VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3, 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 11:43:43 05/28/03 Wed
Author: First aired Wednesday 28th May 2003
Subject: Episode 8.16 - "CONNECTED" by Wyvern and BunnyPhobia (Part II)

CUT TO: The Summers living room. Faith and Kennedy stand almost toe-to-toe, angry expressions on their faces. They are arguing. Dawn is still on the floor with the cushion, we get the impression that she hasn’t moved since we last saw her. Anya is initially sitting in a chair. She gets up, walks a few paces, looks as if she’s about to say something, then sits back down again, shaking her head. She starts muttering and continues to do so throughout the scene, over (or under) all the other dialogue.

ANYA
(muttering) I can’t believe it… I just can’t believe it… Xander wouldn’t do this. Something’s wrong… Xander couldn’t kill anyone…

CUT TO: Medium two shot of Faith and Kennedy, side view, facing each other.

FAITH
Do you have the first idea what you’re suggesting? Hello, wanted fugitive here! You call the cops, it’s thank you and goodnight for this slayer!

KENNEDY
Well, maybe that’s a good thing! I mean, sure it’s useful having you around, but you know, we’ve already got a slayer. And to be honest, sometimes one’s too many.

FAITH
And again I say, did you get a clue? Without me, or B, who’s gonna stop all the shit that happens? You?

KENNEDY
(shrugs) Think this is about me? Looks to me like you need to kill someone just to fit in around here. Xander crossed a line tonight. It stops now.

FAITH
And you think you can make that decision? You think you can decide what happens to Xander? You can decide what happens to me?

CUT TO: Covering shot of living room from front corner of the room opposite the entrance. Everyone can bee seen, as can the stairs.

FAITH
(laughs grimly) What about Giles? What about your girlfriend? Gonna lock them up and throw away the key as well?

KENNEDY
Leave Willow out of this. (uncertain) She paid for what she did.

ANYA
(shouts)Just stop it, both of you!

Dawn gets up, throws the cushion aside and runs upstairs. The camera follows her as she goes into her room. She starts looking for something on her dresser but then is distracted by the sound of a car drawing up.

CUT TO: View to street from Dawns’ window. A police car draws up outside and a uniformed officer gets out.

CUT TO: Dawn at window, turns and leaves the room and over to the top of the stairs.

CUT TO: Covering shot as before.

DAWN (v/o)
The police are here!

CUT TO: Kennedy and Faith in mid shot

KENNEDY
(there is a grim smile on her face)Sorry, Faith… it had to be done.

FAITH
No… I’m the one that’s sorry.

KENNEDY
(Slightly puzzled) What do you have to be sorry for? Apart from the obvious?

FX: Knock at the door

FAITH
Oh, just… this!

Faith tucks a foot behind Kennedy’s knee and knocks her to the ground. She then steps behind her, pulls her into an armlock, pulls her to her feet and pushes her towards the door. The camera follows as she forces her into the hall to the basement door. She pulls it open, and throws Kennedy down the steps. We see Kennedy fall from Faith’s POV. Faith closes the door on her.

FW: Knock at the door, more insistent

CUT TO: Wide shot of vestibule from above the bottom stair, approximately. Anya walks up to the door, gathers herself, smoothes down her skirt, fluffs her hair and opens the door to the policeman.

POLICEMAN
Good afternoon ma’am. We received a call from this number suggesting that a serious incident was in progress.

ANYA(innocently):
Incident?

POLICEMAN:
Yes.

ANYA:
Oh, oh you mean the incident.

Anya smiles knowingly.

POLICEMAN:
Yes. Look, uh, Miss…

ANYA(suddenly obtaining a Latino accent):
Veronica.

She pouts, then tosses her hair.

ANYA:
Call me Veronica.

POLICEMAN:
Well, er, Ma’am - Veronica – may I come in?

Anya laughs slightly, moves closer.

ANYA (without the accent): There’s no need. Really. You should take your… manly shoulders to a real emergency, where you can be strong, and lift heavy objects.

POLICEMAN: Ma’am, we received a call…

Anya starts to run her hands over the cops shoulders and arms.

ANYA: Have you ever thought about going into construction?

POLICEMAN: Ma’am!

ANYA (sighing): Ok. Fine. But when people hate you for wearing uniform, and not being naked digging the soil, don’t blame me.

The Policeman coughs.

POLICEMAN: A call was made earlier today…

ANYA: Yes, yes, about the incident. Well you’ll be pleased to hear that the incident was merely a very embarrassing misunderstanding involving a cat and my hamster.

Anya beams.

ANYA: Really.

