tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33569482024-03-13T22:29:58.134+00:00ArchangelPart Four of The Psyche Arc:
A sort of Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel finaletreefrogdemonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668655760960757921noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356948.post-101004462002-02-25T13:25:00.000+00:002003-02-24T14:10:10.000+00:00<br>
<br /><center>Written by Jocelyn Rose</center>
<br />
<br /><hr><b>DISCLAIMER: These characters are not mine (except for Psyche) but were created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt, who can make them come alive again whenever they like.</b>
<br /><hr>
<br />
<br /><font color="purple"><center>PSYCHE (VO)
<br />Previously on Buffy the Vampire
<br />Slayer and Angel...</center>
<br />
<br />From 'Faith, Hope and Trick':
<br />
<br /><center>OZ
<br />I'm gonna go out on a limb here and
<br />say we've got a new Slayer in town...
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />I get it!...The two Slayer thing:
<br />there was only one, but then Buffy
<br />died for like two minutes so Kendra
<br />was called, then Kendra died
<br />so Faith was called.</center>
<br />
<br />From an imaginary episode of 'Buffy':
<br />
<br /><center>DAWN
<br />But was <i>another</i> Slayer called?
<br />When you died again?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />No. You don't get two-for-the-price-of-one
<br />with Slayers. It's strictly a one-for-one deal.</center>
<br />
<br />From the very end of 'Sanctuary':
<br />
<br />Faith sitting in her cell.
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL (VO)
<br />She has a chance.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'Angel'
<br />
<br /><center>GILES
<br />There's mention some 200
<br />years ago in Ireland of, of Angelus,
<br />the one with the angelic face.
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />They got that right.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'Untouched':
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL
<br />I'm not AN angel. It's just a name.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'The Gift':
<br />
<br /><center>XANDER
<br />I think I'm gonna live a long
<br />and silly life and I'm not
<br />interested in doing that
<br />without you around.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'The Judas Syndrome':
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL
<br />So you know what's going to happen?
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />Yep.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />OK, what's going to happen?
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />I'm going to betray you.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'The Judas Syndrome':
<br />
<br />Psyche2 doing her fancy-roll-down-the-bonnet and 2-vamp dusting.
<br />
<br />Over which, from 'Some Like It Hot':
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL (VO)
<br />You know what you said before,
<br />about her being weak and...
<br />
<br />WESLEY (VO)
<br />Fawnlike?
<br />
<br />ANGEL (VO)
<br />Well, forget it.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'The Judas Syndrome':
<br />
<br />Psyche's body, laid out on the bed with the sword in its hands.
<br />
<br /><center>WESLEY (VO)
<br />I think you may be going
<br />to need that sword.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'The Body':
<br />
<br /><center>TARA
<br />We can be strong...
<br />
<br />WILLOW
<br />Strong like an Amazon?
<br />
<br />TARA
<br />Strong like an Amazon, right.</center>
<br />
<br />From 'Birthday':
<br />
<br /><center>SKIP
<br />Life and death, that sort of thing,
<br />they got a handle on...Who
<br />someone chooses to love...well,
<br />that's just good old free will.</font>
<br />
<br /><hr>
<br /><h3><font color="aqua"><b>Teaser</b></font></h3><hr></center>
<br />
<br /><font color="purple">EXT. HYPERION HOTEL - LATE AFTERNOON
<br />
<br />Aerial shot looking down on the square beside the hotel. Someone is sitting on the bench in front of a huge crowd of pigeons.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />A shot at ground level (Angel's POV) looking towards the bench. We catch a glimpse of the figure sitting on it before the pigeons all fly up in front of the camera.
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL (OS)
<br />What happened to you?</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Psyche, on the bench, looking up at the camera. She looks slightly different - coloured contacts, maybe.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />I'm not really sure yet.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Angel and Psyche sitting on the bench.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />So far I just know that something
<br />I expected to happen...hasn't.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />What did you expect to happen?
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />Well, I expected...I was told that
<br />my - consciousness was to be
<br />terminated.
<br />(a beat)
<br />Rather a dry way of putting it...
<br />But hey!
<br />(She lifts her hands)
<br />Check it out!</center>
<br />
<br />This is a reference to what Oz said about the world not ending, in Becoming (2).
