Buffy went upstairs. Dawn was with Willow. "How is she," Buffy asked.

"Quiet. Sleeping most of the time," Dawn replied.

Buffy felt Willow's forehead. "Her fever's gone down. That's a good sign. Maybe I should wake her, see if she's ready to help."

"It's not even dark yet. What's the hurry?"

"I'll explain on the way," Buffy said as she went downstairs for her weapons. "I'll need you to fight. Willow too if she's up to it."

"We have to go now?"

"No. We have an hour, maybe an hour-and-a-half. Are you hungry? I'm hungry. And I think this is our only shot at dinner. Gonna be a busy night." They ate, and Buffy explained. Dawn was understandably overwhelmed.

"Superdemon, vampire gang, and an apocalypse. All in the same night?"

"Guess we hit the trifecta. Look on the bright side. And least there won't be any gods to fight."

"You know you just majorly jinxed us with that one." After eating, Buffy packed up all the weapons she could. Around 6:15, as they were getting ready to leave, Zooey showed up. Buffy and Dawn were not ready for this. They quickly hid the weapons behind the couch.

"Is Willow here," Zooey asked.

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other. It was always awkward to talk to outsiders when they were in fight mode. "Willow's sick," Buffy explained.

"Is it bad?"

"No. She's getting better quite quickly."

"Can I see her?"

As Buffy tried to figure out what to say, she realized Zooey might be useful. "Sure. In fact, we were just heading out, so you can watch over her while we're gone. Okay?"

"What exactly are you in such a hurry to get to?"

"Family thing," Buffy replied.

"Yeah. Family thing," Dawn concurred. Buffy went into the kitchen and called Xander on his cell phone. He was on his way to pick them up. Zooey went upstairs to see Willow. Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out the weapons.

"So that's Willow's new girlfriend," Dawn commented. This was the first time she had seen Zooey. "She's nice, and I guess she's pretty, but I didn't think that was, you know"

"Willow's type? I thought the same thing. Willow seems to find her exciting."

"Just what we need in our lives. More excitement," Dawn joked. Xander pulled into the driveway. Dawn got in the truck, and Buffy went to put the weapons in the flatbed. But it was full of Xander's construction equipment. So she put the weapons on the back seat.

"You two go ahead. I'll walk, make sure there aren't any more surprises." Xander drove away. Buffy started walking. As she went down her street, Spike met up with her.

"Buffy there's something I need to tell you."

"Can it wait? I kinda busy."

"Buffy this is important. It's about us, about how I feel about you."

"We'll do this later." She kept on walking. Spike followed.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you? You beg me to open up to you, now I'm ready to pour my heart out, and you brush me off. What is your problem?"

"Where should I start? Spike, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Right now I got some stuff to deal with."

"Yeah, and we have some stuff to deal with."

"I have more important things on my mind. I don't have time for you. This, with us, it's a distraction. Don't take this the wrong way."

"Is there any other way to take it?"

"I don't see why we can't do this tomorrow."

"I don't see why we can't do this tonight."

"I have more important things to take care of." Buffy walked away. Spike stood still. He was mighty miffed.

"Fine! Playing hard to get. Giving me a taste of my own medicine. I can take it! I knew you were gonna play mind games, make me suffer. I know what you're up to, and trust me, you're NOT getting under my skin." She didn't even turn around to acknowledge him. Spike walked away. He needed to get out of this cursed town. He got into his car and headed north to clear his head. Buffy didn't tell Spike of the crisis because she believed he would provide more distraction than help. Right now, the way things were between them, having him around would take her mind off the demon-fighting. She couldn't be bothered by personal issues on this night.

When Xander, Dawn and Buffy returned to the Magic Box, they found Anya closing up shop. "You guys can lock up when you're done, she told them."

"Hold on. Where are you going," Buffy asked.

"To see my boyfriend Sterling. I have plans to meet him before sunset."

Xander was also shocked. "We're facing demons galore and the possible end of the world, and you're going on a date?"

"Precisely. It's not like Buffy hasn't done this before. And you don't really need me. What do I contribute?"

"Anya, you're very important," Buffy responded. "I need all of you. And Anya I need you most of all. With your demon powers, you teleporting, that could prove crucial."

"If I was a demon. But I'm not. Not anymore." Xander, Buffy and Dawn were stunned.

"When did this happen," Xander asked.

"Last night. Now that I'm in love, I don't have the vengeance in me anymore. DeHofren cut me loose. I'm mortal. Flesh and bone. Human."

"Anya, I, I don't know quite what to say," Buffy stammered.

Xander did. "Anya, that's great! Congratulations. I'm so happy for you." He hugged her. "This is what you wanted, right?"

"I didn't choose it. Took me quite by surprise. But I'm glad it happened. I want Sterling to know me as a women, not some super-powerful, man-tormenting Vengeance Demon. It's like a load's been lifted off my shoulders."

"Anya, I'm happy for you," Buffy responded. "But just cause you're not a demon doesn't mean you're not important. You were important way before you got your powers back. I need you."

"So does Sterling. And I think he needs me more. I know this is a big thing, but right now my heart's not in it, and my mind's somewhere else. I'll help in the future. I promise."

"If there is a future," Buffy told her.

"There will be. There always is. Just give me tonight to be with the man I love. And if by some freak mishap the world does end, I'd like to be with Sterl when it happens." Then she went to her car and drove away. A few minutes later Patrick came back. He was holding a pitchfork.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of joke," Xander asked him.

"A trident was the best weapon I could think of for snaring snakes. It allows me to stick them from a distance. And I sharpened all the points, so it's more a weapon than a farm tool. Come on, haven't you see any of the Friday the 13th' movies?"

"Whatever your comfortable with is fine with me. Heck, I killed a vamp once with a spatula." Buffy looked around. "Sun's almost set. It's getting eerily quiet. Time to take our positions."

"Sure would be nice if there were more of us," Xander told Buffy.

"I wish Spike were here," Dawn added.

"Spike wants to be alone. He made his choice," Buffy told Dawn. "Four of us. Four of them. Even fight the way I see it." Buffy went up the stairs and onto the roof of Sunnydale Community Savings Bank, a five-story structure which was the tallest building in town. From there she could see where the Abraxas materialized, and alert the others. Her perch also allowed her to shoot down the flying demon, if there was one. Once that was taken care of, she would go down and help the others. In the meantime, they would stall and hold the other demons off as best they could.

It was dark. Buffy noticed something large in front of the City Hall. "On your left," she told the others. "And it's coming your way." From a distance she could not get a very good look at the demon. When it arrived on Main Street, everyone got a good look. And they were horrified. The Abraxas stood 12 feet tall. Perched on his right shoulder was and extremely large bird-like creature which looked like a cross between a teradactyl and a vulture. Coiled around each leg was a very large green snake, their heads at his feet, their tails wrapped around his chest. Pedestrians quickly fled the street. Xander, Patrick and Dawn stood in the middle of Main Street, feeling completely helpless and utterly exposed.

"Okay then. We can get swallowed, pecked, beaten or strangled to death. What's your preference," Patrick joked to Xander.

Xander heard defeatism rather than dark humor. "We're not going to die."

"Any idea how to make that dream a reality," Patrick asked.

"We'll just take them on one at a time."

"And which one do we take on first," Dawn asked. "And what if they all attack us together?"

"We'll figure that out when they get there," Xander replied. "Right now, we let Goliath and his creepy crawlies make the first move." They waited. Abraxas lumbered forward. The ground shook with each step. He stopped about 50 yards in from of Xander, Patrick and Dawn. The bird flew of into the air. Its wingspan was 12 feet across. Buffy fired her first crossbow bolt. It missed. She reloaded. The bird swooped down and picked up a man in its left talon and took him high into the air. It turned in Buffy's direction. Now she had a closer shot. This time she connected, tearing off a piece of its right wing. It had trouble flying, and dropped the man from its talon. Buffy raced underneath the man and caught him. She pushed him in the direction of the roof access to the stairway.

"Get inside," she told him. He didn't need the hint, and ran into the building. Buffy reloaded again. The bird saw its attacker. It swooped down at Buffy like a dive bomber and tried to grab her in its long, toothy beak. Buffy tumbled out of the way. The bird flew a figure eight and came round for another pass at her. This time it tried to grab her with its talons. She somersaulted out of the way. It landed. Buffy stood back up. The demon was about 20 feet away. When on the ground, the thin layer of skin which formed its wings folded inward across its back. Talon to beak, it stood about 6 feet tall. It had legs, a thin chest, and long arms with clawed hands. Its head and wings were dark blue, its body dark green, with light brown talons and claws. Standing upright, it looked like a skinny reptilian demon with a bird demon's head.

With its feet on the ground, it looked like just another demon to Buffy. She fired her crossbow. It hit the demon in its chest. The demon reached across with its right arm and pulled the missile out of its flesh. Buffy pulled out a sword. The demon leaped at her. She dodged it. But it was very quick, and she could not elude the bird. It tried to bite her with its long, toothy beak. She ducked. It bent down to bite her. She slashed its right thigh. The demon shrieked in pain. Then Buffy stood up and decapitated the demon.

On the ground, the two snakes slithered away from the Abraxas, and towards Xander, Patrick and Dawn. Each of them was nearly twenty feet long and a foot thick. "Okay then, we go after the snakes first," Xander proposed.

"Makes sense, since they appear to be going after us," Patrick replied. "But I prefer cowering and waiting for Buffy to kill the bird and come down to help us." The snake on their right wrapped itself around an automobile, squeezing and crushing the cabin. The driver fell out and ran away. The Abraxas slowly trodded forward. It ripped a light post out of the pavement and started swinging it around like a ten foot bat. He broke windows, smashed parked cars, and tore down electric wires and traffic signals.

Xander took charge. "Patrick, you take the snake on the left. Dawn, the one on the right. I'll try to tangle with the big guy. Be careful. Buffy will be here soon." Dozens fled in all directions. The screams and shrieks could be heard from blocks around. Xander, Patrick and Dawn were the only ones who remained, like the calm eye in a violent hurricane.

Patrick waited for the snake to approach him. Its head and body rose ten feet into the air, looked down at him, and stuck out its tongue. He stuck out his pitchfork, so that if the snake lunged straight at him, it would impale itself on the weapon. The snake lunged forward and to Patrick's right. It turned its head left and prepared to bite Patrick's legs, avoiding the weapon and taking him from the side. Patrick leaped forward and stabbed the snake in the middle of its body. He plunged the fork points in deep and held on tight to its handle. The snake thrashed side-to-side, and used its tail to knock Patrick away. He landed in the middle of the street, still holding onto his weapon.

Xander walked towards the Abraxas, brandishing a halberd. The Abraxas wore a bronze cuirass on its chest. Its skin was smooth, shiny and white, like it was coated in ivory. On the top of its bald head were two golden plumes, one on each side, each reaching two feet into the air. The Abraxas hurled the light pole at Xander. He hit the deck and the pole sailed by him and slammed through a brick wall. Then the Abraxas ripped a parking meter out of the sidewalk, swinging it around in its right hand. The demon liked the short yet heavy weapon. It was perfect for smashing humans like Xander. "Okay then, cowering it is," he said as he backpedaled.

After crushing a car, the snake near Dawn slithered up a metal utility pole, wrapping itself around the pole in a helix. It peered down at Dawn. She pulled out a long sword, breathed rapidly, and looked frightened. But instead of attacking, the snaked broke through the glass and slithered into a clothing store to Dawn's right. She didn't dare pursue, but worried that the snake could reemerge and surprise her at any moment.

As Xander retreated away from the approaching Abraxas, Buffy killed the demon bird. The Abraxas appeared to shrink. "Did you see that," Xander yelled.

