Here is Scenario #2:
The new season of
Slayers, Watchers and Wiccans begins
with a retrospective catching viewers up on what
happened in the final episodes of BtVS, Ats, and in
the intervening 5-10 years. (It may only be 2-3 years
later in real life, but by setting the new series a
few years further on we allow our characters to
somewhat "catch-up" in age to the actors.
The first ep will be structured along the lines of the
first 15 minutes of the first Lord of the Rings
movie--summing up backstory of all of the characters.
It's Joss' problem how to do this creatively.
(And BTW- when you see plot points obviously stolen
from other books, TV shows, movies, and mostly fanfic,
remember-- Sue is not plagarizing because she doesn't
have an original thought in her own head--she is
giving a "shout-out" and acknowledging the valuable
contributions of those who have gone before, as a
tribute. Keep that in mind.)
Gunn: Soon after becoming mega-lawyer it is
discovered the the human brain was not equipped to
have so much knowledge force-fed at such a rate.
Gunn's brain cells begin to deteriorate and it appears
he is headed to an early painful death involving
retardation and insanity. In order to avoid this
horrendous and demeaning death he convinces Angel to
sire him. Naturally
Willow immediately
re-ensouls him. And, of course, she has reworked the
spell to do away with the curse.
Angel and Spike : Both vampires have already sanshued after
another apocolypse. This may be done onscreen at the
end of Angel or take place in the "missing" years off
screen.
Spike is with
Buffy (not because she deserves
him, but because he's convinced that what
hewants and they both work for an international
organization of Slayers, Watchers and Witches (hence
the name of the show) which fights evil thoughout the
world. They do
not live
normal lives. No kids, jobs, etc. They jet-set around the world sort of like a demon-fighting "Hart-to-Hart" (yes, dating myself badly).
Angel is either:
a) (If the show is on network TV): Happily married
to Cordelia with two kids and one on the way.
Cordelia is pretty much back to season 2
Cordelia these two only make guest appearances.
There is talk of a spin-off which follows the
laugh-track worthy experiences of a former
vampire/former ascended being now living in
mid-America suburbia with 2.5 children and assorted
pets.
b) (If the show is on cable): Living and
jet-setting
with Buffy and Spike in an
ill-defined relationship rife with innuendo.
c)Living the life of a high-rolling bachelor--making up for 100+ years of enforced abstinence.
c) (If the show is on Bravo): Living with either
Spike sans Buffy, or Wesley, or Xander, or his
"childe" Gunn. Your choice. (If Spike is sans Buffy
then Buffy is now travelling and working with some
enourmously tall, almost super-human, secret agent
type stud--possibly
Riley if Sam has died a
tragic death in South America.)
Fred has gone to work for the government and
makes guest appearances along the lines of "Kate" in
Angel seasons 1 and 2 when our heroes need help from
the government.
The
Powers that Be are represented either by new
Oracles or by manifestations of the PTB. There are
both good and evil powers. When the good PTB are
manifesting they are played by:
Jonathan and
(choose one) Joyce, Anya or Tara. When the evil
powers are manifesting they are played by:
Lilah,
any previous Big Bad ala The First. When the
powers are manifested in the form of
Darla we
are never quite sure which side she is on.
Giles, Wesley, and Willow form the leadership
and brains of the new international organization
(SWWI: Slayers, Watchers and Wicca International).
In her new incarnation as a goddess, Willow finds
gender is irrelevant and has become involved with Wes.
Among others working for the organization on a
free-lance basis are:
Oz, Lorne and
Knox and insert anybody else you want to see on
a semi-regular basis.
Giles is having and on-again/off-again affair with a
mysterious international agent who free-lances. (Guest star/supermodel of the week.)
Dawn has graduated from both college and grad
school in ancient languages. She works for SWWI and
is also training in minor witchcraft. She and
Xander appear to have some UST between them.
Xander has had a new "bionic" eye installed and can
see normally. He takes theoretical weapons designed
by Fred and others and crafts them into reality. He
has found that no "normal" woman suits him--ironically
he needs a "little demon in his women."
In the first episode
Dawn is captured and turned (into a vampire). The Swoozies (SWWI, ya-know) must work together to capture but not kill her and Willow restores her soul. (And, before you ask why they don't just restore all the vampires' souls--it takes an exceptional witch, uses a ton of her power and you need one of those fancy orbs which are in short supply.)
So, at the end of the episode we now have two-souled vampires: Gunn and Dawn. From now on Dawn will appear in tight fitting cut down to "there" black leather/latex catsuits.
Faith has to split up with Wood because he can't get over the mission coming first. She makes frequent guest spots, especially during sweeps. She and Dawn try to out-trash one another with their outfits.
Spoilers for the rest of the season:
Will Dawn get involved with Xander? or Connor (who may or may not get his memory back and show up, something more than human); or... maybe Willow (remember, gender is irrelevant). Or perhaps her fellow vampire with a soul--Gunn?
The Dawn/Connor pair up is being considered for a spin-off.
Will Faith hook up with Gunn? or possibly Giles?
The rest of the potentials-who-became-slayers. First, there weren't thousands, just hundreds. Some got killed through over confidence and lack of training. Some are being trained by the SWWI, some have elected to use their special powers as more or less "normal" members of society (police officers, firemen, military, inner-city school teachers, etc.). Again, lots of possibilities for guest spots.
Scenario #3 (my favorite will have to wait. Probably until tomorrow.)
Sue