[The Potentials go medieval on the Bringers. Gwen has a few questions for Faith about Slayers. And Buffy and Connor work as a team to defeat the Turam.]
Connor and Buffy land right punches to the Turam's face. Connor kicks the demon in the stomach. Buffy kicks him in the nose. Both avoid the Turam's punches. But while Connor has gotten good at anticipating these punches, he neglects to watch out for the demon's kicks. He punches the demon in the chin, and gets nailed in the stomach with a left kick. He flies back but stays on his feet, though the wind is knocked out of him. The Turam allows Buffy to get close to him and land a few more blows before grabbing her throat with his right paw. He lifts her up in the air. Connor leaps to the rescue, but is knocked down by the back of the Turam's right hand. Buffy feels the tusks brush against her hair as the Turam leans in to devour her head. At the last moment, she manages to push her legs against the demon's chest and propel herself backwards. She does a back flip and lands on her feet. The Turam charges forward and clotheslines Buffy with his right arm and Connor with his left. The demon stomps once on each of their rib cages before they manage to stand up. Both of them are bruised and bloodied. They back up to buy time and move closer to their weapons.
Out of nowhere, eight Bringers charge the Potentials from all sides.
KENNEDY: Now!!
Izora, Ariella, Fadila, Erica, Heather, Rebecca, Theresa and Joan take a step back. Kennedy, Amanda, Molly, Rona, Vi, Chao-Ahn, Madari and Rose now each have room to use their weapons. Fadila, Erica and Heather each grab a crossbow and crouch next to Izora. Rebecca, Theresa and Joan do the same for Ariella. Izora and Ariella are handed their first crossbows. They fire. Izora hits a Bringer in the forehead, and Ariella hits another Bringer where its right eye would have been. Both fall down. They are handed their second crossbows and fire. Izora sends a bolt through a Bringer's neck. Ariella's shot enters a Bringer's mouth and goes into his brain. Izora's third shot goes in through a Bringer's right ear. Ariella's hits a Bringer in the heart. The first shots were fired from 60 feet away, the second from 30, and the third from ten.
The two uninjured Bringers charge into the Potentials, but fail to break through their crown-shaped formation. Amanda stabs one through the heart right before Madari cleaves the Bringer's skull with an ax. The other Bringer dodges Rose's and Vi's initial blows, but Kennedy moves to her left, sticks out her sword, and runs the Bringer through before he can do any damage. The Bringer who was shot through the eye and the one who was shot through the neck stand up. Heather, Rebecca, Erica, Fadila, Joan and Theresa now pour out and attack. Two other Bringers were also trying to get to their feet. Amanda, Vi, Molly, Madari, Rose, Chao-Ahn and Rona follow. In vain Kennedy tries to call them back, reminding them of the dangers of breaking formation. Izora and Ariella are crouched down right behind Kennedy, busily reloading their six crossbows.
KENNEDY: Nice shooting.
IZORA: Nice stabbing. Good leading.
ARIELLA: You're right. The others should have obeyed you and stuck together.
Remember, some of the Bringers fell as far as 60 feet from the Potentials' circular "schiltron" formation. So the 13 Potentials who ventured out become widely dispersed. What followed was a purging of their fears and frustrations through blood lust. This was payback time. They stabbed and hacked away at the Bringers. Vi, Rona and Molly each slit one of the Bringer's throats while they were still on the ground. Amanda beheaded one Bringer. The other three outlying Bringers were all cut down and badly mutilated by the other nine girls. And then, out of nowhere, eight more Bringers descended on the scattered and unsuspecting Potentials.
KENNEDY: There's more! Get back!! Get back!!!
Rose, Fadila, Joan, Chao-Ahn and Theresa are all close enough to return to Kennedy before the Bringers get close to them. Izora shoots a Bringer which is about to overtake Rebecca through the heart. Ariella hits a Bringer who is approaching Madari in the chest. Izora hits one in the neck, and Ariella hits another in the forehead. Rona, Molly, Madari and Rebecca make it back safely and rally around Kennedy. Izora's final shot goes in one of the Bringer's cheeks and out the other, failing to take him down. Ariella's last shot hits a Bringer in the forearm when he raises his arm to protect his face. Vi and Erica make it back. Heather is tackled from behind by the Bringer who had been shot through the cheeks. Vi charges out and kicks that Bringer in the face. He rolls off Heather and she and Vi return to the formation. By now the schiltron is pretty ragged, with groups three or four girls standing shoulder to shoulder, making a lopsided circle with gaps.
