed in Southern California, though Cordelia reminded it had once.

"That", Buffy said, remembering that miraculous snowfall that had happened on that Christmas all those years ago in the last year of high school. Angel had wanted to kill himself for his sins, but she and the miraculous snowstorm had stopped him.

"It was a miracle", Willow smiled, feeling nostalgic, and also remembering she'd gotten back together with Oz at that point.

"Yeah, never seen anything like it since", Dawn nodded.

"Don't think we ever will", Xander shook his head, remembering what he was doing that day.

"Miracles happen rarely, but when they do, they are what the name suggests- miracles", Giles said with a smile of his own.

"Yeah, I got it too where I was, it gave me hope, and one year later, I met you all", Tara said as she exchanged a smile with the rest of the group, especially Willow and Dawn.

Angel stood up, deciding it was time to do their jobs instead, though Fred pointed out they didn't have any cases in over a week, making Angel ramble as Cordelia pointed out it was a Sunday. The door to the Hyperion opened as a middle-aged man arrived, and then found himself in the pentagram before walking out of it to the reception counter, not noticing a ghost-shrimp like creature skittering across the counter. He turned to go when the ghost-shrimp jumped and clamped on his face, forcing itself into his mouth and slithering down his throat.

Everyone cringed in disgust as Xander said. "Dear Lord, what did I just see?"

"What is that?" Willow asked.

"I do not know, I haven't seen this creature in my life, or read about it", Giles said, as confused as the rest.

"Where did it come from?" Buffy wondered.

Angel then hurried downstairs but the guy was in a daze, saying he had to go, and walking around the pentagram, walked to the exit. Angel thought the pentagram had freaked him out but he was already gone as Angel stared.

"That ghost-shrimp cost business, jackass", Xander scoffed.

"I'm more worried about what it's gonna do to that guy", Dawn said in concern.

"I'm worried if it's the only one or if there are more", Tara said grimly and all felt their dread rise once more.

"Good Lord", Giles groaned.

Cordelia arrived downstairs as Angel said the stain had scared off a client, and Cordelia now asked about the Pentagram symbol, wanting to talk about it, though Angel called it a waste of time. Cordelia said there would always be a cosmic price in using primordial powers and the one person who could help them with that wasn't around anymore, though she wasn't going there, just wanted him to talk about it, and so he finally revealed he wasn't thinking too clearly since he'd been drunk on his own son's blood due to Wolfram and Hart, and his head was clouded with rage over his friend stealing his son. He then realized Cordelia had got him talking about this.

"That's a good thing, right?" Buffy asked. "That he's talking about this."

"It is a good thing", Giles confirmed with a nod, remembering when he had gotten Buffy to finally talk about how she'd actually sent Angel to Acathla's Dimension.

Cordelia asked why Angel hadn't called her and he said he didn't want to mess up her vacation, though she said she could have helped, as she had a direct line to the Powers, and could have gotten a vision, or she may even have untapped power as a Demon, and again said she should have been here for him. Angel said he just wanted to focus on something else for a while, but Cordelia told him to call her next time, and he agreed, before asking her to find a case for him to work on.

"Yeah, I'm still wondering what she can do as a half-Demon", Dawn said.

"I think that ghost-shrimp might be business", Willow said with a wince.

In a fresh fruit juice bar people were staring as the guy from before called Phil gulped down two cups of juice simultaneously before turning to the counter, asking for more. His face had taken a slight grey tinge and his skin had cracks. Phil was acting erratically and eventually ended up throwing the server to the side, making the second one decide to give him water.

"Is the shrimp doing that?" Xander asked.

"Well, it was a ghost-shrimp, must be it", Tara shrugged to him.

Lilah got herself a drink from the water cooler as Gavin tried to congratulate her as she'd made great strides forward with Angel due to him trying to kill one of his people at the hospital, and Lilah quipped his next news flash would be the invention of fire. Gavin said in spite of their differences, he was trying to pat her in the back, but she said she always checked for the knife.

"That's a burn", Dawn said.

"Gavin really thinks too highly of himself if he thinks he can mess with her. I hate her, but she's really good with words", Buffy told them all.

"Yeah, and that makes her dangerous", Willow said.

