Author's Note: Because dang it, I had to do something for Halloween! It might not be my best work, but I got it done! Happy Halloween everyone!
Halloween. All Hallows' Eve. The night when the boundaries of the world of the living and the world of the dead were weakest and spirits walked amongst those still alive. The time when ghosts and goblins came out to wreak havoc and people donned masks to try and hide from them.
The day was known by many names and symbolized by many different things, the most well-known being witches and demons and jack o' lanterns, even if the legends behind those symbols had been all but lost to obscurity. Where in the past it had been a solemn, frightening day for the living, it was now a chance for children to dress up and beg for treats, a day of fun and excitement.
High in the air above Karakura Town, Japan as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon and the adults and children in costume began taking to the brightly lit streets, a small crack appeared in the sky. The cracked widened and opened, becoming something that would have been instantly recognizable to several of Karakura's most powerful citizens as a Garganta, a gateway to the world of Hollows. The darkness inside the Garganta seemed to extend for eternity, shadows within shifting, and from within those same shadows a form slowly became visible.
Walking along a glowing pathway, the form grew more and more distinct the closer it came to the opening of the Garganta. It was roughly human-shaped, though a staggering nine feet tall, but that was where all major similarities to humans ended. As the being stepped out of the Garganta, the portal slammed shut behind it, and the last rays of the setting sun briefly illuminated the creature.
It had a broad, muscular form to go with its' formidable height, a long brunet mane extending from its' head almost down to its' upper back. The setting sun cast burning golden highlights through the hair and turned the white mask that covered its' face a startling orange color. The mask looked like some sort of cross between a wolverine's and a man's skull, being at the same time slim yet broad, sporting an impressive set of fangs where the creature's mouth was in a permanent death's head grin. The otherwise completely white bone mask was marred by the appearance of two dark brown, almost black, stripes that extended from opposite sides of the forehead area, curving down to rest just above the space between the mask's eye sockets, almost but not quite touching.
A simple fur pelt from some unknown creature wrapped around its' waist was the only clothing the creature had, the pelt being the only thing keeping it from being completely naked. Its' skin was a mix of browns, blacks, and occasional stripes of gold, with actual fur (a thick, dark chocolate-colored fur at that) covering its' forearms and legs below the knee and above the ankle. There was a small line of fur the exact same color along the line of its' sternum, going over its' shoulders, and meeting on the exact opposite side of the fur-line on its' front.
Its' hands and feet sported razor sharp claws, but what was most shocking was the large hole in the center of the creature's chest, an opening as large of a bowling ball that you could peer through to see what was behind it. It was clear that this being wasn't just a Hollow, a soul that had fallen to devouring other souls in order to increase their own power and try to fill the void in their hearts that had formed when they had given into pain, hatred, or despair as plus souls. No, he (it was obvious now that this creature was male) was a Vasto Lorde, the highest level of evolution a Hollow could reach without purposefully breaking its' own mask.
Glowing red eyes surrounded by blackness stared out from the mask's eye sockets as the Vasto Lorde stared down at the sprawling city below. The sun had finished setting, but there were still crowds of costumed people in the residential, the bright streetlights and the lights from the buildings turning Karakura Town into a sea of glittering lights. Laughter and mock-screams drifted up to his ears, most of them coming from several supposed 'haunted houses', and the glow from his eyes intensified as his attention focused on that area of the city.
The Vasto Lorde grinned beneath his mask, laughing loudly as he lightly kicked off the air and launched himself towards the closest 'haunted house', practically cackling as he exclaimed, "It's time for some fun!"
Scarcely a minute after that declaration faded into the night sky and without bothering to use sonido, he arrived at his first target for the night: a two-story house decked out in fake spider-webs, jack o' lanterns, and pictures of witches and ghosts. The occasional scream, both real and recorded, sounded from inside the building, the sign outside the door proclaiming it the "Itsumishi High School Haunted House! Only 200 yen for the fright of your life!", and the Vasto Lorde snickered as he walked unnoticed passed the kimono-clad high-school student attempting to lure people into the house.
The Hollow easily walked through the walls, having to stoop a little so his head didn't keep passing through the ceiling, and examined the various gimmicks scattered through the building, getting a feel for the layout and the talents of the dozen or so people involved in trying to scare people. He stood behind the actors and watched them jump out at customers, sometimes eliciting a screaming laugh, for almost twenty minutes before he decided to get started. Everything was more or less mediocre, but then, he'd expected that, and that was why he was lending a hand in the first place, he thought as he snickered evilly and rubbed his clawed hands together.
For the next hour, he followed a myriad of customers, some by themselves and some in groups, through the 'haunted house', amusing himself by sending chills down their spines, occasionally reaching out and tapping someone on the shoulder, shutting doors behind them, and once even whispering 'boo' in someone's ear just for kicks. By the time they were done with the whole tour, many of them left with the impression that the made-up building really was haunted. Hearing the worried mutters about 'actual ghosts' gave him a warm feeling of pride, and he declared his work at that building done after another half hour.
Oh how he loved Halloween! While in the old days it had been solemn, now it was a festival to be celebrated! To be enjoyed! He thought in rapture, sneakily stealing a candy out of the bowl next to the haunted house's exit. It had been years, centuries, he didn't know how long ago, since he had enjoyed a festival as much as he had in the last decade or so since this version of Halloween had become so celebrated. It was something he did to treat himself, and help out some humans a little as well; he got to enjoy himself and bring enjoyment and excitement to others with his little tricks, and no one could complain about a few pieces of candy lost as payment, could they? He didn't think so, and it wasn't like anyone without high spirit energy could see him filching the candy.
(He very conveniently forgot that that just meant it looked like the candy was floating, and then disappearing, to anyone that happened to be watching...eh, it was just another thing people had to talk about as they left the attraction.)
Steadily moving from one haunted house to the next over the next five hours until the flood of people still outside and having fun had dwindled to almost nothing, he was grinning widely enough to rival the teeth on his mask by the time he was finished. The last chorus of delighted shrieks still ringing in his ears, the Vasto Lorde congratulated himself on a job well done, in between his own joyful cackles of course, as he hovered in the air above the city he had decided to visit that year.
It had all been fun, but the clock he had passed on his way out of the last supposedly 'haunted' attraction had told him that it was almost four o'clock in the morning, and that meant it was time for him to return to Hueco Mundo. The sun would be rising soon, and he had always made it a point to leave while the energy and excitement of the night was still running high.
Looking down at the still-glowing city of Karakura Town, Fiero Rey smiled behind his mask as he opened a Garganta back to the realm of the Hollows. He called out, voice drifting quietly through the air like a thin layer of fog, "Farewell, Karakura Town. Perhaps we shall meet again...next Halloween."
He out one final, howling laugh that lingered even after the Garganta had closed.
Inside his bedroom, Ichigo Kurosaki opened his eyes when the faint sound of deep laughter reached his ears, blinking fuzzily as he stared up at his ceiling.
When he registered that the spiritual pressure of that strange Vasto Lorde that had been hanging around Karakura since sunset was gone, he smiled faintly, rolling over to go back to sleep.
He couldn't help hoping that that Vasto Lorde decided to come back next year.
Author's Note: And done! What did you guys think? I was a little rushed when I wrote this, but I thought it turned out pretty good despite that. I know Ichigo might have seemed a little OOC at the end there, but I figured hey, the Deathberry is pretty laid-back when the world and/or his hometown wasn't in danger, so he'd probably leave a candy-stealing Vasto Lorde Hollow alone. :) Please read and review and tell me what you think!