FADE IN On the same scene as before. Ares stands in front of Xena, Gabrielle and Nemesis (who looks nervous and angry). XENA (through clenched teeth): ARES (sighs): NEMESIS (angrily): Ares bites his lip uncomfortably; he glances over at Xena, who looks troubled. ARES (defensively): NEMESIS : ARES (yelling): NEMESIS (yells back): Gabrielle glances at Xena, who is clearly anguished by this exchange, and then walks toward Ares and Nemesis. GABRIELLE (clears her throat): XENA (nods): While she speaks, the camera pulls back to show Evander (Paeonis) opening the door. He surveys the scene, his expression angry and sarcastic but masking hurt. EVANDER: NEMESIS: EVANDER (turns to Ares): Ares looks from him to Xena to Nemesis, not knowing what to say. NEMESIS (stumbling a bit): EVANDER: NEMESIS (sighs): Close-up on Evander's stunned face, his lips trembling slightly; then on Ares as he nods slowly. ARES: Evander gradually recovers from shock and forces his expression to a sarcastic smile. EVANDER: Ares remains silent, his expression grim. Evander stares at him, obviously struggling with conflicting emotions. EVANDER (to Nemesis): Evander storms out of the room. ARES: NEMESIS (softly): XENA: ARES (shakes his head, still looking away): Xena slowly turns to Ares. XENA: ARES (still looking away): With that, Ares vanishes. Nemesis sighs, looking at the spot where he was. Then she looks up at Xena. NEMESIS: XENA (her face hard): NEMESIS: XENA (softly but firmly): NEMESIS: Gabrielle turns her attention towards Xena, who thinks for a moment, her face unreadable. XENA (shakes her head): Xena walks off, Gabrielle staying for a beat and then following. Nemesis watches as they exit the room. CUT TO Noon. The city square. Once again, a large crowd is gathered in front of the platform where Evander sits on his throne. A dozen men and women, their hands tied behind their backs, are led toward the platform by soldiers and dragged up the steps. Straton is among them. Evander rises from his throne and walks toward the edge of the platform. EVANDER: VOICES IN THE CROWD: A few rotten fruit and cabbage leaves are thrown from the crowd, hitting some of the prisoners. Evander smiles, obviously pleased. Then he holds up his hand. EVANDER: XENA (off-camera, her voice dripping with sarcasm): The camera pulls around to show Xena, her face hard and sarcastic, walking slowly toward the platform. Evander starts laughing, but his laughter has an angry edge. EVANDER: Xena continues to walk slowly toward the platform. Then, with a cry of "Chee-ya!", she flips forward onto the platform, kicks out her legs and slams her boots into Evander's chest. Taken by surprise, he is knocked off his feet and flies back with a frustrated grunt, landing on his back. There are audible gasps in the crowd. Xena launches herself toward him but he fixes her with an intense stare and she staggers back, as if pushed by something. With a satisfied smile, Evander gets up. EVANDER: He extends his hand and Xena is slammed down hard on the boards of the platform. At the same time, Evander extends his right hand, making a guard's sword fly towards him, he catches it and twirls it in his hand as he walks toward Xena. She raises her head feebly but then drops it again. Pan to Gabrielle who rushes toward the platform. GABRIELLE: Evander turns toward her, fixes her with a glare and flicks a wrist at her, sending Gabrielle flying back. Then he comes closer to Xena and raises his sword. EVANDER: In a flare of blue light, Ares materializes in his path. There are more gasps and exclamations from the crowd. ARES (blocking Evander's sword): EVANDER: Evander charges forward and his sword clashes with Ares'. For a few moments they fight like two common mortals, blocking and parrying each other's thrusts, dodging sword blows and kicks. Evander clearly has difficulty parrying Ares' moves. Piqued, he steps back and holds out his hand, using his powers to block Ares' sword; Ares' sword is almost wrenched out of his hand but he manages to regain control of it. Evander laughs as the War God struggles. Stepping back, Ares flips the sword into his left hand and then raises his right hand and launches a fireball. The crowd gasps in horror. His hand shooting out, Evander deflects the fireball back at Ares. Ares deflects it so that it slams into the platform at Evander's feet, instantly igniting the wooden boards. In a moment Evander is encircled in a ring of fire; clearly troubled, he stares intensely at the fire and makes a circular motion with his hand. The fire dies down. Ares advances on Evander, his sword ready. Slightly shaken, Evander blocks him again; Ares hits him with a surge of energy that makes Evander stagger. Recovering from the shock, Evander extends a hand and launches a bolt of power at Ares, who is nearly knocked off his feet. With a snarl, Ares launches another fireball; Evander stares at it intently and the fireball dissolves. Ares already has another fireball in his palm, bouncing it from one hand to the other; Evander waits tensely. With a snarl, Ares throws the fireball and Evander, obviously rattled, deflects it so that it flies into the palace wall, leaving an ugly black gash. While Ares and Evander fight, the camera pans to Xena, who sits up, watching them. With a supreme effort, Evander shoots out his hand and throws Ares back; he flies through the air with a yell (reminiscent of his fight with Athena in "Amphipolis Under Siege") and slams into the wall of the palace, where the fireball had hit before. Ares rises to his feet, breathing hard, and advances toward Evander. Evander stares at him intently and raises his hand; Ares stops, stares at Evander for a moment and then vanishes. Almost in disbelief, Evander stares at the spot where Ares just stood. A look of incredulous joy flashes in his face. Then he turns to the crowd. EVANDER: Behind him, Xena rises to her feet. XENA: With a piercing, ululating battle cry, Xena leaps up and flips in the air; she lands and charges Evander. He tries to use his powers to stop her; she is momentarily slowed down but then quickly regains control and comes at him with her sword. They spar briefly, with Xena easily parrying Evander's attacks. Evander grows more and more frustrated, and soon he is almost blindly swinging his sword, grunting and snarling furiously. Finally, Xena kicks his sword out of his hand and it lands on the platform with a clatter. Evander looks stunned and dismayed; before he can recover from his shock, Xena lands a powerful punch to his face that knocks him out cold. The crowd erupts in cheers. Gabrielle runs up the platform; she and Xena quickly cut the ropes binding the prisoners' hands. FEMALE PRISONER #1: STRATON: Xena shakes her head and says nothing. A noise from the crowd suddenly draws her attention and she turns abruptly. A group of people, some armed with swords and others with sticks, is charging up the platform. MAN #1 (armed with a sword): WOMAN #1 (swinging a stick): In the general murmur from the crowd, shouts are heard: -- Kill him! Before Xena can react, there is a flare of blue light; Ares appears, standing in front of the still-unconscious Evander, a stern expression on his face. ARES: Terrified, Evander's would-be attackers fall back and scramble down from the platform, a couple of them scrambling and falling down the steps. Xena gives Ares a tense smile; Ares nods slightly and then looks regretfully at the unconscious Evander (with an expression somewhat similar to the way he looked at the dead Athena in "Motherhood"). CUT TO A richly decorated bedchamber. Evander, still unconscious, is lying in a large bed. Nemesis is sitting by his bedside. Gabrielle is seated on a small couch nearby while Xena is pacing the room. Ares, looking very uncomfortable, slouches by the wall. NEMESIS (looks up at Xena): XENA (stops and turns to her): Evander stirs and opens his eyes. He looks around, confused. NEMESIS (reaches out and puts a hand on Evander's arm): EVANDER (sits up): GABRIELLE: NEMESIS (softly): XENA: NEMESIS: A tear rolls down her cheek as she touches his face. EVANDER (shakes his head): Nemesis manages a smile and hugs Evander, both of them in tears now. NEMESIS (whispers): They pull apart. Evander turns to Ares, who looks intensely uncomfortable. Evander gets up, the look on his face changing to a scowl. EVANDER: Ares straightens up, his arms folded on his chest, his expression grim. He's obviously about to disappear. GABRIELLE (to Ares): EVANDER (sneers): ARES (wryly): XENA: ARES (semi-facetiously): He vanishes. Xena lowers her head for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. Then she turns to Evander. XENA: EVANDER: GABRIELLE (smiles): Evander and Nemesis exchange an affectionate look. CUT TO Xena, Gabrielle and Nemesis walk down a corridor in the palace. NEMESIS (reluctantly): Xena stops and looks at her, obviously struggling with something. XENA (hesitantly): Gabrielle shoots her an alarmed look, while Nemesis nods with a sad, understanding expression. CUT TO Lakeside. Night. Xena is alone as the moon reflects down on the beautiful lake. She skips a stone across the water. The camera pans to show the ripple the rock caused in the water. The camera zooms in.
The camera zooms in on Xena as she reflects. Her face is illuminated by a flash of blue. She turns to see Ares standing next to her. He sits down. ARES (softly): XENA: There is a pause between them. ARES (looks at her intently): XENA (with a bitter chuckle): ARES (shaking his head): Xena looks at him, then raises an eyebrow slightly and shrugs. There is a tense silence between them. XENA (shakes her head): ARES (brusquely): XENA (her face hard): ARES: XENA (her face softening a little): She puts her hand over Ares'. He lowers his eyes, then looks up at her again. ARES (his expression softer now): XENA (lowers her eyes, her voice dropping to a near-whisper): ARES: After a moment Xena wordlessly squeezes his hand. XENA: Ares manages a slight smile and gently wraps his arm around her shoulder. Xena leans against him as they stare out into the lake. The camera holds for a beat and then pans around towards the spot where Xena threw the rock. The ripples are gone. FADE OUT THE END [Yet another dysfunctional parent-child relationship was introduced during the production of this motion picture.]
This script is provided by GDev Resources.
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