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M-m-m-m, good! Two delectably evil villains appear in this first episode of a two-parter. Kalas AND Xavier! One is an immediate danger, one’s in a flashback. Add Amanda, Methos and Joe to the mix and we get a superior Highlander episode, crammed with surprises!
Amanda waltzes in with the first nasty surprise for MacLeod. Poor thing, she meant well—breaking Kalas out of jail in hopes of whacking him herself to save Duncan the trouble. As usual, her misguided efforts only increase Duncan’s woes. A pain in the butt Amanda may be, but she is never, ever, boring.
Then... whoops! Christine Salzer, bitter over her Watcher hubby’s death, wants to spill the beans about Immortals and Watchers to the Tribune. PUBLICITY! Immies and Watchers have avoided it for millennia, terrified of its repercussions. This is a colossal No-No!
Even Methos returns to become caught up in the intrigue. He’s been busy fielding two identities—5, 000 year old Immortal Methos to his good buddies Mac and Joe, (now also Amanda)—and Adam Pierson, mild-mannered mortal Watcher researcher. His juggling act becomes increasingly difficult to pull off.
It all comes together in the next episode, Finalé, Part Two.
Part One is only the warm-up.
New characters:
HAMZA — An Immortal friend and mentor of MacLeod’s from 17th century Algiers.
CHRISTINE SALZER — wife of murdered Watcher, Don Salzer, resentful and antagonistic toward the Watchers and Immortals alike.
NINO — psychopathic sidekick that Kalas recruits in prison.
GERARD — the bartender at Kalas’ Club Nosferatu.
DANIELLE — singer at Club Nosferatu. She and Gerard first appeared in “Methos” but did not say much.
“You can't fight for me and I won't allow you to die for me!” — Duncan MacLeod
“Pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes” — John Ruskin
Prison Courtyard, A Few Months Ago
The convicts work hard,
Weeding and hoeing,
A vegetable garden—
They appear to be growing.
But malevolent seeds—
Have also been sown.
Soon they’ll attack—
One of their own.
One inmate’s surrounded,
He’s soon beaten down,
Another looks on—
With a nonchalant frown.
It’s KALAS! While he—
Is watching intently—
He is fatally surprised,
Nino stabs him—not gently.
Kalas falls to the ground—
And painfully dies.
Nino’s rifling his pockets—
When, in front of his eyes—
Kalas wakes! He’s alive!
Nino’s trapped by his greed!
“You’re a psycho,” says Kalas,
“And you’re just what I need.”
Same Prison, Some Months Later
Nino’s mentally deficient,
His morals—nonexistent.
The qualities needed—
To be Kalas’ assistant.
It begins. A guard passes—
Near Kalas’ cell,
Kalas drags him in, kills him.
Technique nonpareil.
To Nino’s cell now—
With no hesitation.
“Do we go tonight?”
Breathless anticipation.
With Kalas in charge—
They sneak to the yard.
Out there, sicko Nino—
Kills one more guard.
These two are so noisy—
They’d rouse a dead body.
This prison’s security’s—
Abominably shoddy.
“What now?” asks the psycho,
At the foot of the wall.
“We’re awaiting our patron,
Don’t talk—not at all.”
Just then a line—
Shoots over the wall.
Attached is a rope,
(Knotted so they won’t fall)
Kalas climbs, then descends—
On the opposite side.
He feels an Immortal,
And there’s no place to hide!
He stands quite defenseless,
No weapon has he,
But there—with the crossbow,
Whom does he see?
AMANDA!...and she—
Wields a powerful blade.
She doesn’t see Nino.
Climb down quick to aid.
“All this, to kill ME? ”
Kalas wonders aloud.
“I’m here to avenge—
What you did to MacLeod.”
“He sent you?”... “I owe him!”
She’s doing this for Mac.
But Nino now buries—
His knife in her back!
Kalas snatches her crossbow—
But Amanda’s too fleet,
The alarm finally sounds,
And they beat a retreat.
“Brilliant! ” spurts Amanda,
Feeling like a dumb goose,
How will she tell Mac,
That she set Kalas loose?
The Barge. Later
Mac sits, meditating.
Enjoying his peace,
When a Buzz from outside—
Tells him all that will cease.
Through his door pops Amanda—
Laden with bags of food.
“I came to cook dinner,
And brighten your mood.”
“What are you doing here?”
(One of Mac’s favorite lines)
She continues, “There’s caviar,
Truffles and wines—
Chanterelle, and my favorite—
Of all...some smoked goose.”
