Act 4
Fade In:
Int.
Watchers Council – Coven Room – Continuous
Everyone still stood silently watching Willow, Andrew and Dawn.
“Al, what’s going on?” Willow asked.
“Yeahhh,” Rowena finally said, still sounding a bit shocked. “This, uh, this isn’t going to do, Al. I can marry a woman in Canada, but this…this is a whole new stumbling block.”
Everyone focused their attention on Althenea. After a few seconds of their stares, she cleared her throat.
“Technically,” she said, addressing Willow, “they asked that I get you out of the book, which I did…They didn’t say anything about you being in the flesh afterward.”
The room fell quiet until Willow yelled, “Great Hades’ ghost, Al! We’re still cartoons!”
“But you’re out of the book,” Xander pointed out. “Al’s battin’ five hundred. Look at the bright side here.”
“No,” Willow answered. “The bright side would be batting a thousand and being human!”
“We’ll get it fixed,” Althenea replied. “It just might take me a while, is all.”
Everyone in the room asked at once, “How long?”
“Sounds like a Greek chorus in here,” Althenea mumbled.
“Then let’s hope this doesn’t turn out to be a tragedy,” Willow replied.
“Look,” Althenea said, instinctively putting her hand on Willow’s shoulder. Then she seemed to forget the point she was about to make. Instead, she began to squeeze and feel around Willow’s shoulder. “You’re actually squishy,” she said. “How unusual.”
“I want to feel, too,” Rowena said, stepping closer. Soon the others came over and started to touch various parts of Willow and chatter about it, as if comparing notes on what they were experiencing. After a second, Willow began to bat them all away.
“Just stop it already,” she complained, then she sighed. “How are we going to fix this?”
“As I said, I don’t know yet,” Althenea answered, “but I’m sure we’ll find a way, Willow. In fact, we could…”
Willow watched Althenea’s eyes grow wide, along with everyone else’s around the cartoon trio. Slowly Dawn, Andrew and Willow all turned toward the comic book behind them to see a figure emerging from its pages.
“Imbethit’s brother,” Willow whispered. “Everybody run!” she yelled.
As the demon’s body continued to emerge from the book, everyone cleared the doorway, with Buffy and Faith closing it and bracing themselves against it to hold it closed. Robin went to the nearest intercom to call the lobby.
“Al!” Rowena shouted. “Do a spell! Let nothing in this building get in or out. We don’t need this thing loose in the city!”
Willow, Andrew and Dawn took off toward the lobby. Althenea turned and lowered her head slightly, then she began to mumble something. A light shot out from the floor near the lobby doors and began to encompass the building.
“Guys, you better run,” Faith told them.
From the other side of the door the demon began to yell, “Rosenberg, I will destroy you.”
Buffy and Faith tightened their hold on the door just moments before it was almost yanked out of their hands. Both slayers sat on the floor and put their feet on the doorframe to keep it closed.
The jerking stopped and they heard heavy footsteps again, this time moving away from the door.
“He’s going to the window,” Rowena said softly.
Next, they heard the demon give a pained cry.
“Guess the protection spell worked,” Xander replied. “Now you’re up to seven hundred,” he told Althenea.
From the far hallway, Amira and five girls ran into the corridor brandishing automatic weapons. Robin motioned them toward him.
“There’s a cartoon behind this door,” he told Amira. “If it gets out here, shoot it.” Amira’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Just trust me,” he added. Amira simply nodded.
“Why are you all still here?” Faith yelled.
She opened her mouth to add more, but the door suddenly blew apart. She and Buffy both tried to hide on the opposite side of the frame to avoid the flying debris. The rest of the group settled behind the lobby desk.
Once the bulk of the door fell around them. Faith looked down at her hand to see she still held the doorknob, now entirely disconnected from the door. She showed it to Buffy and then casually tossed it away over her shoulder.
From behind the lobby desk, Rowena addressed Willow, Andrew and Dawn. “You guys get out of here,” she told them. “Go to the library as quietly as possible,” she added.
