Weight of the World

Episode 6

Buffy's House:

            Willow, Xander, and Buffy were all standing in the kitchen. They had left Jake and the slayers-in-training in the family room to talk.

            "So how many apocalypses have we faced now?" Xander asked.

            "Too many to count," Willow replied.

            "There is one thing that is different about this apocalypse though," Buffy said.

            "What's that?" Willow asked.

            "It's a little obvious, Will," Xander butted in, "We are gonna lose. We're all going to die."

           "Wrong!" Buffy shouted, "The difference about this one is we're not going to sit around waiting for the First to strike. We're taking the offensive. The First does something; we're going to be right there. I'm going to be right there, following the First move for move."
            "Whoa!" Xander exclaimed, "Someone's mood just changed."

            "Buffy, can you handle all this pressure?" Willow asked.

            "I've had the weight of the world on my shoulders many times before," Buffy began, "I can handle it again."

            In the other room, Jake was talking to the potentials.

            "Lighten up, girls," he said, "I've faced stuff like this before. Everything will come out good."

            "How can you say that?" Julia asked, "You heard Buffy, the Ubervamp can't be killed."

            "Julia's right!" Molly said, "If she can't beat the Turok Han, then how is she going to beat the First?"

            "Oh come on," Jake said, "She'll find a way to kill this Ubervamp."

            "How can you be so sure?" Annabelle questioned.

            "Cuz I know she will," Jake argued, "She's the slayer. Rumor has it that she's adverted at least six apocalypses."

            "Rumor has it?" Julia questioned, "That doesn't mean it's true."

            "She has!" Kennedy exclaimed, finally speaking up, "My watcher told me about her. She's the best slayer that's ever lived. And besides Giles told us that on our way here, a while back."

            "I don't remember that, Kennedy!" Molly shouted.

            "You're lying to us!" Annabelle yelled.

            "There's no way that she has stopped that many apocalypses!" Julia argued.

            "Well, guess what!" Kennedy shouted, "She has. I mean she managed to stop that wizard thing last time!"

            "That was one apocalypse!" Annabelle shouted, "It doesn't mean anything!"

            "If she's been the slayer for this long, I'm sure she's stopped other ones!" Kennedy argued, "And besides, how many have you adverted?"

            Annabelle didn't answer. Kennedy had outsmarted her. But it didn't stop her from changing her opinion.

            "Girls, girls! Calm down!" Jake shouted above the noise, "Let's just stop arguing and watch TV or train downstairs."

            The girls stopped yelling and screaming at each other and realized it was stupid arguing about this.

            "I'm going downstairs to work out," Jake told them, "If any of you want to train, I'll be more than glad to help."

            With that, he got up and headed down the basement. He was down there for a few minutes, knocking around the punching bag, when the door to the basement opened and he heard someone coming down the stairs. He turned his back and pretended not to notice that someone was in the room.

            "Hey," someone said.

            Jake spun around and came face to face with Julia.

            "Hey Julia," he said, "What's up?"

            "Nothing," she replied, "Just got tired of all the arguing."

            "Yea, that's why I left," he told her, "You four are all worked up about this First Evil. Buffy will protect you. She'll figure this out. She got us through the apocalypse last year. We'll be fine."

            "You sure?"

            "Definitely!"

            "Listen to this," he began, "Last year, I was working for the Watcher's Council and Sunnydale was being ruled by a vampire queen. Buffy had been captured. A different slayer and I went in to dust the queen and we found Buffy, who was thought to be dead. She's a tough slayer for not giving up."

            "Whoa!" Julia exclaimed, "That's an interesting story!"

            "It's true though."

            "I see."

            "So how long have you known that you were a candidate for the slayer?"

            "Uh…not that long. When Giles came to get me, I didn't know. He had to tell me and I still wasn't convinced. I kind of got the hint when those crazy monks tried to attack us."
            "Oh. That's not a great way to start out, being attacked."
            "No it isn't. And this whole potential slayer thing hasn't been getting better either. I mean first those monks attacked us here and now that Ubervamp is on the loose."

            "Hey, don't sweat it! You'll be okay."

            "You sure?"

            "Yes. We'll protect you. You're in good hands."

Underground Cave:

            "The slayer cannot stop me now!" Buffy shouted, "You might as well give up. You're fight is hopeless."

