Xander Reset with great shock. And he had a crick in his back…
"I died," Xander said with little discernible emotion, "And my back feels a bit off from…where I was stabbed." He stared into space a couple of minutes, then pushed back from the table, "And a promise to a lady is a promise." He got up, grabbed car keys and fines money, then headed off to grab his parents' money.
Xander headed into the store in fatigues. Dropping sixty dollars on the counter, he explained he wanted to go as Corporal Dwayne Hicks from the Aliens movie, and maybe a lot more weaponry. He lucked out, finding pretty much everything he need, and then added a sword, wooden knives, a bunch of fake gold coins, extra ammo, and an M-16 with lots of extra magazines.
The costume store was the first stop, as the hardware store was next, for silver spray paint, which he applied to all of his fake ammo, and the real stuff. 'Wow,' he thought, 'Only fifteen more minutes before I'm supposed to go trick-or-treating. They'll wait.'
He pulled up into the loading zone in front of La Iglesia de San Marco, and grabbed his gear and ran inside. Approaching the baptismal fount, he attracted the attention of a deacon, who intercepted the strange young man reticently.
"Can I help you?" the deacon asked quietly.
"Yes, I need the blessing of a priest," Xander replied, an when the man raised an eyebrow, Xander continued, "What do you know of what goes on after dark in Sunnydale?" The deacon's eyes grew wide at the question. "Now you know why I need a blessing before I…resolve some issues."
"Harris, you're ten minutes late!" Snyder yelled, "You'll be taking a double group; Summers called in and you're it."
"Why'd she call in?"
"Her sister freaked in school," Snyder grimaced, "Probably drugs. Get going."
"Have you heard from Xander yet, Buffy?" Joyce asked her eldest daughter with concern, "If we could get Dawn to see that he's okay, maybe it would clear up this…hysteria. It sounds a lot like what you went through two summers ago." Buffy turned away, refusing to answer that last part, still hurt and pissed over her parents' disbelief in her.
"No Mom, I haven't been able to get a hold of him," she replied, "And his father was quite nasty on the phone when I called."
"Eight minutes to spare!" Xander chortled as he finished hot-wiring Snyder's car and sped quickly toward Spike's warehouse. Speeding through town wasn't normally a good idea, but Xander didn't really think that any of the police would stop him this close to the sun setting. He was right, but still wasn't going to make it in time as he pulled up two blocks down the street. He got out his map and quick mission notes to himself for the purpose of maybe doing more than just killing a few vampires. Last night had shown he need to pull his head out of a dark place and get with it or he'd keep getting himself killed. The magic waved across the town…
They were just coming at him, no chance for survival, when all of a sudden Hicks found himself…here. 'Wherever the f here is' he thought. Night was setting on what seemed to be an old-movie-looking town. In his hands he found a map, a list of corresponding targets and a tape recorder giving him instructions on how to fight…vampires and demons.
"Listen up, Corporal," the voice commanded, "It turns out the vamps and demons are E.T. caused. Don't ask how you're here, or anything. Need to know. Just know that you need to wipe out as many 'real' hostiles as you can. We have help coming to quarantine in the morning…and remember, these are the bastards responsible for those big black aliens." The voice went on for another minute covering general tactics, enemy capabilities and weaknesses, and that the mini-demons and such are curable children; so only kill as a last resort. A wacky brunette and a platinum male, both English accented, are primary targets.
"I hate this, I hate this," the marine from an alternate future complained, "So let's kill these black-lovin' bastards." Weapons charged or otherwise prepped, it was killing time.
Two minions watched as the kid walked up to within ten feet. They looked at each other with unoriginal 'delivered food' grins when he opened up on them with a short enough burst of full auto. They shredded to dust, and the door joined them in oblivion. Dwayne Hicks stepped through and noticed another four hostiles in the room that were having second thoughts about engaging the well-armed human. Hicks looked toward the back; two hostiles were trying to drag away a screaming brunette through a small grouping of offices. 'Must be one of the primaries.'
Four short bursts, and Hicks was racing for the door; reaching it, he gauged the walls thin enough to where he could fire through them. Short burst to each left and right of the door resulted in one scream and silence as he kicked in the obstacle and found an empty room. 'Weird the way these hostiles just disintegrate when you off 'em. No wonder the brass call 'em vampires.'
Hicks spent another ten minutes making sure the place was clear of further enemies, then backed out. Pulling out his map, he crossed off the first major target. 'Semper Fi.'
Buffy was bringing tea up, with help from Willow, when the spell changed Buffy. Willow, without the sheet, remained relatively unaffected, though less repressed.
Buffy changed, faltering, and the tea dropped, cup breaking and drawing Joyce's attention, calling out to ask what was happening.
"Buffy just dropped something, it's fine," Willow called out as she then watched a miss-stepping Buffy fall and bump her head on the railing. Joyce came out long enough to check.
"Buffy tripped and fell down," Willow remarked, pulling her friend to the couch and making her more comfortable in unconsciousness. "I think she'll be fine. I guess she's a bit nervy about the whole Dawn and Xander whatever going on." Joyce checked her daughter, noted the easy breathing.
"Do you mind sitting with her while I watch Dawnie?" the Summers matriarch asked, worried for both. Willow nodded.
"Not a problem," Willow assured her, "And I'll try to get a hold of Xander once in a while."
"If…" he shot a short burst into four large hostiles trying to eat a small hostile "I keep…" again into a pair of vampire-like hostiles as he continued to walk along the cemetery-side of the street on the way toward enemy concentration two, "I oughta be able to avoid killing the little monsters," Hicks considered aloud. He was surprised at the number of 'dustables' he'd run into, nearly thirty in eight blocks, and six had gotten away, though mauled.
He neared his destination, noting that no apparent guards were posted as he recalled the notes, 'Human symp running a bar/intel spot for the enemy, due to become a basing point if not eliminated. Easy enough if they're not expecting trouble yet.' Even a brief sketch of the interior. Convenient.
Main weapon slung for easy regripping, the Human killing machine simply walked into the establishment, threw two advanced flash bangs to the far corners of the bar, and started to stagger his burst from left to right as the stunned, then screaming patrons unpleasantly discovered Halloween wasn't the quiet holiday they'd believed. A pair of Fyarls, eight vampires, and six things only a Watcher could identify were shredded within ten seconds, four vampires already burning to dust from the grenades. The human symp, fallen and dying behind the counter was no longer a concern. And four demons raced for and through the back door in spite of the grievous wounds they'd suffered. Alcohol spread all over behind the bar, Hicks lit some bar napkins and began the torching of the joint as he shot through the rear door and pursued demons into the back alley, managing to shred one demon and two drunk vamps into oblivion before he exited into the side street. 'Second objective location neutralized.'
He had made it halfway through a cemetery 'hot zone' when he encountered eight that seemed to be more bloodsuckers. He fired a couple of shots in their direction, causing one of the minions to 'vamp' out in response. Burst-Burst—Burst and five of the things were dust as the three wounded turned and fled. 'The bug stuff is getting' low,' Hicks noticed, 'Better switch to these smaller weapons if I find fewer than four…'
Angel had dodged the mini-demons, soldiers, pirates and other manifestations getting to Buffy's house. He noticed Joyce's car from down the street, and slowed his progress as noticed Drusilla and Spike with eight minions and a dozen mini-demons approaching from the other direction, and a woman fleeing a giant furry thing running toward the Summers house.
Demuerte and Jackson had lost most of their blood evading the gunman. The residential area hopefully would offer them cover as the demon hunter went elsewhere on this weird night. 'To think I was going to find a possible billiards opponent, perhaps find a nubile toy and meal…" Demuerte sighed, forcing down the blood rage. He listened to a few lighter-sounding bursts and screams as he left the cemetery and hurried across the street over to another: Revello Drive.
Angel cut back down the alley, racing to beat Spike and his gang to the house.
Willow answered the banging on the door to find a scraped and bruised Cordelia rushing in.
"Cordelia!" Willow exclaimed as Joyce came down the stairs.
"It's crazy out there," the cheerleader exhaled, "I was just attacked by Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy. Look at my costume! Do you really think that
Party Town's gonna give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."
"Are you sure you're okay, dear?" Joyce asked the teen as she joined them. "Would you like some tea to calm down? I'm making some for Dawn, in case she wakes up again." Cordelia thought about it, then nodded. As Joyce headed toward the kitchen, Cordelia noticed a half-costumed Buffy still asleep on the couch.
"What's with her?" Cordelia asked, "Sick?"
"Bumped her head after slipping," Willow said, "But she's not concussiony or anything."
They heard a back door window shattering and Joyce screaming, and raced back to help. Reaching the kitchen, they found a vampire trying to bite Joyce, who'd picked up a pair of meat tongs and was clearly outclassed in the fight. Suddenly, Angel dashed through the back door and grabbed the vampire by its shoulders, giving Joyce a chance to poke the demon in both eyes with a lucky shot to the face. The beast screamed, and Angel was able to throw it out the door and charge after it.
"What was that?" Joyce asked, shocked but recovering fast. She turned on the back yard light to see Angel's back as he finally caused the vamped-out opponent to flee into the night. The girls don't see angel's face change back to normal because they here a crashing form the front room and gunfire form the street.
"Whoa!" Hicks exclaimed, blowing apart two really big demons and car/fuel tank as he turned onto Revello Drive, 'This place is crawling with the things. At least the climate's nice here.' The marine noted he had only a burst left, and shouldered his weapon in favor of the M-16 and bladed weapons. 'Thirty-five confirmable hostiles eliminated in forty minutes. Where the Hell am I?'
Looking down the street, he noticed a large group, turning in toward a house. He stuck to the shadows in pursuit when under a street lamp the hostile he'd tagged as a possible primary grabbed the arm of another and made him turn around and look right at Hicks.
The corporal fired several bursts at the two primaries, causing the white-haired 'male' to scream in pain and drag the other toward the house and shadows. Hicks replaced his knife with a revolver, preferring extra firepower to control as he then switched to full auto.
"My daughters!" Joyce cried out and ran back into the house, the other three behind her. In the living room, four mini-demons had broken down the door and were racing in toward the slayer as Joyce screamed and attacked them with her metal tongs. "Get away from her!" Angel forced himself passed Cordelia and Willow, the latter reaching for the phone as Cordelia grabbed the tea kettle and a knife from the kitchen. Angel tackled and wrestle, a virtual bowling ball scattering and flooring the gang of demons as Joyce dropped the tongs and dragged an awakened and screaming Lady Elizabeth out of the room. Cordelia poured scalding water on the three nearest demons, causing them to rethink things. Meanwhile, Willow had managed to get a hold of Giles and let him know that the Summers house was under a major attack and to hurry.
Demuerte and Jackson leapt out of the foliage, reaching for the gunman as he turned firing. Two of Spike's minions also hoping for a similar coup screamed in pain as the no-longer-silver-painted but magically silvered and truly blessed rounds poured through their bodies, and, just barely those of the masters Demuerte and Jackson. Demuerte sensed a chance to elude his tracker, and raced back into the night, already exhausted and nearly dead. Jackson paused due to the surprise screaming of Spikes minions, and the extra rounds as he nearly touched the muzzle of his enemies weapon ended his best opportunity, but vampiric speed and desperation still resulted in the gunman going down in a tackle.
Hicks struggled as he heard maniacal laughter slowly making its way toward him. Assault rifle knocked out of his hand he pressed the muzzle of the revolver against the head of the body atop him and fired three times, causing enough damage that he could roll away without a struggle, and fired the three last rounds into the slowly recovering minions as he regained his own feet.
"Must say I'm impressed, not bad for a human, mate," Spike said, swaggering up with Drusilla close behind. He stopped at twenty feet. Dwayne grabbed two grenades as he stared at the newcomers, definitely his primary targets.
Six minions shouted from the front porch of the Summers house, throwing things inside as Angel covered a retreating Joyce and Buffy toward the back of the home. They heard steps coming down the stairs, then objects flew across the room in the direction of the door. Two screams and two 'poofing' noises were heard as the recovering mini-demons retreated to the apparent safety of the outside world. Then Dawn, dead-eyed, looked at the rest f them before lethargically sitting on the bottom stair.
Hicks gestured for Spike and Drusilla to step aside as he proceeded to seriously throw a grenade down and into the middle of the street where a badly wounded Demuerte was limping away. As he did so, he lobbed the other into the foliage with the wounded but flanking minions. Spike's curiosity while Drusilla whispered frantically delayed action by his two opponents, the blessed and silver coated grenades shredding their targets into dust. But Spike had inched to within fifteen feet now before speaking again.
"Nicely done, I suppose, but how do you plan to get out of this alive?" William the Bloody asked as some of his minions had retreated out to the sidewalk from the slayer's house down the street.
"I don't have to," Hicks replied, grabbing two of his remaining four grenades, "I'll settle for taking the two of you down with me." He smiled tiredly and a bit too border-insane for Spike's comfort as the vampire recognized him.
"You're one of that slayer-gal's sidekicks, yeah," Spike smirked, "Not bad, whelp, but I'm gonna kill you and your mates."
Hicks thought to himself, 'Must be Ripley, or just trying to mess with me. But he made the mistake of letting me know her and the team are still alive somewhere.' Hicks smiled sadly, "Big mistake, you let me know they're alive. Catch!" He threw the first grenade at the brunette and leapt over a small wall and into a yard, wrenching his shoulder as he tossed the other one to the blonde as he fell.
Two explosions, then two more explosions broke the brief silence of the house, but they heard their attackers race away to deal with it.
"What was that?" Joyce asked. Dawn looked up with the faint stirrings of hope.
"That would be Xander…" Dawn whispered, just loud enough to be heard.
The corporal heard "Dru!" and then two screams accompanying the explosions. He winced from the shoulder pain and what felt like a piece of shrapnel near it. Even in the dim night light, he could see that his vest had stopped about a dozen small pieces, the light highlighting the silver. 'That'll welt tomorrow.'
Hearing whimpering and swearing from nearby, Hicks managed to untangle himself from the sling of the M-16, caught around his leg in the chaos of the moment. Slapping in a full magazine, he rose silently to his knees and fired as a banshee shrieked and threw itself at him. Pulling the trigger of the weapon still set for auto-fire, he fell back to the ground as the body atop him lost much of its integrity, from collar, to neck, to face…the dust causing him to choke and sneeze.
"Dru!" his enemy shrieked as he heard foot steps rapidly approaching. 'One more time,' Hicks mentally sighed, the fight on the planet and now here starting to overwhelm him. He grabbed a grenade form his waist, and lobbed it hard in the direction of his foe's reinforcements. Then, rolling on the ground he grabbed his last explosive as the first detonated amidst a half-dozen screams. 'No injured Dwayne this time, that's a first,' the marine quipped to himself as he tossed his last grenade in the same general direction. More screams, but no sound of running.
Two more explosions went off as Angel handed off an hysterical Buffy to Willow and Cordelia. He pressed carefully outside, and noticed the mini-demons running away from the source of the explosions. Jogging out to the end of the sidewalk, he was forced to step back…
…as Hicks stepped into the street and walked the rest of his clip through the four downed and screaming minions, Spike and two fleeing minions that were only feet away from Angel as the clip winged and then emptied. The minions limped out into the street, one going too far and collided with the front-end of a classic car (okay, Giles' car). The one vampire continued passed the vehicle as Angel jumped out and dusted the grounded vamp as Joyce and Dawn came out onto the porch.
Dwayne's shooting kept the downed vamps grounded as he dropped the '16 in favor of his own weapon. "Just a few rounds left, blondie," he half-smirked at Spike." He angled the burst to fire into William the Dusty's head and that of two more. Hicks drew out the sword he had for some reason and with a great tightening in his legs and in general all over, cut off the heads of the other two hostiles as two men approached. When they came fairly close he called out to them.
"Do you know where I can find either a Mister Giles or a Miss Dawn?" the wounded teen questioned, reaching into a pocket for his map and notes.
"I'm Mister Giles?" the older man responded. He watched as the gunman lowered his weapon and wrote something on some papers, stepped out of the shadows and handed them forward to him. Then they watched as 'Xander' collapsed as his many minor wounds caught up with him.
"Semper Fi."