The policeman sighs, and steps back off the porch, surveying the rest of the house.

POLICEMAN: Well, if you’re sure there’s nothing wrong…

ANYA: Absolutely. Nothing at all.

Anya smiles broadly

ANYA: We are all fine, the cat is recovering well, and if you ever wish to come round and pretend you’re a constructionist, feel free. We might need a window-fixer shortly – our old one can’t…

Anya stops. She is suddenly quieter.

ANYA: Thank you for calling, and purchasing our products. Please come again.

She closes the door. The policeman pauses, then shakes his head. He talks to his radio

POLICEMAN: Dispatcher 215 – There’s no problems here, everything’s normal.

CONTROL (via radio): Check, dispatch 215. Affirmative.

The Policeman looks up at the house, and walks to his car.

POLICEMAN (shaking, murmured): As normal as these lot get. Every time - College guys on PCP, late night destructive fancy dress parties, extortionately high deliveries of flat-pack furniture…. They’re just crazy. They’re just absolutely crazy.

CUT TO: Wide shot. Dawn, at window, watching policeman drive away. Once he goes, she sits on the bed. In front of her are a couple of large books and Tara’s Book of Shadows. She picks up the book of shadows and reads.

DAWN
(Reads)Willow’s using too much magic. It’s changing her, and I don’t like what I’m seeing. She needs to learn that sometimes magic isn’t the answer, you have to let things just happen or everything falls apart. It isn’t even so much what she did to me, it’s the fact that she does it just because she can. It’s like she’s trying to bend the world to her will and you can’t do that. Sometimes you have to just accept the truth of the situation no matter how much it hurts you; you have to get through it and come out the other side. Any other way is a path that you don’t want to get started on. But I worry that it might already be too late… I’m afraid that Willow’s already started down that path and I don’t know if I can call her back. It’s with good reason that it takes a power far greater than mine to turn back the clock.

Dawn closes the book and puts it down on the bed. She sits back and thinks for a moment.

DAWN
Why can’t it be undone?

She starts rifling through one of the books

CUT TO COMMERCIAL

ACT THREE:

EXT. The area near to the cave complex.

Buffy, Giles and Willow are stood in a small group, Willow staring into the caves where Xander disappeared. She seems to be listening, and searching for something. Buffy and Giles are staring at her.

BUFFY: Will?

Willow frowns, closes her eyes…The camera circles the three in its best Matrix fashion.

WILLOW: Shush

Buffy and Giles exchange a look, and Buffy peers into the caves anxiously.

BUFFY (to Giles): What’s she doing? Will?

GILES: Let her concentrate.

Willow, eyes still closed, nods. She’s gasping a little.

WILLOW: That would be good, yeah. Feeling the need for concen…

Suddenly, Willow’s eyes jerked open, a look of fear on her face.

BUFFY: Will? What is it?

WILLOW: I have to stop him Buffy, he’s…

She swallows

WILLOW: I have to stop him.

GILES: Willow, what do you know?

BUFFY: We’ll come with you.

WILLOW (angry, definite): No!

Willow pauses, looks past the others to the caves again, and then back to look at Buffy and Giles.

WILLOW: I have to do this on my own.

The other two look unhappy, as if they’re going to object.

BUFFY: It’s not safe. (beat) Ok, so maybe that was a lame reason, but, this is Xander…We can’t just let you go after him alone.

WILLOW: You can! And I’m digging out my resolve face, you see it?

Willow does her resolve face. Then she softens, and smiles a little.

WILLOW: I can handle myself. It’s only Xander.

She blinks, and Giles looks at her curiously.

BUFFY: But still, I don’t understand why you have to go…

Willow looks at her, and then at Giles, and the Watcher frowns in thought.

WILLOW: I just do. I think…I think Giles understands why.

BUFFY: Why didn’t I get the brain-cells?

Suddenly the earth starts trembling, and a thunderbolt sounds, deafening. The three stagger for balance, as everything roars.

BUFFY (shouting): Earthquake!?

GILES: Highly unlikely.

He looks around. Suddenly from the earth around them crawl out 4 or five mudmonsters™! Buffy manages to stay on her feet, getting into fighting stance. She looks at Willow, who nods.

BUFFY: Go. Be careful.

Willow slips away, running towards the caves. The ground stops shaking, as the army of mudmonsters surround Buffy and Giles. Buffy flicks her hair out her eyes, as the demony things snarl and roar.

BUFFY: I think my bad day just got better.

The demons suddenly leap into attack. Buffy blasts one back with a kick, punches another, flips. Giles rushes towards one of the monsters, gets in a good punch. The monster falls over.

GILES: Yes!

