Story Title: The Halloween Spell

Crossover: Multiple

Author: Wraithrune

Disclaimer: This is a crossover fanfiction. The rights for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Star Wars, Andromeda, Master of Orion II, Space Empires V, Dungeons and Dragons, Stargate, Supreme Commander, Final Fantasy Tactics, Heroes of Might and Magic series, Green Lanterns and Superman belongs to their respective owners. I am just a fan dabbling in creating an alternate playground for their existance.

Summary: After Halloween night, Ethan was captured by the N.I.D who forced him to create a permanent Halloween spell which they can exploit. With the world's fate in his hands, Ethan did the right thing for once in his life, and the world will never be the same again.

Author's Note: As with all TV shows, there are some parts of the canon plots that did not make such common sense. For instance, it has been shown that the Halloween spell caused physical and lingering changes to the victims of the spell during the time when it was in effect. Why then did no one else made use of this? Instead, after serving as a convenient plot device, it was chucked out of the window and never touched on again. This is my version of a darker world, where the rogue governments of the world are not blinded to the potential of the spell's continued uses.

Chapter One: One last gift

Ethan grimaced at his bruised ribs. It had been two weeks since he went to Sunnydale to cast a Halloween spell that turned everyone into who they dressed as, and the bruise his old friend Rupert Giles had given him had still not completely healed. Who would have known that Rupert would have turned into such a stuffy old bat that had forgotten the word 'fun'.

A knock at his motel door caused Ethan to snap out of his musing as he got up to see who it is. He opened it to see two men wearing dark glasses and black suits.

"Who is it? If you're selling something, I don't want…" Ethan never got a chance to finish as one of the men took out a syringe and stuck it into his arm. The other clapped his hands over Ethan's mouth to stop him from screaming as he restrained the shocked chaos mage.

The last thing Ethan heard was the man who had injected him speaking into his ear piece.

"Target acquired." The man said as Ethan fell unconscious, and his hell on Earth began…

1 year later…

The spell was already completed. All those intense experiments, all those tortures to force him to do their bidding, had fine tuned Ethan's Halloween spell into a spell that would have permanent effects when it was cast. Of course the men holding him prisoner did not know that yet.

Ethan was deliberately miscasting certain parts of the spell, deliberately making all his experiments fail. His actions had dire consequences as the homeless people that these bastards had brought to him to use as victims of the spells, were either driven mad or in a vegetative state after another failed spell casting. For the Halloween spell that these men had fine-tuned was a drastically powered up version of the original. It was lucky for Ethan that none of them were spell casters, and that only a very powerful chaos mage, like him could cast the spell.

All of the experimental subjects had an in built bomb installed in them to prepare for the eventuality that they might be powered up in case the spell was successful. The overseeing agent would trigger the bomb, thus blowing up the test subject to prevent any unpredictable elements in their plan. Thus far, they did not have to use it, because as far as his guards knew, the spell was far from completion.

124, driven insane by the experiments, 50 in vegetative states, Ethan Rayne remembered all of their faces, it was the least he could do for them. But he would not allow this group of people to get their hands on the completed spell. Oh yes, he had overheard who they worked for. Some rogue American military bunch called the N.I.D with the Watcher's Council providing support in the background in return for a substantial fee. Ethan chuckled dryly through bloodied lips, he wondered what Rupert would feel when he learnt of this. He had been keeping track of Rupert for the past few years after he turned into a goody two shoes and Ethan knew that Rupert would be enraged at the Watcher's Council under table dealings.

Ethan might be a chaos mage, but even he had his own morals. He was most certainly not going to help some rogue military faction and the Watcher's Council take over the world with his completed spell. Ethan knew that once they got what they want, they would kill him, and the world would suffer because of it. A spell that could turn fictional objects real? Grant a person memories and powers of a superhero? No one would be able to stop them once it happens. It was just too bad that his jailers kept such a tight watch on him that he could not use the completed Halloween spell on himself.

Somehow, Ethan knew that he had to endure the torture, at least until he could find some way to escape the facility and seek help. He had no friends in America, except for Rupert. And he knew that the stuffy watcher would help him once he knew of this.

If only he could find a way out of his restraints…

1 week later…

"Team 1 has spotted the escapee coming your way. It seems like he has been hiding in one of the old warehouse casting some spells. Unable to identify what spells they are, the Watcher's Council representative has been called. But since only an hour had passed since he escaped, it shouldn't be that major of a spell." Leader of Team 1 said coldly over the headphone. "Possibilities of it being the Halloween spell has been ruled out as well, as the spell ingredients involved need a full day of preparations. You're to secure the prisoner. You may harm him, but make sure no death or permanent disability. We still need him alive to do the magic experiments."

