A/N: What, what?! A new lesson?! I think so!
You all have no idea how much fun I had with this chapter, lol! As most of you probably know by now, Halloween is my favorite holiday, so of course I had to make an omake for it for Thunder Stone! So I hope you all enjoy it!
I'm super stoked right now too! For many reasons. I got this omake finished in like a day and I have a basic outline of what will be happening in the next legit chapter, so that should be out soon too! Plus, I've had some time off of work and I'm going to the 7 Floors of Hell or The World of Nightmares (as they renamed it apparently) for the first time this weekend! Ten haunted houses in one! Whaaaaaaaat?! Hell yeah! So excited! So long as I don't die in the clown one! Good god how I hate them!
Ahem! Sorry about all that, lol!
Fun Fact #3: I actually enjoy the idea of bromances, so I had to form a few within Thunder Stone. Whether its between Shaw and Liam, Tada and Bishop or Rey and Tejil, I absolutely love the idea of this super close friendship where they go out and do stupid things together and that they're aware that they're doing stupid things together and they're enjoying it. Oddly enough, my favorite bromance is actually between Walker and Quinn (yeah, I know she's a girl, but you've all had to notice their BFF relationship by now). Originally, Walker and Zander were supposed to have that type of relationship (not that they're not close anyways), but something happened during the writing process and it flipped over to being Walker and Quinn. I just love the dynamics of their relationship and how they can just hang out and have a good time together and get into trouble together and they're still friends at the end of the day. How this actually came to be between them will eventually be revealed within the story.
Oh! And I do not own the song used in this chapter - 'This is Halloween' from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Love that movie!
Now! Onto the reviews!
Momochan77 - ^.^ Glad to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter! Yeah, Quinn is finally coming to that realization, although, she'll probably fight it for a while. And plenty of action for Team Kainen and Team Liam! And I'm pretty sure Liam is gonna be ridiculously angry at this point, but we'll have to wait and see. And yeah, poor Anna! We're gonna have to wait to see how she's doing too. And I've actually got a love interest lined up for Shaw! It's gonna take a while to get there though, but he might have a few little flings along the way before he reaches his main love interest. But don't worry! It'll happen! (I mean, I'm a romantic myself, so it's gonna happen! LOL!) I hope you enjoy the new omake!
Senju Kid - Never fear! Riku is on his way! I just have to get through some things before that can happen. But he will be in it before the games begin! I hope you enjoy the new lesson!
ColdBurn-3 - Yeah, it was about time Team Zander got a fun chapter, right? But I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter as a whole! And of course I couldn't leave Quinn dancing with Bacchus! That's just not right! LOL! And yeah, the fun scenes were definitely there to balance the other two scenes out. And always expect the unexpected in those action scenes! And yeah, I can't kill off one of the main characters so quickly, so the Zazamel had to stop his attack for now. And Liam was back at the house in his own room, so he didn't really hear the other two leave the house. I suppose that'll be explained in their next section. And I'm glad I could surprise you with Cerberus! Although, I'll admit that I was picturing Disney's Hercules during that entire scene and all the one liners that Hades had in that movie. HAHA! Oh man! I guess I just surprised you through this whole chapter since you weren't expecting Jellal and Co. to show up. And I'm glad that you like the fun facts too! And we'll eventually get back to Rey! I hope you enjoy the new omake!
WaterDragonMaverick - Yes, those ZanQuinn moments are definitely a guilty pleasure of mine at this point, lol. But I'm glad you liked all their scenes! Yeah, those action scenes were meant to throw you for a loop! And I'm glad that you enjoyed Jellal and Co. showing up! And yeah, Quinn was definitely acting rather Walker like in that last scene. Glad you liked that bit. Hope you enjoy the new lesson!
Blazingfire55 - :3 Glad to hear you're still liking the ZanQuinn moments! And that I could surprise you with Cerberus! And we'll have to wait until the next chapter (hopefully) to see how Shaw is doing. I hope you enjoy the new omake!
Benthino - LOL! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the chapter so much! And thank you again for the new villain! I'm sure he will work out perfectly! I hope you enjoy the new lesson!
Joshua1277 - Glad you enjoyed the last chapter! And yep, Walker has been calling it this whole time. And Quinn cracked a little, but I'm sure she won't be ready to admit it fully for a while. And back up for Cerberus is very much needed! Glad you enjoyed the villains for Team Liam too! And yeah, Liam is not gonna be happy at all. I hope you enjoy the new omake!
Dreadburner94 - Happy to hear that you enjoy the chapter! I hope you enjoyed your birthday as well! And I can't believe we've been at this for over a year now either! It doesn't seem like its been that long! But I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed that last scene so much! And yes, Zander is a man of many talents. More of them are sure to pop up in the future! (Hint, hint!) And I'm glad you liked the rest of the chapter too! And of course I had to throw in a little Phantasm related stuff with our shotgun-wielding mage! You are welcome for the chapter! And I hope you enjoy this new lesson!
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Please enjoy!
