A new Big Bad takes no prisoners when he goes to work on Buffy and the Potentials.
It's 2:30, Friday afternoon at Sunnydale High, the end of the school week. Giles has decided to take the girls outside to the track for a workout. A few of the guys on the track team are already out doing laps. Faith spots one buff, sweaty, shirtless guy running towards them.
FAITH: Check out the beefcake.
MOLLY: Hands off. He's mine.
Keith stops to catch his breath. Faith takes a second look. It is the boy she saw Molly with at the Bronze on Tuesday night.
FAITH: Relax, Moll. I'm spoken for.
Keith notices Molly and smiles at her. She blushes.
KEITH: Hey Molly! Didn't expect to see you out here.
MOLLY: You never mentioned that you ran.
KEITH: I don't. Not in races. I throw the javelin.
MOLLY: A sport AND a weapon. I loik that. [Keith laughs, not quite understanding that Molly is already wondering about what range she could teach him to dust a vampire from.]
KEITH: Look. I gotta go and, stretch, or something, with the team. They're over there on the infield and I think I'm supposed to join them. [uncomfortable pause] Great seeing you.
FAITH: I'm sure the feeling was mutual, kiddo.
Giles and Buffy shepherd the Potentials towards the bleachers, which they're going to climb. Keith heads the other way. Molly and Keith glance back at each other. Then she giggles and whispers with Rose and Rona. Giles realizes there are certain benefits to a Slayer dating a boy who can't go outside during the daytime. Angel never distracted Buffy when she was training during school hours. Also, given the escalation in the First's attempts to kill the Potentials, this was no time for goofing off.
Meanwhile, Carlos takes his girlfriend Denise down to the basement.
DENISE: I got practice. So do you.
CARLOS: In a bit. You got ten minutes, right?
DENISE: I suppose. [Carlos turns off the light and kisses Denise] What's the matter? Don't wanna see me?
Carlos flips the light back on and they start kissing again. After about ten seconds, Denise abruptly stops. She sees something over Carlos's shoulder.
CARLOS: Something wrong?
DENISE: [whispering] Who are they?
Carlos turns around. Between twenty and thirty feet in front of him walk four men in dark suits with black hats. Their lips are unusually pale, their faces gray-tinged and somewhat featureless. They slowly walk by in silence, not even acknowledging Carlos's and Denise's presence. Denise grabs onto Carlos from behind, slightly spooked by the surprise guests.
CARLOS: [whispers] Relax. We'll just go upstairs. If we can find them.
DENISE: [pointing and puzzled] They're right over there.
CARLOS: Good. Sometimes they move.
DENISE: What exactly do you smoke down here?
CARLOS: Very funny. [the two of them are relieved when they return to the ground floor]
DENISE: They had pink eye. I mean, pink eyes. I think they did. You're a regular down there. What's up with the albino g-men?
CARLOS: Never seen those guys before. Never seen anything like them down there. They looked like they meant business. The other stuff I've seen down there, they didn't have a purpose. Just wandering, like there were trapped or something. Not those guys.
DENISE: The profile's all well and good, but what's it gotta do with us?
CARLOS: Nothing. Don't sweat it. I'll go tell Buffy. She handles these kindsa things.
DENISE: Yeah. She's real down with the peculiar. Look. I should get going.
CARLOS: Me too. See ya after practice?
DENISE: Got nothing better to do.
CARLOS: That's my girl. Sorry bout the freak show.
DENISE: Don't be. It's good to get a little adrenaline rush before I hit the track.
She kisses Carlos and heads off to the locker room. Carlos goes to Buffy's training room. No one's there. He runs out in front of the school, hoping to catch Kit and Dawn on their way to Kit's car in the parking lot.
DAWN: You miss him?
KIT: He left last night. And he'll be back Sunday.
DAWN: I know.
KIT: Maybe a little. Eli's fun to have around.
DAWN: I thought he was more than that to you.
KIT: I guess. He's different from other guys. Doesn't treat you like dirt or take you for granted. Eli always acts like he's lucky to be around me.
DAWN: He is. And, let's face it, you are like his first girlfriend. I think. No, I'm pretty sure.
KIT: I don't know why no one snapped him up before me. He's so damn cute. And funny. Not to mention cool.
DAWN: And shy and strange and, kind of a total loner. No wonder he joined our little group.
KIT: He hasn't quite earned his misfit credentials just yet.
DAWN: [smirks] You got something in mind?
KIT: No. It's more fun if he surprises me. [Carlos runs up to them] Speaking of surprises.
CARLOS: Dawn, have you seen Buffy?