            Spike was still being held captive and tortured by the First. The Ubervamp had stopped its constant beat downs on Spike. It seemed like its attention was focused on something else instead, but Spike had no clue what. He was still hanging from the walls and was very weak. He had cuts all over his chest from the Bringers knives.

            "It's not hopeless," Spike mumbled, weakly, "She will stop you and she'll come for me."

            "What's that?"

            "She will come for me. She will come."

            "No, I won't," Buffy said and smirked, "I am too frightened and I always will be. You'll never be rescued."

            Spike didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes and tried to block out the talking.

            "Sunset is amongst us," Buffy said to the Ubervamp, "Finish them off!"

Buffy's House: 

            "It's getting dark out," Julia told Jake, peering out the basement door.

            "That's not great news," he informed.

            The two had been training in the basement for a while. They had talked about all sorts of things, like adventures they'd gone through in their lives. They seemed to becoming attracted to each other.

            "There's something out there," Julia told him.

            "It's probably just a wild animal," he comforted.

            "It's not. It looks like a person, but I can't see that well," she went on.

            "Let me see."

            Jake took off the boxing gloves, tossed them onto the floor, and walked over to the door. He peered out and saw something that shocked him. There were three Bringers making a sort of wall in the back yard. They were wielding daggers.

            "Uh oh," he whispered, "We can't let them know that we know they're there."

            The two dashed up the stairs to inform Buffy. They were panting as they burst open the basement door.

            "Buffy!" Jake called from the family room.

            Buffy emerged from the kitchen, followed by Willow and Xander. The other potential slayers looked confused.

            "What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

            "They're here," he told her.

            "What? Who is?" she questioned.

            "The Bringers," he replied, "There are three out back. It looked like they are forming a wall."

            Xander went back into the kitchen and looked between the blinds on the backdoor. He saw that Jake was right. There were three Bringers standing there, forming a kind of wall. He came back into the family room with a look of horror on his face.

            "He's right, Buff!" Xander exclaimed, "It looks like they're trying to prevent us from escaping."

            "Uh guys," Molly interrupted.

            "What is it?" Buffy asked.

            "There are at least six of them standing out front, forming a wall," she told Buffy.

            Buffy looked out the small crack between the boards where the window used to be. She saw that the Bringers were standing on the front lawn, wielding daggers. They seemed to be waiting for something.

            "What are they doing?" Annabelle asked.

            "It looks like they're waiting for something," Buffy told everyone.

            "But what?" Julia questioned.

            "I think I have an idea. Everyone needs a weapon!" she ordered.

            Everyone quickly jumped up and rushed over to the weapons chest.

            "Buffy, what's coming?" Willow asked, while the potentials were trying to get weapons.

 "The one thing that I may not be able to defeat," she told her friend.

            "The Ubervamp?" Willow whispered.

            "Will, the war has started," Buffy informed, "And we are totally unprepared for this and what is to come."

            "Do you have a plan on how to beat the Ubervamp?"

            "No, I don't," Buffy told her, "But I'll figure it out. I'm gonna need your help in protecting the potentials."

            "I know. I'll try my hardest," Willow said.

            "Thanks Will," Buffy replied.

            "Something is happening!" Molly shouted.

            Molly, Julia, and Annabelle were peering out through the small crack between the boards. The noticed that the Bringers were separating, like they were letting something through.

            "It's here," Buffy whispered.

            "Buffy!" Annabelle shouted, "Something is coming up to the door! I think it's the Ubervamp!"

            "Calm down!" Kennedy scolded, "Everything will be fine. A vampire needs an invitation to get in a house."

            "Something tells me that this one doesn't need an invitation," Buffy said, "Will, get ready."

            There was a loud bang on the door. Buffy knew that one more hit would knock the door down. She glanced over a Willow who was chanting a spell. Suddenly, the door burst off the hinges and there stood the Ubervamp.

            The potentials jumped back in fear. The Ubervamp gave them an evil smirk and lunged for Annabelle. There was fear in the girl's eye. The Ubervamp smacked into an invisible wall which was right in front of everyone. It began slamming its fist on the force field.

            "Buffy!" Willow shouted, "I can't hold it for much longer! It's too strong!"

            "Plan B!" Buffy informed everyone, "Run!"

