click on pic to see larger TRANSITION BACK TO: INT - SOHO HOTEL - NIGHT
Duncan lies sleepless in a nouveau-stark hotel room, somewhere in the bowels of Manhattan. A half-empty bottle of Glenmorangie is there for company. The door CREAKS OPEN, casting a single ribbon of light across the room. It WIDENS to REVEAL THE SILHOUETTE OF A WOMAN. Duncan closes his eyes. Feigns sleep. She pads silently inside. Pulls the door closed. Duncan remains still, breathing heavily. The woman steals slowly up to the bedside. Pauses, as if quietly studying Duncan--then swings her leg up and straddles him. Even in the murky halflight, he can still make out the familiar painted eyes framed by a tangle of bleached hair. She says nothing, her expression lost under a veil of darkness. Only her rapid breathing betrays her tension. Instead, she suddenly leans forward and KISSES HIM. Passionately. Duncan responds in kind. AS if powerless to do anything else... LIGHTNING stitches the sky outside as-- They embrace. Bodies entwine with an urgency that builds with the STORM raging outside.

ON THE NEXT THUNDERCRACK

TRANSITION BACK TO: INT - SOHO HOTEL - NIGHT
We're back in the present. Little has changed but the sheets. And the fury of their lovemaking. Each new THUNDERCRACK highlights a different aspect of their hunger-- their wet, glistening bodies STROBING FASTER AND FASTER until the act itself becomes abstracted from any sense of time or place.

FLASH FRAMES
stutter inside the lightning:

SILKEN HAIR
coursing over cream-colored breasts and a simple pewter cross.

EYES
similar in shape and color, that shift from painted to plain...

FINGERNAILS
that toggle between neo-goth BLACK and natural pink...

FAITH throws back her head, biting back the shudders of release...and sinks down into the bed with a drawn sigh.

FLASHBACK XI

INT - DUBLIN BEDROOM - NIGHT A SHADOW darkens Kate as she sleeps. It lingers there, deadly still. DUNCAN stands over her, gripped by indecision. The fateful choice tears at him, even as he holds a DAGGER over her gently-rising chest. His hand TREMBLES. DUNCAN (softly) Forgive me. KATE'S EYES SNAP OPEN as the DAGGER PLUNGES INTO HER HEART. For an instant their eyes meet. And in that single shattering moment, Duncan knows he chose wrong. It's not just terror that passes through Kate's eyes. It's the incomprehensible pain of betrayal. Kate gasps once, jerks and settles. Lies there dead, blood pooling across her nightgown. Duncan stares down at her body, numb. DUNCAN  I'm sorry... On that look we TRANSITION BACK TO:

INT - HOTEL - NIGHT
The pain imprints on Duncan as if he's still clutching the knife.

DUNCAN
I'm sorry.

Whatever passion stirred Faith moments before is gone without a trace. Her eyes are as cold and empty as the dead Kate.

FAITH
You had no right.

DUNCAN
I was doing it for you. For us.

FLASHBACK XII

FLASH TO:INT - DUBLIN BEDROOM - NIGHT Kate CONVULSES BACK TO LIFE, eyes wild, insane. Duncan reaches out to her, which only sends her reeling further into panic delirium. She swats at him, punching flailing... DUNCAN  Now you're an immortal. Like me. It was the only way... Words fall on deaf ears. She wrenches out of his grip. Stumbles for the door, drenched in her own blood. Leaves Duncan standing mindblown in her wake. EXT - DUBLIN STREETS - NIGHT Kate flees through wet empty streets-- barefoot, nightgown ripped and bloody, face contorted like a madwoman. Breath comes in ragged, whimpering gasps. She trips, falls. Comes up running.

BACK TO PRESENT:
Faith climbs off the bed, throws on Duncan's shirt, whirls back, tears streaking her face like warpaint.

FAITH 
You wanted this! I never asked for eternity! 
You forced it on me!

(screams) 

IT WAS MY DECISION, NOT YOURS!!

DUNCAN 
Would you have really understood?

FAITH 
Understood? Which part?! 
The part about never having children? 
Or the endless, numbing sameness of it all?

(bitter laugh) 

Or maybe you mean the part where you wake up one day and realize you're nothing 
but a whore racking up faceless affairs because whole lifetimes tick by so fast 
they don't even count anymore!

