Vulnerable
Episode 3
Buffy's House:
Anya sat alone in the kitchen, drinking water and reading a magazine. It was getting late and everyone else had gone to bed, or so she thought. She and Giles would be going the next morning to talk to the oracle, Beljoxa's Eye.
"Hello Anyanka."
Anya screamed and nearly jumped out of her chair. She turned and came face-to-face with her boss, D'Hoffryn.
"You scared me half to death," Anya said.
She took a moment to calm down and catch her breath. It wasn't every day that a demon appeared in your house to talk.
"Okay, I'm calm. What are you doing here?" she questioned.
"We need to talk," he replied.
"About?"
"Anya?" someone questioned.
Anya spun around to see Buffy standing in the doorway. She looked like she had just woken up and probably had. Anya realized it must have been her scream.
"I heard you scream and just came to…Anya, watch out! There's a demon behind you!" Buffy exclaimed.
Buffy got into battle stance. She was ready to kill whatever it was that had come into her house and threatened Anya.
"Relax, Buffy," Anya said, "It's just my boss, D'Hoffryn."
"Oh no," Buffy said, "I don't allow demons in my house."
Anya gave her a puzzled look.
"Well first of all, you've got Spike living downstairs," she informed, "and what do you think I am?"
"Oh," Buffy replied, "right. You know I'm gonna sit here just in case."
"Fine by me," D'Hoffryn said.
Anya turned back to her boss, obviously annoyed with Buffy being there.
"What do you need to talk about?" she questioned.
"You have disobeyed the laws of vengeance demons," he began.
"What did I do wrong?" she asked.
"You helped these humans here by doing a good deed," he replied.
"But they're my friends," she added.
"You're friends are vengeance demons, not humans," he said, "Do you know what the punishment is for aiding a human?"
"No, you can't!" she shouted.
"I can."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't let you touch her," Buffy said, rising to her feet.
"Buffy, Anya," Giles said, coming into the kitchen, "What's going on here?"
"Giles, stay back!" Buffy ordered.
"Buffy, that's D'Hoffryn, the leader of the vengeance demons," Giles informed, "Get away from him."
Just then, Spike decided to return from his midnight walk. He stepped right into the middle of everything.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" he questioned.
No one answered him.
"And who the bloody hell are you and what the bloody hell are you doing in here?" he asked.
"Ah…this must be the vampire that you have living here," D'Hoffryn said to Buffy.
"What's it to you, mate?" Spike questioned, walking over to Buffy.
"Leave my house now!" Buffy ordered.
"Not until Anyanka has received the proper punishment," he replied.
"You'll hafta get through me first," Buffy said.
D'Hoffryn didn't advance towards Anya. He just waved his arm and smirked.
"It is done," he said.
"What happened?" Buffy questioned.
"I'm human again," Anya said solemnly.
"Who did you think you were dealing with?" he questioned, "Did you think it would be that easy to get away?"
And with that, the demon was gone. He just disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Buffy, Anya, Giles, and Spike just stood there.
"Now where are you gonna get a demon to open the gateway to the oracle?" Spike questioned Anya.
"Well, I know this demon, Torg," she said, "He's an old friend."
"Where is this demon?" Giles asked.
"He's probably out drinking," Anya informed.
"Which means he's at Willy's," Spike added.
"I was getting there," she said.
"Anya and I will be back later," Giles informed, "Buffy, look after yourself and the potentials."
"Yes, Giles," she replied.
With that, Giles and Anya were gone. Buffy turned and looked at Spike. Then she walked out of the kitchen and headed back upstairs to bed. Spike went to the refrigerator and poured himself a nice cup of blood. He heated it up and then sat down at the table to drink it.
Willy's Bar:
Anya and Giles entered the bar. There weren't very many demons or vampires there. Anya quickly noticed the demon, Torg. She walked over to him and Giles followed. Torg was quickly downing a large glass of alcohol. He looked drunk.
"Torg!" Anya shouted.