DAWN: I think she went out to the track.
CARLOS: Thanks.
DAWN: Is something wrong?
CARLOS: I don't think so. Not yet. [Carlos heads off]
KIT: Shouldn't you go find Buffy?
DAWN: I'm sure she can take care of it on her own.
KIT: So how's Connor doing?
Kennedy, Molly, Chao-Ahn, Ariella and Izora are running up and down the bleacher stairs. Amanda, Rona, Madari, Fadila and Rose run around five of the six lanes of the track, which are set up for the 440 yard hurdles. Carlos runs up to Buffy, who is with Faith and Giles. He breathlessly conveys the news.
CARLOS: Buffy, there's something downstairs.
BUFFY: What did you see? Another zombie? A ghost?
CARLOS: Four guys in suits. Like the guys in Reservoir Dogs, but bigger.
GILES: Reapers? At the school?
BUFFY: Sounds like it. Thanks Carlos. Don't worry. We'll take care of it.
CARLOS: So it's safe to be here? I'm mean, other than in the basement?
BUFFY: Yeah. Sure. It's fine for you and the other students. [Buffy's fear is causing her to be understandably impatient with Carlos] You can go now, and do whatever it was you were doing.
Carlos knows that when it comes to Buffy's work, it's better if he has no idea what's going on. He runs off to the boys' locker room to change for baseball practice.
GILES: We have to bring the girls inside and arm them.
BUFFY: No. Take them home. I'll go check out the basement with Faith.
GILES: But they could all be here. You'd be outnumbered.
BUFFY: I said we'd check it out. Not fight. Not yet.
FAITH: They're probably here for the Potentials. We shouldn't let them get a chance.
With Buffy and Faith in agreement, there was nothing he could do.
GILES: Very well. I'll bring the van around.
Faith gathers the five on the bleachers. Buffy rushes out to the track to round up the other five. The five of them see Buffy, she tells them to stop, they understand something's up, and they head across the field with her as Giles's van pulls up. The Potentials pile into the van.
BUFFY: Don't worry. We'll be heading home in no time.
GILES: Please be careful. Watch out for traps. A dark basement with winding corridors is ideal for an ambush.
BUFFY: I know that place a lot better than they do.
Giles drives off. Buffy and Faith grab their swords and head downstairs.
FAITH: What do they need this much space for?
BUFFY: All the evil.
FAITH: That's my point. No classrooms. No storage. It's just dark and empty and right over the Hellmouth. Whoever built this thing was evil or just plain asking for trouble.
BUFFY: That could describe this whole town. You hear something?
Buffy and Faith quietly but quickly approach the noises. Standing around a hole are six Reapers who are sharpening their weapons with stones. They toss the stones into the hole, which turns red. Buffy and Faith charge at them from behind. Buffy swings her sword for one of their backs, but that Reaper, along with the other five, leans forward and plunges into the hole, which disappears. Back home, Giles tries to make sense of what Buffy told him.
GILES: It doesn't fit the pattern of a sacrifice. Sounds more like a teleportation. This must be how they periodically disappear.
BUFFY: You think they've been at the school before?
GILES: It shouldn't surprise us if they were drawn to the Hellmouth.
DAWN: They're at the school, when the girls are there, but they don't even bother to attack?
GILES: That's exactly what they did today.
BUFFY: What if they're trying to make something rise?
SPIKE: Then we kill 'em before they get the chance.
DAWN: That's the problem. Killing them IS what will make something rise.
SPIKE: So we DON'T kill them?
BUFFY: No. We kill them. Then we kill whatever comes next.
GILES: That could be a problem if they're all together.
BUFFY: Which is why we bring the Potentials along. Look. I know we all want to protect them. But if they aren't around to back us up, we could die. And then they'll be no one left to protect them.
GILES: Only as a last resort. I don't want to lead them into a trap.
SPIKE: You think the two of us fancy walking into one?
GILES: You mean the three of you. Where's Faith? [Faith happens to be on the phone with Lindsey]
FAITH: Not much happening here. Least not compared to LA. How was your week?
LINDSEY: Okay, I guess. I'm all healed up from last Saturday. Jury selection went well. Which means we at least have a chance.
FAITH: You gonna be able to visit?
LINDSEY: Maybe next weekend. I have a lot of work to do before the trial starts on Monday. My clients need me here.
FAITH: And I don't?
LINDSEY: That's sweet. And tempting. But it would constitute malpractice. If I don't pay enough attention to my clients, they could die. I'm pretty sure that's not the case with you.
FAITH: My life is in danger. And having you around helps remind me I got something worth living for.
