Xander looked around the Costume shop and sighed "Two bucks won't be enough to get anything good" he complained to Jesse but jumped when a cultured British voice responded
"Perhaps you can earn some money to get a costume" the British man answered as Xander turned around and glared at him
"Don't DO that" they growled out as both attempted to slow there heart rate "And what do you mean I could 'Earn' some money?" Xander asked cautiously
"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself, I'm Ethan Rayne I'm the proprietor of this establishment and I believe that as Halloween comes but once a year everyone should dress as the wish" he said with an Oily smile
Xander stared at Jesse for a moment before he looked back at the odd man and shook off the feeling of unease "What do you need us to do?" he asked as he heard Willow and Buffy giggling in the background
"I have a deal, if you can convince your two friends to dress as a group, any group with you. I'll let you pick out any costume of twenty dollars or less" the British man said "And if you will agree to watch the till for me, On promise of fair trading to allow me to pick up some items I have forgotten, I'll allow any costume of fifty dollars or less" Ethan told the two young men who stared at each other for a moment
"Deal" they said in unison as Ethan just grinned again
"Excellent, if you can convince them I'll be waiting up front, in fifteen minutes though the deal is null and void as I will not have time to retrieve the items I require before the shop closes" he said and chuckled to himself as the two youth's rushed to convince there friends //yes, Janus will be especially pleased with these// he thought as he turned back to the till to sell yet another dull demon costume.
After several minutes of arguing, pleading and even blackmailing of Willow, led to the final decision that they should go as a group
Buffy was the first to bring up the nagging question "Okay, what should we go as?"
The confused silence was broken as the group threw around possible choices "Power rangers? The Flintstone's? Demons?" Jesse was looking threw a set when he smiled
"Hey Xander, you remember these?" he asked as he pulled out a Armored body suit and a silenced .45 SOCOM Pistol "I bet we can get the group dressed in these characters" he said with a grin as he pulled the suit and headband off the rack "Dibs on this one" he said as Xander scowled
"And who do you think the girls should go as? I doubt Big Boss is a female" he said as Jesse grinned again
"Never dreamed of it" he said as he pointed to a White coma suit and a heavy sniper rifle "Buffy can go as her" he said and pointed to the BDU's and assault rifle" and Willow can go as her" he said as Xander racked his mind to place the two characters
"But Sniper wolf is Silver haired not blond, and she is a villain" he said as Jesse just smirked again
"Not in this time, remember right now she is working for Fox-Hound, Right now she's a good guy… girl... whatever" he said as he smirked back
Xander tried one last attempt, mostly due to Jesse getting the main character's suit "But who should I dress up as? I can't go as a Villain" he said and snarled at Jesse's grin "You even think about saying Otacon and I'll beat the crap out of you" he said as Jesse lost his grin
"Fine, who should you go as?" he said and waited as Xander looked through the suits, at the end Xander came upon a full body suit and mask along with a large sword
with a grin that rivaled Jesse's he pulled them out and looked at the price tag, "Forty three ninety seven I can handle" he said with a smile as he hefted the suit and weapon and looked to the girls "We'll go as a Fox-Hound team" he said with a smirk
Buffy and Willow looked blank for several seconds before Buffy shook her head "For those of us not in the know... What?" she asked as the two dark haired boys frowned
"Come on" Jesse complained as he picked up the suit he had "I'm Solid Snake" he said as he pointed to the suit and rifle he wanted Buffy to take "You'll be Sniper Wolf"
Xander took over as he pointed to Willow's "you'll be Meryl Silverburch and I will be the Cyborg Ninja, A.K.A Grey Fox" he said with a grin
Buffy looked at the two as if they where crazy before she looked at Willow "Tell me again why we want to do this?" she asked
Xander grinned "Because it's something you'll never have to do again, because it will allow me to get a great costume, because if Willow does not agree I'll tell Buffy about the Snake incident" He said and paused as he tried to think of something else
With a grin Jesse finished for him "Because the sight of us walking into school heavily armed and armored will probably send Snyder into fits that should last for week's to come" he said with a grin from ear to ear.
