See Part One for Disclaimer and details. Howdy all, welcome to the latest chapter of the story! My deepest thanks to everyone who has reviewed and sent feedback. WesGeorge, I'm sorry the story isn't exactly working for you yet – I'll do my best to shake things up a little, try to make Jesse seem like less of a Xander clone and make Xander his own man. As for the 'shippiness question, my lips are sealed! And thank you for the review; feedback junkie that I am, I crave just about any sort of response, positive or negative. So, my dear readers, please don't be shy – hit that review link at the bottom of the page, and tell me what you think...
Part Six: Aftermath
Ethan's Costume Shop, Sunnydale
November 1st, 1997
Not long after the midnight hour, the costume shop smelled like a slaughterhouse as Allan Finch washed the blood off his hands and Ethan's bloodied and battered corpse lay alongside the shattered bust of Janus.
Ever since Richard Wilkins had been killed by the Anointed One and Allan had been unexpectedly promoted into office, the new Mayor of Sunnydale had known that drastic measures would be necessary on his part. Wilkins had been a powerful sorcerer, apart from all the deals with the demons he'd made over the past century, and Finch had known that as a powerless, ordinary human, he just wasn't in the same league with regard to coping with the proclivities of Sunnydale's non-human citizens.
As Deputy Mayor, he'd been safe enough under Wilkins' personal protection – but now, on his own, he was just another target for Collin if he became annoying to the Anointed One. Or worse yet, he might end up some enterprising demon's man-bitch, if anyone got the bright idea of trying to control mundane Sunnydale using him as the figurehead/patsy.
Basically, Allan had known that there were only three options available to him. One: accept that his days were numbered and try to make the best of it until the inevitable assassin or enterprising demon walked through his office door. That option did not appeal to him in any way, shape or form.
Two: run for his life, get out of Sunnydale as fast as he could. Eh, better than option number one, but abject poverty didn't exactly appeal either, not after a life of comfort and luxury as the Deputy Mayor – a job Finch had held like his father and grandfather before him.
Finally, three: become Mayor in fact as well as in name, and take over control of Sunnydale the same way Wilkins had done. That option was the most appealing, but also the most uncertain in terms of Finch living to see his next birthday.
He'd thought about it ever since Richard's funeral the other day. Allan knew that there were demons in Sunnydale who would want a continuation of the status quo; especially the non-violent types, and the ones which Wilkins had made various deals with and who would otherwise be unable to receive their promised tribute. And given the circumstances related to the death of his predecessor, Finch had known that the city officials would instinctively transfer their allegiance to him if he stepped up and did what was necessary.
Including terminating the chaos spell Ethan had unleashed earlier this evening, with extreme prejudice.
"Mr. Mayor, it's still pretty much chaos out there," the chief of police, who just happened to be named Bob, said as he stepped into the back room of the costume shop. "I've got my people rounding up the survivors, but it's damned slow going-"
"I don't care about all that right now; put the details in a report for me to read tomorrow. At the moment, I'm more interested in damage control," Allan cut him off roughly. In his former role as Deputy Mayor, he'd learned how Wilkins had handled Sunnydale's top cop and that knowledge was certainly coming in handy right now.
Bob sighed. "Well, we can spin the usual story about gangs that get high on PCP..."
"That's not going to work this time, you idiot! Everyone knows how this is the one night of the year that all the 'gang members' in this town hole up in their lairs. If the papers print that crap tomorrow morning, I'll lose any semblance of respect within the supernatural community," Allan said with a mean look on his face, even though he had been trying for 'angry and/or deadly' instead. "Give me another option."
The police chief thought about it. "A gas leak, plus riots instigated by unruly visitors from out of town? College students in Halloween costumes, maybe?"
"Better. We can probably make that one fly," Allan nodded as he headed for the front door of the shop. "All right, do it. You know the drill, lean on the newspaper editors and the rest of the media to say what we want them to say. And find someone to take care of the body in here, will you?"
Bob looked down at Ethan's corpse in distaste. "Yes, Mayor Finch."