LINDSEY: You got plenty to live for, with or without me. Hang in there until next weekend.
FAITH: That a promise?
LINDSEY: Court should get out on Saturday at one. I can fly straight there. Barring the end of the world, of course.
FAITH: Yeah. That part pretty much goes without saying.
A few hours later, in the early evening, Xander is home, watching television with Andrew and Anya.
ANYA: So how was it spending a week working for a man you hate?
XANDER: Angel's not a man. And I don't hate him.
ANYA: You dislike him.
XANDER: He dislikes me. I reciprocate accordingly.
ANDREW: Does Wesley work for Angel, or is he on his own and helps out when Angel needs him?
XANDER: I can't remember. I think I filed that information under "Could Not Care Less."
ANYA: How does Wesley differ from the sniveling upper class twit we knew and ridiculed?
XANDER: He doesn't shave, he doesn't comb his hair, and he dresses casual.
ANYA: Oh. Look! The husband didn't kill his mistress. His wife did.
ANDREW: No. This is the one where their kid shoots the mistress. One of the ones where that happens, I mean.
XANDER: I still don't care what anyone says. No one can replace Jill Henessey. I can't wait till they bring her back.
ANDREW: Stop living in denial. Claire Kinkaid is dead.
XANDER: No she's not. You forget that the car crash didn't kill her. Claire's in a coma. In tv-world, that means she can wake up at any time.
ANDREW: Do you think she had an affair with Jack Mccoy?
XANDER: No! That's disgusting. Sure, he slept with other assistants. But he married both of them. There's no evidence of him ever sleeping with an assistant he DIDN'T marry. I say nothing happened between them. I always hoped Claire would get together with Mike Logan. They seemed to have real chemistry.
ANDREW: Plus, he was the coolest bad cop. Chris Noth can work me over any day.
Giles and Dawn are doing research in the dining room.
GILES: You seem a bit chipper tonight.
DAWN: What? No I don't. We're fighting the First Evil. What's there to be chipper about?
GILES: I didn't mean anything negative by it.
DAWN: What did you mean?
GILES: Nothing.
DAWN: Then why did you even mention it?
GILES: Never mind.
He doesn't know why she's so paranoid. A few hours ago, Connor called with the good news about why Dawn has the visions. She wants to keep that her little secret. The phone rings, Buffy picks it up, and tells Giles it's for him.
MARCEL: Sorry to call so late, old friend.
GILES: It's only 9:30.
MARCEL: Of course. You're on the far coast. I forgot.
GILES: It's what, half past six in the morning where you are? This must be serious, to get you up so early.
MARCEL: Potentially serious. Excuse the pun.
GILES: Something new is after the girls?
MARCEL: No. Allow me to explain. When I met up with the other Watchers, Misha told me about a girl he met last month in Bulgaria named Tanya. There had been several vampire attacks in her town, and she wanted to learn how to defend herself and fight back. Misha lied and told Tanya she was a Potential Slayer. He told her she had instincts and innate abilities which made her a better vampire fighter than nearly everyone on the planet. Tanya proceeded to become a formidable vampire hunter almost overnight. After three days, Misha told the truth.
GILES: I suspect she was furious.
MARCEL: Nonsense. Tanya was grateful to know she was not doomed to an early death.
GILES: But he could have got her killed.
MARCEL: Misha said he didn't put her in any situation he wouldn't put any other normal vampire fighter in. She wanted to become good. And she did. Faster than anyone he had ever taught. Tanya was grateful.
GILES: She thought the end justified the means?
MARCEL: The end was saving herself and her neighbors. And the end is what should concern you, Rupert. Tanya may be proof of – how you say? – a Placebo Effect.
GILES: She felt her life was in danger. If anything, it's an adrenaline effect.
MARCEL: Did any of the Potentials display any natural fighting ability before someone told them they had such abilities?
GILES: That's not a valid comparison. No one threw them into a fight without first telling them about their gifts.
MARCEL: Misha called it faith-based fighting. You look someone in the eye, tell them you believe in them, tell them they have what it takes, and the fear, the doubt, the hesitation, it all disappears.
GILES: You have always been one to buck orthodoxy when it comes to Slayers, Claude.
MARCEL: This is fact, not theory.
GILES: It's theory based on very slender fact. A theory which conforms to your excessively pragmatic take on Slayer Power.
MARCEL: Because I reject the transcendental garbage about all Slayers being connected to a greater whole? I choose not to dehumanize them.
GILES: Not to mention your faith-based denial of the First Slayer.
MARCEL: Self-serving propaganda told by Watchers to justify their tyranny over Slayers.
