Luke is burned by the silver cross that Angel gave to Buffy, and Buffy is able to get away. She rushes out just in time to save Willow and Xander, but Darla has taken Jesse away. Since none of them knows where Darla took Jesse, Buffy brings Xander and Willow back to the school, and they work with Giles to find the vampires. Willow pulls up the plans of the city sewers up on her computer, and Buffy remembers that Luke seemed to come out of no-where when he attacked her in the mausoleum.

Meanwhile, Darla and Luke have returned to the Master with reports of Buffy’s abilities and strength. The Master deduces that she is a Slayer.

Buffy heads out to find the lair, when Principal Flutie confronts her, and tells her not to leave the campus. She waits until he is gone, and jumps over the fence. Xander follows her. Buffy has a short meeting with Angel at the door to the lair, where he warns her not to go down there because she needs to save herself to stop the Harvest which will happen that night. She ignores him and kicks open the door. Xander meets up with her soon after, and they find Jesse underground, chained up and alone. He warns them that the vampires were using him as bait just as a bunch of vampires attack. Jesse leads them into a small room with no exit, and reveals that he is a vampire. Buffy is able to throw him out and she and Xander are able to lock the vampires out for a short time. There is no time for sorrow as they search for a way out, and Xander notices a grate in the ceiling that may lead out of the sewers. Buffy gives him a leg up, and then follows him up a ladder and into the sunlight.

Back at the library, Giles is reading about the Harvest, a way to free the Master, and bring about the end of the world. Willow is researching for Giles in the computer lab, and tries to defend Buffy to Cordelia, who is badmouthing Buffy to her friends. Willow finds information about a rash of murders before the big earthquake of ’37, and Giles ties it together with the Harvest. It seems that the Master has tried once before to open the Hellmouth (a portal that Sunnydale sits on) and release demons into the world, causing chaos and the end of the human race as we know it…but it went bad. It caused the earthquake instead and the Master was trapped, like a cork in a bottle.

The Master is furious that Buffy escaped his trap, and kills one of his minions for the failure. He has Luke brought to him to be readied for the Harvest.

Buffy and Xander return with the bad news about Jesse. Both of them feel guilty, and Xander hates vampires more than ever. Giles explains the Harvest to them. It seems that once every century, the Master will have the chance to escape from the Hellmouth. He will mark one of his minions and using every death that the minion brings about to help him break free of the Hellmouth. Giles shows Buffy the mark that the Master will use, and they decide that it’s likely that the Harvest will take place at the Bronze, since so many people will be there.

Buffy plans to stop briefly at her house to get supplies, and is confronted by her mother. It seems the school called about Buffy skipping some classes, and now her mother is going to ground her, silencing Buffy’s protests with, “I know. If you don't go out it'll be the end of the world. Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen-year-old girl.” Buffy waits until her mother leaves the room and slips out anyway.

Meanwhile, at the Bronze, a pack of vampires storm the place and Luke sets himself up on stage as the younger vamps hand victims to him. Jesse spends some time with Cordelia, who suddenly finds the dangerous Jesse somewhat attractive…until he shows his vampire nature.

Buffy and the Scooby gang arrive at the Bronze to find the doors locked. Xander, Willow and Giles go in the back way, to try to free some of the teens that are trapped, and Buffy goes in a window that leads to the catwalk over the main floor.

Just as Luke is going to bite Cordelia and free the Master, Buffy throws a vamp over the railing, and taunts Luke. He throws Cordelia to the side and Buffy jumps down onto the ground floor. There is a long fight, with Luke getting the upper hand at one point, and nearly biting Buffy, who head-butts him and escapes. Finally, she throws a music stand through a window behind the stage, warning Luke that he forgot about sunrise. He turns, alarmed, as a lamp is revealed, and Buffy stakes him while he’s distracted.

As the other three direct the people at the Bronze out the back door, a few vampires work to stop them. Xander threatens Jesse with a stake, and Jesse taunts him, knowing Xander won’t kill him. As people flee through the door, one pushes Jesse onto the stake that Xander’s holding, and dusts him. Willow defends Giles from Darla by throwing holy water on her.

When the gang returns to school the next day, Xander is amazed to find that, although he and Willow are changed forever, the rest of the school doesn’t seem to notice. They’ve all rationalized the vampire attack as a gang attack, and are back to being teenagers.


Season One
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