Chapter 4

Halloween

Xander let out a huge sigh as he walked into Ethan's Costume Shop. It was bad enough Snyder wanted him to escort a bunch of rugrats trick or treating, but he had to do it in costume too. What made it worse was that Trish was out of town for the week, so she could spend a little time with her family. As he looked around the shop, at the little kids playing around and having a good time a smile appeared on his face.

Then something caught his eye. It was a large plastic sword similar to his own, sitting in the super heroes section of the shop. As he walked over and picked up the sword, a weasel of a man, approached him from behind.

"Can, I help you young man?" the newcomer asked in a British accent.

"Jeez, mister." Xander replied as he whirled on the man. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you."

"Sorry." the man replied with a cocky smile. "My name is Ethan Rayne."

"My names Xander." Xander replied as the two quickly shook hands. The hand shake only lasted for a few seconds, but Xander immediately felt uneasy about the english man. Pushing down his fear, he raised up the sword. "How much for this?" Xander asked.

"Actually, young man." Ethan said as he plucked it out of his hands. "That is actually a part of a costume. The character is from a video game called..." he stopped for a few seconds to think of the title. "Ah...yes, Devil May...Cry."

"Hmmm... never heard of it." Xander said with a shrug. "So what does the rest of the costume look like?"

"It's in the back room." Ethan said as he turned and walked off. "Follow me."

"Xander, what costume did you get?" Buffy asked as she saw him emerge from the backroom, with his costume wrapped in plastic and hung on a coat hanger. She couldn't see much, but she did see a sword.

"It's a surprise." Xander said with a huge smile. With just a few alterations, he was going to change the costume around a bit, so he could go as his father. "But feel free to tell me what you got. Please tell me it's something in tight spandex."

"Maybe." Buffy said with a seductive smile. "I guess you'll just have to find out tonight."

"Hey guys." Willow said as she walked up beside them. "What costumes did you choose?"

"They're going to be a surprise." Buffy said as she turned to look at her. "Now what did you get?"

"I already know." Xander said as he started to laugh. "Willow's been going as a ghost, every since we've been little kids. Oh man..." Xander said in mid-chuckle as he glanced at his watch. "I have to get home, I'll see you girls later." and with that, he was out of the door.

"You see, Willow." Buffy said as she whirled on her red-headed friend. "I told you that you're to predictable. If you want Xander to notice you, you have to dress a little more sexier." As she said that a costume caught Buffy's eye. Moving over to it, she held it up for Willow to see.

"Oh, no." Willow replied as she saw the scantily clad leather outfit.

"Yes." Buffy said with a shake of her head. "Willow when are you going to stop acting all shy. If you want a guy to notice you, you have to start dressing the part."

"Okay." Willow said reluctantly, as she took the costume out of Buffy's hand. Then she read the name tag, of the person she would go as tonight. "Oh, no." Willow told Buffy as she handed the costume back. "Look at the name of this character."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Buffy said as she read the name. "Trish."

"Those video game characters seem to be very popular tonight." Ethan said as he emerged out of nowhere. "I have the blonde wig, that goes to that costume. I'll be right back." Ethan told them as he ran off to the back room.

"Buffy, I'm not sure about this." Willow said uncomfortably.

"Will, it's just for one night. What's the worse that could happen?" she said immediately regretting her own words. For the hellmouth, bad things always happened. Especially when you jinx yourself.

Later that night

Spikes warehouse

"Rewind that again." Spike yelled to one of his lackey's. He had set up a fight for Buffy, the other night and had one of his vampires to record it. And he had to admit, this Slayer was good. She reminded him of the last Slayer he bagged. Nikki Wood. Now that girl had fire.

"Spike." a woman's voice called through the darkness.

"C'mere poodle." Spike said with an outstreched arm. Within seconds a tall, beautiful woman with long raven hair walked slowly over to him.

"Spike, the devil is coming." Dru said as she leaned in close and breathed into his neck. "But before he dances in the moon, he's going to make us burn."

"Right, luv." Spike said humoring her. "The devil's gonna dance in the moon."

Before Spike could ask if she had a vision or not a maniacal laugh filled the air. All the lights and and power shut off as Spike looked around to see where the voice was coming from.

"Bloody hell." he said as he pushed Drusilla behind him. He had to protect her from whatever was in the building. He felt a powerful demonic presense through the darkness, but he still couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Hell, is right." a deep voice spoke from the darkness. Using his vampiric senses, Spike saw a large shadow hovering between himself and Dru. Before he could issue out a warning to his eternal lover, the shadow lunged at him.

