"Where are they?" Angel asked

The Hyperion was abandoned, or more accurately, the ground where the Hyperion had once stood was abandoned. Angel walk around a pile of debris and picked up a sword that had once been held in the destroyed weapon's cabinet. The wind was the loudest sound in the vicinity. Angel tossed Buffy the sword. "Maybe you were wrong, maybe you can't really sense them. They could have made their home back at the abbey, or at Wolfram & Hart." Buffy said

"No," Spike could hear the Ram, but not with his ears like he heard the infuriating sound of the wind. He heard her on a different frequency. He heard her with his blood. "She's here."

"Where?" Kennedy asked

The whistle was something they could all hear. Spike knew the song, something by the Animals. He placed it when he heard her sing. "There is a house in New Orleans…" She grinned at them. "My… children as Angelus so aptly phrased it. You have returned to me."

Angel scowled. "We didn't come to chat."

"No," She agreed "You came to die." She became the Ram. Her sleek black coat was the same shade as the skin of her human form. Her horns were that sunny orange. The warriors all grabbed swords from the same pile of clutter Angel had found. As they backed up they found themselves subconsciously forming groups. Willow, Kennedy, and Xander stayed near the pile of weapons. Harmony, Gunn, and Spike headed behind the unnatural beast. Faith, Buffy, and Angel stepped in front of her. The Ram charged, the slayers and vampire were able to dodge her attack only in the nick of time. Angel swung his sword toward the beast and was knocked down by a toss of her head. Faith aimed for the neck, but her sword just bounced of the creature's flesh. Buffy aimed for the Ram's eye, but hit her horns and was jarred by the impact.

"Just so we're clear, can we even get through this thing's thick hide?" Gunn asked

"Hopefully," Spike said

"Awesome," Gunn said "Used to just be vampires," He mumbled

The Wolf batted aside a cluster of werewolves. She just needed to take out their leaders and this problem would be solved. Where were they? One clawed at her neck, breaking through her thick skin as only her own power could. Her golden fur was discolored by blood. She snapped her jaws at the troublesome creature, but she was gone. Another slashed at her ribs. The Wolf reared up on her hind legs and brought her front legs down on top of two werewolves, squashing them. They returned to mortal form, their puny mortal bodies covered in blood. The Wolf grasped another of her creations in her jaws. She shook her head, snapping the poor creature's back. She threw it away like an abused toy no one wanted to play with anymore. She returned to her human form. Her fingernails grew long. Her canines lengthened to a half-meter and her front teeth grew into something resembling a beaver's teeth. Her lower jaw shrunk to allow her teeth more room to gnash and gnaw. She howled at the killing moon.

Lorne stood in the doorway, watching the air outside of their protective bubble. Something was happening. Reality was shifting again. Anne approached. "What is it?"

"Either something good," He said "Or something really, really bad."

The Ram swung her head, knocking over Harmony and Spike. Willow splayed her fingers out toward the monster, sending a wave of energy toward it. The Ram started to bare down toward her. Angel stepped in the way, full vamp face. He swung at the Ram with his sword, doing no damage, but causing himself to fall on the ground. The Ram lifted a hoof to crush the vampire and Angel bit her leg, as hard as he could. She kicked, sending him flying, but Willow saw the blood leaking from her leg. "Spike!" She called to the vampire struggling to his feet. "Cut your hand!" Spike obeyed without question while Kennedy tried to deflect a blow aimed at Willow. "Toss me your sword." Spike threw the bloody blade, Xander caught it.

"Over here!" Faith swung at the Ram head on, while Buffy stabbed between the Ram's ribs while she was distracted by Faith. Neither attack penetrated skin.

Willow did a quick spell. The bloodstain on Spike's sword stretched, covering the whole blade. "Buffy!" Buffy looked toward her and Willow tossed her the sword.

Buffy deftly caught the blade and swung it at the demon. She sliced open the creature's flank, causing drops of blood to hit her blouse and face. "Nice!"

"Spike! Angel!" Willow shouted "I have an idea!"