"Understood." The Leader of Team 2 said as he guided his men down the streets. There, a dirty unkempt man, their target Ethan Rayne, was standing in the middle of an empty street. The light of a full moon shone down at the target who was looking at Team 2 with amusement and disdain in his eyes.

"So the lap dogs have come to play." Ethan said as he took his hand out of his pocket, revealing a handgun in his hands.

"Put that down." The Leader of Team 2 shouted, as he brought his rifle up to aim at Ethan's gun hand. He was however surprised at what their target did next.

"I have enough of this." Ethan said as he pointed the gun at his head and began speaking in rough demon tongue. "Trewa luas oew hajkle oywj…"

"Whatever you are doing, stop it!" One of Team 2's men said as he fired a shot at Ethan. The target jerked back as blood blossomed on his ragged shirt, but the man continued chanting.

There was another gunshot, but this time it was by Ethan's own hands as he put a bullet through his head.

"See you in hell." Ethan whispered painfully as his eyes grazed over, his whole life energy spent in the spell he had cast.

The men of Team 2 burst into flames, screaming as they died by fire. In the warehouse where Ethan had resided during his escape, the large sigil on the floor began to glow. The men of Team 1 noticed it too late as the whole warehouse blew up like it had been planted with a bomb, shredding everything to pieces. Back in the secret facility where Ethan was imprisoned for more than one year, the hidden magical sigils he had planted in the base began to light up. The scientists, researchers and soldiers who had been forcing Ethan and the people they captured off the streets to aid in their magical research had no idea what was happening as the whole base was incinerated by hell fire.

For magic fuelled by the power of one's living energy would be boosted beyond levels where spells cast by nature energies could reach. It was why Blood magic was so feared and despised in the world… and Ethan happened to be the mage equivalent of a jack of all trades, knowing a little of each magical field, and master of Chaos magic.

In one fell stroke, Ethan single handedly destroyed those who had planned to use magic for evil.

Ethan was born a rebel, lived as a powerful chaos mage, and died a hero.

And only one person in the world would ever know what he had done.

His best friend and rival, Rupert Giles…

Giles sighed as he walked back to his apartment. It has been a quiet night, but he was still troubled by the events of last night. Buffy and Faith were ambushed by the master vampire Kakistos who was apparently out for Faith's blood. Both Slayers had dispatched the vampire and his minions after a struggle, and the Watcher's Council had apparently granted him the rights to be Watcher for Faith as well. Taking care of one Slayer was trouble enough, but to handle the training of two Slayers gave him a headache. Not that he would have left Faith out to dry of course. He would live and die for both girls, it was the least he could do to help them shoulder a bit of their burdens as a Slayer.

Giles opened his door and stepped into his apartment, closing the door behind him as he got ready to go to bed. He froze in mid motion as a glow of light suddenly appeared in front of him. The light ball hovered in the air before flying straight at him, striking his head. Giles only have time to give a strangled cry before memories and powers swept over him.

He was Ethan Rayne, one of the most powerful Chaos mage on Earth. His life flashed past before Giles' eyes as Giles relived every moments of his once friend but now ex-accomplice's life. Giles saw with horror how Ethan was captured after he left Sunnydale. From the whispered conversations that Ethan had overheard, Giles felt burning anger as he realized someone from the Watcher's Council had been taking part in the operations of the rogue government cells, doing experiments on magic. Their main aim of bringing Ethan in was to further develop his Halloween spell into a spell that would have permanent effects, allowing them to turn fictional objects real and grant superhuman abilities to humans.

Giles had felt sickened as he overheard how the Watcher's Council had provided the rogue group information on Ethan's whereabouts, how they had provided information on magic to help with the underground research, how Ethan was beaten and tortured, to force him to participate in the experiments. He had seen through Ethan's eyes how homeless people captured on the streets were taken into the facilities to be used as the spell's test subjects, how hundreds of them had gone mad or became unresponsive to the world. Teenagers, middle age men, the elderly, none were spared from being used as guinea pigs in the rogue group's experiments.

He had seen how the non-mage talented scientists and researchers of the group had invented ways for Ethan to hook up with electric generators to further power up his spells. The pain that Ethan had suffered as electrical energy coursed through him had been unbearable to Giles who had gasped in shock. Giles continued looking through the memories numbly as he watched Ethan escaped from the facility, the warehouse he had hidden in while he prepared the spell to pass all his powers and memories to his friend and only hope, Giles. Giles had watched numbly as Ethan used his life energy to send Giles his magical essence and memories, as well destroying the teams sent after him, and the secret facility.