Andrew and Dawn both nodded and crawled away as quickly as possible, Willow just behind. The black ops team now regrouped in the hallway as the demon appeared in the doorway to the lobby.
“Fire!” Amira shouted, and the team that stood behind the lobby desk opened up with round after round, knocking the demon to the floor.
Buffy and Faith lay on the ground, their hands and arms protecting their heads from the barrage of bullets flying above them.
Amira raised her hand and the team stopped firing. She moved closer and looked at the demon, but after a moment her eyes began to grow wide. She watched as he started to move to a sitting position.
“Simple humans,” the demon said, as he inspected his body. The holes that had appeared began to close up again, and then he seemed to float to his feet.
Buffy and Faith now rose and took Amira by the arm, pulling her away.
“Everybody hide,” Buffy said, evenly but insistently, and everyone present began to dart in different directions.
“No, get to the library,” Rowena shouted. She turned to Althenea and said, “I’ve got an idea. Can you do a protection spell inside of a protection spell?” Althenea just shrugged. Rowena took the witch by the hand and the two of them began to run.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library –Moments Later
The sound of loud crashing below them made everyone look down at the floor.
“He keeps this up,” Buffy began, “We’re not gonna have a Council left.”
“At least Al’s got him contained to the lobby,” Willow replied. “A protection spell inside a protection spell. I’m pretty impressed.”
“For now, he’s contained,” Althenea emphasized. “So what’s the plan, Ro?”
Everyone looked over at the watcher, waiting for an answer.
“Ken?” Rowena began. “In the comic it said he was an unstoppable foe, right?” Kennedy nodded. “But he does get stopped, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah. Faith, well, cartoon Faith,” Kennedy clarified, “she opens a can of whoop ass on him, but not until the love interest is killed.”
“Let’s skip that part of the story, shall we?” Willow asked.
“What are you thinking, Ro?” Althenea asked.
“Turn all the cartoons into their original forms, including this demon,” Rowena told her.
Everyone in the room groaned.
“Hasn’t he done enough damage as a cartoon?” Faith asked.
“He’s unstoppable in comic form,” Rowena answered. “That’s the way it’s written.”
“So we make him human…” Giles said, thinking it through. “Or as human as he can be…That may work.”
“The hitchhiker,” Buffy said, making everyone look at her. “When you guys brought me back from the dead, the second time –”
“Oh!” Willow exclaimed. “We made the hitchhiker corporeal and you killed it!”
“Will the same spell work to fix you guys?” Buffy asked. “Make you real?”
Willow chewed her lip for a moment. “Probably not,” she answered, making Buffy’s hopeful expression fall. “B-but it gives us a place to start looking.”
Another loud crash could be heard somewhere below them.
“Look quick,” Robin told them.
Giles motioned Rowena and Becca, along with the Coven, to follow him toward the stacks.
“So how’s it end?” Buffy asked Kennedy. “How does Cartoon Faith kill him?”
“She doesn’t kill him,” Kennedy replied.
“What?!” Buffy exclaimed.
Kennedy nodded. “Willow shows up and gives her something that sends him to some Vor-like dimension.”
Buffy and Faith looked at each other and, at the same time, said, “Ro?”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Hallway – Moments Later
Faith, Robin, Althenea and Rowena stood back and watched as the demon ran around the lobby, kicking around the reception desk in frustration. He moved it with the same ease a human might have a soccer ball. The rest of the area was in tatters – papers scattered around, the computer in various pieces on the floor, large chunks of plaster and wood lying around.
“This is going to cost a fortune,” Robin sighed.
“We do all realize that when Buffy tried to get into the book, it didn’t work, right?” Faith asked, ignoring his comment.
“Buffy wasn’t in the book originally,” Rowena pointed out. “So in theory, since he was, he should go back in without a problem.”
“Should?” Faith asked with a sigh.
“You have to be the one who does this, Faith,” Rowena said.
“I know. I know. Follow the story. Comic Faith zaps him, so I need to zap him.” She nodded. “Let’s just hope the herb stuff Red keeps at your guys’ place is as good as the stuff she originally used.”
