AN – Hello to all my readers, I would like to say if anybody has requests for worlds for the group to land on please email me at or let me know in a review
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Now on with the story
A Slayerette's Slide Chapter 3/?
Park
9:00 AM
"That last world sucked," Wade said to her fellow sliders as they walked through a park in San Francisco while enjoying the good weather.
"It wasn't so bad," Xander replied, a small smile on his lips.
"My double was a porn star! Guys kept mobbing me because they thought I was her!" Wade shot back in anger.
"So," Xander responded, still wearing a smile that was quickly pissing off the red headed slider.
"You are such a jerk," Wade shot back as she stormed off.
"Smooth move Xan," Remy said to the young man.
"What? It's not like I looked at any of the magazines," Xander replied in his defense.
"She doesn't know that," Quinn responded.
"Don't worry, I'll find some way to earn forgiveness from her, she's not the first girl I've pissed off," Xander said as the group reached the exit for the park and saw Wade sitting on a bench across the street.
"How many women have you pissed off?" Quinn asked.
"Every one that I've met so far," Xander answered with a grin.
"That's not true," Maggie said as she walked over to him. "You haven't pissed me off,"
"Just give it time," Xander replied, earning a laugh from the group.
It had been just over a month since Xander had left his world behind after losing his friends. Over that time he had bonded with the other four sliders and formed a friendship even deeper than the one that he had with the scoobies. However not everything was peachy keen for the young man, so far with every slide he always seemed to hit his head on something as he exited the vortex.
"How long till we slide Q-ball?" Remy asked the young man next to him as the group reached the bench Wade was sitting on.
"Two hours," Quinn answered after checking the timer.
"So what do we do for two hours?" Xander asked.
"How about we get some food," Remy said and was met with agreement from the rest of the group.
They then headed towards a restaurant they saw farther up the road. Before Wade could follow after the group Xander grabbed her arm to stop her.
"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Xander told the red head.
"You expect me to forgive you after all I get is an 'I'm sorry'?" Wade responded, still slightly angry.
"I was hoping, but I had a feeling that there would be something else I'd have to do," Xander replied sheepishly.
"There is, I just haven't thought of it yet," Wade responded with a smug grin as she turned and followed the others.
"This won't be fun," Xander muttered as he ran to catch up with his fellow sliders.
Alley behind restaurant
10:55 PM
"Five minutes people," Quinn called out as the group gathered in an alley behind the restaurant they were eating in.
"So, who wants to take bets on what the next world will be like, I got ten bucks on 'laying in ruins'," Xander said as he pulled a ten out of his pocket.
"I'll take that bet," Remy responded.
"I'm in," Maggie said.
"Alright people here we go," Quinn said as he opened the portal.
"Ladies first!" Remy called out as Maggie then Wade jumped into the tunnel followed by Remy and Quinn.
"Here he go again," Xander said to himself as he jumped into the portal.
Same alley, different world
10 seconds later
'Oh shit' Xander thought as he came out of the portal and hit a pile of boxes.
"You okay Xan?" Maggie asked as the group ran over to him
"I should really start wearing a helmet," Xander said as he stood up and pulled a pack of Tylenol out of his pocket and then quickly downed two of the painkillers.
"You probably should, you may end up with brain damage if you don't," Quinn said as they headed out of the alley.
When the group emerged from the alley they saw that the world around them was in ruins. All the buildings for as far as they could see were crumbling, there were trees uprooted and lying in the road as well as a few skeletons sprawled out. But the oddest thing of all was that the sky was an unusual color of orange.
"Pay up," Xander said turning to Rembrandt and Maggie, who grumbling pulled money out of their pockets and handed it to Xander.
"How long are we here?" Wade asked Quinn while Xander was retrieving his money.
"A little over a day," Quinn responded.
"Is Rickman here?" Maggie asked.
"Yes," Quinn responded gravely.
"Then lets find him," Maggie said as she began walking down the street with the rest of the sliders following close behind.
"So what do you think happened here?" Xander asked as he looked around.
"Could be a number of things, war, disease, natural disaster," Quinn responded.
"Or demons," Wade said staring across the street.
"What makes you think that?" Quinn asked his friend.
"Them," Wade responded pointing to a group of demons that were heading for them.
"Uh oh," Xander said as he pulled his Katana out of a hidden sheath in his coat.
Before the demons could reach the group gunfire was heard and the demons began dropping to the ground. Turning they saw a jeep driving down the road with what looked like military personnel riding in it while firing at the demons.
Soon the demons were dead and the jeep pulled up to a stop in front of the sliders. One of the soldiers climbed out and walked over to the group.
"What the hell are you doing here, don't you know that all of California is closed off to civilians?" the man asked them.
"Listen, we have no idea what your talking about, we're just passing through," Remy said to the soldier.
"Like hell you are, there's no way any of you can get out of here," the soldier replied.
"What's going on here, why is the sky orange?" Xander asked as he put his Katana away.
"You honestly don't know what's happening?" The soldier asked in disbelief.
"Yup, you wanna tell us," Xander replied.
"It's not safe here, there could be more demons around, we'll talk when we get back to HQ," The soldier said, turning around and heading for the jeep with the group of sliders close behind.
Unknown military base
Ten minutes later
"So you wanna tell us what the devil is going on," Remy asked the soldier once they were safely inside the base.
"A little over a year ago a portal was opened up to hell, from that portal emerged dozens of demonic entities,"
"Wait, are you saying that someone opened the Hellmouth?" Xander asked in shock.
"That's exactly what I'm saying, in order to stop demons from over running the world the U.S. Government was able to create a magical barrier around California that was made by a group of specially trained wiccas and mages employed by the government. The barrier is specially designed to allow things too enter but not exit, the only exception being air, water, and other things like that," the soldier continued.
"So you're trapped in here?" Wade asked.
"That's correct, every few months we're given new supplies and troops. Once the threat here has been neutralized the spellcasters will lower the shield and we can leave,"
"Is that even possible?" Xander asked the soldier.
"Yes, the Hellmouth was closed one week ago, all that's left now is too kill the demons that came through it, and let me tell you, that's easier said then done," the solder answered with a grim look on his face. "Now that the questions have been answered how about introductions,"
"Right, that's probably a good idea, I'm Quinn Mallory, and they are Wade Wells, Rembrandt Brown, Maggie Beckett, and Xander Harris," Quinn responded.
"Xander Harris?" the soldier asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, that's me," Xander replied as he leaned against a nearby desk.
"That's not possible," the soldier replied as he pulled a gun and aimed it at the young mans chest. "Xander Harris died in combat while trying to seal the Hellmouth six months ago, who are you really?"
"Listen, why don't you put that gun down and we'll explain everything," Xander responded in a nervous tone.
"I got a better idea, start talking before I blow your brains out," the soldier shot back.
"Alright then, I am Xander Harris, but I am the Xander Harris from a parallel Earth," Xander explained.
The soldier looked Xander over before lowering the gun and putting it back in its holster.
"Our government has been experimenting with dimensional travel for a few months now, so far there hasn't been much progress, but it would explain why you have no idea what's going on," the man explained to the relived slider.
"So, you gonna tell us who you are?" Maggie asked.
"I'm Captain Riley Finn, U.S. marines," the soldier answered.
"Well Riley, we have a question for you," Maggie said to the marine captain.
"Go ahead,"
"We're looking for a man named Rickman, have you met anybody by that name recently?" Quinn asked.
"Nope, you're the only new people that have showed up that I know of, why?" Riley responded.
"He's a murderer, he lives by taking brain tissue from people then injecting it into his brain, we're after him to stop him," Quinn replied.
"What happens too the people he takes the tissue from?" Riley asked.
"They end up in a coma like state," Maggie replied.
"If that's the case then he's here somewhere, two of my soldiers were found unconscious this morning with small holes in the back of their heads," the young marine captain explained to the group of sliders.
"That sounds like his MO," Maggie replied, a look of anger on her face.
"If he was here this morning there's a chance he could still be on the base," Quinn said to the marine.
"Alright, we'll form search parties with any available troops, if we find him we'll let you know," Riley responded before picking up a radio and giving orders to from search parties.
"I want to help," Quinn said.
"Me too," Maggie chimed in.
"And me," Remy said.
"Alright, we'll need help recognizing him anyway, Gavner here will get you some weapons and show you where to go," Riley said as another soldier walked up to the group and led Quinn, Maggie, and Rembrandt away.
"If it's alright, I would like to help out with the demon hunting," Xander said.
"I think that can be arranged, do you have any experience?" Riley asked the young man.
"There was a hellmouth on my world, I spent just about three years hunting vampires and the like, I also helped in stopping the world from ending a few times," Xander explained in a tone of voice that suggested that he was remembering bad times.
"Alright, we'll get you suited up in a minute," Riley told the young man, he then turned to address Wade. "What about you?" Riley asked the red head.
"Well, I know a few healing techniques that can help the people Rickman attacked," Wade told the marine.
"Alright, we'll get you over to the infirmary, and you to the armory" Riley said to the sliders before turning and walking over to the door they came in with the sliders close behind.
A few minutes later the trio was stopping in the infirmary where Wade quickly went to work on the unconscious soldiers. Another few minutes later Xander was led into the armory.
"Alright, let's get you suited up," Riley said as he started grabbing things of racks and shelves.
"You know, something's been bothering me," Xander said to the marine captain as he started putting on the body armor that was giving to him.
"Yeah, what?" Riley asked as he handed the young man a P90 and extra magazines.
"How did you know that me and my friends weren't demons trying to fool you?" Xander asked as he examined the weapon with a professional air around him.
"Simple, there's close to a hundred different protection spells and charms on this base, there's no way a demon could get on it without us knowing about," Riley explained.
"So since we didn't set off any of the spells you knew we were human," Xander summarized as he loaded a magazine into the weapon.
"Yup, you ever use on of those before?" Riley asked as he strapped on his own body armor.
"No, why?" Xander asked as he chose a sidearm from a rack on the wall.
"Well, you seemed too know what you were doing when you examined the gun," Riley answered as he grabbed a P90 for himself and leading the way out of the armory.
"Well, a little over a year ago I dressed up as a soldier for Halloween and a spell was cast that turned everybody into their costumes, and once the spell was over all the knowledge the soldier had stayed behind," the young dimensional traveler explained.
"Interesting," Riley responded as they reached the outside of the base and met up with the rest of the patrol team. "Alright people we're taking the East Sector today lets move out!" Riley called out and the team then quickly climbed into jeeps and left the base.
Base Infirmary
2:30 PM
After being told by a soldier Quinn, Maggie, and Remy walked into the base infirmary after an unsuccessful search for Rickman and saw that Wade was sitting next to one of the soldiers and was using the healing techniques she had learned.
"Hey Wade, where's Xander?" Quinn asked as he sat down in a chair next to hers.
"He went out with Riley and some of the other soldiers too hunt demons," Wade answered.
"I hope he'll be ok," Maggie said as she leaned against the wall.
"He's a big boy, I'm sure he'll be ok," Quinn said to the former marine captain.
"Hey Q-ball, I've been thinking, You know how Riley said that there was a barrier around California that let things in but not out," Rembrandt said to the scientist.
"Yeah, what about?" Quinn asked his friend.
"Will that affect our slide out of here?"
"It shouldn't, if my understanding of what Riley said is right then the barrier should only stop things that are traveling in this dimension, and since we will be leaving by traveling between dimensions it shouldn't be a problem," Quinn explained.
"So we'll be ok?" Remy asked.
"Yup, we should have no trouble sliding out of here," Quinn responded.
East Sector
2:35 PM
The large patrol of soldiers had been having a fairly lucky day so far. They had killed three demons already and had received minimal injuries.
"So Riley, did you know my double?" Xander asked the marine as they made their way down a ruined street.
"Knew of him, he was a powerful mage, we were all surprised to hear that he had died," Riley responded as he reloaded his P90.
"Really, that's odd," Xander said as he scanned his surroundings.
"Why do you say that?" Riley asked.
"Because, magic almost never seems to go right for me," Xander answered.
Before the conversation could continue a loud, demonic roar was heard behind the group. Turning, the soldiers saw a large dragon flying straight at them. With out wasting anytime the well-trained soldiers all ducked in cover and began firing at the creature.
The bullets hit the dragon but due too it's scaled hide all that happened was that the soldiers succeeded in pissing off the flying monster. In retaliation the dragon opened it's mouth and sent a jet flame down on the soldiers.
Not wasting time, Xander brought his hand up to the small amulet hanging around his neck causing the magic to activate thus making a protective dome of magic around him and the soldiers that held the fire at bay.
"This shield won't last long!" Xander called out to the soldiers behind him.
"Don't worry, this isn't the first dragon we've fought!" Riley called back as the flames subsided.
Before the dragon had a chance to rain fire down on them again, the soldiers ran to the jeeps and pulled out several rocket launchers. Seconds later the dragon exploded in a cloud of fire and smoke.
"Incoming!" one of the soldiers called out as the innards of the dragon began falling from the sky.
As the group got under cover to avoid the dragon guts Riley turned to Xander.
"Thought you said magic never worked for you," Riley said with a grin
"I said almost never," Xander grinned back.
Military Base
5:00 PM
After a few more hours of hunting the Xander and the group of marines returned to the base to rest. Xander quickly made his way to the mess hall and saw that his friends were sitting at one of the long tables.
"Hey guys," Xander said as he sat down in an empty seat next to Wade.
"Hey yourself," Maggie responded as she ate.
"Heard you bagged a dragon," Quinn said.
"I just stopped us from getting roasted, it was the others that actually killed the dragon," Xander replied.
"So, that protection thing you got from the witches a few worlds back works?" Remy asked.
"Yeah, I just wish that I could have tested it under better conditions, if it hadn't worked I'd be an extra crispy slider," Xander said just before Riley sat down next to him with a tray of food in each hand.
"Eat up, you need your strength if you wanna come on the night patrol," Riley said as he handed one of the trays to Xander.
"You're going out again?" Wade asked, worry clearly evident in her voice.
"Yup," Xander replied as he started eating.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, if you get badly hurt you could miss the slide," Quinn told the young man.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful, and besides the protection amulet works wonders," Xander replied as he continued eating.
"We can't talk you out of it can we?" Maggie asked.
"Nope," Xander answered.
Base Barracks
8:30
After they had finished their meals Maggie and Wade had retired to the barracks to get some rest while Quinn and Remy decided to help patrol the base's perimeter.
"How are the soldiers doing?" Maggie asked her red haired companion.
"Pretty good, I showed the medics how to help them," Wade replied from the bed she was laying on. "I hope Xander is okay," she commented while looking up at the ceiling.
"You really got it bad," Maggie commented.
"What are you talking about?" Wade asked the ex marine.
"C'mon it's obvious you like him," Maggie said back teasingly.
"Xander is just my friend, that's it," Wade said in her defense.
"Yeah right,"
"It's the truth!"
"That's a lie and you know it,"
"Alright fine," Wade said in defeat. "When he first joined us I just thought if him as a friend but over the past couple weeks those feelings changed,"
"I knew it," Maggie responded in triumph.
"You can't tell him," Wade told the woman.
"My lips are sealed," Maggie replied with a grin.
North Area
10:30 PM
"Things seem pretty dead," Riley said as the team moved through the area, constantly on the lookout for demons.
"Were you trying to make a joke, because that was just lame," Xander replied.
Before Riley could come up with a comeback there was a bright flash of light and a loud bang sound that momentarily blinded and deafened the group. When the marine captain had gained his sight back the first thing he noticed was that Xander was missing.
Unknown Location
Time ???
Xander slowly opened his eyes and then quickly shut them again as the bright light in the room caused him great pain. Once the pain had subsided he opened his eyes again, only this time slower.
After taking in his surroundings Xander figured out three things, he has in a large room with the only light source being a large, bright lamp pointed right at his face, the second was that he was tied to a chair, and three, all of his weapons were missing. Luckily his protection amulet he got from the Charmed Ones was still on the leather chord around his neck.
"Finally awake I see," An unknown male voice said from the shadows.
"Who are you?" Xander asked, trying to see who was talking to him.
"Oh we've never met but I'm sure your friends have told you all about me," the voice responded.
"Rickman," Xander said just before the man came into the light.
"That's right," Rickman responded, a dark grin on his face.
"So, gonna eat my brain or whatever the hell it is you do?" Xander asked, trying to remain calm.
"Sadly no, you're not my type," Rickman responded.
"So then, what are you gonna do with me?"
"I was thinking a slow and painful death, followed by leaving your body where your friends will find it," Rickman answered as he pulled out a large knife.
"Ahh crap," Xander muttered as Rickman walked over to him.
Military Base
11:00 PM
"What do you mean Xander is missing!" Wade screamed at the group of soldiers in front of her.
"We mean that Xander is missing," Riley responded slightly in fear of the pissed off red head in front of him.
Before Wade had a chance to rip into the marine in front of her Quinn walked up behind her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Wade calm down, yelling at a group of armed soldiers won't help," Quinn said in a reassuring voice before turning to the soldiers. "How do we find our friend?"
"It's simple, we have one of the witches on base cast a locator spell too find him," Riley answered.
A few minutes later a brunette girl walked into the room with a map in her hand and a bag in the other.
"Meet Amy, if anyone on this base can find Xander, it's her," Riley said.
"Nice to meet you," Amy said as she started to set up for the spell.
"Who do you think took Xander?" Maggie asked Riley while Amy was preparing the spell.
"My bet would be a demon of some sort," Riley replied as the witch started chanting. A few minutes later a small dot of red light began glowing on the map.
"Where is that?" Quinn asked.
"A warehouse about mile away," Riley told the scientist before turning to the group of men with him. "Five of you are with me, the rest, take tonight's patrol route, lets move out!"
"We're coming with you," Maggie said to Riley before he had a chance to leave.
"No, we have no idea what it is that took Xander, for all we know it could be a first circle demon, although the chances of that are slim," Riley responded.
"He's our friend, and if you think that we're just gonna sit around here and wait, you're wrong," Quinn said with anger in his voice.
"Do any of you have combat experience?" Riley asked the group.
"We've been in our fair share of battles, and Maggie was a marine captain on her world," Rembrandt answered.
"You were?" Riley asked, slightly surprised.
"Yup, now are you gonna let us come with, or are we gonna have to go on our own?" Maggie responded with a fire in her eyes.
"Alright, let's go," Riley said in defeat.
Warehouse
11:05 PM
As Rickman slowly started moving towards Xander, still holding the large knife, the young man began to desperately try to think of a plan.
'Okay, there's crazy guy with a knife that wants to kill me and I am tied to a chair, crap' Xander thought as Rickman came closer. 'If only I could turn on that protection amulet thing,'
All of the sudden a dome of blue light surrounded Xander that succeeded in holding back the knife wielding Rickman.
"What the hell!" Rickman yelled in shock as the barrier pushed him away from Xander.
"Cool, I can activate it with my mind," Xander said in relief.
"This shield won't last long, and I am a very patient person," Rickman said as he pulled another chair out of the shadows and sat down.
'Not good,' Xander thought.
Outside Warehouse
11:10 PM
It didn't take long for the soldiers to arrive at the warehouse Xander was being held at, soon six marines and four sliders, all armed to the teeth, were in position outside the building and getting ready to move in.
Seconds later, a loud, pain filled scream was heard inside of the building.
"That's Xander, we have to get in there," Quinn said to Riley.
"Alright people, move in," Riley said to the group.
The group then moved towards the warehouse doors while more screams filled the air.
Inside Warehouse
Seconds later
Rickman had already put three deep cuts in Xander's chest and was about to add a fourth one when the doors too the warehouse burst inward and a group of five soldiers moved in, followed by the four sliders.
"Hands in the air, now!" Riley called out as he pointed his gun at Rickman's chest.
"I have a better idea, how about I don't," Rickman replied as he pulled out his timer and saw that his time was just about up, quickly the knife weilding manic activated it. "Be seeing you!" he called out as he jumped into the portal that quickly closed behind him.
"Xander!" Wade yelled as she got a look at her blood-covered friend.
"Let's get him out of here," Riley called out as one of the marines cut the ropes holding him to the chair.
Soon the young man was loaded in a jeep and the group was back on their way to the base.
Base Infirmary
9:00 AM
After a long night of being patched up by doctors and nightmares of a knife wielding Rickman, Xander was lying in bed, staring out of his window at the orange sky when Wade walked into the room caring a tray of food.
"Hey, how's your chest?" Wade asked as she sat down next him and put the tray of food in front of him.
"Still hurts, but the doctors say I shouldn't have any trouble when we slide out of here," Xander replied as he began eating his food.
"That's a relief," Wade responded.
"How much longer until we slide anyway?" Xander asked his red headed companion.
"Bout two hours," Wade answered.
"Can't wait to get out of here," Xander said.
"Yeah, not the nicest world we've been to," Wade replied.
"It's not just that," Xander said as he finished his food and moved the tray off to the slide. "I just can't stop thinking about how my world could have ended up like this, you don't know how many close calls we had when it came to the hellmouth," the young man explained.
Wade didn't respond right away, instead she put her hand on the brunette's shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.
"I'm sure everything is fine on your world Xan," she said reassuringly.
"I hope your right," Xander replied.
Base Hanger
11:58 AM
"Almost time to go," Quinn said as he checked the timer. "You sure you're gonna be okay to slide, we could always come back," Quinn asked Xander, who was receiving help standing from Wade.
"The doc said their shouldn't be any trouble, besides if you have to come back for me you may lose Rickman's trail, and I have a score to settle with him now," Xander replied.
"Alright, here we go," Quinn responded as he opened the vortex.
One by one the sliders jumped into the tunnel that would hopefully bring some of them one-step closer to home.
End Chapter 3
Note – if anyone thinks that the stuff I have in here about the marines is wrong or insulting please note that all I know about the marines is what I have read in books and seen on TV so please don't be mad.
Also
POLL TIME
I am currently contemplating whether or not to put Colin in this fic, I don't think I will but if enough of my readers want that to happen then I will, so please let me know if you think I should put Colin in by either emailing me or saying in a review.