I have a bad feeling about this place...

That was her first thought as she got out of her unmarked police cruiser, her partner, Williams, by her side.

Allura Alfor did not scare easy, which is why she had been such a perfect candidate for detective. She was young, beautiful, and as strong as any man in her department, perhaps even stronger. Her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, it's color being such a light shade of blonde that people could've sworn that it was white, ,as if someone had scared her to death.

But Allura didn't get scared, so that couldn't be possible.

"Williams, stick close to me. Keep your weapon ready." she told her partner, who mumbled something back that she didn't catch because she was already retreating towards the house they'd been called to. They'd received a call about twenty minutes ago from a man. A young man, by the sound of his voice. And he sounded terrified... which was why Allura had felt so shaken. Along with the eerie fog and grown up lawn that sprawled in front of the house like a large, brown and green shag carpet.

She then made her way up to the door, pressing it open, surprisingly. She motioned for Williams to follow her, taking her weapon from it's holster.

"Hello? Is there anyone there? Police!" she called out, but the only answer she received was the sound of her echo reverberating off the house's walls and back to her. She took a deep breath before looking over at the wall, blood splattered all over as if something had been sliced off. Nonetheless, she kept going.

And then she saw him.

There was a young man, about 25, tall and slender, standing in the center of the room by the window. From the sound he was making, it almost sounded like he was crying. She motioned for Williams to follow as she slowly approached the man.

"Sir? Are you all right? Are you the one who called us? I'm Detective Alfor, this is Detective Williams. We're going to get you out of here, all right?"

The man then whispered something that sounded like some sort of made-up language that she didn't catch. She furrowed her brow, staring at the man.

"Sir? I didn't catch that... are you all right?"

As she approached, she felt more and more intimidated. Why wouldn't he turn around to look at her? What had he said before?

She then reached for him as she approached and was suddenly shocked as she saw something she thought she'd never see.

The man's head spun, full 180 degrees and looked at her, sneering, his teeth yellowed and rotten, his eyes completely whited out, causing Allura to gasp in horror, recoiling.

"I said... I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING SOUL OUT, BITCH!"

Suddenly, Allura felt a harsh, ramming pain in her chest as she found herself flying across the room, grunting as she collided with a wall, looking over at the man, whose body had now spun around, a harsh, demonic sounding laugh escaping his throat as he began to approach her.

"Alfor!" she heard Williams scream, her partner firing his weapon at the man, blood spraying from the wounds.

"Why hasn't he fallen down, yet?!" she thought. Before she could pull her gun, she watched as the man grabbed Williams, hauling him up like he were merely a sack of potatoes and whirling him around like an athlete participating in the hammerthrow at the Olympics.

"Williams!" she cried out. But it was too late...

The man cackled his horrible laugh and then let go of her partner, sending his body flying up towards the ceiling and into the whirring ceiling fan, the blades now spinning faster, slicing Williams' body to pieces, his arms, legs, and torso flying in every direction, his head hurling towards her, his eyes still wide form shock as his severed head landed in front of her, his blood showering the room. As Williams' head blinked for the final time, Allura screamed, backing away as she then got up, cocking her gun as the man laughed his loud, ominous laugh again.

"Not a fan, I see." the man snarled, his rotten, yellow teeth making up his terrifying grin as he started towards Allura.

"Shit! You have no choice! Do it!" her mind screamed as the man approached, prepared to strike when Allura fired her weapon at his face, his head exploding into a mess of blood, skull and brain matter as he began to attack, soaking Allura's brilliant, nearly white hair with blood, causing her to squint her eyes closed.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again, looking down at the now headless corpse that littered the floor, breathing deeply as she suddenly heard a whispering... as if something was retreating... she only heard what it said for a moment, before it disappeared entirely.

At least, she could've sword that she heard utter,

"JOIN US."

"Uh... Shiro? You okay?"

"No, he's not okay. He looks like death warmed over in a cocoon of tinfoil. Baked potato style."

"Dude, don't mention potatoes. I'm starved."

"Breakfast was an hour ago for you!"

"So?!"

Shiro then snapped out his daze, looking at both of the young men that had been asking about him.

"Oh... I'm fine, guys. Just... had some trouble sleeping is all." he insisted. True, he hadn't slept barely at all since he'd had that encounter with Mr. Campbell last night. It had just... unnerved him so much...