Nina attacked the Wolf's neck, latching on and refusing to release her hold. The more the Wolf shook her head the more Nina tore into her flesh. The woman's blue dress was stained with red. The Wolf stabbed her long nails into Nina's ribs and sliced downwards. Nina fell to the ground. The Wolf picked up the body and bit into Nina's neck with her fangs, slashing. The Wolf dropped the dead woman to the ground and was stunned when she was tackled by another of her creations, Oz. This one tore and slashed at her face. The Wolf bit and stabbed. The werewolf did the same. Other werewolves swamped her. One grasped her wrist. One clawed out an eye. Oz used his claws to cut open her belly, strange red masses that didn't resemble human guts spilled out. The Wolf transformed. She grew larger, became a wolf again. Oz scratched and clawed, but the Wolf used her snout to toss him aside. She ripped apart the people tainted by her demonic touch, putting an end to their vengeance. One by one the Werewolves died, resuming their mortal forms. The Wolf became human in appearance once more, stumbling in her tattered bloody countenance. Oz rushed for her. She grabbed his shoulders and swung him upwards. She hefted him up, holding his back. She brought him down against her knee. His back broke. She stepped on his neck, crushing his windpipe. He became human again.

Conner watched all of this. The werewolves were all dead. She was still alive. She stumbled, but was still able to walk. She headed for the Hyperion. Conner watched the hole in her front continue to leak viscous red fluids. He pulled his trusty stake from his pocket. He approached the woman. She laughed. Even though she couldn't see him she knew he was present. "You want to slay me boy?" She turned, fingernails and fangs once more extended.

"You're bleeding." Conner said redundantly "Here," He stabbed inside of her. He knew he couldn't break her skin, but she was already broken. He reached inside of her and planted his wooden stake inside something. Some burning disgusting thing that formed the core of her.

"I am without form." She whispered, her voice weakening "Before humanity, before goodness or evil, we crawled from the mud of creation. Our teacher showed us what evil was. He gave us power with no parallel and promised us this world we would inherit. You think you can kill me?" Conner pushed harder against the stake. She slashed at him with her long nails. Four red lines formed on his body. His blood dripped into her, hers leaked into him.

"Just die!" He howled "Pay for your crimes!"

"We have committed no crimes, broken no ancient laws. We followed the rules."

Conner reached in with his other hand and grabbed the thing his stake had hit. He pulled, but it wouldn't budge. He fell back, and as he felt the hot gooey center of her break loose it fell apart in his hands. She fell back, his bloody hands emerging with yellow slime on them. She hit the ground and began to burn. Her skin cracked and peeled. She fell apart right before his eyes, sizzling as though someone had poured acid on her. In a few minutes only a pile of red fluid remained. Conner clutched his scared face. "Ow," He moaned

Conner headed for the Hyperion.

The Ram tossed Xander in the air, when he came back down he knocked Harmony to the ground. Buffy swung for the Ram, but the old one dodged and kicked at the slayer. Buffy hit the ground, clutching her bruised abdomen and gasping for breath. The Ram resumed her human form. She smirked at the warriors. They all froze for a moment in thrall of her vicious gaze. She punched the ground. The schism where her sister had emerged widened. "You may think you have won something today. You have not. You never win." Fire leaped up from the chasm. She ran toward Kennedy and threw the slayer against the ground. A horrible crunching sound let them all know something had broken. Faith laid a hand on the demon's shoulder to toss her away, but the Ram grabbed Faith's extended arm and tossed the slayer over her shoulder. She laid simultaneous blows on Angel and Spike. They flew to the side. She hit Buffy in the spine, causing the slayer to collapse in pain. For a moment everyone stood back. The Ram grinned.

Buffy swung her sword at the Ram, cutting her arm. The Ram grabbed the blade and shoved, knocking out one of Buffy's teeth. Buffy howled in pain while the Ram looked at her own bleeding hands. "I could not have saved you." She whispered "Good bye," She ran toward the hole in the earth and then jumped in, being consumed by the fire.

Angel acted on pure instinct. He lifted one of the enchanted swords and ran toward the tear in dimensional boundaries. "Angel!" Buffy screamed "Stop! It's over!" She ran after her lover. Faith ran with her, the slayers racing to save the vampire before he could take the plunge.

"Bloody hell," Spike knew what was going to happen and chased after Buffy.

