Accounts of the Enchanted
Disclaimer: Don't own, just borrowing.
Timeline: Season Two, Halloween.
Amy Madison, one of Sunnydale's premiere amateur witches, followed the feeling in her mind with no small amount of trepidation as she entered the small costume shop called 'Ethan's.' She could feel the dark energy flowing from the store in droves, nearly knocking her over with the sheer force of it.
Someone was planning something big involving this store.
As she entered the store, she felt the dark energy flow around her. It was making her nauseas, and she nearly blew chunks by just entering the place. It was filled with darkness, so much that she was nearly blind.
She searched through the area, trying to pinpoint exactly where it was all coming from. She could tell that it was all centered around the outfits, the costumes, but there was one singular power source…something in the back room.
She made to enter it but, found herself blocked by a tall Englishman.
"Sorry, my dear," he said to her, "The back is off-limits."
Making some excuse of getting lost, she quickly excused herself from his presence. She searched around for a moment, seeking out a few costumes that were more powerful than the rest.
There was one costume that stood out more than the others…it was a soldier costume, one that looked to be about a size too small for her. But, it was sending out powerful waves of a different sort when compared to the demonic and vampiric costumes. It was the most powerful costume there that wouldn't transform someone into a monster. That alone made it preferable for her.
She picked it up and looked at the price tag, and found it to be less than ten dollars. She would also spring for a toy gun, just to complete the look. She had a theory about what these costumes were supposed to do, but, she would experiment on it…find out for sure.
If her suspicions were true, then she would alter the costume…just enough towards where she knew the basics: her name, some magic, and the existence of demons, vamps, and other assorted things. She would do more but, she was afraid that much more would negate the effects.
She knew something big was going down tonight, and she had a pretty good idea of what, but…she knew that there wasn't really anything she could do. She alone wasn't strong enough to stop this mage, and she didn't want Buffy or her friends knowing about her taking up magic. There was only other thing she could do…be there to help the situation.
"Hey, Amy," she turned her head to find her somewhat-friend Xander Harris standing at her side, holding a toy rifle in his hands, "You get roped into Snyder's daycare center too?"
"…Yeah," Amy answered, remembering that the Troll had been pulling people out of the halls to sign the paper to watch the kids, "I don't have much money so, I'm going as a soldier."
"Cool," Xander grinned, "Me, too. Guess we'll be grunts together, right?"
"…Yeah," she smiled as she responded, an idea coming to mind, "Maybe we'll end up in the same squad."
"Maybe," he said, "See you later, Amy. Gotta go get my fatigues from the Laundromat. Our washer and drier are on the fritz."
"Alright," she said to him, "Bye."
That Halloween afternoon, Amy was decked out in her soldier gear. She had on a black shirt underneath the camouflage button-up piece. That shirt was about a size too small, and it hugged her upper-body in a very alluring way. The pants, thankfully, were the adjustable kind so, they looked normal. She had the look topped off with a toy Uzi she'd bought at the store.
After acquiring her costume, she had checked it out and determined that it was, in fact, able to temporarily turn anyone into their costume. Upon determining this, she had taken steps to do what was necessary to keep a part of herself inside the soldier that would come, to ensure that the soldier knew her name, knew magic, and knew about demons. She'd also engrained with her magic a simple command: neutralize, but don't kill.
She had also done an extra thing…she'd searched high and low through her father's stuff but, she'd eventually found what she was looking for. Her father was a military history buff, and collected oddities that had anything to do with the military. One of those oddities happened to be rank devices.
Now with a Lieutenant's bar on her collar, she was fairly certain that she could wrangle the soldier-Harris into working for her. It'd be a lot better than some civilian trying to control him.
"Hey, Amy," she heard as she entered the school, and turned to see Xander standing there, who smartly rendered a salute, and she returned it with a smile, "How's it going, Lieutenant Madison?"
"Very good, Sergeant Harris," she said with a grin, then turned her attention to his group of runts for the night, all of whom were standing straight up, the boys especially, looking at her with adoration and expectation, "And just who are these people, Sergeant?"
"My squad, Ma'am," Xander said to her, "Are you joining us for the night?"
"Snyder didn't have a group for me," she said with a sigh, "So, he said to go join the other soldier. I'm guessing he meant you."
