Exiakaiser: Well, it is now time for the Halloween Special, again, folks. Welcome to the second story in the Metal Hero GX Halloween Special, "A Night of Spooks and Scares".
For this story, I went back to the days of my youth and reminisced on the old tradition of the campfire ghost story. In other words, this is a tribute to classic campfire ghost stories. However, it also has a Metal Hero GX twist, as the focus of the story is actually three stories told via a single card each. For those of you who remember, in episode 5 of the original series, Syrus, Jaden and Chumley were each telling a scary story based on a single cards, star level. In this story, Kurogane receives a deck from Pegasus, and is told to use it for Halloween to tell a scary story.
The two stories are chosen from random cards from the deck, and come from Kurogane and Neji. Kurogane's is called "The Misshapen Martian", a story involving a monster called a Polymorph, a shapeshifting lifeform from the series, Red Dwarf. In the season 3 episode 'Polymorph', a shapeshifting creature attacked the cast of the series, sucking away a key emotion. They defeated the creature, however, there may have been a second one on the ship...
Neji's story is 'The Strange Case of Room 305' and is a scary mystery based on the Monsters 'Ghost Persona of the Death Arcana- Alice', and the monster card 'Greatest Detective- Sherlock Holmes'. This is a story of terror and strange goings on.
Now, for the disclaimer, which is the same as usual. Now, let the scaring begin.
Exiaksier: This is a work of fiction that is non-canon to the rest of the series. This is only for the seasonal special and nothing more.
Card Golem: You Have been Warned!
Exiakaiser: Have a happy and safe Halloween.
Kurogane got out of bed and walked over to the closet. It had been two weeks after the school duels ended, and with it, the destruction of the Star Knight Cards. However, after his battle with Kefka, Kurogane was coping with the loss of a unique group of friends. However, after he got dressed, he found out it was a no class day. So, Kurogane decided to make his own breakfast, and then went to check the mail.
In his mail box, there was a box and note. Inside the box was a deck of duel monsters cards. The note and package came from Pegasus and the note said:
Dear Kuro-boy,
In the spirit of Halloween, and since you haven't seen G-1 since earlier, I hereby give you the following challenge. In the spirit of the old tradition of the campfire ghost tale, gather your friends together, and you must each tell a scary story. Use this deck to decide who will tell what kind of story. Also, you are not the only one getting a deck, as there is a worldwide initiative for getting people together this time of year. Happy Halloween.
You father figure,
Maximillion Pegasus
"Okay," said Kurogane, he then pulled out his PDA, and called all his friends.
"He wants us to what," said Lan, confused.
"Pegasus wants us to tell a scary story," said Kurogane to the group. Ten minutes had passed and Kurogane was explaining what Pegasus wanted the group to do. "However, it has to be a campfire tale, so, in the interest of keeping it like Pegasus wants it to be, we will actually be camping for the next few days. Each night, we will be tasked with coming up with a different story. On the last night, we will each share our story around a campfire.
"But how will we tell who's story is the scariest," asked Bastion.
"Well," said Kurogasa, "How about this? At the end of the last story, each person will be ranked by how scary their story was. The top 5 get to choose not only one meal ticket from one of the losers, but, they also get to choose who they get to make it."
All of a sudden, everyone, except Kurogane thought the same thing. They wanted one of Kurogane's meal tickets, and in particular, they wanted to taste one of his infamous King's Cheeseburgers.
"When do we start," asked Jaden, syked.
"Yeah," said Chazz, who was listening in. "I am gonna show you how to tell a really awesome tale of terror."
"Be packed and ready to head out to the forest at 6 tonight," said Kurogane.
(The Metal Hero-) The many Metal Heroes appear in a group.
(A group of long-forgotten heroes who fought to protect our world from evil) They fight their respective villains and bosses.
(However, they were forgotten by those whom they saved time and again) Then, the images of battle disappear, leaving a black background.
(But now, a new legend is about to be written, as the Metal Heroes return) All of a sudden, a new picture appears as Kurogane holds a deck of cards.
