Spark of Genius
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy verse, Girl Genius verse, DC comics or any of the other smatterings of pop culture and literary ideas that I refer to in my story, I just tread through a few other sandboxes. Oh, and several names are made up, some are real, but the facts have been changed to protect the corrupt and innocent equally.
AN1: This chapter came out in fits and starts. I had it in my head in its general state since before I finished chapter 42, but I just hadn't been feeling like writing or work was kicking my ever loving arse. Then when I finally did finish up the chapter, disaster struck in the form of a beverage spilled across the keyboard. The spill was immediately followed by a pretty light show of sparks, followed by a loss of my work and I had to start over on chapter 43. I know it's been a long wait and I appreciate the patience… oh who am I kidding, you folks have been ravenously chomping at the bit for updates, I know I do. Patience, BAH! I laugh in the face of patience, give me the update now, I usually demand. Thus, without further delay, I now return you to your regularly scheduled sparky madness.
AN2: Fair warning that this ends on a bit of a cliffy, but I felt it was forcing it to add in the last section so it will be the beginning of chapter 44. Cheers!
'Thought'
"Speech"
/foreign language/
Chapter 43: Chaos Is My Friend
"Chaos. I remain, as ever, thy faithful, degenerate son."
~Ethan Rayne BTVS Season 2: Halloween
"Oh my!" Drucilla exclaimed as she stopped her lilting graceful walk through the Sunnydale Cemetery, "Kitten's sparkles are spreading they are." Her eyes suddenly focused off into nowhere; not really seeing anything in front of her and especially not the moon lit clearing around her covered in grave stones and mausoleums.
"Wait, what?" One of Drusilla's fledgling minions, not generally known for their intelligence, made the mistake of interrupting her even though several of the other new vampires around him tried to shut him up.
"Shhh, mommy's watching Kitten's fire flies dip and dive and spread on the wind like embers in the Great Chicago fire. Oh my wonderfully dark kitten did kick over the lantern he did." Drusilla replied as she continued to stare off into nothing while at the same time her right hand darted out and ripped the lips off the minion that dared to interrupt her; showing that though she might be crazy, Drucilla was still an evil master vampire in her own right.
"Aaarrgh!" The minion clutched its face in agony as he collapsed to the ground, his teeth and jawbone clearly visible between his fingers as the lower portion of his face was missing.
Drucilla flicked her hand and negligently flung the fledgling's lips off into the darkness. "Ms. Edith says that everything is changing, and it's all because of my Kitten's pretty light… oh how he sparkles he does, it's like a bonfire, a great roaring fire and a sunrise that I haven't seen in so long."
"What is she going off on now?" One of the other vampires asked a second one under his breath, only to be quickly hushed by several of the others in the group of about twenty fledglings following Drucilla through the cemetery.
Drucilla suddenly stood up straight, her eyes going wide, "Oh my, the sparkle is getting bigger and brighter, so bright that I can't see anything! Oh my, now the light is getting closer…" She gasped, only for a fireball to incinerate her head and turn the former master vampire and seer into a flaming dust ball.
The repeating sound of flying plasma balls incinerated Drucilla and two other fledglings in a rapid fire, "Fwoosh! Fwoosh, fwoosh!" This was then followed quickly by the insane cackles of a teenaged girl.
"Bwa ha ha ha ha! I love my new Mr. Toasty. It's even better than my new Mr. Pointy." Buffy exclaimed as she marched into the clearing in the middle of the cemetery and unloaded point blank into another three fledgling vampires before they even had a chance to realize they were under attack. The back blast of the Toastmaster 4000 repeating plasma blaster sent Buffy's blonde hair fluttering backwards as the gun bucked in her hands with each shot; the heat of the blasts adding a rosy glow to Buffy's maniacally smiling face.
"No fair Buffy, leave some for the rest of us!" Willow's voice whined as she moved out from the shadow of the trees and into the open moonlight shining down on the cemetery. The vampires had only a moment to see the red head's hair seem to float about her on an ethereal wind as her eyes glowed green, very similar to the witch Circe's eyes when she was about to cast magic.
"Allazo!" Willow yelled the word "Change" in Greek, her fingers splayed towards a pair of vampires that were about to shake off their stupor and attack Buffy.
Suddenly, where a pair of Vampires had once stood now hopped two white bunny rabbits with fangs; but only one of them had a mean streak a mile long.
"Oh fooy!" Willow cursed and stamped her foot in frustration. "I wasn't aiming for turning them into bunnies."
It was at this point that the vampires realized that a tactical retreat was in order, and so started to try and scatter, or hop away in the case of the two vampiric bunnies, only for two fledglings to be ripped in half by invisible claws as an older man with glasses and a black leather jacket entered the clearing from behind the vampires.
Rupert Giles' grin was dark and nasty, and his eyes seemed to gleam as his lips muttered quiet unspoken words while his hands made clawing surgical like cutting motions in the air towards another two vampires that stood about ten feet in front of him.
"What?" Both targeted vampires said in confusion at the blood-bag that dared to stand in their way and imitate a mime… only for both of their heads to be viciously ripped off of their bodies by unseen claws.
Vampire dust drifted on the air as two more vampires were destroyed, heralding the return of Rupert "Ripper" Giles; the now more hands-on watcher of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The remaining ten or so vampire fledglings panicked at suddenly finding themselves turned into prey, so moved to attack like cornered animals.
Glowing scripts of ones and zeros lit the night sky in green text as suddenly a net of the floating numbers erupted from another side of the clearing. The net of computer basic text, glowing as a glob of numbers shot from the darkness of the trees and snagged the remaining vampires as if they had been caught in a big gloopy bubble of jello.
"Mwa HA Ha ha ha, excellent." The voice of Jenny Calendar, aka Janna Kalderash, purred as she waltzed into the opening and looked at the work performed by her latest interweaving of magic and technology; a weird metal gauntlet settled on her right arm. Jenny waltzed over to the side of her boyfriend Ripper, draped herself over his shoulder and kissed him as Giles pulled her towards him possessively, both looking at each other with a bit of a mad gleam in their eyes.
