Halloween evening arrives. The sun is starting to go down, and Buster is sitting in a patio chair in his back yard, munching from a bag of potato chips. Next to his chair sits a cooler full of ice and snacks. His mother, Bitzi, is standing in the back doorway, setting up her camera in case the aliens actually appear. "Can I get you anything else, Buster?" she offers. "A jacket? Something to read? More food?"

"Yeah!" her son replies. "More food!"

"If they've traveled halfway across the galaxy, they're probably hungry," Bitzi remarks.

As she goes back into the house, she mutters to herself, "I give that boy too much freedom."

While Bitzi scours the kitchen for more snacks, D.W. and Mrs. Read arrive in Buster's back yard. "Buster! Did the aliens come yet?" the little girl calls out.

"Not yet, D.W. It's not even dark." Buster yells to his mother. "Hey, Mom, can you get another chair?"

"Okay, Buster," came Bitzi's voice from the house.

D.W. takes a look in the cooler. "Hey! Fruit pops!" She grabs one of the treats and starts to suck on it.

"You can only have one," Buster tells her. "I don't know how many aliens there are."

"Take good care of D.W.," Mrs. Read advises Buster. "Don't let the aliens get her."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Read." The aardvark woman turns to leave.

"What did she mean?" D.W. asked Buster.

"I guess she's afraid the aliens won't be friendly."

Bitzi comes out with another patio chair, and sets it out so that D.W. can sit down. "But what if they aren't friendly?" the little girl asks.

Begin D.W. fantasy sequence.

Arthur and D.W. are in a long line of people boarding a gigantic alien spacecraft. Everybody is smiling, as if expecting a special treat. Suddenly Buster comes running up to Arthur and D.W., breathing heavily and holding a large book. "Don't get on the spaceship!" he frantically warns them.

"Why not?" Arthur asks.

Buster holds up the book; on the front is written, in large letters, TO SERVE AARDVARK. Arthur gasps in horror.

"What does it say, Arthur?" D.W. asks her brother.

"Oh, nothing," Arthur answers. "Stay here, I'll be right back." He steps out of the line and runs away with Buster.

End D.W. fantasy sequence.

"Don't be silly," says Buster. "Arthur would never be that mean."

"Hey, it's my fantasy," says D.W.

Buster throws aside his empty bag of chips, and grabs a soda from the cooler. "I'm sure the aliens are good," he says in a carefree tone. "They picked MY backyard, didn't they?"

As Buster and D.W. are chatting and waiting for visitors from space, Binky watches them from behind a fence on the other side of the street. He is wearing a bandanna mask over his face, and holding a pair of binoculars. "Nobody will ever know it's me," he said to himself.

Slipping into some bushes, he places the binoculars over his eyes to get a closer look. Suddenly his view is obstructed by a little girl and a monkey...

"Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping!" the little girl scolds him.

Binky rolls his eyes. "Oh, man..."

----

About fifteen minutes pass. The sun has gone down, bringing welcome darkness. At Grandma Tibble's house, several preschoolers including D.W.'s friend Emily and the Tibble twins have gathered for trick-or-treat. They are being escorted by Marie-Helen, Emily's French nanny. Emily is putting on a ghostly sheet with holes for her eyes and ears.

"Ghooooost Buuuunny!" she wails spookily. Tommy and Timmy, dressed up as Siamese twins joined at the hip, pretend to be terrified.

"Be careful, kids," says Grandma Tibble. "I want to see you back here in half an hour."

"It's a good thing we can't tell time," Tommy remarks to Timmy.

Suddenly the Tibble boys stumble and fall over, their costume binding them together. "Hey, you tripped me!" Timmy accused Tommy.

"Did not!" Tommy insisted.

Grandma Tibble sighs as the twins start to fight. "They didn't even make it out the door." She picks up the boys and sets them on their feet, and the kids follow Marie-Helen out of the house.

Relieved, Grandma Tibble goes to the kitchen to open the bags of candy she has purchased. Then she looks out the window and sees what appears to be a head sticking out of the bushes, looking across the street through binoculars. "Interesting," she mutters, then picks up the phone and dials a number. "Police..."

----

At Buster's house, he and D.W. are still sitting in patio chairs, waiting for the aliens to arrive. Arthur, Brain, Francine, Muffy, and Fern, dressed in Halloween costumes, come back to visit. In addition to their disguises, they are carrying flashlights, large sticks, and folded black garments. Arthur is dressed as a pirate, Brain as a nerd with horn-rimmed glasses and an upturned tie, Francine as a witch, Muffy as a fairy, and Fern as a zombie with white makeup.

"Arrr!" growls Arthur. "Shiver me timbers! Here be landlubbers who will miss out on all the fun!"

