6X02 Bargaining, Part II

Part 1

Open on the BuffyBot with the demons still riding in circles around her. Every now and then they hit her as they pass.

BUFFYBOT: Oh, I'm dangerously close to- (a demon hits her in the face) -systems failure! Must - oh! - disengage from combat - so - oh! - Willow can service me.

RAZOR: (swinging a length of chain) I'll service ya, girl toy!

He throws the chain and the bot goes down. He stops his bike beside her and gets off.

Cut to Xander and Willow. Xander seems about to pick her up again when Anya and Tara come running up.

TARA: Willow!

Tara goes to her knees and takes Willow's head on her lap.

XANDER: I'm pretty sure she's okay. (gets up and goes to Anya) Or as okay as someone who's just had snakes coming out of their mouth. What the hell was that all about, Tara? (Tara looks up at him)
ANYA: Less talk, more running away.
XANDER: I'm sure the woods'll give us cover. Their motorcycles can't follow us in here.

The motorcycles noises get closer, and we see the light from their headlights.

ANYA: Someone should tell them that.
XANDER: New plan. (goes to Willow, kneels and starts lifting her) Let's split up.
ANYA: No, bad plan.

Xander and Tara have the unconscious Willow upright, each supporting one side of her.

TARA: I'll take her.
XANDER: No, I can carry her. (Tara looks anxious) I'll keep her safe.
TARA: (nods reluctantly) We should meet up somewhere.
XANDER: The Magic Box. Whoever gets there first, call Dawn and Spike.

Tara and Anya start off, but Anya pauses.

ANYA: Wait. What about the Buffybot?
XANDER: (indecisive for a moment) We can't. It's lost. (lifts Willow) Go!

Xander picks Willow up and heads off. Tara and Anya go off together in another direction.

Cut back to the grave. The bot is on the ground and the demons surround her, kicking her and yelling happily.

Pan down across Buffy's headstone, to the grass.

Cut to inside the coffin. Buffy pounds frantically on the sides, tries to scream but no sound comes out. She looks terrified. She continues pounding, bangs on the inner lid just inches from her face. She begins to rip away the cloth that covers the inside of the lid. She grunts with exertion as the cloth rips.

Cut to the forest. Xander walks along carrying Willow, moving at a fast walk. He pauses, puts her down on the ground. Willow comes to again.

WILLOW: (loudly) Xan ... Xander, where - where-
XANDER: Shh! We're using our quiet voice, Will.
WILLOW: (whispers) Wh-wh-where's Tara?
XANDER: (panting) Off and running. Like we need to be. We gotta keep moving.
WILLOW: (panting) Oh ... right. Demons ... on bikes.
XANDER: Yeah. We got trouble. Right here in Hellmouth City. And our very own robo-Buffy led them right to us.
WILLOW: Buffy! The ritual! We have to go back. (sits up)
XANDER: (pushes her back) Will. I told you.
WILLOW: We have to try again.
XANDER: No, we can't.
WILLOW: We have to, Xander! I - she - she's waiting! She's counting on us, on, on me! I can't leave her there any more, I won't. We have to finish.
XANDER: Shh!

They both hush and look around nervously as a motorcycle goes by near them.

XANDER: (whispers) Will .. .the urn of cirrhosis...
WILLOW: Osiris?
XANDER: Yeah. It got kind of...
WILLOW: (remembers) Broken. It's broken. I remember.
XANDER: So we'll find another one. Better made. Anya and I will jump back on the web-
WILLOW: There is no other one. (closes her eyes)
XANDER: Okay, we'll fix this one. A little tape, a dab of Crazy Glue.
WILLOW: No. It's no use. (tearful) The urn's defiled. It's gone. Nothing, it was all for nothing. Buffy's gone. She's really gone.

Willow begins to cry, buries her face in Xander's chest.

Cut to Buffy still ripping the cloth from the coffin. She bangs her hands against the lid, punches it and her fist goes through the wood. Dirt begins to rain down on her as she pulls at the wood, widening the hole.

Cut to Anya running through the woods, looking around.

MAG: (OS) Over here! Stop your moanin'.

Anya suddenly falls down as Tara pulls at her from behind a rock.

ANYA: (annoyed) Was that really necessary? A simple "psst"-

Tara puts her hand over Anya's mouth. They both fall silent as two demons walk up near them.

CLYED: I'm just saying it's rank.
MAG: Get off it, Clyed.
CLYED: Razor and the others head back to town, leave us here to hunt down strays. It's bullsh-
MAG: Hey! (grabs Clyed) You got a bug up your crack, you take it up with Razor.

The two girls huddle behind their rock listening.

MAG: Until then you do as he says, and shut your hole, before I rip you a new one.

Mag lets go of Clyed and looks around, snarling.

MAG: Ah, screw this, let's get out of here. (they both turn away) Let's go hit some stores.

Tara and Anya relax a little as the demons move away.

