"It's noon," Xander said with a frown, dropping his fists, sweat covering his form as he caught his second wind thanks to his power flooding him with power.
"Do you need to use your power?" Julian asked, accepting a towel and wiping his face.
"Need... not really," Xander said, "but it's kind of a waste not to use it, especially when I'm surrounded with my kind of people."
"You're a California surfer type from the suburbs," one of the gang said with a laugh, "not sure I'm exactly your type."
"He can be my type," one of the girls called out, causing hoots and hollers from the gang members who were watching their leader spar with Xander.
Xander grinned. "If I didn't already have a girl I'd take you up on that, but what I mean is you are all demon hunters, humans who saw the way the world was and said 'Fuck that! Where's my axe?"
There was scattered laughter and some cheers for that comment.
"So yeah, you're all my kind of people," Xander said. "Now, I'm not supposed to enhance someone twice because I kind of overpowered the ability, but I was able to tone it down by adding artifacts and pets as you saw with Benji. So... what if I just tagged a group of you with a little extra vitality and healing?"
"Can you do that?" Julian asked.
"No idea," Xander said, "haven't had my power long, but I believe I can."
Julian nodded. "Any volunteers?" he called out.
"Fuck yeah!" one of the more injured members of the gang called out from his wheel chair, where he sat with a dozen other people who could no longer fight, spending their time combing over any tomes of magic or demonic lore the group could get its hands on. "We got a table of people over here who wouldn't mind a tune up, and maybe some replacement parts."
"With your permission," Xander told Julian.
"Get to it," the gang leader agreed.
Xander left the ring to move over to the table where the thirteen sat. "Alright, let's see what I can do. Health, healing, regeneration... maybe some knowledge..."
He closed his eyes and bowed his head, everyone falling silent so they didn't interrupt. He raised his hand and one hundred and twenty eight threads of light stabbed out, hitting the thirteen crippled hunters, the books in front of them, and various articles of jewelry or tattoos.
"Done," Xander announced.
"Kink in my neck is gone," one of them offered as he scratched beneath his eyepatch.
"My tat looks fresh," another said cheerfully, "and my leg doesn't ache the way it was."
"Still missing a leg," another noted, "but the stump's no longer itching."
"Yeah," the guy in the wheelchair said with a chuckle, "still crippled, but I'm feeling pretty good."
"Repaired the books more than us," an older one armed woman said, "but... anyone here suddenly know just about everything there is to know about elemental conjuring?"
"No, but I think I could sew up wounds like a pro and perform surgery with just a bottle of Jack and the stuff you can find in a kitchen," an old man said with a chuckle.
"Not as impressive as what you did with Benji, but they seem pretty happy with it," Julian offered. "Now, back to training; me and Leroy got an appointment with a Brachen at three."
"May have spread it out a bit too much," Xander decided as the small group of injured warriors compared new skills and joked around with one another, a bit more lively than they had been a moment before.
"You live, you learn," Julian said, "or you cease learning and die."
"I think it's you die then you cease learning," Xander said.
"If you aren't moving forward how is it different from being dead," Julian asked rhetorically.
"That's pretty deep," Xander said.
The taller man chuckled. "Blame Leroy, I do."
"Another round?" Xander asked, dreading yet looking forward to another spar.
"No," Julian decided. "I think we'll do some more conditioning and tomorrow I'll let some of our friends see what you can pick up from them."
"Different fighting style?" Xander guessed.
"You could say that," Julian said with a smirk that made Xander a little nervous.
"When you say different..."
"They're only mostly human," Julian said. "Like you they have a bit more strength and unlike you, a lot more finesse, thanks to their master. He'll be able to train that into you faster than we could."
"Should I be nervous?"
"Let me tell you about the turtles..."
The next morning…
"Hey beautiful, what's the what?" Xander asked as he leaned against the payphone.
"Xander," Cordelia replied, her smile all but visible in her tone. "How's training going?"
"Spent the last couple of days training under the Dragons of Harlem and probably the wisest pizza chef on the planet," Xander said honestly. "You would not believe the shape I'm in now or what I can do."
"I'm eager to... do a little hands on examination and test that," she purred. "The three of us have been doing spirit quests and getting in touch with nature as we try to puzzle out exactly who Willow is and who she wants to be."
Xander winced. "Yeah... good luck with that, her parents are both psychologists and that... was not exactly helpful for Willow."
Cordelia sighed. "Yeah, we've found that out."
"Kronk!"
"What was that?" Xander asked.
"That's Kronk, my animal companion," Cordelia said cheerfully. "We did a bunch of nature based rituals and it appears me and crows are a good fit."
"Well, you do like shiny things," he teased.
She laughed. "Willow got a flying squirrel which she named Rocky."
"I can totally believe that," Xander said, "have you seen her eat cookies? She holds them like a squirrel would to try and avoid dropping crumbs."
"I'm going to get a camera set up and feed them both cookies so I can film it," Cordelia said, "because that sounds adorable."
"So what did Oz get?" he asked curiously.
"Swarmed by animals is what he got," Cordelia replied. "Animals love Druids, who knew? Of course at least part of it is because you turned him into Beast from the Disney film."
"I did what now?"
"You changed him from a werewolf into Beast from Beauty and the Beast," she said, trying not to laugh. "He can control the change, so he's not even trying to cure it. Though he has been helping cure various members of his family who are werewolves and teaching control methods to the ones who are content as they are."
"I turned him into Beast... Yeah, I was humming 'Be Our Guest' when I enhanced him, since you guys brought up Disney and that would have put it in the back of my mind," Xander admitted. "He's happy with it? I mean, the Beast was awesome and the Prince was rather wimpy in comparison... but he's really okay with it?"
"Loves it," Cordelia assured him. "If he couldn't change at will he'd probably have some words with you, but since he can..."
"Beast was awesome," Xander said, relieved he hadn't screwed things up for his friend.
"The extra foot in height he gained since the first change hasn't exactly hurt him either," she added. "He always smirks when he gets something off a high shelf."
Xander laughed, picturing the scene.
"And now to the awkward part of the conversation," Cordelia said with a sigh.
Xander winced. "Something happen with all three of you during one of the rituals?" he guessed, knowing that self control often went out the window when you added mind altering substances or magic, much less both.
"No, just some nudity to avoid dying of heat exhaustion in the sweat lodge," she replied. "The awkward bit is... I think I have to seduce Willow."
There was silence on the line for a few seconds before Xander said, "I'm pretty sure I heard what I think I heard, but I'm pretty sure I'm awake and not having one of those dreams, so... explain?"
"Willow likes girls as much as guys, but her parents have her head completely twisted around on her sexuality, making her think it's either or," Cordelia explained. "Now, we could scare up a girl who likes her with some effort, but that's going to take time and then we'd have to add even more time with them getting to know one another before they'd feel remotely comfortable enough to consider something sexual."
"And we don't know how much time we have, living on a Hellmouth and all," Xander said, seeing where she was going. "Is this going to complicate our relationships?"
"More than they already are?" Cordelia asked dryly.
"Good point," Xander conceded. "If it helps Willow, do whatever you need to do. What's Oz's take on it?"
"Tape it, and if Willow gives the okay you both get a copy," Cordelia replied. "He may just be saying that to try and make both of us feel better about things though," she admitted.
Xander sighed. "Yeah, but temporary emotional upsets aren't as important as keeping all of us safe and he knows that. Man, I love having eighteen in wisdom."
"It does clear up a lot of things," Cordelia said. "Now, I need you to say the words so there is absolutely no misunderstandings."
"Set up multiple cameras so you can edit it for the best angles later," Xander told her, "homemade porn is inferior to professionally shot ones because they have camera crews that can reposition between shots, but you should have the editing skills to get around that with enough cameras."
Cordelia burst out laughing. "I love you, you big goof!"
"Love you too," Xander said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go learn ninjutsu from a rat and four turtles."
"Animal style martial arts?" Cordelia guessed.
"That too, bye," he said, hanging up after she said goodbye as well.
"We're a bit more than just turtles," a deep voice said from behind him, making Xander jump and clutch his chest.
"Don't do that!" Xander exclaimed, spinning around to find two hulking inhuman figures in trench coats standing there.
"Dude," the other one said in a higher pitched voice with a Californian accent, "you really got to work on your situational awareness."
The first one snickered. "Considering what we overheard, Mikey, I think we can give him a pass on it this one time."
"Yeah," Xander said, calming down, "my head really isn't in the game right now or rather the right game."
"I hear that, name's Raph," the humanoid turtle wearing a red bandanna with holes cut for eyes said.
"Xander," Xander said, accepting a hand shake. "Strong," he noted.
"So are you," Raph said with approval.
"The Dragons have been working me like you wouldn't believe," Xander said.
"We've seen them fight," the other one disagreed before introducing himself, "I'm Michealangelo, call me Mikey."
"Alexander, call me Xander," he replied.
"Good, now that that's out of the way, let's make tracks," Raph said, "we try not to hang out up top too often in the daylight."
"We totally do," Mikey said with a grin, "he just doesn't like being crowded by the lunch rush."
"Mikey!" Raph complained, turning and striding off, the other two hurrying to catch up.
"Not too fond of large crowds myself," Xander offered, "makes me wary as I end up scanning the crowd so I can spot whose clothes are out of date so I know who wants to kill me."
"Dude?" Mikey asked, confused as Raph gave him the side eye.
"Vampires," Xander replied, "they never keep up with fashion trends."
"If we staked people for poor fashion sense around here there wouldn't be enough left to have a lunch rush," Raph said with a snort.
"Californian teens live and die for fashion," Xander replied with a shrug.
"You're dressed in gray sweats and running shoes," Mikey pointed out.
"Rocky," Xander replied.
"Oh!" the pair chorused as they ducked into an alley.
"I can't believe I missed that, you did the fingerless wool gloves and everything," Raph complained.
"So, did they give you the 411 on us?" Mikey asked as they entered an old apartment building and hit the stairs.
"Just that there were four humanoid turtles who were trained in ninjutsu by their master who is a humanoid rat named Master Splinter," Xander replied as they went down two flights of stairs to the basement.
"That's kind of bare bones, but then most people don't really know about us," Raph allowed as they circled around stacks of broken crates and trash to locate a ladder leading down into the darkness.
"Yeah, though I think Donny is writing a comic book about us," Mikey said.
"How good's your night vision?" Raph asked.
"Pretty good," Xander replied. "I spent most nights trying to sneak up on vampires in the local alleys and cemeteries."
"Good, you won't have a problem keeping up then," Raph said, grabbing the sides of the ladder and sliding down, not bothering with the rungs. "Come on, we don't got all day."
"We totally have all day," Mikey said with a grin, before doing the same.
Xander grinned, but climbed down the ladder rather than sliding, finding himself in a subway tunnel.
"This way," Raph said with a wave that was just visible in the dim light from a safety bulb far overhead.
Xander followed them, their walk turning into a jog as their eyes adjusted before quickly turning into a run. He wasn't sure how far they ran but after about five minutes they turned down a side tunnel and two minutes later reached a well lit but empty subway station that looked to have been abandoned before being converted into a home.
"Welcome to Casa Del Turtle," Mikey said, not even slightly out of breath.
"Good keeping up," Raph said as they climbed onto the platform.
Xander looked around. "How?" he asked in disbelief.
"How have we not been discovered or how did we end up with our own video game arcade?" Raph asked smugly.
"Both!" Xander explained. The place looked amazing, having enough space to comfortably house not only their own video arcade but additional areas set up for training, what looked to be an actual theater, and a swimming pool with plenty of space left over.
"Ninja," Mikey said smugly, "makes it easy to hide things, even a place as big as this."
"And the video games?" Xander asked.
"Stolen from a dick who was using them to lure in kids to join his gang," Raph said, "and let me tell you, they were a bitch and a half to move down here."
"Master Splinter said it was good training, but I think it was partly spite," Mikey admitted. "He and Shred-head go way back and not in a good way."
"So... where is Master Splinter?" Xander asked.
"Busy with his meditations," Raph said dryly.
"He's watching soap operas," Mikey said.
Xander recalled something briefly from a book series he liked when he was younger that he couldn't find copies of even on the net. "Interrupting him would be bad, wouldn't it?"
"Shredder only attacks at night for a reason," Raph said with a smirk. "Come on, let's play some air hockey while waiting for Donny and Leo to get back with the pizza."
"I'm in," Xander said with a grin.
Typing By: Abyssal Angel
Beta By: Abyssal Angel and Mist of Shadows