Act 4
Fade To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Conference Room – Day
“You didn’t offer too much, did you?” Buffy asked Jim, who sat to her left.
“No, didn’t figure we wanted the world knowing tasers took our girls down. A few crackpots might try to get their kicks by doing the same.”
“And the rest of the investigation?” Buffy asked.
“Everything’s already underway,” he answered. “I believe Faith’s got the info,” he added, motioning to her.
“Yeah, movin’ right along on my side of things,” she replied.
“Good,” Buffy said. “I want these guys stopped as soon as possible.”
“You and me both, B,” she replied. “Getting tasered is not the most fun experience I’ve ever had. But it does keep you on your toes…well…once your toes become functional again.”
“Alright, you know what to do then,” Buffy remarked.
“That I do,” Faith answered. “I find them and I thrash them within an inch of their lives,” she added under her breath.
“But in self-defense,” Buffy stressed. “We’ve got the world watching now.”
“It’ll be five by five, B,” Faith said. Then she held up two fingers and said, “Scout’s honor.”
Cut To:
Int.
Motel Room – Day
Marissa sat polishing her gun when there was a knock at her door. “Who is it?” she asked, without getting up.
“Someone who wants to offer a resourceful young slayer a better life,” she heard a man reply.
Cut To:
Ext.
Motel Room Door – Moments Later
Marissa opened the door swiftly to find Tyrell standing there. She pointed her weapon at him and he held his hands up in the air. “Please, young lady. A moment of your time is all I ask. May I come in?”
Marissa looked around. Not seeing anyone else, she motioned him inside.
“I’d like to make you an offer,” he began as he stepped inside.
Series of Shots:
– A woman in a suit talks to a young woman in punk apparel outside a café somewhere.
– A man in a three piece suit chats with two girls and hands them a piece of paper on a street corner.
– Another woman in a skirt walks up behind a young lady as she walks down the street. She taps the girl on the shoulder, making her turn around. The girl is Mia.
– A man shakes hands with another young girl on a city street, then motions for a taxi.
Cut To:
Ext.
City Street – Moments Later
“Are you interested?” the woman talking to Mia asked.
“Sorry,” Mia replied. “Thanks but no thanks.”
“Well, if you change your mind or find yourself low on funds, give me a call. I’d love to chat with you again,” she said as she handed her a business card.
“Thanks,” Mia said, as she turned and walked away.
Mia examined the card as she moved along, but then stuffed it into her front jean pocket.
Cut To:
Int.
Marissa’s Hotel Room – Same Time
“So, are you interested in learning more?” Tyrell asked Marissa.
“Sure, I mean, it’s just demons right? Not people? Because…I’m not into that so much anymore,” she replied.
“At this time, no,” he replied. “Only demons, but you should know that, if humans threaten you, we need people who are willing to stand up for themselves.”
“Hey, I’m not a pushover, if that’s what you think,” Marissa said firmly.
Tyrell gave a laugh. “My dear, you don’t strike me as such. But I know some slayers have a problem defending themselves against other humans, even at the risk of dying themselves. We need girls who will fight any foe that threatens our girls or our work.”
Marissa seemed to consider it. “Okay, I’ll give you a call next week then.”
“Wonderful,” Tyrell said, as he handed her a business card.
Cut To:
Int.
Convenience Store – Night
The bell above the door chimed as a man entered the store, rubbing his hands together as he came in from the cold.
A young woman stood in one of the aisles, looking at some canned goods. She briefly glanced up at the man as he approached the counter. Her eyes returned to the can and she placed it back down and opted for another brand, which she put in her basket.
“…err…hello, my friend, what can I do for you?” the proprietor asked upon seeing the customer.
“Pack of cigarettes and a Diet Coke – cutting down on the sugars,” the man answered.
“Cigarettes?” the shopkeeper reiterated with a slight smile, taking a small glance at the rack of cigarettes behind him.
The customer looked at him, unsure for a moment. “Oh yeah – Lights…”
“Cutting down?” the shopkeeper nervously added with an exaggerated laugh. The customer only smirked in reply. He pointed behind him to the rack. “I’ll…I’ll get them.”
The customer sniffed the air and his nose directed him to the hot food cabinet. “Oh hey, is that a samosa?
The Indian man placed the pack of cigarettes and the can of soda down on the counter. “‘Tis fresh.”
“Heck, I’ll take one,” the customer said.
The shopkeeper took the sweating samosa out and put it in a box. Following an exchange of money, the customer left.
Not more than a few moments later, the bell sounded again, and a man entered with his hood up.
“Yes my friend, what can I do for you?” the proprietor asked.
“For starters…” Logan looked up to show his face concealed by a balaclava, then lunged forward and grabbed the man’s cardigan, pulling him in close, “…where’s the security camera?”
Terrified, the shopkeeper shakily pointed to the cigarette rack behind him. The man whipped out his gun and fired a spray of bullets into the rack.
“Now that’s dealt with…” The door burst open and a large group of men, all dressed from head to toe in army surplus apparel and with balaclavas hiding their identities, entered the shop brandishing their weapons. “…show us the entrance to the Clinic,” Logan tightened his grip on the shopkeeper’s cardigan.
“Oi, boys!” an English female voice shouted out.
The men looked around and brought up their hands to shield against a falling aisle display. For his part, Logan tried and failed to duck a shopping basket being hurled at his face at the same time.
The Indian man was set free and stumbled back into the broken rack.
The young woman dived out of the way as one of the men fired his shotgun at her. As she slid across the dirty floor, she shouted out.
“Ramesh! Run!”
“Casey!” Ramesh shouted out.
“Run!” she repeated.
The shopkeeper took off and raced out to the back of the room. Logan averted his gaze from the woman hiding in between the aisles to see the shopkeeper disappear into the dimly lit back of the shop.
“C’mon,” he shouted out to his men, before jumping over the counter and giving chase.
The rest of the men followed, except for three that stayed behind to take care of the woman.
“Over here!” she called out, drawing their attention to the other side of the shop.
The men cocked their guns and fired in her direction, but she rolled into another aisle, narrowly escaping the path of the shells.
“Too slow,” Casey said. She appeared beside one of the men, grabbed the nose of his shotgun and wrestled the weapon out of his hands, then whacked him in the face with it.
The other two men took aim, and she threw the shotgun at them, knocking their weapons out of their hands. She ran to them and delivered a hefty kick to one man’s chest, sending him flying back into the shelves.
Landing back on her feet, she turned to the other man, but was blown back by a gunshot to her chest. Caseys’ eyes welled, her lips quivering as she tried to hurl back abuse, but the man fired another round into her chest and she fell back onto the oily laminate floor.
The other man got to his feet and turned to his comrade. It was then that the third man got back up, rubbing his nose.
“C’mon, let’s catch up,” one of them said, and the three ran behind the counter and into the back of the store.
Cut To:
Int.
Convenience Store – Basement Door – Same Time
Loud bangs rocked the basement, as the mob tried to break down the door in pursuit of the shopkeeper. Each attempt grew stronger, until at the peak of the crescendo the door buckled under the strain and the mob filled the dark musty basement.
Cut To:
Int.
Convenience Store – Basement – Same Time
“Where the hell did he go?” one of the men exclaimed as he scanned the basement.
A white-blue light gleamed through the ajar door leading to the Clinic.
“There.” Logan carefully approached the door with his handgun raised. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around the other side of the door.
Looking back to his men, he said, “One.” His men raised their weapons. “Two.” They took aim. “Three!” He flung the door back and his men tightened their aim.
“Clear,” one of the men said.
Logan stepped forward and saw the stairs.
“Jackpot,” he said, casting a glance to his men. “Move it!”
With the order given, the men filed down the steps, with Logan the last to follow.
Cut To:
Int.
The Clinic – Moments Later
The frosted glass was blown to pieces by a shotgun blast, scattering hundreds of shards of glass across the marble reception floor.
Logan stepped through the door frame, the shards crunching under foot. The lights were down low and the practice was eerily calm.
“So this is the joint, huh? Smaller than I imagined. Get onto the computer and hit the file cabinets – get us the patient list. Turn the place upside down,” Logan ordered two of his men, before looking to the rest of the mob. “C’mon boys.”
They stalked the hallway leading down to the patient rooms, Dr. Colton’s office and the operating room, their weapons drawn.
A faint light radiated under the door from one of the rooms, its door labeled “Patient Room 1.”
“Go check out the other rooms,” he ordered his men.
Logan grasped the doorknob and thrust the door open with his gun raised. Inside were a couple of gurneys, the curtains drawn around them as their occupants slept. The only other sound in the room was that of the soft beep of medical equipment as it monitored the patients’ vitals.
“Tyrell was true to his word, bastards are sleeping.” Logan smirked.
“Just spray the room with bullets and let’s move on,” Paul said, gripping tight to his machete.
“No,” Logan replied. “We need the info first. Besides, I wanna see what I’m killing.”
