Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, everybody. School's been hell lately and I'm just swamped with work. Also, sorry about this chapter not being as long as the others. I promise, the others will be longer! Anyway, without further ado, here's the long-awaited Challenge between the Xan-man and Damien!

Chapter Ten

With an animalistic roar, Damien launched himself at Xander, catching the other man off guard. Both men went crashing to the ground in a flailing, tangled heap of limbs.

Realising the danger in being on his back, Xander kicked up sharply, unconsciously mimicking a move that had worked against Aiden in the past. Damien, however, managed to dodge nimbly aside before those powerful legs caught him in the midsection. He backed off, growling warily.

Xander scrambled to his feet and took up a defensive position, his eyes never leaving his opponent. Every muscle in his body was drawn tight as a bowstring as he waited for Damien's next attack, not daring to make the first move lest he fall into a trap.

Warning bells went off in Xander's mind as he picked up a thought from Damien. The fledgling charged again, but Xander was ready for him this time. He met Damien halfway and bulled his shoulder into the smaller man's chest, throwing him off balance.

Xander gripped Damien by the shoulders and jerked his knee upward and into the vampire's stomach. Damien roared in pain, but managed to sink his fangs into the flesh of Xander's shoulder. Biting his lip to keep from crying out, Xander grabbed Damien by the back of his neck and threw him to the ground, ripping the skin of his shoulder as he did so.

Damien backed away carefully, now aware that he couldn't win the fight through headlong charges. He growled softly and licked blood from his lips.

"Not as easy as you thought it would be, eh, bloodbreath?" Xander taunted, trying to trick his opponent into doing something rash.

Damien chuckled, refusing to take the bait. "I haven't even started yet, boy," he sneered. With supernatural speed, he aimed a roundhouse kick at Xander's head before the telepath had time to register the warning thought.

Xander went down hard, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. He had landed on his right arm at an awkward angle and one flex of his muscles told him it was broken. Coughing up blood, Xander struggled to stand, but his injured left arm would not support his weight: Damien's fangs had torn the muscle, effectively crippling the youth.

With a throaty chuckle, Damien straddled his prey. He grinned a toothy grin, bringing his face close to Xander's. "Actually, this was about as easy as I thought it would be," he purred. Laughing mockingly at Xander, Damien's head darted toward the telepath's exposed throat.

Angel cursed violently in Gaelic as he paced. He had presented his case before the High Council three days previous and they had finally agreed to vote on it an hour ago.

The vampires of the Council had poked and prodded at Angel's case, looking for holes or inconsistencies in his story. Finally coming to a consensus that Xander had been made a Master under the traditional vampire law, the Council agreed to vote on a cancellation. Angel had been thanked for his time, and told to wait outside.

Stuck inside the building as he was, Angel had no way of knowing whether it was night or day. The Challenge could've already started and ended for all he knew.

With a sigh, Angel sat on the floor and leaned back against the wall, staring at the door to the main audience chamber. He could only hope that he wasn't too late.

Damien's fangs flashed in the moonlight as he leaned toward Xander's throat. Thinking quickly, the young man fought against the waves of pain that coursed through his shredded arm as he flung a handful of dirt into Damien's golden eyes.

The vampire let out a yelp of pain and surprise and released Xander to furiously rub the grit out of his eyes. Xander scooted out of the way and struggled to get to his feet before Damien's vision cleared.

Knowing his arms were completely useless, Xander charged at the temporarily blinded vampire, slamming his head into Damien's. Blood dripped steadily down the side of Xander's face from a shallow cut at his temple. Damien's fangs had cut into his skin during the collision, but the vampire wasn't as fortunate as Xander. He coughed and spat, blood coming up as well as several white objects.

Damien stared in disbelief at the fangs he had spat out, his vision now cleared enough for him to see. "You'll pay for that, whelp!" he snarled. Seizing the mortal by the throat, he threw him into a headstone as if he weighed nothing.

Xander felt a flare of pain blossoming down his spine and heard a sickening crunch as his head hit the gravestone. A red mist began to obscure his vision as he focused on his assailant. If I'm going down, I'm taking him with me, he thought grimly.

Damien stood over Xander, laughing mercilessly. "I have to admit, boy; you put up more of a fight than I thought you would. But now, the game is over. Once I deal with you, Spike will finally be mine." He spat scornfully, blood and spittle landing on Xander's cheek. "Sweet dreams, whelp."

Xander wasn't listening. He focused all of his pent-up rage and hatred for Damien into a tight ball of energy. The feeling of warm spittle hitting his cheek pushed him over the edge, drawing on the gestalt that had bound him and Spike together. With a loud roar, Xander unleashed the energy at Damien before the red mist swallowed him completely.

As soon as Spike heard the sickening sound of Xander's body hitting the gravestone, he knew it was all over. A rage unlike any other he had felt before filled him and he jumped to his feet, racing toward the Challenge ring.

"Master Spike! What are you doing? You can't go down there!" Dalton yelled frantically, running to catch up with the younger vampire.

"Too bad," Spike growled through gritted fangs, his eyes flickering to gold. "I'm going to tear Damien to pieces. He'll beg for death before I'm done with 'im!"

Abruptly, Spike was stopped in his tracks by a familiar pull on his mind and he looked into the ring. Damien was standing over Xander and talking to him, but Spike couldn't hear what was being said due to the blood pounding in his head. Xander was drawing on him for energy, but for what purpose?

Dalton held onto Spike as the Englishman staggered. "Master? What's wrong, what's happening?"

"The gestalt," Spike gasped. "He's trying to trigger the gestalt!"

Spike had barely finished speaking when a burst of pure energy struck Damien squarely in the chest, burning a hole through the fledgling's flesh. Damien screeched in pain as flames seemed to consume him from the inside out. Seconds later, there was nothing left but dust.

Spike stared in shock at the spot where Damien had stood seconds ago before realizing there was something else missing: Xander. He couldn't feel Xander's presence in his mind. With a howl like an injured animal, Spike launched himself over the fence and into the Challenge ring.

Xander lay still against the tombstone, his eyes closed and a peaceful look on his face. Spike gathered the broken body of his lover into his arms and rocked fitfully back and forth, keening softly in his grief.

Dalton stopped a few feet away from his Master, unsure as to what to do. He wanted nothing more than to grieve with Spike over the body of the youth who had been the closest thing he had to a son, but he knew he needed to give Spike space.

A hand reached up and gently touched the scholar's shoulder. Dalton turned around to find a tiny blonde girl breathing heavily next to him.

"Are you Dalton?" she gasped, exhausted from her run.

Baffled, Dalton nodded.

"Good," the girl panted. "Angel just called. The Council just cancelled the Challenge."

Author's Note: Alright, don't kill me! The fic's not done yet! I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to write the next chapter, but I promise it'll be longer than this one. Ja!