Synopsis of Fear, Itself
Written by TK
Xander's basement
Xander, Willow, Oz and Buffy are carving pumpkins. Buffy is still morose. Xander's movie pulls out the Halloween movie that he got for them to watch but he ended up with "Fantasia" by mistake. The others talk about the Alpha Delta fraternity party they were going to go to. Oz says it's actually pretty cool: you walk through a scary house to get to the party, which is usually worth it. Xander pretends he has other plans, but when Willow invites him to come with them he jumps at the chance. Buffy goes home, saying she's sleepy. The other talk about how they'd like to smack Parker for messing with Buffy that way.
Sunnydale street
Buffy is walking slowly back to her dorm. A monster jumps out in front of her and growls. She smacks it down to the ground. They guy in the monster mask takes of his mask and ask her what's wrong with her. He walks off grumbling. She wonders what's wrong with her too.
School cafeteria
Willow is talking to Buffy about moving to a new level of witchy stuff as they're getting their food. Buffy is still morose and not encouraging. Oz comes by and mentions that he worries about Willow getting hurt experimenting with all this stuff. He says that having strong power can be scary, like his wolfiness. Buffy sees Parker and decides she's not hungry and walks out. Willow follows her. Buffy says she just doesn't want to deal. Willow tries to comfort her and says maybe she'll meet a cool new boy at the party tonight. Buffy says she doesn't want to meet a new boy and she'll probably be patrolling tonight anyway.
Giles's apartment
Buffy is surprised to see Giles totally embracing Halloween in all its cheesiness, wearing a big fringed sombrero. She tells Giles that she assumed she'd be patrolling tonight. Giles says that actually, creatures of the night generally shy away from Halloween because it's so garish, so she shouldn't worry about patrolling and should just have a good time.
Alpha Delta house
The Alpha Delta brothers are setting up for the party. One of them mentions that their sound system is lousy and they decide to call Oz to see if he can help them out. One brother gives another brother a book with a mystical symbol in it that they can paint on the floor.
Xander's basement
Anya shows up and wonders why Xander hasn't called. Xander though Anya was over him. Anya was just saying that. She wonders if he'd like to celebrate their one-week anniversary since copulation tonight. He says he has plans with Buffy, Willow and Oz to got to a party. She wonders why he still hangs out with them since he has so little in common with them these days. He says she can come to the party with him as his date if she wants. She is excited. He tells her she needs a costume... something scary.
College classroom
Buffy asks Professor Walsh for tonight's assignment since she missed class. Professor Walsh is rude and tells her since all her limbs are obviously attached she shouldn't have missed class. Professor Walsh leaves and Riley tells Buffy that she was serious. Riley knows how freshman year can get and asks Buffy if she's having too much fun or not enough. Buffy says both. Riley gives her the assignment and she says she'll get it done tonight. Riley tells her she should be out partying tonight, it's Halloween. Riley himself will be grading papers.
Alpha Delta house
The brothers are painting the mystical symbol on the floor as Oz is setting up the sound system. Xander eats a peeled grape that the brothers have setup in a bowl. They're going to blindfold people, put their hands in the bowl and tell them they're feeling eyeballs. Oz goes to cut a wire with a knife and cuts his hand. He drops a little blood on the symbol on the floor. The floor wavers in reality for a moment, but no one notices. A plastic tarantula that was lying on the painted symbol comes to life and scurries away.
Summers house
Joyce is fixing up an old Little Red Riding Hood costume for Buffy. She and Buffy get talking about when Buffy was a kid and her father would take her trick-or-treating. Buffy gets sad all over again about her parents' divorce. She says maybe it's better never to open your heart to anyone, because they just end up bailing on you.
Buffy & Willow's room
Willow is on the phone with Oz. She wants to make sure Buffy has fun tonight. She's all set in her chain mail and ready to leave and meet him. She hangs up the phone and walks out into the madhouse of her dorm hallway. She walks by a guy dressed up as a lobster arguing with a girl dressed up as a wrapped present.
Alpha Delta house
One of the brothers has a blind-folded girl and is putting her hand in a bowl of peeled grapes. He tells her that they're eyeballs. She says that's gross and pulls off her blindfold. When she looks at what she's holding in her hand, they really are eyeballs.