Maddox's Guide to Nakama
Lesson Four: Holidays - Halloween Edition
Beginning Notes: Holidays are very important for any person's life. It reminds us, as mages, that we are still normal people that do normal things. Halloween is one of those holidays that brings the kid out in us. It reminds us to laugh and enjoy life even in the face of fear.
"I can't believe that you have no idea what Halloween is," Quinn smirked, standing in front of Zander with a comb in her hand.
"I never said that I don't know what it is," the redhead mumbled in reply, looking away from the woman in front of him with a pout.
"You kinda did when you told us that you never participated in it," Walker mentioned, "What kind of kid were you that you didn't go trick-or-treating or didn't stay up watching scary movies or didn't play pranks on people or-"
"All right! I get it!" Zander snapped, "I still don't understand the point of trick-or-treating. I mean, really, you just dress up and go around to stranger's houses asking for candy from them. Isn't that weird?"
"Are you stupid?" Yuna said, "That's the best part. You get a giant bag full of free candy!"
Zander made a face at her comment before he turned back to Quinn, "And you! You don't even like sweets!"
"That's not the point!" she retorted, bopping him on the head in the process, "This is why we're taking you trick-or-treating tonight. You can't go through life without doing it once. That's just…well…it's just sad, Zander!"
"I still don't see the point of it."
"Look mister," Quinn huffed, crossing her arms in a finalizing way, "You're going whether you like it or not. What if you have kids one day? What are you gonna tell them when Halloween comes around? Sorry kids, I just don't see the point in it so neither will you? Don't make their lives sad too."
"I don't even have kids," he answered, his eye twitching, "But whatever. We're going tonight, right? So what does it matter? And why do I have to dress up? And as a prince no less!"
"We thought something scary might be a bit much for you to handle," Diesel said, smirking down at the redhead.
Zander simply huffed in reply again, not liking the fact that he had been forced into prince like outfit of a royal blue jacket with silver buttons down the front of it with a white under armor shirt, black pants and knee-high, black leather boots. Quinn had let him keep his necklace on, feeling like it added to the costume; but now she was having another issue.
"Take off the beanie," she stated. She had already asked him three times to do it and he had somehow evaded it each time.
"No," he said, "You already got me into this costume and you're making me go trick-or-treating, shouldn't that be enough?"
"Uh, no," Yuna answered for her, "What prince have you seen walking around with a beanie on his head?"
"I don't want to hear any lip from an undead zombie!" he retorted loudly, motioning towards Yuna's costume.
"Just take off the beanie," Quinn sighed.
"If you want a noble in your group so bad, then why don't you be a princess?!" he snapped.
"Psh, if I was a noble I wouldn't be any lame princess," Quinn said, "I'd be a queen," she said, striking a dramatic pose.
The rest of the room laughed while Zander tried to find something to respond with. Failing to find any sort of retort, he just huffed again, "What are you supposed to be anyways?"
"I'm a solider, duh!" she answered. Quinn wore green combat pants that were tucked into black combat boots. She had on a tan tank top with some fake dog tags around her neck. She had black markings under her eyes while she had her hair tied up in a high ponytail. She also had a large automatic rifle strapped to her back and a large combat knife in a thigh holster, "Kainen was nice enough to lend me the weapons."
"They're real?!" Zander shouted.
"Yeah, so I'd suggest you take off the beanie already before I decide to test them out."
"Tch," was all he responded with as he finally pulled the beanie off.
"Thank you," Quinn said as she moved to comb his hair into place.
"I can do that on my own, ya know."
Quinn simply ignored him as she continued with his hair. She brushed it down in his face for a moment and then slicked it back in place the best she could. A few of his bangs continued to stay unruly and fell to the left side of his face, partially covering his eye.
"Hmm, oddly…it looks good that way," Quinn shrugged before stepping away from him, "Now let's get going. The others are waiting for us."
"Others?" Zander questioned.
"What? You didn't think it would just be us going?" Walker asked with a smirk, the blonde dressed up as vampire in a suit with a long cape and a pair of fake fangs.
"As soon as we brought it up to the guild, a bunch of them wanted to go too," Diesel added. The oil dragon was dressed as a biker from the 50's era with his hair greased back and combed to perfection in a duck-tail style. Ink sat on his shoulder dressed as a punk rocker with spiked bracelets and a ripped plaid shirt over a black t-shirt with a skull on it. He also had a few fake earrings along both ears, his orange Mohawk easily adding to his costume.
"Don't you think we're all a bit old to do this?" Zander asked.
"If you keep trying to get out of this, I'm gonna make you wear a crown too," Quinn said in a finalizing tone.
"You win," the redhead replied, standing up quickly so she wouldn't have time to put a crown on him, "So let's go."
Quinn smiled in victory and led the way out from her room, shutting the door behind her. They quickly made their way upstairs where the rest of their group was waiting for them. About half of the guild would be going trick-or-treating while the rest of them opted to stay home.
