As their mechanical tormentors moved in, the trapped heroes looked around desperately.
"What do we do?! What can we do?!" Xander yelled frantically, looking around desperately.
"Wait! Up there!" Helen shouted, pointing at something above them. Everyone looked up and saw their potential salvation.
There was a manhole cover with a ladder leading to it!
"Giles, you and the children make your way to the ladder! At once!" Diana ordered.
"But Diana! We canno-" Giles began to protest.
"Now, my friend. While there is still time." Diana replied firmly.
Giles nodded grimly, and he and the teens made their way off Neil's friends and to the ladder. As they climbed up it, Neil's pals opened fire on the approaching Replicators. The diabolical machines responded by advancing faster.
Having reached the top, Giles pushed the manhole cover off and emerged from the hole, then reached down for Buffy and the others. Passerby paused their daily routine to stare in confusion at the unusual scene.
Now free, Giles, Willow, and Xander backed away from the manhole opening while the Slayers stood guard by it, weapons at the ready. Overhead, stars twinkled playfully in the evening sky.
Suddenly a cloud of bats flew out of the artificial hole in the street, startling the bystanders.
What came next startled them even further.
A horde of robot insects!
Metamorphosing back to humanoid, Athena and company reacquired their relentless foes and sprayed them with gunfire as Buffy and Faith fired their crossbow and bow respectively.
"HOLY SHIT!" one man cried, and grabbing his wife and children's hands, fled down the sidewalk. The other pedestrians imitated his example, fleeing for their lives.
A patrol cruiser pulled up, its sirens flashing, and two policemen stepped out. One started to speak.
"What the hell is go-" then both officers fully grasped the situation before them.
"JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" the other cop shouted. They unholstered their service weapons and began shooting!
Joyce and Dawn ran to their car and quickly got in. They shut the doors hurriedly and Joyce started the engine. It came to life with a roar.
"Mom! Hurry!" Dawn pleaded, looking out the window fearfully. Joyce looked up at hearing the fear in her daughter's voice and froze in horror.
Those metal bug things were crawling out of the house in hot pursuit!
Putting the automobile in reverse, she sped out of the driveway onto the street, put the car in forward, and sped down the road.
But their escape wasn't total.
Because one of their attackers leapt forward and landed on their vehicle!
"Oh shit! One of them is on the damn car!" Dawn cried.
"Hang on Dawn!" Joyce shouted. She started swerving the car in a desperate attempt to dislodge the unwanted passenger. But it was futile!
The Replicator hung on determinedly.
Neil's friends, the Slayers, and the Scoobies fled down the sidewalk as the Replicators advanced. They were out of ammunition and had no choice but to retreat. All around them, they could hear weapon fire, cursing, and screaming as police and soldiers clashed with the sinister machines.
"What did you call those creatures?! Replicators?" Giles asked, clearly out of breath.
"Yeah." Athena confirmed as everybody else looked around. They were safe...for the moment.
"Are they from another TV show or somethin'?!" Faith asked.
"Unfortunately. They're basically unstoppable." Athena answered.
"Great." Xander commented.
Without warning, there was a squeal of tires and a very familiar car rounded the corner at high speed. Their eyes all widened as they recognized it and the terrified driver and passenger.
And their tormentor attempting to reach them through the shattered passenger window!
"MOM?! DAWN?!" Buffy screamed.
She charged forward and with a spectacular jump kick knocked the Replicator off of the vehicle.
However, that didn't prevent Joyce from losing control of the car and crashing into a light-pole. Smoke started rising from the battered hood.
They all ran toward the car and gently pulled the moaning Dawn and Joyce from the now useless automobile.
Then they heard it.
And all turned as one.
The Replicators had rediscovered them.
And immediately resumed their assault!
This was very bad.
The Replicators had managed to separate them and forced them to flee in all directions.
Buffy and the Scoobies were running as fast as they could.
But it was not enough.
They were soon cornered in an alley with no way out.
As Willow, Xander, Giles, and Buffy readied themselves, the machines moved relentlessly forward…
Diana and Artemis fought savagely to protect the helpless and unconscious Joyce and Dawn. But they were being overwhelmed inside the store they found themselves in.
Apollo, Zeus, and Bellona found themselves at the bottom of a Replicator pile even as they struggled ferociously.
Hera and Ares watched on in frustrated horror as they found themselves trapped atop a truck trailer as a wave of their mechanical attackers crawled up the trailer to attack them. They attacked viciously, knocking them off, but a hundred replaced every one they managed to dislodge.
Neptune and Helen ran into the local mall only to find themselves cut off by aggressive machines coming from every direction. They sprang at them, spraying corrosive fluid. They dodged this attack, and kicked and punched away at their attackers.
Lilith and Taryn were trapped on a side street. They looked at each other grimly, and turned to face their implacable enemies.
And Athena and Faith?
They were in a similar predicament.
As the two women battled the aggressive robots in the college basketball court they were at, something bizarre occurred…
...Athena began to glow with an ominous red light!
Faith turned to Athena, her eyes wide in disbelief and shock.
"Athena?! WH-WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU?!" Faith shouted.
She didn't seem to hear Faith, and then unexpectedly…
...a massive wave of scarlet energy erupted from Athena's massive body as she let out a primal scream!
The wave of power spread throughout Sunnydale with astonishing speed.
And whenever it touched Replicators, they vaporized!
Within seconds, every single Replicator in the town and the surrounding areas suffered this fate.
The humans who they were controlling collapsed, and any wounds they suffered were healed instantly.
Athena passed out and fell to the ground.
"ATHENA?! OH MY GOD!" Faith screamed. She ran to check on her fallen lover.
And a sudden hush fell over Sunnydale.
All quiet.
Perhaps even too quiet.
The Replicators were defeated.
For now.