ParadiseCity2

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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[Cut to the hearing room later that day. Xander faces the formidable members of MUAC. He screws his courage to the sticking point, making himself ready to face the impending onslaught of questions. Basically, he loosens his collar and takes a sip of water.]

Helmet hair: So, Mr. Harris, tell us about hyenas.

Xander: Could you rephrase the question?

PART TWO
[The Summers� living room. Joyce relaxes on the sofa after a long day of persecuting the unwary. Buffy come downstairs dressed in a rather baggy car burglar outfit.]

Buffy: Mom, we need to talk.

Joyce: Yes, I agree. I think you should go visit your father.

Buffy: How did this come up?

Joyce: There�s a lot of pressure within MUAC to have you appear before the committee. I can�t protect you much longer.

Buffy: Why should I be protected when Xander, Willow, and Oz are locked up, and Giles is forced into hiding. If my friends are dangerous, then so am I.

Joyce: Buffy, if you know where Mr. Giles is, you need to tell me. MUAC may let you off if you cooperate.

Buffy: This is crazy, Mom. It needs to stop.

Joyce: We�re finally bringing order back to Sunnydale.

Buffy: When does it stop? Who�s next after me?

Joyce: We�re just protecting our town from the undesirables.

Buffy: What will you say when they come for you? When you�re undesirable? After all, you are my mother. Guilt by association, you know. How can you call this �order?�

Joyce: As you get older, you�ll understand. I�m doing what I have to do.

Buffy: And I have to do what I know is right, and for that I need your help. Johnny is with us on this.

Joyce: I�m afraid MUAC considers Johnny a great disappointment. After Xander�s testimony today, I doubt MUAC will be able to condone Johnny�s actions much longer.

Buffy: What did Xander say?

Joyce: Just that Johnny has abandoned the principles MUAC is fighting for.

Buffy: He�s doing what�s right. Can�t you see that?

Joyce: It�ll be anarchy if you succeed.

Buffy: I don�t think there�s a word for what it will be if you do. (pause) I have to go. At least think about what I�ve said.

Joyce: I love you, Buffy.

Buffy: Then, prove it.

[She leaves.]

[Cut to Johnny�s mansion. Giles stands in the living room, while Johnny fusses with the mantel. The wall next to the fireplace swings open revealing a hidden room.]

Johnny: If you have to go, you should do it now. It wouldn�t be a good idea to let yourself out without out Buffy or me here.

Giles: I�m fine. (nervous) After this is over, would you be willing, uh, could you see your way to being amenable, er, where are you going to go?

Johnny: No comment. Now, get into the room before I have to strap you to the wheel.

[Reluctantly, Giles enter the room, and Johnny maneuvers the mechanism on the mantel to close the hidden door.]

[Cut to Xander in his cell. Nervous, he plays with the Lojack around his ankle, setting off an alarm.]

Xander: Whoops.

[Percy rushes to his cell.]

Percy: Harris!

Xander: It was an accident I swear.

Percy: Being in facility three is a privilege, Harris. If you�re gonna be a problem, you�ll be moved to four or five. Do you want that?

Xander: Uhh, no?

Percy: Good. I don�t want to hear another sound from this cell. You won�t like the consequences if I have to come back.

[Percy leaves. Xander relaxes on his cot.]

Anya: (whispering from the wall) Xander? Is that you?

Xander: Who are you?

Anya: Anya. I�m next door.

Xander: The cell blocks are co-ed?

Anya: Unless there�s something about you I don�t know. How did you get in number three?

Xander: They think I�m a threat.

Anya: What�s wrong with them?

Xander: Thanks.

Anya: If I had my power center back, we�d be out of her so fast�

Xander: And if I had wings, I could fly. When are you going to stop about that frickin� power center?

Anya: Hey, not only did I lose all my powers, but losing my necklace has severely decreased my life expectancy in case you haven�t noticed.

Xander: Who wants to live forever anyway?

