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The Front Steps of a House, Seconds After the Janus Spell, Willow's P.O.V

"Oh, dear! Am I all out?" asked the nice old lady as she checked the candy bucket to be sure. "I could've sworn I had more candy."

Willow looked on she was a bit sad that the kids wouldn't be getting any candy from this house but then she remembered how mean they'd been to her so far tonight and the sadness went right out the window. She had done her best to keep a cheerful tone and be the proper chaperone but the little grade schoolers were not making it easy on her. After the first question about whether or not she was ugly under her ghost costume, she had gotten asked similar question about every five minutes from a different kid each time. She couldn't prove it but she was sure the kids were all working together to find out how many times in how many different ways they could ask if she was ugly beneath her costume before she cracked. Her more optimistic side tried to convince her that it was ridiculous thinking that such little kids would be up to such mischief. However the rest of her knew what it was like to be their age and could see the signs quite easily of a brat thinking he could do anything and get away with it so long as his parents weren't around to catch him red handed. So with those two parts of her warring for dominance inside of her, it was anyone's guess which side would give in first.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Monster," said the old lady before bending down a bit to console the kid in the monster costume. "Maybe I—"

That was all she managed to get out before in a move completely unexpected the kid that had been wearing the green monster mask reached up with hands that were decidedly not human and began to strangle the elderly lady. Everyone present reacted differently to this unforeseen even with some of the kids making a run for it while she herself moved to try and help the old lady.

"No! Let her go!" she yelled as she tried to pry the clawed hands off the elderly woman's throat.

She managed to do it but just when she was about to think up a serious lecture about proper behavior the kid in the green monster mask began to strangle the one in the red monster mask.

"Stop! What're you doing?" she yelled as she tried to get in between the two to separate them without hurting them.

She wasn't sure what was going on but she was beginning to think that it might be something Hellmouthy despite Giles saying that tonight was supposed to be their night off. She almost thought she saw an opening but before she could do anything, a wave of weakness seemed to wash over her, causing her to stumble backwards until she hit the wall of the house. She thought that maybe it was because she'd forgotten to breath in all the commotion, however, when she tried to replenish her oxygen supply, she found her body oddly reluctant to obey her commands. She tried forcing her body to obey but it was like her will meant nothing as the weakness only got worse causing her legs to give out, dropping her to ground. With true fear in her now, gravity and the worsening weakness pulled her body to the ground with her helpless inside. For a time she was ready to say her last goodbyes since she was sure that she was only moments away from irreversible death.

Then something strange happened.

All the weakness left her and was replaced with this odd feeling of strength, causing her to instinctively sit up so she could figure out what had just happened from a more comfortable position. Looking around, she found out that the two not-kids that had been choking each other moments ago had left in the space of time between the first wave of weakness and the present. Standing up, she looked around to find that it hadn't just been her group of kids that'd experienced some serious weirdness but rather everyone since there was not a single direction that didn't have something weird in it. She was about to leave to find Buffy and Xander when she caught something out of the corner of her eye that compelled her to turn her head to see what it was.

The moment she did so, she wished that she hadn't since what she saw was a body roughly her size covered in a ghost costume that oddly looked like the one she had bought from the costume shop. Not liking what this implied, she reached out with her right hand to pull the sheet off of the person if only to prove to herself that it wasn't her but stopped the moment a right hand came into her field of vision to take hold of the sheet.

A dark skinned right hand.

Reflexively she jerked away from the unfamiliar appendage but not only did it follow her but it took the sheet covering the prone with it. Not only did the limb follow her with the sheet in its grip, the body was proven to be hers beyond any possible doubt. A freak out was definitely in the works inside of her but, like so many times before, she did her best to calm down since losing it on the Hellmouth tended to end rather painfully.

Breath in! Breath out! She thought as she tried to calm down enough that she could think things through rationally. Time to play what do I know.

She knew that she'd been fine up until a few minutes ago so it probably wasn't a poison or something that took time to take effect. She hadn't seen anything or anyone suspicious chaperoning the kids around so it probably wasn't a demon or something that had to be in eyesight of her to do something. That meant it was some kind of spell that wasn't aimed just at her but rather at a general area and this idea was supported by what happened to the two kids in the monster masks. Was it a spell that turned people into their costumes?

Maybe but that doesn't explain my skin turning dark bronze. She thought as she took another look at her hands while wondering if it was just her hands or if it was her whole body.

Before she could think of anything else, though, a familiar scream cut through the night, grabbing her attention immediately.

"Buffy!" she exclaimed before she took off running for the source of the scream.

It was when she'd travelled two blocks that she saw a sight she'd thought she'd never see: Buffy cowering behind a tree as a car sped by. The last time she'd seen the Slayer that afraid was when the little kid had brought everyone's worst nightmare to life in the real world.

"Buffy! Are you alright?" she asked as she strode up next to her friend.

"Buffy?" Buffy asked as though she recognized neither the name nor her.

She had a sinking feeling that grew the longer the blank look remained on the Slayer's face before it was replaced with a sort of denial that was almost frantic in nature.

"My name is not Buffy, harridan! I am Elizabeth Norrington!" Buffy declared haughtily as she tried to appear more regal than she felt. "Now you will escort me to the nearest place of safety or I will have my father put you in irons for the rest of your life!"

Great! Instead of the sophisticated and polite eighteenth century noblewoman, I she changes into a spoiled princess eighteenth century noblewoman! She thought to herself while wishing that she'd convinced her friend to pick something more friendly towards the lower classes.

Still, it looked like Buffy had changed into her costume just like the two kids in the monster masks and, unlike her, the Slayer didn't keep her own mind after the change. If she didn't have her mind then she didn't know she was the Slayer and, depending on how strong the spell was, her powers might be suppressed completely. That meant the blonde in a brunette wig would be completely helpless and unable to help put an end to things to say nothing of what could happen if someone who'd transformed into something dangerous spotted them. In the end the best course of action would be to find someplace safe to take Buffy, convince her to stay inside and then go find Giles so that they could put an end to everything.

"I know just the place, milady," she said as politely as she could in an effort to better Buffy's mood. "If you will follow me there is a place of safety nearby."

This seemed to pacify the high and mighty noblewoman somewhat and, with a curt not of permission, the two of them began to make their way through the chaos filled streets towards the Summers home at Revello Drive. It wasn't perfect and she'd have to think of some way to convince Ms. Norrington to unlock and open the door for herself since she couldn't touch anything. It was just a stroke of good luck that Mrs. Summers wouldn't be home until late because she had a feeling that a meeting between noblewoman and mother wouldn't be a pretty sight.