He walked forward and parted the curtain to see the shape of a figure snuggled down under the covers. Moving forward, his leather-clad hand reached out, hovering above the duvet.
Cut To:
Int.
Convenience Store – Same Time
Crouched down behind a stack of cardboard boxes, Ramesh peered around to see if anyone was still in the store. Sweating, he leaned out further to see that all the men had left to go to the basement. With a gulp, he stood up and crept over to the door and quietly pushed it shut, then pulled a chair over, sticking it under the handle. Breathing a sigh of relief, he leaned back against the door and closed his eyes.
He turned to see a pair of unmoving legs sticking out from the aisle.
“Oh no,” he muttered as he moved to his feet again and began to make his way over.
Cut To:
Int.
The Clinic – Patient Room 1 – Same Time
The leather of Logan’s glove cracked as he scrunched the duvet up in his palm.
In one solid swift heave, he pulled the duvet off of the bed, revealing Faith underneath, sporting a grin.
“Turnabout’s fair play,” she sneered.
Logan’s eyes went wide as she rammed her hand taser into his chest, taking him down.
The men backed away and readied their weapons, firing at Faith as she rolled out of her bed to her feet, ripping the ECG machine from the mains. She tossed the gurney at the men, knocking some of them off of their feet and causing the rest to stumble back out of the way.
With the men distracted, Shannon and Lorinda took the opportunity and burst out from behind the other curtain in the room, immediately leaping into the fray.
Cut To:
Int.
The Clinic – Patient Room 2 – Same Time
Hearing the commotion in the other room, the men in the next room tried to double back, only to find Vi and Chamique jumping out at them from behind the curtains. They easily wrestled the weapons from the men’s hands.
Cut To:
Int.
The Clinic – Dr. Colton’s Office – Same Time
Kennedy, Denise and Marie crashed out of the cupboards lining the back wall of Dr. Colton’s office, taking the men in there by surprise.
Cut To:
Int.
Convenience Store – Same Time
Back inside the store, Ramesh’s eyes scrunched in realization as he looked down at Casey.
“No blood,” he breathed.
Suddenly, Casey rolled over and her eyes flung open. She veered up into a sitting position, trying to catch her breath. Ramesh jumped.
She ripped open her top to expose her bulletproof vest, with two crushed bullets sticking out of the thick material. She reached into her pocket and hit the button on her radio.
“Watcher One. Over?”
Cut To:
Ext.
Convenience Store – Same Time
Rowena was standing next to Willow, outside the shop and across the street, when her radio went off. “Watcher One here. Over?”
Cut To:
Int.
Convenience Store – Same Time
“They’re inside now,” Casey replied. “I’m bringing Ramesh out. Have Black Ops on stand by. Over?”
Cut To:
Ext.
Convenience Store – Same Time
Rowena heard a third voice say, “Affirmative,” then she turned to Willow before saying, “Copy that,” into her own radio.
As the pair watched the slayer and Ramesh rush from the store, Willow asked, “Do you think it worked?”
Rowena looked worried. “Yes, but stand by with the magic, just in case…I just hope it doesn’t cost us anyone, starting with Ramesh, who looks like he could use a defibrillator. Come on.” She motioned Willow to follow her to meet the shopkeeper.
Cut To:
Int.
The Clinic – Operating Room – Same Time
Heli dropped from above the door, landing on top of one man, and Marly rolled out from under the operating table and fired her taser gun into another man’s neck.
Cut To:
Int.
The Clinic – Reception – Same Time
Some of the men fell out of the rooms into the hallway and raced towards reception. They skidded to a halt when they saw Kara and her three sisters blocking the way. Kara raised her hand and claws shot out of her paw, tearing through her white gloves. Her sisters followed suit, hissing at the men advancing on them.
The sisters easily dodged the men’s attacks and countered by slashing at their bodies. One of the men swung at Kara’s head, but she ducked and pounced, clawing at his face, taking a layer of fabric from his balaclava and a layer of skin clean off.
One of the men managed to get past the sisters and headed for the exit.
Cut To:
Int.
Convenience Store – Same Time
He raced back up the steps, but the door refused to open. After several kicks, it finally broke free and he took off towards the exit.
Cut To:
Ext.
Convenience Store – Same Time
As the man cleared the exterior door, three Black Ops slayers stood up from behind parked cars in front of the store, their weapons aimed at him.
“Halt,” they all shouted at once, making him stop. “Put your hands in the air and face the wall.”
With a deep sigh, he did as he was asked. A slayer stepped around to quickly frisk him and take him around to the side of the building.
