Get It Done
(Summers Residence – Living Room – Night)
(Buffy's walking around the house, checking on the slayers-in-training as they sleep—the floor is crowded with them in their sleeping bags. Buffy bends down to pick up a large, thick book labeled "Greek," and she puts it on the desk before turning out the light.)
(Upstairs Hallway)
(Buffy goes upstairs to check on more potentials in Willow's room. Kennedy's sleeping in the bed with Willow, and several more girls are in sleeping bags on the floor. Buffy hears crying from the hallway, and goes to investigate. In the corner at the end of the hall, Chloe is sitting on the floor, huddled up with her knees to her chest, sobbing.)
Buffy: Chloe? It is Chloe, right?
(Chloe looks up at Buffy, but before she can answer, the First Slayer tackles Buffy from the side, pushing her down the stairs. The First Slayer lands on top of Buffy.)
First Slayer: (snarling, raspy) It's not enough.
(Buffy’s Room)
(Buffy gasps as she wakes from the dream, alarmed. She looks around the room and sees the girls are there and safe. She furrows her brow as she contemplates what just happened.)
(Alley)
(Anya and Spike are walking together down an alley side by side.)
Anya: I'm a bright girl, good education, quick on the uptake. So, tell me, why in the name of almighty Grothnar would I let myself become human again?
Spike: You're really talking to the wrong fella.
Anya: I mean, sure, the vengeance demon gig has some downsides...
Spike: All jobs do.
Anya: But being human? Ugh! You're always icky on the inside, disgusting on the outside.
Spike: (stops, turns to look at her) Your outside's not so bad.
Anya: (blushes) You know, the only thing worse than being human is being trapped inside a house full of humans.
Spike: Preaching to the choir, luv.
Anya: I mean, it's like we live in slayer central. I swear, if Buffy rooms or boards one more of the potential girls, I'm gonna call a—I'm gonna call a health inspector.
Spike: I like my plan better. Get up, get out, get drunk. Repeat as needed. It's just more elegant. (starts walking again)
Anya: (puts her arm through his) Thanks for having me along.
Spike: (looks at Anya's arm through his) Don't mention it.
Anya: At first, I thought... it's weird. Is Spike asking me out on a date? 'Cause that would just be...(unlaces her arm from his) nuts. (laughs nervously)
Spike: Right. I'm just out for the alcohol.
Anya: Right there with you, scooter. (puts her hands in her pockets) Tonight, I plan to drink you under the table.
Spike: You're on, then.
Anya: Good. (shrugs) Of course, once you're down there, I could join you. Kidding. I like my sex on top of the table.
Spike: (looks up to the sky) Would you let it go? You're like a dog with a bone!
Anya: So what?
Spike: It's my bone. Just drop it.
Anya: OK. OK. I wasn't proposing. Time goes by, girl gets hungry. You should know.
Spike: (rolls his eyes) Oh, thank God.
Anya: What?
Spike: Demon.
Anya: (with a demon standing behind her) Huh?
Demon: (pushing Anya to the ground) D'Hoffryn says you die.
Spike: Of course he does.
(Spike kicks the demon between the legs, causing it to double over. Then Spike punches it in the head, knocking the demon to the ground. Spike looks at Anya, then back at the demon, and decides to flee the scene. He grabs Anya by the arm, pulling her hastily to her feet.)
Anya: Oh, hey!
(Spike and Anya run down the alley, away from the demon.)
(Sunnydale High – Buffy’s Office – Day)
(Buffy's sitting at her desk, and Principal Wood (Robin) is standing behind her with his arms crossed. They are both facing the same direction.)
Buffy: This may mean more than you think.
Robin: Is that so? (Show that Principal Wood and Buffy are talking to two young boys who have bruises and ripped shirts.) Because I think what we have here is a couple of chuckle-heads who thought that a cafeteria fist fight would impress. I'm not impressed. Buffy, are you impressed? (Buffy purses her lips and shakes her head disapprovingly) Still, I'm gonna cut you guys some slack this time. (makes a gesture toward the door with his thumb; the kids leave; to Buffy) Third fight this week, and it's just getting worse. (closes window blinds, walks to the front of Buffy's desk) Plus, a rise in vandalism. Three students missing. Tell me something, Buffy, in your professional opinion— (listens to the kids rough-housing in the hallway outside) it's started, hasn't it? (closes another set of window blinds)
Buffy: The Hellmouth has begun its semi-annual percolation. Usually, it blows around May.
Robin: Was it like this before? I mean, it just seems to me as if things are getting bad faster than we thought.
Buffy: We're a little ahead of schedule.
Robin: I can't say I'm too surprised. I knew I signed on for something, but, Buffy, I'm just a guy. Granted, a cool and sexy vampire-fighting guy, but still.
Buffy: (smiles) Don't forget "snappy dresser."
Robin: (smiles) Mm. Thank you. But this is gonna get bigger than me.
Buffy: Yeah, it is.
Robin: That's why I've decided to give you this.
