A/N Takes place during the episode The Zeppo. Also sorry for taking so long to update, I've been really busy.
Chapter 2
Into The Flames pt.2
Hell
As fire unfolded into the darkness of this unholy house it gave way to the sinister imagery of monsters, demons, and torture devices. As another fire started, somewhere else in hell, one could see that the flames were inside an old furnace. In it, a child's doll melted, like evidence being destroyed.
Outside the furnace, a dark shadow moved and it's razor sharp finger nails screeched along a metal pipe. And in the distance an unseen child screamed, even as the figure sat down on her throne.
"I want Alexander found and brought to me."
"Yes my queen." a muscular demonic warrior said as he turned to his army. "Kratos lead my legions and destroy Alexander's insurrectionist's."
"As you wish." the powerfully built bald spartan said with a respective bow.
A figure sat in the darkness sharpening his blade on a large boulder, with a stone. It had been so long since he had seen the sun, he idly wondered how he could see at all because of that. Sensing something in the room with him, he stopped sharpening the blade and narrowed his eyes. Lifting up his foot, he turned to sidekick, whomever it was only for his foot to be caught in a tight grip.
"Is that anyway to greet an old friend, Knight?" the angel asked as he let go of Xander's foot.
"Natas?" Xander asked with the first genuine smile he had given in decades. "What...what are you doing here?"
"To let you know that your time in hell is almost at an end."
"Hey, Xander." Billy the kid started as he walked into the dark room and looked around. "Who you talkin' too in here?"
"I was talking to..." glancing around himself, he saw that Natas was gone. "I was talking to myself."
"Well take yer head out yer ass, Xandman." Billy said suddenly turning serious. "The devil's army is comin'."
"What...how, how many?"
"About four legions."
"Four... get all of our troops together." Xander said as he gathered his torn leather jacket. "Tell them, I'll be out in a second."
"You're the boss man." the young cowboy said as he walked to the door. "Do you think we're gonna win this fight?"
"Are you kidding? There's no way we're gonna make it through this."
"Well just as long as you get your ass kicked with me." Billy said as he walked out.
Turning to grab his sword, Xander looked back and saw Natas standing behind him.
"Go to the northern and outer most circle of hell, Knight." Natas said as he started to fade away. "There you will find your guide and the key to get out of hell."
Watching as his old friend faded into nothingness Xander gathered his will and his sword and walked out of the room. Walking on top of a large rock formation, he looked down at his ragtag army of 1,000, which was full of rapists, murderers, and drug dealers. Putting his sword over his shoulder, he put on his game face before talking to his men.
"For the last three hundred years, I've been down here getting burned, beaten, and humiliated by the devil. Never in my life have I felt this way and I'm tired of it. And looking at all you men, I can see that you're all tired of it too. So today I choose to stand and fight instead of showing fear. Whose with me!!!!" he yelled out as his men roared back.
Hearing the sounds of war drums, Xander turned and looked across a lake of fire at the approaching crowd. It was hundreds, if not thousands, of demons of all sorts, shapes and sizes. And looking up at the demonically colored red sky, he saw a ghastly huge beast flying angrily toward them overhead.
"It's now or never!" Xander yelled out to his men. "Let's take them!" running forward and charging the line, Xander and his army engaged Satan's army in the most brutal, animalistic way possible.
Cutting down a few lower level demons, with his sword Xander had to duck down as two flaming swords whistled past his head, before whipping back. Looking to see where they came from, he saw the spartan general Kratos standing a few feet in front of him, smiling insanely.The older bald man was easily a foot taller then him, was well muscled with old scars and lined red body paint running along his face and chest. But what was most wierd about him were his world renouned chained swords, the Blades of Chaos.
"My queen wants you brought to her alive, but she said nothing of what condition you had to be in."
Ignoring the banter Xander charged at the villain through the shallow end of the lake of fire and side kicked him in his chest. Merely stumbling backwards, Kratos shrugged off the attack and backhanded him across the face, sending him skidding across the ground.
"And you are the leader of this army?" Kratos asked mockingly. "What foolishness. If you can't get through me, what made you think that you could defeat the devil?"
Blam, Blam, Blam!!!!
Feeling a hot sensation in his upper body, Kratos looked down and saw gaping holes in his chest. Looking back he saw Billy standing behind him, smoking gun in hand, with a smile on his face.
"That's why it's up to me to finish you off." Billy started as Kratos fell to his knees and then face first onto the ground. "Looks like I'm always saving your ass, bossman."
"Yeah." Xander replied as they went back to back.
"We're doing better then I thought we would." Billy went on as the war drums were replaced by the sound of something flapping. As the sound got closer the heat in the large cavern seemed to increase and Satan's army seemed to be retreating.
"What the hell is going on?" Xander asked, more of himself as he again looked up to the sky. As he did he saw red eyes peeking through the veil of darkness watching them. Instantly he knew what they were. "Reapers." as soon as those words left his mouth hundreds of huge bat like demons swooped out of the sky and started to devourer what was left of Xander's army.
Being knocked off his feet, as one of the demons passed, he looked over and saw Billy starting to be eaten by a dozen of the horrid beasts. As their eyes met one last time, Billy used the last of his strength to toss his revolver at Xander's feet. With a wavering smile Billy fell back and allowed the demons to finish their meal.
Not knowing that it was still possible, a tear came to Xander's eye. He thought he had abandoned such emotions of sadness years ago, but yet water dared to form in his eyes. When Natas had told him of a possibility of him being able to go home, he had wanted to take his best friend with him, even though he knew it was wrong. But now... Standing to his feet, after picking up Billy's gun, Xander looked around at his dying army and did something he thought he would never do around people who needed his help. He ran.
Panting heavily and with labored breathing Xander finally came to the spot where Natas had told him about. Slowly walking around a corner he saw a light shining down on an unholy altar with God knows what surrounding it. Getting a little closer he saw that sitting on top of it was a silver key.
'That must be what's gonna get me out of here?' he asked himself.
Making sure that the coast was clear, he ran from behind the rock that he was hiding behind and reached for it. Only for his arm to be grabbed in a tight grip. Before he knew what was going on, he was suddenly thrown about twenty feet back. Before he contacted the ground, he spun in mid-air and landed on his feet like a cat. Finally seeing who the culprit was, he growled as he saw that it was Kratos.
"Your comrade had poor aim." Kratos said as his wounds started to heal, the bullets being pushed out in the process. "Didn't he know that the only way to kill a high level demon is too go for the heart?"
"Thanks for the tip." Xander mumbled back as he ran forward, sword drawn. With a dangerous smile Kratos pounced forward to attack the young leader.
The spartan general armed his Blades of Chaos and swung them down towards Xander's head. Waiting for the last possible second Xander slapped the blades away with his sword and in the same motion ran it back across the villain's chest. Seeing that he took the bigger man off guard he moved in low and kicked the legs out from underneath him. Jumping back to his feet Kratos whipped out his blades faster then Xander could react. The red hot embers from the swords exploded against Xander's chest and sent him stumbling backward. After only a few more moments of fighting Xander fell to the ground, bruised and battered, as Kratos laughed maniacally.
"And now this game will end." he said raising up his blades.
Weakly grabbing onto the pommel of his sword, Xander watched as his sword pulsed. With new energy channeling throughout his body, he blocked the general's swing and did a fancy spinning move to get back to his feet.
"So you have life left in you after all?" Kratos asked as they circled each other. "Well let me show you a little of my own. Ancient God Mode!" he yelled out. With wide eyes Xander watched as armor formed on his body, aswell as a mystical barrier of energy.
Barely having time to dodge out of the way, the blunt end of Kratos' sword hit him on the side of the head, knocking him off of his feet. Smiling under his helmet Kratos swung his weapons onto the ground and shouted "Hell's destruction!" as an energy wave erupted that tore up the ground before him, splitting it in half. Making his muscles work Xander was able to jump out of the way, even as the wave exploded behind him.