Ethan's last thoughts were that he knew this would not end. His actions against the organization backing the rogue military group, would only halt their activities for the current time. His only hope lies in Giles. To stop those mad men, and make sure they could not use the completed spell to take over the world. Currently the only one to know of the completed spell was Giles, but the rogue military group had all the research data, even if the facility was destroyed, Ethan was sure that there were backup copies of the research somewhere in the world. It would be a matter of time before they force another mage to complete the research.

Ethan had passed Giles his magical essence, turning Giles' mediocre magical potential, into something a full blown mage would have. He had given Giles his memories for him to use the Halloween spell. With it, he hoped that Giles would gain enough power to put a stop to the Watcher's Council and the rogue military faction. Unfortunately, the perfected Halloween spell took around a day's worth of preparation time, which was why Ethan could not use it during his escape, lacking the necessary time and materials.

Ethan had considered Giles his best hope for vengeance even though Giles had regarded him as a nuisance and pest. He had been willing to sacrifice his life, because he believed that Giles would give him back his justice. As the memories slowed to a crawl, ending with Ethan's death and release of his soul, Giles felt tears streaming down his face as he cried uncontrollably.

"I will give you back your justice." Giles vowed fiercely, a dark look burning in his eyes. "The Council and the rogue military would know why I am called The Ripper, and they will pay for what they had done."

3 weeks later…

Xander was in shock as he listened to Giles spoke, of what happened to Giles three weeks ago when Ethan Rayne's essence had merged with him. Everyone had been gathered here for an emergency meeting that Giles had called up the moment he returned to Sunnydale from his trip, everyone including Faith, Cordelia and Oz.

Xander's mouth was agape as he listened to the corruption of the Watcher's Council, the rogue military faction, the Halloween spell…Tears had streamed down Giles' face as he told the small group, Buffy, Willow, Oz, Faith, Xander and Cordelia the last one year of Ethan's life during his capture. Xander had never seen Giles lost his composure before until now. He had shown them a newspaper clipping dating two weeks back about a supposed suicide in San Francisco. It was actually Ethan Rayne.

The rogue military faction had just left his body on the street after Ethan had cast the spell that destroyed the secret facility and passed Giles his knowledge. Giles had left one week ago after learning that Ethan's body was unclaimed. He had wanted to make sure that Ethan at least had a resting place. He had arrived a bit too late, for Ethan's body had already been cremated. All Giles had managed to retrieve was an urn of ashes which he had placed on a mantle in his home.

Willow looked sick and pale while she leaned against Oz who was comforting her. Cordelia drew closer to Xander who put an arm around her. Buffy just stared at Giles wide eyed while Faith just twisted her lips grimly.

"I knew those old bastards were too good to be true." Faith commented about the Watcher's Council dryly. "After all, technically the Slayer works for them, yet what did I get? Nothing. They're not even paying for my room and board. What little money I had is robbed from the vamps before I stake them. Yet they're helping this military op capture innocent people and doing experiments on them. They may pose as the good guys in the supernatural front, but they are just as rotten as the demons underneath."

"Not all the watchers are like that." Giles said heavily, shutting his eyes painfully. "I've known a lot of honorable field watchers in my time, which was why I never suspected this kind of duplicity from the Council itself. Apparently somewhere down the road, something had gone wrong with those having authority in the Watcher's Council."

"What should we do then? If the military group and the Watcher's Council have backup copies of the research, they could just find people to begin their experiments again." Willow said looking pale as she thought of the implications. "And this time there's no Ethan Rayne to deliberately sabotage the research results. If they figured out the complete spell…"

"They would get power beyond imagining, and who knows what they would use the power for? That is why we have to stop them." Giles said firmly. "I know this is a lot to ask from you. But the six of you are the only ones I can trust. I can't even contact any of my Watcher field colleagues about this. I have no way of knowing if they are together with the Council in this matter."

"Not to burst your bubble Giles, but I helped out with the slaying only because Xander is my boyfriend." Cordelia said bluntly as she grasped Xander's hand in a death grip. "We're not exactly superheroes that can go up against military goons and not get killed. Buffy might be able to bring down some of them, but against an army or even just a squad of them with guns and advanced equipments? Giles! Be realistic!"

"I do have the completed Halloween spell." Giles said calmly. "And I do know how to cast it."

There was silence as the six teenagers just stared at him.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking G-man?" Xander asked Giles, forcing the words out of his mouth through suddenly dry lips.