(Principal Wood reaches down under Buffy's desk and pulls up a large leather duffel bag, setting it on her desk with a clunk.)
Buffy: What is it?
Robin: An emergency kit. This bag belonged to my mother.
Buffy: A slayer keepsake. I-I couldn't.
Robin: Well, you have to. Technically, it should have been passed down directly to you through the years, but after my mother died... I guess I just couldn't part with it.
Buffy: Wow!
Robin: I don't know what's inside, exactly, but I know it has something to do with her power. Well, your power now.
Buffy: I-I don't know what to say.
Robin: Try saying, "Thank you, Principal Wood."
Buffy: Thank you, Principal Wood.
Robin: (grins) Ah, call me Robin. Now, I'd like to see where you work.
Buffy: Uh, here, actually. (touches her desk) Uh, th-this is my desk, and, uh, (holds up her pencil holder) these are my pencils...
Robin: No, where you do your other work.
(Summers Residence – Living Room)
(Buffy and Principal Wood walk through the front door to Buffy's house.)
Buffy: So, all the potential slayers—who seem to keep popping up from, like, every corner of the earth— (shuts the door) were getting killed.
Robin: By the First.
Buffy: Agents of. We thought the Council could protect them, but, unfortunately, no one was protecting the Council, and all their watchers were killed. Word got out, and they've all been coming here since.
Robin: Well, there's nothing like the end of the world to bring people together.
Buffy: It's heartwarming. Anyway, this is, uh, it. Command central.
(Andrew storms into the room wearing a white apron and a red and white checked oven mitt on each hand.)
Andrew: Where the hell have you been? (crosses arms) This funnel cake is kicking my ass.
Robin: Yeah, I hear they're tricky.
Buffy: Robin Wood, this is...Andrew.
Robin: (offers his hand) It's a pleasure. (shakes hands with Andrew)
Buffy: Andrew is our—actually, he's our hostage.
Andrew: I like to think of myself more as a (makes quote marks in the air with his mitted hands) "guestage."
Robin: (to Buffy) So, you—you hold him here against his will?
Buffy: Well, he was evil, and people got killed, and now he...bakes. It's a thing.
Robin: Oh.
Andrew: Could we try to just keep our secret headquarters a little bit secret? Keep bringing people in, they're gonna see everything. They'll see the big board.
Buffy: Andrew, we don't have a big board.
(Andrew runs to fetch a white dry-erase board from behind the chair.)
Andrew: I, uh, made it myself.
(The board is approximately 2' x 4', and is labeled: SUNNYDALE "BIG BOARD". Using every color of marker, the board features a hand-drawn map of Sunnydale, with representations of trees, cemeteries, railroad tracks, and the street grid.)
Robin: Oh, I wouldn't have guessed.
Andrew: (pointing to the board) Uh, this is us. And this represents the First in various incarnations. And, uh, there's no pattern to the naked eye yet, but the instant one emerges, yours truly is on it. (Buffy and Wood look at each other, then walk away; Andrew calls after them) Where do we put our receipts?
(Backyard)
(Buffy leads Principal Wood out to the back porch.)
Buffy: You'll have to forgive Andrew. Or not. Your call. We do have a lot more working for us than just the, uh, big board.
Robin: So, I see.
(Pan out to show that the potential slayers are training in the backyard, being led by Kennedy.)
Potentials: Huh!
Kennedy: (hands on her hips) Punch block combo!
Potentials: Huh!
Kennedy: Cross block kick!
Potentials: Huh!
Kennedy: Chamber your energy. Punch block combo! (Chloe does the moves incorrectly, and Kennedy notices, walking up to her.) Hold it! What the hell do you call that, potential? Try that in the field, you are dead. Drop, and give me 20.
Chloe: 20 what?
Kennedy: (in her face) Push-ups, maggot! (Chloe drops to do push-ups; Kennedy turns toward Buffy and Wood, still scowling, then suddenly grinning and giddy.) I love this job! Did you see that? I called that girl "maggot." (to Wood) Hi. (hands on her hips again) Who the hell are you?
Buffy: An ally.
Kennedy: So, what do you think? My girls ready to kick some ass, or what?
Robin: Looking strong.
Kennedy: But...?
Robin: Well, I'm just not sure the First has an ass that you can actually, you know, kick.
Kennedy: (smirks) Guess we'll see.
Amanda: (waving) Principal Wood, hi! It's so weird seeing you outside of school.
Kennedy: (to Amanda) What are you waving at, potential? Attention!
Potentials: Huh!
Kennedy: Rising sun. Begin. (they continue their training as Buffy and Wood talk)
Buffy: You're right, it's not enough.
Robin: That's not what I said, Buffy. It's an impressive group of recruits.
Buffy: They're not recruits. Recruits are...recruited. These girls were chosen.
Robin: You're doing the best you can with what you've got.
Buffy: They're not all gonna make it. Some will die, and nothing I can do will stop that.