She just hoped that it wouldn't take long for her to get to Giles so the Watcher could put an end to things.

Buffy probably wasn't taking well to not being in control of her own body and if something wasn't done soon the only daughter of Joyce Summers would not be pleasant to be around for the next day or so.

Maybe a big container of double mint ice cream would cheer her up. She thought as she warily led her transformed friend to her home.

Someplace…Else

Well I'm getting nowhere fast. Buffy thought with irritation as she continued to make her through the forest she'd found herself in.

Thinking back to how she got to this forest, she still had trouble connecting the dots between the before and the after. She remembered showing the kids around and then feeling an odd wind pass over her before suddenly finding herself in a dense forest, still dressed in her Halloween costume. She'd tried calling out to see if anyone else had been dropped there with her but hadn't gotten anything in return other than silence. A quick glance around was all she took before she set off in a direction her instincts told her might lead her someplace where she could figure out where she was and how to get back home. That had been at least an hour ago and all she had to show for it was the fact that all the greenery was beginning to thin up which hopefully meant she'd find someone's home soon or at least something more than tree after tree.

So, with a bit of hope in front of her, she picked up the pace of her strides while keeping her dress close to her so as not to let it snag on a branch or something.

It was twenty minutes later that she finally exited the forest and found herself in a clearing but, instead of something beautiful, she found herself on the edge of a battlefield. With dark black clouds up in the sky and a steady wind causing her dress to flutter, the entire scene was just that much more wiggins worthy. White armor and weapons of all kinds were everywhere but thankfully there were no bodies in them, otherwise it would have been seriously disgusting. There were cracks, holes and slash marks on every piece of metal she could see clearly, with it being fairly likely that the same was the case for every item in the clearing. However there was something that she couldn't quite place and it was the sign of black scorch marks mixed in with the typical melee damage. It didn't look like fireball damage that she'd seen in her career as the Slayer, due to the fact that it was too focused. Fireballs and similar energy attacks tended to act like water balloons by splattering over what they hit but what she was seeing was focused along the edges of the damage.

If I didn't know better, I'd think someone was using one of those lifesaver things from the movies. She thought as she looked away from the ground only for something else to catch her attention.

Standing in the center of the battlefield was a blonde warrior who was looking right at her and that gaze made her feel as though she had been hiding but now was exposed. Extremely light, almost white, blonde hair was on the woman's head, braided in such a way that was sensible for someone with long hair on the battlefield. Cold eyes the same color as the hair stayed locked on he,r surrounded by skin that was healthy but weathered looking as though the woman spent more time outside then inside. The warrior woman's body was clad in black armor with a slight gorget around her neck, a cuirass of solid metal shaped to match her torso, pauldrons on each shoulder, gauntlets on each hand with claw-like points on the fingers as well as the thumbs and tassets hanging from the sides of the cuirass. There appeared to be dark fabric beneath the armor that almost looked like a dress but it could've been something else, given that she was too far away to make out the finer details.

For a moment she considered turning around and looking elsewhere for someone or something that could help her but her pride wouldn't let her turn away just because of a creepy look from some Joan of Arc wannabe. With defiance in her movements, she walked up to the woman, determined to get some answers or at least directions to where he could find them. As she got closer, she could see scarlet lines on the outer edges of the armor creeping towards the center in an erratic pattern that reminded her of lightning bolts. As for what she thought was a dress, it definitely had a similar design to chainmail but with linked rings so tiny that, if she didn't have sharp Slayer eyes, she wouldn't have known without a closer look.

"So you've finally come, Elizabeth," spoke the woman in a refined and regal tone of voice.

This caused her to freeze in her tracks both at the thought that someone knew her birth name and that this heavy metal woman had supposedly been waiting for her. Shaking off the effects of the unexpected statement, she decided now was the time to take the offensive rather than be stuck reacting to this stranger.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I never really liked camping so I just go where the people are." She said, doing her best to act like it was just another day to her.

"No… you go where your prey is and hide yourself among the sheep to strike at the wolves when they appear." Spoke the woman as though handing down the undeniable truth.

Who the hell is this woman? She thought with a bit of anger at the 'my words cannot be denied' tone of voice.

"Yeah, whatever, sure! I don't suppose you know how to get back to civilization, do you?" she asked, treating the warrior woman like a cosplay weirdo.

"We are in what you would consider civilization," replied the woman, who seemed to have about as much personality as an anvil.

"Really? 'Cause I don't see a mall or Starbucks anywhere." She said with increased amounts of sarcasm in her voice hoping to crack the woman's composure.

"You do not see because your eyes have been rendered blind to certain truths," stated the woman clad in armor without a single change in her expressionless face. "Blinded by others. Blinded by yourself."

"Great! Of all the people I have to find in this place it has to be an expert in speaking cryptic," she muttered, remembering the early days when Angel did the same thing before pulling his vanishing act.

"It is not cryptic if you use the mind you've been neglecting for so long," the warrior woman said, looking away for the first time.

"Great! Cryptic and making cracks about my grades!" she exclaimed as she began to realize she likely wouldn't get anything useful from this woman.

In a bit of a bad mood she began to walk away but, on a whim, she decided to at least ask her question once just in case it at least gave her a clue of where to go next. "I don't suppose you know how I can get back home?"

"You will find your own way in time," replied the armor clad Amazon before she disappeared in a flash of black lightning.

"Great. Not only a cryptic but also a fucking drama queen!" she yelled before storming off for the forest, contemplating whether or not some deforestation would better her mood.

Probably not but it was an idea to keep in reserve just in case she couldn't come up with something a little more satisfying.

The Remains of the Sunnydale Central Park, Forty-Five Minutes Later, Alucard's P.O.V

"GLORIOUS! A truly glorious fight on a truly glorious night!" Alucard exclaimed with glee as he locked swords with Zaraki once more.

When he had first laid eyes on the man he now fought, he had been able to sense power beneath the surface, power that was more than one would expect from a mere human dog, but as their fight continued his opinion improved with his mood. This man, this Zaraki Kenpachi, had a love of battle that matched his own and, even with the wounds that his blade carved into the young man's body, the so-called 'captain of the 11th division' did not show fear. Indeed the cuts only spurred the warrior to attack harder, forcing him to release the control arts binding his power just that much more to keep the battle from ending too soon.

It was for that reason that he was careful about where his blade cut for, while Zaraki might behave as though the body was his, the eyes of the No Life King knew the truth. He knew all too well that his adversary was merely possessing a human's body and empowering it with his strength so that it could fight. While this did make it more durable and more powerful than an ordinary mortal body, he knew it wouldn't heal nearly as quickly as Zaraki's true body probably did, so he made sure that his cuts didn't penetrate too deep and stayed away from any major arteries that might cause the owner of the body to bleed out quickly.

Nevertheless, I will likely have to end the fun sooner rather than later, if for no other reason then to avoid allowing the host body to die, he thought as he knocked a thrust to the side before delivering a backhanded slash that caused a cut to bleed on the face of the body Kenpachi inhabited. Somehow I just know that my master would find out if I allowed an innocent to die and she would be most put out.

Still, that didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy what little time there was remaining in the fight to the fullest. By his reckoning, he had roughly an hour before the body before him became incapable of fighting back and began entering the time that would be dangerous to continued life.

That was plenty of time to enjoy the night as well as the remainder of the fight.

"You sure you got time for daydreaming! HUH!" Zaraki asked rhetorically before delivering a devastating overhead slash.

He evaded the initial impact, of course, but to his surprise the energy contained in the blow not only destroyed the street at the point of impact but also unleashed a golden energy that almost succeeded in cutting him.

So he can channel that fabulous energy in this way as well. He thought with his smile only getting bigger at this development.

It would certainly make it harder for him to get close enough to cut the mortal body if he couldn't accurately judge the reach of the blade or the energy it could channel. The increase in difficulty appealed to him, made his blood thrum with excitement, and prompted him to raise the amount of effort he was putting into the fight as well.

"Situation D. Releasing control arts restrictions to level four," he said without caring if his foe heard him. "Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent."

With that he felt his power rise and come just that much closer to the full release of his powers. He knew he wouldn't be able to completely free himself without Sir Hellsing present but that wasn't a problem since he very much doubted he'd have to go past level three with Zaraki Kenpachi. After all, no matter how potent the power the possessing spirit might possess, there was no way that the body it inhabited could endure such a stressful influx of power. Though it would make for an interesting sight to see a mortal body torn apart by a power it could not hope to contain or control, it would be poor form to allow one who is a prisoner in his own body to die in such a manner. Therefore if it looked as though Zaraki would draw upon more power than his current shell could endure, he would end the fight in a flash by rendering the mortal body unconscious.

Until that point in the battle came, he would enjoy tonight's entertainment to the fullest.

With that in mind he charged forward at a speed that should render him no more than a blur to Zaraki and, once he was within range, he prepared to deliver a slash that would open up a wound in the body's side. However, in a move that surprised him, the man actually managed to block the strike while holding his sword with only one hand and only a bit of trembling to show some difficulty in doing so.

"So you're quick on your feet as well," Zaraki said with the fun he was having made clear by the tone of his voice. "Not quite Shunpo but close enough to make this more fun. Let's see how fast you can go!"

The captain of the 11th division went from blocking his attack to executing a thrust but instead of dodging it, he decided that the time had come to show this battle fanatic the difference between their respective bodies. In the time it took to blink, the blade entered through the front of his body and out of his back in a spray of blood that he was quite familiar in receiving as well as dealing. There was pain involved, of course, but after the long and eventful life he had led, pain was no more bothersome than bad weather and, in some cases, it was actually quite pleasurable.

It was also quite amusing to see the expression of shock on his enemy's face when they realized a mortal attack wasn't quite so mortal with him.

"It tickles!" he declared with much humor as he took in the shocked face of the mortal shell.

"Then this should be a laugh riot! HAH!" Zaraki yelled before extracting his sword by cutting from point of impalement out through the right side of his body.

He simply laughed at the wound and continued laughing as the warrior wearing a patch over his right eye continued to cut into him. He waited until the young man paused to inspect his work before he used his True Nosfuratu powers of regeneration to undo the damage done to his body to the point where not a single remnant was left.

"Chōsoku Saisei, huh?" Zaraki asked rhetorically without a dent in his grin. "Interesting! This is turning out to be the best fight I've had in a century! I can't wait to see what else you can do, Alucard!"

This made his manic smile all the more potent as his estimation of this Zaraki Kenpachi went up another notch, since most of his adversaries remained shook up for a while longer after he rendered their damaging blow irrelevant. That this swordsman could take it all in stride as though it meant nothing for a foe to heal completely before him and this intrigued him.

Just what sort of world did this Captain Zaraki Kenpachi come from?

It would be an interesting place to visit he had no doubt.

Outside of the Summers Home, 1630 Revello Drive, Thirty Minutes Later, Willow's P.O.V

"If that's the type of woman Angel liked when he was our age, maybe Xander was right calling him a masochist!" Willow growled as she almost stomped away from the house of her blonde-now-brunette friend.

The woman, that Elizabeth Norrington, was a complete bitch and almost managed to make Cordy look civil by comparison. Constantly whining, demanding and insulting, it had taken near constant reminders that it was her friend under the influence of a spell to keep her temper under control. Still, it was fortunate that they'd arrived at Buffy's home when they had because if she'd had to put up with that Norrington girl's behavior for ten more minutes, she'd have experimented to find out if she was the type of ghost that could hit things. Now, though, the spoiled brat was locked inside and be relatively safe from the people transformed by their costumes. While there would certainly be characters and creatures smart enough to open a door, none of them would specifically be hunting down Buffy. Given how big the residential area was the odds of one of them actually managing to find their way inside of 1630 Revello drive and up the stairs to Mrs. Summers' room was small.

The fact that I told 'Lady Norrington' that there were monsters that could hear even the softest of whispers should help keep her quiet too. She thought with a smug smile as she continued at a fairly brisk pace for the high school.

She didn't know where Xander was but she did know of a direction she seriously hoped he wasn't in at the moment. Ever since she'd turned into a ghost, she'd been able to sense… something… out in the night and even if she didn't know what it was, she could tell that it was powerful. It was also something that she could tell would accidently crush someone without meaning to if that someone got too close. She really hoped that the samurai Xander had dressed up as would be able to sense this and be smart enough to stay as far away from the source of the power she sensed as possible. She didn't even want to think about what might happen if he turned out to be the sort of Japanese warrior that actually sought out enemies that were more powerful than him because, Halloween spell or not, there was a limit to how much damage the human form could take before it could take no more and simply gave up.

"AAHHH! Help! Someone!" came a scream for a savior from further down the road she'd just begun to make her way down.

Looking ahead, she immediately spotted Cordy running for all she was worth away from some giant thing that looked like Big Foot except it was a lot less shy than the creature that almost no one had ever seen. While she couldn't say she cared whether Cordy became a world famous actress or the latest person to stand behind the counter of a fast food restaurant, she didn't want to see her dead, so she began to run towards the duo and, while she knew she wouldn't be able to physically do anything, she believed she could act as a distraction. So long as the beast didn't catch on to the fact that it couldn't touch her and she couldn't touch it, she was willing to bet that she could get it to follow her. Then all she'd have to do was lose it by walking through a wall, after which she could resume making her way to Giles so they could put an end to this madness.

"HEY! HEY WALKING CARPET!" she yelled trying to get the thing's attention. "WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER HERE AND TRY SOMETHING A LITTLE DARKER!"

This wound up getting both the attention of Cordy and the attention of the beast, causing them to head in her direction for completely different reasons.

"Willow! What the hell is going on!" Cordy exclaimed as got behind the genius with the formerly red hair. "One minute I'm on the way to the Bronze and the next I'm being chased by Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Boy!"

"I think someone's cast a spell to turn everyone into their costumes." She replied still focused on the approaching hairball.

Then something occurred to her that caused her to turn her head to Cordy.

"How come you're not a cat?" she asked, noticing that unlike everyone else, Cordelia Chase was completely normal.

"How the hell should I know! You and your freaky friends are the ones that are supposed to know about stuff like this!" Cordy shouted, her eyes never leaving the oncoming threat, "I've got enough problems of my own without learning about what you guys deal with everyday!"

The conversation pretty much ended there because Jo-Jo caught up with them and, after that, she was given something a little unexpected to concern herself with. After the spell first hit and she'd been turned into a ghost, she'd presumed that there was nothing that could hurt her since ghosts were intangible. During the entire time she'd coaxed Buffy's costumed personae into 1630 Revello drive, she'd used some creative thinking to have 'Elizabeth Norrington' do all the touching as well as moving. Even when she'd left she'd the house, she'd had Buffy open and close the door behind her because, while she'd known she could've just walked through a wall, she didn't want to 'cause being a ghost still wigged her out. The only reason she'd even considered doing it moments ago was because someone's life would be in danger if she didn't.

Now she was unfortunately introduced a rather disturbing turn of events: she WASN'T intangible.

That was what she learned when, instead of passing through her like it should have, the creatures hand actually succeeded grabbing her by the shoulder. She was so shocked by this it could only have been described as instinct when she performed a rough knee thrust to the creature's stomach, followed by a boot to the head when the Big Foot bent over. It was mostly due to surprise that it worked but that didn't mean that she wasn't experiencing partial brain freeze because of these unprecedented moves. She was almost too stunned by what she'd done to do anything but fortunately Cordy wasn't nearly so paralyzed with shock and, now that it had been established that she was tangible, Queen C didn't hesitate to pull her away from the recovering beast. It took a minute for her to get over her shock but when she did, she pulled her arm free and ran alongside the socialite, taking a glance back every so often to see if Big Foot was pursuing them.

He wasn't. Thank GOD!

Reorienting herself, she quickly figured out where they were and what the most direct route to the high school was.

"This way!" she said, grabbing Queen C's arm and pulling her in the right direction.

"Hey!" Cordelia exclaimed but without enough effort to pull her arm free.

"We need to get to Giles so we can figure out what's going on and how to stop it." She explained while keeping an eye out for other Halloween threats.

That pretty much shut up the rich girl and for that she was thankful since her nerves are already in an uproar over having to deal with Elizabeth Norrington.

"Party Town's never going to give me back my deposit after this!" Cordy muttered just a little too loudly.

In response to this, she picked up the pace of her running wanting to get to the library sooner rather than later.

She might have been more patient then most but even she had limits to how much whiny upper class bitching she could tolerate.

Sunnydale High School, Library, Thirty Minutes Later, Rupert Giles' P.O.V

Right. I think that is everything. Giles thought as he zipped up the bag containing the odds and ends he'd been able to gather.

It had been a little under two hours ago that he had sensed a surge in spiritual energy and it had only gotten worse since it appeared. Indeed he sensed something insanely powerful coming from the central park and that had him worried in more ways then one. Thanks to his… misspent youth and his lingering connection to Eyghon, he was somewhat sensitive to spiritual energy as well as spirit-based entities. It was this sensitivity that had informed him rather forcefully that something had disturbed what was supposed to be a quiet night with his books as well as some trivial library chores. While disturbing all on its own, when he'd stretched out with his meager ability in that area he found he'd found three other sources of high spiritual energy within Sunnydale that had not been there previously. Based on what knowledge he had of the spiritual side of the world, it was unheard of that so many powerful entities would appear out of nowhere.

It also posed a problem due to the effect such power would have on those lacking the strength to endure it.

Spiritual entities emitted an energy field at all times regardless of whether they consciously willed it and that field intensified when they chose to tap into their powers. This energy field, however, could cause harm or even kill others within range of those people should those people tap into their abilities to say… fight someone. As it was, the one in central park was putting out such a ferocious amount of energy that it was likely that every human within a five block radius of the battleground was completely paralyzed. Worse than that, if the fight did not end soon then paralysis would become final death as the souls of those affected would simply give out under the strain.

That was why he had begun to gather up materials and was about to leave; with the amulet around his neck he should have a measure of protection against the spiritual energy the being in the park was putting out. With the rest he intended to erect a barrier around the edges of the battlefield to contain the effects of the utilized spiritual energy. From there… well, he would attempt to communicate with the source of the energy in the hopes that he or she would kindly stop what they were doing and reign in their great power.

Then, perhaps, he could find out what had brought the quartet to Sunnydale in the first place so he could begin devising a way to make them leave.

He was about halfway to the library doors when he suddenly detected two of the four spiritual powers approaching his position. Immediately reaching into his bag for something that would prove useful should the two entities prove hostile towards him he waited for them to arrive. When the doors finally swung open to admit the new arrivals, though, he was shocked to see that it was Cordelia and what his senses told him was the spirit of a young woman of dark skin. Re-checking with his senses, he confirmed that Cordelia and this other woman were indeed two of the four being putting out a significant amount of spiritual energy. Unlike the one in central park, though, the duo in front of him were not actively using their power and so would not accidentally harm those that were too close to them.

How long that would last though was anyone's guess.

"Giles! We have big time trouble going on outside!" spoke the dark skinned young woman with the voice of someone he knew all too well. "Somehow everyone's turned into their costumes and don't know who they really are!"

"Willow? Is that you?" he asked as he sought for answers on his own by using his senses.

First he used his eyes and while he could see enough signs in her appearance to lend some support to the idea that it was Willow Rosenberg there were some significant changes. For one her skin was a shade of brown that reminded him of the actress Whitney Houston, albeit two or three degrees darker by his estimating. Another difference was her hair as, while it appeared to be the same length and look the same, was a dark purple color that bordered on black, only revealing the truth when it reflected light. Golden irises were the most distinguishing features of her eyes but, fortunately, they were not the same color as the eyes of the vampires or he may have suspected that she'd been turned. One thing though that he did his best to ignore though was the fact that her… chest… seemed to be significantly larger than he recalled and the shirt that contained this feature looked to be two sizes too small.

He quickly shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts and focused on the more important matters that needed tending to.

"It's me, Giles! I know it doesn't look like me 'cause I don't usually have brown skin and a ghost but I promise it's me because if I wasn't me then why I be here taking to you when I could be haunting a house somewhere or possessing someone or—" Willow said in a stream of babble that dispelled any doubts concerning her identity.

"That's enough, Willow," he said, raising a hand to stop her babbling. "Now, you said that everyone's turned into their costume? I can see that that is the case with you but why is Cordelia unaffected?" he asked, noticing that while the wealthy young woman was indeed unchanged despite being in costume.

"Well, I got my costume from this new place that opened a few weeks ago," Willow replied before turning to Cordelia. "Where did you get your costume?"

"Duh! I got mine from Party Town," replied Ms. Chase, falling back on her usual superior poise and confidence. "There was no way that I was going to trust some fly by night operation to have just the right costume for me."

"And you, Willow? Where did you purchase your costume?" he asked, hoping that this would be the piece of information they needed.

"It's a place called 'Ethan's' near where the magic store is." Willow replied after a moment of thought.

Ethan.

It was a name that he remembered from his younger years even as he prayed that his suspicion wouldn't prove to be the truth. Still, it gave him a place to start looking for the source of the phenomena that had Sunnydale in its grip and, if he moved quickly enough, he could end it before the battle in central park reached the point of no return for those within range.

"Alright. You two stay here and stay out of sight," he said as his resolve to get the bottom of the situation took hold. "I will deal with this matter as quickly as possible."

"Stay here?" Willow asked with a bit of surprise. "But you might need help!"

"I assure you I am quite prepared for what I will face there," he assured her as he made his way for the library doors.

"How can you prepare for something you didn't know about until we told you about it?" Cordelia asked, making a very good point.

"By being paranoid and a firm believer in Mr. Murphy!" he yelled over his shoulder as he pushed the doors aside and left the high school library.

Ethan's Costume Shop, Thirty Minutes Later, Ethan Rayne's P.O.V

"AAHHH!" Ethan yelled as he burned his right arm once again.

Bugger but that hurts! He thought as he put the lighter aside, Still, it's doing its job. Got to get to work before the buzz comes back.

Turning back to the bust of Janus, he cursed his curiosity for what had to be the fiftieth time that night. It had seemed so simple at first; all he'd wanted was to get a little peek at the thing that someone had gone to such lengths to bind and hide away inside the Slayer and her friends. He had originally thought that it might have something to do with the true nature of the Slayer line or perhaps it was an effort to conceal someone's embarrassing affair. He knew of several less-than-benevolent mages that would be ruined if word were to get out that they sired a Slayer. He'd entertained notions of blackmailing those mages by threatening to expose the truth unless they turned over to him some of their more interesting artifacts. It would have been so entertaining to see those pompous windbags grovel at his feet in order to make sure that their humiliating secret didn't become public knowledge. However what he discovered upon the casting of the spell turned out to be something much different indeed and the sheer force of what had been unleashed had nearly overwhelmed him.

It wasn't the power that had been bound within the four that he was having difficulty with but rather the unsurpassed pleasure that was being pumped through his bond with Janus.

Just as it had in all the previous spells he'd cast which required the aid of the Roman god, the bond had allowed him to feel the pleasure caused by the chaos unleashed. However, what he'd anticipated would be a wine of particularly good vintage turned out to be a never-ending case of the hard stuff. It had taken all the willpower he had just to keep his head after the initial tsunami of chaos-derived pleasure and, while after that one, the waves of euphoria were smaller he still had to employ unpleasant methods to keep from being swept away. In the last twenty minutes, though, simply marshalling his focus and his resolve was proving to be insufficient in keeping the feelings being transmitted to him by the bond at bay. Instead he had chosen to employ pain as a means of clearing his head and as he looked down at the stone bust he realized that he'd need a clear head to deal with the mess before him.

The mess he spoke of was the power he could feel growing within the bust of Janus with no sign that it would ever end.

He didn't know what could have brought about such an explosion of chaos, nor why it wasn't decreasing the way things usually did once reaching a certain level of power. All he did know was that unless something was done and done soon, the bust would shatter under the strain of the chaos energy that was being channeled through it and the results would not be pleasant. Not just for him, not just for Sunnydale but potentially for the entire state of California and that was a little more than he'd bargained for when he'd set forth on this venture. That meant that he had to terminate the spell as soon as possible but in such a way that would safely disperse the energy within the bust and that was what he couldn't quite figure out how to do. He was more adept at making things blow up magically or achieving effects that would inspire chaos than he was in imposing something as boring as order on something. It was times like these that he truly wished that tweed-wearing old friend of his would show up to lend a hand. That's what Watchers did, after all; impose their definition of peace and order on everyone they could whether it was desired or not.

However, given the chaos outside, the odds of his old chum making it to his store in time were rather slim indeed.

It was then though that he heard the bell that hung over the store's front entrance jingle as someone or perhaps something entered. Getting to his feet, he picked up the dagger from the floor and carefully made his way to the curtain that separated the back room from the main store area. He was just about to part the curtain when out of nowhere a fist parted it for him, striking him on the jaw and sending him to the ground. Due to the disorientation of being struck, it took him a bit to clear his head, especially with the pleasure the bond with Janus was sending him, but when he did he found that Fate had taken pity on him.

"Hello, Ripper!" he said with a smile that he couldn't help but paste on his face.

"What have you done, Ethan?" Ripper asked, grabbing him by front of his shirt using his left hand.

"Just thought I'd have a bit of fun. To teach everyone to be careful what they wish for!" he replied, enjoying the fact that he'd stirred up some of the man's old fire.

That response however got him another punch in the face so he decided it'd be best for him to bring his old friend's attention to something a little more important than pummeling him.

"However it would seem that I made a slight miscalculation in the preparations," he said before looking over to the bust of Janus.

Fortunately all it took was a single look at the bust with eyes that were beginning to show cracks around the edges to make the Watcher forget the beating he was about to deliver.

"My God! This is bloody well more than a 'slight miscalculation'!" Ripper exclaimed as he began to examine the stone head using Watcher Council methods, "The energy gathering in this bust is already at dangerous levels!"

"Tell me something I don't know, Ripper!" he said sarcastically as he sat himself up. "This is decidedly not what happened the last time I cast this particular spell. My guess is it has something to do with those children you care for."

This, however, put him right back where he'd been moments ago and he'd have to talk fast if he wished to avoid more pain.

"Look! When your little trio came in for their Halloween costumes, I took a little peek at them to see what I had to play with," he explained quickly in an effort to give Ripper something else to think about. "I found out they had something hidden inside of them and wanted to take a peek. I added a little Delphi liquid to the spell to make a crack in the binding spell but whatever that boy went as blew the enchantment placed on him to pieces. It also caused a chain reaction resulting in the spells on the other three to shatter as well. My best theory at the moment is that whatever chaos those three are causing or will cause is what's causing the overload."

"Something bound within them?" Giles asked, sounding like this was the first time he'd heard of something like that.

"Really, Ripper! I would have thought that a by the book Watcher such as yourself would have thought to give any newcomers a complete once over before letting them join your little club," he said before pulling himself free of the other man's grip.

"Unlike some people, I choose to believe in the better nature of others." Ripper said defensively as he turned back to the bust of Janus. "Besides which, none of them exhibited abilities which would warrant such close inspection."

"Yes, well, while I would love to debate your reasons for letting two unknowns associate with your Slayer, I believe we have a slightly more pressing concern," he said, pointing to the Janus bust, "like perhaps preventing an explosive release of chaos energy that could wipe out the state of California."

"Very well. However we will be having words when this is over with," Rupert said firmly before giving the increasingly-cracked bust all of his attention.

Instead of explaining to the Watcher what he'd found out on his own, he let the older man inspect things firsthand since it'd be quicker than trying to convince Ripper that he was being completely truthful in his review of the facts. While the glasses-wearing man went over old ground, he focused on riding out the next wave from the bond with Lord Janus since he very much doubted that his old friend would let him burn his arm again. That left only applying physical pressure on the burns he'd already inflicted on himself in order to get the requisite pain to keep from being reduced to a drooling fool. Being careful not to draw the Watcher's attention, he timed his actions with the next wave that he could feel approaching and, when it arrived, pressed down on the largest burn as hard as he could. The pain the action produced was almost too much for him to endure without crying out but he remained silent and so the incident passed without anyone knowing the truth but him.

"Well you have managed to bollox this spell up quite well, Ethan," Rupert said as he finished his custom made inspection. "However I believe I know of a way to correct matters."

This was something of a surprise.

While it was not his specialty to put an end to chaos, he was familiar enough with creating it to be able to properly analyze the situation. In all the time since the spell had been cast he had been unable to figure out a way of terminating it without getting himself and others killed.

"And what way would that be, pray tell?" he asked, genuinely interested in what his old friend had in mind.

"While we cannot simply smash the bust as that would release the accumulated energy all at once, I believe I have a way by which we can channel that energy into the atmosphere," Ripper explained as he made a short trip back into the main area only to come back with a bag. "If we erect a strong enough barrier around the bust and then breach it from the top, it should work."

While his first instinct was to call the man a fool, the objects his old chum brought made him rethink that opinion. They were indeed components for a barrier of some kind but he was not quite able to place the spell that the Watcher intended to use. Observing as the man placed five objects around the pedestal that the bust rested on, he was immediately able to see that it was meant to set up a five-pointed star around it. It was one of the more commonly used configurations when you wanted to erect a barrier but it was also one of the strongest since each point reinforced the other.

"What exactly do you need me to do?" he asked, deciding that it'd be best to ask then remain silent only to be asked what he was waiting for.

"I presume you had the foresight to place a self-destruct charm on the bust before you began?" Giles asked while still setting up the barrier.

"Of course! What sort of amateur to do you take me for?" he asked with a bit annoyance at the slight.

"Then when I signal you, use it," Ripper ordered before taking out a piece of chalk and drawing on the floor around the pedestal. "It will require precise timing but it should work."

"Should?" he asked being unable to resist needling his friend even under the current circumstances.

"Considering I've been given less than ten minutes to survey your mess and come up with a countering method, you should be thankful I am able to come up with 'should' rather than 'might'." Ripper snapped, finally looking away from his work for a moment.

It didn't last though as the man soon went back to his task and, minutes later, he either ran out of chalk or finished the configuration he was drawing. Then, however, came the one habit that he always despised: Rupert began checking everything all over again. Even during the days when Rupert went by the alias Ripper, he was always so thorough when it came to preparing for a spell that the rest of them sometimes teased him about it. While he wasn't opposed to being careful, he was confident enough in his skills that he believed that he could get it all right on the first try.

Though given what might happen, if a mistake is made I suppose I can give him the time. He thought as he moved to a position opposite Rupert.

It only took three minutes, thankfully, and once the checking came to an end, Ripper finally looked ready to get the show on the road.

"Everything looks as though it is as it should be." Giles said before looking at him, "Are you ready?"

"Ready." He replied as he pulled the activation spell for his self-destruct charm from his memories.

"Then let us begin and pray that we make it in time." Ripper said with resolve that impressed him.

Ripper and Rayne, together again. He thought as a truly happy grin appeared on his face, Just like old times.

