Author's Note: Elements of this chapter are copyright DC Comics Inc. and NBC & Adam Sorkin respectively. No infringement is intended.

And to answer some of the questions posed with the reviews:
Evilauthor: You wrote a story like this one, too? I need to check that one out. I hope I'm not copying anything you already wrote? Anyway, I know I have two Marvel-influenced characters already, but as you will learn there is some DC in there, too (see this chapter for example). I plan to go all out in this, so expect to see quite a few guest stars from all sorts of different fandoms.

Slincoln: Is Xander an immortal that often? I'll be the first to admit I don't read much Xander-centric fic. Most of the Highlander x-overs I've read had Buffy as the immortal.

Dlgood: While I may introduce some more Highlander elements over time, the Gathering will not be one of the major plot points of this story.

I think that's it question-wise. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoy.

One more thing: I made a title picture for this story, showing my version of the Scooby Gang. Check out my site shadow-dancing.com to see it.

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Chapter 3: Background Information

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Grand Central

Time indeterminable

Parallel 000

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Your name is Angelus, which means the one with the angelic face. It is a name given to you by your creator, the vampire Darla, and you have worn it ever since that night back in 1753 when you were born. The human being you were before is of no consequence anymore, never has been.

For the longest part of your life you have been a vampire, one of the most sadistic and cruel of your kind. Like no other you enjoyed the suffering of human beings, relished torturing them until they begged for death. In your own mind you were an artist, turning the animalistic necessity of drinking human blood into a feast of suffering and agony. You thought you had reached the top of the food chain.

You were wrong. As Willow 12 said, you are now something worse than a vampire.

Even as you listen to the machine prattle on your eyes are always moving, taking in the people seated around the table. Clearly Willow 12 has selected a very unique group of individuals for whatever she intends to accomplish. Many of them seem to be familiar with one another, or at least with the people they were in their various universes. You are not an idiot, you understand the concept of alternate realities. Still, you are not quite comfortable with the fact that so many of the people present here today seem to be familiar with you, any version of you, while you know nothing about them in turn.

Thankfully you have a lot of experience in measuring people with a glance. The man to your left, Rupert Giles, the Sorcerer Supreme, gives an outward air of regality and confidence. The latter is certainly not based on arrogance, not solely anyway, as you can almost feel the power flowing around him. Over the years you have met a lot of mages and none of them made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up like this man does.

For all that power and apparent confidence, though, you can see him fidget. It's almost imperceptible, but it's there. Something has happened, something has damaged that calm demeanor and self-confidence. Something very recent. Probably whatever would have killed him if not for Willow 12's intervention. There is an open wound there somewhere, just waiting to be exploited. You'll just need a little more information.

The blonde woman to Willow 12's right keeps glaring daggers at you. True to form you smile back at her in a way that clearly demonstrates what you would like to do with (and to) her. She is pretty enough and you always had a thing for little blondes, but who in their right mind would call themselves Buffy? From the anger you see smoldering in her eyes you guess that she knew another you. That whole talk about souls doesn't quite make sense to you yet, but you've gotten the impression that the Angelus she knew was a do-gooder. Disgusting! Still, if she had a thing for an alternate you that is a definite opening. Also, she seems quite pissed at Willow 12 for bringing you in instead of some other version. Another fact to keep in mind.

The two boys, Xander and Daniel, are not much of a challenge to figure out. Daniel broods, wrapped in his own misery. If he's a werewolf, whatever a mutated werewolf might be, that's not a big surprise. In your experience there are only two kinds of werewolves. Those that revel in the savagery of their alter ego and those who are deeply shamed by it. This boy certainly falls into the latter category. The wolf has done something, something terrible, and Daniel feels guilty for it. An introverted guy, you haven't heard him say more than two words so far, if that many.

Xander gives the outward impression of a happy-go-lucky guy. What little he has said have mostly been smart-ass comments. His eyes speak a different language, though. They speak of pain. Given that he is an immortal you guess that it's the pain of living while everyone around you dies. You know that kind of pain. Not from personal experience, of course, given that you've never cared about anyone but yourself, but you have inflicted it on others quite a few times.

