It's time for a spooky story! Although I was planning on one Halloween Chapter, after I looked at some stuff I wanted to do, I settled for two Halloween Chapters, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.
It's almost time for Halloween! The time for spooks, scares, doot doots, and Trick-Or-Treating! And, best of all, the entire IS Academy is participating in a day-long celebration with a Halloween Party!
However, Laura doesn't know what Halloween is!
Scared by even the most innocuous jokes, Laura decides to test her courage by watching a Scary Movie!
Watch as the stoic German Uber-Soldier discovers that Halloween might not be as scary as it seems...
Everyone knew something was going on.
The entire IS Academy was decorating for Halloween!
It was, in fact, the day before Halloween, as all of the students and faculty were decorating and preparing for the next day's festivities. In fact, the IS Academy was taking a few days off to set up for a Halloween Party, and clean up after.
Laura was in utter confusion.
"Ichika," She asked calmly, "Vhat ish happening? Vhat ish all of zhis?"
"Hm?" Ichika realized, "Oh, it's Halloween! Guess they didn't have that stuff in the German military..."
"Vhat ish Halloveen?"
"I can answer that," Interjected Thomas, "Originally, the idea was that during this time of year, the barriers between the real and the spiritual world got dangerously thin, allowing evil spirits to enter the world and wreak havoc. However, it was common for people to throw parties with scary costumes and carved pumpkins to scare those evil spirits away, eventually picking up things like going door-to-door and Trick-or-Treating. It was originally Celtic if I remember..."
"Ja wirklich?" Asked Laura.
"Although," Said Thomas, "You also oughta be careful around this time of year..."
"Was?"
Ichika tip-toed behind Laura, getting closer as she was distracted.
"Y'see," Thomas continued, "The tradition has far more reality than you'd think..."
"Vhat?!"
The atmosphere became freezing, as Laura became quite scared by the supernatural that may-or-may-not be hiding around.
"There've been stories," Thomas whispered, "Stories about all sorts of occult happenings worldwide upon this so-called 'Hallows' Eve.' Missing People, ghost-sightings, Slashers of all kinds."
Laura's breathing went haywire.
"And worst of all..."
Ichika took the cue, and prepared to make a jump-scare upon Laura.
"...The evil spirits are never frightened. They let humans have their fun, and strike when they least expect!"
Ichika spread his arms wide.
"BOO!"
Laura screamed as she jumped around, absolutely terrified. However, Ichika didn't expect what she did next.
She collared Ichika, and threw him overhead into the classroom wall.
Ichika hit the wall on his back and grunted, dropping right into a heap with a series of thuds as he fell from the wall, utterly winded by Laura's underestimated physical strength.
Laura then ran out of the room sobbing hysterically with her arms in front of her...
...Only to run right into Chifuyu, her outstretched hands accidentally grabbing Chifuyu's breasts.
Laura, Thomas, and Ichika all began to internally panic as Chifuyu's eyes were closed and she became visibly furious.
Later...
"Worth it." Thomas deadpanned, as he had finished placing an eyepatch and an ice pack on his head.
"It was cute. Although, I feel guilty..." Said Ichika, as he finished applying bandages to his face.
"It was in good fun, didn't expect her to run into Big Sis though...I would've apologized after she calmed down."
The trio were sent to the Infirmary to get treated for the bruises and headaches Chifuyu gave them.
Laura was still traumatized by the entire ordeal, and sat in a ball in the corner, her eyes wide as could be.
Houki, Charlotte, and Lingyin entered the Infirmary to scold the boys for pranking Laura, eventually Cecelia and Elias followed them.
After Laura was dismissed from the Infirmary, she was quite wary of everything around her.
"Evil spirits could be around!" She cautioned internally.
"Oh, Miss Bodewig!" Called Maya, holding a box.
Laura yelped as she whipped around, quickly trying to regain composure.
"Is everything alright?"
"J-Jah..."
"Would you help me set up these?" Maya motioned for her to look inside the box.