Rather than get tackled, Amanda turns and fights. She kicks the Bringer in the face. Then she tosses one of her daggers into its chest. The Bringer goes down and she returns to the formation. On the other side of the circle, on of the two uninjured Bringers charges at Rona, Joan, Chao-Ahn and Theresa. Rona steps forward and brandishes her two Bringer daggers. This show of confidence inspires Chao-Ahn, Theresa and Joan to do likewise. They surround the Bringer and stab him to death with their eight daggers.
When the Bringer that Vi kicked got to his feet, he was 15 feet from the Potentials. Kennedy charges out in a preemptive strike. She swings at the Bringer with her sword. He ducks and moves towards the Potentials. Kennedy kicks him in the back. The blow knocks him into the Potentials. Off-balance and unprepared, he is cut to ribbons by Molly, Heather and Vi. The Bringer who had been shot in the forearm closes with Erica and Rose. They are both tentative. Fadila, who stands five feet to the Bringer's right, comes across and stabs the Bringer in the neck. Erica and Rose finish him off as he falls to the ground. The other uninjured Bringer comes at Madari and Rebecca. Madari's ax swings keep him at bay, but he kicks Rebecca in the face. Kennedy comes over and chops off the Bringer's right hand with her sword. Madari plunges her ax into the right side of the Bringer's neck. Rebecca gets up and stabs him with her daggers.
The Bringer Amanda hit in the chest with one of her daggers gets up. He pulls the dagger out and tosses it at the Potentials. Kennedy, alert as always, knocks it down with the blade of her sword. He throws one of his own daggers, which Amanda knocks down with the blade of her sword. He brandishes his final dagger and charges into the Potentials. Izora and Ariella throw their four daggers at the Bringer. All of them hit him in the chest. He slows down and raises his dagger right in front of Amanda. She thrusts her sword through his jaw and out the top of his head. Two of the Bringers Ariella and Izora shot down rise to their feet. The Potentials charge out at them, and at the other two Bringers who lay dead with only crossbow wounds. This time Ariella and Izora run out, but just to retrieve their daggers from the Bringer's stomach. Kennedy is powerless to call the 15 girls back into formation. After sufficient mutilation assures them that all Bringers are dead, they return to Kennedy. All of them survey the devastation they caused, and are a little in awe of what they have achieved. 16 dead Bringers. 16 live Potentials without a scratch.
GWEN: So you were normal. Then one day you wake up and you're Supergirl. You have to save the world. And, oh yeah, you're marked for death. It doesn't make sense. Why would they do that do a teenage girl?
FAITH: They needed someone to fight the demons.
GWEN: That part I get. But why a teenager? Why put all that responsibility on a girl in high school? I'm a lot more reliable now than I was back then. Slayers called in their mid-20s would handle the pressure a lot better.
FAITH: Never thought about it that way. Guess if I were called a few years later I might not have burned out then faded away.
GWEN: And why only one girl? If they could make one, why didn't they make more? The more the better. Either those Council men didn't think this through, or they had other motives than saving the world.
FAITH: They're not dirty old men. Least not the ones I met.
GWEN: Like hell they aren't! That's why they pick nubile, fresh young teenagers. They like em young! Its a fetish. Bunch of lonely old men who want to see underage hotties bouncing around and kicking ass. Or a bunch of lonely college guys who read comic books and want to bring their fantasies to life. Pygmalion for the D&D set. That's why they have to die so quick! Guys get bored with one girl, want to see another. Then another. Then another. They're using you for more than just saving the world. No other reason to make em so young and kill em so quickly. Feeds their fetish.
FAITH: What about you? Why the dominatrix pose? Talk about fetishes.
GWEN: I was born a freak by accident. You were made one on purpose. I work for myself. You work for a "Watcher," who sounds like he's part-coach, part-voyeur.
FAITH: Wesley was my Watcher.
GWEN: Didn't figure him for the type. Dirty? Kind of. Old? Definitely not. Young enough to try to abuse his power.
FAITH: He didn't. One of the few good things I can say about him.
GWEN: Certainly not a pompous stuffed shirt.
FAITH: Are we talking about the same guy?
GWEN: English. Gritty. Acts like some Foreign Legion expat who can't go home. Wes ain't bad. But he ain't Gunn, either.
FAITH: He's the one you called Denzel, right?
GWEN: That might not be fair. Gunn's a lot younger that Denzel. And I think he's taller. Plus he doesn't just play a tough guy. He is one.
FAITH: And he used to be with the smart shy girl. the one Wes likes?
GWEN: I think he's still hung up on her. But he is available.
FAITH: Sounds like you're ready to snap him up.
GWEN: We have a whole flirtation thing. Plus I killed him and brought him back to life. Creates a bond.
