Chaotic Circumstances: "Suffer the Children"

["jab21kill" <the.evil.guy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

(Happy Birthday to me...  Happy Birthday to me...  Happy Birthday to
Me~Ee, Happy Birthday to me!)

OH, (PS: There is next-to-none of Buffy, Willow, Xander, or Cordelia
in this particular installment, sorry for those that don't like this,
but I'm trying to set up an entire 'verse here, and this is part of
that.  Consider yourselves warned.)

Title:	Chaotic Circumstances

Author:	Joshua

Disclaimer:	Yet another post-Halloween costume AU BtVS crossover.

Summary:	The gang, on a whim, dressed up as various X-men, and Ethan's
was the only shop in town to boot so EVERYBODY changed.  Buffy, as a
joke, went as Cyclops, Willow as Jean Grey i.e. Phoenix, Xander went
as Iceman, and Cordelia went as Rogue.  Meanwhile, the rest of
Sunnydale dressed as everything from storybook monsters, Hollywood
productions, comic book characters, to creative 'self-costumes'.  Not
to mention demons, vampires, and werewolves OH MY!  This is just as
much their story as the Scoobies now.

AN:	I blame ziziggy123 author of "Sunnydale Berserker" and Anime Ronin
author of "Of Scoobies and X-Men" for the inspiration, if you want to
call it that, for this little piece of fanfiction.  Mostly it came
from Berserker in seeing how Buffy and the brand new Xander aka
Wolverine were getting along and it struck me as peculiar that
"Wolverine" just NEVER gets along with a person named "Summers".  Then
I started brainstorming 'What if' Buffy did dress up as Cyclops, and
it became permanent the same way Xander dressing up as Wolverine did?
Then I went further, and further, and further still and came up with
all that follows.  If you like, GREAT!  If you don't, <shrug> eh,
that's ok too.

AN2:	I am always open to input, that is not pure uneducated dribble
that is often referred to as "Flames" and usually involve cursing. 
Sometimes in numerous languages as well.  But if you have constructive
criticism, I always listen and try to reply to such, and if you have
suggestions about where to go from here, those I *REALLY* listen too
and enjoy and always reply back to.

E-mail/Reviews:	the.evil.guy@xxxxxxxxxx and jab21kill@xxxxxxxxx 

Story:


/Suffer the Children/

Stein groaned as the morning light made its way, somehow, past his
eyelids, effectively destroying any and all chances he had of
remaining unconscious for any longer.  He half suspected that he had
chlorophyll in his blood, which could explain why he was so green, but
nothing in the comics said anything about that.

	Groaning with the effort, which was negligible and more just cause he
was a lazy SOB, he sat up and opened his eyes.  For a moment he wasn't
sure where he was, until he suddenly remembered getting drunk the
night before.  Finally succeeding after drinking 7 gallons straight of
vodka, whiskey, and wine.  Unfortunately, he could feel it would be
the last time for a while as he could even now feel his monstrous body
adapting to the concept of 'Mixed Drinks', giving him a rather . . .
unique hangover.  Not necessarily painful, but not pleasant to say the
least.

	Looking around he realized he was in the Park, and it was dawn,
probably almost 7 in the morning.  He groaned again as he began to
(metaphorically) beat himself up for forgetting the boys.  He had to
get home and get them to school!

	Until he remembered suddenly that it was the weekend.  Well in that
case, they could take care of themselves for a couple more hours.

	Looking around, and then down at himself, he saw that he was still in
his uniform and it if weren't for the fact that it was stretched tight
over his massive body, it probably would have been more wrinkled than
a brown paper bag.  Grumbling he got to his feet, lost his balance for
half a second before catching himself, and then trotted towards home.
He took about four steps before he stopped and stood stock still.

	From all over the park, /things/ were moving, emerging from the
shadows and various other hiding places.  Some only glanced at him
before apparently disregarding him as a threat, but most immediately
began scavenging all over the park.  From the trash cans to around
benches, to the playground and trees.  There were almost fifty, he
realized after a quick count.  Then more and more showed up as he just
stood there looking at all of them and he knew it was more than fifty.
Way more than fifty.

	His mind, no longer focused on the problems of his body adapting so
he could never get drunk again, searched for a possible explanation
for what he was witnessing, and came up with a report that had crossed
his desk earlier in the week.  Approximately 66 families had come to
the police, at first on an individual basis, but then together, saying
that their children had been missing since Halloween.

