A new fic of mine, born out of many strange, wonderful ideas and just maybe too much time watching things. I couldn’t tell you anything more than that.

Rating: T, if it’s worth a M I’ll put it up later, it’s not going to be dark, not like Predatory Perspective, or another one of mine, but it’s not that soft either.

Ship: No idea, I plan to follow the series of sorts, the question is more how, and why at this stage. If you’ve got a really good reason for one over the other, then please message me and tell me why, I like to hear opinions.

Warnings generally follow next, like what may be in there if yofu want to avoid such items. Seems pretty vanilla to be honest, nothing too unusual, I might have Larry flirting with a guy(shock and horror, note the sarcasm) but that would be the worst of it I guess.

The most important disclaimer, I own nothing, cept maybe the idea of Seki. It’s a nice sandbox to play it, when I can, but it ain’t mine, never was, nor will be.

If you’re looking for some one-shot fun with Halloween and Ethan Rayne's antics, please check out another one of my stories, Old Hallow’s Eve Hell. I hope I’ve done something new in there, leave a review if you like, if not, leave a review anyway. I always could do better.

Flames, aren’t appreciated, and I know your IP... okay, maybe not IP, but I have this nasty little tendency to delete them. If you’re not liking it please close the story, chill out and find something you like.

Xander was not a fan of Halloween, especially when he was forced to escort a group of students. He looked through the costumes, the oddest collection of weapons he’d ever seen just visible through a few costumes. What seemed to be a set of throwing knives, two blades that seem to be worn on the outer forearms, hidden underneath his sleeves if he was right, a sword, as well as a pistol of some kind, suppressed. Every single item was a weapon, and each looked impressive in its own right, but as a whole it had Xander drooling.

He quickly collected the items, dropping then on the counter, before some other items joined the list. Xander blinked in confusion, some type of form shirt, armoured plates sown into it. There also were shin and thigh pads, with a cup as well. Xander cringed when he saw the price, but his jaw hit the floor when he saw the reduction. He couldn’t wait to get home and get the rest of the costume ready, and he just had the right black jeans and jacket to go. He’d also thought he’d look up on some hieroglyphics, mainly one involving strength, agility and protection.

Slowly, he waited till the day past, getting ready. He didn’t know whether the sword belonged at the hip, or on his back, but it seemed to be comfortable either way. The more he looked at the reflection, the more he shook with anticipation, the hair cut and ear piercing would really set him apart. He wasn’t even sure Willow would recognise him.

He walked to the school, whistling a tune he’d heard on the radio slowly making his way to the middle of the quad, seeing the other ‘volunteered’ guides. He looked around, seeing Willow and Buffy in the corner, Willow a ghost as ever, before he saw that Buffy had got the dress she drooled over at the store. He walked towards them, his boots clearly ringing across the hall, everyone, except the head troll, turning to look at the new comer, none of them guessing who it was.

‘Xander?’ Willow asked. She looked at Xander, more particular the plain silver stud in his right ear, before blinking. ‘Wow.’

‘Yeah, wow,’ Buffy added. ‘Where did you get that?’

‘New store, would you believe,’ Xander replied. He looked at see that the young students from the sister school. He was given a group, setting them aside he looked up and down the line.

‘Everyone, there’s a fine tradition of conning candy from people,’ Xander started. ‘You just have to know when the water works start.

He walked behind of his group, every few minutes scanning his group. In between he would ask some of the younger students how they were going. He was started to feeling bored when suddenly the ink he drew on his arms burned, as if it was just a proper tattoo. Another moment later his brain was assaulted with alot of information, almost something resembling a complete Watcher’s library downloaded into his head.

Xander became aware, as if from a deep sleep, something feeling very odd. He was used to the looks he got, but these ones were very different. He could see that Spike and a few other vampires looked at him with terror etched into their eyes, the blades sticking out of his sleeves gleamed, though a few inches of them seemed to be covered in dust. He saw Buffy rip off the wig, before starting to fight Spike, while the two minions charged at Xander.

He ducked the strike, before crossing his arms, stopping the downward blow, then pushing back, the vampire struggling to hold Xander back, when the twin blades reached neck height he flicked his arms across, the vampires head falling off, before he turned into dust, the final minion torn between helping Spike, who was just thrown out the door, or following him, and running. He started towards the door, Xander’s pistol out in a flash, before three rounds shot into the heart of the second vampire, nothing more than dust on the wind a second later.

‘What’s going on?’ Xander asked.

‘Xander?’ Buffy asked.

‘Yeah... you were um... very Slayer-y,’ Willow said slowly. ‘Almost too Slayer-y.’

