[Video recording of Jason Landry entering tomb.]

[Super: An ancient tomb near Basra, Iraq]

[Jason & Foster move farther into tomb.]

<Jason - [quietly] I can feel him.

Foster - That's what we've come for? That stone chicken? [squats down, starts recording video of small statue]> CUT

Jason - He knows we're here.

Foster - Well, I hope he's made lunch, 'cause I'm bloody hungry.

Jason - You're a fool, Foster. You make jokes while the fate of the world is at stake.

Foster - Better a fool than a lunatic. The only thing we've got to be afraid of around here is that damned Iraqi army. [stands up, looks in nearby chamber] Hey. Would you get a look at that?

<Jason - [looks in chamber] Ugly, isn't it? [They enter the chamber.]> CUT

Foster - What the hell is that thing?

Jason - You see? [reads inscription on stone wall] Ragmaith... alopa... Ahriman.

<Foster - If you say so.> CUT

Jason - [moves back over to large statue] It's him, Foster. It's him. Are you afraid, Foster? [chuckles] We should all be afraid. The thousand years are up. The demon is coming... And the dead will rise.

Foster - [scoffs] You've got a vivid imagination, old man. Come on. Get what you want and let's get the hell out of here. [walks away]

[Suddenly, red light illuminates the statue and the spear held in its hand glows white and disappears. A beam of white light shoots from the statue's hand and hits Foster, who slumps to the ground, the spear now protruding from his chest.]

Jason - Foster! [The red light vanishes.] Dear God! Foster! [Jason kneels by the dead Foster, looks at the now-empty hand of the statue.]
 

CUT

<[Jason looks around, jumping at shadows.]

DM - [offscreen] So, what do you think, Richie?

RR - [walking down steps to quay with DM] I don't know, Mac. I just -- I don't get opera.

DM - Then maybe you should learn Italian.

RR - It's not just that. It's-- I mean, what's the point? You know? I mean, I don't see what it has to do with life today.

DM - The same as it had to do a hundred years ago. Things aren't that different.

RR - I don't know. It seems to me things are getting a lot worse. You watched any television recently? [offscreen] You know, Mac... [Jason gasps when he hears the name.] ...sometimes I think the whole world has gone crazy.

DM - [offscreen] Art and culture, they're the same.

RR - I mean, watching some guy go on and on for hours about his lost love just seems a little irrelevant to me.>

Jason - [approaches them from behind] Please! I--I have to ask you-- Are you Duncan MacLeod?

DM - Yeah, I'm MacLeod.

Jason - Oh, thank God! I've come to warn you -- the time is at hand. The millennium is upon us! He is coming!

DM - [humoring him] Um, I'm sure he is, but it's a little late, and I think you're a little confused.

Jason - Listen to me, while there's still time! You've got to stop him, MacLeod. You alone! God help you. You're the only one who can!

[DM is distracted by glowing red fog behind Jason. Horton steps into view in the fog.]

<RR - [as Mac walks away from them] Mac, what is it? CUT

DM - Stay there, Richie.>

Jason - [as DM runs off, RR following] No! You don't know what you're facing! You've got to stop! He's here for you! <You're not ready! I haven't taught you how to fight him.> CUT

DM - [approaches Horton in red fog] Horton.

[Flash of Horton's crypt marker: JAMES HORTON / 1945-1993 (from "Unholy Alliance, Part 1")]

CUT

[Horton lunges, DM ducks and stabs Horton in the gut with the switchblade.]

(resume previous scene)

[Flash of Horton's crypt marker: JAMES HORTON / 1945-1993 (from "Unholy Alliance, Part 1")]

<DM - You can't be here.> CUT

[Horton turns away. RR joins DM.]

RR - Who?

DM - James Horton. He's-- [Horton and the red fog have vanished.] He was right there!

<RR - Mac, what are you talking about? [as Mac climbs steps, looking for Horton] There's no one there, Mac.

DM - [sees Horton in red fog again, on stairs ahead of him] How can you still be alive? Answer me, Horton. [from RR's perspective, no red fog, no Horton] I killed you.> CUT How?