"There you guys are!" Miyako called out to them, dressed up as a mouse with gray ears on top of her head, a gray mouse tail attached to her shorts and face paint, "We need to head into town before we miss the candy!"
"Miyako," Azielle sighed, still unsure of how she had been talked into this. She was dressed as an Air Monk with long, flowing white robes, her hair pulled up into a bun and the elegant spiraled tattoos Air Monks had drawn on by Akemi, "The trick-or-treating just started."
"Exactly!" she answered, "We're wasting precious candy time!"
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Remi said with a flat face. The fire mage was dressed as the Ring Master for a circus with the top hat and whip included.
"Well don't you look just stunning," Tejil smirked, suddenly appearing beside her.
"Shove it!" she shouted. She tried to punch him, but he backed away too quickly, "The only reason you're so happy right now is because you're not going into town with us."
"Been there, done that," he waved off her comment, "But that's not the only reason I'm happy," he added with a wink before running out of view completely.
"All right! Let's go!" Rey announced. The man was dressed as a ninja, mostly just to get under his uncle's skin for the night. Raina, who was dressed as pirate, had insisted that was a bad idea, but her younger brother didn't seem to care. Though, he did have to run from Samuel as soon as the older man made eye contact with him.
"I bet I'll get more candy than you!" Reese shouted. He was dressed as ranger with a dark blue hooded cape and a bow and arrows on his back. Selena and Sherry stood behind him. Selena was dressed as a knight while Sherry was dressed as a bunny with a cotton tail and large, white bunny ears.
"Yeah right," Rey retorted as they made their way out of the guild. Raina, Selena and Sherry all sighed as they followed the boys, knowing that it was probably going to be a long night.
"Just don't destroy anything!" Maddox shouted after them, watching the rest of the group walk out with them. He turned to see Kokou and Titan pouting at him, "And I already told the both of you that's the reason you're not going with them. You would destroy something."
"Kokou never gets to do anything fun!"
"You're so cruel, sir!"
Before Maddox could retort to either of them, Tejil stepped in, "I have a plan for the rest of us here at the guild."
. : + : .
"Your costume doesn't seem complete, Zander," Miyako stated, having been staring at the man since they had left the guild.
Zander simply quirked an eyebrow at her in response. He thought he had done more than enough with his costume. He had even given up his beanie for the night. What more did everyone else want?
"Oh! I know!" she grinned, using the metal in her pack and her magic to mold something. In no time, she had made a perfect crown from cobalt.
"I'm not wearing a crown," Zander said in a flat tone.
"Awww, but why not?" she pouted, "It goes perfectly with your costume. You are a prince, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then how are people supposed to tell you're a prince if you don't wear a crown?"
"Miyako makes a valid point," Selena interrupted, "If you're going to dress up, then you should do it right."
"I don't want to hear that from you!" Zander shouted, "You're basically wearing what you already wear everyday!
"Hey! Don't shout at Selena!" Reese yelled, pushing his way up into Zander's face.
"You should learn when to stay out of other people's business, Shirogane!"
"And you should know how to pick your fights better, Ealdwine!"
"HEY!" Quinn shouted over the two of them. The two men instantly froze and peered over at Quinn, "Stop acting like idiots for a night or I swear I'll test out Kainen's gun on the both of you!"
The two men exchanged glances before Reese spoke, "Will she really do it?"
"Uh, yeah, she will," Zander answered, causing them both to sweat drop. He was going to have to talk to Kainen later about giving such a temperamental woman a real gun, "We're not fighting!" Zander suddenly said, laughing nervously as he threw an arm over Reese's shoulder.
"Aye! We're just playing our parts with our costumes," Reese added in his own nervous tone, throwing his own arm over Zander's shoulder, "Zander as the bratty prince and myself as the dashing ranger that has to take care of him."
Zander tightened his grip on Reese's shoulder and whispered through his teeth, "We'll finish this later at the guild."
"Bring it!"
Quinn eyed them for a moment longer before she finally gave into them, "All right, then let's continue."
"First," Walker interrupted, "You better suck it up for a night, Zander, and wear the crown Miyako made for you. Unless you want her crying all night."
Zander looked back down at Miyako to see tears brimming in her eyes, "Oh man, seriously?! Don't cry!"
"Then take the crown," Azielle growled lowly, appearing beside Miyako. She would be damned if her best friend would be crying this early into the night.
"All right, fine. I'll wear the crown," he sighed, knowing he had no choice but to cave in.
"Really?!" Miyako asked, instantly perking up at his words.
"Yeah, really."
"Yay!" she cheered as Zander bent down enough for her to place the crown on him, "See? It makes the costume perfect!"
Zander situated the crown to have it sit slightly uneven on his head before he looked back towards the others in his group. Most of them were straight out laughing while Walker and Quinn seemed to be the only ones trying to hold back their laughter.
Zander rolled his eyes before saying, "You might as well let it out."
The two lost it at his words, using each other to lean on while they laughed at him.
"Can we just get to the first house already?" Zander asked, doing his best to ignore the laughing duo.
