Chapter Two: The Harvest

Luke tries to bite Buffy, but burns himself on the cross hanging around her neck and jerks back. Buffy seizes the opportunity and push kicks him out of the coffin. She climbs out of it and races outside. She runs to catch up with Willow, Trinity, Xander, and Jesse. She hears a vampire growl, and a scream that follows it.


Willow is on the ground, a vampire leaning over her. "No! Get off!"

"Hey!" Buffy yells. The vampire looks up, and Buffy snap kicks him off of Willow. He gets up and runs away. Willow is shocked by what she sees. Buffy quickly starts the hunt again. Willow gets up and runs after her.


Xander is being dragged away by two vampires. Willow appears between two gravestones. "Xander!" She calls. The vampires are distracted. Buffy takes advantage of the opening and jumps in, high punches one and sidekicks the other. She notices a dry branch on a tree and breaks it off. As one of the vampires gets up she plunges the stick into him. Willow rushes over to Xander who's still on the ground. "Xander, are you okay?"

He puts a hand to his head. "Man, something hit me." He looks up. "Trinity!"


Trinity is on the ground, doing her best to block the kicks of the vampires. She lashes out with her claws and cuts a vampire's leg. He yells, distracting his friend. She reaches out again and claws the other vampire's leg, making him back away. They flee with noticeable limps. She stands from the ground and looks at her friends before her eyes fall to the ground. She runs away.

"Where's Jesse?" Buffy asks.

"I don't know! They surrounded us." Willow says.

"That girl grabbed him and took off." Xander adds.

"Which way?" Buffy questions.

He shakes his head. "I don't know."

She stands up straight and slowly scans the cemetery. "Jesse." She whispers. She looks back at them. "Where's Trinity?"

"I don't know." Willow says. "She tried to fight them but there were too many…her eyes…she had claws!"

"What is she?" Xander asks.


In the library, the globe up on the stack level is spinning. Giles stops it while he lectures and makes his way down to where Buffy, Willow and Xander are at the study table. "This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their…their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magic's, certain creatures."

"And vampires." Buffy adds.

"Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a talk with vampires in it." Xander says.

"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light." Xander gives her a look. "That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part."

"Oh, I-I need to sit down." Willow says.

Buffy looks at her. "You are sitting down."

"Oh. Good for me."

"So vampires are demons?" Xander asks.

"The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding…killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return." Giles explains.

"What about Trinity?" Willow asks. "She-she changed, but she was helping us. She was trying to protect us?"

"Changed?" Giles asks. "How so?"

"W-well, she grew claws and her eyes changed. She started hissing at the vampires when they tried to come near us."

"That doesn't sound like a vampire."

"What is she?" Xander asks.

"A neko." They turn and see Trinity at the library doors. She walks further into the room. "I'm a neko." She sees Buffy stand up. "Relax; I'm not going to hurt you." She looks at Willow and Xander. "I'm still the same person you grew up with. I just have a few…" A black tail creeps out from behind her, making their eyes widen. "Secrets."

"A neko." Giles says, going to the stack to grab a book. He walks back over. "You're of the felis catus group, not particularly threatening, but capable of great damage if you don't control yourself."

"I've been controlling myself for 16 years." Trinity says. "I'm not going to go crazy now."

"A cat?" Xander says. "You're a cat." Trinity waves her claws at him, a grimace on her face.

"Tree!" Willow says, making them look at her in confusion. "When we were seven, you bet Jesse that you could climb the highest tree at the park, but a branch broke and you fell."

"You landed on your feet." Xander finishes. "I guess that is true."

Trinity looks at Buffy. "I've never hurt anyone in my life, so don't get all slay happy just because I'm not completely human."


Down in the sewers, Darla and Luke are forcing Jesse into the Master's lair.

"Move!" Luke orders. They reach the lair, which is actually what remains of a church, and he forces Jesse down the slope to the floor below.

The Master approaches. "Is this for me?"

"An offering, Master."

"He's a good one! His blood is pure!" Darla says.

The Master looks at her. "You've tasted it." He says. Darla looks down in shame. "I'm your…faithful dog. You bring me scraps."

"I, I didn't mean it-"

"I have waited. For three score years I have waited. While you come and go I am stuck here, here in this house of…worship!" He spits out in contempt. "My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that when it comes…" He wraps a hand around Darla's neck. "I'm in a better mood."

"Master, forgive me! We had more offerings, but there was trouble. A girl!"

"And there was a girl." Luke explains. "She fought well and she knew of our breed. It is possible that she may be-"

"A Slayer!" The Master says.


