(A/n) No you are not seeing things, chapter 19 is up.

*Click* "in field test results of prototype Edison Cannon is as follows, Charge up time is currently at ten to fifteen seconds depending on atmospheric energy, while not a substantial amount of time in a laboratory setting I find it to be useless in real-world application without the enemy giving you an excessive amount of time."

"WE ARE GOING TO PEEL YOU OUT OF THAT SHELL LIKE AN OYSTER LITTLE KNIGHT AND SLURP UP ALL THE JUICY STUFF INSIDE!" The vampire screamed a promise as Xander glanced around at the assembled army that she had managed to build just to challenge him.

He was surprised she had managed to get fifty blood suckers together given their habit of infighting, but here they were, backing him into a closed off alley behind the Sunnydale Multi-plex theater.

Of course given that it was a closed-off alley only five could actually reach him at a time which kinda reduced the effectiveness of the tactic, still it was the first concerted effort on his life that the undead had managed to whip up.

Quickly tapping in his orders into the suit Xander felt the small antenna rise out of the pack on his back, immediately a small counter on his HUD indicated that he was at forty-seven percent charge and he placed the targeting system right between the eyes of Chatty Cathy herself.

This was either going to work or he was going to be ripped apart by an angry group of pissed off vampires, with a whisper of a prayer Xander hit the firing studs on his gauntlets and felt the world explode around him.

Sunday had been a vampire for well over a hundred years, she had seen just about everything the world had to offer and had thought herself untouchable in the higher ranks of the vampire hierarchy, and with the loss of the master and arrest of the mayor the poor little vampire that could had felt the time was right to make a play to fill the power vacuum that existed in the Sunnydale nightlife.

She felt that with the fifty vampires at her back she was all but untouchable.

She felt that she had a good chance of taking the grand prize for herself.

felt the air tingle around her for a half a second, she felt her hair began to frizz out just before she felt her head get really hot as the millisecond laser burned it's way through her skull.

She felt herself turning to dust.

And then she felt it as the world exploded around her.

The Edison Cannon was a design that he had come up with after reading through some of his old science books, the original had been a supped up Taser of all things, a current ran along a set of wires to connect the current through the target's body, his used a plasma laser to open up a channel for the energy to travel through and with enough Ion's in the air a targeted lightning strike was guaranteed as the energy ran down the path of least resistance.

The two primary problems with it was the fact that it was ludicrously wasteful, the energy requirements to not only generate the plasma channel and the lightning bolt was off the charts, he had just pumped out enough energy to power Sunnydale for a couple days in that one attack, for that much energy he could mount an anti-orbital cannon on his back and still come out with an energy savings.

The second problem, and far more troublesome was the fact that the channel went both ways, and lightning bolts were both generous and equal in sharing the 'Smite Smackdown'.

Still, as Giles would say, 'No matter what faith you claim, lightning bolts are personal.'

Standing up from where the lightning strike had tossed him and struggling around the melted sections of his armor Xander glanced at where the one time army of the undead had stood and flinched, what few vampires were left were scattered around the blasted out remains of the alley with a two feet deep crater bubbling and snarling where the one time vampiress had stood.

Shaking his head he set about finishing up the scattered army and preserving the safety of the Sunnydale citizens for another night.

*Click* "power charge was excessive for the requirement of vampire combat and entered the range of Anti-Armor weaponry, I recommend an eighty percent decrease in Ion generation, I estimate that this will be more than sufficient for general Vampires and lesser demons and should reduce the charge time to under three seconds, still not effective for general use but further research into lightning generation should be focused on for improved work, this is probably a pipedream but the idea of disintegrating Vampires with a bolt of lightning is too amusing to pass up, research will continue, as a side note increase the armors electrical resistance by a factor of five before attempting a full charge again."

Turning off the recorder Xander saved and filed it before locking the computer system down and leaning back in his chair with a sigh, glancing over at the screen he rolled his eyes at the news repeating the recent Senate armed services committee that were trying to get their hands on Tony Starks Iron Man armor.

Hitting the volume Xander listened as Senator Stern babbled on about Tony's 'weapon' even as Tony cut's their legs out from under them by showing them the full footage of the weapon test beds.

Shaking his head as he moved over and began to fiddle with a long sled-like device Xander sighed as he was finally brought up "And what about the so-called 'Iron Gear' Mr. Stark? Is his system a decade away from being deployed?" Stern demanded as the screen flipped to a rather grainy image of his older model armor duking it out against massive muscle-bound brute he had fought in his early days, the vampire had been tough and had managed to break his Microwave Cannon early on and the fight had gone on far longer than Xander would have liked.

Still the fact that the video feed was cut off before he dusted the bloodsucker indicated that someone in the government was sanitizing the supernatural from the public sphere.

