𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 𝐺𝑜 𝑂𝑢𝑡 𝐴𝑡 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 || 𝑩𝑻𝑽𝑺 𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

Zookeeper

Buffy quickly vaults over the choking Kyle, flips and lands just in front of Xander, Rhonda and Mick-- who let go of Willow. Buffy slams a chair across their faces, then grabs Willow's hand, pulling her away.

Giles stands at the open door, waving them on. He doesn't notice behind him is Laney. She creeps up slowly. Hearing the floor creak Giles whips around before Laney swipes her nails at him. She leaps forward and he side steps, then backhands her making her fall and growl.

"With dispatch! Quickly!"

Buffy and Willow race past the pile of overturned books. Suddenly, Heidi and Tor pop out of them-- they lunge for Buffy and Willow, when Giles whacks Heidi and Tor across their faces with a three foot long newspaper spindle.

"Periodical?"

Buffy and Willow race through the library door, followed by Giles. Buffy slams the library door in the pursuing Hyenas' faces. Giles locks it.

BAM!

The library door shudders from the impact on the other side, as Willow and Giles jump back in fear.

BAM!

Willow and Giles cringe, hoping the door will hold. Then suddenly, quiet. Willow cautiously approaches. Places her ear on the door.

"They're gone--"

"Don't scream. It's all part of the Masai tradition."

Willow looks around the empty cage then back at the zookeeper.

"Where are the Hyenas for the trans-possession?"

"Over there, in the feeding area."

Willow turns to see a low wall just outside the glowing altar. The Hyenas pacing and growling. She moves to the wall, but the Zookeeper suddenly pulls her back.

"Stay clear. They haven't been fed."

Willow looks around in confusion, "Where's Giles?"

"Don't worry. He's involved with his part of the plan.
Outside in the distance, we hear the cackling and growling of the Hyena People, chasing Buffy... getting nearer."

Willow, "They're almost here... shouldn't you bring the Hyenas out?"

"When the time is right."

Suddenly, ferocious who-whooping and cackling of angry animals scratching their way along the pathway, toward the cage.

Buffy voice is heard as she gets closer and closer, "THEY'RE RIGHT... BEHIND ME!"

"That's Buffy! Get ready!"

Willow is suddenly grabbed by the Zookeeper at knifepoint.

"What're you doing?"

"The cruel act, remember?"

Willow looks at him uncertain, "Oh, right-- you'll pretend to slash my throat and put The Evil in the Hyenas behind the wall--"

"Something like that."

The Zookeeper presses the knife tighter. Willow's dreadful realization sinks in. Buffy enters the caged area, exhausted.

"Buffy! It's a trap!!" Willow yells as she tries to move away from the zookeeper.

Buffy sees Willow held at knifepoint. Jumps up to help her just as Laney dives on top of Buffy, knocking her to the ground.

The Hyena people race into the Hyena Cage and lunge for Buffy-- their mouths and hands begin tearing greedily.

The man holds a horrified Willow, knife denting the skin of her throat.

"NYMBA YA SANAA!" The zookeeper stands incanting.

The Hyena people suddenly stop and look up from Buffy's body to meet the Zookeeper's electric eyes.

The zookeeper looks from Kyle's eyes to Rhonda then Heidi and Tor then Mick then Laney and finally Xander's. The zookeeper suddenly cackles widely with glowing yellow eyes infused with six demonic hyena spirits, let's the knife clatter to the ground. He grabs Willow's hair with one hand, her arm with his other, just about to rip into her when Xander's eyes alive with fury.

He leaps up from the ground and dives on the Zookeeper, jarring Willow loose. The Zookeeper quickly regroups, picks up Xander for the final blow, when Buffy kicks him backwards, against the inner wall that separates them from the unseen feeding cage.

The five kids run for their lives out of the cage.

Buffy frowns, "Guess it's just us."

Willow helps Xander to his feet.

"That's all we'll need."

A ferocious growl sounds the room and Xander suddenly turns to see the zookeeper looking at him with hatred and hunger. He lunges for Willow. Xander kicks him the way Buffy did before-- only without the same results-- as the Zookeeper simply grabs Xander's ankle, pulling Xander's leg to his open mouth, when Willow lying on the ground nearby, lifts the knife with both hands and reluctantly drive in into the top of the Zookeeper's foot. The Zookeeper howls in pain, immobile.

Buffy takes advantage of this while Xander grabs Willow, pulling her to safety. Buffy charges and jumps to deliver a two-footed flying drop-kick when

The zookeeper grabs Buffy's feet in the mid-air and throws her backwards. She lands in a heap, the wind knocked out of her, directly in front of the internal cage which contains the Hyenas.

The zookeeper pulls the knife out of his foot, howling with the ferocity of a wounded animal and charges at Buffy. She desperately looks around, her back to the wall.

Suddenly, Laney kicks the back of the man's legs making him fall down to his knees. She backhands him across the face then holds his head and brings her knee up to his face.

He gains back his balance then stands and lunges toward her, but she squats down and grabs both of the Zookeeper's legs at the knees. She then lifts and heaves him up and over the inside wall containing the real Hyenas. The real Hyenas whoop and cackle behind the wall, clawing on the Zookeeper's legs.

The zookeeper's horrified face appears just above the wall-- barely pulling himself up. Quickly, Buffy instinctively reaches out to help him as Laney stands nearby with her arms crossed against her chest.

A spine-chilling roar is heard and the Zookeeper is yanked, whip fast below the wall, out of sight.

Buffy, Willow and Xander react as they listen to the horrible chewing, crunching, slurping sounds of the Hyenas feeding time. Buffy glances over at Laney who wears a blank face

Giles limps over rubbing his head.

"Did I miss anything?"