Then another monster, thrown back by Buffy, whacks Giles the upside of his head. Buffy looks on.

BUFFY: Sorry!

Giles manages a weak smile, before falling over.

Buffy turns back to the three remaining mud-monster guys, who are stood, re-grouped, advancing slowly towards her in a small line.

BUFFY: You made me knock out Giles, and he hasn’t done that since at least last Tuesday.

One monster grows at her.

BUFFY: That might just make me hate you – y’know, if you weren’t already evil and…Don’t you know you’re supposed to remove the mud from a face-pack?

She frowns, pauses. One of the monsters snarls.

BUFFY: Wait, do I know you?

One of the monsters lunges for her. Buffy ducks, the Monster’s own momentum sending him flying. The other two run at the Slayer, Buffy puts both arms between them, one hand each around the back of their head, and flips them over. Except their heads stay where they are, ripping from their necks. Then both parts disintegrate.
The remaining mudmonster lies still, unconscious.
Buffy rubs dry soil dust from her shirt, looks around, and remembers Giles.

BUFFY: Giles!

She runs to him. He’s lying on the ground, but he’s coming too. Buffy helps him to sit up. His glasses are wonky.

BUFFY: Are you ok? Sorry about the monster flyage. It was all SuperGrover vs. Grover for a moment. So long as that doesn’t make me Elmo

Giles gives Buffy a look of bewilderment.

GILES: Am I ever going to understand you?

Giles gets to his feet, looking into the caves where both Xander and Willow have gone.

GILES: Did Willow go in there?

BUFFY (nodding): Uhuh. And then these big ugly’s arrived, who I’m sure I’ve seen before…

She kneels down, looks at the last remaining unconscious one.

BUFFY: Are they actually made purely of mud?

GILES (staring at the caves, distracted): Quite probably, yes.

BUFFY: Oh. (beat) So what do they do when it rains?

Giles isn’t listening.

GILES(muttering): She said I’d understand…Why would Willow say that unless…(to Buffy) You say you’ve met these guys before?

Buffy nods, gets to her feet.

GILES: When?

BUFFY: Erm…

Buffy pauses in thought for a moment, and Giles raises an eyebrow.

BUFFY: Look, I’ve been the Slayer for a long time, ok! You should be grateful for that!

GILES: I am.

Buffy looks at him.

GILES: But this could be important.

Buffy bites her lip, then she remembers.

BUFFY (blurting it out): Willow! I fought these guys when I fell down the hole, and Willow was all…They came after me then.

Giles freezes, then looks slowly at Buffy, then past the caves, up the hill in the direction of the Bluff.

GILES (murmured): The book. Anya was right…A connection…

BUFFY: Giles?

GILES: These…mudmonsters – they last appeared when Willow was raising the temple on the Bluff.

BUFFY: That’s nice. And?

GILES: Well don’t you see? All this evidence points to one thing…(pause) I think the temple of Proserpexa is going to rise again.

BUFFY (eyes wide in disbelief): Willow’s going to raise the…? Oh. (moment of realisation) Oh!

GILES (pacing): Yes. We have to stop it, somehow prevent it from happening, stop the ‘second coming’. The raising of this temple can only lead to bad things happening.

BUFFY (dryly): Bad things?

GILES: I felt the term ‘apocalypse’ was getting slightly over-used.

BUFFY: You English and your words.

Giles gives a small smile. Buffy looks one last time towards the caves.

BUFFY: Ok. Lets go stop Prossieknickers or whatever she’s called.

GILES: Prossie…? I’m not going to even say it. Do you ever listen?

BUFFY: Yes. Sometimes. (taking charge) Right, we leave Willow to deal with Xander. I think she’ll be ok. We’ll take care of this temple. We can take care of this temple, right?

GILES:

BUFFY: Great. (sigh) I love my job.

The two start to move off, towards the road.

CUT TO:

INT. Cave Complex

We follow Willow, camera at ground level, as she runs through the tunnels. Xander is up ahead, running also. It’s all very dark and dank.

WILLOW (breathless, called out at intervals): Xander, wait! Xander, please. You don’t need to run, we’re not angry.

Xander isn’t responding, or even indicating that he has heard Willow. She tries a different tact.

WILLOW: Look Xander, we’ve all done some crazy things – but I don’t think this was your fault. I – I think it was me, I think she, she’s using you because of me.

Xander suddenly jerks to a halt. His back remains to Willow, his chest heaving, but he appears to be listening.

WILLOW: I – I’m sorry Xander. I think, somehow, we’re all connected. Everything really is connected, but…but, I think she wanted you to kill Amy.

