It was the day after Thanksgiving Day, the dreaded Black Friday, and almost everybody in the city were either getting ready to head off and try to get some shopping done for Christmas, or hiding in their houses, hoping that the carnage would end soon.
And then there were those who just went on with their lives, ignoring the mall-o-drama, including a peculiar pair of girlfriends:
Luan Loud and Maggie Lopez.
They had been dating for a couple of years now, and while they were pretty close-like all lovers-Luan felt that there was still one wall they had to tear down to truly have hope for a long-term relationship.
Namely, they had to work through Maggie's suspicious refusal to laugh at Luan's jokes.
"Luan?" Maggie suddenly inquired, catching the comedian's attention. "Are you thinking about how I don't laugh at your jokes again?"
Curses! Why was Luan so easy to read?!
"O-Of course not, darling," Luan lied, forcing a nervous smile as her girlfriend turned to look at her. "I mean, as a comedian, it's kinda weird that I'm dating someone that doesn't laugh at my jokes, but I'm sure you have a reason for it-"
Maggie suddenly stopped and asked:
"Would you like to hear it?"
Luan took a couple steps more before she processed what just happened. She then turned around, and tilted her head as Maggie corrected herself:
"Would you like to hear the reason why I don't laugh at your jokes?"
"You mean there's a reason besides the fact my jokes don't fall in the category of jokes you like?" Luan inquired.
"Yeah... and this other reason is actually... much more important and... it's hard to explain, but I want to," Maggie twiddled her fingers and looked away. "I understand that, as someone who likes comedy, it must be hard to be in a relationship with someone who doesn't laugh at your jokes. I know how that could convince you to leave me-"
"Maggie, I didn't become your girlfriend just because I wanted to make you laugh," Luan replied, before joking, "Heck, if that had been the only reason, I would've left you a long time ago-"
"And I don't want that to happen!" Maggie exclaimed, almost giving her girlfriend a heart attack. "So... please... just tell me... do you want to know?"
Wordlessly, Luan nodded with a nervous smile, and both she and Maggie sighed in relief.
"Okay, but I can't tell you about it out here in public," Maggie scanned her surroundings. "Let's find somewhere more private."
The joker nodded, and she and her girlfriend held hands as they walked to the park, which was surprisingly empty despite being a common visit spot for the citizens of Royal Woods. Then again, it was Black Friday...
"Okay, this place should be fine," Maggie said as she and Luan sat on a bench. "Are you ready?"
Luan nodded with an excited smile, and Maggie took a deep breath before starting:
"It happened when I was younger... before we met..."
A long time ago...
A younger Maggie strolled peacefully through the park, paying no mind to her surroundings.
"I was kinda like you, only I wasn't shoving my jokes down people's throats. I also was able to laugh, obviously enough."
The younger Maggie stopped and turned to see another younger version of someone else mocking her. This was a younger version of Carol, by the way.
"However, I wasn't a fan of general humor, so I didn't laugh at any common joke."
The younger Carol flashed a peace sign with a smug smile as she left without looking where she was going. This caused her to trip down a fly of stairs, and consequently drove the younger Maggie into a laughing fit.
"Instead, I preferred to laugh at other people's misfortune, specially if they had just messed with or otherwise upset me prior."
It then cut to the younger Maggie entering her room.
"But then, one day... I saw it."
The younger emo spotted a box on her desk, with a note attached to it.
"It was a small box, nothing interesting about it at all, outside of a note next to it. I took the note, and saw it read: Stop your stupid laughter before you regret it."
The younger girl threw the note away and went to sleep.
"Naturally, being an idiot, I the note paid no mind and went on with my life."
Cut to the next day, and Younger!Maggie went back to her room again.
"Which was normal... until I saw the box had changed."
The younger emo approached the box, which now had a simplified drawing of her face on the front of it. There was also another note next to it, which read: "This is your last chance." Then the younger Maggie, clearly disturbed, simply put the note back where she got it and left her room.
"I got a little bit worried about it, but for some reason, I still decided to just ignore it and go on with my life."
A couple hours later, it was nighttime, and the younger Maggie returned to her room. She then walked to it, grabbed it, and upon closer inspection, she noticed something... different.
"When I came back hours later, the box had a new feature. Somehow, it was able to open the mouth part and move it in a way that implied it was laughing. But of course, no sound came out."
Younger!Maggie made the box do just that, and it moved its "mouth" to look like it was laughing. And she couldn't stand the sight for more than 3 seconds before she put it back where she grabbed it, went to her bed, and watched some relaxing stuff just to calm herself.
"I was officially creeped out, so I tried to calm myself down, and once I was relaxed enough, I fell asleep... I don't know if it would've changed anything, but... well, how do I put this?"
The next day arrived, and Younger!Maggie woke up and did the first thing any emo teenager would logically do: watch some funny videos online.
"Without thinking, I tried to begin the day with a positive spirit, so I tried to watch something that would lift up my mood... but with a catch..."
Younger Maggie started to laugh, only to suddenly start coughing.
"Instead of laughing, I began coughing, like I was sick or something. And the more I tried to laugh, the worse the coughing got. It got to the point I had the feeling I was about to spit out blood! But that wasn't the only thing."
Once the coughing stopped, the disturbed teenager heard her laughter coming from seemingly nowhere, even as she scanned her surroundings.
"I heard my laughter coming from somewhere... somewhere close nearby..."
The girl got an idea, and slowly, fearfully turned around to face the box with her face.
"Then... it happened..."
The box laughed... with her voice.
"I collapsed from sheer shock, and by the time I woke up..."
Younger!Maggie opened her eyes... and the box was no longer there.
"The box was gone."
Back in the present...
"Ever since that day, It's literally impossible for me to laugh," Maggie sighed, shedding a single tear. "Granted, your jokes not being that funny probably wouldn't make me laugh anyway, but... well, you get the idea."
The emo heard some sniffing, and once she turned to look at Luan, she could see that the comedian looked devastated before hugging her. However, Maggie could feel that this wasn't a hug of joy, but one of pure regret.
"I'm so sorry I've tried to make you laugh all these years," Luan said in the middle of her sniffing. "I... I didn't-"
"I know, that's why I thought now was the perfect time to tell you," Maggie and Luan separated and Maggie brushed her girlfriend's hair in comfort. "I just hope that this revelation will make you pay more attention to your jokes and pranks from now on-"
"Oh, it definitely will!" Luan stated and looked at the ground. "And I'll also have to be on the lookout for more of those "laughing box" things you mentioned. Who knows how many more people have lost their laughter just because somebody thought they were annoying."
Maggie grabbed Luan's chin and made her look at her in the eyes.
"Let's not think about that right now."
The girls smiled, and exchanged a kiss to try and calm themselves down.
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
In a pitch black room, a single light turned on to reveal the laughing box of Maggie's story, sitting on what looked like a table. A clap was heard, and the box automatically moved its "mouth" to laugh:
"Hahahaha!"
The box just continued to laugh non-stop, only to be then joined in by another laughter:
"Ohohohoho!"
And then another:
"Nyehehehe!"
And suddenly, half a dozen more joined in, just in time for the light to start growing more intense:
"Ma-mama-ma ma!"
"Kakakakaka!"
"Kerokerokero!"
"Hyohyohyo!"
"Wehihihihi!"
"Nurufufufu!"
Only for them to laugh even louder as the light flickered, then shattered, leaving the room in pitch black darkness just as the boxes stopped laughing altogether. And though it happened very quickly, one clear thing was confirmed:
The was more than one box.