III
"What do you mean something it's else!" Toad demanded.
Toadette rolled her eyes at her brother. "I mean that there are other types of ghosts besides boos. Like, look at the all of stuff Luigi has fought."
"She's right" Yvan jumped in. "And there's the whole divide of what type of ghost it is too, on whether it's actually a dead creature or not."
"Hold up," Captain Toad said. "What do you mean 'if it's actually dead'?"
"He means what he said" Bowser Jr. said. "Ghosts have two different types, depending on whether they're dead or just plain ghosts."
"He's right" Wolley said, shocked that he was agreeing with the young koopa for once. "Ghosts like Boos are just plain old ghosts. They aren't dead or anything, they just exist as spirits. Some of the things that Luigi has fought, like the portrait ghosts(1), those are dead people."
"I can't believe we've travelled together for this long, and you didn't even know that" Toadette accusatorially said to Captain Toad.
Captain Toad shrugged.
"Hold on, are you then saying that the ghost in here could be someone who died" Birdo asked.
"Well, yeah, I guess it could be" Toadette said.
"Let's hope not, because I've never met anyone other than Luigi who knows what to do with those things" Yvan said.
"Hey, kid, you have ghosts in your army, do you know what to do with this stuff" Birdo asked Bowser Jr..
"All of those ghosts are boos, I've never really seen many other types" Bowser Jr. said.
"Well, if Luigi can do it, surly we can do something too, right?" Wolley said optimistically.
"Yeah, he's right" Yoshi finally spoke up. He directed his attention towards Captain Toad. "Captain, you've been to a lot of different places, if anyone is likely to have seen something like this before, it would be you."
The Caption frowned. "Most ghost houses that I've been to have been full of Boos, sometimes peepas, but never anything like this. I don't know how we would fight something like this."
"Well, maybe we don't have to fight it, maybe we could just try walking out the door" Toad suggested nervously.
The others looked at each other, and shrugged. They began walking back down the long hallway towards the front of the mansion. Walking into the large foyer again, they stood before the great front doors. Yoshi put his hand on the door knob. He then screamed and pulled away.
"Oww!" He cried. "It burned!'
Birdo rushed over to comfort Yoshi, while the others looked at the door. The door knob was now a bright red, and steam was noticeably rising off of it. Yvan threw himself at the door, as if trying to break it down. He was shot back across the length of the room.
"Don't try that," he groaned.
"Well, I guess that means we're locked in, then" The Captain said, a look of fear overtaking his face.
"What, we can't be locked in, there's got to be a window somewhere, right?" Toad asked, panicking slightly.
The Captain groaned. "I don't think so. Do you remember seeing windows outside? Yeah, I don't think we really have any of those in this house."
"So, we really are stuck here then" Toad gulped.
"Not yet," Yoshi spoke up again, still cradling his burnt hand. "We just need to find a way to break out."
"Oh yeah right, we'll just distract the ghost and then make an escape" Jr. said sarcastically.
"Actually, that's not a bad idea" Toadette said. "Luigi only is ever able to get people out of the mansions after he beats the ghosts. If we find a way to beat our ghost-"
"Maybe we could get out!" Captain Toad exclaimed.
"Hold on, are you people serious right now" Jr. yelled in disbelief. "You're intentionally going to go fight a ghost, something that none of you have ever actually done before?"
"Well, we don't really have any other options" Wolley pointed out. "It doesn't seem like we can get out any other way."
Bowser Jr. shook his head incredulously. "You people are way to calm about fighting ghosts" he muttered.
"I'm not!" Toad cried.
"Well, I guess not all of us need to actively go seek the ghost out" Yoshi reasoned. "Some of you can wait in here, or in the living room."
Birdo nodded. "That would probably be a good idea."
"Wait, why are we going to fight the ghost, couldn't we just radio for help or something" Toad asked anxiously.
"Well, if there was anyone in range, I guess we could do that" Birdo shrugged.
"Like the Toad Brigade!" Captain Toad suddenly shouted. "Toad, you're right, we should radio for help! If the other members aren't in here, then they must be in the forest out there, right?"
"You're right!" Toadette exclaimed. "Here."
She reached into her back pack and pulled out five walky-talkies.
"I brought these along for the other Toad Brigade members. If we couldn't get in contact with them before, I figured that their walkie-talkies might have broken. Now though, we can use them to call for help."
