Spike vows to stop Devlin. Buffy learns something awful. Elektra and her demon army go up against Gretchen and her Slayer army, then decides to make a flanking attack in Chicago, where the odds look better.
"Is it permanent," Spike asks Fred about his blindness.
"I dunno," she responds. He's lying on a table at the Wolfram & Hart lab. Angel and Lorne stand nearby while Fred washes out Spike's eyes with saline solution. "The ocular cells should regenerate. How fast is anyone's guess. But the damage isn't that deep."
"Why didn't you warn me," Spike asks Lorne. "What good is a seer if he can't help you keep seeing? Careful Spike. There's a nasty surprise in the bottle.' That's all it would've taken."
"I'm not that kind of seer."
"But you saw something. Something that made you run."
"You saw his future," Angel asks.
"I saw him on a funeral pyre, lying on a pile of burning Slayers."
"That can't be good," Fred points out.
"The good news is he doesn't have long. The bad news is he's taking a lot of important people with him."
"He's not that strong," Angel asserts. "What you're taking about is so far beyond his abilities - "
"Just because people die because of him doesn't mean he has to kill them personally. We're talking about a multiplier effect. The boy's a mogul, except his weekend gross is counted in blood. We're talking Harvey Weinstein, only not as demonic."
"In non-Hollywood-speak, please."
"Kids a producer, Angel-kins. Producers bring together talent. Think Tarantino and Travolta. Johnny's career's in the toilet. Then he meets Quentin, and big things started happening. Or getting Gus and Robin on Good Will Hunting.' It's all apart finding the right talent."
"I have plaint-clothes commandos at the airport. The police are looking for his car. And hell, even if he does escape, he'll run right into Buffy. I don't see the problem."
"Cuz you don't know Dev," Spike insists. "He can hit her and she can't hit back. Ow!"
"Sorry," Fred offers. "Maybe I'm just spreading the acid around. Course, trying the neutralize it on such tender tissue could make everything even worse."
"How does your science explain this, luv?"
"The priest's blessing seems to act as a catalyst, separating the hydrogen from the hydroxide, which releases energy and causes quite a sting. 'Specially when the unstable hydrogen reacts with the surrounding organic matter."
"I have to stop him."
"You can't even see," Angel points out.
"I know where he'll go. I can sense him. You said I could become roving good guy."
"You've always been free to leave. You've always been welcome to leave." Fred scowls.
"I need the jet. I need wut he's got."
"You want me to waste company resources on your little personal quest? We're already over budget for the quarter."
"Bloody tool. Wut happened to serving good?"
"The last time you went out on your own, you came back with your arms in a plastic bag. And how do you think the Slayers will treat you? Remember, you're a vampire."
"It seems to me that what Spike is pleading for is a chance for you to spend someone else's money to send him thousands of miles away," Wesley argues. "As for his safety, when was that a concern of yours?" Angel ponders this for a few seconds.
"I think I can have the jet ready in two hours. Hopefully you won't be blind by the time you land." Spike's glad to get his way, but doesn't approve of the reasoning used to get it.
"I think we've done everything we can to help him," Wes says to Fred, eager to get back home.
"How d'ya know where he'll be," Fred asks. "Ah mean, he could go anywhere."
"Not Devlin." Fred takes Spike's hand and helps him walk.
"I'll drive you to the airport."
"I'm sure we can find a driver," Wes counters, irked by the attention his girlfriend is lavishing upon poor blinded Spike.
"I'll need an allowance," Spike says to Angel before he departs. "And a car."
"Would you like a masseuse and a pilates instructor with that," he asks back sarcastically.
"Remember, it's not your money," Wes reminds Angel.
"How's five thousand?"
"Plus a car. And a hotel room." Spike hears Angel leave in disgust. "Hey! Buffy hears Dev got loose, and we'll both be in for it."
Unfortunately for Spike, Devlin was travelling by car, and was unsure where he was headed. Should he attack Cleveland again, or search for a new target? And how was he to link up again with Elektra? Seeking her out in Cleveland might be risky. He didn't see the point in going where the Slayers would expect an attack.
Elektra wasn't too worried. By Monday night, she had dozens of demons on her side. A pair of Slayers couldn't handle the crowd that was partying at a club she had ostentatiously commandeered. Dev would consider such recklessness foolish. But Leks was like Spike in that she liked it best when her back was against the wall and she had to escape by the skin of her teeth.
In that sense, Robin gave her exactly what she wanted. The fleeing humans quickly spread word of the demon infestation, and within an hour he was on the scene with six Slayers. "This has to be a trap," Wood argues. "They can't be this stupid."
"Yes they can," Gretchen counters. "Didn't Buffy teach you anything? If your so worried, we could just torch the place." Wood gasps at the antisocial suggestion.
"Because that could get all of us in some serious trouble. Didn't Buffy teach you anything?"
"Can we go in," a Slayer impatiently asks, eager to avenge Rona and Vi.
"Yeah. Time to slice and dice," another adds.
"They don't even have a single guard outside," Wood observes.
"I would surmise that recent circumstances have made them overconfident," Gretchen replies, referring to the Slayer fatalities in a way the girls would not catch. "Your town. Your call."
"Careful not to hurt any humans," he says.
"Does that mean we can go?"
"I guess." The girls smile and split into three pairs. One climbs the roof. One goes to the front door and one to the back. When the girls on the roof signal they are ready, Wood and Gretch load their weapons and nod to the girls at the front and the back. Everyone barges in unnoticed. The music is too loud and the crowd too rowdy. Leks is up in the balcony, dancing and singing to Nas's "If I Ruled The World," flirting with some new male arrivals who are desperate to get with the stunning Slayer killer. She's trying to talk up Kat to one of the guys in order to help her new friend. It doesn't take long for Leks to notice the screams from downstairs.
"Two Slayers." Then more come in through the roof near her.
"Four," Kat adds nervously. They here more screams downstairs.
"Six. Fuck!" The girls slash with their swords and axes, decimating the inebriated horde while easily kicking away any who try to counterattack. "Aww! He was hot," she whines as a Slayer on the balcony stakes one of those new male arrivals. As the Slayers close in, the vampires panic. Some, frozen with fear, barely put up a defense. Others leap over the railing, only to fall when they hit the ground, or knock over other demons on impact.
"What do we do," a panicked Kat asks.
"You got my back?"
"Sure. But right now they're in front." The Slayer are less than twenty feet away. Everything upstairs is too chaotic, so Leks must make a tactical retreat. As she scans the floor downstairs, she remembers what Dev told her about attacking the Watcher of a distracted Slayer, like he did in South Africa. She climbs up on the balcony and leaps off, doing a double flip before landing near Wood, who's battling a demon. Gretchen, who's already dusted one vamp, is reloading. She catches sight of the flying girl out of the corner of her eye.
"Robin," she screams. Leks turns and kicks the crossbow out of her hands as Gretchen squeezes the trigger. The arrow flies across the room and lands in the neck of a demon hiding behind an overturned table in the corner. Gretch pulls out a cross in her left hand. Elektra growls, kicks the cross away, gets behind Gretchen and puts her fangs to the left side of the woman's neck. Wood tries to stake Elektra in the back, but Kat leaps into him and pins Robin to the ground. He pushes her off him, but gets put in a full nelson by one of Kat's vampire friends.
"STOP," Elektra screams. The music has been off ever since the demon dj bolted with his records after the Slayers stormed in, so she can be heard. Two Slayers see Gretchen and Robin in trouble, and tell the other Slayers to cool it. A tense standoff ensues, as the Slayers worry about the demons jumping them from behind while they come to help their Watchers. "Now that I have your attention," Leks calmly continues, "Please leave, or the lady gets it." Gretchen looks ashamed at having been turned into a helpless hostage. "Ya know, for an older lady, you ain't bad," Leks adds, stroking Gretchen's hair with her right hand while pinning Gretchen's right arm behind her back. "And I don't even swing that way."