TARA: Doesn't sound like they found Willow and Xander.
ANYA: Did he say stores? Hitting stores? Does that mean looting?
TARA: I think, I think the woods let out over this way (points) We should keep off the streets, take alleys if we can.
ANYA: They can't loot the magic shop, not now! I just got it.
TARA: (puts hand on Anya's shoulder) Let's go.

They get up and start to walk.

ANYA: You don't think they'll cause a lot of damage, do you?

Cut to the demons still wrecking houses and cars on residential street. One demon throws a Molotov cocktail at a front door, jumps up and down triumphantly as the porch bursts into flame.

Shot of a wooden mailbox labeled "Summers." A demon rides past and smashes it with a baseball bat.

Cut to exterior shot of the Summers house. The demons have not yet ventured onto its lawn
Cut to inside the house. Dawn is looking out the front window.

SPIKE: (OS) A couple of stakes...

We see Spike looking through Buffy's weapon chest.

SPIKE: ...holy water, one cross - (reaches in to grab the cross) Ow! (stumbles back, shaking his hand in pain) Brilliant.

He looks at his injured hand, then over at the window, notices Dawn.

SPIKE: Here! (starts toward her) You want me to bloody thump you? I told you to stay away from the window. (pulls her away)
DAWN: Who are they?
SPIKE: (peers out) Hellions. Road pirates. (shot of a demon throwing rocks through a house's windows) They raid towns ... use 'em up, burn 'em down. It's usually backwaters, any place... (looks back at Dawn, realizing) Any place they think is vulnerable.
DAWN: They know. The Slayer's gone.

Spike looks back out the window. The demons continue to ride up and down the street, setting various things on fire.

SPIKE: Can't stay here. (gets up, grabs Dawn by the hand)
DAWN: W-well, I'm not going out there!
SPIKE: (pulling her toward the door) Got no choice, bit, I can't protect you here.
DAWN: (stops) Well, we can lock the doors, turn out the lights.
SPIKE: And what, hide under the bed linen? Not really my style.
DAWN: But we need to wait for the others, and Buffy.

Spike frowns at her, confused.

DAWN: ...bot. You know, the-the Buffybot.

Spike sighs in frustration, looks around.

DAWN: (agitated) We-we have to wait for the others-
SPIKE: (grabs her roughly by the shoulders) Look! (pauses, more quietly) Dawn, I get that you're scared. But I'm your sitter, so mind me. (lets go her shoulders) I'm not gonna let any of those buggers lay so much as a warty digit on you. Right?
DAWN: (whispers) Right.
SPIKE: Right, then. We can't wait around to see if the others will pop in. We're on our own. No one's coming to our rescue.

He takes Dawn's hands and leads her toward the back door.

Cut to Buffy's grave. Zoom in on the ground, which is already churned up from the motorcycles riding over it.

Suddenly a hand bursts out from below, then another hand, then Buffy's head and shoulders. She gasps for air, pulls herself up onto the grass, lies there panting. She looks around at the dark forest, very fearfully.


Part 2

Open on the same scene. Buffy slowly gets to her feet, turns and stares at the headstone with her name on it. She frowns in confusion, then her eyes widen in shock as she gets it.

Cut to downtown. A car sits there burning, half burnt away. Buffy walks up, stares. Pan to a wider shot and we see her walking down a street that's littered with debris. Buffy wears a black dress with dark hose and black heeled shoes. Her hair is shaggy and mostly covers her face.

Cut to a shot from Buffy's point of view. Everything is blurry and indistinct. She continues walking, squinting and frowning at the burning cars.

She stops walking to stare at a car. A demon on his motorcycle goes roaring past, throws something as he goes by. Buffy watches him go, backs away.

Cut to interior of the magic shop. The door opens and Tara and Anya run in. They go down the steps into the main room.

TARA: Willow, Xander!

Tara goes to look in the back room, comes back. Anya looks around the store.

TARA: They're not here.
ANYA: Thank god. (Tara looks confused) No, I mean, my store hasn't been looted.

Loud banging noise from outside. They both turn to look.

TARA: Yet.

They go to the window, peek out.

Shot of a bunch of demons looting a store across the street.

ANYA: (softly) Xander.
TARA: They're all right.
ANYA: Then where are they? Why aren't they here?
TARA: I don't know.

Anya turns away from the window, walks into the store. Tara follows.

ANYA: (getting agitated) They could be hurt. Xander could be lying somewhere broken and bleeding, calling out my name.
TARA: Anya.
ANYA: Like that, oh god! (walks on) What if, what if they're really hurt, what if they're dead?
TARA: (firmly) They're not.
ANYA: How do you know?
TARA: Because he's with Willow. And if something ... happened, I'd know. (softly) And so would you.
ANYA: (calmer) You think?
TARA: I'm sure of it. (hugs her) They're fine.

Shot of Tara over Anya's shoulder as they hug. She strokes Anya's hair.
TARA: (trying to convince herself) They're both fine.

Tara pulls back to look at Anya.

TARA: Maybe they got lost, in the woods.
ANYA: The woods? Are we going back to the woods? I hate the woods. All those woodsy trees.
TARA: (excited) No, it's okay. Lost is good. Willow and I always know how to find each other!