Allan paid no attention as he left the costume store. He was thinking that he definitely needed to empower himself in case – or, more likely, for WHEN – something like this happened again. Finch made a mental note for after all the fuss had died down, to requisition everything he needed to blast his way into an underground cave he'd read about in Richard's personal files.
The cave that was home to a tribe of Nezzla demons, and which contained the Orbs of Nezzla'khan.
Alley off Main Street, Sunnydale
Not long before dawn
Jesse McNally woke up slowly, groggily, finding himself leaning against a hard wall and a couple of female heads leaning against his shoulders.
( Black sombrero, black mariachi jacket and pants, red cummerbund, white ruffle shirt and curly red tie, ) Jesse thought to himself dazedly, seeing what they were all wearing before all the memories of Dusty Bottoms and what had happened the previous night surfaced in his mind. ( Oh, crap, all that really happened? )
Indeed it had. Jesse remembered losing control as Dusty took over his body, and then hooking up with the rest of the Three Amigos; Lucky Day, who was possessing Buffy's body, and Ned Nederlander, who was possessing Willow's body.
The screams of horror from those two silent movie stars, upon finding themselves inhabiting the bodies of teenage girls, was something Jesse knew he'd never, ever forget – even if he lived to be a hundred. The fear and confusion felt by the men who'd initially thought the year was 1916, likewise.
It had taken Dusty quite a while to calm down his comrades, in between running and hiding from all the – creatures that had been in the strange, futuristic town the Three Amigos found themselves in. But once they had done so, Bottoms had inspired his fellow heroes to do something to save all the screaming townspeople they'd encountered from a bloody and lethal end.
"Come on, don't you two remember our motto? Wherever there is injustice, you will find us. Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there. Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find..." Dusty had said, before all three of them had chorused, "THE THREE AMIGOS!"
There had then followed the traditional movie action groin-thrusting, which suddenly made Jesse cringe when he looked over at the sleeping Willow and Buffy. Because he couldn't help wondering if his two female friends had actually been endowed with guy parts in a certain region down south, thanks to the magical possession.
And if so, whether the male dangly bits were still there.
Disused church, Sunnydale
The same time
Cordelia Chase woke up to find herself sleeping on a wooden pew, in the same abandoned church Spike would have used to heal Drusilla in a few weeks' time – had he and his sire not been dusted over a month ago, of course.
/ What is this? Where am I? / Cordy said in perfectly accented ancient Greek, before she glanced down at her Halloween costume – a skimpy knee-length white chiton, with blue and scarlet threads and golden girdle – and all the memories of being the Oracle of Delphi during 582 BC were shunted aside, as the cheerleader realized what had happened.
"Oh, why ME? God damn it, I HATE this town!" Cordelia screamed angrily as she got up off the Oracle's makeshift bed for the night. "As if my life wasn't weird enough already..."
Indeed, the weirdness had truly engulfed Miss Chase now. She could easily remember what life as a female seer had been like back then; being consulted not only on private matters, but also on affairs of state. She could remember how the Oracle's utterances had often swayed government policy and the course of nations, despite the prejudices of such a male-dominated era. Cordy could even recall how the Oracle's influence had eventually grown so much that a war had been fought between Delphi and its Greek sister states in order to control the Oracle, who by that point had been over fifty years old.
( Eww, ) Cordelia thought to herself with a grimace, the female teen trying to repress the memory of being old enough to be a grandmother with all her might. ( Oh, geez, think of something else. Anything else! )
Cordy forced herself to think back to the events of last night. Everything had been going so smoothly, she had been about to meet up with Devon and his bandmates – before all the chaos had erupted out of nowhere. Cordelia recalled how the Oracle had awoken within her body completely bewildered and confused, unable to understand anything about the world she'd found herself transported to, approximately two and a half millennia ahead of her time.
In fact, in a rather ironic twist of fate, it was the Delphic seer who had thought that all the cars around her were demons of some sort, instead of the possessed Buffy Summers. But eventually, after a vision of the future, the Oracle had made her way here to holy ground, where she'd safely ridden out the events of the previous night.