"Hey, guys," Buster greets them. "Love the costumes. Especially yours, Fern."

Fern extends her arms and lurches forward, mumbling, "Braaaaiiiins...braaaaiiiins..." When she reaches Buster and D.W. she turns around, heads back, and starts to attack Brain. "Braaaaiiiins..."

"Look at all that food," Francine marvels. "I was gonna save you some candy, but you've got enough there to hibernate."

"When the aliens come, don't forget to mention that Crosswire Motors is having a big sale this weekend," says Muffy.

"I won't," Buster promises.

The costumed kids turn to leave, and Brain waves goodbye to Buster. "See you later...space cadet."

"We'll show them, won't we?" Buster says to D.W. after the others had gone.

"Yeah," says D.W. wistfully.

Begin D.W. fantasy sequence.

Alien ships dot the streets of Elwood City. As the eight-foot-tall aliens beam their approval, D.W. tries on alien headgear, while Buster scarfs down huge amounts of alien junk food. A futuristic version of the Crazy Bus song blares over the alien stereo system. Nearby, Arthur, Brain, Francine, Muffy, and Fern are locked in a cage and wearing rags, not unlike the primitive humans in "Planet of the Apes". Brain gazes longingly at the junk food that Buster is eating; Fern is panting from thirst.

"If only we'd listened to Buster," Muffy lamented miserably.

An alien hands D.W. a sentient Mary Moo Cow doll. "My name is Mary Moo Cow," it intones. "I am fluent in over six million alien languages." D.W. smiles with delight.

The alien gestures toward the cage where the other kids are imprisoned. "What shall be done with the unbelievers, my princess?" it asks D.W.

She looks at them and scowls, and they scowl back. A moment later D.W.'s expression softens. "Release them," she orders.

The alien waves its hand, and the cage door opens. The kids run out of the cage, rejoicing over their newfound freedom.

"Except for my brother," D.W. adds.

Arthur freezes in terror as the other kids scamper away. He gazes at D.W. and the alien, wondering what his fate will be.

D.W. grins wickedly. "I've always wanted a big sister."

"NOOOOOO!" shrieks Arthur as the alien draws a laser gun from its hip and points it at him.

End D.W. fantasy sequence.

As Arthur, Brain, Francine, Muffy, and Fern are walking away from Buster's house, Arthur suddenly stops in his tracks. His jaw drops in terror.

"What is it, Arthur?" asks Brain.

"Uh, I don't know," says Arthur once he regains his composure. "I just had this weird, horrible feeling. It's probably nothing."

Muffy starts to unfold the black garments she has been holding; they are revealed to be a robe and hood. "Okay, guys, let's get dressed," she tells the others. Placing her fairy wand in her pocket, she starts to pulls the robe over her head. The others follow suit; Arthur has a bit of trouble fitting the hood over his pirate hat.

"Oh, I can't wait to see the look on Prunella's face!" Francine enthuses.

"Neither can I," says Muffy, putting on her hood.

The kids, now dressed in robes and hoods with eye holes, turn on their flashlights and walk down the street, a light in one hand and a stick in the other.

Meanwhile, at Prunella's house, Sue Ellen is carefully fitting a black ninja mask over her face. Prunella is dressed as a ballerina, and Rubella is wrapped head to toe in bandages like a mummy. "Now let's be extra careful," Prunella warns them. "If what I saw in the crystal ball last night was correct, then somebody could get hurt really bad."

"Why is it called trick-or-treat, anyway?" asks Sue Ellen.

"Because if they don't give you treats, then you can play a trick on them," Rubells explains.

"What kind of a trick?"

"Oh, I don't know. Burn down their house, I guess."

Suddenly they hear the sound of children yelling in front of their house. "What on Earth..." Prunella wonders. She and Sue Ellen hurry to the door; upon opening it, they see five robed, hooded children waving sticks and flashlights, and shouting threats.

"We know you're a vampire, Prunella!" comes Muffy's voice.

"You must be destroyed!" Brain bellows.

"Come out and meet your fate!" Arthur demands.

"Wh-what's going on?" stammers the astonished Sue Ellen.

Remembering Muffy's request, Prunella pretends to be afraid. "They think I'm a vampire! They've come to slay me!"

"They'll have to go through me!" growls Sue Ellen, who steps in front of Prunella as the five hooded kids approach the doorway, chanting, "Kill the vampire!" Fern, the foremost in the mob, shines her flashlight directly at Sue Ellen and Prunella, and waves her stick threateningly.

Then, without warning, Sue Ellen jumps forward, lets out a blood-curdling battle cry, rears back a fist, and punches Fern squarely and solidly in the nose...

TBC