[Transcript of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" episode Shadow at buffyology.com.]
JOYCE lies back on a steel table, dressed in a hospital gown. The table slides backward into a CAT scan machine and she waits nervously for the machine to do its job.
DAWN waits anxiously for her mother's tests to be completed. BUFFY hands her a soda and sits down next to her.
What is the CAT scan, exactly?
I don't know. It's some X-ray, I guess.
Where do they get the "CAT" scan from? I mean, do they test it on cats or... or does the machine sort of look like a cat?
Dawn, I'm really--
She stops when she sees the fear in Dawn's eyes and pulls her sister close and kisses the top of her head. Buffy has no idea to what to say to comfort Dawn because her fear is just as great.
TARA and GILES admire the new ad for the store in the phone book.
"You're one-stop spot to shop for all your occult needs." Catchy.
Think so?
Uh-huh. In a hard-to-read sort of way-- but I think it's great.
Oh.
The door bell jingles and ANYA, WILLOW and XANDER enter.
I'm just saying, I think it's rude.
I wouldn't call it rude.
Rudish, rudesque... whatever you want to call it. When a person makes a "destroy all vampires" date, it's simple courtesy to wait for your co-destroyers. Am I right, Giles?
I'm almost certain you're not but, to be fair, I wasn't listening.
Oh, the new phone book's in with Mr. Giles' ad.
Oh, nice.
Anya bolts over to see the ad.
Yay! Am I mentioned?
Not as such.
Oh.
Okay, we were supposed to hook up with Riley this morning to take on a nest-o-vamps holed up in a tomb. So we get there and guess what? Tell him, Will.
Tomb go boom.
Yep, Captain America blowed it up real good. All by his Lone Wolf lonesome.
Hmm, rather reckless of him.
I'd say very rather.
All that aside, I should think you'd be pleased to avoid the confrontation.
That's what I've been saying. I mean, I for one didn't want to start my day with a slaughter. (beat) Which really just goes to show how much I've grown!
In any event, since you're all here, Tara and I could use your help researching Buffy's mysterious woman.
Ah, yeah. This has been fruitful. Trying to look up something you never saw and don't know the name of.
The group moves over to the reading table and its mountain of books.
Just do what I do. Flip through the pages and look busy.
It'd be nice if we knew where she was... where she's hiding out.
No doubt lurking around some sewer or condemned church or rat- infested warehouse. You know, the usual haunts.
An elegantly furnished luxury condominium. DREG, a demon in monk robes, kneels before GLORY, who lies on her bed, trying on shoes. Hundreds of shoe boxes are piled on the floor beside the bed. Dreg holds up an ancient scroll.
Most beauteous and supremely magnificent one, this dark spell I hold in my worthless and scabby hand is our gift to you, most holy and wonderful Glorificus.
Please. Call me Glory. And get up. Looking at you is hurting my neck.
Forgive me, shiny, special one. I beg of you to rip out my inadequate tongue.
Glory holds out her hand.
Gimme.
Dreg hesitantly approaches and sticks out his tongue but Glory snatches the scroll from him instead.
Oh! (laughs) I thought... (beat) You should know, your elaborate marvelousness, that this dark incantation has been lost for eons and great dangers have been faced to--
Glory tries on a shoe.
Does this pump make my ankle look bony?
No. No, your terrifically smooth one. It is the epitome of ankles. To touch such an ankle would be-- but I'm not touching! I'm backing away.
Glory flips the shoe off her foot and it smacks Dreg in the head.
Ow! Thank you.
Dreg, isn't it?
Yes, Dreg. Your creamy coolness has honored me by speaking my name. Your voice is like a thousand sweet songbirds that--
Yeah, I never tire of hearing that. Look, just so we're clear... this spell's going to work right? (Dreg bows) I mean, nothing worse than a gift that doesn't work. Then I'd have to get all mad and kill you. It's this whole big thing.
It will work, your extremeness. Provided you have the other items you need.
Don't worry. I'll have them, all right.
She rips the ad for Giles' store out of the phone book.
I'll have it all.
Opening credit sequence.