FAITH: If you can't touch people, can they touch you?
GWEN: Not without receiving more than a little static electricity.
FAITH: So you've never been - ?
GWEN: Nope. It's a barrier between me and the rest of the human race. But there's a twist. My touch makes people die. But it brings vampires back to life. The electricity jump-starts their hearts. For a few seconds, anyway.
FAITH: You can boink the undead. [smiles.] But only the undead. Have you? Couldn't blame you. It's been known to happen with girls who actually do have a choice. [Buffy reference, of course, though Faith would have done Angel if she had the chance.]
GWEN: This stays between you and me.
FAITH: I'm all with keeping secrets.
GWEN: I have. Twice. With two different vampires. But that's all.
FAITH: Nothing to be ashamed of. Can't say the same about some of the losers I've humped. [she's not thinking of Xander. He compares well to some of the other losers Faith's bedded.] One of em wasn't Angel, was it?
GWEN: We just kissed. [she slept with Angelus, not Angel] He was trying to take something from me, so I zapped him. Instead of dying he came to life. You should have seen the look on his face when he felt his heart beating.
FAITH: Talk about making a good first impression. What did he want from you?
GWEN: Axis of Pythia. Worth about 30 mil. Finds people in other dimensions. As I was stealing it, Angel was also trying to steal it in his own inept way. He followed me to where I was meeting my fence. Pleaded that he needed it to find the woman he loved.
FAITH: Buffy was in another dimension?
GWEN: Who's Buffy? [Faith realizes what's going on and grins at the surprise.]
FAITH: Buffy WAS Angel's one true love. His only love. They were willing to die for each other and all that Romeo and Juliet crap. But she moved on, and I guess he did to. This new girl have a name?
GWEN: Cordelia. [Faith bursts out laughing]
FAITH: Next you'll tell me Buffy's taking it from Xander. Forget it. What the hell happened? Cordy always had a mad jones for him, but Angel felt NOTHING. She didn't turn him on at all. And what was CC doing in another dimension?
GWEN: Ya got me. Something about becoming a Higher Being. Said she was omniscient. From wherever she was, she saw me kissing Angel.
Faith pauses for a few seconds to absorb the implausibility of what she's just heard.
FAITH: I won't even try to make sense of that. Sounds like CC changed a whole wicked lot. Maybe that's why Angel said he loved whatever she had turned into. What was she like when you met her?
GWEN: A real bitch.
FAITH: That's the Cordy I knew.
GWEN: Angel and her were fighting like some old married couple. Had him on a pretty tight leash. Every time he strayed too far away, she'd yank the chain, metaphorically.
FAITH: B also dominated Angel. He must like it that way.
The Turam rushes Buffy and collides with her, knocking her down. He takes off in the direction of the Potentials. Connor quickly retreats and gets in the demon's way. They trade punches. Connor goes down. Buffy catches up to the Turam and kicks him in the face. The Turam kicks back, knocking Buffy down. Buffy and Connor are 60 feet from the Potentials. They both realize they will need weapons to take down this demon. Connor picks up a sword. Buffy grabs the giant hammer. Connor leaps over the Turam so that he is behind it. Buffy remains in front and swings the hammer at the demon's chest. He blocks the blow with both arms. Connor jumps in the air and swings for the Turam's neck while it is occupied with Buffy. The sword goes about an inch into the neck and gets stuck. The Turam turns around to strike Connor. Without his weapon, he retreats a step. Buffy nails the demon in the spine with her hammer. He arches his back in pain. Connor does a backflip and lands a kick to the demon's chin. Buffy strikes the Turam in the right knee. It bends that leg. Connor charges, leaps up, grabs the sword's handle. pulls the blade out of the Turam's neck, and lands next to Buffy.
BUFFY: You make a really good diversion.
Connor is wounded by such faint praise. But he is more wounded by the Turam's left hook to his jaw. Buffy does an uppercut swing for the demon's head. He grabs the anvil-sized hammer head with both hands and pulls the hammer away from Buffy. She looks very nervous.
BUFFY: Now would be a GREAT time for another diversion, Connor.