‘What do you mean, Slayer-y?’ Xander asked, before looking at the pistol in his hands. ‘Oh, right... or maybe not.’

Buffy and Willow looked confused as Xander checked every place he remembered a weapon would be, going from the glorified butter knives they were, into live, sharpened steel. The armour seemed to be far more solid than what it was. He pulled up his two shirts, tattoos cover his lower stomach.

‘Ah, guys, something very weird is going on here,’ Xander started, seeing very confused people in every direction.

‘We just don’t know, Giles should ,’ Willow said, Xander finally noticing her clothes. Xander pulled the blades back into their sheaths, two solid clicks echoing in the room.

‘I’m sorry Xander, I’ve no idea,’ Giles said, then pulled his glasses off and cleaned them. He put them back on, before looking at his notes on the desk. ‘The hieroglyphics are a work of art. I’ve never seen anything like them before. They’re spells, of sorts I guess.’

‘Spells? Like Willow’s mojo?’ Xander asked.

‘More focused, I think,’ Giles said. ‘I can’t explain it. I think it’s enhanced you in ways I can’t explain. Sharper senses, supernatural strength and agility, plenty more besides. The Eye of Ra is more obvious, the placement in the middle of your back, its protection, you can watch your own back, so to speak.’

‘Watch my own back?’ Xander unintentionally parroted.

‘Well, yes, from what I know, though I focused more on the Sumerian and Babylonian,’ Giles said. ‘I can try to have a look at the other tattoos, see if they make any more sense. If anything, if I can read them right it’s going to like having another Slayer in town.’

‘Another Slayer?’ Xander asked. ‘I could be.... like Buffy?’

‘A little different, I don’t know the full range of your abilities,’ Giles countered. ‘Though, if going by what Willow told me of your alter ego, you’ve got a long way to go before you have any idea what your full potential is.’

‘Do we really want to know his full potential?’ Buffy asked. ‘I’m the one with the power...’

‘To fight the powers of darkness with the same powers of darkness... didn’t you know that part?’ Xander asked. Giles looked a little pale, while Buffy was very confused. It was more than a blonde moment, it was a full blonde minute.

‘How did you know that?’ Giles asked. ‘Those are... myths among the Council.’

‘It’s in there, with a lot of other things, I don’t know, I could field strip an M16 in 54 seconds, blindfolded, I know alot about weapons, anything from the medieval to modern,’ Xander said. ‘My mind is so...full. I think I could pass my SAT’s now, and score more than Willow, or Oz, not that you won’t do well.’

‘Really?’ Willow babbled. ‘You think I could...’

‘That aside, for the moment,’ Buffy interrupted. ‘What can we do?’

‘Do?’ Xander asked. ‘Do is letting me discover what I’m capable of. I’ve got to know what I can do, what I got from him... whoever he was.’

‘He said his name was Seki, if that means anything,’ Willow said. Giles and Xander looked deep in thought for a second.

‘Destroy, or perish,’ they said at the same time.

‘Xander, before you go, can I ask you a question?’ Giles asked, Willow and Buffy looking at the pair.

‘Yes?’ Xander replied.

‘Can you not go out on a patrol just yet?’ Giles asked. ‘I want to better understand what the writings mean.’

‘How long?’ Xander asked, something in his voice the polar opposite of the old Xander.

‘A week, that should be enough time,’ Giles said. ‘Just be careful for the moment. 'Try not to show off your abilities.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Xander replied, following Buffy and Willow out the double doors.

Xander reflected on the last week, and it had not been quiet, or long. He caught a few looks of shock as people saw the tattoos, and more importantly, the number of them. The closer he moved to the next Friday the more violence seemed to flow out of Xander. At one stage the football team tried to ambush him as he worked out in the morning, moving through a set of exercises that were based on a combination of martial arts styles, some soft, with the rest being hard.

Buffy had caught a look of his exercises, and they seemed to remind her of a falcon. If she was right, Ra could be represented by a falcon. She’d seen some of the jocks eyeing off Xander, as if trying to work out how best to attack him, but nothing they did work. Each time Xander came out on top, and more importantly, made it clear he was barely breaking a sweat. The last time had him taking on six of the football team, each of them close to two hundred pounds each. They’d caught him just after dawn, somehow his early morning practise the only easily identifiable habit anyone could find.

Buffy studied the tattoos as best she could, not finding much more to on than what Giles told her, Willow and Cordelia. Finally, for once she seemed confused about Xander, some of the time he seemed to be the old, tell a few off colour jokes every so often, the other times the character he was, Seki, seemed to be dominate. Seki was a distant character, a vicious fighter and a very taciturn speaker. Every word seemed to be filled with secondary meanings, deeper messages.

