BrokenHallelujah2

Disclaimer: All characters, except for Johnny York, are property of BTVS. Johnny York is my own creation. I have fictionalized much of the worship of Cybele and Attis; no offense is meant to those who actually profess that religion.

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PART TWO
[Fade in.   Joyce�s house. Xander and Anya knock on the front door.]

Xander: Remember best behavior.

Anya: Like with your mom.

Xander: No, not like with my mom. Don�t ask Mrs. Summers if all other houses are as dusty as hers, and don�t compliment her on Buffy�s stamina.

Anya: But you said all parents like to hear good things about their kids.

Xander: Good in the parent world is a different kind of good.

Anya: This is all very confusing.

[Joyce opens the door.]

Joyce: Xander, what a surprise. And who�s your friend?

Xander: This is Anya.

Anya: Actually, I�m more than a friend.

[Xander glares at her.]

Joyce: Won�t you come in?

[Xander and Anya enter.]

Anya (woodenly): This is a very nice house.

Joyce: Thank you.

Xander: We, ah, actually have something to ask you. You see, we have reason to believe that, er, Johnny York might be back in Sunnydale.

[Joyce is taken by surprise. She sits on the sofa, composing herself.]

Xander: Have you, uh, seen him?

Joyce: What? Oh no. Not since last summer.

[Cut to the costume shop. Riley glances around the front room. Buffy emerges from the back room.]

Buffy: Empty.

Riley: I wonder how Xander and Anya are faring.

Buffy: I wish I could have told my mom.

Riley: Why didn�t you?

Buffy: Ethan and Johnny are most likely at the mansion. I thought it would be better if we confronted them rather than Xander and Anya.

Riley: Good thinking.

Buffy: My mom�s house is on the other side of town from Angel�s mansion.

Riley: I think it�s neat when houses have names. It suggests tradition, stability. Angel�s Mansion sounds so spiritual.

Buffy: Well, that�s not the name of the house, exactly. The previous owner was named Angel.

Riley: Oh. Still it�s neat.

Buffy: I can�t believe I have a boyfriend who says �neat.� I bet you also use words like �super� and �tidy� on a regular basis.

[She moves to kiss him, but he backs away.]

Riley: We have to go. Time and the trolley wait for no man.

[They walk out of the store and down Sunnydale�s main street.]

Buffy: What�s wrong?

Riley: A sorcerer is on the loose. You say he�s connected with a god of some sort. We had an earthquake this morning, and the last time we had an earthquake it was a sign of the apocalypse. And a student disappeared last night.

Buffy: No, I mean with you�or us. You�ve just been so distant lately.

Riley: I don�t want to talk about it.

Buffy (hurt): Oh.

Riley (conciliatory): It�s just now�s not the time.

Buffy: Is it something I did?

Riley (realizing he has to give some sort of an answer): No�not exactly.

Buffy: It�s something I not exactly did.

Riley: Not exactly.

Buffy (disheartened): Neat.

Riley: I�ve just been going through some stuff.

Buffy: Stuff. Super.

Riley: It�s personal.

Buffy: Fine. I understand. You don�t feel that you can share with me. That�s okay. There�s stuff I don�t share too.

Riley (taken aback): Like what?

Buffy (coy): Just stuff.

Riley: Okay, it�s just that I don�t want you to touch me.

Buffy (sarcastic): Oh, that makes me feel so much better.

Riley: No, it�s not you. It�s just that I kind of feel violated, like I�ve been raped in a way.

Buffy: Because of what happened with Faith?

Riley: Yeah�

[They�re outside Willie�s Bar.]

Buffy: Hold that thought. Maybe we can learn something here.

[Buffy enters, and Riley follows.]

[Cut to the inside of Willie�s bar. Willie is busy collecting wads of cash from various and sundry hiding spots around the bar. He is too busy to look at the couple.]

Willie: We�re closed.

Buffy: Hello, Willie.

Willie: Slayer. What do you want? (noticing Riley) Hey, he�s not allowed back in here.   I have rules you know.

Buffy: Packing?

Willie: Family emergency.

