A Buffyverse Apocalypse: Chapter Three

1. A Buffyverse Apocalypse: Chapter Three
By RoseFyre
As always, I suggest you read my earlier chapters, particularly Chapter Two, before reading this one!
---
And, as always, I don't own Joss or any of the Buffy/Angel characters.

2. Buffy and Cordy both enjoyed their new jobs. Buffy found herself rising through the Culinary ranks very quickly,
receiving promotion after promotion, often more than once in the same day.

3. Cordy's job went more slowly, since she never was able to work more than once in the same day. In addition, she
wasn't a huge fan of practicing speeches, even though she knew she needed the charisma points.
Martin, meanwhile, kept his job as a General.

4. And Eloise definitely enjoyed the flight to work.

5. Liam arrived home from school before his mother got home from work, but when she came home, he quickly ran to
greet her.
"Guess what we learned today? We learned about ghosts! Isn't that cool?"

6. “Ghosts can be scary, Liam." He shrugged his shoulders. "You remember your father scaring Arthur Carpenter, don't
you?"
"Sort of. Not really. It's the only way I'd get to see Dad, anyway."

7. Eloise quickly pulled her son into her arms. "Your dad would love you, Liam. And he'd be here if he could. You know
what the food restrictions are like."
Liam didn't say anything.

8. "It's great sleeping with Martin, Rose, but when am I going to get to woohoo? I want babies! Now!"
"Thursday night."
"Thursday night?"
"So you'll have the weekend off, and you won't have to work while you're pregnant. It's only until tomorrow."
"Oh, fine."

9. "I feel disgusting, Rose."
"So go spongebathe. Or wash your hands."
"I want a shower! And food!"
I looked down at Eloise. "I can't help you. I really can't. I'm sorry."

10. Thursday afternoon, Martin and Cordy woohooed for the first time.
They promptly gave me a lullaby.

11. "So, I met a new girl at school today. I didn't like her very much."

12. "She said she came from the city. What's a city?"
"You know, Liam, I don't actually know."
"You don't know?"
"Liam, the only places I've ever been are here, school, and work. Now that Martin cleaned up the roads, we can go
places, but I still haven't."
"Why not?"
"I've been busy with other things." Cordy's smile was secretive.

13. Liam realized that she wasn't telling him everything, but he didn't say anything. He'd figure out the grown up stuff.
Sooner or later.
"The new girl only wanted to talk about herself. And she didn't play fair."
Cordy listened to her younger brother, but thought, instead, about the child that was hopefully growing within her
body.

14. That child was definitely there. Cordy popped into her second trimester, and immediately fell asleep on the porch.

15. The next evening, Cordy woke up from a late afternoon nap and popped into her third trimester. "Wow! This is
great!"

16. "Hello in there, little one. I'm your daddy."
"I think he likes the sound of your voice. He's definitely kicking."
"Sure it's a he, Lia?"
She shrugged. "No, but I'm not calling him it, or he or she. He'll be a he for now, until we know for sure."

17. The next morning, Liam became a Family-oriented teenager, with the lifetime want to become The Law. It's an odd
lifetime want for a Family Sim, but it suits him.
Everyone but Cordy was at work, so she was the only one to cheer for him.

18. She then needed a nap, so Liam wandered down to the front of the house, where he found a very attractive blond girl
loitering about.
"I'm Liam," he said. "Do you want to come in?"
"Nah, let's sit out here. It's pretty nice out today. I'm Meadow, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Meadow," he said as he sat down. "So, what are you doing out on the streets?"
"Well, it's mostly safe now, since your, um, dad?"
"Brother-in-law."
"Oh. Since he calmed down the streets."
"That's good," Liam said, unsure of what else to say.

19. As it turned out, he didn't really have to say all that much. Meadow responded very well to all of his flirts, and even
flirted back. He soon found himself in full-blown crush mode.

20. Before he could talk himself out of it, Liam leaned closer and kissed Meadow. He quickly pulled back, before she had a
chance to respond.
"I..."
"I like you, Liam," Meadow said, straightening her clothes. "But it's about to get dark, and I should go."
"Oh," he said, sounding disappointed.
"I'll come by again."
"I'll see you then."

21. Meadow was right; it was about to get dark.
And Cordy was about to give birth.
"Hello! Birthing here!"

22. "And it really hurts!"

23. "Just twirl, Cordy!" her mother shouted up from the side of the house.
"What do I do?" Martin asked, pressing a hand to his suddenly racing heart.
"Let her handle it, you fool!"
Randy London looked on. "Maybe I should leave. Or, no, they've got a great TV."

24. "I'll just block Cordelia's path!"
"I was right! It's a boy!" Cordy was very pleased by that. Martin fanned himself from downstairs, watching his wife
and child.
"What are you naming him?" I asked.
"Alexander Lavelle Harris Whedon. We'll call him Xander."
---
Little Xander has skin three (in between his parents), black hair (like his father), and brown eyes (like his father).

25. After the porch cleared and Buffy got home from work, she talked to Cynthia Kim. "So, my sister had a baby."
"Congratulations! Are you planning on moving out?"
Buffy shrugged. "I don't really feel a need to. Besides, I'd like to make a change, first. I'm going to be a Celebrity
Chef someday."
"If you can do something about the food, that would be great. Really great."

26. As Cordy was exhausted, she handed Xander off to her mother, who utterly refused to leave him alone.
"He's hungry. Why's the fridge turned around?"
"He's not hungry, Eloise. You are. And the fridge is turned around so you won't cook. I've told you that before."
"I'm old. I'm allowed to forget things."
I rolled my eyes at her. "You're not as forgetful as you like to pretend."

27. Martin finally managed to steal his son from his mother-in-law. "Who's a cute little Xander? Yes you are, yes you
are!"

28. And when he had to go to work in the morning, he passed Xander to Liam, who fed him, changed his diaper, and put
him to bed.
Liam found he didn't mind being free childcare, and that he liked playing with his nephew, though he was careful not
to say that to anyone else in his family.

29. On Tuesday night, the family invited over all of their friends, and some people they didn't know as well, since they
didn't have to go out and pick up their friends anymore. Martin had cleared up the roads, and other people weren't
afraid to travel anymore.

30. And Joss decided to go on a rampage.

31. "Boo!"
"Oh God, that was scary."

32. "Boo!"
"Dad!"

33. "Cool! A ghost!"
"It's better when they scream." I raised an eyebrow at him. "What? It is!"

34. "Buffy? What are you doing on the Energizer?"
"Dad scared me. Three times. And we're out of food."
"That's the last use of the Energizer, you know."
"I know. But I'd really rather not die, thanks."

35. No one was safe from Joss's wrath, not even his infant grandson.

36. "Boo!"
"Joss! I'm watching the baby!"

37. Eventually, Buffy came back downstairs, and she mourned at his grave to try to calm him down. It didn't really work.
---
I didn't see every scare, nor did I get pictures, but Joss scared various sims at least twenty times that night. Buffy
would have died without the Energizer, as her hunger dropped drastically.

38. Liam may have been the only sim who avoided getting scared, as he spent most of the evening meditating on the
roof,

39. then maxing his logic at the telescope.

40. Meanwhile, Buffy maxed her cooking skill. She was one promotion away from becoming a Celebrity Chef, and all she
needed was one more point of creativity.
Unfortunately, it was Tuesday night, and Buffy didn't have work until Thursday. Still, that would give her enough time
to get fully prepared for work.

41. Cordy had gone straight back to work, in the hopes that she could top Education.

42. "Hey, everyone! I got demoted!"
"Only a Family Sim could sound so happy about that," I said sarcastically.
"You're a Family Sim too, Rose."
"I suppose."

43. Buffy had spent the afternoon at the computer, working on her first novel. She did manage to max her creativity.

44. Unfortunately, she broke the computer while she was at it.

45. "Dad just scared me again, didn't he?"
"He did," I said quietly.
"Oh. No wonder I feel so..."