Not giving Xander much time to recover Kratos hurled one of his weapon's at his head. Seeing it coming, Xander closed his eyes ready to except his death. A death that never came however, as. a foot snapped out and kicked the weapon out of the way just in time. Opening his eyes he saw one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, with shoulder length red hair, wearing a skin tight leather outfit standing in front of him.
"Damn you wench." Kratos started as he dropped out of his God mode. "You will perish for interfering."
"I...I don't think so." Xander said weakly as his sword pulsed again. Cutting his hand with his sword, he sheathed it and regarded his enemy. "Blades of blood!" as he tossed his blood forward they formed together as five huge red blades. Not having time to move, Kratos was ripped to pieces by the oncoming wave.
"It's finally over." Xander said falling to his knees.
"Not yet." the mysterious woman said. "Xander we must get out of here."
"Who...who are you?" he asked as she helped him to his feet.
"My name is, Alayah." she informed him. "I was sent here by the arch angel Natas to be your guide."
"Well go over and get the key and then we'll figure a way out of here." he said sinking back down to his knees.
"You don't understand. You're the only one here who's pure enough to touch it." before he could question her logic, since he assumed that she was some sort of angel, they both heard a clammering of demons behind them. Forcing himself to move, he ran over and snacthed up the key, stopping the glow of light.
"Alright, I got it now what the hell am I supposed to do with it?"
" Just concentrate and think of the place where you want to be!" Alayah yelled as the sounds of the demons approaching got louder. Doing as he was told, Xander closed his eyes and through vague memories thought about his home. With a soft glow the key levitated out of his hands and created a portal in front of them. Glancing over his shoulder he saw literally hundreds of demons running towards them. Not having much of a choice, the both of them jumped through the portal.
A thin distortion opened and Xander came spilling out of it only to land on a rooftop of a high building. As the portal closed behind him, ending the screams of the damned, he slowly stood to his feet and looked around. Standing on the edge of the building, he let the cool night air, whip through him making relief flood his body. A relief that didn't last long as he realized two things. One he was gone from earth for nearly three hundred years, meaning that everyone he ever cared about and loved were long since dead. The second thing he noticed was that his companion was missing.
'Damnit, she must've stayed behind.' he thought to himself as a small ball of light whipped by his head, making an awful buzzing sound. "What is that buzzing? Shoo fly..."
"It's me, Xander." the ball spoke.
"Alayah?" he asked as th ball stopped and hovered by his face.
"Yes, it's me. I never had a physical body in this realm so I must travel here in spiritual form." she informed him. "Is this your homeland?"
"I...I don't know." he replied. "But I'm going to find out."
Sunshine Motel
Three Hours Later
Sitting the bag of new clothes and food down on the table of his small hotel room, Xander took a seat and thought about his situation. After an hour of walking in circles in Sunnydale, he finally remembered where his house was. And he wasn't surprised to find out that the place was boarded up and abandoned. What he was surprised about however, was that he remembered where he had buried the money that he was going to use to travel America after graduation.
After digging up the money, he had walked to a store and gotten somethings to wear and eat and he was shocked to find that he was gone from earth for only a few months. Which meant that his friends might still be alive. Smelling an awful stench, snapped him out of his reverie. Sniffing under his arm, he realized that he hadn't taken a bath in a very long time.
Quickly standing to his feet, he reached into his bag for a bar of soap and a razor, before heading into the bathroom. Walking to the bathtub, he idly thought about how he took for granted the simple things in life, like taking a bath. Letting the tub fill with water, he walked over to the sink to shave and looked at his reflection in the mirror, only to zone out.
"The tub is over running with water." Alayah said into his ear.
"Thanks...I...I just zoned out there for a minute."
"It'll take some time for you to get used to your world again." she told him seriously. "You have been gone for sometime..."
"I'll be fine." he informed her as he reached for the water to test it's warmth, only to recoil from it's touch, his eyes glazing over with golden flecks.
"Yes, I see that you're fine." she told him sadly as she floated towards the door. "I'll let you cleanse yourself."
After almost an hour Xander walked out of the bathroom, in clean all black clothes and freshly shaven. Drying off his hair, he threw the towel to the floor, before sitting down and resting himself. Sensing a presence by the door, it opened and a girl of around seventeen with long black hair, with red streaks in it, wearing scantily clad clothes walked into the room.
"Can, I help you with something?" Xander asked as he stood to his feet. Something about the girl unnerved him, especially her powerful liquid brown eyes.
"A young whore died of a drug overdose in the room next door, so I possessed her body." Alayah said with a violent cough.
"You can do that?"
"Yes, but I might have to change into a different one, because this body is so weak." she said sitting down beside him.
"Stay here and get some rest then. I'm going to go and check on my friends." Xander replied as he picked up his ragged jacket and his sword.
"But..."
"No but's stay here." he said with a warm smile as he walked out of the room. Doing as he suggested, she layed back to get some sleep even as a demonic looking shadow of something flittered about the room.
Walking through the park, Xander thought about all the things he wanted to say to his friends. Especially Buffy. He needed to tell her that he was still in love with her and he had to make known about the sacrifice he had made for her. He wasn't going to tell her about his sacrifice for pity or bragging rights but rather to show her how much he cared and loved her. Hearing a commotion and feeling a demonic presence he stopped and looked at his surroundings. Narrowing down where he felt the dark energy, he ran and glanced around a corner and was shocked at what he saw.
A girl with long dark hair was thrown against a fence, pulled off and thrown against it again by a red-eyed, bluish-gray skinned demon. With a growl the demon pulled her off again, but she shook loose and did a backhand swing at the demon's head, making it snap hard to the side. Going on the defense, she then punched it in the gut and tried for a second hit to the head, but the demon blocked the attempt, grabbed her arms and threw her to the ground.
Going into a roll, she came back up to her feet and got into a fighting stance. The demon lunged at her, but she kicked it in the knee and then roundhouse kicked it in the head. Without pausing, she launched into a half spinning high wheel kick, which the demon blocked with both arms. Taking advantage the demon threw her leg down, grabbed onto her jacket and swung her around and back into the fence. The demon then rushed her, of whom grabbed the fence behind herself and lifted herself up to do a twin push kick to the demon's gut, shoving it back hard.
Choosing that time to intervene, Xander jump kicked the demon in the chest and smashed the creature across the head with the back of his fist. Jumping back, the demon still cut across his chest with razor sharp talons, drawing blood.
"Hey this was a new shirt." Xander complained, as he ducked down and came up with a decapitating chop of his sword. Watching as the demons head fell off of it's body, Xander resheathed his sword and walked over to the girl who was watching him in awe. "Hey, are you alright?"
"Five by five." the girl said as she got off of the ground and dusted off her behind. "Names, Faith."
"Xander." he introduced himself as he reached his hand out for her to take. Looking down at it she slapped it out of the way and gave him a swift kick to the stomach. As he bent down, holding his gut, she karate chopped him on the back of the neck, sending him to his knees.
"You think, I'm stupid or somethin'?" Faith asked as she prepared another attack. "You think, I can't smell the demon on you?"
"I can explain." Xander replied, wheezily. "I just came from hell."
"Then get ready to go back, yo." she said as she started to hit him again. Anticipating her attack, he caught her arm and blocked her following kick. Blocking another series of punches, he charged up some power into his hands and with an invisible force, pushed her back several feet. As she looked up he was gone.
Spitting out a few droplets of blood, that swirled around in his mouth Xander ran out of the alley and under a street lamp. As the light glow from the lamp hit his body, one could see that his eyes flickered golden. Not having time to catch his breath, he started to run and think about what he was going to do next.
He didn't want to kill the girl Faith, because he didn't pick up anything demonic about her. Quite the contrary he didn't pick up anything but good vibes about her, almost the way he used to feel when he was around Buffy.
'Buffy.' he suddenly thought to himself. Picking up his pace he headed towards her house. Seeing that the coast was clear, as her house came into view, he ran up to it and knocked on the door. After only a few seconds a friendly face opened the door and looked at him in confusion.
"Xander?" Joyce asked, startled. Looking at her closely, he saw that just by watching him that she clutched a small silver cross. "What are you doing here? Buffy told me that you were..."
"Dead?" he finished for her. "Believe me sometimes I wished I had." he whispered.
"What?"
"Nothing. Is...is Buffy here?"
"No. I think she's at the school."
"Mom, I thought I heard voices?" a little voice asked. Coming down the stairs, Dawn eyes widened. "Xander? Xander!" she yelled out as she launched herself into his arms.
Xander knew that it was Dawn and could feel that it was her, but looking at her now there was just something different. Using his ability to reach out and sense anothers powers, he looked down at her again and saw that a green aura surrounded her body.
"Xander what's wrong?" Dawn asked, looking up at him with innocent eyes.
"Nothing...nothing's wrong Dawn patrol."
"Well come on in." she said as she grabbed his arm and led him into the house. Horrified, Joyce followed them in and picked up a crossbow that sat by the door.
"Now, I don't know what kinda icky thing you are, but I want you out of my house now." Joyce said, even as her hand trembled.
"Mom?"
"Go up stairs, Dawn." Joyce replied, her eyes never leaving Xander's.
"But mom..."
"Just go!" With tears freely flowing down her face, Dawn ran upstairs. Now alone, Joyce turned all the way to Xander with a sneer on her face. "Buffy told me that evil things would come here, so her and her Watcher trained me to use this thing."
"Just calm down, Joyce."
"I will as soon as you get out." she replied unwavering. Without another word Xander quickly ran out of her house. Dropping the crossbow, Joyce fell to her knees in a fit of tears.
"Mom?" Dawn asked as she ran back down the stairs. Seeing her down on her knees Dawn went to her and they both held onto each other as they cried into each others shoulders.
'I can't believe this is happening.' Xander thought to himself as the highschool finally came into view. Ignoring the feelings of nostalgia, he suddenly felt someones presence behind him. Turning he was just in time to avoid a sword chop that would've taken his head. Putting a hand on the pommel of his sword, he stood back and watched as Faith came out of the shadows.
"Stop dodging yo." Faith said as she readied another attack. "You'll make this alot easier on yourself."
"For the last time, I'm not your enemy."
"Ask me how, much I really care." Faith said as she ran forward. Quickly unsheathing his own sword, he waited until she ran past him and slashed out. Stopping her run, she looked down at her broadsword and saw that it was cut in half. "Fuck."
Not waiting for him to do the same to her, she dropped the broken sword and somersaulted through the air bringing down a punch towards Xander's head. Seeing the attack coming, Xander blocked the blow and snapped out a kick of his own. Faith knocked the kick away and moved quickly forward with rainbow kick that slammed against the back of his neck. Not having time to spit out some blood that was forming in the back of his throat, Xander was again forced back as she lunged forward, swinging both her hands towards his head as if to crush it. Holding his arms out to block the blow, Faith used her superior strength and pressed their arms against each other. Pressing the advantage she sidestepped, catching him off guard and knocked his arms away, before following up with a spinning heel kick that slammed against his chest knocking him to the ground.
"Looks like our little dance is over." Faith said, suddenly standing over him with the broken piece of her sword. Lifting it up over her head she cocked a smile. "Thanks for the memories."
"Parker...Dickie, Bob come the hell on!" they both heard someone yell out. Looking up towards the school they saw a teen around their age, along with what looked like three zombies running like hell away from the school building.
"Jack?" Xander asked himself as he noticed who the boy was. 'Why the hell was he here?' As soon as he had that thought a huge explosion went off and the school went up in a ball of flames. As the fire roared into the night the only thing Xander could think at the moment was that he lost Buffy all over again.