Most interesting of the bunch to you, though, is the claw girl, Faith. She is slouched in her seat like a high-schooler during a boring lecture, but you can almost feel the violence boiling just underneath her skin, waiting to explode at a moment's notice. It excites you. One of her hands, which shows no more traces of the wounds inflicted by those metal claws extending from them, plays with a chain around her neck. There are dog tags there. She doesn't look old enough to have been in the military, but no one knows better than you how deceiving looks can be. The name on the dog tags reads Faith, just Faith. The way she keeps playing with them makes you ponder their significance.

"Let me start by giving you a brief overview of the state of existence, so to speak." The machine finally stops the pleasantries and you lean back, interested to finally get to the bottom of things.

"Creation is divided into a nearly infinite number of alternate dimensions, or parallels. Every time a decision is made new parallels are created, playing out the different alternatives. Most of you have probably heard theories about that in one way or another. In one world a man decides to cross the street and gets run down by a car, in another world he stops in time and goes on to become a famous world leader or something.

"You, all of you, are from different worlds. Different chains of events have created you. Each of you has a multitude of doppelgangers across the multiverse. Some are almost completely identical to you, some are very different. Every possible version of history you can imagine exists, plus quite a few beyond anyone's imagination."

"So what's wrong?" Xander asks. When everyone looks at him, he adds, "there is always something wrong, otherwise you wouldn't have brought us here."

Kid's got a point, you concede that much.

"Xander is right, I'm afraid, there is something wrong. Something happened recently, figuratively speaking. Time is an extremely volatile variable in this kind of work, you will find. Anyway, what happened is this: A chain of events in parallel 010 produced a creature of immense power at the cost of all life in that dimension, leaving said creature insane with grief. The details are not that important and would take much too long. What's important is that this creature tried to undo what it had done and change history for the better."

"That would be impossible, wouldn't it?" the sorcerer asks. "If I understand the implications of a multiverse correctly than the past can not be changed, seeing as all possible versions of it already exist."

"You are correct, Mr. Giles. Under normal circumstances the history of any single parallel cannot be changed and an attempt to do so would, at best, only result in a crossover to the parallel where this changed version of history is already reality. Unfortunately these weren't even remotely normal circumstances."

A holographic picture appears above the conference table. Quite an impressive display of technology, you find. Then again, you were around when the first light bulb was invented, so you have learned to take these things in stride.

"All the parallels emerge from a single source," Willow 12 says, gesturing toward a stylized representation of the multiverse, looking like a tree with an enormous number of branches. "This source is, for lack of a better word, the Big Bang, the creation of space and time. The parallels diverge only later when life starts to emerge. This parallel we are currently on is actually one of the first variants to be created. The accident that was the emergence of life never happened and so no further parallels diverged from here. We are on a dead branch, so to speak.

"That point," she gestures at the root of the tree, "is the one spot in the multiverse where history can be changed, seeing as all parallels are still one there."

"So our big bad tried messing with the whole universe from there?" Faith asks, massaging her knuckles. Her face clearly tells that she considers the scope of what you are being told so ridiculously grand that she might as well be hearing a fictional story. "What happened?"

"She was stopped," Buffy says, though the tone of her voice doesn't exactly scream 'triumph' at you. Your eyes narrowing, you study her and see the pain and regret her body is positively humming with. She was part of whatever battle took place and it wasn't a pleasant experience for her.

You also note that she used 'she' to describe the entity that Willow 12 only referred to as 'creature'.

"The instigator of this crisis was indeed stopped," Willow 12 continues, "but not before causing quite a bit of damage, I'm afraid. A number of parallels were obliterated, entire universes wiped out."

You simply raise an eyebrow while other people around the table gasped. Entire universes destroyed? That's quite a few lives extinguished. You have tallied quite a bodycount over the years, but this is way out of your class. Whoever did this must have been quite a heavyweight.

"Forgive me, Willow," Rupert Giles interrupts, "but if the instigator of this catastrophe has already been stopped, then why are we here?"

"That's what we'd all like to know," you add, just to remind everyone of your presence. You get the feeling that most of them have been doing their best to ignore you. Buffy flinches slightly at the sound of your voice. Rupert, whom you are sure senses what kind of power flows in your veins and is weary of it, almost manages to remain impassive. Xander glares at you, his eyes speaking of old animosity. Faith stops playing with her dog tags for a moment, flexing her hands. The only one not showing any reaction is Daniel.

