Y'know, Someone once said 'power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.' It's funny how that statement can be so right and yet so wrong at the same time I've seen people corrupted by power quite a few times, and then there's me… Well, I'm really not that sure right now. About the only thing I'm sure of is this; Power is NOT what its cracked up to be. I should know.
Perhaps I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. I'll start at the beginning. This story, like all stories, has a beginning, a place of origin if you will. In this case its good old Sunnydale CA. I was born here and grew up here, along with my very best friend Willow Rosenburg, and Jesse. I can safely say that we lived a pretty normal life, all the way up until the second year of high school. That's when SHE arrives, and things were never the same.
To make a long story short, Jessie died, by my hand, after being turned into a bloodthirsty vampire. That's right, vampires are real. Shocked? Well get over it, because it gets worse, much worse. Turns out my hometown is built over and ancient dimensional gateway to hell! Creepy huh. The Girl I mentioned, Buffy turns out is the slayer, one in a long line of female warriors gifted with magically enhanced abilities. Apparently her job is to guard the hellmouth and keep it from opening. She doesn't do it alone though, we help.
That's us, the scoobies, mystical warriors for good…. Sorta. That over there is me. No, not the guy with his arm around Buffy, that's Angel aka Deadboy, aka sir vamps lot. Buffy's number-one squeeze, and therefore someone I hate with extreme prejudice. Yeah that's right, as formulaic as some Shakespearean Tragedy, I'm in love with the hero. Pathetic ain't it? The other guy, with his hands around the redhead is Oz, the boyfriend of my best friend. He's a werewolf and she's a witch. And you thought your dates had strange hobbies! The old guy in the Tweed is Rupert Giles aka the G-man; Buffy's watcher. I'm the guy in the back of the group, which is strangely reflective of the current situation.
What am I, you ask? Well… er, nothing really… Well, that's not exactly true, but its… complicated. It wasn't always this way though. Nope, at one time I was just good old normal Xander Harris, now powers or abilities or anything. Of course at the time I resented being the only normal one, but now I would give anything to be that way again.
I know what some of you are thinking , another 'guy gets a powers and becomes a total bad-ass thing'. I wish! Remember how I mentioned that power isn't all its cracked up to be? Well lets just say that they ought to make manuals on how to be a bad-ass, cause I have yet to figure it out. Buffy and Angel make it look easy, but it isn't, especially when what you have wasn't even meant for you in the first place. What do I mean? Well I guess I should start by telling you how this all happened…
Xander dodged out of the way as an energy blast soared overhead.
"Xander, stay down!" Buffy commanded her friend as she charged at the demon and leveled a kick at its head. The blow caught the creature full force, and sent it reeling. Seeing her opportunity, the slayer followed up with a series of short jabs to the chest and stomach, forcing the demon back towards Angel, who had his sword readied
"Buffy!" he signaled her and she nodded, lining up and delivered a full power jump kick to the chest that knocked the enemy back and right into Angel's waiting blade. It gave a gurgling sound, green blood spurting from its mouth, then fell back onto the vampire, dead.
Of course the demon also happened to way a good 300 lbs, and so Angel soon found himself pinned beneath its dead hulk and the cave wall.
"A little help here!"
Xander, from his position on the ground, couldn't help laughing at the image before him. The laughter quickly subsided though when he caught Buffy's glare.
"Just a sec Angel" The slayer reassured him.
"Oh, take your time."
"please do!"
"Shut up, Xander."
Elsewhere, at the same time…
"I knew it was you!"
"Too bad that knowledge will do you know good."
"You won't get away with this!"
"A little overly dramatic, aren't we?"
BANG! BANG!
"Hmm, I thought there would have been more blood,"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Ah, that's better!"
"Are you sure that was a good idea?"
"Hmm, no. But it sure was fun!"
Back with the gang…..
Buffy quickly helped her boyfriend up from under the dead demon, then checked to see if he was alright.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Xander watched in in sadness, not to mention annoyance. Oh will you two give it a break for five minutes!"
The pair turned to glare at him and he just rolled his eyes in response.
"Geeze, get a room why don't you." the young men then considered what his words. "On second though, do NOT get a room! You hear me! No rooms for you! In fact, no even going into rooms together!" He waved his finger menacingly back and forth between them
"Xander, I do believe that is quite enough." Buffy watcher ordered, pinching his nose in exasperation.
"Yeah, well just see that you heed my words." he warned Buffy, who merely stuck her tongue out at him and snuggled deeper into Angel's embrace.
Giles decided to head off the dispute he felt forming. "I suggest we head back to the school. The threat has been taken care of."
