XC2Adolescent Thunder

by Shadow Master

BtVSMC2SpiderGirlThorIt's Halloween on the Hellmouth and a lot of strange people are walking around. Unfortunately some are so rowdy that they are being asked to leave the reality and guess who's been picked: Xander Harris!

1. Chapter 1

"XC2 – Adolescent Thunder"

BtVS/MC2 Universe/Spider-Girl/Sort of Thor/YAHF

Note: For those of you who don't know the MC2 universe was a spin off of a story featured in the Marvel Comics title called What if…? It was a comic that, like the title implies, explored how things might have gone had events in the mainstream titles had things been a little different. The MC2 was formed based on 'What if…?" issue 105 which explored what would have happened if little May Parker hadn't been kidnapped but instead had remained with Peter and Mary Jane. The issue was so popular that Marvel spawned a series of spin offs based on the characters featured therein that came to be the MC2 universe of Marvel comics. In it were titles such as A-Next featuring the next generation of Avengers and J2 the son of the unstoppable Juggernaut. As for the Thor part… well… I am a big fan of the works of an author by the name of anotherlostsoul at Twisting the Hellmouth so I decided to add the thunder god to the mix. Don't worry this will be sufficiently original so that no one will be able to call this a rip off of his/her work.

Well whatever happens I hope you enjoy this story. Thanks a bunch for reading and reviewing it!

PS – I KNOW I said that I wouldn't start any new fanfics until at least half of the others currently in progress were finished but this plot bunny was about to rip off BOTH my arms, shove one up my butt and the other down my throat so I could twiddle my thumbs in my stomach. In short I was given no choice in the matter really. I am sure many fanfic authors have had similar experiences. In any case I promise in the future to pack the heavy artillery where ever I go so I can fight off any other aggressive plot bunnies like this one.

Sunnydale High School, Afternoon, The Day Of Halloween

I can't believe she did that! Xander thought with a growl as he stormed down the halls of the high school.

His mind was a tempest of emotions and feelings that could all be traced back to one single event that had happened mere minutes ago. It had been back in the student lounge that he, Willow and Buffy had been discussing their recent conscription into the ranks of chaperons that had been drafted to escort some eight year olds Halloween night. She had let out the fact that contrary to what one would think, the night of trick or treating was a complete snooze-fest as far as the demonic were concerned. Taking a brief break from the discussion he'd gone to get a soda only to have the misfortune of bumping into Larry the Linebacker. If that hadn't been bad enough the idiot had decided he'd be the perfect person to ask if Buffy would consider going out with him. With words as his only weapon, he'd naturally said that the football player didn't have a chance in hell, which had led to a confrontation that even if he lost could have meant beaucoup macho points just for standing up to the bully. THAT had been when Buffy had decided to do her 'good deed' and step in to help as well as humiliate the jock in front of everyone. Which of course wound up having the exact opposite effect on his reputation that he'd wanted in the first place.

It'll take me every single minute up until graduation in two years to make up for this and THAT'S if I just want my rep back where it used to be thirty minutes ago! He thought as he passed by the doors of the 'Geek Club' as everyone called it.

Basically it was a room that the completely unpopular had acquired from Snyder because they were considered the eggheads of the school and that meant in the Principal's mind they were the only students of any worth aside from the star athletes. However to everyone else they were just the Anime/comic book/videogame/movie/D&D freaks of the school that no one would willing associate with unless they literally had nowhere else to go or someone else to hang out with. Among the more notable members were Andrew Wells, Jonathan Levinson and Warren Mears as well as a few other people who fell under the category of outcast among the high school crowd.

While not exactly a member of the 'in crowd' himself, his feelings towards the club was pretty much the same as everyone else's in the school. He liked a good anime and had a comic book collection at home that was pretty impressive but even he didn't take his love of those mediums as much as the members of this club did. A couple weeks ago he actually overheard them re-enacting an old issue of Thor with Jonathan as Loki and Andrew as Thor. Just the thought of imagining those two as the sons of Odin was almost enough to get a chuckle out of him.

"Hey Xander! Could you come in here and give us a hand?" Came the voice of one Andrew Wells from the door to the Geek Club (shouldn't it be glee club?).

For a moment the Xan-man debated the merits of doing a fellow classmate a favor since it would require him to be seen entering the Club room or just ignoring Wells and keep going. In the end though he figured that his rep couldn't really sink any lower considering what had happened in the student lounge so doing the good deed won out in his mind.

"Sure Andrew! What's up?"Hhe asked trying to sound friendly and casual.

"Me and the guys just need an extra pair of hands to move Warren's trunk of Power Rangers tapes and other junk." Andrew replied as he closed the door behind them.

"They're NOT junk! They're priceless collectables that'll make me rich in ten years while the rest of you guys are just flipping burgers!" Warren snapped as he and Jonathan took up their positions on one side of the trunk.

"Hey, chill dude, I'm just here to help you guys out." He said as he stood beside Andrew and chose where he'd try and get a grip on the trunk.

"Yeah… well… let's just do this alright!" Warren said, feeling a little bad that he had snapped at someone who was helping them out.

Once all four of them had a grip on the trunk and confirmed with each other that their grips were solid, Jonathan counted to three and on the number three they all lifted the box as one off the ground. When he actually felt the weight of it he almost dropped it in surprise but since that had the potential to be painful he clamped down on his emotions and maintained his grip.

"What exactly is in this thing?" He asked unable to keep his curiosity about the weight at bay like his emotions, "I didn't think plastic weighed this much."

"It's not just action figures and video tapes. Warren managed to get a hold of a guy in Japan that was on the team to make the props and costumes for the show." Andrew replied as the quartet inched their way to where the trunk was supposed to go, "The guy was willing to sell some of the original molds for the helmets as well as some of the props. So naturally Warren jumped at the chance to get them."

"Of course I did! Do you know how much stuff like that goes for on the auction block?" Warren asked attempting to defend his purchase, "I heard some guy had some of the original props for the Godzilla movies and managed to sell them for five million dollars to some psycho collector."

"Five million?! Yeah right! Most you could probably get for this stuff is five hundred grand! Tops!" Jonathan said with a sneer from his place next to Warren.

"Alright! That's it!" Warren said as he let go of his part of the trunk to aggressively poke Jonathan in the shoulder, "What is your problem?"

"Nothing!" Jonathan said not wanting to get into a pointless argument with his sort of friend, "Let's just get this over with."

It was then, when two members of the group that once upon a time might have formed a group called the Troika, set off a chain of events that would change the world as they knew it. It started with a seemingly trivial escalation of hostilities on the part of Warren who instead of returning his hands to their former positions on the trunk. Destabilizing the object, he caused it to rock slightly since one corner no longer had anyone carrying that part of the overall weight. Normally this would merely require the remaining three people to adjust their grips a little in order to compensate for the increase in weight. Unfortunately this was rendered impossible when both Andrew and Jonathan abandoned their duties at the same time, albeit for entirely different reasons. For Andrew it was so that he could intervene in the growing conflict between the two people he considered his closest friends. For Jonathan it was simply an act of frustration, one born of Warren's constant need to be superior to him and Andrew, one that caused him to feel the need to retaliate. Unfortunately this caused Xander to become the sudden bearer of all of the trunks weight and, despite the muscle he is slowly getting helping Buffy, his strength is insufficient causing it to slip from his grasp right onto his right foot.

"Argh!! DAMNIT!" He cursed as he quickly freed his injured feet immediately going to one knee to massage the pained appendage in an effort to alleviate the pain.

This of course took the future Troika by surprise and postponed their quarrel as a new problem took priority.

"Uh oh! You guys know what this could mean?" Andrew asked distinctly worried.

"Yeah! Snyder's going to shut our fan club down that's what." Jonathan replied promptly with equal worry, "You know how pissed he was when that suit of Dr. Doom armor fell on him the last time he was here. He said if anything else like that happened again, no matter who got hurt, he'd shut us down immediately."

"Not if no one finds out about it." Warren said as his calculating mind went to work, "Xander I know you're probably pretty angry right now but I'm sure we can cut some kind of deal. What will it take to keep you from going to Snyder with this?"

