This is my sudden inspiration, last second Halloween fic. Characters and world herein are property of the mighty Jhonen.

"What'll I do Shmee? Halloween is tomorrow and the kids at school said they were gonna do things to my head." Young Todd Casil listens tentatively to his protector's response.

"No, no, no... I couldn't do that." Normally, the squeeish boy would have jested at the laughable suggestion of burning his classmates, but he is gripped with the urgency of the situation and is in no mood for humor. Todd sighs at the bear's next utterance as he finishes pulling his black and white striped pajamas over his head.

"No, really, I don't think fireworks would help much." He climbs up into his bed and tucks the grinning bear in next to him. He glances out his window, which has never acquired a set of drapes or blinds of any kind. The beams from a streetlight illuminate his room, serving as a permanent nightlight.

"Goodnight Shmee" he says as a dark silhouette escapes from the house next door. Squee wraps an arm around his fluffy companion and closes his eyes, thinking himself prepared to face the dangers of rest.

In little more than a few minutes, Todd finds himself in a happy dream. Adorable little white mice scurry across a flower-filled plain under a cheery blue sky. He watches as the cute little creatures wiggle their whiskers and groom themselves. Squee lets out a little giggle, which causes all the field's inhabitants to stop the task they were performing and look directly at the boy.

The sky suddenly turns to grey; the fluffy white clouds which once hung gracefully in its expanses, become black as a foreboding of rain and the once smiling sun is replaced by a crimson moon looming over the landscape.

The boy's eyes grow wide as the terrain and its inhabitants change to complete the scene. Fleshly cut grass of a spring green color and patches of fragrant flowers become sickly yellow weeds with briars interlaced. The mice become twisted distortions of their former selves, gaining about five feet in height. Their teeth are now a gnarling array of yellow fangs. The transformation had taken the boy by surprise and he lets out a shrill squee of terror. In a matter of seconds, there is someone by Todd's side.

"Shmee!" Todd yells out, diverting his attention to the bear.

"That's right; I am here to protect you once again." It is at this moment that Todd remembers the rat beasts and brings his attention back to the place where they once stood but were no longer. The creatures have disappeared, but the atmosphere remains a wicked distortion.

"I thought they were gonna get me." The teddy bear places his hands on his hips.

"Now I couldn't let that happen. The one thing you don't need is a rat demon gorging itself on your entrails." At the mention of the gory scenario, Squee finds his heartbeat quickly elevating.

"Yup, if I hadn't come along when I did, they'd probably be picking their grotesquely malformed teeth with your bones right now." The bear's current utterance makes Squeegee's blood run cold. At that moment, a flock of what seems like a million bats suddenly goes airborne from somewhere behind the terror stricken boy.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" he screams as he shoots up in his bed and instinctively clutches the bear to his chest. A bead of sweat works its way down his face as he makes an attempt to catch his breath.

"Shut up! I had to give up sleep in order to make money and keep you alive! The least you could do is be quiet while I work to sustain your existence. Ungrateful dependant." Every time his father speaks that way, it cuts Todd, but it's all just tough love right? What it really means is that his father loves him; his own personal version of reassuring his offspring and telling him to get back to bed, that he will make sure the nightmare monsters leave his son alone.

And, in compliance with what he is sure is his dad's request, he curls back into the covers, holding Shmee tightly. Sleep comes soon after, as do the dreams, but Todd is lucky to make it through the rest of the night without another outburst of terror.

One of a thousand bad memories of that night's dreams is enough to allow Todd to momentarily forget the date and he gets ready for school cheerily, putting on his favorite smiley shirt with striped sleeves. He doesn't remember the special occasion until he leaves his house and sees the Halloween decorations on his non-homicidal neighbor's lawn. A gasp escapes his lips and he scurries back inside to retrieve his companion.

Usually, Todd would bring along a piece of Shmee's fluff for protection but the foreboding holiday is justification for bringing him along in his entirety. The walk to school is nerve wracking for the child as little monsters run by giggling and an occasional shout of boo from behind him is enough to make him jump out of his skin.

"Are they going to hurt me Shmee?" Todd looks down at the familiar face. The bear is not able to get a word in as Todd is suddenly pushed from behind. He lands on a patch of grass with a thud and winces as his attackers laugh.

"Oh look, poor little Squeegee's bringing a doll to school today! Ha, ha, ha... baby." Todd reaches to the place where Shmee lighted less than a foot from him and holds the bear protectively, ignoring the ideas of fiery doom the bear preaches. He really doesn't think it will do any good; besides, he doesn't have any matches on him at this time.

"Heh, have fun little baby! Hope that doll can protect you from what we are planning." The group of children goes on its way leaving Todd to recollect himself. He looks down at the bear in his hands.

"I told you! What am I going to do?" Squee sighs. 'That's his solution for everything' Todd thinks as he continues his walk to school. Once he arrives at the virtual prison, he is approached by the last person he wants to see right now. That's right; Pepito makes his way towards a nervous Squee.

"I thought I might tell you..." The antichrist says as he comes within talking distance. "Father has planned something ingenious if it only lasts till the dawn." He leans in to whisper in Todd's ear. "You see these simpering fools in their costumes? Father has arranged for them to become what they are dressed as." This information is enough to send a chill down the poor child's back. The devil's spawn pulls back. "It will be fun to see them cause such terror. Father has invited all the hell spawn." Pepito grins and walks away as if no trade of information has ever occurred, leaving Squee to stare at his bear.

"Did you hear that Shmee? Real monsters!" The bear hangs limply in his grasp. The monsters have only ever been real in his dreams... except for the aliens, those were real; but Shmee has always been there to protect him. Will the bear be able to keep him from harm? Todd walks the rest of the way to class terrified, taking in each costume and picturing the horrible transformation that is surely to come. In the classroom, his grotesquely decaying teacher seems in a positive mood for once.

"Class, today you will all dress up in a monstrous costume of some sort and try to make people give you candy. This ritual is linked back to the pagans and by participating in it you are damning your souls to an eternity of suffering. I am glad you have made this choice. None of you deserve a happy afterlife."

Todd lets his eyes wander around the room and the costume clothed children. One child, who is dressed like an Indian, has a fake arrow through his head. Todd's imagination contorts this into reality and he pictures the native lying on the floor as blood pools around him. Another kid is dresses as what is either a werewolf, a gorilla, or Bigfoot. He shut his eyes tight, not wanting to see what his mind could paint as a mental image. He turns to lock eyes with a grinning Pepito sitting across the room.

"After dark..." the alter boy of doom mouths. A bead of sweat finds its way down Todd's face and he shrinks down in his seat with a slight whimper. The day crawls by and not even Shmee's reassurances are enough to quiet Todd's nerves. The kids have been playing tricks on him all day and messing with his head in general. They said the monsters would come out and get him tonight. In his mind he knows they have no idea. He walks home from school quickly to avoid an incident with his bullying, soon to be monster, classmates.

The walk home is an unnerving one. At one point, Todd is sure he sees a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him, but it turns out to be nothing more than a pair of red light bulbs placed strategically in the shadow of a house. Upon reaching his doorstep, Todd takes a glance over at the scary neighbor man's house, seeing a skeletal hand retreat from a board blocked window. He shudders and enters the safety of his home.

"Kid!" he hears upon entering the house. Hi father is standing there glaring down at him, light glinting off of his glasses as the rest of his face is covered in shadows. "How many times have I told you about leaving these types of things in your room?" The dad points to a dead cat that is sitting on the ground in front of his feet. Todd's eyes go wide.

"I didn't do it!" Squee exclaims.

"Look brat, if you leave stuff like this in your room it's going to stink up the house!" The father's eyes fall on the bear his son is gripping tightly. "You're too old for that thing!" Before Todd can react, his father snatches the bear from him.

"But daddy!" Todd screams out in a mix of shock and horror as he reaches out for his long time companion.

"Be quiet and get rid of this!" He points his bear wielding hand at the decaying cat and hastily exits the room while grumbling something under his breath. Todd ignores the cat and hurries to his room, searching all over for his piece of fluff from the absent teddy bear.

'It has to be here!' he thinks while digging under his bed, yes that place where monsters like to hide. After minutes of futile searching, he has still found nothing. Shaking with fright, the boy turns to his closet, deciding that he must look there as well.

Closets are big; and even without scary monsters torturing the innocent inside, it takes a while to dig through their content. By the time Todd has finished replacing his items in the select monster domicile, it has begun to get dark outside. The loss of his companion has been enough to cause a lapse in his memory for the second time that day and the antichrist's words suddenly ring in his skull. 'Father has arranged for them to become what they are dressed as.' Squee hurries to his window and peers out, only to come face to face with the scary neighbor man who has taken that moment to peer in at the unsuspecting child.

"Aaaaah!" Todd squeals in fright as he runs to the wall opposite the window and turns to stare at the lanky figure that has now come into view. Johnny grins at the boy and opens the window.

"Hi Squee. Why aren't you out having fun like all the other kids?" Todd looks at his neighbor nervously for a moment before spilling his knowledge of the impending doom.

"Because, they are all gong to turn into monsters and come after me!" Johnny looks worriedly at the tense boy.

"That sounds bad, but you shouldn't be deprived of candy on Halloween. I'd offer you some, but I don't think you want any of the candy I have." Thoughts of razorblades and arsenic infiltrate Squee's young impressionable mind. "Well, bye Squeegee! I have to go do something about the teenagers that are planning to roll the house down the street!" Nny disappears from sight as quickly as he had appeared, leaving the window agape.

Todd walks over to close it with caution. He reaches his hand up and grasps the window's edge, pulling the panel of glass downwards. In light of the situation, Squee chooses to lock the barrier. Surely that will keep the monsters out. Todd walks away from the entrance and grabs a baseball bat from his closet.

Weapon in hand, he waits against the wall of his room. In times like this, Shmee would have commended him for getting a weapon, but the bear is no longer with him now is he? Muffled screams begin to fill the air and eerie howls of monsters signal the start of the horrible night. Suddenly, Todd's window is broken out by an alien in a pompadour with orbital red eyes. It is eerily familiar to a drawing he had once made. Behind the alien-kid comes three monstrosities. The first stands four feet tall, has three eyes, and a dangerous protruding snaggletooth. The second resembles a grubby worm whose mouth is rimmed with countless teeth. The third has wings and looks like it would be an imp.

"Oh please don't mutilate me!" Todd screams as he momentarily forgets the bat held securely in his hands.

"Mutilate you?" asks the alien-kid holding a ray gun. "We're going to eat you!"

"Aaaaaah!" Todd yells desperately.

"Be quiet!" he hears from inside the house. His dad had said it.

"Who was that?" asked the fearsome alien menace.

"My dad." The child squeaks.

"Hmm... parents... so much yummier. Come on, let's go eat them first." The alien leads the monsters out Squee's door and into the hall of his house. Popping his head back in the room, the alien says "Don't go anywhere... you're next." Todd stares at his door long after the monsters have gone petrified in fear, his knuckles white around the handle of the bat.

"Pst... Todd..." The sudden utterance of his name breaks him out of his daze and he looks to the source of the sound... the shattered window.

"C'mere, you gotta get out of there." Todd thinks about his options. He can either wait here until those monsters come back and be eaten, or he can go to the window and be eaten by whatever was calling his name. The thing that finally makes up his mind is a 'God no!' and an 'Ooooo' coming from beyond his door which is accompanied by animalistic snarls. The noise drives him to the window and he peers out into the dark night.

"Shmee!" he shrieks as he sees his fuzzy bear companion standing on the ground below his window.

"Hurry up Todd; they'll be coming back soon." Squee complies with his friend's request and hops out the broken window landing with a thud on the other side. The bear motions for him to follow around the corner of the house.

"Wait! Daddy and mommy, we can't leave them." Todd says, halting his cohort.

"Yes we can." Shmee says without a minute's deliberation. Todd follows after the mobile bear while protesting innocently for the sake of his family. Shmee runs over to some raked leaves which are piled up next to the house and produces a lighter from out of nowhere.

"What are you doing Shmee?!" Todd is horror stuck. He always thought Shmee was joking when he said he should catch things on fire, but this bear meant business.

"We can't let those monsters come after you." Todd looks around himself a moment and notices that the block is practically littered with monsters and ghosts.

"But they're everywhere Shmee!" By the time he turns back around, a fire has begun blazing its way through the leaves and up the side of his house. Todd's jaw drops. The teddy bear has a malicious glint in his eyes as the fire casts shadows across his face.

"Let's go Todd..."

"What?" Todd looks from the house to Shmee, who is walking away from the fire which is quickly gaining momentum. Todd hurries off after him, not knowing what is in store for him in the near future.

Here let's say the camera pans back a ways to show the entire neighborhood and the horrors it contains. Houses now have gaping holes in them and broken out windows litter the block. Child-sized monsters run around giggling in the night atmosphere. A few houses down, Nny can be seen throwing entrails into a neighbor's tree. A black cloud of smoke slowly engulfs the view which is centered by a house being consumed by flames. And that is where this story ends... right there... yup... it's over.

Be happy this exists! I just thought of it today... and have spent the majority of the day working on it. It is now done and I have my Halloween fic... so funness... Anyway, tell me what you think and stuff like that. Here's a plug... my website's lizzy733.batcave.net and you can go there... myes you can. REVIEW TIME... or not... if you are one of those types that will only review a story if you really like it... or really hate it... well... bye...