	Missing persons weren't exactly an uncommon thing in Sunnydale, but
missing /children/ were another story entirely.  Especially since the
children in question were between the ages of 2 and 10.  Most younger
even than Robert and William.

	Stein counted one more time, this time making sure not to lose count
or miss any of the things he was seeing.  Sixty-nine of them.  He
recalled that a couple of the families were missing two or more
children.  Children they had claimed had dressed up as monsters for
Halloween.  As demons.

	If what had happened to him, Robert, William, and most of the town
had happened to those children . . .  Stein cursed under his breath. 
Well, it would certainly explain why he was seeing almost 70
mini-demons or other monster-types scavenge the park for food and
anything else.

	Some looked hurt, they were being watched over by the majority of the
others, like they'd been in fights with things bigger and more
powerful than even they themselves were and if not coming out the
losers, certainly not coming out unscathed.  They'd probably run into
a few of the /real/ demons of Sunnydale, he surmised.

	Stein cursed again, this time himself.  He couldn't just stand here
all day just /looking/ at them.  He had to do /something/!  He was a
police officer after all, and these . . . /kids/ were just as young,
if not younger than the two boys that had wormed their way into his
heart.  Decision made, though really it was just a decision to /do
something/, nothing on what that should be, Stein stepped forward and
began walking towards one of the . . . one of the missing children.

	Unfortunately, as he did, he didn't notice the group of four
teenagers entering the park and witnessing the same scene that he'd had.


"Oh my god," Sandra whispered in horror, unable to fully comprehend
what they were seeing.

	"Anyone else want to doubt what Jonathan told us?" Dexter asked his
closest friends with a cold tone, his green eyes not once leaving the
scene before them.

	"How the hell does he expect us to help these . . ." Lance almost
said 'monsters', but changed it at the last second, "...kids?"

	"How about we start by finding out why they aren't at their homes and
instead are scavenging for food and clothes in the park," Dexter
suggested.

	"They look kind of skittish, which one of us should . . . you know?"
Lindsey asked.

	"How about we try talking to the bigger ones, they might be the least
skittish of all of them," Sandra suggested.

	"Sounds like a good idea," Dexter agreed.

	"Hey, how about that one?" Lance pointed.  They started forward,
towards the demon Lance had pointed out to them.

	"Lindsey," Dexter suddenly stopped them, "Priority Command:
Authorization Shion-Dex-Alpha-Alpha-13765-Delta-Anime.  No matter what
happens, as long as we're in the Park and are trying to talk to these
. . . Demon-kids, /remain/ Lindsey and do not display anything . . .
KOS-MOS.  Understood?"

	"Understood Shion," Lindsey 'automatically' responded.  She blinked
once and then seemed to return to normal and looked at her boyfriend
with a confused look.

	"We don't want them spooked, and we want them to trust us, and if
you're going KOS-MOS on them anytime one gets too near me with its
claws . . ." he left the explanation hang, but they all nodded in
understanding.

	"Y'know, you can't blame me for being a bit protective," Lindsey
whispered to him as they walked onward.  Dexter simply gave her a shy,
yet confident smile that made her blush.

	They approached one of the larger . . . creatures, which was wading
through the contents of one of the garbage cans around the park.  At
first it didn't even register at seeing them, but when Dexter tried to
reach out and tap it on the shoulder, just to get it's attention, it
jumped away and hissed at him before he could even get close.

	Startled by this sudden reaction, the teens all jumped, but Dexter
put his hands up and gently insisted to the demon, "Whoa!  We're not
going to hurt you, I swear.  Not like we could either!  We just wanted
to talk, that's all."

	Given how the creature was still shrinking away from them and hissing
like some kind of snake that never ran out of breath, (or whatever it
is that snakes use to hiss), Dexter began to have second thoughts on
his plan.  Like maybe letting KOS-MOS or Lance handle the direct
dealings with the children or something to the effect where he
wouldn't get hurt.

	"Do you think they even understand English anymore?" Lindsey asked him.

	"Of course!" he exclaimed.  "They may have been transformed, but
they're still children, and if they ever understood English to begin
with, they should still be able to understand us!"

	During his rant, the creature seemed to have paused, taking the
strangers in with a new light.  Finally, in a gravelly, rumbling
voice, it asked them, "Who . . . are . . . you?"