"And the black guy's pretty hot, too," Kat adds, rubbing Wood's bald head. He kicks her in the stomach.
"Don't make me get rough," the vampire holding Robin tells him.
"We'll leave when you leave - town," Robin replies defiantly.
"You first," Elektra childishly responds. "I believe I'm holding all the cards, on account of me holding your lady friend." She puts her right hand under Gretchen's blouse and tickles her stomach. "Ain't that right, honey?"
"Then why are all your peeps gettin' the hell out," a Slayer asks. Elektra looks around and realizes the demons have used the respite to high-tail it on out of there. This leaves her, Kat and the male vampire with six Slayers and no backup.
"You, you, you and you, out," Elektra commands, trying to maintain control. "Then I give her to you, he gives Principal Wood to you over there, and we walk out. Or else the two normals die."
"Then you die," a Slayer threatens.
"Then we all have something to gain by following my directions, don't we?"
"Go ahead," Robin softly orders. "We'll get her later." He knows Elektra is responsible for Rona's and Vi's deaths. He knows he's had several previous chances to kill her. It's infuriating to let her slip away yet again, in part because of his inability to defend himself. Four Slayers slowly exit through the front door. One of them punts a severed demon's head in Elektra's direction as a warning. She lets go of Gretchen, who turns around and stares Leks down, along with one Slayer. Elektra returns to her human face and smiles. "Funny how if a few things were different, I could be her, and she could be me," Leks muses to Gretchen, pointing out how she's just a teenage girl like the Slayers. Her ability to mimic innocence is unnerving to Gretchen. The male vampire pushes Wood towards the other Slayer, and they have a macho stand-down. Robin is sure that he could take this guy in a one-on-one fight, and the vampire is sure he could kill the Watcher.
"I thought you dudes were English," the vampire offers. "They got like an affirmative action program or something," he jokes. Leks laughs. That's the sort of smartass thing her brother would say. The three vampires back their way out the back door.
"This isn't even CLOSE to being over," Elektra, the last one to leave, vows. The pair of Slayers and Watchers remain inside for a few seconds, looking at the massive carnage they've wreaked after bursting in like a hurricane.
"I think we made our point," a Slayer boasts. She's sure the demons will turn tail and run after such a one-sided massacre. The four of them join the other Slayers outside. They hear tires screech as the demons try to drive away, using both sides of the road and running red lights to escape the fearsome Slayers.
"Punks," a Slayer adds.
"Now what," another asks.
"We go home. I'll call Rupert and see if he wants a follow-up attack," Gretchen reports. Robin's a little flustered to see her usurp his position as head Watcher on the Hellmouth so quickly.
"Real fucking brave," Elektra says to the three male vampires who made a premature exit. "I thought we had each others' backs. All I did was save your lives and kill the uber-Slayers. A little fucking gratitude isn't too much to ask for. At least one of you was brave." She embraces Kat and kisses her on the lips, surprising the vampire. "Great work in there, sweetie."
"No sweat," she responds, slowly and nervously disentangling herself from her hero Elektra. "I had help." She turns to the new vampire, cuts his right cheek with her left fang, licks the blood and puts her right hand on his butt. He smiles.
"There are rewards for bravery," Elektra tells the three male vampires who bolted.
"I blew it," Gretchen tells Robin once they're home and upstairs. The excited Slayers are downstairs watching television and sharing battle tales.
"The girls don't seem to see it that way."
"I let them escape."
"I wasn't much help either."
"Next time they fight alone."
"Sure. If that's what Rupert wants." Gretchen can tell he's mildly ticked.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing. I just don't like being overruled."
"Overruled?"
"If we headed straight to the Hellmouth, we could have finished them off. But you said come back here. So that's what they did."
