"Do all these demons live in Cleveland?," Spike asks Angel.
"A lot of them move around but maintain a residence here."
"And by residence, you mean a hole in the ground?"
"A hole in the ground with an address. You can't register without one. But they did bend the rules to let them all vote at the same precinct. That way, they wouldn't scare the humans and freak out the local elementary schools."
"Or eat any of the kiddies while waiting online." Spike starts laughing.
"This is serious business. We're about to face Slayers who will probably try to kill us."
"Because we're escorting demons to a bloody polling place." He laughs some more.
"Four more years of George W. Bush is nothing to laugh about."
"You are such a bleeding heart. Let me guess: you worship the Kennedys. Of course you do: you're Irish!"
"I never worshipped any of them," Angel responds defensively. "Bobby I admired. Jack I had great respect for. Teddy I have some problems with."
"Really? Teddy used to be my favorite. Got away with killing a girl. Knows how to knock a few back and have a good time."
"We're getting close. Keep an eye out for trouble."
"We're marching with seven hundred demons. Trouble is all around us. Oh, you meant keep an eye out for the good guys who want to kill us."
"Misguided good guys we have to set straight." They are within one hundred yards of the door. "I don't see anyone. They must be planning an ambush." Angel checks the rooftops to both sides.
"Connor?," Wood asks as they both look down. "Connor, is something wrong?"
"No," he replies unconvincingly. "Just a lotta demons." What was his father doing here on the side of evil? And why was he chatting casually with an evil Slayer killer? "Tell them don't shoot."
"Why not? We're horribly outnumbered as it is."
"If they fire, the demons could stampede."
"You're right. Given their numbers, better to cut off the head of the column and hope the rest run away." He takes out his cell phone and relays the message to the three crossbow-wielding Slayers who lie on the roof of the polling place. Connor and Wood at to their left and in front of them. The real reason Connor wants them to hold their fire is he's afraid they'll kill Angel.
"Aw nuts," Felicia says, when she gets the warning. "I had a perfect shot at that vampire who looks like Spike." Dana appears just as confused as Connor.
"It's him. With hands. And arms. To hurt me."
"A couple hundred hands and arms," Emma jokes. "So that's what Spike looked like? Interesting."
"He's even got the coat," Felicia adds. "What a copycat." Angel walks over to the line of demons.
"Don't engage the enemy. Avoid them. We'll keep them busy." When they are just thirty feet from the front door, Emma, Felicia and Dana drop down from the roof. Dana lands in front of Spike, while the other two land in front of Angel, who is to Spike's right. The demons are to Angel's right. Spike immediately stops when he sees Dana.
"You've definitely cleaned yourself up. You look good," he nervously says, trying to keep it light. She glares at him.
"Time to cut until you're dust."
"Oh, bloody hell." She charges Spike and knocks him down with a flying right kick to the chest. Spike quickly gets up and blocks two punches. "Do me a favor, pet. No needles this time?" She hits his face with a left roundhouse kick. "Well how about that. You've improved your technique. He lands a left jab. She blocks his right hook. He ducks her right hook and lands a right cross. Dana grimaces.
"You have hands."
"The better to hit you with, my dear." Spike connects with a left uppercut to her stomach and a right jab and right hook to her mouth and cheek. "All that work for nothing."
The demons rush past Emma and Felicia as Angel charges them, hits Emma with a right cross and spins around to nail Felicia with a left hook. "Hello ladies," he says, with Felicia in front of him and Emma behind. "What we have here is a little misunderstanding." Emma takes out her stake and goes for his back. Angel reaches out his right arm, grabs the stake, ducks Felicia's right hook kick, throws Emma into a wall and sweeps Felicia's left leg. "You girls are telegraphing your moves. Classic rookie mistake." Angel ducks Emma's right hook and puts his back to the wall. "A much bigger mistake would be killing me. Buffy would be very upset if that happened." Emma is aghast that a lowly vampire would invoke the Great B. Felicia finds it a little desperate.
"Already begging for your life?," she asks.
"Hardly." Angel repels Emma's attack, then Felicia's.
"So who are you, Mister Namedropper?"
"I'm Angel."
"Doesn't ring a bell," Emma answers before kicking a disappointed Angel in the chest.
"Wait a second. I've heard of you," Felicia announces. Angel smiles. "You're the other vampire with a soul." Angel is understandably outraged.
"Hey, I was the first!"
"And then you went evil."
"Yes. Twice. But not now."
"Which explains why you're running with a horde of demons," Emma adds.
"I can explain."
"Save it." They resume their attacks. While all this was transpiring, Connor leaped off a rooftop and charged the demons from the right. They immediately opened ranks, creating a ten foot-wide gap for Bezerker Boy to run through. When this gap opens, it reveals to Connor Dana fighting Spike. And she's not doing well. Dana was spooked to see a healthy William the Bloody with all his parts. Plus, she's already mentally experienced him killing her twice, which does not help morale. Connor sees the dastardly blonde vampire strike his beloved with right and left fists, hooks and jabs and uppercuts. When Dana tries a right hook, Spike grabs her arms and hurls her through the air.
"Not as easy the second time around," Spike boasts. "Tell you what: how bout we call the whole thing off? No hard feelings, love." Connor comes at Spike from his right, leaping through the air, leaning forward like a missile, and striking with a left cross. Having been completely blind-sided, Spike tumbles down.
"I got a better idea," Connor says. Spike looks up at him.
"Hey. Haven't we met?" Spike's sure he's seen this face before. Now Connor remembers.
"You were the Leather Lady's gimp." Spike shoots to his feet.
"I beg your bloody pardon!"
"And what's with looking like Spike?"
"I AM Spike."
"He is Spike," Dana concurs.
"What? How?" Connor looks at his girlfriend. "Who cares? Let's kill him." The duo goes to work, quickly putting Spike on the defensive, then putting him on the ground. "Show me the face you used to kill Rob's mother. Show me!"
As Wood rushed down a ladder from the roof, he imagined a scene of immense chaos. Instead, when he reached the ground, he found a long line of demons filing into the building in an orderly fashion. They weren't attacking voters. They were voting. Which raised all sorts of questions. Questions about these demons, questions about the electoral system, and questions about Connor. He had to get to his Slayers before they started indiscriminately killing both malicious and benign demons alike, which would make it very difficult for the Council to operate in the Hellmouth. But hundreds of said demons were between him and said Slayers, creating an additional problem. After all, Wood was the one who set mobs upon many of these demons that morning. He hides his face and rushes around the back of the building. When he returns to the front, Emma and Felicia have steadied themselves and made use of their numerical advantage to finally gain the upper hand against Angel. "Stop! Emma, Felicia, stop!" They obey.
"Finally someone sensible," Angel exclaims with relief. He didn't enjoy either getting hit by or hitting these Slayers. Dana tries to stake Spike. He grabs her arm and kicks her away. Connor lands two right hooks and goes for the kill. Spike grabs Connor's left arm, spins him around, holds Connor from behind, and leans his head down as if he's about to bite the lad.
"Dana, stop! Connor, stop!"
"Connor?," Angel asks, seeing his son about to be bit by Spike.
"Back away or the boy dies," Spike threatens.
"You idiot!," Wood yells. "She already backed away. Wait a second. No. It can't be. You're not - "
"Wood?," Spike asks, pushing Connor away and returning to his human face. Spike begins to suspect that Angel has led him into a trap. To him, it looks as if it's six against one.
"Connor, you have a lot of explaining to do," Robin says.
"Me!?," Connor yells, feigning innocence. "What did I do?"