Spark of Genius

Disclaimer: I don't own buffy verse, girl genius verse, DC comics or any of that, so give it a rest.

AN: Chapter 2 of Xander's mad scientist story in the Justice League verse. Let the fun and games begin!

Chapter 1: The Physics of Motion

'Thought'

"Speech"

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
- Albert Einstein

The full moon was out, and the night was quiet and all was peaceful in the industrial park and junkyard on the outskirts of a large city, that is, all was quiet and peaceful until a dimensional transport BOOM vibrated the scraps of equipment laying around the junk yard.

Boom!

"AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

CRASH!

Xander Harris, Lady Luck's sometimes punching bag and all around swell guy, appeared in a flash of blue energy fifty feet in the air and seemed to hover there for a second; that is before he looked down and realized he was not on the ground. At which time the laws of gravity again came into play, and he plummeted said fifty feet to impact on the top of an old beat up Chevy Dotson; the impact of his body crushing the roof, shattering the windows and sending a spray of glass in the four cardinal directions around said Dotson.

"Ummmm, Ouch?" Xander hesitantly asked as he lay still for a few seconds, his body throbbing a bit from the beating he had received earlier that night.

Inside Xander's brain, Xander's consciousness did a roll call of body parts.

'Legs and feet? Check. Arms and hands? Check. Head bone connected to the neck bone? Check.

It was at that point that Xander got that stupid song about bones connected to other bones stuck in his head, and also realized that all together, he felt pretty dang good. Too good in fact. Way too good when considering he had played punching bag to a bunch of super strong undead and monster types and been thrown through a tree and plummeted fifty feet to crush in a car.

"Wow, I feel pretty good." Xander said out loud, as he gave a goofy smile.

Apparently Lady Luck didn't like that answer, because as soon as he said that, a ZAP was heard, and another blue flash of light appeared fifty feet above his head.

Smack! The marshmallow gun appeared out of the blue flash of energy and fell, smacking him right in the nose.

"Oph, Dat phnucking Nurt!" Xander stated with a muffled sound as he grabbed his face with both hands as his eyes watered. Blinking his eyes to clear the tears and pinching his nose, he moved his nose from side to side to make sure that it wasn't broken. Xander was thankful not to hear or feel any nasty crunching or grinding sounds that would lead him to think his nose was broken.

He started to sit up, but then remembered that magic and he didn't get along very well.

"Oh Shit!" He cried, before fast unbuttoning his pants to make sure that his 'boys' were still ok.

"Phew, still all there." Xander said with a goofy grin. Just because Buffy and Willow considered him 'one of the girls,' didn't mean that he was 'one of the girls.'

It was then that he noticed he was bigger. Well, bigger there also, but everywhere in particular. His hands were larger and stronger, his biceps were larger, and his thighs looked like they should be stripped down, oiled up, and submitted in a Mr. Universe body builder contest.

Noticing the changes to his body, Xander freaked out for a second.

"Oh shit!" he stated as he looked down at himself, which was then followed by him stating another set of expletives when he tried to push himself upright and ended up punching his hand through the shattered steel roof of the Dotson.

"Shit! Shit, Mother BLEEPING BLEEPING BLEEP BLEEP on a motor cycle!" Apparently Xander could learn a thing or two from his father Tony, and cursing and how to mix a drink was the sum total of them.

Pulling his arm clear of the Dotson's roof, Xander carefully rolled off of the top of the car and surprisingly landed lightly on the balls of his toes. Looking down at himself and realizing he was also taller, he tried to remember what in the hell had happened to him.

Then it hit him, he went as Xander Heterodyne, the Gentleman Adventurer. Abnormally strong and resilient thanks to good genes and a few thousand biological upgrades and lab accidents that happened on a regular basis living with his family and friends; Xander Heterodyne was atypical for Sunnydale, that is if you were anybody other than the slayer. At least that was the background of the character, but it was still all there in his head, and apparently his body had been adapted to fit the character as well. Not only that, but his mind had also apparently received an 'upgrade.'

It was all there in his brain. Besides the annoying song about the hip bone connected to the thigh bone was the science, the mathematics, the sheer crazy mad spark of genius that often stepped over the boundaries of the natural and entered the realm of the downright creepy and insane. The type of genius that states, "Fools, I will destroy you All! Ask me how!" Or who go about creating man eating bunny rabbits who quote the IRS tax code just because they thought Easter was too boring with its usual cadre of chocolate and egg giving bunny rabbits. Sure, the Xander Heterodyne that Xander had dressed up wasn't the evil genius type; he was more like the Knight in shiny mechanized fusion powered armor type. It was all there in his head.

"Oh man, what have I gotten myself into this time?" Xander stated as he shook his head and started to look around.

It was then that he saw all of the knick knacks and scrapped devices that lay around him. It was also then that a new side of his manic personality showed itself. Now Xander held a new love, a love that was on the level of the all holy Twinkie, but now it was also a love for devices that made things go Boom, Zap, or did incredibly crazy, mad, very fun and in no way boring things.

"Ohhhh, Shiny!" Xander stated as he really saw what was around him.

Some junkyards have washers, dryers and refrigerators in them. Some junkyards even have broken planes, trains, automobiles and other miscellaneous every day household machines. But the junkyard on the outskirts of Metropolis had the debris from the thousands of battles between super powered heroes and super powered villains; with the scraps of a few alien invasions thrown in to set the mood just right.

Before Xander knew what he was doing, he clasped his hands together like he was praying, and took a dive, head first, into the biggest pile of broken down robots, ray-guns, and Winnebagos that he could see.

Somehow, defying all rational thought and the laws of nature, Xander was able to move through the scrap metal and devices like he was swimming. Every now and then, his head would pop up, only for him to show an even bigger smile than before, then he would dive beneath the surface of the debris again.

After a bit of clanking, clunking, and sounds of a power saw revving, Xander hopped out of pile of goodies that surrounded him.

Shaking his head to get the distraction out of his thoughts, he realized that this would take some getting used to.

It was then that it hit him. 'Where the hell am I? Certainly not anywhere near the Hellmouth.' Xander thought. Looking at half crushed hull of what looked to be a flying saucer. "There is no way even Sunnydale Syndrome could cover up an alien invasion." He said out loud as he tried to see where, when, or better yet in what alternate universe he was in.

Just then his stomach grumbled.

'First, I have to find out where they heck I am and get some food. I'm starving.' Xander thought to himself.

Just then he heard a ZAP! Above him, and quickly ducked to protect himself.

Thud!

A heavily laden pillowcase fell just in front of Xander.

Slowly, peeking out from between his fingers, Xander realized that it was his pillow case of candy from the night of trick-or-treating.

"Score!" Xander shouted, pumping his fist up and down, and then looking around to make sure that nobody had seen him being a dork; and then feeling like a dork because he was checking around a junkyard to make sure that nobody saw him acting like a dork.

Shaking his head, he thought, 'Well, at least I have the food thing for a bit. Sweet Sugary Sustenance, how I love thee.' He thought as he grabbed a couple of candy bars and ate them quickly while he continued to look around.

'Perhaps Lady Luck doesn't hate me so much?' Xander thought as he finished off the candy bar and dug through his pillow case for another one.

In the not so far distance, Xander could make out the lights of a city with tall skyscrapers. Eating another Snickers bar and taking a shot of pixy stick, Xander tied his pillow case to his belt and started walking through the aisles of the junkyard towards the city lights.

Figuring that he wasn't going fast enough, Xander started jogging to see how far he could get before he tired out; exercises beyond running from Vampires or bullies hadn't been a big priority in his Sunnydale life.

After a few minutes of jogging, Xander realized that he wasn't tiring at all. In fact, his breathing hadn't even increased.

'Huh? Guess I got something else from the heterodyne costume.' Xander thought to himself with a smile, 'Well, let's see what the new body can do.'

With that, Xander sped up to a run, and then a sprint, and then he went even faster then he knew was humanly possible.

He absolutely zipped down the aisles of the junkyard, and just in front of him was the fast approaching gates of the junkyard. But rather than slowing down, he smiled and again picked up even more speed until the land around him almost seemed to blur. Then, just when it looked like he wouldn't have enough room to come to a stop before he hit the fence, he focused on the gate, prepared to jump, and forgot to look where his feet where running.

Xander hit the pipe that was sticking out of the ground at full speed. Three things then happened in quick succession.

First, the pipe snapped, but not before imparting just enough force to send Xander flying through the air head first at the gate made of chain link fence. Second, Xander flew through said gate, parting the fence like a hot knife through butter as the links seemed to explode into hundreds of little flying shards of steel, scratching his arms and hands that were curled up over his head and protecting him on instinct. Thirdly, gravity again kicked in as Xander's velocity along the "Y" axis (vertical) rapidly decreased, while his velocity along the "X" axis (horizontal) continued at almost the same speed at which he had been running. This horizontal speed continued until Xander hit the pavement of the road leading out of the Junk Yard, at which time he became a one man carnival act in a slap stick comedy; the type where somebody rolls head over heels with the occasional bounce and skip back into the air only to thud to the ground again to continue rolling.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD SKIP…. (Air time*) THUD THUD THUD SKIP… (More air time*) Thud Thud Thud, roll roll roll Thunk!

Xander continued his forward rolling and thudding along the ground, only ending with him sprawled upside down against a tree where the road curved to go down the hill.

Xander laid there blinking up at the stars and the moon for a second before he was finally able to come up with something to say.

"Ok, now that hurt." Xander said, as he slowly maneuvered his legs to the side so that they were no longer propped straight up against the trunk of the tree.

"Owwww." He winced as he slowly pushed himself up, noticing that his pillowcase was now ripped and devoid of candy.

"Why! Why must you taunt me so!" Xander shouted at the sky, shaking his fist in anger at where he imagined Lady Luck to be laughing down at him.

Again feeling like a dork. Xander shook his head, and then took off jogging towards the city that appeared about a mile away. He was back to square one as far as no idea of where he was, or how to get food.

Xander had jogged through the industrial areas on the outskirts of the city until they started to give way to office buildings. Jogging through the night, Xander passed through the office buildings and headed towards the best lit and busy parts of the city; the part with all of the skyscrapers.

Xander eventually slowed to a walk as he started to enter an area of town where people were going about their business, going out to eat, to shows, and generally enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, not everybody in the city apparently enjoyed peaceful activities.

As Xander walked past a dark alley, two six and a half foot imposing figures with smashed swollen noses, bad teeth, and more muscle than brains stepped out in front of him.

"Give us yer money, and we won't hurt ya… too much." One of the thugs stated as the other started to move to the side to stop Xander from retreating.

Xander stepped back, really not interested in getting in a fight with these two guys who would make Larry and his buddies back in Sunnydale look like midget pigmies; the really small and cuddly kind.

"Guys, I don't have any money." Xander stated as he raised his hands showing them that he didn't have anything. "And if I had, I'd gladly share it with you. After the night I've had, I'm not really interested in a fight." Xander continued.

"Ah, well. Dat's too bad." The first one said as the second finished circling behind Xander. "Because we are interested in a fight." The first one continued.

It was as if the world around him slowed down. Xander simply knew that the thug behind him had swung for his head, and with preternatural grace and agility Xander reached behind himself and grabbed the arm. Using the physics of motion and inertia, Xander's brain instinctively calculated out the exact power to speed ratios needed, he then leveraged the swinging thug's arm over his shoulder and propelled the man over his back feet first into the first thug's face.

A shower of blood flew up the first thug's face as apparently it was possible to break the thug's nose more than it had already been broken. The two thugs went down in a pile of tangled limbs as the first thug's head bounced off the concrete of the sidewalk. As time seemed to speed back up to normal speed, Xander found himself in mid step and kick as he blasted the second thug in the ribs with his boot; lifting the second thug a good 5 feet into the air before the man's body belly flopped to the ground below. The second thug had enough time to puke out the remnants of his dinner before he two fell unconscious to the ground next to the first low life.

"Whoa!" Xander stated wide eyed. "Where did that come from?" He said, a little hysterically. Looking around, he noticed that he was the only person on the street.

Taking a second to calm himself, he looked around again, and then proceeded to drag both of the thug's bodies into the darkness of the alley.

Checking that both men still had a pulse, Xander rifled through their pockets for anything of value; deciding that turn about was fair play. After all, he'd done the same thing to vampires, only he wasn't going to put a stake through these guys's heart after he had rolled them for their cash and watches.

Finding about a thousand American dollars in small denominations on the two of them, Xander convinced himself that he was doing a community service by putting these two wannabe gangsters out of business for a while.

Walking out of the mouth of the Alley, Xander looked left and right, before again proceeding in the same direction as he had been before he had been so rudely interrupted.

Xander finally made it to a busier area of town where he could see what looked like tourists taking pictures of the street performers and people going about their way between bars, restaurants, and movie theaters.

Just as he was walking by a crowd of tourists, it happened.

"Look! Up there!" One of the tourists shouted and pointed as they all raised their camera towards the sky where the lights of the buildings were illuminating something.

"It's only a bird." One man said in disgust, obviously not wanting to be there.

"No, it's a plane," a woman stated.

"No! It's Superman!" A young teenage girl shouted and pointed.

Sure enough, hovering over the large city square, and right in front of a building with a large golden planet on top of it, was Superman."

Xander's jaw dropped, and then his brain flipped the switch to Willow-Babble mode.

"OhMyGod! OhMyGod! OhMyGod! I'mInAComicBook! OhMyGod! OhMyGod! It'sSuperman!" He stated, starting to hyperventilate as he looked up at one of the hero of him and his boyhood friend Jesse. He continued babbling a series of "OhMyGod's" as he stumbled back and leaned against a building to catch his breath.

"Think Xander, Think!" He said to himself. "If Superman is here, then we are definitely far away from the Hellmouth and everything Sunnydaleish. So in some ways, that's good." He tried to psych himself as he said it. "In other ways, that's very bad." He thought as he started to slump down to the sidewalk. 'What about Willow? What about Buffy? What about the G-man? Who will bring them the donuts or new yellow crayons?' Xander thought sadly, looking down.

But then he looked up at Superman, who was floating there silently, looking down at the people in the square below. It was then that he remembered the 'inner' monologues that Superman would have in the comic books, about being lonely, about not fitting in, but about fighting for something good.

'Yeah, maybe that's what I should be like? Yeah, maybe this is my chance?' Xander thought as a small smile fought to come across his face.

'I have this strength and speed.' He thought to himself, 'this brain power too. Things I never had before.'

'I don't have to be the sidekick.' Xander realized with a start. 'I don't have to be the guy who cowers and waits for Buffy to save the day.' Xander thought as the smile slowly crept across his face.

'Plus, I know this universe.' Xander through with a smile, 'I don't know what if any of the series of comics or cartoons this universe follows, if any, but I do know a ton of secrets about the heroes and villains, their strengths, their weaknesses, and the occasional skeleton in the closet.' Xander thought for a second as the smile now threatened to split his face.

Looking up, Xander saw Superman floating there for a second, before taking off in a blue and red streak as Superman flew off to another part of the city.

'Wow! I can be a hero too.' Xander thought as he stood up and pushed himself away from the wall.

"With great power comes great responsibilities." Xander said to himself as he started to walk down the street again. 'Ok, so that's Spiderman and the marvel universe, not DC.' Xander confessed to himself, 'But the meaning of the words still holds true.' He nodded to himself as he thought.

"So what to do next?" He asked his reflection in a clothing store. The clothes he was wearing were torn and shredded on the shoulder and on his sleeves. His knee looked like it had been worn through from skipping down the street, but he noted that the skin beneath the tear marks was now clean and without any blemish, bruising, scrapes or cuts.

'Wow, a healing factor also.' Xander thought as he smiled at himself.

Pulling out the cash that he had scrapped together from his interactions with the two thugs, he looked up at the store window again. Perhaps the suit in the window wasn't what he needed yet, but the nice pair of jeans, a nice t-shirt and a leather jacket would foot the bill for now.

"First clothes, and then a meal and a place to sleep." He said to himself as he pushed his way into the store. His smile and his muscular frame garnered the attention of the attention of the young sales lady, even if his torn clothes looked a bit lacking.

Leaving the store a half hour later, wearing new clothes and with a few new outfits in a backpack that had been on sale Xander strolled down the street looking for a meal.

Searching for a place to eat, he noticed that a couple of attractive girls and women were checking him out as he proceeded down the street, he smiled to himself and thought, 'Yep, I think I could get used to this new life.'

As he entered an Italian restaurant he thought, 'Maybe Lady Luck doesn't hate me that much after all.'

AN: Another chapter and it's good to be in the justice league verse finally. Xander has a bunch of things to overcome but it should be fun to watch him go through it; well, fun for us, I'm sure his run in's with murphy, lady luck, and his allergic reactions to magic will be fun to watch. Oh Joy! Well, now that I've actually given you some things to read about, do you think I should keep going, or let this fade off into the sunset? Thanks for reading. Cheers!