            No one hesitated. They all headed out the back door and into the lawn where several Bringers stood guard. Annabelle ran out the door and a Bringer jumped right in front of her. She screamed! Just as it raised its dagger to attack her, a crossbow bolt hit it in the forehead. It fell dead to the ground.  Annabelle caught her breath and followed the others out of the yard.

            Buffy fired another bolt, killing another Bringer. She heard a scream and turned. Molly was being attacked by one. Buffy couldn't reload in time. It looked like the end for Molly.

            Suddenly, Xander jumped off the back porch and brought an axe down on it. The Bringer turned right to see the axe come down on its head. Xander picked up the axe.

            "Come on!" he shouted to her, "Let's go!"

            He and Molly ran after Willow and the other three girls. The back door burst open and the Ubervamp walked through the dust. Buffy turned to see it. She hesitated, and then ran after the others.

Construction Site:

Buffy finally caught up with Xander, Willow, Jake and the potentials. She turned around to see if the Ubervamp had followed, but it was no where in sight. She just hoped it stayed that way.

            "Where is it?" Molly questioned.

            "I don't know," Buffy replied.

            "Maybe we lost it," Annabelle put in.

            "I doubt it," Buffy told them, "It's after the four of you, remember?"

            "Buffy, how are you going to kill it?" Kennedy asked.

            Buffy didn't answer for a few moments.

            "I'm going to dust it just like any other vampire," she answered, "We can't keep running from this thing. From now on, we're taking the offense. No more running, no more hiding. This thing is going down, along with the First. We can't sit around and wait for the First to keep throwing stuff at us. Whatever it does, we're gonna be one step ahead of it."

            "But Buffy…" Annabelle began.

            "No buts!" she shouted.

            "No Buffy, it's here!" Annabelle exclaimed.

            Buffy turned her head to see the Ubervamp standing on top of a wall. It smirked at her. She smirked back.

            "Take them to a safe area!" Buffy yelled to Xander and Willow.

            The Ubervamp jumped down just as Willow and Xander led the others to safer place so they could watch. The Ubervamp stepped forward, only a few feet away from Buffy.

            "This is the end for you," she began.     

            The Ubervamp growled.

            "I'm taking you down. I'm killing you and they will see it," she told the ancient vampire.

            It rushed Buffy. She couldn't escape in time and got knocked backwards. She stumbled but regained her balance. The Ubervamp came at Buffy again. She jump kicked it, but it barely affected it. She gave it a roundhouse kick. The vampire caught her foot and spun her around. She flew through the air and smashed into a pillar.

            "Buffy!" Willow shouted in horror as the vampire descended upon her.

            Buffy lay there, wounded. She couldn't move. All that she could do was lay there in horror as the Ubervamp moved in to kill her. This was it. It was the end. All the training she'd done had been a waste. She was going to die here. And her friends and the potential slayers would all die too.

            She began to become overwhelmed with pain as the ancient vampire drew closer. Spots began forming in the corner of her eyes. It was getting dark. It was all too dark. It was all over for her and for the world.

Unknown Time and Location:

            Buffy opened her eyes. Her head hurt like crazy. She slowly sat up and looked around. She was no longer at the construction site. She was back in her warm home, in her comfy bed. Sunlight was shining through the half-drawn curtains. Was everything that had happened, a dream?

            She looked down at her arms. They were slightly bruised and had small specs of dried blood on them. She reached up and rubbed her head. There was a small gash on her left check. It hurt a little but she knew that it would be gone soon.

            She stood up and went into the bathroom. She washed her face and then headed downstairs. She heard the voices of the others as she headed down the stairs.

            "Buffy has been out for so long," Willow said.

            "I hope that she's okay," Anya put in.

            "Look guys, Buffy will be fine," Xander informed, "She always gets better."

             "I hope you're right, Xander," Willow replied.

            "I know I am," he answered.

            Buffy reached the bottom of the stairs and walked into the dining room. The four potential slayers and Jake were sitting there talking. None of them even looked up when she walked in.

            "It may have beaten me once," she began.

            All five of them looked up and towards Buffy. Xander, Anya, and Willow came in from the family room.

            "But it won't beat me again," she went on, "Nothing has taken me down. That sorcerer from last spring, I beat it. This Ubervamp is not strong than that. I will beat it! And I will beat the First! We will survive this. We just became an army and will stop at nothing to defeat this evil! I'm tired of sitting around and waiting for an apocalypse, like always. We're taking the offensive. Any questions?"