This story begins where "Straight Outta Quor Toth" ended. Willow comes to Los Angeles to restore Angel's soul. But first she has to deal with Cordelia. Meanwhile, Connor, Faith, Lindsey, Wes, Gunn and Fred have to contend with Angelus, Drusilla and a dozen other vamps if they want to retake the Hyperion. And they have to hope Willow gives Angel his soul back before Angelus kills them all. Kelly, a demon fighting mercenary I invented in my previous story, returns to help the good guys. Meanwhile. Gwen makes a surprise visit to Buffy's house, where she causes quite a stir.

After Angel returns, he tries to repair the damage caused by the traumatic events of the previous year. He bonds with Connor and tries to help Cordelia come to terms with what happened to her. The Gang tries to find out how and why Cordy became so powerful and so evil. But soon enough Angel has to contend with a dangerous new baddie is far too powerful for Angel to handle by himself. Wolfram & Hart does their usual meddling, while The Powers That Be have a most unexpected surprise for Angel.

When Angel returns, Faith heads off to Sunnydale just in time to help Buffy battle The First's two most powerful weapons. I've jettisoned Caleb and created two villains of my own, one male, one female, and neither of them like anything Buffy's faced before. There will be some crossover elements, as Buffy's and Angel's worlds bleed into each other and eventually merge.

Warning: Strong violence and some sexual content.

Enjoy. As always, your comments — whether positive or negative — are greatly desired.

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In this chapter Willow arrives in Los Angeles and begins her battle with Cordelia while Connor, Faith, Lindsey and the rest of the gang fight Angelus and his vampires.

Lindsey stands outside the hotel on Saturday morning, waiting for Willow. He picks up his cell phone to make a call. Buffy rolls out of bed and answers the ringing phone. She's bleary-eyed and woozy.

BUFFY: Hello.

LINDSEY: Hey Buffy. It's Lindsey. Sorry to call so early.

BUFFY: Who?

LINDSEY: Lindsey MacDonald. You saw me at the Bronze the other night.

BUFFY: Oh. Lindsey. Of course. How are things?

LINDSEY: I should have thought of this earlier. But I guess it's one of those better-late-than-never sort of things.

BUFFY: What is?

LINDSEY: Last week, Angelus killed two soldiers. They have friends who've vowed to make him pay. They're pros, so if they want to kill him, it's only a matter of time. Angel can't sweep the rooftop of every building he walks by for snipers with crossbows. However, the military does not take kindly to current and former soldiers engaging in vigilante headhunting in densely populated American cities. This is why I'm calling. I remember you said that you know Captain Riley Finn. I think if you put a call in to him, he might do you a favor and put the kibosh on any prospective lynch mob. I don't know if Finn knows Angel, but if he does I'm sure he doesn't like him and wouldn't want to do him any favors. But I'm betting he might be willing to help you out. Am I barking up the right tree?

BUFFY: Actually, yeah, you are. But why are helping Angel? I vaguely remember you saying Angel was your arch-nemesis and cut off a part of your body. Is this some sort of restitution, or are you trying put him in your debt?

LINDSEY: Angel never finds out about this. As for my motivation, let's just say I think Angel's life is worth my making a two-minute phone call. Just imagine how rotten a person I'd have to be to sit back and do nothing.

BUFFY: That would be one way of looking at it. You really like to play up the downplaying.

LINDSEY: I trust this was worth waking you up for.

BUFFY: Again with the understatement. Thanks for calling and telling me this. That was very thoughtful of you.

LINDSEY: Just thought I'd tell you in case I died later today. Cause then Angel would really be screwed.

BUFFY: I'm hoping both of you make it out alive. Well, in his case, you know what I mean. Good luck. And thanks for calling.

First Buffy asks Riley to save Spike's life. Now she's going to ask him to save Angel's life.

GUNN: Anyone find out why the cops are downstairs?

WES: There were several murders here last night. Five people were slaughtered in their room on the 19th floor.

FRED: That's right below us.

GUNN: Is this Angelus's idea of a taunt?

WES: It fits with his methods, though he seldom was this bold in the past. Hopefully they'll be the last people he ever kills.

FRED: Willow willing.