He took a minute to consider the geek's proposal as well as how he truly thought about the matter. While it was true that he wasn't feeling all that happy at the moment, he wouldn't classify his mood as 'get-these-guys-in-trouble-with-Snyder' mad. He was mad enough to start yelling at these guys for forgetting about him and letting the trunk drop on his foot, but not enough to cause too big a stink over it. Still, as a small light bulb jumped into his mind, he realized that this could be an opportunity to salvage his manly reputation at least with these guys. After all only a tough guy would take them up on this offer and perhaps claim their most prized possession as payment for keeping quiet. Looking about the room he tried to measure just how valuable each item was and which one would serve as an appropriate payment for keeping his grievances to himself. A few things caught his eye like a prop blaster that looked exactly like the ones used by Stormtroopers in Star Wars as well as something that looked like Trunks' sword from DBZ. Obviously these guys were either great craftsmen or they focused their entire savings on buying replicas of their favorite TV/Movie/Anime/Videogames.

Not interested in a blaster because, quite frankly, they're a dime a dozen. The sword looks nice but I could get a real one from Giles so no good asking for that either. He thought as his roving eyes continued to peruse the contents of the room, So what will I tak—HELLO!

The moment he laid eyes on it he knew that he had found what he was looking for and that he would definitely go to the wall to have it. Standing up he quickly walked over to it in order to examine it more thoroughly just to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. The leather strips around the handle as well as the loop at the end looked like it had been artificially aged and weather to look like it had been through almost constant use. At the same time though the leather looked like it could last easily another century before needing to be repaired or replaced. Checking the square shaped lump of metal at the end opposite the loop he was surprised to find that it wasn't made out of a material the looked like metal but was actually real true blue metal. He picked up his selection and confirmed that the metal at the end was indeed real because he couldn't think of anything else that could weigh so much. It was then that he took a closer look at the inscription on the metal block and found that it was definitely too high quality for the geeks to have done it but just the same it was amazingly well done. He could make out the words easily and it matched exactly what he'd seen in the comic books. Something this detailed and well constructed definitely had to rank among their top five most prized possessions and would most certainly teach them a lesson if it was taken from them.

"Fine. Let me have this and I'll keep my mouth shut." He said turning around and showing the three geeks what his selection was.

"No! Please anything--!" Andrew tried to say but was immediately silenced with an elbow to the gut by Warren.

"Deal!" Warren said with a smile that definitely implied that he thought he had come out ahead in the deal.

"Well then see you guys later!" he said as he strode to the door carrying his newfound possession, "I'd stay and help you with the trunk but I think you have some issues to talk out first."

Without further word he walked out the door to his locker where he'd store the new item until after school let out. It was then that he remembered that he'd been conscripted into chaperoning a bunch of kids around and immediately began to wonder if he could use his newest acquisition to his advantage. He knew he wouldn't be able to afford the entire costume that would have to go along with this prop but if he remembered correctly there were some things back home that might be a substitute for them.

Yep! And if I'm missing anything I can just pick it up at the new costume shop later with the gang. He thought before remembering that he should still be mad at Buffy, I'll grant her a chance to say 'I'm sorry' at the shop. After all I'm sure she didn't mean to embarrass me in front of the entire school.

With that he continued on his walk to his locker convinced that today might actually turn out to be a good day after all.

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The Harris Home, After the Trip to Ethan's Costume Shop,

One Hour Before Chaperon Duty

Alright! Time to see if I have everything I need to pull off my costume. He thought as he looked at the various pieces laid out on his bed.

While his hope for a heartfelt apology from Buffy had been ruined by her drooling over some frilly dress meant for Deadboy he had found the missing items for his costume. He'd found the right 'City of New York' patches for his jacket as well as the E.M.T letters for the back of the jacket at home. Once those were attached, either with tape or glue, the rest could be put together with a dress shirt and jeans from his own closet. While the person he was going out as wasn't all that popular when compared to the person he turned into it was still a good costume idea. Plus, if worse came to worse and no one had a clue who he was dressing up as even after he told them the character's name, he'd just claim to be Richard Kimble in disguise or some other famous fictional fellow. As for his bribe from the geek trio, he'd just tuck that behind his back underneath his jacket and only pull it out if he thought someone might make the connection between the prop and the outfit. It was a little uncomfortable, given how the metal slab was digging into his back, but he really didn't have anywhere's more covert to put it unless he planned on slapping together a fake med-case and sticking it in there.

Nah! No sense carrying around something like that if I don't have to. He thought as he trotted out the door so he could meet up with Buffy and Willow.

He got about as far as the front door before a familiar bellow and stream of cursing reached his ears letting him know that Anthony Harris was awake and, as usual, had decided to let the entire town know it in the most vulgar way he knew. Deciding that it was definitely time to leave he beat some serious feet out the door and down the street before Tony could catch sight of him. He knew all too well what would happen if Tony saw him and he had no wish to endure a pointless session of the elder Harris blaming all his misfortunes on others. It was times like this that he really did wish he had a life more like Buffy or Willow's in that they had loving parents that actually cared about them. Instead he was forced to endure two parents who cared more about drinking themselves into a stupor and spending their next welfare checks than raising him. It truly made him wish that they weren't his parents but there was no changing biology, and even if he knew that magic did open up some possibilities, he was helpless to take advantage of them.

Walking along he soon found himself standing in front of the door to Buffy's place, where she and his best bud Willow were getting into their costumes. Knocking with an all too familiar pattern, he waited for no more than a few minutes before the door opened to reveal a vision of purple, white and black that rendered him speechless. Standing in front of him was none other than Evil-Lyn, mistress of magic, loyal second in command to the mighty Lord of Evil Skeletor. Around Sunnydale, though, she was more commonly known as Dawn Summers, younger sister to Buffy Summers, and someone who he considered a younger sister. However given the ways she was filling out the costume and the amount of leg she was showing, it was clear that she wanted to be considered older than she actually was and by him specifically. He had been aware a long time of Dawn-patrol's crush on him but knew that that was all it was in the end, a crush, and would fade soon enough once she found someone else to direct her affections towards. For now though she was deliberately trying to show off how much leg was showing as well as adopting a few 'innocent' poses that looked like they belonged someplace distinctly more adult.

"Um…Hiya! So… howzit going Dawn?" He asked as he tried to keep himself from falling for her tactics.

"Good! I just finished getting dressed and was about to hook up with Kit and the others to go trick or treating." Dawn replied all the while giving him the 'sexy eyes' look, "We figure we'll keep at it until we get about three bags full each and then come back here to watch the Nightmare on Elm Street series. How about you?"

Just keep thinking of her as a little sister! Keep thinking that and everything will be fine! He thought to himself as he tried to find someplace other than Dawn to look before answering, "Pretty much the same except I have to chaperon some five year olds for two hours and then me and the gang'll probably swing around to The Bronze before heading back here for whatever leftover candy your mom has left."

"Well I'll make sure to have something sweet for you when you get back." Dawn said making it clear that she meant something other than candy.

"Dawn, dear, could you go into the kitchen and check to see if I left any cases of pop in the cupboard?" Mrs. S asked as she walked into sight, wearing the 1983 version of The Sorceress' outfit from He-man and the Masters of the Universe.

"But mom--!" Dawn tried to say in protest before being cutoff with a look from her mother.

With a groan of defeat the youngest Summers woman stomped towards the kitchen to do her mother's bidding making it clear with every step that she did not appreciate having her seduction routine cut short.

I, on the other hand, will be forever in Mrs. Summers' debt for this! He thought before asking, "Nice outfit Mrs. S! You and Dawn-patrol planning on going out as a match set or something?"

"Well I didn't go to the shop with the idea of buying a costume that went with Dawn's but when I saw the price, well, that pretty much sealed the deal." Joyce replied with a smile that all women get when they manage to score a great deal on clothes of any kind, "So who are you supposed to be?"

"Well the guy I'm dressed up as isn't exactly well known but his name is Jake Olson and he's kind of the civilian identity of the mighty Thor from Marvel Comics." Xander replied as he took out the replica Mjolnir from behind his back to show Mrs. S, "I didn't exactly have a lot of money to spend on a costume so I took some odds and ends and came up with this."

"While I admit I don't know who this Jake Olson is it was very innovative to put together a costume like this." Joyce said with praise at Xander's resourcefulness.

"Thanks, Mrs. Summers." Xander said before hearing footsteps at the top of the stairs and looked up.

"Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!" He exclaimed as he took in the hidden princess that was the blonde vampire Slayer as she came down the stairs.

"Thank you, kind sir. But wait till you see..." Buffy said with a smile before turning and directing his gaze back to the top of the stairs.

Looking in the right direction he wondered what it was that had Buffy so excited considering it was probably just going to be Willow in her traditional ghost costume. After all unlike the vampire Slayer he had known the redhead since pre-school and thus knew that there was only ever one costume for the genius of Sunnydale High School. Looking up he sighed a bit with disappointment when he realized that destiny had come again and his bestest bud was once again choosing to hide rather than take a chance. Seeing this he had a pretty good idea of what Buffy had been trying to do, namely get Willow to wear something daring, and almost shook his head at the failure. He himself had made many attempts to bring her out of her shell and walk with her head held high but to no avail. It has only been since Buffy came to town that he's noticed any real growth beyond the mousy Willow that did her best to be overlooked or ignored by those who would harm her whether it was physically or emotionally. However the blonde Slayer was trying to move too quickly, trying to turn Willow into someone more like herself, and needed to slow things down a bit.

"Hey, Will! That's aaah fine boo you got there." He said trying to dispel any guilt or non-happy feelings that Buffy's disappointed look was encouraging in Willow.

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Later That Night, After Ethan Rayne Cast his Spell of Chaos

"Where am I?" Asked Jake Olson as he surveyed the chaos around him being made by both humans and demons.

Looking about he took things in with the air of someone who had seen such things before and had no doubts that he would see them again. Most would be confused since to their eyes he would appear to be no more than a mortal man in his early to mid-twenties wearing the garb commonly used by E.M.Ts in the city of New York. However for those with the ability to look beneath the surface they would see something quite different indeed. They would see not the soul of a man but the spirit of a God, Thor Odinson, merged with a mortal shell by his father Odin as atonement for a death he allowed to occur. For it had been during a battle with his comrades the Avengers against the engine of destruction known as the Destroyer that he unknowingly allowed the mortal Jake Olson to perish. So set he had been on defeating his enemy that he had failed to take into account the risk to others and so he willingly submitted to the All Father's decree. Thus it has been for the last several weeks that when no crisis or great threat calls for the involvement of the God of Thunder he lives the life Jake Olson would have had he lived.

Looking deep within his mind, he tried to recall his last clear memory before arriving in this strange town. It was not long after he and mighty Odin had defeated the brothers of the Enchanter Forsung and learned of the sad fate of one dear to him named Ceranda. He had returned to Midgard to resume the life of Jake Olson only to find the life of the mortal he posed as in complete disarray. While he had been aware of the false charges of stealing and selling drugs on the street, he had been shocked to find that somehow a false Jake Olson had attempted to murder the police detective heading the investigation against him. The last clear memory he had was of using mighty Mjolnir to transport him to Asgard where he hoped to find answers the mystery that sought to destroy the life he had been decreed to live. He knew for a fact that he had been in mid-transit between worlds but after that his memory became a well of emptiness until he found himself here in this town of chaos.

While I know not what hath drawn me here to this town, it is clear that some evil plagues it this night and threatens those mortals who live here. Thor thought as he looked about and found the isolated spot he had been looking for, Mayhap some sorcerer summoned me here in order to vanquish the evil I see before me. If that be the case then Thor shall do so if only to be allowed to be free to return to dealing with his own problems.

Quickly making his way to a spot isolated and hidden from the chaos that infested the small town he made one final check of his surroundings, to be sure that none were watching him, before slamming his right fist into the ground. With an explosion of white light and a crackle of electricity the mortal form of the medic Jake Olson is no more and in his place kneels the form of Thor, God of Thunder, son of almighty Odin. Rising up the prince of Asgard whirled his mighty hammer about then with one final swing threw it into the air clutching the strap at the bottom of the handle. Like a superhero of fiction, he took to the air and flew over the town so as to get a better measure of the problem before him. From what he could see the spell cast upon the town was great indeed for demons and minions of evil of all sizes were hobbling about, causing chaos and violence in their wake. Wishing to bring the chaos to a swift end he stretched out, both with his own senses and with the powers of his Uru hammer, trying to find the common thread that would take him to the source of the force that disrupted the peace of this small town. Alas, much to his surprise, the entire town seemed submerged in a sea of evil energy that radiated outwards from what appeared to be a school of some kind. Amidst this sea of demonic energy finding the source of the chaos would be difficult indeed for it would be like looking for single golden ring amongst a treasury of unsurpassed size.

This may take a while. He thought as he began his thorough search of the town for the source of the chaos that he had been summoned to stop.

Hours ticked away as with every breath he took he scoured the city and listened to his godly senses for any indication that he had found his foe. Occasionally he would stop and put an end to a conflict between a citizen of the town and some foul creature but for the most part his undivided attention was on finding the mastermind behind this chaos. Twas not until an explosion of great strength sent a building crashing to the ground that he felt he had something just as important to occupy his attention appear. Changing the direction of his flight, he veered towards the source of the explosion and upon arriving found a sight that he was all too familiar with. Battling in the middle of the streets were two sorceresses, one clad in purple garb while the other dressed with a distinctly avian theme, with the latter apparently doing her best not harm the former too severely. Both wielded powerful magic and behaved in a matter that made it quite clear they were accustomed to battles involving sorcery. For the surrounding shops, though, as well as those civilians who dwelled inside, the purple clad sorceress did not seem overly concerned with where her attacks landed so long as most of them struck her foe.

Hath the maiden no honor! Whatever her quarrel with her avian foe might be, these innocents hath done nothing to warrant feeling her anger! He thought as he began his descent intent on stopping the fight anon or at least persuading the participants to take their battle elsewhere so as not to harm any noncombatants.

Calling down a bolt of lightning between the two in order to get their attention, he landed in the center of their line of fire with a look in his eyes that said 'you WILL listen to me'.

"Cease thy fighting, both of you. Do ye not see the damage thy both have wrought on the businesses and dwellings around you?" He said firmly while giving both women a firm glare to halt any attempts at interruption, "I know not what bitter feud exists between thee but I say to you now: take it elsewhere! So long as Thor, son of Odin, be here you shall not endanger these innocent people further!"

"Great! Another muscle bound buffoon who thinks he can get in my way." Spoke the one in purple, her tone showing little respect towards him, "Is it mere chance Sorceress or do you simply prefer brainless muscle men to be your protectors?"

"Though I know not this Thor, Evil-Lyn, he speaks sense. I know you will not break off this confrontation but I must ask that we take it elsewhere." The Sorceress requested dropping her arms to her sides to indicate she did not intend to continue fighting at this moment, "We will continue our fight but in a place where no innocents will be put at risk. Is this agreeable to you?"

"Hmmmmm, well, I guess… NOT!" Evil-Lyn replied sounding almost like she might accept the proposal before lashing out with a blast from her scepter, "Fools! Did you honestly believe that I'd cease my attacks now that you've just provided me with the perfect means of defeating you!?"

"Foul wench! Thou wouldst willingly risk killing those who have done you no wrong just for the opportunity to slay the two of us?!" Thor yelled as he used mighty Mjolnir to absorb what he could of the magical blast while deflecting the rest where it would do no harm, "Thou dost disgust me! Have at thee!"

With a powerful thrust the prince of Asgard let loose all the energy that Mjolnir had absorbed right back at the ground beneath Evil-Lyn's feet, forcing the witch to dive to safety. As though hit by a meteor the ground where the evil sorceress once stood collapsed downwards revealing the now-compromised sewer system of the town. Charging forward the god of thunder sought to end the battle quickly, knowing that since the likelihood of changing the battle's venue was now slim the longer the battle went, the more likely innocent people would be harmed. However the wench quickly became aware of his approach and was quick to prepare an appropriate reception.

"Streets of stone, hard and rough, form a barrier that is quite tough!" She chanted and after a brief flash of light from her scepter the street began to change shape in front of her to form a wall.

"Craven villain! Thou shalt need more than a stone wall to keep the son of Odin at bay!" He yelled before bringing back his mighty hammer and sending it crashing through Evil-Lyn's defense.

As the dust cleared and the location of his enemy became known once more, he could tell that his destruction of her wall had taken some of the wind out of her as she appeared to be breathing rather hard. However the moment he noticed this, she seemed to realize that she was looking weak and quickly made an effort to show him that her weakness was only momentary. Her eyes began to glow brightly with eldritch energy and with a violent thrust of her scepter she sent a wave of energy at him that tore a trench in the street as it passed over it. Knowing that if he allowed it to progress past him it might demolish one of the damaged buildings or maybe even set off an explosion if it touched a cracked pipe in the sewers, he swung mighty Mjolnir around behind him and, when enough momentum had been gained, threw the Uru hammer at the wave to dispel it. With the force of two objects of great power colliding both the energy wave and the weapon of Thor collided with a thunderous boom. For three seconds neither force seemed to gain an advantage but in the end the true strength of his hammer won out, shattering the wave into pieces no more dangerous than the rays of the sun. Holding out his hand, he caught Mjolnir upon its return and looked to see if this display of the power of the Odinson would be enough to persuade Evil-Lyn to surrender.

"Hath thee had enough dark witch? Or dost thou wish the battle to resume anon?" He asked as he kept his mighty Uru hammer ready in case the dark clad sorceress chose to continue her efforts to defeat him.

"Oh I don't presume to continue this fight fool! I intend to END IT!" Evil-Lyn replied as she threw her arms upwards and began gathering a massive amount of energy around her.

The air did pulse and wind did howl as the dark sorceress continued to gather more and more energy to her aide. So much so that even the ground around her began to crack and splinter under the pressure of so much destructive stresses forced on it. Though it was not enough to make Thor Odinson rethink his desire to defeat the evil maiden he did concede that he might not be able to protect the civilians still in the area. Turning to the avian Sorceress who had been focusing on using her magic to defend rather than attack he knew what had to be done.

"Sorceress! It dost seem that this battle be destined to get worse long before it shall get better." He said with great urgency looking directly at the matronly woman, "Seek out and flee with what innocents you can find. I shall attempt to keep Evil-Lyn's magic at bay until ye are all safely away!"

"I shall try to hurry!" Replied The Sorceress before she ran into the closest building to begin looking for civilians that had not fled when the battle had originally began.

Nodding once in satisfaction that the safety of the innocent was being seen to he looked back to see just how big the threat of Evil-Lyn had become during the moment he had looked away. His eyes widened in shock as he found that the gathered might surrounding the woman had grown so large that it had become nearly twice the width of the street demolishing buildings on all sides of the evil sorceress. He had not thought her capable of such a feat but could sense no deception in what his eyes were conveying to him at that moment. Somehow the dark amazon of magic had called forth power to rival even the Enchantress Amora and looked ready to unleash it all upon him. Such a blast would devastate this entire area and likely slay any who had been foolish enough to linger and whom the Sorceress was unable to save. He had but one choice if he was to save the lives of the innocents and put an end to the threat that this woman posed to the people of Midgard.

"I know not why you are so obsessed with destroying me Evil-Lyn but I shalt not permit thee to harm the people of Midgard!" He declared as he began to swing Mjolnir around above his head, "Come oh enchanted energy! Heed the call of mine Uru hammer and abandon thy foul mistress' summons!"

As though the eldritch energy Evil-Lyn was gathering had a mind of its own, tendrils began to stretch out from the sphere of magic around her and form a funnel of power the exact radius of his mighty hammer. As the seconds passed, more and more tendrils of energy began to form connecting the vortex created by Mjolnir to the sphere of arcane energy the dark sorceress had created. It was plain, even to one who knew nothing of magic, that the field of energy was steadily growing weaker despite the effort that Evil-Lyn seemed to be putting forth to keep the magic under her control. Victory, it seemed, was at hand for the son of Odin and defender of the realm of Midgard for if he could thwart an effort of this magnitude nothing the evil woman could produce would have any effect.

If that was so then why was the dark sorceress starting to laugh?

"FOOL! You've done exactly what I had hoped you would!" Evil'Lyn crowed as a positively evil smile blossomed on her face, "Thanks for saving me the trouble of trying to pin you down!"

"While I might not be your equal in raw power it's clear that you're about as intelligent as any other muscle-bound man!" she said before her eyes glowed even brighter than before, "Powerful warrior leave me alone, go back to where you belong to - thine own HOME!"

Almost as though the weight of the world was suddenly dropped on it the funnel of energy that had once been under Mjolnir's control crashed to the ground surrounding him completely. So shocked was he that it took four precious seconds before he attempted to dispel the cylinder of energy that threatened to imprison him. However due to a mix of his own efforts moments ago to bring the energy to him and Evil-Lyn's own skill with sorcery he was unable to do more than momentarily disrupt the tube of light. All the while he could hear the cackling of the dark magic user who no doubt was basking in her perceived triumph.

However, as the mind of Xander LaVelle Harris could have told her, it was moments like these that things usually went bad for most big bads. Sadly, he was only able to watch as the second in command of Skeletor's forces, also known as Dawn Summers, assumed the position of the victor before the fat lady had officially sung.

To illustrate this point random chance and the old Harris bad luck decided to step in and engineer a sequence of events that would be remembered by both higher and lower beings for years to come. At the precise moment the spell cast by Evil-Lyn/Dawn Summers began to take effect by beginning the teleportation process, the stone bust of the Roman God Janus shattered into a million pieces, breaking the spell that Ethan had cast. It was those two conflicting forces being at odds with one another that caused the being that was both Xander LaVelle Harris and Thor Odinson to be pulled at from two directions. From the shattered chaos spell of Ethan Rayne came the need to transform the founding male member of the Scooby gang back into your average teenage guy. However the magic that had been infused into Alexander had been great indeed in order for him to properly become the Prince of Asgard. It would have been difficult on its own to remove and likely would have had the after effect of increasing his strength and durability even after the Janus spell was gone. However with the combination of the magical energy of Evil-Lyn's spell and Thor/Xander's efforts to resist any magic set against him the amount of energy within him that had come from Janus left him only a grain of sand at a time. On the other end was the spell of Evil-Lyn attempting to cast the Thunder God/Xan-man across space time and, unknown to all, dimensions using the combined power of Evil-Lyn, the harnessed energies of the Hellmouth and the legendary energy of The Key itself which lay within the form of Dawn Summers/Evil-Lyn. The energy of the Key worked to obey its goal of sending the warrior prince before it back to the world where he belonged and, so powerful was it, that it even forced the powers of knowledge of Evil-Lyn to remain until the task was completed.

So it was that three forces acted on the body of the Sunnydale High School student with one attempting to return him to who he had once been, one struggling ferociously to remain who he had become and another determined to send him where it believed he belonged. The three forces warred with one another, building up pressure as they redoubled their efforts again and again, until with the force of a couple of tons of TNT going off the column of energy surrounding the Thunder God exploded. The shockwave that was sent out demolished what buildings were still standing for a radius of five blocks and knocked the young woman formerly known as Evil-Lyn back a full hundred yards before stopping. When she finally managed to sit up though it was obvious the evil sorceress and lieutenant of Skeletor no longer resided within her but rather that Dawn Summers was back in control of her own body once more. Her costume had reverted back to the poor copy of the original it had started out and what magic there had been inside of her courtesy of Evil-Lyn had been reduced to a quarter of its former strength. Worst of all though she was now chained to the memory that she could very well have just destroyed the one man she had chosen to marry once she was old enough. Ripping off the headdress of Evil-Lyn she threw it away in both hatred and disgust of the foul villainess for what she had done to Xander.

DAMN THAT BITCH! She thought furiously as tears began to trickle down her cheeks, All I wanted was for Xander to notice I was a beautiful woman too and now he's… he's….

It was only after she shook her head to shake loose the tears that to her were a sign of weakness that her long hair, now snow white, fell into view. Shock filled her mind as she grasped the hair with her hands to confirm that it was indeed hers and that she was not imagining things. It was then that she noticed several other changes that had not been present before Halloween night and provided more evidence that things had changed. For one thing her body was no longer that of a young 'just-became-a-teenager' woman but rather that of someone in their early twenties instead. Not only that, but a beautiful twenty-something young woman as well with toned legs and a chest that was at least a C-cup. It was then, when she was searching herself for any other changes, that an old technique/instinct from the remnants of Evil-Lyn alerted her to the most important change of them all.

There was still magic within her.