Buffy: What�s given you the sudden urge to get out of dodge?

Willie: I told you family emergency.

Buffy (incredulous): Really?

Willie: Really. My mother was having her lip waxed, and the long and the short of it is there was a horrible accident. You don�t want to know the details. I kid you not.

Buffy: You wouldn�t be holding out on me, would you?

Willie: Would I hold out on my favorite slayer?

Buffy: If you thought you could get away with it. C�mon, do you know something about Johnny York?

Willie: The mayor?

Riley (to Buffy): Johnny�s the mayor?

Buffy: Just for a short time.

Willie: Look, I�m telling you straight. I don�t know nothing about Johnny York, and I don�t want to know anything. I�m still claustrophobic from when that committee of his had me thrown in one of their prisons. The therapy bills are killing me. I�ve had to raise prices. Do you know how difficult it is to deal with a vampire who finds that a carafe of his favorite type has been upped a dollar?

Buffy: I�m sorry, whatever, but if it�s not Johnny, then what�s got you wigged? Truth this time.

Willie: Or what? Will you rip out my entrails? Because as much as you threaten it, that�s really not your style.

Buffy: Tell me the truth, or we just won�t let you leave.

[That pauses Willie in his tracks. He turns and looks at her.]

Willie: I gotta leave.

Buffy: We�re waiting.

Willie: I really don�t know anything about Mayor York, but if I were you I�d give a second look at recent geological activity.

Buffy: And?

Willie:   And what? That�s all I know.

Buffy: What kind of geological activity?

Riley: I think he means the earthquake this morning.

Willie: That�s right. Geological activity of the seismic variety.

Buffy: Earthquakes in California? Really? Never would have guessed.

Willie: Try Turkey.

Buffy: I prefer chicken myself.

Willie: Start with the earthquake in Turkey and go from there.

Buffy: What am I supposed to be looking for?

Willie: You�ll know it when you see it.

[Cut to Giles� house. He�s now dressed. He�s reading an ancient tome. Willow�s over working on her laptop. She�s researching information on the morning�s earthquake.]

Willow: What am I supposed to be looking for?

Giles: You�ll know it when you see it.

Willow: Do you really think this could be the end of the world?

Giles: I wouldn�t rule it out.

Willow: And Johnny�s back?

Giles: Possibly. I hope the others report in soon. I�m glad you could come help research.

Willow: I do have a paper due tomorrow, but I thought the apocalypse might be more important. It�s good to know how to prioritize.

Giles: Is your schooling going well?

Willow: Okay, I guess. Uh, Giles, why didn�t you go look for Johnny?

Giles: And how�s your friend? What was her name? Tara?

Willow: None of my business, got it. But, it�s just�

Giles: Yes?

Willow: Don�t you want to see him?

Giles: Not particularly.

[Spike, wearing a blanket, crashes through the front door.]

Spike: Damn, you�re here.

Giles: It is my house. Now, to what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?

Spike: The bloody quake this morning broke my crypt. The stone started crumbling from the walls. Little bits of sunlight came streaming in. Obviously, I couldn�t stay there.

Giles: So you came here. How wonderful. You might as well make yourself useful. (handing him a book) Here, read this.

Spike: What is it?

Giles: Huizinga�s The Art of the Apocalypse.

Spike (taking the book and sitting down next to Willow): Sounds like my kind of book. Why am I reading it?

Giles: We want to know if the earthquake this morning was a sign of the coming apocalypse.

Willow (greeting Spike): Hey.

[Spike grunts.]

Willow: Fine, don�t say hi.

[Cut to Angel�s mansion. Johnny is laying on the sofa. He has his pants on but no shirt. His torso is as battered as the rest of him. The remnants of a large feast are spread out in front of him. He�s using a large bowie knife to carve intricate designs in his stomach.]

Johnny (yelling into other room): I�m full.

[Ethan enters. His arms are full of lilacs. He whistles a jaunty tune as he uses the flowers to decorate the tree he had the prostitutes bring in earlier.]

Ethan: What are you doing to yourself?

[Johnny gets up from the couch and walks over to the fire. He sticks the knife into the flames.]