Horton - [standing at top of stairs in red fog, voice echoing] The question you have to ask yourself is -- "Is he real? Has Horton really come back from the dead? Or have I gone insane?" How many times do you think you're going to have to kill me?

DM - [pulls out katana] Just once. [runs up steps]

[meanwhile, by barge]

[Red fog creeps up on Jason.]

[DM reaches top of steps, looks around. No Horton, no red fog.]

RR - Mac? [joins him at street level]

DM - He was here. Horton was here.

RR - Mac, you killed Horton three years ago. Look around. There's nobody here but us.

[meanwhile, by barge]

[Jason whirls around as red fog surrounds him. Flashes of Ahriman statue. Jason grabs at his neck, screams, falls to his knees. DM & RR run back down the steps to the quay. The red light around Jason vanishes as he dies. DM & RR run to his body.]

RR - I'm going to check under the bridge.

[DM turns Jason's head to the side, sees bruising on his neck.]

CUT

[later]

RR - [as medical personnel wheel away gurney with Jason's covered body] Dead. And what for? Fifty francs and a couple of pictures of his grandkids. It's too bad. The guy was just a harmless crazy.

DM - Maybe.

RR - Oh, come on, Mac. Give me a break. "HE is coming..."? "The time is at hand..."? The guy was out of his mind.

DM - He was also terrified. And he knew my name.

RR - Mac, Horton is dead. It was dark. We had champagne... You made a mistake.

DM - No, no, no, no. It was Horton, all right. The old man was trying to warn me.

RR - You think he was a Watcher?

DM - No, I checked his wrists. No tattoos.

RR - So now what?

[Close on gravestone: JAMES HORTON / 1945-1993]

DM - When was the body removed?

Cemetery official - Yesterday, monsieur. [They all look down at empty grave.] Hmm. This was not done in my day. A body was meant to stay in one place, as God intended it.

<DM - Tell me about it. ¹ What about paperwork? There must have been an official request to have the body exhumed. CUT

Cemetery official - [chuckles] In France, monsieur, paperwork is our national pastime. The remains are to be shipped to the United States for the burial sometime today.

DM - From where?

Cemetery official - Orly Airport.>

DM - At whose request?

Cemetery official - The brother-in-law of the deceased.

DM - Joe Dawson?

Cemetery official - [nods] Yes.

RR - Wait a minute. Are you sure you've got the right guy? He's tall, gray hair, beard, uses a cane?

Cemetery official - That was him. Nice man, but he seemed to be in a great hurry.

DM - I'm sure he was. [leaves] CUT

Cemetery official - [to RR] If the dead cannot find peace, then how can the living?

RR - Thanks for your help.

Cemetery official - Oui, monsieur.

Joe - [standing next to casket] Let's get this over with. [signs paper on clipboard] Thank you. [Customs agent walks off with clipboard.]

DM - Well, if I'd known, I would have sent flowers. My condolences. Anybody I know, huh?

Joe - This is personal business, MacLeod. It really doesn't concern you.

DM - Anything to do with Horton concerns me.

Joe - Hey! Look, my niece -- his daughter -- she moved back to Chicago. She wants her father buried there, so I'm helping the kid out. It's a family thing.

DM - Oh, a family thing, is it? Huh. Well. Then why did you hide it from me?

Joe - I know what he did to you, and I know how you felt about him.

DM - Oh, that's very considerate.

Joe - Hey, what is wrong with you?! The guy was my brother-in-law. His daughter wants his body shipped home.

DM - Then she's going to be really disappointed, isn't she?

RR - [to RR] What is his problem?

DM - I saw him. I saw Horton. He's alive.

Joe - [disbelieving laugh] No. Horton is dead. You killed him yourself. Remember? I was there.

DM - Yeah, well, he looked very healthy last night.

Joe - This is insane! Whatever is left of James Horton is in that box!

DM - Well, then we should really wish him a bon voyage, shouldn't we, huh? [Horton appears nearby, watching as DM attacks casket lid with pry bar.]

Joe - Mac, what in God's name are you doing? CUT

<DM - [shrugs off RR & security guard trying to stop him] Leave me alone! [Horton smiles as DM pries open casket lid, revealing desiccated corpse inside.]

Security guard - Hey! Stop it! Stop it {?? desecration}!

DM - [as group of security guards drag him away] No, it's not {him}. It can't be!

Security guard - [offscreen] Take him out of here.

[Horton continues to smile, then his eyes glow red.]>

RR - [exits police station with DM] If it wasn't for Joe, they would've nailed you. Listen, Mac, he convinced them to drop the charges.

Joe - [waiting for them outside] I told them you were a friend of the deceased and you were overcome with emotion.

DM - Yeah, nice touch.

Joe - I don't know what's going on with you, MacLeod. I just hope it's over.

DM - Not yet.

RR - Hey, Mac, you saw the guy's body!

DM - I saw SOMEBODY'S body. You find someone the right size, you put him in Horton's clothes, and it doesn't prove that Horton is dead, does it?

Joe - Yeah, he's down at the park right now with Elvis and J.F.K. They're listening to Jerry Garcia. What do you think this is, some kind of huge conspiracy?!

DM - You lied to me once before, didn't you? Didn't you? He's family. You said you'd do anything for him.

Joe - CUT [to RR] Good luck. You're gonna need it.

RR - [follows DM as he walks away] Listen, Mac, if Horton is alive, where is he? Okay? What's he doing?

DM - Maybe that's what the old man was trying to tell me.

Medical Officer - A murder victim?

DM - Yes. He was brought in last night. I need to know his name.

Medical Officer - I'm sorry, monsieur... but there were no murder victims last night.

DM - No, you must be mistaken. There was.

RR - A man, about sixty, white hair, thinning on top.

Medical Officer - Oh, the one who collapsed by Notre Dame?

RR - Yeah, him.

Medical Officer - Jason Landry.

DM - So you saw him.

Medical Officer - He was identified just this morning. But there was no murder. Death was due to natural causes.

DM - No, no, no, no, no. I saw the bruises, the marks. [motions to his neck] He was strangled.

Medical Officer - Monsieur, I examined the body myself. Jason Landry died of a stroke. There were no marks of any kind.

DM - Can I see the body?

Medical Officer - I'm afraid not. It was claimed by his granddaughter for cremation.

DM - Well, that's convenient. [turns away]

Medical Officer - Did you say something?

DM - Yes, I did. [reins it in] I'm sorry. Look, is there an address? I -- I, uh -- I want to pay my respects.

[Medical Officer disappears into her office. DM wanders back into main area of morgue. Corpse on gurney turns its head toward him & the eyes glow red. DM backs around corner into hallway, shaken.]

Medical Officer - [comes out of office, hands him a piece of paper] Monsieur?

[DM looks back around corner at corpse on gurney.]

RR - Mac. Mac? Are you all right?

[The corpse is just a corpse, inanimate, eyes closed.]

DM - Yeah. [takes paper from Medical Officer] Let's get out of here.

RR - Twist my arm. [to Medical Officer] Thanks. [hurries after DM] CUT

[DM looks at chess board by his chair.]

[Red fog overtakes the barge.]

(resume previous scene)

[DM hears faint growling noise, looks up, sees Kronos lurking behind shelving unit. He looks away, gives his head a quick shake. He looks back over. Kronos is still there, dressed in his Bronze Age outfit & face paint.]

Kronos - You still don't understand, do you, MacLeod? I am the end of time!

DM - You're history.

[DM & Kronos begin fighting again. DM takes Kronos' head.]

(resume previous scene)

[Kronos comes out from behind shelving unit, his steps echoing loudly.]

DM - Kronos?

Kronos - Well, Highlander, did you really think you could kill ME?

DM - You're not real. I took your head. You can't be real. [draws his katana, motions Kronos forward] Come.

[Kronos moves toward him, his steps still echoing loudly, then disappears in a flash of red. DM looks around at the empty barge, then runs outside.]

[DM runs off barge and onto quay, sensing 'buzz'.]

Methos - Look, Mac, it's me! It's me! CUT

DM - Did you see him?

Methos - See who?

