WeLcOmE tO tHe HoRrOr ShOw

[The_Vizir]

A darkly clarion voice cut through the crisp autumn air of the forest, voice rippling through the brilliant autumn leaves of the forest's towering deciduous trees, singing a most horrible song. Yes, it was now autumn. Don't ask the author, it's some kind of crazy Forest magic. Anyhow!

"It's the most horrible time of the year. With the night getting longer, the darkness grows stronger, and there's so much to fear! It's the most horrible time of the year..."

The voice was soon joined by another, a dark tenor whose voice just ooze mischief:

"It's the most frightening season of all. When you're breathing so quickly from visions so sickly you dread to recall! It's the most frightening season of all..."

And then, with the telltale static flickering of reality, two monstrous lovebirds appeared the pale-frosted clearing. Clasping a paw in a wing and spinning around dramatically, the fiendish duet continued "The spirits are calling, the veil is falling, and monsters are roaming the land..." "With shadows descending, reality's bending to horrors you can't understand!"

"Ohh..." the two shadowspawn pressed their furred cheeks together before rocking back out, forelimbs still entwined "It's the most horrible time of the year! There's pumpkins a-grinning and hauntings a-chilling as the boogies appear! It's the most horrible time of the ye- OOPH!"

The two closet monsters, not watching where they were going, ran straight into something that... really shouldn't have been there. Peeling himself off the plastered surface, Grey - that's the one who looked like an overlarge bat or an underlarge furred dragon, depending on whom you asked - spun around and flopped to the frost-bowed grass of the clearing, only a single wing remaining upright, with a single claw raised in protest. "Anybody get the name of that semi?"

The other monster - looking much like a psychopath's vision of a cute little red panda - pulled herself clear of the object she ran into... before pawing franting for the eyeballs that had been knocked free from her sockets. "Oh come on... this never happens to me... eyes, where are you eyes? Lefty and righty, where aaaaaaaare yo..." she twisted around and smacked the over-large mouth that dominated the end of her large, raccon-like tail. Whimpering, the tail spat out two brilliant, ice-blue eyes, which both twisted around and stared, quite perturbed-ly at the tail, before scooped up in two large, ruddy-furred paws. Tilting her head back, the monster dropped in the two orbs, blinking several times to ensure her vision was working properly. Finally satisfied that her eyes were working as they should, Gloom took a few tottering steps back, focusing up at what the two horrors had slammed face-first into.

"Oh... wow. No way..." she breathed scarcely believing herself, before flickering over to her still-dazed boyfriend and shaking him excitedly "GREY! GREY! LOOK!" she shook the bat monster excitedly before hauling him upright and pointing him at the edifice that towered before them.

It took Grey several seconds to realize what he was looking at... it was big... tan-ish coloured, boxy shaped. Looked like it was made of stucco, with brown-painted metallic trimming. Above the slightly-indented entryway that sat at the top of a series of concrete steps was a sign, that read, in English, East Derry Community Center alongside the flags of the United States of America and... Maine?

Grey rubbed his eyes with his claws a few times to make certain he wasn't hallucinating. Nope... still there. "Umm..." Grey stared, before ripping out his eyes is a spray of gore, brushing them off on his fur, kicking away Gloom's tailmouth, and screwing them back in. Once again, Grey blinked at the edifice before them. "Umm... WHAT?"

"It's from Earth!" Gloom chimed in excitedly, clapping her paws together happily, only stopping once Grey's head thudded on her rear paws. Looking down at her boyfriend, she grinned sheepishly "Oops?"

Grey just sighed, and picked himself up off the ground "Right... so... we've got a community centre from Earth here... why?"

Gloom pointed at the author "He's being lazy"

Wait, what? No I'm not! I'm being convenient! Difference!

Gloom just shrugged. "Whatever. If there's zombies in there, you know I'm coming for you."

There are no zombies.

"Or vampires."

There are no vampires.

"Or werewolves."

Oh for the love of... you'd be able to smell werewolves!

"Or aliens!"

AAAAAAARGH! Listen, there are no monsters in the building!

And then Gloom dissipated in a static-like distortion of reality, flickering into the community centre's front entrance, before turning around and sticking her long blue tongue out at the author. "Liar!"

And then Gloom was eaten by a jabberwocky. ACK! ACK! OKAY! PUT ME DOWN! AAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

The chains around the author's neck vanished in a puff of smoke as Grey gave him a death glare "Don't even joke about that."

Done, deal, agreed. Can you just get to exploring my plot device already?

Grey huffed and flickered up the stairs to the foyer where his girlfriend was.

"Why do I feel all gross?" Gloom asked as she whipped some non-existant jabberwocky spittle out of her mane. Grey glared a vicious, angry glare at the author, who will now drop it because somebody cannot take a joke.

Gloom just looked between her boyfriend and the author "Somebody want to fill me in here?" she huffed, before being answered with a tight winged hug. "Oohkay..." she said, patting her boyfriend on the back, before de-tangling herself, "So, umm, how's fat-ass going to get in?" she asked, leaning her face on the windowed front door and staring down at the author... windowed front doors that slid open as the motion detectors registered her tail's wagging, causing her to fall flat on her face.

Like that.

"Funny guy," Gloom grumbled, before picking herself up, and turning around. "So... what's the purpose behind this?"

Grey blinked at the sliding door. "No... wait... what? How?" he stared at the blinking red light on the black box of the detector, then got an idea in his head. Looking around, he quickly located the light switches, and then, in the blink of an eye, Grey was hovering in front of them. "Here goes... well, all logic out the window," he muttered, before quickly flicking them all on.

Almost instantly, he was greeted by the familiar hum of fluorescent light tubes. Grey's jaw dropped. "How... what? WHAT?" and then he quickly realized something. "If there's power, why didn't the security sy-"

The rest of Grey's annoying question was drowned out by the blaring beeps of the hall's security system going off, causing both horrors to clutch their sensitive ears in pain. "Genius!" Gloom shouted at her boyfriend.

And then, the blaring siren stopped. Gloom looked up, opening her eyes warily. "Aliens?"

There are no aliens!

"Well then what shut off alarm?"

Science!

"You mean deus ex machina," Grey sighed, rubbing his head.

Regardless, problem solved!

"Somebody wasn't thinking ahead here," Grey grumbled as his girlfriend started poking around the entry area.

The author wisely chose not to respond to that.

Grey scoffed a bit at the wisely, but chose not to push the matter any further. Instead, he took a look around the hall. It looked... well, like the countless other late 20th century small community halls he had seen over his many hauntings. Industrial design, linoleum floors, drywall ceilings interspersed with florescent light installations and... fans that sounded like they were running? "He's putting way too much effort on this..." Grey sighed, dropping his face into a wing.

Agreed.

However, before this enlightening discussion could proceed any further, Gloom's excited voice called out. "Hey, Grey! You won't believe what I found!"

With a puff of static-y smoke, Grey appeared next to his girlfriend, perched on top of the back of an office chair. Catching himself before he fell, he managed to catch his bearings. He was behind the receptionist's desk, and... his girlfriend was below him, tapping away on the keyboard of the first computer (aside from those in the Norad III) Grey had seen in months. Grey's jaw dropped. "What... are you doing?"

Gloom held up a yellow sticky note. "People need to stop writing their usernames and passwords down," the panda monster chuckled mischievously.

Grey blinked, "Umm... apparently. But... what are you looking for?"

Gloom craned her neck back up at her boyfriend. "Do you know how long its been since I checked in on my favourite webcomics?"

The bat monster proceeded to facewing again "... of course," he sighed. But his following comment was drowned out by an anguished scream - from the author. As he tried valiantly to dislodge the sharp-toothed tailmouth of the red closet monster from his ankle.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO INTERNET?" She shouted at him.

Do you know how difficult it was to get the power on to this building?

"Not very?"

That's beside the point anyways! Introducing the internet to the Forest would do result in more damage than Norad having a hissy fit and lobbing a few nukes in its general direction!

Gloom blinked up at the author, and opened her maw to respond.

Entropy and the Evil Overlord's List.

Gloom's eyes widened in fear, dropping off of the author as her tailmouth went slackjawed.

She got it.

Gloom picked herself off the ground, and tried to work out a way to respond, but thankfully it was Grey's time to call out for his significant other. "Gloom! You won't believe this!"

Gloom flickered over to the desk where she had left her boyfriend, leaving the author to nurse his injured ankle. "What is it?" she asked, relief at being saved from the previous situation obvious in her voice. Grey didn't answer, but pointed to the calender on the screen.

The panda monster blinked a few times, before everything clicked in her head. "No way."

"Yes way," Grey responded, barely containing his glee.

"That's today?" Gloom asked, excitement rising in her voice as well.

"I think so..." Grey looked up the edge of the kiosk at the author "Is this your plan?"

The author looked up from bandaging his ankle to give Grey a thumbs up.

"Well, if that's the case," he grinned at Gloom, "I think we can forgive him for some things..."

Gloom held two claws a few centimetres apart, before wrapping her claws around Grey, laughing joyously.

The two closet monsters embraced each other for several moments, before Grey ruffled his girlfriend's hair and hopped up onto the kiosk's upper counter. "So... we've got a community centre and it's October 29th. Who wants to bet there's a nice supply of Halloween supplies in the storage rooms?"

Gloom grinned a too-wide grin. "Wanna race?"

Grey responded with a low bow, and then both monsters vanished in a puff of shadows.

The ensuing hour was spent ruffling around the community centre, getting a sense for its rather mundane layout, prying open its storage room, and then tearing through the many boxes within. Finally, after much chaos and mayhem that won't be detailed because this post is running too long as it is and the author is rather lazy, but included Grey almost being flushed down a toilet and incinerated by a furnace, the author getting bitten again, Gloom having to be hauled back from the fully-stocked-with-Halloween-goods fridge, the author being mauled by the monsters for his Walkman which was promptly hooked up to the main hall's sound system and set on a playlist of Halloweeny tunes, and other such mayhem, Grey and Gloom successfully located the several crates of Halloween supplies.

Cackling mischievously, Grey held up several mock tombstones with his shadowy chains. "This... is... awesome!" the bat monster almost bounced with glee at the findings.

Gloom popped her head out from another nearby crate, spitting out a rubber spider from her maw and holding up several rolls of black and orange streamers, "I think we've got some work to do to make this place positively... horrible...."

---

Two days later, as the sun began to sink below the Boundary Mountains and the sky began to stain itself orange, Grey and Gloom collapsed into a heap before their masterpiece. The entire building had been bedecked in cobwebs and skull-shaped lights. Eerie howling came from speakers on the roof, as skeletons and bats hung from the overhang around the entrance. Plastic Jack O'Lanterns lined the stairway, while the entry path was lined by a faux-gothic fence with glowing skulls, all of which were surrounded by fake gravestones and plastic bones half-buried in the ground. A fog machine rumbled beneath the wheelchair ramp, spilling smoke out amongst the faux graveyard, while the sliding doors had been decked out in elaborate door gores featuring zombies and Frankenstein's monster.

Inside, streamers of orange and black and black light bulbs lined the hallways and wreathed the main hall, where Gloom had lain out a massive table filled with rather horrific-looking holiday fare, including faux limbs made of ground beef, punch with candy eyeballs, and brain-shaped jello salads, all resting on what appeared to be a blood-smeared tablecloth. Creepy Gothic curtains hung down, obscuring the concrete walls, while a shadow projector hung in the centre of the room cast the illusion of a haunted graveyard on all the walls. Flickering fake gas lanterns lining the wall around the kitchen's window, eyes peeking out of fake cracks on mirrors, smoking cauldrons, fake reapers and zombies and undead servants propped up in corners. It was glorious.

Grey and Gloom gave each other a tired high five as they looked over their masterpiece, and leaned back and looked up to the sky, sitting in the middle of the path to the front door just as it entered the clearing.

"Wow..." Gloom sighed happily.

"Wow indeed..." Grey agreed, wrapping his wings around his girlfriend. "I can't wait until everybody sees this..."

Gloom snapped upright "OH PIT!" she shouted, before dropping her head into her paws. "We told nobody!"

Grey blinked a few times, realizing the extent of their screw up, and then - Do not fear, Viz is here!

Grey stared at the author... "What?"

Just roll with it.

"Right... so what are you going to do, smart guy?"

Travel back in time to the 7th and inform the masses of your upcoming fete, so that your most fantastic of efforts shall not be wasted.

Grey blinked. "You can do that? And... why the 7th?"

ddpej approves of the number 7.

"That makes no sense."

The ways of the author are mysterious.

"By that he means he's lazy," Gloom helpfully chimed in.

And that. Anyhow, expect your guests to arrive shortly....

The two monsters stared at the point where their creator had just vanished from. "We're acting on the whims of a madman..."

"Well, 'tis the season, eh?" Gloom offered.

"To be scary?" Grey offered back.

"Fa la la la la, la la la la!"

[*RainyRomanianAbyss*]

In some treetop of the forest near the abandoned center, there was another Darksider there... Relaxing. This Demoness was about to turn another year older....... She sighed as she remembered this.

"Why would I even want to become a year older? Doesn't that bring more trouble for me?" She thought to herself. Sighing, she leaned her head back and she thought about the festivities that were happening in Oblivion right now. This was the best night of all nights for demons, boogiemen, witches, and all of the dark side paranormals to go and have a great night. Ari, had the events not happened with her parents and uncles, would have been inviting every and all to the palace for a grand ball.

Her parents! That's right!

Ari dug into one of the inside pockets on her cloak and she pulled out a Wish Tonix vial. She uncorked it, took three drops onto her right hand and she put the top back in to the vial. Replacing the vial where it belonged,she rubbed her hands together and she blew on them. Appearing within her hands, two deep colored roses was what took the place of the tonix. Saying something in her native language quickly, she held the two roses close to her heart. Releasing them from near her heart, she held out her hands and the roses drifted out onto the soft wind that was blowing. What she had just done was a ritual to her parents.... To make their spirits rest in peace...

Ari laid back and something caught her eye. What was that? It was a building no duh, but something was off about it.... Like fear was being created on the inside...

"Well curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back," Ari said out loud as she jumped down from the tree. She took her bow off her back and loaded it, not knowing what could be in there. She ventured forward, not know what was up ahead.