Anya: I do.

Xander: There are advantages to being human. (thinking) Percy�s a guy; he understands guy needs. Do you think I could get him to lock us in the same cell?

Anya: Why?

Xander: Never mind.

{Cut to Main Street, Sunnydale. A group of hooligans throw a garbage can through the window of the magic shop. The rest of the street shows similar signs of vandalism. Some graffiti reads �Go Back to Hell, Demon Scum.� Similar messages extend down the block. Additionally, several buildings sport cruciforms over their doors, in some odd attempt to prohibit vampires from entering.]

[Cut to the city hall roof. Johnny and Buffy are dressed in B&E black. Buffy examines the lock on the skylight while Johnny waits impatiently.]

Johnny: So what happened to your vampire friend?

Buffy: He moved away.

Johnny: Couldn�t take the pressure, huh? I don�t blame him. I couldn�t have held out as long as he did. You have a playful, innocent, yet potentially sexual quality that reminds me of Paulette Goddard, even though, regrettably, she grew out of her blond starlet phase.

Buffy: This is fascinating, really, especially since I have no idea what you�re talking about.

Johnny: I think I was working up to asking you out.

Buffy: (turning to face him) Okay, first of all, I don�t even like you. Secondly, aren�t you seeing my mom?

Johnny: (facetious) Joyce and I just weren�t meant to be. We want different things.

Buffy: But you slept with her.

Johnny: And your point is? After all, she slept with my dad. If you look at it the right way, it�s kind of a turn on.

Buffy: Ewww. You do realize that you just broke the gauge on the creepy scale. Can�t we just do this job without the typical summer blockbuster contrived romantic tension?

Johnny: There�s nothing contrived about this. I�m not using a single superpower.

Buffy: I can tell. Now can we get back to breaking and entering? And don�t say what ever inane comment you were about to make. I can�t open this lock without breaking it.

Johnny: Either way you�ll set off the alarm.

Buffy: So we set off the alarm. Do you think we have enough time to make it to the Paradise office before the guards come?

Johnny: Only one way to find out.

Buffy: Okay, we go in. You go first and lead the way to the paradise office. Open the door, and I�ll search for the plans, while you hold off the guards.

Johnny: Egress?

Buffy: Play it by ear.

Johnny: That�s the best you can come up with?

Buffy: We�ll go whatever way the guards don�t.

Johnny: Fair enough. Would you like to do the honors?

Buffy: Certainly.

[She grabs onto the padlock and gives it a good yank, breaking it. As the alarm sounds, she lifts the skylight, and Johnny jumps through. Buffy follows him, and the skylight closes with thud. Johnny sprints out of the room with Buffy at his heels. They reach a large, metal, sealed door. Johnny quickly examines the door, then begins concentrating on opening it. The door slowly slides open, millimeter by millimeter, as Johnny pushes his telekinetic muscles to the limit. When the opening is wide enough for her petite frame to shimmy through, Buffy slips inside the darkened room.]

Buffy: Okay, if I were the bad guys, where would I keep important files?

[As Buffy starts searching through the various desks in the room, footsteps can be heard in the hall. Suddenly, the door slides shut, locking Buffy in the room. Panicking, she searches the doorframe for a release mechanism but finds only a numbered keypad. She does locate a light switch. Turning it on, she surveys her surroundings. The small, cream-colored room holds a few desks but no filing cabinets. To her dismay, Buffy notices the room is windowless.]

Buffy: Well, as a tomb of death, it�s not so bad. Damn you, Johnny. When I get out of here, I�m gonna�do something really horrible. The door sealed shut, no windows�I�m gonna run out of air. Wait, people work in here. They have to get air form somewhere.

[Buffy looks around and notices an air vent close to the ceiling. She pushes a desk over to that wall and climbs on it to get a better look a the vent. To her further dismay, she finds that only Amy, in her rodent state, could fit through the vent.]

Buffy: Great. In every movie I�ve ever seen, the ventilation system is large enough to house a family of five, but when you actually need one�

[Buffy leaves her thought unfinished, since in moving the desk, she dislodged a group of tiles from the floor. Underneath is a storage space with five poster-size tubes. She grabs them and opens one to reveal the plans for a Paradise facility.]

Buffy: At least I got what I came for.

[The lights shut off.]

Buffy: Great. Just great.

[The door begins to slide open.]

Johnny: (off) Buffy, did you get �em?

Buffy: What?

Johnny: (off) The plans. What else?

Buffy: Oh, yeah.

Johnny: (off) Then c�mon.

[Buffy gathers up the tubes and slips them through the opening in the door. She then squeezes through.]

Buffy: (glaring at Johnny) What was the idea of leaving me in there?

[Out in the hall, several guards lie bleeding and unconscious on the floor. The retreating footsteps of their comrades can be heard in the distance.]

Johnny: I couldn�t very well hold the door open and fight the guards at the same time. I�m not that powerful yet. Plus, I really can�t multi-task.

Buffy: Oh.

Johnny: What did you think�that I trapped you in there?

Buffy: Well, you�re not exactly the poster boy of trustworthy.

Johnny: Before we catalogue my shortcomings, why don�t we go?

Buffy: Back the way we came?

Johnny: Yeah, less chance of meeting MUAC.

[They run off back down the hall each made slightly awkward by carrying the plans. Back in the room with the skylight, they do a bionic woman jump to the roof only to find the skylight closed. Buffy notices it and manages to stick the tubes upright to crash through the glass and then lets herself fall back down. Johnny doesn�t notice in time and crashes through the skylight sending shards of glass falling into the room. Buffy rolls out of the way and gets to her feet. Johnny throws the remains of the skylight open, and Buffy jumps through.]

Johnny: (sarcastically) Thanks for the warning.

Buffy: Are you okay?

Johnny: I�m bleeding like a stuck pig and would prefer not to die on this roof, so can we go?

Buffy: Bleeders first.

PART THREE
[The bondage room in Johnny�s mansion. It has black walls, as bondage rooms often do. Someone has been doing unnatural things to Miss Edith, who is strung up on the wall. Giles and Johnny sit in front of the bondage wheel. Johnny has his shirt off, and Giles is stitching together the first of many lacerations on his back. Buffy reads an official looking letter.]

Johnny: (flinching) You know this wouldn�t have happened if someone had remembered to leave the skylight open. You owe me, Buff. I fully expect you to beat the living crap out of me next spring. I was gonna ask the other slayer, but I hear she�s in a coma. Too bad, too, �cause from what I hear, she would have been real easy to convince. Ow. So what does it say?

Buffy: You�ve been summoned to appear before MUAC. Also, you�re being impeached.

Johnny: That was quick. What�s the charge?

Buffy: Suspicion of witchcraft.

Johnny: (indignant) I�m not a witch. I don�t even like witches. If you�re going to persecute someone, you should at least do it for the right stuff.

Buffy: File a complaint with MUAC. What are you griping about? Didn�t you start this?

Johnny: Yeah�yeah�yeah�eat my shorts.

Buffy: How long did it take you to come up with that response?

Giles: Children, this bickering is counterproductive.

Johnny: Yes, daddy.

Giles: (uncomfortable) Let me see the plans.

[Buffy takes over repairing Johnny from Giles, as the librarian begins to sort through the five rolls of plans.]

Giles: Hmm�this is quite complicated. What cell number is Willow in?

Johnny: Beats the hell out of me.

Giles: (frustrated) Without the knowing the cell, these plans are useless. We�ve just been wasting our time.

Buffy: Oz. He found her after she was kidnapped by Spike.

Giles: He can sense her?

Buffy: I think �smell� is the more appropriate word.

Johnny: It�s worth a shot. With our adventure this evening, we�ve already made our intentions more obvious than if we�d tried skywriting.