(Now, with deck in hand, and justice in heart,) He then puts the deck in a duel disk.
(A new hero rises to shape his world in the never growing battle between order and chaos) Kurogane holds his duel disk to his chest, and the picture fades to black.
(Cue in Uchuu Keiji Gavan as sung by Akira Kushida)
(Instrumental) As the credits roll, we see Duel Island appear in a long, rolling shot over the sea. Then we see Kurogane standing, one arm on his hip, another with his duel disk stretched down to his side. All the Metal Heroes in his deck stand behind him as they look at the camera.
(Otoko na n' darou? Guzuguzu suru na yo) We see Jaden with his Elemental Heroes standing behind him, and his Winged Kuriboh flying onto his right shoulder.
(Mune no enjin ni hi wo tsukero) Syrus, Chumley, and Bastion stand with all their monsters behind them, and Kurogane gives the group thumbs up.
(Ore wa koko da ze Hito-ashi o-saki) Lan and Alexis return the thumbs up and Lan's monsters, based off of the Dot Hack, Gao GaiGar, and No More Heroes characters, lead by Guy, Travis Touchdown, and Haseo, stand behind him.
(Hikari no hayasa de ashita e dasshu sa) Kurogane is running with his team of Heroes alongside him.
(Wakasa Wakasa tte nan da Furimukanai koto sa) All of a sudden, a Member of the Z-Council appears and attack the Island, only to be repelled.
(Ai tte nan da Tamerawanai koto sa) Alexis and Kurogane stand side by side as The Sun goes down.
(Gyaban! Abayo namida) Kurogane and Gavan face Chazz in a one-on-one duel, Gavan standing strong.
(Gyaban! Yoroshiku Yuuki) Kurogane points at Chazz and says (Yoroshiku Yuuki).
(Uchuu Keiji Gyaban!) Kurogane stand on a cliff and looks out to the Horizon. Then he turns to face his new friends as the day ends.
Halloween Special 2!
A Night of Spooks and Scares!
-3 days later-
"We have come down to the last three," said Jaden, impressed. Each of them, as soon as they got there, had drawn a card. However, since Lan was not a fan of Ghost Stories, he let Neji take over for him. Neji then drew a Double Summon. Because of this, he got to draw twice, getting 2 monsters. Kurogane ended up with the level 5 'Trick' monster 'Polymorph- Emotional Leech', a trick monster that could change its level at will. Neji ended up with 'Ghost Persona of the Death Arcana- Alice' a level 7 monster, and 'Greatest Detective- Sherlock Holmes', and was forced to write a scary mystery novel.
For the last two nights after that, they each worked on a story of their own. Bastion told a story of scientists dealing with a monster from the arctic, in the style of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, while Syrus told of an ancient scary story about a well that shows you your greatest desire, only to kill you. Chazz's tale was not scary at all, being based on zombies.
However, they had to take a 20 minute break because Kurogane then had to go and take a quick trip into the woods. For 20 minutes he was in the wood, chucking up at the thought at zombies. However, when he got back, they resumed, with Alexis telling a sad tale of doomed lovers.
Sen told the tale of the Dark Side of Magic, involving the Dark Empire from Sailor Moon. Mwape told a slightly scary story featuring Goku facing off against the creature from the Predator movie franchise. Reina told a story about Fourze, and Susumu told a story about the secondary Riders. All in all, a good time was had by all, Kurogane cooked food each meal, including a decent hamburger. However, this being the last night, everyone was in anticipation as to who would win. There was only three people left.
"Well, then," said Syrus, "Who should go first?" Kurogane, Neji and Kurogasa did the rock-paper-scissors routine and Kurogane won.
"In the interest of the season," said Kurogane, "My story is more of a Dark Comedy. Also, my love for a good monster story is included. I call my tale of scary humor…"
-The Misshapen Martian-
A Short Dark Comedy by Kurogane Reppuu
The year was 3025 AD. Mankind had recently started traveling to the stars. The moon was colonized and bases were set up all over the neighbor of our little blue sphere. However, there still remain many mysteries in our neighborhood of the galaxy. For example, recent probes sent to Mars have found ruins of an ancient civilization, an archeological expedition, lead by Professor Arnold J. Rimmerstein, was sent to Mars to explore and study these ruins.
Whiel the group was not with a guard, they had some means to defend themselves. However, little did they know, that there, outside the ruins, was an old specimen pod.
When the expedition got to the ruins, they found a strange pod on the ground. As soon as daylight permitted, the team began studying the ruins. However, when one of them went to search the pod, they went missing. One by one, the archaeologists went missing, until Rimmerstein was the only one left.
He went to study the pod, only to find the remains of most of his friends and colleagues. Their bodies were devoured of all but bones and a few extra bits. The bones were red as the martial soil. But then, Rimmerstein turned to the middle. And there, in the middle of them, was a strange creature. It was pinkish, with twin tendrils that ended in pod like hands. Its mouth was filled with razor shard teeth, and it had big black eyes.
It turned to Rimmerstein and emitted a low guttural roar. Then it said, covering its mouth, "Oh, pardon me, sir, but you wouldn't happen to have an antacid, would you? I seem to have developed a bit of indigestion."
Rimmerstein gave him an antacid pill and ran, running into a strange room of the ruins. There he found those friends and colleagues that had not been killed by the creature. The group pulled their sleeves up and charged the creature, only to find that it had choked to death on an antacid pill. The group then burned the remains, and returned to their transport and went home.
However, back at the pod, a fierce wind picked up and moves some of the iron-rich soil off one of the sides, revealing that there was a second hole in the pod. Back on the shuttle, one of the archaeologists changes back into one of the monsters.
By the year 3271, the shuttle is still missing, presumed lost to the depths of space.
-Story Ended-
"Oh, come on," said Jaden, "That wasn't scary at all. Funny, yes, but not scary at all."
"Why that story," asked Chazz, "If you asked me, the Chazz could have told a better story than that."
"Wasn't all that funny," said Neji.
"Oh, Bite me, Neji," said Kurogane, "It was the best I could do in the long run. Besides, I made mine up entirely from scratch, while I heard you talking to Lan about how your story was passed to you from one of the people you met."
"And what," said Sen, "Is this story you are referring to?"
"Stand back and watch an old pro," said Neji, "My story was a story inspired by my favorite writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mary Shelley. The latter's tale scared me to no end, and the former told awesome mysteries. My story is a combination of the two, called…"
-The Strange Case of room 306-
A dark mystery by Neji Data
There once was a hotel with three floors. It was not a great hotel, and not a lot of folks liked to stay there. However, that is not a relevant part to the story. Each floor had 6 rooms, except the third floor had only 5. However, those in the 5th room on the 3rd floor had heard a strange scratching noise. Those staying left complaints about it. However, for a while, the owner did nothing.
This was actually not the owner's fault. He had gotten the place for cheap after the bank had bought it off of the original owners. It was said that the original owners jst up and left the country, leaving after rumors of murder were spread. To this day, noone knows what happened to the original owner at all.
Finally, a famous person, whether actor or otherwise, stayed the night in the 5th room. However, he left after complaining that there was noise coming from the wall facing the end of the row. Angered, the owner decided to call the fire department to take a look. The firemen brought an axe and started chopping down the wall next to the 5th room.
However, when they reached what should have been empty space, they saw what looked like a boarded up door. The firemen then managed to tear down the door, only to find another room, labeled room 306 by the old records.
The firemen went inside and were immediately disgusted at the stench that permeated the air. The place was old and moldy, as if there was a slob living there. However, there was also writing all over the walls. The strangest thing was that it was the same thing all over, repeated all over the walls, "I'll be good, daddy, just please let me out."
Now, the owner had a child, a son, to be exact. The kid went to the room after the firemen started to leave. He looked around and saw a young girl, about his age. She was dressed in a blue dress, but was as pale as a sheet. She then approached the kid and smiled, saying, "Be a good kid, and you may not suffer the same fate I have." And with that, she left, and to this day, the hotel has done really well for itself, as if the spirit of the girl was the only thing haunting the place.
-Story End-
"Whoa," said Kurogane, "That creeped me out a lot. Where did you come up with this story, man?"
"I heard it once," said Neji, "While I was out and about."
However, in the end it was Kurogasa's turn. His tale, was about the events in which he ended up seeing an actual ghost, scared the group. He then forced Kurogane to hand over one of his meal tickets, as did everyone else, leaving Kurogane with only ramen for the rest of the month.
After everyone else went to bed, Kurogane stayed at the fire. "Guess tonight's the night to tell this story," he then said, "A story that is actually happening now, as I speak…"
-The Truth of Darkness-
By 'False' Kurogane
It is said, that when the stars and planets are aligned in just the right fixture, once a year, a world is taken control of by the Poly-Wraiths, a species of shapeshifting predators. They look like ghostly wraiths, grey in color with no faces. Instead you see a pair of dark red eyes, and a set of razor-sharp teeth. However, they do not prefer to feed no human flesh. Their prey is that of the mind, as they use fear as a feeding mechanism.
Once a year, the species lands on a planet, looking like a massive meteor shower. However, never underestimate this shower, for it is not an ordinary Meteor Shower. They then proceed to take the forms of any passers-by that come across them, leaving their victims in a cocoon-like pod, alive, but in suspended animation. Have to keep the image fresh, while they devour their prey, and all that.
This strange species can look like anyone. They can be anything, any size, and shape, and they can change within seconds of arrival. Who knows just how many people have already been taken over?
-Story Never Ending-
As Kurogane looked up to the sky, he saw a series of meteor showers start over the planet. However, as he looked, his body changed shape into a ghost-like figure. Hi facial features were replaced with a hood with a pitch-black center, with only two red slits for the eyes, and a set of razor-sharp teeth. His hands changed, looking almost like a bear's, but with actual digits, and not paws. The Kurogane wraith, turning to the rest of Duel Academy then said, "For those of you who still do not believe, Happy All Hallow's Eve, and a happy rest of the year."
Exiakaiser: Well, that was actually a little scary to be exact. However, I added the last story as a bit of a surprise to the rest of the group. I wanted to do a 3-person story, but if necessary, I could improvise.
Now, before, we end this chapter, I will explain the King's Cheeseburger that the group all wanted to get their hands on. This meal is a one-of-a-kind cheeseburger that only the Reppuu family line can make. At the age of 6 years, the Reppuu children were taught the secrets of this uber-delicious burger, and how to make it on a budget of less than $10.00. The first thing is the bun, which is just an ordinary hamburger bun, toasted till the bottom is golden brown. Then, the beef patty is a Quarter-pound, but it is made fresh, and marinated in several different sauces. The cheese is a single slice of sharp cheddar, tangy to the taste buds. Then comes the ketchup, placed on top of the slice of cheese, but not too much that it will overflow off the burger.
Then comes the single fresh leaf of lettuce, followed by a dab of Thousand Island dressing. Then comes the tomato, a slice of sautéed onion, two slices of bread-&-butter pickles, and last but not least, mayo on the top, and mustard on the bottom. The combination of these ingredients, done right create a cheeseburger that has to be tasted to be believed. But, that's beside the point.
Also, there is a reason G-1 is not in this one. I decided, if I was gonna do something like this, I would only do this once a season. However, since this series is taking longer than expected, I have spaced it so that the special only happens once a season, usually after or during a crucial event for Kurogane and the rest of the group.
So, I make this declaration to those of you expecting this to be about G-1… Wait till the first Halloween of Season 2, where part 2 of the G-1 Conflict begins, and Kurogane, is forced to fight this intriguing and strange creature.
After this story, we return to our regularly scheduled program, the school duels, and the finish up of that story. I hope you enjoy the series till its inevitable end, and I hope everyone enjoys the fall season.