1.1 TITLE: The Chosen

CATEGORY: Buffy/Roswell Crossover

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, I'm back with another crappy chapter. This chapter is kinda lame, so don't flame me, please?

1.2 Okay, dudes. You people didn't review chapter 7. Am I to assume you didn't like it? Did it suck? Come on, you have to review or I'm gonna stop updating. Gimme reviews dammit!!!

Whew! Okay, that's my rant for the day. Read and review. Enjoy the story.



1.3 CHAPTER EIGHT

"Have you found anything?"

Wesley was standing over Alex's shoulder as he worked on the computer. They had decided to still hack into Wolfram and Hart's computer system to see if they could get any clues as to whom the protectors were, and to confirm that Khivar was the new arrival. Although, Alex just wanted a reason to live in front of the computer, but who's checking?

"Everything's encoded, they've got a massive firewall, and all the info's in some weird language," he said in an exasperated sigh, "'course I didn't find anything. Whatever happened to the good old days when I only had to hack into FBI files?"

"They died with Pierce," Isabel said, sitting next to him.

"Yeah, well. What do we do now?"

"Wanna go train?"

"You mean exercise?" he groaned.

"No, train," she corrected, "It's called every video game known to mankind with fighting in it. Spike's got a pretty good collection for a guy who's been dead for a hundred and something years."

Alex agreed and they walked hand in hand to the TV room where the Playstation 2 was set up. Dawn and Spike were already in there playing a car racing game. Spike was totally leaving Dawn in the dust, keeping him in the spot of champion.

"Oh well, it's taken," Alex said.

"Guess we'll just have to go upstairs. Whatever will we do?"

"I've got an idea," Alex said as they headed upstairs.

"Is it just me, or are these aliens incredibly horny?" Dawn asked Spike.

"They're incredibly horny," he said.

"I thought so," she said as they returned to their game.



It was now two weeks into the summer holiday, a month and a half since Tess left and a month since Maria became a slayer. There still had not been any sign of Khivar yet and the Scooby Gang, Pod Squad and Angel Investigations were starting to get antsy. They had been training for two weeks now for a battle that was taking its sweet time to start. They were beginning to wonder if they were correct in their assumptions that they had found the true identities of The Chosen, and that they had the right place. The Pod Squad was beginning to miss the FBI and the Skins. They all went patrolling for fun, which was difficult since the demons were lying low until the three Slayers left the city of Angels. Word of the triplet of demon hunters spread fast through the demon underground.

Now, they were all gathered in the lobby of the hotel having a discussion. Apparently, Max and Zan's need to have meetings constantly was unavoidable and hadn't stopped just because they were in a different area code. The Pod Squad and the Dupes were lounging in Michael and Maria's living room. Faith sat on Rath's lap on the arm chair across from the couch where Maria sat on Michael's lap next to Max and Liz, who were as close as they could get without being on each other's laps. Isabel and Alex sat on a love seat and Kyle, Zan and Ava occupied the floor.

"So, how 'bout you fill us in on the past Czechoslovakians," Maria said.

"Why?"

"Cause we have nothing better to talk about," she said.

"And I wanna know the other half of my split personality," Michael added.

"We've only heard, like, third and fourth hand stories of the royal four," she continued.

"From skins mind you."

"Uh, what do ya want to know?" asked Ava.

"I don't know," Maria said, with a shrug, "Ages? Social life? Friends? Whatever."

"Okay," Zan said, "I was da oldest of the Royal four, that's why I'm da man. Lonnie was a year younger, Ava was two years younger and Rath was five years younger."

"Man, no wonder you guys have that damn big brother/big sister complex," Michael said. Max and Isabel frowned.

"We do not have a complex," Isabel said.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Well, I don't really remember anything before I was found outside the palace," Rath said, "In fact, I don't even remember remembering who I was."

"Yeah, I remember," Zan said, "Pops said you had amnesia or somethin'."

"Well, that explains some things," Liz said.

"Yeah," Michael and Maria said.

"So, how'd you die?" Faith asked.

"My ship to safety was blown up," Ava answered.

"Hmm," Zan said, "It was the night of the third battle. I was in the front of one team and Rath was with the other. We were ambushed from the side because somebody told Khivar where the fleet would be," he said bitterly, "one of our own men killed me right there."

"How old were you?" Liz wanted to know.

"Um, 27, I think," he said, "Vilandra was 26, Ava was 25 and Rath was 22."

"22?" Liz asked, "Wow, that's young to die. Rath, how did you die?"

Rath scrunched up his brow in concentration.

"I-I don't remember," he said finally, "It's like, it's there but it's blocked."

"Maybe you were traumatized by it and got amnesia or something," Kyle suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Rath said, not believing it though.

"So, did you use your powers in battle?" Max asked.

"Uh, not that I recall," he said, "I really don't remember much of the war after Ava and Vilandra died."

"What was our mother like?" Isabel asked.

"She was beautiful, smart," Zan said.

"And damn bossy," Rath finished for him.

Zan nodded, "Yeah, ain't that the truth."

'Well, we know where Izzy and Max get it from,' Michael thought.

"She was the one who promised Lonnie to me," Rath said, disgusted, "By then I thought of her as a sister, 'cause, you know, I lived with her since I was two."

'Damn, history repeats itself,' Maria thought.

'Yeah.'

"Zan got to choose, which was so unfair," he continued. Liz got a semi-hurt expression on her face when she heard that Max actually married Tess of his own free will in their past life. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had hoped that it was an arranged marriage . . .she'd convinced herself of it. Now, her delusion was shattered.

Seeing the expression on Liz's face, Max suggested that they all go to bed. It was already two in the morning and they had training first thing. They said their goodnights and headed back to their rooms, leaving Michael and Maria alone.

"What do you want to do, Spaceboy?" Maria asked seductively.



The air was heavy with the stench of death, of war. He stood amongst the fallen and the weak, leading them towards victory. His family was gone. He was alone. Alone in the fight against Khivar, alone in the fall of the kingdom of Antar. The armies on both sides were exhausted and lessened from whence they first started. This would be the final battle. They would not last much longer, one of them had to lose.

The planet was split in half, those for Khivar, and those for Zan, which recently became those for Rath. Zan's followers joined up with Rath's followers after their beloved King was killed during the last battle. It was by far the worst. The once green grass was now awash with the red stickiness of fresh blood, littered with the bodies of the fallen.

There he stood, surrounded by his army of followers awaiting the arrival of their enemy, King Khivar of Carnath. Suddenly, an explosion was heard from behind. He turned quickly to find that a good number of his followers were dead or injured. They were surrounded.

'He must have called for reinforcements,' he realized grimly.

"Give up this battle, Rath!" a voice shouted, "WE will win this battle! Resistance is futile!"

"Why don't you come out and fight like a man, Khivar!" he yelled back, in the general direction of the voice, "When will you show your face!"

"After you have been captured and you approach your public execution!"

Rath glanced at his remaining troops. They should be enough to take him out, shouldn't they? Khivar's troops didn't look that strong. He continued taunting the enemy as he gave a silent signal to his men. Thirty seconds after the signal was given, they raised their weapons and began shooting at the opposition. They did not take long to retaliate.

All around him, people were dropping faster than he could count, on both sides. He was running out of bullets, he realized. They all were, for Khivar blew up their weapon's storage the week before.

Half an hour, and a few dozen dead bodies later, they ran out of ammunition. Khivar was thrilled at the victory, though he would still not show his face. His second-in-command, Nikaid, stepped closer to a seething Rath, a cocky grin on his smug face.

"Good show, Rath," he said, arrogantly, "I'll enjoy watching you die. Then Lord Khivar will make good use of your damn followers."

Rath spit on him.

"Now, now. That was not nice was it," he said, condescendingly, "I think killing you now will be just as fun as killing you later."

"Shoot an unarmed man, Nikaid," he scoffed, "No honor, I should have known."

Nikaid was livid. He pointed his gun at him.

"I shall enjoy watching you die."

Rath's hand shot up by instinct unleashing his pent up rage upon Nikaid and Khivar's army. A bright red light shot out from his palms, obliterating most of Khivar's army. A feral scream escaped his lips. He fell down, chest heaving as the last of Khivar's followers dropped to the ground. He looked around at the shocked and horrified faces of his people.

"What are you?" a man he didn't recognize finally asked.

"He is a sorcerer!" another man exclaimed.

"No, I'm still…the same…man," he gasped, still trying to catch his breath, as the people backed away from him.

"We should not have fought for you!" a woman screamed, "You are an unnatural fiend!"

To say that Rath was shocked beyond comprehension was to put it lightly. He had this new development of power and the people thought he was a freak. He just saved them, the ungrateful wretches.

"We will not be ruled by such a sorcerer!"

"A witch!"

"A devil!"

"Perhaps Khivar would be a better ruler. We must ask his forgiveness."

The next day, they held Rath captive in the dungeon of the palace. They did not trust him anymore and were deciding what to do with him. Rath, being too tired to escape the night before, was an easy captive. Now, he was fully energized and ready to rip someone's head off with his bare hands.

They came down for him that night, and strapped him to a wooden pole, atop a pile of what he could only guess was firewood. They were going to burn him at the stake! What a ridiculously archaic notion! He struggled to get out of his restraints but to no avail.

"You bastards!" he screamed at the crowd, "You will be damned forever for this! Khivar will see to that!"

A man slapped him in the face. His head flew to the side.

"How dare you speak such treason!"

He snapped his fingers and two peasants with lit torches set the wood below his feet on fire. Rath stood tall, with his chin high as he was engulfed by flames. He would not scream aloud. He would not give them the satisfaction.

"AHHHH!" he screamed. Rath shot up in a cold sweat. Chest heaving with every breath. Anger boiling up within him. A hand touched his shoulder and he flinched slightly.

"Rath?" Faith asked.

Suddenly, the door burst open and 21 disheveled people stood in the doorway, looking expectantly at Rath. Rath looked at them, then raised his arm, blowing up a coffee table that stood in the corner of the room. He jumped out of bed, pushed past the audience and stalked out of the room, butt naked. The girls checked him out appreciatively before turning to look at Michael who was blushing profusely and staring at the ground. He hurried out of the room to find Rath and make him cover up his body. The others followed shortly after.

They found him in the training room beating the stuffing out of a punching bag.

"Rat bastards!" he yelled at the thing, punctuating each word with a punch, "Ungrateful loads of crap!"

They watched in confusion as he pummeled the punching bag.

"Rot in hell!" he yelled, before spin kicking it. It flew off the roof and landed across the room before bursting into angry flames. He dropped to his knees breathing heavily. A worried Faith dropped beside him, a protective arm around his back, whispering soothing words in his ear. The others stood in silence, half wondering when Faith got so caring, the other half wondering what Rath saw. Okay, well, maybe not half-and-half, more the Pod Squad and Dupes wanted to know what he saw and the others wondered about Faith.

After about ten minutes, Rath finally started to calm down. Michael walked over to him and dropped his clothes on his head.

"Here, put these on, you're embarrassing me," he said. Rath laughed.

"Why deprive them of our fine bods?" he said, "Besides, if you saw what I saw, you wouldn't care either."

He waved his hand over himself and his clothes and they appeared on him.

"Cool," Dawn said.

"What did you see?" Maria asked.

"The last day of the war," he said, getting angry again.

"What happened?" Michael and Maria asked.

"Well, Zan, Ava and Vilandra were dead already. Both the armies were scrunting and small because of the other battles. I got Zan's followers to join up with my followers and we were about to go up against Khivar," he recalled, "Khivar surrounded us and started yelling about how he already won the war and that he'll capture me for public execution. So I gave the signal and we start shooting the bastards," he continued, "We ran out of ammo 'cause Khivar blew up our weapons store. He had Nikaid come out to get me, condescending little jerk. He was gonna kill me, so I used my powers on him and his damn army. I didn't even know I had 'em."

"So, we won the war?" Michael asked.

"Yeah."

"So why are they still enslaved?"

"I'm getting there! So, I look around at my so-called followers and they are like, petrified. Started calling me a witch," he said, anger dripping with every word, "They said they didn't want to be ruled by a witch so they captured me and burned me at the stake."

They were all shocked and appalled by this new information. Michael was really pissed off. He turned and blew up a chair next to the fallen punching bag.

"Hey hey!" Angel yelled, "Could you not blow up my hotel?"

"Don't worry about it pops," Rath replied as he waved his hand in the general direction of the ashes, bringing them back to their original forms.

"Huh, good luck, Zanther, Maxwell, that's yo' planet, that's yo' prob," Rath said, getting up, "If they're enslaved, it's their fault."

"So, you're just gonna leave?" Cordelia asked.

"Duh," he said annoyed, "Did I tell them I was a evil witch? NO. They thought Khivar was better than me, they can live with him. It's their own fault."

"But our people," Max started.

"Can suck my balls," he interrupted, "We won. They gave themselves up. Not my problem. I'm not even Antarian."

"I agree with the little bugger," Spike said, "If they don't want him, why go?"

"They can fend for themselves, screw 'em," he said.

"So you're giving up on them just like that?" Liz asked, amazed. This guy was a Michael double, would he do the same thing?

"Do you know what it's like to be burnt alive?" he growled, "It's a walk in the park with ice-cream and tobasco," he said, sarcastically, glaring at them, "I have no desire to go through it again."

He turned around and stalked out of the room. Everyone looked at each other.

"Are you gonna leave, too?" Max asked Michael. All eyes turned on him.

"Not my planet, I don't have to care," he said, before turning and leaving.

The group watched as two important elements of the upcoming battle walked out on them.

"Well, this sucks," Xander said.



Michael and Rath went out into the morning sun of LA with nothing to do. They were still upset by the recent developments, Rath more so than Michael. They both kept their heads down in a similar fashion as they walked down the crowded streets.

"So, what do you think of 'home' now?" Rath finally asked.

"Thank God I'm Deimon and not Rath," he replied, "I can still hide."

"Never thought it would be like that, y'know?" he said, "I thought that we were accepted back there, and this whole 'outsider' thing was a product of being an alien, but I guess not."

"Well, technically we were the alien there, too."

"Yeah, I guess," he paused, taking in the scenery (cars and buildings, ooh pretty), "Do you think our mom is still alive?"

"I dunno," Michael answered, "I doubt it, I mean, we've been here fifty four years. She would be, what, 99?"

Rath shrugged, "Who knows, maybe time moves differently there."

"Makes sense," Michael answered thoughtfully, "Why send somebody to save you when you know you'll have to wait, like sixty years. That makes no sense."

"We'll have to ask Larek."

"Ha, yeah right. Didn't he take Brody back?"

Rath shrugged. They continued to walk in a companionable silence. They turned a corner and doubled back to the hotel.

'Michael?'

'Hey Maria,' he answered telepathically.

'Where are you?'

'We're almost to the hotel,' he thought, 'Just tell everybody not to mention the battle to Rath for a while.'

'No problem,' she replied, 'So, how do you feel about it?'

'I'm glad I didn't see it,' he replied, 'I think I rather be Deimon than Rath right now. At least I don't have to get visions of being burnt alive.'

'Yeah. So, I'll see you at the hotel in like, what, five minutes?' Maria asked.

Suddenly, someone grabbed them from behind as they passed an alleyway. He felt something stick him in the arm as he was dragged into a dark van at the end of the alley. His muscles felt like Jell-O, making it impossible to put up a fight. His head flopped to the right to see Rath knocked out next to him, being dragged by two huge men dressed in black.

'Michael? Michael!' Maria screamed in his head.

'Maria? Help me.' Was his last coherent thought before he passed out.



"Oh my God!" she screamed.

"Your hand can't be that good," Spike said. Spike, Maria, Kyle and Faith had been playing poker since Michael and Rath left. They didn't really have anything else to do. Giles and Wesley once again had their heads buried in a book and the others were just lounging around.

"Michael's in trouble, we have to go. NOW!"

"How do you know?" Zan asked.

"The Connection," she said hurriedly, "We were talking and all of a sudden, he stopped. He's in trouble let's go."

"Can't you try to contact him?" Isabel asked Maria. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.

"Nothing."

"Does that mean…?" Liz asked, dreading the answer.

"God, I hope not," Maria said, crying.

"What about Rath?" Faith asked, quietly.

"He was with him," Maria answered, "Mi-Michael was trying to calm him down."

"Who would take them, though?" asked Dawn. Everybody looked at each other.

"Khivar."



He felt cold concrete under him, tiny stones digging into his back. Air entered his lungs in ragged breaths. Water dripped somewhere, annoyingly. Drip. Drip. He opened his eyes to his dark prison. The gray concrete ground lay before him, interrupted about five feet away from him by thick metal bars. He pushed himself up from his position on the ground. His arms shook in protest from his feeble muscles. He turned his head slowly so that the pain in his head would remain as nothing more than a dull ache. It didn't work. He grimaced as he looked around. There, in the corner opposite him, sat his clone, Rath. He was staring angrily at the bars that kept them captive.

"Rath?" he whispered, voice raspy. Rath turned.

"We're trapped."

"What about-"

"My powers don't work," he interrupted. Michael nodded. He got up and walked to the bars. They were alone in the room. Whoever kidnapped them were pretty sure of themselves if they didn't even leave a guard. He sighed and went back to sit down against the wall. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to join us," a vaguely familiar voice interrupted the silence. Michael cracked open one eye. A fifteen-year-old boy stood before him, hands clasped behind his back, staring at him and Rath.

"Nicholas," he growled.

"You rang?" he said.

"What the hell do you want?"

"To get rid of the Royal Four," he said simply, "duh."

"Why only take us?" Rath asked, angrily.

"Well, we were gonna take a girl or two, but then, you were right there. More convenient," he said, disinterested.

"I killed you once, I can do it again, Nikaid," Rath growled.

Nicholas glared at him, "Silence freak!"

"What, you scared of the truth?"

"That was then," Nicholas said, angrily, "Besides, that formula I gave you will block your powers, anyway." He smirked. "It's simple really. This," he said, holding up a syringe, "contains an inhibitor that blocks the effect the sun has on your Antarian blood cells, thus taking away your powers."

Just then, a brunette walked into the dungeon. She wore a black business suit and an evil smile. She moved to stand on the boy's left.

"Who do we have here?"

"General Rath and his duplicate, Michael."

"Cute," she said, studying them.

"Who the hell are you?" Rath growled.

"You don't need to know that," she said, coldly.

"You seriously need to get laid, lady," Rath taunted. Lilah's eyes flashed with anger.

"I'll take care of it," Nicholas said, pulling Lilah out of the room.

Michael sighed and resumed his position on the wall.

'Michael?'

'Maria!' Michael exclaimed.

'Michael, where are you?'

'I don't know, locked up somewhere.'

'Do you know who did this?'

'Nicholas,' he said, angrily, 'and some other chick, I don't know who she is.'

'Can you send me a picture?' she asked.

'Yeah,' he replied. He closed his eyes and thought of the woman Rath was taunting less than five minutes ago. Then, he concentrated on sending it to Maria.

'Got it,' she said, 'Did you see anything on your way in?'

'No, they knocked me out. I'll ask Rath.'

"Hey, Rath," he whispered, not sure if the room was bugged, "Did you see anything on the way in here?"

"Nothin'."

'Nothing,' he thought back to Maria.

She sighed. 'We're coming.'

'Okay.'

'I love you.'

'Ditto.'

'Deluca over and out,' she joked. He chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Rath asked, annoyed.

"They're coming," he whispered.

"Better had," he grumbled.



"Anything?" asked Wesley.

"Yeah," Maria said, coming out of her trance, "They're being held by Nicholas and some chick in a business suit."

"What did she look like?" Angel asked.

"Brunette, long hair, cold demeanor," she said.

"Lilah," Cordelia, Gunn, Angel and Wesley said at the same time.

"Okay," she said, "Who's that?"

"She's a lawyer with Wolfram and Hart," Wesley answered.

"Okay, why would they want two aliens?" Max asked.

"Wolfram and Hart are an evil law firm," Angel answered, "They represent Demons, vampires, basically anything evil."

"If she's working with Nicholas, they probably have Khivar, too," Isabel said.

"Guess we're breaking in there again," Gunn said, grabbing the closest crossbow and loading up.

"How many times have you broken in there?" Max asked.

"About three, right?" Cordelia asked. Angel shrugged.

"How are your breaking and entering skills?" he asked the Roswell gang.

"Pretty good, though the best is locked up right now," Isabel said.

"What about you?" Wesley asked the Dupes.

"We live in the sewers in New York," Ava said, flatly.

"Okay, point taken," Cordelia said, "So, what's the plan?"

Angel went into the office and pulled out a map of Wolfram and Hart he got from Lindsey earlier that year. He opened it out on the front desk.

"Okay, we have to assume that they're actually in that building," he said, "that would mean that they're somewhere in the basement."

"That area's huge, how do we know where to look?" Isabel asked.

"Well, we know here," he said, pointing to a room at one end of the map, "is where they keep the archives. And here," he pointed to the other end, "is where they keep the artifacts."

"That leaves, like five more rooms," Kyle said, "not to mention a whole maze to walk through."

"Better than nothing. That gives us two less," he said, patiently.

"Can't you get a vision or something?" Liz asked Cordelia.

"No, doesn't work that way," she said, "I only get what they send me and the migraine that comes with it."

"Did they see anything else?" Wesley questioned again.

"No, they were both unconscious."

"Can you go back and ask him if there are any distinctive features in the room he could identify?"

"I guess," she said.

'Michael?'

'Yeah, you coming?'

'Yeah. You're somewhere in Wolfram and Hart.'

'Oh joy.'

'Yeah. Anyway, Wesley wants to know if there are any distinctive features about the room.'

'Besides that incessant dripping that's annoying the hell out of me? No.'

'Can you see outside at all?'

'Nope.'

"YO, Dupe! Snap out of it! They're coming back!" Rath hissed.

Michael blinked and focused on the three figures walking up to their cell.

"Hey, Rath," Lonnie said, coldly, "Having fun?"

"Until you brought your ugly butt back," he growled, a glare fixated on her.

"Nuh-uh, don't taunt the warden now," Tess said.

"Hi psycho whore, long time no see," Michael mocked, "How's life?"

"Royal," she said.

"Yeah I bet. So royal you had to kidnap friends," Rath sneered.

"You shouldn't speak to the queen like that," the figure behind them said.

"Oh? And who the hell are you?"

He stepped forward into the light. An evil smirk was plastered on his face. Michael squinted at him.

"Do I know you?"

"Doubt it."

"What do you want from us?"

"Revenge dear brother," Tess said.

"I'm not your brother," Michael growled.

"So you're not," she said, shrugging, "We don't really need revenge either."

"Kidnapping is just fun," Lonnie filled in.

"Doesn't take much to keep you entertained," Michael scoffed.

They glared at them and walked off.

"Well, that was pointless," Rath muttered.

'Michael, are you okay?'

'Yeah, just got a visit from our happy captors. There are more of them now. Tess, Lonnie and some guy. I swear I've seen him somewhere before.'

'Send me a picture.'

Michael concentrated on sending the picture to Maria.

'Know who it is?'

'He looks familiar, but I can't place him. Ask Rath.'

"Hey, Rath. You know who that guy is?"

"No clue."

'Big help,' Maria grumbled.

'So what's the plan?'

'Is there a pipe line above your heads?'

Michael looked up. 'Yeah.'

'Wes says there should be a number on it somewhere, it should tell us where you are.'

'Ask Wes if he thinks I'm superman,' Michael thought sarcastically.

'Okay, I guess it's plan B.'

'Which is…?'

'Look around 'til we find you.'

'Okay.'

'Why don't you guys just blast your ways out of there anyway?'

'Nicholas has some kind of serum that blocks the effect the sun has on our Antarian cells.'

'Great.'

'I know.' Michael sighed. 'So, when are you coming?'

'In about an hour. Be ready.'

'Sir, yes sir.'

'Funny, Spaceboy.'