Gavin chuckled that Angel trying to kill a human brought him closer to the dark side, and Lilah reminded him of the wine cellar from a year ago, though Gavin pointed out this was his friend. Lilah said they could get them both together again to see what happens, Gavin adding it'd make up for her losing the baby. Lilah then pointed out she was ahead, listing all Angel had done under her watch, and he congratulated her, so she thanked him before asking to stop feigning, and he agreed as they hurried from each other.

That made everyone chuckle a little as Xander said. "Gavin got embarrassed again. It's kinda satisfying considering how useless he is."

"I know right? He is so useless", Buffy nodded in agreement.

"Most useless worker in the whole firm", Dawn added.

Angel was looking through some files on Wesley's desk while also looking at the snow globe as Fred said it felt weird to see Angel there but Gunn pointed out he'd been there first, so it was fitting. Fred wondered if they could come back from this but Gunn said only way was if Wesley returned with the baby under his arm, and Angel would still kill him on principle because he took Angel's son, so it was best not to mention this again. Gunn then walked off as Fred watched Angel.

"Would he though?" Buffy asked. "He wouldn't."

"I think he would", Giles said as they looked at him. "I am not saying this out of any dislike for Angel, but he does have principles, and he would kill Wesley on principle now for what he did."

"Huh", Buffy muttered, again, disturbed by that.

What Giles didn't know right now was that he would soon enter the list of people Angel would kill on principle if he ever saw them.

Cordelia and Groo were trying to scrub on the Pentagram but nothing seemed to work as Groo kissed her, and then she asked him to dump out the bucket, so he did, while Fred arrived and Cordelia praised Groo, calling him a 'puppy' before wondering if that was good or not. Fred though wanted Cordelia to say something about Wesley to Angel, but she wouldn't, because he didn't want to hear it, and she didn't want to burden him. Fred said Cordelia cared about Wesley too and he felt horrible. Cordelia, not noticing Groo coming back behind her told Fred. "Angel's feelings are the only ones I care about. He's my priority. I got dosed with demon DNA for that man. I'm semi-demon and I still don't know what that means." Groo set down the empty bucket and slowly turned to leave.

"She realizes it now", Tara told them all. "Or more accurately, she is slowly realizing it. Angel is who she loves."

"But poor Groo", Dawn said. "And I never thought I'd say that."

"Yeah, he was going to be hurt by the end of this", Willow sighed sadly. "He is a good guy, but it was never gonna work out between him and Cordy."

Cordelia suddenly saw Angel being flung across the lobby when Lorne returned, telling them about the guy that was cracking up.

"Did she just have a vision?" Buffy asked.

"I think she did", Giles said. "About Angel in a fight."

"Doesn't look like it's going too well for him", Xander cringed.

Phil's skin was now pale grey and showing cracks, as he grabbed the second server, and eventually tossed him to the floor, drinking right out of the blender. The customers hurried out as Angel and the rest arrived. Cordelia was trying to Angel about her vision but he wanted to focus on the guy. The second server said the dude had Ebola as Groo wondered if it was a weapon forged in magic, Lorne quipping it was in monkey poo as Angel tried to calm the guy down. Phil lowered the blender and turned to Angel, spraying the walls with juice as Angel recognized who he was, telling the others when he'd come to the office. Fred got his ID from his wallet at the counter, and eventually Phil tried to brain Angel with the blender's base, only to be knocked out as Angel told the rest they'd a case.

"Yeah, looks like it", Dawn sighed. "Not good for the guy though."

"I'm still thinking if there are more of those", Tara said.

"If there are, they're in big trouble", Willow said.

They later brought Phil to the Hyperion as Groo put him on the couch and Angel asked Fred to get him some water while remembering Phil had been saying 'we' a lot. Cordelia still wanted to talk about her vision but Angel was more concerned with Phil's problem. Lorne and Fred returned carrying some bottled water, only for Fred's eyes to go wide as she gasped. Phil was standing on the couch and pointing straight at Angel, saying this was his fault as he toppled forward and his body shattered.

Everyone was shocked once more.

"Angel's fault?" Buffy asked. "What did he do now? You didn't take his help."

"I think it was the shrimp speaking through him", Tara pointed out to her.

"Right", Buffy nodded.

"What is even going on?" Dawn wondered.

