"The Red, Black and Blue" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen
email: ryleybreenathotmaildotcom
Disclaimer: The characters and other copyrighted material shown in this work of fiction do not belong to me. They are the rightful property of their creators and associated companies. I am making no money off of this so any legal action against me for the purpose of getting royalty or profit money from me would be pointless and probably counter productive. I am doing this merely for the enjoyment I get from writing and for the readers who might have some fun reading it.
Note : This is an overnight byproduct of going to see Spider-Man 3 last night and liking it so much that I decided that it at least deserved one chapter of my time. As it stands now this will probably be a one shot deal with no plans for future chapters. However as always if you the readers want to see more you need only bury me in positive reviews demanding more and I will see what I can do. No guarantees of course 'cause if the muse that brought this about doesn't want to inspire me and make writing more chapters easier I won't do it. It is my personal philosophy with regards to fanfic that ideas, scenes and plots should flow out of you like water running down hill. The second it becomes as hard as rolling a certain boulder up a hill with your bare hands it's time to stop until the ideas get to flowing again. Still as always reviews are welcome (even… sorta… the negative ones. Though I MUCH prefer the positive ones).
Now on with the show……
The Red, The Black and the Blue"No." Buffy moaned despondently as she looked at the blue marker colored toothpick in her hand.
Willow just looked at the similarly blue toothpick in her hand and rolled her eyes in frustration at the fate she had now been assigned by luck of the draw.
"Rats!" Dawn said although there was a slight twinkle in her eyes that made it clear that she didn't really mind and the annoyance was all for show.
"I am SO not doing this!" Cordelia stated adamantly since much to her displeasure she hadn't gotten the red toothpick like she and all the other girls wanted.
"Mwaahahahahahahaha!" Xander laughed with false villainy as he held up the crimson toothpick that made him the winner of the draw five of them had agreed to participate in.
It had started out harmlessly enough with Snyder roping them all, Cordy included much to his glee, into chaperoning some elementary school kids around trick or treating for two or three hours. It was an 'assignment' none of them were particularly thrilled about, Cordelia being the most vocal of the four of them, and right up until after the last bell of the day all of them voiced their displeasure to anyone who would listen. Which had pretty much been just the four of them since the Scooby gang were a member of the 'freak squad' and Cordy wasn't about to let news spread of her involvement with the chaperoning. It was then of course that Dawn Summers, Buffy's little sister, managed to hear what was going on since Joyce had been parked outside the school to pick the blonde Slayer up. From there things had taken a weird turn when Dawn suggested that Buffy, Willow, Cordy and him should wear costumes with a singular theme. Like have them all dress up like members of the real Scooby Doo gang with perhaps Buffy as Daphne. He'd quipped that Cordy could go as Scooby Doo since she was already a bitch to begin with and had an IQ similar to the talking dog. From there it had devolved into a debate as to which theme they should follow rather than whether or not they should follow any theme at all. Apparently Cordy had dreams of using a billionaire household theme with her naturally as the master of the household with the rest of them being her dutiful servants. Willow wanted to do a variation on the ghost theme since it would allow her to pull out her costume for the past six Halloweens straight. Buffy wanted to go with an eighteenth century theme with all of them dressing up as nobles and he knew why she wanted them to do that. Dawn had pitched the idea of them going out as characters from the Xena/Hercules universe (no doubt as her as either Gabrielle or Aphrodite given the look she had in her eyes) but Buffy shot that one down citing that none of them would look pretty good in those type of outfits.
She probably was just having one of her 'I just want to be normal' episodes or at least 'I want to be something other than the Slayer' ones. He thought as the others looked at him expectantly with a mix of wariness and curiosity, Not that I don't understand that seeing as how most Slayers lead a pretty rotten life once they're called but I'm beginning to think she needs professional help.
So after almost twenty minutes of arguing over what the theme should be Mrs. Summers had suggested that they pick lots to decide or in this case toothpicks. The elder Summers took five toothpicks, used two markers from Dawn's backpack to color them red and blue, then placed them in an empty paper bag. The rule according to her was that they would each reach into the bag and pick out one toothpick and that there would be no redraws. That pretty much brought them to where they were at the moment with him finally having a spot of good luck for a change instead of the Harris family luck deciding to make his life miserable. The best part of it all he knew exactly what theme he was going to choose and not only would it make for a cool costume but it would also allow him to see two of the hottest ladies in Sunnydale in spandex.
Someone must really like me up there! He thought unable to keep a victorious grin off his face.
"There's no way I am letting a loser like you choose what I get to wear tonight!" Cordy said furiously looking like she was just seconds away from storming off in a rage.
"Yes you are unless you want everyone to know that the Cordelia Chase is going to be taking a bunch of snot dripping, pudgy faced, bratty kids out trick or treating." He said in a way that was half humorous and half dead serious, "Of course you could always blow off this whole chaperoning thing but that would probably meant detention even for you and that means a whole hour stuck in the same room with the worst of Sunnydale High."
For a minute it looked like she was willing to let him follow through on his threats rather than let a geek like him choose her costume but eventually she must have pictured what an hour in detention would be like with the real troublemakers and losers because eventually she hung her head in defeat. With her out of the way he turned to the next most likely person to argue with him over his victory and that was one Buffy Anne Summers. For a moment it looked like she might voice similar defiance but apparently she was smarter than most blondes since she was apparently taking a more intelligent route.
"Fine. However there are a few rules that MUST be followed or I'll take my chances with Snyder and detention." She said making it clear she would not back down from this no matter what he or her mother said.
"No Problem!" he said knowing that no matter what rules she laid down he'd find a way around them to get the eye candy he wanted.
"First it can't be anything that could be mistaken for a bathing suit of any kind." She stated instantly shattering the slave girl Princess Leia outfit idea he'd had.
"Sure." He said already reworking his theme idea to meet that requirement.
"Secondly it can't be the least bit transparent. I don't want any detail showing through the costume!" she said obliterating his Arabian dancing girl idea but he'd never really believed he could get any of them into an outfit like that anyway.
"Finally it cannot be made of spandex!" she said as though this was the most important rule of them all.
Hmmmmm. He thought as his mind tried to find a way of obeying that rule while at the same time getting the eye candy his hormonally driven teenage mind demanded.
It took a moment but eventually he managed to figure out a way around that rule and so promptly said "Sure thing!"
For a moment both Buffy and Willow looked a bit stunned that he would give up on the idea of seeing them in spandex but after using the non-verbal language known only to teenage girls apparently decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"So where're we going for these outfits?" Dawn asked looking at Xander like she was trying to figure out what he was scheming and wondering if he needed any help.
"Well there's this new place called Ethan's that just opened up about two weeks ago." He suggested remembering passing by it on his way to the Bronze one night, "I only got a look at what the place had in their window displays but they looked pretty cool."
"Okay so let's meet there in half an hour or so alright?" Buffy asked since all of them would probably want to drop their school things off at home first.