"But what if their walkie-talkies are broken, then we won't be able to contact them anyway" Toad fretfully said.
Toadette frowned at her brother. "Toad, this was literally your idea! I say it's worth trying."
Toad sheepishly nodded.
"To try to get the best signal that we can, one of us should get to a high point before calling" Captain Toad explained to the others.
"Now hold on minute" Yoshi cut in. "Are we still fighting that ghost or not, because if anyone else comes in here, who's to say that they won't get stuck in the same trap we're in?"
"…Fair point" the Captain said, sounding fairly queasy at the prospect of ghost hunting. "How would we go about finding that ghost, then."
"I might have an idea" Wolley spoke up. The others turned to him. "Now, I don't have much experience in this myself, but I have played a lot of Luigi's mansion. In them, the Portrait Family of Portrait Ghosts are the actually dead ghosts, and they are assumed to have died in the mansion. With them, there is usually there is some sort of room that the ghosts are especially attached to. If you find that, you find the ghost."
The others let Wolley's explanation sink in. Most were actually quite impressed by how well reasoned it was.
"Smart thinking, bro" Yvan said, patting him on the back.
"Well, if we must find it, then where do you suppose this room would be" Captain Toad asked after another moment of silence.
Birdo shifted. "Well, it isn't exactly from reliable sources like Luigi's Mansion, but in my experience from movies and theatre, the haunted stuff is always in the basement. It's a place we could start" She said, clearly uncomfortable with the prospect.
"Actually, that is pretty Luigi's Mansion accurate(2)" Wolley noted.
"Well then, I guess we should go" Captain Toad said again.
"Wait, how many of us need to go down there? And who's going to try radioing for help?" Yoshi asked.
"I can do the radio thing" Yvan said. "I just need to get upstairs, right?"
"Yeah, that's it" Captain Toad said. "Yvan, are you sure that you want to-"
"Oh yeah, absolutely" Yvan grinned. "I've been waiting for a job like this for the entire trip."
"Well then, I guess only a few of us need to go into the basement" Captain Toad said. Swallowing hard in an attempt to swallow his fear, he turned to the group. "Yoshi, Birdo, are you good to go with me?"
"Whoa, whoa, hold up" Toadette cut in. "What about me, I'm part of the Brigade too. Why aren't I going with you?!"
"Toadette" Captain Toad began nervously, "We need you to stay up here because you are part of the Brigade. You know how to manage a team, so you need to stay up here with the others to maintain contact with all of us."
"Fine" Toadette grumbled. "I'll stay up here."
Captain Toad felt a wave of relief. Toadette having to maintain contact between all of them was not the only reason he wanted her to stay upstairs. She was the only member of the Toad Brigade, his team, who hadn't gone missing. He couldn't let her get hurt too.
"Alright," Captain Toad said, pushing down his fear and trying to fall back into his adventurous spirit. "Me, Yoshi, and Birdo will go into the basement and check it out. Yvan, you go upstairs to the highest point you can, and try to get into contact with someone else, the Toad Brigade if they are there. The rest of you" He gestured to Toad, Toadette, Wolley, and Bowser Jr. "You all go back to the living room. Toadette Will keep in contact with the rest of us, and if anyone else shows up, be it the Toad Brigade or the Koopalings, you guys can tell them what to do. Any questions?"
"Are we sure Yvan is fine to go on his own" Wolley asked.
"I'm fine, bro, don't worry about me" Yvan said. "I can handle this short trip myself. I'll probably be back before they're done with the ghosts, at any rate."
"It is better if the rest of you stick together" Yoshi agreed. "Wolley, you're the oldest(3), so you're in charge."
Wolley cheered. The others let out groans, and there was a very indignant "I'm a prince!" From Bowser Jr.
But there was to be no further arguing, and the groups prepared to leave. The Team of Yoshi, Birdo, and Captain Toad grabbed two of the walky-talkies, while Yvan took one for himself. The remaining two were left with the others. Then, the small party split up. Captain Toad in the lead as, he, Yoshi, and Birdo walked back down the hall to the basement entrance, while the others went back to the living room. Once there, Yvan too split paths, and went out the side door, and into the stairway room.
Wolley, Toad, Toadette, and Bowser Jr. sat alone in the living room.
Wolley turned to the others. "So… does anyone want to play Go Fish?"
