The Nocturnum
Episode 12: Blood Brothers, Part 2
Original Air Date: 5/7/2005This episode is based upon and expanded from the Angel Director's Screen adventure entitled, "Blood Brothers, Part 2." For details, please see that supplement. For those whose groups are going to play that episode, be forewarned that while we have changed details, there will be major spoilers contained herein.
Special Guest Stars:
Juliet Landau as Drusilla
Eliza Dushku as Faith
Iyari Limon as Kennedy
Alysson Hannigan as Willow
Norman Reedus as Walter Gray
Brief Synopsis
The group prepares to undertake their mission to rescue Janine. In anticipation of the worst possible case scenario, John approaches Jamie, Father Bob, Jim, Daniel, and Sandra about preparing a second front in case the battle starts to go badly.
The heroes arrive at the abandoned Fifth Avenue High School, where they have determined Draco and Drusilla are hiding. Anita decides to go astral to recon the inside of the place, and finds herself trapped outside of her body, held prisoner and tortured by an unknown sorcerer in the school. Outside, the group knows something is wrong when Anita's body spasms, then goes still and she stops breathing. The appearence of Katherine informs them that the silver cord connecting Anita's soul to her body has been severed, but that Anita has not yet crossed over to the Threshold, meaning her soul is still in the world and if they move fast, they can save her.
Drake, enraged, kicks in the door and charges into the school, with Cyan, Walter, Willow, Kennedy, and Faith close behind. John stays with Anita's body, administering CPR to keep her from getting brain damage while they try to rescue her soul.
Inside the main hallway to the school, the group is set upon by over a dozen vampires. They fight their way through, but Cyan gets angry and unleashes a fireball, causing Drake and Willow to notice her eyes have gone black and that the magic she just called upon is tainted. The heroes don't have time to deal with this at the moment, however, and races to find his alter ego and rescue Janine and Anita.
The group makes their way to the gym and auditorium. Upon discovering the gym full to bursting with demons and vampires, they opt to investigate the auditorium first. There they encounter the Black Sorcerer and Brigit, who have also come looking for Janine. Both are in the catwalks above. Walter fires a shot at Brigit, knocking her to the floor. Cyan calls upon all her dark mojo and unleashes black lightning at the Black Sorcerer. Willow cries, "Enough, Cyan!" and casts a binding field around Cyan.
The Black Sorcerer teleports to the floor by the rear door and shouts to Cyan, "Nice moves, girl. I could use someone like you. Call me," then runs out, leaving Brigit to the mercies of the group. Brigit entrances Faith with her emotional manipulation, and Faith attempts to keep the others from harming Brigit. Walter uses his chains to go around Brigit, and Faith breaks his nose for his troubles. Drake launches himself into a high flip over Faith. The first time one of them manages to strike Brigit, her control over Faith is broken.
Also, as the combat with Brigit begins, suddenly Anita gasps and her eyes pop wide open...just as John is giving her mouth to mouth. The two sit up and have an awkward moment wherein they agree not to mention this to Cyan, then dash in to help the others. As they run down the hall, they see none other than Draco, dragging Janine into the library. As they begin to give chase, they also see the Black Sorcerer emerging from the auditorium. Anita veers off to face down with the Sorcerer while John goes to face off with Draco.
The Black Sorcerer sees Anita and hisses, "Hello, lover," to which Anita responds, "Die." Her command has all of the force of her necromantic powers behind it, and the sorcerer crumples to the floor. At that very moment, a wave of taint washes over the entire school, and the terrible visage of Leviathan itself appears over the Black Sorcerer's body. Anita falls to her knees, screaming in horror, as the mad god lifts its servant and takes the Black Sorcerer away.
John runs into the library, where Draco sits in wait, and empties the clip from his 9mm pistol into the man. John staggers backwards out into the hall, thanking God for the chainmail shirt he'd put on before coming here (thanks to a judicious plot twist drama point).
Meanwhile, in the auditorium, the rest of the Cast hears Anita scream. Willow drops the binding field on Cyan and everyone except Walter makes for Anita, who picks herself up, shakes it off and moves to help John. Everyone rounds the corner in time to hear the gunshots and see John stagger out into the hall. Cyan rushes to her lover and uses magic to heal him. Anita movesinto the room and unleashes bolts of necromantic energy at the vampire, who realizes he is hopelessly outmatched. He releases Janine and flees through a window.
As the Cast makes for the exit, John realizes that Walter is still in the auditorium fighting Brigit. He cocks his gun and walks calmly to the auditorium, then shoots Brigit in the back of the head, execution style. She falls, and he walks over and pumps three more shots into her, just to be sure. As he and Walter exit the auditorium, they notice a horde of demons emerging from the gym. They run for their lives out of the school.
Outside, Drake grabs Cyan and slams her against the wall, growling, "What do you think you're playing with?" Cyan calmly explains that she's done with magic after what the Black Sorcerer said to her. She insists she doesn't want to become like him. Drake lets her go just as John and Walter come running out of the school.
The Cast crowd into the Hummer and get Janine home and cleaned up. They discover that the uncle who signed her into Wolfram and Hart's care is an impostor; Janine has no family. Anita uses this to contest W&H's claim on the girl in court and file a petition to formally obtain foster care of Janine.