Everyone nodded and with one final wary look from the ladies at the Xan-Man they all went their separate ways.
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Ethan's, Twenty Minutes Later
Okay! I got ten minutes before my victe… friends show up which means I have just enough time to skim through the entire place for just the right costumes. He thought as be began that skimming examining each costume carefully.
For a moment he smiled just like one of those clichéd super villains on Saturday morning cartoon shows or in the comic books but that was understandable since he'd come up with a truly cunning way of getting around Buffy's last rule. Without even meaning to the blonde Slayer had given him one helluva loophole in her rules and with the time Snyder had set for them to be at the school she wouldn't be able to refuse what he gave her costume-wise. None of them would. The loophole was the fact that none of the costumes could be made out of spandex which while being the first fabric of choice for him was not the only thing costumes could be made from. There were numerous other fabrics that were used in the creation of Halloween costumes and the one he was keeping his eye out for was one of them. The fact that it was the only thing other than spandex that he would pay money to see Buffy and Cordy in was definitely a good thing as far as he was concerned.
Looking about the store he saw many outfits that sent his brain into temporary blue screen of death mode when he tried to picture either Buffy or Cordelia in them but none of them seemed quite right. There was one in the cosplay section of Urd from Oh My Goddess that he thought would look great on Buffy and a Catwoman costume that he thought would make Cordy's bitchin' worth it but his gut was telling him to keep looking. He also looked for outfits that would be good for Dawn, Willow and himself but in their case he did his best to keep his prospects a little more conservative and not quite as potentially embarrassing as Buffy or Cordy's. After all as far as he was concerned both Willow and Dawn were like sisters to him and one could not ogle their sisters no matter what or let them be ogled by other guys for that matter. So for them he was aiming for something a little more 'mother approved' rather than 'supreme hotties' like he was with the other outfits. He knew he couldn't go all the way to 'mother approved' with Dawn since the newly-become-teenager was in her 'I want to dress like a grown up' phase and would get seriously miffed if he tried to fit her in anything too childish. It wouldn't keep him from aiming in the direction of what Mrs. Summers would probably approve of but he'd do his best to keep away from the 'cute' and 'adorable' costumes.
It wasn't until he had about five minutes left before the gang would show up that he struck the motherload of costume possibilities and the best part was that they would be of one theme. It had also been his costume idea before the choice to make a theme choice began between his friends and Cordelia since he was a big fan of the guy the costume was based on. It had been nothing less than a shock when the man had first popped up on the scene a few years ago but ever since then he was probably the biggest fan of this guy in all of Sunnydale. While his crappy drunk parents kept him from becoming a serious fan like some Trekkies were or even a moderate fan he had a scrapbook hidden in his room filled with newspaper clippings of everything this guy did. He was like a fantasy come to life for him, a hero just like the ones in the comic books he read as a kid, and while Buffy was no slouch in the hero department Spider-Man was in a league all his own. It was almost enough to make him believe in fate as he looked at the Spider-person outfits adorning the mannequins and wondered at the possibilities.
He was not being politically correct when he had used the term Spider-person rather than Spider-man because while the majority of the outfits were definitely masculine there were some that would only fit on a woman's body. One of them was a red, gold and black number with an opening on the top to allow a woman's hair to flow through and webbing sown beneath the arms. It definitely had some similarities with Spider-man's uniform but someone had definitely wanted to create a separate identity with only the loosest connection to the web head when they designed it. Next was a black and white number that like the first one allowed for a woman's hair to flow freely outside of the costume and had what looked like thigh high white boots for the woman to wear. With matching shoulder length white gloves and spider-symbol on the chest and it was definitely a unique albeit darker version of the wall crawler's outfit.
The third costume was almost completely dark blue in color, almost black unless one took time to look carefully, with red added on as if some giant blood red spider had leapt onto the person and wrapped its legs tastefully around the woman's body. He'd already decided right then and there that this would be the costume he would assign to Dawn since it was concealing yet stylish. Costumes number four and five were the ones that matched the real web head's the best with only a few cosmetic or artistic differences making them look different. Arms that were entirely blue with red fingers that had web designs on them, legs that had half blue half red an black webbing designs on them and torsos with the red & web design with the black spider exaggerated on both sides. Best of all there was one that was about Buffy's size and one his own sign which cemented his decision all the more since it would be the perfect way of gaining some ground over Deadboy in the 'be-the-boyfriend-of-Buffy' race. Oh he knew that she had said that she didn't think of him that way or that she just wanted to be his friend but to him that just meant that he would have to work harder to show her that he was the man for her rather than Overbite. After all as far as he was concerned there was no real choice between him and Angel seeing as how Lord Forehead was so limited by his being a vampire. All he had to do was show Buffy how much less heartache she would have in a relationship with him and how impossible a relationship with dust for brains would be. He had no doubt it would be difficult as hell especially considering how stubborn she could be at times when it came to confronting the painful truth but it would be worth it in the end.
Well let's see how much these'll cost to rent out. He thought to himself as he bent down a bit to take a look at the prices for each costume.
He almost dropped his jaw in surprise at how low the prices were for the costumes in front of him. Even when added together the total cost of buying these outfits was at least forty bucks less than he thought it'd be for such obvious quality. However before he could feel too happy about the perfectly payable price he remembered that in order for his choice to see the light of day the costumes couldn't be made of spandex. Looking at each of them in turn he couldn't quite lie to himself and say that they weren't made of spandex. He tried to convince himself that they were made of something that just looked like spandex but despite his vivid imagination he just couldn't argue with the truth when it was standing right in front of him. Grasping at straws he reached behind the collar of each costume to look at the tag and see what it said about the material the outfit was made out of but each time 'spandex' was the reply he got. With a sigh he realized that his dream would have to remain just a dream because short of a miracle there was no way Buffy was going to bend on her no spandex rule much less toss it out all together.
"Excuse me young man? Is there something I can do to improve your mood?" came an overly helpful Brit voice from behind him.
Unfortunately the guy really should have made some noise on the approach because in the blink of an eye Xander had leapt up in surprise, turned around and barely managed to restrain himself from going on instinct and hitting the guy.
"Don't DO that!! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he exclaimed reprimanding the older looking man that had startled him.
"Terribly sorry sir! I am afraid its an old habit of mine I haven't been able to shake." The man said sounding genuinely sorry, "Now, as I asked earlier, is there anything I can do to improve your mood? You seem most disappoint about these costumes here for some reason."
"Well not unless you got these costumes in something other than spandex. Ya see I managed to win a bet with some of my friends so I get to pick the theme of the costumes we're going to wear tonight." He explained hoping against hope that this obvious store employee might be his savior, "However one of the rules they laid down was that the costumes could not be made of spandex. These costumes would have been perfect but seeing as how they'd break the rule I can't get them."
"Oh dear! I see the dilemma young man." The store employee said with genuine empathy for the Xan-man's situation, "However I think I just might have a solution for you in the back. Please wait a moment here and if I am right I will be right back with solutions to your problems."
"Sure! No problem!" he said for once thinking that maybe he was going to get his wish after all.
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The Back of Ethan's Costume Shop, Two Minutes LaterOh this is just too good to let slip by without trying at least once to make it work! Ethan thought to himself as he slipped into the back room and made sure the curtains were closed tight.
While he had known that Ripper and his charges were in town when he had decided to come to Sunnydale to play his little Halloween trick he hadn't done so with them specifically in mind. All he wanted was to enjoy the chaos that would be created by people becoming the very thing they dressed up as for one night. So far that plan had come along swimmingly since he had already managed to sell a third of his stock so far with the flow of customers being such that he didn't expect to have anything left by closing time. That of course was because he'd arranged for the only other decent costume place in town named 'party town' to develop a slight case of vermin forcing them to shut down for the rest of the month. Thus with nowhere else to go just about everyone in Sunnydale was coming to his shop to either buy or rent a costume for the night with him leaning towards the former since it would only enhance the effects of his spell if the costumes became the possessions of the wearers. However even with the deck stacking he'd done it had been a long shot as to whether or not any of Ripper's crew would actually come to his shop much less pick anything out.
Janus himself must have influenced the boy's choice of establishments! He thought with glee as he quickly picked up five boxes containing the spider-person costumes the boy had been eyeing.
Laying them out on the table he recalled how he came to possess this limited stock of Spider-person costumes and why he was the only store in the world that had them. According to what his supplier had said one of the major designers for one of the clothing corporations in New York had decided to do something daring and create five original Spider-man costumes. At first her employers had been intrigued and willing to test run the costumes by making a limited amount of them, hanging them up in your average store and seeing how well they sold. Unfortunately for the designer not only didn't they sell but several overzealous Spidey fans took offense to the designs and trashed the store they were being sold in. As a result the new designs were tossed in the incinerator and the designer was demoted to a lower position than she had previously been in. Fortunately through his connections and a little bit of arcane suggestion he had managed to acquire what was left of the unique costumes that had been made and had them shipped here. While no one had technically bought the costumes yet he had a few on lay away for customers that intended to come in later to get them. From how those people acted he had the distinct impression that they were the sort that had parents who actually believed the drivel that J. Jonah Jameson printed in that rag of his. The teenagers probably were big fans of the wall crawler and intended to sneak these costumes on without their parents' knowledge. Admiring such defiance he had decided to remain open about a half hour longer than he normally would have chosen to just to give them the time they needed to slip through their parental authority figures' nets.
For now though I have a bit of creative magic to do if I want Ripper's little rabble to have an interesting night. He thought to himself as he lay down the boxed costumes and opened them up.
When he had first considered what might happen if Rupert's group of teens came to his shop he had personally hoped that his Slayer would choose something particularly useless like the noblewoman's dress. After all it would be all too humorous for the defender of the human race, an example of girl power, to be reduced to a simpering airhead for the night. He could just imagine how the entire event would change her in the weeks to come and how the conflict between within her would mess with her mind. Her mind would likely be more prone to romantic nonsense and inability to defy strong men than ever before. A little chuckle escaped from his lips at the image that produced but it faded when he realized that now it would not come to pass.
Still this should be amusing in and of itself. He thought as he began to contemplate the possibilities while selecting the right ingredients for his 'solution' to the young man's problem.
After all while three of the five costumes didn't resemble the real Spider-man's costume in the least he was certain that the spell he would cast would still draw the majority of their characteristics from the New York wall crawler. As for the two that did for the most part resemble the actual Spider-man's costume they would probably affect the most profound changes on their wearers. That was where his amusement came from since he tried to imagine what it would be like for the Slayer to suddenly have a man's mind thrust into her head. The night would be one of unmitigated confusion for her and in the weeks that followed this night he wouldn't be surprised if the blonde wound up checking out the backsides of other young ladies. Oh the confusion and calamity that would cause for the young girl would provide him with weeks of amusement if he decided to stick around and watch. He wouldn't of course since he knew that the odds favored Ripper figuring out he was responsible for this night's festivities and despite the pleasure he got from driving the old man up the wall he wasn't about to risk receiving Rupert's wrath.
The man could be bloody brutal when he was of a mind to be.
Still just because I can't be there to see the second act doesn't mean I can't set the stage for it. He thought as he began to sprinkle crimson dust sparingly across the costumes before casting the spell to trigger the change.
With a flash of light that was just under the level that would probably have attracted quite a bit of attention from the customers the costumes before him were most definitely not spandex anymore. Instead they were a combination of leather, Velcro and unless he missed his guess there might actually be a bit of Kevlar in some places. It wasn't quite what he expected but considering how much time he had to work with he doubted whether or not things could have turned out any different. Most spells of this sort require a bit more time to ensure that the changes are exactly what the caster wants from beginning to end. With less than five minutes to work with the best he could do was key the spell to changing the materials the costumes were made of to something more suitable for the young man and his friends outside. That was in fact almost word for word what the spell said with him only supplying the image of the young man in his mind to make sure the incantation probed his mind for the details.
Probably why the Kevlar is in there. He thought as he took a moment to check and make sure that there was nothing that might cause the boy to reject the outfits, If my sources were correct then the boy and his friends routinely help the Slayer in her nightly duties which would mean that they likely would likely benefit from the extra protection.
With his inspection concluded he placed the tops back on the boxes and quickly taped them back up so that there would be no sign that the costumes had been tampered with before purchase. From there it was quick drop of one costume per store bag and he was off to the cash register out front to deliver his 'solution' to the leading man of Ripper's little crew.
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In Front of Sunnydale High School, Ten Minutes Before Four"C'mon Buffy! I stuck to your rules every step of the way." Xander said as he tried to draw the blonde Slayer out of the bad mood she'd been in since he hooked up with her at her place, "It can't be mistaken for a bathing suit, it's not transparent in the least and it's not made of spandex which you can easily check by looking at the tag on the back of the neck part."
"You knew when I said no spandex that I meant no skin tight material Xander!" Buffy pointed out angrily as she continued to march towards the front doors of the school in her costume, "Besides I am SO gonna have mask hair after this!"
"If you meant to say no skin tight material you should have said no skin tight material Buff'." He said pointing out the fact in a way that made it sound like it was her fault he misunderstood, "Besides it's too late now to go get another costume so just try and make the best of it. Besides with you dressed up like Spider-man maybe the kids will actually do what you tell them to do."
"It's not the kids I'm worried about. Mostly. It's all the jocks and people we go to class with staring at the skin tight wearing me that I'm not thrilled about." She said as the group entered the school and headed to the student lounge to pick up their group of rugrats, "Arrgghh! Let's just get this over with!"