Althenea handed Faith a sports bottle. “This should be fine. It’s the same recipe.”
“There’s that word again…should,” Faith replied.
“We’re working on a theory,” Rowena replied.
“I know, but I can’t help but be a little nervous here,” Faith insisted.
“You’ll get it done,” Robin told her proudly.
“How about this?” Rowena offered. “If you get into trouble, or if it doesn’t work, say…I don’t know, ‘Hail Mary’.”
“Yeah, praying might be good at that point,” Faith remarked.
Robin, Althenea and Rowena all smiled.
“Well, yes, praying might help,” Althenea remarked, “but that way, I’ll try to fight him off with magic so these two can get you out, if it comes to that.”
“Here’s an idea,” Faith said, “Why don’t you distract him, and I’ll do the mystical water thing?”
“Because Faith, comic book Faith, defeats him alone, according to Kennedy,” Robin answered.
“Right,” Faith sighed. “Okay, well, let’s get this over with.”
“A few things first,” Althenea told her. “You also need to tether yourself down once the potion starts. It’d be easier if the tether that Buffy used was still functional, but anyway…Just try to get him close to the book before you spray him.” Althenea nodded to the sports bottle. “Get in and out as quick as you can. I’m only going to drop the shield long enough for you to get inside. Once inside, I won’t open it back up unless you’re in trouble.”
“Anything else?” Faith asked when she stopped talking.
“Good luck?” Althenea said, it was more as a question than a statement.
Faith rolled her eyes.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Same Time
“Will this work?” Dawn asked Jeff.
Jeff stood over another cauldron, mixing something. “It’s worth a shot,” he told her.
Dawn closed her eyes and then opened them. “I’m sorry, guys,” she told the room. “This is all my fault. I should have been more careful.”
“Next time you know to work in flats and not heels,” Buffy replied with a grin.
“Yeah, I found out the hard way, huh?” Dawn replied.
Andrew and Tracey reclined against a table. She rhythmically poked his arm with one finger.
“Would you please stop that?” he said, turning to her. “It’s super annoying.”
“I can’t help it,” she replied, still not stopping. “You feel so funny.”
“Stay,” Andrew told her. Then he got up and walked a few feet away, out of reach. Tracey pouted.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Hallway – Same Time
“Are you ready?” Althenea asked.
Faith simply nodded and Robin gave her a quick kiss.
“For luck,” he told her. Faith grinned and got into a runner’s stance.
Althenea closed her eyes and lowered her hands. When she did, the protective barrier went down and Faith sprinted into the lobby. Althenea pulled her hands back sharply and the barrier went back up.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Lobby – Same Time
Faith looked around cautiously. She spotted the demon through the busted door of the Coven Room. Much like the lobby, everything was in shambles, and the comic book was nowhere to be found.
“No book. Son of a bitch,” Faith sighed quietly in frustration.
Hearing the noise, the demon turned to face her. He dropped the cauldron he was holding and charged toward her.
Faith took a deep breath and rushed to meet him.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Same Time
Jeff scooped the contents of the cauldron into a ladle and sprinkled it over Andrew, Willow and Dawn.
“Well,” Jeff asked after a few seconds, “feel any different?”
Willow put her hand on top of her head. “Yeah, now I’m wet. I’m a cartoon and I’m wet.”
Jeff sighed. “Son of a bitch,” he said, in a tone similar to Faith’s.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Coven Room – Same Time
The demon had Faith by the throat, suspending her in the air.
“Ha –, Ha –,” she sputtered out, just above a whisper.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Hallway – Same Time
“Do you hear anything?” Rowena asked Althenea.
Althenea just shook her head at first. “It’s quiet.”
“Too quiet,” Robin replied.
“Let’s give her a few more minutes,” Althenea suggested.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Coven Room – Same Time
“Laugh at me, will you, Slayer?” the demon taunted Faith, as she continued to gasp.
Faith had her hands wrapped around his wrists. Realizing that wasn’t working, she reached out and poked him in the eye, eliciting a pained growl.