Laura looked inside...
...To find freakishly large spiders.
Laura screamed and ran the other way, leaving Maya dumbstruck.
The girl ran far and fast.
She had to consult Clarissa.
In the Lounge...
"Clarissa!" Laura boomed into her phone, "Vhat's Halloveen?!"
"Bodewig, ish zhere a problem?"
"Jah whol. I don't know vhat Halloveen ish and it scary! Zhere are large spiders, orange melons, people vith green skin and stitches everyvhere!"
"Bodewig, listen carefully!" Instructed Clarissa, "Halloveen ish zhe time of year you can get creative vith your affections for Ichika Orimura! Part of zhe Halloveen Tradition ish to vatch scary movies with others. Should zhe situation call for it, you vear all sorts of costumes! You vear costumes depending upon vhich kind of situation, like seduction or othervise!"
"I see..."
"If you cannot vithstand vatching horror movies with Ichika, zhen attempt to vatch them vith others you are comfortable vith for experience."
"Jah whol!" Laura said with renewed determination.
Laura ended her call, and stood up, ready to set about making proper arrangements.
She was going to wear costumes and watch horror movies with Ichika!
She would-
"Laura." Addressed Thomas.
Laura screamed and dropped Thomas with a gut-punch in a matter of one second.
"Why..." Thomas griped in agony as he laid on his side curled in a ball, clutching his belly.
"Oh! Thomas! You should knew better zhan to sneak up on people!"
"Miss...Yamada wanted to know if you were okay, after you ran screaming..."
"I am quite fine. I must go."
Laura began to march off, leaving Thomas as people crowds of students watched over him writhing in misery.
In Laura's Dorm Room...
Laura began to brush up on everything horror movie-related.
At least, she tried to do it discreetly.
Se knew full well she wouldn't survive a horror movie with Ichika.
So, she went to someone she could trust.
"Are you sure you want to watch it?" Inquired Charlotte.
"Jah!" Laura snapped, "I vill get through zhis horror, and prove I'm not scared!"
Charlotte stared, and suddenly grew a mischievous grin as she quickly began to look through the movies Ichika and Thomas lent her for the month.
"Let's see..." She muttered, "We have The Sin Eater, Slasher 2021, Death with a Shotgun, Moon Base 5, The Borg, Hunter, The Mecha-Taur, Legions of Hell...They seem to watch a lot of Sci-Fi Horror Movies...I know! Let's watch The Soul-Eater from Space!"
Laura froze, doing her best not to show her nervousness at the mere name of such a movie.
Charlotte pulled out the disc, set up the TV in front of their beds, and put in the disc.
Laura quickly changed into her cat pajamas, wrapped her blanket around herself, and clutched her pillow tightly, visibly trembling. Charlotte thought nothing of it as she turned off the lights, closed the balcony curtains, and pressed play on the remote.
And the Horror had begun.
The Soul-Eater from Space.
(Disclaimer: This movie doesn't exist in real life. This was just made-up for this chapter.)
"Captain!"
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"We've got scans of some sort of life signal! A Distress call!"
Our Story begins on the Starship UN Maria, one of the most prestigious ships in the Earth Fleet with a crew of 230. Currently, the Starship has traveled in deep uncharted space, to explore and document just what is has to offer.
"On that meteor?" Inquired the Captain.
"In that meteor, Captain." Corrected the Lieutenant.
The Captain paused to think.
"Get a crew out there," Ordered the Captain, "Bring it inside for examination."
In the span of 5 minutes, a team of crew members had quickly brought the object inside.
In the Examination Deck...
"So," Inquired the Captain, "What're we looking at, Doctor?"
The object in question was a metallic, bronze-colored ball-shaped object, which was about 9 feet tall, 6 feet wide, and 6 feet long.
"Well," The Scientist answered, "What we're looking at is some sort of device."
"As in...?"
"Alien technology."
"Stop. WHAT?!"