"I'm the only soldier above four feet here, so, yeah," Xander said with a grin, "So…shall I brief the squad, Ma'am?"
"Yes, Sergeant," she said with a smile, "Please do."
"Right," he turned to the group of children and said, "Rules for the night: keep together, do not stray away from the group. Keep your hands to yourself, no mutiny amongst the ranks."
"We're Army, Sergeant," she chided him, "Mutiny happens aboard ships."
"…Well, it's the best word," he countered, "Anyway, follow those two rules and obey our orders like good little soldiers, and the night will go great. Understand?"
"Yes, Sir," all the children responded, not exactly uniformly, but, well enough.
"Sergeant," Amy called out, "Why don't you inform the troops about getting extra candy?"
All the kids, and Xander, brightened up at that.
"Yes, Ma'am," he grinned, "OK, on sleazing extra candy: tears are key. Tears will normally get you the double-bagger. You can also try the old 'you missed me' routine, but it's risky. Only go there for chocolate. Understood?"
They all nodded.
"Also," Amy picked up, "Pout. Pouting will usually get you some extra stuff. And do something cute. Like, ugh, you," she pointed to the girl dressed in a bumble-bee costume, "Buzz around, any adult will think it's cute and give you extra candy. Got it?"
Again, they all nodded.
"Alright, Sergeant," she said, "Get 'em moving."
"Let me make a bathroom call, first," he asked, "Here," he put his rifle in her hands, "Hold that for me?"
"Sure," with that, he departed for the head.
As he left, she muttered a quick spell on his rifle…a spell that would let him keep his name when he changed.
"Miss Madison," she cringed as she heard the pompous voice behind her, and turned around as he continued, "I do not believe you are a part of this event."
"No, Sir," she remarked.
"…You're here, anyway," he muttered, "And since you're dressed the part…why don't you switch groups?"
"Switch," she uttered.
"Yes," she could smell the oil as he smirked, "There's a group of children dressed in similar garbs as yourself. I think they'll respond better to someone of…their own nature."
"Oh," she muttered.
"Stop it," Xander yelled as he separated two tyke soldiers, "Now, I mean it. You don't stop, I'll drag you all back to the school. Then, you won't get any candy and your parents will ground you, got that?"
"You guys work with us," Amy said, "And we'll make sure you all get buckets of candy."
The two arguments were enough to get them to quiet down but, it was obvious that it was temporary, at best.
"I hate that troll," Xander growled.
"We all do," Amy muttered.
"Persona se corpum et sanguium commutandum est. Vestra sancta praesentia concrescet viscera. Janus! Sume noctem!"
Xander, Amy, and all the children they'd been assigned looked around as people changed and carnage began to take over the town. The children were looking in fear, Xander in confusion, and Amy…in resignation.
Suddenly, the eight of them jerked backward, some of the littler ones fell to the ground from the force.
When they emerged, they knew no more.
Lieutenant Amy Madison stood erect as she surveyed the scene. They were in an urban area, possibly in California from the night temperature and the suburbia house design, and people were running around in a panic. Upon closer inspection, the West Point graduate discerned that there were demons amongst the people.
She had heard that there was going to be a special operation set up somewhere in California to deal specifically with those kind of beings. She had been trying to find out more, to get on their radar screen but, so far, nothing had happened.
She turned around and found a familiar face: Sergeant First Class Alexander Harris, her company's NCO, and her closest friend on Earth.
"Sarge," she greeted her friend.
"Lieutenant," he responded, his hard edge ever present, "Any clue as to what Hellhole we were dropped in?"
"Not one damn iota," she answered, and turned as she heard some more people grunting and groaning…and she was encountered by the smallest group of soldiers she'd ever seen in her life.
"Shit," she heard a five-year-old in BDUs yell out, "…What the Hell? I'm frigging three feet tall!"
"Damnit," another shouted, "I shrunk a damn four feet!"
"…Well," Sarge said, "This is…bizarre."
The two listened as the (g)runts went about, getting readjusted to being miniature soldiers, till one of them, a six year old girl with blonde hair, noticed Amy and smartly saluted her, causing all the others to turn and salute her. She returned the salutes at once, and dropped it immediately.