GILES: I happened to meet that figment of self-serving propaganda.
MARCEL: In a dream.
GILES: I helped channel her power into Buffy.
MARCEL: You made Buffy invincible for a few seconds. Invincibility is not a Slayer Power. It is something a war goddess would possess. The spell's in Sumerian. You probably channeled Inanna. She was the protector of Slayers back then. In fact, I've read that the priests of Akkad believed she was the "source" of Slayer Power. Rupert, I don't think we know where Slayer Power comes from. But I know it wasn't created by a Stone Age shaman. Or by any man, or group of men. So much that we took for granted has proven to be lies. Lies that can kill. Maybe, to be safe, you should think of the Potentials not as natural-born warriors, but as teenage girls with a few months' weapons training.
GILES: I have always treated them with the utmost care. Never have I thrown them into a situation they were not prepared for.
MARCEL: Then Misha's discovery is academic.
GILES: Let's hope Tanya's the last girl any Watcher tries to fool "for her own good."
MARCEL: Yes. Let's hope Watchers stop deceiving non-Slayers. We both know they've been deceiving Slayers for far too long.
Xander notices the Potentials arming themselves. He walks over to Buffy.
XANDER: Big night?
BUFFY: Might be. You never know.
XANDER: Need me? I know you haven't lately.
BUFFY: I haven't forgotten you. Right now, I'm still trying to figure out what we're fighting, let alone how to fight it. Willow hasn't been out in the field much either.
XANDER: I just want to do my part. If all these guys show up, it'll help to have an extra set of weapon-wielding hands around.
BUFFY: That's not why I need you. Not for this. Not like I don't need you for this. I do.
XANDER: Sorry, but I'm getting a little dizzy listening to you go around in circles like that.
BUFFY: The girls are new at this. Sometimes they can get a little too eager. I need you to help Giles hold them back, if it comes to that. Or to just back them up, if it doesn't.
XANDER: So you need my well-honed fight-or-flight reflex.
BUFFY: I need your judgement. And your bravery. If I'm too busy fighting, they need someone to look out for them.
XANDER: You value my judgement. Thanks. Sometimes even I don't value it. So what'll Willow be doing?
BUFFY: I need her hear. To protect the house.
XANDER: It's already safe.
BUFFY: From attacks inside. Someone could still try to set it on fire from the outside.
XANDER: That's true. We're protected. But the structure itself isn't. I hope the First hasn't got a bulldozer, or a wrecking ball. A sanctuary that's a heap of rubble really wouldn't do us much good.
Buffy, Faith and Spike walk the darkened hallways of the school at night.
SPIKE: Why does Xander get to drive my car?
BUFFY: In case we need a quick getaway.
SPIKE: Something tells me he'd panic and crash it into a tree.
The three of them go downstairs. The basement's empty. They stand around where the Reapers vanished earlier that afternoon.
FAITH: Can you say trap?
BUFFY: Giles!
FAITH: The girls!
SPIKE: My wheels!
They race upstairs and dash outside. Giles drives the van, with the Potentials inside, around the parking lot. Xander drives Spike's old Chevy. Since they are always moving, they can easily make a getaway if the Reapers show up. As of yet, there is no sign of them.
BUFFY: I don't get it. Willow said there was a cluster of them on top of the Hellmouth. Spike, can't you smell these guys?
SPIKE: Yes. And I do. They're very near. [thinks for a few seconds, then looks up] On top of the Hellmouth alright.
Spike leads the Slayers onto the roof. Above the Principal's office, they jump three Reapers. The Reapers flee to their left. Spike uses a long metal rod to block one Reaper's sword and dagger, then kicks him in the face. Buffy ducks under another Reaper's sword, gets behind him, and kicks him in the back, knocking him on his face. When he gets up, he blocks her sword, but she knocks him on his back with a left roundhouse kick. Faith stabs the third Reaper in the stomach with her dagger, then punches him in the face with a right hook. The three beleaguered demons run away and leap two stories down to the ground. Buffy looks around, doesn't spot any ambushes, and then follows suit, with Faith and Spike backing her up. They engage the Reapers in a sixty foot-wide parking lot between the back of the school and the football bleachers. After fifteen seconds of one-on-one sparing, ten more Reapers emerge from underneath the bleachers. They tackle and punch Buffy, Spike and Faith, but don't pull out their weapons. The three of them, after getting pummelled a bit, retreat towards the dumpsters along the school building's back wall. They push two of the dumpsters at the Reapers, who team up to push them right back at their adversaries. At least it bought them a few seconds and kept the swarm at bay. The three Reapers they were originally fighting go in for the kill. Spike, who lost his metal pole when he impaled a Reaper on it, picks up a 2-by-4 from amongst the garbage and uses it to fend off his opponent. Buffy and Faith do likewise with their swords and daggers. The other ten Reapers start to close in, surround and isolate each of them. The good guys are beginning to tire.
To their left, they hear the roar of Giles's approaching van. He plows through five Reapers. Coming the other way is Xander. He passes Giles and drives straight for Faith, Buffy and Spike, as well as the Reapers who are directly engaging them. Faith and Buffy leap on top of the two dumpsters. The five vampires who were swarming them leap the other way. At the last instant, with the high beams in his eyes, Spike hops onto a loading platform four feet off the ground. The car misses the end of the platform by six inches. Spike would have been very upset if Xander scratched the fender, life-saving act or not. The bumper strikes one of the Reapers and knocks him twenty feet back. Another Reaper rolls up the hood before smashing into the front windshield. Spike winces and goes bumpy. Xander slams on the brakes. The Reaper rolls off the hood. Spike's ready to leap down and finish him off, along with the other Reaper Xander dazed. Xander gets out of the car with the same idea, as does Giles and the Potentials. With seven Reapers down, they've never had a better chance. But Spike forgot about the third Reaper he was fighting. That Reaper also leapt onto the loading platform. He grabs Spike from behind and hurls him down through the basement window behind them and to their left. Along with the other five Reapers who emerged unscathed from the demolition derby, he jumps down into the basement. Buffy turns to her left and sees this.
BUFFY: Spike!!
Giles of course couldn't care less about Spike. If half the Reapers want to give him a golden opportunity to finish the other half off, that's fine with him. He leads the Potentials away from the building and towards the five Reapers he ran over. They stand up and retreat towards the football field. Xander goes after the two Reapers he ran over. They race around him and leap down into the basement. Buffy and Faith are all alone, the Reapers having fled away from them in both directions. Buffy instinctively goes to help Spike. Faith, not wanting to let the Reapers teleport through the Hellmouth yet again, follows suit. Xander, thinking there has to be an easier way, breaks open a set of double-doors with his ax.
XANDER: GIles! In here!!
Xander pulls open the doors. The five remaining Reapers are sixty feet in front of the Potentials. Rupert knows that if they flee, there's no way he or the girls could catch them. So he leads the Potentials towards the door. The ten of them rush through, Kennedy in the lead. After making sure the Reapers aren't hot on their tail, Giles and Xander enter and close the doors. Downstairs, Spike negotiates the dark basement hallways, backpedaling and looking out for Reapers.
SPIKE: I should know this place better after spending so much bloody time down here. Now it's starting to look familiar. Of course. [enters a lit room sixty feet long and thirty feet wide] There's the evil g-spot right over there.
Three Reapers run towards him. He pulls down some metal shelving, which falls on one of them and impedes the other two. Behind the shelf, Spike finds two blood-stained Bringer knives. He picks them up.
SPIKE: Hey. That's my blood. The Reaper pushes the shelf off of him and gets up. Spike stays along the wall to his right and leaps past his three opponents. Running along the wall, he links up with Buffy and Faith.
BUFFY: Spike. You're okay.
SPIKE: I get the feeling I'm not the one they're after.
Buffy and Faith notice the three Reapers in front of them.
FAITH: That's not all of them. Where's the rest?
Fearing an ambush, they keep their backs to the wall. Five more Reapers, who were hiding in the dark corners to their right, appear. The eight Reapers circle around the Hellmouth and link hands. Buffy tries to figure out what to do. Upstairs, Xander and Giles try to find Buffy.
GILES: We can't just go downstairs. They could be anywhere. Can you hear anything?
XANDER: No. But I have a hunch where they are.
GILES: That hunch could lead us into a dead end.
Xander looks to his right at the door to the Principal's office.
XANDER: If you were the First, where's the one spot you would want Buffy?
FAITH: [whispers] Right back where we started. Now what?
BUFFY: [whispers] We attack, we're outnumbered. We leave to find the girls, they escape.
SPIKE: Shouldn't there be more of them?
BUFFY: [smiles] That's right. They won't all get away.
Buffy starts to walk towards the door on the opposite side of where the Reapers are. Faith and Spike follow suit, ready to finish off the five Reapers they presume are attacking Giles, Xander and the Potentials. But when they're twenty feet from the door, they see all those people coming through the door towards them. Buffy smiles, breathes a sigh of relief and does a quick head count.
BUFFY: And the enemy?
GILES: Didn't catch them following us.