"We've examined the exterior," Explained the Scientist, "It's comprised of a refined, industrial-strength alloy we can't break through. Carbon dating puts it about 100 years old. The entire object itself has some sort of temperature-absorbing effect, as it seems to be quickly warming up."
"How quickly?"
"About 10 degrees a second."
"Will anything happen if it gets to room temperature."
"The object is some sort of container," Observed the Scientist, "However, there's a life signature inside. Except..."
"Except what?"
"Perhaps it's best we don't try to open it."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because this 'container' wasn't designed to be opened."
"What?"
The Scientist paused, clearly shaken by the development.
"The casing-we'll call it egg-isn't designed with an opening. The egg itself is either fused shut or-for lack of a better term-completely constructed around whatever's inside. However it could stand to reason that this egg itself could be what's making the signature."
"I see...Put this thing in a sterilized containment room in Storage Block E-15 nearby the engines, just to be safe in case of any unwanted radiation."
"Understood."
On the Bridge...
The Captain returned to the bridge.
"Contact the Earth Fleet," He ordered, "Tell them we're bringing something back for analysis."
"Captain," Said the Communications Officer, "I'm sorry to report, but we're far too out of range to send a transmission."
"Sonuva..." The Captain muttered under his breath, "Then tell the Engine Deck to prepare us for Hyperspeed, we need to get our latest acquisition analyzed. Our Chief Scientist was obviously unerved by this thing and I really don't like the fact that it's sitting in my ship."
"Understood Captain."
Suddenly, the Engine Monitor's station began to flash with a blinking red.
"Captain!" Cried the Engine Monitor, "Something's wrong with the Hyperdrive-?!"
Without warning, the UN Maria suddenly went into Hyperspeed, and quickly threw the ship out of whack.
"Engine Monitor! Somebody! What the hell just happened?!" Cried the Captain as he tried to regain his balance after being thrown about the Bridge.
"Sir!" Cried the Captain's Bodyguard, "We've got fire on Deck 5! The Hyperdrive activated before we were ready! I don't know what happened, but we've got serious casualties on several Decks! We're down by 40!"
"Dammit! Get everyone you can and mitigate the situation, NOW! Drop out of Hyperspeed so we can set for repairs!"
However, the damage exposed a far greater danger than anyone had ever seen.
The casing in the containment room had cracked.
A single, unnatural hand slipped out.
Laura shivered at the sight of the monster hand, holding up the pillow up to her eyes, terrified of what she might see next, and began to sniffle.
"Laura..." Charlotte encouraged, "It hasn't even gotten scary yet!"
"I know...But it vill be scary soon!"
Charlotte paused the movie.
"Well," She suggested, "If you get scared, you can give me a hug."
Laura stopped sniffling.
She kept her blanket wrapped around herself as she dashed over to Charlotte's bed and wrapped her in a bear hug.
"She's like a little child, c'est adorable." Charlotte thought as she pressed play on the movie.
Charlotte did her best to assure Laura by giving her a warm hug back.
"Captain, the ship's genius here." Said the Industrialist, "No, not the Chief Scientist-No, not the Computer Core-Why would you think I'm the Psychiatrist? No! It's me! The Ship's Head Industrialist!"
"Oh."
"Anyway, I'm here to talk to you about the Hyperdrive malfunction."
"I was expecting a call from the Chief Scientist for that."
"Yes, well, the Chief Scientist doesn't want to call you until he's checked, double-checked, and triple-checked his work, create a working hypothesis, write a college thesis on the matter, and triple-check his findings with peers. At which point I would've killed myself."
"Alright, well, go ahead then."
"Y'see, the reason the Hyperdrive screwed us over is because someone broke the rules of Quantum Speed Technology."
"Do we have to go through all of them? There's too many and none make any sense..."
"Alright, how about one rule?
"Which one?"
"The very first, most basic rule of Quantum Speed Tech-Don't stand next to a Drive when it's about to flout the laws of physics."
"Somebody broke that rule?"
The Industrialist walked over to the Hyperdrive to get a solid look.