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL
<br />So, you expected to die?</center>
<br />
<br />A pause
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />Not exactly.</center>
<br />
<br />A pause
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />I know you, don't I?</center>
<br />
<br />Angel looks down, away - a bit upset.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />You're the vampire with a soul, right?
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />We've had that conversation.
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />Oh, I'm sorry. It's my memory - still
<br />pretty...patchy here and there.</center>
<br />
<br />Pause. Psyche screws up her eyes, trying to remember.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />(opens her eyes, sees the ring on Angel's finger)
<br />When you see the Slayer? You might
<br />(a beat)
<br />offer her that ring.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />I won't be seeing her.
<br />(a beat)
<br />And I gave her a ring already. Once.
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />You might ask her what she
<br />did with that. When you see her.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />I won't be seeing her.</center>
<br />
<br />Pause
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL
<br />Can I ask you something?
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />Sure, OK.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />What do you call those small
<br />furry creatures that live in trees
<br />and store nuts away for the winter?
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />(<i>what</i>?)
<br />Uh...squirrels?</center>
<br />
<br />She pronounces it the English way. Angel smiles. A pause.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />Do you get the feeling things
<br />are going sort of surreal around
<br />here? Like maybe one of
<br />us will be waking up soon?
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />Well, before I do wake up,
<br />could you tell me what you
<br />meant by not exactly expecting
<br />to die?</center>
<br />
<br />Pause
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />It's just that...I'm not...
<br />(a beat)
<br />I don't die, actually.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />So, you're not a demon, then.
<br />
<br />PSYCHE
<br />Not really. I'm more...I'm more
<br />what people call an angel.
<br />(She smiles)
<br />Sort of ironic, isn't it?</center>
<br />
<br />A pause, while Angel's looking gobsmacked.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />(matter-of-fact)
<br />There are two of us...
<br />(light dawns)
<br />But they're going to need three...
<br />
<br />END OF TEASER</font>
<br />
<br /><hr><H3><font color="lime"><b>Act One</b></font></h3><hr>
<br /><font color="purple">CORDELIA (VO)
<br />Two of them? Well, we knew
<br />that, didn't we? Jeez -
<br />what else is new?</center>
<br />
<br />INT. HYPERION HOTEL FOYER - EVE
<br />
<br />Hands up if you thought the teaser was a dream-sequence...Nope.
<br />
<br /><center>GUNN
<br />Well, that the chick ain't
<br />dead. That's new. Hey, but we
<br />saw her body? Didn't we?
<br />Or was I hallucinatin', maybe?
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />We smelt it, too.
<br />
<br />GUNN
<br />You can hallucinate smells, though.
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />You can?
<br />(a beat)
<br />Ewww...
<br />
<br />WESLEY
<br />Clearly, what we're dealing
<br />with is one of the higher beings.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />Two.
<br />
<br />WESLEY
<br />What?
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />Two. Of the higher beings.
<br />
<br />WESLEY
<br />Yes, of course...Of course!
<br />(pedant mode)
<br />Angels! There are angel-
<br />like beings in many belief
<br />systems...Azrael...Jibril...
<br />Raphael...Often <i>two</i> angels,
<br />in fact, representing
<br />opposite...representing...
<br />Well - good and evil. Life and
<br />...and death.</center>
<br />
<br />Pause. They all look at each other.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />So, not your ordinary
<br />Christmas-tree angel then.
<br />
<br />WESLEY
<br />I said you should have kept
<br />the sword.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />She'd have wanted it
<br />buried with her.
<br />
<br />GUNN
<br />But she ain't <i>in</i> there.</center>
<br />
<br />Pause. The phone rings. They all turn to look at it.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. ANONYMOUS SPACE - NIGHT
<br />
<br />A space, wherein Psyches 1&2 can talk with the Voice, aka the Powers That Be.
<br />
<br />A lot of golden light and mist.
<br />
<br /><center>VOICE
<br />So you are certain that, if
<br />he is in peril, the Slayer
<br />will come?
<br />
<br />PSYCHE1
<br />I am certain. The bond between
<br />them is strong.
<br />
<br />PSYCHE2
<br />It seemed to me you were
<br />trying to weaken it, sister.
