Jr. looked over his shoulder apprehensively, loosening his collar with a nervous finger. His two blue-haired Realian escorts were following closely behind, chatting amiably. Jr. furrowed his brows. If he was nervous, then, by God, they should be nervous too.
"You know," he said loudly over their chatting, "Halloween is the most unholy day of the year, especially for Realians." The two looked up sharply.
"What do you mean, Little Master?" one of them asked.
"Why, Halloween is the day when the Blood Moon shines down, transforming all humans into zombies, searching for the tasty neuro of little Realians." He wiggled his fingers in a macabre way, pulling his mouth wide in a malign grin. The Realian girls, wide-eyed, looked to the sky, searching for the ominous Blood Moon. Jr. sighed in satisfaction and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Will the human zombies come after us, Little Master?" the other Realian asked, clutching the hands of her identical companion. Jr. shrugged in a nonchalant way.
"Oh, not until the Blood Moon on Halloween, I guess. Maybe you should lock yourselves in a supply closet where you'd be safer."
"Yes, a supply closet!" The first one gasped. "The zombies would never find us there!"
"But what if they smell our neuro...?"
"Your tasty neuro!" Jr. interjected with another spasm of wiggling fingertips. The second Realian put her fingers to her lips in horror.
"If they smell our tasty neuro, they could find us anywhere, even in a supply closet!" A long, high-pitched whine escaped each Realian's pursed lips, and Jr. smirked. As long as someone was nervous with him, it was all right being nervous, even if it wasn't for the same reason.
The streets of the Kukai Foundation were oddly cold and dark for the night before Halloween. Perhaps Gaignun had set the weather control a bit too low. Jr.'d have to talk to him about that when he got back to the Durandal. Even the street lamps seemed a bit dimmer than usual, their dull orange glow glinting off of the wet street. Jr. didn't remember it raining yesterday, but he shrugged it off. He didn't pay attention much of anything anyway. He dug into his pocket to find the swatch of paper with Mr. Hauptbahnhof's address scrawled onto it. It was different from Ms. Freeman's. He scowled. Why'd they have to change judges this year? He almost had Ms. Freeman eating out of his hand last year, and he would've won this year for sure!
"Little Master," the first Realian escort whispered, as if they were being watched from every angle, "why do humans turn into zombies on the Blood Moon?" Jr. glanced behind him again, and the two were still clutching each other with wide, fearful eyes.
"Well," Jr. wracked his brain for a smart-sounding lie, "it all started... 400 years ago... You see, there was this evil King... Yeah... See, he was this, er, Magic King. He was a Magic Human King who hated Realians."
"Why did the Magic Human King hate Realians, Little Master?" The second Realian's voice was trembling. Jr. dug his eyes downward.
"They, uh... Stole all of his Magical Halloween Cookies. Yeah, the Realians broke into his Magic Castle and stole all of his Magical Halloween Cookies that he was gonna give to the Trick-or-Treaters. So, being a Magic Human King and all, he put a curse on all of the Realians forever, saying that on Halloween, under the Blood Moon, all the humans would turn into zombies and try to eat all the tasty Realian neuro."
Another whine came from each Realian, their now owl-like eyes swooping the sky for any sign of the Blood Moon. Jr.'s smile returned. Okay, so it was fun. He began searching the numbers above the houses for Mr. Hauptbahnhof's address. 3421... 3423...
"AHA!" Jr. shouted in a voice that made both of the Realians jump backwards and shriek. "3425! This is it!" He turned to face the trembling Realians and tried to straighten his tie. "How do I look?" The two breathed in and out shakily, and nodded.
"You l-l-look gr-great, Little Muh-Master," the first stuttered. The second one was staring at the house behind Jr.
"Little Muh-Master..." she squeaked, "I don't th-think you should g-go in there." She pointed a shaking finger toward Hauptbahnhof's house, and slowly, Jr. turned.
It was like one of those cheesy horror films Jr. had always loved to watch. Just as he turned, a flare of lightning lit the sky and a roll of thunder rumbled through the Foundation. Silhouetted against the lightning bolt was a Gothic house, flying buttresses and all. The steepled towers stretched toward the sky, scratching it with the outlandish weather-vanes. Jr. stepped back an inch, then gathered his strength and resolve. He turned to the two behind him, puffing his chest out.
"I'm goin' in," he said in a noticeably more macho voice than he usually used. Just as he turned again to face the ominous house (along with another thunder crack) the two Realians leapt forward and latched themselves around his ankles and wept openly.
"Oh, Little Master, don't leave us!" Number One pleaded.
"Not with the Blood Moon so close!" Cried Number Two. Jr. Raised an eyebrow. Surely they were smarter than to really believe his little story. Then again, he wasn't looking forward to having dinner all alone with some creepy guy with an unpronounceable name.
"All right," he said, picking the two Realians up off of his legs and to their feet, "you two can come with me. But... Can you at least tell me your names so I don't get you confused and all?" The Realians looked at each other.
"I'm Realian Serial Number 57927."
"And I'm Realian Serial Number 44634."
Jr. gave them both a blank stare, then pulled the corsage out of his pocket and placed it in the hair of one of the Realians, and wrapped his tie around the other one's head like a headband.
"You," he said, pointing to the corsaged Realian, "are Anna. And you," he pointed to the tie-as-a-headband Realian, "are Nina." The Realians looked at each other, then nodded.
The three of them approached the black iron gate, and Jr.'s touch allowed it to squeal open with a rusty howl. Nina and Anna clutched Jr.'s jacket hem and huddled close together. Jr.'s brow began to dampen. They made their way up the old and overgrown walkway, feeling as if they were making their way through a grass jungle. Ahead loomed the black house, its windows ferocious eyes glaring down at them and the door a mouth ready to swallow victims. The stairs beneath their feet creaked loudly. Jr.'s hand rose to knock on the wide black door, but as his knuckles came within an inch of the wood, it swung open of its own accord. A dark figure loomed in the doorway. Anna and Nina screamed.
"May I help you?" A deep, heavily accented voice asked from the doorway. The Realians slapped hands over their mouths to cut their screams short. There stood a tall, graying man in his late forties. He had a dark maroon vest pulled over a gray sweater and had a very homey steaming mug of coffee in his hands. Jr. breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Hauptbahnhof?" Jr. asked. The man smiled, showing a myriad of wrinkles.
"Yes, I am him. Vaht is it you are vanting vith me?" His dark German accent washed over them, calming them at last.
"I'm Gaignun Kukai Jr.," Jr. offered his hand. "I arranged a dinner a few nights before with your secretary..." Hauptbahnhof shook Jr.'s hand warmly.
"Oh yes, you are the boy, then? Velcome to my home, zir and madams." He stepped backwards to allow the three to enter. Anna and Nina "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed at the old relics in the house, while Hauptbahnhof relieved Jr. of his jacket, showing the three of them to the dining room. There were already four places set, although Jr. had not warned Mr. Hauptbahnhof that his two Realian friends would be joining him. He shrugged it off and decided to enjoy his evening in the spooky house with the German man and the two Realians.
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Ziggy unceremoniously dumped his load of heavy pumpkins on Gaignun's desk. Shion decided to lay hers carefully at the foot of Gaignun's chair, while chaos and Allen piled the tiny pumpkins onto the pool table in the center of the room. MOMO glanced around. She had never seen Gaignun's office before, and it was actually intriguing, not like the other boring rooms on the Durandal. Ziggy ruffled her pink hair between his fingers, a single pumpkin left cradled under his free arm.
"What do you say we find you a Halloween costume, MOMO?" Ziggy asked. "You can't win the contest without one." MOMO gave him an inquisitive look.
"There's a contest too? Not just a parade?" She raised an eyebrow. chaos swooped down beside her, his eyes filled with childhood memories.
"It's wonderful, MOMO!" chaos said, clasping his hands together. "All of the children on the Foundation dress up on Halloween night and parade through the main street. Then, when they reach the Town Square, there's a stage where the judges are waiting to choose just a handful of them to win the costume contest!" He looked as if he were about to explode from happiness. "And you know what the prize is?"
"No, what is it?" MOMO's eyes were as wide and filled with joy as his. chaos threw up his arms in glee.
"I don't know either!" With that chaos leapt to his feet and dashed from the room, giggling with delight. MOMO watched him go, unsure of what to think.
"It's alright, MOMO," Hammer said as he and Tony waltzed into the room. "chaos always gets a little weird around Halloween time." MOMO smiled, and ran up to give a hug to Hammer and Tony.
"Yeah," Tony said nonchalantly, acting as if he didn't enjoy MOMO's hug, "he's been in the parade every year since he's been with the Elsa, and he's never won."
