ACT THREE

FADE IN:

20 EXT. WOODS DAY

The same area that we just left. A BEAT, then Xena-C comes through the bushes, her sword out and ready, just in case. Suddenly, she looks toward camera and sees something that makes her freeze. A SMALL WHIMPER is heard. The CAMERA DROPS to include Argo's bloody side into our frame.

XENA-C
Argo...

Xena-C drops her sword and rushes to her. Argo's eyes are wide with confusion. Xena-C tries to comfort her friend. She holds Argo's head for a moment, trying not to become incapacitated by her feelings. Tears form in her eyes.

XENA-C
It's going to be okay, girl. It is... I'm so sorry... Hold still...

She looks Argo over. (NOTE: The angles are judicious enough to get the idea without seeing any gaping wounds.)

XENA-C
Okay... Okay, I know what she was
trying to do. It's not going to work.

She gives Argo a quick kiss on the forehead and rushes over to grab up her sword. She hacks through a tree limb. A milky white substance oozes out. She quickly tastes it. Bitter, but what she's looking for. She grabs up some leaves and soaks them. Then, she turns to find:

JOXER

standing between her and Argo. His horse is in the background. He bites his lip and tries to look as intense as possible as he holds his sword toward her.

XENA-C
Joxer!

JOXER
Stay back! I mean it, Callisto! I
won't give you a chance this time!

XENA-C
I don't have time for this. Get out of
my way.

JOXER
No! This is Xena's horse! I don't know what you did to her, but you're not getting the chance to finish the job.

Xena-C takes a step toward him. He steps forward.

JOXER
I mean it!

XENA-C
Put down the sword, Joxer, and I'll
explain.

JOXER
Oh, right! You'll explain over my dead body. Well, maybe. But you're not going to kill this horse.

Xena-C shakes her head and starts toward Argo. Joxer charges her, his sword over his head. She deftly dodges him, punching his wrist, sending his sword flying. Her foot against his ankle drops him to the ground. Xena-C kneels next to Argo and begins working, using the soaked leaves as a compress.

XENA-C
(to Argo)
This is going to hurt a bit, girl, but
I have to put this against your lung.

She reaches inside the wound (that we can't see) with the leaves. Joxer has regained his feet. He charges her from behind. Without looking, she backfists him with her free hand. He plops flat on his ass.

XENA-C
Joxer, I want you to listen to me and listen good. This is going to be hard to believe, but I'm not Callisto. It's me, Xena.

Joxer has a comeback for that, but he doesn't know what it is. It's such a preposterous idea that he pauses to consider it.

XENA-C
Callisto is working with Ares. I talked Hades into letting me out. But I have only one day... less, now.

JOXER
Oh, right. You talked Hades into letting you out. Uh-huh.. And for proof, you offer... what?

XENA-C
Have you ever seen Callisto use
pressure points?

JOXER
No. Only Xena knows how to do that.

XENA-C
Come here. Look.

Joxer hesitantly comes over, looking at Argo, expecting her to do something on the horse. Quickly, Xena-C spins and hits Joxer with the "pinch". He drops again. His eyes grow wide.

JOXER
Okay! You've made your point! Release
it!

She releases him and turns back to Argo. Joxer gets up and stares at Xena-C, studying the similarity.

XENA-C
Stop that and give me your dagger.

He hands her his "secret" mini-dagger. She takes it and uses it to open Argo's wound more.

JOXER
If you look like her... she looks like
you!

XENA-C
And Gabrielle's with her.

JOXER
She's with her?

XENA-C
Callisto won't do anything to her until
I show up.

JOXER
Did she try to kill Argo?

XENA-C
No. She didn't want to. She knew it would be more painful if I had to put Argo down. But I know a few things she doesn't. Argo won't die...

Joxer looks relieved. Then:

XENA-C
Thank you. For trying to defend her. Only someone with a brave heart would have stood up to Callisto for a horse.

JOXER
Yes. Well, that's me. A warrior's
warrior. Brave as they come.
(then)
You're welcome.

Xena-C is finished. She strokes Argo's brow.

XENA-C
Okay, girl. That's it. The rest is up to you. You'll be able to walk in an hour.
(to Joxer)
We'll wait for her to get to her feet. There's a fishing village not far from here. You'll have to take her there and find someone to care for her.

