From: davideml@bellsouth.net   
      
   6-22    A Friend in Need  (part two)   
      
      
      
   First aired on June 18, 2001.   
      
   The story starts out at the end of AFIN part 1. Xena is burying her warrior   
   breastplate, leathers   
   and sword, and using her Chakram to cover them up. She is in the gold and   
   black armor. She hears   
   drums in the distance. And then the sound of soldiers coming, horses, and a   
   wagon carrying barrels   
   and bombs with a flammable liquid and probably gun powder.   
      
   Gabrielle is also listening to the quiet. She remembers Xena's advice about   
   listening to the sounds   
   behind the sound. She realizes Xena was telling her she is sacrificing   
   herself. She runs back to   
   find  Xena.   
      
    Xena throws the Chakram and it hits the wagon, spilling its contents. It then   
   ricochets and knocks   
   a torch from a soldier's hand, igniting the liquid causing a tremendous   
   explosion, which forms a   
   mushroom cloud. The fiery shockwave burns trees and soldiers nearest to the   
   explosion. Xena, many   
   other soldiers, and Gabrielle are knocked to the ground.   
      
   Xena runs up a tree and begins to shoot arrows at the soldiers. When she runs   
   out of arrows, she   
   jumps to the ground. Suddenly volley after volley of arrows fly toward Xena.   
   She manages to catch   
   some and deflect others. But she is hit in the shoulders and leg. Then in the   
   stomach. She gets   
   angry, pulls the kutana from its scabbard and attacks the soldiers, hacking,   
   slashing, and yelling   
   Gabrielle's name. Many soldiers are killed but her wounds begin taking their   
   toll. She hesitates as   
   she sees the samurai general and before she can defend herself, he cuts her   
   head off.   
      
   Gabrielle enters the battlefield littered with bodies. She finds the Chakram   
   covered with blood.   
      
   In the teahouse, Akemi is playing her instrument. The kutana reappears. A   
   naked Xena walks in and   
   is dressed in a flowing red robe.   
      
   Gabrielle sees the ghost hunter killing the souls as the leave the bodies to   
   keep Yodoshi from   
   swallowing them. Gabrielle insists Xena is alive.   
      
   Xena tells Akemi this underworld feels different from others. Akemi says it is   
   a illusion projected   
   by Yodoshi. The woman with the anklet stamps her foot and it rings. Yodoshi   
   arrives in a black   
   swarm. Everyone bows but Xena. His right arm becomes a fiery lasso. He grabs   
   Xena and throws her   
   around. He uses his arm as a whip and burns the robe from her. Xena tells him   
   she is at his   
   service. He turns back into a swarm and disappears.   
      
   Xena and Akemi are outside the teahouse. Xena leaves, knowing the anklet woman   
   will follow. Xena   
   and Gabrielle find each other in the woods and hug. When Gabrielle asks about   
   the robe, Xena says   
   she is going to kill Yodoshi. When Gabrielle tries to give her back the   
   Chakram, Xena's hand passes   
   through it. Gabrielle realizes Xena is dead and asks how she could let herself   
   be killed. Xena   
   tells her she had to do it alone or they'd both be dead. Gabrielle asks if   
   that's supposed to make   
   her feel better.   
      
   The ghost killer arrives and Gabrielle tells him to stay away. Xena says they   
   are working together.   
   Xena grabs anklet woman and throws her toward ghost killer. He stabs her and   
   her soul is gone. Xena   
   catches the anklet before it hits the ground.   
      
   Back at the teahouse Xena tells Akemi with the anklet they can call Yodoshi   
   when they're ready.   
   Gabrielle is walking over the small bridge to the teahouse. Xena tells Akemi   
   Gabrielle is her soul   
   mate, but they are interrupted by the ghost killer. He asks Gabrielle if she   
   will risk her life for   
   the return of Xena's. Gabrielle says yes. He tells her she must find Xena's   
   body, burn it and take   
   the ashes to the Fountain of Strength on Mt. Fuji before sunset the next day.   
      
   Xena then introduces Gabrielle and Akemi to each other. Gabrielle starts to   
   leave but  Akemi says   
   she wants to give her something. She tattoos something on Gabrielle's left   
   calf, and a dragon over   
   her entire back.   
      
   A thunderstorm breaks as Gabrielle finds the camp where Xena's headless and   
   naked body is hanging   
   by her arms. It's all Gabrielle can do to keep from vomiting. She yells for   
   them to give her Xena's   
   head, then cuts her down and wraps her in a tarp or blanket.   
      
   The samurai general comes up behind Gabrielle.  He says killing Xena was   
   honorable. Gabrielle says   
   she was outnumbered 1000 to one, and he is a fraud. She accepts a challenge to   
   fight. They circle   
   each other carefully, neither making the first move. Gabrielle is listening to   
   all the sounds. He   
   attacks but she sidesteps his sword, knocks him down and has her sword at the   
   back of his neck. He   
   asks the she grant him a noble defeat and take his head. She knocks him out   
   with the butt of her   
   sword., finds Xena's head, then leaves.   
      
   In the teahouse. Xena puts on the anklet then rings it. Yodoshi bursts in.   
   When he sees Xena he   
   asks where the other woman is. Ghost killer  pops up from the tub and stabs   
   Yodoshi in the back. He   
   is flipped over and the sword goes flying. Xena grabs it and kicks Yodoshi   
   into the tub. When she   
   tries to stab him, the water boils and he rises up as steam to the rafters.   
   The steam condenses and   
   a drop falls to the floor and Yodoshi is reformed. Ghost killer is stabbed by   
   Yodoshi. Akemi is   
   thrown into the tub and Yodoshi blows on it, freezing the water and trapping   
   her. He and Xena fight   
   some more. She cuts off his right arm then stabs him. He turns into a swirling   
   flame and rockets up   
   through the roof. Xena breaks the glass and frees Akemi.   
      
   Gabrielle lights Xena's funeral pyre.   
      
   Ghost killer tells Xena that Yodoshi has gone to the Fountain on Mt Fuji. He   
   dies.   
      
   Gabrielle rides toward Mt Fuji but the samurai general is blocking her way. He   
   shoots her horse   
   with an arrow. They begin to fight. The urn with Xena's ashes is kicked up   
   into the rocks.   
   Gabrielle and the samurai fight within site of the urn. When he is knocked out   
   by Gabrielle, his   
   arm hits the urn and it rolls over a cliff. Gabrielle can see it lodged in a   
   bird's nest ten or   
   fifteen feet below.   
      
   Yodoshi is at the Fountain and is using a sword to try to open a valve to let   
   it flow. Xena runs up   
   and throws him away. She is waiting for the water. As it starts to fall, he   
   blows on it, freezing   
   it. The ice  breaks up and  flies everywhere. Xena is blown a dozen or more   
   yards away and lands   
   hard and is out.   
      
   Gabrielle runs back to find Xena. Xena tells her she needs water from the   
   Fountain. Akemi is there   
   and tries to kill Yodoshi. He blows her away from him. He sees a piece of ice   
   and using his tongue   
   grabs and swallows it. His arm and strength have retuned. He sucks so hard   
   Akemi is finally sucked   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)