Author's Note: Hi there. Welcome to a new Halloween Infinity Crisis one-shot. I was originally going to have this posted sooner, but I caught a bit of something and it's been dragging me down a bit. But that's no reason to not try and get it posted. So I hope you enjoy! Also, to understand this better, you should probably check out Chapter 6 of Infinity Crisis: Glimpses and the second epilogue of His Hazelnut Heart. Now on with the show!

Earth-95859

Bailey City

Melody looked at herself in the bathroom mirror with bemusement at her current appearance. Even by the standards of Halloween costumes, she looked quite removed from her usual, every day self. One particular feature that was absent were her signature twin tail hairstyle that she tended to default too. Instead her semi straightened black hair was neatly pinned up and tucked under a beige derby hat. This matched with the rest of her ensemble, which was a matching beige suit jacket and pants over a faded yellow button down shirt, and a forest green undervest and bow tie.

"I can't believe I let Howie talk me into this," Melody remarked. "I mean, I know the character is a guy but…"

She looked down at a fake dark gray mustache that sat on the counter below the mirror. Instead of affixing it to her upper lip, Melody shoved it into one of her pockets.

"There's no rule that says he needs to have a mustache." she flicked off the light and left the room.

Melody walked down the hall of her family's apartment. While they had lived there for quite some time, she struggled to not think of it as their new home, rather than it simply being home. Even though things have mostly returned to normal after the people who had disappeared were returned, some things had indeed changed. For Melody's family, it was having to move into a new apartment.

"Hey, Sweetie," her father called out from the living room. "Are you heading out?"

"Yes, Dad," Melody called back as she slipped on her sneakers. "My friends from school are waiting for me out front."

"We don't want to worry your mother, so you'll have to stick with 'em." her father reminded her.

"I always stick with them!" Melody rolled her eyes. "So don't worry about your romantic evening with Mom, okay?"

She popped her head into the living room, where her father was scrolling through the options on a streaming service.

"I would hardly call it romantic, Melody!" her father chuckled. "She wants to watch 'Slaughter High 4'!"

His daughter crossed her arms and he then realized how she was about to respond.

"…AKA the movie you conceived me to?" she rhetorically asked. "It's called 'Rage of Rantzen', right?"

He dropped the remote on the couch and dragged a hand over his face, embarrassed.

"I really regret ever admitting that to you," her father sighed, only to then smile at her. "Have fun, 'Doctor'."

"I'll try." Melody smirked.

Outside, three other kids were standing on the front steps of Melody's family's apartment building. They were Melody's three closest friends, with whom she spent most of her time both in and out of school. The streets were abuzz with costumed trick-or-treaters and a fair number of nearby storefronts were decorated for the occasion.

"Where do you guys want to start once Melody comes down?" Liza asked.

Liza was wearing a vibrant yellow raincoat dress with blue buttons and trimming over white leggings and yellow Mary Janes. Her blond hair was styled into a sweeping medium bob cut. Her face and hands were coated with white makeup. In one hand she held a white umbrella and in the other she carried a cylindrical candy bucket made up to look like a dark blue package of salt.

"I was thinking we could head that way." she pointed east.

"I'm fine with whatever way we go as long as we can hit up some good houses soon," Eddie groaned. "I don't want a repeat of last year…"

Eddie was dressed in a black flared jacket and jeans over a bright red collared shirt that had the few top buttons undone to show off a patch of obviously fake chest hair. His ginger hair was full of beauty products to make it pop out more than it usually did. He had a black guitar slung over his right shoulder. He had been taking lessons since he had been gifted it.

"Oh yeah. You're right, 'Dewey'," Howie said. He held up his and Eddie's standard plastic jack-o-lantern buckets in one hand. "We barely filled half our containers that year!"

Howie was dressed in a charcoal gray frock-coat and pants, with a matching top hat. In his free hand he held an old pool cue, which he intended to be seen as a walking cane. He had fake sideburns stuck onto the sides of his cheeks. Their brown color clashed with his more flaxen natural hair, which he had combed back.