"Hmm. Well, I mean... sorry to hear that, man." Lance told him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Why don't you ask Coran if you can take the rest of the day off? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, since you're like... always on time for everything. And have the most perfect attendance next to me."

"Hunk, you show up every day because of the food you work with. Admit it."

"So what if I do?! Food is an art form!"

Shiro looked over at Lance's longtime best friend, Hunk Garrett, a rather large, chubby boy who managed the deli at Big Deals. If anyone was passionate about their job, it was Hunk. Funnily enough, Shiro had actually found that Hunk had been a pretty handy guy as well, often fixing the stoves and microwaves in the store. One time he'd even fixed a few cogs in the deli cooler, make it work even better than before.

"Yeah, yeah. Tell that to your whole castle of bologna."

"You leave Sandwich Castle out of this, Lance!"

Lance then chuckled, patting Hunk's shoulder. Shiro was always so impressed by the sheer difference in size between the two: Lance being more slender and lanky, Hunk being the larger, more sturdily built one. For a guy that was built like a chunky linebacker, Hunk looked like he was ready to fall down more than often, but Shiro guessed that was due to his overall paranoid nature. He always seemed to striving for utter perfection, especially in food.

"Relax, man. No hard feelings." Lance assured his friend, "I love your bologna castle."

"Yeah, I figured you did."

"How could I not?"

As Shiro watched the boys talk, he laughed a little, deciding not to let a little lack of sleep ruin his day.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna go get the cereal boxes from the back, okay? Be right back."

"Kay!" he heard them both say in unison before going back to talk. Shiro then made his way to the back and over to the pallets of Count Chocula, Boo Berry and FrankenBerry that they had recently gotten in for the Halloween season. As he went through the module, he saw that one box of Count Chocula was missing.

"That's weird..." he thought as he looked behind the pallets, thinking it might have fallen behind one. As he looked, he heard a rustling sound behind him, making him turn suddenly, looking behind him.

"Um... Lance? That you?" he called, but received no answer. "Come on, kid. You know how I feel about that. Cut it out, okay?"

Again, no answer.

Shiro then shrugged, going back to the pallet of cereal, deciding that he was hearing things.

But he'd been wrong.

As he turned around, he was greeted by the smiling face of the cereal mascot, Count Chocula, except for now, the face had morphed into something worse... almost demonic in nature, it's eyes white and it's fangs dripping with blood as the mascot's arms extended out of the box, a loud, shrill cackle ringing out as the hands closed around Shiro's neck, throwing him to the ground.

"What the hell?!"

As he hit the ground, Shiro then turned to see the cereal box, moving on it's own, the arms and hands of Count Chocula moving him towards him, his fangs out as the cereal box screamed, sinking it's fangs into Shiro's shoulder, causing him to let out a wail of pain.

"YOUR FILTHY HUMAN SOUL TASTES LIKE CHOCOLATE, MOTHERFUCKER!" the box growled in a rather bad Bela Lugosi impression as it bit into Shiro again.

"NO! GET OFF ME, GODDAMMIT!" Shiro shouted at the box, refusing to let an animated cereal box kill him! He flung the box across the stock room, the box screaming as it sailed into the floor, dazed, allowing Shiro to get up and move away, looking for something to get rid of it with.

As Shiro had gotten up, the box chuckled again, running at him again, screaming as it's fangs bared. Shiro turned, expecting another attack... but it never came. Instead he heard something that sounded a lot like a large,

THWACK!

With that, the cereal box fell to the ground, blood gushing from it's lips as it got up, preparing to strike again.

"I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL! SWALLOW YOUR SOUL! SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!" it yelped repeatedly as, suddenly, it was crushed by the blow of a large shovel, blood and small innards spraying from the body.

Shiro could hardly believe what happened. Who... who had saved him? Who had done this?

He then looked up, seeing the two people he last expected to see, the smaller of the two holding a large, blood stained shovel, the two of them sprayed with cereal box blood.

Lance and Hunk.

"What-"

"The-"

"FUCK?!"

Shiro looked up at the two, who seemed to be more confused than scared. And hell, they had every right to be. They'd just smashed a cereal box into a pile of blood and organs. That was something you didn't see every day.

"So… I'll bet you boys have quite a bit of questions for me."