"Sorry. Wasn't looking," Dawn replied as she waited for the snaked to reemerge.

"I'm a bit busy," Patrick said as he faced down the injured snake, jabbing his pitchfork towards the demon to keep it at bay. Xander realized Patrick could use some help, and he ran to his assistance. Xander was carrying the two small, all-metal axes which hung on the wall of Buffy's training room. He threw one at the snake, hitting it near its tail. The snake turned to Xander. The sight of the beast's giant mouth caused him to shake a little. With the snake distracted by Xander, Patrick tried to stab it again. But it quickly turned to face him. Under attack from two sides, the beast slithered back about ten feet. Now it could keep an eye on both Xander and Patrick.

"How's it going for you," Patrick asked Xander.

"Can't complain. I think the big demon shrank a little bit."

"It got smaller?"

"Smaller's a relative term. It's still huge. But I saw it suddenly get a little less huge. And it wasn't just wishful thinking."

"Here comes the cavalry," Buffy yelled from atop the bank.

Dawn saw her. "You mean there are horse demons," Dawn yelled back.

"No! Just me!" Buffy leaped off the bank's fifth-story roof, sailed across a narrow side street, and landed on the roof of a three-story office building.

"Buffy did it! Buffy killed the bird," Dawn yelled to Xander and Patrick.

"I'd be relieved if I wasn't staring down this thing's gullet," Patrick responded. Patrick held out his pitchfork, Xander his halberd. The snake weaved its head back and forth, looking for vulnerablilites. It tried to maneuver around the two men, but each of them moved to counter these feints. But as Patrick moved left and Xander moved right ,the space between them increased. The snake raised its head high in the air, in front of and in between the two men.

"I think we're right where it wants us," Patrick commented.

"Divide and conquer," Xander observed. "Uh oh." The snake dove straight forward, in between the two men. Then it veered to its left, in Xander's direction. He gripped his halberd tight, hoping to strike the snake before it bit him. Patrick ran at the demon, and stuck his pitchfork in its side. The snake's head was only three feet from Xander's. It paused. He swung. The snake turned its head back and avoided the blow. It wrapped its back end around Patrick. He lost his grip on the pitchfork and it fell to the ground. Dawn saw what was happening and ran to help. As it began to squeeze Patrick with the back half of its body, its head continued to look menacingly at Xander. The snake had figured out a way to kill both of them at once. Dawn hoped she could get to them before it was too late.

Just then, the Abraxas bellowed something unintelligible. The snake let go of Patrick. It slithered backwards, its head still facing Xander. When it got fifty feet away, it turned around and headed in the direction of the Abraxas. Patrick fell to the ground. Xander picked him up. Patrick gasped for air. "Good thing I'm small and it's big. Couldn't squeeze me very hard. How did you drive it away?"

"I didn't," Xander answered. "I think it's going with the big guy to double-team Buffy. "Dawn, where's the other snake?"

"Good question," she answered. Then she turned and ran back to the store the snake had entered, and waited for it to come out.

After leaving Xander and Patrick, the snake slithered back to the Abraxas. Buffy jumped from the three-story roof to an adjacent two-story roof. From there she was going to leap down to fight the Abraxas. He was waiting for her. So was his snake. It held its head ten feet in the air and looked at her. The moment she leaped down to Main Street, it would catch her in midair and devour her. The Abraxas looked up at the Slayer and growled. He knew she had killed the bird. That meant she was the strongest fighter. And he had her cornered. Buffy knew this. She had to improvise. She was on Dawn's side of the street, a block south of Dawn, Xander and Patrick. At the moment, they looked out of danger. This was good. It meant she didn't have to worry about them. She ran south, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. The Abraxas and the snake moved south as well. When she reached the middle of the block, Buffy discreetly jumped off the back of a building. She was in the alley behind the buildings. The demons couldn't see her. She grabbed the lid of a trash can and hurled it north. It landed in the small street next to the bank. The demons heard the noise and moved north, thinking Buffy was there. She ran south, turned left and emerged on Main Street, nearly two blocks south of Dawn, Xander and Patrick and one block south of the snake and the Abraxas.