"Well, we better nab a bigger haul this year, because this was trickier to put together than you'd think!" Eddie gestured at himself.

"Really?" Melody asked.

Eddie, Liza, and Howie looked to see her standing in the now opened doorway of the building. She walked out to them with a smile and a raised eyebrow aimed at Eddie.

"So Dewey Cox is a harder costume to cobble together than the Morton Salt Girl?" Melody teasingly asked.

"Hey! I never said that!" Eddie huffed.

"Claws in, rockstar. I was just joking," Melody said. She looked at Liza. "Speaking of your costume, Liza, it looks really cute!"

"You're not the only one who thinks so." Liza knowingly giggled.

She and Eddie then both hopped off the stairs and into the awaiting sidewalk. Melody looked unsure as to what her friend meant by that. Howie noticed her confusion as they followed after the others.

"Allow me to explain, my dear Watson," Howie whispered in her ear. "A few boys from another school asked for her phone number on the way here."

"Seriously? What kind of kid has that junk on their minds on Halloween…or at all?" Melody questioned.

Howie simply shrugged in response. They then caught up with Liza and Eddie. Other trick-or-treaters passed by them as they made their way to a brightly lit storefront. It was the Bonsai Bakery, a small local business known for its exceptional pumpkin pies. Through the window, the four kids could see that some costumed adults were having a small party inside. A dark haired man in an orange oni mask was using a curved sword to slice his bakery's famous pies into slices to hand out.

"Remember when we worked convinced he was a real ninja?" Eddie asked.

"How could I forget? We really thought he was going to hurt somebody!" Liza laughed. She then lowered her voice so the other people near the bakery wouldn't hear her. "…By the way, I went in a week ago and I'm pretty sure he isn't a wesen either."

"Unless that's his actual face." Howie muttered to himself, looking at the baker's mask.

By the entrance was a table with a large dish filled with pumpkin flavored KitKats and thin boxes of pumpkin pocky. A sign indicated they were free for the taking, but that anyone who took more than two would be cursed. The four each took either one or the other from the bowl before proceeding.

"Some of these are hard to come by, so I'd say that was a good first stop." Melody noted.

"I concur, Watson," Howie tipped his top hat. "Yet this dreary London night has only just begun!"

"Howie, I get thatcha want to sell the Sherlock Holmes thing, but Bailey City ain't London." Eddie rolled his eyes.

"And you're not from Alabama like Cox was. Come on, Eddie, Halloween's a night where people are supposed to play pretend." Liza lightly chided him.

"Whatever," Eddie grunted. His eyes then lit up. "Hey, let's try that house!"

Eddie ran ahead of the others, towards a house that was only sparsely decorated, but whose occupant was sitting in a chair by their door. He was a short, bald Jewish man in his early eighties who was holding a translucent plastic bowl full of various mini candy bars and packs of gum. Eddie walked up to the house, his friends following shortly after.

"Nice costumes, kiddos. Take some sweets,," the man in the chair held out his bowl. He glanced at Howie when he took a couple pieces from the bowl. "So who are you tonight, boy? Jack the Ripper?"

"Gosh no. I'm Sherlock Holmes," Howie shook his head and motioned at Melody. "Didn't you notice Dr. Watson here?"

"Heheheh. Of course. I guess I'm just too used to my neighbor's son's version." the man smiled.

The four then took some of the offered candy, thanked him, and began walking away from his home.

"OK, Eddie, I'll admit that was a good pick," Melody said.

"Yeah, but…" Liza agreed. "Well…I got a bit of a weird f—"

"Hey! I saw that!" a loud voice snarled from nearby.

The four friends saw two other boys coming down the sidewalk from the next house over. One was Chinese American and the other was an Irish American who was noticeably taller than both him and the group. The pair marched onto the old man's lawn and stood in their way.

"Ugh. It's Jerome and Randy." Eddie recognized them and groaned in aggravation.

