Disclaimer: I don't own anything so there would be very little point in suing me. The marvellous characters in this story are owned by the people who own them and not unfortunately by me. If you don't recognize a character then it's mine, all mine.
Summary: The end is near...
Spoilers: Not really but let's say X-men 1 and Buffy season 6 to be safe.
Rating: Let's say pg-13 because I use a bad word, I think you know the one I use, so if it offends you don't read. Or read but mentally bleep the word.
Author's Note: The academic in me demands that I stop this nonsense and study. But I will not yield!
Chapter 19 - The end is here,
The cave was empty and after a quick scout around inside the gang discovered that while the cave system was made up of several caverns there was essentially no way in or out of the cave except for the entrance. Xander stood at the mouth of the cave and watched the sun go down, Angel stood besides him in the shade. The trip from the school for him and Spike having been made in the comfort of the school jet and with the landing in the forest clearing that concealed the cave, there had been no need as yet to try and explain to the x-men why one brother caught flames in sunlight and the other didn't.
Logan strolled up to the pair and leaning against the wall next to Xander he reached out and ruffled the 'boy's' hair,
" You going to stay safe?" The gruff man asked and Xander rolled his eyes,
" I'm about to fight an apocalypse not have casual sex."
Logan's eyes widened for a moment and not really knowing how to respond he hit his Son playfully in the arm and wandered away again. Xander kept his eye roll going as he looked after the retreating figure.
" My god, what were they thinking?" He asked under his breath and there was a pop and Willow smiled and shrugged,
" I think that they were thinking that a positive male role model might have a good influence on you," She suggested and looked out across the clearing to where Spike was desperately sucking down a cigarette and Cordelia was cleaning under her nails with a twig.
" They're going to depend on you, you're a pivotal part of this whole war." Willow said turning to face Xander who nodded ever so slightly.
" Do you get what I'm saying Xander, you are an integral factor in the protection of the portal." Xander's eye twitched as he stared at Willow who continued,
" It's almost like you're the, " There was a poof and Willow had disappeared mid sentence, Xander stared at the space in front of his and then waved his arm through it just in case Willow had managed to turn invisible.
" She's gone." He stated in a kind of shocked agitation,
" Who's gone?" Angel asked
" Willow, just like that poof and she's gone." Angel nodded slowly,
" I know Xander, we all miss Will, She was one of a kind," He reached across and patted Xander on the shoulder then walked off into the now dark night.
" Right of course cause no one else can see her, they just think I'm mad." Xander sighed rolling his eyes and leaning back against the wall of the cave.
" Hearing voices little guy? As long as they don't tell you to sacrifice anyone or kill I'd say that it's not such a bad thing," Xander turned to see Lorne smiling at him,
" Lorne? What are you doing here?" Xander asked his eyes opening wide, Lorne frowned,
" What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm here to protect the entrance to the cave."
" No!!" Xander shouted moving away from the wall, " You were supposed to stay at the library and research the key!"
Lorne's face fell, " That's ok who ever stayed can still do that right?" He asked and then because the boy in front of him face had turned ashen he asked again, "Right?"
" Oh god please tell me Cordelia stayed behind?" Lorne ranted and Xander stayed frozen in shock,
" She's outside isn't she?" Lorne peered around Xander and then whacked his head hard on the cave wall,
" Oh good heavens, I don't suppose someone could run me back quickly?"
From behind them in the cave came a deep rumble and the ground shook. Xander stared towards the sound,
" Without the key we're screwed," he whispered, " it was the most important part of the plan, it was integral, it was pivotal..." Xander stopped and looked up at Lorne,
" Integral" the boy whispered and Lorne nodded the demon nearly crying,
" I know, I know, I've destroyed the world." He moaned but Xander shook his head quickly,
" Not yet Lorne, it's not over yet!" He slapped the demon on the shoulder in what was supposed to be a comforting pat but it came out as more of a swat and Lorne was knocked backwards into the wall, Xander smiled sheepishly at him.
" Sorry," He yelled as he ran off into the deepest part of the cave.
Logan, Scott, Jean and the Professor were all standing staring at a small glowing crack in the air.
" Extraordinary," The Professor nodded " It truly is a gap in time and space, a doorway to an alternate dimension. Imagine a world completely unlike this, or even still a world perhaps it's equal except for some minor discrepancies,"
" Sure a world filled exclusively with demons, that sounds great." Xander muttered coming up behind the Professor,
"Maybe but think of all the other world's that could exist out there, this could even be a rip in time and space leading back to the past when Demons ruled this world." The Professor was clearly in awe,
Xander looked around,
"How did it open?" He demanded and Wesley turned shaking his head,
"I think a more pertinent question is how do we close it, has Lorne called with any..." Wesley trailed off as a sheepish Lorne wandered into the cave,
"Oh good heavens." Wesley gasped,
"Let's deal with it later right now maybe you should exit stage left while we have a stage and you still have a left." Xander suggested to the Professor and Lorne and he stared at the crack thoughtfully.