Shiro had managed to get up from his position on the storeroom floor, dusting himself off a bit as he looked over at the blood-stained Hunk and Lance, Lance still holding the bloody shovel in his hand, both boys paler than he'd ever seen, their darker complexions now whiter than ever.

"That box of cereal… was… ALIVE?!" Hunk yelped, grabbing onto Lance's shoulder.

"Oh… dude, I think I'm a Boo Berry person now…" Lance told him, looking down at the large splat of blood, organs and chocolate cereal pieces that had been the box of Count Chocula, "Oh shit… does this make me a cereal killer?"

Both boys then looked form the box and over at Shiro, Lance's eyes shifting to the shovel, a grimace crossing his face as he tossed it away as if it were a sweaty piece of laundry.

"Um… Shiro? You seem… awfully calm about this." Hunk pointed out, "How can you-"

"How can you just stand there when a box of friggin' cereal just tried to eat you?!" Lance bellowed out.

Shiro shrugged as he looked down at the splatter of the cereal box. It was something new, yes, but nothing crazier then what he'd seen before.

"Same shit, different day, boys. Just in a different form this time." Shiro said, sighing. "Okay… here's the deal, guys. You wanna hear a story? About how I got this hand?" asked Shiro, holding up his right, wooden hand.

"I thought it got crushed by a tire!" Hunk told him.

"No, I heard it was a food processor!" Lance protested.

"No, guys… it wasn't any of those things." Shiro assure them, "But… those things are way more believable then what I'm about to tell you. But… bear with me, okay?"

"So it was a garbage disposal!" Lance butted in, "I knew it!"

"Lance!"

"Okay." Said Lance with a sigh as Shiro took a seat on one of the pallets, the two younger boys sitting across from him, huddling close to one another as he began to tell his story,

"It was about… eleven years ago that it happened," Shiro began, "I'd just turned 21 and decided to go on a trip to a secluded cabin with my colleagues. One of my old professors had recently made the discovery while exploring Egypt. He discovered that he'd stumbled upon a book called the Naturon Demonto or, as it's more commonly known, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, which, when roughly translated, means 'Book of the Dead'."

"Oh man… don't like where this is going." Hunk remarked, holding onto Lance, who gave his forearm a reassuring pat as Shiro continued his story.

"The Necronomicon itself is bound in human flesh and inked in blood and believed to have been written by ancient Sumerians. The book's text included passages that ranged from ancient Sumerian burial rights, funerary incantations and various passages that could resurrect demons from another world, which, many believed to be hell."

"My professor made the grave mistake to read aloud from this book, which awakened something in the woods… something not of this world. Something… evil."

Hunk then held tighter to Lance, Lance beginning to feel his friend's palms sweat. He wasn't going to lie… he actually felt a bit freaked out as well.

"Whatever it was, it came for us all… and it took my friends from me, including my boyfriend at the time, Matt. Made him into something-"

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho! Hold on a sec! Pump the brakes, man! Stop this wagon train, muchacho!" Lance interrupted, "So… you're gay?"

"Well, not exactly." Shiro said, "I'm a pansexual if you want to get technical."

"Wait…. Like… what?!" Lance asked, shocked, "Dude, I would've never guessed that!"

"Why?" asked Shiro, his tone curious.

"Because you're just like… well… I mean, you… you look like… that!" Lance sputtered, gesturing to Shiro's impressive physical prowess. "I mean, you're build like friggin' Hercules or something! And you just seem so brawny is all!"

"What, brawny guys can't be pan?" Shiro asked.

"Well, I mean, yeah, they can! People can be anything they want!" Lance said, "It's just um… well, surprising is all."

"Hey, I mean, you're bi, Lance." Hunk put in.

"Dude! What the hell?!"

"What? What's the problem?" asked Hunk, "It's not like I told Shiro you like to come to the back and check out his 'round, wonderfully plump, juicy booty' in his work pants as he puts away the stock!"

The room was then dead quiet, Lance's face now red as a radish, his eye twitching slightly.

"Oh… um… heh heh… whoops." Hunk mumbled nervously, "Um… just forget I said that."

"Hunk, the next time an evil box of cereal comes to life, remind me to let it eat your face off." Lance said in a stiff voice, turning around to face Shiro, who looked totally shocked as Lance smoothed out his shirt, taking a seat next to Hunk on the pallets again and taking a deep breath.