Willow stood to follow her best friend. Xander grabbed her arm. She looked at him and he shook his head. Gunn shot a look at Harmony who scoffed and shook her head as well.

Angel paused for only a moment at the ledge, before stepping into the flames. Buffy and Faith jumped in after him. Spike also jumped into the hole. For a moment the five remaining members of the group just stared. The flames grew dimmer and lower. Willow edged closer to the ledge. The fires went out and when Willow looked down the tear in dimensions had closed. She turned to stare at Xander, eyes wide, terrified. "They're trapped down there."

Her four companions approached and looked at the bottom of the chasm, just rock. "So now what do we do?" Harmony asked "I mean, this isn't good right?"

The sound of a horrifying roar nearby made them all jump, except for Kennedy who was taking care not to jostle her broken arm or fractured ribs. Willow started a healing spell on her girlfriend. Gunn stared at the hole his former boss had jumped into. How were they going to get them out? Was it even possible? He locked eyes with Xander, who looked terrified. "No way, not Buffy. I can't lose her too." He rubbed his forehead. "I can't. I can't."

Another roar in the distance brought Gunn's attention to their surroundings. The very air seemed to be warping. Certain areas were being hit by sunlight, others were even darker than before. "Willow can you magic us an answer to what the hell is going on?" Gunn asked

Kennedy flexed her arm and poked her ribs. She gave Willow a nod. Willow allowed her attention to be diverted to the chaos around them. "The senior partners' influence is waning."

"Well that's good." Harmony said

Another roar prompted Gunn's question. "When their influence goes do they take all the nasty demons they brought here with them?" Willow's shaking head made his heat sink. It was never easy. "So I say we head back to the others and then start taking down the nas-Connner!"

Gunn saw Angel's son approaching and ran over to meet him. He stopped a few feet away to take in his injuries. "The Wolf is dead." Conner explained as he looked around "Where's my dad?" Conner followed Gunn's eyes to the chasm and then dropped to his knees. "They're all dead." He said in an emotionless voice "I'm all alone."

"They're not dead." Willow insisted "They're coming back."

Gunn stared at the schism. He wanted to believe her, he wanted that so much. Angel had come back from a lot of things, Gunn thought he recalled the man once mentioning he'd been to hell before. However this was different. They would either kill the Ram, or they were doomed.

Wesley held on tight to Fred's hand as dust was shook loose from the ceiling and the walls wobbled. On the other side of the barrier through the door they saw a large lizard-like demon with a tail the size of a Great Dane run by. The air seemed to stretch, the ground crackled and shimmered. Beams of light shone down, natural sunlight the likes of which they hadn't seen in a long while. Patches of darkness stood out as anomalies. The building shook again.

"Maybe we should go." Anne said nervously

"We couldn't get through the barrier even if there were somewhere for us to go." Wesley said "And it isn't as if anywhere else in the city is any safer than it is here."

"Unless the building comes down on top of us." Anne said

Distant rumblings and the calls of several different demon species increased the cacophony. "Let's just hope that doesn't happen all right?" Lorne shouted

"At least we know Willow is still alive!" Fred said "That's a good sign!"

Something large and heavy slammed into the side of the building. The five occupants flinched, but Willow's barrier was impenetrable. Still, they were nervous about the walls collapsing. Since there was nothing they could do the group didn't bring it up again, they just kept watching the reality fluxes, hoping their friends would return.

The naked bodies lay on the ground, mostly ignored by the passing demon hordes who sought out fresher meat. Carrion birds circled overhead, too afraid to touch down. Nina's once luminous hair was now coated in coagulated blood. Oz's body rested in a most unnatural condition. A large demon trampled through the area, further crushing Oz's body. The birds continued to wait for the chance to feast. The souls that had once inhabited these bodies had long since departed and the corpses were but reminders of what once was. The disease that had once inhabited them had fled with their heartbeats, they had achieved the only cure for their illness. It was not a cure they had hoped to find, not this early in their lives. Yet their short lives had held great meaning, they had slayed an old one, had paid the ultimate price to do so. Its work done, its inhabitant gone, the body that had once held a soul set to decaying.

Angel shook his arms, trying to dispel the pain from breaking his long fall. He looked up at the darkness which concealed the tall ceiling. They were in a tunnel composed of red stone, hot to the touch. Angel surveyed his companions. He wished they weren't here for what might be his, and now their, last battle. He had known when he saw the Ram flee that he had to end this now. He had pursued without hesitation. But he didn't want his friends to lose their lives as well.

"Where are we?" Spike asked

"Hell," Angel thought he might need to elaborate. "The senior partners' hell dimension."

"Great, I've been thinking about how much I wanted a vacation." Spike said sarcastically

"You shouldn't have followed me." Angel said "This is my des-" He stopped "Duty,"

Spike scowled but didn't say anything. "Can it prophecy boy." Buffy said "We're going to finish this together, get over it." She surveyed their surroundings. "Provided we can find the Ram in this place that is." Angel glanced at both ends of the tunnel, they looked that same.

"I can help with that." Lindsey stepped out from behind a corner. "Follow me."

Angel stared in disbelief as the lawyer gestured the way he had come. "How about hell no and I don't trust you as far as a small child could throw you and get lost Lindsey."

"Ironic that you don't trust me seeing as you're the one that had me killed." Lindsey said with his old charismatic smile plastered on his face, it brought back bad memories for Angel

"Ironic as it may be," Angel said "I know for a fact that you'll just lead us into some horrible trap. We'll take our chances." He looked at his companions, who nodded.

"Fine, get lost, see if I care."

"Can it Lindsey." Lilah stepped out of a shadow she had not been standing in before.

"Lilah," Lindsey was not pleased to see her. "I heard you were working for the powers."

"I am," she said smugly

"How's that?" Lindsey wore the special look of disdain he reserved just for her.

"Can't complain,"

"They torture you?" Lindsey asked

"In a manner of speaking," She said "But not as bad as you get it. I heard you were in the special hell for people who managed to piss of the goody goods and the wicked meanies."

"Screw you Lilah," Lindsey said

Lilah rolled her eyes and gestured in the opposite direction Lindsey had. Angel was hesitant to follow her but Wesley had said Cordelia recruited Lilah and Angel couldn't imagine Cordy letting a rogue employee lead them to their doom. "All right,"

"Isn't she the bitch who brought the Wolf over to begin with?" Buffy asked "Why do we trust her?" Buffy glared at the most recent CEO of Wolfram &n Hart.

"She works for Cordelia now." Angel explained as he followed Lilah

"Oh don't even get me started on saint Cordy." Lilah bellyached as she led them through the tunnel's many junctures. "It's all protect the innocent this and help the hopeless that. I tell you atoning for past sins is even less fun than you made it look."

Angel was annoyed by that spiel. "You know you were a big part of said lack of fun."

"I don't know." Lilah gave him a cheeky grin. "Wes and I had some fun."

"Wait a minute." Faith said "Did you and he-"

Angel quickly changed the subject. "How much further?"

"Don't be so eager." Lilah said "You'll get to tussle with the nasties."

"Plural?" Angel said "We're just after the Ram."

"And to get to her we'll have to battle all manner of evil beast right?" Spike asked

"You got it." Lilah shot a grin at the vampire.

"Bloody lovely,"

"And you were going to mention this when?" Angel asked

"Hey," Lilah put her hands in the air. "You didn't ask and the powers aren't paying me to show incentive." Angel had imagined a climactic battle between them and the Ram, but he should have known it wasn't going to be that simple. They would have to earn that final confrontation. At least they had a guide, even if it was Lilah. It was strange to imagine the woman he had hated so much working for the woman he had loved. It was also grating that Lilah didn't seem at all grateful for the second chance she had been given.

"They're paying you?" Faith asked

"No, you see my point." Lilah replied

"So what all do we have to face?" Buffy asked

"The first wave is a battalion of Turok-Han." Lilah said to Faith's and Buffy's simultaneous groans "Come across them before?"

"We thought we made them extinct." Spike grumbled

"This is a different reality." Lilah said "One the senior partners control. They decide what does and does not exist here. Hopefully they can't just decide you don't exist."

Angel gave his surroundings a nervous glance. That would hardly be fair. "They would probably have already done that if they could right?"

Lilah shrugged. "Maybe the Ram wants to keep you around for a while, punish you for murdering her sister. Nice job by the way, shame about the werewolves."

Angel almost stopped. He might not have loved Nina the same way he had Buffy or Cordelia, but he had cared for her. He had known in a way that she was dead, but now that this was certain he felt the pain of her passing. He forced himself onward. "So they're dead then?"

Lilah nodded. "Here we are."

A widening in the tunnel about the size of a ballroom contained fifty Turok-Han. Spike scoffed. "We've handled a lot worse. This is cake."

"We had an army and a magical amulet then." Faith reminded him

"Oh yeah, well I'm not too concerned." Spike shrugged and then ran into the crowd of vampires. Angel, Buffy, and Faith were close behind him.

Kennedy led the group back toward the industrial building. Conner flanked her on the right while Gunn flanked her on the left. Harmony and Xander stood on either side of Willow as she tried to tap into the energy currents flowing beneath the city to sense Angel and the others.

"Is it working?" Harmony asked

"No," Willow said "And you pestering me makes it harder."

Harmony put her hands in the air. "Whatever,"

As the building came into view they saw a crowd of rampaging demons. Half of the buildings in the area were destroyed and while the building their group was holed up in was still intact it looked a little worse for wear. A demon ran headlong into the building and bounced off because of the barrier. The building still shook with the impact. "That's a problem." Gunn said

Willow nodded. She needed to focus on this situation. Buffy, Angel, Faith, and Spike would have to wait. Willow held out her hand and let her awareness flow into the building. She could sense that while the building wasn't going to fall down this moment it wouldn't take much more than one more good knock to bring it down. "We need to get them out of there."

Willow waited until they were right in front of the building before she released the spell keeping the barrier up. She felt a huge drain on her powers disappear. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her strength return. The five people in the building ran out. Anne made a bee-line for Gunn. She threw her arms around him. "You're alive." She whispered

He held her at arm's length. "You were in doubt? That hurts,"

A single tear escaped her eye. "Sorry, I just need you."

Gunn felt an ache in his heart. He felt the same way. He felt like Anne was the future he needed. He was tired of demons and hell. He wanted a better life than this and thought that life was standing in front of him. "Well I'm right here." Internally he swore to himself at that moment that his days of demon-fighting were over. He'd done his part and he was ready to move on. He hoped the woman he was holding would be there with him.

Gunn looked over at his other friends. Lorne looked petrified, but seemed to be doing his best to hide it. Wesley was holding hushed conference with Willow. Fred was talking to the bloody Conner. He was almost shaking. Did they all feel the same way? "Let's get out of here."

"This area is returning to its rightful state, but the transition is happening much faster than it did the first time, which was a gradual process." Wesley explained "This whole area is unstable. We need to find a safe place to wait for the change to end."

"Where?" Lorne asked "Where's safe."

"The place the changes are revolving around, the eye of the storm if you will." Wes said

"Please don't say the Hyperion." Gunn said

Willow nodded. "Sorry," She said "The changes will radiate out from there, it will be the first place to truly return to our dimension, or being completely in our dimension I should say."

Gunn groaned. "Fine," He hefted his sword. "At least we'll get to take out some demons on the way." Just because he was retiring soon didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy once last bout of righteous slaughter. "Let's get out of here." They headed for the Hyperion.

Angel brushed the dust off his coat from the last Turok-Han. "That wasn't so bad."

Spike snorted in derision. "Let's go."

As they approached the narrowing in the tunnel Lilah reappeared. "Good job," Her voice was dripping with fake enthusiasm. "So the boss chewed me out for being unhelpful, now I've got to be a good little girl and give you the run-down of the next thing the Ram has in store for you." As they followed their guide Angel had a sinking feeling. "Think of the moments where you had reached the limits of your endurance and emerged stronger for it." Angel wasn't sure what horrors this thought could lead to, but he thought of some of the many times he thought he couldn't take anymore. "Think of all the bad decisions you didn't make and how much better off you are for being stronger than your wicked urges." Angel flinched at a particular memory.

