Episode 13 - The Waiting Room
ACT FOUR
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
from where we left off. Everything shake, rattle and
rolling. Buffy goes out to meet an attacking demon.
Another demon chases after Xander and Anya who retreat
into the kitchen. A third demon approaches Willow,
Tara and Dawn
TARA
Dawn, stay behind us.
Dawn does so. The two witches join hands and
concentrate. Immediately, all manner of objects fly at
demon#3. Table lamps, ornaments, a series of
encyclopaedias from shelves, one after the other, from
volume I to XVI. The demon takes cover behind a couch.
ANGLE : XANDER AND ANYA
trapped in the kitchen. Demon#2 hisses menacingly at
Xander over the open kitchen counter, trying to jab
its spear at him.
XANDER
(to Anya)
Gimme something!
Anya grabs a bunch of kitchen utensils and hands them
to Xander. Xander throws them at the demon, who avoids
them.
XANDER
More.. More.
Anya opens a cupboard and starts handing him some
canned goods and bottles, calling them off as she does
so. Xander throws each one at the demon.
ANYA
(reading and passing them
over)
Peas.. Luncheon Meat.. Baby Corn..
HP sauce.. Bovril? We need to get
Giles to a nutritionist.
Xander sends the bottle of Bovril flying at the demon,
knocking the spear from his hand.
XANDER
(to Anya)
Keep them coming!
Anya sees the cupboard is bare. She swings over to the
fridge, opens the freezer door and hands him a large
frozen ham.
ANYA
Frozen ham.
Xander grabs it with both hands and is about to swing
it back to throw when..
XANDER
Frozen..?
(a pained expression)
Frostbite! Frostbite!
Xander drops the ham on his toe.
XANDER
(more pain, hopping
around)
Big toe! Big toe!
Xander looks up to see the demon jumping across the
counter at him. The demon slams into Xander. They both
fall to the floor.
ANGLE : BUFFY
fighting with demon#1. She swings with her knife and
misses. The demon knocks the knife away with its
spear. It jabs the spear at Buffy's feet. Buffy jumps
over the spear, then lands back on top of it, pinning
it to the ground. As the demon bends over to pick it
up, Buffy kicks the demon, sending it flying into a
large bookcase which topples on top of it.
Buffy takes a look around. The light show has started.
Hundreds of lights emerging from the ground and
heading to the ceiling. Some passing through Buffy
where she stands. She stands mesmerised for a beat.
ANYA (O.S.)
(urgently)
Buffy!
Buffy turns to the voice and immediately rushes off-
screen.
INT. GILES' REALITY/APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Quiet, silent and a bright sunny day. As Giles enters
through the front door, speaking as he does so. He is
carrying a book, a bag and an axe.
GILES
(not yet looking up)
I have the ingredients. How's
everyone doing back here?
Giles looks up.
ANGLE ON : LIVING ROOM
from Giles' POV. In an otherwise serene and peaceful
living room, he sees Buffy and Xander now struggling
with something invisible and Willow and Tara with
hands joined, concentrating on something.
ANGLE : GILES
a confused look on his face.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Back in Scoobs' reality. A stark contrast. A cacophony
of noise, room trembling, sparkly light show and
demons everywhere. Anya and Dawn see Giles and rush
over to him.
DAWN
Giles!
ANYA
The demons are here. We don't have
much time!
Giles immediately gets to work. He pulls out some
magical ingredients, opens a spellbook in his hands
and begins to chant something in Latin.
ANGLE : BUFFY AND XANDER
fighting demon#2. Buffy and Xander on either side of
the demon while the demon tries to keep them away with
its spear. It knocks Xander away with the blunt end of
the spear, sending him flying into a wall.
ANYA
(rushing over to Xander)
Xander!
Buffy attacks the demon. The demon swings around and
catches Buffy's feet with the spear, tripping Buffy
up. She falls to the ground. The demon raises its
spear to strike down. A large tremor suddenly hits the
room and knocks the demon off-balance. Buffy takes the
opportunity to kick the spear away with her feet, then
springs back up and tackles the demon to the ground.
ANGLE : ANYA AND XANDER.
near a wall. Anya kneeling and trying to get Xander to
his feet. Suddenly, the tremors and the rumblings
stop. Anya and Xander look around..
ANGLE ON : CENTRE OF LIVING ROOM
to see that the light show has ended and an eerie
silence descends upon the room.