Not a great deal and nowhere near the level it had been when Evil-Lyn had been in control of her body but it was still more than she had possessed before. With this thought hope blossomed in her heart, hope that she could go looking for Xander and bring him home, that alone was more than enough to wipe away the sorrow that had for a time taken up residence in her heart.

I WILL find you Xander! She thought as she got to her feet with purple scepter in hand, As soon as I learn enough and get strong enough to open a portal I'll come after you and bring you home! I promise!

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In an Unknown Place, At an Unknown Time

"It would seem you are left with a problem brother." Spoke a female voice as beautiful as it was wise, "The One Who Sees has been cast out from his native dimension and now flounders unconscious in limbo, caught between worlds. Normally it would simply be arranged for him to be returned to his place in the order of things but that cannot be done now, can it."

"Nay, my sister. For through a freak chance of fate the mortal Alexander Harris has had the powers of his costumed character locked within him." The Brother said as he looked down with all seeing eyes on the mortal he and his sister were talking about, "While not as strong as the god he disguised himself as, he doth indeed hold the potential to become so should the will of the Fates and random chance allow it. Still, the question of what to do with him remains."

"Mayhap we should send him to the world of our younger sister. Her world is now abundant with the offspring of heroes past and would be a fair place to send young Harris." The Sister replied as a thoughtful look on her face, "From what I have seen in young Alexander's mind, he would consider it a boon indeed to spend time amongst the heroes of his fantasies."

"It would also give him the necessary means to master his newfound abilities. Very Well! As thou hast proposed so shall it be!" The Brother said and with a wave of his ascended hand he sent the young warrior off to his chosen destination, "May ye become verily the epitome of your name Defender of Mankind and when thou is read you will find a way to return to your loved ones. Fare thee well!"

So with this deliberation Alexander 'Xander' Harris flew through the myriad of paths and airways of limbo before finally passing through the gateway that would transport him to where one brother and one sister thought it best for him to reside for now.

What fate awaited him?

What adventures would he experience?

None, not even those who sent him there, knew for certain for as the young mortal had proven the night Buffy Summers died Xander Harris was a true cosmic wildcard.

Only time would tell where his path would inevitably take him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Another Dimension/Reality, New York City, Morning

"Rise and shine kid! Time to move along." Came an authoritative voice that shook him from his peaceful slumber.

"Just five more minutes." He mumbled as he tried to roll over in his bed and go back to sleep.

However it was when a particularly strong gust of wind hit him that he recalled that wind of any sort should be impossible in his room unless he was the one breaking it. For that matter his bed seemed unnaturally hard as though it had been made entirely of wood and not so much as a cotton ball put in for a mattress. It was when he heard the chuckling of a man's voice that he did not recognize that he realized that something was distinctly not right and required that he get up in order to investigate. Not exactly a course of action he was crazy about but he had learned a long time ago in Sunnydale that ignoring things of the weird usually led to things of the bad and then the dead. So with a groan born of a person who hadn't had enough sleep, by their estimation anyway, he opened his eyes to find that instead of his bedroom he looked to be in a park of some kind on a bench. Sitting all the way up he winced as his sore body protested having to sleep on something so uncomfortable as a park bench. However he sidelined that issue since he figured being someplace other than Sunnydale kind of took priority over unsatisfactory sleeping arrangements someone had stuck him with last night.

"Sorry kid but I gotta get you to move along. People are going to be coming through here soon on their morning jogs and walks." The man, now identified as a police officer, said with a grin of amusement, "As much as I sympathize with ya about disturbing your sleep I can't have some homeless kid ruining everyone else's morning."

Uh… sure… I-I'll just be on my way." Xander declared as he noticed the NYPD badge on the guys jacket and decided he didn't need to add to his problem of being on the other side of the freakin' country by antagonizing a police officer.

Getting up he began to walk away with the intention of finding the nearest payphone and putting in a call to Giles so he could get a plane or bus ticket back to Sunnydale. After all who knew what had happened since he'd been gone. Hmmmm, now that he thought about it, how did he get to New York? The last thing he remembered was chaperoning some brats around town as part of a forced 'volunteer' activity and then some crazy dream about him flying around as Thor. The more he thought about those last clear memories however the more he began to wonder whether or not they were real. Shaking his head he figured he could decide later after his plans to return home were finalized.

"Hey kid! Don't forget to take this with ya!" called out the policeman causing Xander to turn around to see what the guy was talking about.

Standing a dozen or so steps behind him was the police officer holding what looked to be an army duffle bag filled to capacity. Written down the side in black stencil lettering was 'J.Olson' and the bag was clearly filled to capacity. While he knew for a fact that he didn't own a duffle bag much less one with that name written on it the year and a half of experience he'd gained in Sunnydale helped sharpen his mind a bit. Given what he last remembered and the fact that the J in the 'J.Olson' could easily stand for Jake it took him less than a second to put two and two together. Figuring it was either tied to his unexpected cross-country trip or could help him get home he immediately put on a smile to make it look like the bag was indeed his rather than something he'd never seen before.

"Thanks! I must still be half asleep to forget about my brother's bag." He stated as he walked over and took the duffel bag from the officer.

While not exactly true it wasn't a complete lie either since for at least a night he was indeed Jake Olson aka Thor so one could say they were brothers from a certain point of view. Plus it would sound better to the cop and that would decrease the odds of the guy getting too nosy and running a check on him. If that happened there would be questions aplenty for him to answer and would probably lead the authorities to get in touch with Tony and Jessica Harris once they got his real name. That would lead to all kinds of badness not the least of which was the possibility of a serious beating if or when he managed to get back to California. Not only would the Harris' be suspicious of him, wondering how he'd managed to get to the other side of the country with the money they never gave him, but they'd also hate the fact that they'd been pulled away from one of their drinking binges because of their worthless son. All in all the fewer people who remembered that Xander Harris was ever in New York the better off he'd be and the easier things would be for him in the future.

"You're brother eh? What's your name kid?" asked the officer who seemed to be giving him a more thorough appraisal than before.

"Thomas Olson." He replied using the first name that popped into his head.

He'd picked it because the initials would match Thor Odinson and link him to the duffel bag of Jake Olson assuming his theory about the green sack was right. Waiting he watched as the officer considered that response and hoped that the guy would either be too nice or too lazy to doing anything about whatever itch kept him looking at the Xan-Man. Willing it with all his might it was all he could do to keep in a sigh of relief when the officer finally seemed to decide to let things slide this once.

"Alright then Thomas I'll let you get going but next time find someplace better to sleep than a park bench in Central Park okay?" The officer asked with genuine concern, "Despite all the heroes, both on and off the police force, in this city the park isn't exactly the safest place to be when you're on your own."

"Sure thing! Well seeya!" he said turning around as casually as he could before slinging the bag over his shoulder and walking away as normally as he could.

Five minutes later, as he reached the entrance/exit to Central Park, he finally allowed himself to relax since there was no way the cop had followed him this long just on a hunch. With that crisis averted he looked about and soon located a vacant telephone booth that would help him get in touch with G-Man. Walking over, he wondering how exactly he was going to drop the bomb that last night's Halloween madness had wound up putting the founding male member of the Scooby gang on the other side of the country. 'Hey Giles! Did you know that is one hundred and fifty-one feet tall? Oh and could you send me the money for a bus ticket back home?' Yeah that would go over real well! He'd be lucky if the Watcher's Council, whom he assumed would have to foot the bill for the ticket, didn't force him to work off his debt for the next ten years straight. TEN YEARS of wearing tweed and drinking tea for whatever the minimum wage was in the United Kingdom! Not to mention that neither Buffy or Willow would let him live it down and that fact almost made him consider just staying in New York.

Almost.

Getting into the phone booth he picked up the receiver and hit zero so he could get the operator and get him or her to help him place a collect call to Giles's place. It started out well enough when he heard the operator connect with him but things went south quickly when after he gave her both the area code and number she said G-Man's number did not exist. He repeated it to her three times before going on to Buffy's and the Willow's but those turned into dead ends as well causing him to hang up on the operator seriously annoyed. It wasn't that the operator had been mean about it or anything but rather that his mind could not comprehend what could have happened to mess with facts he considered certainties. After all it couldn't have been that long since Halloween! Right? Giles and the gang had to still be in Sunnydale! Right?

Right?

