The vampire turned to his sire. "We're ready, Master."

The Master smiled, as he watched Xander and the Marines being led into the cave at gunpoint. "Do not attack any of them, until I say so."

"But Master, the two females look so appetizing," another vampire said.

In one fluid motion the Master jabbed a wooden stake into the vampire's heart, and he exploded to dust. "Anyone else want to question my orders?" he looked around. "Anyone?"

The vampire army all remained silent.

"Good..."

****

Xander's eyes were drawn to the spinning object, at the rear of the large cave. He could see the white ripples of energy coming from it, and sighed. "The Magnifier..."

A woman's voice answered in a Southern accent, "Well, honey, of course it is..."

Xander and the others turned, and were very surprised at what they saw; a six foot-something blonde woman in her 20's, with lightly tanned skin. Plus she wore black skin-tight leather pants and almost only a black strap around her breasts, that didn't leave much to the imagination.

The woman radiated sex and power like a supernova, and almost every man in the cave could feel it.

Any other time, Xander realized he would be drooling. But amazingly enough he was too focused on the mission, and his impending death at the moment. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The woman came up to him. She simply smiled, as she reached out and ran her fingers over his face. "Let me say first that I knew you were attractive, Mr. Harris. I've seen your file, but you look so much better in person..."

Xander pushed her hand away, shaking his head. "Oh, just great. I get an Inca mummy girl, a preying mantis lady, a psychotic Slayer, and now a villain from a Bond film wanting me. Can you say, surreal?"

The woman just smiled at him. "I'm more than just a common villain, Mr. Harris, much more. You can call me Sonya."

Xander smirked at her, as he glanced at all the weapons pointed at him. "Okay – hello, Sonya. My name is Xander Harris, and I'll be the one kicking your ass today!"

Sonya just pouted. "Oh, come on! Don't say you're not tempted – and it would be such fun..." She let out a large grin. "The things I could do to you..."

The evil creature eventually trailed off, when she noticed his annoyed face. "All right, fine. If you want, we can take Ms. Chase with us! I could always use another pet..."

Xander got angry with that and moved towards her, but two troopers pushed him back.

Sonya smiled. "Before we move on to the more fun details, I have to ask you some questions. For instance, how'd you know about the attack? The Prometheus was supposed to be destroyed in its hangar..."

Rebecca smiled. "Giving you a bit of trouble, is it? Ah, what a shame..."

"It's nothing we can't handle, little girl!" Sonya snapped at her, before seductively turning back to Xander. "And how, exactly, were you planning to do anything to my ass given how you're vastly outnumbered, and we have all your weapons?"

Before Xander could answer, a loud growl made them all turn. And out of the shadows, charged several dozen vampires.

The Assembly troopers opened fire immediately; and while they were distracted, D'Amata and the Marines jumped their guards. Xander hit Sonya with a right hook to her face, sending her down in surprise.

"Those rocks over there!" D'Amata yelled as they ran for cover, exchanging gunfire with the troopers not fighting the vamps.

"Friends of yours?" the ex-member of SG-2 asked, as he looked out at the undead army.

"No," Xander snapped, while he shot a trooper. "I have no clue what the hell is going on here!"

****

Sonya got up slowly, as her guards flanked her. She wiped the small trickle of blood away, from where Xander hit her. The Assembly officer then grinned, as she saw the red fluid on the back of her hand. "Ah, so he likes it rough. Well, I can handle that!"

****

Xander and D'Amata crouched down with Rebecca and Melissa, as the Marines kept firing at the troopers. "Anyone got any ideas?" D'Amata asked. "We don't have that much ammo left to take out the Star Wars rejects, let alone the vampires..."

Melissa reached into her pocket. "Oh, I have this..." she pulled out a small hand grenade.

"You were carrying a grenade in your pocket?" a surprised Xander asked her.

Her face went pale. "That's what this thing is?" She quickly tossed it to Xander. "Can we use it now?"

Xander grinned at her. "You betcha..."

He looked over at Sonya, who was single-handedly fighting off and staking several vampires with ease. It almost looked like she was dancing. The former Zeppo then looked over at the troopers; a few took some shots at him, as he stared their way.

Xander quickly pulled the pin, and held down the trigger. "Fire in the hole!" he called to his own people.

"What does that mean?" Melissa asked in surprise, before Rebecca pulled her down.

Xander lobbed the grenade over the rocks, into the large group of Assembly troops. It exploded before anyone could react; and the sound was absolutely deafening. Several troopers went flying, and a few bodies landed near the Marines.

"Hit 'em while they're out of it!" Xander ordered, and everyone got up and started shooting at the wounded soldiers. A dozen enemies still standing were cut down in a deadly rain of bullets.

D'Amata grinned to Melissa. "Got anything else in your pockets?"

****

Amy Madison walked carefully out of the Summers house. She had gone there the day before, to see if they knew what the hell was going on. But she'd found no one.

Then the fun had begun, and Amy was smart enough to know after all these years that tempting Fate by staying on the Hellmouth after the Slayer had left, was not a bright idea.

She stayed close to the houses, trying not to be spotted by the weird jets, or the black-covered troops that were everywhere. I have got to get to out of town, she thought to herself. It's the only shot I have. Man, where's a damn Slayer when you need one?

****

Xander looked from the cover of the rocks. The battle with the troopers had gone better than he'd thought it would; Sonya and the few Assembly troops left had taken off down a side tunnel. Figures she was all talk, he thought to himself.

"Human! Come out."

D'Amata glanced over at him. "The bloodsucker is calling you out?"

Xander shrugged. "Funny thing about vampires. Even if you have them totally beaten, they'll still threaten you. My guess is he'll say something about eating my insides."

"You can't be serious!"

Xander smiled at him. "Care to put ten bucks on it?"

D'Amata shrugged. "Sure."

They both stood, but kept behind the rock pile. "You got a name, vampire, or should I just call you Fang Face?" Xander yelled out.

The Master vampire smiled. "Ah, yes, you must be Harris. I've heard you used to roam around my town, with the Slayer."

"Your town?" Xander mocked. "Oh, you must be Argus. The latest Big Bad, that claimed Sunnydale as his own little Vamp-topia!"

"The Hellmouth is and always will be mine, blood-bag."

"Oh, please! The only vampire I was ever really afraid of when he said that, was the Master himself. And he got his butt stuck underground for 60 years! I'm betting Buffy takes you out in about four – no, make that three months..."

Argus growled. "Human. You will die slowly, when I decide to end your pitiful life! And then, I will feast on your heart..."

D'Amata groaned. "Thanks a lot, vamp face! Now I owe him ten bucks. 'I want to eat your heart.' How the hell is that a great threat?"

Argus shook his head. "Both your times will come, but not today." He turned, and started to leave through the tunnel he'd come from. His remaining vampires silently followed him.

"That's it?" Xander was shocked. "You attack the bad guys, and then just leave?"

Argus turned back. "Why waste any more of my people, now that the good old U.S. military is here? You will do the job of disposing of these others for me."

Xander watched him leave. "You gotta love this town..."

A voice called to him, "Yes, well, too bad this town will be in flames soon."

Xander spun around, to see who the new voice belonged to. And when he saw him, his face twisted in rage.

"Well, now – hello there, my old friend," the White Suit Man said in a jolly tone. "How have you been doing lately?"

****

Unknown Island

Metatron watched, as the woman he was with danced from flower to flower, smelling them. "You know, you do have to keep up with the times. It's almost 2005, and your hairstyle is very early '90s."

The woman looked up at him, annoyed.

He frowned back at her. "I am not trying to avoid the subject. It's just that it hasn't been done, in a long time. And when I say a long time, I mean a very long time. It's not exactly easy to do either, you know. You can't just snap your fingers, and make it so... well, all right, you can snap your fingers, but..."

The brunette woman giggled, as she put her finger to his lips silencing him. She looked him in the eyes for a few moments, saying nothing.

"Okay, fine, we'll do it your way," Metatron told her with a sigh. "But if it gets out what we did, do you know how many crybabies we'll get up there demanding we do it for them too?"

The woman just smiled and picked up a seashell off the beach, and began to play with it.

He shook his head. "Why do I ever bother to argue with you? But just for the bleeding record, I am not getting stuck with the paperwork on this one..."

****

Xander jumped over the edge of the rock pile, and stood facing the White Suit Man. D'Amata and Melissa ran after him, as Rebecca and the Marines were left behind.

"Xander, hold up!" Melissa called to him.

The White Suit Man smiled at him. "I gather you know of me, Mr. Harris."

Xander growled at him, "It's Captain Harris. And yeah, I was shown your picture," he said in a flat, lifeless tone.

"Oh? And by who, if I may ask? I just need to know who I have to slowly kill later, you see..."

"Oh, please. I swear, you boys are just no fun..."

They all turned to see Sonya, with a few more troopers with her. Two of the troops held a large circular mirror.

The man stepped towards her. "Sonya, what are you doing? This is my battle, not yours. I'll kill this insect myself, so go-"

Sonya laughed, interrupting him. "Kill him? Why? We just need to get rid of him. If he finds his way back here later..." she licked her lips, in a lustful way. "I'm sure I can find something for him to do, to amuse me. But for now..." she nodded to the troopers holding the mirror.

"Sonya, no!"

But it was too late. The mirror had been placed on the outskirts of the magnifier's energy; it connected, and sent a stream of energy right at them. And as soon as it hit the four of them, they were gone.

****

Parallel Dimension Number 65893254189465

a.k.a. The Wandererverse

June 2nd 1998, 2:37 pm

Hammersmith Park, Sunnydale California

"Goddess!!"

Steve, Amy, Willow, and Buffy looked on, as Cordelia angrily threw her purse onto the picnic table. "This is unbelievable..."