Angel was wondering how it was his fault when Lorne pointed at the ghost-shrimp. Cordelia let out a scream and sat on the lobby counter as it skittered across the floor, everyone creeped out before Cordelia made Angel notice Phil had fallen right in the middle of the faded Pentagram.

Now everyone started putting the pieces together a little.

"Consequences of dark magic", Willow said in a dark tone.

"Those are never good", Tara added seriously.

"So that's why the shrimp blamed Angel", Buffy realized.

Angel later handed out weapons, Cordelia telling him the hotel was shut. Groo then instead picked up an ax, saying he had no complaints with this weapon, and Angel told both him and Cordelia to start with the 3rd floor and make their way down. Lorne wondered how to slice the thing to which Angel said Fred would hit the books, but she had no idea, so Angel asked her to start with Thaumogenisis, which were creatures manifested as a product of using dark magic, and Gunn would keep watch.

"Now Angel realizes his mistake there too", Buffy said.

"Yeah, just hope no one else dies due to this", Dawn added.

Cordelia said they should wait for Fred to find out about it before chasing it but Angel wanted to stop the thing. Lorne later followed Angel down the stairs where he said he had to clean up his mess, though Lorne reminded him of his warning. Angel wondered if this price was worth paying, as his spell hadn't done a thing and his son was gone forever, but he'd still do it again for his son.

"Connor was the only son he'd ever have, so can't say I blame him", Willow said as they looked at her. "Angel has always moved Heaven and Earth for those he cares about. Connor, Cordy, even Darla, you too Buffy. He turned back time for you."

"Yeah, he did", Buffy nodded, and this only made her feel worse for Angel. Because at least his efforts had saved her as well as Cordy, but not his only baby.

They heard some slurping noises and Angel led the way into one of the hotel rooms. He turned on the light as they make their way across it to another door. Angel slowly pushed it open to reveal the ghost shrimp hanging on the side of an open toilet tank, slurping up the water in the tank. The thing let out a squeak and jumped towards them. Lorne raised his sword to strike at it. He broke the light bulb in the lamp hanging above him, plunging the room into darkness. Angel grabbed a hold of Lorne's arm, and threw his dagger, nailing the glowing worm thing to the floor. They crouched closer and watched the thing's struggles cease. Suddenly the thing streaked away as if the dagger no longer was pinning it.

"I knew it was too easy", Xander said as all groaned.

"How do they kill it?" Dawn sighed.

"Must be really hard", Tara said.

Fred said she hated this while going through the books and Gunn thought she was talking about the shrimp but she was talking about going through these books because she wasn't as qualified for this as…..some people. Gunn said 'some people' weren't around anymore so she had to learn to get good at it. Gunn then stepped from the door to the lobby, not noticing the small flickers of light in mid-air, and then two more of the shrimps dropped out of air, skittering away, Gunn saying they could handle one slug from Hell.

"Except it's not just one", Willow said, everyone now paling again. "It's at least three."

"I think there are more", Tara said. "Don't want to be a mood-killer, but that's what I think."

"I believe you are right, the ritual was quite powerful", Giles agreed with her.

Lilah was sitting in front of her laptop in her office when she got a confidential e-mail asking for a password to decrypt it. She pushed on a button underneath the tabletop and a section of the wall behind her slid down to reveal a strongbox with air holes in it. Lilah took it out, opened the combination lock, then took out a dark wood box, decorated with runes and with more air holes in it. She opened it and took out what looked like a tarantula crawl on her hand, then transferred the spider to the number keys on her laptop. The spider punched in the password and the body of the e-mail appeared on screen. It was about a bio-plasmic infection.

"A spider to decrypt? Never have I seen magic and technology mixing like that", Willow commented, and before Xander could make a 'Doctor Doom' joke she added. "In real life that is."

"Right", Xander nodded lamely.

"We're getting an awful lot of crawling things here", Dawn commented.

Gavin arrived, asking about the e-mail which he shouldn't even know about, then sat on her desk's edge, saying it must be a glitch in the server, and told her about the Thaumogenisis due to the spell Lilah had helped him perform. Lilah knew they would be consequences but Gavin pointed out Angle had barricaded himself. Lilah didn't care till Gavin pointed out the Senior Partners would be upset that Angel died due to a spell she helped him cast, plus Linwood was on vacation. Lilah realized she'd to save Angel but Gavin pretended not to have any idea what she was talking about, and left as Lilah stared.