Her bare skin distracts,
But, Mac knows it’s a ruse.
Meanwhile, In A Dark Alley
Kalas, backed up by Nino—
Stares in a man’s eyes.
“Would you say that we were—
About the same size?”
“What do you want?”
“Wallet, car, clothes” said glibly.
“You’re insane!” says the man.
Kalas answers, “Possibly.”
The Barge
Their fine dinner ended,
Mac’s still asking, “Why—
Are you being so nice?”
“I am, aren’t I?...
Smiling, “I want you happy....”
Then it falls like a ton!
“...So you won’t kill me—
When you hear what I’ve done.”
In the Stolen Car
With his new stolen razor—
Kalas shaves off his stubble.
Nino’s driving, but bored,
Just aching for trouble
What is Kalas seeking...
Driving all over town?
“There!” (An Immortal),
“That one! Run him down! ”
The Immortal is crushed—
By the impact, intense.
He struggles to reach—
His sword, for defense.
“You won’t need that now—
But I do,” says Kalas.
He’s like a heart patient—
Who needs digitalis.
The Quickening explodes—
To Nino’s delight.
The lightening and sparks—
Illumine the night.
When it’s over, then Kalas—
Stands winded, but strong.
“He rasps, “That’s so good,
It has been far too long!”
The Barge
Duncan sits stony-faced,
Hasn’t yet popped his cork,
But repeatedly striking—
His glass with a fork.
It’s driving Amanda—
To tears of distraction.
“Say or throw something!
Stop THAT! ”... No reaction.
“I was trying to do you—
A favor, you see.
For all of the times—
That you came through for me.
I thought, it’s my turn...”
“To do WHAT? DIE for me?
I will NOT allow it!”—
He shouts vehemently.
“You stay far from him,
You cannot fight for me,
Do you UNDERSTAND?”
She does, perfectly.
She turns, quickly leaves.
Not another word’s said,
Mac reflects by his window,
On an old friend, long dead.
Flashback, Algiers, 1653
The fierce desert sun—
Is brutal and hot.
Not cool comfy weather—
For a Highlander Scot.
To make matters worse,
This Arabian tea—
“Is HOT! ” MacLeod notes—
With disgust totally!
He and Hamza relax,
Their customs comparing.
“Aye, a cold Highland ale—
I would rather be sharing!”
They do not yet perceive—
As they lounge near the square,
An Immortal approaching—
On a galloping mare.
Loosely swathed in black robes—
As black as his heart.
He is known as a killer—
Who excels at his art.
He’s an imposing Moor,
Mac’s not pleased to meet him,
Many days, he’s chased Hamza—
And strides forth to greet him.
“Hamza El Khahir!”
His challenge rings out,
Followed by insults—
That offend the Boy Scout.
Mac’s willing to fight,
Then receives this retort,
“I don’t sleep with virgins,
Or kill tots for sport.”
Mac’s temper is up,
He returns stare for stare.
Hamza holds MacLeod back,
“This is not your affair.”
The Moor directs Hamza,
“Two hours...the Old Quarter,
Be there, or your friend—
Will be one head shorter.”
Mac exudes confidence,
“Who is that camel dung?”
“Xavier St. Cloud.”
Hamza’s growing unstrung.
“He has been many things”
Mac intends to pursue it.
“Soon he’ll be dead.
Your sword will see to it.”
Then Hamza commits—
An Immortal no-no,
“MacLeod, get the horses,
Very soon we must go.”
“Are you going to RUN? ”
“I’m not suicide prone.”
Mac responds, “If you leave,
You are riding alone. ”
MacLeod will face Xavier,
He’ll settle his hash.
Hamza warns, “You’re a fool,
Far too young and too rash.”
But Mac is defiant,
His pride will not bend,
“May Allah be with you,”
Prays Hamza, his friend.
The Old Quarter, Two Hours Later
MacLeod is impatient,
He yells that he’s waiting.
“Such rudeness!” St. Cloud—
Ridicules the Scot’s bating.
After trading some insults,
“It’s HAMZA I wanted.”
“Well it’s ME that you’ll fight,”
Counters Duncan, undaunted.
They both sense the Buzz,
Hamza did not take flight.
“Your challenge was to ME!
It was always my fight!”
Hamza’s honor dictates—
That a man cannot let—
Someone die in his place—
When the challenge is met.
He gives Mac his watch,
A work of precision.
Convinced he will die,
This is his last decision.
Holding Mac’s hand,
“Please, remember me.”
He has shown Mac...A man—
Must his own champion be.
