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Saturday,
11 November 2000 It's a Saturday morning. A tour bus is driving down the highway. In the Evans' kitchen. Diane is very enthusiastic about serving a new dish from a recipe she got from her subscription to Martha Stewart's magazine. Max and Isabel are less than enthusiastic about trying it and, when Diane goes to get Philip, Max suggests to Isabel that perhaps she should not have given the subscription to their mother. Isabel is not very talkative and Max asks why she is avoiding him. She tells him she is not avoiding him, she's just trying to deal with the fact that they are responsible for the deaths of "a race of people". Jim and Kyle are fishing outside of town. Kyle catches a fish and they are both very excited about it. Jim says "Whoa, we'll be eatin' like kings tonight!" Kyle admires his catch, then places it back in the water and let's it go. Jim looks on bewildered. Kyle looks at him and says "It's the circle, Dad. The circle of life". Maria and Liz are about 2 miles out of town, driving back to the Crashdown after running an errand for Jeff. On a billboard advertisement for the UFO Centre, also 2 miles out of town, there is a green rod sticking out of the alien's stomach on the billboard. Suddenly, a green ball of energy emanates from the rod and explodes over the town of Roswell, creating a green glow, hovering over the town. Back at the Evans kitchen, Max and Isabel are forcing down the fritatta while Diane asks Max why she hasn't seen Liz around for awhile. To avoid the question, Max asks for more fritatta. Diane gets up to get it and vanishes. Maria and Liz arrive in town and find abandoned cars blocking the streets. Maria swerves around the cars and hits a baby carriage in the middle of the road. She screeches to a stop. They both jump out and run to the now overturned carriage, horrified that they hit a baby. When they get to the carriage they discover it is empty. Liz notices a riding lawn mower, running in circles without a rider on someone's lawn. Maria and Liz are both spooked by what they see. Looking around, Liz asks "Where is everybody?" The tour bus arrives in town. The driver gets out and says "Welcome to Roswell, New Mexico, folks. UFO capital of the world. The last stop of our tour. Everyone remember their sunscreen while you're out and about". All the passengers disembark, thanking the driver and getting their cameras out. Among the passengers getting off are Nicholas and Ida. Nicholas puts on his sunglasses and says "Let's find some aliens". Jim and Kyle pull up to the UFO Centre billboard. Jim sees the rod and calls the station to report the vandalism. While waiting for Deputy Hanson to respond, Jim tells Kyle he could have told him he didn't want to go fishing. Kyle assures him he did want to go fishing, he just enjoys it from a different perspective now. Jim is frustrated and confused by Kyle's recent behaviour; hanging wind chimes in the backyard, burning incense in the kitchen and not having his friends over to watch sports anymore. He advises him to lay off the mumbo jumbo if he wants to get a date. Kyle asks him if he'd like to point out any other areas of incompetence. Jim notices that Hanson is not responding and says into the radio "Hanson, if I get back to the station and find you sipping a damn frappuccino" then drives off angry. Isabel returns to the kitchen, saying their father is gone, discovers Max is gone and starts to panic. Max comes in and tells her the neighbours are gone. She picks up the phone and calls someone but there is no answer. She slams the phone down in frustration and she and Max hug each other for comfort. Courtney has just put on the new husk and is immersed in murky water in Michael's tub. She tells Michael the husk was not fully matured so she does not know how long it will hold up. She adds that he saved her life when he stole the husk and he acknowledges that she saved their lives too. Michael answers the phone. Max abruptly says "It's me. Meet us at the Crashdown right away" and hangs up. Maria and Liz are walking through downtown Roswell. Maria notices an abandoned cup of coffee on an outside table and comments that it's still warm. They jump at the sound of something crashing but see nothing when they turn to look. They are being watched. They start to run. Liz notices a piece of skin on the ground, stops to pick it up, and it immediately disintegrates. She says "This is not good". At the Crashdown, Isabel turns off the tap, which has been running continuously. There are partially eaten meals on the counter and tables. Max comes in from the back room and announces to Isabel, Michael and Courtney that no one is back there either. Isabel wistfully says "Everyone's gone" and Michael adds "Every human. Whoever's doing this is trying to single us out". Just then Maria and Liz come through the front door, negating his theory. Maria rushes to Michael and hugs him. Liz and Max look at each other, relieved to see the other is safe but unable to express it physically. Liz tells him they just