"What's your point?" Faith snapped

"Imagine if you hadn't emerged stronger, if you had made those bad decisions. Think of your worst possible self. Think of all the alternate versions of you and summon to mind the worst of all possible scenarios. That's what you have to face next. An alternate reality made real."

"So Angelus for me?" Angel asked

"No," Lilah said "Your alternate self is the one who chose to embrace evil despite his soul, the one we were trying to create when we offered you the job at Wolfram & Hart."

Angel didn't like to think of what that version of himself was like He tried to distract himself. "Well your plan didn't work." Angel bragged

"One stage of the plan was getting you used to the status quo." Lilah explained "We didn't count on the combination of two independent factors forcing you to action."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked "What happened?"

"Cordelia first, giving you a way to take out the circle, but that alone wasn't enough. You needed a push at just the right moment. You needed to be angry and desperate. You-"

Spike cut her off. "Just say it, say her name. She's not dead anymore."

Angel understood. Lilah was right. It had been Fred's death that had pushed him to take on the circle. It had been his need to make her death mean something. He'd confessed as much before they initiated their power play. "So you're saying I would have gone evil if it weren't for Cordelia's message and Fed's death?" He asked "I don't believe that."

"Me either," Buffy said "Angel wouldn't go dark."

"You thought he had." Faith reminded Buffy

"Oh shut up Faith." It was Buffy's voice, but not her that spoke. Four familiar but strange figures emerged from the shadows. Buffy's doppelganger was covered in scars and wore what appeared to be a permanent scowl. "We have no interest in you or your words. Die now."

"That's my cue to go." Lilah vanished

"Dibs on evil Buffy." Faith said

"Dibs on evil Faith." Buffy retorted

As the two slayers engaged their opposites Spike and Angel exchanged a look. "Don't take the resentment I take out on your look-a-like personally." Spike said

"Never," Angel promised "And likewise,"

Angel threw a punch at a Spike that appeared identical to the other Spike. Angel could even sense that this one had a soul. Although something about it was wrong. All four of the doppelgangers were wrong. They were real, but not quite right; they were almost thin. Their connection to reality was weaker than it ought to be. "You want to dance dad?" Evil Spike asked

"Sure kiddo," Angel said "But you won't live to the end."

"As long as I take you down as well." Evil Spike replied "You took everything from me."

Angel rolled his eyes. "That old line? Seriously?"

"My life wasn't enough." Alternate Spike said as he dodged a blow from Angel and landed an uppercut on Angel's jaw. "You had to have my destiny and my girl as well."

"I didn't kill you, Drusilla did." Angel reminded the vampire, although he wasn't sure if that was true in the alternate universe this Spike was from.

It must have been because Spike didn't contradict him. "Who killed Drusilla?" He pointed out instead "Who turned her in the first place? That poor sweet innocent girl,"

Angel didn't have a good argument for that. "You can't blame me for all your problems."

"I can though, that's the rub." Spike shoved Angel into the rock and pulled a stake from his back pocket. Angel grabbed the vampire's arm and twisted it. Spike dropped the stake.

Angel tried to flip the vampire, but Spike elbowed him in the face. Spike landed a few good punches and picked his stake back up. The vampire promptly dissolved into dust. Buffy stood there holding her own stake. She grinned at Angel. Angel couldn't keep a silly smile off his own face until he noticed Faith and Spike were still facing their respective adversaries. "I'll take me, you take you?" He suggested "Faith didn't give you much trouble huh?"

Angel picked up evil Spike's stake as Buffy replied. "The head games trick is old."

It didn't take long for Angel to take himself out while the evil doppelganger was distracted by fighting Spike. Buffy finished herself in even shorter order. "No problem," The slayer said "When is the Ram going to give us a real challenge?"

"Is that what you think is going on?" Lilah asked as she reappeared

"What do you mean?" Angel asked

"You think she wants these childish projections to defeat you?"

"Well yeah," Buffy said "What else would the point be?"

Lilah eyed Angel's bruises. "To erode you as she cannot be eroded."

Angel frowned. "She's just trying to soften us up?"

Lilah nodded. "Yep,"

"So how do we get to her without going through all these ridiculous trials?" Angel asked

Lilah shrugged. "She appears when she wants to."

"Then we won't play her game." Faith said "We can just wait here."

"And starve to death." Buffy said

"Bloody good plan," Spike said

"Well I don't want to play her game." Faith said

"We have to make her play ours." Angel said "We have to fight her on our terms."

"Impossible," Lilah said "This is her home turf."

Angel closed his eyes and thought. There had to be a way to draw her out. There must be some kind of inflammatory statement he could make to bring her forward to face them. Perhaps mentioning the death of her sister, but Angel doubted that would suffice. He didn't think the love they shared could be strong enough, not with such evil creatures. Perhaps he could appeal to her pride. No, he had to offer her something. What was it the Wolf had said? The Ram liked to watch what was most depraved in humanity. Angel opened his eyes. "You've seen what we're capable of!" He shouted "You've seen what I've done! I have more to show you!"

A still silence pervaded. "Okay," Spike said "Not sure what that was supposed to accomplish, but whatever it was it didn't work."

"I'll make a bet with you! My soul against your life!"

"Are you insane?" Buffy shouted

The Ram walked from around the corner. The tunnel stretched and grew into a dome with a radius the length of a football field. A Ram the size of an Elephant, with horns like spears no man or even vampire could ever lift, towered over them. "We're fucked." Spike said

"We can do this." Buffy said "We can."

A horrible laugh came from the creature. It sounded like Cthulhu's cough. A voice like boulders falling from a volcano onto an unsuspecting village spoke. "You will regret this."

They raised their enchanted swords. "Go for the neck." Angel said

"Or anything you can hit." Faith said

Angel looked at the neck he would only be able to reach if he stood on Buffy's shoulders while she stood on Spike's while they were all on their tip-toes. "Right,"

"Avoid the horns." Buffy said

"Blood brilliant advice," Spike said "Ready to stop talking and start swinging?"

The Hart dragged her hand along the warm dark stone of the corridor as she walked toward her impending confrontation with the warriors. She could feel her dimension separating from the human's. Yet even when the connection had been completely severed she knew she would be able to feel her old home better than ever. Her old teacher's plan had multiplied her ties to the earth so that her previous connection was less than a single percentage point of what it was now. On top of that there was the fall out of this little conflict. True, they had not won the battle, but they would win the war. Soon the world would belong to the Wolf, Ram, and Hart. All she had to do now was have a nice little chat with the warriors, see to the raising, and wait. The rest would take care of itself. The Hart smiled. She was tempted to hum a little tune. But what could capture this moment in the most appropriate manner? Only the moment itself, which she would savor in silence. The Hart let the tunnel shrink so that she could touch both walls. Oh what a joy it would be to be gone from this place, and each moment here reminded her that soon she would be savoring the joy of a departure. She could taste the victory, like one tasted the sauce simmering on the stove. The air itself absorbed the flavor of her cooking victory.

Angel ducked the Ram's charge. He swung upward and slashed her calf. The blood ran freely, splashing down his blade and coating his hand and arm. The creature didn't even seem fazed by this. Angel hit the ground to avoid being trampled by a hoof. He glimpsed his companions fighting in a similar state of futility. The Ram was so large it was almost like fighting a coordinated army rather than a single beast. Angel ran over to Spike and gave him a meaningful look. Spike nodded. Angel handed Spike the sword and Angel tossed him in the air, holding both blades. Spike drove the blades into the beast's ribs. It swung its head, knocking Spike to the ground. Angel ran over to see if he was all right and the Ram kicked Angel. Angel flew into the wall at the other end of the gigantic dome. Angel pulled himself to his feet in time to see the Ram toss her head again. Faith went flying, more vertically than horizontal.

Angel saw that the swords were still imbedded in the Ram. If he could just get to them and drive them further in. Angel ran for the Ram. The ram slammed its foot down toward Faith, who only managed to roll out of the way at the last moment. Buffy ran to help her up, but was kicked away by the Ram. The Ram lowered its head and impaled Faith, who didn't manage to dodge the blow this time. Angel gaped as the Ram pulled its horn from Faith's abdomen, leaving a gaping bloody hole. "Faith!" Angel didn't know if it was him or someone else who screamed.