<br />
<br />PSYCHE1
<br />No. I was making it stronger still.</center>
<br />
<br />The Psyches smile at each other.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE1
<br />I shall need your help.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. FAITH'S PRISON - EVE
<br />
<br />The prison: a recreation or eating area. A huge fight in progress, Faith in the thick of it, and it's clear that incarceration hasn't impaired her fighting skills one bit. Many chairs are being broken over many heads. The screws start wading in to break it up.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. PRISON CELL - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Faith in her cell, the door of which is just closing.
<br />
<br /><center>PRISON WARDER (OS)
<br />That's your privileges down
<br />the pan, sweetheart,
<br />for the next hundred years
<br />or so...</center>
<br />
<br />The door shuts with a clang.
<br />
<br />Faith doesn't react. Her face is bruised and she has stitches in a cut over her eye.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />A sequence of shots where Faith is seen from different angles as the light changes to show the passage of time - still shots, but the camera, in effect, moves round her. Faith doesn't move at all. The final shot has Faith in the foreground and the door of the cell in the background. It is very quiet.
<br />
<br />The cell door unlocks itself.
<br />
<br />Faith turns towards it.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />EXT. OUTSIDE THE PRISON - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Faith leaping down from the outer wall of the prison. Night. Rain. She looks around, sets off purposefully into the darkness.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. ANONYMOUS BEDROOM - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Perhaps the same room we saw Angel and Psyche in before. Here they are again. Psyche, naked, is straddling Angel (also naked, as far as we can see) on the bed. Their breathing is getting dangerously heavy. Psyche leans down to kiss him.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE
<br />(whispering)
<br />Don't worry: I know what
<br />I'm doing.</center>
<br />
<br />She kisses him. As she does so, we see her hands sliding up his arms and pulling them towards the bedhead. The camera lifts and Psyche2 is standing behind the bedhead with chains in her hands. Angel starts to realise what's happening.
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL
<br />No...</center>
<br />
<br />Too late. The chains are on his wrists. Angel pulls at them, tries to sit up, falls back.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE1
<br />It is as I told you.
<br />There is a prophecy.
<br />(So, no hard feelings, then.)
<br />This is the betrayal part.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />NO!
<br />
<br />PSYCHE2
<br />We have you. Now we
<br />need the Slayer.</center>
<br />
<br />Angel tries to twist round to see her. Off his agonised expression we
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. HYPERION HOTEL FOYER - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Cordelia and Gunn are packing weapons in bags. Wesley's with the books.
<br />
<br /><center>WESLEY
<br />Giles may think it's serious
<br />but I can't find anything here...
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />Try Willow again.</center>
<br />
<br />Wesley picks up the phone, dials.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />It makes more sense than
<br />all of us looking on the Web
<br />separately...
<br />Gas!
<br />
<br />GUNN
<br />Gas!</center>
<br />
<br />Cordelia tosses him the car keys and he rushes out.
<br />
<br /><center>WESLEY
<br />Gas?
<br />(sniffing)
<br />Where?
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />Gas. For the car. If we're
<br />going to Sunnydale.
<br />
<br />WESLEY
<br />Oh - petrol. I can never
<br />get used...Willow?</center>
<br />
<br />He starts speaking into the phone as Cordelia remembers something else.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />The sword...</center>
<br />
<br />She rushes out.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />EXT. HYPERION HOTEL COURTYARD - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Cordelia is levering up a large slab of stone. It's a struggle. She gives one huge final shove and white light bursts forth from under the slab. Cordelia, shielding her eyes with one hand, reaches in with the other, but as she does so
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />AHHHHHH!</center>
<br />
<br />a vision takes her and she shudders in its grip.
<br />
<br /><center>END OF ACT ONE
<br />
<br /><hr><h3><font color="fuchsia"><b>Act Two</b></font></h3><hr></center>
<br />
<br /><font color+"Purple">EXT. HYPERION HOTEL COURTYARD - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Wesley is holding Cordelia. The vision comes to an end.
<br />
<br /><center>WESLEY
<br />What is it?
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />Angel...it's Angel...
<br />
<br />WESLEY
<br /><i>Angel</i>?</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />EXT. FREEWAY - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Faith driving a presumably stolen car. The shot shows a broken window on the driver's side.
<br />
<br />Sound of a ringing phone.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Buffy's hand picks up the phone.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />Hallo?</center>
<br />
<br />She listens. Takes a breath. Shock on her face. Listens some more.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />We'll be there.</center>
<br />
<br />She breaks the connection. Dials.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S ROOM - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Close up on Willow's face. Her laptop screen reflected on it.