JOXER
I should have killed Callisto when I
first met her.

XENA-C
No guilt, Joxer. Guilt has no place
when dealing with Callisto.
(back to Argo)
It's going to be okay, girl.

She strokes Argo's mane softly, but her eyes harden with the thought of her enemy. Off this, we:

CUT TO:

21 INT. HIDING CAVE - DAY

This is the temporary headquarters of Theodorus and his men. They are eating, cleaning weapons and the like. Suddenly, a NOISE is heard from the entrance. A man comes staggering back into the cave and falls to the ground at Theodorus' feet. A BEAT, then Callisto-X enters the cave. The men murmur, "It's Xena!" They start to pull their swords.

THEODORUS
No! Don't give her a reason! Put the
swords away.
(smiling)
She's not a threat if we're not a
threat.

With that, he tosses his sword to the ground. As do all the other men.

CALLISTO-X
Really? Is that what you think of me?

THEODORUS
Oh, yes, Xena. You only kill when threatened. It's some sort of code you have. Callisto was stupid, she gave you an excuse to kill her. But not me. So, we talk.

CALLISTO-X
Talk? Well, I just don't feel much
like talking.

THEODORUS
Then get out of here. Or kill me in cold blood. Oh, yes... there's that "code" of yours that stops you. I forgot!

He turns his back on Callisto-X, LAUGHING with his men. Callisto-X just smiles innocently.

Theodorus' LAUGH is cut short as Callisto-X grabs his hair, pulls his head back, and runs a dagger's blade across his throat, opening his neck like a Pez dispenser. Theodorus makes a GURGLING sound and drops to the ground. The other men stare in stunned silence. Callisto-X walks over to a man, GRESSIUS, and wipes the dagger on his shirt.

CALLISTO-X
Gressius... Who will you follow now?

GRESSIUS
You! Xena, Warrior Princess!

She looks around the room. They recover and, one by one, start to cheer "Xena!" At that moment, Gabrielle creeps into the cavern. One of the men reacts and grabs up his sword. Gabrielle uses the dull end of her staff to knock the sword down, then spins the pointed end toward him in a "Pike" position, ready to jab forward... but she doesn't. He freezes.

CALLISTO-X
Leave her alone!
(smiles)
she's with me.

Gabrielle walks over to her as Callisto-X speaks to the men.

CALLISTO-X
Gather up your weapons! You'll be on
the march by this afternoon.

The men start to comply. Gabrielle looks down at Theodorus.

CALLISTO-X
I tried to talk him into surrendering,
but... I was forced to defend myself.
(then)
I have an army again.

GABRIELLE
Just to defend Amphipolis?

CALLISTO-X
Of course. Afterwards, I'll send them away. I'll send them to Athens to stand trial. Yes. But first, we have to deal with Callisto. I'll have the people of my village brought here. With this Army protecting them, you and I can double back and find her.

Gabrielle nods as Callisto-X moves over to Gressius. Away from Gabrielle, she gives him his orders.

CALLISTO-X
You're to take my army to Amphipolis. Capture the town and bring all the people here. Don't forget any of them, do you understand? And don't
anyone!

GRESSIUS
Yes, Xena.

Callisto-X can't resist a LAUGH at being called "Xena". Gressius moves off. Callisto-X turns and sees:

CALLISTO'S POV - ON ARES

He stares at her firmly from across the cavern. He doesn't look too happy. A BEAT, then he disappears again.

BACK TO SCENE - ON CALLISTO-X

She just smiles and turns to her work.
CUT TO:

22 EXT. ROAD - DAY

Joxer leads his horse, following Xena-C. Xena-C is looking at the ground, following a trail. (NOTE: They are a fair distance from the nearest brush.)

JOXER
When you think back on it, Callisto and I never went at it one-on-one. It's a shame.

XENA-C
Amazing...

JOXER
Not really. She always had her army or
I had the two of you to protect.

XENA-C
I mean it's amazing you've managed to live so long. Your heart's in the right place, Joxer, but you're going to get yourself killed.

JOXER
(triumphant)
Hah! Not if I kill myself first.
(then)
You know what I mean. Are we still on
their trail?

XENA-C
Yes. They've picked up speed from where we found the body of the warrior. I'm guessing she got him to tell her where Theodorus is.

