My Hero Blue

"Gyah," Buffy yelped as she jumped back, automatically reaching for a stake that wasn't there.

"Easy Buff. It's just me," said the big blue…something standing in her doorway.

"Geezus…Xander?" she said clutching at her chest. This 'bodice' thing was way too tight. No wonder olden-style ladies were always passing out if they had this thing wrapped around them like a hyperactive boyfriend.

"Yep! You okay?" he said leaning forward. Xander was so sweet, always worried about her. Xander was…looking down her cleavage. Which from this angle was pretty damn impressive if she did say so herself. So the bodice thing wasn't all bad. He quickly leaned back, leaving her wondering if she'd imagined it. "Ah…yeah…um, wow you look really great in that thing. Truly, a princess among Cinderellas." He bowed, the…thingies on top of his head flopping forward.

"Lotta blue there Xan, so you're some kind of giant…ant smurf?"

"Certainly Not Fair Damsel, For I Am…The Tick! Defender of Injustice…no wait that should be defender of the innocent, brutalizer of injustice? Something like that."

"Well whatever it is, you don't look half bad. Spandex suits you." A broad goofy grin stretched across his face. Behind her, Dawn thudded to a stop on the stairs.

"Hands off my partner wench," Dawn declared loudly.

"Arthur, looking good! Got your wings?" Dawn turned around to show off the cloth covered backpack she was sporting. Apparently, the other half was white theme; Dawn had a set of antennae too and…

"Are you wearing a bra on your head?"

Spike was having a bad night. When Dru'd started going on about a lovely night for the bloodsucker, well it had seemed natural to chuck tradition and go out hunting.

And when he'd come across princess-scardy slayer, well it had seemed like a demon's lucky night.

But then…

"Unhand That Woman, Unsightly Committer of Unconscionable Acts!"

That sort of twaddle was a hell of a lot easier to ignore when it didn't come backed up by a pair of fists that could decapitate a vamp. Something the Slayer bint had never been able to manage no matter how hard she tried.

"Eat Lamppost Minor Minion of Darkness!"

Yes, a very bad night.

"Yes, well, we can all be thankful there only seems to have been limited damage. I shudder to think what might have happened if E… if the magic had been permitted to reign unchecked all night. Have any of the effects of the transformation lingered? Buffy?"

Buffy slid a sheet of paper to him which raised Giles eyebrows, he passed it around, when it reached Xander he could see that really lacy handwriting you only saw on really formal invitations. In French.

"Any additional new skills?" asked Giles curiously.

"Other than the sudden helpage with French, way more info about silverware than any sane person would ever need and styles of dancing I'd never use unless I was old enough to be dead?" Lets see, who do we know that fits that description? "I'm changing the topic of my history paper. Bet I get a really good mark too."

"I see. Willow."

"Zip. Ghost of me so…no new skillset. Just more solid." Wills rapped on the table to demonstrate.

"Go Wills. You have now achieved opacity," mumbled Xander into his arm. He could feel Giles decide to skip him.

"Dawn, I realize this must have been a traumatic experience…"

"Are you kidding? That was maybe the coolest night of my life! I know all kinds of stuff about how adult guys think now" Because that's not going to cause problems down the road. "AND, I know all about accounting now. I called Stanchum and Mits, they do mom's books, and told them about all the stuff they missed. They hired me on the spot for the summer! They say they don't care how old I am as long as mom gives me permission, and I can make at least four times minimum! I'm going to buy so much cool stuff! This rocks! Can I do it again? Just think, we could all dress up like Rambo or Xena or something! The vamps would never know what hit them!"

"I will explain to you in detail later precisely why that isn't a good idea. Xander?" No response. "Xander, do you remember what happened?" As an answer, he held one hand out, palm up, just below his waist.

"Step." Dawn was the first to catch on, and stood on his hand, which didn't even wobble under her weight.

"Cool beans. You got super strength. Definitely number one in the Halloween sweepstakes!" Dawn looked thrilled by the revelation.

"The Powers That Be are determined to make me fail high school math by making me possessed by stupid people. Stupid hyena, stupid fish and stupid blue superhero. You, are not the one who has to put up with this damn MONOLOGUE"