Chapter 17: Boom. Shake. Shake. Shake. KaBoom.

To be honest, Xander wasn't ok. It wasn't the fact that they were facing yet another apocalypse, that he might die a horrible bloody death, or even worse, spend the rest of his life paying extortionate taxes. It wasn't that at all. It was just…it seemed too easy. Go to the woods, kill the demons, sing a little. Where was the sweat, the blood, the tears? Where was the mad panic, the running out of time, the traumatic love or life decision? The sending of your boyfriend to hell (perhaps it was better he skipped that)

This just didn't feel right.

Plus the woods…the last time he'd been there had been when they'd resurrected Buffy, and Willow had gone all scary, and the bikers had turned up, and he'd still been with Anya -

Yeah, that had all turned out so well…

To say he was a little anxious would have been a slight underestimate. But still, like the believer he was, he had faith in Buffy (no pun intended, well, perhaps, but only on rainy afternoons) and he would follow her, do the job he was asked to do, and hopefully keep all his limbs in the process.

But still, something wasn't right…Not right at all.

The four of them marched down the street, weapons slung over shoulders, or carried in hand, purposeful and focused. They walked in silence for the most part, the early morning resting peacefully about their shoulders, the cold, fresh air kissing their skin and dancing round their faces. The windows in the surrounding houses looked at them sleepily, the neatly mown front lawns dressed in dew, and it all seemed so tranquil - it was hard to believe the stock market had been thrown into chaos, and that the world could end any minute.

Well, that's what Xander reasoned. He knew the orb could raise the dead, or reverse the dead (Giles had said the translation had been tricky), and play with time (though, fortunately, that took longer to do. The Orb worked like a battery, except it had to be charged up first) but…he was struggling to find a purpose in all of this. To be honest, Xander didn't know why he was so bothered. It should be sing, kill, and happily ever after – a demon's a demon and all that jazz.

"Anya?" He said, walking a little faster to catch up with her. Anya turned to look at him, a slight frown on her face.

"What? I'm trying to select a song we can all sing to the orb that will be a breakaway pop hit, preferably with harmonizing and backing vocals"

"Sweetie…"

"Don't call me that Harris"

"Sorry" Xander bit his tongue, and took a breath before trying again. "Anya…what do you think these demons want?"

"Want? Well that's obvious"

"It is?"

"Clearly, these demons are using the orbs to procure and secure their supply of - "

Suddenly there was a massive bang, that seared across the sky, engulfing it whole like the mouth of a whale. Clouds rolled across the sky, darkening the new dawn, spilling across like ink on paper, and Xander grabbed Anya's hand, pulling her to the ground, as the ground suddenly started to shake. In front of them, Buffy and Giles dropped down too, gripping the sidewalk with their hands, searching for a cover that didn't exist.

"Earthquake?" Xander yelled. The roaring in the sky grew louder, the daylight that had been growing steadily as they walked was sucked out the air, leaving only a grey darkness that cast no shadow.

Over the roar, Xander heard a wind-tossed 'No' and realized he'd known this anyway.

"We need to get somewhere safe" Buffy hollered.

Xander nodded his agreement. Then he felt something pounding against his chest. Looking down, he realized it was Anya, who he'd fallen on top of when pulling her to the ground.

"Get off me Harris!" She complained. Even though Xander was concentrating on what he'd do if the ground opened up, or on the chaos that was about to rain down on his head, he obliged. Anya scrambled to her hands and knees, sword gripped tightly in one hand.

"We need to get underground" Giles shouted to Buffy. The din was growing louder, so much so that it was hard to concentrate, hard to think, hard to understand what was actually going on. Xander shut his eyes, trying to focus on his hearing. Lose one sense, improve the others by a hundred percent. Instead, he forgot what he was trying to do, it was as if the noise was taking over his whole body…

With an effort, he reopened his eyes.

"- too far from here" He caught the end of Giles' sentence, and wondered how much he'd missed. He scrambled forward, so he was closer. Then the ground stopped shaking.

The roar continued, the sky now a whirling pool of black and grey, but least they could stand.

"We need to get to the woods" Buffy yelled, hands held over her ears. She yelled something else, but Xander couldn't hear it, so he just nodded and smiled. Then she grabbed his hand.

"Come on!"

Anya held out her hand for holding, which Giles obligingly grasped, and they set off running, stumbling along in the grey dark.

Buffy's hand gripped his tightly, almost too tightly, but Xander was too busy running and wondering what the hell was happening, to really care. He wanted this to stop, and, briefly, realized all his fears had been founded in some really solid, realistic and truthful foundations.

He hated being right.

Well, apart from where Angel was concerned.

But even then, he hated it.

Kinda.