Heading down the hallways there was no trouble in finding out where the kids were since all they had to do was follow the yelling, screaming and sounds of little sneaker clad feet on the tiled floor. However when they turned the corner they saw a sight that had probably reassured Buffy that she wouldn't be the one that the jocks and guys would be staring at. Standing dead center with her own group of five kids was one Cordelia Chase clad in her skintight red, black and gold Spider-person costume. Looking around it was obvious that every male in the place had his eyes glued to Cordy and her curve following costume. Even the occasional elbow by the girlfriend's of the jocks who were present only served as a minor distraction for the guys and it apparently took a slap across the face to get the guys to realize that they were screwing up their nookie chances for the next month.
"Well Buff' I don't think that you have to worry about being the center of attention." He said seeing both the blonde Slayer and Willow gape at all the attention Queen C was getting, "Though I'm betting that Cordy's gonna be getting a lot of attention she doesn't need for at least a month."
"Couldn't happen to a more deserving person!" Willow said almost too softly to hear.
Turning around he shook his head at the fact that his bestest bud since pre-school was still using Buffy and him as human shields to keep anyone from getting a good look at her in her black and white Spider outfit. It had been like this almost from the moment she put it on and it took a full twenty minutes of convincing and promises to come to her aid if she needed it to get her to leave the Summers home. He wasn't looking forward to trying to get her to go out with her group of brats by herself since she was likely to nervous herself into a tizzy without either him or Buffy to calm her down. Right then and there he made a mental note to try and keep his group of kids no more than two houses away from Willow's group at all times. Hopefully just being within eyesight of his redheaded buddy would be enough to keep her from totally freaking out in front of her group of pre-teen punks.
"Rowr! Willow! Don't you know you're supposed to be Spider-woman tonight not Ca-AAAAAA!!! Hey!" he yelped as someone pinched his butt causing him to leap and turn at the same time to find out who the offender was.
What he saw was one dark blue with scarlet spider clad blonde with a playful grin on her face and both hands behind her back that was causing her ch…
NOT going to go there! I am NOT going to pull a Deadboy! He thought firmly to himself as he wrenched his thoughts away from where they'd been going and towards where he thought they should be with regards to the younger sister of Buffy Summers.
"Watch it with the hands Dawn-patrol! This guy's butt is a strict no pinching zone." He said trying to make a funny with what material he had on hand.
"Well then why don't you tell me what parts of you I can pinch and I'll stick to those spots." Dawn stated with a look on her face that she had a few ideas all her own about where she could peck a piece of Xanderness.
"There will be no pinching young lady! No pinching of the Xan-man!" he said with some anxiety at his lack of success in the 'flee from naughty Dawn' war.
"So then groping, fondling and rubbing are alright?" Dawn asked sounding and looking the picture of innocence.
"DAWN MARIE SUMMERS!!" Buffy screeched obviously having reached her tolerance level for her sister's 'too-R-rated-for-someone-her-age' words, "Not one more word out of you or mom's gonna get a full report when we get back home!"
"Geez Buffy! I was just playing around with him a little!" Dawn said with an annoyed tone of voice as she slipped out of her teasing mode, "Besides if I really wanted to come onto him I'd have jumped onto his back and made sure he felt everything."
This looked like it would seriously cause the blonde Slayer to blow her top, grab her sister and drag the youngest Summers woman straight home. Fortunately Willow noticed the attention that Buffy's yelling was garnering them from the rest of the student body and decided it was worth momentarily exposing her leather clad form to get her first real girl friend away from her sister before something bad happened. While he was thankful that his redheaded pal had managed to head off a potential eruption of Mount Buffy it was obvious the girl's brain was still a little addled by her discomfort of people seeing her in something skin tight 'cause otherwise she would have figured out that by removing the blonde Slayer he was now pretty much alone with the blonde Slayer's sister.
"So Xan when do we do our date… I mean duty?" Dawn said with a smile that made it clear that she hadn't slipped up with her words by accident but rather on purpose.
Methinks this is gonna be a long night! He thought to himself as his mind scrambled to come up with more than three ways to keep Dawn doing something he'd regret later.
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Higher Plain of Existance, Realm of Janus"Oh what an opportunity! What a meal this could be!" crowed the God known as Janus as he looked down at the variables and probabilities coming together atop the Hellmouth.
"Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself?" his other half asked as if to remind him of something, "The spell that mortal Rayne is going to cast to invoke our power is only designed to last the night. No matter how much chaos those five create it'll be over by sunrise if not earlier."
"Normally yes but I'm planning on 'tweaking' things a little so that those five mortals will keep what they gain this night." The playful side of Janus stated his amusement not dimmed in the slightest, "After all if one wall crawler in New York can provide me with a tasty treat every now and again then think what five more web slingers could provide me with!"
"You can't do that!! You know that the Powers That Be have plans for that girl and her friends! They'll be pissed if you give them all the powers of the spider!" the more cautious and responsible side of Janus exclaimed in fear at what his other half was planning.
"Oh like those pencil pushers ever do anything but give out orders!" the playful Janus said with his humor only slightly reduced at the thought of the potential trouble the PTBs might cause him, "Besides I plan on throwing a little variety into the powers these five receive. I recently took a peek in Zeus' pool of seeing and saw all the different forms Spider people can come in and it gave me some great ideas!!"
"Zeus! You used Zeus' seeing pool!! Do you have any idea what he'll do when he finds out!?!?!?!" the more responsible side of Janus exclaimed with genuine fear at all the trouble his more playful side was getting the both of them into.
"Don't worry! I know about a few trysts the Olympian had that Hera is completely clueless about." The playful side of Janus stated to reassure his responsible side, "All I have to do is imply that I would go straight to Hera with that information and he'll back down. After all he just got her to trust him again a century or two ago. There's no way he's going to risk another thousand years of her giving him trouble just because I looked in his pool of seeing!"
"I guess I better get started picking our spot in purgatory 'cause I don't need to be a god to know what's going to happen to us after this!" his more responsible half stated as though his fate was sealed.
"You'll be singing another tune when all that chaos cuisine comes in tonight my stiffer half!" the playful face of Janus stated as he prepared to enact his plans for the five mortals garbed as Spider people.
Suffice it to say that this is a perfect example of why you should pay a little more attention to your responsible side folks.
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The Library, Sunnydale High School,
One Hour After the Janus Halloween Spell Ended"So anyone else feel like a super freak right now?" Cordy asked sarcastically from her seat looking like she wanted nothing more at the moment than to literally start bouncing off the walls in anger.
Funny thing was that she could literally do that if she wanted to but at the moment the weight of the changes she and all the others had undergone was keeping her still so she could at least partially lie to herself and say she was still normal. However all of them knew she was anything but after the events of earlier that night and neither were they. Unlike the rest of the trick or treaters that got their costumes from Ethan frickin' Rayne's store they had retained control of their bodies for the most part with only a few things shoved into their heads. The major thing that was put in there was the knowledge of how to control and use their new spider centered abilities which turned out to be a definite plus when Spike showed to take advantage of the chaos the spell had created. It had been like a cat playing with a mouse the way the gang had been able to run him ragged when the walking corpse tried to get away from them. The vamp didn't stand a chance against any of them with their newly obtained Spider powers but it was fun tricking him into thinking he might get away only to pull the rug out from under him at the last minute. Too bad the spell was broken before they could dust him and even more frustrating was that when the spell did break all of them were disoriented for a bit letting Spike finally slip past them so he could crawl back under whatever rock he lived under. However the real shock was yet to come when Cordy got super pissed at Buffy for involving her in this weirdness and reflexively shot her with some kind of energy blast.