"I have GOT to convince Daddy to get me out of this town, somehow. God, even military school is looking good right now," Cordelia muttered to herself, wondering what time it was before remembering that she didn't have a watch on.
And then, the next moment, Cordelia Chase had a brief vision of her own personal future at the high school, not too long from now.
The images played out in her mind's eye, with vocal Surround Sound crystal clarity. Cordy's destiny – such as it was, after Jasmine had been 'neutralized' back when Xander had been orphaned – had just taken another abrupt left turn.
Naturally, the young woman completely freaked.
Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale
A while later
Within the school clock tower, the early morning sunlight eventually made Xander Harris wake up with a jerk.
Like Jesse, Buffy, Willow and Cordelia, Xander's head was full of memories that were not his own. Unlike them, however, the Soldier Guy Harris had been possessed by the previous evening had understood where he was, even though he'd had no idea how he'd gotten there – and so, Soldier Guy had been able to save a few people from the rampaging monsters along with the Three Amigos, even though their paths hadn't actually crossed last night.
Right now, though, Xander wasn't thinking about that. He was remembering Soldier Guy's life; enlisting in the Army at the age of nineteen, eventually becoming a member of Special Forces, and receiving specialized training in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. There had also been education in a foreign language, before Soldier Guy had been shipped out to fight in the Vietnam War.
Xander then did his best to repress all the memories concerning what Soldier Guy had seen during his tour of duty in south-east Asia. The Battle of Đắk Tô, the Tết Offensive, and even the response to the Mỹ Lai massacre; that barbaric atrocity which, after the Army cover-up had failed to suppress the truth, had prompted many within the American public to call its own military personnel 'baby killers'.
Including Soldier Guy himself, when he'd returned to the U.S. after his tour of duty was over.
Xander felt sick, as he remembered that part of Soldier Guy's life despite all his mental efforts not to. The man who'd selflessly done his duty by his country had arrived home – only to be wrongly labeled a mass murderer and a rapist, by all the war protesters. Harris could recall how Soldier Guy had been baffled as well as appalled by such accusations, especially the rapist part; because the nightmares, the Agent Orange, and the Saigon whores all strung out on drugs had turned many war vets (including himself) away even from normal sex. That is to say, consenting sex.
Soldier Guy had been as celibate as a monk by the time his consciousness had shown up in Sunnydale last night, and for good reason.
Abruptly remembering something else, Harris quickly took off his olive-green shirt in order to examine his right arm, and there it was; a Special Forces tattoo, exactly where the soldier persona had gotten himself inked during the late Sixties.
"Shit," Xander said succinctly, as he examined the green beret, skull and crossbones created by last night's chaos spell. "Unbelievable! Man, I REALLY hate magic..."
Xander sat there in the clock tower, trying to get himself under control. He had no idea how much time had passed, before he saw something peculiar. Well, maybe 'peculiar' wasn't the right term after everything that had happened last night, but it was nonetheless unusual even for Sunnydale.
Xander saw the word 'LIBRARY' being scrawled by an invisible hand in the dust coating the floor in front of him.
"Mom-?" Xander asked as he jumped to the obvious, at least to him, conclusion, while whipping his head around in search of the ghost in question. Unfortunately, however, there was no reply and no other sign of the ghost of Jessica Harris.
Deciding he had nothing to lose, Harris made his way down from the tower and headed straight for Slayer Central.
Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale
A while previously
Rupert Giles polished his glasses carefully, as he listened to his Slayer ranting about what had happened the previous night. Because it hadn't exactly been a stress-free evening for him, either.
After Ethan had carried out his spell, Giles had eventually become aware that something was wrong after hearing yelling and sirens outside his library. Venturing outside, the Englishman had headed for Darla's basement apartment as soon as he saw the insanity raging on the streets, and both the Watcher and the ensouled vampire had done what they could to save people before Allan Finch had finally terminated Ethan's 'prank'.