Jerome Chang and Randy Hanrahan were two stepbrothers who didn't go to school like most of the other kids in Bailey City. Their parents preferred homeschooling, as did they. In fact, the only reason that Liza, Howie, Melody and Eddie knew of them at all was because Jerome would occasionally ride their tandem electric scooter in loops around their school and loudly brag about being homeschooled, expecting the students to be jealous. Instead, they were more often seen as an annoyance at best.

"You really thought you could get away with this crap on my turf, eh? Well think again, you phony!" Jerome pointed straight at Howie.

Jerome's Halloween attire was not incomparable to the target of his scorn, as he was going out as his own take on the character of Sherlock Holmes. His jacket and pants were longer and were two tones of brown in color similar to that of his hat, which was a deerstalker. He lacked anything resembling a cane, and instead carried a fake smoking pipe.

"I'm embarrassed just looking at that sorry excuse for a Sherlock Holmes costume!" Jerome continued. He theatrically shook his fist at Howie. "A top hat instead of a deerstalker?! You don't deserve that candy! Right, Randy?"

"…Ya darn tootin', partnuh." Randy half-heartedly agreed. In truth, he just wanted to get back to trick-or-treating.

Randy was dressed in a simplistic, mass produced black cowboy costume. The sleeves were torn off and he wore a billowing yellow headband under his large black Cowboy hat. Presumably, this was all to differentiate it from the other versions of the costume that had been purchased for him from some big box store.

"You don't have to be so mean!" Liza frowned at Jerome.

Randy stepped in front of his stepbrother.

"Look, Liza, Jerome won't let up until Howie here admits his costume is better," Randy sighed and crossed his arms. "So just do it, 'kay? It's easier that way. Trust me."

"That's such a load of crap!" Eddie snapped. He placed his arm over Howie's shoulder. "Don't give in to him, Howie."

"Yeah! We look fine as Holmes and Watson!" Melody proclaimed.

Jerome's eyes went wide upon hearing. Randy braced himself for what he knew was coming.

"You're supposed to be Watson?! It's a good thing I spotted you when I did!" Jerome shoved past his stepbrother. "Is this some sort of bad joke?! You don't even have a mustache

Melody pulled the fake mustache out from her pocket and tossed it at Jerome's feet.

"Go ahead and take it," Melody glared at him. "At least Howie has a Watson and not a cowboy."

Her friends all seemed impressed, with Liza even literally patting her on the back.

"Why you…! That tears it!" Jerome stomped down his foot. "We're taking your candy! Come on, Randy!"

"…Ugh. Fine. But then we get back to trick-or-treating." Randy grumbled.

The two lunges forward towards the four. Melody, Howie, and Eddie all leapt out of their path, but Liza didn't. Instead, her stance hardened and her eyes locked on their faces, watching them as if they were moving in slow motion to her. Liza had just seen their faces warped to become like those of two different animals. The stepbrothers were both, in truth, Wesen. Jerome was a Gefrierengeber, an arctic ermine-like Wesen, while Randy was a Nuckelavee, which were horse-like. No one else had seen it, and Jerome and Randy had even picked up on it either.

"Just try," Liza spoke with a voice that barely sounded like her normal self. She closed her white umbrella and held it aloft like a staff. "I dare you."

Jerome tried to snatch at Liza's bucket, only to have his hand smacked away by her umbrella. Randy barged past Jerome to try and do the same, only for Liza to dodge him. Jerome turned to see the others all watching Liza, who was evading more attempted blows from Randy by the skin of her teeth. They all looked quite surprised, which did not go unnoticed by Jerome.

"I've got to help her!" Eddie shouted. He shoved his guitar into Howie's hands. "It's time to Walk Hard on Hanrahan's face!"

The redheaded boy ran to try to aid Liza against Randy. He still wasn't quite used to knowing that she wasn't merely the worried, paranoid girl he had always seen her as. As such, he completely ignored Jerome, assuming that anyone who could be warded off Liza to be beneath him and the others.

"If they're the fighters of your group, I guess that makes you the sitting ducks. That's fine…" Jerome smirked. He charged forward at the three with a mad grin. "It's you phonies I'm after anyway!"