"And that would be a what?" Xander asks.

"For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One." Giles explains.

"He loves doing this part." Buffy says.

Giles sighs. "Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need."

"Except for one thing; how do you kill them?" Xander asks.

Buffy looks at him. "You don't, I do."

"Well, Jesse's my-"

"Jesse is my responsibility. I let him get taken."

"That's not true." Trinity says, sad that she couldn't protect her friend.

"If you hadn't shown up they would have taken us, too." Willow says. "Does anybody mind if I pass out?"

Buffy looks at her. "Breathe."

"Breathe."

"Breathe." She turns to Giles. "This big guy, Luke. He talked about an offering to the Master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding then Jesse may still be alive. I'm gonna find him."

"Uh, this may be the dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?" Willow asks.

"And they'd believe us, of course." Giles says, sarcastically.

"Well, we don't have to say vampires. We, we could just say that there's a, a bad man."

"They couldn't handle it even if they did show up." Trinity says.

Buffy nods. "They'd only come with guns."

"You have no idea where they took Jesse?" Giles asks.

Buffy shook her head. "I looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!"

"They can fly?" Xander asks.

"They can drive."

"Oh."

"I don't remember hearing a car." Willow says.

"I was too distracted to get a lock on his scent." Trinity says.

"Let's take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground." Giles speaks.

"Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching any rays." Buffy explains. "But I didn't see any access around there."

"Well, there's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town." Xander says.

Giles nods. "If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system it might indicate a, a meeting place, it would, uh…I suppose we could go to the building commission."

"We so don't have time." Buffy says.

Willow speaks up. "Uh, guys? There may be another way."


"A Slayer!" The Master says. "Have you any proof?"

"Only that she fought me, and yet lives." Luke says.

"Hmm, very nearly proof enough. I can't remember the last time that happened."

Luke looks down, ashamed. "1843. Madrid. He caught me sleeping."

"She mustn't be allowed to interfere with the Harvest!"

"I would never let that happen!"

"Don't worry about it. I believe she'll come to us. We have something she wants." The Master says. Luke looks at Jesse with a smirk on his face. "If she is a Slayer, and this boy lives, she'll try to save him."

"I thought you nothing more than a meal, boy." He moves behind Jesse and takes his neck. "Congratulations, you've just been upgraded. To bait."

"There's another with her." Darla speaks. "A girl. She's a neko."

"Oh!" The Master says. "It's been so long since I've seen one. I could do with a pet."


Willow has the city plans on the computer monitor.

"There it is." Buffy says.

Trinity looks at it. "That runs under the graveyard."

"I don't see any access." Xander says.

"So, all the city plans are just, uh, open to the public?" Giles asks.

Willow's eyes widen. "Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system."

"Someone's been naughty." Xander teases.

Buffy sighs. "There's nothing here, this is useless!"

Giles looks at her. "I think you're being a bit hard on yourself."

"You're the one that told me that I wasn't prepared enough. Understatement!" She gives an exasperated sigh. "I thought I was on top of everything, and then that monster, Luke, came out of nowhere…" She pauses in thought.

"What?" Trinity asks.

"He didn't come out of nowhere. He came from behind me. I was facing the entrance, he came from behind me, and he didn't follow me out. The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum! The girl must have doubled back with Jesse after I got out! God! I am so mentally challenged!"

"So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?" Xander asks, Trinity nodding.

"There's no 'we', okay? I'm the Slayer, and you're not."

"I knew you'd throw that back in my face."

"Xander, this is deeply dangerous."

"I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man."

"Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters. But I do want to help. I need to." Willow says.

"I can help too." Trinity says. "I see well in the dark and hopefully I can pick up a scent. I wasn't much help last night, but I was too busy trying to avoid being kicked in the face."

"Well, then help me. I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dreaded machine." Giles says. Everyone stares at him. "That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"

Buffy smiles. "Welcome to the New World."

He turns to Willow. "I want you to go on the 'Net."

"Oh, sure, I can do that." She begins to type.

"Then I'm outta here. If Jesse's alive, I'll bring him back." Buffy starts to leave.

"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Giles says. Buffy turns back, giving him a look before continuing.


Buffy strides to the side gate.

Mr. Flutie is there and stops her. "And where do we think we're going?"

"We?" She turns to face him. "I…me…"

"We're not leaving school grounds, are we?"

"No! No, I'm…just admiring the fence. You know, this is quality fence work."

"Because if we were leaving schools grounds on our second day at a new school, after getting kicked out of our old school for delinquent behavior…do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Mr. Giles…" She trails off.