Connor knows he can't decapitate this thing with his sword. So he rushes in and stabs the demon through the chest. He strikes Connor's back with the hammer. Connor goes down. Buffy winces, figuring the blow must have at least broken several of Connor's ribs. Such a hit would have knocked her out of the fight. The Turam opens its mouth, roars, and raises the hammer about his head. Buffy steps back and flinches. The Turam kicks her in the chest with his right foot. Seems the Turam knows a little something about diversions as well. Buffy feels her sternum collapse inwards to the point where for a split second it squeezes her heart against her spine. She tumbles to the ground 20 feet away. The Potentials, about 90 feet from the Turam, watch the action with growing concern. The Turam throws the hammer at Buffy. She rolls out of the way. The hammer makes several large dents in the pavement as it hits the ground turning end-over-end. While the Turam was throwing the hammer, Connor reached up and pulled his sword out of the demon, who winced in pain as the blade left his body. Connor stood up, ready to continue the fight. Buffy is stunned by his quick recovery. She realizes Connor is more than a great diversion. He is possibly the world's best punching bag.
Connor swings for the demon's right wrist. The Turam grabs the blade in the palm of his right hand, and squeezes tight. He wrestles the sword away from Connor as drops of demons' blood fall to the ground. Connor knew this thing was tough. But it had skin. Not rock skin. Fleshy skin. This wasn't supposed to happen. Connor throws right and left punches, hitting the Turam in the stomach. The Turam sends Connor flying with a left uppercut. Then he grips the sword with both hands and splits the steel apart. While Connor's down, Buffy crawls over to him and whispers in his left ear.
CONNOR: And what do I do?
BUFFY: Stay on your feet.
CONNOR: You always take the easy part.
Buffy scowls and grabs a large ax. Connor gets up and approaches the Turam, weaponless. Connor has a large red bruise covering his right cheek, and a gash to the outside of his left eye. His nose is bleeding, and he spits blood out through his teeth. Buffy has a large red and purple bruise on her forehead. There's a cut across the bridge of her nose, a blue bruise on the left side of her jaw, and a laceration down her right cheek. Both of them also have substantial internal injuries from all the pounding they have incurred.
CONNOR: You think you're tough? I've fought demons a lot tougher than you. (well, a demon) You've haven't even broken a single part of me. [He holds his arms to the side] Go ahead. Try to hurt me. We'll see who breaks first.
The Turam throws a right hook. Connor ducks.
CONNOR: Always leading with the hooks. [he's applying what Spike taught him about anticipating his opponents]
The Turam throws a left hook. Connor moves his head back and out of the way. Then he leaps at the demon and hits its left tusk with a right jab. The demon yelps in pain.
CONNOR: I knew you had a weakness.
The Turam clobbers Connor's face with a right jab of his own. Connor feels a little lightheaded and takes a few steps back. But as the Turam connected with the blow, Buffy leaped at him from his right side. She drove the large ax blade about two inches into the Turam's eight-inch thick neck. Connor immediately resumes his attack. He leaps at the Turam and kicks him in the chest. The Turam staggers back a few steps. Connor throws a left cross at the demon's right tusk. The Turam grabs Connor's left wrist with his right paw. He pulls Connor up and open his mouth. Connor tries to strike the left tusk with his right fist. The Turam grips Connor's right arm with his left paw. Connor's feet are in the air. He can't use either arm. And in a second his head will have been bitten of. Meanwhile, Buffy runs back and picks up her Thor Hammer. She looks at Connor and thinks he's doing a wonderful job of preventing the Turam from dislodging the ax.
Connor puts his head forward and down, and his feet up in the air. He does a forward flip, placing his body behind the Turam's so they are back-to-back. As he holds onto Connor's arms, the demon's arms are pulled backwards. When the joints can bend no further, the Turam lets go. Connor falls to the ground and crawls between the Turam's legs, narrowly avoiding getting stomped on. Buffy thinks it's wonderful. Connor's making sure the Turam will never see her coming. Connor wonders what's taking Buffy so long. He gets to his feet, and is hit in the right ear by a left cross. He hits the Turam's left tusk again with his right fist. The Turam lets out an anguished cry, looks down at his adversary, and hits Connor's skull with a thunderous right cross. Connor's knees buckle, but he stays up. He blocks a right hook. The force of the blow hitting Connor's arms staggers him. He hits the demon in the chest with a right roundhouse kick. The Turam is puzzled by the tensile strength of Connor's bones. He thinks Connor's a vampire-human hybrid. Yet he is more durable than most vampires.
This turns out to be the last of the Turam's thoughts. A fraction of a second after Connor landed that kick, Buffy strikes the back of the ax blade with her hammer. This pushes the blade through six inches of the Turam's neck (it was already two inches in). He strikes Connor to the ground with his right forearm. Connor looks up, sees what had happened, and smiles.
CONNOR: Looks like you broke first.
