Buffy endures the biggest disappointment of her career. And it has nothing to do wth Nina.
It's no coincidence that this was the cliff Nina stood on when she watched the tidal wave come ashore Saturday afternoon. She knew all along that this was where the weapons were buried. She also knew that they couldn't be used until several days after the town was destroyed, at the earliest. Thus, there had been no hurry in digging them up. Personally, she thought the First was rushing things. Nina believed they should wait until the dome was finished and preparations for the final fight were complete. Then Buffy could be lured into an attack on the dome while the weapons were being excavated four miles to the north of the Hellmouth. Nina suspected the First ordered this premature act in order to keep her busy and free from distractions, such as mourning Mal. But Nina had to follow orders. She did everything she could to keep Buffy away: the activity at the Hellmouth, the elaborate decoy in the hills to the east. What she couldn't figure out was how Buffy knew what she was up to so soon after Nina had acquired the orbs. She wrongly assumed that Wolfram & Hart must have tipped her off. Who else could it have been?
The cliff is one hundred and ten feet above the flat land approaching it from the west. Its western face is nearly vertical. The south face is also too steep to climb. The north face is the most accessible, with a winding trail going up. The east face lacks any trails, and is steeper than the north face, but can still be easily climbed, providing no one's standing in your way and trying to push you down. When she arrives, Buffy thanks Xander for his vital tip and tells him to head on home with Giles. She doesn't want to risk them getting hurt. Knowing time is of the essence, Buffy quickly comes up with a plan.
"Okay, okay, I got it. Spike, you take the trail around the corner. It's the easiest way. She'll be expecting us to take it. We'll wait a couple minutes before climbing up on this side. Then me and Faith can take her by surprise."
"I'm nothing more than a bloody diversion?"
"You have a problem with that?" Spike quickly relents. Faith's impressed by how whipped B's got him. "The weapons are for Slayers. You're here to help us get our hands on them."
"Mine not to reason why. Mine but to do and bloody die," Spike responds with mild bitterness.
"Who said anything about dying?," a concerned Buffy replies. "You're the diversion, not the sacrificial lamb. Do what you can to distract her, but stay undusted. I'm not losing anyone else to her."
"I get to live. Yeah me," Spike wanly replies before heading off.
"Is he always this moody?," Faith asks after Spike is out of sight.
"Not about death," Buffy answers. "Usually, that's the last thing he worries about."
"Guess this new girl's giving everyone the shakes."
"She won't after tonight."
Buffy waits about two minutes before setting off with Faith. They climb up the rocks and pebbles. The loose stones tumble down as they put their feet on them. The troublesome terrain, combined with the darkness, slows them down. At the same time, Spike runs up the winding dirt path as fast as he can. He's halfway to the summit when the Slayers start ascending. As Buffy had hoped, he gets noticed before they do. Three-quarters of the way up, where the slope gets steeper, a Turokh-han hides behind the trunk of a pine tree that the tidal wave stripped of its branches and bark. Though superior to ordinary vampires in strength and quickness, they are far less stealthy. Spike stops ten feet from the uber-vamp. "Fe, fi, fo, fum, something wicked this way comes." He looks at the tree trunk. "What do we have behind Door Number One? Bringer, or Reaper? Let's have ourselves a peak, shall we?" The uber-vamp snarls and leaps out. Prepared for the attack, Spike hits him with a right hook, knocking him away. The demon rolls a short distance down the slope before digging in his claws, getting up and jumping at Spike. He ducks, avoiding the flying right kick. The uber-vamp does a somersault and stands up above Spike. Spike goes bumpy. "Well if is isn't the missing bloody link. A friend of yours wasn't very nice to me. I guess you'll be the one to pay the price." The turokh-han blocks Spike's right cross and lands a right hook. He then leaps on Spike, and the two of them roll thirty feet down the hill before crashing into a tree stump.
What Spike didn't know was that two more uber-vamps had been lying in wait. When they saw Spike was alone, they rushed back to the top. Nina gives them a withering sneer. She loathes demons, and hates having to work with them. "Okay, I know you're morons, but can't you understand simple commands like Stay out of my sight'? Find them!" She takes each uber-vamp's neck in her hand, lifts them off the ground and squeezes. "I see the Slayers, and I kill you before they even get the chance to. Kapish, maggots? She tosses them fifteen feet back, and they fall to the ground. When rushes at them, they back down the hill in fear. "Can we get a move on?," she asks the four Joiners who perform the delicate task of liberating the weapons. They've already sliced back the wood and the bronze to within a few inches of the weapons. Now they carefully file away the remaining material, using circular sanders for the wood and rotary steel files for the bronze. Nina looks at the eight Joiners who are doing nothing at the moment. "Don't just stand there. You trust those pea-brained primitives to get the job done?"
The two uber-vamps roam the east face, above the Slayers and to their right. "You hear that?," Buffy asks Faith.
"Sounds like they've taken the bait."
"It's too close for them to be after Spike."
"Long as it's not straight above us, I'm ain't worried." Like the uber-vamps, the Joiners quickly realized the Slayers were coming from the east. They scatter along the upper end of that slope and use their tools to quickly fell some of the remaining trees. Buffy and Faith hear the rumblings. Then they see two logs tumbling down to their right. One of them gets within ten feet of them. "That, I'm worried about," Faith confesses. Along with Buffy she hugs the hill and climbs up, slightly in the lead. They see a log heading straight for them. Faith goes flat to the ground, hoping the log will roll over her but not send her tumbling down.
"Faith, no!," Buffy calls out. She rushes up, grabs Faith, and pulls her fifteen feet back, where the rock juts out, creating a safe spot. They lie behind the rock just before the log rolls over it, leaps off it like a ramp and goes airborne for a second, sailing over them before slamming into the earth and continuing its downwards tumble. Buffy and Faith both catch their breath, and feel relieved. Buffy peaks her head up, sees another log heading their way and ducks back behind the rock, holding Faith down as well. They watch this latest projectile roll past them.
"I owe ya one, B."
"Don't mention it," Buffy says as peaks out again. "We still have a long way to go." They get up and continue, picking up the pace. Two logs tumble down on their left. Another one comes on their right, falling at an angle towards them. They scamper left to avoid it. The turok-han's flee the onslaught and return to the summit. Nina knew this was a risk. But she trusts the Joiners more than the uber-vamps when it comes to holding off the Slayers. Now that they are less than twenty five feet from the top, the Joiners can sense their location. They possess a highly-sensitive sonar that is far more useful than vampire hearing, especially since the falling logs drown out the sounds of Faith and Buffy. And with the steep incline, they are still out of view from the top of the hill. The Joiners pair off, rolling four boulders they excavated earlier into position. Nina's too busy watching the remaining two pairs of workers uncover the weapons to notice this development, or the return of the uber-vamps. She can see the top part of the sword's blade, and gets excited as they quickly but painstakingly file their way down, exposing more and more of the weapon. Meanwhile, the handle of the stake is becoming visible.
"Maybe I haven't said this before, but you guys really are the best. I mean that. No one can do it better. Like D.O.C." They appreciate the compliment, even though they are mystified by the gangsta rap reference they could not possibly understand. Ironically, Connor would have gotten it.
"I'm okay, Dawn. Don't worry about me. I'm more worried about you."
"Connor, don't be." Then Dawn lowers her voice to a whisper and retreats to the far corner of the living room so the Potentials can't hear her. "I'm the only girl left in town she's not after."
"I'm not so sure. I killed her guy. If she knows you're my girl – "
"Then she would have done something to me by now. It's been four days since you killed that vampire. I was outside for a couple hours yesterday. She had her chance."
"Just to be safe, don't give her another one. Promise?"
"I don't believe this. You're starting to sound like Buffy. All this talk about protecting me and keeping me safe."
"She's not just some vampire."
"I know. And I'll be careful. We all are."
"I can't lose you."
"I'm not too big on me dying, either," Dawn glibly responds.
"Sorry for caring," he replies sarcastically. Dawn can tell he's annoyed.
"Connor, I worry about you too. With all the trouble you get in, if I wanted to, I could probably spend all my time worrying about you. But I have to live my life. And you have to live yours."
"I hate being apart."
"There seems to be a lot of that going around."
"Doesn't make it easier."