DM - Kronos.

Methos - [disbelieving laugh] Really? [Mac looks at him, looks around, then starts walking away.] Mac? Mac, where are you going? ³ [DM just continues to walk off down the quay, not responding.] ⁴
 

[Camera pans up from alley to apartment window.]

<DM - [voice-over] I'm sorry for your loss, but if you help me, maybe we can find out what really happened.> CUT
 

Allison - You're telling me you think someone killed my grandfather? The police thought it was a stroke.

DM - I know what they said, but I was there. He was murdered. I'm sorry. Did he ever mention a man named James Horton? [She shakes her head.] Did he ever show you this symbol? [shows her the Watcher symbol drawn in a small notebook] Did he ever describe it to you, write it down anywhere?

Allison - No. Before he died... did he say anything?

DM - What kind of thing?

Allison - What did he say?

DM - He said the end of the world was here, and he said "he" was coming. [off Allison's reaction] What was he talking about?

Allison - You won't believe it. No one would.

DM - You'd be surprised what I'd believe.

Allison - My grandfather was an archaeologist. No one in the world knew more about all those weird ancient religions.

DM - [realizing] Jason Landry -- he wrote "The Mythology of Heroes."

Allison - Ten years ago. He really believed everything that was in that book. All that stuff about good and evil fighting over the fate of the world, where nobody could see it. I know it sounds crazy.

DM - No. No, it doesn't. Go on.

Allison - He traveled to Egypt, and India, and Iraq, searching ancient texts for some hint of how to defeat this great evil he thought was coming. A champion.

DM - [repeating Jason's words] "You must stop him... you alone."

Allison - [shocked] He said that to you?

<DM - CUT Yes.>

Allison - Come with me. [leads him through apartment] ⁶

[Red fog begins to fill the alley below apartment window.]

[Allison leads DM into study. A TV is on inside.]

Newscaster on TV - [offscreen] The United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates there will be an additional eight million refugees this year, more than half children. CUT

Allison - <I keep it on just for the noise. [turns television off] CUT I think the news is more depressing. ⁷ [picks up battered leather-bound notebook] This was my grandfather's journal. [hands it to DM]>

DM - [flips through pages] Minoan... [turns page] Chaldean... ⁸ [inset of journal page with cuneiform] This is Persian. [page has drawing of statue similar to the large statue in the Iraqi tomb]

Allison - He believed the Zoroastrian myths of ancient Persia held the truth about a cycle of evil that comes to the Earth every thousand years.

[DM stares at page, where amongst more drawings are written the words "The next warrior / MAC LEOD".]

DM - Where would your grandfather have found my name, then?

Allison - [looks over his shoulder] He found you.

<DM - No. No. Do you have any idea why my name's in your grandfather's journal? CUT

[Instead of answering, Allison pops VHS tape into VCR.]>

Allison - This was taken in Iraq six months ago. [turns TV back on]

<Foster - [voice-over on video, as Foster enters tomb] This is my last hole in the ground, Landry. You're out of money, and tonight I'm out of here. [cut to close up of large statue's snarling face] What the hell is that thing? CUT

Jason - [voice-over on video] It's him, Foster. The thousand years are up. [DM & Allison watch the video. DM frowns.] The demon is coming, and the dead will rise.

Foster - [voice-over on video] You've got a vivid imagination, old man. Come on. Get what you want. Let's get the hell out of here.

Jason - [voice-over on video] You're not the first one to doubt me, Foster. But it's real.

[On the video screen, the statue's spear glows white, Foster gasps, and the video ends.]>

DM - [still frowning, as Alison turns off the TV] You believe this?

Allison - He did. My grandfather was obsessed... but he wasn't crazy.

DM - [still skeptical] And he thought I was the one that could defeat this thing.

Allison - He was afraid it would kill him before he found you.

[Camera slowly closes in on DM as he reacts. He looks down at the journal. Camera pans/zooms down to journal as he closes it. ⁹]

RR - [voice-over] The millennium?

RR - [voice-over, continued] The dead walking? Ancient rituals?
 