<br />
<br /><center>WILLOW
<br />It's bad.</center>
<br />
<br />Tara's face appears alongside Willow's. She too is looking at the screen.
<br />
<br /><center>TARA
<br />Worse than Giles thought?
<br />
<br />WILLOW
<br />Worse than anything.</center>
<br />
<br />She logs off and, as the screen goes dark, the phone rings. They turn their heads.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Buffy puts the phone down, is moving to the door.
<br />
<br /><center>DAWN (OS)
<br />What's going on?
<br />Is something happening?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />(over her shoulder)
<br />Nothing; no; and no.</center>
<br />
<br />She goes out the front door, slams it shut behind her.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Dawn, in night clothes, standing on the stairs.
<br />
<br /><center>DAWN
<br />(shouting)
<br />What's the second 'no' for?
<br />(quietly)
<br />Oh.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S ROOM - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Willow and Tara bustle round Buffy, collecting paraphernalia.
<br />
<br /><center>TARA
<br />A vision?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />Yeah, Cordy's Vision Girl
<br />these days. They're sort
<br />of messages about people
<br />in trouble, so Angel knows
<br />who to help. But this one
<br />was about him.
<br />
<br />WILLOW
<br />So, what's the plan?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />I've called Xander. We'll
<br />meet over at the High School...
<br />that's where Angel was
<br />when Cordy saw him.
<br />Then we'll - assess the sitch.
<br />(a beat)
<br />Yeah.
<br />
<br />WILLOW
<br />So, the High School again...
<br />Is it the Hellmouth?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />I don't know.
<br />
<br />TARA
<br />And who is it who's got Angel?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />I don't know that either.</center>
<br />
<br />The Slayer is rattled. Willow and Tara exchange a look.
<br />
<br /><center>WILLOW
<br />Well, we've got all
<br />sorts of different stuff here.
<br />So, whatever it is...
<br />
<br />TARA
<br />We'll be able to help.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. SPIKE'S CRYPT - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Spike is lying on the sofa watching television. Suddenly his head goes up and he looks round.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE
<br />Hey up.
<br />(a beat)
<br />Something's happening.</center>
<br />
<br />He gets up, grabs his coat, and runs out.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Shot of the TV screen, where some soap crisis is under way.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />EXT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL - NIGHT
<br />
<br />The ruins of the school are looking especially spooky. Trembly music as the Scoobies arrive.
<br />
<br /><center>XANDER
<br />Do we know what it is yet?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />No - there's no more word.
<br />
<br />XANDER
<br />But - given the location -
<br />we gotta wonder.
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />We surely do.
<br />
<br />XANDER
<br />Sort of - poetic, or something.
<br />
<br />ANYA
<br />Xander? Please explain to me why
<br />this situation resembles poetry?
<br />I'm sure there are other art forms
<br />that could offer more complete
<br />metaphors...Greek tragedy?</center>
<br />
<br />Willow and Tara are setting up an alfresco witchcraft site to one side.
<br />
<br /><center>ANYA (OS)
<br />...Pathetic fallacy?</center>
<br />
<br />There is a rumble like thunder. They all look towards the school entrance.
<br />
<br />A flash of golden light, like sheet-lightning. A cloud of smoke and, when it clears, Angel, flanked by Psyches 1&2, is standing on the school steps. No chains are in evidence.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />Angel...What's this?
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />(coming towards her, the Psyches a step behind)
<br />Buffy...
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />I thought you were in danger?
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />I am. We all are.
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />Doesn't look like that to
<br />me. Unless it's a danger
<br />to your own personal <i>soul</i>.</center>
<br />
<br />Whoops. Amazing how they can sense these things.
<br />
<br /><center>ANYA
<br />Did Angel have sex?</center>
<br />
<br />For once, Xander makes no attempt to shush her. He's fascinated. There's a squeal of brakes OS but no-one takes any notice.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Close up of Buffy's angry face.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />I do not believe this. You -
<br />you send cryptic messages
<br />saying you need help, and
<br />when we all respond, we all
<br />turn out to help you, you -
<br />you're...</center>
<br />
<br />Her eyes widen and her voice fades away.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA (OS)
<br />Did I mention they were angels?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />No. No, you really didn't.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The red and the gold angels. With wings (I hope) and armour; holding their helmets at their sides. Angel looking relieved that the subject has been changed.