The Barge, Present Day
Mac rubs the watch face,
Then puts it away.
What else can go wrong—
To ruin his day?
Another Immortal!
The Buzz tells him so.
Into the barge—
Step Methos and Joe.
“I called Joe to Paris.
Watcher troubles have grown...
None that concern YOU...”
“Good, I’ve got my own.”
Methos asks quizzically—
“Does it have a name?”
“It’s Kalas. Amanda—
Put him back in the Game.”
Kalas’ Hideout
Nino shows Kalas—
Some toughs he’s recruited—
For criminal actions—
They’re ideally suited.
“Stake out his barge,
Monitor his activities,
Watch for this woman,
Tell me all his proclivities.”
“Leave the killing to me.”
Their injunction from Kalas,
He’ll savor the pleasure,
So deep runs his malice.
A sketch of Amanda—
The thugs take away.
Cherchez la femme!
Watchword for the day.
L’Etoile D’Or, Maurice’s Restaurant
His hoodlums informed him—
MacLeod likes to dine here.
Yet, Kalas has trouble—
Ordering wine here.
No matter. Mac’s soon—
In Kalas’ face.
“Look around,” Kalas taunts,
This is a public place.”
Mac grins venomously,
“Let’s take it outside.”
“Wrong...look again.”
There is Maurice, bug-eyed,
While Nino applies—
A gun to his head,
The poor little Frenchman—
Quivers with dread.
As Maurice is hauled out,
Mac dare not protest.
But as they pass the window—
MacLeod’s at his best.
He leaps through the window—
Punching Nino with power,
Pushes Maurice to safety,
Leaving Kalas to glower.
Nino fires and misses,
Then his gun jams, no use...
Kalas orders him into—
The car, they vamoose.
“Leave town now, Maurice,”
With Mac’s cash, he goes,
“For a good man, MacLeod—
You have many foes.”
Christine Salzer’s House
That Watcher affair—
Must now be addressed.
Joe and Methos can see—
Christine is depressed.
More angry than sad,
Knowing Kalas killed Don,
“Now this....THING is free?
What the hell’s going on?”
“Your secret society—
Is what killed my man.
All Immortals are evil,
I will do all I can—
To expose what lies hidden,
Let the world know...and soon!
I’m meeting the editor—
Of the Tribune!”
“Christine,” appeals Methos,
“You don’t understand.”
With a sharp paper cutter—
He slashes his hand.
“They are not ALL bad,
I am one of them too.
You’ll destroy me as well—
If you carry this through”
He wipes off the blood—
From his hand, newly mended.
“You’re one of those THINGS!
All this time, you’ve pretended!
Get out of my house! ”
With tears, her eyes glistening.
While Kalas’ thug—
‘Neath her window is listening.
Outside
“What were you thinking?”
Joe’s exasperated.
“I improvised.”—
Answers Methos, deflated.
“The question remains,”
(Joe’s anxiety’s keen).
“How are we going—
To handle Christine?”
“She’s about to let loose.”
Methos answers, “With what?
I cleaned out the files,
The lady has squat.
Immortals and sword fights?
Heads being chopped?”
Joe will tail her, in case—
She has to be stopped.
Kalas’ Hideout
The thug reports in.
“Her name’s Christine Salzer.
She intends to go public,
Unless someone halts her.”
“Have you told anyone?”
Kalas looms ever ghoulish,
“Not yet, but the boys—
Will laugh, it’s so foolish.”
“Who’d believe her wild tale?”
Kalas disagrees...
He snaps the thug’s neck—
One-eighty degrees.
“Nino!” he calls.
His words tersely spoken.
“Fetch me another!
This one is broken!”
Shakespeare and Company, Bookshop
Christine reminisces—
On Don’s character,
Most of his time—
He was here, not with her.
His picture with Adam—
Catches her eye.
The two were so close,
Adam lived such a lie!
She smashes the picture!
The fragile glass shatters.
But there! In the frame—
Is what truly matters.
A CD-ROM disk!
When inserted in place—
Voilà! It contains—
The Watcher Database.
Immortals, their Watchers,
Their names and their stories.
Centuries of history,
Tragedies, glories.
There’s Xavier, MacLeod,
Annie Devlin, (dissenter),
There’s Joe, Adam Pierson,
Don Salzer, his mentor.
She fixates on Kalas,
Studies him well.
“You rotten bastard,
May you rot in hell!”
“This won’t bring Don back,
Joe’s entered, stands tense...
Please give me the disk.”
But it’s her evidence.
Club Nosferatu
Mac wants Kalas badly,
He questions Danielle,
“Don’t know and don’t care,
He was creepy as hell.”
“How about the bartender?”
(The last time they met—
Mac gave him a drenching—
He will not soon forget.)
“Gerard doesn’t like you.”
(But she knows his addy.)
Mac’s on his way out—
When he senses a baddie.
The good old Buzz warns him,
He waits out of sight,
Then crash! He attacks—
With a Highlander’s might!
“AMANDA! ”... “MACLEOD! ”
Both heads spared this meeting.
They trade salty comments,
But time’s swiftly fleeting.
Both after Kalas,
Both stubborn as mules,
They’ll unite as a team—
With, of course...separate rules.
Gerard’s Apartment
Her skills as a thief—
Get them past the locked door.
But Gerard will not speak—
To MacLeod any more.
The hole in his chest,
Took care of that threat.
But his killer has not—
Made his getaway yet.
He flies down the stairs,
Mac pursues on the run,
Mac tackles, they tumble,
Then thug falls on gun.
The gunshot is fatal,
“Damn! ” Mac’s lament,
“I hate when this happens,”—
Is Amanda’s comment.
Outside
Without a good lead—
They continue to bicker,
They each spot a tail,
But Amanda is quicker.
She’s off after one,
While she’s giving chase,
MacLeod smacks a trash lid—
In the other one’s face.
As Mac twists an armlock—
On one of the goons,
Amanda’s outnumbered,
She drew THREE buffoons.
With kicks, fists and elbows,
She holds them in check,
Till one jabs a hypo—
Deep into her neck.
“Where’s Kalas?” Mac asks,
While he twists the thug’s arm.
He feels a strong Buzz,
Looks up in alarm.
Pressed to the car’s window,
(Can’t help but spot her).
As the car pulls away,
It’s Amanda! They’ve got her!
Walking Toward the Barge
Joe: “Dammit! You said—
You wiped every file!”
“I thought that I did.”
Methos feels he’s on trial.
“Don made a back-up—
Unknown to me,
All known facts, one file.”
“Modern technology.”
“Well Joe, like it says—
In the old Chinese curse...”
“These are interesting times.”
Mac adds, “Now they’re worse,
Kalas has Amanda.”
Joe heaves a deep sigh,
“There’s this OTHER problem,
That’s why we stopped by.”
Inside the Barge
“That Watcher affair—
We said we could handle?
It’s going to be—
One hell of a scandal.”
They fill Duncan in,
“She’s got it ALL?
Joe, how could it happen?
This will be our downfall!”
Kalas’ Hideout
“Am I dead?” asks Amanda,
“Or will I be bait?”
Firmly tied to a chair,
She can only wait.
“What is this thing—
You have for MacLeod?”
“He destroyed my great gift,
I was richly endowed.”
Kalas bares his scarred neck,
“He did this to me.
Now I’ll destroy all—
That HE loves, you see.”
She tries to seduce him,
But his will power is great,
And as he departs—
He hoarsely croaks...“Bait! ”
Two thugs stay as guards,
Playing cards as she works—
The knots on the ropes,
Then she coos to the jerks,
“C’mon can’t you loosen—
These ropes...just a bit?”
She kicks one rope over—
Where it lands on one twit.
She purrs like a kitten,
Making sure he can see—
Shapely leg. He comes over—
To fondle her knee.
“You touch me...I touch YOU!”
She delivers swift kicks,
Gets her butt out of there,
With some neat gymnastics.
Outside the Tribune Building
Joe approaches Christine,
“Do you mind if I sit?”
“My appointment is soon,
I will not cancel it.”
Christine do you realize...
The ramifications?”
“People must learn the truth!
These are abominations!”
“Christine, I beg you,
You leave me no choice.”
He reveals his handgun.
There is grit in his voice.
“Neither do I.”
Firmly, she turns her back.
“JOE, DON’T DO THIS! ”
In between them steps Mac.
Joe aims anyway—
And fires his gun.
MacLeod takes the bullet—
And falls. Now it’s done.
Christine’s in the building—
Raising the roof,
People living forever?
Well, now she has proof.
A Few Minutes Later
Methos helps Mac,
As he catches his breath.
Joe demands, “Why, MacLeod...,
Did you save her from death?”
Duncan turns, walks away,
Joe hasn’t a clue.
“He didn’t save HER,”
Methos says, “He saved YOU. ”
TO BE CONTINUED.............
Peace, Emit
© 2002-2003
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