[Connor stages a coup at Angel Investigations. Mal consolidates his control over the L.A. vampire community. And Buffy discovers that Seth was just the warm-up act. Let's just say the First has benched the uber-vamp and brought in the uber-Slayer.]
Seth walks through the desolation of the Atacama Desert in eastern Chile. Jonathan appears before him.
"You're new," Seth tells him.
"Are you afraid of people?," Jonathan asks.
"You should know better."
"Then why do you avoid them? Why do you avoid life?"
"You call these humans life?"
"They remind you of what you lost."
"I lost people a thousand times better than any human."
"You feel guilty about what happened."
"I feel guilty for living? No. The people who died, they were the cowards. They took the easy way out."
"They died fighting," Jonathan reminds Seth.
"They wanted to die. At some point, they gave up. Couldn't take it anymore. But I could take it. I fought longer and harder than any of them. That was why I survived."
"And that was why I chose you. If everyone was as brave as you, maybe things could have turned out different."
"You're not evil," Seth concludes. Jonathan laughs.
"I most certainly am. I'm the ultimate evil."
"Not It. You. You weren't evil when you were alive. Not like the last one."
"No. I wasn't like Warren."
"I like you," Seth tells Jonathan. "I like you because you don't belong here."
Jonathan likes what he's hearing. "Gosh. Thanks. I really wish there was someone as nice as you in my high school. If I had had a friend back then, things could have turned out differently for me."
"You're from that town. Does that mean you know Buffy?"
"Sure. But we weren't exactly close. What kind of dirt are you looking for?"
"Just the truth. What was she like?"
"Buffy's amazing. A true hero. Or heroine. Or something greater. It wasn't just her power, or the number of times Buffy saved my life, and everyone else's life. It was her heart. She had an almost bottomless capacity for forgiveness. Even if you were mean to her, or even if you tried to kill her once or twice, when something evil was after you, she'd come to the rescue. Buffy has an unflagging sense of duty. No matter how difficult things got, she always did what was right."
Seth thought about this. "Thank you for your honesty. She sounds worthy of our efforts. But what about the vampire?"
"You mean Spike?"
"What sense did you get of his character?"
"Not much. I really only met him once. And that was before he got his soul back. But after he started helping Buffy."
"What is he to Buffy? Why does she keep him around?"
"Remember what I said about her infinite capacity for forgiveness? That explains for a lot of it. But he's also useful for her to have around."
"As an extra fighter?"
"In part. But I think it's a little more than that. I'm no expert when it comes to him. But I know enough about Buffy to understand how lonely her life can be. And Spike loves her. Worships her, really. That probably gives her some satisfaction. Think about it: here's this evil killer vampire who turns into a good guy, who chooses to go good, all because of you. I'm not saying he's an ego boost or a vanity project, but Spike is an affirmation of Buffy's goodness."
"Does she need him?"
"Not specifically. But she needs someone. And, right now, Spike's the only someone in town who fits the bill."
"Would she miss him if he died?"
"In the near term." Jonathan notices that Seth is smiling. "Now hold on. What happened to Spike being the wedge?"
"Change of metaphor. Now I think he's the crutch."
"You actually believe killing this vampire will help our cause?"
"And it's the last thing she'd expect." Seth disappears. Jonathan shrugs.
"Oh well. I never liked him much, anyway."
In the lobby of the Hyperion, around eight in the evening, the gang discusses tactics.
GUNN: We take my truck. Lorne drives. Always keep the engine running, in case we gotta make a quick getaway.
FRED: We could try to run him down.
WES: He'll slip into an alley.
CORDY: But he'll find it tough to feed if we're running him off the streets.
GUNN: We have a slim chance of killing him. We all know that. But that doesn't mean we can't make life miserable for Mal while he's on our turf.
WES: It's not much, but harassing him would be a good way of regaining the initiative.
FRED: What kinda weapons should we take.
CONNOR: None. You're not going anywhere. [Connor's just come down the stairs]
CORDY: Do you know something we don't?
CONNOR: I know going outside could get you all killed. And I can't fight if I have to worry about protecting all of you.
GUNN: We can take care of ourselves, kiddo. ["kiddo" makes Connor mad]
CONNOR: No you can't. Let's say Mal gets a hold of you. Tell me how you're gonna get out alive?
FRED: We've got each other's backs. Just like always.
CONNOR: Do you know what you're up against? You can't even hurt him. All you can do is try to stay alive until Angel gets back. Think of how you'll feel explaining to him why one of his friends is dead. If anyone wants to leave, you'll have get past me first. [Connor stands in front of one of the doorways. He sees Gunn and Wes looking at the other] You really think you can beat me there?
FRED: You think we should all stay in and hide?
CONNOR: You stay. I fight. And if I catch any of you outside, I'll make sure you can't sneak out again.
Coming from Connor, the threat of violence was credible and alarming. as well as surreal. It was almost like he was pretending to be the leader. To the five of them, that was just plain ridiculous. A veritable violation of the laws of nature.
CORDY: Connor, we appreciate your concern and all, but we're backing you up.
CONNOR: No you're not. Didn't you understand my order?
FRED: Your, your what?
CONNOR: I'm in charge here.
LORNE: Says who? I'm sorry. Didn't mean to sound all immature. Hold on. Yes I did. Says who!?
CONNOR: Me. The strongest person's always in charge.
GUNN: You're kinda missin' the big picture, kid.
CONNOR: Don't call me kid, Charlie.
WES: What I think he means is, while Angel was the strongest, he led because he had the most experience.
CONNOR: That's not how it works in Sunnydale. The smart, older people work for the strongest person. Even if she's younger than me. As for experience, I've been hunting demons since I could walk. Probably killed more monsters than the rest of you combined. Anyone who thinks they know more about survival than me, step on up.
The five of them look at each other. Connor really sounds serious. Cordy motions to the office, and the rest of them follow her. One they're in the office, they start whispering, but realize Connor can probably still hear them. So Gunn turns on a radio to drown out their conversation.
LORNE: It's like we're being bugged or something.
FRED: What the hell has gotten into him? Connor wasn't like this last summer. Sure, he was evil, and hiding a terrible secret. But he wasn't bossy.
CORDY: You know what's gotten into him? Sunnydale. Now that he's met Buffy, Connor wants to play Slayer.
WES: He's completely misconstruing the Slayer-Watcher relationship.
CORDY: No he's not. Connor's got a point. Buffy took control from day one because she was stronger than everyone else. Experience and wisdom had nothing to do with it.
GUNN: You're forgetting something. Buffy's friends ain't demon fighters. Especially not back in the day.
WES: That's true. We're professionals.
CORDY: Say Connor goes out on his own. What do we do? Do any of you honestly think the five of us could stand up to Mal?
FRED: You're right. He's got us by the short ones.
LORNE: This is extortion. "Do what I say, or you'll die?" Are we gonna let that boy push us around like that?
GUNN: Careful Lorne. Connor hears you callin' him "boy," he'll be doing a helluva lot more than pushing you around.
LORNE: This is the problem. Isn't anyone bothered by Connor hijacking Angel Investigations while daddy's away?
WES: I agree. It's counterproductive. But short of convincing him of our wisdom, there's nothing we can do. Connor's figured out that we lack the power to compel him to do anything.
FRED: He thinks Angel's coming back. How bout we remind him how upset daddy will be when he learns of his son's tantrums?
CORDY: You guys don't get it. He's doing this FOR Angel. Connor thinks it's his job to keep us alive. He doesn't want to let Angel down.
WES: That's sweet. Except that he's wrong. We're not his to look after.
CORDY: Let's say you go out tonight and get killed. Who do you think Connor fears will get blamed for that? He's just trying to act responsibly.
FRED: Whatever his motives, he is holding all the cards.
LORNE: I always feared the day he'd become a tyrant.
GUNN: Hold on. How's he gonna take on Mal solo? What if Connor dies because we're not there to help him out? Angel would never forgive us.
FRED: But if you think Connor's such a poor match for Mal, who's he gonna protect US? Mal knocks Connor down, he leaps at us, we're history.
CORDY: Connor's tough. He can take a lot of pounding. More than all of us put together. And if Mal wanted Connor dead, why didn't he try last night?
WES: If he wants us dead, why didn't he try to kill us?
LORNE: In fairness to Cordy, he might not have known we existed. Mal came looking for Angel and Connor. We're expendable. Or worse. What better way to crush Angel's spirit than to let him know you're taking out his friends one-by-one?
FRED: So now you agree with Connor?
LORNE: I certainly don't agree with his methods.
CORDY: I think we should all stay home. Connor included. Or, at the very least, we should all keep close to the hotel.