XANDER (quietly): Wanted?

Slowly Xander turns. His eyes are dark, strong, but contain a hint of fear and hysteria. Then he chuckles slightly, the sound echoing off the cavern walls.

XANDER: Do you think I care anymore? (pause) Will, it doesn’t matter if I was meant to kill Amy or not – she’s still dead. You of all people should understand that.

WILLOW: Xander, no, I didn’t mean that –

XANDER (his voice suddenly even colder): And it doesn’t make any difference. She’s still coming. She has risen, now all she needs is her army, her strength. Her wings.
Once she has that, it won’t matter. Nothing will matter.

Xander stares at Willow, his eyes glinting strangely

XANDER: And We can kill who we like.

CUT TO:

INT. Dawn’s bedroom.

Dawn is sat, cross-legged on the floor. Incense sticks and candles burn around her, her bedroom door shut, the lights off. Tara’s Book of Shadows, plus another book are open in front of her.
Dawn steels herself, eyes determined yet desperate. Then she adds two coloured powders to a wooden bowl, and begins to chant.

DAWN: Mother of Time, I call thee. Lend me thy will, thy power, thy strength. Offer me your hands to roll them back. Undo what has been done. Let the forces build in number within, take away the dark and the sin

Suddenly there is a bang, like a firecracker and the powders in the bowl is suddenly burnt to black ash. Dawn glances down, and then looks ahead, as a small pink ball begins to form in front of her.

DAWN: Huh. Ok…

She takes a breath as if to continue her chant.

CUT TO:

INT. Cave Complex.

Xander and Willow, exactly as we left them.

WILLOW (shaken): You don’t mean that.

XANDER: Don’t I? Face it Will, none of us are who we used to be. And you aren’t going to stop her. No one can.

WILLOW: You aren’t making sense.

XANDER: No? Strange. I had this whole speech worked out, but I guess you broke the crayon I was going to write it with.

WILLOW: What are…what are you going to do?

XANDER: Now? I don’t know. Thought I’d, I dunno, go on the road, see the world from my new perspective. Xander ‘Homicidal’ Harris…They should call me Mack the Knife. Maybe that’s what I’ll do next.
You want to teach me? We could set up a farm.

Willow looks completely distraught.

WILLOW: Xander, don’t.

XANDER: Am I scaring you Will? I’m scaring myself.

WILLOW: I just want to help you, help you make sense of all of this. Y’see, I think you and I are…

XANDER: Make sense? In what way? A police sense?

WILLOW: I didn’t say that!

XANDER (taps the side of his head): But she told me you thought it.

WILLOW: I didn – Who did? !

Xander looks at her, and grins…

XANDER: Yet another mystery

And then he turns and runs.

WILLOW: No! (She holds her hands out in front of her) APPEAR!

Suddenly a wall appears just in front of Xander, the rock blending in, part of the cavern. That exit is trapped. Xander stops, sighs, and then turns around, his jaw working. He’s angry, and yet, at the same time, relieved.

WILLOW (finding strength): You will listen to me Xander. And we will talk.

INT. Dawn’s Bedroom.

The spell is obviously intensifying. The pink ball of energy is growing, casting everything in a strange light, including Dawn’s skin. Sweat runs down her forehead, as she rocks back and forth slightly, obviously struggling under the pressure of the spell.

DAWN: I beg you, in your power, grant me power to see this held. Free Xander from the past, correct and solve, let the place between past, future and now…

Suddenly, a hand clamps down over Dawn’s mouth, preventing her from finishing the spell. She shrieks, the sound muffled, and whirls around as fast as she can. Her eyes widen as she sees who it is.

DAWN (muffled): Spike?!

The blonde vamp, crouched behind her, raises an eyebrow.

SPIKE: You gonna be quiet?

Dawn’s eyes glare daggers. Spike cocks his head, waiting for a reply. Finally Dawn sighs, and nods. Spike removes his hand.

DAWN: What did you do that for!?

SPIKE: You know why, Dawn.

DAWN: No I don’t! I was gonna make everything better again. I was going to undo what Xander did, and bring Amy back to life, and bring him home

SPIKE: By magic?

DAWN: It’s the only thing that would’ve worked

SPIKE: You’ve managed to watch your sister’s best friend nearly destroy the world because of magic, and yet you’re prepared to take the same risks? (beat) What is it with you Summers women? Don’t you learn from past mistakes?

DAWN: This would’ve been different.

SPIKE: Because you might’ve just exploded, as opposed to going all dark and veiny?

Dawn stares at Spike, eyes pleading.

DAWN: Because this is for Xander. He doesn’t deserve to have to run away, to have to hide for the rest of his life.