	They all looked at the demonoid with surprise and a bit of shock. 
Finally, Dexter got over his shock and answered, "Uh, my name is
Dexter, this is Lindsey, Lance, and Sandra.  We . . . well, we
understand what happened, and we're wondering why you kids aren't at
home with your parents."

	The beast shook its head.  "Not all of us can control the change yet.
They kicked the ones that couldn't out, calling them monsters.  The
rest of us joined them, to help, but . . . look, none of us want to go
on living this way!  But until we're sure . . . that all of us can go
home, none of us are going home."

	"That's insane," a strange voice from behind them spoke up.

	They all turned, surprised and then shocked as they saw a miniature
green mountain, with a fin on top of it's head, standing there,
wearing a police uniform and a trench coat.

	"Whoa..." the child-turned-demon exclaimed, "You're the Savage Dragon!"

	A look of annoyance and frustration crossed the block of green
muscle's face, but he just gruffly nodded.  "My /name/ is actually
Stein.  Detective Stein, of the Sunnydale Police Department.  And
you're telling me that all the kids that have been reported missing
and as runaways these past coupla weeks . . . has been all of . . .
these . . . ?" he trailed off, looking around the park at the varying
number of demonic entities.

	"What's your name?" Lindsey gently asked the one in front of them.

	"Ch-Chip," he answered hesitantly, then with growing confidence,
"Chip Bishop."

	"Bishop!" Stein exclaimed.  "Geez Louise kid!  Do you have /any/ idea
how worried sick your mother is!?  She's the one that got all the
parents with missing kids together!  Let me tell you, she's been
screaming blood murder at City Hall's doorsteps since the day after
Halloween!"

	If the teens and cop didn't know any better, and if they understood
anything about demon physiology, which they didn't, they might believe
he was blushing, not that they could tell.

	"Is your brother out here somewhere?" Stein demanded to know.

	Chip just nodded, still staring in awe up at the comic book superhero
come to life.

	"Good God," Stein mumbled as he rubbed his face in the mounting
frustration and complication that this situation had brought him to. 
"OK, we've got to get you kids off the streets, sooner rather than
later.  Then we've got to call your parents . . ."

	"NO!" the demon exclaimed loudly, drawing all the attention in the
park right down on the small group.

	"You don't understand!" Chip continued before the teens or Stein
could interrupt him, "Our parents aren't going to take us in like
this!  It's too soon!  There are still some of us that can't control
the Change, and none of us are going back unless all of us are going
back!"

	"Change?  What change?" Sandra asked.  "You've mentioned it before,
what do you mean by it?"

	Chip looked around, seeing all his "friends" gathering in close, and
they were more curious than frightened by these people that had found
them, so he decided to go ahead and show them.  With a grunt of effort
and closing his eyes in concentration, the demon-child before them
began to shimmer and morph right before their eyes.  Moments later,
the transformation, or Change, was complete and standing there was an
innocent-looking human boy, in some ragged clothes that were both too
big and too small for him.

	Stein immediately recognized the picture of Chip Bishop that he had
pinned to his peg board in his office at the station.

	"Fuck me," he cursed as yet another facet of his life went out the
window.

	"You mean that you can change back and forth between your human form
and your costume form?" Dexter, ever the strategist, questioned.

	Chip shrugged, "Not all of us, not yet.  And unfortunately, we aren't
changing back into human form, we just make ourselves look human.  I'm
. . . I'm still a demon, I just look human, like I did before.  And we
aren't going back until all of us can do it!  If our parents . . . if
our parents ever saw us like this," he shimmered and reverted back to
his demon form, "they'd disown us, throw us out on the streets, or
worse give us to the government for study or something like that. 
Some of them /did/ throw us out on the streets, screaming that we
weren't human and had eaten ourselves.  And . . . we don't have
anywhere else to go right now."

	Stein sighed, making a stupid decision without even bothering to
think it over.

	"Well, for right now, you do.  The YMCA is open and the owner owes me
a favor or two.  Your four," the green-muscled police officer pointed
at the Anime Club, "escort all of these kids to the center, down off
of 3rd and Bleaker.  You know where it is?"

	"Yes sir," Lindsey dutifully replied, her computer mind pulling up
the information in a microsecond.

	"Fine.  I'm going to get some . . . decent food and breakfast for
everyone.  I'll figure out what to tell the Captain later.  Go on, get
outta here, I've got some thinking, and shopping to do!" the Savage
Dragon growled and then turned to stalk off.

