AN: Sorry about the wait. I got a promotion at work and I've been extremely busy. I've had this chapter written for a while. I'm currently partway through writing Chapter 10, but i don't want to post faster than I write, or I'll eventually catch up and you all will have to wait even longer.
As Always, I promise to never give up writing this. I know where the story is going and I'll never quit. You have my word... even if I do keep coming up with new ideas for other stories I need to prevent myself from getting sidetracked with. Beside this, i currently have the basic premise of FIVE other stories demanding I work on them, but I'm refusing... mostly.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Buffy, X-men, Harry Potter, or any other work that may appear in this universe.
Chapter 07 – When Monkeys Fly
Watching carefully through the slightly ajar door, Jenny kept her breathing soft to not be overheard. She was hiding in an empty office, having climbed through an unlocked window in the rear of the CRD building. There was a thick layer of dust across every surface, and she was careful not to kick up any lest she sneeze, giving away her presence. Squinting in the darkness, she watched Xander manipulate the controls of the strange machine that she had found in the CRD building after sneaking in through a window. He was tapping on a strange tactile interface, his hands moving in a rhythm that caused the information displayed on the crystalline screen to change. Page after page of data scrolled past, the details of which she couldn't make out due to her distance.
The moment he had returned to his home earlier that night, swearing that there was nothing to be found in the abandoned building, she had suspected he was lying. He had dropped her at home soon after, and she been able to restrain herself for all of twenty minutes before being unable to wait any longer. She was nervous as she snuck through the darkness, fearing an attack by a vampire, yet she couldn't deny the building sense of excitement, of adventure. After trying a few entrances, she had found a loose window and scrabbled through, dropping silently to the carpeted floor. Looking around, she noted that the thick layer of dust covering every surface increased her chance of not being detected before she was ready.
She watched him work for an indeterminant length of time before deciding she was ready to announce her presence. It was the only way she was going to find out what this place was about. She debated which method she should use, before deciding the direct approach was best.
"I knew you were lying." Jenny said aloud as she pushed the door open. Xander looked up, seeming entirely unsurprised to see her. She nodded understandingly, "You knew I was here."
"Of course, I knew. The moment you entered my range, I sensed your presence. I also knew that short of wiping your memory, there was no way to prevent you discovering this... and we've already seen that memory alteration doesn't take with you." He rubbed his chin in thought, as if stoking a nonexistent beard, "Still don't know why that is."
Jenny felt a moment of anger at the idea of her mind being messed with before pushing it aside, "What is this thing?"
"It's a remnant from Halloween. This is the machine Apocalypse uses to give people mutant powers."
Jenny's eyes went wide and Xander felt a sense of dread, knowing what she was about to say, "That means... that means I could be like you."
"No." The immortal stated firmly, "I will never let that happen."
"What? But why-"
"Because you have no idea what you are asking for."
"The chance to live forever?"
"The chance to watch everyone you've even known grow old and die. Entire generations lost to the passage of time. No. I won't do that to you."
"You're okay with watching me grow old? What about Siobhan? Are you going to watch your own daughter grow old when it is within your power to prevent it?"
Xander shut his eyes, his hands shaking as he tried to reign in his emotions, "You think I don't want this with every fiber of my being? It's taking every ounce of self-control I have not to bring her here right this moment and put her in the machine. A healing factor, unbreakable skin, immortality... The thought of never having to lose her... to lose either of you tempts me more than I could possibly describe, but to do something that selfish..." he sighed, "The possibility that you would eventually grow to hate me... I couldn't stand it. I would rather let you go than doom you to this existence."
-oOo-
School the next day seemed slower than ever before and Xander was feeling especially frustrated. Every time he crossed paths with Jenny, she was watching him with a deeply thoughtful look upon her face. He couldn't blame her. He himself had a lot going through his mind. The allure of the mutant-maker was constantly there, drawing him to compromise his morals. To give in and do the selfish thing. He had debated destroying it, just to do away with the temptation, but given that it was a gift from a literal god, he was reluctant to act.
Looking to the side, he was reminded that Jenny wasn't the only one watching him. Jesse had also been giving Xander strange looks. The teenager was suspicious about him and the immortal man knew it was only a matter of time until he would have to do something about it. As to what he would do, he didn't yet know. Sighing, Xander shook his head. He needed to get his mind off everything. Perhaps a good demon stomping would get his mind off his troubles. With that thought, he headed for the library as soon as classes ended, where the Scooby Gang would be meeting. At first, they weren't discussing anything particularly interesting. Buffy was moping about Angel with Willow playing a sounding board, Giles was researching a demon Buffy had fought the night before, which Xander immediately recognized as a Bohg'dar, and Jesse was having a surprisingly civil conversation with Cordelia. As much as Xander enjoyed seeing his friends happy, he was hoping for some action, which he got when the doors opened, and a girl entered the room.
"Amy?" Willow asked, seeing the girl looking nervous and ringing her hands.
"Hi. Um... I think I may have made a mistake."
Xander and Jesse glanced at each other across the table as Buffy stood from her seat, taking control of the conversation. "What happened?"
"I've been... practicing magic."
"What!?" Buffy cried, followed by a similar shout from Willow. Giles pulled his glasses from his face, cleaning them with a cloth drawn from his pocket.
"After what your mother did to you, I would think that you would be more warry about delving into the dark arts."
"I started looking through some of her books. I just wanted to know what she found so fascinating about it all. But that's not why I'm here."
"Yes, you said you made a mistake."
"Andrew Wells came to me asking questions about magic."
"Who?" Jesse asked.
"He's Tucker's brother."
"Ah."
"Yeah. I guess he saw me do a spell and started asking questions about magic. At first, it was nice having someone to talk to about stuff, but the more we talked, the more I began to suspect that he intends to do something bad. I don't know what he's planning, but with the ingredients he was asking about... it's nothing good.
"You need to tell us exactly what questions he asked," Giles stated, "What ingredients."
"We should bring Miss Calendar in on this." Jesse said, surprising everyone else around the table, "I know you're still mad at her, but she knows about magic. We can use her experience."
"She betrayed Buffy!" Willow cried.
Sighing, Xander spoke up, "Will, you need to stop blaming Ms. C for what happened with Angel. It wasn't her fault."
"Why are you defending her?"
"Because she didn't do anything wrong. Giles lied about his past and no one blamed him. How is this any different?"
"It's- She-"
"Fine." Buffy sighed. "She can help. But only this once. She's not part of this group."
Xander blinked, annoyed at himself for losing track of the purpose of the argument. While he agreed that Jenny shouldn't be blamed for what happened with Angel, he also didn't want her in danger any more than she already was living in Sunnydale. Reaching out with his mind, he felt her still at work in her classroom. Standing up, he agreed to go and get her and bring her back to the library.
He found her exactly where he had expected, hard at work reviewing student assignments. She looked up when he entered the room, once more having that look of deep thought on her face. "Hey, the gang decided it would be a good idea to bring you in on the current happenings on the hellmouth."
She looked confused for a moment before nodding and shutting down her computer, "What are we dealing with?"
"Not sure yet, other than an idiot teenager doing something stupid with magic. Jesse suggested that your knowledge would be useful in this situation."
They returned to the library and Xander was unsurprised upon entering to find that they were greeted with less than welcoming faces. Ignoring that for the moment he spoke up, "what have we got?"
Giles was the first to reply, "Miss Madison has been able to supply us with a list of questions the young man had inquired about, many of which relate to ingredient interactions. We are looking into possible uses for the items that he showed an interest in.
"May I see the list?" Jenny asked in an intentionally unemotional voice. It was clear that she was not comfortable being here but was willing to put the safety of people's lives in front of her own personal issues. Gently connecting his own mind to hers he sent a message to her by way of telepathy.
/I am sorry about this. Bringing you into this wasn't my decision.\\
The woman twitched slightly in surprise before hiding her reaction. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and nodded once in thanks. She continued reading the list before grimacing, "These are definitely ingredients used in demon summoning. Some of these are pretty rare, grown only in the mountains of Nepal. How did a teenager in Sunnydale get access to them?"
"I do not know," The man said, looking over the list once more, "though at the moment I am more concerned with what he intends to do with them."
Jenny looked to Amy, "I'm not sure that he could even get a hold of these ingredients. Are you sure he intends to summon something and that the how topic wasn't just theoretical?"
"I can't say for sure, but he seemed pretty serious. The way he spoke, it seemed as if he already had them. He definitely knew what he was talking about."
Jenny nodded, "Alright, then we need to act as if he intends to do… whatever it is he plans, and soon."
-oOo-
Willow accessed school records to find the boy's home address and the group armed themselves before dividing between Giles' and Jenny's cars to drive across town. Buffy and Willow rode with the Watcher while Xander, Jesse, and Cordelia rode with the teacher. Jesse stayed mostly quiet during the drive, watching his best friend through a more analytical eye then he had in the past. Ever since the battle at the church, where Xander had fought against an assassin with far more skill than he should have had, the boy had begun to suspect that something strange was going on. This time though, the person acting out of character was not his best friend, but Ms. Calendar, who interacted with Xander with far more ease than should have been normal for someone who hadn't spent much time with him. Then again, after Buffy had driven the woman away, declaring her not part of the group, it was Xander that had gone after her. Perhaps they had spent time together, that lucky sod, getting to spend time with the hottest teacher in the school. Then again, that didn't really make sense, as he had seen her leaving with Boros, that strange Immortal guy that kept helping Buffy. Things were not adding up.
Arriving at the home of the would-be demon summoner, they found it dark and quiet. Buffy ordered everyone to wait while she circled the house, finding an unlocked window that she could climb through. She slipped inside easily and began to move through the dark room before a clattering noise stopped her in her tracks. Turning back, she sighed upon seeing Xander sprawled on the ground, having lost his balance while climbing through the window. Of course, Buffy didn't know that he was faking being clumsy, which he chose to do because he could sense that the building was empty.
"Xander!?" She hissed quietly, "What are you doing?"
"I'm helping."
"No, you're not. Go back outside."
Xander stared at her for a moment before snorting and walking past, heading for the stairs that ascended to the second story. "Xander!" she hissed again before chasing him up the steps. He continued to ignore her, stopping at the top of the stairs for a moment and looking around. He picked a door at random and walked over to it, opening it and looking inside. It was a teenager boy's bedroom, with clothes littered about and numerous Star Trek action figures set on shelves.
"Andrew, it seems, is a nerd."
"Worse than you." Buffy added, still glaring at her smiling friend. The boy rolled his eyes while he moved around the room, taking everything in before focusing on a thick leather-bound tome. The writing on the cover was in a demonic language that Xander recognized. Carefully flipping through the book, he found one page bookmarked by a clipping from the school newspaper.
"Hey, look at this." He pointed to the page, "A ritual for summoning a 'Shen', some kind of Chinese demon."
Buffy snorted, looking at the illustration. "It looks like a flying monkey from Wizard of Oz. You think he's going to summon some of these things?"
"Yeah, and I'm guessing this is where." He held up the clipping from the Sunnydale High Sentinel, which was an article about an upcoming performance of Romeo and Juliet that was going to be put on by the drama club.
"Xander, that's tonight!"
-oOo-
The drive back to the school felt like a race against time, every second bringing them closer to chaos. When they reached the building the parking lot was far fuller than it was when they'd left. There were still some people milling about, but far fewer than the number of cars suggested. Xander leapt from the car as soon as they got close, Jesse following a moment later, leaving Jenny to grumble as she searched for a parking space. The two teens ran for the doors, joined moments later by Buffy and Willow. They entered the darkened auditorium, finding it full of people while a group of students were performing onstage.
Xander reached out telekinetically, trying to get a sense of his surroundings but couldn't get many details due to the sheer number of people present. Sighing internally, he looked to the others. "Any ideas?"
"Backstage?" Buffy suggested.
"Probably. Can't really summon while in a crowd." He looked to the others, "It's a big area back there. Let's split up. Jess, take Willow along the left side. We'll go right."
Jesse nodded, hiding his surprise at Xander taking charge, before leading Willow away. Xander and Buffy circled the auditorium, gaining access to the backstage area through a side door. What they found was utter chaos, teenage actors running back and forth preparing for upcoming scenes. There was no way a demon summoning ritual was happening here. They headed to the back where a group of storerooms were located and began to search.
Meanwhile, Jesse and Willow moved to the opposite wing, checking closets and storage areas, to no success. Jesse stopped when they came to a door hiding a shallow stairwell that descended downward. Sharing a look with Willow, he took the lead. The basement under the auditorium was dim, a bare cement hall with the occasional door surrounding them. Most were old dusty storerooms, but one near the end opened upon a skinny teenage boy sitting in the center of a runic circle, chanting softly.
"Andrew!" Jesse said, the boy's eye's flicking up to them in response, "What are you doing?"
He chanted a moment longer before stopping and standing. "Hey, guys! This is so cool, right?"
"No!" Willow said, "This is not cool! You're going to hurt a lot of people!"
"What? No, I'm not, it's just a few monkeys. It's funny."
Jesse looked to Willow, "He's an idiot."
"Hey!" The boy cried.
"I'm just glad he stopped. This could have been bad."
"Stopped?" Andrew questioned, "I didn't stop. I finished."
"What?" Jesse asked, right before the runic circle began to glow. A bright white light shone from the ground within the circle before the ground cracked and fell away, the sound of screeching monkeys echoing up from the hole. "Run!"
He grabbed Andrew's arm, Willow grabbing the other, and ran for the stairs. Rushing up, they slammed the door shut behind themselves, throwing their backs against it. They were nearly knocked away by demons impacting the other side but managed to push the door shut once more.
"Jesse!" Xander called at the same time as Buffy's shout of "Willow!" They ran up, quickly taking in the scene before each taking one side of a heavy steel shelving unit loaded with props and dragging it over to block the door. The banging continued but the shelves held, aided by a touch of telekinesis from Xander.
"What do we do?" Willow asked, panicking a tiny bit, "There are so many of them."
"We need to get everyone out of the theater." Buffy said.
"I got this," Xander stated, "Go. I'll hold the door shut."
"Are you sure?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Just hurry."
The young man looked to the two girls and nodded before running out. The theater was dark, the seats packed with innocent people who had no idea what was coming. Hoping he wasn't going to regret what he was about to do.
"Fire! There's a fire! Everyone out!"
There was a moment of silent confusion, even the teenagers on stage having gone quiet, before Willow picked up the call. "Fire!"
A single girl stood from the crowd and stormed at Jesse, a look of anger on her face. "Cordy?"
"Don't you 'Cordy' me!" The girl snarled quietly, "What the heck are you doing?"
"Demons. We have to get everyone out."
-oOo-
Back stage, Xander could hear raised voices as his friends tried to clear the room. The banging coming from the door behind him stopped and Xander got a bad feeling. He turned and ran to the theater just in time to see the wooden stage explode outward as the Shen demons ripped their way up through the floor. The crowd was already on edge, having been spooked by the shouting teens, and the purple apes pouring from the stage was the last straw. Their courage broke, the people rushing for the exits. They climbed over one another and trampled each other like cattle in a corral.
Xander watched in horror as the leading monkey demons do what monkeys do. They reached behind themselves to gather... ammo. The difference is this ammunition was on fire. Their arms flung outward, the flaming matter careening forward to strike the backs of terrified theatergoers. He saw one glob of burning waste fly toward Cordelia Chase, only to be tackled aside by Jesse.
Angry now at seeing his friends almost hurt, Xander drew the sword he had taken from the library weapon cage and began swinging, slicing apart the demons one after another. A moment after the fight began, an arrow flew from amongst the crowd, followed moments later by another. Giles and Jenny were forcing their way through the fleeing crowd, crossbows in hand. Once clear of the crowd, Giles stopped to reload while Jenny continued forward, moving to Xander's side. Without even noticing, she had declared where loyalties now lay.
They fought hard, doing all they could to protect the fleeing people, but the number of demons didn't decrease.
"They're still coming" Jenny shouted to be heard over the chaos around them, "We need to destroy the summoning circle!"
"This way!" Xander yelled back, leading her towards the basement access. The number of monkey demons thinned as they got farther away from the hole in the stage. The run to the barricaded door was quick, a sharp flick of Xander's hand moving the shelving aside. Inside the room, they found a glowing hole in the floor, a portal to a demon dimension from which several monkey demons were currently climbing. Xander reached out with his hands, telekinetically shoving the demons away while at the same time causing cracks to appear through the cement on which the runic circle was drawn.
A few of the monkey demons managed to pull themselves through into this dimension as the portal flickered and snapped shut, but one wasn't so lucky, getting cut in half by the collapsing rent in reality. Xander snapped out with his sword, slicing apart the demons, even as they tried to attack with their flaming ammunition. He telekinetically shoved outward, making the shots go wide, but as he twisted to dodge the claws of one demon, a glob of flaming hot material with the qualities of napalm splattered apart against a barrier of telekinetic force, causing part of it to skew away and to his horror, splash directly onto Jenny Calendar.