Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In a deserted, suburban high school, two teenagers are breaking in. An attractive male leads his innocent looking date into the school's auditorium. As the girl walks farther into the room, the floor suddenly falls away, revealing the hidden orchestra pit. The blonde jumps back and scolds her date for scaring her, but he just takes her in his arms. The two kiss a moment, before the blonde breaks away nervously, apparently having heard a frightening noise. Her date assures her there's nothing to be afraid of. Suddenly, the girl whirls around, revealing the grotesque visage of the vampire! Grabbing her startled date, she sinks her fangs into his neck, draining him of his life's blood.



It's a bright and sunny day at Sunnydale High. Buffy Summers walks through the halls of her new school, chatting with Principal Flutie. She promises him that he doesn't need to worry; she won't have problems here, like she did at her old school. He tells her not to worry and that she'll fit in just fine.



In Sunnydale High's courtyard, a shaggy haired sophomore rushes up to a chubby brunette sitting alone. "Willow, you're so very much person I wanted to see!" Willow smiles up at Xander, her curly hair glinting in the sunlight. He asks her for help with the homework, and she agrees to tutor him. Just then beautiful but cruel Cordelia, flanked by two of her cronies, passes by... but not before making a snide comment about Willow's outfit.



As Willow rushes off to avoid the claws of the in-crowd, Cordelia and her friends discuss their plans for that evening. The group decides to hit The Bronze, a trendy hotspot for the high school crowd. Xander breaks into their conversation, but Cordelia brushes him off, insulting both his clothing and appearance. Rebuffed, Xander tries to retort but is (for once) at a loss for words. Just then, Buffy bumps into Xander, spilling her things all over the grass. He helps her retrieve her belongings and points her in the direction of the library. As she moves off, he notices something she forgot; a pointy stake still lying in the grass. Confused, Xander tries to catch her, but she's already gone.

Buffy enters the cavernous library, hoping to pick up some textbooks. The library appears to be empty, so Buffy is startled by the sudden appearance of the librarian. "Ms. Summers?" he inquires. Buffy is bit surprised that he already knows her name, but shrugs it off, figuring she must be the only new kid. She starts to tell him what text books she needs, but before she can finish, he pulls out a book with the word "Vampyr" emblazoned across it. She stares at the word and backs away slowly. "That's not what I'm looking for," Buffy says quietly. The librarian is perplexed but puts the book away. He starts to ask her how else he can help her, but Buffy has already rushed out of the room, the doors swinging shut behind her.

