Andrew summoning the wrong demon and accidentally forcing it to play nice is hysterical though his not being able to stomp the rival slayers is a big down side. This was a wonderful description of Melvin stepping carefully, keeping to the letter of Andrew's poorly worded law: Instead of stamping the Slayers into flat, pink jellies like he should’ve, Melvin suddenly reminded Spike of a circus elephant on its hind legs, gingerly dancing away from the handful of girls who were brave or stupid enough to engage him.

The description of Spike going down under that wave of slayers was vivid and frightening, and then you raised the ante with Xander and Giles whisking Buffy away from what she perceives as Spike's inglorious death. Giles is going to have to pay for that.

Author's Response: Thanks, BP. It's funny how many demons of theology *don't* smash people to bits. According to literature on the subject, there are actually demons in charge of stuff like "rationalized philosophy" and "the mathematical sciences" and whatnot. Weird, right?

Gotta love an ancient hell demon that sounds like he came straight outta 90s California. Very much one of my favorites. But Spike is currently being danced upon by a bunch of little girls and Andrew is somewhere unknown, and I still really gotta go to bed right now. More for tomorrow, I guess. Great story.

Author's Response: You're very kind Thank you for all the reviews.

Absolutely brilliant fic. Your Andrew is perfect and the suspense level is going through the roof. Can't wait for the next chapter.
(found this fic through a rec on KCarolJ's journal, btw)

Author's Response: Thanks so much, Constance. I'm glad you're enjoying it. And thanks to Kristen for sending readers my way. You rock, K!

I started reading this story a few days ago and I'm all caught up now. Not exactly easy entertainment, that. It's probably why so few people have left reviews -- you can get a little lazy when all you read is fluffy Spuffy high-school fics and some such...
But for this fic, boy is it worth the trouble... It took me a while to realise that even when I'm totally confused about what's going on, I can just read on and trust you to make things come to light farther down the page. It's pretty ingenious and inventive, and I like it a lot.
And Melvin is absolutely hilarious, as well as Andrew when he isn't unconscious.
As for our two love birds, well things don't look like puppies and rainbows for now, especially since Spike's about to die and Gilles is being his annoying I-know-what's-best self once again, but hey, I'm game for more. Much, much more. And soon, hopefully!!
Great work!

Author's Response: Hi survenante. Thanks for writing such a kind review. It gave me a jolt to hear that you trust me in the plotting. It is kind of a compilcated plot, and I've tried really hard to stay consistent. Luckily, I've drawn all kinds of maps and diagrams and pie charts and such to help me remember the important stuff, so hopefully I can keep everything in one piece until the end. And I'm so *psyched* that you're digging it sans puppies and rainbows. After all, puppies pee on the floor a lot for the first few weeks, and you can't have rainbows without rain. I was never really interested in writing a instantly gratifying story where they get together on the page 2 or something and go see a movie, although I understand that some people really like that stuff, too. But I'm so happy that there some people out there who dig the rough-stuff too.

Oh CHRIST. Pardon my blasphemy, but this is a friggin'. Amazing. Chapter. Exciting adventure, Buffy's disturbing disorientation,, and the still wonderfully-hilarious demon (Melvin Peterson? BWAH!!!) make this a roller coaster I want to ride again and again. *toddles off to pimp!*

In other words, Jarod, you rock the effin' house.

Author's Response: Don't know how I can thank you for that, K. You're so sweet. I think Mel's my new favorite whipping boy (next to Xander, of course) . Thanks for being so patient and wonderful! J