Establishing. RILEY mounts stairs to the front porch and finds the front door ajar. He enters the house with a knock.
Hello? Buffy?
Riley continues on into the house. He bends and picks a burlap sack off the floor, looking at it curiously. The sound of footsteps upstairs draws his attention and he heads up to investigate.
SPIKE holds one of Buffy's sweaters up to his nose and inhales deeply. Riley enters to find him sniffing Buffy's clothes.
What are you doing in here?
Spike whirls around and tries to hide the sweater behind his back.
What? Me? I was... what are you doing here?
Looking for the girl who's going to rip your arms off when she finds out you were in her bedroom.
Oh, yeah? Well... me, too.
Despite Spike's feeble attempt to hide the sweater, Riley spots it in his hands.
Were you smelling her sweater?
No. (beat; off Riley's look) Well, yeah. All right, I did. It's a predator thing. Nothing wrong with it. Know your enemy's scent, whet the appetite for the hunt. (smells sweater) Ahh, that's the stuff. Slayer musk... it's bitter and aggravating.
Riley grabs the sweater from Spike.
Out.
He takes Spike by the arm and hauls him out of Buffy's room. On the way out, Spike manages to snag a pair of Buffy's panties without Riley noticing.
Hey, watch it! Easy. You're bruising the leather. Look, I know for a bleedin' fact that the Slayer wouldn't mind me being here.
Right. What's a little sweater-sniffing between sworn enemies?
Your girl in the habit of buying her enemies drinks? 'Cause she spent the better part of last night with me, doing just that.
'Cause you guys are such tight pals? That's good. Tell me another.
Okay, how about this one? Twice in recent memory she's had her lover-Wiccas do a de-invite on the house-- keep out specific vamps. Ever ask yourself why she's never taken my name off the guest list?
Because you're harmless.
Oh, yeah. Right. Takes one to know, I suppose. At least I still got the attitude. What you got? A piercing glance? Face it, whitebread, Buffy's got a type and you're not it. She likes us dangerous, rough, occasionally bumpy in the forehead region. Not that she doesn't like you, but sorry, Charlie, you're just not dark enough.
Riley has had enough. He seizes Spike by his leather coat and drags him through the front door into the sunlight.
Hey. Hey!
Am I dark enough for you now?
Bloody pull me back in, you sod! I'm startin' to sizzle!
You don't know anything about Buffy. You never did. I'm the one that knows what she needs.
Oh, yeah? That's why you're with her at hospital right now? Giving her what she needs?
Riley hauls him back inside.
What are you talking about?
Don't you know? Didn't she tell you?
You tell me.
Her mum is sickly. Buffy took her to hospital for a bit of prod and probe. Bite-sized one went, too. You know, it's funny her not calling you about that. I've known since last night.
Riley heaves Spike back out the door and into the daylight.
Blanket! Blanket!
Riley kicks the burlap sack out after him, then slams the door, fuming.
Buffy waits anxiously outside her mother's examination room. She starts when Riley puts his hand on her shoulder.
Riley.
Sorry. I heard. I thought maybe you might need...
She hugs him desperately and he wraps his arms around her.
I do. I do. I'm glad. I just... I didn't... I mean, until we knew what it was--
I understand. How's she doing?
Well, she just had a CAT scan. I was about to go in and find out. Will you sit with Dawn while I talk to Mom? She's in the waiting room.
Yeah, yeah, you got it.
Buffy nods and goes into the examination room while Riley heads off to find Dawn.
Buffy enters the darkened room to find her mother and DR. ISAACS going over her scan results.
Hey. May I come in?
Oh, of course, baby. Come on in. Where's Dawn?
She's with Riley. They're watching TV in the waiting room.
Excuse me. I'm just going to check on the status of the OR.
Buffy looks alarmed.
The OR?
Dr. Isaacs says I'm lucky there's one available on such short notice. Some people wait for days, sometimes weeks.
Mom, what did they find?
A shadow. I've got a shadow somewhere... (re: scans) over there. He showed it to me but they have to do a biopsy to find out exactly what it is.
Buffy hugs her mother tight.
The doctor says it's too early to be concerned.
Right. No concern.
Right. Just a shadow.
Buffy smiles bravely but turns to look back at the scans again, worried.
The gang researches while the day's customers mill about, browsing among the shelves and display tables.
I just wish we knew what we were dealing with. It feels like we're going around in circles.
Our circles are going around in circles. We've got dizzy circles here, Giles.
A customer approaches the register with a statuette and Giles rings him up.
Ah, weeping Buddha. Shoulders your spiritual burden. Makes a lovely paperweight, too.
Maybe she's not in the books.
What do you mean?
I mean, what if she's not a demon or a sorceress or a spirit or whatever these books cover? What if she's something else altogether?
Giles hands the customer his purchase and comes out from behind the counter, concerned.
Thank you, come again. (to Tara) Something new, you mean?
Something old. So old it pre-dates the written word.
Giles, the Dagon Sphere... you said that was created to repel--
That Which Cannot Be Named.
So I'm thinking, maybe she...
Pre-dates language itself?
Willow nods and Xander snaps his book shut.
Well, hey, if it means I don't have to read anymore-- woo! And might I add a big hoo.
If Tara's right, then we're blind. There's no way we can determine her moves, her habits, where she'll turn up next--
He turns around to find Glory standing behind him, holding up two items for purchase.
Oh! I beg your--
Uh-huh. I want these.
Yes, of course.
He takes the items behind the counter and rings her up.
You find everything all right?
No problemo.
She hands him a credit card and he makes out a sales receipt, then packages up her purchases.
Your receipt... and thank you.
Glory takes the package with a curt smile and leaves.
She could be anywhere. But if she's as powerful as Buffy says, I imagine it won't be long before she makes herself known.
Dawn sleeps in a chair and Riley drapes his coat over her. He stands and moves over to Buffy, sits beside her, comforting her. She sees Dr. Isaacs and goes over to meet him.
Everything went fine. They're moving her into recovery now.
Do we have the results yet?
Let's sit down over here for a minute.
No. Excuse me, no. I don't mean to be rude, it's just that I've been sitting for hours. I don't want to sit. I just-- tell me, please.
Your mother has-- the term is low-grade glioma. It's a brain tumor. The clinical name is oligodendroglioma. It's in the left hemisphere of the cerebrum. In your mother's case, the tumor seems to have started there. In other words, it hasn't spread from another part of the body, which, in a way, is good news...
The doctor's words fade out as we close in on Buffy's stunned expression.
Resume. Buffy struggles to take in the news.
I know this is very difficult and because of the nature of your mother's illness, unfortunately things may progress very quickly.
Things? What things?
Symptoms. There's a variety that might present-- loss of vision or appetite, lack of muscle control, mood swings--
But what can we do?
Well, not much until we determine if the tumor's operable... which we are working on.
He leads Buffy over to the chairs where they sit.
Is there something that I-- I mean, can I help?
Well, there's some literature you might want to look at. If we aren't able to go in surgically, there are a number of new treatments that are very promising. Your mother's prognosis is a lot better today than it would have been only a year ago. Even if the tumor's not operable, she has a real chance.
What's a real chance?
Nearly one out of three patients with this condition does just fine.
Buffy is floored. She can't believe she's just been told her mother has over a sixty percent chance of dying. It's all she can do to maintain her composure.
Now let me ask, does your mother's insurance company require copies of the MRI and pathology reports?
I'm not sure.
Well, just let me know as soon as possible. And I could use some information regarding your mom's lifestyle and home environment. For instance, does she use a cell phone?
I think so. Yeah, she has one of those ear things.
Okay. Is your house near any power lines, chemical plants, waste disposal facilities?
I don't know... maybe.
Well, the more we know...
I'm sorry.
The intern, BEN, approaches and speaks softly to the doctor.
Excuse me, doc, but they told me you're needed in ICU.
Excuse me, Miss Summers.
Uh... it's okay.
The doctor leaves and Ben smiles at Buffy and sits down next to her.
Thought you looked like you needed a break. Guy's great but he doesn't have that bone in his head that tells him when to back off.
You... I mean, they didn't need him?
Well, I'm sure someone does somewhere. They always do. He really is a good doctor. Your mom's in good hands.