Giles and Darla had then sought out their three teenage acquaintances, but the Slayer and her Slayerettes were nowhere to be found. Although barely a speck on the map, Sunnydale was nonetheless a town that housed nearly forty thousand people, and there were just too many places to check out before dawn. Giles and Darla had decided to head back to the library once the approaching daylight became a factor for the vampiress, and luckily Buffy, Jesse and Willow had shown up there unharmed not long after the adults had arrived.
Well, maybe 'lucky' wasn't exactly the word Rupert would use right now...
"And another thing, Giles, I thought you said Halloween was the one night of the year when all the supernatural stuff decided to take a holiday? Because the whole 'different personality taking over your body' thing last night sure didn't feel like it to me!" Buffy said angrily, thinking the Council operative was completely ignoring her.
Giles almost broke his glasses in half. "Are you – you're blaming ME for last night's fiasco?"
"No, of course not," Willow cut in before Buffy could answer, before sending her best friend a warning look not to fall any deeper into the hole she'd already dug for herself. Then the redhead turned her attention back to the Watcher, "But, but Buffy sorta does have a point, Giles; you DID say that Halloween was the one night where as far as all the monsters were concerned, it was supposed to be 'all quiet on the Western front' o-or whatever."
"Well, traditionally it is," Darla said, shaking her head in perplexity. "I mean, I'm sure that practically every vampire in Sunnydale apart from myself stayed indoors last night. In fact, I'd heard from the local snitch that the Anointed One had given strict instructions to all his minions to follow that rule. So whoever it was that was responsible for what you three went through, I'm fairly sure it wasn't someone of the undead persuasion."
"Well, that's a switch in this town," Jesse commented, recalling all the vampire-related events since Buffy had arrived in Sunnydale.
"Indeed. Most likely, i-it was some sort of rogue mage or sorcerer. A highly disturbed individual, I'd wager, a-a-and someone we'd best keep an eye out for," Giles said, as he had never gone anywhere near Ethan's costume shop last night – which was a good thing, actually, as Bob had decided to burn the place down, with Ethan's body in it, in order to get rid of all the evidence and effectively cover up the murder.
"Oh! Giles, w-what have you heard about all the little kids we were escorting last night?" Willow spoke up, looking very concerned. "I mean, those that didn't get possessed by their costumes, they-they must have been..."
"Rupert and I heard on the radio that the majority of them have been safely returned to their parents, while he was driving that decrepit old wreck of his back to the library." Darla sent a smirk towards the English librarian.
"I'll have you know, my Citroen is a perfectly safe a-and effective motor vehicle," Giles shot back in annoyance.
"Okay, could we focus on something more important, please? Like how about the fact that Willow and I spent the entire night as a couple of GUYS, with guy hormones!" Buffy abruptly resumed her ranting, she was still justifiably upset about that.
"Are either of you feeling any, uh, unexpected after-effects, from – from the, um, the possession?" Giles stuttered, not wanting to get his Slayer any more riled up than she already was.
"No," both the blonde and the redhead said in unison, which caused both Giles and Jesse to sigh in relief. No one noticed that Willow was looking a bit uncomfortable as she said that, though. They also couldn't hear Miss Rosenberg's thoughts about when exactly wanting to do 'stuff' with Ms. Calendar, Buffy, Darla, and/or Cordelia was going to go away.
Buffy then added vehemently, "But that doesn't make it any easier to cope with the memories! Giles, I can remember what it's like having sex with a GIRL!"
Willow squeaked and turned bright red, trying to suppress the naughty, lip bite-y causing thoughts featuring Buffy, herself, and a can of whipped cream. Jesse just stared at his hero in a glassy-eyed daze, while similar NC-17 rated thoughts ran through his mind. Meanwhile, Giles simply polished his glasses all the harder, as Darla openly smirked in careless amusement.
It was about that time that a wide-eyed Jonathan Levinson, who'd arrived just in time for Buffy's shouted admission, grunted before he turned and literally ran away – almost before anyone, primarily Buffy, noticed he was ever there. Seeing only a hint of denim as the library door swung shut, leaving her no clue who to later threaten into silence, Buffy let out a shout of frustration.
