buffy8x06 Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.
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24 INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 24
The mib hops over the the couch and falls to a sit.
ANDREW
Is there anything I can get you.
Tasty beverage, pop tart?
MAN IN BLACK
No, I'm fine thank you.
Andrew walks over, sits in the arm chair.
ANDREW
Soooo, ummmmm, who are you?
MAN IN BLACK
I'm here to tell you how you can be
saved.
ANDREW
From what?
MAN IN BLACK
Heavenly father smiles on all his
children. Especially on those who
have accepted His path. You seem
like a very nice man. If I may ask
have you found your faith?
ANDREW
I learned to summon demons once but
I'm sort of over that now.
MAN IN BLACK
It's unfortunate that we all
channel demons at some time.
Avarice, lust, egotism. With
heavenly father's guidance we can
purge these faults in ourselves and
be redeemed.
ANDREW
You can give me redemption?
MAN IN BLACK
I can't. Our Lord can. There is no
sin so grievous it cannot be
forgiven if you ask our Lord in the
right way. He was once a humble man
like you or I. In another world and
place he ascended to a higher
state. Became our Lord here. Any
one of us through living rightly
could do the same.
ANDREW
What do I have to do?
MAN IN BLACK
Love God with all your being. Slay
the demons of which you spoke with
the sword of His truth?
A KNOCK comes from the door. Andrew doesn't get up at first.
KNOCKS again. Andrew goes over:
25 INT> BUFFY'S FOYER/PORCH - CONTINUOUS 25
Opens the door.
JODY
Hey man, how's it going?
ANDREW
I'm learning about redemption.
JODY
Uh, cool.
26 INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 26
Jody steps on inside. Sees the mib on the couch. The mib
smiles and Jody just rolls his eyes.
JODY
Is this for real?
MAN IN BLACK
Come, sit with us. We were having a
delightful conversation.
JODY
Yeah, I'm not much for the talking.
He throws his arm around Andrew. Andrew twitches a bit but
doesn't shake it off.
JODY (cont'd)
Me and my bud here haven't been
straight with the man upstairs for
a while now.
MAN IN BLACK
Now is as good a time as any to
start.
JODY
Tell me something, what do you
think about marriage?
MAN IN BLACK
If a couple truly loves each other
they should be joined in His sight.
JODY
Sweet, so will you marry us?
MAN IN BLACK
Excuse me?
JODY
We'd like to get married, right
now. Hop to.
The mib stands, stares at Andrew. Andrew shakes Jody's arm
off and takes a step away from him.
ANDREW
See, he has this condition, it's
kind of like Tourets, only worse.
MAN IN BLACK
If you knowingly continue a life of
sin the Lord cannot save you.
JODY
Okay, this is the part where my
fist will impact every square inch
of your body if you don't make with
the getting the hell out.
MAN IN BLACK
I'll pray for you both.
JODY
Ditto.
The mib heads out the door, slams it behind himself.
ANDREW
Okay, why did you make him leave?
JODY
Hello, religious freak.
ANDREW
Hello, guy who summoned demons and
could be going to hell for it. I
did things, I did bad bad things.
What if he's right? What if I could
be fine without some minor
orientation issue?
JODY
What's going on here.
(motions his hand
indicating the two of
them)
Whatever the hell it is. It's who
we are. Freako's like that guy try
to make us ashamed because they
can't deal with it. Don't let him
mess with your head. The only
person who can redeem you is you.
ANDREW
You're so sure of that.
JODY
I pretty much have to be.
27 INT. BUFFY'S FOYER - CONTINUOUS 27
Andrew tromps up the stairs. Jody stops following him at the
bottom. A DOOR SLAMS somewhere above.
JODY
(calling up)
So, um, about that thing Dawn saw?
28 EXT. PARK - DAY 28
Willow tears across a narrow field and into some brambles and
trees. Things catch on her clothes slowing her down but she
keeps pushing through.
She looks back, only two mibs are in pursuit now. The forest
rolls down an embankment and she runs with it. It's steep and
she soon can't control how fast she's barreling down the
hill.
She clips a tree and it spins her sending her tumbling down
smashing through the brambles. She rolls to a painful stop,
looks up. Sees a stream up ahead with a path running next to
it.
Hustles to her feet and makes for the path. Runs full out
fast as she can. The path and the stream run under a small
overpass.
She dives into the shadows underneath, runs for the other
side. The silhouettes of two mibs appear up ahead. She skids
on her heels to a stop.
Turns back, the two other mibs are there. She's trapped under
the bridge. Both sets walk toward her.
WILLOW
Circle of truth and beauty, I call
thee, no, that's not right. Circle
of truth and beauty, I ask -- No,
come on think. Circle...