Thank you. It's Ben, right?
Right.
He was just telling me that there's nothing I can do.
And I'm going to tell you the same thing. Give yourself a break. Listen, your mom's going to be unconscious for at least another six, seven hours.
A break?
I mean, just go out, get some air. Come back later on this evening, talk to the doc then if you want. My unsolicited advice of the day.
He leaves her alone and she lets out an agonized sigh. Riley enters and she embraces him.
Buffy...
It's bad.
I know.
Buffy gathers up her things, suddenly preoccupied.
I... I have to do something.
Do something?
Yeah, like, you know, magick. Like a healing spell.
Buffy, people get sick. I don't think magick--
That attitude's not helping. I have to try.
Okay.
I have to talk to Giles. Will you do me a favor and drop Dawn off at school and tell her I'll meet her at the magick shop when she gets off?
Of course. Whatever you need me to do.
Buffy starts to head out.
Buffy... what do you want me to tell Dawn about your mom?
Buffy looks over at Dawn sleeping serenely.
Tell her we don't know anything yet.
She turns and leaves.
Anya goes over the day's receipts when one in particular catches her eye.
Hey. (louder) Hey. (yells) Hey!
Xander, Giles, Willow and Tara run over to see what the problem is.
Anya, your "heys" are startling the customers.
And pretty much the state.
You sold someone a Khul's Amulet and a Sobekian blood stone.
She holds out the receipt to Giles.
Yes, I believe I did.
Are you stupid or something?
Allow me to answer that question with a firing.
She's kidding! (to Anya) An, we
talked about
the
employee/employer vocabulary no-no's. That was number five.
You never sell these things together. Ever. Bad news. Don't you know about the Sobekites?
Oh, I do. It was an ancient Egyptian cult, heavy into dark magick.
And the Khul's Amulet-- wasn't that a transmogrification conduit?
Damn straight!
Be that as it may, I still see no reason for concern. I mean, the Sobekian transmogrification spells were lost thousands of years ago and besides, the young woman to whom I sold them would have to have enormous power...
The realization suddenly hits him.
Young woman?
Oh, dear lord...
The three girls share his look of concern but Xander is still clueless.
What?
Dawn and Riley sit on a park bench while the carousel spins before them. Dawn picks morosely at a cup of ice cream but doesn't eat any of it.
You're melting.
Oh... guess I'm not hungry.
Maybe I'm not making this any better.
No, I just... this is better. (beat) I had my tenth birthday party here.
Really?
We'd just moved to Sunnydale and Mom rented the carousel for an entire hour for just me and my friends. Except I hadn't made any friends yet so it was just me and Mom and Buffy riding it by ourselves, over and over and over again... for the whole hour, just so Mom felt like we'd gotten our money's worth. (beat) She's... she's not going to get better, is she?
Absolutely she will. Summers women are tough.
I'm really glad you're here.
Thanks.
Buffy's glad, too.
Yeah?
She sure cries a lot less with you than she did with Angel.
Angel made her cry a lot, huh?
Everything with him was all "yeee-eee", you know?
All...?
You know, "my boyfriend's a vampire" crazy, crazy. Every day was like the end of the world. She doesn't get all worked up like that over you. I think you've been really good for her.
Riley smiles half-heartedly; that is the last thing he wanted to hear.
After hours; the shop is closed and Buffy fills the group in on her mother's problem.
So I figure there has to be some kind of mystical cure, right? I mean, like a potion or a spell or something? We have to look.
We can look. I mean, we will but I haven't seen anything.
The truth is, the mystical and the medical aren't meant to mix, Buffy. Sorry. The human mind is very delicate. Too much could go wrong.
Yeah, I've heard stories about people trying healing spells. If we did something, it could make things a lot worse, Buffy.
We've done just about enough making things worse for one day, haven't we?
Why? What do you mean?
Nothing. Anya broke a bippity-boppity-boo. A thing. Don't worry about it.
I did not. I didn't break--
Anya, Buffy doesn't need to hear about your clumsiness right now.
My clumsiness! I mean, that is so... (off Willow's look) like me. Slippery, slippery, butterfingers.
