Double Vision.
Taken from the Replacement episode, except this time Buffy is the one that gets divided into two. It's going to have two favorite couples you all love and Buffy will not be with Riley in this one. Sorry, Riley lovers.
Xander has been realizing that he should get his own place. Living in his parents' basement isn't the best place for a 20 year old to live in. His jobs have always paid pretty much minimum wage and he is sure he won't be able to pay for a decent apartment. Too bad he can't bunk with Willow and Buffy at the dorm. He figured they would find out that he doesn't attend school. It's about time to take the big step and see what happens.
"If you get the apartment, this'll be your hallway," says Willow as she, Anya, Xander, Buffy, and Riley walk down the hall. Xander wears a yellow T-shirt with a brightly flowered Hawaiian shirt over it. He now wishes he had worn something more professional when Buffy and Riley laughed at his shirt when they saw him. Anya still has her arm in the sling. "We'll walk down this hall, and we'll say, "La la, I'm on my way to Xander's."
"Just warning you, Xander, I probably won't be doing that," says Buffy.
"Really? I will," says Riley. (Hint he likes Willow. LOL.)
"Hey, we're just lookin'," says Xander. "Rent's way high, so don't get your hopes all carbonated."
"But you have references," says Anya.
"No, I have Albert, which is me doing an important voice.'Xander Harris? An excellent tenant. And a very nice-looking fellow.'" Anya opens a door and they walk into the apartment. It's large and spacious.
"Whoa! Big!" says Willow.
"It's nice," says Buffy. "And not subterranean. It's very, uh, above-terranean." Xander looks less than thrilled. It's too perfect and the girls love it.
"I want it. Pay anything," says Anya.
"Xander Harris?" says the real-estate manager woman, who enters the apartment. She walks over to Riley and smiles.
"Uh, no, Riley Finn," says Riley as he shakes her hand. "This is, Xander." Xander wipes his hand on his shirt before holding it out.
"Hey," says Xander wishing he had said something better than what horses eat. He and the manager shake hands.
"Ah," says the woman manager.
"I brought my friends."
"I see."
"They wouldn't always be around."
"But we're clean and-and quiet," says Willow. Xander looks nervous. The manager looks uncertain. Anya is standing in the living room, gesturing around.
"We can have the Scooby meetings in the living room, and-and Giles can explain the boring things over there," says Anya. Willow goes into the kitchen.
"Oh, there's a microwave!" says Willow excited. "It would be like having hot and cold running popcorn."
"Phone and electricity are hooked up," says the woman manager. "There's a private balcony, ceiling fan, closet space…" Xander sees the door to the bedroom. "And that's the bedroom." Xander opens the door and finds Buffy and Riley sitting on the bed, smooching. He rolls his eyes.
"Guys, you can't save it for the bedroom?" says Xander. Buffy and Riley look around pointedly. "Okay, good point." He walks away. Buffy and Riley get up.
"I brought an application for you to fill out," says the woman manger. She gives Xander a piece of paper.
"An application? I can't just ... tell you my references?" says Xander. "Because there's Albert."
"We run your credit check based on the application."
"Oh! Credit check." He looks nervously to the others. "Little check on the credit. See how credible my checks are." He laughs nervously. The others laugh politely.
"And we'll be asking for first, last, security, and a small cleaning deposit. The total's at the bottom of the sheet there." Xander looks at the sheet. Riley, Buffy, and Willow lean in to look, too. Anya comes over and glances briefly at the sheet. She turns to the manager.
"He'll take it," says Anya. She looks at Xander. "Xander, go get the furniture, I'll wait here." She looks back at the manager. "He's been living in his drunken parents' basement where something urinated on the hot plate." Xander laughs nervously.
"Anya, can we talk quietly over there?" asks Xander. He looks at the manager. "Excuse us." He pulls Anya aside, leaving the other three with the manager. They smile nervously at her.
"Uh, we, uh ... we like the ceiling fan," says Riley.
