The Bronze, day
Close on Darla, frustrated.
DARLA: "You know that your 'cold-blooded killer' of an assassin failed, right?"
Pan back to show that she is talking to the Master, who is not in the best of moods. Certainly not in the mood for Darla's impertinence.
MASTER (curt): "Well, then – let us be glad that we had the foresight not to pay the creature up front."
DARLA: "There's a lesson to be learned here. If you want a job done properly – do the killing yourself. That way, you have both the pleasure of getting the job done, and the satisfaction of knowing that it's done."
MASTER (irritable and dismissive): "The matter really isn't important."
DARLA: "Isn't important? I thought we had agreed that it was time to put down those ridiculous, do-gooding White Hats, once and for all, before they could cause us any more aggravation."
MASTER: "The would-be Watcher and his merry band of White Hats really are quite insignificant in the grander scheme of things, my dear. A minor irritation."
DARLA: "That's not what you were saying a few days ago."
MASTER: "I have far more important things on my mind. My machine being just one."
DARLA (rolling her eyes): "Had you considered, perhaps, that the factory scheme might best be abandoned now? That was yesterday's design. Surely we could come up with something more –"
MASTER (interrupting, annoyed and very firm): "The machine will be rebuilt. Its like shall be the future for our kind, and –"
LUKE (off screen, his turn to interrupt): "Master."
The Master frowns, unhappy at being interrupted, and turns to see Luke striding into the room.
MASTER: "Luke. You have news?"
LUKE: "Yes. There have been stirrings in Mayor Wilkins' camp. Questions are being asked."
MASTER (glowering): "He will have learned by now of your return, empty-handed."
DARLA (mutters): "And whose fault was that?"
Luke scowls at her.
MASTER: "We cannot afford to lose the Mayor's favour."
DARLA: "Why? He's just one man –"
MASTER: "Don't underestimate him."
(Thoughtful)
"No. I may not know exactly who or what he is, but I do know that Mayor Wilkins is far more than merely a man – and that, should he choose, he could make life extremely difficult for us. No. For now, at least, we must do what it takes to keep him on side."
(Glares at them both)
"And your failure this week will not make that any easier."
DARLA: "And the White Hats?"
MASTER: "Their time will come. Rest assured of that."
Time goes by, one day at a time…
School Hall, day
On stage, a school principal that is neither Flutie nor Snyder reads out the names of the deceased or merely vanished in the dull monotone of one who has performed this morbid duty on a regular basis over a too long period of time.
Pan out to show how sparsely populated the school is, the hall little more than half full. The White Hats are scattered among other students; Giles leans against a wall at the back of the hall. Taking his glasses off, he closes his eyes and sighs when the principal comes to Nancy and Cordelia's names.
Library, day
Giles sits at the central table, studying one of his dusty old tomes…
Pan across to see Oz showing Harmony how to work a crossbow. She might have fluked a direct hit on a moving werewolf with the tranquilliser gun in a crisis, but this she really isn't getting. She aims at a target, pinned to the wall…but her finger slips from the trigger as she squeezes it, and the bolt drops to the floor.
HARMONY: "Oh, damn! I broke a nail."
While she fusses over her fingers, Oz calmly picks up the bolt, and re-loads the crossbow so she can try again.
Continue panning across to show Larry working very hard trying to train Andrew and Jonathan still. But he actually seems a little bit pleased with their progress, as Jonathan manages to toss Andrew.
LARRY (satisfied that he's getting somewhere at last): "That's more like it."
City Hall, night
By cover of night, Luke delivers a mysterious package to the Mayor's assistant, bows deep, and then sweeps away into the dark.
Epilogue
On the streets of Sunnydale, late evening
Team White Hat is out on patrol.
All three new recruits are much more sure of what they are meant to be doing, and yet tonight's big rescue is not going all that well.
What should have been a simple rescue has turned sour when the lone vampire attacking a random and clueless passer by turned out to have backup just nearby. Several more vampires now menace the team in a tense standoff, surrounding the van. The team stand their ground, weapons in hand, holding the vampires at bay but anticipating the coming strike at any moment. They're going to have to fight their way out of this…
And then, struck as swift and silent as lightning, one of the vampires drops, dusts.
A long, frozen pause as no one is quite sure what just happened…
Then a stranger launches herself into the fray, kicking and back flipping, and dusting vamps with brisk efficiency. The bemused White Hats make themselves useful when necessary, tripping the odd vampire back into her path if it looks likely to escape…but on the whole she doesn't seem to need much help. They stand and gawp, dumbstruck. Help – especially super-powered help – is not something they've ever really experienced.
In no time at all the vampires are gone, and the stranger stands before them, straight-backed, arms folded across her chest, head held high. She is young, tall and athletic, with dark eyes, coffee-coloured skin, and long brown curls pulled back into a tight ponytail, her expression just a tad supercilious.
A moment of absolute silence, absolute stillness. She stares at them; they stare at her. At last Giles breaks the impasse, taking a step forward and holding out a hand.
GILES: "Y-yes, well, uh – congratulations. And, ah – many thanks. M-my name is Giles, Rupert Giles…and I believe you must be –"
STRANGER: "I am Kendra. The Vampire Slayer."
fini
© J. Browning, September 2005
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