SPIKE: He has to deal pet. He has to understand what he has done.

DAWN: But he doesn’t! Not when we have magic! That’s the point.

SPIKE (gentyl): No, you’re missing the point. By undoing the past, you’re committing a crime just as bad as murder. That’s the point.

Dawn’s voice cracks.

DAWN: But he has to come home…Spike, we need him.

Spike wraps his arms around her.

SPIKE: He will, eventually. But not because of magic. You have to realise that. (pause) There are too many consequences.

CUT TO:

Willow is screaming. High pitched, scream of fear and pain. The visuals run quickly: picture of Amy, picture of Willow held high in the air, encased by green energy, clutching at her throat. Close up of Prosperexa’s lips, moving without words. Picture of the hole, the camera swooping down it, picture of Amy, laughing. Picture of Prosperexa laughing. Picture of Xander’s hands, and the knife.
The scream cuts off.

FADE TO:
INT. Cave Complex.

Willow is sat on a rock, warily. Xander is pacing back and forth in front of her, agitated. The wall Willow magicked up is still there.

WILLOW: Xand? Xander, you gonna sit down. It’ll be easier to explain if you sit.

XANDER: Really don’t feel like sitting. I can’t believe you’ve got me trapped in here, like an animal! (he looks at one end of the tunnel). Well, half trapped.

WILLOW: You try to run, I can just block off the other end

XANDER: (beat) You won’t stop her you know, she can’t be stopped, her temple will still rise. Everything will be done.

Willow’s face falls.

WILLOW: So it really is her, really is the temple. I was still kinda hoping it wasn’t.

XANDER: There is no hope.

Xander looks at Willow, and for the first time seems to be our Xander, not the crazy, pacing version we’ve seen so far.

XANDER: What have I done Will?

He looks down at his hands, at his shirt, all covered in dried blood.

XANDER: This…this blood. Blood of people I know and love…Faith…

His head snaps upwards

XANDER: She’s ok, isn’t she?

Willow offers a small smile and nods.

XANDER: God, I don’t understand this!

WILLOW: I, uh, I think I might.

XANDER (bitterly): Well, you always were the brainy one. (pause) Go on then – explain it all.

Willow takes her a breath, doesn’t quite know how to start.

WILLOW: Xander, that…That summer, when you saved me, with the speeches and your mouth…

Xander looks at her curiously, stops pacing.

WILLOW: I think something…happened. I wasn’t sure before, but…but what you’ve just said, about the temple, and the way Giles has kept looking at me, and the strange things that’ve been happening…
I think I’ve…(Willow’s eyes fill with tears) I think I poisoned you, when you were saving me.

Xander just looks blank. Then he begins to laugh.

WILLOW: I’m sorry. I am so so sorry.

Xander keeps laughing. Willow looks at him.

WILLOW (tearing up): Don’t!

Xander stops.

XANDER: I’m sorry, it just…it all strikes me as rather funny that’s all. I save you, you ruin my life. Quid pro pro.

WILLOW: Xander, it’s not like that…

XANDER (angry, shouting): Haven’t you ‘poisoned me’. Didn’t my saving of your life result in me killing Amy. You made me stick that blade in Willow, you are the reason I did that. I thought she was killing you…
And it turns out you’re killing me.

WILLOW (quietly): No…

XANDER (pacing, irate, angry): You’re the reason for all of this, you’ve caused all of this. This blood on my hands is there because of you!

Xander suddenly stops, and looks at Willow, his voice is quiet and ominous.

XANDER: Giles was suspicious?

WILLOW (pulling back the sobs): Yes. I think he knows. And then Anya found the book this morning about a ‘second coming’, and…

Xander freezes, and pauses, listening to something.

WILLOW: Xander?

Xander seems to shake himself out of it. He is our Xander again.

XANDER: Will…What’s happening? I feel like I’m being torn in half!

Xander shivers, looks cold, looks around.

XANDER: Where am I?

Willow stands, goes to him.

WILLOW: Xander?

XANDER (jabbering): I want to serve her. I want…But I don’t. I want to stay here, with you and Buffy, and Giles. I want that. Where are they? Where’s Buffy? She’s wants Buffy!

WILLOW: Shhh

Willow guides Xander to the rock, seats him and herself down upon it.

XANDER: Buffy, Willow. Where’s Buffy? We need to warn her, before She gets her.

Willow grips Xander’s hand.

WILLOW: Ok, ok. We’ll find her.

XANDER: Where?!

WILLOW: In a moment.

Close on Willow as she closes her eyes, concentrating.

XANDER: Will?

