– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

"First of all, I'm me!" Xander shot back, anger flaring. He clenched his fists and scowled, stance defensive as he took a step forward. Above his head, the sky churned unnaturally, the purple half seeming to swirl and spread into the black starry sky, while beneath his feet, the encroaching tall grass in the alley shrunk ever so slightly. "This is my body! And I'm not gonna let some weird were-wolf who stole my clothes tell me anything else!"

"Not wolf... hyenaaaa," the creature corrected with a mocking tone, its muzzle twisting into a sinister grin.

"Oh... so that's what smells like shit," Xander blinked.

The hyena-Xander let out a roar of laughter as it burst forward, the sound echoing through the twisted alleyway. The creature's movements were a blur, a frenzied dance of claws and teeth as it bounded across the alley.

Xander barely had time to react before the creature was upon him, its claws slashing through the air with a speed that defied belief. He stumbled back, his arms raised in a desperate attempt to defend himself, but the hyena was relentless. It pressed its attack, its jaws snapping at his face, its fetid breath hot against his skin.

"Fuck!" The word tore from his throat, raw and harsh, as he was barely any more prepared for the second blow, dodging it with a hard lunge to the side that sent him careening into the wall, the brick scraping against his skin like sandpaper.

He saw a shot as the cackling hyena monster overextended, its claws slicing through empty air. He seized the moment and charged at it, launching his whole body at the thing in a full-bore shoulder tackle.They crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs, rolling and tumbling across the cracked asphalt. They rolled around on the ground for a moment, the hyena cackling in Xander's ear as they wrestled, its breath hot and fetid against his skin, before a pair of powerful legs snapped up and caught Xander in the chest, sending him flying back with a force that knocked the wind from his lungs.

Barely catching himself, he managed to land on all fours, his fingers digging into the cracked asphalt, his head snapping up to see the hyena in the same position, its eyes glowing with a feral light. His eyes widened as the monster in front of him rushed forward, proving it was built for all fours as it tore across the ground in a blur, the alleyway around it seeming to warp and twist as it moved.

It took him half a second to jump to his feet, his muscles screaming in protest. That half second was all it needed to rush him, a swipe of a clawed hand raking across his torso and tearing through cloth and flesh like tissue paper. A pained scream burst out of his lips, one that was cut short as the hyena spun on its heels and slammed a powerful fist into his chest, the impact reverberating through his entire body. The sound of ribs creaking was all that filled his ears for an instant, before he rocketed back again, his head and back slamming into the alley floor as he tumbled head over heels.

Xander got to his feet, grunting and cradling his bleeding chest as the hyena laughed again, the sound like nails on a chalkboard to his ringing ears. "Is that all you got, Xander?" it taunted, its voice a guttural growl that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "No wonder Buffy doesn't want you. You're weak. Pathetic. A joke."

"Fuck this!" Xander snarled, anger and fear and pain all blending into a red haze that consumed his vision. He charged forward, his feet pounding against the ground, his fists clenched at his sides. The hyena charged too, its lips pulled back in a feral grin, its claws gleaming in the sickly light. They met in the middle, a clash of bodies and wills, the impact shuddering the air like an earthquake.

Xander threw a punch, his fist connecting with the hyena's jaw with a sickening crack, but the creature barely seemed to feel it, its head snapping back only to lunge forward again, its teeth snapping at Xander's face. He jerked back, narrowly avoiding having his nose bitten off, and lashed out with a kick that caught the hyena in the stomach, doubling it over for a moment.

But only for a moment.

The creature straightened up, its eyes blazing with a fury that seemed almost human, and lunged at Xander again, its claws slashing at his face, his arms, his chest, a whirlwind of fury and savagery that left him reeling. He fought back desperately, his own blows landing with bone-crushing force, but the hyena just kept coming, laughing all the while.

He rushed in again with a hard right, but the thing retaliated with a vicious swipe, its claws raking across Xander's chest, shredding his shirt and leaving bloody furrows in their wake.

Xander stumbled back, his hand pressed to his chest, blood seeping between his fingers. The world around him seemed to pulse and warp, the edges of his vision blurring, but he forced himself to focus.

The hyena circled him, its movements predatory, its eyes gleaming with a malevolent light. It lunged forward, its jaws snapping, but Xander was ready this time. He sidestepped the attack, his foot lashing out in a desperate kick that caught the creature in the ribs.

It grunted, more in annoyance than pain, and spun to face him again. "You can't win, Xander," it sneered, its voice dripping with contempt. "I'm stronger than you. Faster. Better. I'm the real you."