(Willow walks out the back door onto the porch, arms full of weapons. She freezes when she sees Principal Wood.)
Willow: Oh, hi. Hey. Well, Buffy, I—I see that our preparation for the school-pep-dance-cheer-drill contest are coming along. (to the potentials) Bring it on!
Buffy: It's OK, I filled him in on everything.
Willow: (lets out a sigh of relief) Oh, thank God! If I had to explain all these weapons, I had nothing. (puts down the weapons)
Robin: Buffy tells me you have been, um—oh, how shall I put it—experimenting. (Willow's eyes grow wide; she casts a "you said what?" glance at Buffy.) With the magicks.
Willow: (laughs nervously) Oh! Yeah. Oh, nothing too heavy, though. Just the lighter, safer stuff. Uh, if Kennedy asks, her pointy stuff's right there. See you inside. (to Buffy) So much cooler than Snyder.
Robin: She really almost destroyed the world?
Buffy: (nods) Yep.
Robin: Remind me not to make her crabby.
Buffy: It might be better if you did.
Robin: How's that work?
Buffy: Oh, I don't know. It's just—the First is coming, and then look at us: the army. We've got a bunch of fighters with nothing to hit, a Wicca who won't-a, and the brains of our operation wears oven mitts.
Robin: Hm. Well, you're redefining the job, Buffy, and that takes guts. This isn't your full arsenal anyway. Show me the vampire.
(Basement)
(Anya and Spike are talking in the basement.)
Anya: But you just let him go.
Spike: After saving your life.
Anya: For now. That was one of D'Hoffryn's killers, Spike. He won't stop coming 'til he kills me.
Spike: Yet here you are, walking, talking, annoying.
Anya: But you fought like such a wimpire, what with the lifting and the running. Why not just kill him?
(Buffy and Principal Wood walk downstairs into the basement while Anya and Spike are talking.)
Spike: Anya, think. I fight, demon boy gets lucky, I get knocked out, you get killed. True? (Anya thinks, starts to speak, rolls her eyes.) We both know the safest and sanest way of saving your life was to keep you with me, away from danger. (Anya grunts, shakes her head and walks away.) No need to thank me. I'm just the one who beat him off. (looks at Buffy) Repelled him would perhaps be the better phrase. (Buffy nods) Demon.
Buffy: Figured.
Robin: (from across the room, not facing Spike) I hope we're not intruding.
Spike: Not a bit. And just what brings our good principal to this neck of the gloom?
Buffy: I'm showing him our operation. Us.
Spike: Fine by me. (nods) Big fight against evil coming up. The more good guys we've got, the longer we'll all live.
Robin: (still not facing Spike) Is that what you are? A good guy?
Spike: (turns from Buffy toward Wood) I haven't heard any complaints. Well, I have heard a few complaints over the years, but then I just killed whoever spoke up, and that was pretty much that. (Woods turns to face Spike.)
Buffy: He's joking.
Robin: (glaring at Spike) No, he's not.
Spike: (looking at Wood) No, I'm not. (softly) But...that's the old me I'm talking about.
Robin: Why don't you tell me about that?
Spike: Not much to tell. I've changed.
Robin: Oh, now that you have a soul. (nods)
Spike: Yeah. That was a big deal. Very... private. (hurt, to Buffy) What, are you just telling everyone now?
Robin: Oh, come on, Spike. Don't blame Buffy. I asked. (walks toward Spike)
Spike: (walks toward Wood) Right, the educator. (facing each other now, only a few feet apart) Yeah, I went to great lengths. Lots of trouble, and now I'm unique. Well, more or less. Got myself a soul, whatever that means.
Robin: And how's that working out for you?
Spike: In progress.
Robin: Well, you've had some time. You've been in Sunnydale, what...?
Spike: Years.
Robin: How many?
Spike: A few.
Robin: Before that?
Spike: Around.
(Spike's gritting his teeth, huffing, pursing his lips as Wood needles him.)
Buffy: (stepping up, nearly in between them) I think we'd better get back upstairs.
Spike: (staring at Wood, talking cockily in his face) Right. Give him the full tour. You don't want to miss a look at her weapons' chest.
(Buffy walks upstairs; Wood follows.)
(Upstairs – Later)
(Buffy's setting up sleeping bags and pillows in Dawn's room while talking to Dawn.)
Dawn: So, I took a look inside that emergency bag of Principal Wood's.
Buffy: And?
Dawn: Smelled weird. Kinda like Grandma's closet, but worse.
Buffy: I didn't know what was possible. Anything we could use?
Dawn: Trinkets, weapons, one very large textbook. (picks up the book, flips through it) Translation's gonna be a bitch, but... Do you know that ancient Sumerians do not speak English?
Buffy: They're worse than the French. Anything else?
Dawn: Uh, yeah. A box. A big, fat, unopenable box. I'm betting whatever the big deal about this emergency bag is, you'll find it in the box. (puts the book down)
Buffy: Good. Keep on it. (walks out of the room) Don't you have any real homework?
Dawn: (following Buffy) Oh, you mean, like, schoolwork?
Buffy: Yes.
Dawn: Well, I've got a system. It's called flunking out. (giggles) No, just kidding. I'm paying someone to do my work. (squeals) I'm kidding. I love to see your eyeballs change color when you think I'm gonna flunk out of— (gasps)
(Dawn has followed Buffy down the hall into another bedroom where they find Chloe hung from a bed sheet from the ceiling. Buffy and Dawn stare, stunned, as Chloe's body hangs from the ceiling by a bed sheet twisted around her neck. Kennedy, Rona, and Amanda come out of the bedroom across the hall and join Buffy and Dawn.)
Kennedy: What happened? We heard— (gasps and covers her mouth)
Buffy: Dawn, get a knife. We're cutting her down.
(Drom out of nowhere, Chloe/First appears, standing beside Chloe's hanging body.)
Chloe/First: Good thinking. But, on the other hand, why rush? Up or down, I'll still be dead.
Buffy: You're not Chloe.
Chloe/First: Yeah, well, neither is she, anymore. Now, she's just Chloe's body.
Kennedy: What did you do to her?
Chloe/First: Nothing! We just talked all night. Well, I did most of the talking, but Chloe is...I'm sorry, was a good listener. 'Til she hanged herself. (to Kennedy) Like when you called her maggot—she really heard that.
Buffy: Don't listen to it, any of you. It's the First.
Chloe/First: Oh, let 'em. The only reason why Chloe offed herself is 'cause she knew what you're not getting. I'm coming, you're going. All this—it's almost over.
Buffy: We'll be here.
Chloe/First: All of you? But wait. I thought— (changing her voice to sound like Buffy) They're not all gonna make it. Some will die, and there's nothing I can do that will stop it. (in Chloe's voice now) Hey, I didn't say it. But I'll be seeing all of you. One by one. TTFN. (disappears in a flash of light)
Buffy: What's TTFN?
Rona: It's "ta ta for now." It's what Tigger says when he leaves.
Amanda: Chloe loved Winnie the Pooh.
Buffy: Dawn, where's that knife?
(Field – Night)
(Someone's digging in the earth with a shovel. It's Buffy, digging in an empty field near a tree. She digs, wiping her brow, then continues digging.)
(Summers Residence – Night)
(Everyone in the house is gathered into the living room for a meeting. The mood is somber as everyone sits in silence, except for the soft sobbing sounds as they mourn Chloe's death. There's approximately ten potentials in the room, plus Willow, Dawn, Anya, Xander, and Spike. Buffy comes into the room carrying the shovel.)
Buffy: Is everyone here?
Kennedy: (sighs) All accounted for.
Buffy: Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? (silence) Let me. (paces) Chloe was an idiot. (Everyone looks at her in shock.) Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it's easy. Just...think of Chloe, and do what she did. And I'll find room for you next to her and Annabelle. I'm the slayer. The one with the power. And the First has me using that power to dig our graves. (throws down the shovel angrily) I've been carrying you—all of you—too far, too long. Ride's over.
Kennedy: (stands) You're out of line!
Willow: No, she's not.
Kennedy: (to Willow) You're gonna let her talk to you like that? Willow, she's not even the most powerful one in this room. With you here, she's not close.
Buffy: You're new here, and you're wrong. Because I use the power that I have. The rest of you are just waiting for me.
Xander: Well, yeah, but only because you kinda told us to. You're our leader, Buffy, as in "follow the."
Buffy: Well, from now on, I'm your leader as in "do what I say."
Xander: Ja wohl! But let's not try to forget, we're also your friends.
Anya: I'm not.
Buffy: Then why are you here? Aside from getting rescued, what is it that you do?
Anya: I provide much-needed... sarcasm.
Xander: (raises hand) Um, that would kinda be my job, actually.
Buffy: You're here because you're scared.
Xander: Same goes for everyone in this room.
Buffy: Fine. Anya, all of you, be as scared as you'd like, just be useful while you're at it.
Willow: Come on, Buffy. You know everyone here's doing everything they can.
Buffy: The First isn't impressed. It already knows us. It knows what we can do, and it's laughing. You want to surprise the enemy? Surprise yourselves. Force yourself to do what can't be done, or else we are not an army—we're just a bunch of girls waiting to be picked off and buried. (Spike stands and walks toward the door.) Where are you going?
Spike: Out. Since I'm neither a girl, nor waiting. All this speechifying doesn't really apply to me, does it? (walks away)
Buffy: (calls after him) Fine. Take a cell phone. That way, if I need someone to get weepy or whaled on, I can call you.
Spike: (turns to Buffy) If you've got something to say—
Buffy: Just said it. You keep holding back, you might as well walk out that door.
Spike: Holding back? You're blind. I've been here, right in it—fighting, scrapping...
Buffy: Since you got your soul back?
Spike: Well, as a matter of fact, I haven't quite been relishing the kill the way I used to.
Buffy: You were a better fighter then.