"Oh my God! He actually one-upped her. I can't believe it!" Buffy said.

"Well, to be fair, to work there, you do need some intelligence, his is lower than Lilah's but he has some", Giles pointed out to her.

"So, Lilah will save Angel, yay", Willow said sarcastically.

Cordelia and Groo walked together, Cordelia saying the spell Angel had performed was now eating on him, and Groo said he was her priority, and that his feelings were all that mattered. Cordelia said Groo had misunderstood her as Angel was her 'work' priority while he was her 'other stuff' priority. Groo then slowly lifted his ax, asking her not to move, and she heard the liquid skittering of one of the slug-things behind her and spun around. Slashing at the wall, she missed the thing completely and it skittered away into a mail slot in the wall. She and Groo had a minor argument about her moving as they ran down the hall and opened a door to run into Angel and Lorne coming the other way, who'd also seen it.

"Now they know there's more than one", Tara said. "It's a huge mess."

"And Lilah has to somehow save them, that makes it even worse", Willow sighed.

"Can't believe she thought he was actually gonna hit her, he's not a bad guy", Xander said.

"I think it was just a little reflex", Buffy told him.

Gunn was shocked to learn there were more than one, and Angel eventually decided to shut off all lights as they glowed in the dark, and got a flashlight, handing them all out. He then gave Fred a gas lantern, asking herself to lock herself in and continue researching. Gunn quipped this was getting funnier when Angel asked him to shut off the power in the basement, horrifying him.

"Not so funny now, is it?" Xander quipped.

"I don't think any of this is funny", Dawn cringed.

Angel then followed Gunn down the basement as the rest remained on the steps. There was a squeaking noise as Angel stabbed his sword in the junk littering the floor, but it was just a rat so Gunn carried on.

"Poor rat", Dawn sighed.

Gunn opened the cabinet holding the main disconnect. He pulled down the lever and all the lights around the Hyperion went dark. Fred looked up from the book she was working on and pulled the lit lantern a little closer to her. She slowly pulled off her glasses as a small wet, squishy sound warned her that she was not alone. She turned slowly in her chair and let out a scream as one of the creatures jumped onto her face, forced its way into her mouth and slithered down her throat.

"NO!" Everyone yelled at the same time, Willow's voice being the loudest.

"Crap, crap, crap, this is bad", Xander was ranting.

"It's inside her!" Dawn snapped.

"I know that", Willow muttered.

"How do they get it out?" Buffy asked.

"I can't tell yet", Giles said. "I have never seen these products of Thaumogenisis."

"They need to figure it out really soon now", Tara told the rest.

The others walked down a deserted hallway of the south wing, and they heard something like birds. They found a set of double doors chained shut and padlocked. Angel kicked the door off its hinges while Fred was hunched on a chair behind the desk, letting Gunn in as he tried to comfort her before she broke the snow globe and started drinking the water, saying 'we're thirsty' as Gunn realized what was going on.

"Do something quickly!" Dawn urged.

"Do what?" Xander wondered.

The others went through a dark ballroom, overturning tables before Gunn arrived with Fred who was gulping down water from a bottle, and the rest realized what had happened to her, and she ranted about her thirst as Gunn decided to get her to a hospital but Fred pointed out the ramifications of that, telling Angel it didn't like him as Angel said the feeling was mutual. Gunn wanted to get her out against Angel's protests, so Gunn blamed Angel as he'd done the spell, and now his son was dead and Fred wasn't.

"That was not so courteous", Buffy said in a growl, now angry at Gunn. "How dare you, Gunn?"

"Yeah, shouldn't have said that, that went too far", Willow agreed with a nod. "And Angel is right, Fred wouldn't want so many people to die because of her."

Groo then hacked the floor, creating a hole as Angel helped, and saw hundreds of the slug-like things swimming in the water below the floor, and some jumped out as they backed away and hurried down the hall through a set of doors into a kitchen and Angel shut the doors as some of the creatures launched themselves at the glass windows in the doors. The others opened another set of doors but the floor was littered with those creatures, and they splatted against the windows which Lorne shut in their faces.

"I didn't think there would be this many", Tara muttered grimly.

"Fred has one inside her, and they're trapped here", Buffy sighed. "This just keeps getting worse."

