Felline was having trouble fitting her legs into the space with the foam sword, so she pulled it out.

"Did you make this?" she asked in wonder.

"Yeah, I did," Lion-O said, glancing at it once and then returning his eyes to the road. He wound expertly through the winding, up-and-down streets of the rich neighborhood, past stop signs and the more ambitious Trick or Treaters obviously hoping for whole candy bars from the residents. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful," she said honestly, though she knew next to nothing about swords, and couldn't figure out how it went with his costume. It was long but very straight, the blade and grip silver, the curling, sharp-pointed crossguard blue. A big, red, fake jewel took up the cross section, slit down the middle like a cat's eye.

"Thanks," she thought he said, but he was drowned out by Kat's howl.

"Gotta be faster than that," Cheetara told him smugly. She unwrapped a stick of Smarties by pinching the ends and pulling. She looked damn sexy sitting there, her hair blowing in the wind, as she placed a candy on her tongue.

Felline and Lion-O both glanced back, and then at each other. They grinned, and he pulled the car onto a street lined with huge, dark trees. He parked at the end of a very long line of cars. Even three blocks away, they could hear the party.

"Everybody's a thief!" Kat said, frustrated.

"Or a vandal," Kit said, pointing, as Lion-O and Tygra both vaulted out of the convertible, making it sway. "Check out ol' Mummy over there."

"Is that Mumm-Ra?" Tygra asked. He squinted into the next yard over, where a dim figure was lobbing rolls of toilet paper into the highest branches of towering trees. Cheetara joined her boyfriend.

"I think it is," Snarf said, shaking his head until his ears slipped sideways.

Tygra snorted. "Classy."

Lion-O took his sword from Felline. It wouldn't do any damage if he whacked somebody with it, but it would probably get their attention. "Should we stop him?"

It looked like Mumm-Ra had wrapped his torso and his arms in toilet paper, then covered it with a dirty, tattered hoodie pulled up over his head. Trailing edges fluttered from his cuffs and the hem. He might have gone anonymous if he hadn't shrugged his extremely-recognizable red and white letterman over that. He heaved, bouncing on one white-sneakered foot, and another roll went sailing toward the stars, its tail whipping like a panicked ghost.

"Did you know it was Mumm-Ra who performed the séance last year?" Cheetara asked, watching the roll snag on branches during its descent.

"Not that again," Lion-O said impatiently. "The spirit of Jaga is an urban myth, Cheetara. Mumm-Ra has been going around telling everyone that Jaga is real. No one is boneheaded enough to believe him."

She gave him a cool look. "I didn't say I believe him. My point was, I wouldn't put it past him to prank someone this year. I wonder what exactly it is that Ben-Gali and Lynx-O are walking into tonight."

"Probably hiding behind gravestones and jumping out and yelling BOO! at anybody who walks by," Tygra said.

"The blind guy took the new guy to the cemetery?" someone behind them asked. "Hoo, that's rich."

He was dressed as a white ape, but he, too, wore his letterman. He shut the door of his ancient banana-yellow VW Bug. Rust rained gently onto the wet sidewalk.

"Addicus," Lion-O greeted him coldly. "What's it to you?"

Slithe emerged from the little car with difficulty. His arms were full of toilet paper rolls and his letterman wouldn't close over his gut. The only effort he'd put into dressing up was a too-small dinosaur mask, the kind with an elastic strap. He heaved his bulk onto the sidewalk and dropped a bunch of rolls. "Nothing," he said. "We're not going there."

"Nobody said you were," Felline said, confused.

"Don't worry about it," Lion-O muttered to her, turning her away. "You know they aren't the brightest bulbs in the box. Guilty consciences and all."

"We can hear you, pretty boy," Slithe said loudly.

Lion-O lifted an eyebrow and winked at Felline. "So you understand English now?" he asked with fake enthusiasm. "Good for you! Can you write your whole name yet?"

Addicus swelled, both leaner and more muscular than his friend. He cracked his knuckles. "Your move, pussycat."

"Nah." Tygra waved dismissively at them. "Somebody's bound to call the Chief with all the noise." He tilted his head toward Pumyra's house, lit up like a Las Vegas commercial, from which emanated pounding music, indistinct shouts, laughter, and splashing, probably from her parents' Olympic-sized pool. "I want to get my partying in before that. Smell you later, mutants."

Addicus made a sound reminiscent of an angry gorilla.

Glad to get away from them, being half the mass of Slithe, WilyKat jogged ahead. WilyKit hurried to catch up to him. They led the way, their heads turning every which way and their mouths hanging open as they weaved into a thickening crowd of costumed upperclassmen, many of them holding red plastic cups. Greetings and catcalls poured around them. The music got louder.

Felline giggled.

"What is it?" Lion-O fell into step beside her, watching her face rather than the sidewalk. He wrapped his larger hand around hers.

Tingling from the unexpected and unfamiliar contact, Felline wound her fingers with his. She could have squealed like Cheetara when he gave them a light squeeze. "The twins," she explained. "Can't you just see their tails wagging?"

He chuckled. "First party?"

"Yeah."

"Is it your first party?"

She turned her face away, embarrassed. She'd never been what people would call popular. "Yeah."

"Yeah, I don't remember ever seeing you at one of these." He scrutinized the groups chatting on the lawn, the blazing house open to the damp night. "I wouldn't have come here tonight, but – a party's a party."

"You mean Pumyra?" she asked. It wasn't exactly a comfortable topic for her, not with Pumyra being so beautiful and all, but she couldn't restrain her curiosity.

"We're not friends," he said with a shrug. Then he brightened. "Doesn't matter. I'm here with you. She can choke on it."

"Get over yourself, little brother, she doesn't remember you're alive," Tygra called back.

Before Lion-O, whose eyebrows had drawn down menacingly, could respond, Cheetara draped herself over Tygra's arm and practically purred when she said, "You know, I'm dying of thirst. Let's go find the food."

In a group, the seven teens ascended the wide, curving stairs that led to the open front door. Every couple of steps, a professional-looking carved pumpkin spilled candlelight across the stone.

Alerted by something – the scrape of a shoe, a heavy breath, she didn't know – Felline peeked over her shoulder. Addicus and Slithe had been following them about ten feet back, their faces dark and serious. They didn't stop when they saw her looking, either, nudging each other and whispering, their eyes never leaving Lion-O's back. Did all boys pick fights this easily? She started to say something about it, but –

Something burst out of the door that caused all of them to leap aside; poor Snarf leaped too far and - "Yaaaah!" - disappeared over the stone bannister.

"Snarf!" WilyKit cried. She leaned over the bannister, feet in the air.

"Gangway!" Maniacal, high-pitched laughter erupted from the thing, which turned out to be a mangy-looking werewolf. His whole-head mask caught on a flimsy three-foot-tall scarecrow and was torn off, revealing Kaynar, flushed pink with mischief. "Whee!" he yelled. He sat astride a bicycle clearly meant for a little girl, pink and sparkly and bedecked with streamers. Knees bent near his ears, he careened across the porch and down the stairs. As he went, steering with his feet, he produced a lighter, flicked it, touched the flame to something small, and then he launched the sparking, hissing thing. He barreled past Addicus and Slithe, who cheered him on.

The firecracker landed in a jack-o'-lantern at Cheetara's feet.

Tygra gave a wordless shout. Cheetara grabbed his arm and ran with him up the remainder of the steps. They were gone in a flash.

"C'mon, Sis!" WilyKat shoved his sister headfirst over the bannister and then leaped after her. Kit shrieked profanities the whole six feet down.

Felline and Lion-O weren't so lucky. The bomb exploded, showering their legs with pumpkin guts.

Laughing hysterically, the werewolf and his tiny bike plummeted onto the walk. He plunged into the crowds, flinging lit firecrackers everywhere. Yelling, dropping their drinks and parts of their costumes, people scattered.

"Lunatic!" Lion-O bellowed after him. "That idiot is going to hurt someone. I'll get him for that."

"It's not worth it, he's drunk," Felline said. She'd smelled the cloud wafting off him. "He's going to crash. See?"

Felline winced as Kaynar plowed headlong into a tree and went flying, his body one way and the bicycle another. He landed in a crooked heap and lay there, still laughing loud enough to hear over the music. The wrecked bike wobbled on its side, its white tires spinning crookedly.

After a stunned minute, three heads popped out of the juniper bushes below the stairs.

"Nyaaa," Snarf said dizzily.

"Well, that was exciting," Kat said, blinking.

"Are all parties like this?" Kit asked, sounding awed.

"Pretty much," Lion-O answered, leaning over the bannister. "Just don't go near the pool. Freshmen like you, I guarantee you'll end up in it. With or without your pants."

"Yes, sir," Kit and Kat chorused fervently.

"I don't mean to interrupt," a smooth voice said.

A shadow that had been leaning against the house, out of reach of the porch lights, stood up straight. The plague doctor walked toward them, slightly hunched under the old-fashioned trench coat collared with a cheap black feather boa. He, too, held a red plastic cup in one black-gloved hand.

"But naturally you did," Lion-O said. He took a few hopeless swipes at his jeans and Felline's leggings, flicking off bits of mushy charred pumpkin. Then he lifted his chin. "Nice costume, Vultaire."

The plague doctor reached up. He unbuckled his raven mask and took off his hat, revealing the sharp features and sleek white-blond hair, ruffled now, of the senior class president. Felline shivered, shrinking into Lion-O's side. His arm came around and held her lightly, almost automatically, but she appreciated his protection. She'd never liked Vultaire much, handsome though he was. The makeup he wore under the goggled mask made him look like a corpse.

Vultaire took a sip of his drink, his dark eyes appraising them, especially Felline. Then they moved to Lion-O's face, dismissing her. Everybody knew Vultaire had a thing for Pumyra, which was why he hated Lion-O. "I thought it best to inform you, cat-boy, that your car is being stolen."

He pointed with his cup, thin lips curving.

"What?" Lion-O whipped around. Sure enough, with squeal of tires and a roar from the engine, the blue convertible came hauling up the street. Addicus and Slithe, no longer on the stairs behind them, whooped in triumph - from the backseat, Mumm-Ra threw Lion-O the finger - as they burned rubber around the corner and vanished. "Shit!"

"That's not very in-character," Vultaire said, failing to hide his malicious laughter. He'd probably watched Addicus, or more likely, Slithe, slip Lion-O's keys from his pocket while he'd been preoccupied with an exploding pumpkin. "Shouldn't you say something cute like, 'whiskers'?"

"Shut up, Vultaire," Tygra said, returning with food and drinks. He stepped into Vultaire's space, all broad shoulders and muscular arms.

Vultaire's expression soured as he looked up at Tygra. Without a word, he buckled his mask back on and merged with the shadows.

Lion-O took off running across the lawn, Felline and the twins, shedding dry brown juniper leaves, hot on his heels.

"Lion-O!" Tygra roared. "Get back here!"

"We're calling the police!" Cheetara added.

"Wait for me!" Snarf cried. He freed himself from the bush and awkwardly chased after Lion-O, holding his pillow-tummy in place.

A/N: Part two! I still don't have part three written fully, so please review and wish me luck! That helps. Really. X3

Whatcha think, guys? Having fun? I hope so. Halloween is almost here, squee!

Reviewer Thanks! St4r Hunter, The Night Whisperer, and Heart of the Demons. I have reviewers to thank! BEST FEELING EVER! I love you guys so much. Thank you thank you!

Cheers!

Anne