She runs to the round table, shoves all the stuff off of it and climbs up on it, sits cross-legged and puts her hands on her knees. (See episode "Fear Itself"

ANYA: With yoga?
TARA: Ssh! (eyes closed) Aradia, hear my words.

Cut to the forest. Xander and Willow are walking along. Willow is panting, leans on Xander for support.

XANDER: Okay, this is really starting to grate my cheese. These woods aren't that big. Now, I know we've been going straight because I've been following the North Star.
WILLOW: (looks up) Xander. (they stop) That's not the North Star. It's an airplane.

Willow makes a pained face, staggers over to a tree and leans against it.

XANDER: Nah, that's not an airplane, it's definitely ... (looks harder) ...a blimp! (embarrassed) But I can see how one ... could make that airplane mistake.
WILLOW: (panting) I, I can't walk any more. I need to rest.
XANDER: It can't be much further.
WILLOW: You said that an hour ago. I just ... that spell took a lot out of me.
XANDER: As for example, snakes? How come you didn't tell us how much-
WILLOW: No. Not now.
XANDER: What were we into back there, Will?
WILLOW: It doesn't matter anyway.
XANDER: Do not get all avoidy on me.
WILLOW: I'm not avoidy, I just ... we have bigger problems. Demons?
XANDER: Demons! Ah. There's something you don't see every day. (sarcastic chuckle) Unless you're us.
WILLOW: (annoyed) Yeah, and now we're lost, so can we - (sees something ahead) What's that?
XANDER: See? Avoidy.
WILLOW: (points) Over there, that-that light.
XANDER: (looks) That one moving towards us?

We see a blue light in the distance.

XANDER: Incredibly fast?
WILLOW: (calls) Hello?
XANDER: "Hello"? We're being hunted, and you're hello-ing a strange fast-moving light in the dark? It could be anything.

The light comes closer but is still hard to see through the trees.

XANDER: It's a motorcycle headlight.
WILLOW: (smiling) No, too small.
XANDER: Stay behind me. (picks up a stick from the ground, moves forward)
WILLOW: Xander, I don't-
XANDER: Stay down. I'll take care of this.

The light flies right up to Xander and circles his head. It's a small blue ball of light.

WILLOW: Xander, it's-
XANDER: A bug! A big fiery bug! (trying to shoo it away)
WILLOW: Xander-
XANDER: Get off! Do fireflies bite? No, they probably burn, don't they? They - yaa!
WILLOW: (smiling) Xander, it's not a bug. (as it flies around her face) It's Tara.

Willow pushes away from the tree and follows the light as it moves off.

WILLOW: Come on.

She moves past Xander and on through the trees. Xander follows.

XANDER: And how long have you known that your girlfriend's Tinkerbell?

Cut to Buffy walking down residential streets. A siren wails in the background. Buffy goes to a car that's parked on a driveway, leans against it.

The car's lights come on and its security system begins to wail and honk. Buffy presses her hands over her ears in pain. The house lights come on. The front door opens and a man comes out.

HOMEOWNER: What are you doing?

Buffy peers at him through her fingers. Her vision is still very blurry. The man is holding a shotgun.

HOMEOWNER: Get away from there!

Buffy squints at him.

HOMEOWNER: Do you hear me? (walks onto the porch) I said get off my property!

Buffy continues frowning and squinting.

HOMEOWNER: Leave us alone. (yells) Get outta here!

He fires into the air. Buffy turns and runs off.

Cut to Dawn and Spike running around the side of the Summers house, crouching down behind a bush against the wall. Spike looks out at the street. Dawn tries to move forward to look too, but he shoves her behind him.

SPIKE: Get back.

We see some demons riding their bikes up onto the porch of a house across the street. Spike gets up a little so he can see better. The demons break some windows and go into the house. We can see people inside.

Spike continues watching as we hear a woman screaming. A small smile flicks across Spike's face. Dawn peers over his shoulder.

DAWN: I-it looks like they're just ... wrecking stuff. No thought other than just destruct-o-rama.

The demons throw some chairs out through the windows.

Spike grins. Dawn notices it.

DAWN: What?
SPIKE: Uh, oh, nothing, just, uh ... (nods toward the action) looked like fun. (Dawn gives him a look) I'm just sayin'. Yeah, it's just ... (looks around) with this kind of frolicking going on all around town, we're not gonna get very far without...

Spike spies something, moves away from the wall. Dawn watches.

There's a kid-sized football helmet and a baseball bat lying on the ground. Spike picks up the helmet, tosses it to Dawn. She catches it, looks confused. Spike points at her, walks away.

Cut to a demon on motorcycle coming around a corner at a high rate of speed. The tires screech.

In the foreground we can see Spike's hand twitching as the demon rides toward him.

Long shot of Spike standing in the middle of the street. The demon keeps coming. Spike doesn't move.

At the last second, Spike leaps up into the air, kicking the demon off the bike. The demon lands hard. Spike runs over to the crashed bike, picks it up and gets on it.

SPIKE: Let's fly, pigeon!