	"Was that a superhero?" another of the child-demons asked.

	"I do believe it was," Dexter replied with a smile, then turned to
Lindsey and the continued on towards the youth center.


"It's early Marco," Rachel growled at the Hispanic genius, "Too early."

	"And yet you still seem to find the time to make yourself look
beautiful, huh Xena?" he retorted while maneuvering himself around
some more debris.

	"What's he talking about?  She didn't dress as Xena?" Kevin asked
Jake as they all worked their way through the remains of the abandoned
lot.

	"Don't worry about it Kevin, old joke," the former Star Fleet Captain
explained.

	"It's not that early Rachel," Cassie consoled her friend.

	"It's too early for manual labor," came the nasty retort.

	Everyone had gotten up early, and it was /everyone/, as all the ones
from the other day's "Battle Royale" no matter which side they'd been
on, was here to witness the start of something really cool and to help
however they could.  Marco Sanchez was the leader of this little
expedition, and he was carrying with him just a modified tricorder,
and an isolinear chip, to which he had downloaded all of the
specifications needed for the base that they would build here that he
had drawn up the night before.

	"OK," Marco announced once he got to more or less the center of the
destruction and flat enough ground, with everyone gathered around,
"first thing's first, we've got to clear a lot of this debris, just .
. . shove it all off to the side!  I'll figure out what to do with it
later."

	Everyone just kind of stared at him for a while, ticking him off just
a bit.  Seeing this reaction in his friend, Jake stepped forward and
shouted so he could be heard, "All right!  You heard the man!  In
matters like this, we do what Marco says, even me!  And this may seem
like a lot of work for the weekend, but believe me, it'll be worth it!
You all remember what we showed you earlier, right?"  He referred to
the holographic 3-D display of the plans that they'd shown everyone
before arriving at the lot.

	That seemed to get everyone motivated, but it was still Buffy, the
Slayer and with her mutant-boosted Slayer strength that got to work
first, everyone else falling in after her.  Mostly just tossing
boulders about, or throwing the debris into a large pile somewhere.

	By early afternoon, a surprising amount of the garbage was cleared
up, with the help of multiple super-strong individuals, at least two
powerful telekinetics, and Marco and the other Star Fleet kids
supervising.  Enough that there was now a nicely clear staging area. 
Utilizing the tricorder, the young genius brought up a hologram of the
basic design of the new base.

	"OK, as great and fortuitous as this crater is for us, it's still not
quite enough," he told the gathered, "We're going to need to do some
additional excavating.  But, good news is that now that this much is
cleared, the rest of us can start getting to work making the walls and
floors of this place."

	"OK, you, you, you, you and . . . you," Tobias pointed out Willow,
Fred, Prime, Captain Marvel and Robert, "start looking for every piece
of metal that you can find, no matter how rusted or bent and broken,
and bring it over there in a big pile!"

	"All right!" Ax shouted, stepping forward with his own shovel, "You
all!" he gestured to a massed up group including Tim, Buffy, and
Sydney/Iczelion, "Grab what you need and let's get started digging!"

	Buffy shrugged and took her shades completely off and away before
turning to a caved in portion of the underground cavern and let loose
with a constant stream of optic energy, pulverizing and obliterating
the rock and debris faster than dynamite could.  And in a more
controlled form as she continued to walk forward, keeping her gaze
steady as she proceeded to 'free up' the tunnel once more.  Taking
this as an example, those that could, quickly turned their own
destructive energies against the rock walls and began to blast with
real enthusiasm, enjoying themselves as though it were all some kind
of game.

	"Hey ice dude," Rachel called out.

	Grumbling, Xander walked up and corrected her, "It's Iceman.  Blondie."

	Arching an eyebrow in impressed curiosity, she ignored the returned
slight and gave him her request, "Think you could pop up some ice cold
drinks for everybody?  This is thirsty work, I'm sure you can imagine."

	Scowling in outrage at being reduced once more to the snack gopher,
he almost walked right out, after sending a Freeze Ball up the girl's
ass, but he stopped when the other girl, Cassie came up to him and
calmly explained, "Please Xander.  Dehydration is a big concern,
especially since we don't know how much energy everyone's using up
when they use their powers like this.  At the very least we're going
to need a steady supply of water, and maybe something else to keep us
cool."

	"Oh, well, why didn't you just say so," Xander was suddenly all
smiles, "Cool, I can do," he said as he transformed to Iceman and then
pointed upwards with both hands.  Twin ice beams converged about ten
meters high and where they did, a giant ice globe began to form, until
it was the size of a large building.  Xander then shot one of his
hands down and constructed ice-supports underneath the shadow of the
globe to keep it from crushing them.  Moments later, a cold wind
seemed to come down off of it, cooling everyone working hard, and
rivulets of melt water began pouring down the supports into icy basins
that Xander had thoughtfully added.

	"Anything else I can do for you ladies?" he asked with a cocky grin.

	Now duly impressed, Rachel gave the teen an appraising look.  "We'll
let you know.  For right now, it looks like Jake has a job for you,"
she pointed behind him.  Grinning and giving a two-fingered salute to
the young ladies, he turned and went towards the unofficial leader.

	"He's kinda cute, huh Rachel?" Cassie teased her friend.

	"Shut up!  And get back to work!" the blonde beauty ordered.  Cassie
just laughed at her.

	Those not digging, and those not scavenging for metal, and those not
of the few still clearing debris, circled around Jake and Marco as the
two began to make plans for actually constructing something.  By
mid-afternoon, the debris had been completely cleared away and a large
portion of the excavating had been completed.  Working together,
Willow and Fred had managed to keep the shack in one piece and set off
to it's own side.  Jake and Marco had decided to keep the base
subterranean, which would mean that the "Abandoned Lot/Junkyard" would
still need to be maintained as a cover.

	With ¾ of the five square acres cleared, and the ten mile trench
going further out, they'd managed to stabilize the pit and discovered
a few things.  Not the least of which was the source of the smell
they'd detected since first coming to the lot.  Apparently Fyarl demon
feces is rather pungent when piled together and left to fester.  They
finally resorted to using a combination of Joyce's and Amy's magic,
Scott wishing the pile of crap didn't smell so bad, and Joyce
teleporting it away where it'll harmlessly finish decomposing.

	By the "end" of the day, rather than a war zone aftermath, the pit
actually looked like it could eventually be something constructive. 
Of course the Star Fleet kids still hadn't figured out a way to rework
the metal that they'd gathered, and as useful as it was, they would
require a great deal many more resources before they could even
technically get started on it.

	Everyone satisfied with a job well done, and a day of play for those
that really got to let loose with their powers for once, they went
home just before nightfall, all a great deal more friendly with one
another, and the beginnings of the group that, according to the
Dungeon Master, would set out to change the world.


/Sunnydale YMCA/
/Evening/

"Holy bejeezez!" the Chief cursed, his eyes wide and his palm grabbing
his forehead to forestall the oncoming migraine for as long as possible.

	"I was a little bit more colorful in my word choice first time I saw
it," Stein commented, "But it'll do.  What do you think?"

	"Think?  What do I think?  I'm not sure whether to cuss you out and
demote you to cadet, or recommend you for a commendation and the next
in line for my job!  Do you realize . . ." the Chief trailed off,
rubbing the sweat from his face as he turned and lead the Dragon out
of the room and into the hallway.  "Stein, are those really all of the
missing kids?"

	"I checked earlier and the teens, the ones that got 'em all here, got
all the kids' names.  So I ran it against the list at the station and
with the exception that there about four more kids here than were
reported missing, yeah, this is them.  And let me tell you chief,
they've got quite a tale to tell."

	"No shit!" the Chief cursed, running his fingers through his thinning
hair as he paced in front of the door.  The Chief of Police was one of
the very few humans still in Sunnydale that managed to escape, so to
speak, being changed on Halloween, thanks in large part to him
deciding to escort his own kids on Halloween and had foregone wearing
a costume, instead wearing his old street-beat uniform, buying nothing
from the costume shop "Ethan's".

	"This could get ugly Stein, I kid you not," the middle-aged man said.

	"Ya mean the demon thing Chief?" Stein clarified.  He snorted in
derision, "Please!  After Halloween, y'think anyone in this town
doesn't know already, or won't find out soon enough?  So we keep the
press out of it and contact the families discreetly.  Besides, they
can change their appearance, look normal.  You probably saw some of
that in there already!  Worst case scenario, we wait until they can
all do it.  Either way, it's better than letting them stay on the
streets, scrounging for food and clothes and a safe place to go to
sleep!  And away from the /real/ demons that are out there."