46. "Tired."

47. "Another one? You're not taking very good care of them, are you?"
"I'm trying, Grim." I rubbed my forehead. "It'll get better once Buffy lifts Culinary."
"If you can keep her alive until then."
"It's tomorrow. I'll manage."

48. Martin knew his wife was dead, and he knew he would never feel nearly so complete ever again.

49. In fact, he didn't feel at all complete now.

50. But there were things to do, and a baby to take care of.

51. And to toss into toddlerhood.
---
Xander is a Virgo, like most of the rest of his family, with a personality of 10/3/4/4/8.

52. "You've never been a huge fan of the telescope, Martin."
"I need some time alone. Without Lia..."
"I know."

53. "Where Daddy go?"
"He needed some time alone, sweetie."
"Where talk from?"
"I'm Rose, sweetie. I'm above you, in the sky."
"Oh." Xander shoved his hand in his mouth. "Nummy."

54. His father eventually came back down, and put Xander in his crib for the night.

55. Buffy got him when he woke up, though. "Wish me luck, kiddo. I've got work today, and maybe I can finally lift
Culinary."
"Lift?"
"You won't be hungry at all when you get older."
"Lift!"
Buffy realized what he really meant, and tossed him up in the air.
Xander clearly didn't understand what she was talking about, but he seemed to enjoy being tossed in the air anyway.

56. And he also enjoyed learning to walk from his uncle Liam.
"I'd rather he just called me Liam. I'm only 15 days older than Xander, and 22 days younger than Buffy and Cordy."
"Whatever you want," I said.
---
Yes, the ages really are that staggered.

57. And he definitely liked being read to.
"Teddy story!"
Liam obligingly got the correct book from the shelf. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Goldilocks."

58. On Thursday night, when Buffy came home from work, it was as a Celebrity Chef.
She promptly put the barbecue in her Inventory and put out the new stove she'd brought back from work. Martin
helped her turn the fridge around, and they added some new counters for the food processor and coffeemaker.

59. Meanwhile, Liam took care of his nephew.

60. He was also the one to teach Xander to talk. "Play bunny!"
"Have fun, kiddo."

61. "I'm going to meditate."

62. Later that afternoon, Liam was very excited to find out that Meadow had stopped by.
"Will you go steady with me, Meadow?"
"Of course, Liam."

63. While Liam kissed his new girlfriend, Xander grew up well, into ducky pajamas, with his father looking on.

64. On Saturday, Eloise missed work, and, because of the regulations, had to quit her job.

65. And Joss decided to go on another scaring spree, starting with his grandson.

66. And moving on to his wife.

67. Cordy even joined in on the fun, showing up for the first time since she'd died.

68. Though Joss was definitely the main scarer. He caught Xander at least twice, Buffy once, and Eloise...

69. Four times.
"I thought you said it would get better once Buffy lifted Culinary?"
"It did! I couldn't control Eloise! She...she wanted food. I couldn't stop her."

70. Xander knew instantly that his grandmother had died.

71. "Mom's dead?"
"I'm sorry, Liam."
He glared in my general direction. "Are you going to take my entire family from me?"
"You've still got Buffy."
"But for how long?"

72. Buffy, too, felt her mother's death when she returned from work. "This house isn't safe, is it?"
"No," I said quietly. "It's not."
"We're going to survive. We will." Buffy took a deep breath, her mind clearly set on an idea. "We have to."

73. On Sunday, Martin came home from work to find Buffy waiting for him.
"We need to have a private conversation," she said, dragging him towards the car.
"Buffy, where are we going?"
"Cynthia told me about this new community center. Apparently the last one got destroyed in the Apocalypse, but they've built a new one."
"And why are we going there?"
"There's no privacy in this house."
"What about Xander?"
"Liam can watch him."

74. They arrived at the new Los Angeles Community Center, which looked...well, rather similar to their house, actually.
"What do you want to talk about, Buffy?"
"The future. The ghosts. Us."
"There is no us."
"No, there isn't. But maybe there needs to be."

