House of Zod
Chapter 02- Awakening
AN: Just in case anyone is worried that Xander is too overpowered, remember, this is a crossover with DC Universe. There are enemies that can give Superman a run for his money. He won't be spending too much time patrolling for vampires, that is something he will leave to the slayers. A Kryptonian could clean an entire town of vampires in one night. Where's the fun in that. That's not to say that he won't fight some of the Sunnydale bad guys.
HoZ-HoZ-HoZ
Phoenix, Arizona
11:45pm
Looking over the car he was currently crouched behind, Xander had to wonder how he ended up in these situations. This was the fourteenth time since leaving Sunnydale that he had run into vampires. He wondered if it was his blood that attracted them. At least he wasn't having the blinding headaches or muscle spasms that had started soon after he began his trip.
"Come out, blood bag. We just want a little bite," one of the vampires said, laughing. "We promise we wont take too much."
"Yeah," another said. "It's all fun."
Seeing that the vampires were getting close to his location, Xander decided that now might be a good time to try running. He used his last stake the other night and had dropped his holy water an hour ago. All he had was a cross and that required him to be closer to the vampires then he really wanted to at the moment.
Just as he was about to make a run for it, he was grabbed from behind.
"Got em boss," a vampire yelled, holding Xander by his neck. "He's a feisty one."
"Good, that gets the blood pumping. He'll taste delicious," the leader replied.
"Boss, I don't think he's fully human," the vampire holding him said, getting a stronger grip. "I think he might be a half-breed of some type. He's too strong for a regular human."
"Full or half human," the leader shrugged. "It doesn't matter much to me. I'm always open to trying new things. My dad always said you never know if you'll like it unless you try it."
Struggling, Xander could feel his captors hands began to loosen. "You know, I'm not that great tasting. I can recommend a great store that sells pigs blood," he joked. "They even sell it in bottles."
"As appetizing as that sounds, I think I'll stick with fresh human tonight," the leader said, smiling. "There's nothing like it."
Panicking, Xander broke his right arm free from the vampires grip and wildly swung it in the direction of the vampire currently lowering his mouth to his neck. To the surprise of all three, the vampire leader most of all, the hit hit knocked the vampire back twenty feet into a pile of trash.
Taking the opportunity, Xander drove his elbow into the second vampires stomach. "I'm not even going to ask how I did this," Xander muttered as he watched the second one stumble back a good five feet. Seeing the first one begin to stagger to his feet, he picked up a piece of broken wood and approached the dazed vampire.
"Hey man," the vampire leader said, dazed. He began to think that they grabbed the one person tonight. "We didn't mean anything by it. Just playing games, you know. We would never try to eat a fellow citizen of the night." Trying to smile to prove that he was no threat proved futile as Xander drove the make-shift stake into his heart.
"One down, one to go," Xander grunted as he turned to the second vampire. Seeing that he didn't have any more wood, he grabbed a piece of metal pipe. "Let's see how much damage a vampire can take to the head before he dusts."
Looking up at what he assumed to be some type of strong half breed, the vampire raised his hands begging for his life. Ignoring the pleas for mercy, Xander raised the metal pipe over head and brought it down across the vampires face.
"Hmmm, one hit shut him up," Xander mused, looking at the creature below him. Raising it a second time, he brought it down again resulting in massive damage and the subsequent dusting of the vampire. "Interesting."
Looking around for any more threats, Xander decided that this new mystery could wait for the morning to figure out. He was tired and the headache was coming back with a vengeance.
HoZ-HoZ-HoZ
The Next Day
Opening his eyes from a well deserved sleep, Xander stared at the ceiling. He then closed them and opened them again. "Yep, still there," he said, staring at what he could only assume was his upstairs neighbors for the night in this run down motel. Neighbors that were currently engaged in activities that he had no desire to watch. At least not with these two being the ones participating.
"Maybe the Commander would like to try that," he said as he saw the couple do something that he thought was impossible up until a moment ago. Stopping his train of thought, he went back over what he just said.
"What commander do I know and why would I want to do that with them," he wondered aloud. He'd been having flashes of wars that made no sense to him. He first thought they were left over from Halloween but soon realized that they were not wars that any humans could have fought in. He began to see people that he has never met.
And most interestingly, he saw himself holding a dark-haired woman in a loving embrace. And he knew that had never happened before.
Closing his eyes once more, he found that he could once again see the ceiling without looking through it. "Thank Rao," he muttered without noticing.
Last week he was able to hear conversations from across a store for a few minutes. And the week before he was able to outrun a vampire for a short time. These powers seemed to be coming and going at an alarming rate. They stayed longer each time. It wouldn't be so bad if his body could pick a power and keep it. But no, it seemed as if his body had to try them all out before it could pick one.
He had thought on calling Giles for help but decided against it as a nagging thought in the back of his head kept telling him not to. That it was dangerous at the moment.
"Let it never be said that I don't listen to the voice of reason," he said.
HoZ-HoZ-HoZ
Later that day
Walking into the diner, he glanced around as he sat in an open seat. It seemed that the place was popular amongst truckers and not much else.
"What can I get for you, hun," an older woman asked. "The specials are on the board."
"The soup sounds good," he said, after glancing at the specials.
"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "We ran out and the new batch isn't ready yet."
Thinking that it was impolite to have specials that they didn't currently have on the the board, he said, "I'll just have a burger and cola."
"That I can do for you, hun," she said, smiling.
Watching the people around him, he couldn't help but notice that the guy in the last booth seemed a bit twitchy. It was also pretty warm to be wearing that heavy jacket. All thoughts on the odd man vanished as soon as his burger arrived.
"You just passing through," the waitress asked. "Or are you thinking of settling down here?"
"I'm just on a road trip," he answered, taking a bite. "I recently graduated from high school and want to see a little of the country before I settle down with a boring job."
"I wish I could have done something like that when I was your..." she started to say when the man in the heavy coat stood up and pulled a gun.
"No one moves and no gets hurts," he said, waving the gun back and forth. "I just want the money and then I'll go."
As the old man at the register began to empty the money, he looked over at the gunman and said, "You aren't too bright, sonny. This place hasn't pulled in decent money in years. We're just managing to break even."
"I didn't ask for a commentary, pops," the gunman said, pressing the gun into the man.
"Take it easy," Xander said. "We're doing what you said. You can get your money and leave."
"We've got ourselves a hero here," the man said, laughing. "Don't think of trying anything or you'll be a dead hero."
Taking the money, the gunman started to back towards the door when he noticed a necklace that the waitress was wearing. "I'll take that also. It has to be worth a pretty penny."
"Please," the woman begged, clutching the necklace. "It's all I left from my mother. Take anything else. Please."
Advancing on the woman, the gunman found his way blocked by the boy who suddenly looked taller when he was sitting down.
"The lady said please," Xander said, growling. He hated people like this. They were worse then vampires in his mind. Standing at his full height of 6'3'', he looked down at the man currently holding a gun on him. "Just leave now and no one gets hurt."
Trying to push past Xander, the man made a reach for the necklace when he was tackled and push to the ground. In the ensuing tussle, the gun went off. Shocked, the man jumped back, waving the gun.
"I didn't want to do that," the man shouted, looking down at the man he shot. "It's his own fault..."
He trailed off as he noticed the man standing up with a lot less blood then he should have, In fact, he couldn't see any blood at all.
"That wasn't very nice," Xander said slowly. Inside he was shocked that he wasn't dead or at least dying. He only felt a mild sting that was quickly fading. He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Put the gun down now."
Too scared to do much else, the man dropped the gun, "Sure thing, man. Whatever you say. I didn't mean anything by it."
Remembering what happened to the vampires when he hit them, he didn't think a human would survive one hit. And he wasn't sure he could pull his punches enough to keep the man alive, not that he deserved to live after shooting him. He just didn't need the police looking at him any more then they would be.
Picking the man up by his shirt, Xander held him off the ground. "Maybe this will help you find direction in your life," he said before throwing the man down the length of the diner into the far wall where he fell unconscious.
"Who are you," the waitress asked. The rest of the patrons were staring at him in either shock or fear.
"Forget who," the old man at the register said, "What are you? That sure wasn't anything I've seen before."
"I'm not sure," Xander muttered, staring at the hole in his shirt. There was only a fading red mark there. Maybe it was time to seek out some advice. Giles might know someone who could tell him what was happening to him. He just had to convince Giles that it was nothing major. Tossing some money on the counter, he said, "Thanks for the burger. I think I need to leave now."
"Anytime," the waitress said.
End Chapter 02