"Okay… go on." He said in an expectant tone, his face still bright red.

"Um… all right." Shiro mumbled, not sure if he should take the butt remark as a compliment or not, a blush dusting his cheeks as he continued on,

"So… this evil came… made Matt into something not of this world… something that wanted me dead. So… I… had to kill him." Shiro admitted sorrowfully, "And… then it came for me."

Hunk and Lance both tensed at hearing this, afraid that Shiro might become some winged demon and eat them alive.

"It… got into my hand and made it go bad. So… I… sliced it off at the wrist with a chainsaw."

Hunk and Lance both cringed at hearing that, looking down at Shiro's wooden hand in astonishment.

"I managed to fight off the evil, keeping it at bay, locked away inside the book, which I've kept with me all these years. Locked up and out of harm's way. That is… until recently."

Lance and Hunk inched forward, immediately invested.

"I… brought a guy home from the bar one night. Nothing sexual or anything, just… wanted some company. I ended up falling asleep and woke up to find him reading the book… out loud."

"Oh….. shit." Lance said.

"So… I kicked him out. Haven't seen him since. And… it looks like that evil's back to its old tricks again. Judging by the possessed cereal box."

"So… like… what are you gonna do now?" Hunk asked.

"Are you gonna fight the evil? Please say you're gonna fight the evil." Lance added hopefully. Shiro then sighed, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Well… I mean… I guess I'll have to."

"Awesome! That is so boss!" Lance cried, getting up from his spot, "And we're gonna help you!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" sputtered Hunk and Shiro in unison.

"Well, I mean, think about it! We just smashed apart a possessed box of breakfast cereal! We're totally in this together with you!"

"Oh no. No, no, no. No way, no day, Lance!" Shiro told him, "This thing is pure, concentrated evil! It will kill you and not think twice!"

"Um, yeah! Obvie! But that's why we get to it first! I mean, hey, we just get our hands on some weapons and wham, bam, thank you, ma'am! Take the fight to the evil! Show that bitch whose boss! And hey, you can't do this on your own, Shiro! Strength in numbers, man! All for one and one for all that three musketeers shit! Come on, man! You need some help with this!"

"Forget it, Lance. I'm not going to put you kids in danger by letting you help me with this. I've defeated it once, I can defeat it again." Shiro told him firmly.

"But what would've happened to you had Hunk and I not been here? With the cereal box? Hmm?" Lance asked, "Face it, Shiro. You would have been breakfast for the breakfast! Right, Hunk? Come on, back me up!"

Hunk shrugged shyly, not really wanting to go into this whole endeavor… but… Lance was right…

"As… much as I hate to admit… Lance… is… right, Shiro." Hunk said quietly.

"There! You see?!" Lance said, wrapping an arm around Hunk. "Come on, Shiro!"

Shiro thought for a moment, weighing his options. True, he would admit, some help would be nice… it really was a chore defeating all that evil on his own the last time… in fact, it nearly killed him multiple times… and he didn't want to die just yet. Extra hands meant extra help for him…

He then looked at the boys, Lance having a bright, expectant look on his face and Hunk glancing down towards the ground, obviously reluctant.

"…fine." Shiro mumbled, "But if any of you get hurt, don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Yes!" Lance whooped, "Oh hell yeah! We're gonna Buffy this shit up, man! Cracking evil right over its face!"

"I just hope it doesn't eat our faces off, first…" mumbled Hunk.

"Oh come on, Hunk! Be positive! It's gonna be awesome! I mean, we're like legit monster hunters, man!"

"Ah, I wouldn't say that just yet." Shiro told them, "You killed one monster. We're going up against more, most likely. And I take it you guys don't-"

"I know how to use a gun." Lance proclaimed, causing Shiro to give him a look of shock.

"What?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You know how to fire a gun?"

"Been doing it for years. With my grandpop."

Shiro then looked over at Hunk for reassurance. Hunk sighed and looked over at Lance.

"It's true… and he's a damn good shot, too…"

"Mm-hmm, you bet I am. Regular Space Cowboy." Lance said proudly. Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"'Space' cowboy?"

"You betcha."

"Okay… the 'cowboy' part I get, but why 'space'?"

"Cause everything's cooler in space, and I'm the coolest of the cool, of course!"

"Right…"