75. "What do you mean?"
"You know how Dad's ghost is. He's been angry at Xander since Xander was an infant, and he still is. If he kills
Xander, we're screwed."
"And what do you propose?"
Buffy took a deep breath. "You. Me. And kids."
Martin recoiled automatically. "Buffy..."
"Don't say anything. Just, take some time, and think about it."

76. She went up to the roof and cooked burgers for everyone who'd come by the Community Center. Then she went off
to buy cell phones for herself, Liam, and Xander.

77. After Martin finished his burger and got his own cell phone, he sat down on the couch on the first floor and listened to
Denise Jacquet talk about money. By "listened," I mean that he let her talk while he thought about what Buffy had
said.

78. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing, Rose?"
"I don't think you have any choice. Your family needs an heir, and Xander is...he's only one person. He's at way too
much risk."
"Do you think Martin will accept it?"
"He's pretty pragmatic. I think he will."

79. When they got home from the Community Center, Martin took the time to cheer for Xander's A plus.
Then he meditated for a while.

80. As night fell, he pulled Buffy away from Liam and Xander, who were eating upstairs.
"Buffy," he began.
"Don't, Martin. I'm not proposing marriage. I'm not attracted to you, or in love with you. And you're still in love with
my sister. I'm just proposing children. A...a partnership. Us working together."

81. He stood up, brushing dust off of his pants. "I do like you."
"Just not that way."
"No. Not that way."
Buffy took his hands. "A handshake to seal the deal?"
"Of course."

82. They headed up to the bedroom, and Martin changed into his pajamas. Buffy didn't watch.
"Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure, Martin. We need more kids than just Xander."

83. Buffy found that the woohoo wasn't as bad as she had expected, but it still didn't make her want to have more.
Martin found that Buffy still wasn't his Lia, but that she was a good friend and would still be a good friend.

84. "Are you sure about this, Rose?"
"You know as well as I do how your father feels about Xander."
"I do. At least he's not in love with her."
"No, I think he'll be yours for life."

85. In the morning, life went on.
Martin drove Xander to school when he missed the bus.

86. "Is there a reason you're in your underwear, Buffy?" "So you married your twin sister's husband?"
She turned around. "It's...Liam, Martin and I have decided to have "No. We're not married. We're in a partnership."
more kids."
"What?!” Liam recoiled. "That's even worse." He turned to leave the room,
his appetite gone.
"You know how Dad's ghost feels about Xander."
"Liam!"
"No I don't. I haven't seen Dad's ghost once."
"Just, don't talk to me right now."
"Well, he's out to kill him, I think. Or at least scare him a lot. We
can't...this family can't depend on just one person to save us. We
need options."

87. Buffy found herself so unnerved by the conversation that she fell asleep in her cheesecake.

88. And then threw most of it up once she woke.
---
Buffy clearly isn't as suited to pregnancy as either her mother or sister was. Neither of them ever threw up, but Buffy
did a couple of times.

89. She managed to distract herself from Liam's concerns by making friends with Sake, and convincing him to move in
with the family.

90. "Yeah, I think that worked."
"Silly humans," Sake thought, "they're not very logical."

91. That night, Buffy popped into her first trimester.

92. Eloise finally showed up to cheer for her bed.

93. And Liam took some time to stargaze by himself, so he could think about his sister and brother-in-law.
With an unexpected result, though highly anticipated by me.
"I just wanted some quiet time to myself!"

94. "Aunt Buffy, what's that?"
"I think Liam just got abducted."
"Huh. Cool."

95. Even later in the morning, the aliens brought Liam back,

96. leaving him with a bad memory.
However, he also brought back lots of their technology, including the plans and formulas for Energizers, Thinking
Caps, Elixir of Life, and various other items.

97. He waited until he had some privacy to cry about what they'd done to him.

98. The next day was a Tuesday, but before Buffy had a chance to invite anyone over, she popped into her third
trimester.