"We're already here!" Rey announced, motioning towards the large house in front of them. There was a woman sitting on the front doorstep, just finishing up passing out candy to a group of kids. The group ran with Rey towards the porch with Zander standing in the back along with Quinn and Walker, "Watch how it's done back there, Zander!" Rey called out to him as he approached the woman.
Quinn and Walker glanced back towards Zander to see a serious look on his face.
"You shouldn't look so serious on your first trick-or-treat outing," Walker said.
"Yeah, lighten up," Quinn added, elbowing him in the side.
"Something doesn't feel right," he said, looking around the darkened and spookily decorated yard.
"What?" the other two replied just before a man jumped out at them to scare them dressed in a grim reaper outfit. Quinn and Walker jumped and laughed at the man, clearly knowing it was the husband of the woman sitting on the porch. Zander apparently did not understand this though.
"Galebolg!" Zander shouted, his mind thinking this was a real monster, "Gunblade: Load!"
"What?! Zander, you idiot!" Quinn shouted, grabbing onto his arm to pull him away from the area. She looked back to see Walker laughing nervously and trying to explain to the man what had just happened. Quinn made sure they were far enough away from the house before she stopped and turned on the redhead, "What the hell is your problem?! Pulling out a sword like that on the guy!"
"He was a monster though! What did you expect me to do?!"
Quinn's eye twitched in irritation as she tried to remind herself that Zander hadn't ever really participated in Halloween before. She took a deep breath before she explained things to him, "That wasn't a real monster. It was a guy dressed up in a scary costume to scare kids when they come up to get candy."
"What? That's horrible! Then how are the kids supposed to get candy?!"
"That the whole point of the holiday!"
"This holiday makes no sense!"
"BOO!" Rey shouted, sneaking up behind Zander.
Zander jumped and turned around with his sword aimed at Rey, "Artillery Strike!"
"Holy shit, Zander!" Quinn shouted, grabbing his sword and pointing it upwards before the magic was released at Rey. It shot up straight in the air, wind blowing wildly as it exploded in the sky. The group watched the sky for a moment longer before Quinn smacked Zander upside the head, "Put the sword away! RIGHT NOW!"
"Geez," he said, rubbing the back of his head as he recalled his sword, "You don't have to hit so hard."
"You almost blew Rey away! You're just…you're just…sometimes I really just want to…" Quinn stepped back for a moment to cool off, taking another deep breath before she tried to talk again, "Just don't bring anymore swords out, got it? And no using your Bullet Magic either. Anyone who scares you tonight, they aren't real monsters. All right?"
"Yeah, yeah. I got it," he mumbled, hearing the others laughing at him in the background.
"Onto more houses!" Miyako shouted before they all took off running.
. : + : .
"We got so much candy!" Miyako smiled widely, holding up her pillow sack full of candy.
"Like you need any of it," Remi huffed, "But we did make out pretty good tonight," she smiled, looking down at her own hefty bag.
"Selena! Do you think Byakko likes candy?" Sherry asked, looking up at the blonde woman.
Selena patted Sherry on the head, "I'm sure if you're the one giving it to him, he will like it," she said, receiving a bright smile from the younger girl.
"Well, well, well," a voice interrupted the group's trek back to the guild, "What do we have here? A bunch of little Thunder Stone mages."
The group turned to see a small group of five Twilight Ogre mages staring them down.
Raina rolled her eyes at them, "What do you bozos want? Can't you see that we're busy?"
"Looks like you've got a lot of candy there," their leader continued, "I suppose you wouldn't mind giving some of it up."
"What?" Yuna asked, "Are we all like six again and you're the bullies that are gonna take our candy? You've gotta be kidding me! No way you idiots! If you wanted candy, you should have gone trick-or-treating yourselves!"
"Yeah, but that would require they actually do some work," Walker added.
"And we all know that they'd never actually try at something," Diesel said.
"Say that again!" the leader shouted.
"Come on. Let's go home," Selena said, "These men aren't worth our time," she added, looking back at the Twilight Ogre group with a sharp stare.
"We'll show you what we're worth!" the leader shouted, "Get 'em!" he ordered before they all ran towards the Thunder Stone group.
As the others began to fight back, Zander looked over at Quinn with a smirk on his face, "Can I use my magic now?"
Quinn couldn't help but smile back at him, "Yeah, you can use it now. Just don't use Flameberge. We don't need anything going up in flames," she said. He nodded at her before bringing out Galebolg again and running into the mayhem.
Rey and Raina took on one of the mages themselves. Raina used her petrusite empowered chains to swing herself around the mage, hitting him with large blasts of the green lightning while laughing in victory. While Raina was having her fun, Rey used his shadows to sneak up on the man and scare him.
"You really want our candy?" Rey asked in his shadowed form.
"N…no! You can keep it!" he shouted in reply, trying to run from them.
"Finish him, sis!" Rey shouted up at her.
