ACT FOUR

FADE IN:

INT. TRAP - CONTINUING

Xena and Gabrielle fall through the trap doors in different parts of the ceiling and hit the floor.  Xena goes to Gabrielle.

XENA

You okay?

GABRIELLE

For the time being, yeah.

We’re in real trouble here, Xena.

XENA

I know. More than I bargained for.

GABRIELLE

Are Lila and Sarah safe?

Xena looks down.

XENA

They’re safe.

They are in an enclosed space surrounded by rock. A small opening would allow one person to enter the trap.

JANOS

(V.O.)

It’s a very simple puzzle, Xena.

Even someone with your fading

skills should be able to figure it out.

Xena and Gabrielle get up.  Xena goes to the opening, looks inside. It smells bad, and is very dark.

XENA

What is this?

JANOS

(V.O.)

Justice.  Bold, yet elegantly simple.

One of you will enter that doorway,

Xena, and inside my engine of justice,

I will carve all your crimes, the names

of your victims with knives across

your body, front and back.

Gabrielle reacts, takes a step towards the box.

XENA

And then?

JANOS

And then when the knife points meet

in the center, the trap will open, and

the one left behind will be free.

Xena looks around the room.  By her face you can see she is realizing how few options there are.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

Don’t wait too long, Xena.

Xena and Gabrielle look at each other in growing horror and realization.

CUT TO:

INT. TRAP CONTROL ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Janos pushes the cone tube he was speaking through away.  Lila watches him uneasily. The rest of Gabrielle’s family is behind them.

JANOS

We’ve waited such a long time for this.

LILA

This isn’t right.

JANOS

Don’t go soft on me now, Lila. Think!

What Xena did to all those people, men,

women, children - that’s what wasn’t

right. Keep that in your thoughts. You

want to save your sister, don’t you?

LILA

Not like this. Gabrielle loves Xena.

This will hurt her so badly.

JANOS

No! You can’t think like that. Oh, sure,

at first it will be traumatic, but soon,

soon Lila!  You’ll have your sister back...

the one you remember from childhood.

You did the right thing, and someday,

Gabrielle will thank you for it.

Lila looks grievously unconvinced.

LILA

I hope so.

FADE TO:

INT. TRAP - SAME TIME

Gabrielle is checking out all corners of the trap.  Xena sits slowly down on a rock, and starts removing her weapons.

GABRIELLE

Not a crack. You think we

could try digging? Xena?

Gabrielle turns to see Xena putting her sword down.

GABRIELLE

(Cont’d)

What are you doing?

XENA

I’m going to get you out of here.

GABRIELLE

You’re not going in that thing.

Xena stands up. She is now all business.

XENA

I’ve checked this place out. There’s no

other possible way to do it. One of us

has to go in there, and I’m the one he

wants.  So that’s how it’s going to be.

Xena moves towards the trap, Gabrielle intercepts her.

GABRIELLE

No.

XENA

Gabrielle....

Xena tries to push past Gabrielle. Gabrielle throws her back.

GABRIELLE

Xena, I have a say in this.  That man’s

insane, and you have to stop him.

You have to get out of here, not me.

XENA

No!

GABRIELLE

You know it’s true.  You have to survive and

beat him. I can’t do that, but I can do this.

Gabrielle moves towards the trap. Xena grabs her.  They grapple.

XENA

Even if that was true, I wouldn’t let you.

GABRIELLE

Then we’re even, because I won’t

let you walk in there and give

up your life to that BASTARD!

They fight in earnest. Gabrielle goes full out. Xena desperately tries to find a way to subdue Gabrielle without really hurting her, but it’s very tough.  Gabrielle has gotten very good.

XENA

Gabrielle! Think about it! You’ve

got a family out there waiting for

you, a home - a whole life to live!

GABRIELLE

My family’s right here, and you know

that. You expect me to let you go in

that thing and hear you screaming....

Xena grabs Gabrielle and pushes her against the wall. They are nose to nose. Xena is deadly serious.

XENA

I won’t scream.

GABRIELLE

Your soul will.

You think I won’t hear that?

Feel it?

They stare at each other, then resume struggling, getting more vicious and desperate as it becomes apparent neither will give quarter.  Finally, Xena sees a shot, and takes it. Gabrielle goes down hard.  Xena catches her as she falls and cradles her body as they both slide to the ground.

FADE TO:

INT. TRAP CONTROL ROOM

Janos is getting impatient.

JANOS

I told her not to take her time.

Behind him, Lila is trying to creep out unnoticed.  Janos picks up the tube to speak into it.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

Xena? You’re running out of time.

Janos motions to a posse runner. He leaves.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

If I don’t hear things moving in

a minute, that chamber starts

filling with water. Your choice.

Janos puts the tube down, looks at Lila.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

My men will get Gabrielle out of

there, I promise you. You’ve

got nothing to worry about.

FADE TO:

INT. TRAP - SAME TIME

Xena cradles Gabrielle’s body as she sits on the floor, all the fight has gone out of her.  Now there is mainly grief left.