As it encircled him, Spike screamed in protest as it started to enter his body. Finding an access point, the shadow entered his eyes and started to slide under his eyelids. Spike opened his eyes and they turned yellow, as he vamped out in rage. Not being able to control the demon, any longer Spike fell to the floor in a convulsive seizure.

"Spike." Drusilla called frightfully as she reached a danty hand down to rouse him. Before she had a chance to touch his shoulder the lights cut back on, startling her. As she looked up at the warehouse ceiling, she noticed that the lights weren't on at all. Looking around she saw demons suddenly appear, wearing black cloaks holding sickle's in one hand and torches in the other. They all looked like death.

"Now that's better." Spike said in a voice not of his own as he stood to his feet. He was still in his vampiric visage, but instead of the customary golden eyes they were a blood red.

"Spike?" Dru asked fearfully as he approached her.

"No my dear, my name is Ahriman." he informed her as he took her shaking hand in his. "Now tell me about the devil dancing in the moonlight."

Sametime

Buffy's room

"Willow are you ready?" Buffy asked as she put on her earrings, completing her costume as a noble woman. She had talked to Angel and he had told her the truth about that night in the caves. Quickly forgiving him, she promised to meet him at the Bronze later that night.

"O-okay, I'm coming out, but you promise you want laugh?" came Willow's muffled voice through Buffy's bathroom door.

"I promise." Buffy said with a roll of her eyes.

After Buffy gave her word, Willow came out wearing boots, tight black leather pants, and a tight leather, v-necked, mid-driff baring top.

"Willow." Buffy said with a huge smile. "You're a dish."

Feeling uncomfortable, Willow tried to hide herself with a sheet on Buffy's bed. With another roll of her eyes, Buffy took the sheet and tossed it to the floor.

"This just isn't me." Willow tried to reason.

"And that's the point." Buffy said as she walked around Willow and showed her how she looked in the full length mirror. "Look, Halloween is the night that not you is you, but not you, y'know. I can't wait to see the guy's go non-verbal when they see you." she told her as the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that's Xander." Buffy said as she walked to her bedroom door. "Are you ready?"

"I-I'll be right down." Willow said nervously. "I just have to put on my wig." she said as she picked up the blonde wig on Buffy's bed and turned to the mirror. Buffy just nodded her head and walked downstairs to open the door.

"Hey Buff." Xander said as she opened the door. Then he looked down at her costume. She was wearing a frilly, red, billowy 18th-century gown with long flowing brown hair. "Buffy, I am in complete awe. I now renounce spandex."

"Thank you, kind..." she stopped as she looked at his costume. He was wearing black boots, red pants, shirt, and vest. But it didn't stop there. He had a red duster, with a plastic sword strapped to his back, and he had dyed his hair white. "Who are you supposed to be again?" she asked as she looked at him suspiciously. Something about the way he looked reminded her of somebody.

"Oh, um I'm a character from that new video game. His name was Don...something." Xander said nervously.

He didn't want to tell her that he modified the costume so he could be his father. The character he chose to play had twin guns like his, but Ethan couldn't find them. He wanted to take Ebony and Ivory with him, but taking gun's to school was a no no. Besides Giles had told them that demons stayed in during Halloween.

"So um where's..." he was cut off as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Looking up his eyes almost jumped out of his head as he saw Willow in her skin tight leather outfit. "Willow...I...I..."

"See." Buffy cut him off. "Non verbal. Now come on we're going to be late."


Xander stood in the middle of the street, watching parents and children running around him in confusion. As he looked up and into the night, he could sense something dangerous in the air. Suddenly the sounds of things being thrown threw windows and glass breaking, snapped him out of his musings.

As he tried to concentrate on where the dangerous source of magic was coming from, he jerked back as if he'd been hit by something. He bent over slightly, looked down and lowered his outstreched arm. After a moment, he straightened back up and surveyed the scene around him.

"Hmmm... this has got to be Sunnydale." Sparda said as he saw lots of demons running around and attacking people. As his senses strecthed out further, he saw that they weren't demons at all. They were all tainted with..."Magic." Sparda grumbled as he unsheathed Alastor from his back.

As he looked at his sword, he saw that even it was touched by magic. 'Everything here has been altered .' Sparda thought to himself, until he heard a scream. Looking up he saw a girl wearing a catsuit being chased by a sasquatch. "Everything's been altered, except you my friend." he said aloud as he twirled his sword in his hands and ran off to save the girl.


A catsuit wearing Cordelia screamed as she ran from a sasquatch.

"Somebody help me!" she yelled frantically. She looked back at the monster chasing her and screamed again. When she turned back around again she ran into Sparda.

"Xander!" she yelled recognizing him in his costume. "Help me!"

"That's what I do best." Sparda replied as he walked past her. Cordelia was stunned by his confidence and watched as he quickly killed the beast that was chasing her. "You should go home miss." Sparda said as he wiped his blade off on the demons fur. "The night's not safe." he said as he turned to leave.

"Xander wait!" Cordelia screamed out. "You can't just leave me out here."

"The names Sparda." he said as he glanced back at her. "Not Xander."

"Xander stop goofing around!" Cordelia said as she grabbed his arm. "We have to get Buffy or at least Giles."

"Okay." Sparda said now believing her. He had sensed his own power in this body and it was weak compared to his own power. "Where do you want me to take you then?" he asked. Cordy just looked at him with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Oh um...to the Sunnydale Library." 'If anybody would know what was going on it would be Giles.' Cordelia thought to herself. 'Maybe even Buffy will be there.'

"Kinda late to try to read a book at the library isn't it?" Sparda asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Xander this is serious, stop playing around." Cordelia whined as she saw more demons approaching in the distance.

"Alright." Sparda said all business like as he took her in his arms.

"Hey...hey watch the merchandise." Cordelia said as she thought he copped a feel. "Why are you picking me up anyway?"

"Believe me, it's faster."

"What's faster?" Cordelia asked with a scream as Sparda jumped almost fourty feet in the air and on top of a building. Hopping nimbly, from building to building, Sparda and the screaming Cordelia took off into the night.

"Hmmm..." A beautiful blonde with sunglasses on said softly as she stepped into the same spot, Sparda had jumped from. "Sparda's back."

Just as she had jumped on top of the building, intent on following Sparda, a black van pulled up.

"Whoa." a blonde haired boy named Oz said as he looked out of his window. "Who was that girl?"


Lady Elizabeth Sumner of the yorkshire Sumners, looked around in horror as the demons of the night rampaged through the city. With a scream she watched as a towering black demon with horns approached her. As she turned to run, her heel broke sending her plummeting to the muddy ground.

With a wicked grin, the demon reached down and was prepared to snack on the helpless woman, until a black blur knocked it off of it's feet. Before Lady Elizabeth knew what was going on she heard a growl and a loud snapping sound. Opening her eye's she saw a handsome man, with a slightly big forehead, wearing all black standing over her.

"Buffy are you okay?" Angel asked as he helped her to her feet.

"I know not of this, Buffy." Lady Sumner replied as she started to wipe the dirt off of her dress. "I am Lady Elizabeth Sumner."

"Okay." Angel replied as he gave her a wierd look. "Buffy we don't have time to play games. Now what's going on."

"I told you sir my name is..." she trailed off as she looked with wide eye's over Angel's shoulder. Following her line of vision, Angel saw about five real vampires approaching them.

"Damn." Angel muttered under his breath. "Buffy it looks like we're going to..." he trailed off as he glanced behind himself and saw that Buffy had fainted. With a heavy sigh, he did the only thing he could think to do. He picked up Buffy and ran.


"You can open your eye's now." Sparda told the still screaming Cordelia as he jumped off of the schools roof, with a soft thud to the ground. Cordelia tentatively opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. Seeing that she was back on the ground, Cordelia got out of Sparda's grasp and glared at him.

"Xander what the hell is wrong with you?" she asked. "You had better let me know what you're planning to do next time. And you had better not touch the goods if you have to pick me up again."

"I'll try to refrain myself." Sparda replied dryly, as he rolled his eyes. "Now come on, that's see if this Mr. Giles can be of any help."

As the pair walked into the library, they saw Giles with his head buried into a book. Clearing his throat, Sparda finally got his attention.

"Oh, um...Xander, Cordelia what are you two doing here?" Giles asked as he closed the book and walked up to the two.

"Giles something crazy is going on!" Cordelia shreiked causing, Giles, Sparda, and even herself to wince at the sound of her voice. "There are alot of demons outside, attacking people."