One of the workers had been meshed, at the worker's right side, into the Hyperdrive itself, as though it were a work of grotesque art. Half his face had meshed into the Hyperdrive, and his face looked as though he was screaming in his final moments. His only visible eye had turned black, like an eye socket. His skin was cold, his hand stuck out of the Hyperdrive, revealing he had a multi-functional prosthetic limb. In his left arm, the worker held a broken phone.
"One of the engineers-blue suit, red padding, prosthetic right arm, buzz-cut. He's-what's the scientific term?-Totally Mashed into one of Hyperdrive's Engine Blocks, poor guy crushed his phone in his free hand in the process."
"What's his name?"
The Industrialist looked for an ID on the visible parts of the body.
"ID calls him Minnie. Looks like he had a twin brother, Manny...They're identical, which explains why I saw him wearing a red suit with green padding earlier...Wait! If I remember, Minnie was supposed to install a tracer on the Engine Block, which might be why he was there at the time. We needed to install a tracer since we needed someway to monitor the Hyperdrive output."
"Damn. Notify his next of kin."
"Well," Suggested the Industrialist, "Look on the bright side: At least it'll be easier to tell 'em apart now."
"Shut your mouth."
"Yes sir..." Groaned the Industrialist.
On the Main Deck...
"Everyone." Stated The Captain.
The active crew, being 255 crew members, all gathered and listened to the captain's address.
"We've suffered from this accident," Stated the Captain, "But we'll recover. In the meantime, we need to take a census for active crew members."
The crew all began to talk amongst themselves as they remained on the Main Deck.
"Dude, does anyone know what happened?" Inquired Steve, an Engineer.
"Some guy got knocked into the Hyperdrive as it was warming up, sap's a piece of street art now." Muttered Swig, a man he only met just then.
"Ouch."
"I mean, poor guy, but we outta tend more to the living, y'know?"
Elsewhere, back on the Engine Deck...
"Minnie..." Muttered Manny, the twin brother with a red suit and green padding.
Although he was torn up over the loss of his twin brother, he was mature enough not to break out into weeping until the funeral.
"We were through so much together...Surviving a crash in re-entry, gluing the Captain's hands together as a prank...Only for you to get killed by an Engine Block. What a stupid way to die. But the saying goes-'You burn, you temper, and you die.'"
Manny then began to do impromptu ritual rites. He quickly took out a small vial, and a syringe. He drew a sample of his own blood and emptied it into the vial and capped it, and pulled the broken phone out of his dead brother's hand.
It took a bit of effort to do so, since it appeared Minnie had quite the grip, even though he was dead.
"Let me mark your passing with a vial of blood-a sign of our kinship." He said as he placed the vial at the foot of the Engine Block under his brother.
Manny finally wrestled the phone from Minnie's hand. The phone, despite the screen being cracked, was still usable.
"Then, I'll delete your last call-don't want anyone finding out about anything incriminating..."
He pressed the delete button on the last caller icon. Whoever it was, no-one would know.
"Oh!" Realized Manny, "I should probably install that tracer for you, since we have time to do that."
Manny quickly began to search for the tracer.
However, it appeared that the tracer was nowhere near Minnie.
"Did it get stuck in the Engine Block too?" Pondered Manny.
Manny quickly began to search all over the Hyperdrive Area in search of the tracer.
His search brought him nearby to Storage Block E-15.
And then he found the tracer, sitting in an open doorway.
"There you are!" He declared, "Bloody thing must've rolled...I mean, damn, this is way too far to have rolled all the way here..."
Manny picked up the tracer...
...Only to have his eyes fall upon a certain container.
Suddenly, Manny's airway became strangled. The man's arms went to his throat, trying to break free of the invisible hold that caught him.
An inhuman, monstrous hand slipped out of the cracked shell, aimed towards Manny, as if it was strangling him!
Manny's mouth began to forcibly open.
It opened as far as Manny's lips would open...
...And beyond.
Manny's mouth began to rip further open as his cheeks began to rip like paper.
He made gagging and choking noises as the unnatural event turned lethal.
Suddenly, out of his nose and mouth, chunks of Manny's brain began to fly out, and spill onto the floor. His chest burst open, his heart spraying blood all over. And finally, a strange, mystical dust began to draw from Manny's body, and condense in the air, forming into a ghostly shape of the man.
The ghost was nothing more than a mere soul, drawn from Manny's dead body. Off-screen, a strange creature began to emerge and cast a shadow over the spirit. The beast was unnatural, inhuman with a human shape.
It then proceeded to devour Manny's ghost whole.
Manny was dead.
Laura squeezed the air out of Charlotte's lungs, and made a small whimper.
"Oh my..." Swooned Charlotte, right before getting winded by Laura's bone-crushing grip.
"L-Lah...Lauraccck..."
Laura didn't pay attention to Charlotte.
Charlotte began to pat Laura's arm in the hopes to get her to realize she was crushing her roommate.
Laura's eyes began to water a little.
She had relaxed enough for Charlotte to comfort her, however.
"It's too scary!"
Charlotte gave Laura a head-pat.
"Well, trying thinking of something else."
"Like vhat?"
Charlotte paused to think.
"I know!" She declared, "Try thinking of the Gospel Incident! Wasn't that scary?"
"Nein!" Protested Laura, "Zhat vasn't scary, just dangerous!"
"It's something of the same situation here...You were scared, no?"
"Vell, no..."
"I was."
"Really?"
"And I'm a little scared right now, so...Would like to sit with me still?"
"J-Jah..." Muttered Laura as the two girls continued to watch the movie.
On the Bridge...
"Sir." Addressed the Captain's Adviser, "Our Security Chief's calling you. It's urgent."
"Everything's urgent with him, the paranoid..." Muttered the Captain, taking his phone, "Go ahea-Slow down, what?!"
"It's not my fault sir! This is very bad! Code Red! I think...I think we have some kind of alien predatory monster on board."
The Captain froze, with a stoic expression on his face.
He sat frozen for a half a minute.
"Cool." He said, a grin curling on his lips as his interest piqued.
"Sir?" Inquired the Adviser.
"Get the intercom, I have an announcement to make."
"Understood." Replied the Communications Officer.
"Attention everyone," The Captain's voiced boomed all over the ship, "There's been an incident on the Engine Deck. It's probably nothing, but, just to be safe, I want everyone to pair up and find a quarters until I give the all-clear. However, I'm going to ask the Head Physician, Neurologist, and Sergeant to come down to the Engine Block to investigate."
As soon as the Captain finished his announcement, he turned back to the Adviser.
"Give 'em an hour, then lock 'em in." Ordered the Captain.
"You think they'll disobey direct orders?"
"I would if I was them."
On the Engine Deck...
"Sweet Jesus..." The Captain gagged as he looked ready to puke.
"What's wrong? The sight, or the smell?"
"Both!"
Manny's body had turned gray as stone, his eyes were pitch-black, his entire body froze solid like a statue.
"Okay," Said the Physician, "Let's see what the hell happened."
The Physician quickly unpacked his equipment, and poked and prodded the body with countless surgical tools.
After several minutes, he had a conclusion.
"Alright," He said slowly, "Other than the fact that his heart's over there and there's no brain activity, I think I got down to the root of the problem."
"Then spill."
"Judging from the looks of it-for some reason-his body's simply stopped."
"Stopped as in how?"
"As in it's just simply ceased to function. His entire body's gone through some sort of spontaneous version of rigor mortis. His blood is practically frozen solid. And-the part that unnerves me the most-his eyes turned black."
"Wait." Said the Bodyguard, "I've dealt in the occult before...I wish to see."
The Physician chuckled.
"What? Evil spirits?" He joked.
"Perhaps." Said the Bodyguard as he locked eyes with the dead body.
He stared deeply into the eyes of the dead.
"This man's soul...It's gone."