She also couldn’t get her head around the vast amount of demon and mystical knowledge he had, it was astounding. The more obscure, the higher the chance he knew it. He had over the week warded every single one of their homes, the spells actually glowing in the morning light. The last time Angelus tried to get to someone Xander protected he was so badly burned it looked like he’d been in direct sunlight, something, somewhere stopping him from dusting. She turned her attention back to the fight, not that it seemed that appropriate a description. It was Xander pummelling each one of them in turn, in one occasion, quite literally beating up one, with another.

She lost focus for a moment, seeing the final man go down to a brutal bunch to the solar plexus. She felt winded, despite the fact she was more than fifty feet away. She couldn’t understand what was giving Xander his power, but at times, it scared her. She tried to spar with him, but he always put it off. A tiny part of her was envious, the rest of her more worried that Xander would get himself badly hurt when his powers run out, or failed entirely.

Giles meanwhile, was watching from the other side of the pitch, his translations finally complete. The text seemed to come from the Book of Living, almost a supplication to Ra, to help him protect the world he lived in it, more importantly, the people in it. There was a little hope for Angel, Jenny still working on the spell to give him his soul back, but the translation was slow in the coming. Every day that passed Xander seemed only to grow into his powers, every day Xander move closer towards some different ideal of a man, well built, but not overly bulky either. As each day passed Xander worked out his tan darkened slightly, from the pale colour it was, to the almost Mediterranean colour it was now. Other changes were far more subtle, his hair a few shades darker, eyes now carrying flecks of deep green.

Cordelia was the final person to be taking part in the activity of Xander watching. She was unsure of where she stood with the new Xander, more particularly, who the Xander was at all. She noticed a new passion in Xander, though of more interest was the new body and the pierced ears. She couldn’t make any sense of the tattoos, but liked them, to a degree. The single silver hoop in his left ear seemed to have something written on it, though it was very, very small. The other change was in his hair, while he shaved it off for Halloween, it had grown back with a vengeance, thick black strands of hair flowed down his back. She could see the start of a beard, black stubble easily visible at the distance she was at.

All three seem to be stunned as Xander called each one by name, requesting their help with moving the football players off the field, and into some cover from the harsh Sunnydale sun. They all noticed that it didn’t seem harsh for Xander, as if he knew a far harsher one.

‘Xander, that was quite impressive,’ Giles started. ‘Do you have a name for the technique?’

‘Not really, I just know it,’ Xander replied, pulling on a shirt, though it stuck to his frame, every single muscle clearly defined.

‘I feel that some of the softer techniques seem to be custom designed to fight certain demons, like Polgara demons,’ Giles said, the two men walking side by side towards the library.

‘That’s a different form,’ Xander countered, clearly Seki was dominant for the moment.

‘Really, perhaps you could show me, it should be interesting,’ Giles replied, something making Buffy think of an excited English schoolboy.

‘Keep your head on Giles,’ Buffy said as she finally caught up to the pair. ‘What about demons?’

‘Xander...’ Giles started. ‘Seki, has a variety of forms I think you might find quite useful.’

‘Really?’ Buffy asked, cutting Xander off. ‘Like what huh?’

‘We’ll see... Xander?’ Giles asked, somehow he’d just disappeared, going where ever he was. It seemed a few minutes later he returned, freshly showered. ‘How did you do that?’

‘I just did, I guess,’ Xander replied, his clothes uncharacteristically light and simple colours. They looked like someone had custom sown them they were so form fitting.

‘Did what?’ Buffy asked. ‘Oh, I didn’t see you leave.’

‘Neither did I, what happened?’ Giles asked.

‘I walked into the sunlight,’ Xander said, as if it was obvious. Every turned to see Willow had just walked into the library, looking at Xander very intently. ‘Do you realise what you just did?’

‘Not really, still learning the powers, remember?’ Xander said, the old Xander in full force. ‘You’re not thinking I did just walk on sunlight between here and my bathroom... oh no.’

‘Wave particle duality,’ Willow said, starting on her short lecture. She stopped after a minute, seeing everyone was completely lost, while Xander seemed to thinking.

‘Ra is associated with the sun, right?’ Xander asked, his eyes glowing like suns in their own right.

‘To a degree, Xander,’ Giles said. ‘I’ll make some calls, but this is really not my field sorry.’

‘We do our best,’ Xander countered, staring at a point just below the sun, as if touching something beyond what anyone else could, even Willow.