A few minutes later, Willow enters the suite with Lindsey. Inside are Wes, Gunn, Fred and Lorne. Willow wears black jeans and the black sleeveless top with sparkles that she wore when she went to the Bronze with Amy.

WILLOW: Wow. I thought only the bad guys had digs this nice. Fred! Great to see you. [they hug] I really liked that Hattusan scroll text you sent me.

FRED: Did it help?

WILLOW: You were right. There was a connection to the inscriptions on the Carian amphorae. And that line about the priestesses of Shawushka!

They both laugh. Everyone else looks at them funny.

FRED: You had to be there, I guess.

WES: You mean the one about Queen Puduhepa?

FRED: Do you know a Shawushka story that's NOT about Queen Puduhepa?

Willow, Wes and Fred laugh.

WILLOW: Well, well Wesley. You've sure gotten . . . stubbly-er. Looks like Kelly wasn't exaggerating.

WES: When did Kelly go to Sunnydale? And what exactly did she say about me?

WILLOW: Night before last. Positive stuff. About all of you. She helped out with the slayage. Tried to kill Spike. Though the latter was not part of the former. The Potentials loved her. They were pretty taken with the wacky notion of people getting paid to fight demons. Where are Faith and Connor?

LINDSEY: Faith went down to fetch him from the breakfast buffet.

WILLOW: How the little guy been since he came back?

FRED: Changed.

GUNN: And really nice.

FRED: Eerily nice.

LORNE: When I see him, I know longer think "walking time bomb." Give that Dawn girl my heartfelt thanks for Connor's personality transplant. It's like Cupid put away his bow and shot that kiddo with a bazooka.

WILLOW: That's pretty much how he looked the morning after they first slept together. Connor's reverse cursed. Perfect Happiness makes him good.

WES: Wouldn't that be ironic.

WILLOW: But happy ironic, as opposed to tragic ironic. Unless, maybe, you're looking at it from Angel's point-of-view. But, then again, don't all parents want their children's lives to be better than their own?

LORNE: Not where I come from.

WES: Yes, that does sound like a very alien notion to me as well.

Faith and Connor enter.

FAITH: Willow. Been a while.

WILLOW: Sure has. You've become good, and I became evil but then became good again.

CONNOR: Everyone does that in Sunnydale.

WILLOW: In some cases entirely within the last week. Good to see you again.

CONNOR: So you're the one who knows how to do magic without screwing it up?

WILLOW: I hope so. I mean, I hope not to screw it up.

Gwen enters. She's wearing her usual tight red pants, red midriff-baring top and long red gloves. She walks by Willow.

WILLOW: Speaking of scr –

GWEN: Cordy's place is trashed. The Elois are drowned. Looks like she's moved out for good. At Angelus's the vamps aren't assembled yet. You must be Willow. I'm Gwen.

Willow looks Gwen over.

WILLOW: And you're . . . shiny. The gloves are an interesting touch.

GWEN: More necessary than interesting.

FRED: Gwen emits large doses of electricity on contact.

GWEN: Anyone who touches my skin dies.

WILLOW: That can't be very much fun.

GWEN: Yeah, well, we all have problems. [She looks at Faith, Willow and Fred] I'm gonna split before this turns into an episode of Angel's Angels. Had my fill of fights to the death this past week. Plus, I gotta be in Malta tomorrow morning and it's, like, already tonight there now. Good luck. Tell Angel I'll stop by when I get back.

Gwen walks to the door. Connor glances at her and smiles. Willow has an idea.

WILLOW: Wait a second.

Gwen turns around and looks at Willow. Willow puts her right hand on Gwen's left cheek. She slowly moves it down her face, her neck, her left shoulder, then down Gwen's left arm. Willow gets her right pinky and ring fingers under the glove, and pushes it down Gwen's arm as Willow's right hand slowly descends towards Gwen's left hand. The glove falls to the floor. Willow holds Gwen's hand for a second or two, then pulls her hand away. Their fingertips touch as Willow lets go. Gwen stands there in stunned, breathless silence for a few seconds.

GWEN: How . . . how did you do that?

WILLOW: [smiling] Magic. Too bad for you I have a girlfriend.

