Xander yawned as Snyder paced in front of the gathered Halloween escort 'volunteers'. Somehow, the Principal managed to look pompous and self-important even as he visibly worried.
"Now, I don't trust all you... students to dress in an appropriate manner, "Snyder said, waving an index finger in the air. "Therefore, each of you will take one, and only one piece of paper from a box in front of you. If you are male, you will take a piece of paper from the box marked 'male'. If you are female, then your box is the one labelled 'female'. You WILL dress up as the character written down on that piece of paper. Should you require a costume, if you bring the receipt back from the costume shop then the school will reimburse you for a small portion of the cost. Chase, Cordelia!"
Xander blinked sleepily as Willow poked him. "Wake up, mister," she hissed.
"Aw, I'm preparing for the lack of sleep that escorting screaming six year olds will cause," Xander whined
Snyder had worked his way through part of the list as the two had been chatting. "Harris, Alexander!"
The teenager resisted the temptation to respond with, "Call me Booger." He doubted that Snyder had ever watched the movie 'Revenge of the Nerds'.
He slouched his way to the front, and took a piece of paper. It had written on it, 'Main character "Daniel" from computer game "Painkiller".' "Weird," Xander commented as he wandered back to Wills and the Buffsteroonie. "El Sny, playing computer games?" "Maybe he got some kid to make the list?," Willow offered, reading Xander's slip.
"As long as it wasn't his kid, because the thought of our beloved Principal breeding is too scary to contemplate," Xander added. "Gee, thanks for that beautiful image Xander," Buffy winced. "Rosenburg, Willow!" "Good luck, Wills," Xander said, saluting her.
The redhead poked her tongue out at Xander before moving up to the front. "Well, at least she won't go as a ghost this year," Xander observed to Buffy.
Xander had to hand it to Snyder -- researching his character had actually been fun. While he sucked badly at most modern first person shooter games like 'Ghost Recon', a fast paced twitch game like Painkiller had been fun.
No one in his home had had a leather jacket, so he'd had to hire one from 'Ethans Costume Shop', though. Along with some makeup pencil so he looked like he had three days growth of beard. And some dye... okay, so it wasn't all gravy. It was kinda scary how the shopkeeper dude had a stock of 'Evil Dead' plastic shotguns. He just hoped that that wasn't prophetic in any way.
"Joining a gang, Harris?," Larry taunted. "Yeah, that's about the only way you'll ever amount to anything. "Xander brandished the shotgun at Larry. "You want some of this? " "Oh, please don't hurt me Princess," the jock pretended to whine.
The male Scooby rolled his eyes and moved on.
"Here is your lot, Harris," Snyder snapped as he spotted Xander. "Lose any and it's your head. Same goes if any are hurt. "
"Okay, "Xander said, as the kids all looked up at him. "On sleazing extra candy. Tears can do no evil, as far as you are concerned. Tears will normally be all good, getting you double baggers worth of that lovely stuff. Be warned -- 'you missed me' is risky. Pretty much only worth it for chocolate. Understood?"
The kids all nodded.
"Are you Ash?," one of the older ones asked.
"Hey, you aren't supposed to be watching horror movies," Xander retorted, ruffling the kid's hair and ignoring the brief protest. "No, I'm Daniel."
"The Archangel?," one of the youngest boys asked.
"No, the computer game character," Xander explained. An 'Ohhhh' of understanding was uttered by all of the kids. "Okay, who wants to go get some?"
Daniel blinked, as he looked around. When last he had checked, he had been working his way through a military base in Purgatory. Although why zombie soldiers all needed gas masks was beyond him. He had to get back there -- he was doing what he could to destroy Lucifer's beach head, before the King of Hell could attempt an invasion of the Heavenlies. He also needed to do the task to get into heaven, to meet up with his wife again.
"Xander!," a girl yelled at him. For some reason, the girl had a green glow to her. "Xandeeeeer!"
"Never heard of him," Daniel said, racking a round into his shotgun. Damn... no extra rounds beyond what was in the gun already. He flicked his arm down, retrieving his Painkiller from his subspace pocket. He had no idea why, but some... extras were available to spirits like him.
"Daniel," a familiar voice called to him. He turned to see a familiar sight.
"Sammael," he said, greeting the pale Angel dressed in red-trimmed black. His snow white hair still extended to the small of his back. "Where am I?"
"One of the Higher Powers have summoned you here," Sammael said. "You should be returned to your original location in a few hours. This place... is just normal, mortal Earth. Save for the Mouth of Hell below our feet, it's quite a pleasant place. If you retrieve the Tarot Card from the Mouth, you'll be able to take it with you. "
"Hang on, "the redhead interrupted. "Wasn't Sammael one of the bad guys? I distinctly remember Dad teaching me that.
"A faint scowl appeared on the Angel's face for a split second. "I must return."
With that, the figure disappeared, fading from sight gradually.
Daniel turned to the redhead. "Where is this 'Mouth of Hell'?"
"I don't know," the girl said, frustrated. She tried to pull at his arm, only for her hands to slide through his like scotch mist. "Aaargh! I'm Willow, come on, you know me. We've got to check on Buffy and the others! "
"No, "Daniel decided. "I have to get that card, and get back to Purgatory. My task is not finished. "
"Task schmask, "Willow snapped. "Come on!"