A/N: I literally started writing this on Thursday morning and finished at about one in the morning on Friday (or technically Saturday, I guess). It turned out to be longer than I had originally intended (hence the reason it's two chapters instead of just one), which both pleases me and makes me nervous. This is a somewhat silly piece of fanfiction that was very, very strongly influenced by various Halloween/horror movies, which I am a huge fan of. Also I have to credit "Monster Mash" and "Thriller," which are surprisingly conducive to my Halloween muse. Also excessive amounts of ramen, which I think I may have developed an unhealthy addiction to.

Pretty much every costume in this fic (with the exception of a few) was suggested by or viennacantabile. Also, I did research plausible costumes in 1956, and I just have to warn you that teenage girls then? Were only slightly more conservative than teenage girls now.

The two jokes Snowboy tells were borrowed from my history professor, who said them on the first day of classes. I'm not saying they're good.

Finally, reviews are love. C'mon, it's Halloween; a treat would be nice ;)

Disclaimer: West Side Story and all its surrounding characters belong to Ernest Lehman. Halloween belongs to the Celts. The only thing that's mine is the idea.

Enjoy!

Halloween, 1956

Tony's Halloween Party

"Trick-or-treat, Graz, baby," Riff said in delight, eyeing his girlfriend's outfit approvingly.

"An' you thought we would look silly," Graziella giggled, tapping his nose. It was true that Riff had initially opposed the idea of he and his girl dressing up like a pirate and his wench and had only given in when Graziella had promised something about a very short skirt and fishnet stockings. Now, seeing just how short that skirt really was, he was very pleased he had agreed to go as Calico Jack and not a fighter pilot to match Tony.

And speaking of whom, the taller Jet was engaged in conversation with Snowboy and Joyboy, who had dressed as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, respectively. They looked absolutely ridiculous, but nobody beat Mouthpiece's enormous dinosaur costume. The blond boy was currently trying to bob for apples, not realizing that the jaws of the dinosaur were blocking his head from the basin. Cheering him on was Tiger, who looked as if he had thrown together his costume five minutes before the party—he was wearing a white sheet with two sloppily-cut eye holes.

Of course, that was better than Ice and Action, both of whom had staunchly refused to wear a costume. Pauline, sporting a skin-tight cat suit with a tail and cat ears, kept insisting Action was Grumpy the Dwarf. Velma, having chosen to go as Grace Kelly, joked that Ice was her bodyguard—considering the close proximity he kept to her, it was a believable "costume." And then, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, was Baby John, who had shown up in a Captain Marvel outfit—complete with the cape. The youngest Jet was currently talking to Minnie, who was, unsurprisingly, going as Dorothy.

There was a small shriek from the corner as A-Rab, wearing a cape and a set of rubber fangs, chased after Bernice, who was sporting a witch outfit that left very little to the imagination. Clarice rolled her eyes at her sister and twirled her black flapper beads around her finger. "Honestly," she huffed.

Gee-Tar, having heard earlier that Clarice was going as a flapper, had also decided to dress in 1920s clothes. He swallowed. "You look real pretty tonight, Clarice. Are ya Ginger Rogers from that Roxie Hart movie?"

Clarice frowned. "No, I'm Zelda Zanders from Singin' in the Rain."

"'Cept yer prettier," came a voice from behind her.

Clarice turned around and beamed at her boyfriend. "Frankie!"

Big Deal grinned as he kissed his girlfriend. "So, how do I look?"

Clarice giggled. "Very handsome, Mr. Capone."

Big Deal grinned again as he snaked an arm around her waist. He glared at Gee-Tar. "Oh, hi. Who are you s'posed ta be?"

"Um…" Gee-Tar looked down at his clothes.

"Please tell me that ain't a water gun."

The three of them looked up as Anybodys approached, gesturing to Big Deal's holster with her baseball bat. Big Deal rolled his eyes. "It's not a water gun. An' who're you s'posed ta be? An uninvited guest?"

"I'm Babe Ruth," she announced proudly, ignoring his jab. It was true that she had not been invited, surprising everyone when she showed up in full costume, but they ultimately figured it wasn't worth running her out.

Gee-Tar scoffed. "Babe Ruth was a man."

"Hey, I figured if you could try to dress like a man tonight, so could I," the tomboy said impishly, smirking as Gee-Tar colored.

"You little—" he started.

"Anybody wanna play 'pin the tail on the donkey'?" Mouthpiece piped up. Tiger, trying to locate the board through his misshapen eye holes, pinned the tail on the wall several feet from the board.

"I'll pin the tail in yer ass!" Action snapped. "God, thought there'd be somethin' ta do at a party."

"Who says there ain't?" Pauline purred, resting a hand on her hip.

"There's bobbing for apples," Minnie volunteered.

"I heard they're doin' a haunted house at the gym," A-Rab said after removing his fangs. "Glad Hand's supposed ta be Frankenstein or somethin'."

"Like he could get any freakier," Bernice cackled.

"Screw that," Snowboy snorted. "I know a real haunted place, not some cardboard set fer trick-or-treaters."

The chattering died down as every eye turned to him. Anybodys, resting her baseball bat on her shoulder, demanded, "Oh yeah? What place's that?"

A wicked smirk broadened Snowboy's face. "The old Deaver place."

"Ya mean that abandoned factory?" Graziella piped up.

Snowboy nodded. "Legend has it that eight, nine years ago on Halloween night, seven teenagers went inside an' were gonna make noises inside like it was haunted. They split up so they could cover the different floors." He gave a dramatic pause, and if anyone hadn't been listening before, they were paying rapt attention now. "Well, one-a the guys goes up to the second floor after awhile an' says to the guys there, 'Hey, you seen Susie?' An' they say, 'No, we ain't seen Susie.' So they go up to the third floor an' ask the guy an' girl there, 'Hey, is Susie here?' An' they go, 'No, she ain't here.' Just then, there was a blood-curdling scream from the first floor."

Clarice, eyes wide, gripped Big Deal's arm.

"So the five of 'em go down to the first floor an' call fer Susie, but nobody's there." Snowboy paused. "At least, not that they saw." After another dramatic pause, he continued. "So they decide ta go up to the fourth floor where Johnny's stayin'."

"His name was Johnny?" Baby John squeaked.

Snowboy nodded gravely. "Oh, yes. His name was Johnny. So, they go upstairs an' call fer Johnny, but he ain't there either. So they start to get freaked out, 'cause Johnny woulda had ta pass everybody else ta get out. So they say ta Joe (that's Susie's boyfriend), 'Say, Joe, why wasn't Susie with you?' An' he says, 'Well, she hadda use the bathroom.' So they say, 'Well, let's look in the bathroom, then.' So they go pokin' around an' finally find a sign—the bathroom's in the basement."

"Not the basement!" Clarice, who was digging her fingernails into Big Deal's arm, groaned.

Snowboy's eyes took on a wild look. "They go into the basement...an' see Susie an' Johnny lyin' in pieces on a table!"

Graziella gagged.

"But what they didn't know…was that somebody was BEHIND THEM!" Snowboy ended with a shout.

At that precise moment, Joyboy, whom no one had noticed slinking around in the back, grabbed Bernice's shoulders. She let out a horror-movie shriek which, in turn, made Clarice and Minnie scream. The Jets roared with laughter.

"That's not funny, Snowboy!" Clarice snapped once she had recovered.

"Was too," Joyboy choked. "God, you should-a seen yer faces!"

Bernice whacked his hat off with her broom.

"Is that a real story, Snowboy?" a wide-eyed Minnie asked as the laughing died down, clutching the stuffed "Toto" she had stowed in her basket.

Snowboy smirked. "Maybe…maybe not. That's just what I've heard. An' y'know, legend has it that the seven bodies were never found."

"Oh yeah?" Anybodys snorted. "Then how'd this legend get started, seein' as how all seven witnesses are supposedly dead?"

Snowboy frowned.

"Well, why don't we go find out?" Tony suggested with a wicked look. "Poke around that ol' factory an' see if we find any bodies—or pieces of 'em."

"I am not ruinin' my outfit by crawlin' around in some dusty ol' abandoned factory!" Graziella huffed, smoothing out her skirt.

"I dunno, Graz," Riff said, grinning as he toyed with his clip-on gold earring. "It could be fun."