As Gwen puts her left glove back on, she becomes acutely self-conscious and begins the hyperventilate just a little.

GWEN: Yeah – and, too bad for you I don't go for that kinda thing, anyway.

The men look on, their jaws dropped, their mouths wide open.

LORNE: Anyone else need a cold shower?

Angelus stands with a pointer in front of easels displaying his rather accurate color illustrations of Connor, Faith and Willow. Dru stands to his right. The twelve other vampires are seated in front of Angelus. He addresses them.

ANGELUS: Connor you don't bite and you certainly don't kill. You're welcome to kill Faith, but don't put your life at risk trying to do it. Willow you kill at all costs. As for the others – he places smaller illustrations of Wes, Gunn, Fred and Lindsey at the bottoms of the other pictures – they're the easy ones. Kill them first, kill them quick, don't hold back. We get rid of these four, the three with the power don't stand a chance. Fourteen of us, seven of them, plus Cordy. Willow kills Cordy. [the vampires smile, especially Drusilla. Angelus doesn't. He wants to get rid of Cordy for business, not personal, reasons.] Willow then has to do her hocus pocus thing. That will take her longer than expected. [the vampires laugh] Fourteen against six. Kill the powerless quartet. Any one of us can probably take out one of them. Any two of us can DEFINITELY take out one of those four. That leaves six against the power duo. Three against one. They can hold out. But soon the other four are dead. Now it's all of us against the two of them. Seven against one. They can hold out – for maybe a minute or two! [more laughter] Then all that's left is to take out Willow, and we're free. The rest of humanity will be sheep for us to slaughter at whim. And all it takes to make that dream a reality is for us to vanquish these seven people. Never will so few do so little to earn so much. Ladies and gentleman, warriors and killers, are you with me?

The twelve vampires stand up and cheer. Angleus calmly walks out of the room as the pep rally continues. Drusilla follows him out. They walk down the hall.

ANGELUS: The men are fodder, but they'll put a good fight before they go. I'm hoping at least one, maybe two of my sirens make it through. Thing is, it's a battle of attrition, and we got more bodies.

DRU: She is approaching. [smiles and her eyes light up] So much darkness. Loik an angry cloudy ready to burst forth its wrath. She will serve you well.

Willow stands on the street in front of the Hyperion. Wesley, Fred, Gunn and Lorne stand 15 feet behind her. Cordelia stands in the center of the lobby, prepared for the imminent fight. Thought the two adversaries cannot see each other, they can definitely feel each other's presence.

WILLOW: Minerva, here my call. Yanus, guardian of the threshold, I call on thee to work my will.

Streaks of blue light swirl around Willow, causing Wes, Fred, Gunn and Lorne to back up. Meanwhile, a helicopter approaches the roof of the hotel. When it is 30 feet above the roof, Connor leaps out, does a forward flip and lands on his feet.

FAITH: Show-off.

Faith jumps out from 20 feet up. Lindsey waits until the chopper is a few feet off the roof before he steps out. The helicopter quickly pulls up and departs. Faith breaks a lock and opens the door to the stairway that leads down into the building. The three of them quickly scamper down to the fifth floor. Faith kicks open a door and they enter one of the hotel rooms. Lindsey pulls up the shades on the room's four windows. Sunlight floods into the room.

LINDSEY: They put up their barrier. We put up ours. Think ours will last longer.

FAITH: I love when you scheme.

She puts her hands on Lindsey's chest and they smile at each other.

LINDSEY: This was your idea.

FAITH: Then I love it when I scheme. But the chopper was your idea.

LINDSEY: Guess it's best when we scheme together.

Connor groans.

CONNOR: Will you two get a room?

LINDSEY: We just did.

CONNOR: Save it for later.

FAITH: What, you and Dawny never got friendly in front of others?

Just then, the floor shakes. Outside, the air grows stormy as Willow strains to take down Cordy's barrier. Willow is getting frustrated. She tried the Latin incantations. Then the Greek. Nothing. She even threw in some Sanskrit. But Willow still can't find the combination. The entrance of Faith, Connor and Lindsey had not gone unnoticed. Angelus went up to the fifth floor to find them. He took along Lars, Lewis and Lex. They soon heard breathing and found the room. Angelus stands to the left of the door with his back to the wall. Lars, Lewis and Lex stand on the opposite side of the hallway, to the right of the door and facing it. Angelus reaches out his left hand and opens the door. Sunlight shines out into the hallway, but the vampires are far enough to the side that it doesn't hit them.