"Why risk it? Who knows what they've got back there. I think we've learned not to walk into traps by now."
"What trap? They were completely disorganized! But I'm sure Rupert will see it your way."
"Excuse me?"
"I haven't seen him in months. You're much closer to him." This nearly makes Gretchen explode.
"You think I was put in charge because I'm sleeping with him?"
"I meant because you see him every day. But now that you mention it — did you say you were in charge?"
"I merely suggested we regroup before making out next move."
"And thereby give the demons a chance to escape." They hear a knock at the door.
"Is everything okay," Olivia asks. Wood opens the door.
"Yeah. We're just discussing strategy."
"We really kicked ass tonight."
"Yeah, we did."
"Are we going out again?"
"Maybe. We're gonna call Rupert and Buffy and see what they want. Go down and tell the others we'll be down in a bit." Olivia heads down the stairs. Gretchen and Robin feel like parents embarrassed by fighting in front of the children.
"I thought you said this town was ours," an angry demon asks back at the Hellmouth, where the locals are getting restless.
"Since when did I say there were only two Slayers in the world," she responds.
"You set us up!"
"Let's try to relax. Take a breath. Those of you that breathe."
"How come all you vamps are okay?" The vampires are huddled on a small mound near Elektra.
"We're not," one of them shouts. "We suffered too."
"You set us up!"
"How come the Slayers let you go?"
"You set us up!"
"People! And non-people," Leks shouts. "Let's calm down and assess the situation."
"Kill 'em all!"
"Yes. That's the spirit," she quips.
"The Slayers AND the vampires!" An unnerving number of demons cheer.
"Don't get speciesist. This is just what they want. We have to stick together."
"You vampires sure stick together!"
"I didn't force anyone to come here. We chose this fight because the Slayers left us with no choice. Fight or die."
"And WE seem to be the ones dying!"
"Listen up! To bring all these Slayers here, they had to take them from other places. Which means other towns are wide open. Chicago. Detroit. Philadelphia. We hit them, they spread out the Slayers, we defeat them one at a time. If we leave now, we can make it to Chicago before sunrise. We fight the Slayers when and where we want to. We force them to play our game. They have to defend the innocent. That's their weakness! Let's kill so many innocents, they won't know where to go!" The vampires and a few demons start cheering. Then others join in. Elektra smiles, relieved that she's still in control. For now.
"At least twenty demons. Maybe half a dozen vampires," Wood reports to Giles.
"Not bad for one minutes' work," Giles replies.
"She went straight for us," Gretchen reminds them.
"I'll say this: she knows when she's overmatched," Buffy says with a sigh. She's on speaker phone at her office. But her confident attitude conceals worry. What Elektra did reminds her of how she went for Dru when Spike attacked the vampire worshippers. It's unnerving to find a vampire who can be that smart.
"I don't know if we should go along next time."
"I'm sure Kelly can lead," Buffy responds.
"Is she in charge," Wood asks.
"Of the other Slayers," Giles responds.
"But of course you're in charge of her," Buffy jumps in. "It is your town." Buffy shared Wood's worry about Gretchen's expanding authority.
"We're all colleagues," Giles nervously offers. "We work by consensus."
"Then the consensus here is send them out for another sweep, see what they can pick up," Gretchen adds.
"Sounds productive," Giles responds.
"The quicker slayed the better," Buffy states before pressing the button to hang up. There's a knock at her door. "It's unlocked. Xander, what are you doing here so late?" It's half past four in Rome.
"What am I doing here," he asks rhetorically, commenting on her presence.
"Yes, what are you doing here?"
"I thought I should be available with sock puppets an Snoopy dances in case any of the Slayerettes had trouble sleeping."
"How are they?"
"Not a care in the world."
"They don't know?"
"They do. But they never met them. So it doesn't mean anything. They're still feeling all new and invincible."
"They were the last. Out of everyone, they were the last I thought - "
"Would be first."
"First? You thought there would be a first after the First?"
"It crossed my mind. Not everyone has your abilities. But they knew what they were getting into," he adds defensively. "You told them they could go home. I even offered to drive them in our magic bus."
"They were home."
"So they said."
"We're doing the right thing."
"You don't have to tell me. Hey, I'm still one hundred-percent on board."
"Of course. We all are. We are, right," she asks suspiciously.
"Giles has a look in his eye. Ever since yesterday. He's having trouble interacting with them. Like he's afraid of getting too close."
"I think I should tell you that Dawn called me."
"This late?"
"She's been doing research and, well, I don't know how to say this - "
"Glory's alive? The Master's back? Adam got a new power source and sewed Caleb back together?"
"Yeah. I wish it was something we've seen before."
"What then?"
"They made a video. The vampires made a video of Rona and Vi fighting . . . and dying." Now Buffy's alarmed. "It's all over the net. Vampires are going bananas. Not to mention all the human sickos who like watching a real live death in streaming video." It takes Buffy a few seconds to respond. Her gut reaction is that this is an affront to the honor of Slayers everywhere. She stands up and gazes out at the darkened courtyard.
"Do you know what Matilda remembers about being shot? Not the pain of a broken ankle and shattered kneecap. The laughter. Vampires were laughing. At Slayers. I can't allow that. These vampires will die, if I have to do it myself. They're gong to stop laughing, and start screaming."
Devlin, sleeping in the back seat of his car, is awakened by his cell phone. "Hello?"
"Did I wake you up," Harmony asks.
"I think so. Unless I'm already in Hell." He peers out his tinted window. "Nope. Nevada."
"Sidney's not answering. No one there is."
"I'd be shocked if they were," he responds with a wicked laugh, trying to enjoy the pain he's caused Harmony, since he has to practice at being evil once again.
"Are they out on a job?"
"Look, Harm, I wouldn't worry about them if I were you."
"Worried? Why should I be worried?"
"You should be celebrating."
"Okay, they were good, but not that good. Did they tell you what we did?"
"Enough of your little rabbit games, babe. The world's changing. Conquer or die. That's what's on every vampire's lips. Conquer or die." Devlin seemed far less cogent that usual.
"I'm just gonna let you get back to sleep."
"You do that, darling." He hangs up and disconnects his battery so he won't be disturbed again.
"To everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a season, turn, turn, turn. A time to kill, a time to mourn. A time for love, a time for hate. A time for peace, I swear it is too late."
"Cowards," Kelly says as she surveys the empty wastelands around the Hellmouth. "Nothing but fucking cowards."
"On the plus side, I guess this means we're really, really scary," Veronica offers. Katie rushes over from the warehouse.
"I think I found their headquarters. They left tons of stuff behind. Including a couple of cool cds," she says, clutching them in her hands. "It's okay to steal from demons, right?"
"Guys, you're not gonna believe this," Jessica enthuses, stepping out of the cave where the vampires held up before Dev and Leks saved them. "Come on!" She points her flashlight inside. Marlena decides to take a peak.
"Dude, I gotta get me one of those!" The Slayers hear her voice echo, and rush over. All except for Kelly, who fears a trap. Or a big box full of dynamite, like the one that nearly killed her back in Sunnydale. She waits nervously as they drag something out. Then she smiles.
"Is that a flame-thrower?"
"Uh-oh," Ken says in the back seat while Elektra drives. He's in between Jorge and Matt, while Ricky sits up front between Leks and Kat.
"What," Jorge asks.
"Nothing."
"You forget something," Matt wonders.
"It doesn't matter."
"Damn right it doesn't matter," Elektra declares. "Because you don't matter. None of you do. That's why you're in back." Ricky smiles while he and Kat rub each other's legs and she nibbles on his right ear. The three guys in back decide to kill this new hero when they get the chance.
"Without us, there's no tape," Jorge reminds Leks. "And without that video, you're nothing."
"I saved your lives. I own you. I own all of you. Except for Ricky."