"Fall in," Harris yelled, and the (g)runts expertly formed a squad of six, each of them with their varying weaponry held at port arms, safeties on.
"Sound off," Sarge shouted.
"One." "Two." "Three." "Four." "Five." "Six."
"What unit are you boys and girls with," Sarge asked.
"33rd, Sergeant," all six sounded off expertly.
"That's in California," Amy muttered, "A Reserve regiment. They were deployed with our unit into Central America."
"Great," Harris muttered, "We're in a hostile territory, stuck with a midget squad, limited resources, and I don't know about you, but I only have the one clip on me."
"Me, too," Madison answered, "This just has SNAFU written all over it."
"Situation Normal, All Fucked Up," Sarge, along with the six runts, said at once.
"…In any other situation, I'd wash their mouths out for such language," Amy said with a sigh, "Alright, at ease, people."
The soldiers went at ease, but it wouldn't last. As soon as they relaxed, a series of roars echoed behind them.
"Enemy on your six," Sarge yelled at the squad, and they turned around, weapons raised at the ready as four demonic looking creatures came at them.
"…Hold your fire," Madison shouted out, "…These aren't hostiles. They're sleepers."
"What," Harris asked, "What the Hell do you mean, Aims?"
"They don't know what they're doing," she insisted, "They're, like, brainwashed!"
"So, what do you want us to do," Sarge asked as the demons came closer.
"Neutralize them without killing them," she responded.
"…You heard her," Harris shouted, "Charge!"
The six soldiers didn't hesitate, and they charged full-on at the enemy, with Harris and Madison not far behind. The six runts worked in pairs to take out one demon at a time, while the two grown-sized soldiers easily subdued their own demon.
The fight took about two minutes, and ended with three soldiers barely scathed and four unconscious demons.
"…I think it's obvious why we're here," the Officer said, "We're here to patrol this hot zone, at least till reinforcements show up."
"Why," one of the (g)runts asked, "We were in Haiti last I remember. Why were we deployed to the suburbs without warning?"
"Don't know," she admitted…then, thought for a moment and said, "Let's put it this way: what we just encountered was obviously a group of demons. Now, judging from the fact that you six are…all below six years old, it's not too big a leap to include magic on this thing.
"Let's head to an empty house and establish a perimeter there. Sarge," she turned to her NCO, "Form them up for patrol, make it clear that they shoot to wound, not kill."
"Yes, Ma'am," Harris said, then, he turned to the group, "Alright, form up! Five meter spread, get ready to double-time it."
Amy looked around for a moment, trying to decide on where best to relocate their forces. All of a sudden, an address popped into her head, a place where she knew she could obtain supplies to find out what exactly was going on.
"I'll take point, Sarge," she told her NCO, "Alright, people. Double-time, March."
On the way to the house, they'd encountered a fair amount of enemy resistance, all of which was neutralized with a low amount of fire and, in one case, physical violence. Along the way, they'd picked up two more soldiers, one being an Airman and the other a Marine, along with six civilians, two unchanged, one airheaded cheerleader (they knew she was changed because she had the body of a boy), a jazz musician, and a fairy. They would keep the two militants, but quarantine the other six to the address.
Amy held up her fist as she saw the house, causing all the soldiers to stop, and the civilians in the middle of the group to shuffle about. She flashed a few more signals about, causing the group of soldiers to spread out and surround the front of the house.
A few minutes later, and they had a secure perimeter around the house, and the civilians were secure within the house.
"Xander," Amy motioned for her NCO to join her, "I have something to tell you."
"Let's hear it," he said, "Hope it's something worth while."
"…I'm a witch," she told him.
"…Yeah," he said with a look that said 'so what?', "I figured that out in Cambodia when you got 'cut off' from the group and performed a spell to find out where the guerilla camp was."
"Why didn't you say anything," she asked, astounded.
"Bit too busy fighting for my life," he said, "So, I'm guessing you're going to do a spell to figure out what to do next?"
"Yeah," she said, "Give me a hand?"
"Just tell me what to do," he said.
As they were doing the spell, several miles away in the local high school, a ghost dressed in leather was looking down at a book with little, if any, enthusiasm.
"I don't know what I'm looking for, Giles," Willow complained, "Plus, I can't turn the page."
"Well, let's think," Giles said, walking out of the library cage with a stack of papers, "So far, everyone has turned into what they were masquerading as, correct?"
"Yeah," Willow agreed, "I was a ghost, and Buffy was an 18th-century girl."
"Really," Giles was tempted to ask what ghost Willow had dressed as, but, he decided that she had had enough of a shock for the night, so, he asked a different question, "What was Xander?"
"…A soldier," Willow answered, "And, so was Amy. And they were paired together, along with a group of kids dressed as soldiers."
"Good Lord," Giles muttered, "There's a group of soldiers out there, with no idea where they are, with all this chaos going on…I'm surprised this whole town hasn't been demolished yet."
"But, little kids couldn't transform into soldiers," Willow said and, upon his look, followed up with, "Right?"
"…I think it's safest to assume the worst right now," the Englishman said, "So…where did you purchase your costume?"
"A new place, Ethan's."
Suddenly, it all clicked into place.
"There's a high level of magic surrounding a building near the town square," Amy said as the spell finished, "Alright, find some medical supplies for the flyboy and get the kiddies ready to move out. I'll find out exactly where we're heading."
"Right, Aims," Xander turned and moved downstairs to accomplish his task.
On his way down, he stopped in the middle of the aisle and leaned back on the wall. He took a deep breath to relax, only it didn't work very well this time. He was tired…sore…nearing the end.
He had been in the army for near twenty years, and he had been planning on retiring from the Army next year. He loved the Army, loved working underneath Aims, loved being on the front lines…but, it was some of that love that made him want to quit.
He'd requested transfers before but, the brass kept wanting to keep him and Madison together, claiming that they worked too well together to risk a changeup…and, at the end of the day, they were right. Their group was the most successful in the Army, to date.
But, he and Amy had known each other for years beforehand…they'd been friends in high school, and had had the same recruiter…he had gone to USC, while she'd gone to USMA. It was only by chance of fate that they'd gotten shouldered into the same unit. He'd declined his commission upon graduation, instead taking an NCO position. She would have been promoted to Captain three times now, but she hadn't wanted to leave her group. That's why she had such loyalty amongst her ranks.
As it stood, he wanted to leave for two reasons: he was tired of being a soldier, and he wanted to go out with Amy. It was that simple…and, yet, so complicated.
Sighing, the old soldier moved on and went to fulfill his task.
"What's the plan, Ma'am," Sergeant Harris asked his superior as the group of ten set up a position across the street from Ethan's.
"…First step: invade the building. We go in, nice and fast, and take out any hostiles. Once that's done, we set up a perimeter on the inside to keep any other hostiles out."
"Gotcha," he said, and he turned to the other eight soldiers and said, "We take the building. Four of you, with me, deploy to the back of the building, while the other five take the front. Sweep pattern, and remember to maintain your intervals."
"Yes, Sergeant," they all said.
"Jarhead, with me, and you three," he pointed to three (g)runts, "With me. Check your ammo."
With that, he turned to Amy and said, "We're good to go. What's the signal to go in?"
"I'll radio you," she motioned to the walkie-talkies they had liberated from the house, "Move."
He nodded, and motioned for his four to move out.
Amy watched from afar as one of her (g)runts tried the lock on the front door, and the kiddy flashed her the 'thumbs up' to let her know it was good.
"This door's unlocked," she reported to Harris.
"This one is, too," he responded, "On your mark."
"Three…" she counted off, "Two…One…"
"Amy," a voice called in the night, and all soldiers, along with herself, turned their weapons upon the two civilians who were coming up the walk.
One was a middle-aged man dressed in Tweed, and he was holding his arms up, recognizing that he was in danger. The other, however, was a teenage redhead dressed in hooker clothes, and she was just staring at them, clearly unaccustomed to having arms trailed against her.
The Airman moved and brought them both up to the wall while the Officer said into her radio, "Hold your position."
"Sit-rep, please," Sarge demanded.
"Two civilians entered our sector," she told her NCO, "Have secured them both. Prepare to deploy."
"Roger," and the line went dead.
"Three…Two…One…Go, Go, Go!"
Her group moved quickly, though the Airman was slower, having to drag the two civies behind him, and entered the building with their arms at the ready. They could hear the other group moving through the back.
