Mayor Richard Wilkins:
[clears his throat]
Well, what a day this is. A special day. Today is our centennial - the 100th anniversary of the founding of Sunnydale and I know what that means to all you kids... not a darn thing. Because today, something much more important happens - today you all graduate from high school. Today, all the pain, all the work, all the excitement is finally over. And what's a hundred years of history compared to that?
Buffy Summers:
My God, he's gonna do the entire speech!
Willow Rosenberg:
Man, just ascend, already!
Buffy Summers:
Evil!
Mayor Richard Wilkins:
It's been a long road getting here. For you. For Sunnydale. There's been achievement, joy, good times. And there's been grief... there's been loss. Some people who should be here today... aren't. But we are... journey's end. And what is a journey? Is it just... distance travelled? Time spent? No. It's what happens on the way. It's the things that shape you. At the end of the journey, you're not the same. Today is about change. Graduation doesn't just mean you're circumstances change. It means you do. You ascend to a higher level. Nothing will ever be the same. Nothing.
[the Sun begins to eclipse and the Mayor doubles over in pain]
Mayor Richard Wilkins:
And so, as we look back on...
[the Mayor trails off again]
Mayor Richard Wilkins:
on the events that have brought us to this day...
[he convulses again]
Buffy Summers:
[whispers]
Come on.
Mayor Richard Wilkins:
We... we must all...
[this time he yells out in pain]
Mayor Richard Wilkins:
it has begun. My destiny. It's a little sooner than I expected. I had this whole section on civic pride... but I guess we'll just skip to the big finish.
[the Mayor begins to visibly transform into a giant, demonic snake and lets out an inhuman cry of triumph]