JOXER
Why would she want to know that?

XENA-C
She wants her army back. And I'm sure
Ares wants her to have one.

JOXER
You think they're going to follow her?
I mean, she looks like you now.

XENA-C
She can be persuasive.

JOXER
(Sighing)
Once again... she has an army to protect her. Another opportunity lost.

Xena-C just shakes her head. Meanwhile:

POV - ON XENA-C AND JOXER
Someone is watching them from the brush. We can't hear them from here. PULL BACK to reveal Callisto-X and Gabrielle.

GABRIELLE
I don't believe it... Joxer wouldn't join with her. She must be forcing him.

CALLISTO-X
He could easily attack her, but he doesn't. No, Gabrielle... I suspected this. Remember when we first met Joxer? He wanted to join Callisto's army. Looks like he succeeded.

GABRIELLE
No... no, there must be something else. I know Joxer. He must think he has some sort of a plan to stop her.

CALLISTO-X
Stop trying to figure out why Joxer is with her and consider why Callisto allows it. He must be important to her for some reason.

GABRIELLE
You must be right. She would have
killed him by now.

CALLISTO-X
I'm going to distract them. You circle around, use the underbrush for cover. Stay back until she's concentrating on me. okay?

Gabrielle nods and starts to go. Callisto-X grabs her arm.

CALLISTO-X
She killed Perdicas. Keep thinking that. If we hesitate for a moment... she'll kill us.

She releases Gabrielle and she takes off. Callisto-x gets a big grin on her face and turns back to watch

JOXER AND XENA-C

Xena-C stops and looks around.

JOXER
What? What is it?

XENA-C
I don't know. It's hard for me to tell with this body, but... I think someone is..

A WHISTLING sound is heard. Xena-C realizes what is happening as the chakram heads straight for Joxer's slack jaw. Xena-C reacts, pulling her arm up and jamming her elbow into Joxer's face. This accomplishes two things: It drops Joxer to the ground and out of danger, and puts Xena-C's hand in position to catch the chakram. Which she does. Callisto-X FLIPS HEAD OVER HAND and comes to a stop a few yards from Xena-C. Xena-C pulls the chakram back, ready to let it fly.

CALLISTO-X
Uh, uh, uh. I'll just catch it and
send it back.

Xena-C sends it flying... and into a tree trunk, where it wedges. She pulls her sword. Callisto-X slowly pulls hers.

XENA-C
Where's Gabrielle?

CALLISTO-X
Gabrielle? Sorry, but I'm Xena and she's my little friend. And if anything happened to her, Xena would be crushed, wouldn't she? Maybe something has happened to her. Perhaps I've already killed her and hung her body from the tree... there.

She indicates by looking up. When Xena-C looks up, Callisto-X charges her and the battle is on! The two combatants, so evenly matched, go at it using everything at their disposal. Callisto-X swings her sword and Xena-C does a dive over the blade, deflecting the counter blow to her back by swinging her sword behind her.

Xena-C spins, and stabs... and air, as Callisto-X flips over her. Xena-C spins, swinging her sword at Callisto-X's neck. Callisto-X drops down into an ankle sweep that catches Xena-C and drops her to the ground. Callisto-X slashes downward and Xena-C claps her palms together, catching the blade between them.

CALLISTO-X
Oh, I like that move!

Xena-C kicks at Callisto-X's knee, dropping her to the ground. The sword goes flying as Xena-C does a kip-up to her feet.

Callisto-X pulls the spy's dagger from her boot and brings it down. Xena-C launches herself through the air at Calli.sto-X, her legs spread apart and catching Callisto-X in a "scissors." She tightens and Callisto-X spins in the air and to the ground. With her dazed, Xena-C locks Callisto-X's arm, grabs the dagger.from her hand, lifts it high...

GABRIELLE
Callisto!

Xena-C freezes. She turns her head. Not more than six feet away, Gabrielle has the pike pointed right at her neck. She is in a lunge position and is ready to go. Callisto-X WHISPERS so that only Xena-C can hear her.

CALLISTO-X
Go ahead, Xena. You can take her out with the dagger, or you can let her kill you.
(smiles)
Looks like someone's going to die.
And either way, I win.

Off this situation, we:

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT THREE