Cut to Dawn beside the house. She puts the helmet on and runs off.

The demons come running out of the house just in time to see Spike and Dawn go roaring away on the motorcycle.

Cut to the magic shop. Frantic knocking on the door. Anya and Tara go to it.

ANYA: (calls) Already been looted, sorry! Uh, try the appliance store down the block, they've got great toasters.
XANDER: (OS) Anya!
ANYA: Xander?

Anya opens the door. Willow and Xander come in. Willow hugs Tara. Xander closes and locks the door.

ANYA: I knew you weren't dead. (hugs him)
XANDER: Wow, then why was I so worried?
TARA: (leading Willow to a chair) Are you-
WILLOW: Uh, not yet. But, but I will be.

Willow eases into the chair with a pained expression. Tara stands behind her stroking her hair.

WILLOW: Where's Dawn and Spike?
TARA: We've been calling the house, but-
XANDER: Maybe they're on their way here. I mean, this place is NORAD, and we are at DefCon One.

The women all look at him in confusion.

XANDER: Okay, I so need male friends.
WILLOW: We have to go out and look for them. (tries to get up but Tara pushes her back down)
XANDER: There's this guy at work I kind of hit it off with. Tito. I mean, he seems like a good...

Once again they all give him a look.

XANDER: (embarrassed) You were talking about Dawn and Spike, of course.
ANYA: Um, question. (to Willow) You want us to go back out there?
WILLOW: Well, yeah. Uh, unless somebody's got a better idea.
ANYA: Well, um, it's just ... we're minus a Buffybot. And, uh, Spike is missing in action somewhere with Dawn, and Giles flew away, and, uh, well you, you're looking a little magicked-out.
XANDER: Ahn honey, we're nearing your point, right?
ANYA: It's just, how are we supposed to fight these guys? (Everyone looks at her) I mean, we can take a vampire or two, sure, but there's a whole cavalcade of demons out there ... (uncertainly) I mean, I think this, you know ... it, it takes, um ... I mean, I ... we need...
XANDER: Buffy.
ANYA: (softly) Buffy.
WILLOW: (harshly) Buffy...

They nod expectantly.

WILLOW: ...is not coming back. (sadly) We failed.

Anya looks dismayed. The others look sad.

WILLOW: So ... we're it, gang. (gets painfully to her feet) Xander, grab the weapons. We're gonna look for Dawn and Spike.

Sound of glass breaking. They all turn to look.

TARA: If we're gonna go, we should go now, they're just getting more and more worked up by the moment.
XANDER: Well, they can't keep it up forever. I mean, maybe they'll party themselves out, you know, tire of this place and move on.

Cut to Razor addressing his minions.

RAZOR: Say hello to your new home, boys.

The demons cheer. Several of them have bottles of beer. One of them takes a mouthful of beer and blows it at his torch, creating a huge flame.

We see that they're gathered in an open space (parking lot?) with a few barrels full of fire. A burning pile of trash in the background.

RAZOR: This here is a momentous occasion, the beginning of a new era.

We see Buffy walking slowly toward them, looking around.

RAZOR: Now, no question, the open backroads and highways have been good to us. But we've got ourselves a juicy little burg here, just ripe for the picking. And I ain't in no hurry to leave it, you?

The demons all yell "no" as Buffy walks closer. We see them from her point of view, about a hundred feet away and still blurry.

RAZOR: So I figure, what better way to kick off our ... semi-settling-down, than with a little christening?

The demons cheer.

We see a couple of demons attaching chains to their motorcycles. They grin at each other as the cheering continues. Buffy walks closer.

RAZOR: A symbolic act commemorating the new order around here ... and ridding ourselves of any not-so-pleasant reminders of the old.

Razor is holding a gun. He holds it up and theatrically puts a bullet in.

RAZOR: All in one quick, really, *really* violent fell swoop.

Buffy comes right up behind a couple of the demons. She still looks very muddled. They don't notice her.

RAZOR: (holds up the gun) Gentlemen, start your engines.

The demons start up their bikes. We get a very quick look at the bikes with chains attached, and the BuffyBot among them. The demons sit still on their bikes, engines rumbling.

We see the bot standing there with chains attached to both her arms.

The real Buffy catches sight of the bot, and her eyes widen in shock.

The bot sees Buffy and also looks surprised.

RAZOR: Bye-bye, slayer!

Buffy takes a step closer. We see the bot's mouth say "Buffy" but we can't hear her over the engines.

Razor fires into the air. The bikes begin to move.

BUFFY: (screams) No!

The demons nearest Buffy hear her scream and turn around.

The four motorcycles all move off in four different directions. Each bike is attached to one of the bot's limbs. Her arms and legs are ripped from her body and her torso goes flying. Razor grins.

Buffy looks around anxiously. The demons near her move aside so that all the demons can see her.

RAZOR: (looking at Buffy) Another one for the fire, boys.

Buffy looks alarmed.

RAZOR: Tear it up.

Buffy backs away, turns and begins to run.
 