Spike: I did this for you. The soul, the changes—it's what you wanted.
Buffy: What I want is the Spike that's dangerous. The Spike that tried to kill me when we met.
Spike: (angrily) Oh, you don't know how close you are to bringing him out.
Buffy: I'm nowhere near him. Dawn, get the potentials upstairs, and break out that emergency kit.
Dawn: What are you gonna do?
Buffy: I'm declaring an emergency. (walks out past Spike without acknowledging him)
(Living Room – Later)
(Principal Wood sets down the slayer's emergency kit next to Buffy.)
Buffy: We thought you'd want to be here.
Robin: Yeah, you thought right.
(Kennedy, Willow, Anya, and Xander go through the contents of the bag.)
Dawn: That emergency bag's got some neat stuff in it. Weapons, charms, (holds up the book) advanced reading assignments.
Xander: Yeah, cool stuff, but we've seen it all before.
Anya: (points to the box) Well, not this, we haven't. What's inside it?
Robin: Mm, I don't know. It hasn't been opened since— (Buffy breaks off the lock with her bare hands.) Well, since now.
Xander: (pulls out metal figures from the bag) Puppets. That's it! The First hates puppets! Now if we can just airlift Kermit, Fozzie the Bear, and Miss Piggy into town, the First'll be a-running.
Willow: Those are Muppets.
Dawn: (takes the figure from Xander) And these things are shadow-casters. You put them in motion, and they tell you a story. (references the book) It says you can't just watch, you have to see.
Anya: What the hell does that mean?
Xander: It's cryptic. I don't like it. Every time instructions get cryptic, someone gets hurt—usually me.
Buffy: You can't just watch, you have to see? (to Principal Wood) See what?
Dawn: That's where all my fancy translating skills break down, but I think it's an origin myth. The story of the very first slayer.
Buffy: I-I saw her.
Robin: You saw the First Slayer?
Buffy: The other night—in my dream. It's gotta mean something, right?
(Later)
(In the darkened room, Xander strikes a match and lights the wick at the center of a metal mechanical object. The light fills the room, revealing Dawn, who's holding a large book open in her arms.)
Dawn: OK. According to this, I think—you put on those puppet guys one by one. They cast shadows and the shadows tell the story. First, there is the Earth.
(Xander puts the first metal figure on the mechanical object. The light at the center casts a shadow of the figure on the wall. A tribal drumbeat can be heard in the background.)
Kennedy: What's that sound?
Xander: OK, so far, so creepy.
Dawn: Hmm…okay. (As Dawn narrates the story, Xander puts the corresponding shadow caster figure on the device. As Xander adds the figures to the shadow caster, sounds are also added to the magical soundtrack.) Then there came demons. (Xander puts the demon on the device, growling sounds.) After demons, there came men. (Xander puts the man on the device, chanting sounds.) Men found a girl. (Xander puts a the girl on the device, a girl screams.) And the men took the girl to fight the demon, all demons. They…they chained her to the Earth. (Symbol of a chain.) And then…and I…I can’t read this. Something about darkness…
(The shadow casting device starts spinning on its own.)
Buffy: What about darkness?
(The shadow caster device is spinning, making shadows of the figures on the walls, but the shadows are animated, moving, acting out the story.)
Dawn: It says you cannot be shown. You cannot just watch, but you must see. See for yourself, but only if you're willing to make the exchange.
Xander: When did you get so good at Sumerian?
Dawn: It's not in Sumerian anymore.
(The words on the pages of the book are magically changing into English. Willow and Kennedy stand, alarmed, as the shadow casters tell a story of a demon attacking the chained girl. The device spins faster and faster as the shadows move up the walls. Suddenly, a bright blue light forms at the center of the device, growing in size until it forms a window of light. Buffy walks closer to investigate it.)
Xander: But what does it mean?
Buffy: It means I have to go in there.
Willow: (panicky) No, it doesn't! Where does it say that? It doesn't say that!
Robin: Buffy, you don't even know what you're exchanging. You don't know if you're ready yet.
Buffy: That's the point.
Willow: No. Buffy, we don't know where you're going or how we'll get you back.
Xander: Buffy, you can't.
Willow: How will we get you back?
Buffy: Find a way.
(She jumps through the window of light; the portal closes behind her.)
Willow: She's gone.
Xander: Huh.
Anya: What was that about an exchange?
(There's a flash of light, and then a large, growling demon appears.)
Xander: Ah, this must be the exchange student.
(The demon grabs Xander by the shirt collar and throws him across the room, breaking furniture as he lands. Anya, Kennedy, Willow, Spike, and Principal Wood are standing there in shock as the growling demon now turns its attention to them.)
Kennedy: Willow! Use your magic. Send him back!
Willow: Um, trying. Redi!
(The demon backhands Willow, sending her across the room. Wood pulls out throwing stars and hurls them at the demon. Then he engages the demon in hand-to-hand combat until the demon finally pushes him to the ground.)
Kennedy: Weapons.
