Willow felt her mind drifting in and out of consciousness. Her attacker had knocked her out cold for almost twenty minutes, but she was slowly awakening. She sensed hatred and anger in the room around her, but she also felt a tingling sensation that there was something evil in the room. Something far powerful and maniacal than Micah Luke was in the room, from whom she felt his thoughts of dread and terror. What could frighten a crazed madman like him? She thought as her eyes slowly opened, revealing a hazy vision of the room around her.

She heard the faint sound of Giles' voice in her ears as she groggily came to. He managed to hear him say, "Willow.wake up! Wesley's.La Morte, Faith and Angel.in peril.you must stop them!" Finally, her vision cleared and she saw Faith and Angel surrounded by a weapon-wielding Buffy and Oz, who were watching their allies as if they were hawks circling around their quarry. La Morte stood outside of the circle, kneeling before Wesley, his arms outstretched as if he was inviting death to overtake him. Wesley held the crossbow upraised and pointed it straight at La Morte's head, his finger inching on the trigger.

Willow glanced over at the altar where Micah Luke lay in a pool of his own blood. He was still very much alive, but he had a horrified expression of terror on his face as he watched Wesley and the others. The red-haired witch muttered a spell which would allow her to see ethereal forms and suddenly everything froze and the room turned dark.

She saw a figure standing next to Wesley. It was Connor, but he was bloodstained and covered in wounds, a horrific corpse. But Willow knew this was definitely not the Connor she knew. It was an old enemy from Sunnydale in disguise. Connor whispered into Wesley's ear, Willow heard him say "do it Wesley, avenge me. Kill the murderer! He must pay!"

"No!" Willow screamed and quickly cast a protective spell around La Morte just as Wesley pulled the trigger on the crossbow. The room suddenly returned to normal, absent of the whirling shadows of the spirit world. The crossbow bolt sailed several inches before smashing into the shield, which deflected it and the bolt ricocheted off and slammed into the wall.

"How dare you try to stop justice witch?" Wesley snarled as he struggled to reload the crossbow. Willow stared at him and sent him flying against the wall, making a loud smack as he hit it. Angel and Faith used her attack as a distraction and speedily disarmed Buffy and Oz, who were awestruck by the sudden turn of events. Angel seized Buffy, noting the glazed expression on her face and he shook her.

"Buffy, wake up!" He said to her as he shook her violently. Buffy's eyes fluttered and she returned to consciousness, she freed herself from Angel's grip.

"What happened? I was standing there for a moment and then I just lost control of myself. I was in this nightmare surrounded by all these decaying corpses who were crying out for justice and revenge. It was horrible! They said you; Faith and La Morte had to be punished for what you did. I saw Jenny, Connor, Wood, Fred and Gunn among them. They almost would've coerced me into killing you if Willow hadn't intervened."

Angel hugged Buffy, who was shaking uncontrollably. She softened up and gradually cooled down. Faith revived Oz, who looked as shocked as Buffy had been.

"Faith, I'm sorry, when I was in those catacombs, I saw these eyeless men clustered around some sort of magical circle. Then, Connor visited and spoke to me, telling me that I needed to help the others because La Morte was trying to kill them. It took a hold of me like I was almost in a trance, I couldn't resist it. Luckily Willow woke up in time and saved us all."

"Oz, yours and Buffy's visions means that we have a problem. A very serious one that I thought we all defeated back in Sunnydale," Faith's eyes shot from him to Buffy. "The First has returned."

"But that's impossible!" Giles chimed in, "we stopped it from ending the world and Buffy destroyed it! Her power should have been enough to obliterate it's ethereal form."

"Uh guys," Xander, who was slugging a limp Dawn alongside him, piped up, "I think we have more pressing problems than the First right now." He pointed over to the altar, where Micah Luke had risen up, his wounds mysteriously healed.

Micah Luke looked down at his healed body and smiled, "I knew I could use your newfound compassion to my advantage Robert, but I don't think you and your friends will make that mistake ever again." He raised the sword, "I shall the key and none of you can stop me! Oh, and thanks for knocking Wesley out, now the First Evil has entered my body. It's quite exhilarating for both of us right now; our combined powers make us invincible. I didn't expect your infantile attempts to succeed back in Sunnydale, but no matter, I shall succeed nevertheless."

La Morte rose to his feet while Micah Luke loudly boasted of his newfound power. He snuck over and took up his sword.

"I thought I could let you go Micah, but I should've expected such opportunism from a foul knave like you. I can't believe I actually followed the orders of some crazed fanatic like you. You're nothing but a false priest, and now you're the same as the monsters you promised that you would destroy. How pathetic indeed. Come and get me, Micah and let's finish this." He raised the claymore as an invitation for Micah to attack him.