The demon realized it had been played. It stomped the ground, creating a long crack in the asphalt. Then it turned and moved towards Buffy, making a few more loud, guttural utterances. The snake slithered north towards Dawn. She turned to face it. Just then, the other snake shot out of the second story window above the store it had entered. Dawn looked up and screamed. The snake dove down head first, and swallowed her whole.

"Dawn! No! No," Xander yelled. He ran for the snake which swallowed her. The other snake attacked him. Patrick rushed to assist Xander.

Since she was two hundred yards to the south and facing down the Abraxas, Buffy didn't notice the commotion. When she was on the office building's roof, she had picked up a stone about twice the size of her fist. She was feeling whimsical. The Abraxas, now ten feet tall, picked up a traffic sign in its right hand and pointed its bottom end at Buffy like a spear. It held the parking meter in its left hand. Buffy stopped when she was within ten yards. "I read about this somewhere. Wonder if it really works," she told him. Then she hurled the stone at the Abraxas, hitting it in the forehead. He fell straight back and hit the ground with a mighty thud, letting go of both his weapons.

"So I guess that makes me David and you Goliath," she told the Abraxas as she walked up to its body. "Don't you big guys ever learn?" She raised her sword and prepared to behead the creature. As she began to swing downward, the demon opened his eyes. He reached up his left arm and grabbed the Slayer. He lifted her off the ground and threw her forty feet backwards. The Abraxas stood up. It removed the stone which was imbedded in its forehead and threw it back to Buffy. It glanced off her forehead, cutting it as she struggled to stand up. Buffy realized SHE had been played. Beast wasn't as dumb as she thought.

Dawn was engulfed by the snake as she held onto her sword with both hands. Everything went dark. She stabbed upward and outward, slashing for dear life. After about ten seconds, she had cut clear through a cross-section of the serpent, decapitating the beast. It fell dead, its front six feet separated from the back 14 feet. Dawn stood motionless, holding her sword, covered from head to foot in thick yellow slime.

Buffy picked herself up off the pavement and walked toward the Abraxas. Her back was killing her, and there was a bloody gash on her left temple. Even with the injuries, the demon seemed less imposing than before. "Now either I'm getting taller, or you're shrinking," Buffy said. She looked beyond the demon to see her friends struggling for their lives. She had to get to them, make sure they were safe. She leaped up onto a street sign. The Abraxas went to rip it down. When it approached, Buffy held onto the pole, spun around, and kicked the demon in the head. It staggered backwards. Then she leaped off the pole and kicked the demon again in the head. She landed, and now stood between the Abraxas and her friends. The demon swung the parking meter like a golf club, clobbering Buffy in the chin and sending her into the wall of a building. The Abraxas threw his traffic sign at her like a spear. She rolled out of the way, and the pointed end of the sign went through the wall. Buffy ran back to her friends. The demon ripped a mailbox out of the ground and threw it at her, knocking her down. But she pushed the metal box off of her, got up, and continued racing to Xander, who was in danger of being swallowed by the snake.

Xander was filled with rage and regret over Dawn getting swallowed. He thought she was dead, so all he wanted to do was kill or be killed. He raised his halberd and swung down at the snake's head as it lunged towards him. He sliced the head open from top-to-bottom right down the middle. The snake died. At the moment Xander swung, Patrick began stabbing the serpent's body with his pitchfork. After about five or six stabs he realized it was dead. He looked up, saw Xander, and saw the snake's head sliced in half. Both of them turned around.

"Dawn," Xander shouted at the person covered in yellow slime. "You're alive!" She still held her sword, and stood motionless, head tilted slightly downward. She looked up at Xander. Buffy arrived. She saw a snake cut in two. She saw Dawn standing there, covered in goo.

