Chapter 8:
At the Rosenburg House the Next Morning:
Sunlight pours through Willow's window, waking her up. She groans but drags herself out of bed and down the stairs to the kitchen. Her parents are already at the table drinking coffee and eating their breakfast. Willow sits in her usual chair and puts an egg and hashbrown onto her plate that is set out for her. "Morning," she mutters tiredly.
"Did you have a fun time trick-or-treating, dear?" her mother says politely. Willow shrugs as flashbacks of the previous night flash through her mind. "I cannot understand why teenagers would dress up as fictional characters. Do you suppose that it is some sort of rite of passage in the modern generation?"
The father sips his coffee and replies, "It is highly probably. The consistency of dressing up in ridiculous looking costumes has skyrocketed in recent years, according to the statistics." Willow's eye twitches as she eats her eggs. "But, the allure of sweets probably plays a large role in their motivation for trick-or-treating."
"That does not explain the costumes, dear," Willow's mother points out, neatly cutting her egg into bite-sized pieces.
"Maybe we just want to have fun?" Willow suggests.
The father considers it briefly and answers, "That is improbable. There are many things that children consider fun and not fun, and the results vary from child to child. The odds of all the children in the United States participating in the same event on the same day for 'fun' is so small that even the most experienced gambler wouldn't take the bet."
Willow finishes off her egg and slices her hashbrown in half, leaving a thin line on the plate. She says quietly, "If you spent more time with your daughter, instead of gallivanting all over the world analyzing the minds of children, you would know a thing or two about this current generation."
"What was that, Willow?" the mother asks with a smile.
Willow glares at her, "I said, that you two spend more time with your jobs than you do trying to raise your daughter. You are lousy parents." She hears a voice in the back of her head shout, "Yeah! That's right!"
"Willow, are you feeling well?" her father asks, frowning at her outburst.
"I'm better than I have been in a long time, no thanks to you!" she retorts, finishing off her hashbrown. "You don't know anything about me, and I am your own daughter!"
The parents look at each other questioningly, and the mother says hesitantly, "It might be a phase she's going through."
Willow sighs loudly and marches from the table. "I've got to go somewhere," she calls over her shoulder and slams the door behind her, the wall rattling from the force of it. "Yes, dear, I definitely think it is the rebellious phase that we have heard so much about." A moment later, Willow's plate cracks in half along the line that the knife made.
At Xander's House:
Xander hears his alarm clock going off and tosses a kunai into the evil device, effectively silencing it forever. "Stupid torture device," he mutters sleepily. He sits up then realizes what he just did. "Ooops."
As he dresses for the day, he instinctively picks up his forehead protector and pauses. The dark-haired young man remembers the previous night as he examines the leaf symbol in the metal. "Sasuke really had issues," he thinks out loud, absently picking up and strapping on his pack of kunai to his leg. He carefully folds the headband and slides it into his pocket. He hears the loud drunken shouts of his dad. "And so do I," he states. "Time to deal with them. Now."
"Boy! Get down here and clean up this mess!" shouts Tony. Xander appears at the top of the stairs with a neutral expression on his face. "Clean up this pig sty, lazy brat!"
Xander calmly walks down the stairs. "No, Tony, I won't be your servant or punching bag today." He smiles pleasantly at the large man, stopping in front of him with his hands in his pockets. Listening carefully, he can hear his mother crying in the next room. "Thought as much," he mutters.
The fat man swings his fist down at the teenager when the Sharingan activates. Things begin going in slow motion. Xander smiles wider and dodges the punch with ease, stepping off to the side and roundhouse kicks the drunk in the stomach. He grabs his shoulder and pushes him to his knees, delivering a strong blow to his neck's pressure point. Tony keels onto his stomach, trying to get his breath that was knocked out of him. Xander kicks him in the face, making him fall onto his back. He leans over him and stabs the floor next to Tony's head with kunai. "Listen carefully, Tony," he says threateningly. "You will leave this house by the time I get back. You will not touch me or my mother ever again or you will not survive the day that I hear it. Do you got that?" Tony stares at the normally weak boy and nods quickly. "Good, I would hate to dirty my knives with scum like you. Now get out!" He pulls the kunai from the floor and watches with a lot of satisfaction as Tony staggers to his feet and stumbles out the front door as fast as he can.
"Mom, I'll be back in awhile to check on you. I'm going to meet up with a few of my friends, okay?" he calls. He barely hears her response then leaves the house.
At the Summer's House:
Joyce stumbles into the kitchen and sits down at the table. "I need a drink," she moans, dropping her forehead against the table. Buffy and Dawn look at their mom and then look at each other.
"Um…Mom, are you okay?" Dawn asks, trying to fight an urge to stutter.
Joyce glares at her, barely lifting her forehead from the wood, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to drink myself into oblivion, gamble all our life savings away along with the house, and then go around the state piling gigantic debts that I have no hope of ever paying; and to make matters worse, I have to get a whole new wardrobe! Other than that, I'm fine!"
Buffy glances down at her tight clothes and replies, "You're not the only one who needs to get a new wardrobe, mom."
Joyce turns her head to look at Buffy. "Is it just me feeling like I have a hangover, or are you taller?"
"Yep! I'm taller…and bigger everywhere else," says Buffy cheerfully. Her younger sister rolls her eyes. Joyce glances down at her own new figure and sighs.
She murmurs, "I need a new wardrobe, and Jiraiya's here too." Her forehead hits the table again. "Just what Sunnydale needs, a self proclaimed super pervert." Dawn's pale eyes narrow at the statement.
"Who is this super pervert?" she asks innocently.
Buffy covers her mom's mouth quickly, "No need to worry about it, Dawnie. And besides, he isn't naturally like that! I'm sure he won't let it influence him." She thinks, "I hope." She notices the time and says, "I'd better get going. I was going to meet up with Willow and Xander early so we can go to the library together."
"We're all going to the same place anyways, so would you like a ride?" Joyce says.
Buffy sets her fan down with a loud clunk. "No thanks, mom. I've got that covered."
Joyce calls as she walks out the door, "And when the meeting is over, we're going to discuss what you've been doing at night!" Buffy freezes for a second.
"What are you talking about, mom?" she says as innocently as she can.
Joyce steeples her fingers and stares at her daughter intently. "You may have been able to put that one over on the old Joyce, but not over one of the Sannin, dear." Buffy lets out a mournful sigh and walks away to meet her friends. Once she is out of earshot, Joyce smiles widely, "For some reason, that felt good!"
Dawn's forehead hits the table loudly. "Dawn, is something wrong?" Joyce inquires. She's answered with another thunk on the table.
"The maturity of my family never ceases to amaze me," she mutters, finally having stopped banging her head against the table.
Outside Sunnydale High School:
Buffy, Willow, and Xander arrive at the same time. Willow says, "Wow, we have good timing!"
"No, we're just on time," Xander replies dryly. "But, that could count as good timing."
Buffy smiles widely as she walks up to them, her large fan strapped across her back. Xander turns to look at his friend and his jaw drops. Willow lifts his jaw shut. "Xander, she's Buffy. Not Temari. Buffy. She's dating Angel," Willow whispers to him.
Xander scowls and folds his arms over his chest, "Oh yeah." He smiles, "Morning, Buffy."
Buffy grabs them both by the arm and exclaims, "Well, let's not keep Giles waiting, shall we? Even if we're early." They nod in agreement and they march into the school. They walk straight towards the library.
As they near it, a familiar voice screeches, "Summers!" The trio turns around slowly to see Principal Snyder. "What are you doing here? Are you planning on causing more trouble like last night?" He smiles slowly. "Vandalism! Or burning down the school! Yes, that's more your style, isn't it, Summers?"
He freezes in place as a blast of killer intent hits him like a ton of bricks. Buffy glares at the troll-like man while Willow and Xander step away from her carefully. "Where you saying something, Snyder?" she says very slowly, the killer intent rising.
Snyder stares at her in terror, managing to stammer, "N-no! I just remembered I have a meeting to go to…or something. I had better not see you around here again when school isn't in session!" With that, he runs away like the devil himself was chasing him, but he's moving awkwardly.
Willow watches him go and turns to the others. "Did you see that?"
The dark-haired young man raises an eyebrow, "Was it just me, or did Snyder wet his pants?"
Buffy glances at both of them, than at the corner that Snyder retreated to. "It wasn't just you." She smiles as the killer intent dissipates, much to their relief. "Let's go!" They walk to the library.
Xander whispers to Willow, "Remind me never to get her mad at me."
"Ditto!" Willow replies in a loud whisper.
The trio turns around and walks into the library. Jenny Calendar sits with Kendra at the table.
Giles wanders from his office, reading a book. He says without looking up, "I'm glad you made it. Who was responsible for the killer intent spike?"
"It was Buffy. Snyder was in the hall," Xander replies quickly, pointing to Buffy.
Giles looks up from his book, "Is he still alive?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Let's just say, he won't be bothering any of us for awhile," Willow says with a confident smile.
Xander glances around the room briefly and asks Giles, "Where's Tara?"
"Oh, she's around here somewhere," Giles responds, waving his hand around as he talks.
They sit down next to Kendra when the Nerd Trio walk in chattering in geek babble. Jonathan nods at the group as he continues talking. Warren gives Giles a sly smile but doesn't stop the geek babble.
Andrew notices Willow and hurries over to her, "Hey! You look just like Sakura! Is your hair naturally pink? Why are you not saying anything? Are you shy? Sakura is anything but shy!"
Something clicks in her mind and Willow shouts, "Naruto!" Her fist sends him face-first into the floor. "S-sorry!" she exclaims when she realizes what she just did. "I don't know what came over me!"
"It's okay," Andrew replies weakly as he pulls himself off the floor. "In a way, it feels very familiar. I'm Andrew by the way."
Jonathan steps forward calmly and says, "I am Jonathan. I went as Neji Hyuga. It is a pleasure to meet you." Giles notices with interest that Jonathan appears to be blind. Instinctively, he connects Hyuga with the eyes.
"I am Warren," says Warren slowly with a grin. He chuckles a little and continues, "I went as Orochimaru the Snake Sannin."
Xander stands and glares at him. "What were you thinking going as Orochimaru?" he shouts, his curse mark throbbing on his neck.
Warren looks Xander over and smiles wider, "You went as Sasuke Uchiha, didn't you? I would recognize you anywhere."
"Answer my question!" snaps Xander irritably.
"It's very simple," Warren replies, still smiling. The others cannot help but be reminded of a snake's smile. "I knew something was off about this town, but I never imagined something like this would happen. What's wrong with this town, out of curiosity?"
Giles sighs and answers, "Sit down and I'll explain everything once more people arrive." Over the next several minutes, people from Halloween trickle into the room. Around 9pm, Joyce and Dawn enter the room.
Joyce pauses near the table and says with authority, "You can come out now." Tara materializes behind her in a kneeling position, wearing her ANBU mask and sword.
"Sorry, Lady Hokage," Tara says respectfully.
Joyce turns around and looks down at her. "I am not the Hokage!"
"Sorry, Ma'am," Tara says with the same amount of respect.
"Call me Joyce. Ma'am is too formal," says Joyce with a smile. "And stand up!"
"Yes, Ma'am, Joyce!" Tara replies quickly, jumping to her feet. Giles appears behind her and gestures to the table.
"Come sit down, Tara," Giles whispers. She hesitates but complies with a nod from the older woman.
Joyce glances at him curiously, "Didn't you try to stop her from doing that?"
"She wouldn't come out of hiding! Nothing I said would convince her otherwise," Giles explains. Joyce eyes his pocket suspiciously, a small notebook barely visible. "What?" he asks innocently. She raises an eyebrow and cracks her knuckles, gesturing to the notebook with her eyes. He follows her gaze and pales. "It's not what it looks like! I haven't written any perverted anything! They are actually ninja techniques!" She stares at him for a minute or two more than looks away, much to his relief. He thinks to himself, "Though, I did have to stop myself several times from writing more than a page of Icha Icha Paradise."
The librarian looks at his watch, "Okay, it's time to begin."
"Wait a second," exclaims Buffy, "Where's Angel?" Xander laughs quietly. "What is so funny, Xander?"
Xander manages to say between laughs, "He went as Kakashi! Remember what he's known for?"
"The Sharingan Eye?" Buffy shrugs.
Andrew spouts off, "He's always two hours late for everything! And he loves his Icha Icha books that Pervy Sage wrote." Giles scowls but bites his tongue to refrain from saying anything.
The blonde young woman turns to Xander slowly, unhooking the strap around her fan. "You made Angel into a pervert?" she asks very calmly. He gulps at the amount of killer intent rolling off of her.
Joyce clears her throat, saving Xander's life. "We can't wait for him forever. The meeting starts now." Giles nods in agreement.
"Now that we are mostly all here," Giles says to the group. "Have any of you noticed any physical changes since Halloween?" All the men's eyes trail to Joyce's chest, although they quickly look away from more killer intent rolling off of Buffy.
Joyce looks around at them, "What?"
The librarian sighs and clears his throat to get their attention again, "Any physical changes, other than Mrs. Summers?"
Larry leans over to Buffy, "That's your mom?" She looks over the football player who is wearing a hoodie and nods hesitantly. "She's hot!" A moment later, Larry is lying on the floor with a large bump on his head.
"Larry," she warns dangerously, "You went as Kankuro, right?" He nods quickly and her smile grows. "Good! Than you know that I went as Temari, right?" All color drains from his face. "Now get in your chair and shut up." He scrambles into his chair and keeps his jaw tightly shut.
Giles waves his hand to get their attention once again. "As I was saying! Any other changes?"
Buffy calls happily, "I got Temari's body!" Larry opens his mouth but quickly shuts it again at a glance from Buffy that promises pain if he says anything.
(Author's note: Think Buffy's head on Temari's body, only an inch or two shorter.)
Jonathan and Dawn exchange glances. The young man says, his eyes not leaving Dawn, "It would seem that…"
"Dawn," supplies Buffy's younger sister.
"That Dawn and I have retained the Byukagun," Jonathan finishes. He holds up a hand and shouts, "Byukagun!" at the same time as Dawn. The veins around their eyes bulge drastically and they both crack a smile at the startled expressions of the group. They deactivate the Byukagun after a few seconds.
Xander inserts, "Speaking of eye bloodlines." He closes his eyes and opens them again to reveal the spinning red tomes of the Sharingan. Warren's eyes widen with barely concealed interest.
Everyone turns when Angel quickly strolls into the room from the back entrance. "Sorry for being late, I was…" He stops himself and thinks about it for a few seconds. "I can't believe I was going to say that!"
"Say what? That you had to help an old lady across the street?" Andrew offers helpfully.
Willow states, "Or you saw a black cat and had to take the long way around."
Xander smirks and interjects, "Or did you get lost on the road of life?"
Angel looks at the three with surprise and says, "The third one, actually. I had this unexplainable urge to come late. I came as soon as I could, despite the urge." Buffy eyes the pink book in his front pocket.
"Have you had any other urges, Angel?" Buffy says sweetly.
Feeling the now regular sense of killer intent in his direction, he explains, "I haven't touched the book!" The killer intent evaporates into nothing and he thinks, "Well, at least not more than four times…"
Giles inquires, "Angel, why are you wearing the mask?"
He thinks about it again and pulls down the mask. "Some habits are hard to break."
The librarian nods understandingly and says, "Any other changes?"
Angel lifts the forehead protector from his left eye, showing the slowly spinning Sharingan eye. "I seemed to have kept it."
"So the Grand Poof gets to keep the Sharingan. Anything else?" Spike calls from the shadows in the back of the room.
Giles looks over at him with mild distain. "Have you had any changes, Spike?" The blonde man puts his hand under his chin thoughtfully, moving away from Drusilla who is still dressed like Haku, complete with the mask hanging around her neck, and his large sword that is leaning against the wall. He strolls in front of the sun lazily.
Spike smiles, "Oh, I don't know, maybe a few small things." Angel's and everyone else's jaw drops as Drusilla giggles at their gawking.
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