"We have one week to decide and research which fictional character we wish to become and what powers and memories we would get. We also need to decide what fictional items we wish to turn real. The powers of the Halloween spell relied largely on the belief generated by the human race as a whole, allowing you to turn into the character you are to become. The more people believing in that object or character, the more likely the spell will work when cast. Belief itself is after all an age old force not to be taken likely." Giles said as he looked at the teenagers who would be his only hope. "There are some other limitations to the spell. Obviously the power requirements to change someone into a god would require the opening of the Hellmouth and I've no desire to do that. I would however be using the residue Hellmouth energies in Sunnydale for the spell which should be a lot. So limit your choices to someone powerful and not god like.

Theoretically, the permanent version of the Halloween spell could only be cast once per person due to the vast metaphysical changes made to oneself. This basically meant that we have to choose what we would become very carefully. Let's make sure our choices are powerful enough to be able to crush military cells and the Watcher's Council with just the seven of us. The fictional objects turned real would help, but I would prefer all of us having powers enough to individually protect ourselves from any attacks."

"If you're looking for high end super power characters, I know where to find them." Xander suddenly spoke up with a gleam in his eyes. "After all, I am not a comic and TV junkie for nothing."

"You have a plan Xander?" Faith asked looking at Xander with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes, do I ever…" Xander said with a grin, rubbing his hands like a kid in a candy store.

1 week later…

" The Scooby Gang's Super Power list

Giles – Charles Xavier (X-Men comics)

Buffy – Level 30 Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)

Faith – Master Monk class (Final Fantasy Tactics)

Willow – Level 30 Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)

Oz – Superman (Superman DC comics)

Xander – Cybran Armored Core Commander (Supreme Commander game)

Cordelia – Level 30 Druid (Dungeons & Dragons)

The Scooby Gang's Super Objects list

20 Star ship models from Star Trek TV series, Andromeda TV series, Master of Orion II game, Space Empires V game, and Star Wars films

Bag of Never-Ending Gold (Heroes of Might and Magic III game)

7 green lantern rings and lanterns (DC Green Lantern comics) with their names engraved on each of the rings + 1 Central Power Core"

Cordelia looked at the least spread out on the library table and rolled her eyes.

"Why do you have to call us the Scooby Gang?" Cordelia said in exasperation. "It sounds so juvenile Xander."

"Hey! I am the one writing the list while you guys just stood there talking." Xander defended himself good naturedly. "And I like Scooby Gang. It's a nice name for our group. So did everyone get their costumes?"

"Yeah I am the last one in, I've just passed it to Giles for him to do his mojo with." Buffy said pointing to Giles' office which was currently locked while Giles was doing the magical stuff to their costumes. "But I am not sure about this… how do we know we wouldn't get taken over like last time again? Being trapped in my body while someone else was controlling it was horrible."

"We're just had to trust Giles." Xander noted with a grimace. "I've never since him acting like this before, Ethan's death must have hit him very hard. I never knew he was a close friend with that Halloween shop keeper."

"Neither would I have guessed that they had a history between them." Buffy said with a shrug. "So you're sure about the list? I know next to nothing about this Level 30 Cleric person I am becoming, other than what I heard from you."

"A level 30 Cleric from the Dungeons & Dragons's PC game had powerful healing and spellcasting spells. Once you get her abilities, you'll fill in nicely as the combat medic of our group." Xander explained as he looked at the list. "Don't worry, I've everyone's skills all balanced out. The level 30 Druid from Dungeons & Dragons possessed powerful healing, defensive and offensive spells, while the Monk character class from the Final Fantasy Tactics game possessed powerful attack and healing skills. If the spell is successful, you, Faith and Cordelia will be serving as the combat medics of our group.

Oz as Superman will be all but invincible in this world as there's no Kryptonite here, though he retains a vulnerability to magic. I doubt we'll encounter too many magic users in the military cells. He'll be our main attacker should we need one. Willow will go as level 30 Sorcerer who possessed the most powerful offensive spells in the Dungeons & Dragons's game. Giles will go as Charles Xavier, a mutant with powerful telepathic abilities, acting as our recon and a way for us to retrieve information from people's minds. I will go as a Cybran Commander, an A.I. human hybrid who can operate an Armored Core Unit which is able to build buildings and other structures in mere minutes. The areas of attack, defense, medical, recon and firepower aspects have been covered."

"I know you spent a lot of time planning the list Xander." Willow said from her position besides Oz as the two seat on the library stairs. "But are you sure you want to become just a Cybran Commander? I've done some research about the character. Other than the fact that he commands a very technologically advanced armored unit which can build objects in seconds, he is basically quite normal except for the fact that he has an A.I. implanted in his head."

