"Kennedy! NO!" Right as she had heard the sound of the shotgun and seen the flash, Willow had seen Kennedy's blood (as well as pieces of flesh and bone) fly out of the cubicle, decorating the floor of the aisle and the wall across the aisle from the cubicle, followed by Kennedy herself, whose body had slammed into the wall, then slumped.

Willow ran over to the body, not caring at that moment what the Black Hat would do to her. She shook it, her chest heaving with sobs, the tears pouring down her face.

"No! Kennedy, baby! Please don't leave me! I love you! Oh God!" Willow hugged the body to her chest, kissing it on the forehead, not caring about the blood from the wound soaking her shirt.

She heard the sound of alligator-skin boots hitting the floor behind her. She felt something growing in her; she felt herself going dark…No! I will not go evil again! I must control myself! Every cell of her body was screaming at her to give in, to invoke the dark powers and use them to flay the Black Hat alive, just like she had done to Warren Mears a few years back. She knew that unlike with Warren, she would have been fully justified, seeing as the Black Hat was a demon, and killing him was the reason she and Kennedy came here in the first place. But she knew that if she gave in and became Dark Willow again, there would probably not be any going back. I have to control myself. Find another way to kill him.

"So, she was your lover, eh?" The Black Hat laughed. He had set the shotgun down on the desk inside the cubicle. "Never figured you two were really into the sushi! You're not much good without her; I can certainly handle one slayer by her lonesome, especially when I'm able to block everything she throws at me. So do yourself a favor, Red, and take one long last look at her; you're going to need to a picture of her in your mind to get through what I'm about to do to you!" He started to take off his belt, chuckling as he did so.

Willow slowly and calmly looked up at him. He immediately stopped chuckling.

"What the fuck's wrong with your eyes--?" Her eyes had gone completely dark. It was right when he heard the cocking sound behind him that it dawned on him: he was dealing with a witch.

He spun around, and found himself staring right down the barrel of his own (and currently levitating) shotgun.

The noise thundered throughout the cubicles; the Black Hat's head shattered, splattering pieces of his skull and brains everywhere. His black cowboy hat fell to the floor, and his lifeless body fell down next to Kennedy's.

"I'm sorry, baby," said Willow quietly, letting the shotgun drop to the floor. She kissed Kennedy's lips (which were still warm), and then, sadly, stood up and walked away, leaving the two bodies behind in the cubicle hallway.

--

Faith turned, D'Sulok's tail still stuck through her, and angrily threw the Scythe at the reptilian demon. The blade went right through his neck; his head thumped the floor, followed by his body, which spurted out black blood from the neck.

Giles ran forward to help Faith, who reached behind her and pulled the demon's tail out of her back. Covering her stomach with one hand to keep more of her insides from falling out, she barely took a step before she fell facedown on the floor.

"Jesus, Giles! I can't feel my fucking legs!" Giles could see why, and immediately felt like he was going to vomit. Her spine was severed; he could tell because it was exposed by her wound.

Giles rolled Faith over onto her back; he winced when she groaned at the pain. He saw that she was growing pale.

"I'm going to go for medical help," said Giles, standing up.

"Don't bother. My back's broken and my guts are all over the floor. Believe me, G, I'm beyond the best fucking medical care out there." Her blood was spreading in a pool beneath her. Giles sadly kneeled back down beside her.

"Man, G, can you fucking believe that? I have fought quite a few tough things out there. Angelus, the Ubervamps, Kakistos, even Buffy. And what do I get killed by? A moment of stupidity. How fucked up is that, G?" Faith laughed weakly, and then coughed, splitting up blood which dripped down her chin.

"You could not have foreseen that he would be able to do that, Faith. You fought bravely, you fought well, and you defeated him. As your former watcher, I'm very proud of you," replied Giles. Faith could hear his voice breaking. She smiled.

"Thanks, G. Tell Buffy I'm sorry, and give her the Scythe, okay? She's going to need it."