"UGGHH! This is so totally unfair," the ex-cheerleader pouted, crossing her arms and fighting the urge to childishly stomp her foot on the floor. "I have all these stupid-ass memories from that guy, including thinking that one of my two best friends is a complete six-year-old, and now this happens!"
"Hey!" Jesse spoke up, feeling insulted.
"It's okay, Jesse; you know that that wasn't really Buffy, anymore than the person she was talking about was really you," Willow said comfortingly, placing a hand on her best male friend's shoulder. The redhead wisely left unmentioned the fact that in private, Buffy had confessed to her that at times, Jesse really did act like an immature kid – especially when he was lusting after Darla.
( Okay, here comes trouble, ) Willow thought to herself as Miss Chase stormed into the library, still wearing her Halloween costume. "Cordelia, what are you doing here?"
"Why the hell do you THINK I'm here, Willow?" the brunette said scathingly, sending the redhead a malign glare. "I just spent the night running for my life, while I was possessed by my Halloween costume! Now what the hell happened? I figured if anyone would know, it'd be you freaks and geeks that hang out here in the lame-o version of the Bat-cave!" Cordelia deliberately left out mentioning the vision she'd had in that church before coming here; that was a subject she wanted to discuss with Giles later, in private.
"We, uh, we don't actually know what exactly happened – wait, Cordy, are you okay?" Jesse asked, automatically reaching forward with his hand.
"I'm fine. And don't you EVER touch me," Miss Chase hissed angrily, recoiling as if the male teen was a leper or something. "I thought I made that absolutely clear, after you were de-possessed of that hyena thing last year!"
"You did," Jesse hung his head in shame, even if it was the Primal spirit that had been controlling him which was to blame for that incident. "Sorry, my mistake."
"Damn right it is," Miss Chase muttered under her breath, even though Darla and Buffy could still hear her thanks to their mystically enhanced hearing.
"Come on, Cordelia, can't you just forgive and forget what happened back then? Jesse WAS possessed, at the time-" Buffy started to say.
"And that was the only reason I didn't tell my father what really happened in that classroom before you showed up, and why his loser ass didn't end up in jail afterwards," Cordelia interrupted, sending the Chosen One a look of withering contempt even as McNally felt like complete scum at her words. "But hey, before that? Jesse WASN'T possessed all the other times he tried to come on to me – so he's just lucky I didn't decide to shoot him with that sixteen-gauge shotgun one of my dad's Texan clients gave my family as a gift, a few years ago!"
"If we could move on from this – stimulating topic of conversation," Darla rolled her eyes in annoyance, "you people still have to decide what course of action, if any, you're going to undertake to deal with the events of last night. I could try to ask around, see if anyone's heard anything on the grapevine..."
"That's an excellent idea," Giles said swiftly, also glad for the change of topic – the love lives of teenage Americans was not something he cared to dwell upon, especially with Buffy constantly moaning about not being able to find a suitable boy to date. "That snitch you mentioned before, err, what's his name..."
"Willy. He's a bartender in the demon-friendly part of town," Darla mentioned.
"Yes, him," Giles nodded. "I'd wager he'd be the obvious starting point; the man must overhear a lot of things from his demon and vampire clientele. You and Buffy should go press him for information, so to speak."
"Good idea. Let's go," Buffy nodded to Darla, her Slayer aspect eager to get out there and Do Something.
"Wait, Buffy! What about your mom? She must be freaking right now, you never went home last night! Jesse, yours too – mine are still on their annual lecture tour," Willow cut in, looking worried.
"She's got a point, Buff; your mom's probably called the cops, they'll be on the lookout for you," Jesse nodded. "Same with me, I guess." He cast a questioning glance towards Cordelia, unable to help it.
"If you must know, my parents are in La Paz this weekend," the high society princess huffed in annoyance. "And I don't need to report my comings and goings to the maid or the family butler."