Suddenly he wasn't so sure anymore and wondered if the Halloween spell that had turned everyone into their costumes hadn't somehow wiped his hometown from the collective memories of the world. NO! He was Thor that night so he would've sensed if something on that magnitude had been in the works right under his nose! There had to be some other explanation or something better than the possibility that everything and everyone he cared about was gone. Deciding that he'd think better with a full stomach he looked around and after locating a diner of some kind headed over towards it. He'd made it almost past the halfway point on a crosswalk when something big flew over his head causing him to instinctively look up to see what it was. His first thought of course was a demon of some kind or maybe some idiot with a glider since those were two perfectly rational and feasible possibilities. However what he saw was so shocking and so incredibly unfeasible that it took the blaring horn of a New York cabbie to get him to start walking again.

T-t-the FANTASTI-CAR!! He thought to himself in utter disbelief as he watched the fictional vehicle streak away into the distance towards some unknown crisis.

Almost on autopilot he walked into the diner and sat down at the nearest available booth to wait for the waitress or waiter to come ask about his order. His mind rebelled against what his eyes had seen since there was no sane explanation why a vehicle belonging to a fictional superhero team could exist in his world. Those guys were supposed to be make-believe! Seeing the waitress on her way to him he forcibly clamped down on his growing anxiety so that he wouldn't look like a nutcase coming in off the street. Putting in an order for a stack of pancakes and a glass of milk he returned to examining what was rapidly becoming the most HELLMOUTHY thing to happen to him in a long while if not EVER! Fact 1: last night (from his perspective) some magic happened turning everyone into their Halloween costumes. Fact 2: he went as Jake Olson aka Thor whereas Dawn went as Evil-Lyn and Mrs. S went as the Sorceress. Fact 3:Thor got into a fight with Evil-Lyn when she started endangering innocent bystanders and managed to trounce her first few efforts at an offensive. Fact 4: Skeletor's sexy second in command managed to get the drop on him by suckering the God of Thunder into a teleportation spell of some kind. Fact 5: Some kind of anomaly happened as the spell was taking effect causing him to lose consciousness and wake up in a New York where the Fantastic Four – no FIVE since he now recalled he'd seen that number on the side of the vehicle – are real just like he was right now.

Maybe I'm still asleep? He thought to himself and quickly began to support the idea, Yeah! That spell hit me harder than I thought and I'm just unconscious! I just need to wake myself up!

Deciding to go with a subtle means of waking himself up just in case he was wrong he pinched himself as hard as he could in the hopes that the pain would jar him awake. Much to his regret the only thing he had to show for it afterwards was a sore patch of skin when the waitress returned with his breakfast. Deciding that this was reality for the time being he figured he'd better check the sack he'd been given to see if there was any money in it or he'd be working off his breakfast all day. Putting the bag on the seat next to him he pulled it open and started looking through the contents for something that looked like a wallet or something with money in it. Fortunately whoever had packed it had the foresight to put the important stuff on top since he was quickly able to find a brown leather wallet in the bag. Opening it up he found an I.D and when he saw whose it was he was overcome with a sinking feeling that once again he'd become some higher being's plaything. Right there written in black letters was the name 'Thomas Olson' that he'd just come up with on the fly earlier and the card looked well used rather than brand new. Looking throughout the rest of the wallet for other means of identification he found Thomas Olson's name elsewhere as well leaving him to believe that either someone had sent him to this strange world of fiction or at the very least made sure the necessities were taken care of. Well that and they, whoever they were, obviously expected that he'd be stuck in this world long enough that he'd need I.D and a sack full of clothes.

Perfect! Just freakin' PERFECT! He thought as he started to chow down a bit more aggressively than he should have.

Seeing that people were beginning to give him odd looks he calmed down and tried not to ear like a person that'd snap and kill them all any moment. Ten minutes later he paid his bill with money he'd found in the wallet and walked out of the diner to find someplace where he could figure out the rules and characteristics of this world. After all while he was no comic book fanatic like the geek trio he was versed well enough that he knew Marvel had made many different realities/dimensions/whatever that had the familiar heroes in them. True the fact that the Fantasti-car had the number five painted on the side was a strong indicator he was in the MC2 universe it was far from being conclusive proof. After all for all he knew this was an alternate MC2 universe where the F5 was made up of completely different members than the ones he was familiar with.

The best bet is to head to a library and look up some old newspapers or something. He thought to himself as he spotted a public city map a block or so down the street, They should have enough info to give me a pretty good grasp of team rosters for the good guys and the big bads.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

2 Hours Later, The Front Steps of the New York Public Library

Well that settles it. I am officially in the MC2 universe. He thought to himself with a mix of bemusement and worry.

He had gone over newspapers for the past ten years and even surfed the net since they seemed to have more info and everything he'd looked at confirmed that he was indeed in the spin-off universe created due to the success of the infamous 'What if?' issue 105. From A-Next to the Fantastic Five to Spider-girl all existed in this world almost exactly like he'd read about in his comic books back home. Most people would look at this situation and see it as a dream come true but he saw things from a much different point of view. It was one thing to read about the exciting adventures of Spider-Girl or the battles of the next generation of Avengers but that was because you were safe and not in danger. Now that he was actually here he knew that he was not so lucky and the smart thing to do would be to get out of the city as soon as he could. While he had no doubt that both the normal law enforcement and the superheroes would do everything they could to protect the city he also knew that that didn't mean you would be safe. In comics there were two things that you could almost always count on: a super battle every other week and massive property damage all over the place. At least back in Sunnydale the most he had to worry about was becoming some vampires early evening snack or being used as a lab rat for some ceremony. Here he could literally be vaporized or crushed beneath falling debris at any time and it happened so often that the people probably considered it normal.

Okay so maybe that's exaggerating things, but I'm still not going to risk getting squished by staying. He thought to himself as his mind began mapping out his plans for leaving the city.

However his concentration was soon shattered when the sound of screeching tires filled the air and he looked up to see the clichéd black van speed up, get alongside your typical Ford P.O.S and then force it off the road onto the front steps of the library. Deciding that trying to get away with the future battlefield in the way was suicide he found a nice little solid stone section of the front of the library and sat down to wait out the fight. Some might think him nuts for not running like a bat out of hell from there but to him it was the safest option. The goons in the van most likely had guns and that meant lead would be filling the air soon and a running person makes for a pretty attractive target to villainous fiends everywhere.

What a minute! Since when did I start thinking in Thor speech!? He thought to himself as he reviewed his thoughts since waking up this morning.

While the influence was minimal at the moment he could see Thor's way of talking was creeping into him a piece at a time. After a moment of consideration he remembered that while Thor had spoken like a normal person as Jake Olson he'd thought just like the Prince of Asgard he was in the thought bubbles of the comic books. Did that mean that the longer he remained in this world the more he would start acting, thinking and speaking like Thor?

Nay! I mean NO! DAMNIT! He thought to himself as the sounds of automatic gunfire mixed with that of the standard issue policeman's firearm, As cool as he is there's no way I'm going to start talking like some Shakespeare reject!

He almost started a fresh rant when out of nowhere a woman dressed in a sea blue blazer, skirt and white blouse dove into the same corner he'd picked and scrambled to put press her back against the sturdy stone. Tanned skin and brown hair done up in a ponytail he could tell both by her movements and the M1911 Colt pistol in her hand she was probably a cop. He didn't have much more time to think about it since one second later the automatic gunfire from people he presumed were criminals started focusing on his chosen corner.

"Um, no offense officer but did you have to choose my corner to dive into?" He asked with a nervous smile.

"What are you doing here?! RUN!" She said firmly before taking a peek around the corner of their hiding place before being forced to duck back to avoid getting a bullet in her skull.

"Yeah! RIGHT! Present a moving target to a bunch of psychos with guns who obviously aren't worried about running out of ammo any time soon." He said looking at her like she'd just suggested he paint himself red and dance in front of an angry bull, "You're nuts!"

For a moment she looked like she might get a bit angry but the present threat and the fact that he had a point was apparently enough for her to table her lecture for later. He had to agree with her that any arguing could wait for later because unless his ears were misleading him ,the guys with the unlimited ammo were getting closer. Not a good thing since he seriously doubted that the lady officer next to him had come prepared for a shoot out and therefore didn't have all that much ammunition herself. She'd run out long before they did and then it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel for those sleazebags to kill both him and the policewoman.