She wraps her arms around herself as if to stem the escaping demons. Duncan remains silent, taking it all in.

FAITH (cont'd) 
Here's the kicker, Duncan. I came here for one reason and one reason only. 
To see if I could feel again. Anything.

She walks out, leaving the door hanging wide in her wake.

INT - HALLWAY
Faith reaches for the stairwell door as--DUNCAN'S ARM LANCES OUT, holding it shut.

DUNCAN (leaning in) 
I'm watching my best friend driven insane by something that happened four centuries ago. 
And there's nothing I can do to stop it. Because those people are dead and nobody can bring them back.

Faith struggles to open the door. Duncan holds firm.

DUNCAN (cont'd) 
But I'm lucky. You know why?

FAITH
Let go!

DUNCAN
I'm lucky because my crime can still be forgiven.

FAITH 
LET GO!!

DUNCAN 
As long as you're still alive, there's at least the chance. 
It could take years. Centuries even. It may never happen...

Faith is now PUSHING FURIOUSLY on the door.

DUNCAN (cont'd) 
But at least I can still carry the hope inside me. 
That's one blessing of immortality. There's always tomorrow.

He lets go of the door and steps back.

DUNCAN (cont'd)
Even for you.

Faith shoves her way past him and disappears into the stairwell.

CUT TO:EXT - MANHATTAN SKYLINE - NIGHT
CONNOR MACLEOD stands on a ROOFTOP, sword in hand, face upturned to the bitter heavens. Stinging WIND and RAIN slash at his face. He doesn't even blink.

CUT TO:EXT - NEAR CHURCH - NIGHT
Seen through a CAMCORDER VIEWFINDER, our roving POV wends its way past a couple fixing junkies up to a GARAGE where WINSTON hunkers over his bike making repairs. Kase's church looms in the background like a veiled threat.

CALVIN (O.S.)
Win-ston.

WINSTON 
Shut that thing off.

CALVIN (O.S.) 
Hey, c'mon.

WINSTON SHUT IT OFF!SCREEN BLACKS OUT as Winston slams his hand over the lens, ENDING CAMCORDER POV.
Calvin sets it down.

CALVIN 
Awright...

WINSTON 
I'm out. I'm leaving.

CALVIN 
You're out. You're out... You don't get out.

WINSTON 
Watch me.

CALVIN 
You saw what he did to Carlos. He's Genghis the fucking Hun, man. 
You live his way or you die your way. Be grateful you got the choice.

Winston looks off.

WINSTON
We could take him.

CALVIN 
Huh? Say how much you value your life?

WINSTON 
Forty-three guineas. Saw the bill of sale myself. 
Kingston Jamaica, August 14th, 1813.

CALVIN 
Sorry there, Cinque', but I got a bigger price goin on this unit.

WINSTON 
I watched Connor MacLeod stand up to Kase tonight. Got me thinking.

CALVIN 
What about.

WINSTON 
That maybe my soul wasn't part of the deal after all.

Calvin considers his point.

CALVIN 
You really think we can take him?

WINSTON 
The man can't stop a bullet. I know that much. But I need your help.

CALVIN 
Yeah and who takes his head, huh? Gets that bucket fulla lucky charms. You, Mr Cool?

(beat) 

Who's gonna be master then?

INSERT - CALVIN'S CAMERA and that little glowing RECORD LIGHT...

EXT - RUBBLED CEMETERY - DAWN

FOLLOW CONNOR MACLEOD

CUT TO:
as he reaches the crest of the cemetery ridge. He sags against a solitary windswept oak, slides down until he's sitting cross-legged at the base of the tree. Eyes wide, unblinking. BEFORE HIM stand those TWELVE DEAD IMMORTALS from The Sanctuary, directly over their burial plots. Their heads are missing. CONNOR looks on impassively. Even as--THOUSANDS MORE now stipple the barren landscape. All headless, in period dress spanning untold centuries. The forgotten casualties of an endless, impossible war. Connor nods solemnly. 

CONNOR
Soon.

He blinks. The specters are gone.

TIME LAPSE ON CONNOR:
DAY becomes NIGHT becomes DAY. And still he sits there, unmoved, as if ready to embrace the rest of eternity from this one desolate spot.