It was enough of a distraction that she worked her way free and fell to the floor, landing on her backside. She took a deep breath that sounded like a rattle before starting to cough.
The demon’s hand reached out and grabbed her by the shirt.
“Oh, crap,” Faith sighed, as she was pulled to her feet.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Same Time
Everyone except Becca stood around the library, looking at the cartoons and at Jeff.
“I don’t know why it didn’t work,” he said. “I followed the directions. There should be at least some reaction. Even if it’s just a little ‘poof’ or whatever.”
“Are you sure you mixed it properly?” Giles asked.
“Potions aren’t my strong suit. I’m the first one to admit that,” he confessed, “but I did everything it said.”
“Obviously, that’s not the case,” Skye replied. “My girlfriend is still a cartoon.”
“If you want to be more helpful and less bitchy,” Jeff said acidly, “I’m all ears to hear what you’d suggest.”
“Jeff,” Becca called out from a nearby table, without looking up from her book. “Is there anything in that concoction that’s fatal if swallowed?”
“Why do you ask?” Giles replied, since Jeff was still in a staring contest with Skye.
“Here,” Becca said, moving the book toward him. “Read this passage.” She turned to the rest of the group. “I’m thinking maybe if they drink it, it might work.”
“There’s castor oil in it,” Jeff said. “It won’t kill ’em. but it could make them sick as a dog,” he replied. He looked over to the group. “Any takers?”
At first, none of them answered.
“Fine. I’ll be the guinea pig,” Willow said. “Get me a glass.”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Coven Room – Same Time
Faith slammed into the far wall and slumped to the Coven Room floor. She shook her head and heard Robin call out to her.
“Are you okay, Faith?” he asked.
“Just peachy!” she shouted back, before starting to cough again.
The demon lunged forward, but she rolled across the books strewn on the floor, making him miss. The movement knocked a series of books out of the way and she found the comic book lying underneath.
“Ah ha!” she said triumphantly, picking it up. The demon, however, managed to grab hold of her again by the shirt again. “Oh, not again,” she complained as he started to lift her, but she kept a tight hold on the comic issue.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Same Time
“Here goes nothing,” Willow said, raising the glass she held in a mock toast. She held her nose and drank the contents as quickly as she could. When she finished she shook her head and her shoulders in disgust. “Oh, that’s nasty,” she said.
Then her stomach started to emit a bright white light and everyone in the room collectively took three steps back.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Coven Room – Same Time
The demon raised Faith by her shirt-front. She kick-jumped off his chest and did a somersault in the air to land on her feet. She looked behind the demon to see the sports bottle lying on the floor amongst the books.
She slid through the demon’s outstretched legs and began to crawl toward the bottle. She managed to get her free hand around the bottle but the demon’s long, sharp fingers snagged her by the leg, dragging her back.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Same Time
The light at Willow’s stomach began to change and her body started to materialize as human again from the inside out. It began in her torso and began to fan slowly out over the rest of her body. The glass fell to the ground and when she looked at her hands again, they appeared human.
“You did it!” Willow said triumphantly to Jeff. He began to smile.
“I helped too,” Becca muttered to Giles, who grinned at her.
“Welcome to Watcherhood,” he told her. “You do the work, others get all the credit.”
“I always gave you credit!” Buffy protested. Giles gave her a wan, patient smile. “I did!”
Willow pulled Jeff into a tight embrace, but then, just as quickly, moved away and covered her mouth.
“Oh Goddess, I’m gonna hurl,” she said, and took off toward the stacks.
Jeff bent down and picked up the glass. “Okay, then,” he said happily, “Who’s next?”
Dawn and Andrew pointed at each other. Jeff turned away, rolling his eyes.
“Ladies first,” Andrew told her.
“Oh, no,” Dawn said, “I insist. You go.”
“I couldn’t. I’m far too much of a gentleman. You go right ahead.”
Jeff turned back toward them and gave them both a glass.
“Together, on three,” he told them.
