A/N This story started as one shot, Xander's costume changing the world and has grown and is continuing to grow into a very much centered Dawn story as she explores her powers front and center, meeting and making friends across the multiverse and in the background her friends and family are exploring their own powers while Dawn's having a ball.
I'm sure many of you know by now that Michelle Trachtenberg, the actress that played Dawn, has died as of Wednesday February 26, 2025. It's one of the roles she's most remembered for. Her life was too short, but she won't be forgotten.
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"Okay, I'd say it's definitely dead." Xander's joke fell decidedly flat as the Scoobies held their noses and tried to breath passed the stench coming from the pet carrier Giles had acquired somewhere. "Now the question becomes why is it still moving? I've never heard of a demon that possess dead cats. Bad enough there used to be demons that possessed dead human bodies, we really don't need demons that possess other kinds of dead bodies."
"I believe it's actually some sort of zombie." Giles informed him.
"I want to eat your brains kinda zombie?" Johnathan asked, standing slightly in front of Harmony, if the zombie cat broke out of there he could maybe drain its energy or something before it ate any brains.
"Zombies don't do that unless ordered to by their zombie masters." Ms. Calendar responded. "That's something Hollywood got wrong, thank goodness."
"Which is only slightly reassuring." Cordelia retorted, trying not to throw up because wouldn't you know it, enhanced senses meant enhanced sense of smell too. "Since we have no idea if this thing has a zombie master or if said master has ordered it to eat brains. That smell is never going to come out. You'll have to move, Mrs. Summers. Don't worry, I'm sure Daddy can help you find a nice new house that doesn't smell like dead cat. Eww."
"I appreciate the offer, Cordelia, but since it would be hard to sell a house that smells like dead cat, I'll have to try scrubbing, bleaching and spraying air freshener throughout the entire house. Repeatedly."
"So how do we go about finding its zombie master?" Buffy asked, gagging herself over that stench.
"We figure out the Magic that makes it possible to move at all." Grandpa told them, he'd been visiting Xander and discussing the very different Magic systems of their worlds when Xander had gotten the call about the dead cat and he'd tagged along, curious about a zombie cat. "In all my years I've never actually encountered zombies and don't know what kind of Magic even makes this possible. As far as I know they're just stories in my world, except maybe for voodoo zombies. I've never met a voodoo practitioner, so I've never had a chance to ask them."
"It's a fascinating practice -."
"Giles!"
"Yes, right, not the time." The sometimes extremely pedantic man subsided as several voices rose in objection.
"You can tell me all about it later, Giles." Willow offered. "Because I'm sure I'll find it fascinating too."
"You're on your own with that, Will." Xander told her. "I don't even find zombie movies interesting. More along the lines of gross. Poor Dawnie, she was trying to eat when that thing ran in. No wonder she's in the backyard and refusing to come back in. I don't want to be near it either. And it was in the kitchen, where Mrs. Summers makes all those chocolatey delicious things."
"Hot, made with real chocolate, chocolate." Cordelia sighed, remembering last Halloween and Mrs. Summers actually melting chocolate to make the best hot chocolate Cordelia had ever had. "Anyway, Xander do your Magic trick and find its zombie master." She ordered her boyfriend, who pulled the Eye of Agamotto out from under his shirt and activated it.
"Huh, it's being affected by some kind of dark Magic I've never seen before." Xander told them. "But there's a connecting line of energy that probably leads to what's affecting it. It's above us."
"You mean upstairs?" Joyce looked up at the ceiling. "Something upstairs or on the roof, like that?"
"It's possible." Xander nodded. "I can follow the connecting thread to find the origin point."
"Mom's room is right above us." Buffy said, feeling a moment of dread. "And I'm thinking it might not be a coincidence that Mom hung something new on her wall just before this started."
"My Nigerian tribal mask?" Joyce asked.
"Yeah, that thing." Buffy shuddered, remembering the creepy looking mask.
"Nigerian?" Giles asked. "I need to see this thing, if what I suspect -." He led the charge up the stairs and the group crowded into Joyce's bedroom. "Oh dear, it's as I feared." Giles stated, when he spotted the mask hanging on the wall. "The mask holds the power of a zombie demon, called Ovu Mobani - Evil Eye. "
"Eye?" Xander asked. "Basically the opposite of the Eye of Agamotto, which supposedly came from a god. And look, the eyes are glowing. So, no brainer, we do something with the eyes. Giles, will breaking them set loose the power or kill it?"
"Kill it, I believe." Giles responded as Xander conjured a yellow Eldritch Whip and snapped it at each eye, shattering them. The glow died.
"Okay, Mom, say it with me," Buffy looked serious. "no more tribal art!"
"It's a lovely piece," Grandpa stated. "even without the eyes. Reminds me of the hat rack you gave Herman."
"You want it?" Joyce asked. "You can have it, my compliments."
"Thank you, my dear, I do believe I will. Lily will find the perfect place to hang it, I'm sure."