"I am getting to that part right now. In order to stop the instigator of the crisis I recruited some help from several different parallels. Many of them died, but those that survived I returned to their home dimensions. Through them and various other means it has come to my attention, though, that the destruction of various parallels is not the only damage left behind by that crisis."

The hologram changes, now showing two individual strands on the stylized decision tree.

"The destruction of parallels has destabilized the entire multiversal construct, like a house of cards were several cards were removed. This has lead to a phenomenon that I like to call a convergence. Two or more parallels briefly overlap, occupying the same space at the same time. In some cases the results have been catastrophic."

Images flicker over the table. You watch as two planets that look exactly identical suddenly interface, destroying each other in a violent eruption of energy. Cities seem to shimmer as buildings appear and disappear, people walking the streets scream in surprise when faced with doppelgangers that fade a moment later.

"These are but a few impressions of the chaos that's been left in this crisis' wake."

"Not to sell myself short," Faith interjects, "but what the fuck do you think the likes of us can do against colliding planets? I'm usually more the smash-type myself."

"There is very little anyone can do against cosmic phenomena of this kind, Faith. There are other factors at work, though, ones that are happening on a more accessible level. Let me give you an example."

The holographic screen flickers again and the face of a middle-aged man appears. A moment later a second face appears beside it, almost identical except for the haircut and some wrinkles.

"Hey, I know that guy," Xander gets up from his seat. "That's Mayor Richard Wilkins."

"Friend of yours?" you ask with a smirk, fully aware that a reaction like that does not speak of friendly terms.

"The one on the right," Willow 12 continues before Xander can give some kind of retort, "is indeed Richard Wilkins, although not the one from your parallel. Just like the man you knew, though, this man has practiced sorcery all his life and intended to ascend into a greater demon, a goal he would ultimately have succeeded in.

"The one on the left, on the other hand, is Roger Tribby. He is the secretary of agriculture to the US government in the year 2000 AD on parallel 047. Tribby is a good man, or as good a man as a politician can be, and, incidentally, the grandson of a Richard Wilkins who never heard of sorcery and certainly never tried to become a demon."

"So what's the problem then?"

Willow 12 gestures and the earlier picture of two parallel dimensions returns, though now the two strands are intersecting.

"During the crisis parallel 047, home dimension of Roger Tribby, briefly converged with parallel 041, which is where Richard Wilkins hails from. The two dimensions are completely different. In 047 there never were any demons inhabiting the Earth and magic, while present, is a much less potent force than it is on 041 for example. Unfortunately during the crisis some things crossed over, including the esteemed Richard Wilkins. The convergence is over now, but Wilkins remains on 047."

"Not a good thing, I imagine?" Rupert asks, looking concerned. You consider brushing your leg against his just to see him jump.

"Definitely not, and for two different reasons at that. First of all there is this little thing called conservation of mass and energy. Richard Wilkins has been added to a closed system where all matter and energy is divided and accounted for. His very presence is going to cause disruptions, but those are the minor issue. The major one is that he is going to change the history of this parallel."

"Let me guess." Buffy looks away from you and studies the images on the holographic screen. You get the feeling that she, too, has met this Richard Wilkins and hasn't got too many fond memories of him. "He plans to do his Ascension thing on this parallel, too."

"Yes. To start things off he will kill and replace Roger Tribby. Then he will arrange for the rest of the US government to be assassinated, leaving himself in the position to assume the presidency. If left unopposed he will plunge the Earth into war and summon demonic forces into a world where there are absolutely no defenses against such powers. That alone would be bad enough, but such a violent change of that parallel's history will cause further disruptions of the multiverse, leading to further convergences, leading to more disruptions ... you see where I'm going with this?"

Everyone nods except for you. It is becoming increasingly clear that every single person present in this room is a do-gooder of some kind, though some of them might resent that notion. You, on the other hand, ...

"So I take it you gathered this little all-star team here to travel to that other parallel and show Mr. Wilkins the error of his ways?" you speculate.

Willow 12 nods. "Essentially, yes. As I said earlier, though, this is but one example. There have been other convergences, people or things crossing over from one parallel to another. In some cases entire histories have already been changed irrevocably. If this is allowed to continue unchecked it is only a matter of time, figuratively speaking, until the entire multiverse drowns in chaos."

"So?" you ask.

"I believe you don't quite grasp the severity of this situation," Rupert says, giving you a stern glare.

"Oh, I do, Rupert. Believe me, I do. I just have a hard time caring. See, as much as I like having a functional universe to exist in, I am really not that concerned with saving lives and making the world a safer place. Which I'm sure our little digital host knew beforehand. Which brings me around to one question." You look at Willow 12. "Why me?"

"I'd like an answer to that one myself," Xander adds. Consenting murmurs are heard from around the table.

"Two reasons," Willow 12 says, her face growing visibly darker. "First, because I believe that we will need the particular talents of this version of Angelus. And second ..."

She walks around the table until she stands right next to you. Is it you or has she grown bigger during those few steps? Yes, definitely bigger and more menacing than a second ago.

"If you don't play ball, Angelus, I will put you back at the exact time and place I took you from and you will burn to ashes. Is that enough of a reason for you?"

Anger bubbles up inside you, causing your face to lose its human aspect. The damn machine has you by the balls and you know it, but you don't have to like it.

If it wasn't for that bastard John Constantine you would never have ended up in a situation like this. Then again, if you hadn't met him you'd still be a lowly vampire. There are pros and cons to everything.

So, having to choose between playing ball for a while and dying at the hands (or fiery breath, rather) of a particularly nasty demon called Etrigan ...

"I'll play," you growl, slipping back into human face. You are not such a drama queen that you feel the need to add 'for now', but you are certain that your host understands that part as well.

"Why the rest of us?" Daniel asks, startling everyone. You think these are actually the first words he has spoken since coming here.

"What do you mean?" Willow 12 asks.

"You have an entire multiverse to choose from. Why the six of us?"

The machine walks back to the head of the table, shrinking down to somewhat human proportions once again. You amuse yourself with a little fantasy of tearing out her mechanical guts piece by piece.

"Well, first off, it's a bad idea to put several versions of the same being in one place at the same time for any length of time. It leads to the same kind of disruptions these convergences cause. We didn't know that during the crisis and our having two or more versions of the same people gathered together might actually have made things worse. Since I fear this mission will run for quite some time it was therefore impossible to recruit, for example, a hundred different Buffys or Faiths or Angels. I could only pick one of each."

"Still, why stop at six people?" Faith asks. "Even if take just one of each and stick to people about to croak, you could still recruit an entire army."

"I don't need an army, Faith. I need a small group of capable people. You will be entering different parallels and your presence there will also cause disruptions just like any other foreign body. The less there are of you the better. And before you ask, I selected each of you because I think you are able to handle whatever you might encounter out there. Consider it a compliment."

"Just one final question," Xander says, raising his hand as if you were in school. "Why wait until we were about to die? I can understand it with deadboy over there, but don't you think that, given what's at stake, the rest of us might have agreed to come even if our imminent deaths weren't an issue?"

"It wasn't that, Xander. I certainly don't intend to blackmail the rest of you. I am somewhat restricted in what I can do, though, since I don't intend to cause further damage while trying to clean up the old. Taking you out of your worlds while you were still ... active, for lack of a better word ... would have caused a change of history and just as much damage as, for example, Richard Wilkins is about to do on parallel 047. I needed to take you at the end of your lifespans on your respective parallel, when your disappearance wouldn't cause any further changes."

You look around, taking in the mood of the others. Do-gooders, just like you figured. Still, even given that, none of them are too thrilled knowing that, right now, each and every one of them should be dead and gone and can never go back without wrecking their home dimensions. You take a little bit of pleasure from their misery. Just a little.

"What you have to understand," Buffy says, looking somber, "is that your old lives are over. There is nothing for you to go back to. Believe me, I tried."

She tried? Tried and failed? Interesting. You file that information away for later use.

For a minute or so there is silence in the room, everyone trying to come to terms with what she just said. You, though, you are getting kind of edgy. It's not a state of mind you find yourself in often, seeing as you can be almost infinitely patient when it suits you. It's not been a good day for you, though. Right now you need to work out some frustrations.

"I believe you said something about killing someone," you say, shattering the mood. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd like to work a few kinks out."

TO BE CONTINUED