"Yes," says Willow. "It's very, you know, kind of old south."
"But without the unpleasant slavery associations," says Buffy.
Outside on the balcony, Xander talks to Anya.
"But why can't we have it?" asks Anya.
"I told you, my construction job is ending, and I won't have any more money coming in," says Xander quietly. "And by the way, you do have your own place."
"So when I wanna visit you, I have to be in that awful basement?"
"Not forever. Just until things come together."
"Which is when, Xander? 'Cause right now, things are looking pretty untogether, and you can't expect me just to wait around for-" Her voice rises and the others try not to notice.
"Quiet, please. Anya, what is this? What's going on with you?
"What's going on with me is my arm hurts ... and I'm tired ... and I don't really feel like taking a tour of beautiful things I can't have." She says this loudly and stalks out. The manager looks a little suspicious. The others smile gamely. Xander puts on a big fake smile.
"I guess I'll just start on that application. I think you'll like it. I've been told I have lovely penmanship." He takes the application, puts it on a counter, and begins filling it out. The manager watches, looking skeptical.
Meanwhile at the newly owned magic shop, owned by Giles, he is now counting his inventory that has just arrived. He is surrounded by boxes, looking at one. Then he is confronted by a big guy as he turns around.
"Oh!" says Giles surprised to see a being. The being asks for the Slayer. Giles tries to grab something in the boxes to hold up to this being, Toth. He finds a fertility god and hits Toth with it. Toth tosses Giles into some boxes and leaves since he has not found what he was looking for.
Later, the Scoobies join him at the shop and he demonstrates how he took care of that demon using the fertility god as his line of defense.
"That thing's pretty heavy," says Riley.
"That's Oofdar," says Willow. "Goddess of childbirth. She's got some nice heft to her."
"How badly did you hurt him?" asks Buffy.
"Well, hurt, uh ... maybe not ... Hurt," replies Giles.
"Well, I-I'm sure he was startled," says Willow.
"Uh, yes, yes, I'd imagine it gave him, uh, rather a turn." Buffy gives him a grin.
"He ran away, huh?" says Buffy.
"Um, sort of more ... uh ... turned and swept out majestically, I suppose. He said I didn't concern him."
"So, a mythic triumph over a completely indifferent foe?" Giles feels insulted.
"Well, I'm not dead or unconscious, so I say bravo for me." Willow looks up at some books to try to find the demon.
"So, you bought the magic shop and you were attacked before it opened," says Xander. "Who's up for a swingin' chorus of the "We told you so" symphony?" Giles shrugs and finally finds the demon in the book.
"Toth," says Giles as he looks at Riley. Riley is confused by what Giles just said.
"He called you a Toth," says Buffy. "It's a British expression. It means, like, moron."
"No, Toth is the name of the demon." Giles explains about the demon and that he is old and unlike any other demon.
"He mentioned Buffy?" asks Riley. "Where do we find him, and how hard can I kill him?" Giles consults his book and guesses where the demon could be by saying he smelled.
The conclusion made them end up at the dump, so they head over there and it was already night time. They hear noises and see someone rooting around in the trash. They find Spike there holding a mannequin arm.
"Spike, um ... we're looking for a demon, um... tall, robed, skin sort of hanging off," says Giles. "Deep voice?"
"You mean a great tall robe-y thing like that one?" Spike says. He points behind them. They all turn and see Toth standing there. He points his stick at them. Fire flashes out of it and they all duck just in time.
"Take cover!" says Riley.
"Big guy! Kick her ass!" says Spike cheering for the demon. Toth fires again. Buffy and Xander duck aside, and the bolt shatters Spike's lamp, which he's still holding. "Oh, very nice! I was on your side!" He angrily tosses the pieces of lamp aside. Toth fires again.
"Watch out!" says Xander and attempts to thrust Buffy behind him, but she pushes him aside. The blast hits her full in the chest and she flies backwards into a pile of trash. The others rush over to her. Xander falls on the floor and is the first one at her side.