Willow opens her eyes, half smiling.

WILLOW: It’s ok, I know where she is. She’s making her way to the bluff.

Zoom out to reveal Xander staring at Willow, his eyes cold.

XANDER: That’s what I thought.

Suddenly Xander pulls back his arm and then punches Willow, knocking her back off the rock. She strikes her head against the stone, unconscious.

XANDER: Bitch.

Xander stands, and runs out the way he came.

ACT 4

Act 4 starts as the morning sky is beginning to lighten. Not yet touched by the first pale rays of the sun, the sky is cold and casts everything in gloom. A strong breeze has picked up. The first shot is a sweep of the bluff (think helicopter shot). Xander paces, hair and shirt being blown in the wind. Suddenly he stops. He’s just standing there, not actually doing anything, just… standing. It’s as if he’s waiting for an order from an unseen commander.

CUT TO: Xander, mid shot, to the right of the frame.
FX: Proserpexa fades into shot, semi-transparent as before, behind Xander and filling the left of the frame.

PROSERPEXA
It’s almost time. They are here.

XANDER
(Faintly) I know.

PROSERPEXA
It must not be allowed to remain hidden. You must be prepared to do whatever it takes.

XANDER
I know. It’s just…

PROSERPEXA
Whatever it takes. They must not stop us. You must not fail me.

Xander nods silently

PROSERPEXA
(More softly) You do love me, don’t you?

CUT TO: Proserpexa and Xander now in a longer two shot

FX: Proserpexa becomes fully corporeal

Proserpexa places her hands on Xander’s shoulders, turns him to face her and the camera dollies around them 180 degrees as she kisses him. Xander surrenders mutely to the kiss as the shot reveals Buffy and Giles emerging from the caves and onto the Bluff.

REVERSE ANGLE: Buffy and Giles’s POV. Xander stands alone on the Bluff, eyes closed, arms limp at his sides.

REVERSE ANGLE: Cut back to previous shot, Buffy framed between Xander and Proserpexa

BUFFY
Xander!

FX: Proserpexa laughs and fades away to nothing.

Xander suddenly snaps to, as if waking from a daydream and regards Buffy with confusion.

XANDER
Buffy?

BUFFY
Xander, what are you doing? What are you trying to do? Do you have any idea…

XANDER
(Hesitant) Buffy… get away from me… (Louder, angry) Get away from here!

BUFFY
Or what? You’ll run me through?

Giles steps closer to Buffy, his body language defensive but his expression uncertain

BUFFY
Just stick a knife in me and toss me aside like you did Amy?

XANDER
(Shouts) GET AWAY FROM HERE!

BUFFY
That’s so not gonna happen. I mean, full marks for effort, but not so much for originality.

CUT TO: Buffy, close-up.

BUFFY
(Suddenly all the hurt starts to pour out) Solve a problem by killing a person? Well, great, I’d have liked to have maybe one friend left who wasn’t a killer. But getting kinda tired of this, Xander, what were you thinking?!

GILES
Buffy…

BUFFY
I was there… (Quieter, rich with emotion) I saw what you did. I couldn’t believe it but… I saw it. I stood there and watched and I let a best friend just…

CUT TO: Flashback to killing. Similar to the flashback in Act 2 but with more layers of sound and visuals.

CUT TO: Xander, mid shot, knees buckling. He drops to one knee and shakes his head.

XANDER
(Muddled, trying to shake off images) I… what? (Clearer, stronger) You won’t stop her! (Laughs, not entirely sanely)


CUT TO: Wide(r) shot of the mouth of the caves. Willow emerges onto the Bluff and stands next to Giles.

WILLOW
(Hesitant, worried) Giles? Buffy?

GILES
(Shakes his head sadly) She’s not getting through to him.

WILLOW
I think I can… I think I did, kind of, before he took off again. I’m guessing you figured out what I did. How this is my fault.

BUFFY
The only thing we’re concerned about at the moment is him. How did he react?

WILLOW
Well, I think I might just be developing a migraine that says we were right. Either that or that heads and rocks don’t belong together. Or possibly both.

CUT TO: Xander. He’s back on his feet and pacing like a caged animal. The wind is rising

CUT TO: Willow as she steps forward in front of Buffy and Giles and moves towards Xander

WILLOW
Xander… it’s OK… it’s going to be OK… I know what it’s about… and I understand, but you have to stop.

CUT TO: Xander close-up as he stops pacing

XANDER
(Conflicted) Willow? I don’t want to hurt you.