<br />
<br />Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn have arrived.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />Uh - Psyche?
<br />
<br />PSYCHES 1&2
<br />(unison)
<br />Yes?
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />Oh, you're both called...
<br />I mean, the nice one!</center>
<br />
<br />Both Psyches are amused.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />The one who died - oh,
<br />no: you didn't, did you?
<br />I know - the one who likes
<br />Marilyn Monroe!</center>
<br />
<br />The red angel steps forward.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE1
<br />That would be me, I think.
<br />
<br />CORDELIA
<br />Here's your sword.</center>
<br />
<br />She holds it out. Psyche1 smiles across at Psyche2, whose sword it really is.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE1
<br />Keep it. I have another.</center>
<br />
<br />And to prove it, she draws it.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE2
<br />We are sorry if our method
<br />alarmed and upset you.
<br />But we needed you here,
<br />and we needed you quickly. All
<br />of you.</center>
<br />
<br />During the rest of Psyche2's speech, we see the faces of the assembled company, one fading into the next - Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Angel, Buffy and Psyche1.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE2
<br />For the world is threatened.
<br />The Hellmouth is opening
<br />for the last time and this,
<br />if we are not victorious,
<br />will be our last battle.
<br />That is why you have been called.</center>
<br />
<br />Psyche2 draws her sword.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />Buffy, would you like this sword?
<br />It does that...glowy thing.
<br />Like when orcs are about?
<br />(Obligatory Lord of the Rings reference)
<br />A sword's not really my weapon.</center>
<br />
<br />Buffy accepts the sword, looks down its length.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />Hmm...so what <i>is</i> your weapon, Cordelia?</center>
<br />
<br />Cordelia holds up her crossbow, and gives one of her grins.
<br />
<br /><center>FAITH (OS)
<br />Is this a private battle?</center>
<br />
<br />They turn to her.
<br />
<br /><center>FAITH
<br />(awkward)
<br />Hi, B.
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />Faith...er...
<br />(she decides)
<br />It's good to see you.
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />Hey, Faith.
<br />
<br />FAITH
<br />Hey...</center>
<br />
<br />Another rumble, as of thunder.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The two angels stand and face the ruined school. They raise their swords in unison to point at the thunderclouds and, as they do, a bolt of lightning strikes the building and the facade collapses in a cloud of golden dust. From within, a red glow is beginning.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Angel, Buffy and Faith, armed and determined, stand in a row facing the camera...which then pulls back gradually to show
<br />
<br />that they're flanked by all the others (this'll look best in widescreen). Grim-faced. Loaded for bear.
<br />
<br />More thunder.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />INT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL - NIGHT
<br />
<br />The red glow becomes brighter and brighter as the Hellmouth starts to open, and out of it come swarming -
<br />
<br />oh shit -
<br />
<br />the most gruesome monsters we've seen yet. And they keep coming. And coming.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />EXT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Angel, Buffy and Faith again, as before.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />(quietly)
<br />Let's do it.</center>
<br />
<br />The three begin to walk forward and, as they do, the camera pulls back again to show everybody, all walking forward too. <font color="red">Slo-mo? Yes I think so!</font>
<br />
<br /><font color="purple"><center>END OF ACT TWO</font>
<br />
<br /><hr><h3><font color="fuchsia">Act Three</font></h3><hr></center>
<br />
<br /><font color="purple">EXT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL - NIGHT
<br />
<br />Spike is hiding in some bushes. He is going to narrate the battle for us. This'll save money as we only get to see selected scenes - the most telling ones. Also, long battle sequences can get really tedious.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE
<br />OK, so who have we got?</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The two angels, red and gold.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Hmm, two supernatural beings: that's good.
<br />(surprised)
<br />Hey! No, not so good.</center>
<br />
<br />Each angel morphs into a flock of pigeons - one lot red, one lot gold - and they fly up and away.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Oh, I get it. Generals. Safely in the rear.
<br />Very sensible. Now: who else?</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Willow and Tara, advancing side by side. They carry no weapons, but each has her right hand extended before her, something glowing in each palm.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Ah, yes. Every boy's dream.