[Windra]

OoC
Finally!
And ... we're off!

--

So many miles away, a group was making preparations of its own. Of course it was considerably harder souping up the inn for the upcoming holiday with a limited and almost nonexistent supply of decorations, but they were able to make do with what they had. Candles ... Makeshift jack-o-lanterns from gourds that grew close to the swamp's edge ... Felix proposed catching one of the giant tarantulas living on Boundary Mountains and was fervently denied the ability to do so by Naira's flaming arachnophobia. All in all, they did pretty well for themselves.

The night before All Hallow's Eve, the WereDhole had about shat himself when witnessing the Reaver's transformation into the true form of her species. Grinning and brandishing her claws in a mock-threatening manner, it took a lot to assure him that everything was as it should be. He was able to grasp the reality of it fairly well considering his own transformation into a beast during the Reality Collapse some months prior.

The next afternoon they sat together, donning makeup on one another. Naira insisted on going for something a little more simple than what she usually did: utilizing some glow-in-the-dark body paint and making her own outfit, she had Felix etch little vertebrae on the back of her neck. This was the Dhole's first-ever Halloween. Though he didn't know anything about a 'Dracula', the Reaver was confident in dribbling fake blood in spots here and there. She had an old cape withering away in one of the inn's many chests. It fit Felix nearly perfectly, its dark hues bringing out the color of his pumpkin-orange fur.

Having received an invitation from one Puppetmaster to another, they were aware of the party being held not too far away. Run by the little horrors, nonetheless! Felix recently saw the movie Trick or Treat on some machination Naira called a television - how she was able to get it to work was still a mystery. But he was terrified of Samhain. The thought of the punishment for not leaving some kind of pumpkin out ... The Dhole was not eager to meet some grisly fate by some pint-sized monster! So he not only left one 'gourd-o-lantern' lit. He made sure one was left by every door and window before the duo set off into the woodlands under the setting sun.

In some time the building was within earshot. Felix mused about the impossibilities of the situation. This was not Earth! So what was an Earth building doing here?

"How is that even possible?" he asked suddenly. Silence replied. Alarmed by the sudden loneliness he felt, Felix turned. Naira was nowhere in sight. A prickly sensation began to pick at the back of his neck as fur stood on end. " ... Lady?" His heart was leaping straight out of his chest. Faux wolf calls strung out from hidden speakers. A strange misty fog was building. Surely the Reaver had been snatched away! Samhain was going to get him next ... and cut his throat! Felix's fingers scrabbled to his neck as if to protect it and remained there.

Slowly he backed up. The building! Surely somebody would be there to help him in this traumatic situation! Felix turned to run, when suddenly a black shape dropped down right in front of him! Glowing bones barely registered in his eyes as he cowered in fear, emitting the most girly scream ever to be heard. Legs suddenly became like rubber and he toppled over, only now aware that every part of him was shaking as he crawled to get away.

"Stay back! I ... don't taste good!"

Somebody was laughing. Felix recognized the voice. He immediately halted and looked back ... and narrowed his eyes in panicked fury. Should have known it was her! After all, he helped with her makeup! But there was no denying that even without the glowing painted-on bones, Naira was very intimidating while morphed into the total Reaver form. Her tail had grown thrice its length. Three thick red claws donned her hands and feet - easily about as wide around as footballs with sharp points. Her skin took on a navy blue hue save for the forearms, lower legs, and torso which were covered in obsidian scales - the same color of her hair. She had one a black fabric jumpsuit with a human's skeletal system stitched in with glowing thread. All the 'bones' emitted a pale white hue.

"Wuss," she taunted, barely able to contain her hysterical laughing.

Felix was brushing dirt off of his fur while snarling angrily, "You could've given me a heart attack!"

"It's Hallloween! I'll be you'll be getting spooked a lot tonight."

By now the sun was no longer within view. The bright colors strung up into the atmosphere at its parting faded into blackness, making Naira's 'skeleton' stand out incredibly. Felix drew his cloak tight like it would guard him from whatever spooks roamed the lands at this time of night. His fake fangs added a strange sensation to speaking. Charcoal had been rubbed into the fur around his eyes, adding a sunken feeling to them. The two of them crushed up chalk to pallor the brightness of his body. They debated earlier about fitting him with red contact lenses before deciding that yellow would look just fine.

"I hate you so much right now ... ," grumbled the Dhole under his breath.

Naira smirked. "Yeah, a lot of people seem to be doing that lately ... Ah well, 'tis the season, eh? C'mon! You'll have a blast!" She grabbed at his arm and tugged him along, sprinting the last few feet to the building ahead.

[The_Vizir]

Somehow, the panicking dhole and mischievous reaver completely missed the two happily singing monsters sitting in the middle of the path through the graveyard.

How do we know they were completely missed?

Because at this moment Grey was taking an inventory of which bones in his body hadn't been crushed by the sprinting dragon-demon-thingy, while Gloom painfully snapped her head back on the right way.

"Ow," she said pointedly, grabbing her shoulder and shoving the dislocated joint back into its socket. "Well, company's arrived..."

Grey grunted, drawing in the familar-tasting fear, and... hey! It was that jerkass from last time that tried to shoot him in the face? He was here? Why he oughtta! Grey tried to stand, and... oh, right, broken bones. THUD! "Blaaaaaaaaaaah" Grey moaned, letting his long tongue lull out of his mouth, before drawing in that very same fear and wrapping around him, taking the currently-nameless scaredy-were's fear and making it his own...

Grey vanished into darkness, slipping through the shadows, to reappear above the door amongst the various bat toys therein. Hanging upside-down by the bar of the door, wrapped in his wings, he didn't exactly stand out... until he spread his wings slowly, wrapping darkness around the two newcomers. "Good evening..." he announced, darkly, as an eerie wind whipped up around the were...beast and his companion. "Think you can come and torment me again, oh scaredy-fox? Ruin this most glorious of nights, after all the work we put in to making this the greatest festival of All Hallow's Eve that this forest has ever seen? Think again! THIS IS MY LAIR! THIS IS MY - BY THE PIT!" Grey shouted as he met the were-creature's companion's gaze. His entire body seized up in fear, and, well, he let out a miniscule "Eep" before vanishing in a staticy puff of smoke, reforming under the computer desk and holding onto the buzzing electronics for dear life, hoping it would mask any scent he was putting out.

See, had Reavers done their job ages ago, there would have been no chance for sentient horrors to form. Of course, now that the Reavers had sorted out their problems, well... there was the fear among fears that the Nightmare Court's days were numbers. And here stood an absolutely horrifying Reaver looking ready to maim and kill. So yeah, Grey was hiding. You would as well if the Predator showed up to your Halloween party wearing a "All Humans Must Be Killed" t-shirt.

Of course, it was it at this point that the Walkman in the main hall started blaring Run For Your Life over the hall's speakers. Grey's ears flattened against his head. "Not. Helping," the closet monster grumbled under his breath.

Meanwhile, Gloom watched the conversation play out, saw Grey flicker away, and realized exactly what was going on. Well... this was a major bummer, but hey! Putting together a Halloween festival in a multiversal hub, bound to have attracted some trouble. So... yeah. Leaving the premises right about... now! Vanishing into the shadows near the clearing's edge, she lept through the shadows... and slammed into the face of a young demoness.

THUD

THUMP

Gloom hit the ground, but stuck an arm up "I'M OKAY!" And then her arm flopped to the ground. "Umm... just give me three minutes. Four minutes. Umm... five and then it should be a fair chance for me to fight for my life, okay? On your honour and junk?"

She needed that long at least to open up a portal to Shadow and then RUN LIKE THE DICKENS!

[*RainyRomanianAbyss*]

Next thing Ari knew, she was on her back. "Geez that hurt...... No need to fight. It's not necessary." Ari said, brushing off her pants and cloak. Her hair shone in the moonlight and her family symbol shone.

"It's Halloween, yes? Well almost. Being a year older is going to suck....." She voiced out loud.

Ari really didn't want to fight it out, she knew that was an accident. She could smell something off of this.... She didn't know what to place this female as. She looked at this creature that looked like a twisted version of a red panda.

"Where are you headed anyway?" She asked, slightly curious and glad that she had found another creature to talk with.

[The_Vizir]

Gloom's ears twitched, and she slowly raised her head... to be confronted not with a slavering, hungry Reaver, but instead some kind of, well, she'd guess demon that she'd knocked down in her hectic flight. It took her only a second to flicker out of existence, reappearing on the demoness' chest, hugging her tightly around the neck "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she exclaimed, relief overpowering common sense for a few seconds, before the spooked spook caught herself and coughed awkwardly. Thwacking away her overly happy tailmouth - which seemed focused on giving the demoness huge, slobbering licks, Gloom hopped off of Ari and dusted off her ruff. "Umm... yeah. About where I'm going... umm..." She scratched her head "Well, away would be best. Far far away so the telep... wait, they can teleport, can't they? Across entire planes? Umm... well, there goes that idea." The closet monster ruffed up her mane in frustration, looking over her shoulder nervously before turning her icy blue eyes back on the unfortunate victim of 'Plan FLEE THE VILLAGE' "Hey, you wouldn't know where you can hide from unstoppable cosmic entities bound on wiping your species out, would you? 'Cause I think one of those is killing my boyfriend right now and I really really don't want to meet up with him in the Pit, you know?" she laughed a frantic, nervous laugh, checking over her shoulder again for any sign that, well... her time had come. Fantastic...

[*RainyRomanianAbyss*]

Ari picked up her bow and looked back at the creature. "What do you mean you think one is killing your boyfriend? What are you running from?" Ari said, kneeling down to pick up the arrow that had fell out of her sheath.

The night air seemed to be getting denser and denser with every looming second. Ari stood upright.

"Is there any way I can help you?" She finally asked, coming up with nothing. "Whatever you are running from, I can help you escape it....." Ari replayed what she just said in her head." Possibly," she took out an arrow from her sheath and fit it into her bow.

"Shall we go save your boyfriend?"

[Windra]

Well crap. They hadn't been there before ... they were positive about that. But who knew. I personally blame incoherently garbled realities.

Naira came to a halt with Felix in tow. Together they turned, intent on apologizing ... But as soon as the Dhole got wind of Grey's presence, he immediately backed up. Agitation strung at his insides while the skin beneath his fur threatened to go pale. Even the Reaver wasn't able to make sense of the Were's reaction, but she stood protectively in front of him nonetheless, brow cocked. Grand theatrics, this. No doubt Felix had met Grey before - perhaps on less amiable terms.

"Y-You!" exclaimed, pointing a clawed finger to where the bat-beast hung upside-down. "You'll summon no snakes today!"

"Easy now, we're not here to fight anybody," Naira leaned backward to whisper into the Dhole's ear. "Just settle your differences and - "

Welp ... so much for that. Grey got a good look at Naira's Reaver form - every bit of it. This mortified the Horror beyond reasoning. With a squeak, he vanished from sight. Perplexed, they didn't even seem to notice Gloom as she leapt through the darkness. Her disappearance went unmarked while Naira scratched her head in confusion.

"Well that was ... quick?" Pinpointing her gaze to the glowing points on her chest and limbs, the Reaver couldn't help but grin. "Gotta be the costume."

Years back, when the Kuro bit had finally been - for the most part - taken care of, Kamiri enlisted the aid of all her underlings to fix any anomalies roaming free due to Kuro's carelessness and chaos. This included pushing Horrors out of the way ... when they go in the way. No killing, but the occasional booting. Naira, on the other hand, was free to roam wherever she pleased, having done so much already. Immediately after the cataclysm of Greenwood's fall, she returned to Deep Forest to catch up on her social life, build the inn ... and eventually get caught up in the reality rip that sent her, Scarlet, and Mishayirth into another dimension. Basically: she had no direct part in Kamiri's universal cleanup.

So really, she had no idea why Grey went running. Naira could only assume the outfit had done its job and scared the living daylights out of him. "The spook," she said proudly, "has been spooked!" The Reaver leaned through the doorway, looking both ways before entering. "Guess we should find him though."

"You know him?" asked Felix, a little more hesitant in trailing behind his friend. The Dhole was without his weapons. If another go at his frightened heart was to be made ... "Damn bat scared the hell out of me when I first came here ... Chased me up a tree!" Actually he'd raced up the tree on his own accord. There'd been no other way to get away from that enlarged serpent!

He was caught off-guard when Naira laughed. "Did he now?"

"It wasn't funny at the time ... " A faint smile tugged at Felix's lips, but chagrin still probed his emotions.

"Name's Grey. He means well, generally ... but it's in his nature to scare the living crap out of people. Like a poltergeist with fur." Naira sought out a desk and sat atop it, totally unaware to the presence awaiting beneath. "Cool guy. There was this horse that came to Deep Forest ... Brandr, right? Thing was so stiff and uptight that Grey and I made a heyday of teasing the hell out of him. We almost got immolated."

"If you make a living pranking people, sooner or later it's going to catch up to you ... ," warned Felix. He was batting at one of the dangling spiders dotting the building. It snapped off the string and fell into his clasped hands. Only when it started squirming did the Dhole realize it wasn't a toy and, yelping, chucked it across the room. "Jeez!"

[The_Vizir]

The red closet monster blinked, biting her lip before blurting out her jumbled thoughts. "What do you mean what do I mean? I... rrrrr!" Agitated, she proceeded to rough up her mane again with her claws, causing it to jut out in all kinds of crazy angles. "HOW DO YOU MISINTERPRET 'I THINK A REAVER IS KILLING MY BOYFRIEND!" she shouted, paws gesturing wildly. "Reaver, you know? Soul reavers? Killer undead, usually crazy, have finally gotten their act together after millenia of idiocy and insanity and have decided to start cleaning up all the mistakes and messes of the multiverse - and I'm one of those messes! And by clean, I of course mean-" Gloom violently drew one her large claws across her neck, causing her head to tear off and roll from shoulders, its tongue lulling out almost comically.

A few moments of this, and the unnatural decapitated cranium snapped open its eyes and stared up at the demoness. "AND I LIKE BEING ALIVE!" it shouted, as the headless body fumbled around for it, finally grabbing it and twisting it back on... backwards. Gloom sighed, kicked her tailmaw - which proceeded to whimper slightly - grabbed her head between her fore-paws, and snapped her neck back around the right way. "Oh yeah... that's gonna hurt tomorrow... assuming I don't die tonight. Yeesh..." she shivered slightly, fur rising down her back.

