Spooky

by GMBlackjack

The derelict hill upon the mountaintop waits, luring victims from far and wide into it's spooky (yet oddly cute) halls. One day, things don't go as... planned. Many visitors from across the universes are drawn together to face the horrors that is... Spooky's House of Jumpscares. Is actually a crossover between many things, not just Gravity Falls, but you can only select 2 options.

ORBSyndicate presents

In association with nobody other than themselves

2012

Friday, January 13

~~~Spooky~~~

Directed by GabeMaster

Written by GabeMaster, TheDuke, BluestaR, and TheOtherPerson

STARRING

Ali Hillis as Claire "Lightning" Faron

Ashleigh Ball as Applejack

Linda Cardellini as Wendy Corduroy

J. K. Simmons as Stanford Pines

Cliff Simon as Lord Ba'al

Olivia Hack as Ty Lee

David Duchovny as Agent Fox Mulder

Whoever You Want It To Be (but probably David Tennant) as Doctor "Who"

Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko

Scott Cawthon as Springtrap

Akuma Kira as Spooky

Psychobilly as The Cat

Alex Hirsch as Bill Cipher

John de Lancie as Q

And a bunch of other people GM is to lazy to look up.

This is part of the larger fanfiction project 2012. While we have attempted to make it a standalone story, you may want to check out the actual 2012 story after you read this. This is far from the whole story. (It is also posted within 2012 itself, but we decided that this special needed to see the light of day as a standalone.)

In the wee hours of morning, the time when everything is utterly and completely dark, a blue police box slowly appeared from seemingly nowhere, flashing with blue light and making a strange grinding noise. The sudden appearance of this out-of-place object would have attracted much attention, had anyone been there to hear it. Anyone alive, anyway. As it was, the only thing nearby was the derelict mountaintop mansion. A man walked out of the blue box, smiling to himself. "Adventure awaits!" he declared in a thick English accent and a happy demeanor. His brown coat furled as he walked towards the mansion. He produced a small, cylindrical device with a blue tip, pointing it at the front door's fancy brass lock.

To his surprise, the door was already unlocked. He put the device away in one of his pockets, and marched right between the big oak doors.

They slammed shut behind him, locking with a 'click.'

The Man looked around the mansion in a mix of apprehension, disgust, and slight awe. The styling was late 1800's, early 1900's. Very posh, but the lack of light and the decaying state of the floors, walls, and furniture took away from the luxurious feel, making it feel slightly sinister.

He pulled out a device that looked like a 6 year old assembled it from broken pieces of metal and legos.

A loud ding emitted from the device, it reverberated through the empty lobby, bouncing and sliding off the weakened walls and fading furniture.

"This is my thing! It goes "ding" when there's stuff... What a strangely sinister reading I'm getting.. quite abnormal. Haven't felt this since that one abandoned place… Kravens Manor, I believe it was? What a strange place. Weird mannequins. The research there was abhorrent."

His first step echoed through the hall, and after the echo faded, a groan could be heard throughout the mansion.

"Uh oh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the basement.."

Thunder rolled. It rolled a six, but that doesn't matter much in the physical realm. The mansion was temporarily lit by the sudden light, showcasing its looming and ominous nature. Eerie light began to stream from the windows.

It had begun.

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TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TICK.

"UUGH!" Agent Fox Mulder groaned, "This is boring. And the clock is broken, AND. IT. IS. DRIVING. ME. INSANE." He threw his sunflower seeds onto the ground. "WHY ARE WE STILL HERE?"

Mulder was an FBI agent with a bit of a strange job. He investigated unexplained phenomena and mysterious events involving the supernatural and extraterrestrial. He had received a tip about a strange girl who was in two places at once. One of these "Wendy Corduroys" was right here in Gravity Falls, a town that had more than a few unusual events connected with it. He was planning on asking her a few questions. When he and his partners had arrived in the morning, he had thought it would be a good idea to get a guide.

It was now late afternoon, and no guide had appeared to take them anywhere.

"You know what?" He said. "I don't care if we get a guide. I'm going to explore on my own. That's what I came to do anyway."

One of his partners, a woman who was currently going by the name Monica, stood up quickly. "FINALLY. I was going stir crazy." She fluffed her black hair and readied her gun.

"You probably won't need that."

"You can never be too sure." She said, giving Mulder a knowing look.

Mulder knew. Monica's name wasn't really Monica. She was really an offworlder who went by the name Lightning and had many strange, one would even say magical, powers. As Lightning, she had been hunted by many organizations who wanted her for various unknown, but probably nefarious, purposes. As Monica, she could be out in the open and try to find a way home. And she could try to find her sister, who was lost in the multiverse just like she was.

Mulder's other partner, a redheaded FBI agent known as Dana Scully, protested. "We should wait for the guide! This is a small town, they probably have lots of little things they do that we would have no clue about if we weren't told about them!"

Mulder shrugged. "You stay here then. We'll go investigate Wendy Corduroy. Come on, Monica." The two of them walked out of the building without another word.

Scully huffed. Mulder would always get these crazy ideas in his head.

Half an hour later, an old man with a square jaw walked in. He was in a rather ridiculous getup, a fancy black suit and fez with a fish-eating-a-dot symbol on it. On his face was an eyepatch. "Hi there! I'm Stanford Pines! And I'm here to take you across town to see the highlights! Chiefly, the Mystery Shack!"

Scully smiled. While Mulder and Lightning were off getting lost, SHE would get some information. "Lead the way, Mr. Pines."

"Gladly miss."

Little did Scully know that she was about to be dragged around the rest of the evening to accomplish nothing.

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Wendy Corduroy was walking down the street with quite the pep in her step. She was tall for a fifteen year old, her red hair still managing to reach just above her waist. She wore basic jeans, a loose green plaid jacket, and nice square fur cap.

She had just accomplished one of the best pranks of all time. Vandalizing the government outpost had been a GREAT idea, no matter what her friends thought. She had been so secret-agent like, sneaking over the fence, avoiding the one security camera, and spray-painting an obscene word on one of the walls. And then the escape had just been so thrilling! A beeline to freedom.

It had been hours now. She was sure she hadn't been caught. Success!

She looked in a window, seeing her reflection. Freckled, but still awesome. "You, Wendy Corduroy, are amazing."

Then she saw them.

The man and the woman, both wearing official men-in-black type uniforms.

The woman was playing with her gun.

Instantly Wendy's brain made the connection. Uh-oh. They're here to take me in and put me in some secret government facility!

In her mind, she had only one choice.

Make a run for it.

Which she did, easily, scrambling as fast as she could.

"Hey stop!" The man yelled. "I just want to talk!"

"NICE TRY!" She yelled back. She wasn't falling for that old trick.

She ran right through town, jumping over crates and random strewn about junk. She even leapt over Deputy Durland, much to his annoyance. The Deputy was quickly trampled by the agents. "Sorry!" Wendy heard the male agent yell.

'Sorry'. Right. He's just trying to appear nice.

Wendy slid into an alley, scaring a dozen or so cats. She glanced behind her, seeing the agents still in pursuit.

She heard a gunshot, followed quickly by a bullet whizzing by her ear.

"MONICA! WE NEED HER ALIVE."

"I WAS AIMING FOR THE LEG!"

"YOUR AIM IS HORRIBLE WITH THAT GUN!"

Wendy took the opportunity to grab the side of a cardboard box and fling it behind her. That should slow them down.

It didn't, not really. Monica just kicked it out of the way with her foot.

"Why can't you be that accurate with your gun?"

"I'm used to my Blazefire Sabre!"

"Right."

Wendy took a sharp left, and ran into the woods. The benefits of living in a small town: you knew your way around the nearby forest.

Unfortunately for Wendy, it appeared that the agents were trained to give chase in any kind of terrain. She continued running, thinking maybe she could lose them by going up the steep area. She trudged onward, leaping over roots and branches.

She stole another glance over her shoulder. The agents were still pursuing. Monica thrust her hand forward, a white light flying towards Wendy. She dodged it, her panic escalating even higher. These agents were decked out with top secret gear! She was toast unless she found somewhere to hide!

She managed to get even more speed, going up the increasingly steep slope. She dodged another one of the white flashes.

"GET HIT AND GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!" Monica yelled.

Wendy yelled back. "THANKS, BUT NO THANKS." She hefted herself up over a ledge, onto a more rocky terrain.

She saw a mansion atop the mountain-hill. Maybe she could make it…

She gathered up what energy she had left, and made a dash for the mansion. Her legs felt like they were about to fall off, her heart feeling like it would explode. Just a little further…

She literally ran into the front door, giving her forehead quite a bruise. She threw the big oak doors open, and shut them behind her. They clicked. She was inside.

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Mulder threw his hands in the air. "Great! Just great!"

Lightning wasn't done yet. She tried to open the doors, and then began to kick them vigorously. "OPEN UP!" She lit her hand on fire. "FIRA." She yelled, casting her fire spell. A blast of fire erupted near the door, but the door remained unsinged.

"D***." She cursed, and continued kicking the door.

Mulder observed the mansion. It was roughly three stories high, with various protruding designs that covered the building in unnerving shadows. Utop the building was a large cross, its presence seeming to be nothing more than a joke. The windows were alit with a faint eerie light. Mulder sensed an air of unrest. No…. it was deeper than that. Not unrest… anger. A dark seething anger. There was malevolence in this mansion. Plain and simple.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mulder could see the TARDIS. But there was something wrong. It was tipped over, one door hung slightly ajar. That never happened, it had stabilizers preventing that, at least he thought so. The fact continued to lend its ear to a feeling of unease and err deep inside Mulder. I do hope the Doctor is not hurt… that would be inconvenient.

Mulder realized something at that moment. It was only early evening. There was no WAY it could be this dark already. It was unnatural.

Mulder realized this was the mansion he had heard about from the bus driver. He tried to open the doors by grabbing the handles, and they opened up easily.

Lightning glared. She hated it when he made things look easy. She also hated it when he made her feel like an idiot. Needless to say, she was trying really hard not to retaliate in some way. They walked into the main hall, guns drawn.

The doors shut and locked behind them.

The two whirled around in alarm. Doors didn't do that unless you were in some kind of horror story.

"Oh but you are in a horror story." A young, echoing voice said. "My horror story." The young voice continued: "I've sure been getting a lot of visitors lately…"

The agents turned to see one of the most adorable things ever. She was a ghost, but she was really short and had those nice big eyes. Her face was simple, her colors all a nice calm blue. Her dress was simple and her features smooth, her blue hair wisping around in that cute way only cartoon hair can. The only unnerving parts about her were the fact that she was floating, and had no legs. But such things were to be expected from a ghost.

"Hello! I am Spooky!"

As if on cue lightning struck and illuminated the room through the windows.

"Can you, humble visitors, make it through a thousand rooms? Can you make it to the end? Or is there even an end? Cuz I don't really know…" Spooky coughed. "I've said that line too many times today… Just… Just go."

Before the agents could say anything, Spooky simply floated into the ceiling.

Mulder and Lightning gave each other a glance.

They tried the front door. Locked, of course.

Lightning sighed. A thousand rooms. Great. Might as well get moving.

She grabbed Mulder by the neck. "Come on. We've got things to do."

Mulder grunted. Scully should've been here. Undeniable proof of a ghost.

Lightning threw open the only door aside from the entrance, and began the trek.

As the door automatically shut behind her, it locked.

In the now empty main hall, the front door pulsed with lightning. It shimmered with energy.

An S shaped glow began to appear on the doors. Something had just cracked.

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Captain Benjamin Sisko had his dark-skinned hands folded. Being the starfleet commander of the space station Deep Space Nine had many positive points. Being forced to do diplomatic duty wasn't one of them. He raised his bald head to look at the man in front of him.

The man opposite him appeared human, but wasn't, not really. He was Lord Ba'al, a Goa'uld system lord. His features were like that of a person who wanted to scam you: angled, wrinkled, and smiling. There was even a small scruffy beard to complete the image. Though the royal robes did upset it a bit.

"Explain to me why we shouldn't just blow you out of the sky?" Sisko asked.

Ba'al smirked. "I can help you Captain. You and your people. I can give you information you desperately need. You see, I am not from this galaxy either."

"Explain." Sisko said, curious.

"There is a wormhole a few dozen light years from this position that leads right back to what you call the Milky Way galaxy."

Sisko raised an eyebrow. The Milky Way galaxy. A place they knew. Even if it wasn't the correct timeline, they knew the layout of that galaxy. They could probably pick up a few allies. "Where is it?"

Ba'al laughed. "Please. I'm not telling you anything till you give me what I want."

"And what is that?"

"It's a small thing really, a-" Ba'al stopped mid-sentence, staring. "Is there supposed to be a set of oak doors behind you?"

Sisko turned around. There wasn't supposed to be but there most certainly was now. Two large oak doors stood where no doors had stood before, sitting there ominously.

Sisko, with a puzzled look on his face, opened the door and entered. Ba'al followed, an equally puzzled expression on his own features.

The doors shut behind them, pulsing with unusual electricity. They locked with an audible 'click.' A cute cartoon ghost appeared before their eyes. "Strange. I didn't sense anyone outside the house. Oh well… I am Spooky!"

She paused, as if waiting for something. Nothing came. "Gotta fix the lightning…"

Ba'al stepped forth. "I am Lord Ba'al. Where are we, little child?"

"Child? I am- nevermind. You are in my house. Can you make it through a thousand rooms and get to the end that may or may not exist?"

Sisko glared. "Return us to where we-"

"Yeah… I'm sorry the front door is one-way only. You'll have to use the exit. Sorry. Bye!" She floated right into the ceiling, vanishing.

Ba'al clapped his hands. "Well my dear Captain, it looks as if we are stuck with each other! Lead the way!"

Sisko's face hardened. He had a feeling this was going to go very, very badly.

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Ty Lee was exploring the base. Of course, she had already been everywhere with her access level dozens of times, but she was exploring nevertheless. Exploring was her thing. Prance down this hall, familiar science lab. Prance down this hall, familiar weapons locker. Prance down that hall, familiar large mysterious oak door. Prance down- wait what? Oak door? Mysterious? Ty Lee backed up a few steps and peeked around the corner again. Yup still there. She peered at the door. The door seemed to peer back. Ty Lee ducked back behind the corner. Then she charged at the door with a flying kick. The doors opened before she hit them, causing her to land on her butt. "Ouch…" She muttered, rubbing herself. "That's going to bruise…"

"Well, another visitor. Wonderful, How'd you get in anyway…? I locked everything… I think." A cartoon ghost said.

"Through the big oak doors in the SGC!" Ty lee shouted happily. She always liked adventures. And confused people.

"Hrm? You mean you didn't get here through Gravity Falls? Ummmm… that's strange." the ghost said. "Well since you're here… I'm Spooky... There are a thousand rooms… blah blah blah... you get the picture? I've done this too many times today. Just get going, bye." Spooky proceeded to disappear into a wall.

Ty lee was confused. Well! Whatever! Might as well go through the thousand rooms just for the heck of it. She pranced down the hall to a door, opened it, and ran deeper into the mansion.

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Lightning and Mulder walked into the next room. This particular one was yet another bedroom. There was a basic black window, a simple bed, a desk, a lamp, and a ripped painting.

Lightning was already bored. "Oh look, yet another simplistic room."

Mulder shrugged. "Wendy has to be in here somewhere. We just have to keep going."

"Maybe she went down the LEFT door in that other room…"

"I told you Lightning, the we always choose the right door unless there is a specific reason not to!"
Lightning glared. "The fact that you choose it every time seems like a way for you to become predictable."

Mulder had no response to this. He decided to take the opportunity to check the desk.

Inside was an old piece of paper. Upon it were the words:

At first this place just seemed cute, but I've been here for days now... I'm feeling quite parched now, and I keep getting this feeling like I am being watched by something.

This is not romantic at all...

Lightning cocked her head. "Um… romantic?"

"He or she is probably using the old version of the word romantic. Referring to a way of thought prevalent in the-"

Lightning tuned Mulder out, and threw open the next door. "I suspect that note was just planted to scare us. This is probably some attraction of somesort."

"Explain for the lack of people coming to the attraction and the ghost."

"Abandoned and holographic."

"Geez. You're just like Scully."

Lightning smirked. "I try."

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Ty Lee pranced from room to room. Boring room to boring room. Even the bedrooms didn't have anything interesting. I swear I'm going to die from boredom!

As she pranced down a ridiculously long hallway, something popped out of the wall with a BANG. She stopped dead in her tracks, shutting her eyes and screaming.

After a few seconds, she cracked an eye open to see a cute cardboard cutout sitting on the wall. It was of a blue, round ghost.

"Awww… aren't you just adorable!" She felt kinda silly, being scared of a dumb cardboard cutout. She proceeded to continue along her way not a care in the-

Another loud sound almost stopped her heart. In front of her was yet ANOTHER cardboard cutout, this one of a cute green jellyfish-like thing. She took a moment to catch her breath. "Nothing's wrong Ty Lee… they can't hurt you…."

A tad shaken, she continued on.

As she shut the doors, the cardboard cutouts vanished, and Wendy walked in from the place Ty Lee had originally come from.

She realized she had lost the agents a long time ago. Course now she was equally screwed, lost inside some creepy neverending house.

Had there been a ghost girl at the entry? She wasn't entirely sure. She'd ran through that room rather fast. Wendy shrugged, it was probably best just to keep moving-

BEEEYORNG!

Wendy screamed, stopping mid scream as she saw the cute blue ghost in front of her. Her face turned red as anger appeared on her face.

She punched the cutout. It just wobbled.

Wendy glared at the offending thing, watching it closely as she backed down the hallway.

KATHUNK!

Wendy leapt five feet into the air and whirled around to see what was behind her.

It was, of course, a green jellyfish thing.

The angry face returned. "SON OF A-

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I know something is following me. But I feel like I am prancing through the same rooms over and over... Hopefully leaving notes as breadcrumbs will prove I am making progress and reaching some destination.

I just hope I don't run out of ink. I am dreadfully thirsty.

"You know…" Mulder mused. "It seems like we are progressing much faster than this romantic fellow…"

"I'm telling you it's just a prank. Nothing more than a funhouse."

Mulder shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm getting that vibe I get when Scully's wrong about something."

Lightning rolled her eyes, kicking open the door to the next room, which was very purple. "Oh look PURPLE. How SCARY." Lightning droned, picking up another piece of paper.

Ink...

Not quite quenching my thirst.

Taste is terrible, stains are terrible.

I don't think drinking it was a very romantic idea.

Mulder shook his head. "I don't think I'd ever be THAT desperate…"

Lightning gave him a look. "Have you been dying of thirst lately?"

"No but… hey if this was just a joke how would he be dying of-"

"It is a joke. By someone who knows what it's like to be dying of thirst."

"I really don't-"

SCREEEEMBAM!

Mulder and Lightning drew their guns simultaneously and fired.

The cute spider cutout got one hole in it.

"You missed." Lightning said.

"I'm pretty sure you missed." Mulder retorted.

Lightning put away her gun. "Now I'm sure this is a big joke. Look. Cardboard jumpscare, like you see in a silly kiddie haunted house."

"They have those on Cocoon?"

"Yep. Though instead of cute spiders there were actually scary looking Pulse Fal'Cie cutouts."

"Amazing. My haunted houses always had alien faces."

"You were a strange kid."

"Obviously."

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Ba'al was carrying around a cardboard skeleton as a weapon.

"You have a gun…" Sisko observed.

"Guns do not carry a level of intimidation that I require." Ba'al retorted.

"It's a cute skeleton. Making a 'rawr' pose."

"To anyone here it's in the hand of a psycho. I say the cuteness adds an extra disturbing factor. And you were just as scared of it as I was."

Sisko sighed. He did NOT need to be reminded of that. "Let's just keep moving… something's bound to happen eventually."

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Ty Lee pranced into the next room, only to have a pumpkin cutout slap her in the face.

"YOU LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE CUTE THINGS! Just because I've stopped being scared of you doesn't mean you need to SLAP ME IN THE FACE!"

The cutout stared back at her with a derp face.

Ty Lee's face turned red, then she let out a sigh. "Nevermind. You can't do anything. You're just a cutout. I'll be on my-"

One of them tripped her.

"I WILL BECOME A CUTOUT MURDERER. BEWARE THE POWERFUL TY LEE, FOR SHE WILL DESTROY ALL YOUR CUTE FACES!"

She walked a few steps. No cutouts leapt out at her.

"That's better."

In the next hallway three jumped her at once.

She kicked them all down. "I warned you." She grunted. She walked around a corner to have one shoot out into her crotch area.

She winced and collapsed on the floor for a moment. "Ow. owowowowowow. YOU JERKS!" She stormed off.

She made it about five yards before she was tripped by a chili pepper cutout.

Her angry yells filled the house.

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Wendy could swear she heard someone screaming in fear.

Her mind, at that moment, decided it was a good idea to gain the attitude of "I MUST BE THE HERO AND SAVE EVERYONE!"

She ran through the next five rooms without even looking. She would have kept going had she not stepped in some kind of strange green liquid.

"Ugh it's just like the molten jello at that one party. Totally lame!" She grunted forward, kicking the dark green jelly off her boots. Note to self: do not step in jello. Takes forever to get out of.

She noticed a note sitting on a table. It was red, and seemed to be dripping with some kind of red liquid.

Spouting, Splashing, Soaking.

Innards, Ingest, Invoking.

Nailing, Never, stops the Choking.

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Someone failed alliteration class." She licked her fingers. Huh, the red stuff actually tasted like blood. Weird.

Then she heard a thick, moaning, raspy voice from behind her.

"Running, shouting, out of breath

Now's the time to take your test

You think you're clever, you think you're quick,

But in due time you'll be feeling sick."

She slowly turned around to see something rising out of the green jello. There was a vaguely humanoid torso, with a head that only had one feature: a big mouth with flat, even teeth leading into a black abyss. A hand reached forth towards her.

"We are one but I am many."

Wendy's mind had one thought: NOPE.

She took off at high speed into the next room, which was much bigger than any of the others. She could see no ceiling. Or floor. Just a narrow pathway next to a drop into utter and complete nothingness. In the distance, she could see a torch.

She took off down the narrow path when she heard the jello being blorping through the door behind her. She was athletic. She lived in a middle-of-nowhere country town. She was a flippin' Corduroy! She could run down a narrow area without a guardrail. Right?

Yes, as it turned out, she could. Unfortunately she did not take into account the possibility of a dead end. She stopped cold in her tracks, seeing a chair just sitting there, mocking her. Hey why don't you take a break and sit down? It said to her. Wait for your doom like a good snack… Wendy shook her head, looking for a way out. She could just barely see another ledge a ways away. Too far to safely jump…

She turned around to see the creature slowly making its way towards her.

Yeah screw it. Try the jump anyway. She leapt, barely grabbing onto the ledge with her fingers. At an agonizingly slow pace, she managed to pull herself up over the edge. She turned to the poetic slime and went "NYAH."

The creature's base began to evaporate, turning into a gaseous vapor. It began to float towards her.

"OH COME ON!" She said, before taking off.

The creature shot slime bolts at her, covering the floor around her in the jello. Fear struck into Wendy's heart. She was now much, much slower.

"Come ON hiking boots! DO YOUR THING!"

Amazingly, they did. They trudged through the slime just in time to get away.

Wendy reached the end of the abyss, at long last. She threw the door open, looking around for something to block the door. Anything.

Three rooms later she found a chair and propped it up. "Take THAT."

She watched in disdain as the being slid in from under the door. Its teeth took shape first, snarling right at her. Slime got all over her face before her feet realized that it was time to get moving once again.

She ran into a strange room with metallic walls. There was no door.

Oh no oh no… Then she saw it. A "down" button. She hammered on it with her fist.

The entire room began to descend. It was an elevator.

Wendy took in a deep breath, sitting down. She decided to take in the room. There was a pink cross on one side, and an empty desk on the other. Above the desk was a cute poster of a cat on a branch with the caption "Hang in there!"

Through her exhausted panting breath, Wendy had the energy to look directly at the poster, give it the finger, and say "F*** you."

She was not having a good day. You understand of course.

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I found something today to satisfy my unromantic thirst. I awoke today from a brief faint, and found before me a bottle of red wine!

I am not sure what brand or year, for there is no label. All I gather is that it tastes strongly metallic.

"Yep, yer drinkin blood. Or at least that's what you want us to think."

Mulder rolled his eyes. "And I'm the crazy one. You're talking to notes."

The two continued walking, shooting one liners at each other.

SCREEEEEEEE-

The ice cream cone didn't even get to complete its noise before Lightning punched it down. "I'm getting sick of those things."

"Same." Mulder paused. "We just agreed on something."

"Amazing, isn't it?"

A few rooms later, There was another note

I don't think that was wine...

"No s***." Lightning muttered.

Mulder rolled his eyes. "Let's just continue on. Be on your guard."

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Ty Lee hadn't seen a cutout in over twenty rooms.

Even the elevator room hadn't had anything. Just an adorable motivational cat poster.

The only rooms she was absolutely positive were safe from the cutouts were the abyss rooms. There WERE no walls. Those rooms, however, had their own spooky vibe to them. The sheer fact that there appeared to be NO BOTTOM might've had something to do with it.

She threw open yet another door to yet another room that was exactly the sa-

wait.

This was different.

She was in a room made entirely of metal. Old, dirty metal. There were three doors, each of which were metallic and had a green tinted window on them. She approached one, but the green windows were too dirty to see through.

She tried one of them. The handle broke off in her hands. She tried another. It was locked by some kind of key card scanner.

Ty Lee blinked. This mansion had seemed kind of old. Where on earth did they get a key card system? She barely even knew what a key card system WAS, seeing as she had only noticed them at the SGC.

Speaking of the SGC...

She tried her SGC access card. The door beeped angrily at her.

"Worth a shot." She muttered. She tried the third door. It opened with a loud rusty creak, causing shivers to rise up her spine. She timidly poked her head around the corner, looking into a strange hallway lined with green human-sized test tubes.

She shuddered. She looked inside the tubes. Most were empty, but a few had strange fleshy beings inside. Some were big and muscular, others were tiny and fetus-like. One even had a raptor head.

Ty Lee decided to do what her friend Deadpool would do in that situation. She looked at some random point in space, put on a cocky expression, gestured at the raptor head, saying, "Raptor head? Really? Come on people."

She put her hand to her face, pondering. She really didn't understand what Deadpool got out of that. She shrugged, walking over to the desk. On it was a keycard and a note. Ty Lee picked up the keycard like it was her ticket to heaven. She glanced at the note.

Subject 5 is growing more and more restless. I told Spook we need more funds for sedatives, but she just laughed and flew into the ceiling. Without more chemicals to keep these things docile, I'm not sure how much longer we can keep them here safely.

- Generic Lab Assistant

After Ty Lee had a laughing fit about the "Generic Lab Assistant" signature, she noticed that one of the giant test tubes was broken.

AND empty.

She paled, then she shook her head. Nothing had hurt her yet. What were the chances something was going to now? It was all just fun and games. ADVENTURE!

She pranced out of the room, not even noticing that this was the first time a door let her go through it both ways, and unlocked the door with the keycard.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw the pool of blood on the floor. She saw a note in the pool, soaking up blood. She read it from a distance. She wasn't touching that puddle.

I believe subject 5 is loose. The glass around its container is shattered, and I can faintly hear clicking coming from the ceiling. I don't know what will happen now. If it is out and alive then this is probably my last report. The clicking is getting louder now.

- Generic Lab Assistant

As if on cue, Ty Lee heard clicking coming from the ceiling. It sounded like some kind of bug with loooooots of legs.

"They're just trying to scare me-"

Something crashed down from the ceiling. It had eight legs, though its body was more akin to that of a centipede than a spider. Eight piercing green eyes stared out from above a gaping maw with innumerable pincers.

It's just trying to scare me right? Not really dangerous right?

Subject 5 gnashed its pincers.

Yeah not taking the chance.

Ty Lee was FAST. Much faster than a regular human. She could rival olympic athletes. And unlike Wendy, she was more used to peril, so she wasn't in a state of panic.

Normally she would have easily outrun the eight-legged bug. But two things were working against her.

1) It was able to crawl around in the ceiling, taking shortcuts.

2) There were cardboard cutouts determined to make Ty Lee's life a living hell.

Just as she bounded over a chair, one of the cutouts shot out and hit her in the face. She punched right through the offending ghost, turning around to see subject 5 right behind her.

"Fiddlesticks." She muttered as she ran through yet another room.

The cutouts didn't appear to hate her anymore (the amount of physical violence had dropped), but the fact that she was slowing down enough as to not face plant right into them was enough.

She FELT the breath of the bug on her at one point. It smelled like a combo of rancid bacon with old cheese. Why it smelled like this, well, your guess is as good as anyone else's.

Ty Lee got a lot of headway in the abyss room, leaping over holes the bug couldn't cross.

It caught back up to her later, however, in the long hallway. "Caught up" of course meaning that it dropped down right in front of her, pincers gnashing.

She took in a deep breath, and leapt - firmly planting her foot on the bug's head, using it as a springboard. She sailed right over the bug, waving as she passed over. She hit the ground rolling, ducking under a cutout that decided it would pop out at that moment. She threw the door open, waving at the bug once more, before slamming the door behind her. She grabbed a chair and propped it up against the door. She let out a sigh of relief.

Then subject 5 dropped from the ceiling, blocking the way to the next door.

Ty Lee's face hardened into anger. "You wanna fight? FINE!" She took a stance, analyzing her opponent. A very large bug with no visible pressure points. Seemingly coated completely in impervious exoskeleton armor.

The only features appeared to be the mouth and the eyes.

Wait a moment.

Ty Lee leapt into the air, hands readied. She delivered several dozen pokes and prods to the eyes of the eight-legged creature. A few of the eyes gushed fluids as Ty Lee hit them. Subject 5 reeled in pain, backing away.

Ty Lee grinned, kicked the thing's rear end, and walked into the next room.

She felt great.

That is, until one of the cutouts hit her in the face.

"What even ARE you? You look like a TREE STUMP!"

The cutout just stared back with its cute expression.

"Don't give me that look!"

It continued to give her that look.

She slapped it. These cutouts were going to be the death of her.

Then she realized she had eye juice all over her hands.

"EEEEEEW."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

I don't know how much longer I can go on...

I haven't seen any of my previous notes, so that means either I'm getting somewhere or someone is taking them.

Mulder looked up. "We've been leaving these where we find them right?"

Lightning slapped him atop the head. "Dolt! These things are on OLD PAPER. They've been there for a LONG TIME."

"Ah. Right. Of course. I knew that."

Lightning sighed. Here she was. Stuck with this dolt. This was just great.

They continued on in silence, for once, barely stopping to glance at the next note.

I think this is my last note. I'm going to die having never found my escape, but really that's not true. This place was like my escape. My escape from everything else. In the end my death is kind of romantic.

"Okay that's just cheesy." Lightning said.

Mulder scratched his chin. It did seem rather cheesy and forced. Then again it WAS just a note. How much emotion could you really put into words on a piece of paper?

As he thought that, a cardboard cutout shot out of the wall, starting him. This particular cutout was of a frowning piece of toast. It seemed to be saying Why you think that?

Lightning chuckled. "Thought you weren't scared of those anymore?"

"I didn't shoot it did I?"

"Let's just move."

They arrived in an elevator room. Lightning hit the down button before bothering to look around. She glanced to see Mulder staring at something in fear.

"What?"

He pointed.

There, on the ground, was a human skeleton. Next to it was an quill and a hat that was probably fancy before the mites got to it decades ago.

"There's no way that's real." Lightning said, staring.

"They wouldn't bother to replicate the imperfections in the teeth. Look at this, they're uneven. If they were going to make a fake one, even a good one, a normal set of teeth would be cheaper to make."

"Maybe they're just trying to fool people like you?"

"Very few people would bother to notice the denture designs on human remains, Lightning."

Lightning shuddered. "Okay, so maybe there is something going on here."

Mulder blinked. He had NOT expected her to give so easily. It usually took much longer to get Scully on board. He actually smirked.

The elevator stopped its descent. They left through the exit door without any special ceremony. What were you expecting, dramatic description of Resident Evil ripoff door?

A few rooms of poking around later, including a strange room with pools of vibrant green slime, they arrived in a room that was much different than the ones they'd been in before.

It was too dark to see. Mulder flicked on his flashlight, illuminating what appeared to be an old and abandoned school hall. Rusted lockers lined the halls, some of them broken, some of them lying on the ground. Mulder poked his head through a door, seeing an old and dusty classroom. The chalkboard had lots of Japanese characters on it.

"You know Japanese?" Mulder asked.

"What?" Lightning asked, confused.

"Nevermind. Dumb question."

Mulder picked up a piece of notebook paper. "Hey. This is in english…"

Could it really be true? I thought the fairy tales about the ghost eating children who sneak in after class was just to keep us from disobeying. But Matsuri is still missing.

Lightning stared at it. "So, we're in an old and abandoned school where people went missing. Just great. One question: Why is this inside the mansion?"

Mulder looked up, a look of dread filling his face. "I just realized something… there's no way this many rooms could fit in the mansion."

"Basement?"

"The layout is all wrong. We would have come out of the mountain by now…"

Lightning growled. "Someone's toying with us."

"Indeed." Mulder walked back into the hallway, looking into another classroom.

It seemed the same as the other. He flipped his flashlight around, checking the room for anything interesting.

As he passed over the desks, something flickered into focus. A shadow of a person, a child. Just black, sitting in their seat.

Mulder walked towards the thing. It made no movement, all he heard was a faint noise that sounded like whispering.

He reached out with his finger to touch it.

The pain rocked through his body, making him yell out. "AUGH!"

Lightning rushed in, blasting the shadow with a thunder spell, causing it to promptly vanish. "You alright?"

Mulder panted. "I think I'm fine. It was just pain, after all."

Then Lightning's eyes widened. She grabbed Mulder's flashlight and pointed at the other desks.

Every last one had a shadow child. Every last one was just sitting there, motionless.

Mulder and Lightning slowly backed out of the classroom, shutting the door behind them. They slowly walked to the end of the hallway.

Then they heard a loud sigh from behind them. "Why won't you stay?" A quiet, girl's voice said.

The two companions turned slowly behind them. In the hallway, apparently sitting on nothing, was a ghost girl. She was completely unlike Spooky in virtually every way. Her eyes were soulless black holes, her mouth a large slit across her face. Her hands were claws caked in blood, and her legs were black like the abyss. Her hair whipped around her like talons, tearing at her bleak, grey dress. "I do enjoy friends…"

Lightning waved. "Hi." Then she ran out the door. "BYE."

The ghost sighed, before giving chase. "Always the same…"

Something about this irked Lightning. She stopped running. The room was nice and big. She turned to face the ghost. "You know what? Bring it. I've faced creatures a billion times stronger than you, I shouldn't be even remotely creeped out by you!"

The girl laughed, her face opening to blackness. "You don't get it do you… you will be safe with me. There is no need to fight. Just come to me, my child."

Lightning prepared herself. "How about no?"

"Very well…" The ghost moved forward, claws outstretched.

"CURE" Lightning yelled, flinging the holy magic at the ghost. She shrieked, before sinking into the ground. There was silence for a moment, before the ghost's laughter could be heard coming from every direction simultaneously.

Mulder facepalmed. "Now what are we going to do? She's in the WALLS."

The voice came. "She has a name you know… I am Ringu…"

"Well, Ringu, mind telling us your elaborate backstory before you make us… safe?"

"No. There is no story. My child was taken from me. I must protect all others…"

That sounds like a story to me… Mulder thought. "We aren't children though…"

"Matsuri cared for all… all must be safe… within ME!" She screamed as she rose out of the floor, mouth widening, ready to swallow Mulder whole.

Then, out of nowhere, a six-fingered hand grabbed her. On the said hand was a strange electric glove. Ringu shrieked in pain as energy coursed through her body. She flew off in a random direction.

Mulder and Lightning turned to their savior. He was a tall, older man with a square jaw and large glasses. He had flowing grey hair with impressive sideburns, and was wearing some kind of strange black sci-fi adventuring suit. On his back were slung what appeared to be various unusual guns, each of a different model and design. And each of his hands had six fingers.

"That won't keep her forever. We've got to move." He waved his hand, gesturing that they follow.

Mulder raised a hand. "ONE question: who are you?"

"You may call me Ford. We mustn't dilly-dally, this house changes in ways you couldn't imagine."

Ford pulled a black cloak over himself, and marched forward. "Come! We don't have all day!"

Mulder shrugged, and followed.

Lightning wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about this Ford character that was nagging at her brain. Something she felt like she should know.

The group of three walked through the next rooms at a brisk pace. After a while, Ford slowed down and took out a high-tech data pad engraved with a six-fingered hand symbol with the infinity symbol. He typed into it using one of his hands. "I believe introductions are in order? I am Ford, I travel dimensions looking for my homeworld, a quiet place called Earth."

Mulder blinked. "I'm from Earth-"

"Probably not the right one. You'd be surprised how common a name Earth is. Does your Earth have one single grey moon?"

"Yes."

"Is mostly water?"

"Yes."

"Shares its system with a gas giant that has an impressive golden ring system?"

"Yes."

At this point Ford stopped looking skeptical, and looked hopeful. "Is one of the countries the United States of America?"

"Yes."

Ford grinned. "You know what this means don't you?" He said as he grabbed Mulder by the shoulders. "You simply must tell me how to get home!"

"Um…" Mulder said, glancing at Lightning. She gave him a "You're on your own" look. He sighed. "You see… We're lost in this house here. We came INTO here from Earth. Gravity Falls, Oregon, to be exact."

Ford sighed. "I suppose it was too good to be true… Perhaps the way back is somewhere in this mansion. It must be. You got in. Who are you two by the way?"

"I'm FBI agent Fox Mulder and this is agent Monica Reyes. We work on the X-files-"

"-Fringe-X division-" Lightning corrected.

Mulder sighed. "We investigate the weird and unexplained. Supernatural and extraterrestrial."

"Earth has made contact with the supernatural and extraterrestrial?" Ford asked, interested.

"Not officially. We're considered kinda crazy."

"Ah. I've been there. I was obsessed with anomalies all my life, and was always shunned for my beliefs. Of course, my interest in them got me lost in the multiverse…"

Lightning grunted. He wasn't the only one with problems.

Ford recomposed himself. "Oh! I should probably show you something I found! There was a computer a ways back detailing the creatures that inhabit this house. I downloaded it all to my jPad. Here." He tapped an icon on the jPad, producing something called the CAT-DOS.

On the CAT-DOS were five entries.

SPECIMEN_1 were the cardboard cutouts. They had been deemed 'not very effective,' having only caused 4 fatalities.

SPECIMEN_2 was some kind of greenish black creature with teeth. It had been deemed 'very effective against weaker or slower subjects.' Apparently a lot of subjects were weak and/or slow, because the fatalities count was 137

SPECIMEN_3 only had 43 fatalities, and was some kind of eight-legged centipede. It was apparently being developed at someplace called GL Labs.

SPECIMEN_4 was Ringu. She had 85 fatalities.

Mulder was staring wide eyed. "Um…"

Lightning nodded. This was no longer a joke.

Ford sighed. "I've encountered these four. My gloves are effective against numbers 2 and 4, and my guns keep number 3 away. But this next one I've never seen…"

SPECIMEN_5

Type: Active

Total Fatalities: 168?

Method: Unknown

A creature found inside the church of a small town. Subjects are lost after contact with the specimen. Current method of killing is unknown. Proved extremely effective against subjects with mental issues or weak wills.

An image filled the screen of a faceless humanoid that might, or might not, have been female. The image seemed impassive and blank, like the thing didn't care.

Mulder pondered this. "I wonder what the definition of weak will is?"

"Exactly." Ford said. "You think you have a strong will, but you have nothing to compare with in this case. Over a hundred and sixty people were killed by this thing, it may be more effective than we think."

Lightning butted in. "Is anyone ELSE mildly disturbed that these specimens are rated by their effectiveness at killing?"

Mulder and Ford glanced at each other.

This house.

It was a death trap.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Sisko and Ba'al arrived in a room with a strange green-black sludge puddle in the middle.

Ba'al stepped in the puddle, and promptly decided to rip all the goo off his shoe that he could by jumping up and down like a moron. Sisko picked up a sheet of paper dripping in a red substance that was most likely blood.

ERROR 002313FB_GEL

CANNOT RELEASE TWICE.

EXIT THROUGH EXPRESS.

Sisko wondered what the heck THAT meant.

"Sisko. Come here. Tell me." Ba'al pointed. "That door. It wasn't there before you picked the note up was it?"

Sisko checked the wall. Sure enough, there was a door that wasn't there before. He shrugged. Why not?

Ba'al and Sisko made their exit from the room.

Specimen 2 slid into the room a few seconds later, looking for prey. Strange. It thought it had sensed humans.

It slid away.

Meanwhile, Sisko and Ba'al continued down the Express Tunnel.

"I wonder what we're skipping past…" Sisko muttered.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Wendy walked into a room with three arcade machines. One was blank and featureless, while the other two were nice and colorful, plastered with the titles "Mrs. Spook" and "Mall of the Spook."

Wendy shrugged. She sure could use a break. She pulled up to the "Mall of the Spook" arcade. What followed was a game that played on her morbid curiosity perfectly. She played as a blueish ghost girl who went down a giant mall slicing people with a knife. Sometimes their throats would be cut, and sometimes their heads would explode. Of course it was all in the most gruesome way possible.

She became oddly addicted to killing the people. She didn't put the game down until she heard a scream beside her.

"OH MY GOSH NO! She killed the poor yellow thing! WHY? WHY?"

Wendy turned from the console to see a teenage brown-haired girl in a pink acrobat outfit looking at "Mrs. Spook" like it was from the deepest darkest pit of hell.

She overcame her fear, then saw Wendy.

The two stared at each other, motionless. Each were thinking the exact same thing: Is this another thing that wants to kill me?

Ty Lee spoke first. "So… you have an axe behind you?"

Wendy blinked. "What? No. Though that would be useful… Then again I'm not sure it'd be effective against the green thing…"

"Green thing? I had a big bug."

Wendy shrugged. "Guess we each got something different… Just to clarify, you AREN'T here to kill me?"

"Nope! Definitely not!" Ty Lee grinned. "I'm just here to kill all the cardboard cutouts!" She grabbed Wendy. "Shall we go?"

Wendy suddenly wasn't too sure about the girl in front of her. "Sure…"

"Great!" Ty Lee began to prance down the hallway to the next room.

Wendy paused for a moment at the blank arcade.

ENTER CODE: _ _ _ _

She shrugged. It probably wasn't important.

The very next room, Ty Lee started yammering. "So I got here because I found a weird door in a secret underground base. What about you?"

Wendy put on her 'proud' look. "I was running away from government agents!"

"No way! Really? Awesome! You know I've worked with AND ran away from agents before! Both are fun!"

Wendy squinted her eyes. Maybe this girl wasn't on her side. "Who are you anyway?"
"I'm Ty Lee, acrobat extraordinaire! I'm always happy and looking for another advent-"

A cutout shot out of the wall with a BYOOOP.

"YOU PIECE OF…" Ty Lee took a breath. "Always happy… PINK AURA Ty Lee. BE PINK…"

Wendy blinked. "Um… what did those cutouts do to you?"

Ty Lee turned around with a crazed look. "They are soulless creatures that will make your life a living nightmare."

Wendy blinked. "Okaaaaaaaay."

Ty Lee's face brightened into a ridiculously happy smile. "Good! Now ONWARD- uh…"

"Wendy."

"That's a nice name. Goes well with your scarlet aura."

Wendy rolled her eyes. So she was crazy. At least she wasn't harmful.

Then the two girls heard a chiche western-country voice shout. "WE NEED TO SKEDADDLE!" They watched as what appeared to be an orange pony wearing a cowboy hat ran past them. "HURRY IT UP!"

Ty Lee and Wendy decided to steal a glance behind them.

The door flipped open, revealing a tall, featureless humanoid that might have been female. It had no face, and it carried a tremendous blade.

Ty Lee's brain froze. The walls turned to blood, and images flooded her vision.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

An image came into focus.

A girl, tied up and chained to the ground. All along the ground, drawn in blood, was an elaborate pentagram.

There were a dozen around her, chanting. Repeating. "Appease the darkness! Appease the darkness! Appease the darkness!"

The girl screamed as she burned. As she froze. As the claws from the depths of the sky reached down and tore her limb from limb, tearing open her chest. Bones cracking, organs flying.

Then, the claws stopped. A sound that could only be described as pure rage filled the room.

One of those around her gasped. "She wasn't pure!"

The leader of the cult stepped forth, hands outstretched, trying to prevent the inevitable. The girl became enveloped by blood-red shadows, turning her slowly inside out, creating the featureless being of darkness. It slowly rose, impassively staring at the cult.

It picked up a giant knife.

The mist moved in, and the walls became blood.

The cult had failed their Mother.

Then everything went static.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ty Lee stood, frozen to the spot. That… that was horrible.

She looked around. All she could see were Mother, the bloody walls, Wendy, and that western pony. She couldn't see the doors.

"Where do we GO?" She yelled, grabbing her head.

Her two companions stared back at her. "Come on! The door's right here!"

Ty Lee looked at them. "All I see is the blood on the walls…"

Wendy cocked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about-"

The Mother swung the knife, hitting Ty Lee on the arm. She shrieked.

"Put er on me!" The orange pony yelled. "We gotta move it!"

Wendy threw the terrified Ty Lee on the westerner's back, and they took off, throwing the next door open. The mist began to cloud their vision, but they didn't care. They could still see.

"So." Wendy said in between breaths. "What are you?"

"I reckon I'm a pony. Name's Applejack."

"Huh. How'd you end up here?"

"Doesn't particularly matter does it? I always end up in places far from the apple tree…"

Wendy sighed. She was going to get tired of this western-country pony really fast, she could tell. She'd had lots of people mock her with that voice… "I reckon yer a country hick aren't ya? Gosh darnit all! My wagon's broken! Can yer fix it?"

After a while, the mist cleared.

"I reckon we're safe…" Applejack said. "So what're your stories?"

Wendy introduced herself and Ty Lee. Ty Lee just sat atop Applejack, shuddering. "She was… molded in her image…"

Applejack shot Wendy a confused glance. Wendy twirled her finger around her ear in the universeal 'yeah she's nuts' gesture.

And with that, the group moved on.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Spooky smiled. It was time to give the visitors a visit. She floated through wall after wall, room after moving room. She arrived in a large room that had no doors, only a big monitor with a keyboard attached to it. On the screen were the words LION-DOS. She navigated the red menu to MODIFY_HOUSE_LAYOUT. Time to direct them to a particular room.

She smiled. They were doing really well so far. Though she would have to delay the two who had found the Express Tunnel. But that would be easy enough.

She grabbed her giant Bowie knife. There might be some use for it. Who knew?

She decided to visit the agents first. "Oh Hi!" She said, pretending like she hadn't been looking for them. She hid the knife behind her back. "What's up?"

Mulder stepped forth to let out a rant, but Ford beat him to it. "One of the Spiritual Planes, I demand that you release us!"

The six-fingered one was smart, he had knowledge of the Spiritual Planes. "Why? The game is just beginning!" She smiled, abhorring herself for playing the 'cute' card. "You're 25% done, give or take a few rooms." She gave a wink.

"You are trying to kill us."

Spooky shrugged. "So? If you win you live. If you don't, you don't." She lied. "You DID trespass."

"There was no sign to tell us we couldn't." Ford glared.

Spooky shrugged. "Oh well. Be grumpy. I've got other visitors to talk to. Exit to your left." She flew into a wall just as Mulder began to retort.

She chuckled to herself. They would be fun later on. But first, a visit to the girls…

"Hi!" She said.

Wendy blinked. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"I was at the entrance." She put on a sad face. "You ran right past me…" She quickly smiled again. "But, I have great news visitors! You have passed through two-hundred and fifty rooms! You get a gift!" She waved her hands, a present appearing under a giant painting of herself with a grumpy look. "See ya!" She quickly left before they had a chance to say anything.

She heard Ty Lee's screams less than a minute later. She cackled.

Spooky decided to leave the express people for now, she'd talk to them later. She had a special guest to visit.

"So, my dear Doctor, how's it going?"

"You are a sadistic little girl you know that?" The man responded in his british accent, his brown coat furling as he walked briskly through the house. "You could just get this over with and kill me at any time."

Spooky shrugged, twirling her knife, cutting a flower pattern in the walls. They spurted blood wherever the knife touched. "I have my reasons."

The Doctor grunted. "I have nothing to say to you. I will make it through your maze of tricks and mirrors."

Spooky's cute face turned into a malevolent grin. "Good luck, doc." She left, returning to the LION-DOS. She set the house back to normal. This would be great.

Wait. What was this?

There was a tenth visitor?

Hrm…

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

A few minutes ago...

Applejack poked the present with a stick. It didn't move. "I think it's safe…"

Ty Lee stood up, stretching. "I'll open it. Maybe it'll be something to destroy those stupid cutouts with…."

"You sure you're okay?" Wendy asked.

"I'm FIIIIIINE…" Ty Lee said. "I just saw a girl get brutally murdered and watched the house turn to blood. That's not that bad right?"

"It sounds pretty bad…"

Ty Lee glared. Then she kicked the top off the present, revealing an empty box.

"Aw…" Ty Lee said, crestfallen. Then she realized there were words written in the box.

"Look behind you."

The three of them slowly turned around, to have dozens of the cutouts shoot out of the walls and stare at them.

Ty Lee screamed and fainted. Wendy and Applejack just got creeped out.

"I reckon we got ourselves a joker here…"

Wendy groaned. That voice. That VOICE… She shook her head, grabbed Ty Lee, and dropped her on Applejack. "Let's just get moving."

Applejack nodded, trotting after her.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Mulder threw open the next door, revealing a room lined with tribal masks and what could only be described as 'easter eggs.' Three large panels with giant eye images engraved on them were on the various sides of the room.

Ford recorded information on his jPad, typing in a flurry with his six fingers. "Interesting… this appears to be a special room of some sort… I wonder what it's purpose is…"

Lightning's face obtained a look of mock thoughtfulness. "Perhaps… It's too creep us out?"

Mulder clapped his hands. "Amazing deduction, Sherlock."

Ford stepped into the middle of the room, and he found that he could see through the eye panels. There were doors behind them.

"This way." He said, marching.

Mulder shrugged. The guy seemed to know what he was doing.

It was almost as if he was more supernatural savvy than he was…

They opened a door to find a laptop sitting on the ground. On it was a note: "OPEN AND WATCH."

Ford scratched his chin, and lifted up the screen. A video began to play, featuring the face of a certain "british" man.

Mulder blinked. "Doctor?"

"Okay how should I start this…" The Doctor began to say. "Got it! I'm a time traveler. Or I was. Blast why am I starting this the same way as last time? Last time I had a transcript… Perhaps it'll work out…"

Ford squinted. This was not what he'd been expecting.

"Blimey I'm running out of memory space on this… Listen. I've got to leave this as a warning, there is no way in bloody hell that anyone would be able to figure this out without being ridiculously lucky, having encountered weeping angels, or having played lots of B rated horror games." The Doctor paused. "I've just insulted half the internet. Brilliant. Anyway, that thing in front of you-"

Ford, Mulder, and Lightning looked in front of them. There was nothing there.

"-if it's not in front of you then you have a serious problem and you better pray it shows up soon. That thing, is quantum locked. As long as you look at it, it won't move. Listen. Your life could depend on this - whoever you are. Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. It is fast, faster than you could believe. And given the timey wimey wibbley wobbly nature of this mansion, it could get behind you, in front of you, anywhere. It could be inside a wall for pete's sake."

The three visitors glanced around at all directions. They saw nothing.

"Why on earth did I say pete's sake… What purpose did that serve?" Something in the video beeped. "Great, just a few more seconds. Don't blink. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink, seriously, don't. Good luck." In the video the Doctor looked over his screen. "Why hello there. Yes I see you there. Nice face you have. I best be off now… Allons-y!" The Doctor left the screen, it now simply showing the wall of the room. A face flashed across the screen, blank eyes and a flat face contorted in extreme anger. Then the video repeated. "Okay how should I start this…"

"Does anyone see anything?" Lightning murmured, glancing left and right.

Ford shook his head, tapping the sides of his glasses. "None of my scans are turning up anything either."

"Perhaps it isn't here." Mulder suggested. "Maybe we should just leave-"

Lightning saw something poking out of the wall. She drew her gun. "There."

They turned, and saw it. A hand, frozen in time, sticking out of a wall.

"We need to draw it out into the open." Ford said. "Everyone blink at the same time."
"...Don't blink!..." The recording warned.

Mulder and Lightning turned to Ford. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yes." Ford blinked. Lightning and Mulder were looking at Ford and NOT the hand.

Ford opened his eyes to the sound of Lightning screaming. What appeared to be a giant human sized puppet had driven a spike right into her right eye. Blood dripped from her face right onto the puppet's wooden, frozen, arm. Its face was twisted in anger, frustrated that it couldn't finish it's job.

Carefully, Ford and Mulder pulled a whimpering Lightning away from the puppet. She screamed in agony as the spike slid out of her eye. She stumbled, her face leaking, barely able to stay upright. She leaned on Ford.

"Open the door Mulder."

"Wha-"

"Do it." Ford drew one of his guns. "Now look at it. I need to blink."

Mulder did so, and the three slowly backed out of the room. The puppet stared at them, that same face of hatred. Ford shut the door, letting out a breath. "You okay Monica?"

Lightning nodded. She stood up, putting her hand to her chest and drawing out a pulse of magic. "Cure" she said, healing the wound. She took her other hand off her eye. There was nothing but a hole there.

Mulder reeled. That was disgusting.

Ford stared. "You… just cast magic. My people can't cast magic-"

"I'm not from Earth." She muttered, obviously not in the mood. "My name isn't Monica either."

Mulder facepalmed. "Lightning! We can't REVEAL that to just ANYONE."

Ford held up a six-fingered hand. "It's fine. I can understand the need to protect oneself. Governments are not always the most understanding…"

Mulder squinted. "How would you know about that, back then there wasn't-" Then he saw it. The puppet. Just a few feet away from them. Mulder slowly lifted his hand and pointed.

Ford frowned. "Just get to the door."

Lightning nodded, stumbling towards the door. "Careful!" Ford cautioned. "You have no depth perception!"

"Brilliant observation einstein."

Mulder backed towards the door, blinking one eye at a time. It seemed to be working. They slowly backed through room after room, carefully looking in all directions for the puppet. At times it would appear in front of them, or behind them, but their collective fields of view always made sure that it couldn't reach them.

Every time they saw its face, it kept getting progressively more and more angry. The rage started to crumple the puppet's face into a deep nightmarish scowl.

Then, it just seemed to stop chasing them.

After seeing no sign of it for twenty rooms, they took a break.

By sheer luck, they decided to take the break in the room with the brain hooked up to some machine. It was pulsing, indicating it was alive. It bobbed up and down in the liquid.

Lightning poked her finger into her skull through the now empty eye socket. "This… is bizarre…" She shuddered. "It's hurting, even though there's nothing there…"

"Phantom pain." Ford muttered. "It may be there for the rest of your life."

Lightning turned to Mulder, which caused him to wince. "Could you do something about that?" He muttered, gesturing at the hole in her face.

Lightning rolled her eye. "I don't have an eyepatch."

Ford lit up. "I have something…" He reached into one of his many pockets, pulling out an odd triangular-shaped black device. "This… well I don't really know what this is. I found it ages ago in some old forgotten ruins. But it looks like the perfect shape to cover that eye…" He took out a black strap from another pocket, and tied the thing to her face.

It fit perfectly.

"Wow I didn't expect it to fit that perfectly…"

Lightning touched her hand to the black thing on her face. It felt like it belonged there. Strange.

Mulder let out a sigh of relief. "Now, borrowing a line from our dear Doctor, allons-y!" He leapt through the next door.

Lightning followed, managing to bang her head on a wall.

It was going to take some getting used to, this lack of depth perception.

Ford grabbed her. "Come on." He was obviously slightly ticked off to have a crippled companion.

His ticked off-ness ticked her off. She was also ticked off that it was his stupid idea that had gotten her eye stabbed out in the first place.

"Watch it buster, I've got magic. I can fry you."

"I've got a dozen anti-magic amulets on me. I wouldn't recommend it." He typed more on his jPad. "Plus, we really shouldn't be fighting. I have a feeling we're going to need each other."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"No." The Doctor yelled.

"Your life must be shown to you, but beware what is that true." The Cat said.

"That is not me. He will never be one of me."

"Your race has a unique problem, but you must face it or be doomed to fail."

"I will not accept him! I never will!"

"Then you will fail." The Cat walked off.

"Come back!"

"Your only hope is the others."

The Doctor roared, clutching his head.

My mind… I have the most impressive will of any creature. I shouldn't be affected…

I do not feed on the weak of mind… I feed on those who have suffered...

The Doctor yelled out, desperately hoping for help.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

The two groups of three met by crashing into each other.

"Great potato salad!" Applejack yelled as she attempted to skid to a halt, but instead managed to trip over Lightning and roll into Mulder, slamming him into Ford.

Ty Lee clapped her hands. "Ten out of ten!"

Wendy rolled her eyes.

"I take it you are the other visitors?" Ford asked.

"No, we're the random brigade of country farmers. What's it look like we are varmit?" Applejack grumped.

Then she realized who she was talking to. "YOU."

Ford stood up to his full height. "YOU."

"I should kick you down right here and now!"

Ford drew his gun. "Try it, Equestrian!"

Applejack squinted her eyes. "Bring it!" She glared, her entire body shimmering in light. Red and pink streaks appeared in her mane, which progressively became more impressive. With an obviously increased strength, she prepared to buck Ford, while he charged his gun.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH HOLD IT!" Ty Lee yelled, leaping in between the two of them. "WHATEVER your two's problem IS, we can deal with it LATER the CUTOUTS ARE HERE! WE must be STRONG!"

Wendy facepalmed. "Cutouts? Really? That's your speech?"

"They are a crime against humanity!"

Applejack cut down the lightshow, returning to normal. "Them cardboard cutouts ain't more than a lil' annoyin, that's all."

Ford nodded in agreement.

"You agreein with me?"

"Yes. So what?"

The two glared at each other, the hatred of old enemies burning.

Lightning blinked. What the heck were they so worked up about? What could a cute little horse possibly have done?

Applejack turned around. "Best be goin. Ty Lee, be a dear and handle introductions for me will ya?"

Ty Lee squealed. "Okay!" She then proceeded to excitedly introduce everyone to each other in her little insane and peppy way. Everyone questioned her mental health.

Wendy took that moment to realize that she was talking to the two agents who were chasing her. She almost didn't recognize them, they were so beat up.

"Um… hi."

Mulder glared. "You could be arrested for resisting an agent of the law."

"Cool…" Wendy said, feeling on the inside like this was anything but cool.

"Now, I just wanted to ask you a few questions."

Wendy cracked. "I vandalized the base alright? Can we stop talking about this now? Please?"

Mulder blinked. "What vandalism?"

Wendy clamped her mouth shut. "I didn't say vandalism, man. I said… ventriliquism?"

Mulder sighed. "I came here to talk to you. Have you noticed anything strange going on around this town?"

Wendy gave him a look. She gestured at the house they were in. "What do you think, dude? Yeah I noticed something was off. Not really till today of course."

Mulder shook his head. "I take it you don't know that there appears to be a copy of you in Colorado?"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

Mulder sighed. So this trip had basically been a waste of time. At least this house provided some purpose to the visit. Assuming it didn't kill them.

The very next room they entered was a strange room with black and white checkerboard tile floors and black brick walls. They could hear the ticking of a clock.

TICK… TOCK…. TICK… TOCK…

There was a line in the ground, labeled "threshold of consciousness."

"You cross it first." Ford told Applejack.

"Why don't ya do it, hon." Applejack glared.

"Listen to me pony, you are a different anima-"

"-now I reckon that-"

"-provide me-"

"-forget it you-"

"*** *** ****** ****"

"-how dare you-"

"OR FOR THE LOVE OF ODIN!" Lightning yelled, before kicking the five in front of her across the threshold at the same time.

She watched with her one eye as they all vanished.

Lightning shrugged, walking over the line herself.

She found Applejack, Mulder, and Ford looking around.

And then they saw The Cat, a tiny little white feline staring at them from the base of a sleek grandfather clock. "Why hello there, are you lost little ones?"

Lightning shrugged. "Um… yes. We want out of the house."

The cat turned its head. "This place can help those who are ready, but expect turmoil more than you are used to."

Okay. Ominous…

Mulder looked around. "Where ARE Ty Lee and Wendy?"

"Their minds were deemed too pure. They were sent through without incident." The Cat offered. "You must hurry, a friend of yours needs saving." The Cat pointed its nose to the left and right hallways. "Explore, and discover yourselves. Your friend did not believe he needed preparation."

Applejack and Lightning nodded, turning right. Ford and Mulder shook their heads.

"We can't be sure we can trust this cat." Mulder said.

Ford nodded. "Agreed."

The Cat frowned. "It is your choice, but you will regret it. Nothing in the rooms will bring you physical harm."

Ford raised his hand. "AHA! Physical harm! I've been down this path before, mental harm is the worst kind."

The Cat shook her head. "I am sorry if you believe that."

"FORD! MULDER!" Lightning yelled from the hallway. "JUST GET OVER HERE!" A one eyed woman with an eyepatch and a streak of blood across her face had a way of being convincing. The two men ran right over.

Applejack chuckled before creaking the door open with her hoof. Ford gave her a gesture using both of his middle fingers.

The room was pastel colored: half pink, half yellow. Inside the room was The Cat, and a compass. In turn, the compass turned to each of the visitors. When it looked at Applejack and Mulder, nothing happened. When it turned to Ford, it displayed a symbol of a six-fingered hand.

When it pointed at Lightning, the compass shuddered. It then tried to display a giant picture with a spring in the center, seven circles around it, and five rings of symbols around that.

I've seen that before… Lightning thought.

The image of the Wheel shattered completely, shards falling to the ground and vanishing. The compass ceased working. Several weird red grubs began to crawl along the floor, coming from seemingly nowhere.

The Cat spoke. "Two sides of the same coin. Knowing your projections can help you achieve freedom."

Mulder put his hands on his hips. "That didn't help at all…"

Ford and Lightning exchanged glances. "Actually…"

"Let's just get along." Applejack said. "There are other rooms in the other hallway."

They walked past the clock. Somehow, The Cat was still sitting in front of it, despite having been in the other room literally less than a second ago.

"Nothing's wrong is there?" She asked.

Lightning eyed The Cat. "No…"

"Then continue on your way…"

The next room had the four standing on nothingness, looking out upon the universe. Thier jaws dropped as they saw the majesty of the universe. They watched with their tiny eyes and minds as entire galaxies formed, lived, and died. They observed as the universe changed its shape from that of a formless soup to a grand design bigger than any of them would ever know. It made them feel very small.

The Cat appeared in front of them. "Balance is the key to keeping your mind free and sane."

Then they were back in the hallway. None of them said a word, they had been stricken by the beauty of the stars.

Then they entered the last room, and everything was different.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ford looked around. He was in his shack he had constructed. There was the skeleton, the dinosaur skull, and the tesla box. There were drawings everywhere, sketches of the weird and abnormal, diagrams of his various inventions. .

But one thing was wrong.

Everything that had a face was staring directly at him. The taxidermy. The skull. The skeleton. Even the box, which may or may not even have had an actual face!

He turned around, to see his original three journals flipping through pages on their own, each to a very particular page. A technical design, using a circle in a triangle attached to four other circles. The pages combined, and the journals swallowed themselves up in a black hole.

They swallowed up all of reality, destroying everything.

He stared, speechless.

The Cat appeared behind him. "You must learn to not let your fears haunt you, or you will bring about that which you fear most."

Ford shuddered.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"Fox…" Samantha said. "Come on silly!"

Mulder woke up. Where was he?

He was back in his childhood home. Except there was a graveyard in it.

"Um… what?"

"I was called here to talk to you…" She said, adjusting the house. "Yes I'm still a ghost."

"Who called you?"

"You know her." She dusted a lamp sitting atop a tombstone. "You must be strong, Fox, the thing you are about to encounter will play whatever weakness it can find. And you have many…"

"That's not really fair-"

"It isn't. That's the point." She turned. "You have faced many supernatural creatures in your time, creatures of the night that play on fear, weakness, and death." She sighed. "Fox… be careful. Do not think you know how to deal with these things because of your so-called experience."

Then she vanished, the world going white.

Mulder heard the voice of The Cat. "Don't kid yourself, to it you are nothing more than entertaining livestock."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Applejack found herself back in Equestria.

This wasn't unusual for her, just uncommon. She rarely found herself back home lately.

She looked up, and her eyes widened.

Cloudsdale.

It was still in the sky. That couldn't be possible.

It was at that point she realized it was just a vision.

She could see the city begin to fall. The rainbow explosions rippling across the graceful cloud city.

"Not again…" She moaned. She watched in horror as the four princesses flew towards the city, attempting to use their magic to keep it together.

She watched as Discord appeared, pulling his own weight for once in his life, his snake-like form appearing beneath the city as he created a giant cupcake to catch the city.

They tried to contain it. But couldn't. Cloudsdale exploded in a brilliant display of rainbow light, showering down meteor-like fragments to the world below.

The fallout was terrible and instant. The world started to spin out of control, colors changing and vibrating, craters appearing left and right.

Eventually, everything settled.

The Cat appeared behind her. "Your trauma is almost as extreme as your lost friend's. Yet you have given forgiveness."

"I forgave her a long time ago. That hasn't changed."

"Your resolve will be tested most of all. Yet you must pull beyond even that, for you must be the one to help him."

Applejack sighed. "I reckon I don't have muchuva choice now do I?"

The Cat shook her head. "Not really."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Lightning found herself at home. Before the fall of Cocoon. She looked in the closet.

There were her clothes and her Blazefire Sabre.

She made the choice quickly.

She was tired of being Monica. It was time to change back.

She washed the dye out of her hair, scrubbing it out with intensity. She changed out of the uncomfortable FBI outfit and into her normal trenchcoat-skirt clothing. She attached her leg pouch, and readied her Blazefire Sabre. She looked into the mirror.

She still had the eyepatch. She touched it with her hands, a feeling of sadness creeping into her.

"Hi sis!"

Lightning turned around to see her younger sibling, Serah. "Serah?"

"You look wonderful!" She said, completely ignoring the eyepatch. "Come on, we're going to be late for the celebration!"

Lightning nodded dumbly. "I'll… be there in a minute…"

Serah ran up to Lightning and gave her a big hug. "Okay! See you!" She skipped off.

Lightning blinked, holding her hand to her chest. This wasn't real.

The Cat materialized in front of her. "The mask you wear serves its purpose well, but be careful not to lose yourself in it."

Then The Cat stared even deeper into Lightning.

"Your burden is not here. But it is far larger than any other's."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

The four of them appeared back in front of the clock.

Mulder looked at Lightning. She looked… like she did when he found her. Except for the eyepatch, of course. "Why are you-"

"I'm not Monica anymore." Lightning said, turning away from Mulder. "I am Lightning."

Ford was staring at her with an expression of surprise. "No… you are Claire..."

Lightning let out an amused smirk. "Finally figure that out did you old man? Kudos to you. Now let's move."

Mulder and Applejack exchanged glances. "Are we missing something?" Mulder asked.

"Yes." Lightning said. "And it's none of your business."

The Cat nodded to them. "You must go. Through that door your trial awaits."

The group walked down the forward hallway, facing a bloody door.

Ford reached and pulled it open.

Through it was a hallway composed entirely of muscle. Living, pulsing, muscle.

Mulder realized they were being sucked in different directions, into the muscle.

"Everyone grab ahold of each other!"

Lightning grabbed ahold of Applejack, Ford grabbing ahold of Mulder. Mulder and Lighting attempted to grab ahold of each other's hands, but they were sucked into the walls far too quickly.

A horrid laughed filled their brains.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Mulder and Ford were standing on nothing. Complete blackness.

THIS IS THE FUTURE… THE FATE YOU WILL BRING ABOUT.

Ford whirled around. "Who's there? Show yourselves!"

DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE YOUR OWN MADNESS? SURELY AFTER THIRTY YEARS OF CONSTANT COMPANIONSHIP YOU COULD AT LEAST RECOGNIZE MY VOICE!

"No! I am not insane! I won't be fooled by the likes of you!"

FINE. BUT YOU WILL BRING ABOUT THE END. YOU ALREADY HAVE. AND YOU CAN DO NOTHING TO STOP IT.

Ford glared at the empty space. "I will not let my past control me!"

YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE.

Ford didn't have a response to this.

Mulder jumped in. "You can't get both of us."

BOTH OF YOU HAVE THE SAME WEAKNESS. YOU BOTH FEAR THE END. YOU BOTH FEAR THAT YOU CAN DO NOTHING.

Mulder stared onward. "I used to think I could do nothing. I used to believe it was all pointless. But there is hope now, just as there always was! I have allies in my fight! Friends! Even people who are enemies will fight against the end! We will be strong!"

The voice roared. YOU WILL NOT STOP IT, YOU WILL BRING IT ABOUT!

Ford regained his strength. "You are nothing more than a demon of the mind! I have faced one much, much stronger than you! Your kind lies! Nothing but lies!"

It screamed. YOU WILL NOT STAND AGAINST ME-

NO, THEY WON'T, BUT I WILL!

A triangle-shaped hole ripped through the fabric of reality, opening a portal to a realm of stars. The edges lit on fire, and a single eye opened. "HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!" The triangle solidified, turned yellow, and gained a top hat and bow tie. "You need to take some dream demon lessons my friend! Take it from me, Sixer here is NOT easy to mess with. Trust me, I barely succeeded, and I'm much stronger than you. Now be a good boy, heed your warning and go back into the astral doghouse you sleep in."

WHY DO YOU HELP THEM?

"I have my reasons. My plans. The six-fingered moron happens to be very important, and I can't just have you mess with him."

A red wall rose in front of the triangle man, made up of bones and organs of all sorts of living things.

I AM THE WALL OF TRAUMA, THE FORCE OF FEAR, THE OBSTACLE OF FAULT, THE-

"Yada yada yada, you are all powerful. You are pretty strong, I give you that, but sorry buttercup." He snapped his fingers, and the Wall vanished. "I'm on a whole other level." They were back in the clock room. "In all fairness, you might have overcome him Sixer. Maybe. But I couldn't take the chance." He turned to Mulder. "Your mind is mine, watch out for smoothies, the hamburgers lie, pomegranates! BYE!" Then he vanished.

There was no cat. There was no threshold of consciousness. The door wasn't covered in blood.

Ford and Mulder exchanged a blank look, then continued on in silence. Into yet another room.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Lightning was riding Applejack through a maze of corridors, running from something they couldn't see. The walls were black, the fog red, and various disturbing symbols lined the constantly changing walls.

"What are we running from?" Applejack asked.

Lightning stole a glance behind her. There was nothing but red fog. "I have no idea!"

Applejack skidded to a halt. "Then why are we stil running?"

Lightning stopped running, considering this.

An image appeared in front of them. A being that looked like a big clock with a face in the center. It was composed entirely of blood and bones.

"Orphan." Lightning said with distaste.

I AM ORPHAN, BACK FROM THE GRAVE. MY DEATH WAS ONLY THE FIRST PART OF THE PLAN. YOU WILL BOW TO YOUR DESTINY, AND GOD WILL RETURN!

"We defied your plan." Lightning took aim with her sabre. "And my destiny will never be run by someone else EVER AGAIN!"

Lightning's eyepatch flashed an amethyst color, and the bullet from the sabre cut right through the Orphan Conglomeration.

WHAT? The voice said in surprise.

Lightning smirked. "That was easy."

Then a pony composed of the signature blood and bones appeared in front of them.

Applejack gasped. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Rainbow Dash" walked right past them, an evil look on her face. Beside Applejack appeared a strange conglomeration, the head of a pony (or horse), two unusual horns, limbs and tail of completely random animals, and an overall snakelike body (although it had bloody fur.)

OHO! LOOK AT THE ONE WHO RUINED EVERYTHING!

"Shut up Discord. You know where I stand."

OH I DO, I DO, BUT I SIMPLY MUST POINT OUT SOMETHING… In a flash of light, the "Discord" appeared over "Rainbow Dash" YOU SEE THIS PEGASUS? HERE SHE IS, SIGNING THE DOCUMENT THAT SEALED YOUR FRIEND'S FATE! His face became livid. MY FRIEND'S FATE. Then he appeared over "Rainbow Dash" as she filed the bloody piece of paper into a file cabinet that just appeared. BUT WHO AM I TO JUDGE. SHE HAD REMORSE AFTERWARD, SHE TRIED TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO WAY SHE COULD.

"You shut yer trap! She tried her best!"

WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING A MASS MURDERER? BY YOUR OWN LAWS-

"Shut it Discord! I don't care one bit! I forgave her back then and I forgive her now!"

BUT WE DON'T FORGIVE YOU FOR FORGIVING HER. Behind "Discord" appeared other ponies, all people Applejack knew.

WE HATE YOU APPLEJACK!

Lightning stood up, slicing her blade at the ponies. "Don't listen to them!"

"But.. It's true!" Applejack said, obviously stricken. "They DO hate me!"

Lightning's face faltered. She had no idea what the circumstances were. She barely knew anything about this orange apple horse.

"Let them hate you."

Applejack looked up, tears in her eyes. "What?"

"Let them." Lightning sheathed her sword. "If you did what was right, if you did what you believe to be true, then SCREW everyone else!"

YOU ARE AN ANNOYANCE TO ME. "Discord" walked up to Lightning. YOU HAVE SOME STRANGE IDEA IN YOUR BRAIN THAT YOUR ACTIONS AREN'T PREDETERMINED. NEWS FLASH. YOU ARE IN MY WORLD. I CONTROL EVERYTHING. YOUR DESTINY IS MINE.

Lightning stared "Discord" right in his bloody face. "Nope." Her eyepatch flashed amethyst, and she cut right through him.

"Discord" screamed in agony. NEVER HAS ANYONE BEEN THIS… RESISTANT TO ME! HOW? HOW?

Lightning stood, impassive. "I make my own destiny. NEVER try to tell me otherwise." The "Discord" collapsed into a puddle in front of her, only to reform behind Applejack.

DON'T LISTEN TO HER, YOU ONLY MET HER! YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE FORGIVEN HER! LOOK AT THE PAIN SHE CAUSED!

Applejack glared. "You of all people should understand reformation Discord. Now I know this isn't really you, but if I don't forgive her, I should kick you out as well!"

I NEVER KILLED ANYONE! AND PLUS, THAT DOESN'T MATTER. THE OTHERS STILL TAKE MY SIDE-

"I don't think they do." She transformed into her rainbow form. "And as for you, Lightning's right, I did the right thing. No matter what anybody thinks, I will stand strong."

And she bucked "Discord" into oblivion. With the power of rainbows.

Applejack returned to normal and smiled at "Rainbow Dash" sadly. "I should never focus on how this affects me. Your life is much worse."

"Rainbow Dash" vanished.

"Come on. We gotta move. We need to find that friend The Cat told us about."

Lightning sighed. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I think I'll be more than okay." Applejack looked ahead in the distance. "We've got one more thing to do."

They found the Doctor, cowering in fear from a bloody conglomeration who was raising a knife over him. YOU. ARE. A. MONSTER.

The Doctor cowered. "I am…"

Applejack bucked the conglomeration away. "Well Doc, I sure didn't expect it to be you. I may not be qualified, but I'm here to help."

The Doctor looked up sadly. "Why would I deserve help? My world burned. My galaxy ruined. And not only could I not do anything, I actually helped CAUSE it."

"So what? You've done so much more for the good of the universes!"

The Doctor looked up. "Are you insane? Blast it all! I could have caused the destruction of everything in reality!"

"But you didn't. You TRIED to help. Isn't that all that matters, in the end?"

The Doctor stared. "No… I must do more-"

"Son, you have already done lots. I know. I'm sorta new in the dimensional traveling business, compared to you anyway, and I hear grand tales of your heroism everywhere. Your dedication to life and beauty everywhere in the universe. You are the hero of the Universes. People are capable of forgiveness. And I can say, right now, that even if I knew the details of what it is that you did, I would still forgive you."

"How can you say that?"
Applejack turned to Lightning, smiling. "Because I've forgiven someone before. And I don't care what anyone else will think."

The Doctor stopped for a moment to think. Then he stood it.

"Good golly you're right! What the heck am I doing sitting here like a baby? I am the DOCTOR! I heal the multiverse! I do not stand idly while things are destroyed!"

He stood up to his full height. "DO YOU HEAR ME? I AM THE DOCTOR!"

And with that, the three of them were back in the room with the clock.

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TICK.

Lightning, Applejack, and the Doctor all burst out laughing.

Behind them, a certain one eyed triangle watched.

That had been very interesting.

Very interesting indeed.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

ERROR 002313FB_GEL

CANNOT RELEASE TWICE.

EXIT THROUGH EXPRESS.

Ba'al started at the piece of paper in his hand. He absolutely abhorred being toyed with. "This is outright insulting."

"I think that's the idea, Ba'al." He managed to say "Ba'al" with such a forceful breath that it grated against Ba'al's ears like a sandstone brick.

Ba'al threw his hand wide. "Look at this. We've been through dozens of rooms and nothing's happened aside from the occasional cardboard cutout!" He waved the cardboard skeleton in the air. "We've got to do something else…"

Sisko had an idea. "How about… we sit here and refuse to play the game?"

Ba'al stroked his beard. That wasn't that bad of a plan.

He sat down. "Good. We shall sit here."

The two men sat in silence for almost an hour.

"Shall we continue our earlier conversation?" Ba'al asked.

"What?"

"The wormhole to the Milky Way."

"Oh." Sisko said, realizing what Ba'al was doing. "I see… what was it?"

"I offered to tell you its location, in exchange for something."

"And what was that thing you wanted?"

Ba'al smiled. "I simply want to be allowed free reign to travel to Terra as I wish, freedom to go to and from the world as I please."

Sisko squinted. "You're playing at something."

"Of course I am. But I have something you want, and there's nothing harmful to you if I am allowed on Terra."

Sisko nodded. "I guess I could do something about that. IF we get back."

"You're a good man."

Sisko rolled his eyes at this. Right. A good man. Ba'al was a master manipulator, and he knew that Sisko knew that, making for a very dangerous game.

The two of them suddenly heard a noise like the raspy winds in an old forest.

The entrance door creaked open, revealing a floating red skull attached to what appeared to be a small part of the shoulders. It turned towards them, floating over, its mouth outstretched. It appeared to be made of clay. Blood-red clay.

Sisko and Ba'al took that as a sign: Get the freak out.

As soon as they entered the express tunnel, it stopped following them.

Sisko punched the wall. So the house had a way to make sure you kept moving. "Looks like we don't have a choice…"

Ba'al growled. "If I ever get my hands on that ghost girl…"

"Hi!"

Ba'al jumped at Spooky's sudden appearance. "You! YOU DARE IMPRISON LORD BA'AL?"

"You walked in the door."

Ba'al glared.

Spooky twirled her knife. "Anyway, just came in to see how you were doing."

"This is nothing more than a joke." Sisko said, visibly angry. "You're no better than Q!"

"Now now, Benjy, I don't want to be compared to the likes of her…" In a flash, Q was standing in front of them. As usual, the all-powerful energy being had an aloof expression on his face, as if vaguely amused by reality. He wore an outfit that suggested he had just been in Hawaii.

"I've just come from Bermuda. Wonderful place in this time. A tad slow with service…" Q made the getup vanish, getting into his regular starfleet uniform, nearly identical to that of Sisko. "So, Benjy and Balls, how are you enjoying your stay?"

Ba'al was bout to make an indignant remark about the name Balls when Spooky interrupted. "They're enjoying it just fine. And if you don't leave-"

"You'll do what? Poke me with your Bowie knife of extra blood? OHO! Don't make me laugh little spirit, I could make your entire house fold up into a pin. I could burn half of it down with a thought…"

Spooky glared. "What's half of infinity Q?"

"What?"

"INF***INGFINITY."

Q glared. "I could just as easily burn the entire house. Infinities, schminities. My dear Spoopy-"

"SPOOPY?" Sisko and Ba'al saw, in that moment, true evil behind that cute face. "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME SPOOP-"

"Go back to your LION-DOS little girl, I'm not here to squabble with you." With a flash, Spooky was gone. "Now Benjy, let's talk."

"How about you just take us back to Terra?"

"Goodness me that wouldn't be very considerate now would it? Not very sporting of Spoopy's generous hospitality."

Sisko tried his best to keep his anger under control. "NOW YOU LISTEN HERE Q, I DON'T WANT TO SAY THIS TWI-"

"Wow Benjy, what a failure to control that temper of yours. In fact, just because of that I'm not going to give you the help I was planning on. I'll just be here to do my more important business. Toodeloo!"

He vanished.

Ba'al blinked. "Toodeloo?"

"Don't ask." Sisko said through his hands.

Ba'al shrugged. He was not having a good time. And now there were these godlike beings who were on a completely different level than him. Maybe one day he would find that power.

He smiled. He knew the power existed, so there must be a way to obtain it…

Spooky returned. "As I was SAYING before I was so rudely interrupted by mister de suck, the way forward has been fixed up for you. Just ignore the out of order door, it doesn't go anywhere. Toodeloo!"

Ba'al blinked. "Toodeloo? Does this mean something in the language of humans?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself…" Sisko muttered. He then proceeded to walk right up to the OUT OF ORDER door and kick it in. Ba'al glanced around. Nobody was there, except a painting of Spooky in knight's armor looking very important and sure of herself.

Somebody has an ego, Ba'al thought.

Inside the OUT OF ORDER room was an interesting sight. There was a large device mounted on a wall. It was triangle shaped, and had a circle nested inside it with sixteen symbols around the edge. Sisko thought some of them vaguely looked like astronomical symbols. On the ceiling and floor around the triangle were four discs. Aside from the strange device, there were lots of consoles and readout screens.

Sisko and Ba'al had no clue what any of it meant. They just continued on through a door behind the device.

A few rooms later, they ended up…

...outside. In what appeared to be a forest. There were lots of really tall trees, grass, and even a rabbit. The vegetation, however, was more yellowish than green.

They looked behind them. They appeared to have just come out of an outhouse.

Ba'al decided to start walking first. "I can't see the sun… Just some light coming from above the trees…"

Sisko nodded. The forest did seem kind of neat and tidy, not particularly natural. It was also deathly quiet, nearly always a bad sign.

After a while of aimless walking, they came to a shed. Inside were some basic living supplies, firewood, and a pair of axes. They picked them up. There was no telling when they might need axes instead of their energy weapons.

"I think I saw some deer outside." Ba'al observed. "Perhaps we could hunt? We will need food."

Sisko nodded. "That seems good."

The two went out into the forest, looking for prey. They soon found their target: a cute deer, sitting in the open, grazing on the grass.

Sisko felt remorse for having to kill the creature. Ba'al did not.

"AIEEEEE!" He yelled, brandishing the axe.

"YOU COULD JUST USE YOUR WEAP-" Sisko never got to finish the sentence.

The deer turned to Ba'al and opened its mouth wide, revealing razor sharp teeth. As Ba'al embedded the axe into its neck, it bit deep into Ba'al's arm. Ba'al yelled in pain as the deer slumped to the ground, lifeless.

Sisko ran up. "Are you alri-"

"I'm FINE D*****. Just grab it and get back to the shed. That is DEFINITELY NOT A DEER."

Sisko nodded. They dragged the deer back to the shed, and Ba'al found some cloth in a dresser to wrap around his arm.

After a few minutes, the two men looked at each other.

"We have to get out of here."

They grabbed the axes and ran out into the forest. They made a break for it, running as fast as their legs would carry them.

Something stopped them. In front of them was a creature of the darkness, a Beast. It's head seemed to be a combination of wood and bone, formed into the shape of a deer skull with many angled antlers and deep, piercing, white eyes. It wore a dark cloak, covering it's presumably humanoid body. It reached out with a wood-bone hand. "Join us." The Beast said. As he did, violent images flashed across the consciousness of Sisko and Ba'al. "Your flesh will sustain my soul, and that of my children."

The flashing images went through their brains again. JOIN. JOIN.

Ba'al lost it, drawing his Zat gun and firing.

The Beast simply began to slowly laugh. "Violence is delicious." He moved forward and grabbed Ba'al by the throat. "You will make a fine Edelwood tree, Lord Ba'al…"

Before Sisko's eyes, Ba'al transformed slowly into a tree, his face contorting and screaming. Unlike the ordered and tall trees of the forest, this Edelwood tree was shorter and much more disturbing. White wisps of energy flowed away from the tree.

As this occurred, the beast spoke.

And I saw, from eyes that were not mine.

And I felt, with a fear I could not reason.

They watch us, they invade us.

And keep us happy, committing treason.

To a King we didn't deserve.

To a Son who waits weeping.

That I knew, from knowledge gained while sleeping.

The Beast laughed, turning to Sisko. "Now, my child, JOIN."

Sisko had an idea. He dropped his axe and phaser. "No. I will not join."

The Beast reached out with his hand, flooding Sisko's mind with images. He just stood, taking it all.

"Your submission is inevitable."

"I don't think so." Sisko simply turned around, and walked away.

The Beast roared. "My children! GET HIM."

Sisko broke into a run. Don't exercise violence. That's what he feeds on. He heard the deer closing in on him, snarling.

"Having fun yet Benjy?" Q asked, floating on a lounge couch beside Sisko.

"Get out." Sisko growled.

"Do you hear that? I think that's the deer picking up on your violent intentions!"

Sisko took calming breaths, dodging a charging deer.

"Allright Q, I get the point."

"Splendid!" Q said, clapping his hands.

All the deer ran straight into invisible walls. Q laughed. "Oh priceless! Animals are always humorous when they run into invisible things!"

Sisko kept running, and eventually came to a door. He turned to look behind him.

He saw the Beast standing in the forest, staring at him. Q waved at the Beast. "See you later Deer God!" And with that, Q vanished.

Sisko opened the door into the next room. He didn't even particularly care why Q had bothered to help him. He might not have even needed it.

The Beast shrugged. So one got away. That wasn't bad. There would be more.

Spooky kept up on her promises.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Wendy and Ty Lee were walking through the forest. Ty Lee was having the time of her life. "I don't CARE if this is just another room in the house! NO CARDBOARD CUTOUTS."

Wendy rolled her eyes.

"Hey, that tree looks different." She said, pointing at a short and gnarled tree. Upon closer inspection, it almost seemed like it had a face.

Around it were two axes, a strange white boxy thing, and a futuristic gun.

Wendy and Ty Lee instantly went to pick up the axes. Ty Looked at the gun, and decided against it. She didn't like guns.

Then the deer attacked.

They never stood a chance against Ty Lee. She let out an "AIYEE!" and with a speedy combination of axe swings, kicks, and directed punches, she butchered the deer into a million pieces.

Covered in deer blood, she stood up and looked back at Wendy. Her smile looked like it was from right out of a horror game. "Well, that's taken care of. Shall we move on?"

Wendy stared back in fear. "Yeah sure. Whatever…" She stared at the bodies of dozens of deer around them. She shuddered. Those teeth.

They found the exit door, and entered a large room with a high ceiling. The walls seemed to be covered in some kind of ancient language. They poked their heads into a side room with the same design to find a record player.

Wendy walked up to it. "This better not be a lame song that's going to get stuck in my head…" She started the record.

It was classical music. Calming, classical music. It went into her mind, seemingly telling her to calm down. Relax. It worked.

Ty Lee glared at the record. "I don't trust it."

Wendy rolled her eyes. "It's just soothing music. More music could be cool like this."

Ty Lee frowned. "I swear I see a spectre of some sort standing on the player."

Wendy turned behind her. She saw nothing. "Um… right…" She grabbed Ty Lee by the collar. "Let's just move."

As they progressed to the exit door, they heard a voice.

"Your mind will consent, and join with me…"

They turned to see the Beast standing in the room.

Ty Lee lunged at him with her axe. "LEMME AT IM!"

Wendy squinted her eyes. "I don't think so. I think…" She kicked the door open. "We should run!"

The Beast sighed. There were two ways to avoid him: have no violence, or run.

Perhaps he would chase them this time.

He sent out the images, causing Ty Lee to howl in rage. Wendy just winced, but continued to run. During the chase, an entire conversation took place.

"Why do you run, children?"

"NOT MY CHOICE!" Ty Lee roared. "I WANT TO GIVE YOU A TASTE OF MY AXE AND PUNCHES!"

Wendy shook her head. What was happening to Ty Lee? "I'm sorry dude, but I'm going to have to keep running."

"JOIN US."

"Nope, sorry dude. Not happenin."

"Then how about this. Come to me, and try to kill me. Make your struggle valliant."

"THAT SOUNDS GREAT!"

"Ty Lee! He's trying to manipulate us! Be cool!"

Ty Lee's face went blank for a moment. At that point in time, NOT attacking seemed like a total contradiction to her nature.

Then she realized.

"I have a PINK Aura!" She brightened up, leaping to her feet, grabbing Wendy, and running. "Let's get out of here!"

The Beast sighed. It wasn't worth it. He needed to get back to the forest and make more of his children to guard the wood. He trudged back to his room.

Ty Lee's suddenly sane and thoughtful personality didn't last very long, however, as a cardboard cutout shot out of the wall with an AIEEEEEE. This cutout resembled a mangled, bloody face, screaming. Not cute in any way.

Ty Lee's face darkened, and she chopped the cutout into a million pieces. "TAKE THAT."

Wendy saw her friend once more, deer blood still all over her, looking more mad than the mad hatter at a shoe party.

Ty Lee grabbed Wendy. "Come! Let's go!" She pranced away, axe in hand, Wendy in the other.

Wendy pondered what she could possibly have done to warrant this happening to her. Not only was she in a haunted house, but her companion was slowly going nuts.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ford whooped. "Look Mulder! A CAT-DOS! I wonder what information it has on it!"

In front of them was a large black rectangular object with a red screen and a keypad. Sure enough, the screen said CAT-DOS.

SPECIMEN_6 displayed the puppet, which had 189 fatalities, and was deemed effective against those with vision impairments. Mulder and Ford shuddered at the memory.

SPECIMEN_7 was described as a constantly form-changing mind creature that was only effective against subjects with past trauma. It usually took the form of a moving wall.

Ford and Mulder shuddered at this memory even more. It was one of the most terrifying things they had ever encountered. It only had 93 fatalities, though that was probably due to the fact that not that many subjects would have past trauma.

SPECIMEN_8 appeared to be some kind of boney/wooden humanoid deer skeleton. 149 fatalities, proven extremely effective against violent subjects.

Ford typed this entry into his jpad. There was no knowing when, or if, they'd encounter this Deer God.

Where the SPECIMEN_9 file should have been, there was a corrupted file.

"Hold on." Ford said. "Lemme see if I can save the file…" He cracked his fingers together, and began typing madly.

In a few minutes, he managed to get a file that kept flickering in and out.

SPECIMEN_9

Type: Exterminated

Total Fatalities: 362

Method: Unknown

A small skull shaped mass of clay that seemed to gain more form as subjects were TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN

…

Specimen was deemed too hard to contain and was killed and dismantled by GL Labs.

Mulder and Ford, however, noticed that something kept flickering on and off in the background.

TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO

Ford recorded his findings in the jPad. "I have the feeling that this skull entity wasn't really destroyed. It is probably responsible for the file's contamination."

Mulder nodded. "I think it's probably the specimen we want to run into the least. Three-hundred and sixty two… that's much more than any of the others…"

SPECIMEN_10, the last file on this CAT-DOS, showed a file about a docile eel like thing for a moment before displaying the following message:

Error Wrong Specimen Display: 0001842167F

Ford raised his eyebrow. "Well that's curious."

"Perhaps ten was replaced? Or in the process of being replaced?"

"Maybe we'll find out."

"I sure hope we don't…"

The two men marched out of the room, deeper into the house.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Lightning, Applejack, and the Doctor had found the most annoying room of all.

The puzzle room.

It was obviously a single room, with four ways out, each obscured by white fog. Whenever someone went through one of the doors, they'd enter a room that was exactly identical to the one before. An infinite maze.

They'd been wandering around aimlessly for a while. They even tried to split up, but they all ended up in the same room. Somehow.

"So…" the Doctor said, looking at the four doors. "When I go forward, I get a nice happy bing noise, but when I go forward again, I get a bad bing noise…"

Lightning put her hand in her fist. "We must need to go through the doors in the right sequence to find the exit."

Applejack facehoofed. "I suggested that ten minutes ago!"

The Doctor grinned. "Allons-y!" He leapt through the doors, time after time, trying to find the correct sequence.

It turned out to be forward, left, right, left.

"WOO! Door! Exit!" The Doctor grabbed it and threw it open, revealing a dark room.

Lightning cast fira in her hand, creating a light. The twirling flames danced, illuminating the area.

They appeared to be in some kind of high tech, albeit powered down, facility. The Doctor poked around. "Well, there's a lot of crates and monitors around, but the power isn't on. So normally we wouldn't be able to get anywhere… howEVER…" from inside his jacket, he produced a small cylindrical device. "This, ladies is known as a SONIC SCREWDRIVER!" He turned it on, and it lit up with a blue light. He used it to open one of the unpowered doors. "There we go. Shall we ladies?"

They nodded.

Applejack looked left and right. "All clear."

"Good. Allons-y!"

"Are ya ever gonna stop sayin' that?"

The Doctor looked at Applejack like she was crazy.

"Yeah thought not."

As they walked further into the depths, they didn't realize that something was following them.

Something old, and golden.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Mulder was standing around being useless. "Ford, do you have the generator working yet?"

"It's not as simple as pushing a button Mulder! Generators for old abandoned facilities are complicated devices! Luckily I know my way around… THERE! Got it!" He closed the door.

"How do we turn it on?"

"We push that button." Ford said.

Mulder gave him a 'seriously?' look.

Ford sighed, proceeding to use his hand to smash the button.

The lights slowly turned on, illuminating the lab. The screens turned on, and the power doors consoles lit up.

Mulder walked up to one of the screens. "Let's see here…"

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

The Doctor was glaring at the lights. Now his fancy sonic screwdriver was completely useless, all the doors just WORKED.

Lightning shrugged. "I'm not complaining." She tapped one of the door consoles, and the door slid up into the ceiling easily. "See? Easy."

Applejack looked up. "I can't see the screen… is anything important on it?"

The Doctor facepalmed. "I dunno, but your race IS capable of standing on their hind legs for a while you know?"

"Oh. Shoot. Forgot that." She stood up, wobbling. "Better."

Lightning tapped a button on the screen, and a video started to play. A young man appeared on the screen.

"I am… well I'm just a lab assistant, my name isn't that important. This is video log one. Spooky and I have entered the old GL Labs facility. Oddly enough it seems to have been constructed with a much larger budget than the other GL Labs. Power doors, generators, and even a ventilation system! But, being an old lab, nothing works right. I can see why it was abandoned. I wonder if there really is anything worth salvaging."

"Hi again! Next report. We got the power back on, though everything still looks as boring as ever. The equipment doesn't seem quite right, almost as if it were designed for people without hands." In the video, the lights began to flicker and went out. "DRAT! Spooky! We've got another power outage!"

"Recording three… I'm beginning to think one of the things we need to salvage is an abandoned specimen. I really hope I'm not just bait."

"The power's off again. I'm making another recording out of boredom."

The video feed changed again, this time to Spooky.

"Oh. Hi. Video feed. Great. Never liked these things. Hi. If you're seeing this then… Uh…" She turned away from the camera. "What would that mean…" She had a moment of realization. "Oh! It means you found where it was stored! Right!" She frowned. "Darn it Spooky that was dumb…" She glared at the screen. "What are you looking at?"

The video cut again, this time to show the young assistant, but he seemed… sick. His skin was yellow, and it seemed slimy.

"I… don't know what to do… I can't think well. I feel strange. I'm hiding from that thing. That eel. It looks terrifying. It MUST be deadly…

I feel like something is growing on my skin…. ALL my skin...

I can't seem to tear it off fast enough… and I'm loosing a lot of blood…

I'm posting these videos to the entire facility network… maybe someone will see them…"

After a few moments of silence, he screamed, before falling out of the video frame.

A horrid screech filled the video, and the feed showed something with rows upon rows of teeth.

Then nothing but static.

Sisko took a deep breath.

He had seen this movie.

Heck, he had lived this movie.

Alien creature with lots of teeth.

Absolutely wonderful.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Mulder looked away from the video feed. "Something OTHER than the eel thing is here."

"If we see the eel thing, let's befriend it." Ford remarked. "It might be a good ally."

"Good thinking."

Then the power went out.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"Bloody brilliant this is!" The Doctor yelled, sarcastically.

Lightning rolled her eye. "Just use your magic screwdriver."

The Doctor rolled his eyes in return. "It's not magic, blimey!"

"Did ya just say 'blimey'?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah? So?"

"Nothin."

The Doctor led the way, opening another door.

Behind them, golden fingers pried open a vent cover.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

The power was out.

The only way to go was through the vents, seeing as the doors no longer worked.

Mulder groaned. He'd had far too many bad experiences with ventilation systems.

Apparently, Ford had not had those same experiences. "Come on Mulder! Adventure awaits."

Mulder slid a hand across his face slowly. This was just excellent. He groaned and followed the old adventurer through the vents. It was cramped.

Mulder thought about making a 'cramping his style' joke, but decided against it. He wasn't that cheesy.

Ford, however, had other plans. "Wow this really is cramping my style!"

Mulder groaned.

They crawled through the vents, noticing patches of red that were suspiciously bloodlike. Mulder didn't even know why he was labeling it bloodlike at this point. It was almost certainly blood, why bother adding like to the word?

They eventually came out in another generator room.

Mulder just hit the button this time, turning the power on instantly.

"See? Sometimes it IS that simple!"

Mulder jumped as he saw the eel thing come out of the vents. It was long, silvery, and had a face that looked somewhat like a snake's skull. Then he relaxed. It might look scary, but it was snuggling up to his leg.

Ford patted the land eel's head. "Good boy. You'll protect us from that tooth monster won't you?"

The eel bobbed its head up and down.

At that point, Sisko crawled out of the vents.

The men stared at each other.

Ford blinked. "Well I haven't seen you before."

Mulder shrugged. "Neither have I. Are you part of this house, or are you yet another victim? You see I'm often not entirely sure which is which."

Sisko blinked. People who were talking and reasonable. Granted, they had a weird snake thing around them, but it didn't seem hostile. "I am Captain Benjamin Sisko of Terran Starfleet. I was taken here by a strange oak door. My companion, a lord Ba'al, has already been killed."

Ford's eyes widened. "You were here with Lord Ba'al?"

"Why yes. You know him?"

"The snake's a b******"

Sisko cocked his head. "Snake? He seemed humanoid-"

"The Goa'uld are parasites. The humanoid was his host." Ford grumbled. "Well, at least he's dead. That's good. Why was he with you anyway?"

"We were discussing his presence on Terra-"

Ford scratched his chin. "Now why have I never heard of Terra, I've explored the multiverse extensively…"

Sisko shrugged. "It's kinda new? In the empty sectors?"

Ford's eyes widened. "The empty sectors? Andromeda Galaxy? The Empire?"

"Yes…?"

Ford began to pace frantically as he typed in things on his jPad. "That's amazing… he's been transported millions of light years!" He paused. "How in the hay did Ba'al get to the Andromeda Galaxy?"

Sisko shrugged. He didn't have to tell these people anything about the wormhole.

Mulder's eyes widened. "Wait. If he got here, can he go back?"

"Why should I know?" Ford grunted.

"That means… Lightning might be able to get back to where her sister is!"

"Possible. That's assuming this wasn't a one-way-trip."

Mulder smiled. "I like having ho-"

The three men were interrupted when the eel started making crunching noises. They watched in horror as the thing's skull cracked open, and a strange gooey two-legged mass emerged from the eel. It didn't have any eyes, but all three of them suddenly felt like their souls were being taken apart piece by piece, examined under a microscope.

Ford drew his gun, firing a laser. The parasite reeled in pain, exposing a gaping mouth in its center, lined with rows upon rows of teeth.

"Well that did next to nothing…" Ford muttered. "Why is everything so resistant here?"

Mulder grabbed him. "Questions later, run now."

They took off through a door, entering the next room.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

The Doctor put his sonic screwdriver to his mouth in thought. "This looks like an exit door."

Lightning glanced around, unsure. "This is usually the point where we encounter some creature or beast or something…"

The three waited for a moment, but nothing happened. There was just them, the facility, and an exit door.

Applejack let out an annoyed sigh. "Just open the darn door."

The Doctor moved in slowly, hand outstretched. The door creaked open.

Through the door, the three simply saw another normal room. Brick walls lined with torches.

Lightning scratched her head. "Okay then…"

Then they heard it. A the sound of loud, metallic, footsteps. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

The creature behind them was golden-green, reflecting the light off and giving the surrounding area a sickening color. The skin was battered, decrepit, and very, very old. The face was that of a rabbit's, tortured and scarred almost beyond recognition. The two segmented rabbit ears poked out of the head, giving the creature the appearance of being much taller. The arms had metallic joints instead of shoulders and elbows, showcasing the creature's artificial nature. The chest had various large holes in it, showing the wired, metallic, and disorganized inside.

The creature's teeth were many in number, and flat.

But the eyes were the worst part.

They seemed alive. Little white pinpricks of life, not mechanical in any way.

It, no he, smelled of death, decay, and bad oil.

The Doctor's jaw dropped. "Springtrap…" He shook his head. "Wait that's not possible I locked you away in… unless you… oh of course. This house must've taken you from your prison using the door. Dimensional surging…"

Springtrap moved forward, his hands outstretched.

Lightning growled. "Enough running." She sliced at Springtrap. He ducked, although Lightning managed to cut one of his ears in half. A strange swirling mist escaped from the place where she and Springtrap made contact, conglomerating in between them, forming an unnatural sphere.

Lightning could swear she heard Springtrap laugh. He rushed forward faster than a machine like that should have, grabbing Lightning by the coat.

Their eyes met in that moment, connecting.

The mist began to thicken, swirling around the two of them. Getting larger, thicker, more ominous.

The Doctor rushed in and pulled Lightning away. "Get out of there! That's not a normal mist!"

Applejack nodded. "No sayin' what it's doin' to ya!"

Lightning grumbled. That meant they had to run. Great. She was getting tired of that.

She hesitated only for a moment, then followed her two friends. Fighting seemed to not solve anything in this mansion.

Springtrap made a noise that resembled screaming and metal scraping against a conveyer belt. He ran after them.

Shadows of forgotten nightmares began to swirl around them. Strange burnt humanoid robotic shadows would appear in front of them and scream, only to vanish instantly afterwards.

Springtrap was playing with their minds, trying to get them to slow.

The shadows stopped when they arrived in a room with a desk, chair, fan, and phone.

The phone began to ring.

The Doctor picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hello." The voice of some girl responded.

"Um yeah. Who is this?" The Doctor asked.

"...Hi."

"...What?"

"...Hello? Hello!"

"...What?"

"...Um yes Hi."

"...What?"

"...Hellloooooo."

"...What?"

"...Hello."

"...What?"

"...I don't think you should look directly into the fan…"

Instantly, the Doctor looked directly at the fan. it just buzzed.

"Hello."

The Doctor hung up. He was silent for a while.

Then he spoke.

"What?"

Applejack and Lightning exchanged glances. Then they saw Springtrap again, screeching and pointing his golden finger at them.

They got out of there fast.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Sisko, Mulder, and Ford ran down the hallway. The thing was somehow affecting their minds, using its nonexistent eyes to study them on a subatomic level. It was intelligent.

In their minds a message played on repeat, digging into their psyche.

You will have nothing to fear!

You will have nothing to think!

Follow your selfish desires!

Follow your natural instinct!

After all you're just an animal.

It's much easier than trying to think!

"It's like it WANTS us to run away…" Mulder muttered.

Ford shrugged. "Well I'm not going to let it come up and hug me am I?"

Then Mulder and Ford heard something different.

You are more than just an animal.

Use the soul you've been given.

And be responsible for your actions.

Mulder and Ford exchanged glances. The Cat was talking to them. How, they had no idea. But they knew it was The Cat.

Ford and Mulder instantly stopped running, and turned around to face the creature. Mulder drew his weapon, and Ford lit his gloves up.

"What are you doing?" Sisko yelled. "It's a parasite! It'll infect you!"

"It WANTS us to run." Ford said.

"We won't give it what it wants."

Sisko shook his head. They were crazy. He continued running.

The parasite laughed inside. Finally. One was far enough away. It shrieked, revealing its giant mouth with many rows of teeth. Out of its mouth poured a really fast leech-like creature. It rushed right between Ford and Mulder, not giving them a second thought, even as a bullet punctured its skin. It would feed on this man.

Sisko ran faster than he had ever ran before in his life. But it wasn't enough. The parasite was faster, mouth outstretched. It closed around him. Sisko yelled in pain.

Ford leapt onto the parasite with his gloves, shooting electricity through it. This also went into Sisko, causing him to scream in pain even more. The parasite released itself from Sisko, trembling.

Ford drew a gun and fired laser after laser at the incapacitated parasite. It eventually was reduced to a pile of ashes.

Mulder helped Sisko to his feet. He was weak, but that was to be expected from a man who had just been shocked with enough electricity to revive a person.

Ford looked back at the humanoid parasite, its mouth agape. Ford rushed the creature, hands outstretched. "CLEAR!" He yelled.

The parasite writhed in agony, collapsing in a heap. Ford then proceeded to give in the same treatment the leech got. He blew the smoke off his gun dramatically.

"There we go." He said.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Mulder questioned.

"If the parasite was for some reason immune to my gloves, I could have lost a hand. Comprende? I took a risk when I shocked it on Sisko."

The next room they went into was a CAT-DOS room. Ford accessed it, finding only one piece of new information.

SPECIMEN_10

Type: Active

Total Fatalities: 245

Method: Parasitic Infections

A form changing creature that is believed to be an extraterrestrial, though it was not officially proven. Proved very effective on most subjects. But deemed to difficult to contain. The specimen broke out of its containment area due to frequent electrical malfunctions.

Mulder threw his hands in the air. "Sure. NOW we get this information. Just wonderful."

Sisko moaned. "Parasitic infections…"

Ford shook his head. "We don't know for sure if you're infected. Now come on."

The three stumbled into the next room.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"Yep." Applejack said. "Don't know exactly what I was expecting."

The three of them were looking at a giant purple "map" of the house that looked like a big tetris grid. It said "You are here." The only problem was that the rooms obviously spilled off the edges of the map and some of the rooms were actively moving across the board.

The Doctor smirked. "I suspected the house was constantly rearranging itself…"

Lightning grunted. "You just love being right."

The next room was an elevator. Applejack bucked the button, embedding it further into the wall. The elevator began to descend, creaking.

Lightning observed the poster. It was a picture of an adorable cartoon heart with the caption "Keep that blood pumpin!" In the background there was a dripping design.

Lightning grunted. "Keep the blood pumpin so we can be sucked dry later. Got it."

The Doctor threw open the elevator's door to reveal what appeared to be the inside of a fast food restaurant. There was the signature red stripe along the walls, the unnaturally shiny furniture and counter. There were plenty of signs and posters advertising the restaurant itself, which seemed to focus on the catchphrases "TASTE THE BEEF" and "100% BEEF." There was nobody working there. Which brought up the question: why was it so clean if it was abandoned?

At the moment, however, that didn't really worry the three visitors.

Because they. Were. HUNGRY. They hadn't really eaten since they'd gotten there.

"Search behind the counter!" The Doctor yelled. "We must find some nutrition!"

Lightning leapt over the counter, pulling open the doors. Sure enough, there were some perfectly crafted hamburgers, already prepared. Even warm.

Applejack sighed. "I've never been a fan of hamburgers... "

The Doctor raised his eyebrows as he dug in. "I thought your race were vegetarians? You actually ate some?"
"I've learned to eat the stuff. If you travel across universes at some point you have to eat meat. Bacon tastes pretty good for instance. Hamburgers though? Eh, I'll pass…"

Lightning brought up a barrel from under the counter. It was filled with apples. Applejack's eyes widened. "GIVE." She grabbed them and began eating.

"Applejack, you can't eat all those apples-" The Doctor began.

"FORGET YOU! I CAN EAT ALL THESE APPLES!" She began to eat the apples at a rate of 5 aps (apples per second).

The Doctor and Lightning dropped their hamburgers to stare at Applejack.

The Doctor blinked. "That's impossible…"

Lightning grinned. "Go Applejack! EAT ALL THOSE APPLES!"

In less than a minute, every last apple had been completely devoured. Applejack threw the barrel away. "MORE. APPLES." She then galloped off to search for more apples.

Lightning and the Doctor clapped, then returned to their meals. It was exceptionally good for a fast food restaurant.

Although the Doctor was pretty sure it tasted nothing at all like beef…

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ford and Mulder dragged Sisko into the 100% Beef restaurant. Sisko didn't look good, his skin had become yellowed and clammy, parts of it peeling off. He was also in a cold sweat.

Mulder saw Lightning behind the counter. "Lightning! Thank goodness, can you heal him?"

Lightning turned to Mulder with one of those creepy smiles that sales clerks give you. "Hello and welcome to One Hundred Percent Beef! May I take your order?"

"Lightning this isn't funny. Do you have a magic spell you can cast on him?"

Lightning's face became confused. "You mean…" She racked her brain. "Um… Oh! You mean one of these things?" She waved her hands. "ESUNA!"

A white light encompassed Sisko, attempting to work him back to normal. His skin changed back to its normal color, and he stopped sweating. His skin smoothed.

He managed to stand up. "That was amazing…" He clutched his chest. "But I think it's still in there… I can feel it wriggling around… In my skin..."

Lightning frowned, looking around with her eye. "Perhaps one of our burgers can help? They seem to be-"

Mulder glared. "Cut the act Lightning, just find a way to fix Sisko."

Lightning closed her eye. "Alright, I'll cook something up…" She reached below the counter, pulling out a hamburger. "On the house. Don't tell the manager."

Ford scratched his chin. Something was up.

Sisko bit into the hamburger. "I don't know if this is helping but I was very hungry…"

Ford took a bit of the meat, chewing it in his mouth. He spat it out. "STOP EATING IT."

Sisko dropped the hamburger. Ford threw him a pill. "Take that. It'll make you regurgitate it." Sisko grabbed the pill, swallowing it. The explosive puke got all over Mulder. "ACK!"

Lightning's eye widened. "W-w-why are you doing this? It's 100% beef!"

"No it isn't. It's demon meat." Ford turned to Lightning. "I'll need to get it out of you as well…"

Lightning shook her head. "The manager would…"

"Who IS the manager?" Ford questioned.

"I AM." A back door flung open, revealing the Doctor. "You!" He pointed at Ford, charging.

"Doctor?" Ford said, surprised. "What are you-"

Ford's head got grabbed, and rammed into a wall. "You will eat. You will eat no-"

Sisko punched the Doctor back. "I don't think so."

Mulder drew his gun. "Back up, Doctor."

The Doctor glared at all of them. "Lightning. Teach them the benefits of our food."

Lightning shuddered. "Yes sir…" She drew her Blazefire Sabre, charging.

Sisko, Ford, and Mulder prepared themselves. This wasn't good…

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Applejack took a moment to collect herself. The only place she hadn't checked for apples was the fun area. And there were apparently rules for going into that place, most of which didn't make any sense.

1: Be this tall: I can stand up to be that tall easily! Though I can't walk around like that…

2: No screams: What kind of fun is this supposed to be? I reckon children scream a lot out of delight…

3: Look out for snakes: What in tarnation?

4: No alcohol: ...That's obvious. Why do they need to come out and say it? It'll give the little ones ideas.

5: No diving: There's no water is there?

6: No hiding: What?

7: We will find you: Oh yeah that sounds like a rule.

Despite her uneasy feeling, Applejack entered the fun area anyway. Her holy quest for apples must not be hindered.

It turned out just to be a bunch of neon-colored tunnels with creepy carnival music playing in the background. "I swear if a freaky clown comes trompin around…"

After a while of getting well and truly lost, she came across a chain. It came out of the floor and was being pulled into the ceiling, presumably by a mechanized crank. Applejack couldn't see the bottom or the top of the chain. It just seemed to go forever.

Then part of the chain came up that was covered in blood.

Applejack's "MORE APPLES" mentality broke at that point. This house was a freak show. She needed to keep her cool.

She realized she had left the Doctor and Lightning. She grunted. "Usin apples against me… Tarnation… I oughta…" She grumbled to herself as she looked for a way out.

What she found instead was a sheaf of papers, entitled "My experience at 100% Beef."

I was anxious getting a job here at first, but it seems like things are getting better. This chain is really expanding, which is a shock, because just last week I heard this company was getting broke.

Everyday more and more people show up to eat here. Something still sets me off about this place and its food though, so I'm going to try and not eat anything from here.

...

Today was a weird day...

The average number of orders continues to rise as it has been, but I don't know about the number of people. Today I saw someone use the drive through and ordered a lot of food for one person, and then about 10 minutes later, they were back. They ordered the exact same meals, and then they left again, then after another 10 minutes they were back again.

Maybe they're just delivering food for a party or hotel, but it worries me for some reason.

...

Well I broke my one rule today.

The management doesn't give out actual lunch breaks, so I can't go anywhere, and they won't allow outside foods here. I mean they actually screamed at the last customer who did that.

Anyway I had a burger. It wasn't bad, and I don't feel sick, so I might get a few every now and then.

...

This is strange...

I had a dream last night about this restaurant. I know I was here, but I also felt like I was in another place at the same time. Everything looked so... wrong. Nothing was the right size, and I kept hearing these strange animal noises, almost like wailing. I guess I just feel guilty for eating that burger the other day.

Also today I saw that man again, the one who kept ordering every 10 minutes. This time he never even left the parking lot. He just got his meal, parked, and then got back in line. He must have done it at least 8 times before he left.

...

There was a horrible "accident" today. At least that's what the managers are calling it...

One of the other employees brought in some outside food, and got into a fight with a manager about it. The employee said that the burgers here smell like sulfur. I then watched the manager grab the kid's neck and shove his head onto the grill. The employee got up and ran out before anyone could do anything, and I'm told that he is fine, but that really shook me today.

...

I'm leaving.

I fell asleep in my car today, after eating one of those burgers. I remembered brief flashes of a man or animal coming towards me and feeling like some huge, lumbering thing was wailing from deep underground as I continued eating. When I woke up I was fine, but had veered off the road. I don't know if it's some weird allergic reaction to a preservative they use or something much worse, but this is my last day.

Applejack growled. "This place is goin down like a tree in lumberjack season." She ran, hoping to find the exit.

[][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ford, Mulder, and Sisko were lumped up in a corner, beaten up and tied.

"Good work, Lightning." The Doctor said. "Now, we shall give them our ONE HUNDRED PERCENT BEEF burgers. They are guaranteed to love it!"

Lightning nodded, grabbing three burgers. "Here they are, sir."

The Doctor pointed at Ford. "Him first."

Ford glared. "When I get out of here, i'm going to-"

Lightning shoved a hamburger into his mouth. He spat it out.

The Doctor's face twisted in complete rage. He grabbed Ford by the collar. "You will eat."

"No."

The Doctor dragged Ford over to a grill. "EAT!"

Ford looked at the Doctor's pure rage. "I had hoped never to be on the receiving end of your anger, Doctor, but it looks like I don't have a choice-"

The Doctor pressed Ford's face into the grill, causing him to scream in agony. He then lifted Ford up, glaring at him. "What about now?"

"I think you've just given me a new idea on how to shave. Otherwise, no."

"YOU WILL EAT-"

"I reckon NO!"

The Doctor was launched back over the counter, flopping onto the floor. He was rather dazed. Having a pony buck you had that effect.

Applejack turned to Lightning. "You don't have to do this!"

"But… the manager!"

"Are ya really gonna let someone tell you what to do?"

Lightning's eyepatch flashed. "No. No I'm NOT!" She whirled around, facing the Doctor. "You are not my manager!"

The Doctor roared, standing up. "You will eat! You will become-" He began to tremble. "You will.." He fell to the ground, yelling in pain. A red gas began to stream out of his mouth.

A being began to materialize in front of him, appearing from the gas. It was red, humanoid, and had giant horns. It floated a few feet in the air, large muscles glinting off the light. Its laugh filled the space.

The Doctor gasped for breath. "What?" He said, confused. "What happened?"

"You got brainwashed by a demon hamburger." Lightning summarized.

The Doctor blinked. Well that wasn't the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him.

The 100% Demon looked around. It roared. "NEW MEAT. WONDERFUL."

Ford leapt to his feet, his face still burning. He readied his gloves. "RUN! I've got this!"

Applejack's eyes widened. "Ford?"

"Get out of here before it takes you to its realm! That means you, pony."

Applejack squinted. "We aren't leaving without you!"

Ford looked back in surprise. "Why-"

"Because I learned a thing or two while we were separate. We aren't leavin ya!"

Ford smiled. "Thank you Applejack, but you don't have a choice." Ford clapped his twelve fingers together, lighting his gloves up. "I'm making my own choice." He charged. "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE TRAPPED IN YOUR OWN REALM?"

"WHAT IS IT YOU THINK YOU CAN DO? YOU CAN'T SAVE THE-"

Ford placed the gloves on the 100% Demon, sending spirit electricity into it. "WE WILL GO BACK TO THAT DARK HOLE FROM WHENCE YOU CAME!"

In a flash of red and white, Ford and the 100% Demon vanished. Nothing remained.

The five remaining visitors stood to their feet. Sisko stumbled, already weakening again.

Everyone stared at where Ford had been.

There was silence.

"Let's move." Lightning said, voice as cold as stone. "We don't want his sacrifice to be for nothing."

The other four nodded, and continued on.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ford looked around. He had been expecting a deeper level of the Spiritual Planes. This place was still deep down, but it wasn't anywhere near the bottom. And he had been at the VERY bottom before, AND escaped with his life in tact.

He looked around at the meaty walls. This was a demon trap. He would wander for a while, then come face to face with the demon who he had imprisoned here with him. But since it was stuck, he could face it. He had to be careful though, this was the place the 100% Demon took its victims, it knew the place better than Ford did.

He began his journey through the impossibly twisting meat tunnels. The geometry was utterly and completely impossible, but he'd been in the Spiritual Planes more than enough to be used to it. He continued marching forward, until he saw it in front of him.

The 100% Demon.

"WITH EVERY BITE WITH BONE AND SKIN.

THE TEMPLE GROANED AND SHOOK AGAIN.

HIS DWELLING PLACE DID I NEGLECT.

TO THIS END WITH BAD EFFECT."

Ford performed a slow clap. "Very dramatic, but I've tangled with more than enough demons. Have some of this." He reached into his coat pocket and threw a capsule of holy water. "That water is from one of the highest of the Spiritual Planes, 100% Demon, it will burn right through you."

The 100% Demon screeched in pain, melting right before Ford's eyes. It became nothing more than a puddle.

Ford had no clue if that was permanent or not. He tugged his coat.

Now, to begin the long journey out.

It could take weeks…

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

SPECIMEN_11. Type, active. Total Fatalities, 317. Method, unknown. Wendy read, pondering. The CAT-DOS showed an image of a demon. A floating red figure that was found inside a secret area below a large abandoned corporate office once owned by a restaurant franchise. The specimen is extremely violent and also seems to leave the house at will despite various containment methods. Victims vanish on contact with specimen but sometimes remains of the victims have been found inside the testing chamber days later. Proved not effective as victims souls do not remain after contact. Wendy shuddered. So this place was designed to harvest souls. But why?

Ty Lee dragged her axe along the ground, leaving a trail of blood. "Can we just get moving? If we find anything, I'll slice it."

Wendy shook her head. "I'll need the information if you aren't there." Like if you go and get yourself killed.

Ty Lee huffed.

SPECIMEN_12 was a self-building house that possessed people who entered it. It had 57 fatalities, but it wasn't considered a reliable method of 'extraction' due to the fact that it varied too much. Wendy wondered if this house was used in the construction of the continually changing mansion they were currently in.

SPECIMEN_13 was, evidentially, a siren. A beautiful woman who was aquatic and lured people in with her allure. 194 fatalities. Wendy didn't consider this too much of a problem. She was a girl, and she could swim. There would be no problem. If they even ran into her.

Wendy took herself away from the screen. "Okay, we can go now."

"Finally!"

The next room sprung a pumpkin cutout on them. Ty Lee hacked it in half. "You… my little pumpkin friend… ARE NOW PIE."

Wendy took a moment to examine Ty Lee. She was covered in blood from various sources, dragged her axe along the ground, and continually twitched and had a look on her face that changed from crazy smiles, to unrestricted rage at the drop of a hat.

Perhaps she was possessed by specimen 12.

Then again, they had never seen that plac-

Just as she thought that, they arrived in a room that looked like it belonged in an old victorian mansion. Ty Lee pranced into the room while dragging her axe, making quite the interesting combination of sounds. She walked right past the entry hall, into a dining hall. "Hey look. Exit door. That was easy."

Ty Lee tried it. It was locked.

She began to hack the door down with the axe.

Wendy blinked. Why hadn't they thought of that before?

Just as Ty Lee completed bashing the door down, they heard a door behind them open.

An old man dragging a bloody scythe on the floor was walking towards them, slowly. He was smiling. Not the crazy insane smile of Ty Lee, but an oddly calm, submissive smile.

Somehow it was worse.

He raised the scythe.

Ty Lee wasn't having any of that. She charged in, embedding her axe deep in the man's stomach, causing his intestines to pour out. He gagged, obviously surprised. The scythe dropped to the ground with a clatter, the man slumping to his knees and dying.

But Ty Lee wasn't done. She proceeded to sever every limb from his body, smash in his skull, and mutilate whatever she could. After a few minutes, she stood up, proud of her work.

"Shall we go, Wendy?"

Wendy, completely traumatized, slowly nodded. She absent-mindedly hefted her axe, and they left the ever-growing mansion-in-a-mansion.

They didn't even realize that the old man was carrying the keys.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Sisko was deteriorating. No matter how much Lightning cast Esuna on him, the thing inside him kept growing. Getting larger. It wanted out.

Applejack had to carry him.

"You know…" Sisko said. "I just realized. I've seen your race before. One of you is in the Andromeda galaxy."

"Yeah?" Applejack said, but Lightning decided to butt in. "Andromeda? You're from Andromeda?"

"Yes?"

Lightning's eye widened. "There might be a way to get back faster…"

"Back?" Sisko said, breathing hard.

Lightning turned away. "My sister and I got lost. I think she's there. Somewhere."

"That's right, Mulder did mention something about that…"

Mulder sighed. "Don't get your hopes up. I don't think-"

The Doctor smiled. "ALWAYS have hope, agent Mulder, ALWAYS."

Sisko clutched his chest, collapsing on the ground. "I'm.. not going to make it…"

Lightning cast Esuna again. "We just need to get you out. To a surgeon."

Sisko shook his head. "No. I am not going to make it."

"Always have hope." The Doctor said.

Sisko glared. he took his starfleet pin off his uniform and gave it to Lightning. "If you can get to the Andromeda galaxy, find my people. Tell them what happened. Give them that as proof."

Lightning gently took the pin, and fixed it to her coat. "I'll keep it safe."

He smiled. "Now… I suppose you are right Doctor." He forced himself to walk of his own will. "I best try to get back myself. I have a family."

Everyone smiled sadly, continuing on. They arrived at an elevator room, with an advertisement instead of the usual poster.

100% BEEF!

NOW HIRING "COW" FEEDERS!

YOU could be the next cog in the majestic beef grinding machine!

Follow your dreams and feed "cows" all day!

Slight chance of injury!

Only O+ blood types are allowed but all are welcomed to sacrifice for the cause!

See your local doctor for a blood type change today and prepare for the future!

At the bottom, in really fine print, there was another message:

By reading this text you have agreed to let 100% Beef Corp draft you into the volunteer program! See you working hard soon!

Lightning cast Fire on the poster. "Agreed my ass." Lightning muttered. She smacked the down button, bringing them even further down.

The group continued on, eventually arriving in a dark, damp place. They could hear water running. There was a pressure door at the end of the room, and other doors on either side.

Mulder tried the pressure door. "It won't budge…"

"Water pressure's too high…" The Doctor muttered. "We'll have to lower it."

"Hey check this thingy out!" Applejack said. "A report of some kind…"

Research report 1

More whales are being shipped to the facility tomorrow, one for a health inspection and two that are already dead of autopsies.

More and more beached whales keep appearing around those islands and I still can't find what is causing it.

"We're in a research facility." Mulder said. "But not a GL Labs."

The five wandered the area for a bit, opening doors, checking pipes and things, until they found a room with two other reports.

Research report 2:

Whale 014-D has strange small bite makes. They appear from another smaller mammal, but the strangest thing about them is their placement. They are in even rows inside the whale's stomach, all about 5 feet from the 'bottom' of the stomach lining.

Research report 3:

Whale 015-A is still alive but gets into fits of thrashing and is surfacing more often than natural. I think there may be a problem with its lungs, but I don't have any tools that would allow me to check it without it dying.

I will have to allow it to die from whatever is causing it and then do an autopsy.

The Doctor cocked his head. "You know, it occurs to me that whales don't keep in captivity well. And that the facility we're in right now doesn't seem like a place to observe whales. A lack of windows. And lights."

Lightning shrugged. "Let's just figure out how to get through here."

Sisko sighed. "I have a feeling it isn't going to be very simple."

They found a door locked by a combination lock. The Doctor pointed out that there were 256 combinations and that it would take a while to hack through. Mulder volunteered to sit there trying every combination. "1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1121, 1122…" Sisko stayed with him.

The other three went into a room where there WAS an observation deck. A window into a large tank of water. Nobody saw any whales.

Lightning shrugged, picking up another research report.

Research Report 4:

Whale 015-D has died much sooner than I expected while I was away on holiday. I regret not being here, but I had estimated it would live much longer. The team that did the autopsy said nothing seemed to be wrong with the lungs but the stomach had a circular hole about 2 feet in diameter all the way through to the outside of the Whale.

This pretty much confirms a parasite is the cause of death.

Lightning clapped her hands together. "Guess what we're going to have to run from and/or fight!"

The Doctor and Applejack rolled their eyes. "A whale parasite…"

"OOOOOF course." Lightning threw the page away. "SPOOKY! YOUR HOUSE IS GETTING PREDICTABLE."

And at that remark, a giant whale appeared outside the observation window. It made a deep warbling noise.

The three visitors blinked, then slowly backed out of the room. That had not been predictable. They passed by Mulder and Sisko again.

"2344, 2411, 2412, 2413…"

Sisko looked bored. And sick, but mostly bored.

They found another room, this one with a strange piece of paper that seemed like it was ripped from a book.

Excerpt 4132.

And then I watched carelessly as the sea rose above the sky casting waving shadows over the world.

I saw the silhouettes of creatures both familiar and forgotten.

And suddenly I found myself falling towards an ocean of darkness.

"Okay, that's darn creepy." Applejack said. "But I'm bettin that's our combination."

They stopped by Mulder and Sisko.

"4122, 4123, 4124-"

Lightning walked up and put in 4132. The door clicked.

"Come on!" Mulder protested. "I was almost there!"

"Should've started with 4444." Lightning suggested. The locked room was a water control room, with two reports attached to the pump controls.

Research report 5:

The research facility is now in dire need of more engineers. We have a whole block that is flooded, and some vital staff are missing.

Research report 6:

I hear a girl

or an animal.

Or something…

singing to me, pleading that I come outside my locked room and let the sweeping waves comfort me.

The Doctor pressed one of the buttons, and everyone heard as water was pumped away from somewhere. Presumably from behind the sealed door.

They walked up to the pressure door, and took a deep breath.

As the door opened, water seeped out into the room. There was a LOT of water still in there, rushing out at high speed. But it stopped at about waist-high.

Applejack was the only one having a problem. She had to swim just to stay above the water. "What a lot of hootenanny…"

No-one questioned 'hootenanny'. Not that they knew what it meant or anything, but they were used to it by now.

They waded through the rooms, observing that there were a lot of crates floating in the water.

"Be on the lookout for a creature that's swimming." The Doctor said as he picked up a key off a crate floating in the water. "Because that's obviously what's coming."

Mulder picked a piece of paper off another crate.

Research Report 7:

All the staff is gone

only I remain.

For no purpose, I remain here, resisting the call from behind the sealed door.

But I will remain… As long as I can.

Don't open that door.

The five looked at the locked door in front of them.

It was the only way out, of course.

The Doctor shrugged, and unlocked the door.

Aside from the sloshing they made by moving, it was deathly quiet. They trudged through, looking left and right for whatever creature they were to face next.

Then they saw her from behind. A sleek, smooth figure topped with white hair. Just sitting on a crate, very still. She began to hum, twirling her fingers in the water.

"Hello Handsome Face..

Are you looking for a change of pace?

I'll show you my style..

Come! Stay for awhile..

Pure ecstasy awaits..."

Mulder, Sisko, and the Doctor's eyes flashed, and they began to move forward slowly.

Lightning and Applejack groaned. Just great. At least it was predictable, right?

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ty Lee dragged her axe through the water, tinting it red. "I'm ready to take that siren down."

"I bet you are…" Wendy said, cautious. Not only was she walking with a crazy girl with an axe, but now her jeans were wet and heavy. Just great.

They heard fighting. Ty Lee busted down the door without even bothering to check if it was open.

The scene they saw was Mulder, the Doctor, and Sisko staring at a naked siren. Lightning and Applejack were over in a corner, gash marks all over their bodies, barely breathing.

Ty Lee didn't need any provocation. She charged the siren, attempting to embed the axe in her forehead. The siren simply dove under the water, fish tail flapping.

"Wait…" Wendy said. "If it has a fish tail, isn't it a mermaid?"

"Does it matter?" Applejack moaned from the corner.

Ty Lee swugn the axe back and forth, making contact with the water but never finding her fishy friend. She roared in rage. Her vision began to go red.

The siren surfaced near Wendy, clawing her. Wendy screamed and swung her axe around blindly. She could hear the siren giggle. It surfaced right in front of her face, showing that it had a mouth filled with sharp and pointy teeth.

"CURA!" Lightning yelled, healing herself. She got to her feet, took aim with her gunblade, and fired. The Siren screamed, diving back under the water. Wendy took a breath. "Thanks…"

"It's not over yet." Lightning grumbled, turning to heal Applejack.

Ty Lee screamed. "YOU FREAKING FISH-TAILED FREAK! I WILL FIND YOU AND DISMEMBER YOU!"

"Is it just me or has she gotten more extreme?" Lightning asked.

"Yep…" Wendy nodded, sadly.

"The blood all over her really completes the image."

"Yep…"

Applejack jumped on top of the crates, looking for the siren. "There that rowdy fish is!" She said, pointing. Ty Lee charged and Lightning shot at the area Applejack indicated.

The men were still useless, staring at where the siren used to be, mouths open. Drooling.

Sisko began to shudder and twitch. He yelled.

"No!" Lightning said. Slowly, Sisko seemed to turn inside out, his skin apparently boiling. He slowly turned into the two-legged yellow parasite. The parasite turned slowly, baring its teeth. It moved towards Mulder.

Lightning cast Fira, burning the creature. She leapt over boxes, attempting to bring her sword down on the creature. The siren, however, had other plans, scratching Lightning's ankle and making her trip, splashing into the water. The siren moved in for the kill.

Applejack leapt into the water, hooves impacting with the siren's skull. The water lessened the impact, but it still dented the bone. The siren retreated.

The parasite had just about bit Mulder when Ty Lee cut right into it with her axe, spraying yellow blood everywhere. "This is EXHILARATING."

Lightning stood up, keeping pressure off her one ankle. Being in water helped a little. She tried to cure it, but had to stop when she saw the siren coming back. She brought her sword down, but she missed. All she did was cause the siren to change direction.

Applejack went into rainbow form. "I"ll buck this thing out of here!"

She bucked with intense power, launching waves everywhere, rocking everyone. The siren wasn't hit, and didn't seem to care about the waves.

Wendy shook her head. How could this get any worse?

She felt metallic fingers close around her neck and lift her above the water. She gagged. She was then thrown into the Doctor and Mulder, snapping them out of it.

"What?" The Doctor said.

Mulder drew his gun, turning to Wendy's assailant. It was Springtrap, and he was… laughing?

Mulder fired. The bullets just sparked against Springtrap's golden metal skin. The siren and the parasite took the opportunity to attack, only to have Lightning feed bullets into them.

Mulder groaned. "Bullets are never effective these days…"

The Doctor chuckled. "Try not carrying a weapon at all. Much more exciting."

They were losing. They were just too outmatched. Three creatures at once. They were slowly being overcome. The area was far too cramped for Lightning to summon Odin and not have collateral damage.

Luckily for them, at that moment, a certain person snapped.

Ty Lee's vision went completely red, the rage blinding her.. She somehow managed to drive the axe straight through the parasite in one slice, turn around, slice off the siren's head, and then charge towards Springtrap and embed the axe in his chest, causing him to fall into the water.

Wendy whooped. "Go Ty Lee!"

Ty Lee turned around, raising her axe high, aiming for Wendy. Wendy froze, unable to move. The axe hit Wendy right in the head, killing her instantly.

She slumped forward, splashing in the now-completely-red water.

Ty Lee's vision cleared. She realized what she had done.

She looked around, left, and right. "No. She was one of them. Don't you see? DON'T YOU SEE?" At that moment, the child inside Ty Lee died, completely. She tightened the grip around her axe, and ran through the exit, letting out a noise that was a combination of remorseful tears and mad rage.

"WAIT!" Mulder yelled, rushing after her. He looked through the exit.

The next room had several doors she could have gone through, and the water removed any trail she might have left.

"D***." He muttered.

Lightning stepped over Wendy's body. She pulled out a spell. "ARISE." The slice in Wendy's skull vanished, and all her bruises vanished. She groaned.

Mulder turned to Lightning, hopeful. "Can you help Sisko?"

Lightning shook her head. "I'd need HIS body. Not the body of the parasite…" She fingered the starfleet pin. "He's gone."

Wendy, the Doctor, Mulder, Applejack, and Lightning had a moment of silence. They eventually realized that they would have to keep moving. Silently they exited the room, going further into the mansion.

Lightning stole a glance behind her to look at Springtrap's body. Mist swirled around it unnaturally, but it wasn't moving. She glared at it before leaving.

A minute later, Springtrap lifted his head. They were gone. Good.

He stood up, and laughed.

He would get them eventually.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ty Lee ran, tears in her eyes.

Everyone was wrong. Everyone was wrong. That wasn't Wendy.

Or was it?

Was she supposed to be killed?

Ty Lee paused for a moment through her tears, feeling the blade of the axe. The blade broke the skin, causing blood to leak from her finger.

Ty Lee looked at the rest of her. Ragged, tattered, and covered in the blood of so many different sources. And lots of cardboard bits.

Maybe… this was how things were supposed to be.

A grin spread across her face. She hefted the axe above her head, and laughed.

She laughed like there was no tomorrow.

Kill them all.

In a nearby wall, Spooky smiled.

"Welcome, Specimen 14."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Lightning, Mulder, Applejack, the Doctor, and Wendy arrived in an elevator room.

In place of the poster there was simply a picture of The Cat in a cardboard box, looking sad.

The five of them stood for a moment, taking it in.

Applejack shuddered. "I have a feelin' that we're approachin' the end of this here adventure…"

Lightning tightened the grip on her sword. "Let's just hope it ends well."

The Doctor picked up a small notebook that was on the desk.

He read aloud.

In order to survive this house I need to keep writing in this journal.

I must do everything a central protagonist would do and hope this is one of those stories.

I've also got to try as hard as I can not to pick up any other notes I find.

Because I think that summons that tall man character.

…

I found a computer with information of all the specimens. It seems to rate them based on how effective they are at killing people.

There is more going on here than simply a creepy haunted house filled with horror cliches.

…

I think the 'effectiveness' of the specimens is also related to the souls of the people they kill somehow. The file on specimen 11 proves that. But what purpose could the harvesting be for?

Anyway I'm still alive and strong, but I feel like the inmost cave of my journey lies ahead.

I wonder what the antagonist will look like.

I hope they're cute.

…...

Well, I just survived that Siren. That was the last specimen in the CAT-DOS. I must be getting extremely close.

I haven't seen Spooky in a while. She's probably waiting.

IS she the antagonist? I'm not sure. She just seems too cute.

…...

I just realized that I never had a mentor figure, trial, or leaving home scene.

That means this story isn't following the archetypes to make me a traditional hero.

Which means I can be killed off.

Well, it was nice for a little while at least.

I'll leave this journal behind for the true hero to find, when they arrive.

If you're reading this, congratulations! You're probably the hero.

Go forth and win.

I hope you haven't been picking up the other notes.

On the next page there was simply a bunch of numbers written down. It started at one, and stopped at nine hundred ninety five.

The Doctor closed the book. "Something more sinister is indeed going on here. And we only have five more rooms to figure it out."

Mulder blinked. "You think she literally meant a thousand?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she did."

Wendy pressed the down button. The elevator made a very deep creaking noise, and began to descend.

After what seemed like an impossibly long time, they arrived at the bottom. They opened the door slowly, showing them another room with a brain in a tank. Wendy walked up and touched the glass. Her eyes went wide. "It… just told me something. A sequence of numbers."

Mulder blinked. "I wonder what that's for…"

"I know. The blank arcade."

"What?"

She waved her hand. "I'll show you if I see it."

Lightning opened the next door. "Nine hundred and ninety seven…" she muttered.

The room was filled with four arcade machines. Wendy was drawn towards the blank one, waving the others over. She input the code she was given.

An image appeared. Of spooky, alive. A normal kid just as cute as she was now. She even had legs. It shifted to an image of her trick or treating with a jack-o-melon sitting on a porch. Her bag was nearly empty.

Then there was an image of fear, and a bullet.

Spooky's voice filled the room. "I just wanted to be taken seriously.. I just wanted to scare people…" There was a pause. "They overreacted, but I don't blame them." Another pause. "At least I finally scared someone."

The Doctor furrowed his brow. "Backstory…"

"So…" Wendy said. "Some Summerween she didn't get any candy, decided to scare someone, and got shot?"

"Yeah… wait what's summerween?"

"The people of Gravity Falls like halloween so much they have it twice a year. I never understood it."

Mulder cut in. "There must be more. If this was her only reason, why has she killed some of us? Why has she set up this place to harvest souls? It only explains why she lets us run and escape, she likes fear. It does not explain why she needs our souls…"

Lightning fingered the starfleet pin. "Does the reason matter? We just don't let her win. That's it. We show her that she isn't the boss of us. Thier deaths will not have been in vain." She marched into the next room. 998.

It was a simple room. They walked down a short hallway to find a door on one side. They tried the door, and it was locked.

Wendy took an idea from Ty Lee's book and decided to smash the door down with her axe. As she was busting it down, some tall creature appeared from nowhere and made all their vision go black.

Then it slowly returned, and the door was open.

"What?" The Doctor said.

Nobody wanted to stay around long enough to comment on what had just happened.

Room 999 was a ridiculously long and wide hallway with chandeliers hanging above them.

One of them fell, trying to kill them. It missed though.

"That was a desperate move…" Mulder observed.

"She wants us dead." Lightning said.

"Obviously." Wendy muttered.

The five stood at the door to room one thousand. Lightning slowly reached forward, her wrist tightening around the knob. She slowly opened it, making a horrid creaking sound.

They entered room 1000. It was a simple room with a door that said EXIT on it.

Lightning walked up to the door. "It can't be this simple…"

She creaked the door open, revealing blue skies and green pastures. She could hear birds chirping. The five turned behind them. They had just exited a small shed.

Wendy whooped. "WE'RE OUT!"

Mulder sighed. "We could be anywhere. ANYWHERE."

Applejack looked around. "This ain't anywhere I've been before."

The Doctor pondered this. "It is possible that this is just as bad of a prison as the one we just left."

Lightning had an annoyed look on her face. She walked forward a few yards, and discovered a wall.

The sky was just painted on. Lightning knocked on the wall. A loud error noise filled the area, and the sky displayed a message:

VISTA SKY FATAL ERROR

Fake_Sky_Screensaver has been disabled.

Spooky appeared in front of them, as the fake sky began to glitch out.

"Well…. you made it. Congratulations."

The Doctor took a step forward. "We beat your game Spooky. Now let us go."

Spooky sighed, twirling her knife. "You only won because there were lots of you. There has never been a group larger than three before…" She floated to the left. "I've got to figure out something…"

"We won. Let us go."

The other four readied themselves. Lightning put her hand to her chest, ready to cast whatever she could. Wendy hefted her axe. Applejack went into rainbow mode. Mulder drew his gun and cocked it.

The Doctor smiled. "We aren't going to let you play with us anymore. It's not going to happen. We will get out-"

They all heard a raspy noise, like wind blowing and voices from far away.

Spooky lit up. "Oh! Now you must pass one final test to prove your fortitude! or dedication… or whatever."

A door appeared in the fake sky.

Spooky twirled her knife, and floated through the wall.

"Final boss time?" Mulder muttered.

"Final boss time." Lightning said.

They went into the door, entering a room that was completely white. On one side was a hallway, on the other was a table. On the table was a radio. They heard a garbled voice.

"I'm taking all those 'logs' they keep throwing out… ...and i'm nailing them together."

The group slowly made its way away from the radio, anticipating an attack. They walked down a hallway, until they found a door labeled "731" They opened it, looking inside what appeared to be a dead end.

They heard a thump behind them. Springtrap had just entered the room, and he didn't look happy.

Then everyone's vision went fuzzy with images of ones, zeroes, and the TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO

All five of them, plus Springtrap, appeared in a room with no doors. In front of them was the floating red clay skull, specimen 9. They watched as bloody red pieces from seemingly nowhere attached themselves to the skull, causing it to grow in size and stature. A chest took shape, muscular clay arms, and sturdy legs. Before them floated a humanoid creature, made out of blood red clay. It stared at them with piercing eyes, completely silent.

Everyone's vision began to cloud. Blood dripped from the ceiling, dousing everyone. Numbers flooded their TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD

Lightning roared. "THUNDAJA!" A brilliant lighting ball expanded around the beast, enveloping it in paralytic shocks. It emerged, barely TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO raised its hands, firing streams of screaming souls at them. It bore a hole right in Mulder's chest, causing him to fall to the ground, DEAD TAKE THE DEAD TO.

Lightning screamed. "YOU PIECE OF S***" She reached into her chest. "ODIN!" She screamed, rage torquing her features. She summoned forth her eidolon, her guardian, Odin. He stood up, white porcelain skin lining his semi-mechanical appearance. Runes lined his body, and a strand of cloth around his head blew in the wind. He held a tremendous sword and a shield engraved with many ancient symbols. He stood at the ready, prepared to TAKE THE Lightning's orders. "We need to take this thing down!" She yelled. "Everyone!"

Applejack used a rainbow buck, followed by a rainbow hoof to face, smashing the being into the ground. Odin drove his sword into the chest, spraying chunks of clay everywhere. Lightning reached deep into herself. "ARMY OF ONE!" She yelled. She moved faster than ever before, striking her sword on the creature enough times for six people. She ended her combo with a zillion bullets fired from her gunblade, each with a different elemental attribute.

Specimen 9 was still standing, though it TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO gashes all over itself. Clay chunks dripped everywhere.

Blood lined the room, dripping everywhere. The being took control of the blood, causing shadowy hands to reach up out of the ground, TAKE THE DEAD at everyone.

The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver. "You, are part machine. You are related directly to numbers. You are able to change computers. Therefore.." He flipped his sonic screwdriver to high, letting out a shrill noise. "This will shatter your mind."

For the first time since the start of the fight, specimen 9 indicated that it felt actual pain. 01100010011001010111010001110010011000010111100101100101011001000110001001111001011011010111100101100011011100100110010101100001011101000110111101110010 Odin, Lightning, and Applejack took the opportunity to smash it into the ground, where Wendy began to carve it with the axe.

The creature wasn't THE DEAD TO. It let out a burst of dark energy, blowing everyone back. Applejack's rainbow power vanished as her skull cracked on a wall, her blood mixing with that of the room.

Springtrap finally decided to move. As much as he wanted to kill the other visitors, this creature was a direct challenge to him. He charged, leaping into the air, smashing right into specimen 9's skull. Cracking could be heard. Specimen 9 looked right into Springtrap's eyes. Springtrap's head burst into TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN, and he fell to the ground, writhing in agony.

Specimen 9 turned to the Doctor and his screwdriver. Minions and shadow hands appeared all around the Doctor, and a spirit beam shot out of the ground. The Doctor's spirit was ripped from his body, thrown into the air.

The Doctor smirked. Ah well, I'll just regenerate… TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD The Doctor's spirit paused. Wait. He wasn't regenerating… TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKE THE DEAD TO TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN Then he was gone.

Wendy and Lightning glanced around. This wasn't good. "ODIN! LET'S DO THIS!" Odin transformed into a horse, giving his blade to Lightning, which she split into two separate blades. They attacked Specimen 9 with a flurry of attacks, lightning pulsing everywhere. It was cut into a bunch of pieces, losing limbs. It roared, pushing back. Odin vanished, and Lightning's spine cracked when she hit the wall, paralyzing her lower body. She slumped.

Wendy brought her axe down on the creature's skull, severing it in half. 0110100101100011011000010110111001101110011011110111010001100010011001010111010001100001011010110110010101101110 It fell into a pile of red powder, making a horrible screaming and sizzling noise. Lightning let out a breath of relief.

Wendy fell to her knees, breathing hard. It was done.

Wendy felt a presence behind her. She turned to see Ty Lee standing over her with an axe.

"Stay dead this time for me will you b****?" Ty Lee brought the axe down, cutting deep into Wendy once again. Wendy slumped to the ground, leaking blood across the already bloody floor. Lightning decided to play dead.

Ty Lee smiled. "ALL GOOD!"

Spooky appeared. "Very well done! I think we have enough now!" She clapped her hands, and the walls of the room vanished, revealing the largest room of all, almost like an auditorium. In the center was a large screen with LION-DOS displayed on it. All around the LION-DOS stood spirits, ghosts, shadows, and even some of the specimens. Below the LION-DOS was a strange triangle-shaped device with a circle inside of it, and various consoles around it.

Spooky appeared on the screen. "The time has come my loyal troops! No longer shall we be called cute or adorable! For now, we are the most feared army in the world! It is time to invade!"

Cheering erupted from the army of ghosts around the LION-DOS. Spooky lifted her Bowie knife high in the air, glinting off the lights.

Then a triangle-shaped figure appeared in front of Spooky. "Terribly sorry, Crack, but I can't let you do any of that."

Spooky's eyes flashed red. "What do you want Bill?"

"Little Crack, I need Earth. I can't let you just waltz in with your army, now can I?"

She pointed her bowie knife at him. "You have no power here."

Bill laughed, his voice echoing over itself. "But that's where you're wrong! One of your DEAR visitors has brought about a crack in reality!" Bill raised his hands, showcasing an S shaped symbol. "And I can let part of myself in here through that!" He laughed once more. "Crack, I'm sorry but I can't have you invade Earth. Yet."

"Yet?" Spooky questioned.

Lightning decided that Spooky was distracted. She reached towards her chest. "Curaja." She whispered, healing herself back to fighting condition.

Bill continued. "I have plans, but you will have your chance Crack. I guarantee it. Just be patient. It won't take more than a year."

Lightning whispered "Arise." Mulder, the Doctor, Wendy, and Applejack were revived, their wounds vanishing. They slowly got up. "What in hootenanny-"

Ty Lee heard them waking up. She opened her mouth for a battle cry. Lightning cast Sleep. Ty Lee's eyes rolled back into her skull and she flopped onto the ground.

"Why didn't you use that before?" Applejack questioned.

"Doesn't work on most monsters. Works on most humans, though."

Spooky continued her conversation with Bill. "Deal. I will collect more soldiers while we wait."

Mulder pointed at the circle-in-a-triangle device. "That looks like the only way out of here."

"We don't know what that is… If it even IS a way out of here!" Wendy said.

Lightning hefted her sword. "We don't have much of a choice. There's an entire army of ghosts here. We don't have time to look for something else. On three…"

Bill rolled his eye. "By the way, Crack?"

"Two…"

"What?" Spooky said, obviously in the mood for the conversation to be over.

"One…"

Bill pointed at the group. "Some of your soldiers are deserting."

"GO FOR IT!" Lightning yelled, leaping down towards the device. Mulder, Wendy, the Doctor, and Applejack followed, going as fast as they could. Applejack and Lightning were the fastest, the Doctor, Mulder, and Wendy close behind.

Spooky's eyes turned red with rage. "GET THEM!" She roared, pointing her knife.

The various ghosts took only a few seconds to react.

"You know what ghosts?" Lightning yelled. "I have a spell for you!" She reached into her chest. "HOLY!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, flinging out a tremendous white spark, twirling around with wisps of bright white energy, surrounding the five visitors. The ghosts screamed in pain at the bright light, backing away.

The specimens couldn't even make it in. The Beast had to cover his eyes, the Puppet couldn't move with this many eyes watching him, and Mother hated the light. Most of the other specimens were currently incapacitated.

That left just the jell-o creature and the bug. And they were too slow.

Bill laughed. "AHAHAHAHHAAH oh look at that! One simple spell, and your troops are useless! Oh yes! This is brilliant!"

Spooky glared at him. "I'm a cute ghost." She hefted her knife. "I'm fine." She charged right into the light, swinging her knife.

Lightning dodged out of the way, letting the knife contact the paved ground, causing blood to eject from the floor. "What kind of knife is that?"

"Extra bleeding." She yelled, coming back for another swing. To her surprise, Wendy blocked it with the axe. She pushed back, sending Spooky floating a few yards.

In the moment it took Spooky to get over her anger, they arrived at the device. One console had a message on it. "Place object on scanner."

In a moment of inspiration, Lightning took off Sisko's pin and placed it on the scanner. The

console displayed "searching…" for one moment, before flashing green. The circle inside the triangle lit up with blue energy, showing a picture of a room. Inside the room were other people in uniforms similar to that of Sisko, and they slowly turned their eyes to the newly formed portal, a look of bewilderment on their face.

Lightning turned to Mulder. "I'm going in. See you around."

Mulder gave her a thumbs up. "I hope you find your sister."

"Tell Lyre not to go too crazy okay?"

"Sure." Mulder said. "Now go before Spooky gets back at us-"

"TOO LATE!" She said, roaring.

Lightning moved towards the portal, shooting off a STOP spell, freezing Spooky in place. "You've got a few seconds. USE EM!"

Lightning jumped through the portal.

Applejack sighed. "I can't believe I'm doin this…" She galloped up to the portal and jumped in after Lightning. "Se y'all round!"

Mulder quickly placed his hand on the scanner, and the portal opened up to a new location. Right outside the mansion. It was still dark out.

The Doctor, Mulder, and Wendy charged through the portal.

Spooky unfroze just in time to see the portal close. She shrieked at the top of her lungs.

They were gone.

GONE.

She threw the knife into the ground, causing a blood fountain to erupt.

Bill's laughter filled the space.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"What IS your plan, Bill?"

"Q, you should know better than to ask me. Be satisfied knowing that I know my purpose, unlike you."

"It does not satisfy me. You know how curious I am about these things. And I know it involves Earth."

"Yes the home of your little pets. Do them a favor and don't get too attached to them. Their time, like all corporeal beings, is limited."

"There's more to it than that, Dorito, and you know it."

"I AM NOT A DORITO."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Mulder, Wendy, and the Doctor landed on their faces, the energy portal closing behind them.

The three of them stood up, looking at the house before them. Lightning struck.

Mulder pointed his gun at the cross atop the building, and fired. The cross fell off, smashing into the ground. "That's better."
The three of them took a breath. It was over. They were truly out.

The Doctor smiled. "Well, I best be off now. I've got things to deal with. Places to check. Times to visit." He waved. "I'll see you around."

Mulder and Wendy waved. "See you around." Mulder said. "Oh, one last thing-"

"No you may not see the inside of the TARDIS. Good day." With that, the Doctor left.

Wendy and Mulder looked at each other. "Well…" Wendy said. "Sorry for running from you, man."

"A lot of things would've been avoided…" Mulder muttered. "But we're good now. Wait till Scully hears about our adventures in Spooky's House of Jumpscares!"

The two broke out into laughter.

"You won't tell her anything." a voice behind them said, holding a strange gun-like device with a strange light bulb on top. "All will be forgotten."

Mulder and Wendy discovered that day what having their minds wiped felt like.

Course they forgot about it immediately afterward. It was one of the more interesting side effects of a mind wipe.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ty Lee scraped her axe along the floor as Spooky typed away on the LION-DOS.

"Be patient, Ty Lee. There will be more visitors."

"Good." She said. "I'm getting… twitchy."

Spooky smiled. The perfection of madness.

SPECIMEN_14

Type: Active.

Fatalities: 5

Method: axe

Subject was recently one of the visitors to the house. Went insane as a combination of specimens 1, 5, and 8. Has been extremely effective against most subjects, and even specimens, but hasn't been around long enough to say for sure. Further study required.

Spooky pressed a button on the LION-DOS. The file was entered. She floated away. "Now…" She clapped her hands. "Time to reset the specimens…" She typed a bit more into the LION-DOS. She sighed. "It's always such a chore to get the specimens back… I am glad someone finally got rid of Eleven. He was useless. Though I guess we DO have a deal…"

She heard the portal activate again. She whirled her head around just in time to see a golden bunny step through it.

"WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP LEAVING?" Then her rage vanished.

She looked at the portal.

An idea popped into her head.

She had it.

Why not USE it?

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

The TARDIS appeared inside a boarded up room inside the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The Doctor looked around. The room was basically empty except for a few arcade machines.

"Blast. He IS gone…"

Then a portal opened up beside the Doctor, revealing the horrifying face of Springtrap.

The Doctor broke out into laughter. "You.. returned to your prison? Hahahhaah… Oh that's brilliant!" Springtrap had escaped, only to go back to where he had come from! Priceless!

Springtrap reached out to strangle the Doctor. The Time Lord simply stepped back into the TARDIS, and left.

The Doctor smiled. Springtrap wasn't a problem. Lucky him.

Springtrap glared at the place where the TARDIS used to be.

I will become a problem.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Ford climbed through the hellish landscape that was… well basically hell given physical form. Demon like beings were everywhere, everything was red and hot, and there were just lots of ways to make a day suck.

He clutched his jPad. He had done this before.

He would do it again.

He rubbed his face, remembering the demon that had burnt him.

None of them would kill him. Many had tried.

He continued his journey.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"New troops! We will be moving out shortly to new and amazing worlds!"

The ghosts of Ba'al and Sisko glared at Spooky with needles.

Spooky smiled. She always loved breaking in new soldiers. "I guess we'll just have to take some time with you two… OH SPECIMEN SEVEN! I've got some people for you to torment!"

In a nearby room, The Cat sagged.

There was nothing she could do for them.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Mulder flopped into the hotel room. Scully looked at him. "Where have you been?"
"I… I don't remember." He stared ahead. "I feel like something extremely important has happened, and I can't remember it…"

Scully rolled her eyes. "Did you talk to Corduroy?"

"Oh yeah. I did find her… We had both forgotten… She knew nothing. Did you get anything?"

"Nope. Spent all day in a tourist trap. What about Lightning?"
Mulder's eyes widened. "I… I don't know where she is…"

Scully blinked. "What?"

"She… she's not here. I don't know where she is! What happened?"

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Millions of light years away, Lightning came to. Applejack was on top of her.

Well at least she had a friend here. Lightning rubbed her eye.

She looked around.

She was in some kind of cell. Even though it looked open, she could tell that it was just a forcefield.

She felt her coat. The pin was gone. Meaning they took it.

Well, nothing to do right now but wait.

And get Applejack off her.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Spooky's House of Jumpscares stood atop the mountain, overlooking Gravity Falls. Silhouetted by the moon. Lightning struck, even though there were no clouds.

Spooky looked out from the topmost window.

One day… Spooky thought. One day, this will be mine. They will learn to fear me.

They will learn to TRULY fear me. Regardless of what any dorito-shaped demon has to say.

The mansion bent and twisted, shifting into other universes, other realities, going off into infinity. The specimens patrolled their rooms, stalking around, looking for game. Sometimes fighting each other. All waiting for the next victims.

And waiting for the coming war.

It would come.

Soon.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

ORRN LQ WKH FKDSWHU, WKHUH DUH VHFUHWV DSOHQWB.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

2012

Friday, January 13

Spooky

THE END

"HEY! Why wasn't I in this episode? I'm everyone's favorite! I'm DEADPOOL! Come ON! This was epic and I'm not in it at ALL! No Ty Lee's reference does NOT COUNT. She's bat crazy! I should have been in! NO THIS DOES NOT COUNT EITHER! YOU ALREADY SAID THE END!"

Did you really think it was going to end seriously?