<br />(a beat)
<br />Except for all the witchcraft, that is.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Xander and Anya. Very much the team. Marching in step.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Often wonder who wears
<br />the trousers in that relationship...
<br />Knowing as I do, firsthand,
<br />what Harris' trousers are like.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Of course, in the old days at
<br />school she didn't need the crossbow...
<br />Could kill with a look. Don't know
<br />the black bloke: he looks pretty
<br />useful...Wesley - well, what
<br />can I say? Now for our heroes...</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Buffy, turning to Angel, then to Faith, saying something we can't hear: both nod.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />No prizes for knowing
<br />who's in charge <i>here</i>...
<br />And the opposition?</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />A whole mess of evil demons, charging out of the ruins.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Oh shit...</center>
<br />
<br />Buffy, Angel and Faith engage the enemy.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />I think I'll just wait here for a bit.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Xander and Anya, alternately bashing a demon on the head.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Good work from our paramilitary team...</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Gunn, in a fight; Cordelia behind him.
<br />
<br /><center>CORDELIA
<br />Duck!</center>
<br />
<br />Gunn does, and the crossbow scores a direct hit.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />(surprised)
<br />Very good!</center>
<br />
<br />A series of quick cuts showing Angel (who keeps his human face throughout the battle), Wesley, Faith, Xander each fighting in their own inimitable styles...Willow and Tara have a sort of witch-laser which is very effective at demon-zapping. (But, we see a shot of one of the demons observing them closely.) White hats seem to be winning, until
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />Oh dear.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Angel, fighting 4 or 5 demons in a ring around him, is suddenly disarmed - the sword skids away out of his reach. He stands, looks round the circle.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />(not sounding very sorry)
<br />My former associate in trouble...
<br />
<br />BUFFY (OS)
<br />Angel!</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Buffy, as she throws the angelic sword up into the air. The camera follows it as - glowing white - it rises in slow motion, turning over and over, and then falls into Angel's upstretched hand. He glows white briefly as he catches it.
<br />
<br />Back to normal speed as Angel spins round and beheads all the demons in the circle. A glowing trace is left in the air.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />(grudgingly)
<br />Oh well, if you've got a magic sword...
<br />(real concern)
<br />Now this does not look good.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Willow and Tara, as they point together at a menacing demon - the one we saw watching them earlier. Light shoots from their fingers towards him; but before it reaches him he raises a shield and deflects the light, which fragments into a fountain of sparks like a firework. The demon leans in and slashes Tara's throat.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Tara, in closeup, her hands at her throat. Blood welling through.
<br />
<br /><center>TARA
<br />(whispers)
<br />Willow?</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Willow, trying to catch her, but she falls to the ground. Willow looks down for a moment, then up into the camera. Resolve face. A flash of Evil Willow, maybe.
<br />
<br /><center>WILLOW
<br />Strong like an Amazon.</center>
<br />
<br />She raises her hand to the demon..
<br />
<br /><center>WILLOW
<br />DEMONE! TE CONJURO...</center>
<br />
<br />...and the demon runs her through, flinging her back to lie on the ground next to Tara.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Willow's face in closeup. She turns her head towards Tara.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Buffy, battling an especially large demon. Suddenly she falters. Turns her head.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />Willow?</center>
<br />
<br />The demon swings at her, but as his blow comes down Faith jumps in between them, takes the blow on her upraised axe, thrusts the sword in her other hand into the demon's heart: but the axe shatters and - with the aid of maybe some special effect of a sparkly kind - the shards are scattered and
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Faith in closeup with a sparkly shard embedded in her brow. She falls out of shot and we see
<br />
<br />Buffy, standing dazed, disoriented. Darkness closes in around her.
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL (OS)
<br />(a bit echoey)
<br />Buffy! Look out!</center>
<br />
<br />As a phalanx of demons surrounds her, Buffy goes into automatic-Slay mode. Spinning, kicking, jumping - and about 20 demons are dispatched in as many seconds.
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL (OS)
<br />Buffy - look up.</center>
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Overhead shot, the camera looking down on Buffy, who looks up into it. Amazed at first. Then, determination.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />(still looking up)
<br />Angel, are you with me?
<br />
<br />ANGEL (OS)
<br />Always.
