A/N: Well hello there people! Another update after such a long while! My apologies, but I'm back at school and thing's been on my nerves. Before starting I wanted to give you all an advise of a new page dedicated to my Trickery Treat characters, Trickery Treat Street! The page in on Tumblr and me with my friend have been uploading a lot of concept art, so feel free to go and see! The name of the blog is trickerytreatstreet, simple as that!
And also, I'll be hosting a few of HardWrapping's characters, why? Because they're awesome!
Now please, enjoy!
"Alright, we arrived; it's a good thing we got here safely…" Minty looked at Vanellope "But I thought having Gloyd taking us out here was crucial?"
The raven girl sighed as Rufus watched them as a cat next to her feet "Well, as much as I don't want to say this, if the Silhouette REALLY wants to get rid of Gloyd then that means it would follow wherever he goes so… I guess we had this change to have you guys go back to Sugar Rush." Vanellope walked to the old bridge with Minty, Swizzle, Taffyta and Rancis following, with Rufus at the back "We have been gone for too long, and we need help, so as soon as you arrive-"
"Meaow! Hey!" The cat said suddenly, and they all turned at breakneck speed thinking that something was wrong, but they saw something different.
Rufus was standing on his back legs right at the beginning of the bridge, and pawing something frantically with his front legs. Taffyta squinted her eyes, and saw some kind of a blue light at the corners of his paws.
"What in the…?" She walked over to where Rufus was and knelled down, seeing the blue lights clearly. Vanellope got to her side and widened her eyes lightly as she recognized those.
It was the same shield that couldn't let her leave Sugar Rush when Turbo took over. And it was now keeping Rufus in the island.
The cat whined and dropped his ears as he kept pawing the shield "Don't go! I wanna say bye first!" He sounded desperate, and the raven girl could understand that.
Swizzle got to his side "Calm down! We are not leaving forever!" Still, he bent over lightly and pat the cat on his head, making him calm slightly. Soon the rest of the avatars followed and there were four couples of hands petting the cat and making him purr loudly.
"I will miss you still! Please don't take too long to return!" Rufus said between purrs and nuzzling the hands the best he could.
After a while of petting the cat boy, the boat finally arrived. The avatars took everything they brought and they stood by the bridge again. But as Rancis peeked in he saw something "Huh? Guys, there's a letter in here!" He picked it up and read it out loud "From the King of Sugar Rush to Vanellope Von Schweetz, urgent." He looked at the girl and offered the letter.
Vanellope opened it quickly and took out the paper "It says: Dear Vanellope, as much as I can understand your unusual long stay at Trickery Treat island, as you and your friends are probably enjoying yourselves in that place…" She huffed and muttered a 'yeah right' before continuing "…the parents of those who went with you and myself are worried for not hearing anything about you for weeks, and it's important that you all get back home, immediately. Your father."
"Oh boy…" Rancis rubbed his temple "Knowing dad and how worried he gets, I don't think I will be able to explain what's going on here."
"You guys have got to tell dad, I can't leave." The President reminded them "As soon as you get there, go straight to the castle and explain what's happening here, and also make sure that no one out of our game knows this! Just tell Jimmy and the others so we can get some help."
They all nodded and stood on the boat with their package, Swizzle was carrying both his pet and Vanellope's, who looked worried at her owner.
Vanellope pat her head one last time "I'll be fine, Whipcream, but I think you should be safe at home." She looked at her friends "You all should be."
And pressing the button, the boat started and they all took off, disappearing in the distance alongside the sound of the motor.
Vanellope stood there with the letter clutched on her chest, before turning to Rufus "Let's go, cat boy." She walked past him "Spellina must be waiting for us."
"Yeah!" He shuddered lightly "She hates waiting!... along with many other things."
"Do you have any idea of how long you kept me waiting!? Vanellope was waiting for you guys!"
That was Spellina's greeting to the ones that just arrived from the Theater.
The three boys backed a few steps, feeling weak under her glare. But as Maria moved from behind of them, the witch racer changed her glare for a worried expression "Mary!"
"Lina!" They hugged each other, clearly relieved of seeing the other. The guys sighed relieved and they moved inside the hidden spot, sitting on the sofa where Spook was waiting for his owner and the bat hurriedly went to snuggle with him.
The girls moved in too, and it was almost a shocking sight- Spellina was genuinely smiling!
