BTVS: A Cobra's Rebirth
Disclaimer: I own nothing, (Buffy The vampire Slayer) belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions including copyrighted material, (G.I. Joe the toys) belongs to the Hasbro the toy company, the (G.I. Joe comic's) currently, belong to IDW Publishing. Again I own NOTHING, nor do I plan to distribute this fanfiction for monetary gain ….it's just for fun and enjoyment, nothing else. And I DO NOT intend copyright infringement.
Originally BTVS season 2 episode (Halloween) took place in 1997, this story takes place in 2008.… and currently does not have Beta reader.
Chapter 1: Ethan's Costume Shop
Day before Halloween 2008
Seventeen year old Alexander 'Xander' Harris sighed, as he sifted through the different Halloween costumes in the store. The new shop was, crowded, tight and filled with all sorts of little doodads. The costume racks were practically inches away from each other, a few costumes were half off their hanger's ….and the place reminded him of an old antique shop. But despite it's chaotic look it was nice, the lower prices compared to the other shops was a plus too. Still, he wished there was more leg room between the racks. He looked back down to the rack in front of him. Spotting a familiar red & blue, black spider webbed leotard, he slide the other costumes over to get a better look. It was a Spiderman costume, which he briefly considered buying, before checking the size. Unsurprisingly, he didn't have enough muscle for it. 'This is, depressing' he thought to himself, hanging the costume back in it's place. 'Just my luck, I finally find a costume I want, and it's made for a human sized Hulk!' He looked through the other costumes… an X-men costume of Wolverine, Cyclopes, Nightcrawler and….. SpongeBob? "Why is SpongeBob in a rack filled with Marvel costumes?" He said, as he picked it up in disgust. 'I'm definitely not wearing this, besides even if I did, I'd look ridiculous!' he thought, as he put it back towards the end of the rack. 'Great' he thought sarcastically, as he glanced at some costumes on a different display. None of them were in his size either. Initially he planned on going as a soldier, using his grandfather's old army fatigues from Vietnam. Unfortunately he hadn't found them, he thought they were in the attic, but after having turned the place upside down, for two whole days no less… he gave up. He figured his drunk of a father threw them out years ago, his loving dad never liked his grandfather anyway.
'Can't do anything about it now, especially since I need a costume tomorrow night for that program' he thought, before moving over to another rack across the isle. 'Stupid principal Snyder, threatening me and Willow into chaperoning, with detention. Detention! I thought the whole thing about volunteering was to actually volunteer, Not be forced into it.' He thought bitterly, coming closer to the other rack. This one he noticed, was full of some kind of military dress. Interested Xander decided to take a closer look. "G.I. Joe?" He said aloud, as he glanced over the display sign. 'Hey, it's that old cartoon show Jesse and I used to watch.' He thought happily, remembering all the late nights he and his friend spent watching the cartoon. "Too bad he's dead, he would've loved these." He mumbled under his breath. Searching through each, he found several which looked like something from dessert storm, however the rest were the standard G.I. camouflage. He walked by each character Duke, Roadblock, Tunnelrat, Ripcord… So far none of them stood out, well except for Storm Shadows and Snake-eyes outfits. Storm Shadow's looked like a large one piece, mostly white with some black interspaced, Cobras stylized red symbol on the head-cover and a large white over coat. Snake-eyes was just the same, minus the over coat, Cobra symbol, plus it was black instead of white. Both had their respective swords and were, way too tight. He couldn't imagine wearing something that tight, not to say that he didn't like their characters, far from it, he just couldn't picture himself wearing…. that. Xander shuddered at the thought of wearing something that formfitting, even if one had a white over coat.
He guessed they were the newer 04 versions, but he couldn't really tell. The tags never said what year they were supposed to be, which was weird. Unlike the Other two, the rest he recognized as from the 1980's show. All of which, were tragically out of his price range. Walking down towards the end of the rack, an out of place costume caught his attention. It was a dark black military jacket buttoned up at the collar, red trimming wrapped around the edge of the neck like tightened rope. What looked like a silver painted face mask, glared defiantly in the reflected light. Curious, he walked all the way down the isle, examining it closer. At first he wasn't sure what character it was supposed to be. That changed as soon as he saw the Stylized Cobra symbol on the chest, he knew who it was immediately. Cobra Commander, the infamous leader of Cobra. The terrorist group from the tv show, but this costume wasn't like the others. No, this one was new…. really New. 'Could be a promotional piece for a new movie.' He thought, as he held the helmet in his hands. 'Jesse would have killed to get this, the Commander was his favorite character in the whole show.' Xander thought, while staring at the mask. Now that he held it up close, he saw an engraved cobra in the top forehead of the helmet. He looked back down to the jacket, noticing for the first time that there was an undershirt on the inside of it, plus a blood red one shouldered cape. The cape looped around the collar, tied off at the right shoulder and draped to knee length from there. There was also a matching pair of black pants behind the jacket, a dark grey belt clamped to the right side, on the other was a simple plastic sword held in a plastic bag and finally, black combat boots held together at the hanger. Strangely the costume only had one black glove, he was about to put it all back on the rack when…..
"Interested in the costume, young man?" A British voice asked from behind him.
Xander spun around, Violently surprising a scream with a mumbled "Agh!" Standing behind him was a middle aged man, Caucasian, brown hair, dark eyes and wearing black slacks. He had on a lime colored long-sleeved dress shirt. The guy smiled back at him, waiting for a response. Xander stood there for a second, waiting for his pounding heart to calm down, before replaying. "Don't do that! You could've given me a heart attack!" He nearly shouted, a few shoppers glanced his way, after a minute they went back to whatever they were doing. The man looked taken aback for a moment a slight frown appearing, before switching back to a pleasant smile. "Terribly sorry lad, I'm Ethan, Ethan Ryan owner of this fine establishment. I just thought you might like some help."
"Yah, well thanks, but I was just looking….besides I don't have enough money for this." Xander said remorsefully, looking down at the helmet still in his hands .
"Oh, nonsense my boy, how much money do you have?" Ethan asked, having moved a bit closer.
"Uh… all I have is a twenty." Xander said, thinking the guy would leave immediately after he told him. Surprisingly the man didn't even move, though his next words surprised Xander even more.
"Ah, tell you what I'll let you have it, just give me the twenty dollars. I'll even give you an extra black gauntlet to go with the costume." Ethan stated, after seeing one of the gloves was missing.
"Why?" Xander asked, skeptical that the owner would practically give away a $40 costume, for only twenty bucks. He wasn't a businessman, but even he knew something was up. However, he really wanted the costume. "Personally, I'm not in this for the money I already have more then enough of it. My parents were rich, owned an entire mansion in London and several smaller homes in other countries. Like I told your friend, I want all my customers to be happy and you seem to really like this." Ethan explained, as he gestured to the costume in the teens hands. Xander couldn't believe it, he'd never been this lucky before. But he'd have to be an idiot if he didn't tack the offer, besides he needed a costume for the chaperoning gig. That troll of a principal said it was 'Mandatory' So he excepted the deal, going throughout the store to find his friend Willow. A costume bag held in his left hand Xander smiling in joy, this was turning out to be a really good day after all.
Ethan Ryan stood behind the register for a moment, watching as the boy left. The American actually bought that story about his parents being wealthy, what a twit. The only reason he gave that costume away was because of the character's personality. The cash was just a bonus, this years Halloween was going to be a bang, once he cast his spell that is. Cobra Commander would make a wonderful addition to tomorrow nights ….festivities. A smirk escaped from the corners of his mouth at the thought. After today's preparations, all the people who bought something from his store would turn into their costumes. His mood was dampened a little by the fact it would only be for Halloween night, specifically eight pm to twelve. But that was fine with him, for one night Janus the god of chaos would rein supreme. Ethan's smile widened at the thought of his god being pleased, exerting his power over the town. 'Beautiful, just beautiful!' he thought, as he spotted another costumer looking at a Superman costume. "More fuel for the fire." He muttered quietly, as he walked over to 'help' the slightly over weight man. Intentionally sneaking up behind the guy, like he did with the boy. He loved this part "Do you need any assistance, sir?" he asked, the smile returning in full force, as the man jumped…..'Oh yes, Halloween is going to be, breathtaking.' He thought in manic glee.