A/N: Wow! Chapter six received a hell of a lot reviews!! I love you guys!!! Mwah!!! Here's another chap for you! ENJOY!!!s

Chapter Seven: Fight

Max watched in both fear and fascination as the Familiar's voices rose to a higher volume, which was a tad bit deafening for her enhanced hearing abilities. Gabrielle had moved away from the center, and was now sprinkling their blood onto the metallic disc. Her vision zeroed in onto the 'Mouth of Hell.' It was starting to move in a counterclockwise direction, and the small circle in the middle clinked open.

The member of the Breeding Cult stopped chanting to observe the strange occurrence that was taking place right before their very eyes. A jet of bright light flashed from within, and the robed figures staggered backwards. However, Gabrielle stood her ground. A malicious smile forming on her ugly tattooed face.

There was a loud explosion, followed by another flash of blinding light. Max turned her head away, squeezing her eyelids shut. The basement was suddenly swathed in a fiery warmth. Her eyes snapped open when the ground started to vibrate. It wasn't an earthquake-kind of shaking. More of a vibrating rumble.

She surveyed the scene in front of her. The rest of the Familiars had retreated to the back alongside the Bringers, their hoods falling from their heads revealing thug-like faces. Gabrielle had fallen to her knees in front of the Hellmouth, muttering rapidly under her breath. A misty sort of fog was rising from the now open circle. Max's curiosity on where it was coming from was growing steadily. Did that opening really lead to Hell? And what was inside Hell?

Her question was soon answered when several figures emerged from the opening. This time, Gabrielle's face was not of utter satisfaction but of utter terror. The creatures had grayish scaly skin, pointed yellow fangs, razor-sharp claws, elf-like ears, and blood-red eyes. To sum it all up. They were extremely ugly. And from the looks of it, extremely dangerous.

"Oh shit," Faith swore. "Uber-vamps!"

They stood there for a moment, glancing around with narrowed eyes. The biggest one of them, leered at Gabrielle, and lunged at her. The priestess staggered to her feet, desperate for escape. It was a futile attempt. The demon pounced on her and clawed at her ferociously. Blood spurted everywhere. The Familiars, seeing the downfall of their leader, exchanged looks of fear before running for the exit. The monsters raced after them, leaving only a few to stare at the prisoners. Max, Buffy and Faith.

Dawn stared at the back of Spike's head (his bleached-blonde head to be exact) as they skirted through the silent corridor with a sense of ease and calmness. Whenever she was around Spike, she felt safe – protected, the way she felt around Buffy. In a way, she considered Spike as the older brother she never had. Whenever Buffy wasn't around, he was there as the 'proxy sibling', and he never failed to look after her when danger lurked around the corner.

It was kind of funny. The Big Bad turned Big Brother.

The group neared the basement entrance, and pretty soon, they were descending the short staircase. Flashlights clicked on, and the beams of pale light shone through the dark hallway. It was then that the ground started to pulsate.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Spike blurted out startled.

"The signal that means we're late for the party," Alec said, with a grim smile.

"Fashionably late is good though, right?" Willow asked feebly.

Alarmed gasps echoed through the room when the doors slammed open and Familiars scurried out, a number of uber-vamps chasing after them. That, was when the real party started.

The vampires advanced towards them, three towards Buffy and Faith, and two towards Max. They were moving slowly, as if relishing the sight of their helpless victims. Buffy glowered at them, and tugged pointlessly at her chains.

"Damn it, you fucking uber-vamps!" Faith yelled at the top of her lungs. "Forget about what I said about not caring if I live or die. I. Don't. Wanna. Die." She then let out a string of swear words. Buffy was mildly impressed by her wide vocabulary. An impatient shout coming from Max, distracted Buffy from Faith's wails.

"It's about time you got here!" the dark-haired transgenic yelled. Everyone's attention (big bad vamps included) whipped towards the entrance way, where three very familiar people emerged. Spike and Robin immediately launched onto the vampires who had earned their attention, while Alec worked his lock-picking skills on their chains, starting with Max's.

"You're knight in shining armor to the rescue, milady." Alec joked, as Max's hands and feet finally came free, and she too joined the fight. Alec set on freeing the two Chosen Ones. Buffy watched from her place, as the monstrous creatures fought with unwavering strength. Spike's face had contorted to its vampiric façade, which meant that he was beyond pissed. Of course, this didn't faze the uber-vamps.

"Thank you," Buffy said as she, after Faith, was finally released, before pulling out her dagger, which was strapped on her leg beneath her jeans. She then proceeded to stab the nearest monster. From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a few of the creatures falling dead on the ground, courtesy of her friends. One after the other, the uber-vamps fell, and soon, there were none left.

The light coming from the Hellmouth darkened, and the ground stopped quaking.

"Whew," Faith said, running a hand threw her hair. "Glad that's over."

"I'm afraid, that it has only begun."

Buffy turned around towards the voice and saw that Giles had entered the room. Behind him were the Potential slayers. Buffy exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw Dawn standing beside Andrew. She almost thought she had lost her...and with a deep breath, she summoned the courage to ask. "Did we lose anyone?"

The room was filled with sudden silence. And many of the Potentials looked down. Buffy's heart contracted, as no body refused to meet her gaze. It was Andrew. "Ye-yeah. T-two. And Xander had his eye poked into a bloody pulp."

Buffy nodded. She had to face the facts:

This was war.

And there would always be casualties in war.