For a short while anyways, there was another knock and soon the witch themed racer went to open the door with her usual sour face "Good to have you back as well, I take things went smoothly?"
Rufus rubbed his back against her legs "Yup! Nothing bad happened back there and the guys are back in their land-…" He turned to the other girl, his face breaking into a huge grin "Maria!"
The girl knelled down and picked him up, nuzzling him "Ruffy! I missed you too!" She smiled, turning to Vanellope "Oh, hello… I don't remember your face."
"Hey." The president smiled at her as she walked inside, spotting Gloyd with Spook on the sofa. Said boy smiled lightly at her as he caressed his bat on the head before she turned to Maria "I'm Vanellope, and-"
"You're here to help us like Gloyd?" She smiled "I'm so glad! We really need support!"
Vanellope blinked "They already explained it to you?"
"No, she guessed."Gloyd said "She did the same back there."
"Ssshe doesssn't guessss ssstuff." Viper hissed lightly "Maria isss known asss the 'Heart'sss Reflection', ssshe isss able to tell one'sss intentionsss."
Maria set Rufus down, and sat next to the snake themed boy leaning on his shoulder, this making him blush "Thanks for defending me, love, but it's alright! They don't mean any malice."
"S-sure, doll…" He muttered. Gloyd blinked impressed as Viper didn't make the snake sound, he sure got it bad. Vanellope then sat next to him and looked at him worriedly "Did anything happen back there?"
Gloyd sighed as he set Spook on his lap "Yeah… that thing appeared again, and it keeps filling me with questions…" The candy bat squeaked softly at him.
Dim Light stood near them "It just claimed to personally know Gloyd at the Theater." He sighed "And I also realized something… it seems to take advance of people's fear. It turned me into a killer, and it sealed Maria in a mirror that she herself wouldn't break for anything in the world."
Both Vanellope and Rufus widened their eyes, and Spellina just hummed in deep thought.
"Well… another thing to add in the list." The witch racer sat on the table "A creature that knows our deepest fears to take advance of us… and it makes me wonder something else."
She looked at Gloyd "What are you afraid of, Gloyd?"
The prankster blinked "Me? I'm not really scared of anything…" He thought about it "Well, I'm afraid of Rancis sometimes after I play a prank on him, and I'm also scared something like the Turbo fiasco happening again."
Spellina shook her head "No phobia or anything unlike most of us? Something that would make your world suddenly shatter?"
"No… I guess…" He mumbled.
"Then maybe, the creature only wants you because it's not sure of what you're scared of?" The witch racer rolled her eyes "I think that monster is just angry at you for not having a clear weak point."
"Spellina," Maria interrupted "That creature's heart is shattered."
Everyone turned to her, and even Spellina looked quite shocked "How do you know that?"
The girl played a bit with her long hair, nervous of all the stares, but Viper hissed lightly at them and she relaxed a bit "Um, well… when it caught me, I felt a strong wave of loneliness." She didn't meet any gaze "Loneliness... and it shocked me really; I also felt pain coming from it."
Dim Light looked confused "Pain as in, physical…?"
"No, emotional." Maria finally looked at them "Call me crazy, but I know what I felt. It was a mix of all bad things… but there is one that's still bothering me…"
"What isss it?" Viper was pretty into the new information.
"Guilt."
"Huh?" Dim Light blinked.
Maria nodded "Guilt. There's something that thing did and it rejects it. But I don't know how that's bonded with you, Gloyd…"
Soon silence followed, most of them were confused, a few of them unsure if to believe what they just heard, and one still not done talking.
"Um… also," She continued "I wasn't alone when it caught me. Faust was there."
"Faust!" Dim Light's eyes lit "I have been waiting to hear from him since I changed back!"
Gloyd turned to Rufus "He was never mentioned, who is that guy?" The black cat tilted his head at him.
"Faust was a critical victim of Lord Duskus' experiments." He changed back into a kid, sitting on his usual spot next to the fire "In fact, he died. In a way at least."
The two Sugar Rush racers widened their eyes, bat included. Spellina hummed lightly "Faust lost most part of his humanity. He turned into a ghost with no emotions; literally speaking, that guy's face is always blank."
"He wasss never one of many wordsss when 'alive' either." The snake themed boy added "I'm not exactly clossse to him, but he'sss not bad for assspirit."
"Of course not! We spirits are nice creatures mind you!" The reaper kid frowned lightly as he floated to their side "And Faust LeSoul is actually a good, hardworking person!"
"You seem to be close, huh… but where is that guy now?" Gloyd turned to Maria.
She looked worried "He's back at his place. But no longer like himself." The girl turned to Dim Light "I'm sorry, but Faust was turned into a monster by the Silhouette."
"Oh no…" He frowned.
Vanellope frowned "He was changed too!? I can't believe this! That thing needs to stop!"
"…" Gloyd looked away.
"Gloyd?" Rufus looked at him.
The prankster was looking down at his pet on his lap "…I'm not sure if to go now, you know?" Spook chirped softly at him, nuzzling his hand.
Maria hummed softly as she gazed at him, her mirror accessories glowing lightly for a few seconds "…I feel your uneasiness, and your growing fear." She looked at her friends "But, believe me, we're ALL scared."
"The only ones that can get him back safely are you two." The witch racer crossed her arms, but was looking rather calm "If I were in your shoes Gloyd, I wouldn't want to go outside and face that thing. But wouldn't you like to finally learn the truth?"
Gloyd looked up at her and blinked, she continued "Think about it. Maria just told us that creature has feelings, and who knows…" She shrugged "Maybe the feelings of guilt are because of you."
"WHAT!?"
"You can't be serious! A monster terrorizing the new island?"
"We're telling the truth guys!" Rancis, Taffyta, Minty and Swizzle were with the rest of the avatars after the long ride "The avatars there are trapped because of that thing hunting them down!" The blonde racer was telling them everything that had happened since they returned, still exalted.
Candlehead looked worriedly at her two best friends "And Vanny?"
Taffyta turned to her "Back at that place with Gloyd." She groaned and rubbed her temples "We don't have any details, but it seems there's something about Gloyd that keeps that thing away."
"That's weird." Jimmy then scowled "But if they're in danger, we should go to help!"
"Yeah!"Snowanna looked at them "We must go there right now!"
"Not so fast guys." Everyone turned to Minty "Look, as much as they are in danger, we can't leave just now! We need to tell King Candy first- maybe he can do something about that thing from here!"
"Speaking of which…" Patrick started.
"…We heard him a while ago talking about something about that island." Petty finished "And with Gloyd's parents too."
"Were you two seriously spying on the King?" Tea frowned at them, and the twins looked a bit scared.
"We were…"
"…very bored!"
Larry sighed "Okay… what did you two heard?" Jubileena was next to him, holding hands.
Patrick crossed his arms "It was mostly about Gloyd. Something's off in his code box I guess."
"And his parents are worried about it, but King Candy can't seem to work it out." Petty mimicked his twin's pose.
Swizzle seemed confused "Gloyd's code is having problems? It can't be, he seemed just fine right there!"
Rancis nodded "He wasn't glitching or anything…" He suddenly stopped, and blinked "But… maybe that's not what's wrong!"
"What do you mean?" Jimmy raised a brow as he patted Walf.
The blonde racer turned to the crew "Before leaving, we heard something weird. It was about Gloyd living back at the island years ago, but we all know Gloyd's been here since day one!"
All the avatars seemed quite shocked to hear that, especially the ones originally from Sugar Rush; Crumbelina stepped in front "Do you think King Candy is trying to figure that out?" She asked "I guess his parents must know about it!"
"That's possible, but…" The green haired boy looked unsure "I mean… Gloyd's my bro, why wouldn't he tell me about that place? Plus, he himself didn't seem to remember living there."
Taffyta looked at him "But he did recognize a few things, right? Such as that Dim Light guy."
"Who?" Dough asked and Candlehead shrugged. Manny decided to ignore them "What should we do?"
"Vanellope needs support." Minty started "She said to ask you guys for help because that thing back there is able to put a Game Over to anyone, so we can't let anyone out of the arcade to know this."
Adorabeezle nodded "Come on, King Candy must hear this!" All the racers hopped into their karts, and they drove straight to the castle.
"Just you and me?"
"Well… Viper wanted to be with Maria."
"Ah, young love!" Dim Light chuckled as he closed the door of Spellina's house and they started to walk towards their destination, this time going west of their location "But, I'm sure we'll be fine on our own, child… What about your special someone?"
Gloyd blushed lightly "My spe… Vanellope." He corrected himself, blushing harder as Dim Light gave him a playful stare "I really don't want her to be in danger, you know…" He muttered as he looked away.
"Hm, you think this issue about you and the creature will hurt her beyond words, or risking her safety for your own problems…" The spirit looked ahead, Gloyd looked at him.
"…How do you know those things?"
Dim Light shrugged "I'm just a spirit in a cape."
The boy groaned lightly as he heard that line "Right…" They kept walking off road between the trees, as it seemed to help them hide for any potential danger.
Well, the only danger there was anyways.
But not even the eerie and quiet forest couldn't get Spellina's words off Gloyd's mind, or the feeling of something wrong about to happen. Either way, it was all linked to the Silhouette.
The prankster sighed lowly as he remembered the occurred in the Theater "All these events and mysteries will turn me into scrap code…"
"You wouldn't be the first feeling that way." Dim Light replied calmly as he gazed at him "…Or rather.., it wouldn't be the first time you have felt this way."
"What…?" Gloyd looked at him with his eyes lightly narrowed "What do you mean?" He spotted a very tight space which was completely blocked by dry branches, yet their path seemed to continue through them.
"Nothing at all." Dim Light moved the branches out of the way and allowed Gloyd to pass first; and changing subjects he continued "If my memory's not rusty, Faust's mansion was pretty far away from here, and the only shortcut is between the trees... as long as we don't get lost."
Gloyd avoided as many branches as he could, and also watched the ground to don't trip over anything "Then let's speed it up, last thing we need is... you know." He grimaced lightly.
"I do..." The reaper kid nodded softly as they finally passed through the knot of dried up branches and trees "Besides, I won't rest in peace until we get to Faust and help him out of this." The prankster eyed him for a bit as they continued their walk.
"You two are close, aren't you?" He smiled lightly, and Dim Light chuckled, his eyes looking to a side "Close? We spirits must stick together no matter what! And boy, aren't we fond of each other…" He coughed lightly, and Gloyd blinked.
But instead of saying anything, he just looked ahead "Don't worry, we'll get him back safely… but, is it really true?" He looked at his friend "He… died?"
Dim Light nodded softly, a light sigh escaping his lips "Yes indeed… well, as far as the code says- we are all the same since day one so to speak." He explained "Faust, in our eyes, was always a ghost. But he knows something happened to him, and that was without doubt around the time our Mayor lost control of himself when he decided to 'upgrade' us."
"That Mayor guy was a huge pain huh… I guess it's a good thing he got taken care of." He looked away, and something came to his mind "But how do we relate?"
"Huh?" The spirit looked at him.
Gloyd looked ahead, recognizing what seemed to be a huge house in the horizon "The Silhouette came from that Duskus' house, right? If he was able to change all of you, maybe he could have also created his little sidekick… but what does this sidekick wants from me?" He looked bothered again, and Dim Light hummed in deep thought; what indeed.
The reaper kid soon spotted the mansion too, and turned to Gloyd "First things first." He pointed ahead "We must approach his place carefully; Faust is the last avatar, and without doubt the Silhouette will try to strike us."
A sudden shiver ran up to Gloyd's spine, just taking in the gravity of the situation- two very close encounters with the creature were probably enough in this life. Nodding his head weakly, he followed his friend through more branches and rocks, until they made it the mansion "Wait… this place is a hotel?"
Faust's mansion looked like the classical French building, but as expected, the four story building was heavily damaged and the once lilac painting it had was now grey and peeling from the walls. A huge wooden door decorated by an ivory arc, and the windows were huge with white accents, but a few roots made their way up the walls of the lower floor and most of those things were either broken or damaged in big parts.
There was also a huge sign that seemed to have fallen from the roof, the broken neon words having 'Clair de Lune Hotel' displaying on it.
"Moonlight Hotel… never saw such a depressing sight of Faust's most prized possession- his own house…" Sighed Dim Light "…So I was right about the Silhouette's ability." He turned to Gloyd "But if we get Faust out of there, that… monster wouldn't hurt anyone anymore."
Nodding silently, the boy once again followed behind Dim Light's steps, taking in the huge, dead garden at the side of the rugged place. He noticed some black roses, and stopped his tracks.
The roses… looked fresh, unlike the rest of the garden.
If the Silhouette knew Faust's fear of destroying his place, then why keep those roses intact?
Or was someone else trying to fix this place, starting from the garden?
"Child!" Called Dim Light in a low whisper, calling his attention. "Come quick! I found an entrance!"
"A-alright!" He gave the flowers one more confused glance, before reaching the reaper kid's side. Dim Light pushed a wooden door open, cracking very softly in front of them as they saw the interior of the destroyed Hotel, and it didn't make it look better- it was just a mere corridor that guided the hostages to the gardens, with a few elegant cushions what were now ripped and the house of small rodents that scattered across the room.
Gloyd gulped as he noticed the corridor continued and there was nothing but darkness ahead. He saw enough scary movies to know what would happen if they went in; but Dim Light was determined to save the racer and started to walk ahead "Wait up!" The prankster whispered as he followed the reaper kid. More things came to view, and just like back in the Theater, Gloyd could make the image of this place before it's destruction: A place so fancy that not even Rancis or Crumbelina would set a foot in to keep it clean.
"That's Faust to you…" Muttered his friend, clearly reading his mind.
They kept walking, only guided by the light emerging from the young reaper's eyes, until they finally arrived to the Hall. It somehow seemed like the part of the Hotel that received most damage, seeing there were at least a hundred claw marks in the floors, walls, and the wooden reception. Dim Light growled under his breath, recognizing the Silhouette already made its part of marking this place as its own.
The prankster was looking at every corner of the room, trying to take in as much as possible. But as he kept looking for any threat he started to hear something. Sobbing. And really close to them.
He looked at Dim Light "Do… do you hear that?" The spirit nodded and started to look out for the sound, which seemed to be coming from the reception. Walking over it carefully, the two looked over, and spotted a tiny light on the floor "What the…?"
The sobbing came from a little ghost, that had not a human appearance, but a chibi-like one. It was covering its eyes with its short, nubby arms as it cried. The ghost soon felt like it was being watched, and looking up, it released a loud chirp of fright.
"Ah!" Dim Light took the little ghost and covered its mouth "This is one of Faust's servants!"
"For a minute I thought that this was Faust…" Muttered Gloyd, before facing the small spirit who looked up miserably at him "Poor fella, must be terrifying to be in here."
The little ghost chirped lowly, and Dim Light released him "But they are hundreds of these little guys, and only the receptionist is here. This is not normal." He lowered his head to the ghost's eye level "Where's everyone?"
Before answering, it went behind the table and took out a small piece of paper and offered it to Gloyd, who read it out loud "'I'm Larry'... So that's your name?"
Larry nodded his head, and started making motions for the boys as it seemed this ghost couldn't talk. He moved his arms up and down and made a low groaning sound, mimicking something "…Zombie?" Dim Light blinked, but Gloyd understood "The Silhouette!" The ghost nodded and then took a stale bag of marshmallows from the counter, a black marker and made sad faces in at least ten of them, presenting them to the boys.
"Uh, the Silhouette made the marshmallows cry?" The spirit looked more confused now, but Larry made a sad face that looked just like the ones in the stale treats, and Gloyd seemed to get it again "Are those the rest of the ghosts?" Larry nodded and Dim Light huffed very lightly "They are still marshmallows though…"
Larry started to make low groaning sounds again, picked the marshmallows, and put them inside a little box that was quickly shut. The reaper boy finally seemed to understand "So your friends were trapped also? I see now." He looked at Gloyd "Without helpers, a business this big would go down in seconds."
Nodding, Gloyd turned to Larry "Where are they?" He looked very scared and hid behind the counter again "I know you're scared, alright…" The brunet looked over and saw Larry on the floor doing the fetal position. Gloyd looked sad for the tiny ghost, but this sadness was slowly turning into determination.
"We're here to help." The little ghost looked up at him "I don't care if it's just two of us, we'll get your friends and Faust back!"
Dim Light nodded "Well said, child." He turned to Larry, who now started to float away from the floor "Larry, we need you to guide us to where your friends are at." With a weak nod and a gulp, the small ghost helper floated away and they followed behind.
They went through another corridor that lead to a white stairway, and it somehow didn't seem like it would fall by any minute 'Then again,' Gloyd figured 'it was mostly used by the ghost servants, they only float.' It was after a few more steps they reached their destiny, the second floor.
Dim Light looked at Larry "What about the other two floors? There is nothing there?" The little ghost shook his head and floated into the corridor, but squeaked in fear and hid behind of the prankster. Gloyd sighed and looked at Dim Light, who lifted his sight in the corridor "…There's nothing there; I don't feel the presence of anything unlike in the Theater." He said after a minutes of silence, and turned to Larry "It's OK, you can take us to where you believe your friends are at."
Peeking lightly from behind of Gloyd, Larry nodded and guided them. Both lights from Dim Light's eyes and Larry's body glow were more than enough to lit the dark corridors, and Gloyd kept an eye out just in case- it didn't matter to him that the Silhouette wasn't around, he couldn't fall for another trap, not again.
That's when they started to hear noises, not very clear ones, but it sounded like a chorus or something because they were just too many tones to be just made by one person, or being. The three looked ahead and ran towards it, the noises getting stronger with each step they took, and they still couldn't make any audible words, but Larry did; he squeaked at them and pointed to a door.
There was a rather strong purple light coming from the other side, and Dim Light hurriedly got in front of it, and not waiting for any opinion he kicked the door open.
They came face-to-face with the specter that was once called Faust. And before they registered it Dim Light went flying to the wall behind of them.
"Ahh!" Gloyd shouted as the ghost attacked Dim Light with a swing of his arm, before releasing an ear-bleeding screech and fleeing from the scene. The prankster got quickly out of his shocked state and ran to Dim Light as Larry got into the room were his friends were trapped at "Dim Light! Are you OK!?"
"Ugh… I believe so." He stood up and sighed at the direction Faust left "Being attacked by your boyfriend is rather shocking, anyways…"
He stared blankly at the other "…Did you just came out to me?"
But before he could answer, a little pained yelp called their attention, and saw that Larry was now on the floor, holding his little nubby arm with the other. They stood up and dashed to his side "What attacked you? It wasn't the Silhouette, was it?" Asked the reaper kid with a frown, but instantly relaxed when the smaller ghost just shook his hand and pointed the cage that was retraining the other ghost servants.
Gloyd looked at them and felt his anger boil at the sight: over a hundred little ghosts inside a cage that was made to retrain no more than thirty. They were all squeezed inside of it, faces pressed against the bars as they all whined out of fear and pain.
That's when he also saw some kind of a barrier protecting the cage, which undoubtedly was the thing that hurt Larry. There was some kind of energy that gave a few shocks to the poor ghosts that accidentally touched the barrier, another excuse for them to squeeze themselves further into the claustrophobic prison.
"Can't take this any longer." He growled lightly as he kept watching the poor servants suffering, before turning to Dim Light "We need to take them out of there, think your scythe can break this thing?"
Nodding, Dim Light took out his necklace and spins it, soon turning into the deadly weapon. He held it up, and swiftly moved it to slash the barrier with the intention to split it in half.
The scythe bounced on it, and the force made Dim Light to shoot back just like before, hitting the wall even harder this time and releasing a painful scream. Gloyd widened his eyes as he looked this all develop in slow motion.
He saw his friend getting hurt right in front of his eyes twice, he saw Larry crying as his hope was dying, he saw and heard the other ghosts, suffering and calling for them for being rescued.
He knew the Silhouette would kill his friends if they never made it.
Gloyd finally snapped.
Kicking the floor strongly, the prankster let out a deafening cry. And next thing they knew the ground shook and hundreds of vines shoot out from the floor, surrounding the barrier and destroying it to bits.
"Was that an earthquake?" Spellina looked up as she felt a sudden movement. Everyone looked up as they nodded "Odd… Trickery Treat Island never had earthquakes before, or the game in general, this can't be a coincidence."
Viper looked at her from Maria, who was resting on his chest "You mean sssomething bad jussst happened?" This called Vanellope's attention as she turned to the witch racer, who just hummed in thought "There is a chance…"
"GUYS!" Rufus bolted inside, eyes wide "You wouldn't BELIEVE what just happened!"
Maria yawned softly and looked at him "What's wrong, Ruffy…?" Her soft voice made Viper blush lightly as he kissed her forehead.
"Flowers!" He jumped on his four legs "Pretty, shiny flowers! All around the town's square!"
"What!?"Spellina stood up "Are you serious?" The rest of the racers that belong to the island looked shocked as well "I haven't seen flowers since the war!"
Rufus ran in circles "Well, they're back! And the candy people are so happy!" He jumped on the table she was next to and laid on his back "Can we go out and play too?"
While Spellina was telling Rufus that wasn't going to happen, a shadow was looking straight at the golden flowers growing in the forest.
The Silhouette was soon out of there.
"You have got to tell me how you did that."
"I-I told you, I don't know!" Gloyd was looking at the vines from earlier as all the ghosties were freed from the cage, all of them hurt, but happy to see Larry and Dim Light. The prankster was too shocked about what just happened "I just got freaked out and-…"
"Child," Dim Light put his sleeve on Gloyd's shoulder "it's alright. I understand this is crossing the line, which is why we must focus and rescue Faust."
All the ghosts agreed, floating in circles around the two, their bodies starting to glow and lighting the room. Seeing all those lights made Gloyd to start relaxing, being reminded of the fireflies he would watch at night with Spook. He nodded and turned to Dim Light "What's the plan?"
The reaper boy looked away for a while, and then looked at the ghosties "Do you, my little friends, posses the instruments of the ballroom?" They nodded "Good, because I believe that's where he went to. And there is where we should go too."
"Uh, what?"Gloyd looked confused, but Dim Light just chuckled.
"Did you know Faust loves to dance? Every time he had a hard day, we would spend the night dancing in the ballroom." The reaper seemed to smile "And he used to tell me, all the time, that dancing was the best way to get rid of the demons inside of him."
The prankster just seemed more confused "OK, so…?"
Dim Light turned to the ghosts, and they were all carrying instruments while sporting smiles "Faust went to the ballroom, he wants to dance…" The reaper smiled wider "So, we'll dance!"
"Oh my gob…"
"That's why we are here, King Candy!" Minty finished telling the tale to their ruler, with all the racers and Gloyd's parents, who happened to be there, in the throne room "They are in need of help right away, and that creature is getting closer to them by each passing minute!"
Lady Pumpkin and Lord Gourd looked near from panicked, a rare sight to be seen "But… why!?" She said "What does that thing wants with Gloyd? It doesn't make sense!"
Jimmy intervened, his hands turned into fists "We need to get to them and help as backup! I don't know what are we dealing with right now, but I won't sit here and see another ruckus goin' on!"
Kind Candy held his hands up "Then it's settled!" He frowned deeply "We'll be escorting a few of you and my guards to take down that Silhouette you keep mentioning!" The Oreo guards stood firmly at the door, signaling they were ready to go.
"We still need people here however, and I think we have to take just Manny and Tea or Fang for this one." Taffyta stated "That thing already gave Vanellope a hard time, so it's not like we all can go there."
"Aw come on!" Jimmy looked a bit annoyed.
"That's so…"
"…not cool!" Said the twins.
Swizzle turned to them, looking straight at Jimmy however "If something happens there we'll call you guys for support, plus, you're staying with Crumbelina."
The white haired boy blinked and then smirked at her "That I can take!" The girl rolled her eyes lightly "Oh joy."
Tea stepped in front, right next to Fang "I supposed then that I'll stay in case you need me, but who else is coming?"
"I will." Said Swizzle "Gloyd's my bro, and bro's don't leave each other hanging."
"…Us too."
Everyone turned to Lord Gourd, Minty looked unsure "I don't know if that's a good idea, mister…"
Lady Pumpkin frowned lightly "Good idea? I don't care about that! My poor pumpkin patch is out there, and that Island had been bothering us since he left!" The racers seemed confused at that.
"What do you mean?" Adorabeezle crossed her arms, but not in a taunting manner "Is there something that you guys know about that place?"
The two adults looked down, and after a while, they said at the same time "If we knew… we probably wouldn't have let Gloyd go to that place."
Gloyd and Dim Light were standing out of the biggest room that was in the hotel, the ballroom. They were noises coming from inside as they discussed their plan.
"Ok, so you just need me to bring him here?"
"I'm sure you can do that! Larry will go with you and will give you a boost if you need to run." He chuckled "Now go, we can't waste so much time." Nodding his head, both boy and ghost ran towards the dark corridor and disappeared from sight.
Dim Light entered the ballroom in complete silence, and saw the little ghosties setting everything up with incredible speed despite their injuries. They already hanged all the crystal chandeliers and even replaced all the broken bulbs, and the tables were finely presented with silver framed porcelain plates and white tablecloths. The floor was wiped clean, and a few other servants were getting their instruments ready and fixing the illumination of the room.
"I think this looks as good as day one… well done." The reaper looked at the door "This won't be a romantic deal, but it'll work, hopefully…" Everything was ready, but only thing missed was…
"HERE HE COMES!"
"Oh, alright then." He looked at the ghosties and gave the signal to shut the lights. Soon the spectral screams of Faust were approaching and Gloyd bolted into the room with Larry, jumping under a table for safety.
The reaper kid could feel his heart beating quite hard as he waited in the darkness. The specter was looking around in the room, confused of such surroundings that weren't there minutes ago.
"NOW!" Gloyd shouted as he jumped out of the room and locked the door closed, and so did a few more servants with other three doors that connected the hotel with the ballroom.
Faust screeched with the intention to leave and start another chase, but right then, a beam of light fell on him, and then it moved to where Dim Light was standing, looking away. The specter froze as he saw the other, unaware that Gloyd had reached the second floor and was watching them from a balcony with Larry.
Violins started to play in the background, and it seemed they made the specter snap out of the trance as he went straight to Dim Light. But the reaper just avoided him as if he was dancing.
Actually, he was.
"Well, hello there, little boy! Don't be shy! Step right up! I'm a reasonable guy." His eyes shone as Faust tried to attack him. But he just danced along and kept on singing.
"Don't be frightened by the look in my eye…!" He grabbed the specter's wrist and brought him close, face-to-face "I'm just your average evil meteor from outta the sky!"
Dim Light threw the ghost with a simple spin to the other side of the room. The specter looked like some kind of tornado as it was ejected from the hold and stopped right at the middle of the ballroom. Once the dizziness was over, he tried to strike again, but froze.
Faust saw the reaper dancing, and singing, with all the servants playing the background music. They all looked so happy in that horrid place his hotel was now.
But why? There was nothing else to enjoy there.
Getting his curiosity get the best of him, he just floated over and watched they perform. Dim Light smiled, and offered one sleeve to the other, who slowly took it with his now long and pointy fingers.
He started to dance again, guiding Faust "Well, I'm just shy and scared of this place, I'm just a fish outta water from outer space. You can see that the trip has left me tired and drained. So why don't you be a pal…" Dim Light brought him to his eye level, his eyes glowing softly "And bring me some brains?"
Gloyd watched this all from above with a smile on his face, and it only widened when the ghost started to dance along with Dim Light. They twirled and moved all across the rooms, the little ghosties starting to clap along Dim Light's voice.
He continued, having the time of his life to be dancing again with someone he deeply missed "Brains, brains, I won't lie! I'll eat their brains 'til they're zombified-" A soft purple hue was radiating from the Faust as they twirled, and he was changing back right there "Sure they might think it's deranged, but they won't give it a thought after I've eaten their brains!"
The light died down, and now there was a ghost boy standing in front of Dim Light as they held hands and now he was the one leading the other. "Brains, brains, it's okay! It's not a matter if it isn't gray. And if at first they think it's strange, they won't think twice if they don't have a brain!" He said.
Everyone cheered and continued to dance, and just cheered louder when the host said "I see now… the heart is where the people are, and not in the services we bring."
Gloyd was leaning on the door frame as he watched them all celebrate, everything was suddenly OK.
But then he felt something was wrong as they returned to dance. He felt something watching him over, and whipped his head to see at the dark corridor.
There were eyes there.
"Creep into the donut stop, sneak in, tip-top past the cop. Pick me up a cruller and a cupful of tea, and any other sweetbreads you happen to-"
"DIM LIGHT!"
They both looked up, and all the cheers died.
The Silhouette was holding Gloyd by the front of his t-shirt, looked at him straight in the eyes, and the boy passed out in its grasp.
And releasing an echoing shriek, it was gone with Gloyd, just to have another shout from Dim Light following.
"CHILD!"
A/N: I AM DONE FOR NOW -Faints-
So yeah! Suspense! What will happen to Gloyd? And what is that evil entity the Silhouette planning to do to him? You'll find out in the next chapter! And in case you might wonder what was Dim Light singing, well, it's a song from Billy & Mandy, and it's called (Try to guess.) Brains! I always pictured Dim Light with that voice, so I hope you liked that!
Don't forget to leave a review! (MY ENERGY REQUIRES THEM)
~DreamerAwaken out.