"What's got you so upset, Cordy?" Buffy asked, already guessing the answer.

Cordelia growled, as she sat down. "He just makes me so mad! He's lying to me now..." She looked to Willow. "How can you not be mad?"

Willow frowned, "Mad about what?"

"Xander and Oz! They went out on patrol last night!"

"What? I thought they went to a movie... didn't they?"

Cordelia shook her head. "No. I asked Xander how the movie was, and he told me they went to a different movie than what he said last night. So I made him tell me the truth."

Amy interrupted her, "You mean, you threatened to kick him out of your bed for a few days," she said with a smile.

"Whatever, the point is they said they got two vamps last night. Only two. They almost died for only two damn vampires!" Cordelia snarled. "This has got to stop. They're just a couple of normal guys, for Goddess's sake."

Steve spoke up, "Well, you know that they've been just normal guys since the start, and they seem to do okay..." the Immortal demon hunter quickly stopped talking, when he saw all the girls glaring at him.

Cordelia spoke a little softer, "I am not going to lose Xander, because he has this insane desire to play Rambo. If that happened, I would have Artemis bring him down from Olympus so I could kick his ass!"

"Steve," Buffy said to the man. "You don't understand. Xander has always taken this way too seriously. He's been taking way too many risks... oh, no, not now!"

They all followed her look, and saw a pack of nine Mohra demons running at them. Steve and Buffy had their swords out in no time, and got prepared for battle.

"Mohra demons. Shatter the crystal in their foreheads! And don't touch their blood!" Steve called out. They spread out, and started to attack the bad guys as soon as they came near.

****

"Which way did that piece of crap go?" Xander asked, looking around for the White Suit Man.

D'Amata looked around. "We lost him by the entrance. You sure we're still in Sunnydale?"

Xander kept looking around the fairly deserted park. "Yeah, but we're in another dimension. Heck, I'd love to go exploring, but we don't have..."

"Do you guys hear that?" Melissa asked them.

They listened, and heard it too. The sounds of a fight, not too far from them.

"Come on!" Xander called, as he ran towards the sounds.

****

Cordelia ducked, as the demon tried to take her head off. She nailed it with a roundhouse kick, "Boy, did you idiots pick the wrong time to ever mess with me!" she punched it as hard as she could, shattering the crystal. It vanished in a flash of light. "Now, who's next!?"

Before she got her next attacker, she heard Willow curse. "Cordy, look!"

Cordy sprinted over to the man that she thought shared her bed, "Keep back, Dweeb Boy! We'll have these guys taken care of in a minute..."

Xander just look at her for a second. "You're fighting these guys?" he asked, surprised. "Sorry Cor, but we can't let you have all the fun..."

The USAF officer turned to the two people with him. "You guys ready for some mayhem?"

She grabbed his arm. "Xander! I said stay out of this, or else you will be very lonely tonight. I mean it!"

He smiled at her. "Sorry, Cor. Look, don't be too hard on your Xander because of me..."

Cordelia frowned. "My Xander?" Then she saw it. This version of her boyfriend looked older, and slightly more built. Her grip got tighter. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"Cordy!" Amy called. "We could use some help here!"

Xander shook her off, and nodded to his two friends. "You heard the lady, guys, let's go kill something. But hold off on your ammo; we might need it back home. Just take out the crystal things on their heads. And no green blood on you..."

****

Buffy brought up her sword to block the demon's thrust, but it didn't come. Buffy looked on in shock, as the Mohra demon stood frozen in place. It tried to move, but couldn't. Then a brunette woman, only a few years older than her, came up behind it.

"Oh, nice sword," she told the demon. "It's not doing the cool glowing thing like hers, but it's still pretty neat. Do you mind?"

The girl took the sword, and swung the hilt of it full force into the demon's crystal, shattering it. After it vanished, she smiled at Buffy. "Hi, you must be the Slayer."

"Ah, yeah..."

The girl smiled. "Cool. Nice to meet you. Or one version of you, that isn't a total dumbass," Melissa said laughingly, before she started to fight with another demon.

D'Amata blasted two demons, with the blaster he had gotten from one of the stormtroopers. No need to save ammo with this baby.

Steve quickly destroyed their crystals. "Who are you?"

D'Amata ginned. "Sorry, that's classified..." Suddenly, D'Amata and Steve both stiffened. "Man, I never felt it like that before!"

Steve shattered another crystal. "The buzz was weird. You're an Immortal? So why didn't I feel you, till you looked at me?"

D'Amata got into a defensive stance. "No idea. Look, pal, I don't have time to get into the Game with you right now..."

"Hey, I don't play the Game. Never will. It's all a fraud, anyway."

D'Amata shot another demon in the head, killing it. "Okay. Then we're cool."

Xander ran at the demon that Willow was facing. "Hang on, Willow!"

Before she could react, Xander was halfway through a flip over the demon. He grabbed its head in mid-flip and threw him into a tree, knocking it out. He moved hardly a second after he landed, crushing the crystal with his boot.

Willow was stunned. "Xander! How did you-"

He didn't answer, but just went for the last demon. It growled at him, "You will die for this, human!" before pulling out its sword.

Xander smirked. "So, we're supposed to just let you kill us?"

"Xander!" Cordelia yelled, concerned, but Steve held her back as he had a funny feeling about all this.

Melissa came up to him, "Xander, catch!"

They all watched, as she tossed the captured sword to him. The man caught it, and smiled to the demon. "Y'know, ordinarily I'd say first blood, but since there's no telling what yours would do to me, let's skip that part..."

The demon roared and attacked. Steve, Buffy and the three Slayerettes watched as Xander started to sword-fight with the demon. He was good.

Steve watched, shocked. "He's almost as good as Duncan..."

Suddenly, the demon froze in place. Xander got annoyed. "Melissa! I can take him, you know!"

The girl smiled. "Sure I know, but can you do it without cutting him and maybe getting his blood on you?"

Xander looked put out. "Well, no, but... ah, damn it!" He walked over and smashed the crystal, walking away as the demon vanished.

The guy patted Xander on the back. "Not bad, Captain..."

Buffy looked at Xander in shock. "Captain?!"

Cordelia came face to face with the guy she was now very suspicious of. "Where's my Xander? Talk now!" she growled at him.

Xander was slightly surprised. "Man, you are a little more forceful than my Cordy when we were in high school!" He looked at her face, "I mean, you are still in school, right?"

"We are, but summer break just started," Willow told him.

Xander looked at her, trying to gauge her age. "The summer between junior and senior year?"

"Yeah."

Xander got confused. "But Buffy's here! It's summer, and Buffy is definitely here!"

"Yeah, well, why wouldn't I be here?" Buffy demanded, confused.

Xander looked on, shocked, as Giles and Ms. Calendar run up to them. Giles was panting, "Buffy, there's a pack of demons in the area..."

"A little late there, Giles," Buffy sighed. Why is Xander so scared all of a sudden?

Xander slowly backed away from Ms. Calendar. Melissa looked at him, "What is it?"

"Remember the teacher I told you about, that was with us for a while?"

"Oh, you mean the one that Angel..." Shock quickly came to her face as well. "That's her?"

Xander nodded. "Either she's alive again somehow, or she's like another fake by the First Evil or something..."

Giles looked towards him in shock. "Xander, did – did you say the First Evil? How the devil could you have heard of..."

He stopped, when the sound of clapping was heard. They all looked at the source, but only Xander, Melissa, and D'Amata recognized him. The White Suit Man.

"Bravo, my old adversary, bravo! I always love watching the good guys win – well, at least, when I'm not the bad guy."

Steve flashed his sword. "Who are you?"

The man ignored him. "Get lost, you fool. My business is with this man, and him alone. Isn't it, Harris?"

Cordelia spoke on reflex, "You'll have to go through me first to get him, you bastard!"

The Assembly officer smiled. "Now that's what I really miss, you know. Your wife jumping in to defend you, or you her. Kind of gets me all misty and sentimental."

Cordy was shocked, but part of her couldn't help feeling a warm tingly sensation as well. "Did you say wife? We're married?"

Xander ignored that and moved to the front, his hands beginning to glow. "You're going to die."

"Please, Harris, before I kill you again, I really want to know how you knew. Who told you?"

Xander kept moving. "You mean, how I know that I beat your ass for nine years, and pushed your Assembly back to the hell it came from?"

The White Suit Man smiled. "That's always been a neat trick you have there, my friend. You want to see another?" He raised his own hands, and they glowed blue.

Xander moved back in shock, "How the-?"

"You and your Horsemen only have pieces of that crystal. I found another, a few years back." He launched a fist at Xander, and before the man knew what had hit him he flew back several feet and nailed a tree.

"Did that hurt you? So sorry. Now, who told you?"

Xander wiped the blood coming from his mouth. "You mean who told me about how you came back and slaughtered all my family and friends, while I was on a mission? That what you want to know?" He did a spinning kick and nailed the White Suit Man in the stomach, sending him flying.

The man slowly picked himself up. "How did you..." His eyes widened. "Oh, of course! That little bitch! Your pet Slayer's damnable daughter? I figured she'd have just constantly wet her pants, rather than doing anyone any good..."

"Well, Alexis is full of surprises. You should've known that. Even with just one Slayerette left, that's still more than enough to kick your lame ass!"

They started fighting, using the powers of the crystal fragments. Punches and kicks flew, almost too fast for the eye to see. "Well, so what if I didn't have time to kill that idiot werewolf? He hadn't been one of you for so long..." the White Suit Man laughed.

Xander grabbed his arm, and flipped him to the ground. "You missed two of us, asshole. No wonder you lost the last time..."

On the sidelines, two people spoke quietly.

"Daughter?" Buffy asked in amazement.

"Oz?" Willow asked her back, in hurt and confusion.

The White Suit Man quickly kicked Xander's legs out from under him. Fortunately, the white hat moved his cranium a split second before a fist shattered the sidewalk. Xander shot out his left leg, and nailed his enemy in the head. But he recovered fast, and soon they were both holding each other's glowing hands, and glaring at each other.

"You should have seen her, Harris. Your wife, your dearly beloved Cordy. She only had a sword against my men, but still she faced us knowing that she was going to die. Well, but I shouldn't have expected anything less from your woman, should I?"

Cordelia didn't know what to think, hearing about one version of her future upcoming death.

Seemingly defying gravity, Xander jumped up with both feet and smashed them into the man's chest. It sent him crashing into the picnic table, shattering it. Xander got up, just in time to be smashed in the face by a piece of the table thrown at him.

He fell, bloodied, back to the ground. The White Suit Man moved in a blur, and pulled Xander up by his neck. "You disappoint me, Harris. This is just too easy! I guess I'm just used to fighting you with a little more experience under your belt..." He threw Xander a few feet to the ground. "Oh, well..."

Xander wiped the blood from his eyes, to see the Assembly officer running straight at him. He was too stunned to move out of the way, or defend himself as the glowing hands moved towards him.

"We have to help him!" Cordelia shrieked.

Melissa concentrated with all her will, as she hadn't had the chance to work on many inanimate objects yet. They all watched, as part of the destroyed metal frame of the picnic table flew towards the two combatants.

The White Suit Man had Xander by the throat, and he was strangling the life out of him. "I could have waited an eternity for this, you know. But at last, it's over..."

Then his eyes flashed in shock, as he jerked suddenly. The human/demon hybrid followed Xander's eyes, down to his chest. Where a long jagged steel pipe was impaling him, all the way through.

The White Suit Man had just enough strength to give Xander one more look of pure hate, before he collapsed dead to the ground.

The others came over, as Xander rolled the body off of him. Steve asked, "Are you okay?"

But Xander didn't pay him any attention; he just kicked the dead body. "That's for the Scooby Gang!" Another kick. "That's for the Fang Gang!" Another. "That's for Alexis!" And another. "And this one's just for the hell of it, since I can't get to the Powers That Be!"

Cordelia watched with more than a little jealousy, as Melissa hugged Xander. "You okay, Xander?"

He shook his head. "No, but at least I got to kill that thing before I have to die..."

"Die?" Jenny asked, completely shocked and confused.

"Yeah. Look, long story, but we're not from around here. Our dimension is being invaded. And I'm the only one who can stop it. Of course, it's gonna kill me, but at least I got to say goodbye to my Cordelia..."

He sighed and turned to D'Amata. "Open the portal, let's go home."

"Yes, sir..."

Steve looked at him. "Xander, why did he call you Captain?"

Xander smiled and put out his hand. "Captain Alexander Harris, United States Air Force. Demon Command, Alpha Team leader. Code-named the 'Four Horsemen'. Nice to meet you, Mr.-?"

Willow frowned. "Xander, it's Steve!"

"Never met you before today... Steve. Uh, are you a Slayerette here? Or maybe the new Watcher, instead of Wesley?"

Buffy got confused. "Xander, you don't know Steve?"

"Nope."

"The big fight in the school gym months ago? Going to Fragnar's birthday party? This ringing any bells?"

Xander shook his head. "Sorry. Um, maybe he came later, after I left Sunnydale..."

Cordelia was shocked. "You left Sunnydale?"

"Hey, you left years before I did!" But Xander's annoyance vanished when he saw her shocked face. "Sorry, keep forgetting you're not my Cordy," he apologized. "But what I want to know, is how the hell you three got so good at fighting? You had a hell of a grip back there, Cor."

It was Amy's turn to frown. "We're Amazons now. Is none of this familiar to you?"

Xander, Melissa, and D'Amata were surprised. "Amazons!? Amy, have you been watching too much Xena lately?"

Cordelia was taken back. "We're not Amazons where you come from?"

"No Amazons, no Steve, and no glowing swords either. If this is 1998, right about now Willow, Oz, Cordy and I were lamely fighting the vamps, while Buffy was missing in action for the summer," Xander told them.

"Why would I be missing?" Buffy asked, a little shocked.

Xander shrugged. "After the entire thing with sending Angel to Hell with his soul restored, guess you didn't want to hang around. Plus Snyder had expelled you, and what with the big blowup about your mom finding out that you were the Slayer..."

Steve put his arms around Buffy, to keep her from falling to her knees. "Angel... got his soul back?"

"Yeah, and he ended up in a hell dimension for about 100 years before the Powers brought him back. You had no choice, you had to do it," he tried to calm his blonde friend. "Believe me thou. And you were not the only one with the screwed-up relationships back then. After the big breakup of Cordy and me... well, we all had a pretty crappy year."

Cordelia was shaking inside, more than she would have liked to admit. "We – we broke up?"

Xander looked at her sadly. "Yeah, that was years ago for me, but I gotta admit it. It was all a stupid mistake on my part. The crazy things you do, when you're sure you're about to die..." He shook his head.

D'Amata nudged him. "Sir, the portal's ready."

Xander smiled to Melissa. "Come on, let's go save the world..."

She smiled back. "I'll bet you say that to all the girls..."

The three walked calmly to the portal, but at the last moment Xander turned back. "Hey, Amy? Some free advice. Don't ever turn yourself into a rat, to escape being burned at the stake. 'Cause it took Willow a hell of a long time to change you back..." And with that, they left through the portal.

Steve went over to the White Suit Man's body. "Come on, Giles. Let's get rid of this thing, before someone sees it..." He stopped, when he noticed something.

"What is it, Steve?" Giles asked him.

"This wristband. It has coordinates on it."

"Coordinates for what?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to try it till we know for sure," Steve told him.

Amy shook off the shock at what Xander had told her, and looked at the others. "I know it's kinda a bad time to ask and all, but are we still Bronzin' it tonight?"

Cordelia spoke softly, as she picked her purse from the ground. "No, I have to go find Xander. I'm going to make damn sure that whatever happened to that Xander and me, doesn't happen here..."

Willow nodded. "I better go see Oz."

"And I have a reversal spell to look up. Just in case, I'll post it on Steve's fridge." Amy said, as she watched her Amazon sisters leave.

****

Rebecca looked up, as the portal opened. All the Marines that were not guarding the doors, quickly took aim.

"Whoa, we come in peace!" D'Amata said, as he came through.

"What the hell happened to you, Xander?" the female USAF officer demanded, as the others stood down.

"Take it easy, Rebecca. We just met some other-dimensional doubles of my old friends, and fought some demons. No big deal," Xander told her, grinning.

"Don't forget to mention the part where you went all Mortal Kombat on that one guy," D'Amata told him.

Rebecca looked to Xander. "The guy in the white suit?"

"Yeah. And now he's dead," Melissa answered in satisfaction. "Deader than dead."

"Where did everyone go?" Xander asked, as he looked around the empty room.

Rebecca shrugged. "They just took off."

"The enemy just hit the road here?!" Xander asked, not believing.

"Yeah, and they left us alone with that thing, which we can't get close to," she motioned to the magnifier. "Who knows where it would send us..." the lieutenant watched, as Xander stood a tad straighter.

"I guess that's my cue..." the former Zeppo sighed.

D'Amata and the Marines formed a protective semi-circle around them, and Melissa hugged him with all she had left. As they broke the hug she whispered, "Thank you for everything. I don't know where I'd be right now, if you hadn't helped me. Probably, stuck back in that mental ward..." She kissed him on the cheek.

Xander looked at her warmly. "Hey, you helped me too!" He looked at Rebecca. "Both of you did. It'd been a while, since I had a place that felt like home..."

Rebecca looked at him, with tears forming in her eyes. "Every home should have a big brother. I have three by blood, and now...I have another."

Xander smiled, in angst and pain. "I, uh, don't know what to say..."

She just moved in, and hugged both him and Melissa. "That promise that Gavin made you…we're going to keep it. Cordelia will raise your kids, even if we have to bring the Powers That Be down ourselves. No matter how long it takes!"

They held the hug for a few more moments, before Xander moved forward. Giving them one last look he told them grimly, "Stay back..."

He raised his arm, and the blue shield slowly came out. It extended down to his feet, and slightly over his head. Xander then slowly started to walk over to the magnifier.

The white swirling energy had seemed to lack any substance when it had hit him earlier, but now it nearly pressed him back. It was like he was being hit with a firehose, at full blast and point-blank range. The man had to use his other hand, to brace the arm with the shield.

It's pushing me back, but I should be able to get to it fairly easily. So why the hell would they just leave us here alone with this thing? Xander suddenly thought with a suspicious mind.

Melissa and Rebecca shielded their eyes, as they watched Xander wade through the swirling energy to get to the platform. They could only make out the upper part of his body now, because the energy was so bright.

Come on, I can do this, Xander thought, as he kept trying the method Beth had tried to teach him. Just focus on nothing, but the shield. Just imaging its shape changing...

He watched as the flat shield shrank one-fourth its length, and began to curve slightly. And as the shield curved more, it acted as a barrier to the energy. The magnifier energy couldn't penetrate the shield; but it acted like a lens, and blasted all the power towards the center of the room. Damn it!

"Get as far back as you can!" Xander yelled to his teammates.

The young man could see his people running for the far wall. He then looked down, to see the shield now turning into a dome-shape, totally covering the device. Captain Harris could see the raw energy swirling around fiercely, under the blue energy dome.

Right, now I just have to hold it here and in a few minutes it should feed back on itself. Of course, I have no idea what'll happen when…

"OH, BLOODY HELLLLL!!" Xander screamed in incredible agony, when the pain started.