RR - [continued] A battle between good and evil? Mac, he must have been talking about Immortals.

DM - Maybe. But Horton wasn't Immortal, and it WAS him on the quay. ¹⁰

RR - It's got to all mean something.

DM - Yeah, but what? I mean, some guy falls dead in my arms, I-I'm fighting men that I've already killed, and I'm up all night trying to figure out that I'm some kind of champion who's supposed to defend the world against who-knows-what.

RR - Maybe this is all for real.

DM - Oh, don't start.

RR - No, I'm serious. Look, four hundred years ago, Cassandra said there was a prophecy about you defeating a great evil, right? She knew who you were, she knew what would happen. Maybe this is all meant to be. Maybe you ARE the chosen one.

<Cassandra - [voice-over] An evil one will come... to vanquish all before him. [Cassandra's face overlays scene as she continues.] Only a Highland child, born on the Winter Solstice, who has seen both darkness and light, can stop him.> CUT

DM - What if I don't want to be chosen?

RR - Well, you might not have a choice.

DM - But I don't believe in fate or prophecies. At least, I never did.

[Super: Scotland]

<DM - [voice-over] CUT Long ago... well, back in 1625... I'd been Immortal for only three years, but I still didn't know what I was, why I was alive. I'd survived two hard winters with no clan, no family. Sudd enly I felt it-- A feeling. More than a feeling. It had happened once before when I faced Kanwulf the Viking. But no one had taught me about the Game. No one had taught me about who we were, what we are.>

[DM in flashback reacts to sensing 'buzz', approaches entrance to cave, enters.]

Hermit - [offscreen, chanting slowly] High-land-er. High-land-er. High-land-er. High-land-er.

Hermit - [as DM enters] It took you long enough. [as DM stares] What are you looking at? Come by the fire. It's nay fit out there for man nor spirit.

DM - Aye.

Hermit - [gestures to rabbit roasting over his campfire] Help yourself.

DM - [moving closer] I did not know anyone lived in these parts.

Hermit - Aye. It's a good place for a man to lose himself. They cannae find you up here. The ones who call you demon. [laughs]

DM - No one calls me demon.

Hermit - You've been with nay home nor clan for three years now. But that's over. Soon you'll find your--

DM - [reaches for some of the rabbit] Who?

Hermit - [singsong] The one who will teach you what you need to know. [laughs again]

DM - Who are you talking about?

Hermit - Your kinsman. Connor MacLeod.

DM - Connor MacLeod's a legend.

Hermit - Oh, so you say, young Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod.

DM - How do you know my name?

Hermit - Oh, I ken your name, Duncan MacLeod, and I ken your destiny.

DM - No man knows that.

Hermit - What we are is written in the wind, long before we walk this world. The roads we travel and where they lead us.

DM - You're a seer. ¹¹

Hermit - <I have waited in this place for six hundred years for you. CUT [moves suddenly, grabbing a handful of bones from nearby and tossing them down] The bones! The bones will tell your destiny.> Ah, you're blessed and you're cursed. When your time comes, you must be prepared to face an evil beyond any you can imagine. And evil is nor the color black. 'Tis the color of blood. CUT Every thousand years he comes, and he must be fought. Long ago, I did my part, but now the responsibility is yours!

DM - What responsibility? I have no clan, no people, no place.

Hermit - But you have your destiny! Raise that blade. Strike here. Take my head! Taste the truth of what you are! CUT

DM - You ARE mad. I have no quarrel with you.

Hermit - No, no. Listen, listen, listen. My road is ending.... but yours has far to go. Take my head! CUT

DM - No! CUT

<Hermit - [grabs his own sword from nearby] You must kill me, Highlander. [attacks DM] You've practiced with that sword. [DM evades him.] Now come back here, you wee scamp. You're a disgrace to your clan! [follows, attacks again, grabs DM's sword blade & holds it against his neck] Yes. [beheads himself with DM's sword]

DM - [voice-over] The hermit took his own head with my sword. I had no idea what was happening. It was my first Quickening. [Quickening erupts, dies down.] The old hermit told the truth. Soon after, I met my teacher, Connor MacLeod. But I ignored the rest of his prophecy.>

(resume previous scene)

DM - I have no idea what I'm up against.