(Dawn hands Kennedy a sword, while also taking one for herself. Kennedy charges at the demon, whaling on it with the sword; Dawn follows suit with her sword. The demon fights the girls, but they are no match for it. It punches Kennedy, sending her across the room. Just then, Spike jumps on the demon's back.)
Spike: Get out of here—all of you. Unless you want to end up all dead and useless.
Kennedy: (from the couch where she sits, injured) What are you gonna do?
Spike: What I do best.
(Spike slams the demon's head into the wall, but it turns the tables on him, throwing him so hard into the ceiling that he breaks through it and lands on the floor upstairs. The demon breaks through the closed French doors, smashing glass as he leaves the house. Willow sits up where she'd fallen. Xander also tries to stand. Principal Wood helps Anya stand.)
Dawn: (to Kennedy, who's inspecting her bloody hand) Are you injured?
Kennedy: Just hurt. Don't make a case out of it. (to Xander and Willow) How 'bout you?
Xander: I think we'll live.
Anya: (looks at the ceiling) Except maybe Spike.
Kennedy: Is getting thrown through the ceiling what he does best?
Dawn: (sighs) I'll go check on him.
Anya: We've got bigger problems than that.
Robin: Yeah, demon loose; no slayer.
Willow: We need Buffy.
Xander: You gotta get her back. Looks like it's spell'o'clock.
Anya: Which spell? I mean, didn't you see that thing? And you expect to reopen the portal without sending Willow off the deep end?
Willow: (frowns, nods) Thanks for your support.
Anya: Well, it's true. We're going to have to find another way.
Willow: (shakes her head) There isn't, and Buffy knew it. I've got to get her back.
Kennedy: We don't even know where she went.
(Shadow World – Desert – Day)
(Buffy tumbles through the portal and finds herself in the desert. It looks like where she had gone once before with Giles on the spiritual retreat. The lighting is strange, as if brightness and contrast have been turned super-high, giving the scene a supernatural feel.)
Buffy: Well, guess that worked.
(She hears chanting nearby and goes to investigate.)
(Summers Residence – Living Room)
(Dawn's holding the book from the slayer's emergency kit. Willow, Kennedy and Xander are gathered around her in the living room.)
Xander: Dawnie, what's the book say?
Dawn: Not much. Once Buffy left, it got a little tougher to read. (holds up the book to show the writing has changed)
Willow: Oh. (walks out of the room to the kitchen; the others follow)
Kennedy: It's OK. We'll just start with what we know, and take it from there.
Xander: Great, so far we know Jack about squat. Let's go from there.
Kennedy: You've got the magic, use it.
Willow: I-I-I don't even know what magic to use.
Kennedy: Why not just try all 32 flavors. Worst thing that happens is you go brunette.
Willow: (grabs first-aid kit from kitchen cabinet) That's not the worst thing that can happen. (attends to Kennedy's wounded hand)
Anya: She's right. And you know we have a choice. We can risk Willow's life and the rest of our lives to get Buffy back, or we leave her out there.
Robin: If we play it safe back here, Buffy could stay lost.
Anya: You missed her "everyone sucks but me" speech. If she's so superior, let her find her own way back.
Xander: Anya, the First is already up and running. Every second that Buffy's not here, is an opportunity for it to show up and rip us to pieces.
Dawn: Willow, how would you get Buffy back?
Willow: That's what I'm saying—I don't even know.
Dawn: OK, but if another witch was to do it, where would she start?
Willow: Uh, physics, principles, basic laws...
Dawn: Such as?
Willow: Uh, conservation of energies. You can't really create or destroy anything, only transfer.
(Anya scoffs.)
Dawn: I'm sorry, are you helping?
Anya: No, but at least I'm not galloping off in the wrong direction.
Willow: Magic works off physics.
Anya: Not without a catalyst. If you're talking about transferring energies, you need some kind of conduit.
Willow: Like a-a Kraken's tooth.
Anya: Yeah, skin of Draconis, um, ground up Baltic stones, something...
Dawn: OK. Good.
Kennedy: Plus, we need an exchange, like you said. I'm thinking a slayer for a demon.
Robin: Right. If we want Buffy back, then we have to find that demon and send it through.
Kennedy: It matter if it's dead or alive?
Spike: (standing in the doorway now) I vote dead. The slayer's counting on you, Willow. Get cracking on that portal, and don't be stingy with the mojo. The demon's mine.
Kennedy: Hate to say it, (makes quotes with her hands) "Big Bad," but you look like you can barely stand. We're trained. And the only thing we know for sure about this demon is it kicked your ass.
Spike: (smirks) It did, at that. (walks toward the door)
Robin: Where are you going?
Spike: Something I need. (leaves through the kitchen door)
(Shadow World)
(Buffy walks up to a group of three men dressed in tribal fashion, each holding a tall staff and wearing different colored head-dresses.)
Buffy: Hello? I'm Buffy. I'm the slayer.
(The men are speaking some unrecognizable language.)
