Chaos Theory – Re-keyed. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Neon Genesis Evangelion/Stargate SG-1/Star Wars/Star Trek/Halo/Lord of the Rings Crossover...
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Title: Chaos Theory: Re-keyed
Rating: PG - Language and Violence.
Genre: Crossover
Author: PitViper
Date (Part Eleven): 2010-03-13
Summary: This is a BtVS/NGE/SG-1/SW/ST/LotR/Halo crossover. Based on the Halloween costume episode. Very AU. The Key's spell goes both forwards and backwards in time… what happens when it interacts with Ethan's Halloween?
Disclaimer: I don't own it, wish I did. I'm not making any money off of it – so please don't sue me. BtVS is the property of Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox. Neon Genesis Evangelion is the product of Gainax and ADV Films. Star Wars is owned by George Lucas. Stargate SG-1 belongs to Double Secret Productions and Sci-Fi channel. Lord of the Rings is the property of J.R.R. Tolkien and his family. Halo is owned by Bungie. And Star Trek is the property of Paramount Pictures (Who obviously understand nothing about Gene's vision of the future)
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Author's Note: Contains some "Adult" language (ie, bad words), Viewer discretion advised.
Chaos Theory: Re-Keyed
Part Eleven: Devil's Due/Weird Dreams
"Alteran n. –1. Name given to the first evolution of the form Homo Sapien. A Multi-galaxy spanning species, Alterans experienced three distinct ages, each Age separated from the others by vast tracts of time... During the Third Age, the Alterans broke into two separate groups: the Atlanteans (sometimes 'Lantean', named for the great city Atlantis) and the Oriterians. Both groups managed to reach ascension by somewhat different means. While separated by vastly different ideology and have very different ascended forms they are, in fact, the same species..." - Websters New Universe Dictionary, published November 5th, 2017.
Knock Knock!
Tony Harris slowly removed himself from the recliner he had passed out in several hours earlier. As he rubbed his eyes, he looked at the wall clock, 'Shit, one-oh-fucking-clock. Well, they're used to me being late, what's a few hours.'
Knock Knock!
"Fuckin' Shit, I'm coming already!" Tony said, wiping off some of the peanut shells from the front of his shirt. The sweat stains mixed with alcohol forming a deep-vee shape down the front of his aptly nick-named wife-beater tee-shirt.
Tony finally stumbled to the front door, and yanked it open, the blast of sunlight striking him in the eyes. As he struggled to focus past the glare, he became aware of a man standing before him. As he blinked his eyes a few times, and took in the mountain of man before him, he gave his usual greeting, "What the fuck do you want?"
"Anthony Harris?" The man asked coldly.
"Yeah?" He blinked, looking at the uniform. "What's it to you?"
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. I have a signed order here to retrieve the possessions of one Alexander Harris. If I may, sir..." O'Neill said the last part with as much sarcasm and distain as possible.
"Little fucking shit, what's he done now?" Tony asked, wondering if he could say anything that would get his unwanted offspring tossed in the slammer for a while. Nothing made a man more than spending some time behind bars. He'd either come out a man or hopefully get shanked in the middle of the night. Either way, Tony was sure he wouldn't have to worry about his son not being a man again.
"Just have orders to reclaim his possessions." Jack replied, struggling with the urge to slam this bastard back into his easy-chair.
Tony mulled that for a moment, "The little shit doesn't own squat. Everything he has belongs to me, and I'm going to sell it off as soon as..."
Jack held out a standard envelope, "One thousand." he said.
Tony's eyes widened, as he tried to grab the envelope and missed. Finally, one part of his brain reminded him that if this was their first offer, he might be able to get more. "I can get more than that!"
"Doubtful." He pulled out another stack of papers, considerably thicker. "This here is a full warrant for search and seizure of all properties belonging to Alexander Lavelle Harris. If you choose the envelope on the left, you get a thousand dollars and can go back to your normal life." O'Neill explained slowly as if trying to convey a series of instructions to a particularly slow pet, "If you choose the one on the right, and try to keep me from retrieving Alexander's belongings, you get to spend the next year or so in Leavenworth and have to pay a twenty-five thousand dollar fine. And before you say we can't send you there, remember, you went awol and got a dishonorable discharge from the Army. It wouldn't be too hard to say we found you and that you could serve the rest of your tour there. The choice is yours."
"How the hell did you get a fucking warrant anyways!" Tony exclaimed with spittle underlining his words, "Ain't no judge in this town that would sign one."
"This is a federal warrant, signed by Justice Daniels, and supported by a state and municipal LA judge, ruling that the Sunnydale municipal authority has no jurisdiction in this matter. So are you going to step aside, or are you going to resist?"
Tony looked at the outstretched envelope, "I'll take the cash."
Jack smiled slightly, "Ferretti, lets go get the kid's stuff." He came in without an invite and pushed past Tony as though he didn't exist. As he passed the man, he slapped the envelope into the man's chest, pushing him back further. Tony almost let loose on that, but he decided he'd rather have the money.
"Hell, Jack, it smells like a brewery in here." Ferretti said as he came into the home. "I'm glad I let you talk me into leaving the rest of the team behind. They don't deserve to be exposed to this sort of crap." Tony followed at a distance as the two made their way through the house, dodging beer cans and the empty bottles of Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan with the occasional pile of alcohol related vomit.
Jack waived his hand in front of his face, trying to disburse the cloud of flies and gnats that were swirling around. He grunted slightly as he walked towards the kid's room. "You got the instructions?"
"Yep." Ferretti said, "I think we should just buy him a new wardrobe, but..." They both looked at the relative oasis in the garbage pile that was Xander's home. It was clean, well, as clean as a Teens room can be, and ordered and organized after a fashion. Ferretti handed over the paper that Xander wrote down what he wanted from his room.
Ferretti finally understood why the kid didn't want to come back. He had asked Jack only because Willow was unconscious. If she there for him to talk to, then he would have been able to control himself in his father's presence. However, she was still out, and he didn't think he could put up with his dad. Having shared the essence of the Spartan, John 117, Jack and Xander had a unique bond. Xander asked him, and O'Neill had agreed.
O'Neill took a look at the piece of paper, "We're not here for the clothes." He pushed the bulk of the apparel out of the way then pushed in on the wall slightly. A hidden panel popped open, "Kid was good with this, made it when he was eight."
Ferretti produced a duffle bag from seemingly nowhere. The bag, once unfolded, was quite large. Jack began removing the personal weapons and keepsakes from the hidden hole in the wall. After a few minutes, he was done, holding a red pencil case.
Tony had been looking into the room when he spotted that, "HEY, Give me that! I've wanted to smash that damn thing since the moment the little shit started using it! It's the reason he's a wimp, and not a man!"
Ferretti and Jack shared a look. Jack spoke as he handed the pencil case to his partner, "Ok, Tony. Lets get one thing straight," Jack stood to his full height and rotated his head on his now massive shoulders. "Xander's stuff is going to Xander. In one piece and intact. I don't know what CPS does for fun around this place, and honestly, I don't care – as they obviously don't do their jobs. But let me tell you something you ugly, fat, worthless beer-guzzling failure of an ape: your son is a hundred times the man you ever hoped to be."
Tony backed off, looking at the rage barely suppressed in the man's eyes, however, the drunk fighter in him wouldn't let such an insult go unchallenged. "Why you muther-fucking..." He threw a sloppy haymaker at Jack.
Jack simply leaned back, as the fist barely disrupted the air before his nose. As Tony overbalanced, Jack launched in and buried his fist in the man's stomach.
"Ooof..." Tony eloquently vocalized, then collapsed into an unconscious heap. Jack looked down at the soft pile of drunken flesh and sighed. 'Shit, my fist feels greasy now...'
A few moments later Ferretti came out with the packed bag, "I gathered all the rest of the kid's shit, Jack, and used the hawaiian tees as padding." There were comics and books not on the instructions Xander gave, but he figured the kid would want the keepsakes anyways. He looked down at the collapsed lump. "Oh man, that's gotta hurt. Where did you hit him Jack?" He nudged the body at his feet with the toe of his boot. 'Ewww... now I have to polish my boots again.'
Jack looked at his hand, disgusted with the fact he had to touch this human disgrace. "Gut." Jack had seen this before, usually when dealing with people who weren't trained or had let themselves go. The sudden lack of oxygen makes them pass out – which is a blessing in a way, as it causes their muscles to relax and they can breathe again. "The shock of having the wind knocked out of him sent him to la-la land." Jack paused for a moment, "But I know one thing: I need a shower, and I need to use a scouring pad on my hand to wash the Tony off."
A wheezing sound came from the lump that was starting to stir in the hall. Ferretti just looked at him, "Let's get out of here Jack."
"Yeah, lets." Jack said, still rubbing his hand against his uniform pants, "Before he wakes up and decides to vomit on us."
"Dreams take on many forms, Alexander." a hazy voice said in his sleep-blurred mind. "You will see many things, the past, the future, and sometimes, even the present."
"Who?" Xander tried to ask, but the echo was tumultuous and discordant, harshly grating against the words that were told to him by the voice. He was in a white haze, a sort of netherworld that existed between consciousness and sleep.
He heard a smile, and smelled her words a moment before she said them: "You know me, but you don't. Don't worry, when you arrive where you already had been, you will understand."
It was a strange thing about the dream state – There is no truth. Sight, touch, sound, taste and smell all become confused in the random firings of one's neurons during the dream. The five senses can constantly be interchanged during a dream, where random colors appear, emotions carry smell and sound, and the world is made from some ever-changing material that defies anything but the most focused concentration. Succinctly, dreams lack clarity.
The fact that it did was a signal to Xander that this wasn't a normal dream.
There was a clearing in an alien forest – an stone circle stood proudly in its sentinel position, waiting to be used. Unlike most worlds that had a Stargate, this one was far from the human norm. After all, the jungle was a vibrant pinkish-red, with scattering highlights of yellow and purple leaves.
Massive stalks of what looked like semi-transparent mushrooms towered into the sky, the trunks easily twice the diameter of the great redwoods that grew in California. From the thin domes capping the massive plants, long thin tendrils draped down, the ends glowing from natural phosphorescence – swaying in the breeze as dawn approached slowly.
Two children scampered up the path leading to the gate as the sun crested the horizon – the old cobblestones worn by thousands of years of faithful pilgrimage to the shrine of the circle. These youngsters were Sanghelli, and they were in awe of the stone circle that was a subject of pilgrimage from across the planet.
Xander knew he shouldn't be able to understand their words, but still he understood. But when he tried to change the appearance of the world around him, it let him see yet another difference: In a dream, everything is permissible. This left only one conclusion: this was some sort of vision.
"A'Fel, we shouldn't be here!" Hissed the older female.
The younger male hissed back, "Hundreds come every day, who would notice that we came up here?"
"Its sacred."
"Its a piece of stone."
"Someone made it!"
"It wasn't anyone we know, it hasn't done anything."
"It brought the the true prophet!"
"That's just an old story."
"The true prophet said it would bring others."
A'Fel had enough, "L'Ce, it won't bring them today! I want the red jewel at the top."
"Father will skin you alive, skin the both of us!"
"Then you best not tell him!" the boy said, and began to reach out to climb the ring. A moment before he touched the ancient relic, the ground shook slightly. A'Fel staggered back for a moment, in utter shock.
"What did you do!"
"Nothing, I didn't even touch it!"
The inner circle began moving.
L'Ce looked fearfully at the device, "A'Fel, we should leave now."
"I won't be intimidated by some piece of rock!" He stood defiantly.
The crystals began lighting up.
"It is time for young Sanghelli to leave," rumbled a voice from the trees. A moment later, L'Ce and A'Fel saw, for a moment, the shadow of a warrior before it vanished.
Both children ran down the path as fast as their feet could carry them. A moment after they were out of sight, the last crystal illuminated and the gate's event horizon burst forth with its colorful display before settling down into a brilliant flat pool of water like energy.
The first to step through was Alexander. He smiled as he took in the sight of an alien world, and looked down the recently disturbed path with a knowing smile.
Next came Jack, feeling distinctly naked in his usual BDU's. "You win Harris," he said. After a moment he bristled a bit, "But they're still trees in my book."
The next through was Andrew. His eyes were wide, as he looked at the world surrounding him. The words were almost forced out, but he held them back. Earth was his home – but this was the Arbiter's world. Fitting that he wore the Arbiter's armor, since if the false prophets were here, his fellow Sanghelli would certainly recognize it.
Next through came Sam and Daniel, along with two Sanghelli females dressed in combat armor. Both Sanghelli looked around warily, each making their way around to the edges to form a loose perimeter in the clearing. Finally Teal'c came through, dressed in plain robes as was befitting of a Jedi.
With a sudden snap of energy, the wormhole disengaged and the event horizon disappeared with all the fuss of a busted soap-bubble.
"Come out, Ru'Fal Fulsanee," Xander said loudly, knowing that there was someone hiding in the shadows.
"How did you know my name?" Came the hidden response.
"The same way that I know your two children just went running down the path shortly before we arrived." Xander countered. "You knew we would be here as well."
"The True Prophet foretold this day, Warrior Knight." A silhouette detached itself from the foliage, the air rippling like in one of the Predator movies. As the shadow moved into the clearing, his camouflage dropped revealing the hidden Sanghelli. "That five of her people would come, along with Three Sanghelli not born of Sanghelli."
Ru'Fal moved slowly towards them, "Two young female humans possessed by the spirits of warriors... Warriors with intelligence and courage, but blinded with obedience to the false prophets until their crimes against our kind became so great that even the blind could see them." The two females bowed their heads in near shame, "And one possessed by the the spirit of the one Sanghelli who had the strength to forsake his loyalty to the false prophets and fight beside the humans. The Arbiter."
He then moved to Jack and Alexander, "Two humans possessed by a single warrior – a Spartan." Jack and Xander both bowed slightly, "'This one is of machine and metal and has his mind concluded.'" He said to them and spun on the Arbiter, "'And this one is but flesh and faith, and is the more deluded.'"
Andrew growled, "Quoting the parasite is not something to be done lightly."
"I was told by the Prophet to say to you those words." Ru'Fal said, his hands slightly raised in a calming gesture.
Jack was about to tear into Ru'Fal when Xander put his arm up, "Don't Jack. It's proof. She's here, isn't she?"
"The True Prophet has always been here. She has guided the Sanghelli and the Lek'Golo, the Kig-Yar, Unngoy, Huragok, and the Hash-an. Though these last you will not know, as they would not have been tolerated by the false prophets. She came through the ring almost five millennium ago, dressed much as you," Ru'Fal indicated Sam and Jack, "are now. She was gravely injured, but time and effort restored her. The years have been long and even the technology that keeps her still amongst us has its limits." Ru'Fal gestured to the path, "It is best we go now."
Again Xander could taste the words of the Voice before he heard them, "Time has been so very, very long, Xander. You know this..." The world shifted and changed, again against his will, until SG-1, The Sanghelli, and Xander were standing before an ancient building in a city of gleaming white and gold. The sun had just set, and they were walking the road to the entrance. Again the voice, "This is the Path of Tears, Alexander. The rest will be explained to you on your way here." Her echoing voice drifted into the distance as his mind's eye closed in on the procession.
As he watched his progress, he looked at Andrew's eyes as they scanned the statues and skeletons they contained. He again heard their words and saw their progress clearly as though this was reality and not a dream or vague vision.
"All the Prophets, dead?" Andrew asked.
Ru'Fal nodded, "Their treachery and deceit learned from the mind of the True Prophet. She saw through the lies. She showed us what our obedience to their promised Great Journey would earn us."
"Their deaths were too swift." Andrew growled, "Too kind for the treachery they committed. The Covenant was an honorable goal: the great alliance worth the pain of unification. But the Prophets turned all that into dust and horror. Terror. The release of the Parasite. The Gravemind."
"We had the benefit of a True Prophet to let us recognize the lies for what they were. There may yet be some of their species in the universe, however, we will not rest until they are all dust and ash."
The rest of the journey was made in silence. Finally, they entered the great temple and went into the hall of the Arbiter.
The Sanghelli was guarded by two female warriors. He had just finished putting his vestments and armor onto the altar set below the throne and was finishing the last of the daily rituals before he retired for the evening. He sensed the entrance of the individuals and did not bother to look at them before he spoke: "The time for Arbitration has passed, return tomorrow and I shall hear your plea..."
"Forgive the intrusion, honorable one. We seek an audience with the Prophet, those of whom she spoke have arrived."
The elder Sanghelli stiffened and slowly turned. He took in the humans and Sanghelli arrayed before him, and knew he felt a headache coming on. "I had heard twenty seven pleas today. Five took more than a full unit's time. One was about a youngster and his Sha'hack's lack of training and doing its business on some elder's lawn. Of all the days for Prophesy to be completed, tell me Ru'Fal, why today?"
Ru'Fal chuckled even as the others of the group began to smile, "Perhaps it is a 'Tuesday'."
Xander chuckled a bit, as Jack said, "Yep. Tuesday. For a few more hours, at least."
At this the elder chuckled as well, "Very well. I will take you to the Prophet's chambers... You wouldn't happen to have a suitable offering would you?"
Xander smiled, "I know this is going to sound strange," he held forward a wrapped box, "but these should do."
The elder's eyes widened. "It may be acceptable." He took the box and held it for a moment, before turning and gesturing towards his guards – bailiffs would be a more appropriate English word, that their services for the day were no longer required.
Jack glared at Xander, "You knew what was going to happen, didn't you?"
Xander smiled and walked along, following the Elder and Ru'Fal.
The group followed the elder through the winding passageways and into the small chapel that was the Prophet's chambers. From the ceiling a holographic projector hung, its various crystals and connections looking like some massive chandelier.
The elder took the box and placed it on the altar for the chapel, and announced: "True Prophet, these supplicants have come seeking your wisdom and place this offering for your council." He unwrapped the box and carefully opened it, "For your consideration, my lady." He pulled out a pair of expensive shoes.
The holographic system sprung to life, and a human woman appeared. "Wow, those look like..." She spun around, "Xander!"
"Hello Cordy..."
At that moment the world began to fade away, and Xander was pulled back to the endless nothing of the in-between place. The voice spoke, "The rest you will learn when you get there."
"Cordelia," Xander said in his dream state, barely a whisper.
"Time is a fluid thing. What has come and passed may not happen the same way again." There was a pause, as the Voice considered its next words, "Oh, the hell with it and those stupid rules... 'be cryptic' they say, don't come straight out and say what you mean! Screw it: Sam was always better at the time-space thingy and why it wasn't a good idea to mess around with time travel." Cordelia's voice said. "Needless to say, doofus, if you don't get your ass here soon I'm not going to be in any sort of condition to tell you exactly why I'm there."
Xander, in his infinite wisdom asked: "Where's here, or there?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Cordelia said, and suddenly he was assaulted by the vision of seven Stargate symbols. "Now wake up and bring me my shoes!"
Xander woke up.
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Author's Note:
As per usual, time is not being generous to me. So my writing has taken a hit. With luck, I'll be able to get some time in the near future to continue to post this story. I'm thinking there's only a chapter or two left to this episode. Then it will be time to actually start doing things in this series.
I'll try to update more often, but that thing called Life has teeth.
Later,
PitViper.