Sunnydale Central Park, Same Time, Zaraki Kenpachi's P.O.V

Tch! It doesn't look like this body I got shoved into is going to last much longer, Zaraki thought as he looked across at his foe. Guess I better finish it this round then!

Even though no words were spoken, he could tell that his foe, Alucard, was thinking the same thing even if the guy didn't have a scratch on him. He didn't have the senses to tell just how much the guy had left in him to fight but, if this body was about to give out on him, he'd make sure his enemy went home with a scar that wouldn't go away.

"Looks like it's time to wrap things up," he said as he brought his reiatsu up as high as he could manage on the spotj "Let's finish this!"

"Indeed! Try to make your last moments something I'll remember," Alucard said as an unseen energy made his hair flutter about.

With that the charged one another head on with their blades in position to deliver one final slash at the one they'd been fighting for roughly two hours. With force that sent out a shockwave in all directions, their swords impacted upon one another as their respective sources of power tried to dominate each other. For an entire minute his golden energy pushed against the black power of Alucard and, while the ground beneath their feet as well as the trees that surrounded them gave way, they never did. However, when two great forces collided, it was inevitable that sooner or later one of them will weaken even if it was only by a fraction. A fraction, though, was all that was sometimes needed in order to turn a stalemate into the beginnings of defeat and so it was that when his body chose to waver slightly under the strain that Alucard was able to seize victory.

As the loser all he got vertical slash that barely missed his left eye but didn't miss the left side of his body as it cut through in such a way that was sure to leave a scar behind no matter what a healer tried.

To the credit of the body he was stuck in, though, it didn't immediately collapse to the ground after receiving such a serious injury. Still, the fighting was pretty much over for him so, with only a little difficulty, he sheathed the sword he'd been using before, looking his foe right in the eye even as drops of blood began to cloud his vision.

"Looks like you won," he said but, just as he was about to add to that statement, he felt some unseen force pulling him out of the body he'd been fighting in.

He didn't put up a fight because he figured that either he was heading back to Soul Society or being sent someplace else that just might be even more interesting than this. The only thing he'd miss about this place was that he wouldn't find out whose body he was in. It'd held up to channeling his reiatsu pretty good considering it was a mortal body and he could tell as he left that the kid's soul wasn't too badly damaged either.

This impressed him and made him hope that when the punk died he wound up in Soul Society.

It'd be interesting one way or another.

The Rooftop of a Building Three Blocks Away, Same Time, Spike's P.O.V

"B-B-B-B-BLOODY HELL!" William the Bloody exclaimed as he got back on his feet and looked at the two in Sunnydale Central Park.

When he'd left the warehouse where he and Dru had shacked up upon their arrival in Sunnydale, he'd wandered about the town, only applying the bare minimum amount of caution as he walked. However, less than twenty minutes after he'd start looking around for Dru's 'emissary of blood and death', he had felt something change in the town. That was when all hell had broken loose when critters, creatures and characters began to run about that either didn't exist as far as he knew or weren't locals. After a couple of near misses with some people who'd dressed up as wannabe Van Helsings, he'd taken to the rooftops to keep his head above water. From that vantage point he'd been allowed to take in the chaos and, for a time, he'd been amused by what he saw. It didn't last though as two spikes of power yanked his head towards Sunnydale Central Park so fast he almost snapped his own neck. Now he'd been around long enough to be able to pick up on how powerful someone was just by looking at them but what he felt was bloody ridiculous. He knew in which direction the two powerhouses were in and roughly where they were but he couldn't actually see them and that bothered him greatly.

Now while most vampires would be satisfied with this and simply make a run for the city limits, he was a bit smarter than them. He wanted to know who these two heavy hitters were, to see their faces, so that he'd be able to put watchers on the next town he and Dru settled in to let him know when it was time to pack up the tent. So with only a little hesitation he'd set off for the park, using his vampire strength to leap from rooftop to rooftop.

By the time he'd reached a distance of three blocks from the park though, the fight between the two powerful beings had already broken out. Worse than that, one of them was giving off an atmosphere of power that made his inner demon refuse to get any closer. Not only because it was afraid of this power but also because of the strain the energy in the air was placing on the demonic entity just by being in its presence. Nevertheless he was close enough to make out two people, one clad in red while the other was a mix of black and white, and they were going at it right proper like; blade to blade with both giving it their all.

As the battle wore on, though the oppressive energy that had his inner demon straining to keep from being crushed continued to grow but, lucky for him, the infernal spirit within him was just as stubborn as he was. Minutes ago, though, he'd been about ready to pack it in when out of nowhere an explosion of power erupted from behind him knocking him to the ground. He'd been a bit dazed after that for a few moments but he soon recovered, though that wasn't necessarily a good thing. With his mind cleared he was able to conclude that the explosion of power was probably a sign that the spell behind the chaos of the night had come to an end. The reason this was a bad thing was due to the fact that while the power possessed by the two in the park had dropped significantly, it had not disappeared. If he had to make a guess he'd say that both warriors had lost about half of their strength and that was assuming that they'd been at their maximum just before the spell had ended.

Whatever the case turned out to be, it was clear to him that it was time to leave Sunnydale immediately, even if the potential cures for Dru that lay elsewhere were less encouraging than the Hellmouth.

Indeed, unless he was mistaken, it even felt like the normal feel of the Hellmouth had been dimmed by a noticeable amount and that meant the blinders that were on the humans would become much less effective in the near future. All in all, Sunnydale was definitely looking less than safe for him an Dru and so he made his way to the edge of the roof, dropped down to street level and took off at a brisk pace for his warehouse.

Shoulda known better than to come to the Hellmouth! He thought as he kept an eye out for anyone else that kept a little something extra from Halloween, Too much damned craziness, even for me.

Sunnydale High School, The Next Morning, Willow's P.O.V

Left: okay! Right: okay! Behind: okay! Willow thought as she looked about the hallways. Looks like no one's here after all even with it being Saturday. Good!

It was the day following Halloween and while most of the town had forgotten about the chaos unleashed by the spell the previous night, there were still signs. For one thing the entire area around Central Park was cordoned off, supposedly due to a 'gas leak', but she knew in reality that it was probably damage from someone who'd been transformed by the spell last night. Fortunately, based on what she'd seen on the way to the school, it looked like just about everyone who'd been affected by the spell had returned to normal. Naturally she couldn't be sure that everyone had returned to normal since she didn't know who'd dressed as what outside of her own group of kids and the Scoobies. What worried her the most was the possibility that some of those who'd been changed might have kept some of the things they'd gained from their costumes when the spell had hit them… like she had.