Where are all the superheroes? He thought as another part of him started praying for some kind of divine intervention, Usually shootouts like this are stopped inside of ten minutes in the comics!

Yet another reassuring assumption shattered by the reality that this world was not some well drawn comic book but real life! That meant that things could turn out just as bad if not worse for him here than it would back in Sunnydale with the vamps and the demons. As if to confirm his fear the criminals chose that moment to start using grenades as one exploded just shy of them and while he was unharmed the police lady was tagged by a piece of flying concrete and knocked unconscious. Not of the good considering that she was the only one between the two of them with a weapon. True, he could probably take the gun and try and hold off the crooks for awhile but considering he'd never used a gun before in his life he's hit the broad side of a BMW before he'd hit his target. That or an innocent bystander in the same situation as him and that wasn't something he was willing to risk at all. So to make a long story short he was outnumbered, outgunned and utterly without a clue!

If a hero doesn't show up soon, both me and this officer are going to have our own special spots in the obituaries tomorrow! He thought as the goon squad continued to lay down cover fire to keep the officer, who they probably thought was still conscious, pinned down.

It was then he was hit with what had to be the most ludicrous idea he'd had since that time he thought it'd be a good idea to force Deadboy to lead him to the lair of the Master. True that had worked out alright but it was also pretty stupid since he probably would have been killed if the idiot had thought to leave a five or more minions behind to guard his home. Still this new idea was the only hope either he or the officer laying unconscious before him had.

I hope this works! He thought before he raised his right fist up high before slamming it down onto the ground.

For less than a split second he thought that he'd just made an utter ass of himself but when his vision suddenly became submerged in a bright white light and the sound of lightning filled the air he couldn't help but smile as he felt a power fill and transform him. In the blink of an eye it was done and now in the place of one Xander Harris aka Thomas Olson, was a being more like unto a god than of the race of men. Standing up he found that the transformation had changed him quite a bit but hadn't turned him into an exact copy of Thor like he'd expected. The pants and the shirt were close copies of those worn by the Ultimate version of Thor except that the circular plates of metal that looked technological in the comics were in this case functional armor that looked tough. The boots, wristbands and cape however were definitely of the mainstream Thor leaving only a helmet that looked like a cross between something from Lord of the Rings and the Thunderer's traditional helmet. All in all it was something that, while distinctive, didn't look as corny as, say, Wolverine's yellow and blue spandex combination would in real life. In his opinion, it was both stylish and functional both of which were absolute musts in his opinion when it came to a combat outfit.

"Who the hell're you?!" Asked one of the group of five crooks, most likely the leader, sounding only a little hesitant at this new development.

Time to build on that while they still think I know what I'm doing! He thought before replying, "Mine name is not for the likes of thee foul villains! Thy only concern now should be a swift surrender lest ye invoke my wrath."

He knew he was probably making a few mistakes in trying to sound like Thor but the way he figured it the more they linked him to the famous Avenger the less likely they'd be to try and fight it out with him. After all, the God of Thunder was thought of by the entire world as being one of the strongest heroes on the planet and that would lead them to assume that he was at least as close to the Lord of Asgard's strength. They'd have to be complete idiots to try and take him on!

"He's crazy! Kill'im!" Ordered the lead goon as he took aim with his AK-47 and began firing.

"Fool! Thou dost seal thy own fate by refusing to surrender!" He yelled as he charged the armed men whirling his version of Thor's hammer in front of him to deflect the bullets, "HAVE AT THEE!"

He knew that in the comic books Thor was pretty much impervious to anything short of some high tech laser cannon but that didn't mean he was. In fact, he wasn't even sure if his copy of Mjolnir was strong enough to repel or even block the bullets coming his way. So basically he was making one helluva assumption concerning what he could do right now and could quite possibly be committing suicide by charging these guys head on. That never stopped him from doing the right thing before and it wasn't going to hold him back now. It was all or nothing!

Deciding that he would be best suited to ending to the fight quickly, he gave his Mjolnir one further circular swing before hurling it directly at the lead goon. He had used his own strength to take back most of the power the thrown hammer would have had but that was only because he didn't want the weapon to go right through the guy. Without knowing his exact limits, he had to be very careful he didn't kill one of these guys by accident. Hell! He had to make sure he didn't seriously injure them period otherwise they'd probably lawyer up and try and sue him for excessive force or something. Watching carefully, he saw the mighty hammer strike the man right in the chest, knocking him off his feet and to the ground as though he'd been tackled by an elite tackler. Drawing upon the nebulous memories he retained from when the Halloween spell was still active he mentally summoned the hammer back to his hand and thankfully it responded just like the true hammer of the Thunder God would have. A good thing too, since it would have been kinda hard to go and pick it up with the four other killers firing at him even more aggressively than before now that their leader was down.

However the frantic firing of the remaining men posed an even bigger problem since it meant the guys were taking less care in making quality shots, preferring to just blanket the entire area in his direction with deadly pieces of hot lead. He had to end this swiftly and finally or else it was only a matter of time before someone paid the price for his inexperience.

"You cowardly curs show your true colors with thy blatant disregard for the lives threatened by your careless firing!" He yelled angrily as he brought Mjolnir over his head, "It will end ANON!"

With all the strength he could muster he brought the powerful hammer down hard smashing it into the ground with such force that all who felt it likened it to a violent earthquake. To those close to him, though, it was as if a bomb had gone off and, in a certain way, it had because the hammer strike he'd just delivered was so strong that it created a pool sized crater around him, knocking all of the crooks clear off their feet. Shattered piece of the stonework in front of the library flew through the air and the dirt thrown into the air obscured much. The second that description passed through his mind he shook it out since it meant that more of the remnants of Thor left over from the Halloween spell were taking root. It was probably a side effect of being in this form, the longer he remained a wannabe Thor, the stronger the Thunder God elements became, which was most definitely not of the good. Looking around, he was happy to see that the four remaining crooks were out cold on the ground and didn't look like they had anything worse than maybe a broken arm to cope with.

Good! Now I better change back while no one's looking before I wind up more Thor than Xander. He thought to himself after being satisfied that the dirt and debris in the air would hide him from prying eyes.

Slamming his copy of Mjolnir onto the ground pommel first he was happy when a flash of light and a crack of thunder later he was back to being plain old Xander Harris. Even better was the fact that his clothes were still on him as well after the transformation. He had been a little worried that his transformation earlier had vaporized his 'civilian clothes' and that he'd wind up naked as the day he was born when he changed back. Not exactly the way any guy would want to end a bit of clobberin' time with some gun happy thugs. With a smile at a job well done, assuming of course the library had insurance covering something like this, he decided it was best to make a quick exit before people came looking around. He was not looking forward to having to file a police report on all of this or any uncomfortable questions concerning the Thor look-a-like that crooks would likely start babbling about when they came too. So with a quick step and a half-baked escape route he started to walk briskly away hoping he never had to do something like that again.

BLAM!

As a painful spear of agony lanced through his left shoulder, he suddenly found himself wishing that he had come back naked because if this was the universe's alternate punishment for him it somehow managed to both suck and blow at the same time. His body spinning around with the force of the bullet he only barely was able to see the leader of the band of crooks struggling to stay on his feet with a smoking AK-47 in his hands. He vaguely counted his blessings that the guy had apparently only had enough ammo for one shot otherwise he'd be Swiss cheese right then. Tumbling to the ground, he almost went all the way to his back but was able to stay in a sitting position by stopping his fall with his uninjured arm. Unfortunately, the sudden stop jarred the rest of his body and caused another stab of pain to go through him thanks to the bloody hole in his left shoulder. Black spots intruded into vision as the combination of pain, shock and increasing blood loss put a strain on his body. Nevertheless, he knew that if he let himself lose conscious there was a serious chance that he'd never wake up again.

"I can't fucking believe IT!" Exclaimed the leader of the band of crooks as he approached on wobbly feet, "My perfect job! The thing that was going to get me noticed by the Kingpin himself! Screwed up by some halfwit kid playing hero! You're DEAD you piece of shit!"

"Actually, I think he's kind of cute, but that's just my opinion!" Came a playful yet sarcastic female voice that talked in a way Buffy always did when taking down vamps.