WES: But there's the rub. Just as Connor can physically prevent us from leaving, we can't physically prevent him from going.
GUNN: How'd you handle these sorta things as a Watcher?
CORDY: Very badly. But Giles would try to reason with Buffy. And occasionally it worked.
FRED: Have we gone from trying to convince Connor everyone should go out to trying to convince him everyone should stay in?
GUNN: He's been training all afternoon. Connor's primed for a fight. No way he'll back down now.
LORNE: Then I guess we have no choice but to bow before the Mighty Connor. He's gonna make us bow, is he?
Buffy and Faith walk down a dark hall at the high school. Spike walks twenty feet in front of them. Suddenly, he turns around and points a pistol in their direction.
"You think you can just walk away?," Spike asks angrily. Faith puts her hands up and steps towards the wall to her right. Buffy takes a few steps back.
"Put the gun down," Buffy pleads. "You don't know what you're doing. It's, it's the Hellmouth." Spike walks towards her.
"A person just doesn't wake up one day and stop loving someone. Love is forever."
"Spike. Please. Put it down. Before you do something you'll regret." Buffy doesn't notice that Spike's not looking at her. He's looking past her. Faith starts to maneuver behind Spike to take the gun away, but Buffy shakes her head, fearing Faith' gambit could cause Spike to fire. Buffy slowly walks towards Spike.
"Then tell me you don't love me," Spike commands as he walks right past Buffy. He's staring into the distance, at nothing. Now Buffy's perplexed. "Say it! Say it, Dru!"
"Dru!!!???," a surprised and somewhat emotionally hurt Buffy exclaims. She grabs Spike's right arm, pulls it behind his back, takes the gun away and throws Spike to the ground. He looks up at her as if he doesn't know why he's on his back.
"What the bloody hell just happened?," Spike asks.
Faith walks over to Buffy. "You were waving a gun at a ghost. Hey, where's the gun?"
"It disappeared," Buffy answers. "Always does. Drusilla? You flew into a jealous rage and wanted to kill Drusilla?"
"Yes. But that was quite a few years back."
"No. It was just now," Buffy counters. Spike gets up.
"Spike's not the jealous one, B," Faith jokes.
"Whatever just happened, it wusn't me," Spike pleads. "I was possessed. I wusn't in control of my actions." Buffy isn't completely convinced.
"So you were taken over by someone ELSE who got dumped by Drusilla? How convenient."
"I dunno. Maybe it was a flashback. You said I wanted to kill her. And you wish I had wanted to kill you. That's what's got you sussed."
"Spike, that's stupid," Buffy responds.
"B's got a point. You'd have to be pretty sick in the head to want your guy to only think of killing you every time he goes psycho," Faith says with relish. Buffy starts walking again.
"Let's get moving downstairs," Buffy orders Spike and Faith. She's very eager to find Seth. Perilous life-risking combat is just what she needs to forget this latest incident, which disturbed her on multiple levels.
Mal has set up shop at the Orpheum, an abandoned downtown movie palace. On the screen is Paul Robeson, playing the lead in Eugene O'Neal's "The Emperor Jones." Mal watches from the first row of the balcony. Petey, the vampire projectionist, comes over to talk to him.
"Wasn't easy finding this print," Petey tells Mal. "Had to break into the UCLA film library. Killed a security guard so I could make a clean getaway. What's so special about this picture?"
"It reminds me of the perils of wielding great power."
"You're kidding. That's Mal being ironic, right?"
"Power is a burden. You must know how much you are strong enough to carry. And how much your captains are strong enough to carry. If you can't do both well, you get crushed."
"Okay, I getchya, Mal. Don't let your friends bite off more than they can chew."
"I prefer to see it as a reminder that no man is God. We are all mortal. We can all be killed. Never forget that."
"Is that how you've lived so long?," Petey asks Mal. "You never thought of yourself as an immortal?"
"Precisely."
"Whoa. So it's like a, like a paradox. Nice. Look, I gotta go change reels in a sec. Thanks for, you know, letting me bother you. It's always an honor to bug ya." Mal waves him off. Petey goes back into the projection booth and changes the reel at the right time. A few minutes later, a vampire named Lou approaches Mal.
"They're here," Lou tells Mal "I brought 'em, just like you wanted."
"Are they all leaders?," Mal asks. "Men who can bring in other men?"
"Yeah," Lou answers. "All the big movers and shakers."