"Yeah, well, misery loves company. Especially here. Take care. And don't worry. I'll do the same." Dawn and Connor hang up. He's lying on the couch in the first floor office. Angel reclines in his chair behind the desk. Wesley stands up by the bookcase, trying to find out more about their new menace.
"Any news?," Wesley asks.
"Molly and Izora are dead."
"Who were they?," Angel asks. He had expected info on Buffy.
"Potential Slayers?," Wesley guesses.
"My two favorites. Well, two of my three," Connor responds, referring to Amanda. "Rose and Chao-Ahn also got killed. I didn't spend much time with them."
"Were they killed by Nina?," Wes asks.
"Not those last two. Her brother got them. But Nina got Molly and Izora. She ripped Molly's heart out in front of the others."
"Good heavens," Wesley exclaims. "That must have been extraordinarily traumatic. Even after everything else they must have gone through."
"She wants to terrify them. Make them think Buffy can't protect them," Angel concludes. "But why would Buffy have put them at risk in the first place?"
"Dawn says she had like ten of those Reaper guys with the swords backing her up."
"She left Buffy and Faith with no choice," Wesley responds. "Fail to bring out the Potential Slayers, and the actual Slayers are hopelessly outnumbered and get cut to pieces. How many girls are left?"
"Six. Dawn said Izora shot Nina a bunch of times in the head. That kept her away from the other girls, and probably saved a few of them. The brave ones alway go first."
"You were fond of this girl?," Angel asks.
"Not like that," he responds, assuming Angel was implying Connor was attracted to her. "We never even talked. She didn't speak much English. I think she was from Africa."
"Morocco," Wesley clarifies. "She must have been the Berber girl Giles mentioned." Something funny occurs to Wesley. "You said her name was Izora?" Connor nods. "In Arabic, Izora means Dawn."
Connor smiles. "That's weird. In a cool way. She was a really good shot. When we all were getting ready to save the world - "
"When did you save the world?," Angel asks.
"The night before you came. I helped out. Not like I did it myself. I think Spike killed the Hellbeast."
Angel groans. Then he looks confused. "But you tried to kill him the next night. I saw you helping that guy whose mother Spike killed."
The Holtz parallel alarms Wesley, and he drops his book. "Clumsy me," he stammers.
"So what?," Connor responds nonchalantly. "Spike didn't hold it against me."
"He likes the attention," Angel quips. "It means a lot when you care enough to try to kill him."
"Enough about him." Angel and Wesley couldn't agree more. "Izora wanted Kennedy's crossbow, cause she knew she was the better shot. But Kennedy wouldn't give it to her. She acts like the leader because she's the oldest and she's been there the longest. Izora had just arrived the other day. Plus, she already had her own crossbow. But I can tell she's special. I put an apple on my head and stand in front of a tree in Buffy's backyard." Angel looks horrified. "She's in the front yard, by the sidewalk."
"That's about a hundred and fifty feet away," Angel recalls. "Please tell me you didn't – "
"I stood still. She aimed and fired. The arrow stuck the apple to the tree. Kennedy gave her the crossbow. Izora smiled at me. I think she was glad to know someone believed in her."
"I wasn't aware that you knew the legend of William Tell," Wesley comments. He's as disturbed as Angel by the story, especially by how fondly Connor recounted it.
"Who?," Connor responds with genuine ignorance. Angel and Wes spend a few seconds taking in the fact that he came up with this on his own.
"Why would you do something like that?," Angel asks.
"If she missed, I could always grab it before it hit me. And I didn't think she'd miss. Would she have fired if she wasn't sure she could hit the apple?"
"And what if she was merely overconfident?," Wesley wonders.
"I heard Giles say she hunted back home. He said she walked from Fez to the coast with demons after her. He made it sound like that was far."
"A hundred miles as the crow flies," Angel explains. "A hundred and fifty if she wanted to get to Tangiers for the crossing to Spain." Connor can tell that his father is impressed. "And that's a tough journey by foot. I know from experience. The roads aren't very good, and she had to cross a mountain range."
"Very resourceful girl," Wesley notes. "But even the strongest and the hardiest among us have proven to be no match for Nina."
Clayton strolls into the lobby. Gunn walks up to him. "Can I help you?"