Just as the killer turned to see what new threat wanted to make his day even worse, a string of what looked like webbing shot through the air impacting on the end of the AK's barrel and clogged it completely. A second or two was all the time anyone had to comprehend this before a female form in red and blue spandex dropped from above and delivered a T.K.O punch right to the thug leader's jaw. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the killer dropped like a ton of bricks to the ground, ceasing to be a threat completely and finally putting an end to the entire mess. Strength wavering and consciousness getting harder and harder to keep a hold of, he looked up to see who his savior was and somehow managed to attach the name Spider-Girl to the spandex wearing young woman before him. She turned to look at him but because of the mask he could only guess what expression was on her face but he hoped that he wasn't worrying her too much.

"Hey guy? You going to be okay?" She asked letting only a trace of her true worry into her voice, "'Cause it'd really ruin my big rescue if you ended up dying on me."

"I'm f'ne. Don' worry." He managed to get out with only a touch of slurring in his words, "I'm used to beautiful girls savin' m… me…."

That was all he could get out before the last of his strength left him and the world began to go dark.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Mount Sinai Medical Center, The Next Day, Mid-Morning

"Ohhhhh… Getting shot's no fun!" Xander groaned as he began to regain consciousness.

"Yeah but getting hit in the head with rock fragments is worses kid." Said a woman's voice from somewhere nearby to his left.

Opening his eyes it took a moment for them to adjust to the light but once they did he turned in the direction of the voice and saw the lady officer that dove into his hiding spot at the library. She didn't look too bad considering that she got knocked out with debris from a grenade explosion, but a thorough wrapping of bandages around her head told him that what injuries she did have were significant. Still, at least he'd have company while he recovered but he'd have to make that as little time as possible since he wanted out of this place sooner rather than later. While he knew that whoever had dropped him in this world had given him a wallet with the necessary ID, some cash and some clothes he didn't known how extensive his false identity was or how hard it would be to find out that there was no Thomas Olson. If they found out that the whole thing was a big lie there was no telling how long they'd hold onto him or if they'd let him go at all. They'd probably saddle him with a babysitter until they got to 'the truth' and, when they didn't, they'd probably send him into the foster care circuit until someone signed for him. All in all not exactly the sort of roller coaster ride he was interested in getting in on.

"Depends on how you look at it. From my point of view you'll probably need a week tops of bed rest and maybe a bottle of extra strength Tylenol to get better." He declared while testing the mobility of his left arm, "Me, I'm probably looking at month before I can get the bandages and stitches out then I'll probably need two bottles of Tylenol just to get by, I get it worse officer…?"

"It's Captain actually, Captain Maria Ruiz." Ruiz said filling in the blanks for him where her name was concerned, "I can see your point but at least you'll be able to hide your scar. I'll probably have to lay the make up on extra thick to keep my good looks."

"You know you'll always be the poster girl for our precinct, Captain!" Came a humorous voice from the door to the room.

Walking in was two guys, one officer and one lab jockey from the looks of it, and both looked like they wanted to put the best possible spin on the situation. One was African-American and, from the looks of things, a detective since he was pretty sure there was a point in the ranks where officers were expected to wear suits rather than the standard issue blues. While the guy behind him was also wearing a suit he didn't quite have the same feel to him as the detective so he must be either a lawyer or a lab jockey. When that last possibility came up in his hand something clicked and he re-examined the guy from top to bottom. A distinct limp and walking with a cane, consistent with someone with a prosthetic limb, and a brown goatee with brown hair as well as a small little patch of gray/white hair dead center in the front. While he couldn't be certain, real life people being distinctly different from drawings in comics, he was willing to put a whole box full of Twinkies on the bet that this guy was the Peter Parker.

HOLY SHIT! The original web-head is in my room! He thought to himself like a ten year old while trying to keep any of his shock or glee off of his face.

It was made a lot easier when he considered the possibility that Pete might be able to sense something off of him that could give away his little secret. After all, while Spider-Man's spider sense was for the most part an early warning system for incoming danger, it also tipped the wall crawler off to dangerous individuals. Would Parker be able to sense the Xan-man's inner Thor-ness? Probably not so long as he kept to the happy thoughts and kept the less than pleasant ones locked up tight in the back of his mind.

"Flattery will get you demoted back to beat cop, Detective." Ruiz said with mock seriousness making it clear she was just joking before her face became all business, "I assume you came here to give me the latest on the firefight in front of the New York Public Library."

"Yes. From what we've been able to put together in the last twenty-four hours we've been able to tie all five of the gunmen to several middle level crime families," replied the detective as he consulted the notes he'd made on his notepad. "Since it's unlikely that five separate families decided to band together on their own I suspect that the Kingpin is behind this somehow. My guess is that it's retaliation for that incident at the Ambiance Fashions bust a few weeks ago."

"Possibly but it's a bit overkill to be Fisk's style. More likely it was one of his lieutenants trying to move up in the ranks by impressing him." Maria said after considering her detective's theory, "Any luck on the forensic side of things, Parker?"

Maybe, but then again, maybe not. Xander thought as the detective's theory meshed with what he recalled the lead thug said before Spider-Girl took him down, One of the big rules in the organized crime biz is never to show weakness and that means squashing your enemies when they foil a job you wanted done.

"Not so far. The AKs were pretty much standard models without any modifications to give us any clue where they were purchased." Parker replied while occasionally giving quick glances in Xander's direction, "We'll know more in the next day or so once Phil finishes running down the serial numbers in the database. I wouldn't hold out for any breaks though. If they were the Kingpin's men then all of their gear will just have paper trails leading in circles, if not to outright dead ends."

"You're probably right. Put some more pressure on the gunmen." Ruiz ordered as she rubbed her chin contemplatively, "Maybe one of them will roll and give us something we can use. Any information on that cape that stopped them?"

"Nothing substantial from civilians since most of them were either too far away or too busy hiding to see anything clearly. However, taking all of the characteristics that were most commonly mentioned it sounds like someone decided to copy Thor." The Detective replied with a little bit of frustration at the absence of solid info, "He wielded a hammer and apparently talked like the old Avenger. Given the damage that was done to the front of the library, he was certainly a powerhouse as well."

"What about you, Olson? You have anything to add about this Thor wannabe?" Captain Ruiz asked as she looked at him with inquisitive eyes.

"Sorry Cap but I was a little bit busy keeping my head down." He replied with the same voice he'd used to lie to Buffy before the final battle with Angelus, "The only reason I stepped out later was 'cause I thought it was all over. Guess I should have stayed down until your people arrived."

From the looks on their faces neither Parker or Ruiz were completely buying his response but the detective apparently saw no reason to doubt him since he was jotting it down on his notepad. However it was the safest response to give them since anything else might make them think that he knew more than he appeared to and that would be bad. He had to get the hell out of the city as soon as he could or else he was going to be peppered with more questions than he cared to answer.

"I guess so but it also leaves the question of what you're doing in the city." The Detective stated in a tone that implied he wanted the Xan-man to fill in some blanks.

"I've been doing a little cross country hitchhiking and thought I'd spin by the city that my cousin Jake had worked in for a few years." He explained trying to mix the truth with fiction in the right proportions to make it believable, "I'd planned to see the sights and stay at a friend's place but turns out he left town awhile ago so I went to the library to do some reading before I looked for somewhere else to crash for a few days."

What the detective said next knocked him off his feet because it was most definitely the last thing he was expecting.

"Well that pretty much fits with what we were told by your cousin earlier when we called her. She said she'd be in to see you in a little while after she finished filling out the rest of the paperwork on you." Stated the Detective as he closed his notepad up and put it away, "If you remember anything else about the attack at the library or this Kid Thor character please let us know."

"S-sure Detective. You bet." He replied barely able to cover his shock and confusion at the mention of a 'cousin' being here to see him.

While on the surface he looked calm and casual on the inside he was madly scrambling to figure out who exactly was claiming to be his cousin and why. He knew for a fact that Alexander LaVelle Harris didn't have a cousin or rather one that would be involved in serious enough weirdness to have followed him here to this reality. It was more likely that whoever this woman was that she was connected to the preparations the unknown entity had made when he'd dropped the male Scooby in this world.

Good! Maybe she'll know of a way to get me back to Sunnydale. He thought as his worry began to disperse with the hope of getting back where he belonged, At the very least I hope she can solve my room and board problems 'case I really don't want to have to spend the rest of my time in this crazy world sleeping on a park bench.