This is my first time posting here.
The full story is located here Master of the Forbidden Seals
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Summary: One Halloween Night changed everything for Xander. Agreeing to a contract with the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon for power, he unknowingly unleashed great evils to the world... changing everything for the Scooby Gang. Buffy / Naruto / Andromeda / Starwars / Multiple Crossovers
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU crossover
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects or plots from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, Andromeda TV series, Star Wars, Stargate SG-1 TV series, Casper the friendly ghost, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Ghostbusters, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III in North America), X-Men, Primeval TV series, Final Fantasy X-2, Highlander, Smallville TV series, Star Ocean Video Game series, Gundam Manga and Anime series, Xenosaga Video Game series, Naruto Manga and Anime series, Dungeons and Dragons, Carebears, Pinky and the Brain, Star Trek, Gurps, One Piece Manga
Book Title: Master of the Forbidden Seals
Author: Wraithrune
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Chapter Eight:
"Carebears powers! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"
~ The Carebears on their first attempts to invoke good and happy feelings in a vampire. Unfortunately, when the vampire was dusted by their combined love and caring energies, several of them needed serious conditional therapy as they went into shock at killing their first sentinel creature.
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Halloween dimension 2015hr
Chosenà
Anakin blinked as he found himself surrounded by the force, flashes of images running through the force in front of him. He remembered taking physical form, before becoming senseless. Now the force called to him again, reviving him in spirit, freeing him of whatever had sent him to slumber.
ôWhat are you trying to tell me?ö Anakin asked, struggling to make sense of the flashing images.
Save them. The force whispered. Be the guide for the One who Sees and Guardian of the Keyà
For a moment, Anakin saw a vision of a group of children with a few adults gathered over a table. Something about the group felt strange to him, the force seemed to be drawing away from the group as a whole, as if afraid to touch them.
Then the vision disappeared and the darkness swallowed him, scrambling his weakening force senses. Something told him this was very bad as Anakin struggled with all his powers to push back the darkness.
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Cemetary 2045hr
ôWhy are we breaking into a mausoleum?ö Buffy asked, brushing away the cobwebs trying to cling to her hair. ôI thought weÆre supposed to patrol?ö
ôWell, this mausoleum belongs to Josephus du Lac.ö Giles explained as he shines his flashlight around the interior of the mausoleum. ôSpike would supposedly come to steal the Du Lac cross in the future which would enable him to decrypt the book he had stolen from me a few weeks back.ö
ôOh! I remembered now.ö Buffy said understanding as she remembered what she had read in the comics. ôThereÆs a spell in the book that could heal Drusilla to full power if they could sacrifice Angel. Okà thatÆs majorly bad news, so whereÆs the cross?ö
ôI donÆt think thereÆs a word called æmajorlyÆ Buffy.ö Giles corrected primly as he looked thoughtfully at the tomb sitting in the middle of the mausoleum and the craved walls around it. ôAnd to answer your question, I am not sure, weÆll just have to look around. Willow, Jonathon, Andrew, search the walls. Buffy, you open the tomb.ö
ôEwww! Why must I do that?ö Buffy said in disgust.
ôYouÆre the only one with super strength.ö Willow pointed out to her with a grin.
Buffy gave a long suffering sigh and made for the tomb. She held in her breath as she hefted the stone lid of the tomb onto the floor with a heavy thud, wrinkling her nose at the musty smell that escaped from the tomb.
ôAh there it is!ö Giles exclaimed, reaching in a hand to retrieve a small gold cross beside the mummified remains in the tomb. ôAlright, we can continue the patrol now.ö
There was a creak as the metal grills to the mausoleum opened and several vampires walked in.
ôWell, well, I thought I saw light down here. So what do we have here? Grave robbers?ö One of the vampires laughed, showing his fangs at them.
ôAre they stupid? They just walk right into our hands.ö Jonathon remarked to Andrew beside him.
ôWhat!ö The vampires snarled, incensed.
ôI think their IQ dropped by half once they became vampires. Like hello? Only those who have aces up their sleeves would brave the night of Sunnydale.ö Buffy remarked as she pulled out her sword. The vampires had given a united growl, running down the stairs towards them. ôAlright everyone! ItÆs vamp dusting time!ö
Giles shook his head with a sigh as showers of sparks from Willow, exploding rubber balls from Jonathon and BuffyÆs sword strikes slammed into the four vampires who could only stared at the three teenagers in disbelief before they turned to dust.
Andrew looked at the stake in his hands and sighed. ôIÆve got to get myself a cooler weapon.ö
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Halloween dimension 2230hr
Jenny felt a wave of energy hit her as she reappeared in what should be the Halloween dimension Giles had talked about. They had finished going through the basic magic and seal studies with the group and Xander had then announced he was taking everyone to the Halloween dimension. Cordelia had arrived before her and was already looking at the items piled up all over the dimension. There was a flash as Rommie, Angel and Xander appeared behind her as well.
ôWell, welcome to the Halloween dimension.ö Xander said sweeping his arm to encompass the whole room. ôYouÆve remembered what to do with the two seals IÆve given you each right? Just go on and chose your costumes or equipments.ö
ôThanks Xander.ö Jenny said nodding to the boy before walking away. There was an uncomfortable feeling around her, of being in a pressurized room but she ignored it. Xander had warned them of the possible effects that the Halloween dimension had on those sensitive to magic so she had been prepared for it.
She gazed at the various costumes and items on display and wondered what she should pick. Giles had told her that a few of the children had x-men gloves which granted them the powers of the x-men. For a moment, Jenny wondered if she should follow suit. Though she did not follow the x-men comics and cartoon series, she did know that they were a bunch of mutated humans with superhuman powers. Those kinds of powers would be incredibly useful on the hellmouth, especially now that she had pledged her help to Giles and his charges.
The words of her uncle echoed in her head as she pressed her lips grimly together.
ôGain their trust, and judge their worth.ö Her uncle had told her in the afternoon during his phone call.
Apparently the clan elder had a rare vision in which she saw the future of GileÆs group of charges. The vision had warned of a tide of terrible dark powers rising and the only ones who were a match to those dark powers was this little group. A group of children who had accidentally come into possession of immerse powers. The clan elder had wanted Jenny to get into their group and keep a watch on these children as well as to pass the responsibility of guarding AngelÆs soul to the children. It had been a gesture of goodwill from the clan to GilesÆ group, though her uncle had warned her not to tell the children or Giles about the vision.
ôWe must see the path they would take before we take action.ö Her uncle had warned her.
Jenny had agreed to that request, which was why she was here now, and which was why she had vowed to keep the children on the straight and narrow. Power could easily corrupt, that was a lesson she well know, her only male cousin had gone rogue, dabbling into the darker magics when she was nine. Jenny had seen the wanton destruction and deaths he had caused before the clan managed to hunt him down. This was a lesson she knew Giles had experienced as well, and thatÆs why she was not as worried for him as she was for the children.
She was more concerned with Willow especially, and Andrew. She had read through the graphic novels that foretold their futures, and Willow and Andrew had brushes of darkness through dark magics, both would bear careful monitoring. Xander on the other hand was a question mark. If what Giles said was true, the powers Xander possessed right now from the nine-tailed fox demon in his body was incredible, he would have to be watched closely as well.
Jenny gave a sigh. It seemed that her life had gotten more interesting.
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Halloween dimension 2230hr
Angel was feeling a bit hungry. It was understandable as he did not have his regular blood pack for dinner. When he had come to the hangar, he had expected a quick meeting before going back, unfortunately things had dragged on. After the meeting was done Xander had unblock CordeliaÆs chakra pathways, allowing her to use magic. Jenny had began teaching Xander and Cordelia the basics of witchcraft, which was later followed by Xander teaching Jenny and Cordelia the basics of sealing, Angel had decided to stay back to decipher the Romany curse that Jenny had passed them.
It was not that he had much hope for his curse, but if Xander could ever make sure his soul stayed with him permanently, then maybe, maybe he wouldnÆt need to fear being happy again. It was so hard to believe that right now, he was pinning all his hope on the child. He knew that Xander never did like him much, but Xander had been quite civil to him the whole day, after everyone was informed of what their future would bring. It might be his imagination, but a few times during the meeting, he thought he saw Xander looking at him with something akin to respect and acknowledgement.
He himself had been shocked at what he had become, what the future would turn him intoà Angel closed his eyes weary before opening them and looking around the Halloween dimension. Now was not the time to be dwelling on the future. He didnÆt really need a Halloween weapon, especially since he had vampire healing, senses and strength. But maybe he could find something to nibble on. He didnÆt believe there would be blood here, but maybe there could be food. Vampires never eat solid food because it didnÆt do anything to relieve their hunger, but they could ingest solid food if they wanted to. If he had something to nibble on, he might be able to keep himself occupied enough to temporarily forget his hunger.
Angel began searching around.
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Halloween dimension 2230hr
Rommie looked at the six seals in her hands. Xander had given them to her after she had asked if she could take more of the advanced technological weaponry out of the Halloween dimension. One reason was because they needed a few heavy offensive artilleries on hand in case of any emergencies. She had warned Giles, Angel and Jenny that they couldnÆt rely on the ray gun that Xander had brought out as their kill all and end all weapon. What if something happened to the ray gun or if the monster they were fighting was impervious to the extreme burst of light rays?
Of course thatÆs all a very low possibility, but they were points that needed to be considered. Then there was the other matter of energy generators. With the amount of androids they now had, as well as herself, a significant amount of electricity was needed to power up all of them. On this resource poor planet, this would turn out to be a problem, especially when the electricity bill arrived. She could of course ask Xander to morph an energy generator, but it might be just easier for her to build a new one, albeit simpler in design than those used on star ships.
She had taken a look at the ray gun before she came upon the idea of building her own generator. As she suspected, the ray gun ran on fusion energy contained in a very small energy cell. The energy cell from that ray gun could provide Rommie and all the androids they now possessed with energy for more then two plus years. But since that ray gun was their wild card against the demons at the moment, Rommie had requested to take out more high tech weapons so that she could extract the energy cells from the weapons and build her own generators.
She began walking towards a strange set of armor which definitely fit in the realms of high tech. It was standing behind the Darth Vader character which Xander had explicitly warned her not to touch for fear of that character awakening. Rommie gave it a wide berth as she stood in beside the armored figure. Laying a hand on it, she tried to interface with ità and came across another entity. It was slumbering now, but Rommie got the sense of an A.I. entity that was surprisingly complex. It might even be more powerful then her in certain aspects. This revelation greatly humbled Rommie. All Rommie got was its name, Cortana. As Rommie tried to access the armor system, she realized that there was also a human in the armor.
Rommie blinked her eyes, a reflexive action that was tied to her programming. She needed to check up this Cortana A.I. in this worldÆs pop cultural. If the A.I. and the human inside the armor proved to be benign, she would try to argue on their behalf for Xander to release them from thisà stasis prison. It just didnÆt feel right for her to see something sentinel being kept frozen in this sub-dimension.