What happened?
Nothing to concern you.
Giles!
The demon-woman was here, the one who attacked you.
It's no biggie. She just got an amulet and a blood stone.
That can create a monster.
Okay, biggie.
My god... are you guys okay, though? I mean, no one got hurt, right?
No, no. Thankfully, no violence to speak of.
Okay, so that's... good. How did she get away with this bad mojo stuff?
Everyone looks around, uncomfortable. Finally, Anya whispers to Buffy.
Giles sold it to her.
I didn't know! I mean, how could I? If it's any consolation, I may have overcharged her.
And Anya figured out what the demon-lady's up to.
A few thousand years ago, there was this cult-- the Temple of Sobek.
Sobek?
Reptile demon. Sobekites were reptile worshippers.
Just once I would like to run into a cult of bunny worshippers.
Great! Thank you very much for those nightmares!
Sorry.
Anyway, their high priest, Khul, had great mystic powers. He forged an amulet with a transmogrifying crystal.
Transmogrifying is changing a living thing into a different kind of thing.
We've managed to decipher the markings that were on the blood stone that I sold-- that she left with-- and a... cobra. She's going to transmogrify a cobra.
Okay, so she's making a monster. What for? What does it do?
That's the part... we're working on it.
Well, you keep working on it. I'll go kill it.
She abruptly gets up and heads for the door.
Buffy?
What? I'm going.
Buffy, this chick creamed you last time.
That's because I wasn't ready for her last time. I am now.
But you--
But what? Will, I can't just sit here. I have to do something.
She turns and walks out the door.
Establishing.
The reptile exhibit is dark and dimly lit, like the interior of a cave. Glass display tanks are set into the walls, each with a deadly species of snake inside.
From the mud, from the rot, arise holy serpent and be bathed, cleansed in the shadow of Sobek.
Glory stands before the king cobra's tank. She punches through the glass and removes the hissing serpent.
Chill, worm. I'm gonna make you a star.
As Dreg looks eagerly on, she lowers the snake into an earthen jar in the center of the room. Dreg hands her the blood stone.
Chant!
Dreg hastily opens the scroll and begins the incantation while Glory holds up the blood stone.
Asoorati aaniyatun min jadlldin Khulqat. Firihaabi malkutinal iraadatu uu'tiyat... (The form is vessel, rendered new. The base is stone, bathed in blood. The gem is fire and elements rarefied...)
Dreg continues chanting while Glory invokes Sobek, the reptile god.
Sobek! Grant the power that it may mold this wretched creature, that it may be reborn, that it may serve-- ah! Dark incantations. Always overwritten. Why can't they just cut to the--
Buffy tackles Glory and drives her into the wall.
Fight?
No fair! Attacking when I wasn't even looking. Help...
Buffy viciously kicks Glory in the face and slams her head into the stone wall but the blows only seem to annoy Glory, not injure her. Buffy throws another punch but Glory seizes her arm, pins it and twists, then throws Buffy into the wall.
This is no good. I'm out of the moment and you're not giving me anything I can use. Dreg! I'm not hearing chanting.
Dreg hurriedly resumes the incantation while Glory continues to take Buffy apart.
Yes, Glory!
Buffy is clearly no match for her. Glory hauls her up by her coat and hurls her into the wall again.
Hey! Hey, work with me here.
She drives her knee into Buffy's face.
There! That feels more real. Don't ya think?
She picks Buffy up and smashes her in the face.
Even if I do have to carry your performance.
She heaves Buffy across the room and into one of the reptile tanks, shattering the glass. Buffy lands, dazed, inside the tank.
Scene!
Glory turns her attention to the trembling urn on the floor.
Sir hayyan win-hud!
Arise... arise...
Sir hayyan win-hud!
Arise!
With one final spasm, the jar explodes from within and a monstrous creature emerges. Ten feet in height, with the head and body of a cobra and arms like a man. It hisses and spits menacingly.
Dreg is awestruck.
He is arisen!
'Bout damn time.
Resume. Buffy pulls herself out of the display tank and runs out. Glory turns to the monstrous creature hissing in the center of the room.
