Hellmouth: Rifted

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Palladium, Rifts, Wormwood, Phase World, or any TV Show. I am making no money off of this work.

Reviews: Yes please. No flames, but constructive criticism is a MUST. Also if you have some major or minor plot-bunny concerning our favorite goofball White Knight in Rifts Earth feel free to let me know.

The Story will progress upon Xander's return to Sunnydale with occasional flashbacks of both his adventures and the Scooby Gang's Summer.

Unknown Location PA 106

Beep- Beep- Beep- Beep-

The incessant rhythm of the monitors around the room are annoying in the extreme. Xander can count more than ninety different sets of rhythms. He isn't sure how he does that, if you asked him to do it a month ago he would have thought you were insane. Now it is like second nature. Just like he understands the different languages he keeps hearing. He knows the most common is English, then there was Spanish, but then his mind offers names for the other two languages. Dragonese and Dwarven. Is he insane? He isn't quite sure.

"Ah, you are awake! Faking sleep will not fool me. The brainwave monitors are infallible. There is far too much activity for you to be asleep." A gravelly voice speaking English with a strange clipped accent sounded from his right. "Your brother is awake as well. Good, I do not have to explain things twice."

Brother? I don't have a brother. Xander's mind raced. Suddenly, new memories seem to suddenly explode into his mind. If he could move his arm he'd grip his head, as it was he was grinding his teeth in pain an shock. After what seems like decade the pain ends and Xander's whole body relaxes. Scott. My brother is Scott.

"Ah, I see you both have incorporated the memories and skills. This is normally when my subjects suffer their brain hemorrhages." The voice spoke again, this time sounding pleased. "You're probably both curious about what has been done to you. Normally it tradition of my kind to ignore the concerns of Lab Rats, however for my experiment to succeed I find I need to communicate with my guinea pigs as it were." He voice sounded both disgusted and amused by this. "Two centuries ago I stumbled across a lost prize, the true Library of Alexandria. Not the flimsy scrolls that most assume, but the living crystal library." The voice continued. "All the knowledge of the True Atlantean civilization and their allies the Chiang Ku. Dragons. Imagine my surprise when I could not access the skills and secrets. Only True Atlanteans and Dragons can properly use the crystals. Alas I am neither. You two however are two of the most interesting specimens of True Atlantean I have come across."

What the hell is a True Atlantean? Why is he saying I am one? Does this mean I am not human. The thoughts raced trough Xander's mind and started a panic reaction. There was however a calming influence. Xander had never experienced this before, but he was certain Scott was reaching out to him mentally. ~Calm down, my brother. Panic will get us nowhere. This Mad Doctor apparently has not read the Evil Warlord rules.~ The voice in mind seemed almost amused, and Xander found he was too. No kidding. He's in full on monologue. ~The longer he is the longer we have time to formulate an escape plan.~ Are you sure you're my brother? You talk a little bit like G-man. ~Well, like you I remember when I wasn't, but with the new memories, we're closer than brothers.~ Okay, I thought that too, was just checking.

"…You can imagine my chagrin. Even when I caught a True Atlantean, their brains and minds were too fragile to handle the load I wanted to put in place. One by one their brains almost literally dribbled out their nose thanks to aneurysms and cascade failures." The gravelly voice continued on despite part of it's lecture being ignored. "Then I find two amazing subjects. You, Alexander LaVelle Harris, are physically superior to even the most athletic True Atlantean. Yes, a far cry from that mystically empowered female you know as Buffy, but much stronger, tougher and faster than any normal human has a right to be. Not to mention your ability to cogitate at speeds approaching precognition. Then there is you, Scott David Anderson, stronger and tougher than human as well, in fact slightly stronger than Alexander here, although not nearly as fast, but you make up for it with how rapidly you heal. Then there is your mental acumen, your brain structure a marvel of genetics, full eidetic memory, genius level intellect, and the ability to multitask on more than eight individual complex thoughts at once. You do not find combinations like this every day and with the already tenuous nature of True Atlantean DNA, I could not simply merge the DNA of ten individuals together and expect the crystals to activate. Which brings us to why you are now brothers…"

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! The lab shook interrupting the gravelly voice. In fact Xander heard a thump followed by several crashes, a squeal of pain and a slow death rattle. Wondering what the hell was going on Xander tried to sit up again and groaned as he felt the restraint around his chest tighten. The sounds of railgun fire and particle beam fire flooded the lab for a few moments before all too familiar voices shouted out in victory.

"Heya, Kid, I bet your glad to see my metallic face." The all too familiar electronically edged voice of Frank was a welcome sound to Xander. And true enough he was glad to see his face as the cyborg was cutting his restraints.

Sunnydale High School Library: Saturday August 29th 1998, 2:23 AM

"…and we blew the lab sky high after freeing our fellow captives. " Xander finished the telling of his ordeal under the knife of the Gene Splicer. He'd watched the others for their reactions. Simply stunned would have easily explained most of it. Even the normally stoic Angel seemed to be in slight shock. "And that as they say is that." With that the native Californian took a twinkie and proceeded to eat it the correct way, stuffing the whole cake in his mouth.

"Before you ask the obvious questions, I'll field them." Scott started. Now that the Scoobies had some time to observe the apparently identical twins, some differences were apparently. Scott was built like a linebacker rather than a swimmer, his eyes were hazel not chocolate brown, and his hair was chocolate brown not black. His voice is also a half octave deeper. "Xander and I are genetically engineered beings. The Gene Splicer analyzed or DNA and combined the best parts, while neutralizing any defects. The Harris Alcoholism gene joins the Anderson Diabetes gene along with many others in being corrected. We are both 100% human as True Atlanteans are just a subspecies of humanity, much like Caucasians or Native Americans." He paused there for that point to sink in to Giles and Buffy. "Our genetic makeup is roughly 55-45 towards our respect identities. Our original bodies were destroyed and effectively our souls transferred to our new bodies. As for our memories, we both have all the memories that each other had up to the moment of replication. In other words, I remember all of Xander's past and he remembers all of mine. Finally we share a telepathic link. We can communicate to each other over some distance. Now I suppose you have specific questions."

"Oh, oh yes." Rupert Giles was busily polishing his glasses. The boy he'd come to care for much like a son was back, as twins. It would be disturbing enough without everything else they witnessed and heard. "When you say True Atlantean, what exactly does this mean? We all know the story of Atlantis, I assume you are claiming to be descendants of that islands inhabitants. " the intellectual Watcher in him was quite fascinated by this turn of events so it was only natural it was his first question.

"Well first, G-man, Atlantis was a continent. The True Atlanteans were a civilization who mastered magic and Dimensional magicks that would makes some gods jealous. They harnessed the Ley lines of their home with great pyramids. In fact they were the ones to teach the other civilizations the art of building Pyramids. They also mastered Tattoo magic, a gift they received from some allies. Most of all they were just simply masters of magic. Our bodies adapted over time to use of magic. Other than that and our life span there is not much difference between a True Atlantean and a Mediterranean."

"Life span?" This time it was Buffy and Dawn in almost unison.

"Well, what Xander was alluding to is the fact that dying of Old age won't come for another five hundred years or so. At which time we'll look about fifty." Scott answered softly.

"Now I know the PTB hate me." Angel shook his head as he muttered. "Five hundred years of being called Deadboy." The intentional joke caused a laugh through the Scoobies, but Xander and Scott visibly shuddered. If they had been watching, the same shudder would have been seen amongst the other refugees.

Recovering a bit form awful memories of CS prison camp, Xander spoke. "No, Angel, I wouldn't call you Deadboy now even if Angelus came back and took out have the town using a spork to flay people alive." Pausing for a moment he continued. "Deadboys is the nickname of Coalition Soldiers. Imagine Hitler's Nazi Germany centered in Chicago, being rabidly pro-human and anti supernatural. I had thought them just misguided until I heard what they did to a village that harbored a Druidess. The woman was a healer who once a year did a blessing of the crops with some holy water. The Deadboys came in killed the men and children before entertaining themselves with the women, crucified the Druidess, gathered the survivors into the town chapel, burnt it to the ground with flamethrowers, looted the town then atomized it with a strike of Long Range missiles to cover their tracks. I was too late to save Caitlynn, but she relayed the story. So, Angel, I may call you many things, but Deadboy will never cross my lips in reference to you."

"My God! What kind of savages…" Joyce was the one to speak first, unable to comprehend how civilized men could do such evil.

"Not Savages, the Coalition States is one the most technologically advanced empires left on Earth. There are nations with better robotics and countries with better weapons, but overall the Coalition is ahead of the game in everything else." Scott spoke. "But for all it's science it is just a nation of scared people listening to a charming Demagogue. Of course, if you saw that world you'd understand why people are afraid. Still their actions are their own fault."

"Could we not talk about them, or anything else terrible for a while? We just wanna know what happened with you two clone rangers and these guys here." Cordelia piped up hoping to avoid any more unpleasantness. One could only take so much after all.

"Sure, Cordy, whatever you want." Xander replied almost instinctively. "Our guests are not real." As he said that they faded away, including he gore form the one killed by the Mauler, the only hint they were there at all was a gaping audience. "A very rare spell, Servant Mob. Useful, but only for what a group of normal humans could do or carry, useful for cleaning, moving, and distractions."

"Good lord, Xander. Please do not tell me you dabble in magicks now." Giles said with more than a little concern. The debacle with the love spell was infamous. It had also been damn frightening. "Your record is not the best."

Xander had tried not to show the slight hurt that comment caused. For him it had been fifteen years. He had grown up considerably. His time as a Knight had taught him discipline as well as control over his emotions. However Giles was like a father to him and he fervently wanted his approval. So this admonition cuased the goofball exterior to crack just a bit and reveal just a moment pain. Willow may have seen it, but everybody else was largely clueless, well except for Scott.

"No, it was not his spell, Giles. Although I would trust Xander with any scroll or item I possess. For as long as I have known him he has shown a great deal of restraint and maturity with the use of magic and his own Psionic prowess." Scott was not going to let this slight against his brother go. Not when the man started doubting his own heroics. "Xander is no longer exactly who he used to be. That damnedable genesplicer thought it would be funny to make him a natural Psi-Slayer, a natural predator who feeds on the Potential Psychic Energy of living beings. Only Angel here understands his instincts. The instincts to hunt prey, to toy with it as he gives chase. The urge to kill your prey because then the sustenance you feed off is so much sweeter." Scott paused as the others looked to Xander in sympathy. "He never gave in to harming an innocent. Not once even when we had a long dry spell of not finding trouble. He conquered his instincts immediately, became a CyberKnight as is one of the noblest souls to wear that mantle. So don't judge him by what he did fifteen years in his past." By the end Scott was more than a bit vocal, positively yelling like some Drill Sergeant teaching his troops something damned important.

"Yes, quite. I am sorry Xander. I forgot so much time had passed for you. Obviously you have matured more than a little. I was merely having a flashback as it were." Giles said putting his glasses back one and actually looking contrite. "I will admit that even during that mishap you were remarkably more mature in action than other men would have been."

" 's okay." Xander started only to be interrupted.

"No. no it is not 'okay', Xander." Joyce started. "We all came to some very interesting realizations this Summer. We should not be backsliding like this just because we have you back." The Summers matron's tone brooked no argument from anyone. "You have done so much for all of us and not accepted any credit. I know you think that you do not contribute as much as anyone else, but you are dead wrong. Each of us here owes you our life, at least twice and maybe more times. So we are not going to backslide into the mentality that you're just the sidekick. You've been a hero from day one."

"I told you." Scott smirked to his 'brother'. "They'd have realized it sooner if you hadn't been hiding behind that mask."

"Actually, Scott, I believe Xander's mask as it were is of help in and of itself. He has kept us sane through his jokes and wit. Something he truly needs his mask to effectively pull off." Giles then bowed to Xander. "That, in my mind, makes him twice the hero."

"So, Xander is a Psi-Slayer and CyberKnight why does that sound like a combination of two badass things." Buffy asked carefully. She got the impression Xander was kick ass when she saw him handling the Mauler power armor. He moved as fast as Buffy did and seemed to flow in combat in almost a dance. "I mean it almost sound like Slayer trained as a Shaolin."

"Well, I am pretty bad ass Buffy. As a True Atlantean I am a little above peak human perfection. As a Psi-Slayer I am a hunter and predator of the most dangerous creatures in existence. I have powers of mind and boy that push the boundaries of reality. I could list my powers, but basically if you see a Jedi in Star Wars do it, I can and a little bit more. The energy swords you witnessed before are my Psi-Swords. They are a much a part of me as my hands. I can manifest them at will and they can cut through tank armor. Finally underneath the skin of my chest, arms, back and neck is a layer of bioplastic that can stop a 20mm shell in it's tracks." He said softly. "As for my training, I learned swordmanship under one the greatest CyberKnights who ever lived. I already was learning Karate and aikido and my master is a fan of jeet kune do so I became one. I know how to use most modern weaponry and most ancient weapons as well. I can now ride better than you could imagine and can drive anything with wheels or tracks. I can do the upkeep on my own arms and armor and I have extensive knowledge of Faerie, Demons, Dyvals, and Magics. Finally I was given six Atlantean tattoos. With these I can create physical sword that can harm virtually anything, I become immune to the powers of vampires, create an aura of protection that in this environment would be akin to being inside a battleship, create a magical construct of a unicorn, read and speak every languages, and finally increase my physical strength to truly supernatural levels."

"Whoa." Buffy's eye grew wide. "Did I just suddenly become the side kick?" Her voice was small and weak as she asked this. Despite her complaining she really did love being the Slayer. She loved being the Hero even if she was not really the leader.

"No, you're still my hero, Buffy. I became a CyberKnight, in part, to better help you." Xander grinned. "Before you ask, no I can't train you to be one. I mean I could, but you don't have the spark for it." He paused as he got directed a level two Buffy glare. Those were usually enough to set newbies aflame at fifty yards. "I'm sorry, but you're not knight material. You're too much a predator. Psi-Slayers can recognize each by feel. Even a latent one like yourself is screaming to my sense fellow Predator."

"WHAT?" It came from all around the room.

"She'slikeyou?ButshewasneverkidnappedbyaGeneSplicer!,,." Willow paused when her boyfriend Oz blew in her ear causing her to blush a deep red. "Sorry, I had too much caffeine."

"I missed that. Willow babble is just good for the soul." Xander sighed. "Actually, I was engineered as a Psi-Slayer. I think Buffy was born that way and only thing that stopped it from developing is her being Called. Of course if she wants that training, I will give it to her, I just fear for the demon population around here. For a CyberKnight it seems that Oz has the right feel to him, Cordellia has the right feel as well and I daresay when he was alive Angel could have been trained." That admission got him some definitely shocked looks. Giving Angel a compliment was just not normal Xander.

"Cool. I'm in." Oz replied. Somehow this decision just felt right.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to be able to defend my fellow man." Cordellia ceded and then flashed a megawatt smile as Xander gave her a grin. "Just don't think for a moment that I am calling you master, dweebo."

"Did we segue away from the main point again?" Amy finally speaks up. "If that wasn't Xander's spell, was it yours Scott?"

"Yep, I knew we needed someone to hold you back from attacking the Mauler, so a quick chant and voila." Scott smiled widely. "In case you are all wondering, the Atlantean Library was originally grown when they had a unique ally that trained the very best in Magi. This mastery of magic was forged by complete understanding of the practitioners Body, Mind, and Spirit." He explained. "Normally one could only be a Battle Magus, Lord Magus or High Magus. I was imprinted with all three forms of magic and training as well as the secrets of Technowizardry. I am a capable warrior a match for Xander when neither of us use our powers or magical gear. I know all 15 circles of Spell Magic, all Temporal Spells, as well as the legendary spells Servant Mob, Sanctum, and Cloud of Negation. I have impressive magic reserves, but I can see already Willow has more power if not skill. Amy and Giles have as much power as I do. If they would like to learn I will teach them. I would also like to teach Dawn and Joyce how to defend themselves as well as the use of some of my devices."

"Good Lord, Scott, are you certain you wish to be our tutors?" Giles was again wiping his glasses. "Most magi are not quite as willing to share knowledge."

"After all I've seen, Giles, I would rather have more Magi rather than less." Scott said softly. "And the training as a Magi will help Willow avoid the pitfalls of he tendency towards Dark magicks."

"What?" Willow squeaked. "You mean there's real danger to this? Why are you so worried about me and not Giles or Amy?"

"A person's tendency in Magick is dependant on their first big spell they cast. You cast a very powerful and very, very black curse. This would not be a problem if you were a mage on Giles , mine or Amy's level. Your power would build slowly and you'd learn to control those tendencies and even use them. Already you have a bit more raw power than I have and even I can tell you are one of Gaia's Avatars. You'll have more power before you are thirty than Merlin had at the height of his career. Only a few casters will match or supersede you in raw power, the Three Wizards, the Charmed Ones, the current Sorceror Supreme, the current Doctor Fate, and perhaps one or two members of the wizarding Community. So if you go Dark, the world is in for some real hurt." Scott paused as he let that sink in. "Don't get cocky though, Skill wise I will likely stay ahead. And someone like Xander can easily take you down a few dozen pegs."