<br /></center>
<br />Buffy's eyes begin to glow white.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />OK, all the money I've saved you so far goes into this most evil monster. Huge, dark, glowy, with teeth and awesome power. Like a Balrog, only scaly.
<br />
<br />And Buffy and Angel fight it. And (eventually) they win.
<br />
<br />Enormous flash'n'crash.
<br />
<br />Blackout.
<br />
<br />Everything goes quiet for a long time.
<br />
<br />Sound of someone crashing through the bushes.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Spike, who turns and catches hold of Dawn as she slams into him.
<br />
<br /><center>DAWN
<br />(panting)
<br />Spike! Where's Buffy! Let me go!
<br />
<br />SPIKE
<br />Not just now, Little Bit.</center>
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Buffy, standing alone on the battlefield looking down at Willow. She sinks to her knees. The battle is over.
<br />
<br /><center>END OF ACT THREE
<br />
<br /><hr><h3><font color="olive">Act Four</center></h3></font><hr>
<br />
<br /><font color="purple">EXT. BATTLEFIELD - NIGHT
<br />
<br /><CENTER>DAWN
<br />(seriously pissed off)
<br />Spike!
<br />(a beat)
<br />Whose side are you on, anyway?</center>
<br />
<br />Pause. Spike looks up at the sky.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE
<br />Well, funnily enough, I seem to be...</center>
<br />
<br />His gaze lowers, as if he's watching...say, two angels flying down.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The now-flattened school building where, standing on the edge of the Hellmouth, the two angels are now joined by another figure, this one in white.
<br />
<br /><center>SPIKE (VO)
<br />...on the side of the angels.</center>
<br />
<br />The three figures draw their swords. They raise them.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The face of Psyche1, as she looks up at her sword.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The face of Psyche2, ditto.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The face of Angel, now revealed as the third figure.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The three of them standing over the Hellmouth.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE1
<br />By the power of one...
<br />
<br />PSYCHE2
<br />By the power of two...
<br />
<br />ANGEL
<br />By the power of three...
<br />
<br />ALL THREE
<br />(unison)
<br />Let this gate be sealed for ever.</center>
<br />
<br />The long shot again, as the three angels bring down their swords upon the Hellmouth. Much noise and many gorgeous lighting effects as the Hellmouth is closed. Psyches 1&2 sheathe their swords, take hands, and meld into one body - just as the two Xanders did in The Replacement, but on camera and with rather more in the way of sparks. The melded Psyche is a white angel.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Psyche(s), in closeup, looking at
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Angel, in closeup, looking back at her/them. He goes vampface. He snarls.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Buffy kneeling by Willow's body. She looks round and up, and we see her face has been blasted by tears.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />(incredulous)
<br />Giles?</center>
<br />
<br />She starts to get up: he helps her.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />How did you get here?
<br />
<br />GILES
<br />With great difficulty...
<br />I was sorry to miss all the fun.
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />(bleak)
<br />It wasn't all that much fun really.</center>
<br />
<br />Pause. Giles puts his arm around her, turns her away from the battlefield.
<br />
<br /><center>GILES
<br />(quiet)
<br />I have some news for you.
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />Nice or nasty?
<br />
<br />GILES
<br />Well - a bit of both really.
<br />(He takes a breath.)
<br />The Powers That Be are,
<br />are relieving you of your duties.
<br />As, as the Slayer.</center>
<br />
<br />As Buffy stares at him in shock, we
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />A montage of the Slayer's Greatest Hits...which culminates in a series of clips of Buffy saying 'I'm the Slayer' over and over again (from different occasions - eg to Riley in Doomed, the Colonel in Primeval). The last image freezes.
<br />
<br /><center>GILES (VO)
<br />If it's any consolation to you -
<br />there's never before been
<br />a Slayer who wasn't, wasn't
<br />killed in the line of duty.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The present-day Buffy, incredulous, the tears pouring down.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />The battlefield, as the survivors tend to the fallen. Spike and Dawn have emerged from their bushes and stand watching.
<br />
<br />Xander and Anya have laid a stretcher on the ground alongside Willow and are straightening her limbs, preparatory to lifting her. Xander, overcome, stands abruptly and turns away. Anya looks after him, her face full of worry.
<br />
<br />Cordelia is dressing a nasty wound on Gunn's arm.
<br />
<br />Wesley is standing looking down at something on the ground in front of him. The camera pans down and we see it is Faith.