****

She looked down into the cave; the young woman had briefly thought she wouldn't get here in time. After all, it had taken a while to dust that damnable Master vampire. She had run the rest of the way to get here, and it looked like she had just made it in time.

Alexis Heyer looked around, for the backup Xander was sure to have brought along. She had to strain a bit to see them, but find them she eventually did.

A group of Marines were pressed up against the far wall, next to the doors leading back into the corridors of the Assembly base. The daughter of the Slayer smiled, when she saw who was with them.

Aunts Melissa and Rebecca. God, they look so young! They look almost nothing like the women who helped me pick out my Prom dress…that I never got the chance to wear...

Alexis looked back to Xander, and she could see it in his face. He's already feeling it. Damn! "Here goes nothing..." she whispered, as she jumped off the edge and down towards the ground.

****

"Who the hell is that!?" D'Amata yelled, as he aimed his gun.

Melissa and Rebecca looked, and stared in open-mouthed shock. A dark-haired woman was floating down, from the top of the cave. They looked at each other at once, and both had the same thought. Alexis?

Rebecca put her hand on D'Amata's weapon. "Hold your fire!"

They all watched as she glided down as easily as a bird would.

D'Amata frowned. "So, who's this chick? Supergirl?"

****

It took a lot of effort for Xander to move his head to see who was coming down on top of him. And if he'd had the energy to do it, he would have jumped in shock. "Alexis! What the hell?"

She landed gracefully, and ran over to him. "Sorry Uncle Xander, but I couldn't tell you all of it. You would have never gone through with the plan, never let me do this..."

"Do what?" Xander grimaced, as the pain kept increasing.

Alexis looked at him, like a little girl who'd gotten caught with her hands in the cookie jar. "Like I said before; you died in my arms. And…"

She held up her arm, and pulled down her shirtsleeve. Xander's watch was wrapped around her wrist. "…this thing came off, after you died. Guess I kind of inherited it from you."

Realization filled Xander with horror. "No! I won't let you take my place!"

"I know you wouldn't, Uncle," the woman said a little proudly. "But I'm not here for that."

"Then…" a wave of pain hit him. "God damn it!" he screamed.

She looked at him sadly. "Yeah, that's it right there. You don't have the power to do this, not by yourself. Never did. We both have to do it, together."

"No," Xander said weakly, though he tried to be firm and parental.

Alexis got determined. "Oh yes, Uncle. Keep in mind the big picture; 'cause you're already too weak. And I've had six years of practice with this." She moved next to him, and put her arm out. The energy from her watch stretched out, joining with his.

The shield grew even brighter. "Now for the bad part," she told him grimly, accepting death with a mental sigh.

"What?"

Underneath their shield, the magnifier rocked wildly. The energy started to push out against the energy barrier. "Damn it, it's starting!"

****

Everyone watching from the back could see the pain in the faces of the two people on the platform. They watched as Xander buckled and fell to his knees, but he still kept his arm up.

Melissa started to move to go to him, when Rebecca grabbed her arm. "There's nothing you can do, remember?"

"So we're supposed to just sit here, and watch him suffer?" the young woman demanded.

"Yes. 'Cause that's all we can do," the female officer told her, as she kept her eyes on the platform.

****

Hyperion Hotel

Everyone watched, as the soldiers left. It had taken over an hour to get everyone's statements, but they all told them the same thing. "No, we didn't see where the blast had come from. We only saw the light."

Now, the only thing left to do was watch the carnage unfold on the TV. Most of the battle was taking place, inside the area covered by the Assembly's shield towers. Some had spilled over to the desert between LA and Sunnydale. Some parts of LA were already being evacuated, just in case.

"Those damn bastards!" Lee shouted.

Angel turned to him. "What!?"

"They got the Enterprise! It's on fire; they got it beached, but it's still on fire!"

Dawn looked confused. "We have an Enterprise? You mean, that flying ship on TV?"

Lee looked at her. "No, the USS Enterprise. The aircraft carrier!"

Dawn shrugged. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't know we had one of those…" she stopped, as she saw Cordelia in the back. "Cordelia?"

Angel and Fred looked back to where Dawn was looking. Cordelia was sitting by herself, shaking and crying.

"Cordy!" Angel ran to her. "What is it?"

The seer looked up at him, with tears in her eyes. "He's in pain. So much pain, they both are. I can see them, Angel, I can see them!"

Buffy sat down next to her. "Cordy, can you teleport there? Or send me or Angel?"

Cordelia shook her head slowly. "No. It's already too late..."

Buffy and Angel just looked at each other. They both knew there was nothing they could do now. Nothing at all.

****

They had been watching for the last seven minutes. And in that small amount of time, the military personnel had witnessed their new friend and boss change drastically.

As far as they could see, Xander was no longer the tall, dark-haired young man they'd known. His arms now looked like toothpicks, his skin was spotted, and his hair – what was left of it – was a light gray color. And Alexis looked much the same.

"Sweet Jesus..." one of the watching Marines whispered.

But it was working. The magnifier was slowing down. Barely four minutes later, it stopped spinning all together. Now the energy seemed to be all contained inside the magnifier.

"Is that it?" Melissa asked, not taking her eyes off of what was left of Xander Harris.

Rebecca started forward, and when she got to within a few feet she saw the old woman that was now Alexis look up in fear. "NO! Get out of here now!" she said hoarsely.

"But…"

"Go, now! It's going to blow. Hurry!!"

D'Amata grabbed Rebecca by her uniform, and dragged her out the large set of doors they came in. Melissa ran out with the last of the Marines, just as D'Amata activated the door switch.

Only a few seconds had gone by, before they saw it. The light shown through the bottom of the door was brighter than the sun, during midday in the Gobi Desert. It nearly blinded them, even though it lasted for under twenty seconds.

D'Amata then took out a pair of dark sunglasses that covered his eyes completely, and put them on. "Wait here..."

He went back into to the cavern, but the Immortal somehow already knew what he would see. The magnifier was dark and lifeless, lying on its side, and there was no sign of the two people who'd been next to it.

All that was present now were two dark, burned, human-shaped outlines. There was literally nothing else left.

****

Hyperion Hotel

No one knew what to do. At the exact same moment Xander died, Cordelia and her new daughters had started to cry.

Angel just held onto Cordelia as she kept saying over and over, "He's gone, he's gone..."

****

Demon Command

Control Room

Everyone watched in the control room, as they stared at the video feed. The gigantic portal started to flicker. Then it started to dissolve, all along its length. Several technicians and other personnel yelled excitedly, as the portal quickly collapsed. Some even hugged each other.

Beth and April were not among those celebrating.

The computer program looked to her friend, and in an almost childlike voice she asked, "Do you think it was painful?"

Beth looked at her companion sadly, and nodded her head. They kept looking at each other, until Andrews came over. "We are only half-done here, people! Everyone back to your posts – we still have to deal with the enemy currently remaining on our national soil!"

A tech on another monitor called out. "General! There's an energy buildup underneath Sunnydale. I think it's that, uh, Hellmouth thing..."

"Put it on the main screen!"

The screen flashed, to show an overhead satellite shot of Sunnydale. And the energy that the tech had guessed was from the Hellmouth had indeed changed.

Days ago in the first scans, it had resembled a spider web radiating outwards from the high school. But now, it was all concentrated under Sunnydale High.

O'Neill frowned. "Could the feedback from the magnifier thing have disrupted it this bad? Could this thing be opening? 'Cause Harris said, that that would be a very bad thing..."

Beth shook her head. "It looks like it caused the Hellmouth energy to feed back on itself. Oh, thank God there are no kids in that school!"

"Why?" O'Neill asked, concerned.

Beth pointed to the screen. "It's building up way too fast for… what the-? April, give me an overhead shot of the school now!"

The screen flashed to the same picture, but with just a video filter. As they watched, the brand-new high school seemed to shake as if an earthquake was going on right underneath it. Which wasn't too far from the truth.

"This is not good..." Beth muttered.

The school's roof caved into itself, before a massive explosion ripped the building apart. A thick stream of energy shot out from the ruins and went straight up for over a mile, before it easily punched through the tower's shield barrier. The stream lasted for a full two minutes, before it petered out.

A lieutenant yelled, "Sir, it just missed the International Space Station! They're reporting it went off into deep space, on a random vector..."

O'Neill was in awe. "Please tell me that was recorded!"

April nodded "Yes sir, we got it all. Plus the energy readings as well for the entire…" She stopped, as she started to check her readings.

"April?" Andrews asked her.

"Sir, the Hellmouth! It's gone!" She flipped the screen back, to the readings of the energy under the town. They could hardly see any abnormal energy present now.

Beth checked her own readings. "There's still some residual energy left, but it's less then six percent of what it was before..." she looked up in awe.

Andrews understood. "So the energy from the Hellmouth, all the stuff that attracted the demons to Sunnydale in the first place, is…"

"Gone, it's all gone," Beth said smiling. "Not only did Xander stop the portal…he closed the damn Hellmouth..."

"The towers!" April called out. "One just went down! It made a huge hole in the field..."

Andrews smiled. "Order everyone we have on standby to head over there! Take the rest of them out, with extreme prejudice!"

"They're already moving in, sir. Several reserve units already are at the town limits..."

****

Outskirts of Sunnydale

Wreckage of Shield Tower Three

The first instincts of the Marines were to pull the woman out of the area, but she wasn't moving.

"He's still under here!" the brunette called out, as she tossed the still-burning debris away.

"Who is?" one asked her.

"Agent Graham Miller! And he could still be alive! Now either help me, or get the hell out of my way!" Amy yelled at the grunts, before she went back to digging.