Captain Toad, Yoshi and Birdo slowly and cautiously crept down the rotting, wooden basement stairs. The room below was almost pitch black, and it was almost impossible to make out anything without the lights of their flashlights. The light did not have much to illuminate; the room was completely bare, and seemed that the only purpose of it was to provide an entrance to the basement. A door sat at the end of the room. Even with their scarce light they could see the layers upon layers of dust a dirt that coated the floor and the stone walls.
Birdo sniffed. "Ah, dust always makes me sneeze" She muttered.
"Well, with a nose like yours it would be a pretty powerful…" Captain Toad trailed off under Birdo's withering glare. He coughed awkwardly. "Ah, anyway…"
The trio continued down. They pushed through the door at the end of the room and out into a hallway. The hallway led straight forward, where it stopped at a wall with nothing on it. There was a turnoff mid way down the right wall.
The team walked down to it, and were greeted by a massive door made of solid iron. It had apparently been locked heavily, but all of the chains and padlocks that must have been on it were now seen discarded on the ground.
"Someone was busy" Birdo commented.
While the other two fearfully looked on, Yoshi went forward and pushed on the door.
"Locked" He said. "It's still locked. I guess whoever was here last didn't finish."
Something turned in Captain Toads brain. Maybe it was just him, but if he had done this much work to unlock a door, he didn't think that he would stop when it was obviously this close to being opened. No. There must be some other way to open it, but how?
"Check the walls" he suddenly said, beginning to push and pull on the stone bricks himself. "See if there's a secret panel or something."
Yoshi and Birdo got to work. The three of them pushed on and pulled on all of the many pieces of stone that made up the walls.
Just when all of them were beginning to lose hope in this idea, having been pushing and pulling for nearly ten minutes, Yoshi let out an elated shout.
"I got something!"
On the left-side wall, a few feet away from the door and near the ceiling (so high that Yoshi was straining to see it), One brick had come loose in Yoshi's grip. In the small hole that appeared, a tiny lever protruded.
Yoshi pulled on it. Nothing Happened. He pulled again. Nothing happened. He continued pulling and letting go, causing the switch to spring back into place, but nothing ever happened for his effort.
"Yoshi, dear, let's try something else" Birdo said, stopping Yoshi after what was probably his tenth attempt. "Just hold the lever down this time."
Yoshi complied, and pulled on the lever, using all of his strength to keep the surprisingly strong little lever from springing back into place. Birdo walked back to the door, and pushed. With a great effort, she shoved her whole body against the door, and slowly it began to swing open. Captain Toad ran over to join her, and together they forced the door open all the way, until a new hallway was fully in view. Yoshi let go of the lever with a sigh of relief.
"It was a locking mechanism" Birdo said. "How one person could have managed that I don't know."
"I guess you just should never go into the basement alone" Yoshi said, now joining the other two and fearfully gazing out with them into the new hallway beyond.
The three started forward. This hallway was much the same as the one before it in terms of appearance, though it did go on for much longer. Almost immediately the path branched into three different directions. Straight ahead of them was short hall that led to another massive Iron door. On either side of them led longer hallways, each with a door on the upper side. Each of these hallways also branched-off even further near their ends.
Not wasting time to overthink which way was best, the trio turned to their right, walking up to the door. Birdo pushed open the door, surprised to find that it was unlocked. She then gasped, and put her hand over her mouth in shock at what was inside.
In many horror movies, haunted houses are built over ancient burial grounds, or some grave of sorts. Never before had Birdo, Yoshi, or even Captain Toad seen anything like that in real life, let alone one that seemed so deliberately built. The room was covered in dirt, actual ground soil, and there were a few sparingly placed stone markers that looked an awful lot like tomb stones situated in the ground.
"Well" Captain Toad said, swallowing hard. "Who wants to get a feel for the rest of the area before we investigate any room?"
Birdo and Yoshi quickly agreed, not wanting to go into the room themselves. The trio walked back to the hallway that had been on their left, and opened that door. This room was much less disturbing, and consisted of a few empty bookshelves, an empty metal table, and a large stone basin in the middle of the room.
"What do you suppose this was, a bathing room" Yoshi asked curiously, pointing at the basin. Birdo sighed.
Seeing that this room was mostly empty, they moved on. Not wanting to have to deal with another giant iron door quite yet, they decided to continue further down the hallways. Continuing down the left pathway they were on, they made to the further branch. To their left now sat another door, while to their right lead more hallway.