Buffy drops her hammer and stands in front of the demon, looking relieved. The Turam's head slowly bends to the left, like a falling tree trunk. After five seconds, it breaks off from the demon's neck. The head bounces on the ground a few times before settling on its side. The body falls forward, pinning both Buffy and Connor underneath it. They feel a mighty wind slowly strip the flesh off the demon and carry it up in the air. The Potentials look on in wonder. Usually vampires turn to dust in an instant. After 30 seconds, the flesh is gone, leaving behind only a skeleton. The same thing happens with the skull. Buffy and Connor lift up the skeleton and flip it over so they can stand up. Connor is stoked when he sees what remains.
CONNOR: This is the best trophy ever! I call the head.
Buffy picks up the hammer and smashes the skull with a single blow.
CONNOR: You don't have to be so rude about it.
She takes the hammer to the skeleton. After eight blows, it's been pretty much pulverized. Connor is confused and disappointed.
CONNOR: Why did you do that?
BUFFY: When the demon leaves a skeleton, you turn the skeleton to powder. Otherwise really bad stuff can happen. Like the demon being resurrected.
Ironic, since Connor's mom was resurrected, although she turned to dust.
CONNOR: You've killed one of these before?
BUFFY: Nope. He was weaker and smaller and not as bright as this thing. Come to think of it, he wasn't very masterly at all.
Masterly? Master!? THE Master!!? Holtz told Connor a vampire called The Master sired Darla. Surely that wasn't who Buffy was talking about. It's a generic title. Also, Holtz told Connor that without Angelus the Master would not be able to return to the earth's surface. Connor lets it pass.
Buffy is shocked at the sight of all those Bringer bodies. They way they were hacked apart and disembowled indicated that the Potentials enjoyed this killing.
MOLLY: You see wot we did all by ourselves?
BUFFY: Hard to miss.
RONA: Aren't you proud of us?
BUFFY: Astonished.
They take this as a great compliment. Buffy knows about the dangers of bloodlust, especially among Slayers. She believes that such reveling in "the thrill of the kill" leads down a slippery slope which turns warriors into amoral killers. Connor is of the opposite mindset.
CONNOR: This is amazing! How many did you get?
KENNEDY: 16.
CONNOR: I knew you could be warriors if Buffy gave you the chance. Great work!
The Potentials are flattered by Connor's effusive praise. Now HE was in awe of THEM. Talk about role-reversal. Buffy walks up to Kennedy.
BUFFY: I'm glad you kept them safe.
KENNEDY: They kept themselves safe. We worked together.
Kennedy saw what the Bringers did to her Watcher. She knows what the Bringers did to other Potentials. So she won't chastise the girls for going a little overboard with the payback.
BUFFY: We saved ourselves. Now it's time to save the world. You know, the hard part of the evening.
It was after ten. Connor picked up a broadsword and his small double-bladed ax and put the weapons on his belt. Buffy took a long sword, a short sword, and the large ax, putting them on her belt. They would return to collect the other weapons later.
BUFFY: Kennedy, we have to hurry. Get to the school as fast as you can. Stay together.
Connor speeds off early. Buffy thinks this is another instance of his showboating. Connor has a 100 yard head start before Buffy takes off. She catches up at the half-mile point. Connor wants to talk.
FADILA: What's the deal with Connor? He's even more comic book-y than Buffy.
MADARI: You think he's more powerful than Buffy?
FADILA: Not more powerful. More cartoonish. I get the sense you could throw him off a cliff, drop an anvil on his head, put a stick of dynamite in his mouth, and he'd still walk away.
BUFFY: Good fight.
CONNOR: You too.
Remember that they are having this leisurely conversation while running at 30 miles per hour.
BUFFY: You know something? We may not like each other, but we make a pretty good team.
CONNOR: My courage and your cunning.
BUFFY: You mean my brains and my brawn, plus your brawn and your . . . resilience.
CONNOR: That the toughest thing you ever faced?
BUFFY: Nah. Probably in the top ten, though.
CONNOR: Same with me. Not even close to the worst thing. At least we could pierce his skin.
BUFFY: Not like he was a god or something.
CONNOR: There's only one God.
BUFFY: Maybe in this dimension.
CONNOR: What do you know about other dimensions?
BUFFY: Just that they should keep away from this world.
CONNOR: What about this hellbeast? What are we up against? [he wasn't there when Giles gave the specifics.]
BUFFY: Big snake. Lots of smaller snakes coming out of it. Cut off the heads and keep them from biting you.
CONNOR: Is it a giant serpent, a dragon, or a hydra?
He fought all three in Quor Toth. At least that's what Holtz told him they were.
BUFFY: It's big. It's world destroying. We kill it. Cut off its head. [she's mimicking Connor's speech and thought patterns, parodying him.] Do dragons really exist?
CONNOR: In this dimension? Would't know.