Mal looks down and sees about thirty vampires milling around in the well in front of the screen. He raises his left hand. Petey turns off "The Emperor Jones" and turns on another projector. Bruce Lee's "Game of Death" appears on the screen with the sound turned off. Action films are Mal's idea of wallpaper, something that can be shown when he's not paying complete attention. Mal puts on his vampire face and leaps down from the balcony, landing on top of the seats five rows in front of the vampires. They turn, look up and are startled to see Mal come out of nowhere. He hops towards them and lands in the well in front of the seats. The vampires back away and give him room. Mal looks them over. He speaks Spanish to six of them. Then Chinese to two others. Then a little Vietnamese to one vampire, and a little Russian to another. It's his little way of connecting. Then he goes into his pitch.
"I will kill all of your enemies. In exchange, you will do as I tell you. Four nights from now, this town, and everything else within thirty miles of where you are standing, will be yours. Do we have a deal?" The vampires look at each other. This isn't what they were expecting.
"You don't want us to help you fight?," one of them asks.
"Leave the fighting to me. Your enemies will all be dead soon. Do not give them a chance to kill you in their dying days."
"Then what do you want us to do?," another one asks.
"Bring your friends."
Buffy, Faith and Spike walk around the school basement.
"I don't like the idea of Andrew driving my car," complains. "Why couldn't Anya take it?"
"Because she's going to be driving the van," Buffy answers.
"Can't they switch?," Spike asks back.
"The van holds more people. It's the primary escape vehicle," Buffy explains. "You're car's the backup plan. Anya's more dependable."
"So she goes in the Number One car. Makes sense to me," Faith concludes.
Buffy flips on a light. Where the seal once was, there is a shiny onyx circle of equal size. Inscribed on the circle are two infinity symbols which intersect at right angles. No writing. No other symbols. Just the two crude characters.
"Maybe they were in a hurry, and didn't have time to finish their work," Spike surmises.
"Do you smell Seth?," Buffy asks him.
"Not down here."
"You do know his scent?," Buffy wonders.
"It's a strong one. I can pick it up from a long way away," Spike assures her. "Let's go upstairs, check on the kiddies."
When they are on the first floor and walking towards the front door, Spike stops. "He's here."
"In the building?," Buffy whispers.
"I'd say about 120 feet that way, and forty feet or so to the right."
"If he teleported to the parking lot, could you tell right away?," a concerned Buffy asks in a whisper.
"In a second. Relax, love. He's right where we want him." The three of them turn right.
"Isn't this the way to that training room we used last week?," Faith whispers to Buffy. A few seconds later, when the door to the training room is fifteen feet in front of them and on their right, Seth quietly comes our through the door into the dark hallway. The cap and the necklace are gone. His hair is two inches shorter in back, trimmed to the level of his earlobes. He wears his usual black leather vest and black boots, as well as black leather pants, which he hasn't worn before.
"Oh where have you been, my blue-eyed son? And where have you been, my darling young one?," Seth sings as he walks towards Buffy.
"What is it with you and folk music?," Spike muses. "It must be the evil."
"Where is everyone?," Seth asks, looking a little confused. Then he vanishes. Buffy immediately dashes out to the parking lot, with Spike and Faith following close behind. But Seth is nowhere in sight.
"When we found him, he teleported right after saying he was coming after you guys," Buffy reports to Giles.
"We didn't see anything," Giles assures her.
"Not even a Reaper?"
"Not even a Bringer. It's been quiet."
"He's behind the school," Spike announces, pointing in that direction.
"Where behind the school?," Buffy demands to know.
"My nose doesn't have bloody radar."
"Take the van," Buffy orders Giles. "We'll go in the car." Buffy, Faith and Spike go towards Spike's car. Buffy takes shotgun. Faith sits in back behind Buffy. Willow sits in the middle of the back seat. Spike notices Andrew's in the driver's seat, and he's not budging.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"
"Helping you. You'll need to jump out and fight. Having me behind the wheel makes that easier."
"Can I at least ride shotgun in my own bloody car?"
"Shut up and get in back, Spike," Buffy commands. He groans and sits behind Andrew and to the left of Willow. Anya slowly starts driving the van. Andrew follows.
"Why aren't we out in front?," Spike demands to know. "I'm the one who can find him."