"Is it usually this busy?"
"Sorry. No vacancies."
"I'm not here for a room. I'm here for Angel. Is he in?"
"Who's asking?" Clayton hands Gunn his card. Fred walks up to him. She also sees it. They both appear concerned, and look back at Clay.
"It's not what you think. I come in peace. See, I caught the surveillance tape of your altercation with our common enemy. And I want to help you kill her." Gunn and Fred back away from the creepy evil man and enter the office.
"Someone wants to see you," Gunn reports.
"Someone from Wolfram & Hart," Fred adds. "He says it's about Nina."
"I don't see the harm in talking," Wesley offers, inadvertently reminding Gunn, Fred and Angel of the lawyer he did a lot more than talk with.
"He came all this way. It would be rude to stand him up," Angel comments.
"Provided you can stand up," Fred reminds him. Angel struggles to his feet. He takes a few steps, then sits back down.
"Tell him to step into my office." Angel doesn't want the enemy to see him weak. Connor understands this and sits up. Gunn brings Clayton in. Angel's three friends eye the new guy suspiciously.
"I don't think we've met," Angel begins.
"Clayton Jenkins." He holds his right hand out. Angel doesn't shake it. He pulls it back.
"So you're the guy they got to replace Gavin," Angel assumes. "Weasel number two."
"You can cut the hostility in this room with a plastic spork," Clayton jokes as he glances at Wes to his right, Gunn and Fred to his left, and Connor behind him. "Let's be civilized and not allow past animosities endanger the future of the planet."
"You're the ones endangering the future of the planet," Angel shoots back.
"Can we focus on the short term? I want to be alive in a week. So do all of you, I trust."
"Speaking of the short term, can you hurry up and get to the point?," Angel demands.
"Wolfram & Hart is a monopolist. What keeps the Senior Partners awake at night aren't champions like yourself. It's competitors. Cocky, naive upstarts and doddering old fogeys who don't know their time has past like the First Evil."
"Tell me something I don't know," Angel responds.
"Because of this, our firm stores hundreds of objects that, if they fell into the wrong hands, could be used to destroy our world. Nina took two of them."
"This I already knew."
"If they were so dangerous, perhaps you should have done a better job of protecting them," Wesley condescendingly suggests.
"But for every poison we possess, Wolfram and Hart has the antidote. Angel, I would like to give you that antidote. Be in our lobby tomorrow evening at nine. And bring her," he adds, pointing at Fred. "Just her."
"Why?," Gunn asks. Clay can tell Angel's wondering the same thing.
"I am offering you a chance to save the world. To kill a heretofore unstoppable monster. This isn't the time to quibble over minor details."
Angel stands up. Connor does likewise. Along with Wes, Gunn and Fred, they converge on and surround the unwelcome visitors. "Do you really think you're in a position to dictate terms?," Angel asks him. Clay nervously glances around at his would-be attackers.
"You expect me to be frightened. And I would be. If I didn't know that you can't hurt me in here." They hold their ground. Clayton holds his. He doesn't blink. Slimy bastard's called their bluff. Rather than gloat, he quickly switches from smarmy to serious. "I know what my firm has done to you in the past. And what it has tried to do to you. Each of you has every right to hate my guts. And you can go back to hating my guts when the Titan is dead. But right now, everything I know leads me to believe that you, Angel, are the only one who can kill her. And I have what you need to do it. We'll continue this conversation in my office. I think you'll like the change of venue. After all, in my office, you can kill me if you want to." Clayton turns to his left, walks between Gunn and Fred and leaves the office. Fred looks out the partially-opened door and watches him saunter through the lobby and out the building. She closes the office door. Angel and Connor sit back down.
"I don't like him," Gunn declares.
"Personally, I prefer my weasels slightly less overgrown," Wesley adds. He didn't like that Clayton was taller than him. And Angel. Clay was as tall as Gunn without his hair, and a smidgen taller than him with it. They were used to shorter lawyers annoying them.
"I didn't smell any fear," Connor reports ominously. "Everyone else I met from that place wreaked of it."
"He's new in town. So he's ignorant," Fred rationalizes, trying to put a positive spin on Connor's observation.
"No. It's just the opposite," Angel argues. "He knows something we don't."