At first, when she'd suddenly found herself back in her own body, she'd assumed that everything was back to normal. Even while she gathered up as much of her group of kids as she could find to escort back to the high school, nothing had seemed amiss aside from an odd soreness in her chest but she'd just assumed that she'd hit something when the spell kicked in. It hadn't been until just this morning when she'd been going through her normal routine that she'd spotted the first change literally staring her in the face.

Her eyes were had turned a pure golden color.

It wasn't the same color as the eyes that a vampire had when they put their game face on but it definitely wasn't something a normal person had. It had been at that moment, when she'd reflexively checked herself to see what else might have been changed, that she'd realized that the soreness in her chest hadn't gone away even with some sleep. It had been that worry had compelled her to get dressed in a hurry and head for the high school in the hopes that Giles could help her. It had been about halfway there though that she'd picked up on the third of the changes that up until then she hadn't been aware of.

She'd managed to make it more than halfway to school in less than four minutes.

She hadn't even been running all out trying to get to the library.

It'd have been a bit of a stretch to call it running in the first place!

It had been due to that fact that she'd purposefully slowed down and did her best to sneak the rest of the way so as to minimize the chance that someone would spot something odd about her. It had slowed her down but, as far as she knew, no one had gotten a good enough look at her that they'd be able to identify her. Now that she was at the high school, though, it was time to figure out what was going on and if she'd have more than a sore chest to worry about.

Pushing open the library doors, she was a little surprised to find Giles looking right at her as though he'd been expecting her. That was a bit odd considering she'd been doing her best to keep quiet and not attract attention to herself but then she brushed it off thinking he must just have good hearing.

"Giles! You gotta help me!" she exclaimed her worry over the changes in her body rising to the surface.

"Willow? Whatever is the matter?" Giles asked her with concern as well as something… else.

"Well you know how everyone got changed last night because of the spell and then went back to normal when you broke it well I didn't exactly go back to normal I mean I'm not a ghost anymore but well…" she babbled before using her hands to make the Watcher focus on her eyes, "…look!"

It took the older man less than a second to spot gold where there should have been green.

"My word! Have you noticed any other…anomalies?" he asked with raised concern while he looked her over.

"Well there's this soreness that won't go away and then there's the fact that I can run a lot faster than I used to," she replied while trying to recall anything else odd.

"A soreness where, exactly?" he asked after finishing his visual inspection.

"Well… um… it's… I feel sore… right about…" she replied, feeling a little awkward and uncomfortable as she looked down at her chest.

Fortunately Giles quickly picked up on what she was trying to say and, if the polishing of the glasses was any hint, was just as uncomfortable at the answer as she'd been at the question.

"Yes…well…is it…painful?" he asked once he had gotten over his reaction.

Thinking about that for a second she shook her head and replied "No. I mean it's not fun or anything but I don't think it's serious."

"Well…good, but now we must figure out why your transformation was not completely reversed." He said putting his glasses back on.

It looked as though he was about to turn towards the bookshelves when all of a sudden he jerked his head back in the direction of the library doors. Turning to look in the same direction, she tried to figure out what had caught his attention and that was when she felt something odd. That odd something was getting closer by the minute and the only thing she could think of comparing it to was the awesome power she'd felt last night coming from the park except weaker.

Not only weaker but unless she was missing something it felt… at rest, like it was asleep or something.

It was odd because, up until she actually focused and tried to look for the odd something, she hadn't sensed anything. Weird.

An even weirder thing happened a minute later when the doors parted to reveal Buffy, looking slightly concerned but, aside from that, it didn't look like she'd been changed at all by the spell. In her mind that was a good thing because if her friend had wound up keeping ANY of the personality traits of Elizabeth Norrington, things were going to become seriously strained between the two of them.

"Giles, something really Hellmouthy happened last night," Buffy said as her eyes locked on Giles. "I changed into my costume and so did a lot of other people. I turned into this noblewoman and she was a real bi—"

It was about then that the Slayer noticed that her Watcher wasn't alone and she could tell precisely when the resident of 1630 Revello Drive spotted her new eyes. At once the blonde tensed up in preparation for a fight but in a burst of inspiration she knew just what to do in order to keep a fight from breaking out. Turning her head and nodding in the direction of the sunlight that was coming in through the windows she hoped Buffy would clue into the fact that she was in fact standing in a patch of sunlight. It was when she saw her friend calm down that she knew the blonde had figured it out and so she decided to put the discussion back in the right direction.

"So did you keep anything from your costume? Like me, I mean?" she asked, hoping that whatever the Slayer kept it was beneficial rather than a pain in the ass.

"Nothing really big, some memories, but I think its messing with my Slayer sense," Buffy replied as a look of concentration came over face. "I mean, I sucked at being able to pick out vamps like Giles always says I should but now I'm sensing people. Ordinary, non-demony people."

Buffy's sensing people? She thought as she recalled how she'd felt the Slayer approach the library, Is it anything like what I felt?

"Curious," Giles said, looking like he was thinking about something harder than usual. "There shouldn't be any lingering effects. Certainly not to this degree."

"You know what happened?" she asked with a little surprise.

"After a fashion. An… acquaintance of mine from when I was your age thought it would be amusing to cast a spell last night which would transform all those wearing enchanted costumes into the beings they were portraying." Giles replied, sounding like he was choosing his words carefully. "There was a bit of… difficulty… but I was able to safely terminate the spell before things got too far out of hand. Or at least I thought I had."

"I don't think the spell is responsible for the changes," came a voice that was familiar but had an undercurrent of something alien to it.

Turning towards the raised area of the library, they saw Angel looking down at them but there were several things that differed from the last time she'd seen him. For one thing his hair was no longer spiky with gel but instead it was longer and messier with a clump of it hanging over his eyes. His posture was also different. Usually he was guarded around the majority of them and only let that guard down when he was alone with Buffy but now he was much more casual and… playful? However it was when Angel raised his head and his hair ceased to block his eyes that she realized the changes she'd been through might be the least of their concerns.

His eyes were red.

Blood red!

"Angel?" Buffy asked with a little concern in her voice as well as uncertainty.

"It's me, Buffy," Angel replied, sounding a little more normal. "I'm still myself. I've just… been through a few changes."