"Sergeant, you got a package."

"From who," Xander walked over to a slayer beside a crate.

She chuckled, "No return address, and it sets off every magic detector we got, but doesn't set of any alarms of ill intent."

"Cute," he joined in her chuckling.

"I'd say you got a secret admirer."

Xander stopped, "Well, is Willow on the way, or one of the local talents, in case this thing blows me up or something."

"I wouldn't make that joke in earshot of Dawnie," Willow chuckled as she walked up.

"Where isn't in earshot of her these days?"

"My school for one, so it seems anyway," Dawn called in from the window. "But its okay, I know he meant blown up bits, not blown up Zentradi like me."

"Any Idea who it might be from," Willow asked with a smirk.

"Not without seeing what it is- god I hope it isn't another slayerette crushing on me- my body can only take so much of that kind of abuse…"

Willow laughed again, then Willow turned towards the crate, "Well we all know one thing at least, whoever sent this is definitely evil."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just look at your track record," Willow chuckled.

Xander groaned, "Fine, so who opens it? Rock-paper-scissors?"

"But you always pick scissors?"

"Maybe I just do that to lull people," he said sounding sly.

"Okay," she shrugged unconvinced. She held out her fist to play, and seconds later she was holding out rock to his scissors. She chuckled and he sighed. Xander cautiously stepped closer to the crate and held out a hand for a crowbar, which the slayer who'd told him about the package brought him.

He wedged the crowbar under the top and wrenched it free. He peered down at the contents- there was no packing popcorn, the contents were bolted to the base of the crate. Inside was a barrel-shaped object with red arcane markings on it. Xander gave a curious glance down at it, then looked up, "Get Giles."

Willow gave it a glance and with a flick of her hand the sides of the crate came apart around it, leaving it fully exposed.

"So why did I have to open it if you could do that?"

"Because you lost," she chuckled, "besides, you needed me on hand in case there was some curse-on-open thing you needed me to unhex."

He set his hand on the object, "Gee, thanks," he chuckled- then jumped back as the barrel started spinning on its base. "Whoa- that wasn't me," he said with no certainty in his voice. The object started spinning faster until the lettering was a blur- the space around Xander started to blur as he was moved while standing still. The world around him passed by, then turned into a seemingly endless hallway. Abruptly even that ended and he was standing in a large room with only two features, a small hallway on the far end, and a towering structure with a massive peephole in the center. "Well, it's a bit over down, but I might as well…"

Xander sighed and headed towards the peephole. Peering though it, he saw instead of a small little crawlspace was a room full of free-floating platforms connected to similar peepholes. All of these platforms surrounding a central stage complete with red curtain. The curtain slowly opened and Xander realized instead of staring through the peephole he was standing on the stage in front of an old gentlemen in a wheelchair and a women whose face was hidden by a black veil.

"Well, I give you props in the 'over the top' department."

"Without theatrics, I find life would be painfully boring," the old man chuckled as he twisted a cane in his hand while pretending to examine his hand. He looked up at Xander, "I'm also a man who likes to hedge his bets. Something big is happening, it's not your world, but you might find it interesting anyway, apocalypse interesting, and I need a wildcard in the deck."

Xander saw so many things to address in that sentence he wasn't sure where to start. "Um… What kind of wildcard."

"One who sees beneath the obvious, and beyond it."

"Okay, I get how you might see that in me, but, what do you want me to do?"

"Frankly, I want you to be the element of chaos in an otherwise structured apocalypse, if you happen to prevent it in the process, that'll just give me all the more time to be ready for the next one."

"So you're evil?"

"By your world view, probably, I'm an avatar for what you would know as the devil."

"Ah, now things are making a bit of sense. You want me there because you know I'll stop try to stop any apocalypse, even the other sides."

"Exactly, but I will give you something for your troubles."

"I still have more questions?"

"And you'll figure out most of your answers, but I don't want to overwhelm you with too much at once."

