The Shadowed Man walked out of the shadows. He still had no distinguishable features, and the shadows seemed to converge on him. All, save for the Slayers, felt the unmistakable terror from his fear aura. The Scoobies gathered close together, surrounding Damien. This wasn't a conscious act but more of a habit. The Shadowed Man was the villain. Damien was the object of desire. The Scoobies knew that they must always keep the object of the villain's desire away from the villain. If they couldn't, then bad things would happen.

"You aren't getting to Damien," Damon told the figure of darkness.

A chuckle emerged from The Shadowed Man. "Oh, I'm sure if I have to kill each and every one of you I will get to him, Damon. The question is more whether or not you want every one to die needlessly over just one."

Buffy stepped forward. "He's right," she said. She turned around and looked at everybody, gauging their faces, their expressions. Was she really ready to risk all of her friends's lives to save the life of someone she didn't know? She smiled at all of them and she knew that there was never any other answer. They risked their lives for strangers on an almost daily basis. This time was no different. The Shadowed Man was the villain, the "Big Bad." He had to be stopped. She turned back to The Shadowed Man and said, "You are never getting Damien."

"Please, Slayer," The Shadowed Man said. "What do you think you and your friends are going to do to one such as I? I am unprecedented. You have, no doubt, spent hours going through your books and tomes trying to find a way to stop me and I know that you came up empty handed. The only tactic you have is to throw yourselves at me and hope to tire me out, and then let your mysterious friend tied to the chair there try to 'scare' me away. Am I close?"

There was a silence which was quickly broken by Xander. "Nuh-uh!" he exclaimed. "For your information we have a very food plan in which we are going to use to kick your light-deficient ass across this school."

The Shadowed Man laughed. The Scoobies had a feeling that under all that darkness he was smiling. "Enlighten me."

The group all turned to look at Xander. "Well, you see," he stammered. "Um...Will?"

Willow stuck her hand out in front of her speaking in Latin. A huge fireball erupted from her hands and flew straight towards The Shadowed Man. Buffy didn't waste any time and lunged at The Shadowed Man. She didn't know if the fireball three him off-balance or not, but after the flames subsided she immediately started in with a barrage of punches and kicks. She hit nothing but darkness.

Xander was right beside Buffy with a chair and brought it down on The Shadowed Man but, again, hit nothing but the shadows.

With a sound that could have been a growl, Buffy and Xander were both sent back by a physical blow and crashed into the far wall. Without hesitation, Kennedy and Damon charged the villain. They were met with a similar blow.

Willow muttered another spell and sent a bolt of electricity at The Shadowed Man. He quickly shrugged it off and exploded into the shadows. There was an unearthly sound and the shadows reformed right between Giles and Damien. The Shadowed Man knocked Giles aside without a thought, and then turned his attention towards Damien.

"Hey! Big Guy!" Montoya yelled. "What say you and me go for a few rounds first?"

The Shadowed Man didn't even glance in Montoya's direction. "Not now."

"What's the matter, tough-stuff? Are you scared?"

This caught The Shadowed Man's attention and he cast Damien aside. He turned to Montoya and brought his face mere inches from her's. "I fear nothing!" he told her.

"Yeah? Then cut me free and prove it," Montoya goaded. "Unless you aren't...'man' enough."

"I'll take pleasure in this," The Shadowed Man said. The chains binding Montoya fell to the floor. She took a moment and looked at them, then smiled. She knew that this was going to be fun.

Buffy helped Xander to his feet. He gave her a quick glance to make sure she was okay, and then turned his attention to the skirmish at hand. Montoya stood defiantly before The Shadowed Man. Giles was helping Damien to his feet and ushering him away from the living darkness. Kennedy and Damon were already on their feet and watching the stand-off between Montoya and The Shadowed Man closely. Willow was backing into a corner, preparing a spell. All in all, the situation was not good.

"We are really screwed, Buffy," Xander whispered.

"Don't give up hope, Xander," was her reply.

"Oh, I'm not," he said. "You can't give up what you never really had."

Buffy smiled at her long time friend. "We'll make it through this."

"Yeah. But will anyone else?"

"So," Montoya said, cocking her head to one side. "We going to do this or what?"

"So persistent to die?" The Shadowed Man inquired.

"Not really. Just anxious to be done with you so I can get about my life."

"You aren't scared?"

"Of you? Ha! That's one in a million. Just between us? I've never been scared of the dark."

"Interesting."

"I bet you say that to all the girls." Montoya leaned in close to The Shadowed man. She inhaled deeply as if smelling him. She reached out and ran her hands through the swirling shadows. "How do you hit someone when you don't have any form?"

The Shadowed Man laughed his empty laugh. "One of my mysteries."

Montoya's eyes seemed to flash and she smiled up at her opponent. "Not really," she said. Her fist connected with the middle of The Shadowed Man's form and sent him flying across the room. When he hit the wall he exploded into shadows and reformed directly behind Montoya.

The dark haired girl wasted no time and spun around with a kick that would have hit The Shadowed Man in the head had he not caught her foot and tossed her back away from him.

"How did you hit me?" he demanded. "I was incorporeal. I had no substance. Your hand never should have connected with me."

Montoya smiled. "One of my mysteries."

"I wish I could say if this was good or bad, but I really don't know," Kennedy muttered to Damon.

Damon said, "Well, she can hit him. That's good."

"I guess you're right. But can she beat him?"

"She has to."

Montoya walked back over to The Shadowed Man and hit him with a right hook to what would be his jaw. The Shadowed Man spun around and retaliated with another blow that sent montoya to th far side of the room. Only this time he didn't wait for her to come to him. In the blink of an eye he was beside her. The Shadowed Man lifted her off the ground and slammed her into the wall several times. Finally, he dropped her to the ground and turned his attention back to Damien. "Move out of the way, Englishman," The Shadowed Man told Giles. "You know you can't stop me from getting to him."

"No," said a weak voiced Montoya. The Shadowed Man turned towards her and shook his head. "We aren't done yet."

"You keep this up and it'll kill you."

Montoya spat blood onto the floor. "Yeah," she said. "But what I want to know is will it kill you?"

"Not likely."

Damien tried to push past Giles. "He's going to kill her, man. I have to stop this!"

"No," Giles simply said. "She's doing this to save you. I admit there is a lot to learn about Montoya, but for the moment it seems she is th only thing we have that could bring us victory."

"Or she could die," Damien reminded the older Brit.

"Or she could die," Giles relented.

Montoya sent a flurry of blows into The Shadowed Man's chest. She followed this with a roundhouse kick to the right side of his face and knocked him back a few fet. Not one to waste any time in battle, Montoya jumped and kicked The Shadowed Man in his head. The blow knocked The Shadowed Man onto his back.

"How does it feel?" Montoya yelled. She pounced on The Shadowed Man's chest and bashing his head into the ground. "You like that?" she continued to yell.

The Shadowed Man faded into the shadows and reappeared behind Montoya. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and brought her up to meet his eyes with her. What she saw in them was pure darkness. The epitome of what lurks in the shadows. A true essence of evil.

"You managed to anger me, girl," The Shadowed Man raged. "No more!" He threw her through the large, wall sized, plate glass window that was set in the front of the school. Montoya collided with a car that was driving by so hard she caved in the side, making it look like the car was hit by a speeding truck.

The Shadowed Man appeared next to Giles. Giles looked at him and felt the fear increase. He tried to say something but his voice only stammered. After a moment, The Shadowed Man tossed him aside. "Now, Damien," he said. "Now I can be free."

Damon looked on in horror. His twin that he had worked so hard to protect was in the very clutches of the monster he was protecting him from. He was about to lose his brother. He had to do something, but what?

"Damien!" he yelled. He saw The Shadowed Man's body dissolve into the shadows and start to swirl around Damien.

"Your blood will set me free," The Shadowed Man's voice said.

Damon could hear his brother's scared cries. He couldn't take it. He didn't even realize he was running. He ran straight towards Damien's voice and now he could see his scared face through the swirling shadows. His life flashed before his eyes and he remembered all the times he protected his twin brother growing up. Damon remembered when his brother first introduced him to Network, their friend back in New Roanoke. He remembered everything about all their various adventures-and adventures they were- fighting evil on their own little Hellmouth. And now Damien's scared face was in his view again and he felt his hands push his brother out of the swirling shadows.

The shadows converged on Damon and he could feel them tearing his body apart, seeping in through his various pores and orifices. He could hear his flesh rip and feel the burning of severed nerves. Damon tried to scream, but he couldn't. The last thing he saw was his brother's face. He was screaming, calling for him.

And then darkness.
The shadows reformed a figure in the middle of the school. The figure was still mostly swirling shadows and darkness, but now it resembled the Thatcher twins. He looked himself over and then laughed.

"I guess that does it," The Shadowed Man said. "Blood is blood. I guess I should have figured that one twin would work as well as the others. Oh well, no sense in worrying about it now."

Damien charged The Shadowed Man and hit him with a chair. The chair exploded into splinters, but The Shadowed Man seemed to barely notice.

"You killed my brother!" Damien yelled.

The Shadowed Man sent him flying back with hardly any effort. "Don't be such a crybaby, Damien." The Shadowed Man turned and looked at everyone. "I want to thank you all for such an amusing time."

Willow finished her spell and sent a bright purple bolt of energy at The Shadowed Man. It connected and sent him flying across the room. Before he hit the wall, however, The Shadowed Man faded from view. He reappeared in front of Willow, waving one extended finger. "Naughty, naughty," he said. Willow inched back, trying to put as much distance between her and this monster.

"Stay away!" she yelled.

"Oh, I won't hurt you, little witch," The Shadowed Man said. "I'm much more interested with your friend outside." He turned towards the shattered front window to see Montoya standing up. The girl had lost her cock of the hip and actually looked like a frightened little girl now. "She is most interesting, indeed."

Giles slowly approached The Shadowed Man. "What are your intentions now?" he asked.

"Absorbing Damon's blood is having a strange effect on me," The Shadowed Man answered. "I need to look into this. Afterwards, I intend to return to New Roanoke. Damien will have brought Montoya there. I wish to understand her better."

"No," Damien told The Shadowed Man. He was still sobbing over Damon's death. "I will never let you get to her."

"You will," was the reply. "You will because you will try to protect her. And you will have time. But know that I am coming."

And with that The Shadowed Man disappeared into the shadows.