The gravel underneath the Professor's wheels crunched as he left the cave and Xander turned to Wesley.
" Ok Wes, so a key closes the portal and how do keys work? They fit in locks or some are electronic," Xander told himself and he reached out and hesitantly touched the crack, there was a boom and Xander was flung across the cave and crunched into the nearest rock face, he hit the ground hard and stood shakily and glared at the crack, waving away Logan who was already standing next to him.
" Well that didn't work,"
"Can I ask what you were hoping to achieve?" Wesley enquired and Xander shrugged,
"It has been suggested to me that maybe in some form I am the key to the portal." Xander explained and Wesley frowned,
"Suggested by who?"
"I think right now we have bigger problems," Xander covered as there was a second boom and from the crack a claw appeared and something big and shiny and red pulled itself through the tiny opening twisting it's body like a Cirque de Soleil performer before landing in a heap on the cave floor.
" Oh shit," Xander muttered as he grabbed a broad sword that was leaning against the cave wall a few feet away.
The creature leapt to it's feet, all four of them and bellowed. The rush of air hitting Jean in the face and she made a face and tried not to gag. The creature opened it's mouth again and a laser of red shot through the air and hit it square on the chest and the only noise it ended up making was a squelchy one when all the bits floated to the floor.
" Cool!" Xander shouted racing over to Scott,
" Can you do that for anything that crawls through there?" He asked excitedly his teenage excitement showing and Scott nodded smiling somewhat thrilled that he had managed to impress someone.
A tentacle slipped through the crack and Scott opened fire again, the beam hitting the tentacle and it quivered rapidly, growing in size it ripped the edges of the portal and Xander yelled accusingly,
" Whoa, don't shoot it, you're making it bigger!"
The boy moved forward and with a downward slash of the sword he severed the tentacle from whatever it was attached to, the tentacle slithered across the floor and thrashed around, Xander raced after it and hacked at it again, until now several pieces all thrashed around and they seemed to be getting bigger, following the pieces Xander kept hacking away,
" It's regrowing!" Xander yelled and was stopped from making another hacking attack by Logan who grabbed Xander's arm as he brought the sword down again,
" That's not helping." Logan growled as the rest of the gang ran into the cave,
" Holy mother of squirming legs!" Spike yelled staring at the ground, parts of which were moving.
" Ok think if we can't torch it and we can't hack it what can we do?" Logan demanded kicking away a tentacle, which was trying to hump his boot.
" Freeze it?" Jean shouted as Scott and Logan turned to Storm.
" How about it? Can you make it snow inside a cave?" Jean asked optimistically and almost at once Storm's eyes turned white and a wind rose from the ground and whipped up her white hair.
" Put on your winter woollies, because it's about to get cold in here," Storm quipped as her hands shot out to her sides and with a single blast of wind the air turned icy cold. Xander shivered as the temperature in the cave dropped and beside him Logan wrapped an arm around his Son, pulling Xander into his side in an effort to keep him warm.
There was another gust of wind stronger then the first and then a blizzard was thrust into the depths of the cave, the snow stuck to the gang's faces and hair, and landed with a sizzle onto the teeming tentacle parts and another tentacle that had come through the portal. The gust got stronger and the temperature fell even more and from inside the portal something started to scream and then it stopped suddenly. Xander stared in amazement as the tentacles vanished. Storm brought her arms back down to her sides and the wind stopped and so did the falling snow.
The gang looked at each other over the blanket of snow that covered the floor, Logan gave Xander's shoulder a squeeze and then released him and the boy looked eagerly around the cave at the Mutants.
" Ok anyone with a special power gather at the portal, the rest hang back, if we're lucky we might be able to kill them before they get out!" Wesley shouted and Jean, Scott and Storm moved forwards slightly as Logan, Xander, Angel, Wes and Spike took a step back,
" Nothing gets out of the cave." Xander instructed and there was a variety of nods.
The front line turned back towards the portal as something black and hairy was trying to ooze through, Scott blasted it once and it exploded ripping more of the portal open, and where there was one demon two more were able to try and fit through.
Scott fired again at both demons but the laser glanced off their scales and hit the cave ceiling blowing a large chunk of rock towards Logan who simply glared at Scott but said nothing,
" Ok my turn," Snarled Logan and he darted forwards and slashed at an arm; there was a clang but no response to the creature.
"Oh my god it's made of something tougher then adamantinum?" Jean breathed in awe and then realising the situation she took a deep breath and stared at the lump of rock that had just fallen to the cave floor, the rock started to wobble and then it lifted off the floor and flew with great speed into the creature pushing the creature back slightly but crumbling into gravel as it impacted.
The Portal ripped again so that now it was nearly the size of a basketball and something that looked like a racoon with about a thousand more teeth burst through.
" Ok this one's mine!" Xander yelled eager to get into the fight he rushed forward sword ready and swiped at the creature missing by hairs width, the creature leapt from the floor up at Xander who slashed at it in mid air and sent each half of the fur ball to either ends of the cave.
" Good job," Logan shouted as he slashed at a second of the same creature, a third ran towards Spike who kicked at it and sent it smashing into a wall Spike right behind it leaping on it with a stake and stabbing it repeatedly.
" The Portal isn't going to hold much longer!" Xander warned advancing towards a vampire that had burst through the portal.
Xander blocked a right hook from the Vampire, which struck the broad sword and knocked it out of Xander's hand. In response Xander struck out with his foot kicking the Vampire in the chin, Xander kicked it again in the chest and the vamp fell back onto Spike's stake, who was coming back into the fight.
" How the hell are we going to shut this thing?" Angel shouted fighting off a hell beast.
"English Boy any ideas?" Shouted Spike as he pulled the Hell beast off Angel and they both killed it with a flurry of blows.
Wesley shouted what sounded like a Latin incantation and threw a bunch of herbs at the portal but it stayed open and several more Demons crawled through.
All through the cave now corpses of Demons littered the ground yet still each member of the gang was still engaged in a fight, they were holding ground but who knew for how long.
Xander stooped to the cave floor and picked up the sword he had dropped and flung it across the cave at another hell beast, the sword spearing through it's side and driving the corpse against the wall.
" We need the key!" Logan shouted taking a few more swings at the big strong arm that still was pushing at the edge of the portal.
" And if we had it how would we even use it?" Xander demanded pulling a Vampire off of Jean who was trying to levitate another boulder towards the portal, he swung the creature around and ploughed a fist into it's chest, before pulling a stake from his pocket and plunging it through the Vamp's chest.
" Could be a spell or a phrase?" Wes yelled mid hack of something grey " or it could be a potion, or a charm."
" A medallion?" Xander asked in a yell trying to avoid a huge spiderery thing that was crawling across the ground towards him,
" Maybe," replied Wes, and Xander kicked the spider away and reached under his shirt and pulled from around his neck the medallion. Following his little episode in the hall, what with meeting the cookie man and dying and not ending up dead, Xander had been wearing it for good luck.
" Ok so if I thought I had a medallion that could be the key what would I do with it?" Xander yelled and Wes ducked as something with a tail like a cleaver tried to take his head off.
" Throw it in the portal, touch the portal. A little help here!!" Wes screamed as he dived out of the way of another attack, the rest of the cave was filled with creatures already engaged in battle with the rest of the team so Xander plucked a dagger out from underneath his coat and managed to stab the creature attacking Wes in the eye by hurling the dagger across the cave.
Xander tossed the medallion to Wes unable to get across the battle ground to the portal because the Spidery thing leapt of the ceiling towards the boy. Wes caught the medallion easily and started towards the portal as Xander fell to the ground under the weight of the spider and using all his strength tried to break off it's head while keeping some sharp fangs away from his neck. There was a sudden gush of sticky blue blood and the spider fell off him dead revealing Logan who reached out and dragged Xander to his feet before rushing off to attack something that looked like a penguin.
Xander rushed to Wes's side pushing past Spike and Angel who were in the process of fighting a demon with big teeth,
" It's not working! There must be an incantation or a way to activate it!" Yelled Wes, showing Xander the medallion that was hanging limply between Wes's fingers.
Xander grabbed the medallion off the older man,
" Let me have a ..." He started but was cut off as a sudden rush of bright light exploded from the medallion encompassing it until the medallion rested in a circle of bright light the size of a grapefruit.
" It works!" Xander yelled excitedly at Wesley and he held the medallion closer to the portal but still creatures oozed through the gaps and the portal stayed open.
"What now?" Xander mused as he kicked away an evil looking gnome that was trying to bite his leg.
"Try and touch the portal," Wesley suggested and Xander held the ball of light out in front of him and turning his head in anticipation of pain he touched the light to the portal,
" It's not working," Xander growled impatiently and behind there was a scream of warning but no time to turn around as something sharp winged him, scraping through the flesh of his right arm.
" Xander!" Logan yelled as Xander stumbled forwards, the force of the hit nearly pushing him over, into the portal. Wesley grabbing the back of his shirt and preventing his fall,
" Xander!" Logan yelled again pushing a vampire out of the way, trying to get closer to his son,
" Are you all right?" Wes asked in shock and Xander nodded his lips tight and he looked down at the medallion at the same time staring at the blood that was dripping down his arm in shock, There was a gust of wind from behind him as Storm killed something and blood from his arm was propelled against the medallion.
As soon as the first droplet of blood hit the ball of light exploded. The force knocked the warriors in the cave into the air and they landed flat on their backs and in a flash the portal was gone and so were the demons. Logan raised his head off the ground shaking away the stars and stared at the spot where a second ago his Son had stood.
" Xander?" Logan asked as he jumped to his feet, his head turning scanning the floor of the cave.
" Xander?!" But Logan could shout forever because Xander was gone and so was the medallion.
AN: (evil laughter)