It was a dark night in the city. The Tortuga's lights were all on. Martin and Chris walked around in circles, waiting for Mina.
"Guys, you're going to wear out the floor at this rate," Koki joked.
"Sorry, Koki. Mina's taking really long to choose her costume," Martin complained.
Mina appeared, wearing a cape, a black lolita dress and fake vampire fangs. Along with her hairclips, there were two skull hairclips.
"Awwwww... what a cute little vampire," Chris said.
"I know. Sorry it took long. She just didn't let me replace her hair clips," Aviva said. Her costume was designed after Flora's look.
"Okay. We'll change clothes and we'll meet you guys out there." Koki pulled Jimmy by the hand, as they rushed to change clothes.
Soon, all the team was reuniting at Gavin's home.
The brothers were dressed like two young wizards in their respective colors. Though both had hats that were more like witch hats. They used their Guardian robes as the main part. On a rope belt around their waists, they even had black wands. Not that they can really do magic with them. Koki and Jimmy decided to be their past lives, Rose and Pyce. Jimmy would blush when he saw anything exposed of her that wasn't her face or arms.
Koki just giggled, as Bite-Size saw everything around him.
Laura appeared, dressed as a black cat.
"Hello, guys!" she greeted, as Gavin and Ronan ran to embrace Martin. Gavin was dressed up as Martin and Ronan was dressed up as a squirrel.
Aidan came, dressed up as Chris, and Nolan came after him, dressed up as a frog. Tania was dressed up as a simple librarian.
"Look, Chris! I'm you!" Aidan said. "Wild creatures belong livin' free and in the wild!" he said Chris' quote, making him chuckle.
"And you make a good impression," he commented, ruffling the imitator's hair.
"Hmm, hey Hocus - can I call you Hocus? - can you do some magic?" Gavin asked Martin, pretending to be him. Martin chuckled.
"I certainly can, and I have my own name, but thank you," he responded, taking a bow and taking off his hat. Gavin and Ronan laughed.
"Okay, Tanya, we're ready! Where will the party be?" Laura asked.
"Just two blocks from here," Tania said. "Come on."
"Here we are. 969." Tanya saw the place: it was a spooky old house. There were no lights on.
"You think there's someone here?" Mina asked.
Martin was going to knock on the door, until... it opened by itself.
Jimmy gulped, and Koki held his arm.
"Relax, guys... I-I think it was only the wind," Chris tried to remain calm.
"Seven days," they heard a voice, and saw a silhouette with long hair falling onto its face. Gavin hid behind Martin, and Aidan hid behind Chris.
"Sorry. I hate when my hair falls onto my face." It was... a little girl. "I was saying that it has been seven days without light around here. So don't worry about all this darkness."
"Um... okay?" Mina said.
"Hi. I'm Blythe."
"Hey, Blythe. I'm Gavin."
"Gavin? *giggle* What a cute name." Blythe looked at him deeply. "You resemble my big brother. I think he'll come soon." She entered the house, with the others rushing in.
"So... does anybody else come?"
"Well... on a night like this, not many people come here. I'm glad someone came," the girl admitted.
"Um, Blythe, is it only you and your brother that live here?" Aviva asked.
"Yeah. Our mom is always working so we don't see her a lot." The mysterious girl looked at her. "And now that I look at you more closely, you look a lot like my sister."
"Well, since we're here, why not telling some spooky stories?" Martin suggested.
"Big cliche alert! Spooky tales in an old creepy mansion. I'm on it!" Tania said. Chris chuckled at that.
Instantly, she reached into her purse and pulled out a dark book with a bat on it.
"You carry a spooky stories book?" Laura asked.
"Just in case I was bored," Tania said. "Books are amazing, no matter what kind is."
They all sit on the floor, and Blythe put her candelabrum in the middle of them.
"Okay, on a scare rate of one to ten - ten for "Adult Boring" and one for "Absolutely Terrifying" - give a number."
"Three!" the brothers said in unison.
"I'd rather we go with nine," Jimmy said, obviously not wanting to hear any of those "Absolutely Terrifying" stories.
"I say five, just so we don't scare the much younger ones," Gavin suggested. Aidan nodded in agreement.
"I'm with them," Mina agreed.
"Hmm, well I actually want to hear a three," Koki stated.
"Me too," Aviva added.
"Um... are you sure it is a good idea?" Blythe asked.
"Are you scared?" Gavin asked.
"A little," she admitted. "But I'm glad someone's here."
"Well, let us start." Tania opened her book in a certain page.
Hunted
The greedy Gaston Gourmand set his restaurant in the forest. In his cages, most of the forest creatures were trapped.
"One, two, and even three! Cooking animals is the job for meee!" Gourmand chanted, off tune as always.
"Aw, look at you! Precious little creatures, the more endangered, the best!" He cackled. "I sure can imagine how many delicacies I can do with you all! And with any other vermin I find around this forest!"
"You should be careful," he heard a girl's voice.
"What? Who are you?!" Gourmand looked behind and saw Nina.
"I'm just saying that you should be careful," Nina said. "Onnaya would not approve such behavior."
"Onnaya?"
"He's a shape-shifting monster, that hunts who hunts creatures. He can turn into anything... and he can be anywhere."
Gourmand laughed at the story.
"Sorry, twerp, but I'm not into bedtime stories! If you excuse me, I have to work! Gotta write down the recipe ideas I had!" He turned his back on her.
Nina looked seriously at his direction.
That night, Gourmand woke up, finding that whole silence... really strange. When he looked outside, he saw that the animals he trapped were set free and its guns and nets were destroyed.
"WHAT?! But who... how?!" Gourmand gasped. Suddenly, he saw a giant sihouette. It was bigger than any of the creatures he captured.
"Onnaya." Nina appeared, recognizing the silhouette. "I warned you. He'll come after you."
"Not if I get him first!" Gourmand said, pushing Nina aside and grabbing his gun.
He followed the silhouette through apparently all the forest, until he was waay far from his restaurant. As he stepped back to look around, he ended up trapped in a net, and surrounded by the creatures he trapped before... and by Onnaya himself.
Gourmand gasped at the sight of the creature: he had a crocodile mouth, brown fur all over his humanoid body and green eyes.
"You woudn't believe what I've gone through to get you here," the creature said, in a distorted voice.
"You were... what?!"
"I used to be a hunter too... and I didn't care a bit for the lives in the forest. Always thinking about me and feeding my stupid greed... until the day I was wounded by a jaguar. A shaman appeared out of nowhere... with medicine from the forest, and saved my life... but as you know... everything has its price. Mine... was a curse."
He growled to the moon, that started to get covered by some kind of shadow. As Onnaya walked around Gourmand, parts of his body turned into human, and Gourmand slowly turned into a monster.
At the end of the lunar eclipse, Gourmand growled at his new form: he was Onnaya now! And his "hunter"... was a human.
"It happened here, a long time ago... I found out the curse could not be removed like that. It had to be passed on." The man (Chris) looked at the new Onnaya. "I freed the creatures you planned to kill. And as much as I learned my lesson, I hope you learn it too. For once again, the hunter became the beast he hunts."
As the man left the place, finally free from his curse, Gourmand growled of despair. Nina, who was returning home, heard that sound and immediatly recognized it.
"Onnaya..."
Jimmy was shivering in fright. The kids had huddled together. The others were fine.
"Not bad," Martin commented. "Not exactly my kind of spooky, but not bad."
"*giggle* Poor dude... a creature day would be too much to ask him!" Koki joked, making the others laugh.
"Yeah, the old saying goes, "You don't know a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes,"" Aviva pointed out.
"Hey, there's just a story about this here!" Tania noticed, as she looked over the book.
"I hope it's a good one," Chris said, coming closer to her to see and to just generally be closer.
"It will. And it is." She gave him a peck on the cheek, making him blush and back up a little. Martin and Laura chuckled at this.
Shades of Guilt
Zach Varmitech drove his car around the city. It seemd like a very calm rainy night...until he saw a similar face. It was Aviva! And it looked like she was being chased!
"HELP! Ayudamé!" she begged, as she continuosly knocked on the car's door. "Por favor!"
Zach looked at her. Then, he drove away, leaving the girl behind. "No way I'm helping a Wild Rat." He thought for a moment.
"NO!" Aviva shouted. "No..." She looked behind and gasped.
The next day, Zach looked at the newspaper.
"Jealousy Attack: Inventor Aviva Corcovado is found... dead?!" Zach looked closely. "Well... better her than me." He turned the TV on. On the news, there was Aviva's story.
"Aviva Corcovado's body was found in the street by her friends. She was spanked to death by a group of jealous scientists. Her friends, the Wild Kratts, reunited today along with some Wild Kratt Kids to say goodbye to the prodigious girl." Zach kept watching. "Security cameras pointed out that a car stopped to Aviva, but the driver left her behind, not giving her a chance to get in."
"I'm here with Aviva's best friend, Koki, who has something to say to the person that abandoned her friend in her time of need." the reporter said, with Koki by her side.
"I sure do!" Koki grabbed the mic. "It's a shame that people today doesn't give a bother about others! Aviva needed help, and they simply left her to die! I think... no, I'm SURE that whoever did that... will be tormented by the shades of guilt." She looked seriously at the camera. Zach gulped. Was she talking to... him?
No, it couldn't be. He turned off the TV, tired of watching the news. But as he looked on the mirror... he saw his skin was tanned, instead of pale white.
"What? But... I... How?"
As the day passed, Zach started noticing not only his hair was changing... but his whole body. It seemed like he was starting to look like... HER! But how?
"But... I don't get it! There has to be a logical explanation!" He noticed his change of voice as he finished the sentence. Looking back at the mirror, he saw his face was round. His eyes remained green, but he looked more like Aviva.
Shrieking of panic, Zach walked outside, trying to run away from this reality. "This can't be happening! It can't!"
The Wild Kratts were reunited on the park, to give a depressed Koki some comfort. Zach passed closed to them, calling their attention.
"Was that..." Koki looked at the silhouette. It couldn't be... she and the crew approached who seemed to be their recently dead friend, but it slapped Bambrick's hand.
"Get lost, you Wild Rat! My day's already terrible!"
"ZACH?!" They recognized that kind of speech. With that, Koki thought for a moment. This couldn't be... unless...
"It was you. You're the one who left Aviva behind!" she concluded.
"Why wouldn't I? Ms. Smarty Pants and I hated each other! I didn't had a choice!"
"Liar!" Martin protested. "You could have chosen to help her. To be nice one time in your life."
"But you prefered leaving her to die. But we should expect this from someone like you," Chris said. "Someone that just thinks about itself, in the most greedful ways."
"But..."
"I was right. You're being punished... by the shades of guilt," Koki said, before turning around, and being followed by the crew.
"You... would refuse to help your friend?"
"Aviva was our friend. But she's gone," Koki said. "Thanks to you." She stared angrily at him, and the crew left Zach behind. He just stood there... surprisingly feeling his heart heavy as a rock.
That night, it was raining hard. Zach walked around the streets, confused about what the heck he was feeling.
"This is not fair... not fair..." he muttered, only hearing Aviva's voice as he talked.
Suddenly, three girls stood in front of him.
"Well, well, well... if it isn't Ms. Aviva Corcovado," the leader said. "Also known as the girl who made us look like fools in science camp, with her acclaimed inventions."
"What?"
"You didn't think we would just sit there and watch you being glorious, did you?"
"But... you're mistaking me! I'm not..."
"Well, guess what? We won't!"
Zach ran away, while the girls chased him. Soon, he saw a car stop close to where he was.