The trio pushed open the door on their left. In here sat a prison cell. The small group was so taken aback by the sight that for a few seconds they thought that they must be wrong about its purpose. But there was no mistaking it. It had thick iron bars, and a small bared door on the front. Keys sat on a hook on the wall, presumably for the cell. Nothing else sat in the room.
Now all feeling varying levels of discomfort and fear, the three continued on down the hall, back down the other branch.
Captain Toad was practically trembling. In fact, on a normal day he probably would have hightailed it out of there by now and waited for Mario to come solve the problem. But this wasn't a normal day, Mario wasn't coming, and his team, both the Toad Brigade and the others, were counting on him, the brave Captain Toad. Well, he had to at least pretend to be brave for their sakes.
Yoshi was literally trembling. Most Yoshi's hated scary things. For creatures that loved fun and laughter as much as them, scary things just did not go well. As scared as he was for himself, in which case he was very scared, he was even more scared for the others upstairs. Most of the team that they had brought along were younger, younger than him at least, and he had said that it was the Yoshi's solemn duty to take care of children. Now the others, even though most of them were not actually children, were sitting completely alone upstairs, with nothing to defend themselves with if the ghosts came back. He hoped that they were okay.
Birdo was handling the situation the best out of the tree of them. However, even if she wasn't actively shaking like the others, she was still very scared herself. She didn't like old places, or gross places, or really anything like that. She had a high taste, and places as unsavoury as Neverfall Mansion were not very fun places for her to be. Plus, the whole grave thing had really gotten to her earlier, and she hoped that this was just going to be a normal Luigi's mansion style adventure, and that things would work out fine.
The trio walked down the hall, and found… nothing. All that the entire outer hallway did was loop around the edges of the basement. It did not go unnoticed by any of them that they had apparently encircled the room in the centre. Making it back to where they had started, they turned towards the door that lead to the middle. They walked up to it.
If there had been locks on the door at one time, they were gone now. The door stood unguarded.
"Alright I guess we should check for a hidden lever again - Whoa!"
As Captain Toad had been saying this, he had leaned against the door slightly. It had immediately swung open, soundless in its passing. Captain Toad jumped to his feet and stared forward into the room before them, becoming aware of the fact that his headlight no longer was doing anything to light the space.
"Well", he felt his voice crack, "That's not something you see everyday."
While this was happening, Yvan was quietly slipping up the stairs of Neverfall Mansion. He arrived on the landing of the second floor, where another staircase led further up. A door was in front of him, and one was on his right. He paused for a moment. He knew that he should continue on to the top floor, where he had been told to go, but…
He glanced around. Surly it wouldn't hurt to check out these rooms too, right?
Giving in to his curiosity, he pushed open the door to his right first. He frowned. Just more hallways.
` He closed the door and walked over to the other one. He opened that one, and his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. The room was packed full of weapons. Hanging off of every wall of the room were weapons. Sitting in large wooden boxes in the middle of the floor were weapons. Even just lying discarded along the wooden floor boards were weapons. Swords, shields, spears, axes, knives, anything you could name, it was there.
Yvan walked into the room, examining what was laid out in front of him. He figured that if he was going to go upstairs by himself, he might need a weapon. Mind you, how useful a physical weapon would be against a ghost was anyone's guess…
Yvan looked at his choices. A shield would have been the safest bet, good to defend himself with, but after looking at the shields for a few seconds, he realized that there was no way that he would possibly be able to carry one of them with his tiny toad arms. Many of the weapons, like the spears and axes, had similar problems. These weren't toad weapons, that was for sure. He then turned to the swords. He could have technically carried one of them, but then he began thinking about what would actually happen to someone who he hit with a sword, and he began feeling queasy. Finally, he settled on a knife; small and light enough to hold and use quickly, smaller and less inherently deadly than the sword, and something that could still provide him with protection against… something?
Yvan examined the knives closely, before settling on a nice, shiny silver one that was propped up in one of the boxes. Clutching the knife tightly in his hand, he left the room again, closing the door behind him.
Yvan started up the stairs to the third floor, and began to feel more and more uneasy with every step. It was akin to the feeling one gets when they have to go into the basement late at night, and their mind begins questioning every small creak of the house, every small shifting of shadow. And yet, the feeling was much more than just that. It felt as though the very air around him was growing tighter. A sudden chill seeped into his bones as he got higher. The light from his flashlight seemed to be doing less to illuminate the shadowed space around him. Yvan felt his heart beat rapidly in his chest.
He made it to the top of the stairwell, and stood on the landing of the third floor. A door was situated across from him, and another sat on his right. He approached the door in front of him. Slowly, cautiously, the blue toad turned the knob and pushed the door open. His flashlight shone in.
He let out a breath. All that was in there were some old, rotting boxes. Nothing more.
Momentarily, Yvan considered if he should have agreed to let Wolley come with him up here. He quickly brushed the thought aside. He was being silly. Nothing was up here, and it was better for the others to stay together. Besides, how many toads were really needed to use a walkie-talkie?
The blue toad pushed open the other door. Yet another long hallway sat behind it. Yvan walked down. He soon became aware of just how bare the mansion walls were. No decor or photographs hung on them, no pots or vases lined the walls, and it looked as though no paint had ever touched the them. It was completely drab and empty.
Yvan reached an intersection point, where a small hallway broke off on his left and led towards an oak door. Yvan pushed the door open. Inside here was a spacious, yet sparingly decorated, bedroom. A large, fluffy looking yet worn canopy bed sat at the far end of the room. Yvan shut the door. He doubted that a bedroom would be the best place to try to get a signal.
He once again walked down the main hallway, until he reached the far end. A door sat in front of him, and the hallway swung left to where another doorway sat even further down. He did not waste any time thinking about it, and shoved the first door open.
He found himself standing in what was clearly a large storage room. It was about what he imagined old attics to look like. On the other end of the room, a tiny window just below the ceiling stretched all the way from one end of the room far across to the other, providing a thin sliver of silver moonlight that spanned the length of the room. The room was long, much longer than it was deep, and on the far end of the room, on the same wall that he had come through, another identical door sat, presumably leading to another hallway. The room sat full to the brim with boxes, and various articles such as candles, jars, and even what looked to be old radio equipment poked out from under the lids.
Yvan pulled out his walkie-talkie. He figure this was a s good a place to try as any.
"Hello, hello, is anyone out there, does anyone copy this" he spoke.
There was some static, and a few seconds later, Toadette's voice came from the device.
"You're using the wrong frequency" she told him. "Move up to the next channel, that's the one to Toad Brigade always uses. If you need us again, switch back down."
Yvan complied to her instruction, turning to the next channel up, and tried again.
"Hello, hello, does anyone copy, does anyone read me" Yvan said, trying to remember if he knew any fancy walkie-talkie lingo that he could use.
He was met with nothing but static.
He tried a few more times, and was continuously met with static.
"Maybe they're just out of range," he sighed.
Dejected, Yvan turned back to the door, preparing to go back downstairs to meet with the others. As he turned, his eyes landed on the box of old radio supplies. He paused. He didn't know much about radios, or any communications equipment, but he was willing to gamble that whoever had owned this mansion was rich enough to buy a powerful radio.
Yvan nodded to himself; he had work to do.
Wolley, Toad, Toadette, and Bowser Jr. sat bored and uneasy in the living room. Toadette paced back and forth, clutching her walkie-talkie in her hand. Wolley picked up his cards off of the floor, where he had been playing solitaire. Oddly, Toad and bowser Jr. sat on the couch together, though neither one was particularly happy about it.
Toadette let out a long sigh. "Shouldn't the others have checked in by now" she asked worriedly.
"Maybe they haven't found anything of note yet" Wolley shrugged, shoving his deck of cards back into his pocket.
"What if they're lost down there" Toadette fretted. "Or if they need help or something. I should have gone down there with them!"
"Hey, no" Toad frowned. "The Captain said it was better if we all stayed together up here."
"Don't see why we're taking orders from some supposed "explorer" who's so afraid of ghosts he sent his own team in here by themselves" Bowser Jr. muttered.
"Hey, you don't know anything about that" Toadette glowered.
"Well, how else do all of you guys think his own team got lost in here, without him?" Bowser Jr. asked. "Doesn't it seem weird to you that the Captain wasn't here with them? Come to think of it" he turned and pointed at Toadette "she wasn't here with them either, was she."
"Hey, leave her alone!" Toad glared, not noticing the way his sister visibly flinched at the comment. "You don't know anything about what happened to the Toad Brigade. You don't know what they were doing."
"Yeah, and you do" Jr. asked mockingly.
