[Gwen stands on the arm of the crane, 60 feet in the air. She walks on down to the end of the arm, and dangles upside-down, holding on with her legs. Xander moves her above the warehouse. He slowly lowers her down. The forcefield is shaped like a dome, and extends about 20 feet into the air. When she's close enough, Gwen reaches down to touch it at its apex. That's where Giles believed it would be weakest. She uses her power to break down the shield. Then she lets go of the crane and falls to the ground, landing on her feet right behind the Beast. She runs away to the south end of the warehouse. Xander pulls the crane up and away.
Gunn crouches in the doorway at the east end. He fires the rocket. It hits the Beast square in the chest. He wobbles and leans back but stays upright. Connor scales the outside of the north wall. Fred walks towards the demon, pouring on the explosive rounds. The Beast moves towards her and away from Cordy. The hits slow him down. Angel sneaks along the inside of the south wall and gets behind the Beast. After ten shots and ten hits the clip is empty and it falls to the ground. Connor, perched like a hawk on top of the north wall 50 feet in the air, knows the sound of the emptied clip hitting the floor is his signal. He swoops down and kicks the Beast in the head. The gravitational force from the 50 foot fall, along with the rocket and the exploding rounds, is enough to knock the Beast down. He falls on his back.]
ANYA: My goodness. I've found myself a real live superboy.
[When the Beast goes down, Angel pounds his head with the sledgehammer. He gets in four powerful hits before the Beast kicks Angel away with his left hoof. The Beast is still on his back. Connor's dagger, the one which stabbed both the Beast and Cordy, was on the floor. He picked it and tried to take out the Beast's left eye, which would blind him. But when he gets close, he sees the Beast's right eye has grown back. The demon reaches out his left hand and grabs Connor's right wrist. He winks his right eye.]
BEAST: Can YOU do that? [Tries to gouge Connor's right eye with his right index finger. Angel hammers him in the stomach.] Maybe later we can find out. [punches Connor twice in the face and tosses into the south wall. With his left hoof, he kicks Angel's sledgehammer out of his hands. With his right hoof, he kicks Gwen into the north wall. Then he rolls backwards, lifts his body up with his arms, and stands up.
The moment the Beast stands up, Gunn strikes him in the chest with his favorite large ax, the one he made Connor polish. The demon throws a left hook. Charles ducks, swings and strikes the Beast in the left shoulder. The Beast tries a right hook. Charles ducks, the Beast whiffs, and Gunn strikes the Beast in the neck. The demon grabs the ax with his right hand and tosses it over his shoulder into the south wall. He punches Charles in the stomach with his left fist, in the mouth with a right jab, and in the right side of the jaw with a left hook that knocks Gunn temporarily unconscious. The Beast hurls him into the south wall.
Fred, who has reloaded and is furious about what the Beast did to Charles, peppers him with more explosive rounds, focusing on his eyes and mouth. The Beast covers his face with both hands, blocking most of the rounds. While Fred shoots, Angel clobbers the Beast from behind with the sledgehammer. The demon turns round and decks Angel with a right hook. Then he tosses Angel straight back into the west wall, so that Angel crashes into Cordelia. Connor and Gwen come at the Beast from the south and north, respectively. He strikes them both down, without much effort. He senses his opponents are tiring.
Once Fred has finished her clip, Wes charges in. He traded in his two 9 mm pistols and bought a pair of .44 caliber Magnums, thinking the added stopping power would come in handy (it's also Dirty Harry's weapon of choice). He holds fire until he is within 20 feet of the Beast, and which point he unloads with both barrels while still running at the demon. He gets off his final two shots at point blank range, putting them through the Beast's mouth while the demon connects with a right jab to Wesley's left eye. A left hook sends Wesley tumbling to the ground near Gunn, who has regained consciousness.
All the while, Xander has used the crane to moved dozens of cargo containers into the space between the back of the warehouse and the water. The steel containers are each 8 feet wide, 8 1/2 feet tall, and 50 feet long. The crane has three arms, each of which can pick of one container. The three arms can be moved in different directions or together. He's stacked the containers three across.