"HELP! Ayudamé!" he begged, as he continuosly knocked on the car's door. "Por favor!"
"Help me!"
Zach gasped as he heard his own voice. He looked around to see... he was still in his car. All he have been through was... somehow, it was all part of his imagination. He sighed of relief, but then, he heard Aviva's screams of pain and despair. looking by the car's windows, he saw the inventor being continuosly kicked and punched by the girls. He kept observing that scene... what he should do?
Aviva cried of despair, until... she felt a mechanic arm lifting her up and pulling her to Zach's car. Zach drove away from the jealous girls, who escaped from the place after hearing the police siren.
Aviva breathed heavily and observed her body. She was heavily wounded... then, she looked at Zach.
"I... I don't get it. Knowing you, you would probably leave me there to die," she said. "Why didn't you?"
"Trust me... I would've preferred that," Zach said. "But something made me change my mind." He looked at her. "Don't tell anyone. I have a..."
"Reputation to maintain, right?" Aviva completed his sentence, leaving him wordless. "Fine." she said, looking down. After a short silence, she looked back at him. "Anyway... gracias." She gave him a weak smile.
Zach sighed, and without Aviva noticing, gave a weak smile as well. The car drove along, as the rain stopped.
Aviva and Koki gulped. Jimmy and the kids were shivering together. Laura was holding for dear life onto Martin, who he and Chris were wide eyed.
"Okay, that one was a LITTLE spooky," the blue Kratt commented. Chris nodded in agreement.
"Yeah... I can't possibly imagine Zach doing that," Aviva admitted. "Even if he does go through something like that." Chris was scanning the table of contents in the book when he spotted an unusual one. Going to that page, he scanned it, but then gulped.
"What's wrong Chris? You think you can handle THAT one?" Tania teased. He gave her a nervous smile.
"Uh, of course, yeah," he lied. Only Martin noticed, though. The one he looked at MUST be a scary one.
Hyde and Go Shriek
Chris walked around the city, after a storm. The park was full of puddles. Children played around them everywhere. Suddenly, Chris tripped on something, and fell on a giant puddle.
He looked back to see he tripped on Toodles' leg. Toodles, that looked like Chris, but with a slightly different haircut and a red shirt, was one of the few Zachbots Zach built with an A.I., just like Marina, his Zachbot sister. She looked like a female version of Martin, but with a ponytail.
"Very funny, guys," Chris chuckled. "Now I can say that's a way to take a quick bath." He continued to walk, leaving the Zachbots speechless.
Chris entered the Tortuga, with his green shirt completely soaked. As he pulled it off, revealing his white t-shirt, he opened the closet, to find out his clothes were full of knots.
"Wow... what'll I wear now?"
"What's that? Some kind of art project?" Zach appeared at the window, mocking him.
"Oh, Zach..." Chris laughed. "Really good one here."
"Gotta admit he knows how to take a joke," Aviva whispered to Tania, as they observed the situation. Then, she threw a water balloon on Zach's direction, making him run away.
"Yeah, but I fear Zach will not stop until Chris can't take it," Tania said, and Chris ended up hearing that.
"Relax, Tanya. He was just kidding. No one got hurt," Chris said, as he undid the knots and wore another green shirt.
"Still... I think you should be careful. I don't trust him," Tania said, as she followed him to the street.
"To think that you, Bite-Size... was just a little skinny bat." Chris was showing a brown bat to the kids in school.
"He's so cute," Jenny said.
"Look at his little ears." Katie said.
"I made sure he would be just fine. Good food, a cozy place to stay, and the most important... tender love and care," Chris explained. "That's the basics for you guys to have a pet."
Tanya observed everything, seeing how much the kids were interested, and how kind Chris was.
Suddenly, Zach sneaked into the class.
"Look at that winged rat's size," he mocked, as the Zachbots grabbed Bite-Size. "Let's see if these wings work!"
Toodles and Marina started pulling Bite-Size's wings, scaring him and making him squeak.
"Hey! Let him go!" Chris tried to save his bat friend, but Marina threw him through the open window. Chris looked around, but didn't found Bite-Size anywhere. "Bite-Size..." He closed his eyes in sadness, making Zach and his robots laugh.
"This time you went too far, Zach! I'll make you pay for this!"
"How much does that thing costed? A buck?" Varmitech mocked, making Chris grunt and leave the class. Tania felt bad about Chris, while she saw the kids, looking through the window, trying to find the bat.
Chris tried to lift up some dumbbells, determinated to get revenge on Zach. As they observed him, the Zachbots whispered between themselves.
"Hey, Chris, you're doing it all wrong." Toodles approached him. "You need immediate results!"
In the Varmitech Building, Chris wore a rather familiar suit, with a white button on it.
"Zach stol- I mean, invented this, inspiring himself on Aviva's designs. According to him, no disks are needed to activate it. Only DNA," Marina said.
"Hmm... I doubt this will work."
"You wanna make Zach pay or not?" Toodles asked.
"Well, yes, but..." Chris felt himself being dragged to outside.
"Take it! Success guaranteed!" he heard Toodles say before the doors closed. Sighing, Chris went on his way, while the Zachbots chuckled.
Later that night, Martin and Laura observed the stars in the Createrra VX and shared stories.
"And then, we freed the rhinos. I'm glad Nubs is back with his mother, but I still regret being so dumb on this adventure."
"It was not your fault, Martin. Zach's robots are full of surprises."
"Yeah, I know. I heard what happened with Chris and Bite-Size. I feel bad about not being there when he needed me."
Suddenly, he heard something moving.
"You saw that?"
"Aw, no. I'm not falling on this trick again."
"No, really, I saw something."
"Yeah, right..." Laura chuckled, until she heard something moving as well. "Wait... I heard something too..."
Both saw a silhouette in the shadows, and embraced each other, shivering. Soon, the silhouette appeared, scaring the lovebirds.
"Let's get outta here!" Laura pulled Martin's arm, and they both ran away from there, while the silhouette destroyed the Createrra.
"Oh, man... Aviva's gonna kill me!" Martin looked back.
Toodles and Marina, already seeing the newspaper's headline "MONSTER ON THE LOOSE", gulped. What if that suit they gave Chris worked?
Zach heard their stories, but simply complained about them giving Chris the suit.
"You gave that Wild Rat my suit?!"
"And Marina almost ruined everything, by telling him you stole Aviva's prototypes," Toodles said.
"I told you I was sorry! But that's not important now! What if it worked?" Marina asked.
"It couldn't! I made modifications, but I still haven't got a chance to try it!" Zach said. This made him think. "And maybe it won't work for Chris as well..." He chuckled evily, as his Zachbots smiled at each other, believing that Zach could have a point. Maybe the newspaper monster wasn't Chris.
By nighttime, Tania walked out of a store, carrying a box with something on it.
"Try not to move that much, sweetie. You need rest now."
"Talking to a box, Ms. Armstrong?" Zach appeared out of nowhere. "Poor little crazy girl..."
"Leave me alone, Zach. I'm busy!"
"Talking with other boxes?" he mocked her. Tania tried to escape, but he kept blocking the way.
"It's not of your business!" She ended up tripping and falling close to a wall.
"Zach!" Varmitech heard a familair voice. "Leave her alone. I've been looking for you."
"What a coincidence..." Zach faced Chris. "Same here, Wild Rat."
"Time for you to pay for what you did to Bite-Size, and for what you'll probably do to other innocent living beings."
"That's the suit I designed, huh?" Zach said. "The one my stupid robots gave you. Although they're not as stupid as you to believe it actually worked!" He pushed Chris into an dark alley, laughing. But then, he saw a strange glow coming from the darkness, then he heard a growl.
Chris came in his direction, revealing himself as the "monster" from the newspaper (his Tazzy form). Tania gasped as she observed everything. When Chris stared at Zach firmly and growled, Varmitech panicked and ran away.
Chris turned to Tania, and saw her shivering. She closed her eyes for a moment, wondering what he would do. Then, she saw him holding her hand and helping her to stand up. After giving her a short smile, he ran at Zach's direction, leaving the girl behind, observing him go.
Zach ran to his own building, and knocked desperately on the door. "Open up! OPEN UP!"
Toodles and Marina opened the door, and brought Zach in.
"He's after me! The suit worked! And now he's gonna get me!" the scientist said, with a desperate tone. Then, he looked at another prototype suit he stole. "Hmm... but not if I even the score!"
He put the suit on, and opened the button, placing three samples of animal fur he had.
"Are you sure this will work?" Marina said. "Look what one animal's DNA did to Chris!"
"This will make me thrice better than him!" Zach said, punching the button. "Then we'll see who's..." But before he could finish the sentence, his suit started glitching and eletrocuting him. As a strong glow filled the building, Marina and Toodles ran away, afraid about what could happen.
Zach crashed the door, showing his new form: t-devil fur, cheetah claws and jaguar tail. But as he growled, the police sirens were heard, and flashlights appeared everywhere.
A tranquilizing dart was thrown on his direction. Zach felt pain in the neck, then fainted. As the police carried him away, people around observed, and between them all, there was Chris, back to normal. He smiled, seeing his plan worked.
"You planned everything, didn't you?" Tania asked, meeting him after the cars were gone.
"I knew he would try to be better, but little did he know that the suits have some limits," Chris said.
"Hey... I have something for you," she said, opening the box she was holding. There was Bite-Size.
"Bites!" Chris said, cheerfully. "You're okay."
"I found him with the kids' help. We took care of him, and I can say he was dying to see you again," Tania said, chuckling. Chris smiled, as the brown bat flew to his shoulder. He looked around to see Toodles and Marina seeing everything. Chris growled like when he was in his monster form, scaring them away, and making Tania chuckle, as they left, leaving the prototype suit behind.
Tania felt something wrapped around her arm. She looked and saw her "boyfriend" holding onto her. She smirked. "What? TOO spooky this time?"
"N-no, it, uh... just got interesting," he answered. Martin had pulled his hat over his ears and Laura was holding onto his arm.
"Geez, mom. How did Chris appear in the story?" Aidan asked.
"And Gourmand?" Mina asked.
"And Zach?" Ronan asked.
"Hey! Speaking of spooky stories... I have one that's probably not in her book," Gavin said.
"You do? Well, spill it out, sport," Martin said.
"Be warned. It's said to be true." Jimmy hid behind Koki and the boys hid behind their moms. Mina took refuge in Aviva's arms.
The Girl Who was Forgotten by Everyone
A long time ago, there was a filthy rich family. This family had a little girl. But although they had the biggest fortune ever, and the girl had all the toys she could ever wish for... she was lonely.
The many maids that worked there never gave her attention. This also includes her parents, her elder siblings... even the pets didn't seemed to notice she was there. It was like she was... invisible.
No matter what she did, where she was, and how she said she was feeling... no one noticed.
No one.
One night, she looked through her room's window, and saw the sun set and the first star appear. Then, she remebered of a riddle about this:
Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight
She closed her eyes... and wished... for a friend. For someone who would pay attention, play, draw and make her company.
Her wish came true. The star's light glowed through her window... and from it, her "friend" appeared. He was furry and gray, with small bat wings on his back. His eyes were scarlet, and his smile... well, calm and simple.
For a while, it felt great to have him close. They drew, played, made up stories and even built pillow forts. She named him Mr. Gizmo... because it felt right.
He was her special secret. But soon, it felt something was wrong. He was a good friend... but just because she wanted him to be. It felt he... somehow couldn't love her back.
Another night came, and in this particular night, there were lots of people reunited in the house. One of the maids entered the girl's room.
"Little one... your mommy will have a baby!"