ANGLE : ANYA AND XANDER.
sitting on the ground with a wall behind them. All of
a sudden, the wall behind them dissapears, eaten up by
a dark mass.
ANYA
(noticing)
Xander!
The two quickly scramble to their feet and run away
from the wall. Xander turns to look at Buffy.
REVERSE ANGLE:
Buffy fighting demon#2. Demon#2 backs Buffy up to a
wall which suddenly dissapears.
XANDER
Buffy! Look out behind you!
ANGLE : BUFFY
as she takes a quick peek behind her to see the empty
black mass creeping towards her. The demon pounces and
knocks her to the ground. It jumps on top of her and
holds her head down firmly to the ground.
The demon smiles as it looks at Buffy and then at the
black mass slowly approaching her head. At the last
moment, just as the black is about to reach her, Buffy
kicks up with her legs, somersaulting the demon into
the black mass.. dissapearing into the abyss. Buffy
gets up.
ANGLE : GILES
as he finishes the spell. He finishes the last verse
of Latin and throws some powder up in the air. The
room turns a faint hue of purple as the spell takes
effect.
GILES
It's done. I've opened a gateway
back to this dimension.
XANDER
Why are we still stuck here?
GILES
(reads the book)
Oh yes. I have to create a door for
you to go through. This won't take
long.
Giles grabs a chalk from his pocket and rushes over to
a wall. He starts drawing an outline of a square on
the wall.
ANGLE : WILLOW AND TARA
still pinning demon#3 down with flying objects from
the room.
ANGLE : DEMON#3
who has lost his spear and is hiding behind the couch.
It senses something and takes a look at the floor and
the room around it.. noticing the purple hue.
ANGLE : BUFFY
seeing demon#3 behind the couch. Buffy grabs a spear
from the ground.
BUFFY
(to Willow and Tara)
I got it!
Willow and Tara break the spell, both looking very
tired after such a sustained effort.
ANGLE : DEMON#3
as it stands up, turns to Buffy and smiles. It raises
its arms and turns purple for a second, then
dissapears and then reappears in the same spot.
Buffy lunges with the spear and jabs at it. The spear
goes straight through, as if striking at an
apparition.
BUFFY
What the..?
The demon turns to look around the room.
INT. GILES' REALITY/APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
ANGLE ON : LIVING ROOM
from the demon's POV. Quiet, bright, sunny. It is now
in Giles' dimension. It sees Giles, hunched over near
a wall, drawing a door. The demon smiles. It
approaches Giles.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Back in Scoobs' reality. Darkness closing in, purply
hue.
WILLOW
(seeing the demon zero in
on Giles)
He's in Giles' dimension. He went
through the gateway!
BUFFY
(yelling out)
Giles! Behind you!
INT. GILES' REALITY/APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Bright, sunny, quiet. Giles turns around to see..
nothing. An invisible force knocks him down on the
ground, away from the wall.
Giles scrambles to his axe, picks it up and starts
swinging wildly at the air with it.
GILES
Where is it?
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
In Scoobs' reality. Dark and purply.
TARA
(to Buffy and Anya)
The demon must be invisible in his
dimension.
ANYA
(to Giles)
He's right there!
GILES
Yes, Anya. That actually doesn't
help.
The demon punches Giles who staggers backwards.
ANYA
(feeling the pain)
Ouch.
BUFFY
Keep swinging! He's right in front
of you.
We see the demon waiting for an opportunity to pounce
as Giles continues to swing his axe.
ANGLE : DAWN AND TARA
as they notice the black abyss getting closer, eating
up more and more of the room. They rush over to get
Miss Kitty and Amy just before the darkness consumes
them.
ANGLE : GILES
still swinging wildly, missing everything.
Xander suddenly perks up, an idea hitting him. He
rushes over to where the demon is standing. Copying
its every move.
XANDER
Over here! Swing at me!!
Without hesitating, Giles swings the axe right at
Xander's head.
XANDER
(suddenly faced with the
reality of an axe swinging
at his head)
Aargh..!
The axe passes through Xander's neck and beheads the
last demon as its body collapses to the ground.
BUFFY
(to Giles)
You got it!
Giles rushes back to the wall and begins to chant a
second spell. A mortified Xander continues to stand in
place, still trying to register what just happened.
Willow comes up to him.
WILLOW
You okay?
XANDER
You know, I would feel a heck of a
lot better if he at least hesitated
before he beheaded me.
The Scoobs gather behind Giles, watching him perform
the spell. A few nervous glances behind them to see
that much of the room has now been consumed. The dark
gaining on them fast.
ANYA
(to Giles)
Hurry!
The Scoobs now all bunched together, all watching
Giles.. waiting.
REVERSE ANGLE:
Giles standing in front of a chalk outline of a square
on the wall. He is about to finish the last words of
his spell when suddenly, the wall dissapears..Giles
dissapears.. consumed by darkness.
BUFFY
Giles!
A quiet beat as the realisation sinks in. The Scoobs
are huddled together in a tight circle now, darkness
surrounding them from every side.
Dawn looks at her feet.. sees the black creeping
towards her. She tries to back away but there isn't
much room left. She looks at Buffy.
DAWN
Buffy?
BUFFY
(turning Dawn away from
the approaching night)
Just close your eyes. I'll be right
here.
Dawn hugs Buffy, her head over Buffy's shoulder and
her eyes closed. Willow and Tara look at each other as
does Xander and Anya. Final goodbyes? Buffy stares
straight ahead at the approaching darkness, her face
impassive.
Suddenly, a bright light streams down from above.
Buffy looks up.
REVERSE ANGLE:
Giles through a square hole in the roof. He reaches
down with his hands.
GILES
Quickly!
Buffy and Xander quickly lift Dawn up to Giles who
grabs hold of her.
INT. GILES' REALITY/APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
as a standing Giles pulls Dawn through the vertical
wall (note: the horizontals and verticals are all
screwed up here because of the separate dimensions).
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Scoobs' dimension. Darkness real close now as Anya is
lifted through. Tara quickly hands Giles Amy and Miss
Kitty before she herself is lifted through.
Willow's stumbles a little as she is lifted, her foot
entering into the black mass for a second before she
quickly pulls it free. She is lifted through.
Buffy lifts Xander up to Giles.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
As the Scoobs collectively pull Xander through. He
falls on a heap on the floor.
ANYA
(to Xander)
Honey, you okay?
XANDER
(slightly disorientated)
Yeah, Just give me a second while I
acclimatise to this new horizontal
plane.
GILES
(looking into the wall)
Buffy, quickly!
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
as she looks up at Giles. She looks like she is about
to jump up but then stops. She looks all around her..
nothing but black.. almost touching her face now. Her
body relaxes as she takes a breath and then closes her
eyes.
INT. GILES' REALITY/APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Dawn looking into the hole at Buffy.
DAWN
(screaming)
Buffy!
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Buffy's eyes open back up. She looks up at Dawn, then
jumps up to Giles who grabs her. The darkness
consuming her feet now and starting to travel up her
body.
INT. GILES' REALITY/APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
as Giles and Xander pull Buffy through, her feet
passing into this dimension just as the darkness fills
the hole, which promptly dissapears. Nothing left on
the wall but a chalk outline.
Everyone now on the floor. Buffy stares breathlessly
at the Gang around her. Dawn stares hard at Buffy.
EXT. THE MAGIC BOX - DAY (DAY THREE)
to establish.
INT. THE MAGIC BOX - DAY
ANGLE : SHOP ACROSS THE STREET
through a window, we see that the Magic Wand has been
vacated and new owners are moving in. Workmen are busy
setting things up. Two are up on ladders, pulling down
the Magic Wand sign.
ANGLE : BUFFY, ANYA AND GILES
at the window, watching with interest.
ANYA
So, this is really happening? He's
gone?
GILES
I believe so.
The three start heading back towards the counter. The
store is open and customers are browsing.
ANYA
He just left? How did you manage to
convince him?
BUFFY
Yeah, Giles. Howd'ya do it? Did you
go all Ripper on his ass. You went
all Ripper on his ass didn't you?
Ooh, did you like hang him upside
down from a second-story window,
cause I've seen that in the movies
and I've always wanted to try that
out.. and plus.. big clowny feet!.
GILES
Well, actually, I simply made a
phone call to the Box of Tricks
Proprietary Limited and informed
them of Mr Poggs' somewhat dubious
business practices here in
Sunnydale. They came to the
conclusion that he was becoming a
liability and simply shut him down.
BUFFY
(a little dissapointed)
Oh. I guess that's effective as
well. Not Bruce Lee, major ass-
kicking, TV-friendly effective but..
you know..
ANYA
(to Giles)
Oh, don't mind her. There's no shame
in being a snitch.
(looking at the customers)
Especially if you're going to become
a rich snitch.
GILES
Anya, I didn't close him down simply
for the sake of this store.
ANYA
Yes, yes. Glory and good to all. But
in the meantime..
Anya opens the cash register.. 'ker-ching'. Anya
smiles, letting the sound echo in her head.
GILES
Please don't use the cash register
as a sound prop.
More customers come into the shop.
ANYA
(smiling, taking a deep breath in)
Aah, smell that!
Buffy and Giles have no idea what they are smelling.
ANYA
They should bottle this. You know,
the sweet scent of success, the
majestic musk of a monopoly.
A door-bell rings off-screen. We see two customers
linger at the doorway.
ANYA
(walking over to the
customers)
Don't be shy, come on in!
Anya grabs one of the customers by the arm and starts
leading the two around the store.
ANYA
(to the customers)
No need to be nervous. We don't hold
any grudges. We welcome you back
with open arms. I mean, after all,
your money was an innocent bystander
in this whole, ugly affair.
Anya leads the two customers past Buffy and Giles and
exit off-screen. We stay on Buffy and Giles. The two
share a look and a quick smile before Buffy goes to
sit on a chair behind the counter. Giles looks on at
Buffy for a beat, a little concerned.
GILES
Buffy.. Is everything alright?
BUFFY
(turning to Giles)
Sure it is. I mean, the Box is back
up and running at its full
capitalist frenzy, big bad goes bye-
bye and us merry Scoobs live on to
fight another day. Honestly, all we
need now is a funny send-off and we
can cue the credits.
GILES
About yesterday..
BUFFY
Giles, it's okay. It's all good, you
know? No need for the furrowy brow.
I just kinda spaced out for a second
there.
GILES
Are you sure it's nothing more? I
mean, if you want to talk to
someone..
BUFFY
(smiling)
I know. I'm okay. It was nothing..
and I don't just mean that in the
literal, I'm surrounded by a big,
black mass of nothing sense.
GILES
I'm sorry you had to go through
that, especially after..
BUFFY
(reassuring)
Giles, I'm okay.
(turning away, looking off
into the distance)
Tell you the truth, it wasn't even
scary, or freaky..
(almost with longing)
just quiet.
ANYA (O.S.)
Hey! Come here!
Buffy turns to look while Giles continue to stare at
Buffy.
ANGLE : ANYA
by the window, gesticulating wildly out the window.
ANYA
They're putting up the new sign!
Hurry!
Buffy gives Giles a quick smile and heads off. Giles
continues to stare at Buffy, looking a little worried.
After a beat, he follows.
ANGLE : BUFFY, ANYA AND GILES
at the window, looking out.
REVERSE ANGLE:
Two workmen up on ladders carrying a sign, facing the
other way. They are about to turn it around to face
the three observers.
ANGLE : ANYA
closing her eyes.
ANYA
Oh I can't look. Please not a magic
shop, anything but a magic shop.
ANGLE : BUFFY
smiling, still looking out the window. Smile suddenly
dissapears.
BUFFY
Oh..
Anya opens her eyes and looks at Buffy. Buffy
continues to stare at the sign.
REVERSE ANGLE:
as we read the first line of the sign, panning from
left to right. "The Hop"
ANGLE : GILES
similarly a little taken aback as he stares out the
window.
GILES
Dear..
REVERSE ANGLE:
as we read the second line, panning from left to
right. "Your One Stop"
ANGLE : ANYA
as she stares out the window.. horrified.
ANYA
Lord.
REVERSE ANGLE:
as we read the last line, panning from left to right.
"Rabbit Shop".
ANGLE : BUFFY, ANYA AND GILES
facing towards the camera as they look out the window.
Giles takes off his glasses and begins rubbing them
with his handkerchief. A mortified Anya tugs at Giles'
shirt. Giles hands his glasses and handkerchief over
to Anya. Anya, still looking out the window, takes the
items and begins to rub Giles' glasses with his
handkerchief.. a little therapy. Giles pats Anya
gently on her shoulder as the three continue to stare
out the window.
BLACKOUT
END OF SHOW
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