With twin groans Buffy and Willow picked up there costumes and headed for the counter
as Ethan watched them walk up he took in the odd assortment of weapons and armor the group carried "Aah... I see you are taking a military approach, very well, which of you will mind the till while I run and finish up my collecting?" he said and as one the two females and taller male pointed at Xander
"What? Why me?" he whined as the group paid for there costumes and headed out
"Because it's your costume you're working for" Jesse said with a grin before he walked out leaving a groaning Xander to watch the cash register for a half hour.
Xander met Jesse outside his house and both of the walked towards 1630 Revello Drive
"What's wrong Xan? You're walking kinda weird?" Jesse asked after he watched his friend for a bit
"It's this mask… if it was real I'd have one hundred and eighty degree view… since it's a fake I can only see out of this small hole" he said as he walked carefully to avoid tripping.
With a grin Jesse leaned over "Is that why were now three houses past where we should be?" he said as Xander looked up and scowled through the helmet
"Don't ever bring this up" he grumbled as they turned back to the house
Dawn opened the door and stared at the two figures on there door step "Wow, BUFFY WILLOW YOUR DATES ARE HERE!" she yelled as she went back to her costume.
Jesse and Xander looked at each other before they followed her back "Umm… Dawn? What did you do to your hair, Does your mom know and why aren't you dead?" Jesse said as Dawn Finished up her costume with a grin
"Mom knows, it's actually a wig" she pouted but brightened up again quickly "So wanna guess what I am?" she asked as Xander slipped off his helmet and looked at her
"Let's see, blue Calf length boot's jean shorts a pink shirt a yellow trench coat and glasses?" he said as he grinned "I Don't know... what's her name Jess… celebration? Party? Umm… Marti Gras" he said as Dawn scowled at him
"Its Jubilee" she grated out as Jesse snickered under his breath
"Yup that's the one" Xander said as he heard the sound of the other two women coming down the stairs. Slipping his mask back on Xander and Jesse turned and stared in shock.
Buffy had dyed her hair Silver and stood in a camouflaged body suit, light snipers back over one shoulder and a Fake TPG-1 Sniper rifle slung over her other shoulder
Willows change was even more dramatic, combat boots, Camouflaged BDU pants, and a Tactical harness and Marine green Tank top along with a replica of the G36k Held awkwardly in her right hand changed Willow from the awkward computer geek to the Combat capable young woman before them.
"Wow" Xander stumbled out as Jesse just nodded wordlessly as Willow blushed as red as her hair.
"Come on" Buffy said as she walked down the stairs "We need to get to school before Snyder gives us detention until we're forty" she said.
After yelling goodbye to there mom Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Jesse and Xander walked down the street towards school.
As the troll known as Snyder paced about muttering about corrupting children Xander leaned over to Jesse. "You know… if this mask wasn't on I'd give him such a glare." He said and straightened back up as the principle turned back to the small group.
"I don't want any of you teaching these kids any bad habits, we have enough reprobates with you four and I don't want you creating any more" he said with a sneer before turning back down the hall.
"Dang it Xan, now who are we going to teach how to pick locks, Steal cars, Smoke dring and create general anarchy?" Jesse said with a sad look before he brightened up "guess we just have to pull double shift to make up for it" he said with a grin as the group turned to there respective groups.
With a grin Xander stepped up to the group "Okay listen, Crying and looking sad is a great ploy to use to get more candy, you know how to work cookies out of your parents? Good then use those eyes and if you can start to break down and cry. You can use the 'But you missed me' if your always moving about, it confuses them and makes it easier to them forget wither they gave you some ore not" he said with a smile as the children stared at him.
"Okay everyone have that? Lets go" he said as he ushered his kids out into Halloween "And remember I get ten percent of all candy you receive from my ideas" he said with a grin that hid behind the mask.
As one the kids turned and glared at him for several seconds before Xander relented with a sigh "Okay fine, keep your candy. Not like I wanted it anyway" he sulked as the kids headed for the first house on there route.
Across town Ethan Rayne was finishing up the spell, as he made a cut across his hand and let it drip down he looked back to the statue and finished the chant.
//ooh yes Janus, the chaos from tonight will be most spectacular// he thought as he felt the magic take effect.
-- [Index Tracking] Communicating with Host Satellite… Location Confirmed (North AmericaCaliforniaSunnydale) [Restore Memory Index] Memory Indexing Failure… Corrupt memory Input to mark ASS112-231… Unable to restore lost memory index… Standing Order (EvadeEvaluateEngage) unable to comply (Lost memory Index)… WARNING! Alien Memory Index Found… Engaging foreign memory Index… Memory Index (Harris Alexander L.) Downloaded…--
//What the hell was that?// Xander thought as he picked himself up off the ground and looked around at the Many Demons and monsters running about "This is not good, I've gotta find the others" he said to himself.
He almost jumped out of his skin when a Map overlay of Sunnydale was projected before his eyes with his current position marked
//okay that's just… freaky, Where did that come from?// he thought as he started to move towards where the others where supposed to be.
-- Holographic heads up Display is projected via optical nerve Implants - Was printed on the area underneath the Map
//ooh well… that explains nothing// Xander thought before he slowed to a stop //Actually, that explains everything… HOLY SHIT I'M MY COSTUME!// he thought in stunned silence
-- Negative… You are Using the Armat Strang Cyborg Combat Stealth Suit - Printed up again
//Crap crap CRAP! I thought Halloween was supposed to be free of all this hellmouthy stuff// he grumbled as he continued to move
-- More Information required before Logical course can be issued --
//Yeah Yeah… Stupid Spells// he thought before he turned to a growling kid in a dog Costume "I HATE MAGIC!" He screamed before continuing to search for his friends
-- Reference Magic… Unconfirmed phenomenon… Theory Conflicts with natural reactions - The suit responded again
//Yeah… I can't believe I'm Accepting this as easily as I am// he grumbled to himself as he finally caught sight of Willow and Jesse
-- Acceptance is a Forced issue… Armat Strang Combat suits conform the Issued wearer to accept the Stealth suit and Biological additions before control is given over to Host wearer --
This stopped Xander cold "you mean your messing with my brain to make me accept this" he growled coldly
-- Confirmed… Resistance to Suit and/or enhancements would result in severe neural path failure… this would result in a Eighty six percent chance of permanent brain trauma… this combined with a sixty three percent chance of cessation of all neural functions would result in the death of the wearer… would you like this function disabled? -
//No… Leave the function active// Xander thought as he looked as his two lifelong friends //This is going to be complicated//
-- Confirmed --
--[WARNING] Hostile Units approaching, Units biological makeup is externally less then three percent human, Internal scans reveal one hundred percent human bio-makeup.--
Xander turned as the text printed up and stared at the three short demons approaching. //So there still human under there?// Xander thought as the demons gave a toothy grin.
--[Probable course of Action] Engage, Destroy hostile targets within given perimeters. --
"NO!" Xander shouted in shock as he forced the sword back into the sheath. //These are kids.// he growled in his mind as the demons stared at him in shock at the outburst.
-- Adolescent hostile = Hostile. -- The suit stated as it continued to scan the situation. -- Armat Strang recommends Destruction of hostile contacts, Secondary reaction is non-permanent disabling of all hostile contacts. --
Moving a step away from the micro monsters Xander made a decision. //Okay… Engage that secondary reaction… thing.//
Doing a quick scan of the hostiles the suit scanned the hosts mental facilities and physical strength's the suit calculated the required files and started the upload. -- [Sequence initiated] Uploading Command knowledge. [Sequence completed/Sequence initiated] Uploading Combat Knowledge = Jeet Kun Do. –
David Morgan was confused, a condition he did not enjoy. Last thing he remembered he was moving towards Outer Heaven when he felt himself 'Pulled' away from his body and found himself here in what appeared to be a middle class suburb of America and was currently surrounded by two military females, several civilians and a small horde of "Creatures."
Making a quick scan of the area the agent known as 'Snake' chose a course of action. "On my call, cover the civvies, minimum contact, move for the house." He orders and nearly smiled as he saw the two nod in his peripheral vision before they moved to cover the few non-combatants in the area.
Waiting until the flow of the monsters lessened he drew the SOCOM, "Okay MOVE!" he shouted as he gave the cowering woman in a 16th century dress a shove towards the house.