ANGEL: You guys alright?

FRED: Charles got stabbed.

GUNN: Yeah. A couple stitches worth.

ANGEL: The same guys that attacked us.

FRED: Cordy - your tag's showing.

(Fred tucks the tag back away.)

GUNN: Any idea where we are or what the hell?

ANGEL: Yeah. Cordy and I hit kind of a mystical hotspot back in one of the dressing rooms.

CORDELIA: Well, it seems the prima ballerina had a lover back in the day. And there was this Count Kurskov, who owned the company, and I guess he had a thing for the girl and - they were mightily afraid of him.

ANGEL: He had powers of some kind.

WESLEY: (arriving) He was a wizard. He was obsessed with the girl. When he found her with the other man, he went insane with jealous rage - pulled her out of time out of any reality beyond *his* theater, his company. He swore she would dance for him forever.

FRED: How did you...

WESLEY: I - ah, - I hit a hotspot, too.

GUNN: And now we're stuck here?

WESLEY: Well, ah, this kind of temporal shift can't just exist. It has to be maintained. That requires power and concentration. If we can overload him somehow, we might be able to slip back to the real world.

GUNN: The man with the plan!

ANGEL: Great. So, how do we overload him?

WESLEY: Well, I'd imagine *that* requires some energy.

(The others turn to look at what Wes is indicating. One of the dead minions is slowly rising, begins to shake, then splits in two, one wearing a tragedy mask and sobbing, the other wearing a comedy mask and laughing. Angel grabs them both in a head lock under each arm and breaks both their necks. As soon as they hit the floor they start shivering and splitting each into a new pair of theater minions.)

FRED: The more we kill, the more he makes.

CORDELIA: Look!

(For a moment the wall of the corridor wavers, revealing another reality behind it.)

WESLEY: And that is draining his energy. Angel, try and find a way to the stage. The count will be watching.

ANGEL: (muttering) I bet *he* has a box.

WESLEY: Find his power center and destroy it. We'll try and loosen his hold.

GUNN: By making more monsters? Man with the frightening plan!

CORDELIA: Back here. They can't surround us.

WESLEY: You two - (Looks from Fred to Gunn, then back to Fred) - stay close together. I'll take point.

CORDELIA: I hope you're in a killing mood.

WESLEY: I should do alright.

(...)

WESLEY: It's working!

GUNN: Yeah, there are dozens of them. Yay us!

WESLEY: It has to be weakening his hold.

written by: Joss Whedon; I typed these up myself this afternoon (2/8/02) since I couldn't find a transcript. Spell checked the next day.... Full transcript at: