The master of Munich was a large imposing vampire, used to having his way. Few beings, vampire or demon, dared to cross him. It was rumoured among the older vampire clans that even Angelus, the Scourge of Europe, and his favourite childe, William the Bloody, feared him so much that the two well-known and respected vampires made it a point to stay out of his territory. No one dared to defy to him...no one but one annoying mortal, who seemed to take perverse pleasure in angering him. In the past fourteen months he had lost more minions to that annoying bitch of a Slayer then he did during the final days of World War II. Minions that had survived two World Wars, the Black Plague and the Spanish Inquisition! Only to be systematically dusted by a determined mortal bent on revenge. He had underestimated his foe, believing her to be some foreign child easily disposed of with little effort.

After losing five of his best minions in one night to the Slayer, he had changed his tactics targeting her Watcher in the mistaken belief that it would destroy her as well. Little did he know that act would signal the end of his centuries long reign. The night he had the Watcher captured and beaten to death was the end for him and his powerful clan. The Slayer had changed tactics on him in retaliation. No more was she prowling the cemeteries and streets for him and his clan.

No, the Slayer had begun to hunt in his own lair. Staking three of his oldest childer in his home! Leaving their dust for him to find after an enjoyable night out on the town. Then she had the nerve to enter his chambers one night to deliver a personal message to him. While on one hand he was enraged that a lowly mortal would dare to treat him in such a manner, on the other he found himself forming a respect for the daring young Slayer. Anyone crazy enough to walk into his lair just before sundown to personally deliver a threat upon his un-life, deserved his respect. In another time and place he would have turned such a daring mortal to stand at his side for eternity. But it was too late for that. In his haste to rid his city of the Slayer he had made costly mistakes. His respect among other master vampires was now at stake, he had to kill her to protect his reputation. However, he was nothing, if not an honourable vampire, something that was rare among his kind. The Slayer had proven herself to be a worthy adversary and as such her death would be that of a warrior.

Well it would be if she would stay still long enough for him to kill her! Even now as he had her surrounded by hundreds of minions, cutting off all possible escape or rescue, she fought on with a savagery and skill he had not seen in nearly three thousand years. He wasn't sure where she had learned to use a sword, he was sure that her Watcher had not lived long enough to teach her, but whoever taught her, had to be commended. She had obviously learned her lessons well and was on her way to making a reputation for herself as being the Slayer that had dusted Munich's master.

The two, Vampire Master and Slayer, had fought for well over five hours in the secluded factory picked for their showdown. The assembled vampires watching with yellow/gold eyes as they cheered on their master, all eager to taste the Slayer's blood. But the battle had not gone as many of them had envisioned it...the Slayer had put up more of a battle than they had first thought she would. Even wounded, a seven inch gash in her side hampering her maneuverability, she had been able to counter every one of the master's blows. Even mounting a few counteroffensives of her own that had sent the vampire on the retreat.

Things were not going well at all for the vampires, the Slayer seemed to be toying with their master, almost mocking him as she held onto what little strength she had left in open defiance.

However the battle between master and Slayer ended not in one final sword thrust, or stake thrust for that matter. But in a gunshot, a shot that sent the Slayer to one knee. The other knee shattered by a bullet from a fledgling that had grown bored with the battle and wanted his share of the Slayer's blood now. Even crippled by a bullet the Slayer had not let go of her sword, able to block the vampire's weapon at the last moment.

For a long beat, Master and Slayer stared into each other's eyes before one shot wad fired into the mortal's back effectively ending the battle.

"Nein!" Munich's master growled stepping away from his adversary, his yellow/gold eyes searching the crowd for the minion who dared to interfere. Almost immediately his gaze settled on the fledgling holding the still smoking gun. With one last annoyed growl, the master relieved the younger vampire of his head, something the fledgling obviously had no further use for after being turned.

A noise from behind him brought the master's attention back to the Slayer, who had not only remained conscious, but was in the process of pulling herself into a sitting/leaning position against a large crate. "You are dying, Slayer," the vampire said in a heavily accented voice, noting with a touch of pride as the Slayer lifted her sword with a very unsteady hand refusing to surrender even in death. 'This is an enemy worth fighting.' He acknowledged silently.

"Ja, Haupt Jürgen it would seem that way," the Slayer replied with a small grin. "Just when I was getting the hang of the language too," she added in a shaky voice before a fit of coughing racked her battered body.

"But not today..." the master finished, coming to a decision. "Karl! Take the Slayer to nearest hospital," he ordered suddenly, speaking English for the benefit of his worthy foe.

"Why?" the Slayer questioned in a shaky voice. Just when she thought she had the vampire figured out, he goes and does something to throw her off balance. 'Inconsiderate bloodsucker,' she thought ruefully, the sword in her hand beginning to feel like it weighed a ton or so.

"We are not finished with our battle, Slayer," Jürgen replied in an even voice. "When I kill you it will be in a fair fight," he continued as the Slayer finally lost her battle with consciousness. "We will meet again Kirby Ryn."

"What the hell do you mean, there's another Slayer?" the dark blonde woman all but growled in the backseat of the rented car. She was staring at her companion who had spoken the words like he had lost his mind somewhere over the Pacific during their long flight into the country. "And more to the point, why the fuck wasn't I told until now?"

"There are two actually," her companion admitted in a low voice, briefly wondering how much it would hurt if he jumped out of the fast moving vehicle to escape the angered woman seated next to him.

"Two! There are two additional Slayers besides me?" The woman actually growled, a massive headache forming behind her eyes. "You're saying that whole 'In each generation' stuff is a load of bull?"

"Er, no actually, that part is quite true. In every generation there is only one Slayer...unless the current Slayer happens to be revived after death. Which you were in Munich," the man explained somewhat nervously, recalling the near legendary temper of the Slayer next to him.

"All right, that explains one additional Slayer. But not two of them...or why in the hell I was never told," the very un-amused Slayer replied after a moment, trying very hard to regain some control of her well-known temper, at least until she got some answers. 'And they better be damn good answers or I'm going to be paying a little visit to London,' she told herself firmly.

"One of the current Slayers died and was revived like you were. As for not being told...perhaps it is best if we wait until we meet the other Slayers?"

"You hear this Kimber?" the Slayer asked rubbing her throbbing temples with one hand, wondering just how things could get any more screwed up. "There are three of us and Mattias wants to wait until we are all in the same room to drop that little bomb on us."

From the relative safety of the front seat, the tall redhead chuckled evilly, wondering just how her friend was going to react to the total truth. Unlike the Slayer, she knew all about the Council's dirty little secret and why they had gone to so much trouble not to tell the "chosen one" that she wasn't alone in her sacred duty. At first she had been appalled, then she had gotten ticked off, especially after learning all about Sunnydale and the problems the Slayer living in the town had been going through over the past few years. 'There is going to be hell to pay before all of this is over with,' Kimber thought, her evil little grin growing. 'Its about time the Council got taken down a peg or two.'

Rupert Giles paced the confines of his flat lost in thought. A little over twenty-four hours ago he had received a ring from a fellow Watcher he had not seen in nearly ten years. While the call itself was pleasant, the two men taking the time to catch up with old times, the request the other Watcher made of him was a bit troubling. Why Mattias Reinhardt would want to meet him and his two "rogue" Slayers was a bit of a puzzle to Giles. And over the past few years, the former Watcher had developed a loathing for puzzles that involved the Council, they usually meant trouble for him and his slayers.