Just as Sanchez prepared his final strike, the ground below them started to rumble and shake. Both the vampire leader and the Scoobies staggered as they tried to stay on their feet. Finally a large explosion rocked the ground directly under Sanchez and threw the vampire off his feet.

Xander didn't wait a second and ran up to Buffy.

"Get in the Hummer," he shouted over the sound of the explosion. The Scoobies rushed to the vehicle while Xander pulled the still shocked Buffy up to the car.

"You okay?" he asked worried as he helped her onto the passengers seat and Buffy numbly nodded.

Xander rushed to the other side of the car and jumped in the driver's seat. He shifted the car into gear and drove it out of the warehouse.

Behind them Sanchez was finally able to come back to his feet. He rushed after the departing vehicle, but even with his vampire speed he wasn't able to match the Hummers speed.

He could only watch as the car rounded the next corner and vanished behind another warehouse.

Sanchez cursed in Spanish while he walked back into the warehouse. But his anger quickly vanished when he spotted a small object on the ground.

While he inspected the wallet, Michael came out of one of the sewer entrances. His suit was almost ripped to shreds and he had various burn marks on face.

"Michael," the vampire leader greeted his assistant casually. "What happened down there?"

"The slayer's groups must have placed some mines down there," he responded. "One of our men triggered one and they all blew up."

The vampire leader simply nodded at that. "Make the limousine ready," he said while he walked past Michael.

"May I ask why?" he said, while he followed his boss.

"The slayer. Her name is Buffy Summers," Sanchez said and showed him the small card he had taken from Buffy's wallet. "And she is studying at UC Sunnydale."

The vampire leader sighed and picked up both his and Buffy's sword. "Guess it's time to pay Miss Summers a visit."

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The drive back to the warehouse was completed in silence. None of the Scoobies spoke about what happened back at the vampire lair. Xander parked the Hummer besides the SUV and one after another they left the car.

"Oh man," Xander exclaimed, breaking the icy silence.

"What?" Giles asked confused.

Xander simply motioned at the various bullet holes that covered the side of the car. "I can't drive anywhere without attracting the attention of the police."

"Maybe I can help you with it," Willow said. She muttered a few word and pointed her hand at the car. Almost instantly the holes disappeared, like they have never existed in the first place.

"Neat trick," Xander said and inspected the Hummer more closely. "How long will the illusion last?"

"Three or four days," Willow said.

Xander nodded at that and walked in the direction of the office. "That should be enough time for me to repair the damage with the parts I have," he said while the walked up the stairs.

"Okay Giles," Xander said and opend the door. "Any idea what happened back there?"

"None," the watcher admitted and sat down on one of the chairs, the rest of the Scoobies following his example. "I've never heard of an invincible vampire before."

"Maybe he used some kind of spell," Willow threw in.

"No, I would have heard of something like that," Giles said with a shake of his head.

"Giles," Xander interuppted. "You ever heard of the gem of Amara?"

"I think I remember something about it," he admitted and looked over at the slayerette that sat in front of the computer. "Why?"

"Because it's the only match I get when I search for 'vampire' and 'invincible'," Xander said with a shrug of his shoulder. He took the remote besides the keyboard and almost instantly the big screen on the opposite side of the wall, which till now had only shown the images of the various surveillance cameras, showed the search results from the digital version of Giles's library.

Giles was the first to finish reading the paragraph. "Now I remember," Giles admitted. "The gem is encased in a ring. It's is supposed to make any vampire who wears it invulnerable to anything that might kill him. Stakes, holy water, crosses, sunlight, fire."

"Why haven't you mentioned it before?" Willow asked confused.

"Because it's a myth. Like Atlantis or the holy grail," Giles explained. "It's a fairy tale. No sane vampire would believe in it."

"Nonetheless," Xander threw in. "It seems like its neither a myth nor a fairy tale. Somehow Sanchez found the ring and its working pretty good."

"So," Oz spoke up. "How are we supposed to kill him?"

"If the ring gives him these special powers," Xander started. "Why don't we simply cut his hand off."

"That might even work," Giles agreed. "Vampires can't replace lost limbs. And the gem can't change that fact."

"So it's agreed," Xander stated. "The next time we find him we chop him into so many pieces that there is no place large enough put a ring on."

"The problem is to find him," Willow said with a sigh. "It won't be that easy the next time. He wanted to personally kill Buffy today. It would have been harder if his vampires had also joined into the attack."

Xander nodded at that and looked at the blonde slayer, who had been awfully quiet during the conversation. He practically could see that something was bothering her.

"Buffy?" he asked carefully, trying to get her attention.

"Guys, I need some air," she announced without looking up. Before any of them could react , she had already left the office.

"She is taking that pretty hard," Giles stated with worry.