Once there, he found himself face to face with a grinning Rowena. “In accordance and in conjunction with the Watchers Council and the local, state and federal authorities, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and may have this attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?”
“Yeah,” he muttered.
“Get him out of here,” Rowena told the slayer, who then grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and led him away.
Rowena turned her head to see Willow grinning, and she began to grin herself.
“What?” the watcher asked.
“You,” Willow replied. “All Elliott Ness-y. It’s kinda sexy.”
“Will,” Rowena sighed.
“Maybe later we can play cops and robbers,” the witch leered in a hushed tone.
Rowena smiled. “Let’s just get everyone out safe and sound first, okay?”
“Okay…but later?”
Rowena chuckled. “Yes, later.”
Cut To:
Int.
The Clinic – Patient Room 1 – Same Time
Faith held the neck of a shotgun above her head as she grappled with the man on the other end. She brought her knee up into his groin, twisted the weapon out of his hands and butted him in the face with it.
Another man lunged toward Faith with a baseball bat, but she whipped her hand taser from its holster again and shoved it under his armpit. He tried to continue running, but ended up falling to the floor.
Using her smaller height to her advantage, Shannon spun out of the way of Paul as he sliced the air with his machete. Coming up behind him, she punched the small of his back, making him fall forward onto the bed. She grabbed his arm, pulling him up, and pushed her taser into his back. He fell to the floor, and she jumped on top of him and cuffed his wrists together.
“Yay! I’ve bagged me a perp!” Shannon smiled.
Lorinda dived around another man as he tried to remove his crowbar from the broken wooden cupboard. Deciding to help him out, she wrapped her hands around the metal shaft and pulled it out, banging it against his head. He dropped to his knees and she snapped her own pair of handcuffs on him.
With a proud smile and an arched brow, she looked up at Shannon. “I got one, too.”
Faith stood up from restraining the pair she took down and turned to see Shannon and Lorinda sitting on top of the men.
“You okay in here?” she asked, and the reply she got was a simple nod from both of them.
Faith went to step out into the hall when one of the men stirred, coughing.
“Why…” Logan spluttered, his body still twitching, “…you…”
“Seriously dude, if you value your teeth, don’t finish that sentence,” Faith told him, before turning and leaving.
Vi and Chamique pushed forward the men that they had apprehended.
“That was easy,” Vi commented. “Is it wrong for me to have wanted that to last longer?”
“Always the way when you’re on the ball, time just flies,” Faith said, “Bring ’em up to reception. And Vi, tell the others to do the same.” Faith said as she walked ahead up to reception. “I want ’em in the vans, secured and on the way in ten minutes, so I can get back in time for the second half of Trading Spouses.”
“Got it,” Vi replied. She entered another room while Chamique escorted their prisoners up to reception.
Faith smiled and pressed her earpiece. “Watcher One. Do you copy?”
“Yeah Faith, go ahead,” Rowena’s voice answered.
“We bagged ’em all down here. Everything went according to Dawn’s plan. Send the vans and we’ll pay Daniels and the boys at the PD a visit.”
Cut To:
Int.
Unknown Location – Night
A man in his late thirties, possibly early forties, was sitting behind a desk in a darkened room when his intercom went off.
“Mr. Felix? Mr. Tyrell is here to see you,” a female voice announced.
“Please send him in, Teresa,” he replied.
A few moments later, James walked inside. “I’m sure you’ve heard the news already, Jason,” he began.
“I have,” the man replied. “And it’s most disappointing on many levels – the failure of the Clinic’s destruction, the attitude of the Council towards monsters…Your methods…”
“You brought me on board for my expertise,” Tyrell countered.
“Expertise, yes. Plans that involve cold blooded murder, no.”
“You said it yourself – these monsters must be stopped. The method shouldn’t matter.”
Felix paused for a moment. “Regardless, I didn’t authorize this action…It’s quite a quagmire we face, if I say so myself.”
“Yes, but this is just one battle,” Tyrell replied.
“True.” The man grinned. “Perhaps now you’ll agree it’s time for a change in tactics.”
“Meaning?” Tyrell asked.
“Brute strength we lack,” he replied.
“I am working on that fact,” Tyrell offered.
“But I’m thinking that, maybe instead of dealing with the symptoms…we look at curing the disease somehow.”
Slowly, Tyrell grinned.
Black Out
Special Guest Starring:
Gary Oldman as Jason Felix
End of Better Days
Next on Watchers…
Kennedy and Rowena must travel to Siberia in a race against time to recover an ancient text using borrowed magic while she recounts the tale of how she recovered the Opus Obscurum.