"And this car's got all the firepower," Faith adds. Andrew takes their hint and passes the van. They go about a hundred feet onto the grass when Spike tells them to stop on small ridge. Andrew pulls in sideways, with the passenger's side facing the playing fields. Giles parks fifteen feet in front of him. Buffy, Faith, Willow and Spike get out. Spike points up ahead and slightly to the right.
"There he is." Buffy squints and sees someone on a higher ridge 400 feet in front of them. Giles gets out of the van, but keeps the Potentials inside for now. Buffy begins to approach Seth. Rupert does not approve.
"That's too far to go. You can't allow yourself to be lured that far away from the girls.
"Then we drive closer," Faith suggests.
"There's a gully about sixty feet in front of us that the van could get stuck in," Giles counters. "I'm not about to drive through a damp meadow at night. Who knows what we could get stuck in."
"He'll come. We can wait," Buffy laconically concludes. As they wait, Spike remembers Seth's singing, and decides to mention that to Giles.
"He sang a few bars of a Dylan song. I can't remember the title. "Oh where have you been, my blue-eyed son?'"
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall,'" Giles tells him. "It's about an apocalypse."
"That might not be a good sign," Faith comments.
"It's certainly appropriate," Willow adds.
"You ready, Willow?," Buffy asks her best friend and secret weapon.
"Ready when he is."
Seth slowly walks towards Buffy, taking more than a minute to reach her. He hopes the long, nervous wait will intimidate them. He sees the van and guesses the Potentials are inside. Perhaps they're looking out the window at their deadly enemy. Buffy, Faith, Spike and Willow stop sixty feet in front of the van. Buffy stands in the center, with Faith ten feet to her left and Spike ten feet to her right. Standing next to Buffy, at her right hand, is Willow. Mal stops when he gets close. He scans the four of them, then takes a second, longer look at Willow. She's new. That bothers him. She's also the only one who is not armed. Buffy carries a sledgehammer (an ordinary one, not an Olaf-sized one). Spike has a baseball bat bat, and Faith a mace. Ironically, this relaxes Seth. It reminds him that they are afraid of him and cannot beat him bare-handed.
"If I had known you were bringing weapons, I would have," Seth pauses and smiles, "No, I still wouldn't have brought any. I have everything I need to kill you under my skin."
"Me too," Willow says with a grin. "Ligate!"
Willow holds out her right hand. A white string shoots out from her index finger and wraps around Seth's body, pinning his arms to the sides of his body and binding his legs together. The First had never mentioned anything about witches. Then again, the First liked to keep him in the dark. Almost like they wanted him to fail. Seth struggles to free himself as Buffy charges and hits his face with her sledgehammer. Spike nails Seth's left ear with his bat, and Faith drives her mace into his right temple. Buffy swings her hammer into his chest, knocking Seth on his back. As Seth struggles to break free and absorbs blow after blow, Giles opens the van's side door and leads the eight Potentials outside. They array themselves in a circle twenty feet in front of the cars and forty feet behind Buffy, ready to either fend off Reaper attacks or come to Buffy's aid if the Reapers decided to swarm her. Giles stands ten feet in front of them and just to the right of Willow, who ran back after doing what Buffy wanted.
Seth rolls back-and-forth on the ground for eight seconds, during which time Buffy, Faith and Spike land more than twenty powerful blows to his head, chest and knees. When Seth finally manages to plant his feet on the ground and stand up, his arms are still bound. Buffy smashes his face yet again. Faith, carrying the lightest but quickest weapon, hits Seth three times in the side of his skull. Spike adds a strike to the left side of Seth's jaw. He grinds his teeth, tightens his hands and arms, and finally bursts free. With his left hand, Seth grabs the barrel of Spike's bat before it can hit him. With his right, he grips the head of Faith's mace. Buffy swings down for his skull. Seth bends backwards, until his chest is almost parallel to the ground. The hammer misses. He pulls his knees apart, freeing his legs. Buffy swings again. Seth stands upright, swings his right foot, and kicks her in the chest before she can land her blow. Buffy is knocked on her back. Seth rips the mace from Faith's right hand. She lands a left cross to his right cheek. Seth downs her with a left hook. Spike strikes him in the back. Seth doesn't turn around, as if the blow isn't worth answering. Spike nails the back of his head. Seth spins and clobbers Spike with a right hook. He staggers back but stays on his feet. Seth follows.