"Yeah. An invincible vampire is probably every slayer's worst nightmare," Xander agreed and stood up. "I'm going to check on her."

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"Boss," Michael said, trying to get his boss' attention. "I tried my hardest to discover the slayer's identity. But there are more than a handful blond girls in this town. Even the sleazebag that runs the local demon bar didn't know her name."

"We're going to talk about this later," Sanchez said without looking at him. Instead he looked through the tinted windows of the limousine, watching the various students at the campus. "Sooner or later she is going to come back. And then I'm going to kill her."

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Xander found Buffy outside the warehouse, a trashcan lying in front of her. Xander looked closer at the trashcan and noted the various dents that covered it.

Buffy still paced around in the alley, her thirst for destruction still not satisfied. Finally she swung and connected her fist with the wall of the warehouse.

"You know," Xander interrupted her. "The building cost me a lot of money. It would be nice if you wouldn't tear it down so soon."

Buffy took a deep breath and visible calmed down.

"Sorry," she said, staring at the fist shaped hole on the wall.

"Here," he said and handed her a hankerchief. Buffy nodded and draped the fabric around her bloody knuckles.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked after a long minute.

"I'm getting there," she said with a slight smile. "I guess I'm still a bit freaked about what happened back at the warehouse. And my reaction to it. Or rather the lack of it."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Xander told her. "It's not like the rest of us did any better. All we had in mind was to get out of there as soon as possible."

"Well, at least you did something," Buffy said angrily. "I was that shocked that I couldn't even move a single finger." She took a moment to collect her thoughts before she continued. "The only time I was that scared was when the Master was supposed to kill me."

Xander sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, but Sanchez is neither the Master nor is there any prophecy about you death. He's dangerous. But we have faced worse than him in the past. He just had an ace up his sleeve and caught us off guard with it. The next time he won't catch us with our pants down."

"But what if I won't be able to beat him?" Buffy asked. "What if I don't manage to get this damn ring off his finger?"

"Then you still have the rest of us to help," Xander told her with a smile. "That's what friends are there for."

Buffy shook her head, but couldn't stop the smile that crept over her face.

"Come on," Xander said and lead her back to the entrance of the warehouse. "I'm dropping you guys off at the campus."

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While Xander drove Buffy and Willow back to the campus, Oz had taken Giles with him and dropped him off at his apartment before he headed back to the house he and his band lived in.

"And what are you gonna do now Xander?" Willow asked as she stepped out of the car.

Xander shrugged. "I'm going to check if Willy knows anything. He wasn't very useful when it came to Sanchez, but even a small clue is a clue."

"Okay," Buffy said. "And thanks for back there."

"You're welcome," Xander told her with a smile before he pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the street.

"What was that about?" Willow asked interested as the two walked in the direction of the dorms.

Buffy just wanted to answer her red headed friend, when they suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind them.

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"Profesor Walsh?" came the voice of the communications officer through the speaker of her phone.

"Yes," she answered while she finished her next report for headquarters.

"General Wilson wants to speak with you," the officer said. "He's on line two."

"Put him through," she ordered and instantly the big screen on the opposite wall went to life, presenting the image of the older man, dressed in his standard Army uniform.

"Maggie," General Wilson greeted her with a warm smile. "Good to see you."

"Same here General," Walsh responded, trying her hardest to match his smile. "What can I do for you."

"I just wanted to hear you status report," the general stated and looked expectantly at her. "How is our project going?"

"Everything is proceding as expected," she said, calming down now that she was in a field she knew like no one else. "We finished phase one and all the HSTs are in good condition."

"That are great news," he agreed with a nod.

"Then you won't object if we continue with phase two."

"Woah. Slow down a bit Maggie," the general said with a laugh. "I admit that you have made an impressive progress. But I think it's still too soon to start with phase two."

"But sir." Professor Walsh objected.

"Maggie," he said more serious this time. "It has already been decided. Go on with your experiments on the HSTs and perfect your technique. And maybe in a few months we can go on with phase two."

"Yes sir," Walsh mumbled disappointed.

"Okay," Wilson said. "Keep up the good work and send your regular reports. That's all for now."

The professor had trouble keeping her anger in check when the image of the general disappeared

"Professor Walsh," came the voice of the communications officer once gain through the speaker of the phone.

"What?" she snapped at him.

"Intel division called," the young officer replied. "They have a HST sighting here on campus. It sounds pretty important."

Walsh rubbed her temples, trying to stop the already growing headache. "I'll be there in a minute," she finally said.

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"Miss Summers," Sanchez addressed the blonde slayer. Both turned around, seeing the vampire leader standing in broad daylight with his game face on. "We still have something to finish," Sanchez said and threw Buffy's sword in front of her.

"Willow," Buffy said, while she picked the sword up. "Call Xander. Tell him to come over here."