"Hair club for men's got an ace in the hole?," Gunn asks.
"You can't be that smug without one."
The first boulder falls. Buffy and Faith hit the deck. The four foot-high rock rolls over Buffy's back. Faith gets up first and rushes forward. The second stone comes her way. Because of the incline, she can't see it until it's five feet away. She moves left, and takes a glancing blow that puts her on her back. Gravity pulls her feet up above her head and back down beneath her body. She grabs on to the dirt, struggling to stay put, but she quickly loses her grip and falls. Buffy reaches down and grabs Faith's left arm with her right arm. Anchoring her right foot to an exposed root, Buffy takes Faith's other arm and pulls her up just in time for the two of them to fall down face first and avoid the third stone, which bounces over them. They get up together and claw their way forward, keeping low to the ground. The Joiners keep their final boulder in reserve. When the Slayers are ten feet below, they push it down. But Buffy and Faith spot it quick enough to burst forward and push it back up. The two uber-vamps get behind the rock and shove back, overpowering the tired Slayers. They dig their feet into the ground, but slide back six feet before slipping and falling on their faces. The boulder rolls over both their backs. Dusty, bruised and cut, they rise to their feet and charge up once more, only to see the turokh-hans staring down at them when they are two feet from the summit.
"You again," Buffy declares.
"Who again?," Faith asks, genuinely clueless about what these demons were. Buffy leaps on top of the one in front of her. Faith, who is to Buffy's right, dives to her right and does a somersault, landing on the top of the hill. Buffy's opponent tosses her behind him. Faith backs away from hers.
"Uber-vamps," Buffy explains.
"Even uglier than the pictures," Faith responds before getting decked by a right hook. Buffy turns, sees the weapons, and gets kicked from behind, falling on her face. Eight of the Joiners head down the ropes and hide in the niches and shafts they finished digging only thirty minutes earlier. The other four continue to frantically excavate what everyone around them is fighting for. Buffy's opponent slams her face back into the ground, then picks her up from behind. He tries to push her towards the edge of the cliff. She falls to her knees, reaches back to grab his head and flips him to the ground. They both get up. The uber-vamp lands a left hook kick, blocks her left jab and lands a left hook. But when the demon tries a right roundhouse kick, Buffy ducks under it, sends a left kick into his stomach, then a right uppercut and a right kick to his chin. As he staggers back, she leaps at the uber-vamp and lands a leaping left hook kick to his chest, putting the demon on the ground. The stake is fifteen feet to her right. Nina has her back to Buffy. Seizing the moment – and her destiny – Buffy takes three steps towards Nina, jumps up, spins round and pounds her in the back with a leaping right roundhouse kick. Caught by surprise, Nina falls forward and tumbles to the ground eight feet away. Buffy looks at the two faceless mini-men three who are feet in front of her, standing on the other side of the log. They back away, as if bowing to the inevitable.
Exposed above what is left of the log are the circular bottom of the handle, two inches in diameter and half-an-inch thick, with symbols carved on the bottom, as well as an inch of the handle below that. Buffy puts her right palm on the handle bottom and places her fingers around the other side. She pulls up. It doesn't budge. She pulls again. Nothing. She puts her left hand on top of her right and tugs with all her might. It won't move. Nina looks at her and laughs. "Your spirit is willing." She steps forward and lands a right hook to Buffy's face, putting her on her back. "But your flesh is weak." Nina casually grabs the handle with her right hand while still looking at Buffy. She wants to see the look on her face when she takes hold of Buffy's great hope of victory. Nina pulls it three inches further out without any trouble, exposing the rest of the handle. Then it stops. She shifts her right hand onto the handle and places her left hand on the handle bottom, pulling again with greater force. Nothing. Buffy stands up and chuckles right back at Nina.
