Buffy Logo 'Potential'
Story Code '7ABB12'

by Douglas Petrie
Buffy

In one of Sunnydale’s many cemeteries, the Potential Slayers are hunting something. A shape attacks them from the shadows, knocking down Rona and grabbing Vi around the throat, ready to kill her… but the attacker is only Spike, who is helping Buffy to train the girls. Buffy shows the Potentials what they did wrong, and demonstrates some defence techniques on Spike, knocking him to the ground. Spike is hurt, and Buffy’s concern for him hints to their former relationship, causing some of the Potentials to comment on the obvious chemistry between them. The following day, Buffy is back at work and counselling a student named Amanda; the girl confides to Buffy that she feels weirder than normal when it comes to relating to the opposite sex; Buffy feels that she can relate, but when she attempts to give advice she goes off on a tangent, and it is clear that she is talking about Spike and their own confusing relationship. That evening, Buffy has a training outing planned for the Potentials, although Dawn is excluded, making her feel left out. When Willow tells Buffy that she thinks there is another Potential somewhere in Sunnydale Buffy almost cancels the trip, but Willow tells her that she needs to do a locator spell to find the Potential before they can trace her, and so Buffy leaves with the girls. Dawn, Anya, Xander and Andrew look on as Willow performs the locator spell; she tells them that the spell will cause the girl to be surrounded by an orange glow, making her easy to find. When the spell is complete, Dawn is thrown against the front door, surrounded by an orange glow - indicating that she is the Potential Slayer! Dawn is utterly shocked, while the others are both amazed and pleased for her. Emotions run high, and they debate about when to tell Buffy, as Dawn’s life has now dramatically changed. Dawn goes to her room to try and recover, and overhears the others debating the pros and cons of her new Chosen status; feeling deeply confused, she climbs out of her window and slips away unseen for some time to herself. Buffy takes the field trip to a demon bar so that the girls can see the kind of places they can visit to gather information; she warns them that in a place like this, they could be killed in an instant - although Buffy has one friend there: Clem! The amiable demon and Buffy share a big hug and excitedly catch up, much to the amusement of the Potentials. Realising that the girls are not taking the field trip seriously, Buffy asks Clem to change his face, scaring the Potentials and reminding them that despite his initial friendly appearance and demeanour, he is still a demon. While walking the streets, Dawn runs into Amanda, who tells her that she has had an odd night: she was alone in the school after Swing choir practice when she got jumped by a guy with a weird ‘crinkled-up’ face; after managing to lock him in a classroom, Amanda was on her way to Buffy’s house to tell her, as she had no idea who else to tell. Dawn reassures Amanda that she can handle it, and the two of them return to the school. They cautiously enter the room where Amanda locked the vampire, but the room appears to be empty - until the vampire suddenly leaps down from the ceiling and attacks them. Dawn is able to hit the creature several times; she then grabs Amanda and the two of them make a run for it. Meanwhile, Buffy has taken the Potentials to a crypt, the ideal place to find vampires; here they find a dead body, which is actually a freshly- raised vampire. Buffy begins to fight, using the battle to demonstrate various fighting techniques and briefing the Potentials on what they should and should not do whilst in combat. Her fight is mirrored by Dawn, who is doing all the things that Buffy says they should not while fighting her vampire. After playing cat-and-mouse with the vampire, Buffy leaves with Spike, locking the unsupervised Potentials inside the crypt with the undead monster as part of their trial-by-fire. Meanwhile, Amanda and Dawn are about to be killed by the vampire when Bringers burst in through the window; Dawn prepares herself to be taken, but is shocked when instead they go for Amanda. Realising that Amanda is the Potential Slayer, Dawn springs into action, using an ignited Bunsen Burner to enable them both to escape, just as Buffy and the other Scoobies arrive and take on the Bringers. When Dawn throws Amanda a stake, the girl’s Potential instincts kick in and she dusts the vampire and takes on a Bringer. Buffy tells Amanda that she is the Slayer, and tells her what that means. Amanda becomes angry with Buffy, remarking that she went to see Buffy at home earlier in that evening, as Buffy has said if she had more problems she could see her at home; however, just as she went to ring the bell, she was struck by a strange orange light which made her feel woozy. They conclude that Willow’s spell worked, but that Dawn caught up in the ‘magical crossfire’. The following morning, the Potentials talk excitedly about how they killed the vampire in the crypt; they have all reached a new understanding with their Slayer powers, and Amanda is excitedly caught up in it all. Dawn feels alone and dejected, but Xander comes to her rescue, telling her that he knows exactly how he feels, as he has been in the same position for all the years that he has known Buffy and Willow. Through his perception and kindness, Xander makes Dawn realise that even if she is not a Chosen one, she is still special…

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), James Marsters (Spike), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn), Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles) Guest Cast TBC
Directed by Douglas Petrie

TX (US): 21st January 2003

Notes:
*Featuring Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Dawn and Giles