Campus
Xander meets up with Buffy and jokingly asks her what's in her basket. She says she's actually carrying weapons, just in case. Xander is dressed as James Bond in a tuxedo, just in case they get turned into their costumes like last year. Buffy thinks he'd end up as head waiter. Willow shows up and tells everyone she's dressed as Joan of Arc. Willow says she has a lot in common with Joan of Arc, what with almost getting burned at the stake and her close relationship with God. Oz is dressed as God. Basically, he's dressed as Oz with a name tag on that says "God." As they walk down a campus path, the foursome run into three scary military guys in masks with guns that sneak out of the bushes. They wonder what exactly they were dressed as. Xander says that he invited Anya, but she's having trouble finding a scary costume and will meet them there. Buffy is sad that she's going to be a fifth wheel. Willow assures her she isn't.
Alpha Delta house
Everyone is the house is running and screaming. Many people are injured. No one can find a way out.
Outside Alpha Delta house
Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Oz are getting ready to enter the house.
Alpha Delta house
More running and screaming. A guy falls down the stairs and breaks his neck. The gang walks in and are surprised that they don't see anyone at all. They're pretty impressed with the decorations. Willow walks through a cobweb and reacts as if she walked through a real one. A plastic skeleton pops out of a closet with a knife and scares Xander. Suddenly, everyone notices a real hairy tarantula crawling on Willow's shoulder. Oz knocks it off. They gang walks into another room and Oz is confused because he thought the room was supposed to lead to something else. Buffy finds blood, real blood, on the floor. They hear a squeaking sound and look up. A whole bunch of bats fly off the ceiling and out of the room. The gang covers their heads. When the bats have cleared, Oz picks up a bat off the floor. It's rubber. Something weird is going on. Xander hopes that it was just a cool trick, but when they hear a demon voice even Xander has to admit that this is probably supernatural.
Outside Alpha Delta house
Anya show up dressed as a bunny. She is confused when she goes to the front door of the house and it's gone. There's a welcome mat, but no door, just a wall like the rest of the house. She steps away from the house to look up at it and sees a bloody girl at the window screaming for help. Suddenly, the window closes up with cement so that it looks like it was never there. Anya gets worried about Xander.
Alpha Delta house
That gang makes it back to the front hall, and wonder why the stairs and the door have disappeared. Xander mentions that he hears a hissing noise. Then Buffy mentions that she hears a hissing noise. Xander wonders why no one seems to be paying any attention to him. Buffy opens a closet and finds a guy that Oz knows as Chaz. The hissing noise was Chaz sobbing. Buffy asks Chaz what's wrong and all he can say is, "It's alive." In the other room, the plastic skeleton that jumped out at Xander becomes a real skeleton and raises its head. As Buffy is trying to get something more out of Chaz, the skeleton sneaks up behind her and stabs her in the shoulder. She turns around and kicks it to pieces. When it falls to the floor it's a cheap plastic skeleton again. Oz goes to look at Buffy's wound, but then they hear a desperate scream come from upstairs. Oz says Chaz's idea of hiding in closet is seeming better and better. They look over at the closet, but it's disappeared into the wall. Buffy gets out a weapon from her basket and tells everyone that she's going to help people, while they should find a way out of the house and use it. Willow can't believe Buffy is telling them to leave her alone. Buffy says they need Giles to make sense of what's happening here.
Giles's house
Giles is sitting around in his sombrero, bored, eating candy. There is a knock at his door. It's Anya. She tells Giles that Xander's in trouble. Oh, and everyone else is too. She tells Giles about the missing door and disappearing window. Giles starts to gather supplies to go help them.
Alpha Delta house
Willow and Buffy are arguing. Willow doesn't want to leave her. Willow says that just because Buffy is the slayer doesn't make her the boss. Buffy says it does so. Willow suggests a guiding spell which would help them find their way in the house. Buffy says her spells only work half the time anyway. Willow is insulted and stomps off. Oz follows her. Xander tries to talk to Buffy while Buffy is gathering weapons. Buffy starts calling out for Xander, wondering where he is. Xander realizes Buffy can't see or hear him. Buffy walks off down the hall looking for Xander. When Xander follow her, she has disappeared.
Elsewhere in the Alpha Delta house
Willow is still upset about what Buffy said. She and Oz find a set of stairs and start up them. Oz notices that his hands have started to wolf out. At the top of the stairs, Oz calls out to Willow. When she turns around she sees that he's changing. She can't understand why, since there's no moon tonight. Oz says he has to get away from her. She says they need to find something to restrain her. He says there's no time. She reaches out to him, but he lashed out at her, scratching her hand. He is horrified and runs away down the hall. Willow is left clutching her hand calling after him.
Elsewhere in the Alpha Delta house
Xander looks at himself in a mirror to reassure himself that he's visible. He sees a fake plastic head sitting on a shelf come to life and start bleeding in real life. He runs away.
Elsewhere in the Alpha Delta house, in a bathroom
Oz is sitting in a bathtub repeating over and over to himself, "You're not gonna change, you're not gonna change." He is still half-wolf.
Elsewhere in the Alpha Delta house
Willow casts her guiding spell and it works. A little green light appears. She tells it to guide her to Oz. Then she reconsiders and thinks maybe she should try to find the people upstairs. The green light splits into two. Then she thinks maybe she should try to find her way outside. The green light splits again. When Willow looks up, suddenly there are a whole bunch of green lights. They start swirling around her head. She freaks out and starts running down the hall screaming for Oz.
Elsewhere in the Alpha Delta house
Buffy hears Willow's screams. She runs around trying to find her. She opens a door and falls a story down into a basement. As she comes to and pushes up on her elbows, the guy who fell down the stairs and broke his neck walks up to her. His neck is still obviously broken. He tells her that her friends have all abandoned her, she opened her heart to them and they left her. He assures her she's not alone. A whole bunch of hands reach up from the floor and start grabbing at Buffy. Whole corpses start climbing out of the earth and attacking her.
Outside the Alpha Delta house
Giles and Anya get to where the front door is supposed to be. Giles examines the area and says he'll have to create a door. Anya is amazed that he has a spell that can do something like that. Giles pulls out a chain saw and starts cutting a door.
Alpha Delta house
In the basement, Buffy fights off the corpses and crawls along the floor away from them. The guy with the broken neck continues taunting her with her fears of abandonment by those she loves. She crawls through a small doorway and finds herself in the upstairs room she'd been trying to reach. There are people scattered about in costumes crying and shaking. She sees Oz, who is curled up and rocking. She raises him just as Willow comes running in still batting at little lights around her head... except they're not there anymore. Buffy sees Xander sitting and talking to himself about how no one can see him or hear him. Xander is relieved that finally they can see him again. They realize that the house purposely separated them to scare them, and once they were scared enough they were brought to this upstairs room. Xander mentions the symbol painted on the floor and finds the book that the fraternity brothers were copying it from. The book is written in Gaelic. Willow attempts to translate as a demon yelling and moaning is heard. She realizes the symbol is the beginning of a summoning spell for a demon named Gachnar. Gachnar feeds on fear. There is more demon yelling and moaning. Buffy realizes they have to get everyone out of the house, because Gachnar is feeding on their fear. There is a pounding at the door. Suddenly Giles comes through wielding his chain saw. Anya is behind him and runs straight to Xander. Giles confirms Willow's suspicions about the summoning of the demon. Buffy asks if she can fight this demon once it finally appears. Giles shows her a picture of the scary-looking demon in the book and she admits that she'd rather not have to fight it. Giles continues reading the book, and finds out two ways that Gachnar's appearance can be stopped. Destroying the symbol on the ground... before Giles can finish reading the sentence, Buffy runs over and punches a big hole through the symbol on the wooden floor. Giles looks at her in horror and finishes the sentence... is NOT one of the ways, and in fact will make Gachnar immediately appear. Everyone watches the area around the symbol as it starts to light up and smoke appears. Gachnar arrive. He roars with rage, and he is just as scary as his picture, except that he's only a few inches tall. Gachnar threatens the Scooby gang, but they just laugh and make fun of him. Gachnar tries to scare Buffy by reminding her that everyone she loves will abandon her. She scoffs and steps on him, squishing him like a bug.
Giles's apartment
Buffy and the gang are eating Giles's Halloween candy. Xander asks Anya if she really thought she had a scary costume, and Anya admits that bunnies scare her. Giles smacks his forehead when he translates the caption underneath the picture of Gachnar in the book: "Actual size."
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