"They aren't demons." Sparda said as he glanced at her.

"Who made you the expert on whose a demon and whose not?" Cordelia asked in annoyance. When she said she saw a demon, then she saw a demon damnit.

"Because, I'm a demon." Sparda said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "And we demons can seem to sense one another. The things that you saw outside were actually people. They've all been affected by some kind of magic."

"He's right, Giles." a voice said from the other side of the room. Looking up they saw that it was Angel, carrying an unconcious 18th century dressed, Buffy in his arms. As he placed her on top of the table, Sparda grabbed Angel by the collar and lifted him into the air.

"Xander what the hell are you doing." Angel asked with much surprise in his voice.

"The name isn't Xander." he replied as he cocked his head to the side. "The names Sparda, at least for tonight, vampire."

"Good lord!" Giles bellowed once he heard who, Xander said he was. No wonder he felt so nervous around him. Then Giles seemed to remember that Sparda was trying to kill Angel. "Xan...Sparda, do put Angel down. While it's true that he is a vampire, he still has a soul."

"A soul?" Sparda said as he let Angel go. "Isn't that just...convenient." he said as he sensed a white aura in Angel.

"Yes...now on to the business at hand." Giles said once he saw the two were'nt going to kill one another. "Angel, what do you think is going on?"

"It seems like everybody is acting like what they dressed up as."

"So that's why my clothes seem as though their tainted." Sparda reasoned. "There's only one being, that I know of whose powerful enough and selfish enough to do this. It has to be Janus."

"Yes, of course." Giles said recognizing the name of the pagan chaos god. Then a thought occured to him. "Cordelia, where did you get your costume from?"

"From Party town."

"And this one came from a place called, Ethan's." Sparda replied as he pulled a card with the name and address of the shop on it out of his jacket. With anger making his blood boil, he turned and started to walk out of the door.

"Xan...Sparda where are you going?" Giles called out to him.

"I'm going to a fight." he replied, not turning around. "Right after, I get some hardware." he muttered to himself. Angel attempted to follow him, but Giles reasoned that Sparda would manage to keep, Xander safe for the night.


As Jessica Harris walked into her living room, with a bowl of popcorn, ready to watch a horror movie marathon, she found the living room window open. As she walked over to close it, a noise from the other room startled her. As she grabbed a sword, from a collection Xander was starting, out of his weapons cabinet, she silently walked into the next room.

Seeing someone with their back turned from her, wearing all red she physically relaxed.

"Xander, you scared me." Jessica said as she put her sword on a nearby table. "I thought someone had broken in.

"Jessica?" Sparda asked as he turned around. "My God."

"Who...who are you?" Jessica asked as she picked the sword up and started to walk backwards. Something about the way, Xander was looking at her was different. Almost wrong somehow.

"It's me, Jessica." Sparda said as he holstered Ebony and Ivory and put Xander's sword, Rebellion on his back. He had sensed them at this place, but he had never dreamed that he would see Jessica here. "It's Sparda."

"Sparda." she asked. "This...this can't be. How...how can you be in our son's body?"

"My son..." Sparda trailed off as he saw a nearby mirror. Walking up to it, he saw his customary white hair, but instead he concentrated on his face and his powerful, liquid brown eyes. "Alex..." he said quietly to himself. Even after all those years, he never forgot his son's name.

"Sparda, how can you be here?" Jessica asked, snapping him out of his musings.

"How else?" Sparda asked as he turned to her with a lopsided grin. "It's magic."

"How long?" she asked fearfully.

"Until, I can find the source of the magical spell." he said sadly. Which he already knew where it was coming from, it was just the point of getting there. "I'm sorry, Jessica, but I can't stay."

"But don't you want to know about your son?" she asked, almost begging him to stay. It had been years since they had last seen each other.

"I already have most of his memories." he replied as he kissed her softly on the forehead. "And, I'm not mad about Tony, either. It wasn't your fault. I'm just happy, you finally got rid of him." he said as he walked to the door. "I never stopped loving you and, I want you to tell my son that I love him too." with that, Sparda walked out of her home and off into the night.

15 minutes later

Sparda stood crouched on top of a high building, overlooking Ethan's costume shop. After putting a letter into his jacket pocket, he jumped off of the building and in mid-air he sensed something, but it was too late. A black blur knocked him out of mid-air, with enough force to make him crash through a nearby biker club.