Toad fumbled for an answer.
"Toad," Wolley interjected gently. "Don't you think that it does seem a little weird that the Captain wasn't in here with his team?" Wolley intentionally didn't mention Toadette, knowing that Toad would get mad if he even said the tiniest thing about her.
Toad frowned. He did think it was strange, but he also did not want to think hard about it. He had always felt a mixture of jealousy and respect for Captain Toad. He respected and looked up to the toad for managing to do so many things to help Mario on his adventures, and he had always felt a bit jealous that he had never done that to quite the same level. Nevertheless, he still admired the Captain, and although he knew the toad could be easily frightened away from challenges, he was still a great leader; he wouldn't have just sent his team walking into what seemed to be a giant death trap on their own… right?
"Yeah" Jr. was still droning on. "Some teamwork you guys had."
Toadette felt a flash of hot anger burn through her then. How dare he insult the Toad Brigade!
"And what would you know about teamwork!?" she shot back. "You'r not even old enough to lead your own army by yourself!"
Jr.'s nostrils flared and he clenched his teeth. Going after his age, that hit a sore spot.
"And the Koopalings won't let you be a part of their team either, will they?!" She continued.
"How dare you to talk to the Prince of Koopas that way" Bowser Jr. seethed, leaping to his feet. "I out to-"
"Guys, guys, guys!" Wolley once again jumped in. "Just calm down. Everything is going to be-"
Boom! The room physically shook as a resounding crash echoed through it. Then came a moan, low and ominous, unrecognizable in its sound, unintelligible in its meaning. It echoed all around them, as the small team stood very still, waiting for the speaker to show itself.
Then, from through the fireplace, it came. It appeared like a koopa, but none had ever seen a koopa like it before. Its skin was a pale blue, and on its back, where a shell must once have been, blazed a strange blue flame. It razed its face to look at them, and its eyes were like pools of grey smoke, constantly pouring out of the sockets.
"G-g-g-ghost!" Toad screamed.
The spirit opened its mouth to speak.
"Leave!" it rasped, in voice that sounded like a crackling fire.
The others backed away as the spirit spoke to them, advancing slowly towards where they were standing.
"He has awaken" the ghost hissed. "Leave this place, or die!"
In that moment, Wolley took action. They had been backing away from the door to the main hall, but the door to the stairs was still accessible. He didn't know what was upstairs, but he figured that it was better than this.
But not for him. No, he had to keep the ghost occupied so the others could get away. When younger, he and his brother had idolized Mario and Luigi, and upon finally getting the chance to adventure alongside them, they had vowed to follow in the Mario Brothers footsteps in saving people. Fighting a ghost off for the others was exactly what the brothers would have had to do, so it was what he had to do to.
Plucking up every last bit of his courage, he threw himself forward at the ghost with a scream that sounded like it came from a mad man. The others gaped at Wolley as he flung himself forward at the ghost. His swinging fists did not hurt the creature, obviously, but the spirit was taken aback by the ferocity of the strange little toad in front of it. Then, the smoke in it's eyes began to pool out thicker, and a small, blazing, red glow appeared within them.
"Go!" Wolley screamed. "Get upstairs!'
The others were about to argue when a wave of fire was blasted out of the ghosts mouth, catching one of the chairs on fire in front of them as Wolley was forced to his knees. He was quickly back on his feet, keeping the ghosts attention on him as he circled the room.
"Go!" He shouted again.
This time, the others didn't argue. As Wolley squared off against the fire spraying ghost, Toad, Toadette, and Bowser Jr. hurriedly threw open the door in front of them and clambered up the stairs.
Well, it has been a while. I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses for ignoring my stories, but basically, life has been a chaotic mess for me recently, and usually by the evenings, when I used to do most of my writing, I felt so burnt out that that I didn't want to do it. The good news is, I found a better time during the day to do my writing, so I have been doing a lot of it recently.
This fanfic has turned out to be much longer than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I've had the complete outline for exactly what was going to happen since before I started, but the chapters and events themselves turned out to be longer than I thought they would have been. But oh well, even if it is long past Halloween and actually into the Christmas season by now, I will not stop working on this story until it is done. (And don't worry, I'm only planning on doing a oneshot for Christmas, so I won't get too far behind on my other works.)
Anyway, see you next time!
(Also just because I need to point this out to someone, this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Over 5000 words!)