Just when Seth is about to throw a left cross, he sees Buffy to his right, swinging her hammer. Her very painful hammer. Seth still looks fresh, but the blows have taken their toll. Now, he reaches his right hand up, grabs the hammer head when it is a foot from his skull, and rips the weapon away from Buffy. Spike hits his face with a right hook. Seth swings Buffy's hammer and pounds Spike in the chest, knocking him on his back. Seth glances to his right and sees Buffy and Faith ready to punch and kick him. Seth starts swinging the hammer over his head. This causes them to take a step back. One good swing from Seth could crush either of their skulls. Seth smiles. Then he hurls the hammer towards Willow. It tumbles along the ground and lands within ten feet of her. Clearly, if he wanted to, Seth could have tossed it into Willow's head. Or into the head any one of the Potentials for that matter.
"Sometimes turnabout isn't fair," Seth explains.
Spike grabs Seth's arms and holds them behind his back. Faith lands a right uppercut and left hook. Buffy connects with a left jab and right cross. Seth rips his arms free and swings his hands like he's clapping them behind his head, boxing Spike's ears in, disorienting Spike and knocking him down. Then he swings his arms out in front of him, brings them together and slams Buffy's and Faith's skulls together. Seth smiles and shrugs, looking down at the Slayers. "Or even necessary," he adds with scorn.
Seth chuckles as he turns around. Spike rises to his feet, perhaps a moment or two prematurely. He hasn't fully regained his balance. On top of everything, the hammer to the chest left his sternum feeling a little fractured. Seth gives him a right kick to the chest and a left uppercut to the chin, sending him into the air. Spike lands on his back ten feet away. Seth closes in. Spike doesn't understand Seth's fixation. The Slayers are standing up twenty feet behind Seth. He doesn't even care. Spike rises to his feet in time to get popped with a right hook. He spins around, but stays on his feet. When he turns back to face Seth, he's bumpy.
"I've always liked the attention," Spike tells Seth before throwing a right hook, which Seth blocks. Spike does land two left jabs. "Some might say you're playing right into my hands." Spike smiles and tries to hide the pain. Seth lands a left jab to his nose. The Slayers come at Seth from behind, Buffy on his left, Faith on his right. When they are close enough, Buffy does two quick high left hook kicks, and Faith does two quick right hook kicks. Both sets of kicks land on opposite sides of Seth's face at the same time. Seth looks a little rattled. "Plus, you're making the ladies mad by ignoring them." Buffy lands a left cross to Seth's left eye at the same moment when Faith lands a right cross to his right eye. "Never a good idea to brass off two Slayers," Spike says with a smile as Seth falls down. He quickly gets up.
The three of them stand in front of Seth: Spike dead center, Buffy on his left, Faith on his right. Seth turns his head to the right and looks at the Potentials in the distance. He smiles.
"Reapers do the best surprise attacks. They never hear 'em coming." Buffy can't help but glance to her left, just to be sure they're safe. Seth steps to his left and knocks her down with a swift but mighty right hook. All he needed was to distract her for a split-second. Seth looks down at Buffy. "Made you look," he taunts.
Seth turns around. Faith's in front of him. Spike's on his left. He knows Spike's hurting, so he's not too worried about him. Seth steps forward and prepares to throw a right cross at Faith. But instead, he spins and downs Spike with a surprise left roundhouse kick to the face. On his follow through, he puts Faith on her back with a left hook. He kicks her in the back while she's down before turning to face Buffy. As he walks towards her, he adds "And if my boys do show up, it's not like you could help those girls."
Buffy's sends a right hook kick for his face. Seth grabs her ankle with both hands. His grip is too strong for her to back flip her way out of this one. Seth swings his arms to the left, picking Buffy up and slamming her into the grass. Then he swings his arms to the right, slamming Buffy down yet again. He picks her up over his head and tosses Buffy high in the air behind him. Faith starts to stand up. She's not looking straight overhead. Buffy comes down right on top of her. While Buffy was in mid-air, Spike landed a right cross and left hook to Seth's face. Spike glances to his right to see Buffy fall on Faith. Seth hears the collision and smiles. He throws a right cross to take advantage of Spike's distraction. But Spike knew he'd do this. He reaches his right hand across his body, grabs Seth's right arm to block the punch, and lands a left cross, knocking Seth a few steps back. Spike takes three steps back, getting further away from Seth. This gives him time to stall while the Slayers recover, and also gives him room to react to Seth's next attack. Seth leaps fifteen feet towards Spike. He's ready for the kill.