	"True, you've got a point," the Chief admitted.

	"But in the mean time . . ." the green finned mass of muscle lead.

	The Chief sighed and rubbed his face one final time.  "Until we get
them back to their homes, they stay here.  I'll take care of the
paperwork.  You've got it squared away with the director?"

	Stein nodded and then gestured to the ceiling, causing his boss to
look up and see a blue-furred beast hanging there.  "Allow me to
introduce Henry Stevens.  He's an old friend of mine, and, obviously,
knows exactly what these kids . . . and me . . . are going through. 
He's more than willing to help out, right Hank?"

	"Of course David," came a surprisingly normal and even cultured voice
from the blue-furred beast as it casually dropped from the ceiling and
landed easily on its feet.  "I'm more than willing to provide room and
board for all of the children.  Unfortunately, while I am the sole
proprietor of this establishment, I'm far from wealthy enough to
enlist unlimited resources in regards to the proper care of over fifty
juveniles.  And so if the Police Department is willing to provide
monetary compensation, or even to, as you might put it, foot the bill
on food, I assure you that there will be no unjustified further cause
for recourse."

	The Chief just stared at the beast for a couple of seconds, blinked
heavily, before finally replying with, "Uh . . . OK then.  Well, I'll,
uh, yeah, go and fill out the paperwork, set up either some kind of
loan or make a deal with one of the local restaurants to get the kids
fed and stuff, and . . . then we'll see about contacting the parents
tomorrow.  Right now, well, I don't see any reason why they can't
spend the night, right?"

	"Of course, not a problem at all," Director Stevens waved the Chief
off.  Nodding one last time, the Chief of Police scurried off, leaving
the two changed-individuals alone in the hallway.

	"Thanks again Hank," Stein said, offering his hand in friendship.

	The blue-furred man looked at the green-skinned limb for some silent,
tense-filled moments before looking back up at the larger creature. 
"I owed you a couple favors Stein," he almost growled, his voice still
cultured and intelligent, but decidedly angry.  "And I feel for these
kids, I really do.  But don't mistake compassion for friendship."

	Stein squinted in anger, withdrawing his hand, scowling at the beast.
"I wasn't offering friendship, I was saying thank you.  And for the
last time, I was not in control!  Can I help it if the Dragon was some
kind of goody-two-shoes idealistic cop?  Those men were some of my . . ."

	"Don't say friends!" Stevens growled.  "None of us were /ever/
friends!  We were the god-damned black market!  Still would be if half
of them hadn't been killed by you and the others!  I'm just damned
lucky I was late and even more lucky that my wife dressed as Mystique!"

	"You know what Hank, forget I said anything!" Stein growled back. 
"It's for the kids, and none of them deserve this, that much we agree
on, right?"

	The Director of the Youth Center merely growled out an affirmative,
and then turned and stalked off, at the end of the hallway actually
jumping back onto the ceiling and crawling off that way.  Stein sighed
and then turned down the opposite direction and planned to head home.
Maybe grab a pizza on the way for him and the boys to eat.


Inside the room that the nearly 70 demon kids had been placed in,
which actually was the open-court gymnasium just filled with cots and
sleeping bags and 70+ child-sized creatures, Lindsey turned back to
Dexter, having conveyed the conversation that had happened just
outside in the same manner that KOS-MOS had spied on Grunide and his
lackies during Halloween.

	"That riddle is suddenly starting to make a whole lot more sense,"
the Anime-geek-turned-Go-player said.

	"What do you mean?" Lance questioned.

	"Lindsey," Dexter requested, and after a moment of her eyes flashing
red for half a second, she repeated, in Jonathan's voice, the riddle
the Dungeon Master had given them the day before.

	"Trust comes hard, but help will come harder than anything.  The
monsters you see will not be the true demons, and the demons you see
are not the true monsters.  If you need aid, remember that strength
/does/ lie in numbers, and friends."

	"Help seemed to come easy enough," Sandra commented.  "That cop and
the YMCA Director were willing to help out."

	"That doesn't mean anything," Chip snarled, in his human guise as
were as many that could be.  "They only helped us cause they're in the
same boat, only they aren't demons!  They're superheroes!"

	"The trust," Dexter interrupted in order to explain, "was the trust
of the kids here.  We had to do some major convince every step of the
way here.  And what Stein and Stevens are doing for them . . . well
Chip is right, they're doing it more for themselves than to really
help anyone else.  And the real help needed . . . Stein and the Police
department aren't going to be able to provide it.  We're going to need
serious help, but from people genuinely wanting and willing to give
it.  Harder than anything is right."

