I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Happy Halloween!

Haunted Illusions

"Ooh…what hit me?"

Lambo stirred, his green eyes cracking open as his head gave a steady, dull ache. His back was flat to the ground, and he couldn't recall laying down. With a soft moan, he slowly sat up, hand moving up to rub at the odd sensation in his right shoulder. He looked around, confusion and concern bubbling within him as he discovered he was in a dimly-lit alley, the dirty bulbs attached to the brick walls giving off a watery yellow glow.

"Okay…this is weird," he whispered, reaching out to grab hold of his backpack. He slung it around his shoulders and bit down on his bottom lip. His memory was foggy and he couldn't remember how he had ended up in such a situation.

"Ugh…"

At the sound of the groan, Lambo turned his head. "I-Pin!" he exclaimed, a pulse of relief going through him.

The fifteen-year-old leaned against the alley wall, brow furrowed in confusion. She rubbed the skin below her neck, which throbbed with a dull sting. "Lambo? What are you doing here?" She paused for a second and amended, "What are we doing here?"

Lambo gave a helpless shrug. "I don't know. I just woke up here. I can't remember why." He touched the side of his head. "I didn't even know you were with me until you made a noise."

"Well, I guess we were going to school," commented I-Pin, noting the familiar uniforms she and her best friend wore. "Or we were going home from school."

"If we were going home, we'd have a ride," countered Lambo.

"I guess," muttered I-Pin. "I'm in the same boat as you. I don't have a clue what's going on. I feel kinda funny."

"Me too." Lambo twitched as his shoulder continued to irritate him, but he tried to ignore it.

I-Pin stood up and moved her arms and legs experimentally, but she could not feel any more injuries in her limbs. "Maybe something hit us in the head."

"Maybe," said Lambo reluctantly, also standing up. "Let's just go home."

"What if we're supposed to be in school?"

Lambo shot her a look. "If we can't even remember if we're supposed to be in school or not, isn't that reason to go home?"

I-Pin was about to respond, but her eyes caught a glimpse of the sky. "I think we're supposed to be home," she said softly.

Lambo followed her gaze and his eyes widened at the dark expanse above. "How long have we been out for?"

"Don't know," said I-Pin, her stomach turning with nerves. "Let's just get home. Tsu-nii can help us figure this out."

The two started for the opening of the alley. They only took one step on the sidewalk before they froze in terror. Monstrous creatures of all sorts and sizes were moving about, and they looked too realistic to be mere costumes.

I-Pin grabbed Lambo by the arm and the two pressed against the brick wall, hearts pounding in their chests as a vampire with bloody fangs passed by. I-Pin peeked around the corner, her heart in her throat as she watched zombies with rotting flesh, furred giants, yellow-eyed werewolves, gargoyles and other gruesome, blood-thirsty creatures roam the empty streets.

Lambo quivered in terror, a scream on his lips. I-Pin sensed this and clamped a hand firmly over his mouth. She licked her dry lips and hustled Lambo back into the alley. There was a slimy old dumpster near the back, and the two crouched behind it.

I-Pin shakily retracted her hand. "I don't think they noticed us."

"Please tell me those are just really good Halloween costumes," squeaked Lambo, hands digging into the straps of his backpack.

I-Pin shook her head, her face pale. "No," she whispered. "Halloween isn't until the end of the week. Besides, there's no costume in the world that looks that realistic."

"Then what do we do?" asked Lambo hysterically. Fear bubbled violently in his chest and was quickly consuming him. "I don't want to be zombie food!"

I-Pin was feeling cold and clammy. "We need to get home."

"What good is that going to do?" wailed Lambo. "You saw it out there. It's just monsters, no humans!"

"I don't know what's going on, but our only option at the moment is to go home!" snapped I-Pin.

Before Lambo could respond, the dumpster they were cowering behind jolted madly and a loud, savage roar tore through the narrow alley. I-Pin snapped her head up and screamed at the sight of a bulky, black-furred werewolf snarling down at them, fangs gleaming.

"Run!"

Lambo jumped to his feet, but he was not fast enough. The werewolf grabbed him by the arm and hauled him into the air. "I-Pin!" he screamed, thrashing madly.

"Lambo!" I-Pin took hold of her best friend and pulled as hard as she could. She managed to tug him from the werewolf's grasp and Lambo stumbled to the ground, a nasty scratch on his arm from the struggle.

I-Pin slammed her body into the dumpster, causing it to roll and the werewolf to lose its balance, toppling inside. She quickly closed the lid and hurried over to her friend, body trembling. "Are you okay?"

"Am I going to be a werewolf now?" asked Lambo in terror, staring at the bloody scratch.

"I think you have to be bitten for that to happen. Come on, let's get out of here!"

The two scrambled out of the alley, hearts pounding with fearful adrenaline. The two ran out onto the street. The monsters instantly converged on them, snarling, roaring and screeching.

"What do we do?" screamed Lambo, ducking as a gargoyle flew down and tried to scratch at him.

"In there!" shouted I-Pin, pointing at a black car parked at the curb.

Praying it wasn't locked, the two rushed over. Lambo yanked at the driver's side door and nearly cried with relief when it opened. They piled inside and I-Pin slammed the door shut, locking the doors. Lambo whimpered as the monsters started to surround them, shaking the vehicle and trying to get to them. A vampire with blood-red eyes raked his long nails down the window.

"I-Pin!" he bawled.

"There's no keys!" said I-Pin desperately, yanking open the glove box and rummaging around.

Lambo looked over. "They're in the ignition!"

Blinking, I-Pin shut the glove box and stared at the silver key, firm in the ignition. Strange…I could have sworn they weren't there when we first got in.

But her confusion quickly dispersed as the back windshield cracked, due to the weight of a massive green blob monster slowly crawling onto the vehicle. I-Pin cranked the keys, moved the gearshift into 'drive' and slammed the gas pedal, tearing into the streets and making the monsters scatter.

"You don't have your license!" shrieked Lambo, frantically grabbing the seatbelt and buckling himself in.

"I don't think that matters right now," she returned, keeping her eyes on the road.

A heavy thump sounded from the roof of the car and soon thick black claws pierced through the metal. "Get it off," screamed Lambo, shrinking down in his seat.

I-Pin swerved madly in an attempt to dislodge the flying creature. As she did so, she wondered desperately what the heck was going on, and what were they going to do about it?

…

On the other side of town, slumped in the thick bushes lining the local park, sixteen-year-old Fran was just waking up. The teen got to his knees, brow crinkled in confusion as he took in his surroundings. His head ached and there was a strange sensation occurring in his left shoulder. He blinked dazedly, but a sharp lurch of his gut put him on alert.

He spotted his backpack and grabbed it, shrugging it over his shoulders. He peered cautiously through the leaves, eyes narrowing as he spotted the monstrous creatures moving up and down the empty street, their ugly noises making a cringing symphony. A mummy stepped close to where Fran was crouched and he stilled, nose wrinkling at the stench that wafted from the yellowed bandages.

A prickle of fear occurred in his stomach but it was quickly overrun with Fran's instincts. Last I checked, mummies are dead. They're not things that can just walk around, he thought.

This was no Halloween event, either. The costumes were too real, and there was now a small, constant bubble of fear in his stomach that seemed to want to grow, but something was stopping it. He felt rather strange, and he knew something was up.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" he muttered in annoyance. He couldn't remember a thing, and that wasn't helping matters.

The leaves in front of him were ripped apart and a zombie loomed above him, guts hanging out from the gap in his side. Fran flinched slightly and looked upwards, a frown on his face. "If you're going to bite someone, I know a fake prince who'd make the perfect meal."

The zombie, who was inches away from his arm, froze. It shimmered for a brief second, like an image glitch on a television, before suddenly disappearing.

"Interesting," mused Fran. He stood up and climbed out of the bushes, arms crossed over his chest. He stood there for a moment, watching the creatures intently. They would try to reach him, but would only get so far before fading out just like the zombie.

They weren't real, just like he had suspected.

It was an illusion-one giant, horror-movie illusion.

Closing his eyes, he attempted to dispel it. He could feel the scenery jerk and fizzle, but it did not go away.

"Fantastic." He opened his eyes and scowled. Whatever was causing the illusion was stronger than him. He was going to have to find another way to get himself out. "When I find out who did this, I'm going to conjure my own flesh-eating zombies and see how they like it."

He started for the street, but stopped when he saw a black car tearing around the corner. He looked through the windshield and spotted I-Pin at the wheel with Lambo beside her, and both looked extremely freaked out. There was a horde of monsters chasing them and a massive bat creature was latched onto the car roof.

"Damn."

Fran waited until the car was close before jumping, grabbing hold of the roof of the car. "Beat it!" he snapped, swatting at the bat's legs. The creature disappeared and the car quickly screeched to a halt. Fran dropped to the ground and the two fifteen-year-olds stumbled out, faces white in terror and eyes wide.

"Fran?" gasped Lambo. "What are you doing here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," he replied.

"We can't just stand around," insisted I-Pin. "We have to go!"

Fran glanced at the approaching monster mob and glowered. The monsters halted, but this time did not disappear.

"Where did the thing on the car go?" asked Lambo, not taking his eyes off of the monsters.

"Gone," said Fran. He was starting to understand the illusion they were trapped in. "Listen, this is all fake."

"How can you say that?" demanded I-Pin. "We're surrounded by killer monsters!"

The monsters started to move, but slowly this time.

"They are not real," said Fran firmly. "I don't know how this happened or why, but I can tell you none of this is real. The reason the bat creature is gone is because I made it go. I don't believe in any of this. I'm an illusionist-I know what is real and what isn't."

"Then how come they aren't going away?" squeaked Lambo, pointing at the monsters that were inching their way towards them.

"Your fear is making them come after you. I can't hold them back, not if you're so scared. I can only do so much," explained Fran. "If they catch you and you believe, you will be dead."

"That's not helping," said I-Pin shakily. "If this is an illusion, just make it go away."

"I can't. It's stronger than me. You need to calm down."

But even as the words left his mouth he knew it was almost an impossible thing to ask. The two had obviously been exposed to the illusion a bit longer than him, and in such a realistic scenario he didn't blame them for believing in it. The fear had already consumed them, and if they died in this illusion they would die in the real world.

"Run!" he ordered, noticing that the monsters were starting to become faster.

The two obeyed and followed after their friend. They raced through the streets, dodging the monsters that swarmed at them. Fran was able to keep some away, but many were feeding off of Lambo and I-Pin's fear.

Okay, I can't dispel this illusion. I'm no weak illusionist, so either there's someone stronger than me doing this or something else is at play…

He looked over and noticed Lambo rubbing insistently at his shoulder. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. I feel this weird stinging and it won't go away."

"Me too," said I-Pin, scratching at her neck.

Fran thought of the irritation on his own shoulder. His eyes sharpened. "I think I got it."

"Got what?" asked I-Pin as they made a sharp turn down a side street.

"I can't dispel this illusion because there is something stronger at play. I'm pretty sure we've been drugged."

Lambo's eyes widened. "What?"

"I don't know what it is or who did it, but it seems to be the most logical explanation. Why else would we all feel the same stinging sensation?"

They were forced to stop at an intersection, monsters coming in from all sides. Gargoyles and bat creatures swooped down from the sky, forcing the teens to avoid their claws.

"What do we do?" wailed Lambo.

"We're asleep," said Fran, hoping his theory was right. "So wake up, unless you want to die."

"How?" he asked desperately.

Fran reared his hand back and hit Lambo full across the face-hard.

The boy gasped loudly, tears of pain appearing in his eyes. His body gave a sharp jolt and he was gone in a blink of an eye.

I-Pin gaped. "Where did he go?"

"Sorry about this," apologized Fran.

He backhanded her and she yelped in surprise. She too vanished, and without their fear to support the illusion it started to crumble down around him, the monsters shrieking as they fizzled out of existence.

"My turn," he said and slapped his face as hard as he could.

…

"I think he's waking up!"

With a moan of pain, Lambo wearily opened his eyes. An ice-cold fear shot through him at the blurry horned figure standing above him. "Aagghh!"

His adrenaline kicked in and he shot to his feet. Before he could make a run for it a set of hands gripped his shoulders firmly, keeping him in place. "Lambo, calm down!"

Panting heavily, Lambo felt relief flood through him at the familiar voice. "Tsu-nii!"

His vision cleared and he could see his brother, dressed up as devil. Tsuna eyes were filled with concern and he cupped Lambo's face with his hands. "Lambo, what's wrong?"

"Tsuna!" Chrome appeared in the doorway, and Lambo realized they were in his room and he was still in his school uniform. "She's awake!" Her face brightened even more at the sight of Lambo. "Lambo-kun!"

"Let's get them to Shamal," ordered Tsuna.

Chrome nodded and sped off. Tsuna looped an arm around Lambo's shoulders and squeezed, leading him out of the room. They went downstairs and into the infirmary, where they were soon joined by Chrome and I-Pin.

"Where are the others?" asked I-Pin, hurrying over and hugging Tsuna.

He smoothed his fingers through her hair. "Well, Takeshi and Hayato are still on their mission. But Ryohei is working with Shamal and Mukuro and Kyoya are out finding the person who assaulted you."

"What happened?" asked Lambo.

"You guys decided to walk to school, but around ten we got a call saying you never arrived," answered Chrome. "We were worried, so we traced your cellphones and located you in an alley several blocks away from your school. You were out cold and nothing we did could wake you. There was some sort of tranquilizer dart in your body, so we gave that to Shamal-sensei and Ryohei to analyze. I tried to get into your mind, but something was blocking me."

"What was it?" asked I-Pin.

"A very strong, specialized, homemade hallucinogenic drug."

Shamal entered the infirmary with Ryohei. The Sun Guardian embraced his little siblings. When they separated Lambo looked over at their resident doctor. "So Fran was right." His eyes widened. "Fran!"

"The Varia has him," assured Tsuna. "The school called them too. Fran was found in a park and Mammon had as little luck with him as Chrome and Mukuro did with you."

"But he's the reason we got out of the illusion," said Lambo in concern. "We don't know if he got out."

"He did," assured Chrome. "If anything would have happened to him, I would have felt it."

Lambo relaxed. "Okay."

"So what happened to you?" asked Tsuna.

"We woke up in an alley, with no memory of why we were there," explained I-Pin. "When we walked out of the alley, there was nothing but monsters. There were no humans around. We were freaked out and we got attacked by a werewolf."

Lambo looked down at his arm, eyes widening at the scratch that was there. "Oh man."

"We escaped and soon got surrounded by monsters. We made a getaway in a car and soon came across Fran. He knew exactly what was going on. He told us we were trapped in an illusion and the reason the monsters were after us was because we were scared. Once he realized we all felt this stinging sensation in the places we must have been hit by the dart, he figured we must have been drugged and we were experiencing this illusion while asleep."

Shamal gave a nod. "That makes sense. The guy who assaulted you was a scientist from a Mafia family. In order to test out his new drugs for his bosses, he uses civilians on the street. You three just happened to be in the wrong places at the wrong time. He had no idea you were Vongola, and he certainly he had no idea one of his test subjects is an illusionist."

"He will once Kyoya and Mukuro are through with him," said Tsuna humourlessly. His features then softened and flicked down the hood of his devil hoodie. "I'm sorry I scared you when you woke up. If I had known what you were experiencing, I wouldn't have worn my costume while I watched over you."

"It's okay," assured Lambo. "We're okay."

"I'm EXTREMELY happy to hear that," said Ryohei. "You must be really hungry! Let's get a snack!"

Tsuna looked at Shamal. "Are they good?"

"I studied the drug, and all it does is put the body to sleep while the rest works on the mind. They're fine, but if they had stayed in the illusionary trance much longer I don't think they would be."

I-Pin glanced at Lambo. "We owe Fran one heck of a birthday present."

Lambo nodded in agreement. "Amen."