XENA

Sorry I had to do that, Gabrielle.

But you’re wrong. If only one of us can

make it out of here, better it be you.

Xena hugs Gabrielle to her.

XENA

(Cont’d)

This is my price to pay, my love, not

yours. You’ve given up enough. Maybe

now you can have some peace.

Xena cries a few silent tears.

XENA

(Cont’d)

Don’t forget how much I loved you, okay?

Xena kisses Gabrielle’s head gently, then lays her down. She takes off her sword and sets it across Gabrielle’s body, closing her fingers around it.   Xena leans over and kisses Gabrielle on the lips, then gets up and walks to the trap. She pauses in the entrance, looks back one last time at Gabrielle, and disappears into the darkness.

CUT TO:

INT. THE TRAP - INSIDE

The entrance slams shut and Xena is in darkness. It is very close. The trap starts moving, grabbing her arms and legs and pulling. Xena struggles.  Xena’s armor is cut off.  She can hear Janos laughing.

CUT TO:

INT. TRAP - MOMENTS LATER

Gabrielle stirs, and wakes. She is confused at first, then she looks down at the sword in her arms, and realizes what happened.  Gabrielle jumps up and rushes to the trap, to find the entrance closed.

GABRIELLE

No. No! NO!

Gabrielle beats on the door, then stops, and rushes back to pick up Xena’s sword.  She attacks the trap in a total frenzy.

CUT TO:

INT. TRAP CONTROL ROOM

Janos is grimly satisfied.  He turns to Gabrielle’s family.

JANOS

Don’t worry. Unlike Xena,

I keep my promises.

Janos pulls a rope, and Gab’s family falls through the floor into the trap room below where Gabrielle is.

CUT TO:

INT. THE TRAP

Xena is fighting the machine furiously, but she can’t get loose. It pulls her along roughly, finally flipping her completely over onto her back with a loud bang. Xena is now bare, and suspended between a set of knives above her, and a set of knives below her. There are hundreds of them, very sharp.

JANOS

(V.O.)

Ready Xena? I want you to think

about all the people you ever hurt. 

he people you killed. You destroyed.

We look down at Xena’s face, and for a moment, we see that she is, in this moment, truly scared.  The knives start to move, swiveling as the surface starts to come closer to Xena, making an insect like sound.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

You can keep yourself alive a little

longer by holding yourself up. If you

think you can do that anymore.

CUT TO:

INT. TRAP - SAME TIME

Gabrielle’s family falls into the trap room. Gabrielle ignores them. Gabrielle is hacking at the trap in an almost mindless rage, with Xena’s sword.

GABRIELLE

Xena!!  No!!!!!  NO!!!!!

Lila and Sarah try to stop Gabrielle. Gabrielle shoves them away.

LILA

Gabrielle! It’s over! Stop it!

Gabrielle does stop and face her. She suddenly realizes why they’re there.

GABRIELLE

Why?

LILA

We did it for you.

GABRIELLE

For me? For ME?

(angrily)

You don’t even know who I am!

Gabrielle raises Xena’ s sword and points it at Lila.

LILA

Gabrielle!

GABRIELLE

I am not the sister you grew up with!

THIS is who I am now, and the me

you think you did this for hasn’t been

around for a very, very long time.

Lila and Sarah are shocked, stunned, scared.

GABRIELLE

(Cont’d)

Now. Stay OUT OF MY WAY.

Gabrielle goes back to her attack on the trap. She is actually cutting through the outside, making some progress.

CUT TO:

INT. THE TRAP - MOMENTS LATER

The knives come closer. Xena closes her eyes, and sees flashbacks of the people she’s done the worst wrongs to. The images surround and mock Xena. She is very close to succumbing to Janos’s plan.  She starts to give in and her back almost touches the knives. Through the laughter, though - very softly, she hears her name being called. It is Gabrielle.  The knives get closer, the insect sounds get a lot louder.  But then images of the good things Xena has done start to appear, and Xena takes heart from them. She opens her eyes and faces the terror of the knives squarely.

Her eyes focus on something. The wall of knives moves suddenly, and all we see is a spinning, clashing metal web that seems to engulf Xena.  The last glimpse we see are those blue eyes.

CUT TO:

INT. TRAP - MOMENTS LATER

Gabrielle has made a significant dent in the wooden wall. She pulls at debris like a crazed person. Suddenly, all the noise of the trap stops with a huge BANG!  Everyone jumps. Then the trap wall opens, and we can see daylight outside. Very slowly, the meaning of this gets through to Gabrielle, who realizes it means that Xena must be dead. The exhausted Gabrielle slowly sits down on the ground, and cradles Xena’s sword in her arms. She is devastated.

LILA

Gabrielle? I... I’m sorry.

Gabrielle’s face hardens into a mask.

GABRIELLE

Not nearly as sorry as he’s going to be.

Gabrielle stands up, then runs out the open trap door. Lila and Sarah follow her.

CUT TO:

INT. TRAP CONTROL ROOM

Janos is ecstatic.