Micah took the bait and charged at him, La Morte glanced back at the others, "get out of here! I'll hold him off!"

The group was stunned to hear La Morte's orders for them to fall back, but Faith reacted first, "Buffy, you and I should go into the catacombs and find the bringers. If you can kill them and disrupt their ritual, then the First will vanish and Micah Luke will be left next to defenseless. Xander, Willow, you take Dawn and the others outside the church. If we're not out of the church in fifteen minutes, I want you to level it. La Morte can take this guy, but he's gonna need some help."

"I'll stay with him," Angel answered her, "besides, I have some loose ends to tie up with the First." He picked up his blade and joined La Morte. They greeted Micah Luke's charge by deflecting his first attack. Angel attacked Micah Luke from his vulnerable side while La Morte blocked the fallen priest's lightning attacks.

Xander and Giles followed Faith's orders and helped the others out of the church. Faith and Buffy ran down into the darkened corridors leading down into the subterranean tunnels underneath the church. The two slayers crept along the corridors, aided only by the light of a few torches left in their sconces along the walls.

Buffy whispered, "Faith, I'm sorry for what happened. I know it all started when Xander and the others left you to fend off La Morte by yourself. If I had been there, that wouldn't have happened-"

"Don't worry about it B, thanks to your friends, I got a new boy toy and he's the perfect guy for me. Well, there is the whole thing about him either being a ruthless demonic killer or a brooding mess of tortured humanity, but he's great in bed."

Buffy laughed at her friend's joke, "still the same old Faith," she chuckled, "that's what I always liked about you. How we were so different, you were always the bad girl with the dark past while I was the goody two shoes with her friends. But we're not anymore, I know now that I am no better than you Faith; I love the slaying as much as you do, and it's consumed my life completely. Everything I held dear, everyone I once loved is vanished, everyone's changed. Giles, Willow, Xander, they're nothing like they used to be when times were better. Spike was the only person in my life who was sympathetic to my problems after they yanked me out from heaven, he understood my hellish mortal existence. And I don't want it anymore, all I want to do is to have a normal life, keep my sister safe and make sure she has the life I should have had."

"Don't say that B," Faith's brown eyes met Buffy's blue ones. "Heck, I always looked up to you. That's why I envied you so much, because you were a natural leader who could manage to maintain her social life. Me, I'm nothing compared to you, people died when I took charge back in Sunnydale and look at me, all I've known is a life of violence and upheaval. I can't take on the slaying duties alone, especially with an unstable boyfriend and almost nobody else to help me. I don't think I can do it B."

Buffy answered her, "Faith, you have to , you have no choice. You are the real chosen one, I'm supposed to be dead. Last night, the first slayer visited me, I didn't tell you because I was brooding over Spike and I feared you would take her message too hard. She told me that when I died, all of my enhanced slayer powers went over to you, when I was resurrected, I gained powers from the earth and the powers that me granted me back my former slayer strength. But Faith, you must understand that I am no longer the chosen one who must protect the world from evil, that burden has fallen upon your shoulders whether you like or not. The first slayer also told me that you 'must not make the same mistakes as me, your power and abilities come from a different source than me. You're more passionate, more individualistic and slaying is your life; all of those gifts have been your weaknesses, but you can overcome them. Before she left, she also predicted your relationship with 'the black knight' who roams in the shadows. She said it was your duty to bring him over to your side, which you have done, but the path shall be difficult. You both shall play critical roles in the end of the world, along with Angel. I know Angel's supposed to be the champion, but she didn't really explain clearly what your roles would be. Then, I was whisked away from some African desert to Los Angeles, I saw this alternate reality where the world ended, it was a place too horrible to imagine. Then, I found myself in a white room surrounded by several figures dressed in clothes that shared the same colors as the room. The place was so brightly lit that I could barely discern their figures, but I knew who they were. They introduced themselves as the powers that be and they told me what I must do and what I must tell you, then they vanished into thin air and I woke up."

"Wow B," Faith replied, backing against the wall while deep in thought as Buffy explained her dream to her. "I once tried to destroy the world, now I'm supposed to save it? Isn't that ironic?" She chuckled briefly at the last comment but cleared her throat. "But B, I seriously can't do it without you. I'm no leader, your friends probably don't trust me and I don't know what I'm supposed to do, how can I follow this prophecy of yours?"

"You can by overcoming these disadvantages. You're a different person than me, but you have the qualities in you which will allow you to emerge as a natural leader. You have the potential to become even greater than either me, Angel or even La Morte. All you have to do is believe in yourself and discover the powers within you," Buffy explained slowly, her eyes piercing into Faith.

