Disclaimer: Joss made Buffy and Angel. I didn’t. Wish I had, though.
Author’s Notes: Spoilers for “Not Fade Away”
Summary: YAHF-adjacent. An empowered Xander decides to make a difference in "Not Fade Away."
Challenge 2580: Dragon Xander
Xander dresses up as a Dragon in humanoid form on Halloween and ends up a dragon. The good news is that he retains the ability to shift into a human form so no one will know he's a dragon unless they catch him in his dragon form.
-No m/m slash or Willow/Xander
-I don't care what universe the type of dragon comes from, but he should be at least good sized in his dragon form.
Halloween, 1997
As Ethan’s spell faded into non-existence, Xander fell to the ground panting. It was over, but what a rush it had been. His dragon costume had been awesome enough on its own, but when it became real … the sheer power and freedom of flight were something that he was unlikely to ever forget.
Over the next few days, as Xander saw people around him forgetting what had happened, repressing the memories of what they had done, he tried harder and harder to hold on to that fading feeling of invincibility, of raw, savage power. An event the next week made it a bit easier to do.
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Walking home from Buffy’s place, Xander felt himself fairly safe, or at least as safe as anyone not a slayer could be in Sunnydale. Crosses, check. Holy water supersoaker, check. Stakes, check. The gear wouldn’t exactly let him go hunting on his own, but he’d be able to at least hold off a few vamps and convince them that it would be more trouble than it was worth to make him a happy meal. What he hadn’t counted on was a pissed off Spike and at least a dozen henchcreeps. As his face paled to match those of the vampires surrounding him, Xander swore that if he got out of this alive, he was never, ever going out alone after dark again.
“Hello, whelp. Been meaning to thank you for roasting so many of my boys last week. You cost me a fair bit, and I think I’ll be taking it out of your hide.”
At a gesture from Spike, the vampires threw Xander to the ground and held him there. Struggling futilely, Xander watched Spike’s fangs coming closer and closer. He closed his eyes – and saw a flame. A column of fire issued from his mouth, instantly dusting the vampires holding him. As Spike backed away from the destruction, Xander could feel himself growing.
Fifteen feet long, clad scaly armour, armed with ten-inch claws, a whiplike tail and razor sharp fangs, his breath alive with white hot flame, Xander was a tornado of destruction, wreaking havoc on his foes. The minions were dust within seconds, though Xander spotted Spike fleeing into the sewers. Ah, well. Next time, maybe.
In the months that followed, Xander became adept at controlling his newfound ability. Except for the embarrassing whipped cream incident (of which the less said the better), and that time on his road trip (which wild horses would never drag out of him – ever), he was able to both summon his draconic form and resist any involuntary changes, and became a valuable asset in the Scoobies’ nightly battles. Which is why, when Buffy’s prophetic dreams warned of an apocalypse in LA, she turned to her most powerful ally to save the day.
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As he approached the Hyperion, Xander was amazed to see a veritable army of demons advancing on the alley behind Angel’s former base of operations. Shifting quickly, he launched himself into the air. What he saw below shocked him. Angel, Spike, and a man and a woman he didn’t recognize were braced for battle, ready to face off against an enemy thousands of times more numerous than them. Though not particularly fond of the Deadboy, and even less fond of Deadboy Junior, he wasn’t about to let them get crunched. Roaring his challenge, Xander flamed and dove at the enemy.
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Angel surveyed the forces marching on the Hyperion, and glanced at what was left of his team.
“Ideas.”
Gunn gave a pained grin. “I’ll take the 30,000 on the right.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “And in terms of a plan?”
That, at least, Angel could answer: “We fight.”
Spike looked at his grandsire in disbelief. “Bit more specific?”
Angel chuckled. “Well, personally, I wanna slay the dragon. Let’s get to work.”
With that, the team sprang into action, Angel leaping thirty feet, his sword whistling in the air.
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Xander focused on the demons attacking the man he assumed must be Gunn, figuring that the supernaturals could take care of themselves. Which is why he wasn’t watching when Angel made his move. In fact, the first and last he knew of it was a sharp pain in his neck.
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“Yes!” Angel shouted as he took out the dragon in a single swing, and he took a moment to watch it fall, shrivelling and – shrivelling? What the….
The dragon shrank as it hit the ground, its scales and tail disappearing as it transformed itself into the dead form of … Xander? Angel stood transfixed by the sight, not even noticing the stake wielding monstrosity coming up behind him as he muttered, “Oh, hell. Buffy’s definitely going to kick my ass for this.”