BUFFY: We're going after the ones who showed up. You five [points to Madari, Ariella, Fadila, Rose and Izora - Buffy divided them into two squads of five for this mission] come with us. Kennedy, and the rest of you, watch out for any surprise attacks.
Buffy, Faith and Spike rush across the room, five Potentials behind them. The eight Reapers let go of each other's hands and form up in a line. One of them in the center goes after Buffy. She blocks his right hook kick. He ducks under her sword slash, then hits her with a left roundhouse. The Reaper to the left and the right of him retreat two steps, as if ready to back up their comrade. With other Reapers on their flanks, Spike and Faith don't attack, but stay back in support of Buffy. Five Potentials bunch together ten feet behind Spike and Faith. Giles brings the other five Potentials towards them, watching the back windows for any new Reapers. While the Potentials are regrouping and Spike and Faith eye their tentative adversaries, the Reapers on their flanks discreetly dash along the walls until they end up on the other side of the room. Giles and Xander notice this. Kennedy stands in the center, facing them at the apex of an arc, with Amanda, Molly and Xander to her left and Rona, Chao-Ahn and Giles to her right. Ariella and Fadila place themselves on Xander's left, and Madari, Izora and Rose array themselves to Giles's right, creating a twelve-person arc that extends from wall-to-wall. Now the Reapers can't get behind them. Spike and Faith go to work on their opponents. The one Buffy's facing is especially fierce. She assumes it's the one who gave all of them so much trouble two nights ago. Spike, to Buffy's left, notices this, and takes a break from pounding his Reaper to help her out, grabbing it and tossing it back into the wall. Buffy doesn't doesn't think she needs the help. Also, it keeps Spike from killing his Reaper. With her sword, Faith manages to slice down, from between the Reaper's left shoulder and neck, eight inches into his chest. Now he can't move his left arm side-to-side. Still, he swings furiously with the sword in his right hand and throws a few roundhouse kicks to make Faith know he's not done for yet.
In front of the Potentials and to their right, across from the door, five Reapers, one after the other, leap head-first through a window, do a flip and land on their feet. Now it's ten-on-twelve. Giles and Xander nervously glance over their shoulders, and notice Buffy, Faith and Spike haven't yet thinned the enemy numbers. But the ten Reapers don't attack. They just lean against the back wall. Some of them even cross their arms. Their laid-back posturing worries Giles. He looks at Kennedy.
GILES: Hold your ground. And be careful.
Giles walks across the line and reorganizes the girls so that the line features alternating members of each squad. From left to right, there is Ariella, Molly, Fadila, Amanda, Madari, Kennedy, Izora, Rona, Rose and Chao-Ahn. Kennedy's squad, along with Xander, face the Reapers against the wall. The other five, with Giles, face Buffy. He moved them around so neither squad would be bunched if they had to fight on two fronts at once. Faith and Spike both have their Reapers against the wall. But Buffy's Reaper attacks them, protecting his comrades. They don't mind triple-teaming this demon before finishing off the other two. He ducks under Buffy's sword and strikes Spike with a left roundhouse kick to the chest. He blocks Buffy's sword and pushes her six feet back. Faith, who is on the Reaper's left, steps towards him. He blocks her sword with his dagger and swings for her neck. Faith ducks and sticks her sword into his stomach. Before she can pull it up his chest to gut him and finish the demon off, he knocks Faith back with a left hook. Buffy blind-sides the Reaper from his right and cuts his head off. The Reaper's head falls to the ground. The other two Reapers still cower against the wall. The, in front of Buffy, Spike, Faith, Giles and half the Potentials, something most unexpected happens. A human head pops up out of the dead Reaper's body.
SETH: Lucky thirteen!
Seth bursts out of the Reaper's body. He steps towards a very stunned Buffy. She swings her sword. He leans back out of the way, watches the blade fly by, then crushes her with a left hook. Buffy drops her sword, her legs buckle, and she collapses. Seth turns right and throws a right hook. Faith swings her sword, but his fist strikes her face before her blade can reach his flesh. She also goes down in a heap. Spike throws the Bringer knife in his left hand into the chest of the Reaper in front of him and attacks Seth from behind as he's punching Faith. As Spike plunges the dagger into Seth's neck, Seth turns around and grabs Spike's right wrist with his left hand and his shirt with his right. Spike notices the dagger is in Seth's neck up to the hilt. Seth doesn't seem to mind. He stares at Spike for half a second, looking confused.
SETH: What are you doing here?