Fred said it was too hot as Angel asked to turn on the ovens, and gas flames leapt up from the burners, making Fred cry out in pain as she asked where Gunn was, and they realized he was gone.

"Now where did he go?" Dawn groaned.

"Must be to do something", Willow said.

Lilah was preparing to go to the hotel when Gavin arrived, asking about the activity as Lilah explained to him she had to take care of this before Linwood found out, to which Gavin said it was a little late but she could have fun. Lilah made the commandos get out as she reminded Gavin he'd said Linwood was unreachable, but he had the emergency cell phone number, which Lilah didn't. She still didn't care when Gavin reminded what Angel had done to Linwood, so he wanted to let them all die. Gavin also said Lilah was overstepping her bounds according to Linwood so he'd deal with her when he got back, and then Gavin walked off.

"You know, I hate her and all that, but she's literally the only one in this place with any guts, they had Lindsey and Holland too but they're gone now", Xander said. "And they are punishing her for having guts, guess it says a lot about them."

"Gavin and Linwood are just cheap replacements for Lindsey and Holland respectively", Willow pointed out. "They don't have guts, and feel threatened by a woman who does."

"She's a bitch, but an efficient one, they're both cowards", Buffy rolled her eyes at Gavin and Linwood. "And now because of them, Angel is on his own again."

"That really, really sucks", Dawn groaned.

Gunn banged on a door and a slightly scruffy looking Wesley, now sporting a full beard, opened the door for him. "I need your help."

"Wesley", Giles realized. "Charles went to him because he might have an idea on how to save Fred."

"That I'm sure he'll do in a heartbeat", Willow said.

Fred was guzzling water as Angel took it away from her before pushing her against the pillar, holding the water out of her reach, wanting to talk to the thing inside and begging Fred to work with him. 'Fred' said it hurt them and they had to get out. The pipes overhead started rattling as 'Fred' said it brought them pain, Angel asking what they were fleeing from, and 'Fred' said- "The bringer of torment, agony, death. The Destroyer." Angel asked why it was after them but 'Fred' said it was coming for Angel.

Now all gulped as Buffy asked. "What is the Destroyer?"

"I do not know, it must be from where these creatures come from", Giles said, clearly shocked.

"Cordy had a vision of Angel in a fight earlier", Tara reminded as they paled.

"You think that was the Destroyer?" Willow asked.

"Could be", Tara said. "Considering the Destroyer has these things running scared, must be something."

Gunn told Wesley about the situation, but Wesley said Angel would figure it out eventually. Gunn said someone had been infected and they had to get it out, but Wesley wasn't interested till Gunn revealed. "It's Fred." Now Wesley took a bottle of booze out of a cabinet, making Gunn snap she was dying to which he said. "I was dying. Throat cut, life pouring out of me. - You know why I fought to live again?" Gunn said. "Wes, I don't have time." Wesley told him. "I fought to live so I could see my friends again, to explain to the people I loved and trusted my side of what happened." Gunn started. "We know what..." Wesley replied. "You don't know anything." He threw the bottle at Gunn, who caught it. "I'll help because it's Fred, but don't come here again. Any of you."

"Well, at least he helped", Dawn said.

"Ummm, you did take his son away", Buffy reminded. "So it's not like they hate you for eating somebody else's popcorn or something."

"Feelings of hurt aren't rational, Buffy, don't try to make them that way", Willow told Buffy, who now sighed, still not completely sure on any of this. It was all such a mess.

Angel tried to interrogate 'Fred' but failed so he decided to take her to the hospital, shutting off the oven and stoves while Angel opened all taps, letting water pour out. Cordelia reminded of the ramifications as Angel said the hospital could keep her hydrated long enough for a cure. Groo then picked Fred up as Cordelia lighted his way and they and Lorne started walking off while Angel kicked the ballroom doors open and the creatures skittered in. Lorne opened the doors at the opposite end of the kitchens and walked out as more creatures skittered past his feet to reach the water in the kitchen. Groo made to follow, but then saw Cordelia turning back. He hesitated for a moment. Ange said. "Cordy, I told you to get out of here!" Groo watched Cordelia join Angel in slashing at the creatures around him. He looked down at Fred, then turned and headed out after Lorne.

"Guess she finally made her choice", Tara said.

"At least half of it", Willow added.