	"And the rest?" Lance questioned.

	"I think I've got that part figured out," Lindsey said.  "The
monsters you see will not be the true demons.  Stein, Stevens, even
the chief of police that was just here.  They're acting, and in a
couple cases look like real monsters.  Selfish, arrogant,
evil-worshiping monsters.  But they're not the real bad guys.  And the
demons," she gestured behind them at all of the demon kids, "is a bit
self-explanatory, but I've got a really bad feeling that the real and
true monsters are yet to come."

	"Our parents," one of the other kids said, very said.

	"Not all of our parents are bad people, and not all of us were thrown
out before," Chip protested to the older teenagers.  "But we all made
a pact, to not go home until all of us get to go back home.  And for
that we need to perfect the Change!"

	"Yeah Chip, you're absolutely right," Dexter agreed with a smile,
patting the kid on the back.  Then he turned and shared a look with
the other club members, making sure none of the kids could see his
face clearly.  It was a look of foreboding dread.  And they all shared
it with him.


/Sunnydale General Hospital/
/Evening/

"You can come in now," the doctor said as he left the hospital room.

	Mark almost forced his way in, his friends and girlfriend trailing in
after the doctor had left to speak with the Kendall's.  The last one
in made a point to close the door behind him and then turn the blinds
so no one would be looking in.

	Mark was beside his sister's hospital bed in an instant.  He looked
her up and down, her body still heavily bruised, an IV in her arm and
a heart monitor hooked up under her flimsy hospital gown.  He didn't
even need his extra senses, past experience with his sister giving him
all he needed to know that she wasn't unconscious.

	"All right bimbo-breath, stop faking, I know you're awake," he teased.

	Her eyes snapped open, full death-glare aimed right up at him.  "Get
me out of here," she hissed.  "I need to kill her!"

	"Yeah well, the best way you're going to accomplish that is with a
nuke, and I don't see you as the type that could either get a hold of
one, or build one in the basement."

	"Shut up!  I need to get better, stronger!  Gods, if only there were
some ambrosia still left in the world!  I could become a goddess and
tear that shrew apart with my bare hands!" the blonde raged.

	"Yeah, and I'd still put my money on Cordelia, the Cordettes, and the
X-Slayerettes, not to mention all their other friends," her brother
informed her.  "Harmony, seriously, you need to stop before you get
yourself killed!  Cordelia held back and for the simple reason that
she's still learning how to control her powers, did she wind up not
killing you by accident.  You're my sister.  I don't want you to be
one of the unexplained deaths I'm going to read about in the school
newspaper."

	"Shut up dweeb!  Now either help me get the hell out of here, or just
get the hell out!"

	"Hold her down," Robin told the other two, who immediately complied,
while the young brunette grabbed the blonde by the throat and covered
her mouth to muffle the shouts of outrage.

	"Shut UP bitch!" the girl hissed into the other's face.  "Mark is
trying to tell you something important, he's trying to get you to
understand something, but you're too fucking blinded by your hatred of
a girl that is just too powerful for you to handle.  Now you WILL shut
up and listen, or I promise you that you're going to be in this
hospital for a few /more/ weeks!"

	Harmony tried to struggle, but the "Blues Brothers" had the advantage
of leverage and more pure muscle strength, and she was starting to
feel the effects of Robin choking her already crushed larynx.

	Finally she stilled enough that Robin removed her hands, but the boys
maintained their hold while Mark looked on from the sidelines.  "What
the hell do you want?" Harmony asked.

	"Mostly to point out common sense sis," he answered.  "The
Gamesmaster had his shot, and he used his power to make slaves. 
Buffy, Cordelia, all of them, now it's their turn, and they've started
by forming a coalition, unity through difference, all that shit.  They
might actually have a chance.  See Harm, I wasn't always the dweeby
little nobody you and everybody else thought I was most of the time. 
I was just biding my time, waiting for the right opportunity, and the
right chance, and the right . . . people."

	He walked over to the other side of the bed so she could see him
clearer, "Halloween was the right chance, and I've got power, almost
more power than I know what to do with.  For starters, I'm a
daywalker, and not a daywalker version of the pansy-ass minion vamps
running all over town, I'm the breed straight from comics, movies and
the legends themselves.  A Slayer is nothing compared to me.  But, as
controversial as it sounds, that's in regards to a 'regular' Slayer. 
Buffy Summers ain't your average run of the mill Slayer, and that was
before Halloween."