Johnny: I have to be punished.

Ethan: Why is that? And what are you doing with the knife?

Johnny: I was heating it so it would cauterize the wound as it cut. I don�t want the poor guy to bleed to death. I�m not a monster.

Ethan: You idiot. You need the blood for the ritual.

Johnny (to Parker): Oh, then I guess it sucks to be you.

[Parker looks frightened. He starts to strain at his bonds.]

Johnny (standing up over Parker): I wouldn�t bother. I tied you myself. Trust me, you�re not going to get free.

[Parker makes noise under his gag.]

Johnny: Could you say that again? I didn�t catch that.

[He approaches Parker and removes his gag.]

Parker (panicking): What are you going to do?

Johnny: You really don�t want to know. [pause] Let�s put it this way: Have you ever seen Deliverance?

Parker (warily): Yes.

Johnny: When I�m done, you�ll wish you were Ned Beatty.

Parker: I�ll do what ever you want, but please don�t hurt me.

Johnny: Unfortunately, what I want is to hurt you.

Parker: Why? Whatever I did I�m sorry.

Johnny: I�ll bet you are. (touching his fingers to the blade) It�s cool now.

[Ethan hands Johnny a wooden bowl. Johnny leans over Parker and looks at his knife. Then he goes to work. Parker screams in pain.]

Johnny: Couldn�t have happened to a nicer guy.

[Johnny carries a bowl of fresh blood over to the tree and kneels down. He cups his hands and dips them into the bowl, splashing blood over his face, letting it soak his eyes, mouth, hair.]

Johnny (as the blood drips down his face): I am your slave. O Holy Mother, Lady of Might. O Holy Mother Cybele. O Holy Mother Dindymus�s Queen. Grant that this house where I dwell, this body, may never know that madness thou canst send. Drive other men to frenzy�drive other men insane.

[Buffy and Riley enter from outside.]

Buffy: Too late.

[Johnny collapses on the floor. Riley grabs Ethan before he can slip out. He notices Parker on the floor.]

Riley: Dear god.

[Buffy looks then runs over to Parker.]

Buffy: He�s alive.

[Riley, holding Ethan with one arm, pulls a cell phone out of his pocket and dials.]

Riley (into phone): This is Finn. I need an ambulance at 10E1125 Crawford Street. And a team. Yesterday.

[He hangs up. Buffy grabs a shirt, most likely Parker�s, off the floor and applies pressure to the wound.]

Ethan: Let me go, you Neanderthal.

Riley: No can do. We�ll just wait here until the team comes.

Ethan (to Buffy): Shouldn�t you check with Ripper?

Buffy (to Riley): When will the team get here?

Riley: A couple minutes, no more. Why? Don�t you think he�ll make it?

Buffy: No, it�s not that. We have to get out of here before the team comes. You take Ethan. I can get Johnny.

Riley: What?! We�re waiting for the team.

Buffy: We don�t have time to argue, and I don�t have time to call Giles. It�s his decision. If he thinks we should turn them in, we will.

Riley: It�s not his decision. This is my jurisdiction. We wait for the team.

[Buffy moves to wake up Johnny, who sits up groggily.]

Johnny: Uhhh, I feel so weak.

Buffy: Can you walk?

Johnny: I think so.

Buffy: Do you have a car?

Johnny: The Suburban outside. The keys are inside.

Buffy: Let�s go.

[She and Johnny start to leave.]

Riley (sternly): Buffy, stay here.

Buffy: I�m leaving. You can stay or go.

Riley (leaving and dragging Ethan with him): For crying out loud.

[They leave. Parker is alone. The ambulance siren can be heard in the distance. Fade out.]

PART THREE
[Fade in. Giles� house. Giles is still reading. Willow has fallen asleep. Spike eyes her neck lasciviously. Buffy and Johnny enter followed by Riley with Ethan. Willow wakes up. Ethan continues to struggle with Riley.]

Ethan: Will you please let me go?!

Buffy: Let him go. He won�t get far.

Johnny: You always let her boss you around like that?