Yeah. Here we all thought that we had just gotten copied versions of the real web head's powers but looks like some of us got a few extras. Xander thought as he looked down at the laid out Slayer that was still unconscious on the library's main table.
For Queen C it seemed to be some kind of venom blasts (her own name for them), a limited form of flight that might actually be gliding given the webbed wings under her arms and unless he missed his guess some sort of animal magnetism given how she managed to lure the vamps following Spike into their traps just by talking naughty to them. Then again the vamp minions may have just been thinking with their little heads rather than the one on their shoulders so he might have just been assuming too much.
For his bestest bud Willow she also got the basic enhance physical abilities like strength, speed, agility and the ability to cling to walls or ceilings. The add-ons turned out to be the fact that she could apparently generate energy based webbing where ever she wanted and control it like most people would control their limbs. It was a big help in blocking off Spike's means of escape whenever he actually managed to get some distance from the rest of them. She also seemed to have a super enhanced sense of touch because even if she couldn't see the corpse she could apparently feel his footsteps in the floor when he walked about. So all she had to do was scratch out the footsteps of the people she could see and knew in order to pick out peroxide boy's feet from the mixture of input she was receiving. Unfortunately now that the spell was gone she was having problems filtering through all the different input she was getting as well as blocking it out when she didn't want it. Fortunately the G-Man had agreed to teach her some meditative techniques to increase her mental control and would hopefully aide her in mastering this ability.
Dawn-patrol's abilities were pretty much an amalgam of Willow and Cordelia's abilities with some extra's like energy based spider legs she could sprout from her back. She could also get brief precognitive flashes and possessed some pretty impressive telepathy which she had used to apprise the rest of them of Spike's next move so that they were always one step ahead of him. Unfortunately now that the fighting was done and the talking had begun the younger sister of Buffy Summers was using this telepathy to plant some rather… intimate… images in his head which he was doing his best to keep from affecting his ability to speak clearly.
For him and Buffy though it was pretty much a copy of the abilities the real Spider-man was said to have or was speculated to have. Super strength, enhanced reflexes, increased agility, the ability to stick to almost any surface and wall crawl and a sixth sense to warn them of danger as well as which direction it was coming from were the ones they had managed to nail down so far on their own. Of course there was also the somewhat ick worthy ability to shoot webs from their wrists like Spider-man could but up until the spell kicked in both he and probably Buffy assumed that he had some kind of mechanical device under his costume that shot the webs. The blonde Slayer was less than pleased to know that they actually came from some kind of slit in their skin just beneath their wrists. While he hadn't been quite as repulses by this as Buffy had he had to admit that he wasn't crazy about the idea of shooting out bodily generated webbing from his own body. Still it had been handy in tripping up Spike so he was willing to give it some more time before he passed final judgment on the ability.
"Speak for yourself Cordy! I think this is a BLAST!" Dawn said from her position on the ceiling of the library, "Plus the hotness upgrade we all got must cheer you up a little!"
That was another thing that they got with the spell and kept after the spell ended. Each of them were now the epitome of physical perfection for their respective genders and ages although Buffy would likely argue that there was no WAY someone her younger sister's age could have a body like that naturally. He of course could not agree or disagree with that since there was no way he was letting the Dawn-meister add physical teasing to the little telepathic jpegs she was dropping into his head. For him he now found that he was built like a jock with serious muscles everywhere that would no doubt grab the attention of every girl in school if showed them off. Unfortunately while his body may have undergone a major upgrade he was for the most part still the same old Xander Harris and that meant he automatically thought the worst of any looks he might get in the hallways. Maybe that would change over time but for the time being he'd keep wearing the same clothes he always did to school.
"Well okay maybe it's not all bad!" Cordy admitted reluctantly as she looked down at her definitely fine body, "But we're still freaks!! I mean no one normal can do what we can now! I want the freakiness gone but the body enhancements to stay!"
"U-unfortunately Cordelia a-any means of reversing what was done to you all will likely not be selective about what it will undo and what it will allow to remain." Giles said speaking up for the first time after nearly being reduced to a stuttering mess when they all first walked into the library, "In all likelihood it will be a-an 'all or nothing' sort of arrangement."
This caused the Queen C to look seriously put out and ready for much ranting but apparently her few working brain cells told her that nothing would likely come of it so she chose to fume in silence.
"Assuming of course we want to get rid of them at all." He said coming to a decision on his own about where he stood on the situation.
"Xander?" asked Willow from her seat to the left of the unconscious Buffy.
"Think about it guys! We have a chance to do more good than we ever could have just being out normal selves." He said growing more confident in his position with every word, "I mean sure we helped Buffy out every once and awhile by researching the latest demon or doing crowd control whenever she needed a room cleared of innocent people but let's face the fact that we were pretty much just a support team. No matter how much we really tried to help Buffy was still the one to take down the big bads in the end. With these powers we can change all that!"
"While I admire your willingness to sacrifice your normality to help Buffy out I do not think you truly realize what you would be getting yourself into by becoming a more central part of the struggle." Giles stated sounding less like he really wanted to oppose the idea and more like he wanted to make sure everyone made an informed choice, "A-as a member of the support team you have the benefit of mostly being ignored by the threats Buffy faces each night. There are certain advantages to being beneath the notice of most demonic threats such as the element of surprise and being able to work without interruption."
"I know that moving up beside Buff' instead of staying behind her puts me in more danger G-man but it's a chance I'm willing to take." He said with complete honesty and determination, "I've heard from both you and Buffy that most Slayers don't make it past their first year. Did you ever think that maybe that's because they had to fight alone? A Watcher can only provide so much support with their books and crossbows. With these powers we could make sure that Buffy lives long enough to have grand-kids!"
"Or you could simply provoke the demonic community into increasing their own strength to counteract the change in the status quo between them and the Slayer." Giles said a little more sharply than he intended due to what Xander implied about Watchers, "You must understand Xander that the universe works on a series of checks and balances that play a big role in ensuring that neither the light or the darkness can maintain an advantage over the other for long. If you keep these powers then evil will be permitted to gain an equally powerful warrior for their side in order to counter you. If all five of you choose to retain your abilities then the same amount of power will be added to the forces of darkness to counter you. You could just wind up making matters worse."
"Can't imagine things getting much worse Giles!" he exclaimed not liking the idea of accepting the idea that evil like the type that took Jesse from him would be allowed to exist simply to preserve some stupid balance, "This is a war! A WAR! You don't fight wars to just maintain a stalemate for thousands of years! You fight it to WIN!"