returned from Dexter and asks what happened. Max explains that his parents are gone as well as all the humans in town. Liz wonders why she and Maria were not effected and becomes concerned that the others may be dead. Max says "We don't know that. All we can do right now is focus on the fact that we have each other". Maria tries calling Alex on her cell phone then notices his band's new CD sitting on the counter and realises he was there to give it to her. Isabel says they have to figure out who did this and Liz and Maria tell them about finding the discarded piece of skin. Courtney says "Nicholas", Isabel says "This is our fault" and Tess, coming in from the back, indicates Courtney and says "No…it's hers". Yelling, she continues "You lead the Skins straight to Roswell". Michael reminds her that Courtney is with them. Tess asks her "What did your people do to the town?" Courtney says "They're not my people". Max interrupts saying "Stop pointing fingers. We're the ones that destroyed their harvest. They're here to settle the score with all of us". Isabel, who has been looking out the door, tells them to hide in the bathroom, Nicholas and Ida are on their way. In the bathroom, Isabel tells Tess to use her powers to hide them. Tess mind warps Nicholas and Ida so that, instead of the bathroom door, they see a wall with a mirror. Ida heads for the back room and Nicholas goes to the counter and eats some of the abandoned food. He looks around, like he senses someone's presence, and heads straight for the mirror. He touches it, as if to see if it's real. Satisfied, he starts observing his reflection, scratching at a zit. He calls out "Mom" and Ida comes back into the front. She slaps at his hand saying "Don't pick" and reports that there is no one in the back or upstairs. He points out how badly she is shedding and she complains that it's the heat adding "Why couldn't those brats be from Seattle?" He wants to get her back to the moisture chamber then they will search the town, street by street, building by building, inch by inch. He says he will not stop until he finds them and then they leave. The others emerge from the bathroom. Tess is totally spent. She says "I've never come up against power like that before. It feels like someone took a sledge hammer to my head". Max strokes her arm in comfort. Liz notices and goes upstairs. Max follows her to her bedroom where she is folding clothes. Elvis Costello is playing in the background and Liz comments that her mother always listened to him when she did the laundry. She tells him how scared she is. He says what has happened is all their fault. Trying to assuage his guilt, Liz says "We haven't lost them yet. We have to stay strong". Max agrees then, noticing her bed, flashes back to the night he saw her in it with Kyle. He excuses himself and is about to go back downstairs when Isabel calls out. They both run back to find Courtney on the floor, her head in Michael's lap. Her skin is covered with bumps and blotches and she is in obvious pain. Michael begs Max to help her. Max suggests they bring her upstairs and they run a bath for her. Isabel notices that Max and Michael are standing in the doorway watching as the girls undress Courtney so she uses her powers to send and energy surge that pushes them out and shuts the door. They put her in the tub. Liz has deduced from what Courtney said that the husk is starving so Isabel suggests they find something to feed it. Maria pulls out a bottle of pills from her apron, naming them off as she pours them into the tub water - "gingko, bee pollen, echinacea, C, D, E, calcium, St John's wort and Pamprin". The others look at her strangely for having that supply of herbs and vitamins at her fingertips. She responds "What, I was dating Michael Guerin" and they all nod knowingly. On Liz's balcony, Max is using her telescope to check out the surrounding streets for Skins. Michael is pacing back and forth, worried about Courtney. Max comments that Michael and Courtney have got close and asks how Maria feels about that. Michael wants to know why he suddenly cares about his social circles and Max says he was never sleeping with the enemy before. Michael assures him he's not now either and explains that Courtney was at his apartment this morning just to show him how the husk fit. Back in the bathroom, Courtney has made a remarkable recovery (the bumps and blotches are gone) and the girls are suspicious. Tess demands to know what the Skins did and when Courtney says she doesn't know, Tess pulls the plug on the bath water. Courtney reaches for the plug and Isabel pulls her back saying "What happened to our families?" Courtney replies "Time exists in multiple subset dimensions on our planet. Nicholas must have the technology to impose one or more of these here. It's like being on Pacific and Eastern and Central and Mountain time all at once. Human bodies can't function, they simply disappear". Liz asks where they went and whether or not they are dead. Courtney doesn't reply right away and Maria reminds her the water is getting low. Courtney