[Riley lets Ethan go in order to backhand Johnny. Johnny�s head jerks back. We he turns back, his lip is bloody. He wipes the blood off his mouth then with his fingers, then sucks his fingers clean. Spike grimaces in frustration.]

Buffy: Riley!

Riley: You saw what he did to Parker.

Willow: What did he do?

[Johnny giggles.]

Giles: Who�s Parker?

Riley: He�s a student. (pointing to Johnny) This thing, whatever he is�

[Riley can�t finish the statement.]

Johnny (struggling to keep a straight face): Let�s just say that if Parker had any aspirations to sing in the Vienna Boys� Choir, I�ve helped facilitate his dream.

Spike: Way to go.

Riley: Well, Buffy, we�re here. Do you mind telling me why we couldn�t turn them over to the Initiative?

Buffy: What do we do, Giles?

Willow: I say turn him over to the Initiative. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

Johnny: Are you still sore at me because of last summer? I did help bust you out of prison.

Willow: You put me there in the first place.

[Johnny shrugs. Xander and Anya enter.]

Xander: That�s the last time I talk to Mrs. Summers ever again. Hey, Buff, Riley, everyone�s here.

Anya: Buffy, boy, you�re mother could talk. And she didn�t even offer us something to eat. What�s for dinner?

Giles: Ah, we have a little situation here.

Anya: I�m hungry.

Buffy (to Giles): So what do you want us to do?

Giles: I�m not impartial, Buffy. I cannot in good conscience make this decision.

Johnny (imitating him): I cannot in good conscience make this decision.

Xander: What decision?

[Anya walks over to the kitchen and begins to go through the cupboards.]

Buffy: Whether to turn them over to the Initiative.

Johnny: You can�t turn me in. I haven�t done anything wrong.

Riley: You castrated a man.

Johnny: So? Right and wrong are not absolute categories. If you lock me up, you�d be violating my freedom of religion. This is America. It�s a free country.

Anya: Who�d he castrate?

Willow: Parker.

Xander: The Parker?

Buffy: Yes.

Anya: What did you use?

Johnny: A bowie knife.

Anya: Effective.

Johnny: You castrate often?

Anya: Not anymore, but it had been a hobby of mine.

Johnny: Cool. So how come she�s not locked up if castration is such a crime in your book?

Willow (to herself): I still haven�t figured that one out.

Giles: It�s a long story.

Johnny: I have time. About twenty-three hours and forty-five minutes. Then it�s you and me, blondie.

Buffy: I�m not about to do you any favors, now.

Johnny: What? You�re going to tell me you�re sorry I did what I did? I don�t buy it. I know too much.

Buffy: Really, how much?

Johnny: Do you want me to answer that? Right here? Now? Suffice it to say, I�ve been around for awhile.

Giles: In Sunnydale.

Johnny: In and out since the summer.

[Giles gets his first good look at Johnny�s haggard appearance.]

Giles: What happened to you?

Johnny: Isn�t it obvious? I met Sweeny Todd outside.

[Johnny�s head starts to loll backwards.]

Giles: Ethan, what happened?

Ethan: Don�t look at me. (gesturing toward Riley) This one�s had me in the clink for the last two months.

[Johnny starts to scream and tear at his hair. He pounds his fist into his stomach.]

Johnny: No. Please no. Help me. Please.

[Buffy grabs Johnny�s arms and pins them behind his back. Johnny continues to struggle to no avail.]

Willow: Be careful, Buffy, he�s stronger than you are.

Giles: Not now. His powers are dormant until the next ritual.

Buffy: What�s going on?

Giles: I don�t know. Hold him still.

[Giles walks up to Johnny and grabs his chin firmly. Even in height, Giles stares into his eyes.]

Giles: His pupils are dilated. Xander, get some ropes from the closet.

[Xander exits into the hall. Spike gets up from the couch.]

Spike: Seeing that it�s past sundown now, I think I�ll go apartment hunting. Buh-bye.

Riley (shouting): Now, everybody stop! Okay, someone, and I don�t care who, better explain everything right now. No one leaves until they do.