ANGELUS: You're welcome to stay in there as long as you want.

Angelus tosses a tear gas canister into the room, then shuts the door. The gas makes it hard for Faith, Connor and Lindsey to breath. Their irritated eyes redden and tear up. Lindsey and Faith smash the windows so they can get fresh air. The three of them stick their heads outside and are able to breathe. Connor picks the canister up and tosses it down to the street. Angelus can hear the metal strike the pavement.

ANGELUS: Care for another?

Angelus reaches into his pocket and takes a hand grenade he got from one of the soldiers he killed. He pulls the pin, opens to door, tosses the grenade inside, then closes the door. He moves to the other side of the hallway and waits. He looks at Lars.

ANGELUS: Something tells me they won't pick this one up.

When Lindsey and Faith see the grenade, they are terrified. Connor doesn't know what it is, but he can sense it's something bad.

FAITH: Get out!

Connor runs through the wall into the hallway. Faith follows, going through the hole Connor made. Lindsey jumps over the bed and lies on the floor between the bed and the wall. As Faith enters the hallway, the grenade explodes, destroying much of the room and hurling debris out the shattered windows. The force of the blast knocks Faith down. The vampires, who had been standing well to the side, walk towards Connor and Faith.

FAITH: Lindsey! Where's Lindsey?

ANGELUS: He always did have slow reflexes.

FAITH: No!

Faith looks devastated.

ANGELUS: Right now, if I were you, I'd be looking out for number one.

Lars and Lewis grab Faith's arms and toss her twenty feet to the north, away from the rays of sunlight shining into the hallway through the hole Connor made. Connor faces eastwards, towards the wrecked room. Lex approaches from the right and Angelus from the left.

ANGELUS: He's my son. Go easy on him.

Connor throws a right hook, but the force field is still in effect. He can't touch the vampirse. Lex lands a right uppercut to Connor's stomach and a left hook to his ribs. He head butts Connor in the nose. Connor falls on his back.

ANGELUS: But not too easy. Wouldn't wanna let my boy go soft.

Lex kicks Connor twice, causing him to roll over on his stomach. Then he stomps on Connor's back. Angelus walks over and picks Connor up. He shoves Connor against the wall, looks his son in the face and smiles.

ANGELUS: I'm glad you're home.

Connor gets his arms free from Angelus's grip and throws a left uppercut. It doesn't connect.

ANGELUS: Willow always comes through when it's too late.

He hits Connor's face with left and right punches.

ANGELUS: But if you're going to live under my roof . . .

Angelus lands a right uppercut to the chin, a left jab to the right eye and a right hook to the ribs.

ANGELUS: . . . you have to live by my rules.

He steps back and kicks Connor twice in the stomach with his right foot. He follow this up with two left jabs to the nose, a right hook to the jaw, a left cross to the mouth and a right uppercut to the chin. The uppercut lifts Connor's feet three inches off the ground before he collapses to the floor, his back leaning against the wall, his head drooping to the right. Angelus wanted to pay him back for the other night. With that out of the way, he is ready to move on to Faith.

Unlike Connor, Faith realized that even though she couldn't hit, she could still dodge and block. She avoids and blocks several of Lars's and Lewis's punches, the continues running north towards the end of the hall, where a window is. The window is small, and the direct sunlight it let in only hurt vampires if they were within ten feet. Lewis grabs Faith's right ankle when she is 15 feet away, causing Faith to fall on her face. He drags her away from the window. Lars picks Faith up and hurls her into the wall. Lewis kicks her in the stomach and Lars lands a right hook to her face. She ducks Lewis's right jab, and his fist goes through the wall. She runs south, towards the stairs and elevators in the center of the floor, trying to draw the vamps away from Connor. When she is about to turn left towards the elevators, Angelus grabs her. He looks over her shoulder at Lars and Lewis.

ANGELUS: You boys do something else for a while. I'll be doing her.

He slams Faith's head through a wall, then throws her on her back in the middle of the hallway. He puts his left foot on her throat and looks down at her.

ANGELUS: Of course, I don't me "do" in the conventional sense.

He takes his foot off her throat and allows her to get up. She turns to her right and is about to run south towards the room she was in with Lindsey. He grabs her neck with his right hand and shoves her against the wall before Faith can take a step.

ANGELUS: That would be the other Slayer.

She blocks his right hook, but Angelus knocks her down with a left cross.

ANGELUS: The one you never could live up to.

Faith tries to get up. Angelus hits her with a right hook. Down the hall, to the south, Connor has Lewis to the right of of him, Lars in front of him and Lex to his left. He's figured out that he can block and dodge their blows, and tries to do this as best he can. He blocks about two-thirds of their punches, which still leaves him pretty battered. But ten seconds after the trio begins attacking Connor, Lindsey comes out into the hallway.

LINDSEY: Did you vamps forget about me?

Sitting on the ground, Faith hears Lindsey's voice 50 feet away and turns her head to the right to see him. Lex goes after Lindsey, who flees south before entering a room to his right. Faith rolls to the other side of Angelus and gets to her feet. He turns around and throws a right cross. She ducks and his fist goes through the wall. Faith turns left and tries to run after Lindsey. Angelus grabs her and throws her into the wall.

ANGELUS: It would be cruel of me to let you watch him die.

It has been 90 seconds since Willow began trying to break down the forcefield. An exasperated and frustrated Willow starts yelling in Arabic. She pauses for a second and smiles. She yells out a few more Arabic words. The Hyperion shakes and a massive gust of wind blows out from the courtyard, knocking Wes, Gunn, Fred and Lorne on their backs and shaking the windows of the nearby buildings. In his head, Wesley tries to translate Willow's Arabic.

WES: Open sesame? That really does work.

The four of them stand up. Willow turns around. Her eyes are dark red. Her hair is black, matching her clothing. They tremble in fear.

WILLOW: Going now.

Willow turns around and starts moving towards the hotel. She is floating several feet off the ground.

GUNN: Is she supposed to that?

FRED: Are humans supposed to do that?

WES: Not if they're on our side.

The four of them cautiously follow Willow through the courtyard and into the lobby.

LORNE: I'm getting the feeling we ain't seen nothing yet.

When Lindsey enters the room, he runs straight for the windows. Before he can get close enough to open them, Lex grabs Lindsey and throws him into the closet door to his left. Lindsey stands up and puts his hands up to protect his head. Lex lands a left punch to Lindsey's stomach and a right uppercut to his chin. Lindsey falls down. Lex bends down to bite him. When his fangs are six inches from Lindsey's neck, the floor shakes violently. Lex stumbles and falls backwards. Lindsey and Lex stand up. Lindsey takes his stake in his right hand.

LEX: Now where were we?

Lindsey thrusts the stake into Lex's heart.

LINDSEY: One of us was about to die.

Lex looks shocked that the forcefield no longer holds. He reaches for the stake, but turns to dust before he can pull it out. In the hallway, Lars and Lewis are throwing Connor back and forth, his left shoulder hitting one wall, then his right shoulder hitting the other as his staggers south, away from Faith. After getting thrown ten times, Connor falls to his knees. Lars and Lewis move in front of him, Lars to Connor's left and Lewis to Connor's right. Lewis sends a right kick towards Connor's face, but he grabs the foot with both hands. Connor pulls Lewis down, but Lars hits Connor in the left side of his head with a right hook kick. Despite the blow, Connor feels great when he gets to his feet. He thinks the fact that he could pull down Lewis means the barrier has been broken. He blocks Lewis's left jab and hits Lewis with a left cross. Then Connor knocks Lars down with a right roundhouse kick. He ducks under Lewis's right hook and hits with a right hook of his own. Lars stands up, and he and Lewis attack Connor simultaneously. He gives Lewis a right kick in the face, but Lars slugs Connor with a right hook. Connor backs up a few steps. He glances over his shoulder and sees Faith 40 feet behind him.

LEWIS: Girl's too busy with Angelus to help you out, boy.

When Lindsey left the room, he grabbed a fire extinguisher which was in the hallway. He approaches Lars and Lewis from behind. Lindsey hits Lars in the back of the head with the extinguisher, knocking him down. As Lewis turns around, Lindsey swings the extinguisher, hitting Lewis in the face and knocking him down. Connor looks at Lindsey and smiles.

LINDSEY: Sorry to leave you all alone with these two. I was busy turning one their friends into dust.

The violent shaking led Faith to suspect the barrier had been broken. She throws a right cross. Angelus blocks it and pummels her with a right hook. He blocks two more punches and pushes her back.

ANGELUS: I guess I didn't need that barrier to protect me. At least not from you.

Faith tries to hit Angelus in the chest with a right kick. He grabs her right foot. She leaps up and kicks him in the face with her left foot. Angelus falls down, but quickly gets up, charges in and throws a right hook. Faith ducks. They pass by each other then turn around. Angelus blocks a straight right kick to his face, then block a left roundhouse. He hits Faith in the stomach with a right uppercut and in the mouth with a left jab. She lands a left jab. Angelus knocks her back with a right cross.

ANGELUS: Looks like you got nothing left.

Connor hits Angelus in the back of the head with the fire extinguisher. Angelus falls on his face. Connor hands the extinguisher back to Lindsey.

FAITH: Lindsey!

Angelus rolls on his back and sees Connor and Lindsey. He's alarmed to see that Lindsey is alive and almost unscathed.

LINDSEY: You really should stop leaving me for dead. Looks like you're as good at killing me as I was at killing you.

Angelus slowly gets to his feet and rubs the back of his head with his right hand. The fact that he's surrounded makes absolutely no sense to him.

ANGELUS: I'm surrounded by incompetents.

He sees Lars and Lewis coming at Connor and Lindsey. Angelus smiles.

ANGELUS: And so are you.

Connor senses someone approaching. He turns around and is immediately grabbed by Lewis, who knock Connor down with a head butt. Lindsey swings the extinguisher as he turns around, causing Lars to move back. When he raises the extinguisher above his head and tries to bring it down on the vampire's skull, Lars grabs it with both hands, throws the weapon to the ground and tosses Lindsey southwards over his shoulder. He chases after his prey. Faith tries to run after Lars, but she is grabbed around the waist from behind by Angelus, but picks her up in the air.

ANGELUS: Sorry Faithy. You don't get the chance to save your little man.

Angelus spins around and tosses Faith on her face. He stomps his right heel on her spine. Then he picks her up again and tosses her to the north, up the hallway, past the elevators and well away from Lindsey. Faith gets up.

FAITH: I'm not worried. Lindsey doesn't need to hide behind a Slayer. Who do think he is? Angel?

Angelus stops smirking. Faith smiles and knocks him down with a right hook. The Buffy-related trash-talking could cut both ways.

Willow flies into the Hyperion lobby. Cordy stands there, alone, waiting for her. She wears white pants and a long white blouse.

CORDY: Where's your broom stick, witch?

Cordy tosses a broom stick at Willow. When it is five feet from her, it explodes into hundreds of wooden shards. Willow puts up a forcefield around her body, and this burns the shards. She puts her feet on the ground. Cordy planned to make Willow use up all of her power in a battle of attrition. Gunn, Fred, Wes and Lorne discretely entered, kept their heads down and scampered behind the long "check-in" desk, where they hid.

CORDY: How nice of you to bring an audience.

Cordy and Willow circle round the lobby, staring each other down from 20 feet away – black Willow and white Cordy.

CORDY: Love the die job. It really says "I'm sick and tired of being a loser and a doormat." Your skin could use some work. I never seen anyone with varicose veins on their face.

WILLOW: At least I kept my figure. Which is a lot more than I can say for you.

GUNN: [whispering to Wesley] I think you were onto somethin' when you called this a high school grudge match.

FRED: [whispers] Why do people always become immature when they turn evil?

CORDY: A lot's changed since you last came here. [laughs] For one thing, Buffy's alive! You yanked her kicking and screaming out of Heaven. Speaking as someone who's been, I found the Paradise Dimensions to be really boring. I couldn't wait to come back here. I had friends I loved. People I missed being around. No wonder Buffy hated coming back to Earth. She didn't miss you and Xander. Hell, she didn't even want to see your pathetic loser faces ever again.

Willow shoots energy bolts out of her fingers. Cordy waves her right hand in front of her body and blocks them.

CORDY: My truth hurts you a lot worse than your magic hurts me.

WILLOW: I'm sure Buffy got into a better paradise dimension than you did.

CORDY: Nope. I know exactly where she went. It's not very often a dead person gets pulled back. Leaves a gaping hole. Easy to spot. She was in a lower, less prestigious dimension than I was. We all get what we deserve in the afterlife.

WILLOW: I thought in Buffy's Heaven she got to screw Angel for eternity. Nope. Im wrong. That's Angel's Heaven.

Willow smiles sadistically. She knew Cordy's vulnerabilities. Cordy merely rolls her eyes.

CORDY: Was that supposed to make me mad? In case you haven't noticed, we're not in high school anymore. Angelus is going to die today. But you'll be dead long before that happens. As for my friends currently cowering in the corner, I hope they live. Who knows? Maybe I'll help them live. I like you guys so much better than those loser vampires. Especially that goth whore Drusilla. Be sure to kill her before she bites Connor. I would hate if anything happened to him.

WILLOW: Sounds like the words of a woman who thinks she's about to die.

CORDY: What's wrong? Not evil enough for you?

WILLOW: No. Just human enough.

She starts chanting in Latin. Blue sparks flash through the air above and between Willow and Cordy.

CORDY: Am I supposed to be impressed by a witch who still plays Speak-And-Spell? That's baby magic.

A white hoop comes down on top of Cordy, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her three feet off the ground.

CORDY: Time for some grown-up magic.

Cordelia wriggles her arms. Slowly the hoop moves up. She frees her forearms. Then her upper arms. And finally she raises her arms and frees her shoulders. Cordy gets her feet back on the ground. She holds out her left hand. The hoop falls down onto the palm of her left hand. She hits the side of the hoop with the back of her right hand. It starts spinning. Cordy steps back a step and holds both arms behind her back. The hoop levitates without anything supporting it. It spins faster and faster. Willow tries to undo the spell or destroy the hoop she had created. But her words are useless. Soon the hoop is spinning so fast that it looks like a sphere. Cordy nudges the back of the sphere with her right index finger. It flies at Willow like a white cannonball. The impact from the ball knocks Willow backwards, through one wall and into Angel's office, through a second wall and out of Angel's office, into the hallway and through a third wall, into one of the hotel rooms. Willow stands up and brushes off drywall and other assorted debris.

WILLOW: Not smart to make me play rough.

Cordy calmy stands in the lobby, looking at her manicured nails. Willow comes marching back in, moving past Lorne, Wes, Gunn and Fred, who cower in the corner to Willow's left.

CORDY: So what other presents do you have for me?

Willow holds her arms out, palms up. She chants a few words, her eyes glow and in front of her appear two fireballs: the same energy balls she hurled at Buffy, Andrew and Jonathan. Cordy withstands the energy from the first ball, though it does cause her to wobble. The second explodes on contact. Cordy is knocked ten feet backwards and falls down. She stands up and walks back out towards Willow before the smoke clears. Either ball would have killed a human being on impact.

CORDY: Got any new tricks?

WILLOW: I'm just warming up.

CORDY: You will be. In a few seconds.

Cordy starts talking in a demon language Willow doesn't know. Even Wesley can't recognize it. A piece of barbed wire grabs the front of Willow's neck, pulls her back ten feet and ties her to one of the support columns. Two longer pieces of barbed wire snake up and down her body in a double helix. When she struggles to break free, the barbs dig into her flesh. She hangs there, lashed to the columns, suspended two feet above the floor. Cordy yells a few more demon words, and a fire appears below Willow. Cordy looks at Willow and smiles as Willow frantically tries any spell she can think of to break free.

CORDY: I know you were burned at the stake once before. But this time I'm not gonna put it out.

NEXT: Willow escapes, plays around with other dimensions, and pulls out all the stops in her fight with Cordy. But what if she gives Cordy everything she has, and that's still not enough?