"I am so sorry, Faith." Tears were pouring down his face.

"Don't be." Giles could hear her fading.

Faith found herself drifting to events that had occurred earlier in the day. Events involving Buffy. The dancing. The hilarious joke they had played on the young Italian man at the club. The delicious meal they had eaten afterwards. The hugs and kisses they had shared.

"You know, G, when I think about it, I actually had a pretty good day today." They were the last words ever spoken by Faith Lehane. Her head rolled to one side, and she said no more.

Standing up, Giles removed his glasses and blinked away the tears that were forming. He sadly reached over and shut Faith's eyes.

Looking around the mansion, he found the door to the basement, which contained a furnace. He quickly dragged the bodies of the two guards down to the basement and disposed of them. He did the same for D'Sulok, though the lizard proved so heavy that Giles had to shove it down the basement steps before getting rid of it.

He would let the authorities find and deal with Faith's body; for now, he had to go meet Buffy and the others. Coming back up from the basement, he picked up the Scythe with one hand and his sword with the other. Then he walked out of the mansion and into the night.

--

"Now here comes my favorite part," said Ilona, smiling. Dawn had been drained of quite a bit of her blood by now, and was very weak. Ilona set Dawn down, and Dawn could only watch in horror as Ilona bit her own wrist, causing blood to flow.

"No…" Dawn muttered weakly. Tears formed in her eyes. "Please…don't do this…just kill me. Don't make me one…of you."

"Oh, don't worry, Signora. It won't hurt; in fact you'll feel the best you've ever felt in your life…or, well, your unlife." The CEO lowered her wrist to Dawn's mouth.

Dawn tried to struggle; she turned her head to one side.

"Now, now, Signora, let's not make this any harder than we have to, si?" Ilona grabbed Dawn's face with her other hand and forcefully turned it to her.

Suddenly the CEO flinched; her smile turned into a look of pain. Then, she crumbled; it took longer than most vampires due to her age. Dawn could even briefly see Ilona's skeleton before it too crumbled; all that was left was dust, which landed all over Dawn. She had to cough some of the dust out her lungs

When she stopped coughing and looked up, she saw Andrew standing there with a stake in his hand and look of grave concern on his face.

--

The Immortal did not wait to see what Buffy would do. He immediately pulled away from Xander and Buffy, raising his katana. Xander quickly went for the sword that the Immortal had knocked out of his hands, but Buffy stopped him.

"No, Xander!" said Buffy. "You saved my life, which I'm grateful for, but now this is my fight to finish." Xander stopped. He did not question her. Buffy glared at the Immortal while she was saying this.

"So, my flower was only pretending to have wilted, eh?" said the Immortal, smiling as usual.

Buffy responded by charging at him with her katana, putting him on the defensive once again. The Immortal parried, and found himself backing away again and again. Their swords clashed many times. To Xander, it appeared as though Buffy had nearly gone berserk.

Finally, when the Immortal blocked her once again, Buffy did not pull her katana away. Instead, she used it to push hard against the Immortal's sword. Then, with a little extra burst of strength, she shoved him backwards. He stumbled back several steps, and had to put his arms out to keep himself from falling. This left him wide open.

Buffy did not waste a second. With a yell, she plunged her katana straight into the Immortal's chest, letting go of the katana in the process.

The Immortal fell backwards onto the floor, the blade still stuck in him. He was sitting up, leaning on one hand; blood had started to stain his shirt right around where the sword was buried.

"Very nicely done, flower," he said, then fell flat on his back and said no more.

"Buffy?" Xander approached her from behind.

Buffy suddenly felt weak. She fell to the floor.

"BUFFY!"

--

Author's Note: Okay, the four main battles are done now. The story, however, is not quite finished. Continue reading on, and find out what happens to our brave characters. You will also find out (probably in the next chapter) what the hell Xander is doing there.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as usual, leave feedback.