Groo and Lorne were walking out with Fred when Gunn arrived and asked to put her down on the stairs, while Gunn held the bottle of booze to her lips, trying to get her to drink. Angel and Cordelia slashed at the creatures together, working in tandem as Cordelia warned him about an incoming one on his four o' clock so he sliced it while another ended up on Cordelia's arm. Gunn forced Fred to drink more booze and she pulled back, choking and coughing, finally spitting the slug out as Groo killed it while Gunn sat down beside Fred.

Now all sighed in relief as Dawn said. "She is saved, finally."

"So alcohol it was", Giles realized. "It is liquid so they are attracted, but it is pungent to them. Smart move by Wesley."

"She is safe, that's all that matters", Buffy said.

Cordelia tried to keep the slug away when a bright white light illuminated her from inside. Angel stared at the confused Cordelia slowly lowered the bug in her hand, staring at Angel as the glow emanating from her became brighter and brighter. A wind started to howl and the light shot out from Cordy, obliterating everything with its brightness. Lorne, Fred, Gunn, and Groo flinched as a pulse of white light washed over them. Every window in the hotel lit with the bright light, radiating out into the night - then the whole place went dark again. Lorne was standing in the lobby. He switches out his flashlight as the lights came back on. "Okay, unless anyone else has something to say, can I be the first to say: what the hell was that?"

"Yeah, what the hell was that?" Xander asked.

"It was Cordy", Willow said. "Must be her powers."

"So now we know what she can do besides float and get visions without any pain", Tara commented. "This was amazing."

"I have a feeling even this isn't the full extent of it", Buffy said.

"Yes, we truly have no idea", Giles agreed with her.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon", Dawn shrugged.

Angel and Cordelia came out the basement door behind him. "Cordelia. That was Cordelia." Groo called her a Goddess as she said it was Demoness but it beat horns and a tail, offending Lorne as Angel saw Gunn help Fred to lie down on the couch, and Gunn said he'd the alcohol idea. Angel just stood there and looked at Gunn, crossing his arms. "Okay. So I took off when those things started coming out of the floor. It's not like I was running out on you. I was..." Angel glanced down at Fred. "Look, someone I care about was dying. I couldn't just sit around and debate strategy. I saw an opportunity to - to get some kind of help." Angel just looked at him. "Look, I did what I had to do, and if you don't get that... - Yeah, I guess you do." Angel asked. "So, are we good?" Gunn gave him a slight nod.

"Gunn understands now why Angel did that spell", Willow said. "Because someone he cared about was in danger too."

"It's always the worst situations when someone comes to an understanding", Tara sighed.

Lorne asked. "Good? We're not good! Is everyone forgetting we got a little unexpected company on the way? It goes by the initials 'the Destroyer?'" Fred sat up. "The Destroyer. I remember the Destroyer's coming." Cordelia asked. "Yeah, we got that. Any idea when?" Fred then said. "Uhm, I think - now." Everyone turned as there were some static discharges in the air above the pentagram and an ugly demon beast dropped out of the air. It roared at Angel, but before it could do more, a teenager, dressed in some funky looking leather clothing dropped from the air beside it and beheaded it in the same motion. Angel stared in shock as the teen raised his right hand and aimed what looked like a spring-loaded stake launcher at him. "Hi, dad." The screen went black.

"What the...?" Willow wondered, all of them shocked. "That Connor?"

"Angel's kid?" Xander asked and got a nod. "So he got all grown up there then, huh! He just killed the Destroyer!"

"I don't think so", Tara said as Xander turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"She is saying he is the Destroyer", Buffy told him grimly.

"Wait what? He is the Destroyer? How's that-"

"He is clearly been made into this by someone", Dawn snarled. "Holtz."

"Time moves differently in other Dimensions, Quortoth included, so few weeks here ended up being many years there, and now Connor is a teenager already", Giles noted, feeling horrible for the poor boy because considering how he looked, he had definitely been through a lot.

"Holtz, you bastard", Buffy snarled in anger, picking up the remote to come to the next recording.

Again, not my favorite episode outside of Cordelia's new powers, the Cangel moments, the Wesley bit and Connor's return, and also any scene with Lilah, but the slug plot wasn't my favorite really, even if I could get why they did it.

After this I think the Season regains some steam, though the finale is heavily flawed.

Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!