"What? If you start spoutin' mystical B.S I'm gonna-"
"-I mean it. This man's life force, what makes a human being a living, sentient organism, it's just...Gone!"
The Sergeant began to look around the mess.
"I think I see why."
"Huh?!"
"Would that have anything to do with this?" The Sergeant said as he pointed to a very specific mess on the floor.
"Is that...A brain?"
"I don't know about you," Said the Sergeant as he took a knee besides the mass, "But a brain sitting in open air outside a dead body without the skull trauma but facial injuries strikes me as very, very disgusting."
"Hold on," Stopped the Captain, "Are you telling me he vomited up his own brain?!"
"Seems like it."
"Ugh...I'm gonna hurl..." Gagged the Captain.
"What now?"
The Captain paused.
"Get our star Neurologist on it."
"Wha?" Inquired the Sergeant.
The Neurologist sighed.
"And here I thought you brought me along for my stunning good looks." Quipped the Neurologist as he walked towards the dead body, sticking his prosthetic arms into the air. Suddenly, needles shot out of his prosthetic hands, causing the Sergeant to jump in surprise.
"The hell?!"
"Relax. I'm just gonna take a look at what our guy saw." Said the Neurologist as his needles began to near the body's face.
"Y'see," Explained the Captain, "The Neurologist got himself some new prosthesis for his job. Specifically, those needles are an interface for him to access a person's mind. Although, due to regulations, it's only used for autopsies, since it was outlawed for rehabilitative purposes."
"Well, that's just it." Added the Neurologist as his needles began to poke into the body's eyes.
"When you read a dead body's final moments alive...It tends to get a little sketchy."
Elsewhere...
"D'oof!" Grunted Steve.
"Watch it!" Snapped Swig.
"Are you sure this is a living quarters and not a closet?" Interrogated Steve.
"Hey, my navigation is the best there is!"
"Oh sure-"
"Wait! Think I found the lights!"
Swig flipped the light switch, revealing to the two just what sort of room they stumbled into.
"This ain't no living quarters," Smiled Swig, "This's a Pub."
Sure enough, the room was decked with booths and tables, a fully-stocked bar in the corner, bathrooms, and everything essential to a pub.
"Always wanted one of these..." Muttered Swig as he took a glass and began to pour himself a drink.
He turned to find Steve had propped up several chairs and was currently removing a ceiling panel.
"What're you doing?" He deadpanned.
"Escaping."
"Why? You wanna get caught disobeying orders?"
"I've got an itch and I needa scratch it. Me n' rules aren't really in a relationship, ain't got a problem with it."
"Your funeral."
Steve placed the ceiling panel back in place as he left.
Back on the Engine Deck...
"GYAAH!" Screamed the Neurologist as he jumped back.
"Shit!" Snapped the Physician, "What'd you see?"
"I'm just gonna outright say it," Hyperventilated the Neurologist, "That's some next-level freaky magic shit I saw!"
"Describe it!"
"Well...A 6'5 lanky monster with some ripped arms, half of an exposed brain, four tendrils, and an exposed stomach of half-digested things."
"What the hell..." Muttered the Physician as he helped the Neurologist to his feet.
"Okay...So what're...Oh..." Mumbled the Captain.
"What?"
"Look." Said the Captain, pointing towards the site.
"Oh...Is that's what caused this?"
The egg was cracked open, big enough for anything to bust out.
"Looks like whatever was inside got out, and poor Manny just-so-happened to be the first living thing it saw."
The Physician began a theorize.
"So, what we're dealing with is essentially some kind of Soul-Eater? Either way, it would appear that it tried to paralyze Manny by removing his brain and heart, and made him an easy meal..."
"It would appear that way."
"Alright," Said the Captain, "If that thing is some kind of hunter, then maybe we can lure it with a very pure and bright soul-maybe. All we need to figure out where and who that is."
"How're we going to contain it?"
"We're not going to contain it," Corrected the Captain, "We're going to kill it. It's threatening the people on my ship, I could care less what happens to it."
