Xander suppressed a shudder when he once again saw the matching grins on Faith and Morph. The scary visual place his mind took him every time he thought of having a shape shifter satisfy the urges of a Slayer were just wrong on so many levels.

With any luck the meeting he was walking toward will help get Morph out of here just that much quicker. Of course he may look like some kind of demon because of said meeting, but that was a small price to pay.

When he opened up the door and saw a blushing Buffy and Willow his first instinct was to run. When he saw a look in Clarice's eye that he had often seen in Anya it took all his will power not to bolt out the door.

"So ladies, are you ready to turn me into a member of mutant kind?" asked Xander in a happy voice, even as he mapped out escape routs should they become necessary.

"Well we found some promising spells. I don't think they would work without Clarice, which kind of explains why she was sent here," said Willow before looking at her shoes.

Xander could see that there was going to be something about the spell the probably wouldn't like to make Willow revert to how she was back in high school. "Don't worry Wills I promise that I won't over react to what ever you tell me, so just get it over with," said Xander to relieve any fears his oldest friend may be having.

"The spell requires you to be sky clad," said Willow.

"Okay, not exactly comfortable for me, but no big. You're my Willow and I trust you so it won't be that bad," said Xander as he attempted to sooth his own nerves.

"Well the thing is the spell has a better chance of working with a large amount of mutant auras when it is being cast," continued Willow.

"Naked around a group of strangers. Yeah, that's worse, but we're in a bit of a tight spot so I'm willing to try something new, no matter how uncomfortable," said Xander while shooting a glare at Buffy to wipe the small smile off her face. No power on earth meant no power on earth dang it.

"Well we also need to drop out outside of this dimension," said Clarice. "I'll open a portal without exit point. We aren't sure just what will be on the other side, but according to the analyzing spells Willow preformed it should be safe and beyond the influence of what ever is preventing the X-gene from becoming dominate in this dimension."

"No exit portal, okay. I'm hoping you also have a plan on getting me out," said Xander.

"We tie a rope around you, and pull you out once Willow says you're a mutant," said Buffy in a serious voice.

"Oh, okay," said Xander as he considered what escape rout to use.

Buffy must have seen something in his eye because she grabbed his arm and said, "Remember what you told me? You said if it was just you at risk, you would follow me. Well now its just you, and I need you to follow me, to trust me. I'll pull you out if Willow says anything is wrong. Besides we need another strong member on the team now that the First has stepped up its attacks."

Xander didn't need to be told twice, the subtle reminder how Caleb had almost killed last nights patrol was all it took to get him to focus. "Okay, when do we do this," asked Xander.

"Midnight," said Buffy.

Xander could feel the symbols painted on his skin burning through his body and soul, changing him in unknown ways. Surprisingly enough he wasn't too bothered by this. He trusted the girls with his life and more, besides the spell was just bringing out a part of himself to the surface that was buried before according to the Exiles. He would still be Xander, just not the Xander Zeppo.

No, awakening his mutant powers didn't bother him at all. What did bother him was the black nothingness coming his way.

Somehow he just knew that the nothingness was a bad thing. In fact he was also sure that it was the first bad thing in its natural form.

"Hey Xander, time to wake up," said a black tendril that had formed into Buffy, just before it plunged its arms into Xanders mind.

Xander did the only thing he could think of doing at the moment, he began to scream.