In history cIass, Willow approaches Buffy and offers to help her catch up. Buffy is all too pleased to accept the help, and the girls become fast friends. Buffy asks Willow if she knows anything about the school librarian. Willow tells Buffy that his name is Mr. Giles, that he used to be the curator of some British Museum ("or maybe 'the' British Museum"), and that he's new to Sunnydale. As they talk, Cordelia and her friends come over to welcome Buffy to the school. Cordelia puts her arm around Buffy's shoulder and leads her away from Willow. With a pointed look at Willow, she offers to help Buffy learn who not to hang out with. "Quite frankly, when I saw those shoes, I knew there was a beautiful bond of sisterhood between us," Cordelia says. Buffy shoots a last look at Willow, before allowing herself to be led away by the more popular girls.
In the locker room, two girls are gossiping about Buffy. "The chatter in the caf is that she was starting fights," one of them snipes. As they continue to dish the dirt on Buffy's past, one of the girls opens her locker. Suddenly, a dead body falls out!
In the courtyard, Xander catches up with Buffy to return her stake. She makes an excuse, while hastily stuffing it out of sight. Xander accompanies Buffy through the courtyard, pointing out the various high school cliques. They run into Willow, who is looking pretty upset. She starts to tell them about the body in the locker, but before she can finish, Cordelia blurts out the information. Buffy is disturbed and rushes off, leaving the others staring after her.
Outside the girls' locker room, Buffy runs into Principal Flutie. He is apologetic to Buffy and rushes to assure her that they "very seldom and almost never" find dead bodies stuffed in lockers. He tells Buffy that if there is anything the school can do to ease her worries, they would be happy to oblige. "Can I look at the body?" she asks the stunned principal.
He apparently acquiesces because seconds later, Buffy enters the locker room, undisturbed. She lifts the blanket off the corpse's face, and is chagrined to see two tiny holes in the dead boy's neck. "Oh, great," she snarls.
Buffy immediately heads to the library to confront Mr. Giles, the British librarian. She stomps into the room demanding to know the sitch. Buffy informs him that she has retired from slaying. He argues with her, perplexed by her attitude. She asks him if he's so keen on slaying, then why doesn't he do it? "Because you are the Slayer," Giles says, his speech impassioned. "Into each generation, a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil." Buffy interrupts him, telling him she's both been there and done that. Giles warns her that vampires are not their only threat. "There are more things on heaven and Earth that are dreamt of in your philosophy," he quotes. Werewolves, ghouls, incubi, succubae… they're all real; and it Buffy's responsibility as the Slayer to keep the world safe from them, with Giles advising as the Watcher. "It is my destiny to guide you," he says. Buffy tells Giles that she's sick of slaying. It's a thankless job and it's ruining her social and academic life. She's had it. She's done. And she doesn't want to watch another Watcher die because she couldn't protect him.
Upstairs in the stacks, Xander stands hidden. His jaw is hanging open as he takes in the content of the conversation he just overheard. "Okay….." he says, mystified.
That evening, Buffy decides to check out the Sunnydale nightlife. She heads out to The Bronze to hear the popular local band, "Dingoes Ate My Baby." Standing in line, she has a brief and stilted conversation with a very short, young boy. Moments later, Xander joins her. He is almost ridiculously pleased to see her. When Buffy asks him if Willow will be coming, Xander tells her that he saw Willow sneaking off campus with a guy. When Buffy learns that Willow doesn't have a boyfriend, and isn't exactly a Sunnydale guy magnet, Buffy grows concerned. And when Xander tells her that Willow's friend was pale and wore an outdated outfit, her concern for her friend explodes into fearful urgency. She rushes out of the line, with Xander hot on her heels.
Meanwhile, Willow is in the high school auditorium, wincing as the bright overhead lights blind her eyes. As her companion places an arm around her shoulders, Willow smiles shyly, clearly unused to this kind of attention. Not ready to kiss, she tells him that maybe they shouldn't be there... especially after what happened to the last boy. Her discomfort grows when her date tells her that the dead boy deserved his fate. "He had it coming," her date says coldly. "Coming up here alone at night, with a complete stranger. What kind of idiot would do a thing like that?" Angry and insulted, she turns to glare at him, but her furious expression suddenly turns to fright. She's staring into the face of a vampire! "What's the matter," he asks. "Don't you want to snuggle?"
Xander catches up to Buffy, breathing heavily. She hands him her purse and asks him where the vampire would have taken Willow. Xander asks her if this situation has anything to do with vampires, but before she can answer him, a frightened scream tears apart the night. Buffy races to the auditorium, and Xander heads for the back entrance.
Inside the auditorium, the vampire is snacking on Willow. Buffy throws open the doors, runs down the aisle, and aims a flying kick at the bloodsucker. A bleeding Willow falls to the ground, weakened by blood loss. Thinking that this lone vampire is all she has to handle, Buffy's confidence is high. But when several other vampires step out of the shadows, her bravado is shaken. "I don't suppose you'd be sweeties and attack me one at a time," she jokes shakily, as the vampires surround her. Just then, the vampires attack! But Buffy is more than a match for them. Her training comes back to her quickly, as she blocks, punches, and kicks with ease.
Xander comes in the back door, and throws Buffy a wooden mop, just as a vampire prepares to attack. Buffy shouts to Xander to get Willow out of the area: the vampire hadn't had enough time to take too much blood. Xander leads Willow into the back, handing her Buffy's purse to hold. Suddenly, Darla grabs Willow and lowers her fangs to the girl's neck! But when she sees the bite marks on her neck, she tosses her to the side. "God, I hate leftovers," Darla whines.
Meanwhile, Buffy and a vampire are fighting. Another bloodsucker tries to sneak up behind her, but Buffy is ready. Without even turning around, she thrusts a stake into his chest. He falls and turns to dust in seconds. "See what happens when you roughhouse," she jeers.
In the back, Darla is slowly advancing on Xander, who continues to back away from her until he bangs into the wall. She chases him around a table and finally grabs him! She is just forcing her fangs towards Xander's neck, when Willow approaches. "Excuse me?" Willow asks politely. Despite herself, Darla looks up, and Willow hurriedly presses a cross into the vampire's forehead. Darla screams as the stake burns her skin, sizzling like an egg on a fryer. Xander and Willow watch in fascination.
Meanwhile, Buffy is fighting the last of the vampires, who are stunned by her show of strength and resilience. "Who are you?" asks Willow's former companion. Buffy takes a dramatic pause before answering. "I'm the Slayer," she finally says. Terrified, one of the vampires runs from the room, the other calling for him to wait. "I'll call you," promises the scared bloodsucker as he tears out of the room.
Xander and Willow creep out of the back, brandishing the cross like a gun. "I know how to use this," Willows threatens, "I think." They see Buffy standing high on a platform. Just as she is warning them to be careful, the remaining vamp lunges out from behind her, and tackles her to the ground. They both fall into the orchestra pit, and for a moment there is silence. Xander crawls on all fours to peer into the pit, when suddenly the vampire appears and grabs his arm. "Your friend can't help you now," he sneers. But his grip on Xander's arm starts to loosen as something drags him back down into the pit. "Hold that thought," he says. Crashing sounds come from below: Buffy is pummeling the vampire. Seconds later, Buffy climbs out of the pit, the bloodsucker successfully dusted. For a moment, the three friends sit on the stage in quiet reflection. Willow apologizes for all the trouble she caused. "That's okay," Buffy assures her, "It's kind of a destiny thing."
It's a beautiful day at Sunnydale High, and Buffy is sitting on the quad, with Xander, Willow and Giles. Cordelia and her friends walk by, noting Buffy's association with the school's loser quotient. "I can't believe we were almost nice to her," Harmony snipes.
Meanwhile, Giles is lecturing Buffy on her poor handling of the previous evening's events. She revealed herself, she stunk up the gym, she let one of them get away... Willow steps in to defend her, pointing out that Buffy did save her life. But Giles is not assuaged and reminds Willow that if Buffy had been only one minute later, Willow would be dead. Or worse. "I can't believe that the fate of the world may well be in the hands of this teen thing," Giles complains. "Relax," Buffy tells him. "The world's in beauty hands."
And throwing a stake like a dart, it flies flipping through the air, landing dead center on its target.
The Slayer is back.