"We're all gonna need lots of therapy," Xander muttered under his breath, looking around their latest nighttime battlefield. The New Council troubleshooter and a Slayer squad from Cleveland had been hot on the heels of a particularly troublesome vampire who'd fled north all the way to this rocky Canadian beach on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Xander really hoped that vamp came up with his latest scheme here on the spur of the moment to delay them before taking off again. If this blood-drinking demon had actually planned it in advance, he'd just demonstrated some definite smarts by targeting one of the biggest psychological vulnerabilities of teenage girls.

Worriedly eyeing how an ash-covered Minette, Cathy, Lorena, and Jackie were sprawled out nearby on the beach shingle, each of them sobbing as if their hearts were breaking, Xander started over there to console them. Putting his feet with care so as not to twist an ankle on the rough ground, the man with an eyepatch couldn't help thinking how to deal with this exact kind of situation in the future. Training for it was going to be a big problem, even if all it'd take was to order from online a few dozen—

The last survivor hiding under a sheltering rock of the recent demonic horde turned en masse by a very hungry vamp peered with glowing yellow eyes filled with pure evil at the approaching meal on two legs. Crouching down in expectation of slaking its own thirst from the throat of that human, an unholy creature waited for the proper moment…and then it leapt with a bone-chilling snarl straight at Xander.

With the quickness gained from years of fighting supernatural nightmares, Xander swung hard his mace to smack away that attacker without it getting nearer than arm's-length. Sailing through the air like a struck baseball, the diminutive demon hit the ground a couple yards away, bounced several times, and then recovered to hiss in disappointed fury at the human coming over to finish the job.

Pausing at a prudent distance to do some practice swings with his mace, Xander regarded that utterly adorable animal he was just about to put down for once and all. Even with the ridged features and its tiny fangs, this baby harp seal was so gosh-darned cute.

Sighing once more, "Yeah, serious therapy," Xander commenced clubbing the miniature vampire to death.