Glass and wood, showered down on him as he skidded to a halt at the far in of the club. Opening his eye's, he saw a beautiful, blonde woman with leather walk into the club. She wasn't a demon as he originally sensed from, her before they collided. But he did sense a considerable amount of magic coming from her.

"Are you, Sparda?" the woman asked in an almost mousy voice. It completely went against how sexy she looked.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" Sparda asked as he took, Rebellion off of his back. He didn't want to kill the girl, on the contrary he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her, but sensing the magic that was coming off of her, he didn't know what to expect.

The woman just smiled at him and raised her right hand as it began to glow with yellow energy. She then grabbed the blade of the sword and shocked a surprised Sparda, making him scream in pain. He dropped his sword because of the searing heat, just as the woman followed up with a powered up high-kick that sent him staggering. The woman attacked again, kneeing him in the chin, sending him flying to crash through a nearby pool table. The woman threw the sword in the air and caught it by the blade and threw it like a spear, straight into Sparda's chest. He yelled in pain as the woman continued to feed energy into the sword.

The woman abruptly stopped feeding energy and grabbed a motorcycle that was on display. Easily picking it up she hurled it toward Sparda who was still lying on the ground. Sparda, who now seemed to be free of pain regardless of the sword, whipped out Ebony and Ivory and started to twirl them in his hands.

Sparda stopped twirling his handguns as flames seemed to rise from his body, and slowed down the speed of the flying bike. He unloaded his two guns into the bike, sending it flying back to the woman. The woman, not expecting the counter-attack, ran and jumped to flee from the burning bike.

Getting up the blonde, quickly raised her head and turned around, spotting Sparda, standing up with each gun in hand and the sword still in his chest. He then slowly began to walk towards her...

"Lady, I don't know who you are..." Sparda started with a wince as he took his sword, out of his chest. "But, you're really starting to piss me off."

"My name is, Trish." the woman hurried to say as she stood to her feet. "I was only testing you. I had to see if you were strong enough to help me to defeat Mundus."

"Nice try lady." Sparda said as he put his sword on his back. "But I made sure that, Mundus would never escape hell. Now if you would excuse me, I have pressing matters to attend too." he told her as he holstered his guns and started to walk past her.

"You're wrong you know." Trish informed him as she fell into step, with the dark knight. "Mundus is here and he's going to take over the whole world."

"Hmmmm...how many times have I heard that before?" Sparda asked as he walked out of the club and walked next door. With a vicious kick, to Ethan's shop door, he sent wood and glass flying.

As he made a beeline toward the back of the shop, he smelled a coppery stench in the air. Looking behind the cash register counter, he saw a middle aged man, sprawled on the floor dead, in a pool of his own blood. As he searched his sons memories, he recognized the man as the person who had sold the costume to his son in the first place.

"Looked like he got what he deserved." Sparda said coldly, as he and Trish walked behind the curtain, to the back of the shop. As he quickly looked about the room, he saw the statue of Janus.

"Janus, it's been a long time." Sparda said with a smile as he picked up the statue. At the same time he threw the statue to the ground, making it shatter into a million pieces, he felt a strong demonic power. A power he hadn't felt in over sixteen years.

"Ah, man what hit me?" Xander asked as he tried to pick himself up off of the floor. As he opened his eyes he saw that an unconcious blonde was on top of him, preventing him from getting up. As his eyes adjusted better in the darkness of the room, he saw that the blonde was... "Willow?"

"Mmmm...Xander?" Willow asked sleepily as she opened her eyes. With a groan, she stood to her feet and looked around. "Xander what's going on?" Willow asked.

"If I knew, I would tell you Will's." he replied, confused himself. As the two prepared to walk out of the backroom of the shop, they both heard a loud crash that shook the building, followed by a manical laugh. The sound of the harsh voice, sent chills down both of their spines.

Steeling himself, Xander followed by Willow walked out of the backroom and into the front of the shop. Or what was left of it. It was if a powerful force had, knocked down the front part of the building. But that wasn't the most disturbing part. The most disturbing thing was that the outside was pitch black. As if hell itself had merged with the night.

"Son of Sparda." a cocky British voice said out of the darkness. "I've been expecting you." Spike said as he and an army of Sin Scythe's, Sin Scissors, Blood goats, Shadows, and all kinds of Mancers, stepped out of the shadows.

"Oh..."

"Fuck." Xander finished for Willow.

TBC...

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