Chapter 2 – Costume Change
Xander felt slightly uncomfortable wearing the gold-colored contacts he had borrowed from his Uncle Rory. Heck, he felt more than a little uncomfortable wearing this costume, and swore he would dump it the first chance he got.
Harris rang the doorbell to 1630 Revello Drive, which was opened by Buffy's mom. Joyce Summers opened the front door to see her daughter's only male friend wearing...something, she couldn't identify what.
"I'm dressed as someone from a book saga the girls made me read lately, and I borrowed the contacts from my Uncle Rory," Xander said in reply to Joyce's unspoken question. "Mrs S, can you please not ask who I'm dressed up as?"
"Of course, dear." Joyce smiled as she called for Buffy and Willow to come downstairs. Then she rushed back to the kitchen as the phone rang.
Xander wondered if he should apologise to Buffy for what he'd said after she got rid of Larry yesterday. But his thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Buffy dressed in a noblewoman's gown.
Xander immediately quipped, "Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!"
Buffy laughed and smacked Xander lightly on his arm. "Quit it, Xander."
"Okay, okay," laughed Xander. "Where are Willow and Dawn?"
"Willow stayed upstairs to give me time to talk to you, and Dawn is meeting us at the school. Seems one of her friends had a major costume emergency."
"Okay. Something you want to talk about, Buffy?" asked Xander, he could tell there was something on the Slayer's mind.
"Look, Xander...I'm...really sorry about yesterday," Buffy replied, blushing. "Willow said...I shouldn't have embarrassed you like that."
"In that case, Buff, I need to apologise too for the way I reacted. I am kinda grateful you stepped in," Xander said, trying to meet Buffy halfway here.
"Good, and ohhh, you are gonna LOVE what Willow is wearing for tonight," squealed the Slayer. "She's a…" Buffy began to say, but she trailed off as Willow appeared at the top of the stairs wearing a white sheet with BOO written on it.
"Hey, Will, that's a fine…boo you got there," said Xander jokingly.
Willow looked down at her ghost outfit and replied "Thanks." She made her way down the stairs and Buffy said disapprovingly, "Willow..."
"What?" Xander said, looking confused.
"Nothing," Willow said, glaring at Buffy underneath the white sheet.
"It's not nothing, now what's going on?" asked Xander.
"It's just, I FINALLY managed to get Willow to go with the Goth Girl costume, and then she put on the chain rattler the moment my back was turned," Buffy sighed.
"BUFFY!" Willow said, outraged. Naturally, Xander asked to see the Goth girl outfit, and so much to the redhead's mortification, Buffy yanked off the white sheet.
There was a lot of babbling on Xander's behalf, but he soon calmed down and they all said goodbye to Mrs Summers, making their way to the high school. Arriving at the school, the three friends were met by Principal Snyder, who as always was in a bad mood around the three friends.
After assigning her the group of children Snyder left Buffy with a warning, "No need to speak to them. The last thing they need is your influence. Just bring them back in one piece, and I won't expel you."
Xander approached his group of children, noting the children were dressed as superheroes, Power Rangers, fairies and various other Halloween costumes. Typical rug-rat attire, nothing surprising.
"Hey, what are you supposed to be?" piped up one of the little boys in the back row.
"I'm a good guy, kid. Nice outfit," Xander replied, trying to remain civil. Way too many people had asked who he was dressed up as, and he was tired of explaining who it was.
Mollified, the boy did not reply. Turning back to the group of kids as a whole, Xander said "Okay kids, here are some tips on sleazing extra candy: tears are the 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? Okay, gang. Let's move out."
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5:45pm – Ethan's Costume Shop
The escort program was only from four till six, and so most of the high school students were preparing to finish up and head back to Sunnydale High. Unbeknownst to those at Sunnydale High and Sunnydale, though, things were about to change thanks to Ethan Rayne - who was on his knees before a statue of the Roman god known as Janus.
Ethan started chanting in Latin to evoke chaos, something that would reign supreme in Sunnydale tonight. As soon as the spell had begun, though, Ethan knew something was wrong - the British warlock discovered one of the costume changes required more magic than he'd anticipated tonight.
Out on the streets of Sunnydale, Xander Harris was about to tell all his children that it was time to head back to the high school – when suddenly, he doubled over in severe pain that began throbbing in every part of his body. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was that, whatever was happening, it wasn't affecting just him.
All over Sunnydale, those people in costumes purchased from Ethan's store became the real deal. And those people who were not in costume, or who had gotten their costumes from other hire stores, began screaming and fleeing in terror.
A/N: Please review. PLEASE.
Author Notes: This story will be mostly canon up until Chapter 4. Emmett may seem to be a bit OOC, but I tried to stick to the novels as best I could. Remember, Willow did not dress as a ghost and Dawn is still the Key but a year younger than Buffy.