RR - I think it's what are WE up against?

DM - No. According to Landry, it's coming for me.

RR - Yeah, well, I'm not going anywhere.

DM - Richie, this is not something we're going to argue about.

RR - Hey, Mac. Would you leave ME hanging? It's my choice. It's not yours.

DM - We don't even know what it is. CUT

<RR - Yeah, well, you want to find out, I'll be right there with you.

DM - Thanks, Richie.>
 

[Red fog creeps into alley below apartment window.] ¹²

[Allison is sitting on couch, looking at photo album. She turns the page, sighs, ¹³ raises a tissue to her nose as she sniffles, then ¹⁴ hears noise and gets up to investigate.]

[Horton steps out of red fog.]

[The fog fills the alley, sends a tendril up to apartment window.] ¹⁵

(resume previous scene)

[Allison walks through apartment. She enters Jason's study cautiously, walks past table of artifacts across from window, then ¹⁶ past two more windows to far end of study. Sound of door slamming closed makes her jump. ¹⁷ She starts cautiously back, knocks over a knicknack on a shelf, then the door behind her creaks closed and the TV starts playing the videotape from earlier.]

Jason's voice - [on video in background] It's him. Are you afraid, Foster? We should all be afraid. The thousand years are up. The demon is coming.

[Allison turns off the TV.]

Jason's voice - [from TV] Ouch! [laughs as TV turns back on] That wasn't very nice. [Blood starts running down the front of the TV screen.]

Jason's voice - [echoing behind her] Allison? [She turns, sees Jason standing behind her.] I always liked that chair. [appears in chair] Allison.

Allison - [shakes her head] No. [backs away, crying] No. [The door shuts and locks her in.]

Jason - There's no escape.

Allison - [rattling the doorknob] Let me out!

[Jason laughs and the room bursts into flames]

Allison - [screams, rattles the doorknob] Let me out! [screams]

CUT

CUT

Methos - Most religions have some version of the savior myth. <Demons sent to destroy the Earth, and a champion comes to protect it. CUT

RR - That is exactly what it says in the journal.

Methos - But millennium theory is nothing new, Richie. Every thousand years, I hear these same stories. I don't know. I have never seen a demon.>

Joe - A Zoroastrian demon.

RR - Well, then maybe you guys have another explanation for what's been going on here?

Joe - What's going on is that Duncan MacLeod's losing it.

Methos - Okay. We'll talk to the granddaughter.

RR - Yeah, maybe she can help. [They continue walking down lane toward apartment building.]

Man #1 - [in background] Can you bring that light over here?

Man #2 - [in background] Yeah, I got it.

Man #1 - [in background] We need some help over here.

[Two firefighters are carefully transporting a body bag down a ladder. Police and other emergency personnel stand around two fire trucks and a police car.]

CUT

Detective - [approaches the trio] You live in the area?

Methos - No, we just saw the smoke. What happened?

Detective - Arson. Someone set fire to the building. We're looking for a man who was seen leaving the place late last night... Tall, dark hair... ponytail.

Joe - Nobody we know.

RR - Sorry. [Detective walks off.] Not a chance, Joe.

Joe - Hey, Richie, come on, I know how you feel.

RR - Give me a break. Mac was not involved in this. You know it.

Man - [in background] You okay? You all right? Easy.

Man on ladder - [lowering body bag] Easy.

Man - [in background] {??} got a light for me?

Man - [in background] All right. It's all clear in here.

Man on ladder - [helping lower body bag to ground] You got it?

Joe - [to Detective] Who's that?

Detective - She WAS, uh, Allison Landry.

RR - [to Detective] Thanks.

Man - [in background] Out of the way, please.

Methos - Poor, poor Allison.

[DM enters, walks down ¹⁸ steps, tosses jacket aside, pours himself a drink.]

Allison - [offscreen] Had a hard day? [DM looks up, sees her lounging on his bed, wearing black negligee and a necklace with a red gemstone pendant.] Join me?

DM - Allison, what are you doing here?

