Synopsis:
As Buffy and Luke struggle (see previous episode), he rips open her shirt. A cross slips out of her pocket and Luke jumps back, smoke curling out of his hand. Buffy seizes the opportunity and runs out into the graveyard. There she rescues her friends Willow and Xander from two vampires by punching one and stabbing the other with a makeshift stake... but Buffy's friend Jesse is nowhere to be found.Buffy, Willow, and Xander gather the next day at the school library and meet with Giles, the school librarian who coached Buffy to slay vampires. Giles explains that at one point in ancient times, Demons walked the earth. Then they lost control to mortals. The last Demon to leave this world fed off a human, mixing their blood. He was a human form possessed by the Demon's soul. He bit another, and another. They now walk the earth, feeding, killing, and mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. The group turns its attention to the whereabouts of Jesse. They decide that the vampires must have taken him underground into a series of electrical tunnels. A map of the tunnels reveals an access point in the mausoleum. Buffy decides to investigate.As Buffy arrives at the tunnels, a cryptic man she has seen once before appears. He tells her his name is Angel. He says that the Harvest is that night, and unless Buffy can prevent it, the Master will roam free. No sooner does Angel leave than Xander arrives, ready to help. Once inside the tunnels, Buffy and Xander come upon a small, dark chamber where they find Jesse chained to a wall. Buffy smashes the chain and Xander embraces his good friend. As the threesome start out of the chamber, a group of vampires forces them to retreat. Xander and Buffy turn to ask Jesse if there is another way out. His visage grotesque, Jesse reveals himself as a vampire. The two mortals spot an air vent and squeeze through it just as the vampires enter the chamber. With the vampires on their heels, they escape into the safety of sunlight.Buffy and Xander seek counsel from Giles. He tells them that a very powerful vampire called the Master is stuck in a portal between this reality and another inhabited by Demons. Once every hundred years, on this night, comes a Harvest. During this night the Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. This minion is called the Vessel and he wears a threepointed star. If the Master gets enough power to free himself, he can open the portal, allowing Demons to escape into this world. Buffy figures the Harvest will take place where all the tasty young morsels hang out: the Bronze nightclub.When Buffy and friends burst in at the Bronze that night, the carnage has already begun. Luke, wearing the threepointed star, is feeding on anyone in sight. The Master, meanwhile, glows with power. Buffy begins to fight the vampires with great flourish, learning that pool cues make great stakes. Xander fights his feelings and puts a stake in the path of a falling Jesse. Jesse's body turns to dust. Buffy decapitates a vampire with a cymbal just as Luke grabs her from behind. She head-butts him and drives a stake through his back. Luke kneels in agony. The Master assumes the same position, and as the last of the energy fades from him, Luke turns to dust. The other vampires flee in fear. Giles congratulates the students for having won this round.
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