"At what cost! How far are you willing to go to 'win' this war?" Giles said getting increasingly frustrated by the boy's ignorant words about a war that he had only just joined.
"All the way. Whatever it takes!" Xander replied without missing a beat.
"Then you'll become no better than the demons we fight Xander." Giles said firm in the idea that he was right and the teenager in front of him was clueless about the realities of the world, "There is no point to fighting a war against an enemy if you wind up becoming just like them by the end of it! We must always take care to remain true to the reasons we fight, the protection of innocents and the dispensing of justice, or else it is all meaningless."
"Tell that to the people who die everyday while you and the other Watcher's do only half you could do because of this balance. Tell that to Slayers like Buffy whose future gets reduced to a countdown of a year or two once they're called!" Xander shot back feeling that lofty words like 'balance' and keeping true to ideals that do more harm than good helped the enemy more than the good guys.
"If you too are done spraying testosterone all over the place could you please be quiet?" came an annoyed voice from the female form on the table that was coming too, "I've got a splitting headache and you two aren't making it any better with all your yelling!"
Looking in her direction they all watched as the blonde Slayer sat up from her prone position on the library table and took off the mast that until then had been left on her head. Seeing her face all could see the truth of the head pain the eldest child of Joyce Summers and immediately they adjusted their vocal volume levels mentally as well as their moods. While he still believed in his stance of winning the war against the darkness he wasn't about to cause his blonde hero even more pain by yelling about it. He could tell that similar thoughts were going through Giles' mind and so he decided to table their little debate for the time being.
"How are you feeling Buffy?" Willow asked a little too softly.
"I feel like my whole body just got tenderized." Buffy replied managing to convey her soreness through her voice, "Did you have to blast me that hard Cordy?!"
"Look! I'm sorry OKAY! I was just getting a little freaked at being turned into something straight from a carnival side show thanks to you and your loser friends!" Cordy exclaimed not about to deliver an apology without making it sound like she should get one as well.
"So I'm guessing that I wasn't imagining things earlier and we all still have our super powers from the spell?" Buffy asked sounding like she'd kiss the first person to tell her 'yes you were imagining things'.
Tempting. Oh so very tempting! But she'd probably slap me silly once she found out I was lying to her. He thought to himself as he considered the pros and cons of supporting her in denying the truth.
"'Fraid so Buff'! For the foreseeable future you're looking at the Arachnid Alliance!" he said testing out his new name for the team since Scooby gang didn't quite seem to fit them anymore.
"'Arachnid Alliance' Xander?" Buffy asked looking at him like he'd just told her that he'd seen Snyder actually praising a student that wasn't a brain or jock.
"The S-Men'?" he offered her as a suitable substitute hoping she'd like it better with the first letter of her last name snuck in there.
"How about we leave the team name alone 'til we actually make a decision about whether or not to keep these spider powers of ours." Buffy suggested and stopped his outburst with a hand, "I'm not saying that Giles is right but I am not saying that he's all wrong either. If word gets out that there's a group of spider-people hunting demons in Sunnydale the baddies are going to get all nervous and do something stupid. We need to be sure this will actually be worth the trouble that'll come our way later."
"Okay!" he said reluctantly as he could not disagree that it'd be smart to check all the angles before making a decision.
"Cool. Now unless Giles has some super important bits of wisdom for us I have a date with a hot shower and a warm bed." Buffy said as she started to head for the library doors.
Watching her go he couldn't help but admire the view he had of her… from the rear and definitely had to say that as far as he was concerned this spell definitely had more pros than cons. After all he was now surrounded by three visions of female hotness and gone from shrimp to champ physically in the space of a few hours.
Definitely not seeing a downside here! He thought to himself as the library doors closed behind the blonde Slayer.
However hearing a sound similar to a strip of leather being stretched or someone sitting down on a shiny sofa he turned and saw Dawn hanging down from the ceiling using a strand of the energy webbing she could now form.
The faux innocent look on her face did not fill him with optimism about what she was about to say next.
"So Xander? You looking for a partner for when you go patrolling?" she asked making it sound like she was serious about fighting the good fight but the look in her eye clearly saying that the only fighting she'd be doing would be with his mind.
Hello downside! He thought to himself as he predicted how hard it'd be to decline her advances especially now that she had gotten a hotness upgrade and wouldn't be so easy to get away from anymore.
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A Little Over a Year and a Half Later, New York City, New York, Night Time"Not looking good for the web head is it Xan?" Dawn asked from her place at his side.
"Not with both Sandman and Smiley double teaming him like this it isn't." he replied looking up as his favorite male hero tried desperately to get to the redhead trapped in the cab suspended several stories above the ground by black webbing, "Even with that guy on the hover board helping out all it's gonna take is one slip up and either him or Spidey are going to be instant bug food."
"So are we gonna do anything about it or just stand by and do nothing?" the youngest Summers daughter asked while never letting her eyes leave the combatants fighting overhead.
That was the question of the day and for a moment he was caught between what he wanted to do versus what experience had taught him since that Halloween night a year and a half ago. In the months that had followed that night Giles had gone all out to find a way to reverse the changes wrought in the five of them. He called in every favor he was owed and consulted every book he could get his hands on with Willow consulting the internet for what areas no book really covered. While he had been slightly hurt that his bestest bud would be in favor of taking from him the powers that allowed him to contribute more to the gang as a whole he could understand why she had done it. While Giles' meditation exercises and some help from Ms. Calendar had lessened the strain and discomfort the redhead received from her powers it still wasn't pleasant being able to feel every vibration in the ground around her.
Cordy of course milked her newfound perfect female form for all it was worth during high school and when he'd last talked with her she'd actually managed to land a role on some TV crime drama. Apparently she was playing the role of a female private investigator that occasionally aided two L.A lawyers. Apparently all the entertainment journalists that had done work on the show were expecting big things for it and even had a few positive things to say about Queen C as well. Nothing big of course since Cordy was an unknown and this would be her first serious role but still it was promising. Once she had gotten over the initial 'freakiness' of her condition she had embraced it completely and while not joining them on patrols all the time she could be counted on to show up when something big came up.
Buffy on the other hand had over time come to see the new powers as a godsend since with her enhanced speed, strength and agility as well as spider powers on top of her Slayer abilities the number of demons she actually had trouble putting down had been few. That was not to say that the past year and a half hadn't had its rough spots and for the blonde Slayer there had been one particularly nasty spot when during the crisis with a demon called The Judge Angel had somehow lost his soul. While Buffy hadn't been overly forthcoming with the details he had been able to come up with a few theories after seeing the look on her face. It had disgusted him for awhile that she had actually done it with what had essentially been a corpse but the pain in her eyes had been enough to persuade him to keep his mouth shut at the time. After the destruction of the Judge at the mall the pain she felt at dusting Angelus was masked only by the pride he himself had felt at her being able to find the inner strength to do her duty despite her feelings for Angel. When he had inquired with her afterwards what had given her the strength to do it she revealed something he had thought up until then only he possessed.