"No, you can own me too. If that's all right with you, Kat?"
"Sure. Whatever Leks wants."
"Whatever Leks wants," Elektra says to herself. "That sounds like a good slogan." She puts her right hand in Ricky's pants, gets him pleasantly worked up, then removes it. "Don't look so disappointed." He puts his left hand on her right thigh. "Don't push it." He removes his hand. "Be grateful for what you can get."
"Oh, I'm grateful. I'm completely grateful."
"Don't grovel either."
"Enough with the dominatrix routine, Leks," Kat pleads, fearing that if Elektra toys with her boy, his affections will stray.
"Relax Katty. I won't be in the mood for any kink until the next Slayer's dead."
"I thought you said there weren't any Slayers in Chicago," Matt notes. "Isn't that why we're going?"
"I don't know if there are any. I just know they're aren't six. These supergirls don't grow on trees. Well, they do. But most of 'em haven't been picked yet, if you get my drift. So we can feel safe. Especially with a demon mob by our side."
"The demons seemed restless," Kat reminds Leks. "I don't know which girl they wanna kill more: a Slayer, or you."
"Demons don't kill their own kind."
"You do," Ken recalls all too well.
"I'm not a demon."
"Say what?"
"We're better than them. Least we can be." She looks into the back seat and pets Ricky's chest with her right hand. "There are rewards for bravery." He looks at her and smiles. Leks slaps his face, sending his head in Kat's direction. "Sorry Katty. He's all yours now."
The city was a lot cleaner than he remembered. The subway cars were graffiti-free, for crying out loud. Everyone looked so serious and businesslike and dull. Perhaps now that he was good he could appreciate the lower crime rate and higher quality of life. But no. Too much had changed. The old abandoned buildings he hung out in were now expensive lofts. His scene was long dead. It was enough to make a vampire well into his second century feel old. Even worse, there was no sign of Devlin. Or of any Slayers. But surely there had to be some of both in a city so large.
It isn't until late in the afternoon that Elektra found the local vampires in Chicago. All five of them. They hide in the sewers on the South Side near the lake. Conditions are swampy. Leks jokes about these vampires becoming amphibious. But it's not somewhere a Slayer would want to fight. To top it off, the neighborhood above ground is fairly violent, event without demons roaming the streets. "Never knew Chicago had a jungle," Leks quips as she stands in a foot of water. "Shouldn't there be like swamp demons here?"
"All the demons left," a vampire reports. "They're the first to run when things get tough."
"Don't we know it," Jorge responds.
"Demons don't care because first the Slayers come for the vampires, and they aren't vampires," Elektra notes. "But sooner or later the Slayers will come for them, and who will be left to protect them? It's fucking genocide. Like in Lord of the Rings.' We have to fight together if we want to survive. But don't worry. I got demons backing me up."
"Where are they," Matt asks.
"They're around here. They left with us."
"Yeah, but did they come here? Where are we meeting them?" Elektra thinks about this.
"Fuck!" Like her father, sometimes she overlooks the details. "No matter. When was the last time a demon killed a Slayer? That's our job. And we got enough to kill a duo. Hell, I can take one down just by myself."
"Oh yeah. When?"
"Saturday. You haven't seen the video? It's on the freaking net."
"We don't get broadband down here," he jokes.
"She did," Kat maintains. "We all saw it. 'Cept for Ricky, cause he's new."
"Well, well, well," a vampire says, stepping up to Leks. "You're tougher than you look."
"One of us has to be." The other local vampires note the diss with laughs at their leader.
"Lucky for you, I don't hit girls."
"Then you won't be no good against Slayers."
"I meant vampire girls."
"Ooh. Chivalry. How quaint. Hope you don't have a problem with a girl who likes it on top." She pushes him away. "Down boy. We'll save the celebrations for after." She backs away from their new allies. From there she ran straight back to their hotel for a shower.