(looks one way)
Truth.
(looks the other)
Ugly.
They're on her. A blonde man in black grabs her by the
collar. He head butts her and her nose starts to bleed. He
wraps his thumbs around her throat and chokes her.
Willow flails to fight him off. He trips as she squirms and
they plummet into the water. He stands back up in the waist
deep water and holds her under by the throat.
WILLOW'S POV
Sound is muffled from the water engulfing her. The face of
the man killing her is distorted and indiscernible. She gasps
but can't find air.
Somewhere above she hears a car SKID to a stop. Her eyes
close. The other three watch from the bank, chanting:
MEN IN BLACK
Baptism! Baptism! Baptism!
PLONK! A bat impacts the back of one of their heads. He drops
out cold. The other two turn to face Xander. One charges.
Xand swings low slamming him in the knee.
The mib crumples. The next one charges. Willow's eyes pop
open. Xander, who had both eyes open is thrown off his game.
The mib tackles him and the bat skitters away.
Willow bares her teeth. The water around bubbles and scalds.
The blonde mib let's go. He backs away shaking his burned
hands. Xander grapples on the ground.
He gets an arm free and slams his elbow into the side of the
mib's head, knocking him out. Xander pushes him off and gets
up.
Blondie backhands Willow across the face. She stumbles but
doesn't fall. He slaps again, but deflects off a magic
barrier Willow manages to cast in time. The mib hit in the
knee is halfway up.
Xander runs over and kicks him in the side knocking him back
down. Xand kicks him twice more on the ground to keep him
down. Blondie pounds on the barrier. Willow holds her hand up
to maintain it but it won't last for long. The more he slams
his fists against it the duller it appears.
Xander covers his left eye with one hand, grabs the bat with
the other. He makes a mad dash for the stream and leaps into
it splashing down behind Blondie. Three solid swings and
Blondie's out and falls into the water, floating off with the
current.
The barrier gives and Willow falls into Xander's arms. He
hefts her out of the water and back to dry land. They catch
their breath. Xander kneels by Willow. She lies on the
ground. Close on Xander's mystic eye as it sees from:
WILLOW'S POV
looking up at Xander.
DISSOLVE TO:
XANDER'S POV
looking down at Willow, the spell ended.
WILLOW
I screamed your name. I hoped you'd
find me.
XANDER
Whatever mojo that scream worked it
got me here.
He helps her up and into a hug.
WILLOW
Thanks Xander.
XANDER
I told you practicing that Aquaman
lunge as a kid would come in handy.
Let's get you home.
29 INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - EVENING 29
Willow's wrapped in a towel on the couch with Kennedy's arm
wrapped around her as well. The gang's convened.
WILLOW
They're not just animated corpses.
30 INT. BAPTIST CHURCH - CONTINUOUS 30
The whitewash is chipped and the walls themselves sag with
the weight of the world. A few mibs appear from shadows along
the street. More emerge and they move toward the front doors.
WILLOW (V.O.)
Somehow he brought their souls back
and pressed them into their maggot
ridden bodies; then used a glamour
to hide it.
31 INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 31
Dawn kneels at the coffee table.
DAWN
I've read about soul binding
rituals. It's not for-dummies
magic. Souls naturally want to be
free. Controlling them's a toughy.
Did you see how he's doing it?
WILLIS
(her voice quavers)
His saliva strangles them. Long
gooey strings of it wind back to
him. I could hear them, begging
their bodies not to do what they
did. The strings yanked them along,
forced them.
DAWN
Essence chords, I've read about
them. I have to find the right
book. Hopefully it's not in
Aramaic. I suck at Aramaic.
She goes to shelves and starts digging.
WILLOW
That's not the worst part.
32 INT. BAPTIST CHURCH - CONTINUOUS 32
The double doors swing open. Willis strides down the center
aisle, big smile.
WILLOW (V.O.)
I saw his face, not his flesh, but
his true face. Crooked razorblade
teeth in an enormous maw and eyes
like black holes.
BUFFY (V.O.)
He's a demon?
WILLOW (V.O.)
No, he's human. That's what makes
it worse.
A group of twenty or so people of all ages sit in the pews
near the front. Willis strolls up nonchalantly.
WILLIS
Studying the good book I see.
BAPTIST PASTOR
Sit down, join us brother.
WILLIS
Nah, read that one. I prefer the
updated version.
He chucks a book at the Pastor's feet. It's the Book of
Mormon.
BAPTIST PASTOR
You're a cult.
WILLIS
Well, this cult just hit big time.
Men in black pour in the front doors behind him. They file
into the pews and keep walking, snaking back and forth along
the wooden benches, getting closer row by row. As they move:
WILLIS (cont'd)
You have something we need.