Giles: Quite.

Johnny: Of course skywriting at night really wouldn�t have been that effective, so perhaps my analogy was flawed.

Buffy: (suddenly disappointed) Oh, but we don�t know where Oz is either.

Johnny: Not a problem. See plan number one.

[Giles shuffles through the plans. Buffy finishes with the laceration on which she had been working and ties it off. As she reaches for the scissors, Johnny stops her.]

Johnny: (cont�d) I�ll give you a hundred dollars to cut that thread with your teeth.

[Buffy ignores him and snips the thread with the scissors and begins work on the gauze dressing.]

Giles: Here it is.

Johnny: See the wing marked �DP?�

Giles: Yes.

Johnny: That�s the Dog Pound, and that�s where I�ll bet we�ll find Oz.

[Cut to Anya�s cell in facility number three. Xander is pushed in through the door, which is locked behind him. Anya launches herself into his arms.]

Anya: Xander, how did you get in here?

Xander: Percy and I came to an understanding.

[He kisses her squarely on the lips, and they begin to make the best of a bad situation.]

[Cut to the area outside facility number one. Buffy and Johnny walk with determination toward the building. Giles trails, carrying the layouts.]

Giles: I�m concerned. I don�t think we should proceed without more careful consideration. Without adequate planning, we could all be in very great danger.

Johnny: The security in number one isn�t too tight.

Giles: I�m not wholly worried about the guards.

Buffy: What do you mean?

Giles: We�re heading into the proverbial lion�s den. Once inside, it would be quite easy to trap us there.

Johnny: (angry) You mean it would be quite easy for me to trap you.

Giles: (reluctantly) Yes.

Johnny: Well, now I know where you stand. Do you have any idea how many opportunities I�ve had to get you up to now? But if you still have doubts, you two can wait here. I�ll get Oz on my own. Besides, it would never do to imprison you without a hearing. MUAC needs an aura of legitimacy.

[As the gang approaches the facility, they begin to hear music emanating from the building. The prisoners are singing �People Got to Be Free.�]

Buffy: What�s that?

Johnny: The Rascals I think.

Buffy: It�s a hootenanny.

Giles: I never cease to be awed by the resiliency of the human spirit.

Johnny: So am I going alone?

[Buffy and Giles remain quiet and indecisive. Impatient and hurt, Johnny takes off his shirt, revealing his pine tree tattoo and the wound s on his back. He wraps the shirt around his lower left arm. After running to the wall of the building, he jumps to a window ledge ten yards off the ground. He sits on the sill and removes the bars from the window. He then breaks the window with his shirt-wrapped arm and slips through.]

Giles: He was testing me.

Buffy: What do you mean?

Giles: This whole situation. Johnny is testing my trust, my capacity to love. I think I just failed.

Buffy: How could you trust him after all he�s done?

Giles: That is the whole point, I believe.

Buffy: Should I go help?

Giles: I don�t think he needs our help. He just wanted to see if we would go. We didn�t. He�s a complicated young man.

[Johnny emerges from the window and jumps to the ground. Oz follows him, landing in Johnny�s outstretched arms. They run over to Buffy and Giles.]

Oz: (running) C�mon, we gotta get Willow.

Johnny: Time and the trolley wait for no man.

[Buffy and Giles take off after Johnny and Oz. Giles soon lags behind the rest. Although, even Oz is having trouble keeping pace with Buffy and Johnny. They reach the door that provides the only entrance to the underground labyrinth that composes facility number five. Without hesitating, Johnny rips open the door and runs inside. Buffy follows.]

Giles: (out of breath and trying to catch up) Oz, wait, the plans.

[Giles tosses the plans to Oz, who, as soon as he has the plans in hand, disappears through the doorway. Giles stops when he reaches the door.]

Giles: (disoriented) I guess I�m lookout.

Conclusion of "Paradise City"
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