Allison - Isn't it obvious? [Phone rings. DM answers it.]

<DM - [into phone] Hello. MacLeod. Hello. CUT

Allison - [on phone] It's me, Allison. I'm dead. [DM looks up, no longer sees Allison in front of him.] Now you see me, now you don't.

[DM looks around, then sits on chair.> A pair of feminine hands reach around from behind him and cover his eyes.]

Allison - Guess who. [DM jumps to his feet, knocking Allison into vase on table. The vases crashes to the floor, breaking.]

DM - [instinctively] I'm sorry. Are you okay?

Allison - Is that any way to treat a lady? [DM stares at her.] Don't you think I'm pretty?

DM - What do you want from me?

Allison - [places her hands on his chest] Nice pecs. [DM backs away.] Are you going to kill me again? Why'd you burn my apartment?

DM - I didn't.

Allison - Don't you remember? You came over and you wanted all my grandfather's books and papers. And I wouldn't give them to you, so you burned the place down.

DM - It didn't happen!

Allison - The police think it did.

DM - It didn't happen! [grabs his katana]

Allison - Go on, take it. [holds blade to her neck] But afterwards, you have to make love to me. Don't you want to save the world, MacLeod? Or maybe you'd just rather save yourself? Or maybe... [in Horton's voice] I'm not real at all! [pushes DM down, disappears again]

DM - [looks around, notices vase sitting intact on table] [voice-over, thinking to himself] This never happened? None of this was real. But it was. I'm losing it.

CUT

Joe - Yeah. I guess that's why we both feel like rats. ¹⁹

DM - <[voice-over, thinking] I didn't want this. I never asked for it. I'm done with it.> CUT [tosses Jason's notebook into fire, then grabs it back out again.] No. [carries journal across barge, sets it down, ²¹ senses 'buzz', turns as Joe & Methos enter barge] So where are the men in the white coats?

Joe - We think you're in trouble, Mac.

DM - Trouble. You think I'm in trouble?

Methos - Mac, you need help.

Joe - You can't do this alone.

DM - I'm not insane! I saw them. Horton, Kronos. I heard them. I don't know what they were, but they WERE real.

Methos - And you think they were demons?

DM - Yea-- [cuts himself off, frustrated]

[RR walks through rain toward his motorcycle. Car drives past him. Horton is in the back seat with Joe, holding gun to Joe's head.]

RR - Joe? Horton? Son of a bitch! [The car squeals away. RR chases after it.] Come back here! Stop! Stop!

(resume previous scene)

Joe - Please, let us help you, Mac.

DM - Look, I've been reading about this, thinking about it. Look at the state of the world. War... famine... chaos... <There HAS to be something to this prophecy. CUT

Methos - And...?>

DM - I don't know. Look, if this is all in my mind, if I AM crazy, then... it's too late. If not, then there's nothing you can do.

[RR grabs receiver, puts coin in slot, dials number.]

(resume previous scene)

[Phone rings. DM answers it.]

DM - [into phone] Hello.

RR - [into phone] Mac, it's me. Look, I saw him. I saw Horton. He's got Joe.

DM - [into phone] That's impossible.

RR - [into phone] No, look. I know what I saw. <[on phone] CUT I think they headed into the old racetrack.>

DM - [into phone] No, Richie, do nothing. Nothing. [on phone] Get back here.

RR - [into phone] Sorry, Mac. [drops phone receiver]

DM - [on phone] Richie. Look, Richie! [into phone] You don't know what you're facing. [hands phone to Joe] Keep him on the line. He's going to be at the old racetrack. [runs out]

Joe - [into phone] Richie? Richie! [shakes his head at Methos, lowers phone]

[RR looks around, sees empty sedan with doors left open, runs inside.]

RR - [explores empty building, sword drawn] Joe?

[The empty sedan's headlights glow red as red fog appears at building entrance.]

[Red light illuminates down escalator that is in motion. DM walks toward escalator, holding katana. Red light appears all around him.]

DM - Richie.

[Figure sitting on steps of escalator as it descends is illuminated in red light, his face hidden.]

DM - Are you all right? Richie, it's me.