She blinked at the demoness "Hey, you want to play distraction against the immortal, soul-eating monstrosity from out of time, be my guest. Personally... I'm more looking to get as far away from here as possible..." she mumbled, looking around nervously. "Though... if you do see another monster... umm, with grey fur and big ears and wings... umm, try to rescue him and tell him to meet me back in the cave, okay? Okay!" she clapped her paws together. "Good luck," she said, bowing. "And, umm... try not to die, okay?" she added, grinning nervously.

---

Grey's hackles raised when the idiotic were-wannabe referred to him as a bat, but his instinct for self-preservation was far greater than any slight to his ego like that. He was a monster, but he was also still existing... and to be the former, he has to continue to be the later.

Of course, as the solid-wood kiosk groaned under the weight of the reaver leaning on it, the later became a bit more tenuous. Grey inched backwards, hiding further behind the humming computer, continuing to hope it would disguise any signals he might be - WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?

"I DO NOT PRANK!" Grey announced as he flickered above, flaring his wings dramatically - to get smacked in the face by a large spider. A large, living spider...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The closet monster cried, spun around and - THWACK - flickered right into the brick wall behind him. As he attempted to regain his bearings, he slowly slid down the wall.

"Ohh... Pit..."

[*RainyRomanianAbyss*]

Ari sighed lightly. "You know... You are of no h- wait.... Did you say Reaver?" Ari turned back to this creature.

"So she's a closet monster.... And isn't Naira a Reaver? Only one in the forest as far as I know......"

"So you mean to tell me that your boyfriend is getting killed by Naira? She wouldn't call for unnecessary blood.... She wouldn't call for blood at all unless provoked...." Ari trailed off.

Or would she? No. No, that wasn't like Naira at all.

But obviously the closet monster hadn't heard her because she was going on a rampage on how she liked being alive and all. Ari sighed and held up her hand.

"Alright, alright.Don't worry about it,okay? I'll be back with your boyfriend as soon as I can."

Love. Wretched love. Ari closed her eyes at the word.

She really hadn't found anybody to think of in that manner, but that was fine with her. At least she was away from her uncles and the Hell that lie back at her prison home. Ari jumped up to the nearest treetop and started hopping from tree to tree, going into unknown dangers of the new part of the forest.

[Windra]

There was very little time to react to Grey's outburst. The bat-monster had jumped (as in teleported) up - right into the path of the flung flailing spider (try saying that five times fast ... ). Realizing exactly what was squiggling against his cheeks, Grey turned to get away. Needless to say he wound up faceplanting the brick wall. Like a cartoon Wile-E, he slowly slid down while grumbling.

Felix became a sniggering wreck very quickly, all but pointing and laughing at Grey's misfortune. "And that's what you get," he shouted triumphantly, "for messing with the dhole!"

"You sound so smug," retorted Naira, who found something interesting nearby and grabbed at it. Glancing over her shoulder, she grinned menacingly at her companion. "Care to try again?" Something was flung over her shoulder. Something long. Something sleek. Something with no legs.

Felix leaped immediately onto the nearest desk, hugging himself and picking his legs up frantically (think 'potty dance'). The toy snake didn't quite reach him. It fell short and hit the floor. But it was too lose - close enough to keep the pale-orange furred DraculDhole freaking.

Firing off a haughty bellow of humor, Naira turned to Grey's slumped form with tears of laughter in her eyes. She wiped them away with dignity and peered smugly at the Horror, daring not to tread any closer lest she scare his heart right out of his body. "It's only a costume, you know ... the glowing bones and stuff. Claws are very real, mind you." Crossing her arms, Naira's expression turned puzzled and calm. "What's with you? A scary costume alone shouldn't freak you out that bad. You were both acting like I was going to kill you."

[The_Vizir]

"Yes, a reaver!" The red monster gesticulated erratically, wondering what she needed to say to get the severity of the situation across to the demoness "All big and blue-skinned with huge claws and a ginormous tail and everything!" she facepawed as the stranger continued to ask questions instead of, you know, DOING SOMETHING! "You know, I didn't stop to ask her name, sorry. Just kinda slipped my mind WHEN THE SPECIES THAT HAS STANDING ORDERS TO KILL ME SHOWS UP ON THE NIGHT WHEN THEY'RE STRONGEST!" Gloom fluffed out her fur in an impressive display of aggravation that made the monster appear a fair deal larger for a few seconds, before calming down enough to smooth down her ruff.

Sighing and shaking her head, the monster of hunger and cold waved off the demoness "Yes, yes, but be warned-"

WOOSH!

Gloom opened her eyes and saw the bow-wielding stranger had disappeared... while she continued to hold a pose. An awkward cough from her tail finally elected some movement from the monster, kicking it with her rear foot. "That's enough out of you..." she grumbled, before slinking into a nearby tree's shadow. Say, had Entropy finished off her evil villain lair yet? If so... umm... which way was it again? It was... north-easty, right? Umm..."Grey, w..." her voice chimed out, before hanging awkwardly in the air. A long, tired sigh followed... Grey... why... she....

Gloom stepped out of a nearby shadow. He might still be alive. But... if he wasn't, did she really want to continue on here? Well... yes, she did, but... Grey. Her non-existent heart was pounding in her chest, and her entire body starting shaking as she finally thought about what had happened. AARGH! Letting out a low growl, she glared back towards the community centre. He was smart enough to survive this... he had to be. He was her Grey.

Gloom cracked her neck, slightly, steeling herself. "If she has done anything to you, there will be no place for her to rest..." she growled ominously as her eyes began to glow with a cold, dead, white light. And then she vanished in a puff of shadow.

---

A strangely familiar voice broke through Grey's daze. Where had he heard it before... where... where. Oh yeah... IT WAS THE REAVER TRYING TO KILL HIM! Grey shook his head frantically and began scampering backwards... only managing to push himself upright against the stone wall. Fantastic. Okay, okay... evaluate the situation and... what? Only a costume? Grey's jaw dropped... literally. If fell open so far, the bottom thudded against the floor. "I... uhh... what? Costume? What? Costume?" The closet monster shook his head again, and reset his jaw with an audible crack. "Oh... wow... okay... wow... sorry, sorry..." Grey panted, falling forward onto his forepaws and chuckling slightly. "Wow... okay, that... now that is a really good costume there." he laughed as he shook his head, shuddering slightly as his frightened fur flattened itself out. "Okay, sorry... wow..." he looked up at the becostumed creature and was forced to repress antother series of shivers. It just looked so real!

"Right... haha! Right. Good idea with the costume by the way... jeeze, those guys are the real monsters in the night... and this is coming from a closet monster here," Grey grinned widely... he was trying to place the female's face, but... eh... well, she apparently knew him, so, eh... the forest was a big place. Probably bumped into her once or twice... hmm... well, he'd figure it out eventually. "Anyhow, welcome, welcome! You're the first guests here! Umm... food's right through there," Grey gestured towards the open double doors across from the entrance with a swoosh of a wing. "Should all be edible by most people here. I don't know, I don't eat mortal food..." Grey stuck his tongue out and shuddered a bit, "But hey, you guys gotta eat, and I've been assured by Gloom that it's all top... oh, shoot! Gloom!" Grey shook his head and laughed. "She's probably half way to Devon's now, what with you dressing up as a reaver and all? Pit... coming across your natural predator on the night when they're the strongest... not exactly something anyone wants to see, eh?" the closet monster sighed slightly, before vanishing into the darkness of the corner. He reappeared at the entrance, and looked up at the orange-streaked sky. "Ahh well... not like one would come to the butt-end of the multiverse to hunt down two of the boggiemens' grandchildren, would they? Not likely!" Grey laughed again, before squinting out into the slowly deepening darkness of this most mysterious of nights. "Pit... I wonder if I could find her again before the nights over... ahh well..."

[Windra]

It was very apparent that Grey took what she said out of context, thinking her whole get-up was part of the costume. Naira considered playing along with his misplaced ideologies for a brief time, but the fact that he considered Reavers a natural predator ... and that she was standing right in front of him ... Naira really didn't like false truths, especially when it affected those she was lucky enough to consider companions. Grey was an oddball to be sure, but his fears were misguided.

"Er ... ," she started, overwhelmed by the sensation of guilt for what was undoubtedly going to shatter the Horror's sense of security. "Well ... the bones were part of the costume ... You're guess about what I am was correct." Pausing to give him ample time to freak, the Reaver held her hands in the air, palms outward - a universal sign of surrender. "Come on now, don't you recognize me at all? We bothered the hell out of that flaming horse at the Edge some time ago. It's Naira. I know I look all otherworldly, but you've gotta recalls the voice at least!"

"She's about as harmful as a kitten until you start poking at the vulnerable parts of her ego," chimed in Felix. He was still content to stand upon the desk. It didn't matter if the snake was fake or not at this point. It was the principal of the situation. He'd totally thrown any remaining dignity away. Shame kept him from slowly crawling back to the ground. " ... Take it away please?" he pleaded with wide yellow eyes.

With a smirk, Naira kicked the serpentine figurine with a large toe-claw. Felix resigned to sitting on the desktop once it was out of sight. He buried his face in his paws and moaned.

It wasn't long before the half-dragon fixed her attention on Grey again. She was doing her best to look anything but intimidating. The way she looked, however ... Well, it was hard not to scream and run the other way. "I don't know who told you all that, but Reavers don't go out of their way to hunt down lesser beings. Not saying that you're lesser, I mean ... er ... how to put it? I doubt the Horrors are out to destroy various worlds simply because they can, or wreak havoc on the natural order of thins. We deal mainly with big bad guys. Like Wraithlords when they get out of line. And time paradoxes." She withdrew a hand to hold her right temple, rubbing at it profusely. "The Horrors might have been a product of of our absence ... but you guys have lives now. Kamiri's not going to wage a whole genocide against your kind simply because you're not supposed to be. Besides, I can't reave anything or even teleport right now. Bad circumstances."

She offered a grin and extended her hand in an effort to show her harmlessness.

"Basically, I couldn't hurt you right now even if I wanted to. Which I don't."

[The_Vizir]

Grey's ears twitched as he listened to the blue-skinned humanoid... but he completely missed the implications of her words "Yes, yes... in costume, I know," Grey waved his wing idly as he continued to watch the forest for any additional signs of movement, before sighing and shaking his head. Deader than a graveyard out there, unfortunately. Well, how many people in the forest actually celebrated Halloween, anyways? Not like there were parallels in hundreds of other worlds, after all... well, aside from ALMOST EVERY OTHER WORLD!

The closet monster bit back a minor explosion, instead just letting out a long, angry sigh, before looking back towards Naira, "You'll have to accept my apologies here... the reality crash did a number on my memories. I've got hundreds of parallel timelines all shoved into one head. Kinda hard to place people after that happens," he raised his wings in a 'what are you gonna do' gesture, smiling wryly. "Multiversal constant rule, there can only be one, yadi yada... let's just say its complicated."

He took a deep breath in of the dhole's lingering fear, shadows lapping around his nose and mouth, "Now that... that I remember," he grinned his too-wide grin again. "Of course, there are so few people in the forest here whose fear actually tastes good, so even Mr. 'Don't Mess With The Dhole' here's mass produced terrors have kinda lost their blandness." Grey chuckled, feeling better after taking in some new fear... he even looked a bit healthier, as his fur filled out more and there appeared to be a bit more "meat" on his "bones."

Before Grey could offer the dhole some food again - if only to watch him freak out at Gloom's horrific craftswomanship - Naira had started up an explanation, defending reavers and their actions. Grey rolled his eyes, smiling sardonically. Right... if she was from Earth, she would totally be part of Team Jacob, wouldn't she? Monsters shouldn't be love interests! Other than his Gloom, of course, but she was special... wait, wait... did she just say we?

Grey's gaze snapped back to Naira. "Oh... Pit," he managed to get out, before flickering backwards out the door, accelerating with a flap of his wings. Oh... right, no... she would be able to chase him wouldn't... THE DHOLE! HAHA! His eyes locked on the shadows around Felix... and then serpents raced out of the darkness, wrapping the fearful carrier in strands of shadow. As a cherry on top, the binding serpents took on the appearance of pitch-black pythons, coiling around the dhole, hissing threateningly. Not his usual chains, but they were probably more effective in this case.

Grey appeared on top of the desk, clenching his claw tightly, as shadows twisted around it. "You do know I am a fear of betrayal, right? You're gonna have to better than that to convince me this isn't some giant ruse to... I dunno... what are you doing here?" The monster cocked an eyebrow at Naira, "And no funny busin-"

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANZAI!" the voice echoed out of the darkness, as suddenly there was a figure diveboming Naira's shadow, ice-cold claws digging into the darkness, sending an unearthly chill into the body of the reaver.

"GLOOM!"

Gloom leaned around Naira's legs, and looked up at Grey, "Oh... you've got this situation under control, umm... that's unexpected." She glared up into Naira's face, adjusting her stance to show she was ready for a fight, if needed, "Be glad he does, because if you had even lain a hand on my boyfriend's spirit..." her tailmouth snarled viciously up at the reaver.

Gloom then proceeded to fluff her fur out, "I mean, attacking at a Halloween party, that we were trying to put on for the forest's residents? Have you no class, I ask you? Have you no respect for the spirit of Samhain?"

Grey just facewinged.

[Luxon Cobrat]

"So, you're saying some disembodied voice just came out of nowhere and told you there was going to be a party here?" Nei the Pirate asked, following Catgirl Entropy towards the out-of-place building that had appeared in the Forest a few days ago.

"Yeah," Entropy said. "Heard it plain as day. No mistaking it. I think it might have been God."

"And God invites you to parties."

"Costume parties," Entropy clarified. "Well, this is the first time, actually."

"Uh huh."

No sense questioning it, Nei decided. Besides, she'd let Entropy get her to go through the trouble of dressing up already. Too late to back out now.

"Hey, look at that blue girl!" Entropy pointed out as they drew near the building. "That's a really good Naira costume! Except the bones, I mean. The real Naira doesn't have her bones out like that."

"I think that is Naira," Nei said.

"It's just a costume, Nei," Entropy answered. "People aren't really the things they dress up as at these things."

While Nei was trying to decide how to respond, the bat-like creature that had been talking to the Naira lookalike suddenly wrapped a canine-ish person up in some kind of shadow-tentacles.

"Whoa!" Entropy exclaimed at the sight, then ran up to that group, Nei following behind somewhat apprehensively. "Nice trick, dude! Scary!"

Nei sighed.

[Windra]

It didn't take a long time for the dhole to cry out in total fear. He yelped and hollered and, before long, tears were streaming from his eyes. "I HATE YOU ALL!"

Under ordinary circumstances this would have been hilarious. But thins were still taking a turn for the dramatic when it really needn't be that way. Naira frowned, scratching at her chin with an elongated claw. "I can see why you'd go after me ... but a defenseless dhole? He's scared stiff right now!"

True to the word, too. Felix wasn't budging a muscle as sweat dripped dow his forehead, dampening pale fur. He looked anxiously from one critter to the other before matching Grey's gaze with wide, pleading eyes. "Is th-th-th-this because of the a-a-arrow?" Sniveling, he was reduced to a coward awfully quickly. "I didn't - "

The shock of an ice cold chill running down her spine sent Naira jumping backwards in alarm, toppling over Gloom's lingering form. Felix's mouth snapped shut to stare at the spectacle. That didn't last long. You couldn't just forget that there were gigantic pythons slithering over your body! He went on whining, oblivious to the ensuing conversation. The 'lady' Horror turned and threatened Naira with bodily harm if damage had been inflicted upon her boyfriend. Nemo did little but cock a brow, mildly amused. Well ... at least she was protective of Gray. Now she was. And that was commendable. But still.

"You're misunderstanding me ... ," Naira explained with a sigh. "Would I have come here decked out in costume if I wanted to rip you both to shreds? I mean, it's not like I need a nifty mask or ensemble to look freakishly terrifying right now. You both know what I am." Her gaze took a menacing turn as she leered down at Gloom, attempting to make herself look as dangerous as possible. It wasn't that hard with glowing eyes and vibrant red claws the size of scythe-blades. The Reaver stood slowly, her full height looming over Gloom's tiny body. "Do you really think I'd be wasting my time talking as calmly as I am, trying to maintain the peace, when I could be tearing into you? How does that even make sense?"

Taking a deep breath, Naira eased off the terrifying presence and returned to her normal, pacified self. She idly rubbed claws together while appearing bored.

"Besides, it's Halloween! I don't kill on a holiday." Casting a sidelong glance at Grey with a grin, she hoped he caught onto the wink-nudge weightless comment. Of course she wasn't going to murder them! "Now would you please kindly release Felix so we can get on with the party? You already have other guests arriving." Spying Nei and Entropy at the entrance she waved, grinning at Entropy's false presumptions. "Yep, it's me. Slick neko outfit!" Looking to Nei, the Reaver made a gesture like she was tipping her hat, though none existed. "Captain."

[The_Vizir]

Grey grinned darkly as the dhole whimpered, puffing out his chest as the wispy essence of the mortal's fear condensed around his maw. Well, this was more fear than he'd had in months, but he was still not certain it would be enough. "What do you think?" the horror chuckled ominously... let the dhole stew in his own fear for a wh- "GLOOM!"

Being tripped over by a creature much larger than you isn't exactly fun... and if that creature's feet were topped with vicious claws, well... Gloom yelped in pain as she felt something snap, kicked back against the wall in Naira's tumble. Grey didn't hesitate for a second, and did what every good horror wouldn't - he let his concern for his girlfriend overpower his own survival instincts. The bindings around the dhole faded back into the wall behind him as Grey's form vanished, as a new body appeared beside the young horror's girlfriend. Gently leaning down, he wrapped a protective wing around her. "Gloom... Gloom, are you okay? Are you-"

Gloom's muzzle pulled back into a snarl as she tried to shake her boyfriend off. Second time tonight something broke... she would be feeling this for weeks. "SHE STEPPED ON ME!" the red monster hollered.

Her boyfriend nervously ran a claw through her hair, while prodding her for injuries "I know, I saw... are you okay? Did anything break? Can you-"

"SHE STEPPED ON ME!" The granddaughter of the hungering cold shouted, attempting to rise ominously, despite the fussing of her partner. "NOBODY STEPS ON- ooph!" and then Gloom's front right leg gave out, sending her face to meet the linoleum. Fuming at her own weakness for a few seconds, she finally let out a very blunt, very annoyed "Ow."

Before Grey could reply, Naira has recovered, and towered furiously over the two closet monsters. Grey whimpered slightly wrapping his wings tightly around his girlfriend, as the shadows around the two seemed to warp, the spacial dimensions seeming to cave in somewhat... but only somewhat. Juno's sealing of the membrane between Shadow and the mortal realm meant that right now, despite Grey's best efforts, he could not pull himself and Gloom through into Shadow. Trembling, Grey let the reality around him return to normal, his attempting at taking the backdoor out failed.

Gloom nuzzled Grey sadly and then glared up at Naira, "I don't know... you're the first reaver I've met! I have no idea how you guys do your voodoo!" she wiggled her free forepaw in a failed imitation of magic. "It could be something like mind games or playing with your prey or something..." she trailed off and squinted up at Naira, as Grey facewinged.

"Cultural projection... assuming that others share your cultural practices and values or drawing parallels between yours and theirs..." Grey grumbled as his ears flattened against his head in embarrassment. "Well... Pit. Umm... HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" he grinned a toolarge grin as shadows exploded into mock confetti around Naira. "Hahaha... totally got you, totally. I mean, wow... had you guys totally going there..." he laughed nervously. "Also, fox-boy has been free for a while now, he's just been scared stiff, you know?" the horror's voice began accelerating rapidly, a trait his girlfriend quickly recognized as his nervous backpeddling. Gloom just glowered, slumping down into her shadow as Grey prattled on. "But nevermind that, we've got some food in the main hall here, I think I mentioned that. Gloom spent all of today cooking up a storm... I don't know what you guys are interested in. Umm... punch? I don't know you start up a party. Oh, um... bobbing apples are through there as well! But please don't touch the stereo system... the person we're borrowing the tunes from will have our heads if he doesn't get his stuff back in good working order. Oh, umm... we're planning a bonfire later, just so you know, closer to the Witching Hour, umm... but there should be enough inside right now until the sun sets. Let me know if the lighting causes any problems... personally, I like the shifting shadows, but - hey Entropy, hey notEntropy - I don't know how other species react, to be fair. I've only really have knowledge with humans, demons, fey, lycanthropes, and the odd angel, sorry. Umm... but-"

"ENTROPY!" Gloom vanished from her boyfriend's embrace - and his endless prattling - and appeared on the head of the silver-skinned demoness. "Entropy, she stepped on me!" the red-furred closet monster huffed, pointing an accusatory claw at Naira. "And it had to be on purpose! I mean... I'M ORANGE!" the monster fluffed out her fur in annoyance, while her tailmaw blew the reaver a massive raspberry.

Grey facewinged slightly, but let his girlfriend pout. Craning his neck slightly, he tried to see if anyone besides that elf-person was following the ex-overlord. "Umm... hey, Entropy... your boyfriend isn't coming along here, is he? And please tell me he's coming along as Eeyore... that would just make my black little heart explode with glee..." Grey grinned mischievously while crossing his wings in faux sincerity over his chest.

Of course, the Author conveniently neglected to tell the two monsters that these weren't the versions of their friends that they knew, but other versions as selected by their own roleplayers puppet masters.

"... please excuse me, I have to extract painful vengeance on a certain somebody's ankle...." Gloom announced with a snarl, before flickering aw - OWWOWOWOWOW! SHARP TEETH! SHARP TEETH! DOWN GLOOM! YOWOWOWOW! HOW DID YOU EVEN DO THAT? AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

[Luxon Cobrat]

After hearing some of the conversation that had been taking place, Entropy began to think this group had been putting on a show, and hoped she hadn't just interrupted. Just as she was about to apologize, though, Naira greeted her and Nei, much to the succubus' relief. Nei responded with a salute while Entropy gave a nod and a "knowing" smile.

"Nice outfit yourself," she said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think Naira had a blue twin."

Then a thought hit her.

"Actually, I don't know any better," she admitted. "You're not Nay's twin, are you? I mean, the resemblance is--"

Suddenly, Entropy had a monster on her head. With that development, she learned that she was the sort of person who would react to suddenly having a monster on her head by stumbling around for a bit and then falling on her rump. Nei might have tried to catch her, but had learned in the past that Entropy could be rather bullish when moving about in an uncontrolled manner, and opted instead to stay out of harm's way, offering a conciliatory cringe instead when the succubus hit the ground. In the midst of all this, Entropy herself tried to discern who the other monster was talking about when he asked her about her boyfriend, or, for that matter, why these two seemed so familiar with her. Before this all came together, though, the orange monster disappeared and Entropy began to hear some loud expressions of discomfort coming from somewhere.

"There's that voice again," the succubus observed as she made her way back to her feet. "You hear it now, don't you Nei? That has to be God."

"It's probably ventriloquism," Nei theorized. "That, or someone's hidden an audio player somewhere around here. Actually, that second one is what I'd lean towards."

"I've never played Audio before," Entropy declared pretty much immediately, in the exact same amount of time it took Nei to realize that she wished she hadn't said that word. "You'll have to show me how later, but I heard someone mention food a minute ago. Let's take care of that first."

Nei let out a weary puff of air as she gave a silent thumbs-up in agreement with that suggestion, hoping it would lead to Entropy forgetting about this "Audio" business altogether so that she wouldn't have to spend the next three days explaining that it wasn't a game while simultaneously trying to dissuade her from her belief that the more advanced forms of technology weren't operated by invisible gnomes. Granted, she could just let Entropy run with that explanation, but that would inevitably lead to greater complications down the road, so it was really best to just nip the problem in the bud. Nei really needed to learn to think before she got herself into these messes, though.

[Windra]

Naira wasn't buying Gray's antics. Not for a second. Yet she smiled a little when he finally broke away from the 'let's blame the Reaver' trend, content to get on with the celebration. After all, this was a holiday! Maybe not in the widely celebrated and worshiped sense, but a holiday nonetheless, for the right people and things. Facing Gloom, Naira stuck out her tongue.

"I like the taste of hamburgers better than I do Horrors, thanks," she told the panda-looking beastie. "But with he right sauce and some proper seasoning, you'll do nicely ... " This was accompanied by the rubbing of claws and some evil, maniacal laughter. The Reaver allotted enough time to let anxiety settle in before adding, "Not really. But if you keep acting terrified around me, I can keep it up all night."

Through eyes fogged with terror, Felix didn't realize right away that he was free to roam. When the notion finally made landfall in his mind he was reluctant to step foot off the desk. He proceeded with caution, fully expecting something else to pop up and gnaw through his senses. With the way this place was rigged, it wasn't totally impossible. "This is my first Halloween, so ... um ... " Ears swiveled towards the two woman with their demon-y attributes and strange costumes. He made his way towards them. At least they were normal. Sort of. "Is ... is it true that the dead come back to life on this day ... ?" All Hallow's Eve was not big in his culture. But it certainly would explain strange circumstances that happened on this day throughout the years.

"Be gentle on him," Naira said while grinning. "Dosed him up with hours of scary movies before we came here. His nerves are still rattled." With the tone in her voice, Naira's advice would have been better as, 'Go ahead and scare the living crap out of him, it'll be fun'. As an answer to Entropy's question she shook her head, a rather dismal look crossing her face. "If only I had an evil twin to blame all my misgivings on. But no. It's me. The one and only." She clapped her claws together, suddenly eager. "So ... food?"

If anybody had been paying attention to the punch bowl, they would have seen that it was bubbling.

[The_Vizir]

Grey cocked an eyebrow at Entropy - "How can you..." then he just shook his head and held out a wing, pressing his other claw against his head "I sense the fourth wall is weak with this one."

Of course, the Author really couldn't do that much more, on account of the sharp monster teeth chomping down on ankle... will you? Gloom? The to... you are... AAARGH!

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Gloom went flying out of the broom closet in a mop bucket, skidding across the floor until she hit the far wall, bounced back, and tumbled over in a clatter of plastic. Shaking her head as she righted herself, she blinked back at the unpopulated closet. "How did he do that?"

Portals.

"What?"

Yes.

"That doesn't answer anything."

Are you going to continue to argue with me, or are you going to look after your guests?

Gloom growled lightly, before spinning around and clapping her paws together and bowing slightly. "Please, all, join us for our most horrible celebration of this, the night of Samhain, of All Hallow's Eve, of Hop-tu-Naa, of the blackest of nights before Día de los Muertos..." The little monster looked up as the lights in the bright hallway dimmed to a combination of dark orange and vibrant blacklight, the shadows deepening all around those present. The doors behind the assembled guests creaked closed... looking more like the wooden doors of a manor house than the sliding glass doors of the community centre. A light, eerie keyboard tune started to echo out of the main hall as the shadows within whiled around in a fantastic display.

And then Gloom on Naira's shoulders, drawing her claw across the reaver's face. "Boys and girls of every age, would you like to see something strange?"

The previously-absent Grey spiralled up around Nei as a smokey shadow, before leaning on the space-elf's head, gesturing towards the hall "Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween!"

Then the shadow on the wall behind the group laughed, twisting into a dark mockery of Gloom's face "This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!"

The bowl of candy sitting beside Felix suddenly exploded, sending candy flying everywhere as Grey rose up from the mess of treats, flaring his wings dramatically, "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene!" The bat-like monster then appeared on the weredhole's head "Trick or treat 'till the neighbours' gonna die of fright!" and then he was gone in a mad cackle, leaving a wing-load of candy to drop around the jumpy creature

The two monsters reappeared in the doorway to the main hallway, clasping wing in paw, "It's our town, everybody SCREAM!" the two spun away from each other and gestured towards the main hall, bowing deeply while unnaturally large and shiny grins broke across their faces... "In this town of Halloween..."

The doors behind the group thudded slid back open electronically and Grey looked up, glaring at them... "Dammit, I thought I fixed that..."