To his right, Giles sees three Reapers rushing towards the Potentials. He waits until they are within fifteen feet of the girls. Then he steps towards the one closest to him, swings his ax and beheads the demon. It was too focused on the girls to see Giles coming at him from the right. The other two Reapers engage one side of the Potentials' formation. Kennedy and Molly battle one. To their right, Rona and Amanda battle the other. Giles comes at the one fighting Kennedy and Molly. He kicks Giles in the chest, then flees. The other Reapers joins him. On the opposite side of the circle, five Reapers comes out of nowhere and race towards Ariella, Madari, Fadila and Izora. Willow steps towards them and holds out her right hand. "Aeolus!," she calmy commands as her eyes dilate. A gale-force gust of wind knocks the Reapers over when they are within ten to fifteen feet of the girls. Shaken by the unseen attack, the Reapers rise to their feet and retreat. Giles walks over to Willow.
"Two are missing," he tells her.
"Excuse me?"
"There are ten. We've seen eight. Where are the other two?" Giles walks around to the other side of the cars to check if they're hiding. He also checks under the cars. Finding none, Giles rejoins Willow, but still keeps looking for the enemy while Willow intently watches Seth, ready to hold him back if he gets past Buffy.
For now, Seth's not focused on the Potentials. Or the Slayers. He hits Spike in the mouth with a left jab, but Spike avoids his right cross and responds with one of his own. Seth grabs Spike's right hand and spins him around. He puts his right hand under Spike's chin, his left hand on top of Spike's head, and tries to snap his neck. Spike reaches up with both hands, grabs Seth's head and flips him forward. While down, Seth reaches his left hand back and pulls Spike's left leg up off the ground, causing Spike to fall down. They both get up. Seth turns to face Spike, who lands a right hook. Seth responds in kind, giving better than he got. He adds a left hook to Spike's ribs. Spike tries a left cross. Seth blocks it, nails Spike in the sternum with a left jab and knocks him down with a right uppercut. He gets on top of Spike, takes out a wooden stake in his right hand and goes for the kill. Spike grabs the stake with his left hand. Seth pushes harder, forcing Spike to grab Seth's right wrist with his right hand. Seth lands three left crosses to Spike's nose while Spike uses all his strength to keep the stake an inch or two away from his heart. Buffy kicks Seth in the mouth with her right foot. Seth puts his left hand behind the stake to make one final attempt. Faith kicks him in the left side of his face with her right foot. Seth rolls off of Spike. Now Buffy and Faith are also wondering about Seth's odd fixation. Seth stands up, spotting Buffy on his left and Faith on his right.
"I hope you lovely ladies aren't feeling left out," Seth tells them. "The men die first on Mondays. Women and children last." He blocks Buffy's right cross with his left hand and downs her with a right cross of his own. Immediately after landing the punch, he sends a left reverse kick for Faith's face. She grabs his foot with both hands. Seth swings his right leg around and pounds Faith with a right hook kick. As she falls and rolls along the ground, Seth keeps spinning, his body parallel to the ground. After one full post-kick rotation, he lands on both feet, sticking the dismount. Spike approaches and lands a left jab, right uppercut and a left cross. Seth staggers back. Spike, whose nose and lips are bleeding, whose cheeks and chin are bruised, and whose left eye is nearly swollen shut, steps towards Seth and away from Buffy and Faith. Seth lands a right hook, and Spike answers with a right cross.
"Gotta give the walking dead man his due," Seth offers before landing a left jab and avoiding Spike's left cross. "You never give up, which is an ironic trait in a slave." Seth quickly spins around and nails the left side of Spike's face with a right roundhouse kick. The he grabs Spike by the ears, pulls him in and pounds Spike's nose with a head butt. He takes hold of Spike's t-shirt with his left hand to make sure Spike's doesn't fall on his back, pulls out the stake in his right hand, and quickly goes for the kill yet again. Spike reaches across his body and grabs the stake with his right hand just in the nick of time. He smiles.
"Your master tell you I was an easy mark?" Spike spits a big glob of bloody saliva , hitting Seth right between the eyes. "They never had a bloody clue about me." Seth pushes Spike to the ground, drops his stake and wipes the blood and spit off his face. Buffy flies at him and knocks Seth down with a leaping right kick. When he gets up, Faith nails him twice in the skull with Spike's baseball bat. Buffy gets him in the chin with a straight right kick, a left roundhouse kick and a right hook. Moving from Buffy's right to her left, Faith wails on the right side of Seth's head, giving him three very good whacks. While she did that, Spike ran back, got Buffy's sledgehammer handed to him by Willow, and tossed it to her. Buffy turns around, grabs it, turns back around to face Seth, and brings the hammer down onto the top of his skull. Seth wobbles and takes a few steps back. Green fluid flows down from his eyes like emerald mascara. He puts his hands to his face, notices the leakage, and appears to be afraid. He looks behind him into the darkness.