"You do excellent work luv." Giles stated, a bit of British cockney coming through his voice as he gave his girlfriend a squeeze and then an evil smile at the trapped vampires and two vampiric rabbits.
Jenny's eyes gleamed at the praise from her boyfriend, and reached up with a metal gauntlet covered hand to caress Giles's chin, "Thank you love, and if Ripper is a good boy, then later he might get to see just how good I can be at my work." She finished flirtatiously.
"Eww!" Buffy and Willow stated together with puckered disgusted looks on their faces at the mushy gooshy flirting that was going on between their computer teacher and librarian/watcher. After all, it was one thing for teenagers to make out, but nobody liked to think about their parental figures having sex.
"Now now girls, I think it's romantic." The voice of Joyce Summers stated as she walked out of the shadows carrying a statute of the Greek God Apollo that Joyce had purchased for her gallery.
"But mom!" Buffy huffed, "Grownups aren't supposed to talk about having sex in front of us; I swear it's an unwritten rule or something." Buffy whined.
"Enough," Joyce chided Buffy before raising the statue high above her head and calling out to the air, "Apollo, god of the sun and light of life! Give us your power to vanquish the powers of darkness!" The statue above her head flashed brightly with the power of the sun itself, filling the once moonlit cemetery clearing with enough sunlight to make it look like high noon.
"AHHH!" The vampires all yelled, and the two vampiric bunnies screamed "EEEEEE!", as they were instantly vaporized by the power of the sun's rays broadcast through the power of the idol of Apollo.
"My eyes!" Buffy cursed, blinking the tears out of her eyes as her Slayer healing kicked in and allowed her to see again.
Willow, being the smarty that she was, had immediately covered her eyes the moment that Joyce had started to raise the statute of Apollo, so Willow's eyes were just fine. Meanwhile, Giles and Jenny were too busy making out with their eyes closed to have noticed that the vampires were now gone.
"Alright you two lovebirds, lets head back home. The brownies should be just about done now." Joyce interrupted the passionate make out session between Giles and Jenny.
Buffy and Willow both had disgusted looks on their faces watching the scene of Giles and Jenny, that is up to the point where Joyce stated she had made fresh brownies.
"Oh goodie, brownies! Are they the type that have the peanut butter chunks in them?" Buffy asked excitedly as she slung her Mr. Toasty over her shoulder.
Joyce nodded and put an arm around Buffy's shoulder to give her a squeeze before smiling at Willow, "Yep, only the best for my Slayer and young witch."
"You're the best mom, Mom," Buffy stated and hugged her mom back before the group turned and left together, a happy if somewhat weird group, even by Sunnydale standards.
As they left to return to the Summers' household, Ripper Giles and Jenny Kalderash were chatting about the potential of adding Giles' ripping spell into her power glove, while Willow and Joyce discussed the different powers of Greek god's and the possibility of mixing some of the spells from Circe's spell book with the artifacts that Joyce had at her studio gallery.
Buffy on the other hand just enjoyed her mother's hug as they walked home… well, that and the happy memories of toasty fried vampires and the possibility of increasing the explosive yield of her Mr. Toasty as strange new scientific thoughts filtered through her mind. Buffy shook her head as she had the strange urge to cackle madly; Oh well.
High above Sunnydale two beings imperiously stared down from their dimension of solid white; beings that took on the form of humans of the male and female gender but were really neither. The Powers That Be, those keepers of balance and supposed deities of the champions of Good, were anything but balanced or feeling good at the moment as their view of their Champion the Slayer went white and blanked out the moment that the Vampire seer Drusilla stated that everything was going blinding white.
"What happened?" The male Power demanded an alien voice that held no human inflection. The female shaped companion's face twitched ever so slightly, but that was the extent of her emotions as she struggled to empower their viewing pool to determine what it was that had happened with their champion.
"I don't know. Some chaotic force is blocking us from seeing or influencing the Slayer." The female Power answered back at the male.
"Well, can you get it to focus on any of the people that usually surround the Slayer?" The male Power That Be questioned, a hint of dread entering his voice.
The female deity waved her hand over the viewing pool that was their portal to see what was going on in the lower dimension, only to get a white fuzzy picture and a bunch of static. The female Power then quickly waved her hand over the portal several more times before slouching her shoulders ever so slightly and turning to reply to the other.
"No, the Slayer and those who walked into the graveyard are totally blocked from our viewing." She responded, a pinched look coming to her forehead being the only indicator of her frustration and worry.
The male Power That Be bit his lip, internally scared that their tools on the earth plane had been taken from them. However a slight moment later, at least in human terms of time keeping, the being had postulated all of the possibilities and came up with a potential solution.
"Quickly now. Check out those two mortal boys who weren't with the group tonight. Can you at least get an image of what they are doing?" The male deity asked.
The female being waved her hand again, and sure enough, they were rewarded with a view of Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Wells. The only problem was that both teenaged boys were each currently situated inside of a giant walking robot that was moving quickly, if joltingly, forward towards Willy's Alibi Room.
"Move the one on the left! No, your other left." Andrew cursed at Jonathan as both struggled to control the series of pulleys, levers and gear handles that kept their behemoth of a steam powered clank moving forward in a somewhat straight direction. Both were tightly packed together in a red lit chamber buried in the chest of the thirty five foot tall, steam powered, brass and steel robot; pipes billowed smoke out of its back leaving a trail of smoke behind the metal monstrosity.
"I'm doing it! I'm doing it! Just concentrate on keeping your side of the robot moving." Jonathan yelled back, and took a moment to release his hand from one of his control gears to punch Andrew in the shoulder.
"Owww." Andrew whined and took a moment to slap Jonathan in the shoulder in return.
Jonathan, covered his now hurt shoulder and glared at Andrew, then made a girly slap towards Andrew who blocked the incoming slap with a slap of his own.
Then it was on, as both boys devolved into a slap-fest in the tight confines of the clank; which humorously enough, the robot mirrored the actions of both boys as the right arm of the robot slapped at the left arm and vice versa.
Finally, with a resounding "SLAP!" Both boys made contact with the others' face while the robot mirrored the boys' actions and double handed punched itself in the face; making the robot teeter backwards precariously and causing both boys to stop their slap-fest to concentrate on balancing out the clank.
"I blame you," Andrew growled at Jonathan while focusing on yanking the levers and pulleys needed to balance out his side of the robot.
"And I blame you, so there." Jonathan snipped, before both boys were able to right the large clank that teetered forward and back until it steadied itself.
"Our target is fifteen feet in front of us, banking fires now," Andrew stated as he started twisting several nobs that would increase the fires fueling the clank's boilers.
"Roger," Jonathan replied as he controlled the leavers to strengthen the clank's arms and reached his side of the clank forward to grasp the roof of Willy's Alibi Room, the demon friendly bar run by Willy the Snitch.
"What?" Andrew asked and stopped his work to look at Jonathan in confusion.
"What what?" Jonathan answered and looked at the now confused Andrew.
"You said Roger. Who are you talking to?" Andrew questioned.
Jonathan just looked back at Andrew before shaking his head, "No, I said Roger, as in affirmative. It's what people say when they understand."
Andrew shook his head, "Then why didn't you just say 'Affirmative,' it's what they say in Star Trek."
"Andrew, no matter what you think, Star Trek really isn't a view to the future," Jonathan responded.
"Blasphemer!" Andrew gasped, looking shocked at his cohort.
"Whatever. Would you just grab the other side of the roof so that we can clean this demon bar out?" Jonathan sighed exasperatedly.
"Fine, but don't think this discussion is over. I know you think Star Wars is the be all and end all, but that doesn't give you the right to insult Star Trek." Andrew pouted as he threw levers and maneuvered the other arm of the clank to grip the other side of the Alibi Room's roof.
"Ok, are you ready?" Jonathan asked as he concentrated on the view being broadcast by the VHS video recording systems that they had rigged into the outside of the clank so they could see what was going on.
"Ready," Andrew answered as he braced his hands on the arm piston control levers.
"Ok, on three, One, two, three… HERE's Jonny!" Jonathan yelled with excitement as both teenaged boys yanked back on their controls and outside the clank ripped the roof off the Alibi Room with the sound of shearing metal.
"Hey! I thought we agreed that the war cry for killing the demons would be "The power of Geek Compels You!" Andrew snapped as he concentrated on assisting Jonathan in throwing the roof to the side so they could get a good view into the building.
Looking down into the bar, Willy the Snitch was staring back up at the monstrous clank and the bar tender was frozen in fear; the bottle of blood he was pouring overflowing the glass in front of him and spilling onto the bar countertop unacknowledged.
In front of Willie a vampire stared upwards gobsmacked at the giant metal robot with its billowing smokestacks that reminded the old vampire of something out of the Victorian era.
The kitten poker players had all stopped mid game, and the pair of polgara demons in the corner had released their arm spikes in shock, however the large scaled thing at the other end of the bar was just looking blankly ahead at the TV; it was wrestling night on the TV after all.
"Whatever Andrew, just light them up." Jonathan commanded.
"Affirmative," Andrew responded as he pulled the lever and a sliding door on the chest of the robot opened up and belched a solid tongue of fire that vaporized Willy, the vampire in front of Willy, and ignited the alcohol behind the bar before Andrew controlled the louvers to direct the fire to cover the rest of the bar.
"You mean Roger," Jonathan said with a smirk that crept across his face as he watched the demons get immolated.
"Whatever," Andrew replied as he concentrated on what he was doing, a manic smile slowly growing across Andrew's face.
"Heh, heh heh, fire." Jonathan chuckled darkly as the demon's died..
"Heh heh heh, ha ha hah." Andrew started laughing with Jonathan, but soon both boy's chuckles turned into full blown laughter.
"Ha ha ha, mwa Ha Ha, Mwa HA HA HA HA… BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Both boys cackled with mad glee.
Such was the sight that the two Powers that Be saw on their viewing portal, right before the portal blinked out and went bright white, blocking their view of the two teenagers and all of Sunnydale soon after.
The portal flashed white and then grey twice, and then displayed a message:
"Error 404. View not found. If you think you've reached this view incorrectly, please contact you friendly chaos admin. The virus is spreading and the mortals will now choose their own fate. Have a nice day."
Both Powers looked at each other, and then with a true bellow of rage they screamed together, "JANUS!"
For Xander's minion virus had accidentally contaminated his gifts to his friends and entered the Sunnydale dimension. Nothing in the Sunnydale dimension was going to plan, and chaos would make sure of that for some time to come.
In the DC comic book universe, another discussion on the choices of mortals was being examined.
Nature and nurture, both are integral parts in the development of not only our childhood but also our adult lives. Which is stronger, the genes which we are born with or in Xander's case granted via a fluke of chaos magic, or the experiences that make up our lives? People have debated this type topic throughout the history of mankind; it was an argument almost as old as 'which came first, the chicken or the egg'. Either way you want to argue it, the reality was that as Xander and Selena Kyle silently stepped out of the portal that deposited them behind Gotham City's main Sparkbuck's Coffee shop, Xander was feeling very nervous about the talk he was about to have with Selena; aka Catwoman.
The Xander that led Selena out of the back alley and around to the front street and into the store, well, he may have looked calm, cool and collected but inside he was a mess of anxiety. This Xander's life was no doubt a million light years away in experience than one who would have remained on the Hellmouth of Sunnydale, the Zeppo, the donut boy, the Master of Quip-Fu and tormenter of Cordelia Chase. This Xander had lived a very different life, one of adventure, science, hot women, fast cars, and the chaotic flubs that kept life interesting. However, Xander still had that little voice of his father Tony Harris in the back of Xander's head saying that Xander was worthless, that nobody would ever truly love him or want him, and that any minute now Selena Kyle was going to slap him in the face or kick him in the balls and leave him for the rest of his life. That was a thought that made him cringe, not so much for the thought of getting kicked in the balls, which would still hurt, but rather the twinge of pain that came with the thought that the magnificent and fun loving Selena Kyle would walk out of his life the moment she heard about his past. This just went to prove that in the battle between nature and nurture, you could take Xander out of Sunnydale, but you couldn't take the Sunnydale out of Xander.
The bell above the front door of the Starbuck's made a pleasant jingle sound when Xander swept the door open for Selena; a lopsided smile pasted on his face.
"After you my lady," Xander quipped with a melodramatic bow and sweep of his arm to usher Selena in before him.
Selena shot Xander a wicked little smirk and patted him on his bowed head as she walked by, "As it should be," She taunted him back, her own sense of catty humor shining through.
Xander's smile broadened, the give and take of verbal quips briefly reminded him of the snarking that he and Cordelia Chase had sent each other's way. Looking back on those times as the memories quickly flipped through his mind, Xander could now recognize a bit of repressed sexual tension in his past war of words with the Queen C. Here and now however, Cordelia Chase had nothing on the incredibly sexy and frisky Selena Kyle as she swayed passed him and into the store; Xander taking the moment to enjoy the view from behind.
'Harem! Bwa ha ha ha! Yes, my precious, my Harem, mine only… Harem, Harem.' Libido cackled in Xander's mind, sounding a disturbingly like Gollum from Tolkien's Lord of The Rings.
Libido's cackling was quickly cut off with a 'Bong!' sound that reverberated inside Xander's skull as the voice of Reason delivered a knockout blow to Xander's overactive sex drive via a frying pan to the head.
Xander shook his head, and then with one side of his mouth quirked up in a goofy grin, he followed his breakfast date into the store.
The inside of the Sparkbucks was a mix between modern décor with geometrically cut table and counter tops that were set in soothing colors not unlike one would find in any other big retail corporate coffee shop. However that is where the similarities between the normal coffee shop and Sparkbucks stopped, for on the walls and ceilings were paintings and murals of the galaxy, the universe and the stars as if taken via pictures from a giant telescope. Those new to a Sparkbucks were always a bit taken aback by the pictures on the wall… Right up until the moment they tasted the divine perfection that was a cup of Sparkbuck's coffee. Upon that first sip of caffeine goodness, the customer's mind and senses were immediately made as if one with the universe, the perfection of flavor, of temperature and sensation that was Sparkbucks made a believer out of all that tried its dark beautiful coffee. That's why the Sparkbucks store looked like it was some cross between a corporate franchise coffee shop and a California marijuana dispensary. After all, Sparkbuck's coffee was addictive in its perfection and with its high caffeine content, so it was only fitting in Xander's mind that he mixed the two when planning out the decorations.
The addictive nature of the coffee also explained the large line of people that zigzagged back and forth leading up to the counter and the three registers that were busily manned by happily smiling and caffeinated workers.
Selena frowned when she saw the line. "This place is packed, I doubt this is that good of a place to have our conversation either," she stated as she looked around the large coffee shop and saw that all the tables and booths in the place were full.
Xander grinned down at her as he stood taller than her and able to look around the room. "Don't worry about it, I think you'll be surprised how fast we will get our food and drinks and get a table."
Selena turned to give Xander a sarcastic reply in light of the packed out store, only to be interrupted as a young man wearing a manager's name tag appeared at her elbow.
"What can I get you two? A booth will be ready for you in just a second." The young brown haired and dark complected young man asked while he pulled out a pad of paper with a big gleaming smile.
Selena blinked, and then looked back at the crowded Sparkbucks, and sure enough one of the employees had approached the secluded back corner booth and was in the process of cleaning the table while offering the patrons seated there free coffee for a month if they were willing to give up there table.
"Sure, I'll take a regular coffee, black, and a mocha with extra whipped cream for my lovely lady here." Xander ordered in a friendly manner.
"Right away Sir, it will be as you ordered," the manager said with a brief bow of his head that had Selena raising an eyebrow in confusion.
Xander turned and looked down at Selena and noticed the silent question in her look. "Let's go to the booth first, I'm sure our coffee will be there by the time we sit down."
With that, Xander guided Selena gently by the elbow until they were both seated at the table. Sure enough, by the time both were seated they were both served with steaming hot cups of coffee; Selena's having extra chocolate and whipped cream.
"There you go Sir, will you want to review the city reports while you are here?" The manager asked as he again seemed to just appear at the table after the barista had delivered the coffees.
Xander just smiled and waved his hand dismissively, "No no, that won't be necessary, just send them on in the usual manner. Please make sure that we aren't disturbed."
The manager bowed again and then scurried off back to work.
"What was that?" Selena questioned, taking a sip of her mocha and getting a dab of cream on her lip that she licked off subconsciously.
"What was what?" Xander asked, suddenly playing it coy and acting like he didn't have a clue what she was talking about.
"Xander." Selena stated in a dark tone, and there was something in that tone that told Xander he better stop playing games.
"Ha, fine, fine, I guess this is where I explain everything?" Xander said with a smile as he leaned forward and loosened a watch from his wrist before pressing a button on its side and laying it on the table.
Selena merely looked at Xander silently, a bit of a glare on her face, daring him to drag out his explanation any longer.
So Xander began to explain. "I own this place."
"This place, you mean this Sparkbuck's franchise?" Selena probed.
"No, Sparkbucks, the entire company." Xander explained as he slouched back in the booth opposite of Selena. "Sparkbucks, Inc., ENRON, a few other companies, the Native American tribe that owns the companies and all their land. The Empire of the Leviathan, Castle Wulfenbach, a good majority of the allied countries, etcetera etcetera." Xander counted off on his fingers until he ran out of fingers as Selena just stared wide eyed and stunned at what he was explaining.
Xander smiled as he sipped his coffee, watching as Selena sat there holding her mocha two inches from her lip but not moving at all as his statement had caught her off guard. He couldn't help it, so laughed at her wide mouthed expression.
"Ha! You should see your face. Then again, when I list it out like that I feel a bit stunned myself." Xander finished with a shrug and slurp of his coffee as he waited for Selena's brain to catch up with the conversation.
"Bwuh.. I mean, but, what? How? And what does this all have to do with the girls?" Selena sputtered before setting her coffee down and fully focusing on Xander.
Xander looked chagrined and rubbed the back of his head while giving Selena a wry grin, "Ok, so you want the whole story, well it started with a girl and a wooden stake…"
Xander started to explain about his life growing up in Sunnydale, in another dimension, and how demons were real and he met the Vampire Slayer and how things went from there. He told Selena about having to stake his brother in all but name when Jesse had been turned into a vampire. Xander described his hate of demons and quest to destroy them, and his battle with the night up through Halloween.
And as if the story hadn't been weird enough for Selena, then Xander went on to describe the circumstances of Halloween and his entrance to this new dimension. How he was stuck here due to higher dimension beings and couldn't get back home, and how his luck had him both succeeding very well in life and love, as well as having heart aches along the way… Zatanna, the minions, the monsters and vampires, the battles, the wars and the losses, and learning to care for his people.
Xander's story went on and on like some weird, crazy and often manic fiction story that was even hard to believe for somebody who lived in a dimension with the Justice League and meta-humans seemingly on every corner.
Time went by, and as Xander told his tale, Selena found herself getting caught up in Xander's life and her admiration for what he had gone through and how he had succeeded against his challenges only made her like him more. No matter how skeptical she tried to be, and she was indeed skeptical about most things given she had grown up on the streets, she believed he was telling her the truth, and the truth only drew her to him more. Here was a young man who had grown up in a poor abusive household and had ended up living more in the night than the day, much like Selena's own life. However where Selena had originally turned to prostitution before scrabbling her way out of that and into a life of high crime, Xander had taken his hard luck life and turned his darkness against the demons, against those who would hurt the people he cared about.
It was a long discussion, and as the story drew on both Xander and Selena found themselves lost for the time. Both enjoying being together; Selena enjoying learning more about Xander, and Xander truly enjoying just being able to share his life and a great deal of his secrets with at least one person in this new world. Xander didn't really know why he was trusting her with so much, no that wasn't right, the romantic part of him trusted Selena because Xander felt a pull towards the beautiful feisty woman who had her own dark side. Added to that was his cynical logical side of him that trusted Selena because she was a loner and couldn't really hurt him if she wanted to. Besides, from reading the comic books in his former Sunnydale dimension, Xander knew that Selena had known Batman's true identity and did not betray it.
And as the story went on, Xander found himself smiling more as he unburdened himself of the secrets of his life, and both Selena and Xander found themselves drawn more to one another.
While Xander was busy telling Selena about the twists and turns of his life, Magda Kalderash was busy showing Wonder Woman through the twists and turns of the Arcane University of The Leviathan.
"And that was the arcane library, which due to our archeological divisions now includes several stashes of works thought lost with the Great Library of Alexandria, and we are also proud to be the only magical university in this dimension that has a loan-a-scroll program with the historians of Shangri La." Magda detailed as she pushed her way out of the library's doors and led Diana out into a hall that was full of people bustling about their work.
Diana was amazed, not only by the vast size of the library and its collection but also the number of researchers and students that were moving about the room and now the hallway in front of her. Teenagers and college students of all ages in plain clothes and backpacks mixed and mingled with anonymous beings in long hooded robes bearing the mark of The Leviathan and carrying scrolls; they cluttered the halls as people moved between research facilities, ritual rooms and classes.
"Yes, an incredible sight." Magda turned towards Diana, showing Wonder Woman a smirking face with milky blind eyes.
Wonder Woman just blinked before she gestured around, "And what is all this, all of these people? There can't possibly be this many magical adepts in your small Empire."
Magda only smiled, "Ah, but you are assuming that the gene to access magic must be received at birth. With Science, anything is possible, especially when combined with Magic. Basic gene redrafting is sufficient to replicate and grant most if not all magical talents that are found throughout the world. What you see here is merely the students learning to fully control their powers before assisting the Empire in rolling back the secrets of the Universe. Besides, not even I know the true size of the Empire as more and more countries seek to secretly join The Leviathan in his work"
Magda led the now speechless Wonder Woman down the hall pointing to an enchantment lab, a ritual empowerment room, then the technomagic department before gesturing out a window that opened out to a view of an artificial valley built into the inside of the mountain.
"By the leadership of The Leviathan, all things are possible," Magda stated with a manic glee as she moved so that Wonder Woman could look out into the valley.
Before Wonder Woman's eyes spells and explosive rounds shot back and forth across the landscape hidden inside the mountain. Situated under an artificial sun that shone down on a large forest that was planted next to a dessert, next to plains, then a jungle, then rolling hills, was a war of unimaginable fury given its confined space. Meteor's appeared seemingly out of thin air to gouge craters in the ground as fire and lightning shot back and forth between opposing forces. Magical shields rippled in gold and black and blue, and armored troopers covered in glowing green runes marched, jumped with jetpacks and shot at each other while silver clad Valkyries flew and strafed from above; it was an all-out war to the death waged on a miniature scale and fully enclosed within a mountain.
Wonder Woman was flabbergasted, to think that The Leviathan, that Alexander had harnessed the power of magic in addition to science. The Amazon people had long ago given up the pursuit of science in exchange for magical power. Whereas the World of Man used cars and airplanes to move about the world, the Amazons used Pegasus, or griffins, or even the magical invisible jet construct that Wonder Woman used. Instead of healthcare, the Amazons had used the purple ray or healing magic. Instead of guns for weapons, the Amazons had magically reinforced spears, arrows and armor, instead of artillery or tanks, they used giant Cyclops, chimera or magically enchanted catapults. What Wonder Woman was seeing here shouldn't have been possible, shouldn't exist as it wiped away the last of her belief that her people could have survived the repercussions of insulting and showing dishonor to The Leviathan.
"There is no simulated combat or war games here, as our technology allows us to fully heal and bring the dead back to life. The only things illegal on the battlefield are disintegration, immolation and some of the darker necromancy spells that destroy the soul." Magda's voice interrupted Wonder Woman's thoughts and drew Diana's attention away from the small war and to the words that Magda had just uttered.
"Necromancy?" Wonder Woman looked at Magda with horror. "How could you ever condone such evil dark magic in any form whatsoever? How could Alexander be so evil to let that vile art be practiced in his lands!" Wonder Woman finished with a condemning shout of anger, only to be silence with a slap from the Elder Kalderash.
"Silence child." Magda hissed with a glare at the now startled Wonder Woman who was holding her cheek. Magda's blow hadn't hurt Diana in the slightest, but it did shock her.
"I will not have you insulting an honorable man based on bias and base superstition just because you've had bad interactions with necromancers in the past." Magda punctuated each of her words with a poke of the finger into Wonder Woman's sternum.
"But, my Mother…" Wonder Woman started to explain, only to get cut off mid-sentence.
"Ah, your mother says so, and we both know how infallible your mother has been recently, don't we." Magda snidely remarked.
"Come child, come learn that though your heart may be in the right place the world is not painted in shades of only black and white, but grey, and sometimes black is good where as white is evil." Magda commanded imperiously as she grabbed Diana by the wrist and dragged her through the halls towards the classroom area.
They took a right turn, a left turn, then down a long hallway until they came to a door with a simple class room number on it. Opening the door, Magda pushed Wonder Woman in before her and both were able to catch the end of the lecture.
An old wrinkled woman with startling green eyes stood proudly in front of the class and gestured towards a summoning circle before her as the woman leading the class discussed the spirit floating inside the circle.
"The key to the magic is not in the language but in the intent." The professor stated, strangely familiar to Diana even though she swore she had never seen the old woman before. The woman was dressed in green and purple Greek robes and had a gold necklace about her throat, the only other adornment being two large silver colored metal discs embedded into the temple of the professor's head. "If you seek to unleash the angry dead, then that is led by your intent, however if you wish to help the spirits move on or even seek out the answers that the dead keep then a calm intent is needed." The professor continued; catching Diana's eyes and flinching as the old woman seemed to recognize Diana.
The professor looked away from Diana and then at the clock in the back of the room before turning back to address the class. "I see our time is at an end," she told the class before turning to the spirit. "Victor, having named the killer of your family, know that justice will be found and administered by The Leviathan, and you may now rest at peace."
"Thank you," the ghost stated, its voice echoing as if speaking from a long way away as it drifted off into the air, the spirit evaporating like mist before the sun.
The students in the class clapped and started gathering their things. "Remember class, your next assignment is due Friday and can be found in chapters four through ten of Tobin's Spirit Guide the true unabridged version. Class dismissed."
The professor started putting her papers and scrolls away before waving her hand at the summoning circle and banishing the chalk drawings from the floor.
Magda merely gestured Wonder Woman to move out of the back of the classroom where they stood and to approach the teacher.
Diana moved towards the professor who was dutifully putting away the class lecture notes while not paying any attention to the two guests in the room.
Diana started to greet the old woman who didn't seem to recognize that Wonder Woman was standing before her. "Greetings, I am Diana, Princess of."
"Yes yes, I know who you are Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta and princess of the Amazons." The old woman looked up into Diana's eyes with a heated angry glare.
Diana was taken aback by the anger directed at her by this stranger.
"What?" The professor questioned as she cocked her hip to the side and planted a fist on it, glaring still at Diana, "Don't you recognize me?" The old woman said with a sneer.
Diana stared back at the older woman, the professor's brown hair mottled with white and grey and a no doubt once shapely figure now drooping and sagging a bit with age. It was the eyes though, those glaring glowing green eyes that finally triggered Diana's memory.
"Circe!" Diana gasped wide eyed and took a defensive step back.
"At your service Princess." Circe replied with a mock bow before smirking back at Diana. "Or should I say at The Leviathan's service after his forces captured me and denied me my magic, leaving only enough to be able to teach his classes or obey his commands." Circe finished by tapping the inch wide silver disks that were embedded in her skull and showing through the skin on both sides of her face.
"It is your sentence, and when you have paid your dues to society in a hundred years, then you shall be freed to travel about as you please and you will retain your magic so long as you do not use it for the harm of others." Magda serenely replied, not flustered at all by the sorceress's anger.
Wonder Woman swung to look at Magda, "You keep a murderer alive and have her teach your students her vile arts?" Diana demanded.
"Murderer!" Circe spat and moved forward into Wonder Woman's face, "It's not murder when it is vengeance! It's not murder when you seek to kill the one who killed you first, who stole your child and banished you to hell to be tortured for centuries!" Circe screamed in anger at Diana, and if the sorceress still had the power to do so, probably would have turned Wonder Woman into a pig.
"Wha-What?" Diana startled question stumbled out of her mouth as she stared wide eyed down at the shorter witch who age had shrunk.
"Your mother child! Your mother Hippolyta tired of a game I played with her and killed me, stole my child to raise as an Amazon instead of by my hand, and then banished me to Hades for all eternity!" Circe spat; telling Diana a side of the story that Wonder Woman had never heard when Hippolyta had first recanted to Diana the feud between Amazons and Circe.
"But, but… but why did you try to kill me then?" Diana queried, her mind in a tizzy as long held truths shattered and were reforged given the new information.
"Your Mother stole my child from me, so I sought to steal her child away from her." Circe punctuated her words with a poke to Diana's chest before Circe turned back to angrily shove papers back into the briefcase sitting on the lectern. "Sure I shouldn't have played games turning men and women into animals, but I was bored back then, I'm an immortal and life gets boring after a while, so sue me. That didn't mean your mother had to do what she did, and so she created an enemy in me." Circe growled the last part as she slammed the lid closed on her briefcase.
Diana was left speechless as she stared at Circe who was panting in anger.
"See child, the truth is not always as clear as you first perceive it. Further, your beliefs may be tempered with time and training, but that does not mean that they are always the truth." Magda calmly added, resting an arm on Diana's shoulder and causing Diana to be pulled from her thoughts.
Diana blinked her eyes several times, trying to clear her mind of her befuddlement.
Diana was thinking about what she had heard, not only Circe's reason for hating the Amazons but also the tail end of the lecture where necromancy was discussed as a tool for helping solve crimes or send the spirits on to their rest.
However just as Wonder Woman was going to open her mouth to respond, a loud beep was heard coming over the loud speaker system, and suddenly the lights in the room and in the hallway outside the classroom started flashing red.
"Code Red, Code Red, repeat we have a Code Red magical alert! All forces assemble for immediate war deployment, The Leviathan has been captured by enemy magical forces. Repeat, all forces assemble for immediate war deployment. Magical inhibitors and safeties on Stepford devices are shut off for all approved prisoners sworn to protect The Leviathan." The voice announced as shouting filled the halls outside the classroom.
Diana quickly looked to Magda, only to see a hard angry look pasted across the Elder Kalderash's face.
"BWA HA HA HA! My power returns!" Circe cackled madly, and as Diana's head swung back to look at Circe, the sorceress grew younger before Diana's eyes as the two silver disks on the witch's head dimmed from their formerly silver shiny color to that of dull gunmetal grey.
"Come, we are going to war to save your Betrothed." Magda commanded, and proceeded to stomp out of the classroom.
As Diana followed, she couldn't help but feel that the goosebumps on the back of her neck were not so much for Circe regaining her power, but for the fact that the full weight of the Leviathan's forces were about to drop on somebody's unexpected head.
"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha, they won't know what hit them." Circe laughed darkly, her words echoing Diana's thoughts.
"And that's me in a nutshell… help, I'm stuck in a nutshell. How did I get in this nutshell." Xander finished his retelling of his life by pantomiming being stuck in a nut shell and tried to end it on a humorous self-deprecating note, as he was uncomfortable having just bared his soul to Selena.
Selena smirked at the ending, as Xander's retelling of the his life had given her a bit of an insight into Xander's insecurities; not that Xander had purposefully stated such, but Selena was able to read between the lines in Xander's tale and see where he seemed to downplay his abilities.
Xander sighed slightly in relief when he saw Selena quirk the small smirk. Taking a big inhale and exhale of air, Xander slid himself back in his seat and decided to ask the million dollar question on the table.
"So, um, where does that leave us?" Xander questioned with a partial smile that lifted only one side of his mouth. His eyes sparkled on his handsome chiseled face, and Selena admired the view for a moment before responding.
"Well, I believe you told me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Selena replied with a smirk before picking up her mocha and playfully licking the last little bit of whipped cream off the side of her mug.
Selena's eyes sparkled with wicked glee when she noticed Xander stare at her tongue as it darted out to catch the cream and swallow it, only for Xander to look up into her eyes and gulp as he saw her wicked playful look.
"The whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God." Xander quipped back, trying to pull off the calm and collected look as he smirked back at her with a goofy smile and placed his hand over his heart and raised the other in the air at shoulder height.
"And from what you were telling me, you weren't just playing with me, and I believe you when you say you care about me. The only problem I'm seeing is being willing to share you with the other girls in your life." She finished as she set down her glass and looked steadily back at Xander; Xander's goofy grin melting off his face as he waited for her answer.
"And? So where does that leave us? It's up to you, as frankly I just want you in my life. I never expected you let alone anybody to be interested in me, but at the same time I now have responsibilities and care about the others greatly also." Xander settled back, to wait for her answer.
Selena stared back, she didn't know what her answer was as different parts of her fought. She cared about Xander, and he was dead sexy and a Viking in the sack. Still, the street wise and catty part of Selena wasn't sure if she wanted to date a Tomcat. Not to say that Xander was purposefully going around hunting for other girls to love. However, Selena realized that if she accepted the idea of dating Xander, then she was doing so with the full knowledge that he was engaged to at least three girls and had others on the side that played a significant role in his life. The sex with others wasn't that big of an issue to her, what with having grown up as a prostitute on the street Selena had her fair share of male and female lovers before she put on the persona of Catwoman.
Still…
"Excuse me, but can I talk to Xander for a moment." A female voice interrupted Selena's thoughts and Xander's waiting.
Both Xander and Selena startled, and Selena realized that for the length of Xander's tale she hadn't been able to hear any noise coming from the busy coffee store outside their booth. Looking up, both Xander and Selena saw a raven haired beauty with dark brown eyes and a shapely figure wearing form fitting black slacks and heels and a tight white sweater t-shirt that hugged the woman's curves up until the turtleneck that rested under the face of the intruder on their conversation.
"Zatanna!" Xander startled as he looked up and recognized the woman who was intruding on Selena and his private moment.
"What are you doing here?" He finished, the last part coming out through a frown and his eyebrows pinched together as he was clearly not happy to see Zatanna, especially not right now.
"Um, I need to talk to you." Zatanna stated, looking uncomfortable as her gaze moved from Selena who was glaring up at Zatanna to Xander who was definitely unhappy to see Zatanna.
"I'm busy right now and I thought I made it clear that I really didn't want to see or talk to you again after you attacked me." Xander replied, crossing his thick muscled arms across his chest and glaring up at Zatanna.
"Really, it will only take a moment and it's really important that I talk to you right now." Zatanna urged, biting her lip as she looked at Xander. Out of the corner of her eye, Zatanna assessed the woman sitting with Xander and determined that the girl wasn't of any concern. Either way, the woman would be better off if Zatanna was able to separate her from Xander.
"Fine." Xander growled, "You're obviously not going to leave until I talk to you, and we were almost finished here anyway." Xander finished by picking up his watch and pressing a button, suddenly allowing the sounds of the store to flood into the booth as he put his watch back on his wrist and moved Zatanna out of his way as he slid out of the booth and gave his hand to help Selena out from behind the table.
"Come on." Xander commanded with a glare at Zatanna as he walked hand in hand with Selena out of the Sparkbucks and onto the busy Gotham street.
Zatanna looked around at the busy street, then back at Xander and Selena who were standing their waiting for Zatanna to start speaking.
"Um, can we talk a bit more privately." Zatanna asked, looking around and spotting the alley that led behind the Sparkbucks.