JANOS

I did it.  Everyone said it was

impossible, and I did it.  I killed Xena.

The wall in the control room explodes inwards!  Xena jumps out, covered in blood and scratches, but very much alive, and really, really pissed off.

XENA

You don’t have what it takes

to kill me, and make it stick.

Janos is honestly shocked. He rallies however.

JANOS

I should never have sent a

machine to do a man’s work!

Janos grabs a two-handed broadsword, and goes after the unarmed Xena.  It’s a classic battle, as Xena uses her skills to avoid being hacked and slashed. Xena uses items never meant as weapons to gain the advantage, driving Janos back. Janos goes on the offensive, then, taking advantage of Xena’s being hurt, and naked and relatively unarmed to drive her across the floor, until her back is to the opening she made in the wall.  Janos is sure he’s won at this point. He runs at Xena, swinging his sword and yelling like a madman. Xena waits... waits... waits... until the sword is just about to skewer her, then ducks and grabs Janos, using his momentum to take him down. She grabs the sword and holds it over him.

XENA

Die hard, you bastard.

Janos looks up at Xena, bravely accepting his death.

JANOS

Go ahead, Xena. Make me the one

of many, and finish what you started

with my grandparents. I won’t die in vain.

Xena hesitates. Janos twists out from under her and gets the drop on Xena, reversing their positions. Xena locks eyes with him. Janos presses the tip of his sword against Xena’s throat.

JANOS

(Cont’d)

You’ll be my first.

They are both still for an instant.

GABRIELLE

And your last.

Janos stiffens as he feels a sword pressed against his back. He slowly turns his head to see Gabrielle behind him.

JANOS

It’s worth it.

GABRIELLE

No, it isn’t. There’s no satisfaction

in it, Janos. No relief. No peace.

Just emptiness, and blood, and pain.

JANOS

She killed my family.

They were all I had.

GABRIELLE

I understand you. But you do them no

honor killing in their memory. Choose

life, Janos. Someone has to stop

the cycle of violence.  Be that person.

Xena reacts, almost loses it.  Janos slowly stands up, moves away from Xena and Gabrielle, still holding his sword out. He backs until he reaches an escape door, then vanishes.  Gabrielle drops Xena’s sword and they fall into each other’s arms.  Gabrielle is crying.

GABRIELLE

You’re alive.

Xena lifts her hand.  It has a dagger in it.

XENA

So is he, thanks to you.

Gabrielle looks at the knife, then at Xena.

XENA

(Cont’d)

Good thing you were here, to stop that

cycle of hatred and violence, huh?

Slowly, Gabrielle starts to smile.  Xena is bleeding all over Gabrielle as they sit on the floor together.

XENA

But you know what? I think I

am getting too old for this.

Gabrielle just hugs her, and we:

FADE TO:

EXT. POTADEIA RIVERBANK

Lila and Sarah talk to Xena, Gabrielle is seated on a rock nearby, looking out over the river.

LILA

Xena, I’m sorry. There’s really

nothing else I can say to you.

XENA

You did what you felt was right, Lila.

Some people might even agree with you.

LILA

Not Gabrielle.

You think she’ll forgive us?

Xena smiles sadly.

XENA

Bet on it.

SARAH

Xena, I don’t think Janos

will give up that easily.

XENA

No. But I don’t either, and he’s

got something I intend on getting

back.  We’ll watch out for him.

LILA

Good luck. Be well.

Xena leaves Lila’s side, and walks over to where Gabrielle is seated next to a tree, the tree they met by.

GABRIELLE

Do you recognize where we are?

XENA

Riverbank outside Potadeia.

Do I get a prize?

Gabrielle just smiles, a little wistfully.

XENA

(Cont’d)

And this is the spot you and I

met for the first time.

(beat)

So maybe this is a good place for us

to go different paths for awhile. Why

don’t you stay here, and take a break?

Gabrielle looks back at Potadeia, shakes her head no.

GABRIELLE

I don’t fit in here.  I never did, not

now, and not on that day long

ago that brought us together.

Xena studies the tree and puts her hand on it.

XENA

Do you regret that day, Gabrielle?

Gabrielle seems a little stunned by the question. She gets up and puts a hand on the tree as well.

GABRIELLE

If I were back on that day,

knowing what I do now... you

know what I’d say to you, Xena?

Xena looks at Gabrielle, not really wanting to hear the answer.

XENA

No, what would you say?

Gabrielle smiles.

GABRIELLE

Take me with you.

Xena holds back strong emotion hearing this, but doesn’t quite make it.

XENA

And I would.

Gabrielle holds out a hand.

GABRIELLE

C’mon. Our path is waiting, and

we’ve got a long way to go yet.

Xena takes her hand.

XENA

Our path? Does that mean you

get to choose which fork in

the road we take next time?

Gabrielle laughs, as they walk down the road together.

FADE OUT.

DISCLAIMER

No corporeal bodies of any leading characters were beheaded,

no bold choices were made, no pots of ashes were transported, and

no soulmates were separated in the making of this motion picture.