CUT TO: Willow as before, her hair whipping her face and getting in her eyes

WILLOW
(Slightly flustered, mock-buoyant) Good… no hurting… that’s good. Because we’ve been here before and there was the hurting and the crayons and you saved me. But I’ve got a hunch that all the “I love yous” and kindergarten stories wouldn’t be enough now… (dropping the act) because even if I can stop you now, I can’t save you from what I’ve already done.

CUT TO: Xander, as before

XANDER
You can’t stop me, Will… you gave me to her… (Shrugs and throws open arms)

CUT TO: Willow as before

WILLOW
I know… it’s all my fault… Proserpexa… Amy… the temple… all me. It’s me, Xander, not you… none of it is you. You have to let us stop this… please? We can’t let the temple rise. We can’t let Proserpexa finish what I started…

CUT TO: Wide shot, 90 degree angle to previous, Xander on the right of the frame, Willow on the left. Willow raises her hands to Xander and starts to walk towards him again, slowly.

CUT TO: Xander close-up

XANDER
Willow… no. The temple has to rise tonight. You want to stop the temple, you stop me first.

CUT TO: Willow close-up. Her eyes are welling

WILLOW
If the temple rises, the magicks would destroy me before I could stop Proserpexa. Xander… please…

CUT TO: Aerial shot of the Bluff.

FX: Earth tremors ripple over the Bluff. Giles drops to one knee, Willow falls to the ground. The earth behind Xander begins to crack

CUT TO: Reaction shots – Giles (cu) horrified but academically interested, Buffy (cu) grimly resolute, Willow (cu) tearful and now also dusty. Xander (mid shot) triumphant as the temple starts to rise.

CUT TO: Fast series of cuts – Proserpexa, snakes, Amy’s blood dripping from the knife and falling into the hole, fangs, overlaid with Proserpexa’s hysterical laughter, ending with a dazzling white explosion

CUT TO: Xander as before as the explosion throws him across the ground. He lands face down alongside Willow.

CUT TO: Willow and Xander in foreground of shot, in extreme close-up, Buffy and Giles rush over to them

CUT TO: Wider angle, caves in the background.

Willow pulls herself to her knees and looks at Xander. The side of his face we can see is caked with dirt through which blood is streaking.

WILLOW
(Sobbing) Xander?

GILES
(Crouching to check for a pulse) He’s alive

Xander stirs extremely groggily and moans softly. He’s barely conscious.

BUFFY
Let’s get him home

Willow gets shakily to her feet as Buffy and Giles pull Xander up and support him between them. They run as fast as possible away from the temple, which is still rising from the earth. It’s clear that the spire we saw in “Grave” is only a tiny portion of the building, as the Temple is colossal. Huge gothic arches, laden with gargoyles and occult sculpture cover the front of the temple, and the force of the Temple’s rising is shattering all of the stained glass in the windows. Giant towers, each with a huge stone snake coiled around them stand at each external corner of the temple. The camera pans up until we see the effigy of Proserpexa from “Grave”, but now the arms of the ivory carving are outreached, grasping at the air around it, and the snakes on i’s head are flailing wildly.

FADE

Late morning in the Summers living room. The sun is shining, to all intents and purposes it’s a typical Sunnydale day. Spike stands in a shadowy corner out of the sunlight. Faith sits on the couch with Giles. Kennedy sits on the floor. Buffy paces. Establishing shot covers the whole living room towards the window, the sunlight emphasizing that it is a new day.

KENNEDY
So… I still don’t get it. Did Xander kill her or didn’t he?

GILES
I don’t suppose we’ll ever know for certain. What’s more important is that Xander believes he killed Amy. Whether or not Xander actually killed her, he will now have to live with the knowledge that he carries within himself the capability to take another human life. (Beat) It’s a terrible burden to bear alone.

FAITH
Yeah, it’s pretty harsh. You look in the mirror for the first time afterwards and you think that it’s gonna be Ok, you’ll still be you, but all you see is a stranger. Then all you can do is try to convince yourself you’re fine, strap it on and make like you’re doing OK.

SPIKE
It stops bothering you after a while. Although in my case, it never really bothered me at the time anyway. I get what you say – apart from the mirror part, obviously, but you know the thing about killing is how sodding easy it gets. Time was, I used to enjoy it… (beat) I’m really not helping, am I?

CUT TO: Kennedy, reaction (disgust)

CUT TO: Buffy, medium close-up

BUFFY
But I can’t help thinking… this is Xander. Regular, no super-powers, dry-wall you into the next millennium Xander, the heart guy. The one that sees things. It’s like Giles says, it isn’t even important whether or not he killed Amy…

CUT TO: Kennedy, close-up, expression of disbelief.