"Buffy, all of you – go home," Giles ordered the four teenagers gently. "I'm sure Darla can handle that, that Willy chap just fine on her own. We'll meet here again Monday morning, agreed? Hopefully, we'll-we'll have some answers by then."
"Thanks, but you can count me out," Cordelia said scornfully, abandoning her plans to discuss the vision she'd had earlier on with the Watcher. ( He probably doesn't know jack about that sort of thing, anyway. ) "As if I'm ever gonna come here again, if I don't have to-"
At that moment, Xander Harris walked straight through the library doors. Still wearing his green Army fatigues and carrying his shirt in his hand, Miss Chase got an eyeful of Xander's muscular arms, plus the washboard abs and pecs that were another leftover from being possessed by Soldier Guy.
"Hello, salty goodness," was the first thing that popped out of Cordelia's mouth, as she started eyeing the new boy in town a lot more appreciatively than before.
St. Matthew's Hospital, Los Angeles
Later that night
Earlier today in Sunnydale, Xander's meeting with the Scooby Gang within the library had certainly been what one might call 'interesting'.
Harris had spilled just about everything that had happened to him, ever since his meeting with Whistler and his mother's ghost. Darla had verified part of Xander's story in that she knew Whistler was a messenger for the Powers, at least. Buffy and Xander had then had a private conversation in Giles' office because she'd wanted to settle things that had happened between them in the past, even if Harris wasn't particularly interested in doing so at that point in time.
For his part, Jesse had seen the way Cordelia was staring at Xander – and after hearing that Harris had been sent here by the higher powers to help Buffy, he'd officially decided that he didn't like the idea of another rooster in the hen-house. Willow and Darla had taken him aside and talked to McNally about it, and the vampiress had bluntly told him not to act like a jealous idiot. Which had only raised Jesse's hopes that one day, Darla would see him as something more than just a mindless hormonal teenager.
In any case all that was of no interest to Billy Fordham right now, here in LA. He'd just gotten out of a meeting with his neurologist, and whilst waiting for his parents to join him – he was still a minor, so the doctor wanted to talk to them alone for a while about his patient's situation – Ford was dialing Sunnydale to talk to one of his recent acquaintances.
"Hello, Marvin? Sorry, Diego," Ford looked upwards at the ceiling in annoyance over the other male teen's insistence on using his new name, before resuming the conversation. "Look, did everyone arrive okay in Sunnydale?"
"Good," Ford replied, after hearing Diego's reply concerning a group of foolish kids who thought that vampires were 'exalted' creatures who were going to 'bless' them with immortality. "Alright, I'll be in Sunnydale soon. Now, have you selected a site for the club yet? You have? Excellent. What's it called? The Sunset Club, got it. What's the address? Hang on a second," Ford quickly scribbled it down on his bottle of painkiller pills. "All right, good. Oh, and Diego? See if you can find someone to rig the door up special in that former bomb shelter. I'm thinking we make sure the Lonely Ones don't change their minds and leave, once they come inside. Right, I'll see you shortly..."
Ford hung up a few seconds later, before his facial expression altered to show complete contempt.
( Idiot. All of them, complete morons, ) Fordham thought in disgust, wondering yet again how some people could want to become vampires just because they were lonely or miserable or bored or whatever. ( I'll be doing the human gene pool a big favor, offering those people up as a free meal – no doubt about it. Too bad about Summers being a sacrificial offering as well, but there's no way for me to guarantee getting turned without giving her to the vamps as well. )
At that moment, for some reason he didn't understand – Ford wondered where Xander was, and what he was doing right now. He had lost track of Harris completely over the past month. Deep down, the small speck of humanity still remaining in Fordham's soul was glad that his old friend was not going to be involved in what was about to go down in Sunnydale; Ford didn't like visualizing the accusing look which he KNEW would appear on Xander's face, if that guy ever found out what he was up to.
Too bad for the dying teenager how old friends had the nasty habit of turning up right when you didn't want them to...
TBC...