Something had changed in the Subcon Forest. The air was different, tense and strange. Everyone could feel it, from the smallest Dweller to the big bad himself; Snatcher. He felt the change, and he was suspicious. What could have changed?

The Kid? No way. Alien or not, she had visited before many times. No change there.

No. This was...darker.

It was raining. The rain pounded against the forest floor, Dwellers and Subconites hiding inside their hollowed out tree stumps. That was fine, let them have a break.

Snatcher was 'pacing' in his tree, floating in circles. What had changed? What was different? What was the difference to this equation?

"...haha...Hahahhaaa…"

Snatcher froze in place, feeling a cold sweat run down his forehead. Immediately summoning two balls of fire - one for each hand - he looked around. "I knew it. It had to be you." the ghost hissed. "Took you long enough to crawl your way back."

"You and I both know...I have the endurance to survive." came a whisper. "It was only a matter of time before I made my return."

"Do us both a favor then." Snatcher grinned. "Go die in a hole! No one wants you here, ESPECIALLY not me! I've tried to banish you more times than I can count."

"Now, now." replied the whisper, from right behind him. Whirling around, Snatcher found himself face to face with the presence that had taken root in his forest.

Moonjumper.

The blue poltergeist grinned. "I can't die. You know this. My existence is eternal, as long as my presence is in this forest, internal."

Snatcher felt his eye twitch. "God, you and your rhymes. You think you're so smart. Well I can rhyme too, you fart. HA!"

"Oh my. So clever." Moonjumper sighed, sarcastically clapping his hands. "Truly a virtuoso of the english lexicon."

"CAN IT, CORPSEY." Snatcher roared. He'd throw a fireball at him, but he really didn't want to set his entire house on fire. "Why are you even HERE?! I control this forest! Not you!"

Slowly floating around the room, Moonjumper laughed quietly. "Well, it isn't easy to drag yourself out of the void, old friend. I am quite...famished." he floated down, sitting in Snatcher's large red chair. "Now, if you were a good host, you'd offer me a refreshment…?"

"Out. Of. My chair." Snatcher snarled, pointing a claw at the spirit.

Moonjumper frowned. "Evidently not." he sighed dramatically, floating out of the chair. "Seems I'll have to find some dinner by myself."

"You can't have any of the souls I have stashed, AND YOU CAN'T HAVE THE DWELLERS OR MY MINIONS!" he roared.

"Oh! That was one time! Besides, it's not like they have much going on upstairs anyways." Moonjumper grinned, laughing softly to himself. "And besides...I have my eyes on another dish on the menu."

"What?"

"The small girl, who's been wandering the woods. Her soul…" his smile grew wider, more malicious. "...smells delectable."

Snatcher's face grew darker, and he moved closer. "Moonboy...if you lay a single claw on her...so help me I will tear you apart...and you'll wish you'll be able to die."

"Oh! If that's what you want, I solemnly promise not to lay a single claw on her." the spirit purred. Slowly, one of his hands went behind his back, fingers crossing. "Although...I am curious as to why you haven't taken her soul yet-"

"Get out of my tree before I set you on fire. You can't touch any Dweller, Minion, and you especially can't touch the girl." Snatcher barked, pointing outside.

Fading away, Moonjumper began to think of a plan. He wanted her soul. And he wasn't about to let a chance for such a powerful feast to slip through his fingers, no.

He will have her soul.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hat Kid hummed as she skipped through the Subcon. But she quickly came to a halt when one of Snatcher's minions ran in front of her. "Whoa, newbie! New rules!"

"New rules?" she asked, tilting her head.

"That's right. Boss says that no one can walk around alone anymore. And he wants to see you immediately! I will escort you." the Subconite nodded, offering his arm for her to hold.

She shrugged, taking the little ghost's arm. "Why are there new rules? Also can we skip?"

"Um, always?" the two began to skip towards Snatcher's tree. "And we're not sure why there's new rules. We think it's because of...the presence."

"Presence?"

"You haven't felt it, newbie?! The rustling of the leaves, the stillness in the air? Something else is here. And it's not good."

She frowned. Had something bad happened? She hadn't seen anything, or felt anything strange…

"Here we are. Got her, boss!" the little ghost announced as they approached the tree.