"What?"

"He asked me to get a book for him. Uh, from the store, 'cause I have a free period, and I'm a big reader. Did it mention that in my transcripts?"

"Mr. Giles?"

"Ask him."

He closes the gate. "Well, maybe that's how they do things in Britain, they've got that royal family and all kinds of problems." He locks it. "But here at Sunnydale nobody leaves campus while school's in session. Are we clear?"

"We're clear."

"That's the Buffy Summers I want in my school. Sensible girl with her feet on the ground!" He turns and leaves.

Buffy watches him go. When he's gone a ways she crouches and leaps over the fence.


Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk down a hall. "Murder, death, disaster. What else?" Willow asks.

"Paranormal, unexplained, did you get natural disasters?" Xander asks.

"Earthquake, flood."

"Rain of Toads."

"Right."

"Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like that in the paper?"

"I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires."

"And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot."

"Not like an idiot, just…standing. Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt." They stop in front of their next class. "I don't want you getting hurt." She says, looking between him and Trinity.

"This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, 'Uh-oh, pop quiz.' Today it's 'Rain of Toads'."

"I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day."

"Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret."

"We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't."

He turns to Trinity. "And you knew."

She shrugs. "I'm a cat. I stay out of things that don't involve me."

"Right. Look, maybe you should get to class." He motions towards the door.

"You mean 'we'. We should get to class." Willow says.

"Yeah."

"Buffy'll be okay. Whatever's down there, I think she can handle it."

He nods. "Yeah, I do, too."

"So do I!"

Trinity shares a look with Xander.


Buffy walks into the mausoleum slowly. She scans around. Satisfied that no one's there, she walks down the steps to the floor. She hears a rat behind her and twists to look toward the sound. She continues and finds the tunnel access. It's locked with a chain. She lifts the lock.

The man from the night before appears behind her. He sighs.

She turns to look at him. "I don't suppose you've got a key on you?"

"They really don't like me dropping in." He says.

"Why not?"

"They really don't like me."

"How could that possibly be?"

"I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later. Actually, I thought it was gonna be a little sooner."

"Sorry you had to wait." She sighs. "Okay. Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this Cryptic Wise Man act on a regular basis, can you at least tell me your name?"

"Angel."

"Angel. It's a pretty name." She turns to the tunnel entrance.

"Don't…go down there."

She turns back. "Deal with my going."

"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk. Tonight is the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it, the Master walks."

"Well, if this Harvest thing is such a suckfest, why don't you stop it?"

"'Cause I'm afraid." He answers honestly. She looks at him for a moment and then spins around quickly, kicking open the doors to the tunnel. She turns back to him. "They'll be expecting you."

"I've got a friend down there. Or at least a potential friend. Do you know what it's like to have a friend?" He lowers his eyes as a look of sadness fills them. "That wasn't supposed to be a stumper."

They look at each other a moment longer. "When you hit the tunnels head east towards the school. That's where you're likely to find them."

"You gonna wish me luck?"

He doesn't respond. They look at each other for another moment, then Buffy turns and heads into the tunnels. He watches her go. "Good luck." He whispers.


Inside the tunnels, Buffy comes down a flight of stairs. She looks around. She hears rats. One crawls across her shoes. She slowly starts down the tunnels. There are lights at regular intervals. When she reaches an intersection, Xander and Trinity surprise her from behind.

"Did you see anything?" He asks.

She gasps in fright. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"Something stupid." Xander says.

"We followed you." Trinity adds.

"Well, you-" Buffy starts.

"We couldn't just sit at home and do nothing."

"I understand. Now, go away!"

"No!" Xander says.

"You're gonna have to."

"Look, Jesse's our bud, okay? If we can help him out, that's what we gotta do." He argues. Buffy considers, then nods her head for them to follow. She starts down the tunnel again. "Besides, it's this or chem class." They reach the top of some stairs. "Okay, so, crosses, garlic, stake through the heart."

Buffy nods. "That'll get it done."

"Cool! Of course, I don't actually have any of those things."

Buffy hands him a cross. "Good thinking." She turns to Trinity. "What about you?"

Trinity holds up her claws. "I'm good." She says. "It's not exactly a stake but I'm pretty sure that vampires will slow down after having their throat ripped out."

Xander looks at her for a moment before speaking again. "Well, the part of my brain that would tell me to bring that stuff is still busy telling me not to come down here. I have this, though." He turns on a flashlight.

"Turn that off!" Buffy urges.

He quickly turns it off. "Okay! Okay! So, what else?"

"What else what?"

"For vampire slayage."