anxiously replies, trying to get the words out before the water runs out "Somewhere…another dimension…another plane of existence …I don't know where. They seem to have just… shifted". Maria asks "Can we get them back?" Courtney says she doesn't know and begs Tess to put the plug back. Tess complies. Isabel asks why Liz and Maria haven't disappeared and Courtney says that being out of town when it happened helped buy them some time. Maria and Liz go downstairs to the Crashdown and run right into a Skin. Maria jumps into the kitchen through the opening where the food gets passed out and Liz tries to follow. She's halfway through when the Skin grabs her legs. Maria has her arms and she and the Skin are playing tug of war with Liz. Liz kicks out with her feet and pushes him back. She gets through but he leans through and tries to grab her. Suddenly a bullet passes through him. He falls to the floor and Liz and Maria see Jim with his gun out. As Jim approaches, Liz calls out "Careful Sheriff, he's a Skin!" The Skin jumps up and, being much stronger than Jim, tosses him against the counter like a rag doll. Jim collapses to the floor, the Skin jumps over the counter and runs out the door. Kyle runs to Jim, who is in obvious pain, and gingerly helps him up. Courtney is helped downstairs by Michael and Isabel. Max asks her "If guns don't work, how do we kill them?" She turns her back to the others and exposes a flap. Underneath, near the base of the spine, is a small metal rod. She explains that a severe blow at that point will break the seal on the husk permanently. Isabel asks her what Nicholas is capable of. She says he can do everything they can, times 1,000 plus he can perform mind rapes - stealing your memories and thoughts, against your will. Jim says they need to move someplace safer. Max recommends the UFO Centre, because it use to be a bomb shelter. He says to Jim "After we get everyone situated, you, me, Michael, Isabel and Tess will start picking them off, one by one". Kyle says "What about me?" Max glances at Liz and replies "You're not someone I trust". In an alley across from the UFO Centre, Max suggests they go over in separate groups. He notices that Jim is rubbing his wrist and asks him if he is OK. Jim says "Yeah" unconvincingly, then tells Michael and Kyle to take Courtney as the first group to cross. When they are safely across, Jim takes Tess, Liz and Maria, leaving Max and Isabel to bring up the rear. As the others are crossing over, Isabel tells Max that he should go alone because she wants to go and find Nicholas, that Nicholas is after her. He asks her why and what really happened in Arizona. She doesn't reply and he tells her they are stronger together than apart. She agrees and he turns towards the UFO Centre to see if the coast is clear. When he turns back to Isabel, she is gone. He runs down the alley after her. Isabel crosses the City Hall plaza and into the parking lot where the tour bus is parked. A remote control car is zipping around the lot and bumps into her leg. Nicholas steps out from behind the bus and says "Bam!" In a back room of the UFO Centre, Courtney is lying down and Michael brings her a bottle of water. The bumps and blotches have returned. He tells her they are going to pull together the ingredients for another bath. Weakly she gasps out "It won't work. I'm dying". Very upset, he tells her that is not an option and says there must be something they can do. She indicates there is but he won't want to do it. He asks her what it is and she says "The granilith". In Brody's secured room, Liz is checking the computer for information on what happened and Kyle is trying, unsuccessfully, to call outside of town. Liz finds something that indicates there was an electrical disturbance that levelled off at 10:30 that morning, just when everyone disappeared. They theorise that if the energy field was turned on then it can be turned off. They just need to find the source. If they can shut it off, maybe they can bring everyone back. Jim comes in and asks Liz if he could have a moment alone with Kyle so Liz leaves. Jim, speaking with difficulty, reminds Kyle of the night his mother left and how Kyle loaned Jim his "Mr Squishels" to comfort him. With affection, he tells him "You were worried about me, and you didn't want me sleeping alone, so you did instead. That was a brave thing for a six year old to do and I was…and I was proud of you. I remember the first time you tied your own shoes and when we, uh…we took the training wheels off of your bike…" Kyle, thinking things are getting too sentimental says "OK, Pop, knock it off". Just then, Jim collapses into Kyle's arms. Kyle helps him up, asking him if he's all right. Jim continues, as if anxious to say what he has to, before it is too late "I'm in awe of you every day, son and I apologise for not recognising the man that you're becoming because you're a darn…" Jim vanishes before Kyle's eyes. Tess is sitting on the steps when Max arrives. She asks "Did you find her?" He shakes his head and asks where Michael is. She replies "He's in the