Misguided faith. We feed off it.
BAPTIST PRIEST
If you've come to argue theology
we'd be more than happy to oblige
you.
WILLIS
No, I haven't come to argue. I've
come to settle it.
He walks back toward the front doors. The men in black
continue snaking forward through the pews.
WILLIS (cont'd)
Enjoy your dinner boys. Save me a
wing.
WILLOW (V.O.)
I could feel their hunger...
33 INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 33
WILLOW
...when they attacked me. They
wanted to open my head and devour
my thoughts.
Kennedy hugs Willow tighter. Dawn's got a few large tomes out
now.
DAWN
We'll find a solution, Willow.
ANYA
See, Dawnie will read and we'll
follow the instructions and
everything will be solved. Besides,
you can't keep that much expired
life going. Not without taking life
to maintain it.
(off their looks)
What? That's supposed to be
comforting?
34 INT. BAPTIST CHURCH - CONTINUOUS 34
The massacre. Willis moves amongst his flock. They tear the
parishioners apart. Father Donovan takes shaky steps up to
the altar. The Baptist Pastor cowers on the ground near it.
BAPTIST PASTOR
Though I walk through the shadow of
the valley of death I will not
fear. I will not fear. I will
not...
Father Donovan ignores him and stares up at a cross set high
in the wall behind the altar. His eyes twitch a little.
He drops to his knees. He looks at his hands like he's not
quite sure what to do with them. Trembling ever so slightly,
they come together in prayer.
Seeing this the Baptist Pastor crawls across the floor and to
a side door. He slips out. Willis notices Father at the
altar. He walks up and kicks him over.
WILLIS
What are you doing? Chase him!
Father stands and charges out the same door the Pastor took.
BLACK OUT.
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
35 INT. SUBURBIA - NIGHT 35
The Baptist Pastor tears along the sidewalk, his arms
flailing, running full out. Father Donovan's gaining.
BAPTIST PASTOR
Help! Help!
Father dive tackles him. They struggle in the grass a moment
before Father pins his arms. Father licks his lips.
BAPTIST PASTOR (cont'd)
Please, whatever your sins he will
forgive you. He will accept you and
he will love you. You need only
ask.
Father scrunches his face.
FATHER
Jackson?
His grip lessons and the Baptist Pastor crawls out from
underneath him and runs. Father stays kneeling for a moment.
FATHER (cont'd)
Jackson!
He stands up.
36 INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - NIGHT 36
Gang's in full research mode. Dawn sits cross-legged on the
carpet surrounded by books. Open tomes cover the coffee
table, the floor, three are stacked in her lap. She jumps
from book to book with ease, a cross referencing fiend.
DAWN
I have souls over here, death over
there, afterlife dimensions in this
one, and Tibetan chanting monks in
that one.
BUFFY
Huh?
DAWN
Thought it might go somewhere but
it turned out to be a dead end.
(beat)
Oh god, I'm becoming Xander.
Willow's clacking away on the laptop.
WILLOW
Lot's of interesting random
theories here. Low on the details
or any relevant field experience.
ANDREW
All this research is giving me the
runs. Let's watch some TV.
He clicks on the news. A REPORTER stands outside the
whitewashed Baptist Church.
REPORTER (V.O.)
A Baptist prayer meeting gone
horribly wrong. Over twenty are
believed to be dead in what appears
to be a cult ritual.
Quick shots of inside: White sheets on top of bodies
everywhere, blood soaked through each sheet around the head
area.
REPORTER (V.O.) (cont'd)
The victims' heads were bashed open
and their brains removed. At this
time police have only one lead: a
bloody Book of Mormon found at the
scene. If anyone has any
information regarding this crime
please call-
Andrew clicks it back off.
ANDREW
Okay, bad idea.
WILLOW
Didn't I say we should stop
watching the news.
Buffy's fuming mad.
BUFFY
That's gross. You... you...
Mormons!
WILLOW
That's the why for all the suits.
They're on their mission.
ANDREW
One of them came by earlier.
XANDER
A group of Mormons have taken up
the necromantic arts and raised a
horde of men in black to go out and
convert people to their religion?
WILLOW
And they're eating the competition.
XANDER
Here I thought the Jehovah's
Witnesses served ultimate evil.
DAWN
Those poor poor people. Buffy puts
her hand on Dawn's shoulder.
BUFFY
We'll find who did this Dawnie.
Before they eat more churchgoers.
Everyone shares a morose moment of silence. Anya isn't quite
with them on it.
ANYA
Everybody look at me. I have a
trick.
Anya floats to the center of the room.
ANYA (cont'd)
Watch carefully.