"Obviously faked," Xander flinched at Tony's assessment even as he understood that the older man was trying to protect him, "right the 'Iron Gear', the videos that show him fighting Vampires and Demons of all things" Tony said blandly before shrugging the whole thing off, "I've investigated the situation and while he has a pretty funny costume, the videos are highschool level CGI, probably a local art student playing up the armored hero roll for extra credit, I'm surprised this committee has put any effort into playing into this fantasy, though in a couple years I would love to see an Iron Gear movie hit the big screen." The billionaire said dismissively before turning towards the screen as the Hammer Industries test bed went horribly wrong, "My professional opinion, most countries are five to ten years off from making a suit, Hammer Industries is twenty."

Turning the TV off Xander sighed and let himself slump into the seat and tried not to take the Billionaires words personally, he knew the man was just protecting him and he was certainly thankful for the thought it still hurt to basically be called a cosplayer.

Glancing at another screen Xander frowned at the grainy image of a man swinging between buildings in an amazing athletic display, his mind was caught up for a moment on how exactly the heroes strings were able to hold him up and what they could have possibly been anchored too before letting the thought drift into the back of his mind, New York was a strange place to begin with and he had more important things to do than worry about a city on the other side of the country.

Still, with all the drama the city had attracted in the past Xander made a mental note to find a way to get there right quick and in a hurry.

Letting his mind wander Xander grappled an old Motorcycle frame up onto the work table and began to attach parts to it, his first design was going to be rough but he was sure he could make something flight capable.

Once he got it to fly he could upgrade it to something that could fly fast.

And not explode, he made a mental note to make sure it didn't explode.

Willow Rosenberg's hands shifted under her as she sat in a trance in her bedroom, around her bits and pieces of the arcane floated in patterns that called out to her unseeing mind.

Across the small town a glove that had once been crafted for the Demon Lord Myhnegon was pulled from its resting place and into the dark realm beyond, several of the darker beings in the town felt the pull for a moment before it reappeared in the upper Bedroom of the Rosenberg residence and was quickly broken down to its component parts warping and twisting its way around the redhead before falling into the glove she wore and infusing its power into the artifact.

In another area of Sunnydale, an amulet shifted under the powerful wards first put in place by the erstwhile mayor Wilkens before settling back into place, its movement only noticed by a blob-like being that was hiding in a warehouse in L.A.

As the final parts of the glove and the assembled magical items slid into place Willow blinked once and smiled as the glove she wore crackled with electrical energy, it seemed that her time spent meditating was beginning to show some real progress.

Within the almost sentient power of the glove ran through its host/mothers mind and sought out what she wanted most, the power to help was paramount when she was creating the artifact and as such it sought out items of power that it could incorporate into its own, several of the items had been protected or had been too powerful to draw to itself and so the glove sank the items locations into its host/mothers mind for her to gather at a later time, but beyond that was her thirst for knowledge, a cross of some sort was added to the list of items the glove would get soon enough, it could feel that it would allow it's host to translate anything.

Not that it understood what a translation was, but its mother's mind told it that it was a good thing.

Next on the list was its mother's conscious and subconscious desire for companionship, making a note of what she was interested in the young mind settled down to think through what it could do to help its mother get what she wanted.

Mothers mind said that good children tried to help their parents and it/she wanted to help her mother.

She wanted to be good.

She would help mother.

With a mixed scream at his minions to both prepare to move out and in order to moisturize him some more Balthazar cackled gleefully as his minions scurry about.

His followers had reported Wilkens arrest several weeks ago but the large demon had expected several more years before the old sorcerer's wards to fall enough for him to get his amulet back.

Now it looked like everything was starting to go his way, soon he would have enough power to open up the gate and summon forth his siblings and get down to the business of cleansing the planet in preparation for the new paradise.

A paradise where vampire scum had no place.

The Gibborim would make their father proud.

Somewhere Over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby

Walking slowly through the halls of Sunnydale general hospital Buffy tried to hold back her rage at universe, the supernatural and the reason she was here.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

She had hit every single hideout and cave that the demons tended to congregate in and had scattered the supernatural boogie men to the four winds in her rage and yet still hadn't found anyone that was willing to tell her who was responsible.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

Listening to the watery song as her mom held back tears Buffy walked over to the door and glanced inside as her mother sang softly to the unconscious form of her little sister.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?

She was almost willing to bet the little pain had done it on purpose if the damage hadn't been so severe. Sometime earlier they had gotten a call that Dawn had been found by a passing cop and had been rushed to Sunnydale general,

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

The report had been vague but it was clear enough that a demon had gotten ahold of her and had been trying to send a message to her through her family. Forcing her hands to unclench she Took a deep breath before pushed the door open and walked inside as her mother finished signing, she knew her family needed her now and she could continue sending her own message to the demons of Sunnydale later on.

She would let the others know of the attack in a little bit, but right now her mom needed her.

(A/n) Yes even though this is mostly set in the Marvel Comics I am using the Iron Man 2 movie for the next little bit.

I always expected Wilkens to be a part of the Pride (An older version of them that failed to achieve their objective.) but I struggled with that for literally a year trying to make it work before tossing the idea, Balthazar actually stepped up perfectly as an actual Gibborim and adds a new bit of badassery to Wilkens if he could beat one of them in a magical fight while it was fully manifested into this world.