Dawn and Andrew both groaned.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Coven Room – Same Time
Faith twisted in the demon’s grasp, but couldn’t get her leg free. Giving up, she tossed the comic between the demon’s legs and sprayed it with the bottle, making a path all the way up to the demon’s face. He let go of her in his effort to avoid the water in his eyes and she scurried toward the Coven Room exit, unable to get traction.
“There’s no escape, Slayer,” he taunted her.
Faith turned to see the orange mist growing from the book. She got to her feet and delivered a punch with all her might to his stomach.
He simply looked at her with mild annoyance. She looked at her hand like there was something wrong with it.
Faith gave a half chuckle. “Can I try that again?” she asked.
The creature responded by shoving her clean out of the Coven Room.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Lobby – Same Time
Faith landed on her back and slid outside into the lobby. She turned her head to see the council trio watching her from the hallway.
“Drop the barrier,” Robin told Althenea.
“No!” Faith shouted. “Not yet!”
She looked back at the demon and saw the orange mist following him as he stalked toward her. Faith scrambled backward on her hands and heels, keeping him in her sight as she moved along.
“Your time is up, Slayer,” he taunted her, now coming into Althenea, Rowena and Robin’s view.
“Al?” Robin said, pleading for her to drop the barrier.
“Not yet,” she told him. “Faith has a plan.”
Just as soon as she spoke the words, they all saw the mist following the creature from the room.
“Stay put,” Althenea told Robin. She shouted to Faith, “I’m going to drop the spell, Faith! Work back this way!”
Faith got to her feet and was almost around the demon when he dove and grabbed her legs. He started to pull her toward him, but then stopped and looked behind him when he himself started to float backward, being dragged back toward the comic book.
“I can’t shake him!” Faith yelled.
“Al!” Robin shouted.
Althenea closed her eyes and mumbled as the barrier fell. “Go get her,” she told them.
Robin and Rowena took off, each of them grabbing one of Faith’s hands. Robin kicked the demon in the face, but it had absolutely no effect. Even as the demon began to merge with the orange stream leading to the comic, he held on to Faith.
“Guys! Let Faith go!” Althenea yelled.
“Al!” Robin and Rowena both exclaimed.
“Just do it!” she ordered.
They both let go at once and Althenea sent a thunderbolt over Faith’s head to land squarely in the demon’s face. The creature and Faith both yelped in pain, and he lost his hold on Faith’s leg.
Now free, Robin and Rowena each took one of Faith’s arms and pulled her toward the hallway, while the mist pulled the demon toward the comic book. Althenea soon joined them and began to chant. The mist sucked the demon away, but also continued toward them.
Suddenly the barrier was back in place and, not finding another victim, the mist dissipated. With a heavy sigh, Althenea slid down the wall, exhausted.
“Good job,” Althenea, sounding winded, told Faith.
“Backatcha,” Faith replied, raising her head briefly before letting it fall back into Robin’s lap.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Moments Later
Rowena, Robin, Faith and Althenea entered the library to see Dawn, Andrew and Willow in their normal, non-cartoon forms.
“Oh thank God,” Rowena said as she rushed over and pulled Willow into a hug. She moved to kiss her, but Willow pulled away.
“You don’t want to do that just yet,” she warned.
Rowena raised an eyebrow.
“Trust her on this one,” Xander replied. “To quote her, she ‘just about puked up her pancreas’.”
“It wasn’t pretty,” Willow agreed.
“Poor baby,” Rowena said. Willow rested her head on the watcher’s shoulder.
Faith walked over to Andrew with the comic book extended toward him.
“Here you go An-arghhhhhhh!” Faith began to shake violently and everyone in the room screamed in unison. Then Faith stopped and started to chuckle. “Just kidding,” she said, tossing him the book.
“That was so not funny,” Andrew said, as everyone looked at Faith sternly.
“It was a joke!” Faith replied.
Fade to Black
Next came the grumbling of everyone in the room and the sound of footsteps. “Where are you going?” Faith’s voice asked. “…Hey, I saved the day here…Guys?”
End of Drawn Together
Next on Watchers…
After the Council saves a wealthy woman’s family, she rewards the gang with a trip to her private island. It seems too good to be true…and it is.