The demon looked up from his glass, confused. Torg was built like a biker, with a large, muscular body, and long stringy hair. But his hairline was unusual—a long zigzag pattern along the crown of his head. He also had a barbed wire tattoo over his ear where there was no hair. His eyes were an odd color, and his face was red and creased like he had been scarred from fights, his ears were oversized and pointed. He had been pierced everywhere—nose, brow, ears. Plus, he had a goatee and a few whiskers along his jaw line.
"Anya?" he questioned, "What do you want?"
"I need you to open the gateway to the oracle for me," she informed.
"No."
"Why not?"
"You have the nerve to ask me that?"
"Come on that was a lifetime ago."
"Three, but who's counting? You broke my heart, Anyanka."
"Don't be so dramatic, Torg. You don't even have a heart. Six spleens, two stomachs, half a brain maybe, but no heart."
"Don't mock this. The night we spent together was...important to me."
"It was one date. And it wasn't even a date. We just happened to be invited to the same massacre, and—and you hit on me after I had a few..."
"I remember…you wore pink."
"Those were entrails."
"I'm sorry, perhaps we could skip the nostalgia," Giles said, growing annoyed.
Anya glared at him.
"Sorry, no, no, carry on," he added, not wanting to start anything.
"Okay, Torg, look, you open this tiny little gateway to the Beljoxa's Eye for me, and I'll— You and I will go—I'll have sex with you again."
"Ugh, please, you're human. I can sense it. The way you look now, I wouldn't touch you for all the kittens in Korea."
"You're rejecting my offer of sexual bribery?" she questioned, then turned to Giles, "What am I, a leper in this town? I can't even give it away!"
"Come back when you are a leper," Torg said.
"Um, perhaps this might change your mind. You help us, and the slayer won't kill you," Giles said, interrupting.
That was enough to convince him. He put the glass down and got up from the barstool. He headed out of the bar. Giles and Anya followed close behind.
Another Dimension:
It hadn't taken the demon very long to open the portal. She and Giles now stood in the dimension of the oracle. There was nothing. It was just black, but both could see each other.
"Where's the Beljoxa's Eye?" Giles questioned.
"Here," something said.
Giles and Anya walked towards the deep, echoing voice and discovered a creature that has many eyes that covered its surface. It was shaped vaguely like a comet, or maybe a huge eyeball with the nerve endings that streamed out behind it. The eyes that covered it's pink body were of varied shapes, sizes, and colors. The round part of the creature was in a spherical metal cage suspended from the ceiling by chains.
Sunnydale High Basement:
"Listen up," Warren spoke, "The plan is to open up the seal of Danthazar. We need blood to activate it though."
The First was now in the form of Warren. It was speaking to a small group of Bringers.
"There are two humans that should be arriving in Sunnydale shortly," The First told them, "They are old apprentices to this human. They know about the seal. Hopefully, we won't have to kill both of them. I am going to trick the one into killing the other.
Another Dimension:
"It cannot be fought, it cannot be killed. The First Evil has been and always will be. Since before the universe was born, long after there is nothing else, it will go on," it said.
"I refuse to believe that," Giles said, "There must be some way to destroy it."
"What, am I talking to myself here? There's no way," it replied.
"Okay, we tried. Let's go, Giles," Anya said.
"Are you saying that The First will succeed in—in wiping out the line of slayers?" Giles questioned.
"The eye sees not the future, only the truth of the now and before," it answered.
"Yes, we've all got that—it's called memory," Anya said, annoyed, "Can you help us out with something a little bit more demony?"
"If The First has been around for all time, then why hasn't it attempted something like this before?" Giles asked, "Why now?"
"The opportunity has only recently presented itself."
"Opportunity?" Giles asked.
"The mystical forces surrounding the chosen line have become irrevocably altered, become unstable, vulnerable."
"Something The First did?" Anya questioned.
"The First Evil did not cause the disruption, only seized upon it to extinguish the lives of the chosen forever."
"Then what has caused the disruption?" Giles asked, "What—what is responsible for letting this happen?"
"The slayer."
