Part 11:
Dante had observed the drama that had been playing out intently. He had been sure that his plan to corrupt the White Knight would succeed. The darkness that resided within the boy was plain to see. And using Drusilla, someone the boy obviously cared about, to unleash this darkness would make things that much easier. And after seeing the slayer reject the boy, it increased his confidence further that the White Knight would fall to the dark side without too much trouble.
{But it seems I underestimated him once again.}
"Hello 'dad', it's been a while." he said, making sure to accentuate the paternal term he used to describe the young Knight.
Xander bore a bewildered look. "Ok, now I'm confused, who the hell are you?" He said as the barrel of his gun swung from it's steady aim toward Drusilla to the form of the newcomer. "Dru, who the hell is this guy?"
"What? Don't you recognize your own son? Your pride and joy?" Dante said in mock disappointment.
"OK, back it up a few. . . thousand paces there. Xander Harris does not take dips in the gene pool. The world is not ready for another me. . ."
"Oohh. . . little Xander's running around in the backyard in their diapers playing hide and seek. How sweet. As sweet as they're yummy blood when I tear they're. . ."
"Dru, didn't we talk about this? Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation with the nice psychopath?"
"I'm disappointed in you, father." Dante cut in, unfazed by the back and forth banter. "I truly thought you had potential. We could have ruled this insignificant little rock as father and son. But your petty 'compassion' and 'honour' had to get in the way, again. Just like it did all those years ago. Can't you see what you are, even in this body? No one will ever be able to love you, or even appreciate you. Never before, not now and never ever. Who could love the demon Sparda, conqueror of kingdoms, destroyer of dimensions, and Dark Knight of hell?"
{Sparda.} That name seemed familiar to Xander somehow. Like the name of a dear, lost friend he had long forgotten. And what the man said about him never being appreciated hurt him more than he cared to admit. He chose to ignore those thoughts, however, to focus on more important things. {This must be the new big bad. Oh well. Time to go into cool, suave, butt kicking Xander mode.} "Rule this insignificant little rock? I'll take 'Corny James Bond Enemy Lines' for $100, Alex. Now, *junior*, if you want to roughhouse with dear old dad, why don't you just bring it." Xander said with a wave of his hand. {Damn. where's my other gun? Shouldn't have thrown it away. If Dru just hadn't gone psycho on me. And why the hell is she taking orders from this reekazoid?}
Dante raised his Ifrit gloves, ready to rain hellfire and brimstone on the boy, just like he had done a couple of nights ago to the witch. The gauntlets gave it's wearer the power to wield the power of hell's hottest flames. Suddenly, however, a cold smirk crossed his face as his hands dropped back to his sides. "Not yet, White Knight. The confrontation between Sparda and Dante will come, but I still need you until then. Since your stupidity prevents you from joining me, I will have to revert to my original plan." With that, he turned around and walked away.
Xander was about to pull the trigger, when he saw Drusilla skip off behind Dante. "D-Dru, where are you going?" He asked in a shaky voice. Even though he had drawn his weapon at her earlier, he did not expect that she would leave him for the enemy. It did not register with him that his security blanket for the past six months, the only person that kept him sane, would forsake him.
Drusilla stopped for a moment, and turned around to meet his eyes, a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry kitten." Was all she said as she continued to catch up with Dante.
And at that moment, Xander Harris finally realized that he was now, well and truly, alone.
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"You know Spike, when I asked you to accompany us home, I didn't mean it as an invitation inside." Amy said as she sat herself down on the edge of the Summer's home couch. Spike had walked Amy and Dawn there after a fruitless day of research. While Dawn was upstairs taking a shower, Amy and Spike were lounging around in the living room.
"It was my pleasure, Jerry, you don't need to bloody thank me." Spike answered sarcastically as he stretched himself out on the couch, his head landing on the witch's lap.
"Hey, hey, hey! My brand new dress does not need a layer of peroxide on it, thank you!" Amy said, though she made no move to push the vampire off.
"Oh, you know you love my head, and. . ." Spike's face broke into a predatory grin, "I also happen to know you'd like to give me a little head."
"I don't need to give you a little head, Spikey, you already have one." Amy replied as innocently as she could. {Touchdown!} She knew she had struck a powerful verbal blow when she saw Spike's face turn ten shades of purple. {Didn't know that was possible with vampires.}
"I'll have you know, y-you-you little witch," Spike spluttered as he sat upright, staring daggers at Amy, "I have a very big head! The biggest in this bloody town, at least! William, the Bloody Huge, that's what they used to call me!"
"Oh, I can see that you have a big head, Spike." Amy said, making sure there was no doubt which head she was talking about. "It's a wonder why the brain inside it is so small."
"Oh yes, let's make fun at the evilly impaired, it's not like they could retaliate by snapping your scrawny neck or anything!" The vampire replied, folding his arms toward his chest and curling his lips into what Amy thought was the most unconvincing, hyperbolic pout in the history of mankind.
{Then why do I find it so endearing?} Her hand instinctively snaked out to touch Spike's thigh as a show of comfort and apology, but she caught herself in time and slapped it on his shoulder instead. She didn't know why, but she felt the overwhelming urge to make him feel better. "Oh, you know I didn't mean what I said, Willy. Just a few haha's at your expense. Don't be such a sensitive vampire." Spike's sulking did not waver. "Oh come on, I said I was sorry. . . kind of. What else do you want me to say? That you're package is so humongous that even Fed-Ex would have a hard time delivering it? Or maybe. . . this." Acting on impulse, she leaned over and planted a kiss on his smooth, pale cheek.
They were both rendered speechless by her brazen actions. Amy had backed away only slightly, her face still inches away from his. Spike eyes widened in shock the moment she kissed him, his hand reaching up to touch the spot where her warm lips had touched his cold skin, creating an almost electric contrast. Suddenly, they found themselves attracted to each other like opposite poles of a magnet. They're lips' inched closer and closer, until they could practically (well, Spike anyway) feel each other's breaths on their faces. {Just a little closer. Yeah that's it. 3. . . 2. . . 1. . .}
The front door swung open violently, the banging sound causing the two to spring away from each other immediately. The both of them stood up, Spike in his game face, Amy's hands raised in a spell casting position, ready to face any threat that would dare cross the threshold.
So when the familiar form of Buffy Summers walked into the house, they let out matching sighs of relief. "Jeez, slayer. Knock much? You nearly gave me a heart attack." Spike said clutching his chest.
"In case you didn't notice Spike, this is my house." Buffy replied, dangling a set of keys in front of her. "And besides, vampires can't get heart attacks, though it looks like you just had one a minute ago. Why are you and Amy both so flushed?"
"So, Buffy." Amy said loudly, eager to change the subject. "How was your date. . . I mean, day with Xander?"
Buffy sighed audibly as she entered the living room and sat on the couch, motioning for her companions to do the same. Amy took a seat next to her, while Spike just propped himself up against a wall. "I've seen better looking plane crashes, Amy."
"That bad, huh?" Amy said sympathetically.
"And that was the reason for you trying to slay the front door?" Spike added not-so-sympathetically.
"I'll admit, I didn't handle the situation to well just now, Aims, but I think it's safe to say that Xander has gone bad. I mean, you should have seen him. He nearly killed an innocent just now." Buffy choked up, tears welling up in her eyes. Both of her friends showed support in their own ways, Amy sneaking an arm around her , pulling her into a hug while Spike gripped her shoulder gently. "What am I going to do guys?" She squeaked in a strained voice, the tears flowing freely. "He's evil now, and I can't do anything about it. I couldn't stop Willow, and I know I won't be able to stop him."
"No." Dawn's voice cut through the tension permeating in the room. She had finished showering and was now clad in her nightgown. She was making her way down the stairs to check up on Spike and Amy, when she caught the end bit of what Buffy was saying.
The slayer, witch and vampire disentangled themselves from each other, and Buffy turned to face her sister. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I know you believed that he was still the old Xander. But. . ."
"No! Xander is not evil. I know it! And I'll prove it to you guys!" With that, Dawn raced out the front door, leaving her guardians trailing in her wake.
"Dawn wait!" Buffy shouted as she shot off the couch to chase after her sister, with Spike and Amy close behind. "It's dangerous out there! You shouldn't be. . ." The three of them stopped short when they reached her front porch, eyes wide in horror at the scene before them.
Dante was holding to a struggling Dawn by the neck, one of his hands clasping her mouth shut. Beside him, Drusilla was standing there, a Cheshire grin on her face. "Look at what I found, slayer. You seem to have dropped your key."
"What do you want, Dante?" Buffy asked, the tone in her voice all business. Dawn was in trouble and she'd be damned if anything happened to her sister.
"Isn't it obvious? I want you, all of you. Meet me at the gates of hell in an hour and I might consider letting this precious little thing live." He stroked Dawn's cheek with his thumb, causing her to whimper in fear.
"Oh, and one more thing, slayer. Make sure to bring daddy with you. His mommy here. . ." Dante said gesturing toward Drusilla, " and I tried to show him how much more fun being a bad guy is but the stubborn old man would not listen to reason."
Suddenly, it all made sense to Buffy. {The White Knights are usually never recognized or appreciated for the. . . oh my god.} "Xander."
"What? Who? What?" Spike asked, the tone of his voice matching the look of confusion on Amy's face.
"Xander. He's the White Knight."
"Catches on fast, doesn't she?" Dante asked sardonically. "Now if you'll excuse us slayer, we have a date with destiny. Lumos!" With that, there was a flash of bright light which temporarily blinded Buffy and her cohorts, and when they regained their vision, Dante, Drusilla and their captive was gone.
"Nope, this isn't good. Not good at all."
Here ya go, Furious. Hope the S/Amy-ness quenches your thirst for other character happenings. The reason why I only have Buffy and Dawn being affected by Xand's arrival is because I don't feel that Amy and Spike was that close to Xander in the first place.
Dante had observed the drama that had been playing out intently. He had been sure that his plan to corrupt the White Knight would succeed. The darkness that resided within the boy was plain to see. And using Drusilla, someone the boy obviously cared about, to unleash this darkness would make things that much easier. And after seeing the slayer reject the boy, it increased his confidence further that the White Knight would fall to the dark side without too much trouble.
{But it seems I underestimated him once again.}
"Hello 'dad', it's been a while." he said, making sure to accentuate the paternal term he used to describe the young Knight.
Xander bore a bewildered look. "Ok, now I'm confused, who the hell are you?" He said as the barrel of his gun swung from it's steady aim toward Drusilla to the form of the newcomer. "Dru, who the hell is this guy?"
"What? Don't you recognize your own son? Your pride and joy?" Dante said in mock disappointment.
"OK, back it up a few. . . thousand paces there. Xander Harris does not take dips in the gene pool. The world is not ready for another me. . ."
"Oohh. . . little Xander's running around in the backyard in their diapers playing hide and seek. How sweet. As sweet as they're yummy blood when I tear they're. . ."
"Dru, didn't we talk about this? Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation with the nice psychopath?"
"I'm disappointed in you, father." Dante cut in, unfazed by the back and forth banter. "I truly thought you had potential. We could have ruled this insignificant little rock as father and son. But your petty 'compassion' and 'honour' had to get in the way, again. Just like it did all those years ago. Can't you see what you are, even in this body? No one will ever be able to love you, or even appreciate you. Never before, not now and never ever. Who could love the demon Sparda, conqueror of kingdoms, destroyer of dimensions, and Dark Knight of hell?"
{Sparda.} That name seemed familiar to Xander somehow. Like the name of a dear, lost friend he had long forgotten. And what the man said about him never being appreciated hurt him more than he cared to admit. He chose to ignore those thoughts, however, to focus on more important things. {This must be the new big bad. Oh well. Time to go into cool, suave, butt kicking Xander mode.} "Rule this insignificant little rock? I'll take 'Corny James Bond Enemy Lines' for $100, Alex. Now, *junior*, if you want to roughhouse with dear old dad, why don't you just bring it." Xander said with a wave of his hand. {Damn. where's my other gun? Shouldn't have thrown it away. If Dru just hadn't gone psycho on me. And why the hell is she taking orders from this reekazoid?}
Dante raised his Ifrit gloves, ready to rain hellfire and brimstone on the boy, just like he had done a couple of nights ago to the witch. The gauntlets gave it's wearer the power to wield the power of hell's hottest flames. Suddenly, however, a cold smirk crossed his face as his hands dropped back to his sides. "Not yet, White Knight. The confrontation between Sparda and Dante will come, but I still need you until then. Since your stupidity prevents you from joining me, I will have to revert to my original plan." With that, he turned around and walked away.
Xander was about to pull the trigger, when he saw Drusilla skip off behind Dante. "D-Dru, where are you going?" He asked in a shaky voice. Even though he had drawn his weapon at her earlier, he did not expect that she would leave him for the enemy. It did not register with him that his security blanket for the past six months, the only person that kept him sane, would forsake him.
Drusilla stopped for a moment, and turned around to meet his eyes, a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry kitten." Was all she said as she continued to catch up with Dante.
And at that moment, Xander Harris finally realized that he was now, well and truly, alone.
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"You know Spike, when I asked you to accompany us home, I didn't mean it as an invitation inside." Amy said as she sat herself down on the edge of the Summer's home couch. Spike had walked Amy and Dawn there after a fruitless day of research. While Dawn was upstairs taking a shower, Amy and Spike were lounging around in the living room.
"It was my pleasure, Jerry, you don't need to bloody thank me." Spike answered sarcastically as he stretched himself out on the couch, his head landing on the witch's lap.
"Hey, hey, hey! My brand new dress does not need a layer of peroxide on it, thank you!" Amy said, though she made no move to push the vampire off.
"Oh, you know you love my head, and. . ." Spike's face broke into a predatory grin, "I also happen to know you'd like to give me a little head."
"I don't need to give you a little head, Spikey, you already have one." Amy replied as innocently as she could. {Touchdown!} She knew she had struck a powerful verbal blow when she saw Spike's face turn ten shades of purple. {Didn't know that was possible with vampires.}
"I'll have you know, y-you-you little witch," Spike spluttered as he sat upright, staring daggers at Amy, "I have a very big head! The biggest in this bloody town, at least! William, the Bloody Huge, that's what they used to call me!"
"Oh, I can see that you have a big head, Spike." Amy said, making sure there was no doubt which head she was talking about. "It's a wonder why the brain inside it is so small."
"Oh yes, let's make fun at the evilly impaired, it's not like they could retaliate by snapping your scrawny neck or anything!" The vampire replied, folding his arms toward his chest and curling his lips into what Amy thought was the most unconvincing, hyperbolic pout in the history of mankind.
{Then why do I find it so endearing?} Her hand instinctively snaked out to touch Spike's thigh as a show of comfort and apology, but she caught herself in time and slapped it on his shoulder instead. She didn't know why, but she felt the overwhelming urge to make him feel better. "Oh, you know I didn't mean what I said, Willy. Just a few haha's at your expense. Don't be such a sensitive vampire." Spike's sulking did not waver. "Oh come on, I said I was sorry. . . kind of. What else do you want me to say? That you're package is so humongous that even Fed-Ex would have a hard time delivering it? Or maybe. . . this." Acting on impulse, she leaned over and planted a kiss on his smooth, pale cheek.
They were both rendered speechless by her brazen actions. Amy had backed away only slightly, her face still inches away from his. Spike eyes widened in shock the moment she kissed him, his hand reaching up to touch the spot where her warm lips had touched his cold skin, creating an almost electric contrast. Suddenly, they found themselves attracted to each other like opposite poles of a magnet. They're lips' inched closer and closer, until they could practically (well, Spike anyway) feel each other's breaths on their faces. {Just a little closer. Yeah that's it. 3. . . 2. . . 1. . .}
The front door swung open violently, the banging sound causing the two to spring away from each other immediately. The both of them stood up, Spike in his game face, Amy's hands raised in a spell casting position, ready to face any threat that would dare cross the threshold.
So when the familiar form of Buffy Summers walked into the house, they let out matching sighs of relief. "Jeez, slayer. Knock much? You nearly gave me a heart attack." Spike said clutching his chest.
"In case you didn't notice Spike, this is my house." Buffy replied, dangling a set of keys in front of her. "And besides, vampires can't get heart attacks, though it looks like you just had one a minute ago. Why are you and Amy both so flushed?"
"So, Buffy." Amy said loudly, eager to change the subject. "How was your date. . . I mean, day with Xander?"
Buffy sighed audibly as she entered the living room and sat on the couch, motioning for her companions to do the same. Amy took a seat next to her, while Spike just propped himself up against a wall. "I've seen better looking plane crashes, Amy."
"That bad, huh?" Amy said sympathetically.
"And that was the reason for you trying to slay the front door?" Spike added not-so-sympathetically.
"I'll admit, I didn't handle the situation to well just now, Aims, but I think it's safe to say that Xander has gone bad. I mean, you should have seen him. He nearly killed an innocent just now." Buffy choked up, tears welling up in her eyes. Both of her friends showed support in their own ways, Amy sneaking an arm around her , pulling her into a hug while Spike gripped her shoulder gently. "What am I going to do guys?" She squeaked in a strained voice, the tears flowing freely. "He's evil now, and I can't do anything about it. I couldn't stop Willow, and I know I won't be able to stop him."
"No." Dawn's voice cut through the tension permeating in the room. She had finished showering and was now clad in her nightgown. She was making her way down the stairs to check up on Spike and Amy, when she caught the end bit of what Buffy was saying.
The slayer, witch and vampire disentangled themselves from each other, and Buffy turned to face her sister. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I know you believed that he was still the old Xander. But. . ."
"No! Xander is not evil. I know it! And I'll prove it to you guys!" With that, Dawn raced out the front door, leaving her guardians trailing in her wake.
"Dawn wait!" Buffy shouted as she shot off the couch to chase after her sister, with Spike and Amy close behind. "It's dangerous out there! You shouldn't be. . ." The three of them stopped short when they reached her front porch, eyes wide in horror at the scene before them.
Dante was holding to a struggling Dawn by the neck, one of his hands clasping her mouth shut. Beside him, Drusilla was standing there, a Cheshire grin on her face. "Look at what I found, slayer. You seem to have dropped your key."
"What do you want, Dante?" Buffy asked, the tone in her voice all business. Dawn was in trouble and she'd be damned if anything happened to her sister.
"Isn't it obvious? I want you, all of you. Meet me at the gates of hell in an hour and I might consider letting this precious little thing live." He stroked Dawn's cheek with his thumb, causing her to whimper in fear.
"Oh, and one more thing, slayer. Make sure to bring daddy with you. His mommy here. . ." Dante said gesturing toward Drusilla, " and I tried to show him how much more fun being a bad guy is but the stubborn old man would not listen to reason."
Suddenly, it all made sense to Buffy. {The White Knights are usually never recognized or appreciated for the. . . oh my god.} "Xander."
"What? Who? What?" Spike asked, the tone of his voice matching the look of confusion on Amy's face.
"Xander. He's the White Knight."
"Catches on fast, doesn't she?" Dante asked sardonically. "Now if you'll excuse us slayer, we have a date with destiny. Lumos!" With that, there was a flash of bright light which temporarily blinded Buffy and her cohorts, and when they regained their vision, Dante, Drusilla and their captive was gone.
"Nope, this isn't good. Not good at all."
Here ya go, Furious. Hope the S/Amy-ness quenches your thirst for other character happenings. The reason why I only have Buffy and Dawn being affected by Xand's arrival is because I don't feel that Amy and Spike was that close to Xander in the first place.