TRANSITION TO:EXT - CEMETERY RIDGE - DAY
Connor remains sitting against the tree as A SHADOW slices over him. He slowly tilts his gaze upward. Squints. 

DUNCAN (O.S.) 
There's supposed to be an end to all this, right? A final answer...

Duncan slides down next to him. Gazes out at the trackless ocean.

DUNCAN
Isn't that the "prize" we're all butchering each other to win?

CONNOR
I already know the answer. The "prize"-- the real prize-- is just to close your eyes and see nothing.

DUNCAN
I don't believe that.

CONNOR
You think the Game is still about good against evil? 
A better world? Look around. Who among us really deserves to win?

DUNCAN 
Not Jacob Kase.

CONNOR 
And who's going to stop him? You? Me?

DUNCAN 
There has to be a way.

Connor looks off. Nods.

CONNOR 
Oh, there's a way, kinsman. There's a way. 
But I don't believe you have the guts to take it.

DUNCAN 
Try me.

Connor stands up. Offers a hand to Duncan. Hauls him upright.

CONNOR
Alright then.

HE SUDDENLY LASHES OUT WITH HIS SWORD. Duncan barely catches Connor's blade with his own.

DUNCAN
What're you doing?!

CONNOR 
Don't you know? The better of us will take the other's gift. 
Pray it'll be enough.

Duncan lowers his blade.

DUNCAN 
I won't do it.

CONNOR
Then you'll die.

Again, Connor STRIKES. Again, Duncan barely escapes with his head. And settles into a fighting stance.

DUNCAN 
It can't end like this!

CONNOR 
It already has. Goodbye, brother.

He SWINGS FOR DUNCAN'S NECK. Steel RINGS against steel. Clansman against clansman.

CUT TO: INT - CHURCH SANCTUARY - DAY
Faith sits in a center pew, head bowed, deep in thought. Or prayer. Hard to tell with somebody like Faith. Kase sits down beside her.

KASE 
You were with him.

He curls his nose, as if he can still smell the sin.

KASE (cont'd)
"Woman is a temple built upon a sewer."

FAITH 
Glad I can help you feel a bit better about yourself there, Jacob.

KASE
Remember what you were when I first found you? A whore. Now look. A liberated woman.

FAITH 
Fuck you.

Kase runs a delicate finger across her neck.

KASE 
Be grateful I don't this minute remove your pretty little heafod.

FAITH (looks up, cold)
Holy ground, lover. It's a bitch, ain't it?

CUT TO:EXT - CEMETERY RIDGE - DAY
Two figures dot the faraway ridge as the savage music of their swordplay PEALS out across the barren countryside.

MOVING CLOSER,
we watch these timeless warriors exchange strikes that would drive lesser men into the ground. Each gifted in his own way, neither gaining full advantage over the other...they both gradually succumb to EXHAUSTION.

CLOSER:
Connor and Duncan finally lower their swords, panting and spent.

DUNCAN (hollow rasp)
Enough?

CONNOR (barely audible)
Enough...

And that's as much as either can say as they suck back great gulping lungfulls of air. A little color finally returns to Duncan's cheeks. He mops his face with his sleeve.

DUNCAN 
Next time I won't hold back.

CONNOR 
Nor I.

Dragging his sword like a half-ton barbell, Duncan turns and makes his way back toward the "resting tree." CONNOR closes his eyes and HOISTS HIS SWORD...

CONNOR (whispered) 
Remember well, old friend.

DUNCAN feels, more than sees, the ONCOMING BLADE. He turns into the ARC of CONNOR'S SWING--

SLOW MOTION
He reacts on pure instinct, SWORD LIFTING, BODY PIVOTING with the DRIVING FORCE of CONNOR'S THRUST...

FLASH TO: CONNOR TEACHING THAT SAME MOVE TO DUNCAN BACK IN 1627.

FLASH BACK TO: CONNOR'S SWORD
as it GRAZES Duncan‘s side. DUNCAN'S KATANA SWINGS UP with the same vicious thrust, CATCHES CONNOR UNDER THE CHIN...
Connor doesn't flinch. TIME SUSPENDS the instant before blade meets flesh...

CONNOR'S VOICE 
The game is not about survival, Duncan. 
It's about living. In the end, it's all that matters.

REAL TIME--

THE BLADE CUTS CLEAN THROUGH CONNOR'S NECK WITH UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM.