"Stay," the Airman deposited the two civies near the middle of the room and made to continue with the search.
"Get on the deck," a hard voice echoed from the back, "Get on the deck! Face on the deck!"
"What's your status," Amy called.
"Have captured civilian," Xander responded, "Middle-aged, dressed in robes. He's been bled and he has a cross marked on his forehead in blood."
"He's our mage," Amy said, "Are we secure?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Alright," she turned to her group, "Establish a perimeter within this building, nothing gets in without our permission, got it!"
"Yes, Ma'am," and the group went to secure their positions at the front of the building.
Amy turned around and saw Xander walking toward her, with a middle-aged man in front of him, held secure by his rifle point.
"We've established a perimeter in the back, Ma'am," her Sergeant reported.
She nodded at him and told the prisoner, "On your knees."
The man looked as though he wanted to say something, but, he did as he was told.
"Ethan," she turned around as she heard a male voice say the name, "You bugger!"
She watched as the middle-aged Tweed guy stood and walked over toward the prisoner, only to be stopped as two (g)runts pointed their weapons at him, but, she waved them off.
"You know this man," she asked him.
"Ethan Rayne," he responded as he moved for the prisoner, "A chaos mage. He did this with the costumes."
"Well, I don't like to gloat," Xander kicked the prisoner in the back, earning him a glare from her.
"I don't think the Geneva Convention applies here," he grinned at her, and she responded in kind.
"So…how do we fix this," she asked the mage.
"Say pretty please," he told her with a smirk.
"…Sergeant, take the prisoner to the back and…interrogate him."
Her NCO smiled a cruel smile and stared down at the prisoner, who was now radiating fear, and said, "Oh, I will, Ma'am."
"Janus," the prisoner shouted, "Break the statue!"
Xander nodded to Jarhead, who, in turn, tossed the statue to the ground.
The change was instantaneous. Lieutenant Amy Madison of the U.S. Army, and Sergeant First Class Alexander Harris, along with an immeasurable amount of people in Sunnydale, disappeared from the face of the Earth, leaving the meager people that they had once been behind.
"Whoa," Xander muttered in disbelief as his head cleared, "That was…" he looked over at Amy, who nodded in agreement.
Giles took care of Ethan easily, placing him underneath a spell that kept him in a coma for a few weeks while he got the Council to deport him.
Buffy had come out of the situation fairly unscathed, though she would always look at Larry with a strange hatred that she'd never had before. On the plus side, she'd managed to retain some knowledge of French and was using it to get by in her class.
The Jarhead in the group, a senior named Benny, had enlisted in the Marines barely a week after Halloween.
The (g)runts were all recovering from their ordeal as best as they could. They hadn't told their parents about it, only that they had stayed in Amy's house all night. They were all in shock, however, because their kids were all much more obedient and would never throw a tantrum…though they were cussing with words they were sure they had never heard before.
The Airman medic had already been enrolled in medical school so, he'd gained a very quick education through the Air Force for a night. He was planning on transferring to Harvard Medical.
Willow had, meanwhile, gained an appreciation for more revealing clothing. Though she would not wear what she did on Halloween, she would dress differently than her usual nerdy self.
Amy and Xander, meanwhile, had forged a concrete friendship after that night, one fueled by their former selves' friendship from the other world. Amy had taken her alternate self's lessons to heart, mostly the ones to do with magic. In her own world, she was an extremely accomplished mage, and a powerful one at that, and Amy retained her power.
Xander, meanwhile, had developed near sharpshooter accuracy with any kind of rifle or pistol. He had gotten a gym membership and joined a self-defense class to help retain what the Sergeant knew about violence and…on the first class, he'd kicked his teacher clear across the room. He'd advanced and joined a group of soldiers who worked out with the group, all of whom said he was using a style taught to Green Berets. They'd ask him how he knew and he'd make up some lame story about his uncle being one.
On the hold, though, the two were forming a stable friendship. The only problem, though, was with Xander. Within the week after Halloween, he had started developing feelings for her, feelings that had skyrocketed when he'd examined Sarge's own feelings for her. It was very confusing for him, having one set of feelings for the Amy he knew, and another for the one he had known.
Still, he was not the man he had been…in either case. He was different, now…both, and yet, neither at the same time. And Amy was, too.
They were different.