Xander's Mighty Blast of Rage.

Author: Charles Parker <charles_parkerh[at]hotmail.com>

Author: Adrian_Tepes

Feedback: Coin of the realm

Rating: PG-13

Summary: What if Xander wore something different for Halloween?

Disclaimer: Xander and the other BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. The other aspects of this story belong to it's respective legal owners that I won't name here because that would give away the plot, okay?  I own nothing regardless.


"Hello ladies..."

"Hi Xander."

"Buff, Will. How are my girls doing?"

The slayer lightly slugged him on the arm while Willow smiled shyly.

"Ow. That hurt."

"We're doing fine, Xand. You still coming by the house, tonight?"

"Of course Buff. Just got to run these books back to G-man. He'll be impressed with my many hours of labored work that led to a C minus."

Xander grinned at the girls as he hurried towards the library.

"So ready to give Xander a 'WOW' tonight?"

"Buffy!"

The slayer turned and smiled at her blushing best friend. Willow's cheeks were bright red and she was shaking slightly as she sputtered. "Buffy, I'm not gon-gonna do anything to..."

"Wills, it's Halloween. Perfect time to use your wily, witchy ways to ensnare a virile young man."

"I'm not a... witch. I'm just..."

The slayer watched as Willow's defenses started crumbling. She was about to give herself a good mental cheer when she heard the voice of the one demon she could never truly slay.

"Summers."

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Buffy turned and found herself face to face with Principal Snyder. The short, obnoxious and disagreeable man was watching her and Willow with almost a sneer on his face and a clipboard in hand. Snyder's gaze and focus shifted to the other girl for a few seconds making her uncomfortable, before he spoke.

"Still causing trouble I see. Well tonight I intend to see you cause a little less then your nightly quota. Tonight you two are going to be chaperones. Some elementary school children will be coming to Sunnydale High School as part of the Mayor's community involvement plan. You two will function as chaperones for tonight's activities. Now sign."

With a total lack of any enthusiasm both girls signed their names on the clipboard. Snyder flashed an evil looking grin at their discomfort as he took back the clipboard. "Good. Now be at the school promptly at 3:30 sharp."

The Library

Xander sighed as he made his way out of Giles's office. Returning the books had been easy, trying to talk his way out of some newly discovered late fees was not. Giles may not have been a properly trained librarian but he sure acted like one sometimes. With his library problem resolved, that left the issue of his Halloween costume still to figure out. He wanted to dress to impress especially Buffy but as usual the Harris luck had left him with little in the way of money. Xander was so focused on that problem he wasn't able to dodge out of the way and ran smack into a classmate who had just entered the library.

"Oops. Sorry Jonathan. I didn't see you there."

"No. It's my fault. I should have said something."

The shorter boy leaned down and started picking up his things that had spilled onto the floor. Xander watched for a second then knelt down beside him.

"No really Jonathan, it's my fault. Here let me help you."

Xander started picking up the scattered sheets of paper when his eye fell upon a magazine that was open and book-marked. He stared intently at the image on the page.

"Wow."

Jonathan looked up to see what he was looking at and was surprised to see Xander peering intently at the magazine. He gulped nervously before speaking.

"You like that guy huh?"

"Yeah, I mean look he's got the coolness just rolling off him. He even has a cool looking sword. He would be perfect to-". Xander stopped himself as he remembered his current situation.

"Perfect too?"

"Oh I was just looking for costume ideas for tonight and I thought this guy would look cool but then I remember I really don't have any money."

Jonathan watched him closely for a few seconds, thinking about what the counselor told him about making friends, 'Take a chance Jon'.

"Money's not a problem. I've got almost everything."

"What?" Xander's head snapped around to look at him with his mouth agape, "You do?"

"Well," Jonathan temporized, "I don't have the sword but everything else I do. So... what do you say?"

Xander's eyes darted around for second as he contemplated the other boy's offer then a huge lopsided grin spread across his face.

"Cool."

Sunnydale High School, later that day

Willow and Buffy made it on time barely. They had spent a short time shopping around at a new costume store before choosing their outfits. The slayer had her breath taken away by an elegant dress said to have been worn by an eighteenth century noblewoman. With her costume chosen, Buffy had endeavored to persuade Willow to try something a little more ... daring then her normal ghost costume. It was only after repeated badgering, cajoling and some outright pleading had Willow agreed to wear the more revealing outfit. By then, time was short and they had to hurry to make it on time. Neither noticed Xander's absence.

Across

"So what do you think?"

"Well, the jacket's a little tight but aside from that I look really cool."

Xander paused to admire his newly purple dyed hair in the mirror. Satisfied, he turned and noted that Jonathan was still wearing his normal clothing.

"Hey aren't you getting dressed?"

"No, I have to stay in and baby-sit my little sister. Good luck though."

"All right, see you around Jon."

As Xander left the other boy's house he marveled over his costume. 'Buffy likes her guys strange and mysterious well they don't get any weirder then this guy. Willow won't even know who I am. This guy doesn't even speak English. Now I just got to find a suitable sword. Shouldn't be too hard to do SunnyD.'

Unfortunately it was REALLY hard to find a sword that looked like the one he wanted. And finding someone who rent it to him separate of the costume it belonged to and on the cheap. In fact it proved to be almost impossible. Xander was starting to get dejected when he happened across an unfamiliar costume shop.

"Never seen this place before, 'Ethan's."

He entered the shop the bell by the door tinkling, alerting the shop keep that he had a customer. A somewhat handsome man who looked to be in his early forties came out to greet him.

"Hello lad. How can I help you?"

His voice was tinged with a slight English accent that complimented his disarming and charming manner. Xander started explaining his situation to him.

"And it's really hard to find a sword that someone will let you rent cheap on Halloween without taking the rest of the costume" He finished.

The shopkeeper nodded as he examined the youth in front of him before a smile brightened his features.

"I have just the blade for you lad."

Later after the boy departed, Ethan's smile grew less warm and more devious. As he set to work preparing to cast his spell, he paused to muse, "Tonight will be a fun time indeed".

Xander started running, he knew the areas where he and Willow used to frequent as children. While part of him paused to marvel about how they had survived going out in Sunnydale as children, the rest of him was giddy as a child about his fortune at completing his costume. He had just gotten a few blocks away from the beginning of the suburbs when a wave of nausea overtook him and he blacked out.

 

Slowly the young man regained consciousness and sat up. He looked around with a confused look on his face. 'Where am I? How did I get here? This doesn't look like any place or time I'm familiar with.' A sound behind quickly drew his attention as he saw a small crowd of people running in terror. One hand reflexively was on his sword, preparing to draw it as he had countless times before. 'Come on #17 and #18, come and get it'.

What he saw was not the opponents he anticipated, instead he saw some small, purplish things chasing after the people. In a flash, he had crossed the distance and was preparing to cleave the thing in half when his instincts started screaming. He caught the thing's flailing limbs easily and then knocked it out. Turning around he looked around at the confusion.  Annoyed he started to fly straight up in the air.

Across the town, the Honorable Richard Wilkins looked up in surprise as various containers started shaking and the liquid contained within began bubbling.  Abruptly several of the containers burst, spilling their contents. He blinked in surprise as he contemplated that sequence of events.

"Well gee."

Meanwhile Angel, Cordelia and Willow were dealing the strange series of events including hiding and then fleeing from Spike. Making that more challenging was the now apparent helplessness of Buffy who had gone from Slayer to sniveling noblewoman pleading for her life.

That was how the young man found them, trapped in an alleyway by Spike's newly enlisted group of demons and a few vampires he had found about town. Quietly the youth floated to the ground and approached the group with the sniveling young lady and blonde vampire at it's center. The sound of crunching glass under his feet drew everyone's attention as he stepped into view.

"XANDER!" Willow cried out, her terror at being captured momentarily forgotten.

"Hey dweeb boy, where have you been. And what did you did to your hair?"

He didn't answer them, instead focusing intently on the bleached blonde figure in the black leather duster. His gaze took in the sobbing woman at the other man's feet and his face blackened as he considered what it might mean.  He opened his mouth to speak, intending to inform the man of his impending death. But at that exact moment across town, Giles smashed the bust of Janus to the floor, shattering it and ending his old friend's little game for the night.

Xander blinked as he realized a few things. One, he didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there. Two, his mouth was hanging open. And Three, Buffy was lying on the ground at Spike's feet. The last thing sent his inside freezing as his world started to crash down.

Then Buffy sat up with a smirk on her face and Xander shut his mouth. The newly restored slayer took one look at the bleached blonde vampire and taunted him.

"Hi Honey I'm home."

Then Buffy attacked as did the other vampires Spike had brought along.  Angel and the others had their hands full as the former demons turned back to children started screaming in terror. And then the unthinkable happened. Somewhere, somehow amidst the confusion, Spike gained the advantage and was able to pin a hold.

"Glad you're home dear, I was wanting a bite to eat." He spoke just before vamping out and feasting on the slayer. All the while Xander could only watch in horror and terror, unable to move.

"NOOOO!" Angel screamed in anguish as he saw what was happening. Grinning Spike looked up at the ensouled vampire with blood dripping from his lips. "Quite a nummy treat she is", he spoke as Buffy slumped to the ground, bleeding profusely. The young boy who had known Buffy Summers longer then anyone else. Who had met her on her first day at Sunnydale High School. Who had brought her back from the dead, watched her bleeding body and something within him snapped.

"You... Son of a..."

Overhead, the night sky was lit up as lighting started arcing back and forth across the clouds. Then it started striking towards the ground but not quite hitting it.

"You.... You..."

The wind started blowing, gently at first then building up rapidly in strength to the point where it was tossing light objects around. Pools and puddles of various liquids started trembling and down at the harbor, the waves started crashing into the docks with increased ferocity.

"I...won't... let...you..."

Xander's neck began jerking his head around in what appeared to a fit even as his body began twitching. The light from the display in the sky above gave everyone a good look at Xander as even his hair seemingly began to move of it's own accord.

 "I won't..."

Words became impossible for Xander to form and to discern through his clenched and bared teeth. The ground in front of him split, creating a huge network of spider-web like cracks throughout the pavement. Chunks of which began rising up in the air and floating around him.

Abruptly there was a massive bolt of lighting apparently directly over his right shoulder. As the boom from it faded, a high pitched barely recognizable as human growl began within him A growl that increased in intensity and became deeper. The growl built to a fever pitch and Xander let out a scream of pure rage. Simultaneously, the immediate area around him erupted into glowing, yellowish light that temporarily blinded everyone else.

Willow blinked and squinted her eyes trying to see what had happened. Eventually she was able to see Xander again. Except he didn't really look like Xander anymore. His hair was a golden yellow, with jade green eyes. His body seemed larger then it had been previously even compared to how big she remembered seeing him from before. And he was bathed in an intense golden light that seemed to pulse around him.

Spike had taken several steps back trying to figure out what had just happened. He froze as Xander's gaze fell upon him. When Xander spoke it was in his voice though tinged with anger and sadness, "Willow, it's time for you to go. Take Buffy to the hospital, she's still barely alive. Angel and Cordelia."

The red head didn't move as her mouth opened and shut wordlessly. Xander turned his gaze from Spike to her as he raised his voice, "GO NOW WILLOW. Before I lose control." The last part was spoken with a strain in his voice. Silently, Angel gathered the bleeding but still alive slayer in his arms and after a last look at their friend, the three fled towards the nearest hospital.

Xander didn't watch them go, he focused all his attention on the vampire that had attacked her. Spike also didn't pay attention to them leaving his concerns were elsewhere as he sensed the raw power the young man seemed to possess. On some level he also realized what his fate would be this night.

"Oh Bollocks."

The End.

No Sequel.