Willow nodded and ran away, while Buffy attacked the vampire leader.

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Xander had just left the campus area and was on his way to Willy's when his cell phone rang. But before he even had the chance utter a single word, Willow's frantic voice came over the speaker.

"Xander," Willow almost screamed. "Sanchez is here at the campus and he's fighting with Buffy."

Xander immediately stepped on the gas, turning the Hummer in 180 degree spin and drove in the same direction he just came from.

"I'm on my way," he muttered into the phone.

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Buffy jumped back, avoiding a swipe form Sanchez sword, which left his defence wide open. Buffy lunged forward, but the vampire reacted fast enough and deflected the blade. Instead of piercing his chest, it went right through his shoulder.

"Nice move," he said through gritted teeth and punched her with his other hand. Buffy lost the grip on her sword and fell to the ground.

Meanwhile Sanchez gripped her sword and ripped it out of his shoulder, the wound closing almost instantly.

"Now you are helpless," the vampire declared with a smile and threw the sword over his head.

Buffy stood up and faced the vampire . When he finally tried to stab her, she somersaulted over him. She landed behind him and kicked him in the back. Sanchez fell forward, but rolled with the motion and quickly jumped back to his feet. During all this, Buffy had grabbed her discarded sword and faced the vampire once again.

"I really am impressed," Sanchez said, while both circled each other. "But you are only delaying the inevitable. You're slowing down, whereas I'm still at my top. And this time none of your friends is going to rescue you."

But Buffy simply smiled, as she saw something behind him.

"Don't think so," she said and jumped out of the way. Sanchez slowing at that action, but finally he also picked up the sound of the powerful engine behind him.

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Professor Walsh stood behind the two soldiers Intel division consisted of. Her previous anger was forgotten once she saw what one of the university's surveillance camera's had detected.

"That unbelievable," one of soldiers exclaimed as he watched the scenes on the screen. Two people were fighting on the university ground. Whereas the man was clearly visible as a vampire, the girl seemed normal. "Vampires can't walk in the sun."

"That's right," Walsh agreed from behind him. She intensively watched as the girl and the man continued to fight. "But the girl can't be normal either. She is matching this vamp in speed, strength and agility. Get me a close up of her and run her through the computer. I wanto know everything about her.

The soldier's fingers danced over the keyboard. A large shot of Buffy appeared and was compared to photos from SPD, the hospital records and various other networks the Initiative had access to.

"The computer found a match," he finally and began reading from the file. "Elisabeth Anne Summers. Whoa that's quite a file. Her file at the SPD is as thick as a phone book."

"Summers?" Walsh asked and looked closer at the picture. "I know her. She's in my psychology course."

Walsh contemplated how she was going to proceed with this information. "Transfer all her data to my office," she finally ordered. "And I want a copy of from the video of the surveillance camera once their fight is finished."

"Yes ma'am," the soldier exclaimed. Both watched with surprise as a new player joined into the fight.

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Sanchez was just able to turn around, but didn't do him any good. The Hummer slammed at top speed into him, sending the body of the vampire through the air. Xander watched with satisfaction as he crashed into the wall of a nearby building.

"Hey Buffy," Xander called out and walked up to the slayer's side. "You okay?"

"I am now," she replied, as he helped her back on her feet. Disappointed she noted that Sanchez was also coming back to his feet. "Too bad he's also."

"Do you need help?" Xander asked. "Or do you want to finish him off on your own?"

"Nah," Buffy replied with a shake of her head. "Let's tag-team his ass."

"As you wish," Xander said and drew his black Katana from its sheath.

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"Its not looking to good for the boss," one of Sanchez's bodyguards exclaimed from the interior of the limousine. "Maybe we should help him?"

"What are we supposed to do," Michael asked annoyed. "Do you want to turn to dust? It's still day out there."

"But he paying us for this job," he objected. "We could at least shoot the other fucker down, so he can kill the slayer on his own."

Michael finally had enough. He grabbed the vampire by the lapels of his jacket, opened the door and threw him out of it. The rest of the bodyguards watched with horror as the body of the comrade first caught fire before he finally turned into dust.

"Anyone else who want to join him?" Michael asked the rest of the vampires. When none objected he turned around and looked at the driver. "Get us out of here. Sanchez's time is over."

And with these words the limousine drove down the street, leaving the campus.

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"Two against one," the vampire leader exclaimed with disgust, as he approached the two fighters. "That's not honourable."

"Well, live with it," Buffy said.

"If it has to be that way," Sanchez said and pointed the tip of his sword at the slayer. Both, Buffy and Xander, were however surprised when the whole blade burst into flames. He drew a line into the ground in front of him, igniting the grass with his flaming sword. "That's my part for evening the odds," he said with a cruel smile. "How do you kids say it? Let's dance."