"It's not time. It's not time." A woman walks up behind him. She is five foot nine inches tall (an inch shorter than Seth), with light brown skin (a tad darker than Seth's), glowing blue eyes and long, purple hair. She wears a skin-tight dark blue leather jumpsuit. The woman stands to Seth's right, holding his right hand with her left. He turns to look at her.
"Nina, there's still more I need to do." Nina puts her right hand to his face and stares into his green eyes. Once clear and vibrant, they are now cloudy and sluggish. Nina looks concerned, almost pained.
"Seth, brother, you've done plenty," Nina reassures him with a smile. Seth starts to walk forward. Nina, still holding Seth's hand, walks with him. Buffy, Faith and Spike back up. Buffy signals to Giles that he should get the girls in the truck and leave immediately. Giles turns around, and he sees Andrew and Anya, standing in front of the vehicles, a Reaper holding a dagger to each of their necks.
"It's a bluff." He looks at Kennedy, who isn't so sure. "They're bluffing! They can't kill civilians. It's a bluff!" Kennedy can see from the look in his eyes that Giles is completely convinced. And she's eager to make a getaway from the new arrival. She charges the Reapers. The other seven Potentials follow. The demons drop Andrew and Anya, then pull out their swords. Kennedy lets out a battle yell, runs towards the one on the left and stabs her sword straight through his face. But as the Potentials overrun these two Reapers, the seven other Reapers take them on both flanks. On the left side of the line, a Reaper raises his sword to strike Kennedy, who doesn't see him coming. Molly, who is behind Kennedy, uses her ax to chop off the demon's right hand. Kennedy turns, sees the Reaper, and chops off his left hand, which isn't hard because his dagger's much shorter than her sword. Molly lops off the Reaper's head with her ax. Rona, who was behind Molly and, now that they've turned, is on Molly's left, fights another Reaper. Molly helps her out. The Reaper avoids Rona's sword and knocks her down with a right hook kick. He then pivots to hit Molly with a right roundhouse kick. She swings her ax. While he spins around, the Reaper ducks, avoids the ax and knocks Molly down with the kick. Kennedy and Amanda hold the line against this Reaper and one other until Molly and Rona get up and resume the fight. On the right flank, in front of the van, Izora cuts all the way up the Reaper's chest with her short sword, while Madari knocks him down with the hammer end of her poleaxe and chops off his head with the ax blade on the other end. Four more Reapers charge in from the right, overwhelming Fadila and Ariella, who do all they can to keep from getting cut to ribbons. Giles rushes in to help. Fadila gets a deep sword slash in her left biceps and a dagger stab deep into her abdomen. Ariella gets slashed across her right cheek, two shallow stab wounds in her ribs and a shallow slash on her right calf, from when she used a kick to keep them at bay. But they both stay on their feet, and in a few seconds Madari and Izora rush over to help. Anya opens the van door and starts the engine. Willow looks at the fighting. Then she glances back towards Seth and the new woman. Whoever that is, Willow hopes she can hold her and Seth off long enough for the Potentials to overpower the Reapers, get in the cars and escape.
"Look at them," Seth pleads, his voice quivering. Spike bears the telltale marks of a more-than-thorough thrashing. Buffy has a big bruise on her right cheek, a large cut just under her left eye and a bloody nose. Faith has a large bruise under her right eye, a bloody nose, bloody lip and bruised chin. "They can't hold up much longer. Give me five minutes, and I'll kill two, guaranteed. Maybe even all three."
"Look at me, brother," Nina responds. She kisses her brother on the forehead, he kisses her right cheek, and they embrace. "You have done an incredible job." They finish hugging. "But some things need a woman's touch." Nina puts her hands to Seth's skull – the skull that had endured so much Slayer pounding – and crushes it, all the while looking at Buffy and Faith. Their jaws drop. Nina grins. "Isn't that right, ladies?"
NEXT: Nina goes to work, and things get very ugly, very quickly.