Graziella gaped. "Ya can't be serious?"

"No, I'm Riff," he said easily. "Look, why not? If it's only legend, there's nuthin' ta be afraid of."

"Except fer spiders," Baby John muttered.

"The teeny-weeny spider," Mouthpiece began to sing under his breath.

A-Rab rolled his eyes. "It's the itsy-bitsy spider, Mouthpiece."

"Like A-Rab," Anybodys offered, snickering and ducking as A-Rab swung at her.

"Well, I ain't scared," Action declared, stepping forward proudly.

"I ain't, either," Anybodys was quick to add, swinging her bat as if to demonstrate her bravado.

"All those in favor of goin', raise yer hands," Riff ordered. All the Jets raised their hands; Baby John's shaky arm was the last to rise. Riff grinned. "All right, then! I, ah, guess you girls can stay here while we men explore."

"Now hold up just a minute!" Graziella said indignantly, puffing up. "We are not gonna stay here alone while you boys have fun! Right, girls?"

The twins looked as if they did not at all mind staying there alone while the boys had their fun, but they did not dare speak up against Graziella. Velma offered a weak, "Um, right, Graz."

"We don't wanna keep up with a bunch-a girls in their prissy little heels an' dumb costumes," Action snapped. He paused, eyeing Pauline's own "dumb costume." "On second thought…"

"Well, that's settled, then," Tony said, clapping his hands together. "Let's go!"

And so, with much groaning from the girls and much whooping and hollering from the boys, the group set off from Tony's apartment and towards the old Deaver factory near Hell's Kitchen.

"Gee, I'm cold," Bernice said after a few blocks, making a show of rubbing her arms.

"Maybe you should-a put more clothes on," Clarice said impishly, snuggling into Big Deal's side as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Now, now, there's no need fer that!" said Snowboy, swinging an obliging arm around Bernice's bare shoulders. "I happen ta like the amount-a clothes you have on, Bernice."

Anybodys made a face. "If I hafta hear anymore-a that, I'm shootin' myself."

"Good; do us all a favor," Graziella said derisively.

"Hey, why can't witches have babies?" Snowboy said out of nowhere.

A few of the Jets asked halfheartedly, "Why?"

"'Cause their husbands have hollow-weenies!" he cracked, sniggering at his own joke.

"Ugh," everyone groaned.

"No? Okay, try this one on fer size: why can't gypsies have babies?"

"I'm gonna make sure you can't have babies," Anybodys muttered, swinging her bat.

"'Cause their husbands have crystal b—"

"Hey, is that it?" Baby John said suddenly, pointing to a four-story building down the street.

"Sure is!" Tony said, grinning. "The old Deaver place. It used ta be owned by a ladies' hat-making company, but they converted it to a munitions factory during the war. By the time the war was over, the company'd gone bankrupt an' shut down, an' nobody wanted ta buy the place, so it's just been sittin' there fer eleven years."

"Say, Tony, didn't yer ma say that several workers died mysteriously there?" Riff asked, waggling his eyebrows in a way that indicated this was not true at all.

"Why, yes, Riff, they did," Tony said innocently. "One fella was using a chainsaw, an' it was so loud that he didn't hear his buddy come up behind him, so when his buddy tapped him on the shoulder, he whirled around an' sliced through-"

"Knock it off," Graziella huffed, shivering nonetheless.

They managed to pick the lock of the gate fairly easily, thanks to one of Velma's bobby pins, and ascended the concrete steps to the building with mounting anticipation. It only took a few hard shoves from the boys for the double-doors at the entrance of the factory to cave in; the group spilled in, whispering in hushed wonderment as they looked around. There was enough light from the full moon outside to illuminate the building to the point where they could make out their neighbor; gradually, everyone's eyes adjusted to the light.

"All right," Tony said as they all came to a halt in the foyer. "Now, if we're gonna go explorin' around this place, I say we do it in pairs, otherwise we'll never get anywhere. I counted on the way over, an' there'll be one group-a three; that'll be I an' the twins."

Tiger, the last one to enter the building, stumbled into Graziella. "Sorry," he mumbled, his voice muffled by the cloth.

"I'll be Tiger's partner," Mouthpiece volunteered, patting his best friend's head.

"Anyone else have any preferences?" Riff asked, adjusting the fake parrot attached to his shoulder.

"I say all the girls oughta be partnered up with a guy," Bernice declared at once, eyeing the surrounding area with great trepidation—she was sure she heard a rat scuttling across the floorboards.

"Fair enough," Riff ceded. "So I an' Graz'll go together, then Ice an' Velma, an' Big Deal an' Clarice, which leaves Minnie, Pauline, an' Bernice. Oh, and Anybodys."

"I don't—" Anybodys began, but she was cut off.

"I'll go with Action," Pauline interrupted, her tail swaying as she sauntered to Action's side. The Jet raised no complaints.

"I'll go with Minnie," Baby John offered, smiling shyly as Minnie beamed at him.

Gee-Tar, realizing that he only had two choices, hastily said, "Uh, Bernice…?"

A-Rab groaned. "Not the Breastless Wonder!"

"Do I have to?" Anybodys whined. "Tony don't have a partner!"

"I'm goin' with the twins," Tony reminded her, resting his arms on Snowboy and Joyboy's shoulders. "You two can play nice fer a little while, can't ya?"

Before they could reply that no, there was no way they could ever play nice with each other, Riff spoke up again. "Well, now that that's taken care of, let's split up, yeah?" He flipped up his eye patch so he could get a better look at the assembled. "I an' Graz'll take the fourth floor; Al Capone an' his…flapper…friend—"

"Zelda Zanders," Clarice sighed, twirling her black beads around her finger again.

"—can take the third floor; Gee-Tar an' Hocus Pocus can cover the second floor." He glanced at the remaining Jets and girls. "Hmm. Casper an' his dinosaur can take the first floor; Action an' Catwoman can cover the machine room."

"I an' Tweedledee an' Tweedledum'll take the basement," Tony announced.

"Oh, won't that be scary?" Minnie asked fearfully.

"We're Jets; what could happen to us?" Tony said glibly.

"Okay, but that still leaves six," Riff said after counting. "Captain Marvel an' Dorothy, you two patrol outside; any of the cops look like they're gonna stop, give us a signal."

"What kinda signal?" Baby John asked, wide-eyed.

"The Jet whistle, you moron!" Action scoffed.

"I was just askin'," Baby John huffed. "C'mon, Minnie."

"Okay," Minnie said cheerfully, the red glitter on her shoes twinkling as she and Baby John fairly skipped outside.

Tony frowned. "Actually, A-Rab, why don't you an' the Great Bambino here keep an eye on 'em?"

"I didn't dress up like a babysitter!" Anybodys groused even as she followed A-Rab outside, swinging her bat and leaving a dent in the wall as she did so.

"What about I an' Ice?" Velma asked.

Riff considered it. "You two can take the fourth floor too, I guess; I, ah, don't think we'll be runnin' into each other much," he added with a wink in Ice's direction.

"Sound good ta everyone?" Tony asked. When everyone replied that yes, that sounded fine to them, he grinned. "Swell; now let's see if we can't have some good-ol'-fashioned Halloween fun, eh?"

As the group headed up the stairs, they gradually split off: Tony and the twins to the basement; Mouthpiece, Tiger, Action, and Pauline to the first floor; Gee-Tar and Bernice to the second floor; Big Deal and Clarice to the third floor; and Riff, Graziella, Ice, and Velma to the fourth floor.

"It's creepy in here," Graziella said, worming even further into Riff's side.

"Well, it's a good thing you girls got some big, strong Jets ta take care-a ya," Riff said, winking at Ice. "Say, what's that?"

"What?" Ice asked, turning to look in the direction Riff had pointed. "I don't see—" He turned to look at Riff, only to find the Jet captain and his orange-haired girlfriend scampering off down the hallway. He rolled his eyes at Velma, who was giggling.

"Are you surprised?" she asked.

Ice chuckled. "Not really." He took her hand. "Y'know, that ain't a bad idea, actually…"

Velma smirked and stepped back. "Now, Ice, we came here ta explore; let's not fool around."

"No, let's fool around," Ice groaned, reaching for her again.

She giggled and danced a step back. "C'mon, Ice; it'll be fun."

"There're other ways we could be havin' fun," Ice muttered, following her down the hallway.

"Marianne Louise Goddard!"

Baby John winced as a very familiar and none-too-welcome voice sounded. Minnie turned around and beamed. "Hello, Daddy!"

Officer Goddard, leaning out of the squad car, did not return her smile. "What are you doing out here alone with this…boy?"

"Well—"

"We were just trick-or-treatin'," Baby John lied at once, knowing that Minnie could never lie to her father.

Officer Goddard was not impressed. "Really."

Baby John swallowed. "Really."

Officer Goddard's facial expression didn't change. "That's funny; you don't have a bag ta trick-or-treat with."

Baby John paled. "Well, ya see—"

"It's all in my basket," Minnie said sweetly. Baby John gaped; he didn't think she had it in her. "It would look kind of silly if Johnny carried around a bag, so I offered to put it in my basket."

Officer Goddard didn't look quite as menacing now. "Oh. Well, where are your friends?" He frowned again. "Why are you two alone?"

"Oh, Daddy, Johnny's perfectly harmless," Minnie laughed.

Something caught her father's attention and he frowned once more. "Say, it looks like someone broke into the factory!"

Baby John winced. "Oh, really? I, uh, didn't see nuthin'."

"I'm gonna take a look," the officer declared, getting out of his car and heading towards the factory.

"Oh, no," Baby John groaned.

"Dammit," Anybodys hissed. "He's gonna go right in there an' we're all gonna get hauled ta the station!"

"We gotta distract him," A-Rab groaned.

"How?" Anybodys asked, her mind racing.

A-Rab thought for a moment. "I got it," he said suddenly, snapping his fingers. "I just hope I don't live ta regret it."

Graziella frowned. "Riffy-poo, you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Riff asked, still very intent on his girlfriend's very ample bosom.

"Somebody shoutin'," Graziella said, her voice growing insistent. "Listen!"

Riff heard it; somebody was shouting in horror. He frowned, stepping back and listening harder. "I'm gonna check this out."

"Ya think someone's hurt?" Graziella asked, hurriedly retying the laces on her corset.

Riff shook his head. "I dunno. Go wait with Ice an' Velma 'til I get back."

"Okay…but be careful!" she warned.

Riff smiled winningly before kissing her. "Don't worry about me, babe. Now go on; scram." He gave her rear a hearty slap before jogging towards the stairwell. He paused at the top, watching to make sure Graziella obeyed his orders, before heading down the flight of stairs. He let out the Jet whistle as he reached the third-floor landing. It was returned a moment later, and he jogged forward to meet an unsurprisingly rumpled-looking Big Deal and Clarice. "You two heard that shoutin'?"

"Yeah; we were wonderin' what it was," Clarice said breathlessly, adjusting her feather-headband.

"That's what I'm tryin' ta figure out," Riff said.

"Need some help?" Big Deal offered.

Riff shook his head. "Nah; I'll be fine. Lemme know if ya find anything, okay?"

"Sure thing, Riff," Big Deal agreed, nodding as Riff headed down the stairs again.

Clarice turned to her boyfriend. "What was that shouting? It wasn't from upstairs, an' it didn't sound like it came from the second floor…ya think somebody got hurt?"

Big Deal shook his head. "Ya got me."

The shouting had, in fact, been A-Rab running furiously from around the corner of the factory. "HELP ME!" he bawled as Anybodys, delighted at what his plan had entailed, tore after him with a baseball bat.

"YOU GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE RAT!" she shrieked, swinging the bat madly.

Officer Goddard started in surprise. "What the—?"

Baby John groaned; he could only imagine what A-Rab had done to upset the tomboy this much. A-Rab and Anybodys streaked past them. A-Rab hid a grin, pleased the plan was going so well, before stumbling on his cape.

"Don't you dare screw this up," Anybodys snarled as she pretended to swing again. "I gotta chase ya all the way ta Central Park!"

Officer Goddard jumped in his squad car. "You two be careful!" he barked before putting the car in gear and zooming off after the blond and redhead, who were already two blocks away.

"Oh, I get it now!" Baby John said in awe.