"Somebody's gotta clean those boys up," she says to Kat and Ricky — who are fooling around on the bed — when she emerges in a bathrobe with a towel around her head. "And that smell! Why must our kind always live in squalor? Even when we're not on the lamb!" She takes off her robe. "Look at me and I gouge your eyes out," she tells Ricky. "Count your blessings. You don't see any other vampires with girls round here." She puts on her jeans and t-shirt. "I need to go shopping before the big fight. Wanna come?"
"Cool," replies Ricky.
"I was talkin' to Katty. I need you to keep an eye on the others. Make sure they don't bolt. Besides, it's not like we'll be doing any eating."
"Why not," Kat whines. Elektra smiles.
"Gawd, you're just like I used to be. Don't worry. You'll have all the blood you can drink drawing the Slayers into my trap."
"You're late, boy," Leks says to the leader of the Chicago vamps outside a downtown club. She's wearing tight black leather pants, red Italian boots, a blue tank top with silver glitter, and a red leather jacket.
"The name's Hector, girl."
"Good to know." She grabs him as he tries to walk to the door. "Uh-uh. You gotta keep watch."
"And miss the feast? Naw." She drags him by his ear and then slams his head into a light pole. "Hey! What's your problem? I haven't had a good meal in weeks."
"We all have a job to do." She puts her hands to his chest and pushes his back into the pole. "And if everything goes well, it'll be all-you-can-eat around here."
"Get your hands off me and I can have it now."
"What's the matter? You don't like my hands on you?" He pulls Leks close and tries to kiss her. "Na-ah. I wanna keep you hungry for that Slayer's blood. I hear it makes a man wild. All night and all through the day wild." She snaps her jaw like Dru.
"With you?"
"It better be." She lets go and laughs. "No keep an eye out. You wouldn't believe how many good massacres are ruined by lousy scouting." Elektra enters the club and snaps her fingers. Nine vampires line up behind the bar. She walks past them and snaps again. The go to work. Screaming and panic ensues. "This is so much more fun than a bat signal," she jokes after draining her first victim.
Ten minutes later, Elektra's wiping the bar with the face of her second victim and looking bored. She's already taken all the money out of the register and the victims' wallets, as well as a few credit cards. She learned this from Devlin, though Dru and Spike frowned on such conduct, since a vampire shouldn't pay for anything."What's taking them so long. Is eleven bodies not enough?" Ricky and Kat are going at it under a table. Elektra picks up the table and hurls it into the wall. "Places people! Fun and games are over. Unless you wanna be Slayer bait."
"Aw come on Leks," Kat replies as she gets up. "We was just lying in wait."
"Behind the bar with with the boys," she orders. "You four on the floor under those booths. On your stomachs, now! Excuse me. Is that a pool cue?"
"Thought I could hit 'em wit it."
"Or they could stake you. No wooden weapons morons! She breaks a few beer bottles and passes them out." Once everyone's concealed, Elektra walks around the tavern, looking over the corpses, which she's placed for maximum effect. On the white wall in back underneath the television set, she's written "I'm back" in blood. She loves the silent anticipation before a big fight. It's so full of possibilities. Hector rushes in. "By the phone," she says, pointing to the back. "Wait for him to move," she tells his four pals hidden under the booths. "Catch," she adds, tossing him the cue ball. Elektra hops onto a table and leaps into a hole she made in the ceiling. Rosario and Tiffany enter. They haven't seen anything this bad since their first week on the job, before they whipped the town into shape.
"Someone wants to send a message," Tiffany says.
"I'm back," Rosario adds, reading the blood on the wall. "Then show your face."
"I've seen enough." This reminds her too much of the violence she grew up around. Tiffany turns to leave. Rosario grabs her arm.