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) We know who you are.
Black Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) And we know why you're here.
Brown Hat Shadow Man:(subtitle) We've been waiting.
Buffy: (nods) Good. That's good then. Um, you know, I know we have bigger issues to deal with, but how'd I understand anything you guys just said? (they look at each other and stand, not answering) Oh, I know, ancient magicks. I just thought it was neat.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) (the three men start circling Buffy) We have been here since the beginning.
Black Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) Now, we are almost at the end.
Buffy: The neat of it just left. End of what?
Brown Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) You are the hellmouth's last guardian.
Buffy: Latest. You mean latest guardian.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) No.
Buffy: OK, um, I have a First to fight, OK. So just tell me what I need to know. I came to learn.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) We cannot give you knowledge. Only power.
Buffy: You know what I think? I'm not really here at all. None of this is actually happening. This is like a play. Like some shadow-play. Some non-reality re-enactment hologramy—
(One of the men hits Buffy, knocking her over—she falls to the ground.)
(Summers Residence – Living Room)
(Willow's pouring green sand from a bag, creating a circle with the sand. Kennedy, Dawn, Xander and Anya are also in the room.)
Kennedy: And this is gonna help us how?
Dawn: The sand forms a circle. The circle acts as a barrier. And the barrier contains the portal.
Kennedy: Now what? We hold hands and chant kumbaya or something?
Willow: (hands the bag of sand to Kennedy) Maybe. 'Til we get the magicks up and running, I'm kinda working on my best guess here.
Xander: Will, maybe we should wait.
Kennedy: For what?
Xander: Spike—to see if he can bring back that demon.
Willow: No, I don't think we should wait right now. Opening a portal this size could take days.
Kennedy: Better get started.
Willow: (holds her hands in fists and shifts her weight from one foot to another) I think I might pee my pants.
Kennedy: You can do it—the magicks, not the pants thing.
Willow: OK. (breathes deeply, then sits down in the middle of the circle) Via temporis, iam clamo ad te, via spatii te jubeo aperire. Aperi! (nothing happens; Willow turns to Dawn) Dawnie, you'd better put on some coffee. This could take awhile—
(Willow's interrupted by a flash of light. Energy radiates through the room, knocking everyone down. Willow's eyes turn black, and she screams like a banshee.)
(Shadow World)
(Buffy's groggy and disoriented as she regains consciousness. She's sitting on the ground.)
Buffy: What is this?
(Buffy stands only to find she is shackled at the wrists and chained to the ground. She struggles against the chains. The three men are standing in front of her in a circle.)
Brown Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) We are at the beginning. The source of your strength. The well of the slayer's power.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) This is why we have brought you here.
Buffy: I thought I brought me here. Listen, you guys. I'm already the slayer, bursting with power. Really don't need any more.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) The First Slayer did not talk so much.
(Buffy pulls on her chains again. The men start tapping their staves against the ground, rhythmically. The man in the red hat fetches a box and brings it to the center of the circle, where he takes off the box top.)
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) Herein lies your truest strength.
Black Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) The energy of the demon. Its spirit.
Brown Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) Its heart.
Buffy: This is how you—
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) Created the slayer? (nods) Yes.
(Black smoke comes out of the box in long tentacles; it seems sentient as it dances around the circle. The men keep tapping their staves rhythmically.)
Brown Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) It must become one with you.
Buffy: No! (struggles against her chains)
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) This will make you ready for the fight.
Buffy: By making me less human?
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) This is how it was then. How it must be now.
Black Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) This is all there is.
(Buffy struggles against her restraints in vain as the black smoke comes toward her, entering her body through her nose and ears. Buffy screams as the black smoke tries to enter her body. The men just stand there, watching. The smoke can't get in through her head while she's screaming, so it rises to the ceiling of the cave and comes back down to her, encircling her hips. Still, she resists.)
Buffy: (through gritted teeth) Make this stop!
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) This is what you came for.
Buffy: No, this isn't the way.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) Do not fight this.
(The black smoke heads toward Buffy again.)
(Sunnydale High – Basement)
(Spike's in the school basement, rifling through boxes until he finally finds what he's looking for—his old leather duster. He holds it up, shakes it out, and puts it on. He walks out with his characteristic swagger from before he got the soul.)
(Hallway)
(Wearing the duster, Spike walks down the hallway toward the exit. He passes Principal Wood, who's standing in a doorway.)
Robin: Where you going?
Spike: (without missing a beat) Got a job.
Robin: Nice coat. Where'd you get it?
Spike: (walks by Wood without looking at him or stopping) New York.
(Wood watches Spike walk away.)
(Summers Residence – Living Room)
(Willow's sitting in the circle, black-eyed, and performing magic. The others behind her stand up from where they had fallen earlier.)
Willow: Via, concursus, tempus, spatium, audi me ut imperio. Screw it! Mighty forces, I suck at Latin, OK? But that's not the issue. I'm the one in charge, and I'm telling you open up, portal, now!
Xander: It's not happening, Will.