Apparently unlike with the others both he and Buffy had somehow had the memories and personality of the real Spider-Man, the real Peter Parker, copied into their heads. It hadn't shown up right away for either of them but had rather been shown to them in their dreams and in certain surprise episodes of academic excellence in school. Subjects that neither he no Buff' had done well in before they were slowly starting to become straight A students in with sufficient speed to make Snyder go nuts trying to figure out how they were cheating. It took until just before the mess with the Judge had started before everything in their heads finished settling into place but by then the word 'responsible' had taken on a deeper meaning for them both. It was the words of wisdom that Peter's Uncle Ben had given to Pete that last time in the car before the surrogate father of the web head had been murdered that had prodded her into doing her duty. Mentally both before and after Angel had turned into Angelus she had known that the things that had happened to Peter hadn't happened to her and that the emotional baggage that came with the memories had nothing to do with her at all. However when the time to make a choice arrived at the mall that night all she could think about was about the people that would die if she didn't stake Angelus right then.
Feeling the guilt that Pete felt from letting that crook go when he could have done something was terrible enough for the both of us to carry around after Halloween. He thought to himself as he watched Hover Boy use the jets on his board to roast Sandman, She couldn't bear to have more guilt piled on top of that for every person Angelus would kill if she let him go.
Buffy had disappeared after that fight in the Sunnydale Mall and there were precious few clues as to where she'd gone. However when he began hearing things on the radio of the L.A.P.D finding a variety of muggers and kidnappers webbed up in alleyways. While the others had been a bit skeptical he had known from the beginning that it was Buffy and figured that if she had been up to catching a few crooks every now and again in L.A then she'd be back with them in Sunnydale in no time. True to form he was right on the money since she strolled back into town in September a little down in the dumps but still ready to step up to the line and do her duty. From there the usual 'fun' had started with the arrival of some potential Slayer named Faith who was, as they found out later rather than from her, on the run from some old vamp named Kakistos. Needless to say what caused problems for one potential Slayer and a Watcher proved to be no problem at all for five Spider people. Well four since Cordy pretty much turned around and went home after she saw how ugly Kakistos was and refused to go near anything that gross. ANYway things slowed down about after that with just your usual Dr. Hyde guy and then a fake Watcher before being topped off by those asshole Watchers coming to town 'cause of some test they put Slayers through when they hit eighteen. Naturally everyone agreed that they should keep their spider powers under wraps since no one wanted to give the Tweed Brigade a reason stick around. There were a few close calls but by the time Travers left town every member of the Arachnid Alliance (he was the only one to use that name. Everyone else stuck with the Scooby gang) was relatively sure that the Watchers hadn't suspected a thing.
After all perfect actors they were not if the pissed look on Travers' face was anything to go by after Buffy zinged him with a couple of choice quips. He thought with a pleased smile.
From there though signs began to pop up that there was something more going on in Sunnydale than incompetent cops and the big bad of the week. Bit by bit they discovered that there was some big mastermind running things in town but it wasn't until it was revealed that Faith had gone over to the dark side that they were given the truth. As it turned out the Mayor of Sunnydale Richard Wilkins the Third was the mastermind behind it all and had been building up to something big for the past century. Naturally though everyone thought that with super cool spider powers on their side they'd make quick work of the Mayor's plans. Sadly they underestimated how networked the guy was and while they did manage to slow down his plans for the Ascension they weren't able to keep the key components for the ritual out of his hands. Thus they were forced to come up with a plan B since plan A 'keep the key stuff away from the baddie' had gone straight down the drain. Fortunately between him, Buffy and Willow they had been able to come up with an explosive solution to the problem in the form of rigging the high school to blow. All Buffy had to do was piss off both Faith and Wilkins off with a few choice comments and assaults to their pride to get the duo to follow her into the hallways and straight to ground zero of the blast. Faith managed to get clear of the worst of it but got hit in the head by some flying debris and that put her in a coma that she was stuck in to this day.
From there he'd decided that it might be a good idea to put some distance between him and the Hellmouth for a while to get some R&R. He'd been all packed and ready to go but no sooner did he step out the front door of the humble Harris home then he ran into Dawn who looked like she was running away from home. With a backpack on her shoulders and a duffel bag in her hands she had been standing next to his car with a smile on her face that just screamed trouble. Apparently she'd heard about his plans for a road trip from Willow and decided she'd join him. Naturally he played the parental card hoping that the mention of Joyce's name would make the youngest Summers back down but to his complete shock Mrs. Summers had actually supported the idea. What was even more shocking was that they'd be picking up Buffy on the way out of town and that that part was non negotiable. While Joyce had been a little easier on the worrying as far as Buffy being the Slayer and Dawn helping out once she'd been clued in on the spider powers she still wasn't about to let the youngest Summers girl go anywhere without at LEAST two chaperons. Buffy of course hadn't been thrilled in the beginning about having her summer plans forcibly changed thanks to her little sister but as the days past the newness of every town they stopped in changed her mood for the better bit by bit.
By the time they reached New York City she was actually acting like she'd been behind the idea all along and was enjoying everything that the city had to offer. Naturally Dawn's little sister tendencies had her pointing out that Buffy had been dragged kicking and screaming into the car at every available opportunity but the blonde Slayer of course did the big sister thing and ignored Dawn. This left him in the middle doing his best to referee and keep the trip fun for all rather than having it degrade into a FREE for all between the two of them. Fortunately their timing for coming to the big apple was perfect since not a day after they arrived there was a big ceremony being held to honor the one and only true web slinger for saving the life of the daughter of a local police captain's daughter. Surrounded by Spidey fans of all ages and seeing the real deal in person completely distracted all three of them from whatever was bothering them at the time. True the event had been cut short by the Sandman robbing an armored car nearby but the ceremony had definitely been the bright spot for that day.
However it also introduced a question of sorts into his mind that had him almost completely zoning out for the three days that followed. He knew that Peter Parker was Spider-man. Should he try and meet with Pete and let him know that there were two other people out there that knew some of his innermost secrets? He had thought it would be the right thing to do just in case something happened in the future that let some big bad take a peek inside his or Buffy's heads. The guy deserved to get a heads up in case trouble popped up one day. However the thing that had kept him from going straight to the guy's apartment was that if he told Pete that two other people knew his civilian I.D the science guy would want to know how. He knew that would tread into dangerous territory and might require Buff' to spill the Slayer beans to the nephew of Aunt May. After all to most people magic, demons and vampires were a bunch of nonsense especially to those stern supporters of the scientific method. He knew that Pete was a scientist through and through and would not be easy to convince that magic and demons were real tangible things. So up until tonight, when Pete was fighting for his life against two powerful opponents, he had been debating the pros and cons of it all as well as how he'd do it if he decided to meet Peter. Now though it looks like fate was demanding that he step up to the plate and choose a path.
Looking down at Dawn then at Buffy he knew that for them there was only one real choice that they could live with.
"Let's find someplace secluded to change into our fighting threads." He said and without a further word to either Summers girl he quickly separated himself from the crowd that was watching the fight and headed to the first alleyway he could find.
"Fighting threads? What do you mean Xan'?" Buffy asked once they were far enough into the alleyway that only someone looking directly down from the mouth of it would be able to see them.
To answer her he reached into his pockets and pulled out a pair of crimson gloves with ridges on them that looked like spider webs.
"You brought it with you?!" Buffy asked in shock as he put the gloves down on a trashcan before pulling his shirt over his head to reveal the top of his Halloween costume which had undergone some cosmetic changes since he bought it.
For one thing the color scheme had been flipped somewhat in that the torso part of the top was now sky blue, the spider symbol both on the chest and on the back had been enlarged considerably and the arms were now like the gloves in that they were completely red with ridged web designs on them.
"Of course! Ever since I decided on coming to the Big Apple I've been trying to decide on whether or not to try and get some web swinging in." he replied as he pressed his middle and ring fingers to his palm and webbed up a makeshift bag, "I didn't want my face plastered over every paper in town if some lucky photographer managed to snap a few pics so I brought my Halloween costume along just in case. Considering what we're about to do I'd say I made the right move!"
"Are you out of your MIND!?" Buffy exclaimed before realizing that yelling might draw attention to the three of them, "We have enough enemies to deal with back home without putting out want ads for more by swinging around New York City. Or do you really think that the web head's baddies are just going to leave us alone once they know we're out there?"
"Don't worry Buffy. As long as nothing happens to my mask and I play it safe no one will know who's in this outfit." He said as he slipped out of his cargo pants revealing that his bottoms had a color scheme identical to his arms and gloves, "Besides it's not like I'm gonna be wearing it back in Sunnydale or anything so no one who spots me tonight will have a clue where to start looking for the man behind the mask."
"You mean man and woman behind the mask right Xan'?" asked Dawn who up until this point had been ignored by the two participants of the discussion.
Both he and Buffy looked in the direction of Dawn's voice and both were unable to keep their jaws from dropping to the ground albeit for entirely different reasons. Standing before them and slipping off her jeans was Dawn Summers in her Spider person costume but like his own outfit it too had undergone some changes. The color scheme and design were pretty much the same but there was now considerably less fabric involved. The top half of her costume that had once covered everything between the waist and neck had been reduced to a halter-top that stopped an inch or two below her chest thus showing off quite a bit of stomach as well as her arms. As for the bottom half of the costume everything from the knees down to the ankle were gone leaving only what could be called slippers on her feet. About the only thing that appeared to be untouched was the mask covering everything from the tip of her nose to the top of her forehead. For him this was shocking because like any red-blooded teenager he was unable to prevent himself from recognizing how sexy she looked right then. For Buffy on the other hand it was probably her shock at the possibility that she might just have been dethroned as the better looking daughter of Joyce Summers as well as how much Dawn skin was showing at the moment. Fortunately he was the one to first come out of his shock, or at least his brain was, but his mouth apparently had blown a judgment fuse.
"Well I think it's safe to say that I won't have to worry about the cameras being aimed at me while we're out there." He said as he slipped his gloves on and pulled his mask on.
"DAWN!! You are NOT going out there like THAT!!" Buffy exclaimed no longer caring who heard her but rather preferring to make her opinion known LOUD and CLEAR, "Do you WANT to give mom a heart attack?! You know that this is going to wind up on the news and that she's going to see it sooner or later!!"
"Chill sis! Like Xander said if we play it safe no one will be able to get anything close to a head shot of me much less anything else." Dawn said as though she was barely interested in what her older sister had to say as she slipped her gloves on, "Besides you can't say you weren't thinking about doing the same thing!"
Just by the look on Buffy's face after that comment he knew exactly what Dawn was implying and the hypocrisy of what the blonde Slayer was trying to keep her younger sister from doing.
"I was not!" Buffy said in a futile attempt to deny the implications of Dawn's statement.
"Oh really?" Dawn said with an 'I do not think so' tone of voice and without warning the younger summers shot out two strands of psi-webbing and then yanked upwards.
The two strands slapped onto the bottom of Buffy's shirt and when Dawn yanked them up the shirt went with it taking the front of the shirt with it. Not exactly what he would have done considering how females generally react when part of their wardrobe is destroyed. However it did reveal that just like him Buffy had her spider person costume underneath her shirt and thus made it obvious to anyone who knew her that she had indeed planned on doing some web slinging during her time in New York City. Still she was not a happy Slayer at the moment and while the jacket she was wearing would allow her to cover up what her shirt now could not he knew she'd be ranting extra hard now.
"DAWN!!" Buffy growled while pulling her jacket across her exposed front to hide her Spider outfit.
"Look Buffy! Me and Xander are going to help Spider-Man one way or another so you can either stand here and wait for us to come back or join in." Dawn said as she began to climb up the side of the building that made up one half of the alleyway, "Besides if you're so worried about upsetting Mom think about how worried she'd get if she saw me fighting Sandman and his Slime-Man pal without you there to keep me safe."
With no further words spoken the youngest Summers girl hastened her climb up the wall no doubt with the intention of getting sufficient height to web swing over to the construction site where the fighting was going on as they spoke. Looking at Buffy he had to admit that what Dawn said was true since whether the blonde Slayer liked it or not he was going to led Pete a helping hand. Looking at her for a moment he then leapt up into the air and grabbed a hold of the wall just below where the Dawn-meister was at the moment. Climbing up the wall and keeping pace with the blonde above him (while keeping his eyes someplace completely neutral of course) he hoped that Buffy would understand why this had to be done and join them. If she didn't though he wouldn't take it out on her later like Dawn probably would. Buffy had enough on her plate as the Slayer and this was supposed to be a vacation for her so he could understand why she didn't want to do anything to ruin that. Besides between him and Dawn they'd pound some sense into Sandman and his buddy then web them up for the cops to pick up later.
Upon reaching the top of the building they could see that the fight between Sandman and Hover Board Dude had pretty much finished up, the hostage had been rescued and the battle against Goop Guy had moved into the framework of the new building under construction.
"Guess we better get a move on before all we can do is make a dramatic entrance eh Dawn?" he asked in a mock casual voice.
"It's be a shame to get all dressed up and have no one to pound." She replied with an excited grin on her face.
"Well then ladies first!" he said with a gentlemanly bow and gesture towards the construction site.
"Why thank you kind sir!" Dawn said with a half curtsy before firing off a psi-web line and swinging away towards their sparring partner for the evening.
Seeing her swing away he decided it would be appropriate to take a moment to reflect on what was about to happen and what it would probably mean for the future of him and his girls.
Reflecting.
Okay! I've done enough reflecting! He thought humorously before firing off a web line of his own and following the youngest Summers daughter into battle, Time to make with the quip slinging and bad guy pounding!
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