"I am pretty sure." Xander said with a nod. "We need powerful technologies on our side if we're to win the fight against our enemies with just the few of us. The Armored Core Unit from the Supreme Commander game allows us to build anything with a template from ground up in seconds. We can't just turn an Armored Core Unit real with no way of knowing how to use it. The real in-game Armored Core unit is the size of at least a ten storey building. The costume I am able to get my hands on is only the size of a body suit, we have no idea if the size difference would change the functions of the Armored Core unit when it turns real. Someone has to wear it and knows how to operate it for my plan to work."

"And that plan involves the 20 starship models from various TV shows, games and films, you've gotten us to source for you." Faith said dryly from the side. "I know. You've told us like a hundred times."

"Well, if the Armored Core unit does turn real and I know how to use it, add in the spaceship models that turned real… I might be able to hack into those spaceships, get their technologies and build a space ship of our own. A lot of things are hanging on whether everything will go accordingly to plan." Xander admitted. "But it felt like a worthwhile risk. We've nothing much to lose anyway."

"I know." Buffy said resignedly.

Silence fell over the group, only broken when Giles opened his office doors, exiting with a large box of costumes.

"The preparations are ready." Giles said to everyone, putting the box on the floor. "Dress up in your costumes and meet back here in fifteen minutes. I'll begin casting the spell shortly."

"Alright, time to see if everything would work smoothly." Xander said without humor as everyone took their costumes and filed out of the library to change.

Willow watched with trepidation as she and the others spread out in a circle around a statue of Janus. They were all dressed in their costumes which Giles had already marked with some sort of sigil. A space had been cleared in the center of the library where the various objects that they wanted to turn real were gathered. The atmosphere was heavy and solemn, with the tinge of anticipation. Everyone knew the risk, there was no guarantee that the spell would work smoothly, and everyone was mentally preparing themselves for the worst. Off to the side, Xander and Cordelia were fidgeting as Giles drew a series of symbols around the Janus statue.

Then Giles began chanting. It sounded like Latin, but the language was ever shifting. Energy began building up around the older man, and to the budding young witch, Willow could not help but feel a shiver at the amount of mystical power Giles was gathering around them with his spell. She knew what Giles was doing, after all he had explained the components of the spell to them during the past few days. To gather enough mystical energies to power the spell, Giles had no choice but to tap into the residue energies of the Hellmouth.

A shift of energies and a golden glow began surrounding her body. It began as an itch spreading in her head, then as if having a sudden revelation, the memories of an Arch Sorcerer Nina Redrill exploded in her head. Foreign spells that she suddenly had knowledge of trampled into her mind, imprinting their presence within her. Foreign power flooded her body and she felt a new connection… a connection to a source of great power in this world, a Source through which she obtained her sorcerer magic.

Through the exhilarating haze that clouded her mind at the new memories and powers that she had attained, she could see the others around her surrounded by the same golden cones of magic, their faces with mixtures of awe and surprise as they undergo the same changes. Then in a moment, the golden glows dissipated, leaving Willow physically drained of energy as she collapsed onto the floor. Consecutive thumps around her marked the others' release from the spell as they collapsed in a similar manner onto the floor.

"Well… this is certainly how I would imagine myself feeling if I was run over by a truck." Faith commented wryly from her position directly opposite Willow, separated by the pile of items that they had wished to turn real.

Willow lifted her head with a groan, the beginning of a massive headache already piercing through her mind. But something more important held back the pain, an eagerness to test out her new powers as she reached within her memories to call up a low level spell.

"Light." Willow whispered, as her own internal magic reserves, connecting to the mysterious magical Source that she was now bond to, fueled the spell, causing a small ball of light to bloom into being in front of her. The white light globe floated in the air like a Will 'o' wisp, drifting gently above Willow's head.

There was clanging of metal as Xander clad within his armored costume began moving. The armored costume had apparently become real, as the original plastic and metal plated costume was now a seamless metallic armor. Xander moved towards the piles of items in the circle, lifting a metal gloved hand. Beams of light erupted from the gloved hand of the armored suit, running over the various spaceship models that lay in a heap in front of Willow. There was a pause before Xander's voice came through the helmet of the armored suit, full of excitement.

"It worked! The Armored Core suit and the spaceship models had turned real. I am able to operate the Armored Core suit, hack into the starships turned real and get their starships blueprints." Xander exclaimed, sounding like a kid in a candy store. "The spell worked!"

"Indeed." Giles' voice resonated in Willow's head. Judging by everyone's stunned expressions, the others could hear Giles' mental voice as well. "The spell worked, now it is time for us to plan how we are going to stop the N.I.D. and the Watcher's Council."