Janine manages to recraft the prophecy so that the walls between worlds will only drop for a fraction of a second, but leaves the bit about two becoming one and the speaker of propecies falling silent (she doesn't want this power). John leaves a note at Draco's crypt calling him out at Panther Hollow at midnight. Draco sends a return message in the form of a vampire who self-immolates in the sun, leaving behind a card: "Got your message. See you tonight."
Willow drags Cyan into John's office and proceeds to yell at her for an hour about her abuse of magic. She informs Cyan that as of this moment, the girl is off the magics until she can get time to go to England and learn the difference between true magic and the dark arts. Cyan goes to sleep and Willow discusses her problem with John and Anita, informing them that there is a coven in Devonshire who can help Cyan. John decides that it's best they wait until after the wedding, provided Cyan can keep under control.
John calls together the entire posse and the group heads for Schenley Park. There, they set up the magic circle that will separate the bond between the two mystical clones. Just before midnight, Draco, Drusilla, and a small army of vampires also show. After a bit of boastful, "let's keep this clean," talk, Drake and Draco move forward. Willow casts a "thicken" spell over the circle, locking the two enemies inside. Draco attacks Drake and is shocked to find that he suffers the same wound. Drake is smug and simply waits.
Midnight arrives. The walls between dimensions drop, and the Cast find themselves battling otherwordly horrors right alongside Draco and Drusilla's vampires. Willow and Anita cast the spell to separate the two, and with a flash of energy, it's done. Drake calls upon his chi powers and peppers Draco with a rain of fists and kicks.
Draco pulls a pistol and shoots Drake, who staggers backwards, clutching the wound in his chest. Draco hisses, "now, shall we keep pulling tricks out of our hats, or do this properly?"
Drake pulls out his sword and says, "If we're to do it properly, let's do it the old fashioned way."
Draco says, "Fine by me," and draws his own sword. With blinding speed, he fells Drake in three slashes of the sword.
Willow drops the binding field and Cyan empties a 9mm pistol into Draco's face. While the vampire is stunned, John rushes forward and stakes him. Cyan moves to examine Drake and sadly announces that he's dead. Anita, a determined look on her face, says, "No, he isn't," and drags his soul back from the Threshold. She informs the group that she can't keep it here for long; someone must stabilize his body. Willow moves forward, takes John's hand, and uses her own magic combined with John's to help keep Drake stable, while Cyan rushes to their Hummer and blasts through the woods. They load up Drake and rush him to the hospital, where (by virtue of Drama Point expenditure) he barely survives.
Willow, Faith, and Kennedy take custody of Janine and leave with her for England, after explaining to Anita that this is not a reflection of her abilities as a Watcher, and that she will eventually be assigned another Slayer. This is just protocol, to take Janine somewhere that she can be trained and taught the same as all the other girls. Anita agrees that's in Janine's best interests, but leaves the girl with her (Anita's) phone number, saying, "I'll always be here." Willow approaches Cyan and says, "You can call me if you ever need to talk about this. As soon as you're ready, we'll be waiting in England."
The next morning, Drake awakens in the hospital to find Cyan at his bedside. On the table next to him is a Mason Jar, filled with the dust that was Draco, and a smiley face sticker with fangs drawn on it attached to the jar. Anita arrives and Drake thanks her for saving his life. Katherine walks into the room, having taken physical form for this occasion, and Cyan and Anita leave the two together to share a quiet moment.
Later, Drake informs the group that he has Draco's memories. He now knows that the Black Sorcerer intends to bring Leviathan into the world, and that the djinn has never been Nyarlathoep, but was Leviathan all along. Nyarlathotep pops in to taunt the group about how foolish they are. After a few days' recovery, Drake is released from the hospital and goes home. He gathers his things from Anita's, and moves into the guest house on Cyan and John's property. He now has a mortal life ahead of him, provided they all survive the Black Sorcerer's plot...
Great Quotes:
Anita: I need to call Alan. If I'm going to fight Draco, I'm definitely going to need some sex.
(metagame discussion)
John: Gee, what do I have to worry about? My girlfriend's going down the road to madness and darkness, and I'm not there, because I'm busy giving CPR to my boss.
(out of game comments)
(Walter sees Brigit in the catwalks above and pulls out his shotgun)
John: Anita, if anyone asks, when you came to, I was giving chest compressions.
Walter (to Black Sorcerer): Be up for you next, dick!
Anita (to John): I'm grateful, you son of a bitch!
Anita (to Black Sorcerer): What's a matter, pencil dick? You couldn't get a role in the new Star Wars movie?
Drake: Where's Walter?
(John and Walter come running out of the school, a horde of demons on their tail)
Drake: Don't make me stuff your ass in a Hell dimension!
Anita uses Wishkill for the first time, and finds herself looking into the face of a mad god.
Anita has her soul trapped in the netherworld by Brigit.
John executes Brigit, mafia style
Draco kills Drake and is just as swiftly killed by Cyan and John. Heroic efforts by Anita, Willow, and Cyan barely save the man's life.
Cyan's magic addiction begins to spiral out of control.
Drake becomes human, permanently! He begins to try and build a life in the 21st century.
Kalie: Cyan is going to spit holy water into the face of the vampire.
Director: Okay. It's tough to be accurate, so the spitting will be at a -2.
Julie (to Eric): If you start making cold fish jokes about Anita, she will shoot you.
Walter: PULL!
Anita: Yeah, that'll look good. I'm stacked.
Faith: Still inside, fighting that Brigit chick.
John (Cocking his gun): Everyone get out of here. I'll take care of the bitch.
John: It's Walter's fault!
Great moments: