Spark of Genius

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy verse, Girl Genius verse, DC comics or any of the other smatterings of pop culture and literary ideas that I refer to in my story, I just tread through a few other sandboxes. Oh, and several names are made up, some are real, but the facts have been changed to protect the corrupt and innocent equally.

AN1: Ok, so I seem to be unable to leave a chapter on anything other than a cliffy. Oops, I'm so very very sor… Nah, I enjoyed every minute of it. Bwa ha ha ha ha… This chapter represents a break from the morose and a return to the zany and madcap adventures of Xander. I originally thought I would be able to work in all of the pranks on superman, but realized that the chapter would end up being equal length and waiting period as the last one. Ultimately I decided to do a shorter chapter (still longer than 10k words) and split up the next crazy plot stream; I hope you enjoy it none the less. That said, I really want to thank everybody who wrote me a review, a recommendation or sent me a message. I really appreciate it and that's why I started working on this chapter before chapter 36 was even out for more than an hour. Again, let me know your thoughts, and I hope you enjoy. Cheers!

AN2: ATTENTION, I am in need of a beta for this story as my current beta has begged off until after finals. That said, this chapter has not been beta read. Ultimately I'm looking for somebody who has time, a good sense for grammar, and most of all can call me when I say something like this:

Author, "This dang sentence is Inconceivable!"

Beta, "You keep saying that word. I do not think this word means what you think it means."

(I apologize for the blatant Princess Bride joke*)

Thanks, please message me if you are interested in beta'ing for me. Cheers!

'Thought'

"Speech"

/foreign language/

Chapter 37: I Got Better…

Black Knight: None shall pass!
King Arthur: I have no quarrel with you, good Sir Knight. But I must cross this bridge.
Black Knight: Then you shall die.
King Arthur: I command you, as King of the Britons, to stand aside!
Black Knight: I move for no man.
King Arthur: So be it!
[They fight until Arthur cuts off the Black Knight's left arm]
King Arthur: Now, stand aside, worthy adversary!
Black Knight: 'Tis but a scratch!
King Arthur: A scratch? Your arm's off!
Black Knight: No, it isn't!
King Arthur: Well, what's that then?

[Arthur points out the arm lying on the ground]
Black Knight: I've had worse.
King Arthur: You liar!
Black Knight: Come on, you pansy!

[With that, the Black Knight attacks Arthur again.]

~Monty Python and the Holy Grail

"He's dead, he's really dead." Willow stated between the sobs that wracked her body as she sat in the high school library during the late afternoon. Willow's puffy red eyes almost matched the color of her hair she was crying hard as she sat in the library. The sun cast growing shadows from the book cases as the sun moved across the sky and sent its rays of light through the glassed in portions of the ceiling of the school building. The growing shadows mirrored the expressions and feelings of three remaining Scoobies that sat at the table in the middle of the library.

"No more yellow crayons, no more Snoopy dance, no more Hawaiian shirts or Twinkie fetishes." Willow finished before breaking down into inconsolable tears and Buffy just hugged her from the seat next to Willow.

"He wanted to know if I was proud of him when he saved all of those lives and took out an Old One, a real Old One." Buffy Just seemed stunned as tears rolled unnoticed down her cheeks as she thought of all her missed opportunities to be a true friend to Xander and ultimately how proud she was of him. Buffy fought with the thoughts that she had even lost the chance to thank Xander for saving her life, or to tell him she was sorry she hadn't respected him or treated him right when he stood loyally by her side.

Buffy just hugged Willow and cried as she stared off into the stacks, Buffy's tears dripping onto the copy of the comic book on her lap, open to the last page where Xander's glassy eyes looked unseeing upon the world and was portrayed in vivid color on the page right before he was swallowed up by some black portal.

"There was just so much blood." Buffy stated without really thinking about her words as she pulled Willow into a tighter embrace.

Giles sat quietly, collar of his shirt loosely unbuttoned and tie askew as he drank his single malt scotch straight from the bottle. Rupert Giles didn't care that it was the middle of the day, he didn't care that he was drinking in the middle of his school, in fact the Ripper part of him hoped Principal Snyder came in and confronted him about his drinking. A certain blood thirsty part of Giles would welcome not only the distraction but also the chance to literally tear into the little man who had made it his goal to terrorize Xander when the boy had been a resident of Sunnydale High School.

Meanwhile another part of Giles knew he would be kicking himself for his actions towards such a good label of Scotch, and if that wasn't enough then tomorrow's hangover would certainly remind him of his folly. However, Rupert Giles still drank in remembrance and honor of Xander Harris. The Ripper in Giles couldn't allow a bloody incredible hero to go out without a drink, especially after the boy had taken an Old One with him, now that took bullocks of steel. Additionally, the paternal feelings that Giles felt towards Xander wouldn't allow him to not raise a drink to his son who he was so proud of, and Rupert Giles mourned the inability to tell Xander that to his face. A second copy of the comic book, issue thirty six, lay tear stained in Giles's hands as for the first time in his life the librarian Rupert Giles unknowingly ruined a printed manuscript with both tears and drips of scotch whiskey that sloshed as he progressively got more and more drunk.

It was at that point that the door to the library swung open and Andrew and Jonathan walked in discussing the merits of which would be more fun in the sack, a Klingon women or the three-breasted cat woman dancer who wrestled with Captain Kirk. The two geek's conversation halted abruptly when they realized the mood of the individuals sitting in the darkening library. The "Dastardly Duo," as they called themselves these days, had only been gone for about twenty minutes to go grab some food after they dropped off the latest batch of comic books, only to come back to a Library with the lights off and the inhabitants in a definite funk.

Jonathan reached over to the right from his place on the stairs down into the library and flipped the light switch, bathing the Scoobies in light and causing them to blink while a very Ripper like statement was torn from Gile's throat.

"Turn the bloody fucking lights back off!" Ripper spat as he turned angry bloodshot eyes at Jonathan before Giles tipped his head back and took another pull from his bottle.

Ignoring the demand to shut off the lights, Jonathan just blinked and looked at Giles, then Willow, and then finally Buffy before turning to Andrew with a confused look on his face. Andrew shrugged in return.

"What are you guys crying about?" Jonathan finally asked with a confused look on his face as he turned back towards the Scoobies.

Willow just burst into fresh tears while Giles took another big swig from his bottle, and Buffy glared at Jonathan and Andrew with a silent threat that communicated her urge to floss with their spines if they said another insensitive comment. Jonathan's eyebrows went up, and then he saw the copies of the comic books in the Scoobies hands.

Andrew looked at Jonathan, then Jonathan looked at Andrew, then both gave each other a confused look before turning and addressing Buffy's glare.

"Um guys, you do know that in the DC comic book universe the main character never stays dead, right? That's not the end of the story, so he can't be really dead yet." Jonathan quizzically stated.

Buffy, Willow and Giles all blinked, and turned to look at the nerdy duo as Jonathan's words slowly started to sink in.

Andrew then added his two cents with a negligent shrug of his shoulders, "Yeah, at best Xander's only mostly dead, kind of like in the Princess Bride with that Miracle Max guy or with the scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the guy says, "I'm not dead yet, I feel like taking a walk."" Andrew stated, getting really excited the more he talked and basically ended up geeking-out and babbled, "Besides, Xander's too cute to die!" Andrew looked around excited to see if the others agreed with him, and then it slowly dawned on him what he had just said.

The gang including Jonathan slowly turned to look at Andrew, tears now forgotten and Jonathan took a slow step away from Andrew.

"Um, I was pointing to the fact that Xander is obviously the main character… yeah, um, I'm going to go to class now." Andrew stated wide eyed, before abruptly and awkwardly fleeing the library. Considering school was out for the day, Andrew's excuse wasn't fooling anybody.

It was silent for a few moments, until Willow wiped her eyes and looked up at Jonathan with the beginnings of hope in her eyes.

"Really, Xander's going to be ok?" Willow questioned hesitantly.

"Yep, I'm sure of it." Jonathan nodded while he moved over to the table and tsk tsk'd at the damage that had been done to the rare comic books. Jonathan ignored the Scoobies while he tried to delicately soak up the tears from the comic books with a napkin that had come with the donuts that he and Andrew had brought that morning.

Almost negligently Jonathan added, "If Superman can come back from the grave, then Xander can easily. That portal looked a lot like the transportation portals that Xander used to move about, and he used a black portal to move himself around when he was just in his black nano-clank armor." Jonathan reminded the Scoobies before continuing on. "I'm sure that right about now he's waking up from going into one of his Lazarus Pit Vats to find that he's perfectly healthy and only as insane as usual; it's not like he didn't already have the urge to conquer the world anyway so he should be just fine." Jonathan finished with a smile as he looked up at Willow and then Buffy.

For the first time since reading issue thirty six of the comic book, Buffy and Willow cracked a smile and hugged each other tightly.

Giles on the other hand just started to chug his scotch. The Librarian would definitely regret it later, but right now he had found out that his son in all but name was alive, and that deserved a celebration.

Xander slowly returned to the world to realize that he felt kind of stifled. He felt warm and cozy but that there was a muffled feeling to his brain and his entire body felt like it was on pins and needles; the kind of sensation one gets from having your leg fall asleep from sitting on it too long. The pins and needles sensation wasn't restricted to one limb though, but seemed to cover his entire body. Slowly opening his eyes, the world around Xander was blurry, though he could see the distinctive mass of wavy blonde hair cascading off of the head of the girl that was leaning over him.

Xander smiled and tried to fight through his muffled thoughts as he felt like he was waking up from a deep dream.

"I had the strangest dream Buffy that you were dressed up like a Victorian woman and that I dusted Spike and Angel with flaming marshmallows only to end up in this weird universe where I was this mad scientist dictator with the urge to conquer the world." Xander started to say as he blinked his eyes to clear the blurry sensation and stretched. He felt the distinctive weight of two bodies on his left and right shoulders and as the pins and needles sensation cleared he felt satin sheets and stocking clad legs curled over his bare hips from both sides.

'He boss, the things you're saying just don't compute with the things we're feeling.' A voice said in the back of Xander's mind.

Xander paused and then his eyes snapped wide open.

'And you were there, and you were there, and Toto!' Xander's inner voice of insanity stated as it skipped by, only to stop and pick up a little black dog that the voice of insanity stuck in a whicker picnic basket before skipping off on a yellow brick road that led into the inner recesses of Xander's mind.

Xander looked up at the ceiling and saw the ornate surface of his bedroom from his Romanian Castle, aka Bob. A smile shot across Xander's face and he crooked his head to look down at his chest where the blonde and brunette heads of Tara and Dora were looking up at him with equally large smiles; both of them dressed up like nurses in little short tight outfits that showed off more than they hid.

"YAY! HAPPY DAY! It wasn't a dream." Xander stated excitedly as he pulled Tara up for a deep kiss before switching to Dora. Both minions moaned into the lips of their Master.

"Ahem." A clearing of the throat pulled Xander away from his quest for life, liberty and the pursuit of a happy with his female minions.

Xander looked up from the girls, who refused to stop clinging to him, and noticed that Igor, Magda, Cassy and Jenny were all in the room smiling at Xander. In addition to the 'family,' Xander's metal pet Krosp the mechanical cat was present; curled up on a large red fluffy pillow with gold tassels that matched the color of Krosp's burnished metal hide.

"Welcome back sir." Igor stated resolutely with his very staid face and emotionless voice, as if the Master Heterodyne dying and being brought back to life was a common every day occurrence.

Jenny and Cassandra, formerly Cassandra Cain but now Kalderash, dived into the bed to get their own hugs from Xander whose modesty was protected by his sheets. Xander gave Jenny a hug and a searing kiss and then a familial hug and a kiss on the forehead for Cassandra. Xander then turned to look up at Igor from the comfortable position of being dog piled by feminine flesh.

"What did I miss?" Xander questioned with a lopsided grin on his face.

Igor pressed a button on his ever present data pad and the shades on the palatial bedroom windows rolled themselves up to expose a bright sunny spring morning in the Romanian mountains.

Igor then answered in his same blasé manner, "Sir, You missed your kidneys falling on the floor when we took off your armor, along with your intestines and a good majority of your blood."

Xander blinked and questioned Igor in surprise, "Really?"

"Yes sir, you were mostly dead for at least ten minutes until we could get you cut out of your armor and shoveled into the Lazarus Vats." Igor stated, giving Xander a meaningful look that was about as close to chastisement as Igor would ever get with his Master.

"Eh, I got better." Xander said with a negligent shrug just as a new voice in Xander's head stated in the voice of Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies, 'Yes Xander, join me, and with your strength we can end the destructive conflict that threatens our people and bring order to not only the world, but the entire galaxy.'

'Quiet new guy, we'll work on taking over the world and then the galaxy later, but right now Xander has his arms full of girls, and I'm tired of waiting for the harem to start.' The little voice of Xander's libido chipped in.

'I find your lack of focus on world conquest… disturbing.' The Vader voice said in the back of Xander's mind as a black clad Xander with glowing yellow eyes stepped out of the darkness and joined Xander's other voices at the table, finding a seat next to the Primal persona who was busy smoking a cigar.

'Hello, I believe we were listening to Igor. Now kindly be quiet you two so that Xander can fully focus on the outside world.' The voice of reason commanded, and both libido and the urge to conquer shut up.

Xander gave his head a shake, and then with a negligent shrug smiled and gave the girls in his arms a squeeze which elicited several giggles as he stated, "Yep, I feel great, absolutely nothing wrong now."

"Yes sir, but do be more careful with your body next time." Igor requested politely as he ignored his master's attempts to tickle the girls. "It's so hard to find worthy new masters these days and it was a bother having to make sure that we shoveled all your guts into the vat with you. So how was your time playing in hell?" Igor's request made, the Chief Minion transitioned the conversation in a different direction as Igor moved about the room shifting papers and gathering everything Xander would need to catch up on the several days worth of matter's that Xander had missed out on.

Xander reached out an arm from beneath his sister Cassy towards Magda, and the blind elder of Clan Kalderash took it as they both exchanged a squeeze of greeting.

Krosp rose up from his pillow and stretched before padding over to the side of Xander's bed that was closest to Xander, where Xander let go of Magda's hand and reached out and pet his mechanical cat. Soon what sounded like a rumbling motor issued out of Xander's pet as the mechanical cat began to purr.

"It was a good slaughter up until the dying part. But basically it would fit in with your normal Heterodyne adventure. You know, single handedly kill off armies of demons, slay the giant Old One, save the girls and disappear to a new adventure, the usual." Xander answered with his lopsided smirk and a shrug before tickling Cassandra and the other girls around him and making them squeal and dart off the bed. Magda frowned at the mention of the battle with an Old One, as the Gypsy knew exactly what that entailed. However the old woman realized that though she was accepted as adopted family, she was not Xander's mother but rather a guest in his palace and in his country, so she did not mention any of her concerns that there may be some retribution aimed Xander's way due to his actions.

Xander sat up in the bed while Tara and Dora proceeded to tuck the sheets around Xander's waist and fluffed the pillows behind his back so that he could comfortably sit up. Xander gave each a smile as they began to tidy up about the room before walking into Xander's bathroom where the sounds of a bath being drawn issued from.

Xander smiled his thanks to the two girls as they left the bedroom, and he concentrated on flexing and twisting his arms before shaking his legs to try and get the last of the pins and needles sensations out of them.

"What happened while I was gone?" Xander questioned as he focused on opening and closing his fists and then rotated his neck and then torso while mentally querying the nano-clanks in his body.

"Not much sir," Igor began to report before going over to the tapestry on the wall that shivered for a second before turning into a world map that had lots of color coding on it. "We expanded your monopoly on Sparkbucks coffee," Igor continued, and on the map brown circles of control popped up all over the world showing just how far the monopoly had extended.

"Completely took over several underworld syndicates," Igor stated as red dots popped up in Moscow, Kiev and across Eastern Europe. Romania and the areas controlled directly by the Empire of the Leviathan showed a void of organized crime but still a spread of the minion virus as it slowly crept through the country like a red tide on the map. Even now, other areas from Africa to Asia and into Europe showed almost tentacle like corridors where the criminals were beginning to be controlled by Xander… the minion virus was spreading. Xander nodded along as it seemed his plans for fighting crime were working, though the spread of the virus beyond the criminal population still had him internally cringing a bit.

"And we received notices from a few countries that want to join the Empire and be controlled under your magnificent rule; nothing that I didn't expect, Master, as all will eventually come to see you as their proper ruler." The old Chief Minion completed with a bloodthirsty grin that he turned towards Xander while on the map countries controlled by the Empire of the Leviathan were shaded in black. Black lines began to spider out like webs to form connections with other countries which flashed black, highlighting several Baltic States north of Romania which were signing over control to the Leviathan. As Xander watched with a growing smile, the black lines continued to spider off to a scattering of countries all over the world that also started to turn black, from Bialya to a few African countries and even one or two small island countries in the Pacific Ocean. A few details popped up on the wall, a listing of upcoming events regarding official dates of control transfer, and one event stating that the Queen Bee had schedule appointments with the Asian Dictators of North Korea and Myanmar, aka Burma. Xander's smile turned blood thirsty and he was about to speak when the voice of the Castle's AI interrupted him.

"Welcome back Xander, glad to see you in put back together. You look better as a whole rather than imitating a jigsaw puzzle." The voice of Castle Bob sounded and an image of Xander's childhood friend Jesse popped up on a hologram projected out of the wall right next to the map.

Xander smiled, "Hey Bob, how are you holding up?"

"Good." Bob said before adding, "I know you are busy getting filled in by Igor, but I wanted you to know that RedTree is keeping track of the meeting between the Myanmar and North Korean Dictators and the Queen Bee via inserted nano-clanks. She wanted me to tell you that she projects a viral spread of the minion strain at one hundred percent of population of both countries within one week after the meeting with the dictators. You will want to have plans ready for integrating both countries into your service whether directly or in a hidden manner very soon after that." Bob reported.

Xander paused and quirked his head to the side as plans and counters, contingencies and inventories of current projects passed through his head in a blink of an eye. Faster than a super computer Xander had his plans sorted out and smiled at the image of Bob and smiled.

"Got it Bob, thanks for letting me know and please say high to Red for me." Xander stated before turning his attention back to the map.

"Sure thing Xander, RedTree and I are going out for JAVA script later, so I'll be sure to tell her then." Bob said, and if holograms could blush then the AI of Xander's castle would be a shade of Ruby.

Xander gave Bob a genuine smile and winked at his AI. "Good on you for dating RedTree, she's a great gal. Don't worry about me, you go have fun Bob." Xander said in friendly dismissal.

Only Bob didn't disappear, and the image of Bob bit its holographic lip before stating, "Uh, Xander, your Aunt the Chateau told me that she would be testing out her new traps on you the next time you stopped by, and if she was able to kill you then she would be greatly disappointed in you. You may want to look into becoming a bit more death proof."

Xander paled at the thought of the already psycho Chateau trying to kill him more so than the times when he 'exercised' with her in New Mechanicsburg.

"Aye Aye and message definitely received." Xander said with a smaller but slightly worried smile. He thought about what he needed to do, and then shrugged before adding, "I'll make it a priority very soon, but I have a few things to catch up on first." Xander answered before turning towards Igor, "Did we get permission to visit Atlantis?" Xander questioned.

Igor looked at his datapad before nodding to Xander. "Yes Sir, all is set for a meeting with King Orin in two weeks from today."

"Very good." Xander stated with a smile as color peaked back into his cheeks. Xander view was distracted by Tara and Dora strutting out of the bathroom and then pausing with their hands on their hips as they waited for Xander to get done with his work.

Xander smirked at his AI before answering, "I'll talk to you later Bob." Xander finished as the image of Bob waved good bye and allowed Xander to go back to examining the world map.

The brief distraction from the review of the map ended and Xander focused in on one country on the southern German boarder that was blinking black to denote that it wished to join Xander's empire; it was the country of Pokolistan. When Xander saw it, his smile turned feral and his eyes lit with maniacal glee as the voices in his head started thinking up possible new science experiments.

"Is Pokolistan the country that I'm thinking it is?" Xander asked with the large grin splitting his face as Xander addressed his question to Igor, ignoring Tara and Dora who were moving about in ways that kept pulling Xander's attention towards them. Both Jenny and Cassy laughed as they could tell Xander was interested in the conversation with Igor, but that part of Xander's attention kept getting pulled towards the two scantily dressed and high heeled minions that were teasing him.

"If you are thinking that it is the country formerly run by the man who saw himself as the heir of the Kryptonian General Zod, then you would be correct. The Dictator of Pokolistan, also self named General Zod made his country prosper through the use of Kryptonian technology." Igor turned a glare toward Tara and Dora who immediately put on innocent looks that fooled nobody.

The Chief Minion then turned back to face Xander with a grin that matched Xander's. "Pokolistan's envoys were nearly desperate for your rule, as the death of their former dictator has left the country in disrepair without anybody able to understand the Kryptonian technology that kept the country functioning. They came bearing a complete Kryptonian to English translation program along with the promise of the whole country will swear fealty to you and give you all of the left over alien technology, if only you would rule them as you have your other regions."

"Excellent." Xander stated as he drummed his fingers together before himself before breaking out in maniacal laughter, "Bwa ha ha ha ha, bwa ha ha ha, BWA HA HA HA HA HA!" He cackled, and under the power of Xander's Spark the minions in the room soon joined in on the infectious laughter.

It was also telling that the Kalderash had been around Xander and his minions for longer than was generally considered healthy as first Jenny also started chuckling but then was soon laughing insanely right along with Xander and his minions. Magda and Cassy soon fell sway to the infectious laughter, and eventually insane laughter was the only thing that could be heard in the bedroom for several minutes.

Xander stopped laughing abruptly, and the cackling of the minions and the Kalderash women stopped as if on command.

Xander smiled but brought his fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat with a slight cough.

Turning to look at Igor, Xander asked, "How long was I gone from this dimension?"

"Only about three days in hell Sir. But then you were healing in the Lazarus Pit Vat for one day and spent another resting in bed unconscious as your internal-nano clanks did a thorough review, repair and replicate due to your blood loss. In total you have been out of service for five days. You left Monday, and today is Saturday Sir." Igor concisely replied.

"So, not a bad week's worth of work, was it?" Xander asked wryly with a smirk.

"No Sir, all things considering your invasion of hell went rather quickly as far as the time is measured in this dimension." Igor replied before adding, "We will have to see about getting you a better invasion scheduled for the next time so that you can really enjoy it. Please consider taking us along with you next time as well, several of the minions from the olden days really miss being involved in a bloodletting here and again." The Chief Minion finished with a bloodthirsty smile before looking away and making notes on his datapad.

Xander looked at Igor and blinked twice, before shrugging it off as just another quirk of his minions. "Well then I guess my only question remaining is what happened to Circe?"

"Well sir, the capture happened like this…" Igor looked up from his datapad and responded as he began to relay to Xander the fate of the Sorceress.

Alec was damn frustrated, a frustration that was more than matched by the Amazon Champion Diana of Themyscira, aka Wonder Woman. Last Alec had heard, Wonder Woman had been taking out her frustration on her normal gallery of rogues when they attempted to distract Diana from her quest to find Circe. The villains had realized that maybe it was time to leave Wonder Woman alone for a while after the female villain Cheetah had ended up hogtied with her own tail. However after Dr. Psycho ended up a vegetable in a psych ward after Wonder Woman didn't pull her punch, well basically anybody who had aspirations of killing the Amazon Champion suddenly decided that April was a good time of year to go on a vacation of indeterminate length. Between the Leviathan's forces and the Justice League, Alec and Wonder Woman had outright destroyed two temples to Hecate, found more than thirty magical artifacts created Circe over the year and visited more remote places in the world than the two of them cared to count.

It hadn't been that long really, only three days had passed since the Grey Knight had left for the hell dimension, but based on the information that the Leviathan had given them both Alec and Wonder Woman knew that the missing Amazon tribes could have been stuck in the hell dimension for over a year by the time the Grey Knight arrived to help. The evening after the battle at Ares' sacred spring had been filled with false alarms that ranged from locations such as Fiji and Thailand to Germany and Siberia; in short they needed to regroup because they were having no luck searching for the elusive witch. That's why Alec was headed to the New York City Embassy for the Amazon Nation and home away from home for Wonder Woman. Little did Alec and Diana know, but their luck was about to take a drastic reverse for the better… well at least for the two of them that was. While fate had decided to throw Xander up against an Old One, Lady Luck and her sisters Karma and Irony had decided that Circe had played hide and seek long enough.

A green portal opened and Alec Holland stomped out of it and onto the steps leading up to the landing before the front doors of the Embassy. Still clothed in his officer uniform Alec looked grim as he dwelt on the fact that after all that Xander had done for the former Swamp Thing, Alec seemed to be failing at the one large life or death task that Xander had given him. These were the thoughts that swept through Alec's head as he moved between the pillared columns that lined the threshold into the Amazon Embassy, a heavy gold embossed door leading the way into the Embassy itself.

Alec pushed the door open and stepped through onto gold carpeting that spanned a large white marble waiting room. Along the walls were the patron Goddesses of the Amazons featuring strongly with motifs of Athena's Owl, Artemis's bow and arrows and other symbols of the female goddesses like Hera and Aphrodite. All of this Alec ignored though as he moved swiftly towards the receptionist that sat alone behind a marble desk at the end of the red carpet.

The young petite receptionist seemed to blend into the background in her ordinariness. The receptionist was small, yet tall enough to look over the counter of the desk, cute, but not really attractive enough to draw a second look. The petite middle aged receptionist had brown hair and brown eyes that would blend in with a crowd due to their seeming to have borrowed bits of normal from every other stranger that you would pass on the streets of New York City.

The receptionist smiled at Alec, a real smile that reached her eyes as she politely told him, "I'm sorry sir, but the Embassy is about to close in a few minutes. If you would like to schedule an appointment for our regular hours then I'm sure the staff could help you at that time." The diminutive greeter announced with a wave back towards the door Alec had just entered.

Dr. Alec Holland doffed the uniform cap as he replied with a forced smile as he moved right up to the other side of the counter and only about two foot away from the receptionist on the other side. "Good evening ma'am, I'm sorry to disturb you at closing time but Princess Diana is expecting me. Would you please tell her that Alec Holland from the Empire of the Leviathan is here to see her?"

The secretary looked up at Alec, the smile still on her face as her nose twitched and she nodded, her nose twitching again as she leaned down and pressed a button on a telephone pager system. "Princess Diana, this is Samantha from the front desk. An Alec Holland from the Empire of the Leviathan is here to see you… ACCHOO!" The receptionist wasn't able to finish her statement fully before a huge sneeze escaped her lips.

"Excuse me." The receptionist stated as she let go of the pager button and covered her mouth, just as Alec gave her a polite "Bless you."

"ACCHOOO! ACCHOOO! ACCHOOO!" The secretary immediately sneezed again followed by a second, and then a third violent sneeze.

Alec looked startled as the Secretary's eyes started to water and she continued to violently sneeze. Being a gentleman, Alec darted his hand into the breast pocket of his coat and retrieved his handkerchief and handed it over the counter till it was dangling about three inches from the receptionist who was at this point bent over and constantly sneezing as snot ran from her nose and tears poured from her eyes.

This is the sight that Princess Diana, Ambassador of the Amazon Nation and the hero known as Wonder Woman came upon as she opened the door from the inner portion of the embassy and entered the waiting room.

That's when several things happened all together in a single instant…

Wonder Woman entered the door with a smile of greeting for Alec, only for her eyes to go wide as the receptionist's eyes widened in horror at the green hand that held the clothe right in front of her face.

As Alec reached out with one hand to give the poor girl his handkerchief he reached across the desk with his other hand to help stabilize the young lady who appeared to be struggling to breathe… only for her skin to ripple as her brown hair turned purple and spouted in length as the formerly petite receptionist seemed to grow several feet in a blink of an eye until a buxom six foot tall ethereal beauty was left in the place of the previously bland receptionist.

"CIRCE!" Wonder Woman yelled in surprise as the receptionist that had worked at the embassy for several months changed into her mortal enemy right before the Amazon's eyes.

The former receptionist, and now revealed witch, pushed away from Alec's hands with true fear in her eyes, but her escape was not to be.

Alec's eyes bugged out, but realization donned on him not even a full second later.

With speed granted by Xander's nano-clanks and the inborn power over the Green, the former Swamp Thing was over the desk with hands clasped around the neck of the witch faster than the ancient sorceress could blink.

Wonder Woman watched stunned as Alec leapt over the table and knocked Circe back out of the swiveling office chair, both figures slamming into the ground with Alec's hands tightly wrapped around the evil witch's neck.

Said witch struggled weakly at Alec's hands as her magically gifted super strength seemed to be sucked out of her by his mere touch.

Alec picked Circe up off the ground and slammed her back against the wall behind the receptionist's desk; feminine legs now clothed in ancient looking green robes kicking desperately to try and touch the ground as Alec held the witch well off the ground.

Circe was frightened as she looked down into the eyes of the maliciously smiling green skinned man before her. In a desperate fit, she called upon her powers to curse him.

/"Serpents' bite-grrk!"/ Circe cast, speaking in ancient Greek but was choked out by the man's clenching fist on her airway as she attempted to call upon a classic curse that would see serpents spring from her robes to bite her assailant.

Only nothing happened.

Circe's eyes got larger while Alec's smile became more bloodthirsty, and Wonder Woman was still stunned at the fact that the witch had been hiding right next to her the entire time. Wonder Woman's mind was in turmoil as she realized that all along Circe had been under her nose and hiding in plain sight, no doubt watching and savoring in the sorrow and anger that Wonder Woman felt at not being able to help her people.

"What, Cough, what are you?" Circe choked out as she realized that her powers had totally deserted her in the face of this enemy which she had never seen before.

"Your nightmare." Alec answered evilly, a bit of Xander having worn off on the normally very staid and chaotic-good aligned Swamp Thing. Alec pulled back one hand, still easily pinning the witch to the wall and choking her with his other hand while he showed her his now free fist.

"And what that means to you Circe, is that my body is made up of ninety percent of the plant Ilex aquifolium, otherwise known as Holly." Alec finished as a thin thorn like long sharp protrusion slowly grew out of the middle knuckle of Alec Holland's fist.

Without further ado or warning, Alec slammed the thorn into the side of Circe's neck and eliciting a pained scream that ripped from Circe's mouth as holly laden nano-clanks swarmed into the ancient sorceress's jugular and quickly spread through her body.

Wonder Woman took a step forward as the violent action caught her off guard. However before the Amazon champion could stop him, Alec removed his fist from the witch's neck and dropped the sorceress to the ground where the witch twitched and convulsed on the ground as her Hecate given powers were systematically stripped or blocked from her.

As Wonder Woman watched stunned, and as Alec stood there smiling at completing the quest Xander had given him, Circe's hair lost its purple hue and turned grey. The sorceress's flawless tan skin paled and turned dried and wrinkled, her breasts sagged and her backed stooped as age finally caught up to the evil women who in the legends of the Iliad had turned men to swine and proceeded to eat them with a side order of eggs; for even evil sorceresses liked bacon.

Slowly Diana walked up to stand next to the smirking Alec, unable to draw her eyes away from the changes happening to her long time enemy.

Struggling to do so, Wonder Woman turned her head towards the Leviathan's Officer, "What did you do to her?" Diana asked, almost accusatorily.

Alec gave the Amazon Champion a brief glance out of the corner of his eye but remained smiling down at the now moaning old woman, "The Leviathan asked that we not kill the witch, only cancel the spell. My body is made primarily of plant matter that is shaped by nanotechnology. I had originally thought about calling down a swarm of the same material to capture her, but when we stumbled upon her here it was just as easy to insert my own material into her." He answered, gesturing to the pitiful shape of the once powerful sorceress.

"I have no doubt that she is still immortal, but with my control over plant matter and the technology gifted by the Leviathan, I fully control Circe's powers, and thus control the Sorceress." He finished with a smile, and with a gesture the witch sprang out of her position on the ground to stand ramrod straight before Alec and Wonder Woman; the sorceress groaning in pain at the sudden movement to her now old bones.

Wonder Woman blinked as she tried to take in the full ramifications of what Alec's actions meant. However before she could question anything more or make any demands, he interrupted her thoughts.

"The curse is broken with the capping of Circe's powers, and Themyscira should be returned to you now. I will take the witch back with me to the Empire and I suggest you hurry to your island home as I am sure they will be needing your help after their prolonged stay in the Hell Dimension." Alec stated matter of factly.

Wonder Woman could only nod as the reality of his words settled in, and before Alec could herd Circe through the portal he called, Diana of Themyscira was already sprinting towards the door to the roof of the embassy where she kept her invisible jet.

Xander stared silently at Igor, his right eyebrow raised and his left lowered as Xander looked at his chief minion with complete incredulity.

Igor looked back at the Master Heterodyne, having fully explained the situation.

Finally Xander broke the silence, "Soooo, you're telling me after all that searching, the witch was hiding out at the embassy just so she could watch Wonder Woman suffer?"

"Yes." Igor answered simply and blandly.

"And now she's at the Arcane University where Alec is forcing Circe to teach classes for our magic users?" Xander asked, his second eyebrow rising to join the other one already raised in surprise.

"Yes" Igor emotionlessly responded again.

There was a pause, and then Xander finally shrugged and smiled, "All righty then, so what's to do next." He finished with a clap of his hands together and rubbed them together; giving Tara and Dora an exaggerated waggling of his eyebrows and a wink at Jenny to imply what, or in this case who, he would like to do next.

"I'm sorry Sir, but there will be no 'Doing' right now, no matter how much the girls would no doubt like it. Your schedule will simply not allow it as you are scheduled to be in your thrown room in fifteen minutes." Igor interrupted Xander's and the girls unspoken wishes, which was accompanied by a series of disappointed "Ahhhh's" from the girls, and a "Shucks" from Xander.

Xander sighed, but hopped out of bed naked and gave a wink to Dora and Tara as they helped him into a clean set of nano-clank clothing while a smirking Jenny covered the eyes of a blushing Cassandra.

Xander smiled and patted the girls on their rear ends and gave each a kiss on the cheek before walking over to Jenny and giving her a kiss also before prying Jenny's hands off of Cassy's eyes and giving his blushing 'sister' another kiss on the forehead before turning to Igor.

"So who will I be seeing in the throne room?" Xander questioned as his nano-clank clothing rippled and flowed up his body until he was fully garbed in a black suit with a blood red tie, black gloves, and a shiny black and featureless helmet.

"The Amazons are here to see you sir." Igor replied simply.

"Really, wait, did you say Amazons, as in plural? How many of them are here to see me?" Xander nodded, before something Igor said caught his attention.

"All of them Sir." Igor answered.

Humans are creatures of habit and instinct. This is a truth that holds for the largest groupings of humans in cities such as New Delhi or New York, and this is just as true for solitary individuals who live a hermitical lifestyle. Barbarian, civilized, single or grouped, all humans struggle to overcome that which they consider the norm, the habit, or the tradition. This was no less true for the Amazon Nation, a nation once again divided upon its return to its home dimension.

Oh, the Amazons had started out united, that was for sure. Like experiences always have a way of drawing together disparate peoples, and the immortal Amazons of Themyscira and the mortal Amazons of Bana-Mighdall had been equally united when they had been forced to face the demons of hell or perish all together. There is a saying that necessity is the mother of all invention, so for a time the Amazons had invented a united front to stand strong against the forces of evil that populated the Hell Dimension. Now however, back in the real world and without the army of gray skinned demons hanging over their heads, now they were cleaning up the damage and healing the wounds to both the city and to their sisters. This is when another very human trait reared its ugly head, the urge to blame others and hold grudges; something the Amazons were exceedingly good at.

With the flash of light, the destruction of the Old One and the return of the city, the Amazons had been united for the first hour or so as they grieved the loss of the Grey Knight Alexander whom they had jointly dubbed the protector of Amazons and Men. Hippolyta had uttered a decree to the women standing around the courtyard, that forever the Grey Knight would be honored and referred to as Alexander the Protector, and that would be his name in their legends. The Queen had given the sobbing Artemis a brief squeeze on the shoulder, and then returned to her duty of looking to her people. It was just too bad that in Hippolyta's mind her people were the island Amazons, not the lost tribe that had invaded in the dead of night and started the whole fiasco. It was unfortunate, but this then became the belief that niggled in the back of the Themyscirian Amazons' minds as the one who had really initiated the problem was far away, namely Circe, leaving the Bana-Mighdall Amazons as a closer scapegoat with which to take out their displeasure.

No, fights didn't break out, but what started out as a unified front of warrior sisters burying their dead and healing their wounded quickly polarized along tribal lines. The impetus for the divide was startling enough the arrival of Wonder Woman, the Themyscirian Champion and daughter of Queen Hippolyta.

The Themyscirian champion Diana was cheered by her sisters as she arrived and was quickly flocked by the crowds of Amazons from her tribe. Diana told of the final capture of Circe, and in her recitation of the facts her retelling appeared to gloss over the fact that it was really the Leviathan's Officer who was their savior; an officer who was a compatriot of the Leviathan and the Grey Knight. This was perceived as a small slight to the Bana-Mighdall who circled around their tribe's Champion, the Shim-Tar Artemis. Soon whispered statements were circulating through the Bana-Mighdall tribe as they watched the Themyscirian Amazons honor Wonder Woman for saving them when the Bana-Mighdall believed that it was Alexander and the Grey Knight's forces that were the true heroes. In the eyes of the Bana-Mighdall, the Grey Knight's corpse wasn't even cool yet, and here were the Themyscirian Amazons again dishonoring Alexander by ignoring his forces accomplishments and rather choosing the long absent Wonder Woman over the man who had bled and died for them. Add to that the fact that Wonder Woman was the very reason that the city of Bana-Mighdall was destroyed in the first place, and you had a growing feud that would have rivaled any bunch of Hatfield's or McCoy's.

All of these thoughts and actions ramped up the tension as mourning and loss plagued the thoughts of the two tribes, and in the stillness of the Caribbean Sea the Amazons began to focus on the differences between the two tribes rather than the similarities. This grumbling was finally brought to a head by two things.

The first, was the disappearance of the Grey Knight's hydroponics farm/laboratory and almost all of his equipment, which disappeared under a rainbow of colored portals and left the city with less resources than it needed for its current population.

The second, was Hippolyta telling the Bana-Mighdall that they could stay on the island, but that none of the mortal Amazons could actually live in the city. Instead, the Queen of the Amazons relegated the Bana-Mighdall Amazons to the rockiest, most desolate and unforgiving portion of the large island. Hippolyta decreed that though the Bana-Mighdall had defended the city while it was in the Hell Dimension, they could not live there now but rather could take up residence on a part of the island that nobody had ever wanted. The Bana-Mighdall cried foul, and swords, spears and compound bows were jostled as if the war between the tribes was about to break out again.

At this point Artemis had moved forward through the crowd of Bana-Mighdall Amazons until she stood face to face with Wonder Woman and Hippolyta, and with a scowl on her face stated that the Bana-Mighdall would stay for now, but that they would not assist further in the repair of a city they were denied residence in. With a spin that threatened to have her pony tail smack Wonder Woman in the face; Artemis stormed off, leading her people away to the other side of the island along with their dead who they would bury according to their own traditions.

This divided nation, these separated tribes of Amazons is what marched into the throne room of The Leviathan to return the weapons of the Grey Knight, and to honor the loss of Alexander the Protector.

The tribes of Amazons entered the colossal throne room through the twenty five foot tall giant golden double doors that held an etched and gem bedecked depiction of the bulk and power of the three headed dragon, the symbol of The Leviathan. As the doors opened, the Amazon tribes entered the room in two columns, each column with four Amazons abreast and with a dividing line separating the two tribes as their leaders headed each column; Artemis in the front of the Bana-Mighdall with her sister Dina at her side, and Hippolyta flanked by her two daughters leading the Themyscirian. Both tribes were resplendent in their armor and distinctive clothing, but each tribe was equally full of stunningly beautiful women as the Themyscirian Amazons wore white toga like dresses with gold adornments where as the Bana-Mighdall wore close fitting leather armored outfits that were tight and close cut. The Shim-Tar Artemis looked resplendent as her arms were bare due to the strappy nature of her armor, and her long red hair was clean and cascaded behind her while held in a ponytail. Artemis's status as the champion of the Bana-Mighdall was represented by leather bands on her biceps that were adorned with beading and feathers. Both tribes of Amazons were unarmed.

What greeted the Amazons upon entrance through the large gold doors was a throne room the length and breadth of a football field. A long thick red carpet stretched from the doors right down the center of the shining black floor that appeared to be made of some weird mix of stone or metal. The floor and walls, and in fact the ceiling and all of the columns that lined the red carpet, were of the same black marble like material. Yet unlike stone marble the floor and walls flowed with veins of blue and red energy that seemed to beat and flow as if the Amazons were entering the heart of some giant creature. The room was almost startling simple in its motif, yet the sheer size of it and the almost forest of black columns and walls covered in arterial power conduits was eerily daunting and made all those who looked upon it feel small and weak. The walls seemed to contain long steepled cathedral windows with stained glass that was backlit by what appeared to be sunlight, but the Amazons knew that couldn't be true for they were deep inside the mile long fortress. Images of The Leviathan, both the ruler and the golden dragon symbol, were back lit in the windows and the red glass that outlined the figures cast a noticeable pall of power and intimidation as the light from the stained glass windows seemed to reach towards the figures moving down the carpet in the center of the room.

If the room wasn't intimidating by itself, then the rows of silently standing Dark Trooper armored soldiers lining the walls and the two score of twenty foot tall heavily black armored war clanks, with giant gold triple headed halberds, would have done the trick in causing fear to trickle up the backs of anybody who entered the throne room. However the most intimidating thing about the room was probably the utter silence, the unnerving silence as thousands of eyes silently stared at the marching Amazons as they moved down the carpet. Not a breath was heard from the silent witnesses to the Amazons' arrival, and only the sound of muffled feet on thick carpet carried through the room before quickly being snuffed out due to the shear width and breadth of the throne room.

Everything about the throne room, from the decor to the standing army, spoke to The Leviathan's belief in "Peace Through Power." And centered at the other end of the red carpet on a raised dais and seated on a throne that blended with his suit was The Leviathan himself silently staring from behind his featureless black helmet. The length of the throne room necessitated that the Amazons had to walk the long distance before they could come directly before the Leviathan; a not so subtle psychological and symbolic statement that made the supplicant walk through the veritable army of military might before finally coming before The Leviathan.

As the Amazons drew close, the two tribes of warrior women could start to make out details of the throne and the individuals situated around it. The throne appeared to be one solid block of glistening black metal, yet it was etched and carved with trilobites, three headed dragons and skulls. On the throne was seated the Leviathan, black gloved hands steepled together as he sat casually in his throne; a crimson red cushion padding his chair and his elbows resting on the armrests as he was semi-casually splayed across the seat of his throne. Next to the throne on The Leviathan's right side was an old hunchbacked man wearing crimson red robes that trailed to the floor and were made from multiple layers of black, red and pearl colored silk and other rich fabrics. The old man held a data pad of some sort in his hand, and behind the old man stood two attractive women in more modern business outfits; both the blonde and the brunette were in black business suits with red silk blouses underneath. All three individuals who played witness on the right hand side of The Leviathan's throne had a golden clasp in the shape of a trilobite at their throat and a gold dragon pin on their lapel; the women with black satin chokers for the trilobite clasp, and the old man with a tie clip that covered the knot of his Victorian era looking red silk tie. The left hand side of The Leviathan's throne was almost empty, except for what looked like an unmoving burnished bronze statue of a lion that seemed to stare straight at the warrior women as the Amazons approached the throne.

Finally the long lines of the Amazon tribes fully entered the throne room and it coincided with the moment that leaders of the two tribes reached the bottom of the dais and came to a stop.

All was silent for a moment, but then with a loud thud the twin doors to the throne room closed, causing the Amazons to all startle at the sound. The silence once again returned as Queen Hippolyta waited to be addressed, yet the Leviathan continued to silently stare down at her.

As if at some unspoken command, the Bana-Mighdall Amazons dropped to one knee and bowed their head before The Leviathan, drawing a gasp of outrage from Hippolyta that the other tribe dared to bow before someone other than she their Queen, especially without leave to do so.

Hippolyta took a step forward towards the bowing Artemis, only for Wonder Woman's hand to catch her shoulder and halt the Amazon Queen at the very same time that the deep voice of The Leviathan broke the silence.

"Excellent." The voice from behind the mask echoed out, a deep voice that drew the Themyscirian Amazons' attention and caused the Bana-Mighdall to shiver with a slight form of pleasure as some sort of power issued from The Leviathan.

Xander smiled behind his mask as he called upon the power of the Spark. A little voice inside of him was calling for him to ignore all pretenses and announce himself to Artemis. However the voice of reason and that of Xander's inner Heterodyne read the significance of the divide between the tribes as well as the disparate reactions to coming before the Leviathan. In short, all was not well in the land of Amazons, and perhaps the statesman and tactician in Xander could see an advantage to his people come out of this situation. Oh, he still planned on letting Artemis know who he was, but he would have to move the meeting forward a bit before that happened.

"Excellent." The Spark laden voice stated again from within the mask of the Leviathan before the man continued, "It is nice to see that at least some of the Amazons know how to honor the designer of their salvation."

The hackles on the back of Hippolyta's neck rose at the Leviathan's words, as old grudges cast aside in favor of the male Grey Knight did not extend to the persona of the male Leviathan. Basically, Hippolyta had not learned her lesson about trusting men or treating men as inferior.

"We come here from the Island of Themyscira not to be mocked but to honor the memory of the fallen hero The Grey Knight." Hippolyta stated with a scowl on her face, stepping forward towards the foot of the dais.

Xander made a negligent wave of his glove covered hand, "And yet The Grey Knight went all the way to hell in your defense and was met with nothing but mocking and derision, was he not?" The Leviathan questioned.

Hippolyta's eyes went wide, and she swallowed nervously at the realization that the Leviathan realized how she and her people had treated his envoy. Pulling her royal backbone straight and with tight lips, Hippolyta answered back with all the pull of her royal persona, "That is true… but we apologized to the Grey Knight and seek to honor his sacrifice now." She replied, looking back at the featureless mask with challenge in her eyes and head held high.

"Actually, you never did apologize to him for the slights you and your people did, though you did grant him the gift of a shield for saving your daughter's life. We were able to view the Grey Knight's entire time in the hell dimension when we retrieved his body. I find it most interesting that after giving him the gift of the shield you and your family went on to ignore him until he was needed to save your lives once again. But never the less, how do you seek to honor the Grey Knight's service in saving your lives at the sake of his own." The Leviathan stated and the Themyscirian Amazons released wide eyed gasps at the words of the Leviathan while the Bana-Mighdall bowed their heads slightly lower in shame.

The Leviathan ignored the reaction of the now sputtering Queen Hippolyta and instead reached his hand over to his left and stroked the head of Krosp. To the surprise of the Amazons, what they thought was a statue closed its eyes and pushed its head into the Leviathan's hand as a rumbling sound issued up from the clank's chest. Xander stopped rubbing Krosp's ear, and the large metal cat stretched and yawned, showing an impressive set of fangs that halted Hippolyta just before she was about to scathingly reply to the Leviathan's rebuke. The cat circled in place as if preparing its bed, and then lay down to watch the Amazons, its lion like tail weaving back and forth as it lazily watched the Amazons before the thrown.

Hippolyta was totally thrown off her game by the actions and words of The Leviathan as well as the sight of the statue seemingly coming to life. Finally remembering why she was there, Hippolyta made a motion towards her daughters, and Wonder Woman and Donna walked forward.

Both princesses stopped as they stepped up onto the first step of the dais, the briefest flick of Krosp's metal ears up and towards the two Amazons suggesting that they had moved forward far enough to present the gifts that they carried in their arms.

"From my daughter Diana, I return to you the weapons of the fallen hero the Grey Knight." Hippolyta stated regally as she attempted to seize control of the situation. Hippolyta waved her hand towards Diana, and Wonder Woman folded back the long white silk cloth she was holding to reveal both the Grey Knight's power glaive and the light saber.

Diana nodded her head in a brief show of respect while her face remained emotionless. Xander in his garb as the Leviathan nodded his head slightly, and in turn Wonder Woman set the two weapons down on the second step of the dais and backed up to again flank her mother the Queen.

"And from my daughter Donna, we come bearing a gift not only from the Amazons but also our patron Goddess of the harvest Demeter." Hippolyta announced, and Donna set down a simple two foot square wooden chest that held a gold clasp. "We give to you this ever full chest, as a token of honor to the Grey Knight as it contains what he called manmade Ambrosia."

With that, Donna opened the box to show the Leviathan the contents.

"Twinkies!" Xander said somewhat excitedly from behind his mask, fortunately Jarvis modified the enthusiasm of Xander's voice as it passed out of the helmet, that way it didn't sound like a kid in a candy store and more like a adult man who was pleasantly surprised.

"Blessed be the Twinkies!" The combined nations of the Amazons said as one in reply and bowed their heads slightly.

Silence rained as Xander's eyes goggled wide open behind his mask and he was stunned speechless as the Amazons remained silent and waited for him to respond; Donna returning to her place flanking the Hippolyta.

Finally after almost a minute of Xander staring first at the Twinkies, then back at the Amazons, then back at the Twinkies, he swallowed to clear his throat and answered.

"Ahem. Yes, blessed be the Twinkies." The Leviathan replied. Xander was a bit surprised as the combined parties of both tribes of Amazons nodded, as if that was the expected answer.

Hippolyta nodded her head and stated, "We wish you a good day and will continue to honor the Grey Knight in word and story from this point forward. He shall be known by us as Alexander the Protector or the Grey Knight. We will now take our leave, and if in the future you need of us let us know and we will fulfill our responsibilities under our treaties." Hippolyta stated and turned to leave without so much as a by your leave from The Leviathan.

The Themyscirian Amazons turned, and Xander scowled under his helmet, only to notice that the Bana-Mighdall hadn't moved.

Hippolyta noticed this at the same time and glared at Artemis, "Artemis, your Queen has stated that we will be leaving, now get up out of your shameful expression of bowing to this man and move." Hippolyta demanded; showing once again that her old hatred of men other than The Grey Knight.

"No." Artemis stated clearly, and the Shim-Tar raised angry eyes at Queen Hippolyta before looking beseechingly at The Leviathan and raising up from her knelt position.

"Honorable Leviathan, the Bana-Mighdall request…" Artemis started to say, only for Hippolyta to interrupt.

"You are out of order Amazon, Get move…" Hippolyta began to berate Artemis.

"QUIET!" The bellow from The Leviathan halted Hippolyta mid sentence as Xander yelled with all the power of his Spark.

Hippolyta cringed back, and even Wonder Woman took a step back from where she had automatically moved to protect her Queen when she sensed a threat. Wonder Woman's eyes were suddenly riveted with instinctual fear towards the throne as The Leviathan rose from his seat. The Leviathan stood and seemed to exude power as the leader of the Empire of The Leviathan rose from his chair and moved menacingly down the steps of the dais as if he was some predator moving in for the kill.

Around the room the soldiers lining the walls took a single coordinate step forward and unlimbered weapons while the twenty foot tall guardian war clanks lining the carpets shifted their golden halberds from a single hand to be grasped in two mechanical hands. At this, both tribes of Amazons cringed and gulped as they were simultaneously assaulted by the power of Xander's Spark and the sight of the encroaching forces around them.

"Enough you pompous bigoted excuse for a Queen." The Leviathan commanded before moving down the steps to tower over not only Hippolyta but also stand several inches taller than the Amazon Champion Wonder Woman.

Xander stared down Wonder Woman first as he gritted his teeth with anger, causing Diana to take several hesitant steps back as an almost visual aura of power surrounded the man, causing a visceral need to cower or back down in not only the Amazon champion but also the other Themyscirian Amazons. Several of the white robed Themyscirian Amazons subconsciously fell to their knees in fear at the power of Xander's Spark, and those who remained standing seemed to weave and sway as their instincts told them to run yet they were riveted in place by their fear.

"You will leave my castle and my lands immediately and the only hope for the continuation of the treaty it will be the words of the Bana-Mighdall Amazons, spoken after you leave. We will see after this if our treaty remains whole or ends severed, you dishonorable old shrew." The Leviathan demanded as he wheeled on Hippolyta and made a deft cutting motion with his hand as he stated the threat of breaking the treaty with the unworthy Amazon tribe.

Pointing his black gloved finger at the Queen and seeming to tower over the woman as waves of power seemed to roll off of him, The Leviathan commanded, "You are in my throne room, and in this room I am the only one who can make demands on others. Now get out of my sight." Xander spat out the last part angrily, the heat and anger shining through his voice and the power of his Spark making the Themyscirians start moving before they even realized that they were obeying his command.

Xander waited, breathing heavily in his anger as he watched the Themyscirian Amazons quickly scurry out of the throne room. Two of the giant robotic guards opened the doors and stood sentinel while a platoon of black armored soldiers already waited on the other side of the doors to lead the Amazons out of the Empire of The Leviathan as quickly as possible.

The doors clanged shut on the silently Hippolyta and her tribe, and Xander slowly turned his featureless helmet to gaze upon the Bana-Mighdall Amazons.

Artemis stood staring wide eyed, an instinctual need to immediately submit or back away from the Leviathan was only barely held back by her Amazon pride and warrior ethos.

Xander stared silently at Artemis and the other Bana-Mighdall who looked at him with not just a bit of fear, but he quickly reigned in his anger and mentally commanded his Spark to stop blasting the remaining tribe of Amazons with the urge to submit to his desires.

Xander shook his head and stepped up to face Artemis, a gap of only three feet separating the two as the Shim-Tar looked up into the reflection of her own face mirrored back to her in the featureless helmet of The Leviathan.

In a quiet and caring but strong voice, a voice that carried so that even the Bana-Mighdall in the back could hear, The Leviathan asked, "What is your request Artemis, Shim-Tar of the Bana-Mighdall Amazons?"

Artemis swallowed and pulled up her courage, as not even the Grey Knight going into battle seemed to inspire this instinctive sense of fear and supplication that was only now receding with the Leviathan's anger. A little part of her mind reminded her that the reason for the difference in effects may have been the fact that the Grey Knight had never sought to battle her and her sisters. However Artemis shook off those thoughts to focus on The Leviathan before her.

Gathering her courage, Artemis looked resolutely into the face of the Leviathan and asked clearly, "The Bana-Mighdall have two requests Honorable Leviathan." Artemis started.

Xander waved his hand for her to continue, a part of him wanting to end the charade right now but the other voices stating caution and to take it slow.

Artemis nodded in understanding and continued, "The first request we have is to pay our respects to the body of the Grey Knight, which we assume you have retrieved based on your earlier statement. The second request is to join your nation in service to the purposes of The Grey Knight as he gave his life for our own, and now honor demands that we pledge ours to his goals."

Artemis finished, and to Xander's surprise she dropped to her knees and bowed her head to The Leviathan.

Silence.

Xander was stunned, as in the back of Xander's mind several crickets chirping could be heard in the silence as every single voice in Xander's mind went slack jawed at what they had just heard and seen.

Xander blinked, and looked down at the bowing Artemis, he was so stunned that he had to blink again before he realized that all of the Bana-Mighdall had mirrored Artemis's actions and were also kneeling on both knees and bowing their head to Xander.

Never in Xander's wild imagination had he ever thought that the tribe of men hating Amazons would ever bend their knee to a man, let alone Xander.

'Even I'm not crazy enough to have seen that one coming.' Xander's inner voice of insanity stated, sounding strangely coherent and sober for once.

'WOOO HOOO! HAREM HAREM, HAREM! At last my prayers have been answered! Blessed be the Twinkies!' Finally the voice of Xander's libido woke Xander out of his stunned silence as the little voice in Xander's head jumped up onto the conference room table in Xander's mind and started doing the shuffle.

Xander shook off the mental fog that seemed to catch him.

"Why?" Xander simply questioned from behind his helmet as he looked down at Artemis, then over at the bowing Dina and the other Bana-Mighdall and then back to the Shim Tar.

Artemis looked up at the Leviathan who stood above her, a well groomed eyebrow rising in silent question as to what he meant by "why."

"Why would a tribe of Amazons who hated men with every bone in their bodies want to pledge service under the control of a man?" The Leviathan asked, still quite befuddled with the reaction by the Amazon tribe that probably contained the founding members of the "Man-haters Anonymous" club.

"It's simple," Artemis explained from her position kneeling on the thick soft red carpet, looking up at The Leviathan. "Alexander Harris proved to us that not all men are rapist deceitful pigs, but that there are those men who are honorable and worthy of being followed and trusted. Not only that, but I the Shim-Tar challenged him to single combat and he won." She added, blushing as she recalled him easily tying her up with duct tape.

Xander smirked behind his mask, remembering the incident clearly due to his eidetic memory. However he remained quiet as he listened to Artemis's reasoning.

"It had never been expected before that a man could best our chief warrior in an honor duel, thus whoever could defeat the Shim-Tar in an honor challenge would lead the tribe at the conclusion of the duel." Artemis explained with a shrug, "I challenged him and the Grey Knight won, thus he would actually be the new Shim-Tar. If our Shim-Tar followed you, then we would follow you also as is our way." She finished with a simple rational explanation and looked up patiently at The Leviathan, waiting for his answer.

Xander smiled behind his helmet, his happiness shielded from the eyes of the Amazon tribe that waited to hear his reply. Xander's thoughts flew back and forth inside his head as he silently looked down at Artemis, and as a specific idea blossomed and grew in his mind, his smile grew larger. With the speed of a super computer, thoughts and ideas focused on that one idea, and then percolated the idea until it was complete and the warrior tribe was added as a factor in Xander's future plans.

Finally The Leviathan spoke.

"I accept you into the service of the Empire of the Leviathan and dub you Valkyries from this day forward. In return for your service in protecting humanity from demons and those who would attack the Empire, I will grant to you citizenship on the Grey Island, the floating city so named after The Grey Knight and the future home of you his renamed Valkyries. This Island will be a place of wonder, a floating city which I am building to share the gifts of the Empire with worthy citizens of the world." The Leviathan announced. "You and your tribe will be the first citizens with priority of choice in living spaces, and you will be provided for with all of your wants and needs in return for your gift of service." Xander stated magnanimously, raising his hands out dramatically as Artemis and all of the Bana-Mighdall looked at up at him with growing smiles on their faces as they were presented with a much better deal than they thought they would receive. Ultimately anything was better than the concentration camp like setting that the Themyscirian Amazons would have relegated the Bana-Mighdall tribe into. In a way it also seemed fitting that they give up the name of their former home city, Bana-Mighdall or The Temple of Women when translated, and take a new name that meshed with their new abode.

Artemis's large smile stopped and seemed to waver, and she looked up at the helmet of The Leviathan and hesitantly asked, "And what of our wish to pay respects to the body of The Grey Knight?"

Xander could see Artemis's heart in her eyes as the warrior woman hesitantly asked with eyes that seemed to glisten; it appeared to Xander that she was fighting to hold back tears.

A soft look came to Xander's eyes at the emotion he could read on Artemis's face. So he carefully answered, a bit of playfulness coming forward in his reply but being careful not to hurt the girl who his heart tugged towards.

"It is not possible to pay respects to the body of The Grey Knight." Xander answered from behind his mask, only to note Artemis's head drop and the beginning of tears to seep from her eyes.

"Ah ah, no tears of sadness." Xander said as his hand bent down carefully and lifted Artemis's chin so that she looked up at him, tears starting to trickle from the bowing redhead's eyes and causing Xander's heart to flip-flop as he lifted his hands up to his helmet.

"It's not possible because The Grey Knight isn't dead." Xander finished as he lifted his helmet off, revealing his smiling face to the stunned Amazon's who openly stared in confusion and shock at the man whom they watched die for them not three days prior.

Artemis's jaw worked open and closed as she stared up at Xander and watched as he removed the helmet, the helmet then rippled and melted into his gloved hands.

Tears tumbled from Artemis's eyes and a myriad of emotions flashed across her beautiful face.

Xander smiled with care and love in his eyes, and then a lopsided grin formed on his face.

"Hey Arty, miss me?" Xander jokingly asked with a shrug as he lifted his hands in question.

"You, you… your Alive!" Artemis shouted as she leapt off the ground and into Xander's arms where she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Xander laughed as he caught Artemis, the other Bana-Mighdall Amazons joining in the shout of joy before jumping to their feet and crowding forward around the happy couple.

Xander's only focus however was on Artemis and their kiss.

Tongues dueling, Artemis pulled Alexander's head close to hers, and then stopped abruptly and pulled back and punched Xander's shoulder with a scowl on her face, only to shake her fist in pain from the impact before breaking out in happy tears and going back to kissing Xander.

Xander more felt than heard the other Bana-Mighdall Amazons gathering around and cheering as hands patted him on the shoulder or back, and one brave Amazon even goosed him and winked before getting a playful mock glare from the still deliriously happy Artemis.

Finally Artemis pulled back out of the kiss with a huge smile pasted to her face, but refused to let Alexander go as if he would disappear again if she stopped holding onto him.

"But, but how?" Artemis questioned, taking a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes with the back of one hand while the other continued to cling to Xander.

Xander smiled down at the tall, yet still shorter than him, Artemis. In a voice loud enough for the gathered Amazons, "The rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated." Xander stated in a deep melodramatic fashion, but with a big smile pasted across his face.

Artemis pulled back and gave Xander a confused look, "What?" She questioned, not understanding what he was saying.

This only caused Xander to break out in deep chuckles at the expression on her face, and he hugged her to his chest before letting her stand back.

"Sorry," Xander stated between laughs, his smile reaching his eyes, "I've always wanted to say that."

Artemis frowned, and then punched Xander in the shoulder again, only to once again mutter a curse and shake her fist in pain.

This only caused Xander to laugh again, and turn to clasp hands with the Amazons crowding around him, giving a one armed hug to Dina as Artemis refused to let go of Xander's other arm. Artemis continued to smile as Xander kept one arm wrapped around her in a hug while he proceeded to hug the Amazons around him and then wave at the soldiers along the walls to leave the throne room.

Xander explained as he continued to greet the joy filled gathering of female warriors. "In short, I died, but then I got better." He stated, only to cause Artemis to growl at him with a scowl on her face.

"Hey hey," Xander stated while waving off her anger, "I'm not trying to be vague, but there is a lot to talk about, and I'd prefer to do it over some breakfast rather than standing here in the throne room. I did just wake up from the dead you know." He finished with a wink.

Artemis pulled back and asked, "So you're not only The Grey Knight, but also The Leviathan?"

Xander merely smiled and took Artemis's hand, while waving for Jarvis, Krosp, Dora and Tara to join them as they slowly walked down the carpet to leave the throne room.

"I'll explain everything over breakfast." Xander stated, before raising his voice, "And to top off breakfast, there will be Twinkies for everybody!"

"Blessed be the Twinkies!" The newly dubbed Valkyries shouted in glee.

And in the Castle of The Leviathan there was much rejoicing.

The remainder of the Saturday was filled with Xander reconnecting after his time away. No matter where Xander went that day Artemis refused to leave his side; still acting as if Xander would disappear the moment she lost sight of him. However it wasn't as if Xander couldn't get anything done as he still found time after, story time with his new tribe of loyal Valkyries, to reintegrated himself with his minions and to find places for the former Bana-Mighdall Amazons to stay among the Jägerkin until the city was completely built.

Now that had been a fun meeting. All it had taken was the beautiful warrior women showing the Jägers what they could do with their trained hands and a few other pointy objects, and suddenly several Jägermonsters started requesting the AValkyries' hands in marriage; both male and female Jäger's that is which was fitting since the former Amazon tribe tended to swing both ways.

One blue furred Jäger succinctly summed up the Jägermonsters' thoughts on the Valkyries. With tears of joy in his big Jäger eyes he stated, "Doz Valkyries arez juzt so prettyz and deadly, it'z like dey arez kittenz madez out of razor bladez!"

Thus the relationship between Xander's new band of warrior women and the existing army of Jägers ended up coming together seamlessly due to mutual respect and a little 'rough housing' between the groups. Housing problem settled for the meantime, Xander was able to change his focus to getting Artemis situated as part of his life; the first part of this entailed Artemis and Xander sitting down and having a talk about his true past.

Xander was trusting this lovely women with a lot of very secret and very personal information. However that didn't seem to be a problem as they found themselves easily communicating with one another due to the bonds forged in the heat of battle and by Artemis and Alexander repeatedly saving each other's lives.

That bond was one major part where Artemis differed from several of the other women in Xander's life. First and foremost, Artemis was a fighter whose primary focus was to perfect her combat skills so as to protect her people. As opposed to Catwoman, who Xander was attracted to for her playful rule-breaking side, or Jenny, who was the brainy sort whom the tech geek in Xander enjoyed, Artemis sang to the part of Xander that sought to protect those he called family, friends or looked after. Tara and Dora had made it clear that they would forever be a part of Xander's life as long as the Master Heterodyne wanted them to be, but that statement in itself made it clear that it wasn't a relationship of equals but one of a Heterodyne with his two devoted minions. As for Zatanna, well the reality was that magic and Xander seemed to mix like cats and a water tank full of piranhas, in short, it wasn't a pretty sight. Given Zatanna's inclinations to attack Xander with magic whenever she felt like it, and added to Xander's clash with the Magi, well Xander pretty much decided that the relationship with the magician just wasn't a good idea.

Finally after much discussion between Artemis and Xander about their relationship and also the future of the new Valkyrie tribe, it was decided. Artemis and Xander would take their relationship one day at a time and learn what the other was like outside of a constant war setting. Added to that, Artemis would remain the immediate leader of the Bana-Mighdall Amazons, now relabeled The Valkyries of The Grey Knight, or simply The Valkyries; a fitting name considering they were a grouping of warrior women whose home was going to be a city in the sky. This last decision necessitated that Artemis and the other Valkyries take a dip in the Lazarus Vats, and the warrior women would spend the rest of the weekend suspended in the green fluid while being pumped full of nano-clanks that would make them heartier than the normal human women and able to fulfill the goals that Xander had in mind for the caretakers of his flying city.

Traditional Bana-Mighdall Amazons were, by selected breeding, of hardier stock than most regular humans. However even with their greater strength, speed and constitution all it would take was for Xander to slip while sparing with, or "sparring" with them, and you would have a situation with Artemis or one of the other new Valkyries being turned into a 'woman of kleenex' versus Xander's super strength. All of Xander's past interaction with humans, and especially women, had been whole hearted but with there always being that voice in the back of Xander's head reminding him that he had to be careful with his super strength and speed. Given that the entire tribe of Valkyries had once again started flirting shamelessly with Xander and generally had decided to pick up where they left off in hell, well if the little voice in the back of Xander's head had anything to say about it then Xander would soon be in bed with at least Artemis if not some or all of her warrior sisters.

That in itself was the funny and confusing part for Xander, as when talk about sex had arisen in Xander's conversation with Artemis she had simply stated, "Yes please, and lots of it." The Valkyrie tribe as a whole had been Amazons of the city of Bana-Mighdall, which meant that they had a tradition as warrior women who took men for slaves and coupled with each other or their slaves whenever they chose; there were no blushing vestal virgins with 'do not enter signs' in that tribe. After Artemis explained this to Xander, right as she was visibly checking out Tara and Dora, it soon became clear to him that he was in for some interesting times ahead, and the little voice of his libido just might get that harem he was always yelling about.

A side item but equally important to learn about his new tribe of Valkyries was that they were still a tribe that refused to be second best to any man. This had caused some problems in discussions after Xander introduced the idea of the bodily upgrades, but ultimately Artemis grudgingly agreed with Xander when he stated that he wasn't going to share all of the nano-clank given skills and powers that he utilized. Following that ultimatum, Xander had taken Artemis down to the medical suites of the fortress and they had worked out an agreement on power buff's that Xander would grant the Valkyries. The warrior women would defend his city and be loyal to The Grey Knight, and in return Xander would give the women nano-clanks that granted superior health, strength and speed, as well as enough Nth Metal so that they could each fly. Ultimately the new tribe of Valkyries would be able to go toe to toe with a Jäger and have a good chance of winning, but whereas the Jägerkin could take more damage and heal faster than the Valkyries, the Valkyries were more mobile and had superior speed.

Thus on that late Saturday afternoon, Artemis and her rechristen tribe took a soak in green goo, the Jägers talked excitedly of playing with the "pretty goylz and sharpz obzjectz," and Cassy waited by the tank for her new best friend Dina to finish getting upgraded. While this was all going on, Jenny and Magda were busy tailoring the next steps of vengeance against Lex Luthor, and Xander turned his focus partially towards Pokolistan and primarily on a certain debt that he owed to a fifth dimensional imp.

With that pranking debt to Mister Mxyzptlk in mind, Xander stood typing at a holographic keyboard in a laboratory filled full of miscellaneous gadgets and gizmos, chemicals and wires, and the occasional small woodland animal as he cackled to himself, "On the first day of pranking, I did give to thee, one heads up warning. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha."

Xander cackled to himself madly with a gleam in his eye as he fired off his email, the recipient being a mild mannered reporter that worked at the Daily Planet in Metropolis City, USA.

"It's better if they have some form of heads up, so that they can stew in anticipation." Xander finished talking out loud to himself before rubbing his hands together gleefully and turning to his work bench. Soon a pair of welding goggles were strapped over Xander's eyes as he twisted the realms of science and brought forth things that should not have been created on God's green Earth.

As science and the laws of the universe cried for their mommy, a certain super hero who wore his underwear on the outside felt a chill shoot down his back and quickly looked around as he hovered over the city of Metropolis; Superman swore it felt like somebody had just walked over his grave.

Ultimately, Metropolis would never be the same again...

AN: There you go for the follow up to the epic length chapter. I know it wasn't nearly as long as the 35k monstrosity, but those large chapters will only ever happen when big events are building up to a close. Thus you must be content with more quick updates that average in size 13K or more… that's right, SUFFER Reader, I curse you with more chapters on a faster update schedule! BWA HA HA HA HA… wait, what? Um, ok, so one of my readers has just informed me that more updates on a more regular basis isn't a bad thing. Drat, now what am I supposed to torture you with?

This chapter was different than the high action previous one but it was in no way filler. Also of good news is that I have all of chapter 38 already outlined and a good chunk of it completely written. That said, please let me know your thoughts on this chapter as well as any zany ideas you have for future activities. Reviews, recommendations and letters are ever so uplifting and I really appreciate all of the ones you have written in the past and continue to send me, thank you. Cheers!