"You were saying?" This is the first time Buffy has seen Nina look frustrated. But she forgot about the uber-vamp, who tosses her to the ground in the direction of Faith, who has been getting the worse of it from her uber-vamp. Buffy hits his face with a left kick and a right hook. The battered Faith adds a right hook of her own. Simultaneous left crosses from both Slayers knocks him down. Buffy pivots and kicks the other uber-vamp in the chest with a left reverse kick, following it up with a right kick to his chin. Nina glances to her right at the sickle sword. Its entire blade is exposed, and the Joiners have revealed the top inch of the handle. She wonders if that weapon's worth trying to pry loose when she notices Faith approaching. Nina lets go of the stake and throws a wild right hook. Faith ducks under it and does a forward somersault. Before Nina can react Faith gets to her feet, puts her right on the stake and pulls upward. It slips out as if it were stuck in butter. Nina gasps. The four-sided stake, two inches wide at its base, extends twelve inches upward to its point. The sides are covered in tiny hieroglyphics. Faith notices none of this as she confidently brandishes the weapon.
"Why so scared of a little piece of wood?," Faith taunts.
"No!," Nina spits out between her teeth right before she charges Faith. The Slayer stabs for her chest, and Nina immediately jumps back, afraid of the unknown. Faith looks at the stake and smiles.
"Damn, I'm good." She rushes Nina, who pedals back. Faith then glances to her right and sees Buffy having her hands full with the two uber-vamps. "Hey B! Catch!!" Buffy steps towards Faith, reaches out her right hand and grabs the stake. She turns and looks at her two opponents, a smile on her face.
"These things'll kill ya, right?," she asks them.
"Not very smart," Nina says as she walks towards Faith from behind. Faith hits her face with a left reverse kick and a right roundhouse kick. Nina trips over a stone and falls on her butt.
"Maybe it's ain't the stake. Maybe you just lost your edge." Faith rushes over to help Buffy take out the uber-vamps. Buffy lands a left kick to the stomach of the demon in front of her. He laughs. She tries a right roundhouse kick. He grabs her foot and throws her to the ground. Buffy gets up and tries to stake the charging vamp. She can't break through his extra-hard breast-bone. He grabs her right wrist, pulls the stake away from his chest and decks her with a right hook to her left cheek. Buffy can't remember the last time a single blow hurt her that much. She struggles to her feet, much slower than usual. He kicks her right hand with his right foot, knocking the stake to the ground. When she leans down to grab it, he hits her again in the left cheek. She falls to her knees. The other demon throws Faith fifteen feet backwards. She looks and sees the stake six feet to her left. Faith rolls over, grabs it with her right hand and gets up. The uber-vamp is choking Buffy with his left hand. Faith stabs the stake through his left forearm. He howls and backs away. The other vamp charges at Faith from her right. She sweeps out his legs, and the demon falls on his face. The turokh-han in front of her tries a right hook. Faith blocks it with her left arm and hits the vamp in the nose with two right jabs. She follows this up with a left uppercut to the chin, then stakes him through the heart. As he turns to dust, she reaches the stake behind her and dusts the other turokh-han without even looking. Faith turns around. She's nearly as stunned as Buffy.
Buffy tries to explain to herself what just happened. So the stake wasn't for her. Two Slayers, two weapons. She sees Nina trying in vain to lift the sickle out of its bronze base, and walks over. "It's just not your night, is it Nina?" Nina spins round and hits Buffy with the back of her right hand. It barely hurts. Buffy responds with a right hook that stuns Nina. Her strength has returned. She lands two left jabs to Nina's nose, then a right roundhouse kick that puts her on the ground. She watches helplessly as Buffy puts her right palm on the underside of the curved blade and pulls up. Buffy immediately grimaces. After two seconds, she cries out and lets go. The thing was sharpened on both sides. Buffy's right palm is cut deeply, and she grabs it with her left hand. As NIna stands up, Buffy tries to pull up the sickle with her left hand, but pulls back when this breaks the skin. Faith runs up to try her hand at it. Nina reaches over top of the sword and decks her with a left cross. She smirks and stares at Buffy as she puts her right hand under the blade, twists it ninety degrees counter-clockwise, grimaces, grunts and lifts. It slips out. Nina flips the weapon in the air and grabs onto the eight inch-long, two inch-wide cylindrical handle. The point is twelve inches above the top of the hilt. From NIna's point-of-view, the one inch-thick blade curves three inches to the right before curving back and extending one inch to the left of the handle at the point.