Howie and Melody both gasped, only for something unexpected to happen before Jerome could get too close to them.

"This ends now!" a youthful feminine voice declared.

From somewhere else on the sidewalk, a girl ran up in front of Howie and Melody, blocking Jerome's way. He skidded to a halt.

"Huh?" Melody and Howie let out in unison.

Liza and Eddie stopped to look too, as did the similarly confused Randy.

"Seriously?" Jerome looked down at her with an incredulous expression.

The girl stood slightly shorter than both him, his stepbrother, and the four school friends. She had light skin, strikingly bright light blue eyes, and slightly messy pale blond hair with sharp, red dyed tips. She wore a red hooded sweatshirt over a black skirt and red and striped leggings, and red sneakers. She wore fingerless black gloves on her hands and held a grayish brown broomstick. She looked over her shoulder at Melody and Howie and smiled comfortingly at them. Melody felt her heart skip a beat and her eyes locked with the stranger's.

"Who…Who are…you?" Melody asked, not sure what else to say.

"You can call me Wendy!" she answered. She flipped her hair and shifted her focus back to Jerome, her gaze intense. "You can call me the one who talked you out of this."

Jerome snickered at this and hoisted Wendy up by her sweatshirt. She didn't fight back at all.

"Don't touch her you—!" Liza stopped herself before she cried out 'Wesen'.

Melody tried to intervene, but Wendy winked at her. Melody instantly stopped, somehow being able to tell that Wendy had just told her she had this handled.

"You are going to apologize, go back home, and tell your parents what you tried to do," Wendy stated calmly. Her blue eyes then began to glow a shade brighter and her smile widened, with all of her white teeth on full display. "Or else."

Melody and Howie backed up a few steps. Liza and Eddie quickly joined them, while Randy walked up to get closer to his brother, unsure what to do in this situation.

"This is hilarious!" Jerome rolled his eyes, bringing his face closer to hers. "Wendy was it? Why the heck should I listen to you?

"Because unlike some members of my kind, I prefer to be a good girl." Wendy tilted her head.

Melody couldn't help but stare at Wendy, her top eyelids lowering a little. She pressed her hands to her own chest, feeling taken with Wendy's confidence.

"Bro… I think you should put her down," Randy urged Jerome. "Let's just…let's just go to a few more houses and forget about this, okay?"

Jerome looked over at Randy and the two shared a knowing, concerned look. They'd both heard what Wendy had said. She had alluded to 'her kind'. Their minds were racing, their minds flooding with ideas of what she may have meant, or what she could actually be. Being Wesen themselves, they both imagined her woge into a number of the most intimidating kinds they knew of, like a Dämonfeuer, a Blutbad, a Cracher-Mortel, a Königschlange, or a Quijada Vil. In truth, Wendy wasn't any of those, nor even a Wesen at all.

"…Tell me what you are." Jerome demanded, his teeth gritted.

He wanted to woge, but he couldn't. He didn't want to expose himself or anyone in his family, even if Bailey City was home to one of the largest communities of surviving Wesen in North America. Despite his earlier hostility, Jerome Chang wasn't a bad person deep down and didn't want to jeopardize the masquerade.

"Sure. It's not like it's a secret," Wendy responded. She brought her mouth to Jerome's right ear, with her voice lowering to a whisper so faint that only he could make it out. "Y'see, I'm the Good Little Witch. …Ekat a ekih daetsni fo gnikool rof a thgif no siht evitsef thgin."

Jerome's eyes gained a faint gleam of scarlet. It was very brief, lasting for barely a half a second. He silently set Wendy down nearby Melody, Liza, Eddie, and Howie and looked over to his nearby stepbrother.

"…Let's get out of here Randy. This was a mistake." he said.

"Uh…Sure, J," Randy looked somewhat taken aback, but his tone gave away that he was honestly relieved. "Want to go to some more houses?"

"Yes. I was being silly," Jerome nodded. He began to walk away. "Come on while this Halloween night is still young."