"Of course!" Raina answered, sending one last blast at the man. It hit him directly in the back, sending him through the back of a house in the process. He sat there unmoving with only the back half of his body showing, "Got him!" she smiled widely, giving Rey a high five when she was back on the ground.
"Murder of Flames!" Sherry shouted, now in her Azure Form. Several raven shaped flames chased after the mage that she and the rest of her team had gone up against.
Selena followed the blue ravens in her Ruby armor, brandishing her flame filled katana. She made a couple of quick strikes at the man when she was close enough, sending his shirt up in flames. He shouted as he ripped off the shirt and continued running. Unfortunately for him, it was straight towards Reese.
"Amp: Reinforcement!" he shouted as he punched the man right in the gut. The man coughed out before his body was sent tumbling away from Reese and into the back of a shop, "Hell yeah!"
Azielle flew passed Reese, using her Airspace spell to chase after another Twilight Ogre mage. She maneuvered him to exactly where she wanted him, knowing Miyako was lying in wait for him.
"Lightning Punch!" Miyako shouted just as the man was about to pass her. She hit him square in the face, causing him to stumble backwards and shout in pain as lightning exploded across his body, "CHA! Direct hit! Now it's your turn, Remi!"
"This'll be a piece of cake," Remi smirked, appearing atop one of the roofs. She jumped from it, bringing her hammer out in the process. She flipped once to get some more momentum in her attack, "Fire Stamp!" she shouted just in time for the mage to look up at her and the flame engulfed hammer coming down at him. She easily hit her mark, causing fire to explode outwards across the ground and crack it. Smoke and small flames littered the ground as Miyako came running towards Remi and hugging her, "Like I said, piece of cake."
Across from the trio of girls, Yuna was stalking another one of the mages in her black bear form. She roared at him when he tried to swing his axe at her. She then jumped on her back legs, roaring again as she slammed back down, causing part of the ground to crack under her weight. He tried to swing his axe again, but Yuna easily swiped it out of his hands with one of her large paws.
"Ohhh, sorry about your luck buddy," Diesel said, appearing behind the man, "You got on her bad side. I'd hate to be in your shoes right now," he continued. The man turned to face Diesel, swinging out a fist at him. Diesel easily caught it and tightened his grip on the hand while turning it in the process. The man cried out in pain while Diesel simply smirked at him, "You really should know how to size up your opponents better. Oil Dragon's Oil Spill!" he announced. He threw out his other hand and oil spilled across the ground, creating a long path of it. He then kicked the man across the spill, his body easily sliding down the length of it. Diesel then pulled out one of his pistols.
"I thought you left those at home?" Ink asked.
"Nope, I never leave home without them," Diesel smirked as he looked back at the man at the end of the spill, "I'd suggest you start running now," he said before shooting down at the oil. It instantly roared up in flames, quickly following the path of oil towards the mage. The man jumped up and took off from the spill at full speed, "We win," Diesel grinned.
"Looks like it's just down to you," Walker said, smirking at the leader that had started everything, "And three against one? Your odds aren't looking too good."
"Don't underestimate me!" he shouted, pulling out a large mace-like object without the spikes.
"Bad move, pal," Walker said, "Weight Manipulation: Heavyweight!" he announced, causing the weapon to suddenly drop to the ground from the sheer weight of it, "Lightweight!" he said, the weapon quickly moving upwards and smacking the mage in the head. Walker continued to repeat this action while laughing, "You should really stop hitting yourself. It's not helping you in the least."
The man shouted in anger as he finally let go of the weapon when it had dropped again from the Heavyweight spell, "I don't need a weapon to take you out!"
"Is that so?" Walker asked, looking back towards the other two in his current team, "Care to show him how it's done then, Quinn?"
"I'm happy to oblige," she bowed dramatically towards the blonde before setting her sights on the other man, "I may not have my sai with me, but they're not really necessary to take you on," she grinned before she charged at the man. He aimed to throw a punch at her, but she quickly ducked and made a hard jab at his gut. He coughed out, not having time to dodge as Quinn came up and slammed her knee into his chin. He stumbled backwards, moving far enough for Quinn to land a roundhouse kick on him. He flew backwards and slid across the ground. He pushed himself back on his feet and glared at Quinn, "I'll hand it to you, you can definitely take a punch," she smirked at him.
The man shouted in anger as he charged towards her. Quinn made no movements of offense or defense as the man continued running towards her. He had enough time to pull back his fist to punch her when Zander appeared in front of her with his saber aimed right at the man's chest. The mage somehow managed to stop quick enough before the sword had time to slice into him.
"You're rather stupid," Zander smirked, "You didn't even bother keeping an eye on your other two opponents."
The man looked between the three mages, finally deciding he had, had enough of them, "Whatever. I don't even care about the candy anymore," he grumbled as he turned away from them.
"It's not even about the candy anymore," Walker said, "You see, we simply can't let you walk off so easily when the rest of our group has knocked the others of your team out. How do you think that would make us look, having you walk off unscathed?"
"I didn't come out of this unscathed!" he shouted.
"Ah, but hitting you with your own weapon just isn't enough. And I'm sure Quinn and Zander here aren't satisfied yet. They haven't even gotten to use their magic."
"Whatever," he repeated, "I'm outta here!"
"Quinn," Walker said.
"I got it," she said, already knowing what he was asking of her. She quickly jumped in front of the man with a smile, "You're not going anywhere. Memory Make: Paralyzing Palm!" she announced, slamming her palm into his chest. Paralyzing Magic quickly spread throughout his body and he could no longer move, "Really," she frowned at him, "You Twilight Ogre mages should know better than to pick a fight with Thunder Stone. You lose every time."
"Screw you!"
"Now, that's no way to speak to a lady," Zander smirked from behind the man. He then looked over to Quinn, "So what should we do with him."
Another smile spread across Quinn's face, "Blow him away!"
"You got it," Zander answered, beginning to swing his sword towards the man, "Gunblade: Point-Blank Shot!" he shouted as the sword swiped passed the man. A large, pale green twister erupted from the sword and headed straight towards the man. It easily picked up his unmoving form and swung him around several times before sending him flying across town.
"You'll pay for this!" he shouted before he disappeared in the sky.
The twister quickly faded away, leaving behind loose planks of wood and other objects that got caught up in it. Zander recalled his sword just as Walker and Quinn walked up to him, the three of them high fiving each other in victory.
"What's going on here?!" an officer of the local police station called from down an alley way.
The group all exchanged terrified glances before someone shouted 'run'. They all grabbed their candy bags and took off running towards the guild.
. : + : .
The group caught their breaths as they stood outside the doors to the guild. They all exchanged glances again before they all started to finally laugh at what had just happened.
"We totally kicked their asses!" Rey grinned widely.
"And they were left behind to take the fall for all the damages!" Diesel added.
"Best trick-or-treat night ever!" Yuna announced, everyone else agreeing with her.
"Let's head inside to see what all we got candy-wise," Raina smiled. The others nodded in agreement as they pushed the doors open and walked into the guild. Though, they walked into a pitch black guild hall, "What the hell is going on?"
"Welcome friends!" a loud voice boomed out, the group recognizing it as Maddox's.
"What's going on?!" Reese shouted, "Why are the lights off?!"
He was quickly answered with heavy and creepy music beginning to play as a dark purple spot light appeared in front of them. Suddenly Tejil and Hikari appeared before them, Hikari looking like a stitched together body with pale make-up all over her skin and a stitched together dress while Tejil was dressed as a skeleton in a pinstripe suit. The group stared at the two of them warily, unsure of what was about to happen. Tejil and Hikari bowed towards them as they began singing.
"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange," the sang in creepy and low tones, smirking as they stood back up and motioned out towards the guild hall, "Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween."
Dark purple and blue lights lit up the guild hall to show that it had been turned into a haunted house. Black wood panels had been set up throughout the hall to create a maze that even led down into the dorm and training areas.
"This is Halloween, this is Halloween. Pumpkins scream in the dead of night," Tejil and Hikari continued singing, motioning for the group to enter the haunted house. The group didn't move for a moment, still feeling unsure of what was going on. Suddenly from behind them, a figure jumped out and screamed at them. It was dressed in torn black clothing with an ugly and scary pumpkin for a head. The group screamed in reply and took off running into the maze. Tejil and Hikari looked back towards the pumpkin, winking at the laughing face of Bishop within the carved pumpkin.
"I don't want to be in here, Azi!" Miyako shouted, "I don't like haunted houses!" she cried, clinging onto Azielle. The blonde sighed, feeling Remi clinging to her other arm.
"We'll make it through alive, you know that, right?" Azielle said.
"It doesn't change the fact that this place is creepy as hell!" Remi said, shouting in fear when bats flew out at them. She calmed down a little when she realized they fazed right through her, "Liam!" she shouted, knowing he had used his Illusion Magic to conjure up the bats. She only received laughter in reply.
"This is Halloween," Tejil and Hikari continued to sing, but the group could no longer see them, "Everybody make a scene! Trick-or-Treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright!
The group had walked into a large, open graveyard. Everything was still for a moment until hands began to break up through the ground, again, thanks to Liam's magic. Zombies pulled themselves out of the ground, moaning about eating brains as they began to walk towards the group.
"Hell no!" Raina shouted, breaking away from the group and running through the graveyard, "Don't touch me!"
"Raina!" Rey shouted after.
"They're not even real!" Yuna laughed. Though, she quickly stopped laughing when she felt a hand on her shoulder, "I swear Diesel, if that's you, I'm gonna punch you so hard you'll be seeing stars for weeks."
"Uh…I'm over here, grizzly bear," Diesel answered, waving at her from a few feet away.
The color drained from Yuna's face as she turned to look at who was touching her. Her eyes widened when she saw a zombie grabbing onto her shoulder. She knew that this wasn't part of Liam's magic since his illusions wouldn't be able to physically touch her. She screamed and ran from the zombie, pushing people out of her way, "Move it!"
