Shifting Heart – Chapter Two

TITLE: Shifting Heart
AUTHOR: Kravius
WEBSITE: http://kravius.wordpress.com/
DISTRIBUTION: Twisting the Hellmouth, My Blog, Nowhere else please.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. World Of Warcraft Belongs to Blizzard. Any other crossovers belong to who they belong to as well. I make no claims on them, nor do I make any money from this.
SUMMARY: Halloween night has lasting repercussions the ripples of which spread across the multi-verse.
CROSSOVERS: World Of Warcraft (Main), various others especially later on.
FEEDBACK: Please do send me feedback, it helps me to direct the story and learn from any mistakes I may have made.
CATEGORY: Action/Adventure/Crossover.
RELATIONSHIPS: Various. X/Differing.
RATING: FR18, for violence, horror and some sexual content.
SPOILERS: Various for all seasons of BtVS, and some for WoW up to and including what I know of Cataclysm.
WARNINGS: Nothing that I’m aware of.
AUTHORS NOTES:
Just a quick note here. I’m taking liberties with Warcraft spells and abilities because I’m trying to make them more ‘real world’. I may miss the mark in some cases and in others they may seem a little overpowered. I’m going to try to balance that but that’s not always as easy as it sounds.
As for the WoW stuff, I’m hoping even people that don’t play the game will enjoy the story on it’s own merits and in reality the WoW stuff is more a way to empower the characters I wanted to empower. With luck this will only be the first story in a series and there will, I hope, be many more crossovers included. So there should be something for everyone in here.
Thanks,

Kravius.

~#~

 

 

Shifting Heart
Chapter 02

The Bronze was busy that night and the air was filled with teenage hormones rushing through the place like a fine wine.  Xander stepped into the club and immediately looked around for his friends.  He did not spot them at first though so he made his way to the bar.  They did serve alcohol in the club, but only if you had ID.  Not that Xander had been interested in drinking before the change let alone now.  He liked to keep his head on him at all times, even more so now his senses were so much sharper.  He had to wonder if it was a side effect of the Cat, or the Bear, but he could feel, hear, see and taste much more than he had been able to before.  It could be an Elf thing for all he knew though; it was not as if they went into that all that much in the game. 

After ordering his normal Coke Xander meandered towards the dance floor his eyes warily looking around him.  He had found that he had a sense of a person’s health ever since Halloween.  He suspected that this was not something to do with his particular class either, more that it was a more standard ability that game from the game and the magic making it real world.  On the game, you could see an enemy’s life going down so the magic had made it so that Xander could now pretty much do the same.  It was not a physical reading as such, just a sense of a person’s health.  It was actually quite useful in a strange way because Vampires did not read as having any health at all.  It was a misnomer of course because they did have ‘health’ just no life.  Therefore, it was of limited use, but it did make spotting vampires a piece of cake now.  So far, he could not spot any of the undead bastards in his personal hang out and he was fine with that.  If anything, his hatred for all things vampire had actually increased since Halloween, which he had not thought possible previously.

He took a seat near the dance floor and settled in to wait.  He glanced at his watch and noticed that he was a few minutes earlier than he had anticipated but being able to fly straight over town had that sort of benefit to it.  He smiled when he looked at his watch, gone was Mickey Mouse and in its place was an expensive looking watch he had taken from a vampire a few nights previously.  He had not worn it before because he had been tinkering with it.  His skills with engineering and just knowing how everything fit together had allowed him to become quite creative with gadgets.  This struck him as odd, in the game there was such a thing as an Alchemy find, where a new recipe could be found from the ether while doing other things but not in any other profession.  Yet he was making things he had not memorised a schematic for now.  Such as his much-changed watch, which was now approaching something James Bond would be glad to wear.  With a host of little tricks inside it’s titanium shell.

It was not the only thing that Xander had been working on either, other than making his own clothes now; he had a host of little gadgets he was toying with.  He was hoping to sell some of his designs via his uncle and make some money.  It was nothing particularly earth shattering so far, but they were useful in everyday use and it was surprising how much money could be made from something like that.  He was working on getting patents already for several of his designs and once he had worked on lowering the cost of materials and making it, easy to make then he was set to start finding a buyer. 

To that end, he had some time off school already booked and a trip into LA to do some selling.  While his uncle owned and ran a garage, he actually worked for a design company that had moved out of CRD and into a bigger premise.  His uncle while having odd hobbies was somewhat of a clever man himself when it came to building things.  Therefore, Xander was well placed to moving into the market himself.  His uncle had already promised to talk to his boss about one of Xander’s designs in particular that had some military uses.  Not something, Xander was very happy about, but the money would certainly help.

He took a sip of his coke when suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck rose.  It was not a sense of danger though; it was more a sense of pure power that had just walked into his range of sense.  Dark eyes cast over the crowds and did not see a thing so Xander stood up and walked quickly to the upper levels of the club.  Looking down at the crowds, he was better able to see the lay of the land.  He used that vantage point to find the source of the power he had sensed and it nearly made him drop his coke.

"Jonno?" he whispered to himself.  He put his coke down on a nearby table and quickly made his way to where a conflict was building between Jonno and a few jocks.  It seemed from external view that they wanted to use the pool table and Jonno was not giving it up this time.

Xander walked to the table and eyed the situation.  He had been wrong, it was not that the source of power had just arrived; it had just been notched up into full gear.  It was definitely coming from Jonno though and it was highly familiar to the human Druid.

"Just hand it over Geek, we want to play and you’re taking too long." The main and largest jock said his words sounding a little thick, as if he had been drinking before he had hit the club.

"No," Jonno said his tone surprisingly firm and voice not wavering in the least.  He held the pool cue in a defensive position and had the jock not been so stupid, and/or drunk he would have noticed that competency that Jonno was showing with the long cue.

"Don’t make me smash you," the jock snarled raising a fist.

The potential for violence jumped up several notches.  Therefore, Xander stepped forward, inserting himself between the two jocks and Jonno.  For once, more for their protection than Jonnos’.  "I wouldn’t if I were you.  If I’m guessing correctly here, I would say he knows how to wield that cue pretty well." Xander said in a calm tone of voice.

"Don’t you be getting in my face Harris," the jock grumbled, looking a little more wary now.  Xander had a bit of a rep for not backing down and being able to stand up to even the biggest footballer.

"Trust me Frank you don’t want to do this." Xander said reasonably.

"It’s just Levingston," Frank said derisively.

Jonno’s back went up at that and he stepped forwards, "Just get lost Frank, I’m not giving up the table.  I’ve got a few dollars left on the side of the table and I am playing with my friend."

The jock looked around, "What friend," he said with a nasty smile.

Jonno looked around and growled slightly seeing that his friend had run off apparently at the first sign of trouble.  "Damn it," he muttered.

"Me," Xander said his tone broking no argument.

Frank glared at the two of them and then apparently decided it just was not worth his time and walked off, shoving people out of his way as he went.

After a few tense moments Xander turned back to look at Jonno and lifted and eyebrow at the smaller man.  "Seems that you and I need to talk."

Jonno smiled slightly and nodded, "Yeah – guess we do Xan."

~#~

The girl looked down in shock at what she had just wrought.  All because some freak faced bastard had crept up on her.  Added to the freaky dreams she had been having lately this was just too much for her.  She was not used to this sort of thing.  She breezed through life without having to think too much.  Schoolwork came to her about as easily as it did other people and other than the fact, she was one of the very elite of her social ladder she would in fact be average.  It was the way she looked though that had ensured her status as the social elite.  That and the way she dressed, though that was more thanks to her daddy being a rich industrialist.  Her mom worked in fashion as well so that did not hurt her in any aspect of her life.  She was quite hoping to follow her mother’s footsteps in that regard but had a slight problem of not being able to design a damn thing herself.  She was aware of colours of course, and how to mix and match clothing for the ultimate look but anything else was beyond her.

Now this.

Dust was floating all around her and it was all too much.  So she sank slowly back against the wall, and down it hugging her knees and letting tears flow from her eyes and down her sculpted cheeks.

This was not her bag at all, the freaky stuff was for that looser Tuffy, or was it Muffy.  No, it was Buffy, Buffy Summers was her name.  All sorts of freaky shit happened around her, and her looser friends.  Like that Rosenberg bitch or Harris who liked to verbally spar with his betters.  She had to admit she quite admired that about him, not that she would tell a soul of course.  He was not half bad looking either, which is more than could be said for his looser friend that ha disappeared a year or two ago.  She sometimes wondered why eh hung with the looser squad.  Until she had heard Aura talking about him and how he had scared off some freaky faced people.  Apparently, he was up to his neck in the freakishness as well.

She had known him virtually her entire life.  Unlike Summers, and it wasn’t like she could talk to Rosenberg, away from her protector she seemed meek but in fact she was as nasty as they came.  Jacky a friend of hers from school had been chased out of town by cops because of the redhead.  She suspected that she was a hacker or something, but nothing had ever been proven when it came to that.  Harris though would suspect her of that she was sure, but she had to talk to someone and it was not as if she could talk to any of her friends.  Likewise, she could not risk any of her friends talking to the looser either.  It would raise too many questions as to why she was doing it.  Perhaps tip her off the higher rungs of the social ladder if she was not careful.

She did not much like that idea at all.

Therefore, she would have to be careful, but it was doable, maybe he could shed some light on what was happening to her.

She used the back of her hand to wipe away a few tears, and her back straightened.  Luminous eyes looked around the devastation she had created and a slightly nasty smile appeared on her face.  It served the freaks right for trying to hurt her.  One of them had mentioned using her before killing her.  She was well within her rights to protect herself wasn’t she?

She stood up and set her shoulders, this was going to be sorted out and it was going to be solved as soon as she could possible do it.  She just had to fix her makeup and then she could head over to the Bronze where no doubt Harris would be hanging with his looser friends.  Then all she had to do was get him away from them and somewhere private to talk, all without being seen.

Her shoulders slumped slightly; her life was not suddenly complicated at all, NOT!

~#~

"Halloween night?" Xander asked as Jonno and he played pool.  While the club was hopping around them, Xander knew damn well no one would care to listen to two ‘losers’ talking over a game of pool.  He potted his ball without really thinking about it.  Aim had become important over the years of his other life, so the game was quite simple really.

"Yeah," Jonno said with a slight sigh and then beamed.  "Its fricken’ cool though."

Xander smiled slightly and nodded, "It is, but it’s dangerous too."

Jonno nodded in agreement, "I’ve got a handle on it though."

"Have you?  I could feel the power you were pumping out from clear across the club."

"Yeah well, he annoyed me."

"Frank has that habit, but it wasn’t important.  It’s only a pool game."

"It is important!" Jonno snapped back.  "I’m fed up of taking all the crap from those bastards."

"Hey now, cool your jets Jonno." Xander said his tone neutral but eyes worried.  "They’re just Jocks.   It is what they do.  We’re better than them by miles."

Jonno nodded again, "Especially now."

"Power doesn’t make us better Jonno, it’s the way we treat people that makes us better.  They think power and privilege makes them better than us, but in reality it’s the way you treat your fellow man that’s important."

"Yeah, yeah – maybe."

Xander cocked an eyebrow at the other man and looked at him steadily, "Went as your mage huh?"

Jonno smiled again, this time much wider, "Oh yeah."

"Nice, so tell me Jonno.  You ever wondered why this town is the way it is?"

"Often, and the other night I think I found out why.  But I think I might be going crazy because surely Vampires and Demons don’t really exist – do they?"

Xander nodded with a serious expression on his face, "They sure do man."

"Shit," Jonno cussed under his breath.

"My thoughts exactly when I found out.  As you now know, magic exists too.  We all got changed into our costumes and for some of us – it’s stuck around."

"You went as Malufurian didn’t you?"

Xander nodded with a slight smile.

"Wicked," Jonno said with a smile.  "So, now what though, I mean I have all this power but what do I do with it?"

"If you want you could help us.  Fight the good fight; beat back the forces of darkness and that stuff."

Jonno smiled, "Yeah – I might enjoy that I think.  Like being a super hero or something."

Xander cast him an odd look but then shrugged it off.  Each to their own he supposed.  "Something like that.  I have been fighting them for a while now though.  But I haven’t told the others about the – urh – changes I’ve been going through."

"Shit, I just realised – can you shift?" Jonno asked suddenly, almost ignoring what Xander had said before.  Only the word changes had made him think of the various Druidic abilities that Xander may now have.

It was Xander’s turn to beam, "Oh yeah."

"Wicked!"

"What have you tried so far?"

"Simple spells, fireballs, ice, some AOE out in the woods.  I can conjure food and water, gems as well."

"Hearthstone?" Xander asked.

In answer Jonno reached into his pocket and pulled out an elliptical white stone with a blue rune on it, "You?"

"I have it too," Xander, said getting his from his pocket, "Not used it though."

"Nor me, I was scared I’d end up in Dalaran and not be able to get back."

"Same as man, same as."

"Think we should try them?"

Xander shook his head, "Not yet at least.  Tried any portals yet?"

"Yeah actually, it’s weird though it doesn’t work like the game.  I seem to be able to create one to wherever I want."

"I think that’s the magic making things more real world for us.  Can you sense everyone around?  How healthy they are I mean?"

Jonno nodded, "Yeah – that freaked me out when I realised what it was."

"Me too, but like I said it’s the magic making things work here on earth.  We’re not in Azeroth anymore Toto." He said the last with a twisted smile.

Jonno barked a short laugh, "True.  So you didn’t tell your other friends then?"

"Not yet, but I will.  Just don’t know how to bring it up yet?" he said the last as a question to see if Jonno had any ideas on the matter.

Jonno shook his head with a shrug, "No idea on that one Xan, but if you want back up…"

"Thanks man.  For now I’d say lay low until I tell the gang, and then I’ll introduce you into the mix ok?"

"That’s fine by me.  There’s some stuff I want to practice anyway."  Jonno paused, "Have you tried calling your mount yet?"

Xander shook his head looking surprised, "Hadn’t even thought of it."

"We should try that, I think the flying might work here."

"Yeah it would." Xander said with a smile.

"Got your flight form?"

"Yep." Xander said with an excited expression, "Hell of a rush it is too."

"Wicked cool.  I’ll give it a go over the weekend, you should too." Jonno said with a grin, being able to use one of his many mounts would be cool, but being able to use any one of them would be better.  If things worked out, he had one hell of a cool mount that he could use to get around.

"We should try calling a companion first, if that works then the mount should." Xander said thoughtfully.

"Good idea man, and hey – thanks for the game."

"No probs Jonno, let me know how you do ok?  I just saw Buffy walk in with Willow I better go say hi."

"No worries man, take it easy."

Authors Note Insertion:

I hate inserting authors notes all over the place but I felt I needed to mention a few things here.

The story is moving a lot slower than I was expecting as there is a lot to get in place before the action can really get going.  So I hope you’ll bear with me.  I could make the chapters bigger if necessary but I like to keep things at a set word count it helps me plan out chapters.  Also it’s getting away from me slightly, but I have to admit I’m having so much fun writing it I don’t mind that so much.

Another thing is that the ‘Main Characters’ of Buffy aren’t being used a lot at the moment, but I have to introduce the characters that will make the biggest impact and as most of them weren’t explored fully in the series I have to do that here to a certain extent.  Never fear though the ‘Main Characters’ will be back though and in their rightful places.

A little note about classes etc here.  You can look up the classes used on the Wow Wiki.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Main

Fanfiction.net steals links so if you can’t see the link Google "Wow Wiki" and you should find it easily enough.  I’m using Druid, Mage and Priest so far.  I expect perhaps a Hunter to turn up as well, and maybe even a Paladin, though I am not decided on that yet.  Still if they do you know what to look up, if you so wish.

Another note on professions, namely engineering.  I’ve taken liberties with just what exactly you can do with that profession and I’m brushing over the details a fair bit, but some of the devices mentioned either exist or are extrapolated from ones that do.  Again I’m trying to real world a game here so forgive me any glaring cock ups and let me have some poetic licence, LOL.

Lastly I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed so far, it gives me a warm fuzzy to get reviews and I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.

Oh, and please forgive me this amazingly long authors note section.

 

 

tbc