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"I'm literally a Devil and if you were me, you'd know that!" Xander yelled. He lunged forward with a powerful right hook aimed at the hyena-Xander's head, the air around his fist shimmering with a faint red energy that seemed to flicker and fade as he moved, at odds with its usual dark potency. The creature was frighteningly quick, ducking under the blow with a grace that belied its grotesque form, its tail whipping aggressively as it maneuvered, the appendage leaving trails of sickly green light in its wake.

The alley around them seemed to pulse and warp with each blow, the bricks of the walls shifting and melting like wax, the ground beneath their feet cracking and splintering like shattered glass. The sky above churned with unnatural colors, purple and black and a sickly green that matched the light emanating from the hyena's form.

"I'm strong!" Xander yelled out, his voice cracking with desperation, with the need to believe his own words. "I kill vampires every day! I'm not weak, I'm not pathetic, I'm not—"

The were-hyena bared its yellow teeth in a malevolent grin, its eyes glinting with malice, with a dark joy that sent shivers down Xander's spine. "What? Needed to sell your soul to get strong? Makes sense for someone scared of being a weak sissy," it taunted, its voice a raspy echo of Xander's own, like a distorted reflection in a funhouse mirror. It lunged forward, claws extended, aiming a swipe at Xander's face, the air around its hands shimmering with that same sickly green light.

Xander dodged sideways, feeling the wind from the claws barely miss his cheek. He countered with a swift uppercut, connecting with the creature's jaw. He countered with a swift uppercut, connecting with the creature's jaw, the impact reverberating up his arm, solid and satisfying, but the hyena-Xander barely seemed phased, its head snapping back only to lunge forward again, its eyes blazing with a feral intensity.

"You're nothing, just a little weakling pretending to be something more. Gonna end up a drunk like dear old dad, huh?" The hyena chuckled, jumping back and circling him, its movements fluid and predatory.

Xander gritted his teeth, anger boiling inside him and that familiar energy buzzing under his skin like a familiar heat, but it felt sluggish, slow, almost turgid compared to its usual napalm-like intensity. He threw a series of rapid punches, each one slower than the last, each one blocked or dodged by the hyena with an ease that was as infuriating as it was terrifying. "Shut up!" he shouted, his voice raw and ragged, tears stinging at the corners of his eyes. "You don't know anything about me!"

The were-hyena laughed, a sound that twisted in the air like a knife. "Hell, Buffy kinda likes you now and you can tell, you don't even care, because you're sick... the only thing that makes you feel safe is when the people you love hate you. Isn't that pathetic?"

Xander hesitated, the words striking closer to home than he liked, than he could ever admit, even to himself. His mind flashed to Buffy, to the way she smiled at him sometimes, the way she laughed at his jokes. It should have made him feel good, should have made him feel wanted, but instead it just left a hollow ache in his chest, a sense of unworthiness that he couldn't shake.

The creature used his momentary distraction to its advantage, darting in close, its breath hot and fetid against Xander's face. "You can't even admit Willow likes you because you only love women who hate you. You don't feel you deserve love," it sneered, slashing with its claws, the tips tearing through Xander's shirt, through his skin.

Xander cried out in pain, the sound echoing off the warped walls of the alley. He staggered back, his foot catching on a crack in the pavement, sending him tumbling to the ground. The hyena was on him in an instant, pinning him down, its weight crushing the air from his lungs.

"Pathetic."

"SHUT!" He threw an uppercut into the monster's jaw and leapt to his feet, raising his arm up a half-second later as he blocked another strike with his forearm, feeling the sting of sharp claws against his skin, the warmth of his own blood trickling down his arm. He pushed forward, driving the hyena-Xander back with the sheer force of his rage, of his desperation, of his need to prove it wrong, to prove himself wrong. "I'm not like you!" he screamed, his voice raw and ragged. "I'm not weak, I'm not pathetic, I'm not—"

They grappled, strength against strength, the world around them warping and twisting like a fever dream, until the hyena-Xander managed to break free and whip its tail across Xander's face, throwing him off balance, sending him stumbling back, his feet slipping on the blood-slick ground. Seizing the moment, the creature kicked him in the chest, its foot connecting with his sternum with a sickening crack, sending him flying backwards with inhuman force.

His body slammed into the side of a dumpster, the metal buckling and crumpling around him with the impact as it deformed around him, the sound of screeching metal filling his ears, the taste of blood filling his mouth. He gasped for breath, pain radiating through his body as he tried to regain his senses. The hyena-Xander stalked toward him, slow and menacing as its mouth remained open, cackling loud.

"...f-fuck."