"It's our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween!" the singing continued as the zombie turned it's sights on the rest of the group. As soon as it took a step towards them, the group quickly followed Raina and Yuna. Terran laughed at their retreating forms, knowing they had pulled off the zombie scare well.
The group all slammed into each other when they realized that Raina and Yuna were no longer moving.
"Why did you stop?!" Sherry shouted, "I want to get out of here!"
Raina simply pointed towards the bedroom they had walked into just in time to see claws retreating back under the bed. Dolls and toy clowns stared at the group from the shelves they sat on, large smiles engraved on their faces and blank eyes watching them.
"I am the one hiding under your bed. Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" the singing continued, eyes lighting up from under the bed. Though, nothing jumped out at them. The group then realized they would have to walk through the room if they wanted to get out. They all began walking slowly past the bed, keeping careful eyes on it. Just as Sherry was passing by it, the claws jumped out at her in an attempt to grab her. She screamed and jumped onto Reese. The beast from under the bed then emerged completely, a huge black monster with rows of sharp teeth and glowing red eyes.
"Why are we still in this room?! Run already, dammit!" Quinn shouted, beginning to push people forward. She was not thrilled to be back towards the end of the group where the beast was walking towards. She pushed herself against the wall as the thing moved closer towards her, turning her head away to not have to look at it. She was quickly pulled forward just as the thing launched itself forward to grab her. She looked up to see Zander had been the one to pull on her hand. She also realized that they entire group was now running through the maze.
"I am the one hiding under your stairs. Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" the singing began again as the group ran past a staircase. Another monster jumped out at them with snakes and spiders covering it. The snakes and spiders began to jump out at the group, causing Miyako and Quinn the scream in fright.
"They're on me! They're on me!" they both shouted.
"Thunder Bullets!" Miyako yelled, beginning to aim bullets of lightning towards the snakes.
Quinn pulled the gun off of her back and aimed it at the spiders and monster. A sudden explosion of lightning and bullets erupted from the stairs, though, luckily none of the other guild members had been part of that scare. It was all an illusion thanks to Liam. Azielle quickly yanked Miyako away from the area while Zander pulled the gun away from Quinn.
"Are you both stupid?!" Azielle and Zander shouted.
"But the snakes!"
"And the spiders!"
"We don't care!"
They pushed the two forward along with the group, leaving behind a smoking staircase. Zander then looked over at Quinn with a flat stare, "You're never allowed to carry firearms again," he said, recalling the gun into his re-quip space until he could give it back to Kainen.
"You're one to talk," she huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she puffed her cheeks out in irritation.
Their argument was quickly cut off by the singing again, "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!" the singing repeated Halloween a few more times as they entered a castle-like room, "In this town we call home, everyone one hail to the pumpkin song!"
A green light lit up a corner of the room to show a witch cackling as she stirred something in a large, black kettle. They saw a bubbling green within the cauldron, a large pumpkin floating on the top of it. It turned enough to show its carved face, everyone recognizing it as the pumpkin from the beginning of the maze.
"In this town, don't we love it now! Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" the singing continued.
"Are you here to feast with me, pretties?!" the witch cackled, her black eyes locking onto the group, "Or maybe you're here to be the feast for me! Get them!"
Out of coffins lined up on the wall, gremlins erupted and began to jump around the group.
"I'm so done!" Raina shouted, "I'm not witch food!" she yelled, throwing out a chain of green lightning at the bubbling cauldron. It tipped over towards the group, spilling green ooze all around them. Raina was the first to slip on it, slamming onto the floor as gremlins began to cover her, "Get them off!"
Rey easily pulled her up off the floor only to have them both slip back down into the ooze, "I'd suggest you all get out of here!" he shouted at the rest of the group. They all slid along the floor just in time to miss the blast of green lightning that filled the room. The witch, who was actually Kimera, sat in the corner, coughing out smoke, "Uhhh, sorry about that," Rey laughed nervously before pushing Raina out of the room to join the rest of their group.
"Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can! Something's waiting to pounce and how you'll scream!" the singing began again as the group entered a large alley way. Monsters began to jump out of trash cans and dark corners, causing the group to scream and shout in fear, "Scream! This is Halloween! Red 'n' black, slimy green!" the singing continued as red, black and green slime was being thrown at the group, "Aren't you scared? Well that's just fine!"
"So gross!" Sherry shouted, wiping green slime from her face.
"Seriously?!" Diesel yelled, wiping black slime from his own face, "Do you know how long it took me to do my hair?!"
"You would think you'd be used to slime, grease pit!" Yuna laughed, throwing red slime at the oil dragon. Diesel easily dodged the slime, causing it to hit Walker right in the face. The blonde fell to the ground from the force of the throw, landing in more slime.