"Ah! There's the kid. You're dismissed." Snatcher waved his hand dismissively, grabbing her cape and dragging her inside. "So...listen, kid. You understand that this place isn't exactly kid friendly, right?"

"...explain." she said, squinting her eyes suspiciously.

He laughed nervously, looking around. "Well…it's just, this place isn't exactly for kids!...especially since, well. Something is here. And it's a little dangerous"

"What is it?!"

"Don't worry too much, kid. It's my job to deal with it, it's my forest. Look, you beat me, didn't ya? If you can beat me, you have absolutely nothing to worry about." he settled back down in his chair, pulling a book from the shelf. "Just, be careful, OK?"

Hat Kid chuckled, shaking her head. "I don't think you've seen THESE GUNS!" she shouted, flexing her arms. "BOOM, BABY! NOTHING STOPPIN' ME!"

Snatcher couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, alright. Try not to crack your head open. Go do something."

She nodded, running off. What to do first? She thought she had seen some yarn in the treetops-

It started to rain. She had never seen rain in the Subcon before, it was always a cloudy twilight. Opening her umbrella, her run slowed to a walk. Wait, where was she again? She hadn't gotten lost in the Subcon in a while.

"Oh...won't you come visit my parlor?"

"Hello?" she called out. "Who said that?" Looking upwards, she could see a red twinkling in the trees above- hey, when did a fog roll in? A thick cover of dark grey fog had covered the area, making her unable to see more than a few feet ahead.

"'Tis the prettiest parlor...you ever did spy." the voice sang, barely above a whisper. Definitely coming from the red twinkle.

She fixed her hat, and started climbing on branches. Keeping her eyes on the twinkling red light, she hopped from branch to branch. "Hey! You there! Singing guy!" she called. She could faintly see someone moving in the branches.

"Oh!" the voice seemed mildly surprised. "You must forgive me. I didn't know I had an audience."

Hat Kid finally reached the branch, gasping at the sight of Moonjumper. "A-Are you a ghost?"

He hummed in thought, giving a small smile. "Partially, my dear. I am a spirit. The term 'ghost' is a very large umbrella term to use for undead." he explained.

"Oh. Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked him, stepping closer.

The figure bowed low, in a regal manner. "I am Moonjumper. And I live here, little one. The better question is...what are you doing here?"

"I was visiting a friend." she replied, smiling. What a curious character! Although, certainly not the strangest. And at least he seemed polite.

"Oh, how kind of you!" he praised. "Your friend must be very lucky to have someone as copacetic as you."

"Copa-what?"

"It means 'nice', my sweet." he explained. His claws tapped against each other as he floated around, looking her up and down. "And what is your name?"

"Um, just call me Hat Kid." she watched him circle around her. "You live here? I've never heard of you before."

He paused for a moment, thinking. "Well, you see, I am not a very strong spirit. It takes me a lot of energy to become physically visible." he smiled at her, showing his fangs. "It's likely our paths simply never crossed before."

Something about the way he smiled unsettled her. It seemed...hungry. "Well...does Snatcher know about you?"

Moonjumper stiffened. "Well...you see, Snatcher frightens me so...I'm afraid he'll kill me."

Knowing Snatcher, that was a reasonable assumption. "He's not that bad, you know. I know he seems scary, with the fire and the contracts and how he shouts at you, but he's a big ol softie! We're BFFs!"

His smile twitched, and he subtly loomed closer. "Oh…are you now? 'Best Friends Forever'?" his tone darkened, and he chuckled.. "How...delightful."

Hat Kid nervously chuckled along, trying to step back away from him. But she forgot she was on a tree branch, dozens of feet in the air. She stepped back to empty air, and started to fall. She screamed as she fell, plummeting down to the ground.

Before she landed with a splat, she felt hands grab her. Looking up, Moonjumper had caught her, saving her.

"Nasty fall there, you could've hit your head. A fall like that, you'd be quite dead." he warned, setting her feet on the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she chirped, tackling the ghost in a tight hug. The spirit froze in place, smile twitching into a strange grimace. "I hope I can see you again. I hope you're visible next time!"

She let him go, and he went back to smiling at her. "As do I, my sweet." he bowed, watching her skip away.

His smile drew darker. "For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again. So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly, and set his table ready...to dine upon the 'Fly'."