"Spare me the self-help diatribe B', you're starting to sound like G-man," Faith whispered back, "but if you say it was the powers and the first slayer who gave you this information then I'll just have to discover more about myself and travel to the new hellmouth in Cleveland."

"It's your destiny Faith, you can't avoid it. The others will follow, just give them time," Buffy smiled and walked up to Faith, she stroked her hair and massaged the raven-haired slayer's shoulders in a sisterly manner. She stopped as she heard the low murmur of chanting in the catacombs about fifty feet around the corner.

"Shhhh, it's the bringers," Buffy's manner changed from friendly to cold as she resumed her mental concentration. "Here's the plan Faith, we sneak up on them, you take the farthest ones and smash their ritual circle. I'll take on the others. Hopefully we can disrupt the First's power and banish it from Micah Luke's body."

Faith nodded, "sounds good B'." They crept up slowly until they reached the corner. Faith glanced around the corner and eyed the ritual. Four eyeless harbringers sat around a circle, muttering incantations and prayers in some obscene pagan tongue. She looked back at Buffy, "there's only four of them, let's do it."

Faith ran out into the catacombs, jumping over skeletons and debris as she raced to reach the circle with Buffy in hot pursuit behind her.

Meanwhile, in the cathedral, Robert La Morte and Angel were locked in desperate combat with Micah Luke. Angel managed to inflict several deep wounds on Micah Luke, but his armor was resistant to most of Angel's blows while most of the wounds Angel inflicted healed almost instantaneously. La Morte managed to block most of Micah Luke's blows, but he was being to tire especially after Micah ended up scoring a blow through his black armor. He pierced the black knight's shoulder with his sword, the holy blade sending the half-demon into spasms of severe pain.

"Taste the word of the Lord demon, although I suppose I shouldn't refer to myself in third person," Micah Luke chuckled as La Morte staggered backwards, reeling in pain. Angel then jumped on Micah Luke's exposed back and ran the fallen holy man through the heart with his sword. Micah was surprised from the sneak attack, but he easily threw Angel off his back and withdrew the blade from his backside. He tossed it aside and walked towards Angel, wielding his sword in a threatening fashion.

"It's time for you to die vampire, you and your meddling friends have interfered in my business for too long," Micah Luke snarled, stamping his feet as he stepped closer to Angel, who was crawling on the floor. The preacher seized Angel by his shirt, clamping his cold hands on Angel's throat and he squeezed as hard as he could, Angel resisted but his strength gradually ebbed. Sensing victory drawing near, Micah Luke raised his serrated sword as if to bury it in Angel's vulnerable heart but he groaned as La Morte's claymore suddenly came out from behind him and ran him through his left lung and heart. Micah Luke fell to the ground and released Angel from his viselike grip. His sword fell to ground away from his grasp. La Morte, who was bleeding profusely from his shoulder wound twisted the hilt of the sword to inflict more pain on his collapsed foe. Micah Luke yowled in pain as he tried to inch towards his blade.

Just then, Faith reached the circle. With a quick motion of her arm, she decapitated the nearest bringer and smashed another's face with a sharp kick. Then, she kicked over the totems in the center of the circle and started stamping out the chalk. One of the bringers came out of his comatose state and tried to stop her, but Buffy appeared behind him and snapped his neck without a trace of emotion. The last bringer was still in a hibernation-like state when Buffy ran him through with her scimitar, wincing as his blood splattered all over her shirt.

Micah Luke suddenly started flopping around like a fish, his mouth and eyes wide open in horror. "Nooo, those accursed slayers have ruined everything! I'm losing my power, I'm disappearing." Angel used the opportunity to dive for the stunned fanatic's holy sword. He caught in the middle of his dive and he raised the sword in his hand and planted it in Luke's back alongside La Morte's sword. Micah Luke started making a loud hissing noise and started flailing about in his death throes before his eyes misted up and he became limp.

"That takes care of him, the world shall no longer hear his messages of hatred and violence," La Morte spoke nonchalantly as he withdrew his sword from the shattered corpse. He rose to his feet and helped Angel up, who was also severely drained from his earlier wound.

Angel nodded, "I think we're even now," managing a smile. La Morte didn't grin, but he showed a look of relief in spite of his ghostly pale features and unkempt hair. Suddenly, they both heard the whistling sound of a crossbow bolt, which buried itself in La Morte's chest. La Morte fell to the ground and started wheezing as he shook violently. "Poison," he rasped before his eyes glazed over and he slipped into darkness.