Connor, Angel and Gwen surround the Beast but wait about 10 seconds before engaging. Connor and Angel put up a weak fight and are knocked down with the first blows they take. Gwen tries a flying kick. The Beast blocks it and tosses her back into the north wall. Gunn gets Wesley up and they charge, Wes on the Beast's right and Charles on the Beast's left. Wes fires his remaining rounds, drops the guns, and closes with a long, thin stiletto dagger. At the same time, Gunn attacks with a broadsword. Wesley lunges for the demon's right eye. He is easily knocked aside. Gunn tries a couple slashing strokes, but the Beast blocks all of them. However, they keep the demon at arm's length. The Beast fails to realize these are diversionary attacks, and instead concludes the energies his adversaries are spent. Charles makes a few more ineffectual swipes before he is tossed back into the south wall.
Lorne stands about 30 feet in front of the Beast. He hits his trademark ear-piercing high note, which reverberates off the warehouse's metal walls. The Beast covers his ears and lowers his head. This prevents him from noticing the three cargo containers which Xander has maneuvered right above him. Together, they cover 50 feet south to north and 24 east to west. Xander drops them right on top of the Beast. He never saw it coming.]
GILES: [raises both fists] Success!!! Victory is mine!
ANYA: I'm shocked. You actually knew what you were doing. I thought you had gone half-mad.
GILES: The sense of triumph absolutely intoxicating. Know I how Marlborough must have felt after Blenheim.
[Xander immediately grabs three more containers from behind the warehouse, and puts them on top of the first three. He repeats this process several times. Angel and Connor rush to Cordelia. Angel uses the sledgehammer to shatter the chains holding Cordy's left arm. Connor uses Gunn's ax to break the shackles holding Cordy's right arm. They each grab onto her. She puts both her arms around Angel's neck.]
CORDY: Angel. You saved me. [he picks her up and carries her away. The sun is setting behind them so there is enough shade for him to do this. Connor feels dejected. While Xander piles on containers, everyone flees the warehouse. Xander soon fills most of the back half of the warehouse with containers stacked up to the tops of the 50 foot-high walls. The Beast will break free in a few minutes. But by then everyone will have escaped.]
XANDER: This is fun. Longshoremen got it pretty sweet. [He comes down from the crane]
GILES: [takes phone] Willow it's done. I saved Cordy. Everyone's fine.
WILLOW: Way to go Giles.
GILES: Angel and his friends are very brave and enormously talented. But they lacked leadership. They needed —
WILLOW: A Watcher?
GILES: No. They needed a general. Someone to channel their energies and bring their combined force to bear in a manner which would produce decisive victory.
WILLOW: I read up on the spell that demon was using. It's a one-shot deal. If you start, and you don't finish, you don't get a second chance. So Cordy's in the clear. But only with this demon.
GILES: Thank you Willow. I'm sure they will all be relieved to hear the good news. Tell the girls we'll be home soon. [hangs up]
LORNE: So how does this compare to an average day in Sunnydale?
GILES: We've had worse days. But I could count them on the fingers of one hand. In Sunnydale the evil tends to be nocturnal.
LORNE: It was the same in LA until Red came along and broke all the rules as he broke many of our bodies.
[Giles walks over to check on Cordy, who is sitting reclined against a wall. Symbols were carved into the skin on both her arms, the palms of her hands, and her forehead. Much of her face appears to be burnt. She wants to lie down, but putting her blistered and lacerated back against the ground would be too painful. He's never seen anyone this injured. Not even Buffy. Angel sits to her left, with his right arm cradling the back of her head and neck, and his left hand holding her left hand.]
CORDY: Is the son of a bitch dead?
GILES: No. But he can't hurt you again. He only had one chance, and he blew it. You were too strong for him, Cordelia. He did everything he could to take what he needed, but you wouldn't let him. You never gave up, even when things were at their bleakest.