KENNEDY
Wha…

GILES
Kennedy…

BUFFY
It’s that last night, he became capable of killing. And now we’ve got two choices. We can turn our backs on him or we can be there for him. I know which gets my vote.

CUT TO: Buffy’s bedroom. Two shot, Xander and Anya.

Xander is sitting up in bed, dressings over one brow, various scrapes on his face and a split lip (as you’d expect from being violently thrown onto your face). His left arm is in a sling. Anya is perched next to him on the bed. Xander looks slightly dazed.

XANDER
(Shakes head) I just don’t understand. I mean, I can’t really remember much of it but there are parts of it that are so clear… I killed someone. Someone I knew, someone I grew up with.

ANYA
Someone who hates us.

XANDER
That isn’t the point. Everything I thought I knew about being me, about right and about wrong… I didn’t think I wanted to kill her, but I still took the knife with me. Why would I do that?

ANYA
You’re asking the wrong ex demon. I killed, maimed and wreaked bloody vengeance for a millennium. (Pensive) You get used to it after a while. But that’s the difference between us, Xander. You’ll never get used to it; you’ll keep this fresh and painful and you’ll wake up with her face in your eyes every morning…

CUT TO: Xander close-up

XANDER
(Quietly) I wanted her dead. When I pushed that knife into her, I meant it, Ahn… it wasn’t like I had a choice, it was this is what you have to do… so I did it.

CUT TO: Anya close-up

ANYA
And in time you’ll let it go. If it makes a difference, I forgive you. After all the people – men – I killed, you still found a place in your heart for me. You were able to see past all that and love me.

CUT TO: Two-shot, reverse angle so door is visible

Anya takes Xander’s “good” hand in both hers and holds it tightly, staring into his eyes.

ANYA
You’re a good man, Xander Harris.

FX: Knock at the door.

The door opens, Willow comes in

WILLOW
Hey

XANDER
Hey, Will… (He looks directly at Willow, holding her gaze)

CUT TO: Two shot as before

Anya takes the hint and stands up, letting go of Xander’s hand. She turns to face Willow, then looks down at Xander and smiles sadly

ANYA
I guess you two need to talk about… things…

Anya walks past Willow and out of the room. Willow comes over and sits where Anya was.

WILLOW
So…

XANDER
So…
XANDER
How’s Dawn?

WILLOW
Better, I think. I’ve just been in and checked on her. You know, it gets rough for her sometimes. But I think she’ll be all right.

XANDER
I don’t know if I will… We don’t kill humans. Last night I did.

WILLOW
Well, not exactly a shining example there myself. When I killed Warren, all I wanted to do was to cause him as much pain as I could. I wanted to make him hurt like I was hurting… (Softer) I wanted to hurt him like he hurt Tara. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time… but even then, I knew it was wrong.

XANDER
But Willow, there’s a difference between what you did and what I did… you were driven to it, I just…

CUT TO: Willow close-up

WILLOW
(Cutting in) Got forced into it by your best friend. You would never have done it if Proserpexa hadn’t been using you to keep us away from the temple. And that was my fault, Xander. Proserpexa, the temple… like I said before, my fault.

CUT TO: Two shot, as before

WILLOW
Amy’s blood is as much on my hands as yours, maybe more.

XANDER
How did you come back, Will?

WILLOW
I think you already know the answer to that. And this is where it got you.

CUT TO: Xander close-up

XANDER
(Realization dawning) This was part of her plan, wasn’t it? This was never about Amy, or about me. We were both used. But Amy’s…

CUT TO: Willow close-up

WILLOW
I’m not sure she’s gone. I mean, we saw the knife, we saw the blood, we…

CUT TO: Xander close-up

XANDER
…disposed of the evidence, I know. She’s gone, Willow. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what made me do it, I made a choice when I used that knife.

Xander shuts his eyes and clearly sees Proserpexa standing behind Amy on the edge of the hole, laughing as he thrusts the knife into her. Amy falls over the edge of the hole and as she falls she begins to laugh. The camera follows her as she falls ever downwards… until she finally hits the bottom

BLACKOUT

FADE IN
The bottom of the shaft. There are broken rocks all around, but the floor is soft and sandy. The camera pans slowly up Amy’s body, which lies in disarray from the fall, from her feet gradually up her body… it lingers over her abdomen. Her shirt is torn where the knife went in and there’s dark blood on the shirt, but she isn’t bleeding. In fact, she looks pretty much healed. We continue to pan up her body, finally settling on her face. Her hands are folded behind her head. Her eyes are closed but she’s smiling. She laughs softly to herself.

FADE

CREDITS

GRRR… ARG.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.