99. "Yeah, we're having lots of people! It'll be great!"

100. Liam, meanwhile, found a job for Sake in Pet Showbiz.
---
I later realized that I had accidentally cheated here, since Pet Showbiz wasn't the first pet job in the paper, and
Journalism, which I haven't lifted yet, restricts that. However, all three jobs are always available on the computer,
and Liam happened to get Sake the job on a Tuesday afternoon (when they can use the computer to search for jobs,
as Gamer is still locked but Science is lifted). So, I decided to count it as though Liam had used the computer, since it
would have been legal at the time, and let Sake keep the job. In the future, I'll be more careful.

101. "Do I really have to work?"
"Sorry, but yes."
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Humans are stupid."

102. Liam luckily was able to invite his girlfriend over that night, after she finished her afternoon job.
"What's wrong, Liam?”
"Buffy's having kids with Martin. He's Cordy's husband!"
"But Cordy's dead, isn't she?" Meadow hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell Liam what she, like all townies, knew. "Your family is
the only one that can stop this Apocalypse, Liam. And kids are important for that."
"They still shouldn't be doing it, Meadow."
"I think they both know it's just business, and they accept that. It's not really our place to say."
"I know, I just..."
"I know."

103. On Wednesday, Liam started talking to his sister again, though there were still awkward silences. Most of his
conversation was with Xander, rather than Buffy or Martin, but still, it was a start.

104. After a late lunch and a short nap, Buffy gave birth to twin girls. Here we have Willow Rosenberg Whedon.

105. "Take her, would you?"
"Why?"
"I think-" Buffy gasped in pain. "I think there's another one coming."

106. She was right; as Liam held Willow, Buffy gave birth to Anya Jenkins Whedon.

107. Buffy put Anya in her crib, and headed back to her bed to continue her nap. Liam lifted Willow high in the air. "I still
think your parents are wrong. But right now, I just want to cuddle you."
---
Turn the page for more info.

108. In case you're wondering, yes, Buffy and Martin fell in love; I don't think woohoo is possible without either love or
ACR, and I definitely don't have ACR. And if it is possible, it still would have made them fall in love.
However, for plot purposes, I'd rather they weren't in love, and honestly, they haven't rolled up a single want for
each other. It's more a relationship of convenience and necessity than anything else, really.
Some of Buffy's plot will be addressed in Chapter Four, though I don't know when that'll come out; school is getting
crazier, and will probably only get worse until about mid-December, when the semester ends.

109. As you can see in this picture, we now have three dead sims in this house, and all of them died indoors. Joss's urn is
on the left, by the counter. Eloise's is in the front right, between the chairs. And Cordelia's is in back, by the chess
table. Luckily none of them are blocking anything, but I'm honestly more worried about the ghosts.

110. Xander is now disqualified from heirship, or even lifting a restriction, as I've transferred Cordy's heirship over to
Buffy. Basically, I can't move in another spouse, though I could have Buffy have kids with another sim. But if I do
that, then Martin's lifting of Military won't count. Therefore, he has to be the father of the heir, so he and Buffy are
going to have kids, probably until the house is full, now that I don't have to worry about food anymore.
As I don't have any same-sex mods in my game at the moment, Liam wouldn't have worked as heir, either, but he
has his own plot to follow.
And I wasn't lying about Joss and his hate for Xander: he had x-ed out thought bubbles of Xander when he was an
infant, a toddler, and a child. As Xander is still a child at the moment...well, I don't know how that'll go once he's
older, but still. Not having a spare is dangerous in this challenge.
Xander's reaction to all of this will also be covered in Chapter Four.

111. Don't you just hate when random sims do stuff with the babies?
Current Restrictions Lifted:
Hopelessness (Joss)
Alien Tech (Liam)
Music (Joss)
Science (Eloise)
Military (Martin)
Culinary (Buffy)

112. And, as always, go to boolprop.com! It's a great community, and I've met a lot of great writers there!