Duncan CRIES OUT as he follows through, BLOOD staining his blade with the crushing reality of what he has just committed. He sinks to his knees...and SCREAMS TO THE HEAVENS. The heavens answer back with THUNDER, LIGHTNING and GALE FORCE WINDS that seem to come from everywhere at once.

PURE ESSENCE----HOWLS out of CONNOR'S BODY.

DUNCAN 
CON-NORRRRRRR!!

It SURGES UPWARD into endless SHEETS of LIGHTNING.
Duncan CONVULSES at the epicenter of a GROWING CLASH between EARTH and SKY.
SHOCKWAVES POUND through his skull, triggering

A LAST FLEETING VISION OF CONNOR MACLEOD:
Walking with Heather across an open field. He turns and looks back at Duncan.

CONNOR'S EYES
shine with a look of ultimate peace and transcendence. He seems to be gazing straight into Duncan's soul. And smiling at what he sees as--
A FINAL BLAST OF ESSENCE RIPS through Duncan's BRAIN.

EXT - HIGHRISE - NIGHT

DISSOLVE TO:
Duncan stands alone on the rooftop, stripped to the waist, moving slowly through an elaborate kata. The precision of his movement belies the chaos inside him. He windmills the katana over his head, faster and faster, until he suddenly RELEASES IT--THE SWORD PINWHEELS through the night sky, arcing out across the open space between buildings...Duncan watches its long, lofting trajectory...then takes off RUNNING. He reaches the edge of the rooftop and LEAPS.

WIDE
Legs cycling through empty air, he traces a matching arc directly under the far-flung sword. Like a long-jumper stretching for that last inch of sand, Duncan HYPER-EXTENDS for the next rooftop.

EXT - NEXT ROOFTOP
HIS LEADING FOOT hits the edge-- digs in, pivots and sets. HIS HAND THRUSTS UPWARD as the sword grip SLAPS INTO HIS OPEN PALM. Fingers wrap around the ivory hilt, slowly lowering it down to eye-level. GO IN CLOSE ON THOSE EYES and see a new Duncan MacLeod. Stronger. Deadlier. A man cooly aware of his own destiny.

CUT TO:EXT - ARMORY - DAY
Dawson's car pulls up to the generic cinderblock building that now stands unguarded and abandoned.

INT - ARMORY - DAY
Dawson enters, squints into the darkness. The interior looks as if it's stood fallow for the last three decades. No giger-chair, no gothic restraints. No evidence the Watchers ever took up temporary residence here. Except for MATTHEW, who emerges from the stale halflight to confront Dawson.

MATTHEW 
I'm a bit surprised to see you again. All things considered.

Dawson just stands there, hands plunged inside his coat pockets.

MATTHEW (cont'd) 
As you can see, we had to move on. Find a new Sanctuary.

DAWSON
It's wrong. What you're doing. It's inhuman.

MATTHEW 
Ah, but they're not human, really. Are they?

DAWSON 
Gimme a reason, Matthew.

MATTHEW
It's for the good of us all. You know that.

DAWSON 
Gimme a reason.

Matthew cocks his head like the RCA dog.

MATTHEW
Because we must. It's that simple. 
And if you get in our way again, 
there will be very serious consequences.

DAWSON 
Gimme a good reason.

Matthew pulls a gun. Aims it at Dawson's heart.

MATTHEW 
I'm sorry to have to do this, Joe.

He pulls the trigger...as TWO SLUGS pound into his chest. Matthew topples backward, dead. Dawson palms the gun still concealed in his coat pocket. Nods.

DAWSON 
Reason enough.

CUT TO:EXT - NEW YORK STREET - DAY
Kase is roaring through narrow streets in a low-slung convertible, Faith at his side. With utter disregard for speed or care, he guns it madly in shrieking turns.

INT - CONVERTIBLE, DRIVING
Faith grips the dashboard two-handed.

FAITH 
Slow down.

KASE 
Adrenalin's good for the sex drive.

FAITH
I'm not amused, Jacob.

She reaches over and slaps on her shoulder harness.

KASE 
Thought maybe you needed a little more excitement.
You know, spice up our relationship a bit.

WIDE
He OVERSTEERS, caroms off several parked cars, recovers...