Seth hurls Spike twenty feet in the air. Spike crashes into the wall to Seth's left and falls to the ground. Seth casually pulls the dagger out of his neck and lets it fall to the ground. He grins and looks at the long line of Potentials. He's five feet ten inches tall, slightly muscular, athletic-looking, but by no means awe-inspiring. Seth has light brown skin, bright green eyes and black hair that is slicked back and comes down just below his earlobe. He wears black boots, black cargo pants, and a sleeveless black leather vest. By now, Xander and the other five Potentials have turned around, so everyone's gotten a good look at the new man in town.
GILES: We have to get to the door.
They turn around, and see the ten Reapers are packed two-deep in front of the door. They turn around again. Buffy is still down. Seth bends his knees, picks up the Reaper's weapons, and leaps at the Potentials, who are twenty feet in front of him and twenty feet in front of the Reapers. Giles steps up in front of the girls and swings his ax at Seth. Seth hits the shaft with his left foot, knocking the ax backwards. The back of the ax head strikes Giles in the forehead, and he falls down. The Potentials scream. Kennedy takes out her crossbow and fires a bolt into Seth's chest, hitting him where his heart should be. Then she swings the metal front of the bow for his face. Seth grabs the crossbow with his right hand and hits Kennedy's chin with a left uppercut. As Kennedy flies ten feet back and falls to the ground, Seth casually pulls the bolt out of his his chest. He sees Xander to his right, swinging his own ax for Seth's neck. He knocks Xander into the back wall with a right kick to the chest. The Potentials protect Kennedy from the Reapers. At the same time, they try to force a path through the Reaper phalanx. Giles gets up. Ten feet to his right, he sees Seth grab Rose. Giles hurls his ax into Seth's back. Seth plunges the dagger into her heart. As Rose falls lifeless to the ground, Giles rushes Seth. Without looking, Seth strikes Giles with the back of his left hand. Buffy's only been down for five seconds, but she knows they've been eventful. In a situation like this, seconds are everything. She runs at Seth from behind. At the same time, Xander looks up and to his left at the window the Reapers came in through. When Seth turns to face Buffy, he runs to Kennedy and helps her up.
XANDER: There's another way out. Zora! The window!
Xander races under the window, links his hands together and holds them out. Izora steps up on them and climbs out the window. Kennedy and Xander pick up Madari and lift her up to the window. Izora grabs her hands and pulls Madari out. Seth walks towards Buffy. She throws a flying right hook kick. Seth grabs her right ankle and flings her into a metal shelf along the wall to his left. The shelf collapses on top of her. Seth picks the heavy shelf up and hurls it across the room, pinning Spike's midsection against the opposite wall. Faith is unable to come to the Potentials' aid for the moment because she's being double-teamed by the two Reapers on her side of the room. Kennedy returns to battling the Reapers in front of the door alongside Molly, Rona, Amanda and Chao-ahn. With Giles's immediate assent, Xander convinces Ariella and Fadila, who aren't in the front lines, to go out the window. As they walk across the room, Seth – having taken care of Buffy and Spike for the time being – rushes towards them. He's walking, but he comes at them so fast they would have sworn he was running. Xander grabs Fadila and pushes her into the back corner under the window. Seth raises his sword. Ariella raises hers, terrified, but ready to go down fighting. Xander grabs her from behind and throws her into the corner next to Fadila as Seth brings his sword down. Instead of slicing through Ariella's head, he cuts off Xander's left hand. Xander screams, then slowly falls to the ground in shock. Seth looks at his blade and grimaces.
SETH: Unclean.
He crushes Xander's left hand with his right foot as he throws the sword to his left. While Seth's second attack against the Potentials was going on, the Reapers were gaining ground. Standing on the landing in front of the door, they used the high ground to drive the five Potentials back. They came down from the landing and pushed on with their attack. Chao-ahn, who is in the center, was kicked to the ground. Giles interposes himself between her and the Reaper. Then he realizes he doesn't have his ax. The Reaper doesn't bother to approach Giles. Out of the corner of his right eye, Giles can see something shooting towards him. Instinctively, he ducks. At that moment, Chao-ahn stands up and steps towards the Reaper. Seth's sword goes over Giles's crouched head and lodges itself into Chao-ahn's skull. Giles looks to his left and sees her on the ground. He is horrified.
Ariella and Fadila step forward to attack Seth. He glares at them. They cower back, shellshocked. Ariella helps Fadila up, and Izora and Madari pull her out. Ella looks back, but chooses to go. She climbs up some shelves near the window, then is pulled out by those who have gone before her. Ella, Zora, Fadila and Madari sit outside along the wall, hyperventilating, staring straight ahead, listening to the sounds of battle inside, too frightened to go back in and help.