"I thought he said that the parade was for children," Allen said as he placed the last miniature pumpkin on the pyramid of them he and chaos had created on the pool table. Hammer glanced around outside the door to make sure that chaos was out of hearing range then whispered quietly.
"Sometimes I think that he thinks he's still a kid. Y'know... With the prancing and everything..." He gave a weak smile to Ziggy, who didn't look amused. He instead knelt next to MOMO and spoke to her as if nothing in the last three minutes had actually happened.
"So, do you know what you want to be for Halloween?" Ziggy asked. MOMO looked to the floor, embarrassed.
"Well... I've never actually had a real Halloween before, and..." She shuffled her feet awkwardly. Ziggy's eyebrows raised, but he looked as if he wasn't sure what to say. Shion took in his expression, then knelt next to MOMO as well.
"You know, I've always loved Halloween... Maybe Ziggy and I can help you with your costume!" Ziggy gave a sharp look to Shion, as of to say 'I'm new to this Halloween thing too,' but MOMO's look of happiness cut his look short.
"Really?! Oh, would you?"
"Of course," Ziggy told her with a smile in his eyes. "Just as soon as you help me carve this pumpkin, all right?" MOMO nodded, her pigtails bobbing gaily. He shoved himself to his feet, and, taking MOMO's hand, the two walked out of the room. Shion raised a finger to the ceiling.
"I think I'll go with them, you know, to make sure Ziggy doesn't accidentally impale MOMO on that blade of his." And she was off after them. This left Allen alone with Hammer and Tony. He quailed under their combined gazes.
"Whaaaaat?" He asked at last in a nasally tone. Hammer strolled forward casually and smacked his hand down on Allen's shoulder.
"Allen, Allen, Allen," he said, shaking his head. "You've been left all alone."
"Looks like you've got nothing to do but hang with us," Tony added, leaning against the doorframe. Allen knew he didn't like where this was going.
"What do you guys want?" He asked, looking around for anyone. Alas, he was all alone with whatever fiendish plan the two had in store for him. Hammer grasped him around the shoulders and steered him toward the door. As soon as all three of them were outside in the hall, the door shut noiselessly.
"See, the Captain put us on a little mission, and we thought, 'Hey, why not let Allen help us out, the poor guy.'" Hammer said.
"Poor guy," Tony echoed, shaking his head as if in mourning. Allen wondered if he should start shouting for help.
"What kind of mission?" Allen dared to ask. He could always run later, couldn't he? When their guard was down?
"See, we have to hunt down Little Master and take him Trick-or-Treating tomorrow," Hammer said. Allen relaxed a bit. That didn't seem too evil.
"But we've gotta find him first, the little rat," Tony muttered. "Master Gaignun said he ran off to the Foundation for some sort of dinner with an old fogey."
"Oh..." Allen said, his eyes growing wide. "I didn't know Jr.... swung that way..."
"No, you dumb shit!" Tony growled. "Little Master thought it was a chick, but it turned out to be an old fart. But he's an upstanding gentleman, Little Master is, so he wouldn't stand up anyone for dinner."
"But turns out Master Gaignun needed Little Master to do some shopping for the big Halloween party, and he never got around to it before heading to the old guy's place." Hammer explained, still holding Allen's shoulders in a death grip as he steered him down the hallway to the shuttle.
"Y'know, some people say that Hauptbahnhof's a zombie or something like that," Tony mused quietly. Allen eventually gave up his struggle and just let Hammer drag him.
"What was that name? Hap-van-hoff?" Allen asked. Tony restrained himself from knocking Allen over the head with something blunt.
"No, he's German, you idiot! Or Romanian or something. Hauptbahnhof." Tony grumbled as he punched in the code to open the gate to the shuttle.
"Sooooooo..." Allen drew out the word as Hammer dragged him onto the shuttle to the Foundation, "we need to find this Hap-van-hoff guy so we can take Jr. decoration shopping?"
"Exactly," Hammer said. The shuttle door closed, and the ride to the Foundation began.
"Oh...." Allen drummed his fingers against his side. "How anticlimactic."
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AN: All right, I know it's been forever since I updated, but I didn't mean to take so long. See, I was working on my Holmes fic, and I just got my wisdom teeth out, so I've been in pain. BUT! I finally got the second chappie out, and I hope it's okay. Gimme your feedback and love, and I'll keep churning out chapters! Oh, and welcome back, Amanda Swiftgold! It's great to have you back!