Outside Sunnydale High:
"We are
never going to Mexico
again!" Jonathan exclaimed as the car pulled up in front of the school, "Those
Mexicans freaked me out with that saying. It was all over the place."
"Shut up!" Andrew yelled, "We
have to find this seal and tell Buffy."
"Yeah, and then maybe she'll let us join her!" Jonathan exclaimed.
"And let us into her house," Andrew added, "Do you think she forgot all about what we did to her way back then."
"That was a few years ago," Jonathan went on, "She probably has."
"Come on," Andrew said, "We have to find that Seal of Danthalzar first."
The two walked to the side of the school and opened a window. Andrew climbed in first, and Jonathan followed. They walked down the hallway looking for the door to the basement.
"Let's split up!" Andrew exclaimed, "That way we can cover more ground."
"Alright," Jonathan agreed.
Andrew went down the left hallway, Jonathan took the right.
"He has no idea what we have planned for him," Warren spoke.
Andrew spun around, confused.
"Warren? You left us," he said.
"It was all part of my master plan. I die and come back even stronger," Warren said.
"So what's the next step of the plan?" Andrew asked.
"The seal, we need to activate it," Warren told him.
"But why?" Andrew questioned, "We're trying to help Buffy."
"Look you moron!" Warren yelled, "We are evil! And we'll always be!"
"Yes, sir," Andrew said.
Buffy's House:
Giles and Anya had just returned early in the morning. Giles gathered everyone into the dining room and was prepared to tell Buffy everything that the oracle had told them.
"What did you learn from this oracle, Giles?" Buffy asked.
"Well, it told us why the First Evil is here," Giles informed.
"And why's that?" she questioned.
"The First has discovered a disruption in the slayer line," Giles told her.
"What kind of disruption?" she questioned.
"Some kind of alteration," Giles replied.
"Who did this?" Willow asked.
"Buffy," he replied.
"Her death?" Xander questioned, "How could that mess up the whole slayer mojo? It's not like she hasn't died before."
"It's not because she died. The Beljoxa's Eye was quite clear about that in its enigmatic way. It's because she lives. Again. Buffy's not responsible for that," he answered.
"Oh. Oh. Willow and me and Xander and Tara," Anya said, figuring it out, "We're the ones who brought Buffy back. We're—we're the reason the First is here, the reason those girls were murdered. No, it's our fault. The world would've been better off if Buffy had just stayed dead."
"So the First is going to wipe out each potential slayer so that once I die, there will be no one else to be call to be the slayer?" Buffy questioned.
"Exactly," Giles replied.
The four potentials didn't look very happy with the news that the First was after them. They were terrified.
"Don't worry, girls," Xander reassured, "We deal with this stuff all the time."
Sunnydale High Basement:
"It took us long enough to find this thing," Andrew said.
"It wasn't my fault," Jonathan argued, "The stupid map was wrong."
"Whatever, let's just start digging," Andrew finished.
The two took out their shovels and began digging in the loose dirt of the basement floor. Slowly but surely, they managed to uncover the Seal of Danthalzar. Within a matter of two hours, the two had the seal completely uncovered.
"I told you that he'd fulfill his part in this," Warren said.
Andrew spun around to see Warren standing near the door. He wondered why Jonathan didn't see or hear Warren.
"Now all you have to do if finish him off and his part will be complete," Warren continued, "Use the knife."
Andrew reached into his coat and pulled out a small knife. It had strange markings on it. He never took the time to read it before.
"Check out this weird…" Jonathan was cut short when the knife was plunged into his stomach.
Andrew quickly pulled the knife out of Jonathan. Warren, who was still standing at the door, smiled as Jonathan's lifeless body fell onto the seal. Jonathan's blood was quickly draining from his body, onto the seal.
"What!" Warren shouted.
"What's wrong?" Andrew asked.
"The foolish boy didn't have enough blood to activate the seal," Warren said.
"Well how was I supposed to know this?" Andrew questioned.
"Fortunately for you, I'm not able to touch anything so I can't kill you!" Warren shouted.
Andrew had heard enough. He quickly ran past Warren and out of the school.