Randy followed after him, but momentarily stopped to look back at the four friends and their unexpected comrade. His gaze fell on Liza. Much like Wendy, there was something about her that made him feel both uneasy and fascinated at the same time.

"You…uh…" his cheeks went red. "You're tougher than you look, Burkhardt! N…n…Nice costume, by the way!"

The tall boy then awkwardly raced off, not wanting to get left behind. In her head, Liza couldn't help but be reminded of the less graceful racehorses she would sometimes see on TV.

"Thanks for the help just now!" Liza extended her hand to Wendy. "It's Wendy, right? I'm Liza." She motioned to her friends. "This is Eddie, Howie, and Melody."

Melody opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She couldn't think of any wow looking at Wendy. Howie handed Eddie back his guitar.

"It's nice to meet you, and you're welcome," Wendy replied, holding her broomstick over her shoulder. "I was just passing through while I was looking for the library. You four wouldn't know the way there, would you?"

"The library? Sure we do. We go there plenty." Liza answered.

"Not that I like it all that much," Eddie quipped. "Do you have a piece of paper or anything? We could draw you a map or—"

"Let me walk you there!" Melody blurted out. She instantly covered her mouth, but then put her hands behind her back and smiled at Wendy. "I mean…I can if you want me to, I mean."

Eddie, Howie, and Liza all exchanged looks with one another, as if having a wordless conversation with their eyes. It didn't take much for them to catch wind of what was going on with Melody.

"…That sure would be nice of you, Melody," Wendy replied. "But what about trick-or-treating with your pals?"

Howie then stepped forward.

"Actually, I was thinking we could stay in this general area for a little bit. Melody can just wait at the library for us to catch up with her," Howie suggested. He shot a knowing expression at Liza and Eddie. "Does that sound okay?"

The two nodded in agreement. Melody found this a little odd, but she brushed it aside. She wasn't sure why, but she really wanted to be aside Wendy for a while. So after nodding right back at them, Melody eagerly took off with the mysterious girl to guide her to the library. After they were too far away to hear them, the remaining three huddled together to come up with a plan.

"I think I know just what we need…" Eddie confidently beamed.

Several Minutes Later

Other than pointing out which way to turn, Melody hadn't spoken a word to Wendy. When she tried to make small talk with the girl in red and black, she

ended up nervously stammering and thanking her for her help with Jerome and Randy. Wendy thanked her in return for helping her find the library, but didn't divulge why it was she wanted to go there in the first place beyond saying that she was trying to help a friend of hers. After that, they walked in silence through a small public park, which Melody had said was a shortcut. Melody would gaze dreamily at Wendy only to turn away when she thought she saw her notice it.

"Want…some candy?" Melody eventually asked.

"I wouldn't mind getting a taste of something sweet." Wendy smiled.

Melody felt her face get hot and pointed to a park bench. The two plopped down on it and Melody took out the pack of pumpkin flavored pocky she had taken from the dish outside the Bonsai Bakery. She opened the box and handed Wendy some of its contents.

"Thanks. Very sweet of you." Wendy joked.

She opened her mouth to take a bite, only for something to distract her. It was the soft strum of a guitar and a humming going along with the tune. Melody looked all around trying to find the source of the music, but Wendy's magical witch senses allowed her to make it out first.

"They followed us in secret? Why?" Wendy hushedly asked herself.

Behind a couple of trees a few feet away was Eddie, who was the source. Liza and Howie were behind a neighboring shrub, watching him. Though they did look fairly skeptical of Eddie, they were also impressed. His friends had assumed and he wasn't serious about his guitar lessons. Eddie licked his lips, closed his eyes, and began to sing as he played.

Muskrat, muskrat torch light

Doin' the haunted house and doin' it fright

In the Hallows' evenin'

It's eerily pleasin'

Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam

Do the monster mash out in muskrat land

And they scare me

And Sammy's so shivery

And they growled and howled and they tangoed

Singin' and jingin' the Jack-o'-lantern-o

Floatin' like the broomsticks above

It spooks like muskrat love

Nibbling on pumpkin, chewin' on candies

Sammy says to Susie "Horror-ney, would you please be my missus?"

And she says yesss

With her hisses

And now she's terrifyin' her freaky

Hexin' her toes

Muzzle to muzzle, now any final girl goes

As they get maniacal, and Sue starts to cackle

And they growled and howled and they tangoed

Singin' and jingin' the Jack-o'-lantern-o

Floatin' like the broomsticks above

It spooks like muskrat love

Boo boo boo boo boo …

Once he was done with the song, Eddie ran over to Howie and Liza at the shrub. The two looked utterly dumbfounded.

"Eddie…what even was that?" Howie groaned.

"It was Dewey Cox's Halloween themed cover of 'Muskrat Love'!" Eddie raised his hands defensively. "What? Oh no…Did I butcher it?!"

"No no no…You sounded way nicer than we ever thought you would. Honest!" Liza said. "But…that was seriously the most romantic song you could think of?!"

The three then heard Melody loudly laughing and turned to see that she and Wendy were looking straight on in their direction. Wendy had pointed the three out to Melody during Eddie's spoopy, less than sensual serenade. They strode up to the park bench in embarrassment at being caught.

"What were you thinking with that?" Melody chuckled.

"I was thinking that I'm dressed as Dewey Cox and it's Halloween! Tonight's probably the best time to sing that song!" Eddie snapped.

"But why were you doing it over there?" Wendy questioned.

Eddie looked nervously at Howie and Liza.

"He…wanted to practice first. Yeah," Howie said unconvincingly.

"That's right! Let's listen to Sherlock!" Liza played along.

Wendy was about to say something, but then she felt her witch sense go off again. She felt the presence there, somewhere near them all.

"Bravo! That was a truly unique musical performance!" a hoarse masculine voice was carried on the brisk night wind.

The kids looked to see a figure approaching down the path that weaved through the park. He waved at the five as they came into proper view, where he was recognized.

"Oh hey. It's you, Mr. Merle." Howie waved back at him.

Mr. Merle was an employee at the library that the kids usually went to. He was an elderly, pale skinned man with a head of long hair and a flowing beard. He had a naturally friendly face. For Halloween, he was dressed in a large blue cartoon squirrel costume reminiscent of sports mascots. He held the round, goofy faced head of his costume under his left arm.

"Hello, children!" Mr. Merle smiled. He looked at Eddie. "I was taking a walk when I overheard the song just then. I must say, Eddie, it was quite entertaining."

"Umm…Thanks." Eddie rubbed the back of his neck.

"So how are you enjoying Halloween this year?" the librarian asked.

"It's been…Interesting, I think. Very interesting." Liza thought back to the altercation with Jerome and Randy and their other faces only she had seen. She would wait till later to tell her friends about it.

"It's actually funny that we bumped into you. Meet Wendy. I was walking her over to the library," Melody motioned towards Wendy, who had been wordlessly inspecting Merle since he had made his presence known. "The library is closed, is it?"

"It isn't. The rest of the staff and I are actually having a little party there for families. I slipped away to get a little air," Mr. Merle explained. "I was actually just about to head back there."

Wendy got up from the bench.

"I'll go with you." she looked up at him.

Mr. Merle's expression grew significantly serious. It was in that moment that he realized that Wendy knew who he truly was. He wondered if she could pierce through his glamour with her own magic. In turn, he had already caught onto the fact that the girl was a witch.

"You need my help," he said, stroking his beard. "What for?"

In lieu of answering right away, Wendy gestured at Melody, Howie, Liza, and Eddie. They wanted to know what was actually going on, but none of them knew what questions they had to ask. Not that it would matter.

"Ah. I see," Mr. Merle looked at the four. "We will discuss what your problem is in private."

He and Wendy then began to walk off together towards the library.

"It was nice meeting you all!" Wendy waved farewell to the four. "Enjoy the rest of Halloween for me!"

"Uh...Bye." Melody whimpered.

She and her friends then walked in the opposite direction, which lead them out of the park and into a neighborhood where most of the houses still had their lights on.

"That sure was convenient for Wendy that Mr. Merle showed up," Howie noted. He looked at the disappointed looking Melody. "...But less so for you."

Liza pulled Melody in a hug to comfort her.

"Sorry your little date got cut short." Eddie said half-teasingly.

Melody's eyes widened. She only just then realized what her friends already had.

"...What? I didn't... That wasn't... I...um..." Melody faltered in her attempt to deny the truth. "...Aw man. I've got a crush on her. I like Wendy."

"Well, yeah," Howie smiled at her and cupped his chin. "We didn't have to be master detectives to pick up on that."

"...Wait a sec," Melody pulled out of Liza's hug and pointed at Eddie. "So that's why you sang a weird cover of freaking 'Muskrat Love'? To try to give us a moment?"

Eddie's face blushed a strong red and he diverted his eyes. Melody, Liza, and Howie shared a good natured laugh.

"Whatever. I stand by my choice," Eddie huffed. "Now are we going to go fill our buckets with candy or what?"

The four friends happily ran off to resume their trick-or-treating. By the end of the night, they would manage to each get a decent amount of candy together with no further incidents. Even after returning home afterwards and catching her parents kissing while Marty Rantzen wreaked havoc on a bake sale. Back in the park, as Wendy and Mr. Merle made their way to the library, the two spoke to one another more openly. For one thing, Wendy addressed her fellow magical Multiversal traveler by his true name; Merlin.

The idea for this one-shot has been waiting in the wings for a very, very good while, so I hope it proved to be entertaining. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Some Notes:

- Wendy's appearance is based on her redesign for the comic book miniseries Casper and the Spectrals.

- On Earth-95859, Dewey Cox from the musical biopic parody film Walk Hard was a real person. He was also a Wesen, but the kids don't know that.

- On Earth-95859, the 1986 slasher movie Slaughter High became a semi-lucrative franchise consisting of seven movies, a short lived TV series, a few video games and comic book runs, and an unsuccessful attempt at a big budget reboot.

- Jerome "Jerry" Chang is a character created by L1701E who they have used in multiple fanfics, including some of their Infinity Crisis one-shots. I thought it'd be fun to have there be an alternate version of him who isn't an Inhuman or the second Iceman in a universe where neither Inhumans or X-Men exist.

- In the canon of Grimm, very little is known about Gefrierengebers other than that they are able to survive in the extreme cold...and that Santa Claus is one. Yes, really. Since all the other Jerry Changs are Iceman II, I thought it'd be fitting to have "Jerome" be a Wesen that is similar to an Arctic animal. I went with an Arctic ermine as the basis because I thought a polar bear would just be too predictable.

- Randy Hanrahan is an obscure minor DC Comics villain, where he is an enemy of Nightwing who is known as Stallion. His Halloween costume in this is based on his look from the comics. Because he's called, y'know, Stallion, I just couldn't resist having him be a horse-like Wesen.

- People who read the Bailey School Kids books probably noticed my nod to the events and elements of the entry "Ninjas Don't Bake Pumpkin Pie".

- The character of Mr. Merle originates from the entry "Wizards Don't Need Computers", where the kids suspect him to be Merlin. Here, he actually is. More specifically, he's the Merlin from the series Merlin who was introduced to the Infinity Crisis Multiverse by Michael Weyer in his stories. Mr. Merle is simply his alias for when he's on Earth-95859.

- Merlin's Halloween costume as Mr. Merle is a nod to the sequence in The Sword in the Stone where Wart and Merlin transform into squirrels and have to evade the affections of female squirrels.

- Wendy was seeking Merlin out in hopes that he could point her towards a way to restore Casper, who has been left as a weak little wisp of light following the undoing of the Snap/Blip. He was taken by it, but didn't come back quite right because, well, he's a ghost and it's kind of tricky trying to restore a ghost to "life" while still having him be a ghost.

- Why Muskrat Love? Because I thought it'd be funny, that's why.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!