Part 3

Open on Buffy running down the street. A demon on a motorcycle comes from behind and cuts in front of her, cutting her off. She turns to see another one coming at her, swinging a chain over his head. Buffy runs toward that demon as the first one follows. She ducks, and the chain hits the first demon, knocking him off his bike.

DEMON: Sorry. Sorry.

Buffy gets up and runs off.

Cut to Xander and Anya walking down the street. Xander has an axe over his shoulder. Pan forward to reveal Tara and Willow walking ahead of them. Willow carries a crossbow.

TARA: It wasn't your fault. We, we don't know if the spell would have worked, even if the demons hadn't-
WILLOW: It would have worked.
TARA: Well ... maybe...
WILLOW: What?
TARA: Maybe it wasn't supposed to. I mean, those demons showing up at the exact wrong time? Maybe we really were in over our heads. Invoking forces that we have no right to. Maybe the fates sent down all that destruction on us to stop us. I mean...
WILLOW: You mean, maybe it was my fault.
TARA: No. No.

They put their arms around each other, continue walking.

Cut to Buffy leaping over a pile of stuff and flinging herself over a fence. A motorcycle screeches to a stop behind her. The demon growls angrily.

Cut back to the Scoobies still walking.

ANYA: (softly to Xander) I'm not saying we announce it this second.
XANDER: (whispers) Anya!
ANYA: Well, I think it would please them to know we're engaged. And I think Willow in particular could use a real morale-booster right now.
XANDER: Can we talk about this later?
ANYA: Well, but it's just all the excuses for not telling everyone we're engaged are gone now. I mean, aside from hell bikers, there's nothing standing in our way. This is it. No more surprises.

Suddenly they all stop walking as something drops to the ground in front of them.
XANDER: Watch it!

It's Buffy. She crouches there staring at them through her hair. She rises to her feet.

ANYA: It ... it's the Buffy Bot.
XANDER: Ah, peachy. No doubt to lead the wild bunch right to us again. Hey Will, next time this thing's damaged, couldn't ya program it to find the nearest Radio Shack, or...

Xander breaks off when he sees the look on Willow's face.
Zoom in slowly on Willow, staring at Buffy in wonder.

WILLOW: Buffy?

Buffy stares fearfully, then turns and runs away.

WILLOW: Buffy!
XANDER: Buffy!

The gang runs after her.

WILLOW: Buffy!

Cut to the Scoobies coming around a corner into another alley.

ANYA: Where is she?

Willow stops. We see Buffy crouched in a corner between a wall and some random junk.

WILLOW: Buffy? (moves toward her) Buffy, are you...

Buffy sits huddled in on herself with her hair obscuring her face. The Scoobies walk toward her.

WILLOW: It's Willow. Can you hear me?

Buffy looks up, back, and all around, very nervously.

ANYA: (whispers) What's wrong with her?
WILLOW: Nothing! She - she's ... she's in shock.
TARA: Her hands are bleeding. Her fingers.

Close-up of Buffy's hands, which are covered with blood.
ANYA: (OS) Oh, she's filthy.

Xander shakes his head in dismay.
XANDER: Oh no.
WILLOW: (OS) What?
XANDER: No. How could we ... so stupid!
WILLOW: Xander!
XANDER: Our spell. Our resurrection spell worked like a magic charm. We brought you back to life, Buffy. (looks at Willow) Right where we left her.

Willow and Tara look shocked.

WILLOW: Oh god.
XANDER: In her coffin.

Willow turns in anguish to Tara, who hugs her.

TARA: She had to ... dig out of her own grave.

Buffy continues crouching there fearfully.

Shot of the group from Buffy's POV, still blurry. Xander bends over to look in her face.

XANDER: (muffled) Buffy.

Shot of Buffy from their POV.
XANDER: (loudly) Buffy, it's Xander.

Back to Buffy's POV.
XANDER: (muffled) We're sorry. We didn't know.

Buffy turns her head away, letting her hair cover her face again.

XANDER: Buffy.
TARA: You aren't reaching her, she's too traumatized.

Anya touches Xander on the back, and he moves aside so Anya can take his place.

ANYA: Hey, Buffy. Uh, here's some good news that might perk you right up. Uh, Xander and I have an announcement.
XANDER: Anya!

Xander grabs her arm, pulls her away.

ANYA: What? Just trying to help.

Xander bends over in front of Buffy again.

XANDER: Buffy .... it's gonna be all right. We brought you back. You're home now.

Buffy slowly raises her head, looks at him. Shot of Xander from Buffy's POV.

XANDER: (muffled) Yeah, that's it. You're home.
RAZOR: Yeah, welcome home, Slayer.

The Scoobies turn to see several demons behind them.

RAZOR: Alive and kickin' after all!

The Scoobies look alarmed. So does Buffy.

RAZOR: Well, alive, anyway.

Shot of the demons from Buffy's POV.
RAZOR: (muffled) Not looking too good, though, is she?
XANDER: (muffled) I don't see you winning too many beauty contests.

Cut to front view of Xander with the axe over his shoulder.

XANDER: ...unless the Miss "My Face Fell Off" pageant gets going.
RAZOR: Big axe you got there.
XANDER: The better to cut you down to size, grandma.

The other Scoobies look nervous. Razor grins, takes a step forward.

TARA: Incindere.

A gout of flame spurts up from the ground between Razor and Xander. Razor steps back.

RAZOR: Ah. So you got a witch in the mix.
TARA: More than one.
XANDER: I happen to be a very powerful man-witch myself. (Razor looks amused) Or ... male... (over his shoulder to Willow) Is it a warlock?

Willow nods. Xander turns back to Razor.

XANDER: Warlock.
ANYA: Plus, we have a Slayer here, uh, who might actually be looking to eat some brains, so, I think a little quiet moseying, no hard feelings, and I'm sure your demon horde won't think any the less of you.
RAZOR: (shakes head) Now, my boys, see, that's tricky. They came looking for a massacre...

We see Buffy looking a bit more aware, starting to rise.

RAZOR: (Buffy's POV, muffled) ...and I think you got exactly enough magic between you for a kiddie birthday party.

Willow steps forward.

WILLOW: Then you'd be wrong.
RAZOR: Whoa. Well, I better back off, or you might, what? Pull a rabbit out of a hat?
ANYA: (horrified) Don't, don't do that! (to Tara) Why would she do that? (Tara shakes her head)
WILLOW: We don't want trouble ... you don't want trouble.
RAZOR: Of course we want trouble, we're demons. We're really all about trouble.
WILLOW: Not this kind.
RAZOR: Oh. I get your point.

He backhands Willow, who flies backward and lands on top of some boxes. Xander charges but Razor shoves him aside and he falls to the ground.

Anya and Tara each go to their respective partners.

RAZOR: Now let me tell you something, children. We're not gonna fight you. We're just gonna hold you down and enjoy ourselves for a few hours.

Shot of Tara gently turning over an unconscious Willow. In the background, Buffy rises to her feet, looking at Willow.

RAZOR: (OS) You might even live through it. (Buffy walks forward) Except that certain of my boys got some...

Shot of Razor grinning evilly.
RAZOR: ...anatomical incompatibilities that, uh, tend to tear up little girls. (grins) So, who wants to go first?

Buffy comes over to stand directly in front of him.

RAZOR: I was really hoping it'd be you.

He hits her in the face. Her head whips to the side but she doesn't otherwise move. Razor looks a little uncertain.

Slowly, she turns her head back to face him again. There's blood on her lip. Her face hardens into her famous "I'm gonna kick your ass" expression.

Razor throws another punch but Buffy stops it, grabbing his fist and holding it immobile. With her other hand she punches him in the face twice, then she kicks him. He falls to the ground unconscious.

The other demons look on nervously.

Willow sits up, stares.

Pan across Razor's inert body to Buffy standing over it looking confused.

Xander and Anya stare.
ANYA: Does this mean we win?

The other demons yell and attack Buffy. She kicks one of them back. Xander and Anya get up. Buffy blocks another demon's weapon and kicks him in the stomach.

Another demon attacks Xander who blocks with his axe, then punches the demon.

Buffy blocks a punch and punches the demon in the face, then punches another one.

Willow loads her crossbow and fires, hitting a demon in the middle of the chest.

A demon attacks Buffy with a knife and she grabs his arm in both hands, pauses to kick another demon away behind her, swings the one with the knife around and throws him into another demon, shoves another one away, ducks and punches, ducks and punches again.

Then Buffy is surrounded by demons hitting her with various weapons, and she huddles down on the ground under their blows. Suddenly she springs back up again, throwing them off her. She kicks one in the groin and he takes two more down with him.

Another demon thrusts a baseball bat at Buffy and she grabs it, uses one end to hit a demon behind her, then uses the other end to hit the first demon.

Cut to Main Street. It's deserted but littered with debris, some of which is on fire. A motorcycle comes roaring down the street.

Cut closer and we see that it's Spike and Dawn. Dawn sees something up ahead.

DAWN: There. What's that?

Spike looks, turns toward it. They pass a flaming barrel, then drive into the open space where the demons were partying. It's deserted now too. Spike brings the bike to a stop next to the pile of flaming rubble.

They both dismount, staring at something on the ground. Dawn takes the helmet off and tosses it aside as they move forward.

Shot of Buffybot's torso lying on the ground, wires dangling everywhere from her arm and leg sockets.

SPIKE: It's just a machine, Dawn.
DAWN: I know.

Dawn kneels beside the bot. Spike turns, walks away a bit.

Dawn reaches out to close the bot's eyes, but suddenly the head turns and looks at her. Dawn gasps.

BUFFYBOT: Dawn. You're my sister Dawn.

Dawn doesn't know what to say. She gives a tentative smile.

BUFFYBOT: (looks around in confusion) Where did I go?
DAWN: What?
BUFFYBOT: Where did I go? I was here. Here. But then I ran away.
DAWN: (confused) I-I don't...
BUFFYBOT: No. Not me. The other Buffy.

Dawn's eyes widen in shock.