Xander scratched his temples, "You know who I am, and you're worried about overwhelming me?"

"I assure you, the next Twenty-four hours will be overwhelming. You evaded the topic of my willingness to pay you in advance."

"Yeah I did, I'm a little leery about accepting gifts from a man who claims to be an avatar of Satan. But you seem to be avoiding any more questions, you must realize my friends will be looking for me, what steps have you taken to prevent them from finding me?"

"The Amala Network is vast, it will be some time before your friends find you, and it's the only means that I have left them. At which point I anticipate you will either be finished, or thoroughly invested in the endeavor."

"So you plan to basically drop me in an unknown world, let me figure out what's going on, and want to intervene?"

"Yes."

"You know, for the Avatar of a being also known as the deceiver, you're very straightforward with me, it's clear you've told me nothing useful in the long term, but just enough to aim me like a cannon."

"I'll take that as a complement, considering its implications." He set his hands in his lap, laying his cane over his lap.

The lady with the veil stepped towards Xander, "I'm going to present you with my master's gift, I must warn you it will not be pleasant at first."

"Ah, see- I might be more suspicious if it didn't hurt," he joked.

The woman didn't even crack a smile, a jar about the size of a football. She reached into the jar and pulled out a creature curled up about half the size of a fist-

"Wait- what are you doing with that thing- and why is it going to hurt?" He tried to lift his arms to interpose only to find himself paralyzed. He couldn't even move his jaw anymore; just leave it hanging open as she gently set the creature inside his mouth. The creature, seeking shelter, scurried down his throat, and suddenly Xander could move again, he immediately clutched his throat and gasped, choking as the creature went down. Xander quickly fell to his knees in excruciating agony. And as the red curtain began to fall again, and the man in the wheelchair was pulled back into the shadows by the veiled woman, Xander realized he was in the room with a peephole again. And just as he felt himself black out, he felt something drag him back over to the large barrel, which Xander realized by now connected to whatever this Amala Network the avatar had told him about. The last image his eyes sent his brain before passing out was a human shaped creature about as tall as the length from his elbow to the tip of his longest finger, with red hair flying on dragonfly wings.

When Xander woke up some time later in what looked like an alley. He blinked and wiped away a tear from his left eye- then froze, because that eye shouldn't have been there. He looked down at his hand and saw he was giving off a blue glow from stripes along his skin.

"I said, are you okay," he looked over at a police officer with the abbreviation JCPD on his hat.

"What happened?"

"You tell me, I heard a crash in the alley, and came down to investigate."

Xander sighed, then chuckled, "Well, I don't want to overwhelm myself all at once, so let's start with where am I?"

"How specific do I need to be? Earth, USA, Jump City?" The officer paused when he noticed Xander start at that one.

"So is there a Titan's Tower?"

"Well yeah, why wouldn't there be?"

"Because apparently I'm not in the same universe I was in yesterday…" As Xander started to sit up the officer gasped- "What?"

"Y-you got something stickin' out of your neck," he pointed. Xander reached back with his hand and felt a small- horn- growing out the back of his neck where spine would otherwise be jutting just a little anyway.

Xander growled a little, "Well now I know how I got my eye back…" The Officer quirked an eyebrow and Xander chuckled, "I was just- well- far from normal anyway- but human anyway, just yesterday- maybe, depends on how long I've been unconscious, sans one eye lost in battle with evil."

The officer gave him a curious look, "Seriously, just yesterday I was at the command center in what might as well have been a small underground war against- nevermind," he sighed. "My friends will eventually find me, until then I might as well be useful here," He pulled himself to his feet.

"How so?"

"I have a unique set of skills, that are practically useless without equipment, and I was dropped here pretty much bare," when he stood up completely he realized he was shorter than the officer- he looked down at the ground and realized that was because he was shorter. "Oh god even the first wasn't this cruel," Xander groaned.

"What's the matter kid?"

"That's what's the matter, I'm a kid again!"