Kennedy: Give her time. She's getting it.
Xander: Or something's getting her. Will, think you better back up a little.
Willow: No!
(Willow's arms thrust back behind her, sending magic toward Anya and Kennedy, who immediately freeze. Enveloped in magic, they are lifted from the ground momentarily by Willow, who's pulling power from the two women, through her, to create the portal. The portal opens up in front of her in the shape of a large window of light. Noticing that Willow's hair turned black as she channeled Anya and Kennedy's energy, Xander enters the circle, lifting Willow up by her arms. As he carries her out of the circle, her hair goes back to red. Kennedy seems upset as she realizes what just happened.)
(Alley)
(In vamp visage, wearing his leather duster, Spike's fighting the demon from the portal.)
Spike: Oh, come on now, Nancy. Call yourself a demon? I thought you were up for a proper fight. (the demon punches Spike, knocking him down) Now we're talking. (He stands and tackles the demon, head butting it. The demon then punches Spike repeatedly, ultimately pinning him against a wall. Spike then pushes the demon's head away, and kicks it across the alley then laughs.) Yeah!
(Shadow World)
(Buffy's still chained to the ground as she stands, addressing the three men who put her there.)
Buffy: You think I came all this way to get knocked up by some demon dust? I can't fight this. I know that now. But you guys? You're just men. (rips her chains out of the ground) Just the men who did this...to her. Whoever that girl was before she was the First Slayer.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) You don't understand.
Buffy: No, you don't understand! You violated that girl, made her kill for you because you're weak, you're pathetic, and you obviously have nothing to show me.
(Buffy uses the chains that are still shackled to her hands as weapons. She swings the chains, at the legs of one man, and the staff of the other. She knocks them down, but they get up again. A fight ensues.)
(Sunnydale – Alley)
(Spike and the demon are still fighting. The demon has Spike pinned to a wall again, but this time, Spike grabs the demon's head and twists, snapping it's neck. Spike throws the demon to the ground in front of him. Then, still sporting his game face, he takes out a cigarette and puts it to his mouth.)
Spike: I don't know your feelings, big guy, but to me, a tussle like that... (strikes a match on the demon's ear, brings the match up to his cigarette; Spike's now in human face) is good for the soul. (Spike lights his cigarette and takes a puff)
(Shadow World)
(After defeating two of the men, Buffy walks up to the man in the red hat, holding a staff. She breaks it, and the demon smoke disappears.)
Buffy: I knew it. It's always the staff.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) We offered you power.
Buffy: (sarcastically) Tell me something I don't know.
Red Hat Shadow Man: (subtitle) As you wish. (holds his hand to Buffy's head)
(Summers Residence – Living Room)
(Spike brings the body of the demon he killed back to Buffy's house, carrying it to the portal.)
(Shadow World)
(The Red Hat Shadow Man is still holding his hand to Buffy's head.)
(Summers Residence – Living Room)
(Spike throws the demon's body into the portal.)
(Shadow World)
(Buffy's face is full of concern as she stares at the Red Hat Shadow Man.)
(Fade to white.)
(Summers Residence – Living Room)
(Buffy is back in her living room now. An exhausted bunch awaits her—Anya, Dawn, Spike, Kennedy, Xander, Willow. They all stare at each other in silence and in shock for a moment.)
(Upstairs)
(Kennedy's walking down the hallway, when Willow comes up behind her.)
Willow: Hey. You OK? You've been kinda quiet since...
Kennedy: You sucked the life out of me?
Willow: Yeah, since then. Look, it's important that you know what I am, what I'm like when I'm like that.
Kennedy: I thought it would be... I don't know—cool somehow. It just hurt.
Willow: I'm really sorry. It's just, you were the most powerful person nearby, and—well, that's—that's how it works. That's how I work.
Kennedy: I got that. You told me. I'll see you in the morning. (goes into her room and closes the door)
(Buffy’s Room)
(Willow opens the door to Buffy's room. Buffy's sitting on her bed, curled up, looking introspective and worried.)
Willow: How you doing?
Buffy: Thanks for bringing me back. Again.
Willow: (walks to the bed) Well, that's what I do. (sits on the edge of the bed)
Buffy: I was hard on you guys today.
Willow: Aw, it's all right. You needed to be. Although, Twinkies and kisses—also peachy motivational tools. You OK?
Buffy: I think I made a mistake.
Willow: What?
Buffy: Those men that I met—you know, the shadow men? They offered me more power, but I didn't like the loophole.
Willow: So, you turned it down? It's OK, Buffy. We'll get by. We always do.
Buffy: I don't know. They showed me...
Willow: Showed you what?
Buffy: That the First Slayer was right—it isn't enough.
Willow: Why, Buffy? What did you see? What did they show you?
(Buffy’s Vision)
(A Turok-Han growls with a battle cry. There's many more behind it, jumping around with weapons. Pan out to show there's thousands upon thousands of Turok-Han forming an army somewhere underground.)
Season Seven Guide