In the Corridors...
"Hey! Cash, open up! It's me, Eddie!" Demanded a Crewman, knocking on the door to a Weapons Cache.
"C'mon!" He pleaded, "If I'm out here, they'll think I'm disobeying orders again! I'm already in trouble for lying to get on the Ship's Head Staff!"
Eddie heard a loud thump.
"Wait!" He said, turning from the door, "I think I heard something."
"Eddie? That you?" Responded a Crewman from the other side of the door, "Sorry, thought nobody wanted to sit with me...You still there Eddie?"
Eddie didn't respond.
The Soul-Eater had claimed another victim.
This time, unlike Manny, the Soul-Eater simply sucked the soul from Eddie without doing anything more.
However, as the Soul-Eater began to swallow its meal, the Crewman Cash had bore witness as he brought a weapon from the Weapons Cache.
"Hey!"
The Soul-Eater reared its head, the soul still in its mouth.
"If there's one thing I hate..." Said Cash, pulling out a rocket launcher.
"...It's a messy meal."
Cash fired the rocket...
...Only to have it stopped by the Corridor's internal Diffraction Barrier!
"Dammit!" He snapped.
Without warning, the Soul-Eater suddenly turned away, and ran in the other direction.
"The hell?" He pondered, "That's the munitions stores, the only real room is the Psychiatrist's...Office..."
In the Psychiatrist's Office...
The Psychiatrist had just finished arranging his desk.
"There," He declared, standing in the center of the room, "Perfection."
Without warning, the Soul-Eater had smashed the door down!
The Psychiatrist screamed.
He backed away, and ended up cornered.
The Soul-Eater towered over the man.
But out of nowhere, Steve bust through the ceiling, coming down right on top of the Soul-Eater!
"C'mere, you!" Said Steve, snatching up the Psychiatrist and pulling him into a vent.
"Good God! Thank you!"
"Thank me when we're out of this mess! That thing ain't too far behind."
As the two crawled through the vent shaft, the Psychiatrist got a call on his phone.
"Captain?!" Called the Psychiatrist.
"Yeah, I heard about the incident. I didn't expect it to come after you. But, I got a plan: Make your way to the Engine Deck, and bring the monster with you. Apparently it looks like it goes after the purest souls, but that's something we can use."
"Roger!" Said Steve as he kicked open a vent cover in front of them.
The pair realized they'd crawled all the way to an elevator shaft!
Steve smirked.
"Hold on!"
The Psychiatrist did as told, and clutched Steve's torso.
With a leap of faith, Steve jumped!
He narrowly snagged one of the cables of the elevator, and grappled his way down the shaft onto the descending elevator.
The moment they landed, Steve pried open a maintenance door to the elevator.
"Oi!" Snapped the Industrialist, "The hell're you up to?!"
"Engine Deck."
"What's going on-"
"ENGINE DECK." Shouted Steve, "NOW!"
"Alright, alright-"
"Steve! It's caught up!" Cried the Psychiatrist.
Sure enough, the Soul-Eater had burst out of the vent, and snarled as it plummeted down towards them.
Steve and the Psychiatrist quickly got inside the elevator, and pried open the door.
The Soul-Eater got inside the elevator.
Miraculously, they were on the right floor.
"Go!" Said Steve.
"But the Industrialist-!"
"We can't do anything for him now, GO!"
The pair got out of the elevator, and ran for their lives.
The Industrialist cowered in fear as the Soul-Eater towered over him.
"No! Please!" He cried, "I'M TOO SMART TO DIE LIKE THIS!"
He shut his eyes and turned away.
He slowly opened them.
The best had vanished, abandoning him for its original prey.
On the Engine Deck...
"There you are!" Said the Captain, the Hyperdrive's Engine Block to his right.
"What now?"
The Bodyguard quickly escorted Steve away, leaving the Psychiatrist with the Captain.
"You were wrong." Said the Psychiatrist.
"Huh?"