With that, the girl felt upset. She felt jealous already.
"How come they want another child... if I did everything for them to notice ME?!" she yelled in protest.
Mr. Gizmo felt her wrath, and absorbed all of it. His form changed as the girl screamed in anger and sadness.
"And then..." Suddenly, the candles' light vanished.
"Uh-oh..." Mina said. "The lights are gone."
"Just when I was getting to the best part?!" Gavin complained.
"We better go find some more candles," Martin suggested, standing up. "You know where to find some, Blythe?"
"Y-yes," the little girl said. "But I want him to come with me." She pulled on Gavin's arm. Aidan gave him an amused smile saying, "someone likes you". Gavin gave him a glare that retorted, "shut up". Blythe led the way, tugging on Gavin and Martin following.
"Wait! I'll go too," Aviva said.
"Y-yeah... I'll stay here, protecting Koki." Jimmy hid behind his grilfriend.
"My hero..." Koki said. "I meant it and also didn't."
"Wow... after all these stories... I kinda feel strange," Chris admitted.
"I know... all this darkness and silence..." Tania thought. "Speaking of silence... I wonder why no one came yet."
"Yeah... where is everybody else?" Aidan asked.
Suddenly, they heard a scream. "Is that... Blythe?" Koki recognized the voice.
"There. In the closet," Blythe pointed out.
"Wow, you really need to clean this closet, Blythe." Martin observed as he picked up the candles. "Even the cobwebs have cobwebs."
"AAAGH! What's that?" Blythe shouted, looking at the room's opened door.
"What happened?" Aviva asked.
"I saw something moving out there," Blythe said. "Something creepy."
Aviva took the candles for Martin, and he went out to take a look.
"There's nothing here, Blythe. I think it was probably a..." Martin looked back to see the door have been closed. He tried opening it, but... it was locked.
"Hey! What is going on? Open up!" Martin begged.
Blythe locked the door.
"Blythe! Open the door!" Gavin said.
"Ssshhh. I'm protecting us," Blythe said.
"What do you mean? If there is something out there, Martin will be in trouble," Aviva said.
"Don't you see?" Blythe looked at them, with her eyes turning red. "HE is the trouble, big bro and sister."
Gavin gasped. The girl clutched Aviva's skirt.
"Blythe?" Aviva asked.
"I know the end of the story. And so does Mr. Gizmo."
Mr. Gizmo's bat wings appeared on Blythe's back. Gavin shrieked.
"He told me my family ran away. But he also told me they would come back someday. And you did."
"You're... you're the..."
"Yes... I'm that little girl! I was forgotten by everyone, but not anymore! You returned... and you will pay attention to ME!"
"W-wait! We're not-" Aviva tried to explain.
"You shall not LEAVE!" Blythe screeched in fury. She blew the door off, unintentionally freeing Martin. Seeing her demonic form, the three shrieked in terror, and ran back to the others with the demonic girl in pursuit.
Everyone heard three screams from the hall. Aviva, Martin and Gavin came running, looking terrified. "Guys, what happened? And where's Blythe?" Chris asked.
"Blythe... had locked Martin out... and Blythe... she is..." the Air Guardian stammered from lack of breath.
"She's a MONSTER!" Gavin shrieked at the top of his lungs.
The crew saw red lights around the house. Blythe appeared, but she no longer looked like a human.
Jimmy shivered, but Koki was the one who fainted.
"Mr. Gizmo and I... became one and the same," she explained, her voice distorted. "He told me my family would return. And now they're here, and I'm the only one they'll ever pay attention!"
Gavin hid behind his mother.
"Wait! You got it all wrong! We're not your family!" Tanya told her. "We just came here to throw a party! That was it!"
"How do you know that Mr. Gizmo isn't lying to you?" Chris questioned. Blythe glared at him, for some reason making him shudder.
"How dare you accuse Mr. Gizmo of such a thing!" She tried to grab Chris, but Martin pushed him out of the way and was grabbed instead.