[Figure lifts his head, revealing a Richie with red glowing eyes.]

Ahriman-Richie - [stands, laughs] I know.

DM - You.

Ahriman-Richie - "You"? "Me"? Me, you? Is that how you see me? You don't even understand your place in any of this, do you? [attacks. They fight. DM stops himself from landing a blow.] What's the matter? You don't want to hurt your little buddy? [cuts DM, laughs] Some champion. [attacks again]

DM - What the hell are you?

Ahriman-Richie - I am your friend. I am not your friend. [suddenly becomes Horton]

Horton - I'm the man you can't kill.

[DM attacks Horton, now RR again, lands a blow.]

DM - Everyone can die. One way or another.

[Now it is Kronos in front of him, wearing Bronze Age costume. Fight continues.]

[Kronos disappears. DM looks around, catching his breath. Horton rides escalator down, shoots DM with a gun.]

RR - [elsewhere in racetrack, hears gunshot] Joe?

DM - [on the ground, bleeding] What the hell are you?

Horton - I am Set.

Ahriman-Richie - I am Ahriman.

Kronos - I am everything your people call demons and devils.

Horton - I am anger. I am the dark.

[All three step off escalator.]

Ahriman-Richie - I bring chaos and fear. Doubt and anarchy.

Kronos - I existed before time began, and I will exist when time is ended.

[They circle around DM.]

Ahriman-Richie - For you, all that matters is that you cannot stop me.

[There are two of each of them now, all circling around DM, laughing. DM closes his eyes, lashes out with his sword, but they have all disappeared again.]

[Elsewhere in building, Richie continues looking for Joe.]

[DM hears laughter. Kronos attacks, disappears. Ahriman-Richie attacks, disappears. Kronos attacks again, disappears. DM sees them all around him, laughing. He fights off Kronos again, turns, sees Richie behind him, yells and swings his katana. Richie's body falls to the floor. DM looks around, expecting another attack. Red fog rolls in around the base of the escalator, envelops DM. Quickening begins. Flashes of RR screaming, taking Mako's Quickening ("Under Color of Authority"). Split-second flashes of RR:

[Joe & Methos walk through abandoned building.]

[DM kneels next to RR's body, in shock. Ahriman-Richie appears behind him.]

DM - [hopeful] Richie?

[Ahriman-Richie laughs, his eyes glowing red. He continues to laugh as DM grieves. Joe & Methos arrive, move closer. Kronos & Horton laugh at DM's grief, then all three disappear. DM lifts his katana, offers it to Methos, head bowed.] CUT

<Methos - Absolutely not.

DM - [broken] Take it!

[Methos walks away. DM drops the katana.]

[RR rides his motorcycle along the road.]

[Scenes from beginning of training montage.]

[RR rides his motorcycle along the road (as Cullen chases him).]

[Jim Byrnes - "Twelve Questions"

[DM walks with Tessa & RR.]

[RR & DM argue about Pete & the Tessa look-alike.]

[RR & DM walks past sign reading: FOREIGN FILM Festival. RR checks out a blonde that passes them.]

[RR rides his motorcycle along the road (as Cullen chases him).]

[DM stands in niche next to elevator, katana drawn. Elevator opens & Immortal walks out, sword held upright in front of his face. DM steps out of niche, swings katana. Other Immortal reacts, blocking with his sword - it's RR.]

[RR laughs at DM's attempt "to be nice", at very end of episode.]

[DM throws an arm over RR's shoulder as they walk off.]

[RR rides his motorcycle along the road (as Cullen chases him).]

[DM & RR hug. (After DM tells RR he missed him.)]

[DM takes a drink, hands bottle to RR.]

[RR smiles, watching DM fix Mikey's toy train. (cut footage, not actually in the episode)]

[RR rides his motorcycle away after almost being run off the road by Cullen. (cut footage, not actually in the episode)]

(resume previous scene)

[DM pulls glove from RR's hand, says something (in Lakota?) and leaves, sobbing. His katana is left lying beside RR's body. Methos goes back over to Joe, comforts him as he cries. The katana glows red.]>