"Oh, fire, beheading, sunlight, holy water, the usual."

"You've done some beheading in your time?"

"Oh, yeah." She nods. "There was this time I was pinned down by this guy that played left tackle for varsity…well, at least he used to before he was a vampire…anyway, he had this really, really thick neck, and all I had was a little, little Exact-O knife." Xander laughs nervously. She looks at him. "You're not loving this story."

"No, actually, I find it oddly comforting."

"I'd like to hear more." Trinity says.


Giles is reading from a volume. "For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life. P… Pours life…" He turns the page back to the picture of Satan feeding power to a man. "On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice it will come…" His eyes fill with realization. "Of course. That's tonight!"


In the computer lab, Cordelia is struggling with her computer programming assignment. "No! It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or wait…"

"Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" Harmony asks.

"No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale." Cordelia say sarcastically. She sees the confused look on Harmony's face. "Of course we're going to the Bronze. Friday night? No cover? But you should have been there last night. 'Cause I ran into Buffy…" Willow overhears the conversation. "And can she be any weirder? She attacked me! Do you believe it?"

Harmony sighs. "I think we did this part wrong."

"Why do we have to devise these programs, isn't that what nerds are for?" She motions toward Willow. "What'd she do?" She whispers.

Harmony looks at Willow's screen and sees she's surfing a newspaper archive website. She turns back to Cordelia. "Uh, she's doing something else."

"Okay, and then pattern run, right? Or go to end? That's it!"

"Maybe!"

"So anyway, I come outta the bathroom, and she comes running at me. Screaming! With a stick! 'I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!' I swear!"

A boy leans in, joining the conversation. "Who?"

"Buffy!"

"The new girl?" Harmony says.

"What's her deal?"

"Well, she's crazed." Cordelia tells him.

"Did you hear about her old school?" Harmony asks. Cordelia and the boy both shake their heads. "Booted."

"Well, I exhibit no surprise."

"Why was she kicked out?" The boy asks.

"Uh, because she's a psycho loony!" Cordelia says.

Willow speaks up. "No, she's not."

Cordelia looks at her. "What?"

Willow turns to them. "She's not a psycho. You don't even know her."

"Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist?" She snaps. Willow turns away, eyes down. "Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you're boring."

Willow gets up and goes to get her printouts.

"Okay, I think the program's done." Harmony says.

Cordelia sighs in relief. "Finally the nightmare ends! Okay, so how do we save it?"

"Deliver." Willow says.

"Deliver? Where's that?" She searches the keyboard. "Oh!" She hits the 'Del' key, and her program disappears. She stares at the screen in wide-eyed, open-mouthed horror.


"They're close." Buffy says.

"How can you tell?" Xander asks.

"No more rats."

Trinity stops. "I smell something."

Xander turns on his flashlight and spots Jesse on the ground. "Jesse!"

"Oh, no!" Buffy says. Jesse reacts and jumps up.

"J-J-Jesse!"

"Xander!" He says. The two boys embrace.

"Jesse, man, are you okay?"

"I am not okay, on an epic scale." He tells them.

Trinity brows furrow as she breathes through her nose. Vampire. She looks at her friend. But he's been kidnapped by a group of them. Their scents are all over the place. I must be wrong. She thinks, unwilling to face the truth.

Buffy shines the light on the shackles around Jesse's ankle. "We gotta get outta here!" He says.

"It's cool, Buffy's a superhero." Xander says. "And Trinity has some super kitty powers."

"Hold on." Buffy kneels down and breaks the shackles.

"Do you think anyone heard that?" He asks. They see shadows moving on the walls and start to run down the tunnel. Vampires come around the corner.

"They knew you were gonna come. They said that I… I was the bait." Jesse tells them.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "Oh, great, now you tell us." They round a corner and are met by vampires.

"Oops!" Buffy says.

Jesse backs away. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

"Do you know another way out?"

"I dunno. Maybe. C'mon!" He leads them to another intersection they see glowing eyes to their right. "Wait, wait. They brought me through here, there, there should be a way up. I hope!" Jesse leads them into a chamber.

Buffy looks around. "I don't think this is the way out!"

"We can't fight our way back through those things." Trinity says.

"What do we do?" Xander asks.

"I got an idea." Jesse says from behind them. They turn around to see that his face is vamped out. "You can die!"

Trinity's eyes fill with tears.

Xander shakes his head. "Jesse, man. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything!" Jesse smiles. Buffy begins struggling with the door, trying to close it. "I, I can hear the worms in the earth!"

"That's a plus."

"I know what the Master wants. I'll serve his purpose. That means you die. And I feed."

Buffy looks back at them. "Xander, the cross!"

He holds the cross up to Jesse's face, making him step back and growl. "Jesse, man. We're buds, don't you remember?" He pleads.

"You're like a shadow to me now."

"Then get outta my face."

Jesse knocks Xander's arm to the side, making him hit the wall. Trinity grabs Jesse and throws him out of the chamber into the advancing vampires, knocking them all down. She begins to help Buffy close the door. "Xander!" She calls. Xander gets up and helps them. Together they get it to move. They close it on a vampire's arm. The vampire pulls its arm back out of the door, and Buffy slams it shut and closes the latch. The vampires begin pounding on the door.

"We need to get out of here!" Buffy says.

"There is no out of here!" He uses his flashlight to look around and spots a grate in the ceiling. "Up there!"

Trinity leaps on top of a barrel and begins to pry the grate open. The vampires have started to bend in a corner of the door. They twist it and push it in further. She finally gets the grate open. "Let's go!" She crawls out and sticks and arm out. Xander grabs on and crawls up into a ventilation duct.

A vampire starts to struggle through the bent corner of the door. He reaches in and pulls the latch open as Xander gets through the grate. Buffy follows him quickly as the first vampire enters the chamber. He follows them through the grate into the duct. The three teens quickly make their way through the duct. Trinity finds a ladder up to a manhole and starts climbing the rungs. Xander and Buffy follow. The vampire is right behind them. Trinity pushes open the manhole cover and climbs out into daylight. She turns to help Xander out. As they're helping Buffy out, the vampire grabs her ankle and tries to pull her back down.

"Pull!" She says. They pull on her and the vampire's hand is exposed to the sunlight and burns. The vampire lets go, and they tumble backward to the ground.


"She escaped?" The Master yells. "She walks free when I should be drinking her heart's blood right now? Careless…"

"Master, we had her trapped!" A vampire says.

"Oh, are you going to make excuses?" The vampire remains silent. "You are all weak. It has been too long since you have faced the Slayer. Huh. It is no matter to me. She will not stop the Harvest. Just means there'll be someone worth killing…when I reach the surface. Is Luke ready?"

"He waits."

"It's time. Bring him to me." The vampire turns to go get look. "Ah, Colin…" Colin turns back. "You failed me. Tell me you're sorry."

He bows his head. "I'm sorry."

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it? Hold on…" He stabs his finger into Colin's face. "You've got something in your eye."


Giles is still doing his research when he hears someone come in. "Buffy?" He looks up, only to see Willow.

"It's just me." She says. "So there's no word?"

"Ah, not as yet, no."

"Well, I-I'm sure they're… great."

"Did you find anything of interest?"

"I think, maybe… I surfed through the old newspapers around the time of that big earthquake back in '37? And for several months before there were a rash of murders." She hands him her printouts.

"Great! I-I mean, well, not, not 'great' in a good way, uh, um, uh, go on?"

"Well, they sound like the kind you were looking for." She flips through the pages. "Throats, blood…" She squirms uncomfortably.

"It's all coming together. I rather wish it weren't."


Luke approaches the Master and kneels before him. The Master offers his hand. Luke takes it and kisses it. He releases it and the Master turns it over to offer the underside of his wrist. Darla is watching and smiles. Luke opens the cuff of the Master's sleeve and pulls it back. He takes his hand again, sinks his fangs into the wrist above it and drinks of the blood. He releases the hand, and the Master takes it back.

"My blood is your blood. My soul is your soul." The Master says.

Luke bows his head. "My body is your instrument."

The Master steps down to Luke and begins to draw a three-pointed star on Luke's forehead with the blood still flowing from his wrist. "On this… most hallowed night… we are as one. Luke is the Vessel!" He says. Darla's smile widens.

"Every soul he takes will feed me. And their souls will grant me the strength to free myself. Tonight I shall walk the Earth, and the stars themselves will hide!"


Willow is looking at one of Giles' volumes. She hears the door open and looks up to see Xander, Trinity, and Buffy come in. "Did you find Jesse?" She asks.

"Yeah." Trinity says, a grim look on her face.

Willows face falls. "Was he dead?"

"Worse." Buffy sits at the end of the table. "I'm sorry, Willow. We were too late. And they were waiting for us."

"At least three are okay."

Xander violently kicks a waste basket, making Buffy jump in shock. "I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good." He says.

Buffy turns to Giles. "So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?"

He goes over to the whiteboard and puts down his pen. "How about the end of the world?"

She nods. "Knew I could count on you."

"This is what we know. Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed."

"He came 'cause this town's a mystical who's it."

"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Inferno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of, um, portal between this reality and the next. This vampire hopes to open it."

"Bring the demons back." Trinity says.

Xander nods. "End of the world."

"But he blew it!" Willow speaks. "Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that swallowed half the town, and him, too."

"You see, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle." Giles explains.

"And this Harvest thing is to get him out." Trinity concludes.

Giles nods. "It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." He draws a three-pointed star on the whiteboard.

"So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no Harvest." Buffy says.

"Simply put, yes."

"Any idea where this little get-together is being held?"

"There, there are a number of possibilities."

"They're goin' to the Bronze." Xander says.

Willow looks at him. "Are you sure?"

"Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where Jesse's gonna be, trust me."

Giles grabs his coat and starts out of the library. The others begin to follow. "Then we should get there. The sun will be down before long."

"I gotta make a stop. Won't take long." Buffy says.

Giles looks at her. "What for?"

"Supplies."


It is close to sunset. Buffy is in her room. She goes to her closet and pulls out a heavy, black jacket.

Her mother walks into the room. "Buffy?"

She turns around. "Mom!"

"You're going out?"

"I have to." She puts on her jacket.

"I didn't hear you come in last night."

"I was really quiet."

"It's happening again, isn't it? I got a call from your new principal. Says you missed some classes today?"

"I was running an errand."

Joyce sighs. "We haven't finished unpacking, and I'm getting calls from the principal."

"Mom, I promise, it is not gonna be like before. But I have to go."

"No."

"Mom?!"

"The tapes all say I should get used to saying it. No."

"This is really, really important."

"I know. If you don't go out it'll be the end of the world. Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen-year-old girl."

"Look, I don't have time to talk about this…"

"Buffy, you've got all the time in the world, you're not going anywhere. Now, if you wanna stay up here and sulk, I won't hold it against you. But if you wanna come down, I'll make us some dinner."

She leaves the room, pulling the door closed behind her. Buffy can't believe what just happened. She leans against the closet door, takes a deep breath and exhales. Then she turns and opens the closet again and pulls out a large chest. It has a flat box in it full of her stuff. She lifts out the box to reveal what's underneath. Stakes, crosses, garlic, bottles of holy water. She pulls a bunch out and puts it in her sports bag. She takes a particularly sharp stake and conceals it in her jacket sleeve. She closes the chest, zips the bag closed and goes over to her door to make sure her mother isn't nearby. Then she grabs the bag, slides it out of the window onto the roof and climbs out after it.


The sun goes down.


At the Bronze, the doorman is checking ID's.

Inside, Cordelia and her friends find a table. "Senior boys are the only way to go. Guys from our grade, forget about it, they're children. Y'know?" She says as they sit. "Like Jesse. Did you see him last night, following me around like a little puppy dog." They all giggle. "You just wanna put him to sleep. But senior boys, hmm, they have mystery. They have…what's the word I'm searching for? Cars! I just am not the type to settle. Y'know? It's like when I go shopping. I have to have the most expensive thing. Not because it's expensive, but because it costs more."

"You know, I-" One of the girls tries to speak but Cordelia interrupts her.

"Hello, Miss Motormouth, can I get a sentence finished? Oh, I love this song! Come on!" Cordelia and her gang make their way to the dance floor and start to move to the sound of the music.

You fight the good fight

You fight the good war

You fight to be right

You fight to restore

Why should I believe a word that you say

It was just a game that you don't wanna play

And I say

It's wearing me down, I realize

It's all in my head now, now, and I realize

It's not what you've done

As much as what you've said

As what you've said

As what you've said

As what you've said

Jesse watches Cordelia from the side. He walks onto the dance floor. The song is over, and Cordelia stops dancing. She starts to leave, but Jesse is standing in front of her, fingers on his lips.

She rolls her eyes. "Uh, what do you want?" Another song starts. Jesse lowers his hand, takes hers and leads her back onto the dance floor. "Hey! Hello! Caveman brain! What are you doing?"

"Shut up." He begins to dance with her.

Cordelia looks at him. "Well, just one dance." They dance close.


Outside, the doorman is counting money.

Darla comes out of the shadows in a bouncy walk. She turns around and walks backward while other vampires come into the light behind her. She turns back again and approaches the doorman. They're all sporting their game faces.

How are you feelin'?

Do you feel okay?

'Cause I don't!

The vampires head in.

"Need ID." The doorman looks up. "Hey! Nobody gets inside until I get some sorta-"

Luke growls in the doorman's face. "Get inside." The vampires come in, pushing the doorman in with them. The last one shuts the door and stands guard.