"So much for you being the powerful one," Nina says to Buffy, who is understandably devastated by her double failure. Nina leaps at her, swinging her sickle downward. Buffy backs up. She ducks under an attempt to behead her, and leans away from a back slash for her chest. Faith steps up and slashes Nina's right shoulder with one of the edges of her stake. It breaks the skin, and she bleeds blue blood. Faith's as delighted as Nina is horrified. She retreats away from the Slayers. Faith confidently pursues. Nina tries to slash her. Faith gets her stake on the underside of the blade, tying up the weapon and stymying Nina. After spinning their arms around twice, their weapons locked together, Faith breaks free and lands a back slash to Nina's right forearm. She gasps in pain as more blood trickles out. Faith can hurt her. Nina angrily swings for the Slayer's neck. Faith ducks and stabs Nina in the chest, straight through where her heart should be. She gasps, grabs the gaping wound with her left hand and backs up towards the edge of the cliff. The sight of her blood on Faith's weapon leaves Nina aghast.
"How's it feel?," Faith asks, biding her time before finishing her wounded opponent off.
"Not as bad as you'll feel when I stab you through the heart."
It's been an epic and bruising battle. But Spike thinks he's finally got the upper hand. He backs up the hill away from the turokh-han, who is nearly as hurt as Spike. When the uber-vamp charges, Spike bludgeons him with a rock in his right hand. He does it twice more, sending the demon to his knees. "They're called tools," Spike taunts as he sends a left foot into the uber-vamp's mouth, putting him on his back. "I guess you stupid gits haven't learned to use them yet." The turokh-han stands up and attacks. Spike sends the stone into the charging vamp's nose. The incredibly irritated uber-vamp responds with a left hook and right jab to Spike's face. Then a right hook kick to his ribs. "Bugger this," Spike declares, tossing the rock to the ground and growling at his opponent. He blocks a right hook with his left hand, landing two left hooks to the demon's face as they fight on a three foot-wide level terrace. The uber-vamp reaches his left arm up and rips out a piece of wooden root. "Using a stake. Like a common human. Bloody pathetic." The turokh-han throws a right hook Spike backs away from. He lunges forward and stabs the stake for Spike's heart. Spike grabs his opponent's left forearm and smashes his left hand twice into the side of the hill, forcing the stake loose. The uber-vamp throws a right cross. Spike ducks, shoves his opponent face-first into the steeply-rising ground, smashing his head three times into the rocks, then snaps the uber-vamp's neck. After proudly watching his mighty opponent turn to dust, Spike leans against the side of the hill and returns to his human face as he recovers from the hard-fought battle.
Nina smiles and moves forward, slashing diagonally, using her speed to keep Faith on the defensive. After five whiffs, her six slash makes a shallow cut across Faith's stomach as she moves out of the way an instant too late. Faith gasps. She has something of a phobia concerning stab wounds to the stomach, and imagines it's worse than it really is. Nina raises her sickle and prepares to bring it down on Faith's face. She puts up her stake to defend herself. But, while Nina was fixated on Faith, Buffy snuck behind her. Before Nina could swing her sword down, Buffy sticks her left hand through Nina's chest wound, giving the Titan a taste of her own visceral medicine.
"Not as much fun when you're on receiving end, is it?," she asks the mortified Nina, who looks down and sees Buffy's hand coming out of her front. Buffy grabs her chest with that hand and pulls Nina backwards and to the ground. Faith charges as Nina vaults to her feet. When she stabs for Nina's neck, Nina grabs her right arm and tosses Faith to her left. Buffy hits her face with a right hook. Then she nails her chest with a left roundhouse kick. She follows this with a right jab and a left uppercut. As Nina staggers back to within six feet of the edge, Buffy pounds her head with a leaping right roundhouse kick, sending her off the cliff. Nina manages to grab hold of the rock fifty feet from the ground, but elects not to climb back up. Instead, she pushes off, does a back flip, lands on the ground more than a hundred feet below the Slayers and vanishes into the darkness. Buffy catches her breath. Faith walks up her and puts her left arm around Buffy's shoulder, making Buffy a little uncomfortable.
"Looks like we got her number."
"Yeah. We."
"Hey, come on B. Ya know I couldn't-a done it without you." Spike climbs up to the top of the hill. He wonders where Nina is.
"Did I miss anything?"