KASE (cont'd)
I mean, isn't that why you went back to Duncan MacLeod? The risk?

FAITH
I don't know what you're trying to prove.Kase puts an arm around her shoulder...

KASE 
Why do I have to prove anything to you?.... 

as his foot flattens the accelerator. ENGINE WHINES.

KASE (cont'd) 
I can have anything I want already.

FAITH 
Except me. And that bugs the shit out of you, doesn't it?

KASE 
Not really.

AT THE NEXT TURN
it's clear he'll never make it, he's going too fast. Kase only smiles. Releasing the wheel, he stands in his seat, lifts his arms above his head and SHOUTS in exultation as--the car EXPLODES into the wall. It's all over in a breath. Accordioned metal, drooling radiator, and Faith, slumped over the dash. Kase lies sprawled and battered on the pavement, thrown some distance from the wreckage. He's clearly taken the worst of the impact. FAITH stirs and slowly wrenches herself free of the smoking mangle of steel and plastic. She reaches back and pulls Kase's sword free of the wreckage. With single-minded determination, she limps over to Kase's body, face-up in his own pooling blood. A disbelieving PEDESTRIAN pauses in shock. Faith gives her a twisted smile.

FAITH 
Don't mind us.

Pedestrian SCURRIES OFF as Faith lifts the sword over her head and brings it WHISTLING DOWN across Kase's neck. With inhuman reflexes, Kase awakens and catches her wrist in the same heartbeat. Eyes narrow.

KASE 
Does this mean it's over?

DISSOLVE TO:EXT - KASE'S CHURCH - DAY
Kase steps up to the back entrance, alone. THE DOOR hangs slightly ajar, which clearly disturbs him.

INT - CHURCH SANCTUARY - DAY
Kase enters the main room to find Calvin and Sarge asleep on their pews. He kicks the first pew, awakens both with a start.

KASE 
Who left the back door open?

CALVIN 
Huh?

Kase looks to Sarge.

SARGE
I dunno.

KASE 
Where's Cracker Bob? He was supposed to be watching the back.

Calvin and Sarge both shrug.

KASE (cont'd) (sotto) 
Infants.

He whirls, stalks out.

INT - SACRISTY
Kase enters his dark, cluttered office, SLAMMING the door behind him. FLICKS ON THE LIGHT and stops cold. A SWORD JUTS from a small wooden table...right through CRACKER BOB, who lies skewered to the tabletop. WRAPPED AROUND THE SWORDHILT is Caiolin MacLeod‘s unique silver- and-wood CRUCIFIX. The message is not lost on Kase. BOB'S EYES suddenly flutter open. First thing he sees is that sword hilt sticking rudely out of his own chest.

CRACKER BOB 
Ah-- Ahhh-- AHHHHHHH!!

KASE 
Shut up.

He reaches forward and JERKS the sword out of Bob, and with it A SINGLE SCRAP OF PAPER impaled on the blade. It bears just one word, scrawled in Bob's plentiful blood. GLENFINNAN. Bob sits up on the table, wild-eyed, as Kase calmly opens his fingers and lets the paper slide from his fingers.

CUT TO:EXT - LITTLE ITALY, ESTABLISHING - NIGHT
Glitter lights and milling tourists. Row upon row of gimmicky Italian restaurants.

INT - ITALIAN RESTAURANT, PRIVATE ROOM - NIGHT
Jacob Kase and his acolytes dine at a long table set against a gaudy backdrop of faux Roman ruins, babbling fountains and plastic holly. It all imparts a whiff of "Last Supper" pomp to the proceeding. Which is not lost on the other Immortals, who glance around warily while eating, as suspicious of each other as they are of Kase. Nor does anyone miss the fact that there are no windows in this particular room.

CLOSE ON WINSTON
He stares into his pasta, beading sweat. BENEATH THE TABLE his fingers curl around the cold steel of a .38 SPECIAL wedged between his knees. He inches the gun upward toward the table rim as...Kase suddenly stands up in the center.

KASE 
A toast...

All heads turn. Gun freezes in Winston's lap, just hidden from view.

KASE (cont'd) 
I see tonight as a celebration of the spirit.

(raises his glass) 

Here's to all of you who continue to stand by me...

(smiles at Winston)

. . . even those who might waver at times.

Winston stiffens, fears that Kase is on to him. And when Calvin averts his gaze, he knows. Still, he raises his glass. As do the others.

KASE (cont'd) 
You are my flock. You nourish my soul.

It's now or never for Winston. His moment of truth.Kase's eyes slowly drift over to meet his.

SLOW MOTION,
Kase tips back his glass and drinks, eyes locked on Winston. Winston responds in kind, gulping down his wine as he slips the gun back into his pocket. He shoves off from the table.

WINSTON 
Excuse me.

KASE 
Where you going?

WINSTON 
Toilet.

KASE 
Sit sit. I'm not through with my toast yet.

WINSTON 
Can't wait.

He angles for the door.

KASE
I'm almost finished. Sit.

Winston reaches for the doorknob. Locked. He swivels back. Sees death in Jacob Kase's eyes. His death.

KASE (cont'd)
It'll all be over in a few more seconds.

A cold spike of fear shoots through every single one of them...as Kase continues.

KASE (cont'd)
You‘ve all been a part of a great quest. 
A four hundred year quest for justice.

He lifts up an exquisitely-crafted sword.

KASE (cont'd)
And here, my friends, is the instrument of that justice. 
It's called the "Colichmarde." Finest sword known to man.

The blade WHISTLES upright.

KASE (cont'd) 
Blessed by Popes and baptized in blood. 
I only break it out for special occasions.

He kisses the perfect cross formed by the juncture of blade and quillons.

KASE (cont'd)
It sings like an angel. Just listen.

Winston jerks for his gun. In a SUDDEN BLUR of STEEL and BLOOD, Kase beheads Winston and dispatches the next two of his stunned acolytes with blinding efficiency. TONGUES OF LIQUID ENERGY coil up and around Kase's body. But he keeps right on coming. The others scatter like roaches. ESSENCE PULSES off walls and ceiling, SHATTERING STATUARY, HURLING FURNITURE...before MERGING with the WALKING INFERNO that is now Jacob Kase. His sword BLAZES through the remaining victims, trailing STREAKS OF BLUE FIRE. One after another, they drop headless to the concrete, triggering A FULL-ON MULTIPLE-QUICKENING.

THE NEXT WAVE OF ESSENCE SLAMS into Kase front on. His knees BUCKLE.

ANOTHER Hits him BROADSIDE, buffeting him one way as

YET ANOTHER POUNDS him from the opposite- side, rocking him back center and IMMOBILIZING HIM inside an omni-directional CRUSH of LIGHT AND SOUND that WHITES OUT THE FRAME.

DISSOLVE TO:EXT - SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS - DAY
A THICK CLINGING FOG, enshrouds the rocky highlands. Somewhere along the invisible coastline below, a foghorn MOANS. The skeletal remains of an ancient Gaelic CASTLE loom spectral gray above JACOB KASE who stands before an ANCIENT CELTIC MONOLITH (familiar from Glenfinnan's town square) revelling in the changeless land of his birth.

KASE (calling out) 
Where else could stir the blood of a Scotsman too long of this earth and too far from home?

Kase picks his way across the uneven ground, unable to see beyond the reach of his own arm.

KASE (cont'd)(filling his lungs)
I can nae get enough of it.

He draws his sword, extends it outward until the tip disappears from sight. A LOW SCRAPING OF METAL ON STONE taunts him from somewhere out there in the slow-drifting whiteness Kase's sword TWITCHES toward the SOUND. Just the FAINTEST OUTLINE of a FIGURE COALESCES BRIEFLY inside the fog.

KASE 
Ah, what's this? Hamlet's ghost?

The FIGURE melts back into silent nothingness.

KASE (cont'd) 
I'm afraid even the cloak of fog won't help you overcome a sizeable disadvantage.

A DIFFERENT SCRAPING SOUND spins him around to see ANOTHER GHOSTLY FIGURE looming over him from a narrow stone outcropping. Kase masks a slight tinge of concern.

KASE (cont'd)
It's always good to see two fellow clansmen banded together in a common cause. 
But I hope you haven't sunk to the level of a simultaneous ambush.

Once again, the figure steps backward into the enveloping fog. Disappears. Slightly unnerved, Kase jerks around. No sign of anyone. Just that infernal mist. A SOFT SCRAPING of SWORD against ROCK swivels him back around to his original position.