How are you feelin'?

Do you feel okay?

'Cause I don't!

One of the vampires makes his way to the upper level. Another one finds the main power switch and shuts it off. The people start complaining and wondering what happened.

Luke steps onto the stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen! There is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good." There are screams from the crowd as they see Luke's face. He laughs.

"I thought there wasn't any band tonight." Cordelia says. She looks at Jesse next to her. He's got his game face on, and she gasps in fright.

"This is a glorious night! It is also the last one any of you shall ever see. Bring me the first." Luke orders. A vampire brings the doorman to him.

"What do you guys want, man, huh? You want money?" The doorman asks and looks closer at them. "Man, what's wrong with your faces?"

Luke grabs him by the throat. He wraps his other arm around the doorman's head. "Watch me, people. Fear is like an elixir. It's almost like blood." He bites the doorman and feeds on him. The doorman screams.


The Master raises his head as he feels the first of the souls that will be taken for him.


Luke drops the doorman's body. "Next!"


Outside, the Scooby Gang arrives.

Buffy tries the door. "It's locked!"

"We're too late!" Giles says.

"Well I didn't know I was gonna get grounded!"

"Can you break it down?" Trinity asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "No, not that thing. Um…you guys try the back entrance, and I'll find my own way."

Giles nods. "Right. Come on." They start to leave but Buffy calls them.

"Um, wait! Guys! Here!" She hands Willow her bag. "You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all! Don't go Wild Bunch on me."

"Uh, see you inside, then." Trinity says before they run around to the back.

Willow tries the door. It's locked, as well. "No joy!"

"We've gotta get in there before Jesse does something stupider than usual." Xander says.

Giles looks at him. "You listen to me! Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him."


The Master is testing his confines.


Luke feeds on a girl.


"Almost free!" The Master says.


Luke continues to feed on the girl.


"Give me moooooore!" The Master yells.


Luke, finished with the girl, drops her body.

Darla tries to take Cordelia but Jesse keeps a hold on her. "This one's mine!"

"They're all for the Master." She pulls on Cordelia.

Jesse lets go of her. "I don't get one?"


Buffy breaks an upper window and crawls in. She sees Luke on the stage.

"I feel the Master's strength growing!" Luke says. "I feel him rising. Every soul brings him closer! I need another!"

"The Vessel." She whispers to herself. The vampire on the upper level sees Buffy and growls. She looks over at him.

"Tonight is his ascension. Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy." Luke continues. No one in the crowd moves. "What? No volunteers?!"

Darla brings him Cordelia. "Here's a pretty one."

Cordelia screams when she sees Luke up close. He caresses her face. He's about to bite her when Buffy kicks the vampire down from above them. Luke watches him land with a thud.

Buffy approaches the railing. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?"

He glares at her. "You!"

"You didn't think I'd miss this. Did you?"

"I hoped you'd come."

"Be right down." She steps away from the railing and executes a round off to get down. She lands on a pool table. A vampire attacks from her right. Buffy does a front walkover off of the table, grabbing a pool cue on the way. When she lands she thrusts it into her attacker and lets go. He begins to fall and burst into ashes. "Okay, Vessel boy." She takes off her jacket. "You want blood?"

"I want yours!" He releases Cordelia. "Only yours!"

Buffy shrugs. "Works for me." She runs and cartwheels up onto the stage, and immediately launches into a full spinning hook kick. Luke staggers into a pile of chairs.

Buffy assumes a fighting position. Luke gets up and growls. He comes at her and swings, but she ducks the punch and comes up behind him. He tries a backhand punch, but she blocks him, holds onto his arm and gives him three roundhouse kicks to his stomach before he shakes loose. She takes her stake and lunges at him. He blocks the lunge, knocking the stake from her grip. He lifts her up and throws her into a pile of boxes.


At the back of the Bronze, Giles, Willow, Trinity, and Xander break in.

"Hurry!" Giles quietly calls to the people, urging them out the door.

Xander runs in to see what's going on. He sees Buffy is down. She gets up, so Xander turns his attention to the crowd. "C'mon! Let's go! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!" He orders in a low voice.

"Hurry up! Come on! Through this door! Come on! This way!" Trinity says quietly.

Buffy spins around and lands a backhand punch on Luke's face, knocking him into another pile of stuff. He's dazed. Buffy turns to see a vampire grab Xander. She grabs a cymbal from a drum set and throws it at the vampire like a Frisbee. Xander sees it coming and ducks. The cymbal decapitates the vampire.