"Dawn what happened? Are you okay?"

"How would you feel if you were swallowed and had to hack your way out?"

"I remember it felt pretty yucky. Wait, you did that?"

"What does it look like, genius," Dawn asked, talking through her clenched teeth.

"Wow. I'm so proud of you! You are so tough. To have that happen, and keep your cool. You're a true warrior, Dawny."

"So that's what this gross icky feeling is."

"Hate to spoil this touching moment of sibling bonding, but it's coming for us," Patrick told Buffy.

Buffy looked at it. "I think it's shrinking."

"You noticed that too," Xander asked, glad he wasn't alone.

Patrick took a hard look and smiled. "Four-in-one. When the others die, it's like the Abraxas loses a part of itself. It gets smaller and weaker."

The Abraxas saw a man taking advantage of the lull to flee from a building. He threw the parking meter at him, knocking him unconscious. Then he lifted the back end of a car and flipped it over. He pushed the upside-down car down the sidewalk. It slid about 30 feet and crashed through the front of a restaurant. The Abraxas bellowed out, as if summoning Buffy.

"Time to finish the job," Buffy predicted.

"What do we do," Xander asked.

"Bring me weapons." She pulled out her sword and went after the Abraxas, now only six feet tall. It looked no tougher than any other demon. She swung and slashed him in the chest. The blade made a loud clanging noise when it hit the armor, but did no damage. He punched for her head. Buffy ducked, and tried to stab through the armor with the point of her sword. The point got caught on the armor and the sword flexed. The Abraxas knocked it out of Buffy's hands. Then he hit her with a right uppercut. She flew 15 feet back and fell down.

"Note to self: he gets smaller, but not weaker." Xander tried to help Buffy up. She stood up on her own. "Get me sledgehammer," she ordered. Cutting hadn't worked, so she was going to try pounding. While Xander ran to fetch the weapon, the Abraxas approached. Buffy tried to punch him. He blocked the blow, grabbed her, and threw her into light pole at the corner of the block. "I said hammer, NOW!" The Abraxas approached. He punched. She ducked. His fist went through a brick wall. Buffy hit him twice in the face, kicked him in the knee, and swept his legs out from under him. While he was down, Xander brought Buffy the sledgehammer.

"Sorry it took so long to carry," he apologized. "It's really heavy."

"It's not your fault," she replied. "You're a man, and men are weak. I know you're trying your best." She swung at the demon while it laid on its back. The Abraxas rolled out of the way. The hammer blow made a sizable dent in the pavement. The demon stood up. She pounded him in the chest, knocking him back and denting his armor. She hit him in the head with enough force to smash the skull of any demon. He flew back and fell on the sidewalk. But his head was intact. It wasn't even dented. As the Abraxas stood up, it started muttering something.

"It's Coptic Greek, I think," Patrick yelled out from a safe distance. "A mantra. Sounds like something I read in the books. I am nothing. I am not real. Soon you won't be either.' That's the gist."

"And what should that mean to me," Buffy asked.

"It's a death chant. He's ready to die."

"Bout time," Buffy replied. The Abraxas ripped out another parking meter. "What is it with you and those things," she wondered. "Too many tickets?" He swung for her. She blocked in with her hammer. She swung at him. The demon blocked it and went for Buffy's head. She ducked. With an upward golf swing she clocked the Abraxas in the chin and sent him into a wall.

"Buffy try the ax," Xander yelled holding up the large weapon in his hands. Buffy turned to look. Just then the Abraxas clobbered her in the chest with the head of the meter. She hit the wall behind her. But she kept on her feet and closed with the demon. It swung again for her midsection. She did a forward flip to elude the blow. "Buffy," Xander called out as he threw the weapon. Right as she landed, she grabbed its handle with both hands. As the Abraxas turned to face her, she chopped off its head. The corpses of the Abraxas and the other demons melted away.

"Thank God it's over," Xander said with relief.

"Actually, it's just beginning," Patrick reminded them.