<br />
<br /><center>PSYCHE (OS)
<br />We will take Faith with us.
<br />She was a Slayer, and
<br />fought bravely to the end.
<br />
<br />WESLEY (OS)
<br />Has another been called?
<br />
<br />PSYCHE (OS)
<br />Yes. When one Slayer dies,
<br />another is called. There is
<br />a new Slayer.</center>
<br />
<br />Pause.
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Wesley's face. He looks round, to where the others are carrying Willow and Tara off the field.
<br />
<br /><center>WESLEY
<br />(who never thought he would say this)
<br />No: you can leave her with us.
<br />She's family.</center>
<br />
<br />Cut to:
<br />
<br />Buffy and Giles. They haven't moved.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />So - that's it, is it?
<br />What happened to free will?
<br />What happened to choice?
<br />What happened to, to...consultation?
<br />
<br />GILES
<br />(distracted)
<br />I though you believed it was your destiny?
<br />Your sacred calling?
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />OK - what happened to <i>them</i>?
<br />And - by the way?
<br />Where's my thank-you for
<br />the years of slaying?
<br />Where's my <i>clock</i>?
<br />(a beat)
<br />Who <i>are</i> the Powers That Be,
<br />anyway?
<br />
<br />GILES
<br />I think the thing with the Powers
<br />That Be is that they, they
<br />like everything tidy.
<br />You know, no, no loose ends.
<br />So when they found themselves
<br />with two Slayers they,
<br />they couldn't...they couldn't...
<br />
<br />BUFFY
<br />Deal?
<br />
<br />GILES
<br />Er - deal, yes...I mean, no,
<br />and so they...</center>
<br />
<br />Pause. Giles puts on his serious look.
<br />
<br /><center>GILES
<br />And, of course, another
<br />thing that didn't fit tidily into
<br />their plans was, er...</center>
<br />
<br />It's as if he doesn't want to go on...
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />(beginning to get it?)
<br />A...vampire with a soul?
<br />
<br />GILES
<br />Well, yes, because - you know,
<br />as they see it, the good guys
<br />are <i>here</i>, the bad guys
<br />are <i>there</i>...It just...</center>
<br />
<br />Pause
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />So, what: are you saying that
<br />they...turned him back?</center>
<br />
<br />Pause. And the seven most heartrending words we'll hear all season are:
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />(desolate)
<br />Giles - it's gone. It's all gone...
<br />Everything.</center>
<br />
<br />Pause
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />(desperate)
<br />They - they took away his soul?
<br />
<br />ANGEL (OS)
<br />No...</center>
<br />
<br />Buffy turns. Just as, at the end of Graduation Day 2, she watched Angel walk away from her through the smoke and steam so now she watches him - dressed in white still? Naah, too corny: but looking like someone whose blood is going round, say - walk towards her. Day is breaking, but that won't matter to Angel now.
<br />
<br />Behind him, a flock of white pigeons flies up.
<br />
<br /><center>ANGEL
<br />They made me into a man.</center>
<br />
<br />Angel is carrying a book which, we may or may not see, is <i>Sonnets from the Portuguese</i>. I always wondered what happened to that.
<br />
<br /><center>BUFFY
<br />(still looking at Angel, but talking to Giles)
<br />So what happens now?
<br />
<br />GILES (OS)
<br />I haven't the faintest idea.
<br />
<br /><h3><font color="black">The end</font></h3>
<br /><hr>
<br />
<br /><h6>For the closing credits, how about some 10,000 Maniacs? Maybe Eden, from <i>Our Time in Eden</i>. I'm just sayin'.</h6></center>
<br />
<br /><font color="black">Copyright Jocelyn Rose 2002
<br />__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
<br />Go back to <a href="http://psychearc.blogspot.com">The Psyche Arc</a> to start all over again! The links are all working now (I hope). Or, there's a new Psyche story called <a href="http://resurrection.blogspot.com">Resurrection</a>, which is a follow-up to Angel 3:22 'Tomorrow'. Not that the title gives anything away...And, new to The Psyche Arc, I've started a sort of 'Angel' diary which is at <a href="http://www.therealpsyche.blogspot.com">The Real Psyche</a>. I don't know: once you see your name on the Web you just want to get it up there more and more...</font>
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<br />treefrogdemonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668655760960757921noreply@blogger.com