"What the bloody fuck—" Spike snarled and kicked the small demon trying to gnaw on his leg. He stared around. He knew it was Halloween—down time for most vamps and demons, although he'd never been much of a stickler about that tradition. So, why were the streets suddenly full of demons, monsters and strangely different vampires? And why were they all under four feet tall? He sniffed the air.

"Magic. I might have known...." He jumped onto the roof of a nearby car and sat down to watch the chaos developing around him. "This could be a lot of fun," he said to no one in particular, leaning back on his elbows and enjoying the sight of so many vicious, if tiny, creatures running around attacking the confused adults trying to control them. Every now and then, he'd see an older, larger monster of some sort, but the zombies sensed his lack of life and the other vampires weren't interested in his borrowed blood.

He tensed when a teenager dressed in military gear stopped to glare at him with suspicion. They exchanged hard stares, the boy caressing the stock of his very real-looking gun as he took in Spike's thuggish demeanor. A scream from down the street tore the soldier's attention away and he ran off before he got the opportunity to find out exactly how much <i>not</i> a charade Spike's dangerous image actually was. There'd been something familiar about the boy's face, but not in the confident, possibly lethal attitude.

An equally familiar looking, barely-dressed, pretty redhead drifted by, seeming confused and worried. He hopped off the car, intent on following her, until he got close enough to notice how insubstantial she was.

"Bugger," he muttered, loud enough for her to spin around, see him, and squeak "Spike!" before taking off at a run. "Aha. One of the Slayer's little pals, then. All ghostly and whatnot." He strolled after her, absently batting away any small monsters that attempted to accost him. One flash of his true face was enough to cause all the temporary adult vampires to back off, and he was able to keep the fast-moving ghost in sight without trouble.

One part of his mind noticed that only some of the Halloween revelers had apparently turned into their costumes. His attention wandered from the ghost he'd been following, distracted by the scent and sight of a girl wearing a cat suit. It was obvious from her reaction when he walked up and offered to rub her ears—"... or anything else you have that might need rubbin'..." that she was not feeling anything like a cat, and in fact also recognized him. She screamed, slapped him, and bolted for a nearby house where the door opened quickly to let her in.

Spike shrugged and walked around the house, testing the barrier with one hand, as he passed the kitchen door. When he discovered that he couldn't get in, he sighed and went back to the street, looking for easier prey.

"Got to be some sweet young thing out here tonight what need's 'saving'. And I'm just the vamp to do it. And then I'll explain to her just how she can show her gratitude..." He wandered off toward the less residential part of town, listening for sounds of distress, and was soon rewarded with cries for help coming from a nearby alley. "Well, well. What have we here?" He licked his lips as he watched the would-be pirate manhandling the crying girl. Only when he got close enough to realize who the damsel in distress really was, did his eyes light up and his fangs descend.

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