Everyone stopped what they were doing before large smiles appeared on their faces. Slime began to fly back and forth, hitting everyone in the process. Some people had fallen to the floor and had begun wrestling matches. Quinn smeared black slime across Zander's face right before Rey had beamed her with a handful of red slime. Walker retaliated against the shadow user with green slime to the back of his head. Raina easily smacked Walker with more red slime as Reese got her with green slime. Sherry and Selena both threw black slime at Reese, causing the man to fall into the slime. The fight continued on, the group completely forgetting about the haunted house they were in.
"Excuse me!" Hikari shouted at them, appearing at the end of the alley way with Tejil, "We're not done yet!"
The slimed group all smiled before they threw slime at two at the end of the alley. Hikari yelped in surprised as a mix of green and red slime hit her. Tejil laughed as he managed to dodge the slime. Though, he wasn't quick enough to miss Remi as the pinkette ran up to him and smeared black slime all across his face.
"Seriously?!" he shouted, "You're gonna pay for that!" he yelled as he tackled them both down into the slime, sliding across the floor in the process.
The wrestling continued, growing to the point where the maze started to fall apart until the guild hall was revealed again. Maddox sighed when he saw the scene before him. Tada chuckled as he appeared next to the guild master.
"I told you not to add in the slime," Tada said.
"I thought they would be too scared to be distracted by it," Maddox said, flicking the lights on in the hall. The wrestling continued, dragging in more members of the guild along the way. It would have gone on longer until there was a knock at the door. Maddox maneuvered his way over to the door, doing his best to dodge flying slime. He answered it to see a couple of police officers standing in front of him with scowls.
"Maddox," one of the officers nodded his head at him, already familiar with the old man.
Maddox sighed again, running a hand down across his face, "What did my kids do now?"
"Why don't you have a look for yourself," the officer said, motioning out towards the town.
Maddox looked past the officers and down into the town. His eye twitched in irritation as a vein ticked on his forehead at the scene below him. He saw other officers trying to pull a Twilight Ogre mage out of the back of a house while they lifted another out of a fully blown hole in the back of a store. He saw large cracks in the ground, making the street impassible. His eyes then landed on the mess of wood and other objects from what looked like a tornado. And finally he saw the still burning path of oil.
"They really did a number this time," the officer continued, handing Maddox a piece of paper, "Here's the bill for the damages and the repairs. Have a good night," he nodded at Maddox before he and his partner walked away from the guild.
Maddox looked down at the bill, causing his eye to twitch even more, "You've got to be kidding me!" he finally shouted, turning on his guild. Everyone froze at his anger, knowing they had been found out, "I told you not to destroy anything! Every time you leave this guild something happens! Do you think I'm made of money?!"
"Well…uh…in our defense," Diesel began, "They did start it."
"I don't care who started it! You left a path of burning oil! Dammit!"
"It was a pretty awesome fight," Rey said lowly, earning an elbow to the gut from Raina.
"And you can make money with your magic if you wanted," Reese added.
"That's not how we do things!" Maddox shouted, "You all are going to cause me to be in debt for the rest of my life! I need a damn drink!"
"But it really was their fault!" Miyako cried, tears beginning to brim. Azielle quickly used this to their advantage and placed her directly in front of Maddox. He looked down at her pouting face, trying desperately not to fall into the trap, "They were gonna steal all our candy and they were making fun of our guild! You told us to stand up to bullies! Did you really want us to give them our candy?!"
Maddox stood his ground for a moment longer before he fell over in defeat. He could never stay angry at a face like that. He then planted a hand on Miyako's head as he looked up at the rest of the group that had caused the damages, "Please tell me you at least gave them a good beating."
"Of course we did!" Quinn grinned, "You did see them pulling those losers out of the walls, right?"
"And Zander even sent one flying across town!" Walker laughed.
"I supposed that makes up for the damages, at least a little," Maddox said, straightening up his body as he made his way out of the guild.
"Where are you going?" Walker asked.
"To visit a certain guild about a certain bill I received," Maddox answered. The rest of the guild smiled, knowing he was heading towards Twilight Ogre. They knew it wouldn't be a pleasant surprise for them, "So enjoy the rest of your night!"
"AYE!" the guild answered before diving back into their Halloween styled wrestling match.
Conclusion: Even in the face of fear, we must find a reason to laugh. And we must remember that, as mages, we are still people. Holidays are a good way to remind us of this. Halloween is always a good one to start with. It brings back memories of childhood and it creates new memories, ones filled with happiness and laughter and even little surprises.
Note to Self: Don't ever let that many of my kids go into town without a chaperone again! I swear, they destroy more things than Godzilla would. I can't blame Twilight Ogre every time they mess up…scratch that. Yes I can. Always blame Twilight Ogre for any damages that may cost me something. Also, remember to have a discussion with Kainen about giving Quinn a loaded and working gun. That's not safe for anybody.
Maddox Huxley
A/N: Well there you go! I hope you all enjoyed the new omake!
It ended up being a bit longer than I had originally thought it would be, but again, I don't think any of you will mind that.
I'll have the next regular chapter up soon!
Please remember to review!
Happy Halloween!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson