A bit early from Halloween, I know, but I just couldn't resist. XD
"YOU'VE NEVER GONE TRICK-OR-TREATING BEFORE!?"
Nina flinched at Marvel's shout, not seeing what the big deal was. "I just always thought it was for kids."
"Lady, you know nothing." Marvel shook her head in utter disgrace. "You know nothing. You get free candy! Who wouldn't want free candy!?"
"It's just candy..."
"Just candy!?" Marvel repeated. "Nina...I worry about you." She placed a hand on Nina's shoulder. "Tonight, I am going to teach you the joys of trick-or-treating and free candy."
"But...aren't you a little too old to go trick-or-treating?" Nina raised a brow.
"You're never too old to go trick-or-treating!" Marvel frowned. "I've gone trick-or-treating for over 30 years, and I ain't planning on stopping anytime soon!"
"If you say so." Nina shrugged. "So, what're you dressing up as?"
"Cleopatra!" Marvel pulled out the said dress and crown from her closet, as well as a bunch of golden jewelry. "I bought this costume about 3 years ago, and I noticed it really matches my style. Don't you think?"
"Definitely." Nina nodded. "I'm dressing up as a witch."
"Wait, if you aren't going trick-or-treating, what're you dressing up for?" Marvel asked.
"Oh, it's just for fun, really. Also, Cortex always throws some sort of bobbing for apples contest. It should be a lot more fun now that you're here!" Nina smiled.
"Sounds like fun!" Marvel looked excited.
After the two girls got into their costumes, they headed downstairs. They saw that Tiny Tiger and Ripper Roo were already standing in the living room, making small talk.
"Tiny wonders what you are..." Tiny examined the blue kangaroo from head to toe. Ripper Roo was wearing a large purple top hat and holding a cane.
"Willy Wonka!" Ripper Roo cackled, his tongue flailing around. Tiny nodded, but still looked completely lost.
"Where's your costume, Tiny?" Marvel asked.
"Tiny's costume getting fixed," Tiny answered, and Cortex, dressed as a ninja, walked out of the other room holding a giant red cloth.
"Here's your cape, Tiny."
Tiny took the cape and tied it around his neck, now looking like some sort of superhero. "Super-Tiny!"
Marvel took one look at Cortex and snickered. "Nice costume, Cortex."
Cortex rolled his eyes and turned to face Marvel. He stared at her for a moment, but quickly shook it off. "Thank you. Yours isn't bad either."
Uka-Uka flew into the room with two buckets floating by his side. He set them down in front of everyone, and both of them were filled with water and a couple of apples.
"Hey, Uka! You joining our contest?" Marvel asked.
Uka smirked. "I've discovered that watching is far more entertaining." He looked at Cortex and chuckled.
"What're you looking at me for?" Cortex hissed.
"Don't worry, Cortex; I'll help you out!" Marvel patted him on the back.
"Gee, that's comforting..." Cortex muttered under his breath.
"Can I play!?" Ripper Roo squealed, bouncing up and down.
"For the last time, Ripper Roo, no, you are not playing. Last time you did, you ate all the apples!" Cortex told him sternly.
Ripper Roo stuck out his massive tongue at him as he pouted on the couch.
"Okay, Tiny, looks like we're a team, then!" Nina told Tiny. "Do you want to go first?"
"Tiny go first!" Tiny nodded happily.
"I'll go first," Marvel told Cortex.
"Oh no no no..." Cortex shook his head, "I don't even know if you're good at this or not. I've done this for years—"
"And you've lost each time," Uka butted in.
"Shut it! I've done this for years, so I've had more experience. I'm going first."
Marvel laughed out loud. "Boy, you don't know me. I was the champion at the bobbing for apples contest in my town for 4 straight years."
"Do you have a trophy to prove it?" Cortex crossed his arms.
"What, is poor wittle Cortex afraid his female teammate is going to show him up or something?" Marvel teased.
"What!? I—no!" Cortex turned red in frustration.
"Cortex, just get on with this!" Uka grouched.
"Er, fine..." Cortex grumbled. "You can go first..."
"Don't worry, Tiny, I'll go easy on you," Marvel told Tiny sweetly. Nina caught a devious glint in her eyes, though, and knew she was lying.
"Alright...on your mark, get set, GO!" Uka shouted.
Marvel threw her head into the bucket, grabbing an apple in the first 5 seconds. Tiny threw his head down as well, but hit his head at the bottom the bucket from going too fast and he lay limp for a while.
"Tiny? Tiny!" Nina pulled her friend out of the bucket and saw that he had two apples stuck to both his front teeth.
Tiny spit the apples out. "Tiny okay." He rubbed his head before going back under to get more apples.
"Come on...hurry up..." Cortex muttered as Marvel struggled to get more apples. They only had about 4, whereas Nina and Tiny managed to get 7 in the past minute. The worst part was that every apple Tiny got was completely on accident. Apples kept getting stuck to his sharp teeth, which gave him the advantage. "Hurry up, Marvel!"
Marvel's head whipped up from the water with an apple in her mouth. She spit it out and hollered, "Well, sorry that I'm only human and can only get one apple at a time!"
"TIME'S UP!" Uka shouted, startling everyone. He saw that Nina and Tiny had 9 apples, whereas Cortex and Marvel had only gotten 5. "Nina and Tiny win!"
"Yeah!" Nina high-fived Tiny. "Great job, Tiny!"
Cortex glared at Marvel, who raised her hands in surrender. "Look, don't blame me. Back in my town, we didn't compete against mutant tigers," she told him.
Cortex rolled his eyes. "Forget it—I'm next, so I'll redeem us." He placed both hands on the edge of the bucket. "I'm ready!"
"Ready." Nina got in front of the bucket.
"On your mark, get set, go." Uka returned to his spot on the couch, obviously knowing who was going to win.
Cortex and Nina both stuck their heads in the bucket, going at a pretty even pace. Marvel periodically glanced at the two, beginning to get nervous since she was very competitive.
Cortex spit out an apple, and they had 3 in all. Marvel looked behind herself and saw that Nina had gotten 4. "Ack! Pick up the pace!" Marvel shoved Cortex into the bucket, and his arms started flailing around.
"Eh, Marvel?" Uka-Uka tried all he could not to crack up.
Marvel kept glancing at Nina, who kept getting more and more apples with ease. "Quick—I think Nina's winning!" Without even looking at Cortex, who had raised his head and gotten an apple, she forced his head back down, causing him to lose balance and fall completely into the bucket.
"Time's up. Nina wins," Uka stated with no enthusiasm whatsoever.
"Gosh dang it! What did we do wrong?" Marvel questioned in disappointment, and Cortex stood up from the water, choking and coughing violently.
"You...you nearly...drowned me...woman!" the mad scientist screamed. "I could...I could've won...this thing!"
"Sure, sure..." Marvel crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure my grandma could go way faster than you."
Cortex's hand balled into fists, but let that comment slide and wordlessly picked up the bucket, carrying it back into the other room. Tiny did the same with the other bucket.
"Good game!" Nina shook Marvel's hand.
"You weren't so bad yourself." Marvel laughed a little. "Sometimes I just gotta learn not to let my competitiveness get the best of me. Heh heh." They both turned around and watched as Ripper Roo happily waddled around, eating all the apples that were left on the ground.
"So," Nina faced Marvel, "when are we doing this trick-or-treating thing?"
"We can do it right now if ya want! Let's go!" Marvel handed her a bag from seemingly out of nowhere and they both ran out the front door.
"Wait for me!" Ripper Roo bounced after them, but Cortex managed to dash after him and pull him back.
"The last thing I need right now is some mentally deranged kangaroo loose on Halloween night. No way!"
"Aww..." Ripper Roo whined as Cortex dragged him back to the white-padded room. After Cortex was finished with that, he went into the bathroom to take a towel and dry off his soaked costume.
"I swear, these bobbing for apple contests keep getting better every year," Uka chuckled.
"Oh, shut up," Cortex growled. "If it wasn't for Marvel, I would've won."
"If it wasn't for Marvel, I'd still be in a rotten mood," Uka remarked. "That move definitely cheered me up, I'll tell you that."
"Oh, put a sock in it already." Cortex threw his towel at Uka and stormed past him. "I hate Halloween..."
I drew a scene from this and put it on DeviantArt: fav . me / d9cok2f (without spaces)