back" and he heads for the back room. Maria is pacing back and forth. A Skin comes out of a display booth, Maria freezes and screams for Tess. The Skin sends an energy surge at Maria that knocks her to the floor. Tess comes up behind the Skin and kicks her at the base of the spine. The Skin disintegrates. Tess helps Maria up. Hearing the commotion, Max, Michael, Liz and Kyle come running in. Tess says "They found a way in. We've got to go". Max suggests they move to the school and tells Kyle to get his father. Kyle despondently says "I cant. He disappeared right in front of me". Liz points out that the time dimension must be catching up with them. Maria wonders aloud "Who's next?" Kyle notices a postcard display that matches the billboard outside of town and it reminds him of what he and his father saw earlier that day. He tells them about the rod and states that the time field must be coming from the billboard. He says "I'm heading out there". Max tells him "No, we stick together". Kyle politely but firmly responds "Hey, I've been really nice about following your orders, Senor Presidente, but if I can do something to help bring some people back or to ensure that Liz, Maria and I live to see another day, I'm gonna do it". Max agrees and suggests the best road to take to avoid being seen. He wishes them luck, looking at Liz. Kyle says to him "I'll take care of her". Kyle and Liz go up the stairs. Before following, Maria goes to Michael and says "Um, I know how you hate when things get all goopy, so…" He says "Yeah, so I'll see you soon". She's not so sure but he insists that they will see each other again. They hug and she goes up the stairs. Max, Michael and Tess are about to head for the school when they notice that Courtney is missing. In the tour bus, Isabel's hands are bound in cuffs hanging from the roof and Nicholas is saying "I knew it was only a matter of time before you rejoined our side, Vilandra". Ida tells her "For trying to ambush my baby, I should pull out your filthy eyes and grind them into dust". Isabel says she is there to make a deal. Nicholas asks what she has to offer and she says herself. He says "You always were a flighty little princess. Jewels before studies, that's our Vilandra. We have you, you beautiful moron". Isabel seductively says "I think your the one who doesn't understand" and she glances at Ida. Nicholas tells Ida to leave. Ida is suspicious and reluctant but obeys him. Isabel tells Nicholas "The last time we were together, you awakened something in me. I remembered things from our past. You and me…" Nicholas interjects "Our forbidden meetings?" Isabel continues "I came here for you. I know what's hiding behind that husk". Nicholas releases her bonds. She leans towards him, as if to kiss him, but pushes him onto the floor instead. She stands up, her back to the front of the bus. Ida comes up behind her and uses her powers to knock her back to her seat, unconscious. Nicholas cries out "Mom! What are you doing?" Ida indignantly replies "Saving you, Sir!" Upset, Nicholas lashes out "She was no threat. Damn it, now she's no good at all. I'm sick of this!" Ida hugs him to comfort him and asks what he wants to do now. He replies "Kill every last one of 'em". As they are driving to the billboard, Maria says if they get out of this she is going to appreciate her family more. Liz laments that she walked out on Max without explaining what happened between her and Kyle. Maria wonders what she is talking about and Kyle tells her they all have jobs to do and they can deal with that when they are done. Liz is afraid he'll never know and Kyle says "He's Max, he'll always know. Right?" As he finishes, Liz disappears. They arrive at the billboard and Maria is crying "Not Liz…I need Liz". Kyle, to calm her down, puts his hands on her shoulders and says "Maria, Maria, look, she's coming back. They all are". Then, getting back to business he continues "All right, now Liz said something about generators and electric fields". Maria says "So, how does electricity work?" Kyle responds "Why are you looking at me? We were both in the same remedial science class for three years". Maria speculates that they have to "blow it's fuse" and Kyle says that means they have to mess with the current. He asks her if she has jumper cables and heads for the trunk. Just then a Skin comes charging after Kyle. Kyle says to him "Buddha forgive me, but I'm gonna kick your ass!" He flips him over his shoulder and while the Skin is on the ground, he reaches into the car and pulls out "The Club". When the Skin gets up, he uses it as a weapon against him and eventually hits him on his back near the base of the spine, causing the Skin to disintegrate. Immediately afterwards, Kyle disappears. Maria looks on forlornly, trying not to panic. Courtney has been brought to Nicholas by his soldiers. Her skin has deteriorated to decomposing levels; she looks likes she's on death's doorstep. Nicholas wants to know where her friends are hiding. Remaining defiant to the end, Courtney replies "I think I see a chest hair, Nicholas. Way to