She holds her arms out to either side, wiggles her fingers. A
moment and then Anya splits down the middle, half her torso
leans one way, and half leans the other way, her body
separating along the gash that killed her. Her fingers keep
wiggling.
Everyone in the crowd gives a whimper, wince, or "oh my god
you freak" noise. With a SLURPING sound Anya comes back
together.
ANYA (cont'd)
Been practicing that for days. Got
to look at the bright side of being
dead.
WILLOW
I'm going to have Kennedy poke my
eyes out with her tongue barb now.
KENNEDY
Sorry honey, wearing the blunt.
WILLOW
Oh. Bummer.
BUFFY
Anya, why would you ever think we
wanted to see that?
ANYA
I figured it would lighten the
mood. You know cause I'm dead,
you're not dead.
BUFFY
People skills still an issue then.
DAWN
Oh my gosh, I think I'm gonna hurl.
Oh wait... no, that's me having an
idea.
Dawn goes crazy with the book page flipping.
DAWN (cont'd)
Resonance.
She grabs a different book. Flips some more pages.
DAWN (cont'd)
Gateway.
Grabs yet another, flips.
DAWN (cont'd)
Eureka! Soul resonance.
Everyone stares at her not understanding. Willow's lightbulb
pops first.
WILLOW
She's a passage point.
DAWN
Halfway here, halfway there.
WILLOW
We can siphon through her.
BUFFY
Okay, girls, dumb it down for the
rest of us.
WILLOW
Think of the zombie souls as being
held on this plane in one big icky
bathtub.
DAWN
Anya gets to be the drain.
WILLOW
Because of her not-quite-dead
status her soul's in the same place
spiritually with the zombies. So
with Dawn's Watchery help...
DAWN
...and Willow's Wicca woo.
WILLOW
We can turn Anya into a gateway
back to the soul ether.
BUFFY
There's a spell for that?
Dawn and Willow both make faces.
WILLOW
Not really.
DAWN
We'll have to combine a few. A bit
more research. A ritual here.
WILLIS
A ritual there. Mix and match.
DAWN
We can totally make it work.
BUFFY
Then let's do it.
37 INT. JACKSON'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 37
Jackson works with notebooks and papers piled around him on
the couch. Someone POUNDS on his door. He doesn't break off
right away, checks something on a notebook. They POUND three
more times.
JACKSON
Hold it a sec!
They keep POUNDING. He rushes over and yanks open the door.
JACKSON (cont'd)
What the f-
Father Donovan falls into his arms. Jackson pushes him off to
the stairs.
FATHER
You have to help me son.
JACKSON
Sorry, I might be a little too
black for that.
FATHER
I'm dead.
JACKSON
That's an interesting excuse for
becoming a racist bastard.
Father clutches Jackson's hand and pulls it to his forehead.
JACKSON (cont'd)
What are you-
Two of his fingers slip through the skin and inside the
priest's head. Jackson jumps back and knocks into the door.
Stunned, on his fingertips he sees brownish blood. He looks
at the priest's forehead but it appears perfect.
FATHER
They killed me my son, but I'm kept
from the kingdom. Even now I feel
their call pulling me further away
from God. I almost did something
horrible tonight. I can't resist
much longer.
Jackson's hand starts to shake, clutches into a fist.
JACKSON
What should I do father?
FATHER
Avenge me. Be my guardian. A Mormon
named Willis killed me and brought
me back. Confused me with spells
and sorcery. He's gathered an army
and I can tell you where. You must
find a way to stop them.
38 INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 38
Willow and Dawn kneel over the same huge tome. They point at
things together, mumble. They nod to each other.
WILLOW
We got it.
DAWN
Really nifty actually. We combine
an enjoining spell with this mojo
to talk to the dead. Then we-
WILLOW
Dawnie.
DAWN
Sorry, giddy excitement. It's like
a drug. Not that I would know.
WILLOW
What happens we do the spell and
Anya become a physical gate to the
afterlife attuned to the zombies.
Which means she can touch them and
they can touch her. She so much as
brushes one and kapoof, it's the
afterlife express.
ANYA
So I get to be the Buffy. I'll have
the punch that knocks the bad guys
into oblivion.
WILLOW
I like to see it more as offering
them the eternal rest they deserve.
But whatever works for you.
ANYA
Can I act all superior too?
BUFFY
Hey!
DAWN
(to Anya)
You could give us some kind of
rousing long winded speech.
BUFFY
Right here, in the room right now!
WILLOW
Problem is, the gateway is sort of
the temporary kind.
BUFFY
How temporary?
WILLOW
Kind of unpredictable.
BUFFY
So we wait until we're in striking
distance. Now all we have to do is
track them down.
A KNOCK comes from the door.
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