BUFFYBOT: Yes. The other Buffy.
DAWN: Buffy?
BUFFYBOT: I don't ... I don't ... know where she ran off to. Maybe-

She freezes in mid-word, staring blankly.

Dawn backs away, gets up, still shocked. She stares at the lifeless bot, turns and runs away.

Cut to Spike picking up a piece of twisted metal from the scrap pile. It's one of the bot's legs.

SPIKE: Tsk. Look what those filthy buggers done to you. (loudly, to Dawn) Willow's slap-and-paste job's not gonna do the trick this time. Robot's done.

He looks up, notices Dawn is gone.

SPIKE: Hey. (looks all around, alarmed) Little bit? (yells) Dawn!

Cut to Dawn running down the street.
SPIKE: (OS) Dawn!

Cut to Tara being held against the wall by a demon who has her by the throat. Willow hits him in the head with her crossbow and he falls back.

Another demon has Xander down on a pile of wood but he manages to get his feet up and kick the demon away. Xander leaps to his feet and slams his axe down into the demon.

Buffy turns from fighting one demon with the baseball bat and another one flings a length of chain, which wraps around the bat. The demon uses it to pull the bat out of Buffy's hand. Then he attacks her with a knife. She blocks, grabs the knife-wielding arm, and uses it to stab another demon as he charges. Then Buffy kicks out behind her, kicking away another demon, and as for the one she's holding, she twists his head around, breaking his neck.

Buffy stops, looking around. All the demons are defeated. The Scoobies approach from their various places.

TARA: Well, they wanted a massacre.

They stand in a row staring at Buffy.

XANDER: She's Buffy. She's herself again. (She looks at him) You're back, Buffy, you really are.

Xander moves as if to hug her, but she takes a quick step back, looking fearful.

XANDER: Whoa. (gently) Whoa.

Buffy looks around in anguish. She lifts her bloody hand to her mouth, wipes the blood from her lip, looks at her hand. She looks about to cry. She walks forward. The others watch uncertainly.

Buffy goes past Xander and breaks into a run, taking off around the corner.

WILLOW: Buffy!

The Scoobies watch her go.

ANYA: Where's she going?
TARA: Should we follow her?
WILLOW: I don't know.
XANDER: She just ... needs some time is all.

Shot of Razor lying on the ground, apparently dead. Suddenly his eyes open.

XANDER: (OS) The important thing is that she's back. She'll be fine.

Shot of Razor's hand. The metal claws shoot out of his fingers.
Blackout.

Part 4

Open on Razor getting to his feet with a snarl. We see that he's standing behind Xander.

ANYA: Xander, look out!

Anya shoves Xander to the ground as Razor attacks. The blow misses as Xander hits the ground butt-first.

The others watch fearfully as Razor advances on Xander, who scrambles backward on his butt.

RAZOR: Now what kind of Slayer is it runs out on her buddies just when they need her the most?

Xander grabs a trash-can lid and holds it up as a shield as Razor attacks again. The metal claws slice right through the shield. Xander looks scared.

Cut to Buffy walking quickly down an alley. Suddenly she stops, turns as a demon swings a piece of metal at her. She ducks and hits him, kicks him in the groin, grabs him and throws him against a wall where another piece of metal impales him. He falls dead.

Buffy stares at him, then looks up. Above the roof of the nearest building we see the tower that Glory's minions built. Buffy runs off.

Cut back to Razor about to strike Xander again. Suddenly he's struck from behind. He turns and all three women attack him -- Willow and Anya with sticks, Tara with a piece of chain. He covers his head with his hands as they beat on him.

Then Razor does the same move that Buffy did earlier, straightening up and flinging them off of him. They all fall back.

Willow holds up her hand.
WILLOW: Obfuscate.

A gray ball appears in her hand and she throws it at Razor. It covers his face with some kind of goo, so he can't see. He roars and pulls at it with his hands.

Cut to Dawn running around a corner, hearing Razor yell in the background. She sees the impaled demon and comes to a stop, staring in disgust. She edges around him, looks up and sees the tower. She starts forward with determination.

Cut to Buffy at the foot of the tower, looking up. Shot from her POV of the tower with the narrow walkway extending out.

Cut back to Razor still trying to pry the stuff off his face as the others resume hitting him. Xander sits up.

Razor finally pulls the stuff off, grabs Anya by the shoulders and shoves her away. She lands on the ground. Xander gets up and rushes Razor, gets elbowed in the face and falls back.

Tara rushes Razor and he grabs her by the throat.

WILLOW: Fragilis.

Another ball of light appears in Willow's hand and shoots over to Tara. Razor swipes his claws across Tara's chest but the metal claws break off and fall away without harming her. Razor stares at his fingers, thrusts Tara away. She falls among some trash.

Razor grabs Willow by the throat and lifts her up.

RAZOR: So, witch, got a little power after all. Well, let's see what tricks you can manage while I choke the life outta-

Suddenly he gasps and lets Willow go. She falls to the ground. Razor falls face-first beside her, with the axe buried in his back.