CORDY: I knew Angel would find a way to rescue me. [Giles laughs]
GILES: Pardon me. You were tremendously brave, and Angel was quite gallant, but, truth be told —
ANGEL: Giles came up with the plan that got you free.
CORDY: [smiles, looks surprised] Really? You? I don't know what to say. [reaches out her right hand, which Giles holds with both his hands.]
GILES: I did what I could. Your friends are heroic, but they needed leadership.
CORDY: [laughs weakly] You were in charge? Since when were YOU ever in charge? [laughs even despite her pain and weakness. Giles lets go of her hand, glares at Angel.]
ANGEL: I know. I didn't believe it at first myself. Giles, a leader? Who knew? [he laughs. Giles looks pissed] But I think you inspired him to rise above himself. It helped to have a non-fighter. Someone above-the-fray who could see the big picture. [Giles is dismayed that Angel's damning him with faint praise.] Without him, I don't know if we could have done it. [this makes Giles happier.]
CORDY: Thanks for saving my life. [Giles smiles, maintains modesty.]
XANDER: You're welcome, Cordy. [swaggers over to her, acting like a big hero.]
CORDY: [squints, makes sure she's not hallucinating.] Xander? What are you doing here?
XANDER: Saving your life. Who do you think took down that big red demon?
GILES: He has a point.
CORDY: He does?
ANGEL: It's true, much as I hate to admit it. [Xander cherishes this moment] His mechanical skills did play a small part.
XANDER: It was the part without which all the other parts would fall apart.
GILES: There is some validity to his incoherent rambling. Xander used a crane to bury your tormentor beneath dozens of steel containers, allowing Angel and Connor to cut you free. It was all my idea, of course. [Fred, Gunn and Wes come over to check on Cordy. Giles and Xander walk away.]
XANDER: I'm getting pretty good at this world-saving stuff. It's nice to know you trust me and feel comfortable relying on me.
GILES: Rely? Just what the devil are you talking about?
XANDER: Twice now. Everything on the line. One last shot. And you give the ball to Xander Harris. Two times you've put your faith in me. And I haven't let you down yet.
GILES: I believe you are confusing faith with forlorn hope. Which is what you were, first with Willow and then today. I turn to you when all else fails.
XANDER: So I'm like your secret weapon. Cool!
GILES: Your demon-fighting talents are, if nothing else, secret. By which I mean they are hidden. Latent. Utterly unapparent.
[Connor stands off to the side, glaring at Angel and Cordy. The rejection hurts. Anya comes over to comfort him.]
ANYA: How ya doin' champ?
CONNOR: [still sulking] Okay.
ANYA: Are you hurt? [caresses his left cheek with her right hand.]
CONNOR: No. I'm fine.
ANYA: You don't look fine. You're all bruised and red. Don't you think that right now you need someone to take care of you? [puts her fingers through his hair]
CONNOR: No. Not someone. But maybe you. [Connor stops sulking]
ANYA: [puts her left hand underneath his t-shirt and feels around his chest] Just making sure nothing's broken. [Connor smiles] I've found that after the danger and excitement of a big fight, when the thrill of victory has worn off, there's usually a letdown. But there doesn't need to be a letdown. Not if you can find a way to continue the excitement and the thrills. Without the danger. [moves in and softly kisses Connor on the lips. When she pulls away, Connor reaches out, takes her head in his hands, and enthusiastically kisses her back.]
XANDER: [looking at the Anya-Connor tongue wrestling with dismay] I can't believe my eyes. She's all over him! Have you ever seen anything more disgusting in your entire life?
ANGEL: Trust me. I have. [Xander heads over to Gwen]
XANDER: Those were some nifty acrobatics you pulled up there. We make a pretty good team.
GWEN: It was nothing. I do a lot of dangling.
XANDER: If you don't have plans to dangle tonight, maybe we could do something together. Or we could dangle together, if you want.
GWEN: Xandy, you're adorable. I don't do adorable. Im sorry. You're just not my type.
XANDER: Proving once-and-for-all that you are NOT a demon.
[Next: Angel decides he needs to lose his soul, and calls Buffy to help him do it.]