Split Decision

In a flash of light Xander found himself standing inside a circle with someone who looked equally shocked to be there and bore quite a resemblance to him. Ignoring the other guy, Xander quickly took stock of the situation. Outside of the circle was a yellow-skinned demon and two cosplayers who had obviously summoned him here.

A voice spoke over an intercom, "Did you manage to rescue Connor, because the vortex is closing rapidly."

"I'm rescued," the other dark-haired young man in the circle said aloud.

"We seem to have succeeded beyond our wildest expectations," the Zatanna cosplayer said, though Xander was beginning to doubt she was a cosplayer.

"How does that work?" the voice over the intercom asked.

"Because the invitation came out as a plus one," replied the man dressed as Dr. Fate.

Xander took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one. He seldom smoked, but after being two people for most of a day, and then having Anya break up with him, as she realized he'd never be able to give her a normal life, and now THIS, he figured he was due a couple…of cartons.

"Do you mind?" his younger sort of look-a-like, Connor, asked. "Some of us have sensitive noses."

"And some of us aren't whiney bitches," Xander replied. "Why am I here?" he asked Dr. Fate and Zatanna while Etrigan transformed back into Jason Blood.

"I'm not a whiny bitch," Connor complained as everyone ignored him.

"We were attempting to rescue Connor from hell," Zatanna explained. "You are a complete surprise."

"Why were you in hell?" Connor asked suspiciously.

"I wasn't," Xander replied. "My home town sits on a half-open door to hell."

"The summoning was for the child of Kal-El and the resemblance between the two is obvious," Fate pointed out.

"They are both the children of Superman," Jason Blood said. "My other has quite sharp senses and he was convinced of it."

"I have a brother?" Connor asked, surprised.

"Looks like it," Xander agreed before taking a drag off his cigarette. If he hadn't already pinched himself he'd be sure this was a dream. Connor walked face first into the containment circle and Xander laughed.

"What gives?" Connor asked, rubbing his nose.

"They got two for the price of one on the summoning ritual," Xander told him. "And from hell, no less, or at least close to it. We aren't going anywhere 'till they make sure we are who they think we are, or rather, you are, and I'm not a threat."

"Actually, I just forgot to break the circle," Zatanna said, reaching out with a hand and passing it over the edge of the circle, releasing them.

"Oh," Xander said, nonplussed.

"If you were a threat, the Keep would have told me," Zatanna said with a hint of a smile, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Speaking of which, can I please get some sunlight?" Connor asked. "The whole shadow thing? Not that great for a Kryptonian, or even a half-Kryptonian."

"I'll open a door to the Watchtower," Zatanna said, leading them out of the summoning chamber and into the Shadow Keep proper, an extra-dimensional mansion she'd inherited from her father.

"Don't stare, it's rude," Connor snapped at Xander.

"Dude, she dresses to showcase her legs, and clearly works out to insure they look that good, not looking would be an insult!" Xander told him firmly.

"Seriously?" Connor asked.

"Seriously," Xander replied. "You look, you try not to stare too long, you be appreciative, but not a jerk about it."

"Oh," Connor said as he considered it.

A smirking Zatanna opened a door that lead into a large, sunlit, futuristic hanger bay, filled with costumed heroes and shuttlecraft.

Connor sighed in relief as he stepped into the sunlight streaming through the hanger's open doors, a series of force-fields keeping the atmosphere in.

Xander's reaction was much more dramatic as he stumbled, moaned, and fell to the deck, a hazy cloud of dark smoke forming around him.

"What the hell?" Connor tried to wave away the smoke while Zatanna and Fate examined him magically.

"It's not smoke," Fate said. "He's actually pulling in and absorbing every erg of sunlight from all around him."

"Naelc dna riaper sih stnap," Zatanna intoned with a grin. "Something about where he lived before must have prevented him from absorbing sunlight, because he had almost none in his system."

"Let's get him to medical, they have high intensity sunlamps there that will be a lot more effective," Connor suggested, realizing he'd been feeling a little run down himself inside the vortex.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Xander awoke to find himself nearly naked, and floating in the center of several banks of lights, with Connor in a similar position. "Wow, I feel good!" Xander said, glancing around the high-tech doctor's office.

"Yeah, it has that effect," Connor agreed. "Apparently there was something about your hometown that interfered with your body's ability to absorb sunlight, or at least that's the guess."

"So we're sons of Superman?" Xander asked, a bit embarrassed about how he'd reacted to absorbing sunlight and wanting to change the subject.

"You may be, but all he's said about me is 'That thing's no son of mine," Connor replied, bitterly.

"Why the hell would he say that?" Xander asked, genuinely shocked.

"I'm-" Connor winced, "I'm a combined clone of him and Lex Luthor."

"That's not your fault," Xander told him firmly after a moment's thought. "You didn't get a say in your parentage. Lex, for all he is a nut, has some good genes, but you should have yourself checked to make sure he hasn't left any surprises in you, being the dick that he is."

The two of them turned their heads as they heard Superman talking to Batman, who was going over Xander's DNA sample.

"Apparently you're a real boy," Connor said enviously.

"Meh." Xander waved it off, the sunlight he was absorbing making him feel too good to be shocked for long at anything. "The only difference is I was an accident while you were planned. Technically, that should make you the favored brother."

"Yeah?" Connor asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "I was the result of a one-night stand, while you were the result of Lex intentionally knocking up Supes."

Connor burst out laughing.

Xander grinned. He was warming to the idea of having a younger brother and the kid reminded him of himself when he'd first met Buffy, which was only a few years ago, but somehow felt like so much longer. "I need a cigarette, where are my smokes?"

"On the table with our clothes." Connor waved to the neatly folded pile.

"How do I get there?" Xander asked, as they were floating, and he had no idea how to move anywhere.

Connor floated towards the wall and touched it with a finger. "Just will yourself to slowly move and then use tactile telekinesis to toss the smokes over here."

Xander slowly drifted over to Connor with a look of fierce concentration. "Tactile what now?" he asked.

"Tactile telekinesis," Connor explained. "Touch the wall and will a small burst of energy to toss you stuff, like this." Xander's smokes suddenly jumped off the table in their direction and were snagged out of mid-air by Connor. "See?"

"Nope," Xander replied, cheerfully accepting his cigs. "But I'll give it a shot." Looking over at the table, Xander concentrated and his shadow suddenly stretched out and grabbed at his lighter… having no effect whatsoever.

"I can't do that," Connor said, glancing down at his own immobile shadow as Xander's slowly retreated.

"It wasn't much good for getting a lighter," Xander pointed out.

Connor touched the wall, sending Xander's Zippo shooting towards them which he easily caught and handed over.

Xander lit a cigarette and let out a satisfied sigh. "Want one?"

"Smoking is bad for you," Superman said, as he entered the room with Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Martian Manhunter.

"Depends on your DNA and lifestyle," Xander replied easily.

"Who are you?" Superman demanded.

"Alexander Harris," Xander shot back.

"I ran your ID, there is no Alexander Harris matching your description, or even a town called Sunnydale in California," Batman stated.

"Then I am obviously from another reality," Xander said having had a chance to think about things and finding his mind remarkably clear for once.

"How did you get here?" Batman asked.

"You already know the answer to that one and have a theory," Xander told him.

Batman turned to J'onn who shook his head. "He's just making an educated guess."

"And your guess?" Batman asked Xander.

"Kal was dumped into my reality for a time, a place where he rapidly lost his powers. He got lucky one night, knocked up my mom, and then found a way home," Xander explained, figuring that was the most likely explanation.

Everyone turned to Superman who paled. "Jessie," he whispered in shock.

"Congratulations, you have a son," Wonder Woman told Superman, knowing how recent events had made him worry about that, his rocky relationship with Lois not helping matters.

Xander could almost feel the pain those words caused Connor. J'onn wincing wasn't needed to confirm it. "Nope," Xander slammed the door shut on that as quickly as possible. "I've already had one dead-beat dad who continually told me I wasn't his son, and that I was worthless, I certainly don't need another." Xander floated carefully over to his clothes, feeling gravity take hold once more as his feet touched the deck.

Connor followed, confused about how he should feel as they quickly got dressed and grabbed their stuff. "He's really not that bad," Connor offered, not wanting Xander to throw away the chance he'd never had himself.

"He lacks basic humanity," Xander said. "That thing isn't my father. I learned growing up that family is more than just sharing DNA. Now, come on bro, let's get some lunch and ogle some pretty girls in spandex before tracking down Fate or someone to find me a way home."

Superman looked like he'd been shot by a Kryptonite bullet.

"Dude, harsh," Connor said, following him out the door.

Xander laughed and shook his head. "Nah, I could have been a lot harsher, that was just some basic truth applied with a hammer. If I was being cruel, I would have brought up his adopted parents, now THAT would be harsh."

"I'll take your word for it," Connor said, feeling a bit better and trying to suppress a measure of vindication for what Xander had said to their father. "Are you really planning on going home?"

"I'm one of the guardians to a gate to hell," Xander said. "I can take a break, but I have to go home eventually. Plus, I need to call in to work, and let my friends know I'll be gone for a little while, so they don't go nuts."

"You are taking this a lot better than I would," Connor said. "And how do you get a job guarding the door to hell?"

"I am at least partially stoned on sunlight," Xander admitted ignoring the question for the moment. "Otherwise I would probably do a huge fanboy squeal and run around getting autographs. I mean, this place is packed with real heroes." They entered the cafeteria and Xander started pointing people out. "They could all be doing things that would gain them tons of material wealth, but instead they spend their time helping others."

Connor winced. "I actually started out with endorsement contracts and trying to become popular."

"People rarely have pure motives," Xander told him as they got in line for food. "And being a teen does not help matters. You want to know how I ended up guarding a door to hell?"

"Yeah," Connor said, "it's probably better than 'wanted to look cool and meet girls."

The two sat down at a table with the younger Green Lantern, Dr. Light, Zatanna, and Steel.

"I literally hit a railing while skateboarding upon seeing a hot blonde, who I later found out was a vampire hunter. Several days later, my best friend is dead and I'm following the aforementioned blonde into battle, night after night, while attending high school during the day. I fought all though high school for half-a-dozen reasons, not all of them good. Lust, revenge, pride, they were in there along with 'because someone must', to save people, and to protect my friends."

"Where did you go to school?" Steel asked, concerned.

"Alternate reality, which I'll need to get back to," he replied, giving Zatanna a hopeful look.

She nodded. "Batman did mention something about that, when he asked for details on your arrival."

"I got time, but I have to contact home soon so my friends don't worry," he explained.

"Check with me tonight," Zatanna said, passing him a key. "Just touch it to a shadow when you're ready."

"Thank you," Xander said gratefully.

"Don't mention it," she replied, "I am part of the reason you're here, after all, and this has to be a bit of an adjustment for you."

Xander thought about it for a second and responded, "You have no idea."

"How different could it be?" Connor asked.

Xander grinned. "Pardon me, but would you mind making me a copy of your ring in the form of a bracer?" he asked the Green Lantern sitting next to him.

"Sure," GL replied, doing so, "but you do realized they have limited power, and only last until they run out, right?"

"I know," Xander agreed. "Pass it to Dr. Light, please."

"And what do I do with it?" Dr. Light asked, curiously.

"Concentrate on pouring light into it and turning it into hard light," Xander told her.

"I thought it was already hard light," Connor said.

"No…it's," Dr. Light's hands glowed as she channeled power into it, slowly changing the color from emerald green to a softly glowing ivory, "… green energy emitting light and mimicking solid light."

"Pass it to Zatanna, please," Xander asked her as she held the glowing bracer as if it might explode.

"And what should I do?" Zatanna asked curiously.

"Use your magic to stabilize it, please, and by that I mean use a backwards haiku, not a one-word spell."

Zatanna thought for a moment before pulling out pen and paper to work on it, with Steel giving suggestions until she was satisfied and cast: "Noitaerc fo lliw, noitaivipsni nevig mrof, scigam taht smlac." The bracer took on a silvery sheen and Zatanna ran her fingers over it, making sure it was stable. "That worked quite well," she said, pleased with her work.

"Pass it to Steel, please," Xander said. "Steel, please interface it with your armor."

"Sure kid," Steel said. "I don't know what it's supposed to…Whoa!"

"Whoa?" several people echoed.

"My computing power and sensor range just increased by an order of magnitude, and I have some small capability to generate solid light constructs and shields," Steel said.

"How did you know that would work?" Zatanna asked.

"Made it up on the spot," Xander replied. "No, you keep it, it was made with you in mind," he told Steel. "If we had tried this in my universe, do you know what would have happened?"

"What?" Dr. Light asked.

"It would have exploded and killed us all," Xander replied. "In this universe, things tend to go right, in mine, they tend to go wrong. To get this to work would have required years of study and experimentation and would probably have cost several lives to create it in the end. That is how different it is," he told Connor.

"That's the definition of a hell dimension," Zatanna said soberly.

"And you want to go back there?" Connor asked.

"We are just a hair above hell," Xander admitted. "But my friends are there, and if we didn't fight it there it'll keep moving upwards. Someone has to keep stomping on the fingers of demons trying to climb up, and that's me and my friends."

"You say that waaaaay too cheerfully," Connor said.

"You can't let it get you down," Xander told him. "No matter how dark the situation, you can have fun with it. Quality of life is like, seventy-five percent mental."

"You and the Flash would get along real well," Green Lantern said.

"And drive the rest of us crazy," Dr. Light agreed.

"I do tend to mope a bit every once in a while when I could be doing something else," Connor admitted.

"Would going to see Lex Luthor and telling him he owes you a couple of million in past due child support and money for college be fun?" Xander asked.

"I think it might." Connor said slowly as everyone else laughed, well, except Steel who was deeply engrossed in playing with the new addition to his armor.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Typing by Elrod Albino

TN: If anyone gives me typing directions of "write this backwards" again, I want some good scotch to go with them.