Spike: Okay (pointing to Ethan) he�s an old friend of Giles� here. (pointing to Johnny) I don�t know who this one is. And I�d like to leave.

Riley: Not so fast or I might have to make a phone call and let my team know where Hostile 17 got himself too. Buffy?

[Xander returns with the ropes and throws one to Giles and one to Riley. Giles begins to tie up Johnny. Riley forces Ethan into a chair and begins to bind him to it.]

Riley: I�m waiting.

Willow: Johnny�s a worshipper of Cybele, who�s an ancient fertility goddess. He takes on the power of her consort, Attis, and becomes godlike. He has to renew his powers every spring. I don�t know what�s happening now.

Riley: Why are you guys protecting him?

[No one answers. Riley finishes securing Ethan.]

Spike: Look, Soldier boy, a word. This little Scooby gang here, they�re all together, and you�re not. No matter how many souvenir pairs of Buffy knickers you get, you will never break into this group. They been through more than you can imagine, and you haven�t. You�re on the outside, and they�re not going to tell you their secrets. Look in all you want, you�ll never really belong here.

Riley: But they told you who Johnny was.

Spike: Of course not, but I don�t care. I have no desire to be a part of the perverse sort of family they�ve got going on.

Xander: For someone who doesn�t want to be a part of our group, you sure spend a lot of time with us.

Spike: And for that, I blame Riley here. As soon as I�m able to bite again, I�m coming after you first. Just so we have all our cards on the table.

Riley: Buffy?

Buffy: Riley, I can�t tell you. It�s not that I don�t want to.

Riley: It�s just that you can�t. Fine. I let you into my world, but you can give me the same trust.   Alright, I�m going to go check on Abrams.

[He leaves. Johnny screams. Buffy lowers him to the floor.]

Buffy: Giles, he�s bleeding.

Giles: Where?

Buffy: His stomach. He�s been cut.

Giles: Dear god.

Buffy: I thought it was Parker�s blood. Anya, a towel.

[Anya throws Buffy a dishrag.]

Buffy: A clean one.

[Anya throws Buffy another towel. Buffy begins to wipe away some of the blood.]

Buffy: There�s like fifteen cuts.

Ethan: Yeah, he was doing that earlier.

Willow: He did that to himself?

Giles (to Ethan): It�s Cybele, isn�t it?

Ethan: Look�s like it.

[Giles kneels down to help Buffy tend to Johnny.]

Buffy: Care to clue us in.

Giles: Cybele drove Attis mad. I think she�s doing the same to Johnny.

Ethan: It�s always a risk with Cybele worship.

Willow: Why?

Giles: In that religion, there�s no burning pit where sinners spend eternity. The Magna Mater punishes her recalcitrant followers with insanity.

Buffy: Johnny does fall into the sinner category.

Giles: No, he doesn�t.

Xander: What do you mean? He�s into theft, mischief, sex, chaos, fear. Last time I looked those things were frowned upon. If not, I�ve been misinformed and need to rethink my career options.

Giles: Those are precisely the qualities that are lauded by the goddess. Like Johnny said earlier, right and wrong are not absolute categories. Morality is relative; its based on your belief system. That�s the whole basis for the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. If you believe in a god and follow his laws, through his grace you will be saved.

Buffy: So with his belief system, Johnny can do anything he wants and that�s not wrong. The world can�t exist that way.

Giles: No, as certain behaviors are lauded in Cybele worship, others are punished. In the entire course of human history, we have yet to create a perfectly loving and benevolent god. Our supreme beings are always both savior and punisher, like the Christ-Yahweh dichotomy.

Xander: We don�t create God. He�s just there.

Ethan: You don�t understand. All gods stem from our beliefs. The more people who believe the more powerful the god. Great Pan died when people stopped believing in him.

Buffy: What, then, could Johnny do to make Cybele punish him this way?

Giles: Most likely, he fell in love. That�s what made Cybele drive Attis mad.

[Anya pulls a box out of a cabinet.]

Anya: Ooh, Pop Tarts!

Conclusion of "A Cold and Broken Hallelujah"
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