"Xander, I'm freaking out!" Cordelia said after desperately dialing his phone number. "My mom broke into my closet and is wearing Lycra! She should know there's an age limit on wearing that stuff! She's the one who taught me fashion!"
"She's not the only one acting weird. Mom and Dad are smoking weed. I have no idea where they got it, not to mention, I should never ever see my mother wear a halter top and cut off jeans. It's a fantasy killer!"
"Ew!"
"Big time!"
"We need to find the others, someone's done something and we need to figure out what it is!"
Xander picked up Cordelia and they headed to Aura's. She was sitting on a chair on her front porch looking freaked out.
"What is going on?!" She yelled, when she saw them. "Mom is having sixties flashbacks. She's dressing like a hippie and singing power ballads. She can't sing anymore then Cordelia can!"
"Hey! I can too sing!"
"Honey, I'm afraid you can't." Xander said bluntly. "Let's go get Johnathan, maybe he has some clue what's going on, because I sure don't."
"The only thing I can think that's different, is that they've been eating a ton of the band candy. My parents bought my whole supply." Johnathan told them, when they arrived at his place.
"Actually, so did my parents." Xander said. "We need to check out the candy. Jonno, you hack the school, find out where the candy came from. Aura, let's run some Magic tests."
"I'll get my mother's supplies." She answered, as Johnathan sat down at his computer and went to work.
"I've got something." He said a little while later. "I found a note on the school secretary's online day planner. Snyder told her, the candy came from the school board, so I hacked the school board. They got the candy from a company the Mayor recommended."
"That can't be good."Xander said.
"I found something too." Aura said. "The candy's been dosed, magically. It's a formula used in bacchanals. It puts people in a highly suggestible state and makes them feel young. It's apparently quite a high when taken directly. Putting it in the candy would mute and delay the onset of the state."
"Someone doesn't want to connect the candy to what's happening to the adults." Xander said.
"This is a distraction. We're focused on the adults and something is happening elsewhere." Cordelia concluded.
"I agree. Jonno, where's the distribution point for the candy?"
"A factory down town. I'll pull what there is on it. Give me a minute." Johnathan answered. "Guys, this isn't good. The space is owned by the Mayor, but it's being rented by Ethan Rayne."
"The guy from Halloween?!" Xander exclaimed. "Giles' old friend?!"
"He and the Mayor must be working together." Cordelia said. "We have to go to that factory. Ethan's got answers we need."
"Agreed. Cordy and I'll go. Aura, you track us, in case we run into trouble. Jonno, see if you can find any significance to this date in regards to Magic or demons."
Once Xander and Cordelia arrived at the factory, they went around to the back and entered thru a service door. They could hear voices and peered thru the stacks of boxes.
"Buffy must have figured out what's going on, herself." Xander said when they saw who was talking. "And is that Giles dressed like Fonzi?"
"And what is Joyce wearing?! That coat has to go! The rest looks good on her though."
They listened while Ethan explained to Buffy that the candy was indeed a distraction and the Mayor was using it as an opportunity to have four newborn babies kidnapped and fed to a demon. They watched as Buffy, Giles, Joyce and oddly Snyder, left to try to save the babies and hopefully kill the demon. Ethan was sneaking toward another exit when Xander jumped him.
"Who are you?!" He exclaimed.
"Someone who has a bone to pick with you. People are hurt because of you. There's some others that are going to want a word with you, too."
Ethan tried to use Magic, only for it to bounce off of Xander's protections. Xander smiled, it wasn't a nice smile.
"Crap." Ethan said.
"That about sums it up, doesn't it." Xander agreed, as Cordelia hit him over the head and knocked him out.
"Daddy's going to be so proud of me." She said.
"Yeah, I think mine will be too. Let's get him back to your place. Hopefully Buffy and them have saved the babies and killed the demon. Oh, and we shouldn't leave this candy here. Someone else could find it and spread it around town again."
Xander held a lit match up to a water sprinkler and set off the system, drenching the candy and hopefully ruining it.
"Nicely done." Cordelia told him.
"I hope it doesn't take our parents long to return to normal."
It didn't, within a couple of hours, they were all back to normal.
"So this is the guy who caused all the problems on Halloween and again tonight." Charles said, eyeing Ethan. "We have a present for you Mr. Rayne. Jessica, if you wouldn't mind?"
"My pleasure." She answered and preceded to strip Ethan's powers from him.
"Bloody Hell, woman! What have you done to me?!"
"Stripped you of your powers. You'll never get them back. Hopefully you won't cause anymore problems, but just to be sure. I have one more present for you."
An amnesiac Ethan Rayne was dropped off at the hospital later that night. He never recovered his memory.