Willow looks up to see Tara standing there. Tara bends over and helps Willow up.

WILLOW: Tara!
TARA: Nobody messes with my girl.

Xander and Anya come over.

XANDER: Tara, nice axing.
TARA: My first.

They all look at the dead demon.

WILLOW: Buffy.

They all turn and walk off.

Cut to: Shot of the tower from afar.
Cut to the top. Buffy stands at the end of the platform looking down. We hear creaking noises.

Shot of the view from the platform. The ground below is just an open space.

Buffy frowns slightly.

Flashback of Dawn's blood dripping, opening the hole in midair, lightning flashing.
Flashback of Buffy running down the platform, swan-diving into the thing.

Cut back to now. Buffy stands staring, presses her eyes shut tightly.

Flashback of Buffy standing on the tower with Dawn, turning away from Dawn to look at holes opening in the sky. Buffy turning back to Dawn.

Cut back to now. Buffy still has her eyes closed.
DAWN: (flashback) Buffy, no.
BUFFY: (now) Dawnie, I have to.
DAWN: (now) Buffy?

Buffy frowns, opens her eyes, turns. Dawn is standing at the other end of the platform, in the little arch at the top of the tower.

DAWN: Buffy...

Buffy looks apprehensively at her.

DAWN: Buffy ... (amazed) how....

Buffy frowns at her in confusion.

DAWN: Is it you? I mean really?

Dawn smiles tentatively, starts to take a step forward.

DAWN: What are you do-

The tower creaks and shudders under Dawn's feet. She grabs the pole beside her for support, looks down fearfully.

Shot from below as the whole tower shakes.

Cut back to above. Buffy turns back to the end of the platform.

DAWN: (shrieks) No!

Buffy looks down at the ground below.

DAWN: Don't!

Buffy turns back to Dawn.

DAWN: Don't jump, Buffy, don't move! Just walk to me. Please!

Buffy looks uncertain, turns away again.

DAWN: Please?

Buffy continues staring down. The tower continues to creak.

DAWN: I'm your sister. Dawn. We were up here ... together, and then ... you went away. And you don't wanna do that again. I don't know how you're back, but you are, and please, just stay still.

The tower shakes again, making Dawn shriek and fight for balance.

DAWN: Or-or move. But-but towards me. Because the tower was built by crazy people and I don't think it's holding up very well.

Beat. Buffy continues staring down.

DANW: Talk to me. Say something!

The tower creaks.

BUFFY: (quietly) Is ... this hell?
DAWN: (confused) What?

Buffy turns to face Dawn with an anguished frown.

BUFFY: Is this hell?
DAWN: No! Buffy, no! (taking a tiny step closer) You're here ... with me. (another tiny step) Whatever happened to you, whatever you've been through, it's ... it's over now. You're-

The tower shakes again. Dawn shrieks

DAWN: We have to get off this tower!

Buffy turns to look down again.

BUFFY: (quietly) It was so ... clear ... on this spot. I remember ... how ... shiny ... and clear everything was. (shakes her head) But ... now ... now...
DAWN: Buffy ... please ... listen to me.

Buffy closes her eyes, doesn't turn around.

DAWN: You told me I had to be strong ... and I've tried. (tearful) But it's been so hard without you.

Buffy still has eyes closed, frowning.

DAWN: I'm sorry. I promise I'll do better, I will! (still tearful) If you're with me. Stay with me ... please. I need you to live. Live! For-

The tower shakes again, hard. Dawn screams and crouches down. Piece of the tower fall off.

DAWN: Buffy!

Buffy whirls around.

BUFFY: (softly) Dawn.
DAWN: Buffy!
BUFFY: (louder) Dawn!

Buffy runs across the platform to Dawn, pulls her up and into the body of the tower. They run around one bend, pause and look around.

Shot of a pulley with a rope going through it.

Buffy holds onto Dawn, leaps off the tower and grabs the rope. They hang there for a moment, then the rope begins to move and they plummet downward. Dawn screams. Shot of the pulley with the rope zooming through it, sending up smoke. Shot of a bolt working its way loose.

They fall for a while and then something catches and they stop. They both look toward the ground, still a long ways off.

The bolt holding the pulley secure breaks off, and they fall the rest of the way, Dawn screaming the whole time. They land on some cardboard on the ground.

They both lie on their backs gasping. Buffy looks up and sees the entire platform break off the tower and fall toward them. Buffy grabs Dawn, they both get up and run off an instant before the platform falls on the cardboard.

Long shot of the entire tower crumbling and falling to the ground. It makes a huge sustained noise.

Buffy and Dawn go around a corner and collapse on the ground, panting. Dawn winces in pain, looks up at Buffy's face. The noise dies away.

DAWN: (tentatively) Buffy?

Buffy looks at her apprehensively. Dawn smiles in disbelief.

DAWN: Buffy. You ... you ... (touches Buffy's cheek) ...you're really here.

Dawn hugs Buffy.

DAWN: (crying) You're alive, and you're home. You're home.

Shot of Buffy's face over Dawn's shoulder. She doesn't look very happy.