go". He tells her they'll have to do it the hard way and puts his hand on her head. She cries out in pain. He sifts through her memories until he finds the one that tells him the others have gone to the school. Thinking she may have additional information, he probes further and sees Michael telling her "If anything happens to me, Max or Tess, I want you to be able to save yourself. Now, if I tell you where the granilith is, do you swear not to tell anyone?" Nicholas says "The granilith! That's a bonus. I hope he gave you detailed directions" and puts his hand back on her head. She reaches behind her back and pulls her own plug, disintegrating under his hand. Impressed he says "Now that's a soldier!" At the school, Max, Michael and Tess find Isabel propped up against the lockers and run to her. As they try to revive her, Nicholas and the other Skins surround the Royal Four. Maria gets the jumper cables from the trunk of her car and heads for the sign. Back to the school, the Royal Four have been tied to columns placed in the middle of the entrance way. Nicholas goes up to Max and says "What happened to you, guy? You used to determine the fate of entire armies with the flip of a coin. Luckily for me, you continue to put your faith in the wrong people". He walks towards Isabel and says "Does this scene feel familiar, Vilandra?" then moves on towards Michael and says "And your trusted second; the boy who spilled the secret of the granilith to one of our exiled members". Max turns and looks first at Isabel, then at Michael, in disbelief. Nicholas continues, "Rule 1 of war - keep your big mouth shut. Courtney knew that. That's why she killed herself before I could get it's exact location". Michael shows his relief at this news. Maria is trying to clip the jumper cable grippers onto the rod but it's too fat. Nicholas asks Max "Where's the granilith?" Max refuses to tell him so Nicholas uses his powers to cause Michael, Isabel and Tess to scream out in pain. Max calls out "Wait, I'll take you there. Just you and me, this has nothing to do with them". Isabel says "Max don't!" Nicholas says "This is too easy. In the old days, I would have been no match for you, but, now…" He places his hand on Max's head to perform the mind rape. Max grimaces in pain as we see flashes of a highway, Liz and the symbols in the desert. Nicholas tells him that either way he's going to die so he might as well make it easy on himself. Max continues to try and fight him. We see flashes of the highway, the symbols and Isabel at the pod chamber. Maria tells herself "Keep it together DeLuca" and clips the negative and positive grippers to each other; sparks are flying. As Nicholas continues his mind rape we see flashes of the rock formation and the granilith. Tess starts to concentrate, trying to perform a mind warp. As Maria loops the cables over the rod, she disappears, the rod explodes and the green glowing field over Roswell disappears. Tess is screaming like a banshee. All eyes turn towards her a wall of fire builds up behind her. The wall gets bigger and bigger and Nicholas and the other Skins start backing away in terror. The wall moves forward, past the Royal Four and towards the Skins. The wall of fire hits the Skins, then disappears. In the aftermath the columns the Royal Four were bound to are gone, as are their bonds and all that is left of the Skins are little bits of skin floating in the air. Tess is in shock and says "Wha…what just happened?" Max tells her "You saved us" and hugs her to comfort her. They all hear a squeaking noise and go to investigate. Down the hallway they see the custodian, wheeling his cleaning cart, oblivious to all that has happened. At the Crashdown, Alex takes a bite of his pancakes, and says in disgust "Hey, these are freezin'". Jim comes in and calls out to Alex. Alex responds "Mornin' Sheriff. Skip the pancakes". Jim is elated to see Alex and, in a gratuitous manner, puts his arm around Alex's shoulders and asks how he's doing. Alex does not know where this is coming from, looks at him strangely then responds "Good…you?" In the Evans kitchen, Diane is washing dishes when Isabel comes in. Diane says "How hard can it be to sit down to one breakfast, but no, everybody has to go running. Isabel, why can't we be just like a normal family?" Isabel is ecstatic to see her mother and gives her a bear hug. Her mother protests slightly saying she's dripping water on the floor but Isabel does not release her grip; her face is beaming with pleasure. At the billboard sign, Liz and Maria and jumping up and down with glee and hugging each other. Kyle shows up and they have a group hug. Max and Tess are walking in the park. Tess, despondent, is telling Max "I just wanted to scare them with a mind warp. I thought if they saw fire…it was awful, Max, I lost control. I tapped into something completely different". Max asks "You think you could do it again?" Tess replies "I don't want to". A teenager on a skateboard, who looks remarkably like Nicholas, bumps into Tess as he passes by. Tess and Max stare after him, with concern. |