Everyone nodded and began making their way toward the mouth of the cave. Xander stopped near the entrance as a flash of light went off in his eyes. He stumbled, suddenly dizzy.
"Xand, you okay?" Buffy called from her position beside Angel.
The dark-haired boy nodded woozily. "I'm f…fine." he answered, taking another two steps forward before falling right on his face.
"Xan!"
Believe me when I say that that REALLY hurt!
So, anyways, that's how it began. To be honest, I can't give you much more detail then that, because I really don't know WHAT happened to me. The day after that though is when things REALLY got weird. I had spent a few hours in the hospital getting checked up on. Turns out I was fine, other then the broken nose I had received from falling on it. Another painful experience. For anyone who has never broken their nose, be grateful. I hurts a lot, but what's even more painful is setting it. OUCH! Anyways, I'm getting off topic. It was the next day and I was feeling a little sore , but had little desire to stay home with my parents, so I went to school anyways. In hindsight, probably not the best decision…
Xander Harris sat on the edge of the upper level overlooking the quad, his hand massaging his still sore nose, partly in effort to relieve the pain and partly to cover-up the huge white bandage they had given him.
"Stupid white flashy thing.: me mumbled nonsensically. The weird thing is no one else had seen it besides him. He couldn't remember any head trauma he had sustained recently, well nothing serious anyways. It was just so… odd.
Of course, it was hardly the weirdest thing that had ever happened to the gang. In fact, it didn't really rank at all. But there was something about it that caused it to stick out in his mind.
In the distance Xander caught sight of Buffy and Willow and waved at them. They waved back and started toward him. <Oz must still be in class.> he thought absently.
"Hey Harris, way to go!" A jock, Brady Bronson mock-congratulated, pounding Xander and the shoulder. It wasn't the first time it had happened today; people goading him about his broken nose. Of course for reasons that would soon become apparent, it was the last.
Unfortunately For Xander, the jock had underestimated the force of the blow. And Xander was knocked off balance, tumbling backward over the railing and down to the concrete walkway below.
In the distance, Xander could make out the shouts of several people, including his two friends. He found himself absently wondering what it would feel like when he hit, and whether he would be killed instantly or just break every bone in his body. His deliberations were cut short at he bounced off the overhang and smacked the concrete.
You ever notice how I seem to fall down a lot? Yet, me too. Damned irritating if you ask me. So, I know you have questions, like who was the person who got shot, who shot him and why, and what it has to do with what happened to me. But I got a better question; did I even survive the fall?
So uh, where was I? Oh yeah, I had just fallen to my apparent doom….
Xander lay there, on the concrete, unmoving, his limbs sprawled out at seemingly unnatural angles. His eyes stared vacantly into the sky.
"Xand!"
"Oh god!"
The voices of his friends rang out as they raced down the stairs and over to their fallen companion. Upon catching sight of him they both stopped in their tracks, Willows hands going to her mouth to stifle a sob, while Buffy simply stood their, eyes wide.
"Xander." Willow whispered sadly, struggling to hold herself together. Buffy wasn't faring much better, but her mind refused to process the image before her.
All around them a crowd had gathered to witness the mournful spectacle playing out in the quad. A few students ran to the nearest classroom to get a teacher, most just stood their and watched.
That was when Xander got up.
"OW!" The young man exclaimed, pulling himself to his feet. "That hurt like hell!" He turned to glare at the jock who stood stock still on the walkway above him "Brady you asshole! Watch what you're doing next time!" He shook his fist menacingly at the other boy.
"Damn jock, brain the size of a pea, doesn't even know what the hell he's doing half the time." Muttering in this fashion, he began checking himself over for injuries. Finding none, he sighed in relief. "Man that was close." It was only then that he noticed it was all too quiet.
He stopped and looked up. Noticing the people around him were looked frozen, all of them staring at him, mouths wide open in shock.
Xander glanced quizzically at them. "What, do I have something on my face?"
At this, Willow fainted dead away.
"Willow!" Buffy cried out, quickly moving to catch her friend.
Xander for his part, found himself looking down in fascination at the cracked concrete where he had lain mere moments before.
"Whoa!" With this, he turned and ran.
I told you it was weird. Of course I didn't fully grasp what had happened at the time. In fact, the full force didn't hit me until much later. Hah! Hit, get it! Hit cause I hit the concrete! It's funny!…. Oh shut up. If I can laugh at what should have been my death, then so can you. Jerks.
Xander stared at the mirror in the boys bathroom, his mind going over what had just happened. <What the hell DID just happen? One minute, I'm sitting on the railing minding my own business, the next I'm concrete pancake, yet I don't have a mark on me.>
Absently, his hand went to his injured nose, stroking it in thought the way Giles would. A second later he gasped and pulled back his hand. His nose didn't ache anymore. He tried flexing and found that it was like it had never been broken..
<…the hell?>
Xander wasn't an idiot, as some people thought. He pretty much knew something was up, and it had to be something hellmouthy. <Dammnit can't I have one nice day?>
In a moment of frustration and anger, he lashed out with his fist, forgetting where he was and what he was standing in front of. His fist connected with the mirror with a loud crash, sending shards of glass in all directions.
"YEOUCH!" He cried out in pain, puling his hand back…. Only to find that it was stuck. In fact, upon closer inspection, Xander found that his fist was imbedded a good half a foot into the brick wall behind the mirror.
Forgetting his pain for a second, he hissed in annoyance. "It just gets better every second huh." He pulled with his arm but it wouldn't dislodge. He redoubled his efforts but his arm remained trapped.
<Goody!> he thought sarcastically. Puling his foot up and bracing it on the wall in front of him, he gripped the arm that was stuck with his free one. He set himself and pulled, hard.
On the good side, the arm came free.
On the bad side, Xander had forgotten about the stall behind him.
He was thrown backward and crashed into the swinging door, the force of the impact tearing it off of its hinges. His body smacked into the toilet and the ceramic shattered under his weight, sending up a geyser of water. The water quickly soaked through his clothes, and covered the floor.
"Shit!"
Xander pulled himself up and ran to the window, diving through the glass and into the bushes, not noticing that there was very little blood on the mirror and floor and the cuts on his hand were already healing.
Hey, I told you I wasn't a bad-ass. In fact I think I hold the record for the most pathetic superhero in history. Well, except for leach man. I mean who came up with THAT idea? But, as Giles would say, I digress.
Elsewhere, the school library to be precise, Buffy sat beside the still form of her best girl friend, stroking her hair.
In front of her was her watcher, pacing back and forth and hurriedly cleaning his glasses.
"And you say he was pushed?"
Buffy glanced up at her watcher. "Well, not exactly.. Not on purpose I mean."
"I see. And he was fine afterward."
"Yeah, and that's the weird thing. He shouldn't have BEEN fine, not after a fall like that. And the concrete was cracked too!"
Giles looked at her in surprise. "Indeed." He pinched his nose in typical Giles fashion. "Well, I must admit it is rather… odd. But not entirely unheard of."
"What do you mean?" The Slayer implored, wanting very much for him to be right. "There are cases of similar incidents; an individual suffering a serious fall or other such accident that would in most cases result in grievous bodily injury. However these people, for some as yet unknown reason, are apparently none the worse for wear."
"Are you saying there's nothing to worry about?"
Giles thought carefully before responding. He didn't want to set her off. "Well I should perhaps like to run some tests. But I imagine this is merely a case of fortune smiling upon young Mr. Harris
In front of him, Buffy breather a sigh of relief. She really hadn't wanted to deal with anything freaky about her friends right now, especially not with Xander. He needed to stay as he was.
On the cot before her, Willow began to stir, mumbling incoherently.
"Hey Wills." Buffy addressed her awakening friend, "Welcome back."
"Oh I just had the weirdest dream where Xander was pushed off the up quad and he fell and hit the concrete and cracked it and he wasn't moving and I was so scared and then he got up andIcanseebythelookonyourfacethatitwasn'tadreamwasit?" Willow finished her babble, smiling sheepishly.
"Geeze Will, remember to breathe. And to answer your question, no it wasn't a dream."
"Is he okay?"
"He seemed fine, which is really odd. He ran off though."
Willow started panicking "Where is he." The determined Wicca sat up and tried to stand.
"Whoa there Wills, slow down a bit. I'm sure he'll turn up soon."
As if to prove that point, the sound of the rear door opening reached their ears and they turned to see Xander coming from behind the stacks.
Buffy and Wills shot up and toward him in an instant, moving at top speed. Xander would have been bowled over by the pair had they not stopped in their tracks, just like they did earlier, when they caught sight of him.
Xander stood before them, sopping wet, his right fist cut and bleeding, his shirtsleeve stained red from it, his hair a matted mess and a wild look was in his eyes.
"What?" He questioned in response to their wide eyed gazes.
The sound of a thump signaled that Willow had indeed fainted again.
"Oh crap!"
Hmm, seems that Willow faints about as much as I fall down. Maybe that's why we're best friends. So how do you think I'm gonna get out of this one?