She turned and walked towards the guns section where most of the high tech weaponries were. Rommie saw Jenny Calendar walking from the place with something small in her hands. It didnÆt look like any weapon that she had seen before. Rommie shrugged, maybe she would ask Jenny later.
As she near the weapon piles, Rommie swept a critical eye across the weapons and quickly begin lying seals on two of the ray guns that were of similar designs to the one Xander had brought out previously. She also picked up three other guns that looked like they possessed energy cells. As she prepared to leave, one of the weapons buried beneath the pile caught her eye. Her eyes widened. As per XanderÆs instructions, she had put on a pair of gloves before coming to the Halloween dimension. Now using her gloved hands, she began to dig through the guns to reach the weapon.
When she managed to get a hold of the weapons and pulled it out, Rommie smiled as she saw that it was a High Guard force lance. A High Guard force lance belonged to her universe, and it was one of the weapon types she had frequently used in battle. It could fire plasma shots as well as tiny attack drones called effectors. Now as she held the force lance in her hands, she felt a sense of comfort and familiarity. It was as if she was holding a piece of home in her hands.
All six weapons chosen, Rommie looked around for the others, and saw a very peculiar sight.
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Halloween dimension 2230hr
Cordelia beamed at the rows of costumes around her. So many options, so many powers, all for her to chose, she felt like a kid in a candy store. It was hard to believe that so much had happened in just one day. For one thing, she now knew her future, what would happen and how she was going to die. She had seen how shallow she had been in the graphic novels before maturing into a woman that even she felt respect for.
All through her life, she had hanged out with the æIn crowdÆ, buy the right brands, dress in the latest fashions just to be popular, to have people respect her, to be acknowledged. But now, Cordelia realized she didnÆt really care anymore, she already knew the person she would become, now she would just have to work towards becoming future her, except that this time she would not die so young. Cordelia was anything but stupid. She had realized that right now, being with Xander and the others were probably her best bet of living to a ripe old age if she was to survive her own destiny.
This was why she had not complained when they had added her as an official member of their group. It was why she was here now looking for Halloween items that could make her a force to be reckoned with during a fight.
She paused in front of a pile of Halloween accessories, rings, amulets, head bands, pouches and wands of all kinds, floating in mid air. Cordelia ran her gloved hands through the various items, amazed at the riches this Halloween dimension possessed. There were a lot of gold and diamond rings scattered in the pile. A sparkling gold brand caught her eye and she reached her hand into the pile to pull it out. Several rings from the top of the pile rolled down and brushed against the uncovered part of her arms. For a heart stopping moment, foreign memories that do not belong to her rushed into her head and took over her body.
She was Aeriln, a half elf and one of the apprentices of the great wizard Morilyn. On this day, at the eve of her birthing day, her master had gifted her with a ring of fire as her birthing day present. Aeriln gazed at the enchanted fire ruby ring in gleeà
He was Horgath, thief and rogue. Hearing of great treasures in the ruins near Waterdeep, he had ventured in with a group of adventurers and their many trails, they had came upon an old treasure room filled with magical artifacts. They had spilt what they had found, and Horgath himself had filled his pockets with gold pieces, two magical daggers, as well as a Star Opal ring which granted him instantaneous teleportation abilitiesà
Cordelia blinked as she snapped out of the memories, looking at the two rings that had rolled away from her arms. So this was what Xander had meant by being taken over by the Halloween memories. It was dangerous, but at least now she knew what powers two of the rings had. Fire and teleportationà she wondered if the other rings possessed magical abilities as well. But the only way to know what each of the rings does was to touch them with bare skin, and that could be dangerous if she was possessed.
Then an idea blossomed in her mind. Cordelia grinned as using her left hand, she took up another ring and held it over the exposed part of her right arm, and then she dropped it. As the ring struck her arm and bounced off, a flicker of memory rushed through her head, quickly disappearing as the ring rolled back onto the pile.
ôA ring of invisibility. ThatÆs cool.ö Cordelia said looking at the ring. ôWell letÆs see what powers the other rings and accessories haveàö
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Halloween dimension 2230hr
Xander wandered the Halloween dimension, one seal in his hand. He had distributed the rest to Angel, Rommie, Cordelia and Ms Calendar. Right now he was just looking for anything of interest to take back. He hadnÆt been back to the Halloween dimension since the last time he had brought Andrew and Jonathon here. He had been kept too busy trying to æseeÆ all the essences of the tiny android so he could use the morph materia to morph it. It had been a lot of work that kept him busy for weeks.
ôOk thereÆs Pinky and the Brain.ö Xander remarked as he saw a cage that contained a pair of white rats. One was tall and skinny, the other short and plump, floating in the middle of a pile of toys. ôRemind me to stick a sign telling everyone not to take them out of the dimension.ö
ôPinky and the Brain?ö The Kyubi rumbled in confusion before understanding crept into his voice as he accessed XanderÆs memories. ôOh a pair of evil rat genius from the cartoons. Really, the weird culture that your world has, it just astonishes me. Whoever heard of evil rats? Now foxes, we are the masters of evil and cunning. Hahahaàö
ôAnd I see you practiced the evil OverlordÆs laugh really well.ö Xander said dryly. He blinked as he turned saw the boxes of toys next to the rats. ôàand thereÆs the Carebears.ö
Xander smacked his face as he imagined the Carebears running around Sunnydale, it was enough to raise his creep factor. ôEthan Rayne must have been trying to boast his profit margin by selling toys and models aside from actual Halloween costumes that night. I wonder how many other toys came alive. Sorting all of them out is going to be a nightmare.ö
ôOnce weÆve done an inventory of this place, weÆll know for sure.ö Kyubi said before giving a mental shudder as he peeked at XanderÆs memories. ôEvil rat genius I can stand, but a bunch of fluffy bears talking about caring and love makes me want to eat them or punch kittens. DonÆt even think about taking them out!ö
ôDo I look like I want a bunch of talking teddy bears evangelizing about love and caring walking around Sunnydale? Angel would probably stab me in my sleep if that happens.ö Xander said, rolling his eyes. He strolled around the Halloween dimension taking note of the various Halloween characters that had came alive. There was the Darth Vader, and another strangely armored character of some sort near him. In the second corner of the dimension was four characters, one green haired man with three swords, a blond man in a suit, a boy with a straw hat, and a pretty brunette girl with a pole of some sort.
In third corner of the Halloween dimension was a burly man dressed in leather, a young girl dressed in gothic clothing with a strip of white through her dark hair. There was also a third figure beside them dressed robin-hood style, with a green mask. Xander recognized him at once, it was the Green Arrow, a masked superhero who was an expert marksman.
Xander turned to the fourth corner of the room since it looked like Ethan had placed the human sized models in all four corners of his shop. He saw a row of robes hanging in midair, covering the models from view. Xander walked closer, pushing away the robes and froze at the sight of the two figures he unrevealed.
He was looking at two Konoha ninjas from NarutoÆs home village. One was a younger version of Shikamaru Nara, while the other was an Anbu, a sort of military ninja police, who goes by the name of Anko. His heart clenched in part pain and sorrow at the remembrance of NarutoÆs memories.
Shikamaru had grown up to become one of the most brilliant tacticians the village of Konoha had ever seen, defeating many enemies by wit alone. His ability to manipulate oneÆs own shadows to attack and defend was nothing to laugh at either. Anko on the other hand had given her life to save Naruto from an assassination attempt shortly after he had become Hokage, which was the position of the village leader for his whole ninja village. Mistress of snakes and vicious hand to hand fighting styles, she was much feared on the battlefield when she had been alive. Though NarutoÆs memories were faint now, Xander still felt his eyes tear up at the sight of these two individuals.
One had been NarutoÆs best friend, while the other had saved his life. Xander felt torn as he looked at the two Konoha ninjas.
ôWeÆve got to get them out now.ö Xander said, looking for any surface he could draw a seal with. A unique seal was needed to detach the chaos energies around the Halloween characters in the Halloween dimension and he had brought none with him.
ôAnd do what?ö Kyubi asked pointedly. ôWhere are they going to live? How are they going to fit into your world? Have you given thought to that?ö
ôButàö Xander protested.
ôThe brashness of youth. You want this now, you want that now, without careful thought of the consequences. Naruto had been the same when he was younger.ö Kyubi huffed indignantly in XanderÆs head. ôAt least prepare a place they could live and ease their way into your world before you release them from the Halloween dimension. I doubt they would want to live on your charity either, so you need to find some ways for them to provide for themselves.ö
ôYouÆre right of course.ö Xander said with a sigh. ôI guess IÆll discuss with Giles and Rommie, see what we can do for them first before bringing them out.ö
ôNow youÆre thinking.ö Kyubi said in approval. ôAnyway, whatÆs that chattering in the background?ö
ôChattering?ö Xander asked before he realized he could hear Cordelia and Ms CalendarÆs voices nearby. The shock at seeing a real life Shikamaru and Anko had caused him to lose his focus. Xander blinked wearily as he made his way out. He pushed his way pass the robes and looked around the Halloween dimension. ôI wonder whatÆs going on there?ö
Xander made his way around the rows of Halloween costumes and found Cordelia and Ms Calendar gathered in front of a pile of accessories. Cordelia had already put on an emerald ring on her right hand and an opal ring on her left hand. She was taking up various other rings and dropping them on Ms CaldendarÆs exposed arms.
ôHey! Hey! What are you guys doing? ThatÆs dangerous!ö Xander exclaimed rushing forward. His heart had constricted as he saw Ms Calendar froze up when the rings touched her bare arms. He came to a stop in front of the Cordelia just as Ms Calendar returned to her senses, opening her eyes and looking at Xander.
ôOh Cordelia was just showing me how to test the rings.ö Ms Calendar said with a smile at Cordelia. ôShe came up with an ingenuous idea of letting the Halloween objects contact our bare skin temporarily so that we could access the memories and see what powers the Halloween objects have.ö
ôOh.ö Xander said deflating a little now that he saw that Ms Calendar seemed fine. He turned and saw Cordelia giving him a smug look and sighed as he offered her a half-hearted praise. ôThatÆs quite anà idea.ö
ôItÆs nothing.ö Cordelia said with a shrug. ôBut isnÆt there a way for us to keep the Halloween memories without them taking us over? Some of the Halloween characters have a couple of useful knowledge that could help us in a fight.ö
ôHer idea actually seemed quite practical.ö Kyubi remarked in his head. ôA slight tweaking of the æNull PersonalityÆ seal should allow access to the memories without them taking control.ö
ôI hate it when sheÆs right.ö Xander sighed mentally to the fox before turning to Cordelia and saying out loud. ôI could start work on that, thatÆs a very good idea. So what did you get for yourself?ö
ôOh I got the ring of plant manipulation and the ring of teleportation.ö Cordelia said beaming at him. ôYou couldnÆt believe the offensive uses the mages from the Halloween personalities used for these two rings. Imagine being cut to death by blades of grass, or better yet, imagine being teleported fifty feet into the air and smashed down to earth.ö
Xander shivered at the sadistic grin that Cordelia was giving him and quickly turned to Ms Calendar.
ôSo what about you Ms Calendar?ö Xander asked as she picked out a quartz ring.
ôOh I had a phaser gun from star trek and I am going to pick a ring of lightning.ö Ms Calendar said with a smile. Her face suddenly went pale as she looked passed Xander. ôOh my goodness, whatÆs Angel doing?ö
Xander spin around and gaped at the sight of Angel breathing fire.
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at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 2330hr
ôI swear, if you accidentally strike me with your powers again, I am going to roast you over a large fire!ö Buffy growled at Jonathon as they made their way back to their new headquarters.
Giles rubbed his head tiredly. The rest of the patrol had gone well as they had chanced upon a vampire nest. They had proceeded to dust all the vampires, until Jonathon had misfired one of his exploding rubber balls at Buffy. Two of the vampires they had been after had escaped during the confusion of friendly crossfire. Luckily, Buffy was able to heal herself back to prime condition with her immortal sword. However, the pain that she had felt when the rubber ball had blasted away a chunk of her flesh had left her in a foul mood. Giles had to arrange for Willow and Andrew to be between Buffy and Jonathon so that she would not shred him to pieces physically instead of just verbally.
ôI am sorry.ö Jonathon said in a very remorseful voice as Buffy shot him a dark look.
They stepped into the hangar and froze at the sight that greeted them.
ôDid something happen while we were out?ö Andrew asked as he looked into the hangar.
Several of the new chairs seemed scorched, and there were water dripping from them. Several portions of the cement floor were also darkened and drenched with water. The middle of the hangar was cleared of any objects, and there was a burnt smell in the air. Angel was sitting in the middle looking a bit depressed. At the other end of the hangar, Cordelia was giving Angel a distrusting stare with several buckets of water lined out beside her. Xander, Jenny and Rommie were gathered at the computer consoles frantically typing some stuff.
ôWhatÆs going on?ö Buffy demanded as she stepped forward to the middle patch of the room.
ôDonÆt!ö Cordelia screamed from the other end, just as Angel gave a loud burp. A jut of flames exploded from his lips, narrowing missing BuffyÆs face. As it was, she could feel the intense heat scorching her face.
Buffy and the returning patrol team froze, standing near the door of the hangar in a moment of stunned silence.
ôAngel ate some weird fruit in the Halloween dimension, and now heÆs burping fire.ö Cordelia called out to them. ôXander and the others are still trying to find out what that fruit was.ö
ôHe ate a fruit?ö Giles said in an incredulous tone of voice. ôWhat does a vampire need to eat a fruit for?ö
ôHe said he was hungry and needed something to nibble on.ö Cordelia called back in a disgusted tone of voice.
GilesÆ rubbed his head wearily as he saw AngelÆs guilty look. ôBuffy go get some blood for Angel, the rest of us will find out what Angel had eaten.ö
ôBut how are we going to cross over if AngelÆs breathing fire?ö Jonathon asked as he gauged the distance they would have to cross to run pass Angel.
ôBy this.ö Cordelia called from the other end pointing her hand at them.
There was a flash of light and Giles, Andrew, Jonathon and Willow found themselves beside Cordelia. Buffy remained at the door of the hangar looking at them in surprise.
ôI got myself a teleportation ring.ö Cordelia explained, holding up her left hand which spotted an opal ring. ôWhich is why I am on æputting out fireÆ duty because I can splash water at all the hard to reach places.ö
Giles saw the disgruntled look on CordeliaÆs face and decided not probe farther.
ôAlright, all of you, letÆs go help Xander and the others.ö Giles said shooing Willow, Jonathon and Andrew towards the computers before turning to face Buffy. ôGo and get Angel some blood, I think he should be starving by now.ö
Angel looked up giving Buffy a hopeful look as she nodded and dashed outside, it was just at that moment Angel gave another burp. The jut of flames was more intense this time and nearly reached the door to the hangar.
ôTry to control your powers dammit!ö Cordelia called out as she teleported a piled of water over the scorched doorway.
Giles quickly moved away from Cordelia who seemed to be in a bad temper. He resigned himself to trying to see if he could be of any help to Jenny, even though he had no idea how to use those infernal machines that they called computers.
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at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 0050hr
ôI think I found out what fruit he ate.ö Rommie spoke up at last. She had been linking herself directly to the internet to surf the net faster, and had at last narrowed down the object of her search.
ôWhat did he eat?ö Buffy asked as everyone began moving towards Rommie. Buffy had just returned with the blood which Angel was sipping now, Cordelia had then teleported her to the other side where she had been helping Cordelia refill the buckets of water from the pantry.
ôHarper, show the information on Devil Fruit.ö Rommie called out to the computer console in front of her.
ôYes Rommie.ö A soft masculine voice spoke from the computer speakers. The others ignored the voice and turned to Rommie incredulously.
ôDevil Fruit?ö Jenny gave a start at the name. ôAre they dangerous?ö
ôNot exactly.ö Rommie said as the web page on the computer began to load.
Giles lean forward for a closer look and blinked at the information.
ôDevil Fruit were objects from the One Piece manga and anime universe that granted the person who ate them special powers, depending on the fruit they ate. There are more than 100 types of Devil Fruit, and they come in different shapes and colors. All Devil Fruits have swirl marks on them of some kind which fits the description of the fruit Angel had eaten. It also fits the description of the pile of fruits that Angel had gotten his from. However with this power comes a weakness, Devil Fruit users are susceptible to all types of water, not just seawater. ôMoving" water, like rain or waves, does not weaken Devil Fruit users, while standing water does. OneÆs body would also be destroyed if he consumed more than one Devil Fruit.ö Giles read out loud.
ôSo that means Angel gained the power to breathe fire permanently?ö Buffy asked for clarification.
Rommie nodded gravely. ôSo it would seem. Unfortunately, it also meant that Angel must learn to control his powers on his own.ö
ôWhat! I am not going to stay by his side all the time for fire control duty. He had better learn to control his powers fast.ö Cordelia said loudly from the sidelines.
ôWell Xander, is there any way for you to à moderate AngelÆs new abilities until he could get the hang of it?ö Giles asked turning to Xander who looked thoughtful.
ôNaruto knew some seals to restrict the powers of enemy ninjas.ö Xander volunteered at last after much thought. ôBut I am not sure if thatÆs going to work, since Angel is an undead, and have no chakra to speak of.ö
ôIt wouldnÆt hurt to try.ö Jenny said encouragingly. ôIf it doesnÆt work, weÆll think of something else.ö
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at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 0145hr
Xander breathed a sigh of relief as Giles and the others made their way back. In the end the seal had worked after a few tries and some tweaking. AngelÆs fire powers were seriously weakened, now all Angel could manage was a small burst of flames from his lips. Giles had told Angel to come in tomorrow to practice some form of meditation to see if that could help with his control. Control which Angel seriously needed.
Currently, the droids were moving to clean up the smog marks, wet floor and to put everything back in place. Xander shuddered, they had been lucky that Angel did not do much damage in the Halloween dimension. They had managed to bring Angel back to the hangar when they realized that his fire breathing powers were growing steadily stronger by the minute.
Xander sink tiredly into the couch near the pantry. Rommie had retreated to Hangar 2 to begin extracting the energy cells from the ray guns she brought out from the Halloween dimension. According to her, there should be enough for her to build a small generator that could generate enough electricity for them to last the next coming years.
He heard typing going on at the control consoles and turned to look, seeing Jonathon and Andrew still around. The two of them had wanted to stay back to check out the stuff on the companyÆs servers. They were both probably playing some of the games downloaded from GaiaÆs memory banks.
ôThis has been a very tiring day.ö Xander said wearily as he leaned back on the soft leather and closed his eyes.
ôThen you should try to get some rest.ö Kyubi advised in his head.
ôItÆs weekend tomorrow, so I could sleep in if I wanted to. DonÆt worry about me.ö Xander said with a sigh as he reached into his pocket to take out a matchbox. ôIÆve better continue æSeeingÆ the essence of the replicator if we want to have a working version in a few weeks time.ö
ôWell, itÆs probably true that the sooner you morph the replicator, the better it will be for everyone.ö Kyubi admitted. ôBut youÆve been spending so much time morphing stuff for the others to use that youÆve not much time left for seals or ninja studies. Add on that now youÆve to teach the others what you know, and you donÆt have time for anything.ö
ôYes, thatÆs why I am thinking itÆs best if we can get Anko and Shikamaru out of the Halloween dimension as soon as possible. They could take over the ninja lessons, and Anko might even be able to take over for me in the basic seal studies.ö Xander confided to the Kyubi.
ôIÆve told Rommie about releasing Anko and Shikamaru. Rommie had said that she would ask the droids to begin building several buildings we can use for houses on the airstrip. By her estimate, it should take only a few weeks if I could morph more androids to help out. That is of course provided we can get the needed building materials. She had suggested converting some of the empty hangars into living quarters temporarily if we really needed to get them out straight away.ö
ôI know, I heard her when she said that. You forgot, I am a part of you now. Anyway, the decision is up to you.ö Kyubi said understandingly. ôSo what are you going to do?ö
ôWell, thatÆs a no brainer. I am getting Shikamaru and Anko out as soon as possible.ö Xander said with a sigh. ôIÆll just need to discuss about this in more details with Rommie and Giles tomorrow. IÆll also need to order some furniture and convert one of the hangars into living quarters first.ö
ôThatÆs good to hear.ö Kyubi remarked softly as if reminiscing of old times. ôI also knew of Shikamaru during my time in NarutoÆs body, and the fact that Anko saved my containerÆs life is a debt I feel inclined to repay to her now that I have the chance. But at the moment, let me help you with deciphering the essence of the replicator.ö
ôThanks fox, I know I can count on you.ö Xander said with a grin as he opened his mind to the Kyubi. Together they stretched out their chakra and spread it over the tiny replicator lying in the matchbox. Layer by layer, they began to unrevealed the essences of the replicator.
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at Sunnydale. 0530hr
ôAre you sure weÆre doing the right thing?ö Daniel asked as Carter drove the car past the æWelcome to SunnydaleÆ sign. ôMaybe we should have called General Hammond personally instead of leaving just a message for him.ö
ôThe airman said General Hammond took the day off to attend his grandchildrenÆs graduation Daniel. ThatÆs a family event. The General got too few family time as it is, let him enjoy his free day without any crisis popping up for him.ö Jack said from his seat beside Carter. ôIÆm sure we can handle a little bit of investigative work on our own. If we find out that we really need the big guns, we can always call the General directly and request for more help. WeÆre on Earth anyway, not off planet, a phone call is just what it would take.ö
ôIf worse comes to worse, we could always contact the soldiers at the desert outpost.ö Carter said from behind the wheel as she droved them through the quiet morning streets of Sunnydale. ôCaptain Jones, the one thatÆs in charge of the desert outpost wasnÆt very happy about us going off on an investigation trip on our own.ö
ôHe did seem most unhappy when we drove away.ö TealÆc added from the backseat beside Daniel.
ôWell, thereÆs nothing we could do.ö Jack said with a shrug. ôHis security clearance wasnÆt high enough for us to tell him about the aliens. WeÆre going to have to leave him and his men behind if we are to carry out our investigation.ö
ôSo what are we going to do now that weÆre in Sunnydale?ö Daniel asked exasperatedly from the back seat. ôDo we have an actual plan or are we just rushing into the thick of things blindly as usual?ö
ôWe do have a plan!ö Jack said sounding highly offended. ôItÆs not my fault that most of our plans donÆt survive first contact. Anyway, weÆre on Earth, and the Mayor is only one alien. We just need to find out what heÆs doing here and if there are more of them. WhatÆs the worst that could possibly happen?ö
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 1030hr
Cordelia hummed along with the music as she seated herself in front of one of the computer consoles. She flipped through the catalogue thatÆs filled with thousands of dresses and clothing suitable for Earth in this current century. Already, she was book marking those fashion designs that she felt could revolutionize the current fashion trends. There were a few designs that she was thinking of keeping for herself as well.
ôDo you wish me to tag this Miss Chase?ö The computer AI Harper inquired politely through the speakers.
Cordelia paused, considering the design before her and then gave a nod. ôHand this design over to the droids and have them fabricate a copy of the dress. Add this to the collection of things to do.ö
ôAlright, Miss Chase.ö Harper said as the design on screen faded away and changed to a new one.
Cordelia looked at the new design with a critical eye before sending it to the awaiting pile. So engrossed was she in browsing through the design that she did not notice Buffy coming into the hangar until the Slayer bumped into her chair.
ôHey watch it.ö Cordelia muttered irritably, jousted from her concentration.
ôSorry.ö Buffy apologized, pausing in front of CordeliaÆs console. She turned to Cordelia looking at her in surprise. ôYouÆve been here all morning looking through fashion catalogues?ö
ôIÆm working.ö Cordelia said impatiently. ôIÆm looking through the designs to see which are marketable.ö
ôOhà well, good luck.ö Buffy said moving away. ôIÆm going to take a look at their music catalogue. Maybe I can bundle up the music and sell them to some music companies.ö
Cordelia sighed as she got up and stretch her wearily limbs. Now that her concentration was broken, she felt like taking a break. Walking to the pantry, she took a quick look around the HQ. Rommie was at one corner of the room fiddling with some mechanic stuff, while Andrew was hovering at her side as he watches her assemble the machine. Jonathon was lying on the coach fast asleep. Buffy had taken a seat at one of the computer consoles, and Cordelia saw with surprise that Willow had arrived as well, stacking up the bookshelves with books from the many boxes in the HQ.
As she filled a glass of water for herself, she saw Xander jogging into the HQ, drenched in sweat. Cordelia raised an eyebrow curiously, Xander never did seem like the exercising kind of person, but she guessed things had changed since Halloween night. Deciding to see what Rommie and Andrew were up to, Cordelia walked towards them to take a closer look.
ôThatÆs the energy generator you were talking about?ö Cordelia asked Rommie curiously as she approaches them.
ôYeah itÆs real cool!ö Andrew said excitedly. ôRommieÆs teaching me all sorts of things.ö
ôYou are a good student, though the X-Men powers of Forge might have a hand in helping you pick up all these knowledge of advance technologies so fast.ö Rommie commented. She looked pass Cordelia with an astonished expression as amusement crept into her voice. ôHow did Xander do that?ö
Cordelia and Andrew turned and gaped as they saw a half naked blond girl standing next to the sofa.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 1030hr
Xander wiped the sweat off his face as he jogged into Hangar 1. He had just finished his morning exercise of 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, as well as floating leaves for one hour which could help to enlarge his chakra reserves and to give him more control over his chakra. Over the past few weeks, his devoted training had bear fruits as his chakra reserves tripled what it used to be. Right now the amount of chakra in his body could be considered on par with some of the more average student ninjas during NarutoÆs time in the ninja academy.
It was also why he was considering trying out NarutoÆs trademark technique as he ended his morning exercise. He had been practicing the handseals for almost half a month now, and he felt that he could do them in his sleep.
"Remember, with the amount of chakra you have, you can only maintain that technique for one hour." The Kyubi warned in his head. "DonÆt overstretch yourself."
ôDonÆt worry, I am just going to try it for a while.ö Xander said with a grin as he made the handseals. ôIf I can do this technique, it will prove that my chakra control has advanced enough to start on the other ninja skills. NARUTOÆS SEXY TECHNIQUE!ö
Xander pushed his chakra outwards as he formed the handseals. A billow of smoke surrounded him. As the smoke cleared, Xander looked down at himself with a grin as he found himself with a pair of breasts, shapely body and long legs, all covered by only a skimpy two piece swimsuit.
ôThis is so cool! I could get to like this.ö Xander said, his voice coming out in a husky female tone as he began feeling his breasts.
ôXanderàö BuffyÆs voice suddenly sounded behind him. Xander turned to see Buffy smiling sweetly at him even as a twitch began to develop on her left eyelid. ôWHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUÆRE DOING! YOU PERVERT!ö
Xander winced at the shout from Buffy and had no time to react as Buffy swung a fist into his face.
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at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 1045hr
Willow looked on with a blush on her face as Buffy sent the half naked, girl shaped Xander flying across the room. Xander changed back to his fully clothed boy self as he hit the ground roughly with a groan. WillowÆs mind kept flashing back to the sight of female XanderÆs shapely body, and her face turned beet red.
ôXander.ö Cordelia grounded out from the side as she began stalking towards Xander even as Buffy was making her way towards him angrily. ôYou are in deep shit.ö
ôCome on girls, itÆs just a joke.ö Xander protested weakly as he got up and began backing away from an angry Buffy and Cordelia. ôThatÆs NarutoÆs favorite technique. I was just testing if I have enough chakra control to begin doing the basic ninja skills.ö
ôAnd you couldnÆt have picked something else to begin your first ninja skills with?ö Cordelia said through gritted teeth. ôYouÆre a pervert and youÆre going down hard.ö
Willow watched as Buffy and Cordelia began to verbally tear into Xander, with Buffy giving Xander the occasional rough shake to bring the point across to him that under no circumstances was he to ever use that technique again.
ôI thought that he looked quite nice.ö Jonathon confined in Willow as he got off the couch beside the bookshelves. He blushed as he looked down at the floor. ôI mean XanderÆs girl self look very pretty.ö
ôYeah itÆs veryàö Willow nodded before she could stop herself. A look of panic crossed her face as she began scolding herself. ôArgh! Willow what are you thinking? You must think good and pure thoughts! This is Xander youÆre thinking about!ö
Willow shook her head to get the image out of her mind and then gave a resigned sigh as she finally agreed with Jonathon. ôBut he looked nice as a girl though, even I have to admit that.ö
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Halloween dimension, 1400hr
A pulse of energy erupted from the dark armored figure of Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker gasped as he freed himself from the stasis he was trapped in. He grimaced. A strange walled up energy of some sort laid all around him, stagnant. His force senses were being scrambled by this unknown energy force and the few strands of the Force trapped in this space was escaping from him as the Force seemed to be trying to shy away from this strange energy.
Anakin looked around him calmly, taking stock of his surroundings. It was true that he was unnerved by what his Force senses were telling him, but he had been trained as a Jedi, spent years as a Sith, a user of the dark side of the Force, before finding redemption and spending the rest of the decades as a Force ghost. Compared to the time when he led a fleet of starships to conquer planets in the name of the Empire, being stuck in what seemed to be a small room of some sort ranked very low on the threat meter.
Of course, the room seemed to be some kind of stasis trap as it was clustered with piles of objects ranging from clothes, swords, blasters, gems, all floating in mid air. Whichever civilization had created this trap must have been highly advanced, he doubted any of the race in his world could create a stasis field that occupied such a large area.
He was about to move closer to a pile of blaster weapons to investigate when someone coughed behind him. Anakin whirled around, his lightsaber unhooking itself from his belt as he used what little amount of the Force that was present in this room to propel the lightsaber into his hands. A red beam of light flashed out of the hilt of the lightsaber as he turned to face the armored warrior of some sort behind him.
ôExcuse me.ö A manÆs gravel voice sounded from the armor. ôBut do you happen to know where this is?ö
ôI am afraid that I am not the right person to ask.ö Anakin said slowly as he observed the man, stretching his Force senses towards the armored figure. The strange energy had masked the manÆs presence from him and Anakin frowned at the thought that he couldnÆt rely on the Force while he was confined in this room.
With his Force senses, Anakin was able to sense the presence of a male with cybernetic implants inside the armor. There did not seemed to be any malevolent feeling of any sort around the armored figure so Anakin was willing to let his guard down a bit though he continued to keep a careful eye on the armored figure.
ôI had just freed myself a few minutes ago and was about to investigate the surrounding.ö Not for the first time since he woke up, Anakin gave thanks that his new body did not seem to rely on a respirator for his continual survival. In fact, from what he could get from the force, the body he was currently in was young and in good health. His voice came out from his helmet without the sound of harsh breathing of the respirator.
ôI see. I have no idea how I came to be here as well, but perhaps we could work together for the time being and find a way out.ö The armored man offered after a pause.
ôI have no problems with that. I am Anakin Skywalker.ö Anakin said, offering his name.
ôI am Master Chief, of the UNSC.ö The man said, shaking AnakinÆs hand.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
AuthorÆs Notes:
This wasnÆt exactly how I envisioned this chapter to end. But as usual, IÆve written too much, and my creativityÆs been running a bit dry trying to fit a lot of stuff in one chapter. So there, the story will continue in the next chapter, when IÆve time to get to it.
A point of note, the carebears wouldnÆt be appearing anytime soon, they are meant as a side joke because I could just see them going up to a vampire and trying to teach them all about ôloveö and ôkindnessöà some how, I donÆt think vampires will really like it. So yes, they are meant to be crack snippets. You donÆt really think I can write a serious Btvs crossover with Carebears do you? ^_^
Powers gained in this chapter:
1)Angel had eaten a DevilÆs Fruit from the One Piece Manga/Anime.
2)Cordelia had gotten a ring of plant manipulation and a ring of teleportation. (They are a subtle nod to the Dungeons and Dragons and Gurps pen and paper games)
3)Jenny had gotten a Star Trek Phaser and a ring of Lightning
4)Xander had at last mastered NarutoÆs Sexy Technique, with more of NarutoÆs Manga and Anime skills on the way.
The full story is located here Master of the Forbidden Seals
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Summary: One Halloween Night changed everything for Xander. Agreeing to a contract with the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon for power, he unknowingly unleashed great evils to the world... changing everything for the Scooby Gang. Buffy / Naruto / Andromeda / Starwars / Multiple Crossovers
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU crossover
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects or plots from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, Andromeda TV series, Star Wars, Stargate SG-1 TV series, Casper the friendly ghost, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Ghostbusters, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III in North America), X-Men, Primeval TV series, Final Fantasy X-2, Highlander, Smallville TV series, Star Ocean Video Game series, Gundam Manga and Anime series, Xenosaga Video Game series, Naruto Manga and Anime series, Dungeons and Dragons, Carebears, Pinky and the Brain, Star Trek, Gurps, One Piece Manga
Book Title: Master of the Forbidden Seals
Author: Wraithrune
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Chapter Eight:
"Carebears powers! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"
~ The Carebears on their first attempts to invoke good and happy feelings in a vampire. Unfortunately, when the vampire was dusted by their combined love and caring energies, several of them needed serious conditional therapy as they went into shock at killing their first sentinel creature.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
Halloween dimension 2015hr
Chosenà
Anakin blinked as he found himself surrounded by the force, flashes of images running through the force in front of him. He remembered taking physical form, before becoming senseless. Now the force called to him again, reviving him in spirit, freeing him of whatever had sent him to slumber.
ôWhat are you trying to tell me?ö Anakin asked, struggling to make sense of the flashing images.
Save them. The force whispered. Be the guide for the One who Sees and Guardian of the Keyà
For a moment, Anakin saw a vision of a group of children with a few adults gathered over a table. Something about the group felt strange to him, the force seemed to be drawing away from the group as a whole, as if afraid to touch them.
Then the vision disappeared and the darkness swallowed him, scrambling his weakening force senses. Something told him this was very bad as Anakin struggled with all his powers to push back the darkness.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
Cemetary 2045hr
ôWhy are we breaking into a mausoleum?ö Buffy asked, brushing away the cobwebs trying to cling to her hair. ôI thought weÆre supposed to patrol?ö
ôWell, this mausoleum belongs to Josephus du Lac.ö Giles explained as he shines his flashlight around the interior of the mausoleum. ôSpike would supposedly come to steal the Du Lac cross in the future which would enable him to decrypt the book he had stolen from me a few weeks back.ö
ôOh! I remembered now.ö Buffy said understanding as she remembered what she had read in the comics. ôThereÆs a spell in the book that could heal Drusilla to full power if they could sacrifice Angel. Okà thatÆs majorly bad news, so whereÆs the cross?ö
ôI donÆt think thereÆs a word called æmajorlyÆ Buffy.ö Giles corrected primly as he looked thoughtfully at the tomb sitting in the middle of the mausoleum and the craved walls around it. ôAnd to answer your question, I am not sure, weÆll just have to look around. Willow, Jonathon, Andrew, search the walls. Buffy, you open the tomb.ö
ôEwww! Why must I do that?ö Buffy said in disgust.
ôYouÆre the only one with super strength.ö Willow pointed out to her with a grin.
Buffy gave a long suffering sigh and made for the tomb. She held in her breath as she hefted the stone lid of the tomb onto the floor with a heavy thud, wrinkling her nose at the musty smell that escaped from the tomb.
ôAh there it is!ö Giles exclaimed, reaching in a hand to retrieve a small gold cross beside the mummified remains in the tomb. ôAlright, we can continue the patrol now.ö
There was a creak as the metal grills to the mausoleum opened and several vampires walked in.
ôWell, well, I thought I saw light down here. So what do we have here? Grave robbers?ö One of the vampires laughed, showing his fangs at them.
ôAre they stupid? They just walk right into our hands.ö Jonathon remarked to Andrew beside him.
ôWhat!ö The vampires snarled, incensed.
ôI think their IQ dropped by half once they became vampires. Like hello? Only those who have aces up their sleeves would brave the night of Sunnydale.ö Buffy remarked as she pulled out her sword. The vampires had given a united growl, running down the stairs towards them. ôAlright everyone! ItÆs vamp dusting time!ö
Giles shook his head with a sigh as showers of sparks from Willow, exploding rubber balls from Jonathon and BuffyÆs sword strikes slammed into the four vampires who could only stared at the three teenagers in disbelief before they turned to dust.
Andrew looked at the stake in his hands and sighed. ôIÆve got to get myself a cooler weapon.ö
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Halloween dimension 2230hr
Jenny felt a wave of energy hit her as she reappeared in what should be the Halloween dimension Giles had talked about. They had finished going through the basic magic and seal studies with the group and Xander had then announced he was taking everyone to the Halloween dimension. Cordelia had arrived before her and was already looking at the items piled up all over the dimension. There was a flash as Rommie, Angel and Xander appeared behind her as well.
ôWell, welcome to the Halloween dimension.ö Xander said sweeping his arm to encompass the whole room. ôYouÆve remembered what to do with the two seals IÆve given you each right? Just go on and chose your costumes or equipments.ö
ôThanks Xander.ö Jenny said nodding to the boy before walking away. There was an uncomfortable feeling around her, of being in a pressurized room but she ignored it. Xander had warned them of the possible effects that the Halloween dimension had on those sensitive to magic so she had been prepared for it.
She gazed at the various costumes and items on display and wondered what she should pick. Giles had told her that a few of the children had x-men gloves which granted them the powers of the x-men. For a moment, Jenny wondered if she should follow suit. Though she did not follow the x-men comics and cartoon series, she did know that they were a bunch of mutated humans with superhuman powers. Those kinds of powers would be incredibly useful on the hellmouth, especially now that she had pledged her help to Giles and his charges.
The words of her uncle echoed in her head as she pressed her lips grimly together.
ôGain their trust, and judge their worth.ö Her uncle had told her in the afternoon during his phone call.
Apparently the clan elder had a rare vision in which she saw the future of GileÆs group of charges. The vision had warned of a tide of terrible dark powers rising and the only ones who were a match to those dark powers was this little group. A group of children who had accidentally come into possession of immerse powers. The clan elder had wanted Jenny to get into their group and keep a watch on these children as well as to pass the responsibility of guarding AngelÆs soul to the children. It had been a gesture of goodwill from the clan to GilesÆ group, though her uncle had warned her not to tell the children or Giles about the vision.
ôWe must see the path they would take before we take action.ö Her uncle had warned her.
Jenny had agreed to that request, which was why she was here now, and which was why she had vowed to keep the children on the straight and narrow. Power could easily corrupt, that was a lesson she well know, her only male cousin had gone rogue, dabbling into the darker magics when she was nine. Jenny had seen the wanton destruction and deaths he had caused before the clan managed to hunt him down. This was a lesson she knew Giles had experienced as well, and thatÆs why she was not as worried for him as she was for the children.
She was more concerned with Willow especially, and Andrew. She had read through the graphic novels that foretold their futures, and Willow and Andrew had brushes of darkness through dark magics, both would bear careful monitoring. Xander on the other hand was a question mark. If what Giles said was true, the powers Xander possessed right now from the nine-tailed fox demon in his body was incredible, he would have to be watched closely as well.
Jenny gave a sigh. It seemed that her life had gotten more interesting.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
Halloween dimension 2230hr
Angel was feeling a bit hungry. It was understandable as he did not have his regular blood pack for dinner. When he had come to the hangar, he had expected a quick meeting before going back, unfortunately things had dragged on. After the meeting was done Xander had unblock CordeliaÆs chakra pathways, allowing her to use magic. Jenny had began teaching Xander and Cordelia the basics of witchcraft, which was later followed by Xander teaching Jenny and Cordelia the basics of sealing, Angel had decided to stay back to decipher the Romany curse that Jenny had passed them.
It was not that he had much hope for his curse, but if Xander could ever make sure his soul stayed with him permanently, then maybe, maybe he wouldnÆt need to fear being happy again. It was so hard to believe that right now, he was pinning all his hope on the child. He knew that Xander never did like him much, but Xander had been quite civil to him the whole day, after everyone was informed of what their future would bring. It might be his imagination, but a few times during the meeting, he thought he saw Xander looking at him with something akin to respect and acknowledgement.
He himself had been shocked at what he had become, what the future would turn him intoà Angel closed his eyes weary before opening them and looking around the Halloween dimension. Now was not the time to be dwelling on the future. He didnÆt really need a Halloween weapon, especially since he had vampire healing, senses and strength. But maybe he could find something to nibble on. He didnÆt believe there would be blood here, but maybe there could be food. Vampires never eat solid food because it didnÆt do anything to relieve their hunger, but they could ingest solid food if they wanted to. If he had something to nibble on, he might be able to keep himself occupied enough to temporarily forget his hunger.
Angel began searching around.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
Halloween dimension 2230hr
Rommie looked at the six seals in her hands. Xander had given them to her after she had asked if she could take more of the advanced technological weaponry out of the Halloween dimension. One reason was because they needed a few heavy offensive artilleries on hand in case of any emergencies. She had warned Giles, Angel and Jenny that they couldnÆt rely on the ray gun that Xander had brought out as their kill all and end all weapon. What if something happened to the ray gun or if the monster they were fighting was impervious to the extreme burst of light rays?
Of course thatÆs all a very low possibility, but they were points that needed to be considered. Then there was the other matter of energy generators. With the amount of androids they now had, as well as herself, a significant amount of electricity was needed to power up all of them. On this resource poor planet, this would turn out to be a problem, especially when the electricity bill arrived. She could of course ask Xander to morph an energy generator, but it might be just easier for her to build a new one, albeit simpler in design than those used on star ships.
She had taken a look at the ray gun before she came upon the idea of building her own generator. As she suspected, the ray gun ran on fusion energy contained in a very small energy cell. The energy cell from that ray gun could provide Rommie and all the androids they now possessed with energy for more then two plus years. But since that ray gun was their wild card against the demons at the moment, Rommie had requested to take out more high tech weapons so that she could extract the energy cells from the weapons and build her own generators.
She began walking towards a strange set of armor which definitely fit in the realms of high tech. It was standing behind the Darth Vader character which Xander had explicitly warned her not to touch for fear of that character awakening. Rommie gave it a wide berth as she stood in beside the armored figure. Laying a hand on it, she tried to interface with ità and came across another entity. It was slumbering now, but Rommie got the sense of an A.I. entity that was surprisingly complex. It might even be more powerful then her in certain aspects. This revelation greatly humbled Rommie. All Rommie got was its name, Cortana. As Rommie tried to access the armor system, she realized that there was also a human in the armor.
Rommie blinked her eyes, a reflexive action that was tied to her programming. She needed to check up this Cortana A.I. in this worldÆs pop cultural. If the A.I. and the human inside the armor proved to be benign, she would try to argue on their behalf for Xander to release them from thisà stasis prison. It just didnÆt feel right for her to see something sentinel being kept frozen in this sub-dimension.
She turned and walked towards the guns section where most of the high tech weaponries were. Rommie saw Jenny Calendar walking from the place with something small in her hands. It didnÆt look like any weapon that she had seen before. Rommie shrugged, maybe she would ask Jenny later.
As she near the weapon piles, Rommie swept a critical eye across the weapons and quickly begin lying seals on two of the ray guns that were of similar designs to the one Xander had brought out previously. She also picked up three other guns that looked like they possessed energy cells. As she prepared to leave, one of the weapons buried beneath the pile caught her eye. Her eyes widened. As per XanderÆs instructions, she had put on a pair of gloves before coming to the Halloween dimension. Now using her gloved hands, she began to dig through the guns to reach the weapon.
When she managed to get a hold of the weapons and pulled it out, Rommie smiled as she saw that it was a High Guard force lance. A High Guard force lance belonged to her universe, and it was one of the weapon types she had frequently used in battle. It could fire plasma shots as well as tiny attack drones called effectors. Now as she held the force lance in her hands, she felt a sense of comfort and familiarity. It was as if she was holding a piece of home in her hands.
All six weapons chosen, Rommie looked around for the others, and saw a very peculiar sight.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
Halloween dimension 2230hr
Cordelia beamed at the rows of costumes around her. So many options, so many powers, all for her to chose, she felt like a kid in a candy store. It was hard to believe that so much had happened in just one day. For one thing, she now knew her future, what would happen and how she was going to die. She had seen how shallow she had been in the graphic novels before maturing into a woman that even she felt respect for.
All through her life, she had hanged out with the æIn crowdÆ, buy the right brands, dress in the latest fashions just to be popular, to have people respect her, to be acknowledged. But now, Cordelia realized she didnÆt really care anymore, she already knew the person she would become, now she would just have to work towards becoming future her, except that this time she would not die so young. Cordelia was anything but stupid. She had realized that right now, being with Xander and the others were probably her best bet of living to a ripe old age if she was to survive her own destiny.
This was why she had not complained when they had added her as an official member of their group. It was why she was here now looking for Halloween items that could make her a force to be reckoned with during a fight.
She paused in front of a pile of Halloween accessories, rings, amulets, head bands, pouches and wands of all kinds, floating in mid air. Cordelia ran her gloved hands through the various items, amazed at the riches this Halloween dimension possessed. There were a lot of gold and diamond rings scattered in the pile. A sparkling gold brand caught her eye and she reached her hand into the pile to pull it out. Several rings from the top of the pile rolled down and brushed against the uncovered part of her arms. For a heart stopping moment, foreign memories that do not belong to her rushed into her head and took over her body.
She was Aeriln, a half elf and one of the apprentices of the great wizard Morilyn. On this day, at the eve of her birthing day, her master had gifted her with a ring of fire as her birthing day present. Aeriln gazed at the enchanted fire ruby ring in gleeà
He was Horgath, thief and rogue. Hearing of great treasures in the ruins near Waterdeep, he had ventured in with a group of adventurers and their many trails, they had came upon an old treasure room filled with magical artifacts. They had spilt what they had found, and Horgath himself had filled his pockets with gold pieces, two magical daggers, as well as a Star Opal ring which granted him instantaneous teleportation abilitiesà
Cordelia blinked as she snapped out of the memories, looking at the two rings that had rolled away from her arms. So this was what Xander had meant by being taken over by the Halloween memories. It was dangerous, but at least now she knew what powers two of the rings had. Fire and teleportationà she wondered if the other rings possessed magical abilities as well. But the only way to know what each of the rings does was to touch them with bare skin, and that could be dangerous if she was possessed.
Then an idea blossomed in her mind. Cordelia grinned as using her left hand, she took up another ring and held it over the exposed part of her right arm, and then she dropped it. As the ring struck her arm and bounced off, a flicker of memory rushed through her head, quickly disappearing as the ring rolled back onto the pile.
ôA ring of invisibility. ThatÆs cool.ö Cordelia said looking at the ring. ôWell letÆs see what powers the other rings and accessories haveàö
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
Halloween dimension 2230hr
Xander wandered the Halloween dimension, one seal in his hand. He had distributed the rest to Angel, Rommie, Cordelia and Ms Calendar. Right now he was just looking for anything of interest to take back. He hadnÆt been back to the Halloween dimension since the last time he had brought Andrew and Jonathon here. He had been kept too busy trying to æseeÆ all the essences of the tiny android so he could use the morph materia to morph it. It had been a lot of work that kept him busy for weeks.
ôOk thereÆs Pinky and the Brain.ö Xander remarked as he saw a cage that contained a pair of white rats. One was tall and skinny, the other short and plump, floating in the middle of a pile of toys. ôRemind me to stick a sign telling everyone not to take them out of the dimension.ö
ôPinky and the Brain?ö The Kyubi rumbled in confusion before understanding crept into his voice as he accessed XanderÆs memories. ôOh a pair of evil rat genius from the cartoons. Really, the weird culture that your world has, it just astonishes me. Whoever heard of evil rats? Now foxes, we are the masters of evil and cunning. Hahahaàö
ôAnd I see you practiced the evil OverlordÆs laugh really well.ö Xander said dryly. He blinked as he turned saw the boxes of toys next to the rats. ôàand thereÆs the Carebears.ö
Xander smacked his face as he imagined the Carebears running around Sunnydale, it was enough to raise his creep factor. ôEthan Rayne must have been trying to boast his profit margin by selling toys and models aside from actual Halloween costumes that night. I wonder how many other toys came alive. Sorting all of them out is going to be a nightmare.ö
ôOnce weÆve done an inventory of this place, weÆll know for sure.ö Kyubi said before giving a mental shudder as he peeked at XanderÆs memories. ôEvil rat genius I can stand, but a bunch of fluffy bears talking about caring and love makes me want to eat them or punch kittens. DonÆt even think about taking them out!ö
ôDo I look like I want a bunch of talking teddy bears evangelizing about love and caring walking around Sunnydale? Angel would probably stab me in my sleep if that happens.ö Xander said, rolling his eyes. He strolled around the Halloween dimension taking note of the various Halloween characters that had came alive. There was the Darth Vader, and another strangely armored character of some sort near him. In the second corner of the dimension was four characters, one green haired man with three swords, a blond man in a suit, a boy with a straw hat, and a pretty brunette girl with a pole of some sort.
In third corner of the Halloween dimension was a burly man dressed in leather, a young girl dressed in gothic clothing with a strip of white through her dark hair. There was also a third figure beside them dressed robin-hood style, with a green mask. Xander recognized him at once, it was the Green Arrow, a masked superhero who was an expert marksman.
Xander turned to the fourth corner of the room since it looked like Ethan had placed the human sized models in all four corners of his shop. He saw a row of robes hanging in midair, covering the models from view. Xander walked closer, pushing away the robes and froze at the sight of the two figures he unrevealed.
He was looking at two Konoha ninjas from NarutoÆs home village. One was a younger version of Shikamaru Nara, while the other was an Anbu, a sort of military ninja police, who goes by the name of Anko. His heart clenched in part pain and sorrow at the remembrance of NarutoÆs memories.
Shikamaru had grown up to become one of the most brilliant tacticians the village of Konoha had ever seen, defeating many enemies by wit alone. His ability to manipulate oneÆs own shadows to attack and defend was nothing to laugh at either. Anko on the other hand had given her life to save Naruto from an assassination attempt shortly after he had become Hokage, which was the position of the village leader for his whole ninja village. Mistress of snakes and vicious hand to hand fighting styles, she was much feared on the battlefield when she had been alive. Though NarutoÆs memories were faint now, Xander still felt his eyes tear up at the sight of these two individuals.
One had been NarutoÆs best friend, while the other had saved his life. Xander felt torn as he looked at the two Konoha ninjas.
ôWeÆve got to get them out now.ö Xander said, looking for any surface he could draw a seal with. A unique seal was needed to detach the chaos energies around the Halloween characters in the Halloween dimension and he had brought none with him.
ôAnd do what?ö Kyubi asked pointedly. ôWhere are they going to live? How are they going to fit into your world? Have you given thought to that?ö
ôButàö Xander protested.
ôThe brashness of youth. You want this now, you want that now, without careful thought of the consequences. Naruto had been the same when he was younger.ö Kyubi huffed indignantly in XanderÆs head. ôAt least prepare a place they could live and ease their way into your world before you release them from the Halloween dimension. I doubt they would want to live on your charity either, so you need to find some ways for them to provide for themselves.ö
ôYouÆre right of course.ö Xander said with a sigh. ôI guess IÆll discuss with Giles and Rommie, see what we can do for them first before bringing them out.ö
ôNow youÆre thinking.ö Kyubi said in approval. ôAnyway, whatÆs that chattering in the background?ö
ôChattering?ö Xander asked before he realized he could hear Cordelia and Ms CalendarÆs voices nearby. The shock at seeing a real life Shikamaru and Anko had caused him to lose his focus. Xander blinked wearily as he made his way out. He pushed his way pass the robes and looked around the Halloween dimension. ôI wonder whatÆs going on there?ö
Xander made his way around the rows of Halloween costumes and found Cordelia and Ms Calendar gathered in front of a pile of accessories. Cordelia had already put on an emerald ring on her right hand and an opal ring on her left hand. She was taking up various other rings and dropping them on Ms CaldendarÆs exposed arms.
ôHey! Hey! What are you guys doing? ThatÆs dangerous!ö Xander exclaimed rushing forward. His heart had constricted as he saw Ms Calendar froze up when the rings touched her bare arms. He came to a stop in front of the Cordelia just as Ms Calendar returned to her senses, opening her eyes and looking at Xander.
ôOh Cordelia was just showing me how to test the rings.ö Ms Calendar said with a smile at Cordelia. ôShe came up with an ingenuous idea of letting the Halloween objects contact our bare skin temporarily so that we could access the memories and see what powers the Halloween objects have.ö
ôOh.ö Xander said deflating a little now that he saw that Ms Calendar seemed fine. He turned and saw Cordelia giving him a smug look and sighed as he offered her a half-hearted praise. ôThatÆs quite anà idea.ö
ôItÆs nothing.ö Cordelia said with a shrug. ôBut isnÆt there a way for us to keep the Halloween memories without them taking us over? Some of the Halloween characters have a couple of useful knowledge that could help us in a fight.ö
ôHer idea actually seemed quite practical.ö Kyubi remarked in his head. ôA slight tweaking of the æNull PersonalityÆ seal should allow access to the memories without them taking control.ö
ôI hate it when sheÆs right.ö Xander sighed mentally to the fox before turning to Cordelia and saying out loud. ôI could start work on that, thatÆs a very good idea. So what did you get for yourself?ö
ôOh I got the ring of plant manipulation and the ring of teleportation.ö Cordelia said beaming at him. ôYou couldnÆt believe the offensive uses the mages from the Halloween personalities used for these two rings. Imagine being cut to death by blades of grass, or better yet, imagine being teleported fifty feet into the air and smashed down to earth.ö
Xander shivered at the sadistic grin that Cordelia was giving him and quickly turned to Ms Calendar.
ôSo what about you Ms Calendar?ö Xander asked as she picked out a quartz ring.
ôOh I had a phaser gun from star trek and I am going to pick a ring of lightning.ö Ms Calendar said with a smile. Her face suddenly went pale as she looked passed Xander. ôOh my goodness, whatÆs Angel doing?ö
Xander spin around and gaped at the sight of Angel breathing fire.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 2330hr
ôI swear, if you accidentally strike me with your powers again, I am going to roast you over a large fire!ö Buffy growled at Jonathon as they made their way back to their new headquarters.
Giles rubbed his head tiredly. The rest of the patrol had gone well as they had chanced upon a vampire nest. They had proceeded to dust all the vampires, until Jonathon had misfired one of his exploding rubber balls at Buffy. Two of the vampires they had been after had escaped during the confusion of friendly crossfire. Luckily, Buffy was able to heal herself back to prime condition with her immortal sword. However, the pain that she had felt when the rubber ball had blasted away a chunk of her flesh had left her in a foul mood. Giles had to arrange for Willow and Andrew to be between Buffy and Jonathon so that she would not shred him to pieces physically instead of just verbally.
ôI am sorry.ö Jonathon said in a very remorseful voice as Buffy shot him a dark look.
They stepped into the hangar and froze at the sight that greeted them.
ôDid something happen while we were out?ö Andrew asked as he looked into the hangar.
Several of the new chairs seemed scorched, and there were water dripping from them. Several portions of the cement floor were also darkened and drenched with water. The middle of the hangar was cleared of any objects, and there was a burnt smell in the air. Angel was sitting in the middle looking a bit depressed. At the other end of the hangar, Cordelia was giving Angel a distrusting stare with several buckets of water lined out beside her. Xander, Jenny and Rommie were gathered at the computer consoles frantically typing some stuff.
ôWhatÆs going on?ö Buffy demanded as she stepped forward to the middle patch of the room.
ôDonÆt!ö Cordelia screamed from the other end, just as Angel gave a loud burp. A jut of flames exploded from his lips, narrowing missing BuffyÆs face. As it was, she could feel the intense heat scorching her face.
Buffy and the returning patrol team froze, standing near the door of the hangar in a moment of stunned silence.
ôAngel ate some weird fruit in the Halloween dimension, and now heÆs burping fire.ö Cordelia called out to them. ôXander and the others are still trying to find out what that fruit was.ö
ôHe ate a fruit?ö Giles said in an incredulous tone of voice. ôWhat does a vampire need to eat a fruit for?ö
ôHe said he was hungry and needed something to nibble on.ö Cordelia called back in a disgusted tone of voice.
GilesÆ rubbed his head wearily as he saw AngelÆs guilty look. ôBuffy go get some blood for Angel, the rest of us will find out what Angel had eaten.ö
ôBut how are we going to cross over if AngelÆs breathing fire?ö Jonathon asked as he gauged the distance they would have to cross to run pass Angel.
ôBy this.ö Cordelia called from the other end pointing her hand at them.
There was a flash of light and Giles, Andrew, Jonathon and Willow found themselves beside Cordelia. Buffy remained at the door of the hangar looking at them in surprise.
ôI got myself a teleportation ring.ö Cordelia explained, holding up her left hand which spotted an opal ring. ôWhich is why I am on æputting out fireÆ duty because I can splash water at all the hard to reach places.ö
Giles saw the disgruntled look on CordeliaÆs face and decided not probe farther.
ôAlright, all of you, letÆs go help Xander and the others.ö Giles said shooing Willow, Jonathon and Andrew towards the computers before turning to face Buffy. ôGo and get Angel some blood, I think he should be starving by now.ö
Angel looked up giving Buffy a hopeful look as she nodded and dashed outside, it was just at that moment Angel gave another burp. The jut of flames was more intense this time and nearly reached the door to the hangar.
ôTry to control your powers dammit!ö Cordelia called out as she teleported a piled of water over the scorched doorway.
Giles quickly moved away from Cordelia who seemed to be in a bad temper. He resigned himself to trying to see if he could be of any help to Jenny, even though he had no idea how to use those infernal machines that they called computers.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 0050hr
ôI think I found out what fruit he ate.ö Rommie spoke up at last. She had been linking herself directly to the internet to surf the net faster, and had at last narrowed down the object of her search.
ôWhat did he eat?ö Buffy asked as everyone began moving towards Rommie. Buffy had just returned with the blood which Angel was sipping now, Cordelia had then teleported her to the other side where she had been helping Cordelia refill the buckets of water from the pantry.
ôHarper, show the information on Devil Fruit.ö Rommie called out to the computer console in front of her.
ôYes Rommie.ö A soft masculine voice spoke from the computer speakers. The others ignored the voice and turned to Rommie incredulously.
ôDevil Fruit?ö Jenny gave a start at the name. ôAre they dangerous?ö
ôNot exactly.ö Rommie said as the web page on the computer began to load.
Giles lean forward for a closer look and blinked at the information.
ôDevil Fruit were objects from the One Piece manga and anime universe that granted the person who ate them special powers, depending on the fruit they ate. There are more than 100 types of Devil Fruit, and they come in different shapes and colors. All Devil Fruits have swirl marks on them of some kind which fits the description of the fruit Angel had eaten. It also fits the description of the pile of fruits that Angel had gotten his from. However with this power comes a weakness, Devil Fruit users are susceptible to all types of water, not just seawater. ôMoving" water, like rain or waves, does not weaken Devil Fruit users, while standing water does. OneÆs body would also be destroyed if he consumed more than one Devil Fruit.ö Giles read out loud.
ôSo that means Angel gained the power to breathe fire permanently?ö Buffy asked for clarification.
Rommie nodded gravely. ôSo it would seem. Unfortunately, it also meant that Angel must learn to control his powers on his own.ö
ôWhat! I am not going to stay by his side all the time for fire control duty. He had better learn to control his powers fast.ö Cordelia said loudly from the sidelines.
ôWell Xander, is there any way for you to à moderate AngelÆs new abilities until he could get the hang of it?ö Giles asked turning to Xander who looked thoughtful.
ôNaruto knew some seals to restrict the powers of enemy ninjas.ö Xander volunteered at last after much thought. ôBut I am not sure if thatÆs going to work, since Angel is an undead, and have no chakra to speak of.ö
ôIt wouldnÆt hurt to try.ö Jenny said encouragingly. ôIf it doesnÆt work, weÆll think of something else.ö
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 0145hr
Xander breathed a sigh of relief as Giles and the others made their way back. In the end the seal had worked after a few tries and some tweaking. AngelÆs fire powers were seriously weakened, now all Angel could manage was a small burst of flames from his lips. Giles had told Angel to come in tomorrow to practice some form of meditation to see if that could help with his control. Control which Angel seriously needed.
Currently, the droids were moving to clean up the smog marks, wet floor and to put everything back in place. Xander shuddered, they had been lucky that Angel did not do much damage in the Halloween dimension. They had managed to bring Angel back to the hangar when they realized that his fire breathing powers were growing steadily stronger by the minute.
Xander sink tiredly into the couch near the pantry. Rommie had retreated to Hangar 2 to begin extracting the energy cells from the ray guns she brought out from the Halloween dimension. According to her, there should be enough for her to build a small generator that could generate enough electricity for them to last the next coming years.
He heard typing going on at the control consoles and turned to look, seeing Jonathon and Andrew still around. The two of them had wanted to stay back to check out the stuff on the companyÆs servers. They were both probably playing some of the games downloaded from GaiaÆs memory banks.
ôThis has been a very tiring day.ö Xander said wearily as he leaned back on the soft leather and closed his eyes.
ôThen you should try to get some rest.ö Kyubi advised in his head.
ôItÆs weekend tomorrow, so I could sleep in if I wanted to. DonÆt worry about me.ö Xander said with a sigh as he reached into his pocket to take out a matchbox. ôIÆve better continue æSeeingÆ the essence of the replicator if we want to have a working version in a few weeks time.ö
ôWell, itÆs probably true that the sooner you morph the replicator, the better it will be for everyone.ö Kyubi admitted. ôBut youÆve been spending so much time morphing stuff for the others to use that youÆve not much time left for seals or ninja studies. Add on that now youÆve to teach the others what you know, and you donÆt have time for anything.ö
ôYes, thatÆs why I am thinking itÆs best if we can get Anko and Shikamaru out of the Halloween dimension as soon as possible. They could take over the ninja lessons, and Anko might even be able to take over for me in the basic seal studies.ö Xander confided to the Kyubi.
ôIÆve told Rommie about releasing Anko and Shikamaru. Rommie had said that she would ask the droids to begin building several buildings we can use for houses on the airstrip. By her estimate, it should take only a few weeks if I could morph more androids to help out. That is of course provided we can get the needed building materials. She had suggested converting some of the empty hangars into living quarters temporarily if we really needed to get them out straight away.ö
ôI know, I heard her when she said that. You forgot, I am a part of you now. Anyway, the decision is up to you.ö Kyubi said understandingly. ôSo what are you going to do?ö
ôWell, thatÆs a no brainer. I am getting Shikamaru and Anko out as soon as possible.ö Xander said with a sigh. ôIÆll just need to discuss about this in more details with Rommie and Giles tomorrow. IÆll also need to order some furniture and convert one of the hangars into living quarters first.ö
ôThatÆs good to hear.ö Kyubi remarked softly as if reminiscing of old times. ôI also knew of Shikamaru during my time in NarutoÆs body, and the fact that Anko saved my containerÆs life is a debt I feel inclined to repay to her now that I have the chance. But at the moment, let me help you with deciphering the essence of the replicator.ö
ôThanks fox, I know I can count on you.ö Xander said with a grin as he opened his mind to the Kyubi. Together they stretched out their chakra and spread it over the tiny replicator lying in the matchbox. Layer by layer, they began to unrevealed the essences of the replicator.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Sunnydale. 0530hr
ôAre you sure weÆre doing the right thing?ö Daniel asked as Carter drove the car past the æWelcome to SunnydaleÆ sign. ôMaybe we should have called General Hammond personally instead of leaving just a message for him.ö
ôThe airman said General Hammond took the day off to attend his grandchildrenÆs graduation Daniel. ThatÆs a family event. The General got too few family time as it is, let him enjoy his free day without any crisis popping up for him.ö Jack said from his seat beside Carter. ôIÆm sure we can handle a little bit of investigative work on our own. If we find out that we really need the big guns, we can always call the General directly and request for more help. WeÆre on Earth anyway, not off planet, a phone call is just what it would take.ö
ôIf worse comes to worse, we could always contact the soldiers at the desert outpost.ö Carter said from behind the wheel as she droved them through the quiet morning streets of Sunnydale. ôCaptain Jones, the one thatÆs in charge of the desert outpost wasnÆt very happy about us going off on an investigation trip on our own.ö
ôHe did seem most unhappy when we drove away.ö TealÆc added from the backseat beside Daniel.
ôWell, thereÆs nothing we could do.ö Jack said with a shrug. ôHis security clearance wasnÆt high enough for us to tell him about the aliens. WeÆre going to have to leave him and his men behind if we are to carry out our investigation.ö
ôSo what are we going to do now that weÆre in Sunnydale?ö Daniel asked exasperatedly from the back seat. ôDo we have an actual plan or are we just rushing into the thick of things blindly as usual?ö
ôWe do have a plan!ö Jack said sounding highly offended. ôItÆs not my fault that most of our plans donÆt survive first contact. Anyway, weÆre on Earth, and the Mayor is only one alien. We just need to find out what heÆs doing here and if there are more of them. WhatÆs the worst that could possibly happen?ö
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 1030hr
Cordelia hummed along with the music as she seated herself in front of one of the computer consoles. She flipped through the catalogue thatÆs filled with thousands of dresses and clothing suitable for Earth in this current century. Already, she was book marking those fashion designs that she felt could revolutionize the current fashion trends. There were a few designs that she was thinking of keeping for herself as well.
ôDo you wish me to tag this Miss Chase?ö The computer AI Harper inquired politely through the speakers.
Cordelia paused, considering the design before her and then gave a nod. ôHand this design over to the droids and have them fabricate a copy of the dress. Add this to the collection of things to do.ö
ôAlright, Miss Chase.ö Harper said as the design on screen faded away and changed to a new one.
Cordelia looked at the new design with a critical eye before sending it to the awaiting pile. So engrossed was she in browsing through the design that she did not notice Buffy coming into the hangar until the Slayer bumped into her chair.
ôHey watch it.ö Cordelia muttered irritably, jousted from her concentration.
ôSorry.ö Buffy apologized, pausing in front of CordeliaÆs console. She turned to Cordelia looking at her in surprise. ôYouÆve been here all morning looking through fashion catalogues?ö
ôIÆm working.ö Cordelia said impatiently. ôIÆm looking through the designs to see which are marketable.ö
ôOhà well, good luck.ö Buffy said moving away. ôIÆm going to take a look at their music catalogue. Maybe I can bundle up the music and sell them to some music companies.ö
Cordelia sighed as she got up and stretch her wearily limbs. Now that her concentration was broken, she felt like taking a break. Walking to the pantry, she took a quick look around the HQ. Rommie was at one corner of the room fiddling with some mechanic stuff, while Andrew was hovering at her side as he watches her assemble the machine. Jonathon was lying on the coach fast asleep. Buffy had taken a seat at one of the computer consoles, and Cordelia saw with surprise that Willow had arrived as well, stacking up the bookshelves with books from the many boxes in the HQ.
As she filled a glass of water for herself, she saw Xander jogging into the HQ, drenched in sweat. Cordelia raised an eyebrow curiously, Xander never did seem like the exercising kind of person, but she guessed things had changed since Halloween night. Deciding to see what Rommie and Andrew were up to, Cordelia walked towards them to take a closer look.
ôThatÆs the energy generator you were talking about?ö Cordelia asked Rommie curiously as she approaches them.
ôYeah itÆs real cool!ö Andrew said excitedly. ôRommieÆs teaching me all sorts of things.ö
ôYou are a good student, though the X-Men powers of Forge might have a hand in helping you pick up all these knowledge of advance technologies so fast.ö Rommie commented. She looked pass Cordelia with an astonished expression as amusement crept into her voice. ôHow did Xander do that?ö
Cordelia and Andrew turned and gaped as they saw a half naked blond girl standing next to the sofa.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 1030hr
Xander wiped the sweat off his face as he jogged into Hangar 1. He had just finished his morning exercise of 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, as well as floating leaves for one hour which could help to enlarge his chakra reserves and to give him more control over his chakra. Over the past few weeks, his devoted training had bear fruits as his chakra reserves tripled what it used to be. Right now the amount of chakra in his body could be considered on par with some of the more average student ninjas during NarutoÆs time in the ninja academy.
It was also why he was considering trying out NarutoÆs trademark technique as he ended his morning exercise. He had been practicing the handseals for almost half a month now, and he felt that he could do them in his sleep.
"Remember, with the amount of chakra you have, you can only maintain that technique for one hour." The Kyubi warned in his head. "DonÆt overstretch yourself."
ôDonÆt worry, I am just going to try it for a while.ö Xander said with a grin as he made the handseals. ôIf I can do this technique, it will prove that my chakra control has advanced enough to start on the other ninja skills. NARUTOÆS SEXY TECHNIQUE!ö
Xander pushed his chakra outwards as he formed the handseals. A billow of smoke surrounded him. As the smoke cleared, Xander looked down at himself with a grin as he found himself with a pair of breasts, shapely body and long legs, all covered by only a skimpy two piece swimsuit.
ôThis is so cool! I could get to like this.ö Xander said, his voice coming out in a husky female tone as he began feeling his breasts.
ôXanderàö BuffyÆs voice suddenly sounded behind him. Xander turned to see Buffy smiling sweetly at him even as a twitch began to develop on her left eyelid. ôWHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUÆRE DOING! YOU PERVERT!ö
Xander winced at the shout from Buffy and had no time to react as Buffy swung a fist into his face.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Andromeda Inc. Hangar 1, 1045hr
Willow looked on with a blush on her face as Buffy sent the half naked, girl shaped Xander flying across the room. Xander changed back to his fully clothed boy self as he hit the ground roughly with a groan. WillowÆs mind kept flashing back to the sight of female XanderÆs shapely body, and her face turned beet red.
ôXander.ö Cordelia grounded out from the side as she began stalking towards Xander even as Buffy was making her way towards him angrily. ôYou are in deep shit.ö
ôCome on girls, itÆs just a joke.ö Xander protested weakly as he got up and began backing away from an angry Buffy and Cordelia. ôThatÆs NarutoÆs favorite technique. I was just testing if I have enough chakra control to begin doing the basic ninja skills.ö
ôAnd you couldnÆt have picked something else to begin your first ninja skills with?ö Cordelia said through gritted teeth. ôYouÆre a pervert and youÆre going down hard.ö
Willow watched as Buffy and Cordelia began to verbally tear into Xander, with Buffy giving Xander the occasional rough shake to bring the point across to him that under no circumstances was he to ever use that technique again.
ôI thought that he looked quite nice.ö Jonathon confined in Willow as he got off the couch beside the bookshelves. He blushed as he looked down at the floor. ôI mean XanderÆs girl self look very pretty.ö
ôYeah itÆs veryàö Willow nodded before she could stop herself. A look of panic crossed her face as she began scolding herself. ôArgh! Willow what are you thinking? You must think good and pure thoughts! This is Xander youÆre thinking about!ö
Willow shook her head to get the image out of her mind and then gave a resigned sigh as she finally agreed with Jonathon. ôBut he looked nice as a girl though, even I have to admit that.ö
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
at Halloween dimension, 1400hr
A pulse of energy erupted from the dark armored figure of Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker gasped as he freed himself from the stasis he was trapped in. He grimaced. A strange walled up energy of some sort laid all around him, stagnant. His force senses were being scrambled by this unknown energy force and the few strands of the Force trapped in this space was escaping from him as the Force seemed to be trying to shy away from this strange energy.
Anakin looked around him calmly, taking stock of his surroundings. It was true that he was unnerved by what his Force senses were telling him, but he had been trained as a Jedi, spent years as a Sith, a user of the dark side of the Force, before finding redemption and spending the rest of the decades as a Force ghost. Compared to the time when he led a fleet of starships to conquer planets in the name of the Empire, being stuck in what seemed to be a small room of some sort ranked very low on the threat meter.
Of course, the room seemed to be some kind of stasis trap as it was clustered with piles of objects ranging from clothes, swords, blasters, gems, all floating in mid air. Whichever civilization had created this trap must have been highly advanced, he doubted any of the race in his world could create a stasis field that occupied such a large area.
He was about to move closer to a pile of blaster weapons to investigate when someone coughed behind him. Anakin whirled around, his lightsaber unhooking itself from his belt as he used what little amount of the Force that was present in this room to propel the lightsaber into his hands. A red beam of light flashed out of the hilt of the lightsaber as he turned to face the armored warrior of some sort behind him.
ôExcuse me.ö A manÆs gravel voice sounded from the armor. ôBut do you happen to know where this is?ö
ôI am afraid that I am not the right person to ask.ö Anakin said slowly as he observed the man, stretching his Force senses towards the armored figure. The strange energy had masked the manÆs presence from him and Anakin frowned at the thought that he couldnÆt rely on the Force while he was confined in this room.
With his Force senses, Anakin was able to sense the presence of a male with cybernetic implants inside the armor. There did not seemed to be any malevolent feeling of any sort around the armored figure so Anakin was willing to let his guard down a bit though he continued to keep a careful eye on the armored figure.
ôI had just freed myself a few minutes ago and was about to investigate the surrounding.ö Not for the first time since he woke up, Anakin gave thanks that his new body did not seem to rely on a respirator for his continual survival. In fact, from what he could get from the force, the body he was currently in was young and in good health. His voice came out from his helmet without the sound of harsh breathing of the respirator.
ôI see. I have no idea how I came to be here as well, but perhaps we could work together for the time being and find a way out.ö The armored man offered after a pause.
ôI have no problems with that. I am Anakin Skywalker.ö Anakin said, offering his name.
ôI am Master Chief, of the UNSC.ö The man said, shaking AnakinÆs hand.
***à***à***à***à***à***à***à***à*
AuthorÆs Notes:
This wasnÆt exactly how I envisioned this chapter to end. But as usual, IÆve written too much, and my creativityÆs been running a bit dry trying to fit a lot of stuff in one chapter. So there, the story will continue in the next chapter, when IÆve time to get to it.
A point of note, the carebears wouldnÆt be appearing anytime soon, they are meant as a side joke because I could just see them going up to a vampire and trying to teach them all about ôloveö and ôkindnessöà some how, I donÆt think vampires will really like it. So yes, they are meant to be crack snippets. You donÆt really think I can write a serious Btvs crossover with Carebears do you? ^_^
Powers gained in this chapter:
1)Angel had eaten a DevilÆs Fruit from the One Piece Manga/Anime.
2)Cordelia had gotten a ring of plant manipulation and a ring of teleportation. (They are a subtle nod to the Dungeons and Dragons and Gurps pen and paper games)
3)Jenny had gotten a Star Trek Phaser and a ring of Lightning
4)Xander had at last mastered NarutoÆs Sexy Technique, with more of NarutoÆs Manga and Anime skills on the way.