"They're still here." They look around. "Oye oye! Ven aqui!" She holds out her arms. Hector starts snapping his fingers. The Slayers walk towards the noise, though they can't see who's making it. A vampire under a table grabs Tiffany's left leg and pulls her down. Tiffany screams. "Tiff," Rosario yells, looking down and to her left at Tiff. Ricky, Kat, Ken, Matt and Jorge leap over the bar and attack her. She turns to her right, knocks Kat down with a straight left kick, Ricky with a right roundhouse kick, stakes Ken and throws Matt into the wall. Jorge backs away. Two vampires try to get on top of Tiffany while she's down, and the other two attack Rosario, who floors them both with a double flip kick. Tiff grips both vampires by their necks, keeping them from biting her, though one stabs her stomach with a broken beer bottle. Rosa steps forward and leans down to stake one vampire, but gets hit in the forehead by a cue ball thrown by Hector. He grabs a fire extinguisher and rushes forward, nailing Rosa twice in the face. She responds with a left jab and a right kick. The vampires on top of Tiff stand up, fearful of being staked in the back by Rosa. This allows Tiffany to stand up. Rosa does a left reverse kick to Matt from attacking from behind without even turning around. The goats from last night want to impress Elektra. Rosa throws a table at Ricky and Kat, who try attacking her from the right. Jorge holds back once again, not wanting to end up like Kenny. All the while, Elektra looks down and sizes up her opponents, waiting for the right moment.
The other vampires think that moment has long past. Tiffany climbs up on a table, fending off her four attackers. When one jumps up after her, she tackles him to the ground and stakes him, then flips over and stakes a vampire who tries to get on top of her. Rosario gets hit in the back with a chair courtesy of Jorge, but she resourcefully picks up a broken chair leg and tosses at Matt, dusting him and convincing Kat and Ricky to back off. Tiffany prepares to finish off her two remaining opponents while Hector goes after Rosario once again. They trade punches before she kicks him to the ground. When she steps forward and prepares to slay him. Elektra comes down out of the ceiling, landing behind her. The Slayer turns around just in time to be hit in the face by a right hook kick. "Remember me," she asks. A few weeks earlier, Leks had fought both of them to a standstill while her friend Regan stabbed Rosa in the stomach.
Rosario kicks Hector in the chest with her right foot and focuses on Elektra. Leks blocks two of her kicks, and Rosa ducks one of hers. After Leks ducks a left cross, Hector grabs Rosario from behind and bites the left side of her neck. She cries out in pain. Tiffany turns to help, but is attacked by Kat, Ricky and Jorge. Surrounded by five opponents, she is unable to get involved. Elektra enjoys the sight of a Slayer getting bitten. But after three terrifying seconds, Rosario hits Hector's face with the back of her head and throws him down in front of her. Leks leaps over Hector and sends Rosario into the pool table with a midair right kick. "Tiff," she yells. Tiffany jumps up to join her.
"Are you hurt?"
"What?" Rosario's still in shock. Five vampires surround them. Tiffany leaps at one isolated vampire while Kat and Ricky climb on the table to attack Rosario. They are both sent flying. Meanwhile, Tiffany knocks her opponent onto a booth table and stakes him before his friend can come to his aid. Rosario then leaps off the table, joins Tiffany, and they make a run for the door. Elektra and Hector try to cut them off. Tiffany, who has several inches on Leks. blocks a right hook kick and sends her down with a swift and powerful left cross. Hector gets kicked in the groin by the Slayer he bit and put on his back by a right uppercut. The Slayers flee as Elektra stands up.
"Come on," she yells to the other five vampires, who feel defeated after losing half their manpower. "She's weak! We can finish them off!" Hector, emboldened by the Slayer blood, takes up Elektra's challenge and joins her in pursuit.
NEXT: Elektra starts to seriously worry Giles. Spike arrives in New York ahead of Devlin and goes to work. Wood gets to try out the flame thrower against the Hellmouth demons, who appear to be on the run. Meanwhile, Devlin arrives in New York City and prepares to outsmart Spike, while Dru sends Elektra in search of her brother. Also, Angel tries to contact the devastated Debbie while Harmony learns the fate of her new friends.