"The monster doesn't hunt pure souls."
"What makes you say that?"
"It's a Sin-Eater. It goes after the impurest souls."
"How can you tell?"
The Psychiatrist paused, and needles popped from his hand.
"I'm the reason the neural interface was deemed illegal for rehabilitation."
"You WHAT?!"
"Look!"
The Soul-Eater had caught up once again.
It stood, waiting to strike.
The Captain suddenly grabbed the Psychiatrist.
"C'mon ugly!" He taunted, "You're dinner's gonna get cold!"
The Soul-Eater charged.
In one swift motion, the Captain shoved the Psychiatrist to his left, and snatching the unholy creature by its wrists.
"NOW!" He shouted, "DO IT NOW!"
Suddenly, as if on cue, the Hyperdrive activated, and the ship went into Hyperspace.
Just as the Hyperdrive did so, the Captain made a dangerous gambit.
He grabbed the monster by its head, and with all of his might, shoved the Soul-Eater into the Engine Block.
The monster was devoured by the Engine Block, and died without a sound.
The Captain lost both of his arms, everything up to his elbows had been swallowed with the Soul-Eater.
After screaming it absolute pain, he laughed.
"First Rule..." He recited, "Never stand next to a Hyperdrive when its running."
He'd passed out from blood loss.
"See?" Pointed Charlotte, "It all works out in the end."
Laura still held onto Charlotte as she watched the end of the movie.
"Halloween isn't actually scary." Consoled Charlotte, "There's all manner of scary things, but none of them are real. And when you remember they aren't real, you can take comfort in knowing they aren't something that can frighten you with the truth."
Laura sat as she began to take all the information in.
"I know!" Said Charlotte, "How about I take you costume shopping? It'll be fun!"
"Bist du sicher?"
"But of course!" Smiled Charlotte.
Charlotte's bright smile won over Laura's fear.
The girls quickly went on a trip to the mainland for costume shopping.
Laura saw all sorts of Halloween items. From costumes, to decorations, and a lot more. When she finally had the chance to take a good, long look at things, she saw that they weren't as scary, and sometimes rather adorable or even risque.
"Hei!" She cheered.
"See?" Charlotte said, with two bags full of costume items, "Halloween isn't so scary after all!"
"Jah!"
Laura took a look in the costume section, looking for one that she fancied.
She found Thomas examining a skeleton morph suit.
"Perfect!" He said, right before he took notice of Laura.
"Costume shopping?"
"Jah...Vhat are you to dress up as?"
"I'll show you tomorrow. You might want to make your selection quick, the store's gonna close soon."
After several minutes, Laura finally saw a costume both her size and her preference.
"Charlotte!" Declared Laura, showing Charlotte her choice.
"A Black Cat, hm? Perfect! Let's go check out!"
"Jah whol!"
The girls returned to their dorm room, and quickly tried on their new costumes.
Laura smiled happily.
It was her first Halloween.
And it wasn't as scary as it seemed.
After all, she'd been through far worse.
A/N: Done! This is just 1 of 2 Halloween Chapters this year! I'm going to get on the next as quickly as I can! Here's to hoping I can release the next chapter on Halloween night!
I took a look through previous chapters, and realized I was giving Thomas way too much development. And, while drafting this chapter, realized this was way too good to get rid of.
So, think of this as me starting to try and balance things out between character focus!
Hope this was a good enough chapter, and here's to hoping the next one is just as good!
After the next Halloween Chapter, comes the Kyoto Trip!
Next Time: A Bootiful Night.
It's Halloween day! The day-long celebration is underway as well!
However, something's gone wrong.
Chifuyu and Alex are missing, Maya is acting suspicious, and the student body seems more out to get the boys than ever before! Strange behaviors all around, things get suspicious and the boys try to get to the bottom of it! When nightfall comes, the boys realize their night just might turn from innocuous fun to a fight for survival...
Can the boys find a way to fix their nightmare?
Or will they discover why Chifuyu and Alex went missing?
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