Spawn of Sobek!
The creature rounds on her and she smiles brightly.
The power is yours, to see what is unseen, to find what is shrouded in shadow. Already you know what I seek. I have given you form. Now find for me the Key. Seek it out in the holy places. (the snake growls) Yes, yes, yes! Let your vision guide you to its hiding place and then return to me and tell me where it lies.
The creature doesn't move, just stands there hissing and drooling.
Now would be good.
With a sibilant hiss, the demon turns and slithers out the door. Glory smiles and claps her hands, pleased.
Fun, fun, fun!
Giles attends to a customer.
Aleister Crowley Sings? Sadly no, I don't carry that but I do have some very nice whale sounds.
Riley enters and approaches Giles and Xander.
Excuse me for a moment.
Where is Buffy?
She left a while ago.
What? Where?
That creepy demon-woman's conjuring come kind of monster.
And you let Buffy go after her? Alone?
"Let" isn't really a factor when she sets her mind to something and you know that.
Giles returns to his customer.
She could get herself killed. It's crazy.
Yeah. Crazy. Going off alone, half-cocked, instead of waiting for much-needed backup. Charging in with a big old hand grenade... oh, wait.
This is different.
Yeah, it is. Buffy needs something she can fight. Something she can solve. I don't know what kind of action you're looking for. Do you? (off Riley's look) Hey, I'm not trying to get--
It's cool.
You okay?
Just a little crazed.
I hear ya.
Riley heads for the door.
If... she needs me...
Xander nods and he walks out.
The Sobekite demon makes its way among the pews of the church, hissing spitting, searching for the Key.
The phone rings as Giles hands a customer her change.
Magic Box. Your one-stop spot to shop--
Giles, it's me.
Buffy, are you all right?
Buffy presses an ice pack to her shoulder while she talks.
No, I'm really not. I couldn't stop her. I couldn't even slow her down.
Where are you?
Sunnydale Memorial.
Are you badly hurt? I'll come right over.
No. No, I just wanted to warn you that that thing she conjured-- it's loose. It's a big snake-thing. Not Mayor-big but it's pretty lethal-looking.
Do you know why she raised it?
I don't know yet.
I'll warn the others. We'll get weapons, we'll fan out--
Wait! Wait a second. What time is it?
Half-past four. Why?
School's out. Dawn's on her way over to you. Giles...
Understood. We'll keep her safe here until you arrive.
Thanks. And Giles?
Yes?
Dawn's kind of fragile right now, about Mom. She doesn't know how bad it is.
We'll not say a word.
Well, my mom's going to wake up soon and I should be there when the doctors tell her.
She's in good hands, Buffy. There's really nothing else you can do.
Okay. Bye.
Bye.
Buffy hangs up the phone and makes her way stiffly down the corridor toward the waiting room.
Riley sits at the bar, drinking alone.
Buffy sits alone, waiting for her mother to wake up.
Dawn sits at the reading table alone, her homework in front of her but her mind elsewhere.
SANDY, a beautiful brunette vampire, approaches Riley and sits down next to him.
Buffy sits with her mother as Dr. Isaacs delivers the results of her biopsy. Joyce is devastated but tries to put on a brave front for Buffy's sake.
Riley and Sandy embrace. She nuzzles his neck, then looks up at him, the demon in her ascendant.
Riley bares his neck for her and she gently slips her fangs into his flesh, drinking deeply. Riley holds her there, a look of pleasure drifting across his features.
Suddenly, Sandy breaks off, a look of shock in her eyes, before she crumbles to dust, leaving Riley alone in the alley with nothing but a stake in his hand and his troubled thoughts.
The Sobekite approaches the carousel. It stops at the park bench where Dawn and Riley were sitting earlier. Its eyes flash a demonic red and it bolts off into the night.
Buffy walks down the sidewalk, lost in thought. She pauses for a moment, then enters the store.
Dawn stands up as Buffy enters and the two sisters embrace.
Is she awake yet?
Yeah. She's waiting for us.
Can we take her home now?
We'll see. Go get your stuff.
Dawn goes to the reading table to gather up her things. Buffy turns to Giles and Willow.