Xander just glared at Zatanna for a second more, thoughts of her attacking him the last time they met going through her mind as the primal spirit in his head growled.
Zatanna merely waited for Xander to lead the way into the alley.
"Fine! I hope this is fast." Xander exclaimed as he dropped Selena's hand and threw his arms up in frustration as he walked into the mouth of the alley with Zatanna following him and Selena behind her.
Walking around to the backside of the store, Xander whirled around and placed his hands on his hips as he waited for Zatanna to start talking.
"So, what do you have to say that is so gosh darn important?" Xander growled.
Zatanna bit her lip as she walked up closer to Xander.
Just as she was about a foot in front of Xander, and getting into his personal space, Zatanna uttered one word.
"latroP!" Zatanna stated loudly.
"Wait, What?" Xander questioned, a startled look on his face… only to have Zatanna Zatarra place two hands on Xander's chest and shove him backwards through the portal that had just appeared behind him.
"WAhhh!" Xander yelled in surprise as he fell backwards, disappearing through the portal that snapped closed while a satisfied smirk grew upon Zatanna's face as she turned around to leave the alley…
Only to have Selena's fist crunch Zatanna's face followed by an elbow strike to the temple as Selena rushed Zatanna, snagging the magician by the hair and using the handhold on Zatanna's head of hair to bend backwards and flip Zatanna face first into a dumpster.
"DON'T TOUCH MY BOYFRIEND YOU BITCH!" Selena roared at the dazed Zatanna who was losing consciousness; Selena never having felt as angry as she was in that second.
The door to the back of the Starbucks burst open and slammed against the other side of the alley as Sparkbuck's coffee baristas with giant guns burst out of the back of the coffee shop.
"We got here as quickly as we could, tell us what happened," the manager demanded with a fearsome growl as he approached Selena, pointing several baristas to seize the downed Zatanna.
Selena blinked, but then shook her head as more and more portals popped up in the alley and silver clad Valkyries and black armored troops flooded the alley.
"She said she wanted to talk to us, said it was important," Selena growled and moved to go jump on Zatanna, Selena's hands and nails poised like claws to rip out Zatanna's eyes. The manager grabbed Selena by the shoulder and pulled her back before she could go all Catwoman on the woman who kidnapped her boyfriend.
"Stay with me, tell me what she did so we can find him and help get him back safely." The manager commanded, drawing Selena's attention back towards him.
"She moved in close, yelled some gobbledygook and a portal of some sort opened behind Xander before she pushed him through it." Selena snarled, looking like she wanted nothing more than to sink her claws into the now fully unconscious Zatanna.
"You!" The manager pointed at one of the Valkyries standing next to him. "Connect into the computer system and see what the recording devices have at the time that bitch dared to attack our Master."
"Yes sir," The Valkyrie nodded, and then a mere moment later responded. "The recordings recognize a burst of magic and the HomoMagi uttered the word 'Portal' backwards."
The manager then cupped his hand to his ear, "Von Pinn, as the AI in charge of the east coast region of the United States, I'm requesting the immediate insertion of a prisoner mind control Stepford device."
"I have monitored the situation, Stepford device insertion is Approved." Came the Germanic accented reply in the manager's hidden ear piece, and a flash of light deposited a syringe full of a bright silver metallic compound with a large nasty looking barbed needle on the tip of the syringe.
The manager smiled in evil glee as he grabbed the syringe and sank down next to the unconscious Zatanna before using all of his strength to bury the needle straight through her forehead and into her brain.
Zatanna woke up with a scream of agony as the manager depressed the plunger and injected the Nth Metal nanoclanks.
Zatanna looked to be struggling, as her tear filled eyes darted from the right to the left as she took in all the angry people around her… angry people with really big guns. Unfortunately for Zatanna, the only thing she was able to move at that moment were her eyes.
"Where did you send Alexander?" The manager growled.
"To my people's home village hidden behind dimensional wards in the hills of Turkey." Zatanna found herself speaking without her control, the truth and the whole truth being forced through her lips without any ability to stop herself as her eyes grew wide with fear at betraying her people.
"You heard her, pass on the message and deploy the troops." The manager quickly commanded before wheeling back on the paralyzed Zatanna.
"What are your people planning on doing with Alexander?" Selena demanded.
Zatanna's next words caused a chill to go down the backs of Selena and the gathered followers of The Leviathan.
"We will banish the agent of Chaos back to the pits of limbo and the plains of oblivion where the chaos lords roam. No longer will he be able to exist in this dimension as the chaos returns him to his base materials and the entropy that he represents." Zatanna replied, shocked at the venom that was issuing from her own lips. It was at that moment, when she said those words and realized how she had let her anger at Alexander sway her to this plan, it was at that moment that she realized she may have doomed her own people.
A thought that was repeated by the angry man interrogating her.
"We will save our Master, and you better pray that we do. For if we are not able to save him in time, then know that you and all of your people will be destroyed, every man, woman and child of them."
After telling Zatanna exactly what he thought about her actions, the manager turned to Selena and gestured beside her where a portal snapped open.
"Come, we will await the safe return of Alexander from the security of Castle Von Wulfenbach." At the manager's urging, Selena led the way through the portal before the manager.
"Oh, and bring the prisoner," the manager said as he stopped just before the portal. "If we are unable to save The Heterodyne, she will be the first to be destroyed."
With that, the manager entered the portal and was soon followed by the rest of the people in the alley way, including the haltingly moving mind controlled Justice League member Zatanna Zatarra… or make that the former Justice League member.
AN: Well, sorry about the wait and the cliffy… oh wait, no I'm not sorry about the cliffy; BWA HA HA HA HA HA… ahem, excuse me. I hope that chapter 44 will come out more quickly than 43 did but I'm having trouble writing a particular magic using character from the DC comics because I can't find a good comic book that describes the way he talks. Now I'm off to work on some of my other story chapters to see if I can get more out. I hope you enjoy it, let me know your thoughts. I'd especially be interested in hearing your thoughts on what you think the minion/spark virus will do to change the story in the Sunnydale universe. Cheers!