CLOSE ON KASE
His nerves are starting to shred. He turns several full rotations, craning for a glimpse of his tormentors. And then he sees it...AN APPARITION WIELDING A SWORD. Kase LUNGES for it. And this time, it doesn't retreat. Swords CLANG in thunderous overture as TWO SPECTRES IN THE FOG battle for position on tenuous footing. KASE drives his adversary backward into a BLUNTED STONE WALL, leaving him no avenue of escape. Their swords LOCK UP and Kase suddenly finds himself FACE TO FACE WITH--DUNCAN MACLEOD. You can sense Kase's bitter disappointment.

KASE 
Not at all who I'd hoped for.

CLOSE ON DUNCAN'S EYES
as they flick to a point iust behind Kase's head.

CLOSE ON KASE'S EYES
as he realizes he's been had. He SWINGS FULLY AROUND TO FACE CONNOR----and sees that NOBODY'S THERE! Too late-- he SWINGS BACK TO DUNCAN-- and IMPALES HIMSELF ON DUNCAN'S SWORD.

DUNCAN (through clenched teeth) 
I'm afraid Connor couldn't be here. 
But don't worry, he's with us in spirit.

Still gripping his sword two-fisted, Duncan seems to surge with newfound strength.

DUNCAN 
He gave himself for this moment. 
And I shan't let him down.

Duncan SHOVES OFF from Kase and goes to work on him with a VENGEANCE.

WHAT KASE SEES:
A frightening, hallucinitory vision of a DUAL ADVERSARY-- one that CHANGES back and forth in the flux of swirling mist. As Duncan's blade BLURS PAST, Kase sees CONNOR. With the very next SWING, he sees Duncan again. Then Connor. Then Duncan. Connor. Duncan...Kase rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. Shakes it off. Can't be. Duncan buffets Kase backward with several dazzling combinations, then goes inside, tough and ugly. Kase seems suddenly overwhelmed, physically and mentally, as he's driven onto his back by sheer relentless overdrive. Duncan SLASHES DOWN for the killing blow, which Kase BARELY DEFLECTS. He SLASHES AGAIN. And AGAIN. Each time Kase barely escapes with his head intact. Duncan keeps up this relentless barrage, hacking down in every conceivable direction, looking for an opening, finding none. With each increasingly-leaden DOWNSTROKE, Duncan is losing strength...and Kase is regaining his. Kase BATTLES BACK TO HIS FEET, deftly siezes the advantage.

KASE (savage smile) 
This is not a game won on points, I'm afraid.

He drives Duncan back with an answering exchange that leaves no doubt of his superior ability. In a single massive THRUST, Kase STRIPS Duncan's sword and sends him flying. Duncan lands on his back, weaponless. Kase steps up to the katana, scoops his toe under it and FLICKS IT BACK TO DUNCAN. Then waves him back to his feet. A cat playing with his prey. Both combatants square off... and RESUME.

KASE 
That's the beauty of eternity. The fun never stops.

He THRUSTS-- spiking Duncan clear through the shoulder. Duncan hangs up on the blade, unable to move. Grimaces in pain. Setting boot to chest, Kase KICKS Duncan off his sword and sends him spiralling backward. Duncan reaches out to break his fall--but there's no ground beneath him. He PLUMMETS OFF a SLANTED CLIFF. Bounces at fifty feet, then tumbles clear to the bottom. Kase steps up to the edge, scowls.

A FRESHLY-CUT QUARRY
has been hewn from the hilltop by the massive sword of modern technology. EARTH MOVING EQUIPMENT several stories tall lines the inner basin.

KASE 
What have they done to my mountain?!

He gazes down at DUNCAN'S BODY sprawled at the base of the cliff. Then starts down after him.

EXT - BOTTOM OF QUARRY - DAY
Duncan crawls over to his sword...as Kase picks his way down the steep incline. Duncan spikes his sword into the ground and uses it to climb upright. One look at his battered body and you know this fight is over. He just stands there, hunched over his sword, grimly waiting for Kase to reach him and deliver the killing blow. It doesn't take long. Kase stops, regards him with contempt.

KASE 
Don't make it easy. I hate that.

DUNCAN 
You‘re breaking my heart.

KASE 
Pick up!

Duncan shakes his blood-streaked head.

KASE 
PICK UP!

DUNCAN 
It's always been too easy for you, Kase. 
No reason this time should be any different.

He plucks his sword out of the ground...and TURNS HIS BACK TO KASE.

DUNCAN (cont'd)
Take your best shot.

He hobbles off, sword hanging limp at his side. Kase starts TREMBLING WITH RAGE.

KASE 
MACLEOD!

Duncan ignores him, keeps walking. About now, we should have a pretty good idea what Duncan has in mind. But Kase doesn't have a clue.
click on pic to see larger version DUNCAN'S POV:
For a fleeting moment, Connor stands before Duncan, more mist than flesh. He opens his arms wide.

CONNOR'S APPARITION 
Remember well, old friend.

He DISSOLVES AWAY as Kase hoists sword over shoulder...

KASE (cont'd)
MAC-LEOD!!.

..and CHARGES...Which is exactly what Duncan expected. USING THE SAME MOVE CONNOR TAUGHT HIM----DUNCAN PIVOTS WITH THE THRUST, catching Kase completely off guard and off balance. This time, no force of man or nature can keep Duncan's sword from hitting home. He SLICES UPWARD with a ROAR OF DEFIANCE...and FOLLOWS THROUGH.

ON KASE
He stands there, head miraculously still intact, a look of bewildered relief. Duncan simply POPS his sword butt into Kase's face. The head comes easily away from the neck and falls.

KASE'S POVspins END OVER END through the air, bounces twice and comes to a rest SIDEWAYS. And that's how we first see his HEADLESS BODY, sprawled across the ground. KASE'S SEVERED HEAD blinks with sudden recognition. And now he knows. This is the worst part of losing your head-- those last few seconds of cold lucidity.

DUNCAN opens his arms to HEAVES UNDERFOOT.

WIDE - THE QUARRY
the ULTIMATE OUICKENING as THE EARTH WALLS EXPLODE like a circle of VOLCANOES venting into the center. Duncan CLAWS UPWARD on a GROUNDSWELL OF RAW ENERGY as DIRT, ROCK, ASH and SMOKE OBLITERATE THE BASIN.

The SEISMIC CONVULSIONS GRADUALLY SUBSIDE. The dust settles. And the blighted landscape falls into an unearthly SILENCE, blind to its own buried secrets. HOLD on the trailing wisps of smoke as THE GROUND SHUDDERS and DUNCAN'S KATANA BREAKS THE SURFACE. It PLUNGES UPWARD ONE, TWO, THREE MORE TIMES, pulverizing dirt and stone. HANDS FOLLOW, clawing their up way through the loosely- mounded earth until DUNCAN'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS APPEAR. As if the earth itself is giving birth to a new generation of Immortal. He rolls out onto the ground, gasping, triumphant. Reborn. One inch at a time, he slowly rises to his feet.

As we KEEP ON RISING up into a FIERY HIGHLAND SUNSET.

TILT BACK DOWN TO:

EXT - HIGHLANDS ABOVE GLENFINNAN
Duncan stands over a freshly-dug grave. Onto the simple stone, he's chisled:

HEATHER MACLEOD
BELOVED WIFE OF CONNOR

And beneath it:

CONNOR MACLEOD
BELOVED HUSBAND OF HEATHER

Duncan's eyes glisten with an unspeakable loss. And a comfort in knowing that his friend has finally found the peace of eternity. 

DUNCAN 
yours is the greater prize my friend. 
Welcome home.

LINGER ON DUNCAN as we DISSOLVE SLOWLY TO...

EXT - MANHATTAN SKYLINE - DAWN
FAITH stands sentinel-like atop a bluff overlooking the Hudson River and the insignificant island of Manhattan beyond. Her trademark slashes of facepaint and hair dye have been shed like molted skin. What remains is a serene beauty that defies fashion or vanity. Her faraway eyes BLINK with a sudden, frightening clarity. THE BUZZ sets her reflexes snapping as she SPINS AROUND----and CATCHES THE COLICHMARDE, handle first. DUNCAN follows, strolling toward her with hands loose at his side. Faith runs her finger down the shimmering blade.

FAITH (considers)
So... what am I supposed to do next -- kiss you or take your head?

Duncan steps up to her, smiling enigmatically.

DUNCAN
The choice is yours.

FADE OUT:THE END