So... any monster reptile sightings?
None.
Tara and I did a mini-patrol earlier but the biggie snake was nowhere to be--
The picture window at the front of the store shatters in a hail of glass as the Sobekite crashes into the store with a guttural hiss. It slams a bookshelf over on top of Buffy, pinning her to the floor and heads directly for Dawn.
Terrified, Dawn screams for her life but the creature does not attack. It merely stares at her as if marking her in its memory, then turns and shoots back out the broken window and into the street.
Resume. Xander rushes over to Dawn.
Are you okay?
Why was the big snake afraid of Dawn?
Giles helps Buffy up.
It knows.
She turns and runs out of the store after it. Giles hesitates a moment, then follows her.
The Sobekite slithers down the center of the street, frightened pedestrians fleeing before it.
Buffy races after it on foot while Giles runs off in the opposite direction.
Buffy chases the snake at top speed but the creature is too fast for her. She looks back at the sound of an approaching car to find Giles pulling up behind her in his BMW. She gets in and he punches the accelerator, resuming the chase.
The snake uses its tail to whip a garbage dumpster into their path. Giles swerves to avoid it and slams into a pile of stacked garbage.
I've got to stop this monster before it gets back to Glory.
Glory?
That's what he called her. Giles, she's going to know Dawn's the Key if we don't--
We will.
He slams the car into reverse, pulling free of the dumpster, and takes off after the cobra again.
Glory pelts Dreg with shoe boxes.
Please! Please, mistress. Perturbed yet ultimately merciful one! Please, no!
What is taking so long, Dreg? You told me snaky-waky would find my Key! Now why isn't he back here with a beautiful message for me?
I grovel like a bug, most silky and effervescent Glorificus.
She throws more shoe boxes at him.
Glory! Glory! Your most fresh and cleanness, it's just a matter of time.
Everything takes time! What about my time? Does anyone appreciate that I'm on a schedule here? Tick-tock, Dreg. Tick- frickin'-tock!
The cobra shoots down a residential street with Giles in hot pursuit. It smashes through a chain-link fence and darts off into the underbrush.
The BMW pulls up and Buffy hops out.
Buffy chases the snake into a small wooded park, running for all she's worth to catch it. She snatches a length of chain from a gate post as she goes.
As the snake slithers between several boulders, Buffy charges up the side of one of the rocks and launches herself onto the demon's back, wrapping the chain around its throat from behind and pulling it tight.
The creature bucks and writhes with rage and pain, trying to throw her off, but she holds on tight, choking the life from it. Its struggles become weaker and weaker until they finally stop altogether and the beast goes limp. Buffy lets the chain go slack and it falls to the ground. Suddenly, the cobra springs back to life and knocks her to the ground.
Buffy jumps to her feet and delivers a vicious blow to its head, stunning it, then pins it to the ground and rains blow after blow down on the hapless monster until it is dead. Still, she doesn't stop; she continues hitting it over and over again, her pent-up emotions spilling out in cathartic release.
Pull back to reveal Glory's condo sitting on a hill in b.g.
Glory waits by the window for the cobra's return. Eventually, she gives up and lets the drapes fall back across the window.
Buffy stands by her mother's bed.
Do you want me to stay?
No, I'm fine. I think I should talk to Dawn alone.
Okay.
Oh! Do I have bad hair? I don't look like Scary Mom, do I?
No. You look beautiful.
Buffy and her mother share a heartfelt moment, then Joyce takes a deep breath.
Okay. Let's do this. Stay close.
I will.
Buffy goes to the door and lets Dawn in, then retreats to the hall.
She watches a moment as Dawn and Joyce embrace, then turns as Riley approaches.
Buffy... you okay? You look pretty beat up.
Buffy's eyes brim with tears.
Minimal damage of the fighting kind. It's all the other kind.
Come here.
He pulls her close and holds her.
It's okay. Just let it out. I'm right here.
I can't.
She withdraws from him.
Not now. They need me. If I start now, I won't be able to stop.
Riley reaches up to wipe away her tears.
Buffy?
Buffy turns and goes to her mother without another word, leaving Riley alone once again.