The arc is written by Jane Espenson, Steven S. DeKnight, Drew Z. Greenberg, Jim Krueger, Doug Petrie.

In California, paparazzi witness Harmony Kendall drinking blood from a celebrity's neck outside a hot spot nightclub.

Soledad loses and is killed, which just increases the popularity of the show and the negative public image the Slayers now have.

Investigating the company building, they find the staff dead and sucked dry of all bodily fluids.

However, when she is confronted, Nisha reveals that Andrew is responsible for breeding the extinct Ragna Spider demon back into existence, though with exceptional genetic modifications.

As Andrew frees Nisha, he tries to defend his actions; as he and Buffy argue, Simone arrives by teleportation.

Buffy takes Simone's gun and shoots the Ragna Spider's cage, setting the demon loose on rogue Slayers while the Italy Squad evacuates.

Back at their base of operations, Buffy tells Andrew that he should feel proud of what he has accomplished and how he was willing to lay down his life for the innocent and greater good.

Giles discovers that Duncan has gone mad and fed the children of the town to the demon that inhabits the seeming Sanctuary.

However, the ensuing battle ends quickly since Cradle's army consists of only six people and Buffy and Xander focus their attention on finding Dawn in the woods.

The dollmaker tries to console Dawn by revealing he asked the other dolls to keep her from escaping to prevent her from breaking herself open and spilling her soul.

Dawn makes another failed attempt to escape and as she cries out for Buffy to save her, Kenny bursts into the dollmaker's cottage.

The story-arc is a very loose one compared to the previous ones and each issue involves certain characters point of view of the over-all plot.