	He walked back to the other side, "Now she's gathering an army of
people just as powerful or more around her.  So I have to pick the
winning side early, otherwise it won't mean anything.  Chances are,
it's looking that way anyway, that it's going to be Buffy, Cordelia
and all of them.  And whether or not they're going to win in the long
run, until they do, one way or the other, they're going to be a force
to be reckoned with."

	He went to the end of Harmony's bed and placed his hands on the foot
boards, staring right into her eyes with his cold, dead ones.  "You're
not going to ruin my opportunity Harmony.  If you keep going after
Cordelia like this, eventually they're going to stop you, or they're
going to ask me to help them stop you.  Now . . . /if/ I promise to
help you get the power you crave so much, /if/ I promise you Cordelia
Chase's head on a silver platter, /if/ I give you what you want the
most, will you do what I say, when I say it, no questions asked?"

	"Yes!" she answered immediately, without thought.

	"You should think about this," he interrupted her, "You should think
long and hard about this.  Because I might just ask you to leave
Cordelia completely alone, or I might even ask you to pretend to be
her best friend again.  Think you could do that without giving her
even a /hint/ that you still want to kill her?"

	"I don't want to kill her," Harmony said, surprising them all.  She
retaliated by jerking her arms up and grabbing Russ and Jamie by their
throats.  "I want to /destroy/ her!"

	"I can help you do that to," Mark promised, "/IF/ you do what I say.
Think about it.  Oh, and let them go, I haven't turned them yet and
they still need to breath."

	Harmony sneered, but did as instructed, letting the two teenage boys
fall back, gasping for air.  "We're done here," Mark announced, taking
Robin around the shoulders and leading the way out.

	Harmony glared at her retreating brother's back, and so was able to
see when Robin turned to flash her a condescending grin, pointed
canines right out front and a devilish gleam in the brunette's eye. 
It certainly gave the socialite-turned-warrior food for thought as the
doctor and her parents came in next.


Things were moving too fast and not fast enough, Jonathan thought,
coming out of the trance of another vision.  Why the never showed the
Dungeon Master doing that on the cartoon, he still hadn't figured out,
but he guessed it was just Chaos filling in the blanks.

	He'd started the steps towards the HSL, the eventual evolution of the
tentative alliance formed during the Battle Royale.  That which would
one day evolve into the very organization that would protect the Earth
from wave after wave of oncoming destruction and would wipe out the
scourges of the universe, among them, again eventually, the Wraith of
the Pegasus Galaxy, Wolfram & Hart, help in defeating the Goa'uld, and
even the Ori.

	But there were many pit falls along the way, lines, choices, events
where things could go horribly wrong, either stopping the League from
ever being formed in the first place, or destroying it before it could
even do its greatest works.  It was a precarious slope, to say the
least, and while he certainly wasn't alone in his quest, it was
getting more difficult because of the biggest of all of the chasms,
the one that posed the greatest threat to the HSL and would one day be
their worst enemy, what was already humanity's worst nightmare.

	He had to do more, take more steps to circumvent it, or at the least
slow it down, if not outright cripple it.  Which was difficult enough,
given that it was already aware of him and the beginnings of his work.
He hadn't done anything to Gamesmaster, but he had gathered the core
sooner than they might have without his interference.

	Personally he thought that it should have happened sooner, but for
whatever reason, the soonest he could get Buffy and her friends, the
Slayerettes, or X-Slayerettes as Xander was calling them now, to take
notice of the rest of Sunnydale and get them to explain what had
happened, thus opening the doorway for what was to come, was two whole
weeks after Halloween was over!

	Maybe . . . /it/ had already been working against him, but no, he
realized.  It wasn't that . . .

	It had been the Hellmouth, no doubt about it.  That or the Mayor had
cast a spell a hundred years ago or so to blind the people from the
Truth.  More so than what they usually would do themselves that is. 
Either way, people were no longer blind.  They couldn't afford to be.
Chaos had spoken and they were all changed.

	Now it was time to deal with the consequences.

	The /Apocalypse/ was coming . . .

TBC...





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"It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
"I kinda love you."
Buffy & Willow, 'Choices'

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