"Martin!" Laura screamed.
"Blythe! We're not your family!" Aviva said.
"They're gone! Blythe, They're gone!" Gavin protested. "I heard the real end of the story..."
The girl just screamed and hollered. And Mr. Gizmo absorbed all her wrath, and destroyed everything around her. EVERYTHING! Her parents... her siblings... her life...
As the girl stopped crying, she looked around to see no one was there again. As she climbed down the stairs... she only saw Mr. Gizmo.
"You asked him where everybody was, didn't you?" Gavin started to cry.
Blythe gasped. Thinking back... that was exactly what happened.
"He DID lie to you. He used you for your anger. To make himself only stronger. He never was your friend."
Blythe's normal eyes appeared. What have she done? A tear escaped her eyes. Soon, she started to feel pain. Mr. Gizmo seemed to try to keep in control.
"You lied to me! You're not my friend anymore!" Blythe protested.
"We need to help her! She's as much of a victim that we are!" Aviva said.
"But how?" Chris asked.
Gavin looked at the window. There was a glowing star.
"Maybe if I say that riddle again..." Gavin had an idea. Then, he stood up and took a deep breath.
"Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight"
Gavin closed his eyes and wished. Soon, Mr. Gizmo left Blythe's body, being carried back to the light. Blythe was held by Aviva, while they all watched the light vanish.
Blythe breathed heavily, then she started to cry.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... For all this time, I've took people away, believing in Mr. Gizmo's words... but I'm actually alone... I have no one... like always..." She knelt, sobbing.
Suddenly, they all heard some nearly-quiet footsteps. Everyone looked to see Martin looking down the stairs and gasping after seeing at who was coming up.
Ghost-like people appeared from every corner of the house. They were all people that Blythe took to the other world. Between them... was Blythe's family.
"Mom? Dad? Brother? Sister?"
"Blythe... we want you to meet your new brother." Her mother showed her a ghost baby. Her mother wasn't going to have a baby... she already had the baby before Mr. Gizmo destroyed everything.
"We never forgot about you," Blythe's sister said. "Sorry we kept ignoring you... but Mom needed our help. A baby needs lots of care... but that didn't mean we didn't love you."
Blythe wiped some tears.
"Well, looks like the story I heard wasn't fully true," Gavin noticed.
"Come. Let's go." Blythe took her mother's hand. They needed to leave.
"Thanks. You all saved me."
"And never forget, Blythe... even after you're gone... I'll think about you as a friend," Gavin said, wiping some tears. Blythe smiled to him and to all the team, that was waving to her. She embraced Gavin, making him blush a little.
Once she reunited with her family again, she closed her eyes, and recited the riddle again, vanishing with her family. Martin put a hand on Gavin's shoulder.
"I'm proud of ya, sport. You not only faced a fear, you became friends with it." Gavin embraced the Kratt in blue.
"Wow, now that's a story that's got to be put in the book," Aidan said as they all left the mansion.
"I definitely agree," Gavin supported.
"There you are!" They saw Katie, in a Corpse Bride costume. "We've been looking for you guys for a long time!"
"Yeah, we had to cancel the party. The host got sick," Jenny, with her Koki costume, explained.
"What?" Laura asked. "It wasn't here?"
"Oops." Tania looked at the address. "I turned the address upside down. It was actually 696. Sorry, guys."
"This house has been abandoned for a long, long time," Coraline said. "There were stories about a girl that was forgotten by everyone that died of loneliness."
"Well... the story isn't actually like that," Gavin said.
"Huh?"
"Come on. I'll explain it," the boy invited them to enter the now-empty mansion. "Halloween Night isn't over yet."
"Speaking of stories, where did you get this book, Tania?" Chris asked.
"At the House of Enchanted Tales downtown," Tania said, leaving them all with blank faces. "What, I didn't know it meant they were literally enchanted!"
They all laughed about that, as they followed the kids inside. Despite all problems, this has been a very special Halloween.