"Head's up!" He says.

Buffy can't resist a chuckle. Luke grabs her from behind.


Cordelia is on the floor with Jesse above her. She struggles and he grabs her arms. "Hold still! You're not making this easy!" He says.

Xander comes up behind him, stake in hand. "Jesse, man! Don't make me do it."

Jesse turns to look up at Xander. "Buddy!"


Luke tightens his grip on Buffy. "I always wanted to kill a Slayer!"


Giles, Willow, and Trinity are still guiding people out. "One at a time! Quickly! Quickly!" He crosses to the other side of the room in front of some stairs. Darla is standing on the steps above him. "We're going to have to open the front as well!" Darla leaps onto him from behind, knocking him to the floor.


"Jesse! I know there's still a part of you in there." Xander pleads.

Jesse jumps up. "Okay. Let's deal with this. Jesse was an excruciating loser who couldn't get a date with anyone in the sighted community! Look at me. I'm a new man!"


"Master! Taste of this… and be free!" Luke growls and moves in to bite Buffy. She senses his proximity and snaps her head back to land a head-butt on his face, knocking him off of her and back to the wall.

She turns to him, winded. "How'd it taste?"


Giles and Darla struggle on the floor.

Trinity approaches them while taking out a jar of holy water. "Get off of him!" She says. Darla is distracted and looks up. Trinity throws the holy water at her. It burns her face and steams. She gets up and runs from the club, screaming.


Jesse grabs Xander by the jacket and lifts him around against a wall. Xander has the stake pointed at Jesse's chest.

"Ooh! Alright. Put me out of my misery. You don't have the guts." Jesse taunts. A fleeing patron bumps into Jesse, impaling him on the stake. Xander lets go of the stake, and Jesse begins to fall. He turns to ashes before he even hits the floor. Two vampires grab Xander.


Buffy grabs a microphone stand and holds it like a javelin.

"You forget, metal can't hurt me." Luke smirks.

"There's something you forgot about, too. Sunrise!" She throws the stand at the window behind Luke. He ducks, and it breaks the window behind him. A bright light pours in through it. Buffy spies the stake she dropped on the stage and picks it up. Luke gets up and shields his face with his hands, expecting to be burned. He stops when he realizes it's only a bright lamp. Buffy lunges at him from behind and jams the stake home. "It's in about nine hours, moron!"

Luke begins to stagger off of the stage.


The Master still tests the strength of his confines.


Luke falls from the stage and explodes into ash.


The Master feels Luke's death and falls to his knees. "Noooooooo! Noooooooo!" He yells.


Buffy stares at Luke's ashes. She lifts her gaze and makes eye contact with the vampires holding Xander. The vampires panic and run.


Outside, the vampires run past Angel standing behind some crates stacked against a wall.

He watches them run, then looks back the other way. "She did it! I'll be damned." He walks away.


Buffy hops down to the floor. Giles, Trinity, and Willow meet her.

"I take it it's over." He says.

"Did we win?" Willow asks.

"Well, we averted the Apocalypse. I give us points for that." Buffy says.

Xander walks up. "One thing's for sure; nothing's ever gonna be the same."

Trinity looks at him. "Did you really have to say that? At least before we had our hopes, but now you just ruined it for everyone."


At Sunnydale High the next Morning, everything appears normal. Buffy walks along and overhears Cordelia talking to a friend.

"Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Buffy, like, knew them! Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show!"

"Oh, I wish I'd been there!" A girl says.

"You should have been there. It was so creepy." She and her friend walk off.

Buffy walks up to Xander and Trinity. "What exactly were you expecting?" She asks them.

"I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly." He says. Trinity nods.

They run into Giles and Willow, and the five of them continue to walk. "People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't." Giles explains.

Buffy nods. "Believe me, I've seen it happen."

"Well, I'll never forget it, none of it." Willow says.

"Good! Next time you'll be prepared." Giles tells her.

"Next time?" Trinity asks.

"Next time is why?" Willow questions.

"We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning." He tells them.

"More vampires?" They stop walking.

"Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different."

Buffy smiles. "I can hardly wait!"

"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction." Giles says in a serious tone.

Buffy shrugs. "Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!" The four students continue to class. Giles stays behind and watches them go.

"Oh, yeah, that's a plan. 'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths." Xander says.

"Maybe you could blow something up. They're really strict about that." Willow says.

"Just prank the principal's office." Trinity says. "That's a quick way to expulsion."

"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, y'know, like excessive not studying." Buffy says.

Giles turns to go back to his library. "The Earth is doomed."