Enraged at his enemies and at himself, Giles charges the Reaper whom Chao-ahn was fighting. The demon is shocked by the boldness Rupert shows, attacking him without any weapons. Giles pushes the Reaper back to the landing, then punches him in the face. At the same time, the desperate remaining Potentials make progress. Two other Reapers retreat, leaving two out among the girls. Rona and Kennedy frantically dismember one, while Molly and Amanda chop up the other one. Meanwhile, Faith puts her sword blade into the chest of one Reaper. He falls to the ground, but holds up his weapons to protect against a mortal blow. The other Reaper stabs Faith in the lower back with his dagger. Faith cries out, then turns and swings her sword. When he blocks it with his sword, Faith knocks the Reaper on his back with a left hook kick to the chest and a straight right kick to the face. She turns around and rushes towards Seth. Buffy and Spike do likewise. Having just tossed off his sword, Seth smiles when he sees the three of them coming on strong.
SETH: Thank you so very much for bringing me here.
He kicks Buffy's sword out of her hands with a left hook kick, then spins and nails her with a left roundhouse punch and a right cross before she can react. To Seth's right, Spike throws a right hook. Seth grabs Spike's right arm and pulls it back, like he's trying to rip it off. At the same time, he blocks Faith's left hook kick with his left hand, ducks under her right roundhouse kick and grabs her left arm with his left arm when she tries a left jab. Seth pulls her towards him, head-butting Faith in the nose and knocking her down. Then he flips Spike onto his back.
SETH: Excuse the pun.
Buffy charges at him. Seth leaps by her, then turns around, so his back is to the far wall and the Hellmouth. This also puts Buffy between him and the Potentials. Seth blocks Buffy's right jab and hits her with one of his own. At the same time, Faith lands a left cross to Seth's face. He hits her in the face with a straight right kick, then downs her with a swift, powerful right roundhouse kick. Buffy kicks him in the nose with a straight right kick. With great quickness, Seth steps his left foot forward and hits her in the mouth with a right jab. As he lands the punch, Seth pivots and hits Spike's chin with a right reverse kick. Buffy throws a right hook. He grabs her right arm, kicks her in the stomach with his right foot, then floors her with a right hook. Spike leaps at Seth and bites his left cheek. Seth pushes Spike back, then steps back himself. He puts his left hand to his face, sees the blood on his left palm, then licks it. Right then, the wound disappears.
SETH: I always wondered what that stuff would taste like.
With Chao-ahn's weapons, Giles helps the four remaining Potentials drive back the Reapers. He gets a deep cut on his forehead. Amanda's right arm is slashed on the underside of her elbow. She starts bleeding badly, but can't stop fighting, lest the Reapers kill her and Molly to her left. Kennedy gets a shallow sword slash across her stomach. A dagger cuts into Rona's left shoulder. And Molly gets a stab wound on her left thigh. The Reapers, who fight with much less desperation, receive more wounds than they give. Eventually, they escape out the door. The Potentials fall to the ground, exhausted, traumatizes and injured, as Giles wipes the blood away from his eyes and goes over to help Xander, who has passed out from shock and blood loss. After ripping off his shirt and trying to use it as a tourniquet, Giles pulls out his cell phone and calls for an ambulance.
The two Reapers Faith wounded also fled. Buffy stands in front of Seth, while Faith and Spike move to his right and left flanks. Spike notices the battle ax in Seth's back. Apparently Seth hasn't. Spike knows that's not a good sign. Faith hits the right side of Seth's face with a left hook kick. Buffy kicks Seth in the stomach with her right foot, then adds a left cross. Spike sweeps out Seth's legs. He begins to fall down, but puts his hands against the ground and does a backwards handspring, getting up without ever really having fallen down. Seth leaps at Spike, knocks him back with a flying left kick to the chest, then puts Spike on his back with a right kick to the face, all before Seth's feet return to the ground. He spins and hops back towards Buffy and Faith. Seth plants his feet and blocks their punches as quickly as they can throw them. His head dodges anything that his hands can't stop. In between blocks, he hits Buffy in the nose with the back of his left hand, then hits Faith's nose with the back of his right hand. After five seconds of proving they couldn't touch him, Seth grabs Buffy's head with his left hand, grabs Faith's with his right, and slams their two heads together. Buffy and Faith fall down as Seth takes a few steps back.
SETH: It's great to be alive.
Seth vanishes as Faith, Buffy and Spike watch him from the ground. Giles's ax, which was in Seth's back, falls to the floor. Buffy turns around. Only then does she realize the full extent of the damage.