Sunnydale cemetery, night a newborn vampire emerges from his grave as Buffy gives Dawnlessons on how to slay. As the vampire struggles to free himself, Buffy tells Buffy pulls him out by the scruff of his neck. As he turns on her, she grabs him by the throat and tells him he can have Dawn.
Dawn stands stake in hand as the vampire launches himself at her, as he approaches she falls and the vampire flies right over her and into a gravestone, they standing up, dawn stakes the vampire but misses his heart. Rising the vamp attacks and Dawn is ready with her stake, the vamp grabs her and is about to bite when Buffy steps in and finishes him off. The lesson over, Buffy congratulates Dawn on her first attempt, consoling her with the news that she missed the heart her first time too.
Vampires, however, are nothing compared to what's coming, Sunnydale Highschool has been re-built on the original site and Dawn will be one of the new pupils.
Westbury, England, Giles rides his horse across the open countryside, dismounting he walks toward a tree beneath which sits Willow. As she looks at the ground a flower springs up and opens in front of her eyes. Willow has been learning how to control her power but she can feel that the coven teaching her are afraid of her. Willow gets up and as she does so the flower wilts back into the ground it came from.
Back in Sunnydale, Xander arrives at the Summers' house all dressed up in a suit and carrying some plans, inside Dawn is getting ready for her first day at school. Spreading out the plans, Xander, who's construction company is responsible for the re-building of Sunnydale High (you'd have thought he would have known better), spreads out the plans and assures Buffy that there is nothing mystical whatsoever about the new building. The only point of interest being that where the library once was now sits the Principal's Office, right over the mouth of hell
Buffy checks that Dawn is all ready and prepared for her first day at Sunnydale High, complete with books, lunch and stakes and gives her a back to school gift, a mobile phone.
Arriving at the new school, Buffy walks Dawn to class and bumps into the new Principal, Robin Wood, who makes a good first impression by thinking that Buffy is Dawn's mom. With Dawn on her way to class, Buffy roams around the new school, as she approaches the lockers a basketball slams into them and bounces back into the hands of the thrower.
Investigating, she sees the back end of a boy just as he turns into another hallway, she follows but he's gone. Passing the basement door, Buffy finds her way to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror she checks for 'mom hair' and notices a talisman by the basin. As she picks it up a zombie appears behind her, she spins around but it's gone, only for another to appear beside her screaming get out.
Dawn is introducing herself to her class when Buffy bursts in shouting that it's not safe, realising she is in a class full of students she makes a feeble excuse and leaves. Dawn concludes her introduction with the words 'I also have a sister'
In a coffee shop, Anya and Halfrek sit drinking coffee as a band play. As they talk, Halfrek breaks the news to Anya that it's been noticed that she just not delivering when it comes to the vengeance. Instead of handing out death and evicerations she recently turned someone French when his wife wished he was a frog. There's an old evil coming, she says, and now is not the time to be one of the good guys.
Buffy meets Xander at a not yet quite constructed part of the school and brings him up to date on the zombie issue whilst, in class, Dawn lends a pencil to a guy who turns into a zombie and stabs her in the eye with it. Screaming she falls to the floor, by the time the teacher asks her if she's alright it's gone. With an excuse as flimsy as her sister's she leaves for the bathroom pronto. Sitting down she hears sobbing coming from one of the other cubicles, investigating she finds Kit, huddled up, saying there's someone there. Dawn coaxes her out of the cubicle only to find three zombies standing by the mirrors. Above them the lights explode, the girls try to run but hands come up through the floor, pulling them down into the basement.
In Westbury, Giles kneels in front of his house, holding Willow as she screams. Coming round she tells him that she felt the earth and saw it's teeth, the Hellmouth is going to open.
In the basement Kit wakes and rouses Dawn. Trying to find a way out they bump into the basket ball guy, Carlos only to find that the zombies are back and they are surrounded. Dawn remembers her mobile and rings Buffy who has bumped into the Principal and is trying to persuade him that Dawn should be expelled as soon as possible.
With another feeble excuse, Buffy heads for the bathroom and jumps through the hole that Dawn and Kit went through. Searching the basement she soon finds the zombies, who tell her they blame her for their deaths but Buffy's not really caring, she just wants to find Dawn. Realising that they are blocking her way to a door Buffy starts the fight, still finding herself on the wrong side of the door, she decides to find another way in, diving over them she reaches the door which opens to reveal Spike.
Laughing insanely he tells her to duck as a zombie attacks her with a metal pole from behind, fighting she manages to shut and bolt the door on them. Turning to Spike she asks him if he's seen Dawn but Spike is really not making sense. Walking up to him she pulls his open shirt back to reveal scars over his heart, he tells her that he tried to cut it out. She looks concerned but the phone interrupts and Dawn tells her that the zombies have dragged them into a room near the furnace while Spike mutters to himself in the background. Buffy has to admit that she doesn't know what she is dealing with so, in a strangely coherent moment, Spike tells her that they are manifest spirits raised by a talisman to seek vengeance. A four year old could figure it.
Leaving Spike she finds the zombies gone and, remembering the talisman she saw in the bathroom, she calls Xander.
In the furnace room, Dawn takes control and they look for a weapon, the guy finds some bricks and Dawn fills Kit's handbag with them just as the resentful dead guys return. Dawn takes one out with the brick filled bag, hearing the screams Buffy rushes to her sister's aid and the fighting begins for real.
Above them Xander finds the talisman and finds that he too has zombie company, breaking the talisman he looks up to see the zombies vanish into yellow dust, down in the basement the zombie's meet with the same fate.
In the hallway, the new Principal watches as Buffy chats to Dawn and her new friends, as they leave for class he approaches her. Congratulating her on getting Carlos and Kit, (possibly the only two kids in the school with a thicker file than Buffy's was) to class he offers her a job. It would only be a couple of days a week and the money wouldn't be great, Buffy snaps his hand off before he even gets a chance to sell it to her.
In the basement, Spike crouches on the ground, hugging himself, talking to himself: "Everything's ... I had a speech. I learned it all. Oh, god, she won't understand, she won't understand..." Warren appears, pacing around Spike: "Of course she won't understand, Sparky. I'm beyond her understanding. She's a girl... she's sugar and spice and everything... useless unless you're baking... I'm more than that. More than flesh..."
Morphs into Glory: "more than blood. I'm... you know, I honestly don't think there's a human word fabulous enough for me! Oh my name will be on everyone's lips, assuming their lips haven't been torn off. But not just yet... that's alright, though...."
Morphs into Adam: "... I can be patient. Everything is well within parameters. She's exactly where I want her to be, and so are you number 17." Adam looks down at a confused, listening, Spike. "You're right where you belong..."
Morphs into The Mayor, who crouches by Spike: "So what ya think, you'd get your soul back and everything would be Jim Dandy? A soul is slipperier than a greased weasel, why do you think I sold mine? Well, you probably thought that you'd be your own man, and I respect that...But you"
Morphs into Drusilla who caresses Spike's face "never will... you'll always be mine...You'll always be in the dark with me, singing our little songs, you like our little songs, don't you? You've always liked them, right from the beginning...and that's where we're going"
She rises, morphing into The Master "Right back to the beginning. Not the Bang, not the Word, the true beginning. The next few months are going to be quite a ride, and I think we're all going to learn something about ourselves in the process. You'll learn you're a pathetic smuck, if it